Disclaimer: I do not own KnB.

Pairing: Akashi/Furihata

*note: (Revised – Rewritten: 03/22/2014)

Upside Down

Chapter 1: Remarriage

It wasn't that Furihata Kouki had anything against his mother's decision, in fact, he was quite happy for her –after nine long years, she finally found someone again, someone to give her the love and care that she deserved. But, everything was just all so too sudden. Why did she decide to tell him only now, now that almost everything had been decided.

Sitting at the table, quietly taking his dinner, it was then when Furihata Keiko, Furihata's mother, broke to him the news –the news regarding a decision, that little did they both know, will spin Furihata's life 180 degrees in ways neither of them had imagined.

"Kouki, I'm getting remarried."

At that day, it really was a wonder to him as to why his mother had cooked that much. From the moment he saw all of his favorite dishes on the table, he already knew that something was up; however, he didn't see this one coming at all.

Again, he had nothing against this but it was just all so too sudden.

Hearing those words come out from his mother's mouth, out of shock, rice showered out from Furihata's mouth along with some other food. Choking a bit, he chugged down a whole glass of water in one gulp, which instead of relief, only caused greater disaster –ending him up spraying water from his mouth all over the place. On the brighter side, before it sprinkled out of his mouth, the water managed to reach the food stuck in his trachea and brought it out along with it. Okay, so he was able to experience relief, somewhat, but nevertheless, it was a disaster.

Seconds later, after recovering from the invasion of both food and water in his throat and successfully catching up with his breath, he hesitantly turned to his mom. Trembling slightly, he managed to stammer out, "S-so let me g-get this c-clear… Y-you're g-getting r-remarried?

Guiltily looking away, she only replied with a nod.

Furihata felt his blood pressure decreasing and his whole body starting to go jelly. Fortunately, he was able to get a grip and was able to prevent himself from passing out. With a huge frown carved on his forehead, in an irritated tone, he whined, "Mmooomm! You could've at least told me you were seeing someone! Geez, you suddenly tell me you're getting married… I haven't even met the guy yet! I mean– after you get married, I'll be living with him and all that but I don't even know how he looks like! Mom! Mom! Since when have you been seeing this guy in the first place!?"

Slightly twitching, Keiko groaned, "S-since two years ago…"

Furihata's jaw dropped, "T-two years and you didn't even mention him to me even just once!?"

A whimpering, Keiko huffed her cheeks. Sounding apologetic, she reasoned, "But I was scared you wouldn't approve. I really love him, Kouki. And he really, really, really, really loves me too. Not to mention, he's a widow like me. O-our meeting was just like destiny!"

Rolling his eyes and slightly shaking his head, Furihata growled, "How can I not not approve? All you ever did for the past nine years was look after me. It's actually about time you have someone do the same for you again, mom."

Soon after Furihata had said that, the sound of someone sniffling began to occupy the room. It was Keiko. With watery eyes, she bit her lower lip and squealed, "N'awww, that's so sweet, Kouki-chan!"

Furihata twitched slightly, "M-mom, cut it out. It's embarrassing."

Almost immediately, the expression that was on Keiko's face was replaced with a slight frown and a pout, "Geez, you're no fun, Kouki! No wonder you still don't have a girlfriend."

The comment stabbed the brunette right in the chest. Remotely, he flinched.

Ignoring Furihata's reaction, casually, Keiko requested, "Anyway, hurry up and fix the mess you made. After that, fix yourself up. Seiji-kun will probably be here in no time."

Furihata's eye twitched, "E-eh!?"

Keiko shrugged, "He told me that he had matters he wanted to discuss with me –and you, so he wanted to drop by. He also said that aside from that, he personally wanted to ask for your permission to marry me. I wasn't supposed to tell you about the marriage to be honest –he told me that he wanted to be the one to break it to you, but then knowing you, I mean… c'mon, just look at the mess you made on the table. Kouki can be easy to misunderstand at times. I don't want Seiji to misunderstand that he's causing me trouble by troubling you that's why I told you. I also don't want you too look embarrass yourself in front of someone you just met, just imagine if you reacted that way in front of him. I know you'd feel bad, and I wouldn't want that. After all, Kouki-chan is my precious baby~"

Saying so, she stood up and began placing the leftover food in a container, then into the refrigerator. After all the leftover had been neatly placed in the refrigerator, still edible for tomorrow, Keiko, from the fridge, took out a set of containers which contained untouched food that she cooked along with Furihata's favorites. Plating them nicely on her best plates, she heated them cautiously.

