Chapter 8: Boo!

Ria's eyes widened at seeing Ruriko.

"To-toru..." She choked out, before she turned and hurried away.

"Wait..." She felt a hand on her wrist, gripping it gently. Oh gosh.. I hate that girl's guts... But maybe it was Toru who asked her out....

"Excuse me for a minute." Hanagata told Ruriko, and he pulled her away.

He unzipped his bag, and handed her her jersey.

"Gomen ne...I took so long to return it to you." Hanagata's eyes lingered on her face for a while, a wave of sadness passing through him.

She took the bag from him, and smiled up at him. "Arigatou... "

Is it me? Or did she become prettier? Hanagata thought.

Ria held her breath as his fingers brushed against hers. As they bade a farewell, she couldn't help but envy her damned captain. But she thought she had seen a hint of sadness in his eyes..She pushed that thought away, and hugged her jersey tightly to her chest.

Shioko grumbled, as she flipped through page after page, trying to find Chinese traditions and cultures.

Ria moved her chair away from Shioko, knowing that her best friend was about to blow up.

SLAM! Shioko slammed the book hard, frustrated. The patrons glared at her, and she refused to acknowledge them.

Ria, Yukino, Yakima turned to look at each other, and raised their eyebrows. Shioko started scribbling furiously in her Scrap Book. When she was done, she let out a contended sigh, and grinned to herself. "Yatta! Let's go and eat!"

They flipped through the scrap book, their faces contorting into bigger and bigger frowns as they read what she had written.

Chinese Traditons

When mourning, the Chinese wear red, a colour that symbols death. (Weird.)

When celebrating, the Chinese like to wear black, an auspicious colour. (Weirder.)

On the occasion of a birthday, children should only eat rice. (Pitiful.)

Adults are people whom you should respect. If you do not respect them, you will be banished to the Seventh hell. (So serious!?! What on earth is the Seventh Hell?!?!")

Sweets should be held in between two fingers, and licked. They should never be sucked. (Eww..)

You should sweep your floor on New Year's Day to gather good luck and chase spirits away.

Three pairs of eyes turned to Shioko, who was still feeling elated over the completed project.

"Baka!" They whispered loudly.

"You got it all wrong! And where did that nonsense about eating rice on a child's birthday come from? And they suck sweets you goon!"

Shioko grinned sheepishly, and whispered "Trust me, that silly old lady will believe all that crap. She'll give us an A star!" Then her face faulted, and groaned in dismay.

All of them sighed, and continued their boring research.

Rukawa chewed his ramen slowly, deep in thought. What is SARS. Do ahou. Do ahou. Do ahou.

Rukawa's mother eyed him suspiciously. "Kaede... why are you eating so slowly?"

"Yeah.." his father echoed.

Rukawa stared blankly into space, not knowing they were talking to him.

"He's in love!" His mother said knowledgeably, nodding her head in approval.

"Remember Kaede! Someday I want a grandson with chubby red cheeks!" His dad replied, a glint in his eye.

"And I want a cute, adorable, little girl." His mother said, smiling at the prospect of a granddaughter.

"Do ahou... Who said I have a girlfriend?" Rukawa replied dryly, glaring at his parents irritated.

"We can tell!" his mother winked at him, and he groaned inwardly.

Why would I want a girlfriend for... Rukawa Kaede sighed, and continued eating his noodles.

"Class! Listen up!" Their teacher clapped her hands to get her students attention.

"There will be a Tutor system in this class. You will tutor the weaker students in my form class, 1-10." Everyone groaned. 1-10 was known for their notoriety.

"I have pinned the list on the board. You will tutor students in the subject you are best in and your buddy is the weakest in. This will be counted towards your examination marks. It will be twenty percent of your final paper."

A buzz of excitement went through the class as their teacher told them the news. The girls had just remembered Rukawa Kaede was in 1-10. Shioko grinned, wondering who the "lucky girl" would be. When the bell. rang, the whole class crowded around the notice board. Her eyes scanned the piece of paper for her name. Shioko Toume. Best in Maths. Buddy. Rukawa Kaede. "Not bad..." She turned away, ready to eat her bento went the fact sunk in. Rukawa Kaede?!?!? The girls around her were squealing, saying how lucky she was.

As usual, news traveled round the school like wild fire, that Shioko would be tutoring Rukawa Kaede. The fan club was positively fuming, and plotting the demise of Shioko.

"No.." Shioko repeated patiently. "Cross multiply. Like that. Yeah... Yup. That's the answer. How many more sums? Five? Ok..."

She frowned at the boy who was doodling on his Maths book instead if doing the sums. "Rukawa..."

Rukawa jerked slightly, and tried to do his terribly difficult sums.

Shioko laughed silently. That boy is just so adorable, ne? She patted his head, and ruffled his hair.

He ignored her, and cursed the problem sums silently.

"I'm going to do some jump shots and lay ups. Finish your work alright?"

"Rukawa..." She growled. Graffiti filled his work book, page after page. Basketballs, to be exact. Shioko was tired, her grades were suffering, and the basketballs on his paper didn't help one single bit.

Rukawa looked at her, and suddenly he felt bad. She looked on the verge of tears, completely worn out and tired. He looked away, and muttered an apology.

