Let One's Heart Decide
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is © Inoue Takehiko and all its other companies. This fanfiction is © Hitora. It is not allowed to be put up on any other site without permission. Other characters in this fiction belongs to Hitora.
Chapter 7: Danger...
Hatsuko shuffled along next to Rukawa as he sent her home. The Sakuragi residence was quite a long way from school and it was already dark out. Uncomfortable at the silence, she fiddled with the ribbon on her uniform.
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked, looking down at her only by the corner of his eyes.
"N-Nothing," she said quickly. "Nii-chan, where are you?" she whispered.
Rukawa heard her but he pretended that he didn't.
'Why does she worry about such a d'aho anyways?' he thought as he readjusted the strap of his duffel bag. 'Why is he making her worry?'
Clenching his fists, he looked down at Hatsuko. She wasn't as cheerful as she used to be. From the soft streetlights, he could make out a slight darkness under her vaguely bloodshot brown eyes. Her eyes were not sparkly either. In fact, they looked dull. It was amazing how much she had changed in just a few days; ever since Sakuragi failed to attend practice a week ago.
"Rukawa-san! Look out!"
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts. Just then, he walked into a streetlight and fell heavily to the ground.
"Rukawa-san!" Hatsuko shrieked, and stooped next to him. "Daijoubu ka?"
Rukawa looked at her and gulped as she gazed into his own blue eyes with concern. He quickly stood up and unintentionally bumped into Hatsuko, causing her to fall instead.
'Kuso…' he growled to himself.
Offering Hatsuko a hand, he pulled her to her feet. Surprisingly, she was laughing and holding her sides.
"Rukawa-san, I've never…" she started, still laughing hysterically. She suddenly stopped as her gaze fell somewhere behind Rukawa and she stiffened.
Rukawa, sensing that something was wrong, turned to face a gang of hooligans. They were older than the ones who attacked the basketball club with Mitsui a year ago.
"Kisama Sakuragi Hatsuko ka?" one of the thugs stepped forward and asked, pointing at Hatsuko with his cigarette. Obviously the leader, he was slightly taller than Rukawa, with long, wavy, greasy hair; eyes so tiny that it was impossible to tell its color, very thin lips and a very dark tan.
"Watashi… watashi wa…" Hatsuko started stammering, fear evident in her eyes.
"No, she isn't Sakuragi Hatsuko. She's my sister, Rukawa… Rukawa Kiara," Rukawa said quickly.
Rukawa threw a glance in Hatsuko's direction and found her nodding.
"Why should I answer you anyways?" Hatsuko found herself asking angrily. "Who are you to ask me?"
Rukawa was impressed and watched as Hatsuko displayed her acting capabilities.
"Ceh! Don't fool around with me you!" the leader spat, throwing his cigarette at Hatsuko.
With a squeal, she managed to dodge it.
"Who is?" Rukawa asked coolly, his ice blue eyes meeting the leader's glare, as he pulled Hatsuko behind him.
"Do you idiots know who we are?" one of the other thugs asked.
"Morons?"
Shouts of disagreement rang out from the rest of the thugs.
"What? I was only answering his question…" Rukawa said innocently, pointing at the thug who asked him.
"Yarou!" the leader vexingly shouted at the shorter thug and smacked his head.
Suddenly, out from the shadows, another thug came up to the leader and whispered something into his ear. Then, he skulked back into the shadows making it impossible to judge his appearance as not only was he hidden by the shadows, he was covered up almost like a bank robber, complete with a ski mask.
With a grin on his face, showing his uneven yellow-stained teeth, the leader walked towards Rukawa and stood opposite him, staring slightly down at him.
"My sources tell me that the girl isn't your sister, basketball man," the leader proclaimed, as his gaze shifted to the basketball under Rukawa's left arm.
"What sources? I only see one and it's that idiot hiding there," Rukawa said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the thug hiding in the shadows.
The leader didn't reply but peered over Rukawa's shoulder to catch a glimpse of Hatsuko instead.
"She is that temera's sister… that Sakuragi Hanamichi… am I right?" he continued.
"Nii-chan temera ja nai!!" Hatsuko shouted angrily, her fists clenched and her eyes ablaze.
When realization hit her that she foiled Rukawa's plan, her eyes widened and she bit her lip.
"Ah… so the little girl finally owns up," the thug jeered.
"Gomen nasai, Rukawa-san," she whispered, her eyes beginning to tear.
Rukawa just shook his head and whispered, "Now they just have to get it from me."
