Disclaimer:

Slam Dunk, the title, anime, manga, and all characters portrayed in it are owned by Inoue Takehiko and I.T. Planning, Inc. Materials pertaining to the title used in this fanfic are merely borrowed for fan purposes only and are not in any way intended towards any copyright infringement acts.

A/N:

Aaaah… FINALLY, I'm inspired to write about Sendoh! Isn't it always the hardest to write about one of your most favorite characters? I will make this as a continuation from my first SD fic titled All is Fair in Love and Basketball, also uploaded here on ff.net, it will help to read that first before you read this (if you haven't already!) I'm going to make a series of chain reactions from each fic… hehe…

There will not be much of basketball here… just Sendoh, Sendoh, Sendoh! OK… and maybe Rukawa! To all Sendoh & Rukawa fans out there, this is for you ^_^

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The line shook lightly once. Twice. Thrice. Then it stopped shaking again. Looks like the fish that hooked had gotten away again.

Sendoh Akira sighed a long, deep sigh. Sitting at the edge of the stretch of pier, caressed by the summer breeze peacefully, his eyes were locked towards where his fishing line meets the blue water. For hours now, he has been sitting silently, his chin resting steadily on his palm.

The line started shaking again. It was the sixth hook today. His eyes were locked straight onto it, but he ignored it, and continued staring blankly into the water.

It's been a good two weeks since they lost the Inter-High Prefecture elimination for the Inter-High championship to Shohoku, but it seemed like years ago.

No, it wasn't the defeat that affected him so much.

It was Chie.

Mattaku, Akira… He scolded himself as he knocked his forehead with his knuckles. You brought this upon yourself… stop feeling sorry for yourself!

He tried to forget. He tried to distract himself. Yes, there had always been a line of girls who had been completely infatuated by his ultimate charm and boyish good looks. But no matter what he tried, it won't change the fact that the wounds of love takes time to heal. He had been with her for two years, and had loved her well even before that. Now he is only haunted by the image of her smile, the sound of her voice, and the still lingering soft scent that was her.

However, he knew it was for the best.

When you love someone, set her free. If she doesn't come back… then…

He lifted up his face and chuckled, amused at his own thoughts. Forget it. He thought as he looked down at his watch. 3.00 PM. It's been two hours since basketball practice started. Ryonan had proceeded to held practices earlier every day ever since school was off with summer vacation. But Sendoh hasn't been to practice ever since that last game with Shohoku that bumped Ryonan off the Inter High. Somehow he didn't feel like playing basketball, for now. But he had an obligation to the team.

Sendoh Akira is now the new captain of Ryonan High School's basketball club.

And so he reeled in his fishing line and folded his rod and stuffed it neatly in his the outer compartment of his sportsbag that contained his practice gear and decided that maybe, that he should really come to practice today.

* * *

He was approaching the giggling girls around the corner as he walked towards the basketball club locker room. They were all stealing glances at him with blushing faces. Amused, he simply thought that they were cute, and so he smiled to them. "Yo! Nice day, isn't it?" he flashed a friendly smile and waved to them as his other hand turned the latch to the locker room.

He entered and closed the door behind him. And suddenly he heard a unanimous shriek outside the door. He chuckled, and proceeded to the corner of the wall, where locker number seven, his locker, stood.

Sendoh stopped for a moment when he saw a piece of paper sticking out the edge of his locker door. Notice? Or… what…? He thought as his thumb rotated the combination number on the lock. As the lock opened, suddenly the door sprung open and out dropped flapping envelopes that had been stuffed under the locker door since… well, since the last time he opened his locker, which was… days ago.

He froze as the last of the pink, scented envelopes dropped swiftly right onto his shoe.

"Good thing you came today. Your locker would've exploded by tomorrow." A voice suddenly spoke behind him.

Startled, Sendoh turned around, only to find himself staring eye to eye with a grim-faced Koshino Hiroaki, his classmate, and teammate.

"Ah… Koshino… hisashiburi…"

Koshino didn't reply to him. His face never looked so serious, or angry, for that matter. "Damn right it's been a while." Koshino snapped at him. "What is it, Sendoh?"

Sendoh simply smiled regretfully, and turned his back against Koshino. He placed his bag inside his locker compartment then bent down on the floor and started collecting the love letters that were scattered all around.

"We need to know if you're still with us." Koshino continued to speak. "Do you realize your role in this team? Just one word from you could set the team's spirit into flames. Nobody in this team has such power. Not even when Uozumi-san was captain!"

"Wakateru yo." Sendoh answered briefly as he stuffed the envelopes into his locker and proceeded to tug the polo shirt he was wearing over his head and slipped into his practice gear.

Koshino sighed deeply. "Don't bother, Sendoh. Taoka-sensei actually ended practice an hour ago."

