Disclaimer: (and this goes for everything I write about Slam Dunk) I do not own Slam Dunk. I own Yukie Shibahime.
Only When I Sleep
Chapter 3
[Saturday; headed to practice]
Rukawa Kaede was sleeping peacefully. Naturally, he was dreaming about her. She was wearing a mint green sundress and she looked really pretty, he thought. He woke up when he crashed and wrapped himself around a post, the front tire of his bike bent.
Baka. How many times must he tell himself that? He hated crashing his beloved bike. He had accumulated so many scratches from all the times he fell asleep on his bike that he had sworn so many times that he would not sleep on his bike anymore...but he couldn't help it. It was the only time he saw her.
Only when I sleep, he thought. He started to pedal again, and this time, instead of sleeping, he thought about his dream.
He always thought she was pretty, like a burst of sunshine.
Ugh. He was getting too poetic.
Besides, how could he think she was pretty when he couldn't even see her face? For all he knew the girl in his dreams could be a faceless ghost of some sort.
**********************
Despite Rukawa's small accident, he still arrived early for basketball practice. He entered the gym quietly, after parking his bike of course, then changed to his jersey and started to practice.
The gym door swished open and in walked Haruko.
"Ah, konnichiwa, Rukawa," she greeted, blushing prettily.
He ignored her, as usual, and she silently scolded herself. What was the use? No matter how many times she talked to him (or at least tried to) she would never hear a response from him. She sighed in defeat.
Where were the others? She looked at her watch.
1:43 pm.
She was 17 minutes too early for practice. (A/N: she's Ayako's assistant) She sat down on one of the benches near the court and stared at RUkawa, who was still practising by himself.
Why did she even like him? He was a jerk. yeah, that's what he was. A cold-blooded jerk.
But despite the number of times she repeated that thought in her head, a stubborn little voice in her mind would reply, "we both know that isn't true, Haruko...You're just saying that..."
The sound of the gym door opening broke into her thoughts. Kogure, Akagi, Mitsui, Ayako and the others entered the gym.
"Konnichiwa, Haruko-chan!" Ayako greeted, sitting down on her usual chair located beside the bench Haruko was sitting on.
"Konnichiwa," Haruko mumbled in reply.
"Is there a problem? You look...forlorn," Ayako said, peering closely at her assistant.
"Betsuni." Haruko smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
**********************
[3:13; Shohoku gym; break]
The gym door slammed open and a voice said, "Kaede-kun!"
Heads swiveled, searching for the voice. It belonged to the girl standing by the gym door.
Haruko stared at her.
She wasn't cute, nor was she pretty. She was...beautiful.
She had long black hair that reached her waist, and she also had black eyes to match. Her skin was fair, her height, just right; not too small, not too tall.
She was beautiful, Haruko thought again.
Ayako's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Kaede-kun?" Ayako asked disbelievingly.
The girl standing near the gym door strolled in, and Haruko could see the confidence in her steps. She walked up to Ayako and said, "Gomen, I didn't know there would be anyone else here aside from Kaede...Where is he? I really need to see him."
Then, seeing Ayako was still staring at her, she introduced herself. "I'm Yukie Shibahime. You are?"
"Ayako, the team manager of the Shohoku's basketball team," Ayako replied, smiling. (A/N: sorry, I don't know what Ayako's full name is...Can't find it anywhere...Does anyone know her full name? Please tell me.)
"Ah, Ayako. And you are?" Yukie asked, turning to Haruko.
"Haruko Akagi, Ayako's assistant." Haruko tried her best to glare...Who was this Yukie? She was beautiful, she was nice, and she called Rukawa...Kaede-kun.
Haruko, you're envious of her!
"Ah, hello Haruko! It's nice to meet you! Where's Kaede?"
Haruko pointed to Rukawa, who was mindlessly playing by himself at one side of the court.
"Kaede-kun!" she yelled happily. She then ran over to Rukawa and gave him a tight bear hug.
"Shi-chan?" Rukawa asked. (A/N: Shi-chan is from her name, SHIbahime.)
"Kaede! I couldn't wait until you got home so I went over...your maid said you were here, and here I am!"
"Yukie, you're here!" Rukawa whispered at the girl in front of him.
"Yeah, didn't I just say that?" Yukie grinned at her best friend. "It's your break right? Stop practising for a while..."
Rukawa half-glared at his friend. "I'm practising."
"Dozo, Kaede-kun." Yukie looked at him with a sad-puppy-look on her face.
"Fine, fine."
Yukie half-dragged Rukawa to a bench and started to talk.
