I'm sorry I couldn't reply to anyone right now…and for the loooooooong break! Gomenasai!!
9 ~ Invitations With A Secret
Sendoh looked at the Shohoku freshman, whose face was covered with dry leaves. "What are you doing, spying on us?!"
The embarrassed Sakuragi leaped out from the bushes and observed Sendoh. For once in his whole life, he had never seen the calm, cool captain of the Ryonan team so infuriated. Steam practically smoked out from his ears. "Y-yo, Sendoh, Akari-san."
"Sakuragi-kun!" She turned to face Sakuragi, her face turning red. He knew her from the conversations about a new American transferee in Shohoku, and he heard she was a "very cute, intelligent and polite girl". He wasn't sure if her redness were from anger or from humiliation. "You were here all this time, listening to us?"
"No-not really! I just went here a few minutes ago, and I saw you two together so…I kinda heard your story, and…"
Sendoh interrupted by grabbing his shirt collar. "'A few minutes' doesn't make any difference, does it? 'Cause you still heard the whole conversation!"
"Oh no!" Ellyta covered her face with her hands in horror. "This is horrible!"
Sakuragi shrugged free from Sendoh's grasp and observed the blonde, who looked like she was going to break down right then and there. And Sakuragi wasn't the type that is used to seeing girls—especially kawaii American girls—cry over spilled milk, much less because of him. "It's okay, Akari-san!" he said hurriedly to calm her and also his own nerves. "I won't spread it around. Promise! I swear!"
Sendoh ran over to her side and sighed at Sakuragi as he regained miraculously his normal, calm, but still less-cooler self. "Well, you'd better! This is her personal life we're talking about. If every one in school hears this story, not only will her privacy be tampered, but Rukawa's as well!"
Hmmm…maybe I should consider this then, Sakuragi said to himself as soon as he heard his longtime rival's name and imagined him being reduced to shreds. But he never dared mentioned his inner thoughts to the two as Akari took several deep breaths and smiled shakily at Shohoku's monkey. "It's okay, I guess. Can I trust you on this one, Sakuragi-kun?"
"Sure! I'm tensai at keeping secrets!" was reply that any fan of SD would naturally guess he'd say. Ellyta glanced at him. Maybe he would, she pondered. After all, he is also one of the most trusted team members of the basketball club.
But that's the problem: he practices and plays everyday and every game alongside Rukawa. He would slip up eventually in front of him and the whole basketball club, and she's dead meat.
But she doesn't really have a choice on this matter. She couldn't go back to the time she relayed her life to Sendoh. Just like how much she wanted to go back to when this whole thing started. She has to trust Sakuragi…even if it kills her.
Sakuragi leaned against a tree trunk and narrowed his eyes in question at the sight of them in deep thought. "Why don't you want anyone else to know anyway?" Then he snapped his finger as a light bulb flashed. "Ah! Sou ka (I see)! You don't want Rukawa to know that you guys are going out!"
"NO!" Both of them shouted at the same time. Ellyta had sweatdrops behind his head. Can't he even tell when he overheard us? Sendoh on the other hand was thinking, Kami-sama (God) thank you thank you THANK YOU for giving him a stupid not-so-processing mind! You must have known he would do some spying! Oh thank you that Rukawa wouldn't have another excuse to kill me!
Ellyta shook her head and chuckled. "It's not that, Sakuragi-kun. It's…um…it's kinda hard to say…so…"
"So you like him, then?"
Ellyta gasped a little as she heard his words. Like Rukawa? It never occurred to her that she'd been doing all this not only to meet her childhood friend—but also to be able for them to be together like old times, and more than that. Did I go back for that? She seemed too confused to answer.
Whether she likes him more as a friend or not, one thing's for certain: Rukawa is special to her life and to her brother's memory. She vowed to be there helping him, and she should keep that vow until the very last moment. If Rukawa ever lets her, that is.
