Chapter
13 : Spurned
written by Angel Fire
“Stop it witch. You’re drunk…. And you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Oh I assure you that I know 100% what I’m doing,” she retorted back,
slapping his hand away and grabbing the back of his neck. “And I’m gonna prove
it to you right now!”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then I’d like to see you try.”
She bristled at the obvious challenge.
Before he could even protest, she pulled his head down for a passionate
kiss.
For the first few seconds, his mind went blank. He hadn’t seen this
coming. They were mortal enemies remember? And mortal enemies don’t kiss…
passionately, that is…
What mortal enemies crap are you talking about?
Heck… Screw that.
Following his instincts and letting himself be carried away by the
moment’s impulse, he was surprised to discover the sudden urge that overtook
him. He tightly wound his arms around her, forcefully crushing her soft
feminine curves against the hard muscular planes of his body.
He tilted his head slightly as his drive to get closer and deepen the
kiss got stronger. She struggled and whimpered softly in protest… but he didn’t
care… He knew he’d wanted this for so long…. And now that she was in his arms,
he wasn’t going to deny himself any longer. He was so tired of playing cat and
mouse with her… and he wanted to cut the chase right then and there.
His heart skipped a beat when she started kissing him back… an obvious
sign of submission. He was elated, to say the least. Submission was what he
wanted from everybody. It symbolized his control, his strength, his power over
them…
But coming from this girl whom he desired and who had played with his
head for as long as he could remember… the feeling was indescribable.
The triumph simply felt euphoric.
All his blood suddenly came rushing to his midsection. The urge to
punish and ravage her for being the alluring brat that she is was starting to
overwhelm him.
He carefully stroked her sweet lips with his tongue, his hands softly
caressing the smooth skin of her back.
No… he couldn’t possibly hurt her in any way. She was too precious to
him. Apart from being his constant partner in bickering, she was also his
confidante…. his bestfriend. That’s why he was a fool willing to play the part
of the exploited accomplice, the submissive hen-pecked husband, the oppressed
underdog… to the point of looking stupid.
Hell, Rukawa… you turning soft now?
The taunt stopped him in mid-thought.
Honestly? I don’t give a damn.
He crushed the girl to him, wanting to be near her, to be one with her
in every possible way, to consume and breathe her. He loved the feel of her
soft smooth skin underneath his touch… the way her hair fell over her bright,
rebellious eyes… the way she pouts and whines whenever they are having some
pathetic argument… the way she was responding to his caress right now…
He wanted her. Period.
The big question was… Did she want him back?
He slightly drew away, allowing her a few seconds of air. He playfully
nibbled at her lower lip to keep her from completely drawing away. He looked
down upon her with slight amusement in his eyes. He’d never felt this… happy
before. She opened her mouth, about to make a hasty explanation. “Rukawa, I—”
But his lips devouring hers in a
hungry kiss once again stopped her in mid-sentence. Heck, he wondered why women
could talk in the middle of something so… important. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t want to
hear any of her pathetic ramblings anytime soon. He just wanted to savor her
and this precious moment of togetherness.
Darn it. And why was he suddenly getting all poetic?
He drew her away again to look at her squarely in the eyes. Her lips
were slightly parted… swollen from what she had given and taken. But
nonetheless, the twinkle in them was bright and held a lot of promise. He was
relieved to see that glimmer of hope. Alas, he could voice out what he had long
wanted to say…
He tenderly drew away the stray locks of hair from her face, turning the
gesture into a sweet carress.
“
That’s when the ball hit him squarely on the face.
Kaede Rukawa doubled over in pain. He held on to his precious nose,
checking it for injuries. The feel of the blood trickling there enraged him. He
slowly stood up, his eyes turning blood shot with fury.
Too bad. That would’ve been a better
alternative ending…
His eyes gleamed with indignation.
And whoever was the unfortunate baka who interrupted him was going to
be dead in a matter of seconds—
“Oi, Rukawa!”
He mentally gulped. On second thought…
The heavy footsteps came behind him as expected. He braced himself for
the impending blow on the head he knew would come… but didn’t.
Curious, he slowly turned to face the gorilla behind him. Akagi.
