Author's Notes: This is my first attempt to write a fanfiction so please bear with the errors that you might see. The characters I've used may seem a bit out of character but I hope you like the fic. Please read and review ok? Your reviews will help me improve. Your suggestions, corrections or criticisms are always welcome.
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Chapter 1: Grief
It was Saturday morning. The sky looked like grieving with them. Heavy rain had fallen down from the vast sky filled with dark clouds. The breeze was cold but no one seemed to care. Dried leaves had fallen from the trees as the breeze blew them away. The ground was soggy and muddy and it was filled with dried leaves and twigs.
People in black and white clutched their umbrellas as they wept out of sorrow. Loud sobs and sniffles could be heard from the distance. All of them felt sadness in their hearts but no one could feel as much as Haruko's pain. Her beloved boyfriend, Sakuragi Hanamichi had died. Yes, the so-called basketball genius and Shohoku's rebound king had passed away.
Haruko knelt down as she held her umbrella in front of his grave. She seemed not to accept the truth, the truth that Hanamichi's already dead. She couldn't hold so much pain in her heart that she sobbed so loudly. The people around her did nothing but grieved with her as they placed their white roses on his grave.
'The world is so cruel. Why did this happen?' she thought as she stooped down and sobbed so hard. Her brother, Akagi Takenori felt so sorry for his sister. He never thought that she would feel a lot of pain like this. He thought that she would be happy with Sakuragi. He didn't think of what could happen that might make her feel depressed. Now, all he could do for her was to be strong to console her since Sakuragi wouldn't be with her anymore.
He stared at her as he put his right hand on her shoulder. "Haruko," he called but he didn't receive a response. He subsequently knelt down on her side, still holding her shoulder. Haruko sensed her brother's comfort but this wasn't enough to take away the pain from her heart. She turned her head and looked at him with her wet eyes. "Brother," she spoke in a very soft tone. There's no strength left for her to speak.
"I understand what you feel right now but you have to accept the reality. We can do nothing to bring him back to life," he said in a solemn manner. He saw her eyes filled with sorrow and tears. "Sakuragi is more than just a teammate to us. All this time, he has been our friend. All of us will miss him as you do. I know it's hard to accept but we have to," he said as he took his hand off her shoulder.
All of Sakuragi's friends were there. Miyagi, Mitsui, Kogure, Ayako, all of his teammates and even Anzai-sensei were there except for one person he apparently hated so much, Rukawa. They didn't know where he was or where he went. They didn't care about it anyway.
At the distance, a tall man with jet-black hair stood there and watched them mourning over Sakuragi's grave. Nobody noticed that Rukawa was watching from far away. He put his black cap on his head as the heavier rain fell. He knew that he should be over there with his friends or teammates rather but he chose not to be with them. He rather chose to be alone.
"Stupid Sakuragi," he muttered to himself. "He shouldn't have died. Haruko needs him and he has to be there for her," he mumbled with a very cold voice. Those words were not like the works he had usually uttered to Sakuragi before. Rather, those were words of his concern.
Though he wouldn't admit it, she has a special place in his heart. He wouldn't say that just for kicks. It's not because she's Akagi Takenori's sister but because he knew that she's the only one who could give him love he had been longing for. However, he kept that to himself and concentrated more on his basketball career. For a long time, he hadn't acknowledged his feelings towards the girl.
Now that Sakuragi's gone, she's all alone. What could he do? He couldn't just enter the scene and take advantage of her. He didn't know what to do. He just wanted to cheer her up but how?
People were still mourning his death. He could see that some of them had already left and had returned to their homes. As they walked by, the rain poured as they lifted their umbrellas to protect themselves. Shortly, he could see only Haruko and Takenori.
Takenori stood up and took the mud off his pants with his bare hands. He then cleaned his hand with his handkerchief and held once more her shoulder. "Let's go. We are the only ones left here," he said.
She looked at him wearily and teary-eyed. "I won't go. I want to stay here," was her reply. Her voice was still soft for she's very tired and needed a lot of rest. She didn't want to leave Sakuragi, not this time. She bowed her head down and stared at his grave as her tears rolled to her pale cheeks from her eyes.
He couldn't do anything to make her end her agony. It was very painful for him to see his beloved sister grieving. He knew she wouldn't leave because she loves Sakuragi so much. "Okay," he sighed. "I won't force you to leave. I'll go now," he said, worrying. "Take care of yourself."
Lifting his umbrella, he strode back home before she could say goodbye. She heard his footsteps fading away as she continued grieving over his grave.
Rukawa could see only Haruko kneeling down. 'Is this the right time to show up?' he asked himself. Who could tell that this might be the right time for him to show up to her? Only him could answer his own question…
Freezing breeze blew again as the leaves flew and landed on the wet grounds. He put his black leather jacket on to keep himself warm. He had seen Haruko, who didn't seem to mind the coldness of the wind. She was still sobbing at the moment. He undoubtedly walked towards her for he couldn't help it.
Haruko was still staring at Sakuragi's grave, thinking of their past memories when he was still alive. She was still feeling the pain that the incident had brought to her. Crying in solitude, she felt a hand on top of her shoulder. She could sense that someone was there behind her. She felt coldness in that hand. She thought her brother had come back to accompany her. She then faced the owner of that hand anxiously.
"Rukawa," she was surprised to see him. She never thought he would come here. All she knew was he hated Sakuragi so much that he wouldn't bother to come here. A bit of happiness was felt in her heart but it wasn't enough to ease the pain she was feeling. Wearily, her puffy eyes met his cold, blue ones.
