Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Martyrs Of Love ❯ Chapter Two ~ A Ghost From The Past ( Chapter 2 )

Martyrs of Love

Chapter Two ~ A Ghost From The Past

-At the school cafeteria-

"...And then he sat near Jueru-kun." Koshino finished describing the morning's events with a flourish.

"What's so special about that, Kosh? It's not as if other schools don't get their fair share of transfer students as well..." Fukuda yawned, bored.

"It's not that." Koshino protested, shaking his head. "There is something about him that seems so...so arrogant...so confident...or whatchamacallit. All I know is that I hated him the moment I saw him."

Fukuda frowned. "Wait just a minute."

"What?" Koshino snapped.

"This guy, you're talking about, just transferred here this morning right?"

"Right."

"So..." Fukuda spoke slowly, as if he were speaking to a child. "Why the instant dislike to him?"

"I Don't Know!" Koshino yelled. "If I knew, I'd have solved the problem of racial discrimination in Africa!"

Fukuda raised an eyebrow. "You dislike the guy..."

Koshino scowled. "Yes!"

"And you don't know why." Fukuda concluded, bringing the absurdity of their situation into light.

"Fukky..." Koshino warned his patience near the end of his tether.

Fukuda held up his hands to show his surrender. He had to admit it though. Koshino might be constantly short-tempered and suspicious most (actually he was thinking 'all' but...) of the time, BUT he was not the type to judge anyone on first impression, especially a guy he had just met for, what, 3 or 4 hours?

"And you know what? I caught him staring at Sendoh several times throughout the morning lessons." Koshino said.

Fukuda was inclined to dismiss it. The above occurrence was not so strange that he should be surprised at it. "Well, what d'ya know?" He chuckled. "Oi Sendoh! You have just gotten yourself another rabid admirer. Y'know Sendoh, sometimes I wonder what exactly is it about you that attracts them like bees to honey."

Sendoh did not reply. He had spaced out some time during that brief exchange between his two teammates. In fact, one wonders if he did, indeed, even hear the comment made by Fukuda.

The two friends looked at him, puzzled, realizing that he had neither said a word since the start of break nor had he bothered to eat his food, which was strange, considering that Sendoh lived for lunch break especially when he was in school.

"Sendoh?" Fukuda asked, concerned.

"Probably about his Boy-Friend" Koshino joked, laying the emphasis on boyfriend in hopes that the mention of Rukawa would bring the guy back down on Earth. "He simply can't wait for the school to finish so he can go and pick up Rukawa, what with their current living arrangements...I would bet that the Hentai is thinking of the many ways he can...*cough, cough* you know"

"What? Sendoh and Rukawa are living together?" Fukuda's eyes sparkled in amusement.

"Yeah! Sendoh moved in Rukawa's place last year, a mere week before the school ended for the holidays. Haven't you heard?"

"I knew that Sendoh had moved from his old apartment, I didn't know about the moving in with Rukawa part though..."

"Why else would you think he came 'unusually' early today?"

"No wonder...He lives in Shohoku district now." Fukuda turned his attention to Sendoh. "Congratulations, Captain... You've once again proved yourself to be worthy of the title "Resident Hentai Of Shohoku No. 1."

Sendoh did not respond. His friends' attempts to draw him out had failed miserably.

Seeing thus, Koshino and Fukuda exchanged glances, and decided to go for Plan B.

"That's it." Koshino took a deep breath as Fukuda promptly covered his ears for whatever meager protection his hands would provide. "SENDOH AKIRA! WAKE UP!"

"What the-?" Sendoh jumped out of his seat...only to find the whole cafeteria looking at their direction. He sweatdropped lightly. "What's wrong? Did I do anything to invite attention?"

Koshino and Fukuda sweatdropped.

"You didn't." Koshino answered. "You were just floating away to some distant planet in the galaxy when we decided to call you."

"Oh." Sendoh still looked rather clueless. "Oh."

Fukuda frowned slightly. Something was definitely wrong with Sendoh. But for the life of him, he just can't tell what was bothering the Ryonan Ace.

There was some murmurs around them coming from the students. Koshino quickly took care of their unwanted 'limelight' by shooting a "few" murderous glares around, warning the students that they should return to whatever they were doing and leave the three friends in peace

"What's up, man?" Fukuda asked anxiety evident on his normally expressionless face. "This morning you were laughing and joking happily. Now you look as if you've just met a ghost."

Sendoh shivered slightly.

"A ghost?" He whispered, feeling the hair on his neck stand on end as an unmistakable pair of eyes placed him under close scrutiny.

He shuddered, afraid of what he would see should he choose to turn around.

He already knew who was looking at him.

But he did not want to meet the owner of those eyes.

Did he have a choice in deciding so?

It appeared not that he did not.

