Perspectives Shifting
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Haruichi Furudate.
Warning: Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships and whatever, you know all that good stuff, fluffy and also some mild OOC-ness… and timeskip's… If any of this bothers you then you have the option of not reading.
Music: "Saikai no Hi Made Tabibito ni Narou" by Hitomi Kuroishi (Become a traveler until the day of the reunion)
X
X
Hinata was grinning from ear to ear as he talked animatedly. "Our house is huge! You'll definitely love the space kitty!"
Next to him, the baldy, whom Kenma came to know as Tanaka sighed exasperatedly in contrast to his companion's enthusiasm. "Hinata, you can't just bring home strays!" He groaned disapprovingly.
Hinata though, turned to the taller male with a pout, clearly displeased and Kenma gave him a blank look as well. "Oh come on, Suga won't mind!"
"But Daichi and the others might…" Tanaka countered.
"He'll just stay with me in my room, no harm done, right?" Hinata asked, looking down at Kenma.
The bakeneko meowed in response and began to purr in agreement. This in turn brought a smile to the teen's face and he cradled Kenma closely before nuzzling their cheeks together tenderly. Kuroo was always tamed when it came to giving Kenma affection which was completely fine to the bakeneko since he wasn't the cuddly type either. But for some reason, Hinata struck something deep within Kenma, a feeling so strong in fact that he'd never once felt so smitten before in his entire life. It was strange and yet Kenma couldn't help but find himself embracing the new feeling regardless.
Speaking of Kuroo, the guy could handle living without him for a few days; he was a human adult after all. Besides that, being with his partner twenty-four seven became exhausting after a while and Kenma needed some time to himself, he concluded. This was going to be a vacation—a vacation where he was going to get drunk on Hinata's attention and Kenma meowed happily at the thought.
Eventually, the group arrived in front of a large gate and when Kenma turned to survey his new surroundings, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets once he realized the sheer size of Hinata's home. It was a large mansion—a traditional Japanese one at that! Suddenly, dread began to set in for some reason or another and as Kenma stiffened from the growing anxiety, he finally noticed a group of crows staring down at him from the rooftops.
Mewling nervously, Kenma turned this way and that in Hinata's arms, wiggling his body around until he could push his face deep into the crook of the teen's elbow. It was a rather pitiful display on his part but so long as he could hide his face from the curious gaze of the crowd of black birds, Kenma couldn't bring himself to care at that moment.
"Huh? Kitty, are you alright?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Tanaka exclaimed suddenly, pointing an accusing finger up at the group of crows. "It's rude to stare so quit gawking at our new house guest!"
The crows cawed back at Tanaka, flipping their wings as they huddled closer amongst themselves. They didn't move from their perch though and thus the group continued to stare down at the three.
"Man, they're like paparazzi's sometimes…"
Hinata chuckled, stroking Kenma behind the ear. "It's not like they can help it though."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tanaka waved dismissively.
Letting themselves in through the gate, Kenma suddenly felt his fur begin to stand up on end once they entered the property. Lifting his head up from his hiding place, Kenma couldn't help himself from looking around the yard frantically, trying to pinpoint the source of the oppressing aura that was pushing down on him. It was crazy and even more so that he hadn't sensed it from the outside. There must have been a barrier masking the strong presence.
At that moment, Hinata stopped walking as he sensed Kenma's obvious discomfort. "Oi, what's wrong?" He asked, gently jostling the feline in his arms.
"Huh?" Tanaka too stopped walking, looking over his shoulder at the younger teen. "Something the matter?"
"It's the cat." Hinata replied, frowning. "He's getting really uppity for some reason.
Tanaka simply crossed his arms. "He probably senses Daichi and the others. Animals are sensitive to youkai unlike humans, y'know."
"Really? I suppose you're right."
It was then that Tanaka's words struck a chord in Kenma. Youkai? Turning to look up at the bald male, his tail flickered around wildly. Now it makes sense, Kenma thought to himself. Pointing his gaze back straight up at the crows, he came to the realization that the mission at hand was only just beginning to unfold.
