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 2: Some Things Change. Others Don't.
"Hanamichi?" Yohei called out, watching as his strode over to the Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team.
Sakuragi studied the ashen-skinned face of the messy-haired teen standing opposite him who remained expressionless, even when Sakuragi leaned forward to look into his sapphire eyes which were staring back at Sakuragi from beneath the raven black bangs.
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked in a flat, neutral tone.
The sudden speech surprised Sakuragi that his head snapped up, causing a crick in his neck. His shock was as though Rukawa was a mannequin which was suddenly bestowed life.
With a determined grin and pointing a finger at Rukawa, he announced, "I, Tensai Sakuragi Hanamichi, Vice-Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team, challenge you to one-on-one match."
Rukawa breathed out a tiny mushroom-shaped puff of air and muttered, "Yare yare."
Sakuragi passed the basketball he was holding to Rukawa and when the latter caught it, and without a moment's hesitation, began to dribble it, Sakuragi knew that Rukawa had accepted his challenge.
"Yosha! Zettai makenai!" he roared.
Haruko entered the gym in a pair of running shorts, an oversized pink T-shirt, her New-Balance sport shoes and a red baseball cap perched on her head.
Upon spotting his girlfriend, Yohei moved to stand next to her.
"Oi! Oi! No funny business!" Sakuragi warned the two when he saw Yohei walk towards Haruko.
"Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko squeaked, turning crimson.
"Hai hai," Yohei said, looking kind of sheepish.
Rukawa merely shook his head. Then, with a look at Sakuragi, he said, "Ikuzo!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes into the game and both sides had a score of twelve points a piece. By then, all the members of the basketball club had already assembled. Rukawa and Sakuragi were so focused on the game that they did not realize that the basketball club members were waiting for them to end their little encounter. Both were also oblivious to the cheers of the Rukawa Shinetai and the Sakuragi Gundan respectively. They also were unaware of the large crowd which had gathered in anticipation to see the results of the match or the arrival of their coach, Anzai-sensei.
"Haruko-kun, how long have they been playing?" Anzai-sensei asked the new manager. Haruko was the assistant manager when the former manager, Ayako, was around.
"Erm…" Haruko started, checking her stopwatch. "A little over fifteen minutes now."
There was suddenly a loud cheer and Haruko looked up from her scorebook in time to see Sakuragi shoot a jump shot and see it sail smoothly into the ring.
"HANAMICHI!" the Gundan cheered.
Ohkusu shouted, "Hanamichi is two points up! One more to the win!"
"IKE! HANAMICHI!" Takamiya urged the tall red-head.
Rukawa had the ball and he dribbled it high above his knees, and just beyond the three-point line. Sakuragi stood low, his knees bent and his arms spread out. He moved them above him and to his sides, trying to hinder Rukawa's every possible move.
When Sakuragi saw the ball suspended between Rukawa's hand and the gym's polished wooden floor, his quick muscle movement enabled his left hand to stretch forward and tap the ball away but Rukawa quickly recovered by reaching out for the loose ball and dashing to the shooting area, dribbling the ball at an alarming speed.
Sakuragi anticipated that Rukawa would enter the shooting area and attempt either a jump shot, lay-up or dunk; so he sprinted ahead but Rukawa stopped just at the three-point line and with a graceful jump and a beautiful form, he shot.
When he saw Rukawa stop, Sakuragi tried to change his direction but due to his immense speed and the slippery floor, he slipped instead. With a groan, he watched as Rukawa's shot got the ball smoothly into the ring.
The score was fifteen to fourteen – to Rukawa.
Sakuragi really felt like a dunce. He didn't think that Rukawa would try a three-pointer even when Rukawa was three points away from winning. Why?
Suddenly, a hand appeared before his face. Sakuragi looked up to see Rukawa offering him a hand up.
"Almost beat me there, Hanamichi," Rukawa said.
Sakuragi grinned and grabbed Rukawa's hand.
"Of course! Due to my special trainings… and also because I'm a Tensai! Nyahaha!" He looked at Rukawa with intensity burning in his coffee-brown eyes, and added, "I won't lose next time, Kaede."
"But that's what you said the last time," Rukawa reminded him.
Sakuragi scratched the back of his head sheepishly and decided to ignore that remark.
"TRAINING!" Sakuragi shouted and everyone clustered around the both of them.
"Ten laps for everyone, but twenty for the first years," Rukawa said. "You didn't clean the floors and the proof of it is that your Vice-Captain slipped."
The first years frowned but they immediately wore fearful smiles instead when they saw Rukawa's icy glare directed at them. Rolling his eyes at them, Rukawa then turned to Sakuragi and he nodded. Calling the basketball club members to form a circle, Sakuragi went into the usual before-practice procedure.
"SHOHOKU… FIGHT!"
"UH!"
"FIGHT!"
"UH!"
When they were doing their ten laps of jog-sprints, Sakuragi could be seen at the front; running as though his life depended on it. Rukawa and the rest were not far behind though, but Rukawa did wear his usual poker-face mask on his face.
Guess some things change and some things never will.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Haha, bet you didn't see that one coming. It is their third-year after all and I wanted to give them a somewhat friendship. I'm not going to tell you if this is going to turn shounen-ai or not, etc. ^___^ I enjoy writing fics like this *grins* Yep, please review! I'm typing the next chapter now…
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 2: Some Things Change. Others Don't.
