A/N: Oh dear. Y'all thought that was how they parted. Well... not quite. I did say there's gonna be a teeny tiny bit more of child!Akashi in this chapter. ^^

Chapter 4: Back To You

Summary: In which time flies.

The day Furihata leaves for Kobe, he gets an unexpected visitor.

Furihata has woken up early to make himself a bento for the train ride. Then, just as Furihata is stuffing everything into the lunch box, he damn near has a heart attack when he looks up to the window to find a pair of large, unblinking crimson eyes staring directly back at him. It could've been something out of a horror film, only that it isn't.

"S-Sei-kun?!"

Furihata immediately rushes outside to find, indeed, Akashi Seijuuro in the flesh. The boy is standing on a crate so that he can peek through the kitchen window, being just tall enough for the top half of his face to be higher than the window sill.

"Kouki," When Akashi sees Furihata, he nods at him as per usual. As though the last two weeks of them not seeing each other never even happened.

"Sei-kun, w-what are you doing here?" Furihata is in disbelief. "H-How long have you been standing outside?"

"A while."

"Why didn't you ring the doorbell?"

Akashi frowns. Then, reluctantly, he admits, "I couldn't reach the buzzer."

"O-oh." Of course not. Not that Furihata will ever say that out loud.

"Also, the crates are too heavy for carriage. I figured it is best to wait by the window until someone spots me."

"Oh."

Furihata doesn't know whether to be more amused or impressed.

He brings Akashi into the house, feeding him tamago dofu – not as good as tofu soup, but it'll do – and a cup of warm milk as Furihata finishes packing his bento. Furihata then takes Akashi to his bedroom, closing the door behind them.

Akashi instantly makes himself at home, plopping down on Furihata's bed like he owns it. Typical. From there, Akashi spots two large luggages across the room. Furihata watches as Akashi's face changes – those wide, deep-set red eyes narrowing just the slightest bit. Unnoticeable by most, but Furihata has known Akashi for nearly three whole years.

"You knew I was leaving today," Furihata begins, sitting down on the bed.

Akashi only stares at him. "You can't go. I won't allow it."

"Sei-kun," He shakes his head. "It's for my future."

"You can continue working for my family. University is not so necessary when you already have a job."

"I can't be a caretaker forever. What am I going to do when Sei-kun grows up?"

"Then I shall take care of you myself."

Furihata sighs. "It's not that simple."

Akashi narrows his eyes, "You think I am not capable?"

"I don't doubt that you are, but I don't want that. I- I want to be able to stand on my own two feet. Earn my own income."

"So I'll pay. You can consider it your salary."

"T-that's not the point."

"I don't comprehend what the problem is."

Furihata doesn't know how to explain it to him either, so he remains quiet.

Akashi frowns, those two little red brows knotting together. "Why are you so intent on leaving me, Kouki?"

"I-it's not that I want to leave you, Sei-kun. It's just-"

"But you are. Leaving."

"It's only temporarily. Every holiday-"

Akashi cuts him off sharply, "Several months without seeing you is not 'temporary' for me."

Furihata doesn't have anything to say to that. He looks down at his fingers, a feeling of guilt welling up.

Silence falls between them; Akashi still staring at Furihata intensely, whilst Furihata refuses to meet his eyes. They are sitting less than a meter away from each other, and yet the distance between them seems much further apart. Furihata might as well be in Kobe.

Then, out of the blue, Akashi reaches out and touches Furihata's hand. In that instant, all the metaphorical distance between them shrinks back until it is no more than the physical distance.

"Kouki." He says, and squeezes.

Again, their silent communication. Furihata is constantly amazed by how Akashi knows ways to speak to him without words – and yet, he never realizes that Akashi is equally impressed by how Furihata understands him when no one else can.

And right now, Furihata knows Akashi is telling him: 'Stay.'

"I don't want to leave, either." Furihata takes Akashi's smaller hand into his palm and squeezes back.

"Then don't." Akashi's voice is softer even when his eyes are piercing into Furihata's, his gaze fierce enough to make him shiver.

