Chapter 2

They were now at the gym doing their usual practice for the upcoming semi-finals. Their coach, a reasonable but very strict man is training them really hard especially now that they had finally reached the final four.

Finally they were given a break, which they welcomed with relief. "Tenko-sensei sure is tough isn't he?" Takano complained.

"You could say that again." Nagano gulped a can of Pocari Sweat. Then he saw Fujima who had just finished talking to the coach. "Oi, Fujima!" He shouted at him.

The other guy looked at him, raising and eyebrow in query. Then he approached the two taller players. "Yeah?" He asked.

Nagano fished out a folded paper from the pocket of his jogging pants. "I got it." He said.

Fujima unfolded the paper and read it. "Hey thanks."

"What's up? Oh information on your victim." Hanagata appeared by his side and peered over his shoulder and began to read the list. "It says here that she reads books, she doesn't play sports, and she doesn't date and has no boyfriend. Wow she's quite the extreme here huh?"

"What?" Fujima snapped at his best friend.

"Hmm, she's exactly the opposite of what you usually go for in a girl."

"And the type you avoid. Hey Mitsuru," Takano said. " Looks like we're ready to collect our winnings huh?"

"What to buy, what to buy." Nagano said laughing. "Ah, how about a CD of Michelle Branch? I've been meaning to buy her album for a long time."

"You're scary. Why don't we go to a restaurant instead? There's a newly-opened Indian café a few miles from here."

Hanagata rolled his eyes. "You and your obsession with food, Shoichi. We could go to a movie instead. I've wanted to watch Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones."

"You mean you just wanted to see Natalie Portman in her nightgown." Takano said dryly.

"Really! There's a scene?!" Hanagata's face lit up at the thought of his favorite Hollywood star in such an outfit.

"Pervert." Takano glared at him. "Anyway, a movie sounds like a great idea. We could bring our dates along too."

"Yeah, that'll be wonderful. You could come with us if you like, Kenji."

"And bring her along too."

"If they're going to be together in the first place."

The three guys burst into loud peals of laughter.

Fujima's face was impassive but he was raging inside. They sounded so sure that he would lose. They better not be too cocky yet because he was just getting started. When that time comes, they will pay. All of them.

After all, he is Fujima Kenji.

Fifteen minutes has passed and there was no sign of Hajime Yuri. Fujima wondered if he was given the wrong information or he was a little too early. From what he had read on the paper, Yuri usually drops by at the bookstore at 4:30 in the afternoon, during Fridays. It was already 4:45 in the afternoon and she wasn't here yet.

While waiting for her, he picked up the nearest book his hand could get. He was not an avid book reader as he was more of a visual person preferring graphic novels or manga. His face turned red when he saw the front cover, which is a couple locked in a very passionate embrace with the woman half-dressed. He hurriedly placed it back on the shelf and walked away moving towards the Best Sellers Section.

He was in the middle of flipping a Tom Clancy novel when Yuri arrived. She greeted the storekeeper and had a little chat with him. The older man seems to know her very well, a frequent customer he had assumed. So that explains the glasses. He thought. He watched her above the pages of the Hunt for Red October as she went to the Romance Section. Typical.

Finding nothing that interests her, she went to the Best Seller's Section. Meaning, towards him. He uttered a curse when she changed her mind and went instead to the Magazine Section of the store. He might as well move or he'll end up doing nothing at all.

Not to mention that the owner was eyeing him strangely especially when he picked a book he didn't bother to look at. Ok, act subtle Kenji. He said to himself as he went towards her. He stopped at the Psychology books, which are two shelves away from where she is.

Yuri flipped open a Vogue magazine. Maya would surely love this. She thought, thinking about her best friend Hino Maya who is now at home recovering from influenza. Her friend had always loved fashion magazines as far as she could remember. It has been a week since she had last seen the pretty strawberry blond haired and blue-eyed girl and she missed her immensely.

She wanted to fill her in about everything especially the scene at the school grounds the other day. Her friend would freak if she found out that the ever-famous Fujima Kenji had asked her to walk her to class and she turned him down. Maya had always been crazy about the pointguard, like the rest of her classmates.

