Cantankerous

[Single chaptered]

Author: Ilúvënis Telperiën

Disclaimer:

+ The OC [Lavender Lim] belongs to herself. She happened to be my dear ole friend who kept complaining that I am egotistic and never writes a story for her.

+ Anyway, Slam Dunk and its characters belong to Takehiko Inoue, IT Plannings. Shut up if you want to sue me, I don't have money.

+Also, loads of hugs for Fen who beta-read (past tense*grin*) and edited this story. I think she rather enjoyed correcting my grammatical errors. ^^;;

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It was 7 am in the morning. In the quiet school grounds of Kainan High, a lone figure sat by the pond with her head lowered, seemingly in deep thought. A quiet wind swept the campus, sending fallen leaves rustling across the ground.

She lifted her head and examined the surroundings with a scowl, "This school has a bad color scheme, I think purple was probably the only good color they thought of for the school…"

The fish in the pond looked at her quizzically, swimming away thinking, "What the hell is she doing here if she's not here to feed us…"

She glared at the fish, "What are you looking at? Shoo~!"

A light chime sounded somewhere within the school, and she instinctively stood and walked towards the classroom block.

Lavender walked into the classroom, still slouching a little from the weight of her big, violet colored bag. Her hair was slightly frizzled out, but presentable, though one would hesitate to call it feminine. She tugged at her school skirt, grumbling, "Stupid skirt, so short!"

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He jumped into the air, flicking his wrists skilfully at the same time, sending the orange sphere across the court in a beautiful arc. The familiar 'swish' could be heard. Jin wiped sweat off his eyebrows casually.

"Bravo Soichiro! It's the 400th successful shot in a row!" Maki praised his junior fervently. Jin had practiced long and hard to achieve what he did now.

"Arigatou, Senpai," The good-natured boy smiled, "I wouldn't have learnt so much if not for your consistent help,"

"Your hard work brought you this, really. Kiyota! Did you see that? You have miles to go before you catch up with Jin at long distance shots."

"Gyah, Senpai! I'm the number one rookie! Nothing is too difficult for me, nyahhahahhah!" The boy with a ridiculous wild mop of hair cackled loudly.

The two seniors looked at each other and sighed.

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"So, the formula of the equation…" The Chemistry teacher went. Lavender listened on with much enthusiasm. After all, she liked Chemistry and was pretty good at it. A light snoring came from the back of the class. She frowned lightly.

How could anyone fall asleep in Chemistry lesson? Chemistry is so interesting!

The purple veins at the teacher's temples were apparent. He walked down the aisle between the desks and stopped by the boy. "Kiyota! Wake up!"

The boy fidgeted a little in his sleep, but did not wake up as the teacher hoped. He muttered something that sounded vaguely like, "Shut up Dad…it's Sunday…" The whole class sniggered. Lavender sighed in exasperation, "Okay, son, Dad will finish your blueberry pie for you."

"NO~!" Kiyota sat up violently. The whole class exploded in laughter - including the teacher. Kiyota looked around wide-eyed. Then, he realized what he had done and turned scarlet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maki dug into his bento box with gusto. His sister was a great cook and he always had the fortune of having the best lunch anyone could have. A loud shout from a distance took his attention.

"KIYOTA NOBUNAGA! HAND UP YOUR CHEMISTRY ASSIGNMENT RIGHT NOW!"

It was a girl. Grumpy. Short haired. Yelling at his junior.

Maki raised his eyebrows in amusement. Kiyota must be pretty late in handing up his assignment, since the expression on the girl's face was a little less than cheerful.

Kiyota ducked as a random canteen bench came flying at him, "Yeooooooow Lavender! You don't have to be… [Duck]… so …[jump]… violent!"

WHAM!!!

A chemistry textbook whacked him right on the head a little less than lightly.

"HAND IN YOUR CHEMISTRY ASSIGNMENT!"

"I haven't finished it!"

"I don't care, finish it now!"

"I can't! I have basketball practice now! SENPAI, SAVE ME!" Kiyota spotted Maki and started running in his senior's direction, seeking refuge.

Maki watched in amusement as the refugee came running, "Why, Kiyota? Couldn't submit your work on time?"

"Senpai~!" Kiyota whined most piteously, "I have loads of work to do and…"

"For the sake of Lavender-san, I think you can go to practice later."

"I rather…" Kiyota shut up promptly at the sight of Lavender's formidable fists.

"Okay…" With his head downcast, Kiyota dragged his feet back to class. He completed his chemistry assignment in the end and everyone is happy.

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Lavender mused over her Mathematics assignment solemnly, "So I get the differentiation of the velocity, then multiply by…"

A loud shout from outside the classroom shocked her from her work, "Lavender~!"

"WHAT?!" She glowered, stomping out of the classroom to murder the person who had so unwittingly disturbed her work.

An entourage of people appeared out of a corner and Kiyota came behind them, with a huge blueberry cake.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They chorused. Kiyota grinned from ear to ear, "Congrats Lavender! You are officially a year older and…you have one more wrinkle! Gyahahahhahah!"

Shocked and overwhelmed with astonishment, Lavender gaped at everyone. "Wh…what?"

"It's your birthday, darling," a classmate patted her head.

"Don't pat my head!" she scowled. "But the cake's pretty. It's purple!"

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OWARI

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Author's note: For a little side-read to Lavender's adventures, refer to the story 'aho'. ^^ She occupied two (very violent) chapters of the story.