Disclaimer:I do not own Slamdunk (and you know who does).
The Beginning
Ayako.
I have two closest friends, Kaede Rukawa and Hinori Mitsui. We're of the same age but I'm ahead of them both at school. (Maybe because I'm more intelligent... Just kidding). They're going to kill me if they hear me say that.
I'm now a freshman at Shohoku High while those two are still at Tomigaoka junior high. They plan to go to Shohoku because they can't bear to be away from me. (So okay, the truth is…I persuaded them to go to Shohoku using my irresistible charms). But honestly, I'm the one who can't bear to be separated from them. And here's the story how we became best friends...
One day, a group of bullies at school in our kindergarten years tried to get Hinori's lunch. (There were four of them who have no better thing to do besides making others feel bad). I happen to be passing by and saw a very pretty girl. It looks like she's about to cry any second. Recognizing those bullies to be my classmates, I confronted them right then and. "Hey, give that back to her!" I shouted in a very authoritative and the bravest I could muster. Luckily, they gave it back to her and ran away.
They're afraid of me because I'm known to be tough. I don't let any one look down on me. I'm not violent if ever you're wondering. It's not the reason why they ran off. I just scared them, that is all.
The 'violence' I'm talking about: I picked a stone, which size I can't remember, and aimed it right on one of the boys' butt. I was never good at aiming so when I launched the stone, guess what? I hit an innocent boy named Kaede Rukawa. He was just passing by and I didn't see him coming and obviously, he didn't see what was about to hit him.
After what happened, the three of us stood looking at each other. Hinori thanked me for coming to her rescue and saving her food from being devoured by those bullies. I felt like a heroine that day. And at the same time, I felt like the bad guy. I looked over at Kaede and apologized. The back of his head must have hurt because his face told so.
To my surprise, Kaede didn't seem angry. Well, that's how I see it. Maybe he thought that I didn't mean it. Or maybe, just maybe, he is also afraid of me since I'm three inches taller than him.
Hinori thanked me by sharing her food with me. I apologized to Kaede again. Well, it was more like bribing him than sharing. And so, as we eat the food on the roof top, we learned that we were living on the same street, our houses couldn't be that far from each other which means we could hang out more often. So we did.
Since then, we became friends and constant playmates. As we grew older, reaching our teenage years, we came to like basketball. Because of that, our friendship became stronger, deeper and more…
Hinori Mitsui. I'm not friendly. I always thought that I'm a loner since I have no friends. I have an older brother and he's the only friend I have before I've met Ayako and Kaede. All changed when I met my two best friends. I met Ayako, the girl who acts tough and Kaede Rukawa, the mellow guy.
Ayako saved me too many times. The first time she saved me took place when we were in kindergarten. There were bullies who tried to get my food. I was near tears when Ayako came to stop them. She bravely confronted the bullies and they ran away.
Not contented, Ayako picked a rather big stone, as big as my fists. She aimed it at one of the bullies and to my horror, it hit Kaede Rukawa instead. I saw him lose his balance and fell on the groun. He must have felt dizzy. Thank goodness, his head did not bleed. But surely, his butt must have hurt badly.
When I met Kaede Rukawa, my first impression was that he's also shy like me. He doesn't talk much. But then he wasn't who I thought he was. He's more of the anti-social type. He's a man of few words and maybe a loner because I didn't see him having many friends as much as Ayako has. I also thought that he'd be a heartthrob.
I was so right about that! I never thought he'd grow taller than Ayako and me. Eventually, he became the captain of the basketball team in our school, Tomigaoka junior high.
Kaede Rukawa. I was living a simple life when I met the two girls whom I didn't know were destined to be the only two girls who could get close to me, besides my mother of course.
Actually, they're the only friends I have, the only ones I trust. The way we met is unusual.
I immediately had an idea that Ayako's the one who hit me. Compared to Hinori, who looked shy, Ayako is tough for her age. Since I'm a man of a few words, I'll end it here.
to be continued...
A/N: Hinori (OC). I can't think of any since I'm not familiar with Japanese names!
Edited version as of June 2011.