Warnings: Language. Eeek.
Notes: The back gremlins are mine, I tell you, mine! My own!
Pay Attention Please
Part 2by Annie D
the_80s_chick@lycos.com
CHAPTER 4
Same Old, Same Old
It was unnaturally quiet in the Shohoku gym. Various players scattered the area, either sitting on the floor or standing up while staring off into nothing, or in the case of Captain Ryota, pacing back and forth with hands clasped tightly behind his back. Although all were in their sports attire, no one was anywhere near a basketball.
Sakuragi himself was standing alone by the double doors of the gym, every now and then taking a peek out to see if anyone was coming.
"Where are they?" he asked impatiently.
"Be patient, Hanamichi-kun," said Ayako. "They’ll be here."
The ‘they’ in question were Haruko and Anzai-sensei. You see, Anzai-sensei had the heart attack, then had been immediately sent to the hospital where he had been for the past few days. The entire Shohoku team had agreed unanimously not to practice until their coach was back. On some levels not a particularly smart thing to do since their first game of the IH eliminations were close by, but after they had all witnessed first-hand the horrible sight of Anzai-sensei gasping in pain, nobody had the mood to play as long as they felt that their coach was less than well.
"I wish I could’ve gone with Haruko-chan to pick him up," said Sakuragi. "I don’t know why he asked us to meet him here."
"Probably because he’s afraid of the ruckus you guys’d make at the hospital," said Ayako, trying to lighten things up a bit.
Sakuragi stuffed his hands into his shorts as he stomped around the door a bit. How long more did they have to wait?
And Sakuragi felt a tingle, like a soft flick at the bottom of his spine.
Just as he was about to turn to look at the door, he felt the hard contact between somebody else’s foot and his butt, and before he could yelp he found himself flying outward, and landed with a smart splat on the court floor.
He scrambled to his feet, turned and went through: confusion – anger – recognition – shock.
"Kitsune!" Sakuragi screeched, pointing at the figure in the doorway as though it were some demon from the depths of hell. What it really was, of course, was Rukawa Kaede, dressed in civilian clothes and with a bag slung casually over a shoulder.
Ayako and Ryota gaped, then ran to him. "Rukawa-kun, what are you doing here?"
"Kitsune!" Sakuragi screamed again, his voice going shrill.
"Is Anzai-sensei all right?" Rukawa asked the captain.
"Kitsune!"
"Haruko-san went to pick him up," said Ryota. "He said he wanted to meet us all here, and so here we are."
"Kitsune!"
Rukawa frowned briefly. "Hm."
"Kitsune!"
And Rukawa *finally* turned to look at Sakuragi, whose mouth was still opening and closing jerkily, and still had one shaking finger pointing at him. His eyes were bulging, his face slightly pale in shock, and he blinked stiffly a few times, as though the action would cause the image of Rukawa to disappear like the bad dream he thought it was.
Rukawa dropped his bag. Ding ding – rematch!
"Do’aho."
All innocent bystanders held their collective breaths.
Nobody present could be sure who made the first move, because suddenly they both launched at each other (and in Sakuragi’s case accompanied by a manic war cry), fists all a-flying, and the dust picked up around them as an honest-to-goodness Rukawa-Sakuragi fight went underway.
Ryota sighed, the rest of the players sweatdropped and Ayako covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her frantic giggling.
Another sound caught everyone’s attention, a feat only manageable if it were louder than Sakuragi’s curses, and this one happened to be exactly that. It was a mighty bellow, which was followed by two fists charging downward onto Sakuragi’s and Rukawa’s heads with simultaneous and painful precision.
Sakuragi cursed, Rukawa cringed, and the both of them looked up to see the looming figure of Akagi Takenori standing over them.
"Still cannot keep out of trouble?" Akagi demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.
Haruko peeked out from round the large bulk of her brother. She gasped when she saw Rukawa. "Rukawa-kun!"
Rukawa ignored her, too, as he jumped to his feet to bow at the last of the new arrivals. "Sensei."
"Ho ho ho..." Anzai-sensei waved at him from the doorway. "Rukawa-kun, how nice of you to visit."
"Sensei!" All the players rushed to greet their coach.
"Oyaji!" Sakuragi exclaimed, relieved that the old man looked all right. He started to walk toward to join the greeting party when he froze in mid-step and slowly turned to look at Akagi. "Gori? What are you doing here?"
