Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and all its characters belong to Inoue Takehiko.

Chapter 2: Frozen in Time

In secret we met, in silence I grieve;
That thy heart could forget, thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee, after long years,
How should I greet thee? With silence and tears.

-Lord Byron

For quite some time, Sendoh caught himself staring at the blank sheet of paper lying on top of his desk. He could not exactly understand why his literature professor had sadistically forced him to write a two-page essay for coming late into class. Why, isn't it that it's always better late than never? He just overslept last night. And to think, arriving late was just a Sendoh thing to do.

He gently massaged his forehead with the tips of his fingers hoping that something, or anything would pop inside his head. Too bad, Mr. Ace player never liked literature, or even just a tiny bit of it. He finds 'self-expression and honest sentiment through arrangement of words' boring and too personal to share. He's far more interested in finding unknowns in an equation and solving equalities. Math was the only subject he had no trouble passing. He remembered explaining it to Rukawa once.

"You know, Rukawa, you just can't avoid math especially when you want to live a good, old life."

"Right. And you sounded like my Algebra teacher." The hard-headed Rukawa put in. "I can still win my games without learning those equations,"

"Then you wouldn't know how many points you still have to make for you to outplay your opponent." Sendoh explained as a matter-of-factly, trying to make his point sink in.

Nothing was heard from the other except for a "Hn" which in the Kitsune's term had technically meant, "Okay, I surrender."

Sendoh smiled at the memory. Rukawa was no good in school. But he knew he'll be thrown out of Shohoku's basketball team if he doesn't get good grades. That was why he enlisted the Ryonan tensai's help. The only thing that mattered to Rukawa then, was his games. Sendoh shared the same notion, too. Both of them were literally married to basketball.

Until they found each other.

Sendoh let out a heavy sigh. "For how long do you intend to make me wait, Kaede?" He asked the screaming silence of his room. Anxiety and Nostalgia. Those were the emotions he has been fighting with since Rukawa had stopped communicating with him. Sendoh had tried everything he could to reach him. He phoned his school several times to check on his beloved but they said that he dropped out of school years ago. He also tried searching for Rukawa's relatives in Japan but none of them could give him the information he wanted. Sendoh can only conclude something must have happened. Rukawa would not just throw him aside like a torn rag doll. He wasn't suppose to put everything away, everything they shared. Sendoh, however,had remained faithful to him. Up until now, the Shohoku ace was the only recipient of his love. Despite the loneliness, Sendoh didn't even dare to betray Rukawa for short-lived pleasure. He knew better than that. But he also knew he is gradually losing to misery. If not only for basketball, he could have died long ago. Rukawa definitely had a lot of explaining to do. And it'd better be good. That is, when he gets back.

The tormented lad notice the clock hanging on the wall and realized that he's getting nowhere with his literature assignment. He still need a few more hours sitting on that chair and he hadn't had a bite since lunch. With that, he stood up to get the phone.

"Hello, uh, Suboshi's Pizza, right?" Though he knew the answer to that question, he wanted to make sure.

"…Yeah…the usual Super beef and veggies, family size… Hope you can make it here as soon as you can. I'm super hungry." A click, then he hung up. He sat back on his chair to work again on his paper.

After two minutes, the doorbell rang. Sendoh never expected the pizza man to be this soon. He stood and began searching for his wallet which must be hidden somewhere inside his bag.

He was midway before he could reach the end of the stairs when another ring broke the stillness of his house. "Coming!" Sendoh answered, while taking out a few bills from his wallet. "Boy, the pizza man must be in a hurry." Sendoh held the knob and slowly unlocked the door.

The intense surge of conflicting emotions left Sendoh too vulnerable for an infinite moment. Pain, doubt, joy, and longing filled him as he held open the door and set his eyes on the man. In another quick instant, they held each other's gaze, pairs of eyes searching through the other's soul for answers. Finally, Sendoh could wait no longer.

"Kaede," That was all Sendoh could utter as he wrapped his arms around Rukawa. On the other hand, Rukawa only stood as stiff as cardboard while slowly realizing what his companion was doing. "S-Sendoh," he called back, then brought an arm to give the other a half-hug.

"Only a half-hug," the ace, who used to don a white-and-blue jersey, thought. "And he called me Sendoh," it dawned on him, loosening his embrace. But that didn't matter, anyway. The waiting's over now. Kaede is here.

"Why don't you come in?" Sendoh offered cheerfully.

"We can talk outside," Rukawa suggested, and when he saw a shift in Sendoh's expression, he hastily added, "While walking around."

"Right." The spike-haired man agreed. "Hold on a sec, I'll put on my sweat shirt." He went immediately inside, the thought of hunger and the pizza man who must be on his way, completely forgotten.

"How long have you been here?" Sendoh asked excitedly.

"I arrived three days ago."

