Bonds of Descendants
Chapter One: In which Kuroo Tetsurou and Iwaizumi Hajime learn the pros and cons of kitchen fires
It's been six years, thirteen weeks, and two days, and Tetsurou still can't bring himself to forget Kenma.
The police have long given up the search for the lost individual; they are simply standing by for the final days of his disappearance to become a year so they can officially declare Kozume Kenma dead. Tetsurou can say with one hundred percent confidence that he's still alive. He has no facts. No proof. Not one semblance of physical evidence. He just knows .
Because of this, Tetsurou still searches for him: on the bus; in the streets; in the mall when buying clothes; under the stupid, ever-changing cherry blossoms. He's seen them five times without Kenma; he has no desire for a sixth.
Tetsurou always feels like he missed something from the last time he had seen Kenma. A sign. A cryptic message; something Kenma had trusted him to figure out when Tetsurou had really only been left as in the dark as everyone else.
" Kuro." Tetsurou is exhausted. His first year in college was shaping up to be even more exhausting than his last year of high school. He'd known all his relatives had been giving empty promises when they told him the worst of it was over. Tetsurou had flung himself on his mushy couch and is part delirious from lack of sleep. However, Kenma is asking for his attention even while Tetsurou's eyes are threatening to close so it must be important. He sits up and grunts a "hm?" as he braces his neck against the back of the couch.
Instead of verbalizing whatever he had wanted to say that day, Kenma stays silent. Pursing his lips, Kenma's gaze shifts everywhere except where his best friend is. Tetsurou remembers thinking that it is weird how nervous Kenma had been. He's not used to Nervous Kenma; his best friend shouldn't have been that anxious around him.
All of a sudden, Tetsurou feels a different type of sleepy, an I'm Actually Falling Asleep sleepy, and the moment before he closes his eyes, Kenma finally focuses on him. Tetsurou had sealed his eyes tight then so he can only rely on his other senses to recall what had happened afterwards. He remembers something light and feathery touch his forehead and the words: "Take care of everything Kuro."
Kenma disappears the very next day.
What had Kenma meant by 'everything'? Did he mean to take care of their friends? Of Kenma's possessions? Why couldn't Kenma take care of them? Why had he disappeared? Where had he disappeared to? Why hadn't he told Tetsurou where he was going? There must be some double meaning in his last words, something Tetsurou misses every single time he thinks about it, something Cryptic Kenma had left for him to figure out.
Not matter how long Tetsurou racks his brain about it, he can never find the right puzzle pieces.
Tetsurou sometimes scoffs when he remembers that he had been in advanced college classes, that he had been captain of the volleyball team, that people had called him observant and level-headed. What was the point of any of it if he couldn't use it to find his best friend? Was he just getting old or did the infinite amount of bad jokes Bokuto sent him on a daily basis ( still sends him on a daily basis) destroy his rational side while cultivating his very useless pun-making and meme-ing skills to mastery?
The door to the apartment clicks open and Tetsurou leans back as far as he can against the couch to glimpse the sight of Iwaizumi carrying two bags of Chinese food. Tetsurou reaches for the bag lazily, like a child asking for sweets. "Give this starving man some food, Iwa-chan."
Iwaizumi holds the bag just out of reach. "Excuse me?"
"Oh great Iwaizumi-san, savior of the poor, prosecutor of the benevolent, bestow this piss-poor soul with the nutrients that is Chinese—" Tetsurou doesn't even finish his dramatic praise before Iwaizumi throws the bag at him.
"You make it sound like you're the only piss-poor person around here." Iwaizumi heaves a sigh and moves around the couch Tetsurou's thrown across to sit on the adjacent one. He sets his own bag of Chinese on the almond coffee table and instead of ripping open the paper bag and eating, he places his palms on his forehead.
Tetsurou only sees Iwaizumi like this once and it's when they're late on rent.
"Iwaizumi-kun," Tetsurou begins matter-of-factly. "I know you're worried about rent and stuff but starving yourself isn't going to help."
Iwaizumi scowls and glares. "Don't call me that." He opens up his own bag and takes out the container within. He pauses again, seems to have a whole conversation in his head while Tetsurou slurps his noodles and then agrees with whatever he was fighting over with himself with a swift nod. Tetsurou struggles to hide a snort at that.
