"Shut your fucking mouth!"

The silence following his retort was deafening. The hallway where Seiren and Rakuzan had crossed paths after their fateful final game was deserted save for the players. Even though the hall was quiet, Furihata could still hear Akashi's imperious words, could still hear the little hitch in Kuroko's breathing when the tears spilled over.

The anger roaring through him seemed to heighten his senses. It was like time slowed down and he could see every miniscule movement the other man made. He saw the way his eyes widened in shock, mouth hanging agape. He saw the way the rest of Rakuzan tensed in horror. He saw the way his own team stared at him, unbelieving. The sight of the tear tracks on Kuroko's cheeks and the white-knuckled grip Kagami had on his bag infuriated him all over again.

"Kou-kun…" Kawahara muttered uneasily, reaching out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"No! Let me talk." He grit out, shaking his friend off.

He turned his attention back to Akashi. The dumbfounded look remained firmly in place, as if he couldn't quite comprehend that someone had spoken over him. Least of all someone as insignificant as Furihata. The fire in his heart overwhelmed his fear and anxiety and he grabbed the front of Akashi's jersey, jerking him closer.

"You might have won the Winter Cup," He seethed, "You might have beat us, but the fact that you're here, gloating and putting us down means that you still feel that you lost. You just can't leave Kuroko alone and that means that you know just how much more talented he is! You think we care to hear your self-righteous speech? The fact that you feel the need to reassure yourself of your own victory by stroking your ego and mocking the broken dreams of your rivals is disgusting. How you don't even seem to realize your own flaws? It's pathetic! While we worked hard and played hard and evolved you just stayed stagnant in your own festering illusion of superiority!"

He released the other, shoving him back a step. He keep the searing eye contact, unwilling to waver. Unwilling to show weakness.

"I'd much rather lose than ever be anything like you."

With that, the anger rushed out of him, leaving only sadness and regret and exhaustion. He wanted to be ashamed when he felt tears well up and spill down his cheeks, but after a year of back-breaking work and believing and watching his friends dreams crumble around them in the final hour… Instead, he was just so, so tired. He watched as Akashi's expression morphed from confusion into fury.

"You dare-!"

"Shut up." Furihata said, softly this time. He was surprised when Akashi actually stopped talking to listen, "Just stop talking."

Furihata turned his back on both teams, grabbed his duffel bag and walked away alone, leaving both teams behind in silence.

Akashi was left with a whirlwind of emotions to sort through. The anger faded after a sleepless night of those words echoing in his head over and over. The other boy's voice repeating the same blasphemous, damning, valid points hammering deeper and deeper into his heart with every hour.

He had dismissed the boy—no, Furihata Kouki, not 'the boy'—not once, but twice as unimportant. Once when he summoned Kuroko and again when he successfully scored a point off him. A fluke, he had told himself. He had been wrong. So very wrong.

Furihata Kouki was no insignificant pawn. Furihata Kouki was a lion hiding behind the mask of a kitten. Furihata Kouki had seen right through him, grabbed him by the neck and forced him into submission, only to retreat back into obscurity.

Akashi was used to being right, but this time it was impossible to ignore the truth in his rival's words. He had remained the same through the year. He was so certain of his own superiority that he hadn't bothered to better himself. In the end, he had won. But it was only by the skin of his teeth. While he sat around, Kuroko and the rest of Seiren had been changing dramatically from harmless sheep into hungry wolves. Not only Seiren. Everyone around him was evolving.

Suddenly, he wasn't untouchable. And it terrified him.

He hadn't realized it at the time, but when he had cornered Seiren after the game, it had been to break them down. To make them acknowledge him as the victor. Furihata had called him on it.

Somehow, the trembling coward had seen him for what his was, right past every mask he put on. He had seen what Akashi was feeling even when he himself remained ignorant. The memory of those soft brown eyes trained on him, blazing with passion, piercing him to the core made Akashi shiver.

After the anger and hurt and petulance had been sorted and dealt with, Akashi had decided. He didn't want those eyes on anyone but him. He started planning.

Furihata Kouki would be his.

Furihata Kouki was going to absolutely die of shame.

He held the pillow firmly to his face to muffle his sobs and wails. He couldn't believe he had had the audacity to not only scold Akashi, but do so rudely in front of both of their teams. Kouki had spent his whole life fighting off bullies and in the heat of the moment he had become one. He had said so many unnecessarily cruel things to a near stranger.

