Chapter 1
"Rukawa... you don't look all right." Ayako said as she watched Rukawa hit his head in the basketball ring when he tried to do the slam dunk.
"Ahahaaaa!!!" Sakuragi said as he pointed to Rukawa, "The 'all-star' thought his head was the basketball!!! Ahahahhahaaaaaa!!!" he laughed as he pointed to Rukawa who was massaging his head.
I must have dozed off while shooting the ball... Rukawa said as he massaged his head. He glared at Mitsui and Miyagi who were laughing at him. The two 'eeped' and continued to mime Rukawa hitting his head in the ring when Rukawa was not looking.
Hn, Baka... Rukawa thought.
"Rukawa... I don't still understand," Rukawa's mother said as she wiped a wet cloth on her son's head, "You keep dozing off in school and bumping your bicycle into things. Your teacher tells me that you keep sleeping in his class. Is there something wrong?"
Rukawa touched his mother's hand. He was lying down in the bed (the 'bed' the Japanese use) and he had a very high fever. Rukawa held her mother's hand and her mother let go of the cloth and held his hand. Then Rukawa closed his eyes and the next thing his mother knew, he was dozing off.
Rukawa's mother sighed as she tapped her son's forehead. Then she kissed her son in the cheek and whispered 'good night', closed the door and left.
Rukawa opened his eyes and stared at the darkness in the room. He couldn't sleep, that was for sure.
Sometimes... he thought. He wished he could stay forever in the basketball court.
In this world, he thought, I sleep because there is nothing new. But the gym... there is always something new. I don't need to sleep.
Slowly... he drifted off to sleep. He didn't realize it but it was already 2 am.
"Rukaaawaaa!!!!!!" the new teacher said. Although a new teacher, he was a tough one. Rukawa continued snoring, drool coming out of his mouth. The teacher stood beside Rukawa and than tapped Rukawa's book in his head.
Rukawa's sleepy eyes opened, stared nowhere and said, "Oh..." and went back to sleep.
"Rukkkkkkaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the teacher shouted. "You can't even wake up even when SOMEONE yells FIRE!!!"
Instantly, Rukawa stood up, took his seatmate's jug opened it in one swift movement and immediately splashed over the new teacher.
"Rukawa! Why did you do that???" he shouted sputtering in the water.
Rukawa looked at him and studied the teacher with the same uninterested and tired eyes. Then he placed his hands in his pockets and said, "I thought someone yelled fire..." he muttered.
"To the principal's office!!!!!!" he shouted.
Another hotheaded teacher... he thought as he dully walked to the path to the principal's office for the hundredth time.
Again, that was the tenth time that he hit his head in the basketball ring today. Rukawa massaged his head while Hanamichi, Mitsui, and Miyagi started laughing aloud. From the side, he could see the other girls who wanted to run to him and give him their handkerchiefs. He also noticed Haruko who looked the most worried among all of them.
Haruko is the best type of fan, Rukawa thought as he passed them, then again, who cares? However, as he passed Haruko, he took her handkerchief and said thanks. Haruko fainted.
Coach Ansai started another game, the first years and the second years. Rukawa is in the second year. They had lost and won some games and now, they are one of the top ranking schools.
Sakuragi had grown a little more belief in him. At least now, Sakuragi was a little bit humble in basketball however outside the court, he was the ultimate terror.
Of course, he was still bragging about what a genius he is.
"Miyata, pass the ball to me! Pass the ball to mee!!" Sakuragi said from the other end. Miyata looked at the other side and saw Rukawa nodding sideways to say no and pointing at himself. Miyata sighed. A year has passed and Sakuragi and Rukawa are still fighting over the ball. Because of his thinking, a first year grabbed the ball from him.
"Hey!" Miyata said. Kogure cheered his teammate (the first year) on. Rukawa ran to steal the ball from the first year. When Sakuragi saw that, he didn't want the spotlight all to Rukawa again and he also chased the first year. Halfway running, they looked at each other and the spark in their eyes that they were challenging the other.
