Day 4

It was a sunny day out. The birds were chirping, the breeze were singing, classes had finished early for most – it was a great day, as if nothing could ever go wrong.

Of course, this is never the case for our unique newly-formed couple of Tokyo University.

Walking side by side, the two walked along the big lawn of the campus ground just for a refreshing walk after lunch. Although they were considered the hot topic at the moment, no one actually noticed Kuroko walking beside Akashi. The redhead basically outshined Kuroko with the confidence he exuded – in which Kuroko didn't mind because he never liked having attention focused on him.

Until he slipped on a banana peel.

"Ah."

Before the painful impact struck, Kuroko found himself still standing - albeit 45 degrees from the ground - but uninjured and safe in the hands of none other than his current boyfriend. Akashi sighed in relief, managing just in the nick of time to capture Kuroko with his arm. It was all thanks to basketball that he has sharp and smooth reflexes. And strong arms too.

Students who got to watch the heroic scene all clapped in awe all around them.

"Are you alright?"

"Thank you Akashi-kun."

Akashi nodded and straightened Kuroko back up. Kuroko glanced at the arm and bicep hidden underneath Akashi's long sleeves, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, remembering how it looked like when Akashi had worn his practice shirt.

"What's wrong Kuroko?"

Akashi-kun got some good guns…

"Akashi-kun, you have some good reflexes."

Akashi snorted.

Rather than that, I've just gotten used to this sort of accidents.

"Well, I am-"

The redhead swiftly turned around to his back to whack an incoming ball out of the way with the back of his fist before it could collide with his head.

"-an athlete-"

He turned back towards Kuroko before suddenly sending a kick to his side towards another incoming object in the form of a frisbee that would have rammed into the side of his ribcage had he not kick it. The degree of accuracy was incredible, one would have questioned if Akashi Seijuurou was really a human.

"-afterall."

Silence seemed to be the campus's favourite background music whenever the couple was involved. Everyone could only gawk at Akashi's amazing show, even Kuroko was amazed. But Akashi paid no heed to the reactions he had caused, simply keeping on with his trademark, handsome smile as if he didn't just repel any sort of accidents coming his way.

"That was cool, Akashi-kun…I didn't know you learn any martial arts," Kuroko broke the frozen time frame, approaching Akashi closer so that they could resume their interrupted walk.

"I didn't. A senpai of mine from back then just sometimes taught me a move or two from karate because he was bored."

They continued their chat, engulfed in their own small bubble of joy. Since the two were the current hot topic of the university, the whispers would start again.

"Th-That dark force of his is really something else…"

"This is the first time I'm seeing for myself."

"Akashi-sama is really amazing…He managed to avoid all the accidents."

…..

It was the fourth day since the day Akashi and Kuroko started going out.

And one would have thought in the span of three days, not that much would have happened.

"You don't look as worn out as yesterday or the days before, Akashi-kun. Did you do something?"

They were wrong.

"Hm, really? I guess I just have been taking care of myself really well. And well, since it's still the middle of the day, nothing much has happened yet you know?"

Keyword: YET.

Just three days. Three days for Akashi to adapt to his sudden change in lifestyle and in the span of three days, he had encountered a lot of unexpected accidents. The common ones were balls heading in his direction and ALWAYS towards his head. How he did not end up with a much severe concussion or even amnesia was a mystery even to himself. Some other accidents involved tripping on a banana peel (In all his 19 years of life, never has he ever trip on one. What are the chances he will when he was wiser…), humped by a horribly huge saint Bernard, knocked off by people who are ALWAYS in a rush, stepped on some dog's poo, POOPED on by a group of pigeons ready for battle (their shots were as accurate as Midorima's three pointers…) and etc. And now it ended up with Akashi constantly being on his guard, whacking all balls to oblivion, avoiding ANY species in sight, making sure no one was gonna run past him when he was about to turn around a corner and making sure to occasionally check the ground to make sure no obstacles were to trip him or embarrass him.

If just by declaring to be Kuroko's boyfriend landed him in all these accidents, then what will happen if he tries to kiss him? And especially when they ever plan on taking the next step….

Does that mean I can't…..

The image of the mating of praying mantis surfaced in his mind. And Akashi actually shivered.

I guess I will stay a virgin forever, he thought dejectedly.

"What's wrong Akashi-kun?"

Akashi immediately put on a reassuring smile.

"It's nothing."

Kuroko nodded, looking down and Akashi had learned from his observation of Kuroko that whenever he did that, it was because something had made him uneasy.

"What is it Kuroko?"

"It's just….No one had put up with me this long. Everyone usually got fed up with me around this point."

The phantom looked up to meet Akashi's eyes with slight crease between his eyebrows, the indication of guilt he was feeling.

