When the doorbell rang again, White Fox opened the door. Standing outside was a tall guy with long blue tinged black hair parted to the side wearing a white shirt over a blue t-shirt, his hands in his pant's pocket.
White Fox racked her brains trying to remember if he was in one of the Slam Dunk cast.
"Hi," said the boy, shaking White Fox's lax hand, "Victor. Glad to meet'cha."
Then when he saw Hanamichi just coming out of the kitchen he immedietly made a bee-line towards the redhead.
"Hello!" said Victor, shaking Hanamichi's free hand - the other holding a plate of food -, "I'm Victor. Boy, I'm really pleased that I could meet you in person."
"Uh, yeah," said Hanamichi his ego slowly coming to the surface, "Of course, everyone want to meet the tensai."
Victor chuckled as he led the redhead towards the chairs lined against one part of the wall where they started talking.
"So, you play b-ball?" Hanamichi asked.
"Uh-huh," replied the dark-haired boy, nodding, "Can't do without playing 1 game a day."
"Same here... and, well, also for nearly every guy in this room" said the redhead grinning, "What position do you play?"
"Power Forward and Center," said Victor, "But I usually play Power Forward though."
"Hey! That's just like me!" exclaimed Hanamichi, "What else do we have in common?"
Victor cleared his throat, "I...um... heard that you got dumped 50 times..."
Hanamichi eyes glittered with unshed tears, "You too?"
"Yeah," sighed Victor, "How did you get through it?"
"Well, y'see, I..."
"Victor?!"
The two boys looked up towards Noor who was looking at the dark-haired boy in surprise.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here for the party," said Victor, puzzled at the girl's reaction.
"Do you know what kind of party this is?" asked Noor uneasily.
"Yeah," replied the boy, "A Valentine's party."
"Uh, yeah but..." the girl went over towards the boy and said something in a low tone which Hanamichi could not hear.
Then a girl with a Nike t-shirt, jeans and black soldier-looking boots approached the redhead.
"Hey, Sakuragi-kun," Tita Taishi said, "Can I get a picture with you and Rukawa-kun? They make good money and I'll split the profits with you."
"Hey, count me in!"said Noma.
"Me too!" said Okuutsu and Takamiya.
Yohei smirked while Hanamichi glared at the three itching to head-butt them.
Victor's eyes widened in horror before he stood up hurriedly, "I see. Well, I guess I better be going now."
After saying goodbye to Hanamichi, Victor was gone in a flash.
"What was that all about?" asked White Fox in surprise.
"He's a non-yaoi SD fanatic," explained Noor.
The taller girl's eyes widened in understanding, "Ah. Souka."
Fujima arrived at the party with Hanagata, the former looking non too pleased. Hanagata said something to the shorter boy but the boy just snapped a reply before leaving the puzzled Shoyo center behind.
The Shoyo captain plopped himself on the couch where Maki was sitting and sighed.
Looking at the annoyed expression on the boy's face, Maki had to ask, "What's the matter?"
"Hanagata hasn't bought me anything," grumbled Fujima.
Maki could've burst out laughing at the usual lover's complaint coming out of the usually serious Shoyo player but he stiffled it out of respect for the boy.
Fujima commands respect and admiration from peers and enemies alike. He's the type who exerts confidence to his team-mates by being able to coax out their inner strength with only a few words with his soft but firm voice.
Of course, people admire not only his charismatic personality but also his physical beauty. His luxurious brown hair looks soft to the touch and his intense green eyes shaded by thick eye lashes compliments his angular but softly-curved face. And that pouty lips of his makes him look adorable even when he's frowning. If the boy had not gotten serious with Hanagata, Maki would've made his move on Fujima ages ago.
"He should've tried to get me something," continued Fujima crossing his arms.
"Maybe he didn't know you wanted something for Valentine's," said Maki.
Fujima rolled his eyes, "Oh please, I dropped enough hints that an average person can see how desperate I am to want something from him."
Maki chuckled. He couldn't help but think how cute Fujima looks when he's angry. Without thinking he brushed a stray lock of brown hair falling on the boy's lovely eyes and remarked, "I guess Hanagata is less than average in things like this."
Fujima ignored the gentle gesture but his frown did grow darker.
When the doorbell rang, Noor went to answer it. When she opened the door Sendoh walked in with the usual smile on his face.
"Hello there," he said, "Am I late?"
"Not at all," said Noor craning her neck up to see the tall player. Well at least he's a bit shorter than Uozumi and Hanagata but still...
Noor decided to just step back before she strains her neck further.
Then Ritz appeared and set down a bowl of chips on the table before she began brushing small cracker crumbs from the sleeve of her black form-fitting shirt she has worn under a red down-filled vest matching with the slim cut black pants. Innocently she asked Sendoh, "Where Koshino-kun?"
"He'll probably come later," said Sendoh.
