Disclaimer: I do not own Slamdunk. I know that. This is just for formalities.. hehe.. Libre naman ang mangarap diba?
Coffeemaverick: I liked that part too… figured she'd be annoyed with Mitsui not paying much attention to his studies which will be important later in life…
Simmic: yes, she's in second year in terms of the normal time.. but in that particular chapter, she's in grade 2…
Do You See Me?
"Incoming!" I see a ball slowly descending, towards me. As I caught it and stood there, wondering what I was supposed to do with it, the other team flew into a mad dash towards me. I pivoted my right foot to run out of instinct, but I instantly surrounded, hands reaching out, ripping off the flag attached to my waist. "Why didn't you run?" Right. This was flag football. I blacked out. Panicked when I caught the ball.
Mr. Sato, the substitute teacher, blew the whistle and we rushed in and gathered around him. "We're starting basketball tomorrow, so see you on the court tomorrow. Until then, class dismissed. Girls giggled and squealed at the thought of setting foot in the gym. Right. Coach Anzai will be teaching us starting tomorrow. Our P.E. teacher got into an accident one night as he was driving home. Details about the accident weren't revealed. Rumours only made it hard to believe.
"Rukawa! Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa!" A tournament? I tried to enter unnoticed but the fan club blocking the entrance did not seem to notice my effort in not getting in their way. Despite the "I'm sorry's" and "excuse me's" I gave them, they returned it graciously with a death glare that seemed to say, "Do not block our view of Rukawa-kun".
Ayako and Ryota were back to arguing again. "You! Back to practice!" Ayako waved her enormous fan skilfully. "But my back hurts Aya-chan." Miyagi was crouching low, a hand on his lower back, massaging the spot. "Do you want me to break it for real?" In an instant, Miyagi straightened up and scratched the back of his head. "I suddenly feel better! Thank you, Aya-chan!" Miyagi hurriedly made his way to the court, intercepting a pass to Sakuragi.
"Karin!" I waved back at Ayako despite the protests of the fan club that they did not get a clear view of Rukawa's previous slam-dunk. I managed to escape their claws and reach Ayako's table, taking a look at her records.
"Long time we haven't seen you here." I smiled apologetically, fiddling with my fingers behind my back. "Ok, what is it?" My eyes widened at the direct question. "What do you mean?" Ayako placed a hand at her waist and raised a suspicious eyebrow at me. "Come on, I know you need something. What is it?" I smiled awkwardly, took a deep breath and released it. "I need help in learning basketball."
She chuckled at my revelation. "And this is the "important thing" I thought you needed? Why don't you ask Mitsui? Isn't he your "friend"?" I laid a hand across the table and leaned over. "You see," I glanced at Mitsui as he received a perfectly timed pass from Miyagi. "I was wondering if you could teach me instead." Ayako drew in closer, as if I was unveiling a secret. Maybe I am.
"And why is that?" I straightened myself, crossing my arms in defence. "Cause!" At the raised eyebrow, "He just so good, and I'll just make a fool of myself." Ayako burst in a fit of laughter, holding her stomach with both hands, backing up until she reached her chair and steadied herself with one hand on its back. "Speaking like that. Makes it seem as if you like him or something."
I blushed and brought my gaze to the ground. "Well?" Her face drew closer like a detective inspecting a clue left behind. Maybe I did. "Do you?" She was looking directly at my eyes I had to look away. "N-no." Ayako had a smile that reached both ears and I just sighed, took a seat beside her and stayed for the ride.
I was leaning on the door when a shadow loomed over me – your shadow particularly. "So, Ayako mentioned you needed my help." I turned to face you, surprised at how close you really were. "Scared Karin?" Scared? Maybe I was. "You know, if I was as good as you in basketball, I'd already have challenged you on a one on one." A tap on the nose. "But your not." You welcome my glare with a smile. It subdued my anger effortlessly. You should be cursed for that.
"I have racket-eye coordination ok? Hand-eye coordination? Close to none." A pat on the head. "Think of the racket as an extension of your hand. How about that?" You lean in closer, adjusting your height to mine. "FYI, the racket has a bigger palm against a smaller ball, while I have a smaller palm against the basketball." Two pats on the head. "Let's just practice ok?"
You walk towards the bench on which your bag lay and unzipped it. From the inside, you scoop up a jersey and hand it over to me. "You can be Shohoku #14 for today. Don't worry, it just came from the dry cleaners." But the wink that followed I made me doubtful. I slipped it on, in which case, I believed you. "At least now you look the part, even when you're horrible in real play." I decided to let it go, seeing as you might refuse to teach me if I retorted.
It started with warm-ups. Running around the court 5 times, arm, back, shoulder, calf, and hamstring stretches, a quick water break, then dribbling. Dribbling while stationary, dribbling while running, then passing before I called it quits.
"Oh come on, how could you quit so easily?" Here's a thought. Why do your questions, remarks, comments, have something to do with what I feel? Maybe it's an omen. Maybe it is. "I do not quit so easily, I just couldn't keep up with you." I gave myself to exhaustion, didn't wait for what you said. Just closed my eyes and slept. If I could, I would've wept, instead.
Well… another chapter, getting shorter again.. hehe.. anyways… not much to note about the chapter… just hope you enjoyed it… the questions I raise in each chapter… hehehe..
