Shogi
By The Fujoshi a.k.a Otaku no Baka
This is my first time doing a Kuroko no Basketball fanfic. I'm currently reading the manga but I'm somewhere before Aomine is introduced. I haven't watched the anime outside of some clips, sadly. But I have spoiled myself to hell and back with fanfiction and doujinshi.
I haven't personally played Shogi before so I have no idea if this is correct or not but I did try my best. If anyone who is reading plays Shogi, let me know in a pm about the rules more thoroughly.
This takes place post KnB and uses the future job career path choice that everyone had. Pairing is Akashi/Kuroko. Its pretty mild outside of some cursing. Also I'm beta'ing this myself so if you see any mistakes let me know.
BTW: I'm making three stories like this. The second one should show more about the relationship between Akashi/Kuroko and how these two ended up together/married in the first place, as well as the others reactions.
No I don't own Kuroko no Basketball, or this pairing would be canon.
Notes:
Japanese style, so last names are first. If Kuroko was married his name would be Akashi Tetsuya. It was very confusing; I thank skilverlight (from,) for giving me a lot of information and motivation to do this in the first place.
Tamagodon is a type of rice bowl with egg and sweet donburi sauce.
Omuraisu is a Japanese style rice and egg omelet.
Douhua is a chinese dessert made with tofu, called tofu pudding.
Montsuki top: Akashi is wearing a Kuro type of formal kimono, that has crests. Its normally worn in parties, ceremonies, and funerals. The outfit shows how he takes shogi seriously. Umanori are hakama pants that are divided; this way Akashi could walk (or kick,) more freely with these.
Jishōgi or an impasse is when both kings have advanced into their respective promotion zones and neither player can hope to mate the other or to gain any further material in shogi.
JSA is the Japan shogi association. Yes shogi is serious business.
Shogi tournaments are divided into Kyu and Dan like martial arts matches.
Kyoto is famous for its electronics as well as its lacquer ware products.
Purin daifuku is of course caramel mochi
~~~~~~~~~x
Akashi Seijuro was a man of few words. He would rather get his point across with actions and subterfuge; he believed that words were pointless if you spout them often and only used them as a final point in intimidation and manipulation.
So the first thing he would normally do in the mornings would be to grope and hug his husband, a caress there, a kiss here. They would eat breakfast together before paying ways with a gentle kiss, promising things between breaks in their day.
Today was a rare exception; he received an email as well as a text from the JSA last night about the International Shogi Festival of 2017. He wanted to refuse at first until they called and begged their ace to join them and represent Japan time and time again. They even added on paying him double the amount he would normally go for, win or not.
Akashi sighed; he would win of course. That wasn't the problem; the problem was that he felt like he was forgetting something today.
So the red haired man was up before the crack of dawn, long before his husband or their dog, Tetsuya #2, awoke. He was already packed, having to go to the Ranzan Hotel that was situated near Kyoto's International Conference Center; if it was out of country he wouldn't even bothered.
Akashi ate his breakfast solemnly; it was only tamagodon but it didn't have the same taste, it was too sweet and settled on his stomach uncomfortably. There wasn't the loud insistent barking of the husky, his husband trying to give him more vegetables and milk to grow, long past the age that he could grow any taller.
He sighed at how domesticated he became. Silence wasn't normally a problem for him but he grew too used to his life with his family that he didn't realize how much had changed. Washing out the bowl when he was done, he pulled his trunk suitcase and wrote his husband a note.
Akashi walked back into the bedroom silently; the dog decided to take up his space on the bed and Kuroko was snorting lightly. He leaned over and kissed his husband on the head and patted the husky before going back to the doorway.
Akashi Tetsuya woke up a few hours later, a barking rousing him.
"Tetsuya #2...what..." Kuroko grumbled wearily before staring at the dog near the side of the bed with a note in his mouth. He moaned, stretching his back before pulling the paper from the husky.
His blue eyes scanned the words, re-reading them before grumbling. The lack of warmth and early morning kisses was also a presence as well that his husband was gone.
He took this day off on purpose and now he had nothing to do. Kuroko rubbed the dog's head and pulled his body up and out.
He only ate rice over a small omelet. Normally on days like this he would cook Akashi omuraisu or talk about the children at the school he taught. Kuroko wasn't normally a vocal person but the red head changed him in many ways.
~~~~~~~~~x
"Tetsuya."
Kuroko blinked at the site of Akashi Seijuro near his table, arms folded. He was with Kagami Taiga eating lunch after a rough training session in Manji burger.
"Oi! What the hell are you doing here?" Kagami didn't enjoy that the Rakuzan High captain was familiar with the both of them.
Akashi's dual colored eyes flashed and Kagami flinched; even though he was around Kuroko's height he was still a force to be reckoned.
