Remember Me – Chapter Five
Disclaimer: The standard
Genre: Supernatural/Romance (Yaoi)
Synopsis: Coming back from the dead, he went back to his homeland intending to live a new life but was instead plunged back into those haunting memories when he met a certain pale, raven haired boy……
//Italics// – Personal Thoughts
~Italics~ - Waves of thoughts sent out
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Walking down the busy corridor to his arithmetic class, attracting many stares along the way, Sendoh's heartbeat involuntarily began to pick up speed. It wasn't this bad yesterday. Somehow, yesterday amidst the chaos of the game and the dinner, he managed to distract himself away from the apprehension and uneasiness and kept his cool. Somehow, the presence of Rukawa seemed tolerable and less agonizing. But now was a different story….. to know that he had to face the raven-haired boy in advance was unnerving. He had no idea how to react…. should he remain cool or should he initiate an exchange?
Before Sendoh even had any time to decide, he was already right outside his class room. The chatters of his classmates droning on in his ears.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Sendoh then swung his Hugo Boss haversack firmly over his broad shoulders with one hand and strolled into the class. The picture a perfect, composed young man.
The moment he stepped into the class, giggles erupted from around the class. During his short tenure of one week, he had earned himself the title of one of the most gorgeous man in the entire school. The other being none other than Rukawa himself.
As usual, Sendoh flashed the giggling girls a smile as he walked over to his seat right at the back of the room. Lifting his eyes to the desk beside his own where a certain boy occupied, relief washed through him.
A black mess of silky threads was sprawled over the desk. Rukawa was asleep.
Smiling slightly as he berated himself inwardly, Sendoh proceeded to take his seat. Rukawa always slept before the arithmetic sensei arrived. How could he forget? He shall worry about his problem later….
Just at this moment, the lady sensei brisk into the classroom. A couple of thick, hard-covered arithmetic books weighing down in her arms, making her looked smaller than she already was. Her grayish hair was piled high up on her head, exposing her wrinkled face.
Sendoh liked her. Though she was incredibly stern, she also had this motherly side to her which made her rather endearing. With her sharp eyes glowering from beneath her gold-tinted spectacles, Sendoh reckoned that she was in a foul mood today. Well, judging from how the class had quietened down, it seemed that they noticed too.
As if on cue, Rukawa stirred from his sleep and lifted his head from the desk. Blinking his eyes several times, he then propped his head up with his left hand while his right rubbed those fox-like eyes. All these were done in a mechanical fashion.
The lady sensei frowned and gave the young man a disapproving look but said nothing. After all, at least he was awake.
Turning her attention back to the class, she wore a grim look and said, "Well, I have got a piece of news for you. And that is we will be having a quiz next week."
Groans erupted from around the class. Even Sendoh had to sigh. Sure, he was invincible, everlasting but heck! All these do not come in handy in arithmetic quizzes. What he needed was brains!
Tapping her feet impatiently as she crossed her arms. The lady sensei waited for the commotion to die down which was rather quick before she continued, "Only on the first 2 chapters and choose 2 out of 3 questions. Time limit is 40 minutes. Those who fail the quiz will be under my special care." Her eyes darted in Rukawa's direction as she dished out the warning. Rukawa was wide awake by now but remained expressionless.
"Today I will be going down the memory lane for those chapters and I expect full attention. No less!" Once again, her eyes darted in Rukawa's direction.
//She is really in a bad mood today.//
Following her glare, Sendoh turned slightly to steal a glance at the 'beleaguered' boy beside him.
With his head still propped up in his left hand, Rukawa too turned at the same time.
And their eyes met once again. Cobalt blue against sapphire blue.
And this time instead of turning away, Sendoh smiled.
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"Now, once you come to this stage, you can start applying the formula…"
Rukawa shook his head in an attempt to stay awake as the sensei droned on. Popping his sixth mint candy into his mouth, he wondered how long more he could keep his eyes open. He wished for the lesson to end but on the other hand, a certain someone was the reason he wanted the lesson to continue.
