プロローグ

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"Are you sure this is the last place on the list?" Hinata asked his little sister, Natsu, with an incredulous expression, studying the decrepit building that stood in front of them. It was an apartment complex, but definitely not a nice one. The facade was crumbling, the brick walls were graffitied with things that looked suspiciously like pentacles, and the smell of sulfur hung heavily in the air, stinging Hinata's eyes and nose with the stench of rotting eggs.

The fact that it was almost ten o'clock and very dark only added to the place's creepy aesthetic, and there wasn't a single soul besides the two of them out on the sidewalk. The faint sound of police sirens could be heard off in the distance as well as the clinking of glass bottles from an alleyway down the street. Hinata would've been worried for their safety if there wasn't a switchblade in his sweatshirt pocket. (His father made him carry it around under the guise of 'You're a small boy: You need some way to protect yourself!')

Aside from that, Hinata got a weird tingly feeling in his chest that made him uneasy. This whole place was just plain wrong somehow. It was seriously freaking him out.

So, overall? Not a great first impression.

"Let's go inside," Natsu prompted, tugging on his arm in a guiding manner, not seeming to share his unsettled feeling. "The rent is affordable and the cost of WiFi is included with the living expenses. It's a steal, nii-chan."

"More like a 'steal your soul'," Hinata muttered morosely, but he allowed her to pull him along anyway. As a broke college student, he didn't have a ton of money and therefore didn't have a lot of housing options, either. What was the harm in just checking the place out? If he didn't like it, he could always go find somewhere else. And if it did end up working out, he would have an affordable rent and a roof over his head. It was a win-win...

...unless he ended up getting murdered, of course, but Hinata tried to remain optimistic as they approached the front doors. They were like the doors you would see at a school; plain scruffed metal push ones with no glass. They were devoid of spray-paint, at least, so Hinata chose to take that as a good sign and pushed them open.

Immediately, a harsh gust of air swept at the two siblings full force, like they'd walked into a wind tunnel. Natsu shrieked and rushed to hold her skirt down while Hinata yelped and raised his hands to defend them from who-knew-what that might come rushing at them from inside. He was left bracing himself in the empty doorway, but they were not attacked.

"Nii-chan, lower your arms," Natsu murmured, pushing past him with a scoff. "You look ridiculous. It was just the air-conditioning." She pointed at a vent above their heads. "Oh," Hinata mumbled quietly, blushing as he silently followed behind her towards the elevators. Despite still being embarrassed, Hinata found himself glancing suspiciously around the lobby, looking for some sign of something sinister.

The place was much nicer inside, with hardwood flooring, potted plants, and (as they'd witnessed first-hand) strong air-conditioning. A wall to the left was full of individual metal mailbox units for each apartment and next to them was a coat-rack holding a few umbrellas of varying colors. Maybe it rained a lot in this area because some of them still looked a bit wet, glistening under the fluorescent lighting.

Turning his attention ahead, Hinata stopped with Natsu by the elevators as she pressed the 'up' arrow. The girl muttered to herself as she studied a crumpled piece of yellow paper in her hand: the flyer for the apartment. "Which floor was it again... Oh, right, four." She turned to Hinata, pointing at the flyer. "These apartments must be huge. It says here you'll have three roommates."

"Huh." Hinata frowned as the elevator dinged and they stepped inside. "That is weird. It doesn't look like this place is that big on the outside."

Natsu shrugged, pushing the button for the 4th floor with her pinkie and leaning back against the railing. "Dunno. Maybe that's why the rent is so fair—because it's crowded?"

"I guess so..." Hinata smiled. "I don't mind it being crowded, though. I don't take up much space anyway."

"True," Natsu remarked with a giggle. "You know, this place isn't as bad as I thought. It's much nicer inside."

"Yeah, you're right," Hinata agreed. "I guess it was rude of us to judge it based on looks. After all, it's not like it's the building's fault that it was built in this neighborhood." He cocked his head slightly and listened to an earful of cheerful elevator music. "It seems nice here. I hope my roommates are nice. If they are, I'll totally go with this place!"

