I finally finished this chapter. It was difficult for me to write as it's mostly just for building up the plot. I do apologize for taking so long and hope you still enjoy this chapter. Like always, please leave a review. I apologize for the mistake found in chapter 6. I had already fixed it so I thank the one who had pointed it out. I welcome any grammar corrections as I hope to improve my future writings so please inform me if you find any.

Kuroko no Basuke and all its characters belongs solely to Fujimaki Tadatoshi and the publishing companies who made it.

Thank you.

Chapter 7: Conspiracies

Furihata Koki had served the Seirin Princess for many years and had developed a strong loyalty to the princess. Despite being a meek and cowardly girl, the Princess had somehow taken a liking to her and given her what Furihata deemed to be rather important tasks. Therefore, she had followed the princess to the Rakuzan Palace, determined to continue her service when she heard about the possible engagement. On that particular morning, she rose like usual to wake the young princess.

"It sure looks like a good day today." Furihata commented to herself as she continued walking. Humming a bit, she enjoyed the feeling of the small breeze that flowed through the open hall and turned a corner, only to bump right into someone.

She caught herself before completely falling to the floor. Rubbing her forehead, she hastily apologized, slowly tilting her head up from the floor, "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching were I was going. Please forgive…"

Her apology faded from her tongue as she now was staring straight into the eyes of the Rakuzan Prince. Immediately, a shiver went down her spine and she fell to the floor, a quivering mess. Today was not a good day at all.

Kuroko awoke to the sound of gentle clanking of wood near her bed. Turning her head slightly, she saw the blurry image of Akashi hovering over a wooden shogi board. It was the one he had a servant deliver to Kuroko's place sometime before, stating that he will find time to teach it to her one day. The sight startled her a bit, and it took her a while before the information registered in her still sleepy mind. The ludicrousness of the situation made her wonder if she was still dreaming, opting herself to give a small pinch to her arm, and realizing that it hurt.

Akashi had, of course, realized that she was awake, calmly said, "Greetings to you this morning, Princess Kuroko. I apologize for my rude entrance into your private."

Kuroko did her best to appear unfazed as she calmly asked, "Did something happen?"

Akashi gave her a small tilt of his lips, as though in reassurance, "It's not something very important. However, I would like to ask if there is something going on that I should be aware of."

Kuroko blinked a bit in confusion before replying, "There's nothing wrong with anything that I'm notified on."

"I see." Akashi placed a hand on his chin and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Kuroko questioned worriedly, tilting her head a bit in concern.

"Nothing I can't deal with." Akashi replied confidently, a small smile graced his lips as a sign of reassurance.

"I see." Kuroko echoed Akashi's previous comment.

Akashi stood up as he said, "I shall take my leave now, Princess Kuroko. Again, I apologize for the sudden intrusion."

Kuroko stood up as well and bowed, "Have a safe trip, Prince Akashi."

Giving a small nod with his head, Akashi stepped out of her room, only to bump into someone as he turned around. Startled he looked down at a young maid who appeared a bit dazed. She stuttered an apology before glancing up. Recognition appeared in her eyes and she started to shiver in fear, looking down right away.

Kuroko, having heard the thump outside her room and peeked outside, curious of the commotion. She was surprised to find the Rakuzan Prince standing there, and dare she say a bit bewildered, as one of her favored servant was bowing to him in fear. A small smile graced her face a bit at Akashi's expression, but it quickly disappeared as she hurried over.

Taking pity on her servant, she reached out her hand and asked, "Are you alright, Furihata-san."

Furihata quickly looked up at her like a deer blinded by bright lights and stuttered, "P-Princess K-Kuroko!"

"Take my hand." Kuroko coaxed gently, and Furihata grabbed her hand gratefully, standing up timidly.

"Your servant is rather amusing." Akashi stated calmly as he watched the two women.

Gasping, Furihata gave a deep bow and cried, "I a-apologize for my rudeness, Prince Akashi. P-please don't kill me!"

Akashi raised an eyebrow at the comment, and Kuroko tried not to cringe at Furihata's words. To the two women's immense relief, Akashi simply found the situation humorous and dismissed Furihata with a "light" warning.

Kuroko watched Furihata stumble away before giving Akashi a slight bow and said, "I apologize for my servant's behavior. Once again, I bid you a good day, Prince Akashi."

The slight smirk never left his lips as Akashi replied, "Of course, Princess Kuroko."

Turning around, Akashi walked out of the pavilion to head back to his. Kuroko watched cautiously as Akashi left before she turned to the other direction and called out, "You can come out now, Kagami-kun, Riko-san."

The two servants stepped out of the shadows, a bit embarrassed at being caught. Before they can apologize, Kuroko said, "I'm sure you heard what Prince Akashi had asked, right?"

Their expressions became serious as they nodded their heads.

"I believe it had something to do with the man that followed us yesterday." Kuroko stated calmly. Carefully looking at her servants, she asked, "Have the two of you found out anything about him?"

Kagami bowed as he replied, "I apologize, Princess Kuroko. Unfortunately, the Prince of Rakuzan had taken the man into custody before we could act."

"I see." Kuroko tapped her cheek thoughtfully.

