WARNING: Spoilers ahead
WORLD OF HEARTS
LINKED AS ONE
By Kingjustin1019
Act 0
Chapter 5
Recuperation
Kizuna couldn't believe it himself. He was talking to this guy, Sora, here in... wherever this is. Was this a dream? Was the whole fight from before he passed out a dream? He wasn't even sure where to begin.
"I bet you must be confused right now," Sora said.
Kizuna cleared his throat. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. He didn't know what to say, not even for this moment.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything," Sora said. "Like—"
"Where are we?" He asked.
Sora paused before clearing his throat.
"This place is a Station," Sora said. "We're meeting inside of your... no wait... our heart? Yeah... we're meeting inside our heart."
Kizuna looked confused. He raised a brow before he spoke.
"Our heart?" Kizuna asked.
"You know, when our hearts merged," Sora said.
"Merged—Oh..." Kizuna said. "Wait, if that's the case, shouldn't there be one more person?"
"That's not really important right now," Sora said. "Shouldn't you be asking a different question? Like..."
"Why did you want to meet me?" Kizuna asked.
"Bingo!" Sora said, raising a finger. "I wanted to meet you because I have something important to talk about."
Kizuna scowled. He did not like the pacing of this conversation. The last thing he needed right now was a damn cliffhanger. He hated those when he was a kid.
"What is it?" Kizuna asked.
Sora took a deep breath and looked at Kizuna.
"The journey ahead is going to be a lot more difficult than what happened before," Sora said. "That little dive into your heart and that huge fight in... uh... what as it called again?"
"Shibuya."
"That fight in Shibuya was only a taste of what is to come," Sora said, looking serious. "I had no idea what was waiting for me when I had the same dream you had."
"Huh?"
Sora sighed and looked down. He looked at Kizuna, looking a bit depressed.
"You see, I'm from a place that people are now calling the Old World, "Sora said. "More specifically, Destiny Island."
"Huh?" Kizuna processed what he had just heard. He scratched his head, tapped his foot on the floor, rubbed his chin, and did all the math in his head before looking shocked. "YOU'RE AN OLD WORLDER?!"
Sora giggled. "Yeah, but uh... there's something else that you're missing here..."
"L-Like what?!" Kizuna asked.
"Do the math," Sora said. "Sora... Destiny Island, Old World, Keyblade. Do any of those words mean anything when you put them together?"
Kizuna thought long and hard when he put them together. Then it struck him like lightning. He remembered that one passage in the Grimoire of Stories that depicts the events of the Second Keyblade War. Not only that, he did a report on that passage specifically during elementary school.
"Y-You're... you're him..." Kizuna said. "You're the Hero of Kingdom Hearts! The Boy of Destiny, Sora!"
"Yup!" Sora said with a smile.
Kizuna looked amazed at first, but then he looked disappointed. He imagined the guy was wearing Keyblade Armor and this Sora was not wearing any armor to speak of. That and he was a little shorter than what Kizuna had anticipated. Heck, this guy doesn't even look wise at all.
'And just like that, the magic is gone...' He thought to himself.
"What?" Sora asked. "Did I do something wrong?"
"N-No..." Kizuna said.
He recomposes himself.
"Anyways... why are you telling me all of this?" Kizuna asked.
Sora sighed.
"I won't lie to you. From here on out, things will get tougher," Sora said. "Remember what that Lance guy said when you asked him why he wanted you dead?"
"!" Kizuna thought back to that moment. He could hardly forget what he had said.
"You see, the truth is that I serve the Army of Darkness, known better as the Eternal Darkness."
"Consider it as the Anti-LOGOS."
"Eternal Darkness..." Kizuna said. "Yeah, they wanted me dead... and I think we both know the reason why."
"Exactly," Sora said. "I may not be an expert on evil organizations, but any organization with the words 'darkness' is obviously up to no good and we need to stop them."
'Well duh, they sent an assassin to kill me...' Kizuna thought. "How are we going to pull that off?"
Sora chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
"Well... uh... ah ha ha ha..." Sora laughed nervously. "I got no clue... b-but I'm sure you can figure something out. Besides, you have a keyblade now..."
