Let One's Heart Decide
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Inoue Takehiko and its rightful companies. All other characters not related to Slam Dunk were created for the sole purpose of supporting this fanfiction. All rights reserved.
Author's Note: To everyone who's been reading and reviewing my fic, *hugs* thank you! XD You always made my day by reviewing ^___^ And by introducing my other fic, which is now on ffN titled: Anti-Nostalgia, I actually want support for it and it wasn't an excuse to stop writing this fic @__@ I love writing this fic and I love all the characters in it! ^___^ I definitely will not stop until I finish this! XD
Chapter 11: The One Who Smiles
'It's been almost a month since I've professed my feelings to Hatsuko-san but it doesn't seem to matter because she's acting as though nothing happened.'
Kazuo turned to look at Hatsuko who was deep in concentration, as she sat at the first row of the class, right next to the windows. Occasionally, she'd look out of the window and would keep looking until the teacher whacked her on her head with a paper fan he made especially for the 'notorious' Sakuragi and Rukawa siblings. The elder ones tend to make lesson time their sleeping sessions whereas the younger ones often don't realize that they were spacing out until they get whacked hard by the fan.
'Hatsuko-san has been quieter too. Could it be…'
"ITAI!" Kazuo yelped, shielding his head.
He looked up to see his sensei glowering at him, with his sensei's trusty fan several inches above Kazuo's head, in preparation for another hard whacking.
"Sensei!" Kazuo protested.
"What are you objecting for?!" his sensei growled. "You deserve to get hit for not paying attention in class!"
"Datte! Sensei!!"
Kazuo received a harder whack this time and the whole class erupted in laughter. All except for Hatsuko, who just kept gazing out of the classroom window, oblivious to the ruckus around her.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sakuragi was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he merrily walked to his sister's class; Yohei not far behind trying to keep up with the redhead's huge strides which were huger than usual since he was acting like a bouncing ball.
"Hanamichi, can you please slow down? I can't keep up with you," Yohei called from more than three feet away, trying to walk as quickly as he could.
"NYAHAHA! You should train and be a sportsman, Yohei! Then you can keep up with Tensai!" Sakuragi practically shouted, causing everyone within a 5 meter radius of him to wince.
Sakuragi suddenly halted and Yohei who was walking too fast slammed into his friend and fell backwards. Sakuragi, being the muscle-bound being that he was, barely moved an inch by the hard impact.
"Why'd you stop so suddenly?" Yohei asked, nursing his behind by rubbing it.
"Tensai was thinking. Even if you did become a sportsman, you'll still not be able to keep up with Tensai," Sakuragi murmured, in deep thought, then laughed at it.
"Sakuragi-san!"
"Hrm?" Sakuragi looked up to see Kazuo rushing towards him, looking pretty much breathless.
"Have you seen Hatsuko-san?"
Sakuragi looked at Kazuo and laughed out loud. "You're just like your brother! Stamina-less!"
"Hanamichi!" Yohei sweatdropped. "We were just headed for your class to see her, Kazuo."
Kazuo scratched his head thoughtfully.
"What's the matter though?" Sakuragi asked, after having a good laugh.
"Well, she's been disappearing around this time for the past three weeks or so… and… well, she was out of class just now before I could talk to her."
"Worried about her, aren't you?" Sakuragi grinned wildly, and nudged Kazuo in the ribs.
"Sakuragi-san! Aren't you worried about your sister?" Kazuo asked exasperatedly, trying to fight down the blush that had begun to spread across his pale cheeks.
"Hrm, good point," Sakuragi said, causing Kazuo to roll his eyes.
"Well, the Sakuragi siblings have a tendency to disappear a lot. Like this tough guy here," Yohei looked pointedly at Sakuragi. "He keeps coming to class during lunch."
"And Hatsuko-san keeps disappearing during lunch…" Kazuo added.
With a 'hm' as though they were putting two and two together, Sakuragi slowly edged away.
"Sakuragi-san!"
"Hanamichi!"
