Author's note:

Munchkin kittens, tortoises

Sorry I didn't upload this sooner. I'm really ashamed for being behind like 4 chapters... I hope you still like the story & I will try to upload something sooner, but can't promise as I am rather busy with my studies right now...

Jia ne

Chapter 4

It was around lunchtime when Hinata walked through the large gate that divided Aoba and Karasuno. As a residence permit holder of Aoba he was allowed to go anywhere he pleased and so he took advantage of this to go and find Oikawa Tooru's home. There where two things he had to do, deliver an expensive cosmetic cream as a present to Oikawa's husband and an invitation to the man himself to visit the head of the Azumane family.

The orange haired man shuddered when thinking of the cosmetic cream. It was indeed from an expensive brand – but for other reasons than one would suspect. Lord Azumane had insisted on the disfiguring being not painful, as he did not like to inflict more pain than necessary on the poor husband who was unlucky enough to be in the way, so Lady Kiyoko sent one of her servants to buy a cream that would cause the skin of the user to burst open and leave ugly scars.

Hinata made a mental note never to get on the bad side of his employer and drew the map of Karasuno from his pocket. They had had someone draw the streets and approximate location of the Oikawa residence on a piece of paper. The streets of the suburb were dirty, he noticed and frowned. He was not much of a clean freak but those streets even disgusted him. What a lucky bastard he was that he could return to clean and save Aoba after he had finished his disturbing errand.

Yamaguchi strolled through the streets and alleyways of Karasuno, not exactly knowing what he wanted to do. It had only been a day since he had killed his former employer Haiba Lev; the body had not yet been detected by the police or at least Yamaguchi had not heard of such rumours. He would have heard if someone had found the body, he was sure, because Haiba Lev was not some nobody everyone would be indifferent to if his dead body showed up somewhere.

He sighed as he thought of the incident. He hoped the corps would never wash up and be lost to the world. He hoped that even if it should be found no one would get the idea to ask him anything about it. Then again why would they? Haiba had had more than just him as his enemy. He had had many employees he had fired. He had not exactly been Mr Most-Popular.

It was late afternoon; Yamaguchi had not much to do. His day's work had been done and he had been dismissed, so there was still much he could do. One option, he thought, would be to visit Yachi. There had to be a way to apologize for his former behaviour. He had to somehow get on her good side again, maybe then she would consider being friends with him again – and after friends he might convince her to become more, of course. He had not given up on the idea that she could choose him over her fiancé, Tsukishima Kei.

Maybe he should lend her money, he thought. Not that he had much himself, but if she was indebted to him… "Hm… Not the worst idea", he mumbled under his breath. But he wasn't exactly sure how he would be able to pay for his own living expenses if he would lend out money to her. Maybe helping her out with manual work would be better? Of course, she had her brother Hajime and her brother-in-law Oikawa, and her father who could help out with many things, but Hajime was usually tied to his own home with the mending he did and Oikawa was about town, never to be seen at the same work place two days in a row and probably not readily available. As for the father… Yamaguchi had a hunch about that, but he was not quite sure. Or at least he had not been before he had walked down to the riverbank and spotted some policemen dragging a body out of the water from a slightly muddy part of the river.

The body belonged to an elderly man who had been a bit gaunt with dark hair that was white in places. Yamaguchi had not interacted with the man much but he was quite sure whom he saw being carried to a donkey drawn cart by two bulky policemen.

The brown haired man with the freckled face turned around as soon as he was certain that he was not mistaken and made his way towards Yachi's place. He had to tell her. And then he had to console her. That was exactly what was his duty.

There was a knock at the door. Like in most buildings in this part of town, there was no electronic buzzer or similar device to press to make the people living in the house aware that there was a guest or travelling salesman at the door.

Hajime shouted that he would come and open the door in a minute, stood up form the chair he had been sitting on, straitened his clothes to look at least a little bit presentable and went to open the door.

As he opened the wooden door he saw a young man, well dressed with unruly orange hair standing there. Actually, he was not only well dressed but superiorly so and Hajime understood from the young man's posture that he had to be from Aoba. He had seen enough people who had been born and bread in good circles in Shiratorida and Aoba that he did not mistake a want-to-be for the real deal. Hajime's eyebrows creased on their own as he asked: "How can I help you?"

The young man smiled the brightest smile Hajime had seen in a while. "I am Hinata Shouyou, companion to Azumane Tobio, the heir of the esteemed family of Azumane Asahi", the young man introduced himself. To Hajime it seemed that the boy tried to be friendly, as his smile did not seem fake and neither did the sparkling in his eyes as he said: "Nice to meet you. I assume that you are Oikawa Hajime, Oikawa Tooru's lawful husband?"

Hajime nodded, not knowing what to say. His eyebrows rested in place. His resting bitch face was not easily replaced.

"I am here because your good husband has rescued our young master from a distressing situation yesterday and we wanted to show our gratitude to him. To be quite clear, the head of the Azumane family, Azumane Asahi has requested that your good husband would come and visit the Azumane residence in order to receive the proper thanks of the head of the family."

Hajime blinked. His husband had done what?

