So, You Believe in Fate?

When two pair of pants meet.

Kuroko Tetsuya gave off the aura of a very charming yet reserved person when he first stepped into the gymnasium.

Of course everyone was surprised that a boy with such physique could make it to the first-string gym so easily. With his bright blue hair, round wide eyes, pale skin and little visible muscle, it was hard to believe that he'd be an athlete representing their school in games.

His appearance is so deceiving, until it was hard to believe that the boy wasn't the type that believed in fate, love at first sight and fairy tale-like, childish visions and expectations.

"Fate?" He had tilted his head, echoing his friend Kise's question. "I don't really believe that."

Kise was taken aback, so did the rest of the people in the locker room. Aomine, especially, had even spat out a mouthful of water. "Seriously?!" He'd screamed in disbelief. Kuroko gave a small frown as he slips his uniform back on, squirming slightly at the feeling of cold linen against heated skin.

"Please don't scream in the locker room, Aomine-kun. Also, why do you look so surprised?" Kuroko shot back a question. He was a bit displeased that everyone looked like they'd discovered the existence of a bigfoot – saucer-like eyes, mouths agape and bodies frozen stiff. Had all his burly, strong teammates believed in fate, until it was surprising that he didn't?

Kuroko doesn't know that everyone thinks he's the type to believe in fantasies as such; since, well, he had blabbered about teamwork and love for basketball. It was hard to take in the fact that he'd never taken fate seriously.

Kise had wiped a string of drool that began to crawl out due to his gaping mouth. Yes, how unbelievable. A part of him wanted to believe in what Kuroko had said, but a part of him protested and insisted the blue-haired boy lied. So Kise did what he always does best – follow his gut instinct.

The next day, the Generation of Miracles decided to eat breakfast together and talk about strategies for their next game. They had promised to eat behind the first-string gym. And that was where Midorima, Aomine, Kise and Murasakibara had all gathered with packed food and bottles of water. Aomine clucks his tongue, throwing his leg up over his other as he leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head. "Tch… Where are those two?"

Kise yawns as he scrolls through his phone, a small smile twitching every now and then. "Well, Kuroko-cchi always comes to school a bit late, so I get his situation."

Midorima was toying with his lucky item of the day – A bestselling novel by Notsume Soseki –, flipping the pages and inspecting the cover when he spoke, "Akashi's surely on his way."

Murasakibara had already unwrapped his third Maiubo bar and was chomping down on it when there was a rustling of grass and clothes, along with a sudden quiet greet of good morning. If the four core members of the Teiko basketball team hadn't tried to get used to Kuroko's marginal presence, they'd be jumping with fright at the boy's arrival.

But today, they were instead caught off-guard by the boy's appearance.

Kuroko is dressed in track shorts with two stripes of green neon at the sides with a clean, white T-shirt with his Teiko uniform slung over his shoulder. Once again it surprised his teammates at how flamboyant and calm he can look when he's dressed like that for a school morning. If a teacher had spotted him, he'd be reprehended immediately; the school dress code is to be taken very seriously. But then again, it is Kuroko – he'd have no problem escaping the eyes of teachers and prefects alike.

Midorima, however, was not letting it slip.

"Kuroko, you are breaking school rules," The green-haired says, frowning and putting down his lucky item. "What are you doing wearing those kind of clothes at school?"

"Midorima-kun, good morning," Kuroko, ever so polite, greeted. "My parents had urgent business to attend, so I didn't have time to change into my school uniform. I will change as soon as practice finishes."

"You are aware that you could have been caught earlier, don't you? Walking around school without a uniform… Someone could have mistaken you for an outsider, and you could have been taken in to be questioned. Honestly, how reckless can you be?"

Kuroko slightly tilts his head. "Midorima-kun, could it be that you are worried?"

Midorima loudly sighs, using his free hand to push his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "That's ridiculous. I'm just concerned about how the club's activities are being the reason why you broke the dress code. It puts the club in a complicated position, moreover Akashi's -,"

"What about me?"

Every head averted their attention from Kuroko in the blink of an eye. Kuroko didn't get the feeling that it was because they feared Akashi, no. Most possibly it was because of obligation and respect, to which the redhead often gets so easily. Kuroko raised his gaze from Midorima to the source of the sultry, smooth voice. His heart slightly thumped, but he pushes the matter aside, not understanding it completely to be concerned about it.

And that was when two pants met.

"Akashi!" Midorima hissed, his novel now dropped to the ground when the boy had abruptly stood up and stumbled over his feet. Midorima pulled an irked face. "What are you wearing?"

Akashi returned his gaze with his own – though they were rather laced more with confusion than annoyance at the greenhead's tone. "Hm? My uniform, of course."

"That's not what I meant," Midorima pressed down on his words. His hand slapped against his forehead and he groans loudly, throwing his head back.

Kuroko stood frozen in place. He didn't know whether he should be amused at Akashi's confusion, or tell Midorima to continue what he was trying to say now that Akashi himself was amongst them – and was looking undisturbed by how Kuroko was looking like, unlike Midorima.

Kise had practically thrown his phone away when he stood up beside Midorima, a look of surprise on his face. "Akashi-cchi, you can actually wear that?" He was pointing accusingly at Akashi's clothing, jaw slack open. Aomine was still on the ground, slapping his knees and howling with laughter. Kuroko didn't get what was so funny about the situation, but he does understand that it would look very comedic to outsiders.

Akashi was wearing the usual. The blue dress shirt, black tie and the white blazer with the school's insignia emblazoned on the chest pocket, with the 'Class President' badge pinned on top of it. Akashi was looking rather collected and unruffled despite how his bottoms stood out in contrast to the blazer. Instead of the school's usual black slacks, Akashi was instead wearing track pants with neon green stripes at the side, glaring back at the group.

