Disclaimer: I do not own Slamdunk. I know that. This is just for formalities.. hehe.. Libre naman ang mangarap diba?


Calliope Medina Erato: hehehe.. I know… but on the bright side, this one's a bit longer.. hehehe.. I have a lot of explaining to do.. heheh… what with haruko and mitsui? What's with mitsui and and well the number of blanks don't really correspond, I just happen to put that many.. hehehe.. thank you for finding it unique… I always thought it's hard to be unique since like there's tons of fics in here I'm bound to write something not so unique.. hehe…

Coffeemaverick: and while you were wondering when I was going to update, I drove myself crazy over wondering when mitsui will get the chance to apologize.. lol.. hehehe… I know! Mitsui as a gangster… hehehe.. here it is!


Do You See Me?

Flashback

I found it empty. The few sheets of paper in my hand occupied it. I attached a note on the side of its door. I closed it, putting back its lock.

Recently, my aunt was laid off from her job. The company was barely keeping itself up, and so, they removed those workers who had stayed with them for the past 10 years, and replaced them with the new, fresh applicants right off from college. I figured they wouldn't have to pay much for their services.

That was when I started to work for a fast food chain quite some distance away from home. It grew tiring, taking off hours from my sleep, drew out most of my energy, subtracted a considerable amount of "free" from my time.

That was when you stopped talking to me. You tried to at school, but I had a lot of catching up to do. You tried to after school, but I had work to do. You tried to after work, but I was too exhausted to do anything but, sleep. So then, you stopped finding time to talk to me, because I couldn't afford to stop it.

"Karin, here's the notes from our biology class." I accepted the paper. "Thank you Kogure-sempai, I'm sorry for bothering you." Kogure-sempai adjusted his glasses. "Don't worry, it's such a shame to have lost a valuable player. I do hope he will return to the team. His skills are very much appreciated." I held the notes tightly in my hand. "I hope so too."

I tried to do this everyday, for your sake, but the piles only grew taller, the notes got heavier, the reminders, thicker. So then, I stopped finding time to do it, since you never stopped by to even look at it

I saw you leaning at the corner on my way to work, smoking, drinking with your so-called friends. Friends are supposed to raise you up, not bring about your downfall. I tried to walk past by you, but in doing so, I just contradicted what I said a few seconds ago.

"Mitsui." You threw your cigarette to the ground and grinded it with your heel. You approached me, languidly. "Who is she Mitsui? You never mentioned her to us." Our eyes met, searched each other for an answer. You wrapped an arm against me, resting your chin on my shoulder. "And who are you that I should tell you?" His comrades began to push the questioner away, the others backing off, slowly merging with the shadows. "Tetsuo." One of the last ones to turn looked back. "They better keep their distance." With a nod, he followed the others.

"Go." You let go of me, distancing yourself, waiting for me to take my leave. "You should stop hanging out with them. It's ruining your life." You took another cigarette and lighted it. "And you're doing this because… I'm your friend right?" You blew out what remained of the toxic chemicals you just inhaled. "Because friends have to look out for each other. In other words, it's a responsibility, or else you won't be a "good" friend." You inhaled some more of that toxic substance.

"No. I'm doing this because I care – as a person who cares." You handed me three, unhurried, deliberate claps. "Good answer." That's it. My patience just ran out. And I'm not refilling it. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I ran out of stock. "You claim you don't care, then how come today you protected me. And just in case you'd deny that too, I'm using the word loosely."

I heard the bus pass by behind me. I watched it stop. It stayed, waiting for me to get on - wanting me to. I ran to catch it. I hope you heard me.


Um… I don't really think Mitsui fits into the whole gang thing… especially taking a look at his attitude after the incident in the basketball gym. He's dedicated so much into basketball, didn't obey Anzai-sensei, so I kinda came up with this… he's kinda a gangster, but he's not really or completely lost… still revivable in his actions… that's all.. hehe..