With his feline eyes staring, unblinking at the flock, the crows gradually became restless and cawed louder than before. Ignoring them though, Hinata proceeded to take Kenma inside without a care as he followed excitedly behind Tanaka. With the group out of sight, having retreated into the manor, the crows began to make noise amongst themselves, ruffling their feathers and flickering their gazes around the area. Finally, one crow leaped off from their perch, flipping its wings as it flew around to the other side of the building. Finding the second story window open, the crow flew inside, inviting itself in and cawed loudly for the inhabitant's attention.
"Chizuru, what brings you in here?" Suga asked, holding his arm out for the crow to perch on.
The crow, Chizuru, landed easily on the outstretched limb, turning his head and leaning close to the man. He cooed affectionately in greeting and Suga in turn stroked his feathers to calm him down as he cawed quietly. Worried now, Suga turned and frowned at his partner, the younger man rubbing the sides of his temple.
"Daichi, Chizuru has informed me that we have an intruder, or rather Hinata unknowingly brought one home." Suga said, still petting Chizuru.
"That's ironic because I got off the phone a few hours ago with Kei." Daichi replied. "He has a strong suspension that there is an exorcist amongst the school staff—a new teacher to be more specific."
"Do you think these two occurrences maybe connected somehow?"
"It's possible."
"Then what shall we do?" Suga asked worriedly, all the while Chizuru moved from his arm to perch on his shoulder instead.
"First thing's first is to greet our guest." Daichi grinned, sitting up from their bed. "They maybe able to give us some answers and if not, then it's one less problem to deal with once we sort it out of course!"
Suga couldn't help but find himself smirking at the other's reaction. "If that's your plan of action, I'd better step in and do the interrogation first, ne?"
Daichi stood up from the bed now, his brows furrowing. "Huh? But why?"
It was then that Suga walked over to him, reaching up to poke at his cheek. "Because, knowing you, you'll probably strike fear in our guest too soon and we don't want that." He explained. "In the meantime, if there is an exorcist snooping around at the school—what'll the boys do? They'll be in danger…"
"Which is why Kei is going to look into it." Daichi sighed, crossing his arms. "I'll inform the others tonight but because the suspect is one of Kei's teacher's, he has a much higher chance of gathering information as well as being in danger himself." He added, the worry evident in his voice. "Luckily, Yamaguchi is in the same class as him so he should be able to keep Kei out of trouble, if only a little."
"Even so, I'm worried and I know you are too..." Suga said, his brown eyes staring sadly out towards the window where the open sky was turning red. "Daichi, I don't want to have to pull them out of school if it does come down to them being discovered…"
The look Suga wore pulled at Daichi's heartstrings and made his chest throb. He understood his partner's pain—the boys were like their children and after years of hard work, pushing and encouragement, they'd all finally found a place where they could settle down in peace with the humans as well as feel a sense of belonging. Suga knew and Daichi too couldn't bear to take that away from them so suddenly.
Coming up from behind, Daichi wrapped his arms around the older male's waist and embraced him tightly, back to chest. Yuu, stunned by the sudden movement, cawed once before making a beeline straight out of the room through the window, leaving the two lovers behind. With the third wheel gone, Suga settled back, laying his head against Daichi's shoulder. "I know you feel apprehensive right now but we'll figure something out. We just need to wait it out a little and if luck is on our side, the danger will pass."
"And what if it doesn't?" Suga asked, closing his eyes.
Daichi kissed the side of his face. "Don't say that. If it comes down to it, I'll confront the exorcist myself and maybe then we can come to an agreement."
Hearing those words, Suga whipped around, his hands instantly reaching out to clutch at the front of Daichi's yukata. "Are you crazy!?"
"Possibly, however if it does come down to it—as the head of the Karasuno Clan, I'll do whatever it takes to protect our family." Daichi explained, placing his hands on top of Suga's as he brought them up to his lips and kissed each knuckle gently. All the while Suga felt his body tremble as memories from the past began to fill his head.