Staring at a blank page…I have a nasty summer cold and I can't seem to get any writing done. That's not really the whole problem; I got a bit excited and skipped writing a chapter or two. Now I have to backtrack and deal with a ghastly writer's block laced with a headache. My fault entirely, I know. Sigh.

The drill: I don't own Slam Dunk or any of its characters, they are the products of Takehiko Inoue's creative mind…I will find me a corner now and bawl my eyes out.

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GETTING STARTED

It was well into the afternoon and in the middle of the practice session when she showed up the next day. Before she came, it was rather quiet and peaceful (if you would call having Hanamichi around peaceful). It was just a simple practice session with Hanamichi being assisted by his friends. The goon squad was there. Haruko was there. Coach Hansai has been patiently giving him instructions since morning. All was well until she came. You could feel her presence from how air crackled with a restless energy that either came from excitement or from dread. When she entered a room, the earth could only sigh and brace its self for what happens next. And this is what happens next…

"You're late", Sakuragi said without breaking the rhythm of his jump shots.

"I didn't know that I had to punch in my time around here. Anyway I was doing my homework."

"Homework?"

"U-huh. I was watching your tapes from the other day, took me the whole morning."

"And?"

"Gosh! Sakuragi, I didn't know the extent of your genius until now!

"What?"

"I don't know how to say this but…you're a real basketball genius! You might just well be the no.1 player in all of Japan right now."

Everyone else kept quiet, a bit confused altogether. The guys, who knew Keiko better, were trying to figure out what she was up to.

This left Hanamichi. He was also confused, he knew those tapes sucked. He even accused the guys of tampering with his tapes since it made him look so stupid. But then again, this was Hanamichi. He was literally incapable of ignoring a compliment, be it true or otherwise.

"Really??? You really think so? I guess, I wasn't doing so bad after all. Hehe, it's about time somebody recognized a genius when they saw one. You know, my jump shots have improved a lot since then. Are you sure you're not"…he turned to look back at Keiko…"jerking me around?", he continued in a small voice. "Dammit Keiko stop that!"

Keiko was now rolling around on the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "You really fell for it…you're such a genius…I can't get over it…Are you sure you're in the right sport?...Your scoring prowess is a real asset I'm sure, if they changed the rules and let the team with the lower score win, that is…." She was already pounding the floor with her fists as she could barely contain her amusement.

Hanimichi's face was almost as red as his hair, mostly from embarrassment because Haruko witnessed his humiliation. Another reason was his slowly blazing anger that already had him thinking up ways of torturing his friend before killing her. He decided to retaliate. "Ha! What do you know about basketball? Nothing! Why, you can't even throw a ball straight much less shoot it in the basket."

"Wanna bet?" Keiko was now fully recovered, as if she was just waiting for him to issue the dare.

"What?"

"Here's the deal, if I can't shoot this ball in that basket over there, I give you my lunch for a month. I know how you love my mom's cooking and all. What do you think?

"Your lunch?"

"U-huh, I'd throw in half of my allowance, too, if you want."

Hanamichi nearly busted an artery trying to compute how much money that would be. Keiko took pity on him and whispered an amount into his ear that made him rub his palms together greedily.

Seeing that he falling for it, she attempted to put an arm around his shoulders to close the deal…it was quite ridiculous, really. Imagine a chipmunk trying that with a giraffe. It simply cannot be done. She made do with patting his nearest shoulder instead.

"So, buddy is that a deal?"

"Wait a minute, what do you get out of all this???" His suspicious nature, magnified ten-fold especially when dealing with this particular friend of his, finally kicked in.

"Oooh, nothing much just…", she whispered the rest to his ear.

"B-bbbuh-but…." Hanamichi had suddenly turned red all over.

"It's a win-win situation, don't you think? If you ask me, you're getting the better end of this deal. Me, I'm just looking out for a friend's welfare, doing everything I can to help him with his…a-herm…problem." She said this while looking significantly over where Haruko was.

He was just speechless at his friend's audacity. And Keiko, not one to wait around, took this silence for assent.

