Akaashi X Reader Soulmate Au - Blog Posts

Reborn (Bokuto/Akaashi x Reader) ~Chapter 8~

(Supernatural/Soulmate AU)

*GIF not mine*

Summary: How do normal people react when they get kidnapped by a vampire and a wizard claiming to be their soulmates? Because you try to choke them out with their own breakfasts. But maybe that’s just you. 

A/N: Sup y’all, ik ik it’s been a long time and whatnot, but let’s be honest, my a/n ain’t what ur here for. Hope you like it, and sorry for the wait!

Taglist: @burntcilantro  @alloverbutterflies  @neonghxst  @zaejia  @momothepeachgirl  @black-veil-chemicalz  @bumblebeel  @blxkstar  @keigosbitch  @planetmae​  @rikorene  @idiot-juice-enthusiast  @cherriomilkmangos  @floriane4536  @shimy-deko  @lanceyfancypants  @asteroikawa  @bokutowo  @ichiraku-verse  @samie-babie  @astro-anomaly  @hq149  @pagan-and-gay​  @erinoikawa  @missbuwan  @drunken-dreams @prettyinblack231  @franko-pop  @artisticamore  @bokkubeam  @bokutosfeather  @autumnandhotchocolate  @tendo-sxtori​ (probably forgot some, it’s been a while :/)

Word count: 4620

        “Do you think she’s okay?”

        “For the fifth time, Bokuto, she’s fine. I told you I’ve already checked and made sure.”

        “Yeah, I know it’s just are you really sure?”

        “You’re pushing it, Bokuto.”

        “All right, all right.” 

        Silence fell as your eyes fluttered open. 

        “But are you certain?”

        “Boku-”

        Akaashi’s voice was cut off by a cry, and before you knew it the sun flooding your eyes had been replaced by Bokuto’s face. 

        “YN, YOU’RE ALIVE!”

        “Bo,” you croaked, leaning up onto your elbows before pressing a hand to your temple, “it’s too early for that volume.”

        “Afraid not, my love,” Akaashi rose from his seat on a stump a few feet away and moved to kneel by your side. “According to the sun, it seems you’ve slept more than half the day away.”

        “Oh,” you glanced around, observing the spanse of dirt and trees before you. The sun sat directly above your head, unencumbered by clouds and backdropped by shades of blue. Birds chirped high and far in the trees, and a gentle wind cooled the sweat that had been beading at your forehead. “Looks like my kind of morning, if I’m honest.”

        Akaashi scoffed with a smile, rising to his feet before offering you a hand as Bokuto clambered away in search of something. “Trust me, I know.”

        You sputtered at the jab before taking his hand, almost losing your playful air at the contact. His hands were soft to the touch, gentle and warm. So warm. 

        It finally occurred to you that this was the first time in weeks you’d been relaxed enough to truly revel in the comforting touches Akaashi always provided. The heat flowing from his form thawed the frozen limbs you’d generated from sleeping on the forest floor for hours. When it reached your chest, a feeling akin to finding something long lost embraced you. 

        “A little lie here and there never hurt anyone, you know.”

        “Sometimes it does,” Akaashi’s face fell into seriousness, a fitting but usually undesirable look for him. 

        Wanting to return the atmosphere to buoyancy, you opened your mouth to take back what you said, but not before clamorous footsteps behind you drew both of your attention. 

        “Darling, I caught and roasted a squirrel for you to eat!” Bokuto finally returned to the clearing where you had all settled for the night, holding what appeared to be a stick with a disturbingly charred creature on the end. 

        Your stomach growled.

        Akaashi glanced down at you, half-shocked, half-concerned. Your gaze was still locked on the burnt animal, however. 

        Maybe it was the fact that you had only been eating berries and suspicious leaves for the past few days, or maybe you were truly losing your mind. 

        But damn were you hungry. 

        For modesty’s sake, you accepted the skewered squirrel with pursed lips and blank eyes, but deep down you were all but ready to swallow it whole. 

        “Thank you, Bo,” you trailed off, trying to keep a straight face as your mouth watered. 

        Akaashi’s hand settled on your shoulder. “My love, you don’t have to-”

        “No, no, it’s fine.” Shrugging his hand off, you moved to claim the stump he had sat on earlier. “Can’t wait.”

        Both boys watched you with conflicting gazes, one distressed and anxious in a way you’ve never seen before on him, and the other overjoyed. 

        Judging by the way the thin tail had flaked off at your touch, it was well-done.

        This is supposed to be disgusting. This is supposed to be gross. You don’t want to eat this, YN.

        You gulped, still observing the squirrel from every which way to see where to start. 

        But I’m so hungry.

         By the time you were finished with your breakfast, Akaashi’s face had turned pale and Bokuto’s had broken out into a smile. 

        “Did you like it?”

        “Loved it.”

        With a deep dismay at yourself, you knew you spoke the truth. 

                                ~~~

        “I say we go west.”

        “That’s the way we came, YN.”

        “Oh.”

        You’d been in the woods for what must’ve been three days, maybe more during your long rest after escaping Kuroo. Bokuto said you were out for forever, and you weren’t exactly sure how to convert that into a measurement of time. 

        Said vampire stood next to you, holding and swinging your hand with his while waiting for Akaashi to determine the correct way to get home. 

        Earlier, Bokuto had plucked a dandelion and placed it behind your ear, adding more to the collection whenever he got the chance. 

        Right now, he’d had plenty of time, collecting so many that he’d given up on your ears and placed them atop your head. “I don’t know how to make one of those crowns,” he’d said sheepishly. 

        “Akaashi, can’t you just whip up a spell and find out where we are?” you groaned, taking a flower off your head and setting it behind Bokuto’s ear. His face flushed from the force of his smile. 

        “I don’t have any ingredients at hand, my love,” Akaashi spoke, gaining your attention once more. 

        “What happened to you being able to just, like, poof it out at any time?”

        “Using magic to attack an enemy is different from using it to escape a miles-long forest. And I suppose we should continue heading east.” 

        Akaashi set onto his chosen path, dodging moss-covered rocks and dangling twigs with you and Bokuto at his heels. Every few minutes he would glance back at the two of you, dandelions behind your ears and hands held before he trekked on ahead, back straight and stiff.

        Guilt and shame filled your chest at his obvious discontentedness, and when you murmured his name, he didn’t turn around. “Akaashi,” you repeated, much louder than before. 

        He halted in his tracks and turned, face a perfect mask of placidness as he responded. “Yes?”

        You dragged Bokuto up to him before grasping the wizard’s hand, interlocking your fingers tightly. “Much better,” you grinned, a weight dropping off your shoulders the second his eyes lost their dejection. 

        “If you think so, my love,” Akaashi whispered, raising your hand to press a kiss to your knuckles. 

        “Wait!”

        He froze, brows furrowing. 

        Uncurling your hand from his, you ignored his heartbroken look and tugged a yellow flower from behind your ear, placing it behind his own and ruffling his hair along the way. A chuckle worked its way from his lips, affecting you much more than was appropriate as you grasped his hand again. 

        “Okay, now we can go.”

                                ~~~

        Three months? A year?

