Taking Flight

Premise: In the year of 850, the walls that have kept humankind safe from titans for 100 years have been broken down by the titans. Kuroko Tetsuya makes the resolution to fight after his home and best friend were taken away from him by the titans. He sets off on a journey of bloodshed, angst and sorrow as he enlists into the 104th Training Corps. Amongst his new comrades, he comes across the five extremely talented yet personality flawed soldier prodigies. Kuroko learns that he isn't the only one who is struggling to find his true self in this merciless and brutal world.

Prologue – Taking Flight

One hundred years ago, giant humanoid creatures called Titans have nearly wiped out humanity. What now remains of humanity in the year of 850 now resides in a country surrounded by three concentric walls: Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. In these walls, humanity has lived in peace for almost one hundred years. However...

.-.-.-.

Wall Maria: 10:50 am

"Oi, Kuroko! We've got to fetch the groceries for the old man today, remember?"

A hand slapped the teal haired boy's head and snapped him out of his daze. He had been daydreaming, again. His mind tended to wander off into different places for the past few weeks. The reason for it was completely unknown to him.

Rubbing his head in annoyance, Kuroko shut his book and stood up from the small dining table in the house that he and his friend stayed in, "Kagami-kun. That hurts."

Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya were orphans that were found on the streets when they were young. An old man by the name of Sasaki Mun had taken them in and raised them as his own sons. The man was short in size and had an old leg injury. Rumors say that he used to serve the military in the Recon Corps where he had battled the titans. He was a retired veteran.

The two children couldn't complain about the kindness that Sasaki had displayed to them. He was always caring and kind and they always had enough to eat. The Seirin district was a pretty big area and somehow Sasaki manages to make himself a living. From what, Kuroko could only guess.

Kagami sighed at his friend, "Geez, you always read that book. What the hell's so interesting about it?"

The red haired boy led the smaller boy out of the house while grabbing the coins on the counter. Those coins were needed to buy the groceries that they were instructed to buy.

Kuroko ignored the red haired boy's question, "Why are we buying the groceries?"

It really was strange. Usually, Sasaki would head out to get the groceries himself. He said that it was a good exercise and good for his quickly aging body. Thus, Kuroko found it unusual that the old man would hand his duty of buying the groceries to himself and Kagami. On the usual day, Kagami and himself would head out to gather the wood for the fire or run some errands around the town.

Kagami thought for a while over Kuroko's question, "Hmm...Dunno. Well whatever, let's just quickly get this over with."

Kuroko touched the subject no further and followed Kagami to the Seirin market.

.-.-.-.

The streets were bustling with people, as usual. Seirin was a fairly big district within Wall Maria.

"Hey, Kagami! Kuroko isn't with you today?" a man shouted to the red haired boy as he paid for some bread.

Puzzled, Kagami looked around him and saw that indeed, the smaller teal haired boy had disappeared. He glared towards the streets in anger.

Kuroko always seemed to have a bit of a lack of presence. He would disappear easily if Kagami or Sasaki let their eyes off of him for even a second, especially in big crowds like the market.

The red haired boy searched high and low within the crowd when a voice made him jump in fright.

"Um...I'm right here..." Kuroko muttered to his friend. He had been standing there the whole time...

Kagami clutched the smaller boy by the head and leaned down to his eyes level, "Kuroko...you bastard! You definitely did that on purpose this time!"

Kuroko gave a small smile. He had to admit, the frightened look on Kagami's face whenever he popped up behind him without sound was truly amusing to see.

After Kagami paid for the groceries, the two boys nonchalantly walked through the street staring off into the sky.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko started, "Have you ever wondered what it's like outside the walls?"

Kagami turned to look at his friend, suddenly caught off guard by the question. Nobody ever wondered what it was like outside the walls these days. Mostly everyone believed that mankind was safe from the titans within the walls. "Huh? Yeah I guess...sometimes. Why do you ask?"

"I may be being idealistic, but I want humankind to be able to live freely outside the walls someday. To be able to see the blue sky and fly freely just like the birds... I would like to think that we'll all be able to live that kind of life someday," Kuroko elaborated with a sad smile on his face.

Kagami sighed, "You've been reading too many books again lately, huh. To do go outside the wall and liberate mankind, you'll have to enlist into the Survey Corps. That's way too dangerous for us, Kuroko."

The teal haired boy stayed silent, before whispering, "I know that's too dangerous. It's impossible for me. But...I just wish..."

"Kuroko?"

