Chapter 1: BEGINNINGS
It all started out normally – meeting up after basketball practice in their respective schools then heading over to the court in the park for a one-on-one, then the occasional ice cream treat on the way back home.
It never occurred to Kaede that he would lose his best friend at such an early age.
As he stood by the water's edge, the gentle waves caressing his feet and the wind blowing his loose shirt, Kaede smiled to himself as he thought about Akira.
*******
"Oi, Rukawa!"
Kaede turned towards the voice, annoyed at having his practice interrupted.
The perpetrator was none other than Sendou Akira, who was leaning against the doorframe with amusement glinting in his blue eyes.
Kaede regarded him imperiously for a brief moment before turning his back on the Ryonan ace.
Akira walked into the enclosed open-air court and dropped his gym bag as he watched Kaede practice. "Mind if I join you?"
In response, Kaede threw the ball to him, challenging the latter with his eyes to a one-on-one.
One hour later found them both breathing hard, with a tied score of 57-57.
Kaede pulled a towelette from his gym bag and wiped the sweat off his face. He picked up his bag and started to leave, when Akira came up to him, all smiles as usual.
"Ei, Rukawa, let's go out for ice cream. My treat!" he tempted.
Amazingly, Kaede obliged.
The weeks later followed in the same fashion, and somewhere along the way they grew a deep respect for each other, which eventually blossomed into love. Miraculously, Akira had been able to get Kaede to open up (a tremendous change, considering that he was always silent), resulting in him being the closest – only – confidante of the silent Kaede. They shared every secret with each other, and no one this side of Japan knew them like they knew each other.
Well, there was one thing that Akira's best friend (Hiroaki) knew that Kaede had no clue about whatsoever…
Kaede had gone to take a bath while Akira unpacked – he was staying over.
Akira looked around Kaede's room, which was unbelievably tidy for a guy, never mind a teenager. There was nothing new about it to him, since he'd been there a million times, yet he felt as if something was different.
It dawned on him soon enough. I can't breathe.
"Kaede?" he called weakly, in a voice too soft to be heard over the downpour of water inside the bathroom.
He started to feel dizzy, and lied down on Kaede's bed, hoping it would help him. Unfortunately, it only worsened.
This is it. Any minute now, I'll pass into a coma, or die.
Akira had been born with a weak heart that he had unluckily inherited from his father. The knowledge of his malady, though, had done little to suppress his love for basketball, which had further devitalized his already fragile heart. A week before his first game of one-on-one [A/N: starting from this point, "one-on-one" shall hereby be referred to as O3] with Kaede, the doctors had told him to be careful else he might not live to see his eighteenth birthday.
Stubbornly, he refused, and kept on playing the sport.
And now, with this little incident, his health deteriorated even further.
Kaede walked into his room, and found Akira asleep on his bed. Figures. I thought we were supposed to talk until we were both blue in the face.
He started to settle into the cot where Akira was supposed to sleep, when —
Something's wrong.
He bolted upright, and studied Akira closely.
Then he noticed that Akira's chest barely heaved.
A quick check told him that he practically wasn't breathing at all.
In a blind panic, Kaede rushed for the phone and called for an ambulance.
Kaede paced the ER, wondering how Akira was.
One of the doctors came out and spotted him anxiously walking around and around.
"Rukawa…" the doctor faltered.
In a flash, Kaede started talking. "What? Is he okay, how long will he have to stay?"
The doctor held up a hand. "Listen, Rukawa… with all his activity, we knew this was coming…"
If possible, Kaede paled even more. "You knew what was coming?"
The elder man was startled. "Eh?… I presumed he would have told you about his condition."
Kaede's eyes narrowed. "What condition?"
After a threatening glance from Kaede, the doctor hesitantly explained Akira's health condition. "Rukawa… he's been like this for a long time. He wouldn't listen to us and instead chose to keep playing. He's in terminal condition now, Rukawa…"
Not daring to believe, Kaede turned and ran.
He ran into the court where they had played so many games, and collapsed onto the ground, feeling his heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. He felt so lost and lonely – unfortunately, Akira wasn't around to hold him in his arms the way he did so many times.
Who will I run to? In whom will I find solace?
With nowhere else to go, Kaede just sat down and cried.
By the next morning, nearly everyone knew that Sendou Akira was in the hospital.
Since practically no one knew of Kaede's relationship with Akira, majority of the school was surprised to see Rukawa Kaede – famous for sleeping whenever, wherever – actually awake for the entire school day.
And it truly was amazing, considering that he barely slept a wink the previous night. He had been too busy worrying about Akira.
As a result from lack of sleep, he was sluggish during practice. The captain understood how Kaede felt [A/N: the whole team knows the AkiraKaede thingy, 'kay?] and therefore let him off without so much as a reprimand.
Hanamichi, however, wasn't as kind.
"Lousy kitsune! I understand how you feel, but it's not the end of the world!"
Needless to say, a fight ensued.
Kaede stopped, then turned to face Hanamichi. Everyone else backed away; they had never seen hmi this enraged before.
"Do'aho! Do you think you understand? As in really understand?" he yelled, gripping Hanamichi's shoulders.
Hanamichi easily removed Kaede's hands. "I know what you have between the two of you!" he said angrily, his voice rising. [A/N: what, a kid? ::slaps herself::] "You know everything about each other. You trust him over everyone and everything else, and I know he trusts you just as much!"
"Then why didn't he tell me?! Why didn't he tell me that he was dying? Why did I have to hear it from someone else?!!" Kaede felt dangerously close to tears.
Hanamichi's expression softened a bit, and his voice dropped. "You're slow, kitsune. You know why?" he half-whispered. "Because he loves you too much. He doesn't want to see you break down in front of him. He'd rather die a million deaths than hurt you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Silent tears poured down over Kaede's flawless cheeks. "How would you know?"
Hanamichi turned away. "Because…"
Kaede didn't catch what the redhead said afterward.
"I'd be just the same."
~tsuzuku~
Well, whatcha think?
I didn't think that it would take more than one chapter, but an idea (which most HanaRu fans would consider brilliant) struck me – you know, the part where Hana suddenly goes all sentimental and says his last line of dialogue for this chapter… I most certainly did NOT originally want a HanaRu, but I thought, what the hey. It still fits into the plot, and it would "expand my horizons", quote-unquote. I don't think I need to spoil anything, y'all can figure out for yourselves. If not, bully for you. This might take at least 3 chapters, so…
Please review, minna-san!! Be kind, this is my first HanaRu attempt, even if it's just a little insert at the end.
Yah, I'm gonna start the 2nd chapter now…
(Okay… and I'm not even done with chapter4 of "Our Story"…)
Happy RuSen day!!