Chapter 9: My good friend

Hanayuki took out her hearing aids and put them in their special container on the table. As she did so, her thoughts wandered back to the conversation she had overheard earlier that night between Sakuragi and the others.

-Flashback-

"I never would have thought that she is actually deaf. I mean, I didn't see her hearing aids, for one thing. Besides, I thought they talk with a kind of slang, because when they learn to speak, they can't hear what they are saying, and therefore their pronunciation of words would be slightly off," Kogure asked Sakuragi, at the same time displaying his vast knowledge.

"Er... well, all I know is that she wears the... the um... whatever type of hearing aid... um, completely-in-the-canal... yeah that's right, CITC, that's why you couldn't see it. And about the slang, well, she wasn't deaf from an early age. She told me that she only became deaf when she was about 13-14 years old," Sakuragi explained.

"But how? It's such a pity," Ayako asked.

"I've asked her about it before. She just said that she was involved in an accident which caused severe damage to her eardrums. When I tried to ask further, she seemed very reluctant to talk about it, so I dropped the matter," Sakuragi explained again.

"Hmm... it must have been very hard for her, that's why she didn't want to talk about it," Mitsui said thoughtfully.

-End of flashback-

"Hard? Hard doesn't even begin to describe what I had to go through," Hanayuki said bitterly to herself. Having said that, she was unwillingly transported back to the time of the said incident. Her vision blurred. Hanayuki blinked furiously. Even after 2 years, just thinking about it still brought tears to her eyes. She shut her eyes. "I am not thinking about it. I am not thinking about it," she said repeatedly, as tears started coursing down her cheeks.

That night, Hanayuki cried herself to sleep.

The next day, in the classroom of 1-10, Shohoku High School...

Rukawa looked at the empty seat beside him. Though he didn't show it, he was puzzled at Hanayuki's absence. I wonder what happened to her. She didn't tell me she wasn't coming to school today.

When she didn't come out of the house earlier that morning, he thought that she had gone to school early without waiting for him. But when the school bell rang to signal the start of lessons, she was still nowhere to be seen. He tried to go to sleep, but kept finding himself staring at the empty space next to him. Perhaps she will turn up for practice this afternoon.

Hanayuki unlocked the door and went into the house. After closing the door behind her, she headed straight for the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, she came out with a bucket of ice-cream in one hand and a spoon in the other. She went up into her room and out onto the balcony, settling herself on the rattan cocoon-like swing which hung from the ceiling of the balcony. As she started swinging, she opened the bucket of ice-cream, scooped up a spoonful and put it into her mouth.

When feeling depressed, ice-cream is the best way to make you feel better.

"Well, this had better work, Dr Mitchell, or I'm as good as dead," Hanayuki muttered to herself, scooping up another spoonful of the chocolate flavoured ice-cream and putting it into her mouth.

Of course, if one bucket does not do the job, I still have 2 more buckets in the fridge. But then again, one bucket of ice-cream is good enough to make my heart go bonkers, she thought as she continued munching on the ice-cream.

She glanced at the clock on the wall as she swung around in the swing. A few more hours to go before practice starts. A few more hours before I can have a talk with Kaede. Hopefully I'll feel better by then. She looked down at the bucket of ice-cream in her hands. That is, if I survive through this bucket of ice-cream.

Shohoku basketball gym...

Rukawa arrived at the gym to find Hanayuki shooting baskets at one corner of the gym. He was about to walk over to her to ask her why she didn't come to school that morning when the rest of the team walked into the gym, shouting their greetings enthusiastically.

"Nyahahahahaha! The Tensai is here!"

Rukawa rolled his eyes. There was no mistaking that voice. He'd recognise it anywhere, dead or alive. He turned around to face the owner of the voice.

"Do'aho."

"Teme kitsune!" Sakuragi was ready to pounce on Rukawa. Then, he caught sight of Hanayuki. "Hana-chan!" Changing his mind, he bounded to Hanayuki. "Hana-chan, why didn't you come to school today?"

