Disclaimer: I don't own SlamDunk

Thanks DigitalLavender for the review, and also sorry to confuse you back there...

This will be chapter were Yuiiko's other dark past is revealed. Like who she got that pocket knife from mentioned in Chapter 6! Why didn't she want anyone knowing? Everything will be told in this chapter!

Hope you enjoy reading!

Chapter 13

Youhei followed Yuiiko quietly wondering what she had in mind. He still did not understand what she meant that she was sent there. There? Where is 'there'? He soon got his answer when they reached a grey building near the city of Kanagawa. She stopped outside a huge metal bar gates. The walls surrounding the building were tall and there were wires on top. This place looked exactly like a lock up sanctuary.

"Oi Sakuragi-san came here to visit your friends today?" A guard appeared behind the thick bar gates.

"Yes, it's been a long time since I come to see Negi-kun."

Negi? Youhei looked back at her slightly surprised. He did remember her mentioning about him once before. He must be the boy that gave her the pocketknife. Usually Yuiiko never liked to talk about the time she spent, when she was here. It was very surprising that she was actually showing this to him.

"Well you have half an hour." The guard said. "It's a good thing you still remember when they had their break time."

"Of course, I was here for almost three years wasn't I?" Yuiiko answered rather tetchily.

The gates slide opened and Yuiiko walked in with Youhei at her wake. They were not aware that someone else hiding in the shadows were looking at them.

Sukaza hid behind a huge trunk of a tree watching Yuiiko and another boy walking into the gray building. He clutched his right abdomen and winced slightly. He cursed under his breath that the wound had not heal yet and occasionally it will still start bleeding. He took out the pocketknife from his pocket and look at it closely. He had noticed it since to pull that knife out. The carving on the handle was unmistakably a girl and boys name. Besides that there was a name of a place under their names. If not mistaken it was the name of this building.

'Negi and Yuiiko always together'

'Rehabilitate Delinquent Centre'

"Delinquent…?" Sukaza frowned.

Youhei looked around the huge garden surrounding the building in awe. There were children of many ages running around. Some of them playing soccer and some of them just lay around the grass looking up the sky. To his surprised, he realized that there were more boys than there were girls around.

"Yuiiko, you never exactly tell me what…." Youhei's voice trail off when he heard a small commotion near them. He looked over to see two older boys holding a smaller looking boy beneath them. He could feel anger rising in him. He always hated people using unfair way to win a fight but before he could go over to them Yuiiko had already beaten him to it.

"Stop it at once." Yuiiko said tonelessly grapping both the boys' arms and twist it around their back.

"Yuiiko-oneechan!" the smaller boy cried running over to her. "You came back!"

"You really want me to be here always?" Yuiiko turned to the boy with a small sad smile.

"That is not…." The younger looked down sadly and rather embarrassedly. "I meant was…."

"If you ever pick on him again I personally see you both hang!" Yuiiko whispered into their ears and pushed them to the ground. "Get it!" She voiced the last sentence out louder.

"Hai oneechan!" the boys exclaimed flustered and ran off.

"You came back for a visit?" The younger boy asked.

"Yes, I heard that you will be leaving this place soon." Yuiiko turned to him her emotions still look rather daze.

"Hai, I am leaving next week." He answered happily. "It should be two weeks from now but the sensei gave me a bonus because of my good behaviour."

"Keep it up Kunichi." Yuiiko said softly and walked back to Youhei who was gapping at her.

"Hai," Kunichi cried happily waving his hand. "When I come out, the first thing I will do is look for you oneechan."

Yuiiko and Youhei entered the building together. Youhei was still gapping and Yuiiko was still her compose and expressionless self. Everything was starting to make sense to him, the tall walls, the wires and the tall thick gates. It was to prevent these children from escaping just like prison.

"You were a delinquent?" Youhei finally blurted out.

"You are now in Rehabilitate Delinquent Centre for kids below the age of 18. I overreacted a little when I was in elementary school…"

"Overreacted?" Youhei pressed on wanting to know more.

"I beat up a kid who was only trying to hold my hand and injured another for calling me retard then laughed at my leg." Yuiiko answered dully. "I was still afraid of boys that time and I just lost it…. As for the other boy I just saw red. The school reported about my delinquency and I was immediately sent here and those two boys had to be in the hospital for one week."

"One…." Youhei swallowed uneasily. "I never knew you were..."

His voice trail off and he looked down the floor. Of course it was hard to get over what happened to her. She was strong enough to be able to go back to school in such a short time after her injuries recovery. But it was a sure thing that her heart had not recovered, that was why she freaked out when a boy only tried to touch her. As for the other boy, he deserved what he got for calling her a retard, but all this time he had thought she had went to a centre to treat her leg.

"But the cute little boy outside," Youhei tried to lightened up the conversation. "It looked like this is not a place he should be in… he will be picked on anytime."

"Don't be deceived by his looks." Yuiiko replied uncaringly. "He was sent here because he had beaten up one of the boys in his school so bad, which put him into a coma for a month."

Youhei sweat dropped.

"Ah, we reached at last…."

Youhei blinked, when they reached an empty recreation room. He looked in to see a boy maybe his age or older in a wheelchair. His back was on them as he stared out the window unmoving. Youhei could see that the boy had longer hair compared to the other boys outside the building grounds which were all crew cut. He had tied his almost shoulder length hair into a low ponytail.

"If you are wondering why he was able to keep his hair long it was because he beat the hell out of the last barber who tried to get his hair cut." Yuiiko whispered.

