Disclaimer: *sobs in a corner* I... I don't own anything.... *sob* lawyers are closing in *notices them* LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!
A/N: Phew! Finally got this up. Honestly, that amount of schoolwork should be declared illegal. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I have in writing it. Thanks for the reviews!! Keep 'em coming! =D
Legend:
~place/time/flashback~
"dialogue"
//thoughts//
inserts
*sigh or something like it*
/*stuff outside the fic*/
Chapter12: Trapped
Sendoh's smile was a tad bit too bright. This certainly does not bode well for those who noticed this and recognized its intent and meaning. The smile, or at least the mere fakeness of it, assures one that something big is about to happen. Not that Rukawa didn't expect it.
"It's funny how we always tend to bump into each other, ne, Hana-chan?" Sendoh's voice was dripping with honey.
"Yeah, that makes me wonder... But I'm sure you're not following me around this time!" came the honest reply.
The Ryonan player looked dramatically abashed, "Why would I even think about doing such a thing?!"
Rukawa snorted.
//Yeah, right.//
And then he frowned.
//I'm sure he really is stalking Hana, but... *how*?//
The kitsune had no time to ponder about this as the tour guide burst his thought bubble and beckoned to them to come inside.
"Now, now, stay close together and follow me. You wouldn't want to get lost in the twists and turns of this maze of a pyramid, seeing that it is newly excavated...." the guide continued to babble on and on, annoying the hell out of the already annoyed super rookie.
"Annoying bastard," Rukawa muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me? Do you have any questions, sir?" Mr. Annoying asked.
The Shohoku player nodded in the negative.
Ryota heard him and snickered.
//Didn't know you had it in you, Rukawa...//
They followed the guide, albeit reluctantly, telling themselves that it would all get exciting later on... However, with such an annoying disposition, what else could they expect from the bloke? An hour later, they found themselves bored to death, suddenly wishing themselves out of the place. Heck, even Kogure was rolling his eyes. They wanted to go home right then and there, unless of course, something out of the ordinary happened... You know, so the adventurous ambiance won't be wasted.
"This is so pointless," Kogure complained in a hiss, irritably readjusting his glasses. "Whose idea was this anyway?!"
"Love," Mitsui whispered, "I hate to break this to you, but... it was yours..." An amused smirk found its way to his handsome face.
Kogure scowled, but didn't say anything. Mitsui chuckled. He didn't see where he was going, snared yet again by that warm and fuzzy feeling. He bumped into someone. Someone who happened to answer to the name Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Oi, Mitcchy.. Watch where you're going.." the redhead reprimanded his senior, never missing a step. In doing so, he didn't see a peculiar marking situated on the floor. It was an emblem of sorts, with intricate symmetric geometric designs, and on its center laid a skillfully carved flower, resting on waves that can only be water. The symbol occupied a whole mud brick tile, its dimensions being five by five units in feet.
It was only coincidental that the Shohoku students and the lone Ryonan were all standing on it at the same time. They were at the end of the procession, after all. Their weight must have triggered some mechanism, and before they knew it the ground disappeared beneath them, letting them apply the laws of physics governing freefall.
"What theAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Sakuragi yelled.
The others weren't so quiet either. Each was doing his or her own rendition of 'The Scream' with appropriate facial expressions to boot.
It wasn't long before they hit the end of the seemingly bottomless pit. No, don't worry, nobody died---yet. /*A/N: *INSERT EVIL LAUGH* */ A rather deep circular pool of water with a four foot radius was there to cushion their fall. It was most fortunate that it happened to be there... but then again, perhaps not. Maybe it existed for that specific purpose. Whatever it was that the ancient Egyptian engineers thought of in constructing that part of the pyramid, we'll never know.
Soaking wet, the group gingerly got out of the pool. It's a good thing that they wore only light shirts and shorts: they would be easy to dry.
/*A/N: Well, duh! What do you expect them to wear in that weather, thick fur coats?! chibi talking to herself */
"W-where are we?" asked a truly confused Kogure.
Mitsui was about to sarcastically retort, "Down below. We FELL, remember?" but bit it back, recognizing his love's soft baritone. So instead, he just said, "I think we're actually below the pyramid. I mean, we fell, right?"
"Y-yeah, I guess so..." Kogure answered, still a bit disoriented. He was about to collapse, and Mitsui's quick reflexes came quicker than usual. Kogure shot his boyfriend a grateful glance and passed out.
"Hey! Mi--Kogure! You okay? Hey! Wake up! Don't die on us!" the former MVP was going hysterical.
Ayako immediately went to the couple and checked Kogure over. She smiled at Mitsui. "It's okay, he just fainted. From exhausion, I think. He'll be fine, he'll wake up in a few minutes, one hour tops.." It was an understanding smile.
