Dilemma - Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters do not, in any way, belong to me.

Duh…. Kinda slow-moving but do try to enjoy ne? Both constructive reviews and flames are welcome. ^^

On with the story! Oh yeah, when I was writing the fic, the song 'Unbreakable' by Westlife kept replaying in my mind. I thought the song fits senru perfectly! ^^

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Wiping away the droplets of sweat from his face, Rukawa looked towards the empty driveway and narrowed his eyes.

//Baka.//

He had been playing alone at the usual basketball court since an hour ago but had yet to see the spiky-haired boy anywhere. Turning his attention back to his own game, Rukawa bounced his ball once…twice….and in a blink of an eye, he was gone from his previous spot. Charging towards the net at full speed, he did a 360 degree turn around an imaginary opponent before he jumped high into the air and did a powerful two-handed dunk.

Landing gracefully onto the ground, Rukawa ran his hand through his sweat-doused hair in an attempt to get them out of his eyes before he bent down to pick up his ball.

Dribbling his ball as he walked away from the net, Rukawa paused at the 3-point line and turned to face the net again. Just as this moment, he heard the sound of a car pulling up. Smiling slightly, he let go of the ball in his hands and watched it sailed smoothly into the air before it landed into the net without touching the rims.

Running footsteps were heard, followed by a familiar voice.

"Great shot!"

Not turning back, Rukawa started walking towards his bouncing leather ball which had just landed on the ground.

Seeing that the younger boy had no intention of acknowledging his presence, Sendoh with a wince in his voice, apologized "Gomen-ne. I don't mean to be late."

Rukawa turned and shot Sendoh a half-hearted glare as he walked towards him. He stopped a few feet away from the spiky-haired boy and threw the ball into his chest before replying sarcastically "What's new?"

Holding the ball in one hand, Sendoh rubbed his chest with the other and grinned. He knew that this was Rukawa's way of accepting his apology.

"Aren't you going to ask me the reason why I'm late?"

The younger boy just shrugged his shoulders lightly and made his way towards the sidelines to get a drink from his bottle. Knowing Sendoh, it couldn't be anything important. Besides, he did not have to ask, the older boy would tell him out of his own accord, he always did.

As expected, Sendoh followed him to the sidelines and said "Remember the soccer captain I mentioned to you before? Well, I saw him harassing this really pretty girl and I decided to save her from him. You should have been there to see his face when I embarrassed him by not knowing his existence." Sendoh sniggered as he recalled the look on the soccer captain's face.

"Oh…and I should really introduce the girl to you some day. She might be your long-lost sister for all you know. She really reminds me of you, the same aloofness and coldness. But then she is not as cold an ice to break as you, I had lunch with her and managed to get her to converse with me."

The last bit of sentence caught Rukawa's attention. He was slightly taken aback that Sendoh would lunch with a girl. As far as he knew, Sendoh never hanged around with girls, even though he was termed as a Lady's man.

Dismissing his thoughts, Rukawa stood up and grabbed the ball from Sendoh and proceeded back to the court.

"First to 21 points win." Rukawa challenged the older boy to their usual game as he spun the leather ball with his index finger.

Sendoh grinned. "This will be an easy game. You had ready used up part of your energy before I came while I'm still fresh." One look at the sweat-soaked t-shirt of the younger boy was enough proof to know that he had been practicing for a rather long time.

Sendoh's near impudence earned him a snarl from the usually calm and collected boy.

"Over my dead body." Rukawa scowled. His usual expressionless eyes were now burning with fury and indignation at the nerve of the older boy. He was determined to make him eat his words.

Sendoh smiled at the response and made his way into the court. After all, it wasn't everyday that he got to see any kind of expressions on that perfect face other than the usual ice-cold look.

Dribbling the ball low, Rukawa positioned himself to attack while Sendoh put up his defenses.

With a sudden burst of energy and speed, Rukawa charged forward to his right and Sendoh followed closely. Just at this moment, Rukawa suddenly took a step back and bounced the ball to his left……collecting the ball with his left hand, he sped off. The sheer speed and force of that move took Sendoh by surprise and the next thing he knew, Rukawa had done a spectacular dunk.  

