Alright, so I finally mustered up enough courage to post this, even though this is the most uncertain I've been about a fanfic. I don't know why, my inner anxiousness is probably is kicking in (why now T-T). To those, who are reading my other KnB stories, don't worry! Both of them will be updated very soon. I'm sorry, I just needed to write this down, I couldn't get it out of my head T-T I really hope you will enjoy this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket nor its characters. It belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Warning: Unbeta-read, possible grammar mistakes and stupidity*gets slapped by her sister again*

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Prologue

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It still felt as if it all happened just yesterday. Memories of that fateful day were as vivid as ever and they all kept replaying in his mind, never giving a break. No matter how much time passed, he still remembered every single detail. It was, after all, hard to forget such a beautiful night, which was disrupted by something a child couldn't exactly understand.

The small light blue haired boy always enjoyed gazing up at the starts when he had to be sleeping long ago. They seemed so cold, so far, yet so beautiful. They gave the impression that if one would manage to reach them, the shining crystals would sting like small needles. Nevertheless, Kuroko never ceased to dream about them. It was only natural for a child to do so. He would dream how he fly high enough to reach the cold stars and could admire them from a distance no man has ever did. The child had heard the saying 'I wish I could give you the stars'. Kuroko wished for that too. He wanted to pin down at least one and gift it to a special person, one he would love the same way as his father loved his mother. But that was mere childish dreaming. Kuroko was aware of that, so all these thoughts he kept to himself.

That is why Kuroko was one of the first people in the town, the capital, to notice the strange, yet alarming disturbance. Just as the child was staring at the dark sky, his sensitive ears picked up an unnerving sound coming from afar. The boy, caught by curiosity, leaned further out his window in search for the sound. And there, right up the hill and the gorgeous palace where their newly crowned kind resided, disturbance could be seen and heard. Different shouts and cries traveled from there as well as occasional lights. However, what confused the knowing people who were also observing the midnight event was the actual lack of fire. If it were an intruder and a dangerous enough one to wake up the whole palace, why wasn't the guards fighting more fiercely? But such thoughts didn't bubble up in a small child's head. The boy could only observe the disturbance with curious eyes. However, even such a little child could understand that this couldn't mean anything good. The new king was a nice person, so why would there be shouting at his home?

Either way, after awhile the noise died down and everything returned to normal. Or at least that's what a certain blue haired boy thought as he once again lifted his eyes back to the gorgeous night sky.

The first thing that immediately seemed off the next morning to the people was the lack of guards around the town. Usually when a new king was crowned a decent amount of guards would be sent to patrol around the city for a few months or so, but today no one could see any. The events of last night spread like wildfire and worry and anxiousness began dwelling up in the people. The marketplace was the most popular part of the town, so that is where most of them had gathered to discuss this whole ordeal. Ideas about travelling up the hill to the palace began spreading, but all of that was quickly disrupted by a man in expensive clothes on a horse. All of the townsfolk recognized him as the royal messenger, so immediately they directed their attention to him.

The man stopped in the middle of the marketplace and when he was sure that everyone's eyes were on him, he spoke. Another strange thing was that he didn't take out any sort of scroll like he usually does when announcing something important.

''An emergency announcement will be made today at the front gates of the palace. The members of the King's Council are requested to attend as soon as possible.'' The messenger spoke loud and clear. However, someone with a more observant eye could notice the paleness of the man's face and the slightly shaking hands.

Different question began erupting from crowd, varying from 'What happened last night?' to 'Why there?'. However, the messenger refused to tell them anything else and simply repeated the announcement. After that, he turned his horse around and rode off, leaving a confused crowd behind in the dust.

Chatter and discussions could have been heard around the marketplace and the announcement spread around the whole town. Seeing this whole commotion, a certain frail woman, who had come to the marketplace to buy some string, quickly grabbed her small child by the hand and lead him out of the marketplace, completely forgetting about her initial task. She wasn't stupid and could understand the seriousness of this situation.

''Tetsuya, listen to me now.'' The woman spoke quickly as he knelt down to her child's eye level. ''Go home and stay there. Do not come out. I will return soon enough, your father will as well.''

