CHAPTER 3: MITSUI, RUKAWA, AND SENDOH
By: Alea
School ended and Mitsui sat on the entrance of the empty school steps. He couldn't help but think of Chiharu. Her smile, her lips, her body. Everything was so perfect. During class, she was so silent and only said one thing, "Hi."
But out of class, she's vibrant and funny and not to mention, fun-loving.
No one could keep their hands off her. All except, Sakuragi. He had his heart set on Haruko for a long time and he still does. It's amazing that he loves her so much and can't just ask her out!
*~*~*~*~*
Rukawa was on his way out when he spotted the girls' changing room. He stopped for a moment and peeked into it. He saw Chiharu. The girl that had his heart racing every time. He had his hand on his chest to feel the pulse. His heart was beating heavily and he never had felt this way before. Never in his whole life has he ever met such a gorgeous, fun-loving, basketball freak in his lifetime.
"God is probably blessing me." He snickered at that thought. Though he knew he shouldn't let himself be too exposed to the world. His only love was and still is basketball. To become the best in Japan. The whole of Japan! The best forward too. And make Shohoku the best team there ever lived. That was his goal and nothing else. Nothing until now. Since yesterday his new goal was to be the best and have Chiharu by his side. He slowly closed his eyes and meditated. He had to be good compared to Michy today. He had to otherwise Chiharu..
"Damn that Chiharu." He thought once more. "She's always on my mind.. She's on my mind way too much!"
Rukawa shook his head and wiped his face with his hands. "I just need to relax."
Right then, Chiharu's face popped out onto Rukawa's sight. "Hey Rukawa. Mitsui's probably waiting for us."
Rukawa let a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to say anything stupid right in front of her.
"Yeah." He muttered. He shouldn't be always opening his mouth. He should be his old self and maybe she'd like him for that. "Let's go."
Chiharu pulled out a hair tie from her board shorts. She shook her hair back and slid the hair tie into the slot where her hands were.
Rukawa just took a glance at her and walked forward. If he kept looking at her, he would say something pretty stupid and she would think him of an idiot.
*~*~*~*~*
Mitsui was still waiting on the steps and kept thinking of Chiharu. He had heard from Sakuragi that her basketball was good and he should watch out. He also mentioned that she has been playing for fourteen years and that means she's been playing at the age of 1 for she's only 15. Mitsui felt a little strange thinking of her playing at the age of one. Which little girl could pick up the ball only at the age of one? And could start dribbling? "Amazing." He said to himself.
He then heard the sound of a nice soft happy laughter and a low mellow tone that reminded him of Rukawa… and Chiharu.
"Rukawa laugh?" He thought and to see for himself, he got up and saw his first smile and that he wasn't dreaming after all. It was actually the sound of Rukawa's laugh.
Chiharu walked onto the steps first and she spoke softly to him.
"Hey." She bit her lower lip.
Mitsui grinned at her and held his hand in front of her. "Hey."
Rukawa, seeing the sparkle in her eye, decided to say something. "Mitsui. Nice to see you."
Mitsui looked at Rukawa with a slight smile. "You've changed. A LOT."
Rukawa smiled. "You noticed." He took the ball from Mitsui's hand and beckoned them both to follow him.
"Let's play some ball!" Chiharu shouted as she ran after Rukawa. "Come on Mitsui! Maybe you could teach me something!"
Mitsui laughed. "What the hell." He ran after the two and rushed to get the ball.
As they reached the court near the park, Chiharu started to jump up and down with excitement.
"I so can't believe that I'm going to play with to really good players!! I'm so lucky!"
Rukawa looked at Mitsui and he looked back at Rukawa.
"How bout' a little 2 on 1? Eh Chiharu?" Asked Mitsui. "Me and Rukawa against you."
Chiharu put her hands on her hips. "That's not funny!"
Mitsui started to laugh and Rukawa only smiled.
"I'm serious!"
The ball was passed to Chiharu and she caught it firmly. She looked down at the ball and up at Mitsui who smiled devilishly.
"You start." Rukawa muttered as he got on defense. "Mitsui, you get on her. I'll get defense if she passes you."
Mitsui grinned. "That is, if she passes me."
