Varsity Reunion

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is appallingly not mine.

Final Chapter

Mitsui turned around to see Kogure Kiminobu standing just a few feet away from him. He was blushing, but certainly not from anything else but alcohol. To augment suspicions, the air around him seemed to have been invaded by the acrimonious scent of brandy. But nonetheless, taking from his controlled actions, he was sober.

"Kogure, what are you doing here at this time of the morning?" Mitsui asked.

"I just took off from the bar." Kogure answered, narrowing his eyes. "Was that Rukawa?"

As there was no gainsaying what the naked eye sees, Mitsui replied, "Yes."

There was a nagging pause between them which was now too hard to parry, or overlook. Mitsui could see Kogure becoming more and more ponderous as the seconds gunned by and he could only wish he could censor his mind completely from this wise, troubleshooting old friend of his. Kogure opened his mouth and zipped it close once again. Finally, after a spell of continuous hesitation, he managed to venture, "Mitsui, you left him and what's worse, he wasn't the same after that. You owed him an explanation, that's true, but not this kind. This isn't something that would help him move on."

"What do you know about what happened tonight? Who are you to say that?"

"Perhaps I'm not the best person to say this to you but believe me, you shouldn't just meddle with a perfect marriage. They are very much in love and made for each other. If you stop that now, and I believe you have the power to, it wouldn't be much to boast of. I'm sure it's something you'd repent of later on, ruining something that is beautiful--"

"Kogure, I would advise you to stick your nose to your own business. You understand that Rukawa came here on his own freewill and, must I mention, pounced on me offhandedly. What more evidence should I give to prove that he knew what he was doing? In fact, for reasons that escape me, he confessed that he still has that something/flame/whatfuckingever for me and I, knowing who he is through and through, have reason to believe that there's nothing in this world he wouldn't do to make me his again." Mitsui declared, hardly ceasing to breathe.

"Maybe." Kogure muttered but even as he said this, he looked very far from convinced. "But what gets to me is your refusal to acknowledge the fact that you are compromising both your image, that this is wrong."

"Better wrong than sorry."

"Should I say that your opinions lack principle? You don't know what the future brings, Mitsui. This may just be a precursor to another more scandalous, worse event. I would say, and I'm cocksure that I'm just echoing the majority in this, that Rukawa is much, much better off without you tugging at his conscience."

"Tugging at his conscience? I didn't do anything but to be here and here he came proclaiming his undying love for me! Who am I to refuse? Who are you to boss me around? Do you think either of us can do something about this?"

"Did Rukawa ever tell you that he would prefer you over his wife?"

"He didn't, but he might as well have." Mistui said, baring his white teeth to his former best pal.

"I look at those two and all I see are two people too good for each other. All I see are two people who never stop thinking about each other, whether they are separate or together. Tell me what could be a more perfect thing than that?"

"He thinks of her all the time?" Mitsui almost shouted as his syllables echoed all the way to the end of the hall. He was now panting, "For every thought he spends on her, he spends a thousand on me! There isn't a single moment he drains without wishing to have me back on his side. There isn't a time in his sleep when he wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night wanting to feel my touch again. There is no person on this accursed godforsaken planet that would replace me! Now, tell me, what's the fact that he's married when I'm here? What does it matter if we wouldn't be perfect together? You are just saying what convention dictates. You know nothing about us."

"I don't, and I'd be sorry to learn more."

"You don't have to feel disgusted. You could just forget about what I told you."

"That, unfortunately, is no easy thing to do." Kogure said. "Mitsui, anyone you ask would say that he did the right thing. You can't just contest that, not when your excuse is a long-dead relationship you've had with him in the past, leave aside you were both naïve and too young at the time."

"The past is sometimes more powerful than anything in the present or future. Right now, that's all I know." Mitsui said obstinately.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you what to do anymore. I would just say that I'm against this and that's all. Think of the aftermath: Consider your position, consider his."

"I've thought about it well and long enough."

"Well then, Mitsui, I guess I shall leave you to your plans. Good morning," Kogure bowed and marched slowly away. Mitsui cantered back to his room, forbidding himself to to lose control.

--

Lunch time was spent inside the royal cafeteria with less enthusiasm than the previous night's dinner. From where Mitsui sat, he could get a good view of the Rukawa couple who were eating silently. He could almost detect, as he was sure, the mutuality of their affection for each other, even if they didn't make any apparent movement. They looked exceedingly at ease, and at home with each other in that less-than-chaste way they traded glances. Mitsui felt a spate of envy rushing inside him. Looking at them, it seemed easy for Rukawa to forget everything he just said to Mitsui that morning.

Quickly after he finished his dessert, Mitsui descended down to the golf course. He looked at Rukawa's direction and gestured at him to follow. In a few minutes, they were under the shade of one of the trees in the ninth green, the sun shining intensely down upon the grass. Away from the group and the buzzing crowd, Mitsui spoke,

"It occurred to me that these are precarious times and that you would have to decide now. I will be gone in one day's time on an urgent business back at home and this might be our last meeting hence."

"I know." Rukawa said while averting Mitsui's gaze. A sort of deafening silence followed and it seemed that their surrounding would speak for both of them if they didn't choose to break the silence in the next seconds.

