Archive of Our Own

"I'm the genius BASKETMAN! Everything's okay when I'm here! Here goes a slam dunk!" Sakuragi Hanamichi [1] sang cheerfully as he walked down a dimly lit road that led to his house. It was only past eight in the evening, yet this particular street was deserted already... or so he thought.

After a few walks, he arrived at their gate and was about to go inside when he heard something rustle from behind. At first, he didn't pay attention to it but then another loud rustle came. His curiosity got the better of him so he abruptly turned around, hoping to see someone or something. To his dismay, he found nothing.

"Oi! Whoever you are, you'd better show yourself!" he demanded. Still, there was no response. He was about to look for the source of the noise when a black cat suddenly leaped out from the trashcan on the nearest street corner.

"Hmp! Just a cat," he shook his head then went inside his house, totally forgetting to close the gate. With this, a tall figure of a man emerged from the shadows.

'Whew! That was a close call!' The figure looked around if there were not any people in the street. When he was sure the coast was clear, he walked slowly and quietly to Sakuragi's doorstep. He peeped through the window and saw the redhead watching TV while lying on the sofa with his one leg propped up. The figure smiled as he watched the unsuspecting redhead in all his oh-so-comfortable position.

Sakuragi was laughing loudly with the gag show he was watching on TV when he heard something move from the plants in their yard, which made him go quiet all of a sudden. The figure noticed this so he ducked just as the redhead turned to the window where he was peeping. It was such good luck that the phone rang that the redhead was distracted for a while. The figure slowly peeped in the window again and saw Sakuragi answering the phone.

"Hello, Youhei! Why did you call? What? When?"

Sakuragi was still talking on the phone so the tall mysterious guy thought it a good opportunity for him to get out of there. He was about to leave when he thought of something. The figure smiled then opened the knapsack he was carrying and there brought out a small box. He tiptoed to the front door and left the box on the doorstep. After doing this, he deliberately knocked on the door then hurriedly left the place.

"Hold a moment, Youhei. I think someone's outside. What? Ah okay then, I'll just see you tomorrow," Sakuragi put the handset to its cradle then went to the front door. He secured the chain lock first before opening it, only to find out that there's no one outside. He unhooked the chain lock so he could fully open the door and look out, then he noticed a small box on his doorstep.

"What the—? What's this?"

...

"Oi! Hanamichi! What's up? You look very happy today," Youhei greeted a very cheerful looking redhead.

"Of course! It's not every day a genius like me would find something like this on his doorstep!" Hanamichi said then showed his gundan (army) a box of chocolates.

Takamiya looked at it closely then shifted his gaze to Hanamichi suspiciously and said, "If I hadn't known better you just bought it from some convenience store in town."

"I don't think so. We all know how broke Hanamichi is," Ookusu stated with Youhei and Chu both nodding in agreement.

"I'm sure it's from Haruko-chan! Nyahahaha!" Hanamichi was blushing hard though it didn't stop him from laughing out loud. But he stopped when he saw the four of them shook their heads.

"I don't think it's from her. I don't even think it's from a female at all," Youhei said solemnly. The gundan went quiet for a full minute, looking gravely at each other. Those who were passing by on the corridor were thinking a fight was coming up so they had better back off so they would not be tagged in.

"But how can you ever think that the one who gave me this is not a she?" Hanamichi asked disbelievingly.

Youhei looked pensive for a while then said, "You said you heard noises outside your house and it was past eight in the evening. Surely, no female would roam the streets that late, especially on your side of the street."

Another silence ensued.

"And girls always put letters and fancy stuff like ribbons on their gifts, even if it's just a short note or a long letter. But this one looks very plain to pass as a female's gift. I think that person didn't really plan to give this to you and it just so happened that since he followed you to your house and he was practically at your doorstep, he wouldn't miss the chance to give you at least something," Youhei continued.

"Maybe someone's stalking you, Hanamichi," Chu said.

"A male stalker," Ookusu added in.

"No! A gay stalker who would kill you when he gets tired of you," Takamiya finished with an evil grin.

'A stalker that would kill me...? A stalker who would kill me...?' It kept ringing in Hanamichi's head that when he looked at his gundan, they looked like demons chanting 'A stalker's gonna kill you! A stalker's gonna kill you!'

"Aaahhh!" rrriiinnngg! Hanamichi's scream drowned in the sound of the bell. The Sakuragi gundan tried hard not to laugh but failed miserably. What they got in return was one lump on each of their foreheads. Little did they know, a pair of sharp eyes watching them secretly.

...

Classes end at 4 pm, which meant he still has 20 minutes to get his butt out of there. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him there because it might ruin his plans. He checked again if there was anyone passing by and when he was sure that there was no one else there, he placed something in front of locker no. 10 then posted a note on its door. His mouth curved slightly as he read the note again.

'This will do.'

...

"Oi Hanamichi! Someone's following us," Takamiya whispered.

"Huh? What? Who?" Hanamichi tensed and walked a bit slower.

"Yeah... We think he's been following us ever since we left the classroom," Chu added. Hanamichi abruptly stopped then turned around to scan the whole place and saw Yasuda and Kakuta walking towards the same direction... to the Shohoku Basketball Club locker room. When Hanamichi turned his attention to his gundan who were stupidly grinning at him, that was when he realized the whole situation. The gundan knew that he was going to explode any minute now so they ran as fast as they could.

"Why you—!" Hanamichi chased them like a mad man in the corridor. "If I ever get my hands on— oof!" he bumped into something hard. He looked up to see the towering form of Akagi Takenori.

"Gori! Get out of my way!"

Of course a retort like that would only mean one thing, a punch on the head.

"Ouch!" Hanamichi groaned and tried to endure the pain. As if that was not enough, Akagi pulled his (Hanamichi's) ear.

"There's something I want to show you fool!" Akagi said then dragged Hanamichi to the locker room.

When they entered, Hanamichi noticed that all the members of the Shohoku Basketball Club, including Rukawa Kaede who usually does not pry into things, were crowding over his locker. Even the Sakuragi Gundan, whom he was chasing earlier and was not supposed to be in this room because their not members, were also there.

"Ouch! What's— ouch! — going on— ouch!— here? Ouch! Gori please!"

Akagi released him rather unceremoniously then replied, "Look for yourself."

Hanamichi composed himself then stood up with eyes blazing. He shot the captain of the basketball club a dark look before turning to his locker. There was a note posted on the door saying 'I like you a lot, Sakuragi Hanamichi'. This note was an unusual one because the hiragana characters were cutouts from a magazine.

"The lock was destroyed when we arrived," Kogure explained then Ayako walked to him and handed him a bouquet of red roses.

"We found it at the foot of your locker, Sakuragi Hanamichi," she said.

"Eh?" Even though confused, Hanamichi accepted it.

"Now, I don't care who sent that to you. What I want to know is how that person able to come in here. Okay, let's go to the court, we don't want to waste any more time here," Akagi passed an accusing look at the redhead then went out of the room. The members went out with their captain, except for Hanamichi and his gundan, Ayako, Kogure... and Rukawa.

"Well how should I know?!" Hanamichi complained. "Is it the genius' fault if someone likes him very much?"

"Idiot."

All of the people who were left in the room turned their attention to Rukawa.

"Why you fox!" he leaped out to grab Rukawa by the shirt but the Sakuragi Gundan stopped him before he can even reach Rukawa.

"Oi! No fighting in here!" Ayako said loudly then hit Hanamichi with her fan. "Now Sakuragi Hanamichi, we'll give you 15 minutes to change your clothes."

"By the way, have you seen Miyagi and Mitsui?" Kogure asked Ayako.

"No, Kogure-sempai. [2] I'm starting to wonder where they are. They usually come on time," Ayako replied. They were about to go out of the locker room when Miyagi burst into the room.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greeted then blushed when he realized that Ayako was also there. "Good afternoon, Aya-chan," he said shyly. [3]

Kogure turned to the door when Mitsui also entered.

"You two are late!" Ayako said sternly.

"Ehehehe... I'm sorry, Aya-chan," Miyagi scratched his head.

"Sorry, there's just something I did before going here," Mitsui explained then went to his own locker. That was when he noticed Hanamichi looking intently on the bouquet of flowers he was holding.

"Oi, Sakuragi, where did you get that?" Mitsui frowned.

"Now I get it!" Takamiya exclaimed and caught the attention of the others, except for Rukawa who was now walking towards the door.

"What's going on?" Miyagi asked a bit confused with what was happening because he was so occupied looking at Ayako.

"Hanamichi! I think it's from the same person who gave you the box of chocolates!"

"What?!" Hanamichi asked disbelievingly. Rukawa abruptly stopped from his tracks and looked back at the redhead then at the fat guy.

"Hey, hey! What's the meaning of this? You mean someone's sending this fool gifts? I can't believe it!" Mitsui laughed.

"Shut up, Missy!" Hanamichi said in between his teeth.

"What's the fuss about it? I mean you should be flattered!" Ayako said a bit excited with the chain of events. "This girl probably likes you a lot to even resort in breaking in the basketball club's locker room."

"Um, that's the problem. We think the admirer is male," Youhei stated.

A moment of silence ensued.

"Excuse me, but could you please repeat what you've said?" Miyagi said dumbfounded.

"We think the admirer is—"

"That's enough," a soft voice interrupted.

"Rukawa?" Kogure questioned.

"We're wasting time here," Rukawa said impatiently.

"Nobody's stopping you from leaving," Hanamichi snapped. Rukawa looked at him sharply and for a moment, they fought gazes. It was Rukawa who first withdrew then walked out of the room without another word.

"What's his problem?" Ookusu asked while frowning.

"Yeah, I think Rukawa has been acting strange..." Kogure said a bit absently then quickly looked at his watch. "We have to go to the court now or Akagi will kill us!" he immediately left the room.

"Wait for me, Kogure-sempai. You three, hurry up!" then she was also gone.

"What should we do?! I mean... I mean... WHAT SHOULD I DO?"

"Take it easy, Sakuragi. It's not that bad. I mean what's wrong if a guy likes you?" Mitsui conceded.

"Missy?!" Sakuragi and his gundan exclaimed. Even Miyagi's jaw dropped in shock, scandalized with the fact that Mitsui could even think of it as a normal situation.

"Hey! You have to accept the fact that it's indeed happening to our society today. I mean this boy-to-boy liking stuff," Mitsui said carefully for it was very obvious that his companions were a bit homophobic.

"We know that. But still, he's stalking Hanamichi, and it's not a good thing," Youhei said as he shook his head.

"Okay, I've had enough," Hanamichi stood up and changed his shirt in front of them. "I'm going to forget about it for now because it's giving me migraine. Chu, why don't you bring this for yourself and give it to your mother?"

"Thanks, Hanamichi! She'll love it!" Noma gratefully picked up the flowers.

"Yeah, yeah. But don't go home just yet. I need you all to wait for me after the practice and we'll all go to my place."

"Yeah," the Sakuragi gundan all replied then went out of the locker room.

"Hanamichi, don't worry about it okay?" Miyagi gave him a pat on his shoulder.

"If you want, we'll help you find out who it is," Mitsui offered.

Hanamichi considered Mitsui's offer for a while then shook his head, "Nah! You don't have to. I think this will be the last time he, if ever it's indeed a he, would send me gifts."

Well, that was what he thought. He didn't know that there would be more things to come.

...

"Sakuragi, look out!"

"Huh?" Sakuragi turned just in time for the ball to hit his face. It was so fast that he lost his balance and fell to the floor.

"Fool! Always pay attention!" Akagi shouted.

Kogure and Yasuda helped Sakuragi to his feet.

"Thanks, Yasu, Glasses-kun. I'm okay," he said.

"Concentrate, Sakuragi. Don't think about it for now," Kogure patted him on the shoulder. Sakuragi gave him a strange look.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Kogure replied then went back to his position, leaving a dazed redhead.

At the sidelines, the gundan watched the whole scene in deep thought. Knowing Sakuragi, having occasional drifts and distractions was just a normal occurrence in all of their basketball practices. But then most of it was filled in with thoughts of a certain brunette girl with a gorilla for a big brother. This time though, they knew that Sakuragi's thought was directed to only one thing.

"He's still thinking about that stalker," Youhei said worriedly.

"Actually, I'm also thinking about the same thing," Takamiya directed his look to a certain rookie, "... speaking of which, look at Rukawa."

Youhei directed his attention to the super rookie who was currently watching the redhead in a very subtle way. But of course, this slightest detail would never miss the ever-prying 'army' of Hanamichi.

"You know what? I've got a strong feeling that he's the one who sent those chocolates and those flowers," Ookusu crossed his arms over his chest. Youhei shook his head.

"But how can that be? Each basketball club member has a spare key to the locker room and the lock was destroyed."

"What if it's just a tactic so no one would suspect him," Noma added in. Youhei considered the possibility for a moment, and then was a bit convinced.

"Yeah... come to think of, it's a very likely scenario... but we still lack proof. And I think there's more to it than this. I mean what if the stalker doesn't even belong to this school at all?"

"Youhei-kun, is Sakuragi-kun alright?" someone spoke from behind. All of them turned around to find Akagi Haruko looking at Hanamichi, her face worried.

"Nah, it's nothing, Haruko-san," Youhei smiled. Haruko looked at them and noticed the bouquet of red roses in Noma's hand.

"Super! Those flowers are pretty!" she said excitedly. "Where did you get them?"

"Uh—"

"Haruko-chan!" Hanamichi called out as he jogged towards them. Haruko turned to him and waved.

"Hello Sakuragi-kun! I guess I'm wrong to think that something's wrong with you," she greeted him cheerfully.

"Nyahahaha! Nothing could go wrong with the genius!" he laughed but was beet-red all the same.

"You're really funny, Sakuragi-kun," Haruko said then turned to Noma. "By the way, I was just asking Noma-kun where he got those flowers. They're so pretty you know and I particularly like red roses."

"Ah well—"

"I'm actually going to give it to you, Haruko-chan! I just let Chu hold it for a while," Hanamichi grabbed the roses from Noma and handed it to Haruko, his face redder than ever.

"Hanamichi! I thought you said umf—" Ookusu covered Noma's mouth before he could all get them in trouble.

"Thank you, Sakuragi-kun. You didn't really have to."

"Nyahahaha! Of course I have to! You're a special girl you know. And a special girl deserves to be given a bouquet of flowers." His laughter was replaced with a groan as soon as the fist from a very angry captain (with his vice trying to stop him) landed on his head.

"Onii-chan! (Big brother)" Haruko covered her mouth in shock.

"Fool! Go back to court!" Akagi bellowed over the cringing Sakuragi.

"Bad Gori! Kill joy!" the redhead retorted, still cringing from the pain.

"What did you say, stupid?" Akagi would have delivered another gori punch if Kogure weren't able to stop him.

"Calm down, Akagi," Kogure said as he restrained his friend, which was quite a difficult task if Yasuda hadn't come to his aid.

With his free hand clenched hard, Rukawa dribbled to the basket and did a perfect 360 dunk. The board rocked so hard that he caught everyone's attention, especially his infamous brigade. Haruko was also ogling at Rukawa, which added up to Sakuragi's current frustration.

"Eeeeh!" they giggled, their screams were like that of a pig. "Rukawa! Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa!"

"Nice one, Rukawa!" Ayako complimented but Rukawa didn't seem to care. He just stood there, bowed down and hands clenched on his sides.

"Hmph! Show off," Sakuragi muttered while stroking his aching head. Akagi ignored the comment and proceeded to call the other members' attention.

"Assemble!" Akagi shouted and the whole team immediately lined up. Sakuragi on the other hand stayed where he was for a while more.

