Chapter 7: Tell me why

It was a lovely evening, and Mitsui Hisashi was walking towards the public basketball court near his house. He held his favourite basketball in his hands, dribbling it on the floor once in a while, while whistling a happy tune. He was definitely one happy guy. That afternoon, he had just been chosen as the new captain of his school's basketball team. It wasn't unexpected, but he was happy all the same. I will lead them to win the Junior High Championships this year.

As he neared the basketball court, he saw a girl standing on the court. He stopped, and watched as she threw the ball towards the hoop. It went right in without even touching the rim. Mitsui was amazed. That girl, she's looks barely 13, and yet her shot was so beautiful.

He continued watching as she took a few steps backwards and stopped before the three-pointer line. She jumped and shot at the basket again, but this time the ball bounced off the rim. She retrieved the ball and attempted another shot. Again, the ball bounced off the rim. After a number of attempts, she gave up and sat on the ground.

Mitsui, being the kind-hearted and all-around good guy he was, decided to help the girl by giving her a few pointers. He is after all most skilful in three-point shots. As he walked nearer to her, he stepped on a twig.

Immediately, she turned her head and saw Mitsui walking towards her. She jumped to her feet and looked at Mitsui, with what was unmistakably fear in her eyes. Mitsui saw it, and quickly said, "I'm not a bad guy. I saw you practising just now, and I just wanted to... hey! Wait!"

The girl had run off before he could finish his sentence.

"Gee... the way she ran off, you'd think that I was a serial killer or something," Mitsui muttered. Then, he saw the basketball that she had left behind, obviously forgotten by its owner since she had left so hastily. Mitsui took the ball in his hands. Perhaps she will return for the ball. I'll wait for a while then. He waited.

A few minutes later, he decided to start practising while waiting for her to come back. By the time he was finished, she still hadn't return for the ball. He waited for another moment, before finally deciding she wasn't coming back, and left for home. Am I really that scary? I mean, I am after all good-looking; who would want to run away from a good-looking guy?

The next day...

Mitsui was about to leave for the public basketball court again, when he caught sight of the basketball he had brought home the day before. Maybe I should take it with me. She might come back for it today. With that, he picked it up and made his way to the public basketball court.

When he reached the place, he saw no signs of the girl. Thinking that perhaps she would come by later, he started practising by himself. Soon, he forgot about the girl and continued practising until it was time to go home. He didn't know that all the while he was practising, somebody was watching him from behind a tree.

He packed up his things, and left. As he turned around a corner, he remembered that he had left the other ball behind. Turning around, he walked back to the court, and saw someone picking it up. It was the girl. "Hey!" Mitsui shouted.

Hearing his voice, she quickly ran off, but didn't get far as she tripped and fell. Mitsui ran towards her and knelt down to see if she had injured herself. But before he could touch her, she frantically inched herself further away from him. Mitsui was slightly offended. "Excuse me, but I am not a serial killer. So you don't have to act as if I am one."

Surprisingly, she spoke. "You may not be a serial killer, but for all I know you are a serial rapist."

"Nani? How dare you? I am not a serial rapist! Why you little...," he broke off when he saw the girl cowering in fear. "Um, gomen. I didn't mean to raise my voice. It's just that... never mind. Anyway, I am not a bad guy, ok? Yesterday, I just wanted to help you with your three-point shots. That's all. And you left your basketball here, so I took it back home and brought it with me today, in case you came back for it."

The girl looked at him, with less fear, but still the same amount of doubt in her eyes. Mitsui sighed. Even the sight of her unusually coloured eyes couldn't dispel his exasperation. "Ok. I'll leave now." He stood up and started walking away.

A few steps away, he stopped and turned to look at her. "But my offer still stands. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but my three-pointers are quite good. If you want my help with them, you can come and find me here at this basketball court every evening." Getting no response from the girl, he sighed again and left the court.

The next day...

Mitsui arrived at the basketball court and immediately started shooting at the basket. He didn't even bother to wait for the girl to appear; he was so sure that she would not take up his offer. Imagine his surprise when he saw her appearing from the other side of the court and stood watching him. "You're here? I didn't think you'd come."

No response. "Ok. Anyway, shall we get started?"

Still no response. "Ok... so, um... come over here so that I can start showing you the right way to shoot a three-pointer."

