Chapter 4 - Togetherness

"Onsen Inn?" Furihata and Fukuda asked Kawahara who showed the winning ticket.

"My Sister won the raffles ticket. It's for three people, two nights. Sadly she's a third year, she needs to study for the entrance exams in the university. My parents have to look out for the stores. They told me to ask some friends so the lottery won't be a waste."

"That's awesome! Shall we go?" Fukuda looked at Furihata.

"Sure, I don't have anything to do this weekend!" Furihata nodded.

"Okay, according to this, we have to check in before noon on Friday."

"Friday?! Don't we have school?" Fukuda protest.

"Sshhhh-" Kawahara pressed his forefinger in front of his lips.

Furihata grinned knowingly. Fukuda stared at them worried.

With that decided, the three of them excitedly skip school to went to the Onsen Inn by Friday. They gave their own excuse to the teacher which earn them a free day. The three of them arrived early to check-in and immediately ran inside their room to put their belongings. They spend the day chatting the room and reading comics, going to the nearest convenient store to stuff their stomach with sweets and walked to the park near the inn to play around.

Furihata took a seat on the swing, breathed in the fresh air and sighed. "This is refreshing." He smiled contently.

"That's good to hear." Fukuda smiled.

Furihata opened his eyes and looked up to his friends.

"You seemed troubled lately, I'm sure it must be heavy to deal with it yourself.

"Sorry."

"No need to say that. We're happy that you look refreshed." Kawahara grinned.

"Shall we go to the onsen, now?" The two of them nodded without objection.

They soaked themselves in the onsen, discussing what to eat for dinner. Once Furihata started feeling dizzy, they got out from the onsen. Furihata was humming happily after drinking fresh milk.

"Thank you, Kawahara. I feel so happy today." Furihata gave him a smile.

"Good timing, Furi!" Kawahara winked at him. The three chuckled and walked inside the room to find dinner had been prepared for them.

"Wow… isn't this usually prepared for a very exclusive guest?" Fukuda gulped.

"Well, we did won this luxury, right?" Kawahara sounded unsure.

Furihata looked at his two best friends. "Shall we eat?"

They eat dinner with lots of moans and groans over the delicious meal, each of their faces showed a stupid blissful priceless expression. Before their sleep, though, Kawahara make sure they got to have pillow fight.

Furihata's chortled made his best friends happy.

The next morning, Furihata woke up early by habit. He walked outside to do morning laps alone. In his way back to the inn, he spotted a red hair wearing his training suit pacing towards the inn. His eyes widened when he saw Akashi turned his head only to discover him.

"Furihata?"

"Akashi-san…" Furihata frowned. So much for the blissful day yesterday. He have to face him now, in the inn where he was supposed to be refreshing his mind from this person.

"Are you doing morning laps?"

"By habit, yes." He looked down, avoiding eye contact.

Akashi only smiled, letting Furihata walked inside before him.

"It's a surprise to see you here."

"Kawahara's sister won the raffles tickets. We'll be staying until tomorrow."

"That's good to hear."

"I'm going to bath." Furihata mumbled, running away from the emperor.

Akashi didn't chase after him, he was merely stare at is back disappear upstairs.

'What the hell? What is he doing here?' Then again, as rich as Akashi was, he could be anywhere he wanted to be. He got lots of business to handle.

Furihata walked inside his room to find the two of his friends were just waking up.

"Furi! Good timing, let's go to the onsen!" Kawahara excitedly stood up from his futon.

"O-Okay…" Furihata stuttered, pulling out his clean yukata from the wardrobe.

"Are you alright?" Kawahara blinked.

"I'm alright, just need to refresh myself from morning run." Furihata smiled.

The two of his friends looked at each other, frowning.

Much to Furihata's horror though, Akashi had emerged himself in the onsen. Fukuda and Kawahara nervously greeted him, having practice with Rakuzan's made them a bit daring to approach the boy. Furihata made the largest distant from Akashi, though. The three of them sat across Akashi, chatting on how they should plan their last day.

"Shall we go to the court? I mean, now without Kagami and the others, we can play around." Furihata offered, trying so hard to ignore Akashi's present. He could clearly felt Akashi's eyes blatantly staring at his upper nude body showed above the water.

"Oh, come on. We are here to have fun, not practice." Kawahara protest.

"We are not practicing, just playing around!"

Akashi chuckled. The three of them looked at him. Akashi's eyes met Furihata's, the brown haired boy looked down. Seeing Akashi soaked in the hot water with fog around them felt so awkward. Furihata's face flushed at the gaze directed to him.

"Would you like to practice with me?" Somehow that question was directed to Furihata, the young chihuahua stiffened.

"Oh no, that's impossible, Akashi-san." Fukuda waved his hand.

"I've got free time until this evening. I have shogi tournament, so I'm wondering what to do until later."

"If you are fine with it, I want to try!" Kawahara excitedly stood up.

