Disclaimers : Inoue Takehiko owns Slam Dunk.
Note : Okay, now Rukawa is first year in Shohoku and Sendoh second year in Ryonan.
Chapter 8
"Alright, that's it. Training ends here!" Taoka's voice sound tired.
The team sighed in relief. Finally they can take a break from that harsh training. Some get ready for shower while some went home straight away. Sendoh just sat at one of the four corners of the gym. Koshino saw him sitting there alone and wondered what was wrong with the always happy boy.
"Sendoh, you okay?" asked Koshino worriedly.
"Yeah…" Sendoh closed his eyes.
How long has it been? One year? Two year? He never met Rukawa Kaede anymore ever since his encounter with Ayako. No matter how many times he went to Tomigaoka to find him, it was always the same answer from Mizusawa. Sendoh really wanted to see him, not only in dreams…
'He's there to recall his past.'
Ayako's words went through Sendoh's mind.
'Why? Is his past more important than me?' Sendoh thought. 'Well… I am nothing to him.'
"Sendoh, we're having a practice game with Shohoku tomorrow at seven in the morning," Uozumi suddenly said.
"Ah…" Sendoh couldn't care less.
"Just make sure you're here, okay?" Uozumi said, or more like order to Sendoh.
Koshino could feel something wrong about his best friend but he didn't want to interfere. He knew better than to be a busy body.
"See you tomorrow and don't be late," Koshino said before leaving wit Uozumi.
**********
'Kaede…'
He saw Rukawa turned to see him. He has his cold look as usual, standing a few feet away from him.
'Kaede, you're back!' Sendoh began running towards him. But no matter how far or fast he run, he couldn't reach Rukawa at all.
'Kaede, wait. Why can't I reach you? Wait!'
Rukawa slowly disappeared in front of him.
"NO!!!" Sendoh woke up in cold sweat. He was gasping so hard.
'It's just a dream… no, a nightmare.'
Sendoh brushed his hand through his un-spike hair. He's always dreaming of Rukawa. He really wanted to see him.
'God, I miss him so much.'
Sendoh lied back down on his bed and closed his eyes once again.
**********
"Riiinnngggg!"
Tap.
A small groan was heard underneath the blanket. Then, after a few tossing and turning, Sendoh woke up. He looked at the clock.
'It's just 7.05.'
Then, he went back to sleep. Something was bothering him in his mind but he didn't know what.
'Practice match. Shohoku. 7 am.'
Sendoh jerked up. He looked at the alarm clock closely hoping he'd made a mistake.
"I'M LATE!!!"
**********
"Where's Sendoh Akira?!!" Taoka shouted.
"Calm down, sensei," Uozumi calmed him.
"Shohoku is already here. We're supposed to start now. I'm going to kill that boy!"
Koshino was looking from his watch to the gym door.
"Aw, come on, Sendoh. What are you doing?' he thought angrily. Then, he eyed their opponent. The Shohoku team was ready and is waiting for the match to start.
"Jusu!" a voice was heard.
"SENDOH-SAN!" Hikoichi was shouting.
The Ryonan team quickly sighed in relief while Taoka stormed towards the tall boy. Koshino and Uozumi smiled in relief. Their ace is really difficult to handle.
"Gomen, I woke up late," Sendoh smiled his innocent smile. Taoka find it hard to be angry at this boy.
"Here, Sendoh-san. Your jersey," Hikoichi handed him the number 7 jersey.
"Sankyuu, Hikoichi," Sendoh smiled.
"There's no time for warm-up, Sendoh. We'll have to start now," Uozumi said.
"No problem. I came running," Sendoh replied, changing into his jersey.
'Hopefully nothing bad happens today. That nightmare really must stop or I'll be late every morning,' Sendoh thought to himself. Then, he takes a look at their opponent.
'Hm… Akagi. He seems well prepared. Eh? Who's the redhead? And the boy behind him…' Sendoh was shocked as his eyes met with another blue ones.
'I can't be!'
He kept on staring at the raven-haired boy behind the redhead.
'But… he…'
The two teams walked onto the court. Akagi and Uozumi prepared to snatch the jump ball.
"Pi!!!" the match started and Sendoh couldn't take his eyes off a certain rookie.
**********
The match ended with Ryonan as the victor. However, Sendoh didn't feel like winning at all. For 40 minutes he played against the raven-haired boy and they didn't even exchanged words.
'Has he forgotten me?' Sendoh thought, sadly.
"Thank you for coming, Ansai-sensei," Taoka bowed.
"Hohoho," Ansai-sensei smiled.
Just as they were leaving, Sendoh heard a familiar voice whispering into his ear,
"See you there. Same time. Same place."