“I know you’re sick, Rukawa,” the basketball captain said ominously, “so
I’m forgiving you this time. But if I catch you daydreaming again in the middle
of practice…” Akagi trailed off, a sure sign that his threat shouldn’t be taken
lightly.
Rukawa sighed in relief. Honestly, he didn’t know how his already aching
head could handle a blow from Akagi…
But contrary to the basketball captain’s belief, he should’ve struck
Rukawa on the head to give him immediate relief from the horrible images he’d
been having since the dreaded night of the pool party.
Akagi clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright back to
practice,” he said before disappearing off behind the gym doors.
Kaede rubbed his bruised cheek where he knew the rough marks were. ‘Damn.
This is all her fault,’ he thought in outrage before deciding to dribble
the ball and get serious with practice.
Marina Akagi… you are the scum of this earth…
Rukawa smoothly eluded his opponent to the right and did a no-look pass
to Miyagi.
… you are like fungus on my back…
an ugly one with hairy spikes all over.
He caught a bounce pass from Yasuda, dribbled backwards and posed to
make a three-point shot.
… you are one major itch I could not,
but would love to scratch.
His current guard, Sakuragi, dumb as ever, jumped to block him. Fool….
He quickly eluded and went inside for an easy lay up. Scored.
… you are like a parasite that leech
people dry…. People like me in particular.
They were on the defensive now. Kaede raised his arms above his head and
fixed that murderous look in his eyes to intimidate the opponent. Me de korosu style.
… you put a whole new meaning to the
word ‘stupidity’.
At the first sign of hesitation
from the guy, he unceremoniously swatted the ball away and made a dash for the
other side of the court. No foul there.
… you put Sakuragi’s idiocy into
shame. And take note … his is already the ultimate.
Unfortunately, Mitsui was already under the basket to intercept him.
Kaede’s dark blue eyes flashed in combined determination and indignation.
Marina Akagi… you make my life a living hell!
He won’t have any of it.
Setting his lips into a fine line, he gripped the ball with all his
might. Putting all his strength, concentration and pent-up emotions into this
one powerful shot, he leapt into the air then aimed straight for the basket…. A
beautiful slam dunk should finish this off….
Unfortunately….
“Aaaahhhhh-chooooooo!”
…. his nose prevented him from doing so, making him stumble clumsily,
face-first onto a hard wall’s awaiting arms. Ouch. Stupid wall…
Everyone tensed.
The loud echoing sound of the sneeze made every person inside the gym
stop and stare at the direction where it came from….
The more careful ones subtly peered from the corner of their eyes, not
wanting to risk their comrade’s wrath... While the few braver souls in the
crowd—Sakuragi Hanamichi being one of them—snickered openly….
Oh it was sheer joy to watch his sickly, pale, weak rival suffer
like this….
And the good part was that all of them knew exactly how
Rukawa got that cold….. except for Akagi, of course,
who had been so darn studious and missed all the fun.
As if reading his thoughts, the raven-head stopped rubbing his sore,
running nose to face the redhead squarely, his dark blue eyes glinting with
unspoken promises of pain and torture.
“Nani?” Sakuragi said, meeting his rival’s murderous
gaze and cocking his head to one side. “Kitsune, you dare challenge this tensai
with that red bloated nose of yours?”
Kaede Rukawa merely raised an eyebrow at Sakuragi’s pathetic attempt at
humor, but the twitching vein on his forehead betrayed the turmoil slowly
building inside his head. Being sick always made him lose his cool easily…
“Hnnn? Touchy aren’t we?” Sakuragi said with a
smirk. “So how did the water feel after that torrid scene with
Gori’s cousin?”
Rukawa snorted and decided to ignore him completely this time. He
focused back on what he had been doing previously before the damn cold got to
him. What was he thinking off in the first place?
‘Akagi,’ a small voice inside his head reminded him. Oh yeah…
the witch…
Instinctively, his brain gave him an image of some ugly, barbaric
gorilla eating a banana. No! Not that Akagi!
He shook his head to clear it of the slight dizzy spell and of the
disturbing image…. But failed miserably.
Maybe he shouldn’t have gone to school at his current condition….
Forcing himself to concentrate, he lifted the ball above his head and
attempted to make a jump shot … As expected, the ball sailed in a perfect arc.
