Title: Friends, Lovers and Brothers  

A/N: Lazy, me!!!! uh… I'm down with chicken pox *cries*… but anyway, here's chapter 16, I hope u enjoy it!!!!!!

Chapter 16-Hot Rivals

      'Why would a parent want to do that to us? There's no pressure from us either way? Darn that girl!' Mrs. Jin rattled on to herself, the confrontation, which ended only an hour ago, replaying itself in her mind with such vividness.

      'If she wasn't so forgiving, so soft and yet so stern… it would be a hell lot easier for me!' she breath out in total anger… and confusion. Here she was, lying in a semi-dark room alone, her semi-dark room, and for once, she couldn't understand what had just happened.

      Once in the while, the laughter of the five teenagers floated up to her, making her more distressed and uncertain.

      They were so happy… so complete

      She sighed… What was in them? Even her husband didn't know, he had just walked out of the door saying that he needed time alone, time to think things through… but…

      '…trying to hide from insecurity…people like you!' a ghost-voice whined in her mind. Insecurity? That was the last thing that she would ever thought she was. I mean like… come on! Throughout her whole life, she knew what she was doing, she was always in control, but…

      '… they don't know what they are living for, and that makes them insecure' another voice whispered in her mind. And after some thinking, she had to admit, she had never knew what she was living for… and there were times in which she felt lonely… and so utterly empty…        

      'Arrggghhhhhhh!' she screamed aloud, muffling the sound with her pillow.

      'They try to create a reason for living…

      A reason?…

* * * * * * * *

      'Heart attack!' Sendo screamed.

      'Ohhhh,' Fujima moaned, 'I always lose!'

      'Yup!! Even Kaede beats you!' Aya said, smiling ever so broadly, looking at Rukawa with an evil glint in her eyes.

      'And what is that supposed to mean?' Rukawa asked, eyes flashing dangerously.

      'Uh… I think you know exactly what I mean, Kaede-chan,' Aya muttered a little sarcastically, stressing on the –chan.

      'Why you…!' Rukawa said in mock seriousness, and started towards her, playfully punching her.

      'Both of you will make a terrible family,' Fujima cried out, while beside him, Sendo was on the floor, laughing his head off.

      Rukawa and Aya merely ignored them, continuing with their so-called fight… until Rukawa managed to tickle Aya.

      'Hey! No fair!' Aya cried.

      'Oh?' Rukawa asked, lifting an eyebrow, but when he saw her face going slack, he quickly muttered, 'Gomen.'

      Aya slumped her shoulders, all playfulness going out of her. She lay down, eyes on the ceiling, hands on her stomach.

      'Onii-chan… was she serious?' she whispered after a long pause. Tears coursed down her cheeks, and their heart broke, just seeing her like that. She was so… strong, on the outside, but inside, she was the same… and although maybe needing an official name as a daughter wasn't all that important, but to Aya, it was precious. She had not been able to grasp what it really meant to be a daughter during her 15 years stay with her dad, and… she yearned to feel it… to know what it's like to have a proper father.

      Rukawa lifted her head a little, and placing it on his lap, he stroke her hair placidly. Fujima and Sendo just stared, not wanting to say anything as they themselves didn't know. Slowly, Jin took a deep breath, thinking through her question.

      'Well,' he started off, choosing his words carefully, 'she didn't do it in the end now, did she?'

      'Yeah, but she meant to right? She was really planning to do it?' Aya mumbled incoherently, looking out into the inky blue night. Rukawa wiped a tear away from her eyes.

      'It… well… yeah. Maybe she did,' Jin muttered.

      'Aya, give her some time-ne? she needs that… you can't expect her to just accept you…' Fujima tried consoling her.

      'Yeah, I ruined her life didn't I? *Sigh* What on Earth did I do?' Aya asked.

      'What on Earth could I do?'

      'Nothing,' Sendo replied.

      'Nothing.' Aya looked up at him, and then at all of them there, and slowly a smile spread across her lips.

      They were always here for me… and they will always be…

      'Thanks… I love you guys,' Aya said, squeezing Rukawa's hand softly.

      They just smiled back in return.

      I'll always be here for you guys too…

* * * * * * * *      

      Fujima looked around, registering absently the five girls that stood out from the crowd. His gaze swept past them, returned to the other four beside him still hearing the click of their highheels as they walked around.

      '… my mom would've killed me,' Sendo was saying.

      'Huh?' Fujima asked. Sendo looked at him intently, then reiterated,

      'If I brought a dog in my house my mom would have killed me.' Fujima started laughing, drowning all the whoops that was going around because of the five girls.

      'You're allergic to dogs! Why on Earth would you want to bring a dog into the house?' Fujima managed with gasps of laughter. The other three were also giggling madly, not listening to a word that Sendo was saying to defend himself.

      'But… that was ages ago! Maybe I'm not allergic anymore!' Sendo tried again and again. Suddenly Fujima became serious.