"What? You don't know? What happened? You two broke up or something?" asked Myn, in her black flared pants with a slightly tight blue v-neck top, also holding a bowl of chips.
"Yeah," Sendoh replied.
"NANI?!!"
"We broke up," Sendoh said non-chalantly.
"HOW?!"
"Erm... I'd rather not say," Sendoh replied.
"B-but..." began White Fox.
Noor elbowed the girl before turning towards Sendoh with an apologetic look, "Yes, of course. We're supposed to mind our own business but we're really sorry about what happened. Hey, Why don't you join Hana-kun get some more food. He's in the kitchen right now."
"Ok," Sendoh said giving the girls a thankful smile before he went off towards the kitchen.
When Sendoh disappeared through the kitchen door, White Fox hissed, "What do you mean that we're supposed to mind our own business? We're always minding their business!"
Noor held up her finger, "Sendoh is quite difficult to get to talk coz he's smart. Now with Koshino you just have to know which strings to pull."
"Oh," said White Fox nodding, "I get it."
Ritz tilted her chin in a toughtful manner, "Now who do we get to pull those strings....ah!"
She immedietly went over towards a girl wearing navy slacks, a dress shirt and a dark blue sports jacket, talking to Hikoichi.
"Oh, Virgo! Guess what happened to your favourite guy," said Ritz.
A few seconds later:
"NANDA YO?!! THEY DID WHAT?!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello, Hana-kun!" said Sendoh, walking up to the redhead with a cheery smile on his face. They were alone in the kitchen since the girls in charge of cooking have their hands full serving the slowly depleting food and drinks out to the guests.
"Oh, hi, Sendoh. Hey, where's Koshino?"
"We... broke up."
"Really? Hey, I'm sorry, man," said Hanamichi sincerely.
"Yeah," said Sendoh shrugging, "Hey, you and Rukawa still going out?"
The redhead blushed, "Y-yeah. But we've not gotten serious or anything."
Sendoh arched an eyebrow at Hanamichi's small but visible woeful expression.
He grinned and said in a teasing manner, "Well, then I guess that I have a chance."
Hanamichi blinked, "Huh? Whaddya mean?"
"I mean," answered Sendoh slyly, leaning towards the redhead, "That I may have a chance with you."
Hanamichi gaped as Sendoh played with the lapels of the redhead's collar.
Seeing how adorable Hanamichi looked with that stunned expression, the taller boy leaned down to press a chaste kiss at the corner of the redhead's lips.
The redhead is always a pleasure to watch being the one who demands attention from anybody anywhere and watch him Sendoh does. Even a cold fox can fall for the loud redhead. Hanamichi is as not as attractive Rukawa physically but the redhead has an inner attraction that is bright and charming to Sendoh. And slowly he comes to appreciate Hanamichi's outer beauty as well. He has a rugged strong-looking face, slanting eyes which can look fierce and intimidating with his dark sharp eyebrows or innocent and naive with their soft brown orbs and his lips are...
Sendoh was not surprised that it felt soft and pliant to touch and soon the Ryonan player's lips wandered to kiss Hanamichi fully on the lips.
Suddenly the kitchen door opened and there was Rukawa looking at the scene in surprise.
Hanamichi regained his wits and pushed at Sendoh roughly, "Bakayaro!"
When he realised that the fox-eyed boy was there he blushed and made his way past Rukawa hurriedly.
"Oh shit," swore Sendoh fearing that his teases has gone too far this time. He looked at Rukawa who was stalking up to him with a feeling of bad trepidation.
"Rukawa... I was just..."
Suddenly his body was quickly slammed against the wall so forcefully that it made him lose his breath.
"What did you think you were doing?" Rukawa asked in a cold tone.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Rukawa! I was just fooling around," explained Sendoh quickly.
"Fool around with someone else, Sendoh-san," warned the fox-eyed boy.
Looking at the jealous-riddled boy with wry amusement, he chuckled dryly.
"What so funny?" demanded Rukawa narrowing his eyes.
"It's just that this is the first time I've seen you so serious before other than basketball. To a cute redhead no less..."
Rukawa's fist clenched.
"You know Rukawa," Sendoh said, starting to feel evil delight at being able to rile up the cold Shohoku junior in revenge, "I may go after Hanamichi if you're not careful."
Suddenly Rukawa grabbed Sendoh's collar and brought him forward. Sendoh got ready to fight off any of Rukawa's attacks and fight back in necessary but he was not expecting Rukawa to crush his lips forcefully against his.
His mind was awash with confusion and shock of the fierce kiss when Rukawa released him but still retained his grip on Sendoh's shirt to keep him close.
Rukawa growled, "Hanamichi is mine. You can taste him on me."
"Ah..." Sendoh managed in a husky voice, his lips still a few inches apart from the fox-eyed boy, "... even so, you still have to claim his heart to fully claim the person."
"He knows that I... I..."
