IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:
First of all, I would like to clear some things up, the Akashi here is Oreshi (Teikou Akashi, Akashi V1 or wtv) even with heterochromatic eyes. Since he developed his emperor eyes in his second year in Teikou, he became Bokushi (Rakuzan Akashi, Akashi V2) but is still Oreshi when it comes to Kuroko for he still treated her the same way as he did before. He DID changed, but only to Kuroko he didn't and that's why he still acts this way. (I would not deny it when he becomes merciless and downright cruel that it is currently Bokushi in the surface because that is how it is) :D
END OF IMPORTANCE. You can now ignore everything in bold under this xD
I apologize for the uhm, previous chapter xD I didn't mean for Sei-chan to lose control but yeah all in good time bbys, all in good time :D
I apologize too for the late update, here's a fairly long chapter to make up for it :D Hope you all enjoy!
Answers to anon reviews xD
Aya Desu – I'm am so aware that I am a kill joy and I'm loving every minute of it. No, srsly, I'm writhing in agony ORZ but like I said, all in good time bby :P
Akaxkuroforever – Can I just first say that I LOVE your pen name?! AKAXKURO4EVER YEAH. And yeah, I'm glad that you appreciate Ki-chan's message, it took a lot of effort to do that actually lols. It's worth it though, this story is worth squeezing my brains out for new ideas xD lastly, I am just a fellow AkaxKuro fan, I lean to the AkaxFem!Kuro more though and not an Awethor xD lols, that is all. I LOVE YOU TOO DEAR :D
Disclaimer: If I could direct your attention to the first quarter.
"talking"
'thinking'
9th Quarter: Mistake.
Yesterday's event was awkward but it pales in comparison to the morning after.
Kuroko is trying her best to ignore Akashi's presence which is kind of hard since they are currently living in the same roof and adding how persistent the ignored man is to talk to her makes the task even harder to accomplish.
"Tetsum-"The redhead started as he made his way to the kitchen where the tealhead is currently cooking breakfast.
She showed no signs of acknowledgement, merely opening the fridge to let it act as a wall between them.
"Don't ignore me." He ordered with a sharp edge on his tone.
Still no response as the girl busied herself cooking eggs.
"Fine, be that way. I'm trying to explain but it seems that you don't want to hear any of it. Contact me when you feel like listening." Was Akashi's last words before he went outside, slamming the front door shut.
She ignored the redhead; after all, following him out will only ignite the flame more.
Although contrary to the way she was acting, she was not angry in the least, she was just slightly surprised at the way Akashi acted but she will not let it get through her.
She would just swallow everything up and pretend that nothing happened.
"Can you stop behaving that way. I am aware that what I did was wrong but you shouldn't put all the blame to me, you were indecent back there and contrary to the popular belief, I am a normal teenage boy who has desires and I just lost control of one of them." The redhead broke the awkward silence between them.
Kuroko message him earlier to say that breakfast is ready which made the redhead begrudgingly make his way back to her house. Twenty minutes later, they were eating breakfast as a thick cloud of awkwardness looms between them.
"I merely got momentarily distracted, that is all. It does not mean a thing." He finished.
"So you were, what do you call that, testing the waters?" The tealhead replied, anyone could detect the slight annoyance in her tone. It was one thing to let herself believe that it did not happen and another to hear it from the redhead himself that it means nothing.
"I would not easily do that to just anyone, if that is what you are thinking." Akashi found her accusation appalling, does she really thinks that he would just kiss anyone out of the blue?
"I never said that." Kuroko impassively replied.
"Oh so you basically told me that I was just 'testing the waters' and yet not accusing me of such. Only you can manage to do something like that." He raised his hands to give her a mocking round of applause.
"Stop being so sarcastic, it does not make the situation better." Her tone had not changed.
"What would you like me to do then?" He challenged, finding the tealhead's resistance aggravating.
"Stop talking to me, you are not normally this talkative." The girl tried to end the conversation, dreading that it will just raise the conflict between them.
