Standard disclaimers apply here.

UNSUNG LIMERICK

Three AM

Chapter One: Normal

xxxxxx

Akane rolled the tortillon stamp between her pencil-smudged fingers. She stared at her unfinished work, a sketch of a beautiful model, a woman she found in a random magazine. She tilted her head to one side, examining her work closely. After a moment of decision, she wiped her fingers against her short pants then wiped it smoothly through the surface of the paper. She did this a few more times until she was satisfied with her faded gray background.

Cheerful noises outside her door grew louder. She glanced at the door, clearly knowing what was going on.

But she ignored it.

She snatched her headphones from the bedside table and turned her cd player on. She put the volume to full blast, wanting to block out other unnecessary noises… like the party racket downstairs.

Her family was having fun. They were celebrating her older brother's success. They were having a victory party for his team's winning against Shoyo, putting them in the second place to get to the Inter-high playoffs. It was surely a big feat, since it had always been Kainan and Shoyo that can hold up to the level of national championships. Beating one of the toughest teams in town and stealing the place by Ryonan was worth celebrating for.

Of course. In their eyes.

Akira was everything everyone ever dreamed of. He was very down-to-earth, humble enough and nice. He was also quite a charmer, with his trademark lazy looks and innocent smile. He was athletic and strong. He was so good at basketball, if not one of the best players in the district.

He was perfect.

Faultless.

Just what the whole Sendoh clan has envisaged since his birth.

And they celebrated.

Akane closed her eyes and dropped down to her bed. She could no longer hear the party noises her family and Akira's friends were making. But beneath her closed eyes, she could clearly see what was happening. They were all smiling and laughing and having a great time. They were all surrounding him, congratulating him with proud smiles and gazes.

Proud. They were all pleased with him.

Something Akane could never achieve, even after all of her best. That was just how life went for her.

She turned to her side and hugged her pillow. She didn't want to think anything about her issues anymore. She was contented with her always fading into the background. She didn't need their attention anyway.

Or so she told herself through the rest of the night.

xxxxxx

She wiped the brush across the surface of the black tinted cloth. Red, white and gray was painted artistically into the huge rectangular cloth, a banner to be hung in the lobby of Kameishi Academy for the upcoming semester break party.

Akane leaned back, stretching her arms upward. She surveyed the masterpiece before her before snatching the pack of silver glitters and putting more in the bottom of the letters.

"You finished with that yet?" a voice suddenly piped in from behind.

Without glancing back, Akane replied, "Just about. I'm on to the finishing touch."

"You said the exact same thing like fifteen minutes ago."

She glanced down at her watch. "Five," she corrected.

"Whatever."

Akane grinned. She knew Yakamori Keiko just rolled her eyes behind her back. She knew her best friend very well.

"I promise. This is the last time," Akane said.

Keiko turned away from her and read her Cosmopolitan magazine again. "Don't explain!"

Akane poured a few more glitters on the last letter then finally, she stood up and exclaimed, "Done!"

She turned around to see her friend still glued to the magazine. She approached her and flopped down beside her, thoroughly exhausted. She let her eyes roam the student council's office room. It was enough for the several committees' own cubicles but it wasn't that large either for the growing number of people joining the staffs.

Her eyes fell on the huge banner and she let out a small proud smile. The light from the lamppost outside the windows created an enchanting effect on the silver glitters against the black background. Her offering to stay behind to add more polishing to the work after the rest of the team went home was very well worth it.

"Are you really?" Keiko snapped. She turned a page briskly. Before her friend could respond, she continued, "Oh I know you, Akane. You would say, 'yeah', but that usually means 'not yet'. Go on. I'll just wait for you."

Akane laughed. "I'm really finished, no kidding. I want to lie down now."

Keiko closed her magazine and finally turned to her. "If you weren't such a damn perfectionist then we wouldn't have to stay late here in the office. You should have left the banner as it is when the others were done with it."

