Author's Note: My last update was February 4, 2005. It's closer to three years now than two. Since then, I had a major writer's block, met someone, fell in love, had my heart broken, constantly healed just enough to have it broken again, finally broke the habit (or so I hope), and put back enough pieces of myself back together for me to start writing again.

It's closure that I dream of having, but something that couldn't be given to me. It's something that I should seek for by myself, and for myself. Thus, I put an end to something that I've left hanging for so long, this fic, in hopes that ending something as mundane as this would give me more strength to fight my harder battles.

I think I've made enough readers gag. Never thought I'd go this far in defending why I put this fic on hiatus for so long. Finally, on with the story... ^_^

Last Chapters' Preview: The Sakuragi guntai dared our hero, Hanamichi, to ask Rukawa on a date. Rukawa wasn't supposed to agree, but he did. By some twist of fate, the archenemies found themselves on a date which was going surprisingly well. But after paying the bill, Rukawa suddenly stormed out of the restaurant.

Chapter VII: The End of the Date

"Oi, Rukawa! Wait up!" Sakuragi called out to the retreating back of his teammate. The latter actually responded as he tried to walk a little bit slower. The redhead was able to catch up until he was a few paces behind, then Rukawa ditched the bike and let it lean on a fence.

He proceeded to enter a beach, which was enclosed by the said fence, through a quaint little gate on his right. He walked a few more steps, kicked off his suede shoes, and then settled himself on the area in front of him. He sat with his legs apart, head tilted back, and him leaning back on his arms. He closed his eyes as he felt the breeze gently playing with his hair. He could hear some shuffling of feet, and then he heard and felt someone settle beside him.

Sakuragi was sitting with his arms almost hugging his knees, looking quite vulnerable as he was somewhat scared of Rukawa. He thought that things were already going well, that the date was a success (for they didn't try to kill each other). He really hasn't gone out formally with someone, and he has never really gone to a place that fancy before, so he must have done something wrong. He realized that Rukawa was far wealthier than him. And considering his temper, Sakuragi is not surprised he doesn't want to talk to him if he had done something that embarrassed him. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that much then?

After watching him for some time, Sakuragi realized that Rukawa didn't really seem mad. In fact, he almost looked... calm. He had never seen him with such a serene look on his face. His breaths were deep and evenly spaced, so he must be asleep. He had never had a chance to observe Rukawa that close. And it was the first time he realized how pale Rukawa's skin really was, or rather, his skin was opalescent. It was actually emphasized by his dark lashes against his cheeks. And as the sun was starting to set, Sakuragi could almost swear that the colors were reflecting on Rukawa's skin, almost making him glow.

Rukawa then took a long dragging breath, opened his eyes, shifted so that he was leaning on his knees, and seemed to watch the sun set as he stared off into the horizon. Sakuragi, on the other hand, continued to be entranced by the creature beside him than by the phenomenon of the sun seemingly being swallowed by the sea.

The Shohoku ace, starting to be uncomfortable with the silence and the idiot staring at him, took a sideway glance then reverted to watching the sunset, "what are you staring at?!" He snorted then mumbled, "do'aho".

"Ah, I was just surprised that you're awake this long!" Sakuragi decided to hide his embarrassment by angrily retorting back, "why are you always sleeping anyway?! You're only awake when you're playing basketball."

"I guess basketball is the only thing worth staying awake for," Rukawa expected a quick response from Sakuragi, the idiot usually never stops talking anyway. So when he didn't immediately hear one, he took the chance to look at his companion.

Sakuragi had a pained and perplexed look on his face. He seemed to be contemplating hard on something. "I-I don't understand Rukawa. There are a lot of fun things to do. Why would you rather sleep then?"

Rukawa meant his answer to be quite literal. He just intended to play with words, seep sarcasm into his answers, and keep up with his cool and aloof image. He didn't realize that anyone could find deeper meaning into his words. He didn't even realize his words had deeper meaning.

Random memories flashed inside his head. Scene of a trembling boy huddled in the corner of his room during a thunderstorm. Countless of faceless servants. Big and empty rooms. A very long dining table with only him sitting at one end.

"We got practice and the guntai usually watch, but we still try to do the things we used to do before I joined the team. There's pachinko, there's karaoke. We even take turns on the scooter," Sakuragi continued to rattle off things that he and his friends do.

Rukawa stared hard at Sakuragi, no longer hearing what the other was saying. He couldn't believe that of all the people in the world, he would be the one who could understand him. The redhead wasn't really known for his intellect after all. He was quite simple-minded really. But come to think of it, maybe it was the reason why.

