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Chapter 4: A Maid Dilemma

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk isn't mine. This is merely a fan-made story based on it. All rights and characters belong to Takehiko Inoue except for: Shin Yuuki, Kogane, Takagi which are all OCs. Enjoy!

It was a Sunday morning, Sendoh came down early for breakfast to find someone already in the smaller dining area. It was a welcome change on his part. With light footsteps he went to get his cereal and a bowl.

"Do you always wake up this early?" he greeted, sitting down in front of her. Upon a closer inspection, he saw that Shin had her cereal bowl on her far right and she was hunched over a sketchpad.

She looked up at him and smiled with her golden eyes looking very awake, "Two breakfasts in a row, this is interesting." Shin said before getting back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, don't get used to it. What are you doing there?"

"Oh," she sat back and pulled up her sketchpad to show him her work, "I'm doing the mural design for the school fair. It's for my class but they're paying me to do it."

Sendoh was stunned, there was no clue nor trace that the girl did something so impassioned.

He studied her work, it was delicate, dramatic and smooth. A whole picture of the sea overlooking the vast sky with seagulls flying over. It was done professionally that he couldn't believe it was done by a 16-year-old, and Shin Yuki at that.

"Wow. I have to be honest, I didnt think you're into impressionism, much more, painting one."

"Hmm, you too." Shin said, impressed by his knowledge in art, "My best friend's heading the committee and she thought we'd earn more if we sell some prints."

Sendoh raised a brow, "You think a painted picture would sell?"

"Hah? This is just a wallpaper design. This," she took another sketchpad and opened it in front of him, "This is what we're selling. My friend's theme is supposed to be Maid Cafe, I'm in charge of the prints for those." she smiled smugly and Sendoh could see why.

They were sketches of really beautiful high school girls in maid outfits, some were drawn with wings, halos, devil's tails. He took the sketchpad from her and admired the lines and proportions she was able to convey in her artwork.

"So, as a guy, what do you think?" she placed her elbows on the table, hands under her chin and stared at him expectantly,

"I didn't peg you as an artist, but then again, deceptively clean and beautiful pictures like these has your signature all over it."

"Hmm… I dunno if I should be offended, but still, I applaud you for noticing my brilliance." she stared at Sendoh while he studied her work.

"Those sultry looks, the heavy-hand you used for the eyes and the darker shade of the background. Male students will devour this." Sendoh handed her sketchpad back to her.

She gave him a mischievous smile, "Thanks. The teachers won't allow these to be sold if I blatantly drew explicit stuff."

"So this art thing is a part time job?"

"Kind of. It's mostly a hobby, but ever since I stopped receiving money from my mom it helps that I can make money from this."

Sendoh stared at her more intently, "I heard about that, why did you cut her off?"

Shin stared at Sendoh for a while, studying him, then, with a new resolve, she let out a small breath before deciding to continue, "I don't want the dirty money she takes from that rich geezer she's mooching off. You probably don't know this, but she left my dad because he was laid off by his company, but I heard he's getting back on his feet now, so all's well."

"So who's paying for school?" he asked point blank.

Shin answered, there's no point hiding anything, especially from him, "My father saved enough for me to get by until high school ends, and then my grandparents left me a small fortune but I can't get it until I turn 21."

"Tough life."

"What are you talking about? I'm completely fine. It's my parents who are having it tough. I can do whatever I want, they, on the other hand, won't be able to undo all the screw-ups they've done."

"It's my first time seeing someone being optimistic and cynical at the same time." Sendoh stared at her for a moment before remembering something, "Congrats on your win."

Shin seemed surprised by the sudden swing of their conversation, then smiled, "Thanks. So you watched?" Sendoh nodded, "Why didn't you greet me?" she asked.

"You were surrounded, and how would it look if I congratulated the enemy instead of the Ryonan player who I don't even know?"

"Ah, you have a point." the mood completely changed from tight to light.

"So why did you decide to go to Shohoku anyway?"

"The location used to be close to my house, well, the last one I lived in." Shin took a spoonful of cereal then looked up at Sendoh, "I would've gone to Ryonan since it was near the house I lived in before." she said before putting the entire spoon in her mouth like a child.

"Things would've been different if your mom agreed to let my mom take you in sooner." Sendoh stated.

Shin smirked, "I don't know why she needed her permission. If I'd known your mom then I would've gone here despite what my mom says. Seems like you're pretty familiar with my life story." Shin said nonchalantly, her very twisted private life was an opening book to this stranger she just met.

"Our moms are best friends, it's impossible for me to not be around whenever they argue."

"They argued? About me?"

"It's not really my business, but if it would make you feel any comfortable living here, she always wanted to take you in."

"Great." Shin was clearly bothered by the story, she finished her bowl quickly. "Ah, I have to leave early, will that be alright?" she gave Sendoh a sloppy apologetic smile which Sendoh found entertaining despite knowing that something about their talk bothered her.

"Sure, tennis practice on a Sunday?" he studied what she was wearing, he noted that she's already wearing faded skinny jeans and a white V-neck shirt sleeved shirt.

"Uh, no, I have to drop by school and go over these," she took patted the sketchpad on the table "with the committee."

"Okay, will you be coming home tonight?" the question unexpectedly made Shin smile and she nodded, "Will Oba-san be coming home? I'm bringing something special, a restaurant near Shohoku has these Angel Hair Soba and they sell the most amazing beef teriyaki."

