THE REAL YOU
...
Mitsui slumped onto the gym floor in pure exhaustion. The team just had another one of its grueling practices and the former MVP was absolutely worn out after the torturous rounds of training.
"Mitsui, are you sure you're not going to join us? It won't really take long, just a few bites at Danny's and we're off. I'm quite sure that you're starving," the ever- soft spoken Kogure asked Mitsui, his tone filled with concern.
"I'd love to but I'm bloody tired, Kogure. Hell, I can't even lift a finger. How do you suppose am I going to get there in this condition? I'll leave a little later. And oh, don't worry about the gym; I'll make sure it's locked before I leave," Mitsui replied, fatigue evident in his voice.
Kogure looked at him as if asking if the other guy's certain of his decision.
"Megane-kun, you don't have to worry about him. He's right. He'd be unconscious even before we reach Danny's," Sakuragi butted in. "Micchy's turning into an old man you know," the redhead added, feigning a whisper which was really waaay too loud to pass as one anyway.
"Teme, Sakuragi! Consider yourself lucky I'm dead beat or you're really going to get it, you baka! You just wait the next time I see you..." Mitsui threatened, giving the other a deadly glare.
Rukawa, on one corner of the gym, looked at the two in amusement.
"Yeah, right, Micchy. Why don't you just try getting me now? Nyahaha!!!" Sakuragi taunted, doing his trademark tensai pose yet again.
And then a fist connected with Sakuragi's head.
"Itai! Gori! What was that for?!"
"Urusai, you baka. Come on, let's go," Akagi, their captain, ordered, gesturing for the team to proceed out.
The rest of the Shohoku players, as well as a very annoyed Sakuragi who was muttering under his breath and rubbing his aching head, went out of the gym.
Mitsui heaved a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes, relishing the tranquil state of the gym...until he heard a ball bounce. Bounce. Then bounce some more.
What the hell...? he thought.
Mitsui opened his eyes just in time to see the foxy Rukawa Kaede execute a perfect lay-up.
"Rukawa?!"
"..."
"What in the seven pits of hell are you still doing here?" Mitsui asked the other guy, surprised to see him still around.
"Practice," the raven-haired guy answered monotonously.
"Eh? But practice just... Mitsui trailed. "Oh come on! You never get tired, do you?" he asked the latter guy disbelievingly.
Rukawa merely hn-ed. He proceeded to do another shot, this time from the outside. A net-less three-pointer. Perfect.
Shit, he's getting better and better. He never stops, does he? Mitsui thought in awe.
"Oi, it's not wrong to take a break. For Pete's sake Rukawa, give it up already!"
"..."
"And actually, you could do better by talking to me, thank you very much," Mitsui commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"For someone so beat, you're pretty talkative, sempai. Do'aho," the rookie answered out of impatience.
Much to Rukawa's confusion, the former MVP actually smiled.
Eh? He actually...smiled? Rukawa thought in befuddlement.
"There. That's exactly what I wanted to get from you."
Rukawa knitted his eyebrows. Sempai getting crazy? Probably some stray lunatic soul taking over him or what? Get what...? he thought, puzzled.
"A reaction, baka. You rarely ever talk, you know," Mitsui supplied as-a- matter-of-factly.
"Hn." Realization dawning on him, Rukawa continued dribbling the ball in his hand, easily dismissing Mitsui's statement.
"And that's another thing. You and your cocky attitude. Hell, you think you're so great nobody's worthy to even look at you."
Duh. Like the hell I care, Rukawa thought indifferently. And then there was silence, except for the incessant dribbling of the basketball.
"You're such a bastard, Rukawa," Mitsui remarked, looking over at Rukawa in amusement.
That caught the foxy guy's attention, putting a halt to the dribbling. And as much as Rukawa tried to deny it, it was almost as if a certain piece of him was hit by that particular comment...It was almost as if he was hurt.
The raven-haired guy sighed. "What do you want, sempai?"
The former MVP grinned. "I really just want to talk you know."
Rukawa snorted. Baka, he thought. "Why?"
"Dammit, Rukawa. I'm bloody worn out and I need rest. Now I'm actually relaxing a bit here and then I found out that you're also here and we're alone and having those mindless conversations is actually a form of unwinding, so I figured that maybe you talking to me could actually be a breather not only for me but for you as well. There! Is that enough a reason?" Mitsui answered profusely.
"You forgot."
"What?"
"I. Don't. Talk."
"Goodness. Then you're going to start now, you hear?"
Rukawa merely gave him a you-actually-dare-order-me-around look.
Mitsui sighed in resignation.
Rukawa looked at him guiltily.
"Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
Mitsui turned to look at the other, a lazy grin gracing his handsome features.
"Anything. You choose."
"Me?"
"Uh-uh. You."
Rukawa desperately searched for a topic to talk about. Alright, what was that topic again, the common one? That something which never fails to catch the interest of the ones talked to in t.v. shows? Oh come on, it was, it was...aha! Yeah, that's the one! the rookie thought, almost smiling upon recall.
"Sempai?"
"Hm?"
Rukawa squinted, looking all grave and serious.
"Have you ever been in love?"
Mitsui's head almost hit the floor. Add the fact that his jaw practically dropped open.
I-in love? Rukawa? Question? Me? he thought incoherently.
Great. He asks me to talk about anything and now he's the one being mum. Baka, Rukawa thought.
"Sempai."
"Hm?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Talk."
"Oh." It dawned on Mitsui that he's actually still speechless. Needless to say, it took a while before the older guy had a reply, or a comment rather, to Rukawa's question.
Rukawa gave him an expecting look.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that. It's just that coming from the Ice Prince of Kaganawa, the overly clichéd question about –gulp- love? What can I say...I'm stunned," Mitsui commented, amused.
