Chapter 1: Game's Over

The school year has just begun and everyone has a new face to meet. If it wasn't for the long vacation, our ice prince would have forgotten he has to go to school.

"Hn," was the first words he has to say. He was at home and the alarm clock did it's very best to wake him up. He brushed his droopy eyes and took a look around saw the same things he saw last night. He stood up and went to the shower. The cold water sure woke him up he opened his eyes widely at the touch of droplets onto his delicate skin. He went out and dressed in his uniform. He took his shoes and looked at its size.

"Oh how I've grown. I can't even believe these are my shoes," he thought to himself and smiled. He glanced at the clock seeing that in only 5 more minutes, he would be late. He went out and waved goodbye to his butler.

"Are you not eating breakfast?" he called out. He saw Kaede just shaking his head and said no. "You sure are in a hurry," the butler whispered and closed the gates. Kaede went to his bike and rode on it to school.

On his way, it was rush hour and a heavy traffic. He was maddened by it and grumbled. After a little while he was in school. He ran to his new classroom and bumped to every single person blocking his way. Whether girl, boy, or even a teacher, he doesn't care. All he knows is that he's late. He finally reached his room and the teacher was about to introduce him but he was nowhere to be found.

"Ohayou," he said grumpily and slumped himself to the chair at the farthest left. He didn't look to anyone in the room instead he crossed his arms on the desk and bent his head. He was sleeping again.

"Kaede Rukawa!" his teacher called out. "Is that all you could say?" He looked at him with eyes seeming not to believe.

Rukawa just raised his head to look at his angry teacher and went back to his sleep. The teacher was very fuming he approached his seat.

"Stand up," he ordered him. The whole class was watching the scene. "What do you think would happen next?"

"Oh my, look at that transferee, he's sooooo cute!"

"I can't believe he's done it!" Still the teacher received no response. He slapped Kaede's nape and he woke up. He looked for the one who woke him up. The whole class pointed to the teacher walking back towards his table. Rukawa stood up and gave his teacher's head a blow. The crowd was amazed and gave a loud "wwwooooowww". The furious teacher turned and was aiming to hit the student but Kaede gave him a headbutt and went back to his seat and slept.

"Ahhhh!" the girls shouted as if cheering. "L-O-V-E Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa!" The teacher fell to ground and was not helped by anyone but was being laughed at. He stood up and went to the table.

"That class, is Kaede Rukawa, our new student transferee. Be kind to him okay? Or else you may have the same fate as I had," he said while feeling the bump on his forehead. The whole class laughed at him making him turn red. They laughed at him even harder.

The class ended and even before the first one nearest the door could come out, Rukawa came first than him.

"Someone's on a hurry," he said as Rukawa bashed onto his shoulder. He looked at Rukawa with fear and he almost collapsed receiving a dire glimpse from the ice prince standing lofty for about 5 times his stature. The ice prince turned his back on him and went on his walk with the black sports bag which I think has nothing at all except for his sportswear.

"Do-ahou!" he whispered with a haughty face. He was walking towards the stairs and was followed both by guys and gals with different whisperings.

"God, he sure is tall."

"Who is that guy?"

"He must be new, never saw him here."

"He looks much like a freshman to me."

"Same here!"

"Ahhhh! There he is!"

"L-O-V-E Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa!" He vexed on hearing that chanting and passed up his walking. "I never thought that girls in Shohoku took drugs," he assumed to himself with an irritating smirk.

Later, he was in front of the Shohoku Gymnasium. "Finally, this is it," he whispered and changed his clothes. He was dribbling and did a little warm-up with an invisible opponent. He run here, ran there, and gave several shots. It wasn't long before a tall dark shadow prodded to the doors.

He was Takenori, the captain of the Shohoku basketball team. He saw that there was someone in the gym. He peeked and saw Rukawa. He raised his brow for he never saw him around.

"Who is this kid?" he asked himself. He was to approach the ice prince while he was turned behind aiming for the ring on the opposite side.

"Ahh, excuse me-" he said but tripped over seeing the ball to his direction. "Hey, watch it!" Rukawa watched as the captain stood up.

"Gomen, I didn't see you coming," he apologized but was cold. "Who are you anyway?" he asked as he takes hold of the ball.