Smiling inwardly as he remembered how the spiky-haired boy had smiled at him earlier, Rukawa felt like Christmas had just came. But then Sendoh had quickly turned away before Rukawa could even react.
//Well, at least he smiled…//
With his head still propped up in his hand, he turned his head slightly to steal a look at the boy beside him.
Not expecting what he saw, Rukawa, in a rare occasion, raised his eyebrows in amusement.
The usually attentive boy was absent. Instead Sendoh was nodding off to lalaland in his seat.
Even with those cobalt blue eyes closed, Rukawa decided Sendoh still looked breathtakingly gorgeous. His extraordinary pale skin tone together with the perfect features never failed to stun him.
Taking a quick glance at the sensei who was still trying to explain the previous step, Rukawa decided it was not too late to wake the boy up. With a simple toss of his hand, Rukawa threw his pack of mint candies directly on Sendoh's open book. It landed with a soft 'thud'.
Sendoh's eyes flew open immediately. His face a look or pure predatory alertness. However, his face softened when he roamed his eyes briefly across the room. Straightening himself up, Sendoh then noticed the small rectangular box on his open book. Instinctively, he turned his gaze to his left to meet the expectant pair of fox-like eyes.
"To keep you awake." Rukawa's monotonous voice was devoid of any emotions.
"Huh..." Sendoh raised his eyebrows slightly as he wore a clueless look on his handsome face. "Sorry, but I don't really get you…"
Rukawa frowned. //Is he for real?//
Sticking out his tongue slightly, Rukawa pointed to the half-dissolved mint candy and said with a dead-pan expression, "The mint flavour helps keep me awake."
"Oh… I see." Sendoh broke into another one of his smiles as the realization dawned on him. Taking a mint candy from the box, Sendoh took a look at the round green candy before popping it into his mouth. He doesn't normally eat but he didn't want to appear weird.
The smile on Sendoh's face faltered as he sucked on the mint. Water began to gather at the brim of his eyes. The mint was so strong Sendoh felt like choking. Anxious to rid the burning sensation in his mouth, Sendoh swallowed the candy in one gulp.
Turning to face Rukawa, Sendoh remarked, "Wow, that's really something."
All awkwardness forgotten in that instant.
"It's a little stronger than wasabi." Rukawa replied as a small smile crept onto his face. He found Sendoh's reaction rather amusing.
"Wasabi?" Again, Sendoh wore a clueless look.
Amused at his ignorance, Rukawa tilted his head in a questioning manner. "You know those green stuff we dip our sushi into?"
Sendoh's thick brows furrowed together for a split second before he broke into a sheepish smile and shook his head. "Sorry, but I just got back from the States a few days ago, so not really sure about the local specialties…" His voice slowly reduced to nothingness.
Rukawa smacked his head inwardly. Of course! How could he forget?! Now he felt like a dock himself for treating the spiky-haired boy like a moron.
But being Rukawa, he remained a passive expression as he continued, "How long have you been…"
"My my my! Look who's talking?!" Rukawa's sentence was interrupted mid-way by a mocking tone.
"Mr Rukawa himself! For once, he's not sleeping but talking! Well, that's a first." The lady sensei had finally noticed the lack of attention from Rukawa, or rather from both Rukawa and Sendoh.
"Sendoh, you have been always very attentive in class. I am giving you the benefit of doubt that falling asleep and well, chatting with Rukawa is an one-off." The lady sensei frowned harder at the last bit of sentence, as if she couldn't believe that the latter was possible.
Gomenasai, Sensei." Sendoh apologized with one hand rubbing the nape of his hand in a child-like manner while Rukawa, as usual, just gave her another of his infamous glare.
The sensei's face softened a little at Sendoh's apology. "Be thankful that both of you are as tall as giants. If not for the fear of obstructing the view of your classmates, I'll have you both sit right under my nose."
As soon as she said the last word, the bell rang.
Walking to the desk to collect her belongings, the lady sensei then dismissed the class with a wave of her hand as she reminded, "Remember the quiz next week. Now you can go for your break."
Immediately, the class bustled with random activities. Several of the girls turned behind and giggled playfully at the two reprimanded boys.
