The Brothers - Chapter 4 The sun raised in the horizon, gently awakening all the living on the earth. The sunlight peeked through a white curtain and got caught on the mess of white sheets on the cozy bed in the misty room. Suddenly the sheet was tossed aside by a slim arm revealing the red headed figure still sleeping peacefully on the bed. The bedroom door slowly opened and n eight year old boy poked his little head in. The boy smiled and tiptoed towards the bed. He stopped once his toe hit the bed. Then he bent and gave the man on the bed a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good morning, ‘niisan,” said Hikaru as Hanamichi opened his eyes sleepily. “Mmm… morning Hi-chan. Why are you up so early?” Smiling, Hanamichi stretched out his arms, silently inviting the small boy into the warmth. Hikaru immediately jumped into them. “Cause we have a promise to go to the park this morning.” "Real…ly… ZZZZZZ” Hanamichi dozed off again. Hikaru frowned at the quietness. He lifted Hanamichi's face. To his dismay the redhead’s eyes were shut. “ONIISAN!! Wake up!!” shouted Hikaru loudly as he sat up and started shaking the sleepy tensai roughly by the collar of his pajamas. Truth was ,Hikaru was more delicate and serene than Hana but he was a Sakuragi after all. “Whaat… the… Hiikaruuu…!?” Hanamichi was forced to come back from his sweet dream unwillingly. Eventually he got the little redhead’s hands off, careful not to make the boy feel rejected. Still holding Hikaru with his arms, he said good-naturally. “Okay, I’m up sweetie. What is it with the park that make you so excited?” Slowly, Hana freed his brother and sat up. Hikaru beamed adorably at Hanamichi as he said with the obvious exciting tone. “There is a basketball game going on at the Central Park today and you said you will take me with you!!” “A game…?” He was deep in thought for a second then it hit him, hard. With a curse he spontaneously got off the bed and ran into the bathroom in a split second. Then a shout was heard from the bathroom. "Hi-chan, what time is it? And will you get me a white T-shirt and the jeans?” Hikaru turned to his left and looked at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. Convinced by the clock, he shouted, “It’s 15 minutes past 8. Where is the shirt and the jeans ‘niichan?” Another curse could be heard from the bathroom. "Shit!! I’m gonna be late. Hi-chan, the shirt is in the wardrobe and the jeans are hanging on the chair near the window.” “Oh, okay I got it,” Hikaru got everything he needed for his brother just in time as the so-called tensai came out of the shower. Hanamichi walked to where his brother was standing by the edge of the bed. Smiling sugary at him, he bent and kissed the boy softly on the cheek. “Thank you. Can you go wait for me in the kitchen? I’ll be there in a minute.” “Okie Dokie!!” he saiid and left the room leaving his brother all on his own. Thirty minutes later, the duo was on the way to the Central Park, running with the inhuman speed. Shortly, they arrived at the parks' South Gate. “Look!! Here he is!!” Kogure exclaimed. “Yeah yeah, Sakuragi is here,” Mitsui murmured unhappily under his breath. /Where is the baka anyway? It’s almost 9 and he isn’t here yet./ “Sorry guys I was… I…” Hanamichi heaved, trying unsuccessfully to catch his breath. Even though he was the tensai but having to run through half of the town with Hikaru in his hand was not easy. “You are late, Sakuragi. You should be more punctual,” Akagi said angrily. “Easy, You are scaring the boy,” Kogure hissed. Only then did the huge player notice the cute little boy who was sitting comfortably in the elder Sakuragi’s arms. Scratching the back of his head he said nervously, "Oh, sorry about that. Did I scare you, Hikaru kun?” Hikaru did not answer the question directly. Instead he nuzzled even closer to his brother’s broad chest, hiding his face away from the huge captain. Akagi was shocked when the boy started sobbing. Mitsui, annoyed, said displeasingly, "Oi! Don’t be stupid! You know you did scare him. Can’t you just admit it?” Akagi threw Mitsui an angry look. Mitsui looked back at him challengingly. "What is wrong, ‘Big’ man? You want a fight?" The captain’s face twisted with anger. His face was red and you could see steam coming out from the top of his head. Then he smiled evilly as he remembered something that would hurt the man greatly if he were to say it. His eyes narrowed in anticipation. “Maybe…” Kogure finally decided to break the tension before thing got worst. “Come on guys, break it up. We shouldn’t have a fight now. Guys… hey!!” Kogure tried his best to stop the men from fighting. Meanwhile, Hikaru slowly told Hanamichi to sneak away. Hanamichi chuckled but gladly complied. He had just started