Chiharu stuck her tongue out. "What does that supposed to mean?"
She dribbled down the court with Mitsui stuck in her face. She looked deep into his eyes glaring at him and he was trying to figure out what she was about to do. She had her pivot foot stuck to the ground but then lifted her heel and got her left foot around to make it look like she was going to dribble to her right but this was done in a swift motion. And at the same time she was dribbling. Mitsui read her thoughts and went left. But she knew if he read that move, the right side of her would be free, and it was. She dribbled the ball at a fast pace and almost stopped when she saw Rukawa his hands were up and his eyes was placed on the ball. She faked right and left but he read her agile movements. There was nothing she could do but to shoot at the three-pointer line but this time, Rukawa was in her face. She realized in an instance if she shot at a higher level, the ball might go in on her fade away shot and not letting Rukawa touch the ball. She did and her thoughts were correct. The ball went high and it seemed like it would go off but it went cutting into the net with Mitsui astonished.
"Three-pointers are my specialty."
"I know." Chiharu said with a smile on her face.
Rukawa stood behind her. "Nice Shot."
She swirled around to meet Rukawa's gaze and when she did, she seemed to be a little closer to him. Rukawa gulped and she tried to say something. But was cut off by a whistle near by.
"Shit." Mitsui swore under his breath. "There's a practice game between Ryonan and Kainan. Let's go!"
"Ryonan?" She asked herself. "Sendoh."
*~*~*~*
"I hope Mitsui is coming to watch this. After all, he won't have enough time to watch a lot of games once he enters University." Haruko mentioned. "Too bad, Sakuragi that we couldn't practice today."
Sakuragi laughed aloud. "That's okay Haruko-Chan because it won't effect my Tensai playing!"
Ayako, who sat beside him, rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Here comes his famous self-centered Tensai speech." She thought.
"I think it would be great if Mitsui played because we only have for players for the starting team." Ryota sat on the other side, of course, of Ayako. "We need one more player."
"We could use someone…" Ayako's voice trailed off when she saw Chiharu and the smiling face of Rukawa. And following them was great Mitsui who was being praised by some cheering fans of his. Strangely, the Rukawa brigade was about to say hi but didn't when they saw Chiharu.
"Have you heard of Ryonan, Chiharu?" Rukawa silently asked as he took a seat to the front.
Chiharu sat down next to him. "Have you heard of Sendoh, Rukawa?"
Rukawa looked up in shock. "What's with Sendoh?"
Chiharu clung onto the railing. "It's nothing. I was just asking if you knew him. I heard his name being called before so, yeah." Chiharu looked away.
Rukawa spotted the guy. "That's.." Before he could say anything a tear dropped from Chiharu's eyes. "Chiharu?"
She found Rukawa's hand and let her blonde long hair fall. "I fell in love with him. But he didn't realize this until; I told him and went back to America. But," She paused and she smiled and gave a little laugh. "That was a long time ago."
Rukawa put his hand under her chin and rubbed her tears, which scared Sakuragi and the rest. Rukawa, and feelings? This was certainly amazing.
"Did that actually happen or was that a dream?" Ayako was shocked in amazement.
Haruko sat in awe. "Rukawa's so sweet."
"Are you seeing this Michy?" Sakuragi asked. "Ryochin?"
Ryota and Mitsui were totally amazed at Rukawa's reactions. Yes, Rukawa was sweet inside but he never ever showed this 'romantic' part of him before.
"Are you okay?" Rukawa asked.
"Fine." She rubbed her eyes and to her surprise she looked at Sendoh with a smile.
Sendoh turned to the crowd and spotted her. He gave her a smile and a wink. "Hey."
"Hi." Chiharu answered.
Rukawa still touched her hand and when he realized she didn't let go, he felt his heart beat faster. He quickly let go and touched his heart. "Chiharu." He whispered. "Amazing what she does to me."
He looked at the girl and she was leaning against the railing shouting, "Ryonan! Ryonan!"
"You make me feel.. like I am someone." He said quietly but facing her.
Sakuragi was busy staring at Chiharu and Rukawa. "Unbelievable." Sakuragi told himself. "Rukawa loves Chiharu."
Suddenly, a fan slapped his head and an upset Sakuragi looked up at Ayako. "Aya-Chan!"
