“Stop it witch. You’re drunk…. And you don’t know what you’re doing.”

     “Oh I assure you that I know 100% what I’m doing,” she retorted back, slapping his hand away and grabbing the back of his neck. “And I’m gonna prove it to you right now!”

     He raised an eyebrow. “Then I’d like to see you try.”

     She bristled at the obvious challenge.

     Before he could even protest, she pulled his head down for a passionate kiss.

     For the first few seconds, his mind went blank. He hadn’t seen this coming. They were mortal enemies remember? And mortal enemies don’t kiss… passionately, that is…

     What mortal enemies crap are you talking about?

     Heck… Screw that.

     Following his instincts and letting himself be carried away by the moment’s impulse, he was surprised to discover the sudden urge that overtook him. He tightly wound his arms around her, forcefully crushing her soft feminine curves against the hard muscular planes of his body.

     He tilted his head slightly as his drive to get closer and deepen the kiss got stronger. She struggled and whimpered softly in protest… but he didn’t care… He knew he’d wanted this for so long…. And now that she was in his arms, he wasn’t going to deny himself any longer. He was so tired of playing cat and mouse with her… and he wanted to cut the chase right then and there.

     His heart skipped a beat when she started kissing him back… an obvious sign of submission. He was elated, to say the least. Submission was what he wanted from everybody. It symbolized his control, his strength, his power over them…

     But coming from this girl whom he desired and who had played with his head for as long as he could remember… the feeling was indescribable.

     The triumph simply felt euphoric.

     All his blood suddenly came rushing to his midsection. The urge to punish and ravage her for being the alluring brat that she is was starting to overwhelm him.

     He carefully stroked her sweet lips with his tongue, his hands softly caressing the smooth skin of her back.

     No… he couldn’t possibly hurt her in any way. She was too precious to him. Apart from being his constant partner in bickering, she was also his confidante…. his bestfriend. That’s why he was a fool willing to play the part of the exploited accomplice, the submissive hen-pecked husband, the oppressed underdog… to the point of looking stupid.

     Hell, Rukawa… you turning soft now?

     The taunt stopped him in mid-thought.

    Honestly? I don’t give a damn.

     He crushed the girl to him, wanting to be near her, to be one with her in every possible way, to consume and breathe her. He loved the feel of her soft smooth skin underneath his touch… the way her hair fell over her bright, rebellious eyes… the way she pouts and whines whenever they are having some pathetic argument… the way she was responding to his caress right now…

     He wanted her. Period.

     The big question was… Did she want him back?

     He slightly drew away, allowing her a few seconds of air. He playfully nibbled at her lower lip to keep her from completely drawing away. He looked down upon her with slight amusement in his eyes. He’d never felt this… happy before. She opened her mouth, about to make a hasty explanation. “Rukawa, I—”

     But his lips devouring hers in a hungry kiss once again stopped her in mid-sentence. Heck, he wondered why women could talk in the middle of something so… important.  As far as he was concerned, he didn’t want to hear any of her pathetic ramblings anytime soon. He just wanted to savor her and this precious moment of togetherness.     

     Darn it. And why was he suddenly getting all poetic?

     He drew her away again to look at her squarely in the eyes. Her lips were slightly parted… swollen from what she had given and taken. But nonetheless, the twinkle in her eyes was bright and held a lot of promise. He was relieved to see that glimmer of hope. Alas, he could voice out what he had long wanted to say…

     He tenderly drew away the stray locks of hair from her face, turning the gesture into a sweet carress.

     “Marina, I lov—”

     That’s when the ball hit him squarely on the face.

     Kaede Rukawa doubled over in pain. He held on to his precious nose, checking it for injuries. The feel of the blood trickling there enraged him. He slowly stood up, his eyes turning blood shot with fury.

     Too bad. That would’ve been a better alternative ending…

     His eyes gleamed with indignation.

     And whoever was the unfortunate baka who interrupted him was going to be dead in a matter of seconds—

    “Oi, Rukawa!”

     He mentally gulped. On second thought…

     The heavy footsteps came behind him as expected. He braced himself for the impending blow on the head he knew would come… but didn’t.

     Curious, he slowly turned to face the gorilla behind him. Akagi.

     “I know you’re sick, Rukawa,” the basketball captain said ominously, “so I’m forgiving you this time. But if I catch you daydreaming again in the middle of practice…” Akagi trailed off, a sure sign that his threat shouldn’t be taken lightly.

