Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke. This is an alternative universe fan fiction revolving around Akashi Seijuurou and Kuroko Tetsuya in a publishing company setting.
Chapter 1 - The Meeting
This has been a strange development, and it was definitely not what he had signed up for.
Kise had referred him to the publishing company after finding out that Kuroko didn't find any job that fitted him and didn't exactly have any ideas since recently graduating from university. He probably won't see Kise very much even though the guy works in the same company, but in the shoujo manga department. Regardless, that was kind of Kise and he was grateful to him for this opportunity.
Kuroko working in a publishing company, that was understandable considering his work experience in college. Someone who edited college students' papers for the literature department and worked as a librarian assistant would be one type of person to pursue this position.
Getting called back into the office a few days after his interview only to be convinced in becoming an editor for the yaoi manga department rather than the literature department, that was rather bizarre. Granted, yaoi manga doesn't bother him anyway (he figured that he was more attracted to males after dating a couple of girls).
He was told that because Akashi has an intense regime for his department. While he would be working in a less-than-favorable department, Akashi has a lot to offer in terms of professional and personal growth, and the pay is a little better than the literature because of the popularity compared to other departments and there was more need for more mangaka and editors. He was also told that Akashi's direct experience from working in his father's line of business really helped in dramatically increasing the sales and overall bettering the organization of the department.
Before he even thought about having any sort of regrets, Kuroko decided to accept the proposition and was told he can begin work on Monday, giving himself the weekend to prepare for this new chapter. Takao, his interviewer, excuses himself for a few minutes.
Soon after Takao came back, they stepped out of the human resources office and Takao said he would be showing Kuroko around the office he will be working in to get a preview for what the office looks like and the atmosphere of it. As they were making their way through the floor, Takao greeted someone and engaged in a friendly conversation. As he turned around, he saw a man with dark green hair, muttering to himself in a rainbow scarf about not being able to win at something against someone, flicking through his smartphone for something, but Kuroko didn't think of it any longer when he was guided into a large room.
One half of the room seems to be more reference and research-oriented. The wall was neatly lined with yaoi manga with inspirational quotes in between the shelves. The table had books and papers and a few strange objects laying there. The other half of the room were workstations laid out in a circle shape with a large wooden door leading to what he assumes is his boss's office on the very right.
Only two people out of the six workstations seem to be in the office working away on Photoshop. One of them greeted them with a short 'good morning' before doing a short introduction and then excusing herself saying she needs to finish an important deadline for today. The other guy on the other hand made his way over to them.
"Takao-san! It has been a while."
They shook hands before rolling into a short conversation of what they have been up to before Takao told him he is introducing Kuroko.
"I am Kuroko Tetsuya. I will be the new editor starting Monday. Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine. Himuro Tatsuya. I have been an editor here for over 5 years now, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
They soon left the office after chatting for a few minutes and a group of people happened to be leaving from what seems to be the conference room. Takao let out an "Ah!" before making his way over to a redhead who happened to be the shortest in the group.
"Akashi-san!"
The redhead stopped before turning around to greet him.
"Takao-san, nice to see you."
Kuroko had been told that the last person they hired quit after three days, and then Kuroko happened to apply for the company the day after that had happened.
"This is Kuroko Tetsuya. He will be your new editor starting on Monday. Kuroko-san, this is the executive editor of your department, Akashi Seijuurou."
They shook hands before Takao continued.
"Akashi-san will actually take over from here, but if you have any questions related to your employment paperwork, let me know on Monday."
"Thank you for your help." Kuroko did a small bow to Takao who gave him a thumbs up and mouthed "good luck" before leaving to catch up to the green-haired guy he saw earlier today with the rainbow scarf.
They must be close if Takao didn't mind the weird wardrobe one bit and was happily calling "Shin-chan" like he had no care in the world.
He was interrupted in his thoughts as Akashi asked "Ready?"
He nodded as Akashi guided him into what seemed to be a smaller conference room, and he signaled Kuroko to have a seat at the table.
Kuroko settled himself in one of the nearby seats, and Akashi took a place directly across from him. Akashi fiddled around for a pen in his pocket before opening up his padfolio to take notes.
The questions Akashi asked sounded like they were from a personality inventory, though as they got further along in the conversation, it turned into questions about his personal interest, how he found out about the job, and because Akashi found out he initially applied for the editing position in the literature department, whose works was Kuroko interested in.
It turned out that Akashi already had a few people in mind. He explained that he will be assigned to Aomine Daiki (he tends to be lazy with the deadlines nowadays but when he puts in the effort, it shines), Kagami Taiga (he has a lot of potential, but he definitely needs a great editor who fixes all of the grammatical mistakes and strange word choices; the story is always interesting and with the right person, stories can go from great to amazing), and Momoi Satsuki (she is mostly a stress-free mangaka because she gets her work done in a timely manner and just needs some opinions occasionally to see if she's going toward the direction she has intended and if there are better alternatives to reach the same goals).
"All right, that should be it for mangaka assignments. Do you have any questions for me?"
When Kuroko thought about it as he was watching Akashi jot down more notes, Akashi was only asking questions about him and didn't really say anything about himself.
"You haven't said much about yourself."
Akashi involuntarily let out a chuckle before closing his padfolio and looking at Kuroko.
"You're right, I haven't."
Akashi clasped his hands together, looking at Kuroko.
"Akashi Seijuurou, age 25, executive editor of Fuwatari, also known as the heir to the Akashi Corporations but that's an entire different matter. I take interest in shogi and basketball as my sports. Otherwise, I dedicate time to reading Japanese and Western classics. Anything else you want to know?"