Ayako looked fiercely at him. "Leave them alone and watch Fukuda. Watch Sendoh too."
"Just watch the game Sakuragi!" Ryota roared. "And watch the moves of Sendoh. Maybe you could pick something up from him."
Mitsui sat there next to 'Ryochin' as Sakuragi liked to call him. He fell in love with Chiharu. She was amazing on the court, a wonderful person to be with, and was gorgeous. But it seems that Rukawa might be able to take her away from being single.
"If only.."
"Michy!" It was Yohei. "Hey."
Mitsui looked at Yohei and said nothing. But, "What is it?"
"Mind if you show me some three-pointer shots?" Yohei acted if it was urgent. "Want to come?"
Mitsui saw Yohei's eyes speeding back and forth from Chiharu to him Chiharu to him.
Mitsui stood up and looked at Ryota who was looking at Mitsui weirdly.
"I'm going to just get something with Yohei." He lied. "I'll be back. Don't worry."
Sakuragi looked at Haruko with a weird expression on his face. "Where's the rest of them? I thought they were betting today."
"I don't know." Haruko answered.
"I guess it's because Tensai is not playing and Tensai.." The fan swapped Sakuragi right on the forehead.
"Watch the game Sakuragi!" Scolded Ayako. "Ryota might be right. You might pick up something. So stop with the 'Tensai' Talk!"
Sakuragi faced down at Rukawa who was now watching Sendoh closely.
"What does he have to do with anything?"
*~*~*~*~*
The game was over and Ryonan won by: 90-87. It wasn't such a marvelous game. The real star was Fukuda and of course, Sendoh.
Rukawa wasn't so surprised that Ryonan easily won because the fatal error was Uozomi last year but this year, Maki wasn't there but they still hand point guard Sendoh. It was an obvious game and Chiharu knew it too. But that wasn't all she knew.
"Hey Chiharu. You okay?" Rukawa asked as they stepped out of the stadium. Everyone had left and they were the only ones sitting outside. To Rukawa, it seemed quite romantic. 'the wonderful site of his love, basketball and the girl, Chiharu.' Was all he could think about.
Chiharu dug through her pockets and she was pretty frustrated as she searched for something.
Rukawa was pretty confused. So he decided to ask, "What are you looking for?"
She tried to talk but she felt empty. "My hair tie."
Rukawa took a look at her and saw a thick thread poking out of her breast pocket. He paused and smiled. 'That must be it.' He thought.
As he leaned closer, she paused and slowly looked at him.
'Is he about to kiss me?' She asked herself.
He leaned closer and pulled out the string from her breast pocket.
She smiled and sighed in relief. "That's not it." She said with a little giggle.
He smiled but kept his posture. He was still leaning forward to her. He had no idea why he was doing this and what he was doing. He just felt that he should stay there. Then, his smile turned to a cold face.
Chiharu was still giggling until she met his cold gaze. 'He must be sleeping.' She thought. 'He always sleeps. Well, that's what Haruko told me.'
She gazed into his eyes and found that it was beautiful. She slowly moved closer to him. 'Well, if he was asleep..'
She paused and suddenly Rukawa's face came nearer to hers. 'He wasn't sleeping.' She said to herself. "And duh! If I could see his eyes, it's pretty obvious he's awake."
His trembling hands supported her and then his lips touched hers and for a short moment, Chiharu felt an amazing feeling. She suddenly yearned for it. Then to Rukawa's surprise, she pulled his head forward and started to kiss him. This was his first kiss, and it was amazing, and it felt so relieving that he wanted it more. Just like how she yearned for it.
She pulled a smile.
And he softly caressed her face. "I've only known you for a short while. But it seemed like I've known you my whole life."
Chiharu held his hand near her face. "My hair tie."
They looked at each other seriously and in a few seconds, they burst out laughing. Rukawa sat back and she stood up. "I think I left it inside." She said.
"You want me to wait for you?" Offered Rukawa. Once in his life, he finally enjoyed something, Chiharu.
"Nah it's okay. You can go on without me. I'll see you tomorrow. And maybe after school for your practice!"
He grinned and waved good bye. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She grinned back and watched him leave. "Wow." She thought to herself.
