AN: This is chapter 11. Hope you enjoy!

"Alright guys, it's break time!"

All at once, eleven tired bodies slumped to the ground. Seirin was beat. They had been doing star drills for the past hour and a half now, and all the boys wanted nothing more than to drink gallons of water and sleep for the next three months. Riko clicked her tongue and shook her head as she watched her team pant and wheeze; if they couldn't handle that much, she would have to add stamina building to their training regimen.

The sixth day of training camp was half over, which meant that they would have to leave tomorrow in the evening. That in turn meant that they only had two more days to train in the best training camp of Japan, and Riko was going to exploit that time to the fullest. She went to sit down on a bench and scribbled a few things on her notepad. The brunette suddenly heard the door open and she turned to look at whoever entered the gym.

To say that she was surprised when she saw a pair of heterochromatic eyes accompanied by six other unlikely figures was an understatement, especially when they started walking in her direction.

XOXOXOXO

Kuroko was tired. After the day he had spent with Akashi at the beach, he had resumed practicing with his team. The first two days were hell. Even if Riko had prepared a training menu much lighter than that of the rest of the team, his stomach still hurt when he moved too much. But Kuroko had endured and it paid off soon after, now he was able to practice with his team like he did before. Of course, he had always lagged behind a bit.

During the couple of days he had stayed at the training grounds, all kinds of situations had happened. For one, Momoi had arrived. Kuroko only learned of this fact when he saw her at supper on the fourth day. As usual, as soon as she laid eyes on him, she promptly ditched Aomine and threw herself onto Kuroko. He only managed to catch the words "cold" and "stay home" while she buried her face in his shirt so he assumed that the pink-haired girl had been sick and that was the reason why she didn't arrive along with Too.

The rest of the Generation of Miracles had then approached them in order to greet her, though Kuroko had felt a strange vive pass between the analyst and his former captain. He wondered what was all that about. And then, his whole team including his coach had given him a hard time out of jealousy.

His teammates had been acting strange too. Kuroko had seen them muttering things in between each other while looking at him and he had also caught them glancing at Akashi in a weird way more than once. On the fourth day of training, they had all approached him with determined eyes and had initiated a conversation that had left Kuroko perplexed. They had started with asking if he liked someone, which Kuroko had answered with a question of his own, asking why they wanted to know that. The Seirin basketball players had looked at each other before suddenly assaulting Kuroko with warnings such as "nobody can force you into a relationship if you don't want to" or "watch out when you're with him, he doesn't have pure intentions".

The teal-head had been confused at first as to what and who they were talking about, but then he had remembered the stares that were sent to a certain red-head and he had connected the dots. Kuroko had not wasted any time and had immediately confronted them, asking why on earth did they think he should watch out for Akashi. His former captain had been nothing but kind to him and why would he force Kuroko into any kind of relationship? They were already good friends, so he didn't understand his friends' reasoning. Kuroko had just brushed his team off. He had understood what his friends were hinting at, but he just didn't get how that would apply to him and Akashi; though he would be lying if he denied that he didn't have an internal blush at the thought.

Besides that, Kuroko couldn't even recall the number of times that a certain someone had teased him and made his face as red as a tomato anymore. It seemed as if teasing him had become Akashi's new favourite pastime. The red-head didn't miss a single opportunity, he was particularly alert when they were in their room and it was just the two of them. Kuroko hadn't pictured him as the type before, but more importantly, he hadn't pictured himself as the type to blush like a shy teenage girl.

Wasn't he supposed to be unemotional? If so, then how was it that he lost his composure so easily whenever the heterochromatic male decided to taunt him? Because no matter how hard he tried, that crimson color always ended up flourishing on his pale cheeks. And each and every single time, a smirk would blossom on Akashi's handsome features, a smirk that would remain in place for half an hour, as if to remind Kuroko of his embarrassment. And oh, did it remind him alright. Still, despite it all, Kuroko was glad that he got to spend time with Akashi. The taller male might a bit of a sadist, but he always showed concern for the teal-head and always waited for him at supper to ask if he was alright and to make sure he wasn't pushing himself too much. Kuroko smiled slightly at that. Akashi was such a worrier.

The phantom man had been on the ground panting when the door to the gymnasium had opened. He was now looking with wide eyes as Akashi, Momoi, Kasamatsu, Imayoshi, Okamura and Otsubo entered the gym and went straight to where Riko was sitting. They exchanged a few words before the brunette's face lit up. She stood and turned to face her exhausted team. Kuroko was suspicious of the excited glint in her eyes. He looked at Akashi and the other smiled mysteriously, refusing to reveal anything. Kuroko almost pouted. His eyes averted back to his coach when he heard her voice.

