Chapter 2 Dark storm clouds forced its way over the blue sky, plunging the school into an uneasy darkness. Soon there was booming thunder and pelts of rain. An Autumn storm in full rage. From inside the safety of the classroom, Rukawa watched the trees bend back from the howling wind. The classroom was in an uproar, having a discussion on why Samurais were cool and crud. Totally bored, Rukawa absently drew on his desk with his finger-tips while watching the storm through the window. Only a week to go until the test. One week. And still, he had no tutor. He would have asked his sempai basketball players but he knew very well they were dumb as logs. And besides, it was a matter of pride. Like hell he was gonna let Sakuragi bug the crap outta him. Even he was doing better than Rukawa, which was just plain phenomenal. The team was made aware of the situation, only they were told that the time off was for ‘light catching up’. What they did not know was Rukawa had a good chance he would be kicked off the team. If he didn’t find somebody soon. Which brought him to his class. He surveyed the room with dark looming eyes, looking for good candidates that would be easy to approach and smart enough to teach. Basically no one. The guys would not let him off without pulling a couple punches, laughing at his stupidity, telling the whole damn world that Rukawa Kaede was incapable of doing shit. Besides, all of them were dumb fags except for Shogo; world renowned computer hacker and class nerd. And then there were the girls. Giggling, flirtatious, annoying little hoes. With the exception of Natsumi, who made it quite clear she was not going to teach him for reasons that are still unknown. Which brought him back to Natsumi. She was the only girl he had ever known that would not tutor him, let alone look at him. Sure, she would throw some awkward glances his way sometimes, but she would never actually look into his face. But then again, she never really looked at anyone else either. That’s off topic; the fact that she would not even consider tutoring him really bugged him. His basketball career was on the line here and she had the nerve to say no. Tired from contemplating, he closed his eyes and let out a loud yawn. Head still resting on his hand, he quickly fell asleep. "What are you doing?” "I’ve had it with yur fucking shit ladee.. You can’t except me to stick around when you don’t put out..” “No please, don’t!” Smash. Screams. “Kaede!” “Dumb good for nothing kid, quit crying!” Crash. “Kaede! No, please stop it! This is between you and me!” “Stupid kid’s practically shitting his pants. He’s just like his fathur, a fucking failure!” Wailing. “Get out! You’re upsetting him!” “Reality check Aiko! Yur kidz ten yearz old! He can handle the truth.” “GET OUT!!” Smash. Slam. “It’s ok Kaede, stop crying. Mommy’s here for you... What he said are lies....” Sobs. “Kaede..you’re the only thing I have left.. I’m so sorry..” “Kaede.” “Rukawa.” “Rukawa!!” “Rukawa Kaede!!” He awoke with a start, allowing a shocked expression to posses his usually emotionless face. Realising he was only in a classroom, he narrowed his eyes and stared up at his teacher. “You see Rukawa, this is exactly the reason why you don’t learn anything. You only got a minute until the bell goes.” The teacher walked away, leaving Rukawa to look out the window in silence. The bell rang, but strange enough, he heard no sounds of seats being pushed away or feet exiting the sliding door. Looking back, he found his classroom empty. Except for a single figure standing at his desk. “Natsumi?” She was not in a school uniform. She was dressed in ripped blue jeans and a white tight fitting T-shirt. They were suddenly outside on the basketball court. There was sunlight filtering through her long black hair, and shining off her tanned skin. Her face glowed, and a single red tear dropped from her bright blue eyes. “What’s the matter?” She held a slim hand to her face, and her body shook with silenced crying. She began to fade into the sunlight, and as she disappeared the whole scene disappeared with her. “...” The basketball court was being penetrated by a dark shadow. “..wait....” Rukawa woke up to the sounds of chairs being pushed away and students exiting the room. He shook his head and stretched his arms out. Getting up, he walked to the janitorial work closet and grabbed himself a mop. Mindlessly mopping the floor, his thoughts turned to the end of the month exam. He had mopped for quite some time before he realised it had been twenty minutes since the bell rung. Talk about deep thinking. Shoving the mop back into the closet he gathered his stuff and slid open the wooden door. In the silent white washed halls, a gentle tapping was heard. Natsumi walked speedily