"It puzzles me. We barely know each other but I don't get why you are willing to go through so much because of me. You are Akashi Seijuurou, there are others who are much better – others who won't get you into accidents. And I'm pretty sure-"

Kuroko swallowed and looked down again, letting his bangs cover his eyes.

"-you would want your good luck back…"

Silence reigned over them once again, but this time tension tagged along, hovering over them.

"So, are you saying you want to break up with me-?"

Kuroko snapped his head up, surprise in his blue orbs.

"That's not-"

"-Tetsuya."

Kuroko widened his eyes further.

"Eh?"

Akashi hung his head in his hand, rubbing his eyes and massaged his temple before looking back up to Kuroko with a smile – but it seemed different than his usual calm one. This one seemed empty and spoke danger.

"I'm glad that's not what you mean Kuroko."

Kuroko blinked. Akashi was back to his usual self and it seemed like what Kuroko had witnessed a second ago was all in his imagination.

"Anyway, it's a rare chance that I have no practice so we should go on a longer proper date don't you think so?"

"O-Oh, yeah.."

Tetsuya.

Was it all really just his imagination?

…..

They went to the arcade centre Akashi frequented. Kuroko was undeniably a bit surprised at Akashi's first choice of dating place – or more like, he was surprised at how normal it was and – no offense – but Akashi didn't look like the type of person to go to an arcade centre.

"Kise and Aomine always dragged us here," Akashi said when Kuroko had asked. It wasn't like Kuroko had any objections anyway – both of them could be invisible here because of the crowd.

"Kuroko, do you want to try?"

Akashi motioned to the row of basketball shooting game. Kuroko's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly, earning a laugh from Akashi as they neared one of the stations and inserted 2 coins to start. The balls rolled down and Kuroko started shooting.

Because this is Kuroko we're talking about, so there were several instances where the ball bounced off the edge of the hoop and nearly knocked Kuroko's head but luckily Akashi was there and was already anticipating some sort of accidents to happen so he caught the ball before it hit Kuroko and gave it to Kuroko for another shoot.

It was amazing at how, even with the short distance and height of the hoop, Kuroko actually managed to get a…zero. He didn't get passed the first round so the game ended quickly. Akashi blinked at the score and looked at Kuroko who had a neutral expression but was pouting slightly, disappointed at the game ending so fast.

"Would you like to play now Akashi-kun?"

"Oh, it's okay. I'm good."

Kuroko narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue, looking to the side and mumbling something about Akashi-kun being so skilful so the basketball machine wasn't even worth his time. Akashi arched an amused brow.

"Okay Kuroko I heard you. You can stop mocking me now – or praising me, whichever floats your boat," Akashi chuckled and inserted another two coins for a game just to satisfy Kuroko. Kuroko had a cheeky smile – well, as cheeky as a Kuroko's smile can be – and waited for the game to start.

He was starting to regret his decision to provoke Akashi though because it had been a good fifteen minutes and Akashi was still shooting into the hoops effortlessly (not to mention, a full combo too..) and was showing no signs of exhaustion in his biceps or shoulders like any normal person would.

"Akashi-kun…are you done? I get that you're great, you can stop showing off now…"

Akashi laughed, throwing another ball into the hoop and looked sideways at Kuroko, a smug smile tugged at the corner of his lips, "Showing off? You were the one who wanted me to play-"

He let go of the ball with the same force he had been using but it was at a lower angle than his previous shots that the ball ended up bouncing off of the barrier instead of going into the shooting area.

And admittedly smacked Akashi right on his face.

Time was up and Akashi had beaten the high score, ending the game rounds. Kuroko jumped to Akashi's aid immediately as the redhead bent over, clutching his pained face with both of his hands.

"Akashi-kun! Are you okay?!"

The redhead slowly tried to straighten up, rubbing his pained red nose and blinked to keep himself anchored to reality from the impact of the ball.

"I can't believe my first accident of the day would be this embarrassing…" Akashi muttered bitterly and Kuroko couldn't help but suppressed his smile by biting his lips.

"Go on, laugh at me Kuroko," Akashi let out a small laugh of his own. Kuroko chuckled.

"I feel so bad for feeling glad you got hit Akashi-kun."

"You're really honest…and mean actually."

The phantom let out a small delightful laugh, his face contorted in genuine happiness compared to his usual blank expression. It wasn't something Kuroko always did but it was contagious that Akashi couldn't help but laughed as well despite the pain on his nose – well, at least it wasn't bleeding.

"Let's go somewhere that you want now. I don't want to spend a whole day here," the redhead proposed, taking Kuroko's hand into his own. Kuroko was a bit surprised at Akashi's boldness but went along with it nonetheless, squeezing the other hand in approval and nodded.

"Okay."

…..

"It's your turn Kuroko. So where should we go now?"

"Anywhere is fine. I don't really have anywhere I want to go now."