walking when he spotted Sendoh standing near the gate with Koshino beside him. He approached them. “Yo, Sendoh!! How are you doing?” He greeted. “Good morning, I haven’t been better. Hey, is that your little brother you are holding?” Sendoh asked even though he already knew the answer. “Yes, his name is Hikaru. Hi-chan, this is Sendoh the pervert.” “Hey, stop calling me a pervert, will you?” “Well, it’s what you are Akira,” Koshino said absent-mindedly. Not paying any attention to his companies, Hanamichi carried on with his conversation. “And that is Koshino. Apparently he is Sendoh’s boyfriend.” “HANAMICHI!!??” the young men chorused, shocked. “Why? It’s the truth!!” “I… I know that but you shouldn’t say that to… to a boy!” Koshino was blushing furiously. “That’s why I call him a idiot,” A deep voice interferred the conversation and it could come from no the other than the number one rookie of Shohoku High School, Rukawa. “Kae-chan!” Hikaru exclaimed as he tried tp wriggle out of Hanamichi’s hold, trying to be free. “Don’t you call me an idiot again, Rukawa, or I’ll make sure you can never talk again,” he warned. The dark hair youth smiled inwardly. He did not care for any of the other man's warning. In fact he did not even hear the man talking as he mentally examined Hanamichi’s look. /I should have known Hana looks good in tight jeans and white T-shirt nevertheless I still prefer you topless, Hana-kun. / “Rukawa!! Don’t you ignore me when I’m talking to you” Hanamichi fussed. “Don’t make a fuss over such a little thing, aho.” /You will never know such a deep feeling I have for you./ “Why does Kae-chan keep calling you a ‘aho, ‘niichan?” Hikaru, at last, stopped wriggling and asked his brother curiously. Hanamichi was about to reply his brother when Rukawa’s voice solved the question for him. “Because he is a ‘aho. That’s why.” “RUKAWA!! HOW DARE YOU!?” Hanamichi once again saw red but before he could perform further action, Hikaru bided surprisingly. “Really?” The men’s sweatdropped. “Ok I think that’s enough,” Sendoh who had been forgotten, finally said before he turned to lead away with Koshino, coughing. “Let get the game started. I don’t think the gentlemen over there are patient enough to wait any longer.” “Akira….” “What is it, love?” Sendoh replied sweetly. “Could you please take your hand off of my behind?” Koshino sounded annoyed. “Oh!!” Sendoh pouted. There were 12 players participating in the tournament and were equally separated into groups by drawing lots. As a result, Hanamichi was with Rukawa. There was no surprise since Sendoh was the one who drew the lot for them, and Jin. Akagi was with Sendoh and Kiyota. Maki was with Koshino and Mitsui. And Kogure was, unfortunately, with Uosumi and Fukuda. Ryota refused to be engaged in the game and stood by Ayako in one of the court shady corners happily. After a long discussion over which teams would be playing first, Akagi and Maki led their teammates into the court. Maki looked around the area. Not seeing what he was looking for, he asked the Shohoku’s captain who looked at him in puzzlement. “Akagi, isn’t your sister coming?” “She will be here soon enough. Why do you ask?” “Nah! Nothing, I just wondered if those guys were coming with her,” The tan captain replied truthfully. “Those guys? Sakuragi's gang you mean?” Akagi questioned the other curiously. But before he could have the answer of his question a sweet voice called him. “Akagi sempai, we are starting the game now. Could you please save the questions for later?” Ayako demanded not so politely. “Oh sorry about that. Please go ahead.” The huge man apologized and Ayako blew the whistle to start the match. At the Central Park front gate, two figures were running toward the park. “Y… Yohei-kun wait up!” "Opps, sorry Haruko-chan,” the man slowed down until the girl caught up with him. He looked at her sympathetically. “I know you are tired but we must hurry.” Haruko was panting hard. She had never thought that Yohei was such a good runner. Surprisingly he was as fast as Sakuragi. “No wonder you are Sakuragi-kun’s friend, you are fast. Why don’t you play sport, Yohei-kun?” “Well, Haruko-chan we’ll talk over this later, okay? But now we Must Go on!” “Okay okay! Why are we in such a rush anyway?” Yohie paused, the memory of yesterday evening floating into his mind. Flash back. 6.00 pm, Saturday Ring Ring Ring “Yohei-chan! Can you get the phone for me please?” a woman called out from the kitchen. “Yes, mom,” Yohei ran hurriedly down the staircase and hastily picked up the phone. “Hello, Mito Residence.” “Yohei, how are you?” the voice said from the other end of the receiver. Yohei recognized the voice at once. “Sendoh, where in the hell were you? I was waiting for you to call all