Disclaimers: I don't own Slam Dunk. I am not making money out of this, so please don't sue. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Notes: My first SenKosh fic! (cheers) Please tell me what you think! I won't be going online for a while after I post this, because I really have to get my PC fixed. I promise I will reply to your comments, along with the second part, when my darling PC is back to top condition. ^__^
Loving Koshino
from Kokoro no Kigen (Temper of Heart) Arc
by AJ Maxwell
Chapter One: No Calm Before the Storm
It was another typical weekend for Koshino Hiroaki. He woke up at seven, had a breakfast that consisted of two pieces of toast, a glass of orange juice, and two glasses of water. Afterwards, he jogged his way to the grocery and bought supplies. He did some yoga exercises when he got back, and took a shower. When lunch came, he ate a light dish of steamed fish, rice, and vegetables. After making sure that he had taken care of everything, he got his laptop out and all documents concerning his work, and settled in for a long haul.
Koshino took his reading glasses off and massaged his temples. His head ached, but instead of taking a break, he thought about the consequences of paragraph 16 if he signed the contract, and if he had to go to the optometrist again to get a new prescription for his glasses. Or maybe I should get my own set of advisers who could do all this reading for me so that I don't have to take these things and read them on a Sunday for godsakes!
He'd thought of the same thing for several times already, and though the idea would help him in his work, he knew that he couldn't stand relying on other people when it concerned his father's company. He was just too much of a perfectionist, and he didn't trust other people in giving him opinions about data that involved his decision-making. What if they misinterpreted some of the sentences? Seemingly simple mistakes often led to major, life-changing outcomes, and he definitely didn't want to mess up.
He'd been called ramrod straight, high and mighty, super perfectionist, and even sadistic bastard by his peers in college, by his employees, and by his competitors, but he didn't care. He couldn't fail.
He just won't fail his father.
He put his glasses back on, and as he was about to make notes on the next paragraph, the phone rang.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Hiroaki." The man on the other line sounded as if he'd rather be doing anything else than calling him.
"Otousan."
"I just called to remind you of the dinner at the mansion tonight. Don't be late."
"I've never been--oh...as usual."
His father already hung up on him.
Koshino sighed.
±
He drove up to their family's mansion, which was an hour and forty minute drive from his own place, ten minutes earlier than the appointed time. One of their servants parked his car, a gray Lexus, in their underground parking lot, and he entered the house where he spent his younger years.
The servants greeted him. Koshino didn't know the new servants because it had been a some time ago since he visited the mansion. The old servants whom he knew had been replaced with younger ones. Back then, he had never felt at home in his own house. Now, he truly felt like an outsider. He sighed. Why is it that I can't get myself out of affairs like this? The only one who talks to me is Uncle Hiroaki. Otousan just ignores me...why don't they have dinner by themselves instead of having me tag along, too?
An old man came up to him, wearing a black and white coattail suit and a bowtie, and curtsied. "Koshino-san and Sendoh-san are in the living room."
"What living room?"
"The blue one, as usual." The butler smiled at him, and whispered quietly to him as if in secret, "It is good to see you again, Hiroaki."
He smiled back at his old friend. "Hai. It's good to see you, too, Jameson."
Jameson led the way to the blue living room where his father and his Uncle Hiroaki waited, with Koshino following at a distance.
The butler announced his arrival, and he entered. He greeted his father first with a bow, and then his uncle. After he bowed, his Uncle Hiroaki took him in his slightly wrinkled but strong arms and hugged him tight. "How have you been, Hiro?" he asked, and in his eyes were the concern that he always held for his best friend's son, his godson.
Koshino was touched by the old man's gesture, and all the tenseness and the weariness seeped out of him. He smiled warmly. "Fine, Uncle Hiroaki. How about you?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," the old man reassured him, patting his shoulder.
"Shall we go to the dining room?"
"Iie," Koshino Akira replied, breaking his silence, and shook his head. "We're still waiting for another person."
Koshino raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't ask who it was. He had thought that it was just going to be the three of them, just like how it had always been since he was in college.
It was then that Sendoh Akira, his ex-childhood friend and bane of his existence, made his appearance by entering the living room unannounced. There was still the same smile on his face that annoyed Koshino out of his wits as he greeted them. "I'm back, everyone!"