        As you lay on the ground, only the moon to keep you company, you ponder how you’ve come to be where you are. Among the arms of two supernatural creatures, ones anyone else your age would have laughed at the idea of even existing. 

        You had a whole life behind you, one that would never be the same if you dared to return. If you were allowed to return.

        The men that lay at your sides, one completely wrapped around you while the other only grasps your hand, don’t make a sound that doesn’t convey absolute slumber. 

        Only days--weeks?--ago had you told them that you loved them. In the heat of the moment, the word had just slipped out, out to the men who catered to your every whim, every want and need. I love them. I love them.

        I love them…

        Right?

        You loved animals. You loved rainy days. You loved the scent of your favorite fruit and the feeling of stretching first thing in the morning. 

        All these things felt so easy to define aloud, to say affirmingly “Yes, I do love these things. I love them with all of my heart.”

        But loving or simply saying you loved Akaashi and Bokuto had a different effect on you altogether. It felt… revealing. It had the same emotional impact as those dreams of going to school naked. You were bare, leaving yourself wide open to enemy attack.

        But these two men weren’t your enemies. They wouldn’t dare to hurt you in such a way. Countless times have they revealed your feelings to you, told you about how you made them feel deep down inside their hearts. You were the love of their lives, and they’ve told you so, verbatim. 

        Is that what you were feeling then? Love? 

        When Bokuto nuzzled against your neck in that moment, forcing your chest to thump, was that love? Was it the feeling of calm that settled over you when Akaashi ran his thumb over your knuckles? Was that love?

        “Keiji?” you whispered, glancing to your right to see if he had stirred. His hand tightened around yours, leaving your heart stuttering. Though his eyes were shut, lashes gently brushing the tips of his cheeks, his lips tilted into a soft smile. 

        “Yes, my love?” A single eye fluttered open, carefully revealing a deep blue iris that scanned over your face. You were hesitant to ask, afraid to sound like a child asking a juvenile question. But you so dearly wanted to know. 

        “What does love feel like?”

        The question hung in the air as you felt Akaashi stiffen beside you, his hand pausing in its caresses along yours. You lay beside him a bundle of nerves, wondering if somehow you managed to press the wrong button in so few words. 

        “W-what I meant to say was-was that, umm, you know, is there like a criteria, or… or, like a checklist-”

        Akaashi chuckled, effectively cutting you off and forcing a blush onto your face. Shame filled your chest and you lightly pulled your hand from his grip, returning your gaze to the moon. As his laughs faded away into the night, you watched in your peripheral vision as he sat up, leaning back on his elbows as he crossed one leg over the other. Of course, your actions escaped none of his attention. 

        “My love, I’m sorry. I did not mean to laugh.” He ignored your scoff and continued. “It is just… all of these times I have met you, fallen for you over and over and not once have you ever asked for my criteria of love.”

        “Good to know I’m especially stupid this round.”

        “No, that is not what I meant,” he shook his head, shifting into a cross-legged position before nudging you to face him with a finger on your chin. “What I mean is… you are so different this time. In a good way. For the first time in so many reincarnations, I feel as though I am learning a side of you, a side of YN I have never known before. It’s endearing.”

        “That,” you swallowed, glancing away as a sudden feeling of breathlessness washed over you. In the pit of your stomach sat a comforting warmth, threatening to overtake you and make you shiver. “That doesn’t really answer my question.”

        “I know, love, so here is my answer: I do not know.”

        Your jaw dropped. “Seriously? You’re kidding me, right?”

        But a sincere smile, carefree and so, so unexpected out of Akaashi made you wait to hear an explanation. Boohockey.

        “It’s true. Each time I fell in love, every single time was different. I just knew.”

        “Surely you’ve gotta know how that doesn’t help me at all.”

        He laughed again. “Yes, I know. But, if it helps at all, I didn’t know it in here,” he trails his index finger gently along your temple, “I knew it in here.” When his hand drops to the middle of your chest, your heart jumps.

        “That,” you gulp, “must have been quite the surprise for a wise old wizard like you.”

        “It was,” he amusedly hums, looking away from you only so he can resituate himself on the ground. He returns to holding your hand as he settles back onto his side, facing you. “A pleasant surprise.”

        The night falls into silence once more, only occasionally broken by Bokuto’s natural mumbles. 

        Did you feel it in your chest? Not just the heart racing, but actual love that came from them, for them? 

        When Akaashi’s thumb ran over your knuckles once more, uncertainty was washed away and replaced by contentment. You were calm, at peace, and possibly…

        “Oh, and, my love?”

        “Hmm?”

        “Please, do start calling us by our personal names like that more often,” Akaashi murmured, lips pressing against your hair. “We would so adore it.”

        Definitely in love.

                                ~~~

        The next time you wake, it’s not to the pleasant sound of one of the boys stirring you or whispering your name. 

        Instead, it’s to the sound of a cracking twig. Leaves rustle in the trees far too insistently to be only the wind. And when you hear distant, unintelligible mumbles, all of your worries are confirmed. 

        Somebody’s out there.

        It’s barely morning, the sun just beginning to paint the sky a gentle blue as the stars finally disappear from sight. Your face feels frozen and stiff, it having been the only thing Bokuto and Akaashi hadn’t covered with their forms throughout the night. Your body is stuck within a tangle of limbs and you can’t quite tell which ones are yours and which aren’t. 

        Again a branch crackles and your eyes narrow, surveying the towering treetops above you for the source of movement. You suck your bottom lip in between your teeth and gnaw.

        Neither of the men beside you have even twitched, both completely unaware of your fraying nerves. 

        How can they not hear that?

        You move to escape the jungle gym that is Bokuto and Akaashi around you, unhooking the leg curled around your hip and carefully unclasping the hands wrapped around your waist. Brushing off the dirt and rocks that had stuck to your skin during your sleep, you take a peek down at them. 

        You’re only half surprised they’re still asleep when you catch a glimpse of their faces. Bokuto’s face looks relaxed for the first time in weeks, brow completely unfurrowed and nose twitching as he mumbles in his sleep. Akaashi, on the other hand, has dark circles you’ve only now noticed, creating sagging skin underneath his eyes that made him seem like a different person entirely. 

        It’s been months and yet just here and now are you realizing how the events that have transpired may have affected other people aside from you. As much as you cared and worried for them, locked up and left to die in cages, they cared and worried for you. 

        You, the one who’s been kidnapped by their worst enemy.

        You, the one they’ve dedicated their lives to protecting. 

        You, their soulmate. 

        Suddenly, your shoulders sagged. Here you were, thinking they were still coasting on the high of finding their reincarnated love, thinking that all of this adventure, all of these miserable events were just a regular Tuesday for them. 

        He finally found you, they’d said, back when they’d taken you away from your college and back to their home.

        In all of the centuries they’ve been tracking reincarnates like you down, only this time did Kuroo find you too. 

        The thought of the werecat leaves a twinge in your side, but you’re dragged out of these thoughts by the sound of yet another rustling branch. With one last glance down at the men, you purse your lips and sneak away to investigate. 

        Due to the sun only just now appearing, the dirt under your shoes is hard and unforgiving. Morning dew on the occasional blade of grass and fallen leaf beads and trails down the plant life, soaking into the forest floor like a daily tradition. Some drops patter down onto your head after dripping off the tree limbs soaring above you. 

