551Welcome to the world of Scarlet!
Before you begin, please read the tags and the extra notes to see if this is the fic for you!
Dedicated to an awesome friend: Hiyomi (hopefully you'll like this story!)
Special Thanks to noelswonderland for all the support!
Beta-ed by: Iracchi (Beast Without a Name) who provided plenty of suggestions for me. Thank you for the great job!
Tags: Romance, Severe awkwardness, Humor, Psychological, Mystery, Suspense
Extra Note: If you're looking for a predictable romance, this probably isn't the story for you. There's a huge emphasis on psychological themes because this is Akashi we're dealing (*cough cough* v1 and v2) with and I would like to take his multi-faceted personality to as far as I can go with it so if you're fine with that, please read on!
A story of the tale of two,
their meetings, their friendship, and eventual interest in the other.
Yet, because their meeting has been dictated by the seasons,
happiness won't be easily found.
In fact, no one guaranteed happiness for the two,
when one is perfect,
and the other is a hypocrite.
But nothing is set in stone, not yet anyways,
so welcome, to Scarlet.
"Spring. It's called the time of new beginnings but, the spring I met you,
all I could recall...was a resounding 'checkmate'."
Spring-Track A
Start.
春: Checkmate Beginning
"Checkmate." For the umpteenth time, those words of victory slipped through Akashi Seijuro's lips as his scarlet red bangs brushed across his expressionless face, tilting upwards when he took one last glance at his opponent.
His opponent was a girl, silk black hair protruding long past her shoulders, framing a pale white face with soft golden eyes. Now however, those golden irises reflected despondency, completely deprived of life as he watched her stare lividly at the Shogi board between the two.
She had lost…by a long mile.
Yet he did not even bat an eye. "Thank you for the match," Akashi bowed curtly, eyes devoid of any sense of sincerity as he got up from kneeling position, removing himself from match.
He knew that look all too well. It was the same look in the eyes of all the others, the challengers, growing listless after losing to him-the "genius."
Well, at the very least, that's what they had dubbed him but Akashi never did consider himself as one. The only thing he did consider was that he would always win, not as a boast but as a fact, as another truth in the world. Winning was as natural as breathing.
Therefore, he didn't feel a thing for the girl.
If he felt something, it would be contemplating the usage of the prize: a certificate and 10 coupons to a fancy French patisserie. Such a prize was expected for a small-scale tournament however, that never hindered Akashi's participation, not when he was told there would be some unexpected talents.
However, it seemed that the information was off or at the very least, misguided. It was an easy victory for him.
Putting one stream of thought to the other, Akashi Seijuro paused...If he recalled, Murasakibara once told him about wanting to eat a cake from a fancy French patisserie…
Hm.
Without another word, he exited the room, completely forgetting both the name and face of his opponent.
[-]
"Mhmm Aka-chin, thanks for the sweets," Murasakibara Atsushi exclaimed with a content smile dancing on his squirrel-stuffed mouth as he held a box filled to the brim with a variety of intricately designed cake slices.
His captain, Akashi Seijuro, along with Midorima Shintarou stood beside him as the trio strode down the empty courtyard towards the other side of the school.
"I'm glad you like it, but I hope you won't overdo it. Atsushi, refrain from eating so much as to gain a cavity understood?" The red-haired captain said in a firm tone as the purple giant, nearly a whole feet taller than him nodded valiantly.
"Are you sure you want to spoil him like that Akashi?" Midorima asked, tone completely disapproving of his actions.
Murasakibara slightly pouted. "Aka-chin said it was okay~"
"...I wasn't referring to you and you should at least show some reserve." The verdant youth immediately retorted before the two began a peculiar banter where Midorima one-sidely criticized him and Murasakibara only responded with pouting, vague replies.
Knowing that it was simply a waste of time to correct their naturally "eccentric" personalities, Akashi stayed silent and instead decided to address an opened invitation letter in his hand.
To Akashi Seijuro-sama,
Your fast-paced development in the Shogi world has greatly piqued our interest and we would greatly appreciate it if you would attend a joint interview with the up and coming prodigious youth at our Shogi studio.
Sincerely, JSA (Japanese Shogi Association)
Although it was a given he would've won the Shogi tournaments he attended, receiving an interview letter from a Shogi magazine would lead to quite a hassle. Nevertheless, logically, there was no reason he would reject and as such, he promptly tucked it back into his pocket.
However, as the three continued on, a sudden audible pounding of footsteps on pavement echoed down the empty courtyard, followed by the soft tone of a female's voice suddenly cutting through the low bantering of the males.
