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: hehehe… I know, it is awkward… and well, it is good… gradually healing process starting to take affect… a bit… hehehehe… aww… don't you think Kiyota is necessary for some hint of humor? Hehehe…
Coffeemaverick: yeah, I mean, Miyagi has got a crush for Ayako for who knows how long… hehehe… thank you!
Simmic: yeah, it was pretty awkward, but at least it went from too painful to awkward… there's progress! Hehehe…
zYtKa: hehehe… well, I do think that it's not only Miyagi and Karin that's hurt, Ayako and Mitsui do feel it too, and it affects the four of them the most, because they've been like friends, and it's been cracked in a way or broken in a way, but yeah… hehehe.. who was your guess anyways? Heheh..
The Writing On The Wall
"After silence that which
comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
-Aldous Huxley-
" Who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968?" Wait, seriously, I know the answer to this question. There's something at the tip of my tongue but I just can't seem to get a hold of it. Ok, the teacher just mentioned it last class. She was talking about Kenzaburo Oe and something… wait, I think I might be getting something.
"Senpai!" Sakuragi let go of the strap of his bag and it landed beside me with a thud. I lost whatever hold I had of it. I could almost break my pencil in two by my enormous frustration in my brain. I started to flip the pages of my history book, with not really a clue as to where it lay in hiding within the cluster of innumerable letters.
"Senpai, I just wanted to thank you for helping me. I passed!" From the corner of my eye, I could see the rest of the gang running to catch up. Sakuragi waved his test paper triumphantly in the air, like a patriot waving his flag. "53 percent, can you believe that?" Well, if it's good enough for him, I can't do anything about it.
"So, to repay you…" Sakuragi? Repay? "you've been officially inducted into the Sakuragi-guntai!" The gang took out the confetti from their pockets and started to shower it on, and around me. "Congratulations!" I didn't know whether I should consider this as a blessing, or as a curse.
"I just love a vicious bloody catfight." What the – me? Fight? Oh no. No. No. And No. "No." I began to inch off my seat, raising both of my hands in the air, palms up. "We're just joking senpai, geez. Chill." They patted me on the back, forcing me to sit right back down.
"Now, as a treat, we're going to lunch someplace else! I know a good restaurant that has really good udon." I smell something fishy. "Are you sure Sakuragi? I mean… I'm really not hungry. Really." Sakuragi took hold of both of my arms and lifted me off of my seat, setting me to stand on the ground on my own two feet. "Let's go senpai." I felt for my pocket, not too good.
As the Kake Udon, Ebi-ten Udon, Nabeyaki Udon, Yamakake Udon, Karei Udon, and Tsukimi Udon were laid on the table, I could not suppress the growling of my stomach and the urge of my teeth to chew. I could not help but indulge myself. I have been working hard; it's time to for a well earned a break.
At the end, we might've consumed more than our pockets can provide for. "Thanks senpai." Sakuragi said, fully satisfied with his meal. Thank you? I'm supposed to pay for this? I saw it coming. Yet I didn't avoid it. So whose fault is it?
I laid out the plan of attack. I faced my palm down and beckoned to him. He came and adjusted himself to my height. "What is it sempai?" I took a deep breath, something I copied off my Aunt whenever she was about to drop the bomb. "You know Sakuragi, I'd gladly pay for the bill, but-" I began to reveal the plan. "I'm not sure if I can guarantee you the confidentiality of this event. You may never know who's standing right around the corner." Sakuragi looked over his shoulder. "That old man?" He replied as if to answer my question. I didn't mean that. "Anyways, Haruko," At the mention of her name, his ears perked up, his attention span breaking the records. "Has recently been clarifying her feelings for Rukawa." At the mention of his name, tension started to build up. Complete swooning whenever he makes his appearance, Heart shaped eyes whenever Rukawa accomplishes a dunk. Exagerration was the key to victory.
"I'm just saying, you can't let this go on!" Sakuragi began to crack his knuckles. "I mean, Rukawa is way up here with the ladies, and well, unbelievably hot looks and unbelievably cold attitude makes for a deadly combination." He was all fired up now. "It doesn't mean you don't have a chance, you absolutely do, but, you have to step up your game!" Sakuragi started to think, and maybe even reflect on what I just said. He rubbed his chin for added effect. "You have always got to watch your back." Again, he craned his neck for a look at his back. "You never know who's watching you. And letting a girl," with a huge emphasis on the girl coupled with the deadly pause was reverberating on the air; "pay for the tabs, isn't going to impress Haruko." Finally, Sakuragi gasped as if his eyes were opened to the truth. The bomb has detonated.
