A/N: HIYAH!!! People! Here I' am again to make your head aches. (-!) Well I will start on the reviews. Frozenfemale, thanks for that enlightenment, it really helps. To Julie tearjerky, honey, sorry for confusing you, the italics are song lyrics though the thoughts of my character are the same, once again, sorry. Ok so where did I left out? Yeah! The running away thingy! So here it is! Sorry for the wrong grammars, I will really try my best to improve it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk. That's for Takehiko Inoue-sama. But the Takahashi Family is mine.
Chapter 1: Home Coming
I smiled dryly as the airplane touched the ground.
Japan. I never thought I will ever come back here, especially to Kanagawa. Yes. It has been too long, I really yearn on coming back but I don't have the guts to do so. Not until now.
I walked through the hallway where the other passengers are busy with their luggage. I picked mine, it is not that many, only two mallets and a small shoulder bag which I carry.
I searched through the crowd to find a familiar face, there she is!
"Nikiya!" I heard my cousin Shizuka called me. She passed through the crowd and gave me a big hug. "Oh! It's good to see you!"
I smiled. I returned the same warm hug that she gave me. "It is also nice to see you." I softly pulled from her and stared wide eyed. I can't believe that the 10 year old girl that I left is now a very pretty lady! "Look at you! You've grown too fast and so beautiful! I wonder how many boys in Kanagawa are following you like a bee."
She giggled and blushed. "Nikiya!
I laughed. Still the same naïve little girl, I thought. "Come now, I can't wait to see grand pa."
---------------------------------------------
How long was it since I last see Kanagawa? 7 years? Yes, 7 years. It may have changes but it does all look the same.
It's good to be home.
I open the car's window and let the cool air touch my face like a long lost lover. As I lean through the window, I saw my old high school. Ryonan High School. I can feel nostalgia crept into my veins. Memories of my teen years are slowly refreshing on my mind.
I smiled as I run my gaze through some establishments, some are old and some are new but most of my favorite shops are still there like, Mrs. Norima's boutique, the flower shop of my friend Kyoko and the ice cream parlor of Ichi where I use to have snack with Akira.
The name struck me like thunder. Akira Sendoh. Wonder what's happened to him? After I left 7 years ago, I never got any news about him though I know that his father died 3 years ago and that's all. My family would rather talk about themselves than any body else, but there are still little information about him that I could get from them.
Maybe I could ask Shizuka. "Uhmn, Shizuka…do you know what happened to Akira?"
My cousin lifted her gaze from the book which I gave her. Always the book worm, I smiled through my mind.
"Sendoh-kun? Ah! Yes! Spiky! He comes around often to check on Grand pa, he also managed their fishing company now, and it is doing really good! Number 1 I could say. Imagine that spiky-haired-basketball-lovin' guy is also a natural in business! Did you know that aside from their fishing company they also have their own hotels here in Tokyo and other parts of the country, first class? They also manage fast food chains which, for my opinion, are booming like crazy!"
"Whoa! Slow down motor mouth!" (Sweat dropped) "So, he's a business tycoon now huh?" Wonder what happened to that basketball freak?
"Yup! And that fiancée of him will surely be the luckiest woman in the whole wide world, right? Having a gorgeous and filthy rich husband is really envious. "
Silence. Only the ranting of Shizuka's voice and sound of the engine can be heard.
Fiancée? He's getting married? I felt a sharp pain sliced through my heart and it surprised me! I'm sure that I had gotten over him, so why am I feeling this way? It's been seven years-no, six and a half years (I've spent a good half year crying my heart out) since I felt this pain.
"Nikiya? Are you alright? You look pale." I felt Shizuka's hand on mine.
I turned and met her brown worried eyes and smiled. "I'm OK. Maybe it's just jet lag." I lied.
"Are you sure?" She asked a bit relieved now.
"I'm 101 sure! So have you met this-ahmn- fiancée of his?" I crossed my fingers under my hand bag. I don't think I'm ready.
"Well, we still haven't seen her because I heard that she will arrive this week. I don't know what day though. Hey! Wait a minute! Aren't you Sendoh-kun's best friend?" I saw her eyebrows knotted. Confusion is written all over her lovely face.
I was taken aback. "Well, you see—ahh—we haven't written to each other ever since I moved to Paris to study. Yes, that's it! He was busy and I'm also been very busy at that time so I can't afford to send him any." Another lie.
Shizuka doesn't seem convinced but she just shrugged her shoulder and eventually changes the topic.
------------------------------------------
"Grand pa!" I shouted gaily to the old man whose waiting at the front door. Hatori Takahashi stood there like a mighty king with his dark blue kimono. I noticed that his once black and silver hairs are now white. His body grew thinner and frail but still bears its arrogant demeanor.
I run towards him and embraced him. I couldn't contain my tears and it rolled down my cheeks. "I missed you a lot." I buried my face to his shirt and inhaled his scent, tobacco and peppermint. I smiled. Same old Grand Pa.
I heard him chuckled and felt his body rock a little. "Oh! My little Nikie! It's good to have you here again after such a long time."
I feel guilty. Because of my stupid pride I neglected my duty to my family. It took me 7 years to finally swallow my foolish pride. "I'm sorry Grand pa if I hadn't visited you once. I was—"
He cut me out before I could make another word. "I know my dear. It doesn't matter now, all I need is you are here and that's all that matters. Everything's fine then, we should be inside now or the food will get cold. I'm starving. You two are an hour late." He looked at Shizuka whose eyes are still buried on the book. "Ha! I just knew it! Shizuka must have dragged you to the bookstore."
Shizuka, who's apparently heard every single word our grandfather had said, raised her eyes away from the book. "I did not! Its traffic Poppie, and this book is a gift from Nikiya."
I shook my head and giggled at the site of those two. Nothing's change. Grand Pa still loves to tease poor little Shizuka. I wrapped my right arm around Shizuka's shoulder and the other to my grandfather's right arm. I ushered them inside the house. "Quit ranting you two! My stomach are about to meet with my back. And I would like a hot bath after."
My grandfather turned to me in disbelief. "Don't tell me you hadn't eaten when you're still on the plane."
I wrinkled my nose and looked at him. "Well, my dear old, dashing grandfather, let me refresh your memory in case that you forgotten, I hate airline foods. The last meal that I've eaten was on the stop over and that was 5 hours ago."
"But you could just take a—. " Before my grandfather could finished his sentence, two small figure came bobbing out of no where. It was the twins Chidori and Shinta!
"WOW! It's really true that you are coming today, Nikiya!" Chidori squealed.
"Did you have something for us?" Now it was Shinta.
I stooped and smiled at the two. "It was on my luggage. I will give it to both of you after the dinner."
The two clapped their hands and cheered in excitement. "Yes!"
"Hey! You two! Both of you are not finished with—." I heard someone called my cousins. I lifted my gaze to know who it was. It can't be!
It was him! Standing there at the hall way, it was...
"Welcome back, Nikiya."
------------------------------------------
A/N: Yawn! Another chapter ended. I keep on thinking on how will I write the next chapters now that holiday break is over.
Just a little info about the name NIKIYA. I actually borrowed it from a certain ballet that I watched last…I can't remember if it's on September or October (oh well! It doesn't matter any way ) entitled "La Bayadere". I fell in love with that tragic yet very romantic ballet and the lead character's name keeps on ringing in my mind.
Well, hope you like it and please bear with me until next chapters.
See you on Chapter 2! Ciao!