Disclaimer : Slam Dunk belongs to Takehiko Inoue.
Chapter 1 : Tactics
The sound of the grandfather clock echoed throughout the eerie mansion. 12 o'clock.
Midnight.
Everything was still…. still as the solemn clutches of death. Shadows danced along the painting-lined walls of the spacious corridors, their contorted faces resembling those of tormented souls.
Outside, the moon hung overhead, further enhancing the mansion's unearthly appearance with its low brilliance.
Not one living soul was in sight. Everyone would prefer to be entranced in deep slumber than venture in the dark, foreboding hallways…..
Everyone but her.
The clock striking twelve was her most awaited signal.
The girl opened one dark amethyst eye to cautiously peer at her surroundings. She got up then slowly swung her legs to the side of her four-poster. Yup, the coast was clear but she knew better than that.
Making her movements as swift and as silent as possible, she crossed the distance that separated her from the door, eagerly turning the knob in her hands, but then—
Locked!
What the-?! What's she supposed to—
But wait…. Her eyes gleamed mischievously as she fingered the sharp, smooth object in her nightgown's side pocket. Chuckling evilly, she held up the long needle in her hand.
Oh, she'd anticipated this alright….
After a few minutes of expertly picking on the lock, the sound of the satisfying click made her sigh in relief. She mentally took note of thanking her mentor afterwards for the brief lessons in thievery.
Finally opening the door, she readied herself for the greater challenge ahead.
Ok. Now….. to conquer the main hall….
It was a good thing that she had decided to look down at that particular instant because—
Trip-wire!
She abruptly stopped on her tracks, cautiously stepping over the thin copper wire which served to trigger the alarm. Whew! That was close!
Adrenaline started pumping into her veins as she poked her head into the silent empty hallway. Too quiet if you ask her… there was definitely a catch to all of this…
Sticking her hands once again into the voluminous pockets of her nightgown, she grabbed a handful of the fine white pixie dust she'd kept as a child, hidden away in her trunk-load of thingamajigs.
Taking one big gulp of air, she slowly blew onto her palm, scattering the fine white dust everywhere. And soon enough, the distinctly red transparent lines started appearing one by one. Just as she'd expected.
She smirked. And whoever said, I still need infrared goggles for this? Pixie dust will do just fine! It turns out that her theory had been correct all along…. She never knew though that this childhood toy of hers would come in handy after 10 long years.
But of course, she couldn't let the feeling of triumph succeed over her just yet. She was just about to face the biggest hurdle: getting past the fine crisscrossing infrared lights without bringing the mansion down with the blaring alarm.
'Relax. You can do this,' she thought nervously as she studied the numerous highly dense concentration of crisscrossing lines, figuring out the safest path to her ultimate goal, the mansion's backdoor exit…. to freedom.
She got to her hands and knees, deciding that the best way to do this is to stay low. She started crawling, twisting her body to avoid the slightest contact with the fine red lights. Halfway through the journey, beads of perspiration had started forming on her temple. She gritted her teeth as she tried suppressing the urge to wipe away a good portion of her hair from her forehead. She knew that following her whim would make her arm touch the fine red laser light and thus put all her efforts to waste.
'So I have to endure and surpass this no matter what,' she thought, her eyes flashing with determination.
For him.
The sudden thought of her main goal seemed to rejuvenate her spirit. And in a blink of an eye, the slightly dwindling adrenaline started flowing back to her veins, increasing her agility and flexibility, slightly lifting her fatigue.
When she'd crossed the final hurdle, she sprawled onto the floor, panting and trying to catch her breath. 'It would've been nice just to lay down there and take a quick rest….' her brain thought sleepily.
'Get up you, dimwit!' her conscience snapped at her. There's no time for that!
The girl's amethyst eyes suddenly flew open. She couldn't give up now! The backdoor exit was just a few meters away!
She got to her feet and quietly tiptoed to the wide double doors in the far side of the hall. Digging for the spare key she had in her pocket, she surveyed the dark hallway to make sure that she wasn't being followed. Finally unlocking the door, she burst into the cool night air. She quickly broke into a run before turning towards the direction of her favorite nook in the wide, spacious garden.
