A/N:
Chapter 2 of Hollow Miracles: Primera- Name (first name)
Crossover (fan)art of my favorite series is the next best thing after canon genderbend of my favorite characters (Gintama anyone?) From the direction of this chapter, I'll be continuing Aomine and Kuroko's story as Hollows. At a later time, I will introduce the MiraGen and others once I conclude these two's stories.
Disclaimer: Copyright goes to their respective owner(s)
Aomine was leisurely walking along side his companion Kuroko, with Hueco Mundo's only moon and source of light illuminated behind them. They were silent, as Kuroko was characteristically quiet and Aomine deep in thought as they paused to rest on top of a dune.
"Hey, Kuroko, I've been thinking..." Aomine started.
"That's not good, Aomine-kun. You might break something," the smaller Hollow interrupted, expression turning into a small mix of mock worry and teasing.
"Oi, I'm serious this time!" he argued. "Anyway, do you remember the tentacled Hollow, Sakurai Ryou?"
Searching his memories for the name, he finally found one of such a person. The Hollow was small and similarly shaped like them, but was still larger than Kuroko. Of course. As all Hollows were known to have, he had a "mask", which consisted of a small row of teeth, which was placed on the left side of his head.
He was easy to remember. Sakurai was one of the rare Hollows that had continued to live, even when meeting the blue haired pair. His most distinct (and admittedly over used) habit made him stand out, as a person who apologized profusely for anything and nothing. When he apologized, his tentacles would come out and wriggle as a physical display of his anxiety. It was refreshing, seeing someone other than Aomine so energetic.
"Sakurai Ryou, the anxious Hollow who left us to save himself?" Kuroko asked.
"...Yeah, that one," Aomine confirmed, remembering Sakurai's parting words.
"I'm so sorry Aomine-san, Kuroko-san; I have to leave you two. If I don't, I think I might die! I'm so sorry; please forgive me in the next life you can kill me then! I'll even let you, I'm that pathetic..."
With those last pleading words, he had sped off, all the while apologizing with repeated "I'm sorry"s. His tentacles had curled in on themselves in guilt and regret, and he had disappeared from the two's surprised eyes.
"I think he made the right decision. Leaving us, I mean. I didn't plan on killing him though," Aomine commented, thoughtfully. "In this life or the next, I wouldn't dare."
"Yes, though he acted weak, he was only following his instincts to survive. Eventually, he too would have perished along with our previous companions," Kuroko reasoned, face crestfallen.
Peering at Kuroko's shadowed face, Aomine placed a large hand atop his fellow Hollow's helmeted head, "Kuroko, don't make such an expression. Just be glad that he's well and living somewhere in this barren place."
"I know, but I can't help feeling the loss after he left," remembering something, he placed Aomine's tan hand off his head to face him. "Also, why did you bring up Sakurai-san?"
"Oh, yeah! Haven't you wondered why the past few Hollows we've met had two names, like 'Sakurai Ryou'? What's up with that?" he asked, confused. What would be the point in having two? Isn't that hard to remember?
"Ah, I asked Momoi-san this once, before she left for her long journey across Hueco Mundo," Kuroko mentioned. "In her quest for knowledge, she discovered many of the more intelligent Adjuchas had two names."
"Kuroko-kun, you want to find something out from me? I'll be glad to help! Here sit on my back.
Huh? Why do some Hollows have two names? Well, from my data, most of the smarter Hollows have two.
Apparently, they remember fragments of their human memories when they start evolving from Gillian to Adjuchas.
The naming system for humans is that names are given by the people who give birth to them. The name consisted of two parts, family name first and personal name second. I hear that in parts of the living world it's the other way around. But I prefer to use last/first.
I remembered mine when I evolved too! It's a rare case, to remember your whole name. Some Hollows just base theirs off of what they remember.
But I think Kuroko-kun and Ao-chan forgot because you were originally one person. You two are special!"
"That is what Momoi-san told me," he finished.
"Ugh, that Satsuki, it's AOMINE, not 'Ao-chan,'" Aomine exclaimed. "Anyway, how about we name each other? We don't know who the original was, and you could say we gave birth to each other."
"Aomine-kun that is an image I would rather not picture," the smaller stated, slightly cringing at the already forming image. "But I agree."
"Satsuki can be useful sometimes. I admit I may be special but I think she just wanted an excuse to tell you out loud," he smirked. She took every chance to praise her beloved Kuroko.
"Momoi-san would kick you with her hind legs if she heard you," Kuroko reminded.
Momoi Satsuki was a Hollow in the form of a centaur hybrid, a female humanoid from her torso up and a four-legged hoofed animal below her waist. In their time together, Kuroko was allowed to sit on her back, because he couldn't stand to physically strain himself for long distances. She was always delighted when he accepted her offers. Momoi would also attempt to kick Aomine if he even dared to sneak onto her. Half the time, she would miss her mark. Only half the time, though.
Aomine flinched at the reminder. The places where her hooves had hit his body tingled at the memories. Those times, he had wanted to know what it was like to ride a horse. He had heard of it from Momoi herself.
"But I'm not a horse, idiot Ao-chan! Only Kuroko-kun can...r-ride me..."
She had blushed at what she said, thinking of something more suggestive. Are all girls as obsessive as Satsuki? It looked like a pain, having to be infatuated with someone. He wasn't sure if Kuroko was aware of her crush and decided to stay quiet or was just oblivious. Aomine could never tell what the smaller Hollow was thinking behind his emotionless mask. It was unnerving sometimes, but that's who he was. If Kuroko didn't want to talk, he had to accept it.