He enjoys life so much that he wants others to enjoy it too. He finds joy in simplest things that's why he couldn't understand others who couldn't. He's so naive that he doesn't realize that everybody is different from each other. What works for him should work for others. For him, everyone is just the same. That's why he doesn't get intimated even though he's playing with aces and those who have played the sport most of their lives.

And surprisingly, he realized that's what he needed. He longed to be treated like everybody else. People had always kept their distances from him, and those who approached him usually had ulterior motives. Those who possess more knowledge understand that they could derive benefits for him. So it's quite a relief to be with someone you know would never take advantage of you; someone whose mind would never think out things that far, someone who'd never be able to devise complicated schemes to exploit others.

"Isn't there anything else besides basketball that interests you?" Sakuragi finally finished his chattering.

Rukawa made a meaningful pause before he answered, "I am awake now, aren't I?"

Sakuragi clearly didn't expect the answer as he stared back in confusion. He tried to process in his mind what the implication of those words was, and if there was any in the first place. He traced back their conversation and recalled how Rukawa was implying that he doesn't find most things interesting, that's why he'd rather sleep. And since he's awake right now - -.

The self-proclaimed tensai turned a shade redder, which was not undetected despite his healthy tan.

Rukawa seemed to be waiting for a reaction from his date. Then he smirked; it seems he was already satisfied from the response he had elicited. He then stood up, dusted his clothes, emptied his shoes of some of the sand, and put them on back again. He turned his back on Sakuragi, walked away, but motioned for him to follow for the second time that evening.

It took a little while for Sakuragi to recover, before he realized he was being left behind, "o-oi, matte kitsune! Where are we going now?"

Rukawa turned around and casually put his hands on his pockets.

"Home."

Then, he watched as the other scrambled his way up to join him.

***

"Oi kitsune, watch me do the perfect commoner's shot!" Sakuragi dribbled his way up to the court while Rukawa stood almost under the ring.

"Baka! This is the proper way to do it!" Rukawa proceeded to show him how to do a lay-up.

"Pfft, I surely can do that!" Sakuragi made another attempt at the shot.

"Do'aho! Your wrist is too stiff," Rukawa slapped various parts of Sakuragi's limbs to correct his posture.

"Te'me, how dare you make a fool of the tensai. I know it should be like this,"

"No, I told you it's supposed to be like this,"

"Then I know this is perfect now,"

"Bend a little more,"

Two seniors and a junior walked in on the scene. They thought they were still early for the practice but the freshmen already beat them to it. They gawked at the sight of the last persons they imagine would willingly practice together on their own accord.

"Oi, Miyagi, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Mitsui asked the shorty beside him.

Miyagi assented, "yeah, I think so."

"Is Rukawa teaching Sakuragi how to do a lay-up?"

"Erm, I'm not so sure," he turned to his other sempai, "hey captain, is Rukawa teaching Sakuragi?"

Akagi pondered for a few seconds before he answered, "uh, no. I don't think so."

The other two rubbed their eyes as if to correct their visions.

"I agree, it couldn't be."

"Uh yeah, it's impossible."

The three looked at each other idiotically.

"Maybe we should just come back later."

"Yeah, maybe this is just a bad dream."

"I bet it would all go away when we go back later."

Little did they know that their so-called nightmare would happen more often than once. In fact, it would happen almost every day. However, they haven't really experienced the "horror" until they would walk in on them on the lockers. But that would be a different story now.

O W A R I

Sakuragi: Is there anything besides basketball you wanna do?

Rukawa: Yeah, you...

Rukawa waited for the other to blush and stammer before he smirked and pulled the redhead to somewhere more private.

***

Thank you to all those who reviewed and put me on their alerts lists even though this fic seemed dead. I'm sorry I couldn't enumerate you all in here. My list isn't organized because it's from years ago. Your reviews are buried somewhere in my mailbox, but their impact on me will be remembered forever.

I already quite forgot what I wanted to write before. I do remember the general theme, and these were the highlights of my supposed ending then. I honestly couldn't say if it could have been a lot better. I hope I didn't disappoint most of you, since the time lapse had me disconnected from the fic.

But in amends, I plan to do a one-shot when they are already dating for a few months. It would be a stand-alone, but is actually a sequel of this. I'm basically saying that they would have the same personalities as in this fic.

Thank you very much everyone!!!