Kuroko watched the exchange before grabbing his shake and getting up. "Are you serious! Don't give him the time of day Kuroko-kun!"
The two ignored the quip and walked outside of the establishment. "Yes Akashi-san?"
The red head frowned, silent. He had on a long military style coat and a blue scarf, appearing to look like he rushed to Tokyo right after school. Kuroko was curious on what was troubling his former captain to be in such a hurry to not even bother to change until he pulled out a letter and gave it to him.
Kuroko blinked, sipping on his shake as he watched Akashi turn around and walk off. He stared at the letter and opened it slowly, his eyes widening at the words.
"Hey Kuroko-kun are you ok?" The blue haired teenage shrugged and continued to sip his shake. "What was that all about anyway?"
"Nothing really Kagami-san." Kuroko was grateful that he could hide and misdirect his emotions as he could still feel his heart racing at the words.
'Tetsuya I like you, would you do the pleasure of being my boyfriend?'
~~~~~~~~~x
It took a week before Kuroko could reply.
He turned down Kise Ryouta so effortlessly but put consideration with his former captain. Unlike the blond they currently had a lot in common and it wouldn't hurt to at least try a long distance relationship with the other teenager. Also it must had took a lot for Akashi to write the letter and admit his feelings in the first place.
So after texting the red head, Kuroko met him outside of the same establishment and told him.
"Yes."
The relationship was slow at first, with casual dates on the weekends when they didn't have school or training. Akashi treated him pretty much the same, with the exception that he would at least pay all, if not half on their dates.
Kuroko was the first one to try anything further, much to Akashi's shock, and the two decided to move in together between the mainland and Kyoto after graduation. Kuroko wasn't surprised to hear that his captain wanted to be a Professional Shogi player but everyone from the former Kiseki wasn't expecting Kuroko to become a K1 teacher.
Tetsuya #2 barked, interrupting Kuroko from his remembrance. He picked up his chop sticks and now empty bowl and put them in the sink for later. Going towards the door, he picked up the leash by the coat rack. Since he had today off he decided to walk the dog and visit the kids along the way. Tetsuya #2 was a favorite among the children, winding them down during recess and making sure they didn't wander too far on trips.
"Hmmm..." Kuroko pondered for a moment and went to the bed room. Bringing out his i-phone with a pair of scissors and basketball charm, he started to type in a familiar number.
~~~~~~~~~x
Akashi was bored to say the least.
Since he was a professional, he was put into the professional racket, occasionally going against a few in the 6 Kyu. He won all of his matches in the past two days.
He was suppose to go against a foreigner today, a French-American, in the same racket he was in. He hoped that maybe he would find a non handicapped challenge for a change.
Akashi wore his traditional tournament outfit, a simple montsuki top and umanori style pants. While he opted to wear tabi indoor socks his opponent on the other hand wore his shoes indoor.
"Oh? I'm against a kid today?" Akashi frowned at the man who approached him. He had blond wavy hair, a goatee, and a type of fedora hat. His shirt was fancy and ruffled and from outward appearances he didn't look like a 9 dan shogi player. "I guess the players from Japan are becoming younger and younger."
Akashi was twenty one, which was an adult by most standards. He played shogi for years, probably even before this man could comprehend the game. He recalled the few matches he played with his husband in junior high outside of Shintaro; Tetsuya would push back his blue hair in concentration on his turn.
"I'm an adult like yourself." Akashi bowed deeply. "Should we start the match?" He wanted to crush this bastard for disrespecting not only the sport, but the people here as well. His yellow eye flashed dangerously; he was tempted to use the Emperor's Eye but he wanted to beat this idiot in his own game. Maybe he would destroy the man's car in retribution-
A flash of purple was spotted on the corner of his eye and Akashi blinked, shock on his features. The man turned as well. "Ah, the cater is here. I wanted a snack outside of the Japanese crackers and biscuits here. I heard he could make French and American delicacies."
"Atsushi what the hell are you doing here?"
Atsushi Murasakibara jumped and almost dropped the tray of cookies he had. "Oh...Akashi-chin." He had on traditional chef clothing and was eating some Purin daifuku as he served the food on the tables. He turned towards the shorter man, trying to look passive as possible, munching around the caramel rice cake in his mouth.
"I asked a question Atsushi-san."
Murasakibara paused at the honorific. Shit. Even as an adult Akashi Seijuro was scary. He had the option of playing it off or telling him the truth. He chose the former and hoped he didn't die from this.
"The JSA called me to serve food for the tournament."
"So why didn't I see you earlier?"
Murasakibara munched around the cake. "My sous chef made it before I did." He hoped he believed the half lie.
Akashi narrowed his eyes; he could see the hint of something behind Atsushi's words. "Fine." Being curious, Akashi smiled at his familiar snack douhua. "You knew what to bring me."