week!” “Oh calm down, man. I've got everything under control. All you have to do now is call Haruko, tell her that you will be picking her up tomorrow morning, then you take her to the central park by 9.00 o’clock.” “Wait a minute! I don’t get it. I haven’t heard from you for a whole goddamn week and now you tell me to date my best friend’s crush?!” Yohei practically screamed. “Listen! Listen! Don’t get me wrong here. I didn’t tell you to go on a date! I’m telling you to take her to the park.” “I don’t see any difference” “Yes, there is!! You take her there and I can pair her up with Maki,” Sendoh said more furiously now. “Oh, all right then.” “Now, you get it.” “Sorry man.” “It’s quite all right. I have to run. Bye.” “Bye.” End the flashback. “Yohei-kun are you ok?” Haruko stared at him worriedly. “I’m sorry I yell at you.” “I’m ok, thanks. Let’s go, Haruko-chan. We are already late.” Back in the court, the first match had ended with the victory of Maki team or at least that was what it supposed to be. The game was close till Kiyota sprained his ankle. Jin rushed to the boy’s side as soon as he fell on the ground with a loud “thud”. His injury was nothing serious but Jin did not seem to let it go very easily. They argued and nearly had a big quarrel but Jin at last scooped the boy up into his arms and dismissed the them in anger. Even though the two had vanished into the green wood but the loud argument could still be heard from time to time. “Jin!! What do you think you are doing? PUT ME DOWN!!” “No! You are coming home with me.” "Jin!! I said put ME DOWN!!” “No!!” “Jin!!” “No!!” All who were left behind were stunned by Jin’s aggressive reaction. No one would have guessed that such things came from the polite Kainan top player. They fell silent and only the rustle of leaves was heard. The silence was broken by the sound of quick footsteps. They all turned to see the new arrivals who looked backed at them in perplexity. “H… hi guys, why are you all looking at me like that?” Haruko shot the question stupidly. “Ano… I think you have just missed… the first match… er… Haruko chan?” Uosumi replied absent mindedly then he went still again. A huge sweat drop suddenly appeared behind the girl’s head. In the mean time, Yohei’s eyes had spotted his best friend’s brother standing beside a fox eyed man in one of the shady corners and approached them. “Was there something going on here before I arrived?” he asked as he lifted the boy up and into his arms. Then he added. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be playing basketball by now?” “…” He heaved a sigh. "Fine, but you know if I were you, I would talk more for my own benefit.” “I’ll talk when I feel like it,” Rukawa replied. “Suit yourself, “ he deadpanned then turned his attention to the boy in his grip. “Hi-chan can you tell me what had just happened?” He asked. "I don’t know. But I saw a man fell down. You know the one with a long hair. And the other man broke in upon him and they argued and then the taller man lifted the other up and walked away just like that.” Hikaru finished briefing the story and pointed to where Hanamichi stood at one side of the court. “And ‘niichan and the others froze since then. Do you know why Kae-chan?” Rukawa gave them sidelong look gave a smirke that nearly caused Yohei's heart to lurch. “They just don’t try to accept the truth, that’s all.” “What truth?” Yohei asked but Rukawa simply looked away, gave him no answer in return. /Enough is enough! Why is he always infuriating me?/ With that thought he left the man angrily, wondering why he intended to help the man in the first place. /Yeah right, I was forced. / He walked to where Haruko was standing and trying her best to bring the group back to live. “Hello! Come on say something! Hey! Say anything! ‘Niisan! Sakuragi-kun! Ayako chan? Uosumi-san!? Sen… Waa!!” She started when a hand tapped on her shoulder. She turned around and a cute boy was thrust into her arms. "Er?” “Let me handle this,” Yohei said as walked passed Haruko and to the certain redheaded, Hanamichi. He then signaled the fox to approach them. Once the man was standing in froth of him, he pushed him forward and said. “Kiss him.” “Huh?” Rukawa said in astonishment. “What?!” Haruko bellowed. “I SAID KISS HIM. DO IT!!” Yohei said with more force. “No! You can’t! Yohei have you loss your mind! Why did you tell Rukawa-kun…” Despite what the girl said, the fox ignored her and did what he was told pressing his lips with his beloved’s one. Yohei smirked as his command was completed. /Now wait and see./ He thought satisfyingly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Waaaaaa!!!! Ru…RUKAWA-KUN!!!! NOOOOOoooo!!!” Haruko screamed, widening her big eyes even more. The poor Hikaru had to cover