Thanks for those who favorited/ reviewed/ followed this crappy story of mine.
And I'm sorry for the really, really long wait. My exam was already over at 14 Oct and I'm definitely in heaven now. I made this chap slightly longer than usual as a token of apologize.
Happy reading~
-XxX-
Both Akashi and Tetsuki stood before a building named The Palace. It was a bar consisting two floors and mostly actives at night. The first one was for regular customers and the second one served for the special customers. Entering the building, it was already fully occupied with many people. The colorful lights and the loud musics made Akashi felt sick and dizzy. He hated crowded place like this and would never step inside if he could. He spared a glance at Tetsuki that was behind him. He knew that the woman despised place like this too. He mentally chuckled seeing her frowning face. Moving his gaze from the teal head, he assessed the crowded bar. Nothing changed at all, it still the same since they last visited.
The people still corrupted as always, being selfish and ignorant. Akashi can felt he cringed. This place was nothing but for the peasants!
"My my, what a coincidence meeting you here Akashi-sama!" came a sudden voice.
"Imayoshi-san." Akashi turned to acknowledge the man.
"Hmm.. It is rare seeing you coming here since you detest places like this if I'm not mistaken right? I wonder what bring you here?" the bespectacled man smiled.
Akashi glared the taller man, annoyance rising up a bit. He didn't really like the man. Imayoshi Shoichi was a guy that you shouldn't trust.
"I'm here solely for the reason to meet the King. Is he here already?" His mismatched orbs met the black hues. For a second, their eyes flashed dangerously like predators that are ready to kill each other.
Silence embraced them for a few seconds. Imayoshi's eyes were still on Akashi's before he slowly shifted them. "I met Haizaki just now."
Haizaki Shougo, one of the King's right-hand men! Akashi nodded knowingly.
"Ah, look what time is now? Looks like I need to excuse myself." He excused himself after a while. He began to walk across Akashi and somehow bumped into the girl beside him.
"My, my! I'm sorry for not noticing you earlier Kuroko-san." Imayoshi bowed to the teal head.
"It is okay, Imayoshi-san. I'm used to it." Tetsuki replied monotonously.
"Cold as usual ehh..?" Imayoshi chuckled. He stared at the woman before him, from her toe to her head. Her petite figure, her long braided hair, her flawless pale complexion and her void cerulean orbs. Everything about her was beautifully absurd but still…
Imayoshi shook his head mentally.
"As expected from the Phantom of the Shadow." A smirk tilted on his face. Akashi's eyes and Tetsuki's glinted dangerously even though their façades were still calm.
Yes, it was true. Underworld was the place for the criminals, assassins and yakuza resided. And it was ruled by their chosen king. Albeit being chosen, the possibility of being assassinated still the highest because whoever success in killing the king, that person will become the new king. This is why the King is always being targeted by many sides.
Shadow, the name bestowed to the current king's bodyguard. Lurking in the darkness of the night, hiding behind the moonlit, ready to slaughter anyone who attempts to kill the king. Akashi Seijuro wielded the tittle. He was one hell of person that shouldn't be messed up. It is rumored that the Shadow never had any mercies for his enemies even the slightest. Ever since he made his appearance the attempts to kill the king were somehow surprisingly dwindled down and since only few people have seen and knew his face, eventually the Shadow's existence and appearance was being questioned. There were a lot of rumors about the King's bodyguard circulating around making it hard to grasp which one is the real thing.
Still, rumor is still a rumor. There's no guarantee whether it is true or false.
Among the widely spread rumors, there's one popular rumor stated that there was someone else behind the existence of the Shadow and that 'someone' was actually the one who did all the annihilations and eliminations. And that person was called 'Phantom'.
Akashi's heterochromatic eyes narrowed as he spoke to the bespectacled guy, "I thought you are busy, Imayoshi-san?" It sounded more like statement instead of question.
"I am. I shall excuse myself for real." Imayoshi smiled before he made his way to the front door. Suddenly he stopped and turned his back slowly, he eyed both Akashi and Tetsuki before another fox-smile formed on his face.
"Just to remind you, be careful~" he sang. There was something reflected; like a hidden message in his eyes but it was too fast for Akashi to catch.
"Well then, nice meeting you guys. Have a good night."
