Disclaimer: Do not own Slam Dunk and chars.


There goes my heart, just passing by

totallyloud

"Hey."

Haruko jumped in surprise, she turned around. "O-oh, what's up, Rukawa-kun?"

"It's dark already."

She glanced at the window and sighed. "I know, and it's still raining, I'm really sorry to burden you here- Oof! Wh-what!"

He threw a blanket and pillows right through her face. "Whatever."

"Aw." Haruko rubbed her nose, and frowned but noticed what he just threw. "Oh, uh, thanks."

"You can sleep on my room." He added.

"Oh no! It's okay, I'll just sleep here in the living room." She waved off and pointed at the couch.

With his dull eyes, he stared at her indifferently and sighed. "Nn, fine, soothe yourself." With that he turned on his way.

"Ehehehe." She forced a laugh. A sweat-dropped. 'He's really not persistent, is he?' she pouted. "Oh well." She slumped on the couch with a jump.

"Wait." He returned.

She got up in an instant, fixing her hair. "What is it?" she asked politely.

"Why were you in the gym anyway?"

She was surprised. "Oh that, that was just…"

"…"

'Should I?' She shook her head. "Well, it's really nothing!" she forced laugh.

She felt his stare at her. He was staring too long. Finally, he stopped and stood up. "I see."

She looked up at him, biting her lip as she watched him walk. "Um, w-wait!"

He turned to her. "That, I uh, it was… a boy just told me he like me this morning and I didn't know what to do so I went to the gym to think." She said in one breath.

"To think in the gym? While you were sick?"

"Uh, it was the quietest part of the school anyway?" She tried to make sense, forcing a laugh. A voice nagged her mind that it was somewhat because he was there. She quickly shook her head.

"Nn." He nodded.

She looked up with a shocked face. 'Why did I tell him?'

Silence passed them by. "So who was it?"

She was caught up in her thoughts that she didn't understand what he just said right away. "W-who was it…?" She repeated after a minute.

"Yeah, the guy who confessed to you." He leaned back on the couch comfortably.

"Oh that," she glanced at him as he sat beside her. "It was a new student, Masato-kun."

He didn't speak for a moment. "I see. Have you decided then?"

"I… haven't." she sulked. 'It kinda feels weird to talk this with him, but nevermind, I did need someone to talk this about. Fuji and Matsui were busy today so…'

"Figured."

She sighed and silence passed by and she finally spoke. "You see, I don't want to hurt him, I know what it feels…"

And an awkward pause came next. Haruko, thinking about when she confessed to Rukawa and how it felt. Rukawa, not even remembering it but was just being lazy to talk.

"But you don't like him." He finally spoke.

"I… I don't."

"So you should reject him."

She turned to him and stared. 'So that's what he thought when he… rejected me.' She looked down. "But his feelings…"

"It's not good going out with someone when your interest is not on him."

She was cut off, surprised at what he said. And then she smiled and nodded. "I guess you're right, Rukawa-kun."

Rukawa looked away. 'Not this thank you atmosphere again.' He thought dully and stood up.

Haruko just stared at him. "Well, goodnight, Rukawa-kun. Wish me luck." She beamed.

He glanced at her, taken aback. 'It didn't came.' Just nodding, he went off.

Haruko lay on the couch and took a deep breath. 'I guess Rukawa-kun has a soft side after all.' She thought.

'Nah.' She giggled and shut her eyes, getting ready for the next day.

olololololo

Kaede Rukawa groaned as his alarm clock went off. "Stupid clock." He muttered as he slammed his palm on the off switch.

He lifted his head but it immediately fell back on his comfortably soft pillow and in seconds he was back to sleep. Minutes after, his clock went on again. His hand shot up and threw his clock across to the other wall.

"Nn." He got up, eyes half open. He stared at his clock, its contents springing out. "Shit. I broke it again", clicking his tongue.

He lazily got ready and dressed for school. Trudging his way downstairs, he went to the kitchen to grab a carton of milk and a toast. A piece of paper caught his attention while opening the fridge, and he read it,

Thanks Rukawa-kun!

I'll just thank you here, okay? Ehehe.

Anyway, wish me goodluck for today! Sorry for the bother!

Maybe I'll treat you some other time as a thank you? Ja!

"Nn." He just stared at it. "A treat, huh." He casually tossed the later on the table as he drank up his milk.

ololololololo

"You see, Makoto-san…"

"Nn." Rukawa glanced as he heard the voice, finding Haruko standing in front of a tall boy with auburn hair and dark brown eyes.

"…I can't."

