Chapter 20

They say that the darkest part of the day is just minutes before sunrise, Mitsui thought dejectedly.

If it is, then it has been a very long few minutes. Just hours ago, he was so confident that he will find a way to make her see things his way. He will be able to make her tell him how much she loves him and how much she wants to be with him. Together, they will have a wonderful relationship, a wonderful wedding and start the wonderful process of making enough babies to start basketball team.

Make that two basketball teams – then they can play opposite each other and have mini-tournaments.

But within hours, his entire world had crashed down around him. He had been successfully tricked into the role of a heartbreaker. The girl he loves, yes, loves refuses to see him and her best friend had ordered his shaming removal from her front door by force. His teammates avoid him as though he is still the gang leader he was. Even Sakuragi, that thick-headed dope, refuses to beat him up. At least a physical beating can help ease his guilt.

If this was the few minutes before sunrise; the period of suffering he has to endure in order to prove to God his sincerity, he'll bear it will all the pride of the Mitsuis.

But he felt as though the sun will never rise. The streetlight died out and darkness enveloped him. He surrendered to it and let it lead him into the Morpheus' domain.

Ironically, minutes after he slipped into a deep slumber filled with bittersweet dreams, the sun he was waiting for did rise.

***

She had stared out of the window blankly the entire morning: staring at the figure illumined by the weak streetlight. She watched him spend the entire night sitting in the snow, against the cold metal pole of the street light, alternating between looking up at her window, tracing patterns in the snow and gazing off into space, lost in memories that made him smile sadly.

The street light had gone out and for a minute, she felt deeply uneasy.

When the first rays of the morning sun finally touched him, he look as still as one who had been touched by death.

Fear choked her and she found it very difficult to breathe and her first thought was to go down there and make sure he hasn't died. She rose from her seat too quickly having forgotten her injured ankle. It refused to bear her full weight and she went crashing onto the floor, knocking over the glass of water on the table by her chair. The sound breaking glass broke the peaceful silence in the apartment.

Still single-minded in her efforts to get to him, she accidentally cut her hand on the broken pieces of glass.

"Akane-chan!"

Yuriko and Ayako stood at the doorway, looking her hand in horror – rivers of red streaming from the cut. It looked quite deep. They rushed to their fallen friend and helped her onto her bed.

"He's not worth it, Akane," Yuriko hissed as she grabbed some tissues and attempted to staunch the blood and stop the hemorrhaging.

Akane looked at her in a puzzled fashion. It finally dawned upon her that her friend thought she was attempting suicide because of Mitsui Hisashi.

"No," she tried to explain but Yuriko cut her off. "He's not worth it. He's not worthy of you, Akane-chan. If that bitch wants her, let her have him!" she said angrily as she continued to attend to her bleeding hand.

Ayako knelt down and took her uninjured hand in hers, "Are you alright?"

"I am now," Akane replied shakily, her icy resolve melting like the snow outside. "Please, go take a look at him. Take him away. If he stays out there any longer, he'll die. I know I shouldn't care, but I do. I don't want him to die," she whispered fearfully.

Ayako and Yuriko both looked at her. They began to understand how much they meant to each other now. It wasn't just some high school fling, for both of them. If it was, Mitsui wouldn't have waited out there in the cold; wet, hungry, half frozen to death. If it was, Akane wouldn't have been hurt so terribly by his betrayal.

If that was true, then could it be that this entire situation be a misunderstanding?

Even Yuriko was now prepared to shove aside her anger and prejudice against the man who hurt her friend so much to allow him the chance to present his side of this whole deplorable story.

Ayako held her hand a little longer before going out to call the Shohoku basketball team to remove their fallen comrade.

***

"Why can't we just leave him to freeze to death here? I think he deserves it."

The tall, fox-faced basketball player gave his red headed team mate a withering look.

"After all, if he freeze to death, then it won't be our fault he died – so oyaji can't suspend us, right?" the red headed player continued. "I'm such a brilliant tensai!" He laughed his trademark lunatic laugh that promptly sent sweat drops rolling down his team mates foreheads and Akagi's mighty fist to crash down on his head.

"Baka," Rukawa rolled his eyes.

"Teme, Kitsune!!!"

Kogure, having enough foresight or rather just experience to foresee that they will be treated to a spectacular re-run of the infamous Fox vs. "Tensai" match if someone did not interfere quickly stepped in between the two lighting rods of boys. He immediately felt intimidated by the towering height and was not so sure if he can separate them if they decided to carry on with their frequent lovers'-spat kinda argument. Figuratively speaking of course, since the idea of two of them together….

Kogure blushed. He decided he should stop secretly reading his sister's stash of boy-love manga. Clearly, it was screwing his brain up. He sighed mentally; at least some part of him is getting screwed.

Miyagi clapped his hands, drawing the bickering boys' attention. The bespectacled boy in between them sent a weak grateful smile his way. The new captain frowned – his senpai looks flushed.

Several months of being captain seemed to have infused Miyagi with a certain leadership quality. Of course, Ayako personally entrusting him with this mission to save both Mitsui's life and love life makes him determined not to disappoint her no matter what. After all, if Ayako were to tell her that she will be happy if he will jump off a cliff, he would do it just to make her happy.

Of course, that is just an example. Not to say he wouldn't jump off a cliff for her, but she won't ask that of him anyway – she loves him, right?

