Sorry for the delay. Writers block is a horrible thing. Thanks for sticking with this story. I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Language: English is not my first language.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

Chapter 22

"Tatsuya, how much longer will it take us to get there?" Masako walked before the black-haired male, who had a beauty spot under his right eye and answered her in a soft voice. "From here it's only around a day now, I guess." He looked at the surroundings and felt kind of nostalgic, when he noticed the firefly cave, where Taiga, he and their friends played when they were younger.

"Hmph, fine. I'm a bit curious how Taiga has grown. But I still don't really understand why Raion suddenly had the idea, that I should marry his son. Isn't he too young for me?", she sighed and looked at her little girl, who was sitting on the ox, which was guided through the underwood by Tatsuya. "Will it be alright?"

"Masako-san, you think too much. I think, Taiga will like Ako-chan. He is loud and hotheaded, but also very caring, you will see.", he smiled at her, as she shrugged, knowing that she only wanted the best for her daughter.

"How much longer do we need to drag on that scheme? Why do I even need to pretend that I search for that idiot in the first place?" Shintarou glared at the light-blue haired male by his side and fiddled with the hawk feather, he was holding in his hand.

"Shintorin, be glad that our father didn't accuse you for helping him escape. It was enough that Tetsu-kun got a black eye from him." Satsuki tried to press a cold, wet clothes to the small man walking between them.

"Satsuki-chan, it's fine. Thank you." Tetsuya pulled the clothes from her hand and held it over his beautiful black-purple-blue eye. "Look, look what I found!" Atsushi was a bit further ahead of them and waved with his hand at them to hurry up.

Upon reaching him with quizzical looks, he squatted down and pulled some green fruits from the bush in front of him. "Gooseberries. Hm, Sachin we still have some of those sugarcanes, right? I think puree would be good." He popped a handful of fruits into his mouth and chewed happily.

A vein pulsed at Shintarou's temple, "I don't have time to watch this glutton grazing the whole jungle. I'm going back." He spun on his heels and walked with long strides back to the camp. "Shintorin, don't forget to crinkle some branches!" Sure, the chieftain had sent them out to find his disobedient youngest son, but since all four of them were involved in Daiki's get away, they now laid wrong tracks, to confuse the others who also were forced to look for him.

"I will go down to the river. Atsushi-kun, please go to the rock debrises, where you last time found the blueberries and make a bit of a mess. Satsuki-chan, could you please walk up to the north? I think it's best if we lay false tracks around the whole village." He looked after the retreating back of the greenette, who was walking a huge beeline to the west. Showing a little smile, he knew they could count on Shintarou to sweep away evidence in which direction Daiki had gone.

"Understood. Till later then, Tetsu-kun." The pink-haired girl bounced away and the gobbling sounds of Atsushi grew quieter as he walked deeper into the woods.

Tetsuya moved fast. He wanted to be the first one to arrive at the river, since he knew how good their trackers were and that was exactly the spot where Daiki had gone.

Satsuki walked around a small tree and broke some branches slightly, then she trampled the ground a bit more before she walked further. Once in a while she would let her hands sweep over leafs kinking them and run a short path in almost every direction in sight. It was fun but also exhausting. The sweltering heat got to her and her long pink hair, which she wore open today, already stuck on her sweaty back.

She spun on her heels and overlooked her work, while walking backwards. "That should do it here." Spinning back to go further up, her feet suddenly got stuck on a small stone. "Waaahh~" With her arms rowing in the air, she tried to catch her balance back, but failed greatly. Stumbling forward, she noticed that she was on a small hill, but stopping her fall was out of question. She put her arms above her head to protect herself from getting hurt and squeezed her eyes tight, awaiting the impact of hitting the ground. Her body felt like floating and she cursed inwardly, that she didn't take her lucky item with her, which Shintarou had given to her earlier in the day. "Here for you!", he had said and tossed the little amber at her, before he averted his green eyes. "You have mixed luck today.", he harrumphed and teetered away.

All of a sudden she noticed, that she still hadn't collided with the ground. Instead her body was snugly pressed against cold skin and lithe, but strong arms enclosed her tightly, steadying her equilibrium. "Careful lady, that could have gone pretty wrong.", a soothing voice poured into her ear, making her tremble. Satsuki tore her eyes open, put her hands against smooth white skin and pushed out of reflex, away from the steely chest in front of her. Magenta eyes meet heterochromatic red and yellow ones and she gasped in awe at the beautiful features of the man, who was slightly taller than her.

"Who are you?", she breathed out, while her eyes drank in the sight of small light reflections flitting over his shiny magenta colored hair, the charming but slightly malicious line to his thin lips and how his fine defined muscles stretched under her small hands.

"My name is Seijuurou. And you are?" He studied her small, pretty face and looked deep into her big shimmering magenta eyes. 'The girl would like a daylily in the colors of your eyes.' He smiled slightly, as his great grandmother's prediction ghosted through his mind. And indeed, earlier, when he had walked along the small path up the hill, he had found an accumulation of daylilies and took some with him. He let go of the girl and felt how her slim fingers trailed over his arms, until they finally left his skin.

