When We Come Face to Face Chapter 2: 02, a slam dunk fanfic

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk in its full glory is created by the great mangaka Takehiko Inoue. My very grateful thanks to BookOcean for her kind permission to translate her Chinese fanfic.

Personal Notes: Yay! The response has been very, very kind and very encouraging! My personal thanks to each reviewer is at the end of this fic. If I've missed you out, my apologies; I will rectify it in the next part. If you are reading this, and you liked it, please just drop a line to say so, even if it's a simple "I like this". Encourages both writer and translator, see! I have been very faithful to the original fiction, save minor changes: (i) the fiction was written in 2002, so I have changed the date to 2004; (ii), with permission, I have added minor elaborations to two paragraphs in this part, for the sake of coherency in English.

I love the subtlety of this whole fic, just so gentle, and careful in the RuHana interaction!

在此再感谢 BookOcean!

Title: When We Come Face to Face– A RuHana AU by BookOcean

A gentle breeze slipped softly through the sakura trees, stirring a shower of petals which fluttered through the air in delicate swirls of palest pink and white. Rukawa stood under the tree, bathed in the rain of petals and their light fragrance, and for a moment perhaps, he appeared to have stepped right out of some ancient historical time, where robe-clad persons stood under cherry blossom trees admiring the flowers in bloom.

… that is, until he saw him… that red-haired boy…

The redhead was standing under a majestic sakura tree that must have been at least a hundred years old, and that flame-red hair seemed even more vivid against the background of fluttering pink-and-white. He appeared deep in thought, head resting against the trunk, and hands pushed deep into his pockets.

Rukawa noticed this time the Shohoku High badge that was sewn on to the left breast of the redhead's school uniform, and beneath that badge, also stitched into the cloth, were the unmistakeable characters: Year 2, Class 6, Sakuragi Hanamichi. True, that uniform was different from his, though both sported the Shohoku school crest… Rukawa kept carefully in the shadows, watching the red-haired boy.

He had been looking for the red-haired boy all over Shohoku since that first day they met on the courts. He had gone through all the levels of the school, asking students from every year and every class, but the answer had always been the same: there was no student in Shohoku High with red hair! Yet how could that be…? Rukawa had been so certain that this red-haired boy existed… that all he had had to do was just to ask… surely someone had seen him!

There was a small, but clear sound of frustration from the redhead leaning against the tree. Sakuragi Hanamichi was by now aware of another presence and he turned his head, only to come face to face with a dark-haired boy. This boy wore a different school uniform, and the school crest was visible on it, as was the name sewn beneath it. "Shohoku High School…" Sakuragi read aloud. "Year 1, Class 3, Rukawa Kaede…"

They stood there, one figure leaning against a tree trunk, another standing by a tree, eyes fixed on one another, as if asking in the silence: Who are you? How is it that I can't seem to find you, wherever I look…

"Rukawa-kun?"

The light, high sound of a girl's voice shattered the silence between them, and even as the last syllable rang lightly through the air, Sakuragi began to fade away.

I'll be waiting for you at the basketball court… They were the last words Rukawa heard from the red-haired boy before he utterly vanished from sight. Almost numbly, Rukawa repeated the words to himself, and then understood the invitation in a flash. He whirled immediately in the direction of the school courts, but again, he was interrupted.

"Rukawa-kun!" The newcomer was actually a girl, who had seen Rukawa standing under the sakura trees in the school yard, and believed that he had gone to meet her there, as she had asked him to in her letter confessing her crush on him. Yet, just as she was reaching the trees, he had simply brushed past her, ignoring her completely. Desperate not to lose him, she called out, "Rukawa-kun! I like you!" But the only reply she had was a brief, icy sentence the dark-haired boy threw back over his shoulder without a second glance, and carried to her ears on the breeze: I've no idea who you are.

Rukawa hurried on his way, ignoring those he brushed by as he walked past, intent only on reaching the main school grounds. Was that a spirit? No—no, absolutely not.He couldn't be anything but a person, a live, flesh-and-blood human! –Ordinarily, Rukawa stood out in the usual crowds not only because of his outstanding height and build, but also because of the icy expression frozen on that handsome face. Yet as he hurried past his schoolmates at that moment, he turned more heads than usual, for in his wake he left a very sweet, honeyed scent that puzzled many as to its exact source.

Upon reaching the basketball courts, Rukawa pushed open the gate in the fence around the courts and hurried in. He looked around, but the courts were empty. Had he been too late? Rukawa hung his head, feeling deeply disappointed. Slowly he found himself a spot by a wall, and slid down to sit on the ground, back against the wall. The afternoon sun filtered in through the trees, bathing the courts in faint sunshine that was warm, but not blazingly hot. Like that red-haired boy, Rukawa thought hazily. The one named… Sakuragi Hanamichi…

"Heh, so you got here first, kitsune" He had just come in from the side of the court that led directly to the walkway connecting to one of the main school buildings, and his face was lit with the smile that reminded Rukawa so much of the sun. Rukawa noticed that the redhead had changed into a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, red-and-black basketball shoes, with a ball in one hand, and he was looking at Rukawa with a challenging gleam in his eye. In-ter-est-ing.Rukawa promptly got to his feet and moved swiftly to stand directly opposite the redhead.