But his toss completely lacked power and thus the ball missed the ring by a few
couple of feet.
“Nyahahahahahaha!!!!” the shameless laughter directly meant to mock him
didn’t seem to register.
During any other day, seeing his own blunder would’ve made him throw a
silent fit…. but now, even his brain cells seemed drained and refused to
cooperate…. It had only been a few minutes ago when practice started, but his
muscles had already been crying out bloody murder.
He sighed. Today definitely wasn’t his day….
‘Well any day isn’t your day,’ his irritating conscience butted
in, mock seriousness evident in its tone. ‘Especially when you’re
broken-hearted….’
He felt like throwing up. Broken-heart my ass…
‘Oh please…You
could cut the crap now,’ Rukawa thought acidly, mentally rolling his eyes.
‘I could do a lot better without you… especially when I still have this
horrible headache to nurse. So bug off—!’
“Yo, Rukawa,” came the ice-cold greeting, heavy silence suddenly
befalling the gym.
Once again, everyone tensed. The whole school had been practically
waiting for this… the incoming confrontation between the pool party’s Most
Indecent Couple after their scandalous display the other night.
Kaede paled, the two words cutting like a knife amid the turmoil in his
mind.
‘And whatever happened to ‘kaede-chan’ just the other day?’
his conscience teased, shaking its head at the irony of their current
predicament.
Kaede whirled around instinctively. He’d meant to greet her back. Really!
But for some unknown reason, his jaw had completely locked… and thus all he
could do at the moment was stare at her helplessly.
‘C’mon you coward!’ the persistent voice inside
his head egged on. ‘Tell her now! Tell her how you feel! Apologize
for what you did!’
He took a deep breath and started opening his mouth, all his thoughts
the previous night suddenly overwhelming him…. Wait a minute.
Kaede’s eyes flashed indignantly as realization started hitting him.
Wasn’t he supposed to be the one demanding for an apology after she… she… shamelessly grabbed, kissed, and… defiled
him like that in front of everybody?! Not to mention, making him take the
plunge in nearly-freezing water and making him suffer this horrible cold, he
thought in outrage.
Now, he has no more face to show the world! The respectable reputation
he had built was ruined! Smashed to smithereens—!
‘Don’t tell me you didn’t like it,’ his conscience stated grimly.
‘Liked it?!’ Kaede thought, mentally raising an eyebrow. ‘French-kissing
a real cow would’ve been better—!’
‘Besides, you were the one who got carried
away,’ the voice scolded. ‘Not that I have any objections but you
weren’t supposed to do that! Not yet!’
Kaede released a defeated sigh to shut the voice out. Ok. So I owe
her an apology… Big deal.
‘So what am I supposed to say
then?’ Kaede thought sarcastically. Something like…
Hey, Akagi, I’m so sorry for letting you grab and kiss me like that. And I’m
sorry for kissing you too. I knew it wasn’t part of the plan but you were so
damn manipulative to include it. And I couldn’t seem to control myself coz I
find you so damn beautifu—
Kaede shook his head at the pathetic outburst. Nope. I guess a simple
‘sorry’ will do—
It would keep a greater part of his dignity and integrity in tact….
well, at least what was left of it.
“Ehem.”
With his mental ramblings interrupted, Kaede turned his attention back
to the girl tapping her foot impatiently in front of him, annoyance evident in
her warm brown eyes… those warm brown eyes that had once held fondness and
respect for him. Though he couldn’t remember the last time when they did…
“Akagi—”
“Look here, Rukawa,” she said before releasing an exasperated sigh.
Kaede’s heart sank at the coldness in her voice. He didn’t seem to notice
as the members of the basketball club subtly turned to watch their little
confrontation.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you but—”
“Akagi, please listen to me first,” he started saying tersely. Ok
here goes nothin’… this will be the first time I’m stooping to this
pathetic level …
“ImsorryforwhathappenedtheothernightIhoesntlydidn’tmeanto—”
“Whoa! Whoa! Hold your
horses, Rukawa,” she interrupted him, holding up her hands in surrender.
“Slowly will ya? Your fans club’s nowhere in sight. No
need to rush.”
