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.
Author's note: Thanks for the wonderful comments from everyone. I know that most of you think that this fic is going to turn yaoi, and honestly, I don't know about that. I'm just letting the ideas flow ^^6 Even if this fic doesn't turn yaoi, I hope that the reviewers who suggested it to be yaoi will still support this fic. Thank you ^^
Chapter 10: Confession
"…"
Rukawa woke up to the sounds of incessant banging on the door and no matter how much he tossed and turned in his bed, he couldn't fall back to sleep. He needed to get rid of its source. Groaning, he trudge down the stairs to the front door, muttering as many d'aho as he strength could muster.
'Where's Okaa-san and Kazuo anyways?'
As he unlocked the door and was about to pull it open, the knocking stopped. Rukawa prepared an icy glare to fire at the person who disturbed his precious sleep as he swung the door open.
'If it's a salesman, I'm going to kill him.'
Rukawa looked out and saw no one. His sight went beyond his porch and garden to the gate and saw a tuft of red hair sticking out from behind it.
"Oi, d'aho! What are you doing?" he shouted.
"Erm.. Rukawa-san," a soft voice said, and Rukawa saw a hand waving itself in front of his face.
Looking down, he saw Hatsuko standing right before him; her cheeks flushed pink from the cold of the night. She was wearing an oversized emerald sweater which complimented her toffee-colored smiling eyes and a pair of khaki three-quarter shorts and a pair of bright orange sneakers patterned with swirls. Her layered raven black hair which was let down, cascaded slightly past her shoulders and it looked silky and shiny under the porch lights.
"Omae," Rukawa said, a little surprised.
"Hai," Hatsuko replied, smiling.
Rukawa cast a glance at Sakuragi who was standing very far away from his house.
"I assume that d'aho did the knocking?"
Hatsuko gave a weak grin and nodded. "I told Nii-chan to use the doorbell but he refused. He said that you were sleeping and you probably wouldn't wake up."
Rukawa rolled his eyes but muttered, "That d'aho is right though."
"And Nii-chan immediately sped off when he heard the door open!" Hatsuko continued and giggled.
"Hmph."
Suddenly a soft purring could be heard and Hatsuko found Rukawa's kitten rub itself against Rukawa's legs. It was the kitten which Kazuo found for Rukawa and the one which Hatsuko found and returned on the first day that they met.
"Koneko-chan, do you remember me?" Hatsuko asked the not-so tiny kitten, bending low and scratching the kitten behind one of its ears. "Rukawa-san, have you named her yet?"
Rukawa shook his head. Suddenly, a gentle but chilly zephyr blew past. Making up his mind, he invited Hatsuko into his house.
"Might as well ask Sakuragi as well," he muttered.
"Nii-chan! Rukawa-san's inviting you into his house!" Hatsuko called her brother, shouting very loudly that Rukawa's eyes widened.
When Rukawa saw Sakuragi march to the door, he said, "Not that I intended to invite you in."
"Teme, Rukawa! I heard that!"
"You were supposed to, do ahou. That's what you get for disturbing my sleep."
"ME?! Hatsuko was the one who dragged me here!"
They continued to hurl remarks at each other as they settled on the couch in the living room.
"Mou, Nii-chan! We're guests so please," Hatsuko said rather desperately, sweatdropping.
"You should learn manners from your sister," Rukawa added, nodding his head at what Hatsuko had just said.
"Nani?! Tensai wa…"
"NII-CHAN!"
Sakuragi quickly shut his mouth and bit down on his tongue yet again.
"I believe that's the second time today," Rukawa said.
"Ypurusfai Rfukawa!!"
Rukawa turned his attention from the red-head to Hatsuko, who was still standing and fiddling with the edge of her sweater looking unsure of herself and very uncomfortable; unlike her uncouth brother who was sprawled on the sofa with his legs on the coffee table.
"Why did you come?"
"Ano… I want to thank you for lending us the money to pay… the… you know. We will pay you back… zettai… but it will take a while…"
"I know that," Rukawa cut in.
"Eh? Erm… I know you know… but… I just thought that you wouldn't trust us… and I want to know when you want the money back…" her voice trailed back.
