Notes: Ack! I've been abroad since recently so that's why I haven't updated. Thank you for your comments! Was it really that surprising how Hana's mother reacted? I thought of her as a very conventional woman and that this is the way conventional people react to such news. It was so difficult to figure out how different people would react. How am I supposed to know what a middle-aged Japanese man would say in such a situation? I was kind of worried people would get bored reading about the parents' thoughts. As I stood on the deck of a ship and gazed at the moon it suddenly occured to me that they are OCs. Funny how I never realized that. I'm relieved you didn't get bored, at least not too much. Argh! Your comments would require more responses, since they awoke so many thoughts in me, but there's no space here. Perhaps there will be in the next one. In this chap, nothing really happens. I hope you will still like it! Ah, more of the gundan and Haruko in the next chap.
Chapter 10 - In the Library
Rukawa tilted his head to see round a book shelf. Seeing no one he knew, he walked on and did the same when he reached the next shelf. No one there. Rukawa sighed. He had been walking around the library for what seemed like an hour. A glance at his watch told him that it had only been five minutes. This piece of reality didn't stop him from cursing a certain dimwitted redhead for making him run around the library during his nap time. He had already lost some of his precious sleep and if he didn't find Sakuragi soon, he would drop to the floor and sleep there. What the hell is he doing in a library anyway? He's not exactly the reading type.
Rukawa found his way to the back of the library, where the really old books were kept. And there, standing on a ladder and dangerously reaching out to his left, was the do'aho. Rukawa watched as the redhead huffed and puffed in concentration. Sakuragi moved to one side of the ladder, one of his legs trying to find a decent footing at the edge of the shelf as he leaned even further to his side. It's getting dangerous.
"Oi," Rukawa called out, his intention to save the redhead from falling down. It didn't work though, as he soon realized. Sakuragi was surprised by the unexpected sound and he yelped and stumbled a bit and then lost his grip on the ladder and promptly fell down. Rukawa looked down on him. When the redhead didn't move, he nudged his shoulder with his toes. "Oi. You okay?"
It wasn't really a surprise when Sakuragi suddenly jumped up, snarling and hissing angrily. "Damn you, kitsune! You bastard!"
Rukawa stifled a sigh. Perhaps I should tell him I was just trying to warn him…On the other hand, it might not be worth the trouble. Hm.. After a moment of weighing his options, he went for the latter one. "Do'aho," he said and watched as Sakuragi got fired up. He liked that fuming face too much to stop annoying Sakuragi.
"Damn you! Damn you! Kitsune!" Sakuragi yelled, circling round Rukawa and glaring at him. Rukawa knew this pattern very well. When Sakurgi got angry, there was a short period of time when he seemed to have problems finding proper words to express his state of mind. During this time, Sakuragi liked to shout some insults, all of them randomly selected from the collection Sakuragi had individually prepared for each person he had ever met. For Rukawa Sakuragi had two main insults in store, those being 'kitsune' and you bastard'. These two expressions, with the additional 'damn you', were showered upon Rukawa every time Sakuragi got angry at him. Which was quite often. Rukawa liked to call this part 'The Autopilot', because Sakuragi wasn't really thinking what he said and instead was trying to get his thoughts in order.
Sakuragi went silent but continued to stare. Rukawa spared him a glance. After this quiet moment, which was usually very brief, would become the reason why Sakuragi was pissed off.
"You bastard!"
Okay, so maybe he still needs some time to collect his thoughts. Rukawa forced away the smile which was threatning to spread across his face.
"Why didn't you catch me?" Sakuragi asked, pointing an accusing finger at him, very nearly touching his nose with it.
Rukawa blinked. "Catch you?"
"Yeah! When you saw me falling, why didn't you catch me?"
"Do'aho. You weigh a ton," Rukawa replied as if that would explain everything. He watched in silent amusement how Sakuragi processed his words and smirked when the boy went into another fit of frenzied name-calling. But then his worry over the redhead's well-being won his urge to tease and he cut off Sakuragi's tirade. "Are you hurt?" he asked, letting his worry show.
Sakuragi stopped in the middle of his rambling and looked at him, taken aback by the sudden change in Rukawa's behaviour. "Huh?"
"Are you hurt?"
"Ah…uh…ehe…Heheh…" Putting his hands behind his neck, Sakuragi gave a nervous burst of laughter to hide his embarrassement. "Nyahahaha! How could such a puny fall hurt this tensai? You stupid kitsune!"
Rukawa raised a brow at that. "Really?" he asked. He stepped closer to Sakuragi and reached out his hand to touch the redhead's stomach.
Sakuragi stiffened and a faint blush creeped up his cheekbones. "Y-yeah."
Rukawa came even closer to Sakuragi, so close that their chests almost touched. He pressed his palm against the rough fabric of Sakuragi's uniform jacket and turned his head to whisper in Sakuragi's ear. "Are you sure?" He could feel Sakuragi's heartbeat quicken and allowed a small smirk grace his lips.
