First off—I'd like to thank everyone who stayed with me, despite my horrid update rate. I hope you enjoy this chapter! And oh~ Please don't hesitate to leave me some feedback!
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Slam Dunkand Kawamura Takashi from Prince of Tennis.
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CHAPTER 8: New Members
The team finally returned to home, their part of Kanagawa. They abruptly got down from the train, surprising the people waiting to replace their seats. Their tall players were one thing, the atmosphere they were emitting was quite another.
In any case, they separated from each other at an alley. Her gang used Mito's bike it seemed, while Haruko's group came with them. "The team did great, Sakuragi-chan. I bet if you got to train everyone, then maybe we would have won!" she said encouragingly placing a grin on the self-proclaimed tensai's face.
"Did you say my genius could have won the game?"
"Hai!"
But her moment of glory was short-lived, as usual. "D'aho." Kitsune said.
Or so she thought…
He wasn't even near them—let alone whispered anything on her ears. Could she have been expecting it, then? (What the hell?) "What's wrong Sakuragi-chan?"
"Ah. It's nothing. I'm going now." She said, almost stammering. Almost. Hell she'd stammer for that baka. "Ja for now, Haruka-chan." She promptly added and forced an awkward smile. And with that she ran off.
Only to get lost again, of course.
As she muttered curses to herself her eyes ended up on the cement fence, coincidentally seeing a familiar black hair moving behind it and she unthinkingly went to follow it. It was definitely him—that Rukawa. And she continued to follow.
Eventually, he turned around, met her eyes, maintained his façade, and effortlessly ignored her. Her eyes twitched at that. "O-Oi."
He didn't even pause. He suddenly emitted an unfamiliar aura. She thought that all those insults were because he was annoyed with her. But she knew now that it was different. This was how an annoyed Rukawa treated her.
And it felt cold.
What the heck wrong with him?
Or rather… what was wrong with her? Shouldn't she have left him alone by now…? She could have just ignored him and went to look for a way home.
She continued to follow him—reflexively grabbing his arm. He turned to her and their eyes met, making her flinch under its silent intensity. "What?"
She felt her hold on him soften in surprise, and she felt her face showed it too. She didn't know if her brain was playing tricks on her when she saw Rukawa's eyes widen for an instant as well.
"It's not like it's your fault the team lost." She stated, and Rukawa turned away in annoyance. She misunderstood, but then again—he would not have wanted her to know why he was especially annoyed with her in the first place.
Why was he especially annoyed with her in the first place?
That blasted look she kept giving to Sendoh. It made her look… like a total dolt, that's for certain. A total dolt. Idiot. Monkey.
Not that she wasn't already a dolt, an idiot, and a monkey…which was somewhat the point. Who would have thought she'd look more so?
Anyway, he had no energy to deal with her right now.
"Teme—don't ignore me!"
"It's best to ignore idiots."
"Why yo—" she grabbed his collar and he coolly stared back at her intense auburn eyes—pushing away any sort of intimidation he was feeling at the moment.
"I don't like the way you look, damn it!" but somehow… her tone wasn't like the delinquent tone she had always used when someone offended her. And she knew it.
Hanamichi could only tighten her grip, probably hoping she strangle him. What was this feeling? It was irritation—that was what she told herself over and over again every time she remembered the way he looked at her since the game. But irritation didn't include insecurity.
Was she scared? Scared of him? Hell she was.
When she felt her grip soften (again) she looked at Rukawa and caught him staring at her without the coldness just a few seconds prior. If anything he was startled. Startled at what?
What the heck did she just show him?
She quickly let go of him, stepped back, and glared. "What is it?"
Rukawa quickly pulled himself together and startled walking away. He had to get out of there as quickly as he could, otherwise he might show expressions he'd be embarrassed to remember about.
Like what she just did.
What was that? It surprised him—and that was an understatement. Why did she suddenly look so… distressed? Did he cause that? He shook his head. That shouldn't be it.
That moment… she looked so vulnerable—showing off feelings that she probably tried her best to take out of her system. Rukawa had to escape. She was already confusing him in so many ways, this particular event made it even more problematic.
