"Alright kids, it's time to come inside!"
"Okay!"
A wave of children entered the small orphanage, all of them smiling and laughing. When the caretaker went to count the kids, he asked,
"Where's Tet-chan?"
The kids all shrugged and said, "Tet-chan is always hiding!"
Kagami Taiga, one of the caretakers of the orphanage quickly went outside to look for the small blue haired boy.
Kuroko was sleeping against a large cherry blossom tree. The pink petals were lightly layered over him. Kagami gently shook the blue haired boy awake and said,
"Tetsuya, you can't sleep out here."
Kuroko rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around.
"He's gone..." The blue haired boy mumbled.
Kagami carried Kuroko in his arms and asked, "Who's gone?"
"Sei-chan...he was— He was right here with me."
"Hm... I don't see him. Maybe he'll come back later. We have to go inside for now, okay?"
Kuroko nodded and then wrapped his arms around Kagami's neck.
The blue haired boy was a very quiet person. He didn't play with the kids as much, but instead he would sit with Midorima, another caretaker in the orphanage, and they would just enjoy each other's company. The green haired caretaker was quiet as well, so sometimes they would just look at each other and understand how they felt. Midorima took care of Kuroko like he would take care of his own child and the blue haired boy loved Midorima more than anyone.
The green haired boy was doing paperwork while Kuroko sat on his lap when Midorima asked,
"Tet-chan, who was the person who disappeared? I heard about it from Kagami."
The blue haired boy looked up to meet Midorima's green eyes and smiled, "He's my best friend!"
"Oh? I thought I was your best friend. What's his name?"
"Sei-chan!" Kuroko said.
Midorima chuckled at how adorable the blue haired boy was and asked, "What about his full name?"
"Akashi Seijuro."
"I see. That's a nice name." The green haired caretaker said, "How long have you two been friends?"
"We sleep together by the cherry blossom tree every day, but he's always gone by the time I wake up." Kuroko said.
Midorima nodded and then pulled the blue haired boy off of his lap, "You should play with the other children."
"But..." Kuroko said, "They don't even see me when I'm there."
"Then it's your duty to make yourself seen." The green haired boy said before taking Kuroko to the other children.
The blue haired boy sat alone in the room, surrounded by toys, books and a TV. Kuroko ignored all the children playing together and grabbed a book to read. He walked to the far window in the corner of the room and began to read his favourite book called, "100 Years of Loving You".
Kuroko was on chapter ninety five when he heard someone say,
"Still reading that book, Tetsuya?"
The blue haired boy spun around to see heterochromatic eyes observing him. Kuroko put the book down and threw himself into Akashi's arms,
"Sei-chan!" The blue haired boy exclaimed.
The redhead fell back from Kuroko's tackle and laughed, "I told you to stop calling me 'Sei-chan'."
"Why did you leave me before?"
"Your caretakers were coming so I left before they saw me." Akashi explained.
The blue haired boy cuddled next to his friend and asked, "Why can't you let them see you?"
"They'll put me here with you."
Kuroko's eyes glistened and he asked, "Isn't that good?"
Akashi sighed and said, "It's good but I want to be free. I don't want to wait for someone to adopt me; I want to do things my way."
The blue haired boy wrapped his arms around Akashi's torso tightly, "Are you going to leave?"
"I won't leave without you."
Kuroko smiled and then closed his eyes to enjoy the warmth from Akashi.
As five year olds, they didn't understand much about the world, but they knew they were happy being beside each other.
The redhead leaned towards Kuroko and touched his forehead to the blue haired boy's forehead. Akashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kuroko did the same. The small action was able to calm them down and to make them feel safe. Akashi moved away and then sat beside Kuroko,
"Can you read for me?" He asked.
The blue haired boy smiled, "Sure."
Akashi rested his head against Kuroko's shoulder and listened to him read.
