Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Miss Match ❯ Festival ( Chapter 27 )

Chapter 27

A few weeks passed and Yuna's wounds had completely healed…

"You have to come out Yuna." Kasumi said calmly knocking on her door.

"I'm not coming out!" Yuna shouted from inside her room.

"Come on Yuna, everyone wears a Kimono at this occasion." Kasumi said mildly knocking on the door. "Besides the Kimono I got for you is in the colour you like best."

"Iya, I am still not coming out!"

"We are going to be late!" Sota cried coming up the stairs. "Sendoh oniisan is already waiting at the front porch!"

"Yuna if you still do not come out I will call Sendoh-kun to break down the door." Kasumi said sounding slightly impatient. "We will be late for the drum show if you don't hurry. They always have it in the festival."

Slowly, Yuna opened the door and walked out slowly. She was wearing a light violet coloured with tiny light pink flowers. She was staring down the floor as she followed Kasumi down the stairs. Sendoh looked up and saw Yuna looking really pretty in the kimono. He smiled and walked up to her.

"You look great." He said.

"Arigatou…" Yuna mumbled.

"Come on, let's go." Tendoshi Ojiisan said looking at his watch. "We better hurry or we will miss the show."

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Rukawa walked down the festival with Riko talking to him at his side. Not hearing a thing she was saying to him as he looked straight ahead, expressionlessly. Ever since Riko came back from Hiroshima, she had been following Rukawa around everywhere. It wasn't his idea to come to this festival but Ojiisan made him come with her.

"Ah, look Rukawa-kun!" Riko said. "Isn't those gold fishes cute."

Rukawa glanced over there for a moment and walked on, but however something over at the gold fishes store caught his attention and he did a double take stopping on his tracks. Kneeling down the aquarium trying to catch a gold fish was unmistakably Yuna, wearing a kimono. Rukawa blinked staring at her. He had never seen her wear Kimono before and she actually looked really pretty in one. Slowly he walked over to her.

"Oh it's you…" Rukawa heard someone said behind him and turned around looking straight at Sendoh, who was smiling calmly at him. "I didn't know you would come to places like this."

Yuna then turned around to look, when she heard Sendoh spoke. He and her brother had gone over to another store when she said she wanted to stay here to get a gold fish. She then saw Rukawa behind her and she stood up.

"Rukawa," Yuna smiled. "You have come too?"

"You must be Yuna-chan," Riko said walking up to her. "I heard you are Rukawa's lab partner."

"Hai," Yuna bowed slightly. "You must be Riko-chan, Rukawa's fiancée."

"Fiancée?" Sendoh looked at Riko in surprised.

Riko turned to Sendoh and smiled bowing. "Nice to meet you, I heard about you Sendoh-san."

"Er… miss… are you going to catch a fish?" The man asked behind the store.

Yuna turned back to him quickly. "Gomen… hai…"

She then knelt back down again looking for the fish she liked best. Sendoh went over to her and knelt next to her. Riko smiled looking up at Rukawa who show no expression but inside he felt he was burning with fire. He was the one always accompanying Yuna, but ever since Sendoh came into the picture, she was always with Sendoh instead of him.

"Rukawa-kun…" Riko asked. "Would you like to catch a gold fish for me?"

Without answering her, Rukawa turned away from Yuna and Sendoh and walked on. Riko looked after him slightly disappointed and quickly ran after him to catch up with him.

Yuna looked back feeling crestfallen that Rukawa had gone, but she turned a concentration back to the gold fishes. Since she was sent to the hospital, when she was badly hurt in the judo match a few weeks back, Rukawa had never come to see her once. Though Sendoh had came everyday to visit her. She wanted to see Rukawa so badly that she was actually very happy to see him again even though he was with Riko instead of her. She sighed inwardly and scooped a goldfish into the net but it jumped out again.

Sendoh looked over at Yuna quietly seeing that she was very deep in her thoughts more than she was trying to catch a fish. He sighed inwardly, knowing what Yuna was actually thinking about. How he had wished secretly that, Rukawa never came at all.