Rukawa dropped all of his possessions and spread his arms apart as he stood in front of Hatsuko, shielding her.
"What do you want with her?" Rukawa asked menacingly.
"Why should you bother? You're not even related!"
"Can't I bother?"
Hatsuko trembled slightly behind Rukawa. It may be due to the chilly breeze, or that she was afraid, or that she was furious that her brother was insulted… or it may be that Rukawa was defending her.
"What are you? Her boyfriend?"
Rukawa glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, paused for a moment and said, "What's it to you?"
With that, Rukawa threw the leader a punch that sent him reeling back a few paces into one of his thugs with a bloody and disfigured nose.
"TEMERA!!" the leader shouted, clasping a hand over his nose. Blood was seen dripping to the floor. "Boys! Get him! And the girl! That Sakuragi will pay!"
The circle of thugs tightened around them as they closed in to attack. Rukawa mentally counted the number of thugs.
'Twelve. Can I defeat twelve of them and protect Hatsuko at the same time?' he thought as his worry increased.
'The leader seems to be letting his men to the job and the so-called spy seems to want to stay away… great. What if they attack when I least expect it? What if…'
A whirlwind of thoughts swept through Rukawa's head but he snapped out of them when Hatsuko called him.
"Rukawa-san! What are we going to do?"
"Try your best and I'll handle the rest," he said, as his eyes sharpened and he launched himself at the ones closest to him.
With a kick to one of the thug's groin and an uppercut to the other, they began to groan and double over.
Hatsuko, on the other hand, swung her duffel bag into one of the other thug's face and kicked another in his gut.
"Oi!"
Everyone stopped mid-fight and saw someone walking towards them from the shadows. Rukawa, already with a puffy bruised eye could make out a tall person with long spiky hair.
'Could it be?' he wondered, with his hand holding a fistful of one of the thug's shirt.
The person's visage could finally be made out when he entered the small lighted fighting area. It was Sendoh.
"Yo," he said, with his usual smile. He had a basketball and duffel bag with him.
"Sendoh-san!" Hatsuko shouted.
Rukawa merely rolled his eyes.
"Whaddya want, yer porcupine head?" the leader shouted.
Sendoh looked at him. With a smile, he punched his face. This time, the leader did not get up.
"I happen to like my hair," he said, shaking his head. With a look at Rukawa and Hatsuko, Sendoh asked, "Mind if I help?"
"If you want," Rukawa muttered.
"Leader!" the thugs shouted. "We can't stop now! We must get revenge!" one of them yelled.
The thug who was hiding in the shadows slowly slipped away, unnoticed.
"Ow! Itai!" Hatsuko screamed when her hair was pulled, causing her scrunchie to drop. With that, she bit down hard on the thug's arm.
The thug immediately released her with a yell and Hatsuko kicked his face with a jump kick.
Sendoh was impressed that a girl of that height was able to kick someone's face when the person was more than two heads taller.
Within a few minutes, the fight ended and the thugs retreated with a warning.
"We won't let you off that easily! Watch out, all of you!"
After the hooligans left, the three slumped to the ground with their backs against each other, exhausted.
"Well, that was interesting. What was that about anyways?" Sendoh asked.
He was not as badly injured as Rukawa, who sustained cuts on his arm other when a thug pulled out a pocket knife, other than his swollen left eye. Sendoh, however, only had a bruise on his cheek when he misjudged a punch. Hatsuko, whose hair was badly tousled, had a cut on her lip and some bruised ribs, was the most injured; considering she was never involved in a fight before.
"What did Nii-chan do?" Hatsuko whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks. She pulled her legs close to her and wept.
"Sakuragi ka?" Sendoh asked Rukawa while getting up.
Rukawa too got up, wincing, and gave a slight nod. "Those d'ahos said that they wanted to take revenge."
"Nii-chan…"
Rukawa frowned when he heard Hatsuko whimper. He then knelt next to her.
"Let me send you back to your place now. It's dangerous for us to stay here any longer," Rukawa said quietly.
Wiping the tears from her face, Hatsuko nodded and accepted Rukawa's outstretched hand. As he pulled her up, her bruised ribs seem to tighten and Hatsuko screamed; letting go of Rukawa's hand and collapsing onto the hard paved ground.
"Oi!""Hatsuko-chan!" both Rukawa and Sendoh shouted respectively, and rushed to her side.
"I… can't move… or breath properly…" Hatsuko told them, her breath a little ragged.
"It's okay. I'll carry you home," Rukawa told her, without even giving a second thought.
"Are you crazy? You can't carry her home in your state!" Sendoh remarked.
