Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no basuke. All of the characters are originally made by Fujimaki Tadatoshi. Enjoy!

"Reaching for the Sky"

CHAPTER 1: "Bothered by your presence."

The sky was calm.

Its blue and tranquility reflected not only Kuroko Tetsuna's eyes and hair but her personality as well. Her arms, where her chin was resting, were folded and were on the railing caps. She watched how the wind breezed and wafted a few petals of cherry blossoms which gracefully danced in the air. When she looked down, she noticed how the few girls walking in the ground reacted in the blow of wind. They held their long hairs to avoid it from tangling. Why does the air seem to have more presence than her? Is her presence really less than the air? Isn't the air the most colorless, formless and unscented of all?

Sighing, she raised her head up and left the railings. She had to go back to the classroom. The warm sun, which was behind the clouds, peeked and caressed her wan skin which glowed more phosphorescent and whiter than before, as if she was a statue made of marble. She felt dazzled by the radiance and thus, she stepped out of the rooftop.

"Hey, have you heard of it? There was a ghost wandering in the rooftop."

"Yeah, it seems creepy that no one tried to go up there."

As Tetsuna went downstairs, she heard some voices.

"Hey, hey, what was that sound? Was it you?"

"Eh?"

When Tetsuna got on the floor and saw the two guys, she acknowledged their presence and greeted them. "Ah, Domou senpai."

The boys were startled as hell, so they ran like their life depended on it while they screamed and shouted. "The ghost went down here!"

After that day, the news spread throughout the campus like a wild fire. As Tetsuna walked and took her seat in the classroom, no one even noticed that she entered. Of course, she has a weak presence and another factor is, everyone is busy conversing about the "ghost" that appeared in the third floor.

The teacher came in and all of the students went back to their respective seats. When Tetsuna opened her bag to get her books, the sound of unzipping the bag attracted the attention of the person seated next in front of her. The boy hesitated to take a look and what he saw made him shrill. The whole class copied what he did as they were startled of Tetsuna's presence.

"Guys! Calm down, It's only Tetsuna." One of the girls said.

"T-t-t-Tetsuna! How long have you been there?" the boy stammered.

"I've been here before sensei came inside the classroom." Tetsuna replied.

"Really, she's making us creep out with her presence." One of the students whispered.

The teacher clapped his hands to stop the commotion. "Okay class. Let's get our lesson started."

"Hai!" All of the students replied in unison.

Tetsuna sighed. She remembered her first day in class where she was almost marked "absent" in the attendance record.

"Is everyone here?" The teacher asked as he scanned the index cards submitted by the students and called them one by one. "Etoo– Kuroko Tetsuna? Where is Kuroko Tetsuna?" the teacher asked in silence. "It seems she's not here today, Okay next is –"

"Umm, sensei. I'm Kuroko Tetsuna." Tetsuna said as she stood up to catch the teacher's attention. "I've been raising my hand a while ago to confirm my attendance."

The teacher's jaw hanged as the whole class followed the same. They were surprised of the weak presence she had. "Aah– a-alright!, Next is..." the teacher continued.

Ever since then, it's been always like that. While the teacher was writing the math formulas in the blackboard, Tetsuna nonchalantly looked in the window to stare at the sky again. "I wonder when the time will come where a single person will notice my presence normally." she thought.

After Tetsuna's classes, she went to the library. As she looked around the room, she noticed too much silence. Of course it's the library, a place where each mind is concentrated in studies by the succor of peace. But that was not the usual stillness people going inside the library are accustomed. It has an authoritative aura that demands more silence than the usual. "Hmm, it seems no one's here right now." Tetsuna thought as she wrote the date and her name in her library card and put it along with her I.D. in a wooden card rack.

Tetsuna went at the back, where the bookshelves of humanities subjects were located, to get a history book about Japan's famous dog hero: "Chuken Hachiko". When she got the book, Tetsuna looked for the nearest table and what she found made her inarticulate. There was a red-haired person sleeping soundly, his head was tilted and was almost leaning on the right edge of the chair's top rail, his lips slightly parted, the book he was reading was on his lap and secured by both of his hands, as if one would snatch it away if his guard got off. The wind entered the room through an opened window and blew the curtains up high which allowed a little sunlight to gleam. The radiance shone into the man's red hair which made the color bloodier. Is the heavy aura Tetsuna felt come from this person?

It has been long time before Tetsuna realized she was dazed by the man's appearance. Embarrassed by the thought, she shook her head and decided to just leave the library. She returned the book to its former place before she signed off.

Akashi woke up when he felt into his neck a sharp pain; obviously it was hurt due to his head leaning sideways. He calmly stood up and returned the book to the shelves. He went at the library's main desk wherein the wooden card rack was placed. As he signed off, he noticed an I.D. in front of his, indicating there was a person inside the library other than him.

"Hmm, let's see who this is." Akashi said as he picked the card up. The card revealed its owner's I.D. number and name,

"102153, Kuroko Tetsuna."

Akashi searched the whole room to find the person in the card he was holding. No one's inside the library other than him. "She might have forgotten to take this before she left. What an idiot." Akashi thought.

As he looked out in the window, he noticed with his emperor eyes a sky blue-haired, cute-sized girl with a porcelain white skin heading towards the school's exit gate. Akashi chuckled, "Interesting, I've never seen such type of person before." as he ran in full speed to catch up with the girl.

As Tetsuna was heading towards the exit gate, her left arm was grabbed gently but securely by the red-haired man she saw sleeping in the library. She was surprised but as always, her monotonous expression showed a straight face. "Anoo– what can I do for you?" Tetsuna asked respectfully with a blank stare.

"This person... Who would've thought that her stare can make me stiff as a stone?" Akashi thought almost irritatingly. "This...This...This..." he stuttered.

"Huh?" Tetsuna asked.

"This is yours right?" Akashi finally said with a crooked smile as he shown Tetsuna's identification card.

"Ah, yes." Tetsuna said with another stare. "Thank you for returning it to me."

"No problem." Akashi said not knowing what to say after.

As Tetsuna bowed to Akashi to give her gratitude, she suddenly remembered something and stopped in the middle of the gate. "And also," she paused.

Akashi turned towards Tetsuna.

"Thank you for noticing me." Tetsuna said with a smile on her face before she left.

Akashi blinked twice in confusion and released a small chuckle. "What an idiot. Thank you for noticing me? Of course I'll do notice you. After all, no one can escape my eyes. Just because, I'm absolute." He said before heading towards the gate.

The wind blew again. And thus, that day, Akashi Seijuro proved Kuroko Tetsuna's presence.

Author's note: So...How was it? I used Tetsuna instead of Kuroko to emphasize her female gender more. This is my first fanfic so I hope you do enjoy! Reviews please. :)

Credits to: EternalPandemonium [Wahh, Thank you very much sensei~ :) for proofreading my work! My fanfic wouldn't be possible without your help and encouragement! :)]