Fandom: Slam Dunk

Summary: After finding a devastated rival lying on the snow, what is our resident Ice Prince to do? Sequel to Perfect.

Title: Heart Without A Home

Author: Hana Rui

Genre: shounen-ai, song-fic

Pairing: Kaede Rukawa x Akira Sendoh [RuSen]

Kaede Rukawa stole a quick glance at his guest sitting quietly on the living room couch with three layers of blanket wrapped around his freezing body.

"A-choo!"

Now that sure was a loud one. Louder than the last which erupted not more than half a minute ago. Once again, he couldn't help but cast a glance in that direction. At the guy who, although totally wrecked and devastated, looked about ten times more adorable and huggable than he could ever remember seeing him.

His long hair that used to stand on end was now hanging wet and heavy down his back. His face, which used to glow with a genial smile that could radiate even through the toughest rock formation, was now pale and dull from the cold weather. The amount of stress and frustration dwelling inside his heart was sharply manifested in his overall frame.

It wouldn't be much of a surprise if the devil himself appeared beside him to cuddle him all night. He was that appealingly pathetic.

"A-A-choo!"

Finally sensing the other guy's distress through his expertly amplified sneezes, Rukawa decided to stop using the hot green tea as an excuse to steal longing glances at his guest. He gave it one final stir, laid the teaspoon on the counter and carried the steaming cup to the shivering ace captain.

"(Boy) I love to watch you

You're like candy to my eyes…"

"Thank you."

That mellifluous voice lingered in his ears even as he slowly settled himself on the armchair facing his guest.

The ace captain now had the cup held in both hands and was rather cautiously seeping in the scalding beverage. Unaware of two glistening eyes greedily drinking in his intoxicating sight. His near-perfect elegance…

His incomparable grace and beauty—

Rukawa's breath was beginning to clog his throat. There was, after all, right before his gloating self the very being who could easily outshine Adonis as the most beautiful mortal on earth.

The work of art no one would ever get tired staring at for hours, days, or even weeks on end. Even over and over like a movie buff watching his favorite flick—

The masterpiece of all masterpieces… caught him staring and smiled.

"But that smile you're wearing It's a beautiful disguise…"

"Hey."

Damn. He had that lovely mask stuck on his face once again. This guy sure didn't look half the wreck Rukawa had untangled from a devastated heap in the snow.

Where had that one gone to? The Akira Sendoh who he thought needed his help. His company. His… warmth.

When would this guy stop concealing how he really felt behind that beautiful smile?

That beautiful, yet empty smile…

"I'm here," came his quiet reply. "I'm… listening."

"I'll be a new sensation One you've never had before…"

The seemingly indomitable façade dissolved into the hulking bitterness lurking in the guy's heart and that which eventually began pouring out in a burst of warm tears.

As he had expected, it had something to do with the game this afternoon.

And aptly enough, it concerned him as well.

His heart practically stopped beating the moment he forced that ball into the basket in the face of Sendoh's utter bewilderment, and the stringent father's subsequent dismay.

He had nothing else in mind but winning that decisive game. For himself. For his team. His sentiments, his fondness for the other guy were thoughtlessly and unintentionally driven into a pit of temporary oblivion.

He didn't know, nor had time to expect it could cause such a precious soul this much strife.

The destructive effect of his unyielding impulsiveness was made known to him, clearly enough, when he saw that towering guy of excellence lying underneath a fast scaling pile of snow.

The very sight of it reminded him of how much he valued this supposed rival of his.

That was when he knew it was high time to reach out and let this guy feel the warmth of his concern.

The warmth of his love.

Rukawa abandoned his armchair and was in a second sitting beside the sobbing ace, cuddling his trembling body close. His hand moved to press the tear-streaked face against his chest.

The sobs eventually began to subside. The bitter outpourings were somehow cut off by the rhythmic beating of his doting heart.

It sure felt as though their bodies were specially designed to mold into all the right curves and contours.

And it seemed that Akira Sendoh was loving every second of his confinement in those warm, stalwart arms…

"Did you know that baby, You're the blue bird in my sky…"

If there could only be a way to turn back time, he would play that game over and never give all his worth to it. He would just take it easy, give consideration to another guy's dream.

Especially when said guy happened to be the one being he treasured the most.

Since when had he been feeling this way toward his toughest competition? How and why did he end up being such a paramour, cuddling a rival in his own couch while thinking up stupid could-have-beens for the sake of love?

When had his heart gotten tired of hating the biggest hindrance to his dream of becoming number one? When did he start hoping to see himself in this very moment, shackled helplessly to an overwhelming affection that got him wishing he had never done his best in the one thing he thought he loved the most just to make this guy happy.

That seemed to be his very ideal at the moment. It had become his fervid creed to please this guy anyway he could.

All he wanted was to see his jovial spirit soaring high up in the sky once again.

"I hate you," the sudden, bitter mumble cut through the ensuing silence.

"And if you feel lonely You don't have to anymore…"

Those three words struck Rukawa with the force of a thousand blazing goads, their piercing bitterness reverberating in his head again and again. It numbed him up to the very core of his being and made him feel as dead as a wood stump kicked off and banished to eternal damnation.

