Author's note: 'Kay so this story is inspired by my dream the night before last night and I kinda want to write it. So, yeah. I'll try to update my other fics ASAP.
Warnings: Mentions of rape, deaths, supernatural stuff, fishies talking (yes, we need a warning for that.)
IMPORTANT: For those flamers, while I appreciate you wanting me to improve, I hope you guys will word it like "I think Kuroko/Akashi is a bit OOC. I think you should..." instead of, "WHAT THE F*** IS THIS CRAP?!"...I'm sure you don't want your teacher to be rude to you when he/she is teaching you.
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For Eternity
Long ago, in an unknown time or land, there lived two brothers. The older was solemn yet kind while the younger was polite and caring. They were poor but they were happy. More often than not, they could be seen together anywhere. The fields where they work, the home where they lived, the forest where they rest, the village where they strolled together. It was not a secret to anybody that the brothers treasured each other as they only had each other after their parents died.
Their happy days continued until one day, disaster struck. The small village that they lived in was raided by a gang of thieves and most were killed as they resisted. The thieves were so cruel that not even children and babies were spared. The brothers were forced to their knees by the thieves while waiting for their leader to pass his judgement unto them. The younger brother trembled in fear while his older brother tried to calm him.
Intrigued by the older sibling's show of bravery, the leader grasped his chin and his eyes took in the sight of the young man's face. Both brothers were a sight for sore eyes and possessed a natural beauty unique to them. Needless to say, the leader of the thieves were captivated by the older brother like many of his suitors before him, men and women alike. Sparing a glance towards the younger brother, he saw that there was a hint of fear in those orbs. The leader turned towards his subordinates and yelled, "Prepare the wagon! We're bringing them back!"
The brothers' eyes widen in absolute horror as they were hauled into the wagon and the thieves cheered. Two of the thieves then started to blindfold and tie the brothers so that they could not escape. The older brother knew that he was scared but listening to his precious baby brother shuddering and shivering in fear made him cast aside his fear and went to comfort his younger brother instead. He slowly reached out his hand to the direction where he last saw his younger sibling and smiled slightly when he felt a trembling hand clasped around his.
"Hey. We're gonna be alright, 'kay? No need to fear. Nii-san will always be with you."
"R-Really? N-Nii-san will a-always be w-with me?"
"Yeah, I will. No matter where or when and even if we died and were reincarnated into two bodies of different status, we will always be together. For eternity."
Smiling at the vow, the younger brother replied, "For eternity."
Soon, they reached the thieves' hideout and the siblings were forced to walk while they were still blindfolded. They were pushed down onto their knees after walking for quite a distance and when the blindfold and ropes were removed, the brothers saw that they were inside some sort of throne room, probably for the leader. They were proved to be right when the leader came in and sat on the makeshift throne in front of them. Again, the younger brother trembled in fear as the leader's face was menacing and intimidating and the older brother hugged him.
Even though he was scared, he mustered his courage and asked, "What do you want with us? If it's money, I'm afraid that my brother and I don't have much."
Amused by the older brother, the leader replied him, "Since you don't have any money, I suppose you just have to pay it with your bodies then. You can be my whore."
Appalled by the sudden turn of events, the older brother could only stare at the leader in shock while the younger brother, as if gaining a sudden burst of courage, shouted at the smirking man, "No way! Nii-san would rather die than to be your whore!"
The older brother smiled slightly at his younger brother and the leader found himself wanting more and more of that smile. So, he thought of a way to make the older brother stay but the younger brother would not be able to interrupt them. He knew that separating them would only cause the brothers to commit double suicide so he could not pick that option.
Smirking as he found one, the leader immediately called for his magician and whispered something to the ear of his nearest subordinate. The subordinate bowed and promptly left. When the subordinate returned after a few minutes with the magician in tow, the brothers were slightly puzzled that he brought a fish bowl with him. Suddenly, the older brother felt a foreboding feeling and as if to prove him right, the leader commanded the magician to turn the younger brother into a fish.
"No!" The older sibling shouted and wanted to stop the magician but he was restrained by the thieves so he could only watch with wide eyes as his younger brother screamed and morphed into a fish. The older brother shook off the thieves with new found strength and quickly plopped his younger sibling into the fish bowl that was, fortunately, filled with water. He turned towards the leader with tears prickling the corner of his eyes and he said, "How could you? He was just a boy."
