Woah, look, an update!
It's pretty short, though... Oops. Well, it's only been a day since the last update, anyways. (That's probably not going to happen again any time soon, by the way. Please don't get used to it.)
Thanks to those who followed, favorited, and/or reviewed!
nicoleAnE: Here's an update!
SilverWhiteDragon: You're right; I decided against using specific clan name simply for recognition purposes. It was stated (somewhere) that not every got uses clan names like those in Noragami do, so I'm going with that. The names are pretty fascinating, aren't they? I really wish I understood how the whole system worked, but unfortunately I don't speak the language. Thanks for your help, by the way! And I highly recommend Noragami if you're looking for something to read/watch; definitely one of my favorites.
EchizenRyoma: Yes, they do have powers. Kuroko's will be revealed soon enough. The other members of the Generation of Miracles will be making appearances later in the story. It actually won't be too long before Kise shows up.
Zanas-kun: Here's some more Kuroko for you!
mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Although it's interested, Yato and Akashi having the same voice actor doesn't really affect the story at all, but to answer your question, yes, Akashi will be portrayed as a god. A war god, to be exact. As for the plot, it'll be more similar to Kuroko no Basuke than Noragami, although it does have its differences. Riko will be playing a role similar to that of Hiyori in Noragami but it won't be nearly as important to the story.
Shadowlove'scookies: Here's an update!
DISCLAIMER: Neither Kuroko no Basuke nor Noragami belong to me. They belong to respective owners.
On with the show!
The pale, blue-haired boy stared down at him, his cerulean eyes perfectly blank; empty, even. Hyūga stared up at him for a few moments before he understood what was being asked of him.
"Give you… a name?" he repeated dumbly.
"Yes," he responded. "Please."
It was silent for a heartbeat longer before a large crash came from inside the shrine. Hyūga almost jumped up again, but managed to stay composed as he turned towards the source of the sound. The boy simply looked at the shrine, no sign of surprise in his eyes.
Izuki was, unsurprisingly, the first one out, closely followed by Koganei, Mitobe, and the others. Hyūga could even see Kagami in the back, towering over most of the others with a concerned expression on his face.
"Hyūga!" Izuki called, unusually desperate. "What happened?! We heard you scream, and-"
"Calm down, Izuki," Hyūga muttered, embarrassed. "This guy just scared me, is all." He gestured towards the blue-haired boy, who was staring at the group of Shinki impassively.
Izuki looked right at where Hyūga was pointed, but only seemed to grow confused. "...Who?"
The god blinked. "What, are you blind?" Hyūga asked. ("That's rich, coming from you, four-eyes," Koganei muttered before being slapped on the head by Mitobe.) "He's right there…" he turned toward where the boy had been not a moment ago, only to find that he was, in fact, gone.
"What the hell?!" he screeched, unable to keep calm. "He completely disappeared!" Hyūga looked around wildly, trying to locate him, but to no avail.
"I am here."
He stood there, right in front of Hyūga's Shinki, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever. Much like their master had done not two minutes ago, the Shinki all jumped several feet in the air and screamed rather loudly.
"What the…?"
"Where the hell did he come from?!"
"I didn't even see him…"
"When did he get there?"
"Ah, my apologies," he said with a short bow. "I have been here the whole time."
The looks on their faces were absolutely comical, but the boy still remained expressionless.
As usual, Izuki was the first to recover. "A-ah, well, we must apologize as well," he said before returning with a bow of his own. The other Shinki expertly followed his example, bowing in sync not a moment after. Even Kagami was somehow bright enough to catch on to his seniors' actions.
Izuki smiled at the blue-haired boy, who was easily shorter than any of them; he looked young, too, perhaps around Kagami's age, though he gave off the impression that he was wiser than their red-haired friend. "What can we do for you, Mister…?"
The boy stared up at the Guidepost. "Ah, at the moment, I have no name," he explained. "I was just asking your master if he would so kindly give one to me."
Nine pairs of eyes immediately looked over to the god of athletics, each asking the same silent question.
Hyūga only sighed. "Sure, I'll give you a name," he relented.
Turning to face the blue-haired boy he was about to take under his wing, Hyūga got a good look at him for the first time. He really was rather short and young-looking, as the god had observed earlier. His pale blue hair matched his eyes, which even now remained blank and devoid of emotion. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Hyūga couldn't help but wonder where he'd come from; he was obviously someone who had been in the service of a god before, but which god, Hyūga had no idea. He shrugged it off, telling himself that it had probably just been some minor, no-name god.
The god breathed in deeply before speaking;
"You, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return… I grant you a place to belong. My name is Hyūga. Bearing a posthumous name, you shall remain here. Bearing this name, I make thee my servant. With this name and its alternate, I use my life to make thee a Shinki. Thou art Kuro. Come, Kuroki!" (1)
The 黒 symbol appeared after a flash of white. The light began to move quickly towards its new master's hand. Not a moment later, an ordinary pair of black glasses appeared in Hyūga's hands.
