Unexpected Fate: Chapter Three
by Monmon

Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1.


The next morning greeted a Sakuragi with puffy, red, bloodshot eyes. He groaned loudly and propped himself up on an elbow trying to get his eyes to focus on his clock. 6 A.M. He groaned again falling back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. 'It's Saturday and I can't sleep in on one of the few days that I don't have to go to school.' Finally deciding that staying in bed would not help him, he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. After sufficiently cleaning himself, he pulled on a loose white shirt and gray jogging pants for his morning run.
He established a steady rhythm and found himself thinking about what happened last night. 'So what am I going to do about Rukawa? Should I explain that it was only an accident or should I say nothing at all?' He pondered some more and then muttered to himself, "I think I'm thinking too much on this subject."
Sakuragi then looked up. He had jogged further than he usually did from his house. He was now in the neighborhood where Rukawa lived. The sound of a basketball being dribbled drifted to his ears. Curious, he jogged towards the basketball courts. As the courts came into view, he saw two figures playing basketball together. He moved closer behind some bushes and a familiar dark mop of hair came into view. 'Rukawa!' The other boy that Rukawa was playing with had dark spiky hair that also seemed very familiar. He thought for a few minutes and finally came up with an answer. 'That's Ryonan's star player Sendoh Akira! How come Rukawa is playing basketball with him? How did they meet?' He thought to himself, as a pang of jealousy swept through him.
He watched glaringly as Sendoh slid through Rukawa's defenses and threw the ball into the hoop. Sendoh then called a timeout and the two boys sat down together underneath a nearby tree drinking from their water bottles. Sendoh said something to Rukawa and the kitsune-eyed boy looked up in his direction. Sakuragi's heart got caught in his throat as dark blue eyes focused on him. He was torn between running and staying to find out why Rukawa was playing basketball with Sendoh. His decision was made for him when he found that he couldn't get his feet to move. Rukawa then got up and walked towards him with an unreadable expression in his piercing blue eyes.

Sendoh gulped down the water from his bottle and glanced at the beautiful boy beside him. 'I'm pretty sure that this boy is Rukawa Kaede of Shohoku. He's definitely as good as the rumors say he is. But he needs to work a bit more on teamwork.' He thought with a big smile on his face.
He shivered as he felt an extremely unfriendly gaze on him. He surreptitiously looked around and spotted a mop of red hair disappear in the cover of bushes. 'Hmm… a redhead.' He gave a start. 'Could it be…?' He spoke up.
"Is he a friend of yours?" He nodded towards the cluster of bushes near where they were sitting.
Rukawa stared hard at the bushes and then got to his feet.
"Wait here." Rukawa dropped the words as Sendoh watched him stalk towards the bushes.

'What is he doing here???' Rukawa thought incredulously to himself. 'Was he looking for me to talk about last night? But that was just an accident. I know I overreacted, but it's not everyday that I wake up with my lips touching another boy's.' Rukawa adamantly refused to think of it as a kiss. 'I'm sure that it was accident on both parts. Sakuragi didn't want to kiss me and I didn't want to kiss him. Therefore it was not a kiss.'
Soon he found himself standing a few feet from the redhead. Sakuragi looked like he didn't sleep at all last night and had a dazed expression on his face. They stared at each other silently for a few minutes and then Rukawa broke the silence.
"Sakuragi?" He asked a bit hesitantly.
He watched silently as Sakuragi visibly snap awake at his voice.
"What are you doing with him?" Sakuragi growled out angrily, jabbing a finger in the direction of the boy he was playing basketball with.
Rukawa was a bit taken aback by the apparent anger in the redhead's voice but he didn't let it show on his face. He thought carefully for a moment and then decided to answer the boy instead of telling the do-aho that it is none of his business. He didn't feel like fighting with the redhead at the moment and he didn't want to disappoint Youhei by breaking the truce.
"He asked me to play basketball with him. I don't know him." Rukawa replied calmly.
Rukawa was fascinated at the number of emotions that appeared on the other boy's face. He never knew anyone whose features were so… lively. Anger, jealousy, confusion, longing, sadness and finally regret. A whisper from Sakuragi brought him back from his thoughts.
"I'm sorry."
Rukawa was shocked to say the least. 'Did I just hear that? Sakuragi apologized? Pigs must be flying!' He looked up at the clear blue sky to check for any unusual behavior by pink, fat animals. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the birds were chirping greetings to each other. Finally deciding that it wasn't his imagination, he looked at the redhead and asked coldly, "For what?"
"Everything!" Sakuragi replied hastily, running fingers through his red locks nervously. "Look, can we start over? Hello. I'm Sakuragi Hanamichi." The redhead held out a hand towards him.
Rukawa looked suspiciously at the outstretched hand and then at Sakuragi's face expecting it to be a trap or a trick. The other boy certainly looked sincere enough with large, pleading, puppy dog eyes. Hesitantly he reached out a hand slowly, ready to snatch it back immediately if he noticed anything amiss. His slender hand lightly clasped Sakuragi's hand as the taller boy held his hand in a warm and firm grip.
"Aww… how sweet." A cheerful voice cut in.
They both let go in reflex and turned towards the voice. The spiky-haired boy he was playing basketball with was standing there with a big grin on his face.
"I hate to break the moment but I thought you agreed to play basketball with me. So are we still playing or what?"

