Kuroko no Basuke:

The Heart Sees What the Eyes Can't

~~~PROLOGUE~~~

Auspicious Displacement between Worlds

There were three lives that led individual identities. They were youths naively living their lives as they should under the protection and affection of their family, with the guidance of their peers, and the encouragement of their mentors. One could point out their similarities and differences at a glance.

However…

…no one could have seen how intertwined their destinies could have been.

It was a busy night, just as how it always has been in Las Vegas. People did not exaggerate when they described it as "The City That Never Sleeps", or even "The City of Sins". Indeed, one could see a personification of Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins. Most of them either go unnoticed or even insignificant. Be as it may, people who had been through the harsh truth of reality would only see this as an 'adult' world.

Same old, same old…

A man of 25 years smoked his third cigarette for the night as he leaned on his motorbike, in which he named, Fenrir. It was custom-designed to be exactly the same as the motorcycle on a certain video game as it was skillfully built by the driver himself. It was legally registered, but he refused to give any vehicle company regarding its basic structure. Of course, the engine and fuel must always be paid attention to as it produces double/triple the speed and consumes double/triple the resources needed.

A crime lord has no problem in obtaining the money for that.

"Day after day, night after night…" he muttered, the cigarette still hanging on his lips. He closed his eyes and sighed almost mockingly, "…they're like pests that just keep coming back no matter how much you crush them."

Just as he finished that sentence, a knife—or maybe a dagger—whizzed past him as he leaned his head sideways ever so slightly to dodge without opening his eyes. As that happened, frantic movements were made in various directions surrounding the area. Just before he could take another drag from his cancer stick, the dark stranger found it to be shot. He cursed under his breath and silently lamented the loss of his last cigarette.

"Damn," he cursed, "break time's over, huh? Too bad, I thought I could enjoy it for a while."

Not wasting another second, he hopped onto Fenrir and the engine roared to life. He immediately sped off and managed to break through the gathering group that plotted to ambush him in close contact. As he rode into the night, bustling activities from buildings all around droned out the supposed trouble brewing in the shadows. The man did not care, however, for he knew there are things that are either better off not knowing or it was just plain worthless. Sadly, that is how the world goes.

As soon as he got outside of the city, things became more intense as the man's countless pursuers became apparent. Some of them were riding in black cars, most of them are on motorcycles like himself but not as impressive as Fenrir, and there were those lying in wait beyond the shadows of the street.

Bullets were exchanged. The man ended up being outnumbered and ran out first, but the slight pause from his own onslaught became a chance for three bullets to catch him off guard. One grazed his cheek, the other knocked his sunglasses off, and the last shot one of Fenrir's wheels which then caused him to swerve and be thrown to the side. He vaguely heard triumphant laughter from his pursuers, and as his world turned black, he heard a gunshot. Only one thought ran through his mind: "I hope I could meet you soon…Iris."

"I was the Crime Lord feared by all Seven Mafia Leaders that became known as the Seven Deadly Sins of Las Vegas. At the age of seven, I became a nameless wanderer that did good and bad deeds of all kinds in order to survive. My name gave beads of cold sweat to citizens unfortunate enough to hear it, nightmares of paranoia to those who dare to whisper it, and shivers of trepidation to the authorities and the government that dared to cross it…

"…but that was not the life I wanted yet that is what so-called Father bestowed upon me.

"I am Lucifer, and I have met an end that gave me a beginning."

'Those who shoot must prepare to get shot.'

Such was one man's way of life. As he fell to what the fates presented to be his doom, he held defiance in his eyes and dignity in his heart. A fallen angel he was not for that he believed was a myth, and he was more than willing to prove that he is anything but. There is no God. There is no deity. There is no Almighty Father. A human is orphaned from the day he comes to the tainted world.

Carnage incarnate he condemned himself to be, his heart was that of a real angel like the ultimate 'Light Bearer' once possessed.

There was no one there.

The child knew that no one would come.

Nevertheless, he continued to wait…and hope.

He had always been alone and this time was no different. His mother ran off with another man long ago, and she never came back. His father has always been in despair ever since, but he was thankful that the man never laid a hand on him…unless he mentions his mother. His father always smiled at him, but the older man was never really there for him

"Mama…Papa…" the child whimpered.