     Rukawa sighed in relief. Honestly, he didn’t know how his already aching head could handle a blow from Akagi…

     But contrary to the basketball captain’s belief, he should’ve struck Rukawa on the head to give him immediate relief from the horrible images he’d been having since the dreaded night of the pool party.

     Akagi clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright back to practice,” he said before disappearing off behind the gym doors.

     Kaede rubbed his bruised cheek where he knew the rough marks were. ‘Damn. This is all her fault,’ he thought in outrage before deciding to dribble the ball and get serious with practice.

     Marina Akagi… you are the scum of this earth…

     Rukawa smoothly eluded his opponent to the right and did a no-look pass to Miyagi.

     … you are like fungus on my back… an ugly one with hairy spikes all over.

     He caught a bounce pass from Yasuda, dribbled backwards and posed to make a three-point shot.   

     … you are one major itch I could not, but would love to scratch.

     His current guard, Sakuragi, dumb as ever, jumped to block him. Fool…. He quickly eluded and went inside for an easy lay up. Scored.

     … you are like a parasite that leech people dry…. People like me in particular.

     They were on the defensive now. Kaede raised his arms above his head and fixed that murderous look in his eyes to intimidate the opponent. Me de korosu style.

     … you put a whole new meaning to the word ‘stupidity’.

     At the first sign of hesitation from the guy, he unceremoniously swatted the ball away and made a dash for the other side of the court. No foul there.

     … you put Sakuragi’s idiocy into shame. And take note … his is already the ultimate.

     Unfortunately, Mitsui was already under the basket to intercept him. Kaede’s dark blue eyes flashed in combined determination and indignation.

     Marina Akagi… you make my life a living hell!

     He won’t have any of it.

     Setting his lips into a fine line, he gripped the ball with all his might. Putting all his strength, concentration and pent-up emotions into this one powerful shot, he leapt into the air then aimed straight for the basket…. A beautiful slam dunk should finish this off….

     Unfortunately….

     “Aaaahhhhh-chooooooo!”

     …. his nose prevented him from doing so, making him stumble clumsily, face-first onto a hard wall’s awaiting arms. Ouch. Stupid wall…

     Everyone tensed.

     The loud echoing sound of the sneeze made every person inside the gym stop and stare at the direction where it came from….

     The more careful ones subtly peered from the corner of their eyes, not wanting to risk their comrade’s wrath... While the few braver souls in the crowd—Sakuragi Hanamichi being one of them—snickered  openly….

     Oh it was sheer joy to watch his sickly, pale, weak rival suffer like this….

     And the good part was that all of them knew exactly how Rukawa got that cold….. except for Akagi, of course, who had been so darn studious and missed all the fun.

     As if reading his thoughts, the raven-head stopped rubbing his sore, running nose to face the redhead squarely, his dark blue eyes glinting with unspoken promises of pain and torture.

     “Nani?” Sakuragi said, meeting his rival’s murderous gaze and cocking his head to one side. “Kitsune, you dare challenge this tensai with that red bloated nose of yours?”

     Kaede Rukawa merely raised an eyebrow at Sakuragi’s pathetic attempt at humor, but the twitching vein on his forehead betrayed the turmoil slowly building inside his head. Being sick always made him lose his cool easily…

     “Hnnn? Touchy aren’t we?” Sakuragi said with a smirk. “So how did the water feel after that torrid scene with Gori’s cousin?”

     Rukawa snorted and decided to ignore him completely this time. He focused back on what he had been doing previously before the damn cold got to him. What was he thinking off in the first place?

     ‘Akagi,’ a small voice inside his head reminded him. Oh yeah… the witch…

     Instinctively, his brain gave him an image of some ugly, barbaric gorilla eating a banana. No! Not that Akagi!

     He shook his head to clear it of the slight dizzy spell and of the disturbing image…. But failed miserably.

     Maybe he shouldn’t have gone to school at his current condition….

     Forcing himself to concentrate, he lifted the ball above his head and attempted to make a jump shot … As expected, the ball sailed in a perfect arc. But his toss completely lacked power and thus the ball missed the ring by a few couple of feet.

     “Nyahahahahahaha!!!!” the shameless laughter directly meant to mock him didn’t seem to register.

