Okay, hey there everyone! This is the second chapter of this story so I hope you like it! Sorry if it was so late! Also, thank you to all my lovely reviewers and those who favourite and follow this story!

The forest cast dark shadows over the small frame as its chest heaved in and out, swallowing lung-full of breaths. Kuroko Tetsuya panted heavily as he hid behind a tree, inconspicuously peering out to look at the turrets Kuroko castle, his home for so many years, that just managed to poke out form the canopy of trees. He had been running for quite some time and, coupled with his low presence, he knew that they wouldn't be able to find him. Still, one could never be too careful.

Silently praying that the servants had managed to make it out, Kuroko started walking towards the opening between the trees in the dense forest the minute he caught his breath. He knew that soon, the moment he walked out of the forest, he would be in Teikou. All he needed was to find Akashi-kun.

Before it was too late.

Akashi sighed quietly as he rearranged the papers on his desk, glancing at the bright blue sky, wondering. It was Wednesday. And there was still no sign of Tal, Kuroko Tetsuya's peregrine falcon that was used a messenger pigeon. Kuroko's letters always came on Tuesdays, and that had been so for the past few months.

Kuroko Tetsuya... Even the mere thought of the gentle bluehead made the young prince smile. They were both going out with one another, after confessing their feelings to each other in the library of the Kuroko castle - a sacred ground for them, for that was where they had met, their friendship had started and their bonds were strengthened. Unfortunately, due to Akashi being the Crown Prince and heir to the throne of Teikou and Kuroko being a (highly capable and respected) student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - a school in Seirin dedicated to magic - the two hardly had any time to really meet, unless it was the holiday season for Hogwarts students. Thus, letters that were exchanged between the two were very important and deeply treasured.

Frowning slightly, Akashi just gave a sigh and tried to quell that uneasy, dreadful feeling in his chest. Somehow, deep down, he knew that something was wrong.

Kuroko arrived in a little town after walking a bit along a path that led from the forest. He surveyed the small but vibrant town and walked headed for an elderly couple by the roadside who were selling small toys to a group of smiling, chattering children. The two adults smiled cheerfully, their faces stretched out and wrinkles appearing on their cheeks as they teased the children before shooing them off to another younger woman who was standing nearby, a small smile on her face. She seemed to be the children's kindergarten teacher who took them out for a field trip.

"Ummm... Sir, Madam, do you know where the Royal Palace is?" Kuroko approached the elderly couple and put his question across in a rather forthright manner.

The couple paused in the midst of rearranging their goods before scrutinising Kuroko, asking, surprised, "Why do you want to know, dear boy?"

"I'm supposed to meet someone near there," Kuroko had enough sense - he was a top student after all - to not mention Akashi.

"Well, I'm not sure where the palace is, exactly," the old man said. "It's in the city area and we townsfolk don't really go there."

"But our grandson may know," the woman added. "He's very helpful. I'm sure that he would be delighted to help you."

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear," the old man noted as a dashing black-haired man of slightly-above-average height walked along the street with an air of purpose, heading straight for the stand that the couple manned.

"Grandfather, grandmother," the man greeted. "Good morning."

"Tatsuya," the old woman beamed joyfully, before turning to introduce Kuroko. "This is..."

"Kuroko, Kuroko Tetsuya. It's nice to meet you." Kuroko stretched out a hand.

The raven-haired man's eyes widened as he registered the name. "Kuroko? As in the family of wizards that lives in the castle on the other side of the forest?"

Now it was Kuroko's turn to be surprised, though he didn't really show it. "Yes, that's right. How did you know?"

The man's smile widened. "You've probably never met me before, but I'm Himuro Tatsuya, Kagami Taiga's half-brother. I believe he works as your family cook?"

"Oh, so you must be the 'Tatsuya' that Kagami-kun was always talking about." Kuroko remembered how Kagami would always mention about his black-haired brother. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, yes, do you need any help, Kuroko-kun? I'd be happy to help such an important friend of Taiga's."

"Thank you very much," Kuroko said gratefully. "Do you happen to know the way to the Teikou palace?"

Himuro's eyebrows scrunched up before saying, "I can't quite remember how to get there anymore, but I have a friend who works there as a knight. I can get him here to help you."

"That would be much appreciated," Kuroko smiled before bowing to the elderly couple. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem," the man smiled.

"Tatsuya, you can bring Kuroko-kun to our home and feed him some food. He looks like he really needs some."

"Alright," the taller male nodded, smiling as he led Kuroko down the street. "My friend knows the way to the palace very well. And though he can sometimes seem quite aggressive or immature, he's actually really trustworthy."

Something clicked in Kuroko's mind. A knight? That's both slightly aggressive and immature? Doesn't that sound like...

"Muro-chin... Your house's out of food," a lazy drawl echoed as Himuro opened the door to his house.

Murasakibara-kun?

As the giant purple-haired knight appeared at the doorway to the house, his lazy violet eyes widened for a second before smiling and raising an arm lazily, "Kuro-chin. Hi."

"Hello, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko nodded politely. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"You two know each other?" Himuro looked back and forth from the both of them as he closed the door.

"Yeah. When Aka-chin was sent to live with the Kurokos during the Yosen-Kirasaki Daiichi war, Mine-chin, Mido-chin and I had to tag along. Didn't I tell you?" Murasakibara answered as he placed a hand on Himuro's shoulder and the trio moved from the doorway to the kitchen.

"You did mention about you guys going along with Akashi-san to this castle... But you never really said anything about it," Himura replied whilst he prepared food for the guest.

"Didn't Kagami-kun say anything?" Kuroko asked.

Himuro shook his head. "We haven't talked to each other in a while."