"Well, talk about yourself; you are not normally this talkative either." She was profusely testing his patience, he is aware of that much.
"Yes I am not, that is why I told you to stop." She all but snapped.
The redhead continued eating and did not utter a single word for the whole period. Kuroko continued eating too, unaware of the glances given by the man in front of her.
She asked for this silence after all, so she better enjoy it.
Few hours passed and Kuroko was getting ready for the trip to the beach. She knows that despite of what had transpired, she couldn't reject her team's offer for a day of relaxation and it will help her clear her mind too.
There's only one dilemma though.
"You don't need to come with me." She said as she packed her bag, directing the statement to the man leaning on the frame of her door.
"And leave you alone with that Kagami? I will not tolerate that." The redhead spat.
"Why do you care?" She asked Akashi as she turned to look at him.
The room was silent for a while as the two stared at each other; her blank baby blue eyes clashing with his equally indifferent ruby and gold ones.
It took a while before the redhead reply, authority lacing in his voice.
"I just do. Now stop this foolishness. You have five minutes to get ready."
She had enough of Akashi ordering her around; it is time for her to seriously voice her own opinion.
"I don't want to come anymore, if you want to, you could go." She stubbornly replied as she turned her back to the disturbed redhead.
"Are you defying me, Tetsumi?" Akashi narrowed his eyes, the Tetsumi that he knows will never disobey him, sure she has her stubborn moments but there was never a time when she would flat out refuse him.
"I believe so."
"Well then, let me rephrase my earlier statement. You will stop this foolishness and do as I say." He firmly demanded.
When the tealhead still refused to comply, he walked towards her, gripping her arm to pivot the girl towards him.
The girl automatically flinched as she struggled to escape from the firm grip that the redhead has on her.
"Let go of me." She whispered as she continues to struggle, her composure shaking.
Seeing her unexpected reaction made his already cold blood turn ice.
Kuroko Tetsumi was clearly showing signs of uneasiness, and it is because of him.
There are by far four things that he can't handle.
First is not winning, although that is already given since he does not know defeat, next is disobeying him, Kuroko Tetsumi being angry at him and ignoring him and the last, the most recent and dreaded one, is for the tealhead to be actually uneasy because of him.
It does not make sense, the normally apathetic girl flinching and struggling all because he touched her. Normally, she would just brush it off with the void of emotion expression of her but the opposite happened. For once, she truly reacted.
He said nothing as he pulled the girl towards him, incasing her in a tight embrace while the girl still continued to struggle against him. Tetsumi, as it seems to him, always finds the will to let her stubborn side shown whenever it is the least needed.
"Stop it, at once." Was the only thing that he can utter.
Yet his statement was passed by deaf ears as the girl did the opposite.
"Do you want me to kiss you again?" He threatened, already fed up with the tealhead's struggling.
That made her stop, she then blink and her expression finally turned to normal.
"I'll go get ready now, may I ask Sei-kun to let go of me so that I can do so." Her tone was void of emotion as always but Akashi couldn't get the thought that something is different with her out of his mind.
Nonetheless, he obeyed her and left her alone without a word.
As the two made their way to the beach coast, having refused to be picked up by Kagami per Akashi's orders, they were immediately greeted by the whole Seirin team, some were cheerful like Kiyoshi's and Aida's and some were hesitant like Hyuuga's, Koganei's and the rest of the team.
The girl beside him was immediately escorted to the changing rooms by her overly excited coach, not after asking his permission of course. As for him, he's currently wearing a moderately tight white shirt, black shorts that reaches a little above his knee and an orange short sleeved hoodie to complete the outfit.
As he waited for the tealhead to finish changing, he glanced at the rest of the group which, except from Kagami and Kiyoshi, were pretty uncomfortable in his presence.
Judging from their actions, it seems like only Kagami and their female coach knew about their manager bringing a welcomed albeit scary companion.