Satsuki was still completely intoxicated by the foreign male and his small smile earlier, didn't help one bit against it. She felt how he stepped back and her hands twitch to grasp at his strong arms, but instead let them trail down and eventually fall to her sides.

She was pulled out of her daze, when a beautiful red and yellow colored daylily was held before her face. "For you, …" Seijuurou let the sentence unfinished, as he still didn't know her name. "Ah … Satsuki … my name is Satsuki." She blushed violently and carefully took the flower from his well-groomed hand.

"Satsuki.", hearing her name called in that sinful voice, let her shiver once more. But when she looked up, he had already turned his back to her and walked back the path, where he had come from. "Ah! Must you go already?", her voice had a longing tone to it and Akashi puckered his lips in amusement. He peered over his shoulder at her and raised one of his hands. "We will see each other again. Wait for me." Then he was gone, leaving a violently fluttering heart in the girls chest behind.

Meanwhile, Daiki had laid back about half the distance to the agreed meeting point. From now on he had to be careful to not be discovered. He knew, he was pretty close to the Kagami village, since once in a while he heard shouts and laughter riding the air.

He had always believed that nervousness was a foreign word for him. But now, with his goal this close, he felt his heart thudding fiercely in his chest, giving him sweaty palms and the feeling, as if thousands of ants crawled over his skin. He was excited and yes, god damn nervous. How would Taiga react? Had he missed him? Perhaps as much as Daiki him and still did? Would they kiss when they meet? Had he changed over the past long weeks? Would he even come? He waved his hand at the last thought. Of course he would come. Even his hotheaded temper couldn't deny, the strong attraction they exert on each other.

Daiki left the fleeting sounds rapidly behind and pulled out Satsuki's map. The surroundings began to match the drawn lines on the thin piece of bark and he attentively looked around, to not miss the next offshoot that he should take. Growing sick of waiting, his steps became faster and faster, until he was running as fast as the uneven ground allowed him to. He simply couldn't wait any longer. And no matter what his father had told him, he certainly and wholeheartedly believed his mother's story more. The man who had raised his hot blooded but caring lover, couldn't be as evil as his father wanted him to believe.

Suddenly, Daiki skidded on his feet and slide under a nearby bush. His midnight-blue eyes narrowed at the shadows of a collection of huge trees. There had been a movement. Only slightly, but his sharp mind had caught it still. He laid low, not making any conspicuous moves. He tried to calm down his heavy breathing from the run and fixed his eyes on the darkness hovering between the thick tree trunks. Seconds ticked by, but the motion didn't repeat itself. He let out his halted breath and was about to stand up, when suddenly a huge man emerged from the bushes, nearer to him than he had expected.

The resemblance was unmistakable. With in a stone throw, stood the chieftain of the Kagami tribe and father of Taiga. His blackish hair was at the temples penetrated with white wisps and his one remaining burgundy-colored eye scanned searching over the ground. Daiki was in big trouble to being caught, when the big man stepped even closer to his hideout.

"Chieftain! We found some!" More men stepped out of the shadows behind Taiga's father. Their hands were occupied with amber and one triumphantly held up three freshly caught pheasants. "These stupid chickens have led us directly to a large amber accumulation.", said the raven-haired man who lead the others to their chieftain and grinned, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the poultry. "Now your son's wedding can take place any time." The others also chimed into the ubiquitous laughter and patted Taiga's father on his shoulder. "You must be happy, to soon get a grandchild. I heard she is a lovely lady!?"

The chieftain nodded and grunted approvingly, as he held one of the ambers up against the sunlight. "Yes, she is and Taiga will be lucky to have such a smart woman at his side. But now enough of that! Good job, men. Let's go back so that your wives can make those pheasants crispy over the fire." They all grinned, delighted that their chief had found his good mood again.

On Daiki these words had a completely different impact. All his blood had drained from his face, letting even his tanned skin look pale. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach and still twisted his guts around. 'Taiga is getting married', swirled unremittingly in hishead, as he blankly stared after the retreating men. When they were out of sight and the rainforest had grown quiet, beside the normal buzzing of small insects, his body moved on his own accord, letting him stand up. He clenched his fists at his sides, nails almost breaking the skin of his palms and gritted his teeth with a horrible sound, when another sentence, the men said, came back to haunt him. "You must be happy, to soon get a grandchild."

Had he really assessed the redhead so wrongly? Could the story, his father told him, be true? Was the Kagami tribe nothing more than a bunch of liars and cheaters?

Slowly he set one foot before the other and tried to get his thoughts together. His chest grew heavy, as a sudden intense cold wave of hate rolled over him. If what he had heard was true and the redhead had betrayed him, only the almighty deity could save Taiga from his wrath.

TBC