Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Umm... Kae-CHAN?! ❯ Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Part 1:

The city of Tokyo.

The place where everybody seemed too busy to care.

A world where everyone has a function… (Well, if you don't have a function, hell, then, just get out of there, they don't need you…)

A peaceful *cough* city where everyone coexists um… perfectly…

The city of Tokyo…

< A/N: God, I sound like the narrator of The Powerpuff Girls! ^_^;>

"Kisama!"

"Gomen, gomen, gomen!"

"Where is he?"

"What happened? Oh no…"

"RUKAWA-KUN!"

"I'm going to call the captain!"

"…"

"…"

"?"

"Baka, what have you done?!"

"Nyahahahahaha! Revenge at last!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

*Whack! * "This isn't a joke you know!"

"Why did you do such a terrible thing?!"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

Everyone was gathered outside the huge laboratory doors, listening to the shrieks of incredulity and alarm, coupled with anger, and a distinct sound of a child crying its brains out. They exchanged confused and curious looks; each determined to know why such noises existed inside the normally opulent facility.

Inside, a hilarious yet alarming picture was painted as a spiky-haired man dropped on his knees in apology while a young lady with curly hair smacked him repeatedly on the head with a clipboard that was obviously borrowed from a younger boy trying to take it back before it did much damage to the person being hit.

"Nyahahahahaha!" A red-haired guy laughed out loud as he towered over a frail-looking child of about eight years who was crying his lungs out as he was pinched gently by a brown-haired guy that looked like a small boy himself.

"Revenge! At last, justice is applied - ITAI! What was that for?"

"Shut up Sakuragi, you're not helping!" A matured-looking man glared at him, his fist still on top of the loudmouthed fiend.

"Teme old man! I swear you're acting like Gori more and more each day!"

That earned him another punch on the head as the elder man breathed rapidly, trying to control his increasing ill temper. "If you don't shut up this instant, I'll kick you off the team!"

"But I'm not part of the team!"

* WHACK! *

"ITAI!"

"Maa maa." A sweet-looking guy smiled soothingly at the two. "Fighting won't help… we just need to think of a way to solve this problem of ours."

"And how, Min-kun, do we solve our problem?" A tall person sitting on one of the Formica tables retorted wryly as he gestured towards the violent blows that were being administered on the perpetrator.

"Yeah, Megane-kun How - ITAI! STOP HITTING ME ALREADY!" Sakuragi Hanamichi yelped, rubbing the three lumps that were now peeking through the mass of red hair.

"Stop calling him Megane-kun! You have no respect for your elders!"

"Maki-kun, I'm fine with it really." The bespectacled boy smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"Hn." Maki Siniichi glared at Sakuragi, willing him to shrivel under his gaze - all to no avail. "I still think he deserved that hit."

"Amen to that!" The man who sat on the table laughed, earning a homicidal look from Sakuragi.

"Micchy! After this, remind me to kill you!" Sakuragi seethed as his older friend just grinned slyly back at him, deliberately ignoring his threats.

"Don't worry, I wont!" Mitsui Hisashi said dismissively.

"Stop fighting all of you!" Kogure Kiminobu, the bespectacled student sighed in frustration. "We cannot solve anything in this state… Aya-chan, stop pummeling now and leave the poor guy alone."

"This. * WHACK * is. * WHACK * not. * WHACK * a. *WHACK * poor. *WHACK * guy! *WHACK WHACK WHACK *" Ayako shrieked as she continued pummeling the poor boy who was by now covering his head as he protected himself from the clipboard's trusty blows.

Everyone sweatdropped.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I TELL YOU THAT I DID NOT DO IT ON PURPOSE!" The man being pounded cried out in his defense. "IT SPILLED, AND HE WAS IN THE WAY!"

"Now it's his fault." A tall man with horn-rimmed glasses smiled mischievously, his eyes glittering merrily as he toyed with the child's fine mane. "I don't think so."

"Hanagata-san! You're also against me?" The one being pummeled went teary-eyed as his professor's lab assistant obviously sided with Ayako.

Hanagata Toru laughed and shook his head in defeat. "I will never take any side… just Kenji-kun's."

Fujima Kenji, the boy who was fussing over the formerly crying child laughed softly, his eyes dancing merrily as he winked at his best friend. "Right!"

"You're all against me!"

"Well, we cant help it, you are at fault, whether accidental or not." A soft-spoken lad standing by the window said matter-of-factly, gesturing at the child who was by then staring wide-eyed at everyone. "And he is enough proof of your carelessness. What would we think?"

"Hai, Jin-sempai is right. It's your fault Sendoh-sempai!" Aida Hikoichi quipped, finally prying Ayako's fingers from his abused clipboard.

Sendoh Akira's shoulders slumped as he turned to look at the little boy playing with Fujima. "Okay, okay, it was my fault." He smiled easily as if nothing serious had happened. "

"Then, just transform him to his usual size." Jin Soichiro smiled trustingly back. A smile that faltered badly as Sendoh's smile turned awry. "Oh no… don't tell me…"

Sendoh nodded tearfully.

"BAKAYAROU!"

* * *

"Okay this is what we will do." Fujima said as he caressed the sleeping boy's cheek affectionately. "We'll take turns in taking care of him by day, or when Sendoh-kun is busy with his studies, but at night, Akira would take him home.

"Eh? Why me?" Sendoh protested, pointing at himself in disbelief.

"Shh… tone down your voice, you're going to wake the kid up!" Hanagata whispered chidingly, ruffling the raven-colored bangs that covered the kid's forehead.

* WHACK *

"Ite!" He yelped, rubbing his head after another forceful blow on the head.

