Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Slam Dunk.

CHAPTER 4

I can't believe I overslept! Ayako hurried to prepare for class and almost fell on her carpeted bedroom floor when she stumbled upon her bag on her way to the bathroom. After a quick bath, she put on her uniform. She barely had time to look at the mirror and brush her hair. Surely, she will be late.

Her first period professor had this habit of embarrassing anyone who comes late to his class. She will have a dose of such cruelty, no doubt.

She rushed to the hallway on the second floor building. There were a few students outside which meant the first bell already rang a while ago. She didn't make it on time. She was looking for her assignment in her bag; a reaction paper due that morning. She hoped the professor will still accept it even though she's late.

There's still hope though, that is if he won't see me coming late. If only I can manage to slip into the room unnoticed. She dug in her bag for the paper. Suddenly, she bumped into someone and almost fell on her butt because of the impact. She looked up and was ready to confront the tall person who blocked her way. The protest died in her throat; it was Rukawa. He was able to get hold of her arm before she fell on the floor.

At that exact moment, Amira was coming out from the restroom. She saw what happened. Once again, she felt jealous that Ayako can get near him without being ignored or treated coldly. Before she could be seen, she hurried away, still envious.

"Rukawa! Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. I've got to go. I'll be late. Bye!" Ayako said all at once.

Before Rukawa could even respond, she ran fast and stopped just in front of the closed door to calm down before going inside to face the Professor's wrath. Ayako tried to enter the room not making as much noise if possible. She went to her seat and was relieved to see the professor facing the board and was busily writing on it.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have sensed her presence and her late arrival. He must have had an eye behind his head or maybe he heard the door creak open. Her attempt not to get noticed failed as she now had the attention of her classmates.

"It's nice of you to join us Ms. Ayako," the professor with tennis ball sized eyeglasses said, sarcasm coated his words. Ayako slid lower in her seat, feeling embarrassed. This caused a chuckle from some of her classmates. Great! They are enjoying this.

The professor, who shook his head disapprovingly, seeing she learned her lesson, silenced the class and continued with the discussion. When the class was over, Ayako hurried outside. She's thankful that the professor accepted her homework. She didn't notice the girl who was following her the moment she got out.

"Hi. You're Ayako, right?" the girl walked beside her, giving her a warm smile.

Ayako didn't know her. But there's something familiar about the girl. She had beautiful eyes and shoulder-length jet black hair. That smile, Ayako had seen it somewhere before, she just couldn't remember where exactly.

"How did you know?" she asked, somewhat intrigued.

"All I know is that you're the manageress of the team." Amira said.

"Hey, would you like to come with me to eat?" Ayako ignored the fact that she just met her. Besides, it's a bit lonely to eat alone.

"Yes, that is if you don't mind," the girl seemed up to it.

"Of course I don't," Ayako said. This girl seemed friendly.

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet," said the girl. "I'm Amira," extending her hand to Ayako, who took it and smiled back.

After weeks of being constant companions, Ayako invited Amira to come with her to the practice.

Finally, it's what Amira had been waiting for. Weeks of spending time with Ayako finally paid off.

They arrived at the gym several minutes before practice started. Ayako introduced Amira to the players. Amira felt nervous standing in front Rukawa. But she never gave away a hint that she admired him. "Amira, this is Rukawa. He's my schoolmate back in junior high," Ayako always felt the need to add that. Maybe it was because she wanted to somehow explain why Rukawa's attitude towards her was different from the usual.

Rukawa didn't smile back. He just gave a nod to Amira. So that must be the reason why he's somewhat close to Ayako. They came from the same school. I guess that makes sense. There's nothing to worry about. But a part of her will never understand the reason why Rukawa talked to Ayako more than he would to anyone. Being schoolmates didn't seem to be enough reason.

The practice began. Amira sat at one of the chairs at the side of the court beside Ayako.

Ayako was giving the guy named Sakuragi, if she remembered it right, basic lessons. She could hear his lamentations and self-acclaimed praises. But Amira's focus was on Rukawa's every move. She had to fight the urge to clap whenever he shot a ball that instantly got in the hoop so easily even when blocked. She had to keep her calm or else she'll end up embarrassing herself in front of him.

She had this crazy idea that Rukawa actually ignored girls who showed their admiration. Since Ayako didn't seem to be interested at all, Amira thought she'd better act like Ayako so she could talk to him. For now, that's what she's going to do. If the right time came, she might even consider asking Ayako for help.

Ayako was so busy with Sakuragi that she didn't notice Amira looking intensely at Rukawa all the time, never taking her eyes off of him. It's the look that almost all of the female population had on their faces whenever Rukawa was on the court or simply dozing off in class or anywhere he felt like sleeping.

