Title: A Dirty Basketball

Disclaimer: If if owned SD, I'd be filthy rich right now and I'd not have to go through fanfics if I wanted to realize this story, y'know.

Pairings: Umm, at the moment, uncertain. But this is not yaoi!

Time Setting: After Shohoku lost to Aiwa. Oh, wait! After the Interhigh was concluded. Yup, the champs are here. Of course, they're my creation. And here, the teams are still complete.

Fictional/New Character: A whole team, actually… Okay, a whole school. This includes the particular person I created, Aki Sendoh, Akira Sendoh's, umm… cousin… hehehe!

POV's: many, maybe most of my lead characters will have their own share

Summary: Rukawa bumps into Aki one morning and asks her to go with him and eat. Sendoh plays on revealing his true feelings for his cousin. Is that allowable? Cousin-cousin relationship? It's not, right? Oh well, just read on…

Chapter 4: True or False

NoRMaL PoV:

It was already 8:30 AM and Aki was still asleep.

"She probabaly wasn't able to go to sleep right away last night," her cousin said to Rukawa and Mitsui. "You gave her too much to think about," He looked at Mitsui and grinned.

"Well, at least she still came home,"

"Yeah, though it's much more dangerous with you around,"

"Rukawa!"

"Do ahou," Sendoh and Rukawa went to Jonan. Mitsui chose to stay, to apologize to Aki for what happened the day before as soon as she woke up. When Aki reached the foot of the stairs…

"A – Aki!" Mtisui smiled nervously.

"Mi – Mitsui-kuuuun…" Aki said while yawning.

"Aki, I want to say sorry about last night, I – "

"A – Daijobu. Um, see ya later. I gotta run," Aki busied herself in preparing to go to Jonan. As she was climbing the stairs from the subway…

aKi'S PoV:

I knew it. Shohoku boys are just so weird. First, Rukawa-kun and I accidentally kiss. Then, Mitsui-kun… Good thing Akira didn't know about that one with Rukawa-kun. He'd tease me to death… A –!

NoRMaL PoV:

Aki was so preoccupied, she forgot to watch where she was going. While walking down the sidewalk, she bumped into someone; a tlal, dark-haired, white someone.

"A – Rukawa-kun!" Their shoulders hit, then she backed off.

"H? Hn," Aki lookde blankly at Rukawa. Rukawa stared back.

"A – Well then, I'm off," Aki smiled, placed one hand on her body bag's strap and started to walk again. She had not yet walked past Rukawa when…

"Wait," Rukawa turned to her. Aki was indeed surprised to hear the cold Rukawa guy actually say as much as that.

"Hn?"

"Do you, uh, know any café near here?" Aki was more surprised to hear Rukawa asking about such a plain thing as a café, as she had resigned to herself that Rukawa would only speak in times of grave need. (What about when Rukawa asked what she was doing with the computer? Hm…) Also surprising to hear Rukawa say such a long sentence, ne?

"Café?"

"Hn,"

"Why?"

"I… I just want to eat…"

"Let me guess, you wanna eat strawberry cake?"

"?"

"Akira told me. It's your favorite, ne?"

"Hn…"

"You and Akira really are best friends. You even have the same habit, or should I say vice?"

"Hn…"

"Aah! Why won't you talk? You're scaring me!"

"Iie…"

"A, yeah. Akira also told me that you really don't like to talk, ne?"

"It's – not that,"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways – "

"Your favorite is blueberry,"

"What?"

"Sendoh told me about you, too,"

"Oh… That talkative baka… Anyways, about that café," Aki grabbed Rukawa's left wrist with her right hand and started to walk.

"Matte," Rukawa didn't move, accidentally placing Aki's hand into his. "Don't you have anything to do at Jonan?"

"A, nandemonai! Daijobu. Besides, I'm quite hungry, too," Aki started to walk again, when she noticed that she was now holdong hands with the Ice Prince. "A – Gomen ne!" Aki said, blushing slightly, and pulling her hand away.

"Iie…" Rukawa said coldly.

When they reached the café…

"This is it,"

"…"

"C'mon," Aki said, pulling Rukawa's arm as they went past the glass doors of the said café. When they approached the counter…

"Slices of starwberry and blueberry cakes, please,"

"A – Rukawa-kun! There's no need –"

"Iie. It's my payment for you coming with me,"

"I don't sell my services, excuse me," Aki eyed Rukawa (with that Chidori Kaname-ish look, Full Metal Panic).

"…"

"Hey, I know you two!" the girl at the counter said. "You! You're Sendoh Aki from Jonan! Women's varsity, ne?" the girl said, furiously pointing her finder at Aki. Aki just smiled, slightly embarrassed as people around them stared. "And you! You're Rukawa Kaede! You're the super rookie from Shohoku!" the girl said excitedly. Aki looked at Rukawa, but Rukawa remained seriuos, so she turned her gaze at the girl again.

"Really? And they came here together?" a voice from the kitchen called.

"Yeah, they're here together!"

"I didn't know they're kinda – dating. Maybe they'd look good together, ne?"

"They do look good together!"

"Miss, our orders already?" Rukawa said, his voice calm but slamming his hand on the counter as he spoke.

"A – Hai!" the girl at the counter answered nervously, scared by Rukawa's temper. When they got their order, Rukawa and Aki settled on a table near a corner. Rukawa was starting to eat when he noticed Aki staring at him, smiling.

"Nani?"

"Nothing," Aki smiled. "You can scare off anyone with that temper of yours, you know,"

"…" Rukawa continued slicing through his strawberry cake slice.

"Including me," Rukawa suddenly looked up.

"Just eat,"

"…"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Iie. Thanks,"

"For what?"

"For this," and Aki started eating, too. After they ate, they walked to Jonan. They both went to the gym. When Aki enetered, she found Sendoh sitting on one of the courtside benches.

"Hey," Aki said, sitting down beside Sendoh and elbowing him.

"What're you doing here?"

"I have every right to be here. This is my school,"

"That's not what I mean. Why are you here?"

"Can't I be here?"

"You came here with Rukawa,"

"So what?" Aki looked at her cousin. "A – You're thinking – "

"Yes, and everyone else is,"

"Shut up!"

"I'm not joking this time, dear cousin,"

"Whatever," said Aki, turning away.

"So, you two went out on a date?"

"It was not a date! We just bumped into each other earlier!"

"And so, you decided to go out on a date,"

"Whatever… If you want to think that way…"

"You're making me jealous,"

"What?"

"You're making me jealous,"

"Ha ha ha! Poor Akira, jealous!" Aki laughed, hugging Sendoh's left arm. (She was sitting to Sendoh's left, anyways.)

"Don't hug me. I know whom you want to hug,"

"Aww… Akira is jealous. Don't be, dear cousin. I love my cousin," Aki said jokingly.

End of Chapter 4: True or False