Chapter 2: My name is Tsukino Hanayuki

Swish!

The ball went into the basket without touching the rim.

It was a lovely Thursday evening. At a public basketball court somewhere in Kanagawa, a lone figure could be seen practising vigorously. The ball was dribbled with perfect rhythm. Every shot made went into the basket. Perfect lay-ups. Beautiful jump shots. Amazing slam dunks. One by one, they were executed almost effortlessly, as if the person executing them knew how to play basketball even before birth.

However, even while practising, this person's mind was wondering back to the events which had happened the day before.

-Flashback-

All four boys stared at her, as if she had suddenly grown a pair of horns on her head.

"Er, forgive me, but could you please repeat what you have just said? I don't think I caught the words clearly." Kogure had managed to find his voice and directed his question to the girl standing in front of him and his other team-mates.

"Kogure-sempai. You have to stop panicking. It is not good for your heart to keep on having panic attacks like that. Trust me, I know," the girl replied.

"No, no, no. I really didn't get what you were saying before. Could you just repeat it one more time, this time louder and clearer? Because I think there's something wrong with my ear, and... and..." Kogure tried to keep the panic from his voice, but it was clear to everyone that he was on the verge of a major panic attack, just like what the girl had said.

She sighed. This was harder than I thought it would be. She turned to Akagi. "Akagi-sempai, I know you had heard me. Now, if you would be so kind as to help Kogure-sempai here calm down, I would really appreciate it."

Snapping out of his shocked state, Akagi replied, "I apologise for Kogure's state," he started, "but I'm afraid I can do very little to help him, because I myself find it hard to believe that you are to be our new coach. I don't mean to offend you or anything, but... but you are a girl, and this is a boys' basketball team. What I am trying to say is..."

"What you are trying to say is that a girl cannot coach a guys' basketball team," she cut him off. "To be honest, I am rather offended, but let's put our personal feelings aside for the time being, shall we? Anyway, since when were there rules which state that girls cannot coach a guys' basketball team?"

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was..."

"Ok. My mistake. Let me try again. What you meant was that girls can coach boys' basketball team, but only at... let me guess, kindergarden level, or maybe even junior high school level, but never high school level. Was that what you were trying to say, Akagi-sempai?"

"No, that was not what I..."

"Ooops. My mistake again. One last try. What you really meant was that girls can coach boys' basketball team at any level if they are good enough. However, you think that I am not good enough to coach you guys, what with the fact that I am only a girl, and younger than you guys in fact since I am only 15 this year and in my first year of high sch..."

"What did you say?" Again the four boys chorused.

Watching the scene in front of her, it was a pity she couldn't roll around on the floor, laughing her intestines out. Goodness, from the look on their faces, it is as if I've just told them that I am a serial killer and am about to kill them now. Since it was a serious matter, she had to hold herself together, and this she did very well, although she couldn't keep the smile from forming on her lips. Sighing again, she decided to pull out the secret weapon.

"Sempais, I do not mean to be rude, but I believe that whatever I've just said, you have heard each word loud and clear. In fact, I can imagine those very words ringing in your ears and racing around in your minds right now. Therefore, I will not repeat myself. However, I will still try to convince you to accept them, for they were all nothing but the truth. Please, can you at least hear out my proposition?" She half-pleaded to them, hoping that this time they would at least regain some of their senses.

She was lucky, for Akagi had managed to gather most of his senses back into order, and asked, "What is this proposition that you are talking about?"

"We will have a game. A one-on-one, between me and each of you people. If I win, I'll get to stay to do my duty as your new coach. But," she continued, "if I lose, I'll leave and get you guys another coach. One that you think is worthy enough to be a decent coach."

She paused for a while, watching their reactions. Akagi seemed to be seriously contemplating the challenge, or offer, or whatever you may call it. Kogure was... still Kogure, on the verge of yet another panic attack. Yasuda and Kakuta, on the other hand, looked as if they were put in a trance, judging from the way they weren't moving a muscle at all. Finally, Akagi spoke.

"I don't think that is a very good idea. I mean..."

