I admit that KoshHana/HanaKosh is one tough pairing to write about. I spent
nearly two weeks trying to merely come up with a plot. I thought that I
would be easy, but o.O! Anyway, this is for sweetie sweet Michiru! ~hugs~
My very first attempt on a KoshHana/HanaKosh fic! Be nice and gentle ne?
RED ROSES, BLUE RIBBONS
Sakuragi rubbed his back as he tried to get more comfortable on the tiny white bed of his hospital room. He had been stuck in the crappy sterile place for a month now and his back was really enjoying and taking its merry time in healing. Cursing and talking to it as if it was a living thing - technically it was, since it is made of living cells, etcetera - but Sakuragi failed to notice that his back lacked a mouth, larynx and a tongue to go with it all. It was absolutely normal to walk in to his room and find him talking to his back - more of insulting actually. He called it a 'pathetic column of useless and lazy calcium consuming semi-white solid'. The doctor would tell him that if he would quit straining himself, perhaps it would heal faster. Sakuragi called him a big fat liar, and his excuse was that he had been in bed for a month and doing absolutely nothing, so yes, he was resting and not straining himself. The silly idiot did not realize that the doctor meant for him to just shut the hell up. Once again, the redhead lacked a few gray cells in his three ounces of jelly cramped and coiled up in his thick skull.
"I demand that I eat chocolate! I demand that these walls be a bit more colorful! What is this an asylum?" Sakuragi spoke in his not-so-quiet voice to his nurse who was at the moment boiling. He had been complaining for the past ten minutes and it was driving her up the wall. "I am not crazy! So why should my walls be white? Do I look like some crazed lunatic to you? No! I'm perfectly fine and am a growing boy, who needs his colorful walls and chocolate! Now will you damn well do something about it?" He slammed his fists on his knees.
The nurse had begun to talk back when Sakuragi went through his tantrums. He placed his medicines by the side table and his glass of water, before turning to leave. "Bah! You ain't worth my time, chicken boy!" She mumbled.
Sakuragi of course heard it and threw a fist in the air and roared. "Chicken boy? Say that to my faced, ya' lip noodle!"
A green blanket came colliding with Sakuragi's face. "Will you shut up? Are you trying to wake the entire hospital wing or what? Just shut up and go to sleep!" Without another word, the nurse slammed the door closed and left Sakuragi all alone.
"But I want some sweets! You guys feed me recycled food! Hello?" He sighed and took his medicines.
It was only eight in the evening. He turned to look at the window by his window, eyes longing to see the outside world and feel the air and surroundings again. He got up from his bed and walked to the window, sitting by the soft chair and propping his chin on his palm, eyes staring at the many lights below him. His room was located in the seventh floor of the ten-storey building. He could see the lights glowing brightly from afar and how stars blinked at night. He sighed and ran his long fingers through his now shoulder length red hair. His hair grew pretty fast and he never really got the chance to cut it since he was not allowed to even step out of the hospital.
His eyes looked up at the sky and a star blinked at him. He narrowed his eyes and got to his feet, making his way to his chest drawer. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled them on and searched for a jacket and a cap. He found a black jacket and his gray Nike cap. He slipped on his socks and shoes and stuffed some yen bills in to his pockets. He arranged his bed to make it look like he was asleep and turned the lights off. He pulled his jacket closer around him and looked both his sides. Standing straight and hiding his face behind the shadows his cap created around his face, he silently made his way out of the hospital and no one suspected a thing. Once he was a block away from the hospital, he turned his cap the other way and smiled, inhaling fresh air. He stretched and grinned in triumph. He looked about and made his way to a store, filling his gray cap with chocolates and toffees and different candies. After paying for it, he hugged the cap close to him and walked around for a while. Soon, he found himself heading for the local basketball court. It was already very dark, and he had no watch, so he was not aware of the time. He sat in the middle of the court, facing the ring, placing his capful of sweets beside him. He took a Snickers bar and peeled it, taking a big bite. He savored the sweet taste, the crunchy nuts and sticky caramel. His eyes fell on the ring, and memories assaulted him before he became what he was at that moment - a useless lump of flesh.
He remembered how he performed his first slam-dunk and ended up banging his head on the board. He remembered the things that he did in order to get in to the teams - cleaning the court, polishing balls and cleaning the locker rooms. He remembered his very first match with Ryonan High, and the terrible loss. He remembered the fig fight with Mitsui and his gang and how his own army of pals helped out and took the blame for their sake. He remembered their big match with Shoyo, Kainan and Ryonan, how they felt the taste of victory and defeat. He remembered their intensive training and how he, Miyagi, Mitsui and Rukawa got threatened to get kicked out of the team if their grades were not pulled up. The sheer memory of studying with captain Gorilla made him smile. It was fun till it lasted. Then came his training with Anzai, then finally Inter High. Sakuragi's eyes clouded with tears. Then it was his situation at the present - him and his stupid back.
He sniffed and pushed the tears away, finishing off his Snickers before opening a Mars bar and eating it. He ate every bar, the tears coming down, never stopping. He would sniff between bites, his eyes never leaving the ring. He remembered Rukawa, his one and only mortal 'rival' - at least that was how it looked in the outside. His tears began to pour out even more when he remembered their wonderful relationship together that ended right before the Ryonan match. He bit his lower lip to silence his sobs. Rukawa had broken their relationship because he did not want to have a distraction, and that hurt Sakuragi the most - the fact that he was mere distraction to Rukawa.
"Oh this is so crap! I'm supposed to be enjoying myself, not crying!" He told himself, taking another bar of chocolate.
What followed after his broken relationship with Rukawa was Sendoh and Rukawa's official couple show, and it was done right in front of his very eyes. Sakuragi had never felt so remorse and so broken, that he could have sworn that he felt numb all over and could barely feel anything, let alone see and think clearly. Now, all he had was memories of himself and Rukawa during their happy times as couple - their kisses, their lovemaking, their hugs and their times spend together. It was even worse when Rukawa never came with the team to visit him. He came once but after that, he never did anymore. He would cry inside, because even though their relationship ended, their friendship was still there. As a distraction, Sakuragi red magazines and books to keep his mind off everything and to block reality. Of course, he maintained his gruff and loud attitude, but inside, he was shattered in to a million pieces.
Sakuragi shook his head, his long red hair moving in the air just like in a shampoo ad. He tore his eyes off the ring, and continued to eat his chocolates. He only ate half of what he bought and stuffed the rest in to his pockets. He got to his feet and stretched his aching bones. His eyes widened when he felt an electrifying pain shoot up his spine. He gave out a cry as he fell on his knees. His vision blurred and spun. His head began to ache, and when he could no longer take it no more, he gave up and fainted.
*
Sendoh threw the ball in up and down in the air from his right open palm, as Koshino continued to review him with questions that would probably pop up in their biology test the next day. He answered most of them, since Koshino, his best buddy, threatened to burst his basketball with his pointy- head if he did not get the answers and other facts into his head - name courtesy of Koshino.
"Which vessel takes blood away from the heart?" Koshino asked.
"Pulmonary artery." He answered.
"Which vessel takes blood to the heart?"
"Pulmonary vein."
"Give three characteristics of an artery."
"Thick lumen, can withstand high pressure, narrow passage."
"Vein."
"Thin lumen, has valves to keep blood flowing in one direction, cannot withstand high pressure."
"Expand DNA."
"Deoxyribonucleic acid."
"What is urine made of?" Koshino asked, taking the ball away from him and twirling it in his index finger as they continued walking.
"Excess protein, ammonia and other - hey! Look!" Sendoh pointed at the court. "Someone is in there, sitting."
"You haven't answered my questions yet!" Koshino said warningly.
"Oh come one Koshino! You know I know all the answers." Sendoh winked at him and gave him a hug. "Thanks for tutoring me."
"Okay, okay. Can you let go of me now? Rukawa would want my head if he saw us. I like my head screwed tight on my neck the way it is right now, thank you very much." Sendoh merely smiled. "Hey look, he's leaving."
The two watched as the stranger inside got to his feet and stretch. Their eyes widened when the stranger fell on his knees and gave out a cry. They rushed forward when the latter fainted. Once they were beside him, Koshino brushed the lock of long hair away from the stranger's face and gasped.
