Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke nor any of the characters.
There was chaos and strife everywhere on the mortal lands.
It wasn't necessarily war or anything as horrible as that. No, it was chaos as there wasn't anything interesting to do. The only things that they could do was argue amongst one another and that usually ended up in bloodshed for those involved.
Bless those people...
Bring only fortune to those worthy of it...
Repeat the day by repeating the first two choices...
Those were the only things that happened everyday. The same old things that kept them in forever boredom. For a kamisama, it was quite boring without any action, so they decided to take matters in their own hands.
They chose to walk on the streets to showcase themselves to the other gods that they were tired of their action-less life and decided to go to the most important Japanese god in their own shrine: Amaterasu.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Amaterasu? Why her? Well, it's simple. She'll decide if they're worthy and if they happen to be good enough for her, she'll ship them off to Heavens God for consideration into his home.
Heads turned as they walked the large streets of humans that of course didn't even notice them save their lives, but on the other hand, the other kamisama's could, which was their secondary goal.
Sounds of bells rang from Benzaiten's hair as she and the others passed nearby shrines. She wore no geta, yet her feet remained unsoiled from the ground. She smiled at everyone, including the mortals despite not seeing her.
The long endless journey to Amaterasu from their own shrines was a tireless one as they were determined to finally have their say. They refused to be turned away at Amaterasu's door.
In their opinion, the journey didn't even feel that long and stood waiting at Amaterasu's Torii gate waiting to be invited in. Attendants of Amaterasu glanced their way and promptly looked away when Bishamonten fiercely glared at them to hurry on their way.
Bishamonten crossed his arms and scowled, but softened his eyes when tiny pale hands touched his arms. Jurōjin was the only one who could calm him down, aside from Benzaiten, from his high tempers that hit him whenever anger was in the air. Jurōjin faintly smiled up at him and raised his arms. Bishamonten picked him up and put him on his back. Jurōjin may look like a kid, but he was about as old as the rest of them.
Benzaiten giggled as she saw Jurōjin climb over Bishamon's back and ruffled his pastel colored hair with love. She noticed Hotei looking at them and beckoned him over, to which he agreed. He skipped to their side, his blond hair glistening in the sun, and started chattering with Benzaiten over what their next outfits could be when they were granted entry to Heaven. Their chatter drew the attention of their companions, but ultimately ignored the pair by doing their own things.
Ebisu closed his eyes at their antics and sighed irritatedly as Amaterasu was taking her sweet time to meeting with them. He pushed back his glasses with his bandaged hands, whose bandages took up his entire arms and legs, and opened his emerald colored eyes when he had closed them just a few seconds ago. He despised waiting and it was worse for him as his legs didn't really let him stand for several hours at a time. He sighed again and sat down on a nearby bench, wishing he had brought his lucky item of the day, despite not really needing it as he was already lucky.
Standing nearby was Daikokuten, who greatly towered over his companion next to him. He was eating mitarashi dango as a small snack until they were invited in to Amaterasu's shrine. His vibrant purple hair was tied into a ponytail and his long sleeves were pulled back to avoid staining them. While on his third dango stick, he began humming a lively tune which in turn lead to some of the trees to grow apples.
Fukurokuju shook his head at Daikokuten and smiled at him when the apples grew. Honestly, what Daikokuten did made him less angry for having to wait so long. His piercing red eyes scanned the area around the shrine and nodded in satisfaction as the attendants worked efficiently and quickly without a mistake in their work. He stood staring at them for a moment more before moving closer to Daikokuten to adjust his haori. Now, Fukurokuju thought as he put his hands back down, how long more will we have to wait…
As Fukurokuju thought this, an attendant came up to them.
He wasn't human that's for sure. Not many attendants that were human could even see the gods themselves, sometimes only just glimpses of light or figures could be seen. The attendant had black hair made into a braid with a gold strand woven into it. His hands had imprints intricate designs that swirled around his fingers and it lead up to his neck. Around his arm, had the symbol for Amaterasu on it, signifying that he was the head attendant to her shrine.
The attendant bowed lowly to them in respect. "Konbanwa Fukurokuju-sama, Daikokuten-sama, Ebisu-sama, Jurōjin-sama, Benzaiten-sama, Hotei-sama, soshite, Bishamonten-sama. My name is Daisuke. Amaterasu-sama is now available for a meeting. Would you please follow me?"
Fukurokuju looked back at his companions. They were all standing, waiting for his response. He simply nodded at them and looked back at Daisuke to tell him that they were more than ready.
"Hai. Lead us to Amaterasu-sama. And do it quickly, please" Daisuke nodded and lowly bowed to them again before leading the way.
Amaterasu's shrine was big. Bigger than any of theirs because she was more worshipped than themselves. The attendants inside moved out of the way and bowed to them before going on with their business. He lead them to a sliding door which opened into a large garden with colorful flowers and specks of light floating around everywhere. Sitting underneath the sakura tree was Amaterasu herself.
She looked up when we entered and before Fukurokuju could open his mouth, she said in a regal tone, "I know what you want. You desire change. Change that could be obtained easily by you all. However, you are the Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune, and that means you are greatly needed on this mortal land".
Fukurokuju narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes, that is true, but we would always be connected to this land whether we want it to or not. We can still feel the humans prayers and desires, and of course we would grant them, even from far away." He stepped closer to her. "You already know that of course".
Amaterasu smiled unkindly. "Yes, I do. I can already see that my efforts to keep you here on this land will be in vain, and so I hereby grant you the authority to leave this land and move onto Heaven for you to be judged by their God.
Ebisu interjected. "Why are you letting us leave that easily? Forgive me, but it is not like you to do that Amaterasu-sama."
