Silent Love
By: Kuroi Neko-kun
Summary: Rukawa's mute sister returns to his life after years of separation. With the new school year coming, he expects a better life. Meanwhile, Sakuragi suffers his 51st rejection. To top it off, Haruko rejects him for Megane-kun. But a turn of events made him meet Rukawa Kinaki and finds out about her secrets, giving a chance to make peace with Rukawa. Could this be the ultimate boon or will it turn to something else?
Chapter 6: Envy and the Enemy
Key:
"Spoken"
'Sign language'
Thoughts
'Mental messages'
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The clock was down to the last few minutes. Everybody knew that this was crunch time. Shohoku was lagging behind by a point and if they did not score and catch up they will only lag behind more. Kinaki watched intently, willing every score for Shohoku. But none yet. Rukawa gripped his sister's hand. He had been for the past minute. He had to rest, unlike the redhead who had undying stamina. His rebounds were the ones that kept the game in line. Rukawa gripped his sister's hand again. It comforted him more than anything else in the world.
"Rukawa-kun," Coach Anzai said," it's your time in." Ayako nodded pointing to the clock. The raven-haired boy nodded, not without a mental word of assurance from Kinaki.
~~~
Anticipation can kill, as Kinaki would think. She watched as Rukawa tossed the ball for another shoot. It went in. The lead was theirs. She knew that celebrating about it was not going to happen. Sendoh was fast on his feet as well. She watched as he passed Rukawa.
"No way!" Sakuragi shouted as he kept in front of the spike head. She wanted to cheer like everybody else but she could not. So she stood there clapping as Sakuragi blocked the shot as he jumped. As they landed, Sakuragi fell, gripping his ankle with clench teeth, and Kinaki knew why. He landed awkwardly! Sakuragi sprained his ankle. She wanted to rush in front but Haruko, the assistant team manageress, beat her to it with a first-aid kit in hand. An official time out was called.
~~~
The locker room was empty this time. Sakuragi allowed Haruko to bandage his ankle. She lightly advised him to get it checked. He barely registered to her, thinking about his promise and his date.
"Sakuragi-kun…" she mumbled, edging closer to him," I'm sorry about… that time. I didn't mean to…" It was then the redhead turned to Haruko.
"I've gotten over… it," he muttered. He almost said 'you'. He wanted to say it but he did not want to hurt her. It would be just cruel. She was a bit disheartened but a smile was still on her features.
"That's great. Can we still be friends then?" A moment passed as Sakuragi sat with dilemma in his hands, not knowing what to say. All he kept thinking about was Kinaki's feelings about this. Another minute passed. "Sakuragi-kun?" He turned to face the girl before sighing.
"I don't know about that right now, Haruko-san," he said," after all, I might be a nuisance to your boyfriend." She heard the strain of his voice when he said it: Boyfriend.
"No, not at all!" She said, realizing she had said it too fast," Kiminobu-kun is your friend too, right?" Sakuragi considered this before sighing again.
"I…" He did not know what to say at all. All he did was gulp when he noticed the closeness between them. Haruko had a boyfriend now. What difference does it make if they were friends? He shook his head. "Old wounds heal slow, Haruko-san…" he muttered. At that precise moment, Ayako stepped in.
"We won!" She exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. But she soon noticed the tension that filled the room.
"Great." Haruko got up and passed the bandage to Ayako.
~~~
"Rest that leg, do'ahou," Rukawa muttered as they arrived home from a check up. Following the assistant team manageress advice, Sakuragi had gone to the hospital and got his foot checked. Rukawa-san was, of course, worried about him as he got Benibana-san to drive them to the hospital and back. Sakuragi was grateful for it.
"We'll get Sakuragi to his room," Rukawa said to his butler who nodded.
"I'll go and make something for Sakuragi-san before he can take his medication then." Kinaki just slowly walked with her brother and Sakuragi. Making sure that every baby step in his crutch did not harm the redhead. As they reached his room, Sakuragi settled in his bed. Rukawa left the two alone, saying something about homework. Kinaki propped a pillow under the foot, gently. He smiled at her.
"Gomen ne," he mumbled to the girl. She smiled, leaning against him.
"Daijoubu… these things happen. And it's not your fault…"
"But our date…" My first date… with her. Kinaki smiled at him, shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter, Sakuragi-san… We can have it after you heal." He nodded. It was true. There was a lot of healing to be done.
"Thank you, Kinaki-san…" he mumbled, hugging her from behind. He lightly brushed her hair, tucking it behind her ear so that she could hear him. "Thank you…" His voice was soft that only she could hear his words. "If I never met you, I would not have a better life. I was deep in the gutters before. Now, I don't think I can live on without you in my life…" She turned to face him, eyes glistening with unshed tears. She shook her head, knowing that he was wrong. If she never met Sakuragi, she would never be this happy in her life. She wanted to leave, let him rest but he tugged at her arm. "Don't leave me," he mumbled. Jumping straight into his arms, Kinaki comforted him, hoping that it will let him heal faster.
