Disclaimer: Wish they were mine.

A/N: Spring-fun for everyone while walking down memory lane.

Pictures

Aaah spring! The sun was shining. The wind was blowing. The birds were chirping. Inside a mansion, one Kaede Rukawa was waging a savage war against—dust bunnies. Yep, Kaede was spring-cleaning.

"I should be practicing," he muttered as he attacked the dust under his bed.

"It's Golden Week!" he hissed and swiped the ceiling.

"Even the d'aho is on a vacation!" he growled as he opened his closet with a bang.

His frown deepened and he slowly slumped down, frustrated energy draining out of him. It had been five days since Hanamichi had gone with his mother for a week-long vacation with some relatives. His boyfriend had invited him to come along but Kaede had refused.

"But Youhei and the gang will be there! C'mon it'll be fun! And my uncle and aunt have been dying to meet you ever since they saw you on TV!"

Kaede shook his head. Even though the gundan had accepted him as Hanamichi's friend, he still felt uncomfortable with them. He also had a sneaking suspicion that Youhei knew the real score between him and Hanamichi. But the real reason he had refused was that he had become frightened of meeting his boyfriend's relatives. What if he didn't measure up to their standards of being Hanamichi's friend? What if they thought that he was too cold or too snobbish or too—

Kaede growled again and vented his anger on some boxes stacked up at the bottom of his closet.

He knew that he would miss his redhead but he just didn't know how much until the first night of vacation.

He awakened the first morning savoring the peace. Trouble started when he practiced that afternoon and he passed the ball to a nonexistent Hanamichi. He had been disoriented for a while after that. Then that night he had been listening to the ringing of the phone when it hit him that Hanamichi was not home to pick up the other line. He had stared at the phone for a few minutes after that.

The next days had gone from bad to worse. Hanamichi had called saying he was having a great time and wished Kaede was there. That phone call had depressed him even more because he wished he was there too. Going out had seemed too much effort. Besides Hanamichi might call again.

So there he was, spending his vacation with the soon-to-be-extinct dust bunnies.

His jerky movements caused one of the boxes to fall down and spill out its contents. Kaede's eyes widened at the photos scattered on the floor. He slowly picked one and saw Hanamichi laughing with his gundan while walking home from school. Kaede smiled as he sifted through the other photos. He had forgotten about the pictures he had taken during his first year in high school. His mind traveled back to the past as he looked at one photo showing Hanamichi getting some shooting tips from Ryota.

"Just relax your arms when you put the ball in the basket," Ryota emphasized as he demonstrated for the nth time the move had been teaching Hanamichi.

"Yeah, yeah. I got ya," the redhead waved a hand complacently as he tried to follow Ryota's example.

A few feet from them Kaede pretended that he was arranging something in his bag.

*Click*

Hanamichi faltered and missed the hoop.

"Hanamichi!" Ryota yelled, frustrated.

"Hey it wasn't my fault. I heard something!"

"Oh please, can't you come up with a better excuse? Listen…"

Kaede smirked at the bewildered redhead who kept looking right and left while Ryota delivered his lecture.

Kaede held up another photo showing Hanamichi sitting alone on a slope of grass near the river.

Anzai-sensei's words kept replaying in Kaede's head, keeping him awake as he pedaled back home. Yes. He would become the best player in Japan. Then he would— He suddenly clutched the break and almost toppled off his bike. But it wasn't the impact of his ribs hitting the handle that took his breath away. It was the scene below him.

The sun was setting, painting the sky orange, red, and dark blue. Some birds were calling out the end of the day. Against this backdrop, sitting on the slope was Hanamichi, his dark blue tank top and jeans making a sharp contrast against his blazing red hair. The boy was staring off into the water in a rare moment of contemplation.

Kaede choked when he realized he had been holding his breath for quite a while. He hastily fumbled inside his jacket.

Gadget ready he made sure that the redhead still hadn't spotted him before taking a shot. He was half tempted to call out to Hanamichi so that he would have the redhead looking straight at the lens. But then he'd have to explain why he was taking a picture anyway and he wasn't ready to divulge everything. Not yet. Besides, he didn't want to ruin Hanamichi's peaceful moment.

He took a moment to stare at Hanamichi before pedaling off. Yes. He would become the best player in Japan. Then he would make Hanamichi his!

Kaede chuckled. Of course, any plans involving the redhead would always—inevitably—change. Hanamichi's unpredictable nature made sure of that. Kaede's face sobered up when he picked up the next picture. It was shot from below Hanamichi who sitting on a bench, his shoelaces untied, his body partially obscured by a shadow, his eyes blazing.

The mood inside the locker room was decidedly weary but high. There was time! They would beat the team from Sannoh in the second half! They were strong!

Hanamichi slumped on the bench. Kaede plopped his bag at the redhead's feet. Hanamichi glared him. Kaede saw him open his mouth to say something probably scathing but Akagi towered over them. The redhead shut his mouth as their captain went over a battle plan.

Meanwhile, Kaede kneeled down and rummaged inside his bag. Timing his actions perfectly he pressed the shutter just as Akagi said something that made Hanamichi's eyes shine with grim determination. Kaede pushed the camera back under his clothes and coolly took out his towel. He stood up and mopped his face as he also listened to Akagi's speech.