"Why? What's wrong, Haruko-san?"

Rukawa turned the other way and ignored the two.

"I…" Haruko shut her eyes. 'I don't like you. Why can't I say it?' she bit her lip. 'Just say it already, Haruko! I don't like you.' She remembered how Rukawa said it. 'I really can't say it…'

"W-what is it?"

"Be-because I... I don't... I..." Haruko stuttered, feeling her hands shake.

"Because she's going out with me." A voice came from behind her.

"She is?" the boy looked at him.

"SHE IS?!" Haruko's friend shot up from the classroom where they were eavesdropping.

"I am?!" she looked at Rukawa who just stared back dully at her. "I mean," She cleared her throat and gaped at Rukawa. "I... am."

The Makoto boy looked at her then at Rukawa and sighed finally. "So that was it. Why didn't you tell me right away?"

"I…" She started to panic and stared at him with pity. "I didn't want to hurt you, Makoto-san." She looked like she was about to cry.

He looked at her and sighed. "Well, thank you for telling Haruko-san, but if you told me right away that you were going out with someone…"

"That's because-" 'I'm not really going out with him.' She sweatdropped.

"Anway," he smiled. "Thanks for caring about my feelings, you are really nice, Haruko-san. One thing I like about you."

Rukawa cleared his throat. He stared at Rukawa, slightly wide eyes. "Oh, I didn't mean to upset you by praising Haruko-san, Rukawa-san."

Rukawa just stared at him dully. "Nn."

He backed away. "Ehehehe. So I guess I better get going. Ehe-Ja!" He dashed away from them as quick as he can.

And Haruko realized that it was just the two of them again, with her friends leaving them behind. She blushed and twiddled with her fingers. "I, um, thank you. Really. But you didn't have to go that fa-" she turned to him with such a bright smile for him when she saw that he wasn't there anymore. "Eh? Where is he?" she looked around and beside her, turning her head around.

And then she saw him walking by the hall far away already. "Eh, Rukawa-ku-!"

BRIIIING! BRIIIING! School bell.

She stopped and sighed. "Hm, oh well. Fine, maybe some other time then." She turned and went on her way to her room with a sulky expression.

From the bushes adjacent the window where that certain incident happened, two pair of eyes sparkled in witnessing what had just took place.

They turned their back from the window and stared at each other. "I can't believe what that we just heard what we just heard." Ryota gaped at Mitsui.

Mitsui, who was controlling his laugh just a while ago, began to have the same reaction. "Me neither."

olololololo

Haruko was walking in the hallway to who-knows-where, lost in her thoughts. 'I can't believe Rukawa-kun would say that. I didn't believe he could say that in the first place. Maybe he has some soft part there in his heart after all. Or maybe… he didn't want me to actually-'

She quickly shook her head. 'Nah, that couldn't happen. I'm overreacting over the matter. He already helped me and now I'm expecting other intentions underneath. I'm insane.'

She nodded, confident in her conclusion. "He can't actually like m-"

She was cut off by some girls in three- officially known as the Kaede Rukawa fans club. Haruko stared at them questionably and gulped. It was seldom that she would encounter these girls and those times were obviously due to something connecting to Rukawa.

She decided to move to the side and just ignore them. She wasn't technically doing anything to trigger their anger or something. Things just happened all of a sudden and it was out of her hands. Really.

But when she moved, they also moved. When she returned back, they also followed her. She sighed. "So, what is it really that you want with me?" She said as polite as she could though she had a good guess what this talk was going to be about. 'Gossips sure flew fast here.' She noted.

The girl in the middle tapped her feet and crossed her arms and looked down at her. "We, just heard something that didn't quite sound good in our ears. In fact, we thought it was so outrageous and ridiculous that we had to hear from you that it isn't true." She ticked her head to the right, which almost looked arrogant.

Haruko ignored that certain arrogance and slightly raised her eyebrow. 'So you think it's outrageous and couldn't happen that's why you had to ask me? Doesn't really make sense.' She scoffed in her thoughts but quickly dismissed it. "And I think I know what that is…"

"Yes, I'm sure you know," The middle one spoke again. "And we're sure it isn't true, right? I mean, it's pretty obvious our precious Rukawa-kun could have anything to do with you…"

Haruko's eyebrow slightly twitched.

The other girl at the left placed her hands on her hips and agreed. "Yeah, we weren't really bothered by it. We just happened to pass this hallway and saw you so we've decided to ask anyway. Not that we don't know it isn't true. Rukawa-kun wouldn't be interested in girls and if he was, it would be those pretty, elegant, model-like girls, right?" She smiled knowingly that it was quite irritating.

