Date finished: 03 December 2002

Title: Infinity
Series: Slam Dunk
Category: AU, Rukawa + OC
Status: 4/?
A/N: Someone asked how Yukime knew Mitsui, so in this part, I gave a subtle explanation.

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Infinity"
by Fall

Part Four - "New roles, new challenges"

If the rest of section 1-10 was wondering why Sendoh Yukime chose Shohoku High, she didn't notice. The day was too slow for her comfort, when she was itching to get home and rant on her big brother. With any luck, Ana might also be there, and heaven knows how much Yuki wanted to shake that girl. Glancing at her watch, she noted that there was still a good 20 minutes before the bell would ring to signify lunchtime. Puffing out at an impatient breath, she tried to concentrate on the board, imagining her Algebra teacher to be just a blurry speck of white. 'Anou, at least that's 10 minutes than before,' she muttered.

5 minutes ... 3 minutes ... 30 seconds ... Yuki tried to count down each passing minute to make it go by a lot faster. By now she'd made a mess of her notebook pages. It was covered with chibi drawings, choice words, and incoherent doodling. She was busily putting her finishing touches to a playground scene, with two girls and a boy, chasing each other by the sand box, when the bell suddenly rang.

'And I thought it would take forever,' Yuki grimaced, as she started to pack her things up.

"That is so kawaii!" A girlish voice suddenly spoke out, startling her. Looking up, she saw that the speaker was the girl who occupies the seat beside her. She was tall, with beautiful curly black hair that rests just below her chin, framing a delicate elfish face. One look at this girl, and Yuki already knew that she was the friendly type.

"Um this?" Yuki pointed shyly to the playground scene. "I'm just doodling around."

But the girl with the curls pressed on. "I really liked it because a nice childhood memory is pictured. Is it your own memory?"

Flustered, Yuki mumbled, "Yeah."

The girl smiled widely. "That is good to hear!" Noticing that she has again startled Yuki with her outburst, she immediately hurried to explain herself. "By the way, I'm Chidori. Sayama Chidori desu," Chidori held out her hand.

"Sendoh Yukime desu. All my friends call me 'Yuki'."

Smiling again her infectious smile, Chidori tugged on Yuki's arm. "You don't have any plans to eat alone do you? Come with me, I'd like to get to know you a lot better."

Yuki had to hand it to the girl. Chidori was as transparent as her eyes, and she seemed to chatter non-stop in a nice engaging way, which Yuki thought reminded her of Ana. Without throwing a backward glance, Yuki allowed herself to be led out of the room.

"Honto ni? That's hilarious!" Chidori's eyes were sparkling with merriment as she listened to Yuki's story about how she and Ana used to poke Kaede awake in class. 30 minutes has passed by, and they've become friends, feeling at ease with each other as they talked and ate in the lawn behind the gym.

"Yeah, and he would always retaliate by hiding our bikes," Yuki giggled, as she stuffed another rice cake in her mouth. "Hey, these are really delicious, did you make all of them?"

"Hai," Chidori grinned. "I'm glad you liked them. I just adore cooking and baking. Often, I couldn't resist making more than I should because I'd like to share them with anyone who'll eat them."

"Sugoi! Did you know that I loved to eat?" She eyed the remaining cakes adoringly, trying in vain to choose which one she'll taste first.

Chidori giggled. "Oh, that was pretty obvious. You know what? I'm happy to meet you! Now I have a friend whom I can feed with my cooking anytime!"

Yuki choked with laughter as she heard the last word. She met Chidori's merry eyes, which led to more laughing. They chatted some more as they packed their things up and walked back to their building. Their merriment was only broken when Chidori suddenly remarked, "Ack! I suppose that bully is out to beat someone." Yuki barely caught the word, "bully" when she glimpsed someone skulking by the shadows below. Edging nearer to the window, a light of recognition washed over her face as the person emerged from the shadows and walked away with another guy, probably his gang mate.

"Oi Yuki, do you know that guy?"

Swiveling around in a hurry, she almost collided with Chidori, who was trying to see what had made her friend blanch. Knowing that it was useless to lie to her new friend, Yuki nodded in answer. "I knew him because we were friends."

Chidori didn't hide the shudder that coursed through her. "Ack, Yuki, no offense, but aren't you afraid to hang around with such a guy? And what do you mean by 'were'?"

Sighing, Yuki answered. "He was a different guy back then. I knew him because he was a friend of my brother, and we all attended the same school. He's nice really, buying me treats and making me laugh when I'm sad." Frowning for a moment, she hastily added. "But that was before. I haven't talked to him ever since I came back, and I have a feeling he's trying to evade me."

Not knowing what to say, Chidori chose to remain silent and gave her friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Yuki smiled in return and they walked in pleasant silence until they reached their classroom.

If surprises could be avoided, Yuki would have chosen that option. As soon as they entered the room, Chidori suddenly exclaimed. "Kaede Rukawa, what happened to your head?" She noticed that Yuki was standing frozen on the doorway so she half-pulled, half-tugged her friend towards Rukawa's seat. Satisfied, she rounded again on Rukawa. "First day of classes and you've already had a fight!"

Looking on the scene transpiring in front of her, Yuki had a fleeting vision of the days when she was looking on the same scene, with a younger Rukawa sporting a black eye and a young Ana was reprimanding him, just like Chidori was doing. Strangely, she felt like it was the old days again and she has never left. But the flash of sunlight on Chidori's curls jolted her harshly back to reality. It was the present, Yuki had left Ana and Kaede for years, and Ana could never be replaced by anyone. How come Ana never told her about Chidori? Or maybe that was why Kaede never made any attempt to communicate with her after that short angry letter that he'd sent. He ignored her because he'd found a new...friend.

"Yuki? Daijobu, Yuki?"

Large brown eyes stared worriedly at her. Suddenly, Yuki realized that she couldn't feel any anger towards Chidori. Maybe it was because she'd met her before the revelation. She hastily answered. "Oh, don't mind me. I didn't know you were friends."

Chidori suddenly giggled, obviously amused by something. "Gomen for not remembering to bring that up." Her giggles were intensified when she caught Rukawa's inquiring glare. "We were classmates at Tomigaoka Junior High."

Yuki caught that exchange between them. Feeling a sudden rush of anger, she longed to kick him soundly but was interceded by the coming of their teacher. Plopping down resignedly on her chair, she once again thought of how the day dragged slowly when you wanted it most to end.

TBC

Further A/N: I like how this one's going. And yes, there should be an eventual pairing here soon, but not *that* soon. I know that Rukawa hasn't had any dialogue yet, but please be patient. Since this is a Rukawa + OC fic, he is a crucial character and would need to speak out his mind whenever the story demands.

Constructive comments and criticisms are welcome.