"Chapter ninety-five. As their one hundred years were approaching the end, it became harder for them to meet and even harder for them to remember who they were to begin with. When they did meet, they barely recognized each other and it was as if they were hanging onto a thread..."
"This sounds sad, Tetsuya."
"It is, Sei-chan."
"Do you have to read it? Can't we read a happy book?"
"It is a happy book." Kuroko said.
Akashi got up and flicked the blue haired boy's forehead, "Tetsuya, you've read this book at least three times, I'm pretty sure you and I both know that the ending isn't happy."
Kuroko closed the book and pushed the redhead to the ground, then started to tickle him.
Akashi laughed as he squirmed under the blue haired boy and then the redhead yelled, "I give! I give! You're the winner of this round."
Kuroko slowly got off of the redhead and then said, "I won't let you leave me."
Akashi smiled, "Who said I was going to leave?"
"You always leave!" The blue haired boy exclaimed.
The redhead pulled Kuroko into a hug and said, "I already told you that I won't leave without you, right?"
The blue haired boy nodded and then Akashi said, "It's almost time for you to go eat dinner. I'll be right here, okay? I'll hide behind the curtains or something."
Kuroko smiled and said, "Try not to get caught."
The blue haired boy walked towards the other kids and left Akashi to hide somewhere until night fell.
Once dinner was over and all the kids were tucked in, Kuroko waited until he heard twelve chimes ring in the distance. The blue haired boy sat up and whispered,
"Sei-chan? You can come out now."
When nobody replied, Kuroko slowly slid his legs off of the bed and shuffled towards the window curtains to check if Akashi was there. The blue haired boy felt slightly scared of the dark but he willed the courage to reach out to pull the curtains back.
"Sei...chan?"
A hand clamped over Kuroko's mouth and the blue haired boy let out a muffled shout as he was pulled to the ground.
The next thing Kuroko heard was Akashi giggling and saying, "You should've seen the look on your face! It was priceless!"
The blue haired boy looked as if he had tears in his eyes but he quickly punched Akashi in the stomach and whispered harshly, "That wasn't funny!"
"Yes it was." The redhead said with a smile, then he said, "We should go to sleep."
Kuroko slid back into the warmth of his bed with Akashi. They both faced each other and stared into each other's eyes. There was something calming about the color of their eyes. Kuroko felt safe to look at Akashi's heterochromatic eyes and the redhead felt the same way about Kuroko's ocean blue eyes.
The blue haired boy intertwined his fingers with Akashi's and then said, "Goodnight, Sei-chan."
"Goodnight, Tetsuya."
Kuroko closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
When he woke up in the morning, Akashi was gone. The blue haired boy frowned but he knew he would see Akashi again.
Kuroko's mundane routine started once again. He ate breakfast, had some lessons, lunch, outside time, play time, dinner and then sleep.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always the loneliest times for Kuroko since he sat by himself and ate without glancing at anyone. During his time outside and inside to play, the blue haired boy was always around Akashi and they would do everything together. Most of the time they would nap in the afternoon so they could talk all night or they would just sleep side by side and feel comforted by one another.
Kuroko couldn't help but feel his heart drop to his stomach whenever he woke up to see that Akashi had left him. It made him feel lonely though he knew that Akashi was just running from the caretakers.
That afternoon, they met under the cherry blossom tree and Kuroko said, "Stay."
The redhead let out a laugh and said, "But Tetsuya, I'm not leaving."
"You always say that! Always!" The blue haired boy yelled, "You always tell me that you're not going to leave me and the first thing that happens when I wake up is that you're gone and I'm all alone!"
Akashi wrapped his arms around the blue haired boy and said, "It's not forever. I just leave for a while. I always come back, don't I?"
"And what will happen when someone adopts me?"
The redhead flinched slightly at the question and he said, "Then...you'll be going somewhere I can't follow."
They were both silent and then Kuroko said, "I can't stop myself from going somewhere you can't follow."