"OI!" she called, and once again he willed himself to erase her existence—at least for the moment. He turned at a random corner, worried that she might follow him all the way to his house. Then she'd be even harder to get rid of than she already was.
"Che." She muttered, and soon enough she disappeared.
And as he realized he lost her for good, he sighed. And yet he honestly didn't know if that was really what he wanted.
…
SHOHOKU HIGH
Mito and Hanamichi were walking across the corridors that morning, wondering where the other four are. There was no morning or noon practice, as a break from the practice game. As they walked, Hanamichi felt her friend's smug gaze. She turned her head to him and raised her suspicious eyebrow. "What?"
"So… how are you and Sendoh, doing?" She blushed at the name. She had been musing about him—trying to forget about a certain kitsune. There was something similar… yet different from how she felt with those two. It was those disturbing thoughts that attacked her precious sleep.
"So those eye bags are due to your loss or your love life?"
"Urusai."
"Ara?" Mito voiced out and she followed his line of sight. The four idiots were there, and they approached them—finding out they were watching a confession. A confession gone wrong. The little guy was dumped harshly, with the girl saying she liked someone else. She even added the he, too, liked someone else and was confessing around to forget about that girl.
'A confession, eh?' She mused in seriousness. It was when a person told the person they liked of their feelings. She wondered what would happen if she confessed to Sendoh.
~Butterflies~
She flushed. She just imagined the kissing. She was certain Sendoh didn't feel the same way—but a girl can dream, right? Especially a tensai like her, who supposedly could do anything…
She could do anything… Like maybe make Sendoh feel the same way? How can one do that, anyway?
But the moment she went back to reality, her gang already surrounded the poor guy (with curly hair, which means she should call him 'Curly') and patted him on the back. "It's fine, man! Welcome to the club!" Mito said as if he ever confessed to someone.
Wait… maybe he did? It was just too embarrassing to talk about with her. Somewhat it offended her, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about her love life so she couldn't really expect him to do the same, now could she?
Nozomi was throwing confettis as a commemoration while the other clapped. They flinched when the little guy glared. And boy did he have a strong glare. "You think this is funny?"
"Well, yes." Noma answered bluntly, unaffected, due to his years with her, and Mito quickly ran to intervene when the little guy sprinted for an attack. He chuckled awkwardly, but it actually calmed the guy down.
"We're not laughing at you. We're laughing with you. If you remain bitter than you will never get the girl!"
"Oh? I'm assuming you got the girl already?"
"Well, no. I never confessed." He said, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "Never will."
"This is the hopeless unrequited love club."
"Should Hanamichi join in?" And they turned their heads to her making her flinch a bit in annoyance. But, fortunately (for them) she was actually in a good mood due to the unexplainable feeling of hope. "No." She said confidently. "I'll get him to like me. I dunno how to do it… yet. But I'm a genius so I'll figure it out."
"Who are you?" Curly asked, slightly twitching at her height.
"Sakuragi Hanamichi." She said pompously and patted the guy's back and laughed because she's too happy like that. "HAHAHAHA. You should be proud. You inspired this tensai to confess!"
"Confess to who?"
"Sendoh, of course."
"Sendoh Akira?" he asked incredulously and laughed. "HA! Fat chance."
BAM!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" He yelled as soon as he managed to get himself up from the asphalt floor he just kissed. He was patting his rather large bump on the head, desperately trying to comfort it.
"Eh… He's quite tough for a little guy." Nozomi dutifully noted. Curly ignored him and sent his glare towards her.
"Be thankful I can't hit girls!"
"You probably can't hit me. Tensai's are too fast."
"Teme—"
But he was cut off by Hanamichi coolly raising her arm. She adopted that confident political somewhat business-like pose that didn't quite suit her. "So… is this girl you like someone I know? I can help you y'know."
"You're that bored, Hanamichi?"
"What? I might learn something."
"Shouldn't you be busy making training menus?"
"Naaaah. Geniuses don't need to put an effort!"
"That's a grave misconception."
"Then again… she probably wouldn't know since she's not a genius. Pfft—"
BAM!
The unfortunate soul who said the previous comment cried. "Shikuso…."
…
Riiiiiiiiinnnngggg!
