Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Miss Match ❯ Crumpled Building ( Chapter 30 )

Arigatou Seiya for continuous support, I hope u like this chapter!!!!

Chapter 30

Rukawa was still holding onto Yuna when the earthquake stopped. He could feel her quivering as she lay on his chest. He looked down at her, and saw her face stunned beyond recognition. His embraced tightened around her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Yuna who had lost her voice could only nod her head softly.

"Don't worry we will get out of here," Rukawa said softly.

"I'm scared…" Yuna muttered.

"I'll protect you." Rukawa said gently. Something he had thought about long ago but unable to tell Yuna. He had finally told her.

Yuna tightened her arms around him hiding her face on his chest. Rukawa took a deep breath and looked around the surrounding. The wall had crumpled around them though they were lucky that the ceiling didn't collapse on them. They were trapped in very small space of the room, and if the rescue team didn't find them soon, he knew that they will run out of oxygen in a few hours time.

*************************************************************** *********

"Akira, Akira!" Mrs. Sendoh called. "Come and look, at the news!"

"What is it mother?"

"Isn't that the hotel, Yuna is staying?" Mrs. Sendoh asked watching the television where the news had broadcast, after the earthquake.

Sendoh watched the television with his mother, the hotel had toppled over after the severe earthquake and had trapped over two hundred people inside was the hotel Yuna was staying at. Sendoh stood up immediately and ran out of the room.

Please be alright, Yuna? Sendoh thought worriedly as he raced down the havoc street. Everyone was in confusion after the earthquake. It was a lucky thing nothing much happened to the hotel he was at. He prayed that Yuna was alright.

When he reached the scene of the hotel, ambulance, fire brigade, even bulldozers were called to the place. Police was constructing the traffic around and trying to keep as much on lookers away from the place. He ran up to one of the police officers.

"I have a friend in there!" Sendoh said anxiously to him. "I was wondering if there is anyone safe yet."

"So far we are able to get only thirty people out of this rack." The police officer said. "There are still over hundred of people still inside. Please stay aside, let me do our job sir."

"I want to help!" Sendoh said stopping the police officer who was about to walk away. "The more people helping the faster we will be able to help these people!"

The police officer looked at him for a moment before he nodded his head.

*************************************************************** *********

Rukawa could feel Yuna breathing heavily after seemed like an hour had passed. They had begun to sweat because their oxygen was running out. He shut his eyes tightly, he had no intension of dying in here. He didn't want Yuna to die like this too. He stroke Yuna's hair gently.

"Are we going to get out of here?" Yuna asked softly. "It seemed like nobody found us yet…"

"They will…" Rukawa said with confidence. He still had his arms around Yuna. He could feel Yuna's body had started to go very limp against him. "Don't fall asleep… anything you do… don't sleep." He said anxiously.

Yuna smiled softly. "Iya, I won't sleep…"

Rukawa touched Yuna's face softly lifting it up so that she looked at him. She was smiling up at him even though she looked awfully pale now. Rukawa looked down at her worriedly.

"I won't sleep," Yuna repeated. "I feel really happy being here with you."

Rukawa raised his eyebrows slightly. "You can still joke in this situation?"

Yuna shook her head softly, "I'm not joking…" she whispered. Her smiled slowly faded away as her eyes closed slowly and her head fell on Rukawa's chest again.

"Yuna…" Rukawa shook her slightly; there was no respond from her as she lay limply on him. "Yuna wake up… don't sleep!"

Yuna groaned slightly. "I'm ok…" she whispered. "Gomen… didn't mean to worry you…"

Rukawa sighed with relieve. "Don't scare me like that…"

"Sumimesen… doze off for a while…"

There as a short silence before Rukawa started talking hoping that Yuna wouldn't fall back to sleep again.

"Do you ever wonder why I am always this cold and emotionless?" Rukawa asked softly as his arms around Yuna tightened. He felt her nodding her head.

"Hai, I always thought that your face would crack if you start showing emotions."

"Baka…" Rukawa whispered. "Let me tell you something that I had never told anyone before. I started playing basketball ever since was very young. It started out as a hobby and an interested because I am always alone. My parents are always away on business trip or they will be in Tokyo. Anyways, the more I started to play the more obsessed I became. I would always go over to this park to practice alone and I met someone there. She was around my age I think and she will be always up sitting on the lowest branch of a tree next to the court watching me."

Yuna moved slightly in his arm but didn't answer so Rukawa continued.

"One day while I was practicing my three pointers and none of my shots went in, she told me that I let the ball go too fast and for the first time, she came down from that tree and into the court. I was curious how a girl like her would know anything about basketball, so I let her show me how to do it. I was surprised that the ball went in. From that day onwards we always practice together. She became my bestfriend. It's weird that I say she was my bestfriend, because I never knew her name. But one day, she just never turned up in the court ever again. I waited for her night and day and she never came. First it was my parents always leaving me, then someone I thought was my friend left me too. From that day onwards I vow to myself I would never let anyone hurt me again. I started to be by myself always. I can't really remember how she looked like anymore. It had been such a long time ago."

