DISCLAIMERS: I DO NOT OWN SLAMDUNK.

WARNING: Unbelievable OOCness of Rukawa Kaede . . . promise . . .
ONE WISH

Chapter Four

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The speed boat stopped floating on the water a few meters away from the boat. It was upside-down. Naya nervously searched for the man who jumped into the water and saw him treading on water while staring at the speed boat.

"Oh, God, Rufus! We crashed on the speed boat!" she screamed though not very much doubted it. The speed boat was the one came crashing into them.

The dog barked and together they put their both feet on the side of the boat to take a look at the man, and because it was partly broken, it lost the balance and the boat were suddenly moved on the side. Naya screamed and quickly took hold on Rufus' collar as they moved on the center to balance the boat.

Naya saw the man swam towards them. She made a sign telling the man to go to the other side of the boat, and followed to where her hands were pointing. He held a grip on the side of the boat, and when Naya came closer she held out her hand to his to help him get up.

And she had a feeling all her nerves are going to tear up any minute as she pulled him up. The man weighs a ton

"A-are you hurt?" the first words came to her mouth the moment the man was on the boat, sitting on the floor breathlessly.

"I'm . . . okay," the man answered, his chest rising up and down. He combed his wet hair by his hands from his face and looked up at her. "And you? Are you hurt?"

"Not really-" Naya stopped in midsentence; the words she was supposed to say suddenly flew out of her mind. And she literally stopped breathing when she took a closer look on the man.

The speed boat really came crashing to them and she died and what she's seeing now was an angel!

Oh, yes, in the bible she knew that angels were men, not women contrary to what everyone was made to believe. Handsome and perfect.

He must be one of them!

But how could she have died when the boat she was in was three times bigger than the speed boat?

Oh, well, she was alive and the man in front of her was not an angel, or could it be that he was a son of Neptune who just popped out of the water?

"Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Rukawa asked her again, his brows knitting at the gaping girl.

"Hrmp . . . "she cleared her throat, smiled a little and quickly answered. "Of course, we are alright, me and my dog!"

She had briefly thought that the man was a foreigner, tourist maybe. But he knows how to speak Japanese. Her eyes began to travel all over his body. He was wearing a printed shirt that was opened up to the last button and was plastered on his lean chest because it was wet, and a white shorts, exposing muscled thighs and legs.

And wherever she got the thought that she wanted to know how the man would look like in bikini swimming trunks, she has no idea at all. And the thought made her blush.

Rukawa shook his head irritatingly. More or less he could guess what the girl was thinking. "Stop looking at me as thought you have never seen a man before!"

"You don't have to be rude," she reprimanded gently, rolling her eyes. "I am very sure that you were the one who came crashing to my boat . . ." He didn't answer but the frown remained in his face. And the girl was right. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean the speed boat suddenly went out of control. Break or Transmission? He doesn't have an idea. But he was sure he will fire the one maintaining the speed boat. If the girl wasn't able to avoid the him, the accident could have been fatal.

He turned his gaze at the dog beside the girl, looking at him as well. "This dog is yours?"

"A pure breed German Shepherd. The name's Rufus."

He shook his head, by the way the girl introduced the dog he wouldn't be surprised if it raise its foot and shook it with him.

"I guess you're right," he said at last, sighing. "I was the one who lost control over the speed boat. I almost killed myself . . . and the two of you. It's a good thing you were able to avoid the speed boat and the only damaged that was made was at the far end of the boat."

"It's also partly my fault, I left the steering wheel and that we sailed slowly. Rufus tried to-" the calling card! She simply roamed her eyes at the boat.

She groaned inwardly. She lost the calling card. It must have fallen out of the water. She glared at her dog mutinously, while Rufus mad a sound and went towards Rukawa and snuggled in his legs.

Thought he didn't get to understand the sudden sharp look the girl was giving the dog, still he patted Rufus in the head. The dog, in return, licked the man's legs.

Traitor! Naya wanted to shout at the dog. Even dogs know how to recognize good-looking men.

"He likes me," he commented.

"Of course. Rufus is a she," she said. And she could have kicked herself but the words already flew from her mouth and couldn't take that back.

"Oh." He cocked an eyebrow at the "of course" she said and read her meaning between the lines. Somehow, he was amused.

He eyed the whole boat, and with a deep frown on his forehead, he turned his gaze back to Naya, his eyes went up and down at her lithe profile. He couldn't believe that a girl like her could control the ship alone.

"Are you sure you don't have any other companion besides that dog? Why, you're too slim to drive a big boat like this . . ."

She smiled cheekily. "No sweat. I was still young then when my grandfather has taught me how to operate this thing. And I've been using this boat since high school."

Rukawa nodded doubtingly, running his eyes on her one more time before walking towards the end of the boat and looked at the speed boat.

He shook his head and tisked. Damn. He was sure he wouldn't be able to operate the speed boat for the moment.

Naya swallowed as her eyes followed the man. His shirt was now dry because of the strong wind blowing. The man was tall and rugged. His black hair being blown by the wind wasn't just black. It was raven black, thick and luxurious, long past his collar. And a when she had a look on him a while ago she noticed his eyes. They were deep blue, bluer than the oceans.

His features were strong . . . arresting. He had a firm and almost square chin, broad cheekbones; sensual mouth; and high and defined brow. And though attractive; his face was hard, too individual for easy labels.