"Who said that I don't trust you?" Rukawa thumbed towards Sakuragi. "Him I don't trust."
Hatsuko smiled at that remark, and went towards her brother and playfully kicked his leg.
"Nii-chan, no one trusts you. Not Rukawa-san, not even Sendoh-san!"
"Sendoh?"
"Hai," Hatsuko told Rukawa, who had his eyebrows furrowed. "He was at school today…"
"Again?" Rukawa said, puzzled.
"Huh? Again?" asked a confused Hatsuko.
Rukawa chose not to say anything and looked at his kitten which suddenly hopped onto his lap.
"Kitsune, what's its name?"
Rukawa stared at Sakuragi.
"That." Sakuragi looked at the kitten. "You should name it after Tensai."
"Nii-chan, who said that the kitten was a male?" Hatsuko asked. She was seated next to her brother.
"Kiara."
Both Sakuragi and Hatsuko turned to Rukawa's soft response.
"Her name is Kiara. Rukawa Kiara, since she's a part of the Rukawa family."
Hatsuko grinned. "Rukawa-san, isn't that…"
Rukawa nodded without changing the focus of his gaze on his beloved kitten and lifted her up to his face such that its little pink nose touched Rukawa's. The kitten mewed, revealing its tiny yet sharp teeth and Sakuragi could have sworn that he saw a smile tugging at Rukawa's lips.
"Kawaii…"
Sakuragi immediately asked, "What's kawaii? And isn't that what?!"
Hatsuko pointed to Rukawa and the kitten.
"Kitsune soretomo Kiara? And isn't that what?!"
"Nii-chan?" Hatsuko turned to her brother with a smile plastered on her face.
"H-hai?" Sakuragi asked, taken aback at the expression on his sister's face.
"Damare nasai."
With a pout, he crossed his arms in front of him.
"Youji," Hatsuko teasingly said, sticking a tongue out at her older brother. Rukawa agreeing wholeheartedly, nodded. [Youji=baby]
Rukawa looked from brother to sister and wondered how they could be related when they were so unalike. Without realizing it, he began to compare himself with his younger brother. Like the Sakuragi siblings, they were also like opposite poles of a magnet. But he wondered why the Sakuragi siblings could be such great company for each other whereas Kazuo and he couldn't.
His gaze drifted to Hatsuko's hair which was untied and he couldn't help but think about…
"Nii-chan!" Hatsuko slapped Sakuragi on his arm.
When Rukawa saw the scrunchie around her wrist, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'Kami-sama, what the hell am I thinking?!'
"Hey, Rukawa, where's Kazuo?"
"He went to get dinner," Rukawa replied quickly, hiding his thoughts with a bored voice.
"Er… I think we should go," Hatsuko told her brother, tugging the sleeve of Sakuragi's navy sweater. She then bent to the little kitten. "Ja, Kia… eh?"
The kitten darted off before Hatsuko could pat it goodbye. Rukawa could see that Hatsuko was a little hurt by it, so he said, "Can you get her for me? She can be such trouble."
"Eh? Demo… It's not polite to…"
"I need to stay here in case this Do ahou does anything to my house."
"NANI?! TEME! RUKAWA!"
"Er.. hai…" Hatsuko looked confused but followed the kitten upstairs.
Hatsuko looked around the dark corridor of the second level and saw the kitten's white tail as it slipped into a room through a crack in the door.
"Kiara-chan," Hatsuko whispered. Laughing at herself, she said, "This is silly. Why am I whispering?"
Hatsuko walked to the door. 'Should I go in?' she thought. 'It might be Rukawa-san's or Rukawa-kun's and if it's in the state of Nii-chan's room, I definitely don't want to go in.'
Hatsuko was thinking of Sakuragi's room with his dirty laundry scattered all over the place, and that included his underwear. Flushing and taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open a wider crack and poked her head in.
"Kiara-chan?"
Sighing with relief at the spotless bedroom tacked with basketball posters after switching on the lights, Hatsuko stepped in.
