Sorry for not updating in so long T_T class is hell, and...for some reason this was actually really hard to write. But Furihata and Akashi meet, with the addition of some other dorks-this would have been shorter, but I wanted to flush them out a little too. Thanks for reading up until now, and...enjoy!

"Kagami-kun, you're eating too much. You'll bloat."

"You're the one that needs to eat more! Literally, you're thin as a brick!"

"Bricks are not thin, Kagami-kun. The proper expression is 'thick like a brick', and you are better suited to it than I am."

"W-what?! I-I'm going to enjoy my fine meal without you, Kuroko, and you're not going to get a burger this time!"

"I wasn't planning on eating here, but since you offered-"

"Oi, start bringing your own money! You're gonna make me bankrupt!"

"If there's one person that's going to bankrupt you, it's you yourself."

Kagami Taiga, Kuroko Tetsuya, Akashi Seijuurou, and Furihata Kouki were sitting around a table, the infamous light-shadow duo bickering noisily on one side while the remaining two spectated awkwardly on the other. The lightbulbs shone innocently above the room, and the atmosphere below them contrasted in an almost comical fashion: on one side, there were flowers blooming and rainbows shining and eyebrows rising and falling, flying about in the restaurant like unicorns; and then you have these two dorks-I mean boys-trying ever-so-desperately to start conversation with each other but ever-so-unfortunately failing.

Well, you can't blame them; Akashi knew absolutely nothing about the brunette and, in addition to this being true in reverse, Furihata looked like he was going to leave the earth any moment.

Even though the he's the only one that's from a different school here, Akashi Seijuurou didn't really feel left out in this situation, not with these two lovebirds (Yes. Lovebirds. These two can't keep their hands off of each other, no wonder Furiha-sensei felt the necessity to make them a pair) ignoring the existence of everyone else in the room. The shorter redhead briefly turned his head away from the heated duo to look pitifully at the scared, nervous brunette next to him, feeling a little sorry for this guy because his sweat looked like it could drown a horse and being that stressed couldn't possibly be good for you.

The shorter redhead sighed as Furihata, for the fifth time in ten minutes, snuck a peek at him only to shrink back the second the he looked his way. Seriously, Kuroko and Kagami went to the same school with him, not Akashi-shouldn't one of them at least try to help Furihata and, you know, make him look less of a strangled squirrel in front of Akashi? To be honest, it's kind of funny looking at this guy trying so hard (and failing) to not betray the crush he had on him, but something about those large, canine-like eyes quivering in nervousness made Akashi feel genuinely guilty for not alleviating his pain. Honestly, the more Akashi looked at this guy the more the he wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and beat anyone that dared to hurt him senseless-Furihata Kouki just seemed to inspire that in people, though seemingly not in Kagami and Kuroko over there.

Speaking of which-Akashi's eyes accidentally met the Brunette's chocolate ones, causing the other to jump back-what's this guy's full name again?

Furiha-ta Kou-ki.

...Huh.

Before he could dwell more on that matter, though, a loud bang of the door pierced his eardrums and sent vibrations through the walls behind him. A whine followed a harsh yell of "watch it", and Akashi already guessed the identity of the newly arrived guest as well as that of the slightly annoyed voice behind him even before the mop of yellow popped up in front of him. "Hello Ryouta, Kasamatsu." He greeted.

Ryouta's eyes sparkled while his current captain gave a curt nod. Akashi can't help but smile as the blond jumped to cling to his ex-captain's jacket like a golden retriever, "Hi Akashichii!" he beamed as he tightened his embrace around Akashi's torso "I haven't seen you in shuuuuuch a loooong time!" Ryouta rubbed his face against his chest, "How were you?"

"Lovely, Ryouta." It was nice, seeing Ryouta after such a long time and knowing that he's still his old cheerful self-though Akashi started to doubt that persona after reading Furiha Kou's "My Manager can't be This Cute"-but he appears to be truly happy and well-fitted in his new environment, "You seem well."

Ryouta nodded eagerly, and would have said something, but the his happiness was curtailed by a sharp pull of his collar.

The blond looked up tearfully to find none other than Kasamatsu Yukio. "Don't make a scene here." The elder hissed, "and stop latching onto your former captain like that."

Ryouta pouted against his skin and Akashi raised an eyebrow. He chuckled: "Jealous, aren't we, Kasamatsu?".