"You told me to choose any topic."
"I know."
"And I did."
"You did."
"I picked the first thing I thought of."
"You picked the first thing you thought of."
"And it's with that thing love."
"It's with that thing love."
Rukawa sighed. "Sempai, are you just going to repeat every word I say?" Is this really how a pointless conversation should be? he asked himself.
On the other hand, Mitsui regarded Rukawa, fascination evident in his face. I don't know what's wrong with me now but oh, yes, I'm actually enjoying this, this...if you call this talk, Mitsui thought to himself. On the other hand, the rookie's starting to get impatient.
"Sempai."
"Hm?"
"Are you playing with me?"
"You look cute when you're lost."
Needless to say, Rukawa dropped the ball in his hand, gaping at his senior. What the hell...cute? Sempai actually said I'm cute. Cute, Rukawa thought unbelievably to himself. The raven-haired guy was confused and dumbfounded. And though he would rather die than admit it, he was also actually rather...thrilled.
"Alright. Look, forget it. I just noticed," Mitsui said immediately, careful not to scare the freshman.
"Hn."
At that moment, Mitsui tried getting up, using his hands and arms for support. Quite obviously though, he was having so hard a time doing just such. But then again, Mitsui being the pride-personified individual that he is, no way had he the intention of asking for help.
Rukawa offered his hand, though.
Mitsui looked up at him questioningly.
"I could help."
"Thanks...but no thanks. I could do this myself." Mitsui muttered, apparently rejecting the offer.
"If you say so." Rukawa turned to go back to the middle of the gym.
After a few more attempts at standing, "Uhm, Rukawa?"
The rookie turned to look at the former MVP.
"I was joking awhile ago. I'm accepting the offer."
Rukawa gave him an I-told-you-so look, offering his hand once again. The older guy grasped it instantly, gesturing for the benches.
Once there, Mitsui slumped into one of the benches, relief washing over him the moment he was seated down.
"Thanks." He smiled at Rukawa genuinely.
"..."
"Hey, you're really not so bad, you know. It's just that you don't reveal the real you to others. And oh, will you take a seat, please?"
Rukawa effortlessly obliged.
"So..."
"I'd rather not," the freshman replied right away.
"Why not?"
"Just because."
Mitsui laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Just because. Now that's the Rukawa I know."
"If I do then it's not I anymore."
Bewilderment took over Mitsui's face.
"Sometimes, sempai, there are just things better left untold, mysteries left unraveled...because they're perfectly meant to be just that way."
Now the senior was taken aback. "R-rukawa?"
"Hm?"
"Is that you...?"
"..."
"Woah. Pretty heavy stuff right there...care to explain?" Mitsui asked the other, still quite unable to believe what he has just heard.
"No."
For a moment, Mitsui thought. And then it hit him.
The NO was just a word. A single-syllable word even. Yet, for Mitsui, it was more than just a no, it was more than just a form of refusal, for at that moment, it revealed to him more than anything of Rukawa's character. He realized and upon such, he knew then that the guy was right. There was never the need for any more revelation for it had always been the real him, the real Rukawa Kaede all along.
"I understand." Enlightenment was visible in all of the senior's face.
Rukawa merely shrugged.
"I really do hate to tell you this, trust me, but you're just plain amazing. And oh shit, for once I went against my pride. Oh god." Mitsui chuckled.
And for the first time since they met, Mitsui saw the faintest hint of a smile in Rukawa's face.
"Rukawa?"
"Hm?"
"I take back what I said awhile ago, about you being cute blah, blah."
"Uh." Apparently, the raven-haired guy was disappointed.
"Because you look breathtaking. Smile often."
Rukawa felt his face turn red. Then out of the blue, Mitsui then leaned a little towards Rukawa, touching the other's lips with his own, fleeting and hesitant. It was short but say it or not, both had a strange tingling feel upon the touch of their lips.
As the kiss ended no longer than it started, they both looked at each other, flushed and searching.
This is shit. But it's good. Shit, Rukawa thought.
Goddamnit. Why me? Why Rukawa? Mitsui asked himself, knowing that answers or no answers, he couldn't care less anyway.
It took a couple of minutes before they had their voices again. Mitsui was the one who broke the silence.
"Look, Rukawa, I'll be honest with you. I have no idea on what's happening. Hell, I don't even know what I'm doing! Yet, yet...I like this."
The other merely looked at him, and Mitsui knew right then that it meant something.
He gave the rookie another kiss, this time, searing and soul-searching. He leaned towards the freshman, placing some of his weight onto the other, until he went off-balance that Rukawa had to support him to keep them from completely falling off the bench.
"Oh, god, I really hate to break the moment but ugh, this is...this is so freakin' unromantic!" Mitsui wailed.
The freshman almost laughed. "You say."
"Want to leave?"
Rukawa nodded.
Without more ado, they locked the gym and walked towards Mitsui's house. Apparently, Rukawa's the one with the greater energy so needless to say; he walked the older guy home.
As they walked home, Rukawa was silent as usual but Mitsui need not give a damn, for he knew it was just Rukawa being himself. And he simply loved it that way.
Upon reaching Mitsui's house...
"Rukawa?"
"Hm?"
"You remember the first question you addressed me when I was asking you to talk to me awhile ago?"
"The love thing?"
"That's the one."
"What about?"
"I have not but I think I'm going to be nonetheless...with a certain foxy rookie who insists he need not reveal himself to others because what we see is what we get anyway."
Perhaps it's because you smiled.
Perhaps it's because you're mysterious.
Perhaps it's because we kissed.
But then again, perhaps it's simply because it's YOU.
...
END