Again no response, but this time he could see that there was some hesitation in her. Mitsui sighed. At the rate I am sighing, it'll be autumn sooner than expected.

"Look, you have nothing to be afraid of. I told you that I only wanted to help. If you are still not willing to interact with me, there's nothing I can do or teach you, so you might as well just leave," he said.

This got her to finally speak. "Gomen."

Mitsui looked at her for a moment. "It's ok. Come on. Let's get started."

For the rest of the evening, Mitsui taught the girl how to shoot beautiful three-pointers. She was a fast learner, and soon she was able to shoot 5 out of 10 shots. When it was getting late, Mitsui decided to call it a day.

As he packed his things, he heard her whisper, "Arigatou." She was gone by the time he looked up. Mitsui sighed, as the leaves began to fall down from the trees. Some things never change.

The next day...

She arrived to continue her lessons with Mitsui. And once more, the rest of the evening was spent perfecting her skills in three-pointers. It didn't take him long to realise that other than her three-pointers, she was a rather good player.

Soon it was time to go home again. This time, Mitsui kept an eye on her, making sure that she wouldn't disappear as suddenly and quickly like the day before. She noticed what he was doing, and stood still.

Mitsui sighed (the trees lost half of their leaves). "Ok, you can go now." She turned quickly and was about to leave when he called her back. "Matte!"

She froze.

"Um, you know, it's been two days already, but I still don't know your name. And I don't think you know mine either. Shouldn't we, um, at least find out what to call each other? I mean, we can't address each other as 'oi' or 'hey' all the time you know," he finished.

She didn't respond, but she did turn around to face him. For a long moment, she looked at him, as if trying to decide whether or not she should tell him her name. Finally, she spoke. "You can call me Hana or Yuki."

Mitsui smiled. "Ok. Then you can call me Hisashi-niichan." He paused. "Um, you are younger than me aren't you? I am 14 this year. What about you?"

"12."

"Ok. That's settled then, Hana-chan," he said, still smiling. And then, she did something that caught him with surprise.

She smiled.

For the rest of the year, that was the routine. They would meet up at the basketball court and practise together. She was getting attached to Mitsui, and he her. They enjoyed each other's company, and everyday, they would look forward to their practice together.

"Hana-chan! Hana-chan! My team won the Junior High Championships, and I was awarded MVP!" He took her hands in his and started dancing around.

"Hontou? That's great, Hisashi-niichan." And they continued dancing and laughing, ignoring the stares from passer-bys.

Time passed by quickly. One evening, as usual she went to the basketball court to wait for Mitsui. She waited, and waited, and waited... but he didn't turn up. It was getting late, so she went back home, thinking that perhaps he had something else to do and could not come that day.

The next day, she went to the court again. Again he didn't turn up. The same thing happened the day after, and the day after that. She became worried, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't know where he was staying, or which school he was attending. The only thing they knew about each other were their names, and their abilities in basketball, of course.

So, she continued waiting. Days became weeks. Weeks became months. Months became years. She never saw him again.

2 years later, at the Shohoku basketball gym...

"Hana-chan? Is... is it really you?" Mitsui asked Hanayuki.

Hanayuki looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Hisashi-niichan..." she whispered.

Tears were starting to form in Mitsui's eyes too. "Hana-chan!" He half-ran towards her and knelt down, taking her hand in his. "Hana-chan... I... I am so sorry. Are... are you feeling alright?" he asked, his voice choking.

"Hisashi-niichan... I waited... for you. Why didn't you come...?" Hanayuki started sobbing quietly.

Mitsui moved in closer to her, wanting to hold Hanayuki in his arms, but was met with an ice-cold deadly glare from Rukawa. Sakuragi, who was also beside Hanayuki, said, "Oi, stupid Kitsune! That's my sister you are holding. Give her to me."

If it wasn't for Ayako, who, by the way, had made way for Mitsui and Sakuragi, they would have started a tug-of-war right there and then, with Hanayuki as the 'rope'. "Sakuragi Hanamichi! Are you crazy? Don't move her." Sakuragi looked as if he was about to protest, but then he looked at Hanayuki, and kept quiet.

