He used to be the color I adored.

Red color.

Looking back to the first time I met him, I never thought that he would become someone important in my life. I mean who would? The stupid-egoist-obnoxious red-haired boy who is always talking, "I am a winner. I am always right. Kneel before me." And blablabla. Who will like it? If someone likes it, I will bet all of my money that person is a masochist. However, I am definitely not.

But if I remember correctly, he did not like that the first time I met him. He was such a pure, good-mannered, and courteous boy. Everyone adored him. Well, I was one of them too. But, don't tell him that.

I adored him because of how he could collect himself through the almost-non existing-ups and great deal of downs he faced and his presence. How can someone so small have this huge intimidating aura?

I first saw him in the first year of my junior high school in Teikou. We were classmates and he stood out like a sore thumb with his red eyes and hair and prince-like aura. But we never interacted with each other than greetings or homework-related. He stood out even more when he was picked up at school by a friggin-butler and a sleek-elegant-black limousine. Boys talked about how he must have come from a powerful family, but girls talked about him even more. They found out that Akashi's family were one of the biggest donors in the school, that how wealthy he must be, how well educated he was, how attractive he was, and the basketball club was never the same anymore because a large number of girls always came to support him in practice or tournament.

The strange thing I found was that he was still a humble and courteous person. However, sometimes I saw him have this uneasy look whenever someone asked about his family. Yet, smiling he always is.

What about me? I was being a nice-sweet-classmate to him, which means that I never interacted with him other than necessary. Whereas, I just came from a different country, so I had to make plenty of friends here to smooth things over my school life. Then, the girls in my class became my target to get close to first. They were such sweet pure things. When they knew that I came from a foreign country, they were so excited asking me about the country and what the difference from living in Japan was. So, making some friends first was necessary for me.

However, everything changed in our second year of junior high school.

Classmate we became once more. Together, we became student council's member we became. President of the student council he became. Secretary for the student council I became. Maybe everything started from here. Maybe everything that I saw in him since the day I met him changed from here on.

"Give it a hand to the new President Student Council of Teikou, Akashi Seijuurou!"

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A loud cheer and ovation could be heard from inside the Auditorium. There you could see the red-haired boy bow to the audience on the podium.

After the ceremony for new members of the student council, the five new members gathered in the student council's room.

"I hope we can work well together. If there is anything that should be discussed about, please, do not hesitate." Said Akashi while looking back and forth to the other members.

The other member gave the assurance that everything would be fine and they would schedule a weekly meeting to discuss everything that happened in that week. After that, the new president and secretary stayed back a little while to deliberate what documents to be prepared for the upcoming school event.

"I want to give this a little more thought, we should prepare the documents to our vendor should we have arranged this event to be our main attraction, we could have a lot of students from other schools come while they are being educated from this event." While Akashi's writing something in his notebook.

"No." The stern voice heard from the light brown-eyed girl in front of him.

Shocked could be seen from his face. He was looking up to the girl who denied his idea.

Smiling a little bit he said, "What do you mean by no, Amakusa-san?"

"Do you think about the budget, Akashi-san?"

"I think we already covered it up, we have everything under control. Even though this event cost a lot, we will have the leftovers for our next project."

"No. Think about it Akashi-san, If we held this large scale project to become our first event, what do you think about the public's opinion while they would have expected it to be more grand and grander for our next?" Looking straight at Akashi. "My suggestion is this event should be our last project this year. This event you proposed is going to be held on-", while looking at her note, "three more months. We don't have time to be buried in this large scale project. After that we have to get ready for our next project. We should make small events first then go big after that."

Something unknown rumbled in Akashi. Like he wanted to do something bad to the girl in front of him, but he did not want to, yet he wanted to. Troubling feeling he had not had in a while and now he felt it, he did not know what he should be doing.

"This will be our discussion next time with the other then." Closing his notebook. "Do you have a problem with me, Amakusa-san?" He said calmly.

She looked confused from the question Akashi had asked. "No, I don't Akashi-san." She stood up from her chair. "This is-", pointing to Akashi and herself, "what we call a discussion. You give your opinion and I give mine. Not me having a problem with you. As you said before, don't hesitate to discuss something with you. As simple as that, Akashi-san." Looking at her watch. "Well then, Mr. President. I am going first."

Akashi saw the girl walk outside the room.

For a few minutes Akashi was silent. Akashi knew what the discussion was about. But, maybe he did not know what the objection was. Never had he heard someone say no to him, other than his father that is. He wondered about how he felt right now about the objection he faced and this was going to be in the long run since they just got chosen as members of the student council.

Amakusa Ren.

He noticed that she was his classmate in his first year and now they become classmates again while they also got chosen as members of student council. He did not know anything about her since they never had a decent conversation. This perhaps the first time they did. Akashi really hoped she would reduce her opinion to his input. Since Akashi was always right.

The next student council meeting happened, all voices sided with her. That they should have a small project first then have the large event. Even though Akashi gave choices to the members unanimously whose ideas it was, they had nerve chosen her idea. To his surprise, she did not gloat that her idea was chosen. Akashi thought she might be, considering it was her idea. But, she just nodded and brushed it off.

Weird.

Well, she is indeed a weird girl. In the weekly meeting the team had arranged, she gave her input that seemed to object to his idea. Actually, her idea was spot on, but why she once again did not keep it to herself. Akashi believed the meeting was full of loud discussion between them. However, in the end she could conclude her idea and his very well. He unconsciously agreed to her idea.

Sneaky woman.

The next time Akashi gave his viewpoint, the only woman in the student council somehow supported his idea and the other members also agreed with it. Surprised by this, Akashi thought maybe her judgement finally synchronized with him. Well, his idea this time might be leveled up than before. He was considering every aspect -from the teachers, the students, the public, the venue, the vendor, everything- every detail that she could object to.

