Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ You, Me and the Willow Tree ❯ Chapter 9

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

You, Me and the Willow Tree

Author: Yoshi

Mail: Angelwings@mindless.com

Genre: Yaoi

Chapter: 9

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

Disclaimers: Slam Dunk is not mine; it is Takehiko Inoue's creation. I am merely using the characters in my plans for world domination.

AN: I took a long break from writing, and I fear that I lost my touch in fic-writing. Forgive any grammatical errors and plot holes that may be encountered.

---------------------------------

"In the end, the young poet died with his love unrequited...so much for his dreams of eternal love and happiness..."

'Unrequited love...?'

"Very good. Now let's hear from..."

Unusually warm and humid weather signaled the beginning of another day in Kanagawa. Tendrils of sunlight peeked on the glass windows, creating a startling contrast to the person's cloud-white skin. Bright flecks of dust danced and glittered in the light, fading into nothingness as it reached darkened spots.

For some reason, Rukawa found himself gazing at the glass-paneled windows, his thoughts adrift. He had been doing that more frequent than he'd care to admit. It's been two months after that fateful incident- two months that seemed to change him more and more.

Detached. Aloof. Only few people had noticed these changes. Normally, he would be sleeping off his classes because of his exhaustive late-night practices. But not now. Even his efforts to drive himself into exhausted slumber ended in vain. He felt so tired, yet he cannot do something to remedy his situation.

For all that he's worth of, he couldn't even understand what's wrong with him.

'Why did that Do'ahou have to make things hard?' he kept on asking himself over and over. Before, his life always revolved in basketball alone. It was a passion of his; he never even considered anything important other than the sport.

But the stubborn redhead kept on igniting feelings that Rukawa never even thought existed. He knew redhead hated him, and he thought he hated him too. Both of them have differences that cannot be settled. These differences always lead to their numerous fights. It was as if the natural thing to do.

And before he knew it, he fell. Hard.

Did the redhead even know how much it hurts? How much his inability to express his feelings keeps on torturing him? Can he really make him understand that the feelings just sprouted out of nowhere?

No. Hanamichi couldn't possibly understand. Wouldn't understand at all.

He wouldn't understand that now because he's with her. He always sees the two together before the practice; that hurts him. He wanted to be the one with the redhead instead of her; that hurts him. Lastly, he can't do anything about it- and that hurts most.

Rukawa's eyes shifted its gaze as he spotted small brown-colored insects hovering in the air.

'Dragonflies...'

The stick-bodied creatures flew gracefully in the air; their semi-transparent wings creating a kaleidoscope of colors at it caught light from the sun.

------------------

"There!" Hanamichi beamed, holding a small-blue colored dragonfly in its wings to prevent its escape. "Here, take it." He turned to the raven-haired boy, popping the insect inside a small bottle.

"Think we got enough?" Kaede asked, covering the opening of the glass container with his palm.

"Hm..." Hanamichi paused for a while as if counting the insects inside the bottle. "That will do. Now, let's go!" He said, running for the doors.

"Hey! Wait up!" the raven-haired boy shouted, following his friend.

--------------------------

Ding! Dong! Ding!

Rukawa almost stood in surprise from his seat as the bell rang, pulling him out of his reverie. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he lost track of time.

"Okay, don't forget to read chapter 4 in the book. Class dismissed!"

He finally picked up his duffel bag, and sauntered out of the room.

-----------------------

"Are you okay?"

Hanamichi jumped when he heard a soft voice over his shoulder. He turned to meet calm brown eyes.

Haruko.

He wondered if it was just his imagination, but the brown orbs seemed to be sad. It seemed alien for her eyes were usually full of life, of happiness and of everything warm.

"You're thinking of him again."

"Who?" Hanamichi blinked, surprised.

"You know who. Rukawa."

"Why would I think of that stupid kitsune?"

He couldn't blame her for asking such question though. Truth be told, it's just that whenever he's alone, his thoughts would drift on a certain blue-eyed boy. A few days after he was released from the hospital, Rukawa appeared to be avoiding him as much as possible.

Rukawa. The stoic ace of Shohoku is such a puzzle that Hanamichi can't figure out. One moment he will appear to be caring, then next he'll act is if he didn't give a damn at all.

"Don't be hard on yourself," She shook her head slowly. "We need to talk," she sighed.

"About...?"

"Us." She replied in a manner that made Hanamichi frown inwardly.

The redhead began to ask why she was saying all of this, but stopped, letting her continue.

"You know, at first I really thought it would work out between us." In a flicker of a moment, her eyes became wistful. "I guess I was wrong."

"What?" He knew just where the conversation was heading. Every bit of it. "What do you mean?"

Haruko bit her lip, thinking of the appropriate words to say. She knew what was to be done; knew it all along, in fact. She felt like a fool because of her delusions that everything will fix themselves for the better if she ignored it. She was wrong. Very wrong. "Before, we were really happy. I can't deny that."

"Are you saying that now you're not?" Hanamichi asked, searching for something in her eyes.

"No," Haruko shook her head sadly. "I still am. But that is not enough to keep us together. Because you're not."