"Anyway, what are you doing out here, Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked as he sat down at the dining table, opposite Kuroko who was being served food by Himuro who smiled apologetically, saying that he wasn't as great a cook as Kagami, to which Kuroko merely smiled back and said, "It's fine."

"I wanted to see Akashi-kun," Kuroko's demeanour changed slightly. It was one of absolute urgency and his eyes flicked with a sort of... desperation.

"Oh, so that's why you wanted to know how to get to the Teikou palace." At Kuroko's nod, the ravenhead continued, "Atsushi's told me all about you and Akashi-san."

"And let me guess, you and Murasakibara-kun are in the same kind of relationship," Kuroko noted, having already figuring that out.

"Kuro-chin's smart."

"Will you take me to Akashi-kun?"

"Hm?" Murasakibara looked up and met Kuroko's serious gaze. "Okay. Muro-chin, do you want to come?"

An hour and an half later, Kuroko, Murasakibara and Himuro stepped into a carriage, ready to leave for the Teikou Royal Palace.

"It's going to be a long ride," Himuro told Kuroko. "You should get some sleep."

"I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern," Kuroko said politely, looking out the carriage window.

"Kuroko-kun," Himuro started as Murasakibara relaxed in his seat next to Himuro. "I've been wanting to ask you... How's Kagami-kun? I've tried to send him a few letters about a wee ago but he hasn't answered, which is weird considering he responds rather quickly and the distance between the town and your home isn't very large."

Murasakibara observed how Kuroko went rigid in his seat. "Oh, Kagami-kun must be very busy," the smaller boy tried to brush it off.

Although Himuro raised an eyebrow at the response, he still accepted it.

The occupants of the carriage didn't talk much after that, with Himuro eventually drifting off to sleep and Murasakibara closing his eyes, but still ever alert and ready.

Kuroko never took his eyes off the scenery outside the window throughout the entire journey.

It was night when the three finally arrived at the capital city of Teikou. Murasakibara and Kuroko had first dropped Himuro off at Murasakibara's apartment before walking over to the Teikou palace. Murasakibara had left Kuroko at the entrance to the palace before quickly running into the palace, promising to get him permission to enter the palace's compounds.

Around fifteen-minutes later, Kuroko heard the sound of footsteps running over cobbled stones. Looking up, expecting to only see Murasakibara, the bluehead gave a small gasp of surprise.

Approaching the gates of the palace along side the knight was none other than the crowned prince himself. Akashi Seijuurou.

"Tetsuya!" Akashi called as he came to a stop in front of the wizard, only to be taken aback when Kuroko launched himself towards his boyfriend. The prince managed to catch his lover and the bluehead couldn't help but sigh in relief, the tension that had always been in him finally ebbing away as he was in the arms of the one he loved.

"Tetsuya? What's wrong?" Akashi noticed how his sleeve seemed to dampen and gently tilted his beloved's chin upwards, only to be wet with wide, slightly teary blue eyes. "Why're you crying? Did you miss me that much?"

Kuroko smiled a little at Akashi's teasing and pried himself off the redhead, earning a frown from the other. "It's- it's nothing."

Akashi flashed him a look of concern before taking Kuroko's hand, saying, "Alright. You must be tired. Come, let's go inside."

With a grateful nod and thanks to Murasakibara, Akashi and Kuroko made their way into the palace of Teikou.

"Sorry, my parents are at a meeting with the rulers of the other countries," Akashi said as he led Kuroko down the many grand hallways.

"That's fine," Kuroko replied, secretly pleased that he would get to be alone with Akashi. For now. He'd take care of King and Queen Akashi later.

"You can stay in my room, if you want," Akashi smiled charmingly at Kuroko.

"Okay, thanks," Kuroko had to fight to keep down a blush. He shyly slipped his hand into the warm embrace of his lover's.

"This way," Akashi tugged on the hand in his and led the way to his room.

As Kuroko entered the prince's room, his blue eyes widened at the sheer opulence yet emptiness of the large chamber. The furniture were all lined with gold and the walls were painted a deep red and the curtains were a lush gold. However, none of this extravagance actually reflected the occupant's true nature and it was bare of any pictures and personal possessions.

The bluehead was led onto the large bed where the couple spent the next hour just sitting on, lightly caressing each other, kissing each other deeply and murmuring how much they missed the other. Kuroko did his best to steer the conversation away from anything to do with why he was here and what happened.

Just a little while, he reassured himself as he melted in his lover's embrace. Just let me at least have this before I let him go.

Sunlight filtered in through the windows as a certain red-haired prince awoke. Blinking slowly, those heterochromatic eyes turned - almost expectantly - to the left of his large bed. There was no one there. As usual.

But then why did he so feel unsettled? So agitated?

His day went as normal; he spent his mornings doing paperwork about the country's current affairs and wrote a letter to his parents about the progress of the kingdom. It was an absolutely normal day. But then why did everything feel so wrong?

As Akashi started on his lunch at exactly, 12.30, he pondered about the extreme feeling of loss and loneliness he felt accompanying him all day was about and could come up with nothing. That made only served to frustrate him even more.

Just why did he feel like he had suddenly lost one crucial part of his life?

Is it just me or did I use too many line breaks? . Anyways, this wasn't actually suppose to end like this. I actually wanted to continue on and the rest of the chapter would've been for big reveal of what happened.

But then I thought it would be a better idea to get you all to guess what happened ;) [PS, Please don't kill me for doing this ;)] Anyways, here's a hint: what actually happened in the later part actually happened in Harry Potter, though it was just briefly mentioned.

Good luck trying to solve it! And don't be afraid to PM me to talk Akakuro or anything in general! :D

Please review and tell me what you think!