Kaede bit his tongue as he slowly felt the heat spread across his
cheeks. Fortunately, he was already flushed from practice.
Darn it. She was unconsciously making a fool out of him again.
Because you’re letting her, dummy.
He cleared his throat and started talking slowly this time.
“I’m sorry for what happened the other night,” he apologized hesitantly.
“I didn’t mean to take advantage of you like that. I honestly couldn’t do that
to you….” He cleared his throat once again. “Take advantage of you, I mean….
because…. because….”
“Because what?”
Kaede practically gritted his teeth, trying to get the words out. C’mon!
Tell her you hate her coz she keeps on embarrassing you in front of everybody!
And that she’s the ugliest thing to ever graze the face of this planet! And
that she had the built of a 10-ton bulldozer! You despise her! And that—!
“I like you.” Waaahhh! Where
did that come from???
The whole basketball team would’ve rejoiced after finally hearing their
teammate’s obvious confession, the longest string of words Kaede Rukawa has
ever uttered, but the confrontation wasn’t over yet….
Rukawa was sweating profusely…. but not because of practice.
Oh no… he said it…. the three dreaded words….
noooo…. He hadn’t planned on stooping this low!
‘Man! Are you out of your freakin’ mind!’ his rational self burst
out. ‘What’s the point making a bigger fool
out of yourself?! You’ve totally lost it! And to think I thought better of you—!’
Kaede forcefully tried to shut the voice out. Fool or not, he eagerly
wanted to know what her reaction will be…
‘Start praying now, you dweeb,’ the tiny voice continued to mock.
‘We all know she’s bound to give you the hardest slam dunk you’ve ever seen…
Right into your face—!’
He mentally stuffed a sock into the voice’s imaginary mouth, effectively
shutting it up.
They all turned towards the shocked brown-eyed girl, knowing that the
final blow was yet to be dealt….
Unfortunately, her resolve was stronger than her heart.
“I didn’t quite expect that, but….” She took deep breath and followed
what common sense was telling her. She cleared her throat before proceeding.
“Thank you, Rukawa.”
Everyone was silent before several male snickers erupted in the
background.
‘Err… wait a minute. Did I hear right?’ Kaede thought in
confusion, blinking several times to register what she had just said. ‘Thank
you? Thank you! That was it?! That was all she had to say after his
confession?!’
Kaede knew what Jell-O was but never did try the stuff…. now he was
regretting why he never bothered knowing more about its soft, gooey nature. He
had a bad feeling that his knees were turning positively gooey as Jell-O.
“Akagi, wait—”
“Those words were nice, but all I’ll ever feel for you is… gratitude.”
she stopped abruptly trying to muster all the composure that she could. “I’m so
sorry, Rukawa.”
Kaede’s mind went blank. “Oh.”
“It’s been nice working with you,” she said to him cordially, addressing
him with outmost respect…. something completely unbecoming of her. “I owe you a
lot,” she said, bowing to him deeply.
Kaede flinched. Who was this stranger? He wanted his old barbaric
“I didn’t know cavewomen had manners,” Kaede mused before he could even
stop his big mouth. Uh-oh, wrong choice of words there.
You really know how to come up with the coolest lines, don’t you?
‘Now we’re getting somewhere….’ Kaede thought, mentally smirking.
Now if he could just make them argue again, everything will be back to
normal…
But all glimmer of hope dissipated when the irritation that momentarily
flashed in her eyes faded in a heartbeat. The cool detached expression was back
on her face. “Well, since you obviously don’t want me around anymore, I’ll be
off to the locker room now.”
As if to rub in the sarcasm, she flashed him a toothy, angelic smile
before sauntering off. “Ja!” she called out to him with that obvious tremble on
her lips.
Kaede raised his hand absent-mindedly, his jaw slightly hanging open. “Yeah. See you around, too,” he said,
his voice completely devoid of emotion.
No, this can’t be…
This has got to be the worst insult she had ever hurled at him…
Talk about ultimate embarrassment…
She’d rejected him right in front of everybody….
He mentally cursed himself in frustration.
What else could possibly go wrong???
“Oh by the way…” she said, stopping abruptly on her tracks. “I’m no
longer your buddy.”