"Guys, there's something I need to sort out so I'll have to leave for a while. Until I return, I want all of you to run laps around the gym." Various groans were heard but she pointedly ignored them. "You still have a five minute break before you start. Hyuga-kun, I'm leaving you in charge so no slacking off, got it?" she finished menacingly. Every player nodded.

"Good." Riko then turned around and left along with the six other teenagers. Akashi did however give Kuroko a look full of amusement. It made him wonder what exactly they were planning, since the red-head sure wasn't the only one who seemed to be having fun. Once the door to the gym closed, Seirin looked at each other.

"Am I the only one who thinks that something weird and probably dangerous will happen to us this evening?" asked Koganei after a couple moments of silence. They all heaved a sigh.

"No you're not. Everyone feels that way and apparently, we won't be the only school to suffer today." answered Hyuga, making a reference to the other captains that were accompanying Akashi. The raven-haired boy then stood and walked to where he had left his water bottle. He drank a few gulps and addressed the rest of them.

"You should drink too. There's only two minutes left before we need to start running and by the looks of it, Riko won't return in a short time." They all hurriedly stood up and started drinking, deciding to momentarily forget about the whole thing. It wasn't so important that they would risk collapsing from dehydration.

XOXOXOXO

Sure, Seirin hadn't expected their coach to return after only twenty minutes, but it had now been two hours since she had left and there was still no sign of her. They were all already tired from the continuous drills they had done previously. All in all, it was only a matter of minutes before their legs would give out underneath them.

"I swear-haa- if the coach doesn't return soon-haa- we'll die of a heart attack!" complained Furihata. As the rest of the team, he was panting really hard and had to muster his remaining strength to talk properly. Hell, even Kagami looked like he was reaching his limit. And if Kagami was tired, then Kuroko had long since thrown up.

It had happened after the first hour had passed. Kuroko hadn't been able to hold it in anymore and he had emptied his stomach in the trash bin nearest to him. Hyuga and Kagami had then gotten a break from running; one went to empty the trash bin while the other made sure that Kuroko sat on a bench and rested. After ten minutes or so, the phantom man had decided that he felt well enough to start running again so he joined his team for what was going to be another long and agonising fifty minutes.

As he continued to run, although very slowly, Kuroko wondered if he would make it back to Tokyo alive; he knew that Riko had already planned on making their last day the toughest. However, Kuroko didn't know if he would have enough stamina to do any better than what he was doing today already.

And then, as if some miracle was just occurring, the doors to the gym opened and a girl with short, brown hair strolled inside, a Cheshire cat-like grin on her face. She spoke the words they had all been longing to hear.

"I've returned! You can all stop now!" exclaimed Riko gleefully. For the second time that day, Kuroko along with all his teammates let themselves fall on the cold ground. They were all so exhausted they didn't even bother to worry about the shady look on her face.

"Oh come on, you didn't even run that much!" Riko stated, receiving looks that were pretty close to being glares. Those within the team that had the most stamina were already beginning to get up, some helping others stand, namely Kagami with Kuroko.

"Anyway, you should be thanking me!" declared Riko. "I've decided that this afternoon, you'll all have a break." she grinned.

"And why is that?" asked Hyuga dubiously. Whenever Riko gave them a break, it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart. If she did, it meant that something was definitely lying in store for them.

"Why? Because we'll be playing a game this evening!" she announced. Now back on their feet, the boys looked at each other with questioning looks.

"A game?" said Izuki incredulously. It was his second year training under Riko and this was the first time she had ever decided to do something like that. Although by game, what exactly did she mean?

"Yep! Now don't ask me anymore, I've already sad too much." True to her words, the brunette left the gym after she told her players to take a shower- they reeked of sweat- and to not wait for her at supper since she had already eaten and had something to do during that time.

This just made Seirin even more confused.

"She's acting weird." said Koganei, relieving the weird tension that remained in the room. They all nodded, not having much to say but the obvious.

"Well, you heard her. There's no use in thinking too much about it, we'll know what she means after supper. Let's just go take a shower, I'm very hungry." stated Kiyoshi with his usual warm smile. Once again, they all nodded before parting from each other, though most of them went in the same direction and chatted about what they wanted to eat.

Kuroko's room was the only one that was in the opposite direction since it was Akashi's room initially. The blue-haired boy walked with heavy legs until he finally arrived to his room. He opened the door slowly and was not surprised when he found it empty. He closed the door and plopped down on his bed. He sat there for a while, remembering how the red-head had insisted on brushing his bed-hair that morning. Kuroko had refused at first out of embarrassment before finally giving in at Akashi's persistence. He passed a hand threw his blue locks before quickly snapping out of it when he felt his cheeks heat up.

He got up and grabbed a change of clothes, deciding that he would ask Akashi what had happened earlier at the gym when he saw him at supper. Something told him though that the taller boy wouldn't be there like usual.

