Game On - A Haikyuu!! Mafia AU

- Chapter Twenty-four -

  ·Recap ·

"Quit speaking in riddles."

"As in they won't stop till they take out all of Karasuno. Suna.. they have grenades."

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Koutarou Bokuto had never been the type to lie.

He hated it, hated the notion of betraying someone's trust in him and leading them into something they couldn't get out of.

So he had avoided doing it as much as possible, especially since Akaashi was practically a walking lie detector.

When it was needed for business, sure he'd lie if it meant everything ran smoothly. But on a regular basis? Absolutely not.

And yet here he was, reassuring Daichi many times over he wouldn't turn against Karasuno, when that was exactly what Kuroo asked of him. It was alright in the beginning, just another part of a 'master plan'.

But he really found himself wanting to help, tried imagining what it would be like losing Akaashi to someone he thought he was allies with.

And so many of Karasuno's cadets had looked so hopeful when he pledged his loyalty to them, even the stone cold Tsukishima letting his tough exterior crack in relief.

And Hinata, oh Hinata.

Bokuto really had taken a liking to the kid, how he'd get peppered with questions on how he had such steady aim and 'Eh? How did you do that? Can you teach me?' or 'Wahh, that was amazing! I want to learn that!'

And he knew how much Kageyama meant to Hinata.

Whether he'd deny it with a flustered yell or not, there was something a lot deeper than 'business parters' there.

Supposedly, Hinata had dropped quite a bit of weight the initial week of Kageyama's absence, and the iconic spark in his eyes had diminished to nothing.

Bokuto was glad to see he was doing better, at least.

Besides, Akaashi had built genuine friendships with quite a few of Karasuno's cadets, even going as far as gently massaging Tsukki's shoulders earlier into the night after wordlessly picking up on how nervous he was.

Asking Akaashi to betray all these people he'd come to know and love was like telling him to cut off one of his own fingers.

And from first hand experience, Bokuto knew that once Akaashi made a decision there was nothing that could change his mind.

Which meant that plan or not, Akaashi was devoting his full power to ensuring Kageyama's safe return home, and there was no way to remind him of the consequences that came with betraying Kuroo's trust.

Which left Bokuto hanging somewhere in between, stuck between who to stay with.

One of his closest friends, or his deputy?

Kuroo would never willingly hurt him, Bokuto knew that. Contrary to how he had portrayed himself to everyone else, he cared.

But Nekoma hadn't promised the same thing to Akaashi. No reassuring 'I promise I won't hurt you' or anything along those lines.

Bokuto had landed himself a spot just in between them that he couldn't move from.

Half of him of course wanted to stick with Akaashi, the notion of having to fight his deputy quite possibly to the death was like getting salt rubbed into a wound he didn't know he had.

He wouldn't know what to do with himself if Akaashi was to die at his hands, he'd already almost lost him once.

But that also meant deliberately slicing Nekoma's trust in him clean in half, and he valued his relationship with Kuroo, he really did.