There was a groan as the child, obviously surprised at the sudden sound, opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, rubbing his eyes of sleep.

Maki glared at him. "You got to take him home because you were the one who is the cause of all these trouble. Now what will I tell our coach?"

"I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to…" Sendoh's perpetual smile was nowhere in sight as his eyes encountered the figure of the little kid playing with Hanagata's eyeglasses. "Really… the flask just slipped… I didn't mean for it to happen…"

Maki's eyes softened. "I know. Now what we ask of you is just simple… take care of the little tyke until Kogure-kun, Mitsui-kun, and Hanagata-kun find a way to revise the effect of the potion that you accidentally drenched on Rukawa-kun."

"Kae-chan!" Fujima laughed as the raven-haired kid grabbed the basketball that Hanagata and Fujima were teasing him with. "You like the ball!"

Maki and Sendoh sweatdropped. Fujima looked like a proud mother. Hanagata looked like the boy's father. They looked like one big happy family.

Maki and Sendoh sweatdropped some more.

Yet, the latter could not help feeling the slightest bit of jealousy over the two former Shoyo players. They shared something special, he was sure of it… and then the way they handle the little kid - Rukawa-kun…

Yes, the little kid is indeed Rukawa Kaede.

It all started that afternoon…

FLASHBACK -

"Akira-san, stop playing around with that beaker or else you're going to tip that over." Hanagata warned the younger boy. "This is a part of the Chem. test that you missed last week, so… do your best. ne?"

"Hai, Hanagata-sempai." Sendoh grinned his usual mischievous smile. "Oops." He muttered as an aromatic liquid dripped on the linoleum floor. "Ah, I'll just wipe it off later." He decided as he moved to the other end of the laboratory table.

"Hey Toru-kun!" Fujima suddenly called out as he entered the laboratory. "Almost time for practice! Is the Chem. absentee doing well?" Mischievous blue eyes turned to the other's concentrating form.

Sendoh stopped pouring and raised a flask of greenish-blue liquid in salute. Fujima grinned, turning back to the bespectacled boy, playfully taking away the horn-rimmed glasses off the bridge of his nose.

"Kenji-kun!" Hanagata protested, trying to claim back his precious eyepiece.

Sendoh continued pouring, and was increasingly becoming alarmed as he saw the other flask turning a dark shade of red. Hmm… according to the book, this should be turning blue, not red… he must have done something wrong…

"Sendoh… my ball… I need… practice…" A male voice sounded behind him. Startled, he raised his eyes abruptly, and almost melted at the sight of the younger boy who was standing very close to him.

"Oh, Rukawa-kun… uh… the ball's in my duffel bag right there." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the package counter where Kogure Kiminobu was sitting in, reading a thick hardbound book.

The younger man nodded and his eyes shifted to Sendoh's experiment, his eyes widening. "Black… Does it have to… make bubbles?"

By then, Sendoh was obviously in cloud nine, Rukawa's question barely registering in his mind. He turned dazedly and his eyes widened in panic as he saw his concoction turn bubbling black. In surprise, he caught hold of it and was about to dump the thing in the sink directly behind him when he slammed into another body, the impact not lost on him as he rebounded, his thighs hitting the edge of the long Formica table, rattling the paraphernalia sitting peacefully on it.

"Kisama!" He heard the younger boy yelp. In horror, Sendoh's eyes bulged. Rukawa's body was drenched with the black liquid, staining the pristine white polo shirt, the liquid dripping on the floor as soon as droplets formed at the edge of the fabric. Sendoh closed his eyes, gripping the now-empty flask he held in his hand, waiting for the blow that he knew the usually collected basketball player would deal him for destroying his favorite shirt.

"Gomen gomen gomen!" He said repeatedly, waiting for the fist to connect with his jaw. There was none. All he heard was a dull poofing sound and then a slight tug on his jeans. He opened one eye…

Rukawa was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he?" Fujima cried out in alarm as he scrambled to where Sendoh was standing helplessly.

"What happened?" Hanagata asked in panic, noting the cloudy smoke that dwelled above them. "Oh no…"

The slight tug was there again, and this time Sendoh complied, his eyes straying on the floor…

"RUKAWA-KUN!"

END FLASHBACK -

Sendoh shook his head and sighed dejectedly. If only he wasn't such a klutz around Rukawa, then this wouldn't have happened.

"Kenji-niichan!" Rukawa squealed as he was raised by two frail-looking hands into the air. "Wai!"

Yes, he was jealous. That was confirmed. He felt his blood sizzle as he glared at the hands that encircled the tiny waist of Rukawa's now chibi form. Only he should have the rights to Rukawa's body…

"Ok, that's it, party's over, I have to take the tyke home."

"Hear that Kae-chan?" Hanagata chuckled softly as he took the kid away from Fujima's gentle hands. "Kira-niichan will take you home!"

The child looked at Sendoh, then to the one holding him, then back to Sendoh. He could feel the soft blue eyes straining to see whether it would be okay for him to take him home… and Sendoh was almost sure that Rukawa thought that he cannot be trusted.

Suddenly, when Sendoh was about to give up his hopes in letting the child come with him, Rukawa clapped his hands and grinned, his azure gaze full of trust… something that wouldn't be present in the grown-up version's foxy eyes.

Slowly, he smiled back… and took hold of him.

He closed his eyes as shivers ran down his spine. `He was touching Rukawa' the main thought that registered in his mind was that…

And he slung his gym bag on one shoulder as the other supported the delicate weight of the child leaning unquestioningly in his arms.

"If you only knew…"

* * *

TBC

* * *

a/n: Hey guys! Hope you liked it! More to come... Reviews would definitely be accepted! ^^