Author's Note: I have to seriously get rid of this habit of writing new fanfics but being unable to finish any of them. :/ Well. Guess I'll have to try and try until I succeed. Ha ha! We'll see where this goes.
Title: Solidarity
Summary: A memory long forgotten. A question left unanswered. A desire left unfulfilled – three things carefully kept in the young Chief's heart. They come to light with the appearance of a phantom dancer, inciting the young Chief to pursue them freely. Fem!KurokoxAkashi
Disclaimer: Nope. If I did, I wouldn't be able to stress-write all my fanfics.
Prologue
Standing on that stage was a waiflike existence.
Dancing.
Fluttering.
Absolutely captivating.
Lustrous long strands of blue, porcelain skin, eyes of the palest blue – all paired with the alluring contrast of red lips and flushed cheeks, together with the glitter of the hair ornaments and her dancing fan.
It was undoubtedly a sight to behold.
Without warning, she suddenly appeared on that stage, capturing the attention and fully mesmerizing the audience. The sound of tinkling bells rang with every step, beautifully matching the koto playing in the background. Her movements were fluid and at one point, she would disappear in one place and suddenly appear at a different place on the stage – earning numerous gasps of surprise from the audience.
And just as she entered, with one last piercing gaze – she disappeared abruptly in a sea of white petals, signaling the end of the performance.
The roars of appreciation and grand applause soon followed after. The head of the school came forward to greet all the guests and say thank you on behalf of the school; it was a young woman in her twenties who had long caramel brown hair, brown eyes, and a self-assured air around her.
"Thank you for your continued patronage. I, Aida Riko, as the current head of the Seirin school of dance wish to convey our deepest gratitude to all of you for gracing us this evening with your presence. Her voice was steady and confident.
From the seats, a young blonde man with pierced eyes smiled pleasantly.
"Akashi-cchi! What do you –" He turned to converse with his seatmate – who had abruptly disappeared. His visible excitement melted into befuddlement.
"Eh?"
From the other side of the empty chair, a giant man whose purple hair was pulled back into a ponytail was nonchalantly chewing on some bread, lazily watching the person called Aida Riko.
"Murasakibara-cchi!" The blonde waved to get the attention of the said giant. "Akashi-cchi is –!" panic was creeping into his voice.
The tall man gave him a sideways glance.
"Aka-chin?" He pulled out another piece of bread from the paper bag neatly settled on his lap. "He slipped away some time after the blue fairy appeared." He responded in between chews in a lazy drawl.
"What! How could you just let him leave without us?!" Disbelief was evident in the blonde's voice.
From behind them, another voice spoke up with a sharp tone.
"Are you an idiot? It's not part of our job to dictate what he can and cannot do." The blonded turned toward the voice and faced a solemn green-eyed green-haired man. From beside the green-haired man came another voice.
"You were too engrossed in watching, Kise. The appearance of the blue fairy seemed to rattle him a bit. He went stock still once she came on stage." A dark-skinned man with dark blue hair quoted the term from the tall Murasakibara in his observation.
At that statement, the blonde blanked. "Truly? But Akashi's never seen her before." He said in wonder.
The man with dark blue hair gave a shrug. "Maybe she caught his eye."
This made Kise frown even further, "But Akashi's never shown any interest in any woman before, Aomine."
"Then this would be the first." The man called Aomine responded carelessly with a yawn. "Most of the performers are easy on the eyes, anyway."
The green-haired man frowned and adjusted his spectacles, "Kise, when you say 'any woman before' – were you perhaps referring to those shameless women who have been throwing themselves at him?" he asked distastefully, "I'm hardly surprised he's never shown the slightest interest." He added with a prominent frown.
"To be fair, Midorimacchi – they weren't all horrible." Kise defended automatically, ever the gentleman, but added as an afterthought, "Well, maybe only about a handful were actually worth considering." There was a slightly guilty expression at this admission.
"The food they gave me was tasty." Murasakibara added as he licked his fingers clean. Midorima's frown deepened, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean light green piece of cloth.
"At least use this to clean your hands." He chided the purple haired giant.
"Eh~ But I'm already done~" Murasakibara replied in a slightly complaining.
"Just do it, Murasakibara or he won't let up." Aomine interjected and the he pouted slightly.
The giant held out the large palm of his hand and Midorima dropped the cloth onto it.
"Ahh~ what a pain." He expressed immediately as he methodically cleaned his hands.
"Focus, men! Tell me, what makes the blue fairy worth Akashicchi's attention?" Kise raised the topic once more and his curiosity was more evident this time.
"Kise," Midorima cut in immediately.
The blonde turned to him with an expectant expression.
"It's none of our business." He said curtly, effectively ending the discussion the blonde wanted to pursue.
Kise's excitement deflated once more and he gave a rare frown.
"But I'm curious." The blonde whined.
"Then just ask him when he comes back." Aomine commented, eyes scanning the crowd for some busty girl perhaps. "If you're that curious you should be able to do just that, shouldn't you?" he asked pointedly.
At this, Kise pouted too. Now instead of one sulking adult, Midorima was left to handle two. He let out a sigh. He wondered how easily Akashi was able to tolerate the lot of them, himself included.
In another place within the same compound, the young Chief Akashi Seijuurou was running down the lamp-lit polished and neat hallway, trying to chase after the phantom dancer.
He listened raptly as he ran, trying to find echoes of tinkling bells – trying to find anything that would help him locate the person wearing those bells.
Where?
Where?
Where are you?
His robes were in a disarray, his hair clung to his forehead and his breaths came fast – no one, not even his closest friends had ever seen him like this. The young Chief was known to be calm, collected and unshakeable in every situation – right now, he was anything but.
However, appearances were the last thing on the young Chief's mind at that moment.
Something had stirred when those bells had echoed in that enclosed place where he had been moments before. A memory long forgotten, a question left unanswered, a desire left unfulfilled – all the things he had chosen to ignore until he had succeeded his father as Chief.
He paused to catch his breath and gazed at his surroundings. Moonlight glinted off the far-off pond and streaks of light slipped through the surrounding foliage of the building causing fragments of light to decorate the ground outside of the building.
Akashi took a deep breath. "Who are you?" he voiced aloud.
The question was left unanswered.
The only sounds he could hear were the leaves rustling in the wind and the crickets' hymns – steady and continuous.
He could hear no bells.
Akashi let out a soft sigh. "I will definitely find you. Prepare yourself."
Endnote: Um. Tell me what you think? Yay or nay?