"Midorima-kun!"
The three abruptly stopped, Midorima turning back at the familiarity of the voice while the rest slightly tilted their heads back in intrigue.
From across, they spotted a girl from sporting their school uniform with long black hair flowing past her shoulders, speedily running over. "Akakibana?" Midorima squinted as the girl came closer, rushing over to the shooting guard with a look of urgency in her golden eyes.
"Midorima-kun, I'm glad I caught you!" Akakibana exclaimed once she arrived, slightly panting from the run before she took time to pleat her skirt, stand up straight, and make herself presentable. "The student council president suddenly changed the date for the school festival's class representative meeting. It's on the 20th now," she informed professionally, craning her neck up at the ridiculously tall male.
Midorima nodded in a business-like manner. "I see. Thank you for informing me Akakibana. I'll make sure to keep note of that," He intoned, voice surprisingly even for someone who was childishly bickering away only a few moments ago.
A hint of disapproval flashed across Akashi's face. "Shintaro, didn't we agree that we had an important club meeting on the 20th?" Akashi suddenly questioned, pointing out an error in Midorima's time management.
The verdant teen flinched. "O-of course I knew that! In fact I was planning on asking her to change the date right now!" Midorima retorted, doing his best to keep his voice unfazed before he whipped back towards the girl.
"Akak—"
He froze.
Fear was strewn all over the face of his classmate. The girl had her jaw dropped aghast, her face paling further as her golden irises reflected nothing but bewilderment.
He was at a loss for words. Even the crazies he had to hang around wouldn't do that...or well, at least for now. Momoi was pretty close at times whenever she was around Kuroko though.
Dismissing any other possibly distracting thoughts, Midorima turned to the direction her eyes seemed to be fixated upon…and came face to face with a rather bemused Akashi.
He inwardly groaned. Oh great, what did his captain do now?
"…Yes?" He heard his captain ask flatly, although he knew Akashi was probably intrigued. It was not every day someone would gape in terror at the sight of the red-head's face…at least, that was what Midorima hoped.
Yet instead of replying, the girl rapidly as if snapping back from a daze before a well-practiced smile broke off her lips. "O-oh I'm sorry! I was just spacing out a bit. You resembled someone I knew," Akakibana apologized, bowing her head politely.
Akashi raised a brow; he doubted that was true.
"W-well Midorima-kun, don't worry. A-as the second class rep, I'll go and ask the president to change the date. How does the 23rd sound?" The girl asked, completely hacking off the conversation.
"Ah… yes, that sounds about right," Midorima confirmed, snapping back to his senses.
He didn't expect a delirious beam of hope, as if she just found salvation from hell, to bounce of her face immediately after. "Oh then that's great Midorima-kun! I-I'll go to them right now!" She exclaimed with a curt bow, feet already tilted away from them before instantly speed-walking off, getting out of the unwanted situation as though it would otherwise follow her like a plague.
"What? Hey wait!" Midorima called, confused by the strange chain of events.
Unfortunately he did not or cared to know anything about his classmate, leaving him quite perplexed from her actions.
However, if Midorima could provide anything note-worthy, is how she managed to stay perfectly courteous despite the possibly undesirable situation.
"Shintaro, who was that girl?" Akashi asked on a whim. From the look she gave him before she left, he knew something was off.
"She's my class' female class representative: Akakibana Inori. Do you know her?" Midorima asked, pushing up his glasses.
"Ooh~ Akakibana? So it's like another Aka-chin then~ Aren't they related?" Murasakibara surprisingly speculated.
"No, I don't have any family members like her but…I do believe I've seen her somewhere before," Akashi mused. "Well anyways, let's keep moving. We still need to finish up some things in the club room," He reminded, pacing forward.
Midorima was confused. "So you're leaving it at that?" he asked. Why would his captain even ask if he had no intention of keeping it in mind?
"Shintaro, if I don't happen to recall her name, it simply means that at that time, there was no need for me to remember and I see no reason to start prying into her reaction now. If you have time to think about such things, you should have enough time to do double—no triple of your training regime," Akashi replied with a curt smirk.
Midorima scowled, Akashi's response pushing any thoughts of her far out of his mind.
Besides, although she did happen to be his classmate, Midorima didn't know her well enough to care any further.
[=]
"Akashi-kun, are you okay these days?" The soft voice of Akashi's phantom player inquired as the red and blue duo roamed down the hallway.
"Of course Tetsuya, is something the matter?" Akashi replied, curious that Kuroko would ask.