Then Rukawa fell to the floor. He just fell, he didn't trip. The first year shot the ball and danced around in celebration while Kogure and Miyagi patted him the back.
Meanwhile, Sakuragi was poking Rukawa.
"Uh, Rukawa, are you still alive?" he asked as he poked Rukawa. "Rukawa?" Sakuragi said as he poked Rukawa again. No answer. "Uh, hey guys," he shouted to all of them, "I'm not sure but maybe Rukawa is dead."
The others looked to Sakuragi and saw Rukawa on the floor. The girls, including Haruko wanted to go and help him up however the Coach Ansai stopped them. Ayako went over to Rukawa and felt his forehead. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"He's got a very high fever." she said. Then to a first year, "You, go to the clinic and call the nurse." The first year backed away, unsure. "Hurry!" she said. Then the first year ran.
"We have to bring him to the clinic." Akagi said.
"But what about the first year that I sent to get the nurse?" Ayako asked.
"Let the first nurse worry about going back." Akagi said as he placed Rukawa's arm around his shoulder. "Kogure," he said, "Continue the training."
"Uh, yes Akagi!" Kogure said as he watched Rukawa.
"You are bringing me nowhere." Rukawa said as he towered over the three doctors who were to carry him in a stretcher. They were in the clinic and the nurse had called the ambulance. Rukawa was actually sleeping however when he realized that some people were trying to carry him, he immediately stood up. Then Akagi explained that Rukawa had to go to the hospital. Rukawa didn't want that.
"We have to." the nurse who was a guy said, "There is an irregularity in your heartbeat. Please don't move that much."
"I do not need anything." Rukawa said as he started walking outside the clinic, "Miyagi, Mitsui, Sakuragi, let's go to the gym."
BLAG! He lost consciousness again. Ayako hit her head in amazement. The doctors just looked stupid idly.
Rukawa had been in the hospital for some time. He had missed the game and the practice. Their team had won with Kogure and a first year replacing him. He had so long wanted to get out. He didn't want that Kogure and the others would win without him. But they did win and they visited Rukawa and had a party in the room where Sakuragi started boasting again.
However now, the pain in his head was troubling him increasingly. The doctors said that it was a tumor. It was small though and the best way to heal Rukawa was a resting place. The doctors told Rukawa that he had to go to another country.
"You will bring me nowhere." Rukawa said as he stared at the doctors. "You will bring me nowhere..."
"You have to Rukawa..." the doctors said, "We cannot heal your tumor if you do not cooperate."
"I don't want to heal it." Rukawa said as coldly as possible.
The doctor sighed. "You like basketball don't you?" he asked. Rukawa just stared at the ceiling, "Well, if you do not heal that tumor of yours, your hair will start falling off and you will be weak to play basketball."
Instinctively, Rukawa touched his hair.
"Yes." the doctor said, "you may loose your hair."
"Ahahahahhaaaaaaa!!!!!" Sakuragi said, "Rukawa will lose his hair!" he said while pointing Rukawa. Miyagi, Mitsui, Akagi, and Ayako hit him in the head.
Rukawa stared from the window at the airplane. He didn't want to be there. He wanted to be down there at the ground, his feet secure. He didn't want to leave. His teammates had prepared a goodbye party the day before. Even now, they all were there in the airport. Sakuragi had thrown him an awful remark however when he was a few seconds of leaving, he cried. It wasn't only Sakuragi. Almost everyone was crying (and annoyingly, the girls who tried to outdo each other by crying the loudest) even Coach Ansai. He knew he would miss them all.
"Bye." he had said before following his mother to the plane. Even Haruko couldn't stop herself and hugged Rukawa. Even if Rukawa wasn't that type of person, he had let her hug him because that might be the last hug he would receive in Japan. Then, Haruko un-hugged Rukawa and looked down blushing. Rukawa looked back at all of them.
I'm not exactly sentimental... he thought, However, basketball has been my life... if... ack, Rukawa, say it. Just one goodbye. Hit Sakuragi. That may be the last punch. Rukawa... go...
