TAKE VII.

    Two days later, I was discharged though head still bandaged, and here I am, sitting across the fearful man; Akashi Seijuurou. I don't even have basics in shougi but I am competing him in shougi. Not to mention that he's Japan number one, under18.

    "Why am I even here....?" I muttered to myself as I moved my bishop. He moved his pawn.

    "Come on, Heichou! You can defeat him!" Yuta said from behind me.

    Okay, so my teammates were surrounding me and Akashi's teammates were surrounding him. We were concentrating but they kept on chanting those 'you will win' quotes.

    "Yuta, I absolutely have no basics in shougi why did you even choose shougi as the next game?" I said.

    "Because I once saw Akashi-kun plays at the international tournament in television so I thought you might be able to beat him." He said, not feeling guilty at all for including me in here.

    I turned to him. "HELLO! INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT! OF COURSE HE'S THE BEST PLAYER IN JAPAN! HOW COME I, WHO DON'T EVEN KNOW THE BASICS COULD FIGHT HIM!?" I yelled.

    Yuta flinched and pouted. "Sorry."

    "Ugh, you're so handful." I sighed.

    "Check mate." Akashi spoke.

    I turned back to him and slammed my forehead on the table, wincing. "This is complete humiliation." I murmured.

    "So," Akashi said, standing up from his seat. I looked up at him. "Just as you, Yuta said.... I'll claim my prize." He said.

    I frowned.  "What prize?" then quickly turned to Yuta who's grinning guiltily.

    "I.... uh, um kinda told him that the winner get to order the other side for a week. But then, Akashi-kun said only the captains are included." Yuta explained.

    My eyes widened. "WHAT!?"

    Akashi chuckled. "Come, Kazuto. It's time for hell."

    "No, wait! But I didn't agree on thi—"

    He grabbed my elbow and glared at me. "You are following me." He said. I had no other choice but to follow him or else I'll be a dead meat right now.

-w-

[Before the shougi match, during Kazuto's stay in the hospital]

"If you win, you can do everything to us!" Yuta said. "But if we win, we'll do whatever we want with you for one week!"

Akashi chuckled. "It's a deal then. However, I'd like to minimize it. If I win, I can do anything to your captain. And if she wins, she can do anything to me."

"Deal!" Yuta nodded.

They went into separate ways. "Sei-chan, you sure?" Reo asked.

Akashi smirked. "I know everything. The entirety future is nothing but a simple matter to change. Therefore, I'm sure."

"Be careful in your own labyrinth." Reo warned.

Akashi glanced at him.

"I know Sei-chan well. You tend to trap the persistent pawn in your maze. But this time is different, Sei-chan. Kazuto is not just persistent. She can also catch you in her puzzle. You cannot predict what will happen when you play with 'love'."

"I'm not playing with love."

"You are. You just don't know. Remember Sei-chan, opposites attract."

"I know what I'm doing, Reo." Akashi said.

"I can assure this won't go as you plan."

"It will."

"No. You're trapping her in a maze of love. Love is a very cruel thing. It won't let you get past. You'll get trapped too."

"You're spouting nonsense,"

"Fine, but you'll see."

Akashi merely smiled in response. "I'll win."

"In love, no one wins." Reo smirked.

-w-

We were waiting in front of the school gate for Akashi's driver. He wanted me to follow him home which is so ridiculous. I wanted to tell him I have work but rather not or he'd find out my identity as the baker guy. A limousine arrived before us. I blinked.

    "Let's go." Akashi gestured.

    I gasped. "How rich are you!?"

    "As rich as I want, now get inside and shut your mouth." He commanded. I pouted and followed him. Three minutes later, we arrived at his house. It's huge. A mansion. I mentally facepalmed myself for getting involved with rich bastard like him.

    "Use the indoor shoes, put your shoes in the rack." He ordered.

    "Are you like.... a mother or something?" I spoke.

    "Don't talk back. Just obey me. This week will be your slave week, no?"

    I pouted and followed him inside. Whoa! Like a palace! "Um, won't your parents.... you know, like despise visitors or something." I asked.

