Black Clover - The Three Brothers

"Asta! Yuno! Let's Begin!"

Asta made the first move, dashing straight at Blake. He threw a few jabs to start, aiming for Blake's core. Aiming for his head would've been difficult, he was a whole foot taller than Asta.

Blake didn't have much problem blocking the attacks. On the last punch, he grabs ahold of Asta's fist and proceeds to pull him into the air, attempting to slam him down into the ground. Asta smirked, using his other arm to grip and leverage Blake's, he swings his legs into Blake's torso, landing a blow.

"Guh!" The attack made him lose hold of Asta's arm, He lured me into the last attack and made me think he was defenseless, not bad.

Landing his legs on Blake, Asta quickly used his momentum to push his legs into Blake's core further, pushing him back and sending Asta back a bit in the air.

"Yuno!" He called out, still in mid-air.

Yuno nodded and used his Wind Magic to keep Asta afloat, then accelerated the speed of the wind, sending Asta propelling back right towards Blake, still recovering from the gut kick. Asta reared back his fist.

"Take this!"

Blake, just in time, blocked the attack with his forearms but still got pushed back a couple of feet.

He tries to take a moment to think, but suddenly is hit from the side, sending him flying off. He begins using Wind Magic to hover as well. Manipulating two sources of wind with his magic and he's learned to curve his attacks. Not bad, Yuno!

He turns his attention back to Asta, who is now flying through the air thanks to Yuno's assistance. He sends a couple more punches toward Blake, who continues to block them. As he's about to block another attack, he's surprised to see Asta aim his punch below him and grab onto Blake's ankle.

"A feint!"

Asta grunted as he grab Blake's ankle with his other arm and twisted, throwing him to the ground. Blake's body collided and ripped through the dirt but quickly recovered, jumping back.

He takes a moment to think. Asta packs a hell of a punch, doesn't help that the boost from Yuno's Wind Magic makes it more powerful. Yuno's wind is also powerful, even without a grimoire, it's about the same strength as mine.

[Copy Magic: Earth's Spikes]

He slammed his fist into the ground, causing a row of Black Spikes to head toward Yuno.

"Watch out, Yuno!" Asta called out

Yuno quickly created a twirling mass of wind, breaking through the spikes but not enough power to reach Blake. "Focus on yourself!"

[Copy Magic: Holy Fist of Love]

A large fist of water was sent towards Asta, who barely had time to block it, and got sent flying into one of the trees

"ASTA!"

[Copy Magic: Inferno Fire Blast!]

Yuno's attention quickly shifted back to the threat as he laid eyes on the large black and blue fireball barreling towards him. Yuno creates a powerful gust of wind with a swipe of his hand, colliding it with the attack. It was powerful enough to counter, causing a large explosion from the collision, covering the forest area in a bit of smoke.

Yuno covered the lower half of his face. It took more out of me to counter than I thought, and now this smoke is blurring my vision. Yuno focuses on sensing anything magical nearby, so he'd be ready for any attempted sneak attacks. After only a moment, he could sense several sources of magic coming at him: various water attacks, large pieces of rock, and throwing knives.

Yuno raised up a wall of wind, easily deflecting and blocking the attacks. As he kept the wall up, he started to gather wind from outside of it to help dispel the smoke. Focusing his mana to manipulate two different sources of wind at once was a little difficult, but he could manage and it was getting easier the more he practiced.

Thankfully, the barrage of projectiles had stopped momentarily, so Yuno quickly took the chance to focus on dispelling the smoke.

"WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHH"

"Agh!" Just as he dispelled the smoke, the familiar shout of a shortie rang throughout the forest very, very, very loudly. Yuno was forced to cover his ears from the scream. What was that?! Asta's never shouted that loud before- His train of thought came to a halt as the aforementioned short stack's full body was sent slamming into Yuno, sending them back, colliding with one of the many trees around them.

Yuno recovered a few seconds later, and as he tried to raise his hand to launch another gust of wind, he felt two daggers fly past him, digging into the tree, and was quickly met with Blake aiming one of his black steel daggers at Yuno.

Blake looked down at the two with a smile, "My point?"

Yuno and Asta took a moment to catch their breath, before sighing. "Your point."

