Dislcaimer (I finally remembered): Slam Dunk doesn't belong to me. Even if I said it did, you won't believe me anyway. BTW, I'm really surprised at the result of the little survey I did. I actually expected mai to be labelled a slut (that's what I pictured her when I wrote that chapter) but you don't seem to agree – which is GOOD! I was afraid I did something wrong and made you hate mai! Ha ha! Continue!
Fer-chan: Hey, make up your mind. Is Maki demanding or romantic? My Raya day was nice. : ) Got lots of green packets filled with interesting useable papers!! Ha ha!
Frozenfemale: Thank you! Read on!
Fiery-ice: If my OC's ever become Mary Sues, please be one of the first to throw me over a cliff.
Shirodachi: Record yourself while you read THIS chappie, okay? Count and then tell me the number of squeals you produced!!
Metallic gene: I'll try and see what I can do with the monkey and Jin. Thanks for reviewing!
Alexia: Yes, I've tried playing Piano. For um…to weeks?
Lazuli: *checks to see if her eardrums are still in one piece* Whoa! That's one heck of an ARGH! Ha ha!
Lambie: Find out what Mai'll do!
Akane: Wow, your understand of Mai'd situation astounds me! I like it best when the readers can relate to the story! Thank you!
Iceland: He he, we'll see how strongheaded Mai is... *turns to herself* And exactly how are you going to do that? *starts to sweat* Shaddup! Just see!
Tensaispria: next time, you can sing Holly Valance's song to me. ^_^
SLL: Updated! You think my story is real? Good. I was thinking it was getting a little over-the-top! Ha ha!
December Morning Owl: Fiery-ice made the same suggestion you made. Tell you what, after I finish all of this trilogies, I'll do side stories with all of my characters and SD characters mushed up together. ^_^
Jo-sen7: Yeah, Mai's pathetic *shakes her head at her own OC* Still, don't let that deter you from enjoying this chap!
Tiran: wow, your synopsis of Mai's character really struck a chord in me. It's like, you actually paid attention to her and analysed her! Thank you! And I agree with what you see!
Mimi: Sensibility is always the preferred trait! Ha ha!
Joy: I loved your analysis, and you're absolutely right! It amazes me how you guys actually see and understand the characters! *too touched that she start bawling* I'm thinking, since you want to see what will happen now after they've kissed, this chap won't disappoint you!
White soul: You can read my jin fic if you want jin so bad! Ha ha! But I'll try brining it Jin as much as I can.
Patty g: What will Maki do? Come to think of it, what CAN he do??
Rapt142: I hope your new perspective of Maki isn't any worse than it was before??
Picky-devil: *mai kicks picky-devil in the butt for calling her a retarded and then turns on to nothingtodo because she was the one who did the survey* Woo hoo! Thanks for reviewing! Those were very nice things that you said! *beams* I myself hate mary sues.
"I think the team's ready," Enrio Fuji informed in a slightly excited tone, as he overlooked the volleyball players fool around with the ball. "We're sure to ace this competition, don't you think so, Mai? Mai?"
Mai blinked. "Huh? What?"
He gave her an amused smile. "Never mind," he laughed. "I see you're not interested in discussing volleyball today."
Mai gave a wan smile. "No, I don't suppose so. I'm still very tired after yesterday." Now that it was mentioned, yesterday's memory filled in and Mai blushed guiltily at Enrio. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden reddening, but then smiled. "Something wrong?" he leaned forward and gave her a short kiss.
"No," Mai shook her head quickly and awkwardly, even as the other volleyball members made wolf-whistles at them and yelled for them to go get a room. "I just … no, nothing."
The way he was looking at her made her feel worse. She liked Enrio, that was absolute, but not quite in the way he expected her to. Which was really stupid. Why couldn't she like him in that way? He was smart, he was good, he was kind. Mai genuinely wished she could fall for Enrio, but it just wasn't happening.
She shouldn't have accepted his suggestion that they hook up. She was only going to hurt him and herself. What she'd done yesterday had been solid proof.
Mai sighed silently. But she had been vulnerable when he'd asked with that puppy eyes of his. She was still deciding between going after Maki or not going after Maki, and Enrio had appeared as a promising distraction.
Unfortunately, he wasn't distracting enough.
Mai felt that things would be okay if she steered clear of Maki and devote all her attention to Enrio. But that wasn't possible. They still had private coaching together, and besides, running away wouldn't really help. So Mai had decided that she would just keep it cool and not do any more foolish things.
She would be professional with Maki.
She would resist him.
She would be composed and calm.
But when she stood at the gym door and watched him do a lazy shot as he waited for her, all her would-be's dropped down to the ground. Suddenly running away seemed like such a nice and exciting option.
"G' evening."
Darn, he'd seen her. Mai put in one shaky leg into the gym and then stepped in. "Good evening," she replied. "I suppose I'll have to continue shooting." Without another word, she took a ball from the enormous pile and went to the other side of the gym to practice.
Maki smirked. She was determinedly avoiding the dreaded topic – and eye contact. Fine. He'd go along with it – for some time. "Lift the ball up, don't smash it. Gently. GENTLY, Mai. Your purpose is not to break the hoop." He checked back the groan when the ball missed the target. "One more time. Try not to jump so high. Focus your energy at your knees, not arms."
It went on for an hour, Mai attempting and attempting a goal and Maki babbling away instructions at her from the sidelines.
"Almost," Maki muttered, hands on hips. "But not quite. Don't close one eye when you shoot. Use both eyes. And jump slightly further from the hoop. I don't want you banging into it instead of the ball."
