Under the bright sun and the blue sky, the students of Shohoku made
their way into their classes. From far away, a devastatingly handsome youth
was somewhat languidly pedaling towards the school. How amazing, the boy
wasn't asleep while biking. But that did not stop him from running over a
tall, muscular youth with weird red hair who happened to be an innocent
bystander.

     "RU-KA-WAAAAA~!!! You!! YOU.. dare run over the Tensai!!"

     "Who told you to stand in front of my bike?"

     "Are you BLIND?"

     "Hn. Do ahou." I better stay away. I don't want to get too close to an
ahou, it's contagious.

     "You can run me over with your EYES wide OPEN. What's wrong with
you?!" Sakuragi, at this point, was vexed to the degree of committing
murder, and the bulging veins on his forehead told their story. He grabbed
Rukawa's shirt angrily.

     Good, I want a fight too. Maybe.. maybe this will get my blood flowing
again. Ever since the day Rukawa parted with Sendoh in the restaurant, he
felt that his blood has stopped its circulation. Numbness and coldness were
prevalent throughout his limbs.

     "Rukawa-kun, Sakuragi-kun!" The timing was perfect. Haruko arrived
just in time to prevent the fight.

     "Sakuragi-kun, what are you doing? Please don't fight!"

     "Hahahaha.. me? The Tensai? Of course not, the Tensai himself will not
pick little fights with a worthless fox." Quickly, Hanamichi struck his
Tensai-like pose. Both hands on his waist, he bent his back backwards
slightly and started his 'hahahaha' laughter.

     "Haruko-san, so how are you today?" Hanamichi attempted a conversation
with the crush of his life.

     "Do Ahou," Rukawa shrugged his shoulders and wheeled his bike away
from the area.

		-------------------------------------------

     Haruko and Hanamichi started walking to their classes. As they were
walking, Hanamichi tried to make their conversation fruitful. In the midst
of his senseless chattering, Haruko interrupted.

     "Sakuragi-kun, I.. I..." Haruko flushed.

     "Haruko-san, what is it?" Eh? Is Haruko blushing?

     "Sakuragi-kun, I..I.." That was all she was able to stammer out.

     "Ha-Haruko-san..." Now, Hanamichi was quite affected by Haruko's
nervousness. It can't be.. can it? Does she like me after all.. and she has
trouble telling me?? On that note, Hanamichi's face turned into the color
of an apple, too. (green apple or red apple? You decide.. ^^)

     "Sakuragi-kun..I--I have made up my mind....to.. to..." Haruko looked
redder, and she averted Sakuragi's eyes. She took a deep breath.

     "Sakuragi-kun, I've decided to tell Rukawa-kun my feelings today."
Haruko shyly looked at Sakuragi-kun. They were in front of Haruko's
classroom.

     CRA~SH of the waves...CL~ASP of thunder....... Hanamichi was
stupefied. He was petrified. His smile was stuck on his face, yet his eyes
were lifeless. It was as if the wind had snubbed out a flickering candle.

     At this moment, Yohei came out from behind and wrapped his arm around
Hanamich's shoulders.

     "Haruko, we are going to be late for class if we don't hurry. Let's
go." He steered Hanamichi away from Haruko and forcibly led him away.

     "Okay," Haruko said softly, and entered her class.

     "Hanamichi! Hanamichi, wake up." Yohei worriedly patted Hanamichi's
face.

     "Haruko..Haruko..." Sakuragi finally snapped out of his trance. Then.
He broke free from Yohei's grip and ran. Yohei quickly bounded after him
and grabbed him before he could jump off the ledge.

     "Hanamichi, calm DOWN. She hasn't said anything to him yet. Just wait
until Rukawa rejects her, then you can go and comfort her. Everything will
be fine." Yohei calmly explained the situation to him.

     In the midst of his tantraum, Hanamichi halted his movements as
Yohei's words sank in.

     "Yeah, that's right. That fox.. that fox doesn't like Haruko right? So
he'll turn Haruko down, and I'll make her feel all better, ha..haha."
Hanamichi relaxed and laughed.

     "Yes, everything will be fine, okay." Yohei smiled at his best friend.
His eyes had a glimmer of sadness that Hanamichi missed.

		-------------------------------------------

     Senoh concentrated on passing his opponents. He first did a fake,
passed Koshino, and then he shot the ball even as Fukuda tried to block
him. BAM! Sendoh was knocked onto the floor as the ball left the tips of
his fingers. The basketball soared and landed into the basket. A crisp 2
points. It was the 34th point of the day.

     "Sendoh, are you alright?" Koshino said. Fukuda and Koshino pulled
Sendoh off the floor.

     "Yeah, I'm fine." Sendoh flashed his usual smile. His eyes didn't
smile. Fukuda and Koshino looked at each other.

     "You've been driving yourself like crazy lately. What's with you?"
Fukuda wanted to know what's going on with Sendoh. He's been like this for
the past 3 weeks already.

     "Nothing much. I am the captain after all. I need to lead the team
using myself as an example."

     "It's so not like you..." Koshino knew that this Sendoh had something
he didn't want to say.

     "Well, anyway, it's time. Let's call it a day, guys." Sendoh clapped
his hands together to get the attention of the basketball team.

     The team burst into little chit-chats as soon as Senoh ended practice.
The year ones went on about their cleaning while the second and third year
students headed for the lockers.

     "Are you sure you're alright?"

     "Yes, Koshino, quit worrying about me."

     "......"

     "Go out and meet your date. You'll be late soon, and you do not want
to make a bad first impression." Sendoh grinned. And gradually, his grin
faded as he remembered his first date with Rukawa. Being the King of
Tardiness, he was of course late for their first movie together. By the
time he got there, the movie was well in its way. Instead of watching the
movie, he spent the next three hours trying to get Kaede to forgive him. In
the end, he was able to trick him into going to the beach and finally
wooing him into a kiss. That kiss was his savior.

     "Sendoh--"

     "Yes, just go on, I've got everything in check here." Sendoh waved
goodbye to Koshino as Koshino lugged his bag and left.

     "Kaede----" They haven't seen each other for more than 3 weeks now. It
should be a time of appeasement. They should be leading their normal lives
and... he's been trying so hard. He put all his energy into basketball now,
didn't he? Basketball is his source of forgetting his Kaede, isn't it? I
miss him, and it's not happening. No matter how much time I spend playing
basketball, or how I drive myself to the ground practicing, I still can't
erase the vehement feeling of wanting to see him. Who says I can't see him?
I said I wanted us to be friends anyway, right? So it's okay if I visit a
friend, right?

     Sendoh gathered his belongings rapidly and took the train to Shohoku
before he lost his courage and changed his mind. Rukawa Kaede---an
addiction in his blood.



∼To Be Continued∼