A double blow in the gut…
Kaede felt like he’d been slapped. Though all his resolve was crumbling
apart, he’d miraculously managed to retain the unaffected, deadpan look…. and
it was taking him every ounce of energy to do so.
Everyone watched in silence as the brown-eyed girl hastily disappeared
into the locker room, shutting the door behind her with a loud bang. The
tension hung heavily in the air and it took everyone a few seconds to process
what had just happened….
It was unbelievable…
The great Kaede Rukawa had just been spurned…
Snubbed…
Rebuffed…
Rejected.
His mind felt numb. He wanted to disappear right then and there and
burrow in some dark cavern where he can wallow in misery until all hell burns
over…or until all his basketball cards vaporize into thin air…. or whichever
comes first.
But before he’d managed to do anything drastic like bang his head onto
the nearest wall, confetti started raining down on him. The Sakuragi gundan,
complete with their little trumpets and party hats, started performing their
victory dance around him.
“Nyahahahahaha!!! This is certainly a time to
be merry and gay!!!” the ringleader, Sakuragi Hanamichi exploded ecstatically
as he orchestrated everything.
“We should mark this as a red-letter day, ne Rukawa?” he taunted the
raven-head, nudging his ribs playfully. “You just made history with your
first public rejection! Nyahahahahahaha!”
“Oh Hanamichi, don’t forget that you also made history with your fiftieth
rejection,” one of the Sakuragi gundan interjected.
But the remark was completely ignored as the redhead basked in his
rival’s misery, completely oblivious to the energy level around the raven-head,
which was now rapidly reaching critical mass.
Rubber started squeaking when Kaede exerted The Death Grip on the ball
he held on his right hand, wishing it was the head of a certain jerk with
flaming red hair.
He couldn’t believe how some people could find joy in other’s suffering…
He started cracking his knuckles when the gundan’s off-key singing
reached a climactic octave enough to grate through his nerves.
Oh he’ll certainly have fun with them this afternoon….
Though he wished they could say the same to him after he’s done ripping
their heads off.
He turned to face the most annoying one of them all… The
redhead monkey with the biggest mouth.
His eyes glinted evilly underneath his bangs as he assumed his battle
stance.
Time for some major pest control….
Because the redhead was in a heavenly state of bliss, he didn’t notice
when the raven-head charged at him and lunged for that particularly vulnerable
spot on his neck. His annoying laughter was cut short when a strong force
abruptly closed around his windpipe. “Teme, Rukaw—ack!”
“I’m going to enjoy murdering you, Sakuragi.” Rukawa hissed through
gritted teeth. Screw the calm Ice Prince image. He’d had enough of it.
His eyes narrowed with satisfaction as the redhead thrashed around
wildly and gradually asphyxiated. Images of various torture techniques started
filling his head, his brain unconsciously skimming through them in an attempt
to make out what suited Sakuragi best.
The members of the basketball club started panicking. Akagi was still
out and Kogure will not be attending any practice in a few weeks because of
that exchange student program. Who on earth would be brave enough, not to
mention, strong enough, to play referee between these two?!
Rukawa was caught off guard when Sakuragi’s fist landed heavily on his
left cheek, the force of the blow making him stagger a few feet back. The
redhead quickly regained his balance as he gulped down large amounts of air to
fill his almost depleted lungs.
“Rukawa, you’re going to pay for that!” he threatened, his shoulders
shaking with fury.
But his counter-attack was interrupted by the heavy blow over his head.
Everyone sighed in relief.
The exterminator was back.
“Sakuragi, Rukawa…..” came the deep voice of the exterminator/basketball
captain as he grabbed each one by the scruff of their shirts. “I was just gone
for a few minutes and here you are trying to bring the whole gym down.”
“Gori, it was Rukawa’s fault!”
“Do aho.”
Akagi bristled at the bakas’ typical lines. Honestly, he couldn’t care
less if these two managed to pry each other’s guts apart. Oh, wait…. That
would’ve made the world a better place to live in…. But these two were his most
valuable players and he won’t have them embarrassing the whole team in front of
other people’s critical eyes.
Especially if those people came from their rival
teams.
“Oi, have you forgotten what day it is today?”
“Ne? You don’t know, Gori? Haven’t you heard?”
