Title: Of Shadows
Genre: Slamdunk/Romance/Angst
Disclaimer: Slamdunk and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to Takehiko Inoue.
Author's Notes: Hm...i actually like this chapter, though it kinda irks me that the readability is only a mere 61.8, and has been about there for the previous two chapters. Crap.
Many thanks to Fataliste for pointing out my grammar mistakes - hope i got them all pegged down. Haha (so here's the newly improved one)
Chapter: Letter to Disaster
Ryota Miyagi was not in a good mood, and that in itself was an understatement. He scowled as he strode down the corridor with his destination in mind.
Ever since Rukawa Kaede had appeared, all hell had broken loose. Fujima, prince of the western plains, along with Jin and Hanataga graced the North with their presence and so did Haruko and her very solid brother, Akagi. He shivered as the looming build came to mind. That guy was huge! Not to mention the fact that Hanamichi was here too and Ryota just knew that things were getting very complicated. After all, the captive was his Kaede.
Two days ago, he finally came back from patrolling with Hanataga and the first news he was graced with was that of Rukawa awakening. Just when he thought things were going to take a turn for the better, he met Hanataga in the dining room, looking absolutely murderous.
Intelligent enough to stay out of his way, he went straight to Ayako, only to have to listen to the whole sob story which basically pissed him off some more since Ayako was not in the mood to do anything he would have liked to do in her company.
After all, he had been looking forward to the happy fluff that always graced a hero's return…or rather, in his case, a lover's return. Okay…so maybe he got the fluff; the breathy 'you're back!' and a tight embrace with her face tinged in the hints of a blush. And the 'I missed you', but he missed her lots…too much actually.
And due to everything that was happening, he found himself spending less quality time together than he would have liked. That particular thought deepened his scowl.
In addition to the above, Rukawa, though fast in his recovery ever since the angst reunion, had not provided them with any information. He also happened to notice that Hanamichi was usually close by and basically hovered around Rukawa like a protective mother hen, which basically made any potential private interrogations impossible lest he and the rest of them wanted to incur Hanamichi's wrath. And despite the red head's apparent ignorance at many things and the general air of nonchalance about him, he was dangerous when provoked.
Ryota sighed inwardly. Even the patrolling didn't go well. He couldn't believe they missed Umbra, much more so he was dead certain that he had scouted the area around the time Hanamichi met them. Worse still, other than the five slain, they had met with no other Umbra members. It was puzzling to say the least. A nagging suspicion at the back of his mind said that it was impossible for there to only be five. He wanted to patrol again, but Ayako would have none of it.
"Leave it to the Elite," she had pleaded when she caught him half-dressed in his warrior's garb in the morning. Grudgingly, he acquiesced. Still, he couldn't help feeling frustrated over it. And then when he thought things couldn't get any worse, it just did.
Turning sharply at a junction, he continued walking till he reached the first door. An off-white envelope was fisted in his left hand and he raised his right to knock.
"Come in," and he did just that.
Kiminobu Kogure had just written to him.
The shit had hit the fan.
As soon as he entered the room, Ayako accosted him into the seat next to her, fixing him with a concerned expression. "What happened?" she asked worriedly. Ryota fathomed the expression on his face must've displayed the mood he was in.
He clasped her hand in his larger one, gracing her with a smile. Then, he returned his attention to the letter fisted in his hand. "I just received a letter from Kogure," he said, waving the letter in the general direction of everyone else in the room.
He heard a soft gasp from Ayako and tightened his hold instinctively. Fujima's eyes narrowed and he saw Hanataga place a hand on his arm where he sat beside Fujima on the couch opposite them. To his left on the armchair, he heard rather than saw Akagi grunt disapprovingly. Jin however, just seemed curious as he leaned forward on the couch to his right. Next to him, Haruko looked generally happy – an expression he found disturbing. Apparently, she didn't know Kogure well.
"What does it say?" It was Haruko who raised the question, eyes shining and eager. Ryota coughed awkwardly, rather disconcerted by her cheeriness in the room full of gloom.
He fumbled for a way to summarize the contents of the letter, finally giving up, offering to read the entire letter instead. A series of nods were his answer. Smoothing out the rather crumpled letter, he started to read:
"Ryota,
Kaede Rukawa came by two days ago. He had some business with Hisashi – of which I know nothing of. Hisashi has refused to tell me anything. Indeed, he would be most displeased to know that I even wrote to you. However, ever since the meeting with Rukawa, Hisashi has not been himself. He has even taken to arming himself when he leaves the home.
I would have left it at that, if not for the fact the villagers have claimed to see a black-clad man lurking around the village – and near our house at that. I fear that Umbra is going to take Hisashi back and I simply cannot allow that to happen. Regardless of our fighting capabilities, I will not delude myself into believing that we can defeat Umbra without aid.
I understand that we are not in good terms and that you do not agree with my stance on neutrality. Despite that, I hope that you would be able to send military aid – if not for us, then for Hikari.
Thank you.
Regards,
Kiminobu Kogure"
A heavy silence fell over the room as everyone digested the contents of the letter. Ryota let out a sigh, running his hand through his curly and rather tousled hair, as he waited for someone to speak.
Kiminobu Kogure – renowned ex-strategist in the West, notorious traitor of the light. Kogure had used to be one of them, until of course, he met Hisashi Mitsui who more or less swept him off his feet and caused him to fall, tragically in Ryota's opinion, in love.
Thus began heated arguments and conflicts – most of which with Fujima since he was the unofficial leader of the group, other than Akagi of course. Akagi however, wasn't very involved in the clash between Fujima and Kogure slash Mitsui.
An involuntary smile crept up Ryota's face as he remembered Akagi's reaction.
