She only saw him once every fall, but it was so much more.

oooooo

Little Claudine was sitting on a bench when her older cousin went to buy some drinks.

"Sit here patiently and do NOT move 1 cm away from this bench! Okay?"

She gave a toothy smile.

"Hai!"

She was sitting in a big square, with funny lines, and Claudine didn't really know what it was for, so she took to staring hard at the coloured lines. In fact, she was so immersed in the scenery that she didn't notice a small boy walking towards the court, clutching a basketball.

"Kurodinu!"

She whipped her head around to the badly pronounced version of her name, but stopped at the sight of the boy.

'Red hair and red eyes?' she thought curiously.

Her cousin came walking, and took her away; but the sight of the small boy with vivid red hair and deep red eyes holding a much too big ball never left her mind.

This was her first memory of Japan.

oooooo

Claudine had an interesting family. From where she came from, there wasn't many half japanese and half aussie kids around. It never bothered her though, because she loved Japan just as much as she did as home. Apparently her parents thought so as well, because every fall, they would go back to visit her mothers family.

Japan was lovely in it's own right, but no matter how hard she tried, the 'red boy' was always the first thing in mind when she went to Japan. She saw him when she was 5, and although it was a hazy memory, it was her earliest memory. After all, who in the right mind would forget seeing someone with red hair and red eyes? Every year, since she was 5, she would visit the basketball court, just to see him again.

The next time she ever saw him however, was when she was 11.

oooooo

Tap tap tap went her finger, as she absentmindedly tapped her finger to a random song she was singing in her head. Once again was her yearly ritual of sitting in the park for a while, before heading back home in disappointment. Her family never understood why, but her mother smiled lovingly anyways and let her do her own thing.

'I wonder what he would be doing now' she thought sadly. Today was possibly the last year she tried to find him. At the age of 11, she had the sense of when to give up.

Claudine stared quietly at the sky, letting her drift in her own thoughts. She didn't know how long she stayed like that for, but she was glad she did, because years later, she would still be thinking of this boy she was about to give up on.

"Are you alright?"

Claudine turned around to the voice, about to shoo away the stranger when she was met with the red hair and red eyes she had been yearning for. Her voice suddenly lost itself in the moment, and her throat was stuck in place.

It was weird, how she was almost starstruck, but in reality, it was only their second meeting (or their first meeting for him).

"Uhm.. are you alright?"

Remembering his question, she looked down and nodded shyly. Her eyes travelled went down to his hands, and suddenly remembered that that was also the ball he held 6 years ago.

"Basketball?" she mumbled.

He nodded. "Yes, I play."

There was a moment of awkward silence, before he spoke again.

"I.."

"You can go practice, don't worry about me." She replied quickly, feeling bad for taking up too much of his time.

He gave a small smiled in return, and started practicing.

Another moment of awkward silence later, Claudine asked a question to make sound.

"Do you practice here a lot?"

"Yes, every week." he said in between pants. "It's my first time seeing you around here," he continued, "Did you just move in?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm from Australia. I visit here every year." she hinted.

"Oh, that's interesting." he replied.

Nothing much was said after that, and eventually Claudine left in order to not intrude his personal space. She thought that he wouldn't remember her, and that her curiosity was satisfied, but they still met every year after that.

oooooo

When Claudine was 12, she went once more just to see if they could meet by chance again.

And she did.

"Hello again." she greeted.

The red head looked at her, trying to hide the confused face.

"Oh! Sorry, I'm the person from Australia. I met you last year.." she explained politely, but her faith was fading. "I hope I wasn't too stalker-"

"Ah, I remember. Hello, I presume you are back for another holiday?"

She beamed. "Yes! I did. As always~"

The red boy chuckled, amused at her antics.

"Are you practicing basketball again?"

He nodded. "Yes, as always~"

And she laughed. Maybe she was getting to be friends with him!

"Are you joining a basketball team?" she asked curiously.

But now his face suddenly changed, as if he remembered to keep the polite distance between strangers. And Claudine remembered too.

"Yes, I will be attending the top middle school for basketball in this area next year." He replied, keeping details to the minimum.

She laughed airily. "Oh, congratulations! Good luck."

He quietly went back to practice after saying a polite thank you, and so she left quietly with a polite goodbye as well.

oooooo

When Claudine was 13, she was finally a high schooler. (But in Japan that meant middle schooler.)

Although she still held some thoughts over the red boy, she planned not to go anymore. It was time to end this silly crush. No one else understood her back at home. "If only they knew how captivating his eyes were..." she would tell herself.

But either way, they ended up meeting that year anyways.

She was walking through the street after buying some drinks from the convenience store, when she heard the familiar bouncing of a basketball.

Claudine turned to look at him, thinking he wouldn't remember her, but he did.

"Hello again. It has been another year." the red head greeted politely from the courts.

"Yes, it has, hasn't it?" she replied cheerfully.

And now with no excuse, she walked in to talk to him.

"How is your middle school? Did you get into the basketball team?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am the captain."

Claudine nearly let out a gasp. From what she knew, middle school went only for 3 years, but that was still 2 years of seniors above him, and he was the captain.

"He must be extremely talented!" she thought, surprised.

"Oh wow! Congratulations! That's a great achievement! Aah~, so lucky though. Back in Australia, I'm a year 7. We're considered the 'babies' of the school. Ugh." she babbled on, thinking back to home.

"That's a shame, I'm sure your not." he replied, keeping up with the casual conversation.

"Yeah. Well... I have to go home soon. Uhm.. see you next year?" she said awkwardly, not sure if she should be familiar with him or not. And luckily for her, he accepted it.