"Ah… Rukawa-kun's room!" she said cheerfully, upon noticing the Algebra textbook which they used on his desk. Taking a pencil, she drew a chibi picture of herself on their homework page and scribbled her name there, all the while, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.
Kiara's surprisingly loud mew startled her and Hatsuko accidentally swept her arm across Kazuo's desk; toppling everything to the floor.
"Oh no!"
As Hatsuko scrambled to pick everything up, a familiar piece of fabric peeking from under the bed caught her attention. She reached out for it and rubbed it between her fingers. She found the label and saw her initials on it.
"Watashi no scrunchie?"
Suddenly, the door burst open and Hatsuko screamed in fright. It was Kazuo and he was breathing heavily as he stood by the door, with one of his long arms resting on the door frame.
"Rukawa-kun!"
"Nii-san asked me to check up on you immediately when I reached home. He thought that you might have gotten lost," Kazuo said through pants.
Suddenly Kiara leapt into Hatsuko's arms and hissed at Kazuo.
"Koneko-chan, I don't know why you seem to dislike me these days when I was the one who found you in the first place," Kazuo continued, looking at Kiara. "Hatsuko-san, you went up here to look for it?"
"Hai, and she's Kiara-chan now," Hatsuko said.
"Ah, sou ka?" Kazuo said.
He moved towards Hatsuko and Kiara. Reaching out his hand towards Kiara, he scratched behind its right ear and she purred with pleasure. Kazuo laughed out loud and commented on how simple it was to win her over.
Suddenly, he realized that Hatsuko was fingering the scrunchie that Hatsuko had lost and he had found weeks ago. His heart began to thump heavily against his chest and new beads of perspiration replaced the old which he received during his run back home.
"That scrunchie…" Kazuo whispered.
"I found it in your room, Rukawa-kun. Is there something you wish to tell me?" she asked, looking up to his face. She pushed Kiara away and it ran out of the room.
Kazuo quietly shut the door, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
'I'll tell her the truth now.'
"I found it…" he started.
"But I didn't give it back because I wanted something that's precious to you to keep!" he blurted suddenly.
"Eh?" Hatsuko responded.
Both of them were staring at each other now; Hatsuko was surprised, and Kazuo, anxious. Kazuo knew that he wasn't courageous like his brother but right then and there, he summoned all the courage that was in him and took a few tentative steps towards Hatsuko to close the space that was in between them, but Hatsuko kept moving backwards until she was leaning against Kazuo's wardrobe.
"Hatsuko-san, you may not know this but I like you. I like you a lot."
"Rukawa-kun…" Hatsuko started, but she didn't know what to say.
"Shh…" he whispered, his voice getting softer by the moment.
As Hatsuko was about to open her mouth to speak again, Kazuo placed a finger to her lips, silencing her immediately. A deep blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Please. Let me finish," he continued. "I… I like you a lot but I don't know your feelings towards me. So, I found your scrunchie… when I followed you home when we played basketball together."
When Kazuo saw Hatsuko's eyes widen, he added, "I wanted to be sure that you were safe since Sakuragi-san was so worried about you."
His courage renewed when Hatsuko's eyes softened so he quickly blurted, "When I found the scrunchie, I kept it so that I could feel close to you. I'm sorry."
Embarrassed at what he had just done, Kazuo slammed a fist into his wardrobe, causing a dent in the area just above where Hatsuko was standing. All the while, muttering his apology over and over again. He then leaned forward and rested his forehead against the dent. The way they were standing, it was as though Kazuo was shielding Hatsuko with his height. Protecting her.
Hatsuko stood still, not knowing how to react as she stared straight before her. Of course the only thing in her view was Kazuo's chest. What was she supposed to say to a good friend who fell in love with her? Did she even feel the same way?
Suddenly, Hatsuko felt something drip on her head. She immediately looked up to see Kazuo's pained face. Tears were flowing freely from his sapphire eyes and it dripped from his tear-stained cheeks to Hatsuko's flushed pink cheeks.
'Oh my God! I made Rukawa-kun cry,' Hatsuko thought, panic-stricken.
When Kazuo realized that his tears were wetting Hatsuko's face, he quickly stepped away from Hatsuko and roughly wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"I'm… I'm sorry," he whispered. "For crying in front of you like this… for keeping your scrunchie… and… and for falling for you."
