Rukawa wakes up later than usual on the next morning.  On his way to the basketball, he sees Tsuki running with two bottles of Pocari Sweat on her back.  Suddenly, this crazy idea comes up in his head.  He decides to run with Tsuki.  Rukawa wouldn’t think about anything else.  He just wants to run since it is part of his training anyway.  When Tsuki finds out that Rukawa is surprisingly running behind her, her heart blooms with joy.  She stops and greets him:

            “Good morning, Rukawa-kun.”

            “Hey.”

            “Here you go.”  Tsuki smiles. 

Just when she tries to hand him a bottle of Pocari Sweat, she trips on a rock behind her and falls. It seems like she has sprung her ankle.  Rukawa immediately steps over to her side and tries to fix her ankle.  But there is nothing he can do about it.  He then carries Tsuki on his backs and walks back to where his bicycle is.

----

Rukawa, who never had a girlfriend before, sure has wondered about how it feels like to have someone by his side.  He has a lot of fans but he doesn’t want to get involved with anyone of them.  Rukawa has a hard time imagining how could those girls act so crazy for him when they know nothing about him.  Apparently, he is not too sensitive about this kind of things because he hardly gets in touch with a female.  His sister is five years older than him and she has been away for college when he just hit puberty.  As predicted, Rukawa is the quietest one in the family. 

  Perhaps it is out of sympathy, but Rukawa feels differently about Tsuki.  She seems so weak and needed for protection.  It is every man’s dream to take care of women, especially those appeared to be vulnerable.  When he senses the warmth from Tsuki’s arms on his shoulders during the ride, he feels a little responsible for this girl. 

  Tsuki has been treated like a glass since she was little.  She has tried so hard to get out of that fragile impression, and that is why she plays sports.  Tsuki has felt so uncomfortable since Rukawa helped her.  She hates to have Rukawa seeing her weak side for the third time.  She has been quite angry with herself about her clumsiness while she is on Rukawa’s bicycle. 

  When they arrive, Tsuki thanks Rukawa for helping her once again.  Rukawa appears to be emotionless as always.  When he is about to turn around and leave, Tsuki says traumatically:

“Rukawa-kun, please don’t treat me as if I were glass.  I want to be your friend.  But I don’t want you to see me as one of your burdens.  I hate pities.”

Her face is now as red as a beet.  Yet she is determined and cleared about what she has just said.

Rukawa is somewhat shocked by her words.  He doesn’t know exactly what his feelings are toward Tsuki.  He just wants the responsibility to take care of her. He definitely doesn’t see her as a burden.  Since he doesn’t feel like explaining at that moment, so he leaves on his bicycle without uttering a word.

  ----

            Tsuki is not sure what exactly had propelled her to give out those words this morning.  But they sure are awkward and impulsive.  And she sure as hell regrets having done such thing.  So she spends the rest of her day staying in her room and thinking about what happened. 

  ----

By the time of sunset, Sendoh comes home from basketball practice.  He sees Rukawa practicing in a court not far from his house.  Sendoh then walks up to Rukawa and says hi.  Rukawa nods and says:  “Want to play?”

  Usually, Rukawa only comes to this court whenever he wants to challenge Sendoh.  This time may be a little different.  He is here today because he hasn’t gone where anywhere since he rode Tsuki home.  He isn’t sure about what he is thinking because he was never like this, confused, pointless.  He needs sometime to think about what has been happening.  That is why he has been playing basketball all day and trying to get his mind cleared up.  Apparently, he has not succeeded.

----

Rukawa and Sendoh play against each other until they can’t see anything. 

Sendoh:  “Do you want to have dinner at my house?  My mom makes good beef curry.  I have to go to your side of the town to meet up with my friends later tonight.  Maybe you can give me a ride.  What do you say?”

  Rukawa thinks for a second, and then nods without any expression.