"That wasn't bad, you two. You've been improving independently and your teamwork is getting better as well." Blake complimented, returning his blades back to his grimoire.

Yuno pushed Asta off, before standing up and dusting off his clothes. "I don't see the point in this. We're supposed to be rivals, working together doesn't exactly mesh with competing against one another."

"I don't really mind these training sessions, but Yuno's making sense. Mhm." Asta nodded in agreement.

"Look, think of it like this." Blake wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeveless white shirt. "At the end of the day, even if you're rivals and even if we end up being on different squads, you're both still gonna be Magic Knights and when you face off against a powerful enemy, you'll need to rely on each other to defeat them efficiently. So you may as well have some sort of idea of how to work together before it actually happens."

"Huh, I didn't think of it that way! That makes a lot of sense!" Asta concluded.

"I guess I can't complain." Yuno said.

"You better not!" Blake lightly karate-chopped the top of Yuno's head.

"Ow." Yuno rubbed the bump on his head, monotone as ever.

"Alright, you two, let's head back. Dinnertime's rolling around soon and I don't need pops chewing me out for keeping them waiting. Besides, it's a special day for you two tomorrow." Blake spoke, tightening the red bandages that wrapped around the back of his hands and running up to his forearms.

As the three made their way back home, Yuno asked Asta a question.

"I've never heard you scream that loud before, surprising as it is. What made you do that?"

Blake raised a finger, taking his hand out of his pocket. "That was on me, actually. I used Communication Magic to amplify his vocals, causing the blood-curdling, ear-wrenching, god-awful scream of my beloved little brother to become even worse!"

"Agh! You don't have to be so mean about it, you jerk!"

"Communication Magic?" Yuno asked.

"I think it was copied from the old dude at that grimoire tower when he used it for his speech all those years ago? Never really had a use for it, but it seems to be good for causing a distraction."

"I see. Asta's shouting is bad enough as it is, if it was any louder, it could probably be used as a torture method." Yuno pondered.

"Agh!" Asta felt a metaphorical punch to the gut.

"Hmm, you might be onto something, if we got a bunch of recorders...and got Asta's amplified screams on each one... Oh dear, the poor soul."

"We should definitely suggest this to the Wizard King when we get the chance to meet him." Yuno nodded.

"You think he'd pay us for royalties? How'd we split it? 40/30/30?"

"Seems fair."

"Yo Asta, 40/30/30 split sound good to you?"

"You two are so mean." Asta murmured from his corner.

"Hmm, maybe 35/35/30 instead?"

"That better be you getting the pay cut." Yuno remarked.

Blake sighed, "This is why getting into business with siblings is a bad idea." Blake walked back and picked up Asta, carrying him by the collar of his blue jacket.

"Come on, Asta, we were just playing around. Your shouting isn't that horrendous."

"...Most of the time." Yuno added

"Yuno..." Blake used that tone. Yuno simply shrugged in response.

"You're just saying that..." Asta replied.

"No, I'm serious! Look, your shouting is a part of your charm. It accentuates your...hard-working and...go-getter attitude!"

"Really?" a hopeful tone in Asta's voice.

"Yeah!" Blake puts Asta down, who now walks beside him happily.

"Charm's one way to put it. Not sure how being noisy, obnoxious, immature, and short can count as "charming"."

A tick mark popped on Asta's forehead. "Well not everyone can be a handsome lady-killing jerk like you, Yuno!"

An insult and compliment in the same sentence. "Oh come on, Yuno, Asta's got plenty of traits that some could find attractive."

"Yeah!"

"Such as?" Yuno raised an eyebrow, and Asta looked toward Blake expectantly.

...

"Well would you look at that, we're almost at the church! Come on guys, dinner's awaiting!" Blake broke into a sprint, trying to escape the situation.

"HEEEEY! YOU DIDN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION! GET BACK HERE!" Asta shouted, running after Blake as well.

Yuno shook his head. Idiots. He tried to ignore the small smile on his face.

Blake pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed with himself. For some reason, he'd had a rough time sleeping tonight. His siblings were sleeping well enough, being surprised that it could be said for Asta and Yuno, he would've thought at least Asta would've been too excited to go to sleep but the little musclehead conks out pretty easily.

