Learning to Fly
PROLOGUE
It was growing dark outside.
As he paused in his actions to catch a glance out the gym window, Rukawa Kaede noticed with slight alarm that dusk has long since come and gone. With a sigh he turned his attention back to the basketball hoop.
Just ten more minutes…he decided… ten more minutes and I'll head home…
He was already pushing himself too hard, and he was aware of it. Sure, it's nothing out of the ordinary for him to stay behind in the court even when the after-school practice sessions were over, just to go that little bit further than anyone else; but today he had stayed much longer than anticipated.
I'm just so out of form! He thought with frustration as another shot failed to make it into the hoop. Why did I have get sick? And how the heck did I manage to catch a cold in this raging heat?!
Having been forced by his teammates to take the bench and just rest for every practice session for the past two weeks, Rukawa was feeling more than just a little rusty. Practicing simple techniques and the basics by himself was nowhere near as satisfying as breaking in an all-out sweat in some vigorous training.
His teeth clenched as he remembered the day team captain Akagi Takenori sent him off the court to rest.
"Bwahahahah! Rukawa! You're sick? The fox-boy is actually sick?! Ahahaha! Hey you know what they say: only idiots can catch colds in the middle of summer! Who's the do'aho now?!"
That loud-mouthed, self-righteous fool! Rukawa's hands tightened around the basketball as he tried to shake the voice out of his head. It was easier said than done. Lately it seems like that heck-of-an-irritating voice has been stuck his head like some kind of annoying jingle.
He took a deep breath, and tried another shot, determined to get at least this one last one in. But just as the ball was leaving the tip of his fingers, his vision suddenly went blurry for a moment, when it cleared a second later, he had already misfired and a series of dull clangings sounded as the ball hit the rim of the basket and then bounced a few times along the wooden floor.
"Ch'…" He mutters, rubbing his eyes with one hand "'the hell was that?"
Probably am pushing myself too hard for now…
He had determination for sure, but he was not blindly persistent.
I'll come back early tomorrow, when I'm more refreshed…but now…
As he headed towards the exist, he distinctly felt fatigue come on rapidly. He was suddenly so tired.
Just…have to…get some rest…
Rubbing his eyes again in an attempt to keep them open, he locked the doors of the gym, and staggered slowly to where his bike was chained up.
* * *
"Dammit!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi cursed under his breath as he took a glance out of the taxi window, with the rate at which the traffic was lined up, it could take forever to get out of this jamb.
Gritting his teeth and biting back the urge to open the window and scream offences to the world, he again regretted the decision to take a taxi.
Isn't this meant to be faster than bike and tram? He thought, irritated. Had I known this was gonna happen I may as well have crawled there.
Right before school had ended that day, Akagi Haruko had approached Hanamichi to invite him, Youhei and the rest of the gundan to the summer festival at the local shrine, he obviously agreed with no second thoughts. Unfortunately, having been drilled during after-school basketball practice, he had fallen asleep after getting home, and only woke with minutes to spare.
And he figured four wheels would be faster than two. Expensive, yes, but he can't be late for Haruko!
"Oi!" He roared at the driver "Can't you find some way around this?!"
"So…sorry sir!" the poor man quivered "I'm doing the best I can!"
Damn this! He cursed again. They were barely ten meters from the end of his lane.
"Take a left turn there!" He pointed and demanded.
"But…"
"Don't argue with me! I know there's a way around this through there!"
…Or at least I'll let my ingenuity and natural instincts figure a way out…
Unable to refuse the menacing redhead, the driver did as he was told.
After so many twists and rotations and roundabouts and U-turns that Hanamichi's temper was getting even hotter than it had been when they were still on the main road, they finally spotted the exist that led to where he was aiming for.
"Yo---sh!" He crowed, as his fury melted into triumph "See? I told you the genius would find a way!"
The driver chose to keep his silence.
"Step on it old man!" Hanamichi yelled as they neared the turn "I'm in a hurry! Haven't you slowed me down enough already?!"
With a sigh, the driver checked for clearance, and pumped on the accelerator.
What the…?!
Suddenly Hanamichi felt as if everything was happening in slow motion.
The car had been speeding up, and then everything around him seemed to stop moving. Everything, but him. He saw the windscreen moving towards him, and only then did it cross his mind that in his haste, he had neglected his seatbelt.
He threw his arms up in front of his face to prepare for the blow. Why did they stop so suddenly? They were going fine! He didn't want to be sitting here like this! Why the heck did they have to…
Something was hurting. He couldn't tell what it was, but he felt pain surge through his body as if he was been electrocuted.
