Notes: Hello! We're met again on Kiki and Ruru's journey! I was really touched when I saw the reviews of Secretly Rivalry. I'm sorry. Please forgive this evilesst of damn author! Haha! So, this is sequel of Secretly Rivalry. I hope it wouldn't dissapointed you guys :) Let's start the journey with Kiki and Ruru's as lover on Hearts Chains.

This story is for the SenRu fans.

Kiki and Ruru

SUMMARY

Ten years.

That's how long Kaede Rukawa and Akira Sendoh have been seeing each other. How long they've been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family...from the league. If Rukawa wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Sendoh share has to remain secret. He loves Sendoh, but what if going public ruins everything?

Sendoh is sick of secrets. Rukawa has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Sendoh questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship...Sendoh wants it all.

It's time for them to decide what's most important- basketball or love?

CHAPTER 1

July

Rukawa had never wanted anything so badly in his life. His goal was right in front of him, and nothing would stop him from reaching it.

"You wish, Rukawa," called a hoarse voice behind him.

Rukawa felt like his chest was going to explode, but he huffed and pushed himself harder, refusing to give up. The pounding of sneakers on the trail and of Rukawa's own heartbeat almost drowned out the laughter behind him. Rukawa tried to ignore it all as he focused on the trail exit just ahead.

Suddenly, Sendoh was right beside him, drenched in sweat, T-shirt balled up in one fist. Sendoh winked at him before speeding past him like a silly character. Rukawa grunted in frustration and tried to catch up, but Sendoh's long legs and seemingly superhuman stamina were making it impossible.

Sendoh reached the end of the trail first, arms raised in victory. Then he collapsed on a grassy patch at the edge of the small parking lot.

Rukawa stumbled over to him, gasping and swearing. He put his hands on his knees as he waited for breathing to stop being painful.

"Fuck," he wheezed, "you."

Sendoh flopped onto his back, shaking with laughter. He mopped at his forehead with the damp shirt he was holding. "I almost let you win."

"Liar."

"The view was not bad. From behind. Almost worth staying there." Sendoh with his confidently speak in English.

Rukawa didn't know how his boyfriend was able to speak in full sentences in English. "Shut up. Don't be so arrogant. Speak Japanese."

"I like those little shorts."

Rukawa laughed, but it sounded more like a steam engine puffing. "Thanks."

Sendoh pulled himself up to rest on his elbows. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, rolling it gently from side to side. His hair was soaked, sticking his face and neck, and his chest glistened with sweat. The crucifix he always wore around his neck was resting on his shoulder.

Rukawa dropped to his knees beside him. "I hate that you can outrun me like that. It doesn't make sense."

Sendoh opened one eye. "Maybe you should eat carbs."

"I eat healthy carbs."

"You eat nothing."

"You smoke."

"Almost never."

"You had a cigarette last night."

"How do you know?"

"I have a nose."

Sendoh booped the tip of Rukawa's nose. "A cute one."

Rukawa tried to glare at him, but he couldn't keep it up. Not when Sendoh was smiling at him like that. Instead, he gently adjusted Sendoh's crucifix, moving it to rest in the middle of his chest.

"So you like the shorts, huh?" They were a shorter style than the basketball ones he usually wore to work out in. Something new Rukawa was trying. His hair was longer than it had ever been too. He'd grown it out during the playoffs, and Sendoh had protested when Rukawa had suggested it was time to get it cut. He'd let Rukawa shave his terrible, patchy excuse for a playoff beard, though.

Sendoh traced the hem of one leg of the shorts where it was pulled tight against Rukawa's thigh. "I think your dick would rip right through these if you got hard."

Oh wow. Yikes. Rukawa glanced around. They were the only ones in the parking lot, which was secluded by thick trees on all sides, but they were still in public. "Let's not test that here."

Without warning, Sendoh grabbed him and rolled them both until Rukawa was on his back, Sendoh stretched out on top of him, grinning down at him.

Rukawa shoved at his sweaty chest. "You're disgusting."

"We are both disgusting." Sendoh dipped his head and kissed him, quickly.

"Enough," Rukawa said, though he didn't sound like he meant it. "We should go home. Shower."

"Fine." Sendoh sprang off of him, then offered a hand to help Rukawa up.

"You're just full of energy," Rukawa grumbled, taking his hand and allowing himself to be hauled up.

"I can think of ways to use it up," Sendoh said.

God, Rukawa wished. "We have that call with Naomi soon." He started walking toward the car.

Sendoh sighed heavily behind him. "Why do we need this call?"

"Because she's our agent and it's her job to, like, check in on us."

Sendoh had signed with Rukawa's agent last year, after parting ways with the Russian agent he'd had since he'd been a teenager. He'd wanted a Japanese agent, and Rukawa couldn't recommend Naomi Hamasaki highly enough. On top of being a great agent, she'd been nothing but supportive when Rukawa had told her he was gay two years ago.

"We could tell her, maybe," Sendoh said.

"Tell her what?"

"About us."

"What? Today? Now?" Despite the summer heat, and his blood still churned up from the run, Rukawa suddenly felt icy cold.

Sendoh shrugged easily. "She probably knows already."

The panic alarm that lived inside Rukawa started blaring. "Why would she?"

"We are together at your cottage. You are gay. I am hot."

"It's a bit...soon. We should talk about it more. Figure out how to word it and-"

Sendoh was gazing at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. "Is not complicated. And if she does not support us, then she should not be our agent."