     During any other day, seeing his own blunder would’ve made him throw a silent fit…. but now, even his brain cells seemed drained and refused to cooperate…. It had only been a few minutes ago when practice started, but his muscles had already been crying out bloody murder.

     He sighed. Today definitely wasn’t his day….

     ‘Well any day isn’t your day,’ his irritating conscience butted in, mock seriousness evident in its tone. ‘Especially when you’re broken-hearted….’

     He felt like throwing up. Broken-heart my ass…

     ‘Oh please…You could cut the crap now,’ Rukawa thought acidly, mentally rolling his eyes. ‘I could do a lot better without you… especially when I still have this horrible headache to nurse. So bug off—!’

     “Yo, Rukawa,” came the ice-cold greeting, heavy silence suddenly befalling the gym.

     Once again, everyone tensed. The whole school had been practically waiting for this… the incoming confrontation between the pool party’s Most Indecent Couple after their scandalous display the other night.

     Kaede paled, the two words cutting like a knife amid the turmoil in his mind.

     ‘And whatever happened to ‘kaede-chan’ just the other day?’ his conscience teased, shaking its head at the irony of their current predicament.

     Kaede whirled around instinctively. He’d meant to greet her back. Really! But for some unknown reason, his jaw had completely locked… and thus all he could do at the moment was stare at her helplessly.

     ‘C’mon you coward!’ the persistent voice inside his head egged on. ‘Tell her now! Tell her how you feel! Apologize for what you did!’

     He took a deep breath and started opening his mouth, all his thoughts the previous night suddenly overwhelming him…. Wait a minute.

     Kaede’s eyes flashed indignantly as realization started hitting him.

     Wasn’t he supposed to be the one demanding for an apology after she… she… shamelessly grabbed, kissed, and… defiled him like that in front of everybody?! Not to mention, making him take the plunge in nearly-freezing water and making him suffer this horrible cold, he thought in outrage.

     Now, he has no more face to show the world! The respectable reputation he had built was ruined! Smashed to smithereens—!

     ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t like it,’ his conscience stated grimly.

     ‘Liked it?!’ Kaede thought, mentally raising an eyebrow. ‘French-kissing a real cow would’ve been better—!’

     ‘Besides, you were the one who got carried away,’ the voice scolded. ‘Not that I have any objections but you weren’t supposed to do that! Not yet!’

     Kaede released a defeated sigh to shut the voice out. Ok. So I owe her an apology… Big deal.

     ‘So what am I supposed to say then?’ Kaede thought sarcastically. Something like… Hey, Akagi, I’m so sorry for letting you grab and kiss me like that. And I’m sorry for kissing you too. I knew it wasn’t part of the plan but you were so damn manipulative to include it. And I couldn’t seem to control myself coz I find you so damn beautifu—

     Kaede shook his head at the pathetic outburst. Nope. I guess a simple ‘sorry’ will do—

     It would keep a greater part of his dignity and integrity in tact…. well, at least what was left of it.

     “Ehem.”

     With his mental ramblings interrupted, Kaede turned his attention back to the girl tapping her foot impatiently in front of him, annoyance evident in her warm brown eyes… those warm brown eyes that had once held fondness and respect for him. Though he couldn’t remember the last time when they did…

     “Akagi—”

     “Look here, Rukawa,” she said before releasing an exasperated sigh.

     Kaede’s heart sank at the coldness in her voice. He didn’t seem to notice as the members of the basketball club subtly turned to watch their little confrontation.

     “I don’t know what’s gotten into you but—”

     “Akagi, please listen to me first,” he started saying tersely. Ok here goes nothin’… this will be the first time I’m stooping to this pathetic level … 

     “ImsorryforwhathappenedtheothernightIhoesntlydidn’tmeanto—”

     “Whoa! Whoa! Hold your horses, Rukawa,” she interrupted him, holding up her hands in surrender. “Slowly will ya? Your fans club’s nowhere in sight. No need to rush.”

     Kaede bit his tongue as he slowly felt the heat spread across his cheeks. Fortunately, he was already flushed from practice.

     Darn it. She was unconsciously making a fool out of him again.

     Because you’re letting her, dummy.

     He cleared his throat and started talking slowly this time.

     “I’m sorry for what happened the other night,” he apologized hesitantly. “I didn’t mean to take advantage of you like that. I honestly couldn’t do that to you….” He cleared his throat once again. “Take advantage of you, I mean…. because…. because….”