Furihata starts to shake his head again, "Sei-kun, you know I-"

"I want you to stay."

"I-I know, and I do, too, but-" Furihata holds his hand tight, "I can't."

"Yes, you can." Akashi is persistent.

"I'm sorry, Sei-kun."

Furihata cannot do anything but wrap his arms around Akashi, hugging him close and hoping it is enough to let Akashi know that this is hardly easy for him, either. Furihata then strokes Akashi's hair, just as he always does, and Akashi goes completely stiff. He grabs on tight to Furihata's shirt with his free hand, and when he finally speaks, his voice is quiet in a way that is so unlike Akashi that it goes straight to Furihata's heart.

"Don't go, Kouki."

Furihata chokes up. How is he supposed to leave Akashi here now when he sounds so excruciatingly lonely?

Tears brim up in Furihata's eyes and he clutches on to Akashi, his body tense. Akashi doesn't understand what is happening until Furihata's breath hitches and he senses small drops of water starting to dampen the shoulder of his yukata. Akashi's frown deepens, because it was never his intention to make Furihata cry – never ever – especially not because of him.

Akashi reaches one short arm up to pat Furihata's hair in what is supposed to comfort him, but that only makes Furihata weep harder, and Akashi falls rigid, not knowing what to do.

"I-I'll miss you, Sei-kun," Furihata whispers, sniffing – and he will. Akashi has grown on him tremendously in the past three years, and before he knew it, Furihata starts looking forward to heading over to the Akashi mansion, waiting for the days he gets to see Akashi. Akashi is special – the way he talks, the way he thinks, the way he sees things – and Furihata is intrigued by him; fascinated by his intelligence, captured by his rare smiles. "I r-really will miss you."

Akashi doesn't know why, but hearing Furihata say that makes his chest hurt.

They stay like that until it is time for Furihata to go catch his train; Furihata a teary, swollen-eyed mess when he releases Akashi from his arms. Akashi doesn't want to let him go, but he does. He wants to say something to stop Furihata from leaving, but he doesn't. He just stands there, silently watching as Furihata takes his bags and go off in the taxi, waving at Akashi as the car leaves, those warm brown eyes watery all over again.

Akashi doesn't wave back, and he doesn't cry. He just stares straight at Furihata, burning those eyes into his memory.

It isn't until Akashi is back in his own bedroom at the mansion, photos he took with Furihata spread out on the bed, that it hits him that Furihata is actually gone.

Akashi curls up in his duvet and hides his face in his yukata – still with Furihata's scent clinging on – and convinces himself that the yukata is only damp from Furihata's tears.

'Young men's love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.' - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare.

Akashi Seijuuro is an incredible young man.

Top of his class with excellency in all areas, he is the pride and joy of Rakuzan High. Since his first year, Akashi has been president of the student council, captain of the basketball team, and champion of the strategy boardgames club. Number one with perfect scores in all subjects, Akashi has no known weakness. He knows only strength, only brilliance, only victory.

The Rakuzan girls call him the 'Flawless Prince'. It is certainly not an overstatement. Akashi – with his abundance in wealth, talent, power, intelligence, leadership skills, physical athleticism, and good looks – is definitely an attractive package; the tremendous catch of their generation. Of course, this is hardly surprising. He's an Akashi, for goodness' sake. Not to mention, Akashi has impeccable manners and etiquette, and he is charming; all polite speech and serene smiles. Smooth as butter, he is capable of anything and everything without even a single blink of hesitation. It is no wonder women of all age and size fall at his feet; drawn to him like moths to a flame.

Little do they know that Akashi Seijuuro is also terrifying.

'Since I always win, I'm always right. If you oppose me... I'll kill you, no matter who you are.'

'No one that opposes me is allowed to look down on me.'

'My orders are absolute.'

'Know your place.'

Akashi Seijuuro is a tyrant.

Granted, he has gradually become less oppressive in the past two years. Spending time with his teammates from Teikou Junior High aided the dilution process. However, as with a knife, it doesn't matter how much you blunt the blade. A knife is a knife – with enough force, it is still dangerous, still capable of serious harm.

