Disclaimer: Ya da…ya da…ya da… The usual disclaimer that everyone's annoyed about applies. Slam Dunk does not belong this lazy neko, and it'll never be, 'cos Takehiko Inoue sensei is its rightful owner! But…the OC's are mine and mine only! Bwahahahahahaha~ :D K…so what if this neko's a loony? Hahahahahaha~ :P =^.^=
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Big, big thank you to the reviewers! And…sowwie about this really really late update ne ^_^;;
Akuma no kaidan ~ Honto ni arigatou gozaimashita! *bow* Hope you'll enjoy this chappy =^.^=
RGP Hui ~ Hai! I'm learning Jap :P and finally got around to doing so after dunno how many years of just talk and no actions :P As for your fics…GIMME GIMME GIMME!!! :D So…send them all to me ne… hehehehe… *rubs paws* *grins*
Unquestionable ~ Well…you've got my email addy already ;) So…hope you like this chappy ne ;)
Iluvenis Telperien ~ Eddy! Why u wack me!? *sob sob* boo hoo~~~ ~_~
Yesh, yesh…of cos I've seen LoTR lor… hehe… and I c…so that's where you got ur nick from :P hehe... interesting :P & Here's the update lor… hope you like it ne ;)
KISS rocks ~ Well…I do have to admit that KISS is a good fic, and I've been following it since the author posted it. Also, thank you for the suggestion about the write-up of Rukawa. However, if I may say so…each and every author or just any person in general has their own POV of how they see the characters. And for me, how I've written Rukawa is how I see him. Besides, fanfics are the fantasy world of the authors, and they have the rights to twist and mould the characters in what ever way they want to. So…I sorry to say that although I do agree with you that KISS is a good fic, I'm not going to change how I portray Rukawa. Cheers :)
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NB: "…" Character's speech
… Character's Thoughts
(…) See neko's notes…
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~ Chapter 2: The Shadow Acquaints ~
"He failed?" A cold voice asked.
The man standing behind the cloaked figure shuddered as the voice sounded.
"Hai…Ta…Tanaka failed the assignment." The man stuttered as cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Care to tell me why he'd failed?" The cloaked man asked smoothly.
"I…I…wakarimasen (1)…" The man hesitated before admitting to his lack of knowledge. "Tanaka was found dead without any injuries in a shadowed area of Shohoku's main gate."
"Tell me Izumi, have you checked his corpse thoroughly?" The cloaked figure asked again, his voice without any emotional changes.
"Murasaki-sama…ore…o…ore…"
"You did not check thoroughly, did you?"
Izumi fell to his knees and begged shakily, "Moshiwake gozaimasen (2)! Please forgive me for my stupidity."
Murasaki, a tall male standing at 185cm, looked at the cowering man before him indifferently. His handsome features were expressionless. Slowly a menacing smile curled his lips. "The situation gets more interesting as the days pass. Looks like Rukawa Sho had finally asked his loyal servants from Kaku Dou to help him."
"Ka…Kaku Dou!?" Izumi looked up at his superior with disbelief written all over his face.
"Hai my little friend." Murasaki walked over to the kneeling Izumi and caught his jaw in his hands. A fiendish smirk forming on his lips as he increased the pressure of his hold on his underling's jaw. Izumi's eyes were terror filled as the pain receptors in his central nervous system went into overdrive.
"Kaku Dou. A name that has haunted me for the past three years, and this time I will have the scores between us settled." Murasaki said darkly.
A crackling sound was heard as he finished the last word, and he let go Izumi's jaw. Izumi clutched his jaw and moaned in pain as he collapsed to the ground. His jaw had just been dislocated.
"Get out, you useless fool. Don't come back until you have proven yourself worthy as a member of Riku Dou (3)." Murasaki said and turned to face the large Victorian window, staring into the black curtains that had covered the sun.
Izumi scampered out of the room holding his damaged jaw, brushing pass another subordinate who was entering the room.
"Murasaki-sama, we found these needles in Tanaka's body. These needles brought about his death by cutting the blood flow at the major pressure points." The man reported reverentially.
Murasaki turned to face the man and took the needles into his hands. He scrutinised them meticulously and a hunter's merciless smile formed on his face.