But then again, Akashi paid no mind as he was more concerned with Kuroko who was done changing and currently approaching him and of course, the amount of skin that his tealhead is currently displaying, not that it is anything repulsive, it was more than alluring actually. He just doesn't like the fact that what the girl is currently wearing can be seen by the people currently present at the area though he did perceive the fact that only her team can actually see her, he thank her low presence for that.
Kuroko, as seen by Akashi's eyes, is currently wearing a one piece white swimsuit that has a skirt bottom, said material ending a little above her knees, giving anyone who sees them a good look at her porcelain and creamy thighs. The swimsuit is fairly modest comparing to what he have seen, since it doesn't expose much of her upper body, her chest and back are completely covered but nonetheless, he still doesn't approve of it since it hugged her at the right places, showing the apparent curve in her waist which were not normally seen as she tends to wear clothes that is a size bigger than her.
And seeing how some of the members of her team is eyeing her milky white thighs made him more firm in his disapproval.
Sensing the redhead's evident irritation, Kuroko allowed herself to cast a fleeting glance at the redhead, allowing herself to yet again admire the perfect form of her former captain, the way how the sun made his already perfect hair practically glow, his ruby and gold eyes seems more intense, giving him that dangerous yet inviting look, and how his shirt clung to his firm muscles. The numerous girls who was currently eyeing the redhead is a clear evidence of how really attention catching and good looking he truly is.
Even the frown marked on his lips did nothing but justice on his already enthralling face.
She is not sure whether the redhead really likes the idea of going to the beach to relax and have fun, in all sense, everything about him right now screams how dismayed he is in his current situation. She briefly wondered if it is the hot rays of sun that made him more peevish than before for the temperature is indeed warmer than it's supposed to be. The thought that it maybe because of her hadn't crossed her mind even once.
Feeling a foreign weight on her shoulders, she looked at the male beside her, his orange hoodie now draped on her lithe shoulders. Puzzled at the gesture, she directed a bemusing glance to the still faintly peeved redhead.
"Don't take that off." Was all he said as he snaked one of his firm arm around the tealhead's petite waist.
Kuroko didn't reply but did not bother to shake the arm around her off. She just donned on her indifferent mask as she let the redhead guide her.
The rest of the team was dumfounded, they may have mentally prepared themselves for this by the time they saw their manager with the intimidating captain but it is still a shock to actually see it for real.
They all flinched when the redhead looked back, with his arm firmly suited on the girl's waist, an innocent smile present on his thin lips. They all knew better though, Akashi Seijuurou is more perilous when smiling than when serious.
Kagami just sighed, already fed up with the two.
"Let me go." Kuroko agitatedly muttered as the redhead trapped her in his arms.
She would have never thought that the sly man would actually dragged them to the ocean, she thought that he would just find a quiet place for them and just lounge under the harsh sun but the redhead had other plans as it may seem, and it includes pulling his hoodie off one Kuroko Tetsumi not once moving his arm from their position before hauling her into the ocean with him, moving his arms to securely wrap around her thin waist.
"I will not let you go, especially with those leering perverts around." He tightened his arms around her. Kuroko fought the urge to roll her eyes and just stared blankly at her captor.
"I don't need you to protect me."
"You may be right about that" she was slightly astounded to hear the Akashi Seijuurou admit that someone other than him is right. ", but this is not about your safety, I know that you can handle yourself well, this is for my self-satisfaction."
She immediately stopped struggling and let the redhead hold her.
"Let me guess, this is one of your desires is it not?" She tried to incorporate the earlier conversation to the recent one, to see if he was still bothered by it.
Akashi smiled, finding her words amusing.
"Indeed it is." He confirmed, burying his face in the smoothness of her neck before hauling them back to the land surface.
Surrendering to her fate, she let herself be dragged by the redhead.
Like her previous assumptions, Akashi had found a quiet place for them to rest in, as she was ushered to sit with his hoodie present in her shoulders again before the redhead excused himself, she briefly thought how a crowded beach could have a peaceful place like this, unaware how the people around her were too intimidated by the frightening aura her companion currently emits to actually approach them.