Mitsui couldn't get any nearer to Hanayuki either, so he contented himself by holding her hand. "I'm sorry Hana-chan. I was such a fool. I... I was so disappointed that I couldn't join the team for the Inter High Preliminaries, I... I just gave up."

"Have you forgotten what Anzai-sensei had told you before? He told... he told you never to give up. How... how could you have forgotten what he had said, if you... if you really admire and respect him that much..." Hanayuki could barely go on, but she had to. She had to bring Mitsui back, no matter what.

"I don't know... I don't know," Mitsui placed her hand on his cheek while shaking his head. He started crying. After a while, he said, in barely a whisper, "I... I want to play basketball again."

Hearing this, Hanayuki smiled. "Yes... Hisashi-niichan. I was hoping you'd say that... But, will you... promise me something first?" Mitsui looked at her.

"Promise me that... you won't give up... ever again. That you won't give up on... basketball..." And she held out her little finger. It wasn't long before another finger was curled around hers.

"Hai. I promise, Hana-chan. I promise."

Hanayuki smiled again, and finally lost consciousness. "Hana-chan!" Mitsui cried. Rukawa looked down at her in alarm. Sakuragi started panicking and shouting gibberish all over the place. Akagi turned to Ayako and said, "Go get an ambulance now!"

Ayako ran to the door, and then stopped. The teachers were still outside. Akagi, noticing that she had stopped, shouted, "Forget about those teachers! Forget about everything! Just go get an ambulance quick! It's a matter of life and death here!"

Ayako nodded, and opened the doors. Then, she ran as fast as she could to the office to call an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Rukawa held on to Hanayuki. Though he didn't care about what's going on around him, he was disturbed by the level of noise, what with the teachers demanding to know what had happened, and the panicking shouts of Sakuragi and Mitsui. I've got to get the two of us out of here.

With that, he stood up, a little wobbly (since he's also bleeding rather badly), and walked out of the gym, with Hanayuki in his arms. He struggled to keep his head clear; he had to get her out of the gym safely.

Kogure saw what he was doing, and ran after him, followed by Sakuragi and Mitsui. While the latter shouted at him to put Hanayuki down, Kogure tried to persuade him gently. "Rukawa, you have lost a lot of blood. You shouldn't be walking around, not to mention carrying somebody with you. You might faint on the way, and even if you don't care about hurting yourself, you should think about Yuki-chan."

Rukawa ignored him and continued walking. All around, the students of Shohoku High School shrank back and distanced themselves from the group as they walked towards the front gate to wait for the ambulance, when they saw a bloodied Rukawa carrying an unconscious and also bloodied girl in his arms, with Sakuragi and Mitsui following behind him with their bruised faces.

This time, Rukawa's fan-girls didn't start wailing like the last time. I mean, they were too horrified at the sight of Rukawa to be able to able to process anything else in their minds. Even when they finally realised that it was Hanayuki he was carrying in his arms, they didn't complain. They certainly wouldn't want to switch places with her, seeing how wounded she was.

When the ambulance arrived, all of them wanted to follow, but obviously not all 3 (excluding Kogure) could fit in the ambulance with Hanayuki and the attendants. In the end, it was Rukawa who went off in the ambulance with Hanayuki, taking advantage of the situation when Mitsui and Sakuragi were arguing as to who had the right to get into the ambulance with her.

It would've turned into another fist-fight, if it weren't for Kogure, who then told them that the ambulance had already left. Shocked, they quickly hailed a cab, and after some more arguments (excluding Kogure again), all 3 of them got in the car and sped to the hospital.

Hanayuki woke up to find herself in a dark and eerily quiet room. She blinked a few times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Slowly, she looked around and realised that she was in a hospital room. I didn't know that hospital rooms are so quiet. And then it hit her. Oh, shoot. No wonder it's so quiet in here. They took them out...

Sighing, she lifted her hand to touch her still-throbbing head. That's when she caught side of the figure next to her, his head on the bed, his face turned towards her. Rukawa-kun? She took in his handsome features, before reaching out a hand to softly caress his bandaged head.

His eyelids fluttered open, but Hanayuki didn't notice it. He watched her face as she continued caressing his head. He reached up to take her hands in his. As expected, she withdrew her hand immediately, but upon seeing that it was Rukawa, she let him as he again took her hands in his.

