A/N: YES! YES! Finally can move onto newer chapters now! Isn't that so great? Sorry this chapter took so long to update. . . :S I know, I'm horrible at keeping up with my updatings, but thank you all for bearing with me!

This fanfic is dedicated to my three friends Melanie, Jane and Winnie, they were the ones who encouraged me to start writing a slam dunk fic since I kept pretending that Fujima was my boyfriend (Yes! He is mine! Do you hear me? MINE! But still keep reading my fanfic please : ), so thank you so much to them!

Also to Shiriju, who died last year. She was my friend when I did dancing, although we were never that close, she had always been so nice to me and she was great to talk to! Thank you for everything, Shiriji! R.I.P

Krappkarmin - oh no! Are you serious??? Its an all boys high??? Hehe, yup yup! It's fanfiction. . . so let's leave it * whistle *

Kai the dragon mage who lives in your house - thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: don't own neither Fujima nor Sendoh. . . does any of you? Because watch out, I'll come and snatch them off you, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

" Are you serious, Fujima?" Kurako's eyes shot open with excitement, " You are inviting me to watch your game this Saturday afternoon?"

Fujima laughed, " Yeah, of course! Unless you're busy, especially with Yui and all. . . "

Kurako shook her head quite violently, " It's ok, I can visit her in the morning, unless she suddenly wakes up, then I probably can't come to your game. But otherwise, I'm definitely coming! I can't wait to watch you play a game, I mean I've seen you practise and all, but I've never actually seen you play."

" Well, it will be your lucky day! Meet me outside the Kanagawa stadium at 2:00pm, alright?" then his face turned a little serious, "After the game, don't go home yet, I have a surprise for you."

Kurako gulped, " A. . . surprise? Of what?"

Fujima smiled, " If I tell you now, then it won't be a surprise!"

Kurako nodded in agreement and then started clapping like a little girl, " Oh, I love surprises! Thank you, Fujima-kun!" Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Fujima's neck and hugged him tightly.

Fujima could feel the heat rushing up to his face from his neck, he tried his best to hide the embarrassment he felt, along with the subconscious satisfaction too.

Kurako pulled away immediately when she realised what she was doing. Her face turned a bright pink as well, the two sat at the bus stop with a nervous silence. Luckily for them both, the bus came just in time to save them from the little awkward atmosphere.

~*~

Kurako held Yui's fragile hand in hers, praying again for the day for her to wake up would come very soon. After she had prayed, Kurako pulled a chair next to the bed which Yui was sleeping in and sat on it.

Kurako smiled down at Yui, " Oh, Yui, you won't believe this, Fujima asked me to go to his game today and I'm extremely excited. I know it's not a date or anything and I'm not excited because of that, but I've seen him coach and practise so many times, it's good to see it all put into action, to know that he had been trying hard to achieve different things in every game. Also, he said he would have a surprise for me, I wonder what it is, Yui. I can't wait! Yui, I hope you will wake up real soon. . ."

Kurako closed her eyes, a glistening tear slid down her cheek as she remembered all the good times they had together. Reminiscing like this reminded her of a certain cute spiky hair boy she once knew as well, she opened her eyes and smiled at Yui, " I was just thinking of the good times we had together, then I started thinking about Sendoh. You must have heard thousands of sob stories about him, truth is, after all these years, I still miss him and as stupid as it is, I still believe that one day we'll meet again." She tightened her grip on Yui, " I saw him the other day, did I tell you that? Well, I thought I saw him anyway, maybe I'm just delusional. What do you think, Yui? Will things be alright in the end? Will you wake up real soon? Will I ever see Sendoh again?" then a deep blush filled Kurako's face, " and will I ever be able to tell Fujima how much I love him."

At this point, Kurako felt extremely stupid, she felt Yui's spirit raising her eyebrow at her for even using the word "love". It's such a strong word! But could she possibly love someone whom she has just met? Most of all, could she love someone else when there's always Sendoh on her mind?

~*~

Fujima glanced at his watch, it was 1:55, Kurako should arrive in just about five minutes. He tilted his head upward to face the crystal blue sky, still not very sure whether what he was going to do would be right.

Of course it's right, he kept telling himself. You are doing two people a big favour.

But the selfish part of him always told him not to do it, but he forcefully pushed that aside and decided to do it anyway. Fujima Kenji was anything but selfish, it was his job to look after other people's best interest rather than his own.

~*~

As Kurako approached the Kanagawa stadium, she could already see Fujima standing at the door, in his green tracksuit. A smile immediately formed on her face, she was so glad that she wasn't late. Since she had not really been to Kanagawa stadium, she was afraid that she might have gotten lost on the way.

"Fujima!" Kurako ran and waved at the same time, her body full of enthusiastic energy. After all, she was going to watch Fujima play basketball, in a REAL game!

