Warnings: Features ~mush~ so be warned.
Disclaimer: Hello. Takehiko Inoue owns Slam Dunk.
Notes: This is a continuation of the Identity Crisis stories, and the second of the Ore Wa Tensai Sakura trilogy, hence can only be read after Midway.

Ore Wa Tensai Sakura: Last Chance
Part 1

by Annie D
[email protected]

"The only reason you're captain is because you're a guy!"

"The only reason you're vice-captain is because there's no other seniors."

"Nani?!"

*****

Takemoto Sakura was angry. Not an unusual event, since the slightest thing could inflame her already fragile temper, but she was in an angry fix that had been hitting her at a regularity too close for comfort. The activity of the moment: reflecting her bad luck.

For starters, she was not captain of the Shohoku basketball team. Anzai-sensei had made the announcement at the beginning of the school year a few weeks prior, and she had exploded. It was sexism, it was! After all, she was the basketball tensai, and a key asset to the team. Still he hadn't chosen her! Why why why?

Secondly, Rukawa Kaede was the one that had taken the position. Her rival on and off the court, always showy and arrogant and selfish, he had been chosen as captain. But what use was he? He barely spoke at all and he didn't really care about the team, what was the point of making him captain? He couldn't lead Shohoku to win!

Thirdly, said arrogant Rukawa had become her classmate, and was currently fast asleep on the desk next to her. When school had opened and everyone had arrived in their classes, he had gone and taken the window seat. The window seat! That place was hers! She always had the window seat at Shohoku! How dare he!

Sakura stole a glance at him. He was breathing softly against the folds of his sleeves.

Stupid stupid stupid. Sakura, who usually slept in class, hadn't been able to nap at all since school started because every time she entered the class and saw him there – sitting IN WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HER PLACE – she got so irritated that she spent 90% of the time fuming. The remaining 10% of the time was spent trying to look like she was paying attention to the teacher.

And while she was constantly fighting down the urge to beat him senseless, what was the boy doing? He was sleeping! SLEEPING! While she was suffering in class, he was off in Z land! HOW DARE HE?!

Sakura grabbed the edges of her desk with her fingers, as a massive vein started to throb at the corner of her temple. All the students around her simultaneously inched as far as they could away from her in a way reminiscent of innocent villagers backing away from a rumbling volcano.

Stupid kitsune. Stupid kitsune. Stupid kitsune.

She looked at him again, gritting her teeth as her face heated up.

If I can't sleep, neither can you!

"Sensei! Rukawa is sleeping in class again!" Sakura shouted, her arm jumping straight up.

The teacher slowly turned around. Behind his overly thick spectacles, he looked at Rukawa, then sighed. "Let him sleep. It won't do much good to wake him up, anyway." Besides, all the teachers knew what would happen if they tried…

"But students cannot sleep in class because then they cannot concentrate on the lesson!" Sakura insisted.

Rukawa moved slightly. "Do'aho."

A shudder of fear rippled through the students. They had been through this routine often enough to know what could, and sometimes did, happen.

Neck muscles jerking slowly, Sakura turned to look at him. This was always the pivotal point, the moment when Sakura's willpower and control was put to the test. Her eyes twitched out of sync, and then her arm quickly shot up again. "Sensei, may I be excused to the washroom?!"

"Yes, yes, Takemoto-san. Go, take your time," the teacher said quickly.

All the students sighed with relief as Sakura got up and stiffly marched out of the class. A brief respite, but a respite all the same.

Class was peaceful for a few seconds before they heard a loud BANG that they knew was the sound of one very tough forehead being slammed against a concrete wall or floor.

After a while, Sakura returned to class, looking a bit more subdued. She sat down at her seat quietly as peace resumed in the room.

They knew it wouldn't last for long, though.

*****

Akagi Haruko, manager of the Shohoku basketball team, looked around the gym with a soft but proud smile. She was an optimist, because there wasn't anything else she could be with that endlessly cheerful disposition of hers. The oncoming basketball season was going to be a good one, and the tingly feeling in her stomach was a sure sign of that.

So they had lost the first game of the Inter High the previous year. That was then, this was now. Rukawa was the new captain, and she was sure that he would lead them to victory after victory.

Speak of the devil… Rukawa entered the gym in his sports garb, and he headed straight to the bench to talk to… Oh, Anzai-sensei.

Biting down disappointment, Haruko turned back toward the door to see Sakura enter with her typical same vaguely annoyed expression on her face. Haruko had never really disapproved of the way that Sakura tended to pick fights with Rukawa, because the competition did them good on the court. All Haruko needed to do was to make sure the fights didn't get past verbal threats, which was an easy accomplishment as Sakura was always ready to hear reason. (*snort*)

The gundam appeared in the doorway, and they waved at her. She waved back, then turned her attention to Sakura.

"How are you feeling about the new year, Sakura-chan?" Haruko asked her.

"We're going to win," Sakura said solemnly. "It's going to be a good year."