"It's a deal then…hey Mito, toss me a ball would you? This can't be as hard as this moron makes it look."

Keiko takes aim to make the shot, throws the ball…everyone waits in baited breath… Keiko gives it everything she's got…the ball flies over the top of the board.

"I guess I don't know my own strength."

"I win!"

"Not yet."

"Huh?"

"We didn't agree on how many times I could try, did we? I just said that I'll shoot this ball in the basket and that's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to keep on trying…one of them has gotta go in some time soon. Mito! Throw me another ball will you? Keep 'em coming."

Keiko let lose a series of shots, none of then even going anywhere near the ring. After tossing her 18th air ball, she pauses to catch her breath.

"Aren't you giving up yet?"

She shot him a nasty glance before answering. "You want me to win this bet, don't you?

"I … ah…I, um…"

"So shut up and let me concentrate."

She thought to herself, "What did the old fat guy tell that moron about these jump shots again? I can do this, I didn't watch all those tapes for nothing. Ok, first I catch the ball, then bend the knees, and then throw the ball like painting arches in the air. Ok, it seems simple enough…here goes."

She tries again and this time the ball bounced off the board. "Well, that's definitely an improvement…I think I've got it."

"Ok, Sakuragi…this is it. So you don't think I'm a cheat or anything, this'll be my very last attempt. This one's make or break. Ok? These guys are the witnesses, even Haruko and the old man over there." She waved at Coach Hansai acknowledging his presence for the first time since she came in.

"Catch the ball…bend the knees…throw the ball like I was painting arches in the air," she repeated this to herself over and over until she actually went for the shot. It went in.

"Wooohooo! I win! I win! I knew 20 was my lucky number!"

Hanamichi mentally braced himself for the next task he had to face.

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"So how did it go?"

It was the night when Haruko and Hanamichi went to the festival. Hanamichi came by Keiko's house afterwards to make a report.

"I was getting ready to tell her but she slapped me."

"What??? What did you do to her? Did you scare her or something? I told you to tell her how you feel not scare the hell out of her!"

"I didn't do anything to her. It was that damned mosquito on my face. She killed it."

"So what did you do?"

"I ran."

"Eh?"

"I thought she was refusing me like all the others, I couldn't take it so I ran. When I realized it was just a mosquito I ran back and she was already with those girl friends of hers and they were being harassed by some guys. I was getting ready to fight them off when the goon squad arrived scared them off. We all ended up hanging out together after that, I didn't get another chance to get her alone."

"You could still try again, you know. The deal was, if I win, you had to ask Haruko out and tell her how you felt about her. Since she was the one who asked you to the festival then you're still not off the hook. You can try again tomorrow, I'll back you up…"

"Keiko, I know what you're trying to help but thanks anyway. I don't think that its time to tell her yet. Not with her still going starry-eyed whenever she sees that Rukawa. I have to beat that show-off first."

"Who's this Rukawa?"

"Oh, you'll meet him soon enough. Just follow the screaming girls and you'll know it's him. I don't know what they see in him, though. I look way better than him. Besides, he's conceited and acts like he's the greatest basketball player in the world. I'm gonna show him one of these days."

"He sounds hateful."

Hanamichi looks suspiciously at his friend as if trying to assess if she would measure up.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're not going to take one look at him and abandon me to join his fan girls, are you?"

"You know my type, what do you think? From your description of him, I don't think he fits the category. Don't worry, we're best friends. I'm sure I'll hate him as much as you do. You can count on me."

The End of Part 3.

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And the plot thickens…what can Keiko do to help in Sakuragi's personal campaign against Rukawa? Will she eat her words and don one of those cheerleading outfits to join the ranks of Rukawa's silly fan girls? What's her type anyway??? Find out in the next chapter…

I just noticed that my chapters are gradually becoming longer. I don't know if this is good or bad. I really have no idea how long this story is going to be. I hadn't even decided what the rating would be when I started this. I guess its turning out to be G…sigh  e_e