CHAPTER 5 - The White Emperor

A few days ago, during practice, Akashi was informed by Mibuchi of a certain talented player.

"Is that so?" Akashi turned to face the shooting guard, while picking up the basketballs scattered across the floor.

"Yep, I heard he's really strong," Mibuchi said nonchantly, casually shooting a three into the basket. "Maybe Sei-Chan will find him interesting, I guess."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well… I heard rumors that he could…", and Mibuchi's voice softened, "predict movements like you do." Akashi raised his eyebrows. Emperor Eye? Here, in Japan? After all, he never really did consider anyone else other than him having this ability. The red-haired captain's interest piqued.

"Where do I find him?" he enquired.

"Well, I heard he plays streetball, and he's literally dominating lots of guys, but if you wanna find him, he usually plays at … …"

And with that, the minute the school bell rang, Akashi quickly went outside and changed into his casual sports attire, and immediately headed towards the basketball court. If anything at all, he had nothing to lose by visiting this "player", and moreover, he could possibly learn how to better use his own Emperor Eye, although he wasn't exactly sure how he could improve it any further. What's this? Another guy with an Emperor Eye? The other Akashi spoke out. Yeah, I'm going to see what he can do, Akashi replied silently. Then, shouldn't you let me out? After all I am the rightful owner, the voice continued. Akashi didn't respond for a moment, and then sighed. Depends, he relented, and the voice faded away.

When he arrived, there was already a crowd gathered, seemingly watching a match. Quietly, Akashi managed to shuffle himself forward to get a closer look. From what he could see (trying to see past all the 180~190cm players), two teams, red and blue, were playing, but what attracted his attention was a young man with completely white hair, as pristine as snow, sitting at the side. Akashi noticed that the red team was definitely stronger as compared to the blue team, as their coordination and speed were on a different league from the blue team, and within several seconds, red players would already score, while the blue players could hardly catch up. He noted that the red team may even prove to be challenging even for Rakuzan, although he concluded that Rakuzan would eventually win them as the score gap would eventually grow wider anyway.

"Excuse me, but what's the score now?" Akashi asked a player beside him.

"Uhh if I'm not wrong, 32-18, red to blue" the guy replied nonchalantly before focusing back on the game.

At this rate, the blue team is bound to lose… Akashi thought. At this point, one of the blue players suddenly called for a time out. It appears that one of them wanted a switch, and from what he gathered, anyone that wants to play could simply join if they wanted to, although given the monstrous strength of the red team, no one on court would dare participate. The red players started laughing among themselves while consuming refreshments.

"Hey… can someone switch…?" the blue player asked weakly. He was clearly exhausted, and the other members were starting to lose morale. However, no one responded.

"Hey…"

"I'll go," the young man with white hair stood up and took the blue sash from the player. He put it on and beckoned to the red team. "Ha! Is this guy serious?" One of the red players exclaimed mockingly, and the others laughed. The young man's white coloured eyes glowed in excitement, and he smiled.

"Let's go"

The man started at the base line, with his hands holding the basketball tightly. For some reason, Akashi could not figure out this strange man. To others, it is said that Akashi's aura was likened to an emperor; intimidating and powerful, but to Akashi himself, this man's aura feels like an archangel's radiance. He did not give off any sign of power, fierceness, the usual signs of any basketball player, but rather he was like Kuroko, gentle, quiet, except this guy seems to be hiding a lot of his talent within himself. His white eyes looked unnaturally dazed, but he scanned the court with intense concentration.

He mumbled to himself, then without warning shot the ball at a blue player. The other players quickly rushed to their positions, but most of the failed to notice how perfectly the ball landed in that player's palms. The white haired man quickly moved in position as well, while the blue player quickly dribbled forward before quickly being blocked off by a larger red player. He quickly made a side pass to the player beside him, who then quickly pushed on forward. At this point, it does seem like the game was starting to be in the blue team's favor, as within seconds the ball had already made its way near the three-point line, but clearly things did not go as expected. Out of nowhere, a red player flicked the ball out of the blue player's hands and stole it rather easily.

"HAHAHA! This is mine!" the red player roared, and he easily outruns the other red players behind him. "This point is mine – What the?!"

The young man appeared in front of him without warning, with a defensive stance ready. The red player brows furrowed, and he attempted to break past him.

"Try this—"

Akashi's eyes widened. The moment the red player's foot stepped into his opponent's boundaries, within a split second, the ball fell out of his hands without any warning. The crowd's cheers suddenly became silent, as though they were trying to comprehend what had happened, while the red player too was at loss for words. However, the white haired man did not bother to wait as he caught the ball and dribbled without any interruptions. As the red player who regained his composure attempted to stop him, the man made the same movements as Akashi did. By fluidly making crossovers behind his back and between his legs at an extremely fast rate, his opponent attempted to follow the ball and shifted his legs accordingly, and thus, his centre of gravity as well. The moment the red player's weight was on his pivot leg, the man's white eyes widened and he cut back, causing the red player to fall dramatically on his back. By the next few seconds, the ball was already in the hoop. The entire crowd remained silent, and then roared into applause.