"Sheesh! Your overreaction almost gave us heart attacks, you moron!" Ryota was clutching the area of his chest over his own heart. For some odd reason, he always took the subject of death seriously.
Mitsui glared at him but didn't say anything. He was far too relieved to react as violently as was expected of him.
"Alright, people. We'll keep moving. We have to find ourselves a way out of this place." Knowing that everyone pretty much agreed, he trudged forward. "And oh," he added, "you carry Kogure, Mitsui." With his back to them, the others didn't see a light smile on the captain's usually stern face.
Mitsui didn't need to be told twice. Hanamichi, also concerned, helped him get Kogure in a piggy-back ride. Gently securing his hold on the long, shapely legs, Mitsui tried to walk as smoothly as possible so as not to disturb his koi's sleep.
The pool was at a dead end. Three walls surrounded it. That leaves only one possible way to move, and they didn't hesitate to try to get to the other side of the long corridor lined with torches that suddenly burst with flame, and flickered harmlessly later on.
It turns out, the long corridor was a lot longer than expected.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kogure felt like he was floating, surrounded by the scent of his lover. It was wonderful: intoxicating. He didn't want to get out of this place.. But it was so dark. Where was his 'Sashi-kun? Why wasn't he there with him? He became aware of fingers tracing small circles on his legs. He slowly opened his eyes, and came face to face with the most gorgeous neck he had ever seen. One that was familiar.
The animalistic instincts then took over. A pink tongue snaked its way towards the treat, and was not disappointed to find it as delicious as ever. He nipped at the soft flesh and tenderly licked the blood off the newly-formed bruise. He was oblivious, of course, to the loud yelp that reverberated on the walls.
The group abruptly stopped, startled by the sound. They turned to the source and found a rather unusual scene. Kogure was practically devouring Mitsui's neck wantonly, without care who would or could be watching them.
When he realized that they were under the spotlight, Mitsui's eyes bulged out of their sockets, frantically searching the others' faces, trying in vain to read their reactions. And so far, this is what he got:
Hanamichi's teasing smirk,
Rukawa's indifferent stare,
Akagi's accepting smile,
Ayako's knowing look,
Haruko's shocked expression,
Yohei's unsurprised shrug,
The rest of the gundan's blinking eyes,
Sendoh's amused appraisal, and
Ryota's disbelieving gape.
So far so good...
Ryota looked around him.
"W-why am I the only one on the team, right here, right now, who doesn't friggin' know about this?!" he managed to draw out.
Mitsui tried to explain. "W-we didn't tell anyone... Honest. We were a bit concerned about your reactions... Hanamichi's a special case, though..." he trailed off, blushing.
The redhead's smirk grew wider, if that was possible.
"He, uh, k-kinda *cough* walked in on us.... *cough*" Mitsui continued.
"B-but why aren't they surprised? I never got any hints!" he gestured towards the others.
"I had a feeling.." Ayako said, plain and simple.
"Kiminobu's my best friend. I know him a lot more than other people," the captain supplied.
"..." Rukawa put his two cents in.
"I heard them once, when I was taking a stroll down the hall," Yohei exposed.
Mitsui blushed at this. "Are we...." he cleared his throat, "Are we that loud?"
Yohei cheerfully answered, "Yup!!!" //Good thing most of the walls were thick, else they would've been heard all over the house...//
"NYAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Sakuragi laughed at his sempai's obvious embarrassment.
"URUSAI!"
Miyagi turned his back at them and stared at his hands. //Am I that dense?! Damn...//
It wasn't as if he could do anything about it. Nope, he would just have to accept it. He couldn't turn his back on his friends, after all. And no, he wasn't offended by their relationship; in fact, he was happy for them. It was the fact that he was the last to know. Ryota hated being left out.
"Saa, na. Let's go. We'll be here forever if we don't move on." Akagi prompted.
They resumed their trek.
In the duration of the whole scene, Kogure remained oblivious to the world outside of him and the neck he was making love to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The corridor led to a brightly lit chamber. It was full of cute little Egyptian trinkets and other ornaments. A few large jars were situated in a corner. Important-looking scrolls were perched on top of an elegant marble table standing on another side. An altar of sorts proudly stood out in the middle, draped with the finest silk and linen cloths one could ever find. Candles and insence were neatly stacked beside an urn full of ash.
In that single room existed a whiff of the essence of the ancient Egyptians.
The awed group entered, not noticing some kind of laser light their feet passed through. Once inside, the room shook and rumbled. The people inside could barely remain standing. They turned, only to find the corridor being closed off by two huge slabs of stone lined with gold.
They were trapped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Yay!!!! *jumps around the room* It's done! It's done! Yay! *continues to run, increasing the speed, not seeing a low branch protruding from the window* Oof! *passes out* sugar rush...
