Author's note: Hehe..Hello, everyone. Yes, by reading this, my hiatus is over! *cough* regarding the poll..well, safe to say, Kuroko wins by a landslide but rest assured, due to quite a big amount of reader wanting longer fic, I shall comply and well, look forward to the ending. *winks* Last but not least, THANKS FOR SUPPORTING ME AND THIS FIC! THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF YOU!
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Upon arrival at the Teiko Headquarters, though the humongous building was more suited to be called a castle, Kuroko marveled at the beauty and wonder of its architecture. From the Eastern style of the House of Aomine to the Western style of Kise's family, and from the Oriental style of Akashi to the plain-yet-elegant of Kuroko's style. Even the Midorimas' preference for exotic and quirky style as well as Murasakibara family's nonchalance and as-long-as-it-looks-good style were incorporated into the building. Every style was different yet somehow, all of them mixed and blended alongside each other perfectly.
Outside said building, officers - ranging from district leaders to plain subordinates - formed a long row on each side of the red carpet to welcome the rainbow-coloured people home. First, it was Kise and Aomine who stepped out of the car, their posture relaxed yet their eyes were alert for any hidden snipers or assassins that targeted their leader. After confirming that there was no threat, Aomine cocked his head slightly to the left. Midorima, understanding the signal, nodded to Akashi.
Akashi, hand still linked to Kuroko's, turned his head towards his fiancé and gently tugged at the hand to signal that they were next to get out of the car. Kuroko discreetly sucked in a deep breath and followed Akashi's lead. Seeing that Akashi and Kuroko had gotten out, Midorima and Murasakibara quickly stepped out to flank them from behind while Kise and Aomine in front, then they would escort their leader and his lover inside the Teiko Headquarters.
Or at least that was how it was supposed to be.
Everyone that had not seen Kuroko yet, and I mean every single person, after seeing him for the first time, immediately lost their composure and proceeded to swarm him which caused his hand and Akashi's to be separated and in turn caused said redhead to see red, both figuratively and literally.
"Kyahh! He's so cute! Nee, nee, do you mind if I call you Tetsu-kun?"
"Oi, Satsuki! Get away from Tetsu!"
"Dai-chan, you idiot!"
"Uwahh~ His skin is so soft! Tet-chan, what kind of skin product do you use?"
"I-"
"How can he use any product while being imprisoned, Reo-nee?"
"Shut up, Kotaro!"
"Kuroko-kun, I'm Aida Riko. Feel free to call me anything you want."
"Aida-san-"
"Woah! This is the first time I've ever seen such unusual hair colour."
"Speak for your eyebrows, Bakagami."
"What did you say, Ahomine?"
"You wanna go at it?!"
"Bring it on!"
"Please don't fi-"
"Kurokocchi is so cute!"
"Oi, Kise! Stop hogging him! I'll kick you!"
"Eh? But, you already kicked me, Kasamatsu-senpai."
"So this is the infamous Kuroko Tetsuya. Hmm… They aren't lying when they say that you have the power to bewitch people."
"Ano… Please refrain from standing in such close pro-"
"Oi, Imayoshi! You bastard! Don't stand too close to Kuroko-sama! Ah! By the way, I'm Okamura Kenichi. Nice to meet you, Kuroko-sama."
"Nice-"
"And I'm Kiyoshi Teppei. That man standing over there is Hyuga Junpei. Nice to meet you, Kuroko-kun."
"Hai, Kiyo-"
"Kuroko, how old are you?"
"I'm-"
"I'm so hungry. When can we eat?"
"You're always hungry, Nebuya."
Kuroko sighed. Why does everyone keep interrupting me?
Someone cleared his throat and as if being released from a trance, everyone stood as still as a pole. All of them glanced at the obviously seething redhead that hissed, "Get away from my Tetsuya."
Or face the consequences. The words that did not need to be said yet were still understood by the rest.
Everyone could practically hear the devil cackling in the background. Slowly, they moved to give some space to Kuroko and Akashi wasted no time to wrap an arm around Kuroko's waist. Again, everyone's eyes bulged at the sweet gesture and even more so when Kuroko gave no reaction and only spoke, "Akashi-kun, I would like to take a bath now. My body is all sticky." Unknown to any of them, the smaller male was using all of his strength to not let his physical body to not give away any reaction.
