Day 25: Lonely Feelings and Pillow Forts

Summary: Akashi has been battling loneliness, and Kuroko knows exactly how to make his lover feel better.

If there's one thing that Akashi has suffered with through most of it, it would have to be loneliness. It started ever since the passing of his dearly beloved mother. The loss of the only support in his childhood had left a hole in his heart that never went away. Even when he began to make new friends through his teammates at Teikou, that lonely feeling was still there. To make it worse, the fear of being left behind, of being alone became too persistent during that time. It's a problem that Akashi still suffers with, even though the days at Teikou are long past him.

He doesn't know why these lonely feelings don't just disappear; he's now in a loving relationship with the man that brought him back from the depths of his mind, Kuroko Tetsuya. He's loves him dearly, treats him like a precious, rare jewel, and the two of them were even engaged to be married in a year. So then why do these feelings continue to persist?

It wasn't just Akashi that noticed this problem, despite his silence regarding his persistent feelings of loneliness, Kuroko could easily see the evidence of it. His analytic, sky blue eyes have been reading people's behaviors and feelings for most of his life, so it didn't take much effort for the name to read the signs, especially since he sees the redhead every day. He hated to witness his lover suffer. He wanted to do something, anything that would quell Akashi's loneliness and make him feel happy and loved.

That was when the phantom had an amazing idea. It would take a bit of effort for him to complete it, but he knew for sure that Akashi would love it, and it would definitely quell his loneliness.

It was such a relief for Akashi to finally step onto his porch and open the front door of his home. Work was stressful as always, but today was more of a mixture between stress and long hours. Akashi just felt like he's returned from the gates of hell.

To make matters worse, the entire day, ever since he stepped foot outside of his house to just head to work, the negative feelings of loneliness that he truly hates returned in full force. It was like a sinking feeling that he just couldn't shake away. Over the years, Akashi had gotten used to the feeling, but not one that lasted so long and he still disliked the feeling nevertheless.

Akashi sighed, stepping inside and taking his shoes off before stepping into the hallway, his whole body felt numb, the only thing that could make this disheartening feeling go away was the loving affection that only Kuroko could give.

Speaking of Kuroko, where is he? Usually Kuroko greets him when he comes back home from work but apparently not today. The day that Akashi needs it the most.

"I'm back, Kuroko!" he calls, hoping to get some sort of callback from his fiancé. However, he didn't hear anything.

He tries again, "Kuroko, are you home?"

However much to his surprise, instead of hearing the faint call and footsteps of his lover, he only got the faint buzz of his cellphone that was in his pocket as a response.

Perplexed, Akashi took out his cell phone, noticing that he received a text message from Kuroko.

-Message Received 5:17pm

I'm in the bedroom. I have a surprise for you.

He blinked in surprise. That text could mean anything. However, the redhead didn't really want to think too deeply about its meaning. He was too exhausted. Too lonely to think about its hidden meaning, only desiring to be with his beloved again.

Akashi made his way towards the bedroom, the door was closed but he could see through the crack below the door that the lights were on. Akashi put away his phone and began to slowly turn the knob on the door.

He stepped into their shared bedroom and Akashi's crimson eyes widened in shock, his mind at a loss for words. Their entire bed was transformed into a giant pillow fort.

Several linen sheets were raised and surrounded their bed, some of them taped to each other and they were held suspended onto the bed canopy. Surrounding the perimeter of the canopy were delicate, golden Christmas lights, glowing and giving the ivory sheets a romantic golden glow. Pillows surrounded the ends of the bed, each of the fluffy pillows covered in pastel cases of pink, mauve and baby blue, the baby blue cases reminding Akashi of his lover's hair and eyes. The ivory sheets covered the entire bed, except for the front of the bed, in front of Akashi. The linen sheets were kept separated by the sides being tucked onto the leg rails. Inside the pillow fort laid Kuroko, his back resting against some pillows propped up behind him and his body from the neck down was covered in a plush lavender blanket. His baby blue eyes were gazing lovingly into Akashi's.

"Welcome home, Akashi-kun," he responded, smiling warmly at his fiancé. The Christmas lights gave his lover a pretty golden glow that just made Akashi's numb heart melt.

Still Akashi couldn't smile just yet. He needed to know why Kuroko would do this. Why now?

"Kuroko…" perplexed, he lost his voice and couldn't find the words.

"Akashi-kun, I know how you've been feeling," Kuroko began, surprising the redhead at his comment. "I know that you've been feeling lonely lately, and I hate it to see you suffering. So I decided to make a pillow fort that we can snuggle in. I hope that would help make you feel better."

It was so short, yet such a sweet explanation that the usually composed Akashi just wanted to cry. He can't remember the last time he's been moved like this. His lover knew just how to make him feel better, and he also knew what the problem was, and Akashi thought that he had kept his suffering to himself like he's always had in the past.

He smiles, already feeling his once numb heart flutter. His adorable lover can be so kind-hearted and sweet and that's all the more reason why Akashi loved him so much.

Kuroko lifted his blanket, gesturing with his head for Akashi to come closer. "Akashi-kun, at least come over here if you're going to keep staring. It took me hours to make this fort for you," Kuroko held a teasing tone yet his smile was sincere.

Akashi was afraid to speak, his voice being choked up with emotion. He slowly walked towards the pillow fort before crawling into it, being careful not to touch any of the curtains or Christmas lights in case the entire fort fell apart. He crawled next to Kuroko, allowing his lover to cover him with the blanket.

"Akashi-kun, put your head right here," Kuroko pointed at his chest and Akashi wasted no time with laying his head on Kuroko's chest and laid his arm around Kuroko's chest, his hand setting on the curve of his waist. Kuroko laid on his back, lifting his right leg so that their legs could intertwine. Kuroko laid one arm around Akashi waist and the other began to gently and lovingly stroke his crimson hair. Akashi could clearly hear and feel the gentle and rhythmic thump of his lover's heartbeat, and it was something that he found very soothing.

"Everything will be alright, I'm here. You're safe, Akashi-kun," Kuroko cooed, his soothing voice giving Akashi a warm and loving feeling that he's missed for so long. He wasn't lonely anymore, thanks to the love of his life holding him so close. Akashi really enjoyed this, allowing himself to break from his intimidating and stern façade and allow himself to be at his most vulnerable. It was a side of him that only Kuroko was allowed to see.

"Thank you, Kuroko. I love you," he whispered, nuzzling into his fiancé's chest, indulging in the love, warmth and affection that he was being given. Kuroko hummed in response, his fingers stroking Akashi's waist.

"I love you too, Akashi-kun. We can stay here as long as you want, okay?"

"Mhm," he hummed, closing his eyes, allowing the gentle affection to ease away his worries, his stresses and of course, his loneliness. The two of them remained there, snuggling under the pillow fort for the rest of the evening, completely content with the stresses of their daily lives, even if just for that moment, forgotten.

Notes: So as a couple hours before I posted this, I've included summaries for all of my Days to make it easier to understand what each fic is about! I hope that helps.

Anyways, reviews, critique, etc is welcomed and appreciated! :)