        It’s quiet, peaceful, and for a moment you completely forget why you’re even out there. 

        And then you spot them. 

        Two creatures, hundreds of feet above you. Somehow they’ve found a sturdy branch to rest on at such a height. You can only see their outlines, black and human-shaped. 

        And yet not human at all. 

        Breath speeding up, you try to back away slowly, as quietly as it seemed you’d come. Your hands wave around at your sides in effort to make sure you won’t back up into anything-

        Crack.

        Wonderful. 

        Their whispering stops, and the creatures’ outlines move in such a way that you’re sure they’ve just turned and spotted you. 

        Shit.

        Your head pounds, shouting at you to run or yell or something, but your feet feel frozen to the floor. Cold panic strikes your heart. 

        The only thing that finally urges you to move is the sight of wings sprouting from the creatures’ backs. 

        “Cr-rap,” you whimper, just before turning around and bolting. 

        You hurdle over fallen branches, kicking rocks up behind you as you avoid bumping into trees and tripping over uneven ground. Blood roars in your ears now as you sprint, muscles still sore and whining from the last race you’d run just days ago. But you don’t dare look behind you. 

        This cannot be happening!

        “BOKUTO!” you cry out. “AKAA- AHHH!” At the feeling of two limbs wedging themselves under your arms, you scream, pure, unadulterated terror seizing your chest as your feet unwillingly leave the ground. You kick your legs, trying to hit something, anything, that you might catch on to get out of the grip of the creature behind you. Instantly, you debunk this plan the second its grip loosens on you and you slip just an inch closer to the ground. 

        The ground that is now a few feet too many below you to land safely. 

        “I have a fear of heights, I have a fear of heights, I have a fear of heights,” you babble, hands waving around wildly and finding purchase in the upper arms that currently hold you. “I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die.”

        Eyes practically bulging out of your skull, you try not to black out when the creature continues flying you higher, wings flapping forcefully behind you as its hot breath brushes your neck. The greens and browns of the forest blow past you in a blur, so fast that the second you surface above the trees, the blue sky blinds you and leaves your head foggy. 

        The creature finally stops, flapping its wings slower only to maintain its spot inches from the tops of the trees. You whimper when you feel your feet brush the pointed tip of a pine tree. 

        “Hinata!” it--he?--calls, tightening his grip under your arms as he struggles to hold your scrambling body still. “Hinata, call the others!”

        The trees below you crackle closer and closer until the second creature surfaces, looking not much like a creature at all. 

        In fact, he looks like a young boy, no older than sixteen with scruffy red hair and nervous brown eyes. He wore black shorts and a white shirt, one which you assumed was backless considering what was sprouting out from behind him.

        Wings. A human with wings.

        How…

        They were covered in black feathers and spread out as far as he was tall, each one the length of his entire body. 

        What…

        “Kageyama,” “Hinata” scratched the back of his neck nervously, wings still powerfully flapping behind him as he hovered across from you. Occasionally, his gaze would dance down to you before flitting back up at your… kidnapper- Shit, why does this keep happening? “Are you sure we should be doing this?”

        “What do you mean, dumbass?” the voice behind you snapped, deeper and angrier than his friend’s. “She’s an intruder on our territory, and this is our duty. Now call the others.”

        “But what if she-”

        “If it makes you feel any better,” you choked out, voice quivering as you tried to adjust your grip harder on the boy behind you, “I’m not intruding willingly. In fact, if you just return me to the ground--slowly--we’ll just leave you alone and be on our way.”

        The boy behind you tensed while his friend’s eyes widened.

        “‘We’?”

        A roar from deep below you sounded, angry and out for blood. “YN!”

        Even you shook in fear at the sound, nails digging into the boy’s arms harder. 

        “Who is that?” Kageyama barked out from behind you, but even his voice trembled slightly. 

        “Kageyama, I told you this was a bad idea!” the ginger pleaded, eyes flitting back and forth between his friend and the trees below. 

        You opened and closed your mouth, searching for words that wouldn’t get you dropped to your death when you heard a distant rumbling. 

        In a matter of seconds, the wind slowly began to pick up, blowing your hair into disarray as both of the flying men flapped their wings harder, struggling to steady themselves like surfboards in heavy tides. The sunny, clear day that was evidently forecasted disappeared in the blink of an eye.

        Grey clouds formed from nothing and grew darker and darker, growling with thunder as rain started to pour down on you. 

        Kageyama started lowering himself toward the trees with a cuss before barking at an open-mouthed Hinata. “Get lower, dumbass! You don’t wanna get struck!”

        The ginger quickly shut his mouth and nodded, following his friend’s lead and taking cover from the droplets amongst the trees. The second you all found home on a sturdy branch, however, lightning clapped and hit your very tree, electricity sparking it aflame in seconds. 

        Both of them yelped in shock while you screamed, the strike splintering the tree. 

        “YN!” Akaashi’s voice rang out and you dared to glance down at the forest floor, the sheer distance making you nauseous. He held out his hands towards you, his fingertips bathing in a dark red glow. You knew he couldn’t safely catch you from this distance, even with the pacing Bokuto by his side’s help. So what was he…?

        A particularly harsh gust of wind hit your split tree, forcing your branch and everyone on it to lean closer toward the floor. Akaashi’s eyes widened when you didn’t immediately smile in relief at the sight of them--in fact, you did quite the opposite and screeched in fear, scrambling backwards on the branch so you didn’t slip off. 

        When your back met the chest of Kageyama, he grabbed your shoulder and turned you to face him, blue eyes blaring. His black hair grew tousled in the wind while he sneered at you. “Who the hell are you here with?”

        Wind started blowing harder and rain drops hit you like bullets, pounding down on you as the sky rumbled angrily once more. The forest grew uproariously loud as tree limbs crashed against one another, snapping off and soaring through the wind only to collide with more trunks. 

        And with all this noise and distraction, none of you noticed the vampire crawling his way up the trees until he tackled you by the waist. One arm wrapped around you like a vice, crushing you against him while you shrieked. The momentum of his jump carried you both off the branch and into wide open air, which did nothing for your racing heart as you wrapped all your limbs around him and held on for dear life. You buried your face into his shoulder, almost breaking your nose against his collarbone when he, you assumed, crashed into a second tree and used his three free limbs to hang on. 

        “YN!” Bokuto called out, wind still whipping past both your ears. “Are you okay?”

        “Y-yeah,” you nodded, not even daring to lift your head. 

        “Good.” The hand wrapped around your waist moved to rub your back gently as he spoke. “I need you to hang on tight, okay?”

        “Mhm.”

        You tightened your grip around his form, humming nervously when he let go of your waist to utilize his second hand. “It’s okay,” he reassured you, and you began to realize the wind and rain had slowed. “Just hang on.”

        Bokuto climbed down the tree, you wrapped around the front of his chest like a koala as he mumbled calming words to you. 

        When you felt him stop climbing and heard rushed footfalls, you carefully raised your head and peered out around you, almost crying in relief at the sight of being on solid ground. The second you made a move to unwrap yourself from Bokuto’s body, however, his arms wound themselves around you and effectively halted any form of escape. Another solid form pressed into your back and you knew Akaashi had joined the party too.

