YEAR THREE.80 1/4 Pivotal Calamity
It's difficult, when faced with a situation you cannot control, to admit you can do nothing. ~Lemony Snicket
~ Ten Months Later; Early Spring ~
Kenma Kozume follows Shouyou, Noya, and Yachi through the small village that sits within striking distance of one of the Karasuno rookery's main checkpoints on their sentry scouting routes, but the outpost is silent today.
The avian city will lie empty a few more weeks yet before the murder returns from their yearly migration, and spring has offered them promising weather the last week. The thaw had spurred an impulse decision on Kuroo's part to come to this small hamlet nestled in the mountains for their spring herald festival and Kenma has to smile.
This village's festival some centuries back had marked the first time he and the black cat had come out of hiding and simply relaxed into the joyous atmosphere following Kuroo losing his eye and their subsequent flight. The small cat remembers their food and fireworks well amid his leveler's quiet smiles at the decorations along the stalls. If he could go back in time, he'd tell his younger self not to worry, everything works out and he gets to keep the large black cat.
There is still some snow on the ground, but rivers are running high and the first hints of life are stirring along the edges of the drifts, but they are all distracted by the wonderful food and company. They've just gone through the main market and Kenma is sure they tried every stand; he's beyond uncomfortably full. Kuroo steers them toward the local temple to give thanks for surviving another winter with a pointed glance at the ibis who stares back at him with complete disinterest. Kenma mentally smirks.
The pale winged avian had done as he'd asked and laid off Shouyou and Kuroo, opting instead to spend days in Sheru Bay running the ledger for Suga's relatives, but he and Yamaguchi had gone for a sabbatical in the mountains the first month of winter at the whim of the freckled crow. Never mind that the ibis wasn't adapted for winter weather, the tall blond had stalwartly decreed that he was overdue for an escape from the rest of their company so he and the freckled crow were going alone.
They'd been gone nearly two weeks and were supposed to be gone for two more when they showed back up with a half-panicking Yamaguchi shoving the taller nonplussed, yet sick avian at Kiyoko, begging her to save him. Tsukishima had been most unimpressed and had told them he just had a cold… except it had rapidly degenerated into full blown pneumonia within the week.
He'd been little more than slightly flushed when they'd stumbled back home, but he'd quickly come down with a monstrous fever that he completely denied existed because 'if he was so warm, then why the hell did he feel like he was shivering so damn badly?' The ibis had spent the next two months huddled in blankets and ten times as sour as normal, and the majority of winter found him inside either sulking or sleeping for his misadventure.
So it had been a surprise that he'd readily requested to join when Kuroo had mentioned the festival; even Yamaguchi had asked if he was sure. The ibis hadn't even had to scold the freckled crow before he was apologizing. Yamaguchi had been belatedly stoked to go for an adventure, and Kenma hadn't missed the way the ibis had quietly watched his excitement with reserved fondness.
Yachi and Kiyoko had opted to join then in the event the tall blond became ill once more. It would be good for the girls to get out as they rarely ever managed to escape the beach house— not that they minded overmuch. Nishinoya and Shouyou had been only too happy to come, their traveling itch nearly burning their feet already. But Kageyama had hesitated slightly, because with the last season turn, Shouyou had started waking in the morning, his back stiff enough that it would take him a couple hours to really get moving.
Those mornings aren't that common but… today is a bad day, and Kenma can tell that he's dragging. He'd risen while the sun was still grey with everyone else, but he hadn't been as unfailingly bright or chatty; Kenma personally felt his stiff movements were probably the result of having spent the night on the hard ground which had tweaked his back. But he wasn't sure others much noticed it, because Shouyou himself never voiced his pain; rather, the most obvious indicator that something was off was the way Kageyama hovered.
He was rarely far from his leveler, but on days like this, he didn't leave the redhead's side. One could argue that his clinginess was more the product of being in an unfamiliar area, but Kenma'd been on enough of these trips to know that today's episode probably isn't that. The crow setter is never more than two steps away and at the moment, he too, is watching the redhead chatter merrily with Noya and Yachi as they climb the steps to the village's temple.