Blake sighed before beginning to move to stand up, lightly pushing off his siblings to not interrupt their sleep, then stretched out a little before walking out of the room and into the kitchen.

He poured himself a cup of water and began to gulp it, the ice-cold liquid refreshing his throat. It's always better tasting in the middle of the night.

"Blake?"

He jumps, choking on the water and coughing. He turned around, being met by Sister Lily wearing a simple nightgown, looking startled.

"Sister Lily, what'd you have to scare me like that for?!" He asked in a raised whisper.

Sister Lily simply stared at him for a second, before letting out a giggle. "Sorry about that. I guess you still scare easily."

"I do not! I just...oh whatever." Blake grumbled, before taking a seat at the table, resting his head on his hand. "Why are you up at this hour?"

"I could ask the same of you. You're not normally awake this late, is something on your mind?" Sister Lily asked, taking a seat next to Blake.

Blake sighed, tapping his knuckles against the table just to have some type of outlet for his energy. "I just...I'm worried, for Asta. He still hasn't manifested any magic, he can't even feel it. I'm worried that it'll be like..." Blake trailed off.

Sister Lily knew what he was trying to lead to. "But you did get a grimoire, Blake, and a 4 leaf at that. It could be the same for Asta." She reasoned.

Blake subtly rolled his eyes. It had been four years and he still had no clue why his weird Grimoire showed six to him but four to everyone else.

He moved on. "But what's the likelihood of that? What happened to me had never occurred before, according to that Grimoire Master or whatever, so what's the chance of it being the same for him?" Blake's hand on the table tightened into a fist, a troubled expression on his face. "If he doesn't get a grimoire, at all, everything he's done up till now may have ended up being-

Sister Lily's places her hand atop Blake's fist, gently squeezing it, giving Blake one of her signature gentle smiles, causing Blake to almost completely relax himself.

"Whatever occurs to Asta, he'll find a way to make his dream come true. You're his older brother, wouldn't you know that the best?"

A simple answer, and question he supposed, but was all he needed to help calm his worries.

Blake lightly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess should've, such a dum-dum as Recca would say." He finished the rest of his water before standing up, Sister Lily doing the same.

"Thanks for this little talk, Sister Lily." He yawned. "I think I can get back to sleep now."

"I'm glad to hear. Have a good sleep." She replied.

Blake went back to his and his siblings' room. He quietly used Wind Magic to lift his siblings into the air, place himself on the bed, then set them back down, the familiar feeling of being buried returning. He nodded off to sleep with a smile. What was the point of being so worried? Things would work out, one way or another.

...Oh no.

"Uhhh, hey..."

No no no

"Is my grimoire...running late or something?"

NO NO NO

"Uh...next year I suppose?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

FUCK

Blake felt the pit in his stomach from last night return, much bigger now. March. Grimoire Ceremony. Asta. Grimoire. Asta isn't getting a Grimoire. WHY?!

What made it even worse was the numerous sounds of laughter that echoed through the tower, mocking Asta. It grated Blake's ears and began to spike his mana, a part of Blake wanted these little brats to suffocate on it.

He was brought out of it by the smallest tugs on his coat, courtesy of Arlu and Horo, appearing to have been startled.

"Big Brother...scary." They spoke.

Blake quickly got ahold of himself, keeping control of his mana. That'd been one of the problems he's had to work on since he acquired his magic.

"Sorry bout that guys, didn't mean to scare ya. Everything's fine." He patted their hands and tried to give a comforting smile, which appeared to work.

"Look!" Recca pointed back at the ceremony.

Blake turned and squinted his eyes as he was hit by the blinding light from just a bit away from him, but once he adjusted, he realized that the light came from a grimoire, one with a 4-leaf clover to be exact.

And then he realized, the 4-Leaf Grimoire had brought itself to Yuno.

The sounds of mocking laughter towards Asta were replaced by gasps of disbelief towards Yuno and murmurs of how the 1st Wizard King held a 4-leaf clover as well.

Blake looked toward his dark-haired brother, who held the grimoire in his hand with a plain look on his face, not particularly expressive. Blake couldn't help but smirk. That's just like you, Yuno.

