Disclaimer: Ya da…ya da…ya da… The usual disclaimer that everyone's annoyed about applies. Slam Dunk does not belong this lazy neko, and it'll never be, 'cos Takehiko Inoue sensei is its rightful owner! But…the OC's are mine and mine only! Bwahahahahahaha~ :D K…so what if this neko's a loony? Hahahahahaha~ :P =^.^=
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10Q to everyone who reviewed! :D *bows* Doumo! ^_^
Iluvenis Telperien - Eddie!!! Thankies & … *huggles* =^.^= *blushes* *^-^* Ganbarimsu yo!
And…Eddie…since you're reading my Chinese fic, I'll get on to it and update it soon…sometime ne ^_^;;
sLL - sLL-san! :D Whee have you been?! Haven't seen you around 4 ages ne, o'genki? :D Thanks for reviewing ne, glad that you like the fic … so far ;P cheers~ :)
Mitchy - 10Q & watashi wa ganbarimasu! Arigatou! ^_^
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NB: "…" Character's speech
… Character's Thoughts
(…) See neko's notes…
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~ Chapter 8 – The Shadow Returned ~
Time flies.
It'd been more than two years since Miei left. Two years, eight months and five days to be exact.
Kaede sat in the lecture hall, enduring the droning voice of the lecturer as he doodled on his notepad. After graduating from Shohoku High, he was accepted into TouDai, where he studied commerce on a basketball scholarship. Unexpectedly, commerce came to Kaede as natural as basketball did. He was now the priced student of the faculty despite of his narcolepsy. Hanamichi had also been accepted into TouDai, but unlike Kaede, he was accepted because of his academic achievements. Who'd have thought that the boisterous red head could graduate from Shohoku as the valedictorian? He too was in the TouDai basketball club together with Kaede. Other familiar faces from Kanagawa could also be found in the club, namely Maki, Fujima, Shin, Sendoh, Kiyota and Hanagata.
As the lecture dragged on, his mind couldn't help but reeled back to the day when Miei left Japan…left him.
~~~~ Flashback ~~~~
As soon as the taxi pulled to a halt in front of the skyscraper that was of Kawa-Ha Corp. in Tokyo, he shoved a handful of crisp notes into the driver's hand and dashed toward his father's office. He ignored the various questioning gazes of staffs and headed for the elevator used exclusively by the company's senior officials and CEO. He took out an identification card and pushed it into the slot beside the elevator's buttons and pressed for the 37th floor, his father's office. When the door opened, he stormed into his father's office ignoring the flabbergasted secretary.
"Rukawa-san, Rukawa-san, you can't just barge in like this…" The secretary yelped, as she tried to hold Kaede back.
The raven head flung his right arm, forcing the secretary to release her loose hold on him. He pushed the large oak doors of the office opened forcefully and glared at the occupants inside. His father and two departmental managers were startled by the sudden intrusion, but Sho regained his composure quickly and asked his managers to leave. Once the managers had left and the door closed, Sho gestured his son to sit in front of him. Kaede continued to glare icicles at his father as he walked across the room before settling in the chair before his father's desk. Sho watched his son's actions closely and studied his face. Below that cold mask of his, Sho saw rage, confusion and hurt.
The raven head pursed his lips and stared into cerulean eyes that were the exact copies of his. "Why? Why did you send her away!?" He demanded coldly.
Sho remained silent. He could see the fire of anger escalating in his son's eyes. He had never seen his son so alive before. He smiled to himself at this.
"Dammit! Tell me why!" The kitsune snarled.
"Kaede, please, calm yourself." Sho said calmly, disregarding his son's rage.
"Calm myself?! How can I calm myself when I just found out my father had sent the girl I'd fallen in love with away!?"
"Well...let's see. Miei-chan has fallen for you but she's denying herself the chance of being with you because of her beliefs in the samurai code. So, do you think she'll let go of this binding and fly into your arms? I don't think so. The only way to get around this little problem within her heart is to give her enough time to think about the situation, and hopefully her stubbornness will surrender to her heart's desires and return to your side."
"How can you be sure that she'll come back to me eventually?" Kaede's anger subsided slightly and deadpanned sarcastically.
"Because…I've been there and experienced the same emotional roller coaster as you are experiencing now. Did you really think that your mother and I were smooth sailing from the very beginning? If you think that then boy are you wrong!" Sho smiled wryly for a moment then continued, "I had a fiancé before I met your mother, and breaking off the engagement with that girl was a total nightmare. Because of this, your mother left me for quite some time before she realised that she couldn't fight against her heart and came back to me. The reason for her leaving was the same as Miei-chan has because your mother was the daughter of an old servant at our Hokkaido manor, so she ran and I chased. When I stopped chasing to leave her with room to breathe, she came back to me eventually."