"Hey... Sakuragi-kun... Are you okay?" Haruko asked worriedly. Upon hearing this, Sakuragi got teary eyed.

"Wow... Haruko-chan is worried about the genius..." Sakuragi sniffed, which made the gundan members' faces contorted to what you might call suppressed amusement, except for Noma who was still grudging over the fact that the redhead took back the roses that he was really excited to give to his mother.

Then Sakuragi wiped his tears carelessly and did his trademark genius pose. "But you don't need to worry about the genius, Haruko-san! One stupid gorilla punch will not stop the genius from pursuing his dreams! Nyahahahahahahahaha!"

Obviously, Haruko had no idea what the redhead was talking about and turned to Youhei who just shook his head. "Don't you worry about Hanamichi, Haruko-san. He's okay now. After all, his head is as hard as rock, both literally and figuratively speaking." The other gundan members smirked at his last comment.

"Oi! What do you mean by that Youhei?!" Hanamichi growled and was about to give his best friend a proper bashing when Akagi's angry voice suddenly rang throughout the gym.

"FOOL! HOW LONG ARE YOU PLANNING TO STALL US?!"

Sakuragi grumbled as he went to where his teammates were while the gundan guffawed. "Ch. Some friends they are," the redhead muttered to himself bitterly.

Akagi looked again if there was anyone missing and when he was sure there's none, he started to talk.

"I know all of you are pretty excited for the National Inter High School Tournament. And what is our aim?"

"National championship!" they all shouted and Akagi nodded approvingly.

"So I expect you all to practice hard and do your job well, got that?"

"Yes!"

"Which also means that we'll also have practices this coming weekend..."

This time groans could be heard from the whole team. Akagi raised one brow, "Any problem with that?"

No one dared to answer.

"Sadistic gori." Sakuragi wrinkled his nose.

"You got that right." Miyagi sighed.

In a few moments, the two of them were cringing down on the floor, holding their aching head.

"Okay, that's it for now. You're all dismissed." All the people went to the shower room, except for Sakuragi who went straight to his gundan with his hand still stroking his head.

"Grr... I can't believe that gori punched me two times today!" Sakuragi complained.

"Yeah me too! I mean the lowest number of punches he gives you during practice is five! I can't believe that he just punched you two times today!" Takamiya commented cheerfully.

"Shut up, pig!"

"Aren't you going to take a shower?" Noma asked.

"Of course I am, I'm just going to tell you that—"

"Fox alert," Ookusu whispered. Hanamichi turned around and saw Rukawa standing a meter away from them.

"Well, what do you want?" Hanamichi asked irritatingly.

Rukawa's blue eyes regarded him coolly for a while then said, "You shouldn't use a gift from someone as a gift for somebody else."

"I'm making my own business and I'm not about to take an advice from you. And what is it to you anyway?" Sakuragi glared at him.

Rukawa did not answer. Instead, he walked away to join the others in the shower room.

"You! Don't you walk out on me while I'm still talking to you!" Hanamichi made a move to follow Rukawa and beat the crap out of him, but his gundan held him back.

"Let him be, Hanamichi! You wouldn't want to get in trouble if you want to go to the Inter-high," Youhei reminded, which calmed down Hanamichi's temper.

"Well he's lucky that fighting is not allowed in here. But someday, there'll be no escape for him," Hanamichi vowed. Youhei just shook his head.

"Forget him." 'Though I must admit he's been acting strange,' Youhei thought. He remembered what Noma, Takamiya, and Ookusu said earlier about them thinking that Rukawa was the stalker. But Youhei's not about to tell Hanamichi that if he did not have any proof. "Anyway, where are we going after this?" Youhei said to divert Hanamichi's attention from Rukawa. He succeeded in doing so because Hanamichi was instantly back to his cheerful self.

"We're going to the record store, then to our house," he grinned. "Okaachan (Mom) left a chocolate cake for me before she left for Hokkaido this morning. She told me to invite you four and have a taste."

"Oi good! I can't wait," Takamiya said in anticipation.

...

"I've found it!" Sakuragi exclaimed. The gundan gathered round the redhead and looked at the pile of Third Eye Blind CDs. There was only one 3eb (the second album) CD left. Hanamichi has been looking for that particular album for a long time now since his first copy was damaged. Now, here he was again in the record store to see if he can find a copy and was able to find one. The problem was, it costs 2,500 yen.

"So how much do you have there, Hanamichi?" Youhei asked.

"Well... I got 50 yen..."

Silence ensued for a minute.

"But I was hoping if any of you could lend me some money."

"No way! We're broke too you know!" Takamiya exclaimed.

"But I need that damn CD and it's the last copy!"

At the moment, Kiyota Nobunaga, the rookie of Kainan, entered the record store. An idea crossed the genius' head.

"Wild monkey! You're just in time!" Hanamichi greeted cheerfully.

"What is it this time, red monkey?" Kiyota said irritatingly.

Hanamichi ignored the insult, "Do you have 2,500 yen there?"

"Huh? Yes, so?" Kiyota raised one brow.

Hanamichi clapped his hand then put his arm around Kiyota's shoulder. "I'm just wondering if I can borrow that money from you."

"What?!" Kiyota shrugged off of the redhead's arm. "You haven't even paid me for the ticket and the food I bought for you on our trip to Nagoya!"

"I told you I'm going to pay you when we face each other in the Inter-high."

"I won't lend you any more money!"

"But I need it to buy 3eb."

Kiyota was stunned for a while, then a sly grin slowly showed in his face. "Oh, that. I'm going to buy that."

"REALLY! Thank—"

"I'm not buying it for you, stupid! I'm buying it for myself!" Kiyota sneered and grabbed the CD from the rack and went to the counter.

"Damn that wild monkey!" Hanamichi said in between his teeth. Kiyota passed them again, deliberately showing his purchased CD while the gundan tried very hard to restrain Hanamichi from wringing Kiyota's neck. Kiyota, on the other hand, was having fun annoying the red monkey that he almost forgot that he was supposed to meet someone at six pm. His eyes caught a glimpse of the time at the wall clock just above the entrance. It was already six-fifteen.

"Oh no! I'm late again!" he immediately went out of the record store.

"Wait you wild monkey! I'm not finished with you!" Hanamichi forced his way out of the restraining grasps of his gundan and was about to throw them on the ground with his body when Ookusu talked.

"Calm down! I'm sure we'll still find a copy in other record stores. And don't worry. We'll buy you that damn CD."

Hanamichi stopped struggling then smiled from ear to ear. "I heard that and I won't forget it. So come on, let's go to my place," Hanamichi whistled as he walked out of the record store. Mito, Noma, and Takamiya gave Ookusu a very dark look.

"Ehehehe! Don't kill me guys. I didn't really know why it went out of my mouth and it's the only way we can stop him from whining," Ookusu begged.

"Well, nice work," Youhei said sarcastically.

...

He hesitated for a moment. He didn't really know why he chose that particular song and he didn't even know if Sakuragi would like it. But for him, it was the perfect way to express what he felt for the redhead. It was as if the song was made for them. He had been planning on giving this to him personally, but somehow he chickened out. Maybe it was because he was afraid that his relationship with Sakuragi would change for the worst if the redhead finds out that he was really attracted to him. Okay, that was an understatement. He wanted him badly.

...

"Oi Hanamichi! Something's in your mailbox," Hanamichi had just opened their front door's lock when Takamiya called out. The redhead went to the mailbox and there he got a small package wrapped in a newspaper.

"But this wasn't here when I checked the mails this morning," Hanamichi said.

"Maybe it came when we were in school," Noma suggested.

"Maybe. Anyway, why don't you open it?" Youhei added.

Hanamichi ripped off the wrapping and it revealed a CD. He couldn't believe his eyes, "3eb."

"Well then, we don't have to buy you a CD after all!" Ookusu happily said. Then Takamiya noticed something.

"Look, there's a Post It (TM) attached on the back," he removed it from the cover then read its contents loud for them to hear.

To my flower,

I hope you like this little gift of mine. I'm not really sure if you're listening to 'Third Eye Blind' but the song 'I want you' is the best description of what I feel for you. [4]

Hanamichi froze at this. Actually, that song was his favorite.

"Wow! Come on let's play it!" Takamiya exclaimed then grabbed the CD from a frozen Hanamichi. The gundan hurriedly went inside the house. A few moments passed before Hanamichi came to his senses.

"Oi! You can't barge in to our house like that!" he also went inside only to be greeted by the sound of the stereo.

I've seen suckers lose themselves in the games they learn to play
Children love to sing but then their voices slowly fade away
People always take a step away from what is true
That's why I like you around, I want you'

Yeah you do, you do, you do, you make me want you.

Youhei was standing beside the sound system with a meaningful smile. Takamiya was sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor, nursing a ham sandwich—from Hanamichi's fridge where else? It eluded the redhead how quick his friend prepared the meal. Ookusu was rolling on the floor with mad laughter and Chu was clutching his stomach with tears coming from the corners of his eyes.

An open invitation to the dance happenstance set the vibe that we are in
No apology because my urge is genuine and the mystery of your rhythm is so masculine
Here I am and I want to take a hit of your sent and it bit
So deep in my soul, I want you

Yeah you do, you do, you do, you make me want you
Send me all your vampires
And I can't get enough

By that time, all the members of the gundan were laughing so hard while listening more to the song. Hanamichi couldn't stand it any longer that he unplugged the stereo.

"Hey! Don't be such a kill joy," Ookusu complained.

"And I can't get enough," Takamiya sang then laughed, not minding Hanamichi's glare.

"This is not funny, dammit!" Hanamichi gritted his teeth. The gundan immediately turned serious.

"I agree with him. We shouldn't take this as a joke," Youhei said then looked at Hanamichi. "I think this is proof that the one sending you gifts really is male."

Hanamichi sank to the nearest sofa. "Then who is he?!"

"Don't worry Hanamichi, we'll find out for sure. We'll think of a plan to lure him out to the open," Noma assured.

"Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it," Hanamichi looked at the letter again and somehow, he did not mind at all being called "my flower", for it was the first endearment he had ever received from another person other than his mother.

...

Yeah you do, you do, you do, you make me want you
Send me all your vampires
And I can't get enough

Sakuragi was watching his favorite TV show late that night so he couldn't understand why the song still played in his thoughts. Of course he knew the song was a bit neurotic, which was why it became one of his favorites. It got stuck in his brain a lot of times before but it never bothered him like this. It was just when that stalker sent him that darned CD when it really started to annoy him. Now, his TV show ended without him understanding the episode. He flipped the channels but it all showed boring stuff like drama movies, soap operas, golf coverage, etc. What was worse, when he turned to MTV...

Yeah you do, you do, you do, you make me want you
Send me all your vampires
And I can't get enough

"Shit!" he turned off the TV. "Why can't that song just leave me alone?"

He was getting restless for it was already eleven in the evening yet he was still up. He tried to sleep earlier that night but failed miserably because whenever he was drifting to slumber, that song would play in his mind. But since there was nothing more to watch on the TV, he decided to play Soul Calibur on his Dreamcast. He was already on the character select screen when the phone suddenly rang.

"Who could be calling this time?" He turned off the DC then irritably stood up. No matter how bad his mood was, his tone was surprisingly polite when he answered the phone.

"Good evening! Sakuragi Residence," he greeted.

There was no reply.

"Hello?"

There was still no reply but he could hear the caller's breathing from the other line.

"Oi! Answer me whoever you are!" This time he was irritated, but the caller didn't speak.

"Youhei? Chu? Yuuji? Takamiya?" the line was still quiet. "Stupid idiot!" he slammed the phone to its cradle. "Stupid caller! If I ever find out who it is!" He was still rambling when the phone rang again.

"Hello!" he answered, trying not to snap.

Again, there was no answer. Sakuragi's temper really flared.

"Whoever you are, better talk! I swear if I ever find out who you are I'll—"

The caller hung up.

"Why you!" he dialed Takamiya's phone number. Three rings and the sound of Takamiya's voice, obviously munching something in his mouth, answered. "Hello!"

"Oi pig! It was you wasn't it?" was Sakuragi's sharp greeting.

"What are you talking about?" Takamiya asked from the other line.

"You're the one who called," the redhead accused.

"Of course not! Maybe it was Noma or Ookusu!"

"You'd better not be lying!"

"Why would I lie to you when I know what you're capable of doing when crossed badly?"

Hanamichi hung up the phone. The way Takamiya talked, the redhead was sure that he was telling the truth. Youhei would never do that to him and since Takamiya was not the one, then it would not be Noma or Ookusu either. He was in the process of thinking of more possibilities when, again, the phone rang.

He let the phone ring several times before answering it.

"You! Whoever you are I'll—"

"Sakuragi-kun?" a soft voice asked a bit confused.

"Ha-haruko-chan?" Hanamichi stammered.

"Are you okay? Why are you so upset?" Haruko asked in a worried tone.

"No, forgive me, Haruko-chan. I'm not upset," he blushed for acting a complete idiot. Of all the people he would snap at, why would it have to be his beloved Haruko?!

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. But... why did you call this late?"

This time it was Haruko's turn to blush from the other line. She realized it was not really proper for a girl to call a guy especially when it was almost midnight. She also thought that maybe Sakuragi was doing something and was interrupted when she called.

"Well, I just want to thank you again for the flowers... did I call in a bad time?"

"Oh not really! And as for the flowers, the genius is grateful to know that you liked them," Hanamichi said cheerfully, completely forgetting his ordeal a while ago.

Actually, she also wanted to tell Hanamichi about the way Rukawa looked at her while holding those flowers. It was not at all... pleasant. For a while, she saw contempt flash in his eyes but it was so fast that she thought she just imagined it. But then, she decided not to tell the redhead because it was not his concern.

"Well, I guess that's all, Sakuragi-kun. I'll just see you tomorrow then. Good night."

"Bye!" Hanamichi replied. Haruko had already hung up but he was still holding the phone, his face and neck were beet-red. He slowly returned the handset to its cradle and sank in the sofa for a while. After a minute of silence...

"Haruko-chan called me! Nyahahaha!" he leaped from the sofa and jumped for joy. He was in this state when the phone rang again. He was so excited that he thought it was Haruko again and that she had forgotten to tell him something.

"Hello Haruko-chan!"

...

As soon as he heard the name, he decided to just shut his mouth. He heard Hanamichi curse before he hung up. Obviously, it was not a good time for him to call and finally reveal himself.

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because he was not really sure if he was ready to tell the redhead his feelings for him. But...

...

"Shit!" Hanamichi slammed the phone again. If that phone rings again he'll...

Rrriiinggg. He immediately answered the phone. "Oi, you—!"

"Hello..." the voice was muffled but Hanamichi was sure it was MALE.

"Who's this?"

"..."

"Oi! Answer me!" the redhead demanded.

"... I like you... Hana-kun..."

Hanamichi froze then before he could react, the other line hung up.

...

It was a fine Saturday morning. The crystal-clear sky was showered with the sun's silver rays with only a few clouds drifting, creating little shadows that danced on the ground. Everything seemed to be in order, that it might be what you call a perfect day to begin with. But for Sakuragi Hanamichi, it was what we should call a Jonah day. [5]

Any people could be struck by this so-called phenomenon. It might be one of those luck-isn't-on-your-side situations that it seemed that everything you think that was right turns out to be the other way around. Or it might be one of those woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed days that one could say as having a foul mood all throughout the day. But then, it was just another normal day, so what was so Jonah about it?

