Note: First of all, welcome to Superiority! I'm certainly unsure about writing Akashi, seeing as he is quite complex to write about overall. Nonetheless, I do hope he is not overly OOC (suggestions would be highly appreciated—I'll certainly edit whatever mistake I've made if he becomes too OOC). Also, if my OC appears to be a Mary Sue on this chapter, it is mainly because I am not writing deep into her character (yet), but merely just on top of it.

Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is owned by Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Part I: Darker —より暗い

章 01: The Housekeeper

Her gentle hands were securely gripping on the large ladle as it was encircled by the pot filled with her superior's most preferred food. The young housekeeper's unfathomable eyes were focusing on the daily task that she had to always undergo each following day. He had undoubtedly illustrated his loathe against eating the same meal too often, so she had promptly delayed the days when she would cook his favorite food—a mannerism in which allowed her to keep her job to this day.

There was a ghosted smile playing on the adolescent's soft lips, that, if looked closer, a person could detect the slight glint of lip-gloss, which prevented her lips from drying out. She had the posture of an educated civilian of Japan, never once has she been caught with a slouch upon her back, nor has she been reported to act ill mannered towards anyone. It was a discipline that she (and was required to) learned through her years of living in this large property that she considered her home; she lived here, after all.

Once her eyes carefully speculated the tofu soup to see its cooking process, she swiftly spotted the burning bubbles starting to form on its steaming hot surface. This signalization indicated that tonight's dinner was finally ready, though she hoped that the heterochromatic-eyed shogi player would arrive home on time, seeing as she knew that he despised reheated food. Not only the Emperor, but also the housekeeper disliked it as well; the process of reheating meals typically reduced the food's appetizing taste. She didn't want to disappoint him, for that was what she feared the most out of his general, fearful character.

Despite the miniature population of the household (which was only two, if she was excluded), the housekeeper, who went by the non-prominent name of Sarina Inoue, loved cooking full meals. Through her bright-colored eyes, a flicker of delight could be seen whenever she cooked scrumptious meals to the one male she has known for a large amount of time in her sixteen years of living. It was Sarina's favorite daily task; she observably preferred it to cleaning floors, bathrooms, or furniture.

Turning off the stove, she slid the pot away from the burning stovetop and placed it on its cooler side to the left. A pleasing smell emitted from the top as it had its cover removed. Aside from its main plate, Sarina baked the traditional vanilla cake just a few hours after Akashi Seijūrō's departure to Rakuzan High. It was left untouched, for she wanted to wait for him to have eaten a piece of it before she did.

Sarina's tender hands tightly gripped on the bowl filled with tofu soup as she carried it towards the luxurious dinning table. She was slightly disappointed that Akashi's father wouldn't be attending the family dinner due to his tight schedule tonight, but it fortunately did not happen too often.

When she finished placing today's meal on the table, she carefully looked back a second time—she wanted to make sure there wasn't a flaw on her preparations. After all, her primary goal was to avoid displeasing him on any way possible. Under this household, everything was expected to be performed with pure excellence, and therefore she was also expected to do so, too.

After walking out of the dinning room, she gazed outside to see the sky starting to get covered by dark gray clouds, a warning that it might start to rain soon. It was good—Sarina noticed that they have been lacking rain around the area. This was something that she loved about this house: completely extravagant in pure simplicity—providing the guest with magnificent views of its surrounded landscape through the house's large windows.

Upon walking back into the kitchen in order to start cleaning the slight mess she had made, her vivid ears heard a door closing, signalizing her that the captain of Rakuzan's basketball team was finally home. Thankfully though, it wasn't that big of a mess that she had to clean though, it only consisted on two pots, a few bowls, and utensils. Sarina also cooked some for herself, which she would be eating after she was done cleaning the outstanding kitchen that she always found overly large for such a small family.

However, her mood perked up positively, noting that her superior had come back from a possible long day in Rakuzan. Seijuro Akashi had quite a few extra-curricular activities, and each of them required his outmost attention; he's the captain of the prominent basketball team, and the president of the student council as well.

Without any evidence of displeasure, Sarina Inoue wiped her hands on a kitchen cloth before walking out towards the main entrance.