"You what?" asked Sendoh, breath slow against Rukawa, "He didn't seem all that sure just now."
Rukawa's eyes widened and Sendoh took the oppotunity to slap the boy's hand away.
"If you'll excuse me I need to get some air," the Ryonan player said going through the back door, leaving Rukawa to glare at him from behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, where's Pastles?" asked Kitty Fox, a new tray of freshly cooked noodles in her hand. The 15 year old girl was wearing a simple navy blue shirt and a pair of tight black jeans with her hair tied up in a high pony-tail.
"She said that she would help in serving."
Hikaru who was wearing a black dress with spaghetti straps, the hem falling above her knees was cradling four bottles of Pepsi in her arms.
"Eh..." she started, "I... umm... took her job away coz she kept on dropping the food over the guests. Just now she accidentally dumped a bowl of Cheetos on Coach Anzai's head when she tripped on the carpeting. The Shohoku guys were pissed of except Hanamichi who thought that it was pretty funny..."
"That's not..."
"And before that she spilled nearly a bottle of juice on Mitsui's shirt. It's a good thing Kogure was using a t-shirt underneath his shirt so he lent one to Mitsui..."
"Uh..."
"And Virgo and Rainer are gonna have a tough time trying to clean that tomato juice stain she spilled on one of the chair cushion," finished Hikaru
Kitty Fox's eyebrows arched in astonishment, "Oh dear. So when did you decide to have her stop serving?"
"When I saw her holding a bowl of corned soup in one hand and an apple pie in another. It was very unnerving to watch," Hikaru replied.
Tita Taishi and Nywexia were shifting through the pile of cds behind their make-shift booth when Hanamichi walked by.
"Hana-kun!" called Nywexia," Can you help us?"
The redhead walked back towards the girl who was wearing a fuzzy pink Gap shirt and blue drawstring pants and waited.
"Can you go upstairs and help Kogure look for a Bewitched cd? He's taking too long to get back so I'm worried that he might have some trouble."
"Yah, ok," said Hanamichi walking towards the stairs to find Kogure.
It was not long when the redhead found the spectacled senior in a room, looking through a row of cd on cd racks on the floor and on the table and beside the senior was a boxful of more cds not yet searched.
"Hey, Megane-kun! Nywexia said that I should help you find a cd," said the redhead.
"Oh, yes. I'll be glad for some help," said Kogure giving a sort of lost look, totally unsettling to see on the face which usually has a happy smile for everyone.
Hanamichi sat down on the floor beside Kogure and began searching. Not more than a minute later, the redhead found the cd.
"Hey, here it is," said the redhead.
"Huh? I thought I checked it there already," said Kogure but the surprise in his tone was lacking. In fact he sounded distracted.
Hanamichi looked at his senior closely, "What the matter Megane-kun?"
Kogure blinked seeming to only realise that Hanamichi was sitting beside him.
"Matter? Uh.. nothing's the matter..."
Hanamichi twisted his lips in a disbelieving look, "Don't give me that crap. I can see something's the matter. You always help us out so why can't I help you this time? Tell me now or I'm gonna hit you."
Kogure sweatdropped, "Well, uh.. if you insist..."
And Kogure told him the problem.
"Nani?! I thought you and Mitsui have already done that," said Hanamichi incredulously
Kogure sputtered, "Iie! That's not it! It's just that.. that I always feel so clumsy when we kiss. So maybe you know something more than I do about kissing."
Hanamichi fingered his chin, "Well, whaddya wanna know?"
"I'm not... sure...," Kogure told him, embarrassed, "How to kiss better I guess."
Hanamichi grinned, "Well, all you gotta have is rythm. The one who leads it is usually the one who goes first. You or Mitsui?"
Kogure blushed, "Mitsui."
"That's easy then," remarked the redhead, "Let him lead and you follow."
"Uh-huh."
"Touching his face makes it easier for you to understand the pace. It also gives ya the feel of it," the redhead continued placing his palm gently on Kogure's cheek.
"Uh-huh."
"The tongue is important. It's makes the kiss more intimate."
Kogure felt his face heat up more as the redhead edged closer to him.
"Uh-huh."
"When you close your eyes, relax. Don't get tense," the redhead said, his voice getting softer, "Let it slide softly at first."
"Uh-huh."
"Like this..."
Then Hanamichi kissed him. It was a slow kiss, chaste that their lips were barely touching - but touch it did. Each boy was caught up in the feeling of the soft kiss more than the lesson itself that when they broke apart, they looked at each other blankly.
Hanamichi stammered, "Uh.. g-gomen..."
"No," protested Kogure weakly, wiping his lips with trembling fingers, "My fault as well..."
The redhead grinned and soon both of them were laughing at themselves.
"Ne, Kogure. I think that was a nice kiss. You think you can do better with Mitsui next time?" asked Hanamichi cheekily.
Kogure smiled, his face going red again, "I think so. Arigato, Hanamichi-kun."