When she reached him, she couldn't help but blabbered on, " Oh I couldn't sleep last night, I was just so excited! I don't know why, I've seen a basketball game and all before, but oh, I'm just so hyped up! When does it start? Have you guys warmed up yet? Has the other team arrive yet? What's the rival school again?"

Fujima could only catch about three sentences in all she had said, Kurako was talking so fast he could only laugh, " Calm down, Kurako. The game starts in about fifteen minutes and the whole team has warmed up already, so don't worry, we'll definitely win. Although the team we're playing is Ryonan, they have some very good players on the team, but I think we'll manage."

Kurako blushed as soon as she realised how fast she had been talking, " Sorry. . . about me blabbering on I mean. . ."

Fujima just smiled, " Don't worry about it. Come on, come inside and I'll show you one of the best seats where you'll get the best views!"

Without thinking, he grabbed Kurako's hand and dragged her into the stadium, holding on tightly. Kurako could feel her heart beating extremely fast, but at the same time, enjoying the firm hand of Fujima's around her one.

This moment quickly ended when they reached a flight of stairs leading to the seats.

Fujima pointed upwards, " Here, go up this flight of stairs and just choose any seats, they're all pretty good. Front seats, I'm sure you'll be able to see everything."

Kurako nodded and wrapped her arms around Fujima, " Good luck."

Fujima hugged her back, " Thank you."

Although neither of them said anything more, comfort and an undeniable longing for each other ran through their bodies.

Fujima forced himself to let go, knowing that he needed to get back to his team and knowing that if he held onto Kurako any longer, he would have done something that he might regret later on, or simply hurt her, which he couldn't even bare thinking of doing.

As he walked off, he decided to turn around again. With a brilliant smile on his face, he lifted a victory thumb up at Kurako, " We'll win. After the victory, meet me here again, remember, I have a surprise for you." Then he turned around and ran off.

Kurako's eyes didn't leave Fujima until he was totally out of sight, she clung to her heart tightly and wondered how much deeper he could fall for this amazing boy.

~*~

Kurako looked around the stadium, absolutely amazed. It was quite a big stadium, it looked very new to her too. There was quite a huge amount of people in the audience, with signs such as ganbare Shoyo or Ryonan is the best. There were greens and blues everywhere, she figured that the blue was probably Ryonan's colour. The game hadn't even started and the atmosphere was great.

Unfortunately, there was no one there that Kurako knew, no one she knew was sitting near her anyway. Kurako was often quite freaked out by these situations, she wasn't a shy person, she was quite impossibly loud in front of her friends, but when it came to being in a crowd of strangers, something within her would silence her. Trying to get rid of this uneasiness, she looked around and wished that there was someone to talk to. How stupid of her not to bring Maruko, Januko or Winako along! How very stupid!

Then her eyes fell on this girl sitting a few seats away, she had long wavy hazel brown hair that was hung loosely in a very natural and beautiful way. Her eyes were an honest green, with fine brown eyebrows to match her hair and her eyes. Her hands were tucked in between her thighs, sitting there by herself, waiting very nervously for the game to start, as it seemed. Kurako decided to move a few seats across to meet this girl who could possibly be a new friend for her.

Kurako pondered a little, it couldn't hurt to make a new friend, right? It's good to have someone to talk to while watching the game too I suppose and I would definitely feel less awkward right now if I had someone with me.

"Hi!" Kurako smiled at the girl.

The girl looked at her, Kurako could already tell that she had surprised the girl. She was expecting a negative reaction when the girl gave her a friendly smile back, " Hi."

Kurako was more relieved now to see that this girl was probably very nice, it gave her more confidence in talking to the girl, " I'm Kurako, what's your name?"

" I'm Hitomi."

" So you've come to watch the Ryonan and Shoyo game too eh? Which school are you supporting?" Kurako asked curiously, she hoped that Hitomi was from Shoyo too.

" I'm supporting Ryonan."

Kurako wasn't disappointed though, she was even more excited, " I heard that your team is very good!"

"Yeah."

These short answers from Hitomi were making her feel very uncomfortable, it was very hard for Kurako to keep a conversation going if she didn't know what to say. Now she was starting to think that Hitomi didn't want to become her friend.

But the voice of Hitomi surprised her, " I heard that Shoyo was very good too. I've seen them play actually, Fujima and Hanagata are probably the two best people on the team."

Kurako's face went red at the mention of Fujima, " Yeah, both of them are very good. I haven't watched a basketball game here before, because I just moved to Kanagawa this year. But I'll definitely be coming here more often since I'm starting to take an interest in basketball, although my heart still belongs to baseball."

Hitomi's face lightened up, she didn't look like the shy girl any more, at this point, Kurako knew that she had broken the ice between them, " Baseball? I love baseball!"

The two girls talked about baseball uncontrollably, until the whistle was blown to signal the start of the game. They both became quiet and steady their gazes on the basketball court.

