Author's Note: Yep, you read that right... To all followers of the story The Runaway Empress written by The Emperor's Empress, the author has already decided to put up all her ongoing fics for adoption and I just happened to adopt this one. As a fellow fan of the story, The Emperor's Empress and I had a lengthy discussion about the flaws of the story and I am now tasked to correct them. Important things to note about the edited version of The Runaway Empress:
1. Akashi Seijuurou is no longer heterochromatic (as seen in the anime and the Last Game movie, Akashi reverted to his original ruby eyes when he was defeated in the Winter Cup). And since he had already reverted to Oreshi (aka his original self), he calls everyone by their last names with the proper honorifics (if any) except for Kimiko, who is adamant with having everyone call her by her first name.
2. Kimiko Akumi's personality. She began to lose her serious and fearsome side at the later chapters, becoming too soft and cheerful which is not supposed to be the way she is. Remember that she is supposed to be the original copy of Bokushi back when they were still in Teikou.
3. Kise Ryouta's personality. I would be using his darker personality from the manga and not the overly-hyper puppy of the anime. Even Fujimaki-sensei commented that anime!Kise is too soft compared to manga!Kise.
4. Akashi and Kimiko's relationship development. Everything was a mess at the end, and yes, a couple of reviewers did point out that there was a dissonance between their actions and their feelings, and we want to fix that.
5. Himuro and Kise's role as rival suitors. Well, I am tempted to make a poll about this one. Like, should they be both Akashi's rivals? Or will Kise remain as Kimiko's protective brother figure (though Midorima seems to be doing a good job over that one...)? Should I give Himuro more of a fighting chance on winning Kimiko's heart? I would gladly welcome all your opinions and suggestions!
6. Oh, and Kimiko's past. The Emperor's Empress told me, albeit in a very vague manner, that there is something with Kimiko's past that is tied with the title of the story, and I am still figuring how I am going to fit that in the story. So I guess, if you want to find out, then you'll have to read the story from Chapter One all over again just to not get confused later on.
That's all for now, I guess.
Any requests, beta volunteers, will be greatly appreciated.
Happy reading!
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逃亡皇后ーThe Runaway Empressー
by Amanozako-hime
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第1章
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— 日曜日 (20xx年1月10日) —
** Tokyo, Japan **
東京、日本
sou onaji michi wo sou aruite kita
Ah itsukaraka futatsu ni wakarete
nee kimi wa subete nee wasurete shimau no?
watashi wa ima demo ano basho de
Yes, we were walking, yes, on the same road
Ah, but our road split into two one day
Hey, have you forgotten, hey, everything?
I'm still there
It was a bright summer day, and Kise Ryouta is walking happily down a familiar path, whistling a hopeful tune as he listened to a song from his phone. The song was an old one, back from his middle school days when he still had the time to waste on surfing the Internet and watching videos on the NicoNicoDouga site where anonymous artists post their covers and original songs. This particular artist was a good one, but had stopped posting new videos about a year ago, and it disappointed him greatly, though he never did tire of listening to her old songs, all of which he had faithfully downloaded to his phone so that he can listen to her anytime. Another reason why he loved this particular utaite is that her voice reminds him of a particular person.
The possibility that they are the same person is great; unfortunately, he has no way of confirming that at the moment.
Shame. I would give anything for her to come back.
He yawned and rolled his tired shoulders with a tired frown on his handsome face. It was a Sunday, for kami's sake, and he was supposed to be resting after that intense practice with his team yesterday. But nooooo, his manager just had to ask him to come to Tokyo for some important meeting or something; he wasn't really keen on listening when he realized that his rest day is officially compromised. Ugh, maybe I should have filed for a leave from modeling for a month, or at least until the end of the Nationals. I'll end up overworking myself.
Since he had arrived early, Kise wandered around Tokyo for a bit, and eventually found himself in a front of Maji Burger. Having nothing better to do, Kise entered the establishment and spotted a certain bluenette accompanied by a tall redhead seated at a corner table. Grinning, he called out their names enthusiastically and waved when the two turned their heads to the direction of his voice.
"Oi, Kurokocchi! Kagamicchi! Ohayou-ssu!"
Kuroko Tetsuya, despite his emotionless face, was actually surprised to see the blond. He nodded politely at his energetic friend. "Ohayou, Kise-kun."