"Ah, that’s what I came to tell all of you," said Anzai-sensei, getting everyone’s attention. "The doctor said that I’m still quite all right, but I need to get a lot of rest and cannot be your coach for a few months."
"Then…?" Ryota trailed off.
Akagi spoke up. "I’m taking over part-time."
Sweatdrops from the freshmen that had never seen a scarier sight than Akagi Takenori, and more sweatdrops from the sophomores and seniors who knew that there was no scarier sight than Akagi Takenori.
"Gori’s back!" Sakuragi said. Suddenly he remembered something ,and turned his face to Rukawa, taking the time to fix upon it a nasty scowl. "And you…"
Rukawa shrugged.
"So, Rukawa-kun, to what do I owe this visit?" Anzai-sensei asked him.
"I wish to talk, sensei," Rukawa said softly.
"Ho ho ho... Is it about your new team?" he asked.
Rukawa nodded.
"Very well," said Anzai-sensei. "Follow me, let’s go for a walk."
And so the white-haired coach turned to leave, and Rukawa quickly followed him.
"Oi oi oi, he can’t do that!" Sakuragi protested. "Anzai-sensei’s our coach, he doesn’t have to talk to Rukawa about anything, and Anzai-sensei came to see us, and what’s he — itai!" He rubbed his head at the spot where Akagi’s fist had connected with it again.
Akagi raised a hand to point at a little vein that had appeared above his eyebrow. "See this? This vein hasn't given me any trouble since I graduated, but two minutes back here and it's already pounding."
"Oh," said Sakuragi, nodding, but he turned quickly. "But the kitsune—"
"START YOUR PRACTICE!" Akagi roared.
"Hai!" Even though they weren’t the direct recipients of the order, all the players quickly rushed off.
Ryota grinned and saluted Akagi. "Nice to have you back, Akagi."
"Hmph," Akagi snorted. "I don’t know how you managed to control that baka on your own."
"It’s funny, but he hasn’t really been that much trouble," said Ryota, before turning to look out the door where the two had exited. "You know, I wonder what Rukawa came back to talk to the sensei about."
*****
So talk wasn’t really the best word to describe it. They had walked a bit around the outside of the gym in the Shohoku grounds, ignoring the various students that stopped to point at the tall basketball player. Rukawa knew that Anzai-sensei was very good when it came to reading players, and since he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to talk about, he just followed on quietly.
Finally Anzai-sensei spoke. "Did you make the team, Rukawa-kun?"
Rukawa nodded. When he'd seen the posting he’d been relieved. Well, mostly relieved.
"Doesn’t that make you happy? Isn’t that what you want?" Anzai-sensei asked. "You’ve always wanted to be the best, Rukawa-kun, this is your chance. Why the hesitation?"
Rukawa sighed. "I don’t know, sensei."
Anzai-sensei stopped walking and sat down on a bench. Rukawa stood nearby, hands shoved in pockets uncertainly. What did he want to talk about, anyway? He hoped Anzai-sensei knew better about that than he did.
"It’s very competitive out there, Rukawa-kun," said Anzai-sensei, "as I’m sure you have noticed. But once on the real team, things will be better. Ho ho ho… It’s nice to see you’ve finally realised the importance of being a team."
Rukawa nodded.
Anzai-sensei adjusted his spectacles. "So why did you really come back here?"
Rukawa started in surprise. "Sensei?"
"You are a very proud person, Rukawa-kun," said Anzai-sensei. "I’m sure visiting an old man who’s just recovered from a heart attack was a good excuse to come back, don’t you think? Ho ho ho. Shohoku has a charm of its own, isn’t it?"
Rukawa paused, then slowly nodded.
Anzai-sensei held his gaze a for while longer. "I’ll go say goodbye to the team, then I have to be heading home for the rest I need. I suppose you’ll be staying to watch them practice?"
First reaction: No I won’t. Second reaction: Oh well, no harm, right, just watching. It’s still basketball, after all. Maybe I’ll learn something. And Akagi’s back, maybe he can give me some pointers. Yeah, that’s it. It’s not like I’m here to see anyone in particular. Oh wait, I did come to see Anzai-sensei. But that’s it. Yes.
He nodded.
"Ah." Anzai-sensei stood up, patted him on the shoulder, then slowly walked off.
*****
"That was so nice of Rukawa-kun to come visit Anzai-sensei!" Haruko told Ayako at the bench.
