SLAM DUNK: A PLAYER'S HEART
Chapter 4: Silent Reply
"Sacrifice not choices is the measure of true knowledge!"
Vanessa Arrha A. De Leon
"I wished Rukawa saw what we did to that stupid girl. She completely deserved that!" one of the Shinietai's said as they were sneering over themselves on what they did to Ran 3 days before.
"You know what, I heard from someone that she actually called her okasan in the States!"
"What a crybaby!!"
"You said it!"
As they continued walking, they noticed a blond-haired boy looming around the gate of the school. The boy seemed foreign with his sandy blonde hair and soft brown eyes. Although they were curious, they didn't approach the boy.
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"Excuse me..."
Kogure stopped as someone walked into their gym.
"Nani, we are in a practice?"
"I am just here to ask if you have a member named Sakuragi here?"
Hearing his name, Sakuragi walked towards the boy.
"What do you need from me, blondie?"
"Blondie????"
"Yeah! That's you, blondie!"
sigh
"Konnichiwa, Sakuragi-san, watashi wa Senada Ruiyo!"
"Hai. Are you here for hehehe... maybe for my...hehe...autograph?"
"Autograph?? Iie... Sakuragi-san! I'm here to fetch Ran!"
"Ran! Doushite?"
"Our okasan told me to bring her back to the US! I was told she was having a hard time here!"
Ran dropped her bag as she watched from the gym door. Slowly recognizing who the stranger was, she bursted out in surprise.
"Onii-san..."
"ONI-SAN!??" The rest of the team exclaimed.
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"He is Ruiyo Senada, my stepbrother from the States!" Ran said as she introduced the boy to the rest of the team.
"Stepbrother??? But I thought Sakuragi is your stepbrother!" Ayako replied.
"Nani!" Ran laughed. "Sakuragi-kyodai is my real brother, Ruiyo is the son of my 'ka-san's 2nd husband!"
"But Sakuragi told us...."
Everyone looked at Sakuragi who was equally dazed as they all was.
Ruiyo then came in, "Minna-san, gomen for the confusion but I would like to thank you all for taking care of Ran! Right now, she needs to get back to the States becau----"
Ruiyo flinched as Ran elbowed him in the abdomen.
"Uhmm... What Oni-san means is that, mother would like to send you her greeting and thanks for taking care of me, isn't that right, o-ni-san??"
Ruiyo nodded in pain.
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Ruiyo was to stay in Japan for only two days. His only job was to actually take Ran home but as they argued over it, Ran denied anything and remained selfish and stubborn.
"Ka-san, misses you, Ran! Besides, she doesn't like what you told her the other day!"
"I didn't tell her that for her to make unnecessary moves like this, I told her that because I was feeling bad!!!"
"Nani! You shouldn't have called after all!"
"Well! I've got no one to talk to here!"
"See! You've said it already yourself, you've no one to talk to!"
"Iiee!!! I still have 3 months and 2 weeks to go! You promised, brother, 4 months, remember??"
"I remember but...but......"
"Trust me, after 4 months I'll go back home to be with you and the rest of the family and spend my remaining life there!"
Ruiyo stood quiet for a while.
"Do you promise to keep yourself safe?"
"Hai... Hai...!"
I can't believe I'm doing this
"I understand! 4 months!"
Yare! Yare!
"4 months!" Ran replied as she lovingly held his hands. "Don't worry, Ruiyo, I'll be fine here, I've still got 3 months to go and besides, I don't want to waste my remaining life, ne?"
Ruiyo silently agreed.
I know you don't, but what if you're gone even before the 4 months...
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"So what happened to Ruiyo, Ran?"
"He went back to the States, Ayako-san, he'll come back for me in 3 months!"
"3 months, what's so special in 3 months?"
"Nani mo, Ayako-san, nothing special at all..." she sadly replied.
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2 days after the game with Daikishin High which Shohoku won, 89-93, Ran and Megumi were walking home from school.
"Ran, did you know?", Megumi asked.
"Nani??"
"At our school's last game, Rukawa-san's leg was hurt really bad!"
"Eh...?"
"He sprained his leg during the 2nd half of the game."
"Uhmm... Where is he now?"
"At the community hospital, the basketball team will visit him tomorrow!"
Ran stopped for a minute.
"Eto... Na... Uh... Megumi-san, I've got to go!" Ran said as she ran towards the school gate.
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"Rukawa Kaede, Doko ni?" Ran asked the attendant at the lobby, the minute she came in.
The attendant searched the hospital list on the computer for a while then replied, "Rm. 011"
"Arigatou ne!" she answered then proceeded upstairs.
When she reached the room, she hesitated for a minute, whether to knock or just enter. But obviously entering without permission seemed rude so she just settled with knocking...
After she knocked twice, she opened the door. What she didn't expect to see was Rukawa up and sitting sitting by the window.
He made no reply when she entered, instead he kept looking at the window.
"Rukawa-san! Genki na?"
no reply
"I think you're already doing fine! I hope you get well soon!"
no reply
"Uhmm... I brought some food for you, here!" she said as she presented her newly-prepared rice boxes.
no reply
Ran was starting to feel uneasy. But she gathered all her courage and walked towards the boy.
"Rukawa-san, about the other day..."
no reply no reaction
"Honto ni, Gomen Nasai!" she said as she bowed lightly.
no reply
"Are you okay, now?" Ran asked.
no reply
"I think I'll go now, Rukawa-san, so you could rest..."
As she was about to open the door, Rukawa finally said something...
"Domo..." he said as faintly and uninterested as he could although Ran still heard it.
She nodded then went outside.
Rukawa was left at the room, contemplating what was going wrong in his life right then.
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"Rukawa!!!" Akagi shouted out aloud.
"What are you looking at, you idiot?" Akagi said as he (for the very first time) planted 1 very huge lump on Rukawa's head.
"You've been to the hospital and now here you are... acting stupidly like Sakuragi"
Unknowingly to Akagi and the others, the reason why Rukawa was being absent-minded that day was because of a girl cheering happily for her brother at the upper gallery of the gym.
-------TO BE CONTINUED;)-------