So! As the summary explained, this will be a collection of half-finished stories that have been sitting pretty on my hard disk for a while, mainly of the Harry Potter and/or Kuroko no Basuke fandoms (though there are far more KnB fica at this point in time), that I may pick up again someday, but most likely won't.

Some of these story beginnings are short, others are very long, but either way, I recommend you don't read 'em unless you're absolutely certain that you won't end up bitterly disappointed when you remember that, oh right, these will never be finished, 'cause my goal in life is making you readers happy, not miserable.

Anyway, on to this particular unfinished fic.

Pairing(s): AkaKuro

Word count: 2235

Warning(s): references to M-rated matters, story is set in an A/B/O universe but doesn't actually include any porn, and…that's it, I think.

Disclaimer: I disclaim.

When Kuroko Tetsuya, a very late bloomer, finally presents as a beta at the age of sixteen, everyone who knows him is surprised. But not as surprised as they are when Akashi Seijuro, the alpha prime Tetsuya has been all but mated to since he was twelve years old, doesn't drop him like a hot potato.

Both reactions are irritating, but understandable.

After all, Tetsuya certainly looks the part of an omega, with his icy beauty and compact frame, so most people used to leave it at that, overlooking the undeniable fact that there's really nothing even remotely pliant or submissive about Tetsuya at all. His body, small as it may be, is all muscle and sinew and bone, possessing none of the childbearing-ready softness of an omega. He is quiet and soft-spoken, but not self-effacing – rather, he is strong-willed and confident and blunt almost to the point of rudeness despite his relentless formality. Tetsuya survived three years on a basketball team completely made up of alphas and went on to befriend another one as soon as high school began, and he's never had any trouble teasing or needling or outright striking his alpha friends whenever he felt it was necessary.

Most tellingly of all, Tetsuya has never had trouble standing up to Seijuro, even when the scarlet-haired alpha prime was at his most imposing; and that is but one of the many reasons why Seijuro never wants to let Tetsuya go.

Seijuro has nothing against omegas, truly – his late yet still much beloved mother was one, after all – but he certainly wouldn't ever want one for a lover. As an alpha prime, earning the submission of even other alphas is as natural as breathing to him; boring, even. The sight of young omegas going about their lives already looking for bonding prospects, their necks bared teasingly even as they demurely avert their eyes from Seijuro's dichromatic ones and tilt their heads ever-so-slightly to the side to show off their unblemished napes, has never done much for him – mostly because even before he presented, and certainly long before Tetsuya did, his heart has always sung only for Tetsuya, Tetsuya, Tetsuya.

Gender doesn't even factor into it. Tetsuya is so, so strong, he is beautiful and kind and clever and compassionate, but he has his sadistic side too – the one that has him tormenting Kagami with Nigou at every opportunity, and wearing touches of red in his clothing simply because he knows what it does to Seijuro, seeing Tetsuya parade around in his colors. Tetsuya loves Seijuro truly and fully, but is never shy about telling Seijuro – in the most polite way possible – where he can shove his absoluteness, when the phantom player thinks Seijuro's head is swelling enough he just might float off into the stratosphere.

He was the one to teach Seijuro how to wrest control of his body from the side of him that was all alpha prime, and return to being the person he wanted to be. Tetsuya was the one to hold Seijuro as he trembled under the weight of all the pain his other half had wrought upon his loved ones and enemies alike while he was trapped in his own mind. Tetsuya was the one Seijuro hurt the most with his selfishness and greed and foolish pride, and yet was also the one who forgave him instantly because the miraculous little phantom just loves him that much.

Knowing all that…alpha, omega, or even beta as the case may be, how could Tetsuya's gender possibly make Seijuro love him any less?

Tetsuya presents as a beta a few months after his sixteenth birthday, unexpectedly. Some people remain Undecided all their lives after all, namely those who still haven't presented after the age of fourteen, and Tetsuya honestly wouldn't have been particularly bothered if he had turned out to be one of them.

His grandmother, an aging alpha who smells, even to his weak nose, of freshly washed linens, green tea and protective authority, congratulates him on reaching maturity when he comes down for breakfast, and though he does get an extra serving of tamagoyaki (which he would've really rather gone without, actually, but his Obaa-sama will take any excuse to feed him up and he's long since been resigned to it), that's about all the fuss that's made over his sudden coming of age. Tetsuya hadn't expected anything more, and he likes it that way, really.