The blue haired boy widened his eyes in the middle of his sentence before he slowly turned around towards the direction of the gate of Wall Maria. Just as he made a full circle, a blast of light and smoke shot up into the air with a deafening and dreading sound. Both the boys winced at the sound and the former peaceful street erupted into chaos all at once.

"—elp! Where's my daughter..."

"Mommy, daddy...!"

"What in the world..."

Kuroko faintly heard the voices of chaos around him. His eyes were focused on one thing though, the large head that was poking out behind Wall Maria. His fingers that clutched the grocery bag tightly loosened and the fruits and pieces of bread tumbled to the ground.

"...Kuroko!" Kagami shook his friend with vigor, "Snap out of it! We need to get out of here!"

"Kagami-kun...it's here, they've broken through..." Kuroko whispered, his eyes widening as they focused on the massive tower titan before him. His instincts screamed at him to 'run'! But he couldn't move his limbs. He stood there and watched as the titan leaned against the wall and as the shattered fragments of the wall collapse and fly towards Kagami and himself in slow motion.

"Kuroko, damn it! Run!" Kagami shouted and somehow brought the boy out of his trance. He let Kagami grab his wrist as they both raced across the town.

"Where are we going?!" Kuroko asked.

"Back to the house! The old man might be there!" Kagami replied.

Giving a nod of approval, Kuroko followed Kagami back home. People were running and screaming everywhere. Eventually, footsteps too loud for a human to make started echoing all around. Kuroko saw children crying, mothers weeping and probably even saw people getting eaten by titans. He wasn't sure if it actually happened, or if the eating part was just his hallucination.

The two eventually reached the home. Their house was luckily still in tact, even after the explosion.

Kagami threw open the door and shouted inside the room, "Old man! Sasaki! You there?!"

Kuroko slipped past his friend and picked up his book from the table, "Kagami-kun, he's not here. The note on my book says that he won't be back until late tonight. He's probably out of town into the Teiko District in Wall Rose right now."

The red haired boy nodded, "Alright. Let's hurry. The titans have invaded the wall. We need to head to the ports."

Kuroko didn't argue with that. He was frightened, hungry, and thirsty from the running from earlier. He was never very strong at physical activities and right now, he just wanted to rest in his home and wait for Sasaki to come home and tell him that it was going to be okay. However, he gripped Kagami's shaking hand and let the elder boy lead him through the town once again.

This time around through the town was not as pleasant as the first. The first thing Kuroko smelt once he came out of the house was blood. Lots and lots of bloodshed. The screams erupted from every corner of the town every single second like they were being played on repeat on a tape-recorder.

Kuroko could feel his legs shaking as Kagami tugged him along. His eyes wandered and widened with horror when his eyes met the face of one of those hideous creatures. His smile was stretched all the way to his eyes as he picked up a small girl and ripped her in half. The blood fell down from the body like rain cascading down a sky.

His foot caught the root of a tree and his jelly-like legs gave up beneath him and he topped over with his hand still tightly grasping Kagami's.

The red haired boy turned around and pulled his friend up, "Kuroko, it's going to be alright. C-Can you get up?" The anxiety was evident in his voice. Kuroko could tell that his didn't want to be too harsh on him, nor did he want to worry him. Kagami was taking the role of elder brother in this situation.

"I'll be fine," Kuroko replied before letting Kagami help him pull himself up. Just then, Kuroko turned around and saw the piercing eyes of a five metres tall titan. His face was as distorted as the rest and he had messy long blond hair.

"Kagami-kun! Run!" Kuroko shrieked as he fumbled with his footing and started running away from the shadow that was looming over them.

Kagami didn't need to be told twice. He was soon in the lead again, sprinting across the town as quickly as possible. The sweaty hold of Kuroko's hand was noticeable as the two sprinted. He could still hear the footsteps behind him and the massive amount of destruction of the town and its citizens. Kagami wondered how this even happened. It was another peaceful day today. He had never imagined that something of this caliber could even happen.

The two dashed through streets towards the inner gate of Wall Maria. Kagami suddenly felt a tight tug on his left hand—the one that Kuroko was hanging on to. He turned around and saw that he was huffing loudly and green with exhaustion. He looked up and saw that the titan that was on their trails had not lost them yet.

"Kuroko, we need to go. Can you keep running?" Kagami asked with worried eyes.

The smaller boy gave him a weak smile, "Kagami-kun. You go on ahead of me. I'll catch up later."

"No you won't! I'm not leaving you behind!" the red head glared before crouching down, "get on!"

"Kagami—," Kuroko started protesting when the loud footsteps suddenly got nearer.

