Hello, minna-san! This'll be a sort of good-bye present before I hit the books. It's the final exams—FINAL, meaning MAJOR!! This will be so tough! If this is done, I'll deluge you guys with chaps, so hang on, ok? ^_^
Another review!
Luv-anime-4eva ~ Thanks for your kind words! *sniff* I promise I'll ace every darned test for you! ^^
I received a heck of a lot of e-mail's this month (e-mails? Not reviews? L). Here are two that stood out. Thanks a lot, you guys!
From Matier ~ Hi, Rukawa no Miko (my admin name from animeslamdunk.com)! When are you ever going to post the last chap? I'm dying of waiting here!! Hurry before I do! Anyway, you say you'd do a sequel right, about Sakuragi? If I'm not too nosy, what's it about? More power to animeslamdunk.com!! BYEEE!
Matier, thanks for the review! Sure it'll be about Sakuragi's past too—I love manipulating their egos! That's all I can say for now, or I might spoil the surprise. Just wait and see, k? ^_^
From Ether Freeze (she reviewed in behalf of fanfic.net, last week) ~ Hello, Hakkai no Miko? It's weird, you're Hakkai's priestess and yet you don't write a fanfic about him at all………..About the fic, it's sorta good, but can't you put a sort of mush on it? I don't see Mitsui at all and he's my SD love! Please heed my call AT ONCE OR I'LL NEVER READ THIS #$&%*!@ FANFIC AGAIN!!
Ether Freeze, er, please calm down, I beg you ^^;; Don't worry, Mitsui's here in this fic, so please don't kill me. I wrote a fanfic of Saiyuki, but haven't posted any yet here. If you're interested in reading the prologue, go to Saiyuki.com, that's another one of the sites I'm in ^_^ Say, I know my fellow admin Ceres-san wrote a Mitsui fic called "Like a Friend". Why don't you try it on for size? Hope you like it! PS Cool name! ^_^
And this one really, really stands out.
From Prolie ~ your fic, like, SUCKS man! You wasted my precious time!!! You'll pay for that!!!!!!
: ( Hmm…I don't want a comeback at that, but if you don't wanna read, then don't read!! It's as simple as that! I didn't force you to, right? ^^
Ok, that's it for rabid mail. On to the fic, darn it!
Itadakimasu!!!
7 ~ Triple Dates
"Rukawa-kun! Can't you hear the phone ringing?"
"Wakateru! Hello? Yeah, Elly's here………….What! Are you serious? Sure! We'll go there straight away!"
"Who was that, Rukawa-kun?"
"You know that already, don't you? There's a game against Sannoh, and we have reserved seats! Hurry up or we'll be late."
"Look who's talking! You aren't even prepared yet to go!"
"What the…!" Sakuragi kept on staring at the couple with widened eyes. "Calm yourself, Sakuragi. You must be REALLY dreaming this up." He whacked his head and shook several times. "AAH! Wake up already, Tensai! You don't want to be sleeping while you are in a date with Haruko-san!"
Miyagi strode over and punched him hard as if doing a big favor. "There! You quite happy now? Charge is 500 yen."
Ayako in turn sighed. "Baka."
Sakuragi rubbed his shaved hair and glared with flared eyes at the next captain, who is technically shorter and had a much curlier head than him. "Ryocchin! What are you doing here at this restaurant? Surely you and Ayako aren't going on a date…are you?"
With that statement Miyagi suddenly got hearts replacing his former angry eyes. "Mmmm…yeah! This is what I've been waiting for forever! A real, intimate date with my angel, Aya-ch—"
SPLAG! "Baka! I told you, we're just here to study!" She put her giant fan weapon back (never mind where she put it ^_^) and gestured at the armload of books she was carrying. "Now, would you be so kind as to hold this for me while I talk to the manager?"
Miyagi wiped a tear and sniffed loudly as he did what he was told. "You are too direct to the point as always, Aya-chan. Are you breaking my heart purposely?" Then he went over to the table right behind Haruko and Sakuragi's.
"Nyahahahahahaha!!!" Sakuragi covered his mouth, which is pretty useless since it nonetheless echoed to the four corners of the whole room. "Poor Ryocchin! He spends his Friday night cramming for stupid school lessons, while Tensai here is with the loveliest girl in Shohoku, and having the time of his life! Isn't it obvious that the luck in this world is SO not equal! Nyahahahahahaha!!!"