"Kuroo," There's something weighty about the way Iwaizumi says his name, like he had meant to say Kuroo not Kuroo, "I found something at the library today." Iwaizumi pulls what looks to be a piece of paper out of his pocket and gives Tetsurou a long, hard look before flinging it on the table between them. Tetsurou leans forward, mouth full of food, to examine this seemingly innocent piece of paper Iwaizumi found at the library.
Tetsurou nearly spits out his noodles when the glaring bold letters spelling KOZUME SHRINE stare back at him.
"Listen," Tetsurou can barely hear Iwaizumi over the pounding in his ears. A clue; a freaking clue. Finally: something . "I don't want to get our hopes up too high, ok? Kozume isn't really a common name so I just thought it was worth a shot."
"Yeah, ok, sure—" Tetsurou holds the postcard gingerly between his fingers. On the back there's an address and the pounding in Tetsurou's ears gets louder. He manages to say, "Can I—."
"Just go."
Even though Tetsurou on any other day would have taken more than twenty minutes to change out of pure laziness, today he grapples out of his pajamas and into his clothes in a minute flat.
After he flags down a bus and jimmies himself in a window seat, he has the world to think.
Tetsurou is beside himself with unadulterated excitement. Finally, a step forward; a step in the direction of finding Kenma. Maybe if he gets any luckier, he'll actually find him. Then Tetsurou can feel right again. The cords broken inside of him will right themselves if he can just see that Kenma is alive and living. That's all he needs to stop feeling broken. He needs to find Kenma.
The bus halts at the most secluded, deserted bus-stop ever yet it does nothing to damper Tetsurou's spirits. Even when the man driving the automobile asks him if he's sure this is where he wants to stop, Tetsurou happily affirms it and thanks the old guy.
The Kozume Shrine stands at the end of a secluded staircase after numerous dead-ends and bush-trampling. He walks under a burnt, broken torii at the top. It feels ominous and unnerving because it's the only damaged construction. The shrine itself is made from a charred wooden structure, elevated off lush grass, supporting a crimson tiled roof that curves at the edges. For some odd reason, there are no ceremonial bells or future stands, no animal guardians or even living souls anywhere. It doesn't feel off to Tetsurou just yet. Just odd. There's not a single element of a normal shrine here but the shrine building itself.
And a beat-up, burned down torii… Tetsurou ignores the cynical voice inside of him that reminds of that. He ignores it along with the very Negative Tetsurou that tells him he's raising his hopes too high and that he should lower them before he gets hurt again. Instead of listening to the Negative Tetsurou, Tetsurou listens to the positive one, that one that tells him Kenma's been here, that he's lived here for a long time and that if he slides open the shrine door, he'll see a mop of onyx hair fussing over character customization and the best matchup for overpowered offspring exactly like he'd been six years, thirteen weeks and two days ago.
Tetsurou knows Kenma's going to be there when he opens the sliding door, and Tetsurou will be shocked and thrilled and mad to see him just standing there, waiting for Tetsurou—
" Kenma! Where have you been?! You took such a long time, I was so very worried—"
The wooden panel slides open before Tetsurou can ride another train of thought and something big, white and furry jumps him.
Over the top of this gigantic-ass dog that's just leapt at Tetsurou, he spies one of the most odd looking women Tetsurou's ever seen in his twenty four years of living. She's maybe less than half a head shorter than him, donning a pristine white yukata dotted with rose-colored flowers. White hair tumbles down her shoulders, and as if her physical features can't get any more deviant, the glare she sends his startled face is coloured with vermillion hues. At least, he hopes it's only startled and not jaw-dropped stunned because even with the weird anime protagonist hair and the eye color that should not exist, she's really, really pretty.
"You're… not Kenma." It's the woman who says this. Tetsurou had heard her say Kenma's name the first time and hearing it again make his hopes skyrocket.
"You know Kenma? Is he here?" He hopes his voice didn't crack at that last bit. He needs to focus. He's found his lead from this beautiful albino woman and he's going to grasp at it like his life depends on it.
The woman doesn't answer. Instead, she reaches out and Tetsurou is startled to find her lift his bangs aside. Her hand is soft against his scalp and warm and… glowing? No, it's Tetsurou's forehead that's glowing. It feels all fuzzy and weird and—why is his forehead glowing ?
"I… I see." The woman states, still unresponsive to Tetsurou's question as she folds her hands back into the sleeves of her yukata. Tetsurou realizes that she isn't really glaring. It's sadness in her eyes. Suddenly, Tetsurou isn't sure about Kenma being here at all.
Negative Tetsurou tells him the first two guesses don't count at the same time the woman gives a silent nod after he asks, "Kenma isn't here, is he?"
