Title: At the End of the Road
Author: chescaOtaku
Pairings: HanaRu/RuHana; a touch of MitKo/KoMit
Genre: Shounen-ai
Status: Ongoing; 8/? (series)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimers:: All Slam Dunk characters mentioned below are properties of Takehiko Inoue, TOEI and his other colleagues. Only the storyline is mine. So…don't sue me. ^_^ I'm too young to go to jail. ::
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At the End of the RoadChapter 7
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/Damn that kid… when he comes home…I'll beat the hell outa him…/
Kotehota Ruji kept looking at the wall clock in his room. It was already past eleven in the evening and his stepson was not yet home. Not that it was a whole new, startling thing for him. In fact, Kaede, his stepson, was almost always out of the house every evening and would come back late midnight when everyone was asleep. But this night was different. He knew that whenever Kaede went out, he brought nothing with him. He always left his school and training bag at his room and would go out—but not this night. There was totally no sign of his stepson opening the front door or his room door. Nor there was any school and training bag left in his room. Kotehota was starting to pace back and forth and his eyes seemed glued with the wall clock. He never felt this way before—uneasy, restless and vexed. Especially when it concerned his stepson.
Kaede did not come from him and god-knows-where was his biological father residing. Kotehota had no business or whatsoever to do with that bastard son of his. It didn't matter where the young man was, or when did he come home, who was he with or who were his friends were, if there were any, considering that guy's aloofness. He hated Kaede so much that he wanted so bad to drive him out of his house—and out of his life—forever. Just the mere sight of the raven-haired boy brought so much anguish and memories to him. Kaede reminded him of his deceased wife so much…but most of all, his stepson reminded him of his wife being not a virgin even before they got married. One of the deepest wounds a woman could inflict on a man's heart would be knowing that the woman he loves or loved had lost to another man her virginity—a precious, delicate gift given by God to a woman who was supposed to only offer it and give it away to a man she truly loves, to a man she made vows with and to a man whose soul was entwined with hers for eternity. A husband. But his wife just failed to do that and was deeply wounded and enraged by it. And Rukawa Kaede was a perfect example—no, a perfect proof of it. He showed his abhorrence in various ways, but failed miserably. The young man wasn't about to give up. So he couldn't do anything but watch him grow, watch him mature more in his own roof…without his guidance and love. Not that he cared or wanted to show love to the one who caused him so much pain. But now… Kaede was making him worry.
Completely and undeniably worried.
And he didn't know what to do.
~*~
Sakuragi closed his eyes and kept whispering Rukawa's name with full pleading and love. He even kept saying 'I'm sorry…' until Mitsui and Miyagi were somehow able to calm him down. Several minutes passed and still, there was no report regarding the Super Rookie. The three regulars could do nothing but sit and wait desperately.
"Damn, damn and double damn!! Give me one more minute like this and I'm going to beat the shit out of the doctors there!!!" Sakuragi raged. How could the doctors keep them waiting like this? Couldn't they send at least a nurse to tell them how's Rukawa?
"Cool it down Sakuragi, the doctors should be here any soon." Miyagi tried to soothe the redhead once more but it seemed that there was no way of doing it. He was also nonetheless worried, but the condition of the person beside him made the point guard even more worried. Never did he see the redhead hysterical and upset like this. He had always known Sakuragi as the easy-going type with a large amount of ego flying inside his head. He never imagined the freshman could be this serious, desperate and troubled. And they were talking about Rukawa for Kami-sama's sake. Miyagi was beginning to wonder that there was more to the punches, senseless bickering and usual fights of the two rookies. He was starting to consider that the connection of the two was far deeper than those.
"Like the hell the would be."
"Matte… I can see several white coats headed our way…" Mitsui observed and he pointed the doctors coming their way. Sakuragi suddenly looked and stood up.
"Is anyone of you a relative of Rukawa Kaede? We are the doctors who examined him and…"
"Where is he? Is he all right? Could we see him now?" Sakuragi questioned instantly. He did not have any time for the stupid doctors' "interview". All he wanted to see was the Kitsune, his Kitsune and how he was doing.
"Hold on, young man. Are you, by any chance, a relative of his?" One doctor with glasses asked him.
"Iie…I'm a…f..fr..friend of his. A…close one." He paused for a while and continued, "He doesn't have a true…family…." His voice was very soft and his statement caused his seniors and the doctors to slightly gasp.
"Na…nani…"
"H..how…"
"Look, I don't have time for your interviews and stuffs…just let me see him!!!"
"Okay. But before you see him, we would like to brief you regarding his state right now and—"
"Then spill 'em!!"
"Sakuragi!!" Mitsui warned.