By: Alea
School ended and Mitsui sat on the entrance of the empty school steps. He couldn't help but think of Chiharu. Her smile, her lips, her body. Everything was so perfect. During class, she was so silent and only said one thing, "Hi."
But out of class, she's vibrant and funny and not to mention, fun-loving.
No one could keep their hands off her. All except, Sakuragi. He had his heart set on Haruko for a long time and he still does. It's amazing that he loves her so much and can't just ask her out!
*~*~*~*~*
Rukawa was on his way out when he spotted the girls' changing room. He stopped for a moment and peeked into it. He saw Chiharu. The girl that had his heart racing every time. He had his hand on his chest to feel the pulse. His heart was beating heavily and he never had felt this way before. Never in his whole life has he ever met such a gorgeous, fun-loving, basketball freak in his lifetime.
"God is probably blessing me." He snickered at that thought. Though he knew he shouldn't let himself be too exposed to the world. His only love was and still is basketball. To become the best in Japan. The whole of Japan! The best forward too. And make Shohoku the best team there ever lived. That was his goal and nothing else. Nothing until now. Since yesterday his new goal was to be the best and have Chiharu by his side. He slowly closed his eyes and meditated. He had to be good compared to Michy today. He had to otherwise Chiharu..
"Damn that Chiharu." He thought once more. "She's always on my mind.. She's on my mind way too much!"
Rukawa shook his head and wiped his face with his hands. "I just need to relax."
Right then, Chiharu's face popped out onto Rukawa's sight. "Hey Rukawa. Mitsui's probably waiting for us."
Rukawa let a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to say anything stupid right in front of her.
"Yeah." He muttered. He shouldn't be always opening his mouth. He should be his old self and maybe she'd like him for that. "Let's go."
Chiharu pulled out a hair tie from her board shorts. She shook her hair back and slid the hair tie into the slot where her hands were.
Rukawa just took a glance at her and walked forward. If he kept looking at her, he would say something pretty stupid and she would think him of an idiot.
*~*~*~*~*
Mitsui was still waiting on the steps and kept thinking of Chiharu. He had heard from Sakuragi that her basketball was good and he should watch out. He also mentioned that she has been playing for fourteen years and that means she's been playing at the age of 1 for she's only 15. Mitsui felt a little strange thinking of her playing at the age of one. Which little girl could pick up the ball only at the age of one? And could start dribbling? "Amazing." He said to himself.
He then heard the sound of a nice soft happy laughter and a low mellow tone that reminded him of Rukawa… and Chiharu.
"Rukawa laugh?" He thought and to see for himself, he got up and saw his first smile and that he wasn't dreaming after all. It was actually the sound of Rukawa's laugh.
Chiharu walked onto the steps first and she spoke softly to him.
"Hey." She bit her lower lip.
Mitsui grinned at her and held his hand in front of her. "Hey."
Rukawa, seeing the sparkle in her eye, decided to say something. "Mitsui. Nice to see you."
Mitsui looked at Rukawa with a slight smile. "You've changed. A LOT."
Rukawa smiled. "You noticed." He took the ball from Mitsui's hand and beckoned them both to follow him.
"Let's play some ball!" Chiharu shouted as she ran after Rukawa. "Come on Mitsui! Maybe you could teach me something!"
Mitsui laughed. "What the hell." He ran after the two and rushed to get the ball.
As they reached the court near the park, Chiharu started to jump up and down with excitement.
"I so can't believe that I'm going to play with to really good players!! I'm so lucky!"
Rukawa looked at Mitsui and he looked back at Rukawa.
"How bout' a little 2 on 1? Eh Chiharu?" Asked Mitsui. "Me and Rukawa against you."
Chiharu put her hands on her hips. "That's not funny!"
Mitsui started to laugh and Rukawa only smiled.
"I'm serious!"
The ball was passed to Chiharu and she caught it firmly. She looked down at the ball and up at Mitsui who smiled devilishly.
"You start." Rukawa muttered as he got on defense. "Mitsui, you get on her. I'll get defense if she passes you."
Mitsui grinned. "That is, if she passes me."
Chiharu stuck her tongue out. "What does that supposed to mean?"