      'You know what? Maybe you're right… but I remembered… yeah it was hardly a week ago, we encountered a stray dog, were thinking of bringing it home with us when you suddenly had a coughing fit.' Fujima had managed to say the whole thing with a straight face although the rest were laughing so hard that tears rolled down their eyes. Sendo's face grew red.

      'I was drinking water!'

      'Yeah and…' Aya managed that far, but collapsed, unable to finish her sentence, into a laughing fit. Rukawa, who was only smiling tried it for her.   

      'Yeah, and…'

      'Are you guys from Kanagawa?' one of those five girls that Fujima saw asked them. There was a sudden pause, in where everyone was looking at them, or should we say, looking at the girls who were dressed in… shall we just say skimpy clothing? And of course, high heels.

      Fujima scrutinized them for a while, then nodded.

      'Hai, we are. And you?'

      The girl looked at him, and then, in a sophisticated manner, said, 'We're from NZ, the first team challenging you today.'

      'Oh,' Aya said, as the silence was getting awkward. The girls, upon hearing Aya's words looked at her, interested.

      'So in Japan, girls play basketball too?' she asked again.

      'Yeah,' Sendo said, nodding. Then looking pointedly at the girl, 'we don't know your names.'

      'We don't know yours either,' she snapped back, rudely, surprised at being asked to actually do something she didn't intent to.

      'Well, I'm Fujima, Sendo, Jin, Rukawa and Aya,' Fujima introduced them all, while beside him, Sendo, Rukawa and Aya were getting real angry at being brushed off like that.

      'Maa, maa,' Jin muttered to them.

      'Liz, Ric, Nez, Canby and Vulpt,' Liz muttered, pointing. Then, looking behind the five of them, 'Substitutes?'

      Jin nodded, naming them all. They were all staring starry-eyed at the five girls in front of them… except Hanagata.

      'I wish to strangle them,' Sendo said in Japanese, seething in anger, and inwardly, Fujima agreed.

      'Huh?' Liz asked, looking at Sendo questioningly.

      'Uh, nothing,' Jin muttered. Aya, feeling that it was pointless to continue their talk just looked at Fujima, who understood her look perfectly.

      'Oh, so, see ya,' he said, turning to walk away.

      'Matte!' Hanagata said. The five of them turned.

      'Nani?' Aya looked at him questioningly.

      'What about your substitutes?' Hanagata asked the girls.

      'Oh? We don't need them. We can manage by ourselves,' Liz answered easily. Rukawa clenched his fists.

      'I do wish I could twist your egoistic features in my hands,' Sendo breathe out, and this time, Jin didn't even say anything. Even the other four guys who were, at first going ga-ga about the girls, looked at them in absolute distaste.

      'They're so pretty, but so damn egoistic!' Mitsui muttered angrily.

      'Let's go!' Fujima said to them all, choosing to ignore Mitsui's last reply.

1 hour later…

NZ's locker room…

      'Okay, girls, let's kick their butts… and show them just how good we are!' Liz pep talked them.

      We don't really need pep talk… we could do it without any such talk… but anyway…

      'Sure! Let me try to brown-haired guy,' Vulpt said.

      'Uh… I wanted him… okay, I'll take the porcupine… Sendo was it?' Nez muttered softly.

      'I'll take that egoistic ******… Rukawa… Boy, I'd like to see him being sorry!' Canby said, a smile floating across her lips.

      'I'll take the black-hair… he looks so innocent,' Ric smiles wickedly, 'I want to see what happens to him when he mixes with us.'

      'Okay, I'll take the girl, Aya. We'll do our usual strategy, defend and test their strength in the first half, and a heavy attack in the second. Came on, girls! We can beat them to pulp!' Liz ended her 'talk'.

Japan's locker room…

      'They're so quiet,' Ryota muttered to Mitsui, who nodded, looking at them worriedly.

      They're so… relaxed. Those girls… they look better than all the others we've competed with from Japan

      'Fujima, don't look down on them because their girls,' Mitsui said aloud.

      'Huh?' Fujima asked, looking at him in pure shock. He had been busy talking to Aya about this comic that she had apparently fallen in love with. Sendo and Jin, who were talking about worrying about what their mother's would do if they failed their end-term, too stopped and looked at Mitsui. Rukawa merely snored away.

      'Don't look down on them because their girls,' Mitsui reiterated.

      'Why would we?' Fujima asked wonderingly.

      Well, you certainly look like you are looking down on them!

      'How could we look down on them when we have one playing with us?' Jin asked good-naturedly.

      'Uh… who?' Sendo asked naughtily. Aya gave him a solid punch. Without opening his eyes, Rukawa my muttered, 'I don't think that one, if she is who you are referring to, can actually be called a girl.' Aya, who nearly went to him to slap him, was held back by Fujima.

      'Why did you open your big mouth, Jin?' he asked, while Jin giggled away.

      The five substitutes sweat-dropped at the scene in front of them.

      A/N: BTW, to those who are also reading my fic called Malice in Darkness, I'm really sorry, but I need t suspend that fic for a while. Gomen-ne? but I really can't continue for the time-being…