Yours Truly.

Letters are always exchanged between one Emperor of Rakuzan and one Quiet Librarian of Touou, that was until one Satsuki Momoi sent a picture of the former ace of Teikou kissing his phantom to the Emperor of Rakuzan. All hell broke loose. AoKuro; AkaKuro.

Dearest Akashi-kun,

Life in Touou is quiet, just like how I prefer it. I still can't understand the reason why Aomine-kun, whom I've known as someone who loved basketball with his entire life, seems to drift apart with every passing day.

As such, instead of convincing him to go to the practice, I stopped seeing him at all. Yesterday, when I tried to convince him for the umpteenth time, he lashed out at me, saying that I understand nothing. I don't think that he is true, but his words sounded so sharp that my heart feels like it is being ripped apart. That is not normal, is it? I don't know if it is, it's my first time being told that, after all.

So after I leave our former ace, I immediately tell Imayoshi-senpai that I will be withdrawing from the basketball club. But Sakurai-kun convinced me to stay. After I tell him the reason why I want to leave, Imayoshi-senpai understands, but he only grants me a temporary withdrawal.

He very much reminds me of you in that aspect, Akashi-kun. Always so calculating.

And after I left the basketball club, I immediately apply to be a member of the library committee. Given that students in Touou are generally athletes, the library is always quiet and empty. I was accepted almost immediately by another senpai here, who surprisingly realized my presence the moment I enter the room.

The first day I didn't come to practice felt boring, but I entertain myself with lots of books. The second day goes the same, and before I know it, days and weeks start to pass by.

But on the second week, something really strange happened, which led me into writing this letter to you.

*scratch* *scratch* *scratch*

Now that I have reread it, it sounded so stupid. Please don't worry about it, Akashi-kun. It was nothing.

Well, that is enough about me. How about you? I think the cherry blossom trees in Kyoto should be in full bloom right now. How is Rakuzan? Is the 'Reo'-san you mentioned in the previous letter fine?

I am hoping to hear more from you.

Yours Truly,

Tetsuya Kuroko.

Seijuurou Akashi stared at the letter in his hand with sheer curiosity. This would be the fifth time in this hour for him to read this letter.

Akashi had long but understand the content of his letter, he even remembered it to every single detail. Tetsuya's cursive handwriting, as beautiful and neat as ever. But there was an uncharacteristic scratches in his letter, which drove Akashi's curiosity into the wall.

What happened to Tetsuya?

Because of that, he hadn't been able to reply to this letter at all. And he usually wrote the reply back to Tetsuya's letter the moment he received it. As a modern teenager, Tetsuya didn't own a cell phone of his own. He had one, but he chose to not bring it with him to school, claiming that it would disturb his concentration during the studying hours.

Besides, Akashi liked seeing the handwritten words of Tetsuya's usually unspoken one. It made him feel closer to the phantom sixth man.

But now, a big crisis had appeared in front of the Emperor of Rakuzan.

He was taunted by the fact that he didn't know something.

And so, he opened his cell phone and texted someone who'd probably knew about what happened in Touou.

To: Satsuki Momoi-san

From: Seijuurou Akashi

Subject: What happened

Momoi-san, may I know what has been happening in Touou for the past two weeks? I received a rather curious letter from Tetsuya and I wish to know what happened to him.

-S.A

Akashi closed off his phone and eventually left the classroom. Cherry blossom petals adorned his way to the gymnasium with its pinkish glow. It really was beautiful, he should take a picture and enclosed it in his next letter. And maybe, for once, Tetsuya would be convinced to actually come with him to Rakuzan instead of staying in Tokyo.

New Message!

From: Akashi-kun

Subject: What happened

Momoi-san, may I know what has been happening in Touou for the past two weeks? I received a rather curious letter from Tetsuya and I wish to know what happened to him.

-S.A

Satsuki Momoi nearly dropped her phone after reading the message that was displayed on her phone.

She needed to calm down. Sort things out. She shouldn't be reckless. But... what will selling Dai-chan out do? Will it do something? Or will it just worsen things?

After all, Momoi herself hadn't mean to find out. And she certainly didn't mean to take a picture. But she did anyway, and she had the perfect item for her former captain.

