I dunno what inspired me to write a SD fic, maybe it's cos Emberlion's writing one, or maybe cos I've been reading too many good SD fics for once; and I actually felt inspired to do something of my own!! This is my first ever SD fanfic, which of course, isn't going to be slash, and the story's gonna be circling around Rukawa, who is the Mary Sue of SD. That's why a lot of girls like him. Lol.

Chapter 1. SCHOOL'S OUT!

The end of semester was accentuated by the banging open of school doors followed by a gush of students brimming through them as the bell rang indefinitely.

"SCHOOL'S OUT!" someone behind Rukawa yelled, throwing what seemed to be school notes and exam papers into the air. He cringed at the sheer volume of it, and waved the papers away from his face. Nope, Rukawa did not like summer vacations. He had been dreading this day for the whole of the school year.

First of all, it was mainly because summer vacation meant less basketball practices, as most of the team members were going on holidays to other states in Japan. Second of all, this year, he had to travel to Tokyo where his sister was for the whole 3 months as his parents were not going to be around; having decided last minute to travel the world and renting out the house to a rich American family.

"Oh come on, Kaede. Wouldn't it be fun going down to Tokyo for once, visiting your sister? You haven't seen her in ages! When was the last time you saw her anyway? 2 years ago? You must have a lot to catch up on!" Mrs Rukawa giggled, slapping his son on the back.

"Yeah. Listen to your mother. Besides, what's wrong with earning a little extra cash while we're on holiday? It's lucky that our house is situated near the beach, if not, we wouldn't have any offers on rental." Mr Rukawa grinned, hugging his wife tightly by the shoulders.

What was there to be said? Rukawa could only keep quiet, letting his mom jabber on about how wonderful Paris would be, how gorgeous the Eiffel Tower would look at night and how much fun she would have visiting the pyramids in Egypt.

"Rukawa-kun!" he turned around at the sound of his name being called out to see Haruko jogging up towards him. She stopped in front of him, her cheeks flushed from the exertion of it; or maybe because she was embarrassed.

"Hn?" he cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to catch her breath, albeit a little impatiently.

"Can I walk with you to the bus stop?" she asked, curling a strand of hair demurely behind her ears.

"I ride a bicycle to school," came the clipped answer.

"Oh..."

"So if you've nothing to say to me, I'd best be going now..." he trailed off, turning around and prepared to go on his way.

"Wait!"

Rukawa stopped in his tracks. What now?

"Oy! Rukawa! What're you plans for the holidays?" another voice rang out, this time from his right. Miyagi waved at him and Haruko, his shades propped on his forehead, reflecting the mid-afternoon sun. Behind Miyagi was the rest of the basketball team, namely Mitsui, Sakuragi, Hiroshi and Ayako. They gathered around Rukawa and Haruko, with Sakuragi glaring daggers at him.

"Going out with Haruko-chan, huh." Sakuragi said as a statement, not a question. He made a move to step up to face Rukawa, but Mitsui pulled him back, giving him a knock on the head. "Ow! Whaddya do that for, old man?"

"Who are you calling an old man?!" Mitsui argued, his eyes turning into demonic slits and the verbal sparring got on. Hiroshi looked a little panicked at the scene unfolding in front of him.

As they fought about rolling in a ball of dust, Miyagi grinned at Rukawa sheepishly. "Heh. Sorry about that, you know how they are," Rukawa gave a slight nod and a sigh. "Anyway, where're you both headed off to?"

"We were-"

"I was-"

Rukawa gave Haruko a look, and she shut up immediately. "No, Haruko-chan, you say it."

Haruko stuttered. "A-alright. Miyagi-kun, I was just walking Rukawa to his bicycle."

Miyagi looked at Rukawa incredulously. "Eh? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Ayako smacked Miyagi upside the head, and he had the grace to blush. "You idiot. They can do whatever they so please, get off their case already!" she winked at Haruko. "Sorry dearie, we're just about to leave." She pulled Miyagi by the ears backwards, and turned to see Hiroshi still yelling at his both his sempai to stop fighting. She reached into the still fighting ball of dust and pulled Mitsui out by his hair. Sakuragi looked up at the sudden loss of contact with Micchi and stood up dumbly. Haruko just kept her gaze on the ground.

"Haruko-chan..." Sakuragi murmured.

Muttering a good-bye, Haruko fled from the school grounds, leaving the rest staring after her.

There was a moment of silence before Sakuragi finally called out, "Wait! Haruko!" and jogged off to catch up with her.

Rukawa kept as silent as ever, not sure of what to say after that mini incident. Hiroshi cleared his throat, and started, "Well, are we going to have any practices this holiday?"

"Yeah sure we are. Don't want to get bested by any of the teams this coming season, would we?" Miyagi looked curious, and asked, "Why? Are you not going to be able to make it?"

"Oh no, of course I'll be down for practice, I'm not going anywhere this hols anyway," he replied, smiling.

Mitsui shrugged, "Me neither,"

"I'm afraid I can't, I've got to go down to Tokyo for these 3 months. My parents wouldn't give me any leeway in that matter." Rukawa said.

Miyagi looked a little disappointed. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. But you'll have to train extra hard when you come back, that's for sure. We've got to keep up the team camaraderie. Without you, the practices would be pretty futile,"

Ayako shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We could use this hols to improve on our basic dribbling, attacking and defensive skills. Time is never wasted when I'm around. Remember that." She hit Miyagi with her paper fan playfully.

Miyagi went red around the ears. "O-of course, Aya-chan," he grinned widely.

"We'll see you when you get back then, take care of yourself!" Mitsui added, thumping Rukawa on the back. Rukawa almost choked at the force of the hit. He hated when someone does that.

"R-right." he coughed.

"Take care of yourself, Rukawa sempai," Hiroshi bowed slightly. Rukawa nodded.

"You guys too. I'll see you around, then."

With that said, they parted, heading into the next 3 months of their lives, in the case of Rukawa, with much apprehension.

End chapter 1.

a/n: ok guys. I've taken this 'universe' from KoinoTenshi, cos he/she has set this really great stage for the aftermath of the manga. I do realise that I haven't even asked for permission or whatever, but if you're reading this, Koinotenshi-san, please don't butcher me!! I've no money blahblahblah, and it would be of no use for you to sue me or whatever.

All I can say is that I'm no good at describing bball scenes, matches, what-have-you and I'm really just gonna focus on character development and happenings instead of bball. I hope that doesn't disappoint too many people out there. There would be an OC if not more in this fic, so beware.

This fic was relatively easier to write than HP or other fics, I dunno why, but maybe cos the characters have so much more chemistry. But yeah, I had fun writing this, I hope you had some reading this too. Review or not, it's up to you. Have a good day you guys. See ya.