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WARNING: As much as I wanted to add Mitsui in Hana's harem (lol) I decided to go against it. haha. He'll still be part of some sort of love triangle tho. *wiggles eyebrows*
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Slam Dunkand Kawamura Takashi from Prince of Tennis.
...
CHAPTER 12: Misunderstandings
There are many shocking things that have been happening the week after the 'war', and the first day of their ban from the courts is also the first day they are allowed to do any sort of gruelling exercise. Among these shocking things, however, Mitsui's appearance takes the cake.
"Where did all the hair go?"
"He ate it."
"Tsk. He should've donated it to the local cancer society."
"W-Who are you?" She asked again, despite the fact that Kogure and Akagi already called for him by (complete) name. "Seriously? There's this guy who has the same name as you. He's an idiot, you don't look like an idiot. Not yet, anyway." She told him, totally in denial.
"And are those teeth?" Sakuragi yells as she gapes at the magically growing teeth (Hanamichi had very little knowledge of dentistry) "Where did they come from?"
Beside her, came a mocking sigh—the sort that has never failed to strike a nerve. "D'Aho."
"Why you—" And she nags and nags about how much of a baka-kitsune he is. Rukawa rudely puts a finger on his ears and makes sure she knows that he has no intention of listening. "YOU—"
"There they go again..." Miyagi says with a chuckle, turning his sights and awkwardly eyeing Mitsu (who eyes him right back). They stayed silent for a moment, and for some time one would think they're actually going to be friendly. Until both their eyebrows furrows and it feels like hostile sparks is exchanged, as if the other was imagining beating the other up.
They end up doing a one-on-one and occupying half the court.
It is quite impressive display of skills—Miyagi's speed and Mitsui's accuracy shining through—and people are starting to forget the fact that Mitsui is that guy with the long hair with bad teeth. The momentum, however, is broken during a standstill—a moment where one would consistently score after the other—by what seems like a blur.
A familiar swish resonates across the gym, and it I sfollowed by the echo of a ball dribbling.
They turn to see its source. "RUKAWA!"
Hanamichi tsks, Mitsui frowns, and Miyagi grits his teeth. It turns out to be Rukawa showing off, again. He has made a clean lay-up, and his fangirls screams their little lungs out.
Unfortunately, this means there are two more people nagging at his ears, calling him: baka-kitsune, pale-skinned jerk, and a disrespectful idiot, respectively.
The three naggers are eventually pulled away to do separate things. Mitsui is now ogling over the newly-arrived coach Anzai, blushing at the compliments of his new clean-cut image. Miyagi ogles as well, only to Ayako, who is doing nothing but critique him at the moment. Hanamichi, on the other hand, is not ogling but is still laughing way too loud with that Yohei guy and the rest of her gang.
Rukawa flops down to one of the benches, tired and thinking of silent curses towards the red-head trainor. His attention is pulled by water and towel shyly presenting themselves to him. He apathetically looks up to see it was Akagi's sister who is giving them to him. "Thanks," he says taking the water, completely oblivious to the girl's blushes.
He turns his eyes to the Idiot again, the instant he senses her stare (she is an Idiot with a powerful stare), and his eyes widens a little at her glare. She is sending them daggers and she is looking at him and Akagi's sister alternatively. Absent-mindedly, his hand moved to take the towel that the girl is still holding... only his hand lingered a little.
He swears there was an explosion coming from the idiot. Rukawa isn't sure what that means, really, but agitating her with what he did is enough consolation.
Satisfied, he drinks the rest of his water and stands up, acting as if he doesn't sense her intensified glares at all.
...
Yohei's injuries still hasn't quite healed when he catches Hanamichi looking at Rukawa and Haruko. Rukawa is sitting at a side of the court, with Haruko (and all of her blushes and innocence) was shyly handing him over his own water bottle and towel. He seems more tolerable of Haruko now. And then he almost laughs at the scene that followed, but he manages to keep it at bay.
Rukawa and Haruko... they looked very good together though, and Yohei is fairly sure that same thought passed through Hanamichi's head, at least once.
He looked at her intently, analyzing the girl that he has always watched. He knows Hanamichi, and he knows that if this had been the Hanamichi from a week ago..., she would be mumbling about how Haruko should not be near Rukawa simply because he is not good enough for her. Hanamichi is still obviously fond of the Gorilla's sister, which means to some degree (no matter how deep in her unconsciousness) she has accepted the fact that Rukawa is actually a good guy worthy of being looked at romantically.
"You okay?" He asks, tone kept innocent, and she whips her head towards some other member and critiqued his form. "Is anything in pain, right now?"