"This is -" He stumbled back.
"Sakuragi!" Sendoh yelped. "But he's supposed to be in the hospital! What's he doing out here by himself?"
"Never mind that!" Koshino said, taking hold of Sakuragi's arm. "Let's get him to a hospital!"
"Right!" Sendoh said, nodding.
The two boys helped each other carry Sakuragi to a taxi and take him to the hospital. The doctors and nurses were frantic and immediately took him away. The two learned that Sakuragi had run away from the hospital. Koshino slapped his forehead when he heard that and Sendoh merely smiled, laughing a bit. It was typical for Sakuragi to not be able to stand being in one place for a long time. He learned that from his dear Rukawa, who told him about Sakuragi once and never spoke of him again.
"Will he be alright?" Sendoh asked, forgetting momentarily about Rukawa.
"He should be awake in a few minutes. That sort of thing happens when there is too much strain. We injected him with some drugs that should wake him up." The doctor said. Just then a loud yell echoed in the corridors of the hospital and the doctor sighed. "There! He's awake." He jerked a finger behind him. "You can see him in room 712." Without another word, the doctor left to attend to another patient.
Sendoh and Koshino made their way to the room. When they stepped in, they found a young nurse and an enraged Sakuragi engaged in an all-out tug of war with a gray cap filled with chocolates and candies.
"Look, you annoying ape! I'm going to put it in the fridge so they won't melt!" The nurse tugged.
"Leave it alone goat woman! It's mine! You lie! You're going to throw them away! Hand it over!" Sakuragi tugged.
They tugged at the cap some more, until the nurse finally gave up and threw her hands in the air. "Oh I give up!" She cried and stomped out of the room, leaving two of the visitors to stare at her as she left. Sakuragi laughed happily and placed the cap on his lap, eyeing which one he should open first and eat. The two walked up to his side, watching as he picked around the capful of sweets.
"Hey there!" Sendoh said, smiling. Koshino merely rolled his eyes at his friend's lame greeting.
Sakuragi turned to look up at him, his brown innocent eyes widening at the sight of them both. His red hair fell on both sides of his shoulder like a bloodied curtain. His eyes landed on Sendoh for a long time. The smile on Sendoh's lips faded, Koshino noticed. Sakuragi's eyes began to shine a bit. Koshino knew of how Rukawa had ditched Sakuragi for Sendoh and he didn't really give a damn because it was none of his business. But the current look on Sakuragi's face - all the hurt, the pain, the shattered happiness - Koshino wanted to beat the crap out of Sendoh for just waltzing over to Rukawa and becoming his boyfriend. Sendoh felt terrible by looking at Sakuragi. He felt selfish and conceited. The look in the redhead's eyes broke his smile and showed him reality that indeed, he cared for Rukawa so much. Both Ryonan boys could not stand the broken look on the usually high- spirited redhead.
Sakuragi blinked and turned his head back to his cap of chocolates. "Hi." He said, trying to sound cheerful in vain. "I rarely get visitors at this time. What brings you two here?" He took a Twix bar and opened it, taking a bite off.
"We saw you faint in the court, Hanamichi-kun." Sendoh said, plastering a smile for the sake of the tensed surroundings.
Koshino rolled his eyes at the way Sendoh addressed the redhead. "That was a stupid thing to do, Sakuragi! You're under treatment and you run away from the hospital? That's really dumb!"
"Well, once does get very annoyed in a place like this." He shrugged, taking a bite from his chocolate bar. "I mean take a look at this crap! I've got white walls! And white walls make me think of an asylum! Am I crazy? No! I just have a pathetic column of useless and lazy calcium consuming semi-white solid for a backbone!" He took an angry bite from his chocolate. "They feed me recycled food and they refuse to let me eat anything sweet! Can you imagine not eating sweets for one whole crappy month? No! Because that never really happened to you now did it? Being cooped up in a stupid four-walled room with shitty food, you guys don't know! All you do is play basketball, eat good food, watch movies and be with your lovers twenty-four-seven! Yeah! That's exactly what this world is coming to! I mean I just lost the only person that I really-" He stopped suddenly and shook his head. Koshino winced a bit and turned to look at Sendoh who had hurt in his eyes. "Well, I'm not worried now! See?" He showed them his capful of sweets. "I've got this! And there's nothing you girls can do about it!" He smiled like a child, and finished off his Twix before opening a Bounty bar. "So, did you bring me something nice?" He asked with his mouthful.
"Uh - no." Sendoh said, forcing another smile, but failing miserably.
"Uh-huh! That's fine!" Sakuragi waved a hand. He dug out two candies and handed one to them each. Koshino and Sendoh could only stare at the orange wrapped toffee in their open palms. "Candies are manufactured for people to eat and not to stare. Did you know that?" He said, not taking his eyes off his capful of sweets.
"Of course dummy!" Sendoh said, laughing. "I'll save this for later." He tucked the candy away in to one of his Bermuda shorts pockets. Koshino did the same thing.
Sakuragi shrugged and continued eating. Koshino then spoke up. "Shouldn't you slow down a bit? They'll run out fast that way if you keep it up."
"Doesn't matter." Sakuragi said, swallowing the chocolate in his mouth. "I can always sneak out and buy some more, right?"
Sendoh sat in front of Sakuragi and titled his head up so that he could see the sad brown orbs. Koshino narrowed his eyes at Sendoh's actions. Couldn't he just simply understand that he was the last person Sakuragi would want to have beside him, let alone touch him? Koshino sighed. Once a flirt, always a flirt.
Sendoh watched as Sakuragi's eyes darkened and threatened to burst with tears. "Please take care of yourself, okay, Hanamici-kun?"
Sakuragi plucked Sendoh's hands off his chin and looked away. "I'm going to sleep. It's getting late. You guys should go home or your parents would worry." Sendoh felt his breath catch in his throat.
"All right." Sendoh said, standing up. "We'll drop by tomorrow if you want."
"Don't bother. You've got practice and other more important agendas." Sakuragi said, waving. "Good night!" He forced a crooked smile.
"Take care, redhead." Koshino said, patting his shoulder.
The two left the hospital. Once outside the hospital, Koshino gripped Sendoh's arm and pulled him to stop. "You really want to know the definition of an idiot?" Sendoh blinked at him. "You are the very definition of an idiot. Did you see the look on his face when he saw you?" Sendoh looked at the ground. "Yup, that look on your face tells me you do understand! This is a first! Sendoh Akira understands something!" Koshino threw his hands in the air and walked ahead of Sendoh. "You know, I never really gave a damn about this little relationship between Rukawa and Sakuragi and with you in it, but after seeing that look, my god!" Sendoh bit his lower lip. "And you've got nerve to even touch him! What's wrong with you, are you crazy or what? Isn't it enough that you're going out with the person he really likes?"
"I feel terrible. How could Rukawa leave such a -" Sendoh brought a hand up to his face. "Such an innocent person behind like that? It's - It's a sin!"
"Oh I'm glad you admitted that!" Koshino glared at him. "You know, it's fruitless to even try to explain these things to you because you would not listen anyway. Forget it! I'm going home! You better pass that exam tomorrow, or I sweat I'll really burst your precious basketball with your spikes!"
"Sure thing Koshino! I won't let you down!" Sendoh smiled, glad of the change of subject.
"You better not! Go to sleep and quit fooling around okay?" Koshino said, waving. Sendoh waved and went the opposite direction.
Both boys had one thought in their minds. They vowed that they would visit Sakuragi the next day, and this time, bring something nice.
*
Koshino felt satisfied upon seeing the 95% on his biology test. He turned to look at Sendoh expecting nineties as well. Sendoh grinned sheepishly as he held up his paper for Koshino to see. Koshino blushed red in anger, grabbing the paper and flipping through it.
"What is this?" Koshino said, slamming down the paper down on Sendoh's desk. "You ask for help in biology for this test, so I skip the student council meeting to coach. You've got nerve giving me a 68%, Sendoh Akira!"
"I got a 52% last time. It's improvement, don't you think?" Sendoh smiled, taking the test paper and folding it, tucking it into his backpack. "What are you going to do after practice?"
"I don't know." Koshino said, trying to avoid saying anything else. "You?"
"I don't know either."