Sakuragi dug deep in his pockets and as his fingers met daylight, they brought with them 80 yen. We both looked at each other. This is bad. Sakuragi forced the guntai to empty their pockets, and were able to come up with 289 yen. Our bill was 65o yen. I took out my wallet despite Sakuragi being against the idea and paid for the rest. "We owe you senpai." There was no comfort to my lost pocket money.
I basically skipped classes out of my will. I still made it for the afternoon classes. As the anticipation for that wonderfully redeeming ring of the last bell began, an announcement delayed it. "Attention students. Today, after school, you are all invited to come to the theatre and watch a musical competition for the violin. Our own Karashi Rei will be competing against students from Miuradai, Takezono, and Tsukubu. All are encouraged to come and show support for Karashi-san. Thank you."
One word to describe the theatre: overflowing. It was packed not only with students coming from Shohoku but students from the other competing schools came to support their respective contenders.
The lights went out and everybody settled into their seats. The performance was about to start. The theatre became an empty canvas. It became space, where the violinist could take you to any place.
The theme for the competition was on the Concerto's of John Sebastian Bach. The first contestant was from Tsukubu. Concerto in D major. It seemed to run one after the other, with no definite winner, across the green grass in the meadows while the kids chased after a flying kite, it's flight ascending and descending in rapid might.
The second competitor belonged to Miuradai. Concerto in A minor. It was a masquerade party, where masks and enormous, elaborate, and elegant gowned adorned the exuberant room. There was music and dancing until and it showed no signs of slowing down until the night wore out.
The third competitor was from home, Shohoku. Concerto in E major. I was in Venice, under the Rialto Bridge, where under it the sun glows, and though gliding through the water was slow, the music in the air catches many a tune.
The last but certainly not the least was Takezono. I was a chase. A flight of two birds from tree to tree. It was like raindrops first coming down from the sky. It was how the wind would turn the leaves, of how it would sway the ones left in the trees. A cat and mouse chase. It becomes a journey.
The crowd was divided. Not only because they belonged to different schools, but also because all of them were good. Yet upon the emerging of technicality and everything in between, the fourth competitor, Hagino Naru of Takezono won.
She came out from the shadows, and after the awarding, was granted to play again. However, in quite an unsure voice, she said, "I'm supposed to replay my competition piece, but tonight, I decided that I will play a piece that I originally composed when I was young." On the first note, it instantly opened my mind. It tugged at the strings of my heart. It played with the doors of my memory. It made me feel as if I had turned back in time, that I had returned to the past. Maybe I did. Or maybe, the past caught up with me.
It notes easily penetrated my skin, giving it a familiar tingle. There was a voice that sung its lyrics, though there was none. I stood in front of a door I did not dare touch. I saw the grass dance. It was unmistakable. It was she, and her name, Hagino Naru.
I looked for Mitsui after that. It took quite some time before I finally caught up with them, as they were about to exit. "Mitsui." When he turned, he knew what exactly I had come to ask. "You remembered her too?" He switched his attention to the violinists on stage, being congratulated and entertained. "Yeah. Hagino-san." At the confirmation of another of my suspicions, I rushed back inside; wanting to congratulate her, though it seemed another had been quicker.
Hagino-san stood amongst the crowd, and after a few words from Miyagi, she took out her violin, and played him a song. The song brought a smile to his lips. Or maybe, he brought that upon himself.
Did anybody get her right? Hehehe… um yeah… pardon me if it's not that accurate and everything, but, yeah, the concerto's you may have a different approach about them, so those images are just opinions, many of the ones I can think about, and I had to listen to just clips too… hehehe… anyways… there's not much healing, ah I seem to be revealing things earlier than after… anyways, jin's not in the scene… primarily because, jin's in kainan, she's in shohoku, it's not very common for them to just cross paths everyday, or talk to each other everyday. And will jin be there for the next chapter? Let me see… yeah… So yeah… hope you enjoyed it… hehehe..