Behind Hyūga's Shinki, Kagami watched the naming with wide eyes. Having just been named that morning, of course he'd never seen the claiming of another Shinki. He wasn't used to the fact that he was dead, let alone familiar with the logistics of the Far Shore.
The other Shinki, who were far more used to this kind of thing, began chattering excitedly.
"A pair of glasses..? I wonder if they're useful…"
"Maybe he's just another non-combative Shinki."
"He seems kind of creepy, doesn't he? He's practically invisible!"
"I wonder what his past is..?"
"Glasses?" Hyūga asked slowly.
"Yes," came the monotone response. "It appears so."
The god stood there for a minute or so, turning the glasses in his hand over and over again, observing them. After a while, he finally reverted his new Shinki back to his human form by calling his new name.
"Revert, Kuro."
With a flash, the glasses turned back into the pale figure that was their new friend. He looked exactly the same as before, with the exception of the 黒 symbol, which was now pasted in red ink on his right hand.
There was a brief pause before Koganei finally asked the question that was on everybody's mind.
"What's his name, Hyūga?"
"He's called Kuroko," the god responded. "Hey, Kuroko, what did you do for your old master?" he inquired. "Were you a combat Shinki?"
"Yes," he said again. "I was with my former master every time he fought."
"Interesting…" Hyūga muttered. "Were you in a completely different form last time, then? A weapon, maybe?"
The newly named Shinki blinked. "No, it was quite similar to the form I take now."
"What were you?"
"A contact lens."
They could only stare at him, trying to figure out whether he was kidding or not. "Oi, oi, are you serious…?" breathed out one of Hyūga's Shinki.
"Yes," Kuroko replied in monotone. "My sense of humor is horrible."
We can tell! thought everyone else. "Still, though," Hyūga mused, "I've never heard of a Shinki turning into a contact lens before."
"Well, I took on a different form before that. I used to be just an ordinary pair of glasses, but that was different from the way my form under you is now." (2)
"A different… form?"
"Yes."
"From the same master?"
"Yes."
Silence. Then…
"YOU'RE A HAFURI VESSEL?!" shouted everyone, with the exception of Kagami and Kiyoshi, who had no idea what was happening.
"Yes," came the same response.
"DON'T BE SO CALM ABOUT IT!" Hyūga yelled, almost in tears. "What the hell is a Hafuri Vessel like you doing here?! Why were you nameless? What? How? Who?" It was then that the god's brain fried, leading him to collapse on the floor, twitching and wearing an expression of indescribable insanity.
Kuroko only blinked before answering some of Hyūga's questions. "Like I said, I was looking for a name," he said. "I was nameless because my former master released me, so I needed a new one."
"O-oi, Kuroko, who was your former master, anyway?" piped up Koganei. Beside him, Mitobe's eyes widened in curiosity.
"...I'd rather not say."
"E-eh? Why not?"
"We didn't part on the best of terms."
They hadn't known the boy for long, but they could still tell his abnormal tone was meant to end the conversation. For whatever reason, Kuroko was dead set on not revealing who his former master had been.
"A-ah, well, that's okay, right?" Kiyoshi, who still really didn't know what was happening, moved toward the front of the group to stand beside Izuki. "Hello, Kuroko. Welcome to the family," he greeted with his signature goofy smile.
"Oi, that's my job, Kiyoshi," the black-haired Shinki retorted, playfully flicking the side of Kiyoshi's head. "That's really all there really is to it, though," he admitted, turning back towards the new Shinki. "Hafuri Vessel or not, you're welcome here, Kuroko. No matter your past, you're family now."
The blue-haired boy's eyes widened a fraction of an inch before returning to his usual blank mask; if they'd known him well, Hyūga's Shinki would have been able to tell just how surprised Kuroko really was. It wasn't often that he showed expression, especially surprise.
Izuki walked over towards their newest family member, extending a hand out, which Kuroko slowly took. "Come on," he offered, "we'll show you around and help you get settled in for tonight. Hyūga's got a job early tomorrow morning, so we're getting up early. You can stay here if you want; Furi, Kawahara, and Fukuda will be, as well." Izuki continued talking even as he led the smaller boy back towards the shrine. The group of Hyūga's Shinki parted, allowing them to walk through before following them back in.
All of them conveniently forgot their master, who was still lying in the dirt, a comically shocked expression still on his face.
(1) I know that Daikoku has his Shinki's name as Kuro, but his name as a weapon is Koki. I'm going to make Kuroko's Kuroki simply for recognition, plus that I'm not using the Chinese method for naming any of the Shinki, as I have no idea how to do it.
(2) It says on the Noragami Wiki that once a Shinki becomes a Hafuri Vessel, its form will last forever, but I'm not sure if that means under the same master or no matter which master claims it. I'm going to go with the first one, because it's more convenient for this story. Sorry if you disagree.
I just realized that this is mostly dialogue. Haha, oops.
Incase you didn't read it in the review response above, I'd like to point out that I will not be using clan names in this story. It'd make things more difficult for me and I know I'd mess it up somewhere.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review on your way out!