"He completely safe now and his injuries weren't that bad, wearing your faces, young men. The stabs in his stomach were kind of deep and that caused his body to lose a large amount of blood, but—"
"You call that minor injury?!?! He was stabbed for Kami-sama's sake!!! Where is he?! And you said he's fine when he lost lots of goddamn blood?!" Sakuragi shouted. /This isn't helping at all!! Kaede…/
"Mr…"
"He's name's Sakuragi Hanamichi." Mitsui told the doctors.
"Sakuragi-san, let us finish first. I know how badly you wanted to see your friend but let us finish first, ok? Or else…look, if you keep on behaving like that, we'll send you out of this hospital."
Silence suddenly fell upon the three.
"Ok. He lost a large amount of blood, but not to the extent that he needed blood transfusion from a donor. Those wounds in his stomach are the only injuries that need healing for quite a time. All he needed would be a full rest. Broken body tissues needed healing too. The guys who punched him in the face and in the other parts of his body did it quite hard and large bruises and cuts appeared. But don't worry those will heal in time. And one more thing, his left leg was slightly fractured. For now, we are not certain what caused it. We'll still run some tests. All we know is that, the fracture was caused by an impact of a part of a body."
"You call that fine?! K'so!! Where is he?!"
"Sakuragi! Your manners!!" Mitsui snapped.
"Daijobou…the fracture isn't that bad…we're sure it will heal pretty quickly."
"Other than that…he's fine…? Uhh…I mean, he's not in some ICU or some sort of place?" Miyagi confirmed.
"Hai."
"So, can we see him now?" Sakuragi spoke up.
"Hai. This way." The doctors showed them the way and the three Shohoku players breathed a sigh of relief at last. They were silent while on the way, each in his own thoughts and contemplations.
They entered the elevator and waited until they reached the sixth floor. They walked briskly, passing by numbered white room doors and wide windows. Finally, they stopped in front of the door that was numbered, 614. The doctors turned the doorknob with caution and entered the room, revealing a battered figure lying on the bed with several tubes attached to his body.
In the middle of the white bed was Rukawa Kaede, sleeping. Rather, it was Rukawa Kaede on a closer, second glance. At a first glimpse, one wouldn't thought that a battered, bruised and unnaturally pale young man lying on a hospital bed was actually the handsome fox-eyed boy playing basketball full of life at Shohoku Senior High School. One couldn't recognize him at that current state. White sheets covered all his lower body and his upper body could only be seen visibly. The dextrose tube was attached to his left hand that was lying above the white blanket. Several layers of gauze bandage wrapped around his stomach and his forehead and temples were full of cuts. Purple bruises were very evident in his chest and face and blood soaked through the bandages. He was paler than usual, and his jet-black hair and bruises reflected it. His eyebrows knitted in pain and he was occasionally moaning and soreness was written all over his face.
"Ka…kaede…" Sakuragi whispered. Tears stung his eyes but he didn't mind. The body that was laid before his very own eyes was nothing like the Kitsune he hugged and kissed before. The body in front of him was totally helpless, tattered and pain was very apparent on the slightest move he made. His heart contracted painfully at the sight and a sudden feeling urged him to carry his Kaede out of this damned hospital and take him home where he could take care of him non-stop. He felt like hugging his koi protectively and felt like trashing away all the misery and agony Rukawa felt. But he couldn't. All he could do was watch his lover fight the pain and watch helplessly as he breathed with labor. Tears flowed freely in his cheeks and he slowly walked to where Rukawa was lying and his clenched his fists tightly until his knuckles were beginning to turn white.
/Ka..kaede…is…is that you…gods…/
Sensing this, Mitsui went to Sakuragi's side and whispered, "Go to him, Sakuragi. Talk to him. He might hear you."
"Aa."
"Guess we should now go. Just press on the buzzer above the bed if you need any help. A nurse will come." One of the doctors said.
"Arigatou." Miyagi and Mitsui bowed. The doctors then walked away and closed the door.
"Ka…kae..de…" Sakuaragi, on the other hand, went to Rukawa's bed and pulled a chair and sat beside him. He held his lover's right hand gently and bowed down to kiss it. His tears stained the sheets but didn't mind at all and he whispered soothing words to his beloved. /Be okay…I'm here, Kaede…and I'm terribly sorry…/
Miyagi was nevertheless shocked at the sudden gesture Sakuragi made. /Why did Sakuragi kiss Rukawa's hand?! Don't tell me…/ His eyes widened at what he concluded but quickly erased it on his mind.
Mitsui was able to see the stunned expression on his point guard's face at the corner of his eyes and decided to explain him…things. "So, um…I guess we should keep going and leave you two alone now, ne, Miyagi?"
"…Ehh? Ah…erm…h..hai."
"So…I guess we'll visit Rukawa again tomorrow after school, Sakuragi. We'll be the ones to inform Sensei and Akagi."
Sakuragi turned to them and said, "Wakatta desu ne. Doumo, Micchy, Ryochin. Kiotsukette. Oyasumi." His eyes were soft, and spoke of gratitude.
