Fandom: Slam Dunk
Summary: Kaede Rukawa is a good actor. He just has to be. For how else could he have made that moment feel so real? Sequel to Make Believe.
Title: One True Thing
Author: Hana Rui
Genre: Angst
Pairing: Kaede Rukawa x Ayako [RuAya]
Kaede Rukawa was a good actor. He was a sensational artist. The kind whose name alone could draw sizable amounts of prestige and awed reverence on his trail.
He was a worthy paradigm of excellence. An exceptional Thespian of the modern times. He was a God of the craft. The king of the stage.
Yes, it was the truth. And yes, it just had to be.
For how else could he have made that moment feel so real?
Was it wishful thinking on her part?
Could be.
Perhaps she had been harboring a carefully hidden affection for the younger guy all along.
She could never really tell.
All Ayako knew was that, there was more to Kaede Rukawa than what he would normally let on. Than what he would like to let on.
For one, he could put up an act enough to make anybody's head reel in amazement for all eternity.
And for the other...
The other reason was what had been making her senses reel with her head for weeks on end.
She knew she shouldn't really let herself be swayed by that single moment of intimacy.
She knew she shouldn't really be thinking too much about that simple kiss.
"How was it?"
She said it so herself. It was just a simple kiss. One they had to do for the sake of art.
A romance as make-believe as last month's Christmas play.
"Aya-chan...?"
So why was it that she could still feel traces of his warmth on her lips a month after the incident? Why did she still feel like it was the first real kiss she ever had?
"Aya...?"
How come she always felt like bursting into fiery bits of flesh whenever he stood by? Whenever he as much as looked at her?
"Hey..."
Ryota had been asking questions to which she could hardly come up with the safest answers.
Why could she not get that moment from off her mind anyway? Why couldn't she just convince herself that there absolutely was nothing to it?
For there really wasn't, was there?
"Aya-chan?"
Ayako had to blink her eyes several times before she finally remembered where she was. "Um...yeah?"
She was supposed to be in her boyfriend's house, sampling the brownies he had so painstakingly baked just for her.
"Is something bothering you?"
And here she was, thinking about another guy and that kiss they had shared on stage.
"No, I'm fine. It's just that..."
This was the very reason why she had to stay focused on the best excuse she could possibly come up with.
"Did I mess up with the brownies again?"
How else could he have made that kiss feel so real anyway?
"Oh no. The brownies are fine. Taste better than the last ones."
It is the truth.
"Phew! I'm glad I made it right this time."
It just has to be.
"You need to work a little bit more on the flavor, though." She smiled affectionately and met Ryota's lips in a rather deceptive space.
There was just so much that a woman like her could do after all—and only one true thing she could be sure of.
"Hai! Anything to make you happy, Aya-chan!"
Kaede Rukawa was a good actor.
"Ditto, Ryota."
And so was she.
-end-
Note: Written for 52_flavours livejournal: Theme #10 One true thing
Thanks for reading! :)