Remembering it made her smile wryly. What an arrogant guy he was thinking that one dazzling smile and his baby blue eyes would be enough to make her act like a zombie and say yes. But she grudgingly admitted that he was cute. The only problem was, he knows it.

Yuri closed the magazine she was reading and put it on a basket she was carrying. Her eyes lit up when she saw the latest issue of Reader's Digest, a magazine she had always loved. She took it and did a little reading. She was laughing at a drawing of a family and a computer all of them sick with a virus; unaware that someone was watching her a few shelves away.

Seeing her face light up in laughter made him feel strange, like he found it very attractive. He shook his head mentally. What was he thinking? He had seen dozens of girls laugh before and they're even prettier than her. No, he has to get focused here. He was here to win a bet not analyze his feelings for her.

Yuri placed the basket almost filled with books and some magazines. She was so engrossed looking for a book for her sister that she did not realize she bumped into somebody.

"Hi." Fujima said, smiling suavely at her. " Small world huh?"

And to think that she won't see him again after the incident at the school grounds. Now here he was holding a book and looking like he was absolutely glad to see her and his remark! Was he implying that their meeting is just a coincidence? She has learned long ago that things never happen by chance where there is always a reason behind everything. "Indeed." She said noncommittally. "I never knew you can read."

Fujima felt defensive all of a sudden. What did she thought of him anyway, a dumb jock? He felt the urge to show her his grades for the past year in junior high and laugh at her reaction when she sees his straight A's. "Oh I do. In fact I read quite a lot." He said as he flipped the pages of the book he was holding.

Yuri spied the title of the book then stared at him with one eyebrow raised. "Uh-huh. Ok."

He continued smiling as he 'read' the book. "It's quite an interesting one too." He said again and then stared at the title of the book. He blanched when he saw the title: Nursery Rhymes Volume 1. It was just his luck to pick a children's book and a nursery rhyme at that.

Now he really did make a total ass of himself. To make things worse, Yuri was laughing at him. It was not the loud raucous type, but a quiet one where she was hiding her amusement behind her hand and her shoulders were shaking with mirth.

"Well, uh, I'd like to read about the cow jumping over the moon." He said lamely.

"Right." Her voice was laced with amusement. "Oh well, we all have our tastes. Ja ne, Fujima-san." She said and left, her laughter trailing after her.

"Wait!" He said running after her. "Do you have plans this Saturday? If none, how about a date with me?" He asked when he was beside her.

Yuri stared at him, aghast. "What?! You don't even know me."

He grinned. "You're Hajime Yuri, age 14, blood type A+, one of the smartest students in class, plays guitar in the music club, also a member of the book club and lives with a sister who goes to Kainan High."

She blinked. "What the..? How did you manage to research about me?!" Shoyo's ace player is a stalker now?! Yuri thought, panicking.

"I got my sources." Thank you very much Nagano! He added silently.

"And that's enough information to ask me out?"

"Yeah."

She stared at him, her eyebrow raised for the second time. "Why?"

"What do you mean why? Don't girls like to go on dates especially with good looking guys?" Fujima asked.

Yuri's temper flared. "Wow is your ego that inflated that you hardly see anything else? The answer is no. Goodbye, Fujima-san." She said and practically stomped out of the bookstore.

Fujima gritted his teeth. He had never exerted so much effort in charming a girl aside from having her crush his ego to a pulp. Why did it have to be so hard when it comes to her? What was it about Yuri that makes him feel like a fool?

"Konnichiwa!" Yuri said brightly as she entered the veterinary clinic.

Shinomori Asuka, the owner and veterinarian, grinned at her. "Hello, Yuri-chan! How have you been?"

"Fine. You?"

"Great. Oh yeah, we have a new addition in the family." Asuka has always thought of her veterinary clinic as her home and her staff and the animals as family since they are the only ones she had ever since her husband and son was killed in a plane crash two years ago.

Yuri's face lit up. "Wonderful! At least things would be done much faster with a new staff member."

"Yeah and he's such a knockout!"

