A young man was casually leaning against a wall; to his right was an alleyway, and to his left was an Italian restaurant that had already closed for the day. The particular stretch of sidewalk the man was standing at was shrouded in the darkness of the night, even with the light of a distant street lamp, it wasn't much help at all.

The young man watched as a pink-haired lady sighed in disappointment and smoothly climbed into her car. He recognised who she was: Momoi Satsuki, Akashi's secretary. Akashi must have given her some kind of order, and he could easily guess what it was from her actions. These past few days, she had been driving around and stopping at random spots, staying still in one position as she carefully looked around.

Momoi Satsuki was searching for someone. And that very someone was this young man who had been hiding from her. He actually admired her persistence, for even when it was long past midnight, she was still searching for him. As her car pulled away, only when he was sure that it was quite a distance away did he move.

He shifted his weight and took several steps towards the street lamp. The faint light was unable to fully place the man into view, but it was enough to light up the man's special characteristics. A head of light blue hair could be seen, as well as a pair of piercingly clear light blue eyes. The man stopped, tilting his head at the disappearing car in the distance.

A little smile curled at his lips as the car abruptly slowed down, and then the screeching of brakes pierced through the silent night. The car reversed at full speed, with the blue-haired young man's eyes tracking every minute movement of it. When the car was near enough, the man turned around and slipped back into the darkness.

"Wait!"

A high, feminine voice shouted towards him. It was quickly followed by the slamming of car doors. The young man did not heed the voice, though he heard it very clearly. He was ever so relaxed as he strolled away, completely unhurried.

"Please wait! I have something I would like to ask you!" The voice came again, further away this time.

It was strange, unnaturally strange. For even though the young man was only walking leisurely, the desperate footsteps of the lady chasing him grew softer and softer. It was as though there was a strange force – perhaps it could even be called as sorcery – that was rapidly separating them.

The slight smile on the man's face did not move an inch, as though already expecting this outcome.

Momoi Satsuki, however, was wide-eyed with surprise. Without her consent, her feet came to a stop as her lips parted unconsciously. The man paused, turning his face back slightly. Momoi could barely make out half of the man's face. The man tilted his head, and then a light blue eye met her gaze for just half of a second.

The moment it did, a terrible cold pressed down on Momoi; shivers ran down her spine and goosebumps rose along her skin. She abruptly choked, feeling as though her breath was robbed from her.

The next instant, the man had already turned away and Momoi could breathe again. The man started walking once more. Momoi blinked once, and then the already barely discernible back of the young man completely vanished before her eyes.

"What…?" That single word softly spilled from her parted lips, unbidden.

It took her several more seconds before she regained her bearings, and murmured to herself, "What in the world was that?"

Almost zombie-like, she quietly returned to her car, somehow managing to both safely park her car in her apartment's carpark and enter her home. All the while, her mind was occupied with what she had just witnessed.

Even as she finally laid in bed to sleep, her last thought was of the mysterious man that she couldn't catch up to no matter how she tried.


"What?" Akashi's head snapped up, his grip on the pen becoming slack as he stared at Momoi in surprise. Momoi stood in front of his desk, her expression grim.

Akashi asked, "You found that person?"

Momoi made to nod her head, but she stopped herself in time. Her brows furrowed slightly as she shook her head instead. "Rather than saying that I found him, it was more like he actually came to me."

"Him?" Akashi murmured under his breath. "So it's a man, then."

Momoi heard him, and this time she nodded.

"And what do you mean by 'he came to you'?" Akashi questioned.

Momoi shifted slightly, and said, "During the past few days that I've been searching, there was absolutely no sign of him. However, I kept feeling as though someone was watching me, but no matter which methods I used, it was all fruitless. But then, during one of the nights where I was out searching, he suddenly appeared to me."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a coincidence?"

Momoi quickly shook her head. "No, I'm sure it wasn't just a mere coincidence, the timing was too precise. It must have been carefully planned by the man. When I was driving away, someone suddenly materialised under a street lamp. It was as though the man was waiting for that exact moment."

"So he's been watching you as you searched for him." Akashi commented. "Then, I'm assuming that you had chased after him?"

"Yes, of course."

"Did you managed to see his appearance?"

Momoi bit her lip and then said, "Not everything. The man was too carefully hidden in the darkness."

"That's alright. What did you see?"

"From what I managed to catch a glimpse of, the man did not appear to be very tall nor does he have a large build." She tilted her head at Akashi, her keen eyes taking in his appearance. "Actually, Akashi-kun, I would say that the man has quite a similar build as you do."

"Oh?"

"If it weren't for his rather distinctive features, I would say that even I may end up confusing the both of you for each other."

Akashi's eyebrow rose. "Distinctive features? Such as?"

Momoi's eyes narrowed as she tried to recall the man's appearance. And then she simply said a single word, "Blue."

"Blue?" Akashi repeated.

"Yes. Blue hair and blue eyes." She suddenly shivered as though she remembered something bad.

Akashi immediately noticed her strange reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"

Momoi shook her head firmly, as though to dispel the image in her mind. "I just remembered. The man had blue eyes, but they weren't… normal."

