Guiding Light
I. Star of Hope
By: Kat Lee V
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Spring had come to Seirin High School, and a new batch of students came for their first year, in the newly built school. The entrance ceremonies were busy, as many students gathered around, older students recruiting new members for clubs, and new students signing up to join those clubs.
One girl stood at a particular table, and waved at the freshmen that were walking away. She had short cinnamon brown hair, with hair clips holding aside a few of her bangs from her umber brown eyes. Sticking to her blue sweater of her uniform was a tag with her name: Aida Riko. She sighed, and plopped down on to the chair. She rested her cheek against her propped hand, and stared at the short list of names. 'I only have three names... I bet all the others went to high class schools that are more known than ours... We just barely started after all, just like this school.'
There was a rough scrape noise of the chair beside her, and a boy plopped down at the seat, in the same manner as Aida. He sighed out loud, resting his chin on his crossed arms over the table. He had spiky dark brown hair, and dark eyes. He had the distinctive feature of a small cat like grin upon his lips. "Finding new members is really tough." The boy complained. "We should have made a sports team instead, like maybe... basketball?"
Aida shook her head. "You know the reason why, Koganei-kun. Not only because our school just started last year, but also because of rumors of what happened last year."
"I know." Koganei sighed again.
"'Those who can read this may join our Clan in the Other World, only if you have not joined one, yet'?" A voice questioned. The boy and girl behind the table both looked up, and became stunned for a moment. They craned their necks to see a very tall red haired teen, who couldn't be only a first year. He had messy dark red haired, with darker shades under. His eyes were a burning crimson color. His height was above six feet. And his expression seemed intimidating, especially with his furrowed strange brows, and deep frown. "What is that, a video game?" He looked down at the two students behind the table. "Is that a popular video game here in Japan, these days?" He asked in a rough deep voice.
Koganei shivered under the intense gaze. Aida stood up from her chair, grinning. "It's not a game. Don't tell me you don't know about the 'Other World'! You proved that you could read this sign. That means you're like us!" She pointed at the poster taped on the table.
The red head scowled, and slightly tilted his head, staring at the poster. "And what is so special about reading this poster? I don't see it." He muttered.
"Hey, you there!" The brunette called out to a pair of students, a girl and a boy. They looked over and blinked, pointing at themselves. Aida smiled, and beckoned them closer. "Can you read what this poster says?" She pointed at it.
The random female student looked confused. "Um... 'Come see what Guild is about'?" She looked at her friend beside her. "Is that a video game that is popular right now?" She questioned. The other boy shrugged.
Aida huffed, and started to wave her hand to make the random pair leave. "Ah, seems like you can't be part of this club. You didn't meet the requirements, sorry." She shooed at them.
Koganei looked up at the red head. "See, only those born with powers from the Other World are able to read this special sign. And you are one of them." He replied.
The brunette grinned widely, with her eyes shining. "And I can see that you have great potential. So come join us! My name is Aida Riko, and this is Koganei Shinji." She pointed to herself and the boy beside her. "We may only be second years, since this school just opened up last year, but our Clan is no pushover. I assure you. Let's get along, ne?"
The red head stepped back. "I really don't get it... and I don't know this 'Other World' game. So... if you... excuse me... please." He walked away quickly, but was not able to disappear in the sea of students. He was quiet tall and noticeable.
"Did we scare him away?" Koganei blinked. He scratched the back of his head. "And he's never heard of the Other World, even though it's very clear he has the power as a Chosen?"
Aida hummed, and crossed her arms, with a hand on her chin, thinking. "That is strange and troubling... Someone in his family definitely must be a Chosen. It is really curious that this boy was not told about it. Every generation of a family has to send that person to the Other World..." Then there was a spark in her eyes.
"Ah... Riko? I know that look, and you're plotting something, aren't you?" Koganei moved back, looking nervous.
A wide smile grew upon the girl's lips. "Koganei-kun, we are going to recruit him. No matter what." Aida slammed her hand down on to the table. "I know for sure that he definitely is not in any clan, and he has to be in ours." She glanced down at the list of names. "Among the three new recruits, this boy has something different about him. I can sense it."
