Disclaimer : Slam Dunk is owned by Takehiko Inoue. Rani is mine!

Note: Sentences in italics are thoughts.

Madness

Chapter 3: Rani, The Hentai

It was just another Saturday morning. The four men just finished playing their usual basketball game and Rani just finished her jogging. They decided to go and take breakfast at a nearby fastfood restaurant. Mitsui, Kogure and Rani are sitting beside each other on one bench while Rukawa and Sendoh are on the other bench facing them. Sendoh and Rani are at the aisle.

They were already eating when Kogure remembered something. "Rukawa-kun, I'm sorry I was not home when you dropped by."

"It's alright."

Sendoh whistled and grinned widely when a rather seductive young woman wearing skin-tight micro-mini skirt passed by.

"Sexy eh?" Rani winked and made the remark to Sendoh in English.

"Yep. Too bad I am not alone or I would have used my pick up lines." Sendoh answered back in English. He flashed a hentai smile.

"Ohhh Mr. Casanova, so what's your favorite position?" She grinned back.

Sendoh grinned at the Mr. Casanova remark. "I'm a forward."

Rani frowned at him. "Forward?" She scratched her head. Must be a Japanese thing. "But it's not a position, it's how you move, right?"

Kogure, her housemate who is sitting beside her was starting to feel uncomfortable at their exchange though. "Anou…Rani…" He softly called her attention.

Still confused on the 'forward position', Rani turned to him. "Nani, Kogure-kun? I was just asking Sendoh-kun here what's his favorite sex position. He said forward. How do you do that?" She blurted out without even batting an eyelash but her eyebrows are knitting from confusion.

Kogure sweatdropped. A piece of French fries decided to lodge itself on Sendoh's throat. Rukawa stopped munching his food and looked at her. A clueless Mitsui just looked at his companions.

"Wa-water!!" Sendoh was holding his throat while his other hand was frantically waving, gesturing for the precious water.

"H-here!" Kogure grabbed his glass of water and gave it to Sendoh.

Sendoh finished the glass of water in two gulps. "Ah! That's better!" Then he looked at Rani. "You know, you are something else!" He grinned then he gestured for her to come closer.

Rani stood up and bent closer to him. Sendoh cupped his hand around his mouth as if whispering something into her ear. Her face lighted up, her lips formed into an O then she covered her mouth and started giggling.

Kogure's glasses got fogged. Rukawa was just staring at her. Poor Mitsui is still clueless.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rani decided to drop by at the mall after work as she needed a battery replacement for her cellphone. It took her a lot of prodding just to convince Kogure that she will be alright. Sometimes, she just wants to move around alone so she could learn on her own. Also, she would feel very awkward going on shopping with the bespectacled man always following her around. Men, as she has observed them are not born to survive the laborious ways of shopping as they easily get bored and tired from all the walking and window shopping. She thinks he was being over-protective but Kogure thinks otherwise as he very well knew that she is a girl and she is a gaijin. He also feels he is responsible for her because they live together. He has always been very protective of his friends and teammates before so it is no wonder that he would feel the same towards her.

Just when she was going out of the store, she spotted a man no so far away. Mitsui-kun!

She waved at him and was about to run to his direction but Mitsui suddenly disappeared. Nevertheless she ran to the same spot where she saw him and looked around.

Weird. Where did he ran to? Oh well.....

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"yea, yea, yea

Tried to make it little by little,
tried to make it bit by bit on my own….."

There she goes again. Kogure shook his head while washing the dishes. It was his turn to do the chore tonight. Rani was sitting on the living room couch bellowing out lyrics singing to her heart's content.

"…..Quit the job, the grey believers,
another town where I get close to the bone….."

He's not really complaining. He smiled. Who would have thought he would have a housemate like her? But he was grateful because there's never a dull moment with her. Besides, having her as a housemate means he was saving on rent and other household expenses as they divide everything between them.

"….Whatcha gonna tell your brother? - oh oh oh
whatcha gonna tell your father? - I don't know!
Whatcha gonna tell your mother? - Let me go..."

He likes the house they were renting. It is sitting on a regular-sized lot surrounded by a low fence and a small gate. There is a pavement from the gate entrance to the porch of the house. After entering the gate, one would see a small garden on the left side and then a small basketball court on the right side. Inside to the right is the living room, to the left is the kitchen/dining area. The bath is just beside Rani's room and near the kitchen.

That's right, it's the small basketball court that really appealed to him when he looked for that place. It was a bit pricey but he liked it. Well, now, it's not so hard for him anymore because of Rani.

