Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk :( nor the beautiful song 'You Are Not Alone' by Michael Jackson.

Author note: I got a song called 'You Are Not Alone' by Michael Jackson stuck in my head and the only way to get it out is to write a fic to it. It helped...a little. I hope you will enjoy reading it :)

Warnings: Fluffy romance, some angst, OOC and shounen-ai.

4/1/2014: Just edited some bits here and there to make the story a bit better :)

Verse of Inspiration

Everyday I sit and ask myself

How did love slip away?

Something whispers in my ear and says..

You are not alone...

I am here with you...

Though you're away

I am here to stay...

You are not alone...

I am with you...

Though we're far apart

You are always in my heart...

You are not alone...

You Are Not Alone

'I hate proms...'

That was the thought of an unusually down hearted Sakuragi Hanamichi who was leaning against the wall of the large stadium, watching the couples slowly dancing on the middle of the shiny lacquered floor.

Why was the reason he hated the prom?

Maybe it was the cheap food they provided, nothing but tidbits and punch.

Perhaps it was the attire; he had to wear a suit for it.

Or maybe the location, there were schools that have bigger venues than this.

But it was none of these reasons.

It was the sight of the couples waltzing in front of his honey brown eyes. They looked so happy and carefree. The men were slow-dancing with their girlfriends, with adoration and love shining in their eyes. Sakuragi Hanamichi, the so-called tensai and the King of Rebounds wished that he could be part of what he saw before him...let alone have someone to hold him close when he felt down. He wanted to be and feel loved...truly loved by another...

But he was certain it was not to be...not after seeing the girl that he befriended in his first days be with another...

'I don't deserve that dream...she was right not to be with me...'

He thought he had that dream but it was not meant to be. The pretty girl he thought would be different from the other 50 girls who rejected him by the name of Akagi Haruko. Instead, she apologized to him and refused to accept his rose corsage, saying that he was only a dear friend to her and already had another. She came to the prom with the least expected person to be her partner: his best friend, Mito Youhei. He was happy for the other guy but he felt hurt inside. His heart had been torn from his body and smashed into tiny fragments. This rejection hurt more than ever...perhaps it was because Haruko was his friend first...

The redhead couldn't bear to the romantic sight any longer and he tore his eyes away from the scene. The pain was threatening to overwhelm him. It seemed so cruel that they were oblivious to his sadness and the pain he suffered. He may be boisterous and loud mouthed but they couldn't see that deep inside he was a lost child, trying to find the perfect happiness he yearned for. He felt a fierce burning in his eyes, causing him trail a finger to his eyelids and find moistness there. Resting on the fingertip was a tear. It looked so beautiful as it shone like a diamond under the dim lights. He watched with fascination as the tear trailed down the calloused skin before it disappeared. He made no move as more tears descended his cheeks. He just turned around and headed for the door, feeling fortunate that it was nearby to give him a quick exit.

The redhead was totally unaware to find that his every movement was watched by an avid pair of eyes of deep sapphire belonging to another boy.

The boy looked around his surroundings, feeling totally bored out his mind. He had been chased by many girls begging him for a dance but he was in no mood to pay attention to them. He gazed at his cup of punch as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. He noticed that the redhead looked so pained and hurt at the sight of the couples slow dancing in the center of the room. His heart thumped with sympathy and aching love when he watched the redhead weeping silently. He looked so beautiful under the lights...until those mindless waltzing fools made him so sad. He saw Haruko dancing with her boyfriend, recalling that she too had a crush on him just like his other fangirls before. His mind seethed with annoyance and anger when he saw how happy she looked with that other boy. In his mind, he felt that she was deliberately hurting the redhead by flaunting what he couldn't have.

'Hana...'

He was immediately full of concern when he watched the redhead stumble slightly before leaving the room. Determined to follow the redhead, he quickly gulped down his punch, shoved through the crowd of people, made his way towards the doors and headed outside. He had to catch up to him...to make sure he was okay...

Sakuragi stopped walking to find himself standing on a field away from the school building. He sat down and propped his knees to his chest, pressing hard to quell the pain building inside of him. The tears continuously fell down his cheeks like crystal waterfalls, dampening his pants. What did Mito have that he didn't? Was he better looking? What prospects attracted Haruko to him? Whatever it was...it proved that Sakuragi Hanamichi was nothing...

