Title: If Looks Could Kill
Author: Blue-eyed Fox Lunarblue_2002@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers applied. Slam Dunk is not mine. It belongs to Takehiko Inoue.
Warning: Yaoi and Shoune-ai. If you do not understand any of these terms then I suggest you find out what it is…
Authoress' Notes: Okay, okay I know I'm late, I'm short on everything and long on excuses and I know it won't make it up for the past months that rolled by without at least a single update. But at least now I have the time to keep myself busy with fic writing. And so without further ado, I present to you chapter 6.
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CHAPTER 6: Waltz with Me~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ayako, no offense, but these shoes are starting to kill me." Hanamichi commented as he was slowly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Umm…" Ayako looked at Hanamichi then started to look for some vacant seats among the crowd. From the looks of it, Hanamichi did need to rest his feet. Being able to walk properly without even stumbling was something Ayako found quite surprising about the redhead.
"Over there, come on." Ayako said as she ushered him to a nearby table. "Remember Hana," she said as she emphasized on 'Hana,' "the deal. Just be a good girl okay?"
"Yeah sure, why don't you try being in my shoes and see how much self-control this Tensai is putting into use! Hmph."
Ayako brought out her mighty fan of doom and was not about to think twice of bopping Hanamichi on the head when he brought up his hand and said,
"Okay fine, I'll be good! But do get this one thing straight—Cinderella had her fun only 'til midnight. So when the clock strikes twelve, I'm outta here," Hanamichi said as he gracefully sat down, being careful with every move.
Just before Ayako could say anything back, a guy clad in Salvatorre Ferragamo interrupted them.
"Hi, is this seat taken?" he asked, referring to the chair next to the redhead.
"Maki-san! Um, no, not at all," Ayako said as she and Hanamichi looked at the Kainan team captain.
"Are the two of you having fun?" Maki smiled as he sat down and locked his eyes on the redhead. Hanamichi felt shivers ran down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end and a blush crept up the bridge of his nose, making him look completely adorable. Realizing this, he quickly looked away.
Hanamichi uttered an audible 'yes' before, "Ow!"
"Is something wrong?" Maki asked thoughtfully.
"Um, an insect bit my ankle," Hanamichi hedged, giving Ayako the eye. Ayako just ignored Hanamichi and turned to Maki.
"It's really nice of you guys to invite us to your victory party Maki-san."
"Our pleasure, Ayako-san," Maki replied as he glanced briefly at Shohoku's manageress.
Ayako noticed something interesting was about to brew so she looked for an excuse to leave the two alone.
"Maki-san, you won't mind if I leave my companion here with you, don't you. I have to talk to someone over there."
Hanamichi's eyes widened and quickly focused themselves on Ayako, begging her not to leave him alone with the 'old man.'
"No Ayako, please don't do this to me. Don't leave me alone with him!" He mentally pleaded hoping that Ayako would read his mind.
"No I wouldn't mind it at all Ayako-san. It'll be my pleasure keeping the lovely lady company," Maki said with a smile on his face.
'Lovely lady?!' Hanamichi pondered as he turned towards Maki who was smiling at him in a way that made his insides somersault.
"Well then, that's settled. Hana, I'll leave you here for a while with Maki-san, okay? See you later!" And with that, Ayako disappeared in the crowd.
Hanamichi sighed. 'Kami-sama, help me! I do not deserve this. The Tensai does not deserve this.' He mentally berated as he put on a meek smile before turning to face Maki. Just then, slow, sensual music played through the sound system. Maki, taking this as a cue, stood up, smiled sexily, took Hanamichi's hand, and said, "Shall we dance?" It was more of a statement rather than a request as he half-dragged, half-pulled the redhead to the dance floor.
"Ch-chotto matte." Hanamichi stammered as a hand suddenly went around his waist while the other held his hand. Maki pulled Hanamichi closer to him as he began to set the pace of the dance.
Hanamichi was speechless. All he could really do at that moment was to follow Maki's lead as he stared at their hands clasped together and feel his hand on his bare back, which made him blush. Maki, seeing this, leaned a little bit closer to Hanamichi and whispered,
"Just relax Hanamichi, I'm not going to bite you or anything." Maki said, as he tightened his hold around Hanamichi's waist and gave him knowing lock.
