After sharing what little useful information the books provided, Yamaguchi and Kageyama headed back to their suite to turn in for the night. The train still wasn't moving, probably reloading on supplies and dropping off the first leg of collectors and archivists. From a quick glance outside the window, Yamaguchi figured they were somewhere in the Kingdom of the Iron Wall, aptly named for the massive iron shields their soldiers used when heading to war, not that there had been one of those for some forty years. They were still pretty far north and in a mostly industrial city to boot, so Yamaguchi's best guess was that they had stopped in Norrundati, the largest civilized city this close to the mountains save for the scrapper towns. It would likely be a five-day trip to the next large settlement, Kenaroko. After that, Yamaguchi didn't know the geography well enough to guess, although Kageyama supposed they would reach the capital city, Dateko, by at least two weeks.
All thoughts of travel times left Yamauchi's head the second he saw the state of their car. The entire place was torn apart, their belongings emptied upon the floor in spread out heaps. Bags were emptied, pillows thrown aside, mattresses overturned, and in the center of it all was Hinata. The redhead sat precariously on a stool turning the Firefly box every which way, like a child with a new toy. The entire place was a wreck, and it was obvious who the cause was. Without even thinking, Yamaguchi stormed over and snatched the box out of Hinata's hands, and began searching for the bag it belonged to. As he quietly seethed and made to clean up the mess, Kageyama stomped over to Hinata and grabbed him.
Shaking the shorter boy by the collar, Kageyama started shouting, "What in the goddess' name do you think you're doing pipsqueak?"
Hinata, red in the face from either embarrassment or anger, retorted, "I'm finding the truth, you double-crossing liar!"
"Oh! You call me a traitor? What will your precious boss think of you raiding the car of two Firefly men? Answer me that, dumbass!"
"Kuroo and Bokuto won't care because neither of you rats work for the empire! You're nothing more than a couple of lowlifes from scrapping town 16-B! Thieves and liars, the both of you!"
"Oi, no, we're not, you stupid bastard! Maybe if you stopped to think for a second, you'd realize that we were just stationed there!" Kageyama didn't waver as he spouted the lie, confident in his anger. It was these types of confrontations that Yamaguchi despised. Amicable conversation and white lies he could manage, but Yamaguchi quivered and buckled under the stress of having his bluffs broken apart.
"Oh, and they made your sister go with you? Your whole family from the moment of your birth? You don't even have a Mark, you scheming butthead!"
"I said it's because we're undercover, dumbass! Those family things are a plant, obviously!"
"They absolutely are not! And you!" Hinata wheeled around and pointed at Yamaguchi, "At least stupid Kageyama has records; did anyone ever know you existed? You didn't even bother with a cover story? I think not!" Yamaguchi quaked under the accusatory claims of Hinata. With the lighted fervor of rage and righteous suspicion, Hinata's eyes glinted with the bloodlust of a wild animal. Never had Yamaguchi been so unnerved.
"You can't prove anything; all you have is paranoia and false lies. You have nothing because you are nothing!" Kageyama's words were harsh, far stronger, and more cutting than Yamaguchi would use, but then again, Yamaguchi wasn't known to be intimidating; Kageyama was.
Hurt flashed in Hinata's eyes for but an instant before he turned to exit the car, "I know you two are nothing but a bunch of troublesome liars, you'll slip up eventually." With that, he left. The room was still a mess, but at least they had time to clean it before Tauveriin.
Every night, for three full weeks, Yamaguchi tinkered with the Firefly box, and every night he failed to make progress, each dead end like a cold slap to the face. The rest of his time was split evenly between the library and the main engine. Research was integral, and Yamaguchi consumed anything he could find on Tauveriin, the Firefly Empire, and the youngest prince, who was notably absent from every possible text. Tauveriin, Yamaguchi learned, had once been an empire in itself, the city being the empiric capital. The empire had been greedy and materialistic, cruel to those they ruled over. It was in the two corners of that old empire that the first Tsukishima and Futakuchi rose. They, simple lords at the time, mustered their meager forces together and overthrew the Tauveriin empire, splitting it in two between the both of them and leaving the old capital as a neutral territory. Over time, the city was granted autonomy but, retaining the grudge, allowed unhindered housing to criminals from both new kingdoms. Since then, a thousand rulers came and went, but the Firefly Empire always maintained its peace with the Kingdom of the Iron Wall. To offend one meant war with both, for they had never before fought on opposing sides. The news worried Yamaguchi, for the longer he researched, the more it seemed like someone was trying to start a continental war. Try as he might, however, Yamaguchi could not for the life of him find an enemy of either kingdom. The Nation of Eagles had an amicable peace treaty with both governments, the allied countries of Itachi and Inari knew fully well the dangers in starting wars with collationed countries, and the southern land of Fukoni was more concerned with their own civil wars to care about the politics of somewhere else. The only other organized people Yamaguchi could think of were the isolated monastic settlements of Kar and Koma-Nek, but both were sworn to pacifism.
