Disclaimer: I do not own Slam Dunk.

CHAPTER 11

"You're here!" Rumi said, a bit more enthusiastically to Ayako's surprise.

"What happened?" Ayako asked as she dropped her bag on the floor and plopped down on the one-sitter sofa, her curly hair bounced as she did.

"It's about Sendo. He's finally here according to Hiro-kun. He arrived last Saturday morning." Rumi watched Ayako closely for any signs of reaction, any kind at all.

Ayako could only stare back at her. And then, "I thought you have good news for me or something. Why were you so happy?"

"I thought a new way of giving you the news will be better, sounding happy about it for a change. Of course it's not for the reason he's back that I'm happy about. I sympathize with you. I want to give that guy what he deserves." Rumi explained.

"He's finally here," Ayako said, more to herself than to Rumi.

"So, how did it go? You told me this morning that you would talk to Rukawa about your arrangements."

"You know what?" Ayako hesitated at first but then she thought it would be better to tell Rumi about it. "Rukawa had a girlfriend once. At least that's good to know right, what you speculated about him not being able to handle our situation is not true. I told you, he can act as my boyfriend."

"He did? How did you know? He must really trust you." Rumi said, astonished. Ayako could tell that she wanted to know more about Rukawa's past relationship.

"He didn't tell me about it. Sorry to disappoint you. He only answered my question. I wasn't expecting he would, maybe it just slipped." Ayako said.

"At least he trusted you with that matter." Rumi was not able to conceal her disappointment.

"By the way, what do you want for dinner?" Ayako asked as she headed to the kitchen.

"Whatever you feel like cooking. But it better be good." Rumi said, while scanning the pages of a magazine.

Rukawa sensed that someone's following him. It may be his imagination but he was sure that there's someone. He felt it right after he left Ayako's house.

He slowed down his pace and suddenly turned around. He saw a figure; a woman's to be precise. The person tried to hide behind a tree. But he caught her and she has no way out of this.

Oh no. Amira could hear her heart beat faster. It was only now that she felt nervous about what she did. What if he saw me? What excuse will be good enough to get myself out of this mess? Oh please, please let him not walk over here. I promise I will never do this again.

But when Amira looked up and was ready to run, she saw Rukawa looking down at her blocking her way, his narrow eyes trained on her. She felt like fainting because of embarrassment.

"What are you doing here?" Rukawa asked his face emotionless. Amira would rather like him to be angry, to at least show some emotion.

"Uhmm..I..." Amira stammered.

"I know you've been following me since I left Ayako's house." Rukawa said, not taking his eyes away from Amira.

"No. How dare you assume I'm following you?" Amira said in defense. She would have liked to think that this was romantic, Rukawa staring at her. Only, he was staring at her indifferently.

"Then what are you doing here?" Rukawa said tonelessly. "Let me tell you something. If you're wondering why I'm with Ayako, why we are together, it's because she's my girlfriend. Satisfied?"

"That's not true!" Amira said, looking away so Rukawa could not see she's hurting.

"You can ask Ayako tomorrow if you want since I know you're friends. You think I didn't know that you befriended Ayako because you want to get near me?" Rukawa finished and he turned to go.

Amira stood rooted on the ground. She clenched her fists, tears rolled down her cheeks. She ran away before he could say something that'll hurt her more. She doubt there's anything else more hurtful than what he already told her.

It didn't escape Rukawa that Amira was crying as she ran away. He tried to ignore the guilt that he suddenly felt after the confrontation. He shook his head. I hope that would be the last conversation I would have with her.

He took the key from his pocket and opened the door. Once again, the silence welcomed him. His mom was in Tokyo, with his stepfather. And his father? He didn't know where he was. I have no intention of knowing. All he knew was that he's from a broken family. He had a younger sister. She's living in Tokyo with their mom. They kept in touch through phone calls. His mom tried to convince him many times to live with them but he refused. He wanted where he was right now but he's open to the possibility of moving somewhere else.

Ryota was walking when a girl ran past him, bumping on his side.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Ryota almost fell facedown but he was able to regain his balance. The girl stopped, not looking at him but on the ground and said "Sorry." He saw that she was crying. He recognized in the dim lit street that it was Amira.

She ran away after she apologized. Ryota wanted to know what's wrong but then by the looks of it, he dare not ask.

He continued walking, hoping he would get out of his mind all the things that happened that afternoon. But he can't forget what Ayako told him. Everything that she said. They're like running in circles on his head.

Sendo was at the living room, watching a funny television program when he was startled by the loud banging of the door.

He saw Amira ran upstairs. It's unusual because whenever she got home since he arrived, she would always look for him. When she found him, they would talk, catch up and she would ask a lot of questions. She never ran out of questions. He heard another loud banging of the door; Amira's bedroom door.

Sendo switched off the T.V. and went upstairs to see what happened. As a brother, he sensed something was up with her.

He knocked on her door. "Amira, are you alright?" No response received.

"Can I come in?" Sendo knocked again. But there was no reply. He tried to open it but it was locked. He knew her too well to know that insisting she tell him what's wrong would not be good. So he decided to wait until tomorrow.

At breakfast, Mrs. Sendo was not able to join Akira and Amira because she ldt early for a business trip. Sendo thought this was a good chance to talk with his sister. He looked at her and wondered why she's quiet today. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Amira, do you have a problem?"

Amira looked up and Sendo saw she didn't look well. Her eyes were a bit swollen. It worried him to see her like that.

"Rukawa had a girlfriend." Amira said, in a whisper. That was all she had to say for him to know why she's acting strange.

"You like him, don't you?" Sendo said, trying to confirm what he thought from the first time he heard her mention Rukawa at the airport.

Amira nodded, picking on her food. Sendo didn't probe any deeper because he saw his sister's eyes getting teary. He never thought his sister was serious with that guy. Now he wanted to meet Rukawa and see why his sister likes him so much.

He placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her that everything will be all right. "Amira, don't waste your time on that guy. And don't you dare waste a tear for him. He doesn't deserve you. Cheer up! It's his lost anyway." He earned a small smile from her.

The picture Ayako was holding in her hands does not look like it was taken almost two and a half years ago. What am I doing with this? She was looking at the picture of her and Akira, and they were cheek-to-cheek, looking all happy and in love.

Closing her eyes tightly, she put the picture down on the small box where all other pictures that remind her of him and their happy memories were kept safely. After Akira left, she can't bring herself to destroy the photographs. Rumi thought she got rid of it.

And what would Rumi say if she caught me looking at these pictures again? Ayako hurriedly put the box on her closet behind her neatly folded clothes. Why can't I forget you Akira after all those years?

to be continued