A/N: Phew! Finally got this up. Honestly, that amount of schoolwork should be declared illegal. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I have in writing it. Thanks for the reviews!! Keep 'em coming! =D
Legend:
~place/time/flashback~
"dialogue"
//thoughts//
inserts
*sigh or something like it*
/*stuff outside the fic*/
Chapter12: Trapped
Sendoh's smile was a tad bit too bright. This certainly does not bode well for those who noticed this and recognized its intent and meaning. The smile, or at least the mere fakeness of it, assures one that something big is about to happen. Not that Rukawa didn't expect it.
"It's funny how we always tend to bump into each other, ne, Hana-chan?" Sendoh's voice was dripping with honey.
"Yeah, that makes me wonder... But I'm sure you're not following me around this time!" came the honest reply.
The Ryonan player looked dramatically abashed, "Why would I even think about doing such a thing?!"
Rukawa snorted.
//Yeah, right.//
And then he frowned.
//I'm sure he really is stalking Hana, but... *how*?//
The kitsune had no time to ponder about this as the tour guide burst his thought bubble and beckoned to them to come inside.
"Now, now, stay close together and follow me. You wouldn't want to get lost in the twists and turns of this maze of a pyramid, seeing that it is newly excavated...." the guide continued to babble on and on, annoying the hell out of the already annoyed super rookie.
"Annoying bastard," Rukawa muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me? Do you have any questions, sir?" Mr. Annoying asked.
The Shohoku player nodded in the negative.
Ryota heard him and snickered.
//Didn't know you had it in you, Rukawa...//
They followed the guide, albeit reluctantly, telling themselves that it would all get exciting later on... However, with such an annoying disposition, what else could they expect from the bloke? An hour later, they found themselves bored to death, suddenly wishing themselves out of the place. Heck, even Kogure was rolling his eyes. They wanted to go home right then and there, unless of course, something out of the ordinary happened... You know, so the adventurous ambiance won't be wasted.
"This is so pointless," Kogure complained in a hiss, irritably readjusting his glasses. "Whose idea was this anyway?!"
"Love," Mitsui whispered, "I hate to break this to you, but... it was yours..." An amused smirk found its way to his handsome face.
Kogure scowled, but didn't say anything. Mitsui chuckled. He didn't see where he was going, snared yet again by that warm and fuzzy feeling. He bumped into someone. Someone who happened to answer to the name Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Oi, Mitcchy.. Watch where you're going.." the redhead reprimanded his senior, never missing a step. In doing so, he didn't see a peculiar marking situated on the floor. It was an emblem of sorts, with intricate symmetric geometric designs, and on its center laid a skillfully carved flower, resting on waves that can only be water. The symbol occupied a whole mud brick tile, its dimensions being five by five units in feet.
It was only coincidental that the Shohoku students and the lone Ryonan were all standing on it at the same time. They were at the end of the procession, after all. Their weight must have triggered some mechanism, and before they knew it the ground disappeared beneath them, letting them apply the laws of physics governing freefall.
"What theAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Sakuragi yelled.
The others weren't so quiet either. Each was doing his or her own rendition of 'The Scream' with appropriate facial expressions to boot.
It wasn't long before they hit the end of the seemingly bottomless pit. No, don't worry, nobody died---yet. /*A/N: *INSERT EVIL LAUGH* */ A rather deep circular pool of water with a four foot radius was there to cushion their fall. It was most fortunate that it happened to be there... but then again, perhaps not. Maybe it existed for that specific purpose. Whatever it was that the ancient Egyptian engineers thought of in constructing that part of the pyramid, we'll never know.
Soaking wet, the group gingerly got out of the pool. It's a good thing that they wore only light shirts and shorts: they would be easy to dry.
/*A/N: Well, duh! What do you expect them to wear in that weather, thick fur coats?! chibi talking to herself */
"W-where are we?" asked a truly confused Kogure.
Mitsui was about to sarcastically retort, "Down below. We FELL, remember?" but bit it back, recognizing his love's soft baritone. So instead, he just said, "I think we're actually below the pyramid. I mean, we fell, right?"
"Y-yeah, I guess so..." Kogure answered, still a bit disoriented. He was about to collapse, and Mitsui's quick reflexes came quicker than usual. Kogure shot his boyfriend a grateful glance and passed out.
"Hey! Mi--Kogure! You okay? Hey! Wake up! Don't die on us!" the former MVP was going hysterical.
Ayako immediately went to the couple and checked Kogure over. She smiled at Mitsui. "It's okay, he just fainted. From exhausion, I think. He'll be fine, he'll wake up in a few minutes, one hour tops.." It was an understanding smile.
