The apple pie that Akashi and Kuroko baked ended up burnt. Well, the crust was burnt. But the apple filling was delicious. Nevertheless, Akashi and Kuroko enjoyed eating the pie.

Once Akashi had cleaned up and Kuroko was lounging on the sofa, the doorbell rang.

"Eh? What's that sound?" Kuroko sat up, looking interested.

"That's the doorbell. It means I have a visitor. Probably," explained Akashi.

Kuroko peeked out through the glass sliding door, while Akashi answered the door. A very tall figure with purple hair was standing at the small gate. He was carrying a black plastic bag in one hand; the other hand was stuffing some sort of snack into his mouth.

Kuroko could hear Akashi ask, "Murasakibara, what are you doing here?"

"Why does Aka-chin have to move so far out? It took me half-an-hour to get here, you know?"

A short moment later, the giant stepped into Akashi's house, followed by Akashi. He handed the plastic bag to Akashi. "Here," he said. "Peaches from my mother."

"Oh?" Akashi looked surprised to receive such a gift from the man. "Thank you very much. It's strange for you to willingly give out food."

"I know, right?" the man deadpanned. "But my mother insisted that I give some to you. If I didn't, a deadly punishment awaits me," he said, shuddering. "I guess she's worried about you living out here all alone."

Akashi chuckled softly. "I'm fine – she doesn't have to worry. Please thank your mother for the peaches and send my regards to her," he said. Then he turned towards Kuroko, who was watching their exchange. "Oh, Kuroko? This is my friend Murasakibara Atsushi. We've known each other since high school."

Kuroko stood up and bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Murasakibara-san."

Murasakibara walked towards Kuroko. He pressed his palm on Kuroko's head. "Kuro-chin is really small," he commented.

"Everyone is small to you, Murasakibara," Akashi told Murasakibara.

"Not my fault." Murasakibara shrugged. "Well, I'd better get going – it's going to be another long drive home," he announced.

Akashi was rummaging for something in the kitchen, judging from the sounds of plastic rustling and cupboard doors slamming shut. He brought out three boxes and gave them to Murasakibara. "Here," he said. "I don't have many snacks here, but this should do."

"Ah." Murasakibara took the boxes from Akashi. "Thank you, Aka-chin."

Then, Murasakibara let himself out, waving goodbye to Akashi.

Kuroko was gazing at the door, into which Murasakibara had disappeared. "He seems like a nice person," he said.

"Yes," said Akashi. "He's a good friend, but he's very lazy. Would you like some peaches, by the way?"

Kuroko shook his head. "I'm still full from the pie," he said. "Maybe later."

At that point, Tama jumped onto the sofa and climbed onto Kuroko's lap. Kuroko gently stroked her head as she nuzzled her face into Kuroko's stomach. She lied down on Kuroko's lap and began dozing off.

"Say… can I kidnap you tonight?" asked Akashi, collapsing onto the sofa beside Kuroko and slinging an arm around Kuroko's shoulder.

"Does it constitute as kidnap if you have to ask for permission?" inquired Kuroko with a playful smile.

Akashi laughed. "You're right," he said. "Let me rephrase my question. Is it okay for you to spend the night? I want to take you somewhere tonight."

Kuroko had never spent the night elsewhere before. Well, he had nowhere else to go anyway.

"What I'm asking is if Aomine and Kise will be alright by themselves tonight?"

Kuroko looked thoughtful. "I don't know… I guess? I mean, they aren't young cubs… so I think they'll be okay? They'll probably make a bit of noise, but they should be fine." He peered at Akashi. "May I ask why, though?"

"I want to take you star-gazing," replied Akashi. "My family has a vacation home on a hill about forty-five minutes' drive from here. The stars are beautiful when viewed from there," he explained.

"Oh?" That piqued Kuroko's interest. "You'll be driving? You can drive?!" he blurted out excitedly.

Akashi tried to hide his smile at Kuroko's enthusiasm. He found it endearing that every little thing seemed to excite Kuroko. But that was probably because it was Kuroko's first time experiencing such things. "Yeah, I can drive – I got my license when I was 19 years old," Akashi told Kuroko.

"I have never ridden in a car before," admitted Kuroko wistfully.

"I thought so," said Akashi knowingly. "I don't know how you would feel sitting in a moving car for the first time, since I've been riding in cars for as long as I can remember… but I'll try not to drive too fast so that I don't scare you, alright?"

Kuroko placed his hand on Akashi's lap. "I trust you."

Akashi leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on Kuroko's lips. "Thank you."

That night, at about 8pm, Akashi and Kuroko started their journey to the Akashi vacation home.

"If you don't mind me asking," began Kuroko after a while in the car. "Why did you choose to stay in your grandfather's house instead of your vacation home for your sabbatical?"

"Hmm… that's actually quite a good question," murmured Akashi. "Well, I wanted a different scenery, a different way of life," he said. "The vacation home was familiar to me, as I spent quite a lot of time there when I was growing up, so that was out of the question."

"I see."

"Besides…" Akashi took Kuroko's hand with his left hand, while keeping his right hand on the steering wheel. He stole a loving glance at Kuroko. "If I hadn't moved to my grandfather's house, I wouldn't have met you."

Kuroko's cheeks turned pink; it was clear even in the darkness of the night. He bit his lower lip bashfully and turned his face away to look out of the window. There was a comfortable silence after that. Kuroko spent most of the car ride looking out of the window and enjoying the sights that passed him by.

When Akashi and Kuroko reached their destination, both of them got out of the car. Akashi grabbed a blanket from the back seat and wrapped it around Kuroko's shoulder. "It gets rather chilly up here, and you don't have anything warmer, so yeah…"

"Thanks," mumbled Kuroko.

Akashi took Kuroko's hand and led him a little higher up the hill to a clearing where trees were scarce and they could get a good view of the sky.

"Whoa…" Kuroko stared in wonderment at the stars in the sky. "You were right – they're beautiful!"

Akashi and Kuroko sat down on the grass. Kuroko snuggled up to Akashi, and Akashi wrapped an arm around Kuroko, bringing him closer.

"You know anything about constellations, Kuroko?"

Kuroko shook his head. "No."

Akashi chuckled. "Well, neither do I," he confessed. "But I do know that one up there," Akashi pointed at a particular position in the sky. "Is my star sign, Sagittarius – you can see the arrow he is aiming out."

Kuroko squinted at the sky. "I can't make out anything," he said, frowning.

"That's okay," Akashi comforted Kuroko. "It takes a while to get the hang of making them out. I couldn't picture Sagittarius even after a long time, and I still can't picture the other constellations."

"Mm…"

"You know, when my family came here for holidays, I used to sneak out after bedtime to watch the stars. My parents thought I was an obedient boy, but I guess I was sort of a rebel after all." Akashi laughed quietly.

When there was no reply from Kuroko, Akashi looked sideways to see if Kuroko was paying attention. But Kuroko had fallen asleep. It was no surprise to Akashi – it had been a long day after all, and Kuroko did tell Akashi that he always had a ridiculously low stamina.

Akashi smiled affectionately. There was no sound from the couple after that.