When the two called his name in unison, Sakuragi dashed off in a burst of speed and ran into…
"OW!"
"Itai!"
Groaning, Sakuragi looked up to see that he had run all the way to the school gates and collided into his sister and a person who looked vaguely familiar.
"Nii-chan! What do you think you're doing?!" Hatsuko grumbled, as the stranger pulled Hatsuko to her feet. "You could have killed us!"
"Tai-chan, daijoubu?"
"Tai-chan?" Sakuragi raised an eyebrow and gave the stranger a once look over. He then proceeded to glare at the person who was about the same height as he. 'Or is he taller?' Sakuragi wondered.
The person called 'Tai-chan' grinned at Sakuragi despite the latter's murderous glare and bowed. "I'm Kikuchi Taira. Douzo yoroshiku."
Finally, after a lot more glaring, despite Hatsuko's glares directed towards him, Sakuragi grinned back.
"You're Taira!"
With a nod, Taira nodded and smiled.
"Erm…" Sakuragi tilted his head sideways.
"Nii-chan! He's my best friend from when Kaa-chan and I lived in Tokyo! Remember?"
"OH!!!" Sakuragi grabbed Taira's hand and gave it a hearty handshake which caused the still grinning Taira to grin painfully. "Glad to finally meet you, after many years."
"Same here, Hana-ii," Taira replied.
Sakuragi yelped and clamped his hand over Taira's mouth.
"Don't call me that anymore!!" he whispered fiercely into Taira's ears. The last time Taira called him that was approximately ten years ago.
Sakuragi noticed his uniform and yelped again. "You're from that school! That school with that golden-haired monkey who likes my Haruko-san!!!"
Taira frowned in confusion, and Hatsuko had to explain to him.
"I'm from Tsukubu and you were talking about Rango-san?"
"Is that his name? I forgot," Sakuragi simply said and muttered curses under his breath. "You're in basketball?"
"Iie, tennis."
"Good, don't talk to that stupid Ringo (apple) person. You'll end up being stupid as him."
"Saa… it's Rango. Rango."
"I don't care about that baka," Sakuragi waved his hand dismissively.
"I have to go. See you later then, Tai-chan?" Hatsuko looked at Taira, and with a grin and a nod from the latter, she was off.
"Oi! You're missing classes!" Sakuragi called to her.
"And you're not?" came her reply. "You're always gone in the mornings. I know, Nii-chan!!"
With an amused grin at how similar his sister was to him, Sakuragi turned to Taira.
"You're skipping school?"
"Oh no, no. There's a school carnival later so all the students get to leave early."
"Sou…" Sakuragi rubbed his chin.
"I came here to invite Hat-chan since I haven't seen her in ages. You're invited too, of course, Sakuragi-san."
As soon as Taira said that, Sakuragi put his arm over Taira's shoulders.
"You really know how to please your friend's brother! It's free for me, right?"
"Er… right. Just for you and Hat-chan though."
"Sakuragi-san! Why did you run away from us?" cried the panting Kazuo, with Yohei straggling along after the former.
"We're missing our lunch," Yohei pointed out.
"Tell me where's Hatsuko-san," Kazuo pleaded.
With a tsk, Sakuragi said, "A man should not act like that."
"Hat-chan? Are they Hat-chan's friends?" Taira asked cheerfully.
Kazuo was so worried about Hatsuko that he did not pay any notice to the handsome guy who was grinning despite the weight of Sakuragi's arm around his shoulder… until now.
'He's calling Hatsuko-san Hat-chan!!'
Trying not to glower at the guy and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Kazuo asked, "And you are?"
"Kikuchi Taira, a friend of Hat-chan's since we were little."
"Ah, Kiku-"
"Taira's fine," Taira interrupted. "Let's not get formal. I prefer being casual."
"Nice to meet you, Taira," Kazuo said and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes like it used to. "I'm Rukawa Kazuo."
Taira bowed and replied but Kazuo barely noticed.