Hanayuki dribbled the ball before making another shot. "I just didn't feel like coming, that's all."

"Huh? You just didn't feel like coming? What do you mean?" Sakuragi asked, surprised and confused by her answer.

"I meant what I said. I didn't feel like coming today, so I didn't."

"But... but that's not like you," said Sakuragi.

"How sure are you that you know everything about me, oniichan?" came the question in reply.

"Er... quite?" Sakuragi answered, all the while scratching the back of his head.

"Quite is not a good enough answer, oniichan," Hanayuki said, before making one last shot at the basket. The ball went in with a swish. She turned to look at Sakuragi. "Anyway, forget about it. What's the big deal anyway? I do it all the time when I was in junior high. If I don't feel like going, I don't go. Simple as that." With that, she retreated to the benches and sat down, reaching for her bottle of water and drinking from it.

Sakuragi was left speechless for a while, but, being the simple-minded person he was, he quickly brushed it aside and concentrated on practicing. Shohoku's first game of the Inter High Eliminations was only a week away, and it will be Sakuragi's first real game (the Ryonan game was a practice game, so it didn't really count). He was determined to prove that he really was the Tensai, and that he was better than Rukawa.

Speaking of Rukawa, he had overheard what Hanayuki had said to Sakuragi. He too, was surprised, but he wasn't going to ask her about it. Nope, that would require him to open his mouth to speak, which he did sometimes, but only when the number of sentences needed was less than 3. So he did what he does best; he kept quiet and waited for her to tell him.

Sure enough, after the practice ended, she asked him if he could drop by her house for a moment, as she had something she needed to talk to him about. Since he was walking her home anyway, he just shrugged at her request. After packing his stuffs, they left the gym and headed for Hanayuki's home.

Upon entering the house, they made their way into the living room, where Hanayuki asked Rukawa to be seated. She then asked if he would like to have something to drink. He shook his head, and signalled with his hand for her to be seated as well. She looked at him for a while before obliging and sat on the sofa opposite him. There was a moment of silence, before Hanayuki spoke.

"Kaede, there's something I would like to tell you."

Rukawa looked at her, his face devoid of any expression. Deep inside of him however, his curiosity level was rocketing sky-high. There was another moment of silence.

"Remember when I told you that I like you? Well, I don't know what kind of um... impact it had on our um... friendship, but I just wanted to tell you this. I hope that we can continue being... um..." Hanayuki hesitated.

A couple? Rukawa finished for her in his mind. Or so he thought. What he heard next took him completely by surprise.

"... good friends."

Rukawa thought he had heard her wrongly. Judging from the expression on her face and the tone of her voice, however, he knew that he had not. He narrowed his eyes in response.

Hanayuki continued, "I am not saying that I was lying when I said I like you. I really do, but... but I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I don't think that my liking towards you is anything further than... than friendship. I... I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking properly at that time. I mean, I was sporting an injury on the head. Perhaps that was why I've said things which I shouldn't have." She looked down on the floor, avoiding his intense gaze on her.

"What are you trying to say?"

Hanayuki held up her head and looked at him straight in the eye. "I would like to be friends."

This time, it was Rukawa's turn to look away. Hanayuki waited for him to respond, although she knew that he probably wouldn't. Meanwhile, it was starting to rain outside.

"Kaede?"

No response.

"Kaede?"

"It's Rukawa."

He looked at her, and continued, "Not Kaede."

She looked back at him, her own face devoid of any expression. He stood up to leave. He was about to step out of the door when he heard her say, "I'm sorry, Rukawa-kun." It was raining rather heavily outside, but he stepped out anyway, and she didn't stop him. Not bothering to run or even walk faster, he slowly made his way back to his own house. The rain was heavy, but not as heavy as his heart was feeling at that moment.

Back in Hanayuki's house, she watched as Rukawa stepped out of the door and closed it behind him. Slowly, she stood up and made her way upstairs, the expression on her face unreadable. It was only when she was in the confines of her own room, did she let the tears she had been holding back for so long to fall.