        “My love,” kisses were peppered along the back of your neck and shoulders, “are you okay?” 

        You didn’t bother responding fully, instead just humming and nodding your head. You stayed locked in their embrace until your body and your mind cleared. The second a wave of warm tingles crawled up and down your spine, you let them know you were ready to be released by gently pushing away their forms. 

        A pouty whine escaped Bokuto’s lips as you pulled away and you breathed out a laugh. “I’m okay, I promise.”

        “But you’re still on our territory,” an entirely new voice spoke, strong and commanding. The responses in Bokuto and Akaashi were instant as they both whipped toward the new man, tense and ready for a fight. Akaashi’s hands were washed in a red mist and Bokuto released a growl, pushing you behind him as his eyes flashed red. 

        You were severely outnumbered, you soon realized, as Hinata and Kageyama had seemed to finally call for the others like they’d planned. 12 or so men, all winged and ready for a fight, stood surrounding the three of you. The leader you’d heard talk earlier stepped forward, brown hair and browner eyes looking more intimidating than they should as he looked over you all. 

        At each of his sides stood men, one with light, fair hair observing you all with furrowed brows while the other’s head was shaved completely, a sharp-toothed sneer focused on all of you. Behind the latter, you noticed, stood a cowering Hinata while the former helped a fallen Kageyama rise to his feet, obviously favoring one leg over the other. 

        “Who are you?” Bokuto stepped forward, shoulders curled forward as he eyed all of them down. He was obviously gauging his chances, and all but he seemed to know they were slim. 

        “Shouldn’t we be asking that question?” the bald one snarled, causing the vampire to take a step forward. When the winged man returned the favor, Akaashi placed a single hand on his shoulder before glancing back at you. Swallowing lightly, you slipped a hand forward, sliding it into Bokuto’s palm and softening your gaze when he squeezed it for a second. 

        Kageyama’s gaze dropped to the action for a second before raising back to Bokuto’s face. 

       “Calm down, Tanaka,” the leader turned his head, throwing the overexcited man a warning glare. When he turns back to the three of you, his back straightens. “My name is Daichi, and you’re in the Karasuno Crows’ territory. Now, who are you?”

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Reborn (Bokuto/Akaashi x Reader) ~Chapter 7~

(Supernatural/Soulmate AU)

*GIF not mine*

Summary: How do normal people react when they get kidnapped by a vampire and a wizard claiming to be their soulmates? Because you try to choke them out with their own breakfasts. But maybe that’s just you. 

A/N: Ayooo happy 2021 y’all! We fucking made it! I’m glad y’all are here to kick off the new year with me, and as a celebration (and a lil apology bc I’m gonna have to go on hiatus again), here’s the next part to Reborn! I wish you all luck and happiness in the new year, and, as always, enjoy!

Tag List: @burntcilantro  @alloverbutterflies  @neonghxst  @zaejia  @momothepeachgirl  @black-veil-chemicalz  @bumblebeel  @blxkstar  @keigosbitch  @spicyiwa  @rikorene  @idiot-juice-enthusiast  @cherriomilkmangos  @floriane4536  @shimy-deko  @lanceyfancypants  @asteroikawa  @bokutowo  @ichiraku-verse  @samie-babie  @astro-anomaly  @hq149  @paganandshit  @erinoikawa​  @missbuwan  @thatonesinglefake​  (some *still* don’t work 😔)

Word count: 8155

        Some days you couldn’t stand to look at yourself in the mirror. When you’re feeling guilty after a buffet or just not wanting to face the music of an all-nighter. Maybe even after running over a squirrel on the road.

        The back of your mind whispered now was one of those times, but you ignored it. 

        Tears streamed down Bokuto’s face, flushing his cheeks and highlighting his golden irises. And yet, it seemed he still couldn’t find it in himself to meet your gaze. 

        “You’re a monster and I hate your guts,” you sneered, letting a foreign wave of fury wash over you. It was like your emotions had been hijacked and someone was pressing all your buttons at once. Your inability to control yourself made you even more pissed off. 

        Akaashi could only stand by and watch, pain and disappointment reigning on his face as Bokuto bawled like the baby he was. 

        You shifted your gaze back to the vampire and stepped closer to his bars. “Your head is emptier than the coffin in my grave. You always act all tough, but I know what you really are--a sad, old, lonely vampire clutching onto the only friend in his life while chasing after girls.” I don’t mean that. “And do you wanna know what else?”

        Like the prick of a needle, a headache stirred at the base of your neck and stretched to the top of your skull. Small jabs of pain dug under the superficial layers of your scalp and pierced the edges of your brain. Stop please. I don’t mean any of this.

        Just when you bit your tongue in effort to fend off the ache, Bokuto met your gaze for the first time in minutes. 

        Agony dominated his innocent eyes. His lower lip was drawn into his mouth and gnawed on enough to trail crimson down his chin. Each bone in his body appeared to tremble while his Adam’s apple bobbed every few seconds. But not once did he speak. 

        He didn’t beg you to stop or plead for you to take it all back. There was this aura around him that told you he was going to lie down and take this without even a hint of fighting back. No matter what you threw at him, he was willing to be your punching bag for however long you would let him.

        And that boiled your blood. 

        You stomped closer to his cage and shoved a hand through the bars, reaching out for him only to snicker when he dove away. 

        “Just as I thought.” You rolled your eyes and pulled away. “You’re a coward. Afraid to let me even touch you. Doesn’t that make you wonder how I felt after the last encounter we had?”

        He whimpered.

        “Exactly. I was terrified. You tore into me like roadkill. Like you wanted to kill me. How does that make you feel, Bokuto? Do you hate yourself for what you’ve done? Do you even feel bad? Or is it just that the beast you bury inside yourself finally took over and-”

        “That’s enough.”

        “Oh!” You simper at Akaashi. “Look who’s decided to join the party-”

        “That’s enough!” The wizard’s nostrils flare as he shakes his head at you. Voice lowered, he mumbles to himself incoherently while studying you like a hawk. “You don’t mean any of that, YN.”

        “Oh yeah? Does your light magic tell you that?”

        Akaashi’s eyes narrow at you. A million questions fly through his mind right before you while he reads every inch of your face. Then his lips part.

        “Does your stomach hurt, my love?” His tone is surprisingly gentle compared to the scowl he has carved into his features. You stumble back and furrow your brows. 

        “What?”

        “Do you have a headache? Do your toes itch?”

        “What the hell are you on?”

        His jaw irks and his shackles tap on the iron bars of his cell while he ponders. 

        Meanwhile, Bokuto sat crumpled on his knees, looking like his soul has torn in two. His head has lowered to his chest and dust stirs on the ground where his tears fall. Both hands lay curled into fists on his thighs, clenching and unclenching in an irregular pattern. 

        Frustration coils around your throat, forcing you to speak as you grow impatient. “Spit it out, Akaashi. What the fuck are you looking for?”

        Once more, the wizard’s eyes raise to meet yours head on as he studies you for a moment, looking stumped. “There’s got to be something… oh!” Standing up straighter, his cuffs clatter and clang as he gathers your attention, watching your every move. 

