They lost.
It was the last round of the Winter Cup before the final match and they lost. This year they wouldn't become the best team of Japan. They could only go for the third place now.
It was in the changing room, when everyone else already started the regular process of undressing and showering, that this fact hit him like a huge wave. Until now he had only felt the devastating feeling of their defeat but the true meaning of it had not yet reached his brain. His heart stopped for a moment. But that meant-
His legs were starting to shake. He didn't want to reach the end of that trail of thought.
But he had to. He really had to. There was no use denying it. It had been their vow. One of their basic motivation sources. The one thing that assured their seriousness and finally: It was the consequence of losing.
It meant he had to confess.
It meant he had to confess naked.
It meant he had to confess naked to the one he liked, his love, his crush, however.
And especially for him it meant…
It meant he had to confess naked to no other than Akashi Seijuro.

Furihata felt the blood rushing out of his brain. His stomach felt like it would turn any second. He was sure he looked like he had seen a ghost, all pale and shocked, like he would faint any moment.
This was truly bad.
Not only had he never ever thought of confessing to his crush, he also had to do it naked now! As if the confession itself wouldn't be bad enough already!
Immediately hundreds of images of the redhead rejecting him, laughing at him or just plainly ignoring him were flashing through his mind.
This was actually worse than bad. It was a disaster.
Once again all Furihata could do was to curse himself for his stupid crush.
Out of all the people he could have fallen in love with it had to be him. As if falling for a boy itself wasn't difficult enough already. It had to be the one boy that was so much out of his league that it could be considered a cruel joke of fate.
It took him some time to accept his feelings. At the beginning he was confused. It started with admiring his basketball skills. That was completely understandable, since Akashi was one of the best players in Japan. Furthermore he was also a Point Guard, so Furihata admired his play even more. He started watching videos of old games of him, firstly to learn something from it, then, without realizing it immediately, for the sole purpose of watching him play. Though he never actually went to see his games. His first meeting with him and their encounter in last year's Winter Cup finals were fresh on his mind back then. It had still send shivers down his spine, yet he also was very embarrassed. And now even more.
Back then he had acted like an idiotic coward. He had been easily intimidated by Akashi to the point where he had become outward afraid. And then he even had stumbled in front of him because of his nervousness! Akashi must think very low of him, if he even bothered to remember such an unimportant player as Furihata.
If he just had been able to overcome his nervousness. If he just could have stood up a little against him during the match.
Furihata truly felt like he had ruined his one chance to make an impression. After all the first one was always the most important. His admiration slowly began not only to focus on Akashi's style of basketball. He watched interviews with the other and bought magazines that featured him.
He caught himself daydreaming about meeting him again, proving he wasn't a complete loser. Soon he realized he wished to know more about him, not the player but the person Akashi Seijuro.
He always thought it was mere admiration. And then there was the Interhigh.
They hadn't played against Rakuzan. But he had seen him.
It was the first time after the Winter Cup that he had seen him again in person. They hadn't even interacted. He had simply walked towards the changing rooms when Akashi walked by. After that he felt incredibly happy but still his heart ached a bit. He hadn't even noticed him. It was later that day when he met him again.
Sighing he closed his eyes, recalling the memory.

"I'll be back in a moment. I'm going to buy something sweet to drink. Anyone else want some?" he asked, already half way out of the door of their changing room.
"Yes, if they have something vanilla flavored." The sudden voice behind him startled him a bit but not as much as it had a year ago. He was finally getting used of Kuroko appearing and disappearing anytime.
"You can bring something for me and Mitobe, too." That was the voice of Koganei.
He quickly nodded towards his three team members.
"Okay. I'll look what they have." With those words he excused himself out of the room and walked down the hall. Even without playing in every game the Interhigh was really tough. He let a sigh escape his lips as he turned around a corner. He was starved for something sweet. It surely would get him rid of this tiredness he felt since their last match yesterday.