"Rukawa-kun, I…" Hatsuko started.
Kazuo raised a hand to interrupt her. "Do me a favor and don't call me Rukawa-kun."
Hatsuko mouthed opened in an o of surprise but she quickly shut it when Kazuo continued.
"Please call me by my name," he added, almost meekly, looking away.
Kazuo stared at the floor. He was embarrassed at what he did. For everything. It was a mistake to begin with and what did he expect Hatsuko to say to him after all that he's done?
"I'm flattered that you feel that way towards me, Kazuo-kun."
Kazuo's head jerked upwards and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Hatsuko smiling warmly at him.
"However, I don't know what I feel. With all that I'm going through right now, I don't think it's fair if I even accept your feelings and force myself to think of you like more than a friend," she added. "But I do like you, Kazuo-kun. I just don't know how much yet."
Kazuo was about to reply but the door to his room suddenly swung open and his brother stood by it, his face expressionless as usual. In his arms was Kiara.
"Your brother's causing a ruckus downstairs," he said to Hatsuko.
"Oh, sorry for taking so long, Rukawa-san," Hatsuko apologized. "Sayonara, Rukawa-san! Kazuo-kun!"
Kazuo watched as Hatsuko hurried out of his room and he could hear quite clearly the little squabble the Sakuragi siblings had in the Rukawa living room and the front door shutting close, leaving the brothers in silence.
He suddenly realized his brother looking at him. No, looking wasn't the right word. It was glaring. Then Rukawa walked off. Kazuo wasn't sure but was it pain in his brother's eyes?
Author's note: Eep! Throw the rotten fruits and vegetables! ^^6 I deserve it. Well, I sort of knew what to right but every time I finish writing this chapter (yes, I kept on rewriting this chapter over and over again), I wasn't satisfied with the character's expressions ^^ Well, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh hey! I have a Sakuragi fic on my fiction site which I haven't posted up yet. . Tell me if I should put it on FFN, will you? Thank you! XD
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.
Author's note: Thanks for the wonderful comments from everyone. I know that most of you think that this fic is going to turn yaoi, and honestly, I don't know about that. I'm just letting the ideas flow ^^6 Even if this fic doesn't turn yaoi, I hope that the reviewers who suggested it to be yaoi will still support this fic. Thank you ^^
Chapter 10: Confession
"…"
Rukawa woke up to the sounds of incessant banging on the door and no matter how much he tossed and turned in his bed, he couldn't fall back to sleep. He needed to get rid of its source. Groaning, he trudge down the stairs to the front door, muttering as many d'aho as he strength could muster.
'Where's Okaa-san and Kazuo anyways?'
As he unlocked the door and was about to pull it open, the knocking stopped. Rukawa prepared an icy glare to fire at the person who disturbed his precious sleep as he swung the door open.
'If it's a salesman, I'm going to kill him.'
Rukawa looked out and saw no one. His sight went beyond his porch and garden to the gate and saw a tuft of red hair sticking out from behind it.
"Oi, d'aho! What are you doing?" he shouted.
"Erm.. Rukawa-san," a soft voice said, and Rukawa saw a hand waving itself in front of his face.
Looking down, he saw Hatsuko standing right before him; her cheeks flushed pink from the cold of the night. She was wearing an oversized emerald sweater which complimented her toffee-colored smiling eyes and a pair of khaki three-quarter shorts and a pair of bright orange sneakers patterned with swirls. Her layered raven black hair which was let down, cascaded slightly past her shoulders and it looked silky and shiny under the porch lights.
"Omae," Rukawa said, a little surprised.
"Hai," Hatsuko replied, smiling.
Rukawa cast a glance at Sakuragi who was standing very far away from his house.
"I assume that d'aho did the knocking?"
Hatsuko gave a weak grin and nodded. "I told Nii-chan to use the doorbell but he refused. He said that you were sleeping and you probably wouldn't wake up."
Rukawa rolled his eyes but muttered, "That d'aho is right though."
"And Nii-chan immediately sped off when he heard the door open!" Hatsuko continued and giggled.
