Unspoken Words
fandom Slam Dunk
characters Maki, Sendoh
cross-posted 1sentence
for MakiSen Day 2006 ♥♥
01. air
The first time that Maki notices Sendoh isn’t the first time that they meet, nor is it the second; it isn’t until they meet in the electric tension of the court, the third time, that Maki pauses, looks, and sees.
02. apples
A few days after that game, they run into each other at the supermarket, their eyes meeting over the fruit stand, and Sendoh blushes without knowing why.
03. beginning
As he turns away, Maki thinks that this is a complication; he almost wishes that he had never begun to think of Sendoh as more than just another opponent to be defeated.
04. bugs
He discovers that it’s hard to approach Sendoh on the few occasions when they’re in the same place at the same time, even when he can contrive some reason for doing so; Sendoh has even more girls fluttering around him than Fujima.
05. coffee
When Sendoh approaches Maki after the Shohoku-Shoyo game and asks him if he’d like to go for a coffee, his cheeks are flushed but his gaze is steady.
06. dark
Maki takes his coffee black with one teaspoon of sugar, and he watches with a raised eyebrow as Sendoh practically empties the sugar container into his cup of white chocolate mocha.
07. despair
Sendoh’s crushed expression alarms the waiter who informs him that the last apricot tart has just been sold; he quickly offers Sendoh a complimentary raspberry tart instead, while Maki hides his smile behind his cup.
08. doors
After much internal debate, Maki finally takes the opportunity to touch Sendoh by reaching across the table and brushing away the crumbs at the corner of his mouth.
09. drink
In between sips of coffee, he also decides to ask Sendoh for his phone number.
10. duty
Sendoh finds himself still smiling the next day, and Koshino scowls at him for daydreaming instead of sweeping.
11. earth
The next time that they meet, the final siren brings Sendoh back down to earth.
12. end
As they shake hands, Maki smiles with his mouth and apologises with his eyes; he knows that tomorrow it could all end for Sendoh, and he knows that part of it would be his fault.
13. fall
Sendoh’s breath stops when Kogure’s three-pointer drops in; and in the stands, Maki looks away.
14. fire
Sendoh wonders if he could’ve done anything differently, maybe tried a little harder, as he watches Maki receive his MVP trophy and feels something kindling inside of him, a tiny spark that he's never felt before.
15. flexible
On his way home from school one day, Sendoh’s phone rings and he suddenly realises that he’s been waiting for this call ever since he gave Maki his number a month ago; he replies that yes, he’s free on Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday too, and then he wishes that he could take the last part back because he doesn’t want to sound too eager.
16. flying
Maki just says great, let’s meet in front of the cinema at six-thirty, and Sendoh hangs up with what is probably a very stupid smile on his face, floating home without really noticing where he’s going.
17. food
Maki checks his watch for the fourth time in the past minute, and wonders for the three hundred and twenty-sixth time whether he should’ve suggested that they eat something before watching the movie.
18. foot
Sendoh shows up seven minutes late, apologising sheepishly; he’d stepped in some dog poo on his way there and had to stop to clean it off.
19. grave
Maki is reminded that he hates zombie movies because they’re always set in gloomy places, and everything happens in the dark so he can never tell what’s going on; but everytime Sendoh jumps a little in his seat, their shoulders brush, and Maki finds himself concentrating on those small, accidental touches instead of the rising body count on the screen.
20. green
They end up at the same café as the last time, Sendoh raving about gory body parts as he empties the sugar container into his cup, Maki feeling just a little bit queasy as he watches him.
21. head
Maki tilts his head up at the same time that Sendoh turns his face down, and their mouths clash at first, but then soften into each other; and their first kiss is gentle, bitter from Maki’s coffee and sweet from Sendoh’s sugar.
22. hollow
When they finally pull apart, they both feel a little empty inside, as if a piece of the puzzle has been dislodged and no longer fits the same way anymore.
23. honour
Maki calls the very next day, but Sendoh always knew he would.