Shrugging, Taira turned his attention to Sakuragi and Yohei, and Kazuo took the opportunity to scrutinize the person who spoke and called the name of the girl of his dreams so casually.
He noticed that Taira was slightly taller that Sakuragi, although this was barely noticeable. His brown eyes were of such a deep shade that it looked almost black, that kind of gave him an air of mystery, but that disappears everything he smiles as his eyes tend to sparkle when he does. His skin was tan; and he had a built to die for, in Kazuo's opinion, as he felt that he was a plank compared to the guy. He could already tell just from the look of his arm!
Taira suddenly laughed out loud when Sakuragi said something, and as he did, his longish black hair with streaks of blue highlighted into it swept back to display multiple piercings on his left ear. Kazuo couldn't help but wonder if he had just as many on his right.
Suddenly, Kazuo realized that everyone was looking at him.
"What?"
"Do you want to come to Tsukubu's School Carnival today?" Taira asked, a grin on his face.
'Is it just me or am I the only one who's getting all vexed by that grin of his?' Kazuo wondered, with a frown.
"Hat-chan will be there," Taira added.
Without hesitation, Kazuo replied, "I'm going."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked as he walked past his brother's room. It was in a mess, and that wasn't normal by Kazuo's standards.
"Finding my cologne," Kazuo said from pile of clothes strewn carelessly onto the carpeted floor. By the sound of his muffled voice, Rukawa assumed that his brother was buried under that pile of clothes.
Just as Rukawa was about to walk off carrying his basketball, his brother spoke again.
"What?"
"Help me find my cologne!" Kazuo called out again. His head popped out from the pile of clothes, which confirmed Rukawa's suspicion of his brother being buried alive, and he looked as though he was about to cry with his pale face red with frustration.
Rukawa entered his brother's room and looked around, trying not to think about the love confession his brother made to Hatsuko in that very same room. His sapphire eyes spotted the bottle of cologne sitting perfectly on a stack of books. Picking it up, he looked at it. Hugo Boss. Dark Blue.
"Do ahou," Rukawa called his brother, and when Kazuo was in view, Rukawa tossed the bottle at him with the latter barely catching it.
"And you call yourself a basketball player?"
"I can only catch basketballs and things that are around that size or bigger," Kazuo mutter indignantly.
Rukawa abandoned the thought of the basketball court calling to him and sat on his brother's lumpy bed instead and watched as he pulled on a neatly ironed collared shirt, and buttoned it up.
"Where are you going?"
"Tsukubu's carnival. Hatsuko-san's childhood friend invited me. That do ahou," Kazuo grumbled angrily as he sprayed all over himself with his cologne.
That caused Rukawa to raise an eyebrow, not that Kazuo would notice since Kazuo was too busy dressing up and being upset, and for the fact that Rukawa's eyebrows were hidden beneath his bangs.
"That idiot calls Hatsuko-san 'Hat-chan', and he's all friendly with Sakuragi-san," Kazuo continued to whine.
"And you're going to try and impress her with that?" Rukawa asked nonchalantly.
"And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Do ahou. Look in the mirror."
Kazuo stomped to the full-length mirror on the front of his wardrobe and groaned. His brother was right. He was a do ahou. There were splotches of cologne all over his shirt and basically, he looked too dressed-up.
"You used too much cologne. You reek of it. Wash up."
"Fine fine," Kazuo muttered, heading for the bathroom. "Thanks for telling me."
"Hn."
A few minutes later, Kazuo's poked his head into his room.
"Nii-san, what are you still doing here?"
"Waiting for you," said Rukawa as he spun and balanced the basketball he brought along on his index finger.
"Huh?"
"I'm going. Tsukubu's carnival."
"What?"
"Do ahou. Hurry up."
Kazuo scowled and left again.
"Do ahou."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure that Kazuo-kun said he'll come, Nii-chan? He's more than an hour late."
"Definitely," Sakuragi replied.
Then he and Taira proceeded to act out the scene that noon.
"Hat-chan will be there," Taira said in a manly voice.
