A/N: This is my attempt at writing a believable Rukawa romance fic. My objective is to keep Rukawa as in-character as possible, and to try and tell the story from his POV as much as possible. It's been a lot of fun getting into his head and I hope you enjoy the story!

"Fast break!"

Kaede raced down the court and caught the long pass from his teammate. He pivoted; two opponents stood before him, eyeing him closely, breathing raggedly. Are these really college players? He thought. Too easy. He broke through their tired defense with a burst of speed.

One, two, and up. The ball left his fingertips and swished gently through the net, extending their team's lead. The score was 20-16.

"All right – practice over," called Maki. "Good job everyone."

Already?

"Nice play, Rukawa," came a smooth voice behind him. Kaede turned and saw Sendoh with his signature easy smile. "I'm glad you decided to join us."

"I didn't join for you."

With his outstanding talent, Kaede had received many offers from universities around Japan. But, as with Shohoku, he chose Seikei purely because it was closest to his house. The fact that two of the best high school players he had known – Sendoh and Maki – were in Seikei was quite secondary.

Sendoh was unflappable. "Still, I'm glad."

Kaede grunted in reply and walked over to Maki.

"Captain."

"Yes, Rukawa?"

"I… won't be able to make it for practice tomorrow."

Maki raised an eyebrow, trying to think of what else Rukawa could be doing on a Friday afternoon instead of playing basketball.

"And why is that?" he asked, curious.

"I'm getting married," Rukawa replied simply, as if it were the most common thing in the world. "I will be back on Monday."

There was a stunned silence.

"You… what?"

Kaede frowned. Did he not hear him the first time?

"Getting married."

Several hoots and wolf-whistles echoed around the gym.

"To who?" asked Maki incredulously. Rukawa getting married or having anything remotely to do with romance seemed a most ridiculous notion. And yet, here they were, having this most ridiculous conversation.

Kaede scratched his chin. To who indeed? It seemed like an obvious question now, but when he was first faced with the proposition, it had seemed like an insignificant detail. All he knew was that she was daughter to some important people that his father did business with. Anything beyond that was irrelevant. He vaguely remembered that she had requested to meet him before the wedding, but he declined.

"Son, I need you," his father said. "Will you step up, like your brother did before you? For the family?"

"Well?"

"That's not important." Kaede replied coldly.

A small crowd had gathered around him, giving him pats on the back and offering their congratulations, which he brushed off uncomfortably. He suddenly wished he had thought of some other excuse instead of, well, giving the game away.

He cleared his throat and picked up his bag. "I'm going home now."

Sendoh and Maki exchanged a look as the former Shohoku ace exited the gym without another word.

"He's a weird one…"

Sendoh smiled. "We already knew that."

Kaede cycled down the street, feeling the cool evening breeze on his face. He passed a basketball court and came to a gentle halt. Nobody's here. Though he had just come from practice, he already felt the itch to stop and play for a bit.

"Be home early tonight. You need to try on the suits before tomorrow."

He grit his teeth and pedaled on. It all seemed so silly; a suit was a suit. They should be glad if he didn't show up in pajamas.

Fifteen minutes later, he was standing around in one of the aforementioned suits with several tailors fussing over him. He looked at himself in the full-length mirror. It had been a long time since his last formal outing. When his father still lived here, Kaede had had to wear suits and attend functions in this house almost every week. He absolutely hated it. It was quite a relief when his father moved into a new house with his new wife, and he gained some measure of freedom.

I'll be my own man after tomorrow. With my own house.

"Please raise your arms, Young Master."

Kaede sighed and complied with their instructions while they did their work. When at last his ordeal ended, he felt like a battered doll that had been pulled in several directions at once. He needed his bed, but the butler appeared first.

"Young Master," the butler bowed respectfully, "the wedding planners would like to run through the day's programme with you. They are waiting in the study."

Groaning, Kaede made his way down the ridiculous spiral staircase to the second floor, where the study was. He emerged from the room 30 minutes later, having barely registered a word they were saying.

And again, the damned butler.

"The Master awaits you in his rooms."

What now…? Kaede thought irritably.

Eager to get it over with, he jogged briskly up the stairs and down the long corridor to his father's room. He knocked and announced himself.

"Father, it's me."

"Come in."

