Disclaimer: The absolute undeniable fact that cannot be doubted is this: I do not own Slam Dunk. Pero pwede pa rin akong tumingin diba?

Calliope Medina Erato: hehe… thank you as always… I would've released the first chapter sooner had I not been sick. hehehe… and well, it was kinda hard on choosing the pairing… but… maybe Mitsui's all that cuter from Koshino because Koshino always seems to have a problem… hehehe… it's like palagi syang nakasimangot almost… hehe… and sendoh, we all agree about him… hehe.. hmm… I mentioned it not from Ryonan… heheh… so that eliminated the whole basketball team.. hehe.. but I think when you used Uekusa and Ikegami, I think you're almost in the right track of what kind of character I wanted to get… it's not just them… hehehe, keep trying though! I'll eliminate another one here… hehe

Simmic: yup! That's right… hehe.. and no, this person doesn't look like Mitsui… that's why I didn't choose Koshino… hehe.. and well, if you're thinking it might be kogure, based on your description, it's not kogure too.. hehehe… keep guessing though, the character I chose is very much like Kogure in my opinion… hehe…

The Writing On The Wall

Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
-Elie Weisel-

I am hiding – hiding from something I do not even know. I am running, running away from something even I do not know. Yet I keep on running, for a reason not present. Yet he keeps on chasing, for a reason only he himself knows. I do now know which way to go.

I made the mistake of looking back; I saw how close he was to closing in on me, my heart racing for its final leg of the race. I could feel fatigue slowing me down, dragging me to stop. He closed the gap in between us.

He's gone? There is another hand holding my wrist. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." I turned around, only to find, finite darkness. I slowly lowered my head down, leaned it back on my pillow. I am back in my room – back in my own bed. I had slept, dreamt.

I am enveloped in darkness. I cannot sleep, afraid that the dream will come back; return to haunt me for the second time. And so I listened – to the only music available at that time – silence. I listened to the sound of drums – the ticking of the clock. I listened to the bass – the sound when I shut my ears.

I was slipping back to a world whose existence instantly vanished at the ring of the phone. I snaked myself to the cliff of my bed, my hand inching out from under the covers and snaked itself around the phone. "Hello?" No reply. "Hello?" for the second time. Again, for the second time, there was no reply.

I was sick. It was obvious I was not feeling well. I was not in my best mood. It was obvious I would not be in my best behavior. "Are you deaf or something?" I slammed the phone down, sandwiching it with its receiver. I am here, lying down, sick, and irritated. Wait a second; I'm sick, pissed off and cold! What a perfect combination.

I jumped out of bed, heaved my feet along the carpet, as if carrying it was a load. I was like a child in a candy store who didn't get any candy, and thus was grumbling. My feet dragged along the blanket, and it was the first time I had noticed the other blanket, there, wrapped around my ankle. At the present distraction it offered, my head cooled down a bit, the breeze contributing to it.

As the breeze switched its direction, I seized the opportunity to attach a message along with it. "Thank you." I told the wind. I hope it carried those two words wherever it truly should be.

I closed the window after that, walked sluggishly to my bed, crawled underneath the covers, when the phone rang, again. It rang a second time. On the third, I gambled, and picked it up. "Hello?"

"I-" Miraculously, a voice came out from the other line. "I just wanted to let you know," That? "I'm not deaf." I took me half a second to realize it was he. Despite my feverish temperature, my cheeks still retained their ability to blush. What followed after that was the unchanging sound that came from the dial tone.

Ok… following for the guesses… it is not Fujima or anybody else from Shoyo… Fujima way too perfect.. hehehe… good looks, basketball skills, coach, manager, and like one of the best point guards in the prefecture… hello? Hehehe… anyways… please do continue to guess… hehe…