At the blush that emerged on the older male's cheeks, Akashi further snorted and patted the blond to let Ryouta, albeit unwillingly, let go of his neck to go lap at his current captain instead. "Don't worry, Ryouta's all yours now." he commented, "it can be hard to let go of him sometimes, I know-"

And that, somehow, got on Kasamatsu's nerves. "You insolent brat!" He yelled, and it was now Kasamatsu, with a blush and a scream, jumping onto him and shaking him around, "One, it's Kasamatsu-san for you, you spoiled freshman! Just because your sempais don't discipline you enough doesn't mean that you get to disrespect me and talk down to me like that and Two, I-I-I-I'm not jealous of you for having Kise's attention, not at all, you brat!"

Akashi rolled his eyes as Kasamatsu briefly paused to let the flush spread across his face. God, another pair of lovebirds.

The senior then tried to make the short redhead rethink his actions (which, for your information, nothing would). And this, unfortunately, involved a combination of screams and violent shaking of his body. While his head was being swung all around, Akashi briefly considered throwing the male onto the ground and teaching him a lesson right there, but quickly realized that that would make Ryouta upset and, despite what many think, he had a soft spot for all of his ex-teammates.

This, however, led to the redhead almost falling off of his chair. As he fell he, in an act more of natural instinct that actual situational analysis, grabbed and latched onto the person nearest to him, which happened to be Furihata.

Which, in turn, made him pull the brunette into his chest as he fell.

The next thing he knew, two people were on the floor, the brunette's head pressed against his chest and the heat on the other's face slightly permeating through the thin fabric of his shirt. Legs were a tangled mess, and though Furihata looked like he could die any moment he didn't pull away.

The place grew silent.

Furihata had somehow gotten himself into this situation. Don't ask him how-one second he was happily not fainting in front of Akashi and the next he was lying in his chest. The only word he wanted to say as he laid on top of the other man's chest was: "Help."

That's all he can say, with his ears humming, his heart beating faster than a hummingbird's wings, his face threatening to burst open in embarrassment-

Help.

Please, someone take this way-too-gorgeous man away from him before he nosebleeds onto the redhead's pristine pecs, even though-oh my god-his chest is so firm and warm, like, it must be amazing to cuddle into it on the morning after and to feel it pressing against his back during-

Oh my god Furi, what are you thinking.

Furihata squeaked. The embarrassed cough that he subsequently let out probably didn't help his case here as everyone, including the previously lovey-dovey Kagami and Kuroko, turned to look at him with an odd look. Kagami's expression turned horrified, Kise was dropping his jaw in awe, and Akashi Seijuurou was raising one eyebrow in what seemed to be amusement and...was he smirking?

Clumsily (and a little reluctantly) scrambling off of Akashi Seijuurou's torso, Furihata made a point of not looking into anyone's eyes as he climbed back into his chair. He awkwardly coughed-as if that will help anything-and seriously contemplated the option of dashing into the bathroom before his self-righteous left hand just had to help the redhead up.

Furihata internally screamed as Akashi pulled on his digits and, subsequently, resumed his place next to the blushing brunette.

Silence permeated their table and eventually spread throughout the restaurant; everyone turned to stare curiously at them. Kasamatsu, finally letting go of the redhead, guiltily slid into the spot next to Furihata while he giggled in just about the most unnatural way possible. Thankfully, in spite of how unnatural it was, people got the message and were merciful enough to let him live. Even though the air remained awkward, everyone began to fill the previously silent restaurant with noise. Kagami's eyebrows furrowed, and he was about to say something to Akashi but Kuroko pulled on his arm and dragged him into another conversation; Kise slid next to Kasamatsu, two seats away from Furihata.

"Hey, sorry about that." Kasamatsu said apologetically. Furihata shook his head, and managed to squeak out a "no worries" before Kise interrupted them:

"Who are you?" the blond asked, almond shaped eyes blinking in confusion, "I don't think I remember you..."

"O-oh" he laughed breathlessly; of course he wouldn't remember, "I-I'm F-Furihata Kouki, and I'm Kuroko's teammate. I-I-I'm a point guard, but I u-usually stay on the bench so you probably d-don't know me-"

"Ah." Kise smiled, head casually leaning his boyfriend's (yeah, definitely boyfriend-you don't just touch and talk to a "friend' that way) right shoulder as a sneaky little hand rubbed against Kasamatsu's thigh, "You played against Kasamatsu-sempai once, right? Nice to meet you, Furihata."