"Hmph."
Suddenly a soft purring could be heard and Hatsuko found Rukawa's kitten rub itself against Rukawa's legs. It was the kitten which Kazuo found for Rukawa and the one which Hatsuko found and returned on the first day that they met.
"Koneko-chan, do you remember me?" Hatsuko asked the not-so tiny kitten, bending low and scratching the kitten behind one of its ears. "Rukawa-san, have you named her yet?"
Rukawa shook his head. Suddenly, a gentle but chilly zephyr blew past. Making up his mind, he invited Hatsuko into his house.
"Might as well ask Sakuragi as well," he muttered.
"Nii-chan! Rukawa-san's inviting you into his house!" Hatsuko called her brother, shouting very loudly that Rukawa's eyes widened.
When Rukawa saw Sakuragi march to the door, he said, "Not that I intended to invite you in."
"Teme, Rukawa! I heard that!"
"You were supposed to, do ahou. That's what you get for disturbing my sleep."
"ME?! Hatsuko was the one who dragged me here!"
They continued to hurl remarks at each other as they settled on the couch in the living room.
"Mou, Nii-chan! We're guests so please," Hatsuko said rather desperately, sweatdropping.
"You should learn manners from your sister," Rukawa added, nodding his head at what Hatsuko had just said.
"Nani?! Tensai wa…"
"NII-CHAN!"
Sakuragi quickly shut his mouth and bit down on his tongue yet again.
"I believe that's the second time today," Rukawa said.
"Ypurusfai Rfukawa!!"
Rukawa turned his attention from the red-head to Hatsuko, who was still standing and fiddling with the edge of her sweater looking unsure of herself and very uncomfortable; unlike her uncouth brother who was sprawled on the sofa with his legs on the coffee table.
"Why did you come?"
"Ano… I want to thank you for lending us the money to pay… the… you know. We will pay you back… zettai… but it will take a while…"
"I know that," Rukawa cut in.
"Eh? Erm… I know you know… but… I just thought that you wouldn't trust us… and I want to know when you want the money back…" her voice trailed back.
"Who said that I don't trust you?" Rukawa thumbed towards Sakuragi. "Him I don't trust."
Hatsuko smiled at that remark, and went towards her brother and playfully kicked his leg.
"Nii-chan, no one trusts you. Not Rukawa-san, not even Sendoh-san!"
"Sendoh?"
"Hai," Hatsuko told Rukawa, who had his eyebrows furrowed. "He was at school today…"
"Again?" Rukawa said, puzzled.
"Huh? Again?" asked a confused Hatsuko.
Rukawa chose not to say anything and looked at his kitten which suddenly hopped onto his lap.
"Kitsune, what's its name?"
Rukawa stared at Sakuragi.
"That." Sakuragi looked at the kitten. "You should name it after Tensai."
"Nii-chan, who said that the kitten was a male?" Hatsuko asked. She was seated next to her brother.
"Kiara."
Both Sakuragi and Hatsuko turned to Rukawa's soft response.
"Her name is Kiara. Rukawa Kiara, since she's a part of the Rukawa family."
Hatsuko grinned. "Rukawa-san, isn't that…"
Rukawa nodded without changing the focus of his gaze on his beloved kitten and lifted her up to his face such that its little pink nose touched Rukawa's. The kitten mewed, revealing its tiny yet sharp teeth and Sakuragi could have sworn that he saw a smile tugging at Rukawa's lips.
"Kawaii…"
Sakuragi immediately asked, "What's kawaii? And isn't that what?!"
Hatsuko pointed to Rukawa and the kitten.
"Kitsune soretomo Kiara? And isn't that what?!"
"Nii-chan?" Hatsuko turned to her brother with a smile plastered on her face.
"H-hai?" Sakuragi asked, taken aback at the expression on his sister's face.
"Damare nasai."
With a pout, he crossed his arms in front of him.
