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“Ryouta, wake up.”
“Yeah sleepy head, haven’t you slept enough already?”
“Nee...san.”
Kise forced his eyes to open, squinting as he took in the bright lights that blinded him.
He was...home?
A bell-like laugh rang out, and the sound was enough to bring back memories of ages past. He gasped as he pushed himself up, taking in sights that he thought he would never see again.
“Where’s Aominecchi?”
He ignored it all. The foggy lights, the crystal stars that hung in the air, the trees that painted streaks of colour -- he ignored it all for him. Though he knew he shouldn’t, Kise turned to the taller blonde beside him, begging as best as he could without saying a word.
“Hmph,” flicking silk-smooth hair back, his younger sister gave a light pout, “our Ryou-chan leaves for a decade, and he’s already forgotten about us. Rude.”
His other sister glared down at him, “and to think we saved him. Ungrateful brat.”
This wasn’t the time. He couldn’t waste another moment here, so far away from Aomine. “Take me back, I’m not fooling around.” It wasn’t a request, like the last time he wanted to leave. No, he was demanding this time, and they all could hear the desperate power in his voice.
There was silence. Kise could hear the whispers of the ocean just beyond, could smell the allure cast by his sisters for any wanderers to be twisted in. And just from the corner of his eye -- the other world.
The world that he needed to return to.
“Miyu, I need to go back-”
As unforgiving as the sea, his older sister gave him the greatest cut. “Why should we, when you left us first?”
He bit his lips, struggling to contain his retorts. After all, she wasn’t wrong.
“You were never happy. Never happy with us, our kind, who we are. You could never accept the things we did, and now you want us to help you?”
It was Shion’s turn to speak, and his younger sister was no kinder with her words, being the tempest that she was.
“You would have stayed like that, apathetic to the whole world and the other, as if you were just a shade waiting for death.”
“Growing bored of the world that we belong in, you almost faded away like some common beast, pining for a boon.”
Kise kept silent, head hung down as he accepted their insults and harsh truths.
“But then,” Miyu’s voice softened, her tune softening like the calm after a storm, “you saw that man. That strange mortal man, who somehow managed to pass through our world, even if it was just a second.”
He could hear the tears that Shion would never let spill, and trembling, reached out for her.
“And so you chased after that mortal star, endlessly reaching for something you knew you could never have.”
She grasped his hand, never the kind to hesitate even if she was constantly stuck between her emotions. He turned to Miyu, and she stared back, gaze still stone-cold.
“You lost everything: your powers, your memories, your immortality - and all for the one human that would never look your way, not in your own mortal shell.”
He raised his other arm, but she only tilted her head down.
“Was it worth it, brother?”
The trees stopped painting -- the stars hung suspended, holding their breaths for his response, and the ocean stilled. There was a promise in his words that he would burn into the very ground itself.
“More than anything.”
A breath. And then, Miyu took his hand, and finally smiled.
“Then we will allow it. One song for you and your beloved,”
-their grips became vices, trapping him in their sudden embrace.
“One song to bless your union and save your lives.”
Between them, their eyes shone bright, and he was burning from the inside out, gasping for air or water or something else entirely.
“From beyond the boundaries between our worlds, we cannot stop the creatures.” Regret tainted their songs, but they remained faithful in their vows, holding on as he screamed through the painful surge of power that he had long discarded.
“But through the blood we share in our hearts, we will manifest and restore your strength, to the best of our abilities.”
The pain dulled, and when Kise opened his eyes, he could feel the world shift beneath him.
“Go and show them, brother, that you are more than just a hunter’s assistant...”
He stood up, facing the other world that he could see clearly now, the gates open just for him.
“You are a king .”
Kise didn’t turn back. But his lips curled up, and golden eyes flashed at the memory of pain and the newfound promise of revenge.
“Gladly.”
He woke up to a sorrowful gaze, regret creasing a handsome face.
“Kise, I never should’ve brought you here.” There was an unusual trembling in that deep baritone, and Kise couldn’t help but see the raging ocean in those dark blue eyes.
“Aominecchi,” he breathed the name out, reverence overwhelming his voice. He cared, he actually cared, and Kise was-
Aomine collapsed. He panted, deep gashes pouring out blood from his back. Despite all the pain he must’ve felt, Kise could still see the shimmer of protective wards around them, sucking Aomine’s life energy with every crack that healed itself. The creatures hadn’t left, sensing the weakness from the blue-haired man, and knowing that they only had to wait to get rid of the famed hunter.
“Why didn’t you run, Ahomine!” Kise cursed, forcing himself to breath. Before, he wouldn’t have been able to do much, but now…
“Kise?” Aomine watched as he stood up, noting how the blonde had a stranger presence since waking up. “Oi, you look weird...did you do something different with your hair?”
The weak tease was followed by a cough that splattered blood on the ground. Concern took over Kise, but he kept moving closer and closer to the barrier.
“With this solemn oath, I call for those on the other side,” he uttered the words Aomine told him to never say so many years ago, recalling them from the depths of his memory.
“Idiot, stop!” He could hear Aomine struggling to get up behind him, all his strength gone with the creation of the wards.
And now Kise had to break them entirely.
Taking a deep breath, he continued on, remorseless under the salivating monsters that gathered closer in front of him.
“-and so I offer,” calculating, he changed the words, touching his heart as he thought of his people, “my blood for your service, spirits that dwell in the ocean.”
“Fucking dumbass, you don’t just change the words !” Left with only his voice, Aomine raged and cursed Kise with all the helpless anger he had.
Kise heard Aomine, but he only focused on a spot beyond the barrier that began to ripple. He smiled, and sealed the vow with glowing eyes and the life of the ocean in his veins.
“Kise, get outta here before whatever stupid spirit comes...what the fuck?”
“Sorry, Aominecchi,” Kise watched as the monsters scattered away from the ripples, watched as familiar figures rose from the ground and hummed out a tune that sung of home . “You’ve looked after me ever since we met, and I can never repay you for that…”
I love you , his heart whispered, but he held those words close, not yet ready to let the blue-haired man know.
“So now, I’ll be the one to protect you.”
With those parting words, Kise tore the wards apart, and felt the song rush over him.