"Focus people, focus" he called out. "Focus on our cold, wet, freezing and probably half dead from pneumonia assistant coach and how to get him home."

"Do we have to?" Sakuragi whined, "He really, really deserves it," and proceeded to call Mitsui names that'll shock the devil himself.

"Yes," Miyagi replied. "Ayako-chan specifically told me that he has to be alive, healthy and in top form before the Kainan game and she will not be disappointed. You hear me?" There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that spoke of a very torturous death for anyone that prevents his Ayako-chan's wishes from being carried out expediently. It was enough to make Rukawa nod his head once. Sakuragi, on the other hand was bobbing his head up and down so fast that the rest were pretty sure it would fall off soon.

"Enough!" Akagi boomed. "Rukawa! Sakuragi! Assist Mitsui to the car! Everyone, head for the car! NOW!"

Of course, when Akagi speaks – everyone listens, knowing that the consequences would not be pretty if the ex-captain's orders were not carried out promptly. They all piled into Akagi's MPV, with Mitsui between Sakuragi and Rukawa in the backseat. The car was big – just like its owner. Miyagi took a seat in the second row and Kogure sat with Akagi in the front.

Akagi started the car and pulled away from the curb, driving down the street when Sakuragi said the most intelligent thing he ever said the entire day. Or possibly his entire life.

"Does anyone know where Mitchy live?"

***

"Wah…"

Miyagi had raised his eyebrows at the address Ayako had given him. Mitsui's apartment was indeed something to behold. Besides being situated in one of the poshest neighborhood in Kanagawa, in the poshest condominium block, it's a penthouse with two floors.

Conclusion: Mitsui Hisashi is filthy rich.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's unconscious right now.

"Ok," Kogure started, his usual maternal instinct kicking in when it is about his team mates. "We need to him out of those clothes and give him a warm bath."

"Bath?" Sakuragi, Miyagi and Rukawa looked at him blankly.

"Yes. Bath. As in, cleaning your self with water, singing songs off key under a shower or playing with a rubber ducky in a bathtub of soapy water," Akagi replied irritably. "What is it about taking a bath that you three do not comprehend?

"Giving him a bath, as in giving him a bath with him wearing absolutely nothing?" Miyagi choked out. He looked as if he were about to faint.

Akagi's face changed into an impressive shade of pink. Under normal circumstances, seeing their dependable ex captain blush would have been a sight to be carefully observed and catalogued in their memory carefully, something for them to tell their grandkids one day. But frankly, the idea of giving a very naked Mitsui a bath was very disturbing.

"Well, we can't just leave him soaking wet," Kogure said helplessly.

They all looked at each other, hard when suddenly the doorbell rang. Kogure at once rushed over to answer the door.

"HI-CHAN!!!"

Kogure fell backward under the weight of a pair of beautiful females in their mid twenties dressed in low cut blouses and micro miniskirts (never mind that it is snowing outside) with identical features: blue-black hair and limpid blue eyes. He looked at them and immediately blushed realized that he was looking at their cleavage directly and them being in a most compromising position – two beautiful girls sprawled on top of him. It occurred to him that he was blushing a lot today.

"Oh… it's not Hi-chan," the one in a pink blouse said, sounding most disappointed.

"It doesn't matter; he's cute in a geeky way," her twin in a similar aqua blouse say as she proceeded to pinch Kogure's cheeks. "Almost as cute as our Hi-chan!"

The rest of the gang looked on with their mouths hanging open and secretly wishing that they could be in Kogure's position.

"Hi-chan?" Rukawa raised his eyebrows.

"Are they hookers?" Sakuragi whispered curiously to no one in particular.

"I didn't know Mitsui was into older women," Miyagi added his own two cents, astonished.

"Then what is he doing with Katsura? No offence to her, but these two women is much prettier," Sakuragi argued.

Akagi cleared his throat and the two women climbed off Kogure. The bespectacled boy immediately got up to his feet and practically ran back to the safety of his teammates shadows.

"May I know who are you?" Akagi asked courteously, but firmly.

The women giggled furiously before the one in blue said, "I'm Yuya."

"And I'm Yuko," the one in pink chimed in.

"And we are Hi-Chan's elder sisters," the finished in unison.

"ELDER SISTERS?!!!"

***

Ghostwriter: I do not know what I was thinking when I wrote this.

Mitsui: [Glares] It is obvious to me you weren't thinking!"

Ghostwriter: [Miffed] You should be careful what you say to me young man, I'm the omnipotent author of this fanfic and you're at my mercy. I can make you jump off a cliff it so pleases me.

Mitsui: [Screams] At the rate this is going, I would prefer to jump off the cliff! Sakuragi thinks my sisters are prostitutes. I think they're a female clone of me physically but with the personality of Barbie!

Ghostwriter: Well… I'm not sure if you want to talk so loud….

Yuya and Yuko: Hi-Chan!!!! [Runs towards Mitsui]

Mitsui: Urg. I'll be back! [Glares at Ghostlie before running off]

Ghostwriter: [Shrugz] I told you so….

***

A/N: Chapter 20's up. Hope you all liked it. Thank you for all the lovely reviews – I love you all much. Will continue to work very, very hard on this story if you review. Loff ya~!

For updates of my works: www.crapcity.blogspot.com