To the readers, I am so sorry for the long delay! School's keeping me, really. -sigh-
Author's Notes: This is a multichaptered fic set on Rukawa and Sakuragi's couplehood. In this era, same sex marriage is already allowable in the society.
[...] ---Rukawa's thoughts.
'...' ---Sakuragi's thoughts.
Rukawa is himself.
Warning: My first attempt on a romantic comedy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing about Slam Dunk except for my little fic. :)
TRIAL MARRIAGE
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CHAPTER 4--- The Folks
............
"NANDATO?!?!?" Rukawa nodded. He wasn't the least tense. His heart was only booming in his chest and he's actually fidgeting with his fingers. If any, he was incredibly calm, cool and composed...Damn right.
[Darn it! Gods, tell me again why this should happen now?!?]
"But...It can't, they can't...KAEDE!!! They cannot see me here! They shouldn't know I'm, GOD!!!" Sakuragi wailed hysterically, pacing back and forth in the room.
[Nice move, Hana. Just the thing to do.]
"Hana?"
"WHAT??"
"Shut up." Rukawa retorted, signaling a finale to the other's hysterics.
Sakuragi froze at once, dismissing Rukawa's rather underlying rude remark. Rather, he directed his eyes towards the door...and the insistent pounding.
'Holy you say I'm dead?'
He was about to sigh in resignation and just opt to open the door himself when Rukawa grabbed his arm...
"Quick. In the bedroom lavatory." Rukawa motioned the redhead away from the main door.
'Right, lavatory, hide...' Sakuragi was clearly going to the main bathroom.
Rukawa sweatdropped.
"Hana? I think I said bedroom lavatory," Rukawa uttered once again, this time, emphasizing on bedroom.
"Right. Bedroom lavatory." Sakuragi replied, going to the correct bathroom this time.
Rukawa made sure the other was out of sight before giving his full attention once more to the continuous knocking...or should it be banging?
[So okay...here goes...]
Rukawa breathed hard, preparing himself before opening the door...
"WHAT-WHERE-YOU-THINKING-YOU-LITTLE-FOXY-SLAMMING-THE-DOOR-RIGHT-TO-OUR- FACES?!?!"
Rukawa stepped backward.
[And I thought I was ready for this.]
.........
"Er, okaasan. Nice to see you."
Rukawa Mikaze pushed the door open, pure annoyance evident in her refined features. She's clearly in the aging years, judging by the visible gray hairs, but the mere face gives nothing away. On one look, you'd say she's the female version of a Rukawa Kaede, only older. Perfect eyebrows, long dark lashes partially covering the most expressive eyes, a womanly nose, lips just right and the perfect crinkling on the sides of the eyes. Splendid. The epitome of classic aristocratic beauty.
Just behind Rukawa Mikaze was a bespectacled man, tall and quite old but boyishly good-looking at Kadeshi, his father, followed subsequently.
No wonder Rukawa's terribly good-looking.
[And this is just getting all too good...]
"Otousan. Come in. Great timing, by the way." Rukawa commented partially ironic in a sense, allowing his father to come in. The other looked at him sternly causing him to look down.
"And just what where you doing again, huh, little darling?" Mikaze asked him in a perfect motherly tone, arms crossed on her chest.
[Little darling. She just has to call me that again. UGH.]
Quite intriguingly, his mother was pretty fond of terms of endearment and pet names. But of course, her favorite subject is her very own son, calling him foxy, sweetie, little darling and others, but the worst and her personal favorite was...Kae-chichi.
"I was, fixing something, yeah, right here," Rukawa replied rather incoherently, desperately searching for the perfect alibi to give his parents.
"Honey, I am pretty sure, I heard somebody shouting just right awhile ago." Kadeshi suddenly spoke, addressing his wife, looking at Rukawa accusingly.
"Otousan, that must be the television. I had the volume in full blast," Rukawa reasoned out flimsily, badly wanting his parents to buy his statement.
"Well, I think I heard the name Kaede being shouted," his father added.
[And I'm in deep shit.]
He pretended to fix the portrait on the wall, which was perfectly situated anyway, just so as he could have time to produce another believable reply to his father. Good thing his brain wheels work double time during intense situations like this.
"Otousan, Kaede is a rather common name, you see. They often use it in the movies and stuff like that, you know."
"Really?" Kadeshi replied, staring at him suspiciously while Rukawa pretended to tidy the couch covers. No doubt. That was always how it was anyway, way back during Rukawa's childhood and adolescence. He and his father were two opposing parties while his mother would always be the one to referee.
