<Listen to the song!>

_

"So, you're saying you're positive that this time it's not your dad?"

"Hm."

"And there's someone else involved?"

"Hm."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Hm."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Hm."

I sighed as I felt his hot, minty breath against the crook of my neck while his head nestled in there.

"And for how long are you planning to stay like that?"

"Hm?"

I grabbed his red hair a bit roughly and shoved him away from me. He winced a little but still looked at me with amusement hinting in his crimson eyes. No matter how rarely Akashi Seijuro showed his playful side to the outward world instead of that dominating side of his, I was very much familiar with his playful tactics.

"You're being rough suddenly, Ena."

Hearing his suggestive remark, smacked his head making him chuckle out loud.

"Get serious." I glared at him. "Can't believe I'm the one saying this to you." I mumbled.

"Okay." He promptly got up from the floor and held out his hand towards me. I took his hand and got up too dusting off my pants.

"First of all," He said as he went on to sit on the bed. "My father doesn't know you're here in Kyoto."

"Okay?" I answered, confused as I sat beside him too. "But as I asked how do you know that?"

"Because Aihana still doesn't know about our actual past and your true identity." Akashi said, crossing his legs, his red eyes wandered outside the open window. "If my father had known about your existence in Kyoto, he would've told Aihana about it and,"

"And?"

"She would be my wife by now," He averted his gaze towards me. "not my fiancée."

I bit my lips as I suddenly felt a tug in my heart and as strange as it sounded, I actually felt bad for Aihana.
So, this was just a 'business' marriage that was pretty normal in the influential business families but she somehow caught feelings for this red haired man here and I had a feeling that her affection towards Akashi was never reciprocated.

"She loves you, you know." I softly muttered.

Akashi stared at me for a moment but I avoided his cold gaze.

"I know."

I suddenly remembered our kiss earlier and suddenly everything felt wrong. That wasn't suppose to happen; that shouldn't have happened. I pursed my lips and clenched mt fists tightly.

"Ena, if you haven't realised already, I'm not actually going to marry h---" Akashi started but soon cut off by me.

"That shouldn't have happened." I whispered.

"What?"

"That, our kiss. It shouldn't have happened." I said once again, this time a bit louder, looking straight at him.

His crimson eyes widened. "Ena, you're not telling me that---"

"Yes, Seijuro." I interrupted him again. "I'm saying that you and I are over. Just because we shared a kiss doesn't mean we're suddenly together again. You already have someone in your life whether you want it or not."

He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his red locks, looking frustrated.

"Ena," He looked at me. "No matter how much I want you back in my life and no matter how much you protest against it, whether we get back together or not is not the point here. Aihana is also a possible suspect in this, even though I highly suspect her involvement. You can't expect me to get married to a woman who wanted to kill you."

"So you're saying that it's not Aihana either?"

"About her, I'm not sure yet. That's what I am saying."

Then the room fell into another deep silence. Soft breeze came blowing inside the room, making the white embroidered curtain ripple.

"I wanted to ask you another thing," I said when he slowly got up from my bed and walked towards the door.

"Is it about Kuroko?" His back was facing me.

I looked downwards and quietly nodded my head even though he couldn't see me.

"What about it?" He asked again.

"For how long... have you known?" I asked quietly and hesitantly.

My question hang in the air unanswered for some time.

"That he has feelings for you?"

I couldn't voice out my answer again though my silence didn't keep him from answering my previous question.

"From the very beginning, Ena." Akashi stated and with that he slowly walked out of the door leaving me on the bed, hanging my head low.

_

I slowly sauntered down the swirling stairs to go downstairs and met everyone, the whole group of generation of miracles, sitting in the living room. I saw Akashi was sitting there too, talking to Midorima about something.

They looked up at me smiling and asked how I was feeling now. I smiled and told them I was fine. I was slightly worried if they heard us arguing or anything but it looked like they didn't have a clue.

Akashi looked up at me and a little smile tugged on his lips and couldn't help but mirror his expression.

I saw Kuroko looking at me and I smiled at him too. There was an empty seat beside him and he patted there, gesturing me to sit beside him.

And I did.

Aomine and Kise was arguing about some TV shows and Momoi was trying her best to stop them. Murasakibara munched on his snack beside Seijuro who was still talking to Midorima.

"How are you feeling now, Ena-san?" Kuroko asked me softly.

I smiled a little. "I'm okay, Kuroko."

Akashi and Kuroko's argument was still clawing inside my heart and what Akashi said back in the room before walking out was the last blow for me.

Kuroko had feelings for me and I had no idea. I didn't even know how long has it been since he harboured this feelings and the fact that he still stayed friends with me all these years despite everything just made my heart drop.