She too wonders where her team is, the original plan after all is to be with her teammates for a day but it looks like the redhead is keen on monopolizing her. She didn't think any deeper meaning about it, assuming that it is her duty to accompany her former captain since he is currently staying at her residence.
"Kuroko-chan!" The said girl looked to her right to spot her coach waving as she made her way to her.
"I've been looking all over for you! Eh? Where's Akashi-kun?" Aida asked after noticing the should be constant presence missing, she did not expect the redhead to leave the girl alone especially not after his protective actions earlier.
"Sei-kun excused himself for a while, saying that he has to buy something." The girl explained.
Aida frowned, displeased by the redhead actions, surely he couldn't just leave this adorable girl alone in a beach full of hormonal boys nonetheless, the tealhead would surely be spotted despite of her low presence after all.
'Or maybe he somewhat knows that I'll find Kuroko-chan and accompany her.' She shook her head at her silly thoughts, the feared captain may be faultless but he can't possibly predict something like this.
"Well, none of that." She clapped her hands to clear her thoughts. "Let's swim Kuroko-chan, I'm sick of being around those idiot boys, I need some female companion!" She tried to drag the tealhead to the ocean once more, ignoring her protests.
"But Sei-kun maybe back and look for me, it will be easier to stay here." The tealhead tried to reason.
"I'm sure he'll find you wherever you are Kuroko-chan. Now, let's have fun!" Akashi would, without a doubt, find her, Aida is sure of that. Kuroko's low presence is not an obstacle, unlike the rest of them, to him after all.
The tealhead let out a sigh as she grabbed the redhead's hoodie off her and folded it carefully before she followed her overly eager coach.
Meanwhile, the redhead was about to make his way back to Kuroko who was with her coach no doubt, with her favorite drink in his hand when he was spotted by Seirin's Ace.
"Yo Akashi! You're not with Kuroko?" The taller redhead asked as he approached the man.
"I will be if you would stop blocking the path, Kagami-kun." Akashi replied flatly.
"Stop being so stingy, jeesh, want to play beach volleyball with us?" Kagami ignored the other guy's obvious disinclination to continue conversing with him.
"I'm afraid I have to refuse, I need to bring this to Tetsumi after all, now if you'll excuse me." The tone was a flat as earlier and before he could stop himself, he asked what's been bugging him ever since he saw their manager and her former captain together.
"Kuroko didn't answered before but are you and Kuroko really dating?" He blurted out without thinking.
"I fail to see why it should concern you." Akashi looked at him, eyes piercing as Kagami felt like the redhead is analyzing everything about him.
"I'm just curious." Was all he managed to reply.
The man let a smirk grace his features at that. "Curiosity killed the cat, well in this case, the tiger." He belligerently replied.
"Don't you like her? Why not date her instead of waiting and doing things like this?" The clueless man probed, thirsty to know the truth about their intricate relationship.
"I see, you have a dilemma about not contemplating first before blabbering Kagami-kun." Akashi started jovially before his expression turned sour "I would like to give you an advice, prevent that mouth of yours from running around if you don't want any complications." He ended, an impending threat laced in his words. He was about to go but the questioning glance that Kagami gives infuriated him.
"For your peace of mind, I abhor no feelings for Tetsumi, I see her as nothing more than something that would be of use to me and something dispensable when she's proven to be valueless." He ended the conversation with that, leaving a gaping Kagami who has his fist clenched tightly, rage present in his eyes at the revelation of the true meaning of Kuroko's presence for Akashi.
As expected, the redhead found the impassive girl with Aida Riko, the two girls were currently playing around the ocean, occasionally splashing each other. The tealhead may not have a smile on her face but the way her eyes twinkled is enough for him to clearly say that she's having fun. His expression diminutively softened at the sight.
