Disclaimer: The absolute undeniable fact that cannot be doubted is this: I do not own Slam Dunk. Pero pwede pa rin akong tumingin diba?
Coffeemaverick: the blurness… hehehe… something's up so it won't be too happy for Karin… hehe
Kazemar-kaemi: hehehe… thanks for reviewing "do you see me" too… hehe… thank you, and well hope you like this chapter too…
Kalyope Medina Burato: hehehe… thanks for the correction… in the website that I took it from, I will not divulge it's name by the way, hehehehe… I found it weird when they wrote souichiro jin, instead of the other way around, and everybody else's name had been right, so I trusted them and went with that… hehehe…
Simmic: actually, not really.. hehehehe… I have twists in every turn! Hehehe.. and she didn't tell everybody she has bad grades, she only told them she's experiencing difficulty with money.. she's not that vulgar… hehehehe… anyways, in this chapter you'll find out what I mean by actually, not really… hehehe
The Writing On The Wall
Jin was waiting in front of the Shohoku gate, surrounded by the Sakuragi and his guntai, Jin mumbling a few words that fired Sakuragi's anger meter to the top. When Nobunaga arrived, Sakuragi's fingers found itself encircling Nobunaga's neck by itself, and though the guntai tried with all their might to pull away Sakuragi's locked hands, it only looked like they were only helping him choke the life out of Nobunaga.
The minute I arrived, I yelled, "I'm telling Sakuragi!" and started to walk back in the direction of the Shohoku school building, when Sakuragi immediately let Nobunaga's neck go and overtook me, blocking my way. "Please don't tell coach! Please!" I stopped and, "hmmm…" His hands were joined together in prayer, and I could visibly see the sweat trickle down his forehead. "Just this once." He let out the breath he had been holding and returned to his usual jovial self, laughing.
Nobunaga massaged the muscles in his neck, scolding Jin. "Why'd you have to sell me out like that?" He wouldn't engage in the battle with Sakuragi though he held himself back. "Unlike you, I'm the real genius, so be glad I didn't pick a fight with you." A vein popped on Sakuragi's forehead. "I'll show you my true strength on the court, not on the sidewalk." Sakuragi strained from the firm grip the rest of the gang had on him.
"See you tomorrow guys!" I waved to the gang as we walked to the bus stop. Nobunaga was still whining about Sakuragi's act of aggression against him.
We rode the bus and when we arrived at the train station Nobunaga was still complaining. "He's not even good at basketball, doesn't he foul out for most of his games? And he shoots free-throws in this weird way." I looked at Jin and saw his mouth forming a frown, as my eyebrow continually rose and fell at Nobunaga's irritating complaints.
"He doesn't even score that much, all he's ever good is in rebounds." We stopped by a hardware store and Jin walked inside. He was back in little more than a minute or so, and opened the plastic bag, sticking two earplugs in both of my ears, dissipating the annoying sound coming from Nobunaga - at last, peace.
Jin did the same to himself and sighed. He must've been relieved. Nobunaga's mouth kept on blabbing though I didn't really care, it possible went like, 'Rukawa's just a show-off, he won't last long, while I am a genius unlike that fake who tries to copy my coolness,' something along those lines.
We finally arrived at Jin's workplace and he showed me inside the counter, leaving Kiyota behind who didn't really care either since he was doing small talk with the cashier at the counter.
"Ok, how many would you like to learn?" I counted my fingers; I might make a scramble egg of bad coffee if I decided to do ten. I held up my palm and spread three fingers. "Three." He showed me a list and asks me to pick three. I pointed my finger to Café con panna, and he picked up a pen and paper started to list down, I moved to Café freddo, Café Frappuccino, and Café Corretto. I had chosen four, however, Jin's eyebrow rose with my last pick. "Are you sure you'd like to learn that?" I didn't know; I just picked them without any background knowledge. "It has a shot liquor added to it."
"Scrap that then." I laughed, I really have no clue with this, I just have to hope that I don't get fired on the first day. He showed me the burr grinder, and how to determine what size of coffee bean to use, and warned me not to grind the beans too fine or too coarse. He also told me the ratio of coffee bean to ounces of water, and the temperature and appropriate time to brew the coffee for it's different types.
I taste tested the coffee I had brewed. "Good!" I began to pour another cup for me and offered one to Jin too. Nobunaga appeared and snatched a cup. "Not bad." I continued to drink, and drink, and drink, until even Jin told me to stop. "Hey, how about this Jin? How do you make it?" By the minute he was getting reluctant, and finally I noticed that my fingers were tingling a bit.
The realization hit me fair and square on the face. I may have drunk too much. "Hey Jin! So when's the next match? Toki Kuwata's been practicing real hard, he'll defeat you soon enough, are you scared? I didn't think so, you always seem to be confident in basketball, why do you practice so much? You're so good, let the other one's catch up, hey jin are you even listening? What are you doing? Are you preparing another coffee? I wanna drink it! Is it good? It should be good cause –" Jin rested both of his hands on my shoulder and ushered me to a sit.
"I feel so awake, like I can run a marathon. Let's run a marathon! Wait I don't have a huge stamina, maybe I could walk then, right Jin? Where did that Nobunaga go? He's going to miss the coffee drink, I can't wait, I can't wait, I-" Jin lowered his face, saying, "Karin, you've drank too much, just calm down ok?"