"Riko... it looks like we have four." The boy voiced out.
"What are you saying? We only got three signed forms." Then Aida's words trailed off when her partner showed her the sheet. "Huh? Did I forget about this? When did this get here?" She grabbed it, and looked over it. "Kuroko Tetsuya... first year..." Then her eyes widened. "From Teikou Middle!?"
"Eh!?" Koganei shot out from his chair and looked over the girl's shoulder. "That Teikou Middle? As in the school that housed members from the recently dismantled Kiseki Clan!?" The female brunette stared hard at the application form, and smirked. 'With a member from former Kiseki Clan, and the possible recruitment from that newbie... I'm sure things will get really interesting.'
Aida slammed down the form. "Koganei-kun, you're in charge of the table. I'm going to look for that red head." She ran off, ignoring the protests of the boy for her to wait.
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"You can't hide from me, Kagami Taiga!" A female voice shouted down the halls of the freshman floor of the school.
A tall red head jumped a bit at the shout of his name. He shuddered, and turned the opposite direction of the shout from one Aida Riko. 'How annoying. That female sempai keeps following me, because of that Guild Club, or what ever it is called.' He sighed out loud, making a few students close by flinch. Kagami looked at them, and then turned his head away, walking quickly down the hall. 'What the hell is this Other World, anyways?'
"Excuse me."
The small voice caused the red head to jump. "What the-!?" He looked back and jumped in surprise again. "Where did you come from!?" He nearly screeched.
The boy was shorter than himself, just barely passed his shoulders. He had messy light blue hair, and blank light blue eyes. The expressionless face threw the taller boy a bit off. "I have been calling for you for a while now, and followed you out here." The boy replied in a monotonous voice.
Red eyes narrowed. "And what is it you want?" Kagami frowned.
"You are a Chosen of the Other World." The boy stated.
Kagami blinked. "Hah? This again?" He scoffed, becoming irritated. "Listen here. I don't care about your video game, nor do I know about it and this stupid club. So could you leave me alone, and also possibly tell that crazy lady to stop bothering me about it?" He turned around to walk away, but the sleeve of his jacket was tugged, stopping him. The red head turned around, and glared at the blue haired boy, pulling on his sleeve.
"It seems you do not understand the dire circumstances of it all." The boy replied. "This is not a video game, and I can see from your expression that you truly do not understand or know about the Other World."
Kagami growled in annoyance, and roughly grabbed the boy's hand, pulling it from its hold on his sleeve. "That is what I have been saying." He gritted his teeth, his patience wearing thin.
Then the other hand took his wrist, and wide and dull light blue eyes bore deeply into Kagami's eyes. "A warning, then, that you being a Chosen, and not knowing about it, is dangerous, especially if you do not enter the Other World any time soon."
Kagami roughly pulled his wrist away from the hold of the other boy. He frowned, watching the blue haired boy, the words ringing in his head. "What's that supposed to mean?" He growled.
The boy fixed his uniform jacket, and looked up at the taller boy. "My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, and you intrigue me, Kagami Taiga."
Kagami stepped back, a bit startled. 'He knows my name?'
"We are both from the same class, Kagami-kun, 1-B." Kuroko responded, as if reading the taller boy's mind. The red head flinched, a bit stunned.
"So what's so dangerous about a game?" Kagami questioned.
Kuroko shook his head. "It's not a game, Kagami-kun." He looked up, deeply into those red eyes. "It is very much very real, I can assure you." He replied. "If you want to know more, I will accompany you to the 'Guild Club', so that you will learn about the Other World." The red head narrowed his eyes. "You will need to understand, Kagami-kun, that there are risks and consequences for you with special power from the Other World, if you are not able to go to the Other World any time soon."
Kagami felt his heart race upon those words. 'He... he's got to be joking, right?'
"So, I advise you to please come to the 'Guild Club', Kagami-kun. If the first day is not satisfactory, then I pray that everything will go well for you in the future, especially when you have those powers." Kagami shuddered when those blank eyes bore right into him, along with those hauntingly dark words. "As I said, you interest me, Kagami-kun, so I am willing to help you out, but only for the short about of time until you realize the dangers." Kuroko told, closely watching to taller boy.
