Welcooome! SORRY FOR THE LOOONG DELAY! I know you guys had been waiting for the update but I was busy trying to defend my place in the Dean's List since as you remember the last tim I was enlisted but then again I was at the at the edge of the list LOL so yeah I was convinced that I have to defend it ahahaha, so basically school was a bitch and I didnt get a decent time to update or write, Kicchin os sooooooooo sprry for taking forever to update. As promised we'll have a glimpse of Himuro's past. Just who exactly he is and where did he come from? Also what happened to Akashi and Furihata?

Soon we'll be approaching the biggest storm in the history of Teiko, has anyone found out yet about Takao's dream? Hohoho looks like Miharucchi-chan has good predicament of the coming STORM! Ahahaha thank you for your insights Miharucchi YOU ARE AMAZZIIIING! Anyways I love long reviews so no worries(same goes to everyone) I really enjoy reading reviews from you guys! It never fails to make me squeal like a little girl lol. Also thank you to our two guest and I'm soooo sorry for mkibg you both wait. And to Zeyreele thank youuu ahahaha I'm sorry for cutting them in ungodly moments BUT FLUFF SHALL COME WHEN IT IS DUEE(and I assure you the FIRST kiss in this series is very CLOSE) ahahaha and I'm so happy you like it even though it isn't your orginal ship, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And to Psychobubbles KYAAA THANK YOU AHAHAHA Midorima will find out veerry soon, as to how let's wait fot the coming chapters, and ORESHI...WHO WANTS ORESHI? YES UUUUUS! AHAHAHA. Let's see how Alafuri will progres after that heart stopping moment between Himuro and Akashi. And to Ara ara ahaha my grin doesn't seem to get off as well as I was rereading your review thank you very much! And Bela-chin ahahaha I like how Himuro is both like some kind of an amazing character in both the anime and manga, despite obviously not being a major character (he doesn't have the main character hair LOL) he seems badass enough to have something special. His caharacter is almost similar to Takao's, he isn't major but you can't imagine him never appearing in the show or Murasakibara without him. His smiles is borderlining cool and cocky ahahaha! And thank you sooo much for the review and lastly to Pinally-chab *drum rolls* what's in store for our babies! What will happen to Akashiand Furihata, is Himuro finding out Furihata's origin an omen of the next events?

And now thank you for everyone whp gave LION a fav and follow! I LOVE YOU GUUUUYS I would love to update much earlier if I can, and I would do my best to bring you good updates in return for your support! We've reached 14K virews isn't that awesome?! Thank you so much and I hope you like today's chapter! Please do review if you have time!

Chapter 25: The Prince and the Pauper

Kuroko ran in the hallways pulling the hems of his kimono, despite his ease at the fact that the attendants told him that the Emperor was with his personal attendant he still couldn't keep his heart calm. For many years of being with his eldest brother, he had only seen him break down a few times and none of it had led and come this far. He was always there to remind him that he shouldn't let his anger rile him up. It was the true reason why Kuroko couldn't leave the palace and live with the Kuroko clan, upon the death of their father, at his deathbed the man begged Kuroko to look after his older brother, his brother who in truth had always been fragile of heart.

Too much anger or pain could cause him to break down physically and even mentally, and that fact was something that their parents had feared. Being the eldest, Akashi had been the one who was given a bit too much responsibility, his supressed emotions made his heart brittle. It was then when their mother knew he shouldn't be left on his own, someone must stay, someone must be by his side at all times, even if he said so otherwise. In truth Akashi Seijuuro was the most fragile of them, he was the one who took the blow, every single time he received it face front for the five of them. He hid in his hard shell to protect the integrity of the Imperial Family and withhold the reputation that their parents had built for them all those years.

And that was why upon meeting Furihata Kouki, Kuroko saw a small spark of hope for his brother. If he could only understand that kindness is not entirely a weakness, perhaps his heart would be a bit stronger.

He should have known, Kuroko thought as he gripped the material of his clothes tighter. The first time he met Furihata he knew the capabilities of the soft spoke prince, the kindness of his heart is a double edged sword. It protects you and at the same time would hurt.

Kuroko stopped at the front of the Emperor's chamber, at the door stood a quivering figure of brunette.