Meanwhile, Rukawa was a bit disturbed. He never felt this uncomfortable from a girl's stare. There's something about Amira that was disarming, not in a good way though. He had no objections of her being Ayako's friend. But then he saw her twice, that was several weeks ago. One was during the first day of classes, where he saw her looking at him while he's talking to Ayako. And the other was when Ayako bumped into him at the hallway. He can't help get suspicious of her motives for befriending Ayako.

On the other hand, Sakuragi boasted of being the genius basketball man. Rukawa was sympathetic of the guy's constant need for attention. Ryota's looking at Ayako (with his heart-shaped eyes). Akagi shouted at Ryota for having his mind and his eyes on Ayako often during the practice, and today's not an exemption.

Rukawa's doing well in the practice, Ayako could see. Mitsui's also doing well in his three-point shots. It took some time for him to bring back his skills ever since he left the team last year. He'd been practicing hard so he could catch up.

Ryota and Mitsui were group mates in the practice game. Unfortunately, because of Ryota's daydreaming they lost to Rukawa's team. Mitsui blamed Ryota for that. Ryota could only scratch his head (blushing while looking over at Ayako) "Sakuragi, don't make it hard for Ayako-chan!" Ryota shouted instead.

Ayako knew about Ryota's affection for her. But she wasn't interested in Ryota. She had no intention of getting involved with a basketball player, not again.

She went to giving Sakuragi a lesson on the basics, but the guy's too stubborn and showy for his own good. He had no idea at all what's the importance of what they're doing. Because of his childish acts, Ayako's head already ached. He kept on complaining about why he wasn't allowed to play, and why he's at the corner of the court having lessons in basics when he's the genius basketball man. He said he could win against Rukawa if only he was allowed to join Ryota's team. After saying all these, he laughed out loud. she shook her head at the way his mind worked wonders for himself.

"Rukawa! Rukawa! Rukawa! We love you Rukawa!" It's the Rukawa's angels cheering again.

Ayako felt sympathy for these girls. Don't they ever get tired? They seem to go crazy whenever Rukawa's around. And she wondered how they manage to be present whenever there's practice. She shook her head in amazement on how many admirers Rukawa had. Almost all the female population at school wanted to be his girlfriend, even some of the male population, she heard (Ayako sweat dropped at the thought). That just meant Rukawa's a sought after heartthrob, even boys are attracted to him.

Unlike the silent type, those who would rather view Rukawa from afar, these three girls are so vocal of their admiration for him even if he continuously ignored them. She pitied these girls because of their unrequited love for the 'Ice King."

Ayako glanced at Rukawa who remained quiet. She waited for his reaction; and again, nothing's changed- his face was void of any emotion. In the meantime, Sakuragi's the one with so much emotion; he left her side and went to the girls who were standing outside the door, still cheering maniacally.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you know that you're disturbing my training?" he asked, towering over them with his height.

The girls were shocked. Sakuragi thought the girls were struck by his good looks and they realized he's better-looking than Rukawa. He was imagining himself being cheered by his fans; having his own fan club, Haruko included.

But the girls laughed out loud; this burst Sakuragi's bubble. They were laughing at him. "You can't even be compared to Rukawa's foot. He's good-looking. You are not," the girls said in unison like a cheer, unaware that Sakuragi's face was burning in anger mixed with humiliation. Sakuragi closed the doors with so much force it might have had crushed down. After locking it, he went back to the corner of the court and continued with his basic lessons. "I can't concentrate on my training with those girls screaming," he explained, while getting into position, resuming the basics stance. He was determined to do what it takes to be the most genius basketball man, to be better than Rukawa.

"Ayako!" Rumi called. "Ayako!" she called again after hearing no response.

"I'm here!" Ayako replied, from her room.

Rumi saw her staring at the ceiling. "Hey, I've got news for you," Rumi plopped on her bed.

Ayako was still staring at the ceiling, as if there's something interesting about it. "What's so interesting about the ceiling?" Rumi asked, looking up.

"Very funny," Ayako still did not move.

"Hey, you're the one who's being funny- staring up there like something's fascinating about it."

"Okay, I'm listening. Spill," she sat up, waiting for the news to be fired.

"I don't know if I even have to tell you this," Rumi looked hesitant. "But it is better you know it so you won't be surprised."

"Come on, tell me what it is. What's with the serious look?" Ayako prodded. "Did you and Koshino break up?" she speculated.

"Of course not," Rumi rolled her eyes. "Here it goes. Sendo's coming back. Koshino told me yesterday," she waited for Ayako's reaction.

For a moment, Ayako went rigid. Just the thought of her ex-boyfriend coming back made her heart beat fast. Mixed emotions came to her all at once. He's still my boyfriend; we never had a formal break-up. But considering how long it had been with no communication, we're not a couple anymore.

"When?" It was all she could manage to say.

"A week from now." Rumi gave her a sympathetic look.

to be continued