Ship: Akashi Seijuurou/Fuji Shuusuke, Fuji Yuuta/Mizuki Hajime Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke, Prince of Tennis Major Tags: abuse (implied emotional abuse/mind games) Other Tags: slavery, power impalance Square: sacrifice Word Count: 825
Emperor-slave AU
***
It stings when Yuuta leaves, even if Fuji understands his reasons. He can sympathize with the feelings of living in another's shadow, so he does his best to put on a cheerful face as Yuuta rides off to join the Order of Saint Rudolph. They're one of the smaller Orders, not prone to overly ambitious, rash decisions like some, and they've just recently come under the leadership of a new High Commander. No one knows much about Mizuki Hajime, but Fuji's preliminary investigations suggest that he's a commander who values forethought and logic, and so Fuji doesn't push back too much, even if the warhorses and white tabards and shining lances of the Order are the antithesis of the wind and shadows and stealth in which Yuuta was raised.
But a few months after Yuuta leaves, Fuji begins to hear rumors about the Order—rumors that say their High Commander sees his men as nothing more than chess pieces, and will sacrifice them just as easily if it suits his aim. And other, darker rumors about the tricks he uses to ensure his subordinates' undying loyalty to him.
Fuji's blood run hot at the news, but he doesn't rush. He sends out his own informants to investigate, but he's ready, and he moves out the minute they come back with confirmation. He fades silently into the trees, his journey out to the Order's base going almost entirely unnoticed.
He arrives too late.
In a bid to strengthen his grasp on his territory, the emperor Akashi had been sending his armies out to crush any possible pockets of resistance. Unbeknownst to Fuji, Mizuki had postured one time too many, and had paid the price. Fuji emerges from the forest behind a pile of rubble that had once been Mizuki's stronghold. The dying embers of what had once been gardens are still smoldering, but Akashi's army is nowhere in sight.
Neither is anyone from the Order, and Fuji finds one of his informants and demands a report. Mizuki is believed to have perished in the destruction of his base, but no one has gone looking for his body yet. Most of the other members of the Order, Yuuta included, escaped.
It's not quite the vengeance Fuji had planned, but he's willing to accept it, and Akashi's destruction is far more thorough than what he could have managed alone. He sets out to find Yuuta with a certain grim satisfaction, but it's short-lived when he sees signs of a trap laid along the main trail leading from the stronghold, and then scuffed, bloodied dirt and trampled grass that read of an ambush. He follows the trail until it leads him to the edge of Akashi's camp. He doubts if even his skills will get him in unnoticed in broad daylight, but even from his distance he can see Yuuta chained together with other members of the Order in among Akashi's slaves.
He waits until nightfall before he picks his way through the shadows close to the slave pen.
"Yuuta," he hisses.
His brother wakes up quickly despite the bandage around his forehead, which Fuji takes as a reassuring sign, even if it's a small reassurance amidst many far larger concerns.
"I'll get you out," Fuji whispers. "Don't cross Akashi before then."
Yuuta glares at him. "I don't need your help," he spits. "I can solve this on my own. Go home." He turns away and refuses to respond to anything further. Fuji waits for as long as he can, but he knows he has to leave before the sentries do their final rounds before the shift change.
Maybe Yuuta can escape on his own. Maybe he can't. Fuji's not willing to take that gamble.
The next day, he puts on his full formal robes, presents himself at the entrance to Akashi's camp, and asks for an audience with the emperor. He's done his research, and he knows the sort of men Akashi chooses to surround himself with; a stealth specialist who's rumored to be the spymaster for at least one clan will be far more attractive to the emperor than a knight of a back-woods Order. He offers to trade himself for Yuuta, and exactly as predicted, Akashi agrees.
As he had expected, Akashi orders that he be brought to the slave pen and chained in Yuuta's place. Yuuta is surprised, and furious. Fuji is not, but he acts exactly as insulted as Akashi expects him too. He'll let Akashi think that he's won this first round, that this was a spur-of-the-moment sacrifice. Fuji would sacrifice himself for Yuuta in a heartbeat if it came to that, but he has no intention of sacrificing himself now. He waits, observes, and picks up every thread Akashi gives him and begins weaving it into his trap. It may take him months, or even years, but he will have his revenge on Akashi for hurting Yuuta.
