Author: Simply Kim

Title: Little Akira... The Tokyo Terrorist!                      

Genre/ratings: (Shounen-ai /Yaoi) (Humour / (a bit of) Angst)

Length: (4/5)

Disclaimers: The series I'm referring to obviously do not belong to me, only this story does.

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Part 4: Transcendence

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            It took all of Hanagata's strength to stop Sakuragi from going out on a killing spree.

            It took all of Hanagata's strength to stop Fujima from going out on a killing spree.

            It took all of Hanagata's strength to stop himself from doing the same.

            Slowly, he rubbed tired circles against the knotted muscles of his temples, intent on vanquishing the remarkable amount of pain dislodging his ability to think clearly.

            "Look, going out and decapitating some slob isn't going to help matters much." He snapped at the two idiots pacing back and forth and practically radiating killer auras that vibrated inside the hospital suite.

            "No." Sakuragi seethed, cracking his knuckles as he did. "I'm not gonna kill some slob. I'm going to kill that chibi-smiley!" He growled angrily, honey-coloured eyes spitting fire. "I'm gonna slice him thinly with a pizza cutter and – OW! Will you stop doing that you old fart?"

            That earned him another sound box on the ears. "I have the authority to do so you miscreant. Didn't you just hear Hanagata's words?"

            "I did – but..."

            "I didn't." Fujima glared at Maki, his eyes as fiery as Sakuragi's own. "If he doesn't kill that stupid kid, I will!"

            "Kenji, look." Hanagata sighed. "I want to break every bone in the kid's body for being so insensitive, but you have to understand that Akira-chan –"

            "DON'T call him Akira-chan!" Fujima grated out indignantly. "He is no cute little kid... he's an absolute monster!"

            His better half sighed once again, and took off his glasses, bowing his head and pinching the bridge of his nose to contain the mixture of rising impatience, anger and resentment that was bubbling up to his psyche. He had to remain as level-headed as possible, since it was obvious that he was the only one that was so... well, except for Maki and probably the contemplative Jin staring at Rukawa's frail slumbering form on pristine starched bedsheets.

            "Kenji." He pressed firmly, steel vibrating in his vocal chords. Slowly, he raised his head, meeting Fujima's hysterical stare. His gaze sharpened, pupils mere points as fury raged through his veins. "Stop. Acting. Like. A. Damned. Lunatic. Now."

            It was probably the threat lurking deep within his tone that made the team's vice-captain take hasty steps back. But then again, it was major fact that Hanagata never got this angry before since the first time they met.

            "Guys, keep calm." Jin's soft voice intruded upon the brewing hostility that needs only to be sparked before igniting to a full-fledged fight. "Instead of quarrelling, why don't we all just focus our energies on thinking how to solve this problem we're having?"

            "Right." Maki inputted. "We have to think this through if we all want to survive. This isn't just Rukawa's problem, Sendoh's problem, Fujima's or Hanagata's or the baka saru's problem."

            "Hey!"

            "We are all in this together people, and I don't mean to sound too corny, but we are a team. We are of one unit. One problem is everyone's especially something as severe as this. I don't even know if anyone is having this crisis now, or is this realistic enough to make it to the Seventh Wonder of the World –"

            "Eighth, sempai." Hikoichi corrected as he flipped through the pages of his trusty clipboard. "Eighth Wonder of the World."

            "Pfft!" Fujima chuckled. "You didn't know that? You got into college and didn't know that there are officially seven wonders in our very complex world?"

            "Seriously?" Hanagata stared at him as if he had grown two heads. "Maki... you don't... know that?"

            Maki glared at their both amused and shocked faces. Okay, so he slipped, but that didn't mean he was a total idiot, right? He was just testing them... to see if they knew... "I was just piquing your attention you know." He said, annoyed.

            "It was effective." Jin snickered. "Who's so stupid as not to actually know that?"

            "There are wonders in this world?"