"I'm going!" Sakuragi replied enthusiastically, in a high-pitched voice.
Hatsuko turned crimson, when suddenly, an annoyed voice replied, "I don't sound like that."
She turned around to see Kazuo with a scowl on his face and was even more surprised to see his brother standing a little behind him, with his usual standoffish expression.
"Rukawa-san! You came too!" Hatsuko greeted him, waving.
Rukawa looked at her, nodded, and turned away.
"You took long enough, Kazuo," Sakuragi complained. "Did Kitsune keep you waiting?"
"I made Nii-san wait, actually," Kazuo scratched his head, and said sheepishly.
Taira looked at the two brothers and smiled at them but they acted really cold and glared at him instead, causing him to back up a little.
Sakuragi looked at his sister and frowned as she spoke enthusiastically to Taira, with the Rukawa siblings glaring at the victim. He then looked disapprovingly at the clothes she was wearing. She was wearing a sky blue sleeveless top which she told him was called a spaghetti, and in his opinion, it was much too revealing for his sister to wear something like that. But he then began to imagine his Haruko-san in it, and his face turned crimson.
"Nii-chan, you're turning red," Hatsuko pointed out, amused.
"Am not!" he growled and stomped off, dragging his sister along and Taira along. "We are going together."
With his eyes widening, Kazuo ran after them and with a sigh, Rukawa followed. He stopped when he saw that Sakuragi was shouting loudly at someone with blond bangs.
'The golden-haired monkey. That was fast.'
"Where's Haruko-chan?"
"Why should she come to a stupid carnival, saru?!"
"Then why are you here?"
Rukawa sighed, and looked as Tsukubu's so-called ace, Rango, have a impetuous battle of words with Shohoku's do ahou, Sakuragi.
"Don't make a scene, do ahou," Rukawa said.
"Who's making a scene, kitsune?!" the two yelled back in unison.
A crowd of visitors already began to crowd around the group.
"This is embarrassing," Hatsuko murmured and quietly left the scene with Taira and Kazuo in tow.
With a huff, Rango said, "This is Tsukubu's Basketball Club booth. Pass through the entire team and make a shot. A successful play will get you anything from there."
He then proceeded to point to large stand with various prizes ranging from stuffed animals, treats, and more.
"Five consecutive shots will win you an autographed Tsukubu jersey," he continued.
"Who the hell would want to win a Tsukubu jersey?! With disgusting autographs on it too!" Sakuragi laughed.
Rukawa nodded in response.
"Cowards, aren't you?"
"You're on, saru!" Sakuragi and Rukawa said, their eyes murderous.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kazuo followed Taira and Hatsuko, sulking all the way. Every so often, Taira would turn and send a smile his way but Kazuo would ignore him but simply focus on Hatsuko. He needed to talk to her.
'Look at me, Hatsuko-san. Please.'
It was as if she heard his plea, Hatsuko stopped to turn and look at Kazuo for a moment before looking at the ground, an expression that his brother would usually wear masking her face.
"Tai-chan, why don't you get us some drinks?"
Taira frowned but nodded, before setting off.
"Hatsuko-san…"
"Kazuo-kun," she interrupted. "I've kept you waiting…" she shifted the gaze of her honey brown eyes from the ground to look into his sapphire ones. "And I'm sorry. Sorry for making you wait… and sorry for my…"
"It's okay," Kazuo said, a forced smile on his face. "I understand. I'm sorry if I was too forceful."
"Kazuo-kun. I…" Hatsuko started, looking horrified. "That's not…"
"You like someone else, but at least I tried, didn't I?" he choked, before turning away.
"Kazuo-kun!" she called, but he's retreating back refused to turn. 'That's not what I meant. That's not what I meant at all…'
Author's Note: Wow, I took so long on this. Sorry everyone ^^6 And those who've been urging me on, thank you. I'm kind of having problems with all my stories. I see the plot but writing them down is kind of hard for me lately. I don't know why ^^6 Well, hope this chapter was good enough. I think it's pretty lame though -___-*
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Inoue Takehiko and its rightful companies. All other characters not related to Slam Dunk were created for the sole purpose of supporting this fanfiction. All rights reserved.
