Sakuragi was shocked, yet again, when the blonde-leader possessively pressed Rukawa to himself and attacked the dark-haired boy's lips with a hungry kiss. Rukawa's face remained blank. To Sakuragi's surprise and horror, after a small pause Rukawa embraced the gangster. He slipped his hands around the blonde's waist and then under the leader's jacket . . .

       'I can't believe it!' Sakuragi's shocked mind refused to grasp what was happening. But suddenly. . .

      "Back off," Rukawa's cold voice sounded through the night.

     "Eh . . . ?" Shocked, the Cobras' leader stared at his own gun, the barrel of which was rested against his stomach.

      "Get your filthy hands off me," Rukawa uttered again.

      The blonde slowly obeyed. He took his hands off and stepped back. Rukawa quickly appeared behind him, setting the gun on the leader's back.

      "Now, let Sakuragi go," he ordered in his usual icy tone.

      Everyone, including Sakuragi, was speechless at the turn of the events.

      "Quickly!" The fox-eyed boy pushed the blonde with the gun slightly

      "Release that redhead!" Nervously, the blonde repeated to his people.

      In an instant, Sakuragi was free and the handcuffs gone. Rubbing his arching wrists, he approached Rukawa and the blonde. Sakuragi admired the courage and nerve of his teammate, but he would rather die than admit it to the world. Rukawa threw a glance at him and, without moving the gun from his victim, said to Sakuragi.

      "Take it."

      "Huh?" The redhead didn't understand.

      Rukawa rolled his eyes.

      "Do'aho. Take the gun, I said. I want to get dressed. It's cold here."

      "Oh," Sakuragi obediently took the weapon from the boy's hands.

      Rukawa quickly put on his clothes and looked around.

      "Let's go," he said to Sakuragi.

      The latter nodded and, while pointing the gun threateningly at the Cobras, they began to move to the exit of the small street, where Rukawa had left his bicycle.

      None of the Cobras made a move. They never did distinguish themselves by courage. But in front of a gun, they all the more so 'pass'. Only their leader hissed with dander. Not only had his sweet plans of revenge for Sakuragi failed, the plans to enjoy that good-looking foxy-boy was also unsuccessful, and, on top of everything else, they even took his gun.

      "I'll get you next time, Sakuragi!" he shouted to the retreating forms. "And you to, foxy-boy, you'll not escape me so easily next time!"

      "I doubt of it," Rukawa murmured under his breath, rolling his bicycle out onto the street.

      Quickly, Sakuragi and his teammate had left the Cobras' area behind. The red head fiddled with the captured weapon with interest, before hiding it under his shirt. Then, remembering the incident that took place some minutes ago, Sakuragi stopped dead in his track and looked at Rukawa.

      "Oi, kitsune!"

      Rukawa slowly turned to him.

      "Why. . . why did you do that?" stammered the redhead.

      "What?" Rukawa didn't understand him.

     "Why did you agreed to that bastard's offer?"

      The fox-eyed boy kept silent, looking at the ground, then he answered.

     "If I haven't agreed, they would have maimed you and you wouldn't be able to play basketball for a long time. We have a match with Ryonan in a week, you know. . . Besides, I noticed the gun."

      "But what *if* you hadn't notice it. . ."

      "Do'aho, I'm not that unobservant."

     "But still, if there was no gun, they would. . ." just thinking of what could have happen made Sakuragi shudder. "It would have been better for them to beat me up. So, why did you do that?"

       Rukawa sneered sadly.

     "You wouldn’t understand," he whispered and added more loudly. "Hm, do'aho."

      'Why do you care? Am I that important to you?' Sakuragi thought, looking at the receding figure on the bicycle. . .

  ***End of flashback***

      The next few days were uneventful. Rukawa behaved as if nothing happened. For Sakuragi, all that began to seem like a nightmare, being gradually erased from memory. . .

      However, now . . .

      Now Rukawa had been kidnapped.

     "Could it be the Cobras?" Sakuragi thought, going with his Gundan to visit the aforementioned guys. . .

     To be continued...