Furihata didn't try to hold back his groan while Fukuda only sighed.

They ended up having three-on-one. Furihata, having use to have one-on-one with Akashi gave a pretty good defense. He was surprised when Akashi let him stole the ball, making the three scored easily.

"Good job, Furi!" Kawahara ruffled his brown hair.

"Yes!" Fukuda jumped happily.

Akashi smiled.

"Are you letting your guard down?" Furihata sneered at Akashi.

"I'm not. You are getting the hang of it." He was half lying.

Seirin's captain threw him a look. They play some more time before Fukuda ask for a time out. Kawahara started gasping for breath, eyeing Furihata and Akashi paused.

"What time is it?" Akashi asked.

"It's almost lunch time." Kawahara checked his mobile.

"I guess we're enjoying ourselves too much. Thank you for the fun." Akashi gave the ball to Furihata. Furihata looked into his eyes, he was so close that Akashi could easily brush his lips against his cheek and lied; saying it was an accident.

"I guess we'll have our lunch." Kawahara broke the silent.

"You guys go ahead. I'll have to go for the tournament."

"Oh, right! Good luck, Akashi-san!" Fukuda gave a thumb up.

"All the best!" Kawahara added.

They looked at Furihata, wondering if he'd say anything.

"Don't let your guard down." Furihata mumbled, eyes drifting to the side.

"I won't." Akashi send him a terse smile and walked away.

Kawahara and Fukuda watched him walked away before pulling Furihata close to them.

"What's with you two? You seems to have a pretty good defense and kept on bantering with him." Kawahara pinched his cheeks.

"Nothing happened!" Furihata denied, flushing brightly.

"Are you kidding me? We are out of breath already and you kept on marking him with your superior stamina." Fukuda pinched Furihata's other cheek.

"S-Stop it! There's nothing, I'm not lying!"

"You look like you are used to it, though."

"It's just that, I've been practicing to face him!" Furihata quickly pushed both of them away from him.

"Is that why you are practicing a lot and almost passed out, Furi?" Kawahara frowned

"That's not good! I know you are a captain but that doesn't mean you should overwork yourself!"

"It's okay, guys. I'm fine, really!" Furihata smiled, hoping they'll drop the subject.

"Furi…"

"Alright, but no long face anymore!" Kawahara pressed his forefinger in the middle of Furihata's eyebrows.

"Alright, alright! Is that a way to treat your captain?!" Furihata protested.

"You said it!" They chase him when Furihata started running, laughing after being tackled.

They spend the rest of the day at the park after having their lunch. During night, Fukuda and Kawahara had a match on the Table Tennis. Furihata who had changed to his yukata told them he was going to the lake for a walk and leave them having their own fun battle. None of them seemed to listen to what he was saying, though. He shrugged and leaved quietly.

He was on his way through when a voice made him jumped in surprise.

"What are you doing here alone?"

Furihata turned around to found someone he'd been try to avoid the whole day was now approaching him. "A-Akashi…" He saw him wearing the inn's yukata, the same color as he was.

"Furihata." He called his name back with a polite smile.

"How was the tournament?"

"I won."

Of course. He should have known. Furihata pursed his lips. They stared at each other for a moment before the captain of Seirin turned back to his path. "I'm going to the lake." He obviously not wanting to have a conversation with Akashi at the moment.

"Furihata." Akashi's call made him stop on his track. "Please accept my apology."

With that, Furihata briskly turned around to face him once again. "Why? Why are you apologizing?"

"It was rude of m-"

"No, drop that attitude for once! I don't want to hear any politeness from you! Drop that mask, will you?! It won't work on me!"

Akashi fell silent, eyes widened in surprised at the command.

"Did you not realize that I kissed you back?"

"I'm sure you are still confuse."

"I'm not confuse! Why are you denying this, Akashi?"

"You didn't deny the fact that I wanted to come back. Your agreement to come back actually made me think that we'll just have to forget about that kiss." Akashi ignored Furihata flushed cheeks. "I was assuming you'd want to go back and forget about what just happened."

"You are wrong! Stop making your own assumption! I thought you are playing around… and here I was, hoping there might be something between us."

Akashi pulled his wrist as soon as he heard him. Furihata gasped, his retort were shut away by the sudden kiss pressed against his lips. Muffling a protest sound, he lost his balance and crashed on the tree behind him. Akashi was now pressing him flat against the tree trunk. "Mhh-" He pressed his palm against Akashi's chest, stiffened when Akashi groaned lowly. The sound vibrated against his lips made him shuddered. He opened his eyes when Akashi finally let go of him.

"Why… stop doing this if you don't meant it!" Furihata punched Akashi's chest lightly, pressing his forehead against his shoulder. He held back his sniffles, feeling Akashi's hand caressing his hair. Furihata raised his head to looked at Akashi's sad face.

"You are not the only one who's hoping to have something between us." Akashi murmured against his lips, pressing their forehead together.

