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Pay Attention Please
by Annie D

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Dr K (not to be confused with Dr T) who was the first lecturer to give me an assignment in the new semester and hence forced me to finish this ficcy as soon as I could because I had to go do actual WORK.

Chapter 8: The Way Things Ought To Be

Sakuragi took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Although a metal gate stood between them, the air still managed to crackle with electricity (although not the usual sort, this time, hee hee) as they looked at each other. This time really looking at each other.

Sakuragi: No. His eyes aren’t cold. Not anymore. They’re… lonely. Stony Rukawa Kaede, standing alone in the world, not caring about anyone because nobody cares about him. Is that who he really is? I wonder why I never noticed…

Rukawa: He really is innocent, that wide-eyed look just being him. This is who he really is, isn't it? He's still just a scared little boy trying to find his way in the world, hiding his insecurity behind laughter and ego boosting. I wonder why I never noticed...

The spell was broken by the loud squawking of a bird on a nearby tree.

Pause. "Well, no…"

Sakuragi cleared his throat and quickly walked to the gate, unhitching the bolt and opening it. Before Rukawa was able to enter, Sakuragi pushed it outward quickly, causing the dark-haired boy to stumble a bit. Did you really think I’d let you in? Not even bothering to apologise, Sakuragi stepped onto the pavement, closed the gate behind him and looked away.

"So. I'm here. Talk. The tensai was about to go to sleep, you know. Some people just have no consideration, why couldn't you have come earlier to say whatever it is you want to say?"

Rukawa stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I was thinking." He paused. "About you."

Sakuragi stared at the tree opposite the road. Lots of leaves, that tree. And branches. Lots of branches. And lots of leaves, connected to the branches.

"So, what is it you wanted to say?"

"I just want to talk."

"About what?"

"Anything."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know you, Sakuragi."

Sakuragi bit down a panicked gasp. That tree really did have a lot of leaves. Small ones, big ones, deep green ones, light green ones, old brown ones. "Why?"

"Just because."

Sakuragi shuffled his feet a bit. Come to think of it, he wanted to know about Rukawa as well. They had been teammates (well, more like teamrivals) for a whole season the last year, but there was so little they knew about each other. Sakuragi suddenly felt curious. Who was Rukawa Kaede?

"Why do you play basketball, Rukawa?" Sakuragi asked.

Rukawa started in surprise.

Sakuragi then quickly added, "It's none of my business, I know, but you said to talk about anything, and this counts as an anything, although it isn't really about me like you said, but you did say to talk about anything."

Rukawa sighed. "I play because I want to be the best."

Sakuragi's eyes furrowed even further as he continued to give the poor tree the stare of death. "And then what?"

"Hm?"

"And then what? When you're the best? Best in Japan, best in the world, then what? What you do then? What do you have left?" Sakuragi waved his arms a bit in vague gestures, but kept his gaze on the tree. "I feel so sorry for you, you know, Rukawa. You try so hard to be the best, but I don't think you even know how to enjoy the game, like the rest of us do. Be the best. Then what? What's your real purpose, Rukawa?"

Another soft silence. "I don't have one."

Sakuragi hmphed. "How pathetic."

There was a soft rustle, and when Rukawa spoke again, the sound was much closer to Sakuragi’s ears. "I do want one, though."

When did this happen? When did Rukawa suddenly become a human being? When did he start to care? When did I?

Sakuragi turned, and they both spoke at the same time. "I..." "Well..."

They looked at each other, then looked away quickly.

Sakuragi wrinkled his nose. "Baka kitsune. Since when did you get all talkative, anyway?"

"Since I met you."

There it was. A confession, albeit a very vague one tucked and hidden carefully between a short sentence that could be taken a million other ways, but a confession all the same. They both turned to look at each other.

Sakuragi's mouth opened. "Oh." He blinked. "Oh."

Rukawa nodded, then took a quick step forward to grab Sakuragi’s shirt. Sakuragi’s mouth opened to protest, but then Rukawa tugged sharply at the shirt, narrowing the distance between them.

His mouth stopped just a little less than an inch from Sakuragi’s.

Sakuragi stared into those blue eyes.

Rukawa then whispered on top of his mouth, "I won’t if you don’t want me to."

"I… I…"

"Hm?"

Sakuragi blinked as though he were drugged, which in a way, he was. Taking a soft breath – the faint brush of cool air causing both their lips to tingle – Sakuragi leaned in for his first ever real kiss.

Rukawa eyes widened momentarily in surprise, then shuttered shut as he melted his lips into the kiss, sighing with relief. He guided the adorably inexperienced Sakuragi to tilt his head slightly to the right, gently coaxed his mouth open and slid his tongue into his mouth.