For he turned around reluctantly, the grudging movements of his body made all the more visible as he took his time in turning around, all the while commanded by some unseen force that took great pleasure in intensifying the fear he had hidden deep within him.

He saw Shouzen staring at him from faraway table.

It was exactly as he expected really.

They stared at each other silently, each daring the other to break the hold.

So why was there that fear?

Sendoh felt himself unable to break their eye contact as if he was under a spell that drained his will to move.

Finally, Shouzen smiled, got up and left the cafeteria, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"You know him." It was a statement, not a question.

Sendoh fought to stem the rising hysteria within him.

He looked at Koshino, outwardly puzzled. "Why do you say that, Kosh?"

Lord…He was damned proud of the way he held his voice steady, choosing to speak in a natural way when his insides was a jumbled mess.

"I can give you ten and twenty reasons why I think that is so. So how 'bout these for starters? 1. You've been acting strangely ever since that guy was introduced to the class. 2. You two have been staring at each other for the longest time yet." Koshino crossed his hands in front of his chest, an uncompromising look set on that face of his. "Do You Know Him Or Not?"

"I...I..." Sendoh lowered his head, at a rare loss for words.

"Speechless?" Fukuda raised a quizzical eyebrow. "The Great Sendoh Akira? I thought I'd never live to see the day."

Sendoh raised his head, his eyes beseeching his friends to change the subject at hand. He was not ready. Not to tell them the whole truth, at least.

Koshino let out a hefty sigh, disappointed.

Fukuda faked a cough, "Today's your first day as the captain of the team... what do you want to do?"

**********

"Sendoh." Koshino caught up with Sendoh as the latter made his way to the school gate.

Sendoh waited his friend to catch up before they resumed their walk out.

"Care to tell me what's wrong?" Koshino probed lightly; he didn't want Sendoh to be angered in any way.

"I'm fine." Sendoh replied quietly. "Nothing's wrong."

Koshino stood right in front of Sendoh, stopping the taller boy in his tracks. "Akira...you aren't exactly a good actor, y'know?"

"And what would you mean by that?" Sendoh stopped, glaring at Koshino annoyed.

"It means that there 'IS' something bothering you…and it's related to that new student," Koshino said firmly returning Sendoh's glare.

Sendoh sighed, defeated by the other's persistence. "Will you ever give up?"

Koshino flashed him a cheeky smile, knowing that he'd just won the first battle. "Not until the end of time, kiddo. I'm not one to give up so easily."

They resumed their walk as Koshino took his place by Sendoh's side.

"So?" Koshino wasn't going to leave the matter as it was.

"You're one helluva persistent guy, y'know that?"

"Yes." Said guy smiled at him sweetly again. "On with the story of your life, please."

"Ok. You're right. On both counts." Sendoh frowned as Koshino smirked widely. "Will you stop that?"

"Nope." Said the boy, still grinning. "I rarely have a chance to lord it over you like this. I might as well milk it for all it's worth."

Sendoh muttered a few unsavory comments about friends and such under his breath.

Koshino only laughed. "Without friends like me, whom would you turn to when you want to confide in for problems?"

"With friends like you, I don't need enemies." Sendoh gamely retorted.

"True, true." Koshino turned serious. "So you do know that boy from Tokyo." Koshino said. "Who is he then? Why are you so bothered by his presence?"

"He was part of that group I told you about. He was just one of the boys I knew back in Tokyo." Sendoh paused before he continued, "In fact he was my Ex."

Koshino choked. "He was your What-?"

Sendoh rolled his eyes. "My Ex."

Koshino's eyes widened. "Your EX? The one you've told me about?"

Sendoh nodded.

"You had told me that he died that night!"

"That was what I thought. *sigh* It looks like I was wrong."

"But his name? You told me your Ex's name was-?" Koshino wrung his hands about, at a total loss for words to describe what he felt about the situation at the moment.

"Shouzen Ouji is his real name, I think. I only knew those people by their aliases. Everyone had an alias. I knew who he was and what sort of a role he played in the gang. Other than that, I knew little else."

"Boy, that's really complicated. But hey how come you know his real name?"

"I was his boyfriend." Sendoh's answer was straightforward. "Of course, it helped that my mom and his father were together too."

Koshino massaged his forehead. "This is why I hate big cities. Why do things always have to be so complicated up there?"

"You think that's complicated? You should see the big players." Sendoh's voice held no hint of amusement. "In any case, I'm glad I managed to get out."

"I'm glad too, now that I know more about it." Koshino smiled mischievously, nudging his friend with an elbow. "So tell me...is Akira Sendoh your real name?"

Sendoh glared at his friend annoyed.

Upon receiving that potent DEATH™ glare of Sendoh's, Koshino raised his hands, laughing. "Come on…I was joking"

"Sorry. Bad joke to make."