The place was dark and foreboding. But she didn't care…. There could be monsters or 50-feet dragons out there but she couldn't care less. She could hear it now… The sound of her old basketball being dribbled grew louder as she neared the blessed place.
Her heartbeat accelerated like mad and she quickened her pace. There was virtually nothing that could stop her when she was this determined to be with—
On second thought….
She abruptly stopped on her tracks, the site before her almost taking her breath away.
The moon's low brilliance illuminated that handsome face she'd learned to love. Full concentration had been reflected in his eyes and fine lines of determination marred his young patrician features.
The girl decided to remain in the shadows and continue to watch him, her lips slowly upturning into a proud smile with each satisfying smashing sound of the ball into the basket.
The young man moved with the grace and perfection completely unbecoming of his built and height. The cool night wind didn't seem to bother him as he went on with the strenuous moves without his shirt, beads of perspiration trickling from the sides of his face onto his hard muscular chest.
For her, the site was simply breathtaking. There was nothing more beautiful than seeing this fine specimen do the thing that he loved most—
"Hey," a deep voice interrupted her thoughts. The young man abruptly stopped before doing a perfect fade-away jump shot.
She gulped.
His back was to her but the low moonlight failed to conceal the tensing of his shoulders.
She tensed too. Suddenly afraid of what might happen…. She stood there, her back stiff as a ramrod. She wouldn't dare make a move unless—
"Are you just going to stand there?" the young man said in a low growl, slowly turning around to face the intruder…. the intruder that was her.
The young woman flinched when she saw the angry look in his eyes. She knew perfectly well what became of people who dared to interrupt him in the middle of something important.
Oh no. If she wanted to live through adulthood, she probably had to flee—
"Or are you gonna get into these arms?"
The young woman cringed. Wait. That sounded so disgusting…. He usually didn't say crappy things like that…
She had to blink several times before her brain cells managed to remember what they meant to each other now and that he wasn't going crazy. "But I thought—"
The young man sighed in frustration before completely blowing his tough act. Why was this girl so dumb until now?
'That's because she isn't used to you being nice,' his conscience snapped sarcastically. 'You've been a jerk to her all your life remember?'
The young man rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the small bantering. He focused on the small fragile figure that stood not far away. His breath got caught in his throat. He'd been aching to be with her all day but circumstances told them that they couldn't…. Now that she was here, he wasn't wasting a single minute of togetherness.
"Come here, you punk," he managed to hiss out patiently, his arms outstretched towards the young woman's direction.
The amethyst-eyed girl took a few hesitant steps before finally breaking into a run and throwing herself into the young man's crushing embrace. "I missed you."
He gave out a sigh of relief as he inhaled her calming scent. "Yeah. Me too."
Oh crappy.
The young man had to bite down the insides of his cheeks to prevent himself from laughing out loud at that instant. Not long ago he would've preferred torture than say things like that. He wasn't the talkative type.
Especially not around her.
"And what's so funny?!" the young woman snapped, slightly drawing away from him. "You insensitive jerk. If you'll just laugh at me I'm—!"
He knew she was going to start yapping again. He cared for her and everything but honestly, going through all the trouble of sneaking into her house in the middle of the night just to have his eardrums battered wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
Actually, he had better plans.
The young woman's outburst was cut short when his lips seized hers in a hot, searing kiss.
Her warm amethyst eyes flashed indignantly. She just wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily…. especially not when he was using this kind of dirty trick.
She tried pushing against his chest but the effort was futile because he was obviously bigger, stronger, and pumping adrenaline. The little struggle between them ensued but it was short-lived when he grabbed the back of her neck and decided to completely mash their lips together. He playfully bit her lower lip to prevent her from drawing away.
She wasn't exactly happy with the slight pain but she welcomed it. Finally, deciding to put an end to the senseless struggling, she let her arms trail up to his shoulder and then wrap securely around his neck. Why struggle? This was what she had been waiting for all day… the moment when she could finally feel his strength and be in his arms.