Flicking droplets of glistening sweat off his forehead, Rukawa turned to face Sendoh and coolly remarked "That was just a warm up."

Sendoh raised his eyebrows at the obvious taunt, fire burning through his body. "We'll see."

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Dark clouds hovered threateningly over the sky and thunder echoed through the air.

"I won't let you pass me." The pale-raven haired boy panted.

"Oh yeah? I doubt so." As soon as he said that, Sendoh bounced the ball under Rukawa's legs and as quick as lightning, he ran past the younger boy to retrieve the ball.

Lighting flashed across the sky and drops of rain gently pelted the basketball court.

Retrieving the ball, Sendoh sped off towards the net as the rain fell softly onto his skin, with Rukawa closely behind him. Nearing the net, both of them jumped, Sendoh to shoot and Rukawa to block. Determined to get the ball in despite the block, Sendoh switched the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air and arched his left arm under Rukawa. He then gently let go of the ball in a spin for a lay-up. The ball rolled around the rim once….and twice before it went in.

The score was 17-15 in Sendoh's favor.

By this time, the rain was falling heavily.

"Ru….we have to go, the rain's too heavy. Quick, get to my car!" Sendoh exclaimed as he ran to the sidelines to collect their stuff.

Picking up the ball that had just landed onto the ground, Rukawa replied icily as the rain splashed onto his body, "The game's not finished yet." He was clearly unhappy about the earlier shot.

Thunder rolled through the air.

"Nope. We are not going to continue, not in this weather. You will get sick and it's too dangerous." Sendoh said with resolution as he grabbed the younger boy by the arm and pulled him towards his waiting car, unlocking his car using his remote control at the same time.

By the time both of them got into the car, they were totally drenched all over.

"Now what?" Rukawa said in irritation as he looked out the window. The rain was really pouring down and there was no hope of finishing the game, unless they planned to land themselves in hospital, either from broken limbs or pneumonia.

//Stupid rain.//

"Well, let's get back to your house then. You need to change out of this fast, I don't you to fall sick." Sendoh said with concern etched in his face as he steered the car in the direction to Rukawa's house.

"Yare yare, like you won't." Rukawa retorted back and looked out the window again. He wanted to hide the tiny smile that was creeping into his face. Although he was irritated with the current situation; the rain and the fact that the score was in Sendoh's favour, he couldn't help but feel warmth at the concern shown to him by the older boy. It had been a long time since he last remembered anyone caring for him………

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"Thanks. Now get into the bathroom. I will take care of myself." Sendoh took the towel offered to him and pushed a rather reluctant boy towards the bathroom.

Rukawa turned and cast a glance at his bed and then back to the wet boy who was currently pushing him towards the bathroom with the slightest frown on his face.

Both of them were drenched from head to toe and were now in the comfort of Rukawa's bedroom.

Following Rukawa's gaze, Sendoh rolled his eyes and said in an exasperated tone, "Don't worry…I promise not to go anywhere near your bed till I am high and dry, ok?"

Sendoh knew how particular Rukawa was over the cleanliness of his room, especially his bed. He remembered how the younger boy had scowled and kicked him off the bed once when he had made himself comfortable on his bed after a game in all his glorious sweat. Well, that was the first and last time Sendoh ever went near his bed without first cleaning himself up.

Giving the older boy a 'you-had-better-or-I-will-punch-the-daylights-out-of-you' look, Rukawa draped his white towel over his neck before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Sendoh let out a small chuckle at the response and proceeded to dry himself with the towel. His shirt and shorts were totally drenched all over and he quickly slipped out of his shirt, revealing his bare torso, intending to dump them in the laundry basket. His hair was also in a total mess, the rain had managed to dissolve his hair gel. Tousling his hair with the towel, Sendoh flopped himself into Rukawa's study chair and his eyes wandered lazily across the room. He had been in the younger boy's room several times and decided that the décor of the room totally reflected its owner's character; simple and fuss-free.

The room was lightly-furnished. A queen-size oak bed, a matching wardrobe, a long oak study table and a mega framed poster of Michael Jordan were all that adorned the spacious bedroom.