"Y-yeah…"
"Hm…" Rukawa slipped his hand under the jacket and slowly massaged the tightening muscels.
"Ka-Kaede! Wh-what are you doing?" Sakuragi asked, trying to sound irritated and confident but failing miserably when Rukawa's hand snaked around his waist and pulled him closer. He felt Rukawa's other hand join the first one and let out an embarrassingly girly sound when they pulled his shirt up and brushed against his skin. His face was burning.
"Making sure you're okay," Rukawa mumbled, feeling Sakurgi shiver under his touch. He rubbed Sakuragi's hot cheek with his own and smiled when the redhead squaked. He loved the reactions he got every time he touched the other boy.
"Ka-Kaede…" Sakuragi clutched Rukawa's shoulders, trying to push the other boy away but somehow ending up pulling him closer instead. He was bewildered by his own actions but was unable to dwell on it any longer as Rukawa continued to drive him crazy. He closed his eyes when lips touched his cheek and leaned in, closer to Rukawa, hungry for more of the wonderful feeling the raven-haired boy was giving him. And Rukawa was only too happy to do as Sakuragi wished.
But their bliss was short-lived. A sound of foot steps and talking girls reached their hearing and Rukawa felt Sakuragi freeze under his touch. He stopped caressing the boy, his mouth settling in a grim line, and stepped back. He watched as Sakuragi hastily corrected his clothes with darkening eyes. The redhead tried to even his breathing. Rukawa gritted his teeth and turned away. The footsteps were coming closer, soon the girls would be there and Sakuragi would forget him. The same thing had happened too many times already.
"Haruko-san!" he heard Sakuragi stammering in a defeated, guilty, pleading tone which made Rukawa want to punch the girl for making Sakuragi feel so bad.
"S-Sakuragi-kun," the girl said. Rukawa didn't see her but he knew what kind of face she was showing. He had seen it before. There was surprise and hurt and then a forced smile. She hadn't properly talked to Sakuragi after she had found out about them. Rukawa had heard she hadn't shown up in school for a few days and that she had been down ever since, only recently gaining back some of her cheerfulness. But Rukawa couldn't feel sorry for her. Her behaviour was making Sakuragi sad and that alone was enough to remove any sympathetic thought he might otherwise have had. He wondered if Sakuragi thought he was being cold and inhuman but the truth was he didn't even know the girl and he certainly didn't care about the girl in any way other than her influence on Sakuragi. What was he supposed to do anyway? It wasn't his fault the girl liked him. Should he give up what he had with Sakuragi just so that she could continue dreaming about him? He was not about to do so.
"Haruko-san, I--"
"Um…I-I have to go! See you later, Sakuragi-kun."
Maybe the girl was trying to be as normal as she could around Sakuragi. Maybe she wanted to be friends with Sakuragi like she had used to be. Rukawa didn't know. What he did know, was that if that was her intention, it wasn't working at all. He turned around when the girl and her friends had walked away and saw Sakuragi looking after them with a troubled expression. A painful knot formed in Rukawa's chest. I wonder why it hurts so much. "Hanamichi?" When Sakuragi didn't answer he moved closer to him and gingerly placed an arm around his shoulders. "Hanamichi, you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Sakuragi grinned but there was no mirth in his eyes. Obviously the way Akagi Haruko was avoiding him made him feel really bad. And there wasn't really anything Rukawa could do about it. The only one to ease Sakuragi's mind was Haruko. It pissed Rukawa off and made him writhe with jealousy.
"Have you talked to her?"
Sakuragi seemed reluctant to answer but finally he shrugged. "No."
"You should." The words brought a bitter taste into his mouth but they had to be said.
"Yeah…" Sakuragi looked up and gave him a weak smile. "Hahah! Yeah, I should. I'll talk to her soon. I'm the tensai so there's no problem, right?"
"No. You're a do'aho so there's no problem."
For a moment Sakuragi seemed not to know how he should react to Rukawa's words. Then his naturally happy and optimistic personality took over and he forgot his troubles and shot a death glare at Rukawa. "You bastard! Don't insult the tensai! You already admitted that I am one so there's no point in denying it now."
"Hn. You forced me to."
"Are you implying that I'm not a tensai?"
"Yes."
"Why you!"
Rukawa tuned out Sakuragi's rambling and settled to only look at him. He had thought that seeing the redhead being his own stupid self would ease the pain in his chest but it only made it worse. Rukawa resisted the urge to go up to Sakuragi and hold the boy as close and as tight as he possibly could. Not only would such action freak Sakuragi out, Rukawa himself would be terribly ashamed of it later on. So he stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to annoy the other boy, feeling completely useless and not liking it. Why is it so damn hard to be with him? Why do people have to interfere with our relationship? If Hanamichi were a girl would things be easier? I guess so. For one, his mother wouldn't have been against us.
