NOW WHO'S THE MAN?
By nightjade
DISCLAIMER: I do not own slam dunk ...sniff! sniff! ..so unfair!
CHAPTER 3: Give me a reason..
Nasumi could not believe what happened. She did not expect that the three men would be somewhat related...well, not on the familial sense, that is. She was quite amused at the way things turned out, actually. She was not the only one who was shocked. Sendoh and Rukawa almost fell off their chairs upon knowing she was from Kainan.
Then again, everyone seemed to be surprised upon knowing she made it to Kainan. Especially old friends. Friends whom she thought she could depend on. Friends whom she thought she could trust.
Mostly, Rukawa's silent demeanor intrigued her greatly. She could sense some hidden passion for something... a drive so strong that it kept him from becoming free. It kept him from being a person capable of interacting with others, making friends, actually opening up to people. He was someone who was scared of knowing the truth and living the truth out in the open. He was someone who kept everything to himself, suffering silently while showing a strong front.
He was someone whom she used to be, not too long ago. Someone who died and will forever remain dead.
"If only things were different then, maybe I wouldn't have this kind of dilemma. Maybe I would be more true to myself..maybe..."
A gust of wind gently blew some strands of hair into her face and she absently pushed them away. It was a cool night with a full moon and twinkling stars. Normally, people would feel better on a night like this, but not her. Many thoughts swirled in her mind. She could not think clearly..not on a night like this.
"Who am I kidding? Of course, I can't turn back time! How could I wish that things would be different?" she scolded herself.
Irritated by this sudden dose of self-pity and idealism, she plopped down on her bed, closed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath. It had been a long, arduous two years and she felt so tired already. She wanted to give up. She wanted to just leave everything be. It would be easier that way, right?
But she could not. She made a promise. She could not break it again.
A soft knock on her door made her come back to Earth.
"Nasumi? It's me oniichan. May I come in?"
She quickly dried her eyes, not aware that she had been crying, and sat up.
"Sure." She wiped the last few traces of tears from her face as her brother opened the door.
"I just wanted to see if you're alright. You looked a bit ...lost and annoyed during dinner. I was wondering...do you want to talk about it?" he offered, sitting on the edge of her bed.
Nasumi was surprised at this, but she quickly turned away before he noticed her slightly red eyes.
"Talk about what, oniichan? I feel perfectly fine." She suddenly felt her guts twisting with guilt. She hated lying to her brother especially since he was really concerned and trying to help. But she knew that his understanding had its limits. She had to fight this on her own.
Shintaru did not look convinced and crossed his arms on his chest.
"Are you sure? You know you're not very good in denying, sis, especially to me."
This statement hit home. She looked up, saw the cocky smile on his face, and realized that he was right, much as she hated to admit it. She never denied anything to him. She couldn't.
"I...I just felt.. confused...seeing those three at our house..it just brings back memories... "
"Memories you need to forget." Shintaru suddenly supplied.
Nasumi stopped and looked at him, feeling angry all of a sudden. Forget? How could she forget now, especially since she promised Saiye...
"You know I just can't do that, oniichan! You think it's that easy?" she snapped.
Shintaru blinked at her sudden flare of temper.
"You're starting again, sis."
Nasumi stopped herself before she could say more. Again, her brother's words hit home. She was starting again. She was beginning to be her old self...the old self who died two years ago..or so she thought.
"Gomennasai." She looked away and sighed.
Shintaru smiled and shook his head.
"I have to admit, having boys flock around you again makes you this jittery! Which brings me to another topic...anyone from the three you like in particular?"
It was her turn to blink at this question.
"You're being too nosy, oniichan."
Shintaru laughed and rumpled her hair, something Nasumi found very annoying.
"Of course I'm nosy. I'm your big brother. So answer my question already. Do you like anyone in particular?"
She took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on the picture frame behind him. Should she tell him now? Even she wasn't sure whom she liked.
"Rukawa looks intriguing. There's this strong feeling burning deep within him, something very driving. Don't you think so, oniichan?"
Shintaru looked thoughtful as he chewed on his lower lip. Nasumi suddenly feared that he might say something that would hurt. Something like...
"I don't like him."
She prayed she heard him wrong.
"Nani?"
"I don't like him."
She wanted to jump out the window.
"Why? He didn't do anything to..."
Shinatru's sudden cold expression didn't waver.
"Rukawa's not good for you. He's like...he's like what you used to be. That much influence would make you remember and God knows what can happen.."
Nasumi could not take anymore. She shot him a look of purest ice, her eyes turning to mere slits.
"Yamete! How dare you tell me who's right for me? You don't even know these people! How can you judge so quickly? How can you not trust me?"
Shintaru did not back down at this sudden display of temper.
"And I suppose you know them well, ne? You just met them! Besides, Sendoh would be better for you. He seems well mannered and outgoing..."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore! I'm running my own life now and you have nothing to do with it!" She quickly stood up and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
She spun on her heel and placed her hands angrily on her hips.