Murasakibara was grateful at the topic change. "Yeah Akashi-chin; I also brought enough for the kids as well."
Akashi paused again, frowning. "Kids?"
Before the purple haired chef could comment a group of children were ushered into the watching area. Akashi narrowed his eyes at the sight of Kuroko among them.
"Did my husband put you up to this Atsushi?"
"...No?" Murasakibara backed away at the look in his former captain's eyes. The couch seen the exchange between the two, used to it by now, and sighed.
"The children wanted to watch the match and the head of the JSA thought it was a good idea, since their teacher is here as well." The French-American chuckled and Akashi pressed his lips together in annoyance.
"Alright; I don't mind audience." Akashi smiled with his eyes closed but on the inside he was plotting to release his rage on the blond man.
The children oohed at the sight of Akashi.
"Teu-Teu-san! Your husband plays so wells!" A young boy squealed.
Kuroko blushed and coughed; one of the parents tried to ask him out on a date and discovered that he was married to Akashi. Word spread around his class and the kids started to root for "Aka-san and his cute husband Teu-Teu," whenever the red head would met him at work.
He was amazed that the young children took Shogi well, occasionally conversing among themselves, cheering quietly, and eating Murasakibara's snacks. There was no bathroom accidents and they were strangely well behaved.
Kuroko was happy; he missed his husband.
~~~~~~~~~x
The French-American growled.
He wanted to push the kid into jishōgi but he was having trouble. The red head moved like an old man, using his moves in a passive aggressive manner. He tried to talk to the kid early on but when he saw one of the man's eyes flash yellow he stopped bothering.
This was the only person he had issues with for the past two days. If he lost to him he could probably recover but his pride was on the line. He was almost thirty and to lose to some kid that look barely out of high school was a disgrace.
"Check." The quiet voice rang out and he cursed; damn to be beaten like this.
"Judge! I call a jishōgi!"
"But you clearly lost!"
While the man was arguing with the judge Akashi sighed and rose to his feet. Kuroko came down with his glass and greeted his husband.
"Aka...Seijuro-kun." It took years for Tetsuya to call him something outside of "Akashi-kun" and "Akashi-san." The only time he would slip would be in the bedroom, using his first name. Even now after they were married he would insistently call him by his last name. This was one of those 'rare,' cases.
"Tetsuya, what is your class doing here?"
Kuroko still looked passive. "This is a class trip; it was a coincidence that it was here in the Kyoto Conference Center."
Akashi didn't believe it. "So it was a coincidence that you managed to catch me on my match as well?"
"Yes." Blue eyes didn't blink and Akashi frowned again.
"You little brat! You know you didn't win against me!" The French-American growled out and Akashi turned around to regard him.
"You lost far and square. You may thought you were better but that was before you met me. I never lose to shogi."
Akashi didn't even flinch as he was pulled off his feet by his shirt, meeting the man's eyes. "You short little-"
Kuroko used misdirection and kick the man in the shin, the blond barely winced as he fell to his knees in front of the red head. The blue haired man sighed; he didn't want to use it but he didn't want Akashi to show his true nature and scare the kids.
Akashi considered making this man's life a living hell until someone pulled his kimono sleeve. "Aka-san, are you going to kiss Kuroko on your anniversorry?" A little girl asked him.
"Anniversary?" Something clicked and Akashi cursed in his head. Of course! Their anniversary was right before he left three days ago! He was going to make the JSA pay later for making him forget.
Akashi sighed, an apologize on his lips as he turned with the little girl. "Tetsuya..."
"Sei-Sei, I'm disappointed in you."
Akashi blinked, his words dying in his throat at Kuroko's words. Did he just call him...?
A blush ran across his face, all the way to his ears, matching his black kimono. Smoke seemed to generate from the top of his red head.
Kuroko wanted to stay mad but this was amusing; he rarely saw Akashi blush. It was hard for him to call him something new but not impossible. Kuroko loved and respected his husband to at least try.
The red head mindlessly patted the girl on the head and told her that he was borrowing his teacher and to stay with Atsushi.
"Class, follow the nice man with the cookies, Murasakibara-san" Kuroko felt his husband pick him up, his legs wobbling, and ran out of the room that hosted the shogi match.
The French-American groaned and got back on his legs. "What the hell happened?" Did the whole situation defuse just like that?
Murasakibara munched on a cookie along with the brown haired pigtailed girl mimicking him; they were used to the presence of 'Uncle Mura-san.'
"Just the usual." Well it could had been worse so the man should be grateful.
~~~~~~~~~x
Akashi tried to make it up to Tetsuya by buying him anything he wanted in Kyoto.
Kuroko flatly replied that he already had what he wanted but wouldn't mind a lacquer ware bento box as well as the latest video game system for the newest basketball game.