Sakuragi glowered. Although it wasn’t the same sort of jealousy as he had already gotten the Haruko crush out of his system, he was still angry. How just like the kitsune to stoop so low. Hah! As if he really came back to visit the oyaji. I bet he’s here to gloat about the stupid All-Japan team. It’s not like he really ever cared about Shohoku.
"Hanamichi, pay attention!" Ryota shouted.
"Huh? Oh…" He ran off to join in the warm-up jog. Stupid kitsune… If only I could show him how the tensai has improved after recovering from such an injury… I bet he thinks he’s so good and high and mighty because he abandoned the team.
"Baka, pay attention!" Akagi shouted, thumping the back of his head. "We’re practising passing now!"
"Okay!" Who does he think he is, wanting to talk to Anzai-sensei like that? He has nothing to do with Shohoku, the oyaji’s wisdom belongs to us, and he’s only just recovered from the heart attack he can’t strain himself anymore, and how just like the kitsune to be so insensitive…
THWACK! Sakuragi looked up to see Ayako’s steaming paper fan retreat.
"For heaven’s sake, Hanamichi!" Ayako exclaimed.
"Huh?" Sakuragi looked down to see that he had grabbed a freshman’s head, thinking it was a ball. He quickly released the poor guy and scratched his (own) head. "Sorry, I wasn’t—"
"Paying attention, I know," sighed Ayako. "Can you at least try to differentiate between a basketball and your teammate’s head? I wouldn’t want to see you try to dunk."
"Err herr… gomen," Sakuragi said sheepishly.
Akagi pressed his fingers against his forehead.
"What is it, oniichan?" Haruko asked him.
"I’m trying to remember why I agreed to be Anzai-sensei’s part-time stand-in," he mumbled.
"H-hahahaha, gori, don’t need to worry!" Sakuragi said quickly, patting Akagi on the back. "You shall see how the tensai has improved since you left…"
Akagi looked at him. "Right."
Abovehead, alone on the audience platform since most of the regular audience knew that the Shohoku team had been taking a ‘break’, Rukawa watched the practice. He wasn’t hiding, because he just happened to be sitting in a place that was not visible to the players on the court. Nope, not hiding.
He sighed as he watched Akagi give Sakuragi another scolding. Seemed the do’aho really hadn’t changed. But at least his back wasn’t giving him any problem. (Not that he cared, of course.)
"Oi," came a soft voice from behind him.
He turned to see Ayako approach him, crouching low so she also wouldn’t be seen by the people on court. "Rukawa-kun, why are you—" he was about to snap quickly that he wasn’t hiding dammit, but what Ayako really said was, "—sitting on this side? The view is better over there."
Rukawa shrugged, trying to make it clear it didn’t make a difference where he sat because it wasn’t like he wanted a better view… But oh well, since Ayako had gone through all the trouble to climb up to tell him, it would be a waste if he didn’t act on her help, so he shifted down. Ayako was still following him, though.
"You know it’s strange, Hanamichi hasn’t been like this since school started," Ayako said, her voice strangely jovial. "He hasn’t made any trouble… well, very little trouble, when he rejoined the team, and now look – Akagi has to keep banging him on the head every few minutes again." She chuckled softly. "Maybe it’s the company."
Rukawa looked at her in surprise.
"Akagi-sempai does have that effect on people," Ayako added innocently.
Rukawa turned his attention back to the court.
"Ah well, it’s nice to see you again, Rukawa-kun," Ayako said, smiling brightly at him. She was about to leave when she added, "By the way, it’s Sakuragi’s turn to clean up the gym today. Oh, sorry, I don’t know where that came from, because I know you don’t care about that sort of thing. Ah well, ja ne."
Rukawa shrugged as he heard her leave the audience platform to return to her place on the bench.
Sakuragi made a dunk, then laughed proudly, hands on hips. The sound, which had not reached Rukawa’s ears for months, felt oddly comforting.
Rukawa sighed. The do’aho really hadn’t changed at all. He knew that technically it had been only a few months since they had last seen each other, but it felt much longer. Even after the injury in his back, Sakuragi's fire hadn't died. If anything it was only burning much brighter. The indomitable Sakuragi Hanamichi, supposed basketball tensai, always living life to the fullest, not caring what anyone thought about him, and playing for the love of the game. He was everything that the All-Japan hadn't been able to offer.
Not that it made any difference to Rukawa, of course.
CHAPTER 5
Sometimes a Helpful Nudge
After practice. Shohoku gym. Sakuragi was alone, doing the last of his clean-up duties.
