Title: At the End of the Road
Author: chescaOtaku
Pairings: HanaRu/RuHana; MitKo/KoMit
Genre: Shounen-ai
Status: Ongoing; 9/? (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. ::
~*~
At the End of the RoadChapter 8
~*~
It was another bright day and students were roaming around the school grounds and chatting about various stuffs and topics about the previous days. Several teenagers were gathered and huddled at one corner, obviously engaged in some personal conversations and sharing yet another absurd gossip. Young men were waving to their friends and some were laughing and joking around. Baritone and feminine voices filled the air and cars and buses packed the once vacant streets. It was another typical day for the students at Shohoku Senior High School. Well, for most of the students, that is. For it would be the other way around for the members of the Shohoku Basketball team.
"Ne, Ayako-san! Over here!!"
The club manageress just entered the school gates when she heard her name being called by someone. Her eyes traveled everywhere to find out who the person was, until her eyes found two hands waving at her. "Kogure-sempai?" She went where the senior was standing and asked him why had he called her. But as she looked at Kogure's face, she noticed that there were dark holes under his eyes and his brown eyes that were usually full of life seemed somehow…dead. /Did he sleep last night?/ The manageress wondered.
"Ano…ohayo gozaimasu, Ayako-san. Ano…have you seen His—Mitsui or heard from him last night?" The vice-captain asked. When he got home the night before, he tried to call his lover to tell him about what happened between the two rookies—Rukawa and Sakuragi—but unfortunately, Mitsui's mother told him her son was not yet home. Kogure decided that he should just call back later, but when he did, there was still no Mitsui Hisashi present in the Mitsui household. The vice-captain was beginning to worry about the whereabouts of his lover and the concerned tone of Mitsui's mother made it worse. Kogure hadn't slept well since then and trepidation for his Sashi-kun never left his mind. The former MVP did not even met him at their meeting place before they went to school. Kogure said to himself that he was worrying too much, and Mitsui made a promise to him that he wouldn't do anything that might bring worry and fear to the brown-eyed guy, but that promise seemed very distant at the moment. Considering his lover's former reputation as a gangster and a troublemaker… He quickly erased those negative thoughts from his mind and tried to calm himself down. /Kiminobu no baka!!! I should trust Sashi more, especially in this kind of situation…/ Kogure reprimanded himself.
"Gomen nasai…demo, I have not seen him nor heard from him. Doshite, sempai?"
Kogure sighed dejectedly. "Sou ka…a-ano..na..nandemonai…we just uhm…talked about something and he was supposed to call me…but didn't. Thanks anyway, Ayako. See you later at practice."
"Sou desu ne. Ja!" Ayako waved and went to her own way.
He walked and stopped near the gates for the hope of catching his lover. He stood there for several minutes, but still, there was no Mitsui Hisashi in sight. Kogure sighed again dementedly and just decided to go to his classroom when he heard an utterly familiar voice calling his name out.
"Kogure!! Chotto matte!!"
He turned around and his eyes widened at what he saw. "Na…nani…? Mi..mitsui!!"
"Min-kun…ano…sumimasen…'kasaan told me you called twice last night. Look, I can explain…"
"Hush, Hisashi. Let's go to the library for a while. Classes would start twenty minutes from now…so we still have some time." Kogure said softly. They walked together and headed to the library in atypical silence. Mitsui practiced in his head his little 'speech' to his Min-kun and Kogure observed his lover at the corner of his eyes. He saw that Mitsui didn't sleep either and his school uniform was rutted when it was usually neat and clean. His hair was a big mess when it was always gelled and combed back. But those things, the vice-captain told himself, were not that important. What was essential was that, his lover is here, beside him, sound and safe. Finally, they reached the library and spotted vacant seats and positioned themselves there.
"So…" Kogure started.
"Look, last night, after practice, I was supposed to go straight home, but I saw the redhead monkey on my way and walked with him. You see…we erm…had a little talk, too. You know…kind of the way you talked with—" Mitsui suddenly stopped. He remembered the battered and bruised face of Rukawa and the way Sakuragi reacted. /K'so. How am I gonna tell him 'bout what happened to Rukawa?/
"You mean…the kind of way I talked to Rukawa?"