Sendoh flashed them a sheepish smile while Rukawa ignored them completely.
A smile was still lingering on Sendoh's face as he packed his belongings into his brown leather haversack, ready to leave school for he had no other lessons that day. It had been a long time since he remembered being ticked off.
Picking up his own duffel bag which had been left untouched since the start of the lesson and the orange sphere beside it, Rukawa then walked towards the door, turning just as he reached it and leaned casually against the door frame.
"One on one today?" Rukawa's face was expressionless as he extended the invitation. His outlook one of indifference and coolness as he spun the leather ball on his index finger but deep down inside, it was another story.
"Huh?" Sendoh immediately looked up. He wasn't expecting this.
For the umpteen time that day, Rukawa tilted his head and repeated, "One on one basketball game. I want my revenge."
As Sendoh registered the words, conflicting emotions raged through him… fear, excitement, anticipation and a smile slowly broke on his face. Strangely enough today, he felt less fear and discomfort, in fact, he felt more relaxed and at ease with the raven-haired boy. The earlier incidents had helped in the process.
"Yeah… You go on ahead… I will catch up with you." Sendoh accepted the offer while his eyes fell in the arithmetic books still lying on the desk, waiting to be kept.
Rukawa again tilted his head.
"Well, I do pay attention in class most of the times, you know." Sendoh retorted in as an innocent manner as possible.
Rukawa raised his brows ever so slightly as he turned to go. His heart swelling at the attempted joke and the thought of the basketball session later on.
"Hey Rukawa! Here, catch!" Sendoh's deep voice rang from behind him.
Instinctively, Rukawa turned and in a reflex reaction, caught a small object that was thrown to him. Opening his palm, he realized that it was his own box of mint candies. Grasping the box tightly back into his hand, Rukawa looked straight into the cobalt blue eyes and said, "You can call me Kaede".
A grin slowly appeared on Sendoh's face. "You can call me Akira too".
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//They are at it again. This is the second time this week… this is so unlike his character.//
Having gotten what he wanted, the beefy young man then walked out the gym and made his way back to the club room, making sure he stayed unnoticed as he did so. His huge built the result of many years of intensive training from rugby. The grueling practices had managed to make his body bulge at the right places.
Cursing silently under his breath, he scowled as he kicked his leg into the air. Why did it always have to be him? Sharks, couldn't he have sent someone else to spy on Rukawa instead? Why did it always have to be him who delivered the bad news?
Turning into another corridor, the club room came into view. Breathing in, he then hurried his steps. He decided it was better to get it done and over with.
Pausing for a second as he stood outside the club room with one brawny hand on the door knob, he could hear the chunking sounds of the weights on the training machine. Knowing fully who was pumping himself, the young man took one last breath before he entered. "Captain…"
No response. The chunking sounds continued as the training kept in motion.
"He is playing basketball…" The young man continued when he saw no response.
Moments seemed to pass as the chunking sounds of the weights echoed in the club room before a deep smooth voice broke the uncomfortable silence. "With?"
The young man gulped as he answered the dreaded question. "With the new guy… again."
Suddenly, the club room went deadly silent. No more chunking sounds. The training has stopped.
Pulling himself up on the training bench, he grabbed his blue towel that was hanging at the sides and draped it over his broad muscular shoulders.
Standing up to his full height, he turned to face his junior who had remained standing at the door, his violet eyes flashing as commanded, "I want to know everything about this guy."
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Hours turned into days and days soon turned into weeks.
He had been in Kanagawa for only three weeks but yet it felt like an eternity.
Pulling his black wheels at the driveway outside the mansion. Sendoh leaned back against his leather seat and looked up into the sky, lifting his strong arms to the back of his head in the process.
Everything seemed like nothing more than a dream. It was like he was brought back to his distant past, a past he used to lead before he was transformed on that fateful day. During the spun of three weeks, he felt normal and alive, more alive than he had been in decades. He was doing the things everyone does, attending lessons, playing basketball, he was close to being normal. More importantly now, he was no longer alone…..
"Dreaming?" A deep, monotonous voice knocked Sendoh out of his reverie.