±
Koshino felt like he had been dragged into a time machine and he went back to his high school days, when Koshino Akira and Sendoh Hiroaki reserved one day every month for a "family get-together", which he always dreaded. During said get-togethers, the two Akiras, Koshino's father and Sendoh, would converse animatedly, laughing and joking as if they were the same age. The two Hiroakis, however, would choose to focus on eating, with the older Hiroaki giving some input every now and then, and asking the younger one what he thought. But before Koshino would say anything, his own father would carry on with the conversation as if he wasn't there.
"I think my son should have come back years ago and focused more on his studies," Sendoh Hiroaki was saying. He regarded Koshino. "Don't you think so, Hiro?"
Koshino Akira cleared his throat loudly, effectively cutting off whatever his son was going to say. "Akira is very talented in basketball. Why waste it here when he can go around the world? Haven't you been doing well in the U.S., Akira?"
Koshino mentally snorted. Just like before. He noticed his Uncle Hiroaki looking at him sadly. He sighed. As much as he loved his godfather, he had grown weary of always trying to reassure the old man. It already came to a point where his godfather's worrying looks made him feel worse than his father's treatment of him. This is definitely too much like high school.
±
Sendoh Akira was laughing at one of his Uncle Akira's jokes, but he was secretly stealing glances at his ex-childhood friend and, as he discovered later on, his first and true love. Right then, he liked what he saw, as he admired Koshino in his blue-gray, double-breasted suit. He looks even more of a pompous brat now than before I left, but he's still so cute. He shifted his gaze to said brat's pouty lips, and almost licked his own, wanting to kiss those lips that so enchanted him.
"Akira." His godfather was looking quite sternly at him.
Sendoh blinked, and smiled sheepishly at the older Akira. "Gomen, Uncle. What was that again? The food is so good--I've never had food this great since I left for the U.S. Do you still hire the old chef, or did you hire a new one? This is just so good..."
±
Dinner was finally over. The two older men were talking to each other in the tea room, which left the younger men to their own devices.
Koshino, who was relieved to be able to be by himself, got up and headed to the bar in the third floor. I really need something to drink. I don't know how I lasted with company like that. Ugh. That Sendoh kept smiling like some loon getting off on cough syrup... He shuddered. I wish he never came back.
After he poured himself some scotch, he downed it in one gulp, and felt his throat burn as the liquid went down. He sighed after the burning sensation left him, pleased with the warmth that the alcohol brought. He moved to pour himself another drink.
He knew that "the loon getting off on cough syrup" had followed him into the bar, so he wasn't surprised when said loon finally chose to reveal himself. "Hiro-kun. You got any beer there?"
Koshino regarded him disinterestedly, but replied, "I don't know. Ask Jameson." Then he looked away, dismissing the other's presence.
Sendoh looked put down, but then he smiled again. "Is this how you treat your long lost friend, Hiro-kun? You're treating me like I'm some useless bug here."
The other man didn't even bother to look at him as he retorted, "If I was treating you like some useless bug, I'd have swatted you dead."
The spiky-haired man laughed, and wrapped an arm around the shorter man's shoulders. "I love your sense of humor, Hiro-kun!"
"Get your hands off me," Koshino said coldly, pushing the taller man's arm away. "And stop calling me that!"
Sendoh gazed at him ruefully, and said, "Sou ka. No development there."
Koshino ignored his comment. He was silent for several seconds, and then, "With all the fuss that my father made about this dinner, I should've guessed that you've come back."
"Ah. You're talking to me on your own free will. That's development enough."
"Shut up, Sendoh."
"Oh, don't be so formal with me, Hiro-kun. We're best friends, ne?"
A vein promptly showed itself on Koshino's forehead. "I said stop calling me that! And we're far from friends, you hentai!"
Sendoh just grinned at him, saying, "That's what I missed most since I left--you getting all riled up and calling me a hentai." Then, his tone turned conspiratorial, almost seductive. "There's just something about your voice, your tone whenever you say the word 'hentai'. It really turns me on, you know."
Koshino downed the rest of his drink, the alcohol burning a path down to his stomach, and stalked menacingly towards the taller man. Sendoh was a bit intimidated by the glare--hell, everything about Koshino Hiroaki made his knees weak--but he couldn't help but think how he missed the other man.
"Sendoh?" Koshino's voice came out husky, and Sendoh had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep his sanity. He held his breath as the other man came nearer...their noses touching, their lips a hairsbreadth from kissing... and Koshino looked up into his eyes. Sendoh felt like he was drowning, in a good way. "Yes?"
"Drop dead, will you?" and Koshino walked out of the bar, heading to the tea room where their fathers were.
He sighed. "No development there."
±
"Hiroaki, where did Akira go?"
Koshino fought against rolling his eyes at his father. "He's in the bar upstairs."