Well for one thing, the day before was not exactly what we could call normal for a guy like him. Discovering he had an admirer was one thing, but discovering he had a male admirer who doesn't want to reveal himself and continues to stalk him was another matter. And then, that so-called admirer just told him last night on the phone that he actually liked him was another shock that he was not able to sleep a wink until the sun finally came up. Unfortunately, even if there were no classes on Saturdays, he still had to go to school because their team had to practice hard for the Nationals, much as he wanted to just stay in their house and sleep all day long.

Drinking coffee in the morning was just a simple early morning routine for other people, but somehow it became a rather difficult task for our dear redhead, being drowsy and all. First, he brought the very hot coffee to his lips without even waiting for it to cool a little. As soon as the hot liquid touched his tongue, he immediately spit it out and in the process lost his grip on the mug's handle, making it fall down and shatter into pieces on the floor. Second, this time he did wait for the water to cool down a little. The problem was, he didn't realize that what he put in his coffee was not sugar but salt. So what happened to his first cup happened to the second one.

'This is definitely not my day,' he thought sternly.

As if his coffee predicament was not enough, this was followed by an embarrassing situation.

After finally drinking a good cup of coffee, he prepared himself for school then left the house. He had walked a few meters away from home when he noticed that every people he passed by wore weird expressions or sometimes regarded him from head to foot.

'What's wrong with these people?' He scowled at them to show that he didn't like them staring at him but they continued regarding him with that weird look, as if there was something in him that was scandalizing.

"Sir," a little voice suddenly spoke in front of him that he almost jumped in surprise. Sakuragi saw a little raven-haired boy, probably about eight years of age, was looking up at him.

"What is it little one?" he smiled and knelt down so he could be of the same level with the boy's head.

The boy pointed at him then said, "You're wearing your shirt on the wrong side and your fly's open, sir."

It took Sakuragi a while before absorbing each word and felt his cheeks burn as soon as he understood the situation.

"Keichi! You shouldn't talk to strangers!" A middle-aged woman came and dragged the boy away who was still looking at him.

With this, Sakuragi slowly stood up, still conscious with the people's stares, and searched for a place where he could fix his clothes. He then found a narrow alley and went there as fast as he could, the glow on his cheeks still obvious.

'Shit! What did the tensai do to deserve this?'

As soon as he was certain that there were no other people around, he immediately removed his shirt and wore it again, this time wearing it on the right side. He was in the process of zipping his pants when he noticed a black cat looking intently at him. He didn't know if he was just imagining it or not but he swore he saw a glint of mockery in the cat's yellow green eyes. Being hot-tempered as he was, he glared at the cat in return.

"Well, what are you looking at, ugly cat?" he snapped.

To the redhead's horror, the cat's head suddenly looked like a certain fox he knew then muttered, "Idiot."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Whether or not it was because of taking too much caffeine that he was starting to imagine things, this was too weird for him to handle that he made a run for it, completely forgetting that his fly was still open. He was not looking on to where he was going, causing him to bump into someone. The impact was a bit strong that if it were not for the stranger's hard grip on his arm, he would have fallen flat on the floor.

"Whoa! Easy there, Hanamichi."

As soon as he heard his name, Hanamichi looked up and saw Ryonan's ace, Sendoh Akira, smiling (as usual) down at him, holding a fishing rod in his other hand. The redhead immediately tried to remove Sendoh's grip on his arm, but Sendoh didn't budge a bit.

"Oi Sendoh! Remove your hand from the genius' arm!" Hanamichi demanded. Sendoh's smile widened then obeyed Hanamichi's request. He looked at Hanamichi from head to foot then his gaze stopped just below the redhead's waist.

"XYZ," Sendoh said, his eyes gleamed in amusement.

"What? The genius already knows English alphabet so—"

Sendoh chuckled then moved closer to whisper in the redhead's ears, "eXamine Your Zipper." [6]

Sakuragi immediately turned around and zipped his pants, his face was almost the same color with his hair. When he looked back, Sendoh still wore the same expression, which irritated him more. "XYZ! Now where the hell did you learn that crap?"

"Well, from Hikoichi," Sendoh shrugged. "Anyway since I ran into you, if it's not any trouble, would you like to go fishing with me?"

"Wha— wait a minute. Isn't Ryonan a bit far from here? And from what I can recall, your place was near the harbor. If I hadn't known better, you were spying on the genius," Sakuragi said suspiciously. Again, Sendoh just shrugged his shoulders with a broad smile still plastered on his mouth.

'Shit! What is this smiling idiot up to now?' "Oi, answer me!"

"There's no reason for you to be irritated," Sendoh replied at last, he chuckled a little with the redhead's temper. "Even if our place is near the harbor, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to search for new spots to fish. So I decided maybe I could try fishing near Shohoku so if I still have time, I could drop by your gym and watch your team practice."

"Aha! I knew it! You're going to spy on the next National Champions! You have to accept that we're going to the Nationals and you're not! Nyahahaha!" Sakuragi boasted, with his hands on his waist.

If Sakuragi had said this to other Ryonan Basketball Team members, especially Uozumi Jun or Koshino Hiroaki, he would have been punched hard on the face by now. But knowing Sendoh, he would either shrug or smile at this. Well, with Hanamichi's case, he did the latter.

"Since you're one of the chosen ones to go to the Nationals and our team is not, how can we even think of spying on your team? What's in it for us?" Ryonan's ace asked.

"Well... I don't know... so you could feed up information to other teams so they could beat us?" Sakuragi replied, which made Sendoh laugh.

"You're being ridiculous, Hanamichi! [7] And I thought you call yourself the genius?" Sendoh said still chuckling.

"I AM THE GENIUS SAKURAGI!" Sakuragi emphasized each word.

"Well then, you wouldn't mind if I go with you to Shohoku gym and see if you really play like a genius?" Sendoh challenged.

Of course, Sakuragi always stood up with this kind of challenge. "Nyahahaha! You would be surprised with the genius's new secret weapon!" Hanamichi declared, not noticing the look of triumph in Sendoh's azure eyes.

...

"Well, that's odd. Why is Hanamichi not here yet?" Youhei asked frowning as he scanned the pool of freshmen basketball players cleaning the court while the higher batches were fixing their things. Hanamichi always come on time, sometimes earlier. Well, there were times when he would not show up at all, but there was no reason for him to be absent today. "Takamiya, didn't you say he called you last night? Did he tell you he's not going to attend practice today?"

Takamiya shook his head. "I told you, he just asked me if I was the one who made the prank call on him."

"You don't have to worry anymore, here he comes—" Noma's sentence was cut short when he noticed who's walking with the redhead. The other gundan members turned to where he was looking.

"Well I'll be... It's Sendoh of Ryonan!" Takamiya exclaimed. All the members of the Basketball Club stopped what they were doing then looked at the gym door just as the two men appeared. Akagi, along with Kogure, Mitsui, Miyagi and Ayako walked towards them to greet Sendoh.

"Sendoh, this is really a surprise. What brings you here in Shohoku?" Akagi extended his hand, which Sendoh accepted good-naturedly.

"Well, I was planning to fish near here but I bumped into Hanamichi and well, I decided to tag along and watch you all practice," Sendoh replied with his usual polite demeanor. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Rukawa mopping the floor as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening around him, though this act could not fool Sendoh. He knew how much Rukawa despised him and who knows what scheme was playing in his head right now.

"Well, you're always welcome here, Sendoh," Kogure smiled.

"Nyahahaha! Well I told him the genius here has a new secret weapon!"

Akagi's fist landed on his head, "Fool! You're late!"

"That hurts! Gori!" Sakuragi held on to his head and cringed down in pain.

Mitsui rolled his eyes, "You're always saying that, yet up until now, you don't want to show it to us."

"Yeah, if I hadn't known better, you just fooled around behind Anzai-sensei's back," Miyagi added.

"You're just jealous of the genius because the old man trained him personally and you'll never have that chance, Missy! You too, Ryo-chin," Hanamichi retorted, still stroking his aching head.

"What!?" Mitsui and Miyagi both exclaimed and were about to pounce at Hanamichi when Ayako hit both their heads with her fan.

"Aya-chan," Miyagi was teary-eyed while Mitsui looked at Ayako accusingly.

"Sorry, Mitsui-sempai. But someone should remind you both of your manners. As for you, Sakuragi Hanamichi, you shouldn't be late in practices such as this!"

"Hey Akagi, you don't have to be angry with him. I'm sure he didn't mean to be late," Sendoh explained to help the redhead.

"Sendoh! You're so kind!" Sakuragi gave him a grateful look, Sendoh winked at him in return. Suddenly, a flying ball hit Sakuragi straight on the head and fell flat on the ground.

"Whoa! Bull's eye!" Ookusu proclaimed.

All eyes turned to where the ball came from and saw Rukawa near the basket with a pile of other balls. Sakuragi, got up with his face red with fury.

"You sly fox! What did you do that for?"

"You still have chores to do idiot," he replied in his usual monotone.

The four gundan members immediately held Sakuragi's body to prevent bloodshed. Sendoh looked at Rukawa and saw his eyes colder than usual. For a while there was a glint of emotion in those blue eyes, though he was not sure if it was anger or... jealousy? But it was gone before Sendoh could decide which was which.

"Good morning, everybody," someone spoke behind their back. They turned around only to see the coach of Shohoku.

"Good morning, Anzai-sensei," Akagi bowed down then flashed a warning look at Sakuragi, which calmed the redhead down a bit. He did not want to be kicked out of the team just because it would give him pleasure to kick the fox's ass.

"Ohohoho! Good, you're all here," Coach Anzai prodded then he noticed Sendoh standing behind Sakuragi. "Sendoh-kun, what a surprise to see you here."

"Well, if you wouldn't mind, Anzai-sensei, I would like to watch Shohoku practice for the Nationals," Sendoh bowed down in respect.

"Ohohoho! Of course, you can. Everyone's welcome here," Coach Anzai replied.

"Oi old man!" Sakuragi went to Coach Anzai and played with his double chin (his usual gesture). "Allow me to have a one on one with Sendoh here so I could show him my secret weapon and— ouch!" he felt his ear being pulled.

"You still have to clean the court," Akagi said while dragging him to where the mops were stored and dropping him like a discarded thing.

"Go for it! Hanamichi!" the gundan cheered mockingly while laughing. Mitsui and Miyagi laughed with them while Ayako rolled her eyes and Kogure just shook his head.

"Shut up!" Sakuragi stood up to go back to his gundan but Ishii, Sasaoka, and Kuwata tried their best to restrain him. Of course, with Sakuragi's built, they were not able to hold him even for a full minute and were all thrown away.

"Fool!" Akagi punched him again on the head, which added up to the gundan's entertainment.

Sendoh watched the whole scene in amusement and couldn't help but join in mild laughter with the redhead's temper but stopped as soon as he felt something cold shot through his spine. He turned around to see Rukawa giving him a cold glare. Sendoh just returned this with a you-don't-scare-me look and a matching smile of challenge.

Youhei noticed the staring contest so he elbowed Ookusu. "Look at Sendoh and Rukawa," he whispered. The two were still in that position and it seemed that Mitsui also noticed this and gave Youhei a questioning look, which he answered with a shake of his head. Ookusu smiled meaningfully then whispered back a bit excited, "This means war..."

Everyone in the gym now noticed the heated scene between Sendoh and Rukawa... well except for Hanamichi, who was thinking of ways to show everyone his secret weapon to at least compensate for the jinx he was having that day.

...

'Damn! I have to find a way to show them the genius' secret weapon. The genius doesn't need this stupid passing exercise,' the redhead thought as he passed the ball to some random teammate.

'... I like you... Hana-kun...'

Hanamichi froze as the phrase suddenly rang through his mind. He momentarily forgot about it because of the course of events a while ago but for some unknown reason, it came back to trouble him again.

"Sakuragi! Head's up!" Yasuda shouted.

But, as usual, the warning was too late, and the ball banged itself not too gently on his face for the nth time that afternoon. Luckily, the impact was not that strong so he still stayed on his feet and just swayed a little.

"Focus Sakuragi!" Akagi's voice rang throughout the gym.

"Ch." Sakuragi tried to focus his attention back on their exercise. He was lucky that Akagi was at the other end of the court or else he would have received another gorilla punch.

From the sidelines, Sendoh noticed that Hanamichi was really acting strange. Well, he didn't know enough about the redhead to judge exactly, but he felt sure that something was bothering him. He looked at the Sakuragi Gundan members who were standing just beside him and they too wore a frown on their foreheads.

"Is something wrong with Hanamichi?" Sendoh asked them.

Youhei sighed. "So you noticed too huh? He's been acting a bit more strangely today than yesterday..."

Sendoh turned his attention back to Hanamichi and saw that the redhead was now focused on what they were practicing.

"Sendoh-sempai! What are you doing here?"

Sendoh and the gundan looked to where the voice came from and saw Hikoichi, along with Fujima, Hanagata, and Hasegawa, walking towards them.

"Sendoh, I didn't know you'd be here," the captain of Shoyo greeted.

Sendoh shrugged, "Well, it wasn't really planned. Anyway, what are you three doing here?"

Fujima smiled then answered, "We're here to cheer Shohoku up for the coming Inter High."

The Shohoku team members stopped doing their exercises and looked at the four newly arrived people.

"Oi Hikoichi! What are you doing here?" Hanamichi jogged towards them. "Sour-graping over your loss to us? Nyahahahahaha!"

"How dare you Sakuragi-san?! And we're here just to cheer for your team!" Hikoichi said teary-eyed.

"Oh? Did you bring me any fans?" Hanamichi looked around their backs but was immediately given a gorilla punch by the gorilla captain himself.

"Shut up!" Akagi snapped then gave an apologetic look to Fujima and company. "Sorry for this fool's manners."

Fujima shook his head then smiled again, "Nah, it's okay Akagi. Anyway, we're just here to tell you to do your best. Next time, Shoyo will beat you."

This surprised Kogure, who also walked towards them, "You two are going to play in the Winter Inter-High?"

Hanagata nodded, "Yes. And we'll make sure that we're going to represent Kanagawa next time."

"Yeah! Ryonan will certainly go to the Nationals also with Sendoh-sempai as our new captain. We'll certainly be the number 1 in Kanagawa!" Hikoichi added. Akagi frowned at this piece of information and looked at Sendoh questioningly who just shrugged in return.

"Captain Uozumi quitted the team yesterday because he said he had to train to become a chef," Sendoh explained.

"What? Boss monkey? A chef? No one would eat a gorilla's cooking!" Hanamichi shivered as a mental image of Uozumi looking like a gorilla in a chef's outfit cooking ramen passed through his mind. The obvious disgust showed on his face and in return he received another gorilla punch.

"Stupid," Akagi muttered, though he was partly deep in his thoughts. 'So he's not going to play for the Winter IH too...'

"Anyway, we just went here to wish you luck. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to leave now," Fujima said and offered his hand to Shohoku's Team Captain whom the later accepted.

"Thank you, we'll do our best to get to the top," Akagi said in determination.

Fujima smiled, nodded at his companions then started to walk away.

"Hey, Sendoh-sempai, aren't you going with us?" Hikoichi asked. Sendoh just shook his head.

"Nah, you go ahead."

"Ah... okay... if you say so..." Hikoichi hesitated, but then turned around anyway and followed Fujima and the others.

"Oi wait Hikoichi! Benchwarmer!" Hanamichi called out when an idea suddenly crossed his mind. 'Ooh, the genius is just brilliant.'

"What is it Sakuragi-san?" Hikoichi asked then frowned slightly when he saw Hanamichi counting them one by one.

"Nyahahahaha! I got it! Why don't you have a practice match with us? You can call your other teammates so you could also have back-ups!"