"One-on-one?"

Sakuragi made no reply, but smiled and tossed the ball to Rukawa, who caught it easily, the ball firm, large and very real in his hands.

"What year is it now, where you are?" asked Sakuragi nonchalantly.

"2004," replied Rukawa, completely unaware of the peculiarity of the question, and feeling a little annoyed with the redhead. Well, even if you don't want to play a one-on-one, I'm going to make sure you stay here and play something with me! With that thought in mind, Rukawa began dribbling, one eye trained on Sakuragi.

Sakuragi scratched his head. "You're from my future…" he muttered, wondering what it was that had allowed them to come face to face with each other. Seventeen years he had spent on this earth, and he had never had occasion to meet with ghost or spirit or other supernatural phenomena, and though he had never sought out a fortune-teller, some of the girls in school were fond of horoscopes, and had told him that his life would be very ordinary, with nothing exceptional about it, nothing at all. That, they had assured him with much laughter, was written in the stars. Gah, I've been had!

"So what?" Rukawa clearly attached no importance or any peculiarity to their circumstances. Future, schmuture, well, if you want to cook your brains thinking about it, go ahead!

With a lightning-quick dart to the side, Rukawa slipped past Sakuragi and made a bee-line for the hoop. Once there, he leapt into the air, propelling himself forward with speed akin to one who had wings upon his back, eyes focused on the metal rim within reach—and then a strong , muscular pair of arms suddenly blocked his hitherto free path to the basket. Clearly, Sakuragi was not about to let him score that easily! But Rukawa had already guessed that the red-haired boy would do something like that, and he easily transferred the ball from his left hand to his right hand. Sakuragi immediately stretched out a hand to block Rukawa, but it was too late, for Sakuragi had made the mistake of concentrating too much on Rukawa's left side. Consequently, Rukawa easily slammed the ball through the hoop. The force sent Sakuragi tumbling back on to the floor of the court, where he lay in an ungainly sprawl, glaring up at Rukawa, who was hanging from the hoop with both hands.

"You stayed in the air for a long time," commented Rukawa.

"You're not too bad yourself." Sakuragi picked himself up and then bent down to pick up the ball. "Did Shohoku really make it into the Nationals?"

Rukawa had just landed lightly on the ground when he heard Sakuragi's question, and the disbelief in the redheaded boy's tone. He merely nodded his head briefly in answer, then decided to ask a question of his own. "Your basketball club got disbanded?"

Sakuragi bounced the ball a couple of times, and then began shooting into the hoop from just under the basketball board, whilst Rukawa caught the ball as it fell each time, before passing it back to the redhead. "Yeah, for fighting…"

… if the basketball club from the past was disbanded, then what about the club in the future... whichever way you looked at it, it was a sort of chicken-and-egg question. If the club in Rukawa's time had become one of the top four teams in the nation, then what about the disbandment of the club in Sakuragi's time… happening after they had met and therefore after the future Shohoku club had made its way into the top four? Or had the club disbanded in the past, and then somehow in the future the club had managed to make it into the final four of the Nationals?

GahSakuragi and Rukawa's faces wore identical disgruntled expressions of confusion. Whatever it was, there was clearly no way out of that mental maze and they weren't about to pursue that question now!

After a moment's silence, Sakuragi spoke. "Do you like playing basketball?"

"Yeah…"

But the red-haired boy had disappeared abruptly, before Rukawa even finished speaking, and the latter wondered if the other had even heard his reply. But what Rukawa did hear, on his part, was Sakuragi's ringing declaration that he had called out just as he disappeared.

Yeah, I like it a lot…

Then, I'll start it over again—for you!

My personal thanks:

Shazaluca: Thank you very much! I'm trying my best; bit difficult because the two languages are very different... :D

HalKJAkiko: There are seven parts to this story and I'm trying to persuade the writer to write an eighth towrap it up, for reasons I can't say yet. XD

KanonA: Yup, more parts! I have translated part 3 already,and there's good stuffcoming up! The story's meant to be mysterious and just enjoyed as a light read... nothing heavy. XD

ChibiReikou: Thanks! I am getting more ambitious... thinking of translating this writer's other Slam Dunk fics, one of which is a superb onewith 26 parts already...

DarkPhoenix484: Thank you!Translation was quite smooth, except for the difficulty iof finding equivalent English phrases. I find the Chinese fandom quite unusual in comparison with our English fandom... and hope to translate more in future!

Memeal: Thank you very much for reviewing! :D Enjoy the rest of the story!