down the halls, stopping at the classroom door. She put a hand on the wooden handle, but quickly withdrew it when she felt the wood move from beneath her. She did not surpress the shocked look any better than he did. Feeling panic rising in her chest, she shakily stepped back, giving a white-knuckle hold to her black book bag. Seeing her slight discomfort, he contemplated whether to move or not. Deciding to stay, he leaned a long arm against the door frame in a comfortable position. Natsumi frantically looked around the premises, watching for anybody. When she saw no one, she turned a frightened gaze back to Rukawa who stood his ground. “Please, I have to get my homework..” Her voice was more of a plea than a demand. Rukawa shifted slightly, but stayed in the doorway. He looked at her with cold eyes. Natsumi’s lower lip began to tremble. His harsh expression changed when he saw a single tear slide down her cheek, followed by others. Natsumi was scared. No one would hear her if she screamed, she had no where to run. His face turned into a sudden blur, and she bit her lip as she felt hot tears stream down her cold cheeks. She turned and began to run away, when she felt a strong hand enclose over her arm. *Stay still, fucking whore!* *No! Let go!!* *No bitch, you’re my girl now....* “Nooooooooo!!” She clawed frantically at his hand, biting her lip until a treckle of blood spilled down her chin. Not caring what words she uttered from her bleeding lips, she desperately tried to free herself. A shocked expression wielded itself to Rukawa’s face as he held to the struggling girl. Natsumi had actually broke. Quickly regaining control, he pulled her to him and held her waist with an arm, his free hand holding her clawing one back. He saw that his hand was bleeding, but it was the least thing on his mind right now. “Let go of me! Let GO!” “Stupid fucking jerk!” He let go of her hand and held her in both arms, not sure what he was doing. She clawed at his shirt screaming, crying, cursing. Rukawa awkwardly held her. She balled pieces of his white shirt in her fists as she pleaded pitifully with Rukawa. Soon her frantic screams subsided into low whimpers and sobbing. Her warm lithe body trembled against his. “Fucking ..jerk...” “...let..go...” Rukawa placed a hand on her face, his eyes still holding its steel edge. She looked up at him with tearful eyes. His fingers traced her mouth gently, probing her delicate lip. He found the small cut on her bottom lip and immediately applied pressure. “Ow!” “Have to make it stop bleeding.” The fear in her eyes was still greatly noticeable, but her body had stopped shaking. Rukawa let go and she stumbled back breathlessly. Rukawa hid his bleeding hand behind his back. “I didn’t mean to...” She did not let him finish, Rukawa did not expect her to. She turned and ran down the echoing hallway, her shoes clanking noisily as she left. Taking his hand from behind his back, he stared at the fresh, bleeding scratch marks slashed into his skin. Rukawa walked through the school gates, swinging his book bag behind his shoulder. He kept his bandaged hand in his pocket, not wanting people to notice. Reaching the middle of the schoolyard, he saw Natsumi standing alone, watching him with big blue eyes. He gave her a hard stare back, walked passed her and shoved his way through the yellow double doors. He sat down at his desk and stared at the ceiling. The exam was in 5 days. He did not know what the hell he was going to do. Practising out on the neighbourhood courts was not going to make up for a whole year of game time. But it would have to suffice unless he found a tutor on time. The starting bell rang, drowned out momentarily by a mad scuffle of feet and sliding chairs. Natsumi entered the classroom hurriedly, just in time to catch the starting bell. Enclosed in her slightly shaking hand was a note. After a lot of thinking, it all lead up to this. Rukawa heard, rather than saw, a piece of paper being placed on his desk. He looked down to find a small, folded note, the name Rukawa neatly printed across it. He unfolded it with clumsy fingers and found one simple sentence written across the lavender page: Meet me at the Kanagawa Library at 5:00 p.m. - Natsumi He glanced at Natsumi, who was purposely amusing herself with her pen at that apparent moment. Rukawa shrugged and tucked the note away into his pant pocket. The teacher entered the classroom, slammed his briefcase on his desk, and began yelling about his car being stolen. The day passed fairly quickly. Some notes on the Heken- Genji war, pop quizzes, math lessons, chemistry experimenting and a wrap up review lesson on beginner’s English. All of which, Rukawa barely understood. His thoughts were in and out, sometimes trying to