Sakuragi mused. “Today, Rukawa got his first rejection.”
Akagi’s eyebrows met in confusion before he held on tighter to Rukawa’s
shirt to prevent him from skinning the redhead.
“Well, whatever it is you two idiots are talking about, it has nothing
to do with that,” he said patiently, finally letting go of them. He cleared his
throat meaningfully before turning his back to them. “In case you haven’t
noticed, Kogure won’t be joining us in a couple of weeks… and you’ll be
surprised to know that in his place would be—”
“Die, Rukawa, die!!!! Nyahahahaha!!!”
“I’ll be the one to bring on your untimely death, do aho.”
Akagi gnashed his teeth together. Nobody was listening to him anymore.
They were too busy trying to pry the hotheads apart. He pressed his hand over
his throbbing temple before sighing in exasperation.
There was no point taming down these wild beasts. He guessed he didn’t
have a choice but to call animal control….
…..and consider a serious career as a circus ringmaster.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hey sempai!” the short annoying guy called out after his tall
companion. “Wait up!”
The tall guy stopped on his tracks to let his friend catch up. “Hurry up
will ya?” he said in an irritated voice. “I’m thirty minutes late for my next
appointment!”
“Well, what’s new?” the short guy said, scratching his head. “You’re
never on time.”
“I’m ignoring that,” the tall one said grimly as he dodged students
along the busy corridor.
“So… everything in perfect order?” the short one asked.
The taller one merely nodded his head. “Yup.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Yup.”
“You can call us anytime for backup. You know…. Just in case, they
decide to gang up and murder you—”
The tall guy turned to face his teammate. “I am perfectly capable of
protecting myself,” he said indignantly.
“Not with Sakuragi-the gundan leader, Rukawa-the unpredictable psycho,
Mitsui-the ex-gangster, Miyagi-the flying kick expert, and Akagi-the
unforgiving gorilla there to—”
“I won’t have you dissing my new buddies like that,” the tall one said
with a smirk.
The shorter one gasped. “Oh so you’re betraying us too!”
The tall one raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get melodramatic on me, you baka.
I’m going to be gone for just a few weeks. I’m sure you guys can handle
yourselves perfectly fine.”
“Well, it’s just not the same without you, sempai.”
“Look at it on the bright side,” the taller said, shrugging his
shoulders. “At least, you’ll have a genius in the team to take my place for the
meantime.”
“Yeah, he’s nice and everything but the team won’t be complete without
your typical hilarious remarks… And who would coach diss with you gone?”
The tall one gave him a winning smile to hide his irritation. “I knew
you guys loved me so much,” he said coyly.
The shorter one cringed. “Well, it’s not like that….”
“Whatever.”
Upon the sound of squeaking rubber and of basketballs being dribbled,
the two hastened their steps. They quickly rounded the corner to find
themselves in the midst of curious students watching all the action with mixed
horror and excitement.
Wait a minute…. they were supposed to be heading for the basketball
court…. not the wrestling arena.
The tall one scanned the chaotic mob and sure enough, recognized the
familiar faces amid the storm.
Sakuragi and Rukawa.
He shook his head in exasperation. When will those two ever learn? He
slowly elbowed his way in to get a better view of the court, his eyes intent on
finding one sole figure.
While the men’s team was busy doing damage control, the women’s team had
already engaged in a heated match, purposely ignoring all the commotion—and
embarrassment—the men were bringing them.
The tall guy who towered over the crowd took a step closer towards their
direction, but a slight tug on his arm prevented him from proceeding.
“Sempai,” his short companion whispered, “it’s not too late to back off
now… Look at them! They look rabid—!”
“Relax will ya?” he consoled him. “Their small teenaged squabble doesn’t
intimidate me at all.”
‘Small teenaged squabble???’ the shorter one
thought, cringing. The scene before them looked like a sneak preview of World
War III. A big fight like this couldn’t possibly be considered a squabble….
Squabbles are like cute little cheerleaders fighting over some
sweaty basketball player…. with the exception of Rukawa’s fans of course.
Unlike this epitome of chaos he was witnessing, its results were never catastrophic.
“Is this what Shohoku does for warm-ups?” he asked, watching in horror
as Sakuragi gave the five freshmen holding him down good resounding head butts.