Yuno swiftly turned his attention to the others, grimoire in hand.

"I will become the Wizard King." He declared, his voice unwavering.

Unending cheers arose from the crowd as if all their dreams would be carried on by Yuno.

"Two children from my church have been blessed with 4-leaf Grimoires!" Father Orfai said to himself, utterly amazed by the chance of such a thing occurring. "Holy Father, I thank you for the blessings you've brought upon us as your devoters." He began to pray.

"Yuno's so cool, of course he'd get one like Blake!" Nash spoke, in complete awe of his preferred older sibling.

"But Asta..." Recca mumbled.

Blake had already been keeping an eye on Asta, who stood just a few feet aside from Yuno. Come on, Asta, say something, please.

"Yuno." Asta spoke, grabbing his brother's attention. "Just you wait, I'll keep training, I'll get stronger, and I'll catch up to you soon enough!" This caused the crowd to die down as Asta continued to speak.

"DON'T EVER FORGET THAT I AM YOUR RIVAL!"

The beratement came quickly.

"As if someone who couldn't even get a grimoire could become the Wizard King!"

"Take a hint, you moron!"

"A rival? Talk about clueless."

None of that mattered to Asta, none of them mattered, not right now. He drowned it all out, he's done it all his life, and all he was focused on was the one right in front of him, his one and only rival.

And Yuno...simply smiled and walked past him.

"Don't take long, I'll be waiting." He said, A hint of playfulness in his voice.

Asta eyes widen for a moment, before smirking. "I won't. That's a promise."

Blake sighed a relief. Without Asta getting a grimoire, I thought maybe Yuno...I don't give him enough credit sometimes.

Asta and Yuno didn't head back to the church immediately, Yuno wanted to be with his own thoughts for a little bit, while Asta was simply geared up to continue training. Just like him, even if he gets knocked down, he'll get right back up.

On the other hand, Blake headed back to the church with the rest of the family to help with the preparations for the food and cleaning up around the church. This is my siblings' special day, I'll do my part to make sure it's great. Damn, I should've gotten those party blowers when I had the chance, I hate being poor.

"Blake, we're just about done with dinner, could you go out and grab Asta and Yuno from wherever they are?" Father Orfai asked as he started to set up the table with what little decorative items they had alongside the plates and utensils.

"Hm, do I really need to, pops? They usually have good timing for when to come home." Blake replied. "...unless they're with me..." He mumbled afterward.

"I want to make sure they're here when the food is hot and fresh, no one wants to celebrate with cold leftovers! Please, Blake."

Blake scratches his head. "Alright alright, I'll go grab them."

Blake quickly grab his coat and pulled on his shoes before making his way out of the church. The sun was just beginning to set, giving the sky the somewhat purple hue as usual.

The sight always pulled Blake into something akin to a trance, even more than the sunrise. It was the mark of the day's end, but he always rather thought of it as just the start of a new beginning even if it was in the dark. He stopped himself from looking further in order to do what he was supposed to do.

He used his Wind Magic to give him a boost, hovering just a bit above the ground as he glided through the air. It didn't take much time, probably about 15 minutes, to reach the area where the grimoire tower is located, he'd figured Yuno wouldn't wander too far off from here and then he'd find Asta from just finding the source of the screaming, that usually worked.

Besides that, Yuno was always easy to find, since Blake gained his grimoire he became hypersensitive and perceptive to the mana around him, so keeping track of his siblings wasn't too difficult, 'cept for Asta. It was hard to deal with feeling so much of it at first, but eventually, Blake became used to and adapted to the new senses.

Alright, he should be nearby. Once Blake felt Yuno's magic, he stopped for a moment, confused. It felt as though something was restricting it, or trying to cage it. It wasn't just that, he could sense another mage's magic nearby as well, one that was unfamiliar to him, cold and twisted.

It gave him a bad feeling.

Blake increased the intensity of his Wind Magic, going faster than before. He could sense that the two were somewhere near the entrance of the tower, and quickly made his way over.

He stared at the scene he came across, a lanky figure with long black hair, along with chains suspending in the air around him. He stood in front of Yuno, who was being restricted by chains.

