Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.
Title: Lost and Found
Genre: comedy/general/romance
Rating: PG-13/ T
Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi
Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters.
Lost and Found- Chapter 5
Time passes by swiftly; and soon it was time for basketball practice in the school gym. Sakuragi Hanamichi headed for the locker room and changed into his usual practice attire, his heart hammering against his ribcage as the time towards the meeting with Fujima Kenji draws near.
"Akagi-Senpai, do you think Sakuragi is all right?" Ayako, the team manager asked as she frowned at the redhead's behavior.
Usually, Sakuragi would have tried something ridiculous by now... but this practice seems to be too quiet. Sakuragi Hanamichi was completely out of character, he didn't even make it a point to yell at Rukawa Kaede when the said teen had called him a fool. Neither did he react to Haruko's presence in the school's gym which is considered rather rare for the redhead.
In fact, throughout practice today, Sakuragi Hanamichi was just doing his basic dribbling, shooting and running exercise. He did not even care to joke around with the Sakuragi Squad members; he merely nodded towards their direction and then promptly walks off once the day's practices reached to an end.
On the other hand, Fujima Kenji was already seated down by the window seat in the cafe waiting for Hanamichi's arrival. He had basically skipped out on his last lesson for the day, although he felt bad about it but he could not help it. He hardly doubt he would be able to concentrate on the class with the way he was zoning out at every opportunity he gets, and eventually he decided to simply just leave it to his friend and classmate, Hanagata Toru to think up an appropriate excuse for him. This was after all, his first time at cutting class.
Somehow, he had a feeling that irregardless of the outcome, Hanagata Toru is bound to hound him for an explanation tomorrow morning at their routine basketball practice session.
Fujima Kenji was so deep in thought that when the subject of his distraction – Sakuragi Hanamichi entered the cafe, he didn't even notice. It was not until the moment he heard someone pulling out the chair opposite from him and sat down; did he finally jerked himself back into the reality plane. It was at that point of time that he found his speech ability leaving him, and for that particular reason alone he didn't dare to speak for fear that he'll ended up ruining this meeting between them.
Sakuragi Hanamichi observed Fujima Kenji's behavior from the corner of his eyes; taking in the former tensed posture and the way the older teen was tightening his hold on the coffee mug with interest lurking behind his brown orbs. Anyone with good observation skills would be able to tell that the brunette was a nervous-wreck by this point of time.
'Who would have thought, Fujima Kenji being nervous...' Hanamichi mused inwardly and if he wasn't the reason behind the teen's nerves, he would have laugh out loud by now.
Nonetheless, seeing as he too was equally nervous about this particular meeting of theirs…he figured he was in no position to poke fun at the former nervous state of mind. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to break the dreadful silence and tension which hung between them by making the first move.
Fumbling with his bag for a moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi ignored the feel of eyes upon him as he dug into his bag and pull out an album from within. Dumping the said photo album on the table which separates them with a soft 'thud', it startled the other teen so badly that the student coach of Shoyo High Basketball Team almost dropping his cup of coffee and spilling it in shock.
Paying no heed to the other teen's reaction, Sakuragi Hanamichi flipped through the album carelessly before stopping at one of the page. Sliding the photo album over to Fujima Kenji intentionally while keeping a watchful eye out for the latter's reaction. The redhead masked his expression into one of solemnity while sipping away at his own mug of coffee.
Setting down the cup gingerly upon the sight of the brunet's expression turning into one of frozen shock, Sakuragi Hanamichi crossed his arms in front of his chest area and asked.
"That's you, isn't it?"
Fujima Kenji took a deep breath, and pulled himself together staring right into those familiar brown eyes of the red-haired teen. With a nod, he replied.
"Yes, that was me in the picture…"
The duos maintain eye contact only for a moment before Fujima Kenji shifted his eyes towards one of the trees outside the window. Sakuragi Hanamichi meanwhile let out a breath which he hasn't even realized that he'd been holding in al these while, and stared blankly at a spot behind the other teen. They allowed a silence to hung between them as they both took the moment to recover their speech ability that just seems to desert them yet again for the second time around since their meeting in this particular cafe, this afternoon.
For a moment, no one spoke until Sakuragi Hanamichi mused aloud "It's been so long, I thought I'd forgotten and yet the moment I see you, everything just keep coming back to me."
"Huh…? I beg your pardon?" Fujima Kenji snapped his attention back to the redhead opposite of him when he thought he heard the former uttered something.
"Never mind, I was just musing out loud." Hanamichi answered with a shrug before asking "So, how are you?"
"What do you mean?" Fujima Kenji asked looking quite bewildered by the redhead's inquiry.
"Well... I was just trying to make conversation, in case you are wondering. I mean I had no qualms to just spend the whole afternoon in here staring at you dumbly, you know?" Hanamichi replied, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.
"Oh... I see..." Fujima Kenji echoed before he launched into a summary consisting of his life over the past ten years and ending with the words - "As for now, I bet you already know that I am studying in Shoyo High and was now playing the role of both the captain and coach for the basketball team. So…what have you been up to over the past ten years or so?"
"Well... you see..." Hanamichi then began to launch into his own life story, pausing in between to look elsewhere before continuing his tale.
Fujima Kenji doesn't blame Hanamichi for taking frequent breaks in between the tale; he knew it had nothing to do with the redhead's attention span. It was just that Fujima Kenji happen to know the topic of Sakuragi Hanamichi's parents being a touchy issue in the redhead's life. Eventually, that dreadful part was over and done with and the redhead was now moving on to the less straining portion of the conversation.
Through the talk, the Captain of Shoyo High Basketball Team had been stunned by the fact that his red-haired friend was only an amateur at Basketball, with a total of less than 3 months experience and yet he had already become one of the starters five in an official game.
"Are you serious…?! You've only played Basketball for three months?" Fujima Kenji stared, gaping at the redhead's words.
"What…? It's true, you know? Almost every game I was fouled out… and initially I only entered the game during the second half. It was only the last game that I was one of the starters five…" Sakuragi Hanamichi responded, matter-of-factly.
"Well…excuse me for not following the whole of Shohoku's matches played in the Inter-high Tournament. For your information, I've only watched the one you guys played against Tsukubu…which just so happen to be the one prior to the game my team played against Shohoku." Fujima Kenji throws out dryly in mock sarcasm, narrowing his eyes at his childhood friend in response. Inwardly, he wondered whether or not should he be insulted that his team was best by an amateur on the court…
TBC…
Date completed: 09/03/05
Date edited: 01/03/2013