Title Names and Promises
Author Uozumi
Fandom Black Clover
Character(s)/Pairing(s) Asta, Charmy, Gauche, Grey, Gordon, Klaus, Sister Lily, Luck, Magna Swing, Mimosa, Nash, Noelle, Father Orsi, Vanessa, Yami, Yuno
Genre Alternate Universe/Gen/Soulmate
Rating G
Word Count 2,349
Disclaimer Black Clover c. Tabata, TV Tokyo, Shueisha
Summary A brief exploration into a soulmate AU in which the first thing your soulmate says is written on your body. Asta and Yuno have their own names on their wrists.
Warning(s) spoilers up through the end of the elf reincarnation arc, potential spoilers up to chapter 224, religion
Notes After spending all week devouring BnHA fic upon BnHA fic, I of course, found myself randomly writing Black Clover this afternoon out of nowhere as you do. Yami got a soulmate countdown thing instead of words because everyone talks like he comes from somewhere unaffiliated with the shuffle kingdoms.

Names and Promises

Asta was young the first time he really noticed words on other's bodies. Asta watched Father Orsi fishing in the stream with his long pants rolled up to his knees. Yuno was napping under a tree not far away. Yuno always needed more naps. "Why did you write on your leg?" Asta asked. The writing was a light brown and looked like a birthmark, but it seemed too curly and too long to actually be one. Asta could only identify a couple of the words.

Father Orsi speared a fish. He looked over at Asta. "What…?" He blinked and then his eyes changed. "Oh. Yes. Sometimes God writes words on our bodies. He chose to write, 'Would you like an apple, Father?' on my leg."

Asta looked at his own legs. They were tanned and scuffed. His knees had grass stains. There were no birthmark looking writing at all on them. "Do you think He'll write something weird on me?"

Father Orsi placed the fish with another in the bucket and climbed out of the stream. It was important not to over-fish so that everyone in the village could share in God's bounty. "I'm sure it won't be weird. Let's wake Yuno and then we can prepare the fish."

"Yeah!" Asta hurried over to Yuno. "Yuno! Yuno! Wake up! We've got fish!"

Yuno sat up and rubbed his face. He helped Asta carry the blanket back to the church as they followed Father Orsi.

Yuno knew that his own name was written on his right wrist. He tried washing it off many times but it never changed. He hoped no one thought he wrote it there himself. In the bright sunlight, it was pale and the same color of the pale fall leaves under the tree.

"Something wrong?" Sister Lily asked. She came to the church a few months ago. She was kind and calm. Yuno liked to help her with her chores.

"Sorry." Yuno hurriedly brought a shirt out of the laundry basket at their feet. He shook it out a few time to discourage wrinkles. He watched her pin the shirt to the line. "Sister…" his voice trailed. "Sister, is it normal to have your name written on your skin?"

Sister Lily looked at him and smiled. She considered her words. "It's very normal. It's not always your own name, but almost everyone has such a mark."

Thank goodness. One less worry. Yuno handed her another shirt. He looked at his wrist and traced his name. There was no difference between his mark and his skin like any other birthmark. "Why my name…?" The question was quiet. Yuno could not imagine a logical reason for it.

Since the question was quiet, Sister Lily did not address it. They finished hanging laundry and then she suggested Yuno go play with the others. She had mending to do.

The Black Bulls were a raucous bunch. The castle was always rearranging itself, there was a fire somewhere that was not any of the fireplaces at any given moment, and sheep frequently cooked meals. It was easily to settle in and all too easy to start thinking of these people and this place as home.

Asta observed the others as he ate breakfast. There were numbers on Yami's wrist. Maybe they always were there and Asta just had not noticed in all the excitement of becoming a Magic Knight and conquering his first few missions. The numbers were a series of zeros written as 00:00:00:0:00 in a stylized black font like a tattoo. Asta heard of tattoos once when a traveler passed through Hage with a large mermaid on his arm. Father Orsi said the only person allowed to decorate your body was God, but if God was everyone and everything, then certainly God was also tattoo ink, right?

