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 7: The Taming of the Kitsune
One only understands the things that one tames….Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
"So, how did the two of you meet?"
Mizuki's inner contemplation was momentarily cut off by Ayako's query.
She turned her head to look at the lady manager and found her watching Sakuragi, who's trying to maintain his cool at Ryota's non-stop badgering about the play.
"He tagged along with Mito to Chiba one time during summer vacation. Since then, it became a tradition for him to spend the summer break in our place."
"He must really like that place."
"Yes. But he wasn't able to visit last year as he was busy with the Interhigh games. He'll probably miss it again this year…" Mizuki trailed off, remembering the conversation she overheard between her aunt and uncle; about their intention to have the farm house put on sale because of financial difficulties. Perhaps, the tradition has finally come to an end. She suddenly felt homesick again and swallowed the lump forming on her throat.
"But it's okay if he skipped the tradition this year, as long as he achieves his dream of getting into the nationals." She added, trying to diffuse the negative thoughts running through her head.
The curly haired manager nodded in assent; the abrupt change in Mizuki's mood did not escape her notice.
"Hana-kun was the talk of the town when he first came to visit. After all, it's not every day that you get to see a kid with a flaming red hair."
"And a loud mouth to boot." Ayako said jokingly, in an attempt to put the short haired girl at ease.
Mizuki let out a small laugh. "Actually, it's quite the opposite. He's reserved and a bit shy at that time."
Ayako's jaw slacked open in utter bewilderment at her revelation. "No way! You've got to be kidding me."
"I know it's kinda hard to imagine him not being his usual obnoxious self, but time really do change people." Mizuki's smile turned wistful, her thoughts strayed back to the first time she'd met the redhead. Their initial encounter wasn't at all chummy, due largely to the fact that she's very hostile towards him. She didn't like him before and she spent most of the time antagonizing the bizarre color of his hair.
"You and Hanamichi go way back, huh?"
"Yup. Way, way back. I've known him since we were eight."
Ayako gave a low whistle of amazement. "It's nice to hear that he's capable of keeping friendship despite his crabby attitude." She took another glance at the redhead, who's still engaged in what's becoming a heated argument with the team captain, before shifting her attention to the intriguing girl and her jittery companion.
"So, I heard that you two are from the newspaper club. Is that part of the reason why you and your partner came for a visit? Or you came solely to watch Hanamichi practice?"
Mizuki was taken aback by her perceptiveness. But then she realized that it's not the first time that someone from the news club had made an appearance during their basketball session. Her fellow club member and senior, Naoki-san , immediately came to her mind. Ayako probably witnessed the girl's ungraceful fainting.
'Perhaps, Ayako-senpai can help them achieve their mission.' Being the manager, Mizuki surmised that Ayako had a big influence on her team members and she can certainly persuade the snotty ace player to do the interview.
While the rest of the crowd had their attention focused on Sakuragi and Ryota's bickering, Mizuki began explaining to Ayako the real purpose of their visit.
xxxxx
Rukawa trudged along behind Ayako as she headed outside the gym. She approached him a while ago and mentioned that she had something to discuss with him and asked him to follow her. The sudden appearance of her wicked paper fan made him yield to her demand without any protests.
As he stepped outside, Rukawa was momentarily confused when he saw rooftop girl standing a few meters away, apparently waiting for the two of them. But considering the unusual request of his team manageress to speak with him beyond the confines of the gym, it would seem that she's waiting specifically for him.
Rukawa aimed a questioning glare at his senpai. 'Is she trying to set me up with rooftop girl?' She should learn by now that her matchmaking skills were a total failure. He remembered the incident last year where she forced him (meaning dragged his sleeping body) and dumped him into the Ferris wheel with that Akagi girl. He was roused from his deep sleep by the wobbling and swaying of the suspended seat and all remnants of his drowsiness dissolved in an instant when he discovered his whereabouts: hanging a hundred feet from the ground on a rusty and rickety Ferris wheel. He tried to keep a calm composure, hiding the fact that he was scared out of his wits. While trying to suppress his fear of heights, he became aware of someone leaning into his shoulders. He turned to his left and saw a girl sitting beside him. He realized, after his brain started functioning again, that the girl was his Captain's little sister, Haruko, who's barely recognizable because her face has turned to color green and her eyes were swirling rapidly. It would seem that she's in a much worse condition than him. He recalled that he warned her not to puke on him, and fortunately, she obliged. After what seems like an eternity for him, the hellish ride finally ended. Knowing that he can never exact his revenge to their team manager, he settled with giving his senpai a murderous glower at that time… which intensified even more at the moment.