As soon as Kise mentioned his name again, Kasamatsu's head snapped up to stare at Furihata. His mouth opened and closed, seemingly remembering something but not quite there while the blond male proceeded to wrap his arms around the older male, his remarkably beautiful face spreading into an expression of almost bearish contentedness. (Say, why was Kise considered the attractive one in GoM? Akashi was obviously the more gorgeous one-Kise was cute, but Akashi's just...)

When Kise did that, Furihata almost had a heart attack-Kise didn't rush to Kuroko this time and call him "Kurokocchi"! What could have sparked this change in his characteristic behaviour? Well, the most obvious reason would be him not seeing Kuroko, but why this time? It wasn't like Kuroko became invisible overnight-that didn't stop Kise from acting like a hyperactive fanboy around him before!

So, a better reason would be that...Kise has someone that he focuses on more! Furihata almost squealed as Kasamatsu patted Kise's head, which further proved his point that Kise loves Kasa-

"You're number 12, right?"

Furihata blinked. "A-Ah yes." He responded, "I c-can't believe that y-you remembered me-"

"Nonsense." The other smiled, and Furihata almost smiled with him-Kasamatsu was a gentle man in his own right-as he affirmed, "You are a very talented player, and I think that you have a lot of potential."

"R-Really?!"

"Yeah. You are calm and coordinating; important PG qualities that not everyone have. Just because this guy" he rolled his eyes in Akashi's direction, "has special eyes and other stuff doesn't mean you are necessarily less talented." At the elder's words, the redhead arched an eyebrow, but eventually turned back to talk with Kuroko.

Furihata sweatdropped. He stuttered: "Y-you praise me too much."

Kasamatsu scoffed: "Do I look like the type to flatter people for no reason? No. After our game I was genuinely impressed, and..." he paused, "was a little sad that you got so humiliated by that guy. But you won't give up on basketball, right?"

"Of course not!"

"Good. I look forward to your next game. Don't let the rainbow coloured guys wear on your confidence."

Furihata felt elated; S-sempai noticed him! Not a sempai he was expecting to get noticed by, but hey, Furihata liked Kasamatsu.

As he formatted a reply to the praise in his head, the door banged loudly again and signaled the entrance of another-or actually, more like another two-people. Furihata, as well as everyone around him, simultaneously turned their heads towards the two newcomers. Of course, there stood none other than Murasakibara and Himuro.

Furihata squealed at Himuro's characteristic smile and Murasakibara's characteristic pout: Oh. My. God. Look at them! Himuro totally should be a kindergarten teacher-just look how he takes care of everyone around him, from Kagami to Murasakibara! He would be a wonderful mother too, and just imagine Murasakibara being the daddy to his child as well as all the kids in the kindergarten. He would be a perfect papa bear!

...And are they wearing matching outfits? It looks soooo good on both of them-the pinkish purple just makes Murasakibara look more like a gentle giant and Himuro more of a caring big brother! It just suits them both so perfectly and make them look more like husband and wife than they already do-And yes, Furihata's aware that that's just what the Yosen uniform looked like, but his point still stands.

The purple giant purred upon seeing his former captain. "Aka-chin" he mumbled as he moved towards Akashi. As a form of acknowledgment to his ex-teammate, the shorter tilted his head back against the chair and the giant rested his head on the shorter's, purple eyes drooped. His ears, apparently, decided to ignore the slightly embarrassed call of "Atsushi" from his wife as he proceeded to frown. "Why are we here?" he whined.

Akashi curves his lips softly, and replied: "Shintarou has some business here.".

Furihata couldn't give a damn about why they're here, though, because IS MURASAKIBARA IGNORING HIS WIFE? Kuroko did mention something about Murasakibara feeling guilty about turning Akashi into his other persona and being one of the closest to Akashi, but that's no reason to ignore his wife...Himuro's eyes are furrowing, damn it! You go "Muro-chin" him better, now! He continued to mentally rant, not-so-happily indulging in his world when Akashi knocked him out of it with what seemed to be a protective arm over him. "Stop that, Atsushi." the redhead hissed, voice sharp but his expression sharper, "I won't stand for it."