figure out his work, sometimes thinking about basketball, mostly at 5p.m. that afternoon. Squarely on Natsumi. He did not realise what extent of what ever happened to Natsumi, had really affected her. And this was just the tip of the iceberg. She was anti-social, selfish, a loon but still a genius. If that made any sense... The final bell sounded. Snapping back to reality, he grabbed his mop and began his usual routine clean up. Silently anticipating his 5:00 meeting at the library. It was a fairly old building, large and spacious with many references and tons of people. Perfect. She placed her book bag on the table closest to the exit and got out her review sheets and textbooks. Natsumi had chose a long table with middle aged woman scattered loosely around. She looked around cautiously before taking a couple deep breaths. She spotted a group of teenage boys around a table at the far corner near the magazine section. All busy studying, except for one, was smiled and waved at her. She quickly looked away, shielding her face with a delicate hand. “Sendoh-san, who’re you wav’n at?” “Mmmm.... nobody.” The Kanagawa library was jam packed with people. Rukawa had never been to a library before, only the one at school. Business people, children, and students alike were all gathered in the long halls. He checked his Rolex and found he was five minutes late. He quickly spotted her, and approached the table. Natsumi heard a chair being pulled back behind her, she spun around quickly, coming face to face with Rukawa Kaede. She impulsively grabbed into her jacket. Reminding herself that she invited him, she relaxed slightly. “Is your hand Ok?” Alright, so her voice was still a whisper, at least she was looking at him. “It’s fine.” At least he was talking, none of that cocky shit. “I’m sorry about what happened the other day... I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “Uh huh.” “I would appreciate it if you would keep quiet about yesterday... ” Rukawa scratched his head. There was no one worth telling anyways. “Sure.” Natsumi looked down at her books and papers. “I was thinking you might need some notes to study for the exam. I could lend them to you.” Rukawa shook his head. “Someone’s gotta teach me.” A moment of silence. Natsumi gazed at her books uncomfortably, chewing on the idea with furrowed eyebrows. Rukawa watched her as she slowly nodded her head. “Ok.. three days. After school, 4 to 5.” “Three days?” With him, it would be more like three months. But she was oblivious and he could use the help. He nodded. “Can we start today?” Picking out a book, she nodded. “We’ll start with the Heken Genji war. Do you know who Musashi is?” “.......no.” This was gonna take a looong time. “Ain’t that Rukawa-san... WHAT!! 3:16 Stone cold Rukawa has a girl wit ‘im!!” “Shuddap Hikoichi!” “Sorry every’un .. It’s just he got a girl wit ‘im!” “You already said that!” “Oh.. Well, it’s true.” Sendoh raised an eyebrow. So that bombshell was acquaintances with super ace, Rukawa Kaede. “This is interesting..” Sendoh murmured, smiling to himself. It had been a quirky beginning. Though Natsumi was surprised at how fast he could learn if he was willing to listen. And she thought he was some dumb school jock. An hour had come and gone. Taking her books, she hastily shoved them back into her book bag. Gathering her bag in her arms, she began walking towards the exit. “Natsumi.” She turned and looked at the tall boy. His face impassive as usual, he looked at her with hard blue eyes. “... Thanks.” Nodding, she turned and jogged through the door. Rukawa watched her leave before taking his own notes and shoving them in his sports bag. Walking through the large double doors, he put on his Sony Discman full blast, and began jogging his way to the courts. Natsumi walked hurriedly through the dark night. Hands in her pocket, jacket hood over her head, she kept a low profile. Anxious to reach home, she turned her light jog into a run. As she ran, the streets got more and more desolate until it was only her. Smelling the familiar smell of the homeless and their booze, she confirmed that she had entered the slums. Turning the corner, she rammed head first, into a tall bulky figure. She looked up, her eyes widened as he placed his ringed fingers over her open mouth. Rukawa swore under his breath as he entered the villa of the damned. Otherwise known as the junktown of Kanagawa. Mentally he assured himself he would reach the courts soon, and began to sprint down the cracked cement roads. Gawd... Tears spilled down her cheeks in a stormy down pour. Quickly grabbing into her pocket, she drew out a small knife. The man saw it and tried to grab it, but in vain, she sliced. “AHHHHHHHHHH!” Rukawa pulled out his ear phones and looked around. Was that a fog horn he just heard? Shaking his head, he put his ear phones back and continued his run. “Fucking bitch! My eye! My fucking eye!!” The man screamed. She had sliced his right eye and now a spurt of blood was trailing down his cheek. Convulsed in utter agony, he howled in pain. Natsumi ran like hell. She ran and ran till many blocks had passed, until she was not sure where she was. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Scraping her knees and palms on her trip down. Tears and cold sweat pouring down her face, she began to hyper ventilate, bloody knife a couple feet away. Taking his ear phones out, Rukawa watched the small hunched figure in the middle of the court with alert eyes. Enveloped in shadow, he couldn’t make out much, just that it was breathing like it’s lungs were on fire. Cautiously he stepped onto the court and neared the shadowed form. Stopping infront of her, his eyes widened in reconization. Natsumi did not notice he was there until a couple minutes had passed. Turning her head slowly, she looked up at him with eyes filled with hatred and fear. “Don’t look..” She breathed. Turning her head away she clenched her bleeding palms. “DON’T LOOK!!” Rukawa blinked, but kept his ground. He spotted the bloody knife a couple feet away and picked it up, it had bits of muscle tissue up the point. Looking at it in disgust, he put it aside for the moment. Kneeling on the ground, he examined the hunched girl. She was bleeding at the knees and palms from scrapes, but there was no slice marks. Whose blood was on this knife? He pushed aside the daunting question and focused his attention on Natsumi. Hugging herself with bloody hands, she trembled with each dying wail that escaped her dry lips. Sighing, he began tearing his blue practise jersey. “Give me your hand.” She shook her head and sobbed. He grabbed her wrist and began to wrap a long strip around her palm. He repeated this procedure with her other hand and then her knees. All the while, Natsumi had managed to calm down and stop shaking. She stared at him through teary eyes. Then suddenly she closed her eyes and fell, Rukawa catching her before she hit the ground. Taking her in his arms, Rukawa scouted the premises with dark emotionless eyes. Confirming that there was no followers, he jogged out the courts and ran in the direction of the Rukawa mansion. The large spacious house was empty, with dark looming shadows cast by the moonlight filtering through the sky windows. Rukawa stepped in and held her limp body to him with one hand, the other taking the key and shoving it back into his pocket. Flicking on the light for the crystal chandler, he took her in his arms again and carried her up the stairs. His mother was on a promotional trip in Hong Kong for the month, so he had the whole house to himself. Taking her to his bed chamber, he turned on the light, and laid her down on the king sized bed. Her breathing was relaxed and there was some colour returning to her cheeks, but otherwise she was a mess. Long knotted locks spilled across the pillow, her face was dirt and tear streaked. Her legs were scratched up from her fall to the ground. Rukawa shook his head at the tattered girl and slid open his bedside cabinet. Fingering through the messy drawer, he fished out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. Gently taking her makeshift bandages off, he grabbed some cotton balls and applied the rubbing alcohol to her tender knees and palms. Her face screwed up for a moment, but it quickly returned to its undaunted slumber once he was done. He bandaged her up again, this time with real ones and placed his blanket over her. Thank God, there’s no school tomorrow, Rukawa thought. Stepping into his bathroom, he stripped off his clothes and took a long hot shower. At first, Natsumi thought she was in a hospital room. Though it was extremely large. She surveyed the room with weary eyes. White walls, a stereo system.... Stereo system? She hurriedly sat up much to her body’s protest. Looking around with alert blue eyes, she saw numerous basketball magazines lying in the corner and a t.v. set off to the side. This was definitely no hospital. Putting a hand to her head, she tried to remember what happened before she fainted. *Fucking bitch!! My eye! My fucking eye!!* *Don’t look...* *Give me your hand.* This was too much. She held both hands to her face and began to tremble. Suddenly she heard a door slide open. She looked up and gasped. Rukawa emerged from the steaming bathroom, towel clad, another one hanging around his neck. As he lightly dabbed his face, he side glanced Natsumi, who had thrown the blanket over her eyes. Casually he walked over and pulled the blanket from her face. 