I Want to Say I Love You Out Loud

While watching Slam Dunk, I noticed a few things that didn't quite add up. Rukawa Kaede loves basketball so much that he practically forgets to eat or sleep. Surely he would have known about Mitsui Hisashi, who won an MVP award back in middle school, but he doesn't seem to recognize him. Then there's Ayako. Given how much she loves basketball, she could have been the manager of her middle school team, too, yet Rukawa doesn't seem to know her either, or perhaps he does but they aren't close. Since Ayako knows Rukawa and even knows he's grown taller, he must have joined Tomigaoka Junior High after she had already left the basketball team, probably because she was busy preparing for entrance exams. But she could still have kept up with the team. The only explanation is that Rukawa wasn't a student at Tomigaoka before his third year of middle school, and perhaps he wasn't even from Kanagawa. That would explain why he didn't know Mitsui. The story starts from this premise. It may seem like I'm exploiting a loophole in the original author's work, so I hope you'll be understanding.

Chishima Mika is a girl who grew up with Rukawa Kaede. She's a little devious, loves to eat, and is simplehearted. Her greatest joy is coming up with one crazy idea after another to get a reaction out of Rukawa and put a new expression on his poker face. Mika is different from everyone else to Rukawa. Having grown up together, he's used to her being around, just as he's used to carrying a basketball with him every day. These childhood friends are both a little slow to recognize their feelings. When will they realize that the person beside them is the one they love most?