Day 10: Tandem Bikes and Unexpected Views
Summary: Akashi has rented a tandem bike so that Akashi and Kuroko could go on a bike ride together, but Kuroko isn't a big fan of the idea.
"Akashi-kun, why did you buy this?"
When Kuroko woke up this morning at his usual time to make his usual Sunday breakfast, the last thing that he was expecting to see was Akashi standing next to a giant red tandem bike in the middle of their living room.
"'Ah, I rented this tandem bike so that we could ride it together," he replied simply, emphasizing on the fact that he rented it and didn't buy it. However that fact still left a bad taste in Kuroko's mouth. He wasn't a fan of bikes in general, much preferring to either walk or use public transportation. So seeing a bike in their living room, much less a tandem bike was something completely unexpected and displeasing and it gave Kuroko a headache just from looking at it.
"You do know how to ride a bike, right?" he asks, looking in Kuroko's direction
.
"Yes I do but-"
"Good, then we can start our bike ride without any problems," he interrupted, grabbing the tandem bike by its front handlebars and began steering it towards the front door, much to Kuroko's dismay. He just wanted a relaxing Sunday morning making breakfast and reading his favorite books. But of course, Akashi had something up his sleeve that would prevent him from doing so. The phantom was a bit frustrated, but he was still trying to rub the sleep from his eyes so he wasn't in the mood to spoil his morning with a petty argument, so he just went with it.
A short time later, Akashi and Kuroko were outside with their tandem bike, matching bike helmets atop their heads; "for safety," his lover claimed and Kuroko was more upset on just being in this situation but his face remained deadpanned despite his dismay. The plan was that Akashi would be at the front pedals of the tandem bike and Kuroko would be pedaling from the back pedals, which Kuroko didn't care about. The only thing that bothered him was going on a bike ride at all, much less with a tandem bike.
"Are you ready to go biking?" Akashi asked, sound uncharacteristically excited.
"No," Kuroko muttered in a tone polar opposite of Akashi's.
"Great, let's go!"
Of course Akashi-kun completely ignored him. Their first attempt to get on the tandem bike went swimmingly. Like he mentioned before, Kuroko hated bikes but he knew how to ride them. But trying to ride a tandem bike later turned out to be quite the difference. Their first take on actually pedaling the bike…well they failed. Kuroko, not being on a bike for quite some time, panicked while trying to keep the bike stable, veering his handlebars way too roughly and causing the two of them to kiss the side of the road clumsily and suddenly.
"Kuroko, I understand that you've never rode a tandem bike, but it's just like riding an actually bike," Akashi lectured, standing up and patting some gravel and dirt off of his pant legs.
"That advice isn't very helpful, Akashi-kun," Kuroko deadpanned pretty much copying Akashi in wiping the dirt off of his clothes.
"It's alright. I'm in front so I'll take care of most of the steering. If it helps, I'll even tell you when which way we're turning and when we'll turn, okay?" Akashi gave Kuroko a genuine smile and Kuroko couldn't stay mad.
"Alright, Akashi-kun. I trust you."
Take two…another massive fail. This time Kuroko lost control of his pedaling; pedaling too quickly and causing Akashi to lose his footing on his own pedals. The two of them, along with the tandem bike ended up crashing into a nearby tree, luckily with no injuries to either the duo or the bike. Minus the fact that they crashed into a tree, Kuroko felt like the same incident just repeated, with Akashi giving him another useless lecture and Kuroko reluctantly agreeing to try again.
It took a while, but after several epic fails in a stroke of luck, the two of them were successfully riding a tandem bike. Kuroko wanted to say that he felt accomplished for completing such a difficult task…if it weren't for the fact that Kuroko didn't even want to ride a tandem bike in the first place.
"We're turning right off of this next street," Akashi called behind his shoulder, referring to the upcoming street just a couple feet from the couple.
"Okay," he responded, preparing to make the turn, which they did without any troubles. Within the windows of neighboring houses, Kuroko could see the reflection of the couple riding their tandem bike, pedaling in sync with each other and matching helmets and Kuroko quickly realized that he saw no point in what they were doing. Why was Akashi so keen on riding a tandem bike with Kuroko in the first place? Kuroko wished he had asked earlier since he was at a loss.
Was Akashi trying to be romantic? Kuroko had seen in random Shoujo manga how these cute couples would ride a tandem bike together and they would travel across romantic trails and the atmosphere was all happy, fluffy and just plain romantic. This was something that Kuroko couldn't see in the slightest. Pedaling through the random neighborhood filled with houses, with the bland brick walls, random non-romantic looking pedestrians and almost an eerie atmosphere, Kuroko couldn't find anything remotely romantic about this scene.
The phantom sighed, leaning forward like a professional biker and not really caring about the view that he was supposedly missing. It only mattered as long as he kept steering and pedaling after all. However, Kuroko quickly found one nice moment in all of this mess that was riding a tandem bike. That being that because Kuroko was leaning forward, he got a pretty nice view of Akashi's ass. As much as he hates riding this tandem bike, Kuroko had to admit that it does have its merits since he doesn't often get such a nice view of his lover's ass like he's getting right now. Though he forced himself to look up not long after that so he doesn't like too perverted.
