A thousand eyes peering deep into mine. Unflinching in the intensity of
their gaze, unnerving in their effect.
Freaky. .
I struggle to form coherent sentences in my brain, but the powers of speech fail me and their piercing looks dry the words on my tongue. So I stand like a fool before all of them, nervously shifting from foot to foot.
They continue staring at me. I can feel the sweat gathering at my brow. Damn it Kai, speak to them! Tell them something! Anything!
"Uh." I say weakly.
Brilliant Kai. you managed to say "uh". That was so not what I meant when I said say something.
I think the Rukawa Shinetai has gotten bored of me, because they now totally ignore my presence and go back to bickering with Sakuragi.
"Baka redhead! Mind your own business!" The three leaders of the Shinetai yell, or rather screech.
"Teme!!! How dare you say that to the tensai basketball man!"
"I WASN'T DONE SPEAKING YET!" I yell and shove one of the leaders aside. I wedge myself between Sakuragi and the crazy Rukawa fan girls. It's a tight fit and I can practically feel Sakuragi breathing down on me. I can also smell the lunch he ate and make a mental note to offer him one of my breath mints later.
The girl that I shoved aside shoots me a murderous look. I growl back at her.
"What do you want?" The girl says in a patronizing tone and looks down at me. Yes, she looks down at me. I had to be shorter than her.
"Don't speak to Kai like that!" My favourite redhead defends me and succeeds in angering the Shinetai again.
"Kai? Why are you defending her? Isn't she the slut who stole Rukawa from us?" Keiko spits out her words. The Shinetai chorus their agreement.
"Nani? Haruko and Kitsune are together?" Sakuragi suddenly loses his bravado and starts to tear. He sniffs loudly. One of Haruko's friends hesitantly hands him a tissue. I feel awful watching him cry. Shit, why did he have to like her so much? If I told him the truth, he would just regain hope and continue to chase after her.
And if I tell him the truth, he might just hate me because I'm the cause of this whole mess.
I wrestle with the truth in my mind, and in the end decide to come clean. I really can't stand to see a guy cry.
"No, Keiko. that was a lie. Rukawa never liked Haruko."
"WHAT!!" The girls explode in disbelief. Some are actually crying tears of relief and joy. Some look ready to kill me. Immediately, I'm bombarded with questions and accusations.
"It was a lie?" Some of the girls, who are slower in catching on, ask.
"You lied to me?" Keiko says, outraged.
"So Rukawa doesn't like me?" A tearful Haruko manages.
The questions keep flying in and I struggle to explain the whole mess. They are not really listening to me anyway since half of them are celebrating Rukawa's 'newfound' singlehood. I don't really care about them anyway. There are only two people that I want to focus on and one of them is glaring furiously at me. I don't blame Keiko for being mad at me. She thinks that I lied to her, she doesn't know that the truth is so much more complicated than that.
The other person. I turn my head slightly and hastily sneak a peek at him. The look on his face makes me wish that I hadn't. He looks at me in confusion and speaks to me in a voice thick with emotion.
"Why did you tell them that Rukawa liked Haruko?"
* * *
Meanwhile in the gym.
The tall captain's face grows darker and darker as he watches the scene unfold before him. The baka redhead has his hands on his sister. The Rukawa Shinetai has succeeded in disrupting his team's practice again. They have distracted and taken away one of their starting members.
He puts up with their daily screeching and ridiculous antics. He just wants a little quiet for once. He often gets the opposite, but he still tolerates them.
He's not quite sure he can do that today.
Today they brought their petty catfights to the gym. Today, they picked on his sister.
The shouting increases outside. The girls break into their normal "Love me Rukawa" cheer again while some can still be heard slinging profanities at each other.
"L-O-V-"
"LIAR! SLUT!"
"E! Rukawa!"
A vein pops in the captain's head as he reaches his limit.
"Rukawa!!!!" The captain roars. A raven-haired boy completes his lay up shot. He has been completely oblivious to the commotion outside. "Do something about those girls and get Sakuragi back here!"
"You want me to do something?" Rukawa asks.
"They're your fans aren't they?" The captain says through clenched teeth. The raven-haired boy merely shrugs his shoulders and makes his way to the gym entrance.
* * *
"Why did you lie to us?" Keiko complains. A few of them join her lead and start interrogating me. My mind is whirling as I try to think my way out of the mess I've created. The "We-hate-Haruko" crowd is fast becoming a "We- hate-Kai" crowd. I doubt any one of them would believe the truth. They would probably find it ludicrous that I could mistake their nemesis for their idol.