        “My love, how do you feel about us?”

        “Why does that-”         “Do you love us?”

        “W-what?” you exclaim, staggering back. In your chest, your heart jumps and stutters, gathering a zoo of butterflies in your stomach. For some reason, the question… excites you in a way. Not in an angry way, either, but more so a “now’s the time, just spit it out” way.

        Except you had nothing to spit. 

        Or, more precisely, you had nothing you wanted to spit. 

        Yes! Say it!

        Like your lips were sewn together, you force yourself to stay silent. No words seem to gather in your mind at Akaashi’s question. Wasn’t it too soon for something like that?

        Of course it was. And you… h-hated them anyway, right?... No?

        Fuck. 

        What was love anyway? Was it wanting to spend time around Bokuto and Akaashi? Was it wanting to be held in their embrace for as long as they would allow? Maybe it was wanting to have conversations about the dumbest things that slowly grow more serious and intense, or yell at sports games on television that you didn’t even know the rules to. 

        Surely it wasn’t any of that, because you wanted all of that. 

        “My love.” Even Bokuto had perked up to answer the question, head tilting just enough to glance at you through his lashes. Akaashi, however, seemed to read you like a book. “Please. Answer the question.”

        “I… y-... I… love… you.” You choked your way through each syllable, then the words came out as easy as a breath. “I love you.”

        A giant weight lifted off your shoulders and suddenly you could breathe again. The constriction around your throat lessened into nothing and your chest felt so light you could laugh. The freedom to have control over your emotions and your thoughts was almost as intoxicating as the dopamine flooding to your brain. 

        Akaashi looked like he could pass out in relief while Bokuto collapsed onto his back and starfished. “Thank fuck,” the former sighed. 

        It was only when weeps began to emit from the latter that you realized you were on damage control duty. “Oh God, Bo, I’m so sorry.”

        All he did was cry harder, body shuddering with every whine. Remorse tugged you to the floor and led you to reach for his outstretched leg, patting the top of his foot just enough to gather his attention. 

        “Bo please! Look at me.”

        He grew quieter, but only a touch as you struggled to catch his eye. You shook his foot hard, but it was only when you used all the strength you could muster to drag him toward you that he finally gave in and met your gaze. 

        “Bokuto… Bo. I… I’m so-” you bit your lip as a sob caught in your throat. 

        You loved these men--truly, you did. The thought of losing their smiles, their warm hugs, the care and gentleness they had only for you… it killed you. After today, you weren’t quite sure you could manage another second without them. 

        These two… powerful, tender, doting beings. They were prepared to risk their lives for you and more; you couldn’t help but feel yourself falling harder for them by the second. 

        “Bokuto, I love you,” you mumbled through a wave of emotion, “and I’m so sorry.”

        The words hit home and you could see the spiral it flung the vampire into. Love, anger, sadness, joy--each one passed before your eyes in his very own as he studied your face. 

        No one had ever looked at you like that. 

        And yet it felt like he’d been doing it for centuries. 

        One hard yank and you were tugged flat against the cell bars as Bokuto embraced you. 

        So warm. So, so, dreadfully warm and adoring that it stung the corners of your eyes. In his hold, you felt like you could face anything head on, because he-

        No.

        Because both of them would be by your side. The wizard and vampire before you were willing to take a bullet and more just to see you smile. A love like that was rare. 

        Destined.

        You owed them so much for how they’d loved you. 

        So you patted Bokuto’s back, running a hand through his familiarly calming hair just for good measure before pulling away and stepping back. 

        Akaashi’s hand fell from its place on your back and returned to his side before both men faced you. 

        A rush of responsibility ran through you like a bucket of ice, refreshing you for what was to come. 

        They had taken care of and loved you for so long, and now it was time for you to return the favor. 

        “I’m going to get you guys out of here.”

        Before they could argue, you dashed up the stairs and out of the dungeon, in search of the man who had started it all. 

                                ~~~

        As expected, the halls of Kuroo’s mansion were chilling to the bone as you stepped through the occasional moon’s ray in search of the cat. 

        Opalescent, marble floors absorbed and amplified your every footstep as you made your way through the halls, shoes squealing every few strides. In the heat of the moment, your grand idea to locate Kuroo’s room and steal the key to the cells was… overzealous at best.

        At worst, it had one too many holes. For one, you had no clue where Kuroo’s room was. For two, you had no idea where you were. Unlike Akaashi and Bokuto’s home, there was no atmosphere of familiarity and, more importantly, no vampire or wizard to direct and guide you around the place. Here, you were a fish out of water. 

        Though, you had to admit the supernatural must all have the same taste in interior decorating. Ancient-yet-creepy paintings of landscapes or figures seemed to litter the ruby walls and you barely managed to not stub your toe on the sporadically-placed vases and tables of the corridors. Emerald green vines framed each window that lit your path along with the single chandelier you found consistent with every high ceiling of the halls. 

        And yet, not a sound could be heard. Your feet began to twinge at the miles you felt like you’d walked in search of… well, you didn’t know what, exactly. If Kuroo found you, you had no idea what to say to him. However, you also had no clue on how to locate his bedroom either. 

        At this point, you were praying for a miracle while wandering the halls like a lost kitten. 

        Not a single soul had crossed your path, not even a lazing Kenma who’d barely found the effort to locate a couch before crashing to play his game. 

        Stuck in a labyrinth of ruby and white halls, you wanted to tear your own hair out for leaving the dungeon with a half-baked plan. Of course, you’d often thought of knocking on any one of the wooden doors you’d come across on your weary travels, but there was some apprehension that came with each potential interaction. 

        Though you were certain Kuroo had informed everyone that he’d okayed you going down to meet Bokuto and Akaashi, you were positive he wouldn’t be okay with you wandering the halls. Now was one of few times you actually wished you had supernatural abilities of some sorts so you could defend yourself should any one of the werecats housing the mansion find you. 

        “YN?” Like that one. 

        A hand settles on your shoulder, somehow scaring even more of the bejesus that had already fled from you when the voice had first spoken. 

        As you turn, the face that greets you is even less surprising than the smile that rests on its face. Kuroo drops his hand from your shoulder, leaving a burn in its wake as he steps closer to you. The distance between you two could violate the rules of not only basic personal space but also any high school prom’s as well. 

        “Reunion’s over already?” And there it was--that sly, devious glint in his glowing eyes that you so dearly wanted to smother. 

        For an instant, you feel like a rat just waiting for the trap’s mechanism to snap down on your neck and end your suffering. 

        However, something in you urges to not give up so easily. You still had a lot to fight for, and judging by the anticipatory look in Kuroo’s eyes, you weren’t caught just yet.

        But… just how could you worm your way out of this one?

        “I, uh…” Think YN, think! “Umm…”

        Cue the lightbulb.

        “I couldn’t stand to be in that damned room with them any longer!” you sneered uneasily. You mustered as much disgust on your face as possible, and with Kuroo right in front of you, such a task was almost too easy. 

        The corners of his mouth turned upward devilishly. “Good. So I assume that means you’re…?”

        Your brow raises before you realize and rush to finish his question. “O-oh, yes, yes! I am totally and completely… over… them. Boy do I really hate their guts.”

