Himmelblau
Prologue: Diese Nacht
It was a frigid night just after the Winter Cup was over with the result of the Rakuzan—his team's—loss that he was reminded of the fact that his world does not revolve in basketball alone.
Heterochromatic orbs of crimson and gold narrowed sharply at the display in front of him, his muscles tense, his lips slightly parted in sheer shock and he could feel the exhaustion he felt after the game fade like it was never there, replaced by the apprehensiveness of the unfolding situation.
He had just returned to his house—a Japanese style mansion that was built on the Heian period and had stood for generations—only to find that a quarter of it was wrecked and the servants' body were scattered everywhere, unconscious.
He had a bad feeling that something horrendous was going on, and he was proved right of his notion when he came across the spiritual room, in which was in a more grave state among the wrecked quarter. The small shrine, as he remembered being an old one but sturdy, was split in half, and its surrounding area had a copious trace of burnt marks, making the Rakuzan captain guess that a great explosion might have taken place in there.
The red-head could hear someone grunt, and with his swift emperor eyes, he quickly noticed that one of the servants whom were most likely thrown by the explosion, awaken. It was a woman, and by the *ofuda that stuck to her face, encircling her head like a crown, he could speculate that the woman was not one of their ordinary servants.
"S-Seijuro-sama…" The female tried to get up, only to miserably fail as the red-head briskly walked to her side and placed her to sit up and lean on a wall.
"What happened? The amount of miasma encircling the vicinity is beyond abnormal—"
"Forgive me for being impudent at this time, but I presume that I do not have long," The woman interrupted, throwing up blood as she wiped it with the back of her hand, making it smear around her chin, "Seijuro-sama, That small shrine serves as a seal to a very powerful European demon, and just a moment ago, said demon had just escaped. W-we..We could not bring it down.." Tears rolled on the woman's cheeks, "Forgive me and the rest who have failed you and your family, Seijuro-sama, but the demon… H-he was far too powerful for our abilities to cope up with and—"
The Akashi heir hushed the woman gently, "Please don't speak any longer, I understand that you and the rest had tried their best to stop it. Miasma has entered your system far too deeply. I know that speaking alone would elicit great pain."
Surprise could be discerned from the woman's expression as it slowly changed to an overjoyed one, "T-Truly, forgive us… Seijuro-sama…" The female's lids steadily closed, the light in her eyes disappearing. Her lips tugged upwards, happy that his master was concerned of them when he usually isn't.
Guilt flickered on Akashi Seijuro's being—the guilt of being unable to come on time to save his servants. If only.. If only he was a minute or maybe, a second faster…. "I'm sorry." He murmured, and he was sure that the wind alone was the only one who could hear his desperate apology.
His teeth clenched, his face sporting a displeased expression in which was very rare, his icy blue eyes dangerously narrowing at a man—or a being that has a physique of a man, and a head of a ram. "What did you say?"
"A demon has entered the human realm just a few hours ago. Actually, he had entered not too far from here. A very powerful one—I can safely assume that he is one of the Six Chief Gods of Hell." The 'man-ram' notified, bowing his head gracefully.
"Was my attention too drawn that I was not able to detect his presence?" He questioned, mostly to himself, his composure finally returning.
"I believe not, Milord. Truthfully, I was not able to notice it too until a gap on the space appeared upon closer inspection during patrol. The presence was intentionally hidden."
"If he is truly one of the Six Chief Gods, It must be Sargatanas, without a doubt. "He removed his team jacket and undressed himself from the black, white, and red color scheme of his jersey and eyed the 'man-ram' in which was his personal butler, "Hand me my suit. I will return to hell and find out what exactly is going on, considering that a few days ago, it was Behemoth who made his appearance."
"Should I send a letter to your school excusing you of your absence?" The butler suggested, holding a pitch black suit with sky blue undershirt and handed it to his master, as he was told.
"Please do. My Human counterpart has a reputation of having very minimal absences. My stay in hell would be unpredictable. Worst case scenario, it might take me a month." He sighed heavily, the sky blue undershirt draping his pale skin as he buttoned it downwards, "I'm sure that the team and the others would be quite worried though—especially about the fact that I disappeared just after the Winter Cup."
"I will try to send them the best excuse then," The butler stated, amusement lacing his tone, "However, if your 'friends' personally visit you, what must be done, Kuroko Tetsuya-sama?"
Kuroko Tetsuya blinked, his cyan eyelashes hiding his sky blue eyes while his expression showed his signature blank one, "Send them away."
The butler bowed, a hand placed on his chest, "Understood, Milord."
Kuroko stared at his butler with his all-knowing gaze, "You seem skeptical about the idea of sending them away. Why?"
His butler did not answer for a while, as if finding his voice, and when he did, there was a faint trace of wavering in it, "Apparently, the demon gate opened in Kyoto and a common knowledge to you, Milord, that the direct descendants of the Abe clan, the Akashi's are residing in there. I believe that the heir of the Akashi clan, Akashi Seijuro, is one of your friends and if he would come to visit here, he might notice the demonic aura floating idly, courtesy of this place connected to hell."
"Hold them at bay with all your worth. Akashi-kun won't be able to right-away notice unless he took a step on this house. He is a top-notch *omnyouji and a direct descendant of Abe no Seimei, but he is still a human and humans can never be on par with us, generally speaking." Kuroko tightened his sky blue tie. He was, as of now, elegantly dressed and ready to head out.
"Your order is my command, Marquis Scox." The butler then stepped aside. A few meters behind him, a gate appeared out of nowhere—It was a large gold one, imbued with silver skulls on the lower half, and ruby flowers on the upper. Unworldly language was encrypted on the double doors as it opened, a bright light flashing from it.
Kuroko's figure was slowly devoured by the light as the butler watched him amble beyond the demon gate, "Have a nice trip. I will be waiting for your arrival, Milord."
The golden double doors in which was referred to as the Demon Gate or Gate of Hell then shut close, and disappeared.
*ofuda - is a type of household amulet or talisman, issued by a Shinto shrine, hung in the house for protection. It is made by inscribing the name of a kami and the name of the Shinto shrine or of a representative of the kami on a strip of paper, wood, cloth, or metal.
*onmyouji - was one of the classifications of civil servants belonging to the Bureau of Onmyō in ancient Japan's ritsuryo system. People with this title were professional practitioners of onmyōdō. They are specialists in magic and divination.
黒子のバスケ© Tadatoshi Fujimaki