"Woah, did you see that?!"

"What a sick move!"

"Hey, isn't that the famous ankle breaker? That guy just did it!"

Akashi frowned. From that one exchange, he could already tell this man has an emperor eye of some sort. His timing was impossibly perfect; to be able to cut back and react instantly is definitely no human feat. As the crowd cheered, the match continued, although both red and blue players looked disoriented at what just occurred, whereas the young man simply strolled back to his position, looking as unfocused as ever.

Akashi tapped the guy's shoulder beside him again. "Hey, do you know who that guy is?" he asked, pointing at the other wielder of the emperor eye.

"Ohh, yeah, I heard his name is Hisoka Shiro… Been around here for some time it seems" the guy explained. "I think he's about 20 plus years old…"

Huh, is that so… Akashi thought, which meant that this man would not be in the Interhigh or Winter Cup during Akashi's own high school years. It would certainly be a sight to see two emperor eye users in the competition, or even better, fighting against the other Generation of Miracles.

The match continued, with the blue team steadily winning back points. Within twenty minutes, the score miraculously shot up to 37-40, with the blue team in the lead. In that period, Akashi observed Shiro's movements, and noticed that his skills were very refined, backed up with lots of self-confidence to be able to handle to basketball as he did. Akashi also counted literally 14 ankle breaks, and at almost every instance, he would use his emperor eye to counter the red players. At this point, the red players were not so much exhausted, but rather completely demoralized, as they knew any further attempts to challenge to Shiro would surely end up in flames.

"Hey, anyone wanna play?" One of the red players asked the crowd, although obviously no one responded. After all, if they couldn't beat Shiro, who else can?

"I will," Akashi spoke out.

Everybody turned around to look at who was the foolish challenger, although they naturally made way for him as he strolled towards the basketball court. He put his bags down, and put on the red sash received from the red player. Despite his shorter stature compared to the rest of the players on the court, he still commanded obedience from both friends and foes alike. Shiro observed him quietly, and then grabbed the ball and walked to the central-line, to which Akashi followed suit.

"Hey… Isn't that Rakuzan High's Akashi Seijuuro?" The crowd mumbled.

"Hey… yeah… you're right…"

The crowd grew steadily louder and louder. Before long, cheers erupted, and people started chatting loudly among themselves.

"Hey Akashi-kun! Can you beat that guy?"

"I heard he's really strong right?"

"The captain of the Generation of Miracles, no doubt he'll beat that guy to the ground…"

"But that guy is no joke too…"

When they both arrived at the central round, Shiro and Akashi stood face to face with each other. Akashi noted that Shiro was slightly taller than he was, perhaps about 178cm, meaning he would theoretically be at a disadvantage in a one-on-one. Shiro passed him the ball.

"You go first?" He spoke above the crowd. Akashi nodded and accepted the basketball. As both of them strolled back, they both knew in their hearts that their opponents were not someone to be trifled with.

Before the match continued, Akashi commented to his team, "The previous guy was a Point Guard, right? So you won't mind if I take that position, right?" The red players looked slightly startled but most of them simply nodded nervously. "Then let's start." And the crowd quickly silence themselves.

The impromptu referee blew his whistle to signal the start of a new round. Akashi started from the base line and passed the ball to one of the red players. The player caught it perfectly, looking slightly intimidated; After all, playing together with the legendary point guard of the Generation of Miracles is certainly an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The player started slowly, dribbling at his own pace, while the rest of players shifted accordingly, moving swiftly and guarding. Akashi quickly took note of the current formation on the court and noticed that two of the blue players were running to guard him, the other two blue players guarded against two other red players. Meanwhile, Shiro did not bother to guard the remaining red player, but simply lingered near the paint, observing every movement.

One of the red players managed to break off from the blue player's defense, and instinctively caught the ball when the red player with the basketball saw the chance. The blue players quickly shifted accordingly, while the other two blues focused their defense on Akashi, taking periodic glances at the ball. Noticing this, without warning, Akashi swiftly slipped out of their sight into an open space near the paint.

"Akashi-kun!" The red player shouted as he passed the ball to him. Akashi easily caught it with a single hand as he scanned the court.

Time seemed to slow down, as Akashi's irises shifted and his cat-like slits for pupils widened. His position currently near the three point line, and inches away was Shiro, still standing there lamely. Near the wings on this side of the court were pairs of red and blue players, both trying to break off their opponents, and a free red player is shifting near the paint. Concurrently, the two blue players were running towards him. A drop of sweat trickled down his neck.

In a fluid motion, his hand that received the ball went round behind his back and he shot the ball towards the free red player, who just arrived at that exact position. The two blue players have just arrived in time to miss the ball as they turned to see the ball land perfectly in the red player's palms.

"What the-?!"

"Huh?" the red player said, as the ball fell into his hands. He didn't call for it, but yet the ball fell right there, at the perfect angle and speed. All at once, his confidence skyrocketed, and he went for a two-pointer, which of course succeeded.

There was a moment of silence as the crowd tried to comprehend that quick exchange, and then they roared and cheered.