"Uhh…yeah." /K'so. How am I gonna tell him? Should I tell him now, or later, when Miyagi and I will reveal to the whole team what occurred last night?/
"Sou ka…Hisashi, I now understand. Never thought you could talk 'properly' to him." Kogure teased.
"Min-kun…I have something to tell you. It would surely affect the team's performance, especially now that the Inter High is coming…look…after I talked with the baka redhead…" Mitsui started. He hoped to spill it out to his lover in the best way possible, but he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. "I know what you're going to say, Hisashi…" Mitsui looked up at his lover, questioning.
"They broke up, right? But you know what, I'm glad we both heard their point of views. Can you believe Rukawa actually talked last night? Sashi-kun, maybe we could fix things and bring them back together again…" Kogure suggested and his eyes glinted a little.
"Demo Min-kun, it's not that easy…okay, that was part of the reason I wasn't home early last night. Besides talking with Sakuragi…"
"S-sashi-kun? Are you hiding something?"
"Kiminobu... last night, while on my way home, I met Miyagi on the streets and we saw Rukawa. Lying in a pool of blood. His own blood."
~*~
Since the second subject for the day started, Miyagi's head was rested in his desk and was obviously dozing off into some world of his own. After what happened last night, he couldn't shut his eye off and the words Mitsui spilled to him and the way Sakuragi looked at Rukawa and the 'surprising' gesture filled his entire mind. He stared at the ceiling in his room and for once, the image of Ayako's laughing and smiling face didn't come in.
~*snores*~ ~*snores*~ ~*drool*~
"Ahem!!! Going back, the cell's energy source is a molecule called adenosine triphosphate or commonly known as ATP. Much of the ATP is synthesized in the mitochondria, although it is also made in the other parts of the cell. Adenosine is composed of a molecule of adenine bonded to ribose, a 5-carboon sugar…" As the Biology teacher continued to lecture, Miyagi continued to snore and drool as well. Ayako noticed this and was quite worried on what she saw. Miyagi slept often during the afternoon or after recess and would only sleep early in the morning whenever
there was a tiring basketball match the day before.
/Did something happen last night? Ryota…/
~*~
/Oh. My. God. Rukawa, stabbed? Twice?? By gangsters? In the middle of the night… what the heck?! I hope he's doing okay… yesterday, he was just fine, shooting baskets, passing balls, talking to me…walking…and now? He's on the hospital, lying on a hospital bed with a bruised and battered body?? How can this be…/
When Mitsui relayed to Kogure what happened the night before, his mind almost went blank. He couldn't believe that such cruel thing happened to the Super Rookie. His mind wandered off and didn't hear the teacher calling his name.
"Pssst, Kogure… Kogure!!" Akagi whispered from the back.
"….Eh…? Na…nani yo, Akagi?"
"Sensei's calling you!"
Kogure faced front and said, "A-ano, gomen ne sensei…"
/What the hell's going on? Kogure Kiminobu, not paying attention?! This must be a joke!/ The captain wondered.
~*~
The day passed quickly and it was once again time for basketball training. Basketball members started doing their warm-ups and some were changing attires. Everyone was there, including the Sakuragi Gundan1, Anzai-sensei and Akagi Haruko. But to everybody's surprise—except for Mitsui, Miyagi and Kogure—two most gritty persons were missing: Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Youhei, have you seen Hanamichi around? I mean, he's not the type of guy who would miss practice and…time with us. We haven't seen him all day long. I wonder what happened…" Takamiya observed.
"If this concerns about what happened yesterday…" Noma added.
"Chotto matte…I haven't seen Rukawa too!!! Ice King, absent in practice?! Cows must be flying!!"