The referee threw the ball up into the air, a green and a blue jumped for it at the same time, it was so difficult to tell who was going to hit it first. The player from Shoyo reached the ball first by an inch and hit it to Tagano. Tagano quickly dribbled the ball to his end of the court, but a defender suddenly appeared in front of him and he passed the ball swiftly to Hasegawa.

Hasegawa found his gap and ran straight for the hoop, he was inside the key, with natural rhythm, he bent his knees and jumped. He scored! Shoyo on two points, Ryonan on zero.

All the Shoyo supporters cheered loudly, including Kurako, although Hitomi was going for Ryonan, she cheered with Kurako just the same. The two girls laughed, but quickly settled their concentrations on the game again.

This giant whom Kurako thought looked like a big monkey (yes, she and Sakuragi think alike, heehee) got the ball now, he looked very frightening compared to the rest of the players on the court. He passed the ball to and fro until he was near the hoop when he jumped up and slammed the ball down the hoop.

Hitomi clapped excitedly, " Wow! What a slam dunk from Senpai Uozumi."

The game went on for ages, with Shoyo and Ryonan both scoring scarily tight with each other. It was such a thrilling game for the audience, Kurako could feel the nervousness for everyone on the Shoyo team. Kurako had not seen Fujima score yet, but she knew exactly why. He was looking after his team, he was trying to bring the best out of everyone, he was there to encourage them and to guide them, that was why he was captain and coach. Kurako realised that she had been seeing the best of Fujima all along, just helping his teammates along to reach their full potentials.

The whistle blew, it was half time, the score was 28-32. Ryonan's way.

Kurako turned to Hitomi, " Oh my gosh! They are both so good!"

Hitomi nodded, " I couldn't take my eyes off the court, I was so nervous for Ryonan all the time."

Kurako laughed, " Wow, same! Except I was nervous for Shoyo of course. We'll chase the score, we'll win, Hitomi, we'll win."

Hitomi raised her eyebrow, but then burst into gentle laughter" Really? Just you wait and see Kurako. Just you wait and see. The best is still yet to come." Then a deep blush formed in Hitomi's cheek and Kurako wondered what it was.

The whistle blew again, it was time for the second half. The girls twisted in their seats to get into a comfortable position. Hasegawa got the ball, he was racing down the court, passing here and there smoothly and up he jumped, he scored again!

Fukuda was dribbling the ball down the court, moving around swiftly. Suddenly, Ito appeared and snatched the ball off Fukuda. Ito dribbled the ball down the court, passing the ball to Hanagata. Two defenders appeared in front of him, one of them was named Koshino, according to Hitomi. Hanagata bent his feet and did his famous backward shot. Swish! It went straight into the hoop. The score was now even!

Hanagata now got the ball, but before he was even halfway down the court, a tall spiked-hair boy stood in front of him, with his arms waving around in defence. Kurako's eyes widened, how could she not have notice him before at all? He had been on the court ever since the game started, how could she have missed him?

Kurako watched him intensely, making sure that she wasn't imagining things. She surely wasn't, the same spiky hair, the same sheepish look yet determined, the same promising gaze in those blue eyes. There was no mistake, it was Sendoh Akira. Kurako didn't know what to feel, except that she felt numb and still couldn't believe that it was really Sendoh. She watched his every move, the way he grabbed the ball off the opponent without a fault and dribbled the ball with fine skills. Even when he came face to face with Hanagata, one of the best players in Shoyo, Sendoh remained calm and broke through Hanagata's defence, allowing him to score another goal for Ryonan.

Kurako suddenly believed that she was in some kind of dream, there was no other explanation for this numbness in the heart. There was Sendoh Akira jumping around just a few meters away from her, playing basketball. Not any other Akira, but THE Sendoh Akira. Now she wasn't so sure if she was ready to see him again, it had been so long and it was unreal to see her wish coming true.

~*~

There was five minutes left to the game, the scores were still very close, 78-80, Ryonan's way. Both teams were exhausted, looking very frustarted as well. Fujima had a relaxed look on his face, but Kurako could tell that he was frustrated and was trying to come up with a plan very fast. Kurako looked around, defending Hanagata was Sendoh, concentrating hard. The ball went to and fro both teams for about four minutes, neither of the teams scoring a goal successfully.

There was only one minute left. Fujima was on the other end of the court, he held the ball in his hand. Without any further thinking, he dribbled it down the court, breaking through any defenders that was trying to block him. Thirty seconds left. Fujima's eyes darted around with full alert, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sendoh running toward him from where Hanagata was. Fujima's feet were just outside the ring, his muscles relaxed. He bent his knees easily, then giving them a good bounce and holding the ball firmly, he jumped and released the ball in a beautiful manner.

Every person's eyes were following the path of the ball, then into the hoop it went. The whistle went off. 81-80.