            All turned aghast to Sakuragi's clueless features. And after a few moments, they shook their heads, muttering about weird redheads that needed more brains and monkeys sticking to cages, staring back expectantly at Maki's unusually pale (pun intended), face. 'Wonder of wonders. There was someone more deserving of the dunce award. He thought in disbelief. At least it's not me... but then again... who's next in line?' He cleared his throat, placing both hands in the pockets of his jeans. "As I was saying... well, we should just help each other and start acting like adults, for it is only through that, that our souls would be connected as one and thus solving the problem at hand." He finished triumphantly. "Understand?"

            Silence.

            "Actually, no, but we'll try to process what you just said for a few hours and maybe we would be able to finally get it." Fujima blinked.

            "I kinda got lost in the 'souls' part. Do elaborate..." Kogure's mouth hung partially open.

            Maki sighed in irritation. "Okay, guys, enough tea... You're awake!"

            Surprised at their captain's outburst, everyone stilled, eyes slowly following the direction he was currently staring at.

            "You're awake!" They chorused.

            "I knew that." Came the groggy voice from the flat cushions of the hospital bed. "I heard you the first time... you're noisy."

            Sakuragi growled. "It's because we are worried, you idiot!"

            "My brain must have gone kaput... last time I checked, you are the idiot."

            Hanagata, sighing with both relief and concern, sat down on the side of the bed, his hand involuntarily brushing away the tufts of dishevelled hair away from Rukawa's pallid face. He silently noted that the blue eyes, once determined and full of life, now had traces of suffering... and a flicker of something he branded as hopelessness. They were looking everywhere but at him. "Kae... uh... Rukawa-kun, don't be like that." He admonished gently. "We were all worried, what Sakuragi-kun said was true... and he was the one who carried you on his shoulders to the hospital – here – so you shouldn't take that tone with him, alright?"

            "Hai..." The younger boy nodded slightly, voice gruff with something akin to emotion. He remembered everything that happened that afternoon. And no, he wasn't asleep then at all.

He just feigned it because he was so tired...

So tired of taking care for someone who did not care one bit about him...

So tired of picking up after someone who did not have any redeeming quality except sheer stubbornness that he did not even know why he found so irresistible...

So tired of trying to catch up on all the schoolwork he had left behind as he took care of his responsibility single-handedly out of guilt amidst all protests of his friends...

So tired of always looking out for someone else's health when his own was slowly deteriorating...

So tired of being alone in the house even if he actually had someone living with him...

So damned tired of loving someone so altruistically that he never asked for anything but the presence of that beloved person... he never asked anything at all.

If only he could turn back time and actually paid attention to his experiment more and was careful... he wouldn't have made such stupid mistake. He was a Rukawa... and no one in the Rukawa clan was like him, at least, that was what he thought before his parents died when he was eight. Now...

Now, he didn't even want to think what they would probably say if they were alive... probably something along the lines of 'Kaede, we are so disappointed in you...' or 'what have you done this time?'. Was he jinxed? Why were all these happening to him all at once?

He sighed, licking his chapped lips, surrendering to the tension zapping back and forth in his nerves. He did not want to hear that from them – ever... he did not want to hear such words from anyone... and that was his driving force... his reason why he wanted to excel in something no other person could... like basketball.

And perhaps, that was part of the reason why he took care of Sendoh in the first place... or at least, the miniature monster that went by the same name.

The other part of his whole reason was that...

Contrary to what most of the student population believed...

He actually cared.

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            Koshino sighed as he scanned the broad expanse of the living room before him. Yes, the kid was Sendoh alright. He never changed from the slob that was his younger self... oh wait... he washis younger self. He shook his head, stooping down and picking up the remains of what appeared to be a cereal box – with semi-wet Cheerios still stuck on the ripped edges. It seemed that the young terror licked the box clean – literally.

            "Akira... oi... Akira...!" He called out, hoping that the boy would be wise enough to investigate whoever it was that opened the front door.

            Footsteps came bounding to where he was, and judging from their sound, the one running was anxious... and he hoped that it was indeed true for Rukawa should normally been home hours ago.

"Who's the –" Came the angry tone, rising above the deafening rumbling of feet. Sendoh appeared, a baseball bat in hand, obviously prepared to strike if the one who came in was someone he did not know. 'Wow.' Koshino thought in amazement. 'So this guy does listen sometimes...' "Oh... it's just you."