"Are you worried about losing to me, Akagi-sempai," she cut him off again, "or me losing to you? If you are worried about losing to me, I can understand that, but... if you are worried about me losing to you, well, I can tell you now that you do not have to be. In fact, you have no reason to be. Because I know very well what I am doing. And I am very, I mean very confident that I can win this challenge."

Even if she didn't say it out loud, one could have seen it for themselves; she was practically overflowing with confidence that shone out blindingly and brightly from her eyes. And along with that smile on her face (from now on we will call it her 'confidence smile'), it was as if she had a huge banner waving above her head which read 'I am so full of confidence that I can win this challenge!'.

Somehow, it made Akagi feel his level of confidence rising as well. Not only Akagi, but the others, who had, by the way, finally regained most of their senses, also felt their confidence level slowly rising. One by one, they rose to the challenge.

And one by one, they fell.

-End of flashback-

Akagi-sempai was very good, but unfortunately he lost because he still had a weakness in him. Well, I'll just have to make sure that it disappears for good, or else we'll never be able to win the Inter High championships.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't realise she was being watched.

Rukawa was on his way to the basketball court near his house when he heard somebody already there practising. Since this is basketball we are talking about, curiosity got the better of him, and, leaving his bike somewhere further behind, slowly and quietly, he walked to the court to see who was there, partially hiding himself behind some bushes to avoid being caught watching. His eyes widened at the sight before him.

It's her.

He watched as she gracefully executed a lay-up shot. Settling himself behind the bushes, he watched the girl for the next hour. Even after an hour, she didn't seem to be tired out from all the practising she had been doing. He was amazed at her stamina.

Not bad for a girl.

He could see that the girl wasn't fully paying her attention to the practice. And yet, her performance was superb. As if her body is playing on its own. She must have been playing for very long, or else she wouldn't have been able to do it.

As he was busy analysing her plays, he didn't see the ball rolling towards the bushes he was hiding behind.

Bending down slightly and supporting her upper body by putting her hands on her thighs, she breathed in and out heavily, trying to catch her breath. She had just done a slam dunk, and as the ball fell to the ground with her, it rolled out of sight. Ignoring the ball, she walked to where she had put her bag and sat down beside it, still breathing heavily. Rummaging through her stuffs, she took out her watch to check the time.

Shoot! I've been practising for more than an hour already. I'd better get home quick before anything happens. She quickly packed her things, and after gulping down some water, she was about to leave when she realised that her basketball was missing. Her eyes searched the area for the orange ball, and spotted it next to some bushes at the other end of the court. Too tired to jog, she walked slowly towards the ball to retrieve it.

As she neared the ball, she heard some shuffling from behind the bushes. She froze in her tracks, then slowly but surely, made her way quietly towards the bushes. And fell back on her bottom almost immediately as something, or rather, somebody shot out from behind the bushes.

What's that sound? Rukawa looked around and saw the ball in front of him. He was about to pick it up when he heard something else.

Uh-oh, she's coming this way! What am I going to do? I'll be caught, and she'll probably think that I'm some sort of a pervert or something. Not that I would care, of course, but still. He shifted in his position, and heard the girl stop in her tracks.

I'm in for it now. She heard me! He could hear the girl walking slowly towards him. Left with no choice, he stood up just as the girl was about to peek into the bushes, causing her to fall back.

"Ru... Rukawa-kun? What were you doing hiding behind the bushes?" She asked him as soon as she realised who he was.

He could feel his face heating up from the embarrassment he was feeling. Looking down at the girl and trying to keep his face as expressionless as always, he said, "I was not hiding."

"Um... ok. You were not hiding. So what were you doing back there then?"

"That's none of your business!" He snapped at her.

She raised her eyebrows, surprised to see him so agitated at the question. Deciding to drop the matter (it wasn't as if he was going to tell her anything anyway), she picked herself up from the ground, wincing a little from the soreness caused by the fall.

Giving him a small smile, she nodded her head in goodbye and walked towards the ball. She picked it up, dribbling it as she walked back to the other end of the court. She didn't get as far as 5 steps away when she heard Rukawa calling out to her.