Fujima's mouth opened into a wide smile, nothing but a breath came out, " it went in. . ."

The whole Shoyo team rushed toward Fujima and jumped onto him, " Fujima! We won! That was a great shot! Hooray for Fujima! Hooray for Shoyo!"

Kurako jumped up and clapped ever so loudly, " Go Shoyo! You are the best! WOAH! Go Fujima!"

Everyone in the audience was clapping, even the supporters of Ryonan, because it was truly a wonderful game to watch. Everyone stood up and cheered. Even the people on the Ryonan team began to clap loudly too. Kurako rested her eyes on Sendoh, who had a satisfying grin on his face and she felt her heart twisting into a nervous knot.

~*~

Kurako was waiting for Fujima to come, while the people were filing down the stairs. Although Hitomi offered to stay with Kurako for a while, Kurako could see that she was in a hurry and turned it down. These two new friends exchanged phone numbers and promised each other to go watch a movie together or do something again real soon. Kurako stared down at her feet, afterall, there was nothing better to look at now, everything seemed so boring after the exciting game.

"Kurako!" Kurako turned around to see Fujima standing there.

" That was such a great shot, Fujima! You had the whole stadium holding their breaths just watching the ball going into the hoop! It was amazing!"

Fujima's face turned slightly red, Kurako's face was full of energy and was truly overwhelmed by that wonderful shot.

Fujima laughed the praising off, " Thanks. But now it's time for your big surprise, we'd better hurry up before it goes away."

" What. . ." but before Kurako could finish her sentence, Fujima had already grab her hand firmly and dragged her down the corridor.

Where is he taking me? What is this big surprise? How is it possible that he still has this much energy after the game? All these questions were running through Kurako's head.

Within seconds though, they reached this door. Fujima let go of Kurako and pushed the door open. Kurako's eyes shot wide open, the basketball court which Shoyo and Ryonan were playing on just a few moments ago was revealed. Both of them stepped inside, with Kurako following right behind Fujima.

Before he kept going, Fujima turned around and gave Kurako a reassuring look, " Don't worry, everything will be fine. You'll like the surprise."

Kurako could only nod, Fujima smiled and kept walking. Instead of walking to the Shoyo team, he walked over to the Ryonan team where they were packing up. Peering just over Fujima's shoulder, Kurako could see Sendoh Akira, taking a drink from his drink bottle with a white towel wrapped around his neck. Sweat drops were falling down his face, but there was no exhaustion in his expression, just simply satisfaction.

Kurako's legs were shaking tremendously, her heart pounding furiously. Somehow, the numbness was all replaced by restlessness and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her entire body from trembling. Sendoh Akira was definitely real now, being so close to him, he wasn't just another dream of hers, but he was actually real.

"Sendoh!" Fujima called.

Sendoh put his drink bottle down and looked up, when he saw that it was Fujima Kenji from Shoyo, he gave him a big grin to congratulate him once again on the shot and winning the game. Sendoh walked casually over to Fujima and Kurako, obviously still didn't realise that she was standing there.

Sendoh was extremely tall compared to Fujima, he held out a hand to shake Fujima's, " Congratulations. You deserved that win, but we'll work even harder from now on, so watch out." With that, he tapped his nose in reassurance.

Fujima smiled, " Thank you. You and the other Ryonan players did very well too and don't worry, we'll be ready for you next time as well." Then Fujima paused, Sendoh saw the seriousness on Fujima's face and gave him a curious look. Fujima opened his mouth to talk, although he was so scared that words might fail him, he managed to keep calm and casual, " I have a girl here who you might want to see. But I know she definitely wants to see you."

Fujima stepped aside, revealing Kurako standing there, her whole body was unsteady and there were millions of tears streaming down her face like a flowing river. Sendoh's sheepish grin slowly died away and opened a little in shock, his eyes filled with surprise yet with compassion and recognition, " . . . Kurako?"

Although the word barely came out at all, it was loud enough for Kurako to hear. The sound of his voice set Kurako's emotion all meddled up in her body, confusion, anger, sadness, but most of all, happiness. There was no word that could be said, but her crazy little laughs directed at exactly how she felt and gave Sendoh the insurance that it was really Kurako standing there.

Without hesitating any longer, Kurako ran straight toward Sendoh and wrapped her arms tightly around him, with the sparkling tears continually flowing down her cheeks. Sendoh held her ever so tightly, knowing that he would never leave her again.

Fujima stood in a corner, watching them. As his heart was filled with sadness and jealousy, he knew that he should have been the one congratulating Sendoh. Although Fujima had won the game, he had lost something even more important.

A/N: Ho ho ho, don't think that's the end yet, there's more to come. Sure she finally have found Sendoh, but who will she choose? Will Luciko use this chance to get Fujima? Is Yui ever going to wake up?