XOXOXOXO

Kuroko's assumptions had been proven right when he entered the large dining room and only saw one red-head. He made his way to Kagami who was next to Furihata. Another quick glance around the room informed him that none of the people he had seen with Akashi earlier that day were there either. The six schools seemed to be confused. Apparently none of their captains, or coach in Seirin's case, had deemed it necessary to inform them of what they were going to do that afternoon. And yes, Kuroko was certain that all of them would have to endure whatever came their way together. Other people had also realised it and were sending other schools questioning glances only to be answered by shrugs.

Kuroko frowned a bit before grabbing a plate and serving himself. He started eating as soon as he sat down once again and ignored the rambling Kagami beside him.

Kuroko was mostly lost in thought through the whole supper, trying to figure out what Akashi had planned along with his coach. Riko had said they would play a game, but what did she mean by that? He doubted they would all sit down and play a giant game of Monopoly, so that left games such as tag or hide and seek.

He still didn't understand the purpose of that at all.

Kuroko decided to just give up on trying to figure out what would happen after he finished eating since he could feel a headache coming from thinking too hard. It was at that moment that the doors to the dining room opened, giving way to Akashi along with Okamura.

Akashi was the first to speak up, "All of you, as soon as you're finished eating you will go to your rooms and change your shorts for long pants. It would be a good idea to wear a jacket too. When you're done, come to the lobby, your captains will be waiting for you."

"Those who have a flashlight should bring it with them." added Okamura.

"You better not skip this." finished Akashi with a smile that discouraged anyone from even thinking of not going. He along with Okamura scanned the area one more time before returning to whatever it was they were planning. There was a long silence before conversations gradually came back, most of them regarding the peculiar incident that just happened.

"What's up with them?" asked Furihata to no one in particular. Kagami shrugged.

"Who knows? Akashi has always been a crazy weirdo anyway." he commented.

"It's not good to bad-mouth people behind their back, Kagami-kun." Kuroko had to restrain himself from kicking the tall ace that was sitting right next to him. He didn't know why, but he felt a little offended, as if it the insult was directed at him. He figured it was because his former captain had helped him many times and he wanted to return the favour, even if it was just by defending him in front of his friends.

"You can't deny that he tried to stab me with scissors before, Kuroko!" argued Kagami. He knew the shorter male was not the right person to argue with when it came to Akashi since the red-head was a totally different person whenever he was around, but he still pushed it, too stubborn to let go.

"He already apologised." countered Kuroko with a straight face.

"I don't consider that an apology!" retorted the taller boy. There was no way that "You should be more careful whenever there are scissors around." was seen as an apology anywhere in the world!

"Yes it was. Kagami-kun just doesn't know Akashi-kun well enough to understand it."

"Well if knowing Akashi means that I'll get used to receiving those kinds of amends, then I don't want to know him!" This time, Kuroko did kick Kagami, making him almost choke on the food he was eating.

Kuroko had been a bit angry, but he couldn't help the tiny chuckle that passed his lips once he saw his light's eyes start to water as he coughed. Kuroko sighed and offered him a glass of water. The power-forward drank it in one gulp and finally managed to catch his breath. He sent a small glare at Kuroko before reaching his hand out and ruffling his hair as payback.

The phantom man frowned slightly once his light took back his arm. Kuroko lifted his right hand in order to arrange the mess his light had left. For some reason, said boy was smirking. The teal-haired boy decided against responding to the provocation, it would just start another round of bickering and Kuroko wanted to know what they would all be doing later as soon as possible.

He left his empty plate on the counter provided for that purpose and left in the direction of the lobby. He was already wearing pants and a jacket, so he didn't need to return to his room.

Kuroko entered the lobby and he wasn't surprised when he saw that he wasn't the first to arrive. Midorima, Himuro, Murasakibara, Moriyama, Sakurai and of course the five captains plus the two girls were already there, waiting. As soon as he saw him, Akashi approached him.

"Akashi-kun." greeted Kuroko. The other smiled before returning the greeting.

"Hello, Tetsuya. Did you eat well?" asked Akashi. Kuroko nodded with an imperceptible smile. He actually hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to Akashi these last two days, since they had both been busy with their respective teams.

Kuroko stared at Akashi for a couple of moments before sighing quietly. "Since you haven't mentioned anything, I assume you won't tell me what's going on, will you?"

Akashi's smile turned into a smirk. "You guessed right." Seeing the blank stare sent his way, he suppressed a chuckle. "Come on, a little suspense isn't going to kill you." he teased.

"..." Kuroko refused to answer and turned his head in the direction of Aomine who had just entered the lobby, mouth opened in a lazy yawn. Ignoring the ever-present, victorious smirk on the heterochromatic eyed male's face, he walked up to his former light.