"Well, we better get our butts moving if we want to avoid coach in giving us extra laps around the court. We did two hundred last time we were late, thanks to you." Koshino pointed out.
"Oh that one!" Sendoh laughed. "Let's go!"
They headed for the basketball court and began their practice with the rest of the team. As usual, the coach had no pity for them, and by the end of their two-hour and a half practice, Koshino and Sendoh felt as if they just swam an entire ocean. They changed in to their uniform, both glad that it was the weekend. They padded silently out of the school grounds, walking down a street of shops. Koshino stopped in front of the bakery, looking at the rows of cake slices and other delicacies.
"Sendoh you go on home. I have to get something okay?" He said.
"Yeah sure. See you around!" Sendoh waved, walking away.
Koshino waited till he was gone and entered the bakery. An old man greeted him. "Could I have six cake slices, different flavors?"
"Of course sonny. Hold on a minute." The old man said, disappearing behind the counter. He appeared a few minutes later with a nice red box. "Would you like a ribbon on it?"
"Yes please." Koshino said nodding.
"Okay." He said and wrapped the box in a white ribbon. "That would be seven hundred yen."
Koshino handed him the money and took the box. "Thanks." He left the shop and headed for the hospital. He saw an old lady selling red roses tied with blue ribbons. "I'll take one please." He bought one of the roses and stopped in front of the hospital. He stomach growled and he rolled his eyes. He headed for the ramen house across the street, and filled his stomach. Once he was done, he entered the hospital and headed for the seventh floor towards Sakuragi's room. He did not hear any yells of argumentative words with another. Instead he heard light sobbing coming from inside. He hesitated for a while. In the end he knocked three times.
"Come in." Sakuragi called from inside.
Koshino swallowed and entered. He saw Sakuragi's reddened eyes widened. "Hey Sakuragi! I take that you finished all of your sweets."
"Yeah, I did."
"Thought so." Koshino placed the cake and the rose by his side table.
"For me?" Sakuragi's eyes lit up.
"Yup. For you." Koshino said, nodding.
"Oh you shouldn't have!" Sakuragi took the cake and pulled out a fork from under his pillow. He opened the box and eyed the wonderfully iced cakes inside. He took a forkful of a green colored cake and smiled happily, for a moment, his sad look and cries vanishing and lay forgotten. "These are good!" He said with his mouth full.
"They do look good don't they?" Koshino said, not able to stop the smile from coming to his lips. Who would when they were with Sakuragi? The boy's aura was enough to enlighten an entire race that just escaped a nuclear bombing sight. Koshino was busy watching Sakuragi eat happily that he did not notice two people walk in. His smile vanished, and was replaced by a frown when he saw Sakuragi's eyes widen and his hand drop his fork. Koshino turned and he himself gaped. In front of him was his friend Sendoh, looking all stiff and rigid, who had Rukawa beside him, holding his waist.
"Fancy seeing you two here." Sakuragi said, forcing a big forkful of cake in to his mouth and trying to smile with his cheeks puffed out. Koshino felt pity towards the redhead. He was trying to block everything through eating cake. "How have you been, Sendoh, Rukawa?"
"I'm okay, Hanamichi-kun. What about you?" Sendoh said, pushing Rukawa's hand away and standing beside Koshino.
"I'm alive and breathing." Sakuragi answered. "Look? Koshino brought me cake. Ain't he so sweet?" Koshino felt his cheeks go hot, a small smile creeping up to his lips when Sakuragi turned and gave him his biggest and warmest smiles. "I could get used to this!" He took another chunk of cake. He turned to look at Rukawa. "How have you been, Rukawa?"
Sendoh and Koshino turned to look at Rukawa, who had no expression whatsoever. Koshino gave Sendoh a glare, who in return glared at Rukawa to answer. "I'm fine." Rukawa answered, nodding. "How's your back?"
Sakuragi shrugged. "Taking its merry time in healing that's for sure." He looked away, staring at his box of cake.
"Oh would you look at the time?" Koshino announced, standing up. "It's getting late. We should all be going, right? Yes! Now, don't plan anything silly like running away okay?" Sakuragi nodded. "Goodbye Sakuragi! Sleep well!"
"Bye Hanamichi-kun!" Sendoh said, waving. Rukawa nodded in the red head's direction.
The three left the room and went out of the hospital. Koshino stopped in front of Rukawa, who was now holding on to Sendoh as if he was his life support. "Will you excuse me and Sendoh for just one minute?" Koshino wasted no time and grabbed Sendoh, pulling him in to a dark alley. "Okay, now, what exactly is wrong with you?"
"It wasn't me! It was Rukawa!" Sendoh hissed back. "You think I wanted to go in there with him? He insisted and he just dragged me inside!"
"Oh! Right!" Koshino said, nodding. "Why didn't you just go home? Your bigger than the guy for crying out loud!"
"He didn't want to." A deep baritone echoed. Both sophomores turned to look at Rukawa standing behind them, arms crossed across his chest.
"Akira?" Koshino turned to look at Sendoh who had a flabbergasted expression on.
"But I -" He looked a Rukawa and shook his head, lips parted, now words coming out. "Oh it's my fault now?" He yelled, an darkened angry expression coming to his face.
"Both of you just stop!" Koshino yelled even louder. He turned to face Rukawa. "You! You of all people! You had to walk in and just make him more miserable didn't you? And holding on to Sendoh, oh jolly good! He would love to see that!"
"So what?" Rukawa asked, shrugging. "He knows that me and Akira are together."
Koshino bubbled up in anger and lunged forward to hit Rukawa. Sendoh grabbed him from behind. "Koshino stop! He'll kill you!"
"You selfish arrogant asshole! You only think of yourself! Didn't you ever think that perhaps he does still care for you and it would pain him to see the person he really likes glued to someone else? What's wrong with you? If you don't want to see him, then just keep away? You didn't have to pull a little drag show down the road you idiot!" Koshino spat.
"Koshino stop!" Sendoh begged, holding him back. "Please, just stop!"
Koshino stopped struggling, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, he's not my teammate, he's not a very good friend of mine, but just spare him the torture." He told Rukawa in a quiet voice. He looked at Sendoh. "And as for you, when will you ever learn?" Sendoh looked away. He really had the habit of doing that when he was cornered and guilty. Koshino shook his head and walked away.
"You've got no right to behave the way you are, Koshino. You know nothing about this farce." Rukawa said coldly, glaring at Koshino.
Koshino turned his head. "You're wrong, Rukawa. I do know everything and it's you who have no right to behave the way you are now."
Without another word, Koshino left.
*
"I did not appreciate what you did, Rukawa!" Sendoh said angrily, kicking the door closed of Rukawa's apartment.
"What did I do? You wanted to go visit Sakuragi, so I just accompanied you. Nothing wrong with that is there?" Rukawa asked.
"You know what? I don't get you!" Sendoh said, taking out a can of beer from the fridge, opening it and taking a long drink. "You never really told me why you left Hanamichi-kun."
"You never asked before, why are you asking now?" Rukawa asked, eyes narrowing.
"Because I saw his expression when he saw me. I wanted to be his friend, damnit! But now that's damn way too impossible to happen because you and I are a couple!" Rukawa smirked. "So tell me! Why did you dump him?"
"He distracted me."
"Ah! He distracted you! You mean he was too much for you to handle because he was more human than you are?" Sendoh asked, causing Rukawa to widen his eyes. "That's it isn't it? Because he was so kind, so nice, so innocent and so alive that he scared you! If I were like that Rukawa, would you dump me as well? I'm already paying a drastic price just being your boyfriend! I lost the respect of my entire team, although they try to be very cool about it! My own best friend hates me! Koshino is starting to hate me because of the things I'm starting to do when I'm with you! I hardly have enough time to be with my friends because I'm always with you! When I'm not with you, you go ballistic! And now, the entire Shohoku team, according to Miyagi, is despising you and me for being together! Don't you see me and you being together is a very big impact!" Sendoh inhaled sharply and took a long drink from his beer. "I wanted Hanamichi as a friend! He's such a great guy! Now that is so impossible because he can't even stand seeing me without thinking 'Oh damn it's him again! The boyfriend thief!' It doesn't affect you, but it affects me! I don't like it at all!"