"Knockout?" Yuri raised her eyebrow. When did the 28-year-old veterinarian ever say that term? Whoever this guy was, he made an impact on the usually cool and collected vet. " Who's this fella?"

Asuka thought for a moment. " Fujima Kenji." She answered. "He's from Shoyo Junior High, same school as yours...are you ok?" The vet saw her employee's expression and had the urge to back away to a wall. she had never seen Yuri this angry before.

"What?!" It came out like a crack of a whip.

"Yuri-chan, what's wrong?" Asuka asked.

But Yuri was too angry to answer. What the hell is that creep doing here?! First at the bookstore then at the vet clinic?! What does he want from her anyway? "That stalker! Where is he?" She growled out the question.

Asuka jumped a little at the tone of Yuri's voice but she answered her anyway. "He's playing with Lucille."

Yuri's eyes widened. "First day on the job and he's feeding Lucille? Is he suicidal?!"

Lucille was a Doberman who has an unpredictable nature. Usually she was a sweet dog, but there were times that she would just suddenly bite and snap. Maybe that was because the owner is a policewoman in the narcotics division.

"He volunteered."

"Gosh, he has a death wish." Then a sudden thought occured to her. "This I gotta see." Yuri said as she dumped her bag on the counter and hastily put on a lab coat.

She went to Lucille's quarters and when she got there, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She saw Fujima on top of a cabinet waving a bone wildly at the growling dog. He looked so terrified that she almost laughed out loud. But seeing the dog's expression, she decided not to. Spending time with Lucille was a difficult and scary job. She knew that during the past six months she had been working with the dog.

"Down, boy, down!" Fujima was saying to the dog.

"Lucille's a girl." Sheesh, can't tell the difference between a male and female dog. Yuri thought.

He stared at her then at the canine. "Down, girl, down!" He waved the bone even more frantically.

"You're making it worse!" She snapped at him when the dog kept on snarling at him. "Just give her the bone!"

Was she nuts? "What if she bit my hand off?!" Fujima had read on how much Dobermans can seriously injure people with their bites and on how sometimes they can kill.

Yuri sighed impatiently and extended her hand. "She will do so if you show her fear, which you're doing a great job! Give me the bone then!"

"What if she bit your hand off?!"

"Just give me the damn bone!"

Without a word, Fujima handed her the bone. He watched in awe as Yuri went towards the dog and smiled at her. "Here you go, Lucille honey." She said and handed her the bone. The dog sniffed at it and took it. " Good girl, you're such an angel." She added and patted the dog's head.

That psychotic dog from hell?! Fujima thought. The memory of the dog's sharp teeth was still vivid in his mind.

Lucille went to a corner where she chewed on her bone happily and quietly.

"Wow amazingi!" Fujima said clapping his hands eagerly like a child would.

She stared at him like he went insane. How would Maya react when she finds out that her beloved pointguard ended up climbing the supply cabinet to protect himself from a perfectly harmless canine?

"Would you help me down here please?" He asked, looking oh-so pleadingly at her.

Yuri scowled at him and left the room, closing the door behind her with a loud slam.

"Yuri?" He called. "C'mon, aren't you going to help me? Yuri?"

Outside, she leaned against the door and sighed. Then a smile began to play across her features until that smile became a giggle and that giggle became a full-fledged laugh.

"Any progress?" Hanagata asked as he sat down beside Fujima who was drinking.

A scowl was his answer and the taller guy took that as a no. " What happened?"

Minutes later, Hanagata was laughing so hard he nearly fell off the bench he was sitting on. The other members of the team stared at him shocked at the fact that the usual serious-looking center was laughing out loud.

Then a few seconds later, two more male laughter joined Hanagata's.

"Gee thanks for caring." Fujima said sarcastically and glared at them through the bottle he was drinking.

"Sorry, Kenji!" He said, wiping the tears from his eyes behind his glasses. Fujima swore Hanagata was hardly sorry.

"Wow is it also part of your plan to charm Lucille the dog?" Takano asked as he was laughing out loud.

"And I can't imagine you having a part-time job!" Nagano said. "You don't even need to work in the first place!"

"Oh you know him, he'll do absolutely anything to win. Even play with a ferocious dog."