"Ehh-but Aka-chin."

"Stop it, I won't stand for you insulting someone next to me."

Someone next to him-does he mean me? Furihata's face went red again. He missed everything-Did Murasakibara insult him? Well, he would have expected that since he is, you know, the least qualified to be here and Murasakibara's not really known for holding back, both in speech and in basketball... But, my goodness. Akashi Seijuurou is...getting mad at Murasakibara over him? God-the brunette buried his face in his hands-

T-this is q-q-quite the honour.

The purple titan, clearly ignoring the blushing chihuahua beside his former captain, pouted: "But you know that chihuahua-chin shouldn't-"

"Have. You. Not. Heard. Me?" Akashi admonished pointedly, "Don't insult him again."

Before Murasakibara could open his mouth again, Himuro had already dragged the giant up by his collar and successfully cut off his words. "I'm sorry" The male barely managed his embarrassment, " for my teammate's indiscretion, uh..."

("Furihata Kouki." Furihata answered.)

"Yes, I apologize for Atsushi's words, Furihata-kun." The taller male nodded in awkward politeness. As he dragged the male away, heatedly whispering something in the giant's ears, the purple-haired man whined, mumbling something about both Aka-chin and Muro-chin being mean to him. Looking into Murasakibara's downridden eyes, Furihata felt sorry for him; he probably just said what was on his mind and it wasn't like he was completely wrong-Furihata shouldn't be here and wouldn't be here if Akashi didn't invite him.

Everybody else probably thought the same, and Murasakibara was just, well, the least polite about it so far.

Akashi, though, didn't agree with Furihata. "Thank you, Himuro. Atsushi can be quite the baggage to handle, what with his disregard for others at times." he said.

And Furihata winced a little at the hurt look those words sent through Murasakibara's eyes. That's harsh, he thought. Himuro's eyes glowed a strange light at those words, but heterochromatic eyes already turned to glare at the giant before the elder could say anything.

"Apologize to Furihata right now." he commanded.

"Sorry Chihuahua-chin..."

"His name is Furihata."

"I'm sorry, Furihata-chin."

I didn't even hear what you said, Furihata wanted to say; but he couldn't put Akashi in an awkward position, so he replied a quick: "Don't worry about it, Murasa-mu-murasaki-" stumbling a bit over the way-too-complicated-to-be-Japanese name before the redhead rushed and saved him from any further embarrassment.

"Murasakibara." He corrected, hand ever-so-gently touching Furihata's shoulder. The brunette shivered as shivers ran down his spine, and the redhead's pale lips curled. They looked into each other's eyes before he continued: "It can be quite the mouthful to say, I know."

And Furihata just nodded, not able to say anything more because-tell him if he's going insane, but the previously ferocious gaze had softened to an almost doting look and, beneath that gaze, he almost, no, felt like a beloved pet that's being adorned and spoiled by his owner. He felt like the most perfect and precious thing, like he would be protected and treasured by his master as long as he was alive; those eyes were so warm, so soft, and Furihata wanted to drown himself in them.

All the brunette can do was let his soul evaporate away from his body like a puddle of water in a blazing desert.

"Oi, Akashi! Don't bully Furi!" Kagami yelled from across the table, and Akashi glared at the imprudent man before turning back to the Brunette.

"I'm not bullying him, Taiga." He said, "Furihata?"

Furihata Kouki. exe has stopped functioning due to Drive Overheat.

"You're obviously bullying him! Look at him-he's scared out of his mind! Furi!"

"Stop making assumptions about me. I do like Furihata, and have no intention of scaring him."

"Ha?! You like him? How the hell-"

Furihata was still staring blankly into space.

"You usually scare people when you don't intend to, Akashi-kun"

"With all due respect, Tetsuya, this is not your place to talk."

"Any place is a good place for me to talk, Akashi-kun."

Before World War III managed to break out between Akashi and Kuroko in a small Maji Burger's, the brunette shook his head back into his skull and managed to reply: "A-ah, yes, t-t-thank you..."

Kagami sighed and stretched out a hand to pat Furihata on the head, chiding worriedly: "Are you not feeling well? You blanked out for a while there-Were you working yourself too hard yesterday? Or" he glared at Akashi, "is this redhaired bastard bullying you?"