“No wonder they won second place!”
“Cmon! Let’s go to the other side of the
court,” the tall one said excitedly. “The women are having a game.”
The shorter one rolled his eyes at his senior’s eagerness. He should’ve
known…. His sempai had ulterior motives.
Though he wished with all his might that he’d get back
to them all in one piece.
“Hai, hai… Lead the way.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I like you….. I like you….. I like you….
She mentally blushed, instinctively putting her cool, clammy hands
against her cheeks. She’d expected him to give her the silent treatment… or
even rant… or probably hurl her out the window after what she’d done to him at
the pool party—ok, so he wasn’t that violent…
“Akagi!”
She instinctively reached out for the ball to absent-mindedly intercept
the no-look pass. A trick she’d learned from him…
‘Marina, you are really out of your pathetic little mind,’ her
conscience scolded her. ‘How could you even stomach going through that evil
plan of yours?’
‘Ok, ok… stop making me all guilty about it,’ she
countered, sighing in frustration, as the image of a crestfallen Kaede lingered
in her mind.
‘Oh, but you’re forgetting something…’ the voice said in mock
sweetness. ‘It’s my job as your conscience.’
Oblivious to the people around her, she groaned out loud.
‘Geee. Thanks, conscience,’
Marina thought acidly as she smoothly dodged her way in between opponents and
teammates. ‘Remind me to give you an award for making me feel a whole lot better.’
‘You’re welcome but I’m not finished with you yet,’ it warned as
she made a mad dash for the basket
‘Spare me the lecture,’ she thought, ‘Can’t you see I’m in the
middle of a game—?’
‘There he is now! Look what you did to poor sweet Rukawa!’ the
voice cooed sickeningly.
‘Calling Rukawa sweet would be like calling Takenori cute…’
she mused silently.
But despite the heated match she
was having with her teammates, she subtly sneaked a peek at the tall
raven-head. She flinched at the scowl he had on his face. He looked like he was
about to embark in another vicious fistfight.
‘Urgh,’ she thought in disgust. ‘A deranged gorilla looks a
lot sweeter than him. Don’t bother interrupting me while I’m in the middle of
saving my team’s ass—’
Two members of the opposing team suddenly came up from nowhere.
‘A typical Rukawa-ish behavior?’ her conscience taunted, ‘Emulating
him now? I thought you hated the guy…’
She smirked. But of course… I
couldn’t just turn my back on my roots, can I?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a good thing he had managed to change into his new uniform and
come out just in time to witness some heavy basketball action. The tall young
man watched as the brown-eyed girl leapt into the air, her two guards following
instantly, raising their arms high above their heads in an attempt to foil her
obvious overhead shot.
Nope. Bad move there. The girl is obviously too frail to force her
way in…
Everything seemed to be in suspended animation when the determined girl
suddenly decided to switch tactics. She abruptly squeezed the ball in between
and underneath her unsuspecting opponents’ heavy defense.
Smart move. Kinda reminds me of
someone….
After thrusting the ball behind them, she gave it a strong one-handed
toss.
‘Please… C’mon!…
Get in!’ she silently pleaded as she watched the ball with grave
concentration, as if egging it on.
‘Well, well… what do you know….’ the young man thought in
awe, already predicting the possible outcome of the shot. ‘I didn’t think
she could do it…’
The girl’s eyes followed the orange thing as it landed inside the basket
with a resounding swish and a heavy spin. After witnessing her victory, triumph
seemed to surge into her like a strong current.
Yes! It turned out that hanging out with Rukawa wasn’t just a
waste of time after all…
Unfortunately, she was completely oblivious to the fact that her foot
landed on a particularly slippery spot on the floor.
It was too late to stop herself from charging head-first into the crowd,
her hands flailing miserably by her sides.
Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets when she saw the short guy
she was about to give a head butt. “Hey watch out!” she hollered, instinctively
closing her eyes as if to lessen the incoming pain.
The short guy was quick to react and jumped away just in time. Good for
him…
Too bad for the taller one behind him…
The taller guy’s eyes widened like a deer caught in a headlight, his jaw
slightly hanging open. Mommy…
The earth-shaking thud was inevitable as the two bodies crashed to the
ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the strong impact, the first thought that came to
She instinctively reached out to examine the abused appendage. Good
thing it was still in tact after banging herself against this brick wall…. She
tried taking a deep breath.