Akashi's eyes trailed on Imayoshi until he truly gone from his sight. His face showed nothing but inside, he was contemplating the meaning of Imayoshi's word just now.
'Something bad will be happening soon.' His instinct told him so and he knew he can't just ignore it because he never wrong.
He was too focused in his thought making he ignored his surrounding until he felt something warm was touching his cheek.
"Tetsuki."
Tetsuki didn't bother to respond; instead she kept caressing Akashi's face. Akashi stared at the owner of the hand. Just like her usual expressionless face, her beautiful cerulean orbs too reflected nothing. Well, that was what most people will think. But he, Akashi Seijuro was different.
He knew well what was hidden behind those emotionless orbs.
"I'm fine." He stared the owner of those sky-blue orbs for a few seconds. Her hand stopped caressing his cheek a second ago and now decided to do the same thing; staring back into the crimson and gold hues.
"We should go to him now. Let's move." Akashi reminded their actual purpose of coming here. Turning his back, he walked to the stairs leading to the second floor followed by Tetsuki that said nothing after that.
Reaching the second floor of The Palace, it was quieter than the first floor as there was no more loud music that deafening their ears and it was less people here. Akashi sighed; he truly hated places like this. The second floor can only be accessed only by certain people with special privileges. This floor was slightly different from the first floor because it was filled by numerous rooms and they need to be rented before using them. Second floor mostly used by the VVIP that preferred privacy and sometimes for important affairs.
"Room 11." A man clad in grey-suit at the counter said when both Akashi and Tetsuki reached at him.
Akashi nodded in acknowledgement. Apparently their presence here was informed earlier. Well, this certainly helped him to settle his works faster.
"Akashi-kun." Tetsuki uttered suddenly as they began making their ways to the informed place.
"Hmm?" Akashi responded with his eyes still on the corridor they were walking. One of his hands played with his car-key; spinning it around with his finger, while the other one was in the pocket.
"Can we go back home earlier?" Tetsuki asked monotonously but if you hear correctly, it sounded a bit desperate though.
Akashi quirked an eyebrow. It was rare for the teal head to ask for something. "Why?"
"Maji Burger closed before 10 o'clock." She replied nonchalantly.
'Ah, that's it! Vanilla milkshake.' He thought. "Didn't you just have it yesterday and the day before that?"
"I just feel like having it again." Tetsuki replied blankly and even though Akashi dislikes the former being too obsessed with the drink; yes, she definitely obsessed with a drink called 'milkshake' even though she's not human, he allowed her nonetheless.
"Fine."
Finally, they reached in front of the room. Akashi knocked the door politely and after getting a response they quickly stepped into the room. The room was a spacious one and was decorated with white and gold wallpaper, making it looked luxurious. There was also an LCD hanging on the wall. After that there was a medium-sized glasses table with two bottles of liquor, a bucket of ice and several glasses on it. Finally, exactly in the middle of the room was what caught Akashi's and Tetsuki's attention the most.
Sitting on the velvet couch was a black-haired man that seemed slightly older than Akashi and behind him was a grey-haired man that was holding a glass filled by the liquor. Their eyes locked onto each of them; studying each other for a mere second until it was finally broke by the black-haired man with a smile.
"Akashi." He uttered while spreading his arms as a sign of welcome. The grey-haired man just merely ignored them and continued sipping back his drink.
"Nijimura Shuzo." Akashi addressed him back whilst Tetsuki beside her still have her stoic face.
"Come on! Throw away that formality wouldn't you, Akashi?".
The guy called Nijimura after that gestured both of them to sit which they complied easily. After making sure that his guests were already sitting comfortably on the couch he put up another smiles and parted his lips.
"Ah, being a King is definitely not an easy job. Every day is a hassle, works and meetings every time and everywhere and I barely able to sleep properly. I wonder how did Father and Uncle managed to put up with all these things?" Nijimura sighed heavily as he kept blabbering about how stressful his life now.
Akashi just kept listening to the man. Yes, this guy is the current king of Underworld and the son of the previous king, Nijimura Saito that was already deceased almost eight years ago. After the death of Saito, the throne of Underworld was put under the care of his uncle because Shuzo wasn't capable yet to handle it. Thus, for the few years Underworld was peacefully controlled by his uncle. When he reached the age of 25 years old, finally the tittle of the King was returned back to him.
