The Woe of the Mistletoe

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket or the characters. And right now, I don't even own the theme – just the plot. This fic was written for Blacsoleil on tumblr as a Secret Santa gift. It is a oneshot. Merry Christmas! ^_^ Theme: mistletoe.

It was the winter of their second year in high school; after having won the Inter High and the next Winter Cup (to captain Hyuuga's chagrin), Akashi Seijurou organized a Christmas party at his mansion and invited all his former Teiko teammates and their respective teams. Thankfully, Akashi Mansion was large enough to host six basketball teams at once.

The party had started, everyone was sitting on couches, chairs and pillow, chatting cheerfully, eating and drinking and having fun; some were playing video games that they had brought from home, and Kise had brought a portable Karaoke system to show off his vocal skills.

The only miserable person at the party was Furihata Kouki.

Why, would one ask?

Kouki was miserable for several reasons: first of all, he still hadn't gotten a girlfriend. He was entering the 17th year of his life without even having had his first kiss, and wasn't that just sad? Second of all, this was the house of Akashi Seijuurou, the most terrifying man in all of Japan whom he would be glad to avoid, but could fate be anything but a sadist? Kouki had to face Akashi again in the final of the Winter Cup (Seirin hadn't made it to the finals of the Inter High, being eliminated by Kaijou of all schools) and he had made a fool of himself once again, by falling flat on his face and generally stumbling around with the ball, flustered under Akashi's gaze, except this time he hadn't scored any lucky baskets because Akashi had been on him like a hound the entire time they faced off.

He had felt so humiliated by his horrible performance that he had run away from the court as soon as he was benched; and what he couldn't understand was that the reason why he had been so horrified was not the Coach's lectures, practice, punishment or facing his (most likely disappointed) team mates; instead, he was somehow ashamed of not being able to prove himself to Akashi, of all people. Since when did he care for Akashi's opinion of him, anyway? Third…he may be just a tiny bit obsessed with Akashi, and being in his house only made things worse for Kouki's poor little heart.

Akashi was terrifying, even though he had changed somewhat since the last time, becoming more polite and all. In fact, why would Akashi bother to host a party with everyone when he could just call his former team mates only?

The room was getting too crowded with everyone yelling, Kagami's English singing, a drunk Imayoshi hitting on Sakurai and Mibuchi Reo trying to dress up Kasamatsu of Kaijou in frilly dresses (when had he brought those?) while Murasakibara was making out with Himuro in a corner quietly and Takao was hugging an excessively blushing and stuttering Midorima, so Kouki excused himself and left the room to get some fresh air.

As he stepped on the wooden floors of the traditional house barefoot, Kouki went in the general direction of the porch, going through several rooms. After a while of walking in circles, he recognized that he had gotten lost and decided to return to the party instead. As he tried to return, however, he realised that he didn't know where to go. The house had gone quiet and dark all of a sudden and he felt a chill go up his spine.

Scared, Furihata broke into a sprint, deciding that anywhere was better than there. Running and turning, he finally arrived on the porch. He took a deep breath and smiled, enjoying the view of the slowly falling huge snowflakes.

"Do you like the snow that much?" a smooth tenor voice asked from behind him, chuckling.

He knew that voice.

He had heard it threaten people, mock them and say generally cruel things.

He wished he was anywhere but here. Why had he left the safety of that room, oh, why?

"Furihata Kouki. When someone talks to you, you should answer," the same voice spoke gently, but Kouki had frozen in spot. He had never been alone with Akashi before, and the mere knowledge of that paralyzed him in fear.

A hand turned him abruptly and he took a few steps back, hitting a wooden pillar.

"Aaa-akashi-san!" he answered with a high pitched voice. "You scared me!"

"Indeed?" the boy smirked. "So what are you doing here?"

"I ju-just wanted some fresh air," Kouki said, trembling.

"And now you're feeling cold, I presume?"

Well. He could admit to his fear of Akashi and face the scissors of doom, or he could lie and maybe Akashi would let him return to the party? It was quite cold outside, anyway.

"It is c-cold out here, Akashi-san."

"Hmm. I understand. Come here," the redhead gestured, opening his arms for an embrace.

"Eeeehh? But – but Akashi-san…"

"Didn't you want to watch the snow? But we can't have you catch a cold at my party," the boy continued pleasantly. "I will take care of you, as the host. Come here, Furihata-kun."

"But that's too embarrassing," the boy protested blushing.

"Not at all," Akashi said pleasantly. "Come here. Don't make me come get you myself, Furihata-kun."

Kouki took the three steps that separated him from Akashi and found himself in a warm embrace. He looked up to see Akashi smile at him warmly.

"See, it wasn't so bad," the boy commented. "There is no need to be afraid of me, Furihata-kun. I am not the same person I used to be the first time we met."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Akashi-san."

"You are a player with a good potential but your performance in our game in the Winter Cup left much to be desired. In fact, I think you played better last year. I refuse to believe that the player that scored against me last year could not do so again. Will you tell me what happened?"

Kouki wanted the earth to swallow him right at that moment. The thought that Akashi, although surrounded by prodigies, actually paid attention to him and found him lacking was a humiliation that he'd never endured before.

"I'm sorry, Akashi-san. There is no excuse that I can give you right now. I played badly, and I can only blame myself for it."

Akashi sighed.

"I think I will go back inside now, Furihata-kun. Don't stay here a long time lest you'll catch a cold."

Furihata Kouki stayed rooted to the spot in the cold for a very long time, unable to move and feeling like the most worthless human being on earth, like he didn't deserve the warmth and the party that took place in the large room behind him.

'Ah, I suppose Akashi can make people feel that way with only a few kind words,' he though, crying.