"Akashicchi, you have got to stop staring at people like that."

"I am not staring."

"Whatever it is, it's creepy! Akashicchi, honestly, it looks like you're about to murder someone!"

"Your point being?"

"Well, it's not very nice."

"I appreciate your concern, Ryouta, but it is unnecessary. I am presently not on the verge of murder. Or killing, for that matter. There is a difference."

"...right."

Model, basketball prodigy, and blonde – throw these three categories and their respective stereotypes together, plus a dash of golden retriever puppy-like personality, and we get one Kise Ryouta in all his ikemen pretty-boy sparkly glory.

"You were saying?"

"Ah, right! About the reunion trip. Since Kurokocchi is bringing Kagamicchi, Murasakicchi wants to bring Himuro-san, too, and he is very insistent."

"As to be expected." Akashi nods. "I have predicted they would stay in contact even after Tatsuya graduated."

"I know, right? It's like they're attach at the hip! It's cute, heh. Speaking of which, Midorimacchi wants to bring Takao-kun, of course, even if he doesn't say, but we all know he does."

"Of course." Akashi nods, simply.

"So, Aominecchi and Momoicchi is fine with, you know, everyone tagging someone along, and they sent me here to ask whether you're okay with it too?"

Akashi raises a brow. "Why wouldn't I be? I have completely come to terms with the fact that all of you have branched out and formed stable relationships with teammates from your respective schools. It is paramount to your team's success, after all. I have no issue with anyone bringing along whoever they wish to."

"Ehh, but wouldn't it make you uncomfortable, Akashicchi?"

"Not at all. In fact, I am supportive of your friendships. I would invite someone from Rakuzan, too, but I'm afraid they are preoccupied."

"'...ah." Kise smiles dryly. It is only then, after two long years, that Kise realizes that Akashi doesn't get it.

For all his genius in everything else, Akashi can be astoundingly oblivious to what is going on right before his eyes. Sure, Akashi notices the excessive intimacy between, say, Kuroko and Kagami, but Akashi doesn't interpret it as anything else beyond a completely pure, respectable strong bond between teammates. It is as though Akashi has never even considered the possibility of it being anything else. Kise has to wonder how Akashi's mind works; how is it possible to be so sharp, and yet so naïve? And why did no one ever take the time to tell Akashi any different? But then again, Kise didn't, either. "'Friendships', huh..."

"What was that?" Akashi inquires, though his eyes remain on the sudoku squares in his hand.

"Oh! Nothing, nothing at all! I was just, um, thinking about our trip. You know, um, how much fun we'll all have at Kinosaki, the onsens, seeing everybody... y'know?"

Akashi does turn to face Kise this time, giving him a look. "Ryouta, you are a terrible liar. You will never fool any common person, let alone me."

"Ehh? Akashicchi, I wasn't lying!"

"It is alright. If it's of enough importance, I assume I will be informed, eventually." Akashi waves it off, going back to his sudoku.

Kise can only chuckle nervously, super glad that Akashi doesn't push it, because boy, he does not want to be the one to enlighten their previous captain what all his ex-teammates, including the blonde himself, have really been up to.

Kise cannot even imagine what Akashi's reaction will be.

Furihata Kouki is an elementary school teacher.

It isn't much of a surprise to anyone who knows him, really. Furihata has always been very good with children, and he likes taking care of them. Not to mention children absolutely adore him. Apparently, there is some kind of 'special touch' which makes the young ones flock towards him.

"Furi-sensei! Makoto-kun stole my backpack!"

"I didn't steal! You were just stupid enough to drop it, baka."

"Don't call me that!"

"Baka, baka, bakaaa-"

"Now, now, that's not how you should be treating a girl, Makoto-kun." Furihata swoops in between the squabbling children, placing himself as a barrier between sweet little Ami who looks on the verge of tears and the troublemaker Makoto, who is sticking his tongue out at her.

"Her? A girl? Please." Makoto sneers.

"HEY!" Ami glares at him.

Furihata sighs. Oh, fifth-grade drama. Give it another five or six years and Furihata can bet these two will at some point consider dating each other. Children are funny like that.