"Good," Natsu said as they stepped off onto the 4th floor. "This apartment search has been going on for way too long. Before long, you'd have been living on the streets during your first semester!" She turned her attention up ahead with an excited grin. "Look, there it is!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him in that direction. "Apartment four-twelve. Let's go!"

The outside of the apartment looked pleasant enough. The door was made of black lacquer and the number '412' was stenciled into a gold plaque beside it. A mat beside the door held three different pairs of shoes ranging in style in size, though they all obviously belonged to men, and another mat directly in front of the door read 'Welcome!' in cheerful, curling font.

Hinata and Natsu traded hopeful looks before the younger sibling reached out and knocked twice on the door, calling as she did so, "Hello! We're the new tenant applicants!"

After a few seconds of waiting, a muffled response could be heard from the other side of the door. "Door's unlocked! Come on in!"

Natsu didn't hesitate, twisting the door handle and pushing it open to reveal the living space beyond. From their spot in front of the door, Hinata could see into the living room, where a dark-haired boy around his age was doing what appeared to be yoga on a mat in the center of the floor. He looked up at them when the door opened, relaxing into a seal stretch. "You can leave your shoes there."

"Oh, um— Okay." The siblings shared a perplexed look at the nonchalance of all of this, kicking off their shoes and arranging them beside the other three pairs on the mat before tentatively stepping foot into the apartment and closing the door behind them. Hinata found this whole ordeal oddly... relaxed, and he glanced around the apartment with slight wariness.

The dark-haired boy shifted into downward dog and looked up at them through narrowed hazel eyes with a lazy grin. "So, you two are here about the apartment opening? I'm afraid we only have one spot available."

"Oh, no, this is my sister," Hinata hurried to say. "She just came with me to check it out."

"Oh, so you're the candidate, then?" The boy shifted into the camel pose, staring at them upside-down. "You know the details, correct?"

"Y-yes," Hinata stuttered, unnerved by the strange position. "I read over the flyer..."

"Cool." He shifted into the pigeon pose—Hinata was amazed by his flexibility—and somehow managed to hold out a hand to him. "I'm Kuroo Tetsurō, by the way."

"Hinata Shōyō," Hinata replied, shaking the proffered appendage hesitantly. "This is my sister, Natsu."

"Nice to meet you." Finally, Kuroo straightened out of his contortion and stood, revealing himself to be about a head-and-a-half taller than Hinata, and about three or four taller than Natsu. Hinata blanched at the height difference but managed to force his surprise down quickly, trying not to appear rude. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I'll give you the tour." The boy turned and cupped his hands around his mouth to shout into a hallway leading to several doors. "Oi, Kenma, Kageyama, get out here!"

From two of the closed doors came two different responses: "Fuck you," and, "One second." Hinata flushed slightly at the first one, restraining the urge to cover Natsu's ears—she was only 16, after all, and language like that was a bad influence on her. Instead of protecting his sister's innocence, however, he instead watched the hallway as one door opened and another boy stepped through.

Hinata noted (with relief) that this one was around the same height as him, with odd half-blond, half-black hair, and cat-like amber eyes. He shuffled into the room on socked-feet, sporting a baggy 'Player One' hoodie and faded black jeans, carrying a red Gameboy. He blinked at them disinterestedly as he approached. "Oh, do we have new applicants?"

"You guessed it." Kuroo went to stand beside his friend with a smile, resting an arm on the shorter boy's shoulder, earning an annoyed scowl. "Hinata-kun, Hinata-chan, this is Kenma Kozume." He turned to peer down the hallway searchingly. "I guess our resident colorful speaker isn't going to join us, but his name's Kageyama Tobio."

"I see..." Hinata laughed nervously. "Well, um... Nice to meet you, Kenma-kun..."

"Yeah, sure." He turned to Kuroo with bored eyes. "Can I go back to my room now?"

"Ignore him," Kuroo said lightly, attempting to discreetly kick Kenma in the ankle, though it didn't work very well. "We'll give you the tour now, and then you can decide if you want to rent the place or not."