"Kuroko, we're stopping here," Akashi called, one hand off of one of the handlebars to point to their destination. Kuroko, snapping back into reality, glanced toward where his hand was pointing, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.
Akashi was pointing to the entrance of a botanical garden. There happened to be one about 20 minutes away from where the duo lived but they've never actually visited the garden before. That was when everything started to make sense.
Parking their tandem bike at a nearby bike rack, Akashi and Kuroko head into the botanical garden. Immediately upon arrival, Kuroko can't believe just how breathtaking the view is. Rows upon rows of gorgeous flowers covered the trail followed by lush green grass that's obviously been tamed and luscious green bushes and trees, creating a beautiful view of nature at its most captivating.
Kuroko's eyes sparkled at the scene, filled with awe and wonder, Akashi took the moment to intertwine their hands, a genuine smile plastered across his handsome face.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Akashi asked, his voice like silk as crimson eyes gazed towards baby blue ones.
Kuroko smiled, locking eyes with his lover. "It is, Akashi-kun."
"Come, let's go sit down, I bet your legs are tired from all of that pedaling."
And of course, Akashi was right. The couple, hand in hand, strolled across the pathway of the botanical garden, Kuroko's head in a swivel as he tried to catch every breathtaking view of the garden as he could, all the while ignoring the soreness of the legs. A minute later, the duo found a bench placed right in front of a stunning, large stone fountain.
They sit at said bench, relaxing in each other's company and taking in the view of the gorgeous fountain and botanical garden surrounding it.
"Akashi-kun?"
"What is it, my love?"
"As much as I love this view, why did we bike here?" Kuroko questioned. As much as he didn't want to disturb the peace and quiet, this was a question that was just bothering him since he hated the thought of biking in the 1st place.
"Ah, I had a feeling you would ask me that at some point or another," Akashi began, placing his hand on his chin. "Well the botanical garden is too far away to just walk there, and there isn't any bus routes that travel close to the botanical garden so biking was the best option."
"So that explains the biking part. But why a tandem bike? Why not just have the two of us travel on separate bikes?" Kuroko asked. He really needed an answer regarding this. Just riding on the tandem bike was a chore. What was the point of going through that tortuous boredom of a tandem bike and not just a regular bike that Kuroko also didn't like, but at least he knew how to control and use that kind of bike.
Akashi just smiled at the question, locking eyes with Kuroko once again and placed his hand away from his chin and to Kuroko's cheek, stroking it lovingly.
And in a very serious tone, he answered Kuroko's inquiry.
"Well it's so that I know that you're always by my side, and that I won't lose you."
…That has got to be the corniest and most ridiculous answer that Akashi has ever given him. He wanted to face palm due to its ridiculousness but he held back, instead prompting for his go-to deadpan expression.
"Akashi-kun, I never realized that you were capable of such a ridiculous answer," Kuroko replied.
"But it's the truth, my love," Akashi responded, that genuine smile becoming more corny by the second in Kuroko's eyes. He was still dumbfounded that after all of that boredom that he went through with riding that damn tandem bike, that the whole reason that that even happened in the 1st place was because of something stupid like 'I don't want to lose you.'
"Seriously?" Kuroko frowned.
"Absolutely."
Kuroko was silent, trying to think of how to respond to this ridiculousness.
"You're hopeless, Akashi-kun."
Akashi just laughed at his response, gazing into his lover's eyes with so much happiness and joy that even with Kuroko being just done with everything, he couldn't help the butterflies in his stomach at the sight of his significant other's pure joy.
"You're so cute, Kuroko. I love you so much," Akashi stated, placing his hand onto Kuroko's interlacing their fingers for the 2nd time.
"I love you too, Akashi-kun, but I don't want to keep that tandem bike," he added, wishing to make it clear to Akashi his frustration regarding that stupid bike.
Akashi smiled at the comment. "Don't worry. I could already tell that you weren't a huge fan of the bike to begin with. I only rented the bike so I can return it tomorrow."
"Good. Though I guess there is one good thing that came out of that bike," Kuroko murmured, resting his head on Akashi's shoulder.
"Hmm, and what is that, my love?"
"This view," he merely answered, gesturing to the fountain and the botanical garden, causing Akashi to hum in agreement.
"Ah, that is true. We can stay here for as long as you'd like, okay?" he whispered, letting his head rest on Kuroko's, a content smile on his face.
"Okay, Akashi-kun."
The couple remained in their comfortable position on the bench, listening to the splashes from the fountain and feeling the gentle breeze. Their tandem bike, laid at the entrance temporarily forgotten as the loving couple enjoyed their unexpected view of the gorgeous botanical garden.
Notes: So I'm now 1/3 of the way done with my fanfic challenge! Thank you so much for all of the support and reviews that you've given me! They really help as encouragement to continue this challenge and I appreciate every review that I get so thank you so much for that!
And of course, please keep sending them! Reviews, comments and critique is always encouraged and appreciated! :)