"Sheesh! Your overreaction almost gave us heart attacks, you moron!" Ryota was clutching the area of his chest over his own heart. For some odd reason, he always took the subject of death seriously.
Mitsui glared at him but didn't say anything. He was far too relieved to react as violently as was expected of him.
"Alright, people. We'll keep moving. We have to find ourselves a way out of this place." Knowing that everyone pretty much agreed, he trudged forward. "And oh," he added, "you carry Kogure, Mitsui." With his back to them, the others didn't see a light smile on the captain's usually stern face.
Mitsui didn't need to be told twice. Hanamichi, also concerned, helped him get Kogure in a piggy-back ride. Gently securing his hold on the long, shapely legs, Mitsui tried to walk as smoothly as possible so as not to disturb his koi's sleep.
The pool was at a dead end. Three walls surrounded it. That leaves only one possible way to move, and they didn't hesitate to try to get to the other side of the long corridor lined with torches that suddenly burst with flame, and flickered harmlessly later on.
It turns out, the long corridor was a lot longer than expected.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kogure felt like he was floating, surrounded by the scent of his lover. It was wonderful: intoxicating. He didn't want to get out of this place.. But it was so dark. Where was his 'Sashi-kun? Why wasn't he there with him? He became aware of fingers tracing small circles on his legs. He slowly opened his eyes, and came face to face with the most gorgeous neck he had ever seen. One that was familiar.
The animalistic instincts then took over. A pink tongue snaked its way towards the treat, and was not disappointed to find it as delicious as ever. He nipped at the soft flesh and tenderly licked the blood off the newly-formed bruise. He was oblivious, of course, to the loud yelp that reverberated on the walls.
The group abruptly stopped, startled by the sound. They turned to the source and found a rather unusual scene. Kogure was practically devouring Mitsui's neck wantonly, without care who would or could be watching them.
When he realized that they were under the spotlight, Mitsui's eyes bulged out of their sockets, frantically searching the others' faces, trying in vain to read their reactions. And so far, this is what he got:
Hanamichi's teasing smirk,
Rukawa's indifferent stare,
Akagi's accepting smile,
Ayako's knowing look,
Haruko's shocked expression,
Yohei's unsurprised shrug,
The rest of the gundan's blinking eyes,
Sendoh's amused appraisal, and
Ryota's disbelieving gape.
So far so good...
Ryota looked around him.
"W-why am I the only one on the team, right here, right now, who doesn't friggin' know about this?!" he managed to draw out.
Mitsui tried to explain. "W-we didn't tell anyone... Honest. We were a bit concerned about your reactions... Hanamichi's a special case, though..." he trailed off, blushing.
The redhead's smirk grew wider, if that was possible.
"He, uh, k-kinda *cough* walked in on us.... *cough*" Mitsui continued.
"B-but why aren't they surprised? I never got any hints!" he gestured towards the others.
"I had a feeling.." Ayako said, plain and simple.
"Kiminobu's my best friend. I know him a lot more than other people," the captain supplied.
"..." Rukawa put his two cents in.
"I heard them once, when I was taking a stroll down the hall," Yohei exposed.
Mitsui blushed at this. "Are we...." he cleared his throat, "Are we that loud?"
Yohei cheerfully answered, "Yup!!!" //Good thing most of the walls were thick, else they would've been heard all over the house...//
"NYAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Sakuragi laughed at his sempai's obvious embarrassment.
"URUSAI!"
Miyagi turned his back at them and stared at his hands. //Am I that dense?! Damn...//
It wasn't as if he could do anything about it. Nope, he would just have to accept it. He couldn't turn his back on his friends, after all. And no, he wasn't offended by their relationship; in fact, he was happy for them. It was the fact that he was the last to know. Ryota hated being left out.
"Saa, na. Let's go. We'll be here forever if we don't move on." Akagi prompted.
They resumed their trek.
In the duration of the whole scene, Kogure remained oblivious to the world outside of him and the neck he was making love to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The corridor led to a brightly lit chamber. It was full of cute little Egyptian trinkets and other ornaments. A few large jars were situated in a corner. Important-looking scrolls were perched on top of an elegant marble table standing on another side. An altar of sorts proudly stood out in the middle, draped with the finest silk and linen cloths one could ever find. Candles and insence were neatly stacked beside an urn full of ash.
In that single room existed a whiff of the essence of the ancient Egyptians.
The awed group entered, not noticing some kind of laser light their feet passed through. Once inside, the room shook and rumbled. The people inside could barely remain standing. They turned, only to find the corridor being closed off by two huge slabs of stone lined with gold.
They were trapped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Yay!!!! *jumps around the room* It's done! It's done! Yay! *continues to run, increasing the speed, not seeing a low branch protruding from the window* Oof! *passes out* sugar rush...