'Provided that everything that just happened before I blacked out was real after all...' Kizuna thought.
"Oh and... uh... one more thing," Sora said. "It's... about my friends..."
Kizuna knew where this was going. Sora looked sad like he had some regrets. Kizuna could feel it. He could feel his sadness.
"You see... I wasn't there for them when... you know... so I'd... I..."
"You want me to tell them that you're sorry for... not being there for them..." Kizuna said. "Is that it?"
"..."
"I understand," Kizuna said. "I'll..."
A light came from behind him. He turned around and saw a door reveal itself.
"Go through that door," Sora said. "Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere when you leave, I promise."
Kizuna hesitated. He didn't know what was on the other side. He turned to Sora.
"Go on, get moving, you have people waiting for you," Sora said.
"Huh? O-Oh, right. Thanks for the chat," Kizuna said. "If I see my mom, I'll—"
His eyes became wide as dinner plates.
"OH NO! MOM!" Kizuna said. "She must be worried sick and might think I'm in a coma or worse, dead! I gotta get outta here or I'll never have any dinner later on!"
He ran straight into the door, kicking the door open and rushing inside. The door vanished. Sora rubbed his chin.
'Dinner? Why does that sound familiar all of a sudden?' Sora thought to himself.
-1-
"I LIVE!" Kizuna screamed.
Silence... total silence. He couldn't hear anything.
...
Except for the sound of an EKG beeping.
He opened his eyes to see a group of young boys and girls looking surprised and even scared. Among them was some guy with green hair, Yoh, Madoka, Ruby, her teammates, and Madoka's friends. There were also a bunch of other girls he didn't recognize.
"Uh... guys?" Kizuna asked. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital dumbass!"
He saw an angry-looking young man with spiky blonde hair and... he felt like he had seen this guy before.
"Dynamight?" Kizuna asked.
He heard the young man growled.
"Great. Explosion. Murder God. Dynamight," Dynamight said.
'M-Murder God?' Kizuna thought, disturbed by the murder part. "H-Huh?"
"He just says that to make himself look cool, intimidating, and flashy," A male voice caught his ears.
He saw a guy with different colored eyes and hair. On one side, his hair was red and he had a blue-colored eye. On the other side, he had white hair, and his eye was colored black.
"Isn't that right, Bakugou?" The man said.
This Bakugou turned to face the young man, growling.
"WELL, AT LEAST MY HERO NAME SOUNDS A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN YOURS HALF N HALF!" Bakugou roared.
"K-Kaachan..." the green-haired boy chimes in. "We're in a hospital..."
"I KNOW THAT, NERD!" Bakugou yelled.
Kizuna waited for things to die down a bit. He then took a deep breath before speaking.
"So... how did I get to the hospital exactly?" Kizuna asked.
Everyone looked at him.
"Well uh... you kinda passed out..." Madoka said and that Balan guy just picked you up and left you in the hospital."
"So naturally, we all came to check up on you," Yoh said.
"You should have seen Ruby's face," Yang said. "She was bawling her eyes out thinking you were dead or in a coma."
"That's not funny Yang..." Ruby said, sniffing her nose.
"Also, all of my friends are here to see you," Madoka said. "Since they were worried about me, I uh... had to bring them along."
He spotted one girl with a pair of... dumplings... or meatballs... with pigtails on them.
"Like the one with the meatball-looking head?"
"Hey!" The girl said. "Who said you could call me a meatball head?"
The girl had blue eyes, and blonde hair, and was wearing a sailor uniform. Her cheeks were puffed as though she were pouting.
"H-Huh? W-Well your hair—"
"I wouldn't go any further with her hair if I were you," Mami said. "You can't judge a woman by their hairstyle."
"R-Right..." Kizuna said.
Madoka went over to the meatball head.
"Kizuna, this is my senpai, Usagi Tsukino," Madoka said. "Senpai, this is Kizuna."
"H-Hi..." Kizuna said.
Madoka moved over to a group of four girls, one of them being blonde, another with black hair, a brunette, and a girl with dark blue hair.
