Disclaimer:I don't own Slam Dunk. It is the sole property of Inoue Takehiko. There is no financial gain made from this and created for entertainment purposes only.


Chapter 4: Stop and Stare

How stupid could I be

A simpleton could see

That you're no good for me

But you're the only one I see

~Stupid~

by Sarah Mclachlan

"What's with the hair?" The tall redhead inquires of his best friend's new hairstyle as soon as he saw him.

"Goodmorning to you too, Hanamichi." Mito greeted him, ignoring his query. He proceeded to remove his shoes to exchange them with uwagutsu, or indoor slippers.

Sakuragi, not being satisfied at having his questions dodged, turned to the raven haired girl behind him. "Hey bumpkin, you cut his supply of pomade again?"

The girl being questioned mock punch him in the shoulder. "I told you not to call me bumpkin, you gigantic oaf."

"What? You prefer farm girl, then?" He teased, smiling impishly at her.

"Whatever, Mister Neanderthal Man." Mizuki taunted back, which earn another silly grin from him. Mito, who was used to their playful banter, just watched from the sidelines, relieved to have the hairdo topic dropped. But having known those two for so long now, he knew that once the banter between them ended, they will then began to gang up on him.

The trio were now walking along the corridors, heading towards their respective classroom. The other students make way for them as they passed, keeping themselves at a safe distance in order to avoid any collision with the volatile redhead.

"Anyway, I think that the reason he changed his hairstyle was because he's prepping for the big day tomorrow." Mizuki informed Sakuragi conspiratorially, while pointing at her now hairgel-free cousin.

"Oh really, you think he had a chance of landing the main role?" Sakuragi took the bait, a devious smirk flashed on his face.

"Nah. That's unlikely, unless, he's contending for the role of Aurora."

"Or maybe he's vying for the role of Sleeping Beauty." The redhead said, and then chuckled at his own joke.

Mizuki gave him an exasperated look, before lightly punching him on the shoulder again. "Aurora and Sleeping Beauty is the same person, you doofus!"

"Is it?!And here I thought her name was Beauty." Sakuragi looked momentarily lost, tilting his head and scratching his right cheek.

Mito, who's walking behind them, covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.

They finally reached Mizuki's classroom but since classes will not start for another five minutes, the three of them decided to hang out for a little bit. Soon, they were joined by the rest of the Gundan, who's in the same section as the brown-eyed girl.

"Oh boy, we need to educate you with the fairy tale classics, Hanamichi. You are seriously lagging behind.. Maybe we can rent a tape and watch the movie later at our place, what cha think, Mito?" Ohkosu suggested to the others.

"Sounds good to me." Mito replied with a thumb up sign. Expect Sakuragi to confuse Sleeping Beauty with the main protagonist in Beauty and the Beast. Heck, he didn't even want to know what the redhead's own version of the story is, he might probably say something absurd like poisoned apples and singing lobster.

"Count me in!" Noma interjected.

"Yeah, me too! Hey, don't forget the snacks!" Takamiya reminded his blonde friend.

As the others discussed their movie plans for tonight, Mito caught sight of someone out of the the corner of his eyes. Casually sitting in his chair at the back of the room, with one fist pressed on his cheek, was none other than Sakuragi's nemesis: Kaede Rukawa. What caught his astonishment was, not only the guy was wide awake, but he was watching their group with a mixture of annoyance and mild curiosity. Mito turned to the others to see if they also managed to notice this unusual behaviour of the kitsune, but they were too busy bickering on who's going to pay for the food.

Except for one person.

Mito's brows furrowed as he watched his cousin fidget and blushed under the kitsune's glare. His eyes shifted between the two of them and he noticed Rukawa's gaze lingered on his cousin a little longer. There was something about the way he looked at Mizuki that unsettles him.

"What was that?!" Mito's protective brotherly instinct surged through him, feeling the need to shield his cousin away from the guy's intense stare. As if sensing the waves of hostility emanating from him, Rukawa's blue eyes turned to him. Mito didn't budge from the kitsune's ice-cold stare; instead he gave the latter his own notorious gangster death glare, as if provoking him for a fight.

