Unexpected Fate: Chapter One
by Monmon

Disclaimers: I do not own most of the characters in this story. They belong to Inoue Takehiko. So please do not sue me, I have no money. I dedicate this fic to Pastles who has always been so helpful and informative ever since the beginning when I started to write. So here's the second fic that I have ever written and the first one is not even finished yet… =(… but please, enjoy and feel free to drop me a comment or two… =Þ


Swish. Rukawa Kaede jumped and executed a perfect three-pointer. After wiping the sweat on his face with a towel, he picked up his stuff and walked off the basketball court. Tomorrow would be his first day at his new school in Kanagawa. He hasn't been back for a long time but he could see that the place remained pretty much unchanged. It was somewhat comforting. He unchained his bicycle and started to cycle home. Lulled by the familiar rhythm of pedaling, he quickly fell asleep.

*****

Mito Youhei knew he was in trouble when he saw four thugs closing in on him with metal sticks and knives. He recognized these guys from the gang that he, Sakuragi, and the Sakuragi Guntai beat up recently. Since they could not take them out when they were together, they decided to take them out one by one.
Suddenly a dark-haired guy on a bicycle, appearing out of nowhere, ran over two of the guys that were about to jump him, grinding them painfully to the ground. It was all the distraction that Youhei needed. He quickly dispatched the other two guys with several quick, hard punches and kicks. Brushing some dust off of his clothes, he looked at the guy that inadvertently helped him. "Hey, thanks man."
The dark-haired guy didn't answer and was checking his bike for any damages. Youhei watched him carefully. The guy was quite tall with his raven-colored hair covering his eyes and he had a stone cold face. The boy looked up. Piercing blue eyes gazed into hard brown ones.
"Ede-chan?" Youhei exclaimed in surprise.
The guy blinked and stared hard at Youhei. "Hei-chan?" A touch of surprise was evident in the guy's voice.

*****

"So, Ede-chan, how have you been? I haven't seen you in such a long time." Youhei asked in between bites of his burger. The boys were eating dinner at Danny's.
"Call me Kaede. I'm fine."
"Ok, then you better call me Youhei." Youhei said with a smile.
Rukawa gave him a micro smile before he focused again on his food.
Youhei watched Rukawa silently. "Kaede. You've changed a lot." He said suddenly.
"Not really." Rukawa replied coolly.
After looking silently at Rukawa a moment longer, Youhei asked, "So when did you get back? How long are you going to stay?"
"A few days ago. I will be attending school here."
"Really?" Youhei chattered happily while Rukawa listened quietly. Rukawa's answers to his questions were pretty much monosyllabic. Youhei was surprised and delighted to hear that Rukawa would be attending Shohoku and he discovered that Rukawa was still interested in basketball. Youhei filled the silence by talking about various different subjects and they soon finished eating. They walked out of Danny's together.
"I live a few blocks over there." Rukawa pointed in one direction.
"Oh, I see. It's getting late and you should be going back. I still live at the same old place. Do you remember where it is?"
Rukawa nodded slightly and then got onto his bike to cycle home. He paused and turned towards Youhei.
"Youhei…"
"Yes?"
"Nice to see you again." Rukawa then cycled off without looking back.
Youhei smiled as he watched Rukawa cycle away. He turned around and started to walk back home. He was happy that he got to see his childhood best friend again, but he was also astounded at how much Rukawa had changed. Rukawa appeared to be so cold and so unfeeling. 'What happened to that happy smiling boy I once knew?' He frowned. He knew that the old Rukawa was still there deep inside from what Rukawa had said when he left. Youhei shook his head clear of his thoughts and decided that his questions would be answered another day now that Rukawa was staying in Kanagawa. He whistled cheerfully as he walked home.