"And these are her friends, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako." Madoka said. "Girls, Kizuna."
"He looks like a cutie," Minako said. "You sure knew how to pick 'em, Madoka."
"H-Hey!" Madoka said as she blushed.
"Wait, that's him? The boyfriend?" Makoto asked.
"I mean, look at those eyes of his. They look so cute when looking at us so innocently," Minako said.
"Stop! Desist!" Madoka said.
"Minako, I think Madoka has had enough," Ami said.
Kizuna was blushing. A group of four girls approached Kizuna. They looked to be old enough to be in grade school. One of them happened to be holding a camcorder and one of them had blonde hair.
"Hi, my name is Sakura Kinomoto and these are my friends," She said pointing to the other girls around her in sequential order, starting with the girl with the camcorder. "This is Tomoyo Daidouji, Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa."
The girls waved at him. Tomoyo got a little closer, pointing the camcorder at him.
"And you are?" Tomoyo asked.
"H-H-Huh me?" Kizuna asked before noticing that the camcorder had a red light.
"Tomoyo is my cousin and she likes filming and photography," Sakura said.
"And making costumes," Tomoyo added before focusing on him. "You caused quite the commotion out on live TV."
"Huh?" Kizuna asked. "What are you on about?"
"You don't remember?" Kyoko asked. "There was a giant monster and a weird tentacle monster-looking dude who tried to kill us."
Kizuna processed everything and... yes. It was all coming back: the battle, the monster, Lance, everything.
"Yeah... and then I... I must have passed out..." Kizuna said. "What happened when I was out?"
"Well, some Pro Heroes arrived along with the police, some ambulances, and firemen," The green-haired boy said.
"Wait, have we met somewhere?" Kizuna asked. "Is... Is that you, Deku?"
"A-Ah! Right! I never got to tell you my real name!" The boy said. "My name is Izuku Midoriya and my friend here is Katsuki Bakugou."
"And behind us is—"
"Shoto," The half n half boy said. "Shoto Todoroki."
"But of course, you're free to call him Icy Hot if that name's too difficult for you to remember," Bakugou said. "He's the jackass who put up that ice wall to save your ass."
"Ah! Y-You mean—!"
"Yup, I'm... sigh Endeavor's son." The young man said.
Weiss looked at him for a moment before looking back at Kizuna.
"Ok, so some pro heroes showed up and did what?" Kizuna asked.
"Well um... this Balan guy suddenly picked you up and vanished!" Ruby said.
"Right before leaving us a note leading everyone here to the hospital," Shoto said.
"And here we are," Weiss said.
Kizuna took a moment to process all of this. He took a deep breath. He leaves the house to meet a girl on a dating app and all hell breaks loose. He of course reminds himself that he is living in a world where mutants, aliens, monsters, magic, supernatural entities, inter-dimensional beings, and god knows what exists. Even if he has a keyblade, it still doesn't change the fact that all of this just happened during the day.
"This is starting to sound like the beginning of a bizarre adventure..." Kizuna said.
He blinked for one moment and looked towards the door and found a woman standing there. It was his mother. She looked tense, worried, and a plethora of things that would describe a mother who went to the hospital right after a disaster struck when they heard about their child getting injured in the said disaster.
"M-Mom?!" Kizuna said, looking aghast.
Everyone turned to face the boy's mother and they all looked surprised. Todoroki looked at her and then back to Kizuna before looking back at his mother again.
"E-Excuse me—"
"Thank the Gods you're alright!" Kizuna's mother said. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I tried to call you over and over and over again and you wouldn't pick up! I tried calling your mother and she couldn't pick up the phone! I felt like I was about to have a heart attack and—!"
"Mom! It's ok! I'm fine!" Kizuna said. "Besides, there are people here!"
Kizuna's mom was about to say something, but when she noticed everyone else in the room, she stopped. She took a moment to breathe and calm herself down. Her head lay low for a bit before raising it to face everyone here.
"Everyone, say hello to... my mom," Kizuna said with a sigh.
"Uh... Hello..." All of them said.
"Hello kids," His mother said with a smile. "My name is Kokoro Daichi. It's all a great pleasure to meet all of you."