After rounding another corner and going through a door he finally reached the vending machine. He was really glad he was able to memorize the way earlier. He took some coins out of his Seirin jersey's pockets and put them into the machine. Something vanilla flavored for Kuroko, right? It was good they had something, he thought while picking the first one. After a moment he heard it rumbling and his exchange money came out. He put it in again and went for some lemonade for Mitobe-senpai. Then he chose a different flavor for Koganei-senpai. Furihata sighed. He should have asked them for money first. He wanted some peach flavored ice tea. He counted his money and realized that luckily he had just enough for that one bottle. Grinning he took the other bottles out and put the rest of his money in. Then he pressed the button and waited.
Nothing happened. Confused he looked at the vending machine. It seemed like it had taken his money. And there was one bottle missing from the ice tea case. Just to be sure he bowed down to check but indeed there was no bottle. Cursing he looked through the glass and then he saw it. It was stuck. Oh well, today surely wasn't his lucky day. He had no money left, so buying another drink to make them both fall down wasn't an option. Sighing he kneeled at the floor and stuck his arm in the machine trying to reach up to his bottle. There was not much room and his arm hurt a bit. If his fingers would be just a little longer he could reach it, Furihata desperately thought, blindly reaching for the bottle.
"What are you doing there?" He suddenly heard a voice behind him and jumped a bit, thus hurting his arm. He huffed in discomfort. Great, this was embarrassing.
"My bottle got stuck, so I tried to reach for it." He answered awkwardly, groaning when he realized his efforts were in vain.
"Why don't you try bringing it down with another bottle." The voice sounded confused, and somehow familiar. Furihata drew back his arm and stood up again, looking angry at the stuck bottle.
"I have no money left. I bought drinks for my team mates, too." He answered gloomily. He heard the person behind him chuckle. Wonderful, now he was getting mocked for it too! As if the thing itself wasn't frustrating enough. He spun around to tell the other that instead of mocking him he could at least try to help him when his vision met red hair and matching red eyes.
Taken by surprise he stared at Akashi, not a single word leaving his mouth. He heard another chuckle and this time he felt shivers run down his spine. For a moment Furihata's mind went blank and he forgot about the situation he was in. He never heard him chuckle before. It sounded marvellous.
"Well, I want something too, if you step aside I can try to bring it down." The words of his crush instantly brought him back to reality.
"Y- yes, of course." He answered, quickly stepping aside, looking aside to hide his embarrassment. Now his crush had seen him crouching down and awkwardly reaching inside of a vending machine to get his drink out of it. He surely had no luck at all.
He heard how coins were put into the machine, then the beeping sound when the other player chose a drink. He heard the vending machine processing the order and then again. Nothing.
Confused he looked up only to see how Akashi stared in disbelief at the machine. Curiously he looked at the same spot the other was looking.
Now there were two stuck bottles. Oh great.
Akashi stepped forward to grip the machine at its edges, then he shook it a bit. It changed nothing. The bottles were unmoving like they were glued to the spot. For a moment he saw a flick of anger in Akashi's eyes, then his expression suddenly changed and he started to laugh. Now even more confused than before Furihata could just continue to stare at him. Was that really the captain of Rakuzan in front of him? He only saw him smile like two or three times before and now he was laughing while staring at a vending machine.
"Are you okay?" His voice sounded a bit cracked as all he could do was stare at the other.
"Yes." The redhead answered, calming down again.
"I just assumed this would only happen in stupid movies or novels but not in reality." He still sounded more amused than annoyed.
"Well, it didn't happen to me in ages", Furihata answered, sighing when he looked at the now two bottles.
"But what do we do now? Buying another bottle probably won't help either. And my teammates must be already waiting for me." Furihata hated situations like these. The lack of a solution always made his head spin. They created this certain atmosphere of despair based simply one's lack of ability to change them.