He slowly approached the two, mindful of the admiring glances given by the girls around him. As he draw nearer, he could see that the girl is too engrossed with her current task, to pay her coach back for getting her wet, to notice his presence.
He was about to call her when he was unexpectedly splashed with cold, salty water. He blinked, astounded by the unpredictable gesture, as water droplets fell from his face.
"Ah." He heard the tealhead react.
When Kuroko realized that it was not her coach who she splashed water to but her former captain who continued to blink a few times before staring undauntedly at her, she deliberated on two things, first is that it was quite impossible to catch the certain redhead off guard and second is that she will be most likely killed for doing just that.
"My apologies Sei-kun, I was aiming for the coach, I didn't realize that you were there." She tried to say as regretfully as she could with Aida, who noticed her inner turmoil, supporting her.
"Yes Akashi-kun! We were just playing, I invaded Kuroko-chan's attack but I didn't mean to get you wet, let me get a towel for you. We're really sorry!" She hurriedly replied, quickly leaving the comfort of the ocean water to get her towel.
"It's fine Aida-san, I was distracted too so I didn't had chance to avoid that. You don't need to bother." Akashi dismissed the coach.
"Here Tetsumi." Completely ignoring the female coach's offers, he directed his attention to the tealhead in front of him.
Kuroko blinked, perplexed to the fact that the redhead still hadn't lectured her for being careless. She looked at what was offered to her, eyes immediately shining to find that is was her favorite drink.
She gratefully took the drink, automatically taking a sip as she let out a satisfied sigh at how the creamy drink soothes her now thirsty throat.
"Thank you very much Sei-kun." She stopped drinking for a minute to present the redhead a gentle smile, which she just realized, is always and only given to him.
The man responded with a noticeable soft expression, eyes reflecting something akin to fondness.
"Hm."
"Here. You must be thirsty too right?" The drink he just gave was offered to him, he quickly glanced at it before refocusing to the one who offered it.
Wordlessly, he took a hold of the girl's wrist as he took a sip from the drink in her hand, mindfully aware of the miniscule flush present in her cheeks.
"Seems like all the effort of walking around and buying that drink paid off." He stated with a hint of teasing in his tone.
The two continued their playful banter, with the redhead inconspicuously teasing the tealhead, the once barely noticeable flush on her cheeks being more evident. They failed to notice Seirin's coach, who was watching the two with a fond smile on her lips.
'It looks like I don't need to butt in anymore, Akashi-kun, take good care of Kuroko-chan please. I am now sure that she's happiest when you are with her.' With that last thought, she quietly turned around, leaving the two to themselves.
"Stop it Sei-kun, I'll get mad." Kuroko threatened as the redhead failed to stop teasing her.
"I'm enjoying this Tetsumi, look at you, you're adorable when you blush." Hearing this made the tealhead's cheeks feel hotter, she vaguely blamed the sun for the added heat.
"Stop pouting."
"I'm not pouting." The tealhead firmly denied.
"Yes you are, see." Akashi moved closer, brushing his thumb to her lower lip to prove his point.
The feel of the redhead's finger on her lips made the girl freeze, remembering what transpired yesterday.
Seeing her reaction, the redhead let his hand fall back to his side. He stared at the girl, who was now silent, the flush in her cheeks automatically dissipated. He let out a quiet sigh before taking a hold of the girl's wrist to drag her back to where their bags are located.
He gently made the girl sit in the towel laid above the soft sand, picking his hoodie up and placing it around her shoulders again before joining her.
"I should properly apologize for my previous actions Tetsumi, I got out of line and did that to you. If you can, I want you to forget about that occurrence, I refuse for it to be something that would cause any inconvenience between the two of us." He straightforwardly said, looking at the girl with sincere red and gold eyes.
"I apologize for my behavior earlier too Sei-kun, it was rude of me to accuse you." Kuroko faced him, placing her hands in her lap and closing her eyes, she gave a small bow.