Early the next morning...

It had been a long and cold night, and Hanayuki hadn't slept a wink. Not that she didn't want to. She just couldn't. Ice-cream, and even the four walls of her own room, which had been her safety barrier for as long as she had been staying in Japan, couldn't offer her any solace. In the end, she decided to head for the seaside, hoping that the gentle breeze can help blow away her worries and troubles. And here she was, still sitting on the beach, watching the sun as it slowly rose up into the sky.

Stifling a yawn, she decided to skip school again and stay there longer. The wind was doing her good. Plus, she was starting to feel tired and sleepy after staying awake the whole night. She looked around her. The beach was empty, and rightly so; it was a weekday after all. She heaved a heavy sigh before lying down on the sand and closed her eyes.

Later that evening...

It was already late in the evening when she finally woke up (believe it or not). And, she only woke up because it was starting to rain. Realising the time, she quickly stood up and brushed off the sand from her dress and her hair. It was all tangled up.

Who cares, she thought. If I don't get out of this rain quick, it'll be more than a mass of tangled hair.

As if on cue, it began to rain heavily. Cool, now it is more than a mass of tangled hair.

Since she was already soaking wet, she didn't bother to run all the way back home. Instead, she took her time, and was actually beginning to enjoy the feel of the raindrops on her face. Hmm... I really should do this again one day. It actually beats the sea breeze. Of course, I will have to risk getting a fever, but then again, it was cold on the beach, so it doesn't really make any difference.

As it was raining quite heavily, she couldn't really see anything further than a few metres in front of her. And so, naturally, she didn't see the sleeping figure on her doorstep until she stepped on him.

"Rukawa-kun?" Hanayuki exclaimed in surprise. Rukawa looked up at her, his eyelids half-opened.

"Nobody steps on me when I'm asleep." He swung his fist. To avoid it, Hanayuki jumped out of the way, and landed in a pool of mud which was so conveniently nearby.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! RUKAWA!"

Hearing the scream, Rukawa's eyes shot open. At first, he couldn't see anything. Then, his vision focused on to the muddy figure that was glaring at him. Before he could say anything, he was kicked aside by the very irritated and angry Hanayuki, who was, by the way, cursing in English.

She unlocked the door and was about to slam it shut in his face when she realised that he wasn't on the doorstep anymore. Looking further out, she found him sitting in the same pool of mud she had fallen into earlier.

Hanayuki didn't know whether to laugh because it was funny that he had also fallen into the pool of mud, or laugh because she had gotten her revenge on him. Either way, it didn't matter, because she didn't laugh. Anyway, seeing his condition, she couldn't bring herself to shut the door and leave him like that, so she held the door open and beckoned to him to come into the house. Which he did, although it took him a while.

Once in the comforts of her own home, Hanayuki immediately bounded upstairs and came down not too long later with a fresh towel and some clean clothes. Handing them to Rukawa, she said, "Here Rukawa-kun, take this and go take a shower. You know where the bathroom is. However, if you want more privacy, you can use one of the rooms upstairs which has an attached bathroom. It's up to you. As for me, I'm taking the shower in my own room. If you need anything, don't call out to me because I'll still be in the shower, no thanks to you. Just feel free to rummage through the house. Turn it upside-down if you have to." And she bounded up the stairs again.

Later that night...

Having finished her shower, Hanayuki came downstairs to find Rukawa sprawled on the sofa, fast asleep. She could only sigh. Guess that means he will be staying the night.

Letting him be, she went into the kitchen to prepare herself a meal. She hadn't eaten since morning, and was practically starving. Unfortunately, she was also very tired, despite having slept through the whole day. In the end, she decided to survive on ice-cream, just for the night (there was still 1 bucket of ice-cream left in the fridge). Walking back into the living room, she put on some music before settling down on the sofa opposite the one Rukawa was sleeping on and started going through the bucket of ice-cream.