A few paces ahead of them, the ibis and freckled crow lead the way, oblivious to the fact that they are, in fact, heading in the wrong direction. Kenma is on the verge of saying something when Kuroo speaks for him just over his shoulder.
"Oi. Hang a right, you guys."
The two pause and turn to look at them, the reaction like a catalyst that makes the others all do the same.
"What?" Yamaguchi asks with confusion.
"That won't get you to the temple. You need to go right."
The ibis glances back toward the lights and outline of the building up the hill that is just visible through the trees, it's large entrance gate the most prominent feature on the edge of the incline. He turns back to Kuroo with a bored look.
"We can see it and there's nothing that goes right." He says, unimpressed.
"Yeah, but you've never been here before, and your sense of direction sucks." Nishinoya points out. Kenma's mouth twitches… because technically, Noya isn't wrong on either count.
"Tsukki has excellent sense of direction—"
"Shut up Yamaguchi." The ibis mutters, an eyebrow ticking slightly as he fixes on the short crow. "Why would the cobbles go left— you know, the way all the people going— if they don't go to the temple?" He asks. Kenma smiles slightly.
"The zen garden is that way. Most of them are bringing their lunch to eat there." He says quietly.
"The climb has only begun, Blondy. The path is to the right just around that bend. Most people make that mistake the first time they come here." Kuroo says and Kenma can hear the smirk in his voice and mentally huffs in amusement.
"You were one of them." He murmurs flatly and starts for the small hidden path that winds up the hill with its inlaid stone steps. Kuroo scoffs.
"Brat." He mutters and Kenma barely keeps the smile off his face.
The others all make to follow him when he catches sharp movement as the freckled crow flinches sharply. He isn't the only one who saw his recoil and the ibis turns to look at him critically.
"Eh, sorry Tsukki." He says, a hand coming up behind his head as a sheepish grin creases his mouth, but the skin around his eyes is creased with tension and his pupils are dilated.
"Yamaguchi?" The ibis asks and he brings his hands up in front of himself.
"I'm fine! Really! I just thought… I don't know what I thought." He says, his eyes dropping to the ground before he almost visually hardens in resolve and looks back up at Tsukishima.
"We should go! If everyone is eating in the zen garden, that means it's a great time to visit the temple because there won't be many people there. And not many kids!" He says brightly. The ibis watches him for a long moment before letting it go, and Kenma turns to lead them toward the stairs once more.
But the crow's sudden startle has him thinking.
There is little that can shake Yamaguchi aside from a callous word from his constant companion, Tsukishima, but it's become apparent in the last few months that there is something that will— something that will nearly paralyze the crow with fear every time it happens. Kenma isn't sure… he didn't notice anything just now, but he keeps an ear cocked in the freckled crow's direction as they start up the hill.
Yachi and Hinata start up a bubbly conversation about Natsu about how sullen the girl had been when she'd been told she had to stay home for this trip. The bald crow, Asahi and Daichi had all been recruited to assist with renovating Sheru Bay's single multi-storied inn. As strange as it was to know that Natsu and Tanaka were levelers, no one was willing to split them up for any length of time.
Like Shouyou, she glows at night when she curls up with Tanaka, a fact that had, in no uncertain terms, freaked the bald crow out the first time he'd noticed. It had literally taken a week, and only then because Noya had taken pity on him and prodded him awake after the girl had fallen asleep in his arms once again, her head and arm flopped over his shoulder.
He'd nearly dropped her as if she'd scalded him, a pathetic strangled squeak escaping him. Even in the middle of his shock, though, he'd been loath to disturb her, and while he hadn't found any more sleep that night, he'd made sure he hadn't disturbed her.
Although, he'd promptly handed her off to Asahi still half asleep the next morning with a fond pat and headed into Sheru Bay seeking manual labor. He'd been recruited to help put up a barn a little ways out of town that had taken him away from the beach house for three days, during which time the rest of them had had to deal with an inconsolable Natsu.
