loser extraordinaire

So with Loser, we left off with... what, Furi finally admitting he’s totally in love with Akashi and Kuroko deadpanning “yeah bitch it was pretty fukken obvious” and getting ready for that fancy party thing? Right. Well. First there’s the semi finals, in which Furi plays like a boss and is totally completely focused on Aka the whole time like the dumb gay nerd he is. Seirin puts up an admirable fight, but Rakuzan ends up winning. There’s lots of victory hugs, Akashi getting teary eyed because he wouldn’t be there without Furi, and Furi wanting to confess to him right then and there in the middle of the court -- but, you know, people. And a basketball tournament. Not really the right time.

Anyhoo, Seirin is kind of bummed, but they still have to play for third place, so obviously Riko isn’t gonna take any of their shit. The third years play, and they demolish the competition. Then they watch Rakuzan play, and even though Rakuzan is a favorite to win the winter cup anyways, Furi and the rest of Seirin are all rooting for them -- for Akashi’s sake. No surprise, Rakuzan wins.

Furi catches Akashi after the game to congratulate him and it’s awkward city like never before. Furi manages to stammer out a “c-c-c-congrats” and is once again debating confessing on the spot, but Reo pops around the corner and tells Aka that it’s time to go celebrate. Akashi invites Furi along, then immediately apologizes when he realizes he’s celebrating Seirin’s defeat. The two idiots stumble over their words until Furi finally says he doesn’t mind, he just wants to spend time with Akashi (gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay)

So they go out to eat, and Furi is introduced to the Rakuzan fam. Reo is the most enthusiastic and very obviously wingmaning for Sei-chan, such as asking Furi if he has someone he likes, etc. Furi gets super flustered but before he can answer, Hayama and/or Nebuya (neither of which is capable of reading The Mood™) interrupt by asking Furi something totally unrelated. Reo wants to pull his hair out, Akashi doesn’t know if he should be thankful or frustrated. Eventually Reo gives up on it and just enjoys the meal, but he mentions “it’s too bad Mayu-chan can’t be here!” and cue tension you could cut with a knife. Aka dismisses it as nonchalantly as possible, but excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Furi’s left with the unpleasant reminder of the whole Mayu ordeal, and he expects to be descended upon by vulture Reo for details.... but instead, Reo just thanks him for bringing back their Sei-chan. It was their last high school tournament, and it wouldn’t have felt right without Akashi there with them. He tells him how much Akashi treasures him, and how much Reo hopes Furi feels the same. He says he’s sorry Furi lost the tournament, but Furi replies that he doesn’t feel like he lost.

After the meal ends and they part ways, Furi feels a little more confident about confessing, but he’s mostly just grateful to learn that Akashi has some good friends at Rakuzan to rely on. d’aww.

Next up is dawn of the final chapter, where we see Furi’s mom fussing over him in his suit and taking pictures and saying “you look so handsome!” and just generally being a mom. Akashi comes and picks him up in a fancy car, and as they’re headed toward the event, Furi feels like he’s gonna faint from the pressure, but then the losers awkwardly exchange compliments about how nice the other one looks. save them

So they get to the event, and it’s in this huge ball room and everyone’s dressed to the nines -- to say Furi feels out of place is an understatement. He hangs out next to Akashi as he’s greeted by tons of different people. Akashi eases Furi’s nerves a little by telling him gossip about each one, enough to make Furi laugh. One man comes up and comments how it’s a nice change to see Akashi with a friend, and how he’s never really seen him smile before.

Just when Furi’s finally starting to relax, bam, enter Masaomi. Introductions are brief and strained, and Akashi is obviously on edge about this. To make matters worse, Masaomi sends Akashi away under the guise of greeting guests, and he brings Furi away from the crowd to speak with him alone.

Despite his imposing appearance, Masaomi admits to Furi that he didn’t truly want Akashi to quit basketball. He knew basketball was the one thing that Akashi loved the most, and the one thing he wouldn’t want to give up. He was proud of Akashi and all he’d accomplished, and he had great expectations of him, but he worried about him. He was too good of a son, too obedient, too willing to give up the things he loved if Masaomi so much as asked it of him. He wasn’t going to be around forever, you see, and he needed to know that Akashi could take care of himself, could make the right decisions for himself -- even if it meant disobeying him.

He goes on to tell Furi that loss is inevitable -- everyone loses at some point in their life. We all lose things, no matter how hard we try to hold onto them. It may be anything: the loss of profit in a business, the loss of a basketball game -- the loss of a loved one. But losing is different from defeat. Defeat is when you’re done trying, when you let the losses overwhelm you, when you give up. He was afraid that Akashi had gotten to that point when he so willingly gave up basketball.

Then Furi came along.

Masaomi knew about him from the start (teenage sons aren’t nearly as sneaky as they think they are) and he was content to see how things played out. He was pleasantly surprised, not only at Akashi’s newfound spirit, but also with Furi’s determination. He tells Furi that his son could use someone like him around to keep him going. And, of course, that he hopes Akashi will continue to play basketball. (He watched the finals on TV.)

He lets Furi go, and Furi heads back in a daze, not really believing what just happened. Akashi sees him and drags him off, away from the party again, into an unused room near the banquet hall, lit only by the moonlight streaming in from outside. He asks what happened and Furi decides not to tell him in explicit detail what his dad said, but he does tell him that Masaomi said he’s really proud of Akashi, and that he gave their friendship his blessing. Akashi is stunned and stares blankly at him for a minute, then breaks in laughter at how surreal the whole thing is. Music streams in from the party, and Akashi catches Furi up in an impromptu waltz. Furi stumbles and laughs as he tries to keep up.

“Of course you know how to waltz, too,” he says, rolling his eyes as Akashi leads him around. “You can do everything.”

“Maybe,” Akashi counters, the smile not leaving his face. “But it’s thanks to you that I can do anything.” They come to a halt, close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“I am in love with you, Kouki.”

Furi’s stunned, stunned that Akashi beat him to the punch, stunned that Akashi really does feel the same way, and instead of fumbling with clumsy words, he pulls Akashi by the collar and kisses him breathless.

Obviously, they don’t rejoin the party anytime soon.

After this comes the epilogue, where we find out Furi’s been crowned captain of the team in his third year. Natsume shows up to practice, revealing that her younger brother is a first year and was inspired to join the team after seeing Furi play the year before. She comments that he looks happy lately -- and Furi agrees. He excuses himself as practice ends, citing somewhere he has to be. He runs to the gate, and there’s Akashi waiting for him. They steal a kiss, then head off into the sunset for a basketball date like the happy lovesick losers they are.

the end.