Disclaimer: Rukawa Kaede, the other recognizable characters and the anime Slamdunk belong to its creator Takehiko Inoue. Yui Hiroyuki is my own.

Summary: Rukawa's childhood friend is back in Kanagawa, and he is torn between anger and happiness on her return.

Author's Note: Italicized words means characters' thoughts and capital letters means emphasized words. The -- part means sound effects(ex. --KABOOM!--) or unfinished sentence/thoughts. 3 * means an end of a part of that chapter while 6 * means an end of a chapter. Domo arigatou gozaimasu! to all those who have reviewed my fic! This is the 2nd to the last chapter...how do you find the story so far? Anyway, enjoy! ^_~ v

To Your Heart and Back

Chapter 4: The Letter

"RRRIIINNNGGG!!!" the alarm clock at Rukawa's side table buzzed.

Rukawa stirred on his bed then sleepily reached for the alarm clock and glanced at the time.

6:00 on a Saturday morning.

Hmm...why did he alarmed that damned noisy thing again?

Oh yeah, basketball practice.

He was just about to get up when the noisy object went into snooze alarm mode and kept on beeping again.

@#*?!!! that little demonic machine which came from the heart of an electronics shop!, he thought as he threw the poor clock across the room. It stopped ringing immediately.

There, that's better.

But then, he frowned when he realized that that's the the nth alarm clock he had broken this month.

Oh well, suppose I can drop by the shop and buy another one...

Then destroy it again and the vicious cycle keeps goin on. He might as well learn to live around it. Why does he need an alarm clock anyway...? Oh...he remembers now. That damned thing never fails to wake him up during emergency cases.

Like going to school and basketball practice.

Well, no use brooding on a broken, noisy thing. He'd better dress up so he'll have the basketball court to himself.
***

Rukawa was in their garage untying the cable lock from his bike when he saw her.

Yui.

She was standing on the the lawn of her family's old house, looking at him. She wanted to go talk to him, but hesitated.

Rukawa diverted his eyes from her to his bike.

No use trying to undo what has been done.

Harsh words have been said. It was clear to him that Yui returned not because of him and her promises, but only beacuse her mother died. Hadn't her mother passed away, she wouldn't even think about coming back.

They had nothing more to talk about.

Rukawa left without looking back at Yui once more,

It'll be better if they'll forget everything instead. They were just kids then.
And kids are stupid brats who never keep their words.
All of that, just child talk.

They never meant any of it.
***

I'm leaving this evening. Dad booked me on a flight back to California bound to leave at 8 pm. I'm afraid, this time, I may never come back again. I don't have anything more to come back to, anyway. Mom's dead, and Kae-chan...Kae-chan's angry at me now. You should have seen the way he looked at me this morning. His eyes...they were full of hatred.

Hatred for me.

I have no reason to come back to Kanagawa. That single reason never wants to see me again.

I just hope Kae-chan received my final letter to him. Or at least had bothered to read it.

I was hoping to see him play during the championship games, but I guess that would never happen now. So much for my hopes and dreams of being together with him again.

This time. it's goodbye for good.

It's me, diary,
Yui
***

Why does it always have to rain when I'm practicing basketball?, Rukawa thought as he rushed to the nearest shade to shield himself from the rain.

He had been practicing all day long, stopping only to eat and sleep for a while. The championship games are finally just a few days from now, and he has to practice a lot if he want his team to make it.

I just hope that that red-haired monkey is practicing as much as I am, or he'll ruin everything.
He imagined his mortal enemy, Hanamichi Sakuragi, doing lay-ups and practicing his ass out, but he sighed. That would never happen. The idiot's, well, an IDIOT, and he's betting that that monkey's dreaming and drooling about Capt. Akagi's sister, Haruko(Yes! Rukawa finally got her name right! ^_~ v).

