My Shining Star
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: You're Not Here
It was the beginning of spring. The sweet smell of flowers lingered in every breeze, the azure sky was comforting; the brightness of the sun not threatening.
That was until a shadow fell on him.
"Yo."
Frowning, he looked up at the disruption of his peace with nature but he couldn't make out the face of the perpetrator against the brightness of the sun. However, the voice was all too familiar.
"Go away."
"Come now Kaede. Let's not be hostile."
Rukawa ignored the remark and shut his eyes, hoping that he'd go away. Instead, the tall spiky-haired senior sat next to him instead and began to play with his hair.
In the midst of third braid, Rukawa slapped his hand away. He abruptly sat up and glared at his self-invited companion.
"What do you want, Akira?"
Sendoh smiled. "Great, we're on first name terms once again."
Rukawa remained silent, but his sapphire eyes were still dagger-like.
"Okay, okay. Let me explain," Sendoh said, raising both arms as if to prove that he was unarmed. "You registered yourself in the basketball club in your application, right? I can't wait to play against you again! You stopped playing against me ever since you've improved so much and…"
"Get to the point," Rukawa interrupted.
Sendoh sighed.
"Still as blunt as ever, aren't you Kaede?"
"With you, I have to be."
Looking a bit hurt, Sendoh continued. "Captain Fukatsu and Vice-Captain Minami assigned the sophomores to look after the freshman."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes! I get to take care of Kaede!" Sendoh said cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Rukawa's shoulder in a sideway hug.
Rukawa looked away, and tried to focus his attention on a nearby sakura tree instead of the warm arm around his shoulders.
Sendoh took this as an opening. Using his free arm, he gently ran a finger from Rukawa's cheekbone and traced it to his chin, making Rukawa look at him.
"Kaede, about last year…" he started.
Rukawa dropped his eyes to the ground. "There's nothing to explain."
"Yes there is! You completely misunderstood the situation."
"I did, did I?" Rukawa raised his voice slightly, and with flashing eyes, he glared at Sendoh. "How was that a misunderstanding? You were kissing your best friend!"
"But I couldn't help it. He looked so charming then…"
Rukawa got up with a look of disgust, but before he could walk away, Sendoh had already got a hold on his arm, and he was kneeling.
"Kaede, you know I'm sorry. Let me make this up to you."
"I'm sorry too, because I've already fallen for someone else."
With that said, Sendoh's hold on Rukawa's arm loosened and Rukawa took the opportunity to pull his arm free and walk away.
"Then I'll wait for you."
Stunned, Rukawa stopped in his tracks. Slowly, he turned to look at Sendoh, who was still kneeling, but he was smiling. At that very moment, a shower of sakura petals rained down and to Rukawa, it was a beautiful picture.
With a deep breath, he gave a small nod.
"We'll be seeing each other a lot, won't we?"
"You mean dating?" Sendoh's eyes sparkled.
"Do ahou. Aren't you the senpai who's supposed to look after me?"
"Oh right!"
'He must've have tricked Captain Fukatsu and Vice-Captain Minami to let him look after me,' Rukawa concluded with suspicion. "I'm going to look for him."
When Rukawa walked off, Sendoh could only think of one person who could be 'him'.
"But he's not here, isn't he?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Rukawa would never have thought he'd find almost all of his past opponents on the same basketball team, let alone, all of them on the same court.
"AAH! It's Rukawa!" Vice-Captain Minami exclaimed, walked over to him and proceeded to ruffle his already messy hair, although he was shorter than Rukawa. "I'm not losing to you ever again."
"Senpai," he acknowledged.
Minami was as he was the last time Rukawa met him. It was during Shohoku's first Inter-High tournament, and Minami was the Captain of Toyotama. Each of them gave souvenirs to the other... a bruised eye to Rukawa, and a bloody head to Minami.
"Your head is fine now."
"So is your eye," Minami remarked, and smiled.
"Rukawa Kaede! You're late!" Captain Fukutsu shouted. "And this is the first training! Am I supposed to expect you to be late for every training?"
"Calm down, Kutsu," Minami said.
"The professor insisted that I help him just now."
"Is that an excuse?"
"Kutsu!"
The door slid open and Sendoh stepped in. "Yo!"
"Sendoh Akira! Your charge is tardy! And you're tardier than him!!" Fukutsu marched over to Sendoh and started to berate him.
"This happens all the time ever since Kutsu became Captain. Everyone here is giving him trouble, unlike when he was Captain at Sannoh," Minami sighed, patted Rukawa, and rushed to calm his companion.
'Charge? It's like I'm being babysat.'