"Hanamichi?" Yohei called out, watching as his strode over to the Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team.
Sakuragi studied the ashen-skinned face of the messy-haired teen standing opposite him who remained expressionless, even when Sakuragi leaned forward to look into his sapphire eyes which were staring back at Sakuragi from beneath the raven black bangs.
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked in a flat, neutral tone.
The sudden speech surprised Sakuragi that his head snapped up, causing a crick in his neck. His shock was as though Rukawa was a mannequin which was suddenly bestowed life.
With a determined grin and pointing a finger at Rukawa, he announced, "I, Tensai Sakuragi Hanamichi, Vice-Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team, challenge you to one-on-one match."
Rukawa breathed out a tiny mushroom-shaped puff of air and muttered, "Yare yare."
Sakuragi passed the basketball he was holding to Rukawa and when the latter caught it, and without a moment's hesitation, began to dribble it, Sakuragi knew that Rukawa had accepted his challenge.
"Yosha! Zettai makenai!" he roared.
Haruko entered the gym in a pair of running shorts, an oversized pink T-shirt, her New-Balance sport shoes and a red baseball cap perched on her head.
Upon spotting his girlfriend, Yohei moved to stand next to her.
"Oi! Oi! No funny business!" Sakuragi warned the two when he saw Yohei walk towards Haruko.
"Sakuragi-kun!" Haruko squeaked, turning crimson.
"Hai hai," Yohei said, looking kind of sheepish.
Rukawa merely shook his head. Then, with a look at Sakuragi, he said, "Ikuzo!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes into the game and both sides had a score of twelve points a piece. By then, all the members of the basketball club had already assembled. Rukawa and Sakuragi were so focused on the game that they did not realize that the basketball club members were waiting for them to end their little encounter. Both were also oblivious to the cheers of the Rukawa Shinetai and the Sakuragi Gundan respectively. They also were unaware of the large crowd which had gathered in anticipation to see the results of the match or the arrival of their coach, Anzai-sensei.
"Haruko-kun, how long have they been playing?" Anzai-sensei asked the new manager. Haruko was the assistant manager when the former manager, Ayako, was around.
"Erm…" Haruko started, checking her stopwatch. "A little over fifteen minutes now."
There was suddenly a loud cheer and Haruko looked up from her scorebook in time to see Sakuragi shoot a jump shot and see it sail smoothly into the ring.
"HANAMICHI!" the Gundan cheered.
Ohkusu shouted, "Hanamichi is two points up! One more to the win!"
"IKE! HANAMICHI!" Takamiya urged the tall red-head.
Rukawa had the ball and he dribbled it high above his knees, and just beyond the three-point line. Sakuragi stood low, his knees bent and his arms spread out. He moved them above him and to his sides, trying to hinder Rukawa's every possible move.
When Sakuragi saw the ball suspended between Rukawa's hand and the gym's polished wooden floor, his quick muscle movement enabled his left hand to stretch forward and tap the ball away but Rukawa quickly recovered by reaching out for the loose ball and dashing to the shooting area, dribbling the ball at an alarming speed.
Sakuragi anticipated that Rukawa would enter the shooting area and attempt either a jump shot, lay-up or dunk; so he sprinted ahead but Rukawa stopped just at the three-point line and with a graceful jump and a beautiful form, he shot.
When he saw Rukawa stop, Sakuragi tried to change his direction but due to his immense speed and the slippery floor, he slipped instead. With a groan, he watched as Rukawa's shot got the ball smoothly into the ring.
The score was fifteen to fourteen – to Rukawa.
Sakuragi really felt like a dunce. He didn't think that Rukawa would try a three-pointer even when Rukawa was three points away from winning. Why?
Suddenly, a hand appeared before his face. Sakuragi looked up to see Rukawa offering him a hand up.
"Almost beat me there, Hanamichi," Rukawa said.
Sakuragi grinned and grabbed Rukawa's hand.
"Of course! Due to my special trainings… and also because I'm a Tensai! Nyahaha!" He looked at Rukawa with intensity burning in his coffee-brown eyes, and added, "I won't lose next time, Kaede."
"But that's what you said the last time," Rukawa reminded him.
Sakuragi scratched the back of his head sheepishly and decided to ignore that remark.
"TRAINING!" Sakuragi shouted and everyone clustered around the both of them.
"Ten laps for everyone, but twenty for the first years," Rukawa said. "You didn't clean the floors and the proof of it is that your Vice-Captain slipped."
The first years frowned but they immediately wore fearful smiles instead when they saw Rukawa's icy glare directed at them. Rolling his eyes at them, Rukawa then turned to Sakuragi and he nodded. Calling the basketball club members to form a circle, Sakuragi went into the usual before-practice procedure.
"SHOHOKU… FIGHT!"
"UH!"
"FIGHT!"
"UH!"
When they were doing their ten laps of jog-sprints, Sakuragi could be seen at the front; running as though his life depended on it. Rukawa and the rest were not far behind though, but Rukawa did wear his usual poker-face mask on his face.
Guess some things change and some things never will.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Haha, bet you didn't see that one coming. It is their third-year after all and I wanted to give them a somewhat friendship. I'm not going to tell you if this is going to turn shounen-ai or not, etc. ^___^ I enjoy writing fics like this *grins* Yep, please review! I'm typing the next chapter now…