Lunch time. And the group (with Haruko and her friends) decided to eat lunch at the rooftop. Hanamichi was the one who suggested since she had always loved high places. But when they got there, they did not expect Rukawa to be sleeping soundly.
Honestly, Hanamichi wanted to kick him awake for no particular reason at all. She looked up. The highest point in the school—just a ladder up and they would be there. The group agreed with the boys climbing up first since they weren't wearing skirts.
She ignored Rukawa's sleeping figure a few meters below them, and turned to Haruko who was staring with hearts on her eyes. Hanamichi frowned.
"Haruko-chan~ Yuhooo…"
But then the door creaked revealing familiar faces, with one they had never seen before. Heck—even the little guy from before was there. The aura surrounding them was intense, and everyone knew they were going to have a fight. Mito asked the panicking girls to keep silent, they needed to assess the situation first before making a move. It was the long-haired guy who seemed to be the leader, and he taunted this 'Miyagi' (Curly) hinting that they both got into the hospital before. He was wearing a facial mask to cover the lower half of his face.
"Like a surgeon-wannabee."
"Just the hair would disqualify him." Nozomi cackled, but thankfully not loud enough to disturb the brewing fight.
Haruko's eyes widened when the group noticed the slumbering Rukawa. "Rukawa-kun…" She whispered, but Hanamichi quickly asked her to be quiet.
"He'll be fine."
And they kicked him in the stomach—despite Miyagi's yells. Haruko fainted. Her friends paled even more. "Oi, Haruko-chan!"
"I didn't notice you had an injury, Hanamichi." Mito said, eyeing her gauzed palm. It's size was minimal, so with care it wasn't noticed. Even Sendoh smiled at her attempt and didn't open it up. And why did Mito notice, now? "You were gripping your hand."
She blinked, but decided to pull herself together to answer his question. "Yeah, I sort of grabbed a hook." She said, pushing away the worry that suddenly attacked her when Rukawa was punched again just then. He punched one guy when he was untimedly woken up, and now he was getting ganged up on.
Nozomi focused on her intriguing wound, though. "Why would you grab a hook?"
"Curiosity?" Then something abruptly caught her attention. "OH! Uppercut! Use it, use it Baka-kitsune!"
Mito sighed and shook his head. "You two are idiots."
"Who's there?!"
"T-That's Sakuragi Hanamichi and her gang!"
"I heard she joined the basketball team, though."
Miyagi let go of one of the guys he was beating and stared at her with a mixture of fear and disbelief. "You did? As what?"
"Trainer."
Miyagi sighed in relief, before knocking out a guy with glasses. "At least you weren't the manager."
"Eh… I think he had a thing for Ayako-chan."
Curly turned to a tomato right then and there. "URUSAI!"
However, the enemy gang didn't appreciate the idle chat. 'These bastards are ignoring us!'
And Hanamichi and the others, still oblivious to the men's glares, continued to do so, too. "Ayako-san, eh? Then you don't have a chance."
"Teme—" he yelled, despite the fact that he confessed to all those girls to actually try and forget about the beautiful woman. He was cut off with a punch but he managed to keep his balance.
"Real tough."
"Well, he did stay conscious after Hanamichi's head butt…"
"You guys!" Fuji and Matsui (who were too dumbstruck to speak earlier) yelled. "How could you think of this as fun?!"
And Haruka could barely breathe. "Rukawa-kun…"
And the next thing they knew—only the long-haired masked guy was left standing. Rukawa and Hanamichi's eyes met but they turned around immediately. Rukawa sighed and walked away to find a new place to sleep.
"So… it's just you and me, now." Mitsui laughed pompously and took off his mask. "You did this. Now you're going to pa—"
His very passionate speech was ruined by everyone else chuckling. Curly was laughing shamelessly. "HAHAHAHH! Oh God you look bad."
The long haired guy who lost a few teeth turned into an embarrassed tomato and attacked. "URUSAI!"
The Gang, who magically had make-do cheering cones, cheered. "Go, Miyagi-kun!" The two girls didn't appreciate it, and squealed louder and louder every single hit landed.
"Kyaaa! Someone stop them!"