“Eleven… twelve… thir-thirteen… fourteen… err…” Sakuragi looked at his fingers. “Fourteen… Um…” He checked the list. There were supposed to be twenty-two balls in the rack. “K’so.” Sigh. Might as well start from the beginning, he figured. “One… Two… Three… Four…”
The door slid open behind him.
“I’m almost finished!” Sakuragi yelled, still peering at the clipboard. “There’s still fifteen minutes until closing!”
He felt somebody move past him, and he half-turned, fully expecting to see the janitor, but instead saw Rukawa standing there, peering closely at the rack.
“There’s twenty-one,” Rukawa said.
“Nobody asked for your help,” Sakuragi snapped. “One… Two… Three…”
“Twenty-one.”
Sakuragi scowled as he focused on the orange balls. “One… Two…”
“Twenty-one.”
Sakuragi threw the clipboard, and it bounced off Rukawa’s head. There was a clatter as it hit the floor.
Rukawa slowly bent down, picked up the clipboard and threw it back. Sakuragi scrambled with it for a moment before getting a proper grip on it. When he did, he looked up to see Rukawa walking round the gym.
“Oi, what are you doing?” Sakuragi demanded. “You’re not supposed to be here, Rukawa! This isn’t your place anymore!”
Rukawa ignored him, instead going behind the bench to pick up the last ball. Then the dark-haired boy walked back to Sakuragi and tossed the ball at him. “Twenty-two.”
Although his body was starting to shake from anger, Sakuragi showed remarkable restraint by slowly putting the ball into the rack and checking the final item on the list. Then he carefully put the checklist on top of the arrangement of balls, and finally raised his fists up into the classic fighting pose.
“Give me your best shot,” Sakuragi said. “Come on! What, you think the tensai is scared of you just because you think you’re hot stuff? Hmm?”
Rukawa looked at him, then shrugged. “No difference. You’re still a do’aho.”
Sakuragi screeched as he launched himself at the other boy.
Even physiological body gremlins have a sense of romanticism. Although Sakuragi's back had been giving him absolutely no problem whatsoever since he had been released from the hospital, they decided that right *now* would be the perfect time to act up – like, hey, when the timing’s good, why waste it, eh?
And so he fell.
No, not right into Rukawa's arms because even those body gremlins had only so much control on the falling trajectory of the body. But they weren't about to give up like that, so they sent out an immediate telegram to Rukawa's subconscious: "Oi, catch him you idiot!" and so even before the other boy was able to compute the fact that Sakuragi was falling, he found his body had stepped forward quickly.
Rukawa hooked his arms under Sakuragi’s, and carefully dropped onto his knees as the read-head’s body became an almost dead-weight in his arms.
Sakuragi scowled fiercely. He didn't seem to realise (being more focused on the pain in his back) that he was half-resting against Rukawa's chest as the kitsune's arms wrapped themselves around his back.
"I thought your back was better," Rukawa said.
Sakuragi started at the sound of Rukawa's voice, just noticing how he was practically sprawled all on top of him. He struggled to move away, but the back pain shot up again. (Back gremlins: "Haha, you think we're gonna let you go that easy? Nu-uh!") Sakuragi cursed. "Itai."
"What do I do?" Rukawa asked. "Should I get help?"
Sakuragi's scowl intensified. "Itai."
Rukawa clutched at Sakuragi, starting to worry. It was one thing if Sakuragi went all flying into curses and meaningless angry shouts, but another if he just said a single word at a low volume. "What should I do?"
Sakuragi cringed. "Itai."
Rukawa started to pull his arm away from Sakuragi's back to reach for his phone, but Sakuragi winced again.
"Itai."
So Rukawa slid his free hand back around Sakuragi's and touched his spine gently. "Where?" He ran his fingers up and down slowly. "Where?"
When Rukawa's fingers touched one particular spot, Sakuragi let out a painful shriek. "Itai." He blinked rapidly. "Itai."
What do I do? Rukawa thought frantically as he felt Sakuragi’s fingers clutch at his arms. He looked around, but there was still not a single person in sight, even through the open doors. What do I do?!
"Itai." The word was much softer now, and his face was twitching into what was obviously pain. Tears tinged his eyes.
Rukawa swallowed, the feeling of total helplessness making him want to scream. The sight of Sakuragi – mister invincible – in pain had to be *the* most wrong thing in the universe. How can I help you? How can I make the pain go away? How can I help you?!