"What do you want to do now?" Rukawa asked, cautiously.
Sendoh sighed. "I want us to stop! I don't want there to be an 'us' anymore. It's too much!"
"You're going to dump me, because of events that took place in the past forty-eight hours?" Rukawa asked, hurt in his voice.
"If such things could happen in forty-eight hours, I don't want to imagine what could happen in the next few weeks!" Sendoh threw his can in to the trash. "I'm sorry Rukawa. It just won't work out." He headed for the door. "It's best this way."
"You can't do this!" Rukawa said, now pleading. "You just can't leave me!"
Sendoh stopped, turning to look at Rukawa only slightly, pulling the door open. "Sakuragi said the same thing. No do you know how he felt when you left him?" Sendoh stepped out of the house. "Besides Rukawa, you distract me too much."
Sendoh left the house, and Rukawa collapsed in the middle of the room, eyes blurring with tears.
*
Weeks passed since Sendoh broke up with Rukawa, and the news spread fast. Every basketball team was talking about the two aces splitting up. Koshino was not entirely very giddy about it. He had visited Sakuragi many times, bringing him sweets, but he would find him asleep. The next day, when he visited, he would find the sweets he brought the other day finished, and would feel happy. He left his mark on everything he brought - the red rose with the blue ribbon.
Sakuragi on the other hand, heard the rumor. He did not know how to feel, but was surprised to find that he felt nothing at all - not happiness, not remorse, nod sadness. He just felt normal - like he did everyday. He slowly forgot about his broken relationship with Rukawa since his friendship with Sendoh and Koshino was blooming - especially with Koshino.
Sakuragi smiled at the memory of the shooting guard. He was so kind, even though he was sarcastic most of the time and frowned nearly all the time, he liked the guy. He was kind, hard working, smart and a fairly good basketball player too. The doctor told him that he could leave after another twenty days, since his one month long therapy was nearing its end. He was glad that he could go back home. He was smiling twenty-four-seven now, and rarely fought with the nurses and doctors. He was less arrogant, but still laughed his tensai trademark laugh no matter what, and everybody liked the change.
Another reason why he was smiling was that he was given permission by the hospital to be taken out in the city for a while. Koshino would be accompanying him, in which also it was his idea to take him out, understanding that he was cooped up and all. Sakuragi had never felt thankful. He was sitting on his chair by the window, dressed in his black jeans and a white t-shirt and his Shohoku jacket, waiting for Koshino. The stars were bright that evening, twinkling and smiling down at him. There was a moon too, glowing up there in its silver and purple glory among the clouds.
The door opened and in came Koshino, dressed in blue jeans, a yellow t- shirt and his Ryonan jacket. He had a bag of gummy bears in one hand, which he handed to Sakuragi. "There you go! We're going for a movie! I got us tickets for Bad Company."
"I'm dying to see that movie!" Sakuragi stood up and pulled Koshino by the hand. "Let's go!"
The doctor waved and warned them to be back by eleven. They had five hours to kill and that was more than enough for Sakuragi. He could not be more thankful than he did at that moment. The movies were not entirely full since it was a Sunday and there was school the next day, plus finals were nearing. Not many went out. Koshino was not worried, since he was already well prepared for his exams. They entered the movies with two large popcorns and selected a good seat. They sat there, each with popcorn and enjoyed the movie. Sakuragi and Koshino laughed a lot at the entire movie. When they came out, they were still laughing. Koshino led Sakuragi to a pizza parlor and ordered a large pepperoni and cheese pizza with a pitcher of Pepsi to go with it. They ate their fill, talking about basketball and the movie, the therapy and how everyone was being nice nowadays. They talked about finals and their coaches and how they contrasted in their personalities. When they were done, Koshino took him to the park, which was now deserted.
They sat under a cherry blossom tree, the pink blossoms falling and drifting around them. "Wait for a moment okay?" Koshino said and stood up leaving Sakuragi to look at him with confusion. He went to get some ice cream and bumped in to the same lady who was selling roses, only this time, they did not have blue ribbons on them. They had green. "Do you have one with a blue ribbon?"
"You again?" The lady said and nodded. "My last one. I ran out of blue ribbons and I won't be selling them with blue ribbons again. The person you give them to must be very special." She handed him the rose.
Koshino handed her the money. "Yes." He said, nodding, tucking the rose in to his jacket. "Very special."
He trotted back to the cherry blossom tree and found Sakuragi busying himself with the pink petals and forming something on the ground. "Where did you go?" He asked, looking up, quickly destroying whatever it was he was working on before Koshino could even see it.
"I got us ice cream." He handed a cup to Sakuragi. "Here!"
Sakuragi accepted it and both boys ate in silence, eating their ice cream. "Hey Koshino." Sakuragi spoke up, placing his empty cup aside.
"Yeah?" Koshino asked, eating the last spoon of his ice cream.
"Thanks."
"What for?" Koshino turned to face him, shifting his sitting position so that he was in front of Sakuragi.
"For being nice and there for me as a friend." Sakuragi shrugged. "No one has really been this nice to me, you know? It feel nice to know that there is someone who does care for you, even in a very small way."
"I don't care for you in a small way silly." Koshino said, looking away and taking out the rose from his jacket. "Here! The last rose I will be giving you. At least till I get my allowance."
Sakuragi took it and smiled. "You're so sweet." He said inhaling the scent of the rose. Koshino looked at the time and realized that it was five minutes till eleven. He placed a hand on Sakuragi's cheek, brushing away his long hair.
"Let's go Sakuragi." He stood up and held out a hand, in which Sakuragi took.
Hand in hand they headed back for the hospital. Koshino tucked Sakuragi in bed and waited till he fell asleep. When he did, he dimmed the lights and turned to leave but stopped. He sat beside Sakuragi and brushed away his hair. Sakuragi mumbled out his name as he shifted in his sleep, looking like a baby as he did so.
"Sleep well Sakuragi." Koshino said and leaned forward to kiss his lips good night.
Koshino stood up and left. When he did, Sakuragi smiled in his sleep.
*
TWO MONTHS LATER
Sakuragi was up and alive again. His back had healed faster and faster and was a better basketball player than before. He learned more about teamwork and surprisingly was a lot nicer to Rukawa. Both rarely fought but worked together in he court. They were friends again and talked often. Sakuragi had shaved his head again, since Koshino said that he looked much sweeter with the short hair.
After practice in a mild afternoon, everybody was changing and getting ready to go out. Miyagi and Mitsui approached Sakuragi who was shirtless and buttoning his jeans. His locker was open with which inside were his Shohoku jacket and his sleeveless white t-shirt.
"Hey Sakuragi!" Miyagi greeted, patting Sakuragi shoulder. "Mitsui, Kogure, Rukawa and I are going for a pizza. Want to join us?"
Sakuragi pulled his shirt and slipped it on then brushed his hair. "Sorry, Ryota. I'm going out myself. Thanks for asking though." He tied his shoelaces and stood up. "Maybe next time?"
"Sure!" Miyagi said, shrugging. "No problem!"
Sakuragi smiled and jerked his jacket, putting it on. Something clattered to the tiled floor that failed to catch his notice as he closed the locker. Mitsui saw a dog tag fall on the floor and picked it up. He examined it and was shocked to see the inscriptions on it. It had Hiroaki Hanamichi on its shiny surface with the infinity symbol between the two names. Rukawa came up beside Mitsui and took a look at the object in Mitsui's hands. His eyes widened when he realized what it meant.
"Hey! Has anyone seen -" Sakuragi was cut off by Mitsui
"Do'aho!" Sakuragi turned to face him, and caught something in his hands. "You dropped it!"
Sakuragi realized what he caught and smiled at Rukawa. "Thanks Mitchy!" Sakuragi pulled the chain on and picked up his bag. "Bye guys! I've got to run!"
Rukawa stepped out of the gym to find Sakuragi place a kiss on Koshino's lips a few meters down the entrance of their gym. Koshino in return hugged the redhead and both walked hand in hand, both wearing their respective team's jackets. Rukawa felt a small smile creep up to his lips.
"I hope he brings you something that I failed to do so, Hana." He said to the night air.
Above him, a star blinked.