Kagami Taiga merely snorted in annoyance, but greeted him nonetheless. "Yo, Kise."
Kise ordered a burger and two milkshakes and joined the two at their table, taking the vacant seat next to the petite bluenette. "Kurokocchi! Here," he slid the other milkshake to the boy, whose eyes twinkled at the sight of his favorite drink, "my treat!"
"Domo, Kise-kun."
The blond merely waved his hand at the bluenette's words and began to unwrap his burger. "It's nothing! Anyways," he stared at the two, "So how was training for the Nationals going so far?"
The red-haired teen shrugged as he swallowed. "It was hell."
Kuroko silently agreed with his partner. Since Seirin had won the Winter Cup, they are automatically placed as participants in the Nationals, which, by the way, was only three weeks away. Because of that, their coach Aida Riko had them go through more intense training that left them with screaming muscles at the end of every session. Despite that, the Seirin team never complained, because they can see the improvements in their skills with each passing day.
Kise can only chuckle at the expressions on the duo's faces. Sympathizing with the two who looked too tired so early on a Sunday morning, he said, "Well, at least you have Sundays off... With Akashicchi's team, I'm sure they had it tougher than us."
This time, Kuroko allowed a ghost of a smile on his lips as he looked up from his milkshake. "'I'm sure they're still running all over Kyoto right now," he commented, remembering how they used to jog all around Tokyo back when they were still teammates in Teikou.
A fond look came in the blond's eyes as he too reminisced the past. A thought came up on him. "Ne, Kurokocchi... Since Akashicchi's back to his usual self, don't you think it would be amazing if she comes back as well? It's been about a year since she left..."
Kuroko looked thoughtful at his words. Kagami, on the other hand, was looking at them with a confused expression on his face, which was like his default expression whenever the Kiseki no Sedai begins to talk about matters that only they can understand.
"What are you talking about, Kise? Who is 'she'?"
It was Kuroko who answered his queries. Replacing his empty cup of milkshake with the one that Kise had given him, he began to explain it as best as he could to his light.
"Aside from Momoi-san, there is another female in our group. Unlike Momoi-san who is more of a ordinary manager and our primary intelligence gatherer, this person's duties is focused on the team's training regimen and was actually the first-string coach of the basketball team in our second year onwards. Actually, she was the one who taught Momoi-san in collecting data about the opposing teams."
"Really?" Kagami was surprised. "So she decided to give Momoi the job because Momoi was better than her?"
Kise shook his head at that. "Not really. Momoicchi is actually kinder than her... She's more like Akashicchi in some ways..."
"Which Akashi?" He can't help but clarify.
"The second one" was Kise's reply.
Kagami found himself biting absentmindedly at the burger in his hands. Just how weird can Kuroko's friends get? Just when he thought that the violent side of Akashi was now subdued, here comes another person which they claimed to be just like Akashi's second personality. It doesn't help either that this person is a girl, which, to Kagami, is more frightening.
"Where is she now, then?"
"We don't know, actually. Like I've said earlier, she just vanished. Momoicchi cannot track her down, Akashicchi too," Kise sighed, then added sadly, "She was the first to leave, you know, not even handing her resignation letter to Akashicchi personally. She just left it on his desk, and POOF! Gone with the wind, just like that."
Kuroko's tone was full of guilt when he added, "She was the first to sense the change that was coming to the team, but no one, not even Akashi-kun, listened to her warnings. It became worse when he changed, too. By then, it was too late to do anything, even more so after what he did to her." The two former Teikou players dropped in a somber mood at the mention of that event.
By now, Kagami was all ears. Not that he liked listening to the past of other people, but in some way, he was interested with those concerning the Kiseki no Sedai. Seriously, their lives are as colorful as their hair. Who would have thought that at such a young age, they already had gone through a lot of drama?
Besides, after the Winter Cup, he was sure that he had met the last of them only to be mistaken. There is still a missing member of the Kiseki no Sedai, one that was possibly held in the same pedestal as that flame-haired captain of theirs.
However, the last sentence in the tealhead's statement caught his attention, prompting him to prod his partner for more information.
Kuroko sighed, a long and weary sigh that reverberated in the quiet atmosphere, as if it actually hirt him just to think about it.
In the end, Kise said it for him.
"Akashicchi tried to kill her."
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Of course, not a lot of changes in the first chapter. On to the second one!
Oh, please review! That's all I ask! Thank you!