He did not know why their family had to fall apart. He did not know when it started. He did not know why his father had to despair when he had the power to find his mother if she never came back. He did not know why his mother did not return. He did not know a lot of things and that is why he is studying very hard. He did not understand how the world works nor could how reality could hurt more than any weapon run through a human body.

He then began to wonder whether it was his entire fault.

He thought about whether God was punishing him by leaving him on his own.

Was that it? Was he a bad boy?

Ah, innocence and naivety could be such the most gracious blessing and most twisted curse at the same time.

"Where are you? Shouldn't you be here…? For me…?" the child sobbed, "Won't you save me?"

The child's cries went unheard. His surroundings burned. Countless beams fell from the ceilings in a failed attempt to be held to their positions. Portraits started to be disfigured and lost to the destruction caused by the hungry flames. The sinful element of heat and light continued to devour and burn anything it touches mercilessly, not leaving even a single strand of thread to escape its fiery pursuit.

After a second, he realized his sight was blurring…because he started to cry in despairing abandonment.

Nevertheless, the child stayed where he sat in a corner.

After a minute, he realized his chest was hurting…because he could no longer breathe and his heart was breaking.

Nevertheless, the child only tightened his hold on his tiger plush covered in soot and ash.

After an hour, he realized his father was not coming…because the man wanted his own child dead.

Nevertheless, the child still waited.

After agonizing moments, he realized there is no hope…because he already found them crushed.

Nevertheless, the child still hoped.

It was foolish, he knew that now…but then again, he was nothing more than a pathetically powerless child.

What can he do?

"I…" the child's voice cracked but he continued, "I…I will…never…" His teeth gritted in fury and his eyes promised vengeance. With one last ounce of strength, he completed his unheard statement to everything and everyone in the world before he heard a nearby bang and was engulfed by darkness: I will never forgive nor will I forget.

"I was a bastard child, but I never knew what it meant until my mother left me. It only meant I was an unwanted child that should never have been born, that's all that matters. I knew a family but never became a part of it. I didn't even know I was actually dying though I knew I felt fear. I was just a 3-year-old boy trying to find and claim as much happiness as I could possibly can…

"…but doing that is a Sin and a certain 'God' proved that to me.

"I am Kuroyuki Sora, and I vow the world my vengeance."

'Fire carries either two signs: baptism or exorcism.'

For one child, it meant a rebirth. His existence became a sin because he was unwanted. His wish became a sin because he was unworthy. His actions became a sin because they were foolish. His words became a sin because they were innocent. His love became a sin because he had faith. His prayers became a sin because there is no God to confess it to.

Miracles happen to those who continue to have faith despite the hardships, but one child realized that miracles could only take you so far before your soul breaks apart.

It was Christmas.

A joyful event worthy of celebrating, a simple family of three were gathered in their residence's living room where the gifts await to be opened. The two parents smiled at the child as they behold the excited and delightful gleam in his eyes. The husband wrapped an arm around his wife as the latter leaned on the former's shoulder. The love and affection were clear in their actions, and they became more apparent as the child turned to them.

"Mommy, Daddy!" he called, "Can we spend Christmas like this next year too? Will I get many presents again? Will we have a feast? Can I have a kitten or a puppy next year?" He rambled on in excitement and joy. The father chuckled at his son's endless inquiry while the mother playfully rolled her eyes. She walked towards her seven-year-old son near the Christmas tree and patted his head to calm him down as she sat on the floor by his side.

"If you remain to be a good boy, I'm sure Santa will give you more presents next year." She said with a tender loving smile, "As for a pet, let's see what your father and I could arrange."

"Really?!" he exclaimed with a wide grin. The father walked towards them and ruffled his son's hair.

He then answered with a smirk, "We will consider it. If you do better on your studies and do as you're told, we might even let you choose which to take in within reason."

The child whooped in glee as he embraced his parents with as much force as his small young body could be capable of. Both parents laughed with him as they returned his embrace. It really was a heartwarming scene, and nothing could have ruined it.

Of course, this was proven wrong by rapid and violent knocking on the door.