"Eh?!" Hikoichi eyes widened while Fujima and the others looked surprised.

"Sakuragi! What nonsense are you talking about?" Akagi bellowed.

"I don't mind at all," Sendoh's azure eyes twinkled as he said this. "After all, I do want to see how much your team improved since the last time we had our match."

"Ohohohoho. I think it's a good idea, Sakuragi-kun. This will prepare you all for a more difficult challenge in the Nationals," Anzai said.

"Anzai-sensei?" Akagi looked at Anzai with questioning eyes. Anzai smiled and nodded in return.

"Nyahahahaha! Of course it's a good idea. The genius always gives good ideas!" Sakuragi declared in his tensai pose.

Fujima looked at Hanagata and Hasegawa to get their approval. They both nodded which made Fujima smile and turn to Sakuragi, "Okay, we accept your challenge."

"Oh!" Hikoichi exclaimed then clapped his hands. "This will be exciting! Okay, I'll call the others. Sendoh-sempai, you don't have to go back and fetch for your jersey, I'll just ask Koshino-sempai to get it for you."

Sendoh nodded and with this, Hikoichi left.

"Well, everyone, let's assemble," Kogure called out to the others. "Akagi?"

Akagi was still standing there and only moved when Kogure called him.

Kogure smiled at him, "You're thinking if he's gonna come or not, right?"

Akagi nodded then sighed. "I really wanted to have a match against him even for the last time."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come," Kogure said then patted Akagi's back and walked towards the others. Akagi looked out to the gym's entrance one more time then followed Kogure.

"Okay, I know we've all been training hard these past days so let's show them that Shohoku is strong," Kogure said enthusiastically.

"Of course, we're strong! And we're going to beat them," Mitsui countered.

"Nyahahahaha! You're all very lucky today because the genius will finally use his secret weapon!"

"Idiot."

Hanamichi glared at Rukawa for a long while, earning the discomfort of the other members, but that discomfort dissolved into relief when he calmed down. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, stupid fox. After the genius shows his secret weapon, you'll all realize how great he is," he said, an evil grin showing on his face.

"Whatever," Rukawa shrugged, looking bored.

"What?!" Hanamichi started to pounce on him but was immediately stopped by Ayako's fan slap.

"You behave, Sakuragi Hanamichi, or you won't play today."

"Yeah, follow what Aya-chan said or you'll be sorry," Miyagi added tauntingly.

"Lady gori," Hanamichi muttered while stroking his aching head.

"What did you say stupid?" Miyagi asked furiously. But of course, Hanamichi was not the only who receives gorilla punches in the team. The end result, Miyagi was now also cringing down in pain.

"I don't know why I have such idiot teammates. Good thing this is my last season," Akagi said while shaking his head.

"Okay I guess we'll just have our briefing after you changed your clothes. This time we'll wear the white jersey," Kogure said.

"White?" Mitsui right brow rose, "Why not use red, it's our main jersey after all."

"I don't mind wearing the white one," Miyagi said, still a bit aching from Akagi's blow.

"The genius doesn't mind whatever color he's going to wear."

"Yeah, I guess the white one is okay," Akagi agreed.

"Rukawa?"

Rukawa just shrugged.

"Well any other suggestions?" Kogure looked around and the other members shook their heads. His eyes darted towards Mitsui, "Mitsui, what do you think?"

Mitsui nodded, "Then, white it is."

Kogure smiled wryly, "Okay, you all go change now."

Hanamichi jogged towards his bag. "Nyahahahaha! I'll show them all what the genius is capable of doing!" he said then sang the "genius song" while searching his bag, but realized that the thing he was looking for was not there.

"YAAA!" The outburst rang throughout the gym. All the people inside stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the source of the shout. Miyagi and Mitsui ran towards the panicking redhead.

"What is it, Hanamichi?" Miyagi asked.

"It's not here!" Hanamichi exclaimed.

"What's not here?" Mitsui frowned.

"My white jersey!" he answered panicking more. "Someone stole my white jersey!"

...

"Damn it!" Hanamichi went to search the bags of his teammates. He got hold of Miyagi's bag first and started to remove its contents before the owner could protest. The bag was almost empty when Miyagi managed to snatch it back.

"Oi! You didn't have to spill out all my things!" Miyagi snapped, pissed off as he started to pick up his things while clutching his bag with his other hand.

"But who would think of getting this fool's jersey?" Mitsui muttered, looking pensive.

Kogure just shook his head then looked at Akagi.

"What should we do?"

Akagi sighed then said, "I guess we'll have to use the red one instead." He motioned for the others to change their jerseys.

"I'm not going to let it drop just like that!" the redhead exclaimed stubbornly then pointed an accusing finger at Rukawa's direction. "Fox! I know what you want to happen! You stole the genius' jersey so he wouldn't be able to play! Ha! Didn't you think I know you'd do something like this?"

"You always get kicked out of the game so why waste my time, idiot?"

"What?!" Hanamichi was about to lunge at Rukawa when Fujima spoke up.

"I think it would be better if you discuss this after the game," the Shoyo coach-captain said then turned to the redhead. "Anyway, if you want, Sakuragi, you could just join our team so your teammates wouldn't have to waste time to change their jerseys right?"

Sendoh's lips curled on one side, grateful to what Fujima had suggested. He would have liked it very much to have a match against Sakuragi, but having him in their team was like hitting the jackpot in a lottery...

"Hmm... that's not such a bad idea..." Akagi mused, then gave Sakuragi a questioning look. "Well, Sakuragi, what do you think?"

Sakuragi pursed his lips and tried to consider Fujima's offer. The main reason he suggested a practice match in the first place was to show his new ability. So even if he did play for Shoyo and Ryonan, his plan would work all the same. He was in the process of making a decision when he felt someone slap his behind.

"Whoa!" He jumped in surprise and saw the culprit, who was none other than Sendoh, grinning at him. "Sendoh! Who gave you the idea that you could just hit the genius' butt like that?!"

"Because you're taking so long to decide. And what's wrong with what I did?" Sendoh frowned.

"Yeah, I don't think butt-slapping is bad. We do that in our team all the time. Sort of a form of encouragement," Fujima added.

"You... do that... to your teammates... all the time...?" Hanamichi asked slowly. Somehow, the prospect of joining their team started to become a remote possibility.

"Oi, Sakuragi, I think you should just join their team so there won't be any hassle," Akagi said, getting a bit impatient because minutes had passed by and they're still standing there, waiting for the redhead's decision. No one noticed Rukawa walking towards his bag.

"I... I..." the redhead stuttered, obviously confused on what to answer.

Youhei, who was standing with the other members of the gundan and the group of Haruko, was starting to wonder what's going on with Shohoku, Shoyo, and Ryonan's meeting.

He asked Hikoichi, who just walked away from the group.

"What's happening there anyway? Why aren't they starting the game?"

"Well, someone stole Sakuragi-san's white jersey so they are persuading him to just join our team so the other Shohoku members won't have to change their jerseys to red."

"What? But who could have stolen it? Poor Sakuragi-kun..." Haruko gazed at redhead's direction worriedly.

"Well, Sakuragi, we're wasting time here," Akagi crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't rush the genius!" he snapped, still trying to decide if he should join Shoyo and Ryonan's team. But the idea of his ass being slapped anytime was not really an enticing picture.

Just as he was about to reach a decision, some fabric hit his head and dropped on his shoulder. It was a Shohoku white jersey... that was marked number eleven. Hanamichi stared at it for a while then looked at the person who threw it.

"Fox?"

Rukawa shrugged then said, "Use that for now, idiot."

"How come Rukawa has an extra jersey?" Mitsui asked curiously.

"Well, he ordered another one because this one was stained with ink and he can't remove it. He just got his new jersey from me this morning," Ayako explained.

Hanamichi stared one more time at the stained jersey then his temper suddenly flared again.

"Do you think the genius would even think of using any of the fox's things?"

Rukawa sighed, "So just join the enemy then." After saying this, he gave Sendoh a cold glare then headed to other side of the court to warm-up all by himself.

"Come on, Hanamichi! Decide now!" Miyagi urged.

Hanamichi's face was grim when he replied, "Okay, much as the genius doesn't want to wear the fox's ugly jersey, the genius will do it so that he can stay in the team."

"Okay it's settled then so let's start the game," Kogure said. All of them went to have their warm-ups. Sendoh on the other hand shook his head in disappointment before finally going with the other Shoyo members.

Back at the sidelines, Youhei was still deep in thought. "Hey, Ookusu, do you think the stalker's also the one who stole Hanamichi's jersey?"

"What stalker?"

Youhei and Ookusu looked to who asked the question and saw it was Hikoichi. Takamiya tried to divert the topic by asking him about Hanamichi's decision.

"Well, Rukawa-san lent Sakuragi-san his old jersey so he could still play with Shohoku," Hikoichi replied.

The gundan looked to where Hanamichi standing and saw him wearing a white jersey with a big black stain in front of it. Obviously, the redhead was not very happy about wearing it at all.

"Hey, you didn't answer my question! What stalker?" Hikoichi asked again.

Youhei looked at the Ryonan player who was all wide-eyed when an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

"Hikoichi, I think we need your help."

Hikoichi frowned, "What about?"

Youhei stated all that has happened to Hanamichi yesterday.

"Unbelievable!" Hikoichi exclaimed.

"Hush, will ya?" Takamiya warned.

"Oops, sorry. Hey, do you have your suspicions?"

Youhei whispered something to him.

"What? How can you be sure?" Hikoichi's eyes widened.

"I didn't say we're sure. That's why we need your help in getting some information..."

Hikoichi looked pensive for a while then with a determined look he replied.

"Okay, I'm going to help you guys..."

...

"NYAHAHAHAHA! Did you all see how great the genius is! He surprised you all didn't he?" Sakuragi boasted, striking his customary genius pose. Even though Shohoku was against both Shoyo and Ryonan, they were able to beat them and prove that their team was indeed strong and ready for the coming IH. Not only that, they were all surprised that Hanamichi already knows how to make jump shots.

"See? See? Now you know that the genius is invincible! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the redhead's laugh echoed throughout the gym, much to the annoyance of Fukuda and Koshino. Then, he suddenly stopped laughing and searched for Rukawa, and saw him in some corner drinking Que Rio "Fox!" he called smugly.

Rukawa stopped drinking and turned to the redhead who was now just a few meters away from him. Apparently, Sakuragi was looking at him somewhat haughtily. Rukawa sighed, "What do you want, idiot?"

Sakuragi did not say a word. Instead, he took off the jersey and threw it down, which landed just beside of Rukawa's feet. Rukawa looked down at it for a while, then turned his gaze back to Sakuragi who seemed to be fighting over on what he would do next. Finally, Sakuragi released a heavy sigh then said, "Thanks."

Rukawa did not answer but just looked down at the pile of white cloth, which was carelessly sprawled on the floor. A minute had passed yet he still did not pick up his jersey and Hanamichi was rather becoming restless standing there waiting for a decent response.

"Rukawa you! Aren't you going to pick up your ugly jersey?" the redhead asked in annoyance. His attempts of being nice and grateful to the fox had obviously failed. 'Ch. Why does he always have to look so impassive?'

"Hey, Hanamichi. That was a fine play you made back there." Sendoh's cheerful voice made Hanamichi jump in surprise. He turned around only to see Sendoh already standing a few feet from him, with his trademark smile plastered on his handsome face.

"Sendoh, since when did the genius allow you to call him by his first name?" Hanamichi retorted. He did not notice Rukawa walk away from the scene towards his bag.

"Oh come on, I've been calling you that since day one so why be formal now?" was Sendoh's reply. His eyes twinkled in amusement as he saw the blush slowly creeping up the cute redhead's neck. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Rukawa walking towards them again.

"But..."

"It's a good thing I won't be wearing this jersey anymore."

Hanamichi turned around and there he saw that Rukawa, with his hand covered with plastic, was picking up the jersey on the floor then carefully putting it into what looked like a garbage bag.

"What?!" Hanamichi exclaimed. "What are you trying to imply stupid fox?!"

"Whatever an idiot like you can interpret," Rukawa replied dismissively as he turned to leave, holding the garbage bag in his hand.

"You!" the redhead started towards Rukawa but was stopped by Sendoh's firm grip on his arm. "Sendoh?"

"Don't bother, Hanamichi. He's just trying to get your attention all for himself," Sendoh said, a knowing smile etched on his face. Hanamichi frowned at this but before he could ask what the Ryonan player meant by that, Haruko, who was standing with her two friends, called him.

"Haruko-chan! I'll be right there!" Hanamichi waved back then jogged towards the girl of his dreams. Sendoh watched the retreating Hanamichi and could not help chuckling at the redhead's childish manner. Again, he felt something cold directed to his back, as if someone was staring-daggers at him. A wry smile formed his lips as he turned around and saw that the culprit was still giving him the coldest glare he could muster.

"You know Rukawa, I noticed that it's starting to become a habit of yours to stare at me like that," Sendoh stated mildly.

Rukawa did not answer, but continued glaring at him. Sendoh released an exasperated sigh.

"I'm getting tired of this." He shook his head. Then before he left to join the other Ryonan members, he added, "You should try to be cautious of your actions, you know, if you don't really want him to know your true feelings. You know why? Because honestly speaking, you're very obvious to me, Rukawa."

Rukawa watched as Sendoh walk away from him. His grip on the garbage bag tightened, his lips pursed tightly.

...

"What information do you want me to gather?" Hikoichi asked.

"Anything. As long as you think it would be very useful to us," Youhei answered. "We know we could trust you with this, Aida Hikoichi."

Hikoichi nodded fervently, "I'll do my best. Let's just meet at Yoshinoya [8] at five-thirty this afternoon."

"Eh? Why not at Danny's? It's more convenient there," Noma asked.

"Well, there's something I want to show you all to prove my reliability... add the fact that I do want to eat a large beef bowl," Hikoichi laughed heartily before proceeding to where his teammates were.

"Weird..." Noma shook his head.

"Oh but it's true! Yoshinoya's beef bowl is really the bomb! Do you think we could find out who the stalker is before they go to Hiroshima?" Takamiya turned to Youhei who was currently in deep thoughts. "Oi! Youhei!"

"Huh?" Youhei was a bit disoriented as he turned to Takamiya who was frowning at him.

"He said, do you think we could solve this mystery before the IH?" Ookusu repeated.

"Ah... that. I have a very good feeling that this will be solved just in time before the basketball club leaves. Actually, I have a very good guess on who the stalker is... what I need now is something to confirm my suspicions," Youhei said rather absent-mindedly.

Their sight flew to the redhead who was talking to Haruko gaily about his camp shot and how he would bring the team all the way to the top.

"Mito..."

Youhei felt a slight tap on his shoulder and when he turned around, he saw Kogure standing there, looking a bit uneasy. He frowned and was about to ask him what was wrong when Kogure motioned him not to say a thing.

"We have to talk somewhere private."

From the way his voice sounded, Youhei immediately sensed it was something personal so he did not ask if the other gundan members could join in their conversation.

"Hey, everyone. I'll just leave you for a while okay? I'm going to talk to Kogure-san," Youhei informed the group.

"Yeah sure. Go ahead buddy," Ookusu replied while Noma and Takamiya both nodded.

"Thanks," Youhei turned to Kogure then they both walked out of the gym.

They found a spot where no one would bother them and as soon as they settled down, Youhei immediately said, "I think I have a fairly good idea on what you're about to tell me."

Kogure did not respond at once but after a while, he slowly nodded.

...