The leader replied, "I told you, I want you to be my whore. But your younger brother defied me so this is his punishment."
The older brother nodded and said, "I will be your" here, the older brother gulped, "whore but please let me take care of my brother and never separate us."
The leader nodded and the older brother put the fish bowl on top of one of the table. The fish inside swam in what could be interpreted as defiance but the young man only smiled at his younger brother and said, "It's okay. Nii-san will protect you, okay? For eternity." He then walked towards the leader in acceptance of his fate and the leader took him then and there after dismissing his subordinates, right in front of the traumatized younger brother.
The older brother held in his tears of humiliation while the leader simply did not care. All the latter wanted was to satisfy his needs and the young man writhing and moaning underneath him was perfect. After three long hours of being ravished, the leader finally let go of the older brother and told one of his subordinates to escort the young man to the leader's chamber where the brothers would sleep from then on. The older brother took the fish bowl with him and despite the immense ache in his lower region, forced himself to walk.
True to his words, the leader allowed the older sibling to take care of the fish and everyday, he would talk to his brother and did everything so that his dearest brother felt comfortable. Though he received no audio response, he was very happy and that was the only thing that kept his smile on his face.
This continued for years and the young man, though he was afraid of them at first, grew to be fond of the thieves and vice versa. The thieves would bring him trinkets or treasure from their latest haul while the leader, not one for affection, would just chuck something at him and walk away. The first time the leader had done that sort of thing, the young man had been scared out of his wits and was almost afraid to open the box. In return for these small gestures, the older brother cleaned, cooked and tried his best to make the hideout as comfortable as possible.
The leader and his subordinates were pleased to know that the young man had opened up to them but, deep in his heart, the leader knew that the brother had not been able to forgive him for turning his younger sibling into a fish. They had tried everything but the curse was still there and the older brother wept in misery.
One day, the leader wanted to test how strong the older brother's resolve to protect his younger brother was. So, while he and the older sibling along with some subordinates were out on a flower field to enjoy some fresh air, he asked a question.
"If I said that I will let you run away now, will you?"
Not even missing a heartbeat, the young man replied, "No."
"Why?"
"Because you only granted freedom for me, not my younger brother. And my life is meaningless without my younger brother."
The leader looked crestfallen at the answer as he knew that he had fallen in love with the one he kidnapped a few years ago but knew he would never gain his affection because his very existence served as a reminder for the young man of the happy life he could have with his brother. The subordinated noticed and quickly averted the young man's attention.
"Young master, look."
Over the years, he had managed to gain some sort of respect from the thieves and they had taken to call him 'Young master', despite his wishes for them not to.
"Hmm? What is it?"
And just like that, the sad atmosphere was broken and their daily excursion for fresh air was resumed. Everyone thought that this would continue forever. However, what they did not count was that Fate had something else in store for the unfortunate brothers.
It started as an ordinary day but suddenly, a subordinate came inside in panic and started yelling, "Boss! The police! They're here!"
"What?!"
"How can that be? They had never been able to find this place for years!"
"Boss! What should we do?"
The leader looked at them calmly and said, "Calm down, you fools! We will protect this place to our dying breath!" And a roar of agreements resounded throughout the whole place. The older brother quivered and the leader looked at him as if wanting to say something but in the end he decided against it and instead said, "Don't get in our way."
They all fought gallantly and many of them went down in battle, taking their enemies with them. Alas, the police force won and the thieves along with their leader were brought down to their knees with the policemen surrounding them and had their guns aimed at their heads at the slightest movement. The chief of the police was contemplating on their next course of action when one of the policemen suddenly shouted, "Chief! We found a prisoner of these scoundrels! He was found inside a room!"
The hearts of the thieves clenched, especially their leader but they reasoned with themselves that the young man were better off without them. They all looked at each other and discreetly nodded, all of them coming into the same conclusion. Fortunately, no one noticed the silent exchange.
"Bring him here!" The chief shouted back.
The officer nodded and he softly said, "Come on now, sir. These men won't be able to hurt you anymore."