     “Because what?” Marina asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically at him. Honestly, she was quite surprised. An apology was the last thing she was expecting from him.

     Kaede practically gritted his teeth, trying to get the words out. C’mon! Tell her you hate her coz she keeps on embarrassing you in front of everybody! And that she’s the ugliest thing to ever graze the face of this planet! And that she had the built of a 10-ton bulldozer! You despise her! And that—!

     “I like you.”  Waaahhh! Where did that come from???

     The whole basketball team would’ve rejoiced after finally hearing their teammate’s obvious confession, the longest string of words Kaede Rukawa has ever uttered, but the confrontation wasn’t over yet….

     Rukawa was sweating profusely…. but not because of practice.

     Oh no… he said it….  the three dreaded words…. noooo…. He hadn’t planned on stooping this low!

     ‘Man! Are you out of your freakin’ mind!’ his rational self burst out. ‘What’s the point making a bigger fool out of yourself?! You’ve totally lost it! And to think I thought better of you—!’

     Kaede forcefully tried to shut the voice out. Fool or not, he eagerly wanted to know what her reaction will be…

     ‘Start praying now, you dweeb,’ the tiny voice continued to mock. ‘We all know she’s bound to give you the hardest slam dunk you’ve ever seen… Right into your face—!’

     He mentally stuffed a sock into the voice’s imaginary mouth, effectively shutting it up.

     They all turned towards the shocked brown-eyed girl, knowing that the final blow was yet to be dealt….

     Marina didn’t know why, but she suddenly had a strong urge to ditch her plan and throw all her inhibitions out the window….

     Unfortunately, her resolve was stronger than her heart.

     “I didn’t quite expect that, but….” She took deep breath and followed what common sense was telling her. She cleared her throat before proceeding. “Thank you, Rukawa.”

     Everyone was silent before several male snickers erupted in the background.

     ‘Err… wait a minute. Did I hear right?’ Kaede thought in confusion, blinking several times to register what she had just said. ‘Thank you? Thank you! That was it?! That was all she had to say after his confession?!’

     Kaede knew what Jell-O was but never did try the stuff…. now he was regretting why he never bothered knowing more about its soft, gooey nature. He had a bad feeling that his knees were turning positively gooey as Jell-O.

     “Akagi, wait—”

     Marina turned away from him as she tried gulping down the big lump inside her throat. She absolutely refused to show him the turmoil brewing in her previously determined eyes. Why did he have to screw every one of her plans?!

     “Those words were nice, but all I’ll ever feel for you is… gratitude.” she stopped abruptly trying to muster all the composure that she could. “I’m so sorry, Rukawa.”

     Kaede’s mind went blank. “Oh.”

     “It’s been nice working with you,” she said to him cordially, addressing him with outmost respect…. something completely unbecoming of her. “I owe you a lot,” she said, bowing to him deeply.

     Kaede flinched. Who was this stranger? He wanted his old barbaric Marina back!

    “I didn’t know cavewomen had manners,” Kaede mused before he could even stop his big mouth. Uh-oh, wrong choice of words there. You really know how to come up with the coolest lines, don’t you?

     Marina bristled.

     ‘Now we’re getting somewhere….’ Kaede thought, mentally smirking. Now if he could just make them argue again, everything will be back to normal…

     But all glimmer of hope dissipated when the irritation that momentarily flashed in her eyes faded in a heartbeat. The cool detached expression was back on her face. “Well, since you obviously don’t want me around anymore, I’ll be off to the locker room now.”

     As if to rub in the sarcasm, she flashed him a toothy, angelic smile before sauntering off. “Ja!” she called out to him with that obvious tremble on her lips.

     Kaede raised his hand absent-mindedly, his jaw slightly hanging open. “Yeah. See you around, too,” he said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

     No, this can’t be…

     This has got to be the worst insult she had ever hurled at him…

     Talk about ultimate embarrassment…

     She’d rejected him right in front of everybody….

     He mentally cursed himself in frustration.

     What else could possibly go wrong???

     “Oh by the way…” she said, stopping abruptly on her tracks. “I’m no longer your buddy.”

     A double blow in the gut…

     Kaede felt like he’d been slapped. Though all his resolve was crumbling apart, he’d miraculously managed to retain the unaffected, deadpan look…. and it was taking him every ounce of energy to do so.