Rukawa gazed at the sky and let out a sigh again.
Guess he'll have to stay there for a while and wait until the rain stops.
***

It was 7 pm already when Rukawa was finally able to go home. Upon entering their house, his mother approached him.

"Yui told me to give you this this mornig, but I forgot. Sorry dear." his mother told him and handed him a neatly folded piece of paper. Rukawa merely stared at it.

"Howcome Yui didn't even drop by here anyway, Kaede dear?" his mom inquired. "We miss her too."

Rukawa just shrugged and began to climb the stairs to his bedroom. He hates it when his mom calls him "dear". It makes him feel like a parent-dependent spoiled brat.

He entered his room and closed the door behind him. He knew he forgot to do something...

Dang! He forgot to purchase a new alarm clock!

Oh well, no use purchasing a new one. I'm gonna break it again anyway.

Now, back to the issue at hand. What's this paper from Yui...?

He stared at the white scented stationery he was holding.

Is it a letter...? Of an apology maybe.

"Crap." he grumbled as he curled the paper into a ball and shoot it across the room to his bedroom trashbin.

There's no need for apologies. It's over.

He went ot the other side of the room to get a towel. He needed to take a bath - he's sweaty from practice and soaked with rain water at the same time. He was almost at the bathroom when...

"Kae-chan."

He quickly turned around.There was no mistaking what he heard - it was Yui's voice.

"Yui?"

But no one was in the room except for him. He muttered a curse under his breath. He's hearing things now, for Pete's sake...he might be in a mental institution tomorrow!

What's wrong with me?!, he asked himself, though he knew the answer.

It was Yui.

Damn her!

But he never really meant that...for in his heart he knew he still love her. There is a part of him who hates Yui for making him wait for 6 years, yet...

The love he feels for her is far greater than the hate.

As he turned around to proceed to the bathroom, he caught sight of the crumpled paper, which was Yui's letter, lying on top of the trashbin.

Suppose he could read it and give her -them- another chance...

Rukawa approached the trashbin, took the letter and read it.

Kae-chan,
I knew that you might have considered not to read this letter.I also know that you might hate me now, for I didn't fulfill my promises to you. Yet, please hear my side of the story. As much as I want to come back, send a letter or make a phone call, I couldn't, for my father forbid me to. It took so long for him to settle his divorce with my mom, and ou migration papers, he couldn't afford to send me here even for a visit because that might cause him trouble. He didn't want to come back to Japan or keep track of our relationships with this country. He wanted to move on.

He wanted ME to move on.

But he couldn't say no to my dying mother's wish to see me again for the last time, before she pass away, so he allowed me to stay here for a week. But you see...my mother spent the remaining years of her life in her family home in Nagoya. I came to Nagoya for her.

I came back to Kanagawa FOR YOU.

I didn't break my promises; afterall, I wouldn't be writing this letter if I had forgotten all about us. I'm leaving for California this evening at 8. I just wanted to say my final goodbye before we part ways completely.

I will never forget you, Kaede Rukawa.

I love you too much to do so.

Yui

Rukawa couldn't believe what he had just read. Yui came back to Kanagawa FOR HIM...

He didn't realize it before, but noticed it now; that Yui's letter was a bit bulky. There was another paper attached to it, and it contained something. He opened it and took out its content.

It was a white shoelace. The shoelace whose pair is the one he threw away. It was YUI's shoelace...the one she swore she would keep...

And she did. She kept it until now.

Rukawa felt like an idiot. Yui never forgot their promises to each other. She came back for him.
A little late, but still...

SHE CAME BACK FOR HIM!

How can he be such an insensitive, dumbass jerk?!

All this time, Yui really did fulfilled her promises because she loved him.
And he...he...

He LOVED her too. Always was, always will.

He glanced at his wall clock.(which is shaped like a basketball by the way...=0P)

It was a quarter before 8.

Shit!

He has to go to the airport as fast as he can for he may never see the woman who had made his life meaningful and worthwhile again.
******