"I can't leave it like that," Akane protested tiredly. "You saw its state earlier. It was dull. It wasn't even eye-catching. Who would want to go the party with a horrible invitation like that? Another thing, you should be grateful to me."

"Well then!" Keiko, the external president of the Events committee, suddenly exclaimed. She stood up and gathered her things from the table. "I owe you one, thank you so much and let's go."

"I want to die right now," Akane groaned. She slumped on the bench, feeling all the energy draining out of her body slowly. Had Keiko not pull her arm to force her to stand up, Akane would have slept on the office's bench right then and there.

She took a deep breath, forcing her senses to activate and focus. Gaining a bit of strength, she started to clean up the mess on the floor.

"Just leave it like that, Akane. Let the rest of the Art committee clean it up tomorrow," Keiko said.

"Yeah all right. I'll just put these brushes in the water," she replied as collected all the lying dirty brushes scattered on the floor and put it into the huge glass of gray water.

At the dimly streets of their district, the two friends walked languidly in the sidewalk. Lights from the tall lampposts and the several cars that passed by provided enough light to serve as their guide in the late dark night.

"What time is it?"

"Eight something."

"We're early."

Keiko snorted in a very unladylike manner. She glanced at her friend before letting out a knowing smile. "They won't notice?"

"When did they?" Akane replied with another question.

"Hey! I almost forgot to mention," Keiko suddenly said, grabbing her friend's arm. "Spike's band is looking for a new vocalist."

"What happened to Max?"

"Spike said he's going to the States for good. I think he's going to study law there or something," Keiko explained. "I always knew Max was the most serious one in the group."

Akane just nodded and continued walking while her friend kept on watching her. Finally, Keiko grabbed her arm again and stopped her.

"Well?" Keiko was looking at her expectantly.

"Well what?"

"C'mon. Don't go stupid at me, Akane."

"Keiko–!"

"They need a vocalist."

"So? What's that got to do with me?"

"So! They need you!" Keiko cried exasperatedly.

"Did Spike mention me specifically?" Akane asked patiently, raising a brow and crossing her arms across her chest.

Keiko paused before saying, "Well, no. But he said it to me, which must mean he's implying you, since you're my best friend and all and he knows you can sing."

"I don't see Spike as the going-between-the-lines person."

"My boyfriend can be really straightforward sometimes…" Keiko trailed off when she saw Akane's skeptical look. "Okay, so he is frank most of the times, but that doesn't mean he can't be implying something behind his words sometimes."

"If the band really thinks they want me as their vocalist then they're more likely to approach me themselves," Akane reasoned out and resumed on walking into the dimly lit street.

"They're just shy about approaching you and…"

Akane gave her a look. Keiko sighed loudly, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.

"You are so impossible," Keiko grumbled.

"Who's impossible?" Akane asked with a raised brow.

Keiko sighed as she watched her walk away towards the left corner. She didn't know why and how she could put up with Akane's tolerant and logical attitude. She was just too different from her. But she knew it's their differences that kept them together since their first year in Kameishi last year.

"Don't even think of bothering Spike about me," Akane called out, without turning her head.

"Yeah whatever," Keiko fairly shouted back. "See you tomorrow!"

Akane waved a hand just before she rounded a corner. She was smiling amusedly at her friend's failed attempt. She knew she was reclusive by nature. Hell, she's just way too reclusive. But she wasn't complaining anyway. She like her being introvert, always behind everyone's shadows, always blending in to the walls and corners. It made things uncomplicated.

Being in a band would be totally cool, but Akane feared the sudden disruption it might cause in her overly boring and almost nonexistent life.

She hated changes.

Finally, after walking countless of minutes from her school, she finally saw their house's front porch, well-lighted as usual. For Akane, it always made their house looked very warm and ideal on the outside. Well, almost perfect, she smirked grimly.

She went in and muttered a greeting to her mother, who was going to the kitchen in an apron, carrying their youngest son, Lee.

"Oh, good you're here, Akane," her mother said, without looking at her.

Akane stopped at the foot of the stairs. She cleared her throat. "Hey, Mum."

