The movie was pretty good and it actually kept
him awake. After the movie, they went for dinner at Danny's. Sakuragi talked
about the movie and then about basketball. Rukawa mostly listened silently,
adding little comments where he thought appropriate. They walked together out
of Danny's around 7 P.M. and Sakuragi had insisted on walking him home instead
of taking a bus home himself. Everything was right in Rukawa's world now. He
had finally found two friends that he could trust and confide in, and who cared
about him. His basketball skills were improving and he should soon be able to
realize his dreams to become the best in Japan. A small smile unconsciously
formed on his face. The pain in his heart that appeared whenever he thought of
his parents faded to a dull ache. He was finally happy and there was more in
his world than just basketball. He let his eyes fall close, knowing that
Sakuragi would protect him from any bodily harm. He quickly fell asleep.
Sakuragi caught the beautiful smile on Rukawa's
face and wondered what the fox-eyed boy was thinking about. A few seconds
later, Rukawa was asleep. Sakuragi sighed to himself. The whole day he had been
trying to find a way to tell Rukawa about his feelings but in the end, he
chickened out. He glanced at Rukawa with longing in his eyes. The boy was so
near yet so far. He sighed again and stared at his feet as he walked.
Suddenly a car came screeching down the street.
Sakuragi's head snapped up and watched as Rukawa unconsciously step out onto
the same street. He immediately grabbed Rukawa on the arm and yanked him back
into safety. His fear that Rukawa might actually get hit, made him pull a bit
too hard. Rukawa came crashing into him and they went down together on the
snow-covered ground with Rukawa on top of him. Rukawa woke up instantly and
blinked confusedly down at Sakuragi.
Sakuragi could feel Rukawa's warm breath gently
fanning his face. He drank in the fox-eyed boy's scent and encircled his arms
tightly around the boy's slender waist. He gazed up into the beautiful fox-blue
eyes that have captured his heart from the very beginning. 'It is time.'
He thought to himself.
"Kaede, do you remember another time about four
months ago where we were in exactly the same situation that we are
in now?" He asked slowly, making sure that
the kitsune understood every word. "Do you remember what happened?"
Rukawa's eyes widened slightly and confusion
started to fill the deep blue orbs. "You can't mean…" He replied in an unsteady
voice.
"What if I do?" He asked huskily. "Actually I
can and I do." He lifted his head off the ground and captured Rukawa's soft
lips in a hot, searing kiss.
Rukawa's lips were softer than he remembered and
they ignited a fire and passion within him. He quickly rolled over, effectively
pinning Rukawa beneath him. The petal soft lips yielded under the pressure of
his tongue and he swept inside. He thoroughly explored every crevice in the
raven-haired boy's mouth. He had never thought that something could taste so
sweet and be so addicting.
Rukawa was totally unresponsive throughout the
entire kiss. It appeared that the kitsune-eyed boy was in shock. After a few
minutes, Sakuragi broke off the kiss and stared down on the beautiful boy
beneath him. Rukawa's eyes were tightly shut and his breathing was coming out
in short gasps.
He laid a hand against a smooth cheek, reveling in
the feel of the soft skin under his fingers.
"Kaede?" He inquired softly.
There was no response.
Sakuragi was starting to get worried. He rolled
off of Rukawa and sat up, pulling Rukawa in a half sitting position on his lap.
"Kaede?" He called again, shaking the boy lightly.
Pale eyelids flickered delicately against high
cheekbones and then they slowly opened. A faint blush colored the fox-eyed
boy's cheeks when he finally realized that he was sitting on Sakuragi's lap. He
struggled to get up. Sakuragi, however, had other plans. He held the other boy
down firmly in his arms and brought his lips near Rukawa's ear.
"I like you, Kaede." He whispered huskily in the
raven-haired boy's ear, the tone of his voice carrying emotional undertones
that made the words unmistakable.
Rukawa blushed even deeper and started to
struggle frantically. Afraid that the kitsune-eyed boy would hurt himself,
Sakuragi let him go. Rukawa sprang out of his arms breathing heavily. There was
a familiar wild look in Rukawa's eyes. He had seen the same look in the
fox-blue eyes four months ago when they accidentally kissed. It meant that the
boy was about to run like hell was chasing him. Trying to delay the flight
reaction in Rukawa, he got to his knees and quickly grabbed Rukawa's wrist.
