"A charity event, helping children in the hospital, saving an old lady from a bus!"

Kuroko flinched as his boss threw the pictures he'd just handed him onto the desk, his eyes alit with fire and rage.

"Kuroko! What did I tell you?"

"Sorry, sir, I've been following him every day. There's just nothing bad to catch."

The man looked at him for a very long time, the room still and silent. "… You like him, don't you?"

Kuroko blinked. "Well he seems to be a very nice guy-"

"No, I mean. You like him."

"Oh, no! Of course not, I don't even know the guy! It's just that, there really is nothing bad to see with him. He's perfect."

He shook his head, grumbling under his breath. "No one's perfect… Two weeks, Kuroko. Get out."

XXX

Kuroko lay atop his bed, staring into nothingness as he waited for Akashi to return home. He had known before he left this morning that the redhead would be making a trip to his father's company for a business meeting. Even knowing that the trip was a rather long one, Kuroko still felt as though Akashi should be home by now.

Glancing to the clock beside him, he found it was already seven in the evening, and he sighed, turning his gaze upward once more.

'Maybe he isn't perfect,' he thought, but only a moment later did he shake the thought from his head. Perfection may not have truly existed in the human form, but Akashi was the closest thing to it. Just seconds later, the door creaked open.

Kuroko looked up with wide eyes, having not heard the footsteps in the hallway. "S-Seijuro, you scared me."

Akashi smiled, coming into the room, though he kept one arm behind his back. "Sorry, love. I wanted to surprise you."

Kuroko sat up, crawling to the edge of the bed where his lover stood. He raised up to kiss him softly, a smile on his own lips now. "I thought you would be home sooner."

"I stopped to pick something up for you."

Kuroko sat back with a gleaming light in his eyes, staring at the redhead expectedly. "Show me~"

Akashi laughed softly as he pulled his arm out from behind him, a large bouquet of red roses and blue starflowers in his hands.

A large smile stretched upon Kuroko's face as he gently took the bouquet from his beloved, smelling the sweet scent of the flowers. "It's lovely, Sei…"

Akashi smiled, stroking the bluenette's cheek. "Not as lovely as you."

XXX

Kuroko followed Akashi everywhere for the next two weeks- as he'd always done, but as usual, there was nothing to capture on film. Nothing his boss would like, anyway.

The bluenette took many pictures of Akashi buying food for the homeless, volunteering at animal shelters, even stopping a robbery. At the end of the day, despite how quickly his deadline was approaching, and with it, his permanent dismissal, he couldn't help but smile as he fell asleep.

He may lose his job, but at least he had the most perfect boyfriend to ever exist, right next to him.

XXX

The next day, as Kuroko was getting ready to meet his boss once more, and to accept the news of his job being no more, Akashi came to him with a saddened look on his face.

"Tetsuya…"

Kuroko blinked. "What's wrong, Sei?"

"You're about to lose your job, because of me."

Kuroko smiled softly, kissing the redhead's lips. "As long as I have you."

Akashi sighed, taking the bluenette's hands into his own. He lightly ran his fingertips over the other's skin. "Are you sure you'll be alright? I have a meeting scheduled during that time. I won't be here to comfort you when you get back."

Kuroko laughed lightly, freeing one hand to ruffle Akashi's hair ever so slightly. "I'll be fine, love. Just come home, okay?"

XXX

"Kuroko…"

"I know, I've failed."

The man nodded. "Indeed, you have. And I really liked you… But a deadline, is a deadline. And consequences, are consequences."

Kuroko let out a long, shaky breath, readying himself for the words he'd been expecting from day one.

"You're fired, Kuroko. I hope you can recover quickly. I really do like you."

The bluenette nodded, standing to his feet. As he did so, his former boss received a phone call, and just before Kuroko could escape the office, the man spoke to him once more.

"I hate to bother you, Kuroko, but could you just have a seat for one more moment."

Kuroko blinked but obliged, his face showing his confusion.