24. hope
Sendoh wants to go to Hiroshima to watch the IH, but he knows that Taoka-sensei has special training sessions planned for every day of the vacation; Fukuda offers to sneak off with him anyway to go and see one of Shohoku’s games, but Sendoh manages to convince him that training is more important; he doesn’t quite know how to explain that he only wishes to see Kainan play.
25. light
Maki pays for his momiji manju and pretends that he doesn’t know Kiyota, who insisted on accompanying him and is now claiming loudly to anybody who’ll listen that his ten bags of souvenirs aren’t heavy at all.
26. lost
They meet at the café the day after Maki gets back to Kanagawa, and as Sendoh stares down at the manju in his hands without really seeing it, he wonders why he feels as if he’s just found something that he didn’t even know had been missing.
27. metal
Sendoh declares that he now owes Maki something in return, and makes him try a forkful of his apricot tart.
28. new
This is different, Sendoh thinks when Maki draws his head down with a large, warm hand at the nape of his neck; this is the taste of rich dark coffee, not plastic lipstick and old bubblegum.
29. old
This is different, Maki thinks as he traces his tongue over Sendoh’s pliant lips; this is gentle and soothing, like something that he has always known.
30. peace
Sendoh drags Maki into a photo sticker booth, and beams into the camera with his fingers in a ‘V’ sign while Maki looks off to the side and tries to hold back his smile.
31. poison
Maki goes over to Sendoh’s house after Hikoichi calls to inform him that Sendoh-sempai has food poisoning and may die tomorrow so Maki-sempai should really pay him a visit; but then it turns out that Sendoh isn’t dying, and was only ill to begin with because of the ‘health drink’ that Hikoichi had made for him the day before.
32. pretty
Maki studies Sendoh’s pale face, the dark shadows beneath his eyes, and realises that he still finds him oddly beautiful; this is when the word surfaces in his mind for the first time: love.
33. rain
Sendoh waits outside the café for almost half an hour, until the waiter convinces him to go in and get out of the rain; he waits inside the café for another hour, before he finally gives up and leaves, his apricot tart still sitting on the table, untouched.
34. regret
Maki calls him that evening, but Sendoh is feeling too miserable to listen to his apologies; he sneezes twice into the phone, and then hangs up.
35. roses
The doorbell sounds a few minutes after his mother steps out to purchase some groceries, so Sendoh answers the door to find Maki on the other side, holding a big box of aloe vera tissues, two bags of throat soothers, a hand-held console with four different games, and a single white rose; and even before Maki repeats that he’s sorry, Sendoh has already forgiven him.
36. secret
Sendoh refuses to tell Maki where they’re going, saying that it’s a surprise; Maki is reminded that he doesn’t like surprises when he finds himself at the cinema, watching yet another zombie movie.
37. snakes
They sit in front of the television one lazy afternoon at Maki’s house, Sendoh flipping channels ceaselessly until he sees a nature documentary that looks interesting; he watches with wide, fascinated eyes as the habu swallows a mongoose whole, and Maki suddenly feels a strange sort of empathy with the snake.
38. snow
At the first sign of snow, Sendoh dons his scarf and gloves and big thick coat, making it hard for Maki to actually find him inside all the layers; but he tucks the scarf under Sendoh’s chin and manages to find his lips, which is enough.
39. solid
As the winter tournament draws closer, training sessions grow longer and more intense, and Sendoh sees Maki for the first time in weeks when Kainan plays Shoyo; he watches from the stands as Maki sends Fujima to the floor with a solid screen-out, before offering Fujima his hand and a smile that is returned.
40. spring
When Ryonan plays Shohoku, Maki watches from the stands as Sendoh runs faster and jumps higher than before, still just that little bit better than Rukawa, still taunting Sakuragi with just how much further he has yet to go.
41. stable
The status quo is maintained when Kainan defeats Shohoku in the final, and Maki’s retirement is postponed once again; Sendoh never tells him that he almost wanted Shohoku to win, if only because it would mean that Maki would have more free time to spend with him.