"Alright, time to give Ami-chan back her bag, ne?" Furihata taps Makoto on his shoulder.

"It's her fault she dropped it in the first place! She should be thanking me that I picked it up!" Makoto huffs.

"Why would I thank you for stealing my things!" Ami screeches back.

"Ooo-kay, enough, you two." Furihata pulls them apart. "Makoto-kun, I'm only going ask you one more time. Please give Ami-chan back her bag? I know you don't really want to steal it, do you?"

"Tch- fine!"

Makoto reluctantly pushes the backpack back into Ami's arms, who snatches it from him and grins smugly. Makoto scowls and crosses his arms, turning his face away petulantly.

Furihata nods. "And, Ami-chan, you should give Makoto-kun your thanks for picking up the bag you dropped."

"Ehh? Furi-sensei!" Ami wails in protest.

"Come on, now. Be a good girl." Furihata ushers the girl towards Makoto encouragingly.

Ami clutches her bag close to her and mumbles, "T-thanks, I guess."

Furihata smiles when the conflict is resolved and sends the two off to join their friends in their respective rooms at the ryokan. He watches them run along together and exhales, tiredly running his hand through his hair and sitting down on a lobby bench. It is only the first day of the field trip and already there have been at least three disputes between the children.

"It's going to be a long five days, huh." Someone sits down next to him.

"Ah, Izuki-senpai – I mean, Izuki-sensei." Furihata turns to see his senior, both now in his career and back in high school, and bows slightly. "Thank you for all your hard work."

"You too, you too. It's your first time properly organizing a field trip, isn't it?"

"Oh, y-yes. I've only been assisting before."

"Well, you're doing great so far. No deaths or casualties. Not yet, anyways." Izuki teases, casually leaning back against the wall. "Imagine the headlines. 'Parents steaming from child death on field trip'. Heh!"

"Um..." Furihata shifts awkwardly in his seat.

"Get it? Steaming? 'Cause we're at a ryokan? And in Kinosaki – the onsen town – no less!"

Furihata can only smile sheepishly. Izuki hasn't changed one bit since Seirin – all bad puns and jokes still fully intact. Unfortunately.

Later, they head to their shared room to unpack and prepare for the kids' afternoon activities. However, there appears to be one problem.

"Eh? Furihata, what's up?" Izuki asks when he sees Furihata stopping by the door, tilting his head at the luggage on the floor.

"Ano... that's not my bag."

"Unacceptable."

"We're really very sorry Akashi-sama! We promise to sort this out as soon as possible!"

"I would expect you to, and quickly."

"O-of course, sir. P-please excuse me. Once again, our deepest apologies that this has happened. We're really sorry!"

Akashi waves off the ryokan manager who is bowing and apologizing so much Akashi could've mistaken him for that one dainty Touou shooting guard Aomine likes to pick on.

"Heeeeh. Poor guy." Murasakibara appears by Akashi's door just in time to watch the manager leave in haste.

"Eh? Atsushi, you know what's going on?" Himuro, expectedly, appears beside the much taller purple-head, looking up at him curiously.

"Nah." Murasakibara answers, shrugging sluggishly. "I just know Aka-chin's mad. I feel sorry for anyone who makes Aka-chin mad."

"I see."

"Atsushi. Tatsuya." Akashi beckons them inside. "You've come to see me. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no problem at all, Akashi-kun. Atsushi just said that you have something for him, so he wanted to come get it." Himuro explains.

"Ah." Akashi nods.

"Aka-chinnnnn. You promised me you'd bring me Yatsuhashi from Kyoto, and the limited edition Yatsuhashi flavored Kitkats too... you did bring them, didn't you? Say you brought them, Aka-chin."

"Yes, Atsushi. I did bring them."

"Ooh." Murasakibara stretches his abnormally long arm out to Akashi, palms up and ready to receive his promised food.

"Atsushi, don't be rude." Himuro nudges him.

"I'm not being rude, Muro-chin. Aka-chin already said he's gonna give me the snacks."