        Though you weren’t exactly up for a Golden Globe, it seemed anything you gave Kuroo right now he would lap up like a starved kitten. 

        It wasn’t hard to see that Kuroo was willing to try and get you over Bokuto and Akaashi by any means necessary, but him being so desperate gave you a way past the very own walls he thought he had built so well. 

        If this was chess, you were almost sure you had him in check. 

        You just needed to make one last move to really ensure such a swindle. 

        A breath escaped Kuroo’s lips easily when his jaw dropped at your hug. One minute you were across from him, giving your best impersonation of spite. The next, your arms were wrapped around his midsection and your face was pressed into his chest. 

        Cologne of sea salt mixed with sandalwood wafted up both your nostrils with one fell swoop, invading and fogging your mind. Though not altogether unpleasant, there was something simply too foreign and external about it that made it leagues behind what you knew. Any day would you rather take in Akaashi’s scent of lavender with hints of spices and Bokuto’s pine and leather. 

        Not that you were a serial man-sniffer though.

        Nudging yourself back to the task at hand, you waited until it seemed just safe enough to search Kuroo’s jacket pockets for anything key-shaped. 

        The man in your arms seemed too shell-shocked to notice. In the last minute, he hadn’t made a single sound nor movement to reciprocate the hug; instead, all you could hear was the expected mouth-breathing of a dropped jaw. 

        Ever so slowly, you run your hands along his jacket in what you hope seems like an adoring motion, and yet there are no suspicious lumps--anywhere, thankfully. 

        No little bumps along the polyester, crimson fabric that seemed to resemble anything but a candy wrapper. Part of you wanted to search the pockets of his shorts but logic told you touching anything lower than the waist for a hug would definitely not end in a hug. 

        In any case, it seemed your internal debate on whether to cop a feel of Kuroo’s pants’ pockets or not was no longer the biggest issue. Kuroo finally came back to reality and returned the embrace. 

        It was obvious this was no friendly hug to him; he believed it to mean so much more than that. Long, athletic arms wound around your waist and tightened to the point where you struggled to inhale more than a gasp. Black locks tickled your neck the instant Kuroo dropped his head onto your shoulder with a smile so large you could feel it through your sweatshirt. 

        He was happy, so, so happy to finally have you in his hold. From what you could feel, even his own hands were shaking at the thought. 

        “God, I-... I’ve missed you so much, kitten.” He nuzzles deeper into your neck. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to have you in my arms again.”

        Kuroo was in love. Even the blind could see it. Over the centuries, he had fallen for you so hard he was actually shaking with joy from getting to hug you again. 

        The man before you was lonelier than you ever thought. He was a king without a queen, a man without his woman.

        A husband without his wife.

        Oh right. He-... We were… married.

        Centuries ago. Many, many centuries ago. And yet, Kuroo still believes that bond can be mended. He wanted that girl… you back, and now…

        Now you’ve just resparked that hope that he could have you again.

        But he couldn’t. The hug was just a ruse; it was just some way for you to get back with your real soulmates. 

        This poor, rejected cat before you would be left behind yet again. 

        A horrible, terrible ripping scratched at your heart. Isn’t he innocent in all this?

        Akaashi’s words, muddled but still clear in their purpose, came back to your mind all at once. 

        “He went mad without his queen. Many supernatural species perished under his tyrannical reign, and as a result became extinct. In the remaining villages, he hung posters of you. Wanted, dead or alive.”

        As kind as he was, he was still one of the main reasons children are scared to leave their beds at night. Monsters, vicious and uncaring, will attack just for spite. Supernatural beings are no different. 

        Perhaps, somewhere along the way he had changed. But you couldn’t place all your hope on a maybe. 

        This was still the man who held the ones you loved locked up under your own two feet. He was still the one who ordered his soldier to shoot when he’d first found you so many years ago. 

        Kuroo was still the man who’d made you become cursed. He was still the one who’d started it all. 

        “Kuroo?”

        “Hmm?”

        “Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

                                ~~~

        His room was, of course, in the deepest, darkest end of a corridor in one half of the mansion you completely forgot existed. Naturally. 

        As if you would disappear any second, Kuroo kept his hand interlocked with yours the entire duration of the walk to his room, and he didn’t dare release it now that you’d arrived. 

        When the lavish double doors open, it’s like you’ve stepped into a larger version of your old apartment. At least, it was easily double the size. 

        Directly across from you is a balcony of marble white and rose gold. Flowers bloom along the railing and lead downward just out of eyesight from the glass doors that trap it outside. Inside, meanwhile, there’s a four poster bed large enough for ten with a frame that reaches just up to the ceiling, covered in black curtains, black sheets and crimson pillows. A plush carpet rug leads to steps up to the enormous bed and the two wooden nightstands on the side of it. Directly opposite of it is a flat screen no doubt visible from space and sitting on a cherry red console. To the left of the TV is one black door and to the right is another. 

        Kuroo leads you inside before you can ogle the room anymore. “You like it?”

        Bitch-

        “Are you pulling my leg right now?” You breathe out, eyes still trying to take in the sheer vastness of the room itself. “Like… holy shit.”

        “I’m glad you like it,” he snickers. “I like seeing you breathless.”

        And, of course, the pervert had to ruin it.

        His comment sobers you up and makes you realize something--searching for that damned key is going to be worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. Fuck me.

        Just as you start inspecting the room with what little time you’ve had inside it, Kuroo spins you to face him. “So…”

        “So…”

        The grin on his face turns soft as he reaches a hand up to caress your face. The touch, however loving, feels wrong. Like “he’s just wiping his germs on your face” wrong. Deep down, you’re thankful the connection between you and your boys is so strong because otherwise you were sure Kuroo’s charm would have worked wonders on you by now. 

        The room was beautiful and Kuroo was being so sweet, but now was your chance. You needed to find that key and get out of here.

        Kuroo’s face leaning in closer to yours drew you back into reality. “I’m glad you like it in here. You can stay as long as you like.” His pupils enlarge, giving you warning signals like no other. 

        His head lowers just a bit closer, lips parted, and just when his eyes flutter closed… 

        Smooch.

        Eyes wide, you watch the floor as Kuroo’s lips press against your cheek. “Can you go get my clothes?”

        Instantly, he pulls away and presses a finger to his lips, gaze shocked and locked on your face. 

        “...From my room, please?”

        “Y-yeah.” He clears his throat. “Yeah, of course. I’ll go… do that.”

        Never before have you seen Kuroo so flustered and if the situation had been less serious than you were sure you would have laughed. Instead, you felt just as antsy as Kuroo, but for an entirely different reason. 

        Without so much as a farewell, Kuroo hastens to leave the room, closing the door behind him and taking what must have been a brisk jog down the hall to cool himself off. 

        You wait until thirty seconds have passed after his steps turned inaudible before you hop to it, foraging every visible inch of the room before going deeper. 

        “It’s okay,” you whisper to yourself as you yank up the carpet, observing a concerning amount of dust. “Just don’t tell Bokuto and Akaashi and there won’t be a problem.”

        Lord knows one of them could probably smell Kuroo on you. You just hope they’ll save the questions for a later date. Like never. 