"Do you have a better idea?" Rukawa asked, his eyes regaining its cold exterior.
"I'll carry her. It's not like I'm badly hurt," Sendoh suggested, with a smile so huge that Rukawa felt like punching his face in.
"Fine," Rukawa said, but not before glaring at Sendoh.
Sendoh knew how Rukawa felt and was rather amused. Returning the glare with a grin, he slowly pulled Hatsuko up onto his back and followed Rukawa.
Rukawa was fuming as he lugged his possessions and also, Hatsuko's and Sendoh's. When Rukawa saw the scrunchie that he bought for Hatsuko on the ground, he picked it up and slipped it into Hatsuko's bag.
'D'aho. Who does he think he is anyways?' he thought as he trudged towards the Sakuragi residence, thinking up of more profanity for Sendoh.
Hatsuko, who was piggybacked all the way home, fell asleep against Sendoh's warm back. Sendoh and Rukawa could hear her mumble 'Nii-chan' in her sleep.
"I'm going to kill that d'aho" Rukawa said loudly, breaking the silence and surprising Sendoh.
"He might have a good explanation, you know," Sendoh said cheerfully.
"He doesn't deserve one."
"Why do you hate him so much anyway?"
"He's a d'aho. Who wouldn't?"
"I don't."
"You're a d'aho too."
Rukawa stopped outside the Sakuragi residence and his lips tightened to a line when he heard a commotion inside. Sendoh's smile faded from his face as he strained his ears to listen. Both were too distracted to notice that Hatsuko was awake.
"Nii-chan! Kaa-chan!" Hatsuko shouted, pushing herself off Sendoh's back.
Holding tightly to her sides, she rushed into her house with Rukawa and Sendoh at her heels. Hatsuko ran to the back door and pushed it open as fast as she could. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother, in tears, and her brother, with a side of his face caked in blood.
"Kaa-chan… Nii-chan…" Hatsuko whispered.
Sakuragi and their mother wheeled around to face Hatsuko with shock and guilt etched on their faces.
"Wha… What's going on?" Hatsuko asked, afraid of the answer.
Author's note: Gah! Long chapter! T__T I had to force myself to do it though. The fight scene is awfully short, boring and totally lame. I didn't know how to show them fighting… so it turned out pretty stupid ^^6
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is © Inoue Takehiko and all its other companies. This fanfiction is © Hitora. It is not allowed to be put up on any other site without permission. Other characters in this fiction belongs to Hitora.
Chapter 7: Danger...
Hatsuko shuffled along next to Rukawa as he sent her home. The Sakuragi residence was quite a long way from school and it was already dark out. Uncomfortable at the silence, she fiddled with the ribbon on her uniform.
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked, looking down at her only by the corner of his eyes.
"N-Nothing," she said quickly. "Nii-chan, where are you?" she whispered.
Rukawa heard her but he pretended that he didn't.
'Why does she worry about such a d'aho anyways?' he thought as he readjusted the strap of his duffel bag. 'Why is he making her worry?'
Clenching his fists, he looked down at Hatsuko. She wasn't as cheerful as she used to be. From the soft streetlights, he could make out a slight darkness under her vaguely bloodshot brown eyes. Her eyes were not sparkly either. In fact, they looked dull. It was amazing how much she had changed in just a few days; ever since Sakuragi failed to attend practice a week ago.
"Rukawa-san! Look out!"
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts. Just then, he walked into a streetlight and fell heavily to the ground.
"Rukawa-san!" Hatsuko shrieked, and stooped next to him. "Daijoubu ka?"
Rukawa looked at her and gulped as she gazed into his own blue eyes with concern. He quickly stood up and unintentionally bumped into Hatsuko, causing her to fall instead.
'Kuso…' he growled to himself.
Offering Hatsuko a hand, he pulled her to her feet. Surprisingly, she was laughing and holding her sides.
"Rukawa-san, I've never…" she started, still laughing hysterically. She suddenly stopped as her gaze fell somewhere behind Rukawa and she stiffened.
Rukawa, sensing that something was wrong, turned to face a gang of hooligans. They were older than the ones who attacked the basketball club with Mitsui a year ago.
"Kisama Sakuragi Hatsuko ka?" one of the thugs stepped forward and asked, pointing at Hatsuko with his cigarette. Obviously the leader, he was slightly taller than Rukawa, with long, wavy, greasy hair; eyes so tiny that it was impossible to tell its color, very thin lips and a very dark tan.
"Watashi… watashi wa…" Hatsuko started stammering, fear evident in her eyes.