The redhead hugged himself, trying to warm himself up from the now chilly winds. Sakuragi still couldn't stop himself from crying. He didn't care. No one was there to see him. Of course, perhaps he was meant to be alone from the beginning. He had been rejected by fifty ONE girls.

But somehow, a second voice emerged in his mind. One filled with gentle hope, telling him to hang on...telling him that one day, his suffering would end...and someone would finally take him in their arms and tell him that he was loved.

'No...why would anyone love me...' Sakuragi shook his head, burying his face into his hands and wept some more.

'Hana...no...don't cry...'

The blue eyed boy stopped to find a slouching figure of Sakuragi sobbing his pain in the night. He placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat even faster the longer he gazed at the redhead. He knew the intense emotion he felt within his heart...

'You love him...' the voice within his heart said.

'Yes...I love him...I love him since the first day we met...even when he hated me upon seeing me,' the boy's eyes softened with tears, emphatically feeling the pain the redhead was experiencing, 'Kami-sama...help me...I want to take away his pain...'

An unknown force drove him forward and before he knew it, he found himself kneeling beside the sobbing redhead. He looked so pitiful, begging to be held. He was rightfully apprehensive. Sakuragi could push him away with his incredible strength and look upon him with disdain and hatred. But his heart was telling him that he should comfort the redheaded boy. He did what his heart advised and placed a warm palm on the other's arm.

"Hanamichi..." the boy dared to whisper his first name, watching Sakuragi slowly lift his head. Sakuragi's eyes, red and puffy from crying and still wet with tears, immediately widened at his savior. The boy moved to hold his hands and asked in a gentle voice, "Are you all right?"

Sakuragi was shocked beyond words. A boy of his age and similar build was gazing at him with concern and...love. The redhead nodded uncertainly, leaning against the warmth the boy was emitting. He felt so confused. How could this boy care for him so much? He hated him upon their first meeting and that hatred had mellowed down to fierce rivalry as time went by...but he couldn't stand to be near him because he was everything he wasn't...

"What are you doing here?" Sakuragi looked away in shame, "Happy to see the tensai looking so down? Go ahead and mock me for all I care..."

"Why would I want to do that?" the boy sounded hurt and Sakuragi felt a minor twinge of guilt to make it happen, "I only want to help you."

"Help me how? There's nothing you can do to help the Tensai..."

"This..."

Suddenly, warm slender arms encircled his body, pulling him close to his chest. Sakuragi sucked in a surprised gasp at the surprising warmth emitting from the other strong body.

"Cry, Hanamichi...I know the hurt building up inside you...I'll be here to hold and comfort you..." the boy gently whispered.

Having sensed the sincerity behind the other boy's words, Sakuragi let down his defenses. He gripped onto the boy's suit and cried in his chest while the boy's hands gently cradled him and whispered comforting words into his ear as he brushed his red hair, marveling at the silken thickness of it.

Tears were still trickling down the redheaded boy's cheeks when he was reduced to heavy pants. Sakuragi was about to wipe them away when suddenly the boy's lips closed softly over his left eyelid, sucking the salty moisture away...sucking away his pain before moving to the other eyelid and did the same. Sakuragi stilled but did and say nothing, allowing his companion to gently close his eyes. He was so shocked that this boy...the boy who was his rival...could display such a loving gesture...it wasn't like him. On top of that, he felt a sweet curling warmth forming within his body. He wanted to keep that sensation...it made his heart ache when the kisses on his eyes stopped and he fluttered open to see the other boy staring adoringly and intensely at him. He felt his breath catch in his chest...

"I..." Sakuragi was silenced with a slender finger on his lips.

"Shhhh..." the boy kissed the tip of his nose, "Just feel..."

Sakuragi gasped when he felt him cupping his cheek and kissing his lips. The touch was soft and gentle like a brush of butterfly's winds. The redhead whimpered and grasped onto the broad shoulders. The warm sensations were returning...he hungered for them...in doing so, he kissed back...

The boy smirked in his mind when HIS beautiful redhead started kissing back. He propped the redhead close to him and held his head at an angle to gain better entrance to the warm depths of his mouth. He dared to peek his tongue in Sakuragi's mouth and engaged in a soft duel of tongue hockey...oh...it was so glorious...