"And we took into consideration that the money we have given him yesterday might not have been of much use, so the noble mother of our young master, Lady Kiyoko has given me a cream for you to put on your skin. We were informed that life in this part of town was rough on the skin." The orange haired man who called himself Hinata held out a small white box with a black lid. "Please accept our gratitude and give your husband the letter so that he will be able to pass through the gate to Aoba." He held out a cream coloured letter as well.

Hajime took both items and said thank you in as fancy a way he could remember to say it, but the time he had been living in Karasuno had taken its toll and his language had become a lot more coarse than it had used to be. Hinata did not seem to mind, winked at him and said his good-byes, leaving Hajime quite confused.

He put the letter on the table in the small kitchen and went back to his work.

When he had finished the most urgent batch of the remaining clothes he had to fix, Hajime got up from his chair, stretched and walked around the room. He did not feel like working anymore even though he knew that he had to get some more finished, otherwise he would not get everything done until the deadline. But it was hard for him to motivate himself to do things lately.

As he paced the room, his eyes caught the sight of the white box with the black lid again. He picked the present up and opened it. The cream inside was as white as the box and smelled excessively good. It was a slightly sweet smell with a hint of spice and Hajime was reminded of his life in Shiratorida. Many things had smelled so much better there than they did here in Karasuno. A feeling of nostalgia crept up inside his heart and Hajime looked around for a spoon or something similar to use to take some cream to apply to his face. He didn't like cream and such things on his hands so he used other things to apply substances to his face. He found what he looked for quickly and began applying the nice smelling cream to his cheeks and forehead.

He inhaled the smell of the cream and relaxed for a moment before he started to work on the next batch of things he had to mend.

It was about an hour passed. Hajime's face felt a bit tingly but he didn't think much about it, it was probably one ingredient or another that made the cream do it. It was sort of relaxing, he decided and so he was in a really good mood when he heard Oikawa Tooru enter their home. "Hello", he called and told his husband right after that there was a letter for him in the kitchen from a man named Hinata Shouyou in the name of a family named Azumane. Hajime did remember that that family was rather important and he thanked Oikawa for being such a good and upright man.

It took Oikawa a while to get from the kitchen to the room where Hajime was mending his work. The black haired man looked up from his work and smiled at his husband. "Hinata-san also brought me a present from the family as well. It was a cream to protect the skin." For reasons not really comprehensible to Hajime, his husband turned around with a weird expression on his face as soon as he had entered the room. "Where are you going?" Hajime called after Oikawa as he heard him exit the house.

Hajime blinked in bewilderment, what had he done wrong? Why had his very personal Shittykawa left? Tears started to well up in his eyes and it took every resolve he had left no to start crying.

Oikawa had left his house faster than he had ever left it. He had had fights with his husband during or after which he had not left the house that fast. He had usually stood his ground, but this time – he had been too shocked. What on earth had happened to Hajime's face?

The brown haired man tried to catch his breath as he looked around and found himself close to the gate to Aoba. It wasn't yet that late and he had the letter with him, so he decided to go and visit the Azumane family home. Maybe that would bring some clearance to the situation. He gathered up his courage, showed the letter to the person guarding the gate and entered Aoba. It was not that difficult to find the residence. He showed the letter again and was shown into the drawing room to wait to be shown into the office of Azumane Asahi.

The drawing room was a rather impressive room and it reminded Oikawa of how his life had been before he had married Hajime. He should never have married that good-looking devil.

He shook his head. Maybe it was not too late to change his life. He walked around the room and suddenly saw a picture of the young master Tobio, the heir to the name of Azumane, the prettiest young man he had ever seen in his life. Hajime had been good-looking back in the day. He had been handsome and well built but not pretty like Tobio with his delicate features and good breeding. He was a real catch, Oikawa knew and maybe this was it. Yes, this was it, he decided. He would get rid of Hajime and then get Tobio – now that he was in this house, he just had to somehow convince the grandfather of Tobio that this was a good idea.

Fortunately it did not take a lot of convincing or acting skill as Azumane Asahi assured him that as Tobio was head over heels for Oikawa, he, Asahi himself, the grandfather and head of the Azumane family, would not stand in their way. He just had to divorce Hajime and Tobio would become his husband.

Oikawa embraced the idea and told Azumane-san that he would do everything in his power to be free as soon as possible. There was only one thing to do and it had to be done quickly. So he excused himself after receiving a new letter from the Azumane family that would permit him to enter Aoba at any time and any number of times.

It didn't take him long to go back to Karasuno as he had no time to waste. Oikawa's heart was lighter as he walked directly to his friend's establishment. He had not seen that man in a while, but Oikawa was sure that he would do what ever he would propose to him as long as he could compensate him sufficiently.

He knocked at the back door and waited. It didn't take long for someone to open it a crack and ask for Oikawa to state his business.

"I want to see Kuroo", he said flatly and the door was shut again.

This time it took a bit longer before it was opened again and the black haired, blank faced employee of Kuroo who was in charge of finances, Oikawa vaguely remembered his name to be Akashi or Akaashi or Akashii or something, let him in, explaining that he could find Kuroo on the upper floor in one of the back rooms – which meant that the owner of the brothel had made use of his own goods.