Kagami turned his head away, frowning. "People here are nuts." He muttered to himself out loud, in a different language. "I might as well check it out then."
"I'm sorry, but I don't really understand English well." Kuroko spoke up. The red head flinched a bit, nearly forgetting that the other was there in front of him. 'He has a really low presence...'
The red head sighed, and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, I'll go and check it out, since you and that sempai are so persistent about it." He relented, frowning with slight irritation. The bell rang, and the students in the hall started to walk towards their class room. Kagami silently nodded towards the boy, and headed to their classroom, without another word. Kuroko watched the boy closely.
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The 'Guild Club' as it was called, found a place in a small, unused classroom, on the third floor in the second building. It was at the end of the hall, and almost hiding in the dark corner. On the door was a hanging placard with the club's name.
There was barely any furniture in the room, with only two bookshelves, with a few random and unrelated books, one lone student desk under the window, and four chairs backed against the walls. The second year female, that was at the opening ceremonies recruiting members, Aida Riko, was there, along with the other second year male, Koganei Shinji. Then there were four more male students, and they were quiet tall for average male teens. Across from them were three other male students, looking a bit out of place.
"Hey, don't be so nervous." The girl smiled. She looked at her clipboard with the three names of the new recruits on it. "Let's see, you're Furihata Kouki, Kawahara Kouichi, and Fukuda Hiroshi, correct?" The three freshmen nodded.
When a certain tall red head entered into the room, Aida was smiling widely with a spark in her eye. "So you finally came, Kagami Taiga!" She called out.
The red head froze in place, and then scowled. "Yeah, well, Kuroko told me to after threatening me about these consequences." He scrunched his nose.
"Kuroko?" Aida questioned, and looked around. "Huh, he signed up, but he hasn't showed up yet."
"Actually," a voice spoke up. "I've been here for a while now." Everyone turned their head and spotted the light blue haired boy, standing close to Furihata.
After a short pause of silence, everyone freaked out and loudly voiced their surprise. "EH!?"
Aida came up to the boy, face inches away from the first year. Kuroko backed up a bit, blinking his eyes. "Kuroko Tetsuya? From Teikou Middle School, was it?" She carefully questioned. 'I didn't sense him at all. His presence is really low... I wonder what Class is he?'
The room erupted with more surprised shouts. Then the short blue haired boy became surrounded by most of the members in the room. Questions were fired over one another. Aida got mad, and pushed everyone away. "Hold on! Stop crowding the boy. We still haven't introduced ourselves to our new recruits!"
"I'm Hyuuga Junpei, second in command." A raven haired male, with glasses, greeted. He had a very intimidating aura around him, staring hard at the four freshmen. Then he pointed to the others. "That's Izuki Shun." It was a male that was shorter than Hyuuga, with raven hair and a handsome face. "Mitobe Rinnosuke." The male was nearly as tall as Kagami. He bowed silently. "Beside him is Koganei Shinji." The shorter male, with a cat like grin waved happily to them. "And right over there is Tsuchida Satoshi." His eyes were closed, smiling at the new comers.
"And as you know, I'm Aida Riko, the Clan Leader." The lone female proudly claimed with a big smile. The three younger males widened their eyes in surprise. The girl pouted, and crossed her arms. "What, you think a girl can't handle being the leader of these group of boys?" The second years all rolled their eyes. The three freshmen all shook their heads vigorously.
"Anyways..." The glasses wearing teen, titled as the second in command, turned to the shortest male in the room. "You came from Teikou Middle, right?" He questioned for reassurance.
Kuroko nodded. Koganei leaned forward. "Then, you must have known the Miraculous Generals, the most powerful fighters of our generation in the Other World!" Kagami furrowed his brows, not clearly knowing about these 'Miraculous Generals'.
"I was part of their Squad in the Kiseki Clan." The people all reacted with shock, save for one tall red head, still confused. Kuroko looked up at the older teens. "But, I left the Clan before it got forcefully disbanded."
"So the rumors were true, the Kiseki Clan was disbanded." Muttered Aida.