"How do I know I can trust you?" he had snarled rather than asked, his sword tip at Mitsui's throat. Mitsui smiled cockily, seemingly uncaring of the sword mere centimeters away from his throat.
"You don't have to. All you have to do is trust Kiminobu," he had replied easily. Akagi lowered his sword just then.
"I trust Kogure," he said simply at Mitsui's raised eyebrow. "However," and the sword rose again. "I will kill you if I deem you unworthy."
Mitsui's smile widened. "Only if you can," was his smart-assed reply. Akagi rolled his eyes at that and the tension between them melted away.
Of course, Ryota mused, Akagi was on close terms with Kogure. Fujima however, wasn't. On hindsight, Ryota figured out that it would probably take a decade for Fujima to trust Mitsui – especially since he found out Fujima was suspicious of everyone, until proven trustworthy.
"So, are we going to do anything?" Ryota snapped into attention at Haruko's tentative question. It seemed like she finally figured out that any news from Kogure was always bad news, or at least it was ever since he decided to run away with Mitsui.
"No." Fujima's answer was immediate, and not unexpected.
"Fujima, put aside your bad history for a while and just think." Akagi snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. Of course, his snide reply was not shocking either.
Ryota just knew it was going to end up in an argument again, as always with Fujima and Akagi on the topic of Kogure. As if on cue, Ryota saw Fujima bristle and tense.
"Despite your belief that my dislike towards them both had anything to do with my decision, I did think. And the answer is no." Fujima's eyes flashed dangerously and Hanataga tightened his hold on Fujima's arm.
"Had you even put your mind to it, the answer would not be negative," Akagi growled. Ryota sighed, rather resigned that this was going to become a very heated argument. Beside him, Ayako looked on, eyes wide.
"And if you get over your favoritism of your traitor of a friend, I certainly would not be having this conversation with you," Fujima hissed and Ryota saw Hanataga hold him back with another hand on his shoulder as Fujima leaned towards Akagi.
"Traitor?" Akagi stood up, hands fisted by his sides.
"Brother!" Haruko cried out, standing up too as she watched Akagi seethe. Immediately, Jin pulled her back down on the couch. "Don't," he said calmly. Meanwhile, Ryota thanked the gods that neither of the two had weapons with them.
"What else would you call a person who had forsaken the light?" Wrenching himself from Hanataga, he too, stood up to meet Akagi face to face.
"Kogure is not a traitor!" Akagi said, taking a step towards Fujima. Defiantly, Fujima stood his ground.
"Only in your self-deluded mind he isn't," Fujima said - voice cold and chipped.
"Ryota! Do something!" Ayako said, gripping Ryota's arm. Her eyes however, remained on the pair a distance away from them.
For a split second, Akagi looked as if he was going to hit Fujima. Instead, he said, "Your trust issues aside, we cannot leave Umbra to their own devices!"
"I don't see why we can't. Hisashi Mitsui and Kiminobu Kogure have nothing to do with us." Fujima retorted acidly.
"What Umbra wants, we cannot let it have," was Akagi's quick and heated reply.
"And what do you intend to do about it? Waste valuable resources and men just for them who would not even aid us in our cause? You must be joking if you think I would do such a senseless thing."
Akagi growled and Ryota could see his muscles grow taut. It seemed that Hanataga did too, for in a flash, he was by Fujima's side.
"Enough. Both of you," he said levelly, a hint of warning in his eyes as he locked gazes with Akagi.
Haruko took this opportunity to run to Akagi as she wrenched herself from Jin, eyes wide with concern. She latched herself onto his arm, looking at both of them worriedly. "Let's talk over tea, please!"
"Tea is unfitting in such unrefined situations," was Fujima's clipped reply. Akagi twitched and Hanataga tightened his hand on Fujima's shoulder warningly.
Almost at the same time, Ayako said, "I'll ask the maid to bring tea over!" She jumped off the couch, releasing her painful hold on Ryota's arm in the process. Without waiting for any sort of reply, she dashed out of the room.
"Rukawa was there." Akagi said as he continued with their conversation, ignoring the slight interruption.
"And he is here now," Fujima said.
Akagi snorted humorlessly. "With absolutely no information to offer."
"Akagi," Hanataga said, cutting into the conversation as he did before. "If you so wish to aid them, it is not in our place to stop you. However, the West will not concern herself with this."
Fujima opened his mouth to reply, but at Hanataga's sharp glance, he stopped, allowing Hanataga to continue. "You may have forgotten but they are not our allies, and what Umbra plans for them do not concern us."
Akagi's eyes narrowed. "Fine. If I'm the only one loyal to his friends, then so be it," he said as he turned on his heels, heading towards the door. After hesitating, and giving Hanataga a grateful look, she followed her brother.
"This is a war, Akagi." Fujima said - voice hollow instead of angry, as it had been before. "Your loyalty is sorrowfully misplaced."
Akagi halted where he was just in front of the door. "Unlike you, I have far greater capabilities to trust people," he said levelly as he exited the room, Haruko right behind him.
Inside the room, Jin stood up. "I'll let Hanamichi know," he said in a soft voice before exiting the room. Ryota was not surprised to see that Jin was composed and that his face displayed no hints of the argument before.
As soon as he exited, Ayako entered; a maid carrying tea behind her. Scanning the room and finding it empty of Akagi and Haruko, she frowned. "What happened?"
Ryota sighed before pulling her over to him, proceeding to tell her what she had missed. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hanataga embrace Fujima. Almost immediately, Fujima collapsed in his arms, fingers clutching the soft material of Hanataga's shirt. On cue, Hanataga held him tighter.
The maid ignored all of these, instead busying herself with pouring the North's bitter tea into the quaint teacups.
HNO3 - Sephiroth and Cloud are dominating my mind. So yeah...blame them if i go MIA for a while.