After fifteen minutes of staring at his old laptop screen, Hajime decides he's overdue for a break and a long walk. He scraps his chair against the floor, stuffs his hand in his pockets and makes his way out of the stuffiness of his and Kuroo's apartment.
Hajime actually needs to walk to the location he wants to take a stroll in but he doesn't mind the extra time to think.
Hajime frankly doesn't know if he's done the right thing. He knows if he hadn't given Kuroo the postcard, the guilt would've eaten him away until he had given it to him. There are a few issues Hajime feels guilty about in the whole Disappearance of Kozume Kenma ordeal. He knows it's stupid but somewhere, deep inside, he can't help but think it's his fault.
Hajime had never been the type to ask for much. He had a nice family, good friends and even if he's semi-poor at the moment, he has enough food and clothes to sustain his needs. Hajime had never asked for more than he was given nor did he ever want more.
Sometimes though, Hajime had wished he had a best friend.
It's not that he doesn't have friends; he has a handful of very amazing friends (even if half of them act like asshats because they deem it fun ) and Hajime is grateful for every single one of them. However, he has never felt that he had a best friend in any of them. He never feels that any of them understand him like the back of their hand the way he wants them to nor does he feel he does the same for them. He wants a friend the same way Kenma was a friend to Kuroo.
Hajime had wished for that and he feels, by some cruel spin of fate, some deity had taken hold of his wish and granted in the cruelest way possible; by making Kozume Kenma disappear off the face of the earth and forcing Kuroo to find a closer friend in Hajime.
Hajime knows it's stupid. There's no way that's the truth nor what really happened. He just feels that way sometimes.
Hajime finally arrives at the pathway near Natori riverbank and takes in the smell of the river. He shadows his typical path and lets the wind hit his face. Momentarily, Hajime closes his eyes and imagines what would happen if Kuroo really does find Kenma. Hajime would bash the idiot over the head first, reprimand him for being stupid, integrate every single detail out of him until Hajime knows where he's been exactly and then grab him in a one-arm hug and tell him never to scare Kuroo (or him) like that ever again.
Hajime opens his eyes, sees a naked man passed out on the riverbank, and sighs.
Hajime halts because there is a naked man passed out on the riverbank.
Hajime jerks into action. He slides down the bank and his sneakers dig into the gravel as he runs to help the guy.
"Oi! Are you ok?!" He drops next to the man and lifts his face so it isn't stuck in the gravel and to make sure he'd breathing. He is, thank god, and Hajime sighs with relief. It doesn't last very long when he becomes conscious of the fact how roughed up the guy is. His body is littered with multi-colored bruises and splotches of blood. A breathe Hajime hadn't known he was holding releases.
He should call the police.
He fumbles with his phone, unbelieving he has a serious reason to call the cops; that he's going to press three numbers that will cause this riverbank to be swamped with police cars and just when he's about to press the last number, his phone rings and he jumps.
And the roughed up guy in his lap leaps up.
Hajime's baffled, caught between staring in disbelief at the man dusting himself off, mumbling to himself in a language Hajime doesn't know, and answering his phone call. Since Still Naked Guy is apparently able to walk even when Hajime was about to flag down an ambulance a moment ago, Hajime presses the green button on his phone and says, "H—hello?"
"Hey, Iwaizumi." It's his landlord.
Hajime omits the memory of Naked Guy immediately and suddenly holds his phone closer and more grimly. He knew this was going to happen eventually. Naoi has gotten sick of them and was now kicking them out. Hajime apologizes a million times over. Kuroo and him were too poor and three months late on rent and if Naoi could just— "—wait until I get my paycheck on Friday—"
"Iwaizumi." Hajime stops. Naoi is using his I'm Older Than You So You Need To Shut It voice and Hajime knows it's no use. They've strung this too far and now they need to deal with the consequences. Accepting his fate with a deep exhale (maybe this is what he got for wishing too), Hajime thinks about everything they have and need to get to live out until they find a new place. Maybe they should reenact Kuroo's and his first year college plan: special fruits basket edition—
"I'm not sure how to break this to you but… there is no apartment for you to pay rent anymore. It just got burned down in a kitchen fire."
They can easily get the necessary camping items, and with the lowered living costs they can pay back the three month's rent they owe and maybe—
" I'm not sure how to break this to you but there is no apartment for you to pay rent anymore. It burned down in a kitchen fire."
