Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ The Girl That Time Loved ❯ Guy talk ( Chapter 2 )

The following morning he got up extra early to do his daily routine. He stopped by Coach Sato's office and found a note taped to the door saying, `Gym is already open.'

He went to the main gym and put his bad gown by a chair. He sat down on the ground and began stretching when he heard the double doors of the side entrance of the annex gym open. Mitsui got up and took the oval piece from his bag and hurriedly ran through the doors. He tried opening the side double doors of the annex gym and wasn't surprised to find them locked. He rounded the corner as he did before and looked through the rectangular windows to make certain it was she.

Indeed it was, though she looked very different. Her hair wasn't in a braid, it hung past her shoulders almost to her elbows. She rummaged through her bag and found a ponytail holder. She then began to braid her hair from the top of her head all the way to the end. She stood up and tore away the warm-up pants she wore and flung it at the bench where her things lay. Mitsui instantly looked away, thinking she might not have anything underneath. After a second his eyes rested back on her, this time relieved that she had shorts on. Very form-fitting shorts.

He opened one of the doors and she was startled by his presence. He waved at her.

"Sorry to scare you like that. It's only me."

She relaxed with recognition as he came closer.

"Mitsui-san from yesterday, am I correct?"
"You got it. And you're?"

She smiled. "That's right, I never introduced myself. Forgive my impertinence."
He was stunned at her politeness. "Oh no, it's no big deal."
"Nakamichi Reiko," she said, extending her hand. "Pleased to meet you again, Mitsui-san."

Not knowing where his shyness was coming from, he gently took her hand and shook it. "The pleasure's all mine, Nakamichi-san." For a moment, he was caught in a reverie, gaping at her smiling eyes of gray. The handshake ceased by the still held her hand.

"Mitsui-san?"

He blinked and came to his senses. He immediately let go of her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare." After a brief moment of silence, he held out his other hand and showed her the oval piece.

"Is this yours? I found it on the floor yesterday morning after you left and I thought you might miss it."

Her eyes grew wide at the sight.
"Oh my gosh, you found it!" she exclaimed with delight. She took the oval piece from his palm and enclosed it in her hands which she brought against her forehead. The look of relief on her face made him feel like a hero.

"I looked all over for this yesterday. Thank you so much!" she said as she bowed before him.

Mitsui was at a loss for words, though he was certainly pleased that he made her happy and smile.

She walked to her bag and stowed the precious item away. She then took a piece of paper from a stack beside her bag. "I was so worried, I even made flyers out in case someone found it. You've saved me the trouble."

"I'm glad I could help."
She voiced her gratitude again and gave him a smile that magnetized his gaze to her. He found himself smiling back.

// Was she this beautiful yesterday? //

"You know, a lot of people would have just kept it. I thought I've lost it for good. That pendant means so much to me. I can't thank you enough."

Mitsui shrugged it off. "Maybe I was meant to find it."

She looked back at her bag then at Mitsui. "Maybe," she said as she grinned. "I hope you weren't troubled by it."
"Not at all." Mitsui paused to look at the clock that hung in the gym. "I didn't mean to take up your time, I know you have to practice."

She gently shook her head. "No, you didn't take up much time at all. I was just about to stretch out."

"Oh, mind if I joined you?"
"Be my guest."

They sat down on the wooden floor and counted off as they stretched their limbs and backs. Mitsui couldn't help but notice how limber she was. Reiko could hug her legs while they were stretched out, and there was no look of straining on her face as she did so. He was reminded of some ballet dancer.

"Well, I guess I'll be shooting some hoops next door," he said as they finished the last set of arm stretches. "Thanks for letting me stretch with you." He stood up and extended his hand out to her. She took it and he helped her up to her feet.

"Thank you. For the lift and for finding my pendant. If there's anything I can do to repay you, please don't hesitate to ask." She shook his hand and caught him blushing.

