-Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Takehiko Inoue, IT Planning, Toei Animation and all that crap. Put bluntly, they're not mine. Enjoy!-
It turned out that Reika Watanabe had a lot of family 'things'. She was absent at least once a week, usually Fridays. She didn't tell anyone in her class why. It raised a lot of questions and rumors started to spread. What is Watanabe hiding?
She didn't seem to be hiding anything though. She seemed okay in class. She was friendly enough, but she didn't talk to anyone all that much. She went to watch basketball practice regularly, sometimes giving suggestions to the substitute and non-regular players regarding their playing styles. Others claim they see her playing by herself on the public courts. Only weird thing they discovered about her was that she never went out with anybody. All dates that have been offered to her were turned down. The offers decreased gradually since then.
It was a good thing too, she thought, that no one wanted to go out with her anymore. She certainly needed distraction but not the agonies and pains a serious relationship might bring her. Especially when it happens.
'If it happens' Reika corrected herself as she stepped out of a building, a duffel bag slung loosely on her shoulder. 'It might not happen...right?' She shook her head, clearing her mind of all those unpleasant thoughts. She mustn't think about it yet. She sighed and checked her phone for messages. One message received from her mother.
Can't pick you up. Urgent meeting at the office, sorry. Tell me how it went later all right? Love you.
She sighed. She didn't bring her board with her, so she had only one option; walk. 'damn, I have so much to catch up on,' she thought, annoyed. On her last absence, the teachers had given them all heavy workloads for the weekend.
She rounded a corner and passed by a deserted alley. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice three guys surround her.
"Well, well. Look at what got caught in our net this time," a burly guy with matted, greasy hair said hoarsely.
"Stick with us babe, and we'll show you what fun is all about," a taller one with a crew cut sneered.
"You're in for the ultimate thrill ride," the other one whispered in her ear.
Reika's heartbeat quickened, but she glared at them icily. She didn't need this. Not now. "You could use a couple of years in a pick-up line course," she spat out, amazed that the panic did not manifest in her voice. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose. "And the shower too."
The three of them laughed mirthlessly. "What do you know, a comedian. I like her even more."
When Crew Cut touched her face with his rough fingers, she froze in place. She didn't know what to do. But when started to lean down to kiss her, her survival instincts kicked in.
"Get your filthy hands off me," she hissed. She held him down by the shoulders and rammed her knee between his thighs.
"Shit!" he cried as he let go of her and stumbled to the ground.
"Seize the bitch!"
The smaller guy lunged at her. Reika clenched her fist and punched him with all her might. He staggered backwards, a thin line of blood trickled down his chin from his mouth.
Reika started to run away but the burly guy was faster than she thought. She was a pretty fast runner, but today, her whole body was weaker than usual. With a few quick strides he caught her, grabbed her arm and shoved her hard against the wall.
The two others had already recovered and blocked all ways of escape. The burly guy held her wrists together with one hand and strangled her with the other.
"We tried to be nice to you, stupid bitch, but you wouldn't listen," he snarled at her. "So we'll do it to you, nice, slow...and painful."
Her arms have gone limp at her sides. Her throat ached from the pressure of his hand on her neck. She gulped up the very little air she could get. She couldn't 't breathe...
Her world grew blurry... hazy. Her whole body felt numb from lack of oxygen. Everything started to darken. She was going to faint...
Then suddenly, her vision slowly came back into focus. She collapsed on the ground, coughing. It took her some time before she could think clearly. She heard thumping. Like someone hitting someone else. Then the horrible sound of cracking bones.
She looked up and did a double-take.
Rukawa Kaede gave a final punch to the burly guy, grabbed his head and banged it into the wall until he was out cold. Panting silently, he turned to her. There must have been a bruise on his head, because blood dripped down from his raven-black hair and down his cheek. The droplets of blood stained his dark blue windbreaker.
He retrieved his bike and turned to leave.
Stunned, it took a couple of seconds before she realized what just happened. "Rukawa! Wait!" she leaped to her feet and ran in front of him. She looked up at him and swallowed hard. "That wound looks pretty bad. Maybe you should let me check it."
But he just ignored her, as always, and walked away.
Reika seethed. Sure he saved her but he didn't have to be so damn indifferent about it. She yelled. "Rukawa Kaede! Quit being such an asshole and face me when I'm talking to you!"
Rukawa stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, as though waiting for her to come along.
"Gawd, I'm tired of talking to myself," Reika sighed in exasperation before she caught up with him. "Come with me."
She led the way towards a nearby café and picked out an outdoor table. Rukawa propped his bike up nearby while Reika went inside to ask the guy behind the counter for some ice. She bundled it all up in her handkerchief. She went back outside, somewhat surprised that Rukawa had stuck around. She gave the makeshift ice-pack to him.
"Hold this on your wound and wait for me," she told him sternly. "I'm just going to the drugstore across the street. And don't even think of ditching me, ok?"
She hurried over to the drugstore as Rukawa stuffed the earphones in his ears and switched on his Walkman. He did as he was told and held the icepack on his head. The bruise sure did throb like hell. He also started to feel the makings of a would-be migraine.
He thought about how lucky it was for her that he was passing by. But he thought that she was also pretty gutsy, trying to fight back. If she were just a little quicker she would've gotten away...
After a couple of minutes, Reika came back, a mini first-aid kit on her hand.
