The night air was cool and refreshing, reminding Hanamichi that summer was indeed drawing to an end. He pulled his blanket up tighter around his shoulders, silently thankful that the nurse had reminded him to bring it.
He didn't understand why he had come back down to the beach, all Rukawa had left him with that morning was a short, shouted command – and heaven knows Hanamichi never followed any command Rukawa would give – he had intended to ignore it, but ever since dinner he could not get Rukawa's parting words out of his head.
"I'll be here tonight…"
Yes, that's what Rukawa had said, at the time Hanamichi hadn't the faintest clue what that was suppose to mean.
What did he tell me that for?
It took him a while to understand that Rukawa meant for him to come back as well, though that only got him more confused, and a little uneasy.
I wish he would act like a normal person…
Hanamichi looked down the beach in the direction from which Rukawa usually came. There were a few other people strolling close along the ocean, in pairs or in groups, but he was not among them.
Looking down, Hanamichi absently traced a finger through the dry sand, scrawling out the words "Ten Sai" in wobbly characters.
He tilted his head and looked at his handiwork for a brief moment, before sweeping out the writing, sighing.
Tensai indeed…
What possessed me?
Often during his rehab hours he had rethought over the events of the past months and wonder what it was exactly that made his love of basketball escalate so.
For popularity? For attention? For plain fun?
For acceptance? For an escape? For Haruko?
No doubt each of these factors contributed to it, yet he couldn't place a finger on exactly what it was that he was doing it for…
To prove himself? For recognition? For…
"Rukawa!"
So absorbed was he in this contemplation that it came as quite a shock when he glanced up and saw the dark-haired boy standing no more than five feet away, staring at him.
"How long have you been here!" He exclaimed, feeling a little embarrassed.
Rukawa replied carelessly "Does it matter?"
"Hn," Hanamichi grunted as Rukawa sat down beside him "It'd be nice if you'd stop sneaking up on me all the time"
"I can't help it if you're zonking out all the time" Rukawa shot back.
Hanamichi glared at Rukawa, but the other boy didn't take the slightest notice as his eyes trained out to the open waters. They remained so for a while until Hanamichi felt compelled to speak up.
"Did you make me come back here for a reason, or did you just want to annoy me?"
"I didn't make you come back here" was the cool reply.
"What! You said…"
"I said 'I'll be here tonight'" Rukawa finally turned to look at him "I didn't say anything about you having to come back"
"Since when did we start just telling each other stuff out of the blue?" Hanamichi didn't buy it for a second "Quit stalling or I'm outta here!"
"You got somewhere better to be?"
"Better than just sitting here with some stubborn fox"
"Ch'" Rukawa frowned, but shrugged off the comment.
They sat there in silence for about a minute, Hanamichi stealing glances at Rukawa's face every now and again in a futile attempt to figure out what was on his mind, finally, Rukawa spoke up.
"So you're really gonna stay here?"
Feeling a little impatient, Hanamichi asked in return "Is that all you've got to say?"
"No"
"Well get on with the rest of it, you know I have to stay here"
"What about…school and stuff?"
"Does it even matter?" Hanamichi mumbled "I'd start falling behind the day school begins anyway, what difference could a month make?"
"…"
They were silent again for a while longer, before Rukawa spoke again:
"Do they…let you do any training?"
Hanamichi frowned "I…have to do a certain amount of physical stuff, if that's what you mean, I'm in rehab remember?"
Rukawa rolled his eyes "No, I mean training as in playing basketball"
"Oh, that…" Hanamichi sighed "Nope, absolute zilch"
"Really?" Rukawa raised an eyebrow "Didn't think you'd have the self-control"
"Well you shouldn't go around judging people before you know them" Hanamichi retorted. Inwardly he cringed a little, it wasn't as if the temptation hadn't driven him completely out of his mind, but the rules at the rehab centre were so strictly enforced that breaking them was out of the question. He knew it was only for his own good, but he couldn't help but feel like some sort of prisoner.
"You're not that hard to see through" Rukawa said "About as simple and stubborn as a rock"
"Where the hell are you pulling this from!" Hanamichi exclaimed angrily.
"It's obvious" Rukawa returned "Especially after you insisted going back onto the court when everyone thought you were dying or something"
"That's beyond exaggerating!" Hanamichi yelled "It wasn't even noticeable to begin with!"
"Just goes to show how thick you really are then" Rukawa rolled his eyes "You were in pain the moment you got up"
"Was not!" Hanamichi denied fiercely "How would you know!"
Rukawa looked at him for a moment, but chose to drop the subject; he really didn't want to go into exactly 'how' he knew. That moment of that certain game was still so vivid to him…it almost hurt somehow.
"Besides, you must've been pretty stubborn to dive for the ball like that, no one with an ounce of sense would've trusted the timing"
"Don't compare me to you mere mortals" Hanamichi said "I knew what I was doing"
"But no one else ever does" Rukawa murmured "You just go crashing about everywhere and no one knows what to expect"
"Thought you just said I was easy to see through"
"Yeah, you are, you're like a big transparent bomb – I can see right through you but I still don't know when you're gonna blow something up"
Hanamichi pulled a face "Your analogy scares me"
"Makes it all the more appropriate"
A moment of silence passed before Hanamichi asked:
"Did you actually want to say anything to me?"
Rukawa opened his mouth as if to respond, but instead he just sighed, and looked away without saying anything.
"Well?" Hanamichi demanded "Come on, surely you didn't make me meet you here just to compare me to some type of weird explosive"
"Hn…" Rukawa grunted, and suddenly he was on his feet "I gotta get back"
"Wha…!" Hanamichi jumped up as well, the blanket slipping from his shoulders "That was all you wanted to say!"
"I…guess…" Rukawa replied vaguely "I just wanted to see you…"
"Huh?" Utterly befuddled, Hanamichi could only blink at him.
"You know, just in case anyone back home asks about you" Rukawa added "They all know I've been here all this time, I can't very well say I've never seen you"
"Oh, okay" Hanamichi accepted the explanation, it was the most logical thing Rukawa has said all day – or all summer it seemed – anyway "Well you can tell them I'm fine, and say hi to Haruko for me"
Rukawa frowned "Who?"
"What do you mean 'who'!" Hanamichi exclaimed "Haruko-san!" he emphasized, as if that made it all clear.
"Captain Akagi's younger sister right?" Rukawa randomly took a guess.
"Yes! Now you be nice to her!"
"Fine"
"But not too nice" Hanamichi hastily added "Don't you dare take her away from me!"
Rukawa felt a slight headache forming…there's no pleasing this idiot, and what the heck would I want with Akagi's sister anyway?
"Fine" He sighed, before picking up the blanket and throwing it over Hanamichi's head "Now put this back on, or go inside, I'm not keep you company anymore"
"You keep me company!" Protested Hanamichi "It was you who…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Rukawa waved off the rest of the sentence "I'll see you… when you get back"
"What, are you gonna miss me or something?" Hanamichi asked sarcastically, and laughed.
But Rukawa didn't answer; he merely brushed the sand from his clothes and hands, and quietly said "Take care", before he once again headed back the way he had come.
Take care…