"Just letting me be here is enough. Thanks again, and I'll be next door if you need me."
Mitsui tore himself away from her soft touch with much reluctance. She smiled and waved her hand at him, that hand that felt so tender and smooth to hold in his. As he walked through the gym doors, he silently cursed himself for being such a wuss, acting like a little schoolboy in front of her.

-xoOox-

Akagi slung his backpack over his shoulder and made his way to the usual bench where he and Mitsui sat to chill. The leaves were turning a dark shade of red and they floated in numbers down to the ground. He noticed the bench was covered with them, and so was Mitsui.

"Hey, man. You all right?" he asked as he brushed some leaves off the seat.

Mitsui snapped out of his trance. "What's that?"

Akagi sat down. "You feeling okay?"
Mitsui ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I'm all right. It's just, something's been on my mind."

"Wanna tell me?"
"It's kind of embarrassing."

"I'll be the judge of that. So spill."
Mitsui recounted the events of that morning to his teammate, his cheeks reddening intermittently at the mention of his stretch partner's name that morning. Akagi nodded in understanding, taking an occasional bite off his apple.

"Well, you obviously like this girl."

"Well, yeah, she's really nice, but there's something else." Mitsui took his basketball out of his bag and spun it on his finger. "It's just that, there's something kind of mysterious about her. I mean, what's with the men in black?"

"She's probably someone famous we don't know."

"And she caught me gawking at her, not once but twice! That was pretty lame of me."

"I'd say. But she doesn't sound like a snob, so it's not gonna matter how lame you look."

"Oh, thanks for the support." Mitsui threw the ball at Akagi, making him choke on his bite of apple.

"Hey, I was giving you support. You know, that last name kind of rings a bell. Nakamichi, right?"
"Yeah."

"Well, I'll give it some thought." Akagi got up and secured his backpack on his wide shoulders. "And quit looking like you're stoned, man. I'll see you at the court later with the guys. Oh, they're gonna get a kick out of your googly-eyed face."

Mitsui met up with Akagi at their old high school gym. Hanamichi and Rukawa were now the seniors and the leaders of their current basketball team, and they always scrimmaged with their former teammates. The season had just started for them, and the recruits were looking rather raw.

After separating the freshmen into teams, the college boys approached the unseemly pair of captains on the court.

"Gori! Are you back for another beating?" the redhead greeted.

"Shut up, carrot top! Let's see who'll be shaking in their panties on the court later."

"That will be you, Gori, for this genius won't fail to humiliate your skirt-wearing ass! Nyahahahaha!"

Mitsui greeted Rukawa and Hanamichi with a handshake. His eyes scanned the gym, looking for their point guard. "Where's Miyagi?"
"Out on a date with Ayako-san," chimed the redhead. "I'm glad those two are together now, thanks to this genius' advice."

"Aho! They nearly didn't get together because of your stupid advice!" retorted Rukawa.

They were about to get at it again until Akagi hit them both on the head.

"Jeez, you're wasting time fighting over nonsense. Let's just play, okay?"

They scrimmaged for an hour and practice was over in no time. Some of the freshmen were quite good, but none as surprising as the current team captains were. It was good practice playing against the veterans of Shohoku basketball, and the new players learned much from the scrimmage.

"Job well-done!" everyone cheered. The players were dismissed, and all who remained were the captains and old champions of Shohoku.

They played around some more, a little two-on-two as Hanamichi suggested, and after an hour and half of play, the troupe crashed on the bleachers, Hanamichi and Mitsui collapsed ungracefully on the floor.

"You know, this sucks," Hanamichi mumbled as he gasped for air. "This is the third time this week we've tied. Who the hell's gonna pay for dinner?"

Breathing heavily, Akagi leaned forward. "At this rate, no one will win this bet."
After a moment of catching their breaths, Hanamichi asked, "So, how's college life?"
Mitsui shrugged his shoulders. "It's all right, I guess."
Akagi's face lit. "Oooh, it sure is all right. Mitsui here met somebody."