"It's weird," she tells him. "My injuries heal very fast, but somehow my stomach and my chest feels a bit uncomfortable."
He smiles at this and shakes his head mockingly. "Why is it that thickheaded people have to feel jealousy to figure out they like someone?" he utters to no one in particular. "What?" She asks, eyebrows raised, and Yohei could only stare. She still didn't get it?
It isn't an ideal situation, but he decides to spell it out.
"I'm saying you're jealous of those two. In the romantic sense." She stares at him and he sweat-dropped in wonder just how specific he has to be for her to get it. But still, Yohei knew that for Hanamichi must at least realize the gist of her feelings on her own. "You have romantic feelings for one of them."
Precisely five seconds passes by with Hanamichi giving him the blank stare. Slowly, she faces the two in question and her eyes widenes. "...oh." Hanamichi mumbles, utterly surprised at the realization. Yohei breathes out, relieved to finally get things moving, only to find out a second later that it was a false alarm. "I'm bisexual."
"WHAT?! Oi, Hanamichi—"
But Hanamichi is already out the door, probably going to call auntie Sakuragi to spite her.
He gulps at the thought. Now, Mito Yohei is sure he is screwed.
…
"Oi, Yohei, you okay man?" Nozomi asks, nonchalantly placing a hand on his forehead. "You look bad." Everyone else seemed to agree.
"I just have a bad feeling," is all he says, before dropping on his chair. He feels heavy, like that infamous ghost from shutter hanging on his head like a scarf. It is very disconcerting. "AHHhh... kami-sama must hate me..." Mito mumbles. "For making me feel responsible for something this ridiculous."
"What are you talking about, Yohei?"
"I bet it has something to do with his adult magazines." Nozomi says, raising a couple of yen. Ohkusu disagrees, and Noma does as well. "I bet it has something to do with Hanamichi."
"Yeah, that's probably it." Nozomi cackles, before he turns his head at a direction and flinches. "Oi, it's Hanamichi!" Then he tweaked with his glasses, unsure of what he saw. "She's carrying a bouquet?" He says, and Mito practically slaps his forehead at this.
"What? Let me see!"
"It's true!"
"Let's go watch!"
"Where's she going?"
Mito walks past his friends and goes straight to Haruko's class, feeling a mix of nerves, guilt, and disbelief that his best friend can be so stupid. However, Hanamichi is extremely quick and she runs past him just before he reaches Haruko's door.
"H-Hanamichi-chan?" Haruko squeaks, staring at the flowers that're presented to her so closely that it touches her nose.
"P-Please accept this, Haruko-chan!"
Haruko has no idea what this is about. "I—t-thank you?" she stutters, and stuttered even more when Hanamichi suddenly has tears lining up her eyes. The redhead then runs away—comically sobbing—leaving everyone else to absorb what the hell just happened.
It is Haruko who speaks first. "Why... why do I feel like I've said something I shouldn't have?"
Mito pats Haruko's shoulder to catch her attention, apologizing to her with a hand in the begging position. "It's a misunderstanding. Please help her see the light."
"Huh?"
But before he can explain the teacher entered, wondering why four infamous students are hovering around his precious classroom. "GET BACK TO YOUR CLASS NOW!"
...
If it is rowdy during the morning practice, it is utter chaos after class. The main cause of this is the Sakuragi gang, who are then cheering for Sakuragi and huddles around her, teasing. Granted, she looks like a girl when she's blushing, but that isn't the point. What are they doing in there in the first place?
"What are they here for? They're so noisy..." He asks Ayako, who is then writing something in her board, as he eyes the group. Mitsui still remembers his loss against that Mito person, who catches his stare and shamelessly sends a peace sign. His eyes twitches at this but alas, along with his clean-cut image, he knows his behaviour must mature as well so he ignored the guy.
"They're here for Sakuragi," Ayako says. "But it isn't that bad. You'll get used to their noise."
"...okay," he mumbles, unsure, and then crosses his arms in puzzlement. "So… what is Sakuragi here for?"
"She's the trainor."
.
.
"The what?"
But before Ayako can explain further, Miyagi is already on his face, rudely pointing a finger at him. "Y-Y-You! What are you doing with Ayako-chan!" he cried, and the woman only sighed and gently tapped his curly head with her board. "We're just talking you idiot. Now, go get Sakuragi so we can get started, ne?"
He blushes and tenses. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"He's an idiot." Mitsui states, as a-matter-of-fact. Ayako agrees. "Has he confessed to you yet?" He then asks, and this earns him a glare. "Stop it," she tells him, sternly. "And you realize you shouldn't be acting like you didn't cause any trouble for us."
A lump in his throat forms and he looks away.