It remained that way for a couple of seconds until Mikaze decided to break the ice.
"Alright now. Whatever happened awhile ago, let's just get over it, 'kay?" Mikaze told the two. "Now, now...Kae-chichi love, I brought something for you little darling..."
Rukawa groaned.
[Oh come on...]
............
'Okay...so what to do now?'
Meanwhile, inside the bedroom bath, Sakuragi sat umovingly on top of the toilet cover. He has been inside for quite a few minutes already and being one hell of an energetic jock, the redhead was apparently bored stiff now to say the least.
'How long should they be staying anyway?!'
He sighed in obvious frustration.
Tired of the long wait, he stood up to walk a bit inside the place, though he can't do much more than just take two, three steps here and there, towards the door then back again, and the cycle goes.
He's actually musing over the matter at hand which was the catastrophic disaster he has gotten himself into...or perhaps disastrous catastrophe it is.
'Really, does Kami-sama hate me that much? I mean, I just recovered from another fight with Kaede just today and then now, this... his parents are suddenly here. I just moved in and now they're coming to visit their lovely son. How very accidental that-'
PLOP. PLOP. PLOP.
Sound alert.
'Now what the hell is that?'
He stopped to look around and take a look at the source of the dripping. The redhead pushed open the shower curtain where he located the leaking pipe beside the tub.
'Good grief...and now-THIS! Geez, how lucky could I really get?'
He sighed for the nth time, now contemplating on how he should fix the pipe which was now leaking more. He started adjusting a few loose screws.
'This should work.'
Apparently, it did not.
'Cooperate you little dolly or we'll both get into trouble...'
Sakuragi was, no doubt, getting a tiny bit impatient with the little pipe which was nevertheless, barely showing improvement. If any, the oozing of water was getting worse.
'Okay. So you won't budge, huh? Get over it, I'm the genius here.'
He now began pulling and twisting several wirings, apparently not recognizing the obvious that the pipe just won't stop, not even control, the flow of water.
'And-you're-making-me-really-MAD! Teme! You don't insult my abilities you freakin' pipe! Let's see what you got to do about this, hm...'
Sakuragi tried doing random movements to the screws and the pipe itself; twisting, bending, rotating random bolts all over.
Quite surprisingly, the dripping stopped.
'Nyahaha! Nobody could ever match my genius!'
He was about to return to the toilet area when he heard a rumbling sound.
"What- WAAAAAAH!!!!"
The pipe burst. You can guess what happened next.
............
"Did I just hear somebody screaming?" Mikaze asked, confused and surprised all at the same time. She was currently fixing a dish in the kitchen, dropping the spatula in the process when she heard the noise.
Rukawa was, by now, sweating like he just played a 40-minute ball game.
"Anou, erm, the..."
"And don't you dare tell us it's the damn t. v. again. There's no way I'm going to believe that now, tough guy. One lie is enough. There's something fishy in here and I'm off to find out what you're hiding." Kadeshi spoke of ill will, starting towards the bedroom.
[Shit, shit, shit! What the hell is Hana doing?!]
"Otousan, wait! I think the noise was over here." Rukawa grasped his father's arm, trying to drag him as far from the bedroom.
"Ne, Kaede? I may be vision-impaired but I'm not deaf. The shout was from there and if I say it was from there, it was from there," his father replied, proceeding to the bedroom, ignoring Rukawa's hand on his arm.
"Okaasan, really, it's---"
"Look. Make a choice, son. It's either you let go of my arm now or I'll make you," Kadeshi told the younger male dangerously.
[And you call this my father?]
"Alright, enough! Both of you stay here!" Rukawa's mother interrupted impatiently, gesturing at the two to stay in the living room. "Not a move from you two and I'll be the one to go check on it, you understand?!" The two, obviously, were taken aback. Mikaze walked towards the bedroom.
She opened the door of the room, about to enter, when she heard footsteps behind her.
"DID-I-NOT-TELL-YOU-TO-STAY-PUT?!?!!"
The two males recoiled.
............
Mikaze turned to look around inside the bedroom. She was surprised to see it fully packed.
"Kaede didn't tell us he bought quite a number of stuff for his bedroom," Mikaze uttered. "Now, now...where was the source of the noise?"
She turned to look under the bed, behind the closet and near the window.
Mikaze sighed.
"Apparently not in here." She was about to leave the room when she heard another sound and this time, it was clearly from the bedroom lavatory. She turned to enter the bathroom.
"Waaah!!!!!"
............
"And that was another scream that's it I'm going in!" Rukawa's father said, going directly to the screaming sound. Rukawa followed swiftly.
