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THE RUNAWAY EMPRESS

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*** CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE ***

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Sunday (08 February 20xx) —

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** Wakayama, Japan **

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"Okamura-san, are you familiar with this place?"

Yosen's captain turned to Himuro. "Huh?"

Beside Okamura, Liu sighed. "Side-gori, thou soundeth stupid."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL MEEEE?!"

At the pair's loud bickering, Himuro sweatdropped and looked around them. That morning, Yosen's main players had asked permission from their coach to let them go out and walk around Wakayama. After all, it was their first time in Wakayama — well, most of them, anyway.

Fukui growled at their captain and their Chinese teammate. "Oi, people are staring at us."

"Probably wondering what a gorilla is doing wandering around in the streets in broad daylight," Liu added nonchalantly as Okamura howled.

"WHY DOES MY TEAM HATES MEEEEEEE?!"

"You're too noisy~" Murasakibara complained, Pocky stick in his mouth as he covered both of his ears with his hands. Poor Okamura shut his mouth and moped to the side.

"You didn't answer Himuro's question," Fukui reminded their captain, and this seemed to pull Okamura from his momentary depression.

"Ah, what was it, Himuro?" Yosen's captain asked the mirage shooter, who politely repeated his question to Okamura.

"Well, a little... Used to spend my summers here back in middle school," Okamura answered after giving it some thought. "Why do you ask, though?"

Himuro scratched his cheek with a finger. "Do you know a good restaurant around here?"

"You're hungry, Muro-chin?" Murasakibara asked his partner innocently. "Here, you can have some Pocky~", he said, offering the box of snacks to Himuro, who chuckled a little as he took some of the offered snack.

"Not exactly, Atsushi, but thanks anyway," he said, munching on the stick slowly. He returned his gaze back to Okamura. "An Italian restaurant, preferably?"

"...Italian..?" Okamura looked a bit puzzled. "They serve lots of pastas there, right?"

"Yes — pastas are their specialty, it seems," Himuro confirmed.

"Hmmm..." Okamura gazed upwards as he searched his memories. "I know one around here... A bit pricey, though..."

"It's okay," Himuro said with his usual smiles.

"What's a gorilla doing in such a high-class restaurant, I wonder?" Liu cannot help but wonder out loud.

His comment, of course,enraged Okamura.

"SHUT UP, LIU!"

-o-o-oOo-o-o-

"Here we are!" Okamura said. Yosen's regulars were standing in front of a restaurant with a vintage wooden sign in front, engraved with unfamiliar words that they couldn't pronounce without tripping over their tongues. Dressed as they are at the moment, the Yosen team looks incredibly out of place.

"Why are you looking for a restaurant, though?" Fukui can't help but ask. "Do you have a date?"

A date? Well, that certainly caught Murasakibara's attention. Muro-chin has a date?

Could it be—?

"Muro-chin—"

Himuro's lone visible eye narrowed as he turned sharply to Murasakibara. "Atsushi," he said with a warning tone in his voice, and the double ace of Yosen had a brief staring contest, surprising the rest of their teammates. After all, it was rare for the two to have such disagreements. During that tense moment, the two seemed to have reached a silent agreement, which ended in a grumpy Murasakibara and a slightly annoyed Himuro.

As Fukui watched Himuro enter the restaurant and talk to a staff of the restaurant — probably to make a reservation — he cannot help but think just what on earth was that all about.

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** Osaka, Japan **

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A few minutes into their train ride, Kise's manager phoned to say that the magazine featuring the blonde's photoshoot with the chartreusette was released earlier that day and that everything was going well. Kise glanced briefly at Kuroko who was reading quietly beside him and the smaller boy merely gave him a consenting nod as Kise received the call.

"A brilliant job, you two!" his manager said with unusual excitement. "I never imagined that she'd make such an impact to the public! She made a great impression on everybody — everyone's curious about her. Clients have been calling us, asking about her identity... And Kise, can you believe it? Even the Akashi Corporation was asking if she was from our agency!"

Kise was not really surprised to hear all those things — except for the last part. Since their first meeting, Kise had already thought that Kimiko would make a great model because the girl was naturally beautiful and elegant. It was a wonder why the girl chose to devote herself to sports — and basketball at that. And honestly speaking, without bias, Kimiko was better than all the other models he had worked with, but maybe that's because she's not distracted by him.

However, his manager's last statement bothered him somehow. Someone's not going to be pleased with that fact.

"Kise, are you there?"

"H-hai!" Kise bit his lip. He'd been spacing out. "Th-that's good to hear, then, Amano-san!" he managed to say in a fake cheery voice, which his manager, who was usually quick to see through him, failed to notice due to his excitement over the whole thing.