-2-
Riku and Xehanort stood before Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, Xion, and Lea. They all looked anxious like they knew this day would come. It had been years since the world they knew was destroyed and they became a part of the new world that is now. They had all lost some friends along the way and they all survived long enough to reunite and catch up to each other, learning more about the new world they now live in.
"So, Sora's heart is in a new body, right?" Kairi asked.
"Yes," Riku said. "And the kid I mentioned is holding onto it."
"Any other good news?" Ventus asked.
"The boy's recovering," Xehanort said. "He'll leave as soon as he is checked out."
"And what's the bad news?" Terra asked.
"The bad news is the fact that we have a new enemy," Riku said. "The assassin who was after the kid? He said he worked for something called an 'Army of Darkness.'"
"Army of Darkness?" Xion asked.
"We know little about them since our assassin escaped before we could capture and interrogate him," Xehanort said. "All we do know is that they are up to something and whatever it is they are up to must be stopped."
They all nodded in agreement. They didn't want what happened to their world to happen to this one. This world was their new home. Though they had failed the world that they once lived in, they could still avenge it.
"So what do we do now?" Roxas asked.
"For now, we stay on the lookout for any strange activity that could be linked to our enemy," Riku said. "I'll get in touch with Master Yen Sid, he'll know what to do."
-3-
Kizuna looked embarrassed and his face was redder than a tomato. Madoka's face was also as red as a tomato and Ruby's was redder than her cape. Yoh simply just looked at Kizuna with a smile on his face. Izuku looked dumbfounded as he looked at Kizuna. Kokoro had a pleased look on her face.
"To think that two girls would be competing for my son's heart..." Kokoro said. "Well son, you know how to make a mom feel proud."
"M-Mom, I-I think you're taking this whole thing the wrong way," Kizuna said, covering his face. "R-Ruby just knocked into me and t-that was it..."
"And to think that the girl you wanted to date just happened to be Junko's daughter..." Kokoro said.
"Huh? Junko's daughter?" Yoh asked.
"Junko Kaname, that's her name," Kokoro said.
Homura raised her brows and looked shocked. Mami looked at Kokoro with interest. Sayaka and Kyoko looked surprised and looked at Madoka before looking back at Kokoro.
"W-Wait, y-you mean you..."
"You know my mom?" Madoka asked.
"Of course I do! She and I went to the same school!" Kokoro said. "Ah... I can remember that before she met your father, she and Kazuko-San used to fool around in the—"
"I don't want to know the details..." Madoka said, knowing full well who Kokoro was referring to and what she was about to say. She did not want the image of her mother and her teacher kissing each other in her head, 'fooling around' in the bed, or anything else that might just shatter her innocence. That was the last thing she needed right now.
"Hmm... ok then, I'll leave it be," Kokoro said. "Well, I gotta go now. The doctors say that you need a little rest before they can release you. I'll see you later."
"Bye mom," Kizuna said.
"Later sweetie," Kokoro said before leaving the room and closing the door.
"You have quite a mom, Kizuna," Yoh said. "She reminded me of my mother."
"Really?" Kizuna asked.
"Trust me, me and Ruby had an awesome mom like her once," Yang said. "Though she wasn't my real mom, she's still my mom to me."
"Wow really—wait, what was that last part?" Kizuna asked.
"Remember when I said me and Yang were sisters?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, I think you did," Kizuna said. "Why are you asking me that?"
"Well—"
"I got this sis," Yang said. "You see, my full name is Yang Xiao Long."
"Wait a minute..." Kizuna said. "Xiao Long? I thought your last name was Rose, not Xiao Long."
"That's because they're actually half-sisters," Blake said.
"W-Wha—"
"Don't overthink about it," Blake said. "Just take it at face value."
"Huh..." Kizuna said. "So um... what now?"
"Now?" Yoh asked. "Well, I got to—"
A phone began to ring. Yoh raised a finger and pulled out his phone. He looked at the phone and had a shocked look on his face.
"Oh no..." Yoh said.
"What is it?" Rei asked. "Is it the Heartless?"