"JERKS! Come here." It's Sakuragi, apparently thinking of a new name to collectively call them. They lazily go closer to her, and they make some rudimentary enclosed shape. "For this week's major training, we'll do something simple."
Simple? Somehow everyone doubts that. The redhead crosses her arms in that pompous way of hers. "First of all, go get yourselves a chair each." She then raises her hand to signal she isn't finished. "From the upmost floor, of course! Because that's much more fun."
"…ha?" They say in unison, but she just laughs and mocks them about how they complain about the simplest things and they end up doing what they are asked.
Chairs rest above their heads and they are panting when as they run towards the gym, looking at it as if it's a finish line of sorts—a point of rest.
They return to see a jug, and they shiver.
It's clear, but it smells like durian, blue cheese, and bad beer.
"Now we'll use the chairs to do Burgolian split squat and Depth jumps!"
"Bulgarian. D'aho." Rukawa corrects and Sakuragi—to everyone's surprise—simply ignores him.
"I see... both exercises increase vertical jump abilities..." Kogure utters nicely, but he still shivers as he thinks what the jug of vegetable juice is for.
"Do a hundred each," She orders. "If the chair goes down, you drink a cup."
Kogure heaves a sigh. It seems simple enough. It's obviously going to exhaust them to the point of soreness til' the next day, but it seems a bit more survivable than the last one, especially since their stamina has increased dramatically since then.
They are asked to do the squat first, which is doable, even when they are all panting rather heavily.
"Now time for the jump!" It is then she puts in pieces of wood or something similar that are around 1 inch thick on one side of the chairs, making it very imbalanced. "Ah..., I knew it wouldn't be easy."
"Man, I'd hate to taste that thing again!"
"What is that? Why is everyone so afraid of it?" Mitsui asks, confused. It is the coach who answers him.
"It doesn't taste too bad... yohohoho."
"Is that so?" Eager to impress the coach, Mitsui scurries to taste it. Hanamichi and the gang who skips closer to have a better look at what will come. Everybody else though, gasps.
"Mitsui, no..!" But it's too late. And Mitsui is writhing in oralfactory pain a second later. "W-What the hell kind of tastebuds do you have, coach!"
Ayako face-palms. "This team is full of insane people."
...
An hour or so later, when the sky is slowly being dabbed by shades of yellow, most of the team is sleeping on the floor. They are dragged to sleep on some sort of textile Ayako has prepared. Only a few actually had the juice, but the exercise has been exhausting. She sits beside Sakuragi, who's sitting idly on the floor, chin buried in both her palm. Haruko and Akagi has just left.
"I am a sinful woman," she sighs, and Ayako gapes at her in response.
"What?"
Hanamichi sighs again, and for a second Ayako is concerned. "Not too long ago I was thinking of how to make Sendoh fall for me... now I confess to a girl?"
"...ha." Ayako breathes out, then after a second realized who this girl is. She feels a chuckle coming up. "To Haruko?" She laughs, earning herself a glare. "Haha—I'm sorry."
"Pssh."
She stops her chuckles (at least for a moment) before patting the redhead's back. "Mah, things will work out sooner or later."
...
The following day is characterized by Hanamichi fantasizing about Sendoh. "I feel guilty..., I haven't thought about him as much as I used to." She mumbles to herself. "So many things happened... I'm so sorry Sendoh-kun…I promise to make it up to you with effort!"
"A sinful woman, indeed." Mito comments, wanting to tell her she does not look at Haruko that way—otherwise, she would not be thinking about how to seduce Sendoh at all. But he has decided not to spoon-feed her (which is the reason for this whole fiasco) and thus he should stick with the strategy.
Anyway, if Hanamichi's too thick to get it, maybe he'll try out Rukawa. Then again..., with those two he feels it's 'one step forward, three steps back,' dilemmas. Should he just let nature follow its course?
Regardless, his chance to have a one-on-one talk with the school's ace comes sooner than anticipated. "Well, this is nostalgic," he tells him as they both stands outside the door. That teacher really has had it out for them.
"So... Rukawa. Do you have a girlfriend?"
Unsurprisingly, he earns himself a glare. "Eventually, you'd have to consider women other than basketball," he pushes. "So who do you choose? Haruko-chan or Hanamichi?"
"Why would you even consider that monkey as a woman?"
Mito shakes his head. The guy's as stubborn as always.
…
Although he has made sure not to show, Mito's question does linger in his head. Absent-mindedly, during training, he asks one of Hanamichi's gang of how they see Akagi's sister.
"Haruko-chan?" the fat guy has asked, right before making a verbal contract he won't say anything to Gori. "She's the ideal woman!"
