The ball was in the hoop again, giving Natsumi's total of successful shots 500 in different places inside and outside the three-point lane. It was 10 in the evening but still, Natsumi decided to go back at Shohoku High School to practice basketball. As a matter of fact, she is practicing hard for one hour now.

She tossed the ball high and smiled. "Yohei-kun, I owe this one to you…" she whispered silently as the ball reached it's goal.

She stopped at her tracks and got a towel from her bag down the floor. She was perspiring hard. It has been a couple of months since she stopped training and now, her aqua leotard is full of sweat. She removed the white hanging shirt above her leotard and tied her hair up in a bow. She just came from a quick reminiscing with Yohei then, tiring pictorial at Nagasaki and now, all that five hundred shots made her very exhausted.

She looked straightly at the basket and challenged herself into something unusual. She pulled several bottled cans from her bag and lined them up in the middle of the court. Each can was spaced from the other in the exact measurement of her feet to train her balance. She got the loose ball on the floor and stood up to the basket.

"One last shot…" she whispered while getting into position.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rukawa yawned largely as he parked his bike near the gym's door. He left his house again just for the fact that he's gonna practice but thanks to some good shrimps playing at his practice site, he crossed his mind into going to Shohoku rather than wasting any time doing nothing.

As he stretched walked down the road towards the gym, he was suddenly alarmed by the sound of the ball dribbling inside the building. He crossed his eyebrows and ran across the gym's door.

"Who the hell could it be at this time of the day?" he whispered as he hurriedly opened the door.

His eyes went wide in surprise to see Natsumi, advancing to do her final shot. For that moment, he wished that his eyes were deceiving him. Not only can she, Natsumi, a girl, can match his aloofness but also his basketball skills.

"Darn it…" he whispered as Natsumi sprang into action. She eluded all those cans in a fast speed and in great balance that neither one of them was touched nor have fallen. Her dribbling was also fast and accurate or in other words, perfect. Even her footwork was synchronized with her whole body. She was great, just great.

At last, she finished her exhibition by a lay-up shot with the most beautiful form ever. "Alright, I did it!" Natsumi praised herself while jumping in mid-air.

Rukawa's jaw dropped. He was so stunned that he could even feel a tiny sweat fall down his cheeks. He thought that he was somewhat distinctive in terms of practicing but this girl just did what he always does. "Masaka? How could she…"

Natsumi was out of breath. She just stood under the basket while trying so hard to catch her breath. She could hardly move an inch but Rukawa's figure alarmed her. The both of them were stunt, gazing at each other with no words to express. "Rukawa…"she whispered aloud.

Upon noticing her gaze, Rukawa changed her once stunned face into a serious one. He suddenly crossed his brows and moved forward to get the ball under Natsumi's feet.

"Konnichiwa, Rukawa-ku!" Natsumi greeted but no answer came. He was just silently walking towards the end of the lined-up cans and positioned himself into making an exhibition that's much wonderful than hers. He dribbled the ball in his place before challenging her with just a look.

Natsumi's genki smile faded as she crossed her brows in a victorious manner. "Let's see how you play, super rookie!" she thought.

The dribbling sound became faster and faster in every second and like the speed of light, he imitated the exact same way on how Natsumi passed the cans. And as he got nearer to the goal, he jumped high enough to finish his exhibition into making a reverse dunk.

Natsumi clapped her hands in a sarcastic way, "So are you saying that you can do what I can?" she asked with a confident challenging smile on her face. She walked passed him and got the ball in his hands. "Let's have a one on one!" she challenged him.

Rukawa smirked as he removed his jacket to get ready to play.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You guard first!" Natsumi shouted while forcing a confident smirk.

Without any complaints, Rukawa pushed the cans away and lowered himself to make a tight defense. He's been waiting for this moment. Natsumi just pasted a smile in her lips and started dribbling.

His defense was tight but he managed to elude him. And because of her lightning speed she had placed the ball into the hoop in no time.