Master's home.

"Seijuro-sama," her soft voice echoed through the foyer once she saw the flash of bright scarlet hair enter the large house as she firmly bowed in respectfulness. Sarina had a faint smile playing on her face, all in all glad that he had arrived just in time to eat his dinner. "Welcome home."

Her fearlessness towards him was intriguing, in view of the fact that there wasn't a hint of fright drowning in her pool filled with gradually darker shades of blue, also known as her eyes. This fact was proven when his intimidating and vastly hazardous heterochromatic orbs locked with her innocent, evenly colored ones. Yet, there was always evidence of dread—she fears of having him be displeased of whatever she has done, or having her unintentionally challenge him, and Akashi was outstandingly aware of that.

Sarina served under him, thus, it granted her access to look at his enigmatic pair of eyes without defying him—unless he ordered her not to. Everything he commanded was something to be considered as absolute, especially if someone was in the housekeeper's shoes. Sarina never dared to doubt his decisions. The mere reason to why she was allowed to refer to him by his first name was due to his father that she, too, served under.

She had a rather small stature comparing to his average height. Sarina's oceanic eyes were slightly tilting up to meet his eyes, which were only a few meters away from her body's current location. She had her hands placed atop of each other while resting on her lower torso, back resolutely straight in a highly civilized posture.

"Good evening, Sarina," Seijuro Akashi greeted back rather plainly, his profound voice sounding almost monotonous—but the mere allusion of his unyielding and perfectionist tone contradicted so. He had the voice of a man who knew exactly what he spoke out, utterly educated since he grew up to become excellent under any department given to him. It wasn't until recent years that he had started to refer to her by her first name. She never questioned him about this sudden adjustment though, knowing that it will merely just be a nuisance. Moreover, she also never dared to oppose him. This change happened when his eye turned yellow, too.

Just moments later, he resumed his way into his home, pulling his arm out—which was currently gripping onto his schoolbag—towards the housekeeper. Without hesitation, Sarina gladly took it from him, all without forming any physical contact of any sort. There wasn't uncertainty when someone would describe Sarina Inoue as an excellent housekeeper. She respected people's privacy with a high level of integrity, and performed her chores to the highest quality that she was able to offer.

"My father?" He asked with a vague clue of inquisitiveness. Mr. Akashi possessed a demanding schedule each day since he is CEO of his own company. Despite this, he always arrived in time for dinner and to interact with his son, too, but, of course, sometimes there were a few exceptions. Seijuro Akashi didn't stop walking though, as he knew that the young housekeeper would be trailing behind him nonetheless. He minimally just turned his head to the side and let his stern eyes slightly look at her for a moment.

"He is still at work, Seijuro-sama," Sarina truthfully replied, her light footsteps indistinctly echoing in the vast hallway as she carried his bag. Smiling once again, she said, "I have cooked you dinner—your favorite meal, Seijuro-sama. The tofu soup is still hot, just the way you prefer it to be," she paused. "As for dessert, I baked vanilla cake." It was high and clear that she was proud of her own work; noticeably because it was something that she did everyday. Thus, she always wanted to improve on her own cooking—even though she has done it so repeatedly for years.

Sarina noticed him nod in response as he said, "Very well," with the negligible form of a smile his features produced. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Seijuro-sama," she said tranquilly, and then asked, "What would you like to drink with your meal?"

"Water, please."

His voice swayed smoothly as he walked along the hallway to redirect himself to the dinning room. Akashi's features were left alluring and unreadable, mellow and firm with an aura of a perfectionist. His stance was exceptionally synonymous to that of an emperor, his enthralling gaze was one that spoke volumes if ever legible, and carried the bright mind of an intelligent man that seemed to have lived for over a century in a short time of just sixteen years.

Taking a deep, soothing breath, she smiled. "Yes… As the young master wishes."

Note: Anyway, I hope you like it so far. Questions that you might wonder: why is she working for him? And how has she been there for so long? They will be answered logically on the chapters to come. This OC will eventually show her other traits. Honestly, I do not want people to assume she is all that quiet and stuff. Reviews would be lovely (favorite/follow/review will encourage me to write chapters faster!) :-)