As Sakuragi kept laughing, the furious Miyagi jumped up from behind him and gave him a very hard armlock. "Deme!! How dare you insult your sempai and future captain! You won't get away with this!!"
Sakuragi resisted and they rolled around on the floor like a pair of wild beasts, snarling and growling loud enough for everyone to hear and applaud.
"Hey, free entertainment!" one spectator commented. "Can I take a picture of them?" one middle-aged woman asked while holding her camera. Obviously, the two Shohoku players didn't hear the hoots of derision as they kept fighting until a voice called from the front door.
"This is great!" Sendoh said as he excitedly munched on his cotton candy (Lemon-flavored ^_^). "This is one of the best fairs I've ever been to!" He smiled at Ellyta. "Of course, being here with you added a big bonus."
"How chivalrous," Ellyta teased while hugging the stuffed bear Sendoh won for her a few minutes ago. "Sendoh-san, why don't you be a diplomat someday?"
"Sure! If it means having an automatic translator so I could go around the world without having to study other languages." Sendoh threw the wrapper towards the trash can. It went inside with like ball through a basket. "Come on, let's go to that Ferris wheel."
"Well, well, well! I had no idea you people work for this restaurant as big-time clowns. Don't you know you're creating a big shame in the basketball club?"
Miyagi snapped and stood up, leaving the beaten and bruised freshman behind. He noticed the people crowded around them--cheering and laughing. Mitsui was in the first rows of the people, wearing a big smirk on his face. "Mitsui-san! What are YOU doing here? Don't tell me…"
"Oh, me? I have a date." He waved to a petite, brunette girl at a table in the far corner where the space was vacant for him to see. The girl smiled shyly and waved back.
"That is Yukino Hojo," he said as he glanced again at his surprised teammates. "Cute, isn't she? She's working at the flower boutique next two blocks."
Haruko appeared among the mocking crowd who is starting to thin out, and went towards Sakuragi, carrying a table napkin with her. "What happened? Are you all right, Sakuragi-kun?" (God, can't she even get what's happened here??)
Seeing the love of his life, the pain in Sakuragi's body vanished in a matter of seconds. "Me? Dayjoubu, Haruko-san! This tensai doesn't know the meaning of 'pain'!"
"'Cause he doesn't have a brain to process it," Mitsui mumbled to Haruko.
"So you have a date with Haruko, Sakuragi," Mitsui concluded then turned to Miyagi, who was sobbing horribly. "What about you, Miyagi? Who's the vic—er, lucky girl?"
Miyagi didn't look at Mitsui's smiling eyes as he answered, "Aya-chan."
"Nyahahaha! No, Micchy, you are terribly mistaken. He doesn't really have a d—"
Miyagi covered his mouth and dragged him far away from Mitsui. "Onegai, Hanamichi," he pleaded-whispered. "Don't say the truth to Sempai, or I'll never live it down. Do this favor for me just for once, okay? I promise I won't forget this. Ne?"
Before Sakuragi could even react, Miyagi pushed him backed to the spot near Haruko. The mere sight made him forget all about his recent fiasco with Miyagi. "So, now!" Mitsui started. "Since we're together at this restaurant, why don't we have a triple date? It'll be fun!"
"Iiada! I want to spend time with Haruko-san ALONE!"
"Sure!" Haruko beamed. Sakuragi sank to the floor as if Haruko punched him in the gut.. "Haruko-san…"
"No way!" Miyagi protested in despair.
"I'm back!" Ayako came back into vision. "Sempai! I didn't know you were here."
Mitsui then explained the details of his latest proposal to Ayako while Miyagi chewed his nails in anxiety, praying in a panic to the gods.
Finally Ayako said, "Oh, well. I guess missing one night of studying won't hurt." Miyagi had joy written all over his face as he rushed to hug Ayako. "Aya-chan! I knew you would."
Ayako spanked the overjoyed soon-to-be captain. "Don't take this the wrong way!"
Mitsui laughed and motioned for his own girl. "Come on, Yukino-chan! You wouldn't want to miss the fun tonight!"
~*Next Chapter – Loveless*~
Mitsui's so cool, doncha think? ^_^ If you guys give me enough reviews I might be nice enough to give you some Mitsui fics. What do you think?
I look forward to seeing you again!