He pushed open the formal wooden doors and entered. Though it had not been in use for many years, the servants had obviously kept the room clean and tidy for just such an occasion. His father sat by one side of a large square table and looked at him expectantly. Kaede sat down opposite him.

The two men looked at each other, saying nothing. Father and son looked nothing alike. The elder Rukawa was tanned with a square, chiseled jaw with a strong nose to match, and his greying hair was swept elegantly back. Kaede was often told that he had delicate features which resembled his mother's, but he'd only ever seen her in old photos. His brother, on the other hand, was the spitting image of his father.

The older man broke the silence. "Kaede, I am glad we could reach an agreement. This is a very important business partnership. I'm proud of you for coming through."

Proud of me? Kaede immediately made a mental list of all his basketball achievements, every one of them more impressive than walking down the aisle and saying a few words.

Out loud, he said: "If that's all, I'll be going to bed."

"Of course. You need rest."

I can't believe I came all the way up here for this. Kaede stood up to leave.

"Kaede?"

"Yes?"

"Don't screw up." There we go. I knew this has been too cordial by far. Kaede froze by the doors, that cold voice sending a chill down his spine. It was half-warning, half-command. His father was used to being obeyed, and his tone carried hints of what awaited him if he did screw things up. Rukawa Kaede feared nothing and no one, but his father was the one exception.

He forced himself to snap out of it.

"Don't worry. I'll do my duty." With that, he shut the doors behind him. My own man, he reminded himself, striding briskly away. My own house. He turned a corner and entered his room. Tomorrow. He slammed the door shut before falling face-down onto his bed.

Kaede had no trouble falling asleep despite the fact that he would wake up to his "big day". He would have slept through it if he could, but unfortunately such things as getting married required one to be awake.

The servants roused him at 8 the next morning – a day too early, in Kaede's opinion. The rest of the morning was a blur as he drifted in and out of sleep. He slept in the car to the hotel and when they finally arrived, he was escorted half-awake to his suite where he promptly fell asleep again. It seemed he had been sleeping for no longer than 5 minutes when there came a knock on his door.

"Kaede?" Came a man's voice from outside the suite. "I'm coming in."

What was the point of knocking if you were going to come in anyway?

He got up reluctantly.

"Daddy, is that the groom?" Came a child's voice.

A child? With great effort, Kaede opened his eyes and saw a wide-eyed boy, aged around 5 or so, hovering in front of him.

"Yes, that's your uncle Kaede. Now greet him properly."

"Good morning, uncle Kaede!" the little boy chirped. He then jumped onto the bed and started tugging on Kaede's hair and cheeks, much to his chagrin.

"My little brother's all grown up!" The boy's father smiled down at him.

Kaede narrowed his eyes at this man, his older brother. Strange to think of him as the same rebellious young man who had insisted on moving to America in exchange for marrying a woman he barely knew. Kaede had tried to negotiate for the same, but his father would not hear of having both sons living in a foreign land. And so, his dream of playing college basketball in America had to be temporarily shelved. You stole my chance.

"Hideaki," his voice was curt. "Did you really have to wake me up?" He turned to point at the little boy. "Is that thing yours?"

"Haha… yes, that's my boy," Hideaki replied sheepishly, trying to pry the active boy away from Kaede. "Father is having breakfast at the lobby with your future in-laws. The bride is there, too." His face turned serious. "I thought you might want to see her before… you know."

"Why should I? It's pointless. I can see her later."

"You're not at all curious?"

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "Should I be? Is she hideous?" Or preferably, invisible?

"Well, no…"

"Then I'm sure I'll survive."

Kaede stood up and stretched, yawning. Normally he would have towered over most people in a room, but height ran in the family, and Hideaki was just as tall. They regarded each other for a moment while the little boy occupied himself with trying to rip open the pillow.

"Are you ready for this?" Hideaki asked softly. The last time they saw each other, Kaede was already tall and big for his age, but still a teenager nonetheless. Though Kaede now matched him for height, nothing much else had changed; it was as if the same teenager from 7 years ago was peering out at him from those cold eyes. Do you even know the vows?

That teenager was obviously in no mood for a heart-to-heart talk. "If you insist on lingering, I suppose I should go wash up."

Hideaki watched silently as his brother shuffled sleepily to the bathroom. Kaede emerged from the bathroom 5 minutes later, looking marginally more awake.

