Notice: The first part of this chapter is a continuation of Step VI, sort of like a mini flashback.

Disclaimer: All applied materials belong to their respective owners.

Warning: Female Kuroko, spoilers.

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皇帝の提案

Emperor's Proposal

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Step X : ファントムの微かな魅力

– The Phantom's Subtle Allure –

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Almost a week had passed since his first encounter with the female blunette.

Somehow, Kise Ryota often found himself revisiting the memory during lunch breaks. The way her blue eyes brightened up at the sight of her friends was completely different from the moment she first met his eyes. Her voice also deviated from her usual monotone when the name Akashi was mentioned. The tiny upward curl of her lips in the presence of the red-haired student was still as vivid as ever to him as well.

…Why am I thinking about her again?

No matter how many times he relived it, she had never materialized before him since that day.

…More importantly, why do I wish to see her?

His usual one-way train of thought was not supposed to traitorously take a detour in her direction for days. He sulkily finished his remaining fruit juice in two big gulps before turning away from the vending machine. He refused to admit that one girl's indifference was a big a deal to him.

"Akashi-kun, I prefer water to tea today."

The blond pulled his steps to an abrupt stop at the voice. It unmistakably belonged to a certain girl who had a terribly unobtrusive presence. That must be the reason why he had never noticed her at school. He would have missed her presence for the umpteenth time had she not spoken to someone just now.

…Someone?

Out of curiosity, Kise looked over his shoulder and spotted a pair of students approaching the vending machine.

They are together even on lunch breaks?

An alarm blared out in his head, raising red lights of caution. He recognized the red-head from previous encounter. As a model, he was confident he did not lose to her companion in terms of looks. There was no way the shorter boy could do much better in sports than him either.

"I'll get it for you," Kise said aloud to the pair before his mind could process what he was doing. His feet started taking wide steps back to the vending machine as if in a trance. He was about to insert coins for the drink but another set of fingers nimbly beat him to it.

"I couldn't let you do that."

Kise shot a brief glower at the owner of the deep voice. The red-head did not even bother to spare him a glance after brushing him off unceremoniously. "Is there a problem?" he managed amiably with a smile to hide his boiling annoyance.

"Because she said my name."

That was a rather low blow to his pride, honestly. Why did he make the offer in the first place? Why was he getting riled up all of sudden? For whose sake if the source of his forming headache herself did not seem to care about the whole fiasco at all?

It certainly sucks to fight a losing battle…

This was stupid. He was the stupid one to have let his action speak louder earlier. Now that he had cooled down somewhat, the only option left was to leave quietly before he did something else to double the embarrassment he had to endure.

"…Kise-kun."

To think that she would call out now after the damage was done was rather mean on her part.

"Thank you."

–Or so he thought.

The beaming sincerity from her smile was definitely worth it. He finally understood why he had subconsciously wished to see her. "You're welcome! Next time will be on me!"

The latter part became a little promise between them, an excuse to see the blunette again. Not even her companion's threatening silence could stop him from showing off a victorious grin.

He could not care less about those two's preexisting case.

But he knew perfectly well he was no more than a selfish brat. If he had to find cracks between them in order to shatter the ground they walked on just to make the girl turn in his direction…

Then so be it.

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She did not get it.

Previously, it was the Akashi Seijuro's sudden visit. Now she could see Zunon's dashing model, Kise Ryota, wandering the first year's corridors and stopping by classes every day. He entertained his fan girls with trivial conversations and called out to his friends who happened to pass by during his 'journey', forming a loud crowd in the narrow corridor. Although similar scene took place from time to time due to Zunon's popularity poll, it had never got to this extent. As days passed, his dazzling self approached one class closer to her own which was located at the end of the corridor.

Is he doing it on purpose to attract someone's attention?

If it were so, his target must be a girl. Why all the trouble, then? He could always make use of his million watt smile to chat up that person first unless–

…He has trouble spotting the person?

Sugawara did not know how far off her guess might be, but the person who was hard to notice was none other than…

"What did you do this time?"

Her classmate's eyes never left the book she was reading. A less than half-second blink glossed over a flicker of surprise reflected in her brilliant blue eyes.

"I fail to see where the question is going, Sugawara-san."

She should have known it would not be an easy task to dig something out of this classmate of hers. "Is Kise-kun doing that off-season attention-grabbing pretense because of you?"

That was definitely not as smooth as she had intended to. But at least, she succeeded in veering her classmate's attention away from her reading. "In what way could I possibly be of influence to Kise-kun's charade?"

Her classmate was getting defensive. Sugawara instinctively knew she had crossed the line and held up her hands in defeat. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

The girl before her sat the book down. Her fingers carefully traced the sharp edges of its pages as she replied, "Kise-kun will probably stop once he finds me."

The brunette looked quizzically at her peculiar blue-haired classmate, confusion written all over her face. "And I suppose you'd rather keep the reasons to yourself?"

The way the blunette smiled apologetically made it hard for her to press the issue. She sighed instead. "I'm going to get something to drink. Is there anything you want?"

Her fellow Library Committee's member eyed her own bottle of water for a second. "I think I am good. Thank you, Sugawara-san."

Three steps later, Sugawara turned her head and caught the blunette cradle the bottle in her fingers with a fond smile on her lips.

No doubt, it was from a certain red-haired captain who had accompanied her to lunch.

Poor Kise-kun.

The thought crossed her mind for some obvious reason. She shook her head helplessly and went on minding her business, impassively walking past the model outside.

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Kuroko might not be a lot of things, but excellent perceptions of her surroundings were gradually becoming psychological ammunition she indulged in.