Akagi skimmed at him in ire. "You're new, I can tell," he said as he soothed his shirt. Rukawa nodded and turned around.

"If you came to check the gym, it's cool. Now go," Rukawa ordered. Akagi was even enraged.

"How about a one-on-one?" he suggested to the guy. He drew near the ring and gave one-hell-of-a-dunk

He ran to Akagi and looked at him from head to toe. He gave a smirk and dribbled.

"Sure!" he said. "You can be quite a challenger with your height." Both started the game with Akagi taking the lead.

"You're good," groaned Rukawa running after Akagi. "Where did you learn?'"

"I really play good basketball you now," he answered running even faster to lose his pace. "I am the team's captain." Rukawa almost slipped with the word "captain".

"Really now!" Rukawa was panting out. "It would be an honor if I can defeat you."

Akagi gave a shot and left Rukawa breathing his heart out. "This is just a warm-up," he teased. "And you're giving up that easy?"

"Not that easy," said Rukawa as he held the ball and ran to his side. "Let's have a bet," he offered to Akagi. Akagi was listening as he was trying to slink the ball from

Rukawa's arms. "First to 10," he said as he faked a shot. "and the loser treats dinner." He shoots a three-point and SWAK! A point ahead. Akagi gets hold of the ball and rushed to his court. "Deal," he shouted out.

"Deal," Rukawa retorted back as he was gaining on Akagi. The game was going on as the two were playing intensely.

As the game was going on, classes of the sophomores and juniors has just ended. Truly, it takes a couple of minutes before they end up. Seniors and freshmen always get to go early. Ryota, a sophomore, was walking in the corridors. He was carrying his bag and was following Ayako.

"Gomen, but I really have to go," she said.

"Daijobu. I'll escort you home," he said with a loving smile. He was already walking beside her. He can sense her scent and inhaled it heavily. "Mmmmm, she smells great," he whispered to himself.

"Baka! I want to go home now," she said in an irritated tone. She quickened her walking.

"Koibito, wait!' but he was too late. "Sayonara." She was too far for him to catch up. "She really is scurry." He kept thinking about her and was completely blank. Walking slowly, he bumped to a rather older guy. Hisashi Mitsui.

"Hey, didn't you see me!" he asked arrogantly. Mitsui moves his bag and saw a chap about 5'3" in height. "Gomen, I didn't see you," he said with an insulting tone.

"Are you telling me I'm small?" he answered back.

"Why, aren't you!" he taunted.

"Do- ahou!" Ryota blurted out.

"Who? Me?" asked Mitsui driven mad. He clenched his fists and was about to hit him.

"Baka! Of course, whom else do you think," he ridiculed.

"You!" he said as he ran after the running Miyagi. He was getting tired and could hardly breathe. Ryota finally stopped seeing that Mitsui was a couple of feet away.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're the junior high MVP," he yelled at him. He was already gaining at him and when he reached Ryota, he fell to his knees trying to catch his breath. He then looked at Ryota with his very sweaty face. "Yeah, that's right," he said at the peak of his respiring. "What has that do to with us?"

"Let's just play a game? If you win, you can take any punishment in that blinkered mind of yours," he said with a little doubt in him. He cleared his throat and proceeded to the Shohoku gym.

"What if you win?" Mitsui suddenly asked stoically.

"Well," Miyagi scratched his head." You would help me court Ayako. How about that?"

"Hey, that's harder than anything I can think of," he whined. "I don't she even likes you."

"Oh she likes me. You'll see," Ryota assured as he changed to his sportswear.

As they arrived in the court, they saw two shadows chasing one another.

"Hmmmm, seems we're not the only ones gambling through basketball, eh?" Ryota asked.

"Hey, it's not gambling. And I'm not playing this because you asked me but because I love it. Is that clear?" clarified Mitsui tying his laces.

"Hai," he answered. "Whatever you say," he grumbled.

"What was that?" Mitsui turned.

"Oh nothing. Let's play basketball," Miyagi invited. They ran to the court and tried to recognize the two.

"Keep it up, old poke," mocked Rukawa. "Or you'll be left out!" And he laughed having hold of the ball.