OWARI
That was longer than it was supposed to be. Umm . sorry to readers who gets sore eyes after reading this long fic. Anyway, hope it's nice. I kinda' like it.
Review? Pretty please?
My very first attempt on a KoshHana/HanaKosh fic! Be nice and gentle ne?
RED ROSES, BLUE RIBBONS
Sakuragi rubbed his back as he tried to get more comfortable on the tiny white bed of his hospital room. He had been stuck in the crappy sterile place for a month now and his back was really enjoying and taking its merry time in healing. Cursing and talking to it as if it was a living thing - technically it was, since it is made of living cells, etcetera - but Sakuragi failed to notice that his back lacked a mouth, larynx and a tongue to go with it all. It was absolutely normal to walk in to his room and find him talking to his back - more of insulting actually. He called it a 'pathetic column of useless and lazy calcium consuming semi-white solid'. The doctor would tell him that if he would quit straining himself, perhaps it would heal faster. Sakuragi called him a big fat liar, and his excuse was that he had been in bed for a month and doing absolutely nothing, so yes, he was resting and not straining himself. The silly idiot did not realize that the doctor meant for him to just shut the hell up. Once again, the redhead lacked a few gray cells in his three ounces of jelly cramped and coiled up in his thick skull.
"I demand that I eat chocolate! I demand that these walls be a bit more colorful! What is this an asylum?" Sakuragi spoke in his not-so-quiet voice to his nurse who was at the moment boiling. He had been complaining for the past ten minutes and it was driving her up the wall. "I am not crazy! So why should my walls be white? Do I look like some crazed lunatic to you? No! I'm perfectly fine and am a growing boy, who needs his colorful walls and chocolate! Now will you damn well do something about it?" He slammed his fists on his knees.
The nurse had begun to talk back when Sakuragi went through his tantrums. He placed his medicines by the side table and his glass of water, before turning to leave. "Bah! You ain't worth my time, chicken boy!" She mumbled.
Sakuragi of course heard it and threw a fist in the air and roared. "Chicken boy? Say that to my faced, ya' lip noodle!"
A green blanket came colliding with Sakuragi's face. "Will you shut up? Are you trying to wake the entire hospital wing or what? Just shut up and go to sleep!" Without another word, the nurse slammed the door closed and left Sakuragi all alone.
"But I want some sweets! You guys feed me recycled food! Hello?" He sighed and took his medicines.
It was only eight in the evening. He turned to look at the window by his window, eyes longing to see the outside world and feel the air and surroundings again. He got up from his bed and walked to the window, sitting by the soft chair and propping his chin on his palm, eyes staring at the many lights below him. His room was located in the seventh floor of the ten-storey building. He could see the lights glowing brightly from afar and how stars blinked at night. He sighed and ran his long fingers through his now shoulder length red hair. His hair grew pretty fast and he never really got the chance to cut it since he was not allowed to even step out of the hospital.
His eyes looked up at the sky and a star blinked at him. He narrowed his eyes and got to his feet, making his way to his chest drawer. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled them on and searched for a jacket and a cap. He found a black jacket and his gray Nike cap. He slipped on his socks and shoes and stuffed some yen bills in to his pockets. He arranged his bed to make it look like he was asleep and turned the lights off. He pulled his jacket closer around him and looked both his sides. Standing straight and hiding his face behind the shadows his cap created around his face, he silently made his way out of the hospital and no one suspected a thing. Once he was a block away from the hospital, he turned his cap the other way and smiled, inhaling fresh air. He stretched and grinned in triumph. He looked about and made his way to a store, filling his gray cap with chocolates and toffees and different candies. After paying for it, he hugged the cap close to him and walked around for a while. Soon, he found himself heading for the local basketball court. It was already very dark, and he had no watch, so he was not aware of the time. He sat in the middle of the court, facing the ring, placing his capful of sweets beside him. He took a Snickers bar and peeled it, taking a big bite. He savored the sweet taste, the crunchy nuts and sticky caramel. His eyes fell on the ring, and memories assaulted him before he became what he was at that moment - a useless lump of flesh.
He remembered how he performed his first slam-dunk and ended up banging his head on the board. He remembered the things that he did in order to get in to the teams - cleaning the court, polishing balls and cleaning the locker rooms. He remembered his very first match with Ryonan High, and the terrible loss. He remembered the fig fight with Mitsui and his gang and how his own army of pals helped out and took the blame for their sake. He remembered their big match with Shoyo, Kainan and Ryonan, how they felt the taste of victory and defeat. He remembered their intensive training and how he, Miyagi, Mitsui and Rukawa got threatened to get kicked out of the team if their grades were not pulled up. The sheer memory of studying with captain Gorilla made him smile. It was fun till it lasted. Then came his training with Anzai, then finally Inter High. Sakuragi's eyes clouded with tears. Then it was his situation at the present - him and his stupid back.
He sniffed and pushed the tears away, finishing off his Snickers before opening a Mars bar and eating it. He ate every bar, the tears coming down, never stopping. He would sniff between bites, his eyes never leaving the ring. He remembered Rukawa, his one and only mortal 'rival' - at least that was how it looked in the outside. His tears began to pour out even more when he remembered their wonderful relationship together that ended right before the Ryonan match. He bit his lower lip to silence his sobs. Rukawa had broken their relationship because he did not want to have a distraction, and that hurt Sakuragi the most - the fact that he was mere distraction to Rukawa.
"Oh this is so crap! I'm supposed to be enjoying myself, not crying!" He told himself, taking another bar of chocolate.
What followed after his broken relationship with Rukawa was Sendoh and Rukawa's official couple show, and it was done right in front of his very eyes. Sakuragi had never felt so remorse and so broken, that he could have sworn that he felt numb all over and could barely feel anything, let alone see and think clearly. Now, all he had was memories of himself and Rukawa during their happy times as couple - their kisses, their lovemaking, their hugs and their times spend together. It was even worse when Rukawa never came with the team to visit him. He came once but after that, he never did anymore. He would cry inside, because even though their relationship ended, their friendship was still there. As a distraction, Sakuragi red magazines and books to keep his mind off everything and to block reality. Of course, he maintained his gruff and loud attitude, but inside, he was shattered in to a million pieces.
Sakuragi shook his head, his long red hair moving in the air just like in a shampoo ad. He tore his eyes off the ring, and continued to eat his chocolates. He only ate half of what he bought and stuffed the rest in to his pockets. He got to his feet and stretched his aching bones. His eyes widened when he felt an electrifying pain shoot up his spine. He gave out a cry as he fell on his knees. His vision blurred and spun. His head began to ache, and when he could no longer take it no more, he gave up and fainted.
*
Sendoh threw the ball in up and down in the air from his right open palm, as Koshino continued to review him with questions that would probably pop up in their biology test the next day. He answered most of them, since Koshino, his best buddy, threatened to burst his basketball with his pointy- head if he did not get the answers and other facts into his head - name courtesy of Koshino.
"Which vessel takes blood away from the heart?" Koshino asked.
"Pulmonary artery." He answered.
"Which vessel takes blood to the heart?"
"Pulmonary vein."
"Give three characteristics of an artery."
"Thick lumen, can withstand high pressure, narrow passage."
"Vein."
"Thin lumen, has valves to keep blood flowing in one direction, cannot withstand high pressure."
"Expand DNA."
"Deoxyribonucleic acid."
"What is urine made of?" Koshino asked, taking the ball away from him and twirling it in his index finger as they continued walking.
"Excess protein, ammonia and other - hey! Look!" Sendoh pointed at the court. "Someone is in there, sitting."
"You haven't answered my questions yet!" Koshino said warningly.
"Oh come one Koshino! You know I know all the answers." Sendoh winked at him and gave him a hug. "Thanks for tutoring me."
"Okay, okay. Can you let go of me now? Rukawa would want my head if he saw us. I like my head screwed tight on my neck the way it is right now, thank you very much." Sendoh merely smiled. "Hey look, he's leaving."
The two watched as the stranger inside got to his feet and stretch. Their eyes widened when the stranger fell on his knees and gave out a cry. They rushed forward when the latter fainted. Once they were beside him, Koshino brushed the lock of long hair away from the stranger's face and gasped.
"This is -" He stumbled back.
"Sakuragi!" Sendoh yelped. "But he's supposed to be in the hospital! What's he doing out here by himself?"