"No... worse," Yoh said.
"Grimm?" Weiss asked.
"No, even worse than that," Yoh said.
Everyone felt like they were on the edge of their seat. What could be even worse than the Heartless and the Grimm? Chimera Ants? Villains? Nomu? Terrorists? Demons? Blood Breeds? Aliens from a different dimension?
"It's my fiancé..." Yoh said.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The room was met with silence.
"What?" Kizuna asked.
"Your fiancé?" Izuku asked.
"Fiancé?" Madoka and Usagi asked along with their friends.
"You have a fiancé?!" Weiss exclaimed, looking surprised to hear this all of a sudden.
"Why am I hearing about this all of a sudden?!" Bakugo exclaimed, letting sparks fly out of his hands before he fired a mini-explosion.
"Yeah, I think we deserve to know!" Minako said.
"Girls, I don't think we should be prying into this.." Ami said.
"Heck no, I want to know what this is all about," Kyoko said.
Yoh answered the phone and held it to his ear.
"Hello? Hey, Anna, I'm sorry for not answering earlier. I had to go and see a friend at the hospital and uh... w-what? N-No! Of course not! Why would I do that?" Yoh spoke on the phone. "L-Look, I'll be back at the hot springs before it gets dark—w-wait, what do you mean I won't have to? Y-You know where I am already? T-That's—!"
The door was suddenly thrown open and a girl was standing outside the door. She had medium-length blonde hair with amber-colored eyes. She was wearing a black minidress with a red bandanna on her head along with a scarf and a blue rosary around her neck. She wore sandals with red straps on her feet. She had a cold, harsh look on her face. There was an aura coming off that girl that could be felt in the room. Kizuna felt his hair standing on end, his whole body froze it refused to so much as twitch. Yoh hung up and looked at her, visibly sweating.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk," She started in an ice-cold tone. "What am I going to do with you, Yoh Asakura?"
"H-Hi Anna... h-how did you—?"
"You forget that I am an itako." The girl named Anna cuts him off. "So—"
"Um... excuse me?" Madoka asked
Anna turned her gaze to Madoka. The girl froze before shaking it off. It was like she could feel Anna gazing into her soul.
"Are you... Yoh's fiancé?" Madoka asked.
Anna didn't even blink when asked that question.
"Yes," She said.
'Just like that?' Everyone thought.
"I am Anna Kyoyama, Yoh Asakura's soon-to-be wife," Anna said. "And just who are all of you?"
Everyone began to introduce themselves to Anna. She was unmoved by their introductions. Anna then looked at Yoh.
"So Yoh, care to explain why you happen to be here, in the hospital, in a room filled with girls about your age with at least four other boys in this room?" Anna asked. "Answer honestly, and maybe I might lighten your training regimen just this once."
There was sarcasm all over that last statement of hers.
"T-Training?" Kizuna asked.
"What kind of training are we talking about here?" Izuku asked, feeling curious.
"The kind that crushes the spirit..." Yoh said. "... and leaves the body bruised and battered."
Yoh immediately got a karate chop to the head.
"Well maybe if you hadn't been slacking off, maybe you'd—"
"Would be able to lift your spirits after training?" Yang spoke.
Everyone looked at Yang. Most of the group gave her a confused stare while Minako and Usagi simply gave her a thumbs up and a smile. Rei's eyebrow twitched while Ami and Makoto looked like their day was ruined. Yang's teammates were peeved.
"Too soon?" Yang asked.
"No blonde," Bakugou said. "it's that your puns are shitty."
"Swear Jar!" Ruby yelled, pulling out a jar filled with coins.
Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki looked surprised to see the so-called swear jar.
"A swear jar? Really?"
"Hey!" Yang looked flabbergasted. "My puns are not that bad!"
"Yang, they're—"
"Tear-ible?" Yang threw a pun in there.
Weiss planted her palm on her face.
"Anyways..." Anna turned her attention to Yoh. "That's not the only reason I'm here."
"Huh?" Anna asked.
"So you did notice," Rei said.
"Notice what?" Nanoha asked.