'Does he not know he is almost naked?' she thought Rukawa looked into her face. They stared at each other for a while, causing a light flush to graze Natsumi’s tanned cheeks. Finally Rukawa broke the silence. “Are you going to tell me or not?” “Oh.. right,” she looked away, feeling the weariness return to her eyes. He sat down beside her and watched her as she folded her knees to her chest and stared off in to the distance. She chewed on her lower lip, contemplating whether or not to tell him. The truth. She smiled bitterly. Just as she thought it was all over... “When I was walking back from the library...” She felt another tinge of emotion about to rear its ugly head, but she pushed it aside and settled to a low voice. “When I was walking back from the library, I met up with.. this.. man...” Ok, there was no stopping it. She let her tears fall and her body tremble. Sucking in a fiery breath, she continued on shakily. “When .. I .. was 14...” Oh God. Her breaths were choked and hushed as she took a drive down memory lane. *Stay still fucking whore!* *No! Let go!* *No bitch, you’re my girl now....* “ He.. was .. a.. monster. Convicted.. he was.. thrown.. in .. jail.... He.. Gawd.. He..” She dropped her face into her hands. The next part was voiced in barely a whisper. “..raped..me...” Something clicked in Rukawa’s head at that moment. The two year blank, the time with Takeshi, the time after school. It all fit together like some sort of crazy puzzle. She had all the symptoms of a traumatised rape victim. He had finally found out what was really behind Kawasaki Natsumi. But now he really wished he had not... “I’m sorry,” was the only reply he could come up with. But she did not even hear. She was busy crying into her hands and stuff... Rukawa closed his eyes. “I’m sorry...” He put his hands over his ears, trying hard to block out the crying. Rukawa really hated it when people cried. Bad memories. They sat like that for many minutes. One hysterically crying, the other trying desperately to shut her out. Finally the crying died down to a silent whimpering. Rukawa pulled his hands away and turned to look at her. He was surprised to see her staring at him, her blue eyes still welled up with unshed tears. “I..I have to go...” she got up and grabbed her bag from the bed. Rukawa stood up and blocked her way. “I think it’s best if you crashed here for the night,” He murmured, trying his best to make his request audible. Though, it felt hell awkward.. “I..no...I don’t think so...” she began walking passed him but he grabbed her far shoulder with his long bare arm. “Is there someone that can pick you up?”” Natsumi flinched. “They’re.. they’re out of town.” “I promise I’ll walk you home tomorrow morning,” Rukawa implied, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder. His gaze was sterner than usual. She slowly nodded. “Ok.” He turned and walked to his clothes cabinet and grabbed a Nike T-shirt. Handing it to her, he nodded towards the bathroom. “Go ahead and use the shower. You can have my room for the night.” “Where will you sleep?” Natsumi inquired with wide blue eyes. Rukawa shrugged. Natsumi was about to protest, but Rukawa turned and walked, pulling some clothes from the cabinet before shutting the door. Shaking her head, she stepped into the bathroom, and yanked off her dirty clothes. Stepping into the wide shower, she closed her eyes and let the warm water cascade over her tired body. Rukawa Kaede. Why did she tell him? He was a spoiled, cold hearted bastard. A sudden flashback of Rukawa steeping out of the bathroom door came to her and she bit her lip. He was attractive. His body was in extreme good shape, with a broad chest and ab- muscles... But he was cold. Stepping out of the shower, she quickly towelled herself and threw the oversized shirt on. It fell to below her knees, and she had to roll up the long arm sleeves, but anything was better than that dirty uniform. Walking out into the room, she fished through her bag and grabbed a can of pepper spray. Just in case.. she thought. Collapsing on the bed, she quickly fell asleep, pepper spray in hand. The air was especially chilly against Rukawa’s wet bare skin, as he shut away the warm lit room. Draping a towel over his head, he walked down the long hall to a second set of spiralling stairs. The third floor was made up of only one room. Supposedly the guest room, more like a guest suite. Though the heating was not working up there, it was one of his favourite rooms. His feet padded lightly against the cold wooden floor. He got dressed, and fell onto the queen sized bed in exhaustion. He turned and looked at a golden framed picture on the night table beside him. Brushing the photo with his thumb, he whispered a goodnight... To be Continued... **Previous**Next**