"Gomen…" Yuna whispered.

"What for?"

Yuna chuckled softly. "You know this is the second time I heard you talk so much."

"…"

"I wish to be as tall as you are so playing basketball would be so easy." Yuna said in a whisper. "Because of my height I practiced on my three pointers and become really good at it."

"But you suck…" Rukawa said remembering the time he saw her throws. However before he wanted to say more something clicked in his mind.

Years back in the court with the girl…

"I really wish to be as tall as you." The little girl said to Rukawa. "I play basketball too, but because of my height I nearly got voted off the team. So I practice on my three pointers and become really good at it."

End of Rukawa's thoughts.

Now that he recalled the little girl had brown hair and eyes that resembled Yuna. He could feel Yuna moved slightly in his arms as she lifted her head up from his chest and tilted her face up to look at him. She was wearing a guilty smile on her face.

"Gomen…" She whispered again.

Rukawa looked at her confused. Now that their face so closed together, he could really see the resemblance between the little girl and Yuna.

"We make a good team don't we?" Yuna smiled.

Rukawa's eyes widened with surprised at her question.

Another of Rukawa's passed with the little girl…

"Hey you, we want to play basketball go away!" An older boy came up to Rukawa pushed him away.

"I came here first, you should go somewhere else!" Rukawa retorted. He hated to be pushed around like that. "Leave me alone!"

"I'll make you go away then!" The older boy said crushing his knuckles making cracking noises as his two other friends followed behind him advancing towards Rukawa.

Rukawa who was much smaller than them at that time, back away slightly and then to his surprised. Two of the other boys who were following this big bully sank to the ground with a loud crash.

"What the…?" The older boy turned around with surprised looking at his friends' unconscious on the ground and saw a girl standing behind him with her hands on her hips staring angrily at him. "You little…" he advanced towards her.

Rukawa ran towards the bully and sank his fists down his jaw before he could do anything to his bestfriend. He fell unconscious too, laying on the ground with the rest of his friends.

"We make a good team don't we?" The girl said with a grin.

End of Rukawa's thoughts.

Rukawa stared at Yuna who was still smiling slightly up at him.

"Like you said, it had been a long time…" Yuna said softly. "I had totally forgotten about the childhood friend I had. I never had friends you know. Then I thought I had lost all my friends especially the weird boy at the basketball court when I left for China. I never knew that he could still remember about it until now. Gomen… I didn't mean to forget. Besides I don't really know his name … we were like strangers to one another though we play basketball together."

"…."

"Gomen, I didn't mean to leave you all by yourself."

Rukawa buried his face on Yuna's shoulder hugging her as if he was depending his life on her. Yuna had been that little girl all this time and he never even knew that he had finally found his `bestfriend'.

"Rukawa…" Yuna whispered. "Nani…"

"I'll never let you leave again!" Rukawa whispered. "Never…"

"I won't…" Yuna whispered in returned as her arms encircled his waist.

A sudden knocking sound made them stop talking as they hold on to each other looking at the direction the sound was coming from. They hoped that it was not another earthquake. If it is, they know that the walls around them would collapse on them. Soon the knocking sound became closer and then something sharp poked through the walls. Yuna turned away burying her head on Rukawa's chest again. Suddenly light shown out from the tiny hole.

"Anyone down there?" They heard someone shouted.

Yuna turned back to the hole, a smile spreading over her face.

"It's the rescue team!" Yuna exclaimed softly.

"Are you alright?" The person shouted. "I need to dig a bigger hole to get you all out of there! Who ever it is down there stay away, I will be drilling a bigger hole for you to get through!"

"Hai!" Yuna replied happily. She turned to look at Rukawa who was smiling softly at her too.

They waited for them to drill a bigger hole, when the hole was finally big enough for them to get through, he shouted to them again.

"One at the time!"

Rukawa and Yuna had to crawl over there because the ceiling had fallen so low on them they couldn't stand up. Letting Yuna go through first Rukawa, helped her get through the hole. The man from the other side of the hole was pulling her through as well. After getting passed she turned around to Rukawa to help him.

"Just the two of you?" The man asked.

Yuna nodded.

"Alright be careful now." He said guiding them out. "These walls are weak; they will fall down anytime, so we have to hurry."

Walking down the path slowly, the man brought them to the exit, when they reached the exit, another quiver of the floor made Yuna and Rukawa stopped on their tracks.

"Oh no, not again?" Yuna whispered looking down the ground.

"Hurry, through the exit!" The man shouted running to the exit.

Yuna turned towards the exit and saw the ceiling crumpling down the exit path. Feeling a hard shove from behind, Yuna was pushed towards the exit- she fell hard on the floor face down. When she looked up again, she realized that she had already gone through the exit but Rukawa however was still inside. Yuna eyes widened with shock as she watched the ceiling crumpling down the exit path, blocking Rukawa in the building, Yuna then reached an arm out towards him.

"RUKAWAAAAAA!" She screamed.