Rukawa leaned on the balcony, breathing in the
crisp night air. His navy blue suit jacket was unbuttoned along with the first
two buttons of his white shirt underneath the jacket. He closed his eyes,
enjoying the silence of the night. He opened his eyes and turned around to look
through the glass doors of the balcony. Youhei and Haruko were swaying quite
intimately together in a slow dance. They had become a couple about two months
ago, which surprised him to no end. He had always thought that Sakuragi was
interested in Haruko and that he wanted to make her his girlfriend. When Youhei
first announced it, Rukawa expected Sakuragi to go into a rage. Instead, to his
and everyone else's surprise, the redhead sincerely congratulated the couple.
His eyes traveled to the redhead who was currently talking to Ayako. Sakuragi
looked quite handsome in a black blazer, black shirt and matching dress pants.
Sakuragi had matured quite a bit over the last few months. His reputation as a
gangster faded to a point of nonexistence and the redhead now had a lot of
admirers. Sakuragi was flattered and happy with all the attention that he was
getting but he had never once returned one of his admirer's affections. Rukawa
had once asked Sakuragi about it. After a moment of silence, Sakuragi answered
that he hadn't found the right one yet with a sad smile on his lips and his
eyes full of longing. That expression on the redhead's face bothered him. So he
immediately changed the subject and never mentioned it again.
He turned around back towards the night, peering
up at the twinkling stars. He had managed to avoid dancing all evening with any
of his infatuated fans. He flitted from place to place, not staying in any
place long enough for anyone to gather up the courage to ask him to dance. It
wasn't that he couldn't dance. He actually took dancing lessons when he was
younger. If he had continued dancing, he would have become one of the best.
Instead, he passed it up for basketball. He just didn't feel comfortable
dancing in front of a large crowd of people. Basketball was different. He could
block out everything when he was playing basketball. When he held the ball in
his hands, the crowd faded away and all that was left was the game and the will
to win.
He really didn't want to come to the party
tonight. He never really liked attending social gatherings, but Youhei and
Sakuragi both pleaded and begged him to go. In the end, he finally relented,
unable to say no to the hopeful lights in both Youhei's and Sakuragi's eyes.
They had exchanged presents right before the
party. He had received several sweaters, basketballs and several CDs. He had
gotten the whole team basketball jerseys of their favorite basketball player,
and he had gotten Ayako and Haruko pearl earrings and an amethyst pendant
necklace, respectively. He had gotten Youhei a gold watch. Everyone had
protested his too expensive gifts but he cut them off saying that he had the
money and that he might as well use it. He also told them that he would not
take them back for any reason whatsoever.
The door to the balcony opened behind him and
someone stepped in. Rukawa turned slightly and then cocked his head curiously.
"Koshino."
"Rukawa, what are you doing out here all alone?"
Rukawa shrugged slightly, gazing back up at the
star-filled night sky. The boys were silent for a moment, drinking in the
beauty of the night.
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Koshino
spoke up.
"Hai."
"So you do talk."
Rukawa gave Koshino a cool glance, not liking
the fact that he was being teased. "Why did you come out here?"
"To look at the stars of course, and to get a
breath of fresh air." Koshino replied.
"Hiro-kun!" A voice drifted to them from the
balcony door. They turned towards it together.
Rukawa watched with hidden amusement as Sendoh
glomped onto the shorter Ryonan player.
"Sendoh!!" Koshino exclaimed, while trying to
dislodge himself from Sendoh's grasp.
"Ne, Hiro-kun? Could you get me something to
drink? I want to talk to Rukawa-kun for a minute."
"Why can't you get one yourself?"
"Because I want YOU to get me one. Pretty
please?" Sendoh batted his eyes cutely at Koshino.
Koshino grumbled under his breath and then
blushed beet red when Sendoh whispered something in his ear. Sendoh let go of
the other Ryonan player and Koshino went back into the party.
Rukawa watched Sendoh smile happily at Koshino's
retreating back. Then Sendoh turned to him with a rare serious expression on
his face.
"Yes. Koshino and I are together." Sendoh said,
answering his unspoken question.