Slowly, Sakuragi's head tilted forward, and his forehead rested gently against Rukawa's chest. For a moment Rukawa thought he had passed out, but then he heard a soft sob, almost inaudible. It was a sound, Rukawa thought, that should never ever be associated with Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Instinctively, Rukawa stroked his right hand up and down Sakuragi's back in a comforting gesture, taking care to avoid the spot that was causing him pain.
Footsteps finally made Rukawa look up. In the double doorways of the gym stood Haruko. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight, and she ran toward them. "Rukawa-kun? What happened?"
"His back," Rukawa said. He felt strangely proud that his voice didn’t crack.
Haruko looked at Sakuragi, who had mercifully gone silent, then back at Rukawa. Something flickered in her eyes – something he couldn’t quite recognise but it definitely didn’t involve frantic blushing – before she stood up again. "I'll get help." And she ran off.
The gym was silent for another long while before another soft sob escaped from Sakuragi.
Feeling surprisingly protective, Rukawa leaned forward to rest his cheek against Sakuragi's bright red hair – it’s grown a bit since we last saw each other, he thought in a daze. The wrap of his arms around Sakuragi’s back quickly dissolved into what was unmistakably a hug, and Rukawa shut his eyes, cursing the whole fucking world for letting the do’aho suffer like this.
*****
The pain was receding. Sakuragi managed to force his eyelids to open ever so slightly, and for a moment thought that he had gone blind. But then his brain cleared up a bit and he finally registered that the dark he was looking into wasn’t the black of blindness, but the colour of black cotton cloth.
He felt incredibly comfortable, and moving didn’t seem necessary at the moment. The sensation was akin to hiding under a warm comforter on a cold rainy day – he just felt like snuggling down and never getting up. He sighed.
It was just then that he noticed the soft rhythmic sound. In pairs, spaced out regularly. Sounded familiar… like a… heartbeat. Was it his? Wait, his black cotton pillow was moving, too. Inward and outward, like the heaving of a chest.
Slowly, Sakuragi lifted his head, and found himself looking into Rukawa’s face.
Oh.
Sakuragi shut his eyes, then snuggled back into his cotton pillow. That’s nice. His pillow was Rukawa.
Wait a minute.
Frowning, and forcing his eyes to open a little more, he tilted his head back up to scrutinise the vision of Rukawa. He was looking down at him. Those thin blue eyes dipped in concern. The other senses – mostly touch – finally picked up: Rukawa’s arms were around him. A hand was stroking his back.
Had to be a nightmare. And a very nasty one, too.
“Are you okay?” Rukawa asked.
The senses said: sounds real, innit? Looks real… Smells real… Feels real…
Sakuragi finally woke up with an earth-shattering scream. “What are you doing, kitsune?!” He started to pull away, just to have his back shriek in protest, and causing him to fall back into the circle of Rukawa’s arms.
“Don’t move. Your back,” said Rukawa.
Sakuragi clenched his teeth as he reluctantly let Rukawa adjust his hold around him. The motion inevitably brought Sakuragi’s face back against Rukawa’s chest – a position he most certainly did not want to be in. He made his anger known by cursing, although the effect was spoiled as his voice was slightly muffled.
“Shut up,” Rukawa said. “Help is coming.”
“Better be,” Sakuragi snapped. Ugh… I don’t *believe* this… He tried to pull into himself so that there would be as little contact between their two bodies as possible, but his back seemed to decide that it would only not give him any trouble if he remained in Rukawa’s arms. (Nyahaha…)
“Don’t move!” Rukawa said, this time his voice unmistakably stern.
“What do you care, kitsune?!” Sakuragi said.
And Rukawa fell silent. The response made Sakuragi start in surprise, and for a moment he thought that he had hurt the kitsune’s feelings, but that couldn’t be right because the kitsune had no feelings. Right? Right.
Sakuragi scowled, and he focused all his brain power into one thought: Stupid kitsune.
Then Rukawa spoke. “Does your back still hurt?”
Sakuragi was about to say that it was none of his business, but then his ears registered actually worry in Rukawa’s voice. “No. Only when I move.”
They fell silent.
Why does Rukawa care, anyway? Then Sakuragi’s treacherous mind started to go down that path despite his own protests. The way Rukawa had spoken (“Don’t move!”), had that been actual concern in it his voice? Even the way his hand had stroked his back. And Rukawa could have just let him fall on the ground, or let him go, but – but…
Sakuragi shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Rukawa asked quickly. “Cold?”
