Don't own Kuroko no Basuke.

Don't own the Cover Art.

What Tangled Webs We Mortals Weave

Seijuurou could remember some of his old life at the palace. He could remember the warm rooms, the giant windows and the finely painted women. He remembered quite a bit of it, he just didn't particularly care. After all, they were the same people that had abandoned him in the woods when he was eight, all because he was the son of the Emperor's concubine. He was somewhat bitter, but only of the principle of the matter. After all, he had quite a good life now, even if it wasn't the life of a prince.

"Deep in thought?"

Seijuurou smiled at the voice but didn't turn to face the other just yet. "Contemplating old memories." He listened to the other shift behind him and the smile became pleased. "You caught something?"

"Yep." There was a thud as the other placed the catch on a table and soft pops from the man stretching. "I already skinned and gutted it."

"Thank you, Shuuzou. Go rinse off, I'll prepare dinner."

Nijimura Shuuzou grunted in understanding and left with a soft thud of the door, the older man going to the nearby stream to remove as much sweat and blood as possible from his skin. Seijuurou allowed his mind to drift to his house mate and former caretaker, the pit of his stomach warming in affection. Perhaps "caretaker" wasn't the right word; Shuuzou had found him in the woods when Seijuurou was eight and Shuuzou was nine. The black-haired boy had seemed much older than his appearance or age would make others think, and had brought Seijuurou to his mother, along with the birds he'd trapped for dinner.

Shuuzou's mother was kind, for the one year that she had been alive with Seijuurou living with them. She had tried to integrate the redhead into their family, but both Seijuurou and Shuuzou just ignored her attempts; Seijuurou didn't want a new mother-figure after being abandoned by the previous one, while Shuuzou just wanted to live to see the next day and thus simply treated Seijuurou as another provider of the group, to the redhead's relief.

It was Shuuzou who had taught Seijuurou how to hunt and prepare the catch, and his mother that taught the abandoned child how to cook and collect edible plants. When they got older, they chose to call the other their brother of their own volition, which made the decision even sweeter to them.

Seijuurou woke from his reverie and grabbed the carcass. 'Boar…seems we'll be eating well tonight. And I'll have to check Shuuzou for injuries since the idiot tries to hide them from me all of the time.'

The eighteen year old worked in silence for a while, and heard immediately when Shuuzou returned. The other man placed some collected herbs on the counter and began chopping some of the vegetables they had for more nutrients.

They had finished and were halfway through eating their meal when the door busted open.

"There he is! Protect the Prince!" Suddenly two men just barged into their house, one tackling Shuuzou to the floor and the other drawing a sword to kill him. Shuuzou struggled against them, snarling, and Seijuurou stood up so quickly that the chair screeched back and fell.

"Who are you to intrude on our home?" Seijuurou growled, hand going to the tantou that was mounted on the wall.

The man with the sword turned to look at him and bowed slightly. "Your Highness, we are a part of your father's Guard. We were searching for you when we heard that you were being held hostage here and came to save you from this barbarian." He looked distastefully at the growling male pinned to the ground and raised his sword again.

Seijuurou's eyes narrowed in understanding and hatred. 'They're from the palace. Like hell I'll go anywhere without Shuuzou.' Firming his resolve, the redhead grabbed the tantou from its place on the wall, unsheathed it, and placed the sharpened edge against his own neck. "If you kill him," he warned, "I will gladly take my own life as well."

"My prince!" the swordsman shouted, surprised. "Why do you even care for the fate of this commoner?"

Seijuurou firmed his grip on the weapon and moved it so that it nicked his skin, blood beading up and flowing down slightly. "I certainly care for him more than any who live in the palace," he spat, disgusted. "They, who abandoned me, left me for dead in the woods when they thought that the Empress might be pregnant. It was Shuuzou who saved me, him and his mother who taught me to survive in this world. So try to think things through a bit when you dare to ask me why I care about someone."

The swordsman looked properly chastened (frightened about the blood on the Prince's neck was probably a better description) and sheathed the sword while the other man scrambled off of Shuuzou. The black-haired male glared at them before he stalked over to Seijuurou. He grabbed the redhead's chin and lifted it, inspecting the thin slice on his neck and making annoyed sounds at him.