"Then, you don't know the reason it had to be disbanded, and from a long running and very popular Clan?" Tsuchida carefully asked. Kuroko shook his head.
"Oh! And how about the rumors of that Phantom Sixth General?" One of the freshmen questioned, Fukuda.
"Hey!" All attention turned to the tall red head. Kagami was frowning with irritation, his arms crossed, as if impatient. "I don't know what the hell you are all talking about, and I really need you all to explain it clearly to me, about this Other World." It became silent, and everyone just stared at the red head. Kagami became a bit uncomfortable. "Please..."
"You don't know about the Other World!?" The others erupted with shock. "And you came to join our Clan!?"
"I came because I was threatened! And I've said it a million times, I don't know!" The red head nearly roared with rage. The others took a step back, and Kagami shut his mouth, taking a step back as well, looking a bit apologetic for his outburst.
Aida stepped up between the red head and the others. "Listen, I understand, and I can truly see that you're not lying, Kagami-kun. And you were going to get an explanation later."
"That is strange. Usually the knowledge of the Other World is passed down through generations of the family." Izuki glanced up at the red head. "Unless his family is hiding it from him."
"But why would they hide it, when there are great consequences for Chosen of the Other World who do not accept their powers by a certain age." Koganei pointed out.
Kagami looked down at the short older teen, eyes narrowed. "Consequences? Like what exactly?"
"I've heard you can lose you mind." Tsuchida brought up.
"I also heard that you can end up terminally ill." Kawahara, another of the freshmen trio, added.
"The worst one I heard was that you could die before you turn 18." Hyuuga grimly replied. Everyone reacted the same, with a shudder and a gulp down their throat.
"I've witnessed two people deny the existence of the Other World, and the next day after their 16th birthday, they disappeared completely from the world." Kuroko spoke up. "No one remembered them, not even their parents, except those currently chosen from the Other World." He glanced over at the red head. Everyone shivered in response.
Kagami felt his heart drop. Then he got frustrated. "Yeah well, the situation with my family is complicated." He frowned, his eyes avoiding at looking at the others in the room.
The lone female of the group smiled, and slapped her hand on his upper arm. "Then, it would be better if we show you the Other World, so that you can truly believe in it." Aida looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's nearly time. The gates open at 4:00, 9:00, and 1:00 in the morning, the next day." She turned to the second year students. "We have about thirty minutes until we leave." She pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Here are some things we'll be needing for when we go to the Other World. You got until ten minutes before 4."
Hyuuga took the paper, and unfolded it. "Got it." He turned to the others. "We'll have to split up." Then the group of second year students all left their club room.
Aida then turned to the four freshmen standing close to one another. "Now, I need some information from you all. I need it all entered in to our informational bank." She then turned to the blue haired boy. "For the mean time, when I interview Furihata-kun, Kawahara-kun, and Fukuda-kun, you, Kuroko-kun, will have the job of explaining about the Other World to Kagami-kun. Just general information is fine. I'll fill in anything you left out later, and answer his questions, after we get into the Other World."
While Aida pulled aside the three new recruits, Kuroko turned to Kagami. Light blue eyes bore into a pair of crimson eyes. "The Other World is another world from ours, with unknown information of its origin. It almost mirrors our own Earth, except it is a world that is only thought of in fantasy and science fiction stories."
Kagami snorted. "Science fiction world, huh?" He still couldn't believe it, even hearing it from all the other people in the club room.
Kuroko nodded, pressing on. "Only those chosen by the Other World may enter into it, giving us powers beyond imagination." The red head raised a brow. "With those powers, we, as Chosens, fight to protect the settlements in that world from the monsters. But then, with there being so many Clans, they compete against one another."
He gestured to the people in the room. A few of the second year students returned from their errand, talking to one another. Aida was still questioning the other three Freshmen. "Joining a Clan is an advantage when in the Other World, especially when trying to fight monsters or conquer dangerous Dungeons." Kagami furrowed his brows. "Don't worry, you'll see a Dungeon when we get to the other side."