They had gone to the park at Kuroko's request for a relaxing scenery walk, rented a boat ride that couples usually go on to at Akashi's request in which they both fell into the water and drenched themselves whole – Kuroko fell into the water first when time was up despite Akashi's warning to be careful but the redhead leaned to the edge of the boat and caused a weight imbalance, and naturally toppled the boat over – so they went to a boutique store to find a simple outfit to replace their wet ones, window-shopped for a bit at Kuroko's request then a bit of crepe snack at Akashi's request before landing in the situation they were in now, simply walking along the street without any plan.

"Akashi-kun, I want to go the restroom first."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here then."

Akashi watched Kuroko's back as he went into a restaurant across the street. He sighed, stretching his neck side to side to relieve the pops in his muscles then leaned back on his heels, eyes looking intently in the direction where Kuroko had disappeared, a smile unconsciously curved on his lips at recalling the memories they had just created for their date today. Bliss swelled in his heart until he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings, didn't even realise he was near a construction work.

The phantom finally emerged from the restaurant and waved at Akashi. Akashi waved back, returning the smile Kuroko gave him before that endearing smile turned into a look of horror, his hand instantly reached out towards Akashi.

"Akashi-kun!"

Akashi reacted fast, looking up to where Kuroko's line of sight was and instantly jumped out of the way by reflex and instinct. A sharp pain struck his skull as he banged his head against a telegraph pole hard, blurring his vision for a second. A loud clattering echoed in the vicinity, some dusts flying about the hard impact. When things have cleared up for a bit, Akashi could finally see what had caused the problem.

A huge steel bar had fallen from the construction work.

Shock swam in the red orbs of the emperor, his heart beating fast at the close call of his lifeline being cut. Something warm trickled down his forehead and the side of his head then. He reached up to touch it and found blood on his fingers.

"Akashi-kun!"

Kuroko kneeled down in front of him. Akashi looked up at him, still in a shocked state. The blue-haired male looked to be in so much distress - another expression Akashi would have appreciated if he wasn't in such a bad state. Kuroko hugged him then, arms around Akashi's shoulders, squeezing tightly as if letting go would make the redhead disappear – just like how he would have been if he was even just a second late.

"Thank goodness you're okay. Thank goodness…"

Akashi felt something wet on his neck and returned Kuroko's tight embrace.

…..

The nearby passerby had called the police and ambulance when the accident happened, though Akashi thought that would be unnecessary considering the only casualty was him and he could just easily go to a nearby hospital to get himself treated.

But when the medical team arrived, they took him in and brought him to the nearest hospital (Kuroko had followed the ride), got his head examined - the trickling blood wiped clean and the wound cleaned as well - before they bandaged his head, did a final check-up before announcing Akashi's healthy state despite the wound. They both thanked the doctor and walked out into the hallway.

"Phew, at least we know it's nothing too serious," Akashi commented casually, walking towards the exit when he realised Kuroko wasn't beside him. He looked over his shoulder, where Kuroko was a good few feet away from him, standing still with his head looking down to the ground. Akashi turned his body to walk back towards Kuroko but the next statement halted him.

"Let's break up."

Time stood still. There was a deafening flat tune of silence ringing in Akashi's eardrum, shutting out the background noises of the hospital for all he could focus on was the serious tone of Kuroko's shaky voice.

"…Why?" Akashi found himself saying monotonously.

Kuroko still kept his head down, his bangs covering his eyes so Akashi couldn't see what sort of expression Kuroko had – probably one of pain and regret.

And would he have seen tears in the blue orbs too?

"Because-" Kuroko swallowed before continuing,"-as long as you're with me, you'll keep getting hurt…and I don't want that. It's scary…"

He finally looked up, a shaky, forced smile on his lips but no tears were shed, although Akashi could see the pair of watery orbs.

"So this is goodbye."

"Kuroko-"

"Thanks for everything up until now…I was really happy.."

The phantom dashed past Akashi towards the exit and into the pouring rain that had just come down half an hour ago. Akashi finally came back to his senses.

"Wait, Kuroko!"

"Excuse me, young man. Please pay at the counter."

The nurse who had helped to tend to him earlier interrupted him just as Kuroko had slipped on a puddle and fell to the ground face-first outside. He got up and ran again.

Akashi was in a dilemma, torn between running after Kuroko or paying the fee. And of course, his conscience had won. He screamed in agony internally as he searched through his wet money notes in his damp wallet, dumping a few amount, enough to cover the cost and sprinted towards the direction the phantom had gone to although he was already nowhere in sight.

…..

Kuroko walked limply towards his dorm building, his clothes were drenched yet again. He had ran as fast as he could to lose Akashi along the way which worked but now, all he felt was a void inside him, which showed on his face as well.

"Tet-chan?"