The dark-haired boy did nothing but stared at her with pity though he didn't show it. He felt sorrow for her suffering though his face showed no emotions. 'She doesn't deserve to experience this,' he thought. 'Damn Sakuragi. He should have taken care of himself. He shouldn't have left Haruko,' he cursed in his mind. He kept on blaming him for what's happening just to ease the tension he was feeling. He couldn't bear to see Haruko loking so depressed. But, blaming Sakuragi would do nothing to change the fact that he's already gone and the fact that Haruko's alone.
The cold wind blew Haruko's hair strands onto her face. Her slender fingers brushed her hair off her face and placed it behind her ears. She turned his face back towards the ground. "What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.
He took his hand off her shoulder and sighed, "I don't know. I really don't want to come here but my mind has told me to," he lied. He couldn't believe he had said that. He really wanted to come to show his sympathy and his comfort. He just didn't want to be too obvious.
She then too sighed out of disappointment. She thought that he was there to solace her. If she only knew what's inside his heart, she would not be disappointed. "You shouldn't be here. I knew you forced yourself to come here. After all, you hated Sakuragi and there's no reason for you to come here," she said with shaky voice because of the chilly weather.
He felt his heart beating so fast. He was stunned by her words. He never thought that she would say something like that. He didn't know the exact words to speak.
It was still raining and the wind had become so chilly. He could see her still weeping and shuddering for she's not wearing her sweater. He took off his black jacket and put it on her back to give her a little warmth.
"Actually, I have never hated Sakuragi. I'm just pestered by his attitude. I really have no personal conflict with him," he explained with a deep, cold voice, trying to ignore the coldness of the weather. The wind blew again gently as silence came between them for a while. Without his jacket, his face became pale and his lips were shaking a bit. It's noticeable that he was quivering but he tried to hide it from her.
The brown-haired girl finally stood up. Her knees were a bit dirty because of the mud but she paid it no attention. She carefully removed his jacket he had put on her. She had noticed him trembling. "Here, wear this," she showed him her concern as she put the jacket on him. "This might help you feel better."
He was a bit surprised. He didn't expect that she would do that for him. He was a bit guilty. He thought he needed to apologize to her. She had been so nice to him since their first meeting. She would usually greet him whenever they meet in the hallway but he would just ignore her, pretending she didn't exist. He remembered her offering her help when the bullies beat him up. He was badly injured and his body felt pain when she came to aid him but he did not acknowledge it. He pretended he didn't know her. He knew what he did was wrong and he had to admit that. If he had acted nicely, they would have been together. After all the things he had done, she's still nice to him.
He didn't know what words to say. He became speechless. Would 'thank you' be enough to show his appreciation of everything she had done for him? Perhaps not… He was about to speak when she began to talk.
"Thank you for coming here," she said with a weak smile, "You don't know how much this means to me." She got herself a handkerchief from her pocket and dampened it with the tears off her puffy eyes. "I'm sorry for the things I've said to you earlier. It is rude to say those words. I'm just so depressed and I…" before she could finish her sentence, he spoke.
"I understand," he felt a weird feeling, "Look, I should be the one who's sorry," he uttered in his usual tone but with sincerity. "I'm sorry for his death," He felt so awkward because he had never done this before.
His words touched her emotional heart. She wanted to smile but she couldn't due to her weariness. Few drops of tears had fallen from her tired eyes. "It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. Nobody wanted that to happen so no one should be blamed," she spoke softly.
Shortly, they felt the rain no more. The pouring of the rain had finally stopped. The dark clouds were gradually disappearing as the bright sun shone above the sky. Heat could be felt again and the sky had turned back into blue.
She faced the ground as if she didn't mind the sudden change of the weather. It didn't matter to her anyway. If there were anything she wanted to change, she would change the reality, not the weather. She folded her umbrella and started to make her way back to her home without saying any goodbye to Rukawa.
As she walked by, he turned towards her as his sight followed her. 'Should I come after her?' he asked himself with the usual look on his face. He took off his jacket for it's not cold anymore and tied it around his waist. Shortly after few minutes of thinking, he decided to go after her.
She was already on few streets away from him when he ran after her. He passed by the lonely streets of Kanagawa where no one was there. Later on as he ran, he already reached her and grasped her arm. It's no wonder he could run fast; he's a basketball player.
She stopped from walking as he held her arm. She felt her heart throbbing. She looked at him, puzzled. "What do you want?" she questioned him.
Rukawa didn't respond. He didn't know what to answer anyway. He released his hold on her arm and put his hand in his pocket. He was a panting a bit. He didn't speak any word.
Haruko still looked at him looking puzzled. She had no idea why he ran after her like that. She never thought of a reason. "If you don't mind, I will go now," she said sounding harshly but she didn't mean to.
"I don't want you to go all by yourself," he sighed, looking expressionless. He really felt awkward about this.
She managed to put a little smile on her face though she felt so fatigued. This was the first time he showed her his concern. She did appreciate that but she was confused. Why was he doing that?
"I know this is a bit odd but really, I don't want you to go alone," he was a little ashamed of what he was doing though he still looked emotionless. He wasn't used to doing something like this. For some reason, he did that.
She just turned her back on him and started walking, thinking that it was just her imagination. This was kind of unusual to her. She thought it would be better if she would just go and pretend it didn't happen.
He still followed her until he got near her. He walked beside her, thinking that she let him to. "It's lonely, isn't it?" he asked.
She stared blankly at the streets as she walked by. She was trying to keep her tears from falling. She released a deep breath and replied, "Yeah. It is lonely but I'm trying not to think about it anymore."
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Author's Notes: Is it nice? Hope it is… It's a bit crappy isn't it? For those who are HarukoxSakuragi fans, I'm sorry if I killed Sakuragi because that's the only thing I thought of to get rid of him. Anyway, this fic is going to be very dramatic. Please R&R… Thanks!