FILL: Team Imaizumi Shunsuke/Kinjou Shingo, A3, T
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke, Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: abuse (implied emotional abuse/mind games)
Other Tags: slavery, power impalance
Square: sacrifice
Word Count: 825
Emperor-slave AU
***
It stings when Yuuta leaves, even if Fuji understands his reasons. He can sympathize with the feelings of living in another's shadow, so he does his best to put on a cheerful face as Yuuta rides off to join the Order of Saint Rudolph. They're one of the smaller Orders, not prone to overly ambitious, rash decisions like some, and they've just recently come under the leadership of a new High Commander. No one knows much about Mizuki Hajime, but Fuji's preliminary investigations suggest that he's a commander who values forethought and logic, and so Fuji doesn't push back too much, even if the warhorses and white tabards and shining lances of the Order are the antithesis of the wind and shadows and stealth in which Yuuta was raised.
But a few months after Yuuta leaves, Fuji begins to hear rumors about the Order—rumors that say their High Commander sees his men as nothing more than chess pieces, and will sacrifice them just as easily if it suits his aim. And other, darker rumors about the tricks he uses to ensure his subordinates' undying loyalty to him.
Fuji's blood run hot at the news, but he doesn't rush. He sends out his own informants to investigate, but he's ready, and he moves out the minute they come back with confirmation. He fades silently into the trees, his journey out to the Order's base going almost entirely unnoticed.
He arrives too late.
In a bid to strengthen his grasp on his territory, the emperor Akashi had been sending his armies out to crush any possible pockets of resistance. Unbeknownst to Fuji, Mizuki had postured one time too many, and had paid the price. Fuji emerges from the forest behind a pile of rubble that had once been Mizuki's stronghold. The dying embers of what had once been gardens are still smoldering, but Akashi's army is nowhere in sight.
Neither is anyone from the Order, and Fuji finds one of his informants and demands a report. Mizuki is believed to have perished in the destruction of his base, but no one has gone looking for his body yet. Most of the other members of the Order, Yuuta included, escaped.
It's not quite the vengeance Fuji had planned, but he's willing to accept it, and Akashi's destruction is far more thorough than what he could have managed alone. He sets out to find Yuuta with a certain grim satisfaction, but it's short-lived when he sees signs of a trap laid along the main trail leading from the stronghold, and then scuffed, bloodied dirt and trampled grass that read of an ambush. He follows the trail until it leads him to the edge of Akashi's camp. He doubts if even his skills will get him in unnoticed in broad daylight, but even from his distance he can see Yuuta chained together with other members of the Order in among Akashi's slaves.
He waits until nightfall before he picks his way through the shadows close to the slave pen.
"Yuuta," he hisses.
His brother wakes up quickly despite the bandage around his forehead, which Fuji takes as a reassuring sign, even if it's a small reassurance amidst many far larger concerns.
"I'll get you out," Fuji whispers. "Don't cross Akashi before then."
Yuuta glares at him. "I don't need your help," he spits. "I can solve this on my own. Go home." He turns away and refuses to respond to anything further. Fuji waits for as long as he can, but he knows he has to leave before the sentries do their final rounds before the shift change.
Maybe Yuuta can escape on his own. Maybe he can't. Fuji's not willing to take that gamble.
The next day, he puts on his full formal robes, presents himself at the entrance to Akashi's camp, and asks for an audience with the emperor. He's done his research, and he knows the sort of men Akashi chooses to surround himself with; a stealth specialist who's rumored to be the spymaster for at least one clan will be far more attractive to the emperor than a knight of a back-woods Order. He offers to trade himself for Yuuta, and exactly as predicted, Akashi agrees.
As he had expected, Akashi orders that he be brought to the slave pen and chained in Yuuta's place. Yuuta is surprised, and furious. Fuji is not, but he acts exactly as insulted as Akashi expects him too. He'll let Akashi think that he's won this first round, that this was a spur-of-the-moment sacrifice. Fuji would sacrifice himself for Yuuta in a heartbeat if it came to that, but he has no intention of sacrificing himself now. He waits, observes, and picks up every thread Akashi gives him and begins weaving it into his trap. It may take him months, or even years, but he will have his revenge on Akashi for hurting Yuuta.