The Serpent's Coil (Tsukkiyama)

Puzzled Together and Departed

It took two incredibly uncomfortable days for the people from Koma-Nek to arrive. It was not the accommodations that had caused Tsukishima's discomfort, the cots weren't quite the feather-down mattresses he was used to, but that wasn't the real issue. Tsukishima, as he had discovered, did not enjoy being the odd man out. Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo, and Kenma all spent most of their time inside the house, the former pair still reeling from awakened memories and the latter in staunch avoidance of Kar citizens. Kageyama and Hinata spent all of their time together; they wandered the winding streets, gawked at animals, and were never once separate from each other. The idiot pair had, in the face of adversity, somehow increased their sickening clinginess, as if stolen kisses and whispered words would erase the grave situation they had found themselves in. Tsukishima tried to make the most of his time in Kar, but neither he nor Yachi were nearly as social, so, despite the friendly Kar populous, the two felt just as alone as they had been in the Firefly Empire.

Tsukishima felt a great weight lift off his shoulders when the visitation of the Koma-Nek officials was announced. He hated to waste time, and as far as Tsukishima was concerned, any time not spent closing the gap with Yamaguchi was time wasted. The second the announcement was made, he rounded up the whole crew and ushered them back to the meeting hall. The blond half expected that he'd have to drag Kuroo out of the house kicking and screaming, but in a rare display of maturity, Kuroo faced forward and faced his old tribe with his head held high.

There were two new figures in the temple-like hall when the Nekarasi crew arrived. To the left of Ukai was an incredibly short but stern-looking man. His hair was short and light brown, and he wore his concern openly on his furrowed brow. To the left of the short man was an incredibly tall one. The tall fellow's green eyes darted to and from, and he seemed near incapable of sitting still; he fidgeted and looked worriedly at the short man before fidgeting again. Tsukishima tried to curb his annoyance, the conversation hadn't even begun, and he already couldn't stand the tall man.

Kuroo froze when he and the short man, who Tsukishima assumed to be Koma-Nek's chief, made eye contact. He stood there and stared in silence for far longer than what was acceptable, and it was Kenma who had to push him forward and sit him down, lest he lose what little dignity he had left. The short chief, in all fairness, seemed just as shocked as Kuroo, though there was a glint of anger in those amber eyes that Tsukishima wasn't all too terribly fond of.

It was Ukai who finally cleared his throat and spoke up, "Well, Kuroo and Kenma already know who this is, but for the sake of everyone else, this," he gestured to the short man, "is chief Yaku of Koma-Nek, and the beanpole with him is Lev, his guard."

At the completion of introductions, Daichi pulled a slightly crumpled letter from his breast pocket. "We've gotten a new letter from Suga," he began, as if that wasn't already obvious, "and, well, there's good news, and there's bad news."

Bokuto, high strung and fresh out of patience, slammed his fist on the table, "Get on with it man! This is our friend in danger here, just tell us what you know and cut it with the mysterious shit!"

If they had been in any other situation, Tskishima would've laughed, but as it was, he found himself in silent agreement with Bokuto. Yamaguchi was capable, only an idiot would label him as weak, but Daishou was a twisted man, and Tsukishima loathed every second that Yamaguchi remained on those Goddess forsaken islands.

Daichi stumbled over his words in shock at Bokuto's outburst, but regained his composure quickly and carried on, "Right, so, the good news is that Yamaguchi has escaped the Palace of the Snakes, so he's with Suga at the moment and away from immediate danger. The bad news, as was gathered by Yamaguchi while he was in the palace, is that Daishou is making plans to invade a weak country and use its citizens as an unwilling army. He's looking for an easy target, a foot in the door if you will."