"Uh. I lied because. because I was jealous and uh."
Somebody save me from this mess. Anyone.
"Oh my gosh! It's him!!" One of the girls shrieks. The whole groups of us turn to look in her direction and see a tall raven-haired boy at the doorway. He grabs Sakuragi by his collar and drags him in. The Rukawa Shinetai suddenly goes ballistic and starts to scream hysterically.
The raven-haired boy blinks at them and then slides the door shut.
"Nani? Rukawa-kun!! Don't shut the door! We love you!!" The girls cry and hammer at the door. They try to open it but their efforts are in vain. Some of them wail at the fact that their idol has locked them out, others try cheering louder in hopes that he'll open the door again.
And myself? I just stare at the door and think a very silly thought.
'So that's Rukawa.'
* * *
It's close to 8.30pm and I'm hiding out in the school's reading room. Most of the Rukawa Shinetai have already left school, utterly dejected by the fact that their idol locked them out. I'm still hiding just in case some of them change their mind and come after me.
I discern that the coast is clear and decide to leave now. I hurry over to the school gate. It is locked. I throw my school bag over to the other side and start to climb.
"Need a hand?" Someone says and gives me a boost over the gate. I land awkwardly on the other side. I dust myself quickly and look up to thank my helper. Even in the dim light his red hair stands out.
He deftly climbs over the gate and lands beside me.
"How did you know I would still be around?"
"I figured that you might leave school later since there are so many crazy fan girls out for your blood. So I waited for you. You might need a bodyguard to protect you on your way back" "You might endanger my life instead, you're not very popular with them either." I say and smile. He takes my bag and we make our way back home together. The whole thing is so surreal.
"So why did you tell them Rukawa likes Haruko?"
Damn. I knew that had to be a catch to all this.
A/N: guys thanks for all your reviews!! They really kept me going. You can't imagine how much encouragement I draw from your reviews. I know this chapter was a little long and had a lot of dialogue in it. I'm sorry if it was tedious to read and all. I know I said I would finish this in 5 chapters but my ending is way too long so I need one more chapter to finish this fic. This story should be over by the next chapter. Thanks again for your support
Freaky. .
I struggle to form coherent sentences in my brain, but the powers of speech fail me and their piercing looks dry the words on my tongue. So I stand like a fool before all of them, nervously shifting from foot to foot.
They continue staring at me. I can feel the sweat gathering at my brow. Damn it Kai, speak to them! Tell them something! Anything!
"Uh." I say weakly.
Brilliant Kai. you managed to say "uh". That was so not what I meant when I said say something.
I think the Rukawa Shinetai has gotten bored of me, because they now totally ignore my presence and go back to bickering with Sakuragi.
"Baka redhead! Mind your own business!" The three leaders of the Shinetai yell, or rather screech.
"Teme!!! How dare you say that to the tensai basketball man!"
"I WASN'T DONE SPEAKING YET!" I yell and shove one of the leaders aside. I wedge myself between Sakuragi and the crazy Rukawa fan girls. It's a tight fit and I can practically feel Sakuragi breathing down on me. I can also smell the lunch he ate and make a mental note to offer him one of my breath mints later.
The girl that I shoved aside shoots me a murderous look. I growl back at her.
"What do you want?" The girl says in a patronizing tone and looks down at me. Yes, she looks down at me. I had to be shorter than her.
"Don't speak to Kai like that!" My favourite redhead defends me and succeeds in angering the Shinetai again.
"Kai? Why are you defending her? Isn't she the slut who stole Rukawa from us?" Keiko spits out her words. The Shinetai chorus their agreement.
"Nani? Haruko and Kitsune are together?" Sakuragi suddenly loses his bravado and starts to tear. He sniffs loudly. One of Haruko's friends hesitantly hands him a tissue. I feel awful watching him cry. Shit, why did he have to like her so much? If I told him the truth, he would just regain hope and continue to chase after her.
And if I tell him the truth, he might just hate me because I'm the cause of this whole mess.
I wrestle with the truth in my mind, and in the end decide to come clean. I really can't stand to see a guy cry.
"No, Keiko. that was a lie. Rukawa never liked Haruko."
"WHAT!!" The girls explode in disbelief. Some are actually crying tears of relief and joy. Some look ready to kill me. Immediately, I'm bombarded with questions and accusations.