Kuroko noted in his head to maybe chat with Akashi one of these days about literature.
"How did you end up in this department?"
"Leadership training. This was a failing department when I was looking into good opportunities to gain real-world experience in leading a company once I graduated. The Akashi Corporation needs someone who is able to lead the company through whatever obstacle may arise, and without real proof, I would not be able to demonstrate my worth."
Kuroko hesitated in commenting about the nature of the department, but he was curious.
"...Normally, others would choose an alternative to this department."
"Normally. I only chose the company that needed the most help according to the figures regardless of what industry it is."
"Ah, I see..then-."
A knock interrupted Kuroko from finishing his sentence. Akashi got up to check who was knocking. After watching him listen to the person on the other side and nod in affirmation, Akashi closed the door and came back to the table.
"It looks like the conference room is reserved for a meeting in 5 minutes. Gather your things and let us go to our office and get you materials to prepare for your first day on Monday."
Kuroko grabbed his belongings and followed Akashi out.
Kuroko slumped into bed that Friday night, going over today's events. He felt that Akashi was a very efficient boss, and he definitely knows what he is doing in terms of both work and his life.
Still, it must have been difficult for his boss if he is also a heir to a large corporation like Akashi Corps. Well, it seems like someone knows what his future holds.
He looks over to the pile of items on his desk, mostly past revisions that the current editors as well as Akashi had done within the last 6 months. Although Akashi did give a lot of directions and tips, Kuroko felt like it was a little too much information to keep in his head at the moment.
Good thing Akashi gave him a padfolio similar to the one Akashi has so he could jot down all of those tips and instructions.
He learned that day Akashi is definitely a very patient person, and everything that he explained was clear, to the point, and detailed enough. He was happy to repeat anything more than once to make sure Kuroko starts off well, and Kuroko feels he's definitely off to a good start despite not working his official first day yet.
Kuroko felt Akashi definitely had a lot of experience under his belt despite only being a few years older. He believes Takao for now about Akashi being able to help him grow as a professional and as a person.
Maybe it wasn't such a strange idea after all to transfer to this department.
It has been over a week since Kuroko started his new job. He is still getting accustomed to the job as he has been shown around the place by the other editors and had hands-on trainings with Akashi (whenever Akashi was free for at least an hour) during the first two days, and he shadowed Himuro the next three days by going to a few authors' homes and learning screentones and other typical tools used for drawing manga.
Today was the middle of his second week working at the company, and he was already running into an unusual situation with a recently-hired mangaka. It wasn't Aida's fault that Kuroko had a difficult time trying to help her fix a scene that she hasn't drawn before. They've been at it for the last five hours (with one hour of lunchtime and they got to know each other), but he needed more help.
Kuroko tried asking Himuro for his opinion, and it had worked a little. He tried asking other editors as well if they answered their phone, but it wasn't quite right still. Although he knew that Akashi would be really busy, he wasn't quite sure what else to do, so he decided to call him and after a few rings, Akashi answered.
"Akashi-san, I apologize for interrupting, do you have five minutes?"
"Ah, I have some time. What do you need?"
"I tried asking five different editors throughout the day to help Aida-san in fixing an important page for her chapter, but I can't figure out how to help her improve the body proportions and details for it. I tried whatever I could think of and the suggestions, but we are still not at par in terms of quality."
Akashi made an incoherent sound that seemed he was deep in thought about this situation, but after some silence, he replied.
"I understand. I have an idea. Bring her into my office."
When Kuroko got off the phone, he asked Aida, who was next to him, to follow. He knocked on the door and entered when Akashi said to.
Now, Kuroko watched the scene carefully as she took a seat at the table nearby to set up her scene and Akashi approached them after putting away from files.
Akashi took a look at the art, and then he looked at Aida.
"Do you have a decent camera, Aida-san?"
The girl nodded at him, taking out the camera from her bag.
"You got one shot at this. Take as many good pictures needed for your references."
If Kuroko thought that his previous supervisor, who loved precalculus so much that his office was plastered with walls of trigonometry identities and hyperbola graphs in various colors, was one of the weirdest people he met in his life, Akashi just completely blew him that thought away.
In one swift motion, Akashi turned to move his left arm to wrap around Kuroko, arm supporting his back and hand brushing into the back of his hair, and the other arm wrapped around his waist. Their bodies were touching and Kuroko's breath was taken away as Akashi leaned in at a slanted angle to capture Kuroko in the gentlest kiss he ever felt.
Kuroko couldn't even blink as the camera shutter continues to click, his eyes wide in surprise as Akashi still had his eyes shut, lips perfectly fitted against his.
Before Kuroko could register that he should be pushing Akashi away (or followed the small thought of reciprocating for some reason), Akashi pulled away and faced Aida again.
"Remember, this is only for drawing reference. There will be consequences otherwise."
She quickly nodded and got started on fixing up her panel.
"A-Akashi...-san."
His face was red, not understanding why that had happened.
"Good job, Kuroko."
If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that he felt his face reddened even more because of Akashi's acknowledgement...
And the fact that the mangaka somehow managed to get the scene just about perfectly drawn for that chapter within the next 15 minutes, he wasn't exactly sure how he should feel about Akashi's approach.
Or rather, how he feels toward Akashi in general.
Notes: I proofread it and reworked the chapter at least 8 times, but because I'm human and this one chapter took at least a few weeks to finish, bare with me if there are inconsistencies. Some of the writing may feel similar to Sekaiichi Hatsukoi because it was my main source for manga industry-related yaoi (I try to deviate from it, but some of the ideas are too golden to pass up).
If I should expand or collapse any events, let me know in your review or message.
M-rated material to come starting chapter 2.