"Ah, Akira-kun," Yuna exclaimed happily after finally flipping the gold fish she liked into the bowl of water. "See I got it!"

"That's great!" Sendoh said smiling looking at Yuna's happy face even though he wasn't really happy.

"Arigatou," Yuna grinned passing the bowl to the man so he can put it in a bag for her. "I never had fishes before I hope it won't be difficult to take care of them."

"It won't be difficult." The man said giving the bag to Yuna. "Just make sure you keep the water clean and give it food every twice to trice a day."

"Hai," Yuna said happily taking the bag from him. She and Sendoh then stood up. "Ojiisan said he and the others will be waiting at the performance stage for us."

"Let's go over to look for him then." Sendoh said taking hold of her hand and they both walked down the rows of the stores to get there.

Yuna looked down at his and her hand then slightly abashed. She wished Sendoh wouldn't do such things in public.

"Akira-kun…" Yuna started.

"Yes, Yuna?" Sendoh asked looking down at her.

Yuna looked up at him, smiling down at her and she just shook her head. "Iya, it's nothing…"

The stage area was already filled with many people as Yuna and Sendoh had to squeeze their way through. As they were trying to make their way through, their hand slipped and Yuna was lost in the middle of the crowd. She blinked looking around.

"Ere?" She said bewildered. Feeling slightly annoyed that she was short she couldn't see Sendoh. "Now what?"

She wondered off alone, looking around. Everyone to her were unfamiliar as they walked passed her. She looked down at the bag with the single gold fish in it and sighed.

"I guess it's you and me for now." She said softly.

"Talking to a fish?" She then heard an uncaring and low deep voice said behind her. She quickly turned around and saw Rukawa standing behind her looking down at her. He was standing in a lazy manner his hands in his pockets and he was alone.

"Ere? Where's Riko-chan?" Yuna asked.

"What about you? Where's Sendoh?"

"I lost him in the crowd." Yuna said looking towards the stage area. "We were trying to find the others."

"Very careless of him…" Rukawa said softly.

"What about you, you lost Riko-chan." Yuna said turning back to him. When she saw his indifferent face and slightly frowning face she added softly. "Did you?"

"Iya, I just told her something she didn't want to hear." Rukawa said walking on.

Yuna blinked and quickly followed suit. "What do you mean you told her something she didn't what to hear?"

Rukawa moved his eyes to her for a moment before he looked back straight ahead. Yuna stopped on her tracks, staring at Rukawa slightly afraid suddenly at what he had told Riko. Rukawa stopped walking too and turned back, looking at her.

"You know that I don't want to be her fiancée, don't you?" Rukawa said in his uncaring voice again. "I had decided to tell her after all."

"But your parents…" Yuna started.

"I will tell them soon," Rukawa said sounding slightly furious and he turned away walking off. "They are in Tokyo at the moment."

Yuna stood motionlessly at the spot for a moment, not believing that Rukawa was breaking his betrothal arrangement. Slightly, worried about Riko she turned away and ran down the other direction, hoping that Riko would be alright.

Rukawa turned back again to see Yuna running off. Without much thought about it he walked on. He had nothing to do with Riko and it was time he put a stop to it and he was glad he had finally done it.

Yuna looked around as she walked down the path in between the stores. She caught sight of Riko then walking to a deserted hill and she quickly ran after her.

"Riko-chan!" Yuna cried running up to her.

Riko stopped and turned around looking very depressed. She had been crying for her eyes were blood shot and puffy.

"Yuna-chan?" Riko whispered as she ran up to her. "What is it?"

"Riko-chan, are you alright?" Yuna asked worriedly.

Riko started to sniff then and broke down crying hugging Yuna. "Yuna-chan! Rukawa-sama told me that he wanted to break our betrothal arrangement!"

Yuna tapped her back softly. "Don't cry now," She said softly and led Riko up the hill side and they both sat down under a tree. She passed Riko a handkerchief then.

"Arigatou." Riko said taking it from her. "I had really tried very hard to be someone Rukawa would what to have as a fiancée."

"…" Yuna listened quietly.

