A/N:

Gomen gomen! With the Chinese New Year and all… I've been busy with family matters!!! I actually planned this to be the last chapter, but somehow it's longer than I thought so I'm gonna stretch into another one… Hoho… I'm gonna insert this part into the actual anime series timeline… = The Shohoku vs. Ryonan + Shoyo practice game! I'm just gonna modify minor details in it to help the plot okie?

====================================================================================

Rukawa isn't usually an easily confused person. It was the first time in a very, very long time that he was once again, feeling distraught. Most of the time he knows what he should or should not do, and what he wants. But now…

He doesn't usually care about what others say either. He ignores practically everything that all of his senpais told him to do, even Akagi and Kogure. All their words seem like nothing but a passing breeze, maybe it bugged him for just about a second or two, but is then gone just like that.

But Sendoh's words…

He thought of his mother. And for the first time in a long time, he thought of the happy memories he had of his mother. The way she would tuck him into bed at nights, or when she cradled him lovingly in her arms while singing softly.

He remembered it all now. Before there was Sumire, there was his mother who would stop his tears and would kiss away his pain.

My little Kaede. That's what she used to call him.

Rukawa remembered how he utterly despised his name when he was very little. After all, Kaede was really not a common name, and an uncommon name is usually an invitation of mockery and hideous nicknames from mischievous classmates in school.

"Ara? My little Kaede hates his name?" his mother had tried so hard to hold back her laugh when he came home grumbling about how hideous his name is. Apparently the still scrawny little Rukawa Kaede at that time had obtained a regular nickname of 'twiggy' due to his skinny, pale figure—and not to mention the fact that his name itself is none but a tree.

Then she picked him up and cradled him on her lap, and kissed his forehead gently. "You know why I named you Kaede, sweetheart?" she asked as she ran her gentle hands through his thick, raven hair.

Little Rukawa looked up at his beautiful mother with his large, expressive blue eyes, and shook his head.

She smiled at him. And what a beautiful motherly smile it was. At that moment, Rukawa already knew that he will like what his mother is about to say. "The day you were born, Kaede…" she started to speak. "When I held you in my arms for the very first time, you cried. What a strong cry it was." She smiled.

"And I knew at that moment, that you will be a strong young man, yet sweet and gentle on the inside. And that's why I named you Kaede."

Rukawa's eyes twinkled as he listened to his mother's story. Suddenly, the name doesn't sound all too bad. At all.

"I will always love you, Kaede." His mother whispered as he closed his eyes and snuggled in her embrace. "My little Kaede…"

But it's all just a memory. Rukawa gritted his teeth and shook the memory off. But then suddenly his vision blurred, he felt something warm trickle down his face. He touched his face only to find that it was stained with tears that had rolled off his cobalt eyes.

Namida…? Doushite…

He didn't understand what he's feeling right now.

Okaa-san…

Don't go.

* * *

Sumire was stirred awake by the sound of the chirping birds outside the window. She opened her eyes, and found herself lying in the living room. It took her quite a moment to figure out how she had ended up falling asleep there. She had waited and waited and waited for Rukawa to come home until her eyes could not held themselves open any longer.

Kaede!

She jumped up on her two feet as she suddenly remembered and raced up the stairs towards his room. Knocking on his door, she received no answer. She glanced at her watch. It was only 6 AM. Is he still asleep? She reached out her hand and pulled the doorlatch open. But as she pushed the door open, she found the room dark and empty. And his bed was still made, as if no one had slept on it the night before.

Things hasn't exactly been good between them. Rukawa really hasn't spoken much to her in the beginning, and at the end, it was her who shoved him away and shut her door. But she didn't want to leave like this. No, not like this, Kaede. Her hands trembled as she closed the door shut. Suddenly she felt like such a jerk to her brother. And she wanted to see him for one last time, and tell him everything that's running in her head right now. That she loves him, that she had always loved him, that she is sorry for leaving him, for not being there for him, for everything that she had done wrong.

Where are you, Kaede?

* * *

The line was shaking again, sending ripples over the clear water. Sendoh sighed as he ignored the movement, as he always had.

Masaka… I can't believe I'm here again… Sendoh exhaled as he stared blankly at the horizon. He finally glanced at his watch. It was 3 PM. Her train leaves in an hour. But they've agreed that they will have no goodbyes, no tears, and no regrets. Just great memories together.

His bandages came off yesterday. Maybe by the time his bruises completely dissolve, this heartache would have passed completely too. And he'd be back to his usual pace, to his normal life. And maybe move on to someone else?

Impossible…

He exhaled again.

How long has it been since he started sitting there staring at the water? Four hours at least. And they say time flies when you're having fun.

Then, he faintly heard someone shouting his name. Then rapid footsteps that almost shook the whole stretch of pier he was on. He looked up and saw someone running towards him, but he couldn't recognize who it was, but she sure looks familiar.

"Sendoh-kun, Sendoh-kun!" Aida Yayoi came running down the pier towards him. She stopped in front of him, panting as she caught her breath. "Thank god I found you! Please come with me right away!"

Caught completely dumbfounded, he just stared at this strange woman who looked strangely familiar but he just can't figure out who she is.

