Reviews:

Emberlion:
Thanks for all the advice, and my characters will be popping up around the next few chaps, as well as this one. Oh, and one more thing. Please continue with your "No Regrets" fanfic. I'm quite anxious to read a new chap!!

Chapter 7:

Rukawa looked around his surroundings. Beautiful, tall trees littered the grounds, filling the air with a sweet, fresh air. The airport he just came out of was a magnificent thing, looking very luxurious.

Rukawa could also see distant views of airplanes, taking off everywhere. He saw people of different cultures call taxies everywhere, and he smiled. He called a blue taxi.

As the taxi driver saw Rukawa was lugging luggage, he immediately came out of the car, and helped him carry his suitcases to the trunk.

"Thanks." Rukawa said fluently in english. The white taxi driver looked at him in surprise, and when they were done, Rukawa took a seat as he peered around the car.

The taxi driver came in, and started the car. "Where to?" Rukawa looked through his backpack, and pulled out a notebook. "Let's see..." he said as he flipped through the pages.

"Umm...1437 Dewsbury Drive, Ohio." The taxi driver nodded, and he started driving. "It's going to be a long ride, mind you." the taxi driver said.

Rukawa nodded, and turned his head to look at scenery outside of the window. "Quite beautiful, huh?" the driver said. "Yeah." Rukawa said, his eyes still focused outside.

"Are you Japanese?" "Yes." They continued to talk for a while, and gradually Rukawa opened up, finding this white taxi driver very trustworthy and easy to talk to.

"My name's Jack." the driver introduced himself. "Rukawa Kaede." Rukawa said. They talked, and Rukawa told Jack all about himself, while Jack related stories about himself too while driving.

"We're here." Jack said as he pulled the car in. Rukawa stared at his rented house. It was small, but looked quite warm and homely on the outside. The walls were pink, there was space for one car in the garage, and the lawn was beautifully polished, grass neatly trimmed. All in all, Rukawa could tell this was a very peaceful house.

"Bye, man! Oh yeah, here!" Jack tossed a slip of paper to Rukawa. He caught it, and unrolled it to find a phone number. "I'm your friend now." Jack said as he went into the car and drove off. Rukawa smiled, as he felt he already had a successful life in U.S.A. already.

Rukawa got the keys to the house in his backpack, and opened the door. He then went upstairs, and looked through the rooms. There were 3 bedrooms. A guest one, one with Rukawa's king size bed, and one that looked like it could be a child's room.

Rukawa took the one with his bed already in it. He put his backpack down, as well as his suitcases and started unpacking.


The next day, Rukawa was done packing, his house was modified the way he liked it. Now he decided to make his lawn the way he liked it.

He knew he normally didn't do these chores, but he felt like he wanted a break from sports and sweating. He mowed the lawn, watered it, then planted some flowers in the front of the house.

He stepped back to study his work. "Done for this." he thought. "What should I do next?" he pondered. Finally he came up with going grocery shopping.

He looked through his map of Ohio, U.S.A., and saw that his house was just beside a small supermarket by the name of "Superstore". He brought his wallet, and walked to Superstore.

He looked through the sections, buying cereal, milk, some candy and snacks, a new basketball, some clothing, popsicles, bread, new basketball shoes, and video games. He also bought a basket, to put in his backyard. He looked contentedly at his shopping cart.

As he headed home carrying a lot of bags, he suddenly felt very tired.

He placed all the things he bought into their respective places, and collapsed on the couch and slept.

When he woke up it was 6 pm. He ordered pizza delivery, and when he was finished, he sat on the couch and watched television. "This is da life..." he thought, eating pizza and drinking pepsi.

He suddenly sprang up, realizing he hadn't played basketball or practiced in three days. He setup his basket in the backyard, took out his new basketball, and started to practice.

Three pointers, layups, jump shots, and dunks. Rukawa played until midnight. He stopped, and collapsed on the cement floor. He drifted off to sleep...

End Chapter 7

demi: This is just a "life" chapter, taking a break from basketball and all. Please Review!!!