The reaction he gets from his teammates is a different story.

"YOU'RE NOT AN OMEGA?" the so-called 'freshman trio' (much to their dismay, the nickname has followed them even into their second year) scream in perfect synchronization when he appears silently in the gym for morning practice.

Tetsuya startles so badly at being spotted without having to announce his presence first that he almost rips a hole into the wristband he'd been tugging at. He looks up, sees the completely astonished looks on his friends' faces (save for the notable exception of Kagami), and instantly knows the reason for them: since he's been completely odorless, if not for the hint of alpha-scent his grandmother rubs into his wrists every morning for protection, for as long as they've known him, his emitting any sort of Determined-smell would naturally come as a shock to them. Still, he remains calm as he gives a polite nod and replies, "Good morning, Fukuda-kun, Kawahara-kun, Furihata-kun. Indeed, it seems I'm not."

This leads to a deluge of questions, exclamations, affirmations and other assorted expressions of shock that have Tetsuya's head spinning. With his presenting came the strengthening of his still-weak senses, and the way his brain instinctively registers and classifies astonishment-relief-pride-worry-protectiveness-sympathy scents when yesterday he would only have been able to tell that his Senpai had been exercising for a while and definitely needed a shower, only adds to Tetsuya's disorientation.

Kagami, as he seems determined to be in all things, is his savior, dragging him out of the throng of his lively teammates and pressing Tetsuya's face into his shirt until the new yet familiar kindness-warmth-trust-pack smell of his Light calms Tetsuya down. The rest of Seirin's team give them a moment, looking sheepish, but as soon as Tetsuya deems his legs steady enough to move him away from Kagami without folding under him like wet paper, they're on him like Nigou with a bone.

"Your parents are an alpha-omega pair, aren't they? How come you're just a beta?"

"And what exactly do you mean by that, ne, Hyuuga-kun? Is there perhaps something wrong with being 'just' a beta…?"

"Haha, now calm down, Riko, I'm sure Hyuuga didn't mean it that way!"

"I had you pegged as an omega for sure, Kuroko. Who else but an omega could possibly have skin like that?"

"Not to mention you're not the tallest guy out there. Oh! Tall and…"

"Shut up, Izuki! D.O.S.!"

"Captain, you just ripped that off Sket Dance! Also, Mitobe says, 'Izuki, you shouldn't talk when you're not even ten centimeters taller than Kuroko'."

"Do you feel any different? Your scent is still really weak, but you must feel different, right? What's it like, being a beta?"

Tetsuya remains silent through his teammates' hailstorm of chatter. Through ease of long experience, he knows they're not actually expecting any input from him, and won't be until they've talked themselves into a slightly calmer state; so it comes as a surprise when a question is addressed to him, loaded with so much careful empathy that he knows it can't possibly be rhetorical.

"Kuroko, are you gonna be alright?"

Furihata Kouki is plain-looking for an omega, but possesses a very pleasant scent – freshly baked sweet buns and piping hot cocoa, Tetsuya's newly sharpened nose tells him – and a kind, understatedly courageous personality that actually makes him quite popular among alphas. Out of the freshman trio, Tetsuya would say that Furihata is the closest to him, so he's not surprised by the warm-hearted boy's worry; discerning the cause of it, however, is quite beyond him.

"I feel fine, Furihata-kun. As a beta, I did not have to endure any kind of…hardship upon being Determined." Several of his teammates blush despite his euphemism, but Tetsuya doesn't spare it much more than an amused thought, eyes trained on the nervous way Furihata is shifting from foot to foot.

"No, it's not that. It's just, well…Akashi. How…how're you holding up?"

All of Seirin instantly quietens at that, exchanging somber glances before looking back at Tetsuya with compassion positively dripping from their eyes, but Tetsuya is just confused. What does Akashi-kun have to do with anything? The redhead isn't ill as far as Tetsuya knows (though the mere thought sends a bolt of panic through his heart), and Tetsuya isn't sure why everyone has suddenly dropped the topic of his presenting in favor of this baffling inquiry, though he isn't complaining. That reminds him, though.

"Ah, right," Tetsuya says tonelessly, fishing his cellphone out of the pocket of his loose shorts and promptly dialing a familiar number. "I suppose I should tell Akashi-kun the good news."

