Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Five

"Kane, I think…we need to talk," Mrs Akihara walked into Kane's room a little uneasily. She noticed a Kanji scroll with the word 'Sword' on it. She also saw that the room was scrupulously clean, a clear reflection on the room owner's character.

"…" Kane looked at her mother, her emotions lightened by the fact that her mother had actually offered to have a quiet talk with her. For the first time in years, Mrs Akihara dropped the angry and grim expression she wore, when she opened her mouth to speak to Kane. For the first time in years, she faced Kane without yelling at her.

"I heard what you told your friend over the phone, Kane,"

"I merely told him what I truly felt," She replied coolly, but honestly.

"To be frank, your Dad and I never understood why you turned rebellious. You were a sweet child when you were young. All of a sudden, you misbehaved at school and created problems for the teachers. We had complaints tossed in by the neighbours daily. After you got into junior high, you decided to wear the male school uniform instead of the female. The school disciplinary department rang us up almost daily to ask us to persuade you, to wear the girls' uniform."

Kane sat on the bed, beside her mother. She lowered her head to think hard.

"I just wanted you to pay attention to me, Mum. You and Dad were both so busy. You couldn't possibly imagine my despair of coming home to an empty house all the time. I was tired of having dinner alone. I was tired of being ignored by both of you just because you were too worn-out to chat with me. I was hoping that if the teachers made the complaints, you would stay to listen to whatever I had to tell you."

"And we never did listen," Mrs Akihara replied sadly. Her husband flew into horrible rages whenever the complaints from the teachers came in and Kane got nothing more than a severe beating. They hollered at her practically everyday. Ryuuchi was only a toddler then, and he cried each time they started those rows.

"Then I cut my hair short and I dressed as a boy. I thought that you had always wanted me to be a boy. That was what you had wanted, was it not? My name…even my name was a boy's name. I imagined that if I acted like what you wanted me to be, you would love me more,"

"But I always loved you, my dear Kane-chan," Mrs Akihara burst into tears, pulling her daughter close. Kane felt the warm tears falling across her cheeks. She hadn't cried in years. Not since she started to behave and dress like a boy. Tears betray weakness. Tears are sissy. But now she felt weak and soft, and she wanted no more than to cry in her mother's arms.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shina stared at the pleasant looking boy before her, and thought that he looked familiar. Kogure stared back at her, "You are Maki's little friend, aren't you?"

"Yes, you are…?"
"Kogure Kiminobu, ex-player of the Shohoku basketball team. I'm also in Kanagawa University,"

"Oh! So you are Shinichi nii-chan's friend!" Shina beamed, "Nice to meet you again, then,"

"Same here, you doing your shopping?" He asked, eyeing the shopping cart full of groceries.

"Yup,"

"How are you going to get all these things home?" Kogure asked curiously. Those things didn't seem light enough for this petite girl to handle.

"Oh damn…I forgot about that!" Shina covered her mouth in horror. She couldn't replace those things because she didn't want to make a second trip back, but she knew that she wouldn't have the strength to carry them back.

"I think I better help you with those, I drove my father's car here,"

"In this case, thank you so much!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"My dear girl, we did want a boy, yes, but it doesn't really matter now, you see," Mrs Akihara stroked Kane's short, spiky hair lovingly, "You know, when I was a girl, I used to picture myself braiding my daughter's hair and dressing her up prettily. You can't do that to a boy," Kane laughed, a teardrop rolled from the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away hastily.

"Promise me to keep your hair long, all right? Then I'll braid it for you, and you'll dress like the pretty girl you are… oh Kouji, you are back,"

"What happened?" A confused Mr Akihara stood by Kane's room door, his eyes a little wet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maki took notes rapidly, his pen flying across the page. All of a sudden, the Lecture Theatre door flew open. A girl with short hair dashed in. The class wondered who she was for a brief moment before she apologized to the lecturer, "I'm sorry Sensei, was caught in a traffic jam," The lecturer smiled gently at his niece. His sister (Mrs Akihara) had called him last night to tell him of the change in her relationship with Kane, she was literally sobbing with joy.

"It's all right, Kane, just remember to come out early. It's the same for all of you, traffic jams are forgivable but you should try to avoid them by leaving home early, especially if you live far from the University," The lecturer told the class.

"Kane?" Everyone was flabbergasted. She was wearing feminine flare jeans and a sleeveless blouse. Her hair was not gelled up into spikes but was glossy and soft, framing her heart-shape face delicately. A pair of ear-studs flashed quietly at her ears. There was a different air to her.  She wore no makeup, unlike most of the other girls, but Maki thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Fujitaka leaned close to him, "See? I told you! She'd look -"

" -Absolutely tsktsktsk, yeah I know," Maki replied, clearly irritated by the idiotic manner Fujitaka was behaving.

She looked happier. The dark look to her face was gone, he thought. Why is everyone changing her image now? First it was Shina, then Kane…

"Hi," Kane flopped into the seat beside Maki, digging her notebook and stationery out.

"You look good today," Maki whispered, his eyes trained on the lecturer's transparencies and his pen scribbling notes.

"Thanks," Kane whispered back, the tip of her pen scratching across the notebook in what you would call a neat scribble.

Fujitaka, however, had lost interest in the lesson totally, "Kane, can I have lunch with you later?"

"No,"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh Mum, he's so darn cute!" Shina gushed, her legs dangling from the high chair in her kitchen as she watched her mother flutter about.

"I heard you," Mrs Hoshino replied patiently, her feather-brained daughter had a new crush again. She rather liked Kogure, personally, he was helpful and gentlemanly, judging from the way he helped Shina transport the groceries home. He looked like a good boy too. But Shina was overdoing it…

"Mum! Don't you think Kogure-san looked so good in those spectacles? His voice is almost dream-like! Ahh~~!!" She swooned.

"I heard you,"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere far off, Kogure sneezed vehemently.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Author's notes: The chapter will end here, and I absolutely have no idea how this story will turn out. But it makes things more fun right? You readers lost concept of the pairings at the end of the story! Hm… oh yeah, and it'll probably be quite a while before the next chapter of the story is up. I'm very busy at the moment and I'll retire from FF.net officially after I've completed all my stories.]

[That's my public blog.]