She'd quietly remained with Asahi all of three hours before seeking out Shouyou. She'd followed him around for the next day, half whimpering and asking after Tanaka until Shouyou had volunteered to join Kageyama on a hunt in a not so subtle bid for a break. She'd cycled through each of Yamaguchi, Kiyoko and Yachi, the still injured Sugawara, Bokuto in a strangely unsurprising turn given the way Shouyou had taken to him, Lev, back to Asahi and Noya, himself, and even Kuroo over the next day.
The child had been all but lost without Tanaka around to tag along after like the older brother he totally was around her. When the bald crow had finally returned, she had barrelled out of the house at the sound of his voice and frozen at the top step, her hands behind her back and her gaze solemn. Tanaka had seen her, and apparently having come to terms with the state of the universe, had made a beeline for her.
"Hey, Munchkin! Long time, no see!" He'd said and reached for her only to jump when she'd flinched slightly, her gaze dropping.
"M' regrèt." She'd whispered and he'd recoiled as much at the apology as the tears that had started sliding down her cheeks as she'd whimpered out a fractured question.
"Kisa mwen fè mal?"
He'd glanced around for Shouyou, but the redhead hadn't been in earshot.
"Hey, kiddo, what's the matter?" He'd said, climbing the steps and crouching down beside her.
"I do bad?" She'd tried and Tanaka's jaw had dropped.
He'd reached out, completely disregarding her shy at the motion, and collected her up on his hip in a hug despite her probably being too old for the action. She really was nearly an adolescent, but it had seemed to quell the oncoming fit of tears even if only marginally.
"You did nothing wrong, Munchkin. I had to go work for a couple days, that's all." She'd clung to him as the little sobs slowly subsided, her hand fisting into his shirt and head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back.
"I come with?" She'd whimpered.
"What, to work? I'd have to ask. The boss has a kid your age, I think." He'd said with a small smile.
And that had been it. Things had returned to normal, the bald crow her de facto best friend once more. Honestly, Kenma couldn't believe they still had a house what with some of the stunts those two had pulled along with Noya and Shouyou. They'd attempted to flatten Kageyama on more than one occasion beneath a pile of avians, had managed to tie up Bokuto with his own ropes which Akaashi found hysterical, had drizzled sand into a sleeping Kuroo's ear until he'd woken up swinging, had cracked another egg over Daichi much to the thrush's infinite amusement, and even doused Tsukishima with a bucket of icy water from the creek.
Even Kenma himself wasn't immune to the pranks. Late last fall, he'd woken up surrounded by apples. She was as observant as her brother and had picked up on Kuroo's habit of bringing him the sweet fruit… but the kid was nowhere even close to the quiet end of the sound scale, so how she'd managed to go out in the early morning to collect them and then return and place them all around him without either him or Kuroo waking, he has no clue.
There was a particularly volatile one they'd come up with just recently involving a reed packed with pine resin and black powder, no doubt procured from Bokuto off one of the ships in the bay. They'd touched it off in the grey hours of the morning just outside on the porch while most of them were still asleep; the concussive force of it had rocked the house and cracked the glass in the large front window. Everyone had had fuzzy hearing for the next day and more than one person had singed feathers or fur. Kuroo and Daichi had been most unimpressed. The black cat had been looking for a way to alleviate the apparently growing restlessness ever since.
Kenma imagines everyone might have joined this little trip if the early spring thaw hadn't spurred the locals to restart their construction projects. Tanaka's services had once again come into demand, but he'd offered up the assistance of anyone else interested. Natsu had been allowed to join him, and Asahi and Daichi had both taken him up on that. Koushi would, of course, always opt to stay with his leveler, and the owls still had their dock jobs. Lev and Yaku had begged out at the last moment on account of the short cat feeling guilty just leaving the others to fend for themselves after working all day.
As they crest the last few steps and cross under the temple gate, it's beams decorated with the spring festival theme, Kenma smiles slightly. They'd spent the day in this little town some three hundred years ago and had watched their firework display from atop that gate that evening.
The temple is just how he remembers, the exterior brickwork walls and tiled roof still intact and functional. He supposes normal wear and tear is to be expected; the mortar between the blocks is perhaps crumbling slightly, the wood of its front steps has warped, and the arch across its top line eve sags a little more lending it more of an 'ancient' look.
