One year later…

Kuroko pushed open the gate that led to Akashi's house, hauling a rather heavy plastic bag behind him. Well, to be fair, since Akashi and Kuroko got married (not legally, but there was a small ceremony with a small number of Akashi's closest friends, with whom Kuroko got along splendidly, whereby Akashi and Kuroko exchanged vows and presented each other with rings), it had also become Kuroko's home.

With Akashi's encouragement, Kuroko had also gotten himself a part-time job in a small bookstore in the nearby village. It wasn't that they needed the money; on the contrary, Akashi brought in more than enough money for them to live comfortably for a long time. Akashi's reasoning was that Kuroko needed some human interaction in his life so that he could polish up on his social skills. Therefore, some form of employment would give Kuroko a chance to interact with people. Kuroko had to walk quite a fair distance to work, but he didn't mind – it gave him a chance to enjoy nature as he made his way to the bookstore.

Akashi had suggested that Kuroko not go into the job for long-term if he didn't want to build strong relationships with his colleagues and the people he met. This was so that nobody discovered that Kuroko didn't age. The plan was to change jobs every three to four years.

Akashi, too, would "retire" from being an author when he turned 60. His circumstance was a little easier, as he didn't need to meet with his editor – he communicated with her through phone and email, so the fact that he didn't age would be simpler to hide from his editor. Akashi only had to worry about telling his friends that he would never die (either that, or suddenly disappear from the face of the earth), but Akashi decided to concern himself with that later on in life.

Kuroko glanced up at an old cherry tree that was planted in front of the house. Akashi had told him it had been there even before his grandfather bought the house, so it was VERY old. Because it was so old, it was pretty sturdy as well – the trunk and branches were very thick, and could support the weight of a leopard and a black panther. Aomine and Kise were lounging on top of one of the branches. Both of them were being very lazy – Aomine looked like he was on the verge of falling asleep with his tail sluggishly swinging back and forth, while Kise was resting his head on his paws and staring blankly at Kuroko.

Meanwhile, Tama was running around the cherry tree, chasing nothing in particular with the stuffed carrot Akashi had bought for her. By now, she was the size of a full-grown cat. But her mischief could still rival that of a kitten.

"Aomine-kun, Kise-kun," said Kuroko. "I bought two pork legs from the market for you guys. You want to come down and eat?"

As soon as Aomine heard the word "pork", he was instantly awake; his head shot up and he immediately got to his feet, leaping from the tree to land gracefully on the ground.

Amused at Aomine's reaction to food, Kuroko placed the plastic bag onto the soil and began unwrapping the pork legs. "There's one for you and one for Kise-kun," Kuroko told Aomine. "No fighting."

Aomine rolled his eyes at Kuroko. Since when do Kise and I fight for food? If anything, I always let him have first dibs!

"Yes, I know, Aomine-kun," said Kuroko, patting the black panther on the head. "You are such a gentleman."

As if on cue, Kise's nose appeared in front of the pork legs and began sniffing.

Aomine used his snout to push one of the legs towards Kise, urging him to eat first.

Kise dug into his pork leg, and once Aomine saw that Kise was dining comfortably only did he begin chomping down on his own pork leg.

Tama had shimmied over to Kuroko and was meowing incessantly at him, looking a bit peeved that Aomine and Kise had food while she had none. The stuffed carrot was on the ground. Kuroko looked down, and picked her and the stuffed carrot up. When Tama was safe in his arm, Kuroko handed her the stuffed carrot, which she grabbed greedily. "Yes, yes," he said, stroking Tama's fur gently. "We'll get you some food too, okay, Tama?"

Kuroko was watching the two large felines eat when he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his waist. "You bought them meat from the market again, Tetsuya? You're spoiling them too much," a silky voice chided good-naturedly into Kuroko's ear.

"Well, now that I live nearer to the market, it is easier to buy meat for Aomine-kun and Kise-kun," reasoned Kuroko. He was still stroking Tama's fur and the cat looked like she was enjoying it.

"Yes," replied Akashi. "But now they don't go out and hunt as much as they used to."

Kuroko laughed quietly. "Give them a break," he told Akashi. "They're very old, especially for animals. Now there's no need for them to hunt so regularly when I can easily get them meat from the market. They'll hunt when they want to."

Akashi sighed, but he was smiling. "Well, I suppose so…"

Kuroko turned his head to the right so that he could have better access to Akashi's face. He kissed Akashi lightly on the cheek. "And how's your writing going? Still have that writer's block?"

"Yes, I'm stuck at a major plot twist in the story – I don't know how to continue after introducing that plot twist," lamented Akashi. "But don't worry about it – I always get over it. It's just a matter of time."

Kuroko turned around in Akashi's arms to face the redhead. He reached out to touch Akashi's face gently. "Of course you will. You're Seijuurou – you always manage to surpass everyone's expectations of you."

Akashi snorted, and planted a kiss on Kuroko's lips. "You are flattering me, Tetsuya."

Kuroko smiled. "Can I not flatter my lover?"

"I suppose it's only right that you do so…" mused Akashi thoughtfully, smiling playfully at Kuroko. Then, he disentangled his hands from around Kuroko's waist, and took Kuroko's hands. "Come, let's go for a drive. I want you to meet my parents."

"Eh?"