Somewhere in the back of Sakuragi’s (incredibly light-headed) mind, he was thinking, Oh, so this is what Cloud 9 feels like.

Eventually (quite a while later, mind) Rukawa pulled away, out of the need to breathe rather than wanting to stop the kiss. He held Sakuragi’s hands in his own, and with the serious tones usually taken when discussing basketball strategies, he said, "I like you, Sakuragi."

Sakuragi brushed his nose against Rukawa’s – it just felt totally natural to do it. "I like you, too, Rukawa."

They looked at each other, thinking the exact same thing. This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is *right*.

Rukawa’s mouth unfolded into a smile as his brought his lips back against Sakuragi’s. They wrapped their arms around each other in a frighteningly perfect fit, taking their first real hug and relishing everything that their overloaded senses were willing to take.

Sakuragi slowly opened his eyes as he continued to caress and lick Rukawa’s lips with his own.

This is me. Kissing Rukawa. I should be disgusted, shouldn't I?

He pulled away, causing Rukawa to frown.

"So is that it?" Sakuragi asked, carefully forcing his breathing to steady. "We're enemies and rivals, and then suddenly we're... this?"

Rukawa punched him across the jaw.

Sakuragi yelped, and was about to instinctively send his own fist flying back, when Rukawa grabbed his collar and pulled him close to snog him for all it was worth. Snog, not kiss – meaning involving some definite hungry lip and tongue movements that some people think should be made illegal.

Finally pulling away, Rukawa then said, "So which do you prefer?"

Sakuragi's dazed expression twitched, then a slow grin crept across his face. "The second one."

"Good."

Rukawa was about to kiss him again when Sakuragi punched him back, grinning madly. "Hah! You think you can punch the tensai just like that? Hahahahahaha now we're even!"

Rukawa sighed as he rubbed his jaw. "There really is no way to cure a do'aho."

"Nani?!" Sakuragi growled as he grabbed Rukawa by the collar to shake him.

"Excuse me!"

They both turned, to see a middle-aged man gesturing at them from the second-floor of his house which was opposite Sakuragi's. The guy said, "Can you please take it somewhere else? You're rather... loud."

Sakuragi blushed briefly, then gave out a protest as Rukawa tugged his arm forcefully. Rukawa quickly opened the gate, pushed Sakuragi inside, entered, shut the gate, then walked toward the door of the house and opened it. "Oi, do’aho."

"Tensai! It’s the tensai! Don’t call me do’aho!" Sakuragi snapped, running after him.

Rukawa shrugged and entered the house. Just as Sakuragi was about to enter after him, he saw the neighbour give him a thumbs-up sign. Sakuragi stared a bit, blinking in amazement at how quickly the situation had changed. I still don’t know what I’m doing, but…

He turned to see Rukawa turn on the television in the living room, quickly surfing to the sports channel.

But at least now I have Rukawa.

He sweatdropped as the full implications of that thought slowly started to sink in.

I have Rukawa.

Sakuragi calmly shut the door, then ran straight toward Rukawa with arms open – having sort of planned for a hug, but somehow miscalculated his momentum and just ended up sending the both of them falling to the carpeted floor.

"Err herr herr…" Sakuragi laughed a bit, sitting up and scratching his head.

Rukawa blinked at him in surprise.

"I have Rukawa Kaede," Sakuragi announced seriously.

Rukawa smiled. "I have Sakuragi Hanamichi."

Sakuragi crossed his legs on the carpet floor and clasped his hands together in his lap. "Now, Rukawa—"

"Kaede."

Woo… Sakuragi smiled again, proud at how he was (somewhat) hiding down the fact that he felt like bouncing off the walls at the moment. "Kaede. Tell me about yourself."

Rukawa adjusted his own sitting position to be directly in front of Sakuragi’s, their knees almost touching. "All right. So what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"And then you’ll tell me everything about yourself?"

"Yes." Sakuragi nodded vigorously.

Rukawa reached out a hand to brush Sakuragi’s cheek. "Deal. Then we make out some more."

Sakuragi’s mouth dropped open for a moment, but he shut it quickly, wishing like crazy that he had more control on his cheeks’ tendency to blush furiously. He swallowed a little, then smiled – a soft smile that curled shyly at the edges and almost certainly caused Rukawa to gape in wonderment – before nodding again.

"Okay."

So what happened next? I have no idea... So I'll just leave it up to your imagination. ::blinks innocently::

-FIN-

This chapter is also known as: The Rather Brief But Still Unavoidable Sappy Kissing Scene

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