Hanamichi reached under the bed and found a dusty beat-up box that he assumed has been sitting there for almost three years. His mother had been nagging to him all through the month that he ought to clean up his room and when he found out that he could not escape her any longer, the redhead finally complied and set out to what she has ordered. He thought of hiding out at Yohei's or at one of his other friends' house but how long can one hide and his mother knew where they lived anyway. It was inevitable, so why bother (although he did bother for one month so that gives you a clue as to how lazy he can be).
In the beginning he decided to clean up his room minimally just to pass his mother's inspectionary glance but as he pulled out all manner of junks and whatnots from every nook and cranny one can find, it was like being on a treasure hunt, finding lost and treasured objects he thought he has lost forever. He found a photograph of him and the Shohoku team after their match with Sannoh last year, and there was his first ever 70% arithmatics test paper (he had help from Gori who promised him pain and torture if he failed) and he even found scraps of love notes that Akira has given to him for the past year. Rereading them, the redhead couldn't help but blush at how cheeky and intimate some of them were.

When Hanamichi finally got to the box, it was nearly ten am. He wondered what was inside it and when he pulled off the cover he was surprised to see stacks of historical romance novels wedged in that he had trouble putting the lid back on later. The redhead went through his mind as to who he knew would read this kind of books and it clicked instantly when he remembered who often came to stay over at house since his father passed away. His youngest aunt. Hanamichi remembered that she asked him to keep it for her for a while and all he did was push it under his bed. When she married and had children and moved out to Tokyo, Hanamichi assumed that she has forgotten about her collection and would want to have it back.

A few minutes later, Hanamichi walked back into his room, scratching the back of his head in thought. His aunt was pleasantly surprised that he called and after exchanging the usual pleasantaries and cheeky bantering, the redhead brought up the matter of the novels. His aunt merely clucked and told him to just throw it away. After saying their goodbyes, Hanamichi went to do just that.

After dumping the box and other unwanted trash at the nearest dumpster, Hanamichi went back to survey his work. His room was spotless and although his books, magazines and other possessions were barely sorted out, it was as neat as he could make it.
He was about to walk downstairs and boast it to his mother when his eye caught on something beside the bed. It was one of his aunt's novels which seemed to have fallen out and would've stayed hidden if the redhead had not seen the corner sticking out of the bed. He sighed and sat down on the floor with the novel in his hand, knowing that he would have to take another trip to the dumpster if he needed to get rid of this. No way was anyone finding this kind of literature in his room! Not understanding why the females would read this kind of stuff, he flipped a few pages over and skim-read some lines. The story looked intruiging and the characters were interesting and colourful with their personality and speech. Not understanding a few scenes made him turn the pages back to find out why and in a few minutes he found himself at the very beginning of the book to get a better start of the story.

Sendoh arrived at Hanamichi's house two hours later. Recognising the spiky-haired boy as one of her son's friends she allowed him to go upstairs to Hanamichi's room while she make some snacks for them. The Ryonan player didn't bother to knock, wanting to see what Hanamichi's was doing holed up in his room the whole morning. He opened the door slowly and found the redhead lying on the bed on his stomach reading a book. The redhead was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't notice he had a visitor who silently entered and managed to close the door without a sound. Sendoh, curious as to what sort of book Hanamichi would be reading, crept stealthily forward to try and read the small print. At the top centre part of the pages was the title of the book and reading it, Sendoh grinned when he finally guessed what sort of book it was. Now this was a surprise! Sakuragi Hanamichi, a redheaded troublemaker but special in his own aspects of skill and person, was reading a romance novel. Sendoh continued to silently watch the redhead read, paying attention to every movement the boy made from the way the Shohoku player stretched his long and athletic limbs in a few points in time - no doubt for being in that position for too long that he had to feel strained - to the way the boy brushed back his now-long-again red lockes which kept falling over his eyes. Sendoh thought he looked adorable.

Hanamichi was already into the first quarter part of the book when he heard a slight noise from behind him. Before he could react more than to turn his head around, a heavy weight of approximately 80kg landed on his back so suddenly that his breath left him for a moment. And it took a while for it to get back for the grinning person on top of him did not seem to want to budge from his seat.

"A-kira!" wheezed Hanamichi as he tried to buck the spiky-haired boy off, "Gerrof!!"

"But I like being up here," teased Sendoh, still straddling the redhead's back and slowly applying more preasure to make the boy give an undignified squawk for the opressing weight.

"Akira!"

"Oh, what's this?" Sendoh innocently asked, taking the book from Hanamichi's hand, "'Reckless'? A romance novel?! Tsk, tsk. Hanamichi-kun, I didn't know you read this kind of stuff."

When Sendoh mounted off of him the redhead rolled onto his back to glare at the Ryonan player while trying to make up an excuse being caught reading the book, "Eto... it's my aunt's and I was just about to throw it away. And I wasn't reading it! I was just...uh...going through it coz, uh... y'know, to see why the girls read it..."

