DAYLIGHT - K. Rukawa

six

Chapter 6 : edited 2nd of November, 2021.

You covered your mouth as Akagi pushed you away from him. You were immediately in Ayako's care after that. He walked slowly, as he pulled Mitsui from the floor by grabbing his collar. You bite your lower lip when Akagi launches a punch on his face. You looked away as you shut both of your eyes.

You can't stand it.

"(l/n)-san..." Ayako whispered beside you. You saw a glimpse of her elbows and saw that it's a bit red.

"Are you hurt?" You asked her, whispering and referring to her elbow.

"No, but Rukawa-kun. And the others," she said gazing at the basketball players. By the way, your eyes saddened with concern made me more uneasy. You glanced at the beat-up players. You started walking towards the 'Rukawa' guy, leaving Ayako gasping.

"No! (l/n)-san!"

"(l/n), stay away first."

You bend your knees, as you gazed at Rukawa slowly losing his consciousness.

"What was she doing in here in the first place?" You heard Sakuragi ask.

"You handle them Akagi-san, it would be bad if we leave injured members like this." You said boldly ignoring the huge commotion. This is the second time you'll be treating Rukawa's head. Yes, another head injury.

You sighed. "Ayako-san, please hand me the first aid kit. We have to hurry before he totally loses his consciousness." You said as you walked towards the other first years.

"Same as this guy right here," You said, pointing to one of Shohoku's first-year club members. "He-"

"(l/n), I said stay away." Akagi said firmly.

You glanced towards his direction and Mitsui's.

Mitsui glanced at you as he smirks. "She said she won't be involving herself with guys like me."

Your fist clenched. As Kogure went towards your direction to lift Rukawa's head.

"They are way different from you." You said as you looked at Mitsui again. "If I stay away just to not let myself be involved I'm already wrong. Because in the first place, I'm already in." You said almost rolling your eyes.

"Mitsui."

Mitsui was taken aback when you called him. It felt different from how you used to call him before. He swallowed hard, gulping as if he's hit by a mere fact that maybe everything had really changed.

"What would you get from doing all of these?" You asked. Bringing a brief silence, stopping Sakuragi from punching the guy who held your wrist a while ago. "Would any of these benefit you?" You asked once again.

"Don't talk like you know me."

"I don't," you shook your head. Kogure was staring at you in confusion as you talked towards Mitsui casually while treating Rukawa's head.

"We don't know each other." You added.

Fortunately, you were able to stop the bleeding for a while. You let Rukawa lean on the bench, everyone's attention was still on you.

"Can someone hand me a handkerchief or something?" You asked out of nowhere.

"...Here!" A female student, that you didn't even notice was there, approached you handing you her handkerchief.

"Thanks," you respond. You tie it to Rukawa's hand as you keep on pulling it every second. "I'll pull this so you won't lose your consciousness. Okay? Stay awake." You reminded the blue-eyed boy.

He nodded half asleep, he couldn't even respond clearly. He admitted to himself that this is worse than what he got from Sakuragi. And somehow, your treatment made him feel better.

Rukawa didn't care about anything but basketball. He knew that to himself. Every second that he tries to sleep, you keep on pulling the handkerchief that was tied on his hand, keeping him awake.

"Akagi-san." You called. "Please end the commotion here, I really think we need to bring them to the hospital right now." You added.

"Especially this Rukawa right here. He had lost a lot of blood because of his head injury, it would be dangerous if we kept him up like this."

"I understand." Akagi nods at you, ending the little flashback between his first years with Mitsui.

When the gym's door made a creaking sound, all of them inside the gym stood frozen, as they glanced at the familiar Anzai-sensei. Mitsui was on his knees as if coach Anzai is a Godsent. You keep on pulling the handkerchief as your eyes went towards the coach and the fallen member's direction.

Mitsui was crying. Your hand made its way to your chest. You clutched your chest with the heavy feeling of that moment. All of them inside were in awe. You knew about Mitsui's motivation because of Anzai-sensei. He chose Shohoku because of coach Anzai. Even though he had a lot of choices, he chose the one who gave him the motivation at the last minute of his final game in Junior High.

You felt a movement, slowly distracting you. You turned your back as your eyes met Rukawa's sleepy ones. Now he's the one who's pulling the handkerchief because unknowingly you stopped a while ago because of being distracted.

"I... want to... sleep," he muttered, pulling the handkerchief.

"You can't," you responded immediately. "You have to keep awake until they bring you to the hospital." You added.

Rukawa's sleepy eyes glanced at his familiar coach and the 'asshole'. He faced you once again.

"Was it over?" He asked straightly.

You nodded, as you glanced at Mitsui and Anzai-sensei's direction again.

You let out a sigh. It's over.