Anti-Nostalgia
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Inoue Takehiko and its rightful companies. All other characters not related to Slam Dunk were created for the sole purpose of supporting this fanfiction. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1: Changes
"Yo-chan, do you hear that?"
"Hm… must be Hanamichi…" Yohei murmured lazily, nuzzling his face in Haruko's soft silky brown hair.
"Let's check up on him… besides, training's about to start," Haruko urged softly, lightly fingering her bruised lips at the same time. As she did so, a faint blush appeared
on her cheeks.
Mito Yohei chuckled at his girlfriend's inexperience and took her hand in his, entwining his fingers with hers. Akagi Haruko blushed a deeper shade of pink but smiled shyly at Yohei, causing his heart to melt. He never thought that she would ever fall for a guy like him who did not fall under her 'I love athletes!' category. He never thought that he would fall for her either… sure, she was pretty but his best friend was in head-over-heels with her. But since Sakuragi Hanamichi gave up his infatuation over Haruko, Yohei was able to step in. Maybe Yohei was just backing off so that Sakuragi could try and have her without much competition. Even until now, a year later since that infatuation ended, Yohei did not understand his previous actions either. Dropping a soft kiss on Haruko's forehead, Yohei gently pulled Haruko from behind some bushes and they entered the gym.
Inside, Sakuragi was practicing his three-point shots which he learnt at the beginning of his second year at Shohoku High School. All thanks to the former Junior High MVP, Mitsui Hisashi, who visited the current team frequently and helped out with their training sessions. Just by a glance, Yohei and Haruko knew that Sakuragi was frustrated as his sharp eyebrows were set in a frown. His lips also parted every so often to allow profanity to escape from them every time he missed a shot. And he missed many.
"Sakuragi-kun!"
"Oi! Hanamichi!"
Sakuragi turned to see his best friend and the former love of his life standing by the gym entrance which led to the outside school compound. Both of them had their hands entwined and goofy expressions on they faces. Sakuragi raised an eyebrow at their disheveled states as he walked over to them, and at the same time, wiping the beads of perspiration from his face with his right forearm.
"What have you two been doing?" he asked with suspicion.
Haruko immediately turned crimson and started mumbling incoherently under her breath whereas Yohei grinned a little and tried to smooth down his previously neat gelled jet black hair.
"Betsu ni," Yohei said, his eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, right," Sakuragi said, rolling his eyes. "Well, it's not like I care anyways…" he continued to mutter, running a hand through his partially spiky and wet, red hair, causing droplets of perspiration to fall to the gym floor.
"Sakuragi-kun, you're training hard," Haruko said, quick to change the subject.
"Well, he should. After all, he's the vice-captain!"
Sakuragi smirked a little at this remark. Being a vice-captain was great but he was hoping so much to be the captain.
"Hm… since everyone is about to be here soon, I guess I'd better go change," Haruko said, giving Yohei a peck on his cheek before walking to the changing room.
Sakuragi watched Yohei as his eyes followed Haruko's every movement; his eyes reflecting his love and longing. Sakuragi grinned a little before focusing his attention elsewhere. It was approximately a year ago that his infatuation with Haruko ended. After Haruko confessed her feelings to Rukawa, and was rejected, Sakuragi and Haruko decided to give their relationship a shot, to see if they could be more than just friends. After all, they did care very deeply for each other. After a few dates, they realized that the relationship that they shared was nothing more than friendship so they left it as that, with no hard feelings against each other.
Sakuragi was exceptionally glad over this as he was able to find out that his obsession with Haruko was nothing more than a crush in his first year of high school, and that he was now free to act like himself in front of her. After all, what was there to be embarrassed about?
Even so, when Haruko fell for Yohei, and vice versa, Sakuragi's heart could not help but ache. He did know what that feeling was but it made him uneasy. He even thought of it as jealousy and felt a little guilty for thinking that way.
"Hanamichi!"
"Hrm?" Sakuragi grunted distractedly, casting a look at his friend.
"The captain is here…" Yohei pointed out.
There, by the other entrance of the gym, stood the captain of the Shohoku Basketball Club – Rukawa Kaede.
Rukawa stood tall as he stepped into the gym. Having grown three centimeters since his freshman year at Shohoku High, he was one of the taller students around, though he was still one and a half centimeters shorter than Sakuragi. His raven black hair was slightly longish at the nape of his neck and his bangs covered more of his sapphire eyes. The bright gym lights seemed to make Rukawa's features more distinct and made him look authoritative. Sakuragi's brown eyes which was flecked with gold, flashed upon spotting Rukawa. He tightened his grip on the basketball in his hands and he strode over to Rukawa with his gigantic strides.
"Hanamichi?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: A chapter to clarify the changes in some of the characters.