"Unfortunately I have to keep you alive so that the grimoire doesn't vanish...but that doesn't mean I, Revchi of Chain Magic, will leave you in one piece!" The man raised his arm, and in return, the chains began to aim toward Yuno.

"NO!" Blake belted, as he dashed recklessly towards the man. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!"

"Blake, Stop! It's a trap!" Yuno shouted at Blake, the chains aiming at him coming to an abrupt stop.

Before Blake could register Yuno's words, He had been ensnared by the chains himself, a magic circle appearing beneath his feet.

[Chain Trap Magic: Prey's Ensnarement!]

The man spoke with a hint of sadistic glee in his speech, turning to face Blake, who could now see the rather large scar that adorn the left side of the man's face.

"What the-! How did-?!" Blake tried to break out of them but somehow he wasn't able to free himself. Not only that but his grimoire...normally after witnessing a spell, it would glow, inscribing what it was into the grimoire. But it didn't happen, why? "How strong are these chains?!"

"My Chain Magic restricts the movement and magic of anyone caught by it, even those who could be considered more powerful than I! That spell of mine is especially helpful, the chains can match the physical strength of the one ensnared by it." The man pointed at Blake with a sneer. "You may have large amounts of mana in that peasant body of yours, but that also makes you easily detectable, I could sense you coming a mile away and sent up a proper counter trap"

Did he seal my magic with these chains? Is that why my grimoire isn't... Blake continues to try and free himself from the chains, however useless it may seem. I never thought of how my mana could be sensed by others. If I had just taken a second to look, I could've noticed that trap, I'm such an idiot! Blake then noticed that the grimoire that the man held in his hand was not his own, but Yuno's.

"You bastard, that's not yours! What the hell are you doing with his Grimoire?!"

Revchi laughed, a sense of belittlement could be heard. "What does it look like I'm doing, idiot? These 4-Leaf Grimoires are quite a sell for underground collectors, so I'm going to steal it and make a pretty coin! His isn't going to be the only one I take..." Revchi raised his arm, manipulating his chains, aiming for Blake's hip, tearing the belt that held his grimoire off him and holding it in his free hand. "Who would've imagined stopping by the Forsaken Realm would've wielded me two 4-leaf grimoires, fate must be smiling upon me today!"

Blake gritted his teeth in anger, his hatred for the man beginning to grow more and more. He had to figure some way out of this, he wasn't gonna let this bastard get away with stealing Yuno's Grimoire.

"Look, you can have my grimoire, go ahead and take it, but give back Yuno's!" Blake tried to bargain with Revchi. He could find a way to get it back, probably.

Revchi looked at him dumbfounded before breaking out into tormenting laughter. "Aw, how sweet, and how extremely foolish! You have no power here, so why would I bother making a deal with you? Peasants really are pitiful."

Damn it, I was hoping he'd fall for it!

"HOOOOOOOLD IIIIITT!"

At that moment, the shout of a familiar voice rang out through the area.

...Which was then followed by an unidentified object cartwheeling its way into the brick wall to the right of the 3 men, a second silence following after.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, THIEF!" Asta shouted, pointing his finger toward Revchi.

"Asta!" Yuno called out.

"Asta, get out of here, it isn't safe!" Blake yelled.

"No way! This creep isn't getting away with stealing your grimoires, I won't let it happen!"

Revchi quirked an eyebrow. "Hm? Weren't you the little runt who wasn't even awarded a grimoire?" Revchi let out a series of low chuckles.

Asta grits his teeth. "Yeah, that's me. The pathetic boy who can't use a single bit of magic." He clenches his fist. "But so what?! I won't let that stop me from taking you down and giving back those grimoires you stole!" Asta ran towards Revchi without a second thought.

"Worthless punk! I was a former Magic Knight of the Purple Orcas, you're no match for me!" Revchi materialized sets of chains and unleashed them at Asta.

To Asta's credit, he was doing a decent job, dodging and weaving his way against the chains. However, he stumbled and that allowed a set of chains to wrap around his torso, greatly limiting his movement.

"Gotcha." Revchi muttered.

"I'm not done yet!" Even with the chains holding him back, Asta still pushed forward, moving just a little closer.

"You're finished!"