She was given no reply all she heard was the sound of someone moving before she felt a weight on her lap, right above her hands. She blinked her eyes open to find red and gold ones staring at her.
"Sei-kun?" She asked as she removed her hands under Akashi's head to allow him more comfort.
"With this, both of us are forgiven right?" It was more of a statement than a question but the girl found herself nodding in agreement.
The redhead closed his eyes, completely pleased and before he could prevent it, a gentle and sincere smile made his way through his lips.
Kuroko, seeing that smile, let out one of her own. Both were content about their previous issue being fixed. She placed one of her hands in his soft hair, gently stroking it.
The man hummed, feeling drowsy at the girl's action. He let himself succumbed to the lulling call of sleep after a while.
As she watches the redhead dose off, Kuroko is only thinking about two things.
One is that she sometimes wonders if there are two Akashi Seijuurous, the one who was vicious and cruel, like the one earlier at breakfast and the one who is with her right now, gentle, warm and kind.
And the other is that she is sure of the fact that she will still love him even so. She just doesn't want him to let her keep her hopes up all the time before he crushes it with his bare hands.
Aida, after leaving the two lovebirds alone, went to find her team. They were in the middle of playing beach volleyball when she spotted them. Deciding to wait for them to finish, she sat on one of the benches as she let herself drown in her thoughts about a certain tealhead and redhead.
'Those two are not dating, right? Why wouldn't Akashi-kun ask her already, it is quite obvious that those two like each other, heck, they could already be in love so still why?' She sighed, incapable of coming up with a valid excuse to the current relationship status of the two.
'It really is hard to read Akashi Seijuurou, he should be the very definition of an enigma.' As she was lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice her team's Ace approaching her.
"Hey coach." Kagami suddenly said which made Aida jump from her seat.
"Kagami-kun! Don't scare me like that. Are you turning into Kuroko-chan too?!" She exclaimed, surprised at Kagami who, for her, came out of nowhere.
"I'm sorry! But speaking of Kuroko, have you seen her?" The apologetic man asked.
"Yes, I was with her for some quite time before Akashi-kun found us." At the mention of the captain of Kiseki no Sedai, Kagami's face turned hard.
Looking at the coach seriously, he started. "Coach, I uh, I think we should start to separate Kuroko from Akashi." He said without a slight amusement in his tone.
Aida was surprised, she saw it with her own eyes how the usually intimidating redhead cherishes their team manager, why would Kagami be that against for them to be together?
"I don't think that we could force those two apart, why would you ask that Kagami-kun?"
Kagami sighed before he repeated what the redhead told him earlier.
"I asked him if he likes Kuroko and why wouldn't he date her already, his answer was that he doesn't like Kuroko and he's only with her because he still finds her useful, he even said that he will throw her away once she stopped being useful! Coach, he will only hurt Kuroko in the end! I would not just sit here and let that happen to our manager." He declared, his decision about protecting Kuroko clear.
The female coach, eyes widened as she absorbs the information given to her. She narrowed her eyes.
'Why would Akashi-kun lie? He clearly looks like he adores Kuroko-chan, or was it what he told Kagami-kun the truth and his actions are just lies? This is too confusing, I could never find out what's inside his brain, he's too eccentric to solve.' She bit her thumb, eyebrows furrowing as she thought more about it.
One thing's for sure though, like Kagami, she too, would never allow their manager to be hurt.
Tet-chan may be OOC but come on, she's a girl here and we're a bit more sensitive than boys so of course she will have OOC times like this plus she's already in love with Sei-chan :3 or am I wrong? ORZ
Oh yeah, expect more rebellious Tet-chan in the next chapters :)
Sei-chan's a jerk with dual personality, please don't hate him though! I have a good reason why he said that to Kagamin :DD
Anyways, as always, lemme know how you feel about this ^_^
Spoiler: Next chapter, Seirin vs. RAKUZAN. LOL JUST KIDDING ;) Seirin vs…? Care to guess who? :D
Laters
-Alyss