Seeing her mistress in thought, Riko supplied her view on the situation, "If I were to make a guess. I would say that he was hired by the Haizakis."

Kuroko closed her eyes tiredly as she agreed, "It's very likely." Opening her eyes, she continued, "However, do not breathe a word to anyone. For now, I want you to strengthen the security around the pavilion and watch for anyone suspicious."

Both Kagami and Riko bowed, "Understood, Your Highness."

"Also, Kagami-kun," Kuroko added, "Please train every one of my servants to be able to combat against any attacks.

"Eh?" Kagami blinked in confusion.

"Considering that Haizaki had just made a bigger move to assassinate me than usual, I believe things would just get worse from now on. Therefore, I would like everyone to be prepared." Kuroko explained. Turning to Riko, she ordered, "Make sure to keep a cautious eye on anything delivered to me. Check everything carefully. Test my food if you need to. I might have a tolerance for poison, but even I have my limits."

"Yes, Princess."

"Then that's all." Kuroko concluded, stepping back into her room.

Once Kuroko closed the door, Kagami turned his glance to Riko and asked, "Tolerance for poison?"

"The princess had been taking in small amounts of poisonous since she was young. As she grew, we had increased the toxicity as well." Riko explained to Kagami, "As of her current state, she can withstand most types of poisonous plants and animals. Of course, it would still make her terribly ill if the toxicity is high, and there's still a chance that she can die, but it gives us more time to find a cure for the poison if she can tolerate the symptoms longer than the average person."

"I see." Kagami solemnly said in understanding.

"It was rather painful to watch at the time," Riko said with a forced smile, "and because one of the servants accidentally gave her too much poison once, her physical health never was quite what it was supposed to be."

"How did your search go, Shintaro?" Akashi questioned the moment he stepped into his room.

Midorima, having waited at the place for a while, bowed and replied, "Takao and I discovered that the Haizakis are close blood relations to the Kuroko family. Should anything happen to the Seirin Princess, they would be the ones to take the throne."

"If that happens, it can get rather troublesome, huh." Akashi pondered as he sat down in his chair.

"There is a great likelihood that there would be a war should the Haizakis take over. According to our information, they have been known to use many underhanded methods for their greed." Midorima agreed, seating himself across from Akashi.

Akashi smirked as he stared at newly laid shogi board before him. Reaching out, he took one of his pieces and placed it down with a clear clack.

"Then we will just have to eliminate them before that can happen, right, Shintaro?"

Midorima followed suit and moved his own piece as he replied, "Of course, Prince Akashi."

"What do you mean he failed?!" a silver-haired man cried out as he slammed his cup down on his table.

"W-we just found out that the man was caught before he could even make a move, sir." The young servant trembled in fear as he reported to his master.

"Then send a better one over there to get the job done!" The master shouted.

"Y-yes sir!" the servant answered before scrambling out.

Sighing in frustration, the silver-haired man mumbled to himself, "I must eliminate her no matter what."

"You appear rather troubled, Haizaki." A dark chuckle rang out, interrupting his train of thoughts.

Narrowing his eyes, Haizaki demanded, "Why are you here, Hanamiya?"

"Is this how you greet a friend?" Hanamiya asked, a hurt expression appeared on his face.

Haizaki simply scoffed, "We're only allies, and even then, there's no way I would ever trust you enough to call you a friend."

"Ah," Hanamiya retorted, "but you know what they say; keep your friends close but your enemies closer."

Smirking, Haizaki agreed, "Of course, my 'dear' friend. Now what brings you here?"

"You know," Hanamiya started, "if you use such obvious methods, there's no way you can succeed."

"Whatever do you mean?" Haizaki questioned threateningly.

"I'm just saying." Hanamiya nonchalantly shrugged, "After all, the one you're up against is not that weak, little princess of yours."

Clenching his hand in annoyance Haizaki asked, "Then, do tell, who exactly am I up against?"

Hanamiya's lips stretched into a wide smirk as he said, "Why the Rakuzan Prince, Akashi Seijuro, of course."

"And how do you suggest we defeat him?" Haizaki asked in disbelief.

"Oh we are not going to 'defeat' him." Hanamiya replied, "Anyone can easily overcome a simple 'defeat'. No," he paused a bit as his eyes glinted with a crazed malice, "we are going to 'break' him, starting with his precious little princess."

He turned around to leave, continuing his speech, "If you want, continue what you are doing. You will soon see that it's hopeless, though, and will come running to me for help." Turning around one last time to stare into Haizaki's eyes, he said, "I will be the one who will destroy the real threat, though, so if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to show you how little our 'friendship' is worth. Therefore, you better stop trying to kill the princess."

"Why are you trying to keep the princess alive?" Haizaki hissed in anger.

Hanamiya blinked almost innocently as he bluntly stated, "You still don't understand? She's the perfect little bargaining chip against the 'Emperor'. It's rather idiotic of him to let such a meek little thing wiggle her way into his non-existent heart, don't you think?" He gave another shrug, "I could care less what he does, though. A weakness is still a weakness, and it would be rude of me to not take advantage of it, right?"

"Yes," Haizaki agreed, sarcasm dripping through his words, "it would."

Another smirk crossed Hanamiya's face, "I'm glad you agree, my 'dear' friend."