"E— Excuse me? " Was this a joke? Did Hajime accidently fall asleep? Is he dreaming? Is he in a greater nightmare than the ones he puts himself in? But Naoi isn't the type to joke about something as serious as the building seventeen people lived in had burned into the ground.
"There was a fire and the whole place was toasted in fifteen minutes flat. Thankfully, no one got hurt too badly. They were all mostly out."
Hajime doesn't think he's breathing.
"We were too late in calling the fire department. The whole place is gone—" Naoi sighs deeply. "Just like that."
" Just like that." Just like that, Hajime's home is gone. Just like that, Hajime has nowhere to go back to. Just like that, Hajime has nothing left but the clothes on his back. Just like that, Kenma had disappeared. Just like that, Hajime has nothing.
" Just like that."
"Hey! Hey! "
There is a naked man in front of him. No; the naked man Hajime had completely forgotten about is now in front of him. He stares Hajime in the eyes, holds him by the shoulders and gives him a good shake.
Some semblance of mind returns to Hajime with the gesture. He had never thought being actually shaken would help him return to a better mindset. It's so strange being shaken and helped by a naked man he doesn't even know. Hajime just about to comment in gratitude or thanks or something just as he hears Naoi ask, "—do you and Kuroo have some place you can stay until we figure this out?"
They can no longer rely on anything but themselves and their capabilities. Hajime stares back at this man who shook him and finds himself nodding. Both to him, and to Naoi's question. "Me and Kuroo will figure something out."
Naoi goes silent on the other end and he's back with his stern adult voice a moment later. "If I find out you and Kuroo are back in tents again, I'm going to drag you back to old Nekomata's place by the scruffs of your necks, you got that?"
Hajime gives a nervous chuckle. "We were stupid freshmen back then."
" You got that?"
"I got it."
"Good. I gotta go make sure Kyoutani hasn't murdered Haiba yet. Talk to you later."
The line cuts off and Hajime lowers his phone. Naked Guy releases him and puts his hands at his hips in akimbo, "Now that you've gotten yourself sorted out, do you mind if I steal your clothing?"
And then, as if he had just wished for his day to get worse, Hajime has the most absurd experience of some strange man who had literally just helped steady Hajime to his feet a second ago try to rip his clothes off.
Kentarou has never been so close to committing a homicide.
He hadn't left Lev for an hour ; he'd left the bastard for twenty seven minutes and he comes back to the ashes of the apartment and a very soot-covered, excited Lev. Kentarou hadn't even known it was possible to even burn down an entire apartment complex in under a half hour but he should've known Lev would find a way to do the impossible. Sure there may been some gas leak or something that had doomed them all when Lev had begun cooking but he still blames the idiot. Kentarou has not been this mad since Lev had nearly drowned Yahaba by throwing the non-swimmer into the Natori. And he doesn't even like Yahaba.
"Don't worry, Kyo, we get to live in Nekomata-san's creepy house now! Isn't that awesome?!"
The only 'awesome' positive in this situation is if Kentarou can work out how to burn Lev's existence out of the world with the heat of his glare. Why is this bastard so fucking happy when he's the fuckard who just ruined seventeen different peoples' days?
Lev sets a hand on his shoulder and hounds him. "Kyo, you can't keep making that weird face. It's going to stick and then everyone will really think you're from the yakuza!"
Kentarou realizes that his bastard friend just ruined Iwaizumi's day and he punches him.
Lev goes down with a squawk so damn infuriating that Kentarou is nearly on him again. He wants to shank this guy so bad. But he can't because Lev is his friend and friends don't kill each other (which has never stopped him from pummeling the idiot before but he knows if he does, Yahaba will nag him until he finds a way for it to bother Kentarou.)
"Did you just— punch me?" Lev asks in wonder. Why is Kentarou acquainted with this schlep? Why does Kentarou only know people who drive him up walls? Is he a fucking masochist?
"I should be the adult here and tell you that was wrong but we all know Lev was asking for it."
Naoi comes up behind them and places a hand on Kentarou's shoulder. "The idiot only gets one today though." He adds with a warning look.
Kentarou knows he's right but that doesn't stop him from thinking about it.
"It was an accident. Accidents happen all the time." Naoi grips Kentarou's shoulder a little tighter, "The important thing is we learn from them." Why was Naoi being all poetic and shit? Did he accidentally inhale some of the smoke? Screw Lev for that one too.
Lev shoots up and salutes. Kentarou is not joining him. "Yes sir!"