Koshino laughed. "Boy, Rukawa must have a bigger influence over you than what you realize. Your answers are down to near one-liners!"

With that said, he chortled as Sendoh stared furiously at him.

Managing to compose himself, he said, "You're worried about Shouzen's reasons for re-entering your life, right?"

Sendoh looked away. "It is too much of a coincidence to assume that his choice of this school was a random decision. I only wonder why he chose to look for me now, of all times."

"Sendoh." Koshino placed a hand on Sendoh's shoulder. "Whatever that guy wants from you, remember this: You're not alone in this. We would never leave you out in the lurch."

"Thanks, Kosh." Sendoh smiled. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Well, here we are." Koshino said as the two stood in front of the station entrance. "See you tomorrow..."

Koshino was about to walk away when he remembered something. "Sendoh, behave ok?" He winked slyly at the spiky-headed boy, "...And send my regards to Rukawa!"

"Koshi-"

Koshino laughed easily. "Ja ne!"

"Ja!"

With that Sendoh entered the station to catch Shohoku district's train.

**********

Rukawa peeked at Sendoh as the latter stood in the kitchen preparing dinner.

He sighed deeply.

Sendoh had been acting strangely tonight.

He'd been awfully silent all the way home.

Rukawa had expected him to babble all the way home about his first day as the captain of the basketball team, about girls and how they kept swarming around him, about his friends and teammates, about how much he missed Rukawa...but surprisingly none of these came from the spiky-head boy's mouth.

Instead, what he got was a silence not unlike those he often blessed the other with.

And when they got home, he just took quick shower and then started to do his homework, after that they played a little on-on-one, which Sendoh was so distracted during it that he kept losing the ball, in the private court downstairs.

Then Sendoh headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner, without a single word.

Rukawa took deep breath and walked up to his lover.

He was afraid.

Afraid of what would be Sendoh's answer when he asked what was the matter with him.

Afraid that Sendoh had regretted his decision.

So afraid...but love was something stronger than that fear.

And he knew he'd die to see Sendoh happy...even if it meant that he would be hurting forever in the process.

Hugging him from behind, Rukawa asked, "Akira is something wrong?"

Sendoh stiffened. "Why would you say that?" Sendoh asked; his voice was strangely even.

Rukawa bit his lip; he felt his tears forming in his eyes. To him, it was as if his worse fears had been confirmed.

He let his hands drop to his sides and asked, his voice trembling. "Are you still upset, Akira? I thought you'd have forgotten already."

Sendoh frowned slightly. He dropped what was in his hands and turned around puzzled.

"Why should I be upset?" he asked, this time his voice was soft and confused.

"Lots of things." Rukawa whispered, lowering his eyes. "Including the house and that holiday in Nagano..."

He steadfastly avoided Sendoh's eyes. "We've always been doing things my way since we first started on this relationship...And lately, about the house...I knew that you wanted us to live in your apartment but I couldn't leave my home...I've been living in it since I was born and...and...I went ahead to book and for that holiday in Nagano without even consulting you and...and..."

"Whoa, boy." Sendoh placed his finger on Rukawa's mouth, raising his head. "Stop that. You know that I'm perfectly happy doing things your way. And besides..." He smiled at an apprehensive Kaede. "As long as we're together and happy, it doesn't matter whom way we do things. I don't mind living anywhere, yes even in Alaska," He said with a soft chuckle upon seeing a disbelieving expression on his love's face. "In any case, it's been almost 3 months since I moved in...Don't you think that's enough time to forget my so-called 'upset', which I wasn't anyway?" He chuckled slightly at the mutinous look on his lover's face. "And you know I enjoyed that vacation in Nagano. It's just as well you paid for it...seeing that I'm never good in suggesting holidays." He winked at Rukawa. "And there was the matter of these numerous *ahem* lovely things we enjoyed doing together..."

"Baka Hentai Smiley." Rukawa's blush had turned his normally pale complexion into a startling scarlet.

But Sendoh's words had comforted him. And he showed it, kissing Sendoh lightly on the lips. Sendoh pulled his significant other into his arms, knowing that he needed that reassurance. Rukawa tensed, then relaxed as his body conformed to Sendoh's body shape.

"Yes..." Rukawa smiled "I guess so."

"Silly boy." Sendoh pressed his lips to Rukawa's forehead. "Don't think too much."

They stayed like that for some time in easy comfort, until the whistling of the boiling kettle right next to them shocked them out of their relaxed mood.

Looking at each other, they both smiled. Sendoh then went to attend to the kettle while Rukawa watched him.

Recalling what had prompted him to ask that question in the first place, Rukawa frowned.

Sendoh had not answered his question.

"Anou, Aki..." He tried again. "If you weren't mad at me, then why were you...?" He waved his hands in the sir, failing to find an appropriate enough term to describe Sendoh's behavior previously.