        No key anywhere. Not in the console, nor the nightstands. Not under the heavy-ass mattress nor behind the curtains of the balcony. Nothing. You even searched in the reading corner that had somehow passed your first survey of the room, on the bookshelves and under the two sofas. Nada.

        Summoning the patience to confront whatever was behind the two doors, you opened each one and, for lack of surprise, observed an abnormally large bathroom and a walk-in closet. 

        For a centuries-old werecat’s closet, it was surprisingly bare. One side was completely empty save for hundreds of hangers on a single metal bar. The other side was only half-full with t-shirts, coats, and suits hanging while jeans and shorts sat gathering dust on the floor. Judging by the look of things, you wouldn’t be surprised if Kuroo came back with more than just one pair of clothes for you.

        Hopefully, by then you would be long gone. 

        The bathroom, however, was much more of a challenge. About twenty cupboards each had their own stock of individual toiletry supplies, and yet not a single one held a key. You even had to perfectly restack twelve packages--not rolls--of toilet paper in the same, annoyingly perfect pyramid shape. He even had feminine products, but you supposed there should be no surprise there. 

        Obviously, he’s been preparing for you for quite a while. You’d be touched if you weren’t so creeped out by the sight of it altogether. 

        At last, you slumped out of the bathroom with sore arms and legs. Standing on your tiptoes and reaching up into cupboards took a lot more out of you than you thought. Such pain, and all for nothing. 

        Especially when you noticed a glint of something sparkling just above the carved doorway to Kuroo’s room. 

        The key. 

        It had been sitting in plain sight this whole time. However, spotting it wasn’t the issue. Reaching it would be. 

        Regarding the doorway, it was polished wood carved into a perfect arch to fit both doors, and at the top sat the sculpted head of a roaring lion. Just at the top of his dusty mane was the key, and no matter how high you jumped, you knew you wouldn’t be able to reach it. 

        It was high--almost three-of-you-stacked high. The bed was too far away to try and launch yourself, and neither nightstand looked sturdy enough to hold you. So what could…?

        The sofas!

        They were huge and a long ways away. Not only that, but you figured with the amount of time Kuroo had been away that he’d found clothes for you to “sleep in” tonight about a hundred times over. What was truly concerning was that he hadn’t shown up yet.

        Counting your blessings, you didn’t bother wasting any more time. Quickly, you dashed over to one of the black leather sofas and started to push it with all your might.

        Uh oh.

        No, not “uh oh” it was too heavy; in fact, the chair was actually seated on sliders to make mobility easy. 

        What was “uh oh” was the heavy steps finally making their way back to this room. 

        Speak of the goddamn devil.

        The steps weren’t patient or slowed either--it was clear Kuroo was done being away from you for so long. 

        Now or never. 

        If you got caught, you weren’t quite sure you could handle the consequences, so you stopped considering them altogether and moved. 

        You shoved the sofa past the carpet and across the wood floor, catching onto the occasional rock and leaving a scratch in its wake--nothing an all-too adoring werecat would notice. 

        You barely avoided crashing into the doors themselves and hurried to clamber onto the sofa. 

        Move, YN, move move move.

        Barely keeping your balance, you reached for the head of the lion, only to hold back a cry when your fingers barely brushed it’s jaw.

        Fuck, YN he’s getting closer. Think!

        Kuroo’s footsteps were loud, but not as loud as your heartbeat pounding in your ears. 

        Shit, shit, shit!

        You couldn’t reach any better from the arm of the chair, instead just skimming its pointed ear. A sob built in your throat in frustration.

        Please!

        Your only chance was standing on the head of the chair, but according to every physics law ever, that would be fucking impossible. 

        The steps were just outside the door now.

        With one more nervous glance, you pushed all of your weight to lean on the wall just beside the door, stepping one trembling leg up onto the top of the chair’s back.

        The doorknob twisted. 

        NO!

        The door cracked open just as you pushed all your strength onto your lifted leg, propelling yourself up and-

        You missed.

        The door cracked open. 

        “Kuroo!”

        And it stopped there. Another pair of footsteps made their way over to the door and you tensed when the door shifted open just a tad.

        Then it shut completely. 

        The knob twisted back into place and two pairs of footsteps receded just a couple yards away. 

        Kenma’s voice pipes up and Kuroo’s voice whispers back but you don’t spare another second trying to decipher the conversation. 

        Swiftly, you step back up onto the back of the chair and propel yourself up one more time, stretching every ligament in your arm so taut you swear you felt something tear but you don’t mind. 

        The key is cold and made of brass, but it sits between your two fingers all the same. 

        Eyes bulging in effort to hold back a cheer, you’re quick to climb back down and push the chair all the way back to the reading corner just when the conversation in the hall ends. 

        Collapsing into the sofa, you grab a random book off the shelf and tear it open, smoothly inspecting a random page just as the door opens. 

        “YN?” Kuroo steps in and glances around, lips curling into a smile when he spots you in the corner. “Ahh, the mini library. I figured you would like that.”

        “Yep,” you nodded, allowing yourself just the smallest smile of victory so you can wear it as a disguise. “I’ve got myself acquainted here with…” you squint at the page, before pursing your lips and turning the book rightside up, “Gandalf and Bilbo.” 

        “Upside down?”

        “It’s a talent I’m working on. I’ll show you later.”

        Kuroo chuckles before closing the door behind him, dropping an armful of clothes on the bed. 

        “So I wasn’t sure if you wanted the blue sweatshirt or the black one so I brought both. And that same philosophy applied to just about all the other clothes I dug through so,” he gestured to the pile, “go nuts.”

        Setting the book back on the shelf, you rose and stood to observe the clothes. Sadly, the bed was too large for you to stand directly across from Kuroo to dig through them, so you accepted your fate and sidled up beside him while he watched your every move.

        “...YN?” His tone was curious and careful as he narrowed his eyes at you.

        You kept your eyes on the clothes and urged your voice to keep steady. “What’s up?”

        “Why are you so flushed?” His hand runs down your cheek, gathering droplets of sweat that had formed from your stress earlier. “I don’t suppose you worked out or something while I was gone.”

        Though his proposition would have been a great excuse, you weren’t exactly the person to spend your spare time working out for the hell of it. Anybody knew that.

        “Pfft, no,” you waved a hand nonchalantly, “reading upside down is just really hard. You’re lucky you came in when you did or I might have just passed out altogether.”

        Kuroo studied you for a moment longer, leaning just a bit closer before humming. “All right. Then I’ll just say you’re welcome.”

        “Thank you.” Rummaging through the collection of pants and sweatshirts once more, you struggled to think of an excuse to get the hell out of here. 

        Kuroo’s hand moved to rest on the small of your back and suddenly all precaution flew out the window. 

        “K-Kuroo.”

        “Hmm?” The hand never retreats, and instead Kuroo turns toward you expectantly.

        “I… uh… don’t think I’m ready to sleep in the same bed with you yet.”

        Wonderful topic change, YN.

        “And why’s that?”