Sakuragi, finally taking notice of the battle aura radiating from his bestfriend, quickly scanned the room for possible enemies. He found Mito glowering towards Rukawa; his rival and the constant thorn in his side.

"Oi Ugly Fox, are you looking for a fight, huh?! Come on! Bring it on!" The short-tempered redhead hollered, marching towards the now bored looking Rukawa.

The other students hurriedly vacate their seats, afraid to be caught in the crossfire.

"Hanamichi, will you please calm down." Mizuki tugged at Sakuragi's sleeves, pulling him further away from Rukawa. But he ignored her and keeps moving forward to where the stoic guy was seated. Upon reaching him, he slammed both of his palms on the desk and looked down on him. Undeterred, Rukawa just stared back at him, his face devoid of any emotions.

"Ehem. May I ask what is going on here?" A voice disrupted the two basketball player's stare-down contest. They both turned their eyes towards the source and saw their bespectacled brunette teacher standing between them.

"Huh, I didn't notice her arriving. Maybe Yamada-sensei is some sort of ninja, and disguising as an English teacher." Mizuki thought; surprised at their sensei's sudden appearance.

"Ah!...Ohayou Yamada-sensei!" Sakuragi's sour expression completely changed into a goofy grin as soon as he caught sight of his favourite teacher.

"The bell has already rung, Sakuragi-san. It's time for you to go back to your corresponding classroom..Or do you wish to be marked up absent in your attendance?"

"Of course not, Sensei!" Sakuragi backed out slowly away from Rukawa's desk.

"Well, gotta get going. Have a nice day Sensei!" He said the last sentence in broken english, before grabbing Mito's arm and dragging the latter out of the room with him.

As Sakuragi was about to enter his respective class, he called back to Mito, who's classroom was on the far end of the corridor. "Hey, what's up with you and that kitsune?"

"Nothing., I just don't like the way that guy stared at Zuki."

"Huh? I didn't see that…Maybe he.." Sakuragi paused and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe what?" Mito pressed him to continue.

A mischievous smile lit up on the redhead's face. "Maybe he's wondering why a little boy is wearing a girl's uniform."

Mito's eyes bulged out of him and they both broke out in a thunderous guffaw. They continue laughing, ignoring the furious glare of Sakuragi's homeroom teacher, who's standing just a few feet away from them.

xxxxx

"All rise." The class representative makes the announcement to his fellow students. They all bow at the same time and thank the teacher for today's lesson.

"Goodbye and thank you, Sensei."

The students began to gather their things, and prepare to either head home or go to the school club of their choice.

Mizuki let out a deep sigh, glad that the day was finally over. She cautiously glanced over her shoulder, and realized that the person who's been occupying her mind as of late had already left the room. She felt a pang of disappointment in which she quickly suppressed. She shouldn't be acting this way. All those blushing and sneaky glances just seem so unlikely of her. Worst of all, Mito had inadvertently caught her awkward response against the intensity of Rukawa's piercing gaze. She knew she wouldn't hear the end of it once her cousin found out that she's been...kinda obsessing over Rukawa; the guy who only had the words 'dou ahou' on his vocabulary. The guy, whom she and the gang had frequently made fun of because of his zombie-like sleepwalking habit.

"What's wrong with me?" She thought. There's so much going on with her life to even concern herself with such trivial and superficial things.

"It was probably just a spur of the moment. This feeling, whatever it is, will be gone sooner than I expected. I will not get dazzled by those blue eyes. I will not be affected by his soul piercing gaze. I am impervious! I am Rukawaproof!" Mizuki said to herself, raising one of her fists in the air and eyes blazing with ultimate determination.

"Er- Excuse me, Yohei-chan."

Mizuki's internal monologue abruptly stopped. She turned her head to the source of interruption. "Ah, Satoshi-kun. W-what's up?"

"Er- have you forgotten, the newspaper club called for an emergency meeting today. We need to go now if we don't want to be late. And besides.." The gawky teenager glanced around the room.

Mizuki belatedly realized that majority of the students already left the classroom. The few who stayed behind were watching her with a wary, almost irritated expression.

"So..Can we get on with the cleaning now? Or are you not yet done spacing out?" One of the assigned cleaners of the day asked her, tapping his right foot impatiently.