Anna looked at Kizuna. Kizuna felt his hairs stand on ends. Her cold glare was gazing into his soul.
"You..." Anna said.
"M-Me?" Kizuna asked.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Yoh said. "When we first met I sensed something was off about you, like how your heart was giving off more energy than it should for any 'regular' person."
'Oh, like you're one to talk Mr. I can see dead people and turn them into powerful weapons!' Kizuna mentally blurted.
"Yes, a normal person wouldn't have such abnormal amounts of spiritual energy," Anna said.
The lights went out.
"What the hell?!" Bakugou exclaimed.
"Don't panic, I'm pretty sure a power line got nicked off during the ongoing cleanup operation in the city," Todoroki said.
"I'm pretty sure the backups will kick in any moment now," Izuku said.
A finger snap could be heard as a familiar man with a top hat appeared before everyone in the middle of the room as the lights came back on.
"It is I, Balan! The world's top entertainer, at your service!"
Everyone, including Anna, was shocked.
"I-It's you! From before!" Kizuna said.
"W-What are you—? Wait, how did you even—?"
Balan turned to Yoh, holding a flower.
"Teleportation magic, my boy," Balan said. "It's so simple that anyone can learn if they put their hearts to it."
"Where have you been all this time?" Kizuna asked.
"Well... I had to go and check with a friend of mine while you were still recovering." Balan said. "You are starting to become the talk of the town, boy. A rookie keyblade wielder who kills a monster right off the bat? My boy, you got the potential to go up from a zero to a hero!"
"M-Me?" Kizuna asked, pointing to himself. "B-But—"
"No buts young man," Balan said. "You see, the headmaster of Daybreak has become quite interested in you."
That made Kizuna perk up.
"The headmaster?" Kizuna asked.
"Yeah, good ol' King Mickey Mouse himself," Balan said.
"King Mickey?!" Kizuna exclaimed. "He's the headmaster?!"
"The King of the Old World..." Izuku said. "Gaining his attention is quite a feat."
"H-Huh..." Kizuna said.
He couldn't believe it himself. King Mickey, headmaster of Daybreak Academy, one of the world's biggest schools on planet Earth and the ideal training center for future LOGOS agents or would-be workers. A man like him was intrigued in him. Kizuna didn't know what to say. This was all too sudden, even by LOGOS standards.
"I've already talked to your mother about it and she seems adamant about you going to Daybreak," Balan said. "Especially after what has transpired today. But the decision is ultimately yours."
Kizuna didn't know what to say. This still felt all too sudden. He could achieve his dreams of being a hero, but the entrance exams alone are more difficult than UA's or even the Huntsmen Academies. He felt like he wasn't ready for the entrance exams. But at this point, was there even a choice, to begin with? He can't say no, not while an assassin could come after him again. He doesn't want anyone else around him to get hurt because of what happened today. If something like that were to happen again, he would have to be ready for this Eternal Darkness menace.
"I... I..." Kizuna said.
"You know you could just say—"
"I'll do it," Kizuna said.
"Yeah, you could—wait what?" Kyoko asked, looking at Kizuna.
"D-Did you just say that you'll go to Daybreak?" Madoka asked.
"Well... I didn't think that I'd be going to Daybreak now, but here I am, making that decision for myself." Kizuna said. "Besides, my mother would want me to do this."
"So that's your decision then?" Balan asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Kizuna said.
"Then I bid you adieu," Balan said. "I'll be waiting for you in one year. That's all the time you need to get stronger for the entrance exams. They'll be tough, and I'm not one to lie about that. You will be taught the art of the keyblade and the ways of a hero. Be strong and let your heart be your guiding key."
Balan readies his fingers to snap.
"I'll be waiting, young man."
He snapped his fingers and disappeared. Everyone left the hospital with Kizuna being discharged from the hospital.
From that moment onward, Kizuna would train his body, mind, and heart while studying for the entrance exams at Daybreak Academy. He knows that his life will not be the same once he gets there, but when he does, he will come to understand the powers that lie within him. The wheels of fate have begun to turn and none know about the destination that lies ahead on the invisible tracks of destiny.
Act 0 END