=flashback=

"Aomine, I thought I hadn't seen you around recently, but it seems you've been here this whole time." Said a familiar red-head with a mild stature.

"Oh, well the other gym has too many people…" Replied said boy who went by the name — Daiki Aomine.

"Well, I don't mind where you choose to practice but-"

A break in sentence was caused by Seijūrō's gaze to suddenly affix on a certain bluenette standing next to the taller one. An inch or two shorter than Seijūrō himself, there he stood — as if he had appeared out of thin air.

"Who is he? I'm a little interested in him." The redhead beamed.

. . .

Days and even weeks went by, ever since giving Tetsuya a second chance in basketball- no. Ever since Tetsuya decided to give himself a second chance. By creating his own style, and later integrating assistance from Seijūrō, Tetsuya was able to make the bench under the title: The Phantom Sixth Man. Everything that Tetsuya had made happen fascinated Seijūrō veraciously. So much so that Seijūrō's gaze lingered more often than not on the phantom.

It was a matter of fact that Seijūrō liked how his friend strikingly did things beyond [his] expectations. The emperor also liked how he looked when reading into his light novel that he had in hand at the time. Liking the way Tetsuya smiled — though only briefly — when he helped his teammates on the court. Slowly coming to like how he spoke nonchalantly. And liked the way blue irises looked into his own red ones when being spoken to.

No, Seijūrō did not have a concrete explanation upon the end of collecting his likes about his friend with little to no presence. Well, he did think it was completely normal (being friends and all). This did not sate his heart's overly warmer than usual temperature, though. The partially concrete explanation was not defined until an event occurred months ago.

. . .

=flashback=

"Akashicchi, huh? We thought you were busy," wondered a blonde by the name of Ryōta Kise.

"Only for a short amount of time. What's going on here?" asked Seijūrō, interested in the current activity his five friends were partaking in.

One the roof of Teiko Middle School, the aforementioned five hand been putting their hands against one another's (palm to palm), excluding Shintarō Midorima, speculating whether one's hand was cooler or warmer to the touch. As outlandish as it was, Seijūrō didn't question the origin of such an activity. He did, however, think of it as something to pass time.

"Mind if I join?" Seijūrō consulted the group.

"Sure! Feel free to sit down -ssu!" Ryōta grinned.

Seijūrō sat down beside Shintarō, observing his comrades play around.

"You're not going to join in, Kuroko?" he inquired, looking up to face practically absorbed into a book.

Sky-blue eyes looked up, meeting cardinal ones.

"No. I'd prefer to read instead." Tetsuya responded, hoping that the conversation with his friend across from him was over.

"Tetsu has been gloomy these days." Daiki noted after telling off Ryōta about how hot his hand was.

"Please stop telling lies, Aomine-kun." Tetsuya retorted, returning his gaze to his book.

Seijūrō reached across the crooked circle and held out an open hand to Tetsuya.

"Here. Is my hand warm or cool?"

Tetsuya looked up. "Unreadable as always," thought Seijūrō. Still, he patiently waited for a pale hand to grasp his. Tetsuya sighed and put a bookmark in his book, setting it aside. Reluctantly but eventually, Tetsuya grasped the extended hand.

"How come you wanted to hold Akashicchi's hand but not-"

Daiki slapped his hand onto the blonde's mouth, shutting him off. Daiki was ultimately curious about the lengthy pause. Seijūrō and Tetsuya's fingers lingered on the respective other's hand.

"What's wrong, Aka-chin and Kuro-chin~?" Atsushi questioned.

The two broke the hold, staring at their own hand; lost in thought. Seijūrō and Tetsuya looked quizzically at one another.

"It didn't feel like anything at all." They stated in unison.

"Hah? Is that even possible?" Daiki wondered aloud.

Daiki grasped Tetsuya's hand and made a perplexed face.

"What the heck? Kise, here." He said, pulling Tetsuya's hand to Ryōta.

He too was bombarded with muddled emotion. However, this was not the case with Seijūrō. Atsushi grasped his hand and received 'cold' as an answer. Squeamish, Shintarō grasped Seijūrō's hand — 'warm'.

. . .

After school, on the way home, Seijūrō decided to walk with Tetsuya. Several minutes into their walk, Tetsuya asked for Seijūrō's hand — wanting to check once more.

"It's still nothing." Tetsuya uttered.

"Same to you." Replied Seijūrō.

In the spur of the moment, Seijūrō interlocked fingers with Tetsuya, subtly startling him and himself.

"Sorry, Kuroko. I didn't mean to do that. It just felt comfortable."

Tetsuya snickered, ""Comfortable?""

"Er, disregard that comment. Let's continue our way home." Seijūrō urged, tossing the feeling of butterflies in his stomach.

"Am I nervous?" Seijūrō asked himself. That wasn't the case at all. Thought after thought, Seijūrō didn't know how to interpret such feelings.

. . .

Well, that was in the past. Now? It's pretty obvious what those feelings were. A conclusion from those days he thought about it but disregarded in the end: he's infatuated. More specifically, infatuated with Tetsuya.