Kuroko did, though, and a worried frown was etched on the phantom's usually blank face.

"Anyway, is she with you right now?"

"Uhm, no."

Amano sighed. "Can I get her contact information? I'm sure that once word gets out that she's unafilliated to an agency, they will all go all out to get her! I just want to make sure that if she ever considered to continue doing this, then it will be our agency that she will choose."

Kise hesitated at first, but there's no harm to it, right? If Kimiko doesn't want to, then she can always refuse, right?

"I'll send them to you later, Amano-san."

"Good. You think you can talk to her, make her reconsider? Oh, and do warn her about the paparazzis — you know how they are. You know how they are — they're like sharks that smelled fresh blood — they'll swarm over her in no time. Might as well give her a heads up."

Oh shit, Kise thought in horror. The paparazzi — how could he forget about them?

"Hai, Amano-san, I'll do that."

So maybe it's best that she was with Akashi — he'll keep her safe from those rabid camera-toting monsters, just like he did with all her unwanted suitors back in Teikou.

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It was supposed to be a normal afternoon training session for Teikou's basketball club, when an unwanted guest appeared in front of the gym's double doors in the form of Teikou's football team captain, Hijirikawa Sou — a brown-haired boy with hazelnut eyes and sunkissed skin — asking for a certain golden-eyed girl, saying that he has something to give her.

"Oi, Kimiko, someone's looking for you!" Aomine's voice echoed all over the first-string gym. It was unneeded as Aomine knows perfectly that the said girl was not present in the gym at the moment. The words, though, seemed to cast a spell on everyone present on court as they all paused in their actions and turned toward the direction of their captains — former and present — waiting for them to make their move.

"Who is it, Aomine?" Akashi and Nijimura asked in unison, even as they were already making their way to the door.

"Dunno," was all Aomine replied before moving to the side to watch as well. Kise sidled over to him and asked in a hushed voice. The blonde had just recently joined them and as such was not yet familiar with the way things work in the first-string.

"What's happenning?" he asked his fellow sophomore.

The tanned boy only grinned mischievously. "Watch."

"And you are?" Akashi asked their 'visitor', who squirmed in unease at the redhead's gaze despite dwarfing Akashi by a good seven inches. It doesn't help that Nijimura, who has quite a reputation in Teikou as well, was standing beside Akashi, an arm on his hip as he spun a basketball on his fingertip, a menacing glare focused on him.

"I am looking for—"

"We heard you the first time. But WHO are YOU?" Nijimura interrupted smoothly that made the corners of Akashi's lips to curve upwards.

"I'm—" Hijirikawa tried again, but Akashi cut him off.

"State your business with our coach." Akashi crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Or are you, perhaps, lost? As you can see, this is the basketball club."

"But—"

"The football field is over there," Nijimura gestured with his chin somewhere behind the lost-looking Hijirikawa, who cannot even speak more than three words due to the pair's interrupting him as soon as he opens his mouth.

"Kise can show you the way, if you like," Akashi offered, knowing that Kise was a far better football player than Teikou's current captain, had the blonde chose to pursue that certain sport.

Sure enough, Hijirikawa paled at the mention of the blonde's name. He shook his head to decline the offer.

"You sure?" Nijimura asked, obviously unconvinced with his answer. "You look like you could use some help." Just then, Akashi's sharp hearing caught Momoi's voice as she greeted the members behind them. He gave a look to Nijimura, who sighed for dramatic effect. "Oh well, come on, then. I'll take you there."

Without further ado, he grabbed hold of Hijirikawa's arm and led him out and away of the gym, just as Kimiko appeared behind Akashi.

"Hm? What are you doing here, Seijuurou? Where's Shuuzo, by the way? And," she went and picked something by the door. Akashi flinched — the tiniest bit. "What's a box of chocolates and a wilted rose doing here?" She turned them over in her hand, reading the label on the box. "...Strawberry cream-filled chocolates...?" Kimiko looked at Akashi's pokerface. "Sounds gross to me... Anyway, come on, I have something to discuss with you and the rest of the team. Let's go."

The redhead let out the breath he didn't realize that he was holding. "Alright. Nijimura shall be returning in a little while."

"Oh? Where did he go?" Kimiko asked,eyes on her clipboard as they walked to the center of the court where the regulars were waiting for them. Red eyes lit up in satisfaction when she handed the box of sweets to Murasakibara along with the pathetic excuse of a flower, which the purplehaired giant disposed in the nearby trash can.

Akashi shrugged carelessly. "He just took care of something. Now, what was it that we are about to discuss?"