The redhead seemed confused and then he nervously asked, "Tetsuya...did someone adopt you?"
Kuroko stared at the ground and shook his head, "Kise-san said that someone was coming soon to adopt kids so I was just wondering what would happen if they adopted me."
Akashi grabbed the blue haired boy's hand and squeezed it tightly, "Don't leave."
Kuroko heard someone call the children inside and the blue haired boy let go of Akashi's hand, "I have to."
The redhead frowned as he watched Kuroko leave and no matter how many times he told himself that the blue haired boy would come back, Akashi knew that someone would adopt Kuroko sooner or later.
The blue haired boy didn't go outside for a while and at night, the windows were locked so Akashi couldn't come in. Kuroko felt upset about his little fight with the redhead, but he had no idea how to fix things. He just knew that they both don't want to be alone.
Eventually, Kuroko fell into some sort of slump. The blue haired boy barely ate and he felt as if the world around him was turning black. He felt as if everyone was leaving him and that no one would come back to him. Kuroko often had nightmares about sitting alone or running from the darkness. A week later, Kuroko had a really bad nightmare and he woke up crying and screaming. Midorima ran into the room and carried him to his room. The green haired caretaker cradled Kuroko in his arms until he fell asleep.
Midorima knew the blue haired boy's condition, which was why he stayed close to the small kid. Kuroko had autophobia; really serious autophobia. The blue haired boy's life was never balanced unless someone was by his side and without Akashi beside him all the time, Kuroko couldn't function correctly. Most of the time, Kuroko could barely stand sitting in a room alone because he was afraid that the impossible would become possible. No matter how safe the blue haired boy was, his mind would always tell him otherwise. Midorima came to the conclusion that Kuroko had developed autophobia from the loss of his parents, but there wasn't really a good way to treat the little boy.
Akashi kept an eye on Kuroko. The redhead would peer in through the windows to see how the blue haired boy was doing and he would sleep by the window just to feel closer to Kuroko. When Akashi heard the blue haired boy scream, he wanted to smash the window and be by Kuroko's side. But all he was able to do was watch. The redhead quickly found out how to unlock the windows from the outside and he decided that he would stay by Kuroko's side no matter what.
That night, Kuroko continued to toss and turn in his sleep. The blue haired boy was able to feel his bed shift to one side and he jolted awake to see Akashi holding him in his arms.
"What are you doing in here?" Kuroko whispered.
"I came here to see you. Go to sleep." The redhead said.
The blue haired boy was more than happy to see Akashi so he didn't complain and he cuddled up into the redhead's warmth. It was the first time in days that they had slept together and it comforted them both.
The next day, Kuroko felt someone shake him awake. The blue haired boy's eyes snapped open and he saw Midorima in front of him, "Midorima-san...why are you here?" Kuroko asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
The caretaker pointed at Akashi, who had his arms wrapped around the blue haired boy's torso and his face buried into his chest, and asked, "Is this 'Sei-chan'?"
Kuroko nodded and then lightly shook Akashi awake. The redhead slowly opened his eyes and then quickly jumped off of the bed when he saw Midorima.
"I-uh..." Akashi stuttered.
"It's alright. You don't have to run." The green haired boy said, "I just came to tell Kuroko that someone wishes to adopt him."
This time Kuroko started stuttering, "W-what? Me...me...adoption?"
"They would like to meet you. Are you okay with a meeting?" Midorima asked and then he added, "It would be good for you to at least try."
Kuroko reluctantly nodded and then grabbed Akashi's hand to calm down. The blue haired boy squeezed his hand tightly and then said, "Okay. Can I see them now?"
Midorima guided Kuroko to another room and said, "They're in there. Seijuro will have to stay out here though."
The blue haired boy walked into the room and saw a woman with pink hair who smiled when she saw Kuroko.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Momoi Satsuki."
Her gentle voice and appearance made the blue haired boy comfortable as he said, "My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, and it's nice to meet you too."