"You… you… you… but… but how—" The redhead stuttered but was abruptly cut off.
"Shh, let's just say that those beautiful brown eyes of yours are a total give away." Maki seductively said, as he looked intently at those pretty orbs that only made the redhead's confusion grew.
Meanwhile, from three different directions, Rukawa, Fujima and Sendoh were rooted in their places as they looked on at the present situation but one same thing was running across their minds at that moment. 'What the hell is Maki doing with Hana?' They thought as each devised a plan to be alone with Hanamichi or even better, whisk Hanamichi away and do some * ahem * rather incoherent things all night long. But they were shaken from their heavenly reverie when they saw something that severed their nerves like an A-bomb right on target. Maki was caressing the redhead's cheek, making the latter blush to the roots of his hair.
"Do you still remember the elimination when we first encountered each other and you addressed me as—"
"Old man', yes I do. What about it?"
"You've grown on me," Maki flatly stated. "To tell you the truth, I was rather surprised and amused. You didn't' have any idea on who I was then and that 'I-don't-give-a-damn' of yours and your antics were just an added bonus," he said matter-of-factly to Hanamichi. As he looked at Hanamichi straight in the eye, he continued. "Hanamichi, tell me, has anyone ever told you that you're a pretty sight to behold? I've been watching you for quite some time you know? On and off-court."
By this time, Hanamichi was too astounded to what has just been revealed to him by the Kainan player. Maki took this opportunity to feel the redhead's skin as he brought a hand to his cheek and started to caress it lovingly.
With that simple action, this not-so-innocent gesture caused the unnatural increase in blood temperature of certain onlookers. Sendoh's jaw hung rather unattractively open, as he lightly shook his head while trying to find words to say. But his mouth remained remarkable similar to a goldfish.
"Looks like Maki got ahead of you, Sendoh," Koshino commented. They were near the music booth where Jin was taking care of the sounds. Kiyota was standing by, brow furrowed and bearing an ice bag on his head.
Kiyota noticed Sendoh's reaction. Confused, he decided to inquire. "What was that all about?" he asked. Koshino merely pointed out the very remarkable picturesque scene on the dance floor. Kiyota followed the direction with his eyes and was shocked beyond heavens with what he saw. It took a few seconds for his brain to register the scene before he quickly dropped on the floor for the second time in the night but this time, he was twitching like a dead lizard hit by a lightning bolt. Thud!
"Whoa! Even Kiyota-san got a huge impact!" Koshino said as he crouched on the floor and started poking poor Kiyota.
"Don't worry 'bout him. He'll come around a little later," Jin said as his gaze went from the dance floor to Kiyota.
On the brighter and
amusing side, Mitsui and Miyagi were calming down a very infuriated Rukawa.
First, the three of them saw the redhead dancing and talking with Maki, making
the aura around the two rather fidgety. Second, Rukawa was trembling—no, he was
shaking and his teeth were clenched tightly. The next thing they knew is that
they were holding on to Rukawa for dear life before he murdered someone. And
they certainly knew who it was.
"Oi, Rukawa, calm down! Take it easy will you. If you act that way because of Hanamichi over there, then devise a plan to outwit them," Miyagi said, as he was fanning Rukawa with a card board hoping that it might help lessen the heat off his head.
"Yeah take it easy there lover boy! Miyagi's right, devise a plan," Mitsui added
Those words somehow helped calm the fox boy down.
"So, what are you going to do?" Mitsui inquired.
"…"
Rukawa was silently thinking of ways on how to corner Hanamichi and seduce him in the most unbelievable ways.
"Rukawa? Don't tell us you've fallen asleep on this one."
"Don't worry Miyagi. I already have something in mind."
With those words, Mitsui and Miyagi exchanged glances.
On the calmer side, Fujima and Hanagata were surprised that Maki was making a move on the redhead.
"Who would ever think that Maki is also interested at Hanamichi?"
"That Maki sure is sneaky."
