Summary: When the rain is pouring, he stops whatever he's doing to go be by his side. (AkaKuro; Late Valentine's Day Fic)
Rating: T
Warnings/Description: Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural, Fluff, K-i-s-s-i-n-g; no graphic content
AN: LOVE IS STILL IN THE AIR! At least it should be ~ ; Here's a slightly off schedule AkaKuro Valentine fic. A fic for my Akashi: Dessa. I hope you like it. For all AkaKuro lovers in the world, please enjoy c:
Story titled name after a song by Aimer.
Stars in the Rain
Nights like this he wished raindrops would fall.
Nothing would make him happier. He knew that sometimes if he wished hard enough for something, it would come true.
Kuroko was standing in a cafe crowded with people. He wasn't paying attention to anything going on around him. He was done with work and now was just waiting for Akashi to come pick him up. So they could go home.
He closed his eyes, twisting the blue jewel on his ring finger around and around, frowning as his heart began to feel heavy and a storm of emotions stirred within him.
Then, he opened his almost white water blue eyes to see outside the window, clear teardrops were drops were dripping onto it. The crystal shapes reflecting in Kuroko's eyes wide in surprise. And then he was gone, gracefully exiting the place in a swift motion.
Meanwhile, Akashi was sitting in another late meeting. Not particularly interested in anything that was being said though he still listened. Kind of. His chin was resting atop his smooth knuckles, the crystal ruby on his finger kissing his lips. Settling his back against his seat and trying to get cozy, his gaze eventually focused outside the window where he noticed raindrops as heaven began to weep.
All of a sudden, he gained a sense of urgency. Ignoring the fact that a marketing official was in the middle of speaking, Akashi immediately dismissed the meeting, stood up, and left without saying anything else.
By the time he stepped into the night, raindrops turned into a storm. Sharp wind. No clouds. Just a dark sky. With no visible moon. But Akashi only glanced up at it, then walked in a hurry to his car. His hair was already soaked, but the rest of him dry thanks to his waterproof, leather coat. He didn't carry his umbrella, but didn't have much of a need for it.
It didn't rain often in the winter.
He drove all the way to the ocean front, where there was a small dock that wasn't busy at this time of night. No ships or sailboats to crowd the ocean waters. And Akashi expected to find only one person when he got there.
Whenever it rained like this, no matter where on Earth he was, Tetsuya would run all the way to a place where there was water. An infinite amount of it. An ocean. A lake. Or a sea. And he'd stand right in front of it, on the edge, eyes closed as he let the cold rain soak into his skin. Calm the red water that was his blood. And relax his heartbeat.
The connection he had to the rain was an extension of his spiritual connection to water. And it wasn't like the connection everyone else had to it. It didn't only give him peace of mind. It wasn't just something he needed to survive. The sound of it. The touch. The taste, the smell. The purity of it was something he understood with his very soul. This was all a part of him. This is where he came from. Nothing made him shiver like rain from up above. Winter couldn't do this to him. Freeze him. Refresh him. Keep him young. Alive. Make him choke. Gasp. Before filling his chest with a great sense of loss.
It only rained like this a few times a year. Rarely ever in the winter with the sky so dark at night.
When he first came to this world, there was one thing he wished for more than rain.
"Tetsuya."
He always wished for his destiny to come find him. He longed for Akashi Seijuuro. Even before knowing him.
If not for the person that hoped to find him and hold onto him, shelter him when he'd been lost in a very dark, invisible place. Searching. Looking around to see and be seen. To touch something warm, and physical. Feel safe, not scared.
Kuroko turned. It was cold, the rain only made it colder. Smoke from their breath was visible whenever they breathed or talked. Kuroko was panting slightly, on the brink of becoming a living icicle. His breathing was short while shaking. He didn't even grab his coat when he ran out of that room earlier, all the way down to the ocean.
Akashi knew he'd find Kuroko like this.
Soaked to the bone, standing out in the rain. Eyes distant, bottomless, a deep sea of many things that Akashi would like to know. When he'd met Tetsuya for the first time, the first thing he noticed was the far look in his eyes. As if Tetsuya was seeing something beyond sight. A small boy who was going to slip away any second. Become one with the water and whatever it was about it that he was so drawn to.
But in his heart, Akashi knew that Kuroko wanted to stay.
His eyes didn't always have a hollow look, so pale. Sometimes they were radiant. Glowing with a twinkle in the corner of his eyes that lasted longer than seconds. Putting the promised jewel around his finger to shame.
A twin pair of eyes that were truly: Luminescent.
Tetsuya fascinated him. Akashi knew that the one he loved was a scientific wonder.
Even long ago, when Akashi had intentionally walked away from his parents to go off on his own. Not because he was misbehaved. He was a darling child (of course). But that didn't stop his natural sense of wonder. And the day he met Tetsuya, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that he was heading somewhere he needed to go.
Only at 6 years old. He couldn't have known what destiny was – if it even existed – and exactly what someone named Kuroko Tetsuya would mean to him 10 years from now.
Fascination didn't explain why he kept Tetsuya close. No, that could never explain it. The tugging in his chest. The burning in his body. Why it seemed like no matter where he went, gravity always pointed in Tetsuya's direction, bringing Akashi right to him countless times.
"Sei-kun."
Akashi took off his coat, and Kuroko said his name to protest. His rose red eyes remained calm, though it wounded him to think of how much of Tetsuya would be lost without him. Akashi pulled his coat all the way off, and covered Kuroko with it. Immediately, Akashi's clothes were drenched. But he didn't care at all. Not even the breathtaking smile on his lips could be wiped away.
He pressed them against Tetsuya's forehead, brushing his blue hair to the side.