"Just get on!"

Kuroko nodded before climbing onto Kagami's back. He was suddenly thankful that he didn't eat anything today.

"I know a short cut. Head into that corridor on the left and keep running straight. We might even be able to lose the titan that way," Kuroko suggested.

"Alright...!"

The two proceeded down the direction that Kuroko had pointed to. Kagami's quick feet navigated them through, yet it was evident that the footsteps were getting louder and louder. Were they getting slower? Probably.

It was then when a large chunk of rock moved and started shaking from the house ahead of them. Kuroko spotted this quickly and gripped Kagami's shirt.

"Kagami-kun, watch out!" Kuroko warned and the red headed boy jumped back away from the falling debris.

The two boys coughed and panted from the running and swatted the air before them after the stones and walls from the house collapsed.

Kuroko's vision cleared and his heart immediately sank at the sight before him. Their only escape was blocked and there was an evident shadow looming over them now. He immediately started regretting leading Kagami through this path. Why didn't he consider the dangers for a moment before heading into the narrow street?!

The teal haired boy felt the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes as Kagami turned around and stared at the titan that was smiling wickedly before them. He felt Kagami gently drop him down to the ground. It was over now. They were both going to die and it was all his fault.

"Kuroko, are you still tired?"

"I...I think I'm fine."

"Then run when I distract him," Kagami picked up a stick from the ground and held it in an attack stance. His eyes narrowed at the titan before him.

Kuroko widened his eyes. No...he wasn't going to...

"Kagami-kun! I can't do that! You'll die!"

The red head gave the boy a small smile, "Idiot. Have more faith in me. On the count of three..."

One.

Kuroko gasped as the titan sprung forward.

Two.

Kagami widened his eyes before he shook his head and then charged.

Three.

Kuroko's eyes met those of Kagami as the later dodged a hand and slashed at the titan's legs with his stick. The titan was unaffected whatsoever and only raised his foot and succeeded in kicking the red head's body towards the mountain of falling debris. The large hand picked up Kagami's limp body and held it into the air. Kuroko's blue eyes met his best friend's eyes one more time and he could see the message in them.

Go. Now! Please...live on.

Kuroko saw as Kagami's figure was brought to the titan's mouth. He met the desperate eyes of Kagami one last time before he turned around and ran. The tears now flowed freely as he heard the crunch of teeth and the piercing yell before it faded into the sky.

He was exhausted, thirsty, hungry, terrified, and emotionally unstable all at the same time. Yet, when he managed to somehow arrive at the gate of Wall Maria, the Garrison soldiers hefted him onto the boat since he was so small and let it sail. Only after the sight of the wall, his destroyed home, and his best friend truly faded away from his line of vision, did he scream out loud and break down into a heap of tears.

He left Kagami behind. He left Kagami behind. His heart was suddenly filled with such rage and sorrow that he no longer understood what to do anymore. He was all alone now. Yet somehow, his tears had managed to stop and the anger inside him overcame his grief.

This was a cruel world. And it was because of him that Kagami died. He couldn't accept that. He would definitely avenge Kagami's death. He would become stronger—strong enough to kill titans. That was his resolution.

He had finally begun to take flight.

.-.-.-.

On that day, mankind once again received a grim reminder—that they were constantly living in fear of titans. No wall could protect them forever. I am Kuroko Tetsuya, and on that day, I made a resolution to fight. Perhaps I really am being an idealist, but I want to believe that we can liberate mankind one day. I'll fight and become stronger.

A/N: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or the details and settings of Attack on Titan. They both belong to their original creators respectively.

OMG. What the heck did I honestly just write. Like. Wut. I've had this idea of the KnB characters in the AoT world for the longest time already. I'm not going to post this into crossovers because there's going to be no Attack on Titan characters in this story. It's going to be pure Kuroko no Basuke. (But omg...to think I killed off a character in the prologue already. T-T)

I hope you guys enjoyed reading the prologue! Please review and tell me what you thought about it. I'm really new to all this AU stuff and I want to know if I kind of was even close to keeping Kuroko in character. I don't know how he'll react to trauma! T-T Lol, please review. That would be great because honestly, I have next to no clue where this story is going to go. All I know is that there are going to be the GOM and the other KnB characters in here. I really just wrote the prologue down all in one sitting because I couldn't concentrate because of the nagging idea in my mind. Tell me how it is! Please review!

Thanks guys, and feel free to give me some ideas on how to write this story as well. LOL.

Kk, love you all!

~Yuvi