Aida approached the two, with a tablet in hand. The three freshmen joined the group of second years. She looked up at the red head. "For now, all you need to know is that Clans leave a mark on settlements in the Other World. We are contracted to them, under their Gods, so we have the goal to protect the settlement, and help it grow and flourish in the Other World." She glanced down at her tablet, and started to trace her finger on the screen. "What we as Clans do to help those settlements is collect special Artifacts, left inside a Dungeon, to be able to receive the blessings of those Gods."
The older female student looked back up, straight into Kagami's red eyes. "And a single person alone cannot possibly do it by themselves, especially when there is a great number of Clans with a vast amount of members. You'll be easily crushed."
Kuroko bowed his head. "It's a belief among the Clans that the Gods mostly look upon the Clans, than with someone by themselves in the Other World." He added.
"Our Clan, Étoile, was just created last year, when this school just opened." Aida spoke up. "We took base at a nice little town called Espoir, and we've been watching it grow from a small village. You'll see how we worked hard in succeeding in our missions to make Espoir prosper in the Other World." She smiled widely with pride. Then the last of the members finally returned into the room.
Tucking her tablet under her arm, Aida turned around and clapped her hands. "All right, it's time to go!" Most of the males grew excited. Kagami fidgeted anxiously, still taking in all that he was told about this strange unknown he was barely introduced to.
The lone female had in her hand a piece of chalk. She walked up to an empty part of the wall in the room. Then she started to draw a strange symbol on the wall, with a circle around it. Then Mitobe came up, and started to draw around the symbol, from the floor, to as high as he could reach, with an arch, and then back down to the floor.
"That's how you create gates between our world and the Other World." Kuroko murmured to the red head.
Kagami jumped a little, from the sudden appearance of the boy close to him. 'He really has a low presence... and he needs to stop trying to give me heart attacks! He's trying to pick a fight with me, isn't he?' The red head started planning of a way to get back at the short blue haired boy.
"Gates are open in certain times, and it can only be open with that symbol that Aida-sempai just drew." The blue haired boy continued.
The girl approached the drawing, and placed her hand upon the circle. She closed her eyes. "Aperi." She murmured. The lights in the room flickered off. Then the wall in the drawing that Mitobe made, became a sheen of light. Kagami jumped back in surprise, overwhelmed and amazed at what he just witnessed.
Hyuuga turned to the other. "Hurry in, the gates stay open for only a minute." Then one by one, the boys ran in through the light portal. Kagami stayed rooted on his spot, stunned. The only female smiled at the red head, then went in. After Aida, Hyuuga followed, giving one last look at the tall boy.
With one step through the portal, Kuroko looked back at the tall red head. "Let's go, Kagami-kun?" He offered out his hand towards the red head. Kagami blinked, and gulped nervously. Then with confidence and determination, he grabbed hold on to the smaller boy's hand, and was pulled in through. A bright surge of light blinded his vision, all sound became muted, and all he felt was a comforting warmth, especially coming from the squeeze of his right hand.
Senses slowly returned to him. The blinding light receded, and his ears could pick up sound again. There was a gentle breeze that pushed against him, ruffling some of his bangs into his face. There was a salty taste in the fresh air, followed by the distant sound of a sea bird flying by. Red eyes fluttered open, and all he could see was the vast blue sky, with a big body of water at the horizon, over the dark tiled rooftops.
'This... is the Other World?' Kagami noticed he was no longer standing in the small nearly empty room in his school, with the afternoon sky outside the windows. All around was apparently morning, and it looked like they were at a place near the sea. 'This is... Espoir?'
There was a choked sound behind him, and he looked over. Everyone was no longer in their Seirin issued uniforms. Everyone was dressed differently, and there was a few small changes in their own appearances as well. But Kagami was able to recognize each of them, though he wasn't really good with the names yet. Their style of attire was reminiscent to this one fantasy role playing action video game he has seen in the past. It was a mix between steam-punk, Renaissance, and hints of futuristic. 'I was right, it's like a video game... but real?'
Then Kagami noticed the expressions of each of the members. Their eyes were wide, and some had their mouths gaping with shock. He blinked, starting to shift in place, feeling awkward being stared at. "What are you looking at?" His heart plummeted at the different sound coming out from his mouth. 'W-what...?'
