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WARNING!: THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ 'Arc One: The Shadow's Past' SHOULD GO READ THAT FIRST BEFORE READING THIS ONE!

Hello everyone! Here's the first chapter of Arc Two! (\*^○^*/) Sorry it took me a while to do this. I was having doubts about how to go about it. I hope you like what this new arc is centered on. I personally think this one is going to be more fun than the last one since we got all the stuff about the different worlds out of the way, but if you think otherwise it's okay. It's your opinion after all! (*^-^*)

Finally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF YOU GUYS OUT THERE WHO HAVE REVIEWED, READ, FAVORITED, AND FOLLOWED, Kuroko no Past! T^T. You guys really kept me motivated to write the story. It's a wonderful experience to have when you realize there are people who actually WANT to read your story. T^T

Okay, now, here's the Key so you guys don't get confused:

'Bold'' - Estrelían

'Normal' - Japanese/English (A/N: Would it count as English since I'm writing it in English, or Japanese since technically that's the language that Kuroko and the rest speak andthat's what he uses to converse with...?)

'Italics' - Thoughts

The Shadow's Duty

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Chapter I: New Mission

*~Shadow Palace~*

Sunlight peeked through a dent in between two rugged mountains, settling on a cream-colored structure, with the structure's obsidian shaded flags whipping in the howling wind ominously. The residents were beginning to awake, starting their daily chores and/or duties. This was not the case however, for a particular teal-head in the castle. Kuroko Tetsuya was busy pondering over the events that had transpired the previous night, while silently pacing back and forth. 'I'm sure Marcuil saw me talking to Akashi-kun...so...why didn't he do anything? And besides,' Kuroko blushed a little at his next thought, 'I let Akashi-kun see me cry…how embarrasing...' Kuroko currently felt like he wanted to hide in Skodai's shadow. And that was saying something, as, Skodai himself, was hiding in Kuroko's shadow. Then, the boy's face morphed into one of reminiscence as he thought more abut Akashi and the rest of the GOM. 'But, I guess...I'll never see him again, since I'm sure he already went back with everyone...Still, it was nice knowing them...They were all great friends, and I'm sure everyone will lead happy lives, and get married, and stay friends forever and…' Kuroko's thoughts trailed off as warm tears began streaming down his face. Despite all he said about asking Akashi to forget him and tell the others to do the same, Kuroko himself knew that he would truly miss his friends, and Akashi most of all. He knew that he could never forget them, and that personally, he would have preferred to stay and grow old with them, and die with them in the end. However, Kuroko also knew that could never do that, because the differences between him and his friends were too great. He could never subject them -and himself- to the pain of letting his friends know that he was something akin to a monster. Something that didn't age like them, and could kill them in an instant if he got too emotional. Kuroko remained standing still for a few minutes, sadness the only visible emotion in his eyes. His thoughts then finally continued to move onto what else had happened that night, including his strange outburst of power, despite his annoyance only reaching about midlevel. His expression then changed into one of deep concentration as he pondeed on what cold have triggered it. 'The amount of power I emitted back there...I shouldn't be able to emit that much...could my seals be getting weaker? No, that isn't possible. The seals were made to last at least 200 years…' Kuroko now had slight shock etched on his face, as realization dawned on him. 'Could it be, someone ta-' His thoughts were cut short by the sound of a knock at the door resounding through the previously silent room. After a few empty seconds, a voice filtered through the teal painted door.

"Tetsuya-sama, His Majesty has summoned you for breakfast." Kuroko noted the higher pitch the voice had, identifying it as a woman. 'So it's not Marcuil...how strange. I wonder what happened…' Kuroko hadn't responded to the maid on the other side of the door due to the reasons he was internally conjuring up about why Marcuil wasn't the one who came to inform him of the King's summon for him, hence, he slightly worried the maid outside his door. The poor woman was imagining what could possibly happen to her if the King found out that the best warrior of Meturio, who she was supposed to inform, didn't show up. Due to this, she had decided to call out to the young Commander once again. "...Tetsuya-sama?" The maid questioned while knocking on the door a bit louder this time to ensure that she was heard. Finally realizing that he hadn't responded yet, Kuroko quickly formulated a reply.

