Beta-ed by: HeteroChromium (my very first beta)… you're a peach~!
Warning: The story is not like the usual portrayal of Kuroko and Akashi... so, don't get mad for ooc's.
Two Worlds Apart
~x Seijuuro and Tetsuya x~
Our worlds are different in many ways
In mine it is always grey
In yours it is bright and sunny
In mine I sleep in the rain
You always feel the cool wind blowing on your face
Dinner time passed but he had only managed to sell three stalks of roses despite standing on the street for one whole day. It was not enough to buy a good meal, actually it's not even enough for a cheap meal. Seijuuro wrapped his skinny body with a thin cloth to protect it from the chilling wind. Everyone who passed by just ignored the poor man, all except for one, an old woman stopped in front of him and generously bought a dozen stalks of roses.
"Thank you very much madam," Seijuuro bowed his head, gratefully thanking the old woman. He could finally go home and eat after an entire day of not consuming any food.
"Why are you wearing such thin clothes, young man? The weather is cold so you should wear a thick jacket" the old woman told him.
"Uh… I don't have enough money to buy even a second-hand jacket. But don't worry madam, I'm used to it."
The woman searched for something in her paper bag. "Here," she held out a large and thick jacket. "Come on, take it, young man."
Seijuuro gulped in surprise. Blinking once, twice, Seijuuro carefully received the gift from the old woman he just met. His eyes brimmed with tears as the pure white snow started to fall around them like cherry blossoms.
"Madam, you don't know me yet you show me kindness. How am I going to thank and repay you?"
"Don't worry about it. Life is hard. Even though the world never spared you a single glance; please remember to pray and thank God for all your blessings…"
The old woman's words still lingered in Seijuuro's mind. He was aware of God but he never once tried to thank him or pray for him. Now, he decided that it was time to say the thanks of gratitude for allowing him to witness human kindness and compassion. The jacket he had just received was the only thing that kept him warm for the night.
Seijuuro lived alone in a rag house under the bridge. He was sure that it was an old horse den but he had cleaned and repaired it and now he lived in it. It was what he called his mansion. The red haired boy started to feel the hardship of life when he was 12 years old. After the orphanage where he grew up had been shutdown, he decided to live on his own and work for himself. It was very hard at first because most people didn't accept minors, especially a 12 year old like him, working for them. Luckily, a tender-hearted man who owned a ramen house accepted him and he worked as delivery boy for 10 years. Two years after, the store where he worked was forced to close because the kind man who helped him died of heart attack. From that moment, Seijuuro came to a firm conclusion: 'God takes all the kind-hearted people'.
Now, he's a 24 years old man with nowhere to go, his future set in the line of poverty forever. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm feeling of his first winter jacket. It was the first because some of his clothes were given to him by the flower shop owner where he was at working now and the kind-hearted ramen-shop owner whom he had worked for when he was young. He was indebted to those people and would never forget their kindness.
That night, he could sleep peacefully before he face the cruel world again. Hope stayed in his heart as he believed that someone would save him from the savage, meagre life that he led.
A young man with cotton candy blue orbs and silky teal colored hair was sitting at the corner of a crowded bar. There were a lot of people chatting, almost yelling at each other because of the loud music that filled the whole area. Men and women were dancing on the floor like wild animals and there was a stink of cigarettes and alcohol that permeated the place and swayed in the man's nostrils. Kuroko hate it. If not for his cousin who had just returned from the states, he would not have taken a single step into a place like that.
"Tetsucchii!" the blonde spread his arms and hug Tetsuya tightly, rubbing the irritated man's cheeks with his own.
"Stop rubbing me! Hey Ryota-niisan, can we go back home?" Tetsuya gave his cousin a nice punch on the head as the blonde crossed the line.
"Aw-ssu, Tetsucchi's so stingy… we just got here for Christ sake! Please bear with it a little longer. Why don't you come with me instead of sulking there in the corner?"
"You are aware of what kind of father I have, aren't you?"
"I know, I know… Uncle Fumihiko is strict but he understand that were at the right age to have fun."
"You are but I'm not having fun here…" Tetsuya's face was drawn into a disgusted look while he pinched his nose so that he can't smell the liquor and cigar his cousin was emitting "You stink."
Ryota whined and wiped his fake tears away. "Tetsucchi... don't be like that… it hurts, you know."
15 minutes passed and he finally managed to convince his cousin to go somewhere else because he could not take the not-so-nice smell in the bar any longer. Tetsuya decided to stop by to a 24-hour fast food to help sober up his cousin. He ordered a vanilla shake and coffee before pulling out his wallet. There wasn't any cash in there, only a dozen gold ATM cards and checks that he uses for business.
"Uhmm.. sir, we're not accepting gold cards. Do you have any bills or cash?" the cashier told him, sweat-dropping from what he saw in the teal haired man's wallet.
"Oh sorry, hold on, I'll ask my companion." Tetsuya turned back to the table where he placed his cousin's limp and drunken body. The blonde was already sleeping because of the large amounts of alcohol he consume. "Hey… Ryouta-niisan…" he shook the blonde's body roughly.
"What is it Tetsucchii?" Ryouta cracked open an eye and looked at him.
"Do you have small bills?"
"Uh.. dunno… check my wallet. It's in my jacket" he groggily replied.
Kuroko went to get his cousin's wallet and thankfully, there were couple of paper bills. After paying the cashier and not minding to get his change, he went back to their table and gave the coffee to Ryota.
It was almost midnight. The teal haired man glance at the snow-covered street that was empty of anybody. Such a breath-taking view yet his heart felt cold and empty.
Growing up in a wealthy family would seem like a dream come true for most people. But underneath the superficial glamour lay the painful truth. From the moment you were born, you were caged and did not have an ounce of freedom to live the way you like. Once, when he was still a very young child, Tetsuya was kidnapped and requested for ransom. His family was so rich that they provided the money that the kidnappers have requested for, but the kidnappers refused to let the boy go. Instead, they tried to use him to get more money from his father.
One night, when the kidnappers were too busy and distracted playing cards, Tetsuya managed to escape and run into the cover of the nearby forest, crying and not daring to look back. He had been so afraid and terrified that the kidnappers would catch him again. Suddenly a hand grabbed his arms and held his mouth to keep him quiet. He was about to cry out loud but he stopped when he saw the person's face that was illuminated in the silver moonlight. It was a boy, the same age as him. He had crimson-red hair and pair of heterochromatic eyes that glowing intensely with the beautiful shades of red and gold.
After that, he couldn't really recall what happened. Before he knew it, he was already back home, in his room. From then on, Tetsuya never stepped out of their household without any guards beside him. It takes him many years to finally convince his family that he needed only one attendant beside him that will become his secretary, driver and bodyguard.
Every night, he will reminisce the face of the boy and remembering every detail especially those beautiful eyes. Every time he lay in bed and close his eyes, he hopes that he would be able to meet and be friends with him and perhaps finally found true love, in the form of his red-haired saviour. Every night, Kuroko dreamt the kind of love he had longed for ever since he was young.
We are two worlds apart
and maybe someday
Our worlds will collide together
and we can be:
just you and me
together, forever
under the same stars