Laughter once again echoed the entire gym.

Fujima groaned. Everything was going wrong. He had been turned down twice by the same girl already and if he does not do anything about this, he will up end losing this bet before it was over. To make things worse, his friends are making fun of him again.

He has to work harder.

Fujima was busier than ever now that he took a job as a volunteer at the animal shelter. It was quite difficult to balance several things at once like his schoolwork, his basketball practice, and now his job. The first week was the most difficult since his work at the shelter was right after basketball practice and that meant he had to run out of the gym from the moment their coach calls it a day, startling some of his teammates.

He always arrived there ahead of Yuri who would be at the shelter fifteen minutes after he got there. She would just give him a puzzled stare and proceed to her work. She even ignores him for the rest of the afternoon and makes it a point to avoid him.

One day after work, Fujima walked home alone feeling very exhausted. He enumerated what he had done for the day: school, basketball practice, feeding the animals, bathing some of them, cleaning their cages and helping out Asuka in vaccinating three Yorkshire terriers.

And of course there is the daily task of feeding and playing with Lucille the dog. Once he managed to get over his fear of the dog, everything went smoothly.

Upon seeing his house, he felt his exhaustion taking over him. What he wanted to do now is sleep and never wake up until maybe tomorrow. He trudged inside the house and after greeting his mother, went straight to his room and plopped on the bed in his uniform, bag, everything.

Fujima was falling asleep when he spied the books stacked neatly on his table. He buried his face on the pillow and let out a groan. Homework, how could he forget?

Pulling himself from the bed, he went to his table and opened the book on the top of the pile. He winced when he saw the note he had written on a piece of paper stuffed between its pages, write a review on " Dr. Zhivago" it said meaning the book he was holding. He looked at the framed corkboard in front of him. There were several notes posted on it, making him feel more drained than ever.

It was a good thing that his extra work does not affect his grades or his performance in basketball. He still has it, much to his relief.

Thank goodness I'm smart. He thought upon seeing his test results in Math one day in the classroom.

Basketball practice went on as tough as usual especially now that the semi-finals are only a few days away now. The team worked even harder now that they knew who their next opponent was.

"Ok, let's call it a day!" Basketball captain Minamino Arata said after he assembled the team. "The game with Takeishi Junior High will be the day after tomorrow, let's prove to them that we are the best!"

"Hai!" They shouted.

"You may go now! Same time tomorrow and don't be late!"

Hanagata slung a towel over his shoulder. "The team's really full of spirit huh Kenji?" Then he saw that he was talking to no one at all. "Are? He's gone." Then shook his head.

Yuri placed the guitar inside the case. As she was locking it, a fellow music club member stopped by beside her.

"Hey, you played great." He said.

"Thanks, Yoshihiro-kun." She said, smiling at him. "Think we're ready to beat Kitamura Junior High by next week?"

Yoshihiro grinned back. "More than ready and your guitar solo will drive anyone crazy. We're Shoyo, the best remember?"

She nodded as she slung the guitar over her shoulder. "Yeah. Ja ne!"

"Ja!"

Outside, Maya was waiting for her. " Hey!" She said excitedly. "Did you wait long?"

The strawberry blonde girl shook her head. "How'd practice go?"

The two girls were talking eagerly as they left the school. They continued talking and giggling until they reached the animal shelter. Maya sighed wistfully. " I envy you, Yuri. To think that you're working with Fujima-san. What a life! If that happened to me, I'd died and gone to heaven!"

Yuri rolled her eyes. "Don't say that, you just recovered from flu." She said dryly. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"As always. Thanks for the magazines and books."

"Welcome."

After donning in her white laboratory coat, she went towards Asuka who was with a patient, a kitten. "Anything I could do to help you?" She asked as she played with the kitten.

The brunette grinned at her. "Sure. Why don't you hand me that vaccine over there so that we can give Snookums here something to keep him from getting sick."

"Got it chief."

The other job she had done was pretty much of a routine for her. She was in the middle of feeding an Akita when she realized something. Where in the world was Fujima? He usually arrives at the shelter early, way earlier than she was making her feel annoyed at herself since she prided herself on arriving on time. And she usually sees him around dealing with the owners of the pets since he is good with people. Who wouldn't be when one has that charming personality?