"Wait. I'm not done talking to you."
"Let me go." Rukawa's voice was low and
dangerous and his eyes were burning into him.
"I'll let you go if you promise that you will
listen to what I have to say." Sakuragi replied evenly.
Faster than a snake, Rukawa struck. Sakuragi
felt himself propelled backwards, landing hard on his back. Pain seared through
his back and his breath got knocked out of him. He groaned out loud as he
struggled to sit up. He looked around quickly and noted that Rukawa had left
without a trace. He slumped back onto the ground and closed his eyes, breathing
deeply. Depression and defeat whirled around his head. The cold wind filled
him, freezing him. Suddenly he felt a shadow fall upon him. 'Kaede?' He
thought hopefully to himself. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight
of Youhei's mother's concerned face looming over him.
"Hanamichi! Are you alright?"
"Ahh… yes. I'm fine. Just a bit tired." Sakuragi
replied with a sinking heart and a feeling of dread. "Don't worry about me."
Youhei's mother stood up straight and placed her
hands on her hips in a very defiant position. She looked down upon him with a
very determined expression on her face. "Then why in the world are you lying on
the ground? There must be something wrong. I watched you grow up, Hanamichi.
You know that I can see right through you and right now my eyes are telling me
that you are not okay. You know that you can come to me if you have any
problems. So why don't you just tell me what is wrong?"
Sakuragi contemplated the question for a moment.
'How am I supposed to tell her? I'm not even sure what she thinks about
homosexuals! Knowing her, she won't stop until I give her an answer! Think fast
Hanamichi!'
"It's about Kaede, isn't it?"
"How - " Sakuragi unwittingly blurted out. He
blushed furiously and then said, "I mean… It has nothing to do with the fox!!!"
"Like I said Hanamichi, you can't hide from me."
She held out a hand to him with a warm motherly smile in her eyes and face.
Sakuragi slowly sat up and reached for her hand.
He was strangely reminded of a time when he was about eight years old. He was
racing with Youhei when suddenly he tripped and fell. He scraped his knees
pretty badly and he was screaming his head off. Youhei's mother came up to him
with her hand held out and that same smile on her face. At that moment, he felt
that everything was going to be all right. As he grasped her hand, he was
brought out of his memories. Like water rushing out of a broken dam, he told
her everything. He ended up crying in her arms and her patting his head as if
he was still a 8-year-old child. He let her lead him back to her house where she
fixed a cup of hot chocolate for him while he washed up in the bathroom. She
placed a mug in front of him and watched him silently as he took a sip.
"So you're going to give up on him?"
Sakuragi stared at her in surprise. The surprise
quickly turned to bitterness. "What else can I do? He ran away from me when I
confessed my feelings. He must be disgusted with me." He muttered into his mug.
"How can you be so sure? You just told him you
liked him. He must be scared and confused out of his mind!" She said.
"But still! That does not change the fact that
he ran away from me!"
"Kaede probably just needs time to think. You're
going too fast for him. He's not ready for that type of change in his life. His
life is pretty simple and uncomplicated for him right now. It only consists of
eating, sleeping and playing basketball. Then you suddenly go up to him and
tell him that you like him. How do you expect him to react?"
"But…"
"No buts! You were friends with Kaede these past
few months. Did you like the person that you found Rukawa Kaede to be? Are you
going to let all that time you spent trying to get him to open up go to waste?
Are you willing to give him up without a fight? Maybe your feelings for him
weren't as strong as I expected. Maybe you're going to do the same thing that
his parents did and abandon him."
The memory of the night in which Rukawa hugged him popped up in his mind. 'Thank you for being here with me.'
Rukawa's words repeated themselves in his head. He had felt so warm holding Rukawa
in his arms that night even though it was only a hug among friends. Youhei's
mother's last words filtered into his brain. 'Abandon him? Never!'
Sakuragi felt determination and fire fill him as he slammed the empty mug back
onto the table. "No! I will not give up on him that easily!"
Youhei's mother smiled at him and then refilled
his mug with more hot chocolate. "Good. Now have another cup."
"But I have to go find Kaede!"
Her skillet magically appeared in her hand and
Sakuragi sweat-dropped. Holding his hands up in surrender, he hastily said,
"Okay, okay, I'll stay."
She put down the skillet and smiled warmly at
him. He let out his breath in relief.
*****
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