She dribbled down the court with Mitsui stuck in her face. She looked deep into his eyes glaring at him and he was trying to figure out what she was about to do. She had her pivot foot stuck to the ground but then lifted her heel and got her left foot around to make it look like she was going to dribble to her right but this was done in a swift motion. And at the same time she was dribbling. Mitsui read her thoughts and went left. But she knew if he read that move, the right side of her would be free, and it was. She dribbled the ball at a fast pace and almost stopped when she saw Rukawa his hands were up and his eyes was placed on the ball. She faked right and left but he read her agile movements. There was nothing she could do but to shoot at the three-pointer line but this time, Rukawa was in her face. She realized in an instance if she shot at a higher level, the ball might go in on her fade away shot and not letting Rukawa touch the ball. She did and her thoughts were correct. The ball went high and it seemed like it would go off but it went cutting into the net with Mitsui astonished.
"Three-pointers are my specialty."
"I know." Chiharu said with a smile on her face.
Rukawa stood behind her. "Nice Shot."
She swirled around to meet Rukawa's gaze and when she did, she seemed to be a little closer to him. Rukawa gulped and she tried to say something. But was cut off by a whistle near by.
"Shit." Mitsui swore under his breath. "There's a practice game between Ryonan and Kainan. Let's go!"
"Ryonan?" She asked herself. "Sendoh."
*~*~*~*
"I hope Mitsui is coming to watch this. After all, he won't have enough time to watch a lot of games once he enters University." Haruko mentioned. "Too bad, Sakuragi that we couldn't practice today."
Sakuragi laughed aloud. "That's okay Haruko-Chan because it won't effect my Tensai playing!"
Ayako, who sat beside him, rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Here comes his famous self-centered Tensai speech." She thought.
"I think it would be great if Mitsui played because we only have for players for the starting team." Ryota sat on the other side, of course, of Ayako. "We need one more player."
"We could use someone…" Ayako's voice trailed off when she saw Chiharu and the smiling face of Rukawa. And following them was great Mitsui who was being praised by some cheering fans of his. Strangely, the Rukawa brigade was about to say hi but didn't when they saw Chiharu.
"Have you heard of Ryonan, Chiharu?" Rukawa silently asked as he took a seat to the front.
Chiharu sat down next to him. "Have you heard of Sendoh, Rukawa?"
Rukawa looked up in shock. "What's with Sendoh?"
Chiharu clung onto the railing. "It's nothing. I was just asking if you knew him. I heard his name being called before so, yeah." Chiharu looked away.
Rukawa spotted the guy. "That's.." Before he could say anything a tear dropped from Chiharu's eyes. "Chiharu?"
She found Rukawa's hand and let her blonde long hair fall. "I fell in love with him. But he didn't realize this until; I told him and went back to America. But," She paused and she smiled and gave a little laugh. "That was a long time ago."
Rukawa put his hand under her chin and rubbed her tears, which scared Sakuragi and the rest. Rukawa, and feelings? This was certainly amazing.
"Did that actually happen or was that a dream?" Ayako was shocked in amazement.
Haruko sat in awe. "Rukawa's so sweet."
"Are you seeing this Michy?" Sakuragi asked. "Ryochin?"
Ryota and Mitsui were totally amazed at Rukawa's reactions. Yes, Rukawa was sweet inside but he never ever showed this 'romantic' part of him before.
"Are you okay?" Rukawa asked.
"Fine." She rubbed her eyes and to her surprise she looked at Sendoh with a smile.
Sendoh turned to the crowd and spotted her. He gave her a smile and a wink. "Hey."
"Hi." Chiharu answered.
Rukawa still touched her hand and when he realized she didn't let go, he felt his heart beat faster. He quickly let go and touched his heart. "Chiharu." He whispered. "Amazing what she does to me."
He looked at the girl and she was leaning against the railing shouting, "Ryonan! Ryonan!"
"You make me feel.. like I am someone." He said quietly but facing her.
Sakuragi was busy staring at Chiharu and Rukawa. "Unbelievable." Sakuragi told himself. "Rukawa loves Chiharu."
Suddenly, a fan slapped his head and an upset Sakuragi looked up at Ayako. "Aya-Chan!"