"How can I continue to let you be in charge of him if you can't even be responsible? And you dare requested this?! Do you want me to be in charge of you?"
'So that do ahou did ask to be in charge of me.'
"Ah, no no, Captain. I'll be good. Promise," Sendoh replied desperately, a weak grin on his face. His gaze shifted to Rukawa and his eyes silently begged for help but Rukawa acted as though he didn't see anything.
"Now let's get back to training. Rukawa and Sendoh, extra ten rounds around the court. Now move!"
"Tokyo Daigaku!!! Let's go!"
As they ran around the court, Maki Shinichi soon joined Rukawa and ran abreast to him.
"How are you doing, Rukawa?"
"Okay."
"A man of few words as usual. Shohoku did good last year, with you and Sakuragi. The other players were good too."
Rukawa nodded. "Where's that Nosaru? Isn't he here?"
Maki laughed. "Kiyota? He should be late, as usual. All of you seem to have a knack for it. Where's Sakuragi?"
"He's…"
"Everyone can stop except for the two tardy ones. You'd better finish in three minutes," Fukatsu interrupted. "You'll be sorry otherwise."
Rukawa and Sendoh raced around the court.
"Do ahou… it's your fault."
"My fault? You were late too!"
"You were later."
"Hey, you're supposed to listen to me. You're my charge."
"Do ahou. I won't."
"2:59:76," Minami read off the stopwatch, and looked at the charge and his handler. "Good job, you two. Kiyota Nobunaga's late though."
"Sakuragi Hanamichi too," Rukawa told him.
"Sakuragi Hanamichi? You mean Shohoku's previous Vice-Captain?"
Minami looked at his list.
"He's not on the list, Kaede," Sendoh told him, looking at the list from behind Minami's shoulder.
"But we received the same scholarship."
"The two troublemakers, go warm up!" Fukatsu hollered at them.
"But…"
"Rukawa, the coach told us Captains… it's a waste but Sakuragi didn't accept the scholarship. He's not in Tokyo Daigaku."
Rukawa didn't say anything. Keeping a poker-faced expression, he walked to where the rest of the basketball team was and joined them in the warming up exercises.
'Kaede…' Sendoh's gaze followed Rukawa as he walked away.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, hope this chapter is okay. Comments and constructive criticisms appreciated ^___^
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: You're Not Here
It was the beginning of spring. The sweet smell of flowers lingered in every breeze, the azure sky was comforting; the brightness of the sun not threatening.
That was until a shadow fell on him.
"Yo."
Frowning, he looked up at the disruption of his peace with nature but he couldn't make out the face of the perpetrator against the brightness of the sun. However, the voice was all too familiar.
"Go away."
"Come now Kaede. Let's not be hostile."
Rukawa ignored the remark and shut his eyes, hoping that he'd go away. Instead, the tall spiky-haired senior sat next to him instead and began to play with his hair.
In the midst of third braid, Rukawa slapped his hand away. He abruptly sat up and glared at his self-invited companion.
"What do you want, Akira?"
Sendoh smiled. "Great, we're on first name terms once again."
Rukawa remained silent, but his sapphire eyes were still dagger-like.
"Okay, okay. Let me explain," Sendoh said, raising both arms as if to prove that he was unarmed. "You registered yourself in the basketball club in your application, right? I can't wait to play against you again! You stopped playing against me ever since you've improved so much and…"
"Get to the point," Rukawa interrupted.
Sendoh sighed.
"Still as blunt as ever, aren't you Kaede?"
"With you, I have to be."
Looking a bit hurt, Sendoh continued. "Captain Fukatsu and Vice-Captain Minami assigned the sophomores to look after the freshman."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes! I get to take care of Kaede!" Sendoh said cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Rukawa's shoulder in a sideway hug.
Rukawa looked away, and tried to focus his attention on a nearby sakura tree instead of the warm arm around his shoulders.
Sendoh took this as an opening. Using his free arm, he gently ran a finger from Rukawa's cheekbone and traced it to his chin, making Rukawa look at him.
"Kaede, about last year…" he started.
Rukawa dropped his eyes to the ground. "There's nothing to explain."
"Yes there is! You completely misunderstood the situation."
"I did, did I?" Rukawa raised his voice slightly, and with flashing eyes, he glared at Sendoh. "How was that a misunderstanding? You were kissing your best friend!"
"But I couldn't help it. He looked so charming then…"
Rukawa got up with a look of disgust, but before he could walk away, Sendoh had already got a hold on his arm, and he was kneeling.
"Kaede, you know I'm sorry. Let me make this up to you."