Author's Note: To everyone who's been reading and reviewing my fic, *hugs* thank you! XD You always made my day by reviewing ^___^ And by introducing my other fic, which is now on ffN titled: Anti-Nostalgia, I actually want support for it and it wasn't an excuse to stop writing this fic @__@ I love writing this fic and I love all the characters in it! ^___^ I definitely will not stop until I finish this! XD
Chapter 11: The One Who Smiles
'It's been almost a month since I've professed my feelings to Hatsuko-san but it doesn't seem to matter because she's acting as though nothing happened.'
Kazuo turned to look at Hatsuko who was deep in concentration, as she sat at the first row of the class, right next to the windows. Occasionally, she'd look out of the window and would keep looking until the teacher whacked her on her head with a paper fan he made especially for the 'notorious' Sakuragi and Rukawa siblings. The elder ones tend to make lesson time their sleeping sessions whereas the younger ones often don't realize that they were spacing out until they get whacked hard by the fan.
'Hatsuko-san has been quieter too. Could it be…'
"ITAI!" Kazuo yelped, shielding his head.
He looked up to see his sensei glowering at him, with his sensei's trusty fan several inches above Kazuo's head, in preparation for another hard whacking.
"Sensei!" Kazuo protested.
"What are you objecting for?!" his sensei growled. "You deserve to get hit for not paying attention in class!"
"Datte! Sensei!!"
Kazuo received a harder whack this time and the whole class erupted in laughter. All except for Hatsuko, who just kept gazing out of the classroom window, oblivious to the ruckus around her.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sakuragi was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he merrily walked to his sister's class; Yohei not far behind trying to keep up with the redhead's huge strides which were huger than usual since he was acting like a bouncing ball.
"Hanamichi, can you please slow down? I can't keep up with you," Yohei called from more than three feet away, trying to walk as quickly as he could.
"NYAHAHA! You should train and be a sportsman, Yohei! Then you can keep up with Tensai!" Sakuragi practically shouted, causing everyone within a 5 meter radius of him to wince.
Sakuragi suddenly halted and Yohei who was walking too fast slammed into his friend and fell backwards. Sakuragi, being the muscle-bound being that he was, barely moved an inch by the hard impact.
"Why'd you stop so suddenly?" Yohei asked, nursing his behind by rubbing it.
"Tensai was thinking. Even if you did become a sportsman, you'll still not be able to keep up with Tensai," Sakuragi murmured, in deep thought, then laughed at it.
"Sakuragi-san!"
"Hrm?" Sakuragi looked up to see Kazuo rushing towards him, looking pretty much breathless.
"Have you seen Hatsuko-san?"
Sakuragi looked at Kazuo and laughed out loud. "You're just like your brother! Stamina-less!"
"Hanamichi!" Yohei sweatdropped. "We were just headed for your class to see her, Kazuo."
Kazuo scratched his head thoughtfully.
"What's the matter though?" Sakuragi asked, after having a good laugh.
"Well, she's been disappearing around this time for the past three weeks or so… and… well, she was out of class just now before I could talk to her."
"Worried about her, aren't you?" Sakuragi grinned wildly, and nudged Kazuo in the ribs.
"Sakuragi-san! Aren't you worried about your sister?" Kazuo asked exasperatedly, trying to fight down the blush that had begun to spread across his pale cheeks.
"Hrm, good point," Sakuragi said, causing Kazuo to roll his eyes.
"Well, the Sakuragi siblings have a tendency to disappear a lot. Like this tough guy here," Yohei looked pointedly at Sakuragi. "He keeps coming to class during lunch."
"And Hatsuko-san keeps disappearing during lunch…" Kazuo added.
With a 'hm' as though they were putting two and two together, Sakuragi slowly edged away.
"Sakuragi-san!"
"Hanamichi!"