     Everyone watched in silence as the brown-eyed girl hastily disappeared into the locker room, shutting the door behind her with a loud bang. The tension hung heavily in the air and it took everyone a few seconds to process what had just happened….

     It was unbelievable…

     The great Kaede Rukawa had just been spurned…

     Snubbed…

     Rebuffed…

     Rejected.

     His mind felt numb. He wanted to disappear right then and there and burrow in some dark cavern where he can wallow in misery until all hell burns over…or until all his basketball cards vaporize into thin air…. or whichever comes first.

     But before he’d managed to do anything drastic like bang his head onto the nearest wall, confetti started raining down on him. The Sakuragi gundan, complete with their little trumpets and party hats, started performing their victory dance around him.

     “Nyahahahahaha!!! This is certainly a time to be merry and gay!!!” the ringleader, Sakuragi Hanamichi exploded ecstatically as he orchestrated everything.

     “We should mark this as a red-letter day, ne Rukawa?” he taunted the raven-head, nudging his ribs playfully. “You just made history with your first public rejection! Nyahahahahahaha!”

     “Oh Hanamichi, don’t forget that you also made history with your fiftieth rejection,” one of the Sakuragi gundan interjected.

     But the remark was completely ignored as the redhead basked in his rival’s misery, completely oblivious to the energy level around the raven-head, which was now rapidly reaching critical mass.

     Rubber started squeaking when Kaede exerted The Death Grip on the ball he held on his right hand, wishing it was the head of a certain jerk with flaming red hair.

     He couldn’t believe how some people could find joy in other’s suffering…

     He started cracking his knuckles when the gundan’s off-key singing reached a climactic octave enough to grate through his nerves.

     Oh he’ll certainly have fun with them this afternoon….

     Though he wished they could say the same to him after he’s done ripping their heads off.

     He turned to face the most annoying one of them all… The redhead monkey with the biggest mouth.

     His eyes glinted evilly underneath his bangs as he assumed his battle stance.

     Time for some major pest control….

     Because the redhead was in a heavenly state of bliss, he didn’t notice when the raven-head charged at him and lunged for that particularly vulnerable spot on his neck. His annoying laughter was cut short when a strong force abruptly closed around his windpipe. “Teme, Rukaw—ack!” 

     “I’m going to enjoy murdering you, Sakuragi.” Rukawa hissed through gritted teeth. Screw the calm Ice Prince image. He’d had enough of it.

     His eyes narrowed with satisfaction as the redhead thrashed around wildly and gradually asphyxiated. Images of various torture techniques started filling his head, his brain unconsciously skimming through them in an attempt to make out what suited Sakuragi best.

     The members of the basketball club started panicking. Akagi was still out and Kogure will not be attending any practice in a few weeks because of that exchange student program. Who on earth would be brave enough, not to mention, strong enough, to play referee between these two?!

     Rukawa was caught off guard when Sakuragi’s fist landed heavily on his left cheek, the force of the blow making him stagger a few feet back. The redhead quickly regained his balance as he gulped down large amounts of air to fill his almost depleted lungs.

     “Rukawa, you’re going to pay for that!” he threatened, his shoulders shaking with fury.

     But his counter-attack was interrupted by the heavy blow over his head.

     Everyone sighed in relief.

     The exterminator was back.

     “Sakuragi, Rukawa…..” came the deep voice of the exterminator/basketball captain as he grabbed each one by the scruff of their shirts. “I was just gone for a few minutes and here you are trying to bring the whole gym down.”

     “Gori, it was Rukawa’s fault!”

     “Do aho.”

     Akagi bristled at the bakas’ typical lines. Honestly, he couldn’t care less if these two managed to pry each other’s guts apart. Oh, wait…. That would’ve made the world a better place to live in…. But these two were his most valuable players and he won’t have them embarrassing the whole team in front of other people’s critical eyes.

     Especially if those people came from their rival teams.

     “Oi, have you forgotten what day it is today?”

     “Ne? You don’t know, Gori? Haven’t you heard?” Sakuragi mused. “Today, Rukawa got his first rejection.”

     Akagi’s eyebrows met in confusion before he held on tighter to Rukawa’s shirt to prevent him from skinning the redhead.