Kaede gaped at his father. He didn't know that his parents went through a romance roller coaster before they were married. He'd always thought that his parents were the perfect match for each other and his mother was an appointed wife for his father. But, it didn't seem to be so…
Kaede sighed helplessly and buried his face in his palms. "Where did you send her to? And most importantly, how long do I have to wait?"
Sho rose from his seat and walk over to his son. He placed a firm pat on his son's shoulder in assurance. "She's flying to Zurich now. She is joining the company's new international IT supervision team. Their journey starts at Zurich and she's contracted for three years. As for how long will she be staying away, that is a question I cannot answer you. But think of this separation as a test, a test for your love for her and hers for you."
"What do I do now, father?" The younger Rukawa asked gloomily.
Sho sighed at his son's helplessness and patted his shoulders once more. "Wait. Be patient and wait for her to return to you."
~~~~ End of Flashback ~~~~
Since then, he'd been waiting patiently for her to come back to him. But as the river of time continue to flow smoothly, days turned into months and months turned into years. Yet, she had not returned. Kaede heaved a silent sigh and decided to shut off and catch a quick nap instead of listening to the samey voice of his lecturer. OK, it's only nine in the morning, but…it's never too early or too late for the ex-resident narcoleptic of Shohoku.
Just as he dozed off, the lecture hall's door creaked open and in stepped a female transfer student. She walked to the kyouju and handed him the note of advice for her transfer before taking her seat next to the sleeping form of a kitsune. Her waist length black hair swished as she sat down and her midnight eyes glittered with mischief as she turned to look at the sleeping boy next to her as the kyouju continued with the lecture.
A smile grazed her smooth face as she leaned slightly and blew her warm, moist breath into the sleeping boy's ear whilst holding onto his arm sternly to prevent his reflexive reaction upon being woken. "Wake up youkun. Unless you want my needle treatment like when you were in high school."
Blue sapphires blazed with an unknown fire as porcelain eyelids flapped open to the sound of the voice he dreamt of hearing again. He lifted his messy raven head off the desk and gaped incredulously at her as she watched his priceless expression with a small cheeky smile curling her lips.
Am I dreaming?! If I am, I don't want to wake from this dream! He shouted mentally.
"Aren't you going to welcome me back, youkun?" She said in a hushed voice, avoiding disturbance to the class.
Kaede opened and closed his mouth like a gold fish, but no words were uttered. She chuckled softly at his predicament, and boy did she wish she had a camera with her. This was a once in a lifetime chance to catch the usually aloof kitsune with such interesting facial somersaults.
Snapping out of his embarrassing verbal block, he pulled her into a tight embrace and whispered, "Okaerinasai! And…please don't leave me again. Onegai…"
Miei tensed at his heartfelt plead. She could feel him shivering from the fear of losing her again. She bit her lips to force back the pang that had begun stinging her heart. She sighed inwardly, Did I make a mistake in coming back?
When she didn't reply him, Kaede released his hold on her and looked into her eyes. "Miei? Nan deshou ka?"
She shook her head and smiled as she averted his gaze. "Nan demo nai."
"Miei…"
At that very moment, a whiteboard duster flew across the lecture hall in perfect trajectory and missed Kaede's raven tresses by a few centimetres. The duster landed on the empty seat next to him as the kyouju stared daggers at the new transfer student and the priced student of the commerce faculty cum basketball star of TouDai.
"Rukawa! What in the world are you doing!? I know your smart, but don't you dare be a smart-aleck in my class! If you have something to discuss with Miss Katori, do it after class!" The finance lecturer fumed whilst a small group of girls giggled. The majority of the girls however glared daggers at their new classmate for acting friendly with their idol while the males smirked sarcastically at Kaede.
"Shitsureishimashita." Miei mumbled at soft apology to the kyouju while Kaede humphed ignorantly.
"Katori?" Kaede queried curiously when the lecturer returned to his teaching.
Miei smiled and shrugged. She then pulled out her notepad and wrote her answer to his question instead of answering verbally. Business, as you've expected. I've assumed the name Katori Yami, so please call me Yami, not Miei.
Reading her answer made Kaede's heart sink. The joy he felt upon seeing her again vanished into thin air. Business. This word stung his eyes and stabbed at his heart like a sharp blade. He turned his eyes away as despair claimed its prize, him. Are you that heartless? Do you know how hard it was to restrain myself from going after you when you went away? Does that damned honour code really matters more to you than I? His heart wept silently.