“No!” Sakuragi said quickly. K’so… He would not think about the kitsune being able to worry about anyone else, he would not think about the kitsune having the sense of mind to catch him when the fall could have seriously injured his back, he would not think about the kitsune having not raised a single complaint about the current situation, and he would most definitely not think about the kitsune being a nice pillow.
K’so. K’so. K’so.
“There! Hurry!” It was Haruko’s voice.
“Haruko-chan!” Sakuragi called, and cursed how awkward things must look to her. He tried to lift his head but couldn’t quite manage it.
He felt a small hand touch his shoulder. “I’m here, Hanamichi-kun. Don’t worry, help’s here.” She was silent for a moment. “Thank you, Rukawa-kun.”
Sakuragi felt other hands touch his back, and an unfamiliar voice asked about the back injury and where it was hurting. He answered as well as he could, then felt himself slowly being lifted off from Rukawa in order to rest on a stretcher.
He would not think about how much nicer it had been in Rukawa’s arms.
Sakuragi let out a groan of pain, eyes clamped shut. He felt Haruko’s hand squeeze his own. “I’m here, Hanamichi-kun.”
He felt the stretcher being lifted, and carefully opened his eyes.
Rukawa was standing in the middle of the court, watching him leave. And his face, it was… Sakuragi gasped, but before he could properly identify the look on Rukawa’s face, he was shuffled out of the gym.
*****
Rukawa watched silently as Sakuragi was lifted away. Then he looked his shirt, which was still extra warm from the shared body heat.
The skin of his chest was still tingling from where Sakuragi's nose had nuzzled it. Now that he thought about, it every single part of his body that had been in contact with Sakuragi was tingling – his arms, his chest, his cheek...
He recalled the way the pounding of his heart had increased in tempo when Sakuragi had snuggled into his arms, along with the uncharacteristic hitching of breath. In that instant, when Sakuragi had looked at him like a little lost puppy, Rukawa would have gladly died a happy man.
It had been wonderful. Rukawa hugged himself, forcing his senses to relive every single precise detail of that moment. Along with it came recollections of concern, protectiveness and how he damn well wanted to hold Sakuragi in his arms and fight off every single bad thing in the world that could hurt him. Nothing else in the world mattered but that.
All of it added up to... All of the emotions... Didn't it mean he...
Rukawa blinked. "Oh."
CHAPTER 6
Just Telling It Like It Is
Sakuragi was scandalised.
He was also lying on his back staring at the ceiling of the hospital ward as the doctor chattered on and on, and was also the recipient of Haruko, Ayako, Akagi and Ryota’s concern as they hovered around the small curtain-secluded area. But mostly Sakuragi was busy being scandalised.
“Hanamichi, are you listening?” Haruko asked.
Blink blink. “Hm?”
“The doctor said the physiotherapist will be here in an hour or two,” said Haruko. “You just need to lie still and wait for him.”
“Oh. Okay.” He continued to stare at the ceiling.
Somewhere in the background their voices continued to drift over him, Akagi asking how serious the injury was and whether he would need a back brace, the doctor replying that things were still uncertain, Haruko gasping every now and then in horror and concern, Ayako trying to comfort her, Ryota muttering reassuring words.
But within Sakuragi’s head the only thing he could see was Rukawa looking at him… like… like… “Aaaargggh!”
“Sakuragi-san, your back?” the doctor asked quickly.
Sakuragi didn’t hear him. “Stupid kitsune!”
Akagi and Ryota sweatdropped. Ayako snorted as she attempted to hide a giggle. The doctor frowned.
“Kitsune?” the doctor repeated.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Ayako said quickly. “Hanamichi’s fine, we’ll stay with him until the therapist arrives. Thank you so much for your time, doctor.”
“You're welcome,” said the doctor, and he left them.
On the bed, Sakuragi had covered his face with his hands. “Argh… K’so!”
“Hanamichi’s just upset that Rukawa’s the one responsible for saving his back from even more serious injury,” said Ryota, waving it off. “It kills him to be indebted to that guy.”
Sakuragi slapped himself a few times, but the image of Rukawa’s face still wouldn’t leave him alone. “K’so!”
“Woi, there are other patients here, you know,” Akagi scolded.
Ayako crossed her arms as she looked at the invalid. “I don’t think he’s listening to you. Akagi-sempai, Ryota, why don’t you guys go get us a drink or something? Haruko and I will… take care of him.” There was a shuffling of feet as the captain and ex-captain walked off.