Haruko nodded, pleased that Sakura was already ready. And it's our last chance, too…

Suddenly Sakura started to swing her arms outward wildly in an over-enthusiastic pose. "Have no fear because it isssssssss the Year of the Tensa—" ~rip~

Haruko blinked. "What was that?"

Sakura carefully lowered her arms and tried her damndest not to blush. She failed. "It's a good omen, that's what it is," she whispered, pointedly ignoring her gundam's snickering. "Good omen. Err, Haruko-san, would you happen to have a spare bra-strap?"

*****

It was also the last chance for things other than basketball. Rukawa, for example, still hadn't told Sakura the fact that he was quite head over heels for her. It had been a while since he had first realised that fact himself, but the task of putting it into presentable words was the challenge that he hadn't foreseen the difficulty of.

He had told himself he'd tell her after winning nationals. Hadn't happened.

He told himself he'd wait for Sakura's crush on Haruko to wane. Didn't happen.

He told himself he'd find the right moment to tell her. It never presented itself.

Stalling again seemed the only other option, although it brought no comfort to Rukawa, who perceived himself as one who could change the flow of a desolate situation all on his own. Still, that was basketball, this was love. He had plenty of experience in the former, absolutely none in the latter.

He wasn't good with words, either. He found them tedious. Action was the only way to go, which was why everyone defined him by who he was on the court. So did Sakura, but she was somehow able to see past that into who he was. They were alike in many ways but different, too. Rukawa loved that in her. He loved that she understood him, even if by understanding him she hated him. He loved her ability to truly live. He loved everything about her.

Now if he could only find a way to tell her that.

*****

"Ore wa tensai basket Sakura kawaii…"

"Sakura, look it's Haruko!"

"Haruko-san?"

"April Fool!"

"Nani?!"

"… Look, it's just a joke, no no wait, hey don't—!"

"Nobody makes fun of the tensai!"

Sakura stepped over Yohei, who had a steaming bump on his forehead, and entered her class. She carefully kept her eyes on the blackboard while crab-walking to her desk so she wouldn't have to see the kitsune sitting there at the next desk.

She sat down once she finally reached her desk, and was still careful to make sure she didn't look at him.

That was when she saw the small box on her desk.

"Hm?" Sakura picked it up slowly and turned it over a few times in her hands. It was small enough to just about fit into her palm, and was wrapped in bright red paper. She turned her head cautiously around to see whether anyone was watching her, but there was no sign of anyone who could be the culprit. She risked a look at Rukawa, but the idiot was fast asleep.

She put the box down and stared at it for a while longer. Another April Fool's joke? Should she risk it?

The tensai is not afraid of anything!

Carefully, she tore the paper off and lifted the lid of the small white box, peering just enough into it in case there were spiders or itching powder or something of the kind within.

She did gasp, but it was not in terror or anger.

Slowly, she lifted the small trinket out of the box. It was a keychain, but not the kind for every day use. It was the kind one kept on a heavy velvet cushion behind the thick glass of a locked display cabinet.

The chain was heavy silver, at the end of which was a small crystal basketball. And solidified within the crystal basketball was a very tiny sakura bud. (To those who don't know, the sakura is the cherry blossom flower.)

Her mouth dropped open. It was beautiful! Beyond beautiful, it was like… Even as a simple person who knew nothing about crystal or glasswork, she could see perfect craftsmanship for what it was. Never before had she seen anything like it anywhere, and it sure as hell looked bloody expensive. She was afraid to touch it, so she quickly put it back into the box where she gazed at it with impressed surprise.

"Sakura, what's that?"

She looked up see Yohei standing by her desk, rubbing the bump on his forehead. Sakura pointed a finger at the keychain numbly.

"Wow, where did you get that?" Yohei asked, taking a closer look.

"It was just here," Sakura said softly. "There was no note or anything. If it's an April Fool's gag, then the joke's on whoever left it here."

Over Sakura's head, Yohei stole a look at Rukawa. "So you gonna keep it?"

"No idea," Sakura said truthfully, still staring at the crystal basketball. "Maybe someone left it here by mistake."

"Maybe." Yohei saw Rukawa open an eye before shutting it again quickly. Yohei smiled. "But I have a feeling it's for you. Look, there's a sakura bud and everything."

Sakura finally pulled her eyes away from the box to look at Yohei. "But why?"

"Isn't today your birthday?"

"No." Then she remembered. "Well, sort of. Hanamichi's birthday anyway."

"There you go."

Sakura clasped her hands together, her eyebrows dipping into something like anxiety. "But who would want to give me something like this?"

Yohei shrugged innocently.

Sakura suddenly glared at him. "I know it's not you."

"Of course not," Yohei chuckled good-naturedly. "I have better things to spend with my money, thank you."

Sakura ran over the short list of friends she had over in her head, but none of them would get her something like this, ever. There was no one else who knew that she was Sakuragi in her past life either. Then who?

She ever so gently pushed the box away from her. "I can't keep it. It's too nice."