"So, how's your life now?" He asked suddenly.
Akashi looked up, staring Nijimura; that still had the smile plastered on him before answering, "Nothing unusual. Everything went perfectly fine both the outside and Underworld."
"Ho~", Nijimura hummed in satisfaction. "As expected, you'd never do any mistakes. I heard that you even managed to completely 'swipe away' the Amikie in just a week after I assigned you that job." He raised a glass of liquor; inviting Akashi to drink but the Shadow just shook his head profusely.
"It's not a big deal at all. Besides, no matter what; they are just humans to begin with. Human is way too easy to corrupt. They are nothing but peasants that care nothing but their own salvations. In the end, they will just betray then leave their own kind." Akashi remarked coldly. This talk brought him back the memory of his latest job before the thing with the Kudou guy happened. Amikie was supposed to be another powerful yakuza clan that served under the King that is Nijimura but apparently, after the youngest son took over the command; he refused to do that anymore. Instead, he started his own rebellion towards the other clans that are loyal to Nijimura. It should be impossible for them to start the rebellion but apparently they got 'someone' behind them with a big influence in Japan and some other countries. Thus, Amikie started their attacks. They burnt three warehouses owned by three different clans that tied to the King, they stole the supplies that were supposed to be sent to Mexico; that triggered an almost big fight with certain big and powerful mafias there and finally they even attacked one of the King's right-hand men residences.
"Attacking them just physically was futile. In order to completely obliterate your enemy you must target their sources, powers and cores first, take advantages in their weaknesses, avoid any flaws in your plans and finally, you attack them. Both outside and inside, simultaneously." He spoke again after a while.
Nijimura Shuzo just looked at Akashi; this guy is one of the most trusted people in his life. His family and Akashi's known each other for almost a long time so Akashi Seijuro can be counted as one of his childhood friends but after the Akashi family excluding Seijuro was reported dead in a fire, they were apart. Nijimura doesn't know what happened to Akashi over the past years they were apart but finally three years before he became the King, Akashi appeared out of the blue along with a beautiful maiden beside him. Thus, their long-lost friendship was amended and one day, Akashi requested to be one his guards and he agreed; and that's how the redhead ended became his 'Shadow' . He never asked why but he can somehow feel that Akashi is hiding a big secret and it involves with his disappearances that is indirectly connected with his past that he rarely tells. Nevertheless, Nijimura still believe the guy since he already thought Akashi as his brother.
A small chuckle escaped from his lips that made Akashi frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just feel like laughing." Nijimura answered nonchalantly. Akashi will surely smack him if he tells the redhead what he is thinking.
"Seems like all those works and meeting has malfunctioned your brain." Akashi remarked flatly.
"Oi, oi!" Looked like Nijimura has seen the sarcasm. He could see Haizaki snickered a bit while Tetsuki still had her selfless façade. He looked the girl beside Akashi, she is always cold and stoic. Nijimura could swear he never see that girl showed any emotion or even smile. Maybe because she is not just an ordinary girl. Yes, Nijimura has an inkling about this for almost long time yet he never asked Akashi because he sure that the latter already know and perhaps know even more. Maybe he didn't realized that he accidentally stared the girl too long because suddenly she said.
"Is there something wrong at my face Nijimura-san because you keep staring on me since a while."
Caught red-handed. "Ahahah! It- it's not like that Kuroko. I didn't realize that I've been looking at you actually." He stuttered. Akashi just stared nonchalantly at the man while Haizaki already busying himself back with his cellphone.
"I see." Tetsuki nodded.
Nijimura could just laugh awkwardly and after that the room sudden became silent and quiet until Akashi decided to break it.
"Is that all Nijimura? I bet you didn't call us here for nothing right?"
Somehow, the atmosphere in the room changed suddenly. Nijimura's face turned serious, Haizaki still had his cellphone in his hand but his attention was completely at them and Tetsuki was still calm as usual.
Nijimura faked a cough. "I suppose so. I definitely called you guys for a reason."
-XxX-
That's all for now! Please read and reviews.
And guys, I'm actually pretty worried about my grammars, I actually reread everything I wrote many times just to find and fix any possible mistakes/errors but well, English is not my first language and so, if anybody wants to be my beta, please don't hesitate to inform me.
Any ideas, suggestions, questions and constructive criticisms are always welcomed.