Irritated with himself, Rukawa turned around at Naya, who was quite stunned because she was just inches from him. Even Rukawa didn't even notice that the girl was already behind his back. He avoided and walked past her towards the other end of the boat.

"The damage is not a big deal, so let's get started. I'll just pay for the damages when I reached-"

"No, thanks," she said quickly while following him. She hasn't recovered from her admiration towards the man, which she made foolishly obvious. "There are lots of bamboo trees in our place; I'll just drop you to where you're going."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well . . . thank you. I'll drive this . . . this boat"

"You don't drive a boat, you sail . . ." she said softly, with a tentative grin on her lips.

Rukawa was stopped on his tracks for a moment and stared at her once more. She was very young . . . and noticed for the first time that she was pretty! A honeyed skin, exotically so that for a while, her coloring reminded him of his cousin, Nayumi. Her hair was done in French braid, and a few strays were being blown by the wind.

And on the peal pusher she was wearing, Rukawa noticed her great legs. She must be on her late teens.

He couldn't help amusing, both the way she looked at him with starlight eyes and at her answer. In a way, she was correct. You don't drive a boat.

"Let's set sail then . . ." he went towards the steering wheel and turning the engine on, even without Naya's permission. But the engine sounded groggy.

"W-what's wrong? Why won't the engine work?" it was Naya, who was inching closer.

"Damn if I know!" he muttered angrily.

He turned the engine on again, and the sound was still the same; like an old man with tuberculosis. At the same time he was still wondering how that woman managed to operate a boat which the engine was almost ancient, and the steering wheel was sure hard to turn.

He bent down and opened the gasoline tank, and then he looked around. At the side he saw a long stick, grabbed it and put it inside the tank only to take it out again.

"Aw, shit!"

Naya winced at his swear words.

He held the stick in front of her, showing the part that was wet by the gasoline was only little. "You're out of gas!" Naya groaned in frustration. So that's why the boat was moving slower than usual. The gasoline her aunt Ritsuko bought was already empty, and from her eagerness to avoid Sendoh, she quickly rushed towards the harbor.

"W-what will we do now?" she roamed her eyes around. She can see a few boats from afar but she was sure that if she used a megaphone- that is if they actually had one-it's a miracle if someone could them that far.

"We can't swim from here towards the harbor," she added.

"I have no intentions of swimming that far even if I could!" he snapped at her. "How could you sail with your tank empty?"

"I-I forgot."

"You forgot!" he snarled at her, as if she was a child and had no brains. "Lady, don't forget things like that. If you are driving in land, I could forgive you, because we could easily find a solution to that. But for Pete's sake, we are-" he emphasized the words with deep meaning "-in the middle of the ocean!"

Naya hated the thought that Pontius Pilate was lecturing her, even though he was handsome. She couldn't remember the time her father had lectured her, maybe when she was young.

But this stranger was right, she shouldn't forget things like that. She wanted to snap back but she controlled herself.

"There's no need for you to waste your voice snarling at me . . ." she said calmly.

"And what do you want me to do about this? You didn't even have the sense of a cockroach to refill your tank! And here we are, stranded in the ocean!"

"Okay, mister, so I forgot my gas. But your speed boat was broken. In any ways, we are destined to be stranded in my boat. But my only consolation was . . ." she cocked her head and smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. "I have you as a company . . ." she looked at Rufus, whose eyes were staring at both of them. "Though I don't need one . . ."

"Really?" his voice filled with sarcasm. "And how do you think you can get to land? Swim?"

She shrugged her shoulders and turned to look at the pier. It was far . . . too far but not impossible. "There's an idea. I'm a good swimmer anyway . . ." she declared proudly.

Rukawa shook his head in disgust, his chest heaving with anger. To whom he didn't know. To himself because his speed boat was broken and he almost killed himself and someone, or to this crazy girl who sailed without gasoline and was alone, besides the useless dog.

But then she was correct again. At least, they were together. He needed her boat and she needed him as a company. And he admitted to himself that his company wasn't necessary . . . but she needed him nevertheless.

"So what shall we do now?" she asked gaily, as if asking the man what to drink.

"They'll send a search party," she answered with a sigh, trying to take the anger away and turned at the ocean and faced his broken speed boat. He was sure that Akagi, his man-Friday, will send a search party if he doesn't get back at sunset.

Naya quietly sat on the floor of the boat, hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Her Aunt Ritsuko will not look for her because she knows where she's going. Her father will wait for her for about one or two hours and if he gets impatient and thinks she might have forgotten to fetch him, he'll probably ride a ferry boat.

How she wished the search party will look for the man so that she, too, can go home. She doesn't really mind being stranded with this man, who didn't even bothered to introduce himself, but what worries her the most was the thought of how worried her father and Aunt would be if she can't get out of this place as soon as possible.

She turned to look at him. Rukawa's back was facing her and he was looking at the ocean. She sighed with admiration. Even his back was a marvel to look at. How unfair that some men could be this attractive . . . and unreachable. She was sure there are not only few women who are trying to get his attention.

She turned to gaze at the sky. If she would only be given a wish . . . just one wish. Then . . . she sighed again.

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And that's chapter four . . . Thank you so much, mskitsune and teh tarik . . . Mitchy, better do it asap . . .