Yohei pushed the box back into her hands. "Keep it, Sakura. It would be insulting to the giver if you didn't."

Sakura looked at it, then sighed, her mouth moving into a grateful smile. "Whoever you are, thank you."

Quietly, Rukawa smiled too. You're welcome.

*****

The rest of the day had Rukawa floating on optimism. Sakura's reaction to the gift had been even better than he had hoped. At first he had planned to put a note with it, but when it came down to actually writing it, he had no idea what to say. Hey, look, I know you hate me and you think I hate you, but actually I've been in love with you all this while, so how about it?

April Fool's joke, indeed.

Going anonymous had its risks too, but the look on Sakura's face when she saw the keychain was totally worth it.

He didn't know whether to be grateful or disappointed that Sakura had immediately written him off as definitely not being the one who had given her the present. Well, there was no other candidate for it. Who else knew she had been Sakuragi? Who else would bother with such a lavish present?

As Rukawa headed toward the gym for after school practice, one such possible answer was visually presented to him, and it made his blood run cold.

Leaning against the gate of the school was Sendoh Akira.

And if it wasn't bad enough that Sendoh was there, so was Sakura. Talking to him. Talking to him! Like an old friend!

Rukawa immediately shuffled into a shadow spot behind a bunch of trees to hear the conversation.

*****

"So why are you here then?" Sakura asked. She had just been walking along to the gym for basketball practice when Sendoh had called out to her from the gate. She had been surprised to see him at all, since it hadn't even crossed her mind that she'd see him ever again after he graduated from high school. But since her mood was rather good since the appearance of the mystery keychain, so she had bounded over to him in good spirits.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how your team was coming along," said Sendoh.

"Hmph. Not spying for Ryonan, are you?" Sakura asked with a small sneer. "Don't tell me you're bitter we beat you last year, eh?"

"No, don't be silly, that's all in the past," chuckled Sendoh, waving it off. He watched her carefully for a few seconds, then leaned close to whisper, "Happy birthday."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You…?"

"Hello, Sakuragi," Sendoh said softly.

Could it be? Sendoh? SENDOH?! Sakura blinked a few times. "How did you know?"

Sendoh shrugged, quite pleased with himself that he had gotten her to confess without much fuss. "I've seen quite a bit of strange things in my life – don't even start with my hair. A supernatural body switch doesn't compare much, really. And besides, you stand out so much it was impossible not to notice."

Sakura laughed, then flashed a peace sign. "The tensai is always the tensai, no matter where or how."

"Hai," Sendoh agreed.

She smiled at him. So he was the one that gave me the present. Sakura looked away for a while. How can I break it to him that the tensai already likes someone else? He's nice and all, but Haruko-san is much nicer. And it was such a great gift, I must be tactful, cannot hurt his feelings. *Sigh* It's not his fault really, since the tensai is so pretty and all…

"Are you free after practice?" Sendoh asked.

Ah, perfect! Sakura nodded. "A match?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of dinner."

"Oh, that's okay, too."

*****

"What the hell's wrong with Rukawa?" Nori asked Haruko. "He's playing like he's possessed or something!"

Haruko looked at Rukawa with concern. Practice was certainly not going on as normal. The moment Rukawa entered the gym, he had glared at everyone and then gone and started a practice game with no warm-ups, and he was playing like… like…

A sophomore yelped as Rukawa hacked his ball violently.

"Rukawa-kun!" Haruko shouted.

"What's wrong with you, kitsune?!" Sakura shouted as she moved to block him.

Rukawa glared at her for a moment before charging. Sakura immediately stretched her arms to try and steal the ball, but Rukawa twisted past her defence, then ran for the hoop.

Nakajima jumped to block him, but Rukawa's eyes could only see the imminent dunk and he ignored the other player. As his arm shot out to make the dunk, his elbow slammed hard against Nakajima's face.

Nakajima cried out as fell down.

The ball went in, but nobody was looking at it.

"Nakajima-kun!" Haruko ran to him. "Are you okay?"

The boy carefully removed his specs and checked it. The glass was still intact, so he gave a thumbs-up.

Haruko, who had never ever gotten angry with her darling Rukawa, at that moment turned to fix upon him the fiercest look she could manage. "Rukawa-kun! You saw that he was there, why did you try and dunk? You knew you'd hit him!"

Rukawa looked from Haruko to Nakajima. He shrugged, then walked away.

Haruko started to run after him, but Sakura quickly blocked her way. "Don't bother talking sense to the kitsune," Sakura said, sighing dramatically. "He's finally realised the stress of being captain is too much for him to bear." Then she whispered conspiratorially, "Maybe you should consider a new captain, eh?"

Craning her neck, Haruko peered past Sakura to see Rukawa.

Anzai-sensei stood up and walked to Rukawa. He muttered a few words only the boy could hear, patted him on the shoulder and then sat back down.

Rukawa stood perfectly still for a while as everyone watched him to see what his next move would be. Then he sighed and left the gym.