"M- Maybe you could tilt it down and then I can reach in again and get it? My fingers were roughly one or two centimeters too short. If the angle is right maybe I will get it." He regretted speaking right after he opened his mouth. His brain always kind of disconnected when he felt nervous. Furthermore he felt slightly guilty. If Akashi hadn't wanted to help him, his bottle wouldn't have gotten stuck with his.
"S-sorry, that was a stupid idea and quite dangerous, forget it" he hastily continued. "Perhaps, we c-could… uhm..." Please brain, work and come up with something useful, he thought starting to bite on his upper lip because of his nervousness, while he desperately tried to think of anything useful. He could feel the other point guards gaze on him.
"Furihata, wasn't it?"
"Y-yes", he answered even more nervous, not daring to look at the other. Surely he was getting onto his nerves. Akashi must be angry at him, too, since it was indirectly his fault that the other's bottle got stuck. He was more than surprised when instead of a scolding he felt a warm, calm hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down." Akashi's voice was calm and reassuring. It brought him back down to earth. The unnecessary thoughts were gone and his nervousness was back on a level where he could actually do some productive thinking. Furihata let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"Th- thank you." His own voice sounded small and quiet. The hand still lingering on his shoulder gave him a reassuring squeeze, then it was gone.
"Well, uhm… maybe I can get Taiga for help? He's bigger and stronger than us, right?" He asked, still thinking about this new idea. He heard Akashi hum next to him, when the other thought about his idea.
"Well, that doesn't sound bad, but wouldn't it be more efficient if I call my teammates? I'm sure they'll be here in an instant." While the other was speaking Furihata crouched down again, until his eyes were on the same level like the two bottles.
"Well, I'm sure they would but-"
"What are you doing there?" A confused, also familiar voice interrupted them. Surprised they turned around.
The voice belonged to Himuro and right next to him was Murasakibara. His height was even more intimidating this close.
"Murasakibara, Himuro" the red-haired teen greeted his former teammate and his friend.
"As you can see," Akashi stepped aside, mentioning for Furihata to do the same, "our bottles have been stuck in the vending machine."
"Both of them? For real?" Curious Himuro took one step forward to look at them. "How did you manage that?"
"Uhm, well…" Furihata wanted to answer but his voice drifted off. That was a good question indeed. He didn't know if he had hoped the other would answer it or not but he instantly looked at Akashi. It was the first time during their coincidentally meeting he dared to look at him. He looked dashing. His brows were slightly furrowed in confusion but he still looked as elegant and in control of the situation as ever. But he wasn't as intimidating as he was on the court.
"Hm… perhaps we should help them, Atsushi." The black haired teen proposed while still glancing amusedly at the two stuck items.
"Does Aka-chin buy me snacks if I help?" was the immediate answer in a bored voice.
"If it does help I may." Akashi answered, his lips turning up into a smile. Beside him Furihata felt a shiver run down his spine. The atmosphere wasn't as tensed as it was back at the Winter Cup, but it still felt intimidating listening to the conversation of such basketball prodigies. He felt really small next to them and the reason wasn't his size.
Furihata heard the purple-haired player hum in agreement, then he took a step forward. Himuro immediately stepped aside. Murasakibara grabbed the machine at its edges and then gave a firm shake. As nothing happened he groaned but did it again with more power. This time a rumbling was heard. The tall player stepped aside, turning to Akashi.
"When do I get my snacks, Aka-chin?"
Disbelieving Furihata stared at the place the bottles were stuck before. They were no longer there. Murasakibara truly was strong. Akashi had shaken it before, too and the point guard wasn't weak. Great, now he felt even smaller.
"I can either send them to you or bring you some tomorrow, whatever you prefer." Akashi answered the question like nothing happened.
"Send me some tomorrow then. Muro-chin said he would buy me snacks now and tomorrow."
he heard a sigh coming from the black haired teen across from them.