"Did you see their shocked faces, Youhei? Ha! That's what they get for not thinking how great the genius is! Nyahahahahaha!" Hanamichi boasted while walking side by side with Youhei. It was a good thing that the redhead was somehow back to his normal self again, though he had a feeling that something was bothering his friend.

"You did deserve the merit because you really worked hard for it," Youhei commented.

"Oh well, it's not really that hard for the genius," Hanamichi said matter-of-factly. They have been walking for a few good distances now when he suddenly noticed that something was missing. That was when he remembered his gundan. Usually they all go together, but it was strange that they were not with them now. "Hey... where are the others?"

"Hn? Oh! You mean Ookusu and the others? They said their going to the Pachinko parlor," Youhei replied nonchalantly.

"Erm... then why aren't we going there?"

Youhei did not answer and acted as if he was looking around the place for something. Knowing Hanamichi, he would not let the subject drop easily. "Something's up right? Come on! Tell me!"

"Look, here we are!" Youhei announced as they stopped in front of a fast food restaurant with the billboard Yoshinoya on the entrance. "Come on, let's go inside."

Hanamichi frowned as he followed Youhei inside. The redhead was surprised to see Hikoichi sitting near the comfort room, waving at them.

"Oi! Sakuragi-san! Mito-san! Over here!"

"What is Hikoichi doing here?" Hanamichi asked his best friend as they approached the table where Hikoichi was sitting.

"Don't worry Hanamichi. He's here to help us," Youhei replied.

"Help us in what?"

"You'll see."

...

"Hehehe! This is great! I could stay here all night long!" Takamiya said while preparing his attack at Ookusu who was also thinking of a good tactic.

"Me too! Thanks to Missy here, we wouldn't be able to pass that nosy security guard," Noma added. The two were playing pinball against each other and Noma was the lookout if ever the pachinko parlor officials get suspicious with their real age. Though they knew Mitsui, who was currently having a part time job there, will back them up since he was the one who allowed them to go inside anyway.

"How many times do I have to tell you all not to call me Missy?" Mitsui said irritatingly. If he didn't owe them his life in a brawl he had against Tetsuo's old gang, he would not be doing this favor for them.

"Oh don't be angry Missy. It's just that Hanamichi always call you that so we got the habit of calling you that too."

"Hmm... speaking of that fool... where is he? And Mito. Aren't they going here too?" Mitsui asked curiously. He knew that Sakuragi and his gundan liked to go in pachinko parlors but he was surprised when only the three of them arrived.

"Oh, they'll just catch up later." Ookusu shrugged his shoulders, and then his ball hit the jackpot. "Haha! Look at that! I beat you Takamiya! Now you'll have to treat me lunch for a whole week!"

"Oi! No fair! I said lunch for tomorrow only!"

...

"So what are you exactly going to show me here that will prove your reliability?" Youhei asked Hikoichi who was currently watching every people who enter the restaurant.

Hanamichi went to the washroom so only the two of them were left in the table. After a while, Hikoichi's face suddenly brightened as soon as a certain Kainan player entered the door.

"Look who's here," Hikoichi told Youhei with a mysterious smile on his face.

Youhei frowned at this, but turned to look just the same and saw that it was none other than Maki Shinichi, captain of Kainan University High School basketball club. It was as if he was looking for someone and when he did not find what he was looking for. He sighed and sat on a table near the entrance. With this, Youhei looked back at Hikoichi who grinned at him in return.

"What is Maki doing here?"

"Oh, he goes here most of the time. I'm not really sure if he's coming today but even if he didn't come, I still have another one to show you," Hikoichi replied, the grin still on his face.

"Wait... he comes here most of the time? Why?"

"Well... he's seeing someone here. They always meet at six in the evening."

...

Hanamichi was standing in front of the washroom door for almost ten minutes now yet the one who's using it was still inside. 'Kuso. How long would it take for this fool to finish what he was doing inside?'

He heard some sounds coming from inside, like there were more than one person there. But it was impossible because the washroom was designed for only one user at a time. Hanamichi knocked on the door repeatedly.

"Oi! Are you still alive in there? You're taking so long and I really need to use the washroom now!" Hanamichi shouted impatiently. The weird sound stopped at once. Hanamichi was about to knock again when the door suddenly opened to reveal Fujima Kenji and Hanagata Toru from Shoyo High who both looked rather disoriented. Their hair disheveled.

"Why are you both inside? Isn't this a one-person washroom?" Hanamichi asked frowning.

"Oh hello, Sakuragi! Fancy seeing you here," Fujima greeted weakly. "Well I was the one using the washroom when... when..." he looked at Hanagata helplessly.

"When he couldn't flush the toilet, he called me to fix it. It was rather hard that's why it took us long to come out," Hanagata supplied. Fujima glared at him for the lame excuse and his only response was an apologetic look.

"Ah... okay... I didn't know that glasses boy can fix water closets," Hanamichi said, which made Fujima and Hanagata's jaw drop in disbelief. They did not think the redhead was that naïve to fall on that useless alibi.

"So it's okay for me to use it now?" Hanamichi asked and the two nodded in unison. As soon as the redhead closed the door, the two looked at each other. Slowly, a grin broke on both of their faces.

"You're such a genius, Toru-kun."

"Nope. Don't forget, Sakuragi is the genius," Hanagata replied, his eyes danced in merriment.

"Oh yeah," Fujima chuckled. "He really is!"

...

"Wow, I didn't know that your research is this extensive!" Youhei exclaimed after hearing Hikoichi's explanation.

"Ehehehe... actually, I discovered this information accidentally. It's just that I like eating here in Yoshinoya and since I always see them here, I realized the pattern. Oh look! Here comes the one Maki-san is waiting for!"

Youhei turned to the entrance and there he saw Kiyota entering the store. As soon as he was inside, Maki stood up with his face very stern.

"I guess you prepared something to explain why you're late... again."

"Sorry, Maki-sama. I didn't mean to be late. It's just that I always get lost whenever we meet here," Kiyota bowed in apology. Then he felt Maki's hand tilted his chin up and his heart melted when he saw him smiling down at him.

"It's okay, Nobu. I understand."

"Maki-sama..."

"Shinichi!"

Upon hearing this, Maki released Kiyota and turned to see Fujima standing just a few meters away from them with Hanagata standing beside him.

"Kenji, what are you doing here?" Maki asked calmly.

"And what are you doing here with that... that... freshman?" Fujima returned the question.

"We're going to eat here, is that wrong? And you, what are you doing here with Hanagata?"

Fujima laughed incredulously. "You know most of the time I'm with my best friend. What's wrong with that?"

Maki shrugged. "Nothing really. It's just the fact that you're spending most of your time with him instead of me..."

"Well that's because you always spend your time with your freshman! Come on Toru-kun, I suddenly lost my appetite." With this, Fujima walked out of the restaurant with Hanagata.

"Maki-sama?"

"Let's go some place else Nobu."

Before Kiyota could reply, Maki turned to walk out. Sighing, he followed his beloved.

"Wow... that was some scene..." Youhei commented dryly. "I didn't know that there's more to it than I can ever imagine."

"Of course! Now do you trust me to get the information you need would be correct?"

Youhei smiled. "Actually, Hikoichi, you don't have to gather information anymore. That's what I went to tell you here."

"What? Why is that?" The boy's eyes widened.

"It's because I know who the stalker is. I just need a plan to trap him."

...

Hikoichi's walk back home was a very quiet one. When Youhei told him who was the stalker, he couldn't believe his ears.

"How can he be sure it's him?" he muttered.

"Sure of what?"

"Ah!" Hikoichi jumped in surprise and would have fallen to the ground if the person who spoke weren't able to catch him. When he looked up he saw Sendoh frowning at him. "Sendoh-sempai! What are you doing here?"

Sendoh released Hikoichi and the boy immediately fixed himself.

"I was walking home when I saw you. It looks like you're not in your usual self so I decided to approach you. That's when I heard you muttering. What's this sure of him business of yours?"

Hikoichi pursed his lips, trying to decide if he should tell their new captain about Hanamichi's stalker. And since he knew who the real stalker is, he decided to tell his captain all the incidents that happened. After all, Sendoh could not do any harm about it. He started from the very beginning and gave him all the details that he got from Mito, except for the suspect.

Sendoh's mind worked overtime while he listened to Hikoichi. As soon as the boy finished his story, Sendoh turned to walk away.

"Wait! Sendoh-sempai! Where are you going?" Hikoichi called out.

Sendoh stopped then looked at Hikoichi with determination. "There's only one person I know who could do this, and I'm going to Hanamichi's house to tell him."

"But Sendoh-sempai! You don't know where Sakuragi-san live!"

"Of course I know. You showed me your notes remember?" After saying this, Sendoh went on his way.

"Eh?! You don't understand! Sendoh-sempai!" Hikoichi panicked. "Aw, Mito-san would kill me. He told me Sakuragi-san mustn't know about this yet." He tried to decide where he would go; to follow Sendoh or to go to the Pachinko parlor where Mito said he was going?

"Wait... Isn't Sakuragi-san with Mito-san?" the boy suddenly realized. "Good! I can still save the situation!"

...

Youhei inhaled the sweet cool night air, his eyes closing occasionally as he walked on side by side with Hanamichi to the Pachinko Parlor where the rest of the Sakuragi Gundan were at the moment. It was past seven in the evening and the sun had already set more than an hour ago, which was a bit earlier than usual because it was expected that the sun sets late during summer time. Everything looked so peaceful because most people were already inside their houses, except for some cars that occasionally pass by them. He then noticed that something was amiss because Hanamichi hasn't been talking since they left Hikoichi in Yoshinoya.

Youhei stopped on his tracks but Hanamichi just continued walking, not noticing that his companion was left behind. Youhei smiled and tried to catch up with the redhead, and when he reached him, he breathed deeply before releasing a loud, "Hoe! Hanamichi!"

Hanamichi jumped in surprise with the sound of his name still ringing in his head. With an irate expression, he approached Youhei and held a fistful of his collar.

"You don't have to shout at the genius like that! He can hear you just clearly!" Hanamichi said while shaking the smaller guy repeatedly.

"Oi! Oi! Calm down already! It was just a joke!" Youhei tried to reason out, even if it was rather hard for him to talk while being shaken like that.

Finally, Hanamichi released him a bit abruptly. Youhei fixed himself and wiped off the imaginary dust on his shirt. "Heh, I just checked out if you're still here with me or you're already deep in lala land. Apparently, it was the latter," Youhei said while he watched the redhead twist his pinky in his ear hole.

"Ch. You shouted so loud, my name is practically bouncing back and forth in my eardrum," Hanimichi said, wrinkling his nose.

"Well it's nothing compared with the way you always shout at us," Youhei muttered then smirked.

"What did you say?!" Hanamichi posed to launch at him again.

"Nothing! Nothing!" He raised both of his hands as a gesture of defeat, which made the redhead calm down, but still looked smug. "I just did that because you seemed to be preoccupied with something else since we left Hikoichi. Uh, let me correct that, since you came to the gym this morning. Shohoku's victory made a momentary lapse, but as soon as you went out of Yoshinoya's washroom, you've been acting weird again."

"Why? Can't a man be quiet once in a while? Are you implying that the genius don't get tired of talking?" Hanamichi frowned.

"Er... something like that."

"What?!"

"Oi! Easy! Heh," Youhei chuckled at the fuming redhead. "At least you seem to be pretty normal again." He then turned serious all of a sudden and his voice was laced with concern when he spoke again, "But honestly, Hanamichi, what's bothering you? You know that you can tell me anything right?"

With this, Hanamichi shifted uncomfortably and looked down the floor. "Well, I saw the benchwarmer and his four-eyed friend..."

"Hn?" Youhei's brow rose and then his eyes twinkled and a corner of his mouth curved, "Ah yes, Shoyo's Coach/Captain and Vice-Captain. Well what about them?"

Hanamichi lowered his voice, "I saw them come out of the same washroom and looked like they've been through a storm..."

Youhei frowned as he tried to digest what his friend told him, and when realization dawned on him, he could only produce an "Oh..." He tried not to burst out laughing as he asked again, "So how did you react?"

"Well shocked of course! What do you expect?" Hanamichi replied immediately. And then his voice was softer, "though I didn't show it to them. They explained something about the toilet flush malfunctioning, like I would fall for something that dumb."

"But you really are dumb sometimes, Hanamichi," Youhei implied.

"Yeah," Hanamichi paused for a while to think about what he just said and then he suddenly growled, "Damn you! I'm not dumb! I'm a genius!"

"Right." Youhei grinned when Hanamichi's face flushed in annoyance.

"Okay, so I admit that I act before thinking, and I can be pretty shallow at times..."

"Wow, what a blow on your ego for admitting that." Youhei smirked.

"Shut up!" he then gave Youhei a painful head-butt that made the poor guy cringe down in pain. "Grr, you deserve that!"

"I was just being honest you know... it hurts..." Youhei tried to stand up again while stroking his forehead, where he could already feel a lump.

"I'm not dumb! And I'm not that naïve not to know what they did inside the washroom." Hanamichi wrinkled his nose in disgust. Then his features softened a little, "And it made me think..."

"Oh? Now that's new."

"Will you shut up already? I thought you said I could tell you anything?! You're just ruining my mood! Ch!" Hanamichi snapped then started to walk away from his supposed best friend.

"O-oi! Wait for me!" Youhei caught the redhead by the arm. "Okay, promise I won't interrupt anymore."

Hanamichi just raised his brow and gave Youhei his killer eyes.

"Honest!"

Hanamichi regarded him for a while before leaning to the post and closing his eyes for a while.

Seeing the serious expression on the redhead's face, Youhei walked closer and leaned on the sidewalk's railing and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well?"

"Hn." Hanamichi opened his eyes and looked wistful as he said, "I've been rejected many times in the past. It may look like that it was just infatuation, something I would easily forget about. But you, of all people, know very well that I was really serious with every single one of those fifty girls I've courted, and that it did hurt a lot when they rejected me." He paused for a while then looked at Youhei, who was just watching him earnestly. He chuckled ironically and then continued, "And now, after all that rejection, I still hadn't learned my lesson and let myself fall yet again with another girl." He sighed then looked up to the sky. The night was young, but the stars were already sprinkled in the heavens and were shining ever so bright that even if there was no moon, it was still enough to lighten up the dark sky. "You know how much I like Haruko, Youhei. But sometimes, I can't help but feel tired. Tired of waiting, tired of hoping..." [9]

"Hanamichi..." Youhei didn't know what to say. This was one of those rare moments when his friend would pour out his thoughts to him. To others he may just look like a hyperactive person that has no serious disposition in life. Only he and the gundan were the ones who could read Hanamichi very well and the only ones whom he shows his vulnerability. The redhead was a very egotistic person. He would never show this side of himself to just about anybody without getting his full trust first, which was something Youhei was proud of having.

"But when someone started to send me gifts... I don't know... At first, I was really afraid and annoyed. But later on... I found out that I kind of liked the thought that someone likes me too, even if we're the same gender..." Hanamichi closed his eyes again and relaxed himself on the post.

'... I like you... Hana-kun...'

"Hanamichi?"

Hanamichi opened his eyes abruptly and saw Youhei looking at him with a worried expression. He sighed then said, "He told me he likes me."

Youhei blinked, "What?"

Hanamichi didn't reply and settled to look down on the floor instead.

"Wait, are you telling me you actually talked to the guy?" Youhei pushed further. If that was the case, then they have to work faster than he had planned.

"Well we didn't exactly talk. I'm sure Takamiya already told you that last night someone was making prank calls on me. I even mistook Haruko-chan for it." Having said the girl's name, Hanamichi smiled shyly with his cheeks tinged with pink.