Sakuragi glared balefully at Sendoh, anger and jealousy surging to the fore once again. "Sendoh Akira, what are you doing here, so far from the Ryonan district?" Sakuragi grew even more jealous as he saw Rukawa eye the Ryonan player with renewed interest.
"So you have heard of me." Sendoh sounded amused. "You must be Sakuragi Hanamichi and you, my pretty boy," Sendoh turned towards Rukawa, "must be Rukawa Kaede."
Rukawa arched a fine eyebrow at Sendoh and then shrugged letting the comment pass.
"So you heard of the Tensai, haven't you? You're here to spy on my amazing skills, aren't you?" Sakuragi boasted, forgetting his anger and not hearing the comment Sendoh made about Rukawa.
Sendoh just grinned widely and opened his mouth to say something more when Rukawa cut in.
"Let's play."
The fox walked back to the court, picked up the basketball and twirled it on an index finger. Rukawa threw a small smirk over his shoulder. The smirk was a definite challenge and it was one that Sendoh immediately responded to.
The game started.

*****

The 10 point game ended a half and hour later. Sakuragi took the chance to observe both players. He was reluctant to admit that Sendoh was really good and a better player than Rukawa. The kitsune had an internal fire to win that matched Sendoh's but the spiky-haired boy was apparently more skilled and had more endurance. The score ended as 10-8 Sendoh.
"Good game, Rukawa." Sendoh grinned at Rukawa who was drinking from his water bottle.
"…"
Sakuragi looked back and forth between Rukawa and Sendoh, unsure of what to say. Rukawa suddenly spoke up.
"I gotta go." Rukawa packed up his things quickly and climbed onto his bicycle.
Sendoh called out, "Will you play basketball with me next Saturday?"
Rukawa looked back impassively and then replied in a low voice. "Maybe."
As Rukawa began to cycle off, Sakuragi was hit with the realization that the fox was leaving. Their conversation was not finished. Sakuragi started forward running after the raven-haired boy and shouted, "Wait up, kitsune!"

Rukawa winced internally at the extremely loud voice behind him. He turned around slowly and watched Sakuragi run up to him. He noted detachedly that Sendoh was watching them. The redhead stopped a few feet in front of him. The other boy's eyes were downcast and one of his sneakers was digging nervously into the dirt. Finally when Rukawa was about to turn and leave, Sakuragi looked up into his eyes.
"Rukawa, we need to talk."
'Wow. He actually called me by my name. This has got to be one of the weirdest days of my life. First, Sendoh challenges me to a game of basketball and then Sakuragi apologized and now this. The day has barely even started yet!' Rukawa thought to himself. He then thought about Sakuragi's proposition. 'Well I am certainly curious about what he has to say.' He nodded slightly at the redhead, and to his immense surprise, the redhead gave him a brilliant grin.
"Great! Let's have breakfast together. I'll meet you in Danny's in an hour. Well, I gotta go finish my morning run. See ya later!" The redhead was gone before he could get a word in. Rukawa stared impassively in the direction that Sakuragi had gone and sighed silently to himself. He shook his head slightly and started to pedal home.

Sendoh watched the juniors amusedly. 'Hmm… Sakuragi has a thing for Rukawa but Rukawa does not know.' He found both of the juniors interesting and intriguing. Rukawa was definitely one of the most beautiful boys that he had ever seen and Sakuragi was definitely one of the most adorable. 'They are so perfect for each other! Sort of like… me and Hiro-kun!' He thought gleefully to himself. 'Hmm… maybe I should play matchmaker.' He had a mischievous grin on his face. 'I wonder if Hiro-kun will help me…'