While Shuuzou herded him to a chair and got bandages out to tend to the cut, Seijuurou kept his eyes on the intruders to ensure that they stayed a proper distance away from either of them. His housemate ignored the men and the redhead's death glare at said men with the ease that the only person comfortable around Seijuurou could as he carefully stopped the blood flow and worked to keep it from becoming infected.

Once he finished that, the noirette gripped at Seijuurou's wrist, gently tugging the tantou out of his grip, which the redhead allowed after a look at his friend. As the older male began to clean and check over the blade, the younger glared at the soldiers.

"So what are you two doing here?" He demanded of them, scowling whenever their eyes strayed to Shuuzou.

"My Prince," the swordsman started talking, the other staying silent beside him. "We were sent to find you. Your father is on his deathbed, and you're the only one that can inherent."

Seijuurou shot a glance at his friend to see if this rather sudden reveal would startle him, but couldn't read anything that would tell him; meaning either Shuuzou didn't care or he didn't want their uninvited guests to see him out of his depth. "My father," he said slowly, "was an ungrateful man, who threw me out of the palace before my ninth year. Why should I care for his fate?"

The soldiers looked at each other uncomfortably, not sure how to continue at Seijuurou's indifference. They actually glanced at Shuuzou briefly for help at one point, which made the older male snort as he looked back at them, fingering the tantou in his hand with the ease of one familiar with the blade.

The two looked at Seijuurou once more before falling to their knees before him, bowing their heads. "Please, Your Highness," the swordsman begged. "We need a new ruler, and you're the only one left to keep the bloodline pure."

Seijuurou kept his eyes on them for a moment before looking at Shuuzou. "What do you think?" he asked him.

Shuuzou looked at him in surprise before grabbing a fruit from the table. "Why does it matter what I think? It's your life."

"True," Seijuurou nodded. "But you're going with me."

The older male stopped from taking a bite out of the fruit in his hand. "I'm sorry, what?"

The arrival at the palace went about as well as Shuuzou expected it to. That is, poorly for him, quite well for Seijuurou. The redhead was welcomed with open arms by everyone, even the councilmen they suspected were the ones to decide his exile in the first place, to both their disgust. On the other hand, those same people were quick to look down their noses at Shuuzou, who personally didn't care though Seijuurou was quite offended on his behalf.

When they were telling Seijuurou his duties and what his tutors would teach him, they snidely asked if Shuuzou would be working as a palace servant or stable boy. "I'm more interested in being a soldier, thanks," he cut in swiftly. "After all, I would much rather be of use to Seijuurou by defending his new kingdom than sitting around telling others what to do with themselves." He smiled pleasantly at them as the redhead beside him lifted a sleeve to hide his amusement and the council members' faces turned red at the implication of their uselessness.

"Of course, sir," one said, smiling falsely and saying "sir" as if it were an offensive term. "I'll see that you have classes on etiquette and knowledge of the ranks, as well as ones on battle tactics. Is that acceptable, Seijuurou?"

Shuuzou gave an aborted wince as the Prince's eyes froze over. "If you, any of you, call me that again," he said coldly, "I will have you flogged for assuming such closeness is between us. It is not. The only person who may call me by that name is Shuuzou, and no one else."

The man cringed back. "Apologies, my Prince. But what of your mother?"

Seijuurou stood in dismissal, Shuuzou a step behind him. "I have no mother."

The idiot council members began learning their place after that, though Shuuzou wished he was there when they began getting reports of how his grasp on battle tactics improved daily as he clung to the new information like a dog with a bone. From Seijuurou's laughter when they met up again, it was quite memorable.

He left those classes quickly and was assigned the rank of Captain and deployed to one of the campaigns in the east. What caught his attention the most was the group assigned to him. "Hanamiya Makoto," he read aloud, "the 'Spider'. Only really listens to Imayoshi Shouichi, and even that is with great reluctance." Despite himself, Shuuzou felt his lips quirk up in a dark smile.

He shut the file. "We'll see."

