December is finally here, isn't it? That means Christmas is just around the corner, and I, being the Christmas lover that I am, could not pass such a chance to write a special story for this lovely pair, now could I? However, before you continue, I must explain a few things.

First, how this is going to work. Initially this story was supposed to be a two-shot, but it got kinda out of hand, so I decided to scrap that idea. What I will do now is POST AN UPDATE EVERY TWO DAYS. Each chapter will be approximately 2000 words long, some being shorter and some longer. In total there will be 14 chapters, since I will end on the 25th of December. However, the last few may be longer than the rest.

Second, for all those, who are reading my other stories. HEAR ME OUT, OKAY? Yes, I am working on them and yes, I'll try to update every single one as soon as possible, but since holidays are nearing I had to write a special story for that. That's what I've been working on almost all November. I just hope that this will satisfy your hunger for AkaKuro this whole month.

Third, about the actual story. As you may have guessed, this is an AkaKuro Soulmate AU in which Akashi and Kuroko are not soulmates. I honestly really liked this idea, so I tried to write it out how I best understood it. I just have been reading a lot of Soulmate AUs where they are soulmates in every single one and, honestly, I got a bit tired of that. I mean, what are the chances of lovers actually being soulmates in reality? Slim, I'd say. Besides, I'm a rebel by nature. I decided to take on a popular topic from a different perspective, I hope you'll see my point as this story progresses. Now, by no means am I hating on stories where they are soulmates, I love them on the contrary, and this is merely my way. This is how I chose to contribute to this Soulmate AU idea.

Reviews are very much appreciated!

~Chapter I~

Such a beautiful flower.

And the small forest alley was full of them. The gorgeous color of blue painted the little hills on each side of the path Kuroko Tetsuya was at the moment walking. It was an early morning in his hometown and the petite male was peacefully strolling through the rather small forest, for it not only served as a calming session, but also was a shortcut to his part-time workplace. Kuroko was glad for that. He simply adored walking through the quiet woods, where only the breaking small branches underneath his feet and the birds' morning chirping could be heard. He could utterly indulge himself in the beauty of nature on these early days. And the tealnet's favorite part was exactly this alley, decorated with the lovely shade of blue, much like his own hair and eyes. Kuroko always stopped for a few minutes to admire such a creation by the unbeatable nature, presented right in front of him. And on this morning his eyes caught a flower more outstanding than the rest.

The gorgeous forget-me-not had overgrown it's sisters in both height and beauty. It's buds were in full blossom, revealing the marvelous shade of blue, more rich than the rest. The flower seemed to be begging to be admired, and Kuroko was doing just that. Such a beautiful creation, such a magnificent gift by the nature. The man suddenly wished to touch such a perfection, to feel it's fragile structure. Perhaps even to bring it home so he could admire it all he wanted.

However, just as his hand was about to reach it's destination, the side of his pinkie finger touched another hand reaching out to the flower, only not as pale as his. As if electric shock went through him, Kuroko immediately retracted his own and lifted his eyes to meet the person next to him, who he hadn't noticed before. And when his gaze landed on the stranger, he couldn't keep his eyes from slightly widening. Before him stood the most gorgeous man he had ever met. In the tealnet's mind he thought everything about the person in front of him was perfect, starting from his seemingly smooth to the touch skin and ending with his crimson hair. My, what a beautiful contrast. His red locks stood out even more in the background of the gentle blue blanket of flowers covering the alley. As if blood had tainted them. However, nothing enchanted Kuroko more than those vividly red with feline-like pupils eyes, who were seemingly gazing right into the tealnet's soul and were now slightly wider from surprise. Kuroko found himself trapped in them until the gorgeous man finally spoke.

''Ah, I apologize,'' His voice was as smooth as velvet, painted with sincere apology and formality. The tealnet watched as his perfect lips moved in sync with his gentle words, loosing himself in his voice. ''I did not notice you.''

''It's... okay,'' Kuroko answered a bit weaker than he wanted to. It was a bit difficult keeping his composure in front of such a presence after all.

''You just melted in with these beautiful flowers. They look so much like you after all,'' the man said, a hint of amusement painting his voice as the corners of his lips slightly lifted upwards.

''Oh... thank you I suppose,'' the tealnet murmured, slightly taken aback by the stranger's words. Remembering his manners, Kuroko bowed to the man as he continued speaking. ''I'm also sorry for not noticing you.''

''It's quite easy to lose oneself in nature's beauty after all, so it's understandable,'' the redhead chuckled lightly. He averted his piercing eyes from the smaller male in front of him and gazed at the astounding scenery. A few quiet seconds passed before a sigh left his lips. ''Forget-me-not, otherwise known as Myosotis. Such a delicate flower, holding so much meaning.''

After those words the man looked back at the one both males were interested in before. Kneeling down, he swiftly plucked the flower and stood up again. Afterwards he closed the small distance between them, now with just a few inches separating the pair. Kuroko realized how his heartbeat accelerated at that, breath slightly hitching from the man's intense gaze. However, instead of backing away, he curiously waited for the stranger's next actions, managing in keeping his emotions at bay.

To Kuroko's surprise, the redhead lifted his hand and gently tucked in the flower in the tealnet's blue locks. He found himself at a loss of words and could only stare at the man in front of him, who was now seemingly admiring the sight before his eyes with a small smile playing on his lips.

''They suit you,'' the stranger said in a hushed, soft voice, his words intertwining with the beautiful melody of many morning birds.