She watched as her mother deposited her three year old sibling in the counter carefully. She walked inside the kitchen towards her baby brother and smiled slightly at him. Lee made a gurgling sound and smiled back at her. Akane was almost happy at the thought that at least one person in the household actually liked her.

"Here, Akane." Her mother suddenly handed her a brown paper bag.

Akane looked at the paper bag shoved into her hands blankly.

"That's your brother's dinner," her mother explained impatiently, seeing her staring at it impassively. "Akira called earlier. He said their practice is extended tonight. And I forgot to give him his lunch box today before you both went to school so I know he'll be starving by the time their practice is over. You know how your brother gets. Forgetting to eat his dinner after getting too exhausted with their…"

Akane tuned out her mother. She was still staring blankly at the paper bag. Her mother never cared for her food.

"… the bicycle. Be careful on your way," her mother said, getting Lee from the counter and returning upstairs, probably to put him in the crib.

Akane didn't notice Lee's chubby hands extending towards her as their mother whisked him away. She was left alone in the kitchen, still looking at the thing on her hands. She blinked, then sighed. She knew what she had to do even without her mother's rants about her onii-chan's eating habits. She was painstakingly familiar with their fondness for their eldest child.

Dropping her bag to the couch, she went outside and got into the bicycle, the paper bag in the front basket. She didn't mind that she was still in her Kameishi uniform and that her skirt was a little short and very impractical for bicycle riding. Her only consolation to her being a pathetic messenger was that the streets were still lighted and that it was almost deserted, with only a few people and cars going on and about.

She enjoyed the near silence, though apprehension was tying her stomach into knots. She tried to ignore it and rode mindlessly into the night, quietly enjoying the crispy air and the wind blowing against her face and long black hair.

Akane finally got to Ryonan's gate and she rode straightly towards the gym. She knew the path too well for it hasn't been the first time that her parents had sent an errand for her brother.

She dropped the bike carefully on the ground and walked towards the huge glass doors. With the paper bag clutched in one hand, she pushed the door open and proceeded to walk to the dark hallway. She didn't need much light; the moonlight from the windows was enough to let her see. She knew her way to the gym anyway.

She stopped in front of the sliding glass doors and she immediately spotted his brother running across the immaculately clean floorboard with a ball in his hand. She watched as he passed through his teammate, dribbling the ball expertly and did a lay-up that looked so simple, one of his secret tactics behind his being "The Ace".

Akane took in a deep breath and clutched the paper bag tighter. She was never comfortable being with total strangers.

Finally, wanting to end it sooner than later, she pushed the sliding doors open, just enough to let her walk inside the gym. To her relief, no one seemed to notice her at first.

Akane looked around nervously. She saw some of his brother's teammates on the benches. Maybe they can just give this to onii-chan then I'll be on my way. Quickly deciding, she moved towards them. A boy smaller than her finally noticed her. And she stopped.

"Hey!" he exclaimed loudly, causing Akane to wince. Fortunately, none of the other guys seemed to hear him, with their eyes glued obediently to the practice game.

He looked at her face then down to her uniform then Akane saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. He jumped a bit, stepping closer to her and looking up at her, which she thought as a little stupid and embarrassing since she's obviously taller than him by at least a good three or four inches.

Smiling exuberantly, he pointed at her and shouted, "I know you! You're Sendoh's sister!"

And everyone seemed to stop. Akane stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. Rubber shoes halted against the floorboard. The cheers and chatters from the sidelines broke. She could hear the eerie silence. She could even feel everyone's eyes bore right through her, as she stood rooted to the ground still staring at the boy, flabbergasted.

The said guy didn't seem to be aware of the unwanted attention he caused. He continued to gawk at Akane with a wide excited grin. "Are you from Kameishi? Hahaha! You must be. You're wearing their uniform!"

Akane paled, staring uneasily at him.

"Akane!" a familiar voice finally called out to her. Even without turning, she knew who it was. She didn't whether to feel relieved or more anxious.

