Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Shohoku's Pride ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Raped. That single word echoed through the minds of Mitsui and Kogure after the emergency room doctor had given them his impression based on the results of his physical examination. To their horror, this same word was repeated not just once, but several times by Hanamichi himself as he was talking to the police investigator. The redhead even mentioned the name of the man who had violated with such savagery their poor teammate. Takeda Hinomoru. How could Shohoku's ace have gotten involved with a vicious crime lord like Takeda?

"This is the break that we've been waiting for, Sakuragi-kun," the investigator pointed it out to the power forward. "If you could convince your friend to testify against Takeda, we'll put him in prison for the rest of his life."

Hanamichi solemnly bowed to the policeman. "I'll do everything I can, sir. I'll also file a corroborating statement against Takeda."

When the police were finally gone, Mitsui laid a hand on the redhead's tense shoulder. "I've talked to Akagi and Sensei on the phone. They're demanding to know how Rukawa is, what happened. They and the entire team were going to come here, but I begged them not to. I don't think it would be good for Rukawa to have them see him in this state."

The Freshman patted his teammate's hand. "Arigato, Mit-chin. You did the right thing."

"Rukawa doesn't want to stay in the hospital. I tried to convince him, but he's very adamant about it." Kogure fixed his glasses that had slipped down the bridge of his nose. "He says Takeda might find him here."

"His fear is justified, Megane-kun," said Hanamichi in turn. "Takeda has connections."

"The doctor was against his being discharged early, but I explained to him that we didn't have a choice. He said that Rukawa should stay in the recovery room for two hours and then I'm going to take him home. My parents are in Kobe, visiting my aunt who just gave birth. They'll be gone for about two weeks, so Rukawa and I will have the place to ourselves."

"Hai, Kogure-san. Hopefully, he'll be safe there with you."

"Sakuragi, could you please tell us what happened?" Mitsui inquired for the hundredth time that day. "How do you know all this?"

Leaving out the involvement of the team captains of Kanagawa Prefecture, Hanamichi told his friends everything. By the time he was through, both Seniors were close to tears.

"All this time..." Kogure's voice shook from the strain of holding back his tears. "We're so blind and stupid not to see this horrible thing happening right under our noses."

"I'm at greater fault here," Hanamichi said in deep remorse. "I saw with my own two eyes what Takeda was doing to him." He lifted his hands, stared at his trembling palms, and closed them into fists. "But I did nothing!"

"But you're doing something about it now, Hanamichi," Mitsui put in reassuringly. "That's what counts. It's not too late."

"It isn't? You saw what they did to him!" the redhead mumbled sadly as he went inside the recovery room, the two Seniors following behind him.

"Hanamichi?" Rukawa's weak voice greeted him from the bed.

Sitting on a chair beside the damaged boy, Hanamichi cupped the ace's ice cold hand in the heat of his grasp, kissing the fingertips.

"I kept my promise to you, Doahou,"Rukawa whispered with a smile, trying to sound cheerful. "I didn't run you over with my bike."

"Why, Rukawa?" Hanamichi breathed out the question. "Why did Takeda hurt you like this?"

Rukawa stared at the ceiling for several seconds. Sighing, he revealed, "Ojisan didn't want me to go back to Shohoku. He was determined to transfer me to a school close to his base of operations. I stubbornly refused to obey him. When he saw that I could not be moved, he suddenly offered me my freedom on two...on the condition that I serve him one last time. I...I didn't know he would be bringing...guests."

Hanamichi didn't have to ask what those 'guests' did to the ace. The rope burns were angry marks on Rukawa's wrists and ankles. They had seen the bruises and bite marks all over his battered flesh.

"But I survived it, Hanamichi," Rukawa reassured him, although the agony of his ordeal was very visible in his shadow-rimmed eyes. "For you, I bore it all because I promised you I would go back to Shohoku. The team needs me. You need me, Sakuragi-kun."

The redhead pounded an angry fist on the bed, startling the other boy, as his tears began to pour. "But I never wanted you to get hurt like this." Squeezing the ace's hand hard, he stressed, "Don't you ever do this again, Rukawa! Do you hear me? I don't want you to make any sacrifices for me! I can't stand to see you like this!"

Rukawa's other hand lifted from the bed to cup the power forward's face. "Hanamichi, please don't cry! I hate to see you crying! I swear I won't do this again!"

Bending down, Hanamichi embraced Rukawa, their bodies shaking as they wept. "I'll protect you, Kitsune! On my life, I swear he'll never lay a finger on you again!"

To give the Freshmen privacy, Kogure pulled the curtains close. When he was done, he turned just in time to see Mitsui sneaking out of the room. Hastily following the shooting guard, he grabbed his teammate's wrist before he could walk away.

"I'm not leaving," Mitsui said listlessly. "Just tell Hanamichi I'll be waiting for him in the lobby."

"Mit-chin, please don't go yet. We have to talk," Kogure begged the other boy. "We must settle this matter between us."

"You made it perfectly clear to me what your feelings are, Kogure. I don't think my heart could take another beating."

"It was never my intention to hurt you. Mitsui, I beg you to listen to what I have to say."

But the shooting guard interrupted, "There's no need for you to say anything. It was my mistake. I'm truly sorry that I kissed you." There was a sorrowful little smile on Mitsui's lips. "But I have no regrets that I did it. At least I had made known to you what my true feelings for you are. I love you, Megane-kun, and nothing's going to change that."

