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Pay Attention Please
by Annie D

Author's Note: This story is a self-inflicted challenge, and basically just another story where Rukawa and Sakuragi get together, and a rather lengthy shounen ai (development! ::goes cross-eyed::). I guess it counts as yaoi since it’s a RuHana, but there’s no (cough) intimate relations, and hence garners an arguably boring PG rating. I think I managed to stuff a simple plot in there somewhere, too. Hopefully the story itself turns out okay, and there’s a lapse between posting of chapters because I have to keep fighting the persons in this fic that keep wanting to break out of character ::kicks them:: and because my idea muse has gone strangely quiet on me lately. The reason I'm writing this is because I just want to get one proper RuHana out of my system before I'm satisfied and can off into the sunset a happy RuHana shipper.

Dedication: This chapter (or introduction) is dedicated to my lovely friend katryne. I am such a goose, and you are such a sweetheart. ^_^ (She’s now working on an FF8 fic… check it out) Hahahahaha you like plugs, don't you, sweetie?

Disclaimer: (vich is applicable to all ze chapters) Slam Dunk’s not mine bla bla bla… vavoom!

Prologue: Introduction

Konnichiwa. I'm Ayako, senior at Shohoku High, and the team manager of the basketball team.

Basketball means a lot to me, and my love for the sport has grown incredibly over the past year, what with my team rising from obscurity into the second best of Kanagawa, and we even beat Sannoh (number 1 seeded team!) during nationals, which was a really amazing experience I’ll never forget. I never thought it would be able to feel as proud as I feel now for the team, but it is. And Shohoku will do even better this new year, I know we will.

But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.

You see, what’s been on my mind (other that basketball), has been the fact that two of the players on my team developed something of a… um… chemistry? Yes, I think that’s an okay word - chemistry with one another.

First of all there’s Sakuragi Hanamichi. He’s loud, annoying, at times incredibly stupid, and during the first few months of being on the team, caused me to reload my paper fan so many times that my wrist hurt. He calls himself the “tensai”, and has this really nerve-grating laughter that made me want to slap him. At first, though. After a while the laughter became something of a trademark, and a comfort to the team.

But anyway, the thing with Hanamichi is that he joined the team because of Haruko, who is sister of Akagi Takenori - our captain last year. But he rose above that simple reason and now plays for the love of the game - something I realised faster than he did, but perhaps not as fast as Anzai-sensei. Hanamichi is… well… it’s hard to describe him other than LOUD. And most of the time he’s uncontrollable. And annoying. But loveable in a strange sort of way.

The second guy is Rukawa Kaede, Super Rookie who joined the Shohoku team last year along with Hanamichi, but that’s where the similarity ends between them (except perhaps the fact that at first both of them refused to be team players). Rukawa’s quiet, keeps to himself, doesn’t smile or laugh, is very controlled and is an extremely good player.

I knew Rukawa from our Junior High days, so I guess that makes me more of an expert on him than anyone else in Shohoku. Rukawa was pretty much the same in Junior High - quiet, kept to himself, didn’t smile or laugh, was very controlled, talented on the court… except for one thing. Back then, nothing could provoke him. Nothing. Except maybe a basketball player who challenges him on the court, but that’s just game, propelled by Rukawa's intense desire to be the best. No one could ever ever provoke Mr Ice Man Super Rookie anywhere else.

But then…

Well, I guess at first I thought it natural that Hanamichi’s innate loud tensai-ness would annoy Rukawa, because hey, it annoyed everyone else. Their scuffles and Rukawa’s one-liners became something of a trademark of the team (along with Akagi’s head-bashing and my fan-slapping), and so nobody really paid it more attention than the usual “Oh no, please don’t fight now, we’ve got a game to play.”

But that’s because everybody else involved with the team are guys, and the only girls that do show interest are sad little Rukawa groupies. (Sorry, Haruko, but it’s true!)

So that just left me. I’m the team manager, and I have to be objective. My eyes need to open, and kept them open I have.

So, would you now, imagine my shock when I realised that the chemistry between Hanamichi and Rukawa could be beyond just rivalry? Hanamichi still hated Rukawa because of the latter’s tendency to steal the limelight and Haruko’s attention, but as for Rukawa… I think I realised it some time last year when the Kanagawa trials were nearing to a close. I finally, finally noticed that Rukawa’s rebuttals were no longer due to Hanamichi’s provoking. Rukawa gave them simply because… he could.

That lead me to thinking… Why would Rukawa bother with Hanamichi? He never bothered with anyone else before. He never opened his mouth to give two words to anyone if he could help it. Yet here he was, still doing the one-liner “Do’aho” thing whenever he could. Why?

At first I thought it had become habit for Rukawa to insult Hanamichi, but then I started to notice other things…

Like, take for example, the game we had against Shoyo last year. Hanamichi had gotten four fouls, and was in danger of being removed from the game, so he was too afraid to play aggressively and chickened out whenever he needed to make a good rebound.

And what did Rukawa do? He went to Hanamichi and said (and I quote): “What you shrinking for? It’s not like you, isn’t it?”

Rukawa… Rukawa, who never bothered with any of his teammates, who was known for being a solo player, who barely opened his mouth to anyone, was not only talking to Hanamichi without being provoked, but pushing him to play better!

At the time I told myself it had to be because Rukawa wanted to win the game and it had nothing to do with Hanamichi personally, or perhaps Rukawa was just annoyed with Hanamichi’s lack of performance. But if either were true, wouldn’t have Rukawa just taken the rebounding task himself as he always likes to do when the game isn’t going his way? If it had Mitsui, or Ryota, or Akagi in trouble, would he have bothered to talk to them? No, I don’t think so.

So why? Why?

That’s when it finally hit me. Oh. My. God.

And when that possibility finally revealed itself, my eyes opened even wider and I was seeing even more of it left, right and centre. All over the place! All the time! At that frequency, it became painfully clear that I was not imagining it. It was there.

So what was I supposed to do? Of course, it’s none of my business. I’m the team manager, I mind the game plays. I stayed out of Rukawa’s way, and let him do whatever he wanted to do to Hanamichi, even if I had to constantly bite down the incredible urge to giggle whenever he did. I watched from the sidelines, because that’s my job.

Most girls (though admittedly not all) have a sixth sense when it comes to identifying a guy’s affections toward another person. That’s why girlfriends exchange notes about who they know likes who, because it’s only by being a third party can a girl see the chemistry (cough) between two people. And so I knew about Rukawa’s - oh wow I can’t think of word for this… affections? feelings? well, whatever it is - toward Hanamichi, even if he (Rukawa) didn’t. And Hanamichi wouldn’t see something that obvious unless it hit him between the eyes and scurried up his nose.

They’re both STUPID BOYS. Stupid, stupid boys.

But it was none of my business, so I kept out of it. Actually, I shouldn’t even care because I’m just there as team manager. Really. So what if Hanamichi’s slow and dense and simple-minded and only sees Haruko? So what if Rukawa’s attempts to get Hanamichi’s attention were going unnoticed?

So I remained a bystander. It was simply so entertaining just watching them! Sometimes I wished I could have mentioned it to someone else, but who’d listen, really? Sometimes I think that Anzai-sensei knew about it, too, although I can never be certain about that one.

But now… I guess this year won’t be as entertaining. Rukawa’s left us for the All-Japan team, so he won’t be around to torment (ahem ahem) Hanamichi anymore. I wonder how Hanamichi’ll react to that? The guy’s been away for treatment on his back, but he’s due to return to school (and the team) any day now.

I guess I’m a little sad that I won’t be able to watch them bicker like usual. Things just won’t be the same, I guess…

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