A/N: The story is unbeta'ed. I will apologise in advance for any mistakes in the story. This fanfic follows the original manga storyline, therefore there will be spoilers.

Pairing: AkaKuro/KuroAka

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko No Basket

Akashi took his phone from his pocket and put it on the desk. He began to read the stack of paper his father had given him. Noticing the level of the written documents and the amount he had received he concluded that he would be able to finish the report within 15 hours if he worked on it thoroughly. He opened laptop and started to type. After several hours he had finished almost one third of the articles. A vibration caused by his phone pulled him out of his concentration. He stopped typing and rubbed his eyes before taking a peek at the time. He had worked on the report for almost 5 hours now. It was midnight. He left out a small yawn, deciding he should take a short break before continuing. He grabbed the phone that was connected to the lines in the mansion and pressed the red button. It was the summon button for the servants. When the line connected he requested a cup of good old coffee and a snack to go with it. His stomach rumbled, he averted his eyes to the tray with food his maid had left behind earlier. He was so taken in by the report that he had completely forgotten to eat. He flipped his phone open to see who messaged him. A small smile formed on his lips.

"Thank you for your time today Akashi-kun.

It was a great please meeting you. I look

forward to seeing you on Sunday .

I hope you will have a good night.

Sleep well.

Kuroko Tetsuya"

He liked the way the boy treated him. Normally, people would keep their distance a bit upon hearing his name or recognising his face. It made him feel superior. Although being superior wasn't a bad thing, it often made him feel very lonely. Recently, he had met a few people who were different. They would treat him normally and he was grateful to them. Being 'normal' was a rare thing for him. He appreciated it.

A knock was heard on his door.

"Come in" The maid entered his room with a food trolley. "Seijuro-sama, I have brought you a Brazilian bland coffee with a Blueberry Cheesecake." She looked at the untouched food that she had brought the boy for dinner. "I see you have not touched today's evening meal. You must eat and take of your body. It would be a disaster if you fainted due to lack of nutrition. I will ask the cook to prepare something warm for you." She smiled. "Is there something you would prefer?"

"There is no need to prepare something now. I will be fine with the cheesecake. You may now leave." The maid looked worriedly at the young boy. She took the tray with the untouched food and put it on the food trolley, leaving the room. Akashi already knew she would come back soon with something light for the night. Akashi took a sip of his coffee. It was hot, milky and bittersweet, but he loved it this way. He cut a small piece of the blueberry cheesecake with his knife. The blueberries fresh blueberries on top popped into his mouth, it was very sweet. He looked at his phone and decided to reply to the message he received earlier. With the fork still in his mouth, his fingers ran over the small keyboard of his phone.

"Likewise Kuroko. It was my pleasure.

I look forward to seeing your

Improvement.

Akashi Seijuro"

He stared at the message, wondering if it was strange or too formal. He never had a 'normal friend' to text with. He had Midorima and Murasakibara, but these two boys weren't exactly what you could call normal. Murasakibara would only text Akashi to ask him about Limited Edition snacks that he had easy access to. As for Midorima whenever the two boys texted it would be about shogi. Besides, the green-head was always very formal with him and that didn't change. No matter how often they would hang out together.

After taking another bite of his cake, he sent the message. He looked at the clock to make sure he wouldn't waste too much time. 15 minutes had passed and his cake was only half eaten. He put his plate aside, finishing the coffee before returning to his report. Not long after his maid came in again this time with a bowl of noodle soup.

"Seijuro-sama, please eat something. You are starving yourself." She said with concern as she looked at the unfinished cheesecake. "I will stay here until you finish the noodles." She put the bowl of noodles on his desk.

Akashi was a bit annoyed with her meddling, but he knew she was right about starving himself. He had little food today and his stomach was already in protest with him. Instead of being selfish he gave in to her. He didn't want to argue with the maid anyway. He didn't have the energy nor the time to do so. He took the chopsticks and started to eat the noodles. The maid smiled at his obedience. After a few minutes he finished his food. His stomach was full. He continued writing his report until 5 in the morning, leaving 3 hours of work for the next day. He started to feel a bit too drowsy to produce a proper report he concluded. After all, his father would kill him if he spotted one mistake.

He got up from the seat and opened one of the doors in his room. Behind the room was his own private bathroom. He threw his clothes into the basket before stepping into the shower. Hot water ran over his body. He felt is tense muscles relaxing. Once he got out he quickly brushed his teeth before going to bed. He set the alarm for 07:30, which meant if he was able to sleep right away he would get two hours of sleep. He turned off the light and laid down on his soft bed. He covered himself with his soothing duvets and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. That night he had a very pleasant dream. Although, he couldn't remember what it was like about when he woke up. He knew he had a good dream, one that had made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Surprisingly, he didn't have a headache either. He was able to go through the day without any problems. He had breakfast, went to class and his basketball practice and as soon he finished day his day at school he called his chauffeur to pick him up. Without any food, he finished his report within 2 hours instead of the 3 hours he had anticipated. He printed the report, bundled it and left it on his desk before passing out for the rest of the day. During the night one of the servants came into his room to fetch the report and for the first time in 3 years, he didn't wake up when someone entered his room.