However, before he could do it all, he fell down in a BLAG! He had obviously fallen asleep again.
He had awoken as the airplane was turning away. Rukawa watched, as the runway became a blur when the airplane started running. He had watched, as the grass grew nothing but a carpet and then to nothing. Rukawa hit the chair in front of him. The man in front if him argued with him however Rukawa was thinking something else.
I'm not in Japan in a few moments. he thought, No more Akagi, no more Sakuragi... Miyata... Miyagi... Kogure... Haruko... Coach Ansai... Shohoku... no more basketball the way I play it... Everything will be different. So different. Just when I was so happy...
Her mother held his hand and Rukawa leaned his head on his mother's and cried silently as his mother wiped away the tears.
It was pandemonium! There were little kids running around the corridors playing. Some were in wheelchairs and racing around the hallway.
"Why are there so many kids?" his mother asked the nurse.
The nurse smiled and said, "It's like that. It's Halloween in a few days. The children are playing around. They can't wait for tomorrow and the costumes. You must be... Rukawa, Kaede." Rukawa didn't notice as he was too busy watching a kid get hit by a kid in a wheelchair. The nurses ran to the boy who was hit. Just now that he was angry, Rukawa hated children. He heard giggling at his back and although he didn't look, he knew those were nurses giggling and looking at him.
"You'll be in room 13" the nurse said. Rukawa nodded. Then he sat down in a tiny chair (meant for five year olds) because his head hurt. There weren't any large chairs.
He watched the kids play and even scaring a little kid who wanted to touch his head.
"Rukawa." her mother said, "I have to go to the office and sign some papers. Will you stay here?" she asked. Rukawa didn't want to however he felt sleepy at the moment so he nodded. Then her mother left. Just then, a little girl wearing a fairy costume went up to him, Rukawa wanted to scare her away but she didn't notice.
"Masakit? (Does it hurt?)" she said while pointing to his head. Rukawa looked at the kid blankly and then he pointed to his head.
"Bandage." he said.
When the other children saw that the tall guy who was sitting in a small chair wasn't harming the girl, they crowded to him. There must've been twenty children in there.
The children all looked at each other and talked. They were all ages from three to twelve.
"Anong pangalan mo? (What's your name?)" a kid, who was wearing a Barney costume, asked.
Rukawa stared blindly at the little kid. Then he noticed that the kid was looking at the small chair he was sitting on. He guessed that maybe they were asking something about the chair.
Rukawa scratched his chin with his pointer, confused, and said, "Little Chair...."
"Little Chair... Little Chair..." every kid said, passing Rukawa's "name" to every kid. Then he noticed that the nurses where giggling. Rukawa stared blankly at the kids who were whispering "Little Chair" to each other.
"Who... are... you...?" He said, trying to remember his English lessons. The children all looked at each other and Rukawa was confused why the children wore confused expressions on their faces.
A nurse tapped his shoulder. "They don't know English." she said. Rukawa stared at him blankly as he remembered his English classes. Soon, the meaning of the words, "They don't know English." sunk to his bones. He nodded.
The nurse was a man. "I'm TonTon." he said while holding out his hand. Rukawa held out his hand and shaked TonTon's hand. Now, Rukawa wished that he did not sleep to often in the English Teacher's class. At least he understood that the man's name was TonTon. But it was a weird name.
"Why TonTon?" Rukawa asked. He pointed to the nametag stuck in TonTon's shirt. It read 'Anton'.
"Oh," Anton said, "TonTon is just my short name. My full name is Anton. Some people call me TonTon. Others Ton. You can pick any."
Rukawa nodded, glad that he understood what Anton was saying.
"Anton." he said.
"Yes?" Anton said.
"No...ok if i... call... you Anton?" Rukawa asked. Anton laughed, amused that the tall guy in the small chair was talking like a child.
"Yes, you can call me that." Anton said.
Now what will happen to Rukawa in the hospital? It turns out, he's been sleeping too much in English class? What country is he in?