A familiar gentle voice called out his name – a voice belonging to none other than his grandmother - an elderly lady with a soothing middle-aged look on her youthful face, straight short greyish blue hair and donning a simple light blue kimono. Kuroko widened his eyes at the sight of his grandmother taking shelter from the rain at his dorm.

"Obaa-chan?"

"Thank goodness. I came to see you but you weren't in so I was just leaving but the rain is pouring."

Obaa-chan looked Kuroko over, taking in the drenched and dirty state her grandchild was in. "Oh my, I thought you're dating somebody new? Why are you still getting into accidents?"

"We….We broke up…"

Just then, Akashi's voice calling Kuroko's name was heard amidst the pouring rain. Kuroko looked over his shoulder in panic, shocked that Akashi had caught up with him so quickly.

"I'm sorry Obaa-chan. I will call you later," Kuroko said hastily, giving a quick peck on his grandmother's cheek and quickly ran to the stairs.

"Kuroko!" Akashi reached the dorm and took shelter from the pouring rain too.

"We broke up. Stop following me, Akashi-kun."

"Not officially! I've never agreed to it so it doesn't count."

Akashi was about to chase Kuroko again when his sleeves were tugged. He looked down to the direction of his tugged sleeves and was met with a gentle pair of grey orbs smiling up at him.

"Excuse me, are you Akashi-kun?"

"Yes? Um, sorry ma'am but I'm in a hurry now…"

"I'm Tet-chan's grandmother."

Eh? This is not his mom?

"Can we talk for a bit?"

…..

Obaa-chan had chosen a small, cozy café for a talk where there weren't a lot of people around. Akashi looked to be neutral but truth to be told, he was as stiff as a pole and his heart was racing a mile.

It may be uncharacteristic of him to be so nervous (come on, you've got to admit that every parent would love Akashi to be their son-in-law) but he had just been dating Kuroko for three days for God's sake and now he has to gain the blessings of Kuroko's guardian already. Aren't things moving a bit too fast here? They haven't even kissed yet!

"You can ask me anything you like," Obaa-chan started reassuringly. Akashi took a sip of his tea before returning Obaa-chan's stare firmly.

"Ma'am…Are you a witch..?!"

"No, I'm a human being."

The deadpan statement shot Akashi down instantly. Akashi didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. For a second he had actually discarded all his logic of science and supported Midorima's superstitious beliefs. The youthful appearance of Kuroko's grandmother didn't help matters – she looked to be 35 rather than over 60.

Obaa-chan let out a melodious laugh. "Well, people usually thought I am Tet-chan's mother or that I look really young. This is the first time I've been called a witch."

Akashi smiled apologetically.

"I am Tet-chan's grandmother and his mother was my daughter," Obaa-chan offered, sipping her hot tea and smiled at Akashi.

"Ma'am, how did you know my name?"

"Tet-chan called me the other day and told me about it. Which is rare so I thought he must have been really happy," Obaa-chan sighed with a sad smile, "It's a pity it seems to have ended badly-"

"It was a one-sided decision," Akashi cut in firmly, looking at Obaa-chan with a serious, determined look. "He was scared. He said he didn't want to see me getting hurt anymore."

The redhead swirled the dark brown liquid in his teacup, a slight crease between his eyebrows indicating his confusion.

"Do you know anything about this Ma'am? What is happening actually?"

Akashi hesitated and swallowed, deciding to get it all over with.

"Is it a curse?"

They stared at each other for a good five seconds before Obaa-chan nodded understandingly, taking another sip of her tea.

"It's not like that. It's a problem with his constitution."

"Huh?"

"Have you heard of an 'oversensitive body'? It's like being allergic to fish or eggs or something. It's just like that. Tet-chan has an accident-prone constitution."

Constitution?

"But once he finds a lover, the accidents transfer to them."

So it's not a problem that can be solved by some old-wives'-tale-curse-breaking solution? It's just his constitution?

"So I took advantage of this fact. I told Tet-chan that as long as someone – whether male or female – wanted to date him, he should accept them. This would keep him relatively safe for a time."

"But then the person he's dating…"

Obaa-chan looked at Akashi seriously. "As Tet-chan's grandmother, there's nothing I wouldn't do for that boy."

You're not a witch. You're the Devil!

And that's coming from the redhead satan himself.

"At first it worried me because Tet-chan is invisible but as it turned out, when he was actually noticed, people actually fell for his face so there's no shortage of suitors."

Obaa-chan sighed. "Though none of it lasts long because of his constitution." She looked at the calm surface of her tea, a sad smile on her lips but hopeful.

"I really hope there's someone out there who will really love him."

The statement struck Akashi hard. Images of Kuroko dumping him at the hospital earlier flashed in his mind.

"Ma'am, could you tell me more about this? About his parents perhaps? And if anyone in the family has the same problem."

Obaa-chan had surprise written all over her face before her eyes softened.

"Then follow me."