"Hai. Oyasumi nasai."
"Ja mata ne!!"
"Ja."
~*~
Two figures were walking silently through the night. Everything was black and the moon, bright stars and light posts were the only things that illuminated the ground below. The sound of crickets, rustling of leaves and several steps were the things that kept the empty streets and roads alive.
"Mitsui."
"Hm?"
"Did you notice the way Sakuragi reacted earlier? I mean…ya know…and he even kissed Rukawa's hands…"
"Of course. And I saw that…kiss."
"Why do you appear so calm? I know I shouldn't be thinking about these stuffs in this kind of situation…but aren't you bothered a bit? Don't you think it's quite…errm..strange for a guy to kiss another guy's hand?" Miyagi questioned.
"Not quite strange, Miyagi. Very strange. You think it's not at all normal right?"
"Yeah."
"But you know what? There's really no such thing as normal. People do such things because their heart told them to do so. Something inside drives them to do such things. Guy kissing a hand's guy is one example. It's not always a matter of what you see everyday and what you do not. Sometimes, you have to go deeper and see what the naked eyes cannot." Mitsui said softly. Revealing things to Miyagi would not be that easy, but he knew that someday, the point guard would eventually understand it.
Miyagi was speechless for a while. The words the senior told him were stuck in his mind. How did Mitsui come up with those…words? It seemed like he knew something…much deeper… Regaining some of his senses, he faced the scar-faced guy and asked, "Why and how did you know about all these…stuffs?"
"You'll soon know, Miyagi. Soon."
~*~
The redhead traced Rukawa's face and down to his chest with his finger and sighed softly. After Mitsui and Miyagi left, he was able to reflect more on the happenings a while ago. Bursting his worries and desperation out not so long ago like an infuriated animal surely made a scene but it made him feel lighter, better. It felt like something so…heavy and painful was taken out of his shoulders and that made him think more and composed. For a while he didn't even remember that Miyagi, who was a straight guy was actually there, watching him with entire confusion and thinking evident in his eyes. During those moments, he didn't give any damn about that, but now, he was starting to contemplate on what he did.
/Did he get any idea from that…erm…outburst of the tensai…and…the…the kiss!!!! Damn…I forgot Ryochin's here!! He saw the kiss!! Shimatta!!/
A tinge of fear jolted through his body but quickly pushed it away. He reminded himself that, he would try his best in enduring other people's stunned reactions about such loving gestures to the same guy. It was all part of the process of facing the normal and straight world of the society. And showing such movement in front of someone who had totally no idea what was going on beneath was just a start. If he wanted to make up with the Kitsune, he would have to withstand the pressure of it. Someday, he told himself, they—both him and Rukawa—would do it and would succeed.
Sakuragi looked again to Rukawa's face. He studied the bruises and cuts to his lover's body once more and little by little, anger and vengeance boiled up inside him.
/Whomever did this would pay. And the pain he or they would receive would be doubled. Yarou. I guess Youhei and the others are going to be busy again…/
But who would actually do such things in the middle of the night? He knew that gangsters would not loiter around the streets late at night, instead they would gather at some secluded, isolated place and talk about tomorrow and whom they would meet. His gang did it sometimes. So the question now was, who or whose group did it? For a while, Sakuragi was in deep thoughts but no group name came in his mind. /Maybe I should ask Youhei tomorrow. He might remember some./
He gazed again at his lover's form before placing his head on the bed and closing his tired eyes.
Vengeance would come—but not after he was sure his Kitsune was all right.
~*tbc*~
a/n:: whew!!!! Soothes back* *yawns* ok…at long long last…this chapter's finished!! I can't believe I spent the entire afternoon and one-fourth of the evening writing this chappie…that was sssssssssooooo tiring in Filipino…"Nakakapiga ng utak!!!" hay naku…anywayz…there it is…hope you liked it…I haven't used by pc properly for the past days…my windows was corrupted and my fan (in the CPU) was not functioning and I had to call the computer technician to fix those craps. Anywayz…this story will be extended…two or three more chapters to go I guess…niweiz, please review and forgive me if Micchy was a bit OOC in the part where Ryochin asked him about Sakuragi's actions.
Kung meron pa kayong iba pang mga kumento, sulatan (aww…that sucks…lolz) lamang ako at ipadala ito sa chesca14316@yahoo.com. ^_^
One more thing…is it true that there will be a Slam Dunk Two? A sequel or something like that? Actually, I heard some rumors about it…and…just wanna ask you…and confirm, since most of the readers, writers and reviwers here are die hard SD fans (including me) …so there….okay…that's it for now…*yawns* gotta catch some shut eye…please review!! ^_^ tnx!!
Magandang araw/tanghali/gabi sa inyo. ^^;; ::