"Goodbye. Have a safe trip back, and see you next year." he replied, with his ever charming smile.

oooooo

When Claudine was 14, she still thought about him.

Claudine sat in the basketball court, waiting for him. Or maybe not. They never had a specific time for meeting each other anyways, they just ended up meeting always on the same day. But today, it seemed he wasn't going to come.

"That's alright" she told herself, but she knew the disappointment in her heart.

As she spun around to walk off, the red boy was right behind her.

"Oh!" she said surprised, as she bumped into him.

Claudine was about to greet cheerfully, when she saw the change in his demeanor.

"Hello.." she greeted, fading off at the end as she examined him.

The red head's eyes were still fierce, but something was different. It was the red boy, without a doubt. And she wasn't sure what to do, when slowly, his face softened a bit, as if remembering to be polite to her.

"Hello again. Waiting for me again?"

She blushed unsure how to reply. But despite the seemingly playful words, the red boy was still not the red boy she knew. Claudine knew they were only strangers.. but she was worried, and spoke her mind without a care of what he would think of her.

"Are you okay? You seem-"

"Yes, I'm fine." he interrupted. "Let's just say, I've seen the light in some issues."

She furrowed her eyebrows, and tried to look for the ball he always held.

"Wheres your basketball?" she asked quietly.

"I have no need for it now."

A million questions raced in her heads as he replied. Did something happen with basketball? Did he stop playing? Why did he become so different? What happened to the polite gentleman before? But she said nothing, after all, they were only strangers. The friendly atmosphere they had the year before was now being crushed by his new personality.

She didn't understand, really. How they had almost become friends, only to be returned to the stranger status. Claudine wasn't stupid, she recognized the polite and stranger-like tone in his voice.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the him though, and this time with something even worse.

"You should stop meeting me."

And then there was the first dull ache in her heart.

"No!" she thought. No, because she wanted to know him. She wanted to be friends. She wanted to smile at him. She wanted to talk with the fascinating boy who had red hair, but what could she say? Her actions were probably getting borderline stalker-ish by now. And all of a sudden, her feelings of rejection faded into heart ache.

The red head watched as she fought inner turmoil, and walked off before hurting her feelings anymore.

Claudine stopped thinking about the red boy that day.

oooooo

When Claudine was 15, her cousin took her to a basketball match.

Now the word 'basketball' didn't come up with 'red boy' anymore. It is simply (just a little bit forcefully) 'basketball'. So she agrees.

She doesn't expect to see him. She didn't think she'd be that unlucky (or lucky depending on how honest she was being). But when she does she him, she doesn't ever look away. Obviously, the team he was on was full of geniuses. The way everyone brushed away the other team and turned the match into their own personal mini-game was heart crushing to look at, and pity for the other team flew out of her with no ends. It was in their faces, you see, the despair and loss of hope in their faces that nobody should ever look like.

But apparently it was normal, because the other team looked just as bored and casual as you would any other day. She watched the red boy lead the team, and realized how much he fit the role of captain.

Now she figured why he changed, but it was too late. There was nothing a stranger like her could do.

"Please lord, please help him. He deserves to be happy, whatever he has been through. Let him find the light and please, just let him love basketball again. I don't care if we never meet again, I'll be happy if he is happy."

oooooo

When Claudine was 16, she didn't go to Japan again.

oooooo

When Claudine was 17, she came back wiser, and maybe so did he. They met each other at the same spot, and greeted each other like polite strangers.

"So I see you've sorted out your problems?" she asked, aware of the light that sparked his eyes once more.

"Yes." He smiled, a little melancholic, but was the most beautiful one she had ever seen from him. "Yes, I have."

There was a small moment of awkward silence, before she spoke up again.

"I won't be coming back."

He looked up, slightly surprised. It might have been the most genuine emotion she had seen from him since a long time.

She continued, replying to his silent why.

"My mother died last year. Theres no reason to come back to Japan anymore."

His eyes were filled with quiet concern, but there was nothing to say. After all, they only knew so much about each other's chaotic lives.

"I'm.." he hesitated. "I'm sorry to hear about your loss." A typical gentlemanly thing to say, but after all, wasn't that attitude what sparked their first conversation?

She paused on that thought, and gave a smile. "Thank you-"

"Akashi Seijuro."

This time she looked up, surprised. After all these years of just knowing his as 'the red boy', she finally had a name to place on him. It made her heart flutter, just a bit.

"Thank you Akashi-san. I'm.. I'm Claudine." she offered, in return.

He looked into her eyes. "It fits you."

She gave a small smile and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Thank you, and goodbye, Akashi-san."

Claudine turned around, and left Japan for the last time, along with her first love.

oooooo

When Claudine was 20 and was finally at adult, she still thought of Akashi Seijuro, the 'red boy'. Sometimes it hurt because Akashi brought up Japan and Japan always brought up mother but Claudine is older now and she knows better than to cry over broken memories.

Once in a while, when her boyfriend is over and they are cuddling in front of the television, she asks him to turn to the world wide basketball matches.

"I didn't know you liked basketball." he would say.

And she would only reply with a mysterious smile before turning back to the t.v.

Although he was a thing of the past, a thing she could say that was a 'childhood crush', she still looked for red hair and red eyes in the basketball teams.

oooooo

When Claudine was 24, she finally saw him representing Japan, with the same group of colorfully haired team members.

"Must run in the friendship." she said jokingly, and ignored her boyfriends confused face.

thank you for staying until the end! my favourite part of the whole story is the ending, so i was worried that people may not like the beginning (plus the fact that this is an oc oneshot not many people will probably click this)

i actually really love this

and this is probably my favourite fanfic i've ever written, so i'd love it if you gave me a review and tell me your thoughts

i tried to make it emotional, idk

tbe