"A-ah, no..." Furihata laughed, "I'm fine...". His words trailed off at the end, but Kuroko interrupted him to comment, with his usual snark: "Kagami-kun, I find the way you insult Akashi-kun quite amusing. As far as I know, you are a red-haired bastard as well."

"W-what? I'm not a bastard!"

"I am not a bastard either, Taiga." Akashi said, and Kagami tsked, preparing to say something in rebuke of that last statement. But the shorter turned towards Furihata and shut him off like a light switch.

Furihata internally gasped: There's that warm gaze again, and Akashi would have continued with something more, perhaps a question to initiate a conversation with the brunette-

But then a large bang came from the door and, once again, everyone turned toward the newcomer even though the combination of a squeaky feminine voice, a low growl, and a seemingly endless string of apologies already gave the identities of the newcomers away.

"Geez, Dai-chan! You're late again!" Momoi reprimanded, cheeks puffy in anger. Rolling his eyes, Aomine answered her with an ambiguous sounding groan while the shorter boy sprung onto another bout of "I'm sorry"s, causing the pink-haired female to roll her eyes as well and complain about too much work. Before Akashi could say anything to them, though, Aomine already jumped on his last sentence:

"Whoa, what is this I'm hearing?" The tanned male grinned, "Whose a bastard? "

And the redheads simultaneously groaned. (Furihata snickered-that's not something you see everyday). Kagami screamed something about "Ahomine" and Akashi, promptly ignoring his fellow redhead as if he were another lightbulb in the room, turned to inform of the newcomer, just barely withholding his annoyance: "no, Daiki, I am not. Please do refrain from making precarious judgements upon another's character when you have been absent for much of the context."

"Talk human, Akashi."

"This is human talk, Daiki, your comprehension ability is simply more resemblant to that of a porcine."

"..." and with that Aomine's previously smug face twisted with an indescribable emotion. Furihata audibly heard Akashi snicker (and might have done the same) as the taller male stepped back and narrowed his eyebrows, probably trying his hardest to decipher whether that was an insult or not. Eventually and probably wisely, Aomine gave up on bickering with Akashi. See, who said that Aomine was stupid? He was just stupid in school, that's all.

But Aomine Daiki couldn't just shut up and sit down, oh no, because the only person who can tell him what to do is himself and that person wasn't a particularly thoughtful fellow-The blue-haired just had to make the other redhead his target this time. "Yo, Bakagami!" He greeted with faux cheer and ominous excitement, "How ya treating my shoes?"

"O-of course I'm treating them nicely!" Kagami is...blushing? "How did you expect me to treat them?"

Aomine leaned over, casually rested his elbow on Kuroko's head (as if he's invisible-ha!), and came face to face with the tiger. He laughed in this oddly flirtacious way that made Furihata frown in disapproval, and the tanned individual proceeded to run his fingers through Kagami's hair as his voice bounced naughtily: "Well, ya know, ya feet smells~"

"H-how would you know, Ahomine! You've never smelled my feet!"

"Hmm." Aomine hummed, "Or did I? I smelled your house, and it smelled like you-all stinky."

"H-hey!"

"But your food smelled good."

What are you two doing?! Furihata wanted to scream.

Especially you, Kagami! You belong with Kuroko! Did you forget that vow you made on a dark and lonely night some weeks ago? Did you forget that you will be his light and he will, in return, be your shadow? Do you not remember the boy who stood behind you, watched with a tender smile as you rose into who you are today? Do you not remember his gentle laughter, his sad tears, his blazing sweat trickling down his pale and slender back as he trained with you and watched as you became the fearless, romping tiger that threatened even the Kiseki no Sedai?!

Furihata had to discreetly wipe a tear from his right eye as his mind, however painfully, tried to accept the reality-H-has Kagami decided to move on from Kuroko?! Has he decided that Kuroko's no longer...good enough for him, and that...Aomine is better for him? Well, it's not untrue. Aomine and Kagami are so much more similar, and can understand each other in a way that Kuroko can't with Kagami and couldn't with Aomine. After all, Kuroko and Aomine had a history that had been just as beautiful as Kuroko and Kagami's and look how t-that... God, he can't even finish it.

Throughout his life, Aomine had asked for someone to understand him and, try as he may, Kuroko couldn't do so...will this be the case with Kagami as well?

"Aomine-kun, please refrain from teasing Kagami-kun so much." Kuroko said blankly.