Youhei thought for a while. "You know what, guys, something's strange. Earlier this morning, Sakuragi's 'kasaan called me if I saw his son or if his son's at my house. I told her 'no'. She told me that when she went to Hana's room, the phone was left hanging in the air and there was no Hana. Her mother feared that Hanamichi was in trouble or something like that. And she added that Hanamichi didn't come home last night. The panic in her voice was obvious you know…" Youhei narrated. /Hana, where are you? Is this related to what happened yesterday? Don't make us worry like this!! And Rukawa too!! Doshitano?!/
"I hope everything's fine. Rukawa-kun and Sakuragi-kun's should be here any momen from now…they would not miss practice, ne?" Haruko wondered out loud.
"Minna!! Gather here!!" Akagi ordered. Everyone ran to where the captain was standing and formed a semi-circle.
"Akagi…Mitsui, Miyagi and I are going to announce something very important…and devastating." Kogure said, almost timidly. "And I think…Sakuragi's friends ought to know this too." The rest of the Gundan came to where the team was gathered with no question. They were earnest to know what was occurring.
"Mitsui and Miyagi…I guess, you two should be the ones to tell them what happened last night." The vice-captain lowered his head and several voices were suddenly heard.
"Last night?"
"Maybe that's why Ryota was dozing off almost the whole day…"
"A…Aya-chan…"
"What the hell..?!"
"Urusai!!!" Everyone was silent.
Mitsui coughed and started, "While I was walking on my way home…I smelled blood. I was curious and I searched where that smell of blood came from." He paused and continued, "After I walked for several minutes, I saw Miyagi at the corner and also saw the source of the stinky blood..and…" Mitsui closed his eyes for a while. Kogure patted his back as a sign of support and encouragement. He looked up and smiled a little. "I—we saw a very familiar figure lying on the road….lying in his own pool of blood."
Everyone gasped and his and her eyes widened.
"Don't tell me…" Ayako whispered.
"We saw Rukawa Kaede lying in his own pool of blood and rushed him to the hospital." Miyagi finished. His voice was hoarse and was barely above a whisper. Both guards held their eyes downcast and their shoulders were slumped.
For a minute, no one dared to speak. Everything was an utter shock the team; some of the members' mouths opened, but no words came out.
"Haruko!!" Akagi suddenly screamed and everyone was zapped back to reality. They turned their heads to where the captain's sister was lying.
"She..she fainted. Considering Rukawa's her…" Ayako spoke softly.
"I'm going to take her to the clinic first. I guess she couldn't handle it… Kogure, take charge. " With that, Akagi carried his sister towards the school clinic and stillness once again penetrated the air.
After a dew moments, Youhei regained some senses and asked, "Wha…what about Sakuragi?"
"I…I called him to supposedly inform Rukawa's family…but he said…the Rookie's family…is…" /K'so! How am I suppose to tell them that the boy has no family at all?/
"Rukawa's family is away. There was no one who could…stay with him…so…Sakuragi came instead…" Miyagi finished.
"Sou…na…nani?! W..why Sakuragi?" Ayako asked.
"'Coz Sakuragi's—" Takamiya started.
"Uhh…Sakuragi lived near Rukawa…so…" /That was close!! Never thought this Gundan had big mouths…/ Mitsui silently said.
"You..you mean to say that Hanamichi was there to watch over Rukawa's condition, ne?" Youhei confirmed.
"Hai."
"Sakuragi Hanamichi…" Ayako said out loud.
"Doshite, Aya-chan?"
"I know this isn't the right time to think of this…but, isn't it weird? I mean, they hated each other's guts, and now.."
"Sakuragi couldn't hate Rukawa that much, Ayako-san. He still cared and cares for Rukawa deep inside even though he never showed it to us…" Kogure explained. /Not to mention they're former lovers…/
"Why don't we cancel this practice today and pay Rukawa-kun a visit. He needs our support. And we might as well know how is Sakuragi-kun there. I'm pretty sure he's tired. He could use some company from us." Anzai-sensei finally suggested.
"Anzai-sensei…"
"Tha…that's great. Yasuda, go to the clinic and inform Akagi about this."
"Hai, Kogure-sempai."