"Oi."

She turned around. "Yes, Rukawa-kun?"

"Rukawa-kun?"

He pointed to the ball in her hands. "One-on-one?"

He thought he saw a flicker of worry in her eyes, but as quickly as they appeared, they were gone in a second.

She smiled, and this time, he saw confidence shining back at him from those eyes of hers. Hmmm... such lovely eyes.

The game started soon after. The truth was, he wasn't too keen about the challenge, because clearly (at least to him), she was the underdog, what with the fact that she had been practising for over an hour before this. That, and also the fact that she was a girl. I don't know why I actually challenged her to a one-on-one. It's not as if there would be glory or satisfaction if I win this challenge, although I must admit that she is good.

But, things are not always what they seem.

She had scored the first points, when she had managed to elude him and did a lay-up shot. Not too long after, Rukawa evened the score, but it hadn't been easy for him. The ball had been swatted away from his hands by the girl, but he had managed to catch up to the ball quickly and executed a jump shot, barely missing her hands that were outstretched to throw the ball off-course.

"Very good, Rukawa-kun. But mark my words, those will be the last points you are going to score in this game." And once again she smiled her soon-to-be-famous 'confidence smile'.

She kept true to her words. In the course of the next 30 minutes, she did not even once let Rukawa get another point. And as she proceeded nearer and nearer to the finishing point (they had decided that the first to get 20 points would be the winner), he began to fumble more and more. He wasn't used to losing so badly, especially to a girl.

She knew this would happen. Which was why she was so confident in the first place. He has the same weakness as Akagi sempai. Well, that makes the two of them now. However, it must be made known that it wasn't just because of their weakness that they lost to her; she really did possess the skill and talent, which, if put to full use, would be able to beat them with or without their weakness. It's just that, well... the truth could not be denied that she was a girl after all, and thus lacked the advantages that came with the guys when playing basketball.

But, she wouldn't let this factor bring her down. Nope. She didn't let it bring her down back then, she wasn't about to start now. And so far, things were going smoothly for her.

She snapped back into reality when she felt the ball snatched away from her hands. She immediately ran after Rukawa, and before he could slam it into the basket, her fingers managed to touch the ball and she gave it a hard push. It was enough to stop Rukawa from dunking.

Upon reaching the ground, he jumped up to attempt another dunk, but he wasn't quick enough. For she had already jumped up before he did and smacked the ball away from him. The moment the ball left his hands, she ran after the ball, with Rukawa right behind her. She caught hold of the ball and was about to do a jump shot when Rukawa appeared, trying to block her.

He saw her smile. Not just any smile, but that smile. He immediately knew that he was tricked, but too late. She had already jumped back behind the three-pointer line, and as he watched helplessly, the ball went into the basket without so much as touching the rim, signalling the end of the one-on-one game.

Rukawa was speechless. Not that he talked much anyway, but... well, he was... speechless. He was beaten, and by a girl no less.

I lost.

"Rukawa-kun, daijoubu ka?"

Without looking at her, he muttered, "I lost," and started to walk away.

Once again, she was surprised by his reaction. She had expected him to be shocked, and a little disappointed maybe, but not this disappointed. Concern swelling up inside of her, she tried to call him back.

"Rukawa-kun, matte! Rukawa-kun."

When he didn't respond to her calls, she quickly grabbed her stuffs and hurried after him. As he rounded the corner, she picked up speed to catch up with him, when suddenly, she felt a stab of pain in her chest.

Oh no. Not now, please not now. She tried to ease the pain by taking deep breaths, but it only worsened her condition. Practically gasping from the pain now, she tried to concentrate on searching her bag for her medication, but she was in too much pain to be able to focus on anything. She knew she shouldn't panic, as it would only make matters worse, but considering the situation that she was in at the moment, she couldn't help but do just that.

As expected, the pain in her chest intensified and she dropped to her knees, spilling the contents of her bag in the process. Gathering all the strength that she had left, she called out to Rukawa for help.