"Hehe, so Haruko-san called you eh? What did she tell you?" Youhei grinned while seeing his friend blush even more.

"Well... she thanked me for the flowers." Hanamichi released a blissful sigh, "Man, her voice still held the same sweetness even if she's on telephone." And then he cuffed his head repeatedly, "It was really embarrassing! I actually shouted at her as a greeting because I was so pissed off with the prankster!"

"Oi! Stop it already!" Youhei tried to restrain Hanamichi from hitting himself but to no avail.

So he just bashed him, which made the redhead stop and jump away.

"What did you do that for?!"

Youhei shrugged, "You were so intent in hurting yourself so I thought, what the heck, might as well hit you too to lessen your effort right?"

"Ch. You and your twisted reasoning." Hanamichi said gruffly.

"Heh, can't help it," Youhei said and chuckled. And then he turned serious again, "And?"

Hanamichi frowned, "And what?"

"The phone call?"

The redhead's frown deepened, then slowly nodded and looked thoughtful, "Oh yeah... that..."

"Well?"

"Someone called again after that, but the prankster just hang-up again. But the last one..." he paused while Youhei waited eagerly for him to continue. "The last one actually talked... and that's when the caller told me he likes me."

'... I like you... Hana-kun...'

A few moments has gone when Youhei nodded, "I see..."

Hanamichi walked beside his best friend and leaned on the sidewalk railing before continuing, "I don't know how to explain what I felt that moment, Youhei. It was a miracle that I was able to sleep at least for a few hours. I wasn't happy in any way of course... but I wasn't angry either. I just felt... well... numb... and that's what I hate about it. I mean, I should be at least disgusted right? It's not normal!" [10] Hanamichi's voice grew louder with every phrase, though his expression softened again, "But when I saw the benchwarmer and his... companion, it made me think. Is it always like that?"

"What? You suddenly realized you're gay?" Youhei raised his brow.

"Of course not!" Hanamichi's eyes widened and shot back defensibly. "What I meant is, do they always have to hide themselves?"

"Heh, I'm sure there's a more profound reason why they were hiding, Hanamichi." 'Like trying to hide their activities from the real boyfriend.' Youhei snickered, but continued mildly. "But sometimes, the society is really a big factor to it. You can't help but think of what would people think of you when you engage into such unconformity."

"Hn..." was all Hanamichi could utter and was already deep in thought with his eyes closed tightly.

Youhei watched the changing of emotions in the redhead's face and knew that his friend was getting more confused with what he should feel so he asked, "Hanamichi, what would you do if you found out who your stalker is?"

Hanamichi's eyes fluttered open, blinked a couple of times, and stared at his best friend who was waiting for his reply. And then with a determined look he said, "Well I'll definitely show him a piece of my mind! Hah! I would make it really painful that next time he would think twice first before messing with the genius! Nyahahahahaha!" And while he laughed, he was in his customary genius pose.

Youhei released an exasperated sigh, "And here I am thinking that you'd be more open-minded about it. But then I guess I should have expected this from you."

"Of course! You don't think I would let it go that easy right? But if he had just been straight-forward..." And then Hanamichi stopped himself from talking further.

"Oh?" Youhei smiled knowingly, "I'm really curious. What if he did tell it to you directly, hmm?"

Hanamichi's face turned beet red. "Well I don't know either! Stop making fun of me dammit!" And then he played with his fingers and turned redder, "But it's the first time someone actually liked me..."

Youhei shook his head and smiled. It was quite obvious that Hanamichi was battling over his feelings, though he still needed a lot of time before he could think things over. After all, they were still young. The future offers countless possibilities, even if there were others who never had the chance to experience them. For now, Youhei decided that it would be better to keep things secret from Hanamichi and he was determined to catch the stalker first before his friend could give him 'a piece of his mind'.

"Well, let's go," Youhei patted Hanamichi on the back. "The others are waiting for us in the Pachinko Parlor long enough. Takamiya sent me an SMS saying that they were able to go inside with the help of Mitsui."

"Missy?" Hanamichi laughed, "I didn't know he also goes to Pachinko Parlors!"

"Heh, well it turned out that he was having a part time job there."

"Goody!" the redhead rubbed his palms together in anticipation. "Pinballs! Here I come!" He ran towards the direction of the Pachinko Parlor dragging Youhei with him.

They were already gone a few moments when someone appeared round the bend where they came from. It was none other than Hikoichi who was still in panic over Sendoh's decision to go to the redhead's house.

"Aw! I really have to be there soon or I won't have any chance to warn Mito-san. I don't want to admit it, but with my physique, I can't pretend to be an 18 year-old boy! If that's the case, then I'm sure I won't be allowed to go inside the Pachinko Parlor!"

...

"Hah! I'm the Pinball Champion!" Takamiya shouted. "Mwahahaha! Pay up Noma!"

"Ch!" Noma reached for his wallet grumpily, "You're just lucky this time, pig. But next time won't be the same."

"Promises, promises," Takamiya grinned. "You can never defeat the Pinball Champion haha!"

"Shut up! You're too loud!" Mitsui hissed while glancing once in a while for his boss. Good thing he was nowhere near them or else his job would be in jeopardy. And then his eyes caught red from the window and recognized it as his loudmouth teammate.

"Hey! I think Sakuragi and Mito are already outside," Mitsui told Ookusu for the other two was obviously engaged too much in their fight.

Ookusu glanced to where Mitsui was looking and saw Youhei waving at them and beside him was Hanamichi who was frantically rubbing his hands. He then looked back to Mitsui again whom he caught grinning for no particular reason.

"Hey Missy, mind if you go with me to greet them so that they can easily enter?" he asked.

Mitsui raised his brow and said dryly, "Yeah, and then next thing I'll know is that I won't have any job to go to tomorrow."

"Oh come on! I know you can do it!" Ookusu batted his lashes and grinned when he saw Mitsui shake his head and mutter grudgingly, "Alright."

When they reached the entrance, the two were already there with Hanamichi already arguing with the security guard.

"Why? Do I look like I'm younger than 18? If you must know, I'll be turning 19 on April 1!" Hanamichi produced his best killer eyes while saying this. But it looked like the guard hadn't bought it.

"Sorry, but I still need to see your ID to make sure you're saying the truth."

"What? You're calling the genius a liar! Why you—!"

Youhei was able to hug the redhead from behind before he could launch at the guard. "Hanamichi calm down!"

Mitsui slapped his forehead. Trust that idiot to always make things worse. He approached his co-worker and said, "There's no need for that, Fujisaki. They're my classmates and they're not minors."

The said Fujisaki just raised his brow, "You sure?"

Mitsui sighed and nodded, "Of course." He then gave the redhead a warning look that if he gets kicked out of work, then he'll make sure he'll be kicking his ass off. Hanamichi just grinned boyishly in return. Mitsui looked back to Fujisaki again with a determined look. The other man regarded him for a while before nodding.

"Okay, you two may go inside."

"Nyahahaha!" Hanamichi immediately went inside without even waiting for his companions. The security guard followed while Youhei, Ookusu, and Mitsui remained where they were outside.

"Gods! Why did I let myself into this mess?" Mitsui rolled his eyes.

"Because you owe us your fat ass?" Ookusu replied.

"Shut up!" Mitsui was about to give the blonde a punch on the face when he heard footsteps running towards their direction.

"Mito-san!" Hikoichi shouted as he ran towards them. As soon as he reached them, he started talking incoherently. "Mito-san! Huff Sakuragi-san's house! Puff Sendoh-sempai! Huff Going there! Puff Now! Huff Have to stop him! Puff"

"Oh for god's sake twerp, breathe first before you talk!" Ookusu growled.

Hikoichi nodded and tried to catch his breath. When he was breathing normally, he wiped of the sweat trickling down his face and opened his mouth to talk, only to stop short when he realized that Mitsui was also there.

"Forgive me, Mitsui-sempai, but I have to talk to Mito-san and Ookusu-san privately."

Mitsui frowned which scared Hikoichi a bit.

"It's okay, Hikoichi, he's with us," Youhei said.

"Mito-san?" The boy stared at him and he just nodded in reply.

Hikoichi looked uncertainly at Mitsui but decided to tell them what he went there for.

...

"Hey... what's keeping them so long?" Takamiya said. Hanamichi was already enjoying himself playing pinball while he and Noma decided to rest for a while.

Beep! Beep!

Takamiya checked out his hand-phone and saw that it was Youhei who sent him an SMS.

do watevr u cn 2 dtén hanamichi dr ok?wer going 2 his haus 2 finish things 1ce & 4 all.

"What did he say?" Noma asked. Takamiya showed him the message and when Noma nodded, he proceeded on replying.

ok.u cn count on us buddy.

...

He didn't know if he was doing the right thing. But then he had to do this now for the redhead's sake. He paused just in front of Sakuragi's gate and suddenly found himself hesitating. Would his revelation do any good? Or would it make things worse? He shook away these thoughts. No. He had to tell the redhead now or he wouldn't have any chance in the future. Having made up his mind to finish his job, he moved to open the gate.

"Just as I thought. You really are a determined person right?"

He froze and slowly turned around and greeted by the sight Sendoh Akira leaning casually on a post just across the street, his arms crossed over his chest. The Ryonan player suddenly straightened up and proceeded on approaching him.

"I know how much you like Hanamichi. But I didn't know you would stoop down this low just to get his attention... Rukawa..." Sendoh said grimly and stopped just in front of the stoic Shohoku basketball player with a look of challenge in his azure eyes.

Rukawa sighed, "Idiot."

...

"Nyahahahahahahahahaha! The genius won yet again!" Hanamichi continued to laugh so loud that he was starting to gain others' attentions... including the arcade's authorities.

"Aw, Hanamichi! Be quiet! Missy's not here to cover up for us!" Noma hissed while looking cautiously at the side of the arcade where the manager was.

"Hey hey, Chu! Don't be such a kill joy!" the redhead slung his arms over the mustached man while Takamiya inserted more coins into the pinball machine.

"Yeah, Noma!" Takamiya interjected. "We're here to have fun! You're just acting like that because you haven't won at all tonight! Wahahaha!"

"Nyahahahahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Noma grunted. And then Hanamichi suddenly removed his arm over Noma's shoulder and started looking around.

"Speaking of which, where did Missy, Youhei and Yuji gone to?"

The two immediately panicked as they struggled to think of a good alibi to give the redhead. But before they could muster one, Hanamichi immediately went back to the pinball machine. "Bah! Never mind! It's a rare opportunity to crash here so better not waste more precious time! Nyahahaha!"

Both Noma and Takamiya heaved a sigh of relief.

...
Sendoh was deep in thought while he let his feet drag him to a familiar path that leads to the Sakuragi residence. Based from what Hikoichi told him earlier, he couldn't think of any other person who could do those things but Rukawa Kaede. Sendoh knew well enough that those glares and obvious antagonism the guy always directed on him weren't only about the sport their both playing into, but also sort of a warning to stay away from his property. At first he couldn't grasp why Rukawa was so dead set against him, until this morning when they had that practice game when he finally witnessed the apparent protectiveness of the said boy to a certain naïve, but quite attractive redhead.

Sendoh noticed that he was already in front of the Sakuragi residence and so he stopped for a while because he was beginning to have second thoughts on whether he should continue or not. So maybe he was sure that Rukawa indeed has his eyes set on Sakuragi, but still, it wasn't enough for him to assume that Rukawa was really the stalker. He suddenly felt guilty for thinking that way. Come to think of it, he too had been watching the redhead secretly. He even goes to Sakuragi's house whenever chance may get him, though he made sure that he was never seen. Wasn't it also attributed to stalking?

He sighed started to think that maybe it was really not such a good idea to tell Sakuragi his hunch because it also meant that he too have to be honest and admit his secret visits.

He was about to turn around again when he heard someone walking towards his direction. He immediately tried to find a hiding place and found that the lamppost was thick enough for him to hide behind. It wasn't lighted yet so there's a big possibility that he wouldn't be seen there.

A few moments later, he was surprised to see that the person was none other than his suspect, Rukawa. Rukawa, on the other hand, stopped in front of the gate and looked as if he was also hesitating to go in. Sendoh smiled wryly. Now he has no doubts that Rukawa was indeed the one who was behind all of it.

Sendoh came out to the open. He leaned casually on the lamppost and crossed his arms over his chest, but it appears that Rukawa still didn't notice him. When the boy made a move to go inside the gate, Sendoh spoke up.

"Just as I thought. You really are a determined person right?"

Rukawa froze at the sound of somebody else's voice and slowly turned around only to be greeted by a grinning Sendoh Akira. He saw him straightened up and proceeded approaching him.

"I know how much you like Hanamichi. But I didn't know you would stoop this low just to get his attention... Rukawa..." Sendoh said grimly and stopped just in front of the stoic basketball player with a look of challenge in his azure eyes.

Rukawa sighed, "Idiot."

"You can't keep it a secret any more because I'll make sure Hanamichi knows about it tonight," Sendoh said with determination.

"What are you talking about?" Rukawa frowned.

"Ha! And you still have the audacity to deny it eh?" Sendoh chuckled. He couldn't believe that the guy could still act calm despite the fact that he was already caught in the act.

Rukawa raised one brow. Honestly, he didn't know what the chuckling idiot was talking about. He only came here on one purpose only, and he didn't know what Sendoh meant by him 'keeping a secret'.

"Oh come on, Rukawa! You're the one who's been sending gifts to Hanamichi secretly right?"

With that statement, it dawned to Rukawa what Sendoh meant. But he just smirked. "How about you, Sendoh? How did you know about this place?"

Sendoh was taken aback. "I— well from Hikoichi, who else?"

Rukawa raised his brow, "You couldn't possibly know the directions if you've just been here for the first time..."

Sendoh's eyes widened for a while, but then a sly grin curved his lips. "I know what you're planning. You're purposely trying to bait me so that Hanamichi will have a reason not to trust my words. Okay, so I admit that sometimes, I do go here and watch him. But I was never bold to even try to reveal myself as a secret admirer because I know it would really scare him. The only person I know of who could do that is you."

"Believe what you want to believe," he said then turned around to leave, but left frozen on his tracks when he saw two of Sakuragi's friends, Mito and the blonde guy, with Mitsui and the nosy git from Ryonan.

Sendoh was also surprised at the sight of them but immediately snapped out of it and walked towards them. "Well, you're all just in time because Rukawa here was just about to do another one of his tricks."

"Unbelievable!" Hikoichi gasped, "But I thought— mmf!" Ookusu covered Hikoichi's mouth before he could say anything anymore.

Mitsui shook his head, "Of all people, I never thought it could be you Rukawa. So I guess those insults you always throw at Sakuragi were just a way to get his attention... Who could have ever thought that the ice boy was actually in love with a fool like Sakuragi Hanamichi?"

"Hey, that's unfair Mitsui-kun. Hanamichi is not really an idiot, he's just naïve that's all," Sendoh said in defense of the redhead. Mitsui laughed at this.

"Don't tell me you too Sendoh?" and continued to laugh. "Man, he might not be popular with girls, but he sure is with boys."

"That's right, sempai. He really is popular with boys. Imagine, who could have ever thought that an ex-gangster like you would fall in love with the idiot and would even result to stalking him?"

Mitsui's laughter was cut short and stared dumbfounded at Rukawa whose fox-like eyes were fixed intently on him. Sendoh, however, was looking to and fro the two of them until he heard Ookusu laughed and pushed Hikoichi away so that he could restrain himself from falling on the floor.