*****

It was been a week since Youhei last saw Rukawa. He heard many rumors about the "new handsome guy with the stone cold face". He also heard that Rukawa joined the basketball team. His best friend was also on the basketball team and he decided to visit them at the gym and perhaps introduce them to one another.
When he opened the door to the gym, his eyes almost popped out in surprise when he was greeted with the scene of Rukawa and Sakuragi brawling.
"Hey! Kaede! Hanamichi! What are you guys doing?" He called out to them.
They paused their fight and looked over at him.
"You know this guy????" They asked incredulously in unison. Realizing they said it at exactly the same time, they glared blackly at each other.
"Baka kitsune!!" Sakuragi threw a punch at Rukawa's face.
"Do-aho." Rukawa countered by kicking Sakuragi in the stomach.
The fight resumed while Youhei sweat-dropped and stood there watching in horror. He shook himself out of his surprise and moved to separate the two guys. 'I can't believe my two best friends hate each other.' After Rukawa moved away from Kanagawa with his parents, Hanamichi moved in and Youhei quickly became best friends with him. He had always wanted to introduce Rukawa to Sakuragi and vice versa. But as one moved away, the other moved in. He had always thought that given the chance, all three of them could become best buds. 'No chance of that now.'
He pulled Sakuragi away from Rukawa knowing that Sakuragi was the more temperamental of the two and started to calm him down. Rukawa, on the other hand, after seeing that the fight would not continue any time soon, sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. He quickly fell asleep.
"Hanamichi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Why did you hit Kaede?" Youhei wanted to know.
"He provoked me first! And besides, he stole Haruko-chan's heart." Sakuragi hissed back. After calming down a bit, he asked, "How do you know him anyways?"
Youhei blinked in surprise. Akagi Haruko was the reason that Sakuragi joined the basketball team in the first place. Sakuragi fell for her the moment he laid his eyes on her. So when she asked him if he was interested in basketball, he immediately answered without thinking, that he loved it. He apparently wanted to impress her and he quickly joined the school basketball team. It was quite surprising for everyone when they discovered that Sakuragi had an inert talent for the sport.
"He was my childhood best friend. He moved away and then I became friends with you." Youhei answered.
"What?! He was your best friend??? How can you be friends with such a cold block of ice???" Sakuragi's voice raised a notch.
Youhei clamped his hand on Sakuragi's mouth and glanced down at Rukawa. The boy shifted slightly before falling back into a deep slumber. Youhei sighed in relief. He didn't want the enmity between his two best friends to increase any further. He turned back to Sakuragi. He could tell that Sakuragi was still angry but the redhead was slowly calming down.
He removed his hand slowly from his best friend's mouth. "Kaede wasn't like this when I knew him. He used to be a lot more open and cheerful. I guess those years in which he moved away from Kanagawa changed him a lot." Youhei sighed. "I thought you two could become friends."
This time Youhei's hands was ready to stifle Sakuragi's outburst as he saw Sakuragi's face tauten again with anger. He dragged him out of the gym and waited for Sakuragi to calm himself down again. Youhei spoke after a few minutes, "Look, you and Kaede are both my best friends. You don't expect me to choose, do you?"
Sakuragi looked a bit uncomfortable and after a few minutes, he shook his head. Youhei sighed in relief. He led Sakuragi back into the gym to where Rukawa was sleeping. Youhei bent down and started to shake Rukawa awake. Rukawa's eyes opened and fist shot up towards Youhei's face, but Rukawa pulled back in time when he realized just who it was.
Youhei gave Rukawa a big smile, happy knowing that Rukawa would never intentionally hurt him. He then glared at Sakuragi. The redhead was shuffling his feet on the gym floor looking uncomfortable. Youhei got up from his position next to Rukawa and then went over and punched Sakuragi lightly on the arm. Sakuragi glared at him and Youhei glared back. Rukawa watched all of this silently from the gym floor.
Sakuragi finally spoke up with his eyes trained on the ground and his hands clenched in fists. "I'm only doing this for Youhei. I know he considers you one of his best friends and I just don't want him to choose." Sakuragi became silent and Youhei glared at him once more. Sakuragi glared back and then sighed. "I'm… sorry. Truce?" Sakuragi said in low voice through clenched teeth.
Youhei turned to look expectantly at Rukawa. The fox-eyed boy looked at Youhei silently for a few minutes and then sighed. "Okay…" Rukawa said in a low voice. Rukawa got up and started to walk out of the gym.
"Kaede…" Youhei called after him.
Rukawa turned around and his eyes softened slightly as he looked at Youhei. He gave him a micro smile. "…gotta go… see ya…" Rukawa then turned around and walked out of the gym.
When Rukawa disappeared from sight, Youhei turned to look at Sakuragi, "Still angry?"
"How come I'm the one that has to apologize and not that kitsune?" Sakuragi glared at Youhei.
"Cause I'm sure that you threw the first punch." Youhei replied.
"I… I…" Sakuragi sputtered. "Oh whatever! Let's go eat. I'm starving." They walked out of the gym and headed towards Danny's.

*****

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