It's another bright day at Shohoku High, but not so bright for the students as they squint their eyes and yawn in supreme tiredness.
It's exam day, and it's quite obvious that many of them did not even sleep a wink as they struggled to review their reading materials. So there are a number of kinds of students available for that day:
First of all, the Brainiacs, who are the students (especially the ones wearing huge, chunky eyeglasses) who carry practically half the books in the library and appear to be confident in acing their tests.
There are also the Worrywarts, the students who chew their nails until they devour all of them in fear of flunking.
The Desperate Crammers, the people who study at the last minute because of their relaxing activity the week before, and under it there are two kinds: the ones who cram the night before an exam, and the ones who cram right before the exam time.
And lastly, the I-Couldn't-Care-Less students who never had a clue about the tests and never even worried about the results.
Let's get a closer look at one of the subjects labeled under this particular category. He has on a wrinkled Shohoku uniform—obviously he either hasn't got any time to iron it properly or he just can't bring himself to do it. He's wearing fuzzy fox ears and a long bushy tail, and he is currently snoozing at the rooftop. Yep, you guessed right, dear fans of SD, this was no other than the kawaii kitsune Rukawa Kaede, sound asleep!
Some students knew about his favorite spot and went there just to get a glimpse of the fabulous ace player. "Oh, look. He's sooo cute when he sleeps like that. Which is always," a freshman girl gushed to her tomodachi.
"I wonder if he even knew the final tests are today," the other wondered aloud.
"That's Rukawa-kun. He's too cool to care…" Suddenly an arm brushed her off.
"Oh gomen," the girl who just stepped in apologized. "Do you mind if I pass through?"
The girl suddenly screamed at her face. The new addition had to cover her ears in surprise. "Y-you…are…Akari-san…right? Oh my God, it's the most popular girl in school, standing right in front of me!!" Then she went around Ellyta like a crazy monkey, tugging her sleeve and fingering her golden braided hair (does it remind you of someone we know ^_^). "Wooooow, you're even prettier up close! Can I have an autograph? Oh please, please, please!!"
The girl held up her hands to help calm down girl currently labeled demented. "Uh, s-sure. But you don't need to go that far." She quickly tore a piece of paper from her bag and signed her name on it. The girl snatched it as soon as she let up her pen and squealed in delight. Suddenly the bell rang to signal the students to go to their rooms.
"Thanks again, Akari-san!" The girl waved and left, pulling the arm of her friend before she could even retaliate.
Ellyta sighed, thankful for the quiet she just received. She knew she had to go to Akagi and Kogure's room as well, but she had a little business to do first. She silently snuck up near the dead sleeping Rukawa, and took out a letter from her purse. She stealthily put the letter between his fingers.
Before she got up, she observed the peaceful face of Rukawa as he snored. "He looks so contented right now," she murmured in barely a whisper. "I better not disturb him."
"Darn! I can't believe that test we just took up!!" some senior complained to his companion during recess time. "Did the sensei actually think we could actually memorize all of the dates about the whatsoever war it was? We're not androids, you know!"
"Shhh, pipe down, he's going to hear us," his friend hissed at him. "I don't wanna mess up the few correct answers I DO have." The student grumbled and took a big bite out of his sandwich and chomped loudly.
"So how'd you do on the test, Ellyta?" Kogure asked his female classmate. "I bombed something pretty badly."
Ellyta took a little sip from her carton of apple juice and gently dabbed her lips with a napkin. "I can't guarantee mine's good, either."
"Oh really? If that's sort of a secret code, I'm guessing 'not good' means at least an A-minus for you, am I right?" Kogure teased. Ellyta grinned a little in reply and doodled on the margin of her notebook. A photo flew out of her open bag and hit the senior's face.
"Oh sorry, my fault." She reached out for the picture.
"No big." He scanned quickly the picture, and then commented, "Hey, is this you when you were little? Who's the guy carrying you?"
"My brother."