Still, it's the same as the first time he and Kuroo had seen it over three centuries before, and it had been old back then. Already having stood for four or five hundred years when they'd stumbled upon it the first time, it is probably pushing close to a thousand, and to see it still taken care of makes Kenma smile.
The open interior smells of pine and cedar overlaid with incense despite the open shoji doors that welcome in the spring air and he's nearly overwhelmed by a sense of deja vu. Kuroo had asked him to stay beside him here three hundred years ago, as if there had ever been a question of whether he'd leave. Kenma really does like this little town.
A sharp gasp behind him comes a half second before he feels it, and he's turning to focus on the freckled crow in an instant. The tremor he'd felt through the soles of his feet just now… it was barely noticeable at best and the only reason he probably did was because it had vibrated through the wood floor of the temple, the building breathing a light sigh as if it were merely settling.
But Yamaguchi's eyes are wide, his mouth open slightly as he watches the rafters with a paling face. His shoulders have drawn up, his hands twist into fists, and his wings are raised in agitation but also pulled tightly against his shoulders.
"Yamaguchi?" Tsukishima is quick to ask, his voice quiet and even. The freckled crow jerks and looks at him, clearly unaware of how terrified he appears.
"Tsukki. S… Sorry." He says looking down.
"Are you alright?" Kiyoko asks softly and Yamaguchi glances at her with surprise.
"Yeah… I'm fine." Kenma hangs back beside the ibis and freckled crow as Yachi, Noya, and the younger level pair drift further into the temple, Kuroo just off his shoulder.
"It might have been anything, Yamaguchi." Kenma offers, but he doubts it helps. The crow is on the verge of stressing himself into a panic attack. A temblor like the one that just occurred isn't that uncommon and pretty much harmless, but the brunette is nearly shaking.
"I'll be alright. Really." He says with a weak smile and Kuroo's eyebrow creeps up his forehead skeptically.
"There was a tea stand back in the market. Would you like me to bring you some?" Tsukishima asks calmly and Yamaguchi blinks at him uncomprehendingly for a couple moments before he smiles slightly— a real one.
"You don't have to, Tsukki."
"What kind would you like?" The ibis asks, completely ignoring the crow's protest.
"Eh… jasmine?" He says and Kenma understands what's going on.
Tsukishima knows how to redirect Yamaguchi's impending anxiety by feeding him information completely jarring to what is going through his head. By asking him to make a decision, he's forcing him out of his own mind and into a thought line both pointless yet meaningful. Kenma marvels silently at Tsukishima's swift capability at combatting an incoming breakdown, quietly awed at how the blond knows exactly what to do to keep the crow calm.
Not for the first time, he wonders at how the seemingly self-centered arrogant ibis is so attuned to the shy insecure crow. But he's grateful for his knowledge and so is Kiyoko who has a better grasp on what to do with it. The female crow fluidly picks up the threads of their conversation and immediately keeps him distracted.
"You like tea, Yamaguchi? Which is your favorite?" She asks lightly as Tsukishima departs, quick strides taking him outside in no time. The crow struggles to focus on her question, but answers nonetheless.
"Um… kukicha." He says in a shaky voice.
"Really? I didn't know that or I would have seen if they had some in Sheru Bay's market." Kiyoko says with a soft smile.
"They don't carry it… I already tried." Yamaguchi says with a weak attempt at a smile.
"Well, where did you last get some? Maybe we can stop on the way back." She says.
As the crow seems to relax just enough to at least be able to hold the conversation with the black-haired girl, Kenma turns toward where his other ear is trained on the other three delinquents and Yachi.
And they are being idiots, crowding into the corner around a drum with excitement, the bunting wearing a puzzled expression. While Tsukishima was combatting Yamaguchi's sudden terror, Kageyama thankfully managed to keep Shouyou from picking up the brushes and splattering ink beside a calligraphy table where Yachi had paused.
The bunting had shyly purchased a blank wood plaque to write on as they'd crested the hill and the others had crowded around to see what she would wish for. Kenma can't blame them; Yachi's handwriting is petite, measured, and graceful, her calligraphy worthy of a library scribe.