     “Well, whatever it is you two idiots are talking about, it has nothing to do with that,” he said patiently, finally letting go of them. He cleared his throat meaningfully before turning his back to them. “In case you haven’t noticed, Kogure won’t be joining us in a couple of weeks… and you’ll be surprised to know that in his place would be—”

     “Die, Rukawa, die!!!! Nyahahahaha!!!”

     “I’ll be the one to bring on your untimely death, do aho.”

     Akagi gnashed his teeth together. Nobody was listening to him anymore. They were too busy trying to pry the hotheads apart. He pressed his hand over his throbbing temple before sighing in exasperation.

     There was no point taming down these wild beasts. He guessed he didn’t have a choice but to call animal control….

      …..and consider a serious career as a circus ringmaster.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     “Hey sempai!” the short annoying guy called out after his tall companion. “Wait up!”

     The tall guy stopped on his tracks to let his friend catch up. “Hurry up will ya?” he said in an irritated voice. “I’m thirty minutes late for my next appointment!”

     “Well, what’s new?” the short guy said, scratching his head. “You’re never on time.”

     “I’m ignoring that,” the tall one said grimly as he dodged students along the busy corridor.

     “So… everything in perfect order?” the short one asked.

     The taller one merely nodded his head. “Yup.”

     “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

     “Yup.”

     “You can call us anytime for backup. You know…. Just in case, they decide to gang up and murder you—”

     The tall guy turned to face his teammate. “I am perfectly capable of protecting myself,” he said indignantly.

     “Not with Sakuragi-the gundan leader, Rukawa-the unpredictable psycho, Mitsui-the ex-gangster, Miyagi-the flying kick expert, and Akagi-the unforgiving gorilla there to—”

     “I won’t have you dissing my new buddies like that,” the tall one said with a smirk.

     The shorter one gasped. “Oh so you’re betraying us too!”

     The tall one raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get melodramatic on me, you baka. I’m going to be gone for just a few weeks. I’m sure you guys can handle yourselves perfectly fine.”

     “Well, it’s just not the same without you, sempai.”

     “Look at it on the bright side,” the taller said, shrugging his shoulders. “At least, you’ll have a genius in the team to take my place for the meantime.”

     “Yeah, he’s nice and everything but the team won’t be complete without your typical hilarious remarks… And who would coach diss with you gone?”

     The tall one gave him a winning smile to hide his irritation. “I knew you guys loved me so much,” he said coyly.

     The shorter one cringed. “Well, it’s not like that….”

     “Whatever.”

     Upon the sound of squeaking rubber and of basketballs being dribbled, the two hastened their steps. They quickly rounded the corner to find themselves in the midst of curious students watching all the action with mixed horror and excitement.

     Wait a minute…. they were supposed to be heading for the basketball court…. not the wrestling arena.

     The tall one scanned the chaotic mob and sure enough, recognized the familiar faces amid the storm.

     Sakuragi and Rukawa.

     He shook his head in exasperation. When will those two ever learn? He slowly elbowed his way in to get a better view of the court, his eyes intent on finding one sole figure.

     While the men’s team was busy doing damage control, the women’s team had already engaged in a heated match, purposely ignoring all the commotion—and embarrassment—the men were bringing them.

     The tall guy who towered over the crowd took a step closer towards their direction, but a slight tug on his arm prevented him from proceeding.

     “Sempai,” his short companion whispered, “it’s not too late to back off now… Look at them! They look rabid—!”

     “Relax will ya?” he consoled him. “Their small teenaged squabble doesn’t intimidate me at all.”

     ‘Small teenaged squabble???’ the shorter one thought, cringing. The scene before them looked like a sneak preview of World War III. A big fight like this couldn’t possibly be considered a squabble….

     Squabbles are like cute little cheerleaders fighting over some sweaty basketball player…. with the exception of Rukawa’s fans of course. Unlike this epitome of chaos he was witnessing, its results were never catastrophic.

     “Is this what Shohoku does for warm-ups?” he asked, watching in horror as Sakuragi gave the five freshmen holding him down good resounding head butts. “No wonder they won second place!”

     “Cmon! Let’s go to the other side of the court,” the tall one said excitedly. “The women are having a game.”

     The shorter one rolled his eyes at his senior’s eagerness. He should’ve known…. His sempai had ulterior motives.