"It was a lie?" Some of the girls, who are slower in catching on, ask.
"You lied to me?" Keiko says, outraged.
"So Rukawa doesn't like me?" A tearful Haruko manages.
The questions keep flying in and I struggle to explain the whole mess. They are not really listening to me anyway since half of them are celebrating Rukawa's 'newfound' singlehood. I don't really care about them anyway. There are only two people that I want to focus on and one of them is glaring furiously at me. I don't blame Keiko for being mad at me. She thinks that I lied to her, she doesn't know that the truth is so much more complicated than that.
The other person. I turn my head slightly and hastily sneak a peek at him. The look on his face makes me wish that I hadn't. He looks at me in confusion and speaks to me in a voice thick with emotion.
"Why did you tell them that Rukawa liked Haruko?"
* * *
Meanwhile in the gym.
The tall captain's face grows darker and darker as he watches the scene unfold before him. The baka redhead has his hands on his sister. The Rukawa Shinetai has succeeded in disrupting his team's practice again. They have distracted and taken away one of their starting members.
He puts up with their daily screeching and ridiculous antics. He just wants a little quiet for once. He often gets the opposite, but he still tolerates them.
He's not quite sure he can do that today.
Today they brought their petty catfights to the gym. Today, they picked on his sister.
The shouting increases outside. The girls break into their normal "Love me Rukawa" cheer again while some can still be heard slinging profanities at each other.
"L-O-V-"
"LIAR! SLUT!"
"E! Rukawa!"
A vein pops in the captain's head as he reaches his limit.
"Rukawa!!!!" The captain roars. A raven-haired boy completes his lay up shot. He has been completely oblivious to the commotion outside. "Do something about those girls and get Sakuragi back here!"
"You want me to do something?" Rukawa asks.
"They're your fans aren't they?" The captain says through clenched teeth. The raven-haired boy merely shrugs his shoulders and makes his way to the gym entrance.
* * *
"Why did you lie to us?" Keiko complains. A few of them join her lead and start interrogating me. My mind is whirling as I try to think my way out of the mess I've created. The "We-hate-Haruko" crowd is fast becoming a "We- hate-Kai" crowd. I doubt any one of them would believe the truth. They would probably find it ludicrous that I could mistake their nemesis for their idol.
"Uh. I lied because. because I was jealous and uh."
Somebody save me from this mess. Anyone.
"Oh my gosh! It's him!!" One of the girls shrieks. The whole groups of us turn to look in her direction and see a tall raven-haired boy at the doorway. He grabs Sakuragi by his collar and drags him in. The Rukawa Shinetai suddenly goes ballistic and starts to scream hysterically.
The raven-haired boy blinks at them and then slides the door shut.
"Nani? Rukawa-kun!! Don't shut the door! We love you!!" The girls cry and hammer at the door. They try to open it but their efforts are in vain. Some of them wail at the fact that their idol has locked them out, others try cheering louder in hopes that he'll open the door again.
And myself? I just stare at the door and think a very silly thought.
'So that's Rukawa.'
* * *
It's close to 8.30pm and I'm hiding out in the school's reading room. Most of the Rukawa Shinetai have already left school, utterly dejected by the fact that their idol locked them out. I'm still hiding just in case some of them change their mind and come after me.
I discern that the coast is clear and decide to leave now. I hurry over to the school gate. It is locked. I throw my school bag over to the other side and start to climb.
"Need a hand?" Someone says and gives me a boost over the gate. I land awkwardly on the other side. I dust myself quickly and look up to thank my helper. Even in the dim light his red hair stands out.
He deftly climbs over the gate and lands beside me.
"How did you know I would still be around?"
"I figured that you might leave school later since there are so many crazy fan girls out for your blood. So I waited for you. You might need a bodyguard to protect you on your way back" "You might endanger my life instead, you're not very popular with them either." I say and smile. He takes my bag and we make our way back home together. The whole thing is so surreal.
"So why did you tell them Rukawa likes Haruko?"
Damn. I knew that had to be a catch to all this.
A/N: guys thanks for all your reviews!! They really kept me going. You can't imagine how much encouragement I draw from your reviews. I know this chapter was a little long and had a lot of dialogue in it. I'm sorry if it was tedious to read and all. I know I said I would finish this in 5 chapters but my ending is way too long so I need one more chapter to finish this fic. This story should be over by the next chapter. Thanks again for your support