Chapter Eleven

Less than ten minutes after Rukawa had exited the cab, another taxi pulled up in the same spot. The driver turned his head, smiling at the redheaded boy seated in the back.

"School dance, is it? You must have a pretty date waiting for you, dressed as nicely as you are."

Hanamichi blushed at the old man's cheerful tone as he fiddled in his pockets, coming up with a jangle of coins and a bill. He counted out the correct amount carefully, and then leaned forward to drop it into the driver's waiting hand. "Thanks for the ride, Uncle. Here's the cash."

"You enjoy yourself now, lad!" the cab driver yelled as he stepped out and closed the door.

Hanamichi laughed, suddenly in a very good mood. Tonight he would show everyone what he was capable of!

But wait. Did Yumiko know how to dance?

Ah well it's okay. I can teach her! Now all I have to do is find her…

He headed for the main entrance, beaming at everyone in sight and enjoying the atmosphere. Craning his neck to look around, it wasn't long before he spotted a familiar couple, and waved frantically. "Yohei!"

As Hanamichi disappeared into the milling crowd, the door to the side entrance of the gym opened, and Rukawa Kaede strode out, a grim, determined expression on his face.

*** ***

Got to warn him, got to warn him.

The relentless mantra in Rukawa's head was fading to a dull buzz. He checked the school clock as he squeezed past another group, ignoring the gasps and swoons of the girls in his wake. Six-thirty. Where the hell was that dumb redhead?

The overhead speaker crackled to life, and the deep baritone of Sujowa Wahishiru filled the hallways. "Ladies and gentlemen! Do join us all in the gym now! We've got the refreshments, the food, the lights and the music! So what are you doing somewhere else…"

Rukawa tuned the annoying voice out, his frustration increasing by the second. On normal days, when he didn't want to see Hanamichi, the loud power forward would always, by Murphy's Law, appear in front of him. Now was the one moment he desperately needed to see the redhead, and it figured that the latter chose this very time to be difficult to find.

"…and don't forget to vote for your prom king and prom queen! Just slightly under an hour left, and we'll know who the lucky, popular, beautiful and talented winners are! Of course, you've got quite a selection of the school's bevy of beauties and hunks to choose from, so hurry up and make your way down to…"

Damn it, dumb idiot, where are you?

He was halfway to the gym when the central lights went off, leaving the dim glow of the party lights to illuminate the school grounds. Around him, hoots and catcalls filled the air.

Shit.

How was he going to find Hanamichi now?

*** ***

"Have you seen Yumiko?" Hanamichi yelled over the throbbing music. Yohei scrunched up his face, signaling that he couldn't hear. Hanamichi scowled, preparing to haul his best friend closer and shout in his ear, but Haruko appeared at that moment. She smiled up at Hanamichi, before tugging at Yohei's hand and standing on tiptoe to whisper into his ear with a visible blush even in the dark surroundings. Yohei straightened and turned back to him, shrugging with a wide smile on his face and jerking a thumb at the dance floor as he led his petite girlfriend into the crowd.

With a sigh, Hanamichi leaned back into the shadows of the gym and stretched out his hand to take the plastic cup of punch he had set down on the low table earlier. Where was Yumiko? He was never going to get to dance with his date at this rate, and everything he had learned with Ruiya required a partner. Perhaps he could convince Yohei to lend him Haruko for a while later…

*** ***

It was seven. Rukawa was beginning to get a headache.

He turned another corner, trying to see past the milling students onto the dance floor, but in the dim light, practically everyone was a shadow. With a barely audible growl, he surged into the fray and continued scanning the crowd.

Too short, too fat, too skinny…

A sudden tap on his shoulder brought his heart plummeting to the ground.

Oh no. The dream, the dream, his mind babbled. It's happening!

Steeling himself for Akagi's visage, he turned around, controlling his breathing and subconsciously inhaling as he faced…

Nothing.

He blinked, looking left and right. Did I imagine it?

A hand swiped in front of his face and he moved back sharply, finally noticing that the one who had called him –had– been standing in front of him. Only that she was about two heads shorter, and Rukawa, being Rukawa, had not noticed.

I thought nothing could make me feel more like a fool than running around the school looking for an idiot. Wonders never cease.

"Rukawa-kun?"

He stared down dangerously at the tiny girl, who clutched her corsage nervously as she made moony-eyes at him. She looked vaguely familiar, but he didn't have the energy to place her face just then as his thoughts returned immediately to the task at hand.

Hanamichi! Find Hanamichi! his brain screamed.

"Rukawa-kun, I just wanted to let you know that I'm voting you for prom king," she said shyly, casting her eyes down and waiting to see his response. Maybe he would ask her to dance? She was only a first-year, but she had attended every single basketball game since she had first caught a glimpse of him, and surely he had noticed…

When she looked up again, Rukawa was gone.

Promptly, she burst into tears.

Directly behind her, hidden by a pillar, Hanamichi turned at the wail that penetrated his hearing. He could only see the back of a slightly plump girl dressed in an off-the-shoulder white gown, a large blue carnation decorating her wrist as a corsage. He glanced back balefully at the dance floor, where Haruko and Yohei were laughing and twisting their limbs in a layman's version of the cha-cha.

What the heck, he decided, putting the empty cup down and shouldering his way out of the corner he had tucked himself in. Maybe Yumiko will be able to see me on the dance floor and find me, because I sure as hell can't seem to see where –she– is.

He approached the bawling girl and touched her arm lightly, putting on a bright smile as she stumbled and turned, sniffling up at him. Hanamichi decided that she looked like a younger version of Haruko, with long brown hair curling over her shoulders and large, currently red-rimmed eyes that peered at him curiously. He brushed the odd feeling of déjà vu aside and held out his hand instead.

"Want to dance?"

*** ***

Seven-fifteen.

"Yes, I'm sure you guys out there are having a GREAT time!" another student host, Reisuya, screamed into the microphone. "Just a reminder that we're in a neighborhood area—" and there were several boos at this statement, "—so please make a conscious effort to keep the noise down, or the plug's going to be pulled!"

If anything, the sound level in the gym seemed to increase.

"Also, remember that you have fifteen minutes left before the crowning of our prom king and queen! Vote, vote, vote! Who's the prettiest of them all? Who's the cutest of them—" her voice died in a screechy whine as the microphone was switched off, and the thunderous music resumed its blaring from the large speakers around the gym.

There wasn't any time left. Rukawa stopped on the spot and glared icily at the jostling crowd around him. He had no way to warn the redhead, and he didn't know well enough the technicalities of the bimbo cheerleader's plan to put a stop to it either.

No hope, then. There was nothing he could do. A strange feeling of despair settled over Rukawa as he practically ripped himself out of the broiling mass of bodies and slammed himself against an unobtrusive door, from which underneath shone a sliver of light. He tumbled into a corridor, blinking at the sudden whiteness of the fluorescent bulb overhead.

When the black spots in his vision had cleared, Rukawa noticed where he was. He was at the hallway that led to the side entrance of the gym. At the end of the corridor was the mostly abandoned locker room, where his bag was still sitting under the sinks.

A sudden flash of insight hit him.

It could work…