"Really… how long is he supposed to be here?"

"This place is only for teenagers like me and him. The age limit of this centre is children from the age 18 and below. So his sentence is to be here until he turns 18, which remind me that he has another two more months before he will be free to go, but he will be on probation until I don't know when." Yuiiko explained. "His crime was far worst than anyone here put together. So don't ask."

"Don't plan to." Youhei replied tensely.

"Negi-kun…" Yuiiko called softly walking towards him.

"Ne…?" Youhei gasped. "…gi…."

Youhei could see Negi's shoulders stiffen slightly at Yuiiko's voice. Slowly he turned his head towards her direction and Youhei saw that he wasn't a bad looking kid after all. Compared to the imagination of ferocious looking person he had in his head earlier. His features were gentle and he was actually rather good looking but than again Yuiiko did say never to judge them by their covers, like the cute little boy he had met earlier. He sweat dropped again.

"Gomen, it took me sometime to come back…" Yuiiko said and wrapped her arms around him from the back her head resting on his shoulder next to his face.

Youhei nearly fainted then.

"Yuiiko-chan I thought you will never even set foot into this place again after you leave." Negi replied softly and held up his hands holding onto hers gently and lean over burying his face on her hair. "I wouldn't come back if I were you…."

Youhei find his voice very gentle and warm. He couldn't imagine a guy like him could commit any crime so gruesome that even Yuiiko don't want to talk about it.

"Just came back for some reasons…." Yuiiko replied emotionlessly and pull back.

Negi turned his wheelchair around and only realized that they were not alone in the room when his eyes fell on Youhei. His face changed immediately from the gentle one to a really violent look. Youhei blinked at the sudden change.

"I brought my friend to see this place…." Yuiiko explained. "An old friend of mine from childhood…."

"I see…." Negi's face remained aggressive burning a hole into Youhei as he continued to stare at him. "And I thought you came to see me…"

"I did…" Yuiiko replied softly and rather gently.

Youhei turned over to Yuiiko surprised at her voice. It was the first time he heard her speak that way. He that look even for brief second the coldness was gone and a soft gentle look in her eyes. He imagined that did he?

"Anyways," Yuiiko's void expression came back. "I need to apologize for one thing."

"What is it?" Negi asked turned back to her.

"I lost your favourite pocketknife." Yuiiko shrugged slightly. "Gomen…."

"You lost it or you mean you used it and left it on the person." Negi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

Yuiiko's was caught off guard for a second before she bar her expression away again. Youhei saw the panic look in her eyes. She was attacked again?

She could never hide from Negi that was why they were so close when she was here. He was practically like an oniichan to her. She quickly turned away and head towards the door slowly.

"Iie, I lost it…." Yuiiko said without turning back. "I remember I still have to go for my part time job." She lied but the next sentence she said was truthful. "I will come to see you again Negi-kun. I promise…."

With that she walked out. Youhei watched her go unable to think of anything and turned back to the shock Negi sitting on his wheelchair. Youhei sighed, headed for the door, stopped at the frame of the door and turned to him with a small smile.

"Yuiiko had always been a strong one." Youhei said. "Don't worry about her. She will be fine and when she said that she will come back to see you again. She will never break that promise…."

Negi smiled at Youhei for the first time since he entered the room…

Sukaza watched Yuiiko coming out from the building with the boy and started following them again. He needed a plan to get her. For now he could only watched her every single steps she make…

"Let's go back to school." Youhei said after they left the building. "Hanamichi will be still there for practice."

"So why are you so eager to take me to Hanamichi?" Yuiiko asked rather agitatedly.

"Hanamichi really want to talk to you Yuiiko!" Youhei said rather desperately. "I mean all this time, he was really trying to be like a big brother to you."

Yuiiko laughed rather unkindly and glared at Youhei.

"You know, Negi-kun can be a better older brother than Hanamichi could ever be!"

"That is not fair Yuiiko!"

"What is fair in this world?" Yuiiko bit out rather spitefully. "I can say it's unfair that such a horrible thing happened to me!"

"How did you come to trust that Negi guy?" Youhei asked rather curiously. How can she not trust her own real brother but an outsider instead?

"He helped me when I was in the centre…" Yuiiko said rather softly. "Some guys were picking on me. He just came and helped me... for the first time in my life; someone came to safe me from trouble…"

Youhei was speechless and stared at Yuiiko rather sadly. Sakuragi would come to her aid too if he was there, if only Yuiiko could understand that. But faith was harsh to put Yuiiko in such a terrible ordeal and it was so unfortunate that Sakuragi was not there at the time when she needed him most. It was a very cruel arrangement of faith.

"I am sorry, I just don't feel like talking to Hanamichi." Yuiiko walked on a little faster, hoping that Youhei would not follow her. "Not now…"

Youhei watched her go, not knowing how to convince her further…

"Hey, at least let me walk you to wherever you want to go!" Youhei cried running after Yuiiko who had walked quite a distance away.

"Whatever!" Yuiiko replied indifferently without slowing down.

The sun was setting, later that evening when the streets become rather quiet, in one of the deserted alley way, two dark silhouettes were exchanging some materials, hidden in their jackets.

"This is the last time I am helping you Sukaza," A man in a long black trench coat whispered, flipping through a stack of cash. "Good luck in whatever you are planning…"

"I will succeed." Sukaza smiled wickedly, checking the heavy silver weapon in his hands. "With this gun, she will be an easy target."

TBC

The next chapter is still in process, I will try to finish it soon!