Oikawa shuddered as he climbed up the stairs. He just hoped his old pal had enough decency not to have a half or fully naked prostitute lay around the room during their discussion. His worries were dispelled as soon as he entered the room, which the man downstairs had described him, as Kuroo sent the girl he had just 'tested' – as he liked to call it – straight out.

"Oikawa!" He said the greeting in a way that should sound cheery but was rather sleazy. "What an unexpected visit."

"Kuroo" Oikawa nodded courteously. "I see business is going fine?"

"Very well, very well, thank you." Kuroo grinned. "I recently had a new hire and her first day at work was overshadowed by an imbecile who tried to pay with counterfeits, so the investment hasn't paid off yet – but no worries, everything will be all right. How is life treating you?"

"In some respects very kind and in others very harsh. Let me tell you how it is kind to me and then how it is harsh."

"I suppose you want me to do something about the harsh part?"

"How ever did you know that?" A wide smile disfigured Oikawa's face.

Kuroo rolled his eyes but listened to his friend's story. His eyebrows narrowed the longer the narrative went on and at the end his face had taken a dark expression thanks to the creased eyebrows. "You really want me to do that?" He asked earnestly and looked Oikawa in the eyes.

"Yes. As soon as possible." The brown haired man held the stare.

Yamaguchi had made his way to Yachi's house and knocked. When no one opened for him after about a minute, he carefully pushed the door open and called inside to see if there was any reaction. "Yachi, are you home? I came to apologize and to bring you some news."

Still there was no answer, so he tiptoed into the house, leaving the front door a crack open. He inched his way through the narrow entrance past a couple of jackets that had been hung on the wall and some dirty shoes. Yamaguchi paused for a moment, thinking about whether he wanted to take his off but decided against it as his socks had holes in them.

The flat in which Yachi and her father lived was small, which had not been unexpected. None of the living quarters in Karasuno were particularly big. This flat had three rooms and a kitchen, where Yamaguchi searched for Yachi first.

The kitchen was small. Besides the stove and a small cupboard there was only a table and four chairs crammed in and no sight of anything alive but for a small mouse in the corner.

Yamaguchi tore his gaze away and stepped into the living room. Apart from the furniture, which included a sofa that was probably used as a bed at night and a pair of armchairs in rather bad shape, there was nothing in there. The brown haired man walked through the room to the other side where there was another door leading in what he supposed was the bedroom. He knocked and opened the door.

He had not been mistaken by thinking that he would enter the bedroom. There was one rather small bed and a chest for clothes in there but again no human soul. Which meant Yachi would need to be either in the third room, which was located in the cellar of the building only accessible by a staircase that was located in the kitchen, or she was not home.

Yamaguchi closed the door behind him and went to the kitchen, calling for Yachi as not to startle her. He found her sitting in a corner of the cold room with stone pebbled floor and slightly damp atmosphere. This room had indeed been built for the activity Yachi used it for: washing.

"Yachi-san", Yamaguchi tried it with politeness, as he wanted to apologize for his former behaviour. Her reaction proved him right. Here eyes instantly widened and she retreated even further into the corner as soon as she saw him. "Oh! Please don't be afraid", he said quickly and stopped in his tracks. "I am truly sorry for the other day" he started his apology and continued on giving some reason or other why he had acted so strange. "Can you forgive me? Can we be friends again?"

The young blond woman hesitantly nodded. "If you can promise that you will not do anything against my will again."

"Oh, I promise." He tried to smile reassuringly.

"Okay, then we can be friends." She smiled shyly.

He stepped a bit closer and asked if he could sit down on a wooden tub that had been turned upside down. As he lowered himself on it he urged Yachi to continue working and she did as told. "As we are friends again… There is something I ought to tell you…"

"What is it Yamaguchi-san?"

"I took a stroll at the river bank just before I came here and… I'm not sure if I really should tell you… But…" He paused, unsure how to continue. "Where is your father?"

"He went on a pilgrimage."

"Oh… Then I am quite convinced not to be mistaken…" He got up again and looked at her with a miserable expression. "I am sorry to inform you" he almost chocked on the words that followed this statement.

Yachi dropped the cloth she had been holding in her hands and screamed. It was a high wailing scream. "No, you must be mistaken!"

"I don't think I am", he said in a very low voice.

"No!" Tears welled up in her pretty eyes. "He can't be dead...!"

Yamaguchi stepped closer and offered her a dirty handkerchief, which she accepted gratefully. She tried to dry her tears and Yamaguchi offered his condolences when they suddenly heard footsteps from above and a thundering voice calling: "Hello? This is Officer Sugawara, Sawamura Yachi-san are you home?"

Yachi's heart sunk as she put away her work and walked up the steps to meet the police officer in the kitchen. So it was really true… She glanced over at Yamaguchi who stood in the corner of the kitchen, distanced form her but still close enough to give her some comfort. How nice it had been of him to come over and prepare her for this awful moment. Maybe he had really just been out of his mind the other day… Maybe he was really just a kind-hearted soul.