Oohs and aahs filled the gym which prompted the shooting guard to wave them off.

"It's not like I know her or anything."

"But you got her name, right?" Hanamichi beamed.

"Yeah, but that's about it."
"Come on, Mitchy! How'd you meet her?"
"I saw her playing volleyball in the annex gym alone. The volleyball coach at school is on the verge of tears, he asks that girl almost everyday to play for his team. And guys, I thought Hanamichi could jump high, but she can soar! I mean, no offense, Hanamichi, but when you jump it's like watching an awkward hawk trying to fly."

"Hey, what's wrong with my vertical?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying it's not as graceful as hers."
The redhead frowned and crossed his arms. "Well, what the hell do you want me to do, wear a freakin' tutu?"
"I'd pay money to see that," snickered Akagi.

"It won't be worth it," Rukawa mumbled.

"Okay, shut up both of you, this is Mitchy's moment. Go ahead, Mitchy."
"Well, there's not much to say after that. Coach Sato said she doesn't go to school there, but the president of the school himself sent a memo to Coach Sato giving Reiko-san permission to use the gym."

"So that's her name, huh?"
"Yeah, Nakamichi Reiko."
"Does that ring a bell to you guys?" Akagi asked the two captains. Both shook their heads.

"Do you know which school she attends?" asked the redhead.

It was Mitsui's turn to shake his head.

"Did you ask her for her phone number?"
"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"I want to get to know her, not scare her away!"

"Well, how're you gonna get to know her if you don't have her number?!"

Akagi threw the ball at Hanamichi's head. "He's not lame with girls like you are, stupid. Besides, she practices at the annex gym every morning. Right, Mitsui?"
The shooting guard nodded.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Hanamichi grumbled, throwing the ball back at Akagi and touching his newly acquired bump on his head. "Damn you, Gori…"

They all laughed. After the chuckling subsided, Hanamichi stood up. "Well, I don't know about you stinky losers, I'm hitting the shower."

He threw the pencil in his hand down the desk and plopped on his bed. Differential equations absolutely suck. He couldn't stand to do another problem in his head. He stared at the ceiling fan and wondered why he ever majored in civil engineering. Perhaps he respected his father's profession too much.

He turned on his side and began to wonder about his basketball career. He was a sophomore now and he though of his glory days back in high school. He got a letter in the mail every other week from the athletics division of his college, the coach of the basketball team urging him to reconsider playing for the school. His weekly visits to the physical therapist were definitely producing results, and he could have signed on with the school last winter. He also knew the fact that he's not in good shape as he was before, and basketball and winning were things he could do for fun, but never for a living. Well, not never. Old Coach Anzai said it was very possible for him to play professionally, though Mitsui himself was uncertain of how much basketball his body could take. His mother had asked him not to make her worry with more injuries, though she knew that her son loved the sport too deeply to give it up. They made that truce, even made him pinky swear on it, to give himself a break. After the orthopedic doctor and the physical therapist cleared him for light practice, Mitsui had woken up early ever since to practice at the gym.

He smiled when he thought of the gym. In the early hours of the morning, it's just him, the gym, and her next door. Reiko-san. He wondered why she didn't play with anybody else. Volleyball, after all, was a team sport. It's kind of difficult to play alone. But he recalled what Coach Sato pointed out: she was smiling with every spike. She obviously enjoyed it enough to be so good at it. Perhaps she played alone like he, to get some focus back on a sport that was fun to play. He could see it in her eyes.

Her eyes.

It was definitely odd for a Japanese person to have gray eyes. Most of them have brown or dark brown eyes. He supposed it was possible, but then he thought there might be the possibility that she might not be pure Japanese by blood. But that didn't really matter to him. They were eyes that were beautiful to look at and they were heart stoppers.

He dozed off with that thought, a faint smile discernable across his lips.