Before Kuroko could come to his senses, the man had already turned around and resumed walking the path he earlier did, the opposite direction of the tealnet's destination. Watching the redhead's back, slowly retreating, Kuroko realized that it was the first time he had met another person in this rather secluded forest. Not many knew of it after all, and even less decided to take their time in admiring it. So it was rather strange seeing such a man, who was, judging from his expensive formal clothing, a businessman, in a place like this. Those kind of people had even less time, didn't they? Work was their main priority, work and money. How could they care for such trivial things as nature, when they had other, more important matters to take care of? And yet... This man seemed different. He enchanted Kuroko with his words and actions, while his astounding appearance only added up to the effect. He had seen him for no longer than a few minutes and already the tealnet wished to know him more. In more ways than just one...

Subconsciously, Kuroko's hand traveled to the other's ring finger and he softly touched the area where a ring should be. Of course, it was as smooth as ever, nothing surprising. He would have clearly physically felt if the man he just met was his soulmate the moment their hands touched. How naïve of him. The tealnet perfectly knew that same sex soulmates was a very rare occurrence in this world, for it was, how their government always said, a genetic malfunction and everyday scientists worked on erasing it. Newborns were everyday injected with new, so-called "cures" in order to prevent such abnormality. For that reason same sex soulmates were growing rarer by the minute.

Things weren't always like that. In the past people were far more free than today. Soulmates existed, yes, and people found theirs everyday, but they weren't obliged to necessarily become lovers, much less create a family together. A soulmate is, by definition, a person you are spiritually most linked with after all. That didn't mean you had to fall in love with them with no exceptions. Sure, many decided to do just that, but there was always a large group of people who only remained strongly-linked friends with their soulmates and created families with other, regular people. That is, until a new issue was passed along with a new government. At some point scientists discovered that, apart from being spiritually linked, soulmates also had the best genetic combination for descendants. They produced children far more resistant to viruses and other microbes. And, since at that time their country was tormented by a terrible disease, a new law was passed that it was obligatory to produce heirs only with their soulmates. Any romantic relationships with non-soulmate lovers was illegal. Even if the means were harsh, they proved to be effective and soon enough the death rates dropped drastically with less and less reports of sick children. Eventually the country could sigh in relief as they were freed from this terrible disease. This new law also fixed the problem of over-population. However, it has been over thirty years now and the law was as strong as ever with only a few changes. If one wished to create a family not with their soulmate, they had to undergo multiple tests to see whether their genetic combination would prove to be well enough to produce a healthy, normal heir. Not only that, they had to seek approval from the government, which was quite reluctant in giving it in most cases. It was not, however, impossible anymore to create a family with a simple person. That did not count for all people though. Around the time when the horrible disease was finally gone, a belief that people who were attracted to the same sex were a genetic abnormality quickly spread across the country and a new law passed down, banning all romantic relationships with non-soulmates of the same sex without other exceptions.

So, in other words, it was impossible in this world for Kuroko to have a man who was not his soulmate as a lover.

Kuroko suddenly shook his head and lowered his hands. What was he even thinking about? Surely he wasn't wishing to engage in any kind of similar relationship with a man he barely spoke to? That was simply preposterous. Besides, such thoughts held no meaning whatsoever, since, as Kuroko checked one more, they were not soulmates, so even if similar secret desires would creep inside his mind, they would be completely empty.

Still... As the tealnet's fingers reached up to touch the delicate flower in his hair, he could only wish on seeing that red-haired stranger once more.

-.-

''Oh, you've found your soulmate?''

The person Kuroko suddenly addressed stopped in his tracks. He glanced at one of his hands holding a pile of books before he responded quite nonchalantly.

''I suppose I did.''

''Congratulations, Mayuzumi-kun,'' the tealnet said with an almost invisible smile. He placed his own pile on the dusty table before he continued. ''How is she?''

''He.''

''What?''

''It's a he,'' the gray-haired male sighed as he followed Kuroko and also removed the weight from his arms onto the table. ''My soulmate is a guy.''

''Oh.''

Silence enveloped them after that. Now the tealnet could understand why his friend sounded rather grim. Even if same-sex soulmates were allowed, they were incredibly frowned upon, for they were considered a genetic malfunction. If a man's soulmate was another man, both of them experienced high discrimination, same with women. One of the many examples was simply applying for a job. If your employer would learn that your soulmate was the same gender as you, your success rate would drop drastically. For that this kind of people tried hiding the sex of their soulmate, but little succeeded, since it was requested for their soulmate mark to be visible at all times and, if one would take a better look, it was quite easy to tell apart regular soulmate signs from same-gender ones. Sure, every mark was unique, but they all held some clear similarity, but same-sex ones were obviously different. With that thought in mind Kuroko glanced back at his friend's hand and found that the mark around his ring finger resembling a scar was visibly more spike-like than is 'should' be. What were the odds?

''Still, I believe it is wonderful you found your other half, even if it is a man,'' Kuroko finally spoke, sounding as genuine as ever.

''Not many think like you,'' Mayuzumi clicked his tongue, his voice laced with bitterness.

''Do you not like him?''

''...No. He is quite different from me, but, surprisingly, we get along rather well.''

''It would be strange if it would have been in any other way,'' the tealnet shrugged, resuming his work in arranging the books in the old bookshelves. ''Though I am surprised that there is someone out there that doesn't annoy you to no end. I would like to meet this person, so he could teach me his ways.''

''Shut up.''

The pair fell into silence after that and only focused on their work, indulging in their own private thoughts.

Soulmates, huh?

In the past that was such a beautiful word.