Ayako looked fiercely at him. "Leave them alone and watch Fukuda. Watch Sendoh too."
"Just watch the game Sakuragi!" Ryota roared. "And watch the moves of Sendoh. Maybe you could pick something up from him."
Mitsui sat there next to 'Ryochin' as Sakuragi liked to call him. He fell in love with Chiharu. She was amazing on the court, a wonderful person to be with, and was gorgeous. But it seems that Rukawa might be able to take her away from being single.
"If only.."
"Michy!" It was Yohei. "Hey."
Mitsui looked at Yohei and said nothing. But, "What is it?"
"Mind if you show me some three-pointer shots?" Yohei acted if it was urgent. "Want to come?"
Mitsui saw Yohei's eyes speeding back and forth from Chiharu to him Chiharu to him.
Mitsui stood up and looked at Ryota who was looking at Mitsui weirdly.
"I'm going to just get something with Yohei." He lied. "I'll be back. Don't worry."
Sakuragi looked at Haruko with a weird expression on his face. "Where's the rest of them? I thought they were betting today."
"I don't know." Haruko answered.
"I guess it's because Tensai is not playing and Tensai.." The fan swapped Sakuragi right on the forehead.
"Watch the game Sakuragi!" Scolded Ayako. "Ryota might be right. You might pick up something. So stop with the 'Tensai' Talk!"
Sakuragi faced down at Rukawa who was now watching Sendoh closely.
"What does he have to do with anything?"
*~*~*~*~*
The game was over and Ryonan won by: 90-87. It wasn't such a marvelous game. The real star was Fukuda and of course, Sendoh.
Rukawa wasn't so surprised that Ryonan easily won because the fatal error was Uozomi last year but this year, Maki wasn't there but they still hand point guard Sendoh. It was an obvious game and Chiharu knew it too. But that wasn't all she knew.
"Hey Chiharu. You okay?" Rukawa asked as they stepped out of the stadium. Everyone had left and they were the only ones sitting outside. To Rukawa, it seemed quite romantic. 'the wonderful site of his love, basketball and the girl, Chiharu.' Was all he could think about.
Chiharu dug through her pockets and she was pretty frustrated as she searched for something.
Rukawa was pretty confused. So he decided to ask, "What are you looking for?"
She tried to talk but she felt empty. "My hair tie."
Rukawa took a look at her and saw a thick thread poking out of her breast pocket. He paused and smiled. 'That must be it.' He thought.
As he leaned closer, she paused and slowly looked at him.
'Is he about to kiss me?' She asked herself.
He leaned closer and pulled out the string from her breast pocket.
She smiled and sighed in relief. "That's not it." She said with a little giggle.
He smiled but kept his posture. He was still leaning forward to her. He had no idea why he was doing this and what he was doing. He just felt that he should stay there. Then, his smile turned to a cold face.
Chiharu was still giggling until she met his cold gaze. 'He must be sleeping.' She thought. 'He always sleeps. Well, that's what Haruko told me.'
She gazed into his eyes and found that it was beautiful. She slowly moved closer to him. 'Well, if he was asleep..'
She paused and suddenly Rukawa's face came nearer to hers. 'He wasn't sleeping.' She said to herself. "And duh! If I could see his eyes, it's pretty obvious he's awake."
His trembling hands supported her and then his lips touched hers and for a short moment, Chiharu felt an amazing feeling. She suddenly yearned for it. Then to Rukawa's surprise, she pulled his head forward and started to kiss him. This was his first kiss, and it was amazing, and it felt so relieving that he wanted it more. Just like how she yearned for it.
She pulled a smile.
And he softly caressed her face. "I've only known you for a short while. But it seemed like I've known you my whole life."
Chiharu held his hand near her face. "My hair tie."
They looked at each other seriously and in a few seconds, they burst out laughing. Rukawa sat back and she stood up. "I think I left it inside." She said.
"You want me to wait for you?" Offered Rukawa. Once in his life, he finally enjoyed something, Chiharu.
"Nah it's okay. You can go on without me. I'll see you tomorrow. And maybe after school for your practice!"
He grinned and waved good bye. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She grinned back and watched him leave. "Wow." She thought to herself.