"So can I name you, Kuroko? I have an idea of one for you," he asked, eager to name his companion.
"Certainly, Aomine-kun."
"Hmm. A perfect name for you...would be Tetsuya. It's kind of long, so I'll stick to calling you Tetsu."
Kuroko was not a person to relate with weakness. He always persisted in walking along with Aomine, trying to be strong for him when another friend had died. He himself was sad for their deaths, but he constantly reminded his tan companion that somewhere out there are Hollows that were stronger than they. There was still hope. His resolve was as strong as the human world substance iron, Aomine thought.
Kuroko Tetsuya. It had a comfortable feeling to it. Kuroko could picture himself saying this name to others like them.
Suddenly, he remembered what Momoi had said after informing him about first and last names.
"Also, Kuroko-kun! From various sources, I heard in a certain island country in the human world that speaking the personal name of someone would cause feelings of closeness.
If it's said by someone you don't know it will be uncomfortable and offensive. But if it's said by someone you like, or have romantic feelings for, it will give them feelings of happiness.
It is a strange custom, to have such feelings just because of a name. It sounds nice.
Her voice had dropped to a low murmur, so that Kuroko had to lean in to only catch bits of what she was saying.
I hope one day you will call me 'Satsuki', like that big idiot Ao-chan.
'Of course' he had assured her, as Kuroko would eventually resort to calling her by her name as they got closer, following Aomine's example. It was probably his imagination thinking Momoi had a slight pink tint to her cheeks after she relayed her thoughts on the name customs. He had also missed the last of what she had uttered, going to where a certain navy haired "idiot" was napping to wake him up, for their rest period had ended.
"It will be different coming from you though. I wouldn't mind listening to you say my name."
He wanted to test out this theory. Can one name really cause such feelings to a person? Kuroko liked Aomine, so he was the perfect person to help test it out.
"Aomine-kun, what did you call me? I'm afraid I did not hear the first part," he pretended to have not heard him.
"What was your mind somewhere else?" Aomine was slightly surprised. Kuroko was always focused and observant. They had been walking for a while, so fatigue would probably have made him listless. "Fine. I'll repeat your new name." He took a deep breath, to declare Kuroko's name loud and clear for him to hear.
"Tetsuya."
Kuroko blinked. He was prepared to feel something, but what he felt right then was peculiar. It was not the feeling Momoi had once described as "love", which would make your liked/loved person the only person you saw. "Tetsuya" sounded right, coming from Aomine. What he felt, at that moment...was gratitude, or something akin to it. He guessed the name theory was incorrect.
"Thank you, Aomine-kun," he whispered. "I will treasure it, this name you have given me. Definitely."
Scratching himself behind his head, Aomine smugly replied, "Well, of course, Tetsu. I hope you can think one up for me too?" He was anxious to hear what his friend would think up for him.
"Naming Aomine-kun will be easy," Kuroko admitted. "Your new first name will be 'Daiki'."
After the brightness of the moon? The only thing that shined here was Hueco Mundo's moon that never rose or fell.
"Aomine Daiki," he drawled. He repeated it several more times, until Kuroko instructed him to stop.
"Since it's from Tetsu, I'll treasure it also!" Aomine vowed. "Do you think Satsuki would stop calling me 'Ao-chan' from now on, if we ever meet her again?"
"Knowing her quirk, Momoi-san will resort to calling you something along the lines of 'Dai-chan'."
"You're right, she would. Ah, Tetsu? Will you be calling me 'Daiki' anytime soon? Since it's Tetsu, you would say something proper like 'Daiki-kun'," Aomine questioned, genuinely curious. It seemed he had not heard of the name custom of the human world island country.
Standing to brush off the sand on his cloak, Kuroko answered with a small smile that reached his one sky colored eye, "Aomine-kun is Aomine-kun."
So he wasn't going to change a thing. The Kuroko today was different from other days. First, he completely wasn't paying attention to Aomine speaking, and now he transformed from his poker face to smiling?
On second thought, he had never seen Kuroko smile in their time together. Small, may it be, but it was a nice change to see on his partner's usually stoic face. Aomine mentally promised he would get Kuroko to laugh and smile more often. He hoped for bright things to happen in their near future.
It was all he could do, hope. For himself and Kuroko.
Where?
Where was he?
Where was Tetsu?
Tetsu?
What were these dark things that towered to the sky?
What were those writhing shadows he saw in the corner of his eyes?
Tetsu?
Those writhing shadows are looking toward him. They're not shadows at all.
They are as tall as the surroundings, almost touching the ceiling.
But Hueco Mundo did not have a solid ceiling.
Where was he? Was he still in Hueco Mundo?
And why, oh why, was he alone?
A/N cont'd:
This little portion at the end is a small preview of the next chapter. Can you guess what happened? Where is he?
So this chapter was basically explaining how they got their names. I've always wondered how the Arrancars and Hollows came up with them. It wasn't exactly explained, Kubo?
I only introduced minor characters, Sakurai and Momoi, because I would like to think that the Espada never met before meeting a certain glasses mastermind (with exception to Harribel and Barraggan). They met strong Hollows such as them, but they aren't exactly Espada material (discarded Espada per se).
I paired Sakarai with Luppi, because I think that Luppi's Resurreccion's name fits well with Sakurai. "Strangle."
Momoi as Nel because I figured Harribel was too serious of a character to be paired with a cute Momoi. (Someone else, a certain blond will be taking Harribel's place as Tres, hint hint.)
I have a clear idea who will be who as the story progresses. You can make guesses on which character match a specific Espada in a review. I would love to see your theories/guesses.