It was probably the disappointed tone that made him twitch. He knew he wasn't such a perfect and exciting person for anyone to greet so heart-warmingly, but this was ridiculous. The normal Sendoh Akira would have pounced happily on him by now, with him being his loyal best friend and all. But then again, things weren't exactly what you call normal in his world anymore.

People were getting smaller... being thrown back to their childhood.

Oh joy.

"Hello to you too." Koshino retorted sarcastically, throwing the empty cardboard box right back at Sendoh. "I'm very happy that you decided to welcome me oh-so-warmly." There was a flash of something in the child's eyes that made him back off a little. He did not know if it was annoyance, anger, or something else still unidentified. He hoped it wasn't his second guess, because the baseball bat Sendoh was wielding was made of steel. That would hurt.

"Don't push it." The kid spat, throwing his bat behind, not caring even a wee bit as something shattered in its wake. "Why are you here anyway? And where is the stupid guy who lives here... the one who keeps on ragging at me to do this and that?"

Koshino's mouth was hanging open now. Could he possibly be talking about Rukawa Kaede? The one who unselfishly sheltered him? And fed him? And pampered him so much that it literally took everything costing him and he was now lying in a hospital because of 'poor habits'? How could he talk about him that way? His brows knitted in anger. "I am here because Rukawa-kun is doing something important, and the other guys asked me to watch you while he's away." He said stiltedly.

"Hmph! He never even thought that someone is living with him who doesn't have anything to eat for dinner." Sendoh muttered in annoyance. "Some guardian."

It was the spiteful tone that did him in. that was it. He was at the end of his tether, and he did not wish to hurt the horrible monster because Rukawa asked it of him days before, with him and his reputation of being the major hothead in mind... but this...

This was something he cannot ever take.

With renewed purpose, he grabbed the boy's arm and gripped him hard, wincing a bit as the boy struggled and bit him. He did not loosen his grip... and he did not have the intention to. Angrily, he dragged the boy out, pressing the automatic lock inside before slamming it close.

"Let me GO!"

Ignoring the constant spats of venom, he pushed him kicking and screaming inside his car and strapped him, growling as rebellious fists hit his head repeatedly. The blows weren't hard, but they weren't slight either... in a way, they still hurt.

The moment he turned on the engine, the war began.

"Let me outta here!"

"No."

"This is kidnapping!"

"No one will believe you... and why the hell would I kidnap such an evil kid like you?"

"Let me out! Now!"

"I said no."

"Let me out now, or else..."

"Or else what, you're gonna snitch on me and tell some guardian that I'm harassing you?"

At that, the kid sat back, letting out a loud whoosh of breath. Koshino had hit a nerve.

But he wasn't going to apologise...

Best friend or no best friend, kid or no kid...

Sendoh Akira deserved the worst the present had to offer.

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            "Okay, talk."

            Rukawa stared at the worried features of his best friend. "Aren't you supposed to be going home now? Auntie Kanami will kill you if you if you don't go now."

            "Nah, I told her I'll stay here with you for a while." Sakuragi's honey brown eyes scrutinised him. "You have much explaining to do you idiot."

            "Hn." Rukawa glared at him in mock annoyance. "You're the one to talk, you're the one who doesn't want to tell the others that your back is already fully healed."

            Sakuragi sighed, shaking his head, plopping on the plush furniture beside the bed. "Look, Kaede... we haven't talked for a while... and obviously, the last time we did, you left out the important stuff..."

            "..."

            "Like you're missing out on studying, or losing money because of the Smiley's expensive tastes, or losing track of your health because you're so busy doing everything by yourself."

            "I..."

            "Kitsune, you can't do everything by yourself. We are here... and I know this may sound very cheesy, but you aren't as alone as you think you are."

            Rukawa snickered, his azure eyes laughing with the stretch of his lips. "You sound so wise, Hanamichi... Is this the way you are when you talk to Fujii-chan?" Casually, he leant back against the head of the hospital bed, the sheets crinkling soundly as he moved.

            The sheets... the white sheets...

