Disclaimer: SlamDunk and its characters are not mine.

Confession and Air

It was a perfectly ordinary day that Sendoh confessed to him. They had just finished playing basketball, and were both leaning back on the stone bench situated beside the court. Rukawa was in the midst of towelling his hair dry when Sendoh spoke.

"I love you, you know."

Rukawa paused momentarily, lifted his towel from his head to look at Sendoh. He 'hnned', then continued drying his hair.

Encouraged by the fact that Rukawa had not run away screaming yet, Sendoh then asked, "Wanna go out sometime?"

Finishing with his hair, Rukawa stood up and moved over to his bag. Pulling out a fresh shirt, he spoke, his back towards Sendoh, who was now lying flat on his back facing the sky. "I don't. Love you, that is."

Sendoh smiled wistfully at the sky. "I suppose not. Guess you won't be coming back then."

At his words, Rukawa shrugged. "Why not?"

Sendoh smiled again at that, remembering afresh that this /Rukawa/, and not some homophobic man off the street.

Abruptly eloquent, Rukawa told him, "I get that a lot."

Closing his eyes, Sendoh considered that. It did make sense, with Rukawa's pretty-boy looks, that he'd be the target of more than himself.

- - - - -

It was kind of liberating, really, Sendoh mused as he waited for Rukawa to come out of his house. Rukawa didn't ask him why he did things for him, didn't gaze at him in confusion. Rather, he seemed to have accepted it as a motivating force, then promptly forgotten about it. All was as it was. Well, kinda.

There'd be the briefest hesitation before Rukawa accepted something from him, be it drink or towel or the casual arm about the shoulder. Most wouldn't have noticed, but Sendoh had watched Rukawa surreptitiously for months now, and couldn't help feeling the slightest bit sorry.

Sorry that he had changed their friendship. Sorry that he had been added to that (presumably long) list of people who had lusted after Rukawa, who couldn't – wouldn't – just remain friends.

- - - - -

They were playing again, their steals and one-handed reverse lay-ups drawing a crowd to the street basketball court. There was grace there, under the noonday summer sun. Different teams with different people – but they still gravitated to each other. Rivals, yes. But somehow, somewhen, friends too.

- - - - -

The game had already ended, and eventually both had made way for the players still waiting for their chance to score. So now they just sat at the side-lines, like everyone else there, a pocket of silence in the midst of the uproar, even Sendoh succumbing to his exhaustion, trading his omnipresent smile for the cool comfort of leaning his head against the graffiti-covered wall behind him.

"Do you, you know, think about it some days?" Sendoh murmured in the midst of the deafening sounds of a typical street-court.

Silence.

Sendoh dared a look at his companion, then jumped, as he felt a warm weight settle on his shoulder. Eyes closed and hand clutching his basketball possessively, Rukawa had fallen asleep, leaning against Sendoh in utter relaxation.

a/n:
This is meant as an ambiguous short piece that attempts to capture how Sendoh likes Rukawa, but Rukawa only sees him as a friend but still trusts him. Basically an attempt at complicated emotions.

Review, please? I love all kinds of feedback!