He put her hand against his cheek, and she looked at him for a while, before her eyes travelled to the bandage on his head. "Are you feeling alright? You were injured pretty badly you know," she asked, breaking the silence that surrounded them both.

As usual, Rukawa just looked at her without answering. Actually, he seemed like he wanted to answer, but didn't because something was holding him back. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Hanayuki understood immediately, and spoke, "It's ok. You can talk like normal, but you will have to look at me while you speak, or I wouldn't know what you are talking about," she paused, before continuing, "That is, of course, assuming that you want to talk." She gave him a small smile.

He kept quiet for a moment before nodding his head. She continued, "You shouldn't be here you know. You should be at home, getting some rest. Your head has been injured too many times. You don't want any future troubles coming up, do you?" Again he didn't answer her. Feeling tired, she said, "Well, fine then. Go back to sleep."

Having been given the green light, he dropped his head on the bed and started snoring. Hanayuki sweatdropped. She noticed that he was still holding her hand. Not wanting to wake him up, she decided to let it be, and closed her eyes. In a few seconds, she was asleep, and slept on until morning, under the watchful eyes of a certain blue-eyed boy who had pretended to fall asleep.

"Hontou?" Hanayuki asked in disbelief.

"Really! It's the truth. You can ask him if you don't believe us. See, he's right there," Youhei pointed to Sakuragi before bursting into laughter again. Hanayuki looked at her brother. He was like looking at a humongous tomato, what with his red hair and really red face, and not to mention the red shirt he was wearing at the moment. He looked as if he was about to explode any minute, but managed to contain himself for the sake of Hanayuki.

"Oniichan, is it... true?" Hanayuki asked him. Sakuragi looked at her with an embarrassed look on his face.

Takamiya butted in, "Of course it's true. I mean, who else would be able to achieve the impossible, dumped by 50 girls in junior high school? It's only Hanamichi who has the ability." Ookusu, Noma and Youhei continued laughing.

"That's... so... sad..." Hanayuki said. The Sakuragi gundan laughed even harder. Finally, Sakuragi snapped.

"Teme! You guys are dead meat this time! Come here!" He headed towards them with his fist raised.

"They're so stupid, oniichan!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Hanayuki. "Eh?"

Hanayuki went on, "I mean, how could they possibly turn down someone as good as you, oniichan? If it was only 1 or 2 of them, maybe it's still acceptable. But 50? And to think that I am from the same species as them. This is such an embarrassment to us girls, not being able to tell when you caught a good guy."

She stopped when she heard the sound of something dropping on the floor. It was their jaws. "What? What did I say?" she asked, confused as to why they had that kind of reaction.

"Ha... Hana-chan, do you really mean that? Do you really mean what you've just said?" Sakuragi finally found his voice and asked her.

Hanayuki looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "What do you mean by do I really mean what I've just said? Of course I do. Every word of it." Turning to the other four, she asked, "I mean, don't all of you think it's true?" She didn't get any response from them; they were in too much shock.

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I knew it! Finally, somebody is telling the inevitable truth. Did you hear that guys? Now that's what I call the truth! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It was Sakuragi's turn to laugh this time. The others just gaped at him, their jaws left forgotten on the floor.

Rukawa watched from behind the door as Sakuragi and his gundan were thrown out of the room by 2 burly-looking female nurses. That's what you get for laughing too loud in a hospital, do'aho. He waited until the grumbling Sakuragi and his friends disappear around the corner before coming out from behind the exit door and walking into the room, where Hanayuki was at the moment in the process of having the bandages around her head taken off by the nurse.

It had been almost a week since the assault. Mitsui had since returned to the team, and was getting along quite well with the rest of the players, even Sakuragi, who called him Mitchy. The team had regularly visited Hanayuki in the hospital, usually after practice. Other times, it was Sakuragi and his friends who kept her company. This, the team knew of.

Ever since the incident in the gym, they had become well-acquainted with the gundan, who, in a selfless act, had took it upon themselves to admit responsibility to what had happened, thus saving the basketball team from disbanding.

What the team didn't know was that, every night, it was Rukawa who kept Hanayuki company, leaving only when it was time for him to get back and prepare for school.

"There, the bandage is off. Feeling much better already, aren't you?" The nurse asked Hanayuki.