Miei glanced at the kitsune and sighed inwardly. She knew she's hurt him…again. But…what can she do about it? Even though she knew she had feelings for him, feelings deeper than what she once had for Murasaki; she didn't want to breach the honour of a samurai and to bring shame to the family. Her pride was too strong for her to go against her own beliefs, albeit it had become more difficult to restrain her heart's desire as time passed. Therefore, she'd forced herself to be cruel and wounded his heart again…along with it, her heart as well. She bit hard on her lip and chanted to herself, This is the best for the both of us… This is the best for the both of us…
The master and the servant did not converse further. What was being taught in the lecture was disregarded by the two. They were too engrossed in their on thoughts and licking at their hearts' wounds to pay attention to the lecturer's monotone. As soon as the lecture came to an end, Kaede grabbed Miei by the arm and dragged her to a more secluded area of the campus forcefully. He cornered her by the wall and glared hard at her.
"Do I mean nothing to you at all!?" Kaede growl exasperatedly.
Miei lowered her head and did not reply.
"Answer me, dammit! Am I nothing to you!?" He pressed again.
Finally looking up at him with sorrow filled eyes, "You know I care for you…but…I just can't…"
"Oh, don't give me that crap about the honour of a samurai again! I will not let you run away from me again! You hear me!? I WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!" With that, Kaede sealed his oath on her lips not allow her to escape him. All his emotional rushes were compacted into that one kiss. The fiery kiss almost melted her entire being. She couldn't help but sigh as she surrendered to her heart's innermost desire. She began to kiss him back and her arms snaked around his neck unconsciously.
When they finally broke apart after what seemed to be an eternity, both were panting heavily for air. Kaede smiled down at her and traced her lips with his right thumb. "That wasn't that bad, was it?" He asked cheekily.
Miei blushed and swatted his hand away. Kaede let out a small laugh and smiled as he pulled her into a hug.
"Let go Miei, onegai. Let go of all those rules and restrictions. I ache to be by your side. I need you to be with me." He said as he breathed in the soft lavender scent that he'd missed so much.
"Demo…"
As soon as she began, Kaede put a finger to her lips, not letting her say the words that he loathed. "Miei, trust in me, in us. Nothing and no one can come between us. Not even that damned honour you keep talking about." He said sternly as he bored into her midnight pools.
"It's not as simple as you think, youkun…" She whispered softly.
"Yes it is. It's simple, just like that." He snapped his fingers as he spoke. "The decision is yours to make. Kaii jii-san never disapproved of us and neither did my parents. In fact, they all wish for us to be together."
She looked up at him with her hopeful midnight gems. He smiled warmly at her comfortingly. "Don't worry too much. Everything will be fine." He glanced at his watch briefly and took her hand into his. "I assumed you've enrolled into all my classes. So, shall we go? We have the marketing lecture next."
She let herself be pulled along by Kaede to the next lecture. But as they walked across the campus's grounds, her head reeled with self-debate about whether she should relinquish the samurai code she'd bound herself so tightly to or not. She sighed mentally as she settled into her seat next to Kaede while other students in the lecture hall ogled at them, not wanting to believe that the Ice Prince was smiling warmly.
〆 〆 〆 〆 〆
After going from lectures to lectures, lunch break finally came. Kaede took Miei into the cafeteria and sat down at the basketball team's regular table. They were soon joined by other members of the team and Kaede introduced those she didn't know before to her. Hanamichi was the last to join them and he yelped like a giddy school boy as he laid sight on Miei.
"Misaki! My god! You're finally back!"
Miei smiled at her friend. "Sakuragi-kun, hisahiburi desu ne. O'genki?"
Hanamichi sat down beside her and nodded. "Of course! This tensai is always genki! Nyahahahahaha!"
Yeaps! He hasn't changed a bit! Miei thought as her smile broadened warmly.
"Oi kitsune, why didn't you tell me she's coming back?" Hanamichi darted a playful glare at Kaede.
"Didn't know she's coming back. I was really surprised when I saw her in my lecture and sitting next to me this morning." Kaede said with a smile as he clasped her hands in his.
Kaede, Miei and Hanamichi were chatting happily whilst those who didn't know of the little situation that happened almost three years ago gawked at the kitsune. Is the world coming to an end? Rukawa Kaede, The Ice Prince that everyone knows so well is smiling and chatting!? This single thought echoed in the basketballers' minds.
Hanamichi then noticed something different about Miei. The red head pointed at his left cheek indicatively and asked, "What happened?"
"I had surgery. When I accepted the job Kawa Shu-sama offered me and went to Zurich, I had surgery to cover the scar since I couldn't possibly run around the offices with that scar on my face scaring everyone I see." She said with a slightly dry tone.
Kaede squeezed her hands gently to sooth her of the pain she was feeling from remembering Murasaki. She smiled at him for his thoughtfulness. Suddenly, she remembered what she'd wanted to ask him since she saw him this morning, but was distracted from it. She turned and looked at the raven head seriously.
"Why are those Sugiyama Gumi thugs after you?" She asked in a solemn tone.
"The yakuza is after kitsune?!" Hanamichi yelped disbelievingly. "What the heck for? And, how come I dunno about it?!"