He was beginning to think that he didn't deserve to be in the same room or breathe the same air as Akashi. He couldn't go back there. Maybe he could leave? Oh, who was he kidding? No trains worked at that time and no taxi would take him back to Tokyo during Christmas Night.

He couldn't believe how stupid he had been, coming here. He should have faked illness and stayed at home.

He shivered but refused to leave even as his vision started to blur.

"Hey, where is Furihata?" Kagami yelled suddenly. "We're about to start the Secret Santa exchange, we can't start without him!"

The others looked around in confusion.

"I think he left the room some time ago, but he never said where he's going," Fukuda spoke first.

"Furi looked like he wasn't feeling well," Kawahara added. "I'll go find him."

"No need," Akashi said standing up. "He must have lost his way. I will take responsibility as the host and find him. The rest of you, please enjoy the party until we return."

"Furi is so dead when Akashi finds him!"

"Don't be rude, Fukuda-kun. Akashi won't hurt him just because he got lost in this huge mansion."

"Ahhh, you don't get it, Kuroko," Kawahara intervened. "This is about Furi, not what Akashi will do to him. Don't you know? There is a reason why Furi couldn't play against him at all during the Winter Cup."

"And what's that reason?" Kagami asked. "Did the scissors episode traumatize him that much?"

"That, too, but…well, it's just a hunch of mine, but I think Furi might idolize Akashi to the point where he would die is Akashi as much as criticises him. Furi didn't want to come to the party, initially. We had to go to his parents and get them to oblige him to come."

"That's insane. There is no such level of idolising someone," Kasamatsu said.

"Actually, after last year's Winter Cup, Furi has searched for every tape he could find with Akashi's games, both from Teiko and from Rakuzan. He watches them all the time. When I caught him, he said he's studying Akashi's moves to improve his own play, but to tell you the truth, he was almost drooling. If that's not extreme idolizing, I don't know what that is."

"Are you sure? Sounds a lot like the poor guy has a star struck kind of crush," Kise said. "I know that because a lot of my fans do this kind of thing too."

The other players shuddered. Furihata Kouki was dead if he had a crush on the Emperor.

Not truly expecting to find him there, Akashi returned to the sport where he left the boy, thinking to check out the place and determine which way Kouki had gone. To his surprise, the boy was still there, huddled against the pillar, watching the snow with a flushed face and glistening eyes. Akashi narrowed his eyes and approached the boy swiftly.

"Furihata-kun, I have told you not to stay here so long. What if you catch a cold? Your team mates are worried; it's time for the Secret Santa exchange. Follow me."

Akashi turned around, expecting Kouki to follow obediently, but the boy didn't budge yet again.

"Furihata-kun, I said come with me!"

No answer. Feeling mild irritation, Akashi knelt next to the boy and noticed that something was wrong with his breathing pattern. Placing a hand on Kouki's forehead, his eyes widened and he pulled the boy to his chest.

"Furihata-kun, you are burning! How long have you been here? It's been an hour since we talked!"

Kouki turned and smiled sadly at him.

"Akashi-san…"

"What is your excuse for doing something so stupid? Are you drunk?"

"Mistletoe," Kouki whispered.

The feverish boy reached out for Akashi's head and pulled. His lips met Akashi's in a small, chaste kiss that sent Akashi's heart racing. The redhead froze in shock.

"Ah, it's no use, as expected. I should be naked for this," Kouki mumbled, fumbling with the pullover that he was wearing and trying to take it off.

"Naked?! Stop, Furihata-kun! What are you doing?" Akashi was beginning to panic, not knowing how to handle the sick boy.

"I have to be naked because we lost and you won, Akashi-san. But I like you so much, I can't even focus when you look at me. I know you will never accept me, Akashi-san. I'm not even a good basketball player, much less boyfriend material. I've never had a girlfriend and then I go and fall in love with a guy that's so out of my league it's not even funny. I feel like I don't even deserve to stand on the same court as you, you know? So I ran away. I'm really pathetic, aren't I?"

"Staying in the cold and making everyone worry was stupid, Furihata-kun," Akashi lectured. "But I won't look down on you just because of what happened in our last match. Have some self-confidence, please."

"Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be inside with everyone?"

"I'll go if you come with me."

"You can't blackmail me like this, Akashi-san. You will catch a cold too, if you stay, and you are more important than me."

"Furihata-kun, let's go inside," Akashi pleaded. "You need to be taken care of."

"No, I'm fine here. See, here I can have a hallucination where you are holding me in your arms like you care about me, and you even let me kiss you once and I was finally able to confess. Being sick is great…"

Akashi snapped in iritation and lifted the feverish boy into his arms. He left the porch and took Kouki into his own bedroom, shoving him under two fluffy blankets.

"Stay here and wait until I bring you cold medicine. Don't disobey me."

"Mmmkay," the boy mumbled, falling asleep.

Akashi returned with a few cold patches, pills and a glass of water. Kouki dutifully swallowed everything and went back to sleep.

The next morning, a completely healed Kouki woke up with a start in bed with Akashi Seijuurou. He yelped and moved suddenly, trying to extricate himself from Akashi's strong arms, but to no avail. His struggle woke the redhead from his slumber.

"Hmm, good morning Kouki."

Akashi smiled and moved to the frozen boy, kissing him softly at first and using his tongue to coax Kouki's lips to open. They kept kissing until the lack of air forced them to separate.

"Why?" Kouki asked, panting.

"Mistletoe," Akashi said mischievously, pointing to the ceiling above his bed. "And the answer to your passionate confession last night is yes, I would love to date you, my Kouki. But first we'll have to do something about your low self-esteem. Let's go play some basketball, just you and me."

"Hiii!"

THE END