Not so far (Slamdunk Fanfiction) (Rukawa Kaede)

I

Have you ever felt like you're the dumbest thing in the world? Well, I just did. I am a very confident woman but right now, I feel like I'm the most stupid human the world could ever offer.

I stood proudly, my hands on my hips, hiding the shameful fact that out of the balls I threw on that damned ring, none entered.

"I'm really tired mopping the floor..." I sighed heavily. "... it weakened me. Sorry to tell you, I can't show you my talent right now." I have no talent in sports to show anyone. I suck at sports.

I am nothing but a cocky princess.

I pretended to pick up the mop on the ground to take a look at Rukawa. He doesn't even look at me. I heard no reply from him, too. Is he really this indifferent?

I sighed after getting no reply from him. I just proceeded on cleaning the gym instead of minding him. But, time to time, I still take few glances on his direction. He's still playing.

"Oi." I was startled when he suddenly spoke. "Aren't you gonna play with me?" He's not even looking at me nor my direction! He just dribbles the ball and then shoots it into the ring

"I told you, I-"

"Anyway, mom says thanks." He cuts me off only to say the most out of topic thing.

Wait, what? Thanks for what?

Oh, yeah, from the other night. I went to their house to bring a whole basket of fruits. That's probably it.

"Okay?" I continued mopping the floor. "And, don't use too much balls." It came out as a whine when I never got the intention to make it one.

After almost an hour, his teammates began to show up to the gym. One by one, they entered the gym I cleaned with all my strength. My shoulders dropped like a slime on the floor after watching all their dirty shoes leave marks of stains on the ground I eagerly worked on just now.

"No way~" I felt all my energy leave my body as I dramatically extend one of my arms to the, now stained, floor. "I just cleaned that." I whispered to myself, feeling so devastated.

I heard a very familiar laugh. "So you got punished by Tabaka-sensei. Hahaha!! Clearly deserved it!" When I gazed my furious eyes on him, I saw how Hanamichi laughed and even pointed a finger at me.

"You did a good job. Cleaning and all." Ayako-senpai was on my back, her arm around my shoulder, trying to cheer me up.

"Look at the mess! Why is everyone wearing dirty shoes!?" I cried.

"Couldn't help it with coming up exams and competitions taking away all our time, we couldn't even afford to clean our shoes. We're sorry, Asami." There I heard Kogure with his genuine sympathetic tone that made me pout.

"And I thought no practice every monday?" I asked curiously.

"That's true. But like Kogure here said, the competition's coming near." Akagi-senpai answered. "We should make preparations if we really want to win this time."

That's true. Exams are coming close, that's why I didn't refuse to take Tabaka-sensei's punishment. He might fail my grades. I'm just average when it comes to studies but I'm definitely beyond average when it comes to popularity. Almost everyone in school knows about me. It's because my beauty stands out.

Even if I'm such an eye catcher icon, men who try to harass me always backs off from actually doing it because of my cousin and his gang. Those morons are always protective of me. I started appreciating the connection I have with them, even if their reputation isn't as decent as mine.

For example, what I'm experiencing right now. I'm walking with Hanamichi for some shitty reason, I got catcalled when I tried to walk myself home, and now, he's taking me with him. The rain poured while Hanamichi and I are under the same umbrella.