"Or some other shit proverb." Kentarou smirks. That was more like Naoi. "Please don't burn down Nekomata-san's place too, Lev."
Kentarou and Lev walk off to find a bus to Nekomata's. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs and the money in their banks. They could stay at Yahaba's (he's been asking them to move in since the first moon phase) but then he'd nag a lot. Any place without Yahaba's constant hovering and badgering is the better place.
Lev catches up to Kentarou after he'd lagged behind to say something to Naoi.
"Staying at Nekomata's place is going to be cool and everything," Lev blabbers. "But what are we going to do on Friday? There's a full moon."
Kentarou freezes. If he hadn't thought they were screwed before, they sure were now.
" Shiro." Tetsurou sees Kenma slide open a door, "I'm back."
" Welcome back." Tetsurou finds himself saying. But it isn't his voice that comes out nor him who initiates the word, it's a feminine voice filled with something Tetsurou places as warmth. "What took you so long? The food is cold now."
" Sorry, I was at… Kuro's."That was true. Kenma had been at his house that day, hadn't he? Kenma stays in the doorway, nervous, exactly the way he'd been when he'd been at Tetsurou's. Tetsurou feels worry that isn't his well up in him. His Not-Voice doesn't get to say anything before Kenma perks up and states, "Shiro, there's a midnight release today…"
" Again?" Even though legs that aren't his walk through a corridor into a kitchen, and hands that aren't his stuff food in a bento box, a voice that isn't his says exasperatedly, "I never understand why you can't magic up these games of yours."
Tetsurou turns around in this body that isn't him and finds surprise expand with not his worry from earlier when Kenma wraps his hands around his not waist and buries his head in his not chest.
" K-Kenma? What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Tetsurou's not hand stills at his sides when Kenma shakes his head. A long minute passes, he feels the corners of his not lips turn up in a smile and a hand that isn't his pats Kenma's hair.
" You are not yourself today."
" I'm sorry."
A chuckle. "You have nothing to apologize for."
" I'm sorry."
Here, Tetsurou feels confusion and more worry. Kenma releases him from the hug and takes the bento box. He looks him once in the eyes.
" I'll be back." Kenma turns around and begins to walk away.
" Kenma." Tetsurou sees through his not eyes Kenma's shoulders stop moving. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Kenma doesn't answer for a long time.
" I'm ok."
Tetsurou's vision begins to fade and in his last moments of the memory that isn't his, he feels so much regret he almost screams.
Gods, deities, spirits and magic are real and Tetsurou has no idea what to think.
This woman, Shiro, had been Kenma's familiar and Kozume Kenma had been a…well, a god . It hadn't been something he was born with but something forced onto him by the previous deity. Kenma hadn't even known his last name. He'd just taken the name written on the shrine forced onto him when he was only five. Tetsurou doesn't know what's worse; Kenma's parents apparently burning to death in dragon fire when he was three or being forced to become a god at five.
Tetsurou is just grateful that Kenma had never been alone for that. Shiro had been the one who'd saved three-year old Kenma from the fire and had taken care of him ever since. She's Kenma's only family or; the only family Kenma had ever had in the first place.
"Magic… is real?" Tetsurou is reeling. There are so many new memories swirling in his head, it overwhelms him completely. Missing deities, missing gods, rising in human gods. Weakening borders between realms. Bad spirits, good spirits, ghosts. Werewolves, kitsune, dragons, ogres, goblins, dwarves, shamans, lawyers. Youkai, youkai market, youkai laughing, youkai existing. Kenma transferring his divine power to him; Kenma telling him to take care of everything; Kenma disappearing; Kenma leaving it all to Tetsurou—
" Tetsurou." Cold palms smack his cheeks and Tetsurou is pulled back to reality by the piercing red gaze of Shiro.
"Calm yourself and breathe."
It takes extended shattering breathes for Tetsurou to right himself. The sting in his cheeks and the cool feel of the hands help. Shiro keeps looking at him even after he feels right again and her hands stay on his cheeks. Tetsurou's feel his stilling heartbeat quicken again for a different reason. Shiro is just… really pretty.
"Um, I'm ok now." He says in a small voice that sounds anything but alright.
Shiro narrows her eyes and glares at him from over her nose. "Are you? Or are you just telling me what I desire to hear?"
Tetsurou gulps. Her gaze is terrifyingly intense with the red hues and Tetsurou feels he has to say the right thing or she'll eat him alive.
"I'm fine. Really."