"No, she isn't Sakuragi Hatsuko. She's my sister, Rukawa… Rukawa Kiara," Rukawa said quickly.
Rukawa threw a glance in Hatsuko's direction and found her nodding.
"Why should I answer you anyways?" Hatsuko found herself asking angrily. "Who are you to ask me?"
Rukawa was impressed and watched as Hatsuko displayed her acting capabilities.
"Ceh! Don't fool around with me you!" the leader spat, throwing his cigarette at Hatsuko.
With a squeal, she managed to dodge it.
"Who is?" Rukawa asked coolly, his ice blue eyes meeting the leader's glare, as he pulled Hatsuko behind him.
"Do you idiots know who we are?" one of the other thugs asked.
"Morons?"
Shouts of disagreement rang out from the rest of the thugs.
"What? I was only answering his question…" Rukawa said innocently, pointing at the thug who asked him.
"Yarou!" the leader vexingly shouted at the shorter thug and smacked his head.
Suddenly, out from the shadows, another thug came up to the leader and whispered something into his ear. Then, he skulked back into the shadows making it impossible to judge his appearance as not only was he hidden by the shadows, he was covered up almost like a bank robber, complete with a ski mask.
With a grin on his face, showing his uneven yellow-stained teeth, the leader walked towards Rukawa and stood opposite him, staring slightly down at him.
"My sources tell me that the girl isn't your sister, basketball man," the leader proclaimed, as his gaze shifted to the basketball under Rukawa's left arm.
"What sources? I only see one and it's that idiot hiding there," Rukawa said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the thug hiding in the shadows.
The leader didn't reply but peered over Rukawa's shoulder to catch a glimpse of Hatsuko instead.
"She is that temera's sister… that Sakuragi Hanamichi… am I right?" he continued.
"Nii-chan temera ja nai!!" Hatsuko shouted angrily, her fists clenched and her eyes ablaze.
When realization hit her that she foiled Rukawa's plan, her eyes widened and she bit her lip.
"Ah… so the little girl finally owns up," the thug jeered.
"Gomen nasai, Rukawa-san," she whispered, her eyes beginning to tear.
Rukawa just shook his head and whispered, "Now they just have to get it from me."
Rukawa dropped all of his possessions and spread his arms apart as he stood in front of Hatsuko, shielding her.
"What do you want with her?" Rukawa asked menacingly.
"Why should you bother? You're not even related!"
"Can't I bother?"
Hatsuko trembled slightly behind Rukawa. It may be due to the chilly breeze, or that she was afraid, or that she was furious that her brother was insulted… or it may be that Rukawa was defending her.
"What are you? Her boyfriend?"
Rukawa glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, paused for a moment and said, "What's it to you?"
With that, Rukawa threw the leader a punch that sent him reeling back a few paces into one of his thugs with a bloody and disfigured nose.
"TEMERA!!" the leader shouted, clasping a hand over his nose. Blood was seen dripping to the floor. "Boys! Get him! And the girl! That Sakuragi will pay!"
The circle of thugs tightened around them as they closed in to attack. Rukawa mentally counted the number of thugs.
'Twelve. Can I defeat twelve of them and protect Hatsuko at the same time?' he thought as his worry increased.
'The leader seems to be letting his men to the job and the so-called spy seems to want to stay away… great. What if they attack when I least expect it? What if…'
A whirlwind of thoughts swept through Rukawa's head but he snapped out of them when Hatsuko called him.
"Rukawa-san! What are we going to do?"
"Try your best and I'll handle the rest," he said, as his eyes sharpened and he launched himself at the ones closest to him.
With a kick to one of the thug's groin and an uppercut to the other, they began to groan and double over.
Hatsuko, on the other hand, swung her duffel bag into one of the other thug's face and kicked another in his gut.
"Oi!"
Everyone stopped mid-fight and saw someone walking towards them from the shadows. Rukawa, already with a puffy bruised eye could make out a tall person with long spiky hair.
'Could it be?' he wondered, with his hand holding a fistful of one of the thug's shirt.
The person's visage could finally be made out when he entered the small lighted fighting area. It was Sendoh.
"Yo," he said, with his usual smile. He had a basketball and duffel bag with him.
"Sendoh-san!" Hatsuko shouted.
Rukawa merely rolled his eyes.
"Whaddya want, yer porcupine head?" the leader shouted.
Sendoh looked at him. With a smile, he punched his face. This time, the leader did not get up.
"I happen to like my hair," he said, shaking his head. With a look at Rukawa and Hatsuko, Sendoh asked, "Mind if I help?"