-o-o-oOo-o-o-

"In any case, bringing her to the studio was a good thing, Kise. Though I wonder why you didn't do so earlier... How did you know her, by the way?"

"...She's a friend from middle school..."

"You've known her for years?! And you just decided to take her to the agency last week...Why?!"

At his manager's dramatic outburst, Kise cannot help but wince at the volume of his voice.

"Amano-san, Akumicchi is not really interested in being a model..." he whined, having answered the same question for the nth time that week. It's not like he asked the girl for her opinion on that matter — he just knew for a fact. Kimiko is a real person and she will never be like him, doing things just for show, being what other people want him to be. Kimiko is real.

She'll never be a puppet or a doll for someone else.

His manager grumbled something incoherent, and finally hung up after giving Kise a few reminders. He mentioned something about the possibility of having an interview with Kimiko for an online blog, and that Kise should tell the girl about it. Kise is sure that Kimiko won't mind being in the spotlight for once, but Kise knows someone who'd rather keep the girl to himself. He just hoped that Akashi wouldn't mind that much.

I hope.

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** Tokyo, Japan **

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Sunday morning found the three former Teiko students and one Takao Kazunari standing in front of a bookstore, eyes fixed on the cover of a popular magazine where a blonde and a chartreusette couple was featured in a rather intimate pose.

"Akashi's going to throw a hissy fit over this one," Aomine sighed as he scratched the back of his head lazily. He was on his way to buy his weekly issue of Horikita Mai's magazine when he bumped into Momoi who in turn bumped into the Shutoku pair who were out hunting for Midorimas's lucky item of the day, which happened to be a book about trees or vegetables, only to stumble into the local bookstore and be greeted by a picture of Kise and Kimiko whose faces were mere inches apart from each other.

Which was a bad thing.

A really, really, really bad thing.

"Akashi is not a toddler to throw a tantrum," Midorima grumbled, eyes glued on the glossy magazine cover. He can already feel the beginning of a massive headache. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, as he tend to do when he's annoyed with something or someone, and sighed.

Momoi can only shake her head. "Well, Kimi-chan did say that she wanted to try modelling, right? I'm sure Akashi-kun will understand..."

Off to the side, Takao can only look at each of them in confusion, obviously not getting why the captain of Rakuzan would be enraged if he saw this. It was a nice picture, and Kise is handsome as Kimiko was absolutely gorgeous in that shot so why would anyone be getting angry?

Unable to keep silent any longer, the hawk-eyed boy finally blurted out, "You guys make it sound like an apocalypse is coming."

To his utter surprise, all three turned to him with weary faces and spoke in perfect sync - hell, even the way they shook their heads! - "If only you knew..." before resuming their conversation.

Takao sweatdropped. He looked at the magazine cover once more. The hell was that all about?!

"Not to mention that HImuro Tatsuya..." Midorima was grumbling, and Momoi and Aomine looked at him with puzzled eyes.

"What about that guy?" Aomine asked, although he seemed to have a good guess at what Midorima is thinking about. He's just playing safe and asking for a confirmation.

Guess Aomine's not that stupid when it comes to this things.

Momoi tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Indeed. Mukkun did call me a few days ago. He seemed to be bothered with his teammate's actions lately."

"Did Murasakibara elaborate?"

"Mukkun told me that Himuro-kun was asking him things about Akumi-chan..."

"And what did Murasakibara do about it?" Oddly enough, it was Aomine who asked. "He better not answered all that guy's questions about Akumi," he almost growled.

"That Yosen guy looks decent enough," Takao quipped.

At this, Momoi smiled mischievously. "Mukkun is still on our side..." And then to Takao, she said, "I know, Takao-kun, but we're hoping that Akumi-chan will end up with someone else."

"Who?"

"Ah, but that's a secret," she said with a giggle and Takao's shoulders slumped.

Midorima sighed heavily, wondering how they would react if they knew of Akashi kissing the chartreusette out of the blue. However, watching Momoi squeal at her imaginations, maybe it's better that they don't.

For now, at least. It was a wise decision on Kise's part not to include the pinkhaired manager, not that he had something against Momoi, mind you.

He pushed his glasses upwards again. It's better this way. He just hoped that by the time Kimiko returns, she and Akashi would have the matter resolved so that they can go on with their lives peacefully.

But as Takao's whining coupled with Momoi and Aomine"s bickering reached his ears, Midorima can only huff. Peacefully, you say.

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Meanwhile, inside his glass-walled office at the topmost floor of his company's building, Akashi Masaomi sat behind his desk, eyes on the magazine spread open before him. Under it were several photos printed from a fashion photographer's blog, as well as several other files that he was yet to read.