"Never mind that!" Koshino said, taking hold of Sakuragi's arm. "Let's get him to a hospital!"
"Right!" Sendoh said, nodding.
The two boys helped each other carry Sakuragi to a taxi and take him to the hospital. The doctors and nurses were frantic and immediately took him away. The two learned that Sakuragi had run away from the hospital. Koshino slapped his forehead when he heard that and Sendoh merely smiled, laughing a bit. It was typical for Sakuragi to not be able to stand being in one place for a long time. He learned that from his dear Rukawa, who told him about Sakuragi once and never spoke of him again.
"Will he be alright?" Sendoh asked, forgetting momentarily about Rukawa.
"He should be awake in a few minutes. That sort of thing happens when there is too much strain. We injected him with some drugs that should wake him up." The doctor said. Just then a loud yell echoed in the corridors of the hospital and the doctor sighed. "There! He's awake." He jerked a finger behind him. "You can see him in room 712." Without another word, the doctor left to attend to another patient.
Sendoh and Koshino made their way to the room. When they stepped in, they found a young nurse and an enraged Sakuragi engaged in an all-out tug of war with a gray cap filled with chocolates and candies.
"Look, you annoying ape! I'm going to put it in the fridge so they won't melt!" The nurse tugged.
"Leave it alone goat woman! It's mine! You lie! You're going to throw them away! Hand it over!" Sakuragi tugged.
They tugged at the cap some more, until the nurse finally gave up and threw her hands in the air. "Oh I give up!" She cried and stomped out of the room, leaving two of the visitors to stare at her as she left. Sakuragi laughed happily and placed the cap on his lap, eyeing which one he should open first and eat. The two walked up to his side, watching as he picked around the capful of sweets.
"Hey there!" Sendoh said, smiling. Koshino merely rolled his eyes at his friend's lame greeting.
Sakuragi turned to look up at him, his brown innocent eyes widening at the sight of them both. His red hair fell on both sides of his shoulder like a bloodied curtain. His eyes landed on Sendoh for a long time. The smile on Sendoh's lips faded, Koshino noticed. Sakuragi's eyes began to shine a bit. Koshino knew of how Rukawa had ditched Sakuragi for Sendoh and he didn't really give a damn because it was none of his business. But the current look on Sakuragi's face - all the hurt, the pain, the shattered happiness - Koshino wanted to beat the crap out of Sendoh for just waltzing over to Rukawa and becoming his boyfriend. Sendoh felt terrible by looking at Sakuragi. He felt selfish and conceited. The look in the redhead's eyes broke his smile and showed him reality that indeed, he cared for Rukawa so much. Both Ryonan boys could not stand the broken look on the usually high- spirited redhead.
Sakuragi blinked and turned his head back to his cap of chocolates. "Hi." He said, trying to sound cheerful in vain. "I rarely get visitors at this time. What brings you two here?" He took a Twix bar and opened it, taking a bite off.
"We saw you faint in the court, Hanamichi-kun." Sendoh said, plastering a smile for the sake of the tensed surroundings.
Koshino rolled his eyes at the way Sendoh addressed the redhead. "That was a stupid thing to do, Sakuragi! You're under treatment and you run away from the hospital? That's really dumb!"
"Well, once does get very annoyed in a place like this." He shrugged, taking a bite from his chocolate bar. "I mean take a look at this crap! I've got white walls! And white walls make me think of an asylum! Am I crazy? No! I just have a pathetic column of useless and lazy calcium consuming semi-white solid for a backbone!" He took an angry bite from his chocolate. "They feed me recycled food and they refuse to let me eat anything sweet! Can you imagine not eating sweets for one whole crappy month? No! Because that never really happened to you now did it? Being cooped up in a stupid four-walled room with shitty food, you guys don't know! All you do is play basketball, eat good food, watch movies and be with your lovers twenty-four-seven! Yeah! That's exactly what this world is coming to! I mean I just lost the only person that I really-" He stopped suddenly and shook his head. Koshino winced a bit and turned to look at Sendoh who had hurt in his eyes. "Well, I'm not worried now! See?" He showed them his capful of sweets. "I've got this! And there's nothing you girls can do about it!" He smiled like a child, and finished off his Twix before opening a Bounty bar. "So, did you bring me something nice?" He asked with his mouthful.
"Uh - no." Sendoh said, forcing another smile, but failing miserably.
"Uh-huh! That's fine!" Sakuragi waved a hand. He dug out two candies and handed one to them each. Koshino and Sendoh could only stare at the orange wrapped toffee in their open palms. "Candies are manufactured for people to eat and not to stare. Did you know that?" He said, not taking his eyes off his capful of sweets.
"Of course dummy!" Sendoh said, laughing. "I'll save this for later." He tucked the candy away in to one of his Bermuda shorts pockets. Koshino did the same thing.
Sakuragi shrugged and continued eating. Koshino then spoke up. "Shouldn't you slow down a bit? They'll run out fast that way if you keep it up."
"Doesn't matter." Sakuragi said, swallowing the chocolate in his mouth. "I can always sneak out and buy some more, right?"
Sendoh sat in front of Sakuragi and titled his head up so that he could see the sad brown orbs. Koshino narrowed his eyes at Sendoh's actions. Couldn't he just simply understand that he was the last person Sakuragi would want to have beside him, let alone touch him? Koshino sighed. Once a flirt, always a flirt.
Sendoh watched as Sakuragi's eyes darkened and threatened to burst with tears. "Please take care of yourself, okay, Hanamici-kun?"
Sakuragi plucked Sendoh's hands off his chin and looked away. "I'm going to sleep. It's getting late. You guys should go home or your parents would worry." Sendoh felt his breath catch in his throat.
"All right." Sendoh said, standing up. "We'll drop by tomorrow if you want."
"Don't bother. You've got practice and other more important agendas." Sakuragi said, waving. "Good night!" He forced a crooked smile.
"Take care, redhead." Koshino said, patting his shoulder.
The two left the hospital. Once outside the hospital, Koshino gripped Sendoh's arm and pulled him to stop. "You really want to know the definition of an idiot?" Sendoh blinked at him. "You are the very definition of an idiot. Did you see the look on his face when he saw you?" Sendoh looked at the ground. "Yup, that look on your face tells me you do understand! This is a first! Sendoh Akira understands something!" Koshino threw his hands in the air and walked ahead of Sendoh. "You know, I never really gave a damn about this little relationship between Rukawa and Sakuragi and with you in it, but after seeing that look, my god!" Sendoh bit his lower lip. "And you've got nerve to even touch him! What's wrong with you, are you crazy or what? Isn't it enough that you're going out with the person he really likes?"
"I feel terrible. How could Rukawa leave such a -" Sendoh brought a hand up to his face. "Such an innocent person behind like that? It's - It's a sin!"
"Oh I'm glad you admitted that!" Koshino glared at him. "You know, it's fruitless to even try to explain these things to you because you would not listen anyway. Forget it! I'm going home! You better pass that exam tomorrow, or I sweat I'll really burst your precious basketball with your spikes!"
"Sure thing Koshino! I won't let you down!" Sendoh smiled, glad of the change of subject.
"You better not! Go to sleep and quit fooling around okay?" Koshino said, waving. Sendoh waved and went the opposite direction.
Both boys had one thought in their minds. They vowed that they would visit Sakuragi the next day, and this time, bring something nice.
*
Koshino felt satisfied upon seeing the 95% on his biology test. He turned to look at Sendoh expecting nineties as well. Sendoh grinned sheepishly as he held up his paper for Koshino to see. Koshino blushed red in anger, grabbing the paper and flipping through it.
"What is this?" Koshino said, slamming down the paper down on Sendoh's desk. "You ask for help in biology for this test, so I skip the student council meeting to coach. You've got nerve giving me a 68%, Sendoh Akira!"
"I got a 52% last time. It's improvement, don't you think?" Sendoh smiled, taking the test paper and folding it, tucking it into his backpack. "What are you going to do after practice?"
"I don't know." Koshino said, trying to avoid saying anything else. "You?"
"I don't know either."
"Well, we better get our butts moving if we want to avoid coach in giving us extra laps around the court. We did two hundred last time we were late, thanks to you." Koshino pointed out.
