Chapter 8: Gratitude

He spread out his hands wide on his bed, frustrated. He's been like this for almost an hour already, and still sleep does not seem to come by his side. He tossed and turned a few more times until he finally sat up, scratching his head in annoyance.

"Damn it, why can't I get to sleep?!" Mitsui muttered to himself. He knew what the reason is, but inside his mind he keeps denying it. Looking at the clock perched on his desk, and determined to win against this strike of insomnia, he took out his basketball from his drawer. Maybe a few hoops outside will do the trick. Or maybe not. He immediately threw it back in. Then an idea came. He quickly rummaged through his bag as his face beamed in relief. He took out his mathematics book triumphantly.

"Better than any sleeping pill," he snickered. He sat on his desk and started solving a couple of problems and surprisingly weird, he found himself engrossed in the lesson.

"What in the world's the matter with me..?! And I thought this would be the ultimate knockout," he said remorsefully. It was way past midnight, and finally he admitted defeat.

"Might as well continue the pace," he said as he reached out for his bag and placed a couple more notebooks before him. As he stared at them, "I can't believe I'm doing this," and shook his head, as he began to flip the pages and started to scribble some review notes.

"This is taking longer than usual," Haruko said, as her so-called 'stalkers' who are relentlessly following her trail have started getting on her nerves. She continued walking along the corridor of the freshmen building with her friends, Matsui and Fuji. Her annoyance made her pace even faster, leaving the other two with no choice but to take bigger steps to catch up.

"Wait, Haruko-chan!" Matsui complained, "You're way too fast!"

Ignoring her, "I know a pretty sweet escape route up ahead…" Haruko fumbled. Before she could take a right turn to the girls' restroom, Fuji took a hold of her arm. Haruko glared at her, "What's the matter?"

"This is not doing you any good, why don't you just tell them off?" Fuji suggested.

"It's not actually a bad idea," Matsui remarked, while catching her breath.

Haruko contemplated for a moment, "And how am I supposed to do that?!"

"Just go straight up to them and plead them to get off your back…" Matsui replied.

"You make it sound so simple!" she cried, "But I might just make things worse, I mean look at them, they're like lions waiting for the kill," she said as she glanced over the freshmen guys who are obviously observing her from afar.

Matsui sighed, "Seriously, don't these guys have more important things to do?"

"Tell me about it," Fuji retorted.

"Oh I know!" Matsui said gleefully, "Why not ask Sakuragi-kun to take care of them?"

The two other girls looked at her, half-surprised, half-humored, "Now that is the worst idea I've heard in a while and I'll pretend you didn't say that," Fuji uttered, who barely managed to conceal her laughter at Matsui's idea which lies between the border of sick joke and plain stupidity.

"Sorry I couldn't think of anything else!"

"Maybe you should just talk to your brother instead," Fuji concluded, "After all, he's the one who hired them."

Finally, something that makes sense. Haruko replied, "I think that would be a better action to take."

Just a few weeks ago she was just the average freshman, hanging on to dear life so as not to fail any subjects. How did it get so complicated just because of Mitsui? Not that there was anything more between them. Or is there? Although she got to admit, she felt very safe with him, but awkward at the same time. She knows she can never look at him the same way as before, but even so, her brother must be overreacting, she thought.

As soon as their classes were over, the three girls headed to the school basketball gym to have a word with Captain Akagi. She doesn't care if she had to walk up to him while he plays. He had gone way too far with this stalker drama. As they approached the entrance, the three of them found themselves having to squeeze their way inside the gym. Lots of students, particularly girls were also there cheering for the team as they practice, or so they thought. After some time of pleading and squeezing their way through the crowd, Haruko finally got a glimpse of what's happening inside as she was greeted by Rukawa's glorious dunk. The girls roared in excitement and shrieks of adoration for the super rookie.

"Why am I not surprised to find so many girls here today," Fuji commented.

"Rukawa-kun's back!" Matsui exclaimed.

In an instant, mixed feelings swept over Haruko. While she is more than joyful that Rukawa now gets to play basketball after that incident with her, on the other hand, she's worried that Rukawa might now be pushing himself too hard to make up for the days he haven't been able to practice like he used to, all thanks to her. A sense of guilt overtook her. As her eyes wandered, following Rukawa across the court, she finds the captain standing alongside Ayako, observing the game.

"Ah! Brother!" Haruko said, "Better check Rukawa's condition from him," she took off to approach her brother standing on the opposite side of the court.

"Aaaaaaandddd she completely forgets what she came here for," Fuji nonchalantly remarked.