The only interesting thing in the entire room was the contents on the long oak table. A high-quality mini-stereo system stood at one corner, accompanied by stacks and stacks of CDs. Running his fingers down the stacks of CDs, Sendoh decided that the boy had a wide range of music taste. His music collection included Hoobastank, U2, Coldplay, Eminem, Bond and even ballads from boy bands such as Westlife. And despite the fact that Rukawa was not exactly a genius when it comes to school, his school books were arranged neatly in a book stand, according to their heights. A sleek Fujitsu notebook lay on the table, its appearance once again reflecting its owner's stylish taste.

Roaming his eyes further down the table, Sendoh stopped short at a very thick and used hard-covered book. It was the only thing in the entire house that really intrigued him.

It was Rukawa's personal dairy.

When he had first seen the book a couple of months back, he had casually opened the thick book and flipped through the pages. Rukawa had immediately slammed the book shut, not caring at all if Sendoh's fingers were trapped or bruised in the process and had then coldly uttered "That's private."

"Oi, your turn now." A deep familiar voice came from behind and snapped Sendoh out of his reverie.

Turning around, Sendoh saw that Rukawa had just came out of the bathroom in a new pair of shorts and a clean black singlet, accentuating his fair skin while blending in perfectly with his damp raven hair, which he was still drying with his white towel.

"Oh, ok." Sendoh stood up from his the chair and walked towards the bathroom.

Passing by the younger boy on his way to the bathroom, Sendoh carelessly waved his rain and sweat-soaked shirt in front of Rukawa. "Where do I put this?"

The younger boy quickly took a step backwards. "Go away. I have just bathed."

Seeing the mischievous glint in the older boy's eyes, Rukawa instantly regretted his actions. Now he was in for trouble.

"But I have no idea where to dump it." Sendoh feigned innocence as he advanced menacingly towards the younger boy, all the while waving this sweat-soaked shirt dangerously in the air.

Rukawa gave the advancing boy one of his fiercest glares but somehow Sendoh managed to take no notice of it as he continued his menacing advance, either that or he had grew immune to the cold glares often dished out by the younger boy.

With his usual dead-pan face, Rukawa took a step backwards with every step Sendoh took. The last thing he wanted was Sendoh's dirty shirt making contact with any part of his body but he sure had no intent of showing his real emotions.

Sendoh had no intention of doing anything drastic like throwing his shirt in Rukawa's face. As far as he knew, the boy was a hygiene freak and most probably he would sock him in the eye if he ever did anything close to that. But the uneasiness apparent in Rukawa's actions was not something one gets to see everyday or even in a lifetime and he was enjoying every minute of it. Hell, that guy hardly ever got riled by anything.

"Oh, come on… people would love to have a piece of my shirt." Sendoh grinned as he took several more steps towards the glaring boy.

Rukawa back stepped equal steps, each step in tune with Sendoh's till he felt his back came to a meet with the wall. He had unconsciously allowed the older boy to corner him.

"Not me." Rukawa tried his best to say in his usual stoic face. He knew Sendoh was enjoying himself and he definitely was not going to make this anymore enjoyable by showing the unease creeping up in him. He had half a mind to just kick the older boy in the shin.

"I am sure you…" Before Sendoh could finish his sentence, his feet tripped over Rukawa's towel on the floor which had earlier dropped from the younger boy's shoulders.

He lost his balance and fell forward….

The next thing Rukawa knew, he was trapped in between Sendoh's strong arms which were pressed against the wall in an attempt to break his own fall and he had his own hands on Sendoh's bare chest, trying to prevent himself from being squashed.

Both of their faces were mere inches apart and Rukawa could feel the older boy's breaths on his face. Suddenly, he was aware of the feel of Sendoh's well-muscled chest under his palms and how attractive the older boy looked with his hair falling all over his handsome face.

His heartbeat quickened and he blushed slightly, a light crimson shade forming on his fair skin.

"Gomen, are you hurt?" Sendoh asked in urgent concern. He was afraid his sudden fall of weight would sprain the younger boy's hands. However, he made no attempt to shift himself from his position as he remained oblivious to Rukawa's discomfort.

Removing his hands from Sendoh's chest, Rukawa hastily pushed away the older boy's hand and got himself out of the awkward position.

"Yeah. Just go bathe now." With that, Rukawa quickly left the room, leaving a bewildered Sendoh alone in the room.

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TBC