"What?" Yami asked.

"I was just thinking about why you'd have three zeroes on your arm," Asta admitted, his voice light and a little apologetic.

Yami looked at the counter on his wrist and then exhaled smoke from his cigarette. "Eh. It used to count down but it's been like this for a long time now."

Asta blinked. "Count down to what?"

"No idea," Yami said. "Never really thought about it." It would have been nerve wracking. It was better not to know than choke at the wrong moment.

"Maybe it's a soulmate mark," Vanessa said. She twirled the neck of her bottle idly. "You know, how your soulmates first words to you are somewhere on your body."

"Your what on what?" Asta heard the words and knew the words but he was not expecting them together in that order.

Gordon began mumbling. "I have one on my thigh. It says 'Hi,' and all of you said 'Hi' to me when we met so I think it's wonderful that we're all soulmates living together."

"Soulmate marks," Noelle clarified to Asta. "You know, like how your name is written on your wrist. Not that I was looking for it, I just happened to notice since it's so obvious."

Asta looked down at the familiar bright pink squiggle on his left wrist. Sister Lily said it was a strawberry birthmark so Asta had interpreted it as a line of squiggled strawberries ever since. He traced the lettering. It was indeed his name. Maybe strawberry was meant to describe the color. "Huh." Maybe Father Orsi's apple question was one of these things too. "So, my soulmate says, 'Asta,' and then what?"

"Good things happen," Charmy said. "Lots of tasty food and fun."

Grey, who sat as large and imposing as ever made a noise of ascent. Gauche beside her ignored the conversation.

"You get to battle them every day without question," Luck said, his eyes sparkling in anticipation of endless fights to win.

"I don't think that's how it works," Magna murmured. Then he looked at Asta, "I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think there's rules to it."

Asta nodded. He tilted his head at his wrist and then shook his head to clear it. "Well, whoever they are, I hope they're having a good day."

Yuno was having a normal day. He adjusted to the Golden Dawn and his new surroundings a while back. He would not say he missed it, but it was weird to wake up to a rooster crowing nearby rather than Asta calling out to him from the hills as the sun rose. Yuno suited up, went to breakfast, and then it was time for patrol with Klaus and Mimosa.

Things were slow until a commotion rose near a fountain in one of the city squares.

"I don't care what it says on your arm, I'm not marrying you! I don't even know you!" a mage in a large blue hat who normally sold vegetables in the square scurried away from another mage in a red cape.

"But you're my soulmate! Everyone knows soulmates are bound for life!" The red cape billowed dramatically in the wind.

"Oh you're going to be bound for life, but not that kind of bound!" Magic took shape in the blue hat's hand.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Klaus stepped between them. "We can't have you fighting here."

There were many words all at once. It was almost like listening to the children at the church when they were fighting over something. Yuno tried not to tune the mages out, but it was difficult.

"…and here," the red cape moved aside to expose an arm, "is the proof. See? 'I hate fountains, don't you?' Who else would say that? Who hates fountains?"

"I hate them. I always have. I don't see how that means we should get married."

"Because 'Marry me' is written on your forehead! When your hat fell off, I saw it. It's proof we're meat to be!"

"Oh, so you saw it and said it then?"

"It fell off after I said that!"

The voices grew louder. A crowd formed around the edges of the square. Yuno sighed and looked at the writing. It was a lot like his birthmark. He did not understand what there was to get excited about let alone get married about. It was just words.

Klaus seemed to be handling things well enough. It took a while but eventually a blue hat disappeared to the east and a red cape to the south and the square was quiet again.

Klaus removed his glasses and rubbed his nose. "Soulmate marks are always causing trouble."

"It would be nice if people realized not all soulmates are meant to marry," Mimosa said. She ran her fingers along a series of shapes across her left hand. It did not look a random pattern. It was some kind of language, but not their native language.