More than once, Yamaguchi overstayed his welcome in the library and overheard glimpses of conversations between Bokuto and Akaashi. They spoke in soft, intimate tones, whispering words of care and devotion. Akaashi, Yamaguchi found, was a worrier, ever concerned for Bokuto and the state of the train. It seemed that only Bokuto could ease his partner's troubled mind. Bokuto, as he was, had once been a warrior from the far south. A champion trained to fight in combat rings for the entertainment of the royals. Neither mentioned it often, but Yamaguchi suspected that the southern colosseums were where the pair had met. On occasion, Bokuto would cradle Akaashi, rubbing his arms and murmuring a mantra of apologies. Akaashi would smile sadly and accept every one, ever assuring Bokuto that he forgave him, that he wasn't mad and never had been. The moments felt too intimate for Yamaguchi's eyes, but letting his presence be known seemed an even poorer choice.
No more heartening were Yamaguchi's experiences with Kenma. The mechanic was alright at their job but clearly preferred the delicate mechanics of clockwork and navigational tools to the vast engine of the train. Ever vigilant and unconvinced of Yamaguchi's knowledge, they never allowed him to work on the machines, just to watch. Not much needed repairing, a surprise to Kenma, who told him on one of their chattier days, that the train was seldom without issue. Kenma almost seemed to imply that Yamaguchi was some sort of lucky charm, something he brushed off almost immediately.
In spending time with Kenma, Yamaguchi was also forced to tolerate Kuroo. The man was loud, brash, and excitable but clever and a good leader. He made up for Kenma's silence, spinning wild tales of their times in the western mountains as a part of the Koma-Nek settlement where the two of them grew up. Neither were suited to the plain life that monks led, so Kuroo dragged Kenma off to find fortune and glory. Kenma, themself, would occasionally interject to mention how insufferable Kuroo was as a partner and how many times he almost killed them both. At every mention of these, Kuroo would pull Kenma in by the waist and leave a gentle kiss on their forehead. 'You know you love me,' Kuroo would always say. 'Sure' was the consistent reply.
Kageyama had a significantly rougher go of it. While Yamaguchi was mostly out of the public's eye, either in the engine room or the unpopulated library, Kageyama stuck to the gambling and bar cars. As such, he had to take caution to keep attention away from himself, a difficult feat for the aptly named King of the table. Doing what he did best, Kageyama gambled and listened. People often overshared at card tables and bars, and every bit of information was vital. He heard far too many stories of sexual escapades and dull business deals, but still, Kageyama listened. Aside from collecting stories, he also collected money. Yamaguchi had figured they'd need a lot of coin to pay Miya for their request, so Kageyama gambled to increase their meager savings. Not all of it was games and tall tales though, lurking in the smoky corners of the gambler car was the not-Tick. Always, Kageyama could feel his eyes, watching, studying, glaring. Sometimes, Kageyama spotted him whispering with other men, all dressed in simple brown garb. Always, they would hurry out and off the train, leaving on whatever city stop was closest. As if the stress of being hunted by mysterious warmongers wasn't bad enough, Hinata seemed hellbent on tailing Kageyama. He ran into Hinata at nearly every turn, the fiery redhead watching his every move and making a general nuisance of himself the whole way. Every interaction ended in a brawl or verbal jousting, rarely in the view of passengers, but each was a disturbance, nonetheless.
With many sets of eyes upon them, all from within the train, Yamaguchi and Kageyama grew paranoid. Yamaguchi receded even further into his books and Kenma's company, rarely seen in the day and working tirelessly on the Firefly box by night. Kageyama grew jumpy and hostile, eager to pick a fight and ever more irritable. Perhaps it was the paranoia or just sheer luck that they reached Tauveriin safe and unharmed.
