A/N: "Rouge" happens after the stories "Blush", which narrates how Akashi and Mika became close to each other, and "Perfume", which is a one-shot about Midorima and Takao. You may opt not to read "Perfume" but if you haven't read "Blush" yet, I strongly recommend that you read it first. Just head to my profile and click the story "Blush" to read it. This is the third story of my Glow Up series that happens in Kurokoverse.

**Glow Up Series:

Story 1 - Blush (Akashi Seijurox OC)

Story 2 - Perfume (Midorima Shintaro x Takao Kazunari)

Story 3 - Rouge (Akashi Seijuro x OC)**

In this Kurokoverse, the movie does not exist (sorry!).

Thank you very much for reading this and I hope you enjoy it!

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Prologue:

It was late in the night when Mibuchi-san suddenly called. He was crying as he spoke on the phone. "We don't know what else to do, Kuroko-kun. H-he's indomitable and his decisions are final." He sniffed as the boy at the other end of the line grunted in reply. "Help us. Please. We can't just give up."

Tetsuya could not promise anything. He felt sorry for Mibuchi and the rest of the Rakuzan varsity players, but the pale boy did not know how to help them.

"You are closer to him than any of us here. You can reach his heart and move him." Mibuchi-san was sure.

But Tetsuya doubted that.

"Kuroko-kun? Please? Maybe you and your other friends can try…"

The pale boy could not say anything rather than, "I'll see what I can do." The call ended with Mibuchi-san's "thank you."

Chapter 1: "It's complicated."

She changed herself.

Skirt a little longer than everyone else. Long black hair held messily by a black clamp. She had abandoned her small, colorful clips and the kind of makeup she always loved. She put her cute face behind big fake eyeglasses, hiding from the rest of the world. Not that there was something wrong with her kind of fashion now, no, it was totally cool and fine. But, it wasn't her.

A group of girls in the same uniform didn't even notice that she was in the same restroom. Hurrying, Risa Mikaela washed her hands and exited. The last thing she wanted was to attract attention.

Walking through the hallway of Serin High, she knew it was the right decision to enroll here. There were only a handful of students who she recognized were from Teiko and they didn't care about her. Also, this school was fairly new. That means, its basketball club wasn't as big and known as Teiko. Good. He and his friends won't be here.

She passed by a bulletin board and stopped to look at it. There, posted, were announcements from different clubs. She thought about Shelter, her club during middle school, and its charity works. She missed them so much. Should she start another charity group in Seirin? With new students who didn't know her? Her heart soared to the clouds. Yes. She wanted to do that. But, it would be more quietly. Hushed and without catching the eye of many. She would do her works with silence.

Mika took her seat inside the classroom. She was seated at the farthest corner near the window. Perfect, she thought.

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After class, Tetsuya went with Kagami to the basketball court to attend their usual practice. It's the middle of the school year and their team had just lost in the Inter-High competition. Aida Riko, their third-year senpai and young coach, was eager for them to start practice and make plans on how to defeat their rival schools. They had succeeded to win first place at the Winter Cup last school year, after all. They could win again, their whole team thought, and they would. It was their last tournament with the third-years who would soon graduate.

But, before the female coach could speak and start their practice inside the wide gymnasium, Tetsuya raised his hand and said, "Uhm, I have something to say." All eyes were suddenly on him, including the number of first-year students who joined their club. Their club had grown to at least thirty varsity players now.

"What is it, Kuroko-kun?" The coach let him speak.

"It's about Rakuzan. I received a phone call from Mibuchi-san yesterday. He told me what happened to their team after they lost to Aomine-kun and Too Academy. Akashi-kun reverted back to his old self. He said Akashi-kun became his cold self again and dismissed from the club Mibuchi-san and the other starters who caused Rakuzan's loss."

The students gasped and started to talk to each other, saying how cruel the act was. No doubt they were surprised. Mibuchi and the two other starters of Rakuzan were good players. One would think that having them would bring merit to their team. And, they'd been Seirin basketball players' friends.

"Then why didn't he resign himself? He was one of the starters and even the basketball club captain of Rakuzan. Didn't he need to take responsibility?" One of the first-years, a rather petite male named Takahashi, asked. The other first-years agreed while their seniors remained quiet and waited for Tetsuya to speak again.

The pale boy answered, "That's because he knew he is a great asset to Rakuzan. During the game, he scored 3/4 of their overall score and was the only one able to fulfill the quota of points he set for each to score." He watched the first years for their reaction. They, too, became quiet upon hearing his words. He continued, "The Uncrowned Kings Mibuchi-san, Nebuya-san, and Hayama-san are all under a sports scholarship and already have universities wanting to have them based on their high school basketball performance. Being dismissed by Akashi-kun, they will soon lose their scholarship and their future university application. Their future is at stake."

"That's mean," Izuki remarked, not even thinking of making a joke.

Aida had one hand under her chin. "Hmm. And I'm guessing they asked for help? This is hard. But what can we do?"

"I'm sorry," the pale boy apologized. "I know this has nothing to do with all of you, but I just want to aid Mibuchi-san and the others. He was crying yesterday on the phone."

"No need to worry about that, Kuroko." Hyuga, their basketball captain, adjusted his eyeglasses. "I know they'll also come to help us if we were the ones in trouble. Maybe you and the rest of the Generation of Miracles can talk and some of us could also be there to give suggestions."

"Count me in!"

"Yeah, me too!

Kagami smiled at the boy. "Let's solve this together."

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"It's impossible." Midorima was daintily eating his fries. His friend, Takao was sitting beside him, putting extra ketchup inside a burger he later gave to the bespectacled boy. They were at Maji Burger with Tetsuya, Kagami, Hyuga, Aida, Izuki, Koganei, Furihata, Momoi, and the Generation of Miracles' Aomine and Kise. "Once Akashi decides on something, not even his own parents can change his mind. He'd always been like that."