He missed this feeling. The adrenaline rush, the sound of a dribbling basketball, running across the court, the triumph when he shoots the ball into the ring… even though he had been practicing for a bit despite his doctor's objections, nothing beats playing with the whole team. Rukawa relentlessly went for the ring as his practice opponents which comprised of Mitsui, Miyagi and other freshmen put up a tight defense to stop him from scoring a point. With his unwavering focus, he easily passed through his fellow freshmen players who were then followed by Miyagi who managed to overtake him and stopped by under the ring, waiting for his attack. The Shohoku three-pointer finally caught up with him immediately followed by Sakuragi. The two double-teamed to keep Rukawa from shooting.

"You're supposed to be on his side!" Mitsui bellowed at the red-head.

Sakuragi protested, "But I don't want to be his team mate!"

"What do you think you're doing Sakuragi Hanamichi?!" Ayaka screeched from the bench.

The crowd jeered at Sakuragi, "You bastard, get out of Rukawa-kun's way!"

"Sakuragi must be jealous because Rukawa-kun gets all the attention!"

Mitsui glanced briefly at him, "I'd go back to playing properly if I were you."

"Fine, fine," he arrogantly said, "Rukawa, just give me the damn ba-"

Rukawa made a fake sidestep to his left and from there gained momentum as he dribbled his way past Sakuragi who was blocking his right side. Rushing to the basket, Miyagi ran towards him, hands raised, eyeing him carefully. Without hesitation, he made a jump shot, then raced towards the basket, as if ignoring Miyagi's presence. As the ball bounced from the ring, Rukawa took hold of the rebound and gracefully dunked the ball into the hoop. The team and the crowd watching all cheered for Rukawa as this marks his comeback from being injured weeks ago.

"Rukawa finally recovered," Kogure said in relief. Captain Akagi merely observed the players with satisfaction. They definitely have a chance at the inter-high tournament. His confidence for Shohoku just went a notch higher.

Ayaka blew her whistle, "Okay team, time for a little break!" she said as handed the approaching players their towels.

Mitsui went over to Rukawa, "Don't be too reckless, I'm pretty sure you ignored your doctor's advices… if you're not careful…"

"I'm not like you," Rukawa coldly replied, his face buried in his towel, "I know what I'm doing." Mitsui who got irritated at reciprocation of his concern just settled himself on one of the benches, "That arrogant brat…" he muttered. Why even bother, he concluded, he won't listen anyway. Mitsui's trail of thought got cut off when he saw the captain's sister from afar, walking towards them with a worried look across her face. He wanted to get up and talk to her but as soon as he noticed her going in Akagi's direction, he decided to stay put.

This is unusual, Akagi thought. He's used to see her just watching the basketball practice from a distance, maybe talking to Ayaka… and of course, Sakuragi. But today begs to differ. He faced her with an intrigued expression, although he probably has an idea of his sister's agenda of coming here.

"Look if this is about the…" Akagi faintly said, almost in a guilty tone.

"Is Rukawa-kun really okay now?" Haruko asked.

I guess it was just my imagination. Maybe he doesn't have to deal with the 'stalkers' he hired for Haruko here. Akagi's face brightened, "Yes, although it is still not good for him to play full blast…"

"But just now…" Haruko trailed off in objection. She looked at the exhausted Rukawa, seated on the benches, being scolded by Sakuragi for stealing 'the glory' from him.

"I'll just go talk to him," she said.

Passing through the other team members, she can feel her heart starting to beat faster. But it's now or never. She's pretty sure that she won't get to thank him personally since he'll always be busy practicing now that he's got a lot to make up for those days when he just laid in bed almost all day. Sakuragi, Mitsui and the other team members were quite puzzled to see her walking towards the benches, and then stopped in front of Rukawa. Even Fuji and Matsui exchanged looks when they saw their friend went up to the ace player.

"Haruko-chan!" Sakuragi exclaimed, "Came here to cheer me on?"

Haruko, completely oblivious of Sakuragi's presence, turned to Rukawa. Rukawa himself was also quite confused as to what business does she have to do with him. He waited for her to speak up, but no words came. Mitsui anxiously waited for her to say anything and also carefully calculated Rukawa's possible reaction to this situation.

Just thank him, Haruko argued with her head. She couldn't get the words out, why of all times does she have to be completely stiff like this? She took a deep breath; put her arms in front of her as she braced herself to bow in gratitude, as she fumbled for the words. Rukawa, thinking this might just be a waste of time, tossed his towel at his side, and readied his wrist band. She got even more pressured. Say it now! Haruko screamed in her head, just as she bowed, she finally said it, but surprisingly, her lips reflected what her heart really wanted to say, as if it had a mind of its own.

She bowed lowly and with an almost trembling voice, "Would you care to go out with me?"

Annnnnnddd I updated at last! I wonder what will happen next... ;)