Unfortunately, they had to pull apart for oxygen and the boy smiled at the picture he created. The redhead's face was flushed like a rose. His dark eyes were sparkling under the moon and stars. His red hair seemed to give off the warm aura of the sun. All in all...he looked beautiful...

"Hanamichi, do you feel better now?" he received a nod for his answer but the redhead looked like he was full of questions.

"Why me?" Sakuragi whispered in confusion, "Why do you care for me? I'm nothing..."

The other boy shook his head incredulously. He had known him to be the passionate, brash, loud and outspoken Shohoku player...the so-called Tensai...the King of Rebounds...this sad sight was most unbecoming...he had to snap the redhead out of it.

"No...you're not nothing," the boy defended, "I've been watching you...you can be an idiot at times but you gave so much to the team."

"But not enough to make someone to even look at me..." the redhead said bitterly, "I now believe that I don't have what it takes for someone to look at me and say 'I care for you'. How would you know? You had many girls after you...you don't know what it's like to be alone..."

'Of course I know...because...I only want YOU to look at me that way...not those stupid girls!'

The boy gazed at the redheaded boy who was looking back at him with slight pain and sadness still lingering in those beautiful brown orbs. This beautiful boy with the fiery red hair...he wanted to be that someone to protect and love him. He placed a hand on Sakuragi's cheek, softly savouring the tanned smooth skin. The redhead sucked in a breath at the gentle contact but he closed his eyes and sighed in comfort. Who knew that the boy before him could radiate so much warmth despite the demeanor he was always accustomed to?

"Hanamichi. I can't stand to see you suffer in loneliness. I...I just want to let you know that you are not alone."

Sakuragi's gaze wavered, "They seem to make me feel like one...Haruko-san proved that..."

"You idiot...then she didn't deserve you from the beginning..."

He took Sakuragi's hand and kissed the back of it, his blue eyes dark and beautiful in the night. Sakuragi blushed at the gesture but he strangely didn't feel disgusted. He felt the rising warmth again...

"I...I have to thank you somehow..." Sakuragi looked down, "I troubled you too much already as it..."

"You don't need to..."

"But why? Why are you doing this? Everyone else would've just...gone away..."

The boy tilted Sakuragi's chin up.

"It's because..."

"Because what?"

"It's because...I love you..."

Sakuragi's heart stilled. Mixed feelings bombarded his mind. He yearned for someone to love him ever since Haruko turned him down. But him? He wasn't so sure...could he? The other boy looked at him patiently as he continued to gently caress Sakuragi's cheek. His heart was just broken...could he possibly trust this boy to not crush it? But what if...

"Don't toy with me..." Sakuragi shook his head as he made to push the boy away, "I've already have enough people playing with my heart. They don't even realise that Sakuragi Hanamichi has feelings too. You are no different. You're saying that because you pity me. Above all else, I hate pity."

"No!" the boy vehemently exclaimed and took the redhead back into his arms. He toned his voice to no louder than a soft whisper, "I really mean it...really I do."

"How do I know what you proclaim is to be true?"

The boy cupped Sakuragi's face, gazing into the dark brown orbs, "You make me live, Hanamichi! Basketball has always been my purpose but you bring meaning into the game! Everything you do to aggravate me and every achievement you make brings me energy and challenge myself further...to better myself...to make you look at me more."

"Of course I always look at you...it's to make me see what I lack..." Sakuragi still appeared unconvinced, "Every time I catch up to you, it's just not enough..."

"No! The reason I'm who and what I am is because of you. Only you would challenge me. And that stubbornness and fiery spirit of yours are what I need!" the boy softened and kissed Sakuragi's forehead as he took one of his hand to place it on his chest. Sakuragi was surprised to find a harsh thumping against his fingers, "Only you make me feel this way...you make my heart beat this way..."

Sakuragi gazed long and hard into the boy's sapphire coloured eyes. He tried to see whether there was any trace of lying or mocking.
But he found none. None at all. All he found was love and a sparkle of truth within them.

"Then you're not lying..." the blue-eyed boy smiled slightly and nodded his head in affirmation, "How long...how long have you felt this way?"

"For a long time, Hanamichi...even though our first meeting was less than pleasant...I knew that that you were going to rock my world..."

"I never knew..."

"Of course you didn't...because I couldn't tell you. I understand if you won't accept me. For allowing me to comfort you and to take away your tears is enough for me," the boy confessed softly and thumbed his cheek, "Should I leave?"