Akira jogged towards their coach. He smiled sheepishly at him while scratching the back of his neck.

"Fine," their Taoka-sensei relented a bit gruffly. Then he turned towards the rest of the team and yelled, "Break! Three minutes!"

"Thanks coach," Akira said, grinning. He then walked towards his sister, who was even now attacked by his relentless teammate. He took a glance at her expression and shaking his head slightly, he put a hand to his teammate's shoulder, finally stopping his animated chat.

"Hey, Hikoichi."

"Sendoh!" Hikoichi turned his head and looked up at him. "Oh wait, I think I should call you Akira now since your sister is a Sendoh too, right?"

Akira chuckled. "It's ok, Hikoichi."

"Oh yeah," the smaller boy turned to Akane again and extended a hand. "I'm Aida Hikoichi by the way."

"Uh…"

"Hikoichi! Come over here!"

Akane sighed, a bit relieved to have diverted the hyperactive guy, who was now running toward their coach. But she was still a bit nervous for she could still feel some of the basketball team's stares, even though she was now staring at the floor.

"Akane? What are you doing here?"

She looked up at her brother and bit her lip, unconsciously tightening her grasp on the paper bag. She blinked and looked away. Wordlessly, she handed him the bag.

Curiosity written in Akira's eyes, he took the paper bag and asked, "What's this?"

"Mum said it's your dinner," she murmured.

"Dinner?" Akira looked surprised.

Akane just shrugged. She looked at her brother, who sighed resignedly.

Akira then stared at her and tilted his head to one side. "How'd you come here?"

"Bike."

"All by yourself?"

She nodded.

"At this time of the night?"

She nodded, looking away again.

"Dad isn't home yet?"

She shook her head.

"You shouldn't have come," Akira said. Had Akane been watching her brother closely, she would have seen the concern in his eyes.

"There's no one else to send," she said lamely, shuffling at her feet. Why are they still staring at me?

"Still…"

"I'll be going now," Akane said suddenly. She couldn't stand the rest of the guys' curious gazes. She was never used to strangers scrutinizing her.

Before she could turn, Akira stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. But she didn't turn around.

"Imouto-san," Akira called softly. "Be careful."

Little sister.

Akane frowned at the old term of endearment he used to call her before. She clenched her jaw, her brows furrowing together in silent resentment. But she just nodded.

She walked towards the doors and after a moment she disappeared, sliding it behind her. At last, Akane breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Akira was still staring at the doors with worry etched in his face, though he tried not to show it. He blinked suddenly and turned around to see a few of his teammates gathered around his back.

"Yo, that your sister?" Koshino asked.

Akira nodded in response.

"She's cute," he further said, grinning.

"Yeah," another one of his teammates agreed. "Looks a little too nervous though. But I have to say she's rather pretty."

Hikoishi joined. He looked at him incredulously. "Pretty? She looks like an angel up close!"

"Someone's smitten…"

Hikoishi blushed while the rest laughed, teasing him further.

But Akira wasn't amused. No, not at all. He was frowning, not liking the idea of his teammates talking about his sister like that.

"Hey," Akira finally said, stopping the chatter. He looked at them with the same seriousness he always got whenever he was really into the game. And he wasn't smiling. "Don't have any ideas with my sister."

His team stopped. They looked at Akira with a mixture of apprehension and surprise. They never expected for their Ace, who probably has the warmest smile and friendliest nature in all of the basketball players in the district that they knew, to portray such gravity towards something that appeared to be almost trivial. They never suspected Akira as an overprotective older brother type.

"Break over! Get back to the court!"

The team silently thanked their coach for the interruption. They were not used to their Ace being so serious like that. They prefer him as the daffy genius basketball player that he was in the court.

And everything went back to normal again.

xxxxxx

Author's Notes: First chapter. God, I'm writing another chaptered fic! Hope I'll get this one right this time. Anyway, REVIEWS are greatly appreciated. Oh, and just a quick thought… No, Akira's sister is NOT going to be paired up with Rukawa.