"Sounds delicious, unfortunately, she'll be in Tokyo tonight."

"Oh, she's real busy lately." she said, "I'll buy it for her too next time." she smiled and she reminded Sendoh of a Himalayan kitten, "See you later." she said before zooming away.

"Later." he said to himself as soon as Shin was out the door, he got up and prepared for his morning jog.

Shin gritted her teeth when she shoved the curtain open, they used it to turn the corner of the classroom into a dressing room. "Kogane, is this really necessary?" she yelled at the redhead who was fixing the maid collar on one of the students. Kogane, who was in her cute little white sundress, turned to look at Shin and burst into a shriek. All the girls in the room turned to see what Kogane was fawning over which made Shin more uncomfortable. "I thought all I was just in charge of the art and merchandise." Shin grabbed her best friend by the shoulder, but the red head was unaffected and with glittery eyes, fussed some more.

"Oh my gosh! This is exactly what I was talking about! You look amazing!" she said walking circles around Shin.

"Amazing? In a maid uniform? Really?" Shin said dryly, she saw herself in the mirror, she never thought she'd see the day when she'd parade herself in a french-maid outfit.

Kogane's design made it more uncomfortable. It was a corset-type white top with frills, then the black frilly-maid skirt with a white see-through apron tied only around her waist like a bib, her arms were bare except for the white lace arm bands on her fore arm, paired with the white lace stockings she wore up to her knees.

"You look like an angel! We'll definitely be the best class this festival!"

"Don't you thi—" Shin stopped mid-sentence and her eyes narrowed when she saw what the other girls were wearing. They were clearly not sleeveless and nowhere near the corset style she was wearing. They wore those cute and sexy lolita-style costumes, black scoop-neckline ruffle dress with a white apron on top. With sharp steps she went over to one girl who was fixing her costume on the mirror.

"Wow Mayu-chan," she said sweetly, a hint of venom underneath just for her best friend to hear, "You sure look nice and cute, those CUFFED-SLEEVES sure completes your look. Don't you think Kogane?" then she went in front of her best friend, "What the hell? You want me to freeze to death? Why is mine different from theirs?"

"Because you're the head server! You know, like the front-liner. The one used to attract customers!" Kogane said, her eyes wide with eagerness, she seemed to be missing the point of Shin's distress, "I made this one myself, see, sexy but when you wear it, it looks stylish and classy."
"Yeah. Sure. Now that you know it fits, can I take it off now?" she asked,

Kogane looked at her best friend and smiled, "I'll be wearing exactly the same thing you know."

"You are?" Shin's eyes widened, "Why didn't you say so?"

"I didn't think it was an issue! It looks so good on you! We'll be raising so much money Class-1 and Class-7 will totally eat dust!"

Shin smiled at her best friend, she didn't mention that the money she spent on their costumes would've been more than the amount the other class could've raised.

"So, when are we making the cookies?" Shin smiled.

"After the fitting, are you going somewhere after this?"

"Ah, I'm bringing home dinner tonight."

Kogane paused and her eyes turned to slits as if studying her best friend, "Did I hear it right? You're bringing home dinner for the family? So everything's going well?" she asked, turning Shin around to unlace the corset.

"It's not so bad. The son's cool. He even watched my game yesterday. Now that I think about it, since he won his basketball game last week and I won my match yesterday, it seems fitting to celebrate."

Kogane's fingers froze on Shin's back and turned her around all of a sudden to look at her straight in the eye, "Wait a second Shintaro Yuki, your Mrs. Sendoh, did you mean that her son's name is Akira Sendoh? The basketball player?" Kogane asked pointedly.

"Akira Sendoh," Shin nodded absentmindedly, baffled by Kogane's reaction. She'd been telling her about the family, her aunt and uncle for the past few months but she'd never reacted this way before. "Come to think of it, I just learned that he played basketball recently, when he introduced me to some of his team mates."

"You are seriously unbelievable! You dated the team Captain of Ryonan's Soccer club and you don't know who the Ace player and next Captain of their basketball team is!? One of the most famous athletes in Japan?" Kogane's voice went higher.

"Who is?" Shin frowned, visibly lost.

"Ugh, Akira Sendoh!" Kogane yelled in frustration and the girls started looking at them again.

"Kogane-chan," one of them asked, "What's up with Akira Sendoh?"

"Uh… no, nothing—" Kogane toned down her voice and smiled apologetically,

"Did you read the monthly sports magazine?" another joined in on their blooming conversation, "That lady reporter bravely put a high school student on a the cover, they were all talking about it, I mean, isn't it supposed to be someone from the national team or even the NBA, there were even thousands of comments online."

One girl scoffed, "If they would put a high school student why not put Rukawa since he's a freshman or Shinichi Maki, or even Sawakita? Clearly, that reporter was playing favourites… I…"
Shin and Kogane watched as opinion after opinion about basketball erupted in the classroom where the girls were doing their fitting.

Kogane shook her head and then whispered to Shin, "It's dangerous to talk amongst these gossipmongers, but this conversation isn't over." at that, Kogane told all of them to change their clothes and meet her at the arts & crafts room where they will be baking the cookies for the festival.

To be continued..

Thanks for reading!