Chapter 1 Rukawa found himself starring out the classroom window, pass the clouds and at a blue horizon. The new school year started five minutes ago and already he was having trouble staying awake. His ears perked up momentarily to catch his name, but sadly, it was only being used in useless chatter by the girls near by. He continued to look out the window, totally bored. The classroom door slid open, followed by a scuffle of feet as everyone scrambled to sit in their routine desks. “Good morning class. I have a new student to introduce.” Footsteps were heard, then utter silence. Then all at once the classroom erupted in noise. Whistles, angry whispers, an array of verbal comments. The loud guys of the class were clearly happy. The girls on the other hand were angry and bewildered, fifty-fifty. Rukawa turned his head to face the cause of the commotion. Nothing could still the nervousness she felt in the pit of her stomach. It was like she was being sized up for all to see. She couldn’t tell who said what. All was just a noisy buzz. It was her first as a school student here, and she didn’t want to set the wrong impression. It was here, she hoped to confirm her future. And maybe forget my past... A girl. Big whoop. Rukawa turned his attention back out the window. “Please write your name on the blackboard” handing her a piece of chalk, the teacher stepped aside. Natsumi walked past the teacher and stared at the board. With trembling fingers she managed to spell out her name in small print. Kawsaki, Natsumi The girls sitting in front of Rukawa immediately sparked a whispered conversation. “She has such a pretty face. I can’t believe this.” “Her eyes, their the brightest blue I’ve ever seen.. Kindda looks gaijin.” “Long, lean, evenly tanned, loooong black hair. This is torture.” “This totally pisses me off, a whole summer of dieting and ...” The rest of the conversation was lost to him as Rukawa felt himself drift between consciousness and la-la land. “Welcome to Shohoku, Natsumi” the teacher said after he silenced the class.“As you can probably tell, our class is quite large, but we do have a seat reserved for you. Rukawa, raise your hand.” “...” “Rukawa!” “...” “Rukawa!!” “...what?” “Oh, you’re actually awake. Raise your hand. Good. atsumi, you can take the empty seat beside him.” Natsumi made way up the aisle, trying her best to ignore the hard stares and the hushed whispers. She saw a group of girls giving her dirty looks, and decided to look straight. Slowly she sat down in her seat, her beautiful face etched in worry. Rukawa side glanced her once before turning to face the window again. He felt his head nodding away as the teacher lapsed into a detailed talk about the school year. He slowly fell asleep. Rukawa awoke to a throbbing sensation in his head. Annoyed, he turned to face a rolled up newspaper and its’ angry owner. “I see you haven’t changed since last year. Smarten up, boy, this isn’t elementary anymore.” Rukawa mumbled a quick apology. Shaking his head, the teacher left Rukawa’s desk and continued his discussion on the biology course. Rukawa yawned loudly. From the corner of his eye, he caught Natsumi laughing softly. A delicate forefinger brushed her chin as she smiled; her long lashes rimmed her bold laughing eyes. For a moment, Rukawa found himself staring at her through the reflection of the window. But she was quickly lost when he felt another sleeping sensation dull his eyes. He was jolted back to his senses when the lunch bell rang. He heard the routine scuffle of chairs as a group of girls joined their girlfriend at the desk infront of Rukawa. He felt their eyes on him as he ate his bento. Sighing, giggling… all routine. Beside him, a group of boys had formed around Natsumi’s desk. “Hey Natsumi, how come we’ve never seen you around?” “I just moved here from Tokyo,” her voice was barely a whisper. She kept her beautiful blue eyes on the desk. Not even caring to look up. Unwavered by her lack of interest, the boys continued on. “Pretty nifty. Listen, if you want a tour of the school, you know who to ask.” “Drop the act Takeshi, we all know you’re the royal jerk of the class.” “Didn’t you just dump Yumi-chan?” “Yah… for her bestfriend Aika? Takeshi, is *the* sex craze maniac.” “Thatz bull shit! You guys are making me sound like a soap or something.. It’s not true Natsumi, they just playing.” “Oh, ok...” her words were strained. Her tone had shifted so suddenly that it even caught Rukawa’s attention. “Did I say something wrong?” Takeshi asked, eyebrows drawn in worry. “No..nothing.” Natsumi whispered. Rukawa watched her hands grip her skirt and then start to tremble. The week passed by swiftly. Natsumi was a bright girl, and did work that excelled her classmates. But she rarely talked, although there was much buzz going on about her. She was clearly the most beautiful girl to set foot on this campus, causing commotion among boys older and younger. And yet, no boy had the guts to approach her. She was in delicate balance with those around her. Everybody knew that she was not just any girl. Final class, Saturday. In grips with reality, nothing much had changed. Still pretty much routine. The girls still watched Rukawa set up cones for soccer drills, the boys made fun of the girls. But a single boy strayed away from his friends. Natsumi sat down on the grassy field, her long legs bent to her chest. She looked at the passing clouds with little interest. Her mind was elsewhere. She felt a firm grip on her shoulder. On instinct she jumped up and jerked away, faltering backwards a couple steps. Emitting a small scream