"Everyone is going, ne?" Mitsui asked.
"Hai!!"
"It's settled then. Oho ho ho ho ho ho ho…"
~*~
Sakuragi was tired. No, tired was an understatement by the look in his face and figure. He was totally drained. After Miyagi, Mitsui and the doctors left last night, he watched very carefully his lover's breathing and whispered words of comfort and love to his ear. He knew it was totally ridiculous to watch every motion of Rukawa's lungs, but he had to be certain and make sure. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his Kitsune once more. One was enough. Then, when he was about to sleep, nurses came by to check Rukawa's temperature and blood pressure. After a few hours, another nurse entered and injected medicine on the dextrose tube. Then it became a routine. Once Sakuragi closed his eyes, the door opened and nurses rushed in and the occasional moaning from his lover was clearly enough to keep him awake. But never did Rukawa's eyes opened. It remained closed all the time and those made Sakuragi worry more and slumber then felt very far away.
Earlier this morning, he couldn't take it anymore and called the doctors through the phone on the bedside. When some paramedics came in, he demanded why his lover wasn't waking up and insisted for an explanation. The doctors told him that Rukawa had a slight concussion in his head, due to a fall and was expected to wake up some time this afternoon. "First, two damn stabs, then loss of blood, then a fucking fracture, and now?! Concussion?! What the hell's wrong with him?!? Tell me all of it now!! Gangsters beat me before but never this bad! What is exactly wrong with him?!" He shouted. The doctors calmed him down for a while a explained it to him. There were tears in his eyes and all he wanted at the moment was to speak to his Kitsune and hold him endlessly. Since that incident this morning, nurses who entered the room walked and checked Rukawa with caution and gentleness, never wanting another outburst from a desperate redhead.
Sakuragi looked at his watch and sighed. /It's now time for practice. Wonder what Youhei and the others are doing. Is the team looking for us? Hope Micchy and Ryochin somehow cleared damned things to Gori and the others…/ Then, out of the blue, he remembered something he forgot to do this morning.
/Shimatta!!! I forgot to call 'kasaan!!! I'd be damned now!!! She's surely dead worried 'bout the tensai!! K'so! Gotta call her…/ Sakuragi then reached the phone and dialed the number in their house.
~*Ring*~ ~*Ring*~ ~*Ring*~
"M…moshi moshi?" The trembling voice answered.
"Ka-kasaan? Ano…it's me, Hana—"
"Oh!!! My, Hanamichi!! Where have you been?!?! Don't you know how worried I was?? I called Youhei and some of your friends but they did not know where you were!!"
"Ano…gomen ne…you see…I was with a close…erm…friend and he really needed my help so—"
"What's his number!! You should give it to me so that next time—"
"'Kasaan…he's in the hospital right now. He's…sick. His family's not…available so…I have no choice but to look after him.."
"Hospital?! What if you get infected by those..viruses?! What hospital is that? Tell me so I can come and see you."
"Iie…no need, 'kasaan. I'm perfectly fine. Remember that your son's a tensai? Nyahaha…really, 'kasaan. I'm fine. I'll be back by midnight. Promise. And I'll call you."
"Demo. Hana…"
"Daijobou. Ne, I have to go now…gomen ne."
"*sigh* Wakatta ne, Hanamichi. Just call, okay? I'll wait for you. And hope you're friend's going to be fine. Dai suki."
"Aa. Dai suki, 'kasaan. Ja mata."
"Ja.."
After that, he put the phone down and sighed once more. He looked at his lover and smiled sadly. /I miss you so much, Kaede. hope you wake up soon. Don't make the tensai wait more./ He then went near the bed and kissed Rukawa's forehead softly and gently. Sakuragi then decided to go to the bathroom and looked at himself. /I look like shit. Not to mention the tensai smells like shit…I really should go home….but who would look after Kits—/ His thoughts were interrupted when he heard several knocks on the door. /Damn those doctors./ He went out of the bathroom and headed towards the door. But as he opened it, he was shocked at what he saw. The whole Shohoku Team standing in front of him, with eyes held downcast.