He was a great friend for whom I cared deeply. However, I never saw him like a brother or anything; those were just too cliché.

And there was a question that's been scratching inside my mind restlessly- would I have returned his feelings if he had confessed to me earlier? Earlier than Seijuro?

Would I've loved him like he does, if I met him sooner? Sooner than Seijuro?

I looked at him. His light blue hair, his blank yet caring teal eyes and his soft way of talking. Then I looked Akashi sitting across me. His bright scarlet hair, his sharp crimson eyes that changed into the heterochromatic ones when his cold self took over, his dominant nature.

They were so different from each other.

I sighed. What was I even thinking about?

What was the point of thinking about these 'what if's? I already made my decision back then; I already gave my heart to Akashi and no matter how he treated me, I knew he loved me back and so did I.

I loved Akashi Seijuro and still do.

Even though we fell apart; even though our worlds were different from each other now, we still loved each other. We didn't need to stay together as a married couple, talk everyday and make love all the time; we didn't need those petty things. Conventions like those didn't have enough strength to determine our love and measure our feelings.

A small smile carved it's way on my lips.

These thoughts were too stupid and meaningless to even consider.

"What's the matter?" Kuroko asked me, his face confused.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

The butler came to the living room with a tray of snacks. The silver tray was filled with various sweet treats and snacks that made Murasakibara a happy noise; there were blueberry muffins, chocolate muffins, rainbow muffins, brownies, cheesecake, red velvet pastry, mini vanilla-almond pies and my favorite- chocolate and walnut cupcakes.

As soon as the butler placed the silver tray and plates on the black marble centre table, a drooling Murasakibara pounced on them as Aomine and Kise soon joined him. I quickly took some chocolate-walnut cupcakes on my plate before anyone else did.

I smiled to myself as I carefully tore off the baking paper that was around the chocolate cake. I plucked the small roasted walnut that was decorated on the top and popped it inside my mouth and instantly my smiled widened. I took a bite of the sweet delicacy and my mind instantly filled with glee and pure joy.

I suddenly caught Akashi's gaze on me who was smirking at my little show of just eating a cupcake. He obviously knew it was my favorite.

I wanted to scowl. I wanted to grimace at his smirk. I, at least wanted to stuck my tongue out childishly at him.

But instead, I just smiled softly, to which his lips stretched into a slightly wider smile.

That's right.

Kuroko was my friend, a really good friend- however, his feelings were not my responsibility if he never acted on it. He said so himself, that he would never confess because he knew I only had eyes for the redhead sitting in front of me. Then there was no point in bringing it up and make things awkward. There was no point thinking about the 'what if's; there was no point in thinking about something that will never happen.

Sometimes acting oblivious is the only way to be considerate. Sometimes it is the only way to save your friendship.

I knew Kuroko. He would never ever let his unrequited emotions strain our friendship. I mean he was Kuroko Tetsuya; the one who brought the Generation of miracles togther even after everything fell apart for them after middle school and mended their broken bond.

I took another bite of my chocolate cake.

"Do you really love it that much?" Kuroko asked gesturing at the cupcake in my hand. "You can't seem to stop smiling." He smiled at me softly.

I looked at him as he took a bite of his own vanilla-almond pie.

"Do I seem creepy?" I asked smiling creepily, my mouth filled with cake.

"No, you don't." He shook his head chuckling.

"I'm pretty sure I do."

"No, you really don't, Ena-san."

We started chuckling.

I felt a pair of gaze on us as I laughed along with Kuroko. I knew who it was. But I didn't look back at him. I kept joking with Kuroko as my brain reminded me of the thing that I knew all along.

Just like there was nothing attached between me and Akashi Seijuro although we loved each other, there was nothing other than genuine friendship between me and Kuroko Tetsuya even though I knew that he had feelings for me.

Sometimes you have to act oblivious just to keep everything from falling apart.

_

A/N: Small chapter. More like a filler. But necessary. This story will end around 50 chapters so, we are coming to the end and I already have everything planned out. *insert evil laugh*

Did you listen to the song in the media? It's one of my favorite these days and I like the cover more than the real song; his voice is just so rich uwu! I couldn't find the English subtitles/lyrics. So, I tried to translate it myself but since I'm bad at translations it's not exactly accurate. It goes something like-

'Once again, let's go back and
Stand on the heart of that hill
Under the sky, not think what'll happen
All day...

'Once again, touch my hand
Our wishes are the same till this day
I know you'll lose yourself again
Yourself again...'

Touching, isn't it?
In case you didn't get the feels, know that, it's because of my incapability of translating with feelings and accuracy. Gomen. Sorry. Mianhae.

Don't forget to vote & comment if you liked it. Both the song and the chapter lol.

||By my leave||