But reality was like that…and maybe it was his wrong too, to have agreed to shelter his brother this much, this was why he was never cured, this was why he had always been weak of heart, because they never let him experience real pain. Akashi's true fear was not failure, his true fear is—

"Kuroko-denka?" Furihata had turned to the prince with eyes in verge of tears, body trembling. The boy suddenly collapsed on his knees and bowed his head pressing them on the floor. "I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! It was my fault!"

It shocked Kuroko once he heard an attendant came to tell him the news, Akashi had lost consciousness and was in bad shape after speaking with Furihata. Furihata couldn't surely had done something wrong, Kuroko knew this, however it isnt entirely true as well that the former prince is not at fault at all.

"You must be aware of the consequences…"

Furihata remained on the floor trembling as he nodded, "Please punish me, I have failed…my duties."

Kuroko didn't want to do this, however…

"So shall it be." Kuroko said, "You cannot come near shujo's chamber until we have proven that you are indeed innocent."

"I-I understand…K-Kuroko-denka please…i-is he…i-is His M-Majesty—"

Without listening further the prince walked towards the door and the guards standing behind it. He eyed them and gave a silent command, it was an unspoken protocol. When the Emperor is sick, no information shall be known to the public until his condition is unrecoverable, this is due to avoid panic among their people who had been taking their strength and hope from their regent. Also, this is when no one shall be allowed to see the Emperor…no one except the fifth prince. Turning towards Furihata, Kuroko quietly contemplated his decision, should he revoke the previous rules against punishment, surely it wasn't fully the brunette's fault, and looking at his current state would wound anyone's heart. He was obviously concerned of his brother's state, he looked like he was going to faint anyone moment, both scared and nervous to know what has happened to Akashi.

Biting his lower lip and clenching his hands into a fist he remembered his duty as the fifth prince, he was the balance, the one who must remain stiff at all times, the one who despite everything must remained unaffected, for a shadow knows no master other than the rule of the land and the Gods.

"Bring the attendant to the dungeon." Kuroko's voice cracked at his own decision, and to hear no complaints from the brunette made his chest contort in pain, "punishment for failure of attending his duties and protecting His Majesty shall be given to him. He shall not see Akashi-shujo until further notice."

He turned to face the door unable to look at the brunette's face. The law is blind, and therefore despite personal convictions must do its task. He heard the voices of the guards and their heavy armors as they walked towards the attendant, the boy didn't say anything, cried nor called for help. He accepted his fate like that.

Was this person…the same as the boy he met back in that storage house in the ports? He was much braver, if he was the same boy he would have begged for him to free him now, away from his punishment. But he didn't.

Himuro was correct about Furihata…

"He isn't a coward." Himuro said as he collected his own papers before lifting his eyes to meet Kuroko's sky blue eyes, "Generic flowers may look simple, but they can both be cure and poison."

He was both Akashi's cure…and poison.

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The land where Himuro Tatsuya was born is a small portion of land in the West which came to build a name for itself in a few years. Dignified star, the Kingdom of Seirin. The land who endured many years of poverty and slavery was finally liberated and given sovereignty from the bare hands of the mercenary turned hero and King and his beloved wife who came from an affluent family in the same region. The two had discovered the huge amount of deposit of iron that became later the symbol of the royal family. This paved the path for the liberation of the small land called Seirin.

But progress does not quickly sink deep, many people despite the conversion of the nameless land to a proper kingdom suffered poverty. Many were uneducated and couldn't find jobs for themselves to send their own children to school, life was difficult in the new found kingdom.

And he was the same, he was one of the children born in the slums. His father he never met, and his mother who loved him however couldn't support him. The difficulty led him to be sold(adopted) by a wealthy family who promised his mother to give him a good life.

Maybe good life is subjective.

Once adopted, Himuro was taught to be refined, this was to be a suitable consort and accessory for the heir of another wealthy family. However…this was not the kind of life he chose. As he learned, the urge to not to settle for merely being a consort increased and that led him to escape that night. He couldn't take the nightmares of merely becoming an object of someone's desires, to be simply a decoration…he wanted to become more.

...

The day his eyes fell on those eyes he knew he had never seen anything more beautiful. His eyes were the color of the violets during spring, and his towering height was quite intimidating however the look of his face screamed innocence of a child. That day, he was the first face he saw after getting caught as an illegal immigrant aside from the familiar faces of the soldiers. He would never forget it, it was the festival of the coming of the prince in the tribe of Yosen, one of the tribes that makes up the most powerful Empire in history—the Empire of Teiko, the prince inherited the land as part of the Emperor's will. His name…

Murasakibara Atsushi.