"That's what I'd like to know. The information provided only states that youkun refused to have any kage assigned to him, and the reason behind it is unknown."
"Chotto matte! What the hell are you guys going on about? And why are you calling him youkun, and what's the meaning of having a kage assigned to him?" Kiyota cried exasperatedly after listening to the threesome's conversation.
"They don't know about your identity, do they?" Miei asked Kaede after hearing Kiyota's little speech.
Kaede and Hanamichi shook their heads in unison. Within the entire population of TouDai, students and staffs inclusive, no one knew about Kaede's heritance, except Kaede himself and Hanamichi. Miei felt a headache coming on, and to top it up, Kiyota's not one who'd be content with knowing only scraps of the whole story.
"Sakuragi-kun, can you do me the honour of taking on the role of the explicator of youkun's situation to your fellow team mates while I communicate with youkun?" She asked the red head.
Hanamichi nodded and turned to the others. "Guys, I'll give you the details but you guys must promise not to blab about it to anyone else, k? Let's go to another table and give these two some space."
The group left with Hanamichi to another table whilst Miei tried to get Kaede to recall what had caused the Sugiyama Gumi to confer words of going after the raven head.
"What happened?" She asked firmly.
Kaede cocked his head to one side as he tried to recall recent happenings in his life. His kitsune eyes narrowed somewhat as he remembered the incident that had happened almost two weeks ago.
"Guess I'd bashed up someone in their ranks." He deadpanned.
Miei raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "What happened exactly?"
"I was walking back to my car after buying some things from the convenient store and saw a bunch of guys harassing a girl. I was going to walk away when I noticed that girl happened to be Gori, Shohoku's ex-captain's sister, so I went over and helped her."
"So you went over and helped the little damsel in distress by bashing up those guys pretty badly, scoffed at them and walked off right?" Miei jeered as she felt a prick of jealousy over him helping a girl who had a big crush on him. She rolled her eyes at herself. Miei no baka!
"That's about it." Kaede grinned at her, "Did I just hear jealousy in your tone?"
"No you did not!" Miei riposted as the blush on her cheeks began to build.
Kaede's grin widened as her blush darkened with time. She tried to snap out of her embarrassment by putting on a serious mask. "OK. Now we know the cause of it all. So, all we have to do is wait for those guys to turn up and try and settle things without too much violence." She paused slightly and continued, "That is…if they are willing to settle things quietly."
Meanwhile, at the table not too far from Kaede and Miei, Hanamichi began telling his fellow team mates about Kaede's heritage and who Miei was…minus the unpleasant scene which had taken place at Shohoku three years back. Once he finished, he was presented with jaw-dropped team mates who were starring at him as if he was an alien from outer space.
"Anou…guys?" Hanamichi waved his hand in front of the basketballers in attempts to get a reaction from them.
The first one to recover was Maki, followed by Fujima then the others. Kiyota jumped and yelped when he broke out of the trance. "I can't believe that no good show-off is a member of the richest and most powerful families in Japan!"
Hanamichi head-butted the wild monkey and snapped, "Urusai! You want the whole world to know about kitsune!?"
The long haired point guard fainted on impact and slumped on the table with his eyes turned into whirlies. Everyone at the table sweat-dropped at the show provided by the two monkeys of the team.
"Never would I have thought that Rukawa is from such an ancient and influential family. What's more is that he has personal bodyguards that no one knows about." Sendoh commented with a tinge of covetousness.
"You don't have to envy him Smiley. I've seen what he has to put up with because of his social status and it's not fun. He can't even have the girl he loves because of his status and because she's his servant who'd sworn to protect him with her life." Hanamichi said bleakly.
"So what's Rukawa gonna do about her then? Like you said, they can't be together because of this master-servant relationship." Shin asked curiously while he pointed a finger at Miei.
Hanamichi shrugged. "Don't know. But, the atmosphere enveloping them now is definitely better than it was three years ago. With luck, Kitsune might just make it this time and get her to forget about all those honour codes she keeps talking about."
"Hopefully. Guess we'd better wish Rukawa good luck then." Fujima winked light-heartedly at the group as smiles climbed onto everyone's faces.
Yes…with luck he might just be able to pull it off and glue her to his side forever this time. Hanamichi smiled as he turned to look at the master-servant pair who were chatting animatedly. His shadow has finally returned…
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akane の teahouse
Konnichiwa minna-san! :D Genki? ^_^
A belated Xmas wish to you all…and Happy New Year ne, since it's almost 2004! ;)
Well…let's see…if all goes as planned, this fic should finish soon…two more chapters or so ^_^;
Anyways, thanks for sticking with me till now, an hope you've enjoyed this chappy ^_^
Please drop me some reviews ne ;) Onegaishimasu~~~ =^.^=
The Lazy Neko signing out… =^.^=