Now, he looks down on the Gori's sister who is standing in front of him, well after gym. She's the ideal woman, he repeats. She'll probably listen to his every need. That Idiot, on the other hand, will probably nag him until his ears bleed.
He sees the Idiot look at their direction and he pats her head. The next thing he knows his hand is karate-chopped away from the girl's head.
"I'll never lose Haruko to you!"
"Idiot."
...
Haruko has had it! Rukawa is finally paying attention to her, and Hanamichi's getting in the way. She adores Hanamichi, but this is just too much!
"P-Please meet me at the rooftop!"
The redhead stared at the air for a moment, absorbing the possible implications. A beautiful girl nervously asking a sweet person like her-great-self to a secluded area? "Could it be?" she voices out, adrenaline coursing through her veins. "A confession!"
"D'aho."
...
The mood is not as she has expected it to.
She expected it to be bright and pink and only the two of them.
So… why are the other two girls there? "Protection." Fujii says. Matsui shyly nods, and takes half-a-step away. Hanamichi, utterly confused, crosses her arms. "From what?"
"Well, Mito was rambling on about how I only find out I like you when I see you sweet with Rukawa. What do you even see in him?"
"I—" She gulps, insides heating up. "Well, I—" She gapes at the redhead. "Are you saying you saying you like me?"
"Yeah."
"EH?!" The other girls yell out, surprised. Fujii isn't against lesbians, but despite her manliness she never considered Hanamichi to be one. Hell, in the back of her head she imagines her ending up with Rukawa.
Fuji shakes her head at the thought. She realizes it is objectively a less possible thought than the redhead being gay. The latter isn't even a rare case, anyway.
Silence occupies the rooftop for a moment, with Hanamichi nervously but bravely looking at the girl she confessed to, and Haruko looking at her worriedly, thinking of all their interactions. Eventually, the brunette shakes her head, gently and with understanding. "Hanamichi-chan, I do not think you like me that way."
The redhead frowns at this, tears dramatically lining up her eyes. "Are you underestimating my feelings?"
"N-No! Hanamichi-san. I think you m-misunderstood your own heart." Haruko utters, raising her hand, trying her best to comfort the redhead despite the surprised state she is in herself.
Fujii and Matsui pities their innocent friend and decides to help out. "Do you want to kiss her, then?" Fujii finally asks, and Hanamichi's skin crawls at that.
"NO WAY." She answered almost immediately. Still, she did not connect the dots. "I still like Haruko-chan though! Very much."
Haruko stares and shakes away the surprise and hardens her resolve to set this straight. "I cannot accept your confession, Hanamichi-chan."
.
"What did you say?"
"I cannot accept your confession, Hanamichi-chan." The brunette receives. The redhead gapes. The two friends sighs.
"She's rejecting you!"
It takes Hanamichi a while, but it does hit her. Finally. "D-Did I…." She gulps, shocked. "Just get dumped?"
It is then that they hear a rustle from above. She blinks and looks up, to the roof deck of the building's stairwell. It is Rukawa, who is staring at her like she is the most idiotic person in the world. She pales.
Why is he even there?
But more importantly—
He has seen everything!
She dares to look at him again, and he's wearing that expression on his face: The one that he wears whenever he's thinking of something really annoying. He opens his mouth. She almost gasps.
"D-Don't say it!"
"D—"
"Don't say it damnit!"
"D'A—"
"You—"
"D'AHO D'AHO D'AHO—"
And she snaps. "Gyaaaaaaa!"
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 12
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 13: Tournaments
Their first game begins! And who is that teenage old man?
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Dragonlily22 x 2- Thank you for the reviews! Here's an update! I am so sorry I took so long. I can only pray this is somewhat worth it.
Lunary – hahaha indeed! I see you have a second-male lead syndrome. I do too! xD Thank you for reviewing btw~
BloodyFangKing95 - Thank you for reviewing! I am glad you think the chap is nice! Hope this one is too! :D
Hikaru Itsuko – thank you for reviewing! And yeah prays the renewal will happen. Oh, and I am glad you like the story so far and sure you can translate it. I am very flattered you're doing so.
kaOru HiMuRa24 – hahaha. It's understandable. The second male lead syndrome is a serious illness that plagues countless of us fangirls. xD Thank you for reviewing btw!
Yolosotakelifeeasy – Awww shux. Thank you so much for liking the story so much! *sobs* I will try to keep it that way til' the end. :D And I hope you like this chapter as well!
Krisyeol77 – Thank you for reviewing! And yes I try to update faster. Hope this is worth the wait tho!
Leireyna – Here it is! I'm soo sorry I take forever. Hope you like it and thanks for reviewing!
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