When she was done, she stood up and stretched herself. It was time for housework. She started by cleaning up the kitchen. Next, she walked around the living room wiping the furniture, sweeping and mopping the floor, etc. After that, she took out the trash, before heading up to her room to gather the laundry.

On her way to the bathroom, she caught sight of Rukawa's gym bag dumped in a corner of the room, his muddy clothes peeking out from inside. Since she was doing her own laundry anyway, she decided to do his as well. Besides, if she didn't, he wouldn't have anything to wear to school the next day. And so, she proceeded to putting them into the machine, taking them out after that to put in the dryer, and ironing them nicely.

By the time she was finished with everything, she was very, very tired, and was more than ready to call it a night. But not before she caught sight of Rukawa, who was sleeping peacefully on the sofa. It was still raining outside, and the weather was getting rather cold. Seeing that he was without a blanket, she went upstairs to get him one. After tucking him in, she was about to leave when suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed her hand. She almost screamed out loud.

"Rukawa-kun? I thought you're asleep." Hanayuki breathed a sigh of relief, before putting on an irritated look. "Don't do that again. I don't like it. You should know better than to scare me like that."

Rukawa just looked at her, his face as expressionless as always. She turned to leave, only to be pulled back again. "What is it, Rukawa-kun? I am very tired, I want to get some sleep."

At first he didn't say anything, but when Hanayuki kept tugging at her hand continuously, he blurted out, "No pillow."

Hanayuki raised her eyebrows. "No pillow? Is that it? You want a pillow?"

He nodded. Hanayuki found it hard to believe that he would actually want a pillow to be able to go to sleep. After all, he slept almost everywhere, didn't he? Shrugging, Hanayuki said, "If you want to have a pillow, I suggest you go upstairs and get one yourself. That way, you can choose which one you prefer. Come to think of it, you might as well go to sleep in one of the rooms. Come on."

Not bothering to wait for his answer (she was sure he wasn't going to give her one), he pulled him by the hand and together, they went upstairs. She opened the door to one of the rooms and pushed him in. "There, choose. I'm going to bed. Good night." She closed the door and retreated into her own room.

She snuggled underneath the blanket and was dozing off to sleep in a second, only to be awakened the next second when the door to her room burst open. She sat up quickly. "What the...?" She watched in surprise as Rukawa walked over to her bed and picked up one of the pillows, hugging it for a while before putting it back. "You are actually testing my pillows too?"

Ignoring her, he picked up another pillow and repeated what he did before. Hanayuki shook her head. "You are impossible, you know that." Again he ignored her. Hanayuki continued, "Ok. That's the last of my pillows. If you still couldn't find the one that you like, I'm afraid I can't help you."

Looking at her, he slowly shook his head. "No, there is still one more."

"Huh?" Before she could react, he was already standing in front of her. The next thing she knew, he was hugging her to his chest, his head resting on top of hers.

At first, Hanayuki was speechless. It was a while before she finally found her voice. "Er... Rukawa-kun. In case you didn't notice, which I am sure is the case, you are not holding a pillow right now. You are um... holding me. So if you would kindly let go, I'll make sure you get a nice fluffy pillow you'll definitely be satisfied with."

There was silence, and then, she thought she heard a snore. "Oh, no. Rukawa-kun, don't tell me you're already-"

Snore.

"-asleep..." Hanayuki trailed off. Great, what do I do now? She tried to push him off, but he was holding on to her so tightly, she almost couldn't breathe. And then, she thought of what would happen should he be woken up. Given the distance between the two of them, she would probably end up with a black eye, or worse, two. What have I gotten myself into?

Sighing, she thought for a while, trying to decide what to do. Left with no choice, she lowered themselves onto the bed, careful not to wake him up in case he lashes out with a punch. Then, she struggled to free her hands and grabbed the blanket to cover them both. Finally, totally exhausted from the day's event, she fell asleep, but not before praying that this time, it would last until the next morning.

The next morning...