"What's your name?"

For a long time no one had ever cared who he might be, no one ever cared of asking. Who would even want to know the name of someone treated and seen as mere decoration, a plaything? But there he was standing there asking him for his name without regards of his social status of his birth, or origin.

"H-Himuro…Tatsuya…"

The prince nodded and walked quietly towards the cell, with his own hands he released him from his cell, and reached to his lanky arms.

Liberation was in the form of the third prince of Teiko, in the eyes and fingertips of Murasakibara Atsushi. To tell the truth, he didn't know it happened or how, he just knew suddenly it happened, suddenly breathing was hard without him, suddenly his hands in his were his warmth, and losing him would mean his death. And right then he knew no words were needed anymore, he knew his heart had already been owned.

And he wouldn't want it any other way.

And he knew it was the same way for the other, the prince had made it clear the day he defied his own brother, the Emperor when he said and asked him to reveal Himuro's true identity and origin. With a will he had never possess until then, he stood straight before his brother whom from he knew the other had never defied. His eyes stared rigt back at his older brother's—

"No."

The words that he uttered were simple but for Himuro it meant everything, it meant his whole existence meant this much, much to the point of defying your own blood relative, strong enough to mean more than his own life, to bet his own life on Himuro's loyalty to him. He trusted him with his own life, he saw him as someone capable to change, capable to be someone more than what people saw him. And for someone who came there with nothing, it was his everything. And maybe that was how love works.

Love is him, love was his trust, love were his words, love were the color of his eyes. He didn't need to tell anyone because he knew as much that he couldn't leave the prince with his heart already owned from the very start.

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"Himuro-san."

Himuro blinked off his sleepiness upon hearing his name being called. Composing himself, he realized the carriage had stopped. It has been two straight days of travel from the capital to the heart of Yosen right after the meeting he had with the Emperor, and the strange brunette boy from Seirin. He remember before leaving, Kuroko whom he was speaking with suddenly rushed out of the scene excusing himself due to two emergencies. It was quite peculiar turns of event. First was his discovery of the strange non-platonic interest of the Emperor to a servant in the palace, second was his discovery that this servant, which the Emperor has no idea of, is from Seirin and might possibly be of high social status, and third the peculiar emergency that Kuroko attended to. There was indeed a lot of things happening in the capital.

Another soft knock from the door of the carriage took the specialist's attention, Himuro peered from the small window of the carriage, a footman stood there with an awkward smile, "W-Were you resting Himuro-san?" the man asked.

"It is alright, I'm already awake, are we already in the palace?"

The man was about to answer Himuro when their conversation was interrupted with loud exclamations coming from somewhere, the specialist raised an eyebrow, the voices sound familiar.

"Is everything alright?" Himuro asked to the footman who was looking ahead, the man turned to Himuro ans awkwardly smiled again before opening the door for the specialist. Himuro got off, and was taken aback by the sight that welcomed him.

They were only a few meters away from the palace gate and almost the whole battalion was at gate and the female attendants were also there , what were they doing there? His question was quickly answered when a hand reached out to push away the crowding people revealing the prince who had grown irritated with all the fussing, Himuro's eyes widen at the sight. The prince was soaked from head to toe, even from the distance Himuro could see the small scrape in the prince's cheek and as if in instinct, the specialist found himself grabbing the hem of his clothes and ran quickly to the scene. Forget about grace and elegance the sight compelled him to know what happened.

The prince who was busy pushing the crowd away realized the incoming presence. His eyes softened at the sight of the storming brunette, all else were forgotten.

"Muro-chin." He greeted.

However instead of the man's usual smile and greetings, the ebony haired specialist took off his jacket and quickly placed them over him, hurriedly he searched his pockets and produced a white handkerchief and wiped his wet face gentley, "What have you been doing while I was away!" Himuro partly exclaimed, "You are dripping wet!"

"But you were…you took too long." Murasakibara said with his usual childish tone.

"Of course I did." Himuro sighed, a female attendant approached handling over a towel to the brunette specialist. With a curt smile he thanked the woman and draped the soft material over the prince's head before softly drying them, "I was to meet the Emperor, have I not told you with the letters I sent?"