Hanayuki nodded. "Yes, much better. Finally, my poor head gets to breathe. Thank you, Hiroshi-san."

"You're welcome. Hmm... look at your hair, it's rather messy. Let me get you a comb." She looked around and found a comb. As she was about to help Hanayuki comb her hair, another nurse popped in and said, "Hiroshi-san, you are needed in room 122."

"I'll be right there." Hiroshi apologetically handed the comb to Hanayuki. "Gomen, do you think you can do it yourself? Just don't comb too hard, and you'll be fine."

"I think I can manage. Thanks again, Hiroshi-san." With that, the nurse went out of the room. Hanayuki raised the comb to her head and started combing. Because she couldn't see the back of her head, she brought the comb right across the stitched-up wound on her head. She winced from the pain.

It didn't escape from Rukawa's eyes. Walking up to her, he took the comb from her hands and started combing her hair slowly and gently. Her hair was long, almost reaching the waist. It wasn't like the ones you see in advertisements; all shiny and silky. Nevertheless, it was soft. And black. Just like mine. In Rukawa's opinion, her hair was the most beautiful hair he had ever laid his eyes, and in this case, hands on.

"It's very long, isn't it?" Hanayuki said, once again breaking the silence between them. "I've always wanted to cut it shorter, but everytime I have the chance to do so, I don't have the heart to. I kept on thinking that I couldn't bear to part with it, after keeping it for so long." She laughed a little. "How silly can you get? Getting emotional over your hair."

He kept on combing, not giving any indication that he had heard what she had just said. "By the way, in case you didn't know, I am wearing my hearing aids now, so you can just talk without looking at me."

It was a moment before he replied, "I know."

Just then, the nurse came back in again. Rukawa quickly stopped what he was doing and shoved his hands deep into his pockets along with the comb. The nurse saw this, but didn't say anything. A small smile played on her lips. Boys... always so shy.

"Hiroshi-san, do you think I can go out for a little walk today? I could use some fresh air, after being pent-up for so long," Hanayuki asked the nurse.

"Well, I am not sure. You are not supposed to walk around so soon. How about this. I'll ask the doctor and see what he says. If he gives the thumbs-up, then we'll go out for a walk tomorrow, alright?"

"But, what if I..." Before Hanayuki could finish her sentence, the nurse had already left the room. Hanayuki sighed, and sank back into the propped-up pillow on the bed. She looked out of the window, longing with all her heart to be able to go out there and bask in the sun, with the ever-gentle wind caressing her face. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realise Rukawa leaving the room and coming back a couple of minutes later.

"Yuki."

Startled from her thoughts, she turned to look at him. And saw the wheelchair.

"Rukawa-kun, do you think we can go and sit under that tree there?" Hanayuki pointed towards the tree near the edge of the hospital grounds.

Rukawa looked to where she was pointing before pushing her in the wheelchair towards the tree. Upon reaching it, he proceeded to carry Hanayuki from the chair and setting her down gently onto the ground, beneath the tree. He was relieved when she didn't protest.

She had argued about his carrying her into and out of the chair, when he had similarly done so back in the hospital room. "I think I can manage to walk a few steps by myself, Rukawa-kun. There's no need for you to carry me around," she had said, and he had replied (yes... he replied), "The nurse had specifically said that you shouldn't be walking around yet, and that even if you were allowed to go out, it would only be tomorrow, and not now."

Hanayuki didn't stare at him for having said so many words in one sentence. In fact, she acted as if it was normal, as if he spoke all the time. Not like other people, who would stare and gape at him, as if 2 horns had suddenly grown from his head as a result of his speaking. Some even count the number of words he had said in one sentence. The more ridiculous ones will throw confetti around him, celebrating the fact that he had actually spoken more than 3 words in one sentence.

Which is why you are so special to me, Rukawa thought. But... am I special to you too?

"Why?"

Hanayuki looked at him, confused. "What?" For once, she didn't understand what he wanted to say. And, she was rather surprised when, instead of looking elsewhere like he always did, he looked at her straight in the eye, almost drowning her in his pool of blue eyes (or maybe it was the other way round, him drowning in her pool of violet eyes). They were still locked in each other's gaze when he repeated his question.

"Why did you save me?"