*****

Sakuragi fiddled with the collar of his shirt impatiently. He was fifteen minutes early for his meeting with Rukawa. He looked out the window again searching for a head of dark tousled hair. He looked at his watch and then cursed softly. Barely five seconds had passed since he last looked at his watch. Sakuragi almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up expectantly and his heart plummeted to his stomach when he saw whom it was. Youhei. "Ohayo, Youhei. What are you doing here so early?" He said, trying to hide his nervousness from his best friend.
Youhei arched an eyebrow at him and then slid into the seat of the booth across from him. "I should be asking you that question. You usually sleep until early afternoon on the weekends." His best friend replied. "Are you waiting for someone?"
Sakuragi's thoughts raced through his mind and then finally decided to stick with the truth. "Yes." He replied, surprising himself with how calm he sounded.
"Well, who is it? Is it some girl? You lucky dog! You finally got yourself a girl! At least I don't have to try to stop you from jumping off the roof anymore. Is it Haruko? Or is it someone else? Well come on and tell me already!" Youhei questioned him excitedly.
"Um… actually… it's nothing like that…" Sakuragi groped for the words in his mind. Youhei looked like he was about to burst with curiosity. "It's Rukawa." He finally blurted out.
Youhei's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he jaw dropped down to the table. If it had been in any other situation, Sakuragi would have fallen out of his seat laughing. But it wasn't. He looked at his best friend nervously.
When Youhei finally got over his shock, he started to fire questions at lightning speed at Sakuragi. "When did you and Rukawa become friends? How come you didn't tell me? You know that it would make me extremely happy to see you two finally getting along with each other. How did it happen? What made you and Rukawa decide to become friends? How did you convince yourself that you wanted to be his friend? Hell, how did you manage to convince him?"
"He apologized." A smooth, low voice cut through Youhei's barrage of questions. Both boys stared at Rukawa in surprise as the kitsune-eyed boy slid gracefully into the seat right next to Youhei.
Youhei looked extremely like a goldfish as he swung his head back and forth staring at both Rukawa and Sakuragi. His eyes finally rested upon Sakuragi and managed to squeak, "You apologized?!"
Before Sakuragi could answer, Youhei sprung to his feet, reached across the table and placed the back of his hand on Sakuragi's forehead. "You don't have a temperature." The boy muttered somewhat incredulously.
Sakuragi swatted irritably at Youhei's hand and sent his best friend a glare that promised a head butt if the other boy didn't stop his antics.
Youhei sweat-dropped and then plopped back down in his seat. Silence reigned at the booth for the next couple of minutes. Finally, Sakuragi broke the silence.
"Um Youhei? Do you mind? I would like to talk to Rukawa alone."
Youhei growled ominously at him with frustration and curiosity apparent in his eyes, but he stood up. Rukawa got out of the booth so Youhei could leave and then slid back into the booth. Sakuragi could clearly read his best friend's expression. It said that if he didn't tell him what was going on soon, Youhei would beat it out of him. Sakuragi averted his eyes from Youhei and studiously kept his eyes on the tablecloth. He heard another growl from his best friend and then the boy left. He sighed slightly in relief. He then looked up at Rukawa and found the fox-eyed boy staring at him. He shifted uncomfortably under the piercing gaze and sought for something to say.
"Why don't we order something to eat first? I'm sure you're hungry by now…" His words trailed off as he looked upon the beautiful boy before him.
Rukawa nodded after a few minutes and then looked away from him, turning to look outside the window. Sakuragi quickly called a waitress to their table and they both ordered some eggs, toast, sausage and juice. When the waitress left the table, silence reigned once more, making both boys fidget in their seats.

*****

Rukawa tried to patiently wait for the redhead to speak up but the other boy kept avoiding his eyes and studying the tablecloth. He had had enough. He wanted to know why the baka was being so friendly to him all of the sudden. He wanted to know why the redhead wanted to talk to him. He wanted to know why the do-aho apologized. And he wanted to know now.
"Sakuragi…" He said somewhat hesitantly. When the boy looked up, he asked the question that was plaguing his mind. "Why did you tell me to come here?"
He was once again astounded at the amount of emotions that flitted through Sakuragi's face and eyes. This time, however, they were so quick that he couldn't tell what they implied.
Sakuragi spoke up. "Well… yesterday…"
Rukawa looked away quickly, a faint blush coloring to his cheeks. 'Kuso! He's not going to mention IT, is he???'
"Forget it." Rukawa immediately cut in.
Rukawa could have sworn that he saw a flash of hurt cross the redhead's face but in a blink of an eye, it was gone.
"Kitsune, hear me out why don't ya?" Sakuragi said in a frustrated tone.
Rukawa gave the other boy a slight nod.
"Yesterday…" Sakuragi continued, glaring at him to keep quiet. "I realized that maybe you are not such a bad person. Youhei's mother likes you a lot and Youhei always has something good to say about you. Also, I know that Youhei really wants us to try to become friends and I think it would be a big waste if we don't at least try it. So what do you say?"
To say that Rukawa was surprised at Sakuragi's words would be the understatement of the year. He blinked and then blinked again. He then rubbed his eyes and then pinched himself discreetly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nope. It wasn't a dream. Sakuragi was still sitting right in front of him with those large puppy dog eyes. He weighed the pros and cons in his mind and finally came up with an answer.
He shrugged and replied indifferently, "Okay."

*****