The police officer came in with an obviously frightened young man that was currently holding onto a fish bowl like it was his lifeline. The chief, immediately assuming that the young man was traumatized, gently said, "Fear not, boy. We will not harm you. We just wanted to ask you what is your affiliation with these criminals." Though, the question was unneeded as everyone could see that the young man was anything but bad. But before the older brother could answer, he was interrupted by a shout from one of the thieves.
"Hah! As if that weakling could be one of us! He's just the Boss' slut! Nothing more!"
The young man widened his eyes. Makoto. He thought. Are you…trying to protect me?
"That's right. We don't want to be associated with that low-life whore!"
Kisa.
"Take him away! I'm sick of his face!"
Amato.
"Yeah! He's just the Boss' fuck toy!"
Zen.
The older brother looked at the man who was the main reason of his captivity in the first place and found that the leader of the thieves were looking at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. The leader looked away and he grunted, "I was bored with him, anyway." The chief fired a warning shot and shouted, "Shut up, all of you!"
He turned towards the young man. "You are now free to go, young man. Enjoy your freedom." With that, the chief ordered his men to take all the criminals inside the wagon to transport them to the nearest prison. The older brother, not able to believe his luck, could only let tears of happiness trickle down his face and walked away. However, due to the tears obscuring his vision, he did not see where he was going and by the time he heard one of the police officer's shout of warning, it was already too late.
He could only watch in despair as he saw that the cliff was getting further and further away while the sea was getting nearer with each passing second. Faintly, he could hear the shouts of terror and "NO!" from the thieves as well. He closed his eyes, accepting his fate to die drowning in the sea as he could not swim, and whispered to his younger brother.
"Even in death, we will always be together. For eternity."
He hugged the fish bowl tightly to his chest and soon, cold and salty water engulfed his entire being.
"NO!"
The thieves screamed in despair while the leader could only weep silently. The police chief noticed and he muttered, "You love him, don't you?"
The leader glared.
"So what if I love him? Do you really think he would be better with us? The reason he endured all those years were for his brother."
Sighing, the chief replied.
"Let go of your emotions. I can wait. There's a chance that he would survive."
"There isn't. He doesn't know how to swim."
The silence that greeted the both of them was deafening and the chief signaled for the wagon driver to slowly start their journey to the nearest town. All of them hung their heads low, silently mourning for the brave young man whose name they did not even know.
As expected, the older brother died seconds after he plunged into the unforgiving sea, unable to breathe. Yet, even as he lose grasp of consciousness, he still tightly gripped the fish bowl that by now was no longer constricting the younger brother's movements while thinking, For eternity. The younger brother, still in the form of a small fish, swam to his brother and gently nudged him, in a desperate hope that his beloved brother was still alive. When he received no response, he opened his mouth in a silent scream and wept to the heavens for the cruel fate of his older brother.
From then on, it was a vicious struggle for the younger brother. As he was just a small fish, defending his older brother's corpse from the bigger fishes was a daunting challenge but he persevered and he used every bit of his energy and human intelligence to prevent the corpse from being eaten. For him, each day that passed by with his brother's corpse complete was a day well-spent and he cherished the time he could spent with his brother. And like his brother when he was still alive, he often talked to the corpse as if his brother was still alive. The most uttered words being "For eternity."
Soon, the news of a peculiar fish guarding the corpse of a human instead of feasting on it reached the ears of a curious being that sent a shark to investigate the rumours. It swam to the place where the younger brother could be found and true to the rumours, he was currently defending his brother's corpse from another fish. The shark swam closer and its presence scared the other fish away but the younger brother just stayed there and prepared himself for a vicious battle.
Intrigued, the shark spoke, "Calm down, young one. I have no wish to harm your human."
Still suspicious, the younger brother asked, "If you're not here to eat him, then why are you here?"
"I am here merely to confirm the rumours."
"What rumours?"
"Surely, you did not think that the act of a small fish like you defending and guarding a human's corpse will not garner any attention from the seven seas? Why did you do it, if I may ask? Surely, it must be a big reason or reasons as you had been doing it for four years."
The younger brother was shocked. Not one had ever questioned his motives before. All they cared about was to devour his older brother. And here the shark was, a carnivore known all around the world, asking for his reason. Finally, he broke down and spilled the entire story to the shark about from how they were kidnap to the present. After he finished his stories, the shark was awfully silent.
