Rivalry: the truth behind the scenes

Strife: Hi there again! And so, we move on to the second chappie! This fic will only be three chapters long so…there'll  be…hmm…*counts her fingers and did the math* Er…well… Ah, yes! One more chapter to go folks! Please, if ever this fic doesn't measure up to your expectations, don't get angry at us. We're only here to share our ideas. Isn't sharing a good thing? Of course it is. So be good little readers and don't tell us nasty things, okay? After all, it's not our fault that these people turn out that way. Okay, so maybe it is our fault for we're the ones who made this fic. But really, what we're only doing is to broaden the interesting little pieces we observed while watching the show (told you we're keen observers). Oh, and please review! Admit it. We writers are a tad bit hungry for those. ^_^ (Warning: A lot OOC)

Disclaimer: If ever we owned Slam Dunk, the players would actually be straight men and Strife would've had Kogure in bed this instant. ^_^

Akagi's contemplations

I sighed as I took a seat down the benches at one side of the court.

No one's here yet . . . figures. I suppose I came to the gym a little bit too early.

Thirty minutes early to be precise.

I quickly changed into my practice jersey and did drills around the court. I figured that I looked like an idiot, playing and running around the court by my lone and handsome self, but as a team captain, that was just one of those sacrifices that had to be made.

Yeah, right. Team captain my foot.

We all know the actual reason why I always go to the gym early. I was hoping to find Kogure in here early and play a one-on-one with him, therefore at least having some time alone with him as a friend.

Pathetic as it may sound, I know where exactly I stand. A friend. And I am content being just that. For now, anyway.

But when I get the courage to do so, I sure will sweep him off his feet.

Now if only some certain denture-wearing gangsta dork would back off my property, I'd be perfectly fine…

I did my warm-ups, stretching and stuff, got the ball, and then worked my way around the court. I must have looked stupid, playing alone, and pretending that I was kicking a certain greasy haired freak's ass in this game. Three guesses who that is.

After twenty minutes of dribbling, faking, and jumping by myself, I was already sweaty and panting. I took my water bottle and then took a seat at the bench once again.

And then I relaxed.

I must have dozed off since the next thing I heard was the bustling and squeaking of shoes on the gym floor. But the sound that woke me up was Sakuragi's voice calling himself a genius.

I sat up right and watched the scene. The carrot-topped annoyance was boasting of something about giving them all good laugh because they were being stiff.

Whatever it was, his smug face is as sure as hell irritating me.

I stood up and walked over there, his back was turned to me so obviously, his guard was down.

His mouth was now shooting a blast of curses and I felt a vein pop in my temple.

Why does he always have to make me do this?

I conked him on the head, hard.

He clutched his head and crouched down. Served him right for having an ego the size of Japan. Well, at least he's quiet now, though I know very well that oh, the precious silence would not last long.

It was then that I saw, or rather, noticed the people around us. There was the super rookie, Rukawa, the big headed greasy haired freak, Mitsui, and of course, the very rude Sakuragi.

I turned my head, scanning the gym silently with my eyes.

Where could he be?

And then I noticed him, just standing there and looking at our little group. It took every bit of me not to sigh and ogle at his presence. My beloved Kogure. If only you'd be mine…

Sakuragi immediately stood up and opened his mouth when the coach sauntered in the gym doors.

"Practice game! Pick your own teams!" he said loudly (as usual) and then proceeded to his usual seat, face unmoving and impassive (as usual) and Ayako (as usual) ran up to take her (usual) place at his side.

Just then, I noticed Miyagi stand up from one of the benches and walked towards us . . . and then started teasing Sakuragi.

It really was, truly, astonishing to find Miyagi back on the team. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything but, it really was one hell of a shock to find him alive and in one piece after all of those gang fights.

The guy was great in basketball, absolutely no doubt about it, but you got to admit, he was a fool when it comes to love. Too bad Ayako doesn't want to get 'involved' right now. Wonder why though, it's not like Miyagi's got dentures or something.

Speaking of dentures, I now see the egotistical three-pointer hovering over there contemplating which team he should choose.

Like there's a contest. Of course yellow is the team for me; and I show everybody just that as I throw a benchwarmer a yellow shirt and wear one myself.

I look over to Kogure and almost jumped in delight as I see him putting on a yellow shirt himself.

My eyes flickered over to Mitsui's face and the stupid looking frown that was spread on his ugly mug brought a feeling of something very close to triumph.

I smirked unconsciously. Boy, this was too good to be true . . . I'll ship Mitsui's ass in this game. I know that he has the hots for Kogure . . . and I won't let him get the person I love in this earth.

One whistle sounded and the game began.

I played the game smoothly, if I may say so myself. Even with my teammates (Sakuragi, Kogure and two benchwarmers), I played the game well.

Just too bad, if Rukawa was on my team, we would be unstoppable. But alas, it was not meant to be. It was just a practice game, anyway.

I looked at Kogure and saw him smiling at Mitsui. I almost dropped the ball and trip. As a safety measure, I passed the ball to Sakuragi and kept watching them.

Kogure has already resumed playing but Mitsui stood still. A goofy grin and all on his face.

This was it. He was so going to pay.

I saw in the corner of my eyes that Rukawa stole the ball from Sakuragi, and ran towards their end of the court. Damn.

I run towards Mitsui, who fell back behind for some reason, and decided to guard him. I glared at him and his stupid blushing face. What a shallow guy.

He was in front of me, with the ball behind me, but he ignored my glares on account of the fact that he was looking --straining, actually-- at something behind me. Tough, 'cause I am way taller than he is.

The crowds cheered and I knew that their team scored a point.

I left Mitsui's front with a grunt and ran towards our end of the court, with my team mates behind me.

I looked back to where Kogure was playing --standing-- when I felt the ball was suddenly passed into my not awaiting hand. I looked at where exactly it came from and surprises of surprises; it was from Sakuragi, who had a mawkish grin in his face.

I looked back again to Mitsui's place and noticed that he was just standing there, with his face reflecting the one that was petrified. You know where one person has his jaw hanging on the floor? I threw the ball back to Sakuragi

Yeah, and I looked at where he was looking and all I saw was Kogure; Kogure wearing a very attractive shade of red on his cheeks. His face in a beautiful smile.

I turned to look at where he was looking and that's when I knew things would never be the same again.

BLAG!