The prince didn't retorted, the attendants seemingly dispersed and came to the carriage instead to take the belongings of the specialist. After all they pose no use to the prince, the prince never allowed anyone to touch him except for the ebony haired young man. It was a fact that the prince found favour with the other, not that anyone would actually dare to question this. Himuro's presence always made everything about taking care of the prince easier, like a child to a mother.

"And what have you been doing to end up like this!" Himuro scolded the other and sighed.

"We told him not to go down the streams." Wei Liu said crossing his arm over his chest, there really is a limit to how much anyone could take in the prince's childishness and stubbornness. It was a miracle that Himuro could actually not be angry at this.

"THE STREAMS?!" the specialist exclaimed in shock. He turned and cupped the prince's face in his hands and stared right at his eyes, "Atsushi will you ever stop worrying everyone?"

The prince's eyes didn't meet his, and this caused the specialist to feel quite reaching his limits, this was not how he imagined reuniting with him. If he had fallen there and broke a bone or two, he wouldn't know what to do, or what to tell the prince's brothers, or how he would feel. He'd be angry to himself for ever leaving him, the guilt will kill him.

"You'll be the death of me Atsu—huh?" Himuro took a step back when a blur of violet suddenly blocked the image of the prince's face. Blinking Himuro realized that the prince was holding a couple of familiar looking flowers. Shion. The flowers he liked the best.

"W-What…What are…these?"

"Found them in the streams." Murasakibara simply answered, "I thought…Muro-chin would like them when you return."

Himuro was speechless, he went all the way on his own down the streams to get him these? Unbelievable. A chuckled erupted from his lips, unable to contain his amusement. He was indeed like a child. At the same time this part of him never failed to scared him, his mind was quite simple, and sometimes this caused him to take extreme measures. Looking at it right now made his heart melt, the hand that held that flower was full off cuts, very unfitting for a prince, but Murasakibara never cared.

And sometimes, that part of him is quite amusing too.

"Silly." Himuro chuckled, "Come on in, you might catch a cold in that, also we have to put those flowers in a vase, yes?"

The prince hummed in contentment before entwining his hand with the brunette's.

"Muro-chin?"

"Hm?"

"Welcome back."

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"You have to be kind, not because I said so but because it is what one should do as a human person."

The heterochromatic eyed child blinked at his mother's words, his small hand was bandaged after a brawl he had with the son of his father's concubine, the barbaric and scrupulous boy dared picked on his younger brother and him which had caused him to lose it and with a scissor tried to stab the other, (un)fortunately the boy was able to dodge the attack, however the grip the prince held into the objet had caused a cut in his palm. It wasn't his fault, he tried to convince himself, he didn't wish to have these strange eyes, nor did he wish to be born earlier than that boy. People feared him due to his eyes, rumors inside the palace circulated that his eyes were some form of curse of the Phoenix God, a form of compensation for the power, fame and glory the empire had acquired. The only reason why people stayed was due to his mother's humble and kind nature.

The Empress scooted closer to his son and took his small hand in hers. Quietly she raised them and placed a kiss as if to bound it a spell.

"These are the hands that will lead Teiko in the future, these hands shall never be stained by blood." She said against the skin before raising her head and looking at her son's face. "I am not saying that what you did is wrong, but to before resorting to violence, you must think…is there no other way? Use these hands to protect the ones you love most, Teiko, your brothers…and Tetsuya."

The prince pursed his lips looking at the bump in his mother's stomach in a few months, he shall have another brother, a new brother to protect, a new life to cherish. His mother and father had promised that this child that was about to born shall stay with Akashi, until the boy's marriage where he shall be the one to chose if he would rather stay in the palace or carry on with his betrothed. The child that he hasn't seen yet but had already cherished as much.

"I don't need anyone…I have Tetsuya, I don't need to love anyone than *Hahaue ." The little boy said as he swung his legs that hung suspended from the stool where he sat.

The Empress chuckled, "No. Its too early to say that. You're too young Sei."

"I do understand!" the child retorted, "I understand and I only love *Hahaue and Tetsuya. I don't need anyone."

The woman chuckled again, she pulled his small head against her lips.

"One day you'll find someone you'll love more than me…more than Tetsuya and the whole world."

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"Kou…ki…"