He waited for the shark to speak and when it did, it said, "I see. That is most certainly unfortunate, human. I'm afraid I must go now. I have things to attend too."
The younger brother bid him goodbye and the shark swam back to the being that sent him on this peculiar quest. When it reached an underwater palace, it was immediately escorted to the owner of the palace, the Goddess of the Sea.
"Ah. You have returned. So, how was it?"
The shark told the Goddess of the encounter truthfully, leaving none behind. When it finished, the entire palace was weeping and the Goddess sobbed, "What tragic fate for the brothers! I must end their suffering at once."
The shark led the Goddess to the place where the brothers were and her heart broke at the sight of the younger brother talking to his older brother.
"…and we will always be together, Nii-san. For eternity."
"Young one."
The sound of the Goddess' melodic voice shook the younger brother to the core and trembled at the sight of a beautiful woman with sea-foam green hair and ocean blue eyes staring at him.
"Y-yes?"
The Goddess smiled.
"Fear not, young one. Antoine," she gestured to the shark "had told me all about it and I have come to end yours and your older brother's sufferings."
The younger brother swam around happily and he cheered, "Really? You will? Thank you so much!"
The Goddess merely smiled and with one wave of her hand, the corpse and the fish began to glow.
"However, to reunite the both of you, you must follow your older brother's footsteps."
"It's okay, my Goddess. My life has no meaning without Nii-san in it."
Instead of being afraid, the younger brother closed his eyes in acceptance and he felt warmth, similar to the hugs he used to receive, coursing through his veins. Suddenly, he felt a hand gently tugging his and when he opened his eyes, he saw his older brother tugging at his hand while smiling that gentle smile reserved for him and him alone. His older brother looked as if he was never dead and all of it was just a bad dream. However, the light that shined gently around them indicated otherwise.
He looked down and saw that he was reverted back to a human. He beamed and happily took his older brother's hand. The two brothers glanced at the smiling Goddess and the shark one final time and waved before a bright and warm light engulfed them. The Goddess waved back before she softly muttered.
"For eternity."
"The end."
"Ehh?! Nee-chan, that can't be the ending. What happens next?"
"That's right? Did the brothers live happily ever after?"
The woman smiled and replied, "Yes, they did. They were reincarnated into bodies of different status but it didn't stop them from becoming lovers and live happily alongside each other."
"Wha! So romantic!" The little feminine voice cooed while the obviously childish boy voices groaned, "Eww! Why would you like your brother that way?"
The woman just smiled and clapped her hands loudly to focus their attention back to her.
"Enough story-telling for the day. It's time to go home."
The children crowded around her and some hugged her legs.
"Will you be here next week for more stories?"
"Yes, I will."
"Yay!"
The children cheered and they followed their parents home. Akashi dusted his pants and he stood up then offered his hand to Kuroko.
"Come on, Tetsuya. It's time to go home."
When Kuroko did not reply, Akashi turned towards his younger lover only to be shocked with the sight that greeted him. A silently crying Kuroko.
"Tetsuya?"
"Sorry, Sei-kun. But the story was too sad."
Akashi smiled gently and hugged Kuroko.
"It's just a story, Tetsuya."
"I know, Sei-kun. But still, it's too tragic."
Akashi gently kissed away Kuroko's tears and he murmured against Kuroko's eyes, "How about I treat you to your favourite drink and we can spend the night at my house?"
Kuroko smiled softly and nodded, "Sounds like a plan."
"Good. Now, let's go."
"Hai, Sei-kun."
They walked away to the direction of Maji Burger, their hands linked together. The woman that told the story watched them as they leave and she mumbled, "For eternity, huh? Even in death and after being reincarnated, the both of you still hold on to your vows."
"My lady?"
A man with white hair asked the woman whose brown hair was slowly turning into sea-foam green. The woman smiled and turned towards the man, "It's nothing. Come on, Antoine. We're done here."
"Yes, my lady."
As a bright light surrounded the woman and the man, the woman spared a last glance at the silhouettes of Akashi and Kuroko and spoke before disappearing into thin air.
"I will honour the promise I made with Tetsuya all those thousand years ago. The both of you will always be together. For eternity."