"So…" The golden-haired Kise put down his drink and shrugged. "We can't do anything about it."

"Hoi, hoi, Kise, you're not implying that we do nothing about it, are you?" Kagami's eyebrows were deeply furrowed. His voice too loud that the other people inside the fast food resto looked at him for a second.

"Can't you guys just speak to him?" Aida suggested.

But the beautiful manager Momoi answered. "It's not that simple. H-he's… different."

The Generation of Miracles all agreed. Except for Tetsuya who wasn't losing hope. He placed a paper on the long table between them. "This is the poster for the upcoming training camp for the best junior high basketball players all over the nation. Most of us would be there. Maybe we could do something about it there."

"Yes. You'll all be there." Aida nodded, her short brown hair bouncing. "Also some of us from Seirin."

Aomine bit a large amount on his burger. "Let's just beat the hell out of him during the training camp. I'm sure that'll change him."

The students would like to agree but not all of them were as confident as the tan boy.

If only someone could actually reach Akashi's heart, Tetsuya thought hard.

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The two were so close to each other that they could feel each other's breath. Slowly, Akashi moved even closer to her, like he was magnetized by Mika's presence. The girl didn't move. Could this finally be it? Their long-awaited first ki-

Mika opened her eyes. She was dreaming. Of him. Again. She shook her head and rumpled her black hair with her hands. She shouldn't think about the guy again and shouldn't be sleeping inside Teiko's library. Hadn't she decided to be good at her studies and not let her parents worry about her? She cleared her throat and arranged the pile of books on the table in front of her. She was sitting in one of the cubicles hidden behind the gigantic wooden shelves of the library, and all around her, the other students were dozing off. She yawned. But she didn't want to sleep anymore, afraid that she would see him in her dreams once more.

The girl opened a book on the English language. It was a subject she was rather good at and was thinking of having a job related to it in the future. She would work as an elementary school English language teacher while doing the charity works that she'd always loved. She smiled.

It would be a nice and quiet life.

"R-risa-san?"

She knew that voice. Had heard it speak to her several times before. But where? Who was he? Mika lifted her head from the book she was reading and saw a wide-eyed, light blue-haired, pale boy staring at her like he had just seen a ghost.

The girl was absolutely terrified. Forgetting the books on her desk, she stood up and started dashing away, a number of students watching her panic and run. She exited the library and ran through the building's halls. She was glad she'd been running as her daily workout.

"Risa-san!" Called the boy, trying to keep up with her.

Mika ignored him, wondering why the hell someone like him was in a new, unknown school. She looked back, there he was still. Mika ran the fastest she could and entered the girl's restroom, hiding inside one of its cubicles.

"This is not true. Not true. Not true." She repeated the words like a mantra.

"R-risa-san!" She heard him call. He was just outside the restroom. "I'm so glad I saw you. I won't go away until you talk to me. Risa-san?"

"I'm not Risa! I-I'm not her." she lied.

"I know it's you."

One… two… three… Almost ten minutes had passed but she was sure Kuroko was still outside, waiting for Mika. The girl's heart was pounding hard inside her chest. She was scared but she also knew that she had to face Kuroko sooner or later.

Only a few minutes before the start of classes.

Fudge it.

She bit her lip and emerged from the restroom.

"Risa-san." He didn't change much, just got taller. Mika wondered if he was still a basketball varsity player. "I can't believe my eyes when I saw you."

"Y-yeah. Risa Mikaela here. Sorry, I lied. I was surprised to see you too." Akashi's face appeared at the back of her mind. It was impossible for the boy to be here in Teiko… but- She mentally shook her head. She shouldn't think about him. Not anymore. "I was thinking all of you would be deciding to enroll in a known school."

"I took my chances here." His thin lips stretched to a frown. "What happened to you? You suddenly disappeared. Akashi-kun was-"

"I-it was nice seeing you!" Mika cut in his dialogue. She really didn't want to know anything or be involved with anything concerning the red-haired boy. She turned her back to Kuroko and said, "Now that we've said hi to each other, I should go." She started to walk away from him but he held onto her arm.

"You didn't have to go, Risa-san."

Really? After what happened between her and Akashi? With what Teiko did to her? There was deep sadness in her black eyes. "It's complicated."

"Have you already joined a club? How about you join our basketball team? We don't have a manager yet. You can be our manager."

Wha-

No way!

Mika couldn't stop gaping. "You really thought I'd agree to that?"

"Of course, there are benefits, Risa-san. If you become our manager, all of us will help you set up a new charity club. You can revive Shelter here and our members would be yours, too."

"But-"

"Please. Our school was invited to a training camp for basketball athletes but we cannot join without a manager."

Mika gently took back her arm from the boy's grip. "I'm sure you can find someone else."

"Everyone else had already signed up with a club."

"You're not sure about that-"

"Please, Risa-san." He put a distance between them. "Do you want me to kneel before you, just like what you have done before? You know how it is to be desperate."

Kuroko was about to kneel but Mika said, "You don't have to do that!" She furrowed her brows. "Are you sure you really need me?"

"Yes."

"It's just that-"

"Don't worry, everything will be alright. Not every player is invited to the training camp."

Not every player… did that mean that Akashi Seijuro wasn't invited? Kuroko did say don't worry. He knew that Mika was running away from Akashi.

Mika opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "I-I am willing to do anything for Shelter and I'm sure you're willing to do anything for your club too. But I just can't easily agree. Can you give me a number of days to think?"

"Okay," Kuroko replied. "I'm sure everything will be alright."