Disclaimer:I do not own Slamdunk (and you know who does).

Unreasonable jealousy

AYAKO

Ryonan's Ace player Sendo Akira walked into the restaurant with so much confidence and by his side, her arm on his was one of the prettiest girls I've seen. Don't get me wrong. But I sometimes found myself admiring other girls.

What came first to my mind was what the hell was he doing here? Why travel extra miles to come and eat here, of all places?

Maybe the girl lived here, somewhere here and Sendo was just being kind to come all the way here to be with her. They look good together.

I saw the girl's face and I had second thoughts that she's pretty at all. She looked stiff and kind of angry. Looked like a quarrel on the way or has it already happened on their way here? But judging from how Sendo acted, he didn't seem bothered. He still contained that calm expression and trademark smile. He smiled at the waitress who was on her way to their table to give the menu.

From where I'm standing, about fifteen feet away, I saw Sendo giving their orders. The girl didn't seem to want to eat. I was watching them closely. I'm pretty sure something's about to happen. If he caught me, I'll be dead. He haven't seen me yet, so I continued the watching, being discreet with my actions. He knew me and it would be embarrassing if he saw me looking at them.

Just when I decided to stop watching, I was shocked at what happened next. The girl stood, her lap bumping the table, which must have hurt, yet she didn't even flinch. The worst part of this whole scenario was when she poured the ice-cold water on Sendo. After that, she walked out of the restaurant, looking defiant and a victorious small smile was plastered on her face. Despite what happened, Sendo still managed to smile, while shaking his head. The water was still dripping from his hair all the way to his crisp black shirt.

Without thinking, I approached him. Approached him to what? What should I do? I stopped halfway and was about to go back and forget about what I was thinking.

In fact, I wasn't even thinking clearly. But it was too late. He already saw me, and he sure was surprised. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there, staring back at him.

He stood up and was the first to speak, "Hey, I know you. You're the manageress of Shohoku, Ayako right?" he said this while wiping his wet hair with the table napkin. I could only nod, still in shock. "You must have seen what happened." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, I saw what happened. I'm sorry," was what I could say.

He looked me over. "So, you're working here." He said and his eyes sparkled like he had just been struck by an idea. "Have you eaten dinner?" It was a question I didn't expect to hear, especially from him whom I've met formally just now.

"Uhm, not yet, but I will later, during my break."

"Mind if I asked you to join me?" It's definitely what struck him in the middle of this awkward situation.

"No thanks. You don't have to do that." But my sense of humor got the better of me "I won't tell anyone, I promise," I said, which earned a chuckle from him.

"I don't take no for an answer. I insist that you have dinner with me. Oh, here comes the food," he said.

"Here's you're order, Mr. Sendo," the waitress put the meals on the table. Before walking away, "anything else Sir?" she inquired.

"No, that would be all. Thanks Ms. Ino." He guided me to the vacant seat. And before I could fully sit, it hit me "Uhm, this is really not necessary, we're not allowed to take a break, and moreover, to eat with the customers," I said.

"Is that so? Don't worry about it, I'd tell Uncle Eitoku that it was my fault you have to take an early break."

So that was why the waitresses here knew him. He's the owner's nephew. "So, shall we?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not quite comfortable with the situation." I admitted.

"I know just what you mean. I'm not comfortable with this either," he meant his wet shirt and the fact that they were seated at one of the center tables. He signaled the waiter to come near and to transfer the food at a corner table.

When they've settled, he asked, "Comfortable enough?"

I nodded. "How about you, you're all wet."

"I'm okay; I'm used to this, practice hard till I sweat. Let's eat."

I looked at the food and I felt my stomach grumble at the sight of it, must be one of the most expensive meals in this restaurant.

"In case you're wondering, what happened earlier was something that happened most of the time."

"What, the pouring of an ice-cold glass of water?" I didn't mean to say it that way, like it amused me so much. "Sorry about that."

"You're right. She always did that when she gets jealous over small things. Like for instance, what happened tonight, I just smiled at Ms. Ino and she took it the wrong way. I was just being friendly. Is that a crime?" He said to defend himself. I didn't comment on that.

I was only forced to speak when he continued talking. I didn't know he was this talkative. "Hey, you don't have to explain." I assured him. It was none of my business too anyway so why let him talk to me like we've known each other for years. We're not friends, just mere acquaintance because of basketball.

"Sorry for pouring out all that complaints to you. It just gets tiring by the day, our relationship I mean." He sighed. It looked like their relationship was on the rocks. "By the way, I might as well change the subject before I bore you to death with my complaints which clearly does not concern you. How's the basketball team doing?"

At that, the conversation went on between bites of food. The dinner lasted until 7 o'clock, my supposed break.

Outside the restaurant, "Thanks for the dinner," was all I could say.

"You're welcome. I enjoyed it anyways, and it helped me get my mind off what had happened earlier. Just promise me you won't tell others about it." I could not react to that.

"Got you. I was just kidding." He was laughing when he saw my reaction. "Well, I guess, I'll see you around."

I bowed as a sign of thanks and smiled at him. I sure did enjoy his company. As he walked away, I just hope that everything will be alright between him and his girlfriend. It seemed like it was only a small misunderstanding.

HISASHI

Today was the day that I would have to ask for her help. Before I change my mind on what I've resolved last night that I would do, I approached Ayako as she was sitting alone at one of the tables in the cafeteria, eating her sandwich while doing which I supposed was a reading assignment.

She was so engrossed that I have to clear my throat when I reached the table. She looked up and smiled, not too friendly yet not too stiff, nearly a genuine smile.

"Hi Ayako, can we talk?" I looked around to make sure no basketball team member was nearby. Someone might take it the wrong way when they see me talking with her.

That sounded demanding but she didn't care; she only nodded and cleaned the area where she just ate her snack. "Want some?" she offered the other sandwich. I declined the offer politely.

"Is this a bad time? It looked like you're busy." I glanced at what she was holding.

"No, it's alright. I just finished reading it. So, what do you want to talk about? Is it the new haircut or something else?" she's obviously in a teasing mode. I almost forgot that this other side of her personality existed.

That comment made the situation a little less awkward. "No, actually, I've been meaning to tell you about this." I trailed off, seemed to be buying off time to choose the right words carefully.

She was encouraging me to speak my mind. And so I did. "It's about the basketball team."

HINORI

What are they talking about?

I was on my way to class. But when I saw my brother heading towards the cafeteria, I thought that maybe we could have a talk. Catch up with what's happening lately.

He was leaning almost closely to Ayako who was seriously listening. I cannot make out the words so I just stood there and watched. She nodded and there was a very excited expression on her face. I looked over at my brother's.

Was there something going on between those two? From where I was standing, I'd say there was.

Not that I oppose if there was. But why be secretive about it.

Wait. Maybe it has something to do with basketball. Is he finally?

to be continued…