his ears to prevent them from her high pitched voice. That snapped the men back from la la land altogether, including Hanamichi whom immediately punched Rukawa right in the face. “What!!” Maki finally came to his senses. He swept his eyes around to find the source of the voice. There, a few meters away, was a brown hair girl who was on a blink of tear staring shockingly at something. He sighed heavily when his eyes followed her glance and met with a pair of men fighting as if to kill each other. “Don’t mind them, just a ridiculous quarrel between the cold fox and the red monkey,” Fukuda rendered to his captain-unsaid question. “Yes right, but no wonder Haruko's got such an ugly voice. I guess I can't expect everyone to have as beautiful voice as you” Mitsui mused playfully as he wound his arm around Ryota’s shoulder. Ryota shook it away hastily as his eyes searched the area for any sight of audiences and then there were Sendoh and Koshino laughing contentedly. “Do it again and I'll kill you.” He warned, flushing. Mitsui just pouted, understanding his beloved shyness. “It’s too late to be shy now Ryota,” Fukuda pointed carelessly. Ryota was about to snap back when Maki questioned dumbfound. “Shy about what?” Fukuda gave a sigh and replied tiredly, "Nothing Maki-san. Nothing.” “Oh, dear. Don’t act a fool. You know it all to well.” Sendoh grinned from ear to ear, knowing the man had a secret interest on the certain someone. “I’m not acting! And I’m definitely not a fool!” Maki protested furiously. “Yeah, sure you aren’t,” Sendoh treated. “Sendoh!” What followed was another long argument between the two that was ignored by their companies. Back at Harukos', whom her brother and friends approached. She stood motionlessly; achromatic tears trickled down her cheeks beautifully. “Aa!! Nee-chan!! Are you all right? Why are you crying?” Hikaru tried but the girl did not seem to care. "Haruko! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Ayako, who had just got there, questioned breathlessly. Akagi hugged his sobbing sister close, slowly running his hand through her soft hair. Kogure and Uozumi knelt beside them, unsure of what to do. “Hikaru-kun, what happened?” Kogure asked with a soothing voice but the boy only shook his head. Then the girl shifted in the huge man hold and a broken voice escaped from her lips. “Ru… Rukawa kun. He… he sniff he is kissed Sakuragi-kun.” “What!? You are kidding!!” They all said in unison. “No, I’m not!” Haruko protested strongly pointing an alleged finger at the now fighting couple. “They were kissing. I swear. I saw them…” Then she paused as if she’d realized something. Faster than a lighting speed, she grasped the smaller red-haired boy by his shoulders. With all the hopes to prove her words, she asked him. “Hikaru! Hikaru! Please tell them you saw your brother kissed Rukawa-kun. Please!?” They all waited patiently for the reluctant boy’s answer. Once the boy opened his mouth however, a voice cut him off him. “There is no need of your answer, Hi-chan,” A slender young man placed his hand soothingly on the poor boy shoulder. Hikaru, whose shoulder was touched, heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Yohei-sampai." “You are always welcome,” He rendered, smiling kindly, then looked Haruko who started to cry again, straight in the eyed. “I’m sorry, Haruko…” /Do it, Mito Yohei!! Don’t feel guilty now, you idiot! / “I see…” Haruko uttered quietly, her tears sparkling pitifully in her lovely brown eyes. “You knew this all along, don’t you?” “Not quite. I came to know about it a week ago,” Yohei replied sadly. He sympathized with the girl greatly. “This is what he wants, Yohei-kun? This is the reason why he came to you a week ago?” “You knew?” Yohei bewildered. “Yes, but I have never thought of such thing.” “What is going on? What are you two talking about?” Ayako was totally confounded. “Yes, Ayako is right. If there is something bothering you, Haruko, you should know you have me,” Akagi tenderly whispered into his sister’s eyes. “No, you can’t help me this time oni-chan. But if you are willing to help me then please leave me with Yohei-kun, alone.” Akagi was taken aback by his sister’s coldness. Then he left with his friends. “Did you bring me here so I can see what I just saw?” Yohei looked away from her, shame in his eyes. “Yes.” She lifted her face up to the sky so that she could stop the tears from trickling down her face. “That’s all I need to know. Thank you.” Then she rose and strode off to where her brother and the other were. “I’m sorry,” His word was barely a sweep of a cool breeze. He knew the girl would never hear but he said it anyway. A warm hand presented itself on his shoulder and he turned to come face to face with the spike hair man. “You