Rukawa smirked, "She's fast…" he thought while getting the ball. He walked near Natsumi and started dribbling. Her defense was really tight that even he couldn't elude her. Knowing that Natsumi will block him, he faked a shot and eluded his opponent. He was getting ready to shot the ball when he realized that Natsumi was now infront of him. He drew the ball nearer to his side, dribbled it in between his legs and jumped as to completing one fade-away jump shot. Natsumi jumped to block his shot but he was just to fast for her, instead, she accidentally fell over Rukawa as the two of them bumped hardly on the floor.

"Itai—Oh my GoD!" she shouted while realizing that she was on top of Rukawa,. Both of them were lying on the floor while facing each other. She blushed a lot. "Go-gomen!"

Rukawa smirked as he looked at straightly in her blue eyes. They stood there for about a minuite when her phone suddenly rang.

The two of them stood up and fixed their dresses. Natsumi looked at her phone before ending the call. It was just then that she realized that Rukawa already got his bag and was about to walk away when

"Matte, Rukawa-ku…" she called.

Rukawa stopped but didn't turn back.

Natsumi got her bag, shoved it above her shoulders and ran beside Rukawa. "It's getting a little dark, care to go home together?' she asked

"Whatever…" with that, Rukawa slowly strided out Shohoku's gate. Natsumi just smiled and followed him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"WOWOWW" was all that Natsumi said as she and Rukawa parked themselves infront of a very big mansion.

"Is this your house?" Natsumi asked. No answer came. But it was though her question was answered for Rukawa begun unlocking the door with his keys.

"Whom are you living with?" Natsumi smiled at the cute kitsune who is having a hard time looking for the right key to fit in the door.

"Nobody…"

"Where are your parents?"

"America…" he answered. "They'll be home after two weeks…"

He was still looking for the right key to fit the door when a hand stopped him from pushing through. He looked at his side just to see Natsumi's warm smile. "My apartment is only two blocks from here…I'll bring you there so that we both have companies for this evening." She held Rukawa's hand and pulled it outside the gate and into the streets.

"It's too lonely to live in a MANSION all alone, so there's no way I'm gonna leave you." She said.

Rukawa can't do anything but to follow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Rukawa-ku dinner is ready!" Natsumi shouted at the kitsune whose busy watching TV.

There was no answer.

Natsumi placed the hot pan in the middle of the table before removing her apron. "Taku…"

IVERSON IS RUNNING DOWN AT THE HALFCOURT. HE'S FREE! WILL THIS BE AN EXCITING FINISH OR WILL IT BE AN OVERTIME MATCH. HERE GOES IVERSON FOR THE WIN—

"Huh?" surprised, Rukawa looked above him just to see Natsumi holding the remote. "I can lend you the tape but first, let's eat, the food's getting cold." Natsumi smiled.

Rukawa stood up while following Natsumi to the dining table. He sat infront of her and begun to sip on the hot soup.

Natsumi smiled again, "How was it?" she asked.

"Good…"

"Rukawa-ku take this…" Natsumi held a tiny key infront of her hands. "If ever you feel alone, you're always welcome in my house."

"Doshite?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Saa…" Natsumi held her utensils down. "Maybe because, I don't want seeing people lonely…"

Rukawa's eyes grew big with surprise. Having all the girls following him around, wanting them to be his, this girl is different. She saw through his great aloof aura. He was trying to hide his loneliness with his aloofness but he just realized that it wasn't enough.

"You're the bestfriend I've never had."

Natsumi smiled once again. " Well, now you have…"

Rukawa was stunt. He had a bestfriend. Someone who's always there for him. Someone who'll never leave him alone.

"Ne…best?" it was all Natsumi could ask. It was the first time they ever agreed on something. It was their first official conversation. It was the first time they both had a real best friend.

Rukawa held the key in between his hands and for the first time…he smiled.