Momoi had seen it, multiple times. How Akashi-kun would always spared a worried glance towards Tetsu-kun whenever the latter almost vomited from overtraining, how Akashi-kun would visit Tetsu-kun in the infirmary whenever the poor boy eventually collapsed, or even when Akashi-kun took Tetsu-kun out for a vanilla milkshake after their first win in national championship...

Even without her professional scouting and data-analyzing capabilities, Momoi knew that Akashi-kun felt the same way as she did in regards of Tetsu-kun.

So, here comes the verdict. Should she tell him, or should she not? Would she sell Dai-chan, or would she not?

But... if she didn't do anything, nothing will change at all...

So with that in mind, Momoi typed up her message.

To: Akashi-kun

From: Satsuki Momoi

Subject: Aomine-kun and Tetsu-kun...

(Open file attachment?)

*Yes *No

Daiki Aomine loved basketball, that was precisely the reason why he refused to even come to the practice.

Because, maybe, if he didn't come to the practice and he got rusty, someone strong enough to challenge him might just appear. That someone who'd honed his skills to the point that it forced him to play seriously and even enter the zone, with practice. This someone would have practice really hard to get to his current level now, he was sure of it.

But if he kept on practicing and kept on getting better, won't his level just get higher? And if that happened, won't this imaginary someone be left behind in the dust? And if that happened, won't he just give up like the others...?

He didn't want that. That's why he'll wait. He'll wait until this imaginary someone became reality. Until then...

The only one who can beat him was himself.

But, nobody seemed to understand his reasoning. Not even Tetsu, the only person in Teikou he ever considered his best friend (there's Satsuki, but she's an entirely different matter). A person who loved basketball as much, or even more, than he did but showed nothing extraordinary until Akashi found him.

He and Tetsu fought in almost everything else, but they meshed well in basketball. If even in basketball they didn't mesh anymore, what will become of him and Tetsu?

But... he didn't understand. The feeling of emptiness you got when your opponents abandoned you to do whatever you want. No challenge. No fiery spirit. No sportsmanship.

He didn't want to quit basketball just because of that.

In all honesty, Aomine was happy when Tetsu chose to go to Touou with him. Because he knew that Akashi, Midorima, Kise, and even Murasakibara had asked him to go to their respective schools. But Tetsu chose him.

...and insisted that he came to practice.

So he shunned him. Trying to tell Tetsu with words was like trying to get someone with burned tongue to like ice cream. Maybe if Aomine shunned him enough, Tetsu would stop pestering him about practicing, about making himself even stronger, even lonelier...

But he admitted that he was rather out of the line the other day. He snapped at Tetsu, shouted at him. Shouting at Tetsu was like shouting to a kicked puppy, and not even Aomine had the hearts to do that. So he came to the gym today, hoping to apologize to his small shadow.

"Ah? Kuroko? He's not in basketball club anymore, ya know?"

Imagine his surprise when Imayoshi-san, in all his kansai dialect glory, announced that to him. Aomine immediately walked to Sakurai, because he was the only freshman who was in the same class as Tetsu.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Aomine-san!" The brunet apologized, bowing deeply. "K-Kuroko-kun w-w-withdrew from the club a few days ago. I tried to convince him, b-b-but he said he wanted to be the library committee. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

Aomine didn't stick around enough to listen to Sakurai's incessant apology. He went straight to the library, trying to find the very man who'd stayed until late at night just to play basketball. Unexpectedly, Aomine felt betrayed that Tetsu withdrew from the basketball club.

Why? He wasn't sure. But he felt it nonetheless.

When he found his invisible friend quietly reading a book in the librarian desk, Aomine slammed the desk with all his power, alerting the small shadow.

"Aomine-kun," Tetsu sounded as calm and as deadpanned as he usually did. His blue eyes met Aomine's darker ones with undeterred confidence. He clicked his tongue.

"Why did you withdraw from the basketball club?"

"You won't understand, Aomine-kun."

It somehow made the blood within Aomine's body boiled. It was the same as what happened in the rooftop a few days ago.

"Why won't you come to the practice, Aomine-kun?"

"You won't get it, Tetsu."

He felt so angry. So betrayed. Why... why would Tetsu abandon the sport that brought them together...? Could it be that he hated...?

No.

He refused to believe that Tetsu hated him.

So he did the first thing that struck his mind. He grabbed Tetsu's collar and yanked him closer, capturing Tetsu's small lips into his own.

"A-Aomine-kun..."