42. strange
Sendoh notices one day that Maki has begun to add an extra teaspoon of sugar into his coffee, and he shakes his head but doesn’t say anything when Maki looks up and asks him why he has that odd smile on his face.
43. summer
They make plans to attend the festival at the Yumoto Onsen in July, and promise to meet up everyday to go to the café or hang out at each other’s houses; Sendoh tries not to think about how far away Kyoto is, or how long it’ll be until summer.
44. taboo
Maki calls twice a week, like clockwork, and Sendoh calls whenever he feels as if he’ll curl up and die if he doesn’t hear Maki’s voice right then and there; but he never says that he misses Maki, and Maki never says it either.
45. ugly
The souvenir that Maki brings back from Kyoto is a t-shirt that Sendoh wears constantly around the house until his mother scolds him for burning her eyes with such a hideous shade of green, and she throws it into the washing machine with some bleach before he can stop her.
46. war
Sendoh refuses to talk to his mother for a week, which she actually thinks is kind of cute, but Maki eventually convinces him that it isn’t such a big deal because the colour really was too bright, and that he should make peace with his mother before she puts something poisonous in his food.
47. water
They go to the beach one day and run into Sakuragi and his friends, who try to drown each other in the ocean and then get into a big fight when some of them start to take it a little too seriously; Sendoh is more amused than surprised by their antics, though he’s very surprised to see Rukawa sleeping on a towel next to the group’s belongings.
48. welcome
The waiter at the café always smiles brightly when they walk in; Sendoh thinks that the man is very friendly, and Maki thinks that the man is madly in love with Sendoh.
49. winter
Sitting at their usual table, they make plans for the Christmas vacation, carefully not mentioning the time between then and now.
50. wood
Sendoh tastes like apricot tart and chocolate, a taste that Maki carves into his memory for the long months ahead; and when they say goodbye, what they really mean is I love you.
.fin
characters Maki, Sendoh
cross-posted 1sentence
for MakiSen Day 2006 ♥♥
01. air
The first time that Maki notices Sendoh isn’t the first time that they meet, nor is it the second; it isn’t until they meet in the electric tension of the court, the third time, that Maki pauses, looks, and sees.
02. apples
A few days after that game, they run into each other at the supermarket, their eyes meeting over the fruit stand, and Sendoh blushes without knowing why.
03. beginning
As he turns away, Maki thinks that this is a complication; he almost wishes that he had never begun to think of Sendoh as more than just another opponent to be defeated.
04. bugs
He discovers that it’s hard to approach Sendoh on the few occasions when they’re in the same place at the same time, even when he can contrive some reason for doing so; Sendoh has even more girls fluttering around him than Fujima.
05. coffee
When Sendoh approaches Maki after the Shohoku-Shoyo game and asks him if he’d like to go for a coffee, his cheeks are flushed but his gaze is steady.
06. dark
Maki takes his coffee black with one teaspoon of sugar, and he watches with a raised eyebrow as Sendoh practically empties the sugar container into his cup of white chocolate mocha.
07. despair
Sendoh’s crushed expression alarms the waiter who informs him that the last apricot tart has just been sold; he quickly offers Sendoh a complimentary raspberry tart instead, while Maki hides his smile behind his cup.
08. doors
After much internal debate, Maki finally takes the opportunity to touch Sendoh by reaching across the table and brushing away the crumbs at the corner of his mouth.
09. drink
In between sips of coffee, he also decides to ask Sendoh for his phone number.
10. duty
Sendoh finds himself still smiling the next day, and Koshino scowls at him for daydreaming instead of sweeping.
11. earth
The next time that they meet, the final siren brings Sendoh back down to earth.
12. end
As they shake hands, Maki smiles with his mouth and apologises with his eyes; he knows that tomorrow it could all end for Sendoh, and he knows that part of it would be his fault.
