Fandom: Slam Dunk
Summary: He vows to give her his heart, his life, his everything, despite knowing her everything already belongs to someone else. RuAya. Multi-chapter songfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk nor does Slam Dunk own the song =P
Credits: Kage Chikara, for the challenge. Kuro Neko, for giving me the song. Card Captor Sakura, for the song Hitotsudake. Takehiko Inoue, for the cool and inspiring Slam Dunk. And to everyone who's read and reviewed this (and is just about to do so) as well as to the acquaintances I have earned through this fic. Let us all keep the RuAya pride alive, all right ^_^
Title: Only One (Revised)
Author: Hana Rui
Genre: romance, mystery, drama, song-fic
Pairing: Kaede Rukawa x Ayako [RuAya]
CHAPTER ONE
~ she stared with wide eyes at Rukawa, wondering if she had really heard him call her name ~
Massugu na hitomi
Itsumo damatteru
-0-
Looking into your eyes
You always kept silent
The pain was excruciating. Ayako initially thought she would never be able to get over it, but she did. Somehow.
She stared at the handkerchief wrapped around her right forearm and gently brushed a hand over it, thinking she couldn't have done it any better than this. The tautness and the width of the cloth was enough to control the bleeding and to amply hide the ghastly wound it was streaming out from. The long and ugly laceration branded on her by the demented masked creep who had broken into her house earlier that night.
And he would've killed her, too, the ruthless punk that he was, had Rukawa not come and rescued her soon enough.
Ayako stole a glance at the reserved young jock sitting opposite from her at the dining table, still not quite believing things would all come to this. Suddenly, she was indebted to a man she had never really given much thought about, and running away from one she hardly even knew. She had never imagined anything like this happening in the Kanagawa District, much less to her! It was just ridiculous.
A flitting glint riveted her eyes to her hand and to the round, green trinket on it that was reflecting the light above them. "Ryota," she mumbled with a sob as she clenched her fingers around her beloved's lucky earring. The one he had always worn and had never once taken off of his left ear. As far as Ayako could remember, it had wrought nothing but wonders for the tough and dutiful captain of Shohoku High's basketball team. It had been doing so ever since his first year in Shohoku. From the time he joined the basketball team, to when Mitsui's gang beat him up and sent him to the hospital sore and aching for weeks, to his remarkable recovery from that injury, and to the time he became one of the unyielding pedestals that hoisted Shohoku up to their first break in the National Championship.
This year, with Captain Akagi now in college, it was Ryota Miyagi's turn to put his leadership capabilities to full force after being appointed new captain of the team. And with this and his unwavering basketball proficiency he had recently led Shohoku to their second year in the National play-offs.
It was just ironic how this very same ornament that brought up this much had actually failed to work something out for him when he needed it the most. When that horrible thing happened...
And on a night that was supposed to be special... Ayako couldn't keep the bitterness from overwhelming her. The fleeting images of that fateful night flashing through her mind was gradually making her lower eyelids heavy with tears. Again...
She trembled slightly at the feel of the silver necklace around her neck. Her reflex consequently kicked in and sent her hand grasping the heart-shaped pendant hanging from it. She knew she should've taken it off to stop the flow of reminiscent thoughts from bothering her mind. But she didn't know why she just couldn't get herself to do such a simple task.
Perhaps it's because it was the only way she could keep Ryota close to her while he's in the hospital fighting for his life...
At this point, Ayako lost control over the tears she had been holding back and they went cascading down her cheeks so profusely that one would think they were never gonna stop. She bit her lip to stifle the accompanying sobs that were struggling to escape her throat. And as she did, her eyes incidentally locked with those of the reticent guy who had been quietly staring at her for who knew how long.
Crap! she thought, attempting to read the emotion dwelling in those blue orbs. Had he fallen asleep already? she wondered as a curious frown creased her face. Somehow that notion didn't seem impossible at allthe sleepy lad that Rukawa was! If he could fall asleep while riding his bike, then sleeping with his eyes open should be one of his oldest tricks.
But, no. Rukawa couldn't be asleep. He couldn't possibly be for Ayako was actually able to catch somethinga kind of emotionin those eyes that had often been framed by a seemingly perpetual frown in the past.
The brows were now relaxed, his face unruffled. Gentle, even, that if one didn't look hard enough, he would actually think the foxy-eyed lad had indeed fallen asleep, if not for his azure eyes that were awake and faintly gleaming with sympathy and concern. Like those of a friend who's ready as ever to lend a shoulder to cry on.
Strange, for she had never seen those kinds of emotion in Rukawa's eyes. Usually, if they were not stoned, they were harbored by either determination to win in a tough game or animosity for the self-appointed genius, Sakuragi. He had never looked at her or at anybody else like how he was doing right now.
She rubbed the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to pull herself together and relax. She was starting to see things that were not really there. How could a block of wood void of a nervous system actually exhibit such kinds of emotion?
For all I know, he must be thinking what a pathetic sight I am...
"Senpai."
The deep, masculine voice startled Ayako out of her thoughts. She stared with wide eyes at Rukawa, wondering if she had really heard him call her name. But before she could think she was just hearing things, she saw his lips move, forming words that were beyond what one would expect of him.
"Its going to be all right" he said it as softly as though he had wanted it to blend with the nocturnal breeze. And it was more than what Ayako could take. She could feel the tears forming again as she stared into his eyes. She felt like running to him and finding comfort in his arms. Bury her face to his chest and cry until all the bitterness and anxiety vanished from her system. She felt like... She felt like...
Ayako bit her lip and shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She really needed to calm down and stop imagining things.
She should stop expecting anything more from Rukawa...
tbc