Any other child would have refused to do so immediately, but Kuroko was more clever than that. He understood that he wouldn't be able to convince his mother to change her mind, so the boy just nodded and ran off to the direction of his house. At least that's what his mother thought. In truth Kuroko just got out of the woman's sight and waited for her go searching for his father before he quietly returned to the marketplace. The announcement spread wildly and after awhile all at the moment available members had gathered in one place and decided that they didn't have any other choice and began heading towards the palace. Negative emotions spread through the crowd in an uncontrolable speed.

The small boy waited a bit until the rest of the townsfolk attention shifted from the council members and quickly caught up to them. He was careful to stay at the very end, but that was just to double safety precautions. With his frail and little body, not to mention his inborn lack of presence, it was no trouble for Kuroko to keep out of everyone's sight. No one knew what was going on, but it was obvious that nothing good.

Not long after the crowd of men had finally reached the said hill. Just up ahead stood a magnificent palace, which has hosted many generations of rulers. Gorgeous and huge gardens surrounded the whole place, which were perfectly well kept. The palace itself was made from exquisite white marble, though its roof was covered in red ceramic plates. Every arc form window was made with the clearest glass and silk curtains covered them from the inside. Some of them had balconies with the most extravagant railings, carved out with astonishing skill. At the very front of the gorgeous palace stood a magnificent fountain.

However, here, the same as back in town, no guards were present. Usually quite a large number of them patrolled all the way up the stairs to the palace, but now there were none. Only the front golden gate was opened ajar and at the very top stood five people. Not only that, a row of armored men also stood behind them in a strict row, almost as if they were mere statues. A few were also present in the exact middle of the stair path. The members of the council didn't ponder too much and began climbing up the marble stairs. There were exactly four sets of them and when they reached the third one, where the armored men stood, they all stopped.

Taking his chance, Kuroko quietly maneuvered through the confused and tense crowd and ended up at the very front. Now he could clearly take in the sight before all of them. The main focus were the five people at the very top. Each and every one of them had strange colored hair, just as Kuroko himself. The child always thought it was something exceptional only to him, but apparently not. They all firmly stood and looked down upon them as if they were some sort of gods. If truth be told, just from the mere sight, that statement wouldn't be too far off. The five young men really did resemble gods. Each had a strong aura around them and simply radiated confidence and power. Not to mention their extraordinary looks. They all seemed as if they were carved from marble with perfect proportions and lines. All five wore never before seen robes of the finest silk, colored with a rich pallet. However, the one that was above all of the others in each and every way, the one that immediately caught not only the child's, but all of the townsfolk attention and made their eyes simply glue to him was the one at the middle, who stood at the very front of the other males. He had the most intimidating aura around him and simply screamed authority and power. However, out of all his unique appearance features, the most striking ones were his piercing seemingly through everything sharp eyes and vivid crimson colored hair. It would be impossible to miss such a person. The man was the absolute opposite of Kuroko. He had the highest presence the child has ever seen and the most confident aura around him. Even a fool would immediately understand that this man was a born leader.

''Greetings, members of the King's Council of this kingdom.'' The crimson haired man finally spoke. His voice was as smooth as the finest silk, though also strong as an unbreakable diamond. The way he spoke his words and how his perfect shaped lips moved accordingly simply enchanted the small boy. ''I go by the name Akashi Seijuurou. I gathered all of you here this bright morning to announce that from this day forward I am the new and only ruler of this kingdom.''

Naturally, that caused an uproar to break out in the confused crowd of men. They began demanding for an explanation and some even tried to get closer, but their moves were quickly stopped by the new supposed guards. The young man of all of their focus patiently waited for the shouts to die down even slightly, so he could continue speaking.

''Allow me to enlighten you further.'' He started and locked his hands behind his back. ''For awhile I have been observing this kingdom from afar, but recent events made me finally take action. This once proud kingdom is slowly but surely falling apart. I could not let that simply happen. Do not misunderstand me, I do not mean you any harm. I merely believe it would be in this kingdom's best interest if I finally took the crown.''

''What about our king?'' A loud question broke through all of the other enraged chatter.

''Your king, you ask?'' Akashi Seijuurou's voice was now decorated with a tint of amusement. He turned his head slightly and motioned something to one of the armored men, who quickly took off back through the gates. ''Your kind was a foolish man. He made the grave mistake of trying to defy me. So did his guards and other residents. I applaud them for their loyalty, but it was an incredibly unwise decision. No one is allowed to deny me. Not the peasants, not the guards, not the king. I am completely absolute and those, who choose to believe otherwise, will pay the price.''