"That was quite a long sentence from you Rukawa! I never thought you had it in you!" Youhei commented chuckling. Hikoichi, on the other hand, tried to fix himself after being pushed and then took out his notebook.

"This is unbelievable! Really unbelievable!"

"W-w-wait! What are you talking about?!" Mitsui recovered from his surprise and immediately took Rukawa's collar, "What?! Are you saying I'm also gay?"

"Yeah," was Rukawa's flat reply.

"Why you—"

Mitsui was about to punch Rukawa when Mito suddenly said, "You don't have to deny it, Mitsui. Kogure told us he saw you stole Hanamichi's jersey..."

"Wh-what?" Mitsui stammered. Rukawa looked quite satisfied but it immediately disappeared with Mito's next words.

"You're not an exception, Rukawa. Kogure also saw you break through the locker room with the bouquet of roses, though we didn't need that affirmation because you were quite obvious after Hanamichi gave them to Haruko." Youhei then turned to Sendoh, "We heard your confession to Rukawa, so we'll have to include you too."

"Unbelievable! This is the most unbelievable thing in the entire world!" Hikoichi opened his notebook to write something on it.

Mitsui glared at Mito, "I see... So you brought me here to lure me into your trap..."

Youhei exchanged looks with Ookusu and they both grinned. Then Youhei turned his attention back to the culprits. "Well, it's not exactly a trap because we wouldn't be going here if Hikoichi here didn't mess things up by telling Sendoh." Youhei directed his look to Hikoichi who started bowing repeatedly.

"Forgive me! I didn't mean to! Forgive me! I wasn't able to help you with my data and then I just had to blow your cover! Forgive me!" Hikoichi said frantically while still bowing.

"Stop that, you look stupid! Besides, you've just made things pretty easy for us," Ookusu smirked.

Hikoichi stopped. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really, really sure?" [11]

"Shut up! Annoying twerp!" Ookusu bashed Hikoichi's head.

"Ouch!" Hikoichi cried and went to his sempai's side. "Sendoh-sempai! He hit me on the head!"

Sendoh sighed and ignored the boy. He looked at Mito, "So what now?" Along with this, Mitsui and Rukawa waited for Mito's answer.

"Oh well, we're gonna have a little chat, that's all." Youhei smiled mischievously.

...

Noma glanced at his watch. It was already 8:30 but Youhei and the others weren't back yet. They're running out of distractions for the redhead and if that happens, they won't be able to detain him any longer. They couldn't afford that because they know how determined the redhead could be once he set his mind into something, which most of the time leads him to trouble. Though this night, it would most certainly lead them to trouble.

His train of thoughts was distracted when he heard the redhead's voice snapping at somebody, like he was in some sort of an argument. He then felt Takamiya frantically shaking him.

"Oi! We have to do something! Hanamichi is arguing with the Pachinko Parlor manager!"

Noma's eyes widened. "What?!" His eyes flew to the redhead who was now in the act of giving a head-butt to the manager. He and Takamiya immediately went to restrain him, and a good thing that they managed to do that on time or else Mitsui would be grilling them tomorrow.

"Why you! Let me go!" Hanamichi struggled to break free of his friends' grasps. Noma on the other hand was in between holding the redhead off and apologizing to the manager.

"Forgive – us – I'm – ugh – sure he didn't – mean to cause – calm down Hanamichi! – trouble – sir," Noma pleaded.

"Hmph! I don't need trouble-makers inside this Pachinko Parlor." The manager turned to the direction of the bouncers and after giving them a nod, he turned to walk away from them.

"Oi! You! Don't walk away from me! I'm not finished with you yet!" Hanamichi said and managed to release himself from Noma and Takamiya's hold on him.

"I think that will be enough," a stern voice spoke. The three of them looked up to see three bouncers with well-built bodies that compared to them they just look like little boys.

"Er, yeah sir, we think so too. Don't worry sir, promise, we won't make anymore trouble," Takamiya nervously reasoned out.

"Oh we'll make sure of that," the largest of them said grimly and signaled the other two to drag them to the exit. And then the one who spoke was the one who dragged Hanamichi with him.

"Oi! How dare you do this to the genius!" Hanamichi growled more incoherent curses until they were dropped unceremoniously outside the exit. But then the redhead would never let it end that way and so when the bouncers were about to go back inside, he grabbed the heads of the two who dragged Noma and Takamiya and bumped their heads with each other. He then gave a head-butt to the one who dragged him.

"Ha! Serves you right from doing that to the genius! Nyahahahahaha— umf!"

Noma immediately covered the redhead's mouth and with the help of Takamiya they dragged him with them far away from the bouncers before they regain their consciousness. As soon as they were sure that they're safe, Noma bonked his head in exasperation.

"That was really close! Hanamichi! What were you thinking arguing with the manager like that?!" Takamiya asked incredulously.

"One of their pinball machines ate my tokens!" Hanamichi replied gruffly.

"Well you could have just told us right?" Noma sighed. Trust their friend to make things worse.

Hanamichi shrugged. "Hmph! Whatever, I'll go home now 'cause it's getting late."

The redhead was already a few good meters away from them when it just dawned to Noma and Takamiya that their friend going home meant going to where Youhei didn't want him to go for now. With this thought they immediately went after the redhead and frantically blocked themselves on his path.

"It's not that late, Hanamichi! We could still go somewhere else, ne Noma?" Takamiya looked at Noma as if telling him to agree, which the later nodded fervently and turned his gaze back to a rather baffled redhead.

"Yeah! If you like we could even go to Danny's!"

"Wow! Your treat?! Well c'mon!" And Hanamichi grabbed both their wrists and dragged them to the opposite direction of their house. The two, on the other hand, stared at each other for a while before realizing what the redhead just said.

"Ah... wait! Hanamichi! You got it all wrong!" Takamiya shouted. Hanamichi stopped walking and looked at him with one brow arched.

"Well, if that's the case then why should we go to Danny's. Tsk!" the redhead released their writs and started back to the direction of his house.

"What do we do now?" Takamiya asked Noma while watching the retreating back of Hanamichi. Noma didn't reply and just called to Hanamichi.

"Wait for us, Hanamichi! We'll go with you!" He ran towards the redhead after signaling Takamiya to follow. The later shook his head before going after the two.

'You all should better be off somewhere else before we get there, buddy.'

...

"WHAT?! You're joking right?!" Mitsui exclaimed in disbelief.

Youhei was not even finished with what he was saying when Mitsui had this outburst. Sendoh's mouth dropped open while Rukawa remained stoic as usual.

"But, Mito-san, don't you think you're asking for too much?" Hikoichi asked carefully.

Youhei raised one brow. "I think it's just fair, unless they're willing to take the risk of telling Hanamichi..."

"I'm not afraid of the idiot." Rukawa talked for the first time after his exchange with Sendoh before the others arrived.

"Oh, but we're not talking about physical injury, Rukawa." Yuuji's eye's glinted. "Though most likely you'd suffer from that, knowing Hanamichi's temper... but it's more of having a 99.9 percent probability of blowing off your chances ne?"

"Nicely put, buddy!" Youhei clapped his hands while Yuuji gestured an exaggerated bow.

"It's a bit dirty... but I'm going to agree..." Sendoh said. "I mean I think it would be worth paying for all the things they will be going through in our behalf."

Mitsui drew his lips in a thin line, hating the fact that they're being blackmailed like this. But then Sendoh has a point. He could imagine the hell the gundan would go through once the redhead's wrath was unleashed. And he had to admit that it's definitely not a pretty picture, especially when he'll be one of them.

"Alright, I also agree! Ch! I can't believe I'll be blackmailed by assholes like you," Mitsui sighed in defeat.

"You should have thought about the possibility when one of you first sent that box of chocolates." Yuuji wore a wider grin.

"Ha! Well it's definitely not me!" Mitsui crossed his arms over his chest.

Youhei laughed, "Oh come on! Missy! You don't have to deny it! It can't be Rukawa because I saw that look in his eyes when we first mentioned it in the locker room. It's only after a while that I realized that it's jealousy!" Yuuji smirked, which earned a cold glare from Rukawa.

"What the fuck? Okay! I admit that I stole his jersey but that's all it is to that! I did that because I thought no one would catch me because you're already busy finding out who the first secret admirer is!" Mitsui said passionately, his face flushed with annoyance.

Youhei, Yuuji, and Hikoichi looked at each other, and then directed their attention to Sendoh who, on the other hand, immediately defended himself.

"Whoa! What's with the look? I do go to Hanamichi's house secretly, but I never sent him anonymous gifts."

"How about the CD? Who gave it?"

No one answered and for a few moments, silence ensued until Hikoichi burst out breaking it.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Not one of you was actually the initiator of the problem?! Unbelievable! Totally unbelievable!" Hikoichi started to jut down some notes.

"If none of you... I mean..." Youhei faltered and then realization dawned at him. "Wait a minute! Then another stalker is still out on the loose!"

Then they heard voices sounding nearer by the second.

"Why are you two so keen on walking me home anyway? I don't have anything to feed you morons."

"Ouch! Hanamichi, is that what you think of us?"

"Nyahahahaha! I'm just kidding! I found some Chips Ahoy hidden in the kitchen cabinet if you both like."

"Waahh! Of course we like it! A lot! Mmm!

The voices were very clear now, indicating that they're just around the corner of the block the six of them were staying. And they all knew very well who the voices belong to.

"Oh shit! They're here already?!" Yuuji hissed and then he and Youhei started to shove the four away.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Mitsui snapped, though only loud enough for them to hear.

"Hide!" Youhei whispered and then scanned the area for a good hiding place and saw some garbage bins just across the street. "He won't see you there."

"What?! You can't expect me to hide there! It's so dirty and—mmf!" Hikoichi was cut short when Mitsui covered his mouth. And then the four of them proceeded to their hiding place just in time for Hanamichi, Chu, and Takamiya appear from around the bend.

"Heya! How nice to see you back Hanamichi!" Youhei greeted his friend who was obviously dumbfounded. Takamiya and Chu, on the other hand, looked sheepish.

"Youhei? Yuuji? You've been here all along?" Hanamichi asked and immediately went to them.

"Er... no! We went to some place else and then we decided to go here," Yuuji explained.

The redhead frowned, "Why didn't you go back to the Pachinko Parlor?"

"Well, we decided to just wait for you here because if we go to the Pachinko Parlor, we might not be able to see you there." Hanamichi still looked doubtful and so Youhei changed the subject. "By the way, I was wondering if we could crash in tonight. You know, with Sakuragi-san still out of town and all."

At an instant, Hanamichi's mood lightened up. "Nyahahaha! Sure! The tensai would love to have some company tonight!" And then he glared at Takamiya while he got out the house keys from his pocket, "Though I'm not going to hesitate to kick you out if you eat all our food!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Come on!" Takamiya grabbed the keys from Hanamichi's hand and went to the front door of the house.

"Woi! Who told you to go first?!" But whatever argument that followed was already in the confines of the house. Youhei was the last one to go inside and before he did, he looked to where the four were hiding and saw them emerge from it. He saluted to them and then went inside and closed the door behind him.

"Yuck! Look at all this filth... and its smell is sticking all over me! I have to go home and wash!" Hikoichi wrinkled his nose in disgust. And suddenly he remembered something, "my notebook..." His eyes widened, "MY NOTEBOOK! Oh no! I lost it!" He frantically looked around and then spotted it on top of one of the garbage bins and made a dive for it, "Oh my precious!" He hugged it very close to his heart and cried with so much relief.

"And he didn't even care if it's all dirty, while just moments ago he's so disgusted with filth," Mitsui snorted.

Sendoh shook his head but looked amused. "You can't blame him. All the precious information he'd been gathering is written there." He chuckled a little and then turned to Rukawa, who was already walking away from them. "Hey, Mitsui-san. Rukawa is not really friendly aren't he?"

"Yeah. He sure needs to polish his people skills," Mitsui shrugged and then he looked serious. "But not because I'm talking to you casually means I'm giving up the fight for Sakuragi."

Sendoh looked mildly surprised but smiled at the challenge, "Oh no, sempai. I never once forgot about that. But always remember that I'm not you're only opponent..."

The man in the shadows couldn't agree more.

...

In two days time, the Shohoku team will depart for Hiroshima [12] where the Summer Inter High will be held. And so even if it was Sunday, Akagi called for a practice and surprisingly no one in the team complained. Maybe because they all realized that at times like this, there was no time to be slacking around. Everything went smoothly, consisting of their usual routine of jogging and dashing around the court which usually takes up to 30 rounds, 50 when Akagi's all fueled up (more like in a sadistic mood) and some passing and shooting drills.

Kogure was somehow suspicious of the whole ordeal. It's not that he's not happy that there's some improvement in the team's cooperation. It's just that he felt that there's something missing in the picture that makes the scenario not normal. And so with these thoughts he tried to observe the current situation. As per usual, the Rukawa Brigade was present, never getting tired of singing their Rukawa Love Me Jingle even if their voice were already hoarse from squealing non-stop. And of course, Haruko and her two friends, Matsui and Fujii, were also on the sidelines giving shouts of support once in a while. Upon looking at them, that's where Kogure realized what was missing. The Sakuragi Gundan was nowhere to be found.

This was really a surprise to the bespectacled vice-captain because the four of them never misses watching them practice, their reason being that it wouldn't be fun to let a day pass without tormenting their redheaded friend. And speaking of Sakuragi, he hasn't engaged into a single verbal war with Rukawa and the latter hasn't insulted him one-bit. The redhead was a bit furious that the stupid fox has been ignoring him since their practice started and tried provoking him with his killer eyes but to no avail. He sulkily stopped his provocations and just resigned himself into just focusing into training, although there were some daydreaming lapses here and there, care off the girl of her dreams who also happens to be their gorilla captain's little sister.

He also noticed that Mitsui seemed to be intent on having nothing to do with the redhead. At first, he thought that it was just a coincidence but Mitsui's excuses were kind of farfetched at times. Like when Akagi ordered him to teach Sakuragi a better way to screen an enemy from under the basket, he excused himself by saying he needed to go the washroom to heed nature's call, yet again. He'd been using the same excuse ten times already that you'd think he had a bladder problem or something. Another odd thing was that Mitsui seemed hostile to Rukawa and vice versa whenever their eyes met. Also, there were times that Kogure felt the two of them staring behind his back but whenever he would turn to them, they would look as if they haven't been staring at him at all. Kogure assumed that something happened last night and that maybe Youhei had finally exposed them and that he might have also mentioned that he was the one who told them some of the things he had witnessed. He couldn't blame two of them if ever they hold something against him. Even if he was in their place, he might feel the same way.

'Not that it would ever happen.' Kogure shook his head and smiled to himself.

Next to him was Ayako who was currently yawning. He understood the girl for being bored because practice seemed a bit dull without the disruptions. Ayako was holding her unused fan and tapped it impatiently over her shoulder.

"I never thought there would come a day that you won't need that fan of yours, Ayako-san," Kogure said with an amused voice.

"Me either, Kogure-sempai," Ayako mused. "I mean it's really good everything's in order but then—"

"It's not the same without some of the banters right?" Kogure supplied.

"Right!" she sighed then looked at her watch. "Uh... Kogure-sempai... I think they've practiced enough for today. I mean, I know that Akagi-sempai is a slave-driver at times but don't you think he shouldn't overwork them so much since the train ride is the day after tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but you know how Akagi is," Kogure smiled apologetically. He too thought that the team has been working really hard these past days and that they deserve a day's rest. As if on cue, Akagi blew his whistle and called the team to assemble. His face shone with satisfaction as he watched them all line up in front of him.