Aomine pouted. "Ehh, but he's so fun to tease...

"W-who's fun to tease, Ahomine!"

"Bakagami~"

"You!"

"Yes he is." Kuroko answered, face ever-so-expressionless, "But so are you."

YES, KUROKO! DEFEND YOUR BOTTOM! Of course Kuroko's not going to let his adorable tiger go just like that! He's going to smack that tanned ass away from his boyfr-WAIT? What did he just hear? Did Kuroko just insinuate that Aomine was just as cute as the Seirin tiger? (He was so seme, though, Furihata thought, blushing a little at Kuroko's manliness-he was like "You two are both my cute bitches" and AHHH SO MANLY FURIHATA'S GONNA SWOON-but back to the present.) That sentence totally suggested that Kuroko still thinks of Aomine as cute and that he still has an interest in him even though he has an interest in Kagami who obviously is in love with Kuroko so-

...a threesome thingy?

Furihata pouted. He doesn't work well with threesome thingys. I mean, he gets the concept of three people all loving each other, but, like, he can't get how it works? Like, so all three people just roll up into a ball to cuddle, and is every sex session a threesome or do they take turns or...?

On the other hand, Himuro somehow managed to poke his head out from under Murasakibara's tyrannical hug, and pretty black widened a little at a the presence of a certain someone. "Hey, you're Sakurai Ryou, right?" He asked, blinking , "Those were some really cool triple-pointers you made at interhigh!"

Sakurai's eyes widened, too, at the elder's compliment. "Y-you remembered me?" the younger male stuttered, a suspicious blush climbing onto his cheeks before, rapidly shaking his head, he replied. "N-n-n-no! You were the cool one! T-t-the way you kept Murasakibara in check like that-Aomine doesn't like me nearly half as much..."

"Oh, that's not impressive. Atsushi's a giant sweetheart." Himuro laughed, making the purple giant lying on top of him giggle as well, "I've heard not-so-pleasant things about Aomine, though...good luck."

"Hey! Aomine yelled.

Kise admonished: "It's true! The only one who is more horrible than you is you yourself!"

Everyone (aside from Aomine) burst into laughter. After a good 5 minutes passed, Himuro straightened his back and said: "If only we could control Aomine the way Kasamatsu controls Kise..."

"Oh, Kise's just a large lapdog." With a careless pull of his hand, Kasamatsu dragged the unknowing blond over to ruffle his hair, "He's actually pretty sweet. It took a little bit of time to discipline him at first, but he's a really good Kouhai that really gives attention and love to his team."

Especially you, Furihata mentally added.

Head pressed against his captain's chest, Kise bashfully blushed, and those honey-coloured eyes sparkled and, blinking rapidly, threatened to burst into tears. "Is that what you think about me, Sempai?" The blond inquired of his captain, voice remarkably meeker than Furihata had associated with him. The brunette squealed as the captain nodded and rubbed his head once more jumped up to wrap his arms around him. "I-I'm so honoured!" He cried, burying his head in the junction of Kasamatsu's shoulder and neck while his arms threatened to thoracically strangle the older male.

"Oi, Kise, don't do that here!"

Ooh, does he do that somewhere else?

"Why not sempai? I know you like being hugged from behind!"

...How did he know that, Kasamatsu? Furihata, as always, had an idea about how-just imagine these two lovebirds hanging out in Kasamatsu or Kise's house for a so-called "study session"and while Kasamatsu, like the good sempai that he is, poured over the books to tutor his kouhai, said kouhai envelops him in a gentle embrace from behind and lands a gentle kiss on his neck (Furihata would bet that Kasamatsu has a sensitive neck) He would blush and half-angrily protest, tilting his head back to talk at him, and Kise would laugh, or...or give him another kiss which would cause Kasamatsu to protest more and lead to a positive cycle of kisses and more kisses! But, wait, that would be assuming that Kasamatsu is the bottom here which, let's be honest here, there's good reason to-but what if he isn't? What if Kasamatsu's the kind of man who's conservative on the outside and badass in the bedroom? Kise would be all fun and sunshine but then in the bedroom...ooh la la~Kise would be the cute puppy that always begs for his owner's attention, hugging his older boyfriend from behind and grinding his jaw against the other's neck until the other gives in and-

Furihata was quite the character; one second he's blushing and stuttering, the next he's grinning obliviously like a kid in a candy store. Akashi really shouldn't be so amused by his actions-after all, Furihata was hardly the most eyecatching one here-but this drastic difference in behaviour just makes him want to smile. He poked the brunette's shoulder: "Furihata, are you okay?" he asked.