Ayako chose to ignore his defiant attitude and proceed to explain the reason why she brought him here, lest he made any assumptions that she's interfering with his love life. She tried, once, but it didn't work out the way she wanted. What she had envisioned for Haruko and Rukawa at that time was a romantic Ferris wheel ride, but alas, it ended up with their ace being extremely pissed towards her and Haruko passed out, either as a result of her fear of heights or her close proximity to him. After the incident, she stopped playing matchmaker and let time and circumstances decide for them. She had to wonder, what are the odds that their aloof ice king will get interested in anyone?
'Anything can happen, that's for sure.'
Mizuki kept her stance steady, and schooled her expression so as not to give away any of her feelings. She listened as Ayako started explaining to Rukawa, using a somewhat soothing and apologetic tone as an attempt to placate the scowling guy.
'What a brat.' Mizuki bristled at his obnoxiously self -important attitude. She allowed herself to study the pompous grumpy guy standing in front of her. He was obviously from a well to do family, judging from his branded clothes, bearing and his noticeably brand new basketball shoes. She resisted the impulse to slam her worn out shoes against his pristine white ones.
'Some people just seem to get all the luck.' She thought bitterly.
Her thoughts were so consumed on how she's going to smudge dirt on his shoes that she didn't notice that Ayako was now speaking to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh! Ayako-senpai! Sorry I was distracted for a moment. Uhmm, What were you saying again?"
Rukawa snorted in annoyance which earns him an icy glare from the short-haired girl.
Ayako just covered her mouth to stifle her giggle and waved her hand in dismissal. "No worries, Mizuki-chan. After all, you're not the only one who's overly curious with our Ace player's shoe size."
She gaped at her senpai, surprise evident in her face. But Ayako's next statement had her spluttering in shock.
"You know what they say about big-footed men. The size of their shoes is an indicator of the size of their.. you know…manhood." Ayako said while wiggling her eyebrows mischievously.
'She did not just say that!' Mizuki's face turned crimson with embarrassment, wishing that the ground will swallow her whole. All of her efforts to remain indifferent throughout the conversation were thrown immediately into the window with their senior's offhanded remark about Rukawa's shoesize. She's beginning to regret her plan of getting Ayako-senpai to help. It seems that she's just making the situation a lot more awkward for the two of them.
A glance at Rukawa revealed he, too, was totally uncomfortable with the sudden turn of the conversation. Mizuki watched, in slight fascination as the tips of his ears reddened. At least, he's still capable of showing emotion, such as embarrassment. 'He's not a full blown ice block, after all.' She was a little in awe that she was able to witness this different side of him. But as quickly as it happened, the uneasiness ended, replaced by a frown marring his handsome face.
The somewhat impish curly haired manager was secretly enjoying the spectacle in front of her. It was rare for their aloof ace player to be caught off guard, much less fidget at some random comment. 'And Mizuki-chan looks oh so adorable when she's blushing! Oh my, they look kind of cute together… I wonder – Uh-oh! He's back to his cranky and moody self. I'd better do something to remedy the situation.'
"Anyway, as I was saying a while ago, Mizuki-chan here was assigned by their club president to do an article for the Shohoku Times, our school's official newspaper. Mizuki-chan, could you please brief Rukawa-kun regarding the subject matter? "
"Ah y-yes, of course, Ayako-senpai." Mizuki answered, falteringly. She cleared her throat slightly, forced a smile and shifted her eyes towards him.
Chocolate brown orbs clashed with a pair of cobalt blue eyes.
"Hi there, Rukawa-kun." She gave a small wave of greeting in which he didn't return. She already expected that rude attitude of his so she continued speaking. "Me and my fellow club member, Satoshi-kun, who's currently missing in action, belong to the same class as you, in case you haven't noticed… Or maybe you did notice, but just didn't care.. Not that I care if you didn't notice at all and I'm not talking about the type of care as being concern with our welfare, but a whole lot different kind of care, like being aware who your classmates were." Her aimless blubbering brought another wave of warmth crawling up her neck. Not able to withstand the intensity of his stare, she glanced way from him, self-consciously tugging at her bangs, making sure they covered her forehead.