Akashi finally placed his pen down, and gestured for Momoi to continue.

"Those eyes… They were such a piercing blue that it was actually quite frightening. It felt like I would completely lose myself had I been allowed to look into them for just a couple more seconds."

Akashi hummed thoughtfully after hearing Momoi's words. Then he blinked and looked straight into her eyes. "So you are saying that it felt like you would have lost control of yourself?"

"No, not in the sense of losing control over my body or anything of that sort. But rather, it was like I would be erased."

"Erased?" Akashi echoed, his voice betraying his surprise.

Momoi nodded.

Akashi lowered his head, his brows knitting together as he sunk into deep thought. Momoi silently studied him, not even moving an inch so that she wouldn't distract him.

The soft ticking of a clock was the only sound that filled the room.

Akashi had remained motionless for quite a while now, even his expression did not change. It was to the point where Momoi actually became mildly worried. After some consideration, she decided to speak up.

"Akashi-kun?" She called, keeping her voice low.

Akashi glanced up, his eyes bearing a faraway look. He stared at her for a few seconds, then blinked his eyes as he quickly regained himself.

"Oh, my apologies. Thank you for your effort regarding this, Momoi."

With those words, Momoi felt as though a weight was lifted from her shoulders. Though Akashi had not directly told her so, but those words of his was enough to inform her that she need not continue to search and investigate that mysterious man anymore.

With a small smile, she gave Akashi a bow and quietly left his office.


x


Now that Akashi seemed to be aware of him, the blue-haired young man couldn't quite contain a smile. From the day that he deliberately showed himself to Momoi Satsuki, he had been looking forward to having her pass on whatever information she gained on him to Akashi, and also, to see what Akashi Seijuurou's next move was.

It's been a month so far, but there was no action from Akashi.

The man didn't mind; after all, time never mattered to him. However, impatience was bubbling up within him as he waited. For someone like Akashi, who makes use of every minute carefully, to be stagnant like this was rather unusual. Was he stuck, perhaps? He didn't know how to plan his next move?

The blue-haired young man's lips turned down into the smallest of frowns.

If that was truly the case, then it meant that Akashi Seijuurou was quite a disappointing man.

"Should I continue to wait or should I make contact?" The young man's voice softly broke the silence on the rooftop. His voice held no emotion at all, and his equally cold eyes stared up into the bright sky, watching the clouds float past.

"Perhaps, it's still too early." He murmured after a long period of silence.

Yes, it's too early.

Akashi is a shrewd man after all, if the blue-haired young man allowed himself to be swayed by his own impatience, perhaps he might up falling into whatever traps Akashi was planning for him. Though Akashi would never be able to harm him, it wasn't a pleasant feeling to be on the receiving end of a trap.

And so, he will wait.


x


Akashi tapped out an inconsistent rhythm with his pen onto his desk. He had finished his work for the day, and it was one of the rare days where he did not have any events to attend in the evening. Right now, his mind was occupied with thoughts about the mysterious man.

Judging from what Momoi had said, that man had been watching her for quite a while before making his move. Therefore, there was a chance that Akashi was being watched as well, and that man was just waiting for the right timing.

However, Akashi did not know what the man was waiting for.

Was he waiting for Akashi to be near another accident? Or was he simply waiting for Akashi to be alone? If it was the latter, then Akashi was constantly alone in his office, working. But nothing had happened so far, so waiting to get Akashi alone didn't seem to be the aim of the man.

Did that mean it was the former?

But somehow, that still didn't seem to be what the man was after. Akashi couldn't quite figure it out, but he knew that the man did not want him to simply be near an area where an accident would occur.

Akashi released the pen from his fingers, letting it roll along the desk noisily.

With a barely discernible sigh, he leaned back into the chair's leather backrest, titling his head up. His gaze slowly tracked across the ceiling, but he wasn't paying much attention to it.

What was it?

Just what was it that such a strange being could be after?

Akashi was quite convinced that the man wasn't actually human, though he didn't know for sure what the man was. Akashi has never met a spirit before, only heard of them in horror stories back when he was still a middle school student. Still, the man didn't appear to be a vengeful ghost or anything of the sort.

But why was he drawn to Akashi of all people?

They first encountered when Akashi witnessed an accident, and their second encounter was almost the same as the first. This clearly meant that the accidents have something to do with the man showing himself to Akashi.

But if Akashi followed the past events and places himself where an accident was bound to happen, would the end result still be the same? Would Akashi never be able to catch a hold of that man?

…No.

Akashi's eyes narrowed. No, he would not allow such a thing to happen. And he absolutely refuses to accept such an outcome.

There must be something that he could do, something to get the mysterious being in a position where he could not simply turn and leave.

Perhaps he could turn an accident into his favour.

Just being near is not enough, something else is needed, something much more.

Akashi's eyes widened as a thought flashed through his head. He immediately sat up straight, his contemplative expression melting away, replaced by the face of a cunning businessman.

Akashi's lips spread into a smirk, his eyes alight with determination.

"Alright. Come, it's time to play. Let us see who will win this game."