**Disclaimers at first page**

Author's Notes: I really had a difficult time writing this. Gomen ne for taking so long in updating. And thank you so much for those who always review. Thank you thank you thank you! *glomps* And I updated the Definition of Japanese Terms Page (the first page).


Slam Dunk 02
(A GW/SD Crossover)
by AJ Maxwell

The one-on-one between Duo and Rukawa, both former Super Rookies, ended in a tie, much to the disappointment of Miyagi and Sakuragi. During the game, Anzai-sensei revealed what he knew of the braided freshman, and expressed his interest of him for the team. Though Duo irritated Rukawa, the second year grudgingly admitted the same interest. He tried asking Duo to join the team, but it turned into a humiliating experience, which Anza-sensei had to fix. With everything cleared, Duo had to decide, but he first needed to talk to someone who might shed light unto his current issues.

Chapter Five: 'Nii-chan Knows Best

Duo had been staring at the inscription on the base of the trophy for more than five minutes already when a knock on his door startled him out of his reverie.

"Duo."

The door opened to reveal his slightly frowning brother. "I've been calling you for five minutes already. The food is getting cold--"

"'Nii-chan?"

The troubled note in his otouto's voice piqued Maki's concern. He stepped into the room, and closed the door. "What is it, Duo?"

Duo's gaze shifted back to the trophy in his hands. "What do you think of this?"

Maki moved closer, observant eyes carefully assessing his brother's mood. "It's awfully bigger than my MVP trophy," he mock-grudgingly admitted. "Which is unfair. I didn't even get a Rookie of the Year trophy during my time, because there isn't any to receive."

Duo sat down at the foot of his bed, and patted the space beside him for his older brother to follow suit.

Maki settled beside him, and asked, "What's this about, Duo?"

Duo fell backward, his braid trailing after him, and sank into the soft cushions of his bed. He settled the 2-foot trophy on his stomach, and sighed loudly. "You know Anzai-sensei?"

Instead of replying, Maki reached for the trophy and placed it on the floor. "It might fall and hit your face," he explained, and lay on his side, next to Duo. "Of course. Everyone knows Anzai-sensei. He's a very respected coach, and he was a member of the All-Japan basketball team." He looked at his otouto calculatingly. "What has Anzai-sensei got to do with this?"

"He asked me if I could join the Shohoku Basketball Team."

Maki felt the stirrings of delight at what his brother had said. He knew that among all the coaches in high school basketball, it was Anzai-sensei who never asked any student to be part of his team. The students came to be in his team, not the other way around. He knew that the wizened coach never meddled in selecting players for his team, so he was really proud for his otouto to have been invited into the team by the famed White-Haired Buddha himself. A half smile played across his lips because of this, but when he noticed Duo's pinched look, his frown came back. In a slightly dubious tone, he asked, "Why are you saying this?"

A weary sigh. "I don't want to play anymore."

"No, you don't," Maki replied evenly.

"'nii-chan..."

In a firmer tone, Maki asked, "Why don't you want to play anymore?"

"Because...because I'm tired of the game, 'nii-chan."

"You know you're lying. Tell me the truth."

"But--"

"It's impossible that you just got tired of the game, Duo," he insisted. "You can't just get tired of something whose beat thrums in your veins, echoes in your soul. I know you, Maki Duo. You never give up. Why are you giving up now?"

"You don't know me!" Duo exclaimed, even though is aniki's words shook his whole world and made his walls come crashing around him.

...Something whose beat thrums in your veins, echoes in your soul...

"It's been six years since we've been together! Six years since we've last seen each other...I was only ten, for godsakes, and you were a measly thirteen-year-old boy!"

You never give up...

But however loud and angry Duo's retort was, Maki remained calm. "You know me, Duo, and I know you well enough. You're only shouting so that you won't hear the voice inside you. You're only insisting that you don't want to play anymore, but you know the truth. You know the truth but you won't face it. What is the reason why you've turned into some kind of a coward?"

'Nii-chan can read me so well it's scary. I really can't get anything past him, can I? He's seen through me...he's even showing me myself! I know...deep down he's right, but what about...?

"'Kaasan died during that last game..."

That hanging sentence made everything click in Maki's head so fast he was even a bit awed by himself. For all my brother's inner strength and determination, he can be such a child sometimes. Hm, trust Duo to feel guilty for something he has no control over. "Is that why you suddenly decided that you're tired of the game, Duo-chan?"