He had only gone through a few pages of the magazine when his secretary informed him that a 'Shirikawa-san' was waiting for him outside.

"Let him in."

A man dressed in black suit entered the room. He closed the door behind him and paused for a moment to bow before the Akashi head, who acknowledged him with a nod and motioned for him to come closer.

Shirikawa was an ordinary-looking person, the one you bump into the streets and not remember his face afterwards, no matter how hard you try. His hair and eyes were black, with average built and pale skin. He couldn't be older than thirty-five, but with his generic features, one cannot be so sure.

Which makes him a perfect intelligence gatherer.

"Akashi-sama," he said, placing the several folders he was carrying on Masaomi's desk. "These are all the files containing all important information on Kimiko Akumi, sir."

"Give me a summary," Masaomi said as he reached for the topmost folder on the pile.

"Kimiko Akumi, sixteen years old, born on the thirteenth of August. She stands at 161 cm and weighs 50 kilograms. She lives alone in an apartment here in Tokyo, as both her parents are in France. Her mother is a photographer and her father is a banker. They will be returning to Japan at the end of March. Kimiko-san is currently finishing her first year in her school in France online. She's still undecided where to enrol this coming school year. As of the moment, she's headed to Wakayama with the young master and his team."

At this bit of information, one of Masaomi's brows rose slightly. With Seijuurou?

If he is surprised to know that the mystery model is acquainted with his son, Masaomi did not show it, but inwardly he was already thinking why Seijuurou did not said anything about it during the meeting. Not to say that he was slightly irked that he did not in the slightest suspected that his son was connected to this girl.

"From the manor's CCTV footage, it was shown that the young master brought her to the house last Saturday morning. He visited the pavillion and Yukimaru with her, and they slept together in young master's bedroom."

Shirikawa narrated all the facts the way one might recite the multiplication table. He didn't pause to take a breath, but rather went on and on like a tape recording. Masaomi half-listened to him as he read the girl's legal records. He seem rather unaffected that his son had brought a girl to their house without his knowledge, but that's only because he did not allow them to show it on his face.

"It says here that this is the second time that Seijuurou had brought that girl over," Masaomi mused aloud. Maybe I should keep a closer watch on Seijuurou this days. All of this sneaking in and out of the manor with a girl behind my back... Don't tell me that this is your act of rebellion, Seijuurou. I was expecting something else from you. "Tell me about their relationship."

"The young master is close friends with her since their first year in Teiko. Kimiko was her classmate and seatmate for three years, and they are in the same club as well."

Friends? "Seijuurou was in the basketball club."

"Kimiko joined the club as a training manager, and became the first-string coach in her second year when the head coach fell ill and had to take a leave. She was a significant figure in Teikou's basketball club, as much as the Kiseki no Sedai, whom the young master is also a part of. Shirogane Kozo talks highly of her."

A nod from Masaomi. "Go on."

"An incident during their last year in middle school caused a rift in their relationship. Kimiko had a disagreement with the young master regarding one of their players. The young master got angry and laid a hand on the girl. She left for France two days later. She cut off all her connections here in Japan during that time. She returned last month, however, and seemed to be rekindling her relationship with her middle school friends. Just last week, the young master attended a birthday party held in her apartment, and he visited her also after the board meeting where the magazine article was one of the things on the agenda."

Now, isn't that interesting... "How long will they be staying in Wakayama?"

"The young master will return from the Nationals tournament next Sunday, Akashi-sama."

There was a long period of silence as Masaomi flipped through the files, giving them a brief glance. All the details were in there, down to her parent's income and current address in France. He glanced for a moment to the silent Shirikawa and finally dismissed him from his office. When he was gone, he picked up the phone and called his secretary, whose own office was just outside his door.

"Clear my schedule this coming Friday," Masaomi finally said, eyes straying over the smirking face of Kimiko Akumi. An ominous gleam came into his sharp ruby eyes. "I'm going to Wakayama for Seijuurou's championship match."

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Reviews are much appreciated!

I've been gone far too long - I have even considered deactivating my account on but I just can't turn my back on my unfinished stories. After all, I always finish what I have started so... Yeah. However, a little support from you guys would be nice from time to time...

...you know what I mean.

It's a bit short eh? Less than half the previous chapter... Oh well. Not the best chapter either in terms of everything, but I'll try better for the next chapter, I SWEAR.

...or is it because I'm losing my touch? As if I even have the touch in the first place...

Enough wallowing...

Quick question though: Who plays KnB Cross Colors and Pokemon GO on their phones? :D

Until the next update... See ya!

Love lots,

The Emperor's Empress