When the two called his name in unison, Sakuragi dashed off in a burst of speed and ran into…
"OW!"
"Itai!"
Groaning, Sakuragi looked up to see that he had run all the way to the school gates and collided into his sister and a person who looked vaguely familiar.
"Nii-chan! What do you think you're doing?!" Hatsuko grumbled, as the stranger pulled Hatsuko to her feet. "You could have killed us!"
"Tai-chan, daijoubu?"
"Tai-chan?" Sakuragi raised an eyebrow and gave the stranger a once look over. He then proceeded to glare at the person who was about the same height as he. 'Or is he taller?' Sakuragi wondered.
The person called 'Tai-chan' grinned at Sakuragi despite the latter's murderous glare and bowed. "I'm Kikuchi Taira. Douzo yoroshiku."
Finally, after a lot more glaring, despite Hatsuko's glares directed towards him, Sakuragi grinned back.
"You're Taira!"
With a nod, Taira nodded and smiled.
"Erm…" Sakuragi tilted his head sideways.
"Nii-chan! He's my best friend from when Kaa-chan and I lived in Tokyo! Remember?"
"OH!!!" Sakuragi grabbed Taira's hand and gave it a hearty handshake which caused the still grinning Taira to grin painfully. "Glad to finally meet you, after many years."
"Same here, Hana-ii," Taira replied.
Sakuragi yelped and clamped his hand over Taira's mouth.
"Don't call me that anymore!!" he whispered fiercely into Taira's ears. The last time Taira called him that was approximately ten years ago.
Sakuragi noticed his uniform and yelped again. "You're from that school! That school with that golden-haired monkey who likes my Haruko-san!!!"
Taira frowned in confusion, and Hatsuko had to explain to him.
"I'm from Tsukubu and you were talking about Rango-san?"
"Is that his name? I forgot," Sakuragi simply said and muttered curses under his breath. "You're in basketball?"
"Iie, tennis."
"Good, don't talk to that stupid Ringo (apple) person. You'll end up being stupid as him."
"Saa… it's Rango. Rango."
"I don't care about that baka," Sakuragi waved his hand dismissively.
"I have to go. See you later then, Tai-chan?" Hatsuko looked at Taira, and with a grin and a nod from the latter, she was off.
"Oi! You're missing classes!" Sakuragi called to her.
"And you're not?" came her reply. "You're always gone in the mornings. I know, Nii-chan!!"
With an amused grin at how similar his sister was to him, Sakuragi turned to Taira.
"You're skipping school?"
"Oh no, no. There's a school carnival later so all the students get to leave early."
"Sou…" Sakuragi rubbed his chin.
"I came here to invite Hat-chan since I haven't seen her in ages. You're invited too, of course, Sakuragi-san."
As soon as Taira said that, Sakuragi put his arm over Taira's shoulders.
"You really know how to please your friend's brother! It's free for me, right?"
"Er… right. Just for you and Hat-chan though."
"Sakuragi-san! Why did you run away from us?" cried the panting Kazuo, with Yohei straggling along after the former.
"We're missing our lunch," Yohei pointed out.
"Tell me where's Hatsuko-san," Kazuo pleaded.
With a tsk, Sakuragi said, "A man should not act like that."
"Hat-chan? Are they Hat-chan's friends?" Taira asked cheerfully.
Kazuo was so worried about Hatsuko that he did not pay any notice to the handsome guy who was grinning despite the weight of Sakuragi's arm around his shoulder… until now.
'He's calling Hatsuko-san Hat-chan!!'
Trying not to glower at the guy and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Kazuo asked, "And you are?"
"Kikuchi Taira, a friend of Hat-chan's since we were little."
"Ah, Kiku-"
"Taira's fine," Taira interrupted. "Let's not get formal. I prefer being casual."
"Nice to meet you, Taira," Kazuo said and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes like it used to. "I'm Rukawa Kazuo."
Taira bowed and replied but Kazuo barely noticed.
Shrugging, Taira turned his attention to Sakuragi and Yohei, and Kazuo took the opportunity to scrutinize the person who spoke and called the name of the girl of his dreams so casually.