I smiled and nodded my head furiously. "Of course I'm calm! Why wouldn't I be? Why did you think that? The one who isn't calm is you, being hyper is good!" Jin put a hand on my head to stop it from looking left and right. "Karin, look at me –"
"I'm looking at you, how long do you want me to look? Isn't it rude to stare?" Jin cut me off with a "ssshhh." I pouted. "Why are you saying ssshhh? What's wrong with me babbling on? Am I irritating you? Am I?" Jin covered my mouth with one hand. "Karin, just focus for one minute ok? We're going to do breathing exercises to relax you ok?" I nodded my head like a child who was eating a lollipop. "Inhale…" I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with air. "Exhale…" I exhaled slowly letting it out little by little. "Inhale…" I took another lungful of air, and let it slowly go when Jin said 'exhale'.
He poured me a glass of water and set it on the table in front of me. "Here. Drink lots of it." I held the glass with both hands, and drank little amounts of it. I drank more and more, though it didn't seem to help, Jin told me to keep repeating the breathing exercises.
Nobunaga appeared with another cup of espresso though he appeared normal to me. "What's with her?" Nobunaga said watching me try to control my breathing and rapid heart rate, like I was practicing yoga. "Too much coffee." Jin explained for me. I bit my lip to cease my urge to talk.
"Hey Jin, so did you get a form already?" My left ear started to itch for the latest gossip. Guess I wasn't cured yet. "For what?" Nobunaga almost spewed the espresso he had been drinking. "What do you mean for what? For the basketball course for college that's what!" Jin shook his head. "You didn't!" Nobunaga seemed to be in disbelief. He set his cup on the table.
I began to relax little by little, and listened more closely. "Well at least I took one for you too." He took out from his pocket a crumpled application form. "Sorry." Nobunaga apologized. Jin tried to straighten the paper out. "It's due this Monday."
Jin stared at the paper. "That soon?" Nobunaga's hand formed into a fist and he hit Jin on the back of the head. "What's this all about? I've known you since first year and you were the one who encouraged me to apply, and now you're complaining it's too soon? Are you really a basketball player?"
Jin poured another glass of water for me. I started to drink it. "It's just that, this is my future. It's not just some silly dream I had when I was young. This is really going to affect my life, and I just can't hand it over that easily. You have to think through these big decisions Kiyota, not just breeze over them or let you emotions decide for you." Nobunaga was driven into silence. I finished another glass and moved on to pour another one for me.
Nobunaga smirked. "I know what this is about." Jin was writing his name on the application form. "Huh?" I was stuffed with water, like I had eaten a whole full meal. "I know you're smart so don't play your stupid mind games with me. You follow?" Jin only nodded his head. "Well, we shouldn't really argue in front of Karin."
Nobunaga sighed, as if to exhale all his anger out. "You really shouldn't have drunk to much." Nobunaga told me. "Your mouth sounded like a machine gun back there." I blushed in embarrassment. I swore never to drink coffee again. Though I probably won't be able to keep that promise.
After I had settled down, Jin apologized again for not stopping me from drinking too much coffee. "Nah, it's okay, it's my fault since I was the one who drank too much."
"Let's go." Nobunaga called after he had excused himself from the cashier. We rode the train, which had still been full, though that enabled me to stay close to Jin. I had already filled out the application form for the job and was excited to bring the good news to my aunt.
"Jin, this way." Nobunaga pointed after we had gone out of the train. When Nobunaga saw me, he ran a hand through his hair and followed close behind. We rode the bus home though I was still very awake, though I no longer felt the need to bombard Jin with my random talking.
In fact, I was exhausted. "Tired from too much rambling?" Jin asked. I sighed again, and nodded once. I was more or least back to normal. This was the only time my brain worked to think about Jin applying for that college course. So he was planning on going professional. I didn't want to be a burden – the burden.
We dismounted the bus and started to walk home. It was silent, yet loud with the sound of crickets. "You should apply for that college thing." I said out of the blue. Jin blinked once before looking at me. "You think?" He asked. I crossed my arms then smiled. "Yup! I'm positive."
"How about me?" Nobunaga pointed to himself. "No, you're no good." Nobunaga was just about to jump at me when Jin prevented him from crushing me. "Kiyota, calm down." Nobunaga struggled, and it seemed as if Jin wouldn't be able to hold him any longer. "Let me at her, I know she's a girl, but she's too much!"
I started to walk faster to get away from Kiyota. Kiyota tried to overtake me, though his speed had been exponentially reduced since Jin was hanging on like a piece of boulder on his back. "We're home." I announced. Once I had gotten through the gate, Jin let go of Kiyota. "Open it!"
"Shhh… the neighbours will get angry because of your behaviour." I bowed once again to Jin. "Thank you for all your help. I'll remember not to drink too much coffee." He smiled and waved me goodbye. "Let's go Kiyota." Jin pulled him by the arm. "I'll have revenge!"
I didn't care. I was playing along with his game. It enabled me to reach home without shedding a single drop of tear. I guess I had grown stronger all these years. I took my time in reaching the door, and then slowly inserted the key into the keyhole.
I remembered what Miyagi said to me. 'I don't want to hinder her from her dreams…' it kept on whispering. I too, didn't want to hinder him from his dreams.
That's all… lalalala… anyways, hmm… the issue with Jin… don't know when I'll be able to update… you already know the reason why… anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter… and I didn't mean if you liked the issue Jin is faced with… you know na…