"Oh that one!" Sendoh laughed. "Let's go!"
They headed for the basketball court and began their practice with the rest of the team. As usual, the coach had no pity for them, and by the end of their two-hour and a half practice, Koshino and Sendoh felt as if they just swam an entire ocean. They changed in to their uniform, both glad that it was the weekend. They padded silently out of the school grounds, walking down a street of shops. Koshino stopped in front of the bakery, looking at the rows of cake slices and other delicacies.
"Sendoh you go on home. I have to get something okay?" He said.
"Yeah sure. See you around!" Sendoh waved, walking away.
Koshino waited till he was gone and entered the bakery. An old man greeted him. "Could I have six cake slices, different flavors?"
"Of course sonny. Hold on a minute." The old man said, disappearing behind the counter. He appeared a few minutes later with a nice red box. "Would you like a ribbon on it?"
"Yes please." Koshino said nodding.
"Okay." He said and wrapped the box in a white ribbon. "That would be seven hundred yen."
Koshino handed him the money and took the box. "Thanks." He left the shop and headed for the hospital. He saw an old lady selling red roses tied with blue ribbons. "I'll take one please." He bought one of the roses and stopped in front of the hospital. He stomach growled and he rolled his eyes. He headed for the ramen house across the street, and filled his stomach. Once he was done, he entered the hospital and headed for the seventh floor towards Sakuragi's room. He did not hear any yells of argumentative words with another. Instead he heard light sobbing coming from inside. He hesitated for a while. In the end he knocked three times.
"Come in." Sakuragi called from inside.
Koshino swallowed and entered. He saw Sakuragi's reddened eyes widened. "Hey Sakuragi! I take that you finished all of your sweets."
"Yeah, I did."
"Thought so." Koshino placed the cake and the rose by his side table.
"For me?" Sakuragi's eyes lit up.
"Yup. For you." Koshino said, nodding.
"Oh you shouldn't have!" Sakuragi took the cake and pulled out a fork from under his pillow. He opened the box and eyed the wonderfully iced cakes inside. He took a forkful of a green colored cake and smiled happily, for a moment, his sad look and cries vanishing and lay forgotten. "These are good!" He said with his mouth full.
"They do look good don't they?" Koshino said, not able to stop the smile from coming to his lips. Who would when they were with Sakuragi? The boy's aura was enough to enlighten an entire race that just escaped a nuclear bombing sight. Koshino was busy watching Sakuragi eat happily that he did not notice two people walk in. His smile vanished, and was replaced by a frown when he saw Sakuragi's eyes widen and his hand drop his fork. Koshino turned and he himself gaped. In front of him was his friend Sendoh, looking all stiff and rigid, who had Rukawa beside him, holding his waist.
"Fancy seeing you two here." Sakuragi said, forcing a big forkful of cake in to his mouth and trying to smile with his cheeks puffed out. Koshino felt pity towards the redhead. He was trying to block everything through eating cake. "How have you been, Sendoh, Rukawa?"
"I'm okay, Hanamichi-kun. What about you?" Sendoh said, pushing Rukawa's hand away and standing beside Koshino.
"I'm alive and breathing." Sakuragi answered. "Look? Koshino brought me cake. Ain't he so sweet?" Koshino felt his cheeks go hot, a small smile creeping up to his lips when Sakuragi turned and gave him his biggest and warmest smiles. "I could get used to this!" He took another chunk of cake. He turned to look at Rukawa. "How have you been, Rukawa?"
Sendoh and Koshino turned to look at Rukawa, who had no expression whatsoever. Koshino gave Sendoh a glare, who in return glared at Rukawa to answer. "I'm fine." Rukawa answered, nodding. "How's your back?"
Sakuragi shrugged. "Taking its merry time in healing that's for sure." He looked away, staring at his box of cake.
"Oh would you look at the time?" Koshino announced, standing up. "It's getting late. We should all be going, right? Yes! Now, don't plan anything silly like running away okay?" Sakuragi nodded. "Goodbye Sakuragi! Sleep well!"
"Bye Hanamichi-kun!" Sendoh said, waving. Rukawa nodded in the red head's direction.
The three left the room and went out of the hospital. Koshino stopped in front of Rukawa, who was now holding on to Sendoh as if he was his life support. "Will you excuse me and Sendoh for just one minute?" Koshino wasted no time and grabbed Sendoh, pulling him in to a dark alley. "Okay, now, what exactly is wrong with you?"
"It wasn't me! It was Rukawa!" Sendoh hissed back. "You think I wanted to go in there with him? He insisted and he just dragged me inside!"
"Oh! Right!" Koshino said, nodding. "Why didn't you just go home? Your bigger than the guy for crying out loud!"
"He didn't want to." A deep baritone echoed. Both sophomores turned to look at Rukawa standing behind them, arms crossed across his chest.
"Akira?" Koshino turned to look at Sendoh who had a flabbergasted expression on.
"But I -" He looked a Rukawa and shook his head, lips parted, now words coming out. "Oh it's my fault now?" He yelled, an darkened angry expression coming to his face.
"Both of you just stop!" Koshino yelled even louder. He turned to face Rukawa. "You! You of all people! You had to walk in and just make him more miserable didn't you? And holding on to Sendoh, oh jolly good! He would love to see that!"
"So what?" Rukawa asked, shrugging. "He knows that me and Akira are together."
Koshino bubbled up in anger and lunged forward to hit Rukawa. Sendoh grabbed him from behind. "Koshino stop! He'll kill you!"
"You selfish arrogant asshole! You only think of yourself! Didn't you ever think that perhaps he does still care for you and it would pain him to see the person he really likes glued to someone else? What's wrong with you? If you don't want to see him, then just keep away? You didn't have to pull a little drag show down the road you idiot!" Koshino spat.
"Koshino stop!" Sendoh begged, holding him back. "Please, just stop!"
Koshino stopped struggling, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, he's not my teammate, he's not a very good friend of mine, but just spare him the torture." He told Rukawa in a quiet voice. He looked at Sendoh. "And as for you, when will you ever learn?" Sendoh looked away. He really had the habit of doing that when he was cornered and guilty. Koshino shook his head and walked away.
"You've got no right to behave the way you are, Koshino. You know nothing about this farce." Rukawa said coldly, glaring at Koshino.
Koshino turned his head. "You're wrong, Rukawa. I do know everything and it's you who have no right to behave the way you are now."
Without another word, Koshino left.
*
"I did not appreciate what you did, Rukawa!" Sendoh said angrily, kicking the door closed of Rukawa's apartment.
"What did I do? You wanted to go visit Sakuragi, so I just accompanied you. Nothing wrong with that is there?" Rukawa asked.
"You know what? I don't get you!" Sendoh said, taking out a can of beer from the fridge, opening it and taking a long drink. "You never really told me why you left Hanamichi-kun."
"You never asked before, why are you asking now?" Rukawa asked, eyes narrowing.
"Because I saw his expression when he saw me. I wanted to be his friend, damnit! But now that's damn way too impossible to happen because you and I are a couple!" Rukawa smirked. "So tell me! Why did you dump him?"
"He distracted me."
"Ah! He distracted you! You mean he was too much for you to handle because he was more human than you are?" Sendoh asked, causing Rukawa to widen his eyes. "That's it isn't it? Because he was so kind, so nice, so innocent and so alive that he scared you! If I were like that Rukawa, would you dump me as well? I'm already paying a drastic price just being your boyfriend! I lost the respect of my entire team, although they try to be very cool about it! My own best friend hates me! Koshino is starting to hate me because of the things I'm starting to do when I'm with you! I hardly have enough time to be with my friends because I'm always with you! When I'm not with you, you go ballistic! And now, the entire Shohoku team, according to Miyagi, is despising you and me for being together! Don't you see me and you being together is a very big impact!" Sendoh inhaled sharply and took a long drink from his beer. "I wanted Hanamichi as a friend! He's such a great guy! Now that is so impossible because he can't even stand seeing me without thinking 'Oh damn it's him again! The boyfriend thief!' It doesn't affect you, but it affects me! I don't like it at all!"
"What do you want to do now?" Rukawa asked, cautiously.
Sendoh sighed. "I want us to stop! I don't want there to be an 'us' anymore. It's too much!"