"I'm leaving, if you don't mind! I can't stay in the same room with you...with someone who's so biased!"
With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving her brother gaping at her.
"But...this is her room." he mumbled as a sweat drop formed.
As soon as he said it, Nasumi stormed back into the room, her face flushed at the sudden realization.
"This is my room...YOU get out!" she said in a very clipped tone.
They locked gazes for a moment before he finally gave in and shrugged. He could not win with her. She was always so stubborn. Maybe that one part of her won't change.
"Alright. I'll leave you be for the meantime. But please be sure..."
"Out! I don't want to hear anymore!" she interjected angrily.
Shintaru looked pained, but stood up and left quietly. Nasumi slammed the door shut and plopped down on her bed. A much as she wanted to hold back her tears, she could not.
"How could he? How could he do this to me?" she said repeatedly as her tears flowed, freely coursing down her cheeks and soaking her pillow.
She remained like this the whole night until she cried herself to sleep.
"I'm tired!"
"I don't want to play anymore!"
"I'm hungry!"
These were the familiar cries in the gym as practice ended with the usual routine of Akagi clobbering Hannamichi and the rest of the team slumped on the floor or knocked out.
Ryota Miyagi almost crawled towards the locker room with Mitsui trailing behind him. Both players were torn down in exhaustion.
"Ahh! Water! Water!" Ryota exclaimed as he splashed the cool running water from the faucet on his face.
Mitsui did the same and felt life course back into his veins.
"Sugoi! Why does Akagi have to be this harsh? It's like we're training in the army or something!" he wailed, letting the reviving water flow on his head.
"I know. He's been hard on everybody lately. Well, we can't really blame him since the championship is very near. He wants everybody to do his best. Especially Hannamichi and Rukawa." Ryota replied as he took off his sweat soaked shirt and squeezed it on the sink.
Mitsui took a towel and dried his dripping face.
"Speaking of the fox, I wonder where he went. He was eager to leave practice. It's like he was late for something."
Ryota unfolded his shirt and stuffed it in his bag.
"Shiranai. There was something different about him, though. I did notice that during the game he looked..."
"..preoccupied. He wasn't really concentrating on the game." Ayako was saying to Akagi.
The big gorilla looked thoughtful as he scratched absently on his arm.
"Hmmm..it seems a little weird for Rukawa to be acting like this, especially since the championship is just a few days away. Do you think there's something else on his mind besides basketball, Ayako?"
"Shiranai. But who knows? Nobody can really predict his moves. Maybe there's something special all of a sudden?" she replied with a shrug.
"Or someone special."
They suddenly heard the self-proclaimed tensai laughing from the other side of the gym.
"Hahahaha! That kitsune having someone special? Yare yare! It's gonna be the end of the world if that happens! He can't even keep his eyes open long enough to look at other people. Perhaps he got tired and went home because he could not keep up with the tensai! Weakling! Hahahahaha!"
He received another whack on the head as Akagi loomed over him.
"Baka! Who told you to listen to our conversation? Concentrate on your training and don't stop till you finish those basics, understand?"
The red haired tensai grumbled as he rubbed his head and went back to his private corner to practice.
"He's very energetic these days, ne? I hope Rukawa would not be too distracted during the games. The team would need his skills badly." Ayako said as Akagi came back.
He just nodded and helped her pack up. He hoped that Rukawa would be back to normal soon.
Where is he anyway?
A very unfamiliar surrounding.
Full of tension and uncertainty.
The air was stained with a strong sense of rivalry.
This particular feeling can be brought about only by ...Kainan.
He stood by the entrance of the gym where some students directed him when he asked where she was. Different feelings suddenly stirred in him as he watched her leap gracefully in the air and smashed the ball to the other side of the court. He felt nervous, excited, and uneasy all at the same time. It took a lot of nerve for him to come here in the first place. He didn't really know what to do when he decided to go. He just realized that he had to.
Just to see her...
He needed to talk to her and ask her if she could come and watch him play in the tournament. Not that he did not have any one to cheer him on. The whole Rukawa brigade actually made plans already! But he needed her to be there..to have someone to share his victory with.
Someone special.
Will she accept the invitation? It was making him nervous.
A sudden cry of "watch out!" brought him back to earth. He looked up just in time as a volleyball came bounding in his direction and hit him squarely on the face. He fell back with a groan and shook his head to clear it.
"Gomennasai! I didn't mean to...Rukawa-kun!"
The blue eyed fox stopped rubbing his face and looked up to see her in front of him, a very worried and apologetic look on her pretty face.
"Are you alright? The ball went out of bounds and I couldn't retrieve it in time..uhm, I'm sorry." She stuck out her hand to help him up.
Still a bit dazed from the hit, he accepted her hand and heaved himself up. Whoever slapped the ball out sure can hit!