Sendoh was dumbfounded. He didn't forget!
**********
Sendoh arrived there late, as usual. To his surprise, Rukawa was already there. He was making a back dunk. Sendoh was amazed at the younger boy's ability.
"Hey," he greeted him.
Rukawa looked up at him. He tossed the ball to Sendoh and he caught it perfectly.
"First to twenty wins," Rukawa said in his usual cold voice.
"You're not going to win me," Sendoh smirked.
"Hmph!"
It seems that they have gone back to time, to the time when they played against each other very evening. After a tiring half and hour, the heated one-on-one came to an end. Both of them were sweating heavily and gasping for breath.
"You… improved a lot, Rukawa," Sendoh said between gasps. Rukawa didn't answer. He took out a pocari sweat from his bad and drank from it thirstily. Then, he threw it to Sendoh. Sendoh caught it when it almost hit the floor.
'Did he just… offer me his drink?' Sendoh asked himself, blushing slightly.
"Go on, drink it," Rukawa said.
Sendoh was staring at the bottle as if it was a gift from God. Slowly, his mouth touched the tip of the bottle.
'Okay, I have to treasure this time,' he told himself, drinking from the bottle slowly.
"Gomen," that word came out of nowhere. Sendoh looked at Rukawa who was staring at the floor.
"Uh, Rukawa…"
"I didn't keep our promise."
Sendoh suddenly felt guilty. Guilty over what?
"It's okay," he said, not knowing what Rukawa was saying at all.
"Ayako-san and Mizusawa-kun told me," Rukawa continued.
"Um, yeah, I wonder why you didn't show up," Sendoh said, nervously. He was choosing his words carefully because he didn't want to make Rukawa cry again. He never wanted to see him cry or feel sad.
"So, uh…" Sendoh was speechless but he couldn't stand the silence between them. He has to say something, the thing that he wanted to tell him one year ago.
"I've been thinking… about that night," Rukawa said softly.
'Huh? What night?' Sendoh didn't know why his head is so blank. He wanted to knock himself.
"I… you're not mad at me, are you?" Sendoh asked, finally understanding what he was talking about.
Rukawa didn't answer. He just walked closer to Sendoh, cupped his chin and kissed him on the lips. Sendoh was surprised but he kissed him back as he wrapped his arms around him. Suddenly, he felt like he was in heaven.
-tbc-
Please review!!!
Note : Okay, now Rukawa is first year in Shohoku and Sendoh second year in Ryonan.
Chapter 8
"Alright, that's it. Training ends here!" Taoka's voice sound tired.
The team sighed in relief. Finally they can take a break from that harsh training. Some get ready for shower while some went home straight away. Sendoh just sat at one of the four corners of the gym. Koshino saw him sitting there alone and wondered what was wrong with the always happy boy.
"Sendoh, you okay?" asked Koshino worriedly.
"Yeah…" Sendoh closed his eyes.
How long has it been? One year? Two year? He never met Rukawa Kaede anymore ever since his encounter with Ayako. No matter how many times he went to Tomigaoka to find him, it was always the same answer from Mizusawa. Sendoh really wanted to see him, not only in dreams…
'He's there to recall his past.'
Ayako's words went through Sendoh's mind.
'Why? Is his past more important than me?' Sendoh thought. 'Well… I am nothing to him.'
"Sendoh, we're having a practice game with Shohoku tomorrow at seven in the morning," Uozumi suddenly said.
"Ah…" Sendoh couldn't care less.
"Just make sure you're here, okay?" Uozumi said, or more like order to Sendoh.
Koshino could feel something wrong about his best friend but he didn't want to interfere. He knew better than to be a busy body.
"See you tomorrow and don't be late," Koshino said before leaving wit Uozumi.
**********
'Kaede…'
He saw Rukawa turned to see him. He has his cold look as usual, standing a few feet away from him.
'Kaede, you're back!' Sendoh began running towards him. But no matter how far or fast he run, he couldn't reach Rukawa at all.
'Kaede, wait. Why can't I reach you? Wait!'
Rukawa slowly disappeared in front of him.
"NO!!!" Sendoh woke up in cold sweat. He was gasping so hard.
'It's just a dream… no, a nightmare.'
Sendoh brushed his hand through his un-spike hair. He's always dreaming of Rukawa. He really wanted to see him.
'God, I miss him so much.'
Sendoh lied back down on his bed and closed his eyes once again.
**********
"Riiinnngggg!"
Tap.
A small groan was heard underneath the blanket. Then, after a few tossing and turning, Sendoh woke up. He looked at the clock.
'It's just 7.05.'
Then, he went back to sleep. Something was bothering him in his mind but he didn't know what.
