"Morning!" Shouyou grinned cheerfully as he stepped into the darkness of the shop, giggling a bit as the bell rang behind him.
"It's about time!" Daichi peered into the shop from the back, glaring. Shouyou jumped. What did I do wrong this time?
A soft laugh sounded from behind Daichi and Suga called, "Don't be too harsh on him, Dai. He's only five minutes late. No need to yell."
Daichi grumbled something back, but Shouyou relaxed with a happy sigh. Daichi wouldn't yell with Suga in the vicinity, so Shouyou's ear drums were safe for the moment.
Daichi turned back to Shouyou, his face considerably less angry. "It's your turn to sit at the counter today, Shouyou. Don't scare anyone off."
Shouyou crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks out angrily at Daichi. "That was one time!"
Daichi returned to whatever he was doing and laughed. Shouyou pouted. There had been that one little kid who had come into the shop with her parents and been afraid when Shouyou turned around with a greatsword in his hand. It wasn't Shouyou's fault; the kid should have been expecting weapons when he walked into a blacksmith's shop, for heaven's sake.
Shouyou vaulted over the front counter and plopped in the chair with a sigh. Manning the counter was, in Shouyou's opinion, the most boring job ever. Usually he at least could pick a fight with Kageyama to entertain himself, but Kageyama had caught some disease or another and was bedridden, leaving Shouyou alone and bored out of his brains at the counter. He couldn't even try to teach himself how to sword fight; he had lost that privilege when he had nearly beheaded a nobleman that came in to pick up his order. Shouyou had honestly been afraid that Daichi would kill him; he probably would have had Suga's brilliant charm not saved the nobleman from leaving the shop that instant. Kageyama had been too busy laughing in a corner to help Shouyou, the asshole.
Shouyou leaned the chair back onto its two back legs, suppressing a yawn. He propped his feet up on the counter, figuring that it would be a while before they got a customer. The Karasuno forge was good quality but fairly unknown, hidden away in the back corner of long line of shops and markets. They got paid enough to stay in business, but not much else. Most days spent at the counter were spent napping or tussling with Kageyama.
Looks like it's going to be a nap day, Shouyou thought as he closed his eyes. It had begun to rain, the harsh pounding of the water on the metal roof turned soft and gentle by the louder pounding of metal on metal from the forge. Daichi was probably working on another order. Even though at first that noise had grated on Shouyou's nerves like you wouldn't believe, by then it had become calming rather than irritating.
The rain worsened steadily for the next hour and a half. Shouyou was nearly asleep by the time the bell jingled, indicating that someone had entered the shop for the first time all day. Startled by the sound, Shouyou jumped and overbalanced, sending his chair crashing to the floor along with himself. He yelped as he hit the floor, his head slamming against the ground. Shouyou groaned lowly as he sat up, blinking to try to disperse the little fireworks of pain sprouting from the back of his head. Rubbing the back of his head ruefully, he stood up and smiled.
"Sorry about that! I just—" Hinata's words came to a sudden stop when he saw who was fidgeting nervously in front of the door. He was gorgeous. He was clearly rich, maybe a high-ranking lord or a member of the Royal Court, in a tailored suit and shiny shoes. He had clearly been soaked by the whether; his clothes were sticking closely to his skin and his hair, long and almost greenish brown and tied up into a little pony tail, was dripping onto the floor. He was pale, with wide amber eyes and freckles splattered across his nose and cheeks that Shouyou found to be absolutely adorable. Whoever this guy was, Shouyou wanted to know him in every way possible. He was that beautiful.
The mystery man's eyes were wide with worry as he approached the counter. "Are you alright? That sounded like a nasty fall!"
Shouyou almost melted into a puddle. The man's voice was like warm honey, all soft and smooth and fuck Shouyou could just listen to him talk for forever.
"Yep! I'm fine!" Shouyou gave the man his biggest prize-winning smile and tried to ignore to shout about how pretty the man was.
The man let out a relieved sigh, smiling a bit. Hinata almost died. "Oh, good. I was afraid you'd gotten hurt."
Shouyou shook his head sheepishly. "Nope! Not even a little bruised. You just surprised me."
The man laughed quietly and rubbed the back of his head in what was clearly an anxious habitual gesture. "Sorry."
Shouyou shook his head again. "Don't worry about it! Anyway, you're a customer, right?"
The man nodded a bit. "Yeah, I am." Suddenly he looked desperate and a little hopeless. Shouyou was worried.
"I need an order, but it's a rather strange one. Do you do anything but weaponry? Jewelry, maybe?"
Shouyou had to think for a moment. Since Daichi and Asahi were their main blacksmiths, the shop tended to sell weapons, but Suga had a more delicate touch and had been known to make a necklace or a ring every now and again, especially if the money was good. Shouyou nodded.
"Yeah, we can. What is it you want?" Shouyou ducked beneath the counter for a moment, setting a pad of paper on the surface and then resting the tip of the pen against it.
The man hesitated, then sighed. "I need a crown."
Shouyou gaped for a moment, more than a little surprised. They had never done one of those. "Alright. What's your name? So we can get in contact later."
Shouyou was ecstatic – with a name, he'd be able to talk to the man later and flirt as much as he wanted – but the man flinched. He ducked his head, wringing his hands anxiously.
"Ah… Yamaguchi. My name's Yamaguchi Tadashi."
That made Shouyou's eyes fly wide. He knew that name. Everyone knew that name. Yamaguchi was the Prince's advisor, and rumored to be the only one who could keep Tsukishima Kei's temper in check. The fact that Shouyou had been thinking of hitting on him suddenly became absurd and impossible. Yamaguchi was so far out of his league that it wasn't even funny.
Yamaguchi sighed, as if he had expected this reaction. Shouyou supposed that he probably did; it wasn't exactly common for one of the Court members to show up at a lowly shop like Karasuno. Hinata quickly shook himself from his stupor and jotted down several exclamation points. He'd know what it meant later.
"Okay! How soon do you need it?"
Yamaguchi was the one who seemed surprised now. Then he gave Shouyou the smallest and shyest of smiles. Shouyou nearly died for the second time in less than ten minutes. "Within the week would be best, but we don't really need it until the end of the month."
Shouyou nodded, writing that down as well. He'd get Suga right to work; just because Yamaguchi was way beyond out of his league didn't mean he wasn't beautiful. "Alright! We'll get right to work on that!"
Yamaguchi looked relieved. After thanking Shouyou repeatedly for a good ten minutes, they chatted for a while until Yamaguchi left. And if Shouyou planted a kiss square on Yamaguchi's freckled cheek the next time they met, well, what the rest of the world didn't know wouldn't hurt them.