"I don't want...I mean, I feel guilty because of my selfishness. We've been arguing so much about her not caring about whatever I did, and when she agreed to go to the championship game...I didn't know. I even cursed her when she didn't show. It was only after the party that I found out. She tried to go, but she already died even before she reached the stadium. I didn't know...I feel so guilty, 'nii-chan, that even the sport that I love feels tainted. I don't feel like I deserve to play again, let alone touch a basketball..." It was then that Duo's tears fell, tears that he had been holding back ever since he found out about his mother's death.

Coffee-brown eyes watched as a pair of fists clumsily brush away the torrent of tears. The older brother in him felt the tug of wiping away those tears, and cheering up his otouto, just like when they were children. But he knew that Duo needed something else. He braced himself for what was about to come. "You know, you're still the soap operatic kid you've always been," he commented dryly.

In a couple of seconds Duo was on top of him, fingers tightly wound on his shirt's collar, and violet eyes narrowed at him, gleaming like steel. "Say that again," Duo said through his teeth.

Here we go again... "I understand that you're sad about okaasan's death--I am, too, even if you don't see it. But her death is not your fault, Duo. Nobody wanted that to happen; it just did. That's life, Duo. You can mourn all you want; you have every right to do so, but you don't have to punish yourself. Okaasan wouldn't want you to deny yourself the things that give you happiness and fulfillment. Granted that she died with the two of you not on the best of terms..." Maki felt Duo's grip on him loosening. "...keeping yourself miserable won't bring her back for you to right things."

As Maki uttered the last word, Duo was already lying back on his earlier position, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"The only thing that you can do is make the best out of your current situation."

A few minutes more passed them by, not one speaking a word. Finally, Maki sat up, and placed a hand on his younger brother's knee. "I'll be reheating dinner. I want you downstairs in five minutes."

When there was still no response from Duo, Maki just sighed to himself, then stood up. He walked to the door.

"Soap operatic kid, huh."

The tone of his brother's voice made him turn around. His otouto was laughing silently. He smirked. "You okay?"

Duo nodded, still laughing soundlessly. "Yeah, I'm okay, 'nii-chan. Really okay."

"So you're ceasing this foolishness and eat dinner?"

"Hai!"

"Good." Maki opened the door.

"'Nii-chan?"

"What?"

"Arigato."

"I'd rather you let me eat right now," Maki replied gruffly. "I'm starving."

"Okay okay..."

"Thank you." Maki stepped out.

"'Nii-chan?"

Maki gritted his teeth. "What?"

"What's for dinner?"

"Why don't you go down and find out for yourself?"

"Oh. Okay." Duo smiled innocently. "I'll be there in a sec."

Maki hadn't even taken three steps away from the door when Duo called out again. "'Nii-chan?"

"WHAT?!?!" Maki roared at him.

Duo grinned impishly, flashing him a peace sign. "Nothing."

"WHY YOU--YOU MONKEY!"

Duo, quick as lightning, barreled past his older brother, cackling tauntingly.

*

After an interesting dinner of soup, steamed fish, rice, and mango ice cream for dessert, Duo had gone up to his room and finished his homework. When he was done, he picked up his Rookie of the Year tropy from the floor, and looked at it pensively.

I was so stupid! It's not that I was totally clueless; I knew, deep inside, the things that 'nii-chan told me earlier. I guess I was just to blinded by my guilt to even acknowledge those things. Once again, 'nii-chan made me face reality. I don't know how I'll ever repay him, but I swear I will.

Duo turned and placed the trophy on his study table, beside the portrait of his Palisades High Basketball Team.

Oh man, how long has it been since I talked to one of them? Three months? Four? I hate to admit it, but I miss even Wu's justice rants! How miserable is that?!

His violet gaze drifted to the item that lay just before the framed picture of him and his friends--his Shohoku Secondary School identification card.

Maki Duo, Year One, Section Two.

I'm back in Kanagawa now. I belonged here once; I can belong again. This is where my family is: otousan, and the best onii-chan in the world. This is my home.

He looked at the picture again, this time, his gaze focused on a particular pair: him, with his right arm slung around a (very) slightly smiling Heero Yuy's shoulders. He grinned at the sight.