"Yes, but I'm afraid you will have to wait, Atsushi. The Yatsuhashi is not with me at the current moment."

Murasakibara instantly drops his hand and scowls like a child. "Whaaaat. Why?"

"Unfortunately, the inn has made somewhat of a mix-up and has managed to swap my suitcase with another guest's. I have already reprimanded the manager about this, and the issue should be resolved soon enough." Akashi says, concise and matter-of-factly, not at all hinting that his 'reprimanding' has the manager of the ryokan quite literally fearing for his life.

"And... the Yatsuhashi?" Murasakibara asks.

Akashi blinks. "In my suitcase, Atsushi."

"Oh. Okay, then." Murasakibara nods, satisfied. Then, frowns. "Muro-chin, what are you nudging me for?"

The inn phone rings at that point, and Akashi picks up to hear the manager's voice hurriedly telling him that they have found his bag. Akashi glances at his watch – three minutes; faster than he expected. Not bad.

"Very well. Bring it to my suite and you can collect this guest's luggage as well- what do you mean he's going to bring it over himself? He's a guest, he shouldn't- he's already on his way?"

Before Akashi can critique the clerk further for allowing a guest to do their work – already preparing a speech on how his father will hear about this and how there will have to be many serious adjustments to be made to the staff in the foreseeable future – there is a knock on the door.

Followed by a voice Akashi finds oddly familiar, but cannot really place.

"A-ano... excuse me, I believe we've swapped bags?"

Akashi hangs up the phone and calls back to the guest in a calm manner, standing up to adjust his yukata. "Yes, that is correct. I will be there in a moment."

Furihata tilts his head when he hears the reply through the door. This guest certainly has an authoritative tone – fitting for someone who's staying in the most expensive suite of the ryokan, really – but his voice is also light and smooth. Like the voice of a young man, unexpectedly, but still the voice of a professional. Furihata can already guess that this person must have come from a well-bred family.

The door clicks, unlocking sounds being heard, and Furihata bends over to bring the guest's suitcase forward.

Furihata is still pulling the bag when the door swings open. "Ah, here is your-"

Furihata freezes.

Large, piercing crimson eyes stare back at him, wide and intense, with deep red hair framing his face. All Furihata can see is red. Not a common hair and eye color, by any means.

In fact, Furihata has only ever met one person with this particular combination.

"Y-you..." Furihata begins to say, subconsciously taking one step forward, completely forgetting that he had just moved the guest's luggage there. The suitcase topples over and lands with a bang that is far too loud in this quiet corridor.

"Ah-! S-sorry!" Furihata quickly bows in apology. Flustered, he fumbles with the suitcase to stand it back up.

The red-haired young man – looking definitely no older than twenty years old, but with an air of maturity that exceeds even Furihata's – reaches out to help him, placing his hand directly beside Furihata's. Together, they get the suitcase back to its original position, but the man does not release his hold.

"A-ano, sorry about that," Furihata apologizes again, dipping his head.

The man is staring at their hands, next to each other on the luggage's handle, close enough that their skin is touching. He says nothing.

"U-um..." Furihata fidgets awkwardly, starting to pull his hands back.

In one sharp movement, faster than a blink of an eye, Furihata's hand is captured in the man's palm. The grip on him is strong enough to prevent Furihata from even trying to pull away.

"E-eh..?!" Furihata nervously flits his eyes up towards the man, before his round brown eyes widen. Because this man, with his red hair and intense crimson eyes, had just squeezed his hand – and Furihata just knows. He gapes at him, "N-no way..."

The man – who Furihata is now certain can be no one else but Akashi Seijuuro – bares his teeth in a sly smirk.

"Long time no see, Kouki."

A/N: I'm not sure whether Japanese schools take their students to ryokans on field trips, but I wanted an onsen place, so hopefully this is not drastically inaccurate. Please go along with it, ne? ^^'' Also, I am taking liberties with this fic by making all of the Seirin regulars (with the exception of Kuroko and Kagami) ten years older – as seen with Izuki-senpai here.

As always, thank you for all your reviews, follows and favourites! I'm really glad if you are enjoying this story thus far :)