He noticed that Taira was slightly taller that Sakuragi, although this was barely noticeable. His brown eyes were of such a deep shade that it looked almost black, that kind of gave him an air of mystery, but that disappears everything he smiles as his eyes tend to sparkle when he does. His skin was tan; and he had a built to die for, in Kazuo's opinion, as he felt that he was a plank compared to the guy. He could already tell just from the look of his arm!
Taira suddenly laughed out loud when Sakuragi said something, and as he did, his longish black hair with streaks of blue highlighted into it swept back to display multiple piercings on his left ear. Kazuo couldn't help but wonder if he had just as many on his right.
Suddenly, Kazuo realized that everyone was looking at him.
"What?"
"Do you want to come to Tsukubu's School Carnival today?" Taira asked, a grin on his face.
'Is it just me or am I the only one who's getting all vexed by that grin of his?' Kazuo wondered, with a frown.
"Hat-chan will be there," Taira added.
Without hesitation, Kazuo replied, "I'm going."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are you doing?" Rukawa asked as he walked past his brother's room. It was in a mess, and that wasn't normal by Kazuo's standards.
"Finding my cologne," Kazuo said from pile of clothes strewn carelessly onto the carpeted floor. By the sound of his muffled voice, Rukawa assumed that his brother was buried under that pile of clothes.
Just as Rukawa was about to walk off carrying his basketball, his brother spoke again.
"What?"
"Help me find my cologne!" Kazuo called out again. His head popped out from the pile of clothes, which confirmed Rukawa's suspicion of his brother being buried alive, and he looked as though he was about to cry with his pale face red with frustration.
Rukawa entered his brother's room and looked around, trying not to think about the love confession his brother made to Hatsuko in that very same room. His sapphire eyes spotted the bottle of cologne sitting perfectly on a stack of books. Picking it up, he looked at it. Hugo Boss. Dark Blue.
"Do ahou," Rukawa called his brother, and when Kazuo was in view, Rukawa tossed the bottle at him with the latter barely catching it.
"And you call yourself a basketball player?"
"I can only catch basketballs and things that are around that size or bigger," Kazuo mutter indignantly.
Rukawa abandoned the thought of the basketball court calling to him and sat on his brother's lumpy bed instead and watched as he pulled on a neatly ironed collared shirt, and buttoned it up.
"Where are you going?"
"Tsukubu's carnival. Hatsuko-san's childhood friend invited me. That do ahou," Kazuo grumbled angrily as he sprayed all over himself with his cologne.
That caused Rukawa to raise an eyebrow, not that Kazuo would notice since Kazuo was too busy dressing up and being upset, and for the fact that Rukawa's eyebrows were hidden beneath his bangs.
"That idiot calls Hatsuko-san 'Hat-chan', and he's all friendly with Sakuragi-san," Kazuo continued to whine.
"And you're going to try and impress her with that?" Rukawa asked nonchalantly.
"And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Do ahou. Look in the mirror."
Kazuo stomped to the full-length mirror on the front of his wardrobe and groaned. His brother was right. He was a do ahou. There were splotches of cologne all over his shirt and basically, he looked too dressed-up.
"You used too much cologne. You reek of it. Wash up."
"Fine fine," Kazuo muttered, heading for the bathroom. "Thanks for telling me."
"Hn."
A few minutes later, Kazuo's poked his head into his room.
"Nii-san, what are you still doing here?"
"Waiting for you," said Rukawa as he spun and balanced the basketball he brought along on his index finger.
"Huh?"
"I'm going. Tsukubu's carnival."
"What?"
"Do ahou. Hurry up."
Kazuo scowled and left again.
"Do ahou."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure that Kazuo-kun said he'll come, Nii-chan? He's more than an hour late."
"Definitely," Sakuragi replied.
Then he and Taira proceeded to act out the scene that noon.
"Hat-chan will be there," Taira said in a manly voice.
