Notes: Makoto's role is finally revealed here… but I'm not going to write in her point of view I think. She just has an important role in the story.
Disclaimer: SlamDunk belongs to Takehito-sama.
Cupid
Chapter 5
During break, Hanamichi and Youhei came to look for Haruko. They found her, and also found Makoto sleeping at her desk. Hanamichi walked over, blushing when he passed Haruko, and then shook Makoto gently.
"Oi. Mak-chan. Wake up. Don't you go acting like the kitsune. Oi!"
Makoto half opened her eyes, mind still fuzzy from sleep and stared at Hanamichi for a few moments.
"Hana-kun...? You're not in my class. What are you doing here?" She sat up suddenly, realising the fact that she had slept half of her classes away. Youhei watched in amusement.
"Problem with your job?"
"Hai. Not used to getting home at three in the morning. Thank goodness it's only on alternate days," Makoto replied sheepishly, rubbing her eyes a little. She arched her neck a bit to see Hanamichi hovering over her.
"Hana-kun, you still haven't told me who's the mysterious kitsune." She grinned, showing that she had heard what he said. Hanamichi glared angrily, and was about to reply, when Haruko, all the while being ignored by the trio( amazing! can u imagine? haruko ignored by Hana?), cut in, asking the question that had obviously been on her mind since Math lesson.
"Aoshima-kun, do you play basketball?"
Makoto raised an eyebrow. This girl is really a basketball fanatic...does she ask every single guy that? Instead of voicing her thoughts, she just nodded.
" I played basketball in junior high."
Hanamichi, suddenly aware of Haruko's presence again, began chattering with her. Makoto and Youhei just listened in. Makoto was observing Hanamichi. 'Is he really that crazy over Haruko like he said it was? It doesn't seem right. They look more like best friends...' A voice in her mind quietly reprimanded her.
'You think everyone in love has to be like you when you were 14?'
'.....I guess not then...' She shrugged away the thought almost as immediate as it came.
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When the bell rang, Makoto quickly grabbed her bag and went straight to the gym. Hanamichi had shown her the gym during break and she needed to change before the rest of the team arrived. She locked the locker room before changing her clothes in a matter of seconds. Just in time when she unlocked the door, Hanamichi tumbled in. He looked at her and grinned sheepishly.
"Just thought I'll keep watch just for today. In case, you know...someone decided to come early?"
" Thanks a lot. I needed that. One-on-one?"
Hanamichi laughed and said something about her not having a chance against the King of Rebound as Makoto walked to the gym, ball in hand. She smiled. He was always so full of confidence. She reached the court and then did her warm-ups, just when Hanamichi stepped in. When they were both warmed up, they started their game, since it was still half an hour from the actual practice.
Hanamichi started first, faking and then dodging Makoto, dashing ahead, with Makoto closing the distance form behind. Just as he was about to make a jump to perform a slam-dunk, Makoto ran ahead of him. He was about to bring the ball into the basket, when a blur shot up from below him, knocking the ball away from his hands. Hanamichi was surprised. Good as she was, Makoto always had a disadvantage when it came to jumping, simply because she was more than 10 cm shorter than Hanamichi and that Hanamichi could jump higher even if he was not trying, even if they were of the same height.
" Mak-chan! How...jump...so high...?"
Makoto stared at the redhead, trying to make out what he was trying to say, until she finally realised the source of his surprised look. She gave a half-smile and shrugged.
"Thanks to you, I guess. I've been trying to improve on my jumps ever since God knows when. Improved quite a lot since I started playing one-on-one with you. See, I can jump about high enough to grab the hoop, hehe...jealous that I can catch up with you, Hana-kun?" Makoto jumped up fully to demonstrate what she meant as she teased Hananmichi while hanging on to the hoop. She let go and landed safely on two feet. Then Makoto ran to the corner to collect the ball. Dribbling the ball and walking back to half-court, she raised a finger.
"My turn, ne?"
Hanamichi positioned himself in front of Makoto in a defending position. After a little more dribbling, Makoto made her move. She tried a fake to the left, but Hanamichi did not fall for it. She tried to evade Hanamichi a few more times, but could not lose him. Frustrated, she leapt high and swished the ball, catching Hanamichi by surprise, because no one would ever think of shooting outside of a three-point area! The ball curved and went in nicely through the basket. Hanamichi stared in shock and wonder as the ball bounced nicely and rolled to the entrance of the gym. He snapped back after a few hard shakes from Makoto. Running a hand through his hair and murmured, disbelievingly.
"Kuso....you've improved so much, Mak-chan..."
Makoto smirked and replied," That's what you get for not playing with me for a whole three months, Hana-kun."
"But I had the IH, then the back injury....!" Hanamichi protested but stopped when he saw who was at the entrance.
Makoto also froze when she went near to the entrance. A raven-hair boy about the same height was standing there, ball in hand. His blue eyes reflected the shock when he saw his childhood friend playing one-on-one with his crush.
"KITSUNE...!!!???"
"KAEDE?"
"Huh!?" Hanamichi was even more shocked when he heard what his friend had called the kitsune.
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Rukawa stared at the two shocked faces that he knew so well. He had come fifteen minutes earlier as usual, but was surprised when he heard the thumping of basketball and the squeaking of sports shoes when he approached the gym. He peered in and saw Hanamichi playing one-on-one with another person whose back was facing him. Hanamichi defended the person so well that the stranger could not break through. Seeing Hanamichi was enough to send his heart running 80km per minute, but Rukawa could not help but feel that the stranger was not as unknown to him as it was.
The person's figure looked familiar. Shorter than him, slimmer, a slightly muscular form. The ball was dribbled with great ease, lightly bouncing against the gym floor, the wrist moving swiftly all the time. The name registered in his mind when he saw the figure shoot a three-pointer somewhere around the centre court. Only one person he knew had the ability to do that. Aoshima Makoto. What was his childhood friend doing here in Shohoku? I thought she went to To-whatever. Then he heard what Hanamichi called her. Mak-chan!? Hana-kun!? Although he knew that it was his childhood friend, Rukawa could not help but feel the pain that shot through his entire being when he heard the closeness of his friend and his crush.
"...Makoto."
tbc