Wait… she didn’t know brick walls had a refreshing masculine
scent to them…
With her eyes still closed, she gingerly fingered the brick wall…
…. and she didn’t know brick walls wore soft cotton shirts…
“Hey, princess… Are you alright?” came the
voice that sounded all too familiar to her.
She slowly lifted her head. When she opened her eyes, she again found
herself staring into those deep, sexy, tantalizing eyes. No.
His hands slowly wound around her back to steady her above him. “I told
you we’d be seeing each other soon, didn’t I?” he teased, lightly giving her an
impromptu back rub.
With her aching muscles and their current position, it would’ve been
great just to lie down there for a couple of minutes…
But the death glare that seemed to burn right through her back served to
heighten her defenses.
The blue-eyed guy underneath her chuckled lightly. “After you stop
making a cushion out of me, princess,” he said shamelessly, giving her a sexy
wink.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He could feel his shoulders tremble with fury. He’d seen their little
show alright. And he was far from entertained. If he hadn’t known it was just
an accident, he would’ve thought that the jerk had purposely gotten in her way
so that she could throw her clumsy arms all over him.
Lecher.
Rukawa took several steps towards them, intent on giving The Lecher a
piece of his mind…. and regretted it instantly.
The maximum limit he’d set was one confrontation a day, darn it.
Obviously, the odds weren’t on his side.
The Lecher stood up to his complete 6 feet frame then bent down to give
the barbarian—that’s Ms. Junior Gorilla—a hand.
Rukawa bristled.
Man, you’re pathetic… I say beat him up right now!
Though he’d love to follow what his little devil of a conscience was
telling him to, he simply couldn’t the minute he saw what The Lecher of All
Lechers was wearing.
As of the moment, all he wanted to do was wipe that silly smile off his
face.
“Hello, everyone! I’m here in place of Kogure,”
the hentai idiot said proudly. “I’m glad to be working with you throughout the
month.”
“So I’ve heard,” Miyagi said, coming up to the guy. “Man, its nice to
have you in our team. Even for a while.”
“My, my…” Mitsui drawled, raising his hands for a high five. “Another
tensai like me in the team will surely make Shohoku formidable.”
The newcomer returned the ex-gangster’s high five. “Thanks, man.”
"Oi,"
Akagi said, eyeing the guy disapprovingly. "Remember that I don't tolerate
weaklings in this team."
"I'm
far from being a... weakling," the tall guy countered cockily. "After
defeating your past team single-handedly... surely you should know that, captain."
Akagi
bristled. "Shohoku's much stronger now, wise guy. After deafeating your
team in the interhigh... surely you should
know that," the captain mused, quoting the newcomer.
The
tall guy laughed out loud. Playing word games with Akagi will be one of the
things he will miss once this whole exchange student program was over.
He gladly
shook hands with the proud basketball captain. "I think I'm going to enjoy
my stay here."
Akagi
smirked. "Glad to hear that. But I won't have you adding to my List of
Troublemakers... I already have my hands full with two psychos--"
"I
shall be the one to defeat you, baka!!!" Sakuragi hollered, coming up
behind Akagi and pointing a finger up at the tall guy's nose.
"I'll
be looking forward to that, Sakuragi."
Several ooh’s and aah’s can be heard from the
bystanders and his other teammates. Obviously, this was a chance of a lifetime
for Shohoku high’s basketball club. Even Akagi or Anzai-sensei wouldn’t pass
this up for the world…
Unfortunately, for Kaede Rukawa, this was his greatest nightmare coming
to life.
The bottom of his stomach dropped when their new teammate turned towards his
direction and gave him an arrogant smile.
Rukawa bristled at the unspoken challenge. The baka shouldn't be so
overconfident. He was venturing into dangerous
territories... Rukawa's territories to be exact.
He grimaced at the site he was witnessing... which for him, was a complete eye sore.
Not far away, straightening out his new custom-made flaming red jersey
was none other than Shohoku’s new No. 5…
Sendoh Akira.
To be continued…