"Sugoi, he's so tall! Strangely, he seems kinda familiar. I can't really tell who, though." Kogure scrutinized the photo closer. "Then who's this kid next to him?"
Ellyta fingered her braid in a kind of uncertainty. "Ummm…he's…"
Akagi looked at the photo over Kogure's shoulder. "Hey, Ellyta, I just got back from the History teacher Fujiwara. Omedeto, he says you aced the test," he greeted before looking back again. "Wait a minute, isn't this…!"
"What's wrong Akagi? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Ellyta, isn't he…"
The blonde couldn't do any more but answer. "Yes. He's Cloud Strife. He's my brother."
"Cloud Strife!!" Kogure couldn't help but shout in extreme shock. The other students stared at him, and he blushed and turned away to look back at the picture. "He used to be the youngest player of Japan that beat the national America team five times in a row! He's your brother?!"
Ellyta nodded meekly. "My mother married another man, so I changed my name to Akari. It used to be Strife from our real dad. We would've changed my brother's name also if he hadn't passed away before that."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Kogure handed the photo back. "It must've been hard for you." Akagi nodded in agreement and stared off into space; anyone could tell he was still shaken from the news of the legendary player and his relations to his fellow student. He was his idol and one of his motivations to enter basketball in the first place. He used to be a little distraught when he heard his idol died during a game. His name still existed in basketball history, also in the other parts of the world, and was even more popular than Kareem Abdul Jabbar or Michael Jordan.
Akari smiled. "It's okay. You can't actually say he's died." She glanced at the photo for a moment before putting it back to her bag. "I mean, I always pray to him at the shrine. So it's like actually meeting the person you want to talk to. It's not as good him being alive, of course, but it's better than mourning forever for him."
"Sou desu ne." Akagi was slightly impressed at the girl's courage. He couldn't even bear to think what would become of him if he would lose his sister Haruko. No more serving extra rice for him, no more extra cheers and support in his games, no more high-pitched squeals about Rukawa…oh wait, that's not a downside. ^_^
"So…" Ellyta began. "Are you guys okay to go to my birthday party this Friday?"
"Sure!" they chorused.
"Can you make those almond cookies for me?" Akagi politely requested.
Akari blinked before nodding at him and smiling. "Sure, if that's what you want, Captain!"
"Mitsui-sempai!"
Mitsui and Tetsuo turned their heads around to see a blonde running out of the gate during dismissal. As she ran to their side, she smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry for interrupting. Can you spare a few minutes?"
"Who's the cute girl, Mitsui?" Tetsuo asked the former delinquent as he eyed the girl in curiosity and interest. "She's Akari-chan, a senior transferee from America." Mitsui answered before turning to Ellyta. "Do you need something?"
The girl shook her head and gave him a small envelope. "It's an invitation. Can you come to my house this Friday?"
"A party?" Mitsui asked. "Sure, that's fine, but why am I invited? I hardly talk to you. No offense."
"The Shohoku players are invited," she explained. "Sempai, the directions are there in the letter. Do you—" suddenly she paused and coughed for a few seconds while covering her mouth with a handkerchief. But Mitsui could tell it was more than just a slight choke. "Hey, are you all right?"
She smiled at him. "Yes, thank you."
"So is there going to be a game here?" Mitsui scratched his head in confusion. "Since you mentioned about the team, but a basketball party?"
"It's not like that, but you'll see when you get there. We'll just have a good time, okay? We hope you'll consider. Bye!" She waved and ran to the east.
"I envy you, Mitsui," Tetsuo suddenly said as soon as she was out of earshot. "You already have your choice of girlfriends."
"Nani?!" Mitsui protested. "It's not like that, I only see her at practices! Heaven knows why she invited me and the other members. Does she want to see another fight of the monkey and the gorilla or something?"
Tetsuo laughed and puffed out a cigarette. "You never know."
~*Next Chapter – Rukawa vs Sendoh!—Battle for the Dream*~
Urgh…………………………it'll get better in the next chaps!