A thousand thoughts trained through the redhead's mind. He began to panic when he felt the other boy withdraw. No one had made him feel this empty and flustered before. The painful absence is coming back and he yearned for this boy's warmth. For tonight, he saw a completely different side to him: the gentle and caring character and his blue eyes...they were so beautiful...why didn't he realise this before? Sakuragi gripped onto the other boy's hand to bring them back to his face. The other boy looked on with astonishment on his face.

"Hanamichi?"

"No...don't go...no one has ever made me feel like this before..." Sakuragi shook his head. This was crazy...he was practically offering his broken heart to him...but was this how love feels like? He had to know, "What will you do if I offer you my heart?"

"Hanamichi? Why are you asking me this?"

"I lost my father because of my carelessness...and I bet everyone would've blamed me if the old man hadn't made it...I've been rejected so many times and so, my heart has been broken many times because of them...I offer you what I can but...they are only shards...I am scared because I am giving another chance to love..." Sakuragi gazed into the other boy's eyes, "Will it backfire on me if you choose to be with another when you claim to love me?"

"Hanamichi...I will never do such a thing. I'll mend your heart...and I'll treasure it to make sure it radiates with your spirit," the boy declared, "I swear I'll never play basketball again if I break my promise."

For the first time that evening, Sakuragi's lips graced into a soft smile and new tears graced his eyes. This time, they were tears of happiness. The warm sensations were returning and the void within him was closing. It was then he realised it. He really loved this beautiful boy before him...the boy who took away the pain of his emotional scars and made him give love another chance. He was sure this time...

It was fated that Sakuragi was to go with the boy in front of him.

"I..."

"It's okay, Hanamichi..." the boy softly said, "You don't have to say it so soon."

"I have to say it...I love you..." Sakuragi whispered softly, feeling his healing heart growing strong with certainty. He had found his feelings.

The other boy's face was a wondrous sight as soon as Sakuragi uttered the words. He looked so mystical, his sharp features softened by the moonlight. He gathered the redhead in his arms, rewarding him with a chaste kiss.

"Hanamichi...you'll never be alone again..." the other boy murmured gently as he brought the redhead close to his chest, pressing kisses on his fiery red hair, "I'll make sure of that."

"Really?" Sakuragi asked shyly.

"Yes. Everything and more..."

Sakuragi smiled and kissed the side of the boy's neck. The beautiful boy who was cradling him soothed his heart pain and brought love he thought he could not attain. He pulled away to cup his new koibito's cheek, gazing into the dark blue eyes. The blue eyed boy kissed Sakuragi's forehead, holding him tight against his body.

"You are so different tonight...since when did you become so talkative?"

A deep chuckle was his reply, "Perhaps it was the moon making me do all these things? Idiot...would you believe me if I told you the same things in front of our teammates?"

Sakuragi thought for a while, "For once...you're right...I would've pummeled you into the ground..."

"I told you, Do'aho..."

"For one who's sneaky and monosyllabic, I admit you have a way with words," Sakuragi smiled against the pale skin and allowed his fingers to comb through the dark fine hair, "And your smile is beautiful...Kitsune..."

"My smile is only for you, Hanamichi..."

Rukawa's smile was a priceless sight and it made his blue eyes radiate more.

"Kitsune...Kaede, thank you..." Sakuragi sighed and wound his arms around Rukawa's waist, "I feel warm...since when does your cold heart make me feel so warm..."

Rukawa rocked the both of them, pressing kisses on Sakuragi's red hair. Sakuragi could only cling on, laying his head on the blue eyed boy's sturdy shoulder. It wasn't long before Rukawa initiated another kiss as he pulled the redhead close, savouring the sweet taste of his new-found love. Sakuragi immediately reciprocated with enthusiasm while he grasped his waist in an iron grip.

"Mine...you're mine..." Rukawa whispered against the other's swollen lips, "No one must ever touch you again..."

"Possessive Kitsune bastard..." Sakuragi replied affectionately, "I love you, you know..."

"I know, Hanamichi...I love you too," Rukawa pulled the other boy up and held him close, "Let's go back inside..."

Sakuragi glanced at the school building in the distance before turning to Rukawa. For once...he felt truly happy. He wasn't alone...because he had Rukawa with him...his Kitsune...his smile blossomed to fill the cheer on his face.

"Yeah...let's go back..."

The End