"I'm going!" Sakuragi replied enthusiastically, in a high-pitched voice.
Hatsuko turned crimson, when suddenly, an annoyed voice replied, "I don't sound like that."
She turned around to see Kazuo with a scowl on his face and was even more surprised to see his brother standing a little behind him, with his usual standoffish expression.
"Rukawa-san! You came too!" Hatsuko greeted him, waving.
Rukawa looked at her, nodded, and turned away.
"You took long enough, Kazuo," Sakuragi complained. "Did Kitsune keep you waiting?"
"I made Nii-san wait, actually," Kazuo scratched his head, and said sheepishly.
Taira looked at the two brothers and smiled at them but they acted really cold and glared at him instead, causing him to back up a little.
Sakuragi looked at his sister and frowned as she spoke enthusiastically to Taira, with the Rukawa siblings glaring at the victim. He then looked disapprovingly at the clothes she was wearing. She was wearing a sky blue sleeveless top which she told him was called a spaghetti, and in his opinion, it was much too revealing for his sister to wear something like that. But he then began to imagine his Haruko-san in it, and his face turned crimson.
"Nii-chan, you're turning red," Hatsuko pointed out, amused.
"Am not!" he growled and stomped off, dragging his sister along and Taira along. "We are going together."
With his eyes widening, Kazuo ran after them and with a sigh, Rukawa followed. He stopped when he saw that Sakuragi was shouting loudly at someone with blond bangs.
'The golden-haired monkey. That was fast.'
"Where's Haruko-chan?"
"Why should she come to a stupid carnival, saru?!"
"Then why are you here?"
Rukawa sighed, and looked as Tsukubu's so-called ace, Rango, have a impetuous battle of words with Shohoku's do ahou, Sakuragi.
"Don't make a scene, do ahou," Rukawa said.
"Who's making a scene, kitsune?!" the two yelled back in unison.
A crowd of visitors already began to crowd around the group.
"This is embarrassing," Hatsuko murmured and quietly left the scene with Taira and Kazuo in tow.
With a huff, Rango said, "This is Tsukubu's Basketball Club booth. Pass through the entire team and make a shot. A successful play will get you anything from there."
He then proceeded to point to large stand with various prizes ranging from stuffed animals, treats, and more.
"Five consecutive shots will win you an autographed Tsukubu jersey," he continued.
"Who the hell would want to win a Tsukubu jersey?! With disgusting autographs on it too!" Sakuragi laughed.
Rukawa nodded in response.
"Cowards, aren't you?"
"You're on, saru!" Sakuragi and Rukawa said, their eyes murderous.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kazuo followed Taira and Hatsuko, sulking all the way. Every so often, Taira would turn and send a smile his way but Kazuo would ignore him but simply focus on Hatsuko. He needed to talk to her.
'Look at me, Hatsuko-san. Please.'
It was as if she heard his plea, Hatsuko stopped to turn and look at Kazuo for a moment before looking at the ground, an expression that his brother would usually wear masking her face.
"Tai-chan, why don't you get us some drinks?"
Taira frowned but nodded, before setting off.
"Hatsuko-san…"
"Kazuo-kun," she interrupted. "I've kept you waiting…" she shifted the gaze of her honey brown eyes from the ground to look into his sapphire ones. "And I'm sorry. Sorry for making you wait… and sorry for my…"
"It's okay," Kazuo said, a forced smile on his face. "I understand. I'm sorry if I was too forceful."
"Kazuo-kun. I…" Hatsuko started, looking horrified. "That's not…"
"You like someone else, but at least I tried, didn't I?" he choked, before turning away.
"Kazuo-kun!" she called, but he's retreating back refused to turn. 'That's not what I meant. That's not what I meant at all…'
Author's Note: Wow, I took so long on this. Sorry everyone ^^6 And those who've been urging me on, thank you. I'm kind of having problems with all my stories. I see the plot but writing them down is kind of hard for me lately. I don't know why ^^6 Well, hope this chapter was good enough. I think it's pretty lame though -___-*