Makoto grumbled when he heard that there would be a new Captain taking over. There wasn't any point in finding out more; all of the Captains were boring, keeping him on a tight leash when it came to getting information out of the men they captured. Boring, dull, predictable Captains.

Then he met the man, and he could confess that he was…intrigued.

They were a small battalion, consisting of Makoto and his favored subordinates and two scouts for day and night vigils. The new Captain, Nijimura Shuuzou, greeted them all equally, nodding his head in acknowledgement to each of them before being escorted to his tent. He ate with them, talked with them about the campaign and their duties, and didn't even bat an eye at learning that they were a torture and interrogation unit.

He actually wanted to know more about them, and that fascinated Makoto and his subordinates as a whole. A few of them actually responded well to the attention. And then they got their first prisoner. Nijimura observed the man restrained in the tent, exited, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Try not to kill him." was all he said on the matter.

Makoto stared after the departing Captain, gathered his men, and set to work. With that kind of trust and confidence being given to them, they would do their damned best to get as much out of the guy as possible.

By dawn, they had everything they could get from the man, though Nijimura gave them some annoyed glances since the screams kept him up all night from the looks of it. That was still better than the frightened stares the scouts kept giving them. When Makoto handed him the information they gathered, Nijimura paged through it all and nodded in satisfaction.

"Very nice," he commended, and Makoto saw Kentarou, who'd finalized the report, puff his chest out a little. "Kill the soldier," the Captain added. "We've gotten everything we can out of the man from what I can see, and we'll be sent another tomorrow night. I'd like to get a full night asleep, even if none of you do," he joked at the end, and Makoto's team chuckled a little at his petulantly sullen look.

Sure enough, they received another man the next day, and this one Nijimura stared at more speculatively. "He can be swayed," he murmured to Makoto quietly once he stepped out of the tent. "Make it where he can still talk by breakfast." Makoto almost pouted at the command, but paused. The man had been fairly slack with his leash thus far; he might as well follow this order and see what happens.

It was beautiful.

They did as he asked and lightened their treatment to a few broken bones and a dislocated shoulder. The soldier gave up some information, but as much as they would have liked. When the sun rose, Nijimura swept in before the man was aware of him and handed them all their food. There was approval in his eyes after he'd taken a look at the man before Makoto watched as a mask of concern and distaste slipped over his face before he carefully walked over to the man who saw him and flinched.

"Hey, hey," he soothed, his voice suddenly gentling as his manner of speech matched those of a simple soldier. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just came to give you breakfast." He gestured to the plate in his hand, and the captured soldier's eyes trailed to it before he struggled to get up. Nijimura moved to help him up, but ended up flinching back and stammering apologies when he "accidentally" grabbed the wrong shoulder.

Makoto watched Kazuya leave, looking like he wouldn't be able to contain his amusement for much longer, and the Spider agreed with the sentiment. This was pretty funny, and the poor fool was falling for it! They could see it in their captive's eyes as he believed their Captain's 'concerned foot soldier' act.

Soon Nijimura managed to get him to eat the food and talk a little about his home life, telling a story that Makoto was half-certain was completely fake about himself before enquiring about the other. When he left after promising to return after dinner, their Captain made sure the soldier saw him slink by Makoto looking nervous and wary. The Spider snorted; the look didn't suit his Captain at all.

They followed this routine for two more days, with Nijimura playing the soldier who cared more than he should whenever he was in the tent and Makoto and his team playing the big bad torturers (which wasn't too far off the mark for Makoto and his group's part), before the Captain closed his teeth around his unwitting prey. "So what are you going to do?" He asked the soldier, eating breakfast across from him. "Your army probably thinks you've deserted at this point. You can't go back now."

"I…I don't know," the soldier said, looking lost. "My family's waiting for me, but I can't go back – they'd kill me."

Nijimura looked thoughtful, before "hesitantly" offering, "You could start over in our kingdom. I mean, I know we haven't shown you our…best side," here he paused, "sheepish", "but our kingdom is willing to grant asylum to soldiers who give information about their former land to us. If you write to your family, I'll find a way to get it to them, and they can live here as well."