Sakuragi felt like clawing the skin of his face. Why had the kitsune looked at him like that? Why? And why the hell did it bother him so much? And it wasn't only that look but also how Rukawa had held him. He could still remember everything painfully clear: Rukawa’s smell, the comfortable strength of his chest, the sound of his heartbeat, how his arms had fit so snug around him.
What upset him even more was the rather obvious answer that was flashing before his eyes in neon lights. But that just wasn't possible... It was Rukawa for crying out loud!
K’so… Sakuragi scrunched his eyes shut. K’so.
“You know, it was so sweet of Rukawa, what he did,” Haruko said.
Sakuragi stopped cursing, and carefully opened his eyes a fraction. Haruko was looking at Ayako, not him, apparently in conversation with the team manager.
“Wasn’t it sweet of him?” Haruko asked Ayako again.
Sakuragi’s mouth opened and closed. No. No. Not sweet.
Ayako nodded, also smiling. “Yeah. I wish I could have been there to see it.”
Nani?! What for?!
Haruko’s eyes softened. “You know, Ayako-san, when I first arrived at the gym and I saw them there on the floor, the look on Rukawa’s face was like…” She shivered, hugging herself. “He looked so lost. And even scared. I think he was almost in as much pain as Hanamichi-kun.”
Lost? Pain? Huh?
Ayako blinked in surprise. Softly, she said, “Really?”
Haruko nodded. “You know, I think I finally understand what you’ve been trying to tell me.”
Ayako grinned. Then, at the exact same time, both girls turned to look at Sakuragi, who was staring wide-eyed at the both of them in return.
“What?” Sakuragi said.
“Shall I go or shall you?” Ayako asked the other girl.
“You go,” said Haruko. Ayako nodded and walked off, giving Sakuragi a little wave as she disappeared behind the divider curtain.
“What was that about?” Sakuragi asked.
Haruko smiled at him. “You’ll see.” She leaned forward and squeezed Sakuragi’s hand. “Don’t let your tensai ego get in the way, Hanamichi-kun.”
“What are you babbling about?” Sakuragi demanded. “Why were you talking about the kitsune like that? What’s going on?”
The divider curtain opened a fraction and Ayako’s face peeked in. “He’s here.”
“Who?!” Sakuragi demanded.
“Your Rukawa,” said Haruko.
Sakuragi sputtered. What does she mean *my* Rukawa?!
Haruko smiled at him again before leaving with Ayako. The divider curtain drew shut, and a few seconds later a dark shadow appeared behind the thin plastic, this one much too tall to be girls or Ryota, and too lanky to be Akagi.
Sakuragi let out a little shriek and quickly shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
He heard the divider curtain slide open and the soft footsteps of someone approaching his bed. Well, not just any someone, because it was Rukawa. Even with his eyes shut, Sakuragi knew it was Rukawa. There was no mistaking that presence. K’so.
“Oi.” Yup, Rukawa.
Sakuragi forced his facial muscles to remain perfectly still. Maybe the kitsune’ll think I’ve fallen asleep and go away. Yeah, just lie still for long enough and he’ll go away. Go away. Go away! Now!
Then there was the sound of a chair being scraped across the floor and placed against the bed, then the sound of a body dropping into said chair.
K’so. I’m asleep, go away!
After a while there was the sound of faint snoring.
Sakuragi carefully opened his eyes to see that Rukawa had apparently fallen asleep in the chair next to him, his head nodding dangerously close to the bed.
Ugh. Sakuragi tried to scoot away from Rukawa although his back was still protesting. But just then a strong hand jumped out to clamp his wrist and Sakuragi found himself once again under the intense scrutiny of icy blue eyes. Correction, deep blue eyes. They were most certainly no longer icy, and noticing that fact didn’t do much to reduce how disconcerting it was.
Sakuragi tried to tug his wrist away. “Let go.” Usually Mr Superman, his strength seemed to have mysteriously abandoned him at the moment – though he couldn't really be blamed for that considering the current circumstances...
Rukawa continued to stare at him, and to Sakuragi’s horror a blush started to work its away up his neck. And that was *wrong*, because blushes are strictly reserved for… K’so.
“Let go.”
“How’s the back?” Rukawa asked, grip tightening slightly on the wrist.
Sakuragi scowled. “Okay.”
Rukawa nodded. “Good.”
“Let go, please?” Sakuragi asked, and to his surprise Rukawa complied. “Thank you.” *Why* did I just say thank you?