"Then go get him!" the older man barked. "We have something important to discuss."
He fumed silently. Ever since he moved out of the mansion, his patience for his father had reduced near to nil. But why is it that I still keep doing what he asks? I need to get a backbone...he thought, as he went back to the bar where he left the other man.
"Sendoh?" he called as he opened the door. "Sendoh, otousan is asking for you."
There was no answer.
He huffed irritably, and was about to look for Sendoh in other places when something in the balcony caught his eye. As he neared, he saw someone sprawled in the balcony. He quickened his steps to see who it was, his heart pounding and hoping that it wasn't the spiky-haired man.
His eyes widened in horror as he saw Sendoh lying on the concrete, his bottle of beer rolling and spilling its contents not too far from him. "S-Sendoh?"
Koshino knelt and shook the other man's shoulders, calling out his name over and over. He checked his breathing, and anxiety voraciously ate at him as he discovered that Sendoh wasn't breathing anymore. "Sendoh?! Oh god Sendoh wake up! Get up will you?! Get up!"
±
Sendoh inwardly cackled with glee as Koshino fussed over him and called his name. He knew that under that cold, mean attitude that seemed reserved only for him, Koshino did care for him.
I knew that you couldn't resist me even if you tried, Hiro-kun. Ah. There may be hope for us yet.
He relished the concern in the other man's voice. He missed him so much, and then when he heard a sniffle, his blue eyes suddenly opened in shock. A scene so rare was playing before him.
Koshino was crying. "Sendoh...I did say drop dead, but...oh god this is all my fault!"
Sendoh looked at him, bewildered and infinitely touched. He couldn't help reaching out to catch those drops of tears, and murmuring, "Hiro-kun?"
Koshino snapped at attention, his tears still running freely down his cheeks. It took a few seconds for the fact that Sendoh was very much alive to sink in, and when it did, a fierce look stole upon him. "Why you...you---BAKAYAROU! Sendoh, I'm going to kill you!" And then lunged at Sendoh, straddling the taller man and sitting near the pelvic region, his hands wrapping around the other man's throat.
Sendoh would have made a remark about not minding Koshino being on top, and that he liked the sudden aggressiveness, if he wasn't being strangled mercilessly. "Hiro-kun...ack stop...Hiro *coughs* Hiro-kun stop *wheezes* You're going to kill me!"
"That's what I said," Koshino said grimly, squeezing Sendoh's neck harder.
"Hiro-kun...!" He was too shocked to move and fight Koshino off him and, not without humiliation, the wriggling that the other man was making was eliciting a reaction from a particular region below. Unbelievable. He's making me hard even if he's trying to kill me.
"KOSHINO HIROAKI!"
Their fathers found them. Koshino's father, though aged and not that bigger than him, savagely threw him off Sendoh without much effort and went to Sendoh's side. Koshino landed by his Uncle Hiroaki's feet, and he was fussed over by the old man. "Hiro? What happened? Are you all right?"
The rage in his eyes were gone, only to be replaced by immense pain, betrayal, and hate as he saw his own father being so worried of Sendoh Akira. Just like before. The tears on his face felt like ice to him, and he quickly brushed them away.
His Uncle Hiroaki's face loomed over him. "Hiro?" the old man asked uncertainly. Koshino shook his head. "Please don't worry. I'm okay," he said, and stood up shakily. His father was still fussing over Sendoh. You always win, Sendoh Akira. How I hate you.
His Uncle Hiroaki led him away from the balcony, and looked deeply into his eyes. Koshino felt like crying again, but held back his tears. "Hiro...will you tell me what happened?"
Koshino shook his head in negation, to which the old man sighed. "You'll tell me when you're ready, ne?"
At this, Koshino nodded.
"Wouldn't it be possible for the two of you to get along somehow? You've been at each other's throats since you were kids...Won't you call a truce? It wouldn't do for the company for two of its top executives to not be in good terms."
Koshino stayed mute, and then, as the words sank in, so seeped the feeling of dread into his body. "N-nani?" He looked at the older Hiroaki's eyes and found the hated confirmation there. "Masaka. It can't..." but he knew that it was useless to argue. He had always known that sooner or later, Sendoh Akira would take his father's place in the company that their fathers owned. He had known all along that working side by side with his hated rival was inevitable, but he'd been so busy the past several years that it thoroughly slipped his mind. He shook his head in a futile attempt to deny everything, but he knew the truth...and, not for the first time, he felt like sinking into the earth to die.
Finished May 28, 2002