Just then that man returned with something in his hands. He held a silver tray on which some sort of item was placed that was covered with a dark red material. The man walked to the side of the self-appointed new leader and held the tray next to him. Akashi Seijuurou directed his piercing gaze to it and unceremoniously removed the piece of cloth.

When the sight before them finally registered in their mind, loud cries and shouts broke through the crowd of men. Each and every one of the more or less ten men were completely and utterly shocked and enraged. The only child among them, however, could only stare with his wide light blue eyes full of disbelief and confusion at the 'thing' on the silver tray. There laid the severed head of their newly crowned king. Dark red, now dry liquid could be seen around his the lower part of his neck and a few parts of his face, mainly the previously dark brown beard, which was now coated with the color of crimson. The head's mouth hung agape, it's dark hair was tousled in all directions while it's dead, bloodshed eyes looked upwards. Kuroko physically couldn't comprehend what he was seeing, since no child should ever witness something so horrific. All he could understand was that a head should also have a body, but this one didn't. Their king one's didn't.

The child averted his wide eyes from the blood-curdling sight and looked straight to the crimson-haired man, who was calmly observing the enraged and horrified crowd below him. For a split second his sharp gaze landed and the small boy and their eyes met. In that short moment a million thoughts ran through Kuroko's young mind. The first one was how beautiful the man's eyes were. Only then did he notice that one of them was colored with the same shade as his hair, while the other portrayed a rich color of gold. Kuroko felt as if the man's piercing gaze went through his body and soul completely, trapping the small boy in his look. But the strange spell was quickly broken when Akashi Seijuurou averted his eyes from the other. Kuroko blinked a few times and quickly looked around to see if anyone received the same effect. However, his thoughts were interrupted when the man of their main focus spoke once again.

''This is a mere example of what will happen to those, who will chose to disobey or go against me. It does not have to occur again if only you follow my orders.'' The man looked around the horrified crowd again and added. ''If any of you are wondering, yes, everyone in the palace and beyond who did not obey me immediately received a similar fate. So it would only be in your best interest to behave.''

That caused the already horror-struck crowd to shake with anger even further. That meant that every lord, duke or earl that was present at the palace yesterday night and didn't obey this crimson-haired man was... However, finally one man managed to at least slightly calm down the rest and walked in front all of them. Kuroko recognized him as one of the more influential people in town, who always seemed collected and calm. Nevertheless, now even his body shook with slight tremble.

''Akashi Seijuurou, if I may,'' He started as clearly and calmly as he could, staring directly into the other's sharp eyes. ''We do not quite understand this situation, so if you would be so kind and-''

''What is there to not understand?'' The red-haired man interrupted him. The older male in front of the crowd slightly winced at his strong tone. ''I am now your new ruler and everything I say goes. That is everything you need to know.''

''But... why?'' The other gathered his courage and spoke again. ''Why did you decide to come to our peaceful kingdom and overthrow our king? Were you sent from another kingdom or-''

''No such thing happened.'' Akashi Seijuurou snapped venomously, which made the man slightly back away. ''I am not a representative of anyone, since there isn't a single being that is above me. And this kingdom is far from peaceful, at least it wouldn't have been in the near future. Based on my reliable sources, the royalty of this kingdom has been involving itself in matters it shouldn't, for what your allies are thinking of turning against you. Action had to be taken.''

Low chatter went over the crowd of them. They were all trying to understand what they have been told just now, but it was rather hard. The child among them only kept his eyes on the crimson man, but the latter didn't glance at him a second time. After a slight pause he continued.

''Now, another important announcement that sums up everything I have said here.'' At that all of the men's attention was on him as they waited for his next words, feeling worry, fear and shock at the same time. The man in front of them took a step forward and glanced around all of them from above.

''I hereby declare that from this day forward your kingdom will be no more. It will now be known as the Teiko Empire and I, Akashi Seijuurou, will be your new emperor.''

On that day, their lives changed forever.

So how was it? Good? Bad? Boring? Jeez, I'm too uncertain about this... It would really help me if you expressed your thoughts, really.

Ugh, I don't really want to, but I feel like I have to point something out for some of you. This story will not by any means contain any form of paedophilia, just so you know. Jeez, now I want to go die in a hole or something, because the mere thought...

Thank you for reading this prologue! Normal chapters will be twice as long.