Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Umm... Kae-CHAN?! ❯ Sidestory 1 ( Chapter 5 )

Author: Simply Kim

E-Mail: cheng1812@yahoo.com

Title: Umm... Kae-CHAN?!

Genre/ratings: (Yaoi / Shounen-ai) (Humor / (a bit of) Angst)

Length: side story 1

Disclaimers: The series I'm referring to obviously do not belong to me, only the story does.

* * * * * * * *

Side story 1

Swish.

Clink.

Drip.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Dribble.

Pause…

Swish.

Clink.

Drip.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Dribble.

Another momentary pause.

All eyes were transfixed, probably from awe or disgust, on the feeding ritual that demanded full-unadulterated attention.

Swish.

Clink.

Drip.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Dribble.

Pause.

Grains of rice were stuck on the wooden tabletop as well as the equally wooden expressions on the faces of every person that had unfortunately chosen to sit beside the barbarian that initiated the ceremony.

Swish.

Clink.

Drip.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Dribble.

Pause.

Along with everyone else, Sendoh's eyes were fixed in fascination at the image plaguing him as his chopsticks hovered before his partially opened lips. He was not spared of being victimized by the notorious ritual before him, and minute splatters of soy sauce were visible on his clear forehead and a single grain of rice was stuck on the tip of his nose.

He would have stayed transfixed if not for the almost inaudible sound, which resembled a whimper that rang out beside him. He immediately tore his eyes away and settled his line of vision on the boy cowering close to him.

Rukawa was clutching his own pair of wooden chopsticks, staring with his eyes as round as the saucers that dotted the entire table. Sendoh knew that it was normal for someone so young to react as such when encountering such monstrosity, but in this case, he panicked. Rukawa was turning an icky shade of green. His face, considering the fact that he sat directly across the hungry redheaded monster, was not spared of the flying pieces of meat that were gaining momentum as the chopsticks shoveling them in a particularly huge mouth increased their pace.

Swish.

Clink.

Drip.

Slurp.

Chomp.

Dribble.

Pause.

"Uh, Sakuragi-kun?" Jin murmured falteringly, wincing a bit as the redhead momentarily stopped his feeding frenzy and glared at him with killer burning eyes. "Could you please stop…"

"What?" He growled as menacingly as he could with a mouthful of Ebi.

"Uh… everybody's going to puke if you…" Jin continued almost inaudibly.

Sendoh sighed exasperatedly and immediately dropped his porcelain chopsticks on the matching porcelain dish holding his untouched dinner and glared at Sakuragi, earning him an equally disdained scowl from the redhead, and a few nervous looks from the people sitting quietly around the dinner table.

"Baka, he said that you should stop acting like a damned ravenous barbarian! You're disgusting everyone! We can't eat! What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Why do you care?" You're not the one affected by… damn! Just SOD OFF!"

"I think Haruko-chan left him." Mitsui supplied, finally gaining a chance to take the first bite of his now-cold dinner.

Everyone stared in shock at Mitsui, then at the outwardly dispirited look on Sakuragi's face.

"Eh, is it true, Sakuragi-kun?" Fujima asked, definitely aghast.

The redhead sighed and managed a small shaky smile. "Yeah, and it had to be Youhei of all people… I learned yesterday that they've been going at it for about a month before our first year anniversary." His smile then turned bitter. "Some girlfriend… some best friend…" He set his bowl slowly on the smooth wooden surface of the dining table and sighed dejectedly. "Well, I guess that's it… no one's gonna love me until the day I die."

Everyone fell silent. The only sound that can be heard was the huge gust of wind from a snowstorm that smacked against the windows. Everyone had their own thoughts on what had just happened. They couldn't even believe that Haruko and Youhei would do such horrible deed… they cheated on their mutual friend! How could they?

"Demo… doesn't Do'ahou-niichan like Fuji-neechan?"

Miyagi hooked his arms around Sakuragi's shoulder joints as the latter started towards the little boy who clutched at Sendoh's pale shirt. Rukawa's eyes, once wide with probable disgust, were now wide with fear as the murderous redhead tried to clobber him. This made him clutch even tighter at Sendoh's shirt, threatening to rip the piece he was holding on off.

"Let me at him! Let me at him! I'm gonna eliminate that sly foxy-faced `ahou! Let me at -"

"You like Fuji-chan?" Hanagata's eyes widened.

"You like my sister?" Fujima paled, his mind shifting to overdrive as he envisioned Sakuragi in a tuxedo, with his younger half-sister in a pure white wedding dress, holding each other's hands and staring at each other's eyes. He sweatdropped.

Sakuragi immediately reddened as the familiar name registered in his mind.

Busted!

He plopped down quickly on his seat. "Yeah, I guess I do… Sorry Bench Warmer… I - ITAI!"

Sakuragi clutched his head that was now sporting a steaming lump peeking through his tangled fiery hair. "What the hell was THAT for?"

Fujima's nerves popped. His eyebrows twitched as his still-steaming fist connected with the taller boy's head again.

"ITAI!"

"How could you like my sister while you're having a blast with your GIRLFRIEND?"

"Ex-girlfriend." Ayako reminded the vice-captain. "She's not his girlfriend now."

Fujima's eyes flashed. "Yeah, she isn't NOW, but she WAS when he started noticing Fuji! How could he? He's cheating too… in a way! What is my sister to you, a diversion?" He grabbed a plate filled with grilled shrimps and was about to dump it on the younger boy's head when Hanagata stopped him before the plate tilted. He took the plate away from his lover and set it on the table, ignoring the glare that he received from him.

"Okay, let's settle this right now." Hanagata rationalized, his eyes drifting into the terror-stricken features of Rukawa. "Kae-chan, you said Do'ahou-niichan likes Fuji-chan." That earned him a homicidal look from Sakuragi.