"Ah, WAIT!" the whole team – again, minus Kagami, who is rolling his eyes and grumbling about overdramatic idiots, which is really rather rich coming from him – screams, darting towards him as if ready to rip the phone out of his hands, but they back off with despairing expressions when they see that he's already pressed 'call'.

Instead, Riko says, giving him a look that is one part encouragement and three parts dread, "Kuroko-kun, why…why don't you put your call on speaker just this once, ne?"

"So we can all warn that bastard that tickets to Kyoto aren't that expensive and we know where he lives," Hyuuga mutters with a quite frankly psychotic, clutch-time mode-ish look on his face, which is reflected on those of all of Tetsuya's senpai, even genial Tsuchida and cheerful Koganei. Kuroko spares them a baffled look, wondering what Akashi-kun could possibly have done to piss them off this time – the picture incident from their amusement park date a few months ago comes to mind, but even then his senpai hadn't looked this angry – but ultimately forgets about it when a click is heard and his boyfriend's quiet but no less assertive voice rings out into the now dead silent gym.

"Tetsuya? This is a surprise. You're usually too busy with practice to call me so early."

"If Akashi-kun dislikes it so much, I can refrain from calling at all in the future," says Tetsuya, easily falling into the rhythm of their usual banter and ignoring the way his friends' looks begin to verge on pity when they hear the affection in Tetsuya's monotonous words.

"Never. I don't think I could survive without getting my dose of Tetsuya every day," Akashi-kun replies, serene, because he is shameless enough to speak such cheesy lines with a straight face – probably mostly because he knows it's one of the only things besides heatstroke that can make Tetsuya blush. "In all seriousness, though, is something wrong?"

"Not particularly." Tetsuya is fine with his newly revealed gender, but maybe presenting as an omega would've actually made his teammates fuss over him less – which is an odd thought, given that presenting as a beta is completely painless when compared to an alpha or omega's presentation, but, well, Seirin is an odd team, so he really should've seen it coming. "I presented last night. I'm a beta," Kuroko says without preamble.

While Tetsuya's teammates perform fine impressions of 'The Scream', Akashi's chuckle sounds through, slightly tinny from the cheap cell's speakers but filling Kuroko's heart with warmth all the same. The other Akashi never laughed, not even manically or out of sadistic delight, so Tetsuya makes sure to treasure every instance of Akashi's mask being shaken by mirth, as he knows Akashi does for him. "It seems like I was right again, Tetsuya."

"You thought there were equal chances that I would remain Undecided forever, actually. Also, if you think you'll be winning the InterHigh this year, Akashi-kun, you are once again dead wrong."

Kagami, who was once the victim of one of Bokushi's admittedly more psychotic outbursts, makes a sound like a frog being trodden on at Tetsuya's boldness, but of course Akashi only laughs once more. "Normally, I would propose that we made this challenge more interesting, but I don't want to ruin your poor teammates' virgin ears." If Tetsuya were the type, he would roll his eyes: no matter how experienced Akashi likes to make others believe he is, he and Tetsuya have only gone all the way twice, and the second time was only marginally less terrible than the first one. Alcohol was involved, which, for two quasi-virgin boys, was never going to end well.

Tetsuya reminisces briefly over just how much of a bad idea it had been to assume, in their intoxicated states, that a tiny bit of preparation using handsoap from the restaurant's restroom would be enough for Tetsuya's skinny body to take in Akashi's girth. Still, the first time had been even worse, and they'd actually been sober back then. Strawberry jam as lube – ugh. Never again, Tetsuya thinks with a wince, even as his friends emit various gasps of shock at Akashi's words.

(Just because Akashi is no longer half-deranged, it doesn't mean that his tendency for being annoyingly knowledgeable about everything has changed any.)

And that's all she wrote. Literally.

The gist of this story was that in this particular A/B/O 'verse, most alphas tend to mate with omegas only, especially the rare alpha primes, whose pheromones are so powerful that even the strongest of "normal" alphas can't stand up to them. Akashi is in love with Kuroko, and remains so despite his boyfriend's newly revealed status as a beta.

But Akashi senior wants his son to break up with said beta in favor of a more suitable spouse, and then there are other concerns – such as the fact that Kuroko's beta body simply isn't made to withstand the ruts Akashi goes through twice a year, as an omega's body could…

…And that was just about all the plot development I had devised by the time I decided to drop this story in favor of more interesting pursuits.