"At times, I thought I was finally successful but he never shows any emotions or anything before." Riko said. "Sometimes I wonder if I was doing the right thing. I was scared most of the times."

Yuna sighed and got up. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Riko watched Yuna running off towards the stores. Not long later, she came back taking two can of drinks with her. One of it she passed it to her. Riko took the can with quivering hands and Yuna sat down next to her.

"I really do not know where I had gone wrong!" Riko exclaimed sobbing again. "I mean all my life I had been trained to please my husband to be."

"Trained?" Yuna's eyes widened. "What do you mean? You actually learn to be a house wife?"

"Hai," Riko nodded and took a sip of her drink and continued. "How to talk, how to cook, clean and decorate a house."

Yuna blinked, all her life she was only trained in Judo. She never knew anyone would be trained to be a house wife.

"My life was practically designed for me." Riko sighed tears appearing. "I really didn't want to disappoint my parents. After all they had spent so much on training me to be a good wife."

"For Rukawa?" Yuna whispered, frowning slightly. "You really like him very much don't you."

"What if I say I don't?" Riko answered softly.

Yuna turned to her surprised.

"I had a childhood friend which I wished to be with always." Riko smiled softly looking down the ground. "We were always did everything together. Sometimes I wished that I am betrothed to him not Rukawa. I hadn't even met Rukawa before. I don't even know who he is when my parents send me here to see him."

"But you seemed so sad a minute ago…" Yuna said softly taking a drink thinking hard.

"I was afraid that I would disappoint my parents." Riko replied. "But then again, I had tried and it's just not meant to be…"

"Soh…" Yuna mumbled.

"You know what?" Riko laughed slightly.

Yuna turned to her with surprised at her sudden change of mood.

"I really hate wearing that Rukawa Outfit."

Yuna burst out laughing. "Why did you do it?"

"I thought Rukawa liked those girls." Riko shrugged. "But then again I realized that he never even take a look at them before."

"Then why did you do it?" Yuna asked again.

"Well, if I don't those girls wouldn't leave me in peace."

"You can say that again." Yuna mumbled taking another sip of her drink.

"I heard rumours saying that you and Rukawa seemed to do everything together." Riko smiled slyly.

Yuna choked into her drink.

"So those rumours are true." Riko laughed watching Yuna's blushing face.

"Of course not!" Yuna stammered.

Riko giggled. "You are blushing."

"No I am not!" Yuna touched her burning face with her other free hand.

Riko smiled. "I had made up my mind I'm going home to Hiroshima tomorrow. I had no more intentions to stay here. Besides, I had always listened to my parents since I was little. Sometimes I felt like doing something I want to do for once."

Yuna looked back up the sky again. To do something she really what, she wondered. What is it that I really what?

"Yuna-chan," Riko said softly and Yuna turned back to her. She was smiling softly looking down the ground. "I am actually quite happy that this arrangement had finally ended."

Yuna turned to her astonished and speechless.

"My job to be a good fiancée for Rukawa is finally over." Riko said softly. "Now I finally understood. It is really difficult to force something on yourself when it is not what you want."

Yuna stared at her still speechless.

"Always look into our hearts to find the real answer." Riko said still smiling as she looked up the sky. "Our hearts never lies."

Yuna had heard Kasumi telling her this and now Riko was telling her the same thing. She turned back to the sky thinking. `Our hearts?' Just then the fireworks started. Yuna gaped looking up the sky.

"Amazing!" Riko said softly looking amazed.

Yuna smiled looking at the fireworks. To look into my heart… and what my heart tells me… she wondered and inclined her head.

She saw before her eyes a very quick image of Rukawa smiling back at her. Her eyes widened with surprised looking at the fireworks that lit up the dark sky. Her heart had always been with him. Yuna finally understood and she knew what she had to do…

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Alright, this chapter is slightly longer than the last few I had written cuz I added quite a number of things into this chapter and something about Riko for a change. Anyways, Rukawa had already cancelled his betrothal arrangements. Let's see what happens in the next chapter with Sendoh and Yuna…

Will put it up soon after I do some slight editing… pls R&R. Thanks you mina!!!!!