"G-gori? Micchy? Ryochin? Oyaji? Ayako-san? Yasu? Me-megane-kun? Y..Youhei?" "Hn, Baka! Are you just going to let us stand here or what?" Akagi questioned.
"Gori!!! The tensai's not that evil!! Of course, come in!!!"
"Hn, I'll let that go for now." The captain muttered. Sakuragi signaled for them to come in and the whole team walked to where the small forward member was sleeping. They gasped at what they saw and pity, sympathy and apprehension flashed through their eyes. The redhead looked each one of them intently and a sudden rush of love for his team and gratitude filled his heart. He knew they would be there and share feelings with each other when dark times conquer them. And he was thankful for that. He knew he had friends whom he could count on and friends who knew how and what to feel during moments like this. /If you could see their faces, Kaede, you'll believe me when I told you are not and never alone. See them? They worry about you…/
The bespectacled boy glanced back at him and asked, "How is he? Has he woken up yet?" Sakuragi shook his head and replied, "Not yet. But the damn doctors told me he should wake up anytime soon. I guess his head was pretty affected…" Kogure patted his pack gently and said, "Daijobou, Sakuragi-kun. He would be okay. I know about…everything that happened, and I'm sorry. But I know…both of you would survive this, ne?"
"Me…megane-kun…" /Now I know why Micchy loves Megane-kun so much…/
The people in the room were silent for a few minutes, each of them scrutinizing their teammate's condition. Then, after a few moments, the manageress' eyes widened and said excitedly, "Minna!! Look!! His hands are moving!" Everybody focused his eyes on Rukawa's hands and watched in anticipation what would his next movements be. The Rookie's fingers wiggled slightly and his head began to move. His brows knitted a little and his eyelids fluttered and opened, revealing a pair of blue sapphire full of daze and pain. Then the pair of blue gems moved in one corner and blinked. Once. Twice. Then it spotted a very familiar color not very far and stared at it somehow full of longing and grief. Red. Sakuragi Hanamichi's hair. Then another spots of red. Blood, dark red. The Shohoku Team jacket. /Wha…what's going on? Why are they all here? And why are Hana—Sa..Sakuragi's eyes like that?/ He then tried moving the rest of his body but it just wouldn't obey. One single movement caused a tremendous amount of pain that spread to his body. Then, out of nowhere, his mouth opened and with a croaky voice, he blurted out a certain word he shouldn't have said and a word he has no right to say. Ever.
"Hana-kun…?"
~*tbc*~
a/n:: yay!!! Finally!!! I missed reading fics on this site!! Hehe…FFN has gone a lot of trouble this past few months, I must say. I'm just glad it only took them a week or so to fix that problem, unlike last year. Anywayz, there you have it, chapter 8. I seem to be neglecting MitKo for a while and to provide scenes for them this chapter is I think, a nice idea. But don't worry, they will have their own story after this. Just wait for that. Btw, I might not touch this fic for a while, even it this is nearing to its end because school has already started. Not to mention an upcoming quiz on math this coming Monday. (school life really sucks…)
to princess (icee-chan): hey!!! Thanks fore reviewing my ficcie!! I hope na kahit hindi na tayo classmates, the friendship will still be stable and our barkada will stay as it is. Eto na po ung matagal niyo nang inaantay na chapter. Hehe…hope you liked it…now I know you're a MitKo fan. And don't worry; things will lighten up somehow in Miyagi's pov. Tee hee!!! Gud lak sa junior year!! Kaya natin to!!! ^_^
to hehe…pilipino (anonymouos reviewer): as you can see, I'm a female (chescaOtaku) and yes, you can call me mare. And as you asked, I'm from Manila, Phils. Hoped you too liked this chappie. Mind if you give at least your e-mail addy? ^_^
ok, that's it for now. Ja mata ne!! And please review!! They are very very much appreciated. For further comments, feel free to mail me at chesca14316@yahoo.com or at kitsune21@rukawa.zzn.com (tee hee…^_^)