Watching her write her wishes for the year, the redhead apparently saw nothing wrong with adding his own notes to her small board, and the avian heir had whacked him across the back of the head, snatched the brush from his hand before it could mar her delicate work, and turned them away as Yachi hung the piece with a small happy smile. But that had quickly spiraled as Noya had spotted a large daiko in the corner.
"Wow, guys, look over there!" He'd said and Kageyama and Shouyou had immediately brightened with vocal agreement and an odd anticipation, Yachi trailing after them a bit bewilderedly.
Which brings them to where they are now, the three former sentries drawn to the drum like Lev is to catmint— Kenma admits that the plant is intoxicatingly alluring, but at least he has some self-control. The two crows and grounded redhead approach it with a sort of reverence, Yachi with simple interest.
"Man, Tanaka should have come!" Noya says with a grin.
"I wonder if it sounds like the ones back home. Remember Saeko at the festivals?" Shouyou says brightly and Kageyama is already grabbing the stick beside it. Kenma's hand reaches out, his eyes widening.
"Kageyama—" He starts to say, but thanks the stars that Yachi is beside them and has the presence of mind to latch onto the crow setter's wrist and stop his swing.
"Won't that be noisy?" She squeaks.
Kenma lets out a half-breath in relief; they are already obnoxiously loud in the mostly empty temple without banging the drum. The monks who run the temple might kick them out if they make too much of a fuss.
"You birdbrain stooges," Kuroo mutters, heading in their direction, "we can't take you anywhere. Leave it be."
Kageyama scowls darkly and releases the bachi stick back to Yachi who carefully returns it to its place. They move forward toward the altar and shrine areas with their candles that flicker in the soft breeze that drifts through the shoji doors, Kuroo within easy striking distance now in case he needs to pull rank. Kenma smirks slightly.
It's like taking the local pack of children to the park, he thinks.
I mean, we have the kid who's usually level but randomly has bouts where all inhibition conveniently vacates his head on the heels of a moronic impulse, the two who are always impulsive and feed off each other's idiocy, the kid who is their only voice of reason but terrified to speak up, the kid who is scared to be outside, the kid who hates everyone in the schoolyard, and one reasonably responsible child.
It really was like packing along a daycare for a ridiculous day trip. Kenma starts at the gasp that escapes Yamaguchi behind him again, a half second before the floor legitimately lurches.
Kenma throws out his arms to keep his balance, his feet automatically shuffling under him. He straightens a little, but keeps his wider stance, because the movement doesn't stop. The building shivers, the lanterns near the ceiling jarring enough to sway, the candles and shrine pillars rocking on their pedestals. In the flash of a glance he gets before he's looking back at the freckled crow with concern, he sees his leveler and the other four also staggering, the avians' wings jerking out to steady themselves while Kuroo grabs at a support beam.
And then he's staring at Yamaguchi with anxious tension, because the freckled crow has frozen. Kiyoko shakes his arm, attempting to get him to move toward the temple exit, but Yamaguchi doesn't budge, his dilated eyes flicking between the lanterns, to the swinging plank Yachi hung only a few minutes ago, to the swaying shrubs visible from the open shoji doors.
Kenma's limbs leap into action as the floor surges even more, his feet stumbling him forward toward the crow who somehow keeps his balance and his feet pegged to the floor even as it continues to shift and Kiyoko tugs on him.
"Yamaguchi, let's go outside!" She says urgently as Kenma grabs his other arm and tugs, but the crow resists it entirely, his gaze flying to the calligraphy table as the box with brushes tips with a resounding clatter, back to the altar where a shrine pillar rocks off its base and crashes to the floor with a thud. Kenma's mind trips and he's instantly turning back toward the others.
"Kuroo!" He barks and because it doesn't seem like enough when his eyes land on the avians beside him, he's yelping again. "Feathers! Noya!"
The black cat jerks and the others spin. Kageyama starts toward them immediately, tugging Shouyou along haphazardly, but the one that reaches them first is Noya. He collides with Yamaguchi who stumbles at the impact, but is for the most part, still stock still even as the ground pitches again and Kenma hears a creak.