Then she shrugged it off. Why should she be worried anyway? He could be somewhere at the clinic feeding the other animals or taking care of some patient records. She decided to give Lucille her daily walk. She had always loved the Doberman even if she could be very scary sometimes. It was too bad that she got an injury during a drug bust operation that had gone wrong. Lucille was here to recover and she will sorely miss her when Officer Kato will get her back after a month.

She went to her cage and was surprised that the dog was gone. Where could she be? "Where's Lucille?" She asked when she saw Asuka at the counter checking patient records.

"Hm, the last time I saw her was that she's with Kenji-kun." The veterinarian said not looking up from what she was doing.

Yuri's eyes widened. Has he lost his mind and decided to walk Lucille himself? The dog is very wary of strangers and could be very downright dangerous because of that. She may not like Fujima that much but she was not that mean to leave him alone with a hot-blooded dog.

"Now before you panic, Yuri-chan." Asuka said, sensing her alarmed state. "He's bathing Lucille."

Now that is even worse. " Oh. Okay." She said weakly. " I'll go and check on them."

Asuka shrugged.

Yuri left and went to the back part of the clinic where the animals are usually being bathed. Her face was unreadable when she saw Fujima trying to push an unwilling Lucille towards the bathtub filled with water and soap. From the looks of his face, he was beginning to lose patience with her. Lucille is not a happy camper when it comes to being bathed. It is like dealing with a five-year old child who refuses to take one.

Meanwhile, Fujima was running out of ideas on how to convince the stubborn Doberman to jump in the tub. He had tried everything from luring her with a bone to threatening her, but the dog hardly cared. So he decided to get drastic and push her towards the tub.

It was not working and to make things worse, he felt that someone was watching him. His hunch was right when he saw Yuri by the doorway. Great, just great. He thought. " Hi!" He said cheerfully though.

Lucille barked in greeting.

"Hello." She said formally.

"How about some help here?" He asked.

"Hm, let me think." She said then shook her head. "Nah, you look fine." She went back inside.

Damn! He cursed silently. Then he turned back to the dog. "Ok, girl, let's go. Now." He commanded.

Lucille just stared at him snootily.

"How's he doing?" Asuka asked when she saw Yuri playing with a poodle.

"He's fine." Yuri said trying hard not to giggle.

Five minutes has passed and Yuri decided to check up on the two again. When she got to the back, she was not prepared at the sight in front of her. Lucille was in the tub looking absolutely contented.

With Fujima in it.

"Well somebody has to hold her down." He said grimly as he was scrubbing the dog's body.

She blinked. " How ingenious of you." She said afterwards.

At the same time, Asuka chose that moment to show up. "Yuri-chan? Where are you?" The older woman then stopped and took a peek outside the clinic. "Yuri-chan…aaahhh! Kenji-kun, what are you doing at the tub with Lucille?!" She shouted.

Yuri stared at the woman. "Well somebody has to hold her down." She said mimicking Fujima's words awhile back. But she wasn't heard since Asuka began to go in hysterics. "You didn't have to go with her at the tub!"

"No it's ok." Fujima reassured at the older woman. "We're fine." At least the dog is. He added silently.

Asuka stared at him; the usually handsome and dry staffer is now completely soaked and covered with soap suds. "Oh let me look for a towel!" She said.

While the veterinarian was preoccupied looking for a towel for the drenched Fujima, Yuri was laughing quietly. You are one funny guy, Fujima Kenji. She thought.

Author's note:

From asshole to fool. What a change, but at least it's a start. Introducing the Fujima Gundan (Hanagata, Takano and Nagano) ready to make fun of the poor hapless Fujima. It's not fair that Sakuragi is the only one with an army why not the pretty, ehek, I mean handsome pointguard? The difference is that they don't engage in brawls.

And I wanted to thank lain (The Sixth Man) for helping me out in this chapter (and the entire plot of this fic), what would I do without you? Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter minna!

Slam Dunk is not mine. Just reminding myself to get back to reality.