unbeta'd. UK english. not my first language. please excuse my mistakes.

disclaimer: kuroko no basuke belongs to fujimaki tadatoshi. seven days belongs to tachibana venio and takarai rihito.

seven days.
prologue.

middle school, third year.

The town was bustling with laughter and joy. Each street he passed was decorated with tinsels, wreaths, baubles and, most importantly, lights. They were blinding. If he was a sentimental person, he would've said it seemed like he was walking down the pathway to heaven, the lights guiding him towards a destination he couldn't fathom, but he was not such a person and thus settled with internally brushing away such a ridiculous notion.

The town was bustling with laughter and joy. Couples surrounded him; some walked hand-in-hand; some males had their arm wrapped around their lovers' shoulders, while some females wrapped their arms around their lovers' and leaned their head on their shoulder as they continued down the street; and then there were the few couples who sat on the benches, whispering hushed words into each other's ears, sharing little secrets between themselves that the world was not privy to. They all seemed to be walking down that pathway he had earlier deemed ridiculous—it was obvious, their eyes said it all; they sparkled and shined with a warmth that he couldn't relate to when they gazed at their beloved.

The town was bustling with laughter and joy, yet he was feeling anything but.

Turning his head away from the colourful lights (and the happy smiles of the surrounding people, his mind whispered traitorously), he peered down through his bangs of red hair at the magenta-haired female walking beside him. She seemed to notice his stare as she looked up, her peach-coloured eyes staring into his red and yellow ones. A small smile adorned her heart-shaped face and she walked with a light bounce in her steps.

She seemed to be in a good mood, he mused.

It was when he noticed other men staring at her that his mood turned sour, but not for the reason one would expect. She really was a beautiful person, so it was no surprise. Even at school she had many admirers—not that he didn't have his fair share either. To on-lookers, he supposed they looked like the perfect couple, but he knew they were nothing of the sort. That much was obvious as he didn't feel a pang of jealousy wash over him (and he supposed this was the reason for his sudden bad mood) as the men they passed, possibly those who were unable to find a date to spend with on this special day, continued to look her up and down, obviously checking her out despite his presence next to her.

However, he made no move to shield her from their eyes. He briefly wondered if she even noticed she was being watched. She probably did, but was possibly accustomed to being stared at by her admirers at school.

Sighing, he paused in his steps. This did not go unnoticed by the long-haired beauty as she, too, stopped walking and turned back to look at him questioningly.

It was frustrating. Six days and a half he had spent with her, yet he did not feel an inkling spark of feelings for her during that time. If anything, he felt more empty than he did before dating her. Another glance at her told him she felt the same way, despite the smile plastered on her face. She was happy, but she was not in love with him.

And that was the problem: they had begun dating in hopes of falling in love.

"Momoi."

At this, she stopped fretting over his sudden halt, startled by his voice, and looked up. Tilting her head to the side, she continued to smile as if she knew what was going to come next. If asked, she would probably say it was a woman's intuition.

"I couldn't fall in love with you."

The smile was still there.

"Let's break up."

There was silence for a moment as Momoi stared into his heterochromatic eyes, as if trying to read what he was thinking, before her eyelids slowly slid shut. For a moment, he was unsure whether he had misread her and maybe, just maybe, she had fallen in love with him, and perhaps the pain was settling into her right that moment and, just for a moment, he felt a tiny bit bad. Even if she was hurt, however, he still would've broken up with her. He simply couldn't force himself to continue this charade. Not when he himself was hurting from it.

Then it was back, her knowing eyes and the upward tilt of her lips.

"Akashi-kun." He straightened up at his name, staring back into those peach-coloured orbs. "I couldn't fall in love with you. Let's break up."

In all honesty, he hadn't expected her to say that. What he did expect, was a small nod in agreement before they both turned around and walked in the opposite direction, their ties forever cut and never to entangle again. (And if he were to be even more honest with himself, a small part of him wished she really had fallen in love with him and would cry for him to stay with her—but she wasn't and she didn't, and the dagger cut even deeper into his heart at this fact.)

No apologies were uttered. It wasn't necessary. Not when they were never in love in the first place. Not when they both didn't manage to fall in love with each other. If there was anything to apologise for, it was probably the fact that they both left each other feeling more hurt than they were before coming into contact.

There was nothing left to say after that. Both parties' feelings were already laid bare before each other, so Akashi did as he thought she would've done; he nodded his head towards her, in both gratitude for the little time they spent together and in farewell, before he turned and walked away. He could only assume she had done the same.

It was only when he was walking past a small cafe that he once again stopped to let the situation register in his head. He had just been dumped. Although he was the one who had initiated it, some part in his heart died a little. The idea that he was unneeded by another tore deeply into him, twisting the dagger that was previously plunged into his heart to rip it further into shreds.

Akashi hadn't expected the pain to be this immense. He thought that a dating trial with Momoi would spark a fire in his otherwise cold heart, but nothing of the sort happened. He thought that even if he didn't manage to fall in love with Momoi, at least things would still be the same—because in all honesty, it was, he was still alone with no one by his side—yet the pain, the loneliness, was excruciating.

He immediately started walking, intent on erasing such thoughts from his mind or, at the very least, leave it for another time, but as he rounded the corner of the cafe, in his rush, he bumped into someone. The other person yelped as clattering was heard. Regaining his balance, Akashi quickly looked down to see if the other person was alright.

The other person, a brunet boy a few centimetres shorter than him, was first to apologise, despite it being Akashi's fault, before he hurriedly rushed to pick up the items that fell out of his shopping bag. Akashi didn't think anyone would be interested in stealing a can of tuna or a bottle of rice vinegar, but it was amusing how restless the boy was when a few items rolled too close to a passerby. He quickly stooped down to help the brunet, picking up the other's groceries.

When everything was back in the bag, they both stood back up and the boy gave Akashi a bow in thanks. A gasp escaped Akashi lips, however, as the boy straightened his back and he finally had a better look at the other person's face. The brunet had brown eyes the same shade as his hair and an average face, unlike his own unique features, yet there was something about his ordinariness that had captured Akashi's attention.

Akashi couldn't quite tell what it was.

Before he had a chance to unravel the mystery, the brunet gave another bow before running past him. Akashi was left staring at his back. It was only when his figure was nothing but a small dot in the distance, did Akashi turn around and proceeded to walk back home.

He didn't look back.

ten months until akashi seijuurou falls in love.

um er i hope this was satisfactory? not much akafuri because it's just a prologue, but i promise the following chapters will have lots of akafuri!

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18 October 2013