"Good evening, Aomine-kun." Hearing his name, said tall teenager looked down before acknowledging Kuroko's presence.

"Hey, Tetsu." He scratched his dark blue hair. The two of them had gotten somewhat close again, but it was still a bit awkward at the beginning of every conversation. After a while, Kuroko decided to ask a question to relieve the silence that had appeared.

"Has Momoi-san told you anything about today, Aomine-kun?"

The blue-headed boy shook his head and yawned again.

"That woman hasn't told me anything. Seriously, she can be so annoying sometimes." he complained. Kuroko smiled a bit.

"If Momoi-san heard you, she would be angry." he told him, his emotionless facade cracking slightly to allow a teasing glint to appear in his eyes. Aomine shrugged.

"Yeah well, she's not here at the moment so who cares." he stated flatly, not noticing the pink-haired girl standing right behind him

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Dai-chan." Aomine almost jumped out of his skin, quickly turning around to find his annoyed childhood friend glaring daggers at him with a pout. Not waiting for anything, Momoi started scolding Too's ace. Kuroko observed the pair quietly, feeling a bit of nostalgia.

Akashi had gone back to leaning on the wall, watching the interaction between his Tetsuya, Aomine and Momoi. He loathed admitting it, but Akashi was actually a little jealous. He wished to keep Kuroko only to himself, to have him only look at him. But no matter how much he yearned for it, Akashi knew that was not the right course of action to take. He knew he couldn't just isolate him from everyone else. Kuroko might have a constant poker face, but he was actually quite sociable when you had good chemistry. It was a given that Kuroko would notappreciate him having control of everything he did, especially the people he associated with. Akashi was not about to screw this up by being unable to control his dark tendencies.

He had already dealt with these feelings before. Despite not speaking with him much, Akashi already had these urges back in middle school. He had managed to keep them in control despite of his immaturity; he would do the same this time. Better yet, he was aiming to get rid of them. The only way he could think of doing that was to actually obtain what he desired. Kuroko was too loyal for his own good and Akashi had the utmost trust and affection for him. He was positive that if Kuroko were to accept him, those feelings would overpower his troublesome personality. The teal-head was already messing with his defences and changing him, why wouldn't he be able to do the same about his selfishness? Yes, Akashi would definitely make Kuroko want to be with him on his own. He would not force him into relationship. He would respect Kuroko's wishes and even give up if Kuroko really didn't like him. Not that he wouldn't try until the very end, waiting years if he had too.

But still, they were at the beginning of a dangerous phase of their "relationship". Akashi was aware that Kuroko was starting to feel tiny bursts of jealousy. The incident with the girl who brought breakfast for them a few days ago and the troubled looks he had when he saw him getting too close to someone were proof enough. It meant that Akashi was getting closer to achieving his goal, but it was dangerous. Knowing Kuroko, he probably didn't really understand what he was feeling or at least the why. Despite his emotionless facade, the phantom man could be quite naive when it came to such things. Either way, Akashi knew that these emotions would trouble him, if not scare him. The boy was probably also starting to question his feelings, which would add to the burden. The combination of both could lead to feelings like stress and perhaps even anxiety in some cases. And all of this would become more and more frequent as the time passed. How much it would escalate, that solely depended on Kuroko and Akashi was in the dark as to what extent the shorter male would react.

Kuroko was entering a phase where his feelings were beginning to stand out more, the phase where he would come to the conclusion of whether or not he liked Akashi. It was pretty obvious to everyone around them that Kuroko had a crush on him. A crush he was evidently not aware of. However, no matter how well anyone else claims to understand your feelings, at the end of the day, only you can truly know them. But knowing them does not mean you understand them.

Whenever a person experiences a new emotion, it is easy for them to not know what to do about it, how to react and even to mistake it for something else. This was especially true when that emotion was love. A first love is hard, confusing at the beginning. Many people have no idea what to do, mistaking it for gratitude or friendship, depending on the situation. It also goes the other way around. Akashi was very conscious of this, having experienced it firsthand. It had taken him at the very least two whole years to get rid of those insecurities that came with the troubling emotion people referred to as love. He was sure his personality had something to do with it, which was why he had faith that Kuroko would come to terms with his own feelings faster than he did.

"Akashi-kun?" A hand reached for the pale, soft cheek just below its own, stroking it softly before moving up to tuck a stray lock of teal hair behind a small ear.

No matter what those feelings turn out to be, I will respect them Tetsuya.

AN: There, it's done. I hope you don't think that Akashi was too OOC in this one, but I personally believe that when you fall in love with someone, you want that person to be as happy as possible, even if it isn't with you. You also want to be as good as possible for her, and that's why Akashi is suppressing himself. The "game" thing will be explained in the next chapter.

And as usual, please leave a review!