"No…. more like reminiscing." Sendoh smiled as his cobalt eyes shifted in Rukawa's direction, his hands still behind his head.
He looked on at the beautiful boy who was trying to make space in the small front seat for his extra huge duffel bag and his heart tightened slightly.
Rukawa bore a striking resemblance to his ex-lover but that was where the similarities ended. Their characters were as different as day and night. Ayumi was warm, soft, friendly and open like the morning sun while Rukawa was cold, strong, quiet and mysterious like the moon.
It was extremely hard for him in the beginning. Rukawa reminded him too much of Ayumi, too much of his past. Whenever he looked at those mesmerizing fox-like eyes, all his unwanted memories came flooding back, threatening to drown him in pain and sorrow. He held back many a times, even when he could sense Rukawa's attention on him, for he was afraid of his shady past catching up with him. But the difference in their characters slowly enabled him to look beyond that flawless face and bit by bit, he was able to dislodge his past from the younger boy. And with a close-to normal lifestyle now, he was able to push those memories further and further back into his mind, disengaging himself from them.
He was slowly beginning to believe that he too, could be normal…..
"Hey"
"Huh" Sendoh blinked out of his thoughts at the interruption.
"Quit dreaming. We are going to be late." Rukawa said in his usual dead-pan expression.
"Oh… right. Got a little carried away." Sendoh apologized with a smile. "By the way, what's with the huge and heavier bag?" Sendoh's eyes flick in the direction of the said bag as he pull away from the driveway, onto the street.
"Hn…. How do you know it's heavier?"
"Well, it looks like it."
"Bought some extra stuff. Today's the tryouts for the basketball team." Rukawa explained.
"But what's it got to do with you? You are already in the team."
"But you are not." Rukawa immediately turned to face Sendoh as soon as he said that.
Sendoh took his eyes off the road to take a quick glance as the boy beside him before he resumed his driving.
"You said you will consider." Rukawa continued when no reply came from the spiky-haired boy.
Rukawa had asked the older boy to join the basketball team once a week ago. After their frequent one-on-ones, Rukawa found Sendoh as good as himself or maybe even better and his team sure could use another great player. Though he seemed to be nonchalant in extending the invitation, deep in his heart, he really hoped that Sendoh would agree.
"Well, I'm not sure…." Sendoh enjoyed playing basketball, in fact, he loved it. But he wasn't sure how he would cope with being in a team. Though he was at ease with Rukawa now, it would be too much to ask of him to mingle freely with people whom he had nothing to do with.
Rukawa frowned at Sendoh. Moments of silence passed before he dropped his stare and looked out the window. As much as he wanted the older boy to join, he did not want to force it down on him.
Sendoh could feel Rukawa's disappointment and it cut through him like a little knife. One thing he didn't understand was his feelings for the younger boy. When he first saw him, he felt differently because of his resemblance to Ayumi, but as time passed, those feelings remained. What were those feelings exactly…. He couldn't pin it down himself. Right now, all he knew was that he couldn't bear the younger boy to be unhappy.
"Well, let me think about it. I'll try my best ya?" Sendoh relented, his cobalt eyes shifting in Rukawa's direction as he said so, his hands still on the steering wheel.
Shining fox-like eyes met those cobalt ones…. and a tiny smile tugged at the corner of Rukawa's lips.
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Stepping out of the black Porsche and into the sea of admiring stares and adoring looks, Rukawa ignored the love-struck girls and stood at the side, waiting for Sendoh to join him. They were having arithmetic lessons together.
The familiar beeping of remote control sounded. Slipping his remote control into the pocket of his black suede jacket where his hand casually remained, Sendoh strolled towards Rukawa and together, they made their way through the morning crowd towards their classroom.
Heads turned as they passed. Some called out a greeting, in which Sendoh would return with a smile, some whispered among themselves, while others just looked on in silence.
All in all, they were the centre of attention. The top hunks in the school. One was a cool, aloof basketball ace whose ice-cold attitude transformed into fiery-red determination once on court. The other was a new kid on the block who, on the surface, led a glamorous lifestyle, complete with luxurious car and designer outfits.