She knew it was not right.

She knew she should not carelessly mess with other people's minds in fear of what they would do if they snapped. Her conscience severely warned her of how underhanded it was to tamper with someone's feelings for her own gains.

That was basically the reason why she was still hesitating in taking the role of a sly minx. Arguably, it had not been merely an act. She was genuinely appreciative that Kise Ryota would go as far for her sake. The implication of his promise, his growing interest in her, and even the dark shadow under his bright smile that spoke of a threat to the moments she held dear were nothing short of flattering to any girl.

But she was no angel.

It was her ulterior motive that had more or less vested those in Kise Ryota.

She could have let him walk away in dejected silence instead of thanking him with a smile efficacious enough to draw out his raw emotions she had wanted to confirm. She could have turned down his offer instead of getting his hopes up this whole time using her faint presence to lure him out searching for her whereabouts.

If Kise Ryota would do it for her sake, for whose sake was she doing all this?

That was a question she dared not to confront yet. Not if her answer would include a pair of spellbinding rubies that instilled authority and demanded submission. Because further down the road, she feared it would be all about him in everything she did, willingly and terrifyingly unconsciously.

Only this once.

She would drop the right amount of hints for Kise Ryota to pick up on his way to finding her. She would make sure his last stop was the gateway to Teiko's basketball club.

…That should be enough, right, Akashi-kun?

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He beheld what was transpiring before him in suffocating silence, torn between abundant endearment and a penetrating stab to his heart.

A pearl of tear dewed at the tip of her threadlike lashes, foreshadowing a streak of damp warmth down her porcelain skin. The peaceful look on her sleeping features ensconced the telltale of said tear. The euphonious lull of her breaths redeemed the hollow emptiness in both the library and his heart.

They truly bear an uncanny resemblance…

He let his mind drift off to the memory of that day, a distinct recollection of his seven-year-old self plucking out a view of a little girl in a lavishly decorated kimono from among visiting high school students and varying adult visitors. It could have been either the bright red and white color of her kimono or a spur of the moment. His current self had a difficulty in extracting rationality from his childish impulse, but he knew for a fact he had ended up by the girl's side, right in front of a small shrine, and sent his prayers to the deities.

"It is rude to stare,"he reproved before turning sideways to meet her inquisitive round blue eyes. Being at the receiving end of the girl's placid gaze which was in contrast to funny looks normal children his age spared him for his idiosyncrasies had his brain in a short-lived muddle as to what to make out of it. And he certainly had not expected an upward curl gracing her lips as if she was placating someone much younger than her.

"May I know what you prayed for?" she asked, still with a dimpled smile on her pale complexion.

He noted how surprisingly eloquent she was in the use of polite language considering her young age. "I prayed for the best to my own self."

A slight pause wedged in between them. The smile receded when she realized he would not elaborate any further, wonder in replace. "Is it not selfish to pray for only ourselves?"

Although she made a fair point, he replied against his better judgment, "That depends. I just want to save my parents from unnecessary worries." He watched her scrunch up her eyebrows, assuming it was either out of confusion or contemplation for a witty remark.

She settled with a compromising suggestion, "You could pray for both yourself and your family."

He frowned in slight dissent and quipped, "Isn't wishing for two different things much more selfish?"

"…" the girl clammed up as expected.

The awkwardness and scrutinizing eyes as if she was trying to come up with a theory to an oddball's behavior were starting to ruffle his feathers. Defiantly setting his gaze back to the shrine to gather his wits, he continued, "I do not want to become a disappointment to my parents. I want to grow up into a successful adult to put them at ease."

The girl remained silent. She turned to face the shrine and slid her eyes shut for a moment. Slowly, she bowed and clapped her hands twice, ending her prayer with a quiet appreciation and another graceful bow. "…Because children's well-being is parents' utmost priority."

Those words filled him with unadulterated astonishment. It was straightforward, exactly what he had in mind. He had never met any children around his age that was on the same wavelength with him. The absurdity of his inclinations had always estranged him from his peers.

But she understands me…

"I sincerely hope you do not mind me being the selfish one in your place."

She might have come out vague to others, but he clearly knew what she implied. A candid smile found its way to his lips, offering her a "Thank you".

The girl courtly excused herself afterward. The soft clicking of geta heels and her fading back into autumn's sunset lodged a boulder of regret inside him for not asking for her name.

It had always been one of his most pleasant memories ever since, lingering in bitter sweet aftertaste.

Had I asked for her name that day, I wonder what we'd have become today…

He raised a hand to caress the girl's cheek, his thumb gently brushing away the clinging tear from her lashes. He was not going to fool himself with what-ifs for this case anymore. It was a chance in a million to find the girl from his childhood days, even for someone of his caliber.

He smiled ruefully when the blue-haired girl stirred, struggling to pry her drooping lids open.

"…Akashi-kun?" she murmured, voice hoarse from sleep.

"I figured you would be here." He noticed the glistening tears lining her lower lids but decided not to pursue the subject. He averted his eyes to allow her some privacy. "It's getting late. We'd better be on our way."

They talked about their studies and club activities, nothing too personal to trespass each other's comfort zone. The boy filled her in on the latest news about the semifinal's result. She was relieved to hear the boys would not have to engage in a nasty match against Hanamiya.

But that also meant it was about time to finish what she had started.

Something that had to do with a blond Zunon's model.

Author's Note: I surprised myself for getting this chapter done on my birthday. I'm sorry for my tardiness and inability to reply to readers' reviews due to real life issues. Hopefully this chapter cleared things up a bit about Kise's reaction in last chapter.