Title: It's Funny How You Beg and Push Me Away

Pairing: (Anti) Akashi x Kuroko

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rating: T

A/N: It took me a while to finally type this, a few days. I decided to base this on "The Worst of Them" a song by Issues and all the quotes is from this song. It was a good source of inspiration! Hope you like it~!

-x-x-

"Your love is addictive

I'm trying hard, just to quit it."

The sidewalk was slippery due to the rain that had fallen only seconds before. It dripped down from the rooftops of the building around him, the continuous noise distant in the background. For he had his eyes on something even more important, a guilt he needed to be rid of before it would stick to his mind until he couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't bear to handle extra stress during finals week. After he finally caught up with the mysterious person, he tapped his shoulder and bowed. "Uh, here's your umbrella you let me borrow earlier. Since it has stopped raining, I decided to hand it over to you now. Thank you for letting me borrow it." He hoped it wasn't rude of him to chase after the guy, but he knew that if he didn't, he probably would never have given it back.

"Oh, a student from the school," the person turned around and smiled at him. "Are you sure you won't need it?"

Kuroko stared at him for a couple of seconds longer than needed; there was something familiar about him. He then look up at the sky, the gray clouds were being blown in a different direction: taking the rain with them. "No, but thank you…"

"Ah," surprise lit his eyes for just a fraction of a second; he scratched the back of his head. "My name is Akashi Seijuurou."

Realization set in and Kuroko bowed a little, "I'm sorry for not noticing sooner, Akashi-san." Akashi Seijuurou was his school's class president as well as the heir to Akashi Incorporated, the main donator to the school they attend.

Akashi smiled politely, "It's fine, well see you next time Kuroko-san."

"Ah, see you…" Kuroko bowed a little out of a habit, but once he disappeared, his words had finally sunken in. He never told him his name. A weird feeling bubbled inside him and he felt his face become warmer. It was new to him, since knew his name. Even though they're the same age, there's nothing to compare. The only club he was in was the library club, while Akashi was in student council and basketball. Sometimes he'd even help out the archery club when they needed his skills. A lot of other clubs begged Akashi to join, but he'd always decline. Kuroko always saw him standing behind the podium, but never face to face like this. It was surreal. Just this one occurrence was enough for him to be happy for the rest of the day.

That was how the two of them met. The next couple of weeks were a blur to Kuroko. Akashi started talking to him a little bit more, a hello here, a goodbye there, and honestly Kuroko was on cloud nine talking to the most popular guy in school. That was until he found himself sinking…sinking…sinking down into what was beginning to seem like friendship. He never spoke so much to a person before who would constantly see him and always stops to greet him, so it was different. He honestly never thought he'd end up looking forward to seeing someone every day, at least not at this age. If there was something he could never go a day without, it would be books. Any kind of book really, from novels to manga, even newspapers- as long as it had words on it and offered new knowledge- he would read it with vigor. He desired knowledge since he always found himself observing people. He used to wonder why he had a lack of presence, why people never noticed him even if he tried to be flashy, but he learned that it's just who he is. His own parents forgot his birthday multiple times, the most recent one being just the year before. However, he decided to embrace it and understand people from his own perspective, from the perspective of a third person.

Soon, his thoughts began to wonder towards Akashi what he's doing. He wanted to know what his favorite food was, what his parents were like, and many other things that a mere acquaintance would never know. But most of all, he started to wonder what his thoughts were about him. Did he come off a little too strong about wanting him as a friend? Maybe he wasn't as obvious as he thought; perhaps he wasn't even on his radar, which would be the most believable. The boy could have anyone he wanted as a friend; even the teachers would often praise him. People would flock to him everywhere he went, would such a person even consider him worthy?

The more he thought of it, the less he realized what he was doing. His eyes would always be drawn to the mysterious fellow, watching him from afar.