Mai sighed quietly; careful not to let it be heard by Maki and once again took position at a fair distance from the hoop. She dribbled the ball for a few seconds and then ran, stopped and prepared to shoot. Okay, watch legs, hands gentle, jump not too high, open both eyes, push ball inside – She gasped. "It went IN!!"
Maki was smiling. "I'm shocked. It must be some sort of an illusion."
"It went IN! It went IN!" Mai was jumping around ecstatically. "DID YOU SEE THAT?? It went IN! IN, I tell you! IN! Oh my gosh," she squealed delightedly. "Did you see that? Did you get that? Did you record it somewhere?"
"No, I didn't."
She ignored him and immediately continued celebrating, all but kissing and hailing the orange ball. "I've got to tell my friends –" she muttered breathlessly. "I'm sure they haven't gone home yet. You wait here, all right? I'll be back right after I finish bragging –"
"No, Mai. Come back."
Mai looked pained. "But I want to –"
"You practice more shots, and you'll have more to brag about, won't you?" He flicked his finger and ordered her back. "Continue. When you've made at least five shots, I'll let you go."
Mai beamed at him. "I did it," she chanted. "I actually scored a point or two."
"Two." He reminded primly.
"Ah, right." She impulsively went over to hug him. "I'm so happy. I wish I had a video-cam. A wonderful moment missed." She sighed blissfully. "I am so proud I could burst!"
Maki flashed a dry smile. "You're welcome."
Mai blinked, and then laughed. "Sorry. Thank you, coach. I really appreciate your belief and support." She pushed herself back and looked up at him. "Really."
He thought about it, and then, with a sly grin, hooked his hands around her waist and trapped her. The humour went out of her eyes as she realised what was coming up. "Are you going to kiss me again?" he asked, shifting easily from serious mode to heart-breaker mode.
Mai felt something lumpy stuck in her throat. "I better go practice more shots."
Maki wasn't sure if he was amused or annoyed. "Why are you so terrified?" he asked. "Are you and Enrio already married or something?"
"I really think I should go practice more shots."
"Dump him."
Mai's mouth dropped open. "What??"
Maki shrugged. "Dump Enrio."
Mai struggled to make her brain function properly and then shoved him away. "Who on earth do you think you are??" she said furiously. "You can't just tell me to dump him. Have you no regard for people's feelings? You think he'll like it if I came up to him and said, 'hey, sorry, but we gotta split. Good luck in your future undertakings'??"
"I deal with things as they are," he said patiently. "If there are people hurt along the way, then it was necessary." He looked pointedly at her. "You may think I'm cruel, but don't you think you're making things worse if you keep leading him on pretending that you're in love with him? Have you no regard for people's feelings?"
Mai gritted her teeth defensively. "I do –" she took a deep breath, "love him."
"That's nice," he muttered. "And of course, you spend half your time convincing yourself of that – and the other half thinking about me."
She hissed. "How arrogant can you get?" And how accurate can you get? "Yes, I admit, I did think a lot of you. DID. Notice the past tense. Not anymore, though. And if you'll just open your eyes, you'll realise that you're not exactly all that hard to forget about."
He raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem to do very well at it."
That's because I have to be around you practically 24/7. "I'll go practice," Mai said again, a little more firmly this time. "This is a dumb discussion. Don't ever mention it to me again. Whatever I did that gave you the idea that I'm mad about you was a mistake, so forget about it. Now where's the blasted ball?"
He simply took hold of her chin and kissed the busy mouth, gradually bringing it up to a full-blown snog. Mai spluttered foolishly and felt herself unconsciously responding. When he pulled back and got a good look at her face, he grinned in pure satisfaction. "I think that sums up the argument and answers most of the questions and doubts."
Mai found time to come up with unearthly curses. "What are you trying to do?" she demanded furiously, aware that she had been used and twisted around neatly by him. "You don't even like me in that way, so what's the point of muddling my brain up and confusing me with wrong signals?"
He looked surprised. "Of course I like you in that way," he said matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't."
Mai's eyes widened. She tried to resume breathing. "I'll tell you again: this is a dumb discussion. It's out of this world. You can't just prance in and say things like that and think I'll come running to you."
He gave her a funny look. "You know, if I wanted something, there should be no reason why I shouldn't have it." He paused. "I want you, so why shouldn't I have you?"
She sputtered. "Why? Because I'm involved with someone else, that's why."
"So? Get uninvolved."
"I don't want to hurt Enrio." Mai said sharply. "He doesn't deserve it."
"If you continue this deception," Maki countered calmly, "you're going to break him. He doesn't deserve that either."
"It's NOT a deception," Mai roared. "I may not feel that way about him – yet, but I will if I work at it." Her eyes narrowed. "And I definitely WILL work on it, and on forgetting about you as well."
He snorted. "I'd like to see you try." He smiled down on her then. "Good luck."
Mai went home seething and boiling – and uncomfortable.
"I see," Enrio's eyes narrowed into slits as he stood face-to-face with Maki.
"I'm glad we understand each other," Maki responded easily. "I wouldn't want to seduce your girlfriend behind your back. It's much better out and open, isn't it?"
Enrio didn't say anything.
"I just want to say you should be careful around her," Maki smiled. "One wrong move, one open opportunity for me. And I never waste opportunities." He waved in a friendly manner. "See you then."
"You won't get her," Enrio muttered then, his eyes ablaze.
Maki turned back. "That remains to be seen."
Waaah! Maki sounds so MACHO and SEXY and DAMN COOL in that last bit! *congratulates herself and continues drooling over Maki*