    He glanced at me over his shoulder. "My father is in Beijing right now. I'd rather not talk about my mother." He said and went into the kitchen as I threw myself on the sofa facing the television. Then my eyes caught a frame of a beautiful woman with red hair, similar to Akashi's. She was smiling sweetly.

    "Your mother.... is so.. pretty." I smiled and reached out to touch the frame.

    "Prepare my dinner." Suddenly Akashi said from behind, making me flinched. [Their dismissal time is until late evening and plus the shougi competition they had just now, it's considered dinner].

    "But I don't know how to cook, I only know how to ba—"

    "What did I say about being my slave for a week?" he asked.

    "Ugh fine!" I stomped my way to the huge kitchen that size surpasses my room's. I peeked at Akashi who's in the living hall. He was staring at his mother's picture, a sad expression plastered on his face. And realization hit me.

His mother passed away.

    I turned away and quickly switched on my phone, turned on the wi-fi and searched for the recipe for idk what to cook. "Hey Akashi, what do you wanna eat?" I called. He didn't answer. I sighed and decided to make what my mother always make for me.

Tofu.

*  *  *  *

    "Are you like.... trying to kill me or something?" Akashi spoke after he finished the soup. I knew what he meant. It was my terrifyingly horrible cooking. I tasted it earlier and almost puked. I wonder how he managed to finish all of it.

    I laughed. "Yes I am," then I saw his expressionless face and I wailed. "I AM SO SORY FOR BEING A HORRIBLE COOK!" I bowed 90 degrees politely. "Like I said, I'm only good at baking not cooking!" I added, lifting my head a bit to see his expression.

    "Even so, there's still the taste of tofu there. You ain't so good but you can strive better." He commented.

    "Wow, you're talking like Sifu. Akashi-sama~" I saluted him Chinese-style; a fist against my palm with my head slightly bowed.

    "You can go home now—"

BOOM!

    I stared into the darkness after the whole mansion went black; no electricity. Thunders boomed again and we were surrounded by the sound of rain getting harder and harder each second. I sat there unmoving.

    "Uh...." I spoke.

    I heard him sighed. "Wait here, don't move." He said then his footsteps faded as he got out of the kitchen to who-knows-where. After what seemed like an hour (but it's not), he came back with a torch on his hand. I blinked and took out my phone.

    "Phone is more useful than torch. Why do you waste your energy searching for it?" I asked and followed him to the living room.

    "My phone is out of battery. I found this torch in the storage room. Unfortunately, the lights won't be back for a while so we have no choice but to wait." He said and sank onto the soft couch.

    I pouted and checked my phone.

From: Shiori.

Kazuto, where are you?

Oops, I forgot to tell her where I went.

To: Shiori.

Uh, I have a school project with my friend. I'm at her house. This week, I'll sometimes come home late. Hope you won't mind ;)

    I sighed and turned my head to Akashi. He was frozen, staring at his garden outside. Let me tell you. His house is like a glass castle but not really. The couch is facing the television and behind the television is supposed to be the wall but it was replaced with vertical transparent glass that covered the whole section from left to right, revealing his neat and pretty garden. So from the couch, you can actually look outside.

    "It's not like you to space out like that," I spoke. He dropped his gaze to the floor then looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "I mean it in a good way, okay." I added quickly.

    "I'll call my driver to send you home." He said, out of topic.

    I blinked. "N-no it's okay. I can walk! It's not that far!"

    He glared at me, it seems like his hetero orbs are gleaming in the dark like a predator eyeing its victim. "It's raining, 9 at night and you expect me to just let you walk home, alone?" he queried.

    I rolled my eyes and sat back. "Fine," I muttered.

    Minutes later, I dozed to dreamland but Akashi woke me up, saying it's time to go home. I staggered out of the door. The rain's heavy and the wind is blowing like crazy. I narrowed my eyes and got into the limo.

Before I entered, he said, "Thank you for the meal. I highly appreciate it."

A/N: OHMERGERD I'M SO SORRY THIS IS A BORING CHAPTER T^T