"That was why I saw you on the train station the other day," Sendoh told him, with a blissful smile. Rukawa only wondered what he is talking about.

"You staying at your old house?" Sendoh asked again.

"Yeah."

There was silence again and Sendoh racked his brain for something more to say.

Rukawa was having a hard time gathering his senses. He thought his coming back to Japan would somehow ease the burden he felt but he was still living his life in nowhere, with strange faces and places greeting him wherever he looked. And Sendoh, this Sendoh guy standing close was making him uncomfortable. It would be so much difficult to see his happy countenance be shattered to pieces with what he is going to tell him. And how on earth will he make him understand? Where exactly will he begin?

"Kaede," the soft sound of his name pulled him out of his agony. "Tell me about America," Sendoh eagerly looked at Rukawa's face, obviously determined to push the dead air away. He noticed how Rukawa had changed. What he used to know as the super rookie was much taller, his hair a little longer on the sides, his shoulders a little broader. Maturity was painted on his face and he lost much of his Japanese tan. Moreover, Sendoh noticed that Rukawa was feigning distraction. He could only take so much of his silence. But he'll just have to wait until he tell him.

"America's fine." Was Rukawa's only short reply. He scanned his surroundings than turned his head toward Sendoh again. "Why don't you tell me what's been changed since I've left?"

"Nothing much has changed." Sendoh said after inhaling the soft, afternoon breeze. "Everyone we used to know moved out of town after graduation…"

They finally reached the bridge that overlooked downtown Kanagawa on one side and the ocean on the other. The sun was beginning to dip itself halfway far across the sea, the waters illuminating with vibrant hues of oranges and purples. The two stopped to look at the glorious imagery before them. Then Sendoh broke, "Do you often miss the sunset when you were in the States, Kaede? We used to stand beside each other like this before you left, remember?"

Rukawa was at a loss for words as he turned his head away from the ocean to looked at Sendoh who was fervently anticipating his answer. Knowing that the time has come, Rukawa looked away with guilt.

At that, Sendoh felt unusually rigid, with a cold sensation slowly making its way up his spine. "Kaede, what's wrong?" he heard himself say, while also bracing himself for the unexpected.

Another chilling silence passed. "There's something you need to know," Rukawa finally found the tenacity to speak his mind. He'll have to do this. There is no turning back now.

"When I was in the US, a group of boys, probably varsity members of my school's basketball team, waylaid me one night and beat me to said the beating was so bad, I could've died if not only for the custodian who saw me and took me to the hospital."

Sendoh forced himself to stay clam by looking at Rukawa straight in the eye while his already unsteady hands try to find solace inside his pockets.

"I woke up in the hospital knowing nothing after two weeks of being in a coma. You see, I recuperated in two month's time but without paying for a huge price. I regained my strength easily in exchange for my memory." He heard Sendoh gasp at the last statement. "I had amnesia. And up to now, I could not remember a single detail of my past."

"I could not remember a single detail of my past." Rukawa's words kept repeating inside Sendoh's head as more questions clouded his mind. "But you're here!—you found me!" Sendoh somehow managed to say despite the confusion.

"The letters you've sent. I used them to find you," came Rukawa's sensible answer. By now, everything was coming to Sendoh crystal clear as to why Rukawa had suddenly stopped answering his letters, why he called him not on his first name and why he only gave him a half-hug. But he still didn't know where thiswas heading.

"So what do we do now?" Sendoh asked, his voice weak.

"I-I don't know…I guess we got to move on with our lives and leave everything as it is."

Those final words felt like daggers propelled directly into Sendoh's heart and he suddenly felt unbelievably tired.

"You mean, leave it all behind?" Sendoh echoed, still trying to make something out of Rukawa's avowal. "After all the years I've waited, is this what you're going to tell me? That you want to just throw everything away and call it quits, is that what you want?" He wanted to lash out at his companion but he fought the urge to do so.

Rukawa saw pain in Sendoh's black-blue eyes and felt guilt ravenously chewing up his insides. "The doctors told me to wait…But three years had been too long…" his voice trailed off. "I'm sorry. I just want to settle everything with you before I fly back to the US in a month." He saw Sendoh blinking back tears. "I'm not only doing this for me. You and I—We can't go on like this." Rukawa reasoned.

More tears clouded Sendoh's vision and he decided that he already had enough. He shook his head in mere protest and commanded himself to talk but no words came out from his lips. Rukawa already gave the verdict and he was only left to comply. Without further ado, Sendoh turned on his heels and ran back to his house not caring for once what Rukawa would still have to say.

The raven felt the urgency of the situation. "Sendoh," he called, while on the act of coming after Sendoh until he realized another grave mistake. "Akira—"

But Sendoh never dared to look back.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for taking your time. Please do a review. Thank you again. I'm done with the exams so I can now proceed with the other chapters. I hope you will bear with me.

Much, much thanks xo