'What the?' Hanamichi mentally asked, searching for anything to say. Unfortunately, all that he can come up to was a small frown. They've been together for only two months, and now they're breaking up.

Time seemed to stop between the two as they stood face to face.

"Can't we fix this?"

"We can try all we want..." the redhead was taken aback by the resolve in her voice. "But we'll just be fooling ourselves."

"But how about what I feel? Isn't that enough?"

"You know what you feel. What you really feel."

Hanamichi closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, coming up to the conclusion that he can't change her mind. "So... I guess this is it."

"Yes," she drew closer and hugged him tightly. "We can still be... friends you know."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

-----------------------------

Subdued rays of sunlight sifted on the pristine white room as the curtains were cast aside. Soon, a pair of small hands unlocked the windows, opening it as wide as he can.

"Is this alright?" Kaede asked as he looked behind his back towards his redheaded friend.

"Yes," Hanamichi replied, looking at the insects inside the glass bottle excitedly. "Now, c'mon. Let's hurry before the nurse comes in."

The raven-haired boy complied, moving away from the windowsill and promptly seating himself beside Hanamichi. "There."

"Ready?" Both Hanamichi and Rukawa held their breaths in anticipation.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

As the counting reached to three, the redhead removed his hands from the bottle's mouth. Soon, the dragonflies inside the bottle flew out and scampered in different directions. Their beautiful coloring made such a pleasant contrast against the white of the room.

"Wow!" Both boys said in unison as they jumped up and down the bed, flailing their arms as if mimicking the stick-bodied insects. For several minutes, the wonderful play continued with the boys enjoying every moment of it. Slowly, the dragonflies hovered in the opened windows before going out in the open air again.

"Well..." Hanamichi shrugged, turning to the blue-eyed boy. "Did ya like it?"

"Of course! Thank you."

"That's my gift before I leave tomorrow."

-------------------------------

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Rukawa dribbled the ball again, the sound echoing loudly on the empty gym. Here he is, once again, in one of his desperate attempts to distract himself even for just a small while.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He was so absorbed in his practice that he failed to hear the gym doors swivel until he heard the voice that haunted him for countless nights. "I thought you might be here."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Silence. He deemed it best to ignore the redhead.

"How long are you going to ignore me?"

"...."

Undeterred by the silence, Hanamichi eased inside the gym, his movements still limping due to his recent accident. As he moved, his shoes made soft squeaking sounds, blending with the crisp sound of the ball bouncing on the shiny flooring.

"We broke up, you know." he blurted helplessly.

Rukawa appeared to halt before resuming from his exhaustive practice. "Should I care?" he mumbled coldly.

Hanamichi gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the raven-haired boy. "It's because of you..."

At this, Rukawa stopped fully, looking at the redhead directly in the eye. The mixture of unnamable emotions that flitted across his fine features puzzled him: there's anger, hurt, sorrow...and something else.

"I don't even know what I saw in you..." Hanamichi whispered so softly that he wasn't sure if he heard him right.

"What are you talking about?"

"I hate you,"

Rukawa made a sharp intake of breath as his eyes widened upon hearing the words. The exact words he feared he would hear on those lips. He was right after all. Hanamichi hated him, no more, no less. "I know,"

"No," the redhead advance towards him, determination set in his eyes. "You don't." he muttered, giving a painful jab on Rukawa's abdomen, splaying the latter towards the floor. "I hate you." he repeated, as if convincing himself with his words.

Just as he was about to deliver another punishing blow, his injured foot lost balance, sending him on top of the raven-haired boy unceremoniously. Everything seemed to stop as the two stared deeply in the eyes- the clearest of blue against the richest of brown.

Hanamichi made a move to stand up when firm, muscled arms snaked behind his back, preventing his leave. "Let me go." He ordered, struggling to emphasize his words.

"No."

"Let me go! Fuck you, bastard!" the redhead repeated in an agitated manner, now thrashing wildly against the arms that held him. "I said let me go! I hate you!"

"I know,"

"Damn y-" Hanamichi was unable to complete another bout of his insults as a pair of lips covered his in a bruising kiss. The intensity of the kiss spoke volumes, conveying feelings left unsaid. It spoke of desperation, anger, pain, hope...and love.

For what seemed hours, but only seconds, the feverish kissing continued. When the struggling had ceased, it gradually softened. Silence. Only the sound of heavy breathing filled the stillness of the gym.

"I hate you," the redhead uttered as he tried to catch his breath, eyes brimming with tears of frustration. "I ha-"

Rukawa silenced him again with his lips, though this time, the soft kiss felt as if pleading. All the things he wanted the redhead to know, and everything that he couldn't find the right words to say all flowed endlessly on that brief kiss. His hold against the redhead loosened as the latter stopped fighting.

When the contact ended, Rukawa almost expected that Hanamichi would now stand up and leave. Leave him again in his painful solitude.

"I hate you...I hate you..." the redhead whispered over and over again in a defeated voice. He then leaned his head towards the crook of the raven-haired boy's shoulder. "I hate you.... I love you."

--------------------------
AN: Damn. I think this really sucked big time.