Kuroko's expression stayed blank while he sipped on his apple cider. "Well Akashi-kun, I was wondering if something's happened recently since there's someone that has been constantly staring at you," Kuroko analyzed incisively and pointed to the windows where on the third level, there was a figure on the other side of the school, a girl with flowing ebony hair who instantly ducked behind the shadows upon notice.
Akashi smiled, impressed by Kuroko's growth. Ever since he started honing his misdirection technique, his already keen observation abilities were heightened beyond expectation. His now, ninja-like subordinate was correct however.
Indeed, ever since that incident with Midorima, it seemed that he had somehow acquired his own stalker of some sort. Now, for the whole duration of the week, wherever he walked, he could from time to time, feel the gaze of someone staring at him from afar.
"Ah that. Well since she hasn't done a thing yet, I can at least assume she means no harm," Akashi evaluated.
"I see, but I hope it doesn't escalate to a level like Kise-kun's," Kuroko voiced, reminding him of the recent addition to the basketball team who, on the first day of his promotion to first-string caused the gymnasium to be bombarded with cheering girls.
Well, they were long gone now but Akashi doubted that her actions were fueled by admiration, not in this case anyways.
"Akashi Seijuro!" Suddenly the voices of a bunch of bespectacled nerds rang out in the air, causing Akashi to furrow his brows.
"Ah, it's the members of the Shogi club," Kuroko noted blankly.
Akashi kept his expression flat. It was obvious what they were going to demand.
"Akashi Seijuro! We challenge you to our Shogi tournament at the cultural festival! This time, we'll definitely defeat you!" The club president announced haughtily.
Akashi stayed impassive. "Oh? That's quite an interesting challenge despite the fact that I won all five of the Shogi tournaments hosted last year," He reminded, the group flinching at his ice-cold words, their past failures wavering their resolve.
"W-well, this year will be different!" Their leader exclaimed, puffing up his chest and whipping out a Shogi magazine. "This year, we have her in our school!" He exclaimed, revealing a color spread of a girl with black hair in a crimson leaf patterned kimono with streaks of gold. Beside the picture, there was a headline: "Interview with the up and coming prodigy—Akakibana Inori!"
A nearly non-existent hint of surprise settled on the two members of the basketball team.
"Yeah! With her participating, there's no way we'll lose! You'll definitely be joining our club this year!" The rest of the Shogi members chimed.
But much to their horror, that terrifying smile didn't falter, it widened instead.
"W-what?" The president demanded shakily.
"…Akashi-kun, did you do something to her at the recent Shogi tournament?" Kuroko mused, causing the members to leap back in shock.
"W-who are you?! W-when did you get here?!" One of the members demanded, they didn't notice him at all! Did Akashi Seijuro somehow manage to obtain a ninja as a subordinate?!
"He was always here, but to answer your question Tetsuya, I don't quite recall meeting someone like her there," Akashi replied, turning to the bluenette and completely ignoring the members.
"And you're just going to ignore us?!" The members disparaged.
Akashi narrowed his eyes. He promptly turned back to the Shogi club members, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
"I'm quite sorry for that," He began, tone clearly not sorry. "But apparently this girl is to be your trump card?" He confirmed.
"Y-yes?" The president answered nervously. He didn't like where this was going.
And there.
Akashi Seijuro suddenly smirked.
Outside, a swift gale flew, carrying scattering petals of ephmeral hopes to the ground.
"Very well then, I shall accept," he began, that curt curve on his lips widening, "However, if I win, I expect a DONATION of 1/3 of your club funds to the basketball club," he concluded, mere words perfectly spelling out how risky their gample was.
The members sweatdropped, desperately clinging onto that small hope of victory but even they weren't so sure anymore.
They promptly turned to dust.
"Shall we go Tetsuya?" Akashi willed with a satisfied smirk, striding away as the ever expressionless phantom followed suit.
"Akashi-kun…that was your stalker just now wasn't it?" Kuroko inquired once they turned a corner.
"You're right. It is," Akashi answered although he seemed slightly distracted, as if contemplating something.
"Are you interested now?"
Akashi smiled. "Why would you say that Tetsuya?"
"Well Akashi-kun, you've been playing with that interview letter for quite a while now," Kuroko replied, pointing to his captain's slender fingers that were folding and creasing a pink slip of paper.
"That isn't quite correct as either way, I will be attending that interview. However, if she is as famous as those Shogi members claim, it is likely that she'll be there, perhaps giving me something to do." Akashi smirked, shutting the slip closed.
Although cornering a stalker wasn't something he usually cared to place his time in, if he was going to be stuck at that interview either way, in this case, he might as well.
