Like all fan fictions, this fan fiction has a disclaimer. Now, for all you Mitsui-lovers out there you can always imagine that the girl in the story is you. (Even though the girl is me…but you get the picture, right?) Anyway, This is the first chapter of my Slam Dunk fan fiction!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of this fan fiction except for Akiko Mizuhara and her friends. (They all came from my imagination.) The rest belongs to the guy who created Slam Dunk (I forgot his name.). Also, the songs I included here belong to their respective writers/singers.

BEGIN:
"Maybe this time it will be love and they'll find
Maybe now they can be more than just friends
She's back in his life and it feels so right
Maybe this time love won't end…"
Chapter 1: The Second Chance

"Hisashi-kun, what happened to you?!" a young female high school student said. "What's wrong with you!"

She was crying.

"You don't understand, Aki!" The young Mitsui yelled. "And you never will!"

"Ever since you had that injury, you were like that!" She shouted back. "You're not the same Hisashi Mitsui I knew before. I'm sorry. I have no choice but to leave you!"

She walked away from Mitsui. Hisashi tried to catch up, but he couldn't.

"Aki-chan, wait! Come back!"

Hisashi Mitsui opened his eyes. He looked at his alarm clock. Seven a.m. It was just a bad dream. He immediately got up, took a bath, got dressed and went to school. There'll be practice that night. That means he'll go home a bit late (as usual). As he was going out the door, he saw her. She was taking out some keys and then locking the door of her house. She didn't seem to notice him. He smiled (somehow he wanted to laugh). He wanted to shout, "Is it you who's on time or the whole world's late?"

But he couldn't. After what he had done to her, he can't face her. Yet he knew in his heart he had feelings for her (Yes, for his childhood friend.), though he never had the guts to tell her that. He followed her to school (nevertheless she still didn't notice him). He just gave a big sigh when he lost sight of her. He went to his class.

Akiko Mizuhara was also in her class, preparing for their world history test "Hadrian, Roman emperor. Marcus Aurelius, also a Roman emperor." She recited in her mind. H, Hadrian, M, Marcus Aurelius. H-M-H-M-H-M…HM? She shook her head and smiled. Those initials; Hisashi Mitsui…

There were a lot of times when Mizuhara remembered that name. Though not always, there wasn't a day she didn't think of him. Sometimes, when she's alone, she ends up crying because she left her (and the fact that he almost beat her up.)

"Mitsui-san!" It was the sophomore with curly hair.

She then looked at Mitsui. She looked at him. Oh, how she missed her childhood friend. He was the only one she could tell secrets. She wanted to call him, but the only words she released were whispers. "Hisashi-kun…"

Mitsui looked at her. She was busy studying her notes. He wanted to talk to her again. He wanted to call out loud; "Aki-chan!" but Miyagi, Sakuragi and the others were there. And besides, he believes that he's not worthy of being with her. She's the math and science quiz bee champion and an honor student. What is he? An ex-gangster. He can't show his face to Aki now!

The bell rang. Classes started and ended quickly. After classes, the adviser of the school newspaper called Akiko Mizuhara. He wanted her to write an article about the Shohoku basketball team. (After all, they did win one game already.) The adviser also requested to interview the top five players. Mizuhara attempted to decline the job at first but at the needed she accepted it. She asked her two friends, Yuhi Kinimoto and Mia Takeda to accompany her.

"Go, Aki-san." Yuhi cheered. "You go and interview them!"

"Yeah, use your charm!" Mia joked.

Mizuhara approached the team captain and asked him if it's okay to interview them for the school paper.

Takenori Akagi agreed. She began interviewing. After the captain, Mizuhara interviewed Lukawa, Kogure, Sakuragi then Miyagi. She was about to finish the job when she saw the last person she was going to interview. It read; H-I-S-A-S-H-I space M-I-T-S-U-I. She read it a couple of times to be sure she read it correctly. And she wasn't mistaken.

Finally, she saw Mitsui sitting on a bench drinking some water. Aki looked at her friends who were watching her. They gave her a thumbs-up. (FYI: They don't know that Hisashi and Aki are childhood friends.) She approached him. When she was near Mitsui, she just stood there speechless and so was Mitsui. They looked at each other for a long time.

"Yoh…" someone had the guts to speak

"Hey…" the other replied.

"May I sit down there?" She asked.

"Yes, it's okay." He smiled.

They were just sitting there. Gathering all there strength to saw something.

END OF CHAPTER

"I want to see you, but I couldn't

Just bottling up my feelings I have for you inside me

Even though I am walking alone,

I can't stop thinking of your smile…"