"Yes, I did. Come on, I will buy them now." Himuro said in a fake tired voice.
"See you again, bye."
With those words both proceeded on.
Still stunned, Furihata nodded. After a short moment Akashi moved to the vending machine again, taking the two bottles out.
"Here", he gave Furihata one of them.
"Thanks", the brown-haired male answered, finally getting out of his stupor. He could feel his face heating up as he took the bottle.
I should have been the one crouching down to get it!
"Furihata-kun." Kuroko's voice came from right behind him.
"We thought you got lost, I see you instead had some company. Hello, Akashi-kun."
"Hello, Kuroko." The red-haired point-guard answered.
"I'll be on my way then, it was nice meeting you, Furihata-kun." And with those words the captain of Rakuzan left.
He remembered my name, Furihata felt a smile build on his cheeks as he collected all of the bottles, handing Kuroko his one.
"Our bottles got stuck. That's why it took so long" he explained, while starting to walk back.
"I see" his teammate answered. And Furihata didn't know how he should interpret the glance that was cast at him.

Well, at least I didn't act completely stupid back then and he remembered my name. It was nice of him to try to help me, even if it was just a mere coincidence.
After recalling this memory he felt calmer than before. Still he could feel a heavy weight in his chest.
What if he just pretended he had no crush? No one knew, right? No one would notice. Besides, he didn't know if the others would take their oath seriously. But still- Furihata swallowed heavily- that would be cheating. He didn't cheat. And he wouldn't start doing it now. He would feel even worse not fulfilling a promise. Even if Akashi would-
"Furihata?" A calm voice disrupted his trail of thoughts.
"Y-yes?" he answered startled and therefore louder than necessary. Confused he looked around. Most of his teammates were already gone or just walking out of the door. The only ones left were Kagami and Kuroko who looked at him questioningly. Did he really get lost in his thoughts for so long?
"Is everything okay? You look a bit out of it." Kagami stated, looking at him critically.
"Yes, of course." He tried to answer to brush it off, but as soon as he opened his mouth he knew it was no use. His voice was too fast and too high. He had never been a good actor.
"Is it about the game?" Kuroko asked just as calmly as before.
"Well, I-"he could have used that as an excuse. But Furihata made the mistake to look into Kuroko's eyes, who was now sitting in front of him. His gaze was intense. Furihata felt like the blue eyes didn't meet his own but instead could look directly into his mind. He knew it was no use to lie. Kuroko would notice. He lowered his head again.
"Actually, well it is about the game, kind of." He answered unsteadily, kneading his fingers in his lap. A cold hand was laid onto his own, stopping his motions.
"Kagami-kun? Can you go ahead? I will catch up to you later." Even with his gaze fixed on the floor he could feel Kuroko didn't look away for a second.
"Well… yes" The cluelessness in their ace's voice would have made him laugh in any other situation.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Furihata." The strong hand ruffling his hair for a second was unexpected, but it was a nice gesture and made the brunette smile for a second.
"Sure" he answered, watching the other leave and close the door behind him.
The silence in the room was making him uncomfortable. He still felt Kuroko watching him intensely, as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. Furihata wanted to swallow but his throat felt dry.
He never told anyone before. He wasn't afraid they would turn away from him because he liked boys. That thought never occurred to him before. He was more afraid that his friends would laugh at him because of whom he had a crush on.
"I-", he started, but fell silent again. The dryness in his throat became worse. The brunette coughed nervously. He heard a soft sigh, then the hand keeping his own fingers still disappeared. Kuroko silently stood up and sat down next to him.
"It's about Akashi-kun, isn't it?" The question caught him by surprise. For a few seconds he could only stare at Kuroko, completely baffled.
"How did you-", his voice left him and thus only came out as a kind of forced whisper. Calm laughter was heard, as Kuroko looked at him again. It wasn't a mean laughter, instead it took the pressure from the heavy atmosphere inside of the room.