Hinata had to admit: the apartment was nice. Very nice, actually. Despite the fact that three guys were living there, the place was very neat and tidy, dishes drying in a rack beside the sink and the carpeted floor devoid of any messes. It was spacious, too, with a living room, kitchen, two bathrooms, and four bedrooms (though he only got to see three of them).

When the tour concluded with them once again back in the living room, Kuroo turned to them with his hands on his hips, wearing a wide smile that made him seem like he was up to no good, though Hinata had gathered through the tour—from Kenma—that he always looked like that. "So, what do you think?"

Hinata glanced at Natsu and they traded smiles before looking back up at Kuroo, the decision made. "I'll take it!"

"Oh, good." Kuroo let out a relieved sigh. "We've been looking for a person to fill this spot for ages!" He grinned and clapped Hinata on the shoulder cheerfully. "Welcome to the family, Hinata!"

The next day, Hinata—with the help of Natsu—moved the five boxes full of his meager possessions into his new room and got settled in. It had come with a bed, a desk, and a dresser, so all he'd had to do was make the bed, hang up some posters and photos, put his clothes in the closet, and set out his small collection of books on the desk.

When everything was done, he and Natsu sat back and surveyed their work with satisfaction. "Looks great, nii-chan. I think you're going to like it here."

"Me too, Natsu." Hinata grinned down at her. "I'm glad you goaded me into checking this place out."

She giggled. "Yeah, I am, too. With this place's rent, you'll actually have enough money to feed and clothe yourself at the end of the month, so that's a relief."

"No kidding," Hinata agreed with a laugh. "Want to get a drink before you go back home?"

"Yeah, sure."

The two siblings headed out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen, chatting cheerfully. "I think I saw some lemonade in there yester— AH!" Hinata shrieked, jumping backward and tripping over Natsu as he entered the kitchen to find what could only be... a bird? He scrambled farther back and pulled Natsu behind him protectively. "Why the heck is there a bird in the kitchen?! Natsu-chan, stay behind me!"

"You're being a wimp, nii-chan!" She tried to push past him, annoyed. "It's just a bird!"

"It could be rabid!" Hinata caught her by the collar and dragged her back again. "It could peck our eyes out!"

"First of all," she said contemptuously, "birds can't be rabid, and second of all, we're bigger and stronger than it." Her eyes narrowed in exasperation. "It's just a bird."

"Actually, it's Kuroo," a voice said from behind them. Both siblings whipped around with shrieks of surprise to find Kenma standing behind them, eyes downcast as he played a game on his phone. Without looking up, he continued, "He's a tengu. Didn't you read that on the flyer?"

"W-wh-what?" Hinata stammered, glancing back at the bird, which was perched on the back of a chair, decidedly appalled. He turned back to Kenma after a moment and gave an uneasy laugh. "Oh, it's... just a joke, right?"

"No." Kenma picked up a yellow flyer identical to the one Natsu had brought Hinata a few days ago—although slightly less wrinkled—and brandished it in his face. "Look."

Hinata snatched the paper, eyes flying over the advertisement. His eyes grew progressively wider in size as he scanned over it again, and again, a squeak escaping his lips as the words registered in his mind. 'Tengu, kitsune, and demon seeking roommate. Monthly rent of 43,000¥, including living expenses such as water, gas, WiFi, etc. Appeal to tenants of apartment 412 if interested.'

This was the same flyer, but... how had he missed this?! The paper slipped from Hinata's trembling fingers and he covered his face with a despairing wail. What on earth have I gotten myself into?!

A/N: I KNOW I SHOULDN'T BE STARTING MORE STORIES WHEN I HAVE SO MANY TO FINISH BUT I CAN'T HELP IT (˃̣̣̥д˂̣̣̥)

I got the idea for this and I just had to write it immediately. It was inspired by CollegeHumor's 'Housemates of Horror' skit, so you can thank them for me overworking myself and procrastinating so much ok. Anyway, I hope you guys like this. Let me know if it feels too rushed bc I'm still trying to slow down my writing. As always, feel free to leave comments, corrections, and suggestions down in the review section, and follow and favorite if you enjoy the story. Also, feeding my headcanon that Kuroo is hella flexible ay~

Until next time~ byeeee! ^-^