from her lips, she stared scared blue eyes at her intruder. Takeshi stood there, hand in mid-air. Lowering his hand, his eyes turned harsh. “Holy crap, it’s not like I jumped you or something. Didn’t have to act like the damsel in distress.” Natsumi was still breathing hard when she realised what she had done. Looking at the ground she whispered a ‘sorry’ and walked away. Everyone began talking, staring at her as she passed by. Rukawa was still setting up cones farther away; he looked up to see her pass, and then continued his handiwork. Her angelic smile was never seen again. Though even before it rarely ever grazed her lips. Her face would pale anytime attention was brought upon herself. It was like she was becoming a ghost, growing more invisible as each moon passed the horizon. Soon it had become a month. The school year was already in high gear. And Natsumi had no friends. She had been labelled a basket case. But there was a silent witness in the room, watching her... Rukawa found himself staring deeply at her reflection against the glass window. It wasn’t the first time he had discreetly looked at her. It wasn’t good that he was thinking up melodramas about her, but he couldn’t help it. Rukawa wasn’t quite a creative thinker, but he was bored. And he found it best to occupy himself with thoughts, rather than going to sleep and be smacked across the head. He outlined the differences; she was definitely not another, go lucky, all happy, Shohoku schoolgirl. He was drawn to her mystery. If only he could find out what was really behind Kawasaki Natsumi... The final bell shattered Rukawa’s conceptions. Looking up, he found the teacher staring hard at him. “Rukawa, Kawasaki. I need to speak to you two for a moment.” Silently he cursed himself. He needed to get his ass down to the gym for basketball practise. He reached the teacher’s desk with little haste. Annoyance clearly displayed on his deep, handsome face. Natsumi came behind him, her face showing surprise and hints of fear. “Rukawa, your grades are plummeting again. I don’t know if it’s basketball or anything else for that matter, and personally I really don’t care. But a rule is a rule. You know that academics come before athletics at Shohoku. So that’s why you leave me with no choice but to pull you off the basketball team.” Anger and pure hatred pinched his chest. He silently mouthed a profanity and stared at the teacher with hard blue eyes. “You can’t do this to me.” “Believe me Rukawa, this is the only thing I can do to you,” the teacher snorted. His expression lightened momentarily as he faced Natsumi. “For a girl that had a two year blank in school, the grades you are achieving are quite high. Tell me, did you take a correspondence course?” Two year blank? Rukawa found himself looking at her as she nodded her head. “Yes. I did.” “Well then, I’m sure a girl like you could be much help to Rukawa here. Unless he manages to score a B on the exam coming up next week, he won’t be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities. I’m offering to give bonus marks to both of you. What do you two think?” Rukawa thought deeply. They were pretty much playing the crappy teams this week and next, so it would not be that much of a loss. Rukawa shrugged. “I don’t mind.” “And what about you Natsumi?” “Sensei, I don’t think I can,” Her voice was surprisingly low. The teacher laughed. “Well, if you can’t, then I doubt anyone else can.” “I would really appreciate it,” Rukawa tried. She looked at Rukawa for a brief second before returning her attention to the teacher. Strange, he could have sworn there was fear in her eyes. “No, I don’t think I have the time.” “Alright. I understand. Well then Rukawa, I guess you’ll have to find your own tutor. Meanwhile, I’m going to have to restrict you from playing on the school team.” A million profanities crossed his mind, but none of them showed on his lips. Angrily he turned back to his desk. The class had already emptied out. Although some girls lingered outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the class hunk before returning home. Grabbing her book bag with a delicate sweep, Natsumi made a quick exit. She was already down the hallway when Rukawa emerged from the classroom door. He stood there watching her, a single thought crossing his mind. Why the hell won’t she tutor me, that self centered ass. He followed in suit behind her. Unsuspecting, she exited the front double doors and was instantly immersed in the golden rays of the autumn sun. “Natsumi!” She slowly turned around and stared at him with wide blue eyes. Rukawa caught his breath. Bathed in sunlight, her lithe body emitted a slight glow, showing her even tan in her long limbs, neck and face. Framed with long shimmering blue/black locks, the face itself was beyond description. Her small features was accented by the sun, especially her sky blue eyes. An Angel? For a moment, they just stood there and stared at each other. Each taking in the other as if it was the first time. To tell you the truth, from all those awkward view points and second long glances during the passed month, not much could be told. This was clearly the first time they truly looked at each other. In that fleeting moment, Rukawa saw how attractive she really was. But the moment quickly dissipated when she turned and began to jog away, her skirt swaying back and fourth as she disappeared from view. Snapping back to reality, Rukawa sat down on the school steps. Starring up at the cloudless autumn sky, only one thought raked his mind. Crap, I wanna play basketball... To be Continued... **Next**