He couldn't help but feel this way even though he knew the other guy was lying.

The way he said "I hate you" could easily make one wonder if love and hate were really two sides of the same coin.

Of a single, scenic picture.

Of a depressed and troubled heart.

He gently raised that perfectly chiseled face by the chin and graced those pale, supple lips with a light kiss of affection.

"I love you, too," he whispered back.

"I'll be the raft in the tide…"

Sendoh looked him straight in the eye, blue orbs silently asking why he did what he just did, said what he just said.

And if he really felt what he claimed he felt.

Rukawa pulled that lovely head back to his chest and let the rhythmic beating of his heart reply to the unspoken questions. After all, the greatest truths can best be conveyed through silence.

He wanted the other guy to feel more than the warmth of his existence. The genuineness of his affection.

More than anything, he wanted his senpai to believe that he would never have to be alone anymore.

That he had him, Kaede Rukawa, to accompany him through the roughest times of his life. Not as a rival but as a friend…

Not an enemy, but an ardent lover.

"I'll be the truth in the lie…"

"I suck."

He held that sobbing face closer and hushed. "No, you don't."

"Dad hates me."

"No, he doesn't."

"I can never be as good as you are."

"Yes," he mumbled, brushing a hand through long, black tresses. "'Coz you already are better."

Sendoh looked up at him and snarled, "Damn! Don't try to make me feel better with all these lies!"

"I don't lie."

"…I'll be the hope that you're looking for…"

"It was just a game," the kitsune kept on, looking down at his senpai's tearful eyes. "I was just lucky."

"Don't mock me," Sendoh mumbled, kawaii face creased with a fierce frown.

"It was just a game," Rukawa repeated after a sigh. "You don't judge a person's excellence by a single game. You must've done something wrong somewhere. And I must've just gotten… lucky."

Frown gradually subsiding, Sendoh gazed at him with tears arrantly bailing out from his eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Rukawa leaned down and gave him another kiss.

"I don't wanna have to repeat myself over again."

"If you're a heart without a home

A rebel without a cause…"

"Ru—Kaede…"

A lean finger lay gently against trembling lips. "I'm serious… Akira."

"B—But, I suck! I'm—I'm worthless!"

Lithe hand slipped under the captain's trembling chin. "You look okay to me."

Sendoh shoved the kitsune away roughly, indignantly. "Don't give me that bullshit!" he growled. "I don't need you! I don't need anyone! You know what I wanna do at this very moment? I wanna curse my life! I wanna curse basketball! I don't fucking wanna play that damn game ever again! Do you hear that? I never want to—hmmph!"

"If you feel as though you're always stranded on the shore…"

He felt those enraged lips stiffen under his kiss as his arms coiled tighter around the quivering body.

He knew the older guy was feeling trapped, strangled and all alone in a remote corner of an unknown island. He wasn't aware of what he was saying and couldn't seem to find a way out. Those eyes, blinded by so much tears and pessimism, couldn't catch sight of him eagerly reaching out… Wanting more than ever to pull him into the whirl of his unconditional affection.

Perhaps not… Until now…

"Like a thief in the night Let me steal your heart away…"

He demanded entrance into the other guy's unexplored cavern, to which he was willingly given the warmest reception. They frenched and swapped sweet spit for a few minutes more until the subsequent need for air struck them both hard enough to pull them apart.

Both still dazed and gasping from the momentary bliss they have just shared, the two basketball hunks wallowed next in the warmth of each other's presence. Rukawa pulled his senpai close and Sendoh willingly submitted his whole self to the kitsune's possessive arms.

Words proved useless at the moment. The mutual message was clearly sent to each other's heart through the quietest, most divine means…

"And baby if for reason's what you're looking for…"

"Hey," he whispered after a moment of silence, during which they shared the greatest, newfound truths they had learned to accept as a pair.

"What is it?" his senpai whispered back, his warm breath lightly caressing his chest.

"You're gonna play ball again, right? You were great."

A weary sigh escaped his beloved's lips.

"I mean it."

"I know." The older guy snuggled deeper into the warm embrace. "And at this very moment, the only thing I love more than basketball is you."

"You'll accept my challenge to a one-on-one, then?"

"After the snow subsides, I'll beat you up on court until you bleed."

"You're on."

"I'll be yours…"

They cuddled close to each other in the middle of the pacifying silence, an absolute contrast to the deafening snowstorm outside.

Rukawa was in cloud nine for finally having won his heart's most coveted loot. And he held him like he would never ever let him out of his sight. Of his life, of his heart…

An indisputably unconditional love was sealed that night. And it would remain so as long as their hearts kept beating and breathing to the age-old rhythm of undying concern and affection.

"Akira?"

"Hm?"

"You still cold?"

"No. Are you?"

The kitsune sighed deeply and murmured, "No."

"Can we stay like this forever?" the captain asked in a small voice.

"If you like, I'll be yours through eternity…" Kaede Rukawa murmured with conviction, eventually drowning his beloved in the warmth of his kisses once again.

-end-

Song: Heart Without A Home (Ill Be Yours)

Artist: Nick Carter

Thanks for reading! :)