~.~.~.~

Another day had passed. It was Thursday morning and the homeroom teacher of class A-1 had decided it would be nice for the students to have a self-study session. Most of the students had left the classroom to do some research in the library. One of these students was Akashi. He opened the door of the library and greeted the librarian politely before finding himself to seat in. He walked through some book closets and found himself a neat space in front of the window where he set down his bag, before walking towards the economic section of the books for his research. On his way he spotted a familiar shade of blue reading in the literature section. Curious about what the boy was reading he approached him by quietly tapping him on the shoulder, shocking the reading boy.

"?!" The boy turned around, his eyes meeting with Akashi's red ones. "Ah, Akashi-kun, it's you. Please, don't scare me like that."

"Haha, sorry. I didn't meant to" the redhead replied. He leaned over Kuroko's shoulder to look at the book he was reading. His face just an inch apart from the latter's. Kuroko smells sweet. "So, how are you? Are you getting anywhere with the advice I gave you?"

Kuroko stiffened to the sudden closeness of Akashi. He could feel his breath on him. His eyes shifted to the right, taking a peek at the redhead. Their eyes met for a short moment, but the tealhead averted his gaze just as fast, causing the latter to smirk.

"Uhm, I'm good. I'm still trying to figure something out about my basketball. It sounds a lot easier than it is…" a small unnoticeable blush appeared on Kuroko's cheeks as Akashi retreated. He noticed he made the boy uncomfortable and strangely he actually cared for some reason.

"Do you like Shakespeare, Kuroko?"

"Eh? How?" Kuroko frowned and turned his face towards the redhead. "How did you know I was reading Shakespeare Akashi-kun? You didn't even see the cover. Are you a stalker?"

"Kuroko, you're forgetting who you are talking to. I saw the page when I leaned over your shoulder. You're reading 'The Tempest', right? Or am I wrong? There is no way I could be your stalker. I don't have the time for that" Akashi answered, the tealhead looked at him bewildered. "I know all Shakespeare's books by heart, Kuroko. It was part of my upbringing. Although, I've read the book in its original language and not Japanese."

"Akashi-kun, you're amazing, aren't you? Not many people can distinct a book just by taking a fast peek at a page… I'm surprised."

"It's natural for me, Kuroko. You have to understand that. If you ever want to read it in English feel free to ask me. I own all the books or if you want to read anything else, you can ask me as well. I can recommend you some really interesting books.

Akashi liked reading, in the past and even now reading it's a way to escape his tiresome reality, He had read countless of classics and top literature in both English and Japanese. His mansion even had a library where he could find nearly all the books he needed. Some of the books were really rare, almost ancient. The covers would come off due to their oldness and the colour of the pages had turned into a darker shade of yellow. They were passed down by the family for generations. While the newer books that were separated from the older ones were increasing daily.

Kuroko nodded in response. "Thank you. I will let you know if I need something to read, but I think I will be fine for a while. So, Akashi-kun, what are you doing here?"

"I just arrived here. I'm about to do some research for an economic paper for next week. I think your class has to do it as well right?"

"Ah, you're right. I completely forgot about it… Is it a lot of work?" Akashi noticed the slight worry on Kuroko's face. It actually was a lot of work for a 'normal' person, but compared to what his father made him do everyday, this was a child's game. "It's not that much. I'm about to start on it. Would you like to join me?" Kuroko shook his head, declining his offer. "Thank you for your offer, but I rather do it alone."

Akashi raised his eyebrow in response. Someone had just rejected his offer. Kuroko actually rejected his offer and it wasn't just a normal offer, he actually had suggested to help someone and that person had just brushed it off as if it was nothing. He left out a sigh. "Do as you like. I will be taking my leave now. It was nice running into you, Kuroko." He was about to leave when he felt Kuroko's hand grabbing his wrist. "Akashi-kun. Don't be offended, please. It is very kind of you to offer your help, however I need to do research on my own. Else I will never get better." His hands brushed softly over the redhead's when he loosened his grip. "I will see you on Sunday." He smiled before turning his focused back to the book he was reading. Akashi ran his fingers through his red hair as he walked away.

What just happened? No, what is happening…?

He felt a bit of disappointment when Kuroko said, 'No' to his offer to study together. Normally, it wouldn't even bother him. He wouldn't even suggest something like this in the first place. And yet despite the rejection he was actually close to what you call happy.

Enjoy the fluff while you can~
Reviews are highly appreciated and they make me happy.

Thank you for the reviews Killerddj, Colibrys, rowexz, saski300, The Mafia-ish Addiction, Ceruean Twin and rea :)