She turned to Ebisu. "Ah, Ebisu-san! It's been awhile since we've last seen each other. How long has it been?" She put her finger to her lip thinking. "Hmm, I think it was about 50 years."
Ebisu nodded. "Hai, it has been that long. Demo, Amaterasu-sama, please answer my question." His hand had started twitching, which usually meant that he was getting irritated with Amaterasu jumping around his question.
Amaterasu smiled again. "Oh all right…" She took her time answering by drinking her tea, and during that time, Bishamonten had taken to tapping his foot and crossing his arms again. Jurōjin, by that time, had already gotten off Bishamonten's back and held Benzaiten and Hotei's hands. They didn't mind waiting patiently as Amaterasu stalled, and spoke with Jurōjin and gossiped about anything that came to mind.
Daikokuten simply ate the apples he grew, but was quickly bored with waiting. He was about to go speak with Fukurokuju, but Fukurokuju's stony face stopped him from continuing any further.
Fukurokuju wasn't pleased with their situation at all. First, they had to wait a long time before being able to enter Amaterasu's shrine, even after a long journey. Second, she does not remotely even care about their opinions. She hears them, yet does not take them into account. And thirdly, they had to wait even more for Amaterasu to answer Ebisu's question. This was unacceptable.
Before he could say his piece, Jurōjin interjects. "Amaterasu-sama." He starts off quietly. Amaterasu looks at Jurōjin, surprised that he even spoke at all. His companions were also surprised as Jurōjin rarely spoke to others, always in the background, never to be in the center of attention. It was strange so to say, as he was part of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Jurōjin steps forward, presenting himself to Amaterasu. "Amaterasu-sama", he starts off again. "Please give Ebisu-kun a clear answer. You say that we are allowed to move on to Heaven, but that can't be all. We are the Seven Lucky Gods. Indeed that we can live on both the mortal world and Heaven at the same time as attending to our followers when needed. Many other gods live on Heaven, yet we are the only ones who need judgement before entering Heaven. Please give us your reasoning."
Amaterasu looked only amused. But she gave us her answer anyway. "Well, since you insist… and only because you're so cute" She smiled at Jurōjin but it was quickly wiped off her face as soon as it appeared. "To tell you all the truth, I was merely testing your resolve. Anyone can be accepted into Heaven as long as you've done only good things and had not committed any terrible sins. Since this is the first time you all have come to me about living in Heaven, I had to test you to see if you are indeed worthy of entering a glorious place of peace."
"And questioning you is what will allow us into Heaven?", asked Ebisu with a hint of sarcasm.
Either she heard the sarcasm or not, Amaterasu nodded. "Yes, that is correct. Just blindly following orders without question will not do for Heaven. It is a must to have your own identity and will, and to do what you think is right. Although, if it was up to me… I would have killed you all for defying me and wait until you reincarnated to do this again". She stood up and an attendant appeared to pick up her tea. "This was fun. Visit again some other time." She smiled for one last time and left without another word.
Bishamonten growled. "I'll show her… How dare she threaten me?! I'll twist her head off her body and stick it on a metal pike!"
"Calm down, Bishamon! You can't say things like that so easily!", said Benzaiten. "It could get you into serious trouble!"
"Yeah, you could be charged with treason for threatening Amaterasu-sama like that! So you should be quiet about it.", reasoned Hotei, hiding his mirth behind his sleeves.
Bishamonten growled again. "You be quiet, Hotei! Come over here so I get pummel you to the ground!"
Hotei stepped right in front of Bishamonten. "I dare you to do it! Do it, Bishamon! I'll beat you up!"
They were about to get into one of their usual fights, but stopped when Fukurokuju glared at them.
"Both of you, stop it. We are still in Amaterasu-sama's shrine. I will not have you fooling around in here. " He brandished a pair of glistening, sharp scissors. "Am I clear, Bishamon...Hotei?"
They nodded quickly with pale faces. "Hai!"
Fukurokuju put them away as fast as he had them out. "Let's leave then. We have no business here".
The lucky gods left Amaterasu's shrine with some in high spirits and some, or mainly Bishamonten, with anger. They were all excited to permanently live in Heaven.
They respectively parted ways to go to their own shrines to prepare their journey to Heaven. Some of their non-human attendants would come with them and some would stay in the mortal world. They packed what they thought was important to them and left to the reconnaissance point to where they would meet up with one another.
"Ready?", asked Benzaiten while fiddling with her obi in excitement.
"Ready!", yelled Hotei. He jumped up and down and finally ended up hugging everyone in happiness.
"Oomph! Get off me!", bellowed Bishamonten, while pushing Hotei away. "Hmph!" He looked down at Jurōjin, who was holding his hand. "Are you ready, Jurō?"
Jurōjin smiled up at him. "Hai, Bishamon-kun. Fukurokuju-kun, Ebisu-kun, Daikokuten-kun, are you guys ready as well?"
Ebisu nodded, pushing his glasses up. "Hai, I'm ready." Daikokuten pushed into him. "I'm ready too!"
"Daikokuten! You almost made my glasses fall off!"
"Ah, gomen…", Daikokuten said in a not sorry voice. He wasn't eating anything for once. He must've been that excited too.
"It seems like we're all prepared. Let's go then." And Fukurokuju turned away, walking to the white stairways that lead into Heaven.
Loud cheers could be heard behind him and they all readily followed Fukurokuju onto the stairways.
Chaos, of course, followed them into Heaven. After all, what is the Seven Lucky Gods without some chaos?
AN: I have finally edited this chapter from that original monstrosity. Enjoy and review please!