She sat on the chair beside him and set the first-aid kit on the table. He reached for it immediately, but she slapped his hand away.
"Let me do it," she said. It wasn't a request. She started to clean the wound and the blood off his face without a word.
A few moments later, he felt her fingers touch his ear and pull off one of the earphones.
He looked at her, annoyed and wondering what she wanted now. His favorite song was playing.
She touched his arm but she didn't quite meet his eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Anou...Rukawa-kun...arigato...for what you did for me back there."
He nodded to show his appreciation. When he looked up he tensed and pulled his arm away from Reika's touch. Reika looked up too, to find out what he saw.
"He's Sendoh, isn't he?" Reika said. There stood a tall boy, with unusual hedgehog-like hair. "Hell of a player, he is. I'd sure love to beat him in a one-on-one."
Sendoh caught sight of his raven-haired rival. 'My my, what have we here?' he thought, his face breaking into a kooky little smile. He's seen some pretty weird things and this definitely qualified as one of 'em. He chuckled. The things you see in this street.
"Didn't know you were interested in girls, Rukawa-kun," he said when he passed by. "There must be more to Rukawa Kaede than we thought. And you—"He winked at Reika. "--must be a miracle of a girl for Rukawa to notice you," he added to her before strolling away. "See you at the interhighs Rukawa-kun."
Reika rolled her eyes at his back. "Cheeky little asshole. He's your real rival, not Sakuragi, right?"
"How'd you know?" Rukawa's eyebrows were drawn together.
"Puh-leaze," Reika raised an eyebrow. "Anyone with eyes can notice the tension between you two when you play against each other. You and Sakuragi, you just don't get along very well and it's mostly his fault. His brain functions slower than his mouth and doesn't stop to think about the details. But Sendoh is, let's face it, a better player than you. And you want to beat him, a whole lot more than I or anybody else does."
Rukawa closed his eyes and immersed himself with the music once more, amazed at the way the girl's mind worked. Everything she had said so far was right and similar to most of his opinions.
A strange beeping noise interrupted his thoughts. Reika pulled out something from her pocket. It was a tiny mobile phone.
"Hello?" she said into it. Then she frowned. "What? Now? But...! sigh OK. OK. Fine. Bye."
She put it back inside her pocket and stood up.
"Listen, Rukawa-kun, I have to go," she said. "I'll just see you in school on Monday, if you attend classes."
"I'll walk you," he said, standing up too. Those thugs might still be out there.
"My house is out of your way," she argued. "Don't worry about me, I'll take a cab. You go on home, get some sleep. All that fighting must've worn you out. Ja ne(See you)."
She went on ahead and hailed a cab.
And that day, Reika Watanabe earned a space of her own in Rukawa's memory.
Reika's Journal : Sunday, 6:34 pm October 27
My first few weeks in Shohoku High had been pretty good so far. Some really weird girls have ganged up against me, but other than that it's been great. Not all the girls were ridiculously stupid though. Haruko-chan and Aya-chan are pretty nice.
The boys are nice enough too. Most of the guys have already asked me out, but I turned them all down. Sheesh. Guys in Kanagawa aren't all that different from the guys in Honshu. They all go gaga over the new girl. Seen it loads of times. A friend of mine was once a new girl too, back in Honshu, and all the boys went crazy over her for a while, but it came to pass.
I've been hanging out at the basketball court every afternoon to watch the team practice. If they finished early, Aya-chan, Haruko-chan and I played ball. Sometimes the team members would play with us, especially Sakuragi and Miyagi. I have to admit, the Shohoku team members are very cool. Sakuragi might be a goofball but he is a fast learner. Miyagi is one of the best point guards I've ever seen, and he's really committed to the team. No wonder he's team captain. Mi-chan is like a big bro to me. He was the one who helped me through that whole Oendan Squad episode. Akagi-sempai, the gigantic ex-captain, must've been a tough cookie, but he can be cool. He's funny when he conks Sakuragi on the head. Kogure-sempai is very kind, and a bit on the talkative side. The two of them are no longer in the team but they come for a visit every once in a while. Mi-chan told me that they retired early to study for their finals. He(Mi-chan), on the other hand, kept playing for the team to make up for 'lost time', whatever that meant.
Then of course there's Rukawa Kaede. Yup, the Rukawa Kaede of Shohoku High. He's really....err..quiet. It's kind of creepy actually. I think we have a some things in common, except that I actually say more than ten words a day and my life isn't only about basketball. And it seems that he's always asleep whenever he's not playing. A lot of girls like him, that's why they rebelled against me. See, I played one on one with him and he lent me his jacket. Then there was that whole alley thing. I can kind of see why the girls like him so much. Th guy is handsome, but he's a bit og a loner and very anti-social. But he can be pretty nice too, in his own bizarre way.
I have to watch my back. Liking someone a little too much is fatal to me. Stress on the word fatal.
Mom's at the door. She has another meeting tonight so I guess I'm assigned to prepare dinner again.
Reika
Rukawa lay on his bed that night, music blaring loudly in his ears once more. The bruise in his head was still throbbing, although dully now.
He stared up at his ceiling, with only one thought in his mind.
"Why...?"
Author's Babbles:
Phew... Thankies to all those who reviewed! And thanks to those who've stuck with this. Will update soon....keep the reviews coming, ayt?
Next up: A substitute teacher plays a part in getting Reika and Kaede together.
Til next chapter!