"It's not so bad Kou-kun." Fukuda soothed him.

"Yeah, it was super badass!" Kawahara laughed.

Kouki peeked out from the pillow to pout at them. They were perched on the edge of his bed, looking down at him as he wallowed on the floor.

"—what have I done?!" Kouki repeated, burying his head back into the pillow.

"You keep saying that, but I don't think you really know." Fukuda told him, "Just come back to school and practice. The others—"

"Probably hate me! I've brought Akashi's wrath down on us all!"

Kawahara laughed again, kicking playfully at Kouki's side.

"Your overreacting, dude! It's been a whole week and he hasn't come to slaughter us all. Plus, Kagami think you're the coolest now!"

Kouki looked up again in curiosity.

"R-really?"

Kawahara nodded happily. Furihata smiled wobbly. Fukuda raised his eyebrow.

"I guess… I guess I can't skip school forever…" Kouki muttered.

"Obviously." Fukuda said.

"But are you sure no one is mad? Coach and Hyuuga-senpai?"

"Kou-kun, I don't think Coach has ever been more proud of anyone."

"She would be." Kawahara snorted, "But we gotta be going, dude. We're gonna meet up with Kuroko and Kagami for some street ball."

"Oh?" Furihata perked up, "Can I come?"

"Normally, yes." Fukuda said, "But you have so much make up work I'm going to say not."

Furihata buried his head back into the pillow, moaning. He forgot that when he skipped school that he'd have to make it up.

"Good luck, buddy." Kawahara said, pulling a stack of papers out of his bag to set on Kouki's desk.

"I hate everything." Kouki told the pillow.

"Sei-chan, I don't think this is a good idea." Reo told him as he was leaving after practice.

"I did not ask your opinion. Nor did I tell you what I was doing." Akashi retorted.

"It's obvious!" Reo said, "You should just forgive that poor boy! No need to traumatize him after a month!"

"What makes you think I intend to scare Furihata Kouki?"

"Aha! So you are going to Tokyo! I knew it!"

"Reo." Akashi warned.

"Anyway, you have this weird intense look. You're not going to kill him, right?"

"Apparently it's not so obvious then. I plan to do no harm to him."

"Really? Because you look like you might eat him alive… oh." Reo stopped at his sudden realization. "Oh!"

"You are to tell no one." Akashi hissed, knowing his teammate had caught on.

"Oh my god, Sei-chan!" Reo laughed, "That's so cute!"

As the month progressed, Kouki accepted what he had done, whether or not it was for the better. As Kagami had told him, "practice what you preach."

So, he threw himself into training with a ferocity he hadn't know he had in him. He was determined to be better next time they faced off. He would be able to guard Akashi the whole game. He would score again and again. He would.

A chilly evening had turned gradually into a cold night, but Kouki was so absorbed in his training that he hadn't noticed. He just kept repeating his dribble maneuvering the way Kagami had showed him, ignoring the world around him. He hoped that if he did it enough, he could improve his control over the ball. It was so easy for him lose himself in the flow of the drill, and letting the beat of the ball hitting concrete lull him into a trance.

It helped that this street ball court was his own personal haven. It was only a few blocks from his apartment building, nestled in a grove of trees off to the side of a park. It was usually deserted because of its slight disrepair and hidden location. He had grown to love the peaceful solitude of the court.

So naturally, a polite clearing of the throat startled him. He whirled around, letting the ball bounce past him. There, sitting on a bench under the cover of trees, was he own personal nightmare.

"Hello, Furihata Kouki," he said.

"W-wh-wha, how long have—What?"

Akashi stood from the bench and stepped onto the court before him, bending over to retrieve the stray ball. He smiled, eerily calm in the face of Furihata's panic.

"To answer your unfinished questions, I've been here for well over an hour. And obviously I'm here to see you about an apology."

Furihata fumbled with his words, unsure what to say. He had only just come to terms with what he had done, only just learned to be proud for standing up to his fears. He absolutely did not want to apologize! But looking at Akashi now, intimidating and confident, any backbone Kouki may have had fled.

"I—I don't…! I w-won't…!" Furihata squeaked, unable to get out his words.

"I apologize." Akashi told him.

Furihata went quite, trying to understand what exactly was happened. Was Akashi trying to tell him how to apologize?

"I was wrong, Furihata Kouki, and I apologize for my actions. I fully intend to make it up to you."

"What?"