Meanwhile, everyone was staring in amazement at what had just happened.
Rukawa spoke? Haruko thought.
**********************
"Shi-chan, you know I'm really glad you finally came home, but did you have to come here while I'm practising?" Rukawa said.
Yukie punched him on the shoulder. "Don't be mean. I was just excited. Besides, I didn't know that there would be other people here. By the way, I have a question...Why are all of your teammates looking at us strangely? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing? Do I have a smudge on my face? Oooh, maybe you have a girlfriend and they think you're cheating on her!"
Rukawa sweatdropped.
"Shush, chatterbox," Rukawa said, using his childhood nickname for her.
"Well?" Yukie asked when Rukawa didn't answer her question. "I repeat, why are they looking at us strangely?"
"Because they think this is unusual."
"They think what is unusual? You talking to a girl?"
"No, just me talking."
Yukie glared at him. "Explain."
********************
[3:30 pm]
Ayako blew her whistle and its shrill sound echoed throughout the gym.
"MINNA-SAN! Let's resume practice!" she yelled.
Rukawa stood up and looked at Yukie.
"We have a lot of catching up to do, you know," Yukie said. "I'll wait 'til your practice is finished. I'll just watch, okay?"
"You're going to watch me play?"
"Don't tell me you're shy, Kaede-kun," Yukie said, giggling.
Rukawa glared at her and in response, she stuck out her tongue.
********************
[3:48 pm]
Yukie slowly approached the pretty brown-haired girl sitting down on the bench.
"Hello, Haruko, right?" Yukie sat down beside her.
Haruko smiled. "Hai. Yukie."
"Wow, Kaede-kun's actually great!" she commented.
Haruko felt a pang of envy -- this girl, this beautiful girl, called him Kaede-kun.
"Hai," Haruko replied. "He'll probably be Shohoku's ace."
"Really? Sugoi," Yukie said, obviously proud of her best friend's achievement.
Just then, the rukawa-brigade started their usual cheer (Love me, love me, rukawa!).
"Who in the world are those?" Yukie asked, wrinkling her nose in amusement.
"Ah, we like to call them the rukawa-brigade," Haruko said, smiling in spite of the feeling of envy still inside of her.
"Kaede has a cheering group just for him?" Yukie chuckled.
"Yes, well...You should see the whole brigade when there's a game!" Haruko smiled, then because Yukie's laughter was so infectious, she started laughing herself.
********************
Author's notes: you better read this! i'll be explaining some things...
Rukawa is NOT OOC in this fic. (ooooohh...getting defensive...) It just so happens that he talks to his best friend. (who wouldn't) He actually SPEAKS but he stopped when Yukie went away because he was so angry at life, yadda yadda yadda. So now that Yukie's back, he spoke...but only to Yukie of course. ^_^
also, Yukie's NOT a Mary Sue (getting defensive again...) She'll also be very close with Haruko...they're both so nice, you know? ^o^ they'll be really good friends.
about matsui and fuji (haruko's friends), let me take them off the scene, okay? (smiles devilishly) so don't be surprised if haruko's alone at certain scenes.
yeah, yeah...it's short...i'm very sorry! i know i should be making longer chapters but i haven't got the time. i've got too much schoolwork. (that i don't do anyway hehehehe) i'll just update soon.
don't forget to give me a review! arigato!
oh, by the way, here's my reply to your reviews for chapter 1 (kinda late):
to teh tarik: yup, that girl in Rukawa's dream is supposedly Haruko. although he doesn't know it...YET.
to renei: as i said, i should be making longer chapters. should being the operative word. ^_^'
to diwata: yeah, finally a ruharu! i've been racking my brain for soooo long for a ruharu story...then when i was relaxing, the idea just popped in my head. Yukie's a true friend, trust me. i'm thinking of pairing her with someone nice afterward...
for chapter 2:
to afrokane: i'll check out your site...and that's a promise!
to rook: nooooo!!!! rukawa's not OOC!!! i refuse to believe that.... hehehe...well, actually, you're right. but i'm right too. ^_^' i'm not making any sense, am i? he'll be the rukawa we all know when he's in shohoku.
to diwata: okay...i'll just update faster. thanks!
to jen: oh, refer to my answer to renei. hehehe...arigato!
to libra_gal: (sob) okay, okay...i promise i'll make the next one longer (due to insistent demand) hehe
to rokawa: yeah, that's basically what i wanted to answer with the fic. why does rukawa sleep so much? it's not normal anymore, as diwata said.
arigato minna-san!
--mskitsune--
www.livejournal.com/users/mskitsune