"Th-thank you!" The soldier stammered, relieved to be able to get out of this alive. "Yes, I'll tell you everything I can!"

Nijimura grinned. "Wonderful! Tell me what you can now; the vultures around us are probably eavesdropping and will write down everything you say. I'll get some paper when we finish and you can tell me what to write. I'll find a way to get it to your family." Nijimura cut the ropes around the man, who happily began spilling everything he knew.

The man and his family were granted asylum a week later, and rumors of their group's "generosity" spread to the other camps, both enemy and ally.

Makoto and his team laughed themselves to tears once the grateful soldier had left, and swore their loyalty to no one but Captain Nijimura. He was too good to lose.

Seijuurou found the War Councils dull, if only because they never took his opinion into account. That and they spent an inordinate amount of time obsessing over his friend's progress. Well, at least he got to know Shuuzou's progress.

It was during a War Council that someone ran in, shouting, "Sir! Hanamiya Makoto has sent in a report!"

One of the men looked up eagerly at that, and Seijuurou found his attention slightly straying as his manservant refilled his tea. "Oh? What does it say?"

It was only after the question was answered that anyone noticed how pale the man seemed. He opened the missive with slightly shaking hands. "He reports that information gathered is remarkably high and that they've managed to turn about 15 soldiers against their home country. He has also…" he man gulped. "He and his men have also sworn their loyalty only to Captain Nijimura, and will refuse any assignment not with him."

There was a deathly silence in the room, and Seijuurou leaned back on his cushion in amusement as activity suddenly exploded around him, Shuuzou's more active enemies on the Council actually began swearing at this while another few looked pale and frightened at the thought of this Hanamiya swearing allegiance to anyone.

As they were running about like ants with their mound kicked over, Seijuurou looked at his manservant. "Tetsuya, would you mind getting me some snacks? This will most likely take longer than anticipated."

Kuroko Tetsuya bowed his head. "Hai, Akashi-sama." He then disappeared from view with none of the Councilor Members noticing his sudden absence, if they had noticed him at all before.

The room slowly calmed down again, and Seijuurou couldn't stop the fond smile that appeared on his lips. His brother certainly knew how to stir up a room, he would give him that. "So what is wrong with Shuuzou attaining this Hanamiya's loyalty?" He asked them, not too concerned but curious all the same.

"Hanamiya is not the kind of person who would swear himself to anyone," one of the councilmen sniffed. "He cares for nothing but the pain of others. He lives to break whoever is thrown to him. What could he possibly see in Captain Nijimura to inspire such actions?"

Seijuurou nodded to Tetsuya in thanks as a plate of fruits appeared by his hand, and took a grape. "Shuuzou is a…'understanding' isn't the right word for it. It's almost as if he can see your limits. He can look at you, and know how far you will go, what you would do, for anything. He knew and respected my limits regarding my past, and that was a major part in us swearing brotherhood to one another. He is also not a kind person. What you've seen of him is only what he shows friendly or neutral parties. When it comes to things that matter to him, in this case my safety, he will do anything. Even help Hanamiya break these people if he deems it necessary."

He ate the grapes in the horrified silence that followed, and smiled. "In all honesty, theirs is a matching of skills of which I highly approve."

He left them to their fearful eyes and paranoia with Tetsuya a half-step behind him. "I think you've frightened your advisors, Akashi-sama," his manservant noted, his voice a dispassionate monotone.

Seijuurou's gold eye, the sign of his inheritance, glinted in satisfaction. "I should hope so." They walked further in silence before the redhead shot his companion a look. "And I've told you; call me Seijuurou."

"Of course Akashi-sama."

The courtship taking place between servant and master was a rather strange one, Tetsuya admitted. He didn't even know how it began; just that Akashi was a very persistent man in regards to attaining what he wanted. And Tetsuya admired that about him, but the blue-haired teen (man now, in the five years he'd served his Prince at the palace) wanted to keep to certain traditions.

Namely, attaining Akashi's family's approval.

It would be easy in the fact that it was only one person. It would also be difficult as that one person is the Terror of the Eastern Front himself, Nijimura Shuuzou, who was climbing up the ranks tenaciously and was now the rank of Colonel.