"What are you gonna do about it Kenji?" Hanagata asked as he slid an arm around Fujima's waist.
"Don't worry Toru-kun. That beauty will be in our arms tonight, that I'm very certain," Fujima said as he smiled at his lover. As for Hanagata, he smiled back as his eyes glittered with anticipation.
Back across the other side of the room, Sendoh was back to his normal self.
"Are you just gonna stand there or what? Go over there and take your turn you bonehead!" Koshino exasperatedly said.
"Yeah, I know and I was just about to do that, okay. So if you guys would excuse me, I have a redhead to fish out." And with that, he strutted towards the two.
"Maki-san, do you have any idea what you're doing?" Hanamichi incredulously whispered.
"Yes and let's drop the formalities. Call me Shinichi."
"B…bu…but…" Hanamichi stuttered, too surprised to say anything straight. But he was then silenced when Maki brought a finger upon the redhead's red lips, as he slowly leaned closer to capture those lips.
'Oh my God! He's going to kiss me! Oh my God! Oh my God! What am I going to do?! Help!' Hanamichi panicked inwardly. He didn't know what to do as the proximity of their faces—or rather, lips, were just inches away. He quickly closed his eyes, bracing for what was about to come. But by some miracle, nothing happened. Instead, he heard an achingly familiar voice.
"Excuse me, may I dance with the lady?"
Hanamichi's eyes quickly shot open, only to see two gorgeous men glaring at each other.
'Kami-sama, arigatou! Thank you for sending…' His thoughts trailed off when he slowly widened his eyes and saw someone he didn't expect to see someone he didn't expect to see among other things: a certain spiky haired, cerulean-eyed player from Ryonan who was currently engaged in a standoff with Maki.
"Sendoh?!"
Sparks flew between the two gorgeous men. Hanamichi could feel the tension brewing between the two as he darted glances back and forth between them. It seemed like they were having a silent exchange of thoughts. Maki wanted to punch the light out of Sendoh's smiling for interrupting that oh-so close moment between him and Hanamichi while Sendoh on the other hand was congratulating himself for perfect timing.
'Sooner or later I'm going to wipe that smile off that bleached face of yours Sendoh!'
'Not in this lifetime you don't.'
"Anou…" Hanamichi started. But what could he possibly say? But before he could even think of continuing, Sendoh snaked an arm around Hanamichi's waist, snatched him away from Maki, and pulled him towards him. And with a bright smile, he said, " Hana-chan, I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I dance with you right? After all, Maki here already had his fun."
Silence was met with his proposition but that didn't stop Sendoh from his advances. "So Hana-chan, I'll take your silence for a 'yes'?"
"Huh?" was Hanamichi's sensible answer. Sendoh would stop at nothing to take Hanamichi away from Maki so deciding that it was a 'yes', turned to Maki.
"Well then Maki, see you later."
And with that he whisked Hanamichi away, leaving Maki in a ravel for words.
From a distance, Ayako and Kogure watched every scene with great interest.
"Wow! Who would've thought that Hanamichi would be an eye candy to them."
"You got that right Kogure, and it looks like it's not just those two." Ayako giggled, "Look at those two parties over there."
Kogure's glasses fogged when he saw the faces of Rukawa and Fujima and Hanagata respectively.
"It looks like our power forward is in need of our help." Ayako said as she rubbed her hands together, smiling from ear-to-ear with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
For Kogure, it only meant…
"Kogure, I think it's about time we put this war in our own hands. Come on!"
"Hey what do you mean—ah!"
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As Sendoh took the lead, Hanamichi was now snapped back to his senses. He couldn't believe what was happening, first, there was Maki who just confessed his feelings and not to mention almost gave him his first kiss! And now, here he was dancing with no other than Smiley himself who was now just staring at him straight in the eyes while smiling silly.
"Smiley, how did you know it was me? And are you okay? You're acting strange…"
"How do I explain this…etto…well, let's just say that I've been waiting for you."
"Huh? I don't get it, why on earth would wait for me. Why are guys suddenly so—"
"Shh…Hana-chan, relax. Why are you so tense? Aren't you glad I pulled you out from Maki?" Sendoh queried.