"So…they've sent you as young Rukawa's bodyguard." His smile broadened as he watched the needles gleamed under the room's crystal chandelier. "Tell the men to stop all plans on the Rukawas…for now. I have other plans for them."
"Hai." The man answered and turned to leave to pass out Murasaki's latest orders.
"We meet again, Akino Miei…" A thoughtful smile curved Murasaki's lips as he gazed at the night lights decorating the city.
ef ef ef ef ef
The past two weeks had been nothing but a total nuisance to Kumori. Ever since that fateful day in Shohoku's Kendou Doujou, his popularity had suddenly soared up not in notches, but in such significance that he'd levelled with Kaede's. The only difference was that Kumori was popular amongst both the female and male population of the school whilst Kaede's admirers were predominantly females.
Now, not only the members of the Kendou club looked up to Kumori as their mentor and their target of achievement, the other students were awed by his intelligence and charismatic charms. Numerous love letters flooded his lockers everyday, an amount rivalling that of Kaede's; and everywhere he went was tailed by a group of Kenkaku (4) want-to-be. This hindered his safeguarding assignment, making him rather irked as the days passed. As the situation prolonged, he found that it was getting harder and harder for him to control his temper, and to maintain his cool demeanour…
It was lunch time and he'd just been dragged off to lunch by Hanamichi and his Gundan. They were sitting around in a circle on the rooftop and the Sakuragi Gundan was chatting casually amongst themselves with a few fights for food from each other's bentous from time to time. The rooftop's door opened unexpectedly and a tall figure appeared. The raven head glanced at the group coldly then strolled over to a shaded part of the compound, laid down, and dozed off instantaneously.
"Ch! Baka kitsune." Hanamichi scoffed.
Noma rolled his eyes at the red head, "Here he goes again."
Hanamichi narrowed his honey-brown eyes dangerously at Noma. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
Noma shrugged and ignored their leader and continued eating. Hanamichi was about to head-butt his friend when he caught sight of Kumori jumping up from his seat and moved like a flash of lightning to where Kaede was. Everyone gawked at Kumori's sudden burst of speed and watched disbelievingly as he dashed over to Kaede's sleeping form and pulled him up by the collar, jolting the raven head awake.
A very unhappy and groggy kitsune was about to fling a punch at the intruder when the small window above them broke and shards of broken glass fell onto the spot where Kaede had laid previously. Everyone gaped at the broken glass pieces in shock. They were all stunned by the sudden event, including the aloof kitsune.
Kumori let go of Kaede, walked over to the glass shards and knelt down to inspect them. He picked up a piece of glass and frowned as he caught sight of something else by the wall. He picked up that tiny silver object, a small piece of youshin and his frown deepened when he saw the tiny kanji engraved on the blade: Midori. Riku Dou…. They are involved?!
The melodious bell signalling the start of the afternoon classes rang at that moment, breaking everyone out their reverie. Kaede frowned as the scene of glass falling replayed in his mind. What the hell happened?!
Kumori stood up and put the tiny youshin in his slack's pocket. He turned to everyone with a small smile, "Let's go to class ne, mina-san?"
"Class!? How can you think of class when that…that happened?!" Hanamichi erupted.
"That was just an accident Sakuragi-kun, nothing more, nothing less." Kumori replied gently.
"Demo…" Hanamichi continued, but before he could say more, Youhei who was standing there watching Kumori's actions all these time interrupted calmly. "Misaki's right Hanamichi. It was just an accident, and Rukawa was lucky that Misaki moved fast enough to save his ass."
"Hn." Kaede humphed and walked off.
"Why that baka kitsune otoko! Not even a thank you!" Hanamichi scoffed as he stared daggers at Kaede's retreating figure.
"Whatever, let's go." Youhei said as he packed up his bentou and waited for the others. That was no accident, and Misaki knows it. But…what the heck happened anyways? And…how can he move with such swiftness?
When everyone had packed up, they left the rooftop together and went to their respective classrooms for the afternoon lessons. Although the rest of the day passed quietly, the minds of those who were on the rooftop were occupied by the accident.
Midori…one of the four top assassin in Riku Dou. Does this mean that Riku Dou is behind all the attacks on the Rukawa Clan this whole time? If so, then who is the person that had employed Riku Dou to do these dirty works? Kumori's mind was enveloped with these waves of thunderous thoughts as he sat in his seat.
