TACTIC. SILENCE. WIN.
And the final whistle blows.
Even if it's just a practice match, a friendly tournament amongst members of the same team; as long as Rukawa Kaede makes an appearance, there's bound to be a full and lively audience.
How the hell do those girls manage to scream so loudly? And so sharply? For so long? Do they never get tired?
Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa!
Just watching those stands alone makes me feel tired, maybe it's because been boiling mad requires a lot of energy, as does the retaliatory screams that have become so obligatory for me… but that's not the point.
Do those airheads even realize that the object of their chants is as good as deaf and blind to their actions? Can they not see that every bit of him is going into the game? That every fiber of his being is completely absorbed in and by the game…?
Wait…did that just sound like I was praising him? I was only trying to make a point.
Really!
More than once... heck, more than a thousand times…I've pondered for a way to shut those squawking fools up. Oh, how I would love to put them to silence!
You'd think that a genius such as myself would have an easier time trying to defeat a bunch of turkeys such as…well, them. But I tell ya, even a genius, by himself, can be overrun when there are that many of them. The turkeys I mean.
Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa!
So it runs by again. For some bizarre reason that gorilla of a team captain we have decided it would be a good idea to put Rukawa on the same team as yours truly. Something about learning to work together or whatever, I don't know, I was too busy fuming to catch it.
Well, I had decided that it shouldn't matter. After all, we're always on the same team when playing against any external opponent. All I have to do to show I was indeed superior to him was to score more points.
Heh! That'll show them! That'll show the stupid fox and his band of rah-rah pigeons.
So why do things never turn out the way I plan for it to? Some force out there must be really jealous of this genius and is turning tides against me.
My team…oh, sorry, our team, won. By a pretty hefty margin too. But heck, that damned Rukawa scored, like, what… Twenty more points than I did? That arrogant, self-centered bastard. Would it really kill him to pass the ball to me once in a while?
I'm glaring at him, I'm glaring with all the force anyone could possibly extract from their eyes, and yet I'm getting no response. Was he just stupid? Is he ignoring me on purpose? Or maybe he's just ignoring the whole world and reveling in his own vanity.
Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa! Ru-ka-wa!
There go the screaming kookaburras again. Will they never shut up?
Is there nothing I could do that would shut them up?!
Don't even think of getting rough with Rukawa. Trust me, I've tried all too many times. That wouldn't shut them up, it'll only get them onto even higher octaves of screeching. Then they'll get physical. And none of them are pretty.
Come on! Think! There has to be a way! And think quickly, the fox is about to leave the den…I mean, the gym.
Ah~~~
And then the idea comes.
It was almost shocking really. How it just came like that. And the very nature of it wasn't any less of a choker. This may mean I will need to take drastic measures afterwards to ever again feel sane again, but it'll be worth it.
I know it will work.
Just gotta carry through with it.
Ha!
Before I knew what was happening, I was acting on the impulse. Maybe it was the honking geese in the background that made me do it. Maybe it was the conceited air Rukawa was giving off as he strode towards the exit. Maybe I was too hungry, I'm not gonna examine it, but the next thing I knew, I was taking large strides after that bastard, the basketball in my hands, bellowing out his name with such force it seemed to drown out all other noise in that closed area.
RU-KA-WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
And to punctuate, I flung the ball down with enough force to send it to hell. Rukawa stopped walking.
And the cheers turned to angry protests. Don't you dare touch our Rukawa! You…
I pay no attention. What's the point? Those baboons haven't gotten anymore creative than "red-haired monkey" since the beginning of the year. No wonder Rukawa has no patience for them.
He turned to face me. Calm, cool, holding his posture.
Hah! But not for long!
With a final step that closed the distance between us, I reached out and grabbed him around his head by both hands. His eyes widened slightly upon contact.
"What the…"
I heard gasps and cries in the background. I could hear Gori and Ayako shouting as they ran towards us.
What? Did they think I was going to give my trademark head-butt? Was no one listening when I said I wasn't going to get rough with him?!
I pulled him in towards me, so fast and swift he had no room or time for protest.
And then, even if he had wanted to, he couldn't protest. He couldn't utter a single syllable.
Because I was kissing him.
Nothing extravagant. Just a simple lip-lock procedure. Technical, like basketball.
I felt nothing, and I doubt he really felt anything. But the move worked like a charm.
Silence has fallen.
No one was chanting, no one was yelling. No one was telling me to behave and no one was calling me a monkey.
Hah!
I let go of the poor inferior child who was still staring at me with those wide blue eyes, and was just about to turn to flaunt my triumph to the world when suddenly I felt his hand upon my shoulder, swinging me around. And it sounded as if he said something:
"I'm still going to win"
I didn't have a chance to digest that, because the next thing I knew, his tongue was in my mouth.
A move I was not prepared for. To say the least.
Caught off guard, and way too traumatized to react, I did the only thing I could. I froze.
It was only meant to be a tactic, just because I wanted to show I could shut everyone up. Sorry Rukawa, that you had to be a tool. But…
Was he trying to kill me?!
I could feel my saliva leaking from my mouth, mixing with sweat and rolling down my chin, my neck…I could taste his saliva in my mouth as his tongue searched it's way around it…
I really should've bitten off that tongue, it's not like he talks anyway.
But I couldn't. I couldn't do anything.
My heart was thumping madly, harder than it had during any basketball match.
Damn you Rukawa!!!
I didn't even realize it when he pulled away, and was only aware of him staring straight into my eyes when I heard his voice mutter the spitefully familiar word:
"Do'aho"
And the real world came crashing back around me. The chickens are squawking again. The silence was broken, and now I was the one standing rooted to the wooden floor, mouth open and eyes blank. Looking like a real idiot.
His face remained void of expression as he turned and exited the gym.
I was right back where I started. Being screamed at, being ridiculed.
I hate to say it…and I mean really hate to say it…
But looks like he was right…he had won…
And yet…strangely enough…
I don't really feel like I've lost.
~OWARI~
A/N: You know that scene after Anzai-Sensei told Rukawa to become the best player in Japan first before heading off to America, when Rukawa went all wild during practice and Sakuragi berated him, then suddenly all these girls were there surrounding them, screaming "Rukawa! Rukawa!" ? I was watching the two guys deathglare each other before suddenly picturing this scene above happening. Don't ask me now. It's past midnight and I'm tired and hungry.
Good Night.
P.S. I love Rukawa. Sweet Dreams.