~~~
Returning to school with a crutch on Monday morning was not as bad as it seemed. Poured sympathy and help was all he got nowadays. Some of the Rukawa fans would say something that he chose to ignore. As he sat in his class, everything felt perfectly normal. Well… almost.
"Sakuragi-kun," Haruko greeted him as he took his seat. He nearly froze but regained some composure before regarding her.
"Yo," he mumbled. She smiled at his response before speaking again.
"So," she started," how was the weekend?" A smile twitched on the redhead's face, knowing full well what happened during the weekend.
"Nothing much," he answered," it was boring."
"Oh, well… maybe it'll be more fun this weekend. You see I wanted to go to that amusement park and maybe you could come…"
"With Megane-kun, of course?" The smile on Haruko's face flickered before she nodded.
"Yeah, with him… And you can come with Rukawa—"
"Kinaki," he continued for her. He knew that she wanted him to bring Rukawa Kaede. That's not going to happen. "So it'll be a double date then?" Another flicker. Sakuragi knew he was being cold and he hated himself for it.
~~~
The amusement park would be fun, if Haruko and her boyfriend were not around. They enjoyed some rides but most of the time, Kinaki preferred to stay with Hanamichi who, because of his injury, decided that it was best he stayed behind. They sat and watched the rollercoaster ride, cupping their drinks. Kinaki was never at a lost for words with Hanamichi even though she was mute but her anger made her more silent that she had ever been.
"You know," Hanamichi started saying, blushing slightly," I'm afraid of riding a rollercoaster." Kinaki stared at him with disbelief before giggling. "Hey, it's not funny," he said, trying to defend himself.
"But a big guy like you scared of a rollercoaster?" The raven haired girl smiled, tickled by the thought. "It's unbelievable… Onii-chan loves these. He told me once that he went to America and rode The Hulk. He rode it five times till tou-san forced him off!" Hanamichi could not help smiling as he imagined Rukawa fighting with his father because of a ride.
"I used to think that Rukawa and amusement parks don't mix." Kinaki let out a sigh. She thought he would say something like that. She never could believe that her brother wanted to remain antisocial. Now, he can't. She took a sip of her drink, enjoying the companionable silence. "Would you like to come here for our date, Kinaki-san?" he mumbled, cheeks red," you and… me… alone." She thought about it before nodding. "Then it's settled." Kinaki's smile was wider and she leaned against Hanamichi, sighing. But her moment of content did not last long as Haruko returned with her boyfriend lagging behind.
"Sakuragi-kun! You should've taken the ride! It was really fun! Right, Kiminobu-kun?" She turned to her rather green boyfriend. He just nodded before flashing a small smile to her. Kinaki scribbled something on her notepad.
'Daijoubu?' Kogure nodded before running to the nearest trashcan. Haruko gave her boyfriend some attention after, leaving the two by themselves again.
"Do you want to eat something?" Hanamichi shook his head, watching the couple. For an instance, he saw himself in Haruko's arms, touched by her concerns but a mental tug brought him to reality. But he still could not help the jealousy flowing through himself as he watched the two. He could not put a finger down on why though.
~~~
"Come on guys!" Ryota shouted at the first years who, for the first time, remained more or less the same number that joined. He stopped when he spotted Hanamichi who stood with Anzai-sensei, watching them practice. Giving some sign of regard, Ryota returned to the practice as they started on three-on-three. Rukawa, on the other hand, stopped his practice entirely when he saw the redhead.
"What are you still doing here, do'ahou? I thought I told Benibana-san to pick you up."
"He did but then Rukawa-san had an emergency overseas appointment. So, I'm waiting for you to head back. Or at least, till Kinaki-san feels like going home first." Rukawa smirked.
"You know that she'll wait till I decide to stop," he muttered.
"Yeah, I know…" He shrugged," Well, I better grab a chair."
~~~
Haruko stood watching the boys play, noting their strengths and weaknesses. But she found herself staring at the boy who was conversing with Ayako about god knows what. She smiled; enjoying the fact that Sakuragi-kun had became her friend again [well, almost but she was too ignorant to noticed]. She kept on staring at him, thinking about how it could have been if she did not reject him. Maybe… she shook the thought out of her mind, knowing that Kiminobu-kun was the man for her…. At least, until she had the guts to tell him that she wanted to break up. She bit her lip, knowing how wrong it was to have these thoughts but still… She tried to concentrate on the game, sidelining to the redhead once and awhile. Little that she knew, she was made an enemy by a certain raven haired mind reader.
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