Furihata's eyes glistened, trying not to leapt up in joy before the boy he'd started to have feelings for him during his first night stay. Upon realizing Akashi was a normal highschool student as he was, that blanket was the one stirred his feelings towards the boy in front of him. He's glad their feelings were mutual.

"Can we try to make this work?" Akashi rubbed Furihata's warm cheek with his thumb.

Furihata's heart was hammering against his chest. His eyes never leave those wet lips that were just kissing him quite rough. His trembling lips whispered back to Akashi. "Yes… Yes… of course…" He daringly pulled him into another kiss.

Akashi complied, crushing their lips together once again. Furihata sighed as he tilted his head to the side. He gave a weak moaned when Akashi nipped his lower lip. He never knew kissing someone could be this blissful.

Furihata's ears caught someone calling out his name. The duo! Pushing Akashi away, surprising his new boyfriend, Furihata pushed him down to hide between the bushes, hiding him from the view of others.

"Kou-"

"Furi!" Kawahara who spotted his friend quickly approached him with big grin. Fukuda followed.

Akashi remained silent, eyes staring up to the flustered Furihata.

"I-Is something wrong?" Furihata nervously asked, biting his lips as he tried to calm himself down. 'We're just kissing, dammit! Calm down!' He seriously hope the duo didn't see anything just now.

"Yes! You suddenly disappear! You are just like Kuroko lately. Anyway, we are going to the onsen! Come on, it's our last night here!" Kawahara pointed back to the inn with his thumb.

"I told you I'm going to the lake, but you two didn't pay attention, huh? I was just wandering around the lake so I'm kind of sweaty. I'll cool down first."

"Okay, you seems flustered, though. You're not catching any cold, are you?" Fukuda frowned.

"I'm fine!" Furihata choked, ignoring Akashi's smirk. "Just go ahead!" He waved his hands to his friends.

"Okay, make sure you join us soon!"

Furihata chuckled, waving at them as they ran back to the inn. Furihata sighed. He yelped when Akashi's head popped out between the bushes.

"Don't surprised me like that!" groaning as he pressed his hands to his heart, Furihata offered his hand to help his boyfriend stood up.

"You are funny. Trying to cool down, huh?" He pulled down his boyfriend, earning a yelp of surprise.

Furihata blushed when he was crashing onto Akashi's lap. "Shut up. I'm sorry. I didn't meant to hide you, it's just…" He tried to stand up but Akashi pulled him to stay still. He sighed and let him do as he wished. Shifting himself on his lap, he awkwardly looked into his eyes.

"It's alright. It's fun seeing you trying to hide the truth." Akashi smirked. "If you love hiding from the public view, then this current position is the best."

"Don't get used to it!" Furihata gasped when Akashi leaned forward and pecked his lips.

"Can we do more of this?"

Furihata shyly nodded. His red face was almost matching Akashi's hair.

Akashi lightly pinched his cheek. "So cute." He kissed Furihata's cheek before biting lightly on the hot skin.

"Hey! I'm not food." He complained, pouting when Akashi snorted.

"You just didn't realize how delicious you are." Akashi silent his other retort by pressing his lips against him once again. He smiled into the kiss when Furihata only pressed his lips together. His finger tickled the chihuahua's chin. "Your first to kiss someone, huh? I'm honored."

"What?!" Furihata tried to protest, his eyes widened when Akashi inserted his tongue into his mouth. He jolted at the contact of the tip of his tongue swiped across his, he moaned at the sparks sending throughout his body. His fingers curled into Akashi's yukata sleeve. "Unn… A-Aka-" He put his hands on Akashi's shoulder for support.

Akashi pulled away, licking his trailed saliva. Their breath mingled as he stared into Furihata's clouded eyes. "Dammit Kouki, don't react like this just because of a kiss." He clicked his tongue, his protest sounds weak at the way his face flushed. He took in his breathing to maintain his self control over his boyfriend.

"I can't help it! Wait, did you just called me-"

"Call me Seijuurou from now on." Akashi commanded.

Furihata pressed his lips together. "S-Se-i…" He stuttered. Cupping his mouth out of embarrassment on the name calling, he felt like melting into puddle. Akashi seemed satisfied though.

"Sei is fine." He pressed his lips against Furihata's fingers that was covering his mouth. Furihata whimpered at the contact, face heating up at Akashi's sly smile. Akashi gently pried his hand away, stealing another kiss from his boyfriend. Liking the feeling of his soft, plumped lips against his own. He was getting addicted. They were lost into their own world.

That night, Furihata was having a hard time explaining his late coming back. His best friends only grin at him from ear to ear, telling him congratulation that he was made up with his girlfriend. Furihata denied it, but they insisted, telling him how red he was. In the end, the captain of Seirin gave up and let them made their own conclusions. He smiled when he got a message from Akashi, telling him to have a good night and rest enough before their routine practice next week.

He was sure have a good sleep that night.

TBC