        “It’s not anything against you!” You scramble to find the words, turning toward him and wetting your lips. “I just… I think it’s too soon. For me, at least. I mean, I know it’s not too soon for you! In fact, I’m sure you think it’s overdue or something, but I’m just not that… comfortable yet…” you decide to trail off with your rambling and instead assess the hole you’ve just dug yourself in in silence. 

        Kuroo does the same, pressing his lips together and meeting your gaze head on. You knew he was searching for something, and you almost let out a sigh of relief when he finally nodded. “Don’t worry. I understand.” And then you notice his hand is still on your waist, but only because he’s placed the other one on your other hip. Then, ever so carefully, he leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. “One day, kitten.”

        Suddenly feeling dirty, you nod and pull away completely. “Of course.”

        Now how do I get out of here?

        Kuroo lets his hands fall back to his sides and his eyes drag down to the clothes still sitting in a clump on the bed.

        Bingo.

        “Oh, damn,” you hiss, picking through the clothes. “These ones are really uncomfortable. You didn’t get my favorites.” What you lack in acting skills you hope you make up for with swiftness. “Just wait here, I’ll go get them from my room.”

        Kuroo’s gaze shifts ten times more serious in an instant. Like a snake, his hand snaps out from his side and snags onto your wrist, effectively holding you in place just as you turn to leave. 

        Swallowing the fear in your chest, you spin back to Kuroo like he gestures. Slim fingers grab onto your chin and tilt your head to face his, forcing all your attention onto him.

        “You’re not going to do anything stupid, right kitten?”

        You kept a steady gaze and refrained from nervous shifting of any kind. You were too close to give it all up now. “Of course not. I just wanted more comfortable clothes.”

        With a pause, Kuroo narrows his eyes, glancing your form up and down before nodding. The bruising grip on your chin is released and you bite the inside of your cheek to fend off a whimper. 

        That son of a bitch was going to leave a mark.

        “Don’t keep me waiting long, YN.”

        Not bothering to stick around longer than necessary, you exited the room without another look at Kuroo and shut the door with a whoosh. The roaring blood pumping in your ears blocked out any other sound as you dashed down the halls, flying past tables of antique knick knacks and curtainless windows. 

        Soon, your mood shifted from a state of uncertainty to absolute pride. You did it. You got the key, and now you would get everyone out safely. Your one-man party would have to wait until you actually found out how to get out of here, though. 

        Unlike before, you weren’t exactly lost. The occasional painting was actually familiar and you thanked your past self for doing a little sight-seeing while being stranded in the halls. 

        When you spotted the very first painting you remembered appraising--a lone tree surrounded by thundering clouds--you almost yelped with glee. 

        I’m almost there, guys. Don’t you worry. 

        By now, there was a faint tint of sky blue just reaching the horizon outside the window. The moon and stars were soon to be long gone, and you and the boys would have the bright sun to guide you away from this hellhole. 

        At last, you found the corridor you’d entered twice before. Bare as always, it was a sharp contrast from the rest of the house in terms of its flooring. Here, there was very little money spared; unlike the polished marble surface of the rest of the halls, this one was a simple concrete, leading to scuffs of your tennis shoes rather than the previous squeaks. 

        Nonetheless, you sprinted to the end all the same, making it entirely through the house undetected. You counted yourself lucky that Kuroo actually believed you remembered where your old room was. At this point, you could barely tell left from right without performing the classic “L” trick with your hands. 

        Biting back a smile, you struggled to remind yourself that you weren’t exactly free and clear just yet; there was still the issue of finding the main exit--or any sort of exit--now. While Kuroo was miles away in his room all the way across the house, that didn’t mean the other werecats infesting the place weren’t on the lookout for you. 

        Especially once Kuroo realized you weren’t coming back. 

        You made quick work of the creaky stairs, skipping three at a time before taking one final leap and crashing through the wooden door. Sucking in a breath through your teeth, you hoped the slam of the door wasn’t as loud to the rest of the house as it was to you.

        Yet, such fears soon didn’t matter. Bokuto and Akaashi’s heads both lift at the sound of your entrance before both men jump to their feet.

        “Darling, you made it!”

        “YN, are you okay?”

        While their voices clashed, you waited patiently until you had their full attention before brandishing the key with a wide smile. 

        Bokuto cheers as quietly as he could manage while Akaashi’s brows rose. 

        “How did you find it?”

        “Uh,” Ah crap. “I’ll… tell you later.”

        Not wasting any more time, you scamper over and unlock each cell, tensing up when you see Bokuto prepare for a classic tackle hug. Except it never comes.

        Instead, while Akaashi fiddles with his shackles, Bokuto lets his arms fall to his side and he backs away from you, suddenly appearing forlorn. The memory of your last meeting down here comes back and hits you like a freight train.

        “Bo, if this is about what I said-”

        “It’s not!” He glances away with a crease in his brow, busying himself with snapping Akaashi’s cuffs in two like they were made of nothing. “It’s just…”

        “What?”

        Neither man dares to meet your gaze, but Akaashi’s reason seems more for being on the lookout while Bokuto’s is out of shame. 

        “You didn’t see the fear in your eyes when I bit you.”

        “Bo…”

        “No, YN, you looked horrified. It was like you said. I’m a mon-”

        Slamming a hand over his mouth, you throw a dirty glare his way. “Don’t ever call yourself that. You’re not a monster, Bokuto. Would a monster bake-er… try to bake my favorite breakfast every day? Would he want to watch magic shows with me or hug me when it’s cold outside?”

        He mumbles behind your hand with downcast eyes and you shake your head. “No, Bokuto. You’re wrong. You’re not a monster, or anything of the sort, to me. I don’t care what you say.”

        With that, you release his mouth and yank him into a hug, blindly reaching for Akaashi to do the same. When you make contact with the wizard’s T-shirt, you pull him into your arms as well, sighing in relief at the feeling it gives. 

        This was right. This was warm and safe and so, so right. Fuzzy little feelings bumbled around in your stomach as you sank deeper into their arms, dropping your chin on both men’s shoulders. There was no guilt or betrayal that came with this hug because these men, no matter how little you knew them, felt like home. 

        For the past few weeks, you’d felt so lost and alone, and feeling them around you now was heartwarming. The world seemed to stop turning and whatever stressful situation you had been focused on before seemed to ebb away in their hold. This was what pure security, pure devotion, and pure love felt like. Two pairs of arms wrapped around your waist, ready to help you face anything from this point on. You weren’t stuck alone anymore. You weren’t unhappy anymore. You were just lost in the embrace of an attachment that had formed over centuries, and would continue in just that fashion. 

        “I’m glad you guys are okay.” The words, though sounding simple, had been sitting on the tip of your tongue for days now. And you meant every one of them. “It sucked being away from you all that time.”

        A soft smile formed on Akaashi’s face as he pulled away just an inch to see your face. Carefully, he unwound an arm from your waist and brushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “And we feel the same, my love.”

        Bokuto’s arms squeeze you tighter just for a moment before releasing altogether, allowing his golden gaze to reach yours. A grin larger than life itself almost blinded you, fangs twinkling in the light of the sunrise. “We missed you so much, darling. Being away from you is torture.”

        Involuntarily, your lower lip began to tremble as you glanced at both of them, hating how your heart skipped a beat at each sight. Maybe it was fast, and it certainly