It sort of crept on him slowly; Akashi would always meet his eyes, and never brush him off. He would send him small smiles here, light touches whenever they crossed paths when no one else was looking, and even words whispered that no one but he could hear…and soon Kuroko found himself developing a little crush for his newfound friend. He had hoped that it wasn't too obvious. He began to bump into people more often. Instead of it being their fault for not seeing him, it was actually his. He would walk with his head tilted towards the sky, his heart on his sleeve, and a small skip in his step. Of course it didn't show to the untrained eye, but people close to him were starting to notice the differences. His neighbor began to comment on how happy he's been like lately.

Kuroko sighed and looked down at the books in his hands, "Love is hard," he whispered.

"What was that?" Akashi suddenly popped up behind him, making Kuroko inwardly jump, but his expression was unreadable as usual. "Sorry, I called out to you, but you didn't hear me Kuroko," he chuckled. "You need to fix that habit of yours."

"It's not really a habit…" Kuroko looked away. He wouldn't quite call it a habit since it only happens around him. Akashi deemed the two close enough to drop honorifics. "So what is is that you want Akashi-san?"

Akashi's small smile turned into a frown and before Kuroko could process that, his polite façade switched in place, "Do you want to get some coffee after school?"

"…With just the two of us?" Kuroko felt a little happier, but then remembered something. "Sorry, I have library duties today. Maybe tomorrow…Well, see you Akashi-san." He bowed and walked away. The bell for the next class had ringed. "Don't look back," he reminded himself, "Don't you dare look back." Right before he entered the classroom, he just had to, but once he turned around, the hallway was empty.

Once school was over, Kuroko spent the rest of his afternoon in the library doing his usual duties as one of the librarian helpers. Only some people were still there after a couple of hours, but he had to be there until a specific time so he was relieved. He decided to start putting some of the books back in the shelves towards the empty side of the building, but was once again lost in thought. That was until he started to hear weird sounds. It was two guys who were facing each other, Kuroko couldn't see what they were doing through the countless books, but it appeared to be a confession. The shorter of the two was doing the confessing. Kuroko recognized the taller one from the class next door who frequently wandered into the library and his book was always about a different topic. He once asked one of the other people on duty, if he was ever in the library on their shift, but they said no. He was curious, but not curious enough to ask the person in question. Before he could hear the result of the confession, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He twisted around to see Akashi standing there and sighed softly.

"You've been sneaking up on me too much lately Akashi-san…"

Akashi smiled and his red eyes were warm. "I decided that since we can't have coffee, we can at least walk home together."

"That's really thoughtful of you," Kuroko smiled and then checked the time. "I just need to close up and then we can leave." They walked by the desk and signaled that they were closing soon. Kuroko noticed the two that were in the back as he started to pack his things. He caught the taller one of the two looking at him, but he walked away before he could get a good view of his face. He shrugged it off and soon the two were outside, the library locked up and began to walk towards Kuroko's home.

Once he got there, he was so tired that he fell asleep before he could even take off his uniform. "Today was a good day," he whispered absently in his sleep, a happy dream occupying his mind. He wished that his days would continue peacefully. Even if Akashi never realized how he felt, he'd prefer it over being flat out rejected: resulting in their friendship being doomed. He was content just being by his side and it was all he could ever wish for. He dreamed of multiple sceneries, but his favorite was one where he was walking along the shore of a beach. The sun's rays glaring down from clear skies, the sound of bird calls echoes from far away, and the sensation of the waves softly caressing his bare feet as he held hands of the person beside him, they were happy and that's all he ever wanted.

He whole heartedly wished that his peaceful days would never end; however being the object of affection to one as great as Akashi Seijuurou would be doomed to never have a peaceful day again.

-x-x-

The End of Chapter One.

A/N: This is the first installment of It's Funny How You Beg and Push Me Away. I was going to do a long one shot, but I believe that would be a reason for my writer's block. End pairing isn't set yet, but at the moment I'm favoring someone other than Akashi. If you want it to be Akakuro, then you should stop now before I head into the angst. I don't know why I always want to make multi-chapter fics. Why do I do this to myself?