As he and Kiyoko and Noya try shoving the crow toward the door, their own balance faltering as the rattling around them gets even worse, he sees the floorboards warp by their feet and his hair stands on end as he catches the ticking sound of splintering wood. He digs his feet in and shoves that much harder.
And then Kuroo is beside him, an arm swinging despite his wobbly footing. The black cat's fist connects with Yamaguchi's jaw, knocking him off his feet as the temple shakes violently. Kiyoko squeaks in surprise and both she and Noya topple to the floor as well, but Kuroo doesn't pause. He reaches for Yamaguchi in time for Kageyama to pull beside him and grab the crow's other arm. Noya scrambles up, Yachi pulling Kiyoko back to her feet and Shouyou stuttering beside them as they haul the crow backward out of the temple.
Yamaguchi is still rigid, but he's still in their hands as they careen wildly through the exit and down the steps, Kenma losing his feet as the ground that meets him jars sideways. He tries to catch his fall, but his knees hit still hit the ground, and then Shouyou's strong hand wraps around his wrist and the redhead is yanking him forward again.
They don't stop until they are outside the temple completely, Kuroo and Kageyama setting Yamaguchi down beneath a swaying palm and Kenma glances back at the building. Dust kicks out beneath the roof tiles, the molding between the bricks crumbling across the walls as the world continues to groan.
"Where's Tsukishima?" Kageyama asks and Yamaguchi flinches, but it's Kuroo that answers with a hand raised and pointing down the hill.
"He was down in the market."
"Not anymore." Shouyou says, his wide eyes fixed over the trees just by the gate and Kenma catches a flash of cream feathers. The ibis' pale wings vault him over the gate, his eyes wide and face set with intent as he barrels toward the shuddering temple.
"Oi, Blondy!" Noya yells, but the ibis doesn't even glance their way, his umber eyes fixed on the entrance as he hurtles by them.
"Tsukki! Dammit!" Kuroo swears and launches after him, up the steps and into the temple on shaky legs. The golden cat's breath catches in his lungs.
"Kuroo!" His leveler's name flies after him, and Kenma takes one step forward, his golden eyes going wide.
He stumbles as the earth grates against itself, the vibrations coming through his feet even more violent. He hears the creak and groan of wood, knows the support beams inside the temple are being pushed to their limits.
Kuroo is in there.
"Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asks softly, almost inaudibly above the rattling din that resounds around and through them, and Kenma turns to look at him, his breath stuttering.
"He thought you were still inside." Kenma says weakly, because Tsukishima isn't the only one in there. Kuroo is his world—his future and life—and right now, he doesn't have a clear view of it.
The crow is instantly back on his feet, heading for the temple with panic.
"Tsukki!"
Kagayama is quick on the draw and snags his arm, Noya not far behind. Shouyou and even Kiyoko grab hold to restrain him and still he pushes toward the moaning building, his voice carrying with heartbreaking terror the blond's name over and over.
Kenma offers up a silent prayer to any celestial power above as the structure distorts, the trusses in the vaulted ceiling stretching, and the wood screeches against itself as it strains to hold out under the force of a furious mother earth. The cobbles, the trees, the gate, everything whimpers in the face of nature's wrath as her anger peaks… and then Kenma's heart stutters as he sees a pair of black ears and pale wings through the dusty entrance of the temple.
It gives one painful spasm as the front eve sags, the awning and rafters slipping as the temple's front bearing wall gives way. And it stops as he sees Kuroo bring an arm up around Tsukishima's head as the building's face collapses, the roof sliding to the ground while the ibis and black cat disappear behind it.
A/N: There was one little hint of foreshadowing in the last chapter for this one... kudos if you caught it!
Also the pranks... some of those aren't just dreamt up. I've tweaked them all to fit the story, but I had five brothers and a sister. I have an ARSENAL of memories that are both hilarious and horrible. *cough* I kid you not, there was a venture with a pipe bomb that did crack one of the windows of the house I grew up in. I couldn't hear for two days.
Anyway... have another cliffhanger. I seem to be good at those. Have a stellar evening guys!