"So, what did you want with me?"

Hideaki smiled. "I thought we could have breakfast."

Kaede gobbled down his breakfast. All his damned brother seemed to want to talk about was the whole marriage thing. Kaede could not see what all the fuss was about. It was not like he would ever date or get married out of his own accord, so this arrangement in exchange for a new house seemed like a perfectly good trade. With these types of marriages, he supposed the two parties would come to some reasonable agreement about how to cohabitate with minimal impact on each other's lives. Hideaki obviously failed in that respect, he frowned, thinking of the little rascal earlier that morning.

"Why did you agree to this, Kaede?"

Kaede grunted. "The old man would have kicked me out. He said as much."

"You could have lived without his money. Find a part-time job and rent a room."

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" he replied sarcastically. "Besides, I play basketball after school. I don't have time for a part-time job."

The conversation then shifted to Kaede's basketball career, much to his relief. He was far from a great conversationalist, but he tried to keep his brother occupied with the topic as much as possible. Basketball was the one thing he knew, so he was slightly more comfortable talking about it.

The time soon came for the groom to get dressed and prepare. Hideaki gave him a hug before they parted, which Kaede took to be ominous – such displays of affection were usually for comforting the sick or dying. Perhaps his brother was trying to tell him something.

His palms were clammy and his knees felt weak, but Kaede was the picture of calmness as he stood at the front of the large chapel, waiting for the bride's entrance. His brother, as the best man, stood solemnly at his side.

He tried not to look at the rows and rows of faces he did not know, all appraising him silently. The crowds at his games usually had no effect on him, but this was a different type of performance. There was no opponent to beat here, just phrases to be uttered at the right time.

The whole atmosphere bore down on him as he stood there waiting. It was unbearable. He felt suffocated in this shirt, this suit, this chapel. He desperately wanted to rip off his bowtie and sprint away, but his body felt like lead. He caught his father's eyes in the front row. Do not screw up. The warning rang in his ears.

The chapel doors finally opened after what seemed like forever and the violinists launched into pompous entrance music. Fresh air and sunlight streamed in from outside and for a moment, Kaede was blinded. Squinting, he could just about make out the bride entering the hall with a man by her side. As they drew closer, he saw that she had chosen a modest long-sleeved gown, which Kaede supposed spoke well of her. She held a bouquet of white flowers in one hand and her father's hand in the other. The delicate veil obscured her features, but he could see that she had worn her hair down. A younger girl strode behind her, carrying the train of the gown.

Kaede waited impatiently as she took her own sweet time in making her way to the front, pausing every few steps as if to the music. Already she annoyed him. It will all be over soon, he assured himself.

Finally they arrived, and the bride's father looked at him expectantly.

"Bow!" Came a hiss from beside him. Hideaki.

Grateful for the reminder, Kaede bowed stiffly to the older man, who then handed over the bride's hand. Kaede took it gingerly, very aware that his own palm was sweaty and cold. She was not wearing gloves, a fact that she was surely coming to regret.

And so, hand in hand, the bride and groom turned to face the minister, who launched into some speech or other. Kaede kept his gaze firmly in front, not wanting to risk awkward eye contact any more than necessary.

"I do," she said uncertainly.

The minister then turned to him and said some more things. When he stopped, Kaede recognised it as his cue to say the same.

"I do," he mumbled.

"Please turn to face each other and exchange rings," the minister intoned.

Kaede quickly dropped her hand and wiped his palm on his pants as discreetly as he could.

"Take the ring," Hideaki whispered as he held out the ring pillow.

Once the ring exchange was done, it was time to lift the veil. Kaede took the limp fabric and lifted it carefully over her bowed head. She looked up at him, and he down at her. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. Great, he thought, rolling his eyes. No doubt she must have had fancy ideas of being married to a famed college athlete, and now reality had intruded.

"You may kiss the bride."

Kaede's eyes widened in terror. He coughed and looked to his brother for help, but Hideaki merely chuckled and urged him on.

He turned back to his bride, whose tears were falling more freely now with every passing second. Clearly she was not comforted by the thought of being kissed by a lout such as himself. Resigned, he bent down and gave her a quick peck on the lips, which was followed by raucous applause from the audience. I know this part, he thought, offering her his arm. She took it and, as they strode down the aisle to exit the chapel, he could taste her tears on his lips.