The blue haired boy hopped onto a chair and asked, "Are you going to adopt me?"
"Only if you want to come home with me." Momoi said, "I know that you probably have a few friends here but just because you're moving locations doesn't mean you'll never see them again. If you really love each other you'll go looking for each other."
Kuroko nodded while thinking about Akashi. The pink haired girl smiled and said,
"So Tetsu-chan, what's your favourite colour?"
"Hm... Red!" Kuroko exclaimed.
"Mine is probably blue."
The two of them talked for an hour or two, both of them finding it interesting to communicate with one another. When Kuroko walked out of the room, he had decided to go home with Momoi.
The blue haired boy hugged Akashi and said, "I'll find you or you can find me. I won't forget you, Sei-chan."
The redhead smiled, "I'll definitely find you first."
"I'll be waiting then." Kuroko muttered as he let go of his friend.
After the blue haired boy left, Akashi decided to help around the orphanage. He played with the children and lived there under the safety of the caretakers.
Years went by and eventually Kuroko remembered his past lives when he was introduced to basketball in middle school while Akashi remembered his past lives when he saw the tally marks on his back while taking a shower.
However, when the blue haired boy went to the orphanage to find Akashi, the orphanage had been closed for good. Kuroko kept searching for the redhead and several more years later, the blue haired boy almost felt like giving up.
I can't find him... I can't find him. He could be anywhere in the world. The blue haired boy thought to himself.
Kuroko went home and sulked before asking whether his mother (Momoi Satsuki) knew how to find Akashi.
The pink haired woman smiled and said, "Midorima-san called be a few days ago and said that his son was frantically searching for you. He gave me his address."
Kuroko almost wanted to slap himself across the face.
When in doubt, I should always just ask Momoi-san.
The blue haired boy took the piece of paper and ran to the train station.
As Kuroko approached the house, he began to feel nervous. The blue haired boy suddenly feared if Akashi remembered him or not and how the redhead would react. Kuroko rang the doorbell and waited patiently.
A tall redhead opened the door; his heterochromatic eyes were stunning like always and Kuroko became speechless. They had last seen each other when they were five years old and now they were both nineteen.
Kuroko clenched his fists and stared at the redhead in hope. Akashi seemed speechless as well and then he quickly pulled Kuroko towards him and their lips collided.
They desperately held each other as they continued to kiss each other softly. Kuroko felt tears streaming down Akashi's face so the blue haired boy reached up and wiped away the tears.
"Tetsuya... Tetsuya..." The redhead mumbled into the kiss.
After a while, they both broke away from the kiss and then held each other.
The blue haired boy smiled and said, "Who knew it would take us over a decade to find each other?"
Akashi smiled back, "Want to go get our tattoos?"
Kuroko nodded and then grabbed the redhead's hand, just to make sure what was happening was real. It was hard for both of them to know the difference between their past lives and the present, so sometimes they hallucinated. It wasn't that dangerous yet, but it worried both of them. After they got their 30th tattoo, the two of them went back to Kuroko's house.
Momoi greeted them and then left them to catch up with each other. When Akashi sat down, the blue haired boy climbed onto his lap and said, "I missed you." Before biting the redhead's ear.
The redhead grinned and wrapped his arms around Kuroko's waist, "Tetsuya, don't bite my ears..."
"Then what about here?" The blue haired boy asked while biting Akashi's neck.
"Mm." Akashi hummed as he ran his fingers through Kuroko's hair, "Tetsuya, you're always a tease."
"Seijuro."
"Hm?" The redhead asked as he continued absentmindedly brushing Kuroko's hair.
"I love you. So much."
After those words were spoken, Akashi sealed their lips with a kiss and he whispered against Kuroko's lips, "I love you too."
They continued to live together for the majority of their lives.
Eventually, Akashi passed away first and a few months later, Kuroko passed away as well.