He stopped thinking for a while. He just realised that he was thinking every specific aspect that she might be thinking of. He was thinking about her.

Ridiculous.

It was given that in the Akashi household, everyone had to be number one, everyone had to be a leader, everyone had to strive from every obstacle. This was no different.

As a result of the incoming basketball tournament, he and Midorima Shintaro –his student council's treasury- had spent much longer in the basketball club. When they finished their practice, Akashi and Midorima went back to the student council room to see if there was anything to wind-up.

Pile of paper stacked high on his desk. Numbers of payment receipts lying around on Midorima's desk.

The green giant corrected his glasses. "I just wanted to see the homework I have." Midorima gave a long sigh. "Since I have a family arrangement tonight, I will be going home very late tomorrow then." Midorima turned to Akashi and stared at him expectantly.

"I will finish what I can finish tonight then." Akashi said.

The spectacle boy put his hand on Akashi's shoulder. "Don't stay up late." Then he proceeded to exit the room, leaving his captain behind.

Looking at his pile of papers once more, Akashi strolled forward to his chair. One by one the paper he tried to review and then after he thought it was proper enough, he gave his sign what should be corrected or his approval sign and his final stamp, the only stamp president of student council had. He thought this was one of the challenges he had to tackle. The boring paper seemed never ending.

Several minutes later, he heard the door open. He saw the girl in his uniform, her hair tied up high, a towel could be seen on her shoulder, and her bag in her right hand.

"Hi." The girl said to him after looking at him for a couple of seconds, her left hand waving at him.

"Amakusa-san." Akashi greeted her

"Akashi-san." The classmate greeted him. Her sight went to a pile of his papers. Walking toward her desk, she put down her bag, wiped up her forehead with the item on her shoulder, then put the towel on the desk. Afterwards she strolled to his desk while dragging her chair.

"I will review this side so you can save time to just give your sign." She said after put her chair across him. "Let's just finish this side quickly, I heard this school was haunted at night. Don't want to die early." Then she started to read and gave her review sign.

Akashi thought that she might dislike him, since he never saw her being nice to him like other people. So, the surprise he showed was a reasonable act.

The red-eyed boy realised what she had just said. Akashi had lifted up one of his eyebrows. "Really? Haunted?"

"What? You never hear it?" Staring at his eyes then continued to read the paper. "I heard one of the constructor died while building this school. He died alone in the middle of the night because he slipped off from the soon-to-be-our-roof."She whispered scaredly, her eyes still reviewed the paper."After that, some students said they saw a man using a constructor jumpsuit doing a gesture like cementing the wall in one of classroom." She paused then, "You never know what he might be cemented in this school building."

Suddenly, the girl looking up at the boy in front of her, was startled to hear an almost-quiet-chuckle voice. The sound was so small she almost did not hear it. But, she was sure because she saw his shoulder shaking for a second. She thought this might be the first time she saw him like that. She was staring at him for a long time.

"Amakusa-san?" The red-haired boy noticed the gaze.

His secretary then composed herself and she smirked toward him, "You might laugh now, Mr. Oo-So-Brave-President. If we encounter that tonight, I have to apologize first because I will leave you behind. Screw your family if they sue me."

A loud laughter was heard from the President of Teikou Junior High Student Council. He palmed himself, his shoulder was still shaking from amusement.

It was not that what she said about leaving him behind was funny. It was her last words.

Screw your family if they sued me.

Screw his family? His family? Screw them? The one of the most powerful families in the country and this small girl said screw them? He remembered the words and his body shook from laughter. No one had ever won against The Akashi. Enemies of Akashi's household might never step foot in this country anymore.

But, he recalled, if it was true, that she came from the Amakusa family. The Amakusa. The family who owned the biggest gross income company in this country for renewable energy.

Still, to screw the most powerful member of the House of Representatives in Japan? It was hilarious.

She was hilarious.

"You play chess?" Ren turned her head to the voice behind her.

She strike with an awe that Akashi Seijuurou had started a conversation with her. It was never her intention to look like she was not fond of him. It was just that she didn't know what she should have been doing or talking to him. It just seemed like it didn't have a purpose. But, now they do. Perhaps he was unfamiliar with her so he thought she might be looking for a problem with him. After the help she gave to him with his papers, they started to have normal conversation. Akashi seemed to be listening to her more now.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. I have been playing this since a couple years ago. My father introduced this game to me and since then when I am meeting him, we always play chess. If I win against him, he will spend that day doing everything I told him to." Then she laughed in a quiet voice. "But, I guess, that day will be a long time coming. I lost every match to him and I do everything he wants."

Akashi lost in her story, "Me too." He said so little, his voice almost unheard.

I guess that was the last time I saw him.

Not really like I would never see him anymore. It's just that was the last time I saw him this way. Because the next time I saw him, I didn't recognise the person who was standing in front of me. He looked like him, he smelled like him, he sounded like him.

But, no.

I didn't know this person.

"Who is he?" Asked me to Midorima.

I just opened the door to the student council room. Midorima was standing near the door with the weird looking dog in his hand staring at Akashi sitting like a king in the middle of the room.

Midorima turned his head to me, "Sorry…" with his small voice and he left the room.

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Akashi was cackling in an eerie way. "I just heard the question this morning. What is wrong with you?" Touching his chest and his lips just grew wider while his eyes strike a predator gaze. The person I gave a smile to yesterday, the boy who I said goodbye to yesterday is no more.

"I am Akashi Seijuurou of course."

From this now and then I knew that he is not the same person I know.

And I know now, he's not the only red color anymore.