Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ You, Me and the Willow Tree ❯ Chapter 8

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

You, Me and the Willow Tree

Author: Yoshi

Mail: angelwings@mindless.com

Genre: Yaoi

Chapter: 8/?

Archive: FF.NET...ask me first before taking anything, okay?

Disclaimers: Just the usual stuff. Mammals are warm-blooded animals...

Warnings: Okay, I can't think of a decent plot, so please be kind to me. I should have finished the story off, but I think I need to add more colour before closing the curtains. Oh, I think this might get confusing so bear with me.

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The warm glow of the setting sun illuminated Rukawa's pale form as he sat relaxed on the grassy ground beside Hanamichi. The two had been doing some 'catching up', mostly about how their lives turned up after they separated a few years back.

"Do you like her?" he asked Hanamichi crisply, not even bothering to look at the eyes of his companion.

"Who?"

"Haruko."

Hanamichi furrowed his brow, confused as to where the question came from. After some time, he finally gave up and inquired in return. "Why do you ask?"

"...."

"If you really wanna know, maybe...or maybe not..." the redhead sighed and tapped his fingers on the wheelchair's arm. "Jealous?" he teased, oblivious that he had just ruined the mood.

"...."

"Oi!" Hanamichi waved a hand before Rukawa's face to make him snap out of his silence. "Kitsune, are you okay?"

In a brief instant, the raven-haired flinched, and then tensed up as the query pulled him out of his thoughts. Raising his head, he saw a pair of eyes waiting for his answer. His lips suddenly went dry as he averted his gaze on the ground, his fingers sifting nervously though a blade of grass. "I...I-I" he faltered.

"Kitsune, spit it out," Hanamichi huffed impatiently, frowning at the sudden weird behavior Rukawa was showing. He was never much of an observer, but if his eyes aren't deceiving him, he could swear that he saw a passing of some unknown emotion on the stoic boy's eyes. An emotion that he couldn't put a finger as to what it is.

Rukawa stood up, brushing some grass off his bottom. "I am," he muttered in a defeated tone as he left the redhead confused and alone in the garden.

'What's wrong with him?' Hanamichi wondered, not comprehending the sudden change of attitude.

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"Why the look?" Youhei asked Hanamichi, frowning at the redhead's seemingly restlessness and agitation. "Don't tell me you missed Rukawa that much?" he teased.

A few days have already passed, and during that span of time, Rukawa have never shown his presence again on the redhead's room. It was as if something happened that made the stoic Shohoku ace refrain from visiting his friend. Haruko even noted that Rukawa seemed distracted during practice and more detached than usual.

"Shut up," Hanamichi glowered, ignoring the snickers made by the other members of the guntai. It unnerved him that Youhei can read read him easily, or point out something he never knew that existed in the first place. The dark-haired boy's looks told the redhead that he knew something.

"Me?" he voiced incredulously. "I'm not missing anyone, Mito. Especially not Rukawa."

"So you say." Anozumi, Ookuso and Souchiro chorused irritatingly as they teased Hanamichi, savoring the feeling of getting away with it without receiving a headbutt.

The three huddled in a corner as they whispered conspiratorially. "I'm sure the next time Rukawa comes here, he'll bring some flowers to Hanamichi."

"Wanna bet on that?"

"Urusai!" the redhead hurled his pillows towards the three. Unfortunately, they scampered so fast that they dodged the pillows, hitting Youhei square on the face instead.

"Anyways," Youhei turned to Hanamichi, his brow twitching. "Haruko said that she'll be here to talk to you." At the redhead's questioning look, he added, "She needed to tell you something important- or so she says."

"Ah."

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'Jealous?'

Rukawa ranted on his head over and over as he practiced basketball on a vacant court. He hoped to distract himself by burning all his energy away, but still his thought traitorously wandered on things he refused to delve about.

Sweat trickled gently past his brows and he lifted his shirt, wiping the wetness.

'I am NOT jealous'

He made a run for the goal again, dribbling the ball expertly with his lithe fingers. He turned, twisted and made an imaginary dodge as if he was playing with some invisible opponent.

He threw the ball, aiming for the basket afterwards...

Damn him...

...And missed. The ball bounced on the basket before falling with a thud on the cemented ground. Rukawa picked it up again, dribbled, but this time more forceful. It was as if he was venting all his pent up emotions on his every move.

I...I-I really...

Soon, his movements became more agitated as his thoughts wallowed towards the certain redhead that had been bothering him for so many sleepless nights. He bounced the ball hard on the ground, staring unseeingly as it rolled continuously.

Rukawa gritted his teeth as he tried to sort out his emotions. It was chewing him from the inside. He refused to give in but he knew it is a losing streak; whether he chose to fight it or not, the outcome is clear.

'Helpless to resist...'

'...Forgot all morals'

'Consumed so much of my thoughts...'

With finality, he picked up the ball, placed it on his duffel bag, and ran out of the court.

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Rukawa walked past the hallways of Kanagawa Hospital, ignoring the odd looks given to him by the people he passes by. His hair was slightly mussed and his clothes were semi-drenched in sweat from practice. He had one thing in mind at that moment: to settle things with the redhead- and end his own misery that had been distracting him so painfully for the past few days.

As he halted in front of the fateful room, he reached for the knob...

"Sakuragi-kun..."

...and stopped cold. A sudden tightness gripped his chest as he paused, leaning his forehead on the door. He knew who owns that high-pitched voice; knew too well, in fact.

"Sakuragi-kun...I need to tell you something,"

It was none other than Akagi Haruko.

A rush of unexplainable emotions flooded him, confusing him further. His heartbeat sped up, and he could swear he could hear it pounding right to his ears.

'I am NOT jealous!' He convinced himself firmly. He turned the knob silently, bracing himself for the inevitable.

If standing by the redhead's doorway brings pain, looking at the sight that greeted him is sheer torture. Haruko was standing in beside Hanamichi's bed, with a faint smile on her lips. The redhead seemed to be smiling too, clasping the small palm of the brown-haired girl with some emotion in his eyes. Both were oblivious of his presence; it was as if they were still there, yet so far away.

Like they had a different world- a world he is not a part of.

'I am not jealous...'

Rukawa turned back, closed the doors as silently as he opened them, and walked defeatedly back on the corridors.

'Because he is not mine to keep in the first place...'

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AN: hehehehe...I know, it's kinna lame. This is short because my brain vaporized... But you see, I can't just have them fall that easily, can I? Anyways, R&R please!