notes: reposted from tumblr. originally written for basketballpoetsociety's OTP Battle.


After practice, Akashi hands Kuroko a flower. It is white with red stripes. Curiously, Kuroko eyes the plant. "There is no meaning," is what Akashi tells him when he asks why he is giving the flower to him. So he accepts the flower, returns home, puts it in a vase, and prepares for the next day of school. The flower wilts a week later.

The following morning, Akashi hands him another flower. This time, it is yellow. When asked, again he tells him that 'there is no meaning', and so Kuroko accepts it yet again. Once home, he disposes of the wilted flower, and replaces it with the new one. A week later, it, too, is wilted.

This time he is hardly surprised when he is given yet another flower the next morning. The only difference is that this time, he accepts it wordlessly.

That is how they start their small ritual - Akashi gives him a flower, and he accepts it. Some time later, Aomine and Kise notice this unusual thing going on between them, and ask him about it. There is no meaning, he tells them, because this is what Akashi has told him, and he himself is not sure what it is nor why they keep doing this either. Momoi, who has overheard their conversation, helpfully tells them that certain flowers have a meaning in flower language. She suggests looking the flowers' meaning up, and also to keep track of how many he has already received. Later that day, Kuroko sets himself down and searches for the flowers' meaning. He finds nothing.

When their team breaks apart many weeks later in their third year of middle school, he also learns that some things do not change. The hand which holds out a flower to him still looks as it has looked just few days ago, even though his expression had not. He does not know why he accepts it.

In the finals of the national tournament, their team, if it can even be called one, crushes their opponent with unimaginable cruelty. He quits the club and avoids all his former friends. The flower, which had been wilted for some time now, is still in the vase. It is his mother who finds it one day and throws it away.

On the day of their graduation, Kuroko meets up with Akashi again, and tells him of his resolve. Akashi nods, and gives him another flower but this time, he refuses.

Months pass, and the day of their confrontation finally arrives. After a long and hard match, despite everyone's expectations, he emerges victorious. Akashi congratulates him. They part ways again.

The next day, Kuroko appears before Akashi's house. No words are exchanged. He extends his arm, and offers him a flower. It is white. Akashi accepts it, and puts it into a vase.