Rukawa nodded imperceptively.

"How did you know?"

"He looks at her differently… as if he really cares for her…" Rukawa seemed to relax as he stared at the kindly chocolate eyes. "Unlike the looks he gave Haruko-neechan…"

Hanagata smiled at the child's observant nature. "And how different was it? How can you compare the looks he gave Fuji and Haruko?"

The little boy thought about it for a while and then nodded his head once, his eyes gleaming happily up at Sakuragi before turning towards Fujima who stood close to the one questioning him. "He looks at Fuji-neechan the same way that Kenji-niichan looks at you, Toru-niichan!"

Fujima's eyes softened when he heard the words from the little boy. He glanced in amazement at Hanagata, and settled on the dumbfounded redhead. He sighed. "Well, I guess I could forgive you… heck, I've already forgiven you… you're the only one who would make Fuji-chan happy…"

Sakuragi's mouth opened and closed like a surprised goldfish. "I… I-I d-don't…" he stammered, trying to make sense of what Fujima was telling him. "I…"

"You will make her happy won't you?" Fujima grinned easily, leaning closer to Hanagata as he did, lowering his eyes a bit as familiar arms circled his wait.

Sakuragi nodded, still dazed. "I don't understand…"

Sendoh picked up a cherry from one of the desserts and promptly hurled it at him, hitting squarely at the middle of the forehead. "BAKA! What he meant was that he's okay with you and Fuji!"

"I, I don't…"

"FUJI-NEECHAN!" Rukawa suddenly shrieked as he saw the slight figure of the shy girl walking slowly towards them.

"Uh…" Fuji looked around shyly, her gaze coming to land on Sakuragi. She flushed. "Someone… invited me… umm… if this is not a good time to…"

"Iya." Fujima grinned slyly as he looked back and forth at the two red-faced people in front of him. "Your timing's perfect. We're just having dinner!"

"Uh, really, oniisan?"

"Yeah." He winked at her, and then pushed her almost comically on an empty seat - right next to Sakuragi. "Just relax, no one's going to bite you."

She flushed some more and immediately looked down, then up at the beaming face of Rukawa across the table. The little boy gave her a bright grin and she smiled back, shaking her head slightly in response, her face getting redder than before.

"Uh… Fuji-san…"

Fuji looked up in mild surprise at the boy fidgeting beside her. Her eyes softened and she gave him a different smile… a smile of someone head-over-heels in love.

Sakuragi stared at her in fascination, for the first time, seemingly tongue-tied. Koshino thought so too. "Never thought he would shut up in times like these… baka red-haired monkey. He's so du -"

WHAP!

"Ite…" He hissed, glaring at his girlfriend, who miraculously produced a fan out of nowhere. "What was that for?"

"You're ruining the moment!" Ayako hissed back, sticking her tongue out as Koshino rolled his eyes.

"Wherever do you hide that fan of yours, Aya -"

WHAP!

"OW!"

"Maki-san!"

"Shinichi!"

"Eep! I'm sorry, sempai… I just got carried away…"

Everyone was suddenly by the captain's side, trying to see if he was mortally impaired by Ayako's deadly paper fan.

Maki rubbed his stinging temple and sighed in defeat. "It's okay, Ayako… I should've realized not to intrude when you and your guy are having a lover's squabble…"

Koshino glared at his captain. "No we're not, she slapped me because she said that I was ruining -"

Sendoh shook his head in amusement, his eyes straying away from the warring trio, and back at Fuji and Sakuragi who were oblivious to the noise around them while they were snagged in a silent form of communication, each lingering gaze speaking volumes of how the other felt. He sighed. When would he have someone to do that with? Heaven knows he had waited for years! He shook his head dejectedly again, and applied himself to his food. He was about to take his first bite when he heard someone mutter something beside him.

He immediately looked down and was wide-eyed with surprise as he saw Rukawa staring at the silent pair, his eyes all glassy and dreamy. "So… this is what love is…"

Sendoh couldn't believe his ears. He was almost sure that it was the grown-up Rukawa's voice words that he was hearing. He shook his head vigorously, as if to clear it, thinking that maybe he had damaged his brain after shaking it many times in a single day. He was imagining too many things! Damn it!

"I'm glad…" Rukawa whispered almost inaudibly, words that prompted response from the older boy.

For him, everything snapped into place. Sendoh started to grin. Without much hesitation with regards to creating noise, he scooted back his chair and stood up, which made everyone - excluding the still-staring pair - wince in response, and quickly hefted Rukawa in his arms, cradling the young boy like the precious person that he was.

"Akira-niichan… what -"

Upon reaching the living room, he set the boy down on one of the plush chairs and tweaked his nose. The boy was staring at him so hard that he thought his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

"Naughty boy!" He murmured as he rubbed his knuckles gently on the boy's hair, disheveling it beyond repair. "You invited her, didn't you?"

Rukawa relaxed as he felt the warm skin of his niichan touching his hair.

"Hai…"

"So sweet…" Sendoh thought as he swiped the boy in a protective embrace, feeling the remnants of the flu that struck him still on the small forehead. /I wonder if you're like this when you're your own self… would you still be like this… or do your emotions drain away? / "You deserve a prize for being so helpful and observant!" Sendoh smiled as he felt the ripple of excitement run through the boy's body.

"Honto ni?" Rukawa asked eagerly waiting for Sendoh to announce what his prize was.

"Yeah."

He tightened his hold on the boy, his cheek rubbing against the silky hair he loved so well.

"We're going out tomorrow."

And no one was happier than little Kae-chan at that moment… no one, except Sendoh Akira.

* * * * * * * *

TBC

* * * * * * * *