"Of course! Don't let me stop you. Please continue the superb job in making our classroom clean and sparkling!" Mizuki rambled aimlessly, trying to save face.

She stood up from her chair and linked her arm with her seatmate and fellow club member, Satoshi. "Well, sorry to leave you guys, but me and my pal, Satoshi-kun here, had a very important meeting to attend. We'd better get going now..Bye-bye!"

Twenty minutes later at the Newspaper Club Room..

"Absolutely not! No freaking way!" Mizuki was arguing with Iwata Gorou; the school newspaper's editor in chief, for the past five minutes.

"You don't get to make the decisions here, Yohei-chan. I do." Iwata informed her, appearing intimidating despite of his relatively short stature. The senior was known for his strictness and authoritarian leadership, and nobody questions his decisions when it comes to the Shohoku Times, the school's official newspaper.

Only one person dares to defy him, and that is Yohei Mizuki, the obstinate second year transferee.

"Listen Iwata-senpai, I am a staff writer for the life & style section plus doing extra job for the editorial cartoon. And then, all of a sudden, you just decided to shove another workload on me, and might I add, on a very short notice, for the reason that Naoki –chan here messed up with her article. Where's the justice in that?!"

"Life is unfair, deal with it. Since you brought up the topic of the excess workload, let me remind you that Satoshi-kun is our copy editor side-lining as a photographer cum technical adviser as well. But have you heard any complaints from him, any protests at all, huh?"

"Yes, I did hear him complain several times before." Mizuki said rather quickly. Satoshi let out a loud gasp, surprised that his harbored secret disapproval of their senpai's iron fisted rule was now exposed.

Mizuki covered her hands into her mouth upon realizing her blunder. "Uh-oh."

The diminutive editor in chief stared at her in shock, his mouth closing and opening, like fish out of the sea. He then turned his attention to the lanky guy who was fidgeting in his seat, clearly wanting an escape from this nightmarish situation.

Mizuki find it preposterous that Satoshi, who happens to be a lot taller than Iwata, was now cowering in fear against the latter's withering glare.

"Is that so?" Their EIC inquired icily.

"Er- It's just minor complaints, senpai. There's no need to get mad over trivial matters. Besides, the team really appreciates all the hard work and effort that you do for the Times. Right guys?" Mizuki asked her fellow members in an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room. The newspaper staff vigorously nodded their heads in agreement.

Iwata gave Satoshi a look that says that he's willing to let go the issue for now, but it doesn't mean that he will totally forget all about it.

"Anyway. Going back to the topic at hand. As I said before, Yohei-chan will now be working on the Featured section of the Times, replacing Naoki-chan." He said in a commanding tone.

"Darn it, Why me?" Mizuki grumbled, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"Please give me another chance, Gorou-kun. I pro-"

"No." Naoki's words were cut off by their EIC.

"But"

"No buts. I already gave you your second chance, Naoki, and you blew it bigtime." The girl protested no more, and lowered her head in shame.

"Why do we have to do an article on that.. that sleepyhead anyway? Has the Times sunk so low as to feature that emotionless guy? He doesn't even utter any words in class and yet you want me to interview him? I'm not some miracle worker, ya know. I can't make that speech-impaired guy talk out of the blue!" Mizuki ranted, obviously displeased with the concept.

"Why does the news all over the world have some bimbo with fake blonde hair and a nose job featured on their article? Or some guy with rock hard abs who can't even sing yet had his album selling like hotcakes?"

"Because of their fanbase?" Satoshi answered uncertainly.

"Exactly! Public interest is an essential component for successful journalism. You should go for what the student body wanted, and if the people are clamouring for that Rukawa guy to be featured in the Shohoku Times, then we will not fail their requests."

"Let's not forget the fact that the Rukawa fan's club agree to donate a huge chunk in exchange of the article." One of the staff writers added.

"Bri*cough* bery."

"Well, yes, that's part of the deal. As you see, our club is struggling financially, so we need all the funds we can get." Iwata replied, not denying Mizuki's allegations.