"….I'm gonna get dressed for success
shaping me up for the big time, baby.
Get dressed for success
shaping it up for your love, for your love yea yea yea…."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Oi! Let's get something to eat. I am already starving." Mitsui called out to his companions.

"Hai!" Kogure got up and dusted his shorts. Rukawa picked up his ball and jogged to join them.

"Kogure-sempai, where is your little sister?" Sendoh teased.

"Huh? You mean Rani? She's at home."

Rani is not with them because she only jogs in the morning. The four men decided to play basketball in the afternoon this time.

"Too bad, there's no one to entertain us heheh…"

"Maa….she is really nice. She's just mischievous sometimes." Kogure replied.

Mitsui smirked. "You mean hentai." He has already known the exchange about Sendoh and Rani at the fastfood when he asked Sendoh about it before they parted ways that day.

Kogure glared at his friend. [A/N: Kogure glaring? Kawaiiiii!!!! *faints*] Then his thoughts drifted back to that fateful day in April.

Kogure's POV

Is it possible to die of embarrassment? Oh, how can I forget? Did I ever say that Rani loves festivals? Yes, she loves festivals, so when two of our colleagues, Ayame-san and Harumi-san invited her to go to Kawasaki, I decided to accompany her. To cut the story short, we took the train to Kawasaki to attend a festival. It slipped from my mind to ask what kind of a festival was that because Japan has a lot of festivals anyway. Rani and I were together while Ayame-san and Harumi-san were together and I noticed that they were both giggling once in a while. She was wearing a kimono with her camera hanging on her neck. Ok, we were all wearing a kimono. It was the first time Rani wore a kimono though and she was very excited. And also a lot of gaijins there were wearing a kimono.

It was only when we arrived there that I learned that it was Kanamara Matsuri Festival or Festival of the Steel Phallus. It was a yearly fertility festival. There were a lot of people alright, mostly gaijins like her. A lot of transvestites dressed at their best also attended. Before long, a large pink phallus was being paraded in the middle of the street. Yes, a large pink phallus. By then, my face was also turning pink. There I was with two Japanese women and one female gaijin who are looking so amused at the parade. Ayame-san and Harumi-san were pointing at the you-know-what. As for Rani---

"Hahahahah! Kogure-kun, this is soooo much fun!" Right, she was running down the street like a child, her pony tailed hair dangling at her back.

You could imagine me cowering. That's right, cowering from embarrassment.

Well, that was just for starters. When she read from the leaflet that it is considered good luck to embrace or ride one of the big phalluses, the three girls took their turns and did all sorts of pose. Of course it was all captured on film. I thought I was safe but all of a sudden, all the three girls grabbed me, dragged me and made me embrace-the-you-already-know-what. Rani told me that I need all the goodluck I could get. Again, it was captured on film. Before long, there were other gaijins who did the same thing after us. Then Rani spotted another phallus sitting up straight from the ground. She sat on it and asked Ayame-san to take her picture. A group of gaijins were laughing at her while she was doing that. Ayame-san and Harumi-san did the same thing too. They were smiling and laughing all the time as if they were having the best times of their lives. Great….

Then there was a time when I didn't notice that they left my side for a couple of minutes because I was busy sweatdropping. When they came back, they were licking lollipops in the shape of a….of a….a…..[sweatdrop] you already know. Ok, by then, my glasses were constantly fogged. She was actually being thoughtful because she did not forget to give me one of those lollipops, which I quickly put in my pocket.

If any of my teammates knew about that, I would never live it down. I mean, can anyone imagine me, a Mr. Nice Guy, a shy guy with three girls on a festival like that? So now, every time she wants to go to a festival, I would research on what kind of a festival is that. As for my pictures, I made Rani swear that she would never show it to anyone. So, if anyone is going to ask me, is it really possible to die of embarrassment? I almost did.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Kogure-kun, here, have some candy." Rani herself was eating the sourball as her friend accepted the sourball she gave him.

They were already getting ready to walk out of the hospital as their shift has already ended. He popped the candy into his mouth. After a few seconds, his facial expressions were turning into a frown then into a grimace then he felt his face turning white.

Rani turned back and spotted a lady not so far away from them and waved to her. "Maru-chan!!!" She nudged the man's ribs beside her not noticing his predicament. The force almost caused Kogure to swallow the sourball.

M-m-maru-chan? Is she talking about my Maru?

"Hello there, Rani, Kogure-kun!"

Ok, it's official, I am going to die of embarrassment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acknowledgement: Dressed For Success was sung by Roxette.