Sendoh turned his head and smiled. "I think I'm just extremely tired that's all..."

Rukawa's brow furrowed again. "Aki, if you're too tired, I'll continue the dinner."

"No. Today is my turn to do dinner. Out you go now to relax while I can prepare the best French cuisine that you've ever eaten in your life." Sendoh turned Rukawa's body around and pushed him gently.

"Are you sure a big clumsy oaf like you can match up to making fine French cuisine?" Rukawa teased, putting up a show of resistance as he was pushed outside.

"*Bien entendu, chèr" Sendoh kissed Rukawa's neck lightly, sending chills down the latter's back. "Now shoo! Let me finish my preparations for dinner."

Rukawa smiled and went to watch TV while Sendoh finishes his dinner.

**********

Sendoh looked at his sandwich and sighed.

His mind had drifted again to Shouzen while he was cooking which cause the meat and the vegetables to burn and the soup to boil over, not to mention all the cuts he got while preparing the salad.

In short his 'best' dinner was pure disaster. 

"Kaede," he looked at boy infront of him. "I'm sorry I messed up our dinner."

"No matter," Rukawa smiled. "Besides, Pan Bagnat is a French dish. It's just that it's a sandwich."

"Thanks..." Sendoh scratched his head absently. "I seem to be so uncoordinated today...I just don't know why..."

"It's ok, Akira. Say what, after we finish…I'll make the dessert, ok?"

"Sure." Sendoh narrowed his eyes, grinning in a most feral manner. "I was planning to make **chocolate Fondue...Any ideas on how to make that?"

"Akira." Rukawa narrowed his eyebrows; crossing is hands infront of his chest "NO. NO. Now I know why you wanted to make French dishes for dinner."

Sendoh grinned widely. "Come on, Kaede...It's nice to have Fondue from time to time."

"Yes, but..." Rukawa tried to stop that damnable blush from resurfacing. "Somehow I always end up as your dessert..."

"Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't want it."

"I...I...I... " Rukawa felt his cheeks getting hot; his eyes dropped down.

"See?" Sendoh's smile widened. "You want it too."

"Baka." With that Rukawa got up and went to make the dessert.

Minutes later, he came carrying a tray on it with two small bowls and a big bowl full of fruits.

Sendoh took one and dropped a strawberry into the fondue. After he took a bit, he leaned on Rukawa and kissed him on the lips.

He nibbled Rukawa's lower lip for a while, and then traced his jawbone with soft kisses.

Rukawa felt dizzy with all the kisses he was receiving. He said, trying to hold up a moan "Akira, stop...The tradition only cites one kiss..."

"Says who?" Sendoh nipped at Rukawa's neck, causing the latter to cry out softly. "I'm creating my own set of rules for Fondue from now on."

"Akira...you're supposed to eat fruits with the Fondue..." Rukawa moved slightly, trying to dislodge one Sendoh Akira. "not me"

"I don't want anymore...I just want you..." With that, Sendoh rained kisses on his lover's jaw, neck and conveniently disposing of his lover's shirt, slipping his hands beneath to touch that smooth, smooth skin underneath.

"Akira...There are...better places…to...to...Shit..." Rukawa moaned; he was utterly aroused. "We better go upstairs..."

"OK. We'll go. My way, that is." Saying thus, complete with an absolutely devious smile on that angelic face of his, Sendoh scooped Rukawa's body up and walked towards to the stairs.

"Sendoh Akira, put me down this instance!"

"I thought you were complaining about me always doing things your way?"

"Yes, but this is...this is..." Rukawa could not find words to describe his mortification.

Sendoh laughed and stopped midway on the staircase, looking deeply into Rukawa's eyes. "Don't worry...I would never ever think of letting you fall."

"It is not that!" Rukawa flushed. "Just... Just put me down!"

Sendoh put on a mock-strict look. "I said we're going up my way. Any problem with that?"

Rukawa glared at him. "YES!"

Sendoh chuckled, enjoying Rukawa's show of indignance. "Say, you were right, you know? It's really fun to do things my way."

"That's why I prefer mine" Rukawa glared at him "'coz you are a big hentai and I get scared when we are alone"

Sendoh looked mock-shocked. "What? Me? A Hentai?" He sighed melodramatically. Then his eyes opened and he grinned predatorily once more. "Shall we put that to the test?"

"Hentai." Rukawa sighed, shaking his head and settling peaceably in his arms. "I wonder why I love you."

Sendoh just laughed merrily

And so the night went by happily for the lovers who indulged in many Hentai fantasies and all the thoughts about Shouzen were forgotten for a while.

T.B.C.

* Of course, dear (French)

** In case you were wondering, Tradition states that if you drop your fruit into the fondue you must kiss the person opposite you.