As she did so, although feeling nervous, Furihata cleaned up the mess he made along with his plate. Wiping the table clean, he segregated the crumbs and liquids from the plate, disposed of them and began working on the plate. Upon finishing, he headed upstairs and changed into casual attire. Returning to the dining room, he noticed something.

"Mom, why are there four plates?" he asked.

Placing the cuisines on the table, she was just about to answer when the doorbell rang, "Ahh, I'm sorry, dear, but could you get that for me? It's probably Seiji and his son."

'He has a son?' shrugging the thought aside, Furihata attended to the door only to be greeted by two redheads –one unfamiliar to him and the other too familiar. His body froze.

"Ehhh!? You must be Kouki-kun! You're just as cute as Keiko said! A-ahh! Pardon me, I'm Akashi Seiji. Nice to meet you. I am here to ask for your permission for your mother's hand and–" as he blabbed on, he noticed that Furihata's eyes were glued to the redhead standing beside him. He broke into a smile, "Ahh, that's right. You're from Seirin, right? Then you've probably met my son already. If I'm not mistaking, didn't you face off with him? Ahh, oh well, that aside, let me formally introduce you to each other. Seijuurou, this is Kouki-kun, Keiko-chan's son. Kouki-kun, this is Seijuurou, my son! Please get along!" he winked at both of them.

Akashi ran his eyes through Furihata, "Seirin's Number Twevlve, Furihata Kouki. I remember now. Tetsuya's teammate." he thought out loud.

"Well then, it's nice to formally meet you, Furihata Kouki. Please remember to know your place." after the unfriendly greeting, Akashi offered his hand to the brunette.

"Oya Seijuurou, that's not a very nice thing to say to your future stepbrother! In case you're forgetting something, technically, after my marriage with Keiko-chan, Kouki-kun will not only be your stepbrother, but also your older brother. What did I tell you about respect?" Seiji whined.

Akashi snorted, "I'll give him respect once I see that he deserves it, father. Please do not worry though, I will try my best not to harm him in any way for your sake. Anyway, Furihata Kouki, how long are you just going to stand there and stare at me. Are you not planning to take my hand, because if so, then I hope you don't mind me putting it away."

Just when Akashi was already retreating his hand, suddenly, although nervously, Furihata grabbed onto it. Fidgeting, he stammered, "A-A-Ahm, I-I'm s-s-s-s-sorry! I d-didn't m-mean to t-t-t-take t-t-that l-l-long! A-anyway, n-nice t-to f-f-fo-formally m-meet y-y-you t-too, A-Akashi-k-kun."

Forgetting to let go of Akashi's hand, Furihata turned to Seiji, "A-also, n-nice t-to meet you, A-Akashi-s-san. M-my m-mom's inside. S-she c-cooked s-something f-for both of you. P-please he-help y-yourself a-and c-come in."

Seiji's eyes sparkled, "Ueeeeh~? Keiko-chan did? Keikooo-chaaan!" he sweetly sang. Removing his shoes and placing them properly on the rack, he merrily skipped in, "Sorry for intruding~"

Before they knew it, Akashi and Furihata were alone, by the doorway–

"Furihata Kouki." Akashi called.

Furihata jumped a bit. Slightly twitching, he looked up to Akashi and lamely asked, "U-uhh, yeah?"

"Do you have no intention of letting go of my hand?"

–holding hands.

Furihata choked at the realization and turned pale. Immediately, he freed Akashi's hand and bowed deeply, "I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!"

Akashi only snorted. He removed his shoes and helped himself in, leaving Furihata alone by the doorway.

Furihata, left alone, decided to close the door. As he did, he heaved a sigh of relief. At least Akashi didn't get physical.

As he made his way to the kitchen after securing the door, he found himself glancing at his hand.

For a cold person, Akashi sure had a warm hand.

To be continued…

Author's Note:

To the old readers: I'm sorry for the sudden revision. I just thought of a better way for the story to flow and just had to. I had three options: a) rewrite everything; b) drop the story; c) continue with half of my heart. I chose 'A' because I don't want to drop the story, at the same time, I don't like doing things half-heartedly. Haha– Sorry if I caused anyone any trouble.

To the new readers: Welcome. Haha–

Right. Anyway, thank you for reading. If you have anything you want to say, feel free to say it. Hope you look forward to the next chapter. Until then. See ya.