On the other hand, although Kaede appeared as indifferent as before, his mind was screaming illogically because he was truly stunned by the incident. What the hell happened back there?! That window couldn't have broken by itself. That was no accident. So…what the hell happened?! He glanced at his seatmate through his half slit kitsune eyes before dozing off, Who is this guy? No normal human being can move at that kind of speed, unless they've gone through some crazy endurance training…
ef ef ef ef ef
It's been three days since the rooftop incident and everything was back to the normal dead calm again…
"Will all of you stop following me!?" Kumori snapped coldly at the group of male and female students who had been trailing him since the beginning of lunch. He'd finally had it and decided to vent out his irritation at his followers.
Everyone was taken aback by their idol's sudden outburst.
"What is wrong with you people? Have you nothing better to do then just follow me around as if I'm some sort of celebrity!? Get a life, will you?"
With that, Kumori left his shinetai behind and stomped off in search of some quiet ground where he can gather his thoughts.
"Wow, that's the first time I see Misaki-sama like that…" Fan girl #1 said enthusiastically.
"Yeah…He's so to die for like that!" Fan girl #2 continued dreamily.
"Hai…" Fan girl #3 added.
"So we finally get to see another side of him, not just the polite side." Fan boy #1 said.
"That's probably how all great Kenkaku are. Suge!" Fan boy #2 said.
Meanwhile, up in the branches of one of the sakura tress outside the basketball gym, Kumori laid there with his eyes closed.
Some peace and quiet at last!
He opened his eyes as a gentle breeze blew, rustling the tree leaves and his long hair. Glancing at the gym's windows, he could see Kaede practicing.
At least he's taking what happened quite well… I wonder if Asa-nii had found any links between Riku Dou and the attacks on the Rukawa Clan?
As he thought of Kaku Dou's formidable foe, Riku Dou, his left hand travelled up to his left cheek and his dark eyes hardened. Murasaki! I vowed to take you down one of these days. If this is a chance to settle things between us, I will make sure that they are settled. I will take revenge for what you've done to me. On the last word, he clenched his right fist so tight that his knuckles whitened.
ef ef ef ef ef
Huu! Kumori let out a silent sigh, a sigh of annoyance and boredom. Annoyed with the life he's leading at the moment and boredom from the lack of action.
"Why the hell are you following me around, Misaki!?" Kaede deadpanned. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Why the hell is he following me around!? He's been doing that since…since…since he came here!
Kumori smiled innocently, "I'm not following you Rukawa-kun, I'm merely heading off in the same direction as you are."
"The hell you are!" The raven head spat as flames of anger sparkled in his cerulean gems.
"Honestly Rukawa-kun, do you not agree that this is the route towards our apartment building?"
"Just cut the crap!" Kaede snapped and turned to continue walking.
Kumori's innocent smile vanished and continued to trail behind Kaede. When they entered their apartment building and went up to their apartments together, Kumori sensed a pair of eyes watching them as they stepped out of the elevator. Forcefully and abruptly, he pulled Kaede into his apartment without giving Kaede any chance to react.
"What the!?" Kaede blurted as he almost lost his balance.
Kumori slammed the door behind him and leaned on the door for a split second before stepping away wearing a polite smile.
"I thought you might like to dine with me tonight, Rukawa-kun."
"What the hell is this, Misaki!?" Kaede demanded as flares of fury could be seen rising above his raven tresses.
"Please take a seat while I prepare our dinner." Kumori disregarded Kaede's anger and went into the kitchen after putting his school bag and bokken on the sofa.
Kaede watched Kumori disappeared into the kitchen with an incredulous look etched into his usually expressionless face. Is this guy for real or what? Didn't he hear what I said just now?
Kumori left the dumbfounded Kaede in the living room while he sauntered into the kitchen, putting on an apron then went through the available ingredients in the fridge as he decided the night's meal. Soon, he took out two pieces of veal steak and some vegetables, and then turned to start work on their dinner.
Although he was pushed into the situation without any prior knowledge, and to put it frankly, rather rudely; he remained in Kumori's apartment. There's no reason to decline a dinner invite, right? In the meantime, Kaede looked around the apartment out of curiosity while he waited for Kumori.