"Sure, be ready to get slumped!" Akagi retorted trying to keep up. They were in the middle of the game having a 6-7 scoring. "Ahhh, excuse us," Miyagi bulged out. Rukawa who was supposed to have shot fell to the floor because of such disturbance. Ryota gave a hearty laugh at the picture.

"What's so funny, baka?" Rukawa asked as he stood up. He was looking at Ryota as if aiming to hit him straight in the face.

"If it isn't Hisashi Mitsui the junior high MVP. What brought you here with a friend?" Akagi said walking around Mitsui as if examining him.

"To play of course. And he's not my friend. Baka!" he growled.

"Keep it cool, we can play together," Ryota joined the talk. Each looked at him and Rukawa brought two coins.

"Heads or tails? Two coins, two groups," he presented. They nodded and they parted. Akagi and Rukawa, Mitsui and Miyagi. Rukawa and Mitsui were on tails while Akagi and Ryota on heads.

"Two-on-two; fair?" expected Akagi.

"Game on!" the four started.

"Wait!" Rukawa stopped. "There ain't any deal yet."

"Hmmmm, let me see," Akagi contemplated. "Loser cleans the gym and wipes the balls used. No comments, okay?" The three looked at him and took hold of the game. Akagi's team was first to score. Then, Rukawa took it back. It was like that the whole time. There were rebounds, steals, and a couple of fouls from Miyagi. Before the time ran out, Akagi and Miyagi was a point ahead. Mitsui, determined not to lose, gave a hopeful three-point shot. It went through and they won.

"Haha! I told you so! You have no chance against a former MVP," Mitsui sneered at Ryota.

"Beats me. It was Rukawa who did all the work," Ryota smirked. Akagi looked at the two and sat on the floor. At the corner of his eye, he saw the hushed ice prince spraying water to his face. He noticed him and turned his face away.

"Hn," Rukawa said. Takenori stood and verged on to Rukawa.

"You played well," he said with a cheery face. He just looked at him and went back to fixing his things. The captain sighed and started cleaning the gym. "Miyagi, you better get moving or I'll leave you clean this alone," he hollered. Ryota bore his head and went to wiping. Almost an hour passed and the gym was shining clean. It was 6:30 in the evening.

"Ah, I better leave now," bade Mitsui. "Thanks for the game!"

"Wait for me! I have to go too!" called out Ryota. "See ya guys!" And before you knew it, the two were gone in the wind. Akagi was left with Rukawa. He looked at him and remembered his sister. "She really likes you, you know?"

"Uh?" altered Kaede. "Said something, captain?"

"I remembered my sister while looking at you," he said as he shut his eyes reminiscing.

"I hope she doesn't look like me," Rukawa asked with brows raised.

"Of course not, baka!"

"Then why me?"

"She likes you a lot. I don't know why but she keeps talking to me about you. How you look, how you play, how you –ahhh! She drives me nuts." Rukawa was wiping his wet face.

"Hn"

"What are you raising your brows for?" Rukawa was looking at him seemed to have a great idea.

"Remember the bet?"

"The dinner thing?"

"No, the other one."

"There was no other one."

"Now there is" Takenori was already edgy of what Rukawa was thinking of.

"What is it?" he asked with a swallow of something blocking him inside.

"You said your sister likes me. That's true?"

"Yeah."

"Is she pretty?"

"You can say that."

"Does she play?"

"Only the best, dude!"

"You got yourself a deal!"

"Wha-?"

"I'm courting you sister and you must do everything to make her like me. Deal?"

"Iie."

"We played fair! Isn't it you do your part?"

"But she's-"

"Alright. Just tell me if you're cutting the deal off."
"If I did?"

"I got myself a loser."

"That's-"

"And he is the captain of Shohoku Basketball Team."

"Quit it!"

"What then?"

"Deal!"

"I thought so." said the ice prince with a cold voice.

"But don't hurt her or else-"Akagi was unable to finish his sentence when Rukawa turned his back o him. "Come back here!" but Rukawa waved goodbye with an evil smirk on his face.

"Hn, loser," he whispered. Akagi was miserable. What has he done?

-------------------------------------Can't wait! What's next? ----------------------------------------