Rukawa looked at Sendoh indifferently and waited
for him to continue.
"Are you disgusted with me?"
Rukawa shook his head slightly.
"Good. I would hate to lose a friend over
something like this."
There was a moment of silence and then Rukawa
spoke up.
"You're lucky." Rukawa's voice had the slightest
wistful tone to it.
"Huh?" Sendoh looked at him in surprise.
"I said you're lucky."
"Oh."
They fell silent once again, watching the stars.
Sendoh then turned and walked off to leave the balcony. As the spiky-haired boy
got to the door, he spoke.
You can have this too
if you are willing to take the chance."
Rukawa frowned and turned around to ask what
Sendoh had meant but the tall Ryonan player was gone. 'What did he mean by
that?' He pondered.
His frown grew deeper. His piercing dark blue
eyes scanned the sky as if the answers to the many questions in his mind were
somehow written up there. Lately he had been getting the feeling that he was
missing something important. The feeling that everyone around him knew
something that he didn't. He didn't like the feeling one bit. He hated being
left in the dark.
The balcony door opened again. Rukawa sighed. 'This
balcony is getting too popular. Maybe I should go find another hiding place.'
He turned around to face his new 'visitor'.
Sakuragi sipped his fruit punch absently as he
looked at the crowd around him. He spotted Rukawa and Sendoh on a distant
balcony together. He frowned slightly, wondering what they were talking about.
"So when are you going to tell him?"
He turned back to his companion with a smile on
his face. Ayako looked stunning in a dark red spaghetti strap gown, with elbow
high matching gloves and two-inch high heels. Miyagi was practically drooling
when he laid his eyes on Ayako.
"Soon." He replied evasively. It didn't surprise
him that Ayako knew about his attraction to Rukawa. Actually, quite a number of
people knew now. Fortunately, they were all close-mouthed people and they
promised that they wouldn't leak a word of it to Rukawa. Ayako was always very
perceptive. She was one of the first people to question him about his sudden
change in attitude towards Rukawa, and knowing that he could trust her, he told
her the truth.
"Well don't wait too long. He's not going to
stay untaken forever." She said, winking at him.
He checked his watch and saw that it was almost
midnight. He caught Youhei's eye and nodded towards the balcony where Rukawa
was standing. Youhei followed his gaze to the balcony and then nodded his
understanding over Haruko's shoulder as the couple swayed to the music.
"Ayako. Let's start the real party."
She smiled and went off to spread the word.
He walked towards the balcony and passed Sendoh
who just exited the balcony. Sendoh paused and gave him a cheeky smile before
disappearing into the crowd. He considered stopping Sendoh and asking him what
he said to Rukawa but then he dismissed the thought. Sendoh wouldn't tell him
anything. At least he had Sendoh's promise that he wouldn't reveal anything
about Sakuragi's feelings to Rukawa.
He pulled open the balcony door and stepped
outside in the cold night air. Rukawa turned around to face him. Rukawa looked
incredibly sexy in his open navy blue jacket. His open shirt exposed a very
kissable white slender neck. His features were softened by the moonlight, making
the raven-haired boy look ethereal and fey. The vibrant dark blue eyes
glittered with beauty and mystery. He must have been staring because Rukawa
started to snap his fingers and wave his hands in front of his face.
"Hanamichi? You okay?"
Regaining himself, he answered, "Yeah, yeah. I'm
fine. Why are you standing out here all alone?"
"I told you I don't like parties."
"Aww… come on… it can't be that bad."
"Yes it can." Rukawa's lips were set into a
stubborn line.
"Did you even give it a chance?"
"…"
"You didn't even try it out. Come on. Let's go
back in together.
"No."
"Just give it one chance. If you really don't
like it, you can come back out here or you can leave the party and go back
home. Pretty please?" Sakuragi wheedled, giving the kitsune-eyed boy his best
pleading puppy dog look.
Rukawa gave him an exasperated look and he knew
that he had won. He grinned like a Cheshire cat and threw an arm around
Rukawa's shoulders and ushered him back inside.
*****
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