"Him"
Part 1

The first time I met him I liked him. 1st March 1993 was the day that he left for Tokyo when I saw him for the last time. Since that day his face always appears in my mind. Him...

A spectacled boy picked up the orange ball and proceeded to dribble it in a small radius around him. It was raining outside and he was all alone in the large gym, the sound of the ball echoing loudly. After a while the dribble of the ball grew less forceful and Kogure let it bounce by itself until it stopped to a standstill near his feet. He wanted to cry - that much he was hurt and it was that much that he missed the person he cared for.

Him...

"Hey! Sakuragi! What are we doing here? You're not part of the basketball team! You're not even a student in here yet!"

"Shut up! I will be! Just you wait and see, I will be the best player Shohoku will ever see!"

"If you will be then you could just wait until you actually become a student here instead of breaking in."

"We're not breaking in. I just want to see how the place looks like... Hey, here's supply room..."

"Just open it will ya, Sakuragi!"

Kogure was startled as the door was yanked open. Who he saw standing outside was a very tall boy, his red flaming hair highlighted by the lights from the corridor. The redhead's eyes widened when the boy saw him and even in the darkened room the redhead could see that the senior's eyes were wet and his cheeks trailing with tears. The boy inside the room quickly recovered himself and after hurriedly wiping his eyes and face he put on his glasses but the strange boy was already shutting the door with a quick "Gomen!"

Then Kogure heard footsteps walk away before he heard the people speak again.

"What's up, Sakuragi?"

"Nothin'. Let's go."

****

It was the first day of the enrollment of new students and Akagi and Kogure watched the young students file into the auditorium before taking their seats to await for the speech by the principle. Kogure looked around the hall and felt a sense of sadness tug at his heart since it was not that long ago that he had confessed his love to one of his best-friends at that very same place.

Akagi nudged at his friend and said, "Hey, there's your brother."

Kogure looked to where the huge boy was pointing at and saw his brother, Kaede, nod at him. Kogure nodded back with a smile. Already a couple of girls were looking at his tall blue-eyed brother with awe. Kaede always has that kind of affect on the people.

"There's your sister," said Kogure to Akagi. His friend growled when he saw a group of year two steal puppy look glances at his sister.

Kogure hid his grin. He knew Akagi to be protective of his only sister and he hoped that whoever was able to catch Haruko's heart would also be able to deal with her intimidating older sibling.

Suddenly a lovely girl with curly brown hair appeared near the two boys and whispered, "I hope there are some cute guys around. Not including your brother, Kogure, coz I knew him like since he was a kid..."

"Ayako!"

The girl groaned and the three turned around to see their team guard stare at Ayako with tears in his eyes, "You've forgotten about me?!"

"I've never said that I want to get together with you Ryota!" hissed Ayako.

"But I like you!"

"Ryota!"

The two year threes chuckled while Ayako continued to put Ryota off. After a while they had to be quiet when the principle called for attention but Kogure was still in smiles. His friends always made him happy and help him forget about sad things...

"I'm sorry... "

The spectacled-boy's smile wavered when he remembered those final words that broke his heart. He hoped that he will be able to forget them and go on with his life.

****

The Shohoku basketball team's vice captain picked up the clipboard and said to the manageress, "Ayako, I'm going first and take this list to Akagi. We'll meet you there when you're done here."

Ayako nodded her head before the senior walked out of the room to get to the gym. Once there Kogure saw that Akagi has not arrived and he thought himself alone in the big but musky court. Breathing in, he found the odour of the gym a balm and thorn to his soul. The balm being that it reminded him of the best times he has ever had and the thorn of being reminded of his first but unrequited love.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, smelling the air of masculine sweat, the synethetic rubber of the basketballs and the detergeant odour from the mops and if he delve into his memories he could even hear the sound of a basketball being dribbled before it was dunked into a metal hoop with a reverberating slam.

*SLAM*

Kogure turned around with a start, knowing that that sound did not come from his imagination. At the far end of the court was a tall figure dribbling before making another powerful slam dunk with the ball.

"Who's there?" demanded Kogure.

The figure stopped his solitare game and approached Kogure and although the senior couldn't see the other's face clearly, he could see that the player's hair was red.

"I was just warming up...." started the redhead but he then stopped when he recognised the spectacled boy, "...you..."

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