Not when he loved the Tetsu who played basketball so much. Please, no. His abilities had taken away the fun he used to have in his favorite sport. He didn't want it to take the only enjoyment he had in seeing Tetsu grew stronger in the court he loved so much.

No.

New Message!

From: Akashi-kun

Subject: I'm coming

Tetsuya, I do not care if you do not have your cell phone with you. I am coming to Tokyo and you have no say in it.

-S.A

The people in Shinkansen unconsciously (or consciously) drove away from a fuming teenager who was leaning to the door. Despite the fact that the train was rather empty, he still chose to stand, as if getting ready to just jump off the train the moment he arrived in his destination.

The picture Momoi took was rather shaky, but he could see the shocked expression on Tetsuya's face. Unforgivable. Unforgivable. Unforgivable.

No such insolence should happen to his beloved phantom.

The moment the shinkansen stopped in Tokyo, Akashi ran to the nearest bus stop and rode to Touou Academy. He always felt unexplainable annoyance towards Daiki, even back on their Junior High days. He never liked it if Tetsuya and Daiki bumped fists. He never liked it if Tetsuya looked like he was about to cry whenever he realized that Daiki didn't come to the practice.

As expected, Akashi's arrival in Touou alerted many people in the vicinity. He could whispers of shallow women following him as he walked to the gymnasium of Touou Academy.

Surprisingly, he found Daiki there, looking at him like he was a ghost or something. It amused him, really, so this was what Tetsuya felt most of the time.

"Eeeh? To what do we owe the honor of having the Emperor comes and visit us?" A man with kansai dialect greeted him, but before he could say anything, Daiki cut pass them, bringing Akashi outside the gym.

"What are you doing here, Akashi?"

The redhead shot him a dirty look before touching his shoulder, bringing him down with his Emperor Eye. Daiki gaped, but then he viciously looked at him before leaving to find his phantom.

Even without words, Aomine understood what Akashi meant. Don't you dare hurt my phantom player. That was what he meant.

Aomine could only hope that Akashi won't take Tetsu away from him.

Dearest Akashi-kun,

I do not understand the significance of me sending letters to you, but since you requested it, I shall comply.

I cannot explain to you what happened in the picture you showed me when you visited my library. It was just Aomine-kun apologizing for being rude to me a few days ago. And apparently, he told me that I love you. But... I can't seem to feel the same. When Aomine-kun said that he loved me, I feel really sad instead. I still wonder... why?

But when Akashi-kun was the one who said it, I feel... happy(?) about it. And the kiss you gave me was really different from what Aomine-kun gave me. It feels warm, and not sad.

I... love you.

And it leads me to write this letter to you.

Yours Truly,

Tetsuya Kuroko

P.S: The cherry blossom tree is as beautiful as you said it is.

Tetsuya Kuroko folded the letter he was writing and placed it within his pocket. He then lied down on the ground, enjoying the blooming cherry blossom petals falling down to his face. The spring in Kyoto was really beautiful.

"Enjoying the scenery, Tetsuya?" A familiar voice joined him as another petal made its way to his face. Kuroko didn't move, he only smiled as a hand touched his face, gently removing the petals from his face.

"Akashi-kun..."

A pair of red and golden gazed to his own sky-blue before placing a kiss on top of his lips. "Come on, practice will begin soon."

Kuroko sighed as he stood up and took his pale blue-and-white jacket with him.

"The next match... is against Touou, isn't it?" Kuroko asked, his face expressionless as ever. Akashi-kun looked at him with calculating eyes. "Yes, it is."

"I... will have to face Aomine-kun, won't I?"

"Yes."

Kuroko made a slight shudder, but it didn't go unnoticed by the Emperor of Rakuzan.

"It's alright, Tetsuya. We will show him that your basketball can beat him."

Kuroko showed a rare smile to the redhead before facing the front again. "I... won't lose."

The Emperor of Rakuzan then slipped his hand to the pale boy next to him, smiling darkly as he said with the most convincing smile he could.

"Of course you won't."

Both the Emperor of Rakuzan and Rakuzan's Invisible Phantom walked hand in hand with one another as they made their way to the gym. Akashi smiled. This time, Tetsuya Kuroko was his truly.

A/N: Taking a break from dark! Akashi, although it's still there somewhat XD

Um, do you mind reviewing? I haven't received many reviews from AkaKuro shippers here in this fandom... ^^;