Haruko stared at them in disbelief, unconsciously clutching her fist.

Then the third one spoke. "Uh-huh. He really wouldn't be interested in girls like you, no offence though…"

That had hit the spot. Haruko, who rarely got mad about things, was now enraged. Though she didn't quite show it –composed posture, calm face- she was really mad. She gritted through her teeth words that she couldn't control. Words that she might regret later on but she didn't hold back. She couldn't hold back. "Um. Hate to burst your bubble," She started slowly.

"…but it's all true." She smiled that polite smile as the girls' faces expressed the end of the world. The end of their world, at least.

"You're lying!" They shrieked and yelled. They were saying words that were connected to her lying about what she just said, just making it more exaggerated.

Haruko watched them in awe. 'Woah.' She held back a laugh and bit her lip.

Then, in a minute, it all dawned up to her. Realization of what she just did. She just confirmed something that wasn't true. All of what they said was true about Rukawa not liking her. But she just couldn't help it, she just had to say that and now, what she was thinking was clearly what she would be, 'I'm so dead.'

olololololo

"WHAT!" Someone yelled someone in the gym and it echoed loudly in the ears of the other people in there.

"Quiet down, Hanamichi!" Ayako hit him in the head. "He might hear us!" She shoved her paper mallet in his mouth.

"So, you're saying you heard him say it? Really say it? As in, from his mouth?" She turned to the other two.

The two nodded simultaneously. "Yes! From his mouth, exactly from it!" They said as if they couldn't believe what they said also.

Ayako didn't really know if she could believe this two wayward boys. Mitsui and Ryota weren't really those whose words she could trust immediately like Takenori Akagi and Rukawa himself, but she had to say they weren't really the ones to lie and their looks now clearly didn't seem like lying. Either that or they're really good at it and they have a stupid joke or something. She didn't know, so she turned to the person who was now not quite having any reaction, just thinking. The brother. "Takenori?"

Takenori Akagi looked up at them. "Hm." He was still thinking. "We just have to ask him then." He bobbed his head towards the door of the gym. There, stood Rukawa, in his training outfit- with his bulky bag hanging in his shoulders, a towel draped on the other and a bottle of drink in his hand- looking indifferent as usual.

Everyone turned their heads and just stared at him. He glanced at them for a moment but went on and placed down his bag beside the others'.

"Rukawa-kun, you have some news for us?" Ayako asked out of luck.

"Nn." Rukawa stared at them in a what's-up with-these-fools-now way. Five pairs of eyes waited and gawked at him expectantly. "Not really." He muttered and started walking away when Takenori called out at him.

"Then, we'll just ask this to confirm, are you going out…" He paused not really confident to say it but went on. "…with my little sister?"

Rukawa turned to them quite surprised, which they took as a 'yes'. But it quickly vanished the moment it appeared. As if it didn't really appear. But they saw it, they clearly saw it.

"Really!"

"WHAT?!"

"It's true?!"

"You're not kidding?!"

Came all responses.

Rukawa blinked at them. "I haven't said anything yet." He muttered.

"Then what is it?" Akagi asked.

"NO WAY! No-no way, no way, no way!" Hanamichi was out of Ayako's reach now. He was going crazy running around the gym. "That is not true!"

Ryota and Mitsui stared at Rukawa then at Hanamichi and then at each other. Then they started roaring in laughter. "This just couldn't get any better, eh?" They were clearly enjoying this.

Ayako couldn't help her smile.

Hanamichi was still at it. Whining and 'couldn't believe it' words. Then he came to a halt and went straight to Rukawa. "It can't happen, right? Haruko-chan wouldn't really go out with a bastard like you who did that to her." He nodded to himself. "Yes, I couldn't believe I've doubted that. It clearly isn't true." He had said that but it was obvious that he wasn't so sure himself, folding his arms arrogantly.

Rukawa watched Hanamichi's face, almost breaking down this confident façade. He licked his lips, was also enjoying this. He clearly was.

A smirk formed in his mouth as he got a ball from the ball container. He returned to the others still with the same smirk and turned to Akagi. "Well I'm better than him, right?" He nodded his head towards Hanamichi. He left them gaping as he ran and dribbled on the half of the court.

"NOOOO!!!" a voice echoed from the gym. It startled the students who were passing by.

Kaede Rukawa really was enjoying this.


AN: How was it, guys? :D I'm really sorry for the parts that have wrong grammar. I'm not really good at that but I'm trying my best to correct some. Thanks for your consideration.