[God help me...]
............
Rukawa's mother screamed, stunned to see the flood of water inside the bathroom... and with a very wet Sakuragi Hanamichi inside at that.
"What's this?! And Hana-dear what are you doing in here?!"
"Mikaze-san! Gomenasai! Will you kindly move out for awhile? Anou, let me fix this first," Sakuragi told the other nervously, trying hard to, stop the water flow. Not any longer, Rukawa and his father appeared behind them. Rukawa immediately ran towards inside, not caring if he's getting wet at the process, shutting down the water switch beside the medicine cabinet.
'And that was it?!???!!'
Sakuragi looked at his lover disbelievingly and at the same time, apologetically. Rukawa turned to see his parents' reactions. One thing's for sure: they didn't look happy about what they saw...at all.
"Kaede and Hanamichi? Living room. Now," Rukawa's father told them before going out.
The two younger males looked at each other anxiously.
............
"So what's the meaning of this?" Kadeshi asked Sakuragi and Rukawa as soon as they seated themselves before them.
"Uh yes, what are you doing here Hana-dear? And why are you hiding in Kae- chichi's bathroom?" Mikaze questioned some more.
Rukawa sighed. They had no way out of this now.
[Better tell them...Oh dear...Brace yourself for the worst...]
He looked at the redhead for approval. The other just smiled at him in a what-else-can-we-do manner. "Be gentle," Sakuragi mouthed.
Rukawa sighed again. "Otousan? Okaasan?"
"Hm?" That was his mother.
"If I tell you something which is undoubtedly adults' doing and up to date with the times..." Rukawa was at a loss for words.
[What to say, what to say...]
"And that something is what your son and I are doing, are you going to get furious?" Sakuragi supplied.
Rukawa's parents' eyebrows shot up at the statement.
"Otousan?" Rukawa asked his father with pleading eyes. It took a while for him to get an answer from that straight face.
[Stupid Kaede. What were you expecting? Hello, this is Rukawa Kadeshi, Rukawa Kaede's father.]
He had almost given up when finally, his father spoke. "I don't think there could be anything worse than you two getting together. And as far as I remember, your mother and I agreed on that, right? Now what do you think?"
"Son. Your father's right. This couldn't be worse. Go on now." Mikaze smiled encouragingly.
Rukawa breathed a sigh of relief. "Arigatou, okaasan,otousan," Rukawa told his parents politely, the faintest smile visible on his face. "Ne, Hana, do the honor."
Sakuragi nodded. "Alright." The redhead paused, as if for suspense. "We're living together now. No files to prove marriage, the fact that we're not."
Rukawa's parents' eyes almost popped out from their sockets.
If he wasn't face to face with his lover's parents, the redhead swore he could've guffawed at this.
"But you're so...YOUNG! Do you know what you're trying to involve yourselves into?!?!" Mikaze commented frustratingly.
Kadeshi was too flabbergasted to utter a syllable.
"Okaasan, Hana and I are already adults. We could perfectly take care of ourselves now. You don't have to worry a thing; I promise we're completely aware of the consequences of our action. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it. Right, Hana?"
"Er, I guess," Sakuragi spoke hesitantly, remembering the experiences he's had during the past four days. Earning a warning look from Rukawa, "I mean, of course!"
"But...but...honey! Help me out here!" Rukawa's mother pleaded his husband.
"They. Right. This. Their. Decision." Rukawa's father mumbled ramblingly, apparently, still in shock.
"Otousan's agreeing." Rukawa pointed out.
"Water...please?" Mikaze asked from the two, fanning herself.
............
After minutes of shock... at long last, the folks agreed. There was some discussion yet again but nonetheless, the young couple won the argument.
"I refuse to believe what just happened," Sakuragi commented as he closed the bedroom door. They slumped down to the bed, Sakuragi snuggling close to Rukawa. "I'm so freakin' tired..."
"Who isn't?"
"Ne, Kaede, how long have we been living together?"
"Barely a week."
"Do you think Kami-sama's so against this idea we had to deal with a storm in just four days?"
"Not at all. I'll say he wants us to take the harder trials at the beginning. The rest would be the joys."
Sakuragi sighed.
"You're right. I'm sleepy. Night, Kaede."
"Ah wove hyu." Zzzzzzz...
Sakuragi smiled. "I love you too."
............
Author's Notes: I swear school stuff's going to kill me. sniff, sniff ='(
Anyways, ARIGATOU to all who left reviews to the previous chapters! :)
I would appreciate reviews for this one. :)