"I would like you all to know that I really appreciate all your efforts in today's practice. Anzai-sensei was sorry that he couldn't accompany us today because he had some important errand to finish but promised that he'll join us on our departure for Hiroshima on Tuesday. Remember, train arrives at exactly eight in the morning and so I hope everyone comes on time," he sternly gazed at the redhead who looked pretty clueless, "got that, Sakuragi?"

The redhead scowled, "Of course the genius will come on time!"

"Right, Hanamichi, and pigs can really fly," Miyagi snickered.

"Asshole..." Sakuragi muttered and would have gladly give Ryocchin a piece of his mind if only he hadn't seen at the corner of his eyes the eager Ayako who was itching to use her fan. He sulkily brought his attention back to Akagi, much to Miyagi's delight and Ayako's slight disappointment.

"Back to what I was saying, since we leave on Tuesday, we'll be taking the day off tomorrow. So you could do what you want, rest, shop, go on a date, or whatever. Just make sure you're all in great shape by the time we have our first match."

Loud cheers of approval rang throughout the gym. Even the quiet Rukawa gave a sigh of relief. As usual, Sakuragi was the loudest of them all with his genius pose and laugh which earned him a super fan slap, care of the bored team manageress who eagerly did the job.

"Wow! You totally outdid yourself today, Ayako-san!" someone from the gym entrance said. They all turned to see the Sakuragi Gundan along with Sendoh Akira and Aida Hikoichi standing with Haruko and her friends. Two individuals from the team visibly flinched at the sight of them which hadn't escaped Youhei's attention and brought a smirk on his face.

"Oi! You guys!" Sakuragi, already forgetting the pain on his head, jogged toward his friends. He didn't even wait for Akagi to tell them that they were dismissed. This only earned the captain an exasperated sigh and just let the matter be. He told the others they could go and made his way towards the shower room with the other players. Seeing that the team practice is finished for the day, the other spectators along with the Rukawa Brigade left the gym. Kogure lingered for a while and frowned when he noticed that Rukawa and Mitsui were also on their way to the group.

Feeling the presence of the annoying fox approaching, he delayed whatever he was about to say to his friends and directed a glare to the said boy. The latter just ignored him and continued walking over to the four who were all trying hard not to burst out laughing. Haruko turned beet red upon her crush's proximity while the rest had this amused expression on their faces, except of course for the spiky haired captain of Ryonan who was feeling a bit awkward at that time. Miyagi and Ayako also joined them, curious on what the sudden gathering was all about, making it more uncomfortable for the three culprits whom were all subjected to the Sakuragi Gundan's mental torture.

Of course, the lovely redhead (in the eyes of his three admirers) was starting to get confused with the situation. Questions like 'What's going on here?', 'Why the hell is everyone quiet?' and most importantly 'What the fuck is that stupid fox doing near my Haruko-chan?!' were ringing on his head while he looked back and forth his friends and the others.

Kogure on the other hand had an idea on what was going to transpire and decided to leave immediately before they notice him and get called to join them. From the looks of things, something equally out of the ordinary was going to happen. Also, he was saving himself from the two Shohoku players who were probably thinking of ways on how to confront him, or worst, possible ways on how to exhibit their wrath on him.

But it was too late because Youhei already noticed him.

"Hey Kogure! Can you come here for a sec?!"

Kogure flinched a bit and then slowly turned around and found everyone in the group staring at him, especially two of his teammates whose eyes were narrowed.

"Um, yeah, okay..."

He approached the group carefully and it didn't help feeling those two hard stares following his every move. [13] Hanamichi, on the other hand, was getting restless with the sudden tensing of the atmosphere and finally voiced out one of the questions in his head, "Why the hell is everyone quiet?!"

"Eh? Oh! I didn't notice we were too quiet, right guys?" Youhei turned to the other gundan and all three nodded with that maniacal grin plastered on their faces.

"What's this, some kind of a public hearing?" Ayako raised one fine brow and looked at everybody. For some strange reason, the group was divided in half with the gundan standing with her, Ryota, Haruko, Matsui, Fujii, Hikoichi and Kogure while Sendoh, Rukawa and Mitsui on the other side, and Hanamichi was in the middle of the two groups. How they moved in their places like that, she had no idea.

Youhei's grin widened considerably to the horror of the other group.

"Um, Mito... I don't think this is a good idea... didn't we talk about this yesterday already?" Sendoh said nervously. There were too many audiences and the subject of discussion was actually there.

"Huh? You talked to Youhei yesterday?" Hanamichi asked curiously.

"Great," Mitsui muttered to himself.

"Idiot," Rukawa rolled his eyes.

"I did talk to him yesterday, while you were practicing before you suggested a practice match," Sendoh glared at the two.

"And pray tell what did we talk about Sendoh?" Youhei asked with that amused undertone.

"Mito!" Sendoh's eyes budged out in panic. "You wouldn't dare or the deal is off!"

"What talk? What deal? What's going on?!" Hanamichi asked innocently and look to and fro Sendoh and his best friend.

"Okay, great, bucko. Just ruin everything and spill it out already! I don't care anymore! That way I can save money! Sheez!" Mitsui shouted in frustration.

"Spill out what?! Save money for what?!" Hanamichi shouted the question just as loud.

"Hey, hey! What's been happening behind my back?" Miyagi interjected.

"Mito-kun, what does this all mean?" Haruko turned to the now chuckling Youhei.

Just what Kogure thought, everything was becoming out of hand. He had to do something before everyone starts making trouble and decided to interfere when suddenly an excited Yasuda came out of the Shower room.

"Kogure-sempai! Oneesan asks if you would like some more of those milk chocolates you bought from her the other day?!"

Everyone went quiet with the sudden outburst and turned their eyes to the vice captain who was now as white as sheet. Yasuda was clueless on what was going on at that moment and continued.

"She also asks if she could borrow your 3eb CD before you go to Hiroshima for the Inter High."

Kogure was still rooted on the spot. He knew it. He shouldn't have talked to Mito yesterday. He shouldn't have told him about Rukawa and Mitsui. Now he knew how it was to be subjected to karma. [14]

Ookusu was the one who first recovered from the group and then sniggered, "Oh... just tell your sister that Kogure doesn't have his CD anymore."

With this statement, the others also snapped out of their stupor and realization dawned at them. Except of course for Haruko and her two friends who were totally ignorant about the stalking business, Miyagi and Ayako who wasn't able to follow everything that was happening behind the scenes, and Hanamichi who was now starting to have a migraine trying to digest the turn of events.

"Huh? Uh? Kogure-sempai?" Yasuda asked while frowning.

"Go now Yasuda, I'll just talk to your sister later..." Kogure replied quietly, his voice trembling a bit.

"Uh... okay..."And so Yasuda silently went out of the gym, looking back at his sempai once in a while, who suddenly found his feet interesting.

Youhei turned to Haruko, "Um, Haruko-chan, would you mind if we ask you to leave for now? There's something we have to talk about."

"Is everything okay, Mito-kun?" Haruko asked worriedly which made Youhei sigh. This was proving to be difficult task. It was a good thing that Matsui realized that they were not welcome there and nudged Haruko.

"We have to go, Haruko. We still have to go to the bookstore today, right?"

"But—" Before she could protest, she was already being dragged by her two friends outside the gym. Youhei gave Matsui a nod which the latter also returned. As soon as the three of them were out of earshot, he turned his attention back to Kogure who was still looking down on his feet.

"Unbelievable...!" Hikoichi exclaimed for the first time since they arrived. And this outburst was followed by a series of questions and exclamations from the others.

"Kogure-sempai! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Kogure! I knew something's fishy about you telling Mito about me!"

"... Sempai..."

"Kogure... you actually look like the type of person to do that..."

"Kogure-san! I knew you were kind of a mother hen to us but I never knew you were gay!"

"This is unbelievable, Kogure-sempai! So you were the one who gave those gifts after all!"

Kogure's head was starting spin with all these questions that he finally shouted, "YES! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG! AND I'M NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT IT NOW! I LIKE YOU, SAKURAGI HANAMICHI! I LIKE YOU VERY MUCH!"

He breathed heavy so that he could calm his nerves, relieved at the same time that he'd finally let it all out. It's been bothering him for quite some time now and he must admit shouting out his frustration was very relaxing. It's like a big torn was pulled out from his very being. Also, seeing those dumbfounded looks from everybody was satisfying. Except that he'd forgotten one thing...

"Glasses-kun...?"

Upon hearing the familiar nickname, Kogure turned around to the redhead whose eyes were wide with shock. Seeing this, a blush crept up from Kogure's neck until he was as red as a ripe tomato.

"Erm... Hana-ku— I mean, Sakuragi... I didn't mean to scare you... it's just that I don't know how to tell you how I feel... I was afraid that you'd... reject me and... you'd be disgusted so... so... I decided not to tell you that I gave you all those chocolates... I really tried... and well I thought the CD was a good idea... but I realized that it probably scared you more... so I tried to call you on the phone and finally admit it that it was me... but I just lack the courage to do it..."

The redhead was still awfully quiet. And so Kogure bowed his head and whispered, "I'm really sorry..."

"Kogure-sempai..." Ayako sniffed. She couldn't help but sympathize with their vice captain because it was really obvious that he's under a lot of strain right now. She just hoped that Sakuragi wouldn't do anything rash and well the redhead being awfully quiet was not really an assurance.

"Okay! Since Kogure spilled it out already, I'm going out in the open too! I also like you, you stupid fool! I don't really know why I fell for a dumbass like you, but I did and I can't do anything about it! And yes! I stole your jersey because I thought what the heck! Just let me have something to remember him by! But then Mr. Prim and Proper and Mr. Foxy boy just had to ruin everything by telling Mito!" Mitsui burst out.

"Idiot..."

"Shut up, Rukawa! I bet you didn't really throw away that ugly jersey of yours and had it sealed inside a vacuum bag just to retain Sakuragi's essence! I bet you open it and smell its sweaty scent once in a while and fantasize about him!" he accused.

"Eeeww... Missy, that's gross!" Miyagi and Takamiya grunted in unison while Noma and Ookusu had the sudden urge to gag. Hanamichi's eyes widened even more and directed his gaze to Missy, then to his archenemy and rival.

"You shut up, sempai. I'm not the one who stole one of the idiot's clothing. You're probably the one doing all those things."

"You swine!" Mitsui was about to lunge at Rukawa but was quickly restrained by Miyagi and Noma.

Rukawa sighed and then turned to the still awed redhead. "I was really angry when you gave those roses to that bitch..."

"What... you...?"

"Yeah, well at least I don't scare Hanamichi off by giving anonymous gifts."

"Shut up, Sendoh! You're the one stalking Hanamichi! Going to his house everyday, watching his every move inside his house! I bet you were even peeping on him while he changes his clothes!" Mitsui exclaimed, still being restrained by Miyagi and Noma.

It was Sendoh's turn to blush this time from embarrassment and fury. "I so do not go there every day! I just went there four times! Five if you add last night!"

"You... go to my house...?"

"Hanamichi, I'm really sorry! I only want to see you. That's all. I never peeped at you while getting dressed! Not once! Mitsui is inventing things so that you'd be angry at us and he'd have you all for himself!" Sendoh tried to reason out to the already flustered Hanamichi.

"What?! How dare you, you spiky head bastard!" Mitsui was able to free himself from the restraining grasps at once and was able to lunge at the unsuspecting Sendoh.

So a scuffle of hands and limbs started between the two. Sometime in the middle of the fight, Rukawa was dragged in, probably because he's the reason why Mitsui was being restrained a while ago. And then when Kogure tried to get in between and stop them, he was accidentally kicked by Sendoh, which made the normally gentle vice captain see red and gave the other a punch on the face. Meanwhile, instead of trying to stop the fight, the gundan and Miyagi made bets on whether who would emerge victorious. Ayako was confused on to whom she should use her fan first.

Now what was the redhead doing all that time? Of course, he was still rooted on his current spot in the middle of the two groups, still trying to digest all the information he found out this afternoon. One could say he's like one of those old computers that hang whenever it was computing too much information and it usually takes a while before everything was functional again. But if one was impatient, he would try to press "ctrl alt delete" to either end the task or restart the computer. But since the brawl itself could've probably taken quite a number of minutes already, then it would come to the point that Hanamichi's brain was finished computing and was functioning again.

But then, this was Hanamichi. And so the first thing he did after realizing the extent of the whole situation was to:

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And then he dropped in a heap on the floor.

Windows has been shut down.

...

Hanamichi tried to open his eyes but closed it immediately because of the blinding light. He must've groaned aloud and so the other people inside the room were alerted.

"Oh! So you're awake!" Youhei, who was sitting beside his bed, smiled at his friend.

Hanamichi groaned once more and then tried to sit up in bed while rubbing his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"In your room," Ookusu replied. He was sitting on the window sill with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What? How?" Hanamichi frowned. He was sure he didn't remember walking home from the gym.

"We carried you here after you fainted from mild fever," Noma answered this time while leaning on the door jamb.

"I fainted?! That can't be! The genius doesn't faint!" He would've shouted some obscenities if not for the sudden aching of his head again. Youhei chuckled at this.

"Okay, so let's not use the word 'faint' and use the phrase 'passed out' instead."

"What happened anyway?" Hanamichi asked again while rubbing his head and then shaking it in between.

"Well, you were talking to Haruko when suddenly, blag! We just saw you lying on the floor," Youhei stated while looking at back and forth Ookusu and Noma who both nodded in agreement. Hanamichi stopped rubbing his head and then looked intently at his best friend.

"Wait... that's not what I remember... I know something else happened after talking to Haruko... I'm sure of it..." Hanamichi searched his head and then said, "Yes! I remember the fox, Missy, Sendoh and Glasses-kun saying they were the one stalking me! I even remember them having a brawl!"

"What are you talking about, Hanamichi? Kogure, Rukawa and Mitsui were nowhere near us that moment and that Sendoh was the only present. He even helped us carry you up to the train station," Youhei frowned at the redhead's statement.

"What? But I'm positive that—"

"Hey Hanamichi! Look what I've found in your laundry basket!"

All eyes flew to the door and saw Takamiya holding a white jersey on his hand.

"So it wasn't stolen after all," Youhei said mildly and then looked back at the confused redhead.

"But... but... I was sure that..." Hanamichi stammered and tried to search his brain again, and then heaved a sigh, "Bah! Who cares anymore? I'm getting dizzy again so I'll just go to sleep." And so he lied down on his bed again and readied himself to sleep.

"Wait, you haven't taken your medicine yet," Youhei reminded him.

"Bah! No need. I'm sure this'll be gone when I wake up later," he replied, his eyes already closed and his right arm rested on his forehead.

Youhei gave a final glance at his best friend, and then signaled the others to leave the room. He was about to close the door when he heard Hanamichi call his name.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Thanks for being there always," the redhead gruffly said and then turned his body away from the door.

Youhei was speechless for a while then grinned, "Right." And he finally closed the door.

When Hanamichi was left alone in his room, he also grinned to himself, "Right."

...

And so no one mentioned about the events that happened during those three days of "stalking". Somehow the gundan were able to convince Hanamichi that the fight between Rukawa, Sendoh, Mitsui, and Kogure in the gym was all just a dream. Although Youhei knew that Hanamichi was just getting along with it so that whatever deal the gundan made with the four culprits will still be on.

What was their deal? Well where the heck did four poor guys get tickets to the bullet train just to watch every match of Shohoku in the Inter High?

Somewhere in Kanagawa, a white jersey stained with a blotch of black ink in front was sealed in a vacuum pack and was hanging beside a shelf full of trophies and medals.

-End-