"Woah!"

"Did you see that?!"

"Damn… What just happened…?"

Both blue and red players gaped at Akashi as they returned back to their positions. After all, the red player that made the shot hardly succeeded at making any shots at all, even if he was just below the hoop. Shiro's eyes widened for a moment, and he mumbled something to himself. The points shifted to 39-40.

Not doing anything yet… Akashi thought quietly to himself as he observed Shiro. He was serious just now, but yet did not do anything the moment Akashi came on the court, buthis attention perked up as Shiro suddenly did some stretches and warm-ups on the spot. All at once , he was like a different person that before.

"Akashi-kun?" He called out. Akashi turned his head to face him, and their eyes met once again.

"I saw your moves just now… your expression, how you decide where and when to pass the ball…" He smiled and said cheerfully, "You are really the perfect point guard that I've heard, eh?" However, Akashi remained silent and kept his expression stoic. All from a single exchange? Akashi thought.

"But… I've already seen through you, with these eyes…" His expression changed slightly, looking more malevolent than ever. Shiro's snow white eyes glowed, and his smile widened.

"I don't understand what you mean," Akashi replied coldly, causing Shiro to raise his eyebrow, albeit looking insulted rather than confused.

"If you are referring to my point guarding skills, then of course," the emperor continued to the plebian, "the court is like a battlefield, and as a tactician, I must know everything about the court, the positions, the strengths and weaknesses of the players, and make the right decisions to claim victory."

"Is that so?" Shiro smirked at Akashi's analogy, "then how have you won all your battles so easily?"

"…"

"I've seen your matches before, Akashi Seijuuro, even back when you're in the middle school, your court awareness was that of a prodigy, but I noticed something in you spiked up after your 3rd year and during the Winter Cup," Shiro continued, "And consider me impressed, because I had a suspicion."

Akashi's eyes narrowed.

"About your analogy of the battlefield, tell me, what happens if the soldiers become too strong, such that the general could not control them?"

"The general becomes a demon. He becomes so powerful and destructive, that he could instantly turn the tide of any battle, a skill so overwhelming that the soldiers would have to, no, MUST submit to him unconditionally, all for the sake of keeping the army together, to win the war. But when the war ends, what happens next? The soldiers leave and they build armies of their own, and challenge their former master."

"…"

"But even then, they can't win against him, because by then they realize how the general had been winning the wars, or rather, the enemies' loss was already decided when they face him." Shiro continued, "However, the general realizes the destructive potential of possessing such a skill, so he hides it within himself, and pretends to be tactician, still assisting in winning the wars."

Akashi didn't say anything. After all, everything he said was true; after the winter cup, Akashi did not exactly play an active role as an ace like in the Winter Cup, but rather, he now just focuses on his role as a point guard. In fact, he had not used the Emperor Eye for a while now, and he wasn't sure he would want to use them now too. Even if he wanted to, his usage of it was extremely limited since the "owner" of this skill was not him, but the "other Akashi", and using them would not making the both of them comfortable. He realized his how naïve his previous thought of "two emperor eye users clashing" was when he could not even pluck the courage to use it.

"As a general myself, I want to see the skill of other generals, you know," Shiro said, "After all they are rare."

You want to use it, don't you? The voice asked, and truthfully, Akashi does. After all, he came here with the intention of learning more about the Emperor Eye and this mysterious player, and it would not suit him if he did not go all out against another user of the Emperor Eye. He heard the voice sigh. If you want to use it, go ahead, it's your choice, but trust me, if you want to use it seriously, it will have to be me, the voice continued, causing Akashi to remain hesitant.

Shiro noticed this somewhat and sighed. "Oh well, this is really disappointing…" reverting back to his reserved self and turning back. "So much for a general…"

Akashi looked down and felt a tinge of regret, and the voice said irritably, idiot…

However, a hand rested on the Akashi's shoulders, causing him to turn his head in the midst of his emotional moment. Akashi's eyes widened.

"How 'bout taking on the soldier instead?" the person asked loudly, and rather rudely, causing Shiro to turn around and immediately gaped at the young man's impressive height.

"Kagami… Taiga?"

Hey, kkkdragon123 here, so yeah, my apologies for the one month break due to exams and all, but it's over so life's slightly less stressful now haha. For this chapter like I said will focus on Akashi, and i know i said there probably won't be any basketball playing, but I felt that Akashi should also have a sort of improvement in his skills, hence the new guy with Emperor eye and all. Also, yep, Kagami is teaming up with Akashi! So it will be Kagami and Akashi vs Shiro for next chapter. Oh yea, and im not sure whether i need to explain this, but Akashi doesn't want to use his emperor eye due to the events of winter cup and he knows how violent his other self could be, hence his reluctance (despite wanting to use it to fight Shiro). So this match should end next chapter, and you know, ill add some Akashi moments in too, and i'll probably add in just one more event (i think) before the actual interhigh, where the GOM meets and plays against each other and all, so i can also write about the others too haha

SO that's about it. Comment and Review and all, and hopefully I'll see you sooon (I'm still busy... my bad)