"Akashi-kun," It was hard to contain the smile. "Why are you wearing those pants?"

Akashi tilts his head to the side – a habit he'd picked up from observing Kuroko. "Ah, you meant this," The boy motioned to his pants. "I bought it."

Everyone was driven to temporary silence. "… Yes, but that doesn't explain why you're wearing it at school?" Midorima mutters, his hands now massaging his temples.

Akashi blinks at Midorima's reply before the edges of his mouth tilts upwards to form a small smile. "Oh, yes, funny story actually," The redhead plopped down next to Murasakibara who willingly offers a small lollipop to the shorter boy. Akashi takes the candy with a polite thank you and started unwrapping the packaging. Kuroko notices the slight snicker Akashi lets out when Midorima gave a long, exhilarated sigh. "I was walking to school using the usual route, you see – ah, this flavour is really good – and a car drove over and splashed water on me. Luckily my shirt isn't spoiled."

Murasakibara let out a drawled hum. "So Aka-chin walks to school?"

"Only recently," The redhead speaks, the light tone of his voice almost diminishing, but it came back as soon as he had almost lost it. He swirled the lollipop around in his mouth, letting the pleasing taste of strawberry attack his senses, and then slid his gaze towards Kuroko. The boy had his eyes trained on Akashi's lips, gulping down a lump of nothing. "Do you want a taste, Kuroko-kun?"

That had Kuroko visibly stiffen, his back now straight and his eyes wide. "… It seems that Akashi-kun is implying an odd activity, so I refuse."

Surprisingly, Akashi lets out a round of amused laughter, before he catches himself from overdoing it. Unlike Aomine, Akashi would rather like keeping his composed, leader-like image for as long as he could in front of the Generation of Miracles. "You're amusing, Kuroko-kun."

Midorima clears his throat out loudly. "I don't mean to pry, but I take it that you have an actual spare pair of pants, Akashi?" His green eyes are narrowed and his glasses had gone crooked, tilting slightly, as if it's become a sort of sign that Midorima's clearly affected. "Come to think of it, how did you not get reprehended for walking into school like that?"

"Hm… I guess Tetsuya's lack of presence has managed to influence me," Akashi smirks. He pops out the lollipop from his mouth and rolls the stick in between his forefinger and thumb. "And no, unfortunately I have not prepared myself for these kinds of situations."

"Eeh, so even Akashi-cchi can be careless!" Kise pipes out with his voice laced with an impossible amount of awe, to which Akashi frowned at and caused the blond to shrink away with a small whimper.

"This is hilarious," Aomine says between wheezes of laughter, clearly suffering from lack of air. "Let him walk around like that, would be funny if some teachers got on his case for once."

"Aomine," Akashi warns with a stern tone. "If you don't want your training menu doubled, then I suggest you to cease talking."

"Mine-chin, don't be an idiot."

"What, I can't even joke around?"

"Would you like a triple, Aomine?"

"… Goddamn."

A hand was raised into the air. "Ah, if that's the case," Came Kuroko's voice, drawled into the atmosphere in between the four core players of the Teiko basketball team. "I have an extra pair of pants in my locker."

Akashi's eyes trail down to Kuroko's attire. "Ah, I see Kuroko-kun is going through a similar situation? Do you have another pair for yourself?"

Kuroko shakes his head, "Not quite. I just had no time to change into my uniform. Akashi-kun is welcome to borrow my pants, and I have another one, so please don't worry about it."

Kuroko watches as Akashi's eyes fixed onto his shorts, watches as a small smile creeps onto Akashi's features, watches as his breath-taking red eyes narrow in focus. "What a coincidence," Akashi began, pushing himself off the ground and comes closer to Kuroko, the lollipop still in his hand. "It seems like we're wearing the same kind of pants today."

The Generation of Miracles all noticed the faint tint of pink crawling onto Kuroko's cheeks – it was so rare that they just had to notice, of course. Aomine lets out a sniffle as Kuroko shoots the slightly taller redhead a soft smile. "Yes, so it seems."

Akashi lets out a small chuckle, his breath almost tangible to Kuroko judging from how close they were, from how small the distance between their bodies had become. The blue-haired boy resisted a shiver, and instead he lets out a small sigh of pleasure at hearing the sound of Akashi's laugh. "Fate has drawn us to such a questionable situation," Akashi says, hand reaching out and making itself comfortable on Kuroko's soft tufts of blue. "Don't you think so, Kuroko?"

Midorima only lets out a tired sigh as he drops back down onto the ground, reaching for his lucky item. Kise had started punching his fingers onto the keys of his phone, a small squeal elicited from him every once in a while. Murasakibara had placed the responsibility of getting them all drinks and he pulls away from the group with a serene aura. Aomine, on the other hand, curled on the grass and hugged himself as he weeps, the sounds of, "My Tetsu has grown up," or "Goddamn it, Akashi," and even, "I'm a proud papa.", to which Kise recorded a video of, for blackmail, that is.

Kuroko felt his breath hitch so slightly – he hadn't believed in fate, he still doesn't, but Akashi's words came with such a gentle, loving lilt to it and it's somehow luring Kuroko into thinking that perhaps he really should consider believing in fate – consider the possible flow of it that may drive him and Akashi closer.

"Yes," Kuroko says, one of his hands reaching upwards and brushing Akashi's wrist. "Fate really has."

NOTES:

-please don't kill me like I don't even know what I'm writing anymore

-my first fluff after a long while omfg

-somehow this does things to me and I can only hope it does the same thing to you

-either that or my back just hurts a lot

-also Kuroko is fking polite okay he's adorable

-I liked it when Akashi called Kuroko with the –kun honorific like it's cute and u can't convince me otherwise

-these aren't notes okay these are my rants

By Aiku