all right?” “No, I feel awful. I can’t believe I did that. She is a sweet girl and I…” “Stop it, Yohei. It’s not your fault. You did what you needed to do,” Sendoh consoled him. “Yeah, but…” “Stop it already! You can’t redo anything. You know it. Look, you see that? She is leaving. Like it or not you have done it and now you have to finish what you started.” “You are cruel.” "Sometime you have to be cruel to be kind.” “Yeah right. Come on, let finish the job.” Then he noticed the boy sanding by his side. His eye shone with puzzlement. “What is going on? Why is she crying? What made her sad, Yohei-chan?” “We will explain this to you later but first could you go stay with Koshino ‘niisan for a little while?” Sendoh cut in, averted the boy attention. “Ugh, okey,” Then he ran to where Koshino and the other, who were left. When the boy was out of eyeshot Yohei murmured his thanks and Sendoh waved his hand as if to say it was nothing. They walked up to the fighting pair and stopped. They threw a look at each another and then without a word they set to work. They situated themselves on each side of the oblivious couple and started gingerly parting them. “Let go of me! I’m gonna kill that stupid fox!” Hanamichi struggled to get free from his friend's firm grip. Despite his slim body his friend was well built. "You don’t want to do that, believe me.” “How the hell would you know,” he scolded. “Because he told me he love you,” he deadpanned. “You are lying?!” Hanamichi said incredulously. “Ask him yourself if you don’t believe me,” Yohei then released him and stayed back. Hanamichi approached the fox eyed man whom Sendoh just released. The man stared at him intently, waiting for the question to come. “Did you… did you… Agk!! I can’t do it!” His face was burning hot from embarrassment. “Never mind! I’m leaving!” He spun around and was about to walk away when a voice stopped him. “I love you,” The voice said soothingly like a cold water in the clearing. “What?!” Hanamichi could not believe his ears, turning back to get a full look at the man before him. /Did he say what I think he said. / “I love you,” Rukawa repeated, not caring that the others were watching. The redheaded flushed like crazy at the confession. He sputtered. “Aa… I… aa…” “Please don’t turn me away. Please tell me you love me too,” Rukawa silently begged. “I… I don’t know… I…” “Please! You must know somewhere deep in you heart you love me too! That’s why I caught you staring at me during practices.” “Nani! I didn’t!” the tensai protested. “Yes, you did. You know you did. You know you love me too, please,” Rukawa was desperate he had to get Hanamichi to admit his feeling now or he would lose his chance. The redhead was reluctant but at last he gave a nod and Rukawa immediately pulled him into his arms, crushing the breath out of him. “Rukawa… air…” Hanamichi squeaked. “Opps, sorry!” The man loss his hold and looked down at his new lover, smiling contentedly. Hanamichi reached up his arms and touched the man lips gently. “Will you come to my house?” he asked. “I’ll sure come,” kissing the top of his lover’s head, Rukawa replied huskily. “Ah! So that is what happened!" the group said in unison. Sendoh, who had just helped Yohei finished briefing the story, sweatdroped. They were all sitting on the round wooden table near the court discussing about the recent consequence after the others had left. “Wasn’t that a surprise? Yohei was the one to turn our sweet Haruko down. Bad, bad Yohei,” Sendoh openly infuriated Yohei. “Hey, don’t you say I’m cruel. I didn’t want to do it in the beginning!” Yohei snapped. “But you did make her cry,” Kogure pointed. “Teme!!” “You sounded very much like the monkey now, Yohei,” Fukuda sighed. “Fukie you!!” (in case any of you miss of didn’t get to read the original sd, I’ll tell you here that Hana & Yohei call Fukuda “Fukie”. It’s in the volume 10 something I can’t remember.) “Yeah, I definitely am in agreement with you, Fukuda,” Maki said contentedly. “Hey, this is not fair! Why are all of you picking on me?” “We didn’t, yet,” Kogure, Ryota and Mitsui chorused. “Damn YOU ALL!!” he fumed. “That’s it! I’m going home!” He stood up and walked away infuriatingly. He could hear the party laugh and yelled saying they were sorry but he was too angry to drop the case. The yells ceased completely by the time he reached the park gate and was replaced by a sound of quick footsteps. “Yohei-kun, wait up!!” Kogure called out as he ran after him. Yohei turned and met with the panted boy who shortly reached him. "What do you want?” he asked. “Can I walk you home?” he requested, smiling brightly. “Why would you want to walk me home?” he asked curiously. “Cause I have something to tell you.” To be Continued... **Previous** Next **