Kuroko had became sixteen in late spring, which had been five years after that night with the red-haired boy that had disappeared the next morning. The drought ended weeks later and eventually everything went back to normal for a few years... that is, until now.

In the same month Kuroko became sixteen, the Scarlet family, the rulers of the Land, had done something strange. Since their name was based off the fact every member of the family had bright red hair as a sign of 'pure blood', they decided that they needed a newer heir to take the throne after the great King died and that the others who had been in line to rule had suddenly lost their rights. Soon the Scarlet family announced that they found a lost son to the great King and that this strange addition to the family would soon be coronated. It's been two months and the position to rule was still being debated on...

To Kuroko, none of this really mattered.

In the end, he felt unaffected about the news of a new king and even more so about whether the mysterious new heir would be coronated or not (or perhaps the question was when? Who knew, really.)

Kuroko broke out of his thoughts as he felt someone touching his shoulder, making him look back to see Kise. He almost camouflaged with the market place behind them as he looked at Kuroko with his bright, yellow eyes.

"Kurokochii~!" The blond said with an excited expression. "I've got something to tell you~!"

Kuroko wasn't surprised since Kise always ended up telling him 'something that happened' every day he saw him. "What is it?"

"You know the mysterious new heir?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Kuroko sighed. He didn't understand Kise's obsession with the ruling family and their affairs.

"Well, you know how it's been a few months after they said he would be King?" Kise grinned, seeming like he was about to start dancing like a maniac.

"Yes, go on."

"W-Well today they said he's going to finally be coronated~!! And they're going to invite everyone to a celebration!!" Kise almost squealed and a few townsfolk eyed him strangely.

"So you want me to come with you so we could get free food?" Kuroko said with an honest yet blank look.

"Yeah, but I could never go without you~!"

"Liar"

"Haha, you have no faith in me..."

____

The morning coronation was quite long, Kuroko heard, since he decided not go to the day portion since he had work to do for his father. However, as night came around, Kuroko managed to find a nice yet dusty old outfit he could wear to the celebration. He then met up with Kise soon after and headed to the castle.

Kuroko and Kise met up with the entrance after awhile, watching as the many laughing and smiling gentlemen and woman dressed in their best garments walked into the large banquet hall filled with dozens and dozens of people.

Kise tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, there's a lot of richer folks here..."

"Are you planning on making connections with a few and taking advantage of them soon after?" Kuroko was quick to say.

Kise only laughed. "Haha, Kuroko... I'm not that deceptive..."

Eventually Kise had managed to drift away from him towards a group of finer ladies. Kuroko sighed; unsurprised.

Kuroko then decided to walk around a bit in between the crowds of people and up a large spiral of stairs and to an emptier part of the celebration. It was darker and the only light that managed to come through this large room was a giant window-like door to the left of him that held a medium-sized balcony on the outside.

In that moment, Kuroko noticed a dark, tall figure leaning on the balcony and looking up towards the night sky. As Kuroko walked slightly closer, he also noticed he wore a long robe and a royal outfit that didn't belong to the Land due to its dark, deep shade of blue. The figure's hair color was the same, making Kuroko conclude that this was most likely a member of the Midnight Blue family from the west lands.

As Kuroko creaked the window door slowly, the figure looked back quickly with a dark look in his navy eyes. The person seemed suspicious of Kuroko yet there was also a tint of him that seemed like he really didn't care.

"What? Are you one of my men my father wanted to catch me?" The royal figure growled.

"No, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." Kuroko simply said.

The blue-haired male sighed, straightening up and turning around to face him. "So, I'm guessing you're just another one of the other people of the Land here for the coronation, right?"

Kuroko nodded.

"Well, then, you must be wondering who I am then, right? I'm obviously not from that Scarlet family."

Kuroko nodded again as he spoke. "You're part of the Midnight Blue family, right?"

"Yeah and I'm their fucking prince and that's even worse." He groaned as he glanced at the sky for a few seconds.

Kuroko blinked a few times. "Prince...?"

"Yeah, Prince Aomine or Prince Daiki; whichever you'd like to call me," Aomine said. "My father made me come here since we were going to have to meet up with the Scarlet family for some truce thing or whatever and then this Coronation thing decided to come along and now I'm forced to stay here for another two hours..."

"I think we're both in a very similar situation..." Kuroko said as he thought of Kise.

Aomine glanced at him with a dark look before he turned around and looked down at the collection of towns below the castle's balcony. There was a long pause before he spoke.

"... What's it like to be... normal?" Aomine muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it's just..." He said. "I'm so used to our kingdom winning battles all the time that I feel like the only one who can beat us is... us..."

"So do you not want to be king?" Kuroko asked with an honest face. Aomine's eyes widened slightly before transitioning to normal.

"I... don't know. I used to always find the idea of ruling so fun but now... I just find it pointless now, you know?" Aomine said as he turned to look at him. "But what am I supposed to do when I'm king? Do the same old things like my father before my father and before? That sounds boring..."

"I think you'll find someone or some kingdom who can beat yours" Kuroko said. Aomine looked at him with an amused expression, a tint in his eye that made him almost want him to believe in that fantasy.

"Haha, maybe? Maybe not..." Aomine chuckled, walking towards the window-like doors and heading back inside as he was ready to go back down the stairs.

However, before that, Aomine glanced back and said one more thing. "Nice meeting you, Kuroko Tetsuya."

And as the navy-haired Prince left, in that same moment, he heard a few noises from behind the corner of a hallway. Kuroko, slightly curious, followed the traces of noises behind a few walls and walked down a long hallway to see a wooden door lined with embedded patterns. A light outlined the rim of the door, making Kuroko realize he must have found the source of the noise.

He creaked it open slightly to see a medium-sized, royally styled room with a large fireplace running and portraits of past kings hanging up on the wall. A figure who wore a fine, black and embroided suit was playing the violin in the corner as Kuroko peeked in and he could almost sense the fluid moments the figure gave with their bow as they produced a light, soft tune.

Kuroko was about to recede back and not interrupt the player's session when he accidentally knocked over a coat hanger behind him and it fell down with a huge crash.

The figure turned around, their eyes widening a little as they studied the intruder. It was then Kuroko recognized this person; their bright red hair... their cold, yet bright red eyes... how could he not remember him?

The man looked just as surprised as he did and then suddenly a smile took his face; Kuroko unable to sense the tint of darkness within.

"Hello, Tetsuya~" Akashi said with a pleasant yet shadowy expression.