Heero Yuy...just when I thought that he's practically made of ice, he smiled and showed even the slightest bit of humanity inside him. That asshole... And just when I thought that I'd never encounter someone even remotely similar to him, I went and made an enemy out of a guy who's not only cold as ice, but who also sounds exactly like him! Tsk tsk tsk... bizarre things do happen in this world, huh.

He yawned; a loud, jaw-breaking yawn. I gotta sleep now. Tomorrow's gonna be exciting. Shohoku Basketball Team, here I come!

*

Palisades High, California, USA.

The sound of a whistle resounded throughout the whole gym.

"Okay! Break! Fifteen minutes!" Zechs Merquise, senior and team captain, bellowed at his team mates. "Heero! Come here!"

The aforementioned player jogged wordlessly to Zechs, and stopped just a a few paces from him.

"Your game sucks!" Zechs nearly barked at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Quatre Winner, who sat on the next bench, grimaced at their team captain's tone.

"I'm just not feeling well," Heero muttered.

Zechs took a deep breath to calm himself, then said, "Alright. You may go now, but I expect you to do better at the next training. The inter-state is just a few weeks away. Got it?"

Heero just nodded, and walked briskly to the locker room.

"He's just not saying it, but he's deeply affected by Duo's leaving. I can feel it," Quatre said thoughtfully.

"But we're all affected by it, Quatre. I miss him, too, but we all have to move on. We have a lot to do, and we can't afford having Heero not playing at his one hundred percent if we want to even qualify for the semifinals in the Inter State Championships."

"I think all of us need to talk about it again. I know that we've already talked about it before, the day after Duo left, but I don't think we got through to Heero. He's closed himself off again."

"What I don't understand is why Maxwell hasn't contacted any of us yet," Wufei brooded, appearing beside the longhaired blond. "I thought he'd at least e-mail me the first month he set foot on Japan, but no, and it's three months already! There's no--"

"--justice in it. We hear you, Wufei," Trowa interjected, all the while listening behind Quatre. "I e-mailed him thrice but he's never replied."

Zechs' pale blue eyes widened a fraction. "You, too? He also hasn't replied to my e-mails..."

"Guys, come on!" Quatre exclaimed, exasperated. "Duo might be really busy, with all the adjusting that he has to do! And he was really depressed when he left--"

"All the more reason to contact his best friend, I say!" Wufei interrupted. "But no! And I apologize for seeming irrational like a woman right now, but Maxwell has gone too far! I will not tolerate his inconsideration! Doesn't he know that we're all worried about him?! The least he could do is tell us that he's still alive!"

The other three fell silent.

"So," Zechs began, breaking the one minute silence after Wufei's rant. "What do you plan to do?"

Wufei suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I don't know...wait for him to contact us, I guess."

*

Heero Yuy rummaged through his family's things in their attic, looking for an address book full of contact numbers of their relatives in Japan he knew his deceased mother used to keep.

It must be here somewhere. We might have relatives who live in Kanagawa...

"Heero. What are you doing up here?"

Heero looked up to find his father leaning on the doorframe and looking at him speculatively. "Otousan. I'm looking for okaasan's address book."

"Doushite?"

"My friend Duo, he moved to Kanagawa three months ago--"

"Ah! Duo-kun! Half Nihonjin, ne? I always wondered why I don't see him around anymore..."

"His 'kaa-chan died, otousan. It was in the papers."

Mr. Yuy nodded. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot. Poor lad. Kanagawa, eh? Beautiful place, Kanagawa prefecture...I think we've been there before. Visiting...I'm not sure if we were visiting your Keiko-obasan and her family or your Mariko-obasan on her wedding day."

"So we do have relatives in Kanagawa."

"Hai."

"So...do you still keep in touch with them?"

His father smiled cheerily. "From time to time, yes. Oh. And you don't have to look in those boxes, Heero. I have the address book in my office."

Heero almost let out a puff of air. I sometimes wonder from whom I inherited my silent nature.

*

Duo has finally decided; he's joining the Shohoku Basketball Team. Will this new addition provide the strength that the team needs to come out on top, and hopefully beat Kainan? As for Heero's researching about his relatives...what does he intend to do once he contacts a relative in Kanagawa? Is he really so affected by Duo's moving to Japan? ...Is Wufei experiencing PMS? :D


Finished March 31, 2003