Read all of slam dunk in like 2-3 days and watched the movie, got attached to Ryota & Ayako only to find out there is like almost no fan content. Most of the fics I have read I had to translate from Chinese/Mandarin. Which would be fine if google actually translated it correctly. I also got here late so everyone is gone except for like 2 janitors and a hand full of dust bunnies.😭
So there's been fanart imagining if Ayako was the star point guard on a girls basketball team and if Ryota was the team manager.
Just for fun I wanted to write down my thoughts imagining this really fun AU!
(Wrote this on my side twt account initially so I'm just sharing it here since I liked it )
Ayako
Part of the starting line up of the Shohoku girls basketball team as the point guard, number 7!
Has been a really strong player since jr high, she was scouted to go play for schools with strong basketball programs but decided to go to Shohoku to get guidance from Anzai sensei (in this AU he coaches girls basketball instead of boys basketball)
Her super cool, outgoing and friendly personality in canon is carried through into this AU, so that plus her skill make a lot of the girls on the team admire and look up to her
It's understood that she will take on the captain role once she's a 3rd year player
She plans to continue playing basketball after high school, at least through university
Miyagi
Was a point guard in jr high, with a lot of natural talent and potential
However, he ultimately decided not to continue playing in high school-in canon he says that he was "contemplating" whether he should continue playing in high school despite playing in jr high. Technically we don't know how much weight was behind this statement but in this AU I imagine he ultimately decides not to continue (the reasons relating to his complicated feelings surrounding his brother passing)
Even though he decides not to continue, by chance he sees Ayako at the gym during girl's team practice and was so inspired by her and wanted to support her-so he decided to join as the team manager
Since he still tries to like act like a "cool guy" all the girls on the team love to tease him
However, since he has really sharp-strong basketball knowledge and becomes skilled in first aid/managing injuries all the girls really respect him as their team manager
In this AU he sometimes still has tussles with bullies and skipped class a lot during his first year, but after being told off by Ayako he does try to straighten out. During his second year two of the team's strongest players are at risk for failing their midterms-so he holds a cram session at his (family's) apartment and the girls are stunned to find out he's pretty smart and a good tutor (he's not on the honor roll or anything though because he still only does the bare minimum in most of his classes lol)
His best friend is still Yasuda, and like in canon they played basketball together in middle school. In this AU though Yasuda goes to a different high school and plays basketball there, but they live near each other so they hang out and/or call each other often. Yasuda and Ayako have met a couple of times.
Ayako and Miyagi's dynamic together
Carried through from canon: Ryota does proclaim his feelings for Ayako pretty much since day 1, but Ayako also turns him down (she wants to focus on basketball, but offers for them to be friends)
Carried through from canon: Ryota tries to get over her trying to be with other girls, only to get a string of rejections (he just gets exhausted and just gives up on this, and like in canon the other girls know that he's still not over Ayako)
In this AU Ryota has been the one to proclaim that Ayako is on the path to becoming the "number 1 point guard" in the prefecture, ever since their first year. This surprises Ayako since that's not necessarily how she sees herself nor is that a specific goal she set for herself, but it secretly makes her happy whenever he says it.
During that cram session Ayako is there too since she's on the honor roll, although she already knows how smart Ryota is. What does pleasantly surprise her though is how patient he is explaining things to the other players.
Ryota and Ayako do meet up occasionally on the Sundays to help Ayako practice, so Ayako does know how good Ryota is at basketball. She doesn't understand why he decided to quit playing when it's obvious that he loves it and is a great player
While he is a great listener to Ayako and things that she's thinking about, it takes a while for him to open up to her about himself.
In this AU their prior meeting in Piercing doesn't happen