Yuno glanced at his wrist. The mark was under the cuff of his uniform. Father Orsi and Sister Lily never mentioned soulmates. The first time he heard about them as upon arriving at the capitol. Some people seemed obsessed with the idea. This was not the first soulmate fight his detachment broke up and would not be the last. His mark was his own name. Anyone could say that as long as they knew what it was. Soulmates could be dangerous for someone wanting to be Wizard King. If Yuno wanted to protect Asta, Hage, and the Clover Kingdom, he could not let it distract him.

Asta and Yuno's bones resonated. Darkness rippled across Asta's skin and hair. His horn emerged, creating more of a sense of disquiet rather than pain or discomfort. Yuno's crown was warm around half of his head and wind raged within his blood. Mana bounced between them, attracted to Yuno and repelled by Asta. Single wings burst forth from their bodies simultaneously.

Asta gripped his sword tightly and bent his knees. He could almost hear a crackle in the air. His stomach tensed like a fist. He felt more aware of the anti-magic pulsing through his right side than usual and the ache in his left wrist.

Yuno's lips became a thin line. Mana control seemed effortless and infinite. He surpassed his latest plateau in leaps. His right wrist ached dully even though all his power came from the left. There was no time to ponder this. There was only time to fight.

The elves and Licht went on to the afterlife. The Magic Knights began to clean up and heal from the ordeal. Life moved along within a matter of hours.

Asta and Yuno stood along the ramparts. Nero remained resolutely perched on Asta's head. The sun would set soon. Their squad mates were either cleaning up, patrolling, or stuck in the military hospital. Both of them finished their duties for the day. It would not be long until Asta had to rendezvous with Finral to go back to base.

"Want to hear something weird?" Asta asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

"So, the strawberries on my wrist are actually my name, and my squad said that if I heard it, then my soulmate will appear."

That did not sound quite right, but Yuno decided not to dispute it. "Do you really believe that?"

Asta leaned on the rampart. The sun reflected in his hair. "I don't know." He grew quiet and his brow furrowed slightly. "Do you know what your first word was?"

Yuno's gaze shifted to the city below. "No."

The breeze ruffled their hair and Nero's feathers. Torchlight began to replace sunlight. Asta smiled. "We made a good team, but," he turned towards Yuno, "next time I'll surpass you! Be ready!"

"I will be."

They reached out and touched their fists together. A brief sensation like when they fought alongside each other disappeared as fast as it appeared. The marks on their wrists ached just as briefly.

Asta blinked and looked at his hand.

"Don't strain yourself." Yuno flexed his fingers.

"I'm not!" Asta left, shouting back at Yuno about how strong he would be next time and who would be Wizard King. His voice echoed through the ramparts until Asta was out of sight and running to make it to the rendezvous point for the Black Bulls on time.

Yuno lingered on the rampart. He knew very well what his first word was. He could still remember the conversation he had with Father Orsi almost ten years ago.

Nash was probably a year old, though he had only been at the church for nine months. Yuno picked him up so Nash could see out the window. Snow fell from the sky and Asta ran haphazardly back towards the church from the hills.

"Asta!" Nash slurred the name like any baby might, but it was obvious what he was saying. Nash fought to be put down. Yuno tried to do so gently. Nash immediately began to toddle for the door.

Yuno followed and Father Orsi joined him, abandoning his next sermon on his desk.
"Nash's first word is the bond of a brother," Father Orsi said just as the door burst open and Asta barreled into the church. "You were the same. The first time I ever heard you speak with intent, you said Asta's name."

Yuno looked up at Father Orsi, contemplating what he said. He, of course did not remember it, but something about it sounded right.

The door shut loudly since Asta did not bother to guide it closed so he could hug Nash instead. Asta's hands were cold enough to startle Nash and he stumbled back, sitting the floor.

Yuno could still remember the mild chaos that followed before they sat down to supper that evening all those years ago. The breeze blew Yuno's hair back from his forehead and brought him back from his memories. All these things might line up, but that did not mean he wanted to believe in things like soulmates. Yuno sighed quietly and felt warmth near his face as Sylph appeared. He tuned out her chatter and headed back to base as the last of the sunlight vanished beneath the horizon.

The End