"Aa! Gomen nasai! Watashi wa Aida Yayoi, Hikoichi's sister!" she exclaimed as she saw the confused expression on the face of her favorite basketball star. "I'll explain on the way! Please just come with me right now!"

Whatever it is, if it can take his mind off Sumire right now, he'll go with it. "Aa… hai… chotto…" he stood up and reeled in his fishing line, but the young woman aggressively snatched all his stuff from his hands and started pushing him to walk towards the road, where a taxicab was patiently waiting for them.

"Ne, Aida-san…" Sendoh finally said after a long silence as the taxicab sped off along the smooth roads. "Are you going to start telling me what's going on now, or are you kidnapping me to demand ransom from my father?"

Aida Yayoi smiled at his attempt to crack a joke. "Well, I'm gonna say that there's a very interesting game that some of your Ryonan teammates are in right now, and would probably be in great need of your fine plays."

"A game?" Sendoh asked, suddenly interested. "With who?"

"It's a surprise." Aida Yayoi answered, her eyes twinkling as she saw the glint in Sendoh's eyes. He's firing up, definitely. I will finally get to see his beautiful plays again!

Sendoh exhaled. Now this might just be what he needed. A game to take his mind off some things. And so he leaned back and waited patiently to see where Aida Yayoi is actually taking him. After quite a long ride, the taxicab finally skidded to a stop.

Eh? Shohoku?

* * *

Dear Kaede,

I'm not very good with goodbyes. And somehow, I'm not very good in apologies either. But I really do hope that somewhere in your heart you'll find a way to forgive me. I'm sorry for neglecting you these past few years, for not seeing you, for not even calling you. And I don't blame you for hating me even more this time for leaving again to somewhere far, far away. But one thing I ask of you, Kaede… please don't hate okaa-san. Because I've seen her cry at nights in her sleep calling your name. It hurts her just as much as it hurts us that this is what our family had became, debris flustered in the dust.

She loves you, Kaede. And I knew she must have had a very good reason for leaving that night. Something that we might never know. And I know that it had killed her to do it, to leave you like that.

But we can't change what's already been done, Kaede. And we can't turn back time either. We will remain trapped in the frozen bitterness of our past if we don't move on. And so I'm leaving to start new, and to leave all this bitterness behind me. But there is one thing that I would like to keep with me in my heart, and that is you, Kaede. No matter what you will always be my brother, and I will always love you. Even if we are oceans apart.

Maybe one day I'll return to Japan, who knows. And maybe things will be different then… I can only hope.

Please forgive me, Kaede.

Your sister,

Sumire.

She can only hope that Rukawa sees the folded piece of paper that she had left on his table. But then again, he hardly sits on his desk, and now she's wishing that she had just slipped it under his door.

He didn't come home last night. And she had waited for him all afternoon long but he didn't show up either. Their father had started to become edgy as well from the overnight disappearance of his only son. But then again, Kaede had pulled off these stunts before, and it's really nothing new.

"He'll turn up eventually…" Sumire's father, Rukawa Junichiro, said solemnly as he walked his daughter to the ticket booth at the train station. "I'm just sorry he failed to come to his senses to actually see you off today… do'ahou da…"

Sumire smiled bitterly. As she looked at her father, a twinge of pain was felt wrenching her heart. Why did it all have to be this way? She looked at the tall man, whose height Kaede has surpassed quite some years ago. Everything of him resembled Kaede. His nose, his mouth, his face. He is pretty much… an older version of Rukawa Kaede. And his eyes were those of Sumire's. Kaede had inherited the blues of their mother's eyes. There was a piece of their father and a piece of their mother in both Kaede and Sumire. And that's what makes them a family.

What went wrong? What went wrong between all of us, Otoo-san?!

But she didn't say the words. "It's all right, Otoo-san…" she said softly. "Thank you for taking me here today…"

He just smiled faintly. And as Sumire looked at him smile, she can't help but imagine Kaede smiling. She had seen a lot of his smiles when he was younger, but not ever since that night.

"I have to go now." he said briefly, as he leaned over to kiss his daughter's forehead. "Send my best to your mother."

She nodded silently and watched her father turn his back against her and walk away. Soon, he disappeared among the crowd.

He didn't even ask her to stay. Don't go. Those are the words that she wanted to hear from both of them. But Kaede didn't say it, and her father didn't either.

But one person did say it. Loud and clear, without hesitation.

Akira-kun…

But then she shook off the thought. No point in crying over the impossible. If they're really meant to be together, then someway, somehow, a miracle will find its way to unite them. And so she'll just leave it all up to fate, and that thing called love.

She took the ticket from the ticket machine slot and slipped it in her pocket. Then proceeded to pick up her stuff and walked towards the platform. Her mind was blank. She couldn't think of anything else anymore.

Sumire…! Sumire!!!

It took her quite a long while to finally realize that someone was actually calling her name amidst the crowd. Puzzled, she turned around searching for who it was who had been calling her name. Her eyes searched, and searched, until she finally saw who it was.

Her eyes widened in shock, and her hands instantly dropped everything in them.

Miracle…?

====================================================================================

(to be continued)