Rukawa chewed his lip, considering the undeniable truth of that. "She'll support us."

"I know. So we tell her."

The shower they'd taken together had lasted longer than was strictly necessary. As a result, Rukawa was still struggling into his T-shirt when Naomi's FaceTime request lit up his phone. Sendoh was only wearing underwear.

"Should I answer?" Sendoh asked, picking up Rukawa's phone from the dresser.

"No! Get dressed!" Rukawa snatched the phone and accepted Naomi's request. Her face filled the screen, elegantly put together as always.

"Hi, guys," she said cheerfully. "Or, hi, Rukawa, anyway."

"Akira's here. He's just..." Rukawa trailed off, momentarily distracted by Sendoh's low-slung shorts and bare torso.

"Hi, Naomi," Sendoh called out.

Naomi smiled, probably used to dealing with idiot basketball players by now. She was only half years older than Sendoh and Rukawa, but seemed twice as mature as they'd ever be. "Hi, Sendoh. Are you guys having a nice summer?"

"Great. Yeah," Rukawa said, probably a little too enthusiastically. He was nervous. And he'd just realized that they were doing this video call from his bedroom, which was probably a bit weird. He sat on the edge of his bed, holding the phone at eye level. "How's your summer going?"

"Busy."

Sendoh joined Rukawa on the bed, still tugging his T-shirt into place. Naomi glanced between them, probably noticing that they both had wet hair.

Fuck. This was ridiculous.

"Before we talk about... other stuff," Rukawa said. "We have something we want to tell you."

"I'm all ears."

Rukawa met Sendoh's gaze. Sendoh rested a hand on Rukawa's knee and squeezed.

"So," Rukawa said slowly, "you know that I'm gay."

"Of course. You told me."

"Yeah. So here's the thing..."

"I am bisexual," Sendoh blurted out.

Naomi's lips curved up. "I think I can see where this is going," she said calmly.

Well, now they knew how easy it would be for someone to put two and two together if they knew the truth about Sendoh's sexuality.

"Yeah," Rukawa said. "I think you do."

"We are together," Sendoh said, in case she didn't.

"Sorry," Rukawa said. "I know this is going to be complicated for you."

"Don't apologize. I love you guys, and I'm happy for you." She laughed. "Can't say I predicted this when I woke up this morning. May I ask how long you've been together?"

Rukawa and Sendoh shared a smile, then Sendoh said, "A long time. Years."

"So it isn't brand-new," Naomi said, more to herself than to them, Rukawa suspected. "Not to ask a stupid question, but it's serious?"

"Very," Sendoh said. Rukawa's heart flipped the way it always did when Sendoh made it clear how much Rukawa meant to him.

"Do you want to tell people?" Naomi asked.

"No," Rukawa said quickly, at the same time Sendoh said, "Not yet."

"We just wanted you to know," Rukawa clarified. "Not many people do, but we thought you should."

Naomi nodded. "I'm on your side. So whatever you need from me, you've got it. There's no precedent for JBL rivals being romantically involved, obviously, so we're in uncharted waters here. Whatever happens, it definitely won't be boring!"

"I wouldn't mind boring," Rukawa mumbled.

"Kaede loves boring," Sendoh said.

Naomi laughed. "Well, good, because I have a whole list of boring stuff to go over with both of you."

They talked about endorsement opportunities, about the scheduled air date for a documentary ESPN had made about their rivalry, about Rukawa's impending free agency at the end of this upcoming season, about the charity basketball camps that started next week. None of it, as far as Rukawa was concerned, was boring.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary," Naomi said. "Their Eiji Sawakita doc was fantastic."

"Did not see it," Sendoh said flatly.

"I guess they didn't quite capture the real story about you guys, though."

No. Sendoh and Rukawa had both been very careful not to give that away. Not that they'd had a lot of direct involvement in the documentary. They'd sat for separate interviews, and had endured a bit of the film crew following them around for a couple of days last season- again, separately- but as far as Rukawa knew the doc was mostly going to consist of existing game footage and interviews with other people.

As soon as their call with Naomi ended, Sendoh pinned Rukawa on the mattress, holding his wrists and kissing him breathless.

"That went okay," Rukawa said between kisses.

"Was great. I told you."

Rukawa loved Sendoh so much it physically hurt to contain it some days. He didn't want to be a gay icon, or deal with any of the attention they would get from the basketball world- both good and bad- if they ever disclosed their relationship, but he wished he could love Sendoh openly without dealing with any of that.

Maybe one day. After they were both retired. Rukawa knew some retired JBL stars and they'd been able easily fade into the background if they'd wanted to. Sometimes even if they didn't want to. Eventually, the world just stopped caring about them.

At the moment, Rukawa and Sendoh were both in their prime at their ages. Rukawa's was twenty-nine years old, while Sendoh was thirty years old. Rukawa had just led his team to his third MVP victory, and while Sendoh was the captain of a much worse team, he was still putting up big numbers in Okinawa. They were both superstars, and they both had a lot of basketball left in them. Rukawa had every intention of playing another decade at least, and he expected Sendoh to do the same.

Which meant another decade of hiding, probably. But Rukawa would do it. He would do anything for Sendoh. He'd told him, once, that he was willing to play the long game when it came to their relationship and he'd meant it.

"Why are you getting sad?" Sendoh asked.

Rukawa blinked at him. "Sorry. Nothing." He kissed him quickly. "I love you."

Sendoh gave him one of his crooked, sexy smiles. "Of course. Why wouldn't you?"

TBC