"Hmm..." the older boy thought out loud, "isn't this the one where the heroine went to the hero to ask for help in a quest but then the hero had other agendas in his mind than helping her?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" nodded Hanamichi enthusiastically, "And there's this marquess who is also after the lady-"

"Busted."

"-but she.....what?"

"You were reading the book," laughed Sendoh, "I only read the synopsis atonhe back cover."

Instantly, Hanamichi went red in the face.
"Give it back to me," he growled, reaching over Sendoh's body to take the book back but the Ryonan player managed to keep it out of reach. At that moment, a knock came from the door and Sendoh quickly jumped off of the bed to open the door and let Mrs Sakuragi in. Thanking her for her hospitality, Sendoh tucked the novel under his arm and took over carrying the tray of refreshments into the room while the redhead's mother shut the door to give them privacy.

As Sendoh placed the tray on the floor, Hanamichi slid down so that he was leaning against the footboard of the bed to join the spiky-haired player, still scowling for being teased caught reading a romance novel. When the redhead made another attempt of snatching the book away, Sendoh quickly edged back and held the book with firm fingers.
"Tell me about this book," he said to the surprised redhead.

The redhead scowled again and warned, "Stop making fun of me."

"I'm not," Sendoh said giving him a sincere look, "I just want to know what's so interesting about the story."
When he gave the redhead back the novel, the dubious expression on Hanamichi's face did not disappear. With a sigh Sendoh, said resignedly, "Alright, if you don't want to...."

"....Iie. It's just... it's nothin' interesting," mumbled Hanamichi, ducking his head.
"Like what you've read from the synopsis it's about the heroine wanting the help of a hero in a quest to find a murderer."

"There has got to be more," prompted Sendoh, crawling towards Hanamichi to be beside him so that they sat shoulder to shoulder.

"Ummm...yeah, well the hero accepted her offer. But he was actually ...uh, fooling her to take revenge against her family who once had him thrown out of society when he tried to help the heroine's older sister to escape marriage a few years ago."

"And?"

"And when he came back they thought he was penniless but he was actually very rich from this, um, sea-trading. And there's this marquess who wanted the heroine's hand in marriage but she didn't like him because she said he was boring. The hero thought the guy was a distraction but I just think he was just jealous."

Hearing Hanamichi's chuckle, Sendoh smiled and asked, "And then what happened?"

Hanamichi scratched his head sheepishly, "That's it. I haven't gotten to the other parts yet."

The spiky-haired boy nodded before reaching forward to take a cookie to munch on before offering the rest to Hanamichi. The redhead accepted the half eaten snack shyly, still uncomfortable but liking the simple act of being fed.

"Have you found out why the book is titled 'Reckless'?" asked Sendoh, pouring some juice for the both of them while Hanamichi tried to find the page that he was on before Sendoh lunged at him.

"From the beginning," the redhead said, "The heroine is the reckless one, doing risky things to satisfy her uh, illusion of white knights and justice."

"I hope she succeeds in her quest," smiled Sendoh handing Hanamichi his glass of juice.

"Yeah," the redhead murmured behind the rim of the glass, "I kinda like her."

"Hey," Sendoh accused in mock hurt, "You're trying to make me jealous."

Hanamichi stuck his tongue out, "What if I am?"

The Ryonan student placed his glass down and crawled back towards the redhead with a sly gleam in his eyes, "Then I have a quest of my own."

Hanamichi gulped, "Which is?"

"To steal back your heart which this hussy has stolen from me," Sendoh said before he crowded the redhead against the footboard of the bed, taking the glass of juice from the boy's fingers before they spill its contents.

Hanamichi wanted to laugh but the searing kiss upon his lips from Sendoh stopped him from doing so. After deeply tasting the redhead's mouth flavoured with orange juice and cookies, the spiky-haired boy finally released Hanamichi with reluctance to allow the redhead to ask breathlessly, "What if my heart wasn't stolen from the start?"

"Hmm..." Sendoh grinned, his breathing also slightly heavy, "Then I'll have to make up another quest."

Suddenly, Hanamichi pushed him away and asked seriously, "And risk being hurt?"

The taller boy blinked in surprise before he gave the redhead a soft smile to convey his love, "Aa. One needs to be reckless once in a life-time. And with you I plan on being reckless all the time."

"Am I that risky?" murmured Hanamichi as he pulled Sendoh close to him to touch their cheeks together.

"When you hold my heart in your hand, it is," Sendoh answered with grim humour.

"Then I'll make the risk worthwhile," the redhead said huskily, cupping Sendoh's face in his palm to deliver a kiss meant to sear the both of them to their bones. And it certainly did.

Sometimes it pays to be reckless - in a good way.

~Owari