(Chapter 1: The New Girl at School)

Rukawa Kaede was dreaming. In his dream, it was pitch black. Darkness drifted around every corner like black death as he wondered around the pathless grounds. In front of him, abruptly came a stream of light. And on the ground where the stream of light was falling, Rukawa saw a bundle. He walked toward it cautiously, his footsteps silent. And as he reached toward it and folded back the cloth, from the softness came the gurgling of an infant.

The eyes that stared into his were a deep ocean blue, while curls of wispy raven hair peeked from underneath the sweet, pink blanket. Her lips were rosy as she gave him a toothless smile. Her tiny hand reached out for him.

Rukawa reached down for the small hands…

Then he woke up to the sound of his alarm clock.

Giving a silent sigh from underneath his comforters, Rukawa wait thirty seconds before throwing back the blankets, grumbling, and headed for the bathroom. He looked into the mirror, and saw that his eyes were weary while lines of fatigue etched his fine, but dark, features. He yawned.

The dream about the nameless infant has haunted him for days now, almost weeks. Lord knows he needed a good night of sleep. Splashing cold water on his face helped wake him up as he dried off and turned his CD player on. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture thundered through the rooms of his luxurious mansion-like house as Rukawa changed.

If his parents were living with him, they would have definitely protested about the loudness. But Rukawa had no parents living with him. He's been living alone for years now.

His parents had divorced a long time ago, leaving the custody of Rukawa to his mother. But his mother, Sakiko, was a super model that travels around the world to where she was called for and never had time to come back home. She had no time for children, and it was the same with his father, Hiroshi, who was a multi-millionaire and only married his mother for her looks. Once in a while, if they remembered, they would sent him a postcard and a few words written by their secretaries. But the last letter he's gotten from them was from more than an year ago.

His only companion, Buster, a golden retriever, thumped his tail from under the bed, where he sleeps, when he heard his young master move about. The seventeen-year-old gave the golden head a rub before walking down the stairs into the empty kitchen, picking up the newspaper and mails on the way.

Setting them on the counter, he fished out a slice of bread from the breadbox and flipped through the various envelopes. Junk mail, junk mail, you won a million dollars, junk mail, his father's monthly check. Nothing special.

Rukawa pulled a carton of milk from the refrigerator and took a drink out of it as he stared out of the window. There are bonuses to living alone. He could live the way he wanted with no parents nagging after him. He could eat anything he wanted, he could play music as loud as he wanted, he could sleep whenever he wanted, he could go where he wanted, there was no one to stop him. He was use to living alone, with a housekeeper that comes in once in a while to keep the house need and in stock with food.

He doesn't crave to live in the large mansion his mother owns, or the dozens of so maids that resides there. He doesn't care if his father sends him enough money every month to feed all the people in Africa, nor does he care for the large company he is to inherit at age twenty. He doesn't care about any of that.

All Rukawa Kaede cares about was basketball.

How to win, how to be better, how to become perfect. It was still about that, even though it's been a year since he first entered Shohoku High School's basketball team.

He opened the newspaper as he drank milk from the carton. His mom was still making a hit in Paris, her pictures are all over the front page. Carelessly, he flipped to the business section. Looks like his father was doing well, too. He sighed again and closed the paper. It seems like the newspaper was the only way to see his parents these days. Buster whined, sensing his master's unhappiness.

Something outside the window caught Rukawa's attention. Moving trucks and workers were filing in and out from the house next to his. Someone was moving into the house that has been empty for months. But before he could further examine the new owner of the house, the clock hanging on the mansion wall chimed. Rukawa looked up and cursed under his breath. He was late.

Without another word, he grabbed his bike and headed for school.

Meanwhile, next door…

"My room is upstairs two door to the right." Rukiko Kira instructing the movers as they carried the several large boxes to where she pointing. "And those to into the basement, I'll sort them out later."

"What about the baby grand, Miss Rukiko?" A man called. "Where do you want us to put this piano?"

"In the living room, by the window."

The large dog at her side growled at the strangers, eyeing them warily. The dog was a wolf/husky mix and the workers that could see the wilderness in his silver eyes, smartly stayed away from him. Kira knelt down and massaged the muscular dog's ears.

"Char. Be nice." She cooed. "You want us to have a good home, don't you?" Char's sharp ears twitched curiously at the lilting sound of his mistress's voice. He grinned, as if understanding every word she's saying. She stood up and took a deep breath, looking around the pretty neighborhood.

Finally, she thought. Finally I'm here. Rukawa Kaede, I'm finally going to see you face to face.

"Great dog, Miss Rukiko." A worker said as he walked past her. "It seems as though he really understands what you're saying."

"He does." She looked over and smiled. "I'll never have another friend so loyal and devoting."

"Seems a little wild, though." Another put in. "What is he? A husky mix? Awfully large for a husky." He made the mistake of reaching down and trying to pet the 120-pound dog. Hunk lunged at the hand that stretched toward him. The man yanked his hand back as Kira scolded.

"Charmond!" His ears lowered just a little bit, but his teeth remained bared and gave a protesting snarl. The sixteen-year-old scratched behind his ears and gradually, he calmed down.

"I'm really sorry." Kiri apologized. "You were right, he is half husky. His mother was a husky, but his father was a wolf."

"Wolf!" the workers gasped and exclaimed. Kira looked as self-conscious as ever as she continued.

"Yes, and because he is half wolf, he's been locked up and mistreated the first few months of his life. He still isn't really use to strangers."

"I see." He cleared his throat and nodded, but Kira noticed he stayed clear away from Char for the rest of the morning.

"So, why are you moving here alone, Miss Rukiko?" Another worker tried to strike up a different conversation. "Where are your parents?"

"My parents died several years ago, so I'm alone. I'm searching for my brother, I hear that he goes to a school near here." The worker murmured his sympathy, the asked.

"Which school?"

"Shohoku High School. I've enrolled there as well."

Yes, and no matter how hard it may be, Rukawa Kaede, I am going to find you.