Her tender gesture was reciprocated with the feel of his hand snaking across the small of her back and behind her neck. Her supply of air was almost cut short when she felt herself get crushed against the hard muscular planes of his body.
She sighed against his lips, the sound creating havoc in every fiber of his being…. The feel of her smooth skin… her soothing voice… her brilliant eyes… the feel of her soft, warm body… the feel of her breasts crushed against his bare muscular chest…. everything…
Everything was simply intoxicating, pushing his control to the limits.
He buried his face against her neck in frustration, shifting his attention to the soft vulnerable spot at the base of her throat.
The young man smiled evilly. She'll surely have a hickie tomorrow.
As if reading his thoughts, the young woman jabbed him playfully on the ribs. "Stop it, you twit. Not there! Do you want my mom and dad to find out?!"
The young man's eyes gleamed mischief. "So where would you want me to kiss you huh?" he said, his voice taking on a perilous tone.
She gulped. "And what does that supposed to mean?" she countered, trying not to sound too alarmed. She slowly backed away from him.
But he caught her arm just in time. "You're not going anywhere, missy."
He'd pulled her with such force that they crashed to the ground with her on top. He grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her with such ferocity that her head seemed to spin heavily.
He wanted her. Right there. Right now.
Before she could even protest, he quickly lifted his upper body. He cradled her on his lap then wrapped her legs around his waist.
She blushed at their intimate position. They'd never been this close before. Nor had she ever felt so exposed to a man. But she desperately tried to push the inhibitions aside….
The moment she did, she shamelessly wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing their bodies completely together.
Actually, she didn't care anymore. She loved this man…. and they'd been through so much…. a solid proof that they belonged together.
He hastily unbuttoned her blouse and had succeeded on removing the first two stubborn buttons when they suddenly heard footsteps coming towards their direction.
Both tensed, quietly listening for any signs of danger….
…. or of being discovered.
But everything was suddenly silent.
Panic filled the young woman's eyes. She hastily got up then dragged along her accomplice. After swiftly replacing her disheveled clothing, she forcefully pushed him towards the direction of the tall hedges where he came from. "Go! Go! Before someone sees you!"
But her young lover stubbornly clung to her arm, a pout marring his handsome face. "Do you really want me to?"
She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior, all the while, keeping her senses in full alert. "You know the answer to that."
"No I don't. You'd have to tell me."
Why was this guy always testing her patience?
Time was already running out. Any minute now, someone might just come looking for her.
"Ok… Yes! I want you to go. And I don't wanna see your ugly face anymore. Do hear me?" she managed to hiss through gritted teeth.
The young man's jaw dropped, the sting of her words evident in his warm blue eyes. "B-but…"
Her reproachful stare was unwavering in the first few seconds…. But her resolve instantly crumbled when she saw his head droop in dismay.
"Awww sweetheart… you should've guessed that I was just kidding," she said, quietly soothing the young man. "I'll never want us to be apart for so long."
The young man's eyes lit up. "Really?"
She nodded solemnly.
"Then, can we see each other again?"
"Most definitely," she agreed, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "But if we get caught now, we'd never see each other for the next few weeks… or probably… for the next few months..."
The young man's heart sank at her words. "Alright. I understand."
"That's my boy," she said with a smile. She playfully pinched his nose.
"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you." He smirked, wrapping his strong arms around her and bestowing a quick but hard full kiss on her lips. "…coz you'll be getting a lot more than a kiss next time," he teased, his eyes glinting with evil promise.
"I'll be looking forward to that," she said wistfully. "Bye, sportsman."
She jumped in surprise when he shamelessly pinched her left butt cheek. "Why you…"
The young man chuckled lightly before finally releasing her. "Bye, Ms. Smarty Pants," he bade, giving her a sexy wink before finally executing his quick getaway.
"Bye, freak…" she whispered, blowing him a light kiss.