     Though he wished with all his might that he’d get back to them all in one piece.

     “Hai, hai… Lead the way.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     I like you….. I like you….. I like you….

     She mentally blushed, instinctively putting her cool, clammy hands against her cheeks. She’d expected him to give her the silent treatment… or even rant… or probably hurl her out the window after what she’d done to him at the pool party—ok, so he wasn’t that violent…

     “Akagi!”

     She instinctively reached out for the ball to absent-mindedly intercept the no-look pass. A trick she’d learned from him…

     ‘Marina, you are really out of your pathetic little mind,’ her conscience scolded her. ‘How could you even stomach going through that evil plan of yours?’

     ‘Ok, ok… stop making me all guilty about it,’ she countered, sighing in frustration, as the image of a crestfallen Kaede lingered in her mind.

     ‘Oh, but you’re forgetting something…’ the voice said in mock sweetness. ‘It’s my job as your conscience.’

     Oblivious to the people around her, she groaned out loud.

     ‘Geee. Thanks, conscience,’ Marina thought acidly as she smoothly dodged her way in between opponents and teammates. ‘Remind me to give you an award for making me feel a whole lot better.’

     ‘You’re welcome but I’m not finished with you yet,’ it warned as she made a mad dash for the basket

     ‘Spare me the lecture,’ she thought, ‘Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a game—?’

     ‘There he is now! Look what you did to poor sweet Rukawa!’ the voice cooed sickeningly.

     ‘Calling Rukawa sweet would be like calling Takenori cute…’ she mused silently.

     But despite the heated match she was having with her teammates, she subtly sneaked a peek at the tall raven-head. She flinched at the scowl he had on his face. He looked like he was about to embark in another vicious fistfight.

    ‘Urgh,’ she thought in disgust. ‘A deranged gorilla looks a lot sweeter than him. Don’t bother interrupting me while I’m in the middle of saving my team’s ass—’

     Two members of the opposing team suddenly came up from nowhere. Marina mentally cursed herself for letting them catch up. But it doesn’t matter now, she thought as she purposely ignored her teammates waving for her to pass out the ball… she was determined to score on her own. No matter how many were blocking her….

     ‘A typical Rukawa-ish behavior?’ her conscience taunted, ‘Emulating him now? I thought you hated the guy…’

     She smirked. But of course… I couldn’t just turn my back on my roots, can I?

     Marina raised an eyebrow haughtily. Especially when I learned from the best…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     It was a good thing he had managed to change into his new uniform and come out just in time to witness some heavy basketball action. The tall young man watched as the brown-eyed girl leapt into the air, her two guards following instantly, raising their arms high above their heads in an attempt to foil her obvious overhead shot.

     Nope. Bad move there. The girl is obviously too frail to force her way in…

     Everything seemed to be in suspended animation when the determined girl suddenly decided to switch tactics. She abruptly squeezed the ball in between and underneath her unsuspecting opponents’ heavy defense.

     Smart move. Kinda reminds me of someone….

     After thrusting the ball behind them, she gave it a strong one-handed toss.

     ‘Please… C’mon!… Get in!’ she silently pleaded as she watched the ball with grave concentration, as if egging it on.

     ‘Well, well… what do you know….’ the young man thought in awe, already predicting the possible outcome of the shot. ‘I didn’t think she could do it…’

     The girl’s eyes followed the orange thing as it landed inside the basket with a resounding swish and a heavy spin. After witnessing her victory, triumph seemed to surge into her like a strong current.

     Yes! It turned out that hanging out with Rukawa wasn’t just a waste of time after all…

     Unfortunately, she was completely oblivious to the fact that her foot landed on a particularly slippery spot on the floor.

     It was too late to stop herself from charging head-first into the crowd, her hands flailing miserably by her sides.

     Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets when she saw the short guy she was about to give a head butt. “Hey watch out!” she hollered, instinctively closing her eyes as if to lessen the incoming pain.

     The short guy was quick to react and jumped away just in time. Good for him…

     Too bad for the taller one behind him…

     The taller guy’s eyes widened like a deer caught in a headlight, his jaw slightly hanging open. Mommy…

     The earth-shaking thud was inevitable as the two bodies crashed to the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     After the strong impact, the first thought that came to Marina’s mind was…. My nose…

     She instinctively reached out to examine the abused appendage. Good thing it was still in tact after banging herself against this brick wall…. She tried taking a deep breath.