Shiro leans back and takes her palms off his cheeks. Tetsurou represses a shuttering breath. Even with all those memories; that had been a different experience entirely. Again, he feels a quickening in his pulse and a weird flappy feeling in his stomach.
"This is a responsibility to be taken with a pinch of salt." Shiro finally discloses. "You don't need to do all the things Kenma did," Shiro stops at that then corrects, "Actually, Kenma never did any of those things. I did a lot and we hired people for the rest, no, the most important thing here is if you still want all these memories."
The most important thing is if he wants these memories? Shiro can even take them all away with magic? Tetsurou can… forget about Kenma?
"No." Tetsurou clenches his fist. Kenma had told him to take care of everything and damn him if he wasn't going to do so. How will he ever find Kenma otherwise? "No, I'll take this responsibility."
Shiro assesses him, calculates how much truth and conviction there is to Tetsurou's words and then honest-to-god smiles. Tetsurou's stomach does a triple front straight. He finds himself thinking. That's unfair.
The close-eyed smile doesn't reach her eyes though, "Then welcome home, new deity of Kozume Shrine."
And then she leans forward and kisses him right on the mouth.
If this guy hadn't helped him out, Hajime would've murdered him.
After squabbling for a good ten minutes, the asshat manages to remove Hajime's pants and puts them on with a triumphant mocking grin.
"Now, was that so hard?" The bastard looks down at his bare ankles, "These are a little breezy though."
Hajime pulls back his hand to punch the bastard but he dodges right. Hajime knees him in the gut. It connects and Hajime has never felt so great in his life.
He leaves the douchebag withering on the floor to answer a text from Kuroo telling him to come to the shrine ASAP with the address linked. Hajime would love to go to the shrine after such a message (maybe Kuroo had found something). However, his current state of Godzilla boxers deem otherwise.
Hajime has no idea how he's going to get his pants back. Even though the asshat is a bastard for stealing Hajime's pants, he'd been a strong bastard. The only compromise Hajime can come with to handle this situation is still going to leave Hajime pants-less for a longer period of time then he feels comfortable with.
So he grabs the asshat's arm and drags him to the nearest street, ignoring all the strange looks he's getting and trying to stammer down his red cheeks on will alone.
"I appreciate how you've come around and all but where exactly are we going? You can just give me your clothes here, " asks the bastard. Hajime glares at him after he flags down a taxi. This is going to be one the most awkward taxi rides Hajime's ever going to experience but he has absolutely no say in the matter.
"To get you some actual clothes." Shrines usually have offerings for the poor, right?
When the taxi ride is finally fucking over (Hajime had forgotten that along with being shirtless, the bastard was covered in blood and bruises too) and after getting lost several times and having to call Kuroo to clarify where the actual fuck he was, he finds his guffawing best friend near the end of a hidden staircase. He waits exactly five moments before smacking the back of Kuroo's stupid head.
"Stop laughing."
Now Half-Naked Man steps around Hajime. "Is this where we're going to find some clothes? I hope they have longer pants." Half-Naked Man bustles around Kuroo and they accidently touch shoulders. Out of absolutely nowhere, a light bursts out, blue sparks fly and Hajime is blinded temporarily. When he shimmies his eyelids again, Half-Naked Man is down with black kanji suddenly all over his neck and chest, reading as restrict and contain and prevent and a bunch of other occulted sorts.
A moment passes in which the man down doesn't come back up and Hajime has no idea what just happened.
"What the actual fuck just happened?" Hajime exclaims. He wasn't dreaming was he? First the apartment burns down and now he's seeing nonexistent lights and kanji. Maybe he's late for a much needed check-up.
Kuroo eyes the fallen man and then looks at Haijme. "I'm not entirely sure but this might help." Kuroo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a freaking talisman and a black marker. He scribbles something on the paper and then moves toward Hajime.
"Trust me, this is going to explain a lot." And Hajime has no idea how he's supposed to trust his idiot friend with the when he still can't comprehend what the hell just happened. He has no say in the matter before Kuroo slaps the paper on his forehead and Hajime's mind explodes. He's suddenly remembering memories he's never had all surrounding one particular individual Hajime had never thought he'd ever hear of again.
"Kuroo—What the—Kenma was a god ?"
Kuroo grins at him. "And I'm his legacy. Isn't it awesome? We even have a new place to stay at and it's free ."
Despite every horrible experience that's happened to Hajime today, the assurance that he has a place to go back to after everything that's happened overrides every negative and Hajime exhales with much needed relief.
He still has a home and that's all that matters.