"Rukawa's fanbase is growing, and they are quite generous with the offer, so if we make them happy with the article, then that would make our club's current financial situation happy too. It's the basic law of survival."

"But what I don't understand is why did it have to be me? Why not Ume-kun, he's the sports editor after all." Mizuki muttered.

The stern senior ignored her inquiry; instead he asked her a question of his own. "What's your article all about again, Yohei-chan?"

Mizuki was just about to open her mouth to explain her article when Iwata beat her to it. "Ah, yes. Your article was about the perks of having a green thumb….Do you think your story will garner the interest of the reading audience? Do you honestly believe that they care about gardening or having a green thumb?"

"Well, we do have gardening in our curriculum." Mizuki interjected.

"Your article does not cater to the appeal of the younger demographics. The reader gains nothing from it, they can't relate with it as they don't have any sympathy or patience with dirtying their hands digging and planting who knows what! Whereas the Rukawa article will definitely boosts the number of our reading audience. He is the golden boy of Shohoku at the moment and we will use his growing popularity in whichever way we can."

"You could have said something about it before! I already send you the draft of my article a few days ago and it took you now to realized that my story is garbage?!"

"Honestly, you're writing skills are not bad. It's just that we need two pages for the Rukawa piece, and since yours is kind of consuming too much space on the paper, I've decided to just publish your article in the next issue of the Times. See, your story will not be gone to waste, and I didn't say that it was a piece of garbage. Boring, yes, but not worthless."

"Wow, and that just makes me feel so much better!" Mizuki said sarcastically.

"I believe you are capable of handling this interview, Yohei-chan. I could have given them to Satoshi-kun, but knowing how he's such a nervous wreck when it comes to that guy. He's quite intimidating from what I've heard."

"And you think I'm not the least bit intimidated at him?" She had a look of incredulity plastered on her face. She almost wanted to tell them how Rukawa made her stomach queasy with just one look from him.

"You're not scared of the guy. I've heard about the incident in your class that occurred a few days ago; where you bash the guy for his sleeping habits."

Mizuki's eyes widened and turned her head to Satoshi, giving him an accusing stare. "That little sneak. Gossiping behind my back."

Satoshi squirmed on his seat, looking everywhere but her.

"Look, Yohei-chan. We're in a grave situation right now. As your editor-in-chief, I am asking you- no, requesting for your help on this matter. This is my last year in Shohoku, and I want to leave an outstanding record for the Times." Iwata changed tactics, playing his sympathy card in an attempt to bait her.

Mizuki's resolve was slowly waning. But she immediately accepted when she heard Satoshi mentioned something about recommending her to his father's friend for some part time job. She completely forgot any bitterness she felt for the guy when he sold her out to Iwata.

"Bri-*cough*bery." Iwata mimicked her previous reaction. Mizuki blushed, ashamed for being called out on her hypocrisy.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Yohei-chan. After all, we do what we need to do when faced with adversity. That is the law of survival."

"Naoki, give Yohei-chan here the research materials and the questionnaires provided by the Rukawa brigade. Also, we need a decent picture of this hotshot player, as the ones given by Satoshi-kun are useless. All of the pictures that were taken from him either show him sleeping or walking with his eyes closed. Come on people, we need an image of him in action! He's a basketball player for Pete's sake, take photos of him doing some flashy dunks or something!" The editor-in-chief commanded his newspaper committee.

Naoki was carrying huge stack of papers on her hands and placed them in front of Mizuki's desk. "What's all this?" She asked her senior, staring at the myriad of papers in front of her.

The pig tailed girl smiled sweetly at her before replying in a rather icy tone, "What else, these are compilations of the Rukawa Fan's club most wanted questions on their idol. Be sure to include one of their queries in the article, if you want their claws off your back. Anyway, Goodluck."

"Thanks. I will surely need all the luck I can get."

She took a deep breath and looked at the pile of papers on her desk. Just a few minutes ago, she was adamant that she can avoid any future interaction with Rukawa. But it seems that fate was just not on her side.

A chilling thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Oh boy, the Rukawa Brigade will eat me alive."


A/N: Special thanks to my first ever reviewer, eve03. I'm really happy to know that you liked my story. (*wiping the tears of joy on my face)