Oi, oi! Don't make it sound like you guys just had sex! And what's with his hand? Were everyone's collective thoughts.
Akashi smiled. "Of course, love. Anything for you." Again, poor Kuroko had to hide any physical evidence of embarrassment.
Akashi/Akashi-kun/Akashicchi/Aka-chin/The devil is smiling?! Impossible! And what's with the 'love' term? I'm so jealous!
Akashi guided Kuroko to their now shared bedroom and left everyone standing outside the building with their mouths hanging open. When they finally came back to their senses, the devil and his angel - or at least, that was how they saw it - were already on their way to the royal couple's room on the third floor of the expansive building. No one dared to follow them, though; because if they did, then Akashi would quote his favourite line and re-enact the corresponding scene from one of his favourite book, Alice in Wonderland.
"Off with his head."
Shivering, as none of them wanted to be headless, they helplessly trudged inside their headquarters and waited patiently to see the light blue haired angel later. While the subordinates were lamenting on their misfortune, said angel was currently inside their sitting room with the aforementioned devil. Tapestries, exquisite paintings and priceless artefacts adorned the cream-coloured walls while red velvet couches and deep-cushioned chairs were scattered in a tasteful manner. There was also a coffee table in front of one of the couches, acting as a separator of another table where a humongous flat-screen television sat.
But all of that was ignored by the ex-convict as he briskly, almost impatiently, walked to the balcony while pretending not to hear the muffled chuckles of his fiancé. Kuroko's breath was taken away as he let his eyes feast on the aesthetically-pleasing scenery in front of him. His - Their, he corrected mentally - balcony overlooked a fountain in one of the gardens, and whichever it was, it was beautiful - never mind the guards he spotted posted underneath.
"Akashi-kun?"
"Yes, my love?"
Fighting down his blush, Kuroko asked. "How many gardens is there, Akashi-kun?"
Akashi hummed slightly in thought, making his fiancé wanting to force the redhead to sing.
"There are 6 of them, each representing the royal families and the districts they came. The one in front of us is Rakuzan's. I instructed the gardeners to make it so that Rakuzan's cultures and flowers are perfectly depicted in this garden."
Suddenly, a pair of familiar arms wrapped themselves around his slender waist and he could feel Akashi placing his chin on top of his shoulder. The sensation of those strong arms and the warm breaths caressing his ear were more than enough to drive him to the edge of his senses and it took all of his self-control to not just give in to the redhead. And by God, when the dictator whispered, his body should not be all tingly and hot.
"Do you like it, Tetsuya? I had the garden made especially for you."
Distracted by the taller male's charms and the use of his first name, Kuroko swallowed before replying.
"I think it's lovely, Akashi-kun. I love the fountain and the red flowers are the signature flower of your district, right? The name is...Red Oriental Lily flower if I'm not mistaken."
Akashi smiled indulgently at him, unknowingly making his heart beat faster.
"You're right." The redhead's tone was full of pride for some reason and Kuroko's heart fluttered at the knowledge. "The gardeners did a marvellous job if I may say so. This garden reminded me of the ones back at the Akashi Manor where I spent my childhood with my late mother."
The figurative strings of Kuroko's heart twinged at the sight of a melancholy smile on the lips of the Teiko leader and the glassy eye look but not wanting to interrupt the trip down the memory lane, the assassin chose to stay silent and decided to lavish his attention on the red flowers. Bold fresh plum red petals accented by a dainty thin white outline on ruffled edges, the red oriental lilies had strong hues of pink to fuschia with dark freckles and a lime green center. They had star-shaped blooms like other oriental lilies and a captivating fragrance, making quite a statement. Those glamorous red lilies reminded him of the male currently hugging him so much and ironically, it made him feel like royalty.
The smaller male lightly shook his head. Not even a day with his recently-revealed fiancé and he was already falling for the sadistic tyrant. Fast and hard. However, his self-pitying session did not last long as his sticky body reminded him of why he was so eager to get out of the prison, apart from being able to avenge his family.