* * *

The girl was dribbling the ball against the concrete ground, her eyes fixed towards the ring up there. She wasn't too tall. Maybe only a good 160 cm. But she had a sturdy figure that makes the athlete that she is. She had her long raven hair pulled into a neat ponytail that waved beautifully in the air as she dashed towards the ring and performed a smooth lay up.

The ball glided exactly through the middle of the ring without interference, and it bounced on the concrete once before her small hands took hold of it. She wiped the beads of perspiration from her forehead and stepped away from the ring at where she had been standing before.

She bounced the ball against the ground again. Once, twice. Then she took hold of the ball and pivoted swiftly without making enough steps to get her a traveling foul, stepped out of the three point line, and jumped up in the air to make the three-point shot.

Sendoh stopped his steps when he heard the sound of a basketball bouncing against the ground. He walked towards the public court that he was only passing by on his way to his home, to see who it was, only to be surprised when he saw a raven-haired girl leaping up in the air with the most perfect form he had ever seen to perform a three-point shot. Her right wrist curved gracefully as her palm applied a gentle yet powerful force to the ball, sending it flying a perfect curve towards the ring.

To his surprise, it went through the ring smoothly. She sunk the three-point shot beautifully. And that is rare. For a girl.

And somehow, he felt a feeling rise up in his chest. Maybe it was attraction, or maybe just mere curiosity. Or maybe… his love for a good challenge, in which he knows when he sees one. And his foot started to step into the interior of the court.

The girl didn't even realize his presence, until she was startled by a sound of hands clapping behind her. She turned around abruptly.

"That was a beautiful shot." Sendoh said as he applauded her. "You must be a basketball player."

Her cinnamon-colored eyes widened when she saw him, and her hands released their grip on the ball and it bounced lightly over to Sendoh's feet.

There was a long stretch of silence for a moment, until Sendoh picked up the ball and rotated it smoothly on his index finger. He smiled as he tossed the ball up, then leaped up onto the air and sent the ball flying towards the ring.

"Anata wa… Sendoh Akira ja nai ka?"

Her question startled Sendoh. As he landed on his feet, the ball bounced off the side of the ring, and dropped to the ground. He froze for a moment, but then, suddenly feeling amused again, he chuckled softly. Then he stepped towards the ball and picked it up from the ground.

The girl was now staring at his back, annoyed at what seemed to be boastful behavior from the infamous point guard of Ryonan as he looked amused at her question. Being an avid follower of the men's basketball of the prefecture, and being a varsity player herself, it's only natural that she would know who Sendoh was. What a big jerk! She grumbled to herself, her fists clenched tight as she stood still there.

"Yes, I'm Sendoh Akira." Sendoh finally answered. "And who might you…" he continued to ask a question as he turned around, but before he could finish his question, as fast as lightning, she had dashed past him and snatched the ball from his hands and sunk the ball with an under the ring lay up shot.

Sendoh turned around, and was greeted with a satisfied smile on her pretty face.

I don't care if you're one of the most genius players in the country… serves you right, you… jerk! She tossed the ball up and rolled it across her arms gracefully.

His eyes examined her from head to toe. Her face was glistening in the twilight sun with the beads of pearly perspiration running across her fair, smooth skin. Her chest was heaving with heavy breathing, it seems that she had been bouncing around on the court for quite sometime now. She's a pretty girl, and her eyes reflected an immense fighting spirit. Just exactly what a basketball player should be made of. And that tickled more of his curiosity. A smile curved on his lips, and he nodded at her.

No words exchanged, but she understood what he was getting at. Promptly, she passed the ball towards Sendoh.

Sendoh grunted lightly as the ball hit him right on his abdomen as he caught it, startled by quite a powerful pass coming from a girl. Then he grinned…

The minute started the fierce one-on-one basketball brawl between the Ryonan point guard and this mysterious girl whom he does not know who. They dashed and eluded, stole and blocked, jump shoots and laid up, until finally, after a good ten minutes, the score was 5-4, to her advantage.

They both stopped, catching their breath.

"Come on, don't hold back, Sendoh-san." She said. "I'm not afraid of you."

"I was just warming up." He replied.

She giggled softly as she dribbled the ball lightly. But before she made another move, their play was interrupted by another presence.

"Nani wo sun da yo, Sumire?" a cold voice called out from behind Sendoh.

Startled from the voice that sounded all too familiar, Sendoh turned around to confirm his suspicion, but before he could even see who it was, the girl had already sprung forward towards the perpetrator.

"Kaede!!!" she exclaimed as she ran towards him. "You're late!"

And Sendoh now found himself standing face to face with his biggest nemesis, Shohoku's Rukawa Kaede. Rukawa's eyes stared straight into his with his usual, cold, icy stare. "Sendoh…" Rukawa muttered in his usual low, flat tone of voice.

"Rukawa…!"

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(to be continued)