AN: Hello! It's been a while since I published any works so I'm not sure if this is something that's even up to par to be published;; This fanfic is dedicated to MuraAka, since it's MuraAka day~

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine.

Enjoy~

Really though, Murasakibara Atsushi never really did able to find his equal back then. He was tall and big and that was what probably kept people from being too overly friendly with him. He was fine though about it back then, since probably he didn't really need friends. At least that was what he believed back then. He got to admit that it was lonely as well as quiet.

When his teacher told him that he needed to join club activities because he seemed too lonely, he really thought that the teacher was stupid. He had only stare and sigh back then, he randomly chose whatever club that he could go to, and he decided that at least he would be useful with his height at the basketball club. His first day was surprising to say the least, he went to the gym but instead was greeted by a very short person compared to himself. He looked around and saw two others, and thought that the other two weren't as short as this red-haired guy standing in front of him.

"Murasakibara Atsushi? The coach told me that you'd be here today." The red-haired guy easily said, no fear in his eyes, no amazement, no awkwardness, but there was something that he couldn't quite place his hands upon. Murasakibara nodded and gripped his bag harder, because he was nervous surprisingly. Never in his life had anyone talked to him casually without any signs of fear or envy. It scared him.

"I'm Akashi Seijuurou, the captain of Teikou's basketball team." He said easily extending his hand forward and Murasakibara took it. He noted how small Akashi's hands were and how it drowned compared to his own, but he also noticed how calloused and rough it felt.

He was baffled really, he thought that a captain of the basketball team would've been taller but he didn't really mind, it was just unexpected though. The captain in front of him blinked up sharply and stared, his gaze unwavering, confident and was very analytical.

"You're almost 2 meters tall are you?" He asked, and if Murasakibara had blinked, he wouldn't have noticed the slight sparkle in the other boys' eyes as he was watching him acutely. Murasakibara yet again only nodded, confused on how to handle these situations since he was never in one whatsoever.

That was how they met though, Akashi quickly arranged that he should practice very hard in order to make use of his height. Akashi set up a special practice for him, to defense and offense if needed. The small boy quickly received a measure of respect from everyone who joined the team, and in itself his orders were precise, correct, demanding and yet always right. That itself, was very respectable.

The days following his practice days were tiring, at the end of every week Akashi would change their routines and comment on their improvements. Midorima and Aomine both were praised because of their increasing level of strengths and speed. Murasakibara stood there, watching how Akashi talked, how his tone would be gentle when he was praising and his tone would be stern when he told them what they needed to improve on.

"Atsushi." his name was called, and he quickly paid attention. He didn't expect Akashi would sighed and look sternly at him.

"You could've given more effort into it Atsushi, your big size alone won't be enough to be useful to us in the game." Akashi said sternly, his eyes staring. Judging. For the first time in his life, Murasakibara was scared of losing someone. He would follow Akashi everywhere, do everything he asks for, anything. He didn't even know why.

"…okay Akachin." he mumbled, looking away.

It was Saturday, no one was at school and he came alone. He didn't want to upset Akashi. He couldn't take the look of disappointment that fleeted in the captain's eyes for a split second, and it hurt. He changed his clothes and got the basketball trolley out, but then he heard the gym doors slide open.

"Eh? Atsushi? You're here today, you weren't here last time I was here." Akashi had said, his gym bag sat on his shoulder as he closed the gym doors and made his way to where Murasakibara was. The red-haired male stood in front of him in casual clothes, and Murasakibara noted that this was the first time he saw the captain in them.

"Good job then Atsushi, you'll be better in no time if you keep this up." and Akashi smiled at him. Murasakibara stared, and felt his chest swell with pride and the butterflies started squirming in his stomach. It was intoxicating and he wanted that smile to be for him only, he wanted to monopolize it, make it his alone. He wanted Akashi to be his, wanted to be his equal.

Murasakibara hugged his jacket tighter around himself and watched his breath created puffs of smoke hinting that it was cold. The phone in his pocket vibrated and he pulled it out, he saw that there was a text message. He opened it in hope that it wasn't from anyone important, after all he was in a very bad mood. Losing was one thing that he never really like, and never able to accept on his own. He lacked that factor of being a good sport long ago.

Approximately yesterday, he lost to Kuroko, whom he never really took seriously since his style of playing was very different than his. Really though, he didn't expect to have that Kagami kid ruin his plans to win and catch up to play against Akashi. After all, he haven't given up on trying to be Akashi's equal.

The only to do that though, was to beat him, have the captain acknowledge him as an equal. He didn't do what he might do though to make the smaller man break, and bow down in front of him for once. He only wanted to be noticed after all, that wasn't so wrong now was it?

Murasakibara opened the text and was barely able to contain his surprised expression when he saw the sender. It was from Akashi, asking how did the game went yesterday. He knew that it was a lie though, Akashi would've known already about the result of the match.

'I lost Akachin.' was the only thing Murasakibara could say, he couldn't even try to lie.

AN: Part two will be up later up soon :)