"Akashi-kun, I'm sorry but I really would like to have that bath now, please."
The melodious soft voice of his fiancé shook him out of his reverie and Akashi blinked to return the moisture to his eyes. He slowly unwound his arms around the former's waist but instead of letting Kuroko go, the redhead gently lifted one of the bluenet's arms and tenderly kissed the palm, silently asking for forgiveness. The Kuroko heir merely smiled forgivingly and Akashi was glad for the silent reprieve. He could take scorning and hate from everyone, just not from his Tetsuya. He had waited too long to let the beautiful male go, not that he had any intentions to.
He then led Kuroko to the door on the other side of the sitting room and the bedroom, just like the sitting room, was furnished in gold and crimson. Their bedroom also decorated with a giant tapestry along the wall and beside one of the windows, there was a red recliner which the latter presumed was used by Akashi for relaxation purposes. The bed was king-sized and the typical four poster bed. He let his eyes wander and saw that there was double door on one side of the wall. Kuroko glanced at the redhead, silently asking for clarification. Akashi nodded, "That's the closet, Tetsuya. Don't worry about clothes as it was already prepared while we were on our way here."
He opened the door to the walk-in closet and gently led the blue-haired angel in, noticing that Kuroko's eyes wandered more to the right side of closet where most of the clothes were in various hues of crimson and black; in other words, his side of the closet. It was petty, he knew this, yet Akashi could not help but to feel as if he had gained Kuroko's approval, at least apparel-wise. They ambled until they reached the end of the closet where a floor-to-ceiling mirror took up an entire wall and right next to it was, finally, the bathroom that Kuroko was longing for.
"And we have arrived at our destination." Akashi teased and the deadpan male beside him mentally rolled his eyes. The military dictator's lips twitched, knowing what just transpired. "Then, I shall wait for you in the sitting room, Tetsuya. We'll be having dinner afterwards."
Kuroko merely nodded as the statement did not require a verbal response but what did require a verbal response was his brazen fiancé's next action. The shameless bastard casually, almost effortlessly, kissed his forehead and had the audacity to let it linger there for almost a full minute.
"A-Akashi-kun!"
Raucous laughter was his only reply as the mischievous redhead slinked away in obvious smugness and elation. Kuroko shook his head to clear his muddled thoughts and convinced himself that the heat on his cheeks was due to something that affected something inside the closet and it in turn affected him. Yeah, let's go with that.
His heart was palpitating so loudly that he was having trouble to actually open the doorknob and in the midst of hurrying, he almost kicked the blasted door open. Once he managed to turn the doorknob, he glanced around to take his mind of things. However, that plan was blasted to bits when he realized that the bathroom was the same as any royal's bathroom. A wide spacious space that had a tub that can fill ten people at a time, a shower with a heater, two sinks that were attached to a wide cupboard which were probably used to store toiletries and a wide opaque screen that separated what Kuroko assumed was the toilet.
But what managed to capture Kuroko's attention was that the fact that there was another floor-to-ceiling mirror in the bathroom. Now, he would normally ignore this if it were not for the fact that it was directly in front of the bath tub instead of the sinks; granted, there was a standard-sized mirror in front of the sinks but this just screamed suspicious in bold letters. The former assassin was a virgin, yes, but it did not mean he was naïve. When he was still living in the Kuroko Manor, he had heard of the servants' whispers of their more…kinky bedroom activity.
If he had any doubts that his fiancé was a pervert before, all of it had been blown to bits now.
He silently sighed, partially resigned to his fate and proceeded to take the much needed bath, scrubbing every inch of his body. After he was done, he rose from the tub and caught his reflection in the mirror. It was not noticeable before but being stark naked proved that his body had indeed deteriorated during his imprisonment. His ribs reached out from inside of him, showing bones where flesh and meat should have been. His face, cleared of all the grime, was not much better. It was haggard: his cheekbones sharper than it had been and his eyes slightly, but ever so disturbingly, sunken in. He lifted one of his hands and stared at it with mournful eyes; the pale, almost skeletal, hue of his hand reminded him of the corpses of his family but there was something beyond that seemed new and beautiful.