The two adults tensed and immediately lost their smiles. The mother tightened her hold on her child while the father protectively covered their view from the door with a deep scowl on his handsome face. He shared a grim glance with his wife as she returned it with a fearful yet faithful one. She nodded and shushed her son as she carried the young one in her arms and silently dashed away from the living room.

The child tilted his head but instinctively kept quiet at the sight of his mother's distressed expression.

They arrived at the master's bedroom as his mother locked the door. She was shaking as she continued to hold her son at the side of the bed, while subconsciously running her hands through his hair and giving soothing kisses that she needed more than her son did.

The child and mother heard the vague conversation in the living room.

"Where is it?" a gruff arrogant voice asked.

"I do not know." A smooth baritone voice answered. It must be the father and husband in the house.

"Do not fool around. We know you hid it."

"Whatever our contract demanded was returned and I was set free from the organization as the conditions dictated. I did not hide anything from you, be it information or anything else. Please leave us be. Our debts have already been repaid."

The conversation became more hushed yet ominous. Both mother and son knew an argument was brewing. After a while, there was rustling and struggling. It wasn't long before the duo heard the most devastating song of their lives.

Gunshots rang out through the entire house.

For a minute, there was silence…until footsteps were heard all over the house.

They must have been searching through everywhere.

Without another word, the mother made her son crawl under the bed. She whispered, "Listen to me, dear. They are bound to come here soon so you must follow Mommy's instructions, okay? Mommy will try to talk to them first, but once Mommy stomps her foot, you must run as fast as you can to the kitchen and out to the yard, okay? Do not look back, and keep running past the woods. Do you understand me?"

The boy hesitated, but nodded in compliance to his mother's instructions. His mother then clasped a necklace that hangs silver cross with a ruby at the center which was surrounded by smaller diamonds. The edge of the cross looked like a key.

"Take care of this for Mommy and Daddy." His mother said seriously, "You must never let anyone have it. If you think you can no longer take care of it, burn it. You must promise me, okay?"

Again, the child nodded unsurely.

At that time, the bedroom door broke down and the woman moved away from the child.

"You're just as beautiful as you were years ago." Said the same gruff voice from before.

The conversation went on just like a while ago, but this time, with his mother. The child instinctively tuned out the voices and focused on his mother's feet and tensed his legs. After what seemed like an hour, the man brought out a gun and directed it towards his mother.

Not wasting a second, his mother stomped her foot and he ran.

Momentarily startled, the man's shot missed and only grazed his mother's arm.

He ran as promised, and he vaguely heard the light footsteps of his mother following. She was most likely fending off as much men as she can, but he did not look back as promise.

No matter how much fatigue his body received from all the adrenaline...

No matter how much his mind screamed for him to break down and cry…

No matter how much his soul wailed his father's name…

No matter how much it broke his heart to not look at his mother's figure behind him…

No matter how much terror threatened to suffocate him…

He had to keep going as promised.

However, he halted.

As he opened the door to the yard, he saw the gruff man from before point the gun at him. He must have taken the front door and went through the roundabout route to the yard.

He heard it for another time: gunshot.

White became red as snow became covered in blood…blood that wasn't his.

The child felt warmth and found himself in a loving embrace he had grown familiar with through the seven years he has been alive. He fell on his back because of the weight and heard a croaking whisper, "I…l-love you…forever…and a-always…"

After that, he felt a sticky fluid run down his left shoulder where the body's head rested. He heard the body take its last breath and felt the same sticky sensation on his left hand. He lifted it to see red liquid.

Blood…

Snow…

Blood on the snow…

He turned his head to see who it was, though he already knows from the embrace and the voice. He desperately denied it. He didn't want to lose them in one night…but God planned otherwise.

As expected, it was his mother.

He gasped.

Tears came back at full force.

He wanted to scream.

He was about to scream…until he found a shadow looming over him.

He looked up in trepidation and saw the gruff man with the rest of his men.

The man who murdered his parents…

"Poor child," he said in mock condolence and pity, "losing your parents in a Christmas night…just like how God lost his only son. Don't worry, because just like Jesus Christ, your parents died for a cause. I cannot assure you whether it's a good one for you though."