13. fall
Sendoh’s breath stops when Kogure’s three-pointer drops in; and in the stands, Maki looks away.
14. fire
Sendoh wonders if he could’ve done anything differently, maybe tried a little harder, as he watches Maki receive his MVP trophy and feels something kindling inside of him, a tiny spark that he's never felt before.
15. flexible
On his way home from school one day, Sendoh’s phone rings and he suddenly realises that he’s been waiting for this call ever since he gave Maki his number a month ago; he replies that yes, he’s free on Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday too, and then he wishes that he could take the last part back because he doesn’t want to sound too eager.
16. flying
Maki just says great, let’s meet in front of the cinema at six-thirty, and Sendoh hangs up with what is probably a very stupid smile on his face, floating home without really noticing where he’s going.
17. food
Maki checks his watch for the fourth time in the past minute, and wonders for the three hundred and twenty-sixth time whether he should’ve suggested that they eat something before watching the movie.
18. foot
Sendoh shows up seven minutes late, apologising sheepishly; he’d stepped in some dog poo on his way there and had to stop to clean it off.
19. grave
Maki is reminded that he hates zombie movies because they’re always set in gloomy places, and everything happens in the dark so he can never tell what’s going on; but everytime Sendoh jumps a little in his seat, their shoulders brush, and Maki finds himself concentrating on those small, accidental touches instead of the rising body count on the screen.
20. green
They end up at the same café as the last time, Sendoh raving about gory body parts as he empties the sugar container into his cup, Maki feeling just a little bit queasy as he watches him.
21. head
Maki tilts his head up at the same time that Sendoh turns his face down, and their mouths clash at first, but then soften into each other; and their first kiss is gentle, bitter from Maki’s coffee and sweet from Sendoh’s sugar.
22. hollow
When they finally pull apart, they both feel a little empty inside, as if a piece of the puzzle has been dislodged and no longer fits the same way anymore.
23. honour
Maki calls the very next day, but Sendoh always knew he would.
24. hope
Sendoh wants to go to Hiroshima to watch the IH, but he knows that Taoka-sensei has special training sessions planned for every day of the vacation; Fukuda offers to sneak off with him anyway to go and see one of Shohoku’s games, but Sendoh manages to convince him that training is more important; he doesn’t quite know how to explain that he only wishes to see Kainan play.
25. light
Maki pays for his momiji manju and pretends that he doesn’t know Kiyota, who insisted on accompanying him and is now claiming loudly to anybody who’ll listen that his ten bags of souvenirs aren’t heavy at all.
26. lost
They meet at the café the day after Maki gets back to Kanagawa, and as Sendoh stares down at the manju in his hands without really seeing it, he wonders why he feels as if he’s just found something that he didn’t even know had been missing.
27. metal
Sendoh declares that he now owes Maki something in return, and makes him try a forkful of his apricot tart.
28. new
This is different, Sendoh thinks when Maki draws his head down with a large, warm hand at the nape of his neck; this is the taste of rich dark coffee, not plastic lipstick and old bubblegum.
29. old
This is different, Maki thinks as he traces his tongue over Sendoh’s pliant lips; this is gentle and soothing, like something that he has always known.
30. peace
Sendoh drags Maki into a photo sticker booth, and beams into the camera with his fingers in a ‘V’ sign while Maki looks off to the side and tries to hold back his smile.
31. poison
Maki goes over to Sendoh’s house after Hikoichi calls to inform him that Sendoh-sempai has food poisoning and may die tomorrow so Maki-sempai should really pay him a visit; but then it turns out that Sendoh isn’t dying, and was only ill to begin with because of the ‘health drink’ that Hikoichi had made for him the day before.
32. pretty
Maki studies Sendoh’s pale face, the dark shadows beneath his eyes, and realises that he still finds him oddly beautiful; this is when the word surfaces in his mind for the first time: love.