     Wait… she didn’t know brick walls had a refreshing masculine scent to them…

     With her eyes still closed, she gingerly fingered the brick wall…

     …. and she didn’t know brick walls wore soft cotton shirts…

     “Hey, princess… Are you alright?” came the voice that sounded all too familiar to her.

     Marina’s stomach gave a nasty lurch. No.

     She slowly lifted her head. When she opened her eyes, she again found herself staring into those deep, sexy, tantalizing eyes. No.

     His hands slowly wound around her back to steady her above him. “I told you we’d be seeing each other soon, didn’t I?” he teased, lightly giving her an impromptu back rub.

     With her aching muscles and their current position, it would’ve been great just to lie down there for a couple of minutes…

     But the death glare that seemed to burn right through her back served to heighten her defenses. Marina’s eyes flashed indignantly. “Unhand me, you jerk,” she snarled.

     The blue-eyed guy underneath her chuckled lightly. “After you stop making a cushion out of me, princess,” he said shamelessly, giving her a sexy wink.

     Marina pushed against his chest, abruptly putting some distance in between them. But much to her disappointment, she couldn’t help but blush to the shade of a ripe red tomato. Right in front of everyone no less.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     He could feel his shoulders tremble with fury. He’d seen their little show alright. And he was far from entertained. If he hadn’t known it was just an accident, he would’ve thought that the jerk had purposely gotten in her way so that she could throw her clumsy arms all over him.

    Lecher.

     Rukawa took several steps towards them, intent on giving The Lecher a piece of his mind…. and regretted it instantly.

     The maximum limit he’d set was one confrontation a day, darn it. Obviously, the odds weren’t on his side.

     The Lecher stood up to his complete 6 feet frame then bent down to give the barbarian—that’s Ms. Junior Gorilla—a hand.

     Rukawa bristled.

     Man, you’re pathetic… I say beat him up right now!

     Though he’d love to follow what his little devil of a conscience was telling him to, he simply couldn’t the minute he saw what The Lecher of All Lechers was wearing.

     As of the moment, all he wanted to do was wipe that silly smile off his face.

     “Hello, everyone! I’m here in place of Kogure,” the hentai idiot said proudly. “I’m glad to be working with you throughout the month.”

     “So I’ve heard,” Miyagi said, coming up to the guy. “Man, its nice to have you in our team. Even for a while.”

     “My, my…” Mitsui drawled, raising his hands for a high five. “Another tensai like me in the team will surely make Shohoku formidable.”

     The newcomer returned the ex-gangster’s high five. “Thanks, man.”

     "Oi," Akagi said, eyeing the guy disapprovingly. "Remember that I don't tolerate weaklings in this team."

     "I'm far from being a... weakling," the tall guy countered cockily. "After defeating your past team single-handedly... surely you should know that, captain."

     Akagi bristled. "Shohoku's much stronger now, wise guy. After defeating your team in the interhigh... surely you should know that," the captain mused, quoting the newcomer.

     The tall guy laughed out loud. Playing word games with Akagi will be one of the things he will miss once this whole exchange student program was over.

     He gladly shook hands with the proud basketball captain. "I think I'm going to enjoy my stay here."

     Akagi smirked. "Glad to hear that. But I won't have you adding to my List of Troublemakers... I already have my hands full with two psychos--"

     "I shall be the one to defeat you, baka!!!" Sakuragi hollered, coming up behind Akagi and pointing a finger up at the tall guy's nose.

     "I'll be looking forward to that, Sakuragi."

     Several ooh’s and aah’s can be heard from the bystanders and his other teammates. Obviously, this was a chance of a lifetime for Shohoku high’s basketball club. Even Akagi or Anzai-sensei wouldn’t pass this up for the world…

     Unfortunately, for Kaede Rukawa, this was his greatest nightmare coming to life.

     The bottom of his stomach dropped when their new teammate turned towards his direction and gave him an arrogant smile.

     Rukawa bristled at the unspoken challenge. The baka shouldn't be so overconfident. He was venturing into dangerous territories... Rukawa's territories to be exact.

     He grimaced at the site he was witnessing... which for him, was a complete eye sore.

     Not far away, straightening out his new custom-made flaming red jersey was none other than Shohoku’s new No. 5…

     Sendoh Akira.

To be continued…