red light blues | haikyū! captains

equal footing

The art of sharing an easy conversation over sake hadn't always come as natural as it did to you now. You'd failed to inherit the silver tongued elegance your mother had used to lull patrons into a false sense of endearment, and that was only one of the many drawbacks she'd abhorred you—her own child—for. However, you were long past that. Time passes, scars heal, and you would inevitably learn how to enchant men with your own magic one way or another.

But right now, you were convinced that you were the one being entranced by the man in front of you instead.

"And that's how we eventually got along."

You spared Kuroo a soft chuckle, tipping the ceramic cup he'd provided over your lips. There familiarity of Yachi's brew had a bite that certainly helped to ease your nerves and made you feel more comfortable in your seat. But then again, even if you didn't really know what to expect when Kuroo invited you for a drink in his quarters, him being a rather gracious host was definitely not it.

"You go way back with Kai-san and Yaku-san, huh," you remarked fondly, fingers tracing the rim of your cup. "He reminds me a little of someone back home. A friend who's been there for as long as I could remember."

The quirk of Kuroo's lips told you he knew who you were talking about. "I see the resemblance, although I'm quite certain Saeko was a little less shrill. But who am I to say? I'd only been indulged with her company for a few hours."

"Saeko does come off strongly at times," you agreed, catching yourself suppressing a smile.

For a fleeting moment, you wondered if Kuroo frequented Yoshiwara more often than he let on. Lev had informed you that Shinsengumi officers needed to serve as guards in Nekoma for at least half a year if they wished to join the ranks, but him just waltzing into Karasuno to avail of the brothel's services was quite a bold move. Wasn't that the same day they were supposed to ask Ukai's help with their investigation, too?

"Lord Kuroo, if I may ask," you began, unsure of how you were even going to go on about this, "are you perhaps a regular patron? Not necessarily at Karasuno...but in Yoshiwara altogether?"

In retrospect, you didn't really have a formidable reason for imposing such a question. It was all to sate your curiosity. The image you had of Kuroo Tetsurou was made up of mismatched fragments, and you simply wished to know where to properly put them. But then again, you didn't really have the right to do so—even if he did invite you into his quarters.

You'd always known your place in this world, yet...

Just before you could contemplate about backtracking, however, Kuroo's mouth flitted into a smile with a gentleness you never would've thought he could muster.

"You could say that," he chuckled, taking a few gulps from his cup. You watched the way his throat moved as the sake gushed into his body before he detached his lips with a content sigh. "Bokuto likes to tell me I'm an unintentional charmer, but I got no idea what he's talking about."

You, on the other hand, knew exactly what the Owl Commander had meant by that (which was already unusual on its own because, wasn't Bokuto the more oblivious of the two?)

Nodding minutely, your eyes fell to the tatami—not quite believing that Kuroo almost caught you emerging from the dungeons earlier. He had smoothed out the atmosphere with his own charm so well that you nearly forgot about the amulet tucked between the folds of your kimono. Perhaps it was the alcohol that knocked your reservations a few notches down, but you strangely felt at ease with him.

Kuroo wasn't exactly the brute you'd perceived him to be in your first few days of acquaintance. The past week you'd spent living alongside him was proof enough of that, but you never really had the leisure to speak to him one-on-one like this. Although the commander of the Shinsengumi was considerably more carefree in the compound than he was on-the-job, you never would have thought that he could be even more easygoing—more so under the influence of Yachi's trusty sake, too.