A henchman handed him a dagger when he extended his gloved hand. In horror, he watched as the man crouched on his right side and aimed to lower the dagger towards his right eye. The man proceeded to cut his eye but was careful to not gouge it out for excruciating pain to take effect.

The torture seemed forever.

They all laughed at his suffering.

At the midst of things, he started to care less and less. Losing the will to live, the child was engulfed by the darkness.

"My family was not perfect. I was told by my own parents that perfection cannot be achieved unless you're God, because Man became sinners. However, God will forgive Man if he repents. Repentance means acceptance, and to accept is to allow growth. I loved my family more than anything else. They taught me the better things in life even when they have said that they didn't have the most pleasant origins. I never failed to look forward to tomorrow because they were always with me…

"…but there is no tomorrow to look forward to anymore because God took it away from me.

"What's my name, you ask? It doesn't matter anymore…because I'm dead."

'Winter produces white snow because their purity gives way to Spring.'

If that were the case, would the snow lose its purity once it turns red? If the purity of snow is lost, will Spring never come? If Spring doesn't come, will there still be such thing as Hope? If Hope was created because Despair exists, then will there only be Hope once you know Despair? Then if we must Despair to Hope, will it not be better to not have faith at all? If it will only be destroyed, why create? If you know you're about to die, why cling to life?

God entrusted a box to Pandora which must not be opened but she disobeyed, letting out all the problems of the world that cause Despair while Hope came out last.

The man was beautiful.

He had wavy black hair that slightly reached his shoulders, and deep crimson eyes that seem to pierce your very soul. He wore a complete butler suit and was currently tending to a young boy who has been in a coma for a month. His eyes shone with deep sorrow and concern as he watched the pitiful state of his Young Master.

The butler's name is Sebastian Michaelis, but that wasn't his real name.

The Young Master was no older than five and he was covered in bandages, including his right eye that started to bleed after the fire. They were supposed to be a pair of silver orbs, he had fair skin, and black hair with natural white strands showing. The young master usually orders Sebastian to dye it so the father will not be upset, but now that the Master is gone, the butler thought it did not matter. He had always disapproved how both parents refused to see how special the child really is. Because of that, Sebastian himself saw how the boy became nothing more than a pathetic mess.

As he placed another cold wet cloth on the Young Master's forehead, Sebastian sighed in exhaustion. He did not know how to approach the Young Master after this incident.

The young man was interrupted from his musings as he felt the twitch of the child's eyelids in which his right hand subconsciously lied. His eyes widened as he then found a silver eye open and look directly at him.

He smiled sincerely and tenderly, "Young Master, how are you feeling?"

It was then the start of a thousand mysteries that brewed within the Kuroyuki/Phantomhive Mansion of the Great Britain.

Three lives were intertwined unknowingly at birth, all living in different worlds:

One man led a life doing anything to survive while cherishing a single woman and a motorbike.

The other was a child born unwanted yet yearned for a mere happiness felt from the love of a family.

The last was a child that believed he had everything and found it all taken away in one tragic night.

They once held one thing in common: faith and hope.

They held faith that a brighter future awaits them, and they strongly hoped for it to arrive.

They held faith that they shall find happiness in the lonely road of life, and hoped they had enough strength to make it through. They began with faith, and ended up with betrayal. They never believed in anything like God again.

They held faith in God, and hoped that He would look after them.

However, God failed them in all of these.

He had sinned against them.

Therefore, it's time for repentance on His part.

They will lead a life of deceit, knowing that they can never belong.

Unfortunately or fortunately, they shall forget all of these.

It is all in God's whim, as one would say.

In truth, they merely had their faiths justified and their hopes answered.

A/N: Hi! I still cannot decide which of my stories I should prioritize, so I will start posting in mere whims. If you want to help me, please take the poll. That way, I could have a more organized updating schedule for each story. A heads-up: I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY into Kuroko no Basuke right now, so watch out for any of my stories that feature. I might focus on the manga though but I might still use some anime segments. I have a total of four stories in this Anime/Manga: an AU incest, a reverse harem (Fem!OC), a Yaoi incest (yummy combo! LOL!), and a Yaoi self-insert which is this one. PLEASE R&R! DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Kuroshitsuji.