'Practice match. Shohoku. 7 am.'
Sendoh jerked up. He looked at the alarm clock closely hoping he'd made a mistake.
"I'M LATE!!!"
**********
"Where's Sendoh Akira?!!" Taoka shouted.
"Calm down, sensei," Uozumi calmed him.
"Shohoku is already here. We're supposed to start now. I'm going to kill that boy!"
Koshino was looking from his watch to the gym door.
"Aw, come on, Sendoh. What are you doing?' he thought angrily. Then, he eyed their opponent. The Shohoku team was ready and is waiting for the match to start.
"Jusu!" a voice was heard.
"SENDOH-SAN!" Hikoichi was shouting.
The Ryonan team quickly sighed in relief while Taoka stormed towards the tall boy. Koshino and Uozumi smiled in relief. Their ace is really difficult to handle.
"Gomen, I woke up late," Sendoh smiled his innocent smile. Taoka find it hard to be angry at this boy.
"Here, Sendoh-san. Your jersey," Hikoichi handed him the number 7 jersey.
"Sankyuu, Hikoichi," Sendoh smiled.
"There's no time for warm-up, Sendoh. We'll have to start now," Uozumi said.
"No problem. I came running," Sendoh replied, changing into his jersey.
'Hopefully nothing bad happens today. That nightmare really must stop or I'll be late every morning,' Sendoh thought to himself. Then, he takes a look at their opponent.
'Hm… Akagi. He seems well prepared. Eh? Who's the redhead? And the boy behind him…' Sendoh was shocked as his eyes met with another blue ones.
'I can't be!'
He kept on staring at the raven-haired boy behind the redhead.
'But… he…'
The two teams walked onto the court. Akagi and Uozumi prepared to snatch the jump ball.
"Pi!!!" the match started and Sendoh couldn't take his eyes off a certain rookie.
**********
The match ended with Ryonan as the victor. However, Sendoh didn't feel like winning at all. For 40 minutes he played against the raven-haired boy and they didn't even exchanged words.
'Has he forgotten me?' Sendoh thought, sadly.
"Thank you for coming, Ansai-sensei," Taoka bowed.
"Hohoho," Ansai-sensei smiled.
Just as they were leaving, Sendoh heard a familiar voice whispering into his ear,
"See you there. Same time. Same place."
Sendoh was dumbfounded. He didn't forget!
**********
Sendoh arrived there late, as usual. To his surprise, Rukawa was already there. He was making a back dunk. Sendoh was amazed at the younger boy's ability.
"Hey," he greeted him.
Rukawa looked up at him. He tossed the ball to Sendoh and he caught it perfectly.
"First to twenty wins," Rukawa said in his usual cold voice.
"You're not going to win me," Sendoh smirked.
"Hmph!"
It seems that they have gone back to time, to the time when they played against each other very evening. After a tiring half and hour, the heated one-on-one came to an end. Both of them were sweating heavily and gasping for breath.
"You… improved a lot, Rukawa," Sendoh said between gasps. Rukawa didn't answer. He took out a pocari sweat from his bad and drank from it thirstily. Then, he threw it to Sendoh. Sendoh caught it when it almost hit the floor.
'Did he just… offer me his drink?' Sendoh asked himself, blushing slightly.
"Go on, drink it," Rukawa said.
Sendoh was staring at the bottle as if it was a gift from God. Slowly, his mouth touched the tip of the bottle.
'Okay, I have to treasure this time,' he told himself, drinking from the bottle slowly.
"Gomen," that word came out of nowhere. Sendoh looked at Rukawa who was staring at the floor.
"Uh, Rukawa…"
"I didn't keep our promise."
Sendoh suddenly felt guilty. Guilty over what?
"It's okay," he said, not knowing what Rukawa was saying at all.
"Ayako-san and Mizusawa-kun told me," Rukawa continued.
"Um, yeah, I wonder why you didn't show up," Sendoh said, nervously. He was choosing his words carefully because he didn't want to make Rukawa cry again. He never wanted to see him cry or feel sad.
"So, uh…" Sendoh was speechless but he couldn't stand the silence between them. He has to say something, the thing that he wanted to tell him one year ago.
"I've been thinking… about that night," Rukawa said softly.
'Huh? What night?' Sendoh didn't know why his head is so blank. He wanted to knock himself.
"I… you're not mad at me, are you?" Sendoh asked, finally understanding what he was talking about.
Rukawa didn't answer. He just walked closer to Sendoh, cupped his chin and kissed him on the lips. Sendoh was surprised but he kissed him back as he wrapped his arms around him. Suddenly, he felt like he was in heaven.
-tbc-
Please review!!!