They were different and similar at the same time. On the surface, Sendoh was a smiling persona while Rukawa, an ice-cold prince, one who never smiles. But at the same time, both were the epitome of beauty and mystery. None knew the real them….. they had no friends…..
And the bringing together of these two intriguing personalities further deepened the mystery surrounding them, capturing the interest of the school population. No one foresaw their friendship. No one thought that the friendship between the two solitary figures was possible and it was because of this, that more attention was heaped upon them.
Leaving the crowd behind them, the two boys turned into a much more deserted corridor and walked the remaining short distance to their classroom.
The moment they stepped into the classroom, Sendoh could sense something different. The usual perky mood was absent, instead most of his classmates were huddled at the back of the room, talking among themselves. The girls sounded worried, disturbed while the guys seemed excited.
Ignoring his classmates as usual, Rukawa proceeded towards his seat and Sendoh followed suit. But even then, the girls who were usually so enthusiastic when it came to them, barely spared them a glance before they resumed their conversation.
"Must be some new rumours." Rukawa said with a tinge of disdain as he sat himself down. He had been the target several times.
Sendoh raised his eyebrows and shaped his lips into an 'O' shape. Taking his books out, Sendoh got himself ready for the lesson. While waiting for the sensei to arrive, he couldn't help but catch a bit of the ongoing conversation….
"I was there just the night before…" Itsuki said with fear etched in her voice. She was a rather pretty girl with large doe eyes and petite nose.
"You are lucky. It might have been you." A male voice interrupted as the owner threw a roll of newspapers onto the desk.
At the mention of this, several gasps erupted from within the group before the group fell into silence.
"Oh come on, rob and kill aren't exactly rare these days. There's no need to freak out just because it happened near Eternal." Another voice joined in.
Picking up the roll of papers and flipping through the pages, Itsuki pointed into an article and said, "But look at this…. The article says there appear not to be a single drop of blood in their bodies! It's like they were drained like a dead chicken. The murderer must…"
"Can I have a look at it?" A deep, cool voice cut her off before she could finish her sentence.
Appearing suddenly, Sendoh stood beside the girl, towering over her.
Startled and feeling suddenly nervous and embarrassed, Itsuki blushed as her earlier fears evapourated. "Oh sure, here it is…"
She blushed even harder when Sendoh smiled weakly as he reached out for the papers.
The group fell into silence. No one seemed to know what to react to the current situation. They definitely weren't used to or even expect one of the hottest hunks in school to mingle among them.
Before the group even had time to recover from their slight shock, they were dealt with a bigger one. Rukawa had walked right up to them and stood beside Sendoh, oblivious to the gaping looks around him.
Rukawa was surprised when Sendoh made a beeline for the papers. Beneath that deep, cool voice, Rukawa could sense a certain urgency, or even anxiety.
"What is it?" Rukawa asked as he peered into the article Sendoh was holding, his voice devoid of any emotions.
Bloodless Murders
Two teenage girls, aged 18 and 19 were found dead along the back alleys of the popular entertainment district, Paradise Street. They were stumbled along by the remnants of clubbers in the early morning hours and were believed to have been dead since Saturday night. No signs of struggle were discovered nor found at the scene of the crime. The two victims were found without a drop of blood in their body. The clean state of the alleged crime scene has led the police to believe otherwise and that the killings could have been carried out elsewhere. Police have classified the deaths as unnatural deaths and investigations are underway. The victims were last seen in the recently opened popular clubbing joint, Eternal Euphoria. The abnormal nature of the deaths was similar to the recent unsolved death cases that occurred in Europe last month.
"Mitsui" Sendoh hissed from clenched teeth.
With a slam of his hands, Sendoh slapped the papers shut and handed it back to Itsuki who was looking rather startled without another word, his hands trembling slightly as he did so.
Rukawa looked at Sendoh and alarm rang through him. Sendoh looked even whiter than usual, something which Rukawa never thought was possible. A certain air emanated from him and he looked…. dangerous.
"What is it, Akira? You know the girls?"