"Nah, Miyagi can handle him. He's quite strong, y'know."
"I didn't mean that."
Hanamichi soon noticed there were two other girls with her left. "Where's Haruko?"
Fuji, still pale, answered. "He went to follow Rukawa. She was very disheartened at all the blood in his face." And Hanamichi also paled.
"Oh man!"
"What is it?"
"T-That kitsune could take advantage of her kindness!"
"No, no. I don't think he'll do that." Mito muttered, his eyes not leaving the fight. Fuji, however, only shook her head.
"But Hanamichi had already gone."
…
Rukawa was still annoyed at that red-headed monkey and he thought he wouldn't see her at least during lunch. And then those bastards had to make him realize that—adding to his hostility to anyone who woke him up.
"I will confess to Sendoh."
He kept hearing that in his head with her voice, even when she didn't really said that explicitly. He had overheard the conversation with that Miyagi earlier that morning, and the confusion he felt the previous night was only intensified and was soon turned to that of anger.
"Rukawa-kun!" The captain's little sister yelled, apparently following him. She was probably eating with that monkey and she was now wearing a very worried face. She held out her handkerchief gesturing to wipe the blood, but he unconsciously glared at her. He could take care of himself, thank you very much. Thinking that he needed help was very offending.
"You're nosy."
"G-Gomenasai."
"KIIITSSUNNE!" A familiar voice blurted out and somehow he felt his face lighten up a bit. He returned to his original façade and stared at the very angry monkey.
"How dare you refuse Haruko-chan's kindness?"
"D'Aho." He just said. He realized that it was one of the simplest things he could utter when he's with her. He was never good with words, but now he thought that that idiot was wiping her stupidity off him as well.
"It's…fine…Sakuragi-chan…"
"Wa! D-Don't cry Haruko-chan. I'll beat him up for you!" She said immediately making Haruko whip her head to Rukawa for a silent apology. But it was too late, the basketball prodigy was already seething.
Haruko always saw the good in people, because she was a good person at heart. So she knew Sakuragi was simply looking out for her. However, at the moment, she felt in a way a normal child would when a parent embarrasses her in front of someone she was vying for.
And so, she reacted in a way a normal hormonal teenager would: She yelled. "Please leave me alone!" And she ran as far from both of them as quickly as she could…
Leaving a dumbstruck Hanamichi Sakuragi behind.
.
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END OF CHAPTER 8
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 9: Fights
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Sairakanzaki- Thank you for the review~! Haha. I had fun writing those jelly Rukawa moments and I'm glad you liked them~
SnowTime- The best one? Aww shux. That's so sweet. xD I do think I have a long way to go, but thank you so much for thinking so! :D
Princess Unikitty- I'm glad you like the story so far and yes, I shall do my best to keep it up. Thx for the review btw~
Kuroneko nnch- (ch7) Thank you for reviewing and I'm sorry it took so long. I'm really happy to know that you still like the story, and how it's going, so far~! xD (ch6) Aww… you reviewed again? Thank you for your perseverance, I appreciate it.
AngelN- Sorry~! xD Here's the continuation! Sorry I took forever, thanks for the review and lovelots back at'ya~
Kawaiishiella- yes I updated! I apologize for taking such a long time. xD Glad you like the pairing, but sadly the training part isn't in this chap yet. xD Hope you still liked this tho and thx for the review! :D
Hitomi65- Thank you for the review~! I'm relieved you think it's a nice chapter~! :DD
Fuyutsuki Hikari- #Deepbow to you too. xD Thanks for the review~! And lol, so glad to know you also like the Rukawa x Sakuragi thing, and that you loved the chap~ :D
Mrsklemzak- I'm glad you read this again, too! And yes, Sendoh's the type of guy that can be either flirty or too flirty for the good of innocent women. xDD Thx for the review btw~
Whitewhite- ohh~ hahaha. That's a fabulous accident for me. xD Glad it happened. And I'm happy to know you like the plot and pace, and how the characters are in this. Thank you for reviewing!
Yuchan desu- ahahaha. Thank you for the review and super happy that you liked the chap. The sendohxSakuragi moment won't be happening in this chap tho. Hope you like it anyway! :D
…
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