The boy quickly turned his head to look at the person who caught him right in the middle of his daydream, and Akashi snickered as the brunette's expression as he realized that he was face to face with none other than Akashi Seijuurou. "u-uh, yeah." He answered, chuckling awkwardly.

Large chocolate eyes blinked nervously, and Akashi just has to wonder what the hell he had been daydreaming about-but nevertheless the redhead lifted the edges of his lips to grace Furihata with a small smile. "I'm glad." he simply said. If he doesn't want to tell, Akashi won't ask.

Furihata stuttered "A-a-ah, it is m-m-me who should be glad, a-after all I g-g-get to s-s-sit here next to you-"

His words trailed off as they neared the end, but Akashi interrupted his rambling even before it got the chance to do that; the redhead was bent over in laughter, the laugh ringing in the air as his entire body vibrated ever-o-slightly against Furihata's. That caused the brunette to freeze over in fear, brown eyes nervously staring at the man in front of him as his mind, probably, tried to recall everything he did here, searching for something, anything, worthy of ridicule. He was probably asking these questions in his head: "Is it my expression as I fell into his chest?" "Is it the expression I'm wearing right now?" "Is it the food that reeked off of me?"

And Akashi just had to make his life a bit easier: "Has anyone ever told you that you get nervous really easily?"

Furihata stopped his frantic self-blaming, and blinked.

The remnants of a giggle still rumbling through his frame, Akashi Seijuurou sat back upright and turned his body towards the brunette, body tilting a little to the right and resting on the back of the chair. "You get nervous really easily." He can't help but smile, "What are you so nervous about? I'm not going to hurt you; I don't bite."

"I-I-I never insinuated that you do..."

"Then don't look so scared." Akashi said, "I do feel guilty when you look like you want to run away from me."

Furihata nodded, and Akashi, satisfied at the affirmative gesture from the other, turned back. But then something made him quickly turn his head back again. "Say, our first meeting was really horrible, wasn't it?" He asked.

Well, it could have gone better-but I don't mind, really, since I got to see you, Furihata thought, but nodded anyway out of...some reason. As Akashi's eyebrows turned a little down, though, the Brunette suddenly felt a queasy feeling rise in his stomach. "No no no!" He quickly replied, hopefully correcting his previous actions and repeating his words perhaps a bit more than necessary, "I'm really really really sure that you were just in a bad mood that day so-"

"Don't worry, I get it." the redhead said, "Thanks."

Furihata stopped-this might sound trite, but...he wasn't aware that someone could smile that way that Akashi Seijuurou did. As the redhead did that, the boy sunk back into his chair, his previous guilt replaced with a strange kind of glee as chocolate eyes, daringly, chased warm heterochromatic ones. For a brief moment, he could almost believe that Akashi was just like him, that he could somehow protect this man and give him happiness that he wouldn't otherwise be able to find.

Almost.

The redhead, as if sensing his strange eagerness, looked back and, right there in the middle of this busy restaurant, amidst this rambunctious crowd, Furihata could almost swear that there was a moment in which their souls connected. Those hauntingly gorgeous eyes, to Furihata's ever-growing embarrassment, refusing to leave the his face, Akashi continued: "I hope I haven't left an indelibly negative impression upon you, Furihata, for I really do try my most earnest to repair my past mistakes."

"Oh no," Furihata nervously giggled, scratching the back of his head: I've seen worse, haha."

And Akashi raises an eyebrow. "Forgive me, but I do find that just a tad difficult to believe." he said.

"When I first met Kuroko it involved him accidentally bumping me down the stairs..."

"Whoa!" Kagami popped his head up and turned his head towards Kuroko, "is that true?"

WAIT WAS KAGAMI EAVESDROPPING ON AKASHI AND FURIHATA'S CONVERSATION? Furihata wanted to scream: please, please tell him that Kagami didn't hear that conversation-

"Yes. But I didn't push Furihata-kun, just so you know." Kuroko replied, blank eyes glaring at Furihata with a little bit of distaste, "I was walking down the stairs, and Furihata-kun was in the way. I simply forgot to go around him."