Kumori's apartment was like his, nothing posh. The living room had a small sofa ensemble that was ivory in colour and a glass coffee table with black metal feet set on a piece of black carpet with silver trimmings. All other furniture in the room such as the TV cabinet were black in colour, contrasted strongly against the white walls and pine floorboards. At the far end of the room, a small dining table was located next to the window. To the right of the dinning table were the kitchen counter and the kitchen. The doors of the two bedrooms in the apartment were taken out to display an open-planned concept, and it could be seen that one of the rooms was the bedroom while the other one was some sort of meditation room with nothing in it except tatami covered floor. All in all, the apartment was simple yet stylishly furnished. Other than this, the space gave out a lifeless aura which made Kaede shuddered slightly. The feelings he felt were emptiness and coldness…
The aroma from sizzling steaks caressed Kaede's nose and his stomach grumbled. He walked over to the kitchen and saw Kumori busied cutting some vegetables while the steak cooked on the stove.
"What are you cooking?" Kaede found himself asking before he could stop himself.
"Veal with white wine and mushroom sauce." Kumori looked up from the chopping board as he answered, but his hands did not stop.
"Are you sure you know how to make that?" Kaede asked suspiciously albeit his cold tones.
"Of course." Kumori turned to open the fridge and grabbed some ingredients for their dessert, chocolate mousse.
Kaede could only stood there and watched in wonders as Kumori turned the steaks, cooked the sauce, made the salad, and whipped the mousse in fluid motions. Wow! This guy's some sort of professional cook or what? He looks more qualified than the cooks at home!
Within fifteen minutes, Kumori had arranged the cutlery, served their dinner and put the mousse into the fridge for cooling.
"Douzo." Kumori motioned Kaede to take a seat at the dinning table.
Kaede pulled the chair and sat. He scratched his head absentmindedly out of awkwardness, "Err…doumo."
"Iie." Kumori smiled as he put his apron back on the hook beside the pantry and took his seat opposite to Kaede.
"Itadakimasu." Both boys said in unison then dug into to their meals.
"Oishi!" Kaede gasped satisfactory after he'd put a piece of veal into his mouth. He hadn't had anything this good since the last time he went home, which was quite a while ago.
"Glad that you like it, Rukawa-kun." Kumori said as he took a sip of water.
"Do you always cook this good?" Kaede couldn't help asking as he stuffed himself.
"Anou…this is good?" Kumori sweat-dropped at his youkun's reactions. He looks like he hadn't eaten a proper meal for ages…
"Yeah…It's like a meal from a fancy restaurant."
"Err…k…thanks? I think…" Kumori stuttered sheepishly. Then a thought came to his mind. "Ne Rukawa-kun, why don't you join me for dinner from now on? It's rather boring having dinner by myself every night." And that way, I can keep an eye on you without too much trouble. He added silently.
Kaede looked up and a small smile graced his features. "Hontou?"
"Hai." Kumori smiled. Gees…this is the first time I've seen any expression on his face and it's because of food! What's that saying again? Err…something about the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!? And here I was trying to follow him around without him knowing, when there's a simple solution to his caretaking right before my eyes! Just bribe him with food! Hang on…what the heck am I talking about?! Whatever!
"OK, thank you then. I'll be here every night from now on." The kitsune said as the small smile broadened slightly.
Kumori nodded as he continued to watch the kitsune gulping down his dinner. When Kaede had cleaned his plate, a small dish of chocolate mousse topped with a leaf of mint was presented to him. He quickly took that in as Kumori watched speechlessly.
"I take it that you like sweet foods?" Kumori asked. Should have checked his eating habits before ne…
Kaede nodded as he finished the last spoonful of mousse and sighed contentedly.
"If you want some more, there's some in the fridge."
"No, that's plenty, thank you. Gochisousamadeshita (5)!"
"Thanks for the compliments." Kumori said and started gathering the dishes as he stood up. Kaede also stood up to help with the dishes but Kumori stopped him.
When Kumori finished washing the dishes and left them to dry on the rack, he made himself and Kaede a cup of ocha each.