He took a bathrobe hanging on one of the hooks and stepped out of the bathroom. He went to his side of the closet and chose a simple yet casual attire. Black slacks and blue dress shirt, accompanied by black combat boots. One would never know when one ever be thrusted into battle, his father had once said and he took the advice to the heart. Never letting down his guard, never dressed in restricting clothes and most importantly, never failed to analyze his surrounding to make sure that he could use it to his advantage. He did not have any weapon but then again, he had killed with a ballpoint pen before so the point was moot.
He strolled out of the closet and out of the bedroom to see Akashi sitting on one of the couches while reading a book and despite him not making any sound, the red-eyed male turned towards him and closed his book after marking the page. He elegantly stood up and offered his hand to Kuroko and after a second of hesitation, the pale man took it. They just stood there for a while, the emperor taking in the appearance of his future spouse. He shed his jacket and gently draped it across Kuroko's shoulders. The latter raised an eyebrow but did not comment on it and the former was glad that his beautiful lover accepted his mark of possession, albeit not being aware of it. Together, they headed to the dining room in a comfortable silence and took their seats in the currently empty table.
Unfortunately, the peace did not last for long as soon after they sat, the double doors of the dining room was slammed open and the rest of the upper echelon of the Teiko Military came in. Their friends were shocked when they found that the royal couple was waiting for them in the dining room with Akashi sitting at the end of the table and Kuroko sitting to his right.
Kuroko did not know it at that time but Akashi purposely let Kuroko wear his slightly bigger jacket that sent a clear message to everyone that saw them.
Tetsuya is mine. No one is to touch him. If you do, then you will wish you're dead by the time I'm done with you.
Everyone gulped and took their seats quickly. Since Aomine was the fastest among them, he was the one who managed to score the seat beside Kuroko. Seeing Aomine's smug face set everyone off, but they all looked at each other and nodded. All of them coming to the same conclusion.
We will deal with Ahomine when the angel is no longer here.
But that did not mean they could contain themselves from seething. Far from it, actually.
"Tetsu, here try this."
"Hai, Aomine-kun."
"And this too."
"Thank you."
"Ah! Have you tried this? It's the chef's special."
"No, I haven't."
"So, how was it?"
"It's delicious. Thank you, Aomine-kun."
"Don't sweat it. Just tell me if you want anything."
"Hai."
The oblivious, soon-to-be-dead idiot was unaware of the piercing glares that were sent to him and if this was some sort of fantasy world where magic existed, then Aomine would most probably have died in the most gruesome and painful way possible. Alas, such things were not possible so the rest of the people at the dinner table could only stab their food with their forks viciously. But, you should know by now that one person hated it when someone touched what was his.
"Tetsuya."
Everyone looked up from their dining activities and stared at Akashi.
"Yes, Akashi-kun?"
"I recall that you told Atsushi that you like vanilla-flavoured sweets so I asked the chef to make this for you earlier." He turned to one of the maids and spoke, "Bring it in."
The maid bowed. "Yes, Akashi-sama."
Everyone watched in anticipation while some of the more honest idiots gritted their teeth in anger at the obvious trick. Finally, the maid came in with a big glass that contained white liquid and set it in front of Kuroko. Kuroko stared at the glass in wonder and then glanced at Akashi as if to ask for his permission. Akashi merely nodded and when Kuroko took a sip using the straw provided, his eyes widened.
Akashi asked, "Tetsuya? Love? Are you okay?"
Kuroko nodded and replied, "Akashi-kun, what is this?"
"This is my own recipe of your favourite vanilla milkshake, love. Do you like it?"
He remembers…
It was then that Kuroko let out his biggest and most beautiful smile yet. Everyone was so stunned by it that they nearly missed his next words.
"Yes, I like it very much, Akashi-kun. Thank you for preparing this for me."
Akashi coughed to hide his blush. "I'm glad that you like it. Just ask the chef to make it for you whenever you want to drink it."
Kuroko nodded happily. "Hai."
Ugghh…I'm so jealous! Was the collective thoughts of everyone except for the oblivious bluenet and the victorious redhead for the rest of the dinner.