A displeased frown wrinkled Rukawa's forehead and curved his lips at the thought of Sakuragi's mother. For weeks she had not wanted to even see Rukawa. She had tried to hide and deny the fact that her son was dating a boy. She had thought the relationship brought shame on her and Sakuragi. Somehow she had been unable to acknowledge Sakuragi's happiness. When she finally had allowed Rukawa entrance in her house she had been cold and stiff and in every way completely different from the way she had been before. Things were still unsolved with her.
Rukawa's own parents had been much easier to deal with. His father had played chess with Sakuragi like he had used to and Rukawa could not see any difference in his behaviour. His mother sometimes had a regretful look in her eyes but she was obviously doing her best to accept the relationship which so clearly made Rukawa happy. She had also made an effort to get to know Sakuragi better, an act Rukawa particularly appreciated.
The Sakuragi gundan was partially to blame for the fact that everyone in Shohoku knew about Rukawa and Sakuragi. After the initial shock they had quite quickly realized this was something they could torment Sakuragi with. Ever since, they had used every opportunity they got to tease Sakuragi about it and sometimes even Rukawa which had surprised the stoic boy. Being the obnoxious, carefree boys that they were and liking Sakuragi as much as they did, it didn't take long for them to accept whatever Sakuragi did. Rukawa suspected they hadn't really thought what it meant that the two of them were going out. He was pretty sure it hadn't accured to them that dating meant hugs and kisses and gropes and…other stuff, in other words, that dating was the same between two boys as it was with a girl and a boy. Rukawa hadn't dared to touch Sakuragi in front of them yet, thinking it would be too much for Sakuragi to handle if they freaked out. The gundan were the only ones, except for the basketball team, that hadn't thrown a tantrum after hearing about Rukawa and Sakuragi's relationship and it was important that it stayed that way. Rukawa didn't want to shake Sakuragi's foundations any more than he already had.
The team had been quite cool with it, which wasn't that surprising since Mitsui and Kogure were already going out. The difference between these two relationships were that neither Mitsui nor Kogure were as adored as Rukawa was and thus their affections towards each other hadn't caught as much attention. It made Rukawa quite envious and he had cursed his fine features more than once. It seemed that he was the reason for every problem they encountered and it made him feel guilty. It wasn't he who had to endure coldness and vicious words from a horde of angry girls, it wasn't he who had to suffer from disappointed looks and resentment from his parents, it wasn't he who had to read mocking letters from jealous admirers. No one accused him of being a stupid asshole who stole other people's loved ones. It bothered him that everyone seemed to think Sakuragi was the bad one, that Sakuragi was the only one who had done something wrong. Did a pretty face really mean that much? And if so, how come no one saw what a cute face Sakuragi had, how beautifully his face flushed when he was embarrassed or heated from exercise and how irresistably adorable he was when he was confused? How could anyone hate a radiant being such as Sakuragi? Everyone had to be crazy. There was no other explanation.
Sakuragi had finally gotten tired of insulting Rukawa and had returned to his previous exercise. He was currently hanging on to the ladder and trying to reach the book he wanted. Rukawa watched him silently. He wanted to urge Sakuragi to speak with Haruko and to put an end to the uncertainty but at the same time he wanted to grab Sakuragi and kiss away the tiniest bit of memory of the sweet-natured girl from Sakuragi's mind. But that was not possible. Some day, Sakuragi would have to face Haruko and the sooner it happened the better.
Sakuragi slipped and almost fell down again but managed to get a hold of the shelf to prevent his fall. Rukawa let out the breath he had suddenly sucked in at the moment Sakuragi had lost his balance and felt the last bits of shock drain away with it. "Do'aho. Why don't you move the ladder?"
"Ah!" Sakuragi looked like the thought entered his mind for the first time. Then he quickly smirked. Far be it from him to ever admit his mistakes. "Hah! A common person like you would never understand," he smugly said and continued his book hunt after taking a firmer grip on the ladder.
Rukawa sighed. Shit. I shouldn't have said that. Now he will never move the ladder. He watched, his heart beating erratically, as Sakuragi tumbled on the ladder. He breathed out his relief as Sakuragi finally got what he wanted and descended to the floor. "What the hell is that?" he asked, eyeing the book firmly implanted in Sakuragi's hand. The dusty cover held no writing but he could distinguish golden letters on the back of the book.
"Hmph! This is for the tensai's secret purposes. No need for you to know."
"Whatever," Rukawa replied, ignoring the challenging look Sakuragi was throwing in his direction. It was probably nothing intelligent anyway.
A few days later, when Rukawa was taking out his indoor shoes, he heard Sakuragi's voice from the other side of the shoe lockers. He started to walk around them to greet Sakuragi when the redhead's words sunk in.
"Haruko-san, good morning."
Haruko? Rukawa froze mid-step. Quickly pressing his back to the lockers, he strained his ears to hear Haruko's reply. As soon as he got into this position, he cursed inwardly. What the hell am I doing, hiding like this?
"G-good morning, Sakuragi-kun," Haruko's quivering voice said.
Rukawa held his breath to hear better. Any thoughts of how eavesdropping was an immoral act flew out of his head.
"Haruko-san, we need to talk."