And then, he felt nothing more.
* * *
Where the heck am I now?
"Sir? Are you alright? Sir?"
Hanamichi could make out a voice speaking to him. At first it sounded far away, but then it kept getting closer and louder until his eardrums were echoing.
Blinking a few times, he finally managed to open his eyes.
He was lying down somewhere. Somewhere hard. And his head felt as if it would split open it was aching so much.
"Sir?"
He turned his head slightly to the source of the voice, and found a nurse crouching beside him, first-aid kit in hand.
"Ah…" He grumbled as he sat up slowly, reaching up and gingerly touched his forehead.
Bandages?
Oh…right…
Vaguely he remembered…that sudden braking, as if they hit something.
"What happened?" He asked the nurse, glancing around to see if he could figure out what was going on.
"The taxi you were riding in had a run-in, and it appeared it had a faulty seat belt"
Faulty? I didn't even try putting it on!
"Oh…" He murmured, and suddenly remembering where he was meant to be headed, he asked "What time is it?"
Somewhat surprised, she replied "Almost Eight-thirty"
What? Only eight-thirty? I only left home at about quarter past eight! Maybe I can still make it then!
"Thank you" He replied quickly, and attempted to stand up.
"Wait…!" She tried to protest, but any effort to stop Hanamichi from doing what he wanted is always in vain.
Hmm…doesn't seem to be all that serious…He thought as he made his way through the emergency crews…I'm pretty much okay, and there's that driver talking to the police over there…hey, does this mean I don't have to pay the fare?
He shrugged to himself, and then noticed something odd.
Wait…why are there so many people here? It wasn't that bad right? What did we hit anyway…and this whole area looks like it's blocked…
His thoughts came to a sudden halt as he reached the spot where the taxi was parked. An ambulance was standing at ready nearby.
Oh…my…God…
His eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat.
The front of the car, the windscreen, the hood…and a large patch of ground in front… were completely covered in blood. More blood than Hanamichi ever imagined could come from one person.
Did we kill somebody?! Oh God…please tell me we didn't kill anyone!
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an object lying only a few feet away.
It was a bicycle. Battered, bent and crushed into distortion.
But it could still be recognized.
And it was all too familiar.
No…!
He was screaming, but he couldn't hear himself making any sound. What was wrong with his voice?
No! It can't be like this! Nothing can be this much of a coincidence! Not this! It can't be! It can't! It can't! It can't!!!
Pushing aside the few emergency crew members trying to stop him, he rushed towards the beat-up bike. Trying to find proof, any kind of proof, that the thought which just came in to his mind was wrong.
No, it can't be! There must be thousands of people with this bike in just all of Kanagawa! It can't be that coincidental! It's just a very similar bike that's all! And I'll prove it! I'll prove that…
Ha! See? Here! Here's the personalization tag! I found it! And I can show that it's a total stranger who has this bike! See? Look! Look at it! It says…
Rukawa. K.
Fuck…
It felt as if he was suffocating, his hands shook violently as he held onto the metal tag. Wide eyes bore into the small plaque as if he believed staring at it hard enough could change the engravings on it.
No…no! I must be seeing things! It's just my head…my head still hurts! I must be delusional! No! Come on! This doesn't belong to him, it's just a mistake! It must be a mistake! No...there must be other people of this name! There must be! It can't be like this!
Someone was tapping him on his shoulder, telling him to get away from there and get into the ambulance with them. When he didn't respond, the light tapping turned to a forceful grip.
"Don't touch me!" He exploded, shaking away whoever it was violently. He pushed aside those blocking the way between him and the ambulance. He had to prove it wasn't true.
A stretcher was just being loaded as he finally fought through. The site that met his eyes crushed all hope he had been holding up till then.
The dark hair that was now covered with blood. The pale skin, also covered with blood. White shirt, black shorts…all drenched with that horrible, frightening color.
No…No!! This is not happening! How can it be like this all of a sudden! No! I'm on my way to…to…oh God…where the hell was I going?! What is happening to me? My head…wait, that's it! I'm having a nightmare, that's why this is all happening! But it hurts so bad! Why am I not waking up? I have to wake up! This cannot be real! This can't be happening! This…
He stood gasping as the stretcher disappeared into the back of that ambulance. His head hurt. His chest hurt…every part of him was hurting.
As the last of his senses started to leave him, he screamed in a broken, strangled, choking voice, that name he had called out so many times before, but was so frightened of having to admit to this time, right there:
No…
"Rukawa!"