Posted: 25/03/13
Thank you again to all those who reviewed chapter 2:
Dariahn; Higashiyama-san; animefan106; hitomi65; BlackCatAnimeGirl; R3iga1004; Another observer of the world; AspergianStoryteller; wasabi cake; guest; iKitsuNeko; Mikitsu Kisa-chan.
To those who may dislike the way the chapters skip large chunks of the story, these four chapters are just to give you the background up to where the real story starts. The real story will not have these skips in time.
I can also reveal the name of the main body of the story:
The Emperor's Trilogy II: The Emperor's Shadow
Moreover, there are responses to some reviews at the bottom of this chapter.
Chapter three is set during and after Seirin's match against Kise's team in the winter cup (before they have to face Akashi's team).
Enjoy :)
Edited: 14/05/14
The Emperor's Trilogy I
The Emperor's Singer
Chapter 3
Akashi pondered over Kuroko's achievements, watching closely as the ball continued to change direction at random throughout the court; brief glimpses of pastel blue revealed the reason behind the alteration of the ball's course.
The redhead had not seen Kuroko in a long time now, instead relying upon his coven's reports of his development. It was a show of just how far the human had come that his overly observant eyes found it near impossible to locate his singer as he danced around the other players.
When he had first joined the audience the fourth quarter had already begun.
And Kuroko's scent had assaulted him leaving his throat raw.
Kuroko had been benched at the time, his exhaustion plain to see. It was obvious his team was pushing his fragile body much too far as even sitting on the bench he was still panting harshly for air.
With Kuroko now on the court it was hard to concentrate on much more than locating the near invisible signs of his singer presence. And as Kaijō closed the point gap at a fast rate he continued to watch Kuroko as he changed tactics, dropping his disappearing act in favour of concentrating on marking and growing used to Kise's pattern of attack, once again sacrificing his own involvement in the game for his team.
And he could see the hurt on his singer's face as the crowd turned against his team, routing for Kaijō as they forged on, the desperation only growing in the pale blue eyes.
Only for the determination to return when he finally seemed to connect the dots with the pattern of Kise's ability, Akashi was certain even the blonde had not noticed he had been doing it, in fact he was fairly sure only he and Kuroko had realised the truth.
With only 3.9 seconds remaining on the clock Kagami ran so fast. But it was the ghost like presence of Kuroko keeping up with Kise of all people that had his eyes glued upon his small body as he pushed himself beyond any limits that should have existed.
"...He'll not give up on the game. That's how Tetsuya is." The redhead found himself saying aloud.
And as if to prove his point Kuroko of all people, the shadow of the Generation of Miracles, the phantom sixth never to have scored a single point, won the match with his first ever buzzer-beater.
-x-
It was long after all the matches of the day had finished. The sky had already darkened outside and all the teams throughout the building were packing up, leaving their locker room, and leaving to head back home.
Aomine had gone to wait for Kise and Akashi had settled himself with Midorima and Murasakibara in an alcove along the route from Seirin's changing rooms to the exit.
And they waited.
Akashi had witnessed how far Tetsuya had come, how far his abilities had developed and it was only fair to say that the phantom had finally left the shadows to stand in the spotlight himself, not just making that spotlight all the brighter for others.
And it was with this realisation that he knew it was time: Time for the change.
Seirin walked past them, none the wiser of the three vampire's steady gaze. All of them were so tired they were oblivious to the phantom that lagged behind them, legs unsteady and head bent forward, too tired to even lift it any more.
The redhead took the opportunity after the rest of the team had passed to step out in front of the boy only for him to walk straight into him. He would have fallen too it were not for Akashi steadying him.
The cool vampire's hands on Kuroko's arms soothed his aching muscles but too soon they were gone and he was left to fight for his vertical position by his self once more.
Raising his head he found himself before his ex-captain.
"Akashi-kun..." He slurred.
"Sorry Tetsuya." Akashi murmured.
"Wha-?" He paused, shocked when the redhead disappeared from his sight, only to feel the pressure against his back of another body. Lean arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides and he briefly considered struggling but knew he could never disobey Akashi let alone he have the energy to resist.
This thought soon changed when he felt a sharp pain in his neck and the following burn.
A short cry escaped his lips and then Kuroko's whole body was shaking, his legs losing their ability to keep him upright. He would have fallen to the ground if it were not for the unnatural strength of his ex-captain's arms still restraining him. And the burning continued to spread.
The red head lapped at the bite for a moment, sealing the wound shut with more of his venom, and then kissed the scar tenderly.
"Atsushi." He commanded, lips still pressed to Kuroko's soft neck, and the impossibly tall vampire came out from the alcove shortly followed by Midorima. The redhead gently passed his precious bundle to the giant, glaring at him intently till he nodded in a promise to take care of the phantom. Akashi only then looked at Kuroko properly.
The boy had paled beyond anything Akashi thought possible even for a vampire. At the same time he was sweating with a fever like quality that was supported by the glazed look of his eyes. His body was shaking with the burning the three knew must be consuming him. But he remained silent, his jaw clamped shut with such force it made the muscles in his neck stand out. Blood dripped to the ground where his hands were clenched so tight his nails sliced through his palm's flesh.
The redhead turned away in guilt and motioned for the others to follow. They did.
Review Answers
AspergianStoryteller: More detail about the biting would be nice. Read stories describing it for inspiration
Me: Sorry to disappoint with no details of Kise's change, but I have been saving it for Kuroko's and chapter 4 was specifically set aside for his transformation, hope that makes up for it? :D
guest: thanks for updating! I like more and more about this story. But I'm wondering, will be there any akakuro romantic scenes before kuroko turns into vampire? If you can, please make it so that the story will become more interesting. I'll be waiting for the next chapter!
Me: I've said in the summary that there are 'Very light hints of yaoi' and when I said hints I meant hints. However these hints are more a promise of what's to come in The Emperor's Shadow. Hope this keeps you interested.
Mikitsu Kisa-chan: This seems very good but I'm a little skeptical on how you plan on pulling this story off. Not to be rude or anything, I don't know why I feel like this but I feel as though you are going to have a lot of problems with the story later in it. I'm very interested to see how this plays out, and I hope you can do better then my expectations of you to not do so well (again sorry for my pessimism). Thanks for writing, I enjoyed it, update soon please!
Me: The only thing I can do is assure you I already have a detailed chapter by chapter plan of how I want this eventual trilogy to go.
Please Review!