"Rukawa, if it's too difficult for you to leave her I would understand. It's clear to me that right now you're oscillating between me and her. Now I don't want you to think that I'm taking you away from the things you love. For if you go with me, you have to understand that you're going to have to sacrifice a great deal here, put everything on the line. You may lose all; there's no guarantee. Apart from that, I don't know if I can make you happy."

"You made me happy once; I can't see why you can't do it again."

"Uh-huh." Mitsui nodded. "Am I right in thinking that you have weighed the matter carefully? Have you thought about it since you left me earlier?"

"I have."

"Well, even if I tell you now that there's no pressure, the contrary is what's going to come out. This is a very complicated situation you and I are facing. We might be wrong; we might be right. Who knows? All I know is that if I lose you again it would be the end of the tether for me. I waited so long...you have no idea."

"Yes, I understand." Rukawa replied in his typical low note.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt, Rukawa, but you know, whichever road we take, someone's going to be hurt. It's a lose-lose situation for you. I think that's the first thing we have to take into account here: If you feel the faintest stroke of doubt, you should change your mind."

"Doubt is normal nowadays. I won't deny that I have doubts at the present but for once, truth to tell, I have a sense security. What came to light this morning, as you very well know, isn't something we should end now or ever. I leave her and I regret it once; I leave you and I regret it forever, over and over again."

Mitsui held him in his gaze. He wanted to touch him if only to get rid of the burdening, recurrent urge to be one with him again. He knew that his longing for Rukawa didn't just die along with his passion for basketball. It went on living, but sleeping, and woke up at the merest hint. Being this near to him, as accessible as before, was something that overwhelmed him. Rukawa used to overwhelm him all the time, back in their Shohoku days, after all. And as he rested his eyes on Rukawa, he became reassured that loving him, in fact, was a constant journey that slowed down at various times only to loom again with an even greater prowess.

"Before you raise your signal, I want to tell you that I wanted to come back to you, many times. And the more I thought about it, the harder it became to make it come true, the less the possibility to move on appeared. I just didn't have the nerve. Then you got married and it ultimately transpired to me that I was too late. I never stopped loving you, not for half a second."

Rukawa nodded and gradually, he parted his lips. In an instant, he made his decision.

--

"Kira, come here. I need to talk to you."

"What about, darling?"

"It's something important."

"Important, as in a matter of life and death? Or important as in what color of tie do I think suits you better; red or blue?"

"The first one."

"Is this about us?"

"Yes, and no."

And Rukawa bolstered up what remained of his courage and told her all his heart's contents, in a way honoring his need to bare the whole truth. He spilled every little detail, primarily every bit that was worthy of his confession. Now and then he would stop in his tracks, recovering his voice. Once he began again, he would feel vomit rising up to his tongue. He held back with all his might and refused to shed tears. Each time he would punctuate a sentence, she would inhale deeply as if to prepare herself for a long plunge. She was biting her lower lip all throughout and at one point, when it was quite impossible to contain it any longer, she let her tears roll down on her cheeks freely.

"I don't expect you to forgive me right away, Kira. And if it's any consolation, I do love you."

She pursed her lips for a moment. She was shaking her head, which drew the attention from her trembling. This, naturally, was far beyond what she had foreseen, too far removed from her self-made realm of possibilities. When she finally spoke, she could only get out of it through broken snatches. "I need to know that this man, Mitsui, is going to take very good care of you. I have to be sure that you'd leave me for someone who'd do better by you than I could ever do in all our years together. I need to rest assured that I'm leaving you in best hands, not just good."

"You are, don't worry." he kissed her just then, cupping his shoulders in his hands. At that point, that was the least he could do.

A few minutes later, he helped her pack her luggage. Once everything was set she drove away in their Porsche 360 Modena. She never looked back, nor said another word to Rukawa. The only sound that Rukawa last heard from her was a short sniff and three succeeding coughs. He went back inside the hotel, to Mitsui's suite. He opened the door and found the older man leaning against the window.

"You saw everything?" Rukawa said.

"Yes. That has gotta be one of the most heartbreaking farewells I came to witness."

"Don't mock, sempai." Rukawa grunted.

"I'm not mocking."

Rukawa collapsed on the chair next to the antique vase. He felt so fatigued and yet, the day was hardly over.

"I was thinking of canceling my flight tomorrow. I think I'd need to see Kanagawa first." Mitsui said just then.

"It's pretty much the same as before."

"I can imagine that. But it's been too long since I strolled around the city with you."

"You're right."

"You wouldn't decline if I invite you to walk with me?" Mitsui said. This time his face was clear and yes, he was grinning.

"No, of course not."

Then, fighting his weariness, Rukawa plodded toward Mitsui. He outstretched an arm for the other to take. As he traced his fingers on Mitsui's face, surveying it, he realized that this was what he wanted to live and die for. That was the face that defined his very existence and his concept of joy. With no particular warning, he began taking part in their old ritual of exchanging affectionate caresses; they started kissing, their lips locked tightly on each other as their silhouettes began entwining against the open light of the window.

END