Disclaimers:
=> Slam Dunk - not mine. Takehiko Inoue's.
=> Song - The Corrs.
=> Program used to type the story - Bill Gates's.
=> As for everything else -- namely the paper, pen ink, pencils, eraser, sharpener, electricity, keyboard, monitor, computer, and time spent -- they're all mine. Oh, and let's not forget the plot.

Summary:
Written from Sendoh's POV. I dedicate this chapter to Draco (nyahahaha!--). Also dedicated to my muse for suggesting the song and because she's an anti-SenRu... nyahahaha!!! ::gets bopped on the head by Rhygell::

I'm not looking for someone to talk to
I've got my friends, I'm more than okay
I've got more than a guy could wish for
I've gotmy dreams, but it's not all, they say

"Yosha!"
Akira landed, and wiped the layer of perspiration that formed above his lips. He smiled, having just shot a beautiful three-pointer, fade-away shot.
"Game set!"
Koshino slapped Akira on the back. "Eh, Sendoh-san! Great play -- as always."
Akira smiled modestly at his teammate, then cast a wary glance at the captain. "Well, I've got to get going. Ja ne, Koshino!"
After just having gone a few meters away from the gym -- running, no doubt -- he heard the voice of Uozumi calling him. "SENDOH!!! It's the sophomores' turn to clean-up. COME BACK HERE!!!"
Akira just laughed. "Ja ne, Uozumi-sempai!!" he called over his shoulder.
* * *
I'm glad that I'm alone here from time to time, the ace thought as he headed for his room. The size of this house seems a lot less intimidating.
When he opened the door, what he saw was a welcoming sight -- the huge, extremely well-decorated room, which (despite its size) was still small enough to not daunt a person.
Akira laughed softly as he looked at the mess he had left there that morning. There were clean and dirty clothes thrown around the room, indistinguishable from one another in the small heaps they were in. The cap of his gel bottle was at least 2 meters away from the bottle itself, and there were dry spots on the mirror where the gel hit it and Akira had not wiped them off.
Was there ever a time that it didn't welcome me?
After a quick shower, he threw himself onto the bed, bouncing a couple of times before his graceful body settled.
He folded his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
I've got all that I want, he thought as he let his gaze roam around his haven. But I feel like...

Still I believe
I'm missing something real
I need someone who really sees me

"A challenge?" Akira thought.
Nah, scratch that. "I get enough of that from Uozumi-sempai."
A face with a fierce, determined expression in his blue eyes flashed through his mind. And Rukawa-kun, too.
Akira decided to disregard that thought, wherever that had come from.
Don't ignore me!
Akira snorted. I can very well do that if I want to, thanks very much.
Well, it's true. Rukawa Kaede is a big challenge for you.
To distract himself, Akira got up and walked over to his desk, pulling an immensely large textbook towards him. Seomthing else had caught his interest, though.
A videotape lay near a framed photograph of himself at the Jr. High Basketball Nationals. He looked at his image in the picture, holding the trophy for his team, before turning his attention back to the tape.
Odd. I wonder where that came from?
He picked it up, and noticed that a sheet of paper was pinned down by it.


Eh, Sendoh-san,
I dropped by earlier to give you this tape, but you
weren't around when I came by, so I asked the
househelp to leave this in your room. Hope you find it
interesting!
Aida Hikoichi

Akira plugged the tape into the VCR. A few seconds into it, the tape showed a jump ball between two gorillas, one clad in white and the other in red.
"I'm hallucinating," he said with a laugh as he shook his head.
He watched the game progress with intense interest. [A/N: It's supposed to be the practice game between Shohoku and Ryonan. I just didn't know where to put it in the story...]
* * *
"Well, at least now I know how I could guard Rukawa better at the eliminations," he said forty minutes later. The super rookie's speed and ability had surprised Akira when they were in that game, so he had been sort of slow to react. He understood Rukawa's style better now, though. Now there's someone to look forward to at the Inter High.

==========================

Akira sat in the stands, watching the game develop.
The #11 of Shohoku made a dash for the ball, and quickly passed it back to his teammates to prevent it from going out-of-bounds just before he rammed headlong into the wall.
Akira gasped, then stood up, wondering -- along with everyone else -- what had happened to the player.
What he saw wasn't a pretty sight. Rukawa lay still and motionless on the floor, apparently knocked out. The rest of Shohoku's basketball team ran to the injured figure.
The manager quickly called for an ice bag, and a few minutes later, the one with the earring handed it to her. Mitsui, the ex-MVP, supported Rukawa into a sitting position, and the girl held the ice bag to Rukawa's head. A trickle of blood made its way down the side of the pale face.
A few, breathless moments later, the eyelids fluttered open to reveal blue eyes, glinting in the lights of the gym. Those eyes met with Akira's own azure ones, and Akira felt his heart catch in his throat.
He has beautiful eyes. I wonder what he'd look like if he smiled...

==========================

The morning sun and the clatter of trucks outside roused Akira from his sleep.
Weird. I could have sworn I was watching a game.
Indigo fox-like eyes flashed briefly across his mind, and Akira felt his cheeks flush at the memory of what he felt when their eyes met.
Why, though?

~tsuzuku~

Nyahahaha!!! Well, some of the lyrics just didn't fit the story at this point... I just had to remove them... "All The Love In The World" is a love song, ne? Demo, nothing's happening between the two of them - yet. So, due to the weirdness of my plot, I was coerced (yeah right) to not put in some of the lines...

Anyway, whatcha think? I had trouble writing this chapter, since I was writing it on the Sunday before our quarterly exams... And I had to get writer's block and mental block at the same time...

Yes, I know the chapter's short, but bear with me. It's exam week, for sobbing out loud...