Tetsuya could feel his apprehension rising but bit it back and approached the man resting under the tree outside. Nijimura was back from the string of campaigns he was assigned to and was resting for the week before being sent back out again. This was therefore the best time to talk to him. When he got close enough to rouse the other, a body dropped from the trees, somewhat startling Tetsuya though he gave nothing away. He did however back up at the sight of Hanamiya Makoto looking warningly at him.

"And why are you here, little rabbit?" The Spider of the Empire purred, stepping closer and relishing in Tetsuya's step back. "Come to bother the Terror while he's sleeping? Surely you have better things to do elsewhere."

The manservant wanted to agree with the man before him, if only to leave his presence, but a voice cut off any response he may have given. "At ease, Makoto." The two turned to see Nijimura moving off of the tree, rubbing his eyes. "He's here for something of personal importance."

"Oh?" Hanamiya sounded curious, but did back off and lay himself on the ground inches from Nijimura's leg.

Tetsuya frowned mildly at him then looked at the Colonel. "Sir," he began. "I wish to have your blessing to truly be with Seijuurou-sama." In the four years since that argument began, Seijuurou-sama was the most familiar Tetsuya would act with his master, to the redhead's mixed delight and annoyance.

Nijimura stared at Tetsuya, testing his limits perhaps, and Tetsuya stared back until the noirette smiled and leaned forward. "I can see that you care for Seijuurou," he said. "It's as clear as the stars on a cloudless night. And you have been training to be able to protect yourself and him," he added, and Tetsuya folded his hands more carefully at that note. "You want to make him happy and you wish to keep him safe; how can I say no to such conviction in your eyes and heart?"

Tetsuya's shoulders dropped slightly in relief, and he bowed. "Arigato…nii-sama."

Nijimura gave him a book he had and waved him off with a slight smile. "Read this as well, and you'll be fully set to protect my otouto to the best of your abilities, which is all that I can ask of you." Hanamiya stared at the manservant as he left.

Once he had stepped away from the two and returned to the interior of the palace, Tetsuya looked at the book. It was one of poisons and herbs and ways to tell them apart, and the bluenette could see why so many people were so taken with this man.

"Was that wise?" Makoto asked his superior once the boy had left, removing those few inches between them to drape himself over Shuuzou's leg. "Wouldn't it be better for the Emperor to marry a princess from another kingdom? You know, improve relations, continue the bloodline and so on?"

A dark look appeared on Shuuzou's face at the thought, and Makoto could see the predator lurking in the man that the Spider of the Empire had fallen in love with years ago. "I would see this kingdom burn before I let my little brother marry someone for the sake of the Empire or the continuation of a bloodline," he swore, and Makoto didn't bother telling him that he would be right behind him as he did so, as would all of his men.

After all, Shuuzou was far too good a thing for him to let go.

*Omake*

"We can't think of anything new to do to the prisoner." Makoto found himself uncharacteristically whining at Shuuzou as the Major ate his dinner. "It's starting to get boring," he complained petulantly, and Shuuzou looked at him for a moment before staring thoughtfully at the spoon in his hand.

"Have you ever tried to skin something with a spoon?" he asked his second in command seriously. Makoto opened his mouth to answer before the idea actually sparked interest and inspiration in his mind, and he wordlessly shook his head. "It's hard," the Major admitted, appearing lost in thought. "The rabbit was dead, but the skin itself was tough to get through. So good luck." And then he tossed the spoon to Makoto.

The Spider knew then that it could only be love.

When he continued staring at his superior officer, the man huffed and finished off his soup. "You act like I just proposed to you," he teased. "Get back to work."

Makoto looked Shuuzou dead in the eye. "If you proposed right now," he said, "I would say yes."

*End Omake*

Fun fact: This started as a NijiAka. And then Hanamiya showed up, went "nope" and hijacked it. So now it's NijiHana and AkaKuro (which frustrates me a little because AkaKuro is the primary pairing for nearly every Kingdom!AU fic).

Sorry if the ending is a bit weak, it didn't really know how it wanted to end, since there was also thought of a possible ten years later type of epilogue scene.

Please review.

Ja ne!