"Gomen..."

Suddenly, she looked up at him, and grinned. "You said sorry. I think you have SARS." And she started to laugh and cry at the same time.

What am I going to do? I made her cry...and laugh. Do ahou. Kusou.. I didn't know how to do those awful sums! He patted her back awkwardly.

And she started laughing, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Are you crying or laughing do ahou?" He asked, tugging her ponytail.

"Radang paru paru. That's SARS Kaede..."

And she started to cry for real, making him wonder about the girl species. And when she started to laugh and hiccup, he really wondered what the heck were girls.

When she was finally done with her cry laughing, she started to scold him.

"I know you know how to do this sums! You are just too lazy." She chided him, thumped him on the back and got up suddenly.

Suddenly, the hard look in her eyes softened, and she said, although not so kindly, "I know you can do it if you want to."

Rukawa looked at her, and thought She knows I can do it if I want to huh? I know more than her. So obviously I can't. Maybe not... Suddenly, a realization hit him hard in the head.

He never thought he could be a good student.

He always thought that he could only be a good basketball player.

Nothing else.

He thought he was best at basketball.

That his brains were shaped like a basketball.

That he could only think of basketball.

After all basketball was his life, wasn't it?

Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was only because he had thought basketball was his life.

Perhaps it was time for him to mature, and understand life wasn't always about basketball.

Who knows, do ahou? SARS. Radang paru paru. But what's radang paru paru do ahou..

Ruriko laughed as she held the bracelet in dangling in front of Miaka.

"Look.. I finally got him." She grinned.

Miaka chuckled. "I knew you'd get him. What happened to his ex anyway? That damn fool's been getting uglier day by day. Looks like a rat. And her damn friend. What the heck does she think she's doing with my Kaede chan? I'm going to get him."

"Ooh look! Here he comes!" She squealed, and ran out of the class, Ruriko tailing her.

Walking sedately down the hall way, she saw Ria and Shioko. They were having a drink from the water fountain.

Ria looked at Ruriko and flinched slightly.

Miaka stared at Shioko and said loudly "Oh no. We'd better call the rat exterminators. I see this huge rat and her rat friend! I'm so scared!"

Do ahou. Rat? Do ahou's a rat? That girl must be mad. Do ahou looks more like a cat and she looks more like a rat. Rukawa thought, digging through his locker.

Rukawa looked at Shioko and smirked. "Ahou...rat..."

He turned to Ria and gave a nod of acknowledgement to her.

He stared at a sullen Miaka and Ruriko for awhile and muttered "Looks like you need more than one exterminator to get rid of those two big rats there. Do ahou..." Then he drank from the fountain.

Miaka growled, and punched Shioko in her stomach.

How dare she tell her Kaede chan to do that?

Shioko glared at her, and punched her back in her chest area.

Ria started to laugh, only to get a slap from Ruriko. "You bitch! How dare you laugh? Looks who's the winner. Just look. He dumped you and I got him. I even kissed him last night. He simply adores me."

Ruriko grinned at Ria.

Ria raised her hand and slapped Ruriko. "He'd rather kiss a pig than kiss you fool!" Ria kicked her and ran off.

"Loser!" Ruriko yelled after her. Shioko turned to Ruriko and boxed her mouth.

Then she turned back to Miaka who was massaging her chest area and aiming kicks at Shioko.

Shioko kicked her shins and ran off after her best friend.

Rukawa, who was watching this catfight in amusement, thought Girls are so dangerous...Especially do ahou.. but she's cool.. maybe I can have a fight with her one day...

"Wh-what? That girl says I kissed her? I can barely remember her name! Yet alone kiss her. Was it Ruki.. no! Ruriko Konoe?" Hanagata looked at Shioko who nodded with a grimace on her face.

Fujima looked at them curiously. "Ruriko Konoe? You actually know her?"

Hanagata nodded. She got my email address, and asked me out a few times. She's the captain of Shohoku Girls. Do you know her?"

Fujima nodded grimly. "She's my girlfriend."

"YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME? OH..I didn't kiss her! Basketballer honour... I still like her a lot." Hanagata said, bemused.

Watching a flush of red creep up Fujima's face, he added "I didn't know she was yours.. I'm sorry. But what did Ria do after that? After that girl told her she was a loser?"

"Ria? Well she acted like it was nothing.." Shioko replied, watching the anger on Fujima's face turn to apparent sadness.

Hanagata stared at a Sakura on the grass and sighed softly.

"I gotta go settle things out.. I'm going home first." Fujima smiled and hurried away. " Now Ria must think I hate her.." Hanagata groaned.

Rukawa bounced the ball and looked at the entrance.

Why hadn't do ahou been training for a week? That lousy slacker...

He slammed the ball into the hoop, and the ball smashed in.

It was five, and he had to leave before seven.

"BOO!" Shioko poked him in his sides, and laughed loudly, appearing from no where.

Rukawa snorted. "Do ahou."

"Do ahou."

Rukawa slung his bag over his shoulder, and got on his bike. Suddenly, there was a loud screeching, and he felt himself being thrown off his bike. A sharp pain seared through his head as everything went black.....

That's the real bad thing that happens to Rukawa! Cliche huh?