"If you want," Rukawa muttered.
"Leader!" the thugs shouted. "We can't stop now! We must get revenge!" one of them yelled.
The thug who was hiding in the shadows slowly slipped away, unnoticed.
"Ow! Itai!" Hatsuko screamed when her hair was pulled, causing her scrunchie to drop. With that, she bit down hard on the thug's arm.
The thug immediately released her with a yell and Hatsuko kicked his face with a jump kick.
Sendoh was impressed that a girl of that height was able to kick someone's face when the person was more than two heads taller.
Within a few minutes, the fight ended and the thugs retreated with a warning.
"We won't let you off that easily! Watch out, all of you!"
After the hooligans left, the three slumped to the ground with their backs against each other, exhausted.
"Well, that was interesting. What was that about anyways?" Sendoh asked.
He was not as badly injured as Rukawa, who sustained cuts on his arm other when a thug pulled out a pocket knife, other than his swollen left eye. Sendoh, however, only had a bruise on his cheek when he misjudged a punch. Hatsuko, whose hair was badly tousled, had a cut on her lip and some bruised ribs, was the most injured; considering she was never involved in a fight before.
"What did Nii-chan do?" Hatsuko whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks. She pulled her legs close to her and wept.
"Sakuragi ka?" Sendoh asked Rukawa while getting up.
Rukawa too got up, wincing, and gave a slight nod. "Those d'ahos said that they wanted to take revenge."
"Nii-chan…"
Rukawa frowned when he heard Hatsuko whimper. He then knelt next to her.
"Let me send you back to your place now. It's dangerous for us to stay here any longer," Rukawa said quietly.
Wiping the tears from her face, Hatsuko nodded and accepted Rukawa's outstretched hand. As he pulled her up, her bruised ribs seem to tighten and Hatsuko screamed; letting go of Rukawa's hand and collapsing onto the hard paved ground.
"Oi!""Hatsuko-chan!" both Rukawa and Sendoh shouted respectively, and rushed to her side.
"I… can't move… or breath properly…" Hatsuko told them, her breath a little ragged.
"It's okay. I'll carry you home," Rukawa told her, without even giving a second thought.
"Are you crazy? You can't carry her home in your state!" Sendoh remarked.
"Do you have a better idea?" Rukawa asked, his eyes regaining its cold exterior.
"I'll carry her. It's not like I'm badly hurt," Sendoh suggested, with a smile so huge that Rukawa felt like punching his face in.
"Fine," Rukawa said, but not before glaring at Sendoh.
Sendoh knew how Rukawa felt and was rather amused. Returning the glare with a grin, he slowly pulled Hatsuko up onto his back and followed Rukawa.
Rukawa was fuming as he lugged his possessions and also, Hatsuko's and Sendoh's. When Rukawa saw the scrunchie that he bought for Hatsuko on the ground, he picked it up and slipped it into Hatsuko's bag.
'D'aho. Who does he think he is anyways?' he thought as he trudged towards the Sakuragi residence, thinking up of more profanity for Sendoh.
Hatsuko, who was piggybacked all the way home, fell asleep against Sendoh's warm back. Sendoh and Rukawa could hear her mumble 'Nii-chan' in her sleep.
"I'm going to kill that d'aho" Rukawa said loudly, breaking the silence and surprising Sendoh.
"He might have a good explanation, you know," Sendoh said cheerfully.
"He doesn't deserve one."
"Why do you hate him so much anyway?"
"He's a d'aho. Who wouldn't?"
"I don't."
"You're a d'aho too."
Rukawa stopped outside the Sakuragi residence and his lips tightened to a line when he heard a commotion inside. Sendoh's smile faded from his face as he strained his ears to listen. Both were too distracted to notice that Hatsuko was awake.
"Nii-chan! Kaa-chan!" Hatsuko shouted, pushing herself off Sendoh's back.
Holding tightly to her sides, she rushed into her house with Rukawa and Sendoh at her heels. Hatsuko ran to the back door and pushed it open as fast as she could. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother, in tears, and her brother, with a side of his face caked in blood.
"Kaa-chan… Nii-chan…" Hatsuko whispered.
Sakuragi and their mother wheeled around to face Hatsuko with shock and guilt etched on their faces.
"Wha… What's going on?" Hatsuko asked, afraid of the answer.
Author's note: Gah! Long chapter! T__T I had to force myself to do it though. The fight scene is awfully short, boring and totally lame. I didn't know how to show them fighting… so it turned out pretty stupid ^^6