Hyuuga slowly raised his hand, pointing at the red head in front of him. "K-Kagami...?" He questioned, unsure.
Clearing his throat more, Kagami replied, shakily. "Y-yes?" The voice was still different from his normal one. He placed a hand over his throat, more slender and smooth than what he was used to.
"NO WAY!" Almost everyone shouted with disbelief.
Standing before the members of the 'Guild Club', was no longer the very tall red head male they all remembered seeing before they passed through the gate to the Other World. In front of them was a tall, beautiful female, standing in place of the one claiming to be Kagami. She had long, fiery red haired, the same two shades as the male Kagami. Her bangs were swaying with the small breeze, over her rounder and bigger, but still angled crimson eyes, now with long and thick dark lashes. Her face wasn't angled, but more softer, with full and soft looking lips. The clothes that the Other World gave her were tightly hugging around her not so subtle womanly curves. She may have shrank a few centimeters, compared to the male Kagami they were used to, but she was still taller than a few of the males around her.
Kagami looked down, and started to hyperventilate, seeing that his body had greatly changed, from a male to a very apparent female. "WHAT THE-!?" His hands grabbed the two lumps on his chest. Such action caused a few males to react in a not so decent way. "I'M A... A..." Then red eyes rolled back, and the tall red haired female passed out.
A few of them cried out in surprised, and Mitobe was quick enough to catch the tall girl. Aida, shaking her head back to reality, smacked the back of the heads of most of the boys. "Come on, let's all head to HQ. We have a lot to discuss." She ordered sternly, while glaring especially hard at the boys that acted a bit like perverts, in her eyes.
'This is going to be a very long day...' The brunette leader thought, watching as Mitobe picked up the nearly six feet tall female. The other second years were guiding their new recruits to where their base of operations was located, while pointing out some specific spots in the town of Espoir. Aida then pouted, crossing her arms of her chest. 'Kagami isn't even a girl, and he gets bigger cup size than me.' She grumbled miserably in her mind, following behind the group of boys.
To be Continued...
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((Didn't really mean to write this story, but the idea (along with another KnB idea) wouldn't leave me alone unless I write it out. This is just testing the waters for one of the first times writing in this fandom. It is a multi-ship, because I always liked GOM+Kuroko/Kagami. No Flames, but comments for encouragement is welcome. I will either update this one often, or the other, based on the numbers I will observe, like: hits, comments, faves, etc.))
Aida Riko Files
1. Other World (OW for short)
An almost mirroring world to the Earth, with scattered lands floating over an unknown abyss of black. It is crawling with strange monsters, more aggressive and more intelligent than the animals on Earth. This world allows for powers unimaginable, only thought up in fantasy and science fiction stories. However, the residents in the settlements do not have these powers, so they are in need of protectors from the vicious monsters.
2. Chosen (protectors and fighters born from Earth)
Because the Gods of the OW answered the prayers of the people born from OW, people with powers chosen from Earth, travel through the barriers to fight and protect the people born in OW (as so written in uncovered history texts of OW records). Chosen each have special powers, categorized into several Classes, and grouping into Clans. (Specified Classes distinguished in later files.)
3. Clans
Chosen grouped together, to work with each other, in order to survive in the OW. Clans choose a location as their base, starting out in small villages. Their success in missions, or conquering of Dungeons, draw in attention from the OW Gods to allow the settlement that the Clan established base to grow prosperously. The larger the number of members, the larger the number of achievements. The bigger the number of achievement, the more attention the Gods will have upon the Clan. Then more blessings upon the settlement accomplishes a flourishing colony.
Because of the number of Clans created in OW, competition for the Gods blessings occurs. The largest Clan to ever expand and thrive was the Kiseki Clan, that had roots down to about eight to ten generations. However, by the end of last year, they were rumored to have been forcefully be disbanded, and the reasons were unknown. Newer Clans started to be built, and older ones restored, coming out from the ashes of the fallen Clan.
4. Étoile (FRN. Star) Clan
Base of operations: Town of Espoir (FRN. Hope)
Leader: Aida Riko
Number of currently active members: 11
Predominant Classes: Mixed (Member profiles in other files)
Clan Rank: II