            Gods, he hated the colour of the sheets... the blinding colour that had given him so many adverse memories ever since he was young.

White was the colour of the sheets that covered the bodies of his parents when they were carted towards the waiting ambulance after the car accident when he was six.

White was the colour of the marble marker of their grave.

White was the colour of the house that was left to him, the one that was nearly taken away by his father's greedy 'friends' when they set everything up to snatch the property away... and white was the colour of their prison clothes after they were caught and sentenced for life when the scheme blew up.

And white was the colour of the hospital he was thrust into when he tried to commit suicide the day he turned eleven.

He closed his eyes wearily, trying hard not to notice the pristine quality of the room... and yet unable to do so. He sighed.

"Very funny." Sakuragi glared menacingly at him. "I am always like this!"

"No you're not."

"Are too!"

"Are not."

"Too!"

"Not."

"ARGH! You are impossible!"

Rukawa chuckled in pure mirth. "Look who's talking." Memories of past failures came crashing on him... failures. But if there was one thing for him to be proud of, even in those failures, he trusted in himself, trusted his judgment. He fought and strove and he struggled. He worked hard to attain his goal... and it was just his luck that he did not make it. He was insufferable then... especially when it came to basketball where he set his archrival Sendoh as his primary aspiration.

Sendoh.

His good cheer faded almost instantaneously at the unbidden thought of the child stranded alone in the house without anything to eat. "Hanamichi... Sendoh is..."

Sakuragi grinned, flashing a thumbs-up sign in an overly victorious manner. "The old man ordered poor Koshino to take care of the gaki while you're here, so don't worry!"

"Do you think..."

The red-haired fiend snickered. "Yeah, yeah, I think he's not that heartless that he wouldn't want to visit you when you're this sick you know! He'll probably pester Koshino to let him once he settled in."

As if on cue, a shriek of protest issued out from just outside the door... and Rukawa was just disappointed that the one doing the protesting was obviously not the grown-up... it was the little boy.

And then the door opened.

Judging from the way Sendoh was hanging, suspended from the neck of his shirt, he knew that Koshino, who was panting from over-exertion, was the one who dragged the kid into coming. Just the mere thought of it pierced his heart so deeply that he leant forward as if gasping for air; thankful for the immediate support Sakuragi gave him.

He grabbed his friend's hand and squeezed – hard. Slowly, he turned towards the newcomers, a slight smile on his face. It must have been quite a shock for Koshino to see him like that amidst problems, that he dropped the kid unceremoniously on the marble floor with a loud thud and smiled sheepishly back. "Oh, Rukawa-kun... Akira and I came to visit... he wanted to... well..."

Rukawa understood and he shook his head, indicating his knowledge of what really happened. "Ah, thank you Koshino-sempai"

Then, his eyes focused on the fidgeting boy staring straight at him, eyes glassy with something akin to pain. The moment their eyes met, the younger one's azure gaze shifted away, landing on the vase of white roses sitting on the side table. "He dragged me here." He muttered darkly. "I didn't want to come and see you looking so weak and pathetic."

Ouch.

The knife that was cruelly plunged into Rukawa's heart just a while ago twisted painfully. "I understand." He murmured, trying to keep a straight face as his fragile soul began to shatter.

Koshino glared at Sendoh's dark features, hand itching to strike. "Why you..."

Sakuragi was turning livid with rage. "Teme..." He started. "You ungrateful little runt..." he was about to go clobber the boy when Rukawa's grasping fingers tightened their hold on him, bruising his arm in the process, making him wince and keep his temper in check. Must not kill... Must not kill... Must not kill...

"Akira..." Rukawa said quietly, holding out his hand at the eight-year-old boy. "Could you just... stay for... a while?" His heart skipped a beat as Sendoh started immediately forward, as if to reach out for his hand... another step...

And Sendoh turned, escaping quickly out the door.

A tear slipped down Rukawa's eye.

Sendoh Akira... He was gone.

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A/N: Yesh, I updated. Yesh, it has been more than a year... but the juice came back (Thank you Chache and Aki) that I found the inspiration once again to continue this. So enjoy! Feedbacks people!