The man smiled softly, apologetically, but what he said didn't match his expression. "I'm sorry, Kuroko, you know me. I just can't help myself sometimes. When I find out that I am, in fact, right, I have to tell everyone."

Kuroko's heart began to race within his chest. 'He can't be right… It's fake, right? Whatever it is, it's fake, or nothing.'

Just then another young man ran inside the office, a broad smile on his face. "Here you go, sir. The pictures from the meeting."

'The meeting… Sei's meeting?'

Kuroko's former boss looked over the picture and smiled. "This isn't dirt, but it will definitely do."

The bluenette blinked, feeling lightheaded. "Wh-what is it?"

The man smiled up at him, before handing him the picture, and Kuroko's blood ran cold.

XXX

Akashi happily waltzed into his and Kuroko's shared apartment, whistling to himself as he made his way down the hallway. It was only when he found himself at his bedroom door did he remember what Kuroko had been through today. Frowning, he turned the knob, stepping into his room.

He'd expected to find Kuroko lying in bed, perhaps reading as he struggled to pretend that losing the job he loved so much wasn't bothering him. Instead, he found the bluenette sitting on the edge, arms crossed, and eyes like daggers. The redhead couldn't help but flinch as those eyes landed upon him, and his brows furrowed as he made his way further into the room.

"Tetsuya? Are you okay?"

"No, Seijuro, I don't believe I am."

Akashi blinked, coming closer to his beloved. "What's wrong, love?"

"That meeting you had today. How did it go?"

Akashi stilled immediately, his heart stopping in his chest. "I-"

"Did it go as you hoped? Did you successfully announce your engagement without letting your current boyfriend know?"

"Tetsuya-"

"I was told you even set the date and time. You had it all figured out, didn't you? Whilst I was at work, being told that my career is over because of you, you would be out celebrating your engagement with the world."

"… None of this matters, Tetsuya."

Kuroko scoffed, rolling his eyes. "None of it matters? How long have we been together, Seijuro? Two and a half years now, is it? And how long have you been lying to me, about her?"

Akashi sighed, running a hand over his face, exasperated. "I'm sorry, it's not my choice."

"That's not what I asked. How long have you known this would happen?"

"… It was first mentioned when I was sixteen."

Kuroko's eyes widened, and he laughed, low and bitter. "Sixteen. Seven years. Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I never expected it to happen this soon, but the company-"

"So it was set in stone. Even if you didn't know when, you knew it would happen, and you didn't fucking tell me that you'd be leaving me one day for some chick you barely even know."

"Tetsuya, I thought we had another five years or so. It all happened too fast! I swear, I never meant to hurt you!"

"Well it's a little late for that. When were you going to tell me you were leaving?"

Akashi blinked at him. "I… wasn't planning on leaving…."

"… You were going to continue hiding me?"

"Well as long as we're together, it doesn't matter, right?"

"Bullshit! Seijuro, what about all those times we talked about marriage? What about the times you promised me a happy ending? Were they all lies?"

Akashi shifted nervously, avoiding Kuroko's gaze as he looked to the floor. "Not lies… I wanted them to be true…"

"But you knew they wouldn't be."

The redhead heaved a heavy sigh, finally looking back to Kuroko, though his crimson eyes weren't apologetic in the slightest. In fact, they were filled with something akin to anger, as he glared into the bluenette's skull.

"You're right, okay? I knew that could never happen. I knew I was going to get married to someone else. And I suppose I was foolish enough to think that you loved me enough to stay by my side, even through that!"

"I do love you, Seijuro, more than anything! But if you think I'm going to stick around while you live out your happy fantasy, leaving me in the darkened corner, you're wrong. I only agreed to be a secret for this long because you promised me it would be worth it. None of this was worth it!"

"Then why are you still here?" Akashi yelled, and Kuroko simply smiled up at him.

"Seijuro, love, this is my house. If anyone's leaving, it's you."