Kaede had changed his mind after that. He would become the best player in Japan but only if Hanamichi was by his side. Firmly resolved to let Hanamichi know of his feelings, he had pursued the redhead the only way he knew how—by irritating the other boy even more. He had even accepted the extra training from the All Japan Team just to be near Hanamichi. Because of that, he managed to have the redhead all to himself most of the time.

Kaede smiled at a picture of Hanamichi wearing a violet jacket over a white shirt with a hood, his hair long again. The redhead was staring in confusion at a small bunch of flowers he held in his fingers.

Kaede leaned against the doorframe and watched Hanamichi double check his bags and survey the room one last time. The redhead grinned.

"Watch out Kanagawa, the tensai is back!" he shouted with glee.

"We better all hide from your ugly face then," Kaede muttered from the door.

Hanamichi spun around and glared at him.

"Shut up you stupid fox! I will definitely beat you this time! You just wait! This tensai will show everyone who the best player in Kanagawa is!"

"Hn. You can't even be the best player in Shohoku."

"Why you!"

Hanamichi lunged forward intent on wiping the haughty expression off Kaede's face.

"Besides why would you settle on being just the best player in Kanagawa?" Kaede asked before the punch could land on his face.

"Huh?" Hanamichi was so surprised that he stumbled forward.

Kaede caught him easily and held him up.

"D'aho, why settle for Kanagawa when you can have the whole Japan, the whole world?" Kaede whispered intensely in his ear.

He felt Hanamichi shiver. The redhead pushed him away. They stood there staring at each other. Hanamichi was the first to look away.

"Stupid fox, what the hell is wrong with you? First you visit me a lot but you never say anything when you're here. Then you start acting weird and saying weird things. Are you sick or something? Wait a minute! Aha!" Hanamichi triumphantly pointed a finger at the other boy. "You couldn't handle the training and now you've finally realized that I'm the better player!"

He uproariously laughed his signature laugh. Kaede relaxed minutely as he heard the familiar sound. Hanamichi hadn't laughed much throughout the summer.

A nurse appeared by Kaede's side. She smiled at the boy. Everyone in the hospital already knew the good-looking boy who kept visiting the loudmouth Hanamichi even when the redhead was asleep.

"Hanamichi, you're mom has settled your bill and is waiting for you downstairs," she said before hurrying towards another room.

Hanamichi gathered up his things and walked towards the door, which was still partially blocked by Kaede.

"Oi, kitsune, get out of the way! My mom is waiting."

Kaede still didn't budge. Hanamichi fumed and tried to squeeze out. He found his way suddenly blocked by a small bunch of purple flowers, which were thrust to his chest. He automatically let go of one bag just to grab the flowers.

"I'll see you in Kanagawa," Kaede whispered before walking off.

He looked back to see Hanamichi staring at the flowers as if he had never seen anything like them all his life. He easily gave in to the temptation. He brought out his camera and shot a picture of Hanamichi.

The redhead's eyes widened as he heard the sound of a gadget clicking. A realization had hit him.

"Wait a minute!"

Kaede turned around to walk away.

"You were the one who kept giving me flowers ever since I got here! I thought it was Haruko-san or my mom…but it was you!"

Kaede kept on walking.

"Oi kitsune! Oi! It was you, wasn't it!"

Kaede glanced back and saw Hanamichi stumble over the handle of the bag he had dropped. He hurried up to make sure he would be gone by the time Hanamichi freed himself.

"That's the first time ever that you directly let me know about your feelings."

Kaede jumped a little as warm arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"I think the whole hospital knew that a mysterious person gave me flowers everyday. I think there was running bet on it. But those flowers always cheered me up, y'know, whenever I was down. They always reminded me that someone cared. When mom couldn't come but the flowers still came, I would always imagine that I had a secret admirer who was just too shy to talk to me face to face."

Hanamichi took the picture from Kaede's lax fingers.

"But then I learned that it was you. At first I was in denial. I said to myself that you did it just to pick a fight with me and humiliate me."

Kaede relaxed into Hanamichi's arms.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked.

Hanamichi rummaged among the pictures and picked one showing him in a red jacket over a white T-shirt, looking at his feet and scratching the back of his head.

"When I bumped into you in the common court the day after I returned. I confronted you, I was really angry and all but you just said—"

"Because I like you."

Hanamichi shrugged.

"That kinda threw me off."

Kaede twisted his body to better see Hanamichi.

"And I did this."

He kissed Hanamichi softly.

"I thought you weren't due back in two more days?" he asked after a while.

"My uncle had a stomach ache and we had to rush him to the hospital. Mom decided just to come home early since the vacation was already ruined and all."

"Oh."

Hanamichi leaned forward and sifted through the pile of pictures.

"Y'know, I always wondered why I kept hearing this clicking sound everywhere I go. I thought I was losing my mind," he added after a pause.

Kaede snorted.

"I also thought that it was just coincidence that you'd be jogging when I was sitting by the beach or coming into the showers just as I step inside or you'd be partnered with me for clean-up duty most of the time. Now that I see these…kitsune! You were stalking me all along!"

Kaede laughed and pulled his redhead for another kiss. He had started his hobby early spring the previous year. The pictures had been his only company for quite a long time. But, nothing really beat the real thing…

Outside, the sun was shining. The wind was blowing. The birds were chirping. And Kaede forgot his war against the dust bunnies.

-end-

A/N: Rukawa is so stalker material. And, oh, to those who reviewed the last vignette, the story does seem similar to Love Mode doesn't it? Even though I only found out about the manga after I created the vignette. Weird.