Rukawa woke up and found himself looking at Hanayuki's face. They weren't in an embrace anymore, but still, they were close enough to feel each other's breathe. He reached out his hand to touch her face. At the same time, Hanayuki stirred from her sleep. Quickly, he closed his eyes and pretended to be still asleep.

Hanayuki opened her eyes, and saw Rukawa still sleeping beside her. A small smile played on her lips. He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping.

Carefully, she reached out to touch his face. Tears started gathering in her eyes. She whispered, "I'm sorry, Rukawa-kun. I hope that we can be really good friends." She quickly got out of bed and headed for the bathroom before the tears started to fall. A minute later, she went out of the room.

Slowly, Rukawa sat up on the bed and stared at the door. Why?

For the rest of the day, they didn't speak to each other. Not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't know what to say to each other. They didn't even spend recess time together like they used to. Hanayuki had given him his bento earlier before they left the house, and so, she didn't have to go up to the rooftop to give it to him.

When it was time to go for practice, they went separately, but still met each other on the way. As they walked into the gym together, they were quickly surrounded by their team-mates, who started talking all at once. Amidst the noise, Hanayuki managed to make out some of the questions they were asking them. Mainly, they were asking if she and Rukawa was a couple.

She stole a glance at Rukawa beside her, who seemed unaffected by the questions. She waited for the noise to die down, before asking them a few questions herself. It seemed that her beloved brother, Sakuragi, had accidentally let slip about her and Rukawa liking each other during one of his ranting, which, by the way, nobody knows what it was about, in the gym earlier before they arrived.

Sighing, Hanayuki said, "Alright, listen up. I would like to clarify on this matter, and I'm only going to do this once. We, as in me and Rukawa-kun, are not a couple. We are just friends, good friends. That is all, thank you for listening. Now, go back to practice." She tried to walk away from them, but was stopped by Ayako, whose eyes were gleaming so brightly, you would have been able to see it from as far as 10 metres away.

"Don't try to hide it, Yuki-chan. I know what I saw, and it wasn't the way you've said it," Ayako teased, trying to push Hanayuki into a confession. Hanayuki was about to say something, when she heard a voice from behind her.

"She's right."

Everybody turned to look at the owner of the voice, who was looking back at them with his I-am-unaffected-by-all-this-nonsense expression on his face. They watched as Rukawa walked towards Hanayuki and took her hand in his. As if they were not surprised enough by this, he spoke again, "We are just good friends."

"But kitsune, I thought..." Sakuragi stopped abruptly when he found himself subjected to icy glares, not only from Rukawa, but from Hanayuki as well. Except that Hanayuki's eyes were also pleading with him not to further give them away. Sakuragi zipped his mouth shut.

"But if you are only good friends, why are you holding Yuki-chan's hand, Rukawa?" asked Miyagi, who was, of course, fully in support of his Aya-chan.

"Have you never seen good friends holding hands before, Miyagi-sempai?" Hanayuki asked in return. To which Sakuragi decided to butt in, "Yeah, Ryochin. Have you never seen good friends holding hands before?"

Before Miyagi or Ayako could protest, Kogure interrupted them. "Minna, we'd better stop this nonsense at once. If Akagi was to find out about this, I don't know what he would do. Besides, since Rukawa himself admitted it, it couldn't be false. Right, Rukawa?" asked Kogure. Rukawa merely nodded his head. "There, see."

Defeated, Ayako and Miyagi turned to leave and resume practising. The rest of the team followed suit. Kogure smiled at the 2 juniors before he too left them alone. Seeing that they were finally alone, Hanayuki looked at Rukawa, who was still holding her hand. Sensing her gaze on him, he turned to look at her, and said, "Who said good friends can't hold hands?"

With that, he let go of her hand and went to join the practice. He didn't see the tears gathering in Hanayuki's eyes, but he did hear her say, "Thank you, my good friend."

Author's notes: Well... here it is, the 9th chapter. Enjoy. Ja!