"Here Rukawa-kun, have some tea to wash down the sweetness of the mousse." Kumori placed the tea on the coaster in front of Kaede.
"Doumo."
"It's still quiet early," Kumori said as he glanced at the wall clock. "Let's do some homework ne, Rukawa-kun?"
Kaede shrugged, neither agreeing nor objecting to the suggestion. Kumori went over to the sofa and took his and Kaede's bag back to the dining table. He set the bags on the empty chairs and proceeded to take out their homework.
Laying the texts before them, he smiled at the raven head who's already dozing off. "Hajimemashou."
With a slight nod, Kaede also opened his books, but he soon dozed off within seconds. Kumori sweat dropped at Kaede's actions. He sure can sleep anywhere, anytime…
Shaking his head weakly, Kumori walked around the table next to Kaede and took out a long silver needle. He pierced the needle at one of Kaede's pressure points swiftly and woke the sleeping kitsune.
"Humph." Kaede let out a heavy sigh of pain and glared at Kumori.
Kumori smiled at him and pointed to the needle stuck on his left hand. "It'll keep you awake."
"Ch!"
Kumori returned to his seat and their study session began.
Surely enough, for the next two hours, Kaede stayed awake. Not once did he feel the sandman's sleeping dust falling on him.
"That's the last of it." Kumori said and massaged his stiff neck. "Ne Rukawa-kun, you're quite smart ne, although you don't show it."
"…"
"I'll make us some more tea."
Kumori took his and Kaede's cups into the kitchen. He's smarter than he looks. Although he sleeps in class, he still knows his work… Not bad.
This guy is definitely not what he seems to be. He breezed through all those questions as if they're child's play. This is getting more and more interesting. Wonder who he really is… Kaede thought as he watched Kumori's back.
The incident at Shohoku's rooftop and now this. Both incidents had the kitsune's ears and curiosity perked-up.
When Kumori returned to the table with their teas in hand, the phone rang.
"Sumimasen." Kumori turned to attend to the ringing phone. "Moshi moshi."
"It is Riku Dou. But we still don't know who hired them." The voice from the other end said.
"Sou ka?" Kumori asked flatly as a frown creased his forehead.
"We will keep following the leads to find the person. How about you? How's your side of things?"
"Daijoubu. Everything's fine here. Just take care of things back home ne, Asa-nii."
"Hai. I know what to do. Just be careful and take care of yourself, ok?" Akino Asahito, Kumori's itoko and Kaku Dou's information specialist said.
"Hai, arigatou Asa-nii. You take care too." A small, yet genuine smile curled Kumori's lips, and his eyes softened at that very moment. "Send my regards to jii-chan ne."
"I will. Ja, mata ne."
"Ja…"
Kumori placed the phone back on its stand and went back to the dining room where they were studying. Kaede raised an eyebrow questioningly at Kumori, who smiled and replied, "My brother just called me to tell me the silly things our dog had performed today."
"…"
At that moment, Kaede noticed how cold Kumori's eyes were for the first time. They were colder and darker than the coldest winter nights, yet there was a smile on his face. A smile that was nothing but polite…and cold.
His whole being felt empty, as if there was no life in that body of his. What he shows in front of people is just an illusion, a mask, and there's nothing inside. Just an empty shell… This wild thought invaded Kaede's mind as he looked at Kumori, and this thought and the emptiness he felt from Kumori unnerved him. He shuddered silently. What made him so cold, so empty…like a void?
ef ef ef ef ef
akane の teahouse
Here are the explanations for some of the terms~
(1) wakarimasen ~ I don't know (for those who didn't know)
(2) moshiwake gozaimasen ~ there is no excuse for my actions
(3) Riku Dou (戮堂) ~ another name I made up :P an assassin organization that's after the Rukawas at the moment
(4) Kenkaku (劍客) ~ swordsman
(5) Gochisousamadeshita ~ that was delicious, thank you
Okies… I know it's been a long time since I last updated…and this chappy isn't that flashy. But…that's all I manage to come up with so far… *sob* Hopefully I can come up with something more fun in the next chappy ne :) Cheers~
The Lazy Neko signing out…
P/S: Please leave me a review ne ;) C&Cs are welcomed~ =^.^= Doumo arigatou gozaimasu! =^.^=