Hanamichi blushed as he remembered the incident a few minutes ago. A part of him was thankful that Sendoh came just in time. However…however a part of him was wondering what more could've happened if no one stopped Maki. What could have it felt? To have Maki—gah!!! Hanamichi bowed his head a little to hide his flushed face. 'Hanamichi what are you thinking? You're a guy for crying out loud!'
"Hana-chan, are you okay?" Sendoh asked.
"Ah yeah! Sorry about that. Ahahaha…ahem… Sendoh, by the way, Thank you…"
Understanding what Hanamichi meant, he smiled sweetly at the redhead.
"Don't mention it. Besides, couldn't let him get to you first Hana-chan."
"What do you—"
Hanamichi wasn't able to finish his sentence when his stomach growled making him blush deeper. Sendoh smiled when he saw Hanamichi's cheeks turn rosy. 'Kawaii! He looks so innocent.' He thought. Both stopped dancing as Sendoh proffered that they sit down. They went to a vacant table as Sendoh pulled up a seat and let Hana sit down.
"Wait here, I'll go get up something."
"Huh? Wait! But—"
"Stay here." Sendoh said firmly as he went to the buffet table.
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Hanamichi sighed as he leaned back against the chair and crossed his legs. He looked at the wall clock mounted by the exit and saw that he still had to endure four more excruciating hours to be in the blasted gown and shoes, which reminded him, he had to get the damn shoes off his feet even for a few minutes. Sendoh came back with two bottles of alcopop and a plate filled with finger foods. He set in down on the table and sat close beside Hanamichi who was starting to fidget.
"Here you go, bon appetite." Sendoh said. He stared at Hanamichi who drank from the lip of the bottle. He watched in fascination as Hanamichi's neck curved into a swan like motion as he drank straight from the bottle. How Hanamichi's hand, graceful and slender like a geisha's, moved to reach for a finger food. His mind ran that exquisite scene over and over, imagining how would it be like if he ran his lips and hands all over the redhead's. Jus the mere thought generated pools of heat in very specific places in his body.
"Is there something on my face?" Hanamichi noticed Sendoh staring at him for the past minute that it made him quite queasy.
"No, I was just admiring your beauty Hana-chan." Sendoh moved his hand to tuck in a stray hair behind Hanamichi's ear making the latter blush for the nth time that evening. Hanamichi hedged a bit as he tried on his cute smile, scowling at the same time.
"Ne, Sendoh,"
"Call me Akira, Hana-chan." Sendoh smiled at Hanamichi as he clasped is hand on the redhead's.
"Could you get me another drink? I'm really drained from all that dancing I did." Hanamichi smiled. Hopeful that Sendoh would best leave him for a couple more minutes.
"Sure Hana-chan. Just promise me you'll dance with me again later." Sendoh kissed Hanamichi's hand and winked before he stood up and went to get Hanamichi's drink.
Hanamichi felt shivers run up his spine when Sendoh kissed his hand. He looked at the retreating back and made up his mind, he was going to make a run for the exit. As soon he was sure that Sendoh was far enough, he quickly stood up and made quick strides towards the door.
Sendoh came back with Hanamichi's drink but was shocked to find the redhead gone.
"Shit!" Sendoh cursed under his breath. Whoever took his Hana-chan away was sure in big trouble. He looked in all directions hoping to find him on the dance floor or somewhere in that hall. Meanwhile, Koshino, Jin and the two other parties of Rukawa and Fujima respectively, were snickering at Sendoh's luck. Hanamichi ditched him. That was all they really needed to know.
Once Hanamichi was out, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took off his shoes and walk barefoot on the soft, warm field beside the gym. He sat down beside the blooming Sakura tree and relaxed as he massaged his aching feet. Little did he know, a pair of eyes was watching him from afar, approaching him stealthily as he leaned back to the comfort of the tree.
~TBC~
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Again, I'm very sorry for the VERY late update. I'm busy with college and with the Thesis paper I've been working on, it's hard to find time to face this fic. But since it's semester-break for me, yay!!! More fics to do!
