Fandom: Slam Dunk
Summary: Only one guy deviated from the common ground that those hopelessly romantic fools stood on?
Title: Just For Kicks
Author: Hana Rui
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Kaede Rukawa x Ayako [RuAya]
When people asked her how she ended up with the last guy they had all expected her to be with—or the guy no woman with proper grip on reality had really expected to be with, for that matter—she would always say, "It all began with a kick."
And it was true, in a figurative kind of way. It started out innocently enough as a lousy question she caught in some random girl talk she was forced to listen to in class for lack of a better thing to do after barely surviving a brush up with death—which bore down on them that morning in the form of Math questionnaires numbered from 1 to hell.
But lousy as she thought it was, the idea remained stuck in her mind right from the moment she overheard those girls talking about it in the morning, to the time she got to the gym to terrorize the basketball team in the afternoon.
She could not even remember when and how exactly did she begin to ask the question. She could not even give rhyme nor reason to it now that she thought about it. It was an out-of-nowhere type of impulse. She just went about asking it to every single guy in the gym, hurling it to their faces as though it was a matter of life and death.
Well, where it concerned her and the ominous-looking paper fan she always carried around, it most definitely was.
She could not really say the earlier replies that she got satisfied her, but she was glad the guys had shown enough respect—more to the fan than to her, it seemed—to answer as honestly as they possibly could.
Ryota had said, "Yes". Well, what else could she expect anyway? Although, she could not really ignore the fact that he had looked like he swallowed a toilet bowl with the expression he wore for the few seconds following her inquiry, she knew he was bound to agree, one way or the other. She bet she could even make the guy jump off the top of some building if she had been wicked enough and told him so.
Sakuragi had said, "Yes" as well, further adding that it would be so if it concerned Haruko-san only. Well, yeah. It wasn't like she was even dreaming of being with a red-headed freak who could blast her ears off to the next incarnation either!
Akagi had said, "Yes", and so did Kogure.
Mitsui had wavered for close to a minute, but ended up saying, "Yes," in the end. Further adding that if he should fall in love with a girl, then she should be worthy enough to give up even his life for.
All the other players had said almost the same thing—quite too ardently that one would think they were hiding a secret shrine for her in the locker room or something.
There was, however one guy who deviated from the common ground that those hopelessly romantic fools stood on. And she wasn't even gonna ask him to begin with. But, what the hell! She had asked every single freak there was in the gym, so why back down on the freakiest of them all—even if he was void of the necessary faculties to answer humanely enough.
And so she went to him, joked around a bit to lighten up the mood somehow and asked away, "Rukawa-kun, if I were your girl, and I told you to quit basketball, would you do it for me?"
The poker-faced rookie looked at her and said curtly, "No." His response had come so quickly that she was almost inclined to think he had been preparing for her assault all day.
Then again, Kaede Rukawa never was one to dwell in useless imaginings anyway. Maybe it was just his way of telling her to back off; of simply reminding her of the all too obvious fact that the great Ice Prince was not human enough to glamorize the world for any girl.
And yes, even if she happened to be his senpai.
Stubborn as she was, though, Ayako decided to prod the guy on the matter all the same. "Well, why not?"
Even if it meant settling for such a lousy response as, "Because you're not my girlfriend, senpai" or anything else of the sort.
She was too sure it was the kind of crap she was gonna get for attempting to unveil the man out of Kaede Rukawa that nothing really did prepare her for the younger guy's response:
"Because… I wouldn't want you to give up your dream for my sake either."
"Wha—" She felt and knew she looked like a fool who could hardly wrap her brains around what just hit her.
"I would like it better if you could love me while still leaving enough love for yourself."
There was no easy way to describe how Ayako felt at that very moment, but that she was... blown away. How the most un-human creature around here could actually come up with the most selfless answer to such a lousy question was totally beyond her.
And the way those sharp, incisive blue eyeswere looking at her as though their owner seriously meant all those things he had just said was enough to paralyze her out of her wits.
For a few moments, she just stood there unable to move, nor to say anything aside from a barely audible, "Woah."
For that same few moments, Kaede stared right back at her, with that soft, vaguely appreciative expression in his eyes.
And for the few more moments following that, they thought they saw the rest of their lives rush past them like a breath of fresh air, leaving no distinct traces of memories, only that mutual feeling of bliss people feel when they've finally met the other half of their heaven.
But even the best of things was bound to end shortly—if only for a while.
When they were finally able to snap out of that transient other-wordly space, Ayako felt her face burn up like it never did before, but felt a little less sillier than she should've felt upon seeing that Kaede's cheeks were faintly tinted red as well.
The younger guy bowed his head and began fiddling with the ball he was holding, while pretending his best to act cool and added, almost mumbling, "Of course, I would expect the same treatment."
Ayako couldn't help but smile. Somehow, just looking at Kaede Rukawa fidgeting inside his own skin—a thing that he obviously wasn't used to doing on a regular basis—made her feel like she had just conquered ten Romes in one day, and was eyeing ten more with uncontested triumph.
She just knew the euphoric moment she had shared with the younger guy, although lasting for a mere couple of seconds, was only a harbinger of more such moments to come.
And boy how she loved it when she was right!
-end-
Note: Written for 52_flavours livejournal: Theme #06 And yes, the way you look at me
Thanks for reading! :)