"I'm sorry too, because I've already fallen for someone else."
With that said, Sendoh's hold on Rukawa's arm loosened and Rukawa took the opportunity to pull his arm free and walk away.
"Then I'll wait for you."
Stunned, Rukawa stopped in his tracks. Slowly, he turned to look at Sendoh, who was still kneeling, but he was smiling. At that very moment, a shower of sakura petals rained down and to Rukawa, it was a beautiful picture.
With a deep breath, he gave a small nod.
"We'll be seeing each other a lot, won't we?"
"You mean dating?" Sendoh's eyes sparkled.
"Do ahou. Aren't you the senpai who's supposed to look after me?"
"Oh right!"
'He must've have tricked Captain Fukatsu and Vice-Captain Minami to let him look after me,' Rukawa concluded with suspicion. "I'm going to look for him."
When Rukawa walked off, Sendoh could only think of one person who could be 'him'.
"But he's not here, isn't he?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Rukawa would never have thought he'd find almost all of his past opponents on the same basketball team, let alone, all of them on the same court.
"AAH! It's Rukawa!" Vice-Captain Minami exclaimed, walked over to him and proceeded to ruffle his already messy hair, although he was shorter than Rukawa. "I'm not losing to you ever again."
"Senpai," he acknowledged.
Minami was as he was the last time Rukawa met him. It was during Shohoku's first Inter-High tournament, and Minami was the Captain of Toyotama. Each of them gave souvenirs to the other... a bruised eye to Rukawa, and a bloody head to Minami.
"Your head is fine now."
"So is your eye," Minami remarked, and smiled.
"Rukawa Kaede! You're late!" Captain Fukutsu shouted. "And this is the first training! Am I supposed to expect you to be late for every training?"
"Calm down, Kutsu," Minami said.
"The professor insisted that I help him just now."
"Is that an excuse?"
"Kutsu!"
The door slid open and Sendoh stepped in. "Yo!"
"Sendoh Akira! Your charge is tardy! And you're tardier than him!!" Fukutsu marched over to Sendoh and started to berate him.
"This happens all the time ever since Kutsu became Captain. Everyone here is giving him trouble, unlike when he was Captain at Sannoh," Minami sighed, patted Rukawa, and rushed to calm his companion.
'Charge? It's like I'm being babysat.'
"How can I continue to let you be in charge of him if you can't even be responsible? And you dare requested this?! Do you want me to be in charge of you?"
'So that do ahou did ask to be in charge of me.'
"Ah, no no, Captain. I'll be good. Promise," Sendoh replied desperately, a weak grin on his face. His gaze shifted to Rukawa and his eyes silently begged for help but Rukawa acted as though he didn't see anything.
"Now let's get back to training. Rukawa and Sendoh, extra ten rounds around the court. Now move!"
"Tokyo Daigaku!!! Let's go!"
As they ran around the court, Maki Shinichi soon joined Rukawa and ran abreast to him.
"How are you doing, Rukawa?"
"Okay."
"A man of few words as usual. Shohoku did good last year, with you and Sakuragi. The other players were good too."
Rukawa nodded. "Where's that Nosaru? Isn't he here?"
Maki laughed. "Kiyota? He should be late, as usual. All of you seem to have a knack for it. Where's Sakuragi?"
"He's…"
"Everyone can stop except for the two tardy ones. You'd better finish in three minutes," Fukatsu interrupted. "You'll be sorry otherwise."
Rukawa and Sendoh raced around the court.
"Do ahou… it's your fault."
"My fault? You were late too!"
"You were later."
"Hey, you're supposed to listen to me. You're my charge."
"Do ahou. I won't."
"2:59:76," Minami read off the stopwatch, and looked at the charge and his handler. "Good job, you two. Kiyota Nobunaga's late though."
"Sakuragi Hanamichi too," Rukawa told him.
"Sakuragi Hanamichi? You mean Shohoku's previous Vice-Captain?"
Minami looked at his list.
"He's not on the list, Kaede," Sendoh told him, looking at the list from behind Minami's shoulder.
"But we received the same scholarship."
"The two troublemakers, go warm up!" Fukatsu hollered at them.
"But…"
"Rukawa, the coach told us Captains… it's a waste but Sakuragi didn't accept the scholarship. He's not in Tokyo Daigaku."
Rukawa didn't say anything. Keeping a poker-faced expression, he walked to where the rest of the basketball team was and joined them in the warming up exercises.
'Kaede…' Sendoh's gaze followed Rukawa as he walked away.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, hope this chapter is okay. Comments and constructive criticisms appreciated ^___^