"Well, I noticed by coincidence in training when we analyzed Rakuzan's play-style how focused you were on Akashi. I would have let it drop but then I noticed that your own style changed, as if you were studying him and I decided to watch that development. And I noticed the small things like how you bought magazines that featured him and so on. And then there was the Interhigh and I thought it was obvious." Furihata's heart dropped at this statement. His expression must have been worried because Kuroko immediately added: "Ah, don't be afraid. I don't think anyone else has noticed. A part of my technique is to observe other people, thus I'm very good at analyzing behavior like this. It's kind of funny actually. You wouldn't guess who has had a crush on whom in our school."
Kuroko's explanation calmed him down again. Relieved he took in a breath. So, he wasn't that obvious. That was good. Furthermore their shadow player hadn't laughed at him.
Suddenly he felt like a heavy burden was lifted from his shoulders.
"Well, yeah, it's Akashi" he could answer more steadily now.
"I-", he began, swallowing as the panic from before rose once again in his chest. Not because of Kuroko's reaction, but because of the thought of it itself.
"Well-", his second try: "we have lost our match." He struggled to go on. Speaking of it still was different from only thinking it. It felt worse.
"And- ", he started kneading his hands again "Well, do you remember what we promised? I mean in the beginning of the school year?" He nervously looked at Kuroko. The blue eyes widened in surprise for a second, then the calmness was back.
"Yes, now that you mention it, Furihata-kun. It's about the confession, right?"
The brunette nodded, looking at the floor again.
"It's just… how do I-?" He hated it if he couldn't express himself. It made him feel uncomfortable and even clumsier than he usually felt. The pressure of a hand on his shoulder stopped his thoughts before he could lose himself in them again.
"I think the first question is, do you want to confess?"
"Yes!" He answered fast and loudly. "I mean, no! It's… difficult. I want to keep my promise but… the only time I confessed before I was laughed at and… I mean… he's Akashi Seijuro." The last part was spoken very quiet and he was sure he sounded quite desperate.
"It's just, I never thought of confessing, you know? I had this crush and I was okay with it, seriously."
"And now it became real in an instant, right?" Kuroko finished for him. Furihata couldn't have said it better. He nodded quietly, uncertainly looking at his teammate.
"It's just… I don't know how. I mean, does he even know me? It's not like I know him very well. And I cannot simply walk over to Rakuzan's changing room and ask him out, right? Additionally naked. It will be embarrassing enough, I don't need to be turned down in front of other people, too."
Kuroko made a thoughtful humming sound.
"I think I understand your problem, Furihata-kun. First of all, relax. No one will blame you for not doing it. But from what you're saying I'm figuring you want to confess, am I right?" Furihata nodded slowly. Yes, even if he was afraid of it. Deep down in his heart he knew he wanted to confess. He was a coward, that was true, but still…
"I could talk to him, you know?" His eyes widened at that statement.
"I mean, I kind of know Akashi-kun. And I don't think he will laugh at you. He will be surprised but I can explain it to him, so he won't be completely caught off guard. I wouldn't do it now though. I think it would be better tomorrow, after the final match. He wouldn't agree to a meeting before his match since it could disrupt his concentration. But afterwards it would be no problem I guess."
He was still too startled by Kuroko's plan to interrupt him in any way.
"Yes, that sounds like a plan. I will tell you the details tomorrow then." Kuroko flashed him an encouraging smile. Then he stood up.
"I hope you feel better now. I think you should shower at home since everyone is already gone."
Furihata nodded absent mindedly.
"See you tomorrow, then?"
With a last reassuring smile, Kuroko was gone.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there in silence, stunned at the outcome of this conversation. He started changing himself into his track suit lost in his thoughts. The realization hit him on his train-ride to his home.
Tomorrow he would confess.
Tomorrow he would confess to Akashi Seijuro. Naked.
There was no turning back.
Oh, he was truly fucked.