"Youji," Hatsuko teasingly said, sticking a tongue out at her older brother. Rukawa agreeing wholeheartedly, nodded. [Youji=baby]
Rukawa looked from brother to sister and wondered how they could be related when they were so unalike. Without realizing it, he began to compare himself with his younger brother. Like the Sakuragi siblings, they were also like opposite poles of a magnet. But he wondered why the Sakuragi siblings could be such great company for each other whereas Kazuo and he couldn't.
His gaze drifted to Hatsuko's hair which was untied and he couldn't help but think about…
"Nii-chan!" Hatsuko slapped Sakuragi on his arm.
When Rukawa saw the scrunchie around her wrist, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'Kami-sama, what the hell am I thinking?!'
"Hey, Rukawa, where's Kazuo?"
"He went to get dinner," Rukawa replied quickly, hiding his thoughts with a bored voice.
"Er… I think we should go," Hatsuko told her brother, tugging the sleeve of Sakuragi's navy sweater. She then bent to the little kitten. "Ja, Kia… eh?"
The kitten darted off before Hatsuko could pat it goodbye. Rukawa could see that Hatsuko was a little hurt by it, so he said, "Can you get her for me? She can be such trouble."
"Eh? Demo… It's not polite to…"
"I need to stay here in case this Do ahou does anything to my house."
"NANI?! TEME! RUKAWA!"
"Er.. hai…" Hatsuko looked confused but followed the kitten upstairs.
Hatsuko looked around the dark corridor of the second level and saw the kitten's white tail as it slipped into a room through a crack in the door.
"Kiara-chan," Hatsuko whispered. Laughing at herself, she said, "This is silly. Why am I whispering?"
Hatsuko walked to the door. 'Should I go in?' she thought. 'It might be Rukawa-san's or Rukawa-kun's and if it's in the state of Nii-chan's room, I definitely don't want to go in.'
Hatsuko was thinking of Sakuragi's room with his dirty laundry scattered all over the place, and that included his underwear. Flushing and taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open a wider crack and poked her head in.
"Kiara-chan?"
Sighing with relief at the spotless bedroom tacked with basketball posters after switching on the lights, Hatsuko stepped in.
"Ah… Rukawa-kun's room!" she said cheerfully, upon noticing the Algebra textbook which they used on his desk. Taking a pencil, she drew a chibi picture of herself on their homework page and scribbled her name there, all the while, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.
Kiara's surprisingly loud mew startled her and Hatsuko accidentally swept her arm across Kazuo's desk; toppling everything to the floor.
"Oh no!"
As Hatsuko scrambled to pick everything up, a familiar piece of fabric peeking from under the bed caught her attention. She reached out for it and rubbed it between her fingers. She found the label and saw her initials on it.
"Watashi no scrunchie?"
Suddenly, the door burst open and Hatsuko screamed in fright. It was Kazuo and he was breathing heavily as he stood by the door, with one of his long arms resting on the door frame.
"Rukawa-kun!"
"Nii-san asked me to check up on you immediately when I reached home. He thought that you might have gotten lost," Kazuo said through pants.
Suddenly Kiara leapt into Hatsuko's arms and hissed at Kazuo.
"Koneko-chan, I don't know why you seem to dislike me these days when I was the one who found you in the first place," Kazuo continued, looking at Kiara. "Hatsuko-san, you went up here to look for it?"
"Hai, and she's Kiara-chan now," Hatsuko said.
"Ah, sou ka?" Kazuo said.
He moved towards Hatsuko and Kiara. Reaching out his hand towards Kiara, he scratched behind its right ear and she purred with pleasure. Kazuo laughed out loud and commented on how simple it was to win her over.
Suddenly, he realized that Hatsuko was fingering the scrunchie that Hatsuko had lost and he had found weeks ago. His heart began to thump heavily against his chest and new beads of perspiration replaced the old which he received during his run back home.
"That scrunchie…" Kazuo whispered.
"I found it in your room, Rukawa-kun. Is there something you wish to tell me?" she asked, looking up to his face. She pushed Kiara away and it ran out of the room.
Kazuo quietly shut the door, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
'I'll tell her the truth now.'
"I found it…" he started.
"But I didn't give it back because I wanted something that's precious to you to keep!" he blurted suddenly.
"Eh?" Hatsuko responded.