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Inoue Takehiko and its rightful companies. All other characters not related to Slam Dunk were created for the sole purpose of supporting this fanfiction. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1: Changes
"Yo-chan, do you hear that?"
"Hm… must be Hanamichi…" Yohei murmured lazily, nuzzling his face in Haruko's soft silky brown hair.
"Let's check up on him… besides, training's about to start," Haruko urged softly, lightly fingering her bruised lips at the same time. As she did so, a faint blush appeared
on her cheeks.
Mito Yohei chuckled at his girlfriend's inexperience and took her hand in his, entwining his fingers with hers. Akagi Haruko blushed a deeper shade of pink but smiled shyly at Yohei, causing his heart to melt. He never thought that she would ever fall for a guy like him who did not fall under her 'I love athletes!' category. He never thought that he would fall for her either… sure, she was pretty but his best friend was in head-over-heels with her. But since Sakuragi Hanamichi gave up his infatuation over Haruko, Yohei was able to step in. Maybe Yohei was just backing off so that Sakuragi could try and have her without much competition. Even until now, a year later since that infatuation ended, Yohei did not understand his previous actions either. Dropping a soft kiss on Haruko's forehead, Yohei gently pulled Haruko from behind some bushes and they entered the gym.
Inside, Sakuragi was practicing his three-point shots which he learnt at the beginning of his second year at Shohoku High School. All thanks to the former Junior High MVP, Mitsui Hisashi, who visited the current team frequently and helped out with their training sessions. Just by a glance, Yohei and Haruko knew that Sakuragi was frustrated as his sharp eyebrows were set in a frown. His lips also parted every so often to allow profanity to escape from them every time he missed a shot. And he missed many.
"Sakuragi-kun!"
"Oi! Hanamichi!"
Sakuragi turned to see his best friend and the former love of his life standing by the gym entrance which led to the outside school compound. Both of them had their hands entwined and goofy expressions on they faces. Sakuragi raised an eyebrow at their disheveled states as he walked over to them, and at the same time, wiping the beads of perspiration from his face with his right forearm.
"What have you two been doing?" he asked with suspicion.
Haruko immediately turned crimson and started mumbling incoherently under her breath whereas Yohei grinned a little and tried to smooth down his previously neat gelled jet black hair.
"Betsu ni," Yohei said, his eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, right," Sakuragi said, rolling his eyes. "Well, it's not like I care anyways…" he continued to mutter, running a hand through his partially spiky and wet, red hair, causing droplets of perspiration to fall to the gym floor.
"Sakuragi-kun, you're training hard," Haruko said, quick to change the subject.
"Well, he should. After all, he's the vice-captain!"
Sakuragi smirked a little at this remark. Being a vice-captain was great but he was hoping so much to be the captain.
"Hm… since everyone is about to be here soon, I guess I'd better go change," Haruko said, giving Yohei a peck on his cheek before walking to the changing room.
Sakuragi watched Yohei as his eyes followed Haruko's every movement; his eyes reflecting his love and longing. Sakuragi grinned a little before focusing his attention elsewhere. It was approximately a year ago that his infatuation with Haruko ended. After Haruko confessed her feelings to Rukawa, and was rejected, Sakuragi and Haruko decided to give their relationship a shot, to see if they could be more than just friends. After all, they did care very deeply for each other. After a few dates, they realized that the relationship that they shared was nothing more than friendship so they left it as that, with no hard feelings against each other.
Sakuragi was exceptionally glad over this as he was able to find out that his obsession with Haruko was nothing more than a crush in his first year of high school, and that he was now free to act like himself in front of her. After all, what was there to be embarrassed about?
Even so, when Haruko fell for Yohei, and vice versa, Sakuragi's heart could not help but ache. He did know what that feeling was but it made him uneasy. He even thought of it as jealousy and felt a little guilty for thinking that way.
"Hanamichi!"
"Hrm?" Sakuragi grunted distractedly, casting a look at his friend.
"The captain is here…" Yohei pointed out.
There, by the other entrance of the gym, stood the captain of the Shohoku Basketball Club – Rukawa Kaede.
Rukawa stood tall as he stepped into the gym. Having grown three centimeters since his freshman year at Shohoku High, he was one of the taller students around, though he was still one and a half centimeters shorter than Sakuragi. His raven black hair was slightly longish at the nape of his neck and his bangs covered more of his sapphire eyes. The bright gym lights seemed to make Rukawa's features more distinct and made him look authoritative. Sakuragi's brown eyes which was flecked with gold, flashed upon spotting Rukawa. He tightened his grip on the basketball in his hands and he strode over to Rukawa with his gigantic strides.
"Hanamichi?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: A chapter to clarify the changes in some of the characters.