Beautiful Disaster
I don't know what he's after, but he's so beautiful, such a beautiful disaster…
He came knocking on their door one late evening, when Takenori was gone for a two-day Physics seminar in west Shibuya and wouldn't be back until the next afternoon. To say that she was honestly surprised to see him towering in their doorway was an understatement, an almost six-foot giant with sleepy eyes and never-smiling lips staring down at her as she blinked and racked her brains for something sensible to say. Nevertheless she bid him come in, and without even letting her finish her invitation he half-dragged himself in the Akagi residence and made his way to their sofa.
As she followed him her mind was still trying to comprehend what was happening, for truth be told he was the last person she expected to see in that cold, lonely night. Note that he was the person she most wanted to see, but actually seeing him in the flesh was something she wasn't expecting. The most she had hoped for was a glimpse of the tall ace player somewhere in her dream, probably wearing even the tiniest hint of a smile that she couldn't dare hope for in real life.
But there he was, sitting in front of her, as she tried to stop the hammering of her heart and voice out one coherent question as to why he was visiting so late in the night.
He beat her to it.
"I lost my apartment keys."
She blinked once. Then twice. And before she could attempt a third blink, the Shohoku small forward shrugged and looked away. "I need a place to stay for the night."
"H-hai, hai," she answered, momentarily not minding the fact that it might seem improper for a girl and a boy to share the same house when they don't even have a decent, definite relationship to begin with. But she was Haruko Akagi, for crying out loud. The last thing she'd do was kick out a person in need, especially if said person was her lifelong crush.
"You can stay in onii-chan's room," she continued, nodding nervously. "I'll just go upstairs and prepare it, okay? Be back in a bit."
And she bounced off, half-tripping and half-fainting, risking a glance back at the pale basketball player, noticing that he hadn't moved an inch since she turned and ran away.
RuHa
When she came back to tell him that the bed was all made up, she found him sleeping on the sofa, soft hair covering delicately his almost translucent eyes, giving a picture of innocence and youth. She smiled despite herself, and proceeded to get a couple of blankets to cover the ace player and leave him in his silent slumber. After she finished covering him gently, she paused to study his face – the face that broke a hundred hearts, including her own. Sighing and knowing that that was the closest she could get to him, she shook her head quietly and prepared to get up and go back to her room.
And that's when he moved from his position and dragged her down in a surprising embrace.
RuHa
"Ru-rukawa-kun!" she gasped and blushed, all-too-aware of their awkward position.
The ace player, oblivious to the girl's plea, murmured something incoherent in response.
Haruko tried to hold her breath and disentangle herself from his embrace, realizing that the Shohoku player was sound asleep and was probably dreaming of something. And as much as she wanted to stay in his arms, she didn't think it would be possible for her to fall asleep, with her upper body pressed against his broad chest, and her knees bent on the carpeted floor.
Slowly, with deliberate care, she lifted his arm and slipped away his grasp. She all but collapsed the floor as soon as she broke away, relieved and disappointed at the same time because it had been easy, too easy, to get him off her, or her off him. Smiling sadly she stood up and tiptoed away, and was on the third step of their stairs when she heard him call her name.
"Haruko."
She turned, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Was it possible that he was calling her name in his dream? Did he dream about her the way she dreamt about him? She felt herself blush, and she was grateful she had dimmed the lights before proceeding to cover him with the blankets she brought.
To her utmost surprise the ace player's eyes were open and they were fixed on her. So he wasn't dreaming after all. He was at least half-awake, and Haruko gingerly made her way back to the sofa lest the kitsune needed something.
"Hai?"
"Can you stay here with me?"
A blink. "Nani?"
"Here, beside me, tonight."
She turned beet red, and for a very long time she couldn't answer.
Rukawa finally took the cue and repeated the question for her. "Can you stay here with me for the night?"
"Why?" she whispered.
"I need someone to hold me."
And she found herself smiling weakly, suddenly seeing the loneliness behind the aloof façade that Rukawa wore at school.
RuHa
She knew she should be sleeping, since school would start in a couple more hours, and she badly needed those few precious hours of slumber if she was going to be at least half functional for her classes. But she could hear Rukawa's silent breathing so close to her ear, could feel the kitsune's heart beating soundly in his chest, could sense his comfort as he laid there in sweet sleep, with her in his arms.
Never for anything in the world would she trade places for where she was now, and yet at the same time she feared that if she closed her eyes she'd realize that it was all a dream, a sad, pathetic dream of a high school girl crushing on probably the most popular freshman in their school. So she tried her best not to fall asleep, because she wanted to savor every moment there was, before both of them wake up and go back and face the harsh reality that they could never be.
He was too much of a somebody to be tied down to anyone.
She was too much of a nobody to be attached to anyone.
RuHa
When she woke up, her heart fell because there was no sign of the ace player anywhere. For a second she thought it was merely a dream, that she sleepwalked all the way down the living room and carried her extra sheet of beddings with her.
But she could still smell faintly Rukawa's mild cologne on her (who would have thought that the kitsune wore cologne) and she knew the arms that held her tightly last night were real, all too real.
And so she broke down on the sofa, because never in her entire life had she felt more alone.
RuHa
She had made up her mind not to watch basketball practice that day, because her eyes were still a little sore and her nose a little red, and the only reason she escaped the continuous questions of her friends was because she pretended to be suffering from a cold.
Had it not been for Sakuragi's plea to watch him play, she would have ran straight home after the last bell had rung for the day. But she didn't want to disappoint a friend, and so she followed the redhead into the covered court and prepared her heart from the pain that will surely follow.
She immediately saw him practicing some lay-ups, and quickly she turned and pretended to be interested to what Sakuragi was saying. Truth be told though she'd rather crawl under her bed and hide for a week, because seeing Rukawa was the culmination of the heartache she was feeling then.
Practice came and went, and she patted herself silently on the back for doing such a great job of not looking at the kitsune. She was about to leave after waving goodbye to the redhead when a painfully familiar voice called her attention.
"Haruko."
Despite herself, she turned around and saw him walking towards her, a basketball still in his right hand.
"H-hai?"
"I'm sorry for leaving without telling you."
She looked down and didn't respond.
"You just looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up."
She shook her head and offered a smile. "It's all right Rukawa-kun. You don't have to apologize."
"Let me take you home."
"N-no, I'm okay, you don't have to…"
And he nodded and took her right wrist, much to surprise of the others (and fury, for Sakuragi, no doubt).
"Neh you baka kitsune!" he growled. "Where are you taking Haruko-san?"
"None of your damn business, do'aho," was the reply, and before the redhead could follow them out of the court, Mito and the rest of the gang appeared out of nowhere to pacify the fuming basketball player. The four of them each got a headbutt as gratitude.
RuHa
"R-rukawa-kun, you don't…"
And he pushed her against the wall, holding both shoulders with his hands. They locked eyes, and Haruko could feel her cheeks burn in embarrassment.
"R-rukawa-kun…"
And he locked her in his embrace, not asking permission from her, just suddenly pulling her to his chest and hugging her close. And as much as she wanted to struggle free from him, she merely closed her eyes and listened to the faint beating of his heart.
Deep inside she knew that she'd never truly understand what it is that he wanted, what it is that he's after, but that she'd continue to let him hold her tight, and she would try her very best to save him, even if it meant allowing her world to crash down while she's at it.
END