Chapter Fourteen

Rukawa ripped the hair extensions off, stuffing them clumsily into the plastic before bending to sweep every discarded item on the bench up and into his leather bag. Not bothering to wear his boxers, he pulled his jeans on, stumbling with one leg in the material as he hopped towards the sink. Zipping up the denim, he leaned forward, hitting the tap with the flat of his palm and scooping up the running water.

Scrubbing his face thoroughly, he moved to the stall, unrolling an unhealthy amount of toilet paper and drying his tingling skin. He stood and checked himself quickly in the mirror.

It'll have to do.

Turning back to the bench, he plucked his jacket from where it was lying dolefully on the wood, slipping it quickly over his shoulders. He couldn't bear to stay any longer, and he would definitely have to leave before someone ventured into this corridor looking for where Hanamichi's mysterious counterpart had disappeared to. Logically, –someone– would have seen him, and it wouldn't be long before they put two and two together.

Scanning the area hurriedly one last time to make sure there was no more incriminating evidence left behind, Rukawa hefted his partially closed bag onto his shoulder and moved to open the door.

"She came from over there," Yohei pointed to the barely noticeable door that led to the side entrance of the gym. "That was all I noticed. If she's going to leave, she'll be leaving by there too! Hurry up!"

Hanamichi squeezed past the remaining groups, barely noticing as Reisuya's voice came over the speaker again. She sounded more subdued, but he honestly didn't care. "...and now for our prom queen, ladies and gentlemen, she is..."

He practically leapt over the refreshment table, just missing the collision with the pillar as he dashed towards the door. Behind him, he could hear Yohei shout for him to go ahead, and he didn't think of doing any less as he reached out, grabbing the cool metal handle and pulling the door open so violently that it nearly swung off its hinges.

They stepped into the corridor at the exact same time.

Rukawa's blood turned cold in his veins at the telltale click of the gym door closing, and he spun automatically to meet the threat.

Oh, god, no.

Hanamichi stood there, panting for breath, staring at him but seeming not to really see him. "Fox?"

Rukawa tried to find his voice, weakly managing only an automatic "Dumb idiot."

That catapulted the redhead into action, but what surprised Rukawa most was that Hanamichi didn't retaliate with a biting comment as usual, instead coming closer and looking up and down the hallway. The expression on the power forward's face was distraught, and Rukawa felt surprisingly relieved.

He doesn't know. He hasn't figured it out.

Was that even possible? Could he be that lucky?

"Have you seen a girl? About your height?" Hanamichi began, twisting around as his gaze darted back towards the gym. "Black hair, blue eyes, she looks like..."

His voice trailed off as he turned back. The corridor was empty, the door that led outside was just closing, and he caught a glimpse of the silver threads of rain, turned orange by the glow of the streetlights.

"...you."

She looks just like you, Rukawa Kaede.

His heart thudded into his shoes and his mind began to reel. Not for the first time, Ruiya's face appeared in his mind, but this time, he pictured Rukawa alongside it. The dream he had had came back in full force as he stared at the opaque door, as if begging it for an answer.

He suddenly noticed a glint on the floor, shiny in the glare of the fluorescent light, winking up at him. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the object, squatting down to pick it up.

It was a silver earring.

The rain pelted his shoulders mercilessly, but Rukawa didn't care. He ran, out of the school compounds, feeling the sting of the heavy drops on his cheeks.

It was barely eight. The studio would still be open. Without further thought, he changed direction, heading down the west street instead, his feet pounding the sidewalk. The only thing that remained in his mind was the look in Hanamichi's eyes when the redhead had burst into the side corridor, looking anxiously and desperately for Ruiya Setsuko.

That was when Rukawa had known. He had known it just as instinctively as he knew how to play basketball, felt it just as painfully as he felt the deception of his other identity. But Hanamichi's feelings in this case would amount to nothing.

Because Ruiya Setsuko doesn't exist, Hanamichi, he screamed silently. She's nothing but a lie.

He continued running.

Hanamichi slumped on the ground, the truth still refusing to sink into his brain.

Ruiya is Rukawa, Ruiya is Rukawa, Ruiya is Rukawa.

Yohei burst into the corridor, breathing heavily in the doorway. "Hanamichi! Did you find her?"

"Ruiya isn't here." He recognized his own voice, dull and monotonous, yet it didn't feel like he was the one talking. "Ruiya was never here."

"What are you talking about, Hanamichi?! She was right there! She was dancing with you!"

Yes. She was dancing with me, wasn't she? Ruiya?

"Hanamichi!" Yohei sounded frustrated at his lack of response. "What's wrong with you? I thought you wanted to find her! Didn't you say she meant something to you? That she was important?"

I did. I thought she was someone I could love.

"God, Hanamichi," Yohei swung him around to glare at him, "Don't be like this! What's come over you? Just now...I've never seen you so happy as when you were dancing out there!"

I've never felt so happy as when I was dancing out there, either.

"Hanamichi!" his best friend shook him hard, "Just. Tell. Me. What. Happened!"

What –had– happened? Hanamichi wasn't so sure that he knew himself, but the choked words in his voice answered Yohei anyway.

"She lied to me."

His best friend's features reflected stark surprise. And then, looking at Hanamichi, Yohei's expression softened into compassion.

"She's...she's not who I thought she was, Yohei." His face crumpled as he brought his hands up to hold his head. It felt like a personal betrayal. He supposed in some ways, it was.

But was it my fault for not seeing?

Rukawa obviously hadn't disguised himself for the purpose of deceiving him, because he had already been dressed as Ruiya the first time Hanamichi had seen him at the studio. Even if Rukawa hadn't told him the truth, was it Rukawa's fault?

Maybe I'm the one who's a fool.

Had he known, from the first day when he had inadvertently blurted 'Fox' on the very same doorstep that Ruiya and he had sat on as they came to an unspoken truce? He had been too blinded by his own prejudice to see things clearly, certain that Rukawa Kaede could never have been in that situation, certain that Rukawa Kaede wouldn't help anyone if his life depended on it, certain that Rukawa Kaede was a closed-off, unfeeling bastard.

The worse part was that, past the meaningless wall of enmity he had singularly erected between them, he had seen into the real persona of the boy he knew as his basketball captain. Seen into him, and thought none the worse of him for it.

Quite the contrary...

He had treated Ruiya as an individual, and in doing so, looked beyond the face of the Rukawa who commanded cult-like fame both on and off the court. Now, Hanamichi couldn't even decide what to feel other than the instinctive knowledge surfacing in his mind that he had been wrong (–and– wronged) all along.

"Hanamichi...does it really matter?" Yohei asked helplessly. He didn't know what to do with the redhead behaving like this, a marked contrast to his typically positive, cheerful self. What could he say? "Does it change how you feel?"

It was as though he had said the magic words.

The silence in the corridor grew as Hanamichi looked suddenly thoughtful, pensive, the raw hurt in his eyes fading to another different, calmer emotion. They stayed that way as the seconds drew out in the quiet ticking of a wristwatch; Yohei concerned and Hanamichi lost in thought.

And then suddenly, Hanamichi stood up so quickly that Yohei, who had been crouching beside him, lost his balance and fell back.

"I need to go somewhere for a while, Yohei. Don't wait for me tonight, okay?"

Without stopping for an answer, he ran towards the door, only pausing momentarily to pat his pants' pocket and make sure that the earring was still there.

Then he opened the door and slipped out into the pouring rain.