He knew how Kuroko could get. Since finding out about his strange talents – the possibility that Tetsuya had more than just a fixation with water – Akashi gave up on trying to form reason. He was reasonable in any other case. But he decided he'd make an exception where it concerned Tetsuya. Akashi would stop and drop whatever he was doing to be right here.
He'd make sure that no matter what happened, whatever was always drawing Tetsuya out here at times like this - it wouldn't try to take Tetsuya away from him. Nothing else was more important to him. Not the weather. Not the annoying sensation of wet clothes sticking to his body. Nor the possibility that he might get pneumonia.
He started to take Kuroko to the car. But Kuroko stepped into his arms, squeezing the redhead and muttering a soft sorry.
He really wanted Akashi-kun to be here, but Akashi-kun hated getting wet in the rain. Still here he was.
He heard what Kuroko said. But Akashi didn't bother to respond. He just wanted to get Tetsuya out of this storm, so he silently took him to the car.
Their house was a short drive from the ocean front. They lived in a modern day castle. Much smaller than they used to be. But still every bit as elegant and beautiful.
"Seijuuro?"
When Akashi walked into the house, followed by Kuroko, a redhead woman – better known as Akashi's mother – called.
It was no question that she adored her son, Akashi. But after giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she switched all her attention to Kuroko. She worried over him more than her own son. Because Kuroko was bizarre and more of an enigma than Seijuuro, or most other people for that matter. He was always running out in terrible rain storms. Ever since meeting the very polite, soft-spoken, slightly malnourished boy who didn't have anywhere to go – her fondness for him only grew. She assumed the responsibility to make sure he wasn't a child out on the streets. Though she didn't have much of a choice. She remembered how Seijuuro brought him home one day, holding Tetsuya's hand firmly in his own, and told his mother "he's hungry, Kaa-san." The sight of her child determined and hoping to save another was both sad and heartwarming. From the demanding look in her son's eyes, to the look in the eyes of a child both helpless and defenseless, she knew that she couldn't let either of them down.
Tetsuya never asked her for anything. But quietly accepted anything she gave to him. Food. Clothing. A bed to sleep in. And he never told her how he came to be alone in this world at such a young age. She never even considered forcing him to talk about it.
If Seijuuro was the only person that Tetsuya opened himself up to completely, then that was better than no one at all.
"Akashi-kaasan."
His white, icy cool hands gently removed her hands from his face, smiling slightly to make her stop worrying about him. Then he turned to glance up at Akashi, who walked over and placed a hand on Kuroko's waist. He assured his mother that he'd take care of Tetsuya, while Kuroko said he was fine. Yet Akashi kissed his mother on the cheek, and took the shivering bluenette upstairs.
On the way, he walked as close as possible to the freezing bluenette. Sometimes it took Tetsuya's body temperature longer than usual to warm up. But Akashi stayed right beside him, hugging Kuroko close to him, and ignored when the bluenette mumbled something about feeling suffocated.
Akashi and Kuroko's favorite room in the house was the most quiet. And the only room that had a fireplace. Exactly two chairs that sat side by side, slightly turned towards one another. Books on the back of the wall – because Kuroko always liked to read and Akashi most of the time just sat next to him, drinking wine and sometimes reading with him. A soft brown bear skin rug on the floor, right in front of the fireplace. Where Kuroko sometimes sat, to be close to the fire and watch the flames in interest. Because while he was deeply connected to the pure, transparent, crystal essence of water – Tetsuya struggled to understand fire.
It was red. Red and alive. Light. It helped to see in the dark. Just like the stars that lit up the sky at night.
Warm. Though he'd never even think about touching it. Whenever he got close enough, it made his skin tingle, and cheeks blush pink.
Just like Akashi-kun.
"Tetsuya."
Kuroko shyed away from the burning fire, leaning against Akashi's side when his husband sat on the floor beside him. It was just enough room on the rug for Akashi-kun to fit, right beside him in front of the fireplace.
Akashi offered him some wine. Kuroko didn't actually want any, but he leaned closer, his lips pressing on the top of the cool glass, and he let Akashi-kun tip it forward. It was only a sip. But he licked his lips afterwards, enjoying the after taste of some of his favorite wine.
He almost thanked Akashi-kun for being so considerate and loving. For so many years.
Yet Akashi told Kuroko to stop before he could finish his words. Akashi rather not hear it. He never wanted a thank you for anything he did for his dearest. And the flame burning in his chest, the fire in his heart came to life ever since meeting the one person who he was fated to keep warm with his love… it blazed as Akashi steadied himself on one hand, before bending down to seal Kuroko's lips with a kiss. He felt the heat within him pour into Tetsuya at that moment. And wrapped his arms around his love, causing their bodies to cuddle closer and share more heat.
Though he didn't fully understand it, and it had many of the same effects on him as his husband, Kuroko couldn't think of Akashi-kun as fire.
Akashi was wine. Liquid. Cool. Refreshing. Relaxing. Sweet like the only wine Kuroko could stand to drink.
The feeling of being too hot – too excited – caused Kuroko to shy away from Akashi as well. He mumbled something incoherent, burying his face into Akashi's dry shirt. His husband smirked and whispered something embarrassing. Kuroko only squinted as if he was upset by it, but he turned his cheek to rest on Akashi's chest, gripping his shirt and clinging to him while staring in the fire once again.
AN: Not sure how much sense this story made. But for once I just wanted to write what felt right! There was the feeling of wanting to write more, but suddenly I felt I'd wrote enough too. I tried to communicate their feelings the most, and that's why the only thing I wrote for dialogue was their name. It's an entirely different style of writing that I was experimenting with. Hope it was enjoyable :) And here's to hoping that I can write an even better AkaKuro (and more :3) next Valentines Day. Thanks for reading 33333