Saying the truth was a huge relief to his troubled soul. Turning on his heels, Mitsui walked down the corridor, his hands inside his jeans pockets. Lost in thought, he did not hear Kogure's choked utterance.

"But Mit-chin...I love you too."

---

"You should have told us about this sooner, Sakuragi," Akagi said sternly. He looked pointedly at his sister and added, "Same goes for you, Haruko-chan."

"Even if we had," Haruko blurted out, "what would you have done? Rukawa's life is in great danger as it is."

"We could've called the police. They would've known what to do," Ryota put in. "That bastard deserves to be put behind bars. We could've done a little spin control in school, to save his reputation."

"The truth will always come out, Ryota," Ayako said in sorrow. "But I never expected that Rukawa would be mistreated by his schoolmates that way. It's barbaric!"

"They're fanatics!" Mitsui spat out in disgust. "What do you expect from them? Once their image of you has been shattered, they turn on you like a pack of wild dogs."

Hanamichi took a deep breath. "What is done is done. I'm taking the full blame for what happened to Rukawa."

Coach Anzai leaned over to pat the despondent redhead on the back. "No one is blaming you, Sakuragi-kun. Given the difficult circumstances you were forced to face, you've done the best you could. Right now, what we should do is to try to undo the damage this situation has caused."

"Sensei and I have discussed this earlier," interjected Akagi. "We shall be talking to the school board, try to make them see the truth behind those ugly rumors. Rukawa is the victim here. He need not be censured for something that he was forced into."

"It's going to be difficult," Haruko began, "but Ayako, Fujii, Matsui and I will try to get the students to side with us as well."

"I don't think you'll have much luck with the girls, especially those damned irritating Shinietai," Ryota remarked, grimacing. "If we have any hope of getting the student body to our side, it must be with the guys. They don't care about how good-looking Rukawa is. They believe in his talent, and if they learn what has been done to him, they won't pass judgment. I'm sure of it."

"Sakuragi and I have talked to our respective gangs and they said they'll do anything to assist us," Mitsui quickly added. "We need some muscle in this, especially if Takeda will try to pull a fast one. Oh, and you'll be surprised but Aouta at the Judo Club said he'd help us as well."

Anzai's glasses flashed in the sunlight as he pushed it up his nose. "I do not want you boys to do anything stupid, like a frontal assault against Takeda and his men. Don't forget that they are criminals with guns. I'm still responsible for you and I don't have any intention of seeing you get shot or, worse, killed."

"Don't worry, Sensei," Mitsui said, grinning. "We'll just play bodyguard to Rukawa."

"What about the Inter High?" asked Hanamichi, knowing full well how important the tournament was to the team.

Yasuda and the rest of the team pouted. "I think the last thing we have on our minds right now is the Inter High. Rukawa is more important. What kind of team are we that we wouldn't stand by our own."

"We won't have to worry about the Inter High," Coach Anzai suddenly assured them. "It seems word of this trouble has spread throughout the Kanagawa Prefecture academe. The coaches and captains of the respective teams have sent a petition to the tournament officials that Shohoku High School be permitted to have their elimination games rescheduled for around two weeks after the opening to allow us to resolve an internal problem. I'm thankful that they were discrete. They only mentioned a problem in academics among the members. Kainandai is adamant that they will not go into the Inter High without Team Shohoku." The former ?White-Haired Devil' smiled. "It seems we have a lot of friends."

No, not friends. Family, Hanamichi beamed. Fujima-san, Maki-san, Sendoh-san...Arigato! He then announced, "I'll personally take care of the Kitsune. Rukawa is my responsibility."

With the exception of Mitsui and Haruko, there were curious stares on the faces of the others. It was no secret that the ace and the power forward harbored animosity towards each other. For Hanamichi to show concern like this was highly suspect.

Hanamichi instantly turned red at those discomfiting stares. Laughing nervously, he exclaimed, "You probably won't believe me if I told you."

"Try us," Akagi dared, assuming his fiercesome 'Gori' mien.

Before he could answer, Ohkusu suddenly appeared, "Hey, Hanamichi! Phone call for you!"

Thankful for the timely distraction, Hanamichi sped off, ignoring the protests of his coach and teammates. He hurried into the Freshman building, went straight into the student lounge, and picked up the phone on the desk.

"Moshi moshi!" the redhead greeted into the receiver.

"Sakuragi, you baka!" a familiar voice cursed him on the other end.

The cheerful expression on Hanamichi's face transformed into a dark scowl. "Who the hell is this?"

"It's Sendoh, fool! Why the hell are you in school?" the Captain of Ryonan High spat back. "Didn't I tell you not to leave Rukawa alone? You should be with him right now!"

"Something happened in school this morning to Rukawa. You were right. The rumor has finally reached Shohoku. Everyone knows what he's been doing and was attacked by his fans. I had to come here to tell Anzai-sensei and the others everything." Hanamichi then said defensively, "And who says I left the Kitsune alone? He's in the hospital with Kogure."

"Not anymore."

The ominous tone in Sendoh's voice roused great dread inside his heart. "What do you mean?"

At that moment, sudden, unexplained fear caused Mitsui to run after the redhead. He arrived at the student lounge to find his teammate laying the phone down on its cradle, his whole body shaking in uncontrolled rage.

Heart pounding in his chest, Mitsui demanded, "Is something wrong, Sakuragi? Who was that on the phone?"

What the redhead said next shattered what little calm the shooting guard had left into a million pieces.

"Takeda!" Hanamichi hissed in unbridled fury, his eyes ablaze with hate. "He has Rukawa and Kogure!"