"R... Ruka-wa-kun... p-please... Ru-kawa... kun..."

She was about to pass out when she felt a pair of strong arms holding her up. Though her vision was blurred, she could vaguely make out the outlines of the person as that of Rukawa.

He had heard her calling and running after him, and when she suddenly stopped, he became curious and had actually waited for her to catch up with him. When she didn't, he became worried that something might have happened to her, and so here he was.

Seeing her things scattered all over the place, he guessed that she must have been looking for something in her bag that could help her. So, he looked around and saw a pill bottle lying not too far away. He retrieved the bottle, all the while never letting go of his hold on her.

After scanning through the instructions on the bottle, he popped out 2 tablets, and gently prompted her mouth open to feed her the pills. He looked around again, this time for her water bottle, and found it behind him. He opened the bottle and put the bottle to her lips so that she could drink from it and swallow the tablets. After some time, she began to regain consciousness.

"Daijoubu ka?" asked Rukawa. You could almost hear the relief in his voice.

"A... Aa. I think I'll be fine," she answered, still breathing a little heavily, but not as heavily as before. After a while, she continued, "Thank you very much, Rukawa-kun. This... this is the second time you have saved me. How can I ever repay you?"

Seeing that she was alright, since she had started talking, he switched back to his old expressionless self. "Forget about it. Are you feeling better already? If you are, then we'd better get going. I'm sending you home."

"I'm feeling much better already," she replied, smiling softly as she did. It took all of Rukawa's self-control not to melt from the effect of the smile. He helped her gather her things, which were strewn all over the ground, and then, as she was trying to stand up, he held her on the shoulders to give her support.

"Thank you once again, Rukawa-kun. I can take care of myself now. Good bye." With that, she turned to leave, only to find that her legs were still wobbly and almost fell to the ground; if not for Rukawa's quick reflex, she would have fallen face first on the ground.

"I'm sending you back. Wait here." He disappeared around the corner again, returning with his bike a while later. Ignoring her protests, he helped her get on the bike before mounting on it himself and started pedalling. Tired and exhausted, she told him her address before falling asleep, leaning on his back for support.

Realising that his passenger had fallen asleep, Rukawa decided to take the long way to her house so that she could have some rest (so sweet, ne?). Even when he had finally reached her house, he continued cycling around the area, seeing that she was still asleep.

She had better not drool on me, Rukawa thought. Deep down inside however, he was feeling all warm and fuzzy from the feeling of her leaning against his back.

Finally, she woke up when he accidentally cycled over a bump on the road. She realised that he was still cycling and asked, "Er... Rukawa-kun. Haven't we arrived yet?"

"Hn," was all the reply she got.

A few minutes later, they stopped in front of her house. It was dark and empty, as if no one else was living in the house but her. Does she live alone? Rukawa wondered.

He helped her get off the bike and accompanied her to the door, in case her legs decide to give way again. Before going in, she once again thanked Rukawa for his help. As she was about to close the door, she heard him say, "Oi."

"Yes, Rukawa-kun?"

"..." He shifted his legs uncomfortably, his gaze on the floor.

"Rukawa-kun?"

He muttered something, but it was barely audible.

"I'm sorry Rukawa-kun, but I didn't quite catch what you were saying. Could you please repeat what you've just said?"

Once again trying to keep his face as expressionless as possible, he looked straight into her eyes and felt the words caught in his throat. Nevertheless, he managed to blurt them out anyway.

"You haven't told me your name."

At first, she looked at him blankly, not understanding what he meant by that. Then slowly, comprehension dawned on her as she remembered something.

He still doesn't know.

Smiling, she said, "Ah, gomen. I keep on forgetting to introduce myself. And after all the times that you have helped me... gomen nasai, Rukawa-kun."

"Anyway, my name is Tsukino Hanayuki."

Author's notes: To all those who have been reading, thank you from the bottom of my heart. There will be plenty of surprises in this fic, but it might take some time to show. Anyway, I have edited some parts in the first 3 chapters. Feel free to read it again. Even if you don't, it's ok since it's really up to you guys.