[Chain Magic: Dance of the Pitless Viper!]

4 chains, with the shape of a viper baring its fangs at the end of them, launched at Asta, slashing him across both his arms and legs. There was enough force to send him hitting the wall.

Asta lay against the wall, barely moving, breathing lightly.

"ASTA!" Blake looked at Revchi, seeped with hatred, as the man walked over to Asta. He tried to pull forward, to push the chains off. They must have a limit to how much strength they could limit, they have to!

"Piece of shit, you get away from him! He has nothing to do with this! Lay another finger on him and I'll kill you! He's my-

"MY RIVAL!"

Revchi and Blake turned to Yuno, surprised at his sudden words.

"Heh heh heh. I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I think I may be hearing things." Revchi leaned forward, putting his hand to his ear.

"Asta...He's my brother. More importantly...HE'S MY RIVAL!" Yuno's words were the loudest Blake had ever heard from him. "And he isn't going to lose to someone like you!"

Revchi leaned back, laughing heartily. "You can't be serious..." Revchi stomped his boot into Asta's shoulder repeatedly. "These chains of mine measure how much magic those who touch have, this little brat has none! What good can this magicless runt do? He could never hope to do anything meaningful in his life! He was born a loser, he'll die a loser!"

Just as he was about to slam his foot into Asta again, it suddenly stopped, as Asta grabs it and keeps it in place, to Revchi's surprise.

"I'm not done yet!" He pushed Revchi's foot away, pushing the man away.

"Yuno, Blake, sorry for letting him get to me like that. I'll only need a minute..." Asta moves to pick himself up, kneeling on one leg. "To kick this guy's butt!"

Just then, something strange occurred, from within one of the walls was a small rumble, before one of the bricks swiftly popped out of the wall, something flying out of the hole and stopping mid-air, right in front of Asta. From the grimoire radiating a Black and Red energy. It didn't exude mana, no, this was something far different.

Blake's eyes widen. "Is that...?"

"A grimoire?" Asta whispered to himself.

Yuno smirked. "There was no doubt in my mind. Asta not being chosen? No way would that happen!"

From the grimoire, came a large blade, dulled and rusted beyond belief. Asta gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, still staring in almost disbelief. The sight caused Revchi to begin backing away, the sight began to frighten him.

In the first three clovers represents Hope, Faith, and Love. The 4th Leaf represents Luck. In the 5th Leaf...

The dark, strange energy that exuded from the grimoire almost seemed to take on a shape of its own. Possibly...A devil.

A shiver ran down Revchi's spine as he quickly sent out another set of chains at Asta. "You freak of nature, what the hell are you?!"

With a wide swing of his newly acquired blade, he extinguished the chains coming towards him.

"Woah! His magic, it was nullified!" Blake looked upon Asta in amazement.

"Even with no magic, I'll still become the Wizard King!"

Asta slammed his sword into Revchi's torso, knocking the fucking life out of this man, and sending him flying into the upper half of the wall, causing a crater to form.

"MY MAGIC IS NEVER GIVING UP!"

Blake felt the chains wrapped around his body begin to dissipate. He looked towards Yuno, the same being done to him.

Asta breathed heavily before suddenly bursting with energy once again, running towards Blake and shoving his grimoire into Blake's face.

"Blake, Blake, look! I got my own grimoire! I don't how but I got it!"

Blake squinted his eyes. He tried to look for the clovers but with the status the book was in, they were barely visible at all.

"Damn, Asta, this thing's super dusty. You might need to give it a bath."

Asta quickly retracted the grimoire, holding it close to his face. "No way! This grimoire is mine and I love it, grime and all!"

Blake looked at his brother with amusement. You'd think it was his firstborn child.

Yuno called out to Asta. "You saved me again. I'll make sure to repay the favor someday." He held a small smile on his face. "Our promise to each other..."

Asta smiled as well. "Of course."

"Let's see who becomes the Wizard King!"

Blake looked fondly at his brothers, a warm smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around the boys' shoulders, holding them close.

"You guys have grown so much, I'll support you two as much as I can, no matter where we end up as Magic Knights!"

Black Clover - The Three Brothers

A/N: Feedback is always appreciated!