//I know the killer!//
"No" Before Rukawa could ask further, Sendoh stopped him by adding, "I won't be going for the tryouts today. Sorry." With that, he walked straight back to his seat.
Rukawa opened his mouth slightly as if to say something but clamped it shut when the sensei chose this moment to brisk into the class, sending the students back to their seats.
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As the black Porsche came to a halt, heads turned.
Climbing out of his car, Sendoh ignored the attention and made his way to the front entrance, passing along the long queue which was steadily growing longer as he did so. Clubbers were starting to stream in. The killings didn't seem to have an effect.
Sendoh did not intend to join the queue and as he approached the entrance, he did not bother to acknowledge the presence of bouncer and walked right past the beefy man. And as expected… "Hey, sir! Do you have a VIP membership? If not, you have to join…"
Sendoh turned his head and looked straight into the man's eyes, sending out a wave of Power as he did so. ~You did not see me~
He was in no mood to be nice.
The bouncer froze for a second after which he went back to ushering the customers, one by one, to the cashier, leaving his previous sentence unfinished in mid-air.
Unveiling the black velvet curtains aside, Sendoh then made his way down the spiral staircase, the music getting louder and clearer as he descended.
As he took his last few steps down the stairs, the familiar décor came into view. Making his way through the crowd, he allowed his blue eyes to scan the room, impatient to find his old pals.
It wasn't easy, even for him who had a sharper sense of sight for it was really crowded. He saw several of his kind but not the ones he was here for.
Then he saw them. Two figures lazing in one of those lavish booths in the VIP section, enjoying the taste of the wine that was on their table, or least one seemed to be. The other just sat on the couch, arms crossed with one hand gingerly touching the side of his forehead, wearing a slight frown.
Immediately, Sendoh made his way across the crowded room towards the VIP section, his temper that was in check previously rising at the sight of a relaxed and unperturbed Mitsui.
Walking right past the bouncer at the entrance of the VIP section, Sendoh did not even give the bouncer the chance to stop him and his hands had already found their way to the front of Mitsui's leather jacket, yanking the young man out of his seat and against the wall. The glass of red wine in Mitsui's hand spilling as he did so.
Maki stood up at once and signaled to the oncoming bouncer to leave them alone.
"Why did you do it?" Sendoh hissed through clenched teeth.
Mitsui's eyes narrowed for a brief second before he replied nonchalantly, "Do what?"
"Don't play games, Mitsui. The two girls." Sendoh's hold on Mitsui's jacket tightening. His fury threatening to spill over any minute.
"Sendoh, people are watching." Maki's voice rang from behind, tinged faintly with worry.
"Let them watch! Our covers will be blown sooner or later. You never cared about hiding our identities, do you?!"
"I didn't do it." Mitsui said, this time from between clenched teeth. He definitely wasn't used to being treated this way.
Sendoh frowned for a second before he mocked, "I never knew you were a liar. Since when have you become afraid to own up for what you did? Why? Or did the happenings in Italy scare you?!"
"Don't push it, Sendoh." Mitsui snarled.
"So what if I do?" Sendoh hissed back.
"You'll never win me now, Sendoh… and you know it."
With a snarl, Sendoh flung Mitsui across the booth and sent him slamming into the cushioned walls of the booth, the glass of wine breaking on the granite floor in the process as Mitsui lost his grip on the glass. His lips drawn back from his teeth in fury, exposing his fangs and his pupils constricting to show a brilliant cobalt blue in the dark.
The same happened to Mitsui. His fangs were showing as his face contorted with rage but before things could turn worse, Maki had his hand on Mitsui's shoulders, his touch beseeching Mitsui to hold back his own temper as he said firmly, "Don't, Mitsui"
Mitsui looked up at Maki and with a snarl, he knocked that hand away and made his way to the couch, away from Sendoh.
Relief washed through Maki as he turned to face Sendoh who still had his fangs showing and said, "He didn't do it, Sendoh."
Sendoh narrowed his cobalt eyes as his fangs slowly retracted. "Then who? Who did it?"
Sendoh was not prepared for the answer that came out of Maki's mouth.
"It's Minami."
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TBC