Rukawa sighed a bit, then settled back into his chair.
“What are you doing, kitsune?”
“Keeping you company, do'aho.”
“I don’t need your company! Get Haruko, or Ayako, or Ryocchin, or even Gori!”
Rukawa narrowed his eyes at him. Slowly and deliberately, Rukawa got out of his chair. Then with surprisingly liquid grace, climbed onto the bed on top of Sakuragi, bracing his hands on either side of the do’aho’s head and knees outside of Sakuragi’s own.
Sakuragi blubbered stupidly, forgetting that under more normal circumstances he could easily punch or kick Rukawa off him – except that now of course there was the matter of his (curse curse curse) back. Oh, and also because every single muscle cell in his body had been knocked into total non-mobility at the sight of Rukawa being so close to him once again.
Despite how dry his throat felt, Sakuragi managed to squeak, “What are you doing?”
“Looking at you.”
Sakuragi's eyes popped even wider. “Uh…”
“Hm.”
I am not blushing, I’m not! Oh my god, is that *amusement*? How dare he take advantage of the tensai like this and… Oh no, he’s looking in me that way again… I… can't… breathe…
And all of Sakuragi's brain activity stoppped as Rukawa lowered his face down, drew his lips together and kissed… his cheek.
Then Rukawa climbed off the bed and went to the divider curtains, face still expressionless as though what he had done had been the most natural thing in the world. “I’ll get the others.” He left.
Sakuragi stared after him, then raised a trembling hand to touch his cheek. He knew he was supposed to feel disgusted and angry. Supposed to be. And he was definitely not supposed to feel disappointed.
But at least now he knew what Rukawa was thinking.
Being unable to headbutt the floor, Sakuragi picked up the phone directory on the counter and slammed it against his forehead, cursing all blue-eyed kitsunes to hell.
*****
Everyone knew that Rukawa never laughed, but if there was ever a moment where he would want to laugh, this would be it.
He stepped out of the ward and lifted a hand to greet the others.
“That’s it?” Ayako asked in surprise. “That was fast.”
Rukawa shrugged. His face was starting to twitch, and he needed to get the others out of the way pronto before they noticed it.
“Okay, let’s go in then,” said Ryota, and the four of them entered the ward, leaving him alone in the hallway.
Rukawa sat down in a waiting chair and carefully covered his face with both hands as the smile forced its way across his features. The smile became a grin. The grin was threatening to become laughter, but Rukawa Kaede never laughed, so he fought it down.
The look on Sakuragi’s face when he had bent down to kiss him had been priceless.
Rukawa shut his eyes and brushed a finger against his lips. The do’aho’s skin had been surprisingly soft, and Rukawa had had to bite down his tongue from licking him or even moving toward Sakuragi's lips to learn what those tasted like, too.
And then there was the look on Sakuragi’s face when Rukawa had just turned around and walked away. Just walking away, too, had taken incredible self-control. It would have been terribly easy to take advantage of the do’aho then as he was still helpless on the hospital bed, but this way was admittedly much more fun.
One would have thought Rukawa would react rather negatively to the discovery of his feelings toward Sakuragi. Even Rukawa had been taken by surprise by how easily his brain had switched off its "hate the do'aho" mode. But, being the more intelligent one of the pair, he figured that the real reason he had been angry with Sakuragi for so long was because he couldn't identify how he really felt for him. Now that he knew... well, things were much easier.
It was also quite a relief to see that Sakuragi felt quite the same way. After all, no matter how much Sakuragi could fling curses and insults at him, there was no denying how intensely he had blushed just a few moments ago.
Rukawa sighed and forced his expression to draw back into its usual blank mask. Then he stood up and brushed himself off as he prepared to leave.
“Rukawa-kun, you’re leaving?” He turned to see Ayako standing in the doorway of the ward.
Rukawa nodded slowly. “For a while.”
“Hanamichi’s rather agitated,” Ayako said carefully.
His right eye twitched.
Ayako’s face broke into a wide grin. “Okay. I, um… You go on ahead. I’ll um…” She gestured a bit with her hands then quickly re-entered the ward.
Rukawa clamped his hands over his mouth again to hide another smile. Two smiles in one day, he hadn't thought it was possible. But then again, this was Sakuragi, who always brought out the best (and sometimes the worst) in him.
“Do'aho,” he sighed, but this time the word was filled with affection, not contempt. He took one last glance at the ward door, then walked away.