"So, yeah. As Ayako- senpai had mentioned, I was given the task of doing an article for next month's edition of the Times. Since basketball had caught the interest of the majority of the student body, ('mostly females, but he doesn't need to know about that') our editor-in-chief decided to feature the best among all the players, the cream of the crop, the ace of Shohoku, which is you, Kaede Rukawa. ('Go on,Mizu, feed his already over-inflated ego') I believe that you already met one of our members and co-writer, Naoki-senpai. She was supposed to do an interview with you last week, but due to unexpected circumstances, she was unsuccessful. Our EIC then transferred the assignment to me. That's why I'm here. To gather info on Shohoku's most outstanding player." She congratulated herself mentally for managing to speak without any stammering on her part. Her eyes focused back on him and found him watching her with that irritatingly bored look on his face.
'This guy's a real piece of work!'
Mizuki cleared her throat again before she began to speak. "I was wondering if you could inform me when you will be free, so we could schedule the interview." Hugging the folders tightly to her chest, she rummaged through her sling bag, picking up a pen and notepad to record the date and time. When silence ensues, Mizuki looked up from her notepad, awaiting his response. They've been standing here for several minutes now and she hasn't even heard him utter a single syllable.
"Well?" She asked, her patience wearing thin.
"Geez, you gonna talk or just stare and drool all day? – oh shoot!" Realizing her slip, she clamped both of her hands over her mouth. She shot a glance at Ayako, who's torn between awe and shock from her brazen comment.
"Not interested." Rukawa replied in a clipped tone, before turning his back and walking away.
"Wait, Rukawa!" Mizuki grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. They both flinched from the sudden contact of their skin. Rukawa drew his arm away quickly, as if burned from her touch, but surprisingly, he remained standing, eyeing her warily and waited for her to continue.
Mizuki took a step back, giving them enough space as she racked her brain for an explanation for that crude remark… and the electric spark she felt when she accidentally touched his arm. 'What in the world was that? Did he felt it too?'
Ayako watched the scene unfolding in front of her with interest. To an outsider, it would seem like the blushing girl was somehow confessing her true feelings to the tall boy. And instead of brushing her off like he usually did to his horde of fangirls, Rukawa decided to stick around this time. The manageress didn't fail to notice that his gaze wandered over the blushing girl's face for a moment before turning his eyes elsewhere, running his fingers through his ebony hair in the process.
'Huh. The ice cap is slowly melting.'
She never would have believed it if someone told her that their normally reserved ace player was behaving out of character by staring at a girl. A dozen thoughts run simultaneously through her head. She remembered Haruko, her sweet and naïve assistant manager who have been on a one sided love affair with their star player for several years now. Even though she said that she's already over him, Ayako still catches her lingering gaze on him every once in a while. But she has also heard her talk about a certain guy these past few days. She believes Haruko's confused with her emotions and still needed time to sort them out.
'The same goes for me.' Ayako pondered on her feelings towards the basketball team's new captain, Ryota Miyagi. She's very much aware that he likes her, if she based them on the latter's consistent love struck eyes whenever she complimented him or smile at him. But, like most of the guys, he had some issue expressing himself. It feels like they are just running around in circles. Is he planning on making a move anytime soon or is he just content on gawking at her from afar?
'He's so confusing!' The thought frustrated her so she turns her attention back to her two underclassman, who looks lost in their own little world, the team manager's presence already forgotten. She doesn't mind being ignored, as it would give her an opportunity to observe their actions without any further constraints. She wishes that she had a camcorder or even a camera with her so she could capture this rare moment.
Ayako knew Rukawa since junior high and she can attest that she had never seen him spend more than a minute listening to someone, much less a girl, without falling asleep or blatantly ignoring them. Unless of course, if it's basketball related or something of equal relevance. And knowing him and his I don't give a damn attitude; she knows that he wouldn't exactly consider being featured on the school newspaper as a great accomplishment. In fact, she was sure that he will think of it as a waste of time, energy and paper. So, why in the world hasn't he left yet?
'Today is really full of surprises.' Ayako reflected, and the question that she asked herself a while ago; whether there is any possibility that someone might catch Rukawa's attention, seems to have been given an answer.
'Anything can happen, indeed.'
A/N: At long last, after six chapters, they finally got to talk to each other. Hooray! (Although, Rukawa managed to only deliver two words. =P) The journey towards their happily ever after will be quite a long one, so please be patient with the story.
Btw, Christmas is fast approaching, and I'm sorta "expecting" a gift from you, fellow SD fans. This particular gift doesn't need any wrappings. *wink wink Advance Merry Christmas! (=^_^=)