33. rain
Sendoh waits outside the café for almost half an hour, until the waiter convinces him to go in and get out of the rain; he waits inside the café for another hour, before he finally gives up and leaves, his apricot tart still sitting on the table, untouched.
34. regret
Maki calls him that evening, but Sendoh is feeling too miserable to listen to his apologies; he sneezes twice into the phone, and then hangs up.
35. roses
The doorbell sounds a few minutes after his mother steps out to purchase some groceries, so Sendoh answers the door to find Maki on the other side, holding a big box of aloe vera tissues, two bags of throat soothers, a hand-held console with four different games, and a single white rose; and even before Maki repeats that he’s sorry, Sendoh has already forgiven him.
36. secret
Sendoh refuses to tell Maki where they’re going, saying that it’s a surprise; Maki is reminded that he doesn’t like surprises when he finds himself at the cinema, watching yet another zombie movie.
37. snakes
They sit in front of the television one lazy afternoon at Maki’s house, Sendoh flipping channels ceaselessly until he sees a nature documentary that looks interesting; he watches with wide, fascinated eyes as the habu swallows a mongoose whole, and Maki suddenly feels a strange sort of empathy with the snake.
38. snow
At the first sign of snow, Sendoh dons his scarf and gloves and big thick coat, making it hard for Maki to actually find him inside all the layers; but he tucks the scarf under Sendoh’s chin and manages to find his lips, which is enough.
39. solid
As the winter tournament draws closer, training sessions grow longer and more intense, and Sendoh sees Maki for the first time in weeks when Kainan plays Shoyo; he watches from the stands as Maki sends Fujima to the floor with a solid screen-out, before offering Fujima his hand and a smile that is returned.
40. spring
When Ryonan plays Shohoku, Maki watches from the stands as Sendoh runs faster and jumps higher than before, still just that little bit better than Rukawa, still taunting Sakuragi with just how much further he has yet to go.
41. stable
The status quo is maintained when Kainan defeats Shohoku in the final, and Maki’s retirement is postponed once again; Sendoh never tells him that he almost wanted Shohoku to win, if only because it would mean that Maki would have more free time to spend with him.
42. strange
Sendoh notices one day that Maki has begun to add an extra teaspoon of sugar into his coffee, and he shakes his head but doesn’t say anything when Maki looks up and asks him why he has that odd smile on his face.
43. summer
They make plans to attend the festival at the Yumoto Onsen in July, and promise to meet up everyday to go to the café or hang out at each other’s houses; Sendoh tries not to think about how far away Kyoto is, or how long it’ll be until summer.
44. taboo
Maki calls twice a week, like clockwork, and Sendoh calls whenever he feels as if he’ll curl up and die if he doesn’t hear Maki’s voice right then and there; but he never says that he misses Maki, and Maki never says it either.
45. ugly
The souvenir that Maki brings back from Kyoto is a t-shirt that Sendoh wears constantly around the house until his mother scolds him for burning her eyes with such a hideous shade of green, and she throws it into the washing machine with some bleach before he can stop her.
46. war
Sendoh refuses to talk to his mother for a week, which she actually thinks is kind of cute, but Maki eventually convinces him that it isn’t such a big deal because the colour really was too bright, and that he should make peace with his mother before she puts something poisonous in his food.
47. water
They go to the beach one day and run into Sakuragi and his friends, who try to drown each other in the ocean and then get into a big fight when some of them start to take it a little too seriously; Sendoh is more amused than surprised by their antics, though he’s very surprised to see Rukawa sleeping on a towel next to the group’s belongings.
48. welcome
The waiter at the café always smiles brightly when they walk in; Sendoh thinks that the man is very friendly, and Maki thinks that the man is madly in love with Sendoh.
49. winter
Sitting at their usual table, they make plans for the Christmas vacation, carefully not mentioning the time between then and now.
50. wood
Sendoh tastes like apricot tart and chocolate, a taste that Maki carves into his memory for the long months ahead; and when they say goodbye, what they really mean is I love you.
.fin