"Why are you here, Rukawa-kun?"
This particular question brought him back to his senses. This was it. He was waiting for this chance. He took a deep breath before answering.
"I...I wanted to ask you something. Will you..." his throat suddenly felt very dry and he feared that his voice would crack.
Nasumi looked at him expectantly.
"Will you...come with..."
"Maia! We're not through yet! Now is not the time to relax!" Katsuragi - sensei suddenly barked from the gym.
Kaede stopped mid-sentence and sweat-dropped as Nasumi blushed in embarrassment.
He wanted to hit the coach for interrupting him.
Do'ahou.
"Uhm, gomen Rukawa-kun, but I have to finish training first. Katsuragi- sensei is very strict when it comes to practice. We'll talk later, ne?" she said, picking up the ball from her feet.
Rukawa just nodded and watched her leave. Somehow, he felt relieved for being interrupted. He wasn't really prepared on what to say especially since he was caught off-guard. This way, he will have more time to practice.
He leaned on the frame of the gym door and contemplated on his speech. From the other side, he could see a familiar haircut sticking out of the crowd. He stood straight and craned his neck to see clearly. No doubt about it, that familiar head belonged to none other than Akira Sendoh.
"What's he doing here?" he muttered under his breath. Suddenly he felt very angry.
So, he had a lot of nerve to show his face here too! Well, two can play that game.
He saw Sendoh look his way and got more irritated when the taller boy flashed him a cocky smile and started walking towards his way.
Rukawa steeled himself for the confrontation. He would not lose this fight. He would never allow himself to be second best!
"Oi, Rukawa. Fancy seeing you here, ne?"
"Why are you always in my way?"
Sendoh was taken back by this sudden response. But then again, Rukawa was always like this.
"I'm just visiting her. Is that a problem?"
"Shut up. Why are you here, Sendoh?"
"Same reason as you." He glanced at the gym. Nasumi delivered another successful spike and earned cheers from her teammates. He smiled. "She's very good, don't you think?"
Rukawa didn't respond. He was very busy keeping his temper under control.
"You two again!"
Both of them turned at the sound of a familiar deep male voice behind them. The towering captain of the basketball team did not look too pleased at seeing them in his own sanctuary.
"You!" both of them exclaimed. At the same time, the whistle blew, signaling the end of the volleyball practice. They turned and saw Nasumi wiping her face with a towel. Then she slung it over her shoulder and picked her bag up.
"Nice job, people! I'll see you all tomorrow! Ja ne!" she said then headed towards the gym entrance, her teammates chorusing a series of goodbyes as she did.
She stopped short when she saw the three musketeers sheepishly waving hello from the entrance.
"This is really weird," she muttered under her breath.
"Hi guys. Uhm.." suddenly, she didn't know what to say. They definitely did not seem to like each other much. How was she going to keep things going among them?
"Shall we go, Nasumi-chan?"
Rukawa and Sendoh glared evilly at the taller team captain.
"Nasumi-chan? Why you have the nerve to call her that!" Sendoh nitpicked.
"How dare you ask her to come with you?" Rukawa seconded.
"I asked her even before you came here!" Shinichi Maki replied defensively, his mole twitching along with his eyes.
Nasumi sweat -dropped at this sudden outburst. She didn't need the three of them bickering like kids in front of the whole gym. It was so embarrassing already.
"Yamete! Maki-senpai offered to take me home this afternoon...even before you guys came, so I accepted. I had no idea you were coming.. Gomennasai."
Maki flashed them a triumphant grin.
Sendoh, however, looked undaunted by this reply. He smiled and slid his hands into his pockets.
"Well, that doesn't mean that the three of us can't walk you home, ne? We'll just have to make sure this guy doesn't bring you anywhere else, right Kaede?" He glanced sideways at him and smiled knowingly.
For once, Rukawa had to agree with him. There was no way he would leave her to that exploitive senior!
"Hai."
This enraged Maki and he suddenly loomed over them like a big ugly giant.
"How dare you think I'll bring her somewhere else? Only YOU can think of such a thing,.you...you hentai!"
"Who are you calling hentai? You're the senior!" Rukawa shot back.
Nasumi did not know what to do.
..to be continued...
A/N: GOMEN!! I know this is quite long. I just couldn't stop! Anyway, I hope you had fun reading it. Actually, this was SUPPOSED to explain who Nasumi really is. But I wanted to include my other favorite characters in SD so I twisted the story a little bit to make way for them...they'll be appearing in the next chapter. ( Yes, I promise that it will be the last two chapters ) ) Plus, there's this person whom Nasumi made a promise to. This character plays an important role in her, uhm, dark past. Meanwhile, I hope this will keep you in suspense (?)..Thanks again to the people who reviewed this. I hope you'll like this one too. To those anti yaoi friends of mine, this is for you ...(especially to the one who's ready to bash my head a la Gori if I write a Sendoh yaoi fic! Hehehe!)