[Sendoh X Rukawa] Clouds Across the Sky

1. Sendoh and Rukawa were my first favorite ship, and I've loved them for twenty years. This year's movie brought those memories of youth back to me, so even though I haven't written in many years, I couldn't resist picking up my pen again and drawing a circle around my youth. It's been years since I last wrote, so please forgive my rusty prose. Honestly, I thought this would just be a scrapbook of memories for myself, but while writing, I found so many people who shared the same feelings. Anyway, thank you all for enjoying it.

2. This story begins after the manga ends. The starting year is 1996, the year I first encountered SD, and the setting, circumstances of the time, and many of the people in the story are based on real life in that era. After graduating, Sendoh works as an architectural designer, while Rukawa continues playing basketball until he retires. Sendoh's characterization includes some personal headcanons: he is one-quarter Chinese, with a grandmother from Sichuan, and is deeply interested in Chinese culture and well versed in it. I came up with this because, ever since I read and watched SD as a child, Sendoh's personality has struck me as having something of Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy, as well as a touch of Zen. That's why the story also features many Chinese elements.

3. The above is a content warning. If any of it is unacceptable to you, please think carefully before reading. Don't read it and then get upset because you dislike it. At the same time, after writing for so many years, I've come to understand one thing: once a story is written, it no longer belongs entirely to me. Part of it belongs to the readers. So even though I gave a warning beforehand, if someone still chooses to come in and judge it, then reads it and dislikes it, all I can do is apologize in advance. You can't please everyone, and people are free to judge. I'm at peace with that and accept it all.

4. The title comes from the line, "I lie watching the clouds fill the sky, motionless, unaware that the clouds and I are both drifting east." I think it fits Rukawa's personality and my view of Sendoh and Rukawa's relationship. Every time I've revisited SD, from childhood to now, I've felt that Rukawa might seem cold at first, but he's actually very polite and easy to talk to with people he trusts. He's also smart, persistent, and willing to take advice. In his interactions and conversations with Sendoh, he's actually very brave and direct. Like clouds that seem still but are in fact "drifting east with me," he has always worked hard in his own way. Their feelings go both ways.

Once again, thank you to every reader!

Theme: One heart, one love, for a lifetime