Both of them were staring at each other now; Hatsuko was surprised, and Kazuo, anxious. Kazuo knew that he wasn't courageous like his brother but right then and there, he summoned all the courage that was in him and took a few tentative steps towards Hatsuko to close the space that was in between them, but Hatsuko kept moving backwards until she was leaning against Kazuo's wardrobe.
"Hatsuko-san, you may not know this but I like you. I like you a lot."
"Rukawa-kun…" Hatsuko started, but she didn't know what to say.
"Shh…" he whispered, his voice getting softer by the moment.
As Hatsuko was about to open her mouth to speak again, Kazuo placed a finger to her lips, silencing her immediately. A deep blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Please. Let me finish," he continued. "I… I like you a lot but I don't know your feelings towards me. So, I found your scrunchie… when I followed you home when we played basketball together."
When Kazuo saw Hatsuko's eyes widen, he added, "I wanted to be sure that you were safe since Sakuragi-san was so worried about you."
His courage renewed when Hatsuko's eyes softened so he quickly blurted, "When I found the scrunchie, I kept it so that I could feel close to you. I'm sorry."
Embarrassed at what he had just done, Kazuo slammed a fist into his wardrobe, causing a dent in the area just above where Hatsuko was standing. All the while, muttering his apology over and over again. He then leaned forward and rested his forehead against the dent. The way they were standing, it was as though Kazuo was shielding Hatsuko with his height. Protecting her.
Hatsuko stood still, not knowing how to react as she stared straight before her. Of course the only thing in her view was Kazuo's chest. What was she supposed to say to a good friend who fell in love with her? Did she even feel the same way?
Suddenly, Hatsuko felt something drip on her head. She immediately looked up to see Kazuo's pained face. Tears were flowing freely from his sapphire eyes and it dripped from his tear-stained cheeks to Hatsuko's flushed pink cheeks.
'Oh my God! I made Rukawa-kun cry,' Hatsuko thought, panic-stricken.
When Kazuo realized that his tears were wetting Hatsuko's face, he quickly stepped away from Hatsuko and roughly wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"I'm… I'm sorry," he whispered. "For crying in front of you like this… for keeping your scrunchie… and… and for falling for you."
"Rukawa-kun, I…" Hatsuko started.
Kazuo raised a hand to interrupt her. "Do me a favor and don't call me Rukawa-kun."
Hatsuko mouthed opened in an o of surprise but she quickly shut it when Kazuo continued.
"Please call me by my name," he added, almost meekly, looking away.
Kazuo stared at the floor. He was embarrassed at what he did. For everything. It was a mistake to begin with and what did he expect Hatsuko to say to him after all that he's done?
"I'm flattered that you feel that way towards me, Kazuo-kun."
Kazuo's head jerked upwards and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Hatsuko smiling warmly at him.
"However, I don't know what I feel. With all that I'm going through right now, I don't think it's fair if I even accept your feelings and force myself to think of you like more than a friend," she added. "But I do like you, Kazuo-kun. I just don't know how much yet."
Kazuo was about to reply but the door to his room suddenly swung open and his brother stood by it, his face expressionless as usual. In his arms was Kiara.
"Your brother's causing a ruckus downstairs," he said to Hatsuko.
"Oh, sorry for taking so long, Rukawa-san," Hatsuko apologized. "Sayonara, Rukawa-san! Kazuo-kun!"
Kazuo watched as Hatsuko hurried out of his room and he could hear quite clearly the little squabble the Sakuragi siblings had in the Rukawa living room and the front door shutting close, leaving the brothers in silence.
He suddenly realized his brother looking at him. No, looking wasn't the right word. It was glaring. Then Rukawa walked off. Kazuo wasn't sure but was it pain in his brother's eyes?
Author's note: Eep! Throw the rotten fruits and vegetables! ^^6 I deserve it. Well, I sort of knew what to right but every time I finish writing this chapter (yes, I kept on rewriting this chapter over and over again), I wasn't satisfied with the character's expressions ^^ Well, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh hey! I have a Sakuragi fic on my fiction site which I haven't posted up yet. . Tell me if I should put it on FFN, will you? Thank you! XD