It has been four months since he had gotten
Rukawa to agree to try to be friends with him. Shortly after, Youhei cornered him
and demanded to know what happened between him and Rukawa. He reluctantly told
Youhei what had happened that fateful night after they left together from
Youhei's house. His best friend was stunned speechless at first and then he
grudgingly accepted it. Sakuragi was surprised at the acceptance and when he
asked him why, Youhei just told him that he was his best friend and he would
support him in whatever he chose to do. Youhei also told him that Rukawa
deserved to be happy and that he would beat the crap out of him if he
mistreated the fox. Sakuragi smiled slightly at the memory as he
walked on lost in his memories.
His basketball skills have improved a great deal
these last few months. He practiced with Sendoh and Kaede every Saturday
morning. At first, he was very suspicious of Sendoh's intentions towards Kaede
but his suspicions were allayed one day when the fox-eyed boy had to leave
early from their practice. So he stayed and played one-on-one with Sendoh.
After a few games, Koshino arrived to pick Sendoh up. The relationship between
the two Ryonan players was unmistakable. Koshino assured him that Sendoh was
not after Kaede for anything more than a challenge. Sendoh even suggested that
he play matchmaker between him and Kaede, which was shot down, thankfully in
his point of view, by Koshino's glare. It is now nearing Christmas and he got
Kaede to promise to help him go shopping for presents for the team and the
Sakuragi Guntai. School was closed for Christmas vacation and tons of people
were bustling around trying to find the perfect presents for their family and
friends.
Sakuragi was so lost in his thoughts that he
missed the turn that led to Rukawa's house. He quickly backtracked and hurried
towards the kitsune-eyed boy's house. He reached the front door and pressed the
doorbell twice. He waited a few moments and then pressed the doorbell again.
After a few more minutes of waiting out in the freezing cold and pressing the
doorbell a few more times, he decided that he must resort to desperate measures.
Sakuragi took a deep breath, "KITSUNE! OPEN THE
GODDAMN DOOR!!!" He thundered in a voice that is the envy of drill sergeants.
He took another deep breath and opened his mouth to yell again when the door
suddenly swung open. He grinned smugly, silently congratulating himself for his
success when he finally noticed Rukawa's state of dress. Or you could say his
state of 'undress'. He gaped as he took in the delicious picture of Rukawa
Kaede dressed in only a white towel that hung somewhat limply around his waist.
He watched mesmerized as shiny droplets of water dripped from the raven locks,
down the beautiful elfin face and down the pale, muscular chest, leaving faint
trails of wetness. He just longed to touch the vision. A glacial voice
dissipated the spell.
"Get in or I'm closing the door."
Sakuragi flushed and then quickly stepped into
the house as Rukawa shut the door behind him.
Rukawa quickly closed the door against the cold,
biting wind and then turned towards his 'guest'. He glared balefully at the
redhead who dragged him out of his hot, soothing shower. He contemplated
jumping back into the shower but then shot down the idea, thinking that a
certain do-aho hollering at him to hurry up would ruin any prospect of an
enjoyable shower.
Sakuragi had already taken off his coat and
threw it onto the couch. The redhead was sitting on the couch, watching him
with a strange expression on his face. He tried to shrug it out of his mind but
he suddenly felt extremely self-conscious as chocolate-colored eyes bored into
him. Finally he snapped.
"What are you looking at?"
Was that his imagination or did he just see the
do-aho blush?
"Nothing! I just think you look a bit funny with
your hair matted to your head like that. HAHAHAHA!!!"
Rukawa snorted and then walked into his bedroom.
He towel dried his hair as best as he could and then pulled on a pair of worn
blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt. He walked back into the living room and
grabbed his winter coat from the closet. "Let's go."
*****
Rukawa was exhausted. They had practically
visited every single store in Kanagawa searching for, as Sakuragi would say,
the 'perfect' presents. He didn't know what possessed him to say that he would
help Sakuragi find gifts for his friends. 'Oh yeah. I fell for that pleading
look in his large chocolate-colored puppy dog eyes when he asked me to help
him.' He shook his head ruefully. 'Kaede, you're getting soft.'
He berated himself. The redhead was lucky that the whole team agreed to give
out presents on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas. Today was already
Christmas Eve. They would be attending a formal party on New Year's Eve, after
the exchanging of presents, in which all basketball teams in all the districts
were invited. It gave everyone more time to shop for presents. He, on the other
hand, had already finished shopping a long time before this. He shook his head
again and brushed his midnight colored bangs out of his eyes as he looked at
his friend.
He watched as Sakuragi started haggling with the
storeowner over the price for a pretty silver bracelet that the redhead
probably wanted to get Ayako. 'This is going to take some time.' He
resignedly thought to himself.
Rukawa sighed and then spotted a bench a little
ways from the store. He walked over to it and sat down, settling many
shopping bags next to him on the bench. He stretched out languidly on the bench
and closed his eyes. 'Maybe I can catch some shuteye. I'm
so tired…'
*****
Sakuragi brought the bracelet at almost half its
original price. He silently congratulated himself for his accomplishment as he looked
around for Rukawa. He finally spotted him sleeping in a sitting position on a
bench. 'You can really trust that baka to sleep anywhere. I guess he's
really tired considering I have been dragging him all over Kanagawa today.'
He thought affectionately to himself as he approached the bench. He crouched
down in front of Rukawa and peered at the fox's face. He reached out and gently
brushed the boy's bangs out of his face. 'So soft.' He marveled to
himself as he rubbed the silky strands between his fingers.
Seeing that Rukawa was asleep, he threw caution
to the wind and let his fingers lightly trace Rukawa's lips. The lips parted
slightly, warming his fingers as he traced the bottom lip. He shivered slightly
and stared hungrily at Rukawa's pink lips. Giving in to the temptation, he laid
his hand lightly against a cheek and was surprised and pleased when Rukawa
leaned into his touch. He leaned in closer to Rukawa's face, focusing on the
pouting lips. Ten inches. Five inches. Three inches. Time stopped as Rukawa
suddenly opened his bottomless blue eyes.
Rukawa felt a fleeting sensation on his lips. He
felt something warm touch his face and he gravitated towards it. 'Wait.
Where am I?' He fought his way back to consciousness and slowly opened his
eyes. He found himself gazing into warm brown eyes that were mere inches from
his face. He studied the eyes before him and somehow felt warmed and comforted
by them. 'Hmm. He looks cute like this.' He idly thought to himself. He
suddenly became aware of their close proximity. His heart raced and his breath
quickened.
"Hanamichi?" He inquired softly. He could hear
his heart pounding in his ears.
The redhead suddenly pulled away, leaving him a
sense that he had missed something important. Something that he didn't really
understand and perhaps something he was not ready to understand. He frowned and
then asked, "What were you doing?"
A cheerful grin that did not quite reach the
eyes, spread across Sakuragi's face. "I was trying to find a way to wake you up
without getting hit. And apparently it worked. See, I AM the Tensai!"
Rukawa's frown grew deeper. His piercing blue
eyes searched Sakuragi's eyes, trying to piece together what he had missed.
Sakuragi turned away, avoiding his gaze.
Suddenly, Rukawa felt himself pulled to his
feet.
"Come on. I'm hungry. Let's go to Danny's. I
finished shopping already." Sakuragi said. This time he had a real grin on his
face.
All traces of the moment before had disappeared.
Questions flitted through his mind and then he
shook his head clear of them. Rukawa picked up the bags off the bench. He
walked silently still pondering the mystery in his mind while Sakuragi, who
turned back to his normal self, began to cheerfully hum his theme song "Ore wa
Tensai."
*****
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