Kagami sweatdropped.

"No way... Furi, were you okay after that?" He asked, split brows furrowing.

And Furihata just laughed: "Yeah, a couple bruises here and there as well as a cut, but it's nothing big and Kuroko already apologized."

"How inconsiderate of you, Tetsuya." Akashi's eyes glowed with something that wasn't amusement, "to think that you, of all people, would fail to notice someone's presence."

"I mean no offense, Furihata-kun, but at that time he was a stranger that looked more like a background character than I did."

At Kuroko's nonchalant response, Akashi's eyes narrowed in irritation, and the redhead was about to say something more to his old teammate when the other redhead narrowed his eyes as well. "Since when were you so protective of Furi?" Kagami asked in an almost interrogative tone, "I don't recall you two being so close...?"

Akashi paused.

Was he protective of Furihata? Well, of course he was-anyone who wasn't at least a little protective of this doe-eyed, fluff-haired, nervous wreck of a creature was either heartless or stupid, and Akashi Seijuurou was neither. Granted, he probably scared the guts out of the brunette the last time he saw him, which was on court, but that was because he was too focused on Kuroko because it was a game-you don't feel protective of your opponents-but now that he's actually sitting next to him, he's free to verbally punch the crap out of anyone that dares to hurt this. So why is Taiga so surprised?

Seriously...Akashi mentally sighed as he turned to see Furihata shaking his head like a terrified puppy. Is this guy aware of how cute his fluffy hair and large, canine-like eyes were? As the brunette turned his head back, though, the redhead felt yet another unconscious smile climb onto his face-honestly, as much as he respected Furiha-sensei, the mangaka really failed to capture Furihata Kouki's cuteness because this guy is cute. Not necessarily hot or handsome, but cute, very cute. Like, make you wanna cuddle him and rub his head cute.

Deciding to ignore Taiga's question for the moment, Akashi quietly coughed, volume not really loud enough for anyone but the brunette to hear.

And then the question naturally slipped out of his mouth:

"Furihata, do you have a girlfriend?"

He watched as Furihata's face flushed a deep red and, slightly perturbed by his own lack of restraint, Akashi almost blushed along with him. But managed to conceal it (or did he? It can be difficult to tell, whatnot with his extremely pale skin) as he tried to put on his best poker face. Actually, now that the redhead asked the question he was determined to get an answer. "Well, do you?" He repeated, "I am simply, yet remarkably, curious."

That added another couple of layers of red to the brunette's face. The redhead sat back and sipped his drink (a poorly brewed cup of red tea) as he witnessed a couple of dry chuckles from the male.

"H-ha, W-well, I'm honored that you think so highly of me." He pathetically laughed, and Akashi's brows furrowed, "But I'm afraid that I'm noy someone that others would consider particularly attractive."

"Nonsense. What about the girl from earlier? You two seemed to get along fine."

"O-oh, Koneko-chan? We're just friends."

A boy and a girl are "Just friends" and nothing more? Akashi hummed-that's slightly unusual, though he believed Furihata because one, the guy doesn't look like the type to lie and two, he saw with his own two eyes how they interacted with each other. Still, it annoys Akashi just a little that he's so self-deprecative. "I'm sure there are plenty of girls that find you attractive" Akashi paused, "And guys."

He shouldn't have snickered when smoke, literally, cqme out of the brunette's ears, but he did anyway. Intending to calm his nerves just a little, Akashi placed a hand on Furihata's back when the door opened again to reveal their final guest.

"Maaan, Shin-chan, I can't believe we were the last to arrive!"

"It's because you broke my lucky item with your lousy driving!"

"Hey." Takao crossed his arms, "if you're gonna complain you should pedal the rickshaw for once. And what kind of lucky item is a carton of eggs anyway?"

Sorry if I talked too much here...I really wanted to write a bit more about the relationships between the GoM members. But next chapter will reveal the purpose of the meeting! ^L^ Also, I have another favor to ask of you-It's about Haizaki. Of course, he's not going to end up with Furi (sorry for spoiler) but I'm having a little internal debate about who he'll end up with instead. I was originally thinking Nijimura (who'll show up later) but some were thinking Hanamiya so which one would you guys prefer? Once again, not a strict poll, just wondering about your opinions?

Thanks for reading!