"You're going to dump me, because of events that took place in the past forty-eight hours?" Rukawa asked, hurt in his voice.
"If such things could happen in forty-eight hours, I don't want to imagine what could happen in the next few weeks!" Sendoh threw his can in to the trash. "I'm sorry Rukawa. It just won't work out." He headed for the door. "It's best this way."
"You can't do this!" Rukawa said, now pleading. "You just can't leave me!"
Sendoh stopped, turning to look at Rukawa only slightly, pulling the door open. "Sakuragi said the same thing. No do you know how he felt when you left him?" Sendoh stepped out of the house. "Besides Rukawa, you distract me too much."
Sendoh left the house, and Rukawa collapsed in the middle of the room, eyes blurring with tears.
*
Weeks passed since Sendoh broke up with Rukawa, and the news spread fast. Every basketball team was talking about the two aces splitting up. Koshino was not entirely very giddy about it. He had visited Sakuragi many times, bringing him sweets, but he would find him asleep. The next day, when he visited, he would find the sweets he brought the other day finished, and would feel happy. He left his mark on everything he brought - the red rose with the blue ribbon.
Sakuragi on the other hand, heard the rumor. He did not know how to feel, but was surprised to find that he felt nothing at all - not happiness, not remorse, nod sadness. He just felt normal - like he did everyday. He slowly forgot about his broken relationship with Rukawa since his friendship with Sendoh and Koshino was blooming - especially with Koshino.
Sakuragi smiled at the memory of the shooting guard. He was so kind, even though he was sarcastic most of the time and frowned nearly all the time, he liked the guy. He was kind, hard working, smart and a fairly good basketball player too. The doctor told him that he could leave after another twenty days, since his one month long therapy was nearing its end. He was glad that he could go back home. He was smiling twenty-four-seven now, and rarely fought with the nurses and doctors. He was less arrogant, but still laughed his tensai trademark laugh no matter what, and everybody liked the change.
Another reason why he was smiling was that he was given permission by the hospital to be taken out in the city for a while. Koshino would be accompanying him, in which also it was his idea to take him out, understanding that he was cooped up and all. Sakuragi had never felt thankful. He was sitting on his chair by the window, dressed in his black jeans and a white t-shirt and his Shohoku jacket, waiting for Koshino. The stars were bright that evening, twinkling and smiling down at him. There was a moon too, glowing up there in its silver and purple glory among the clouds.
The door opened and in came Koshino, dressed in blue jeans, a yellow t- shirt and his Ryonan jacket. He had a bag of gummy bears in one hand, which he handed to Sakuragi. "There you go! We're going for a movie! I got us tickets for Bad Company."
"I'm dying to see that movie!" Sakuragi stood up and pulled Koshino by the hand. "Let's go!"
The doctor waved and warned them to be back by eleven. They had five hours to kill and that was more than enough for Sakuragi. He could not be more thankful than he did at that moment. The movies were not entirely full since it was a Sunday and there was school the next day, plus finals were nearing. Not many went out. Koshino was not worried, since he was already well prepared for his exams. They entered the movies with two large popcorns and selected a good seat. They sat there, each with popcorn and enjoyed the movie. Sakuragi and Koshino laughed a lot at the entire movie. When they came out, they were still laughing. Koshino led Sakuragi to a pizza parlor and ordered a large pepperoni and cheese pizza with a pitcher of Pepsi to go with it. They ate their fill, talking about basketball and the movie, the therapy and how everyone was being nice nowadays. They talked about finals and their coaches and how they contrasted in their personalities. When they were done, Koshino took him to the park, which was now deserted.
They sat under a cherry blossom tree, the pink blossoms falling and drifting around them. "Wait for a moment okay?" Koshino said and stood up leaving Sakuragi to look at him with confusion. He went to get some ice cream and bumped in to the same lady who was selling roses, only this time, they did not have blue ribbons on them. They had green. "Do you have one with a blue ribbon?"
"You again?" The lady said and nodded. "My last one. I ran out of blue ribbons and I won't be selling them with blue ribbons again. The person you give them to must be very special." She handed him the rose.
Koshino handed her the money. "Yes." He said, nodding, tucking the rose in to his jacket. "Very special."
He trotted back to the cherry blossom tree and found Sakuragi busying himself with the pink petals and forming something on the ground. "Where did you go?" He asked, looking up, quickly destroying whatever it was he was working on before Koshino could even see it.
"I got us ice cream." He handed a cup to Sakuragi. "Here!"
Sakuragi accepted it and both boys ate in silence, eating their ice cream. "Hey Koshino." Sakuragi spoke up, placing his empty cup aside.
"Yeah?" Koshino asked, eating the last spoon of his ice cream.
"Thanks."
"What for?" Koshino turned to face him, shifting his sitting position so that he was in front of Sakuragi.
"For being nice and there for me as a friend." Sakuragi shrugged. "No one has really been this nice to me, you know? It feel nice to know that there is someone who does care for you, even in a very small way."
"I don't care for you in a small way silly." Koshino said, looking away and taking out the rose from his jacket. "Here! The last rose I will be giving you. At least till I get my allowance."
Sakuragi took it and smiled. "You're so sweet." He said inhaling the scent of the rose. Koshino looked at the time and realized that it was five minutes till eleven. He placed a hand on Sakuragi's cheek, brushing away his long hair.
"Let's go Sakuragi." He stood up and held out a hand, in which Sakuragi took.
Hand in hand they headed back for the hospital. Koshino tucked Sakuragi in bed and waited till he fell asleep. When he did, he dimmed the lights and turned to leave but stopped. He sat beside Sakuragi and brushed away his hair. Sakuragi mumbled out his name as he shifted in his sleep, looking like a baby as he did so.
"Sleep well Sakuragi." Koshino said and leaned forward to kiss his lips good night.
Koshino stood up and left. When he did, Sakuragi smiled in his sleep.
*
TWO MONTHS LATER
Sakuragi was up and alive again. His back had healed faster and faster and was a better basketball player than before. He learned more about teamwork and surprisingly was a lot nicer to Rukawa. Both rarely fought but worked together in he court. They were friends again and talked often. Sakuragi had shaved his head again, since Koshino said that he looked much sweeter with the short hair.
After practice in a mild afternoon, everybody was changing and getting ready to go out. Miyagi and Mitsui approached Sakuragi who was shirtless and buttoning his jeans. His locker was open with which inside were his Shohoku jacket and his sleeveless white t-shirt.
"Hey Sakuragi!" Miyagi greeted, patting Sakuragi shoulder. "Mitsui, Kogure, Rukawa and I are going for a pizza. Want to join us?"
Sakuragi pulled his shirt and slipped it on then brushed his hair. "Sorry, Ryota. I'm going out myself. Thanks for asking though." He tied his shoelaces and stood up. "Maybe next time?"
"Sure!" Miyagi said, shrugging. "No problem!"
Sakuragi smiled and jerked his jacket, putting it on. Something clattered to the tiled floor that failed to catch his notice as he closed the locker. Mitsui saw a dog tag fall on the floor and picked it up. He examined it and was shocked to see the inscriptions on it. It had Hiroaki Hanamichi on its shiny surface with the infinity symbol between the two names. Rukawa came up beside Mitsui and took a look at the object in Mitsui's hands. His eyes widened when he realized what it meant.
"Hey! Has anyone seen -" Sakuragi was cut off by Mitsui
"Do'aho!" Sakuragi turned to face him, and caught something in his hands. "You dropped it!"
Sakuragi realized what he caught and smiled at Rukawa. "Thanks Mitchy!" Sakuragi pulled the chain on and picked up his bag. "Bye guys! I've got to run!"
Rukawa stepped out of the gym to find Sakuragi place a kiss on Koshino's lips a few meters down the entrance of their gym. Koshino in return hugged the redhead and both walked hand in hand, both wearing their respective team's jackets. Rukawa felt a small smile creep up to his lips.
"I hope he brings you something that I failed to do so, Hana." He said to the night air.
Above him, a star blinked.
OWARI
That was longer than it was supposed to be. Umm . sorry to readers who gets sore eyes after reading this long fic. Anyway, hope it's nice. I kinda' like it.
Review? Pretty please?