"I understand. Please inform His Majesty there I shall there shortly." Kuroko fixed the creases on his clothes and began to head to the door of his bedroom, as he said this, and opened the door once he had assured himself that the maid was no longer within a 50 meter radius of his room. With one foot out the door, Kuroko mentally told Selutria and Skodai to lower their auras and try to be more docile. Kuroko felt that something was strange about this meeting with the King compared to the other ones, since it was not Marcuil who had come to call him this morning. That in itself had signified that the King needed the royal butler for something that was more important than watching the Commander of the Royal Army, which, was unusual, considering the fact that the teal-head had just escaped recently, so who said he wouldn't do it again at any opportunity he had right? As a result of these troubling thoughts, Kuroko walked slightly faster than normal, which then led to him reaching the throne room in about 2 minutes, despite his room being at the other end of the castle, and on the second floor, while the throne room itself was on the first floor.

"Commander" The guards at the door acknowledged him. Kuroko nodded, and waited until the large doors were unlocked, which then indicated that the King was ready to meet him. Kuroko now looked up at the gigantic door before him. He couldn't count how many times he had entered this room in his life. Well, he supposed that now wasn't the time for thinking about the past. Kuroko pushed on the now unlocked wooden and -seemingly- skyscraper high doors. He felt the heavy wooden and metal-lined doors move from the force his palms were exerting, with the wood creaking under the pressure, and the metal squeaking, showing the brown tints it had, as well as the door's age. Kuroko walked onto the obsidian colored carpet, and released the doors from his fingertips once he was a safe distance inside. The moment the doors were released from Kuroko's support, they began to fall back to their original place, sealing the room shut, leaving the King, his guests, and Kuroko to have a discussion with no fear of intruders. The room also had all of the curtains pulled away from the windows, allowing sunlight to filter through, and the Capital city to be seen from anywhere in the room. Kuroko walked towards the front of the room, and went down on one knee.

"Your Majesties," He said, acknowledging both the King and Queen. He then turned to the guests standing beside the two royals. "Lord Mayuzumi, Lady Mayuzumi." While the two royals nodded to the boy, with the King signaling him to stand up, the Mayuzumi heads, on the other hand, extended verbal greetings of their own.

"Commander Kuroko, the pleasure is all mine. Also, there is no need to be so formal, as you are engaged to our only daughter, and have, as such, brought her great happiness due to your acceptance of the arrangement, despite the suddenness of it." Lord Mayuzumi said, his ashen-colored eyes shining with gratefulness, and a small smile gracing the aging man's lips as he made a slight bow to Kuroko with his slightlý tanned skin reflecting the sunlight.

"Yes indeed, we are ever so grateful to you Commander Kuroko, for accepting our proposal, as well as protecting our kingdom from the other inhabitants of this realm." Kuroko turned to Lady Mayuzumi as she curtsied, and observed her features. The woman looked younger than her counterpart by at least 100 years, as she had no wrinkles to he seen, pale skin (not as pale as Kuroko though; more on the peachy side), waist length ashen-colored hair shining brilliantly in the early sunlight, and light green orbs that seemed to currently be glowing with life and happiness. She wore a magnificent yet simple dress, shaded light green and white, matching her eyes. (A/N: Imagine Cinderella's dress, but light greenish) With it, she wore white satin gloves that reached to her elbows. All in all, she looked like an older version of the girl Kuroko had met in the garden not too long ago. 'Ah, I see the resemblance…' Kuroko thought, before smiling up at the couple, and speaking.

"Oh no, My Lord and Lady. The pleasure is all mine, to have your daughter as my fiancé. I am quite honored to be allowed to have such a wonderful bride." As he said these words, he looked extremely happy, but only he himself and the King knew how he really felt. Internally, he knew that Mayuzumi Atsune was most likely not a bad person based on what he had seen of her at the Rose Garden. However, Kuroko also knew that he loves someone else already. Even if he could never meet him again, and that person may not even love him, he still does. However, because that person had most likely gone back to his original world already, Kuroko now thought that maybe being engaged to Mayuzumi Atsune was not such a bad thing, as it might help him move on. So now, with his new found determination, and an even brighter smile, he told the couple that he would take care of their daughter. Hearing this the couple smiled, and now turned their attention the King, which Kuroko also shifted his attention to, as he saw the couple doing so, which meant that they were now getting onto the main topic.

"Tetsuya, I have called you here today to give you a new assignment." The air in the room turned cold as Kuroko heard the words 'new assignment'. Most of the time, he wasn't given assignments, as he was the Commander, and therefore too powerful, but the few assignments that he had been given tended to not be all that pretty...for both him and the target. 'Wait,' Kuroko thought, 'Why are the Mayuzumis here? Them being my future parents-in-law doesn't credit them to know what exactly I'm doing behind the scenes as the Commander...since I'm not even married to their daughter yet…' Kuroko could therefore only come to one conclusion: The King was up to something, and it involved him, the Mayuzumi family, and so much secrecy that the King could only trust his most loyal servant, Marcuil to do the job. A slight smirk graced the King's face as he sensed the supiscious eyes that Kuroko was regarding him with. The King then shifted his positon on his chair to allow himself to prop up an elbow on one of the armrests, and then rest his cheek on his knuckes. "Tetsuya, as I'm sure you know, our army is a bit...small compared to the other nations." Kuroko nodded his head. Of course he knew. He had led and gone into battle with the said 'army' after all. Despite numbering only somewhere around 1000, the battle power of the whole army combined, with Kuroko, was able to win wars against the hundreds of thousands of members of the other races' armies, even the Alciens' army. The King then continued on with his speech. "You see, it seems that because we have been...a bit...docile for the last 400 or so years, the other races are starting to make a move against us. I'm sure you remember this from the meeting 2 weeks ago yes?" The King smirked a bit more, as he knew, that despite the meeting being 2 weeks ago in Estrelían time, for Kuroko, who was (in a way) gone for almost 4 years(Earth time), it would be like trying to look for a memory from when you were a baby when you are a teenager; extremely difficult, if not impossible. Kuroko however, still nodded only a few seconds after, without hesitation. This made the King smirk even more, but he did this internally of course, as actually smirking anymore would ruin his image of being a 'decent' ruler. Internally, he was a bit proud, as that was what he should have expected from Kuroko, after all. The boy had a tendency to achieve the impossible. Hence, why this mission was absolutely perfect for the young Commander. "Tetsuya, I wish for you to go to Mortia Academy, and find the traitor, become close to him, and kill him. Also, while you're at it, find some potential recruits why don't you? Finally, you shall be attending the school with Lady Atsune, so that she can learn how to help you on the missions that she will now be attending with you, and so that can get to know each other better." The King paused to relish in the slightly shocked face Kuroko had, and then continued. "You shall begin school in 2 days. During that time, you shall get ready, and learn as much as you can about the school, it's customs, and the students themselves. The Mayuzumis will fill you in on everything else. That is all. You are dismissed." Kuroko, despite having his mind reeling with this newfound information, got up, and did everything on instinct, including remembering his manners and bowing to both the King and Queen, and then the 2nd Lord and the 2nd Lord's Wife. By the time Kuroko had managed to fully process everything, he was already in his room. The boy was so exhausted from all of that information, that the second he touched his bed, despite it only being 10 in the morning, he immediately fell asleep.

*~Throne Room, Shadow Palace, After Kuroko and the Mayuzumis Left~*

A black abyss appeared in front of the King and Queen, and out of it came Marcuil, the royal butler. Marcuil kneeled before the King and spoke in Japanese, so as to not allow the Queen to understand what the two were conversing about.

"Marcuil. Is it done?" The King asked in a harsh tone.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Marcuil replied, a smirk present on his lips. "I have informed Lord Takao to tell his daughter, Lady Chiaki, of him sending an application for her and acceptance into Mortia Academy, and also, of Tetsuya-sama's acceptance there as well of course." The King's eyes became filled with sadistic glee as he heard those words.

"Is that so…" The King said lowly. "Very good. Keep it up. The plan is almost complete. Soon, Tetsuya will no longer be able to escape."

"Very well, Your Majesty, I shall take my leave now." Once the King nodded, Marcuil left the way he came, the black abyss disappearing with him.

"Dear, what were you two talking about? I heard the Commander's name." The Queen asked, genuine curiousty in her eyes.

"Nothing. Just about helping the boy to settle into Mortia. Besides, don't call me that. We're not in public anyway. " The King replied, with no emotion towards the Queen present in his eyes.

"I see…" The Queen said, when the King stood up and left to his own quarters. Despite being 'married' the two had never shared a bed, and they shared no relationship whatsoever besides a professional one. The two never loved each other. The Queen herself couldn't even remember the reason they married each other. The Queen then replayed the conversation the butler just had with her 'husband' in her mind. Even thought they thought that she didn't understand what they were saying, she did actually, quite well too. Before, she had disregarded all of the King's schemes, but not this time. Because this time, it involved Tetsuya. She had tolerated her husband's use of the boy as a way to dispose of troublesome people, she had tolerated the poor boy being trained everyday harsher than anyone else because she thought it was good for him. But getting the young Commander involved in something for the man's own amusement? No. That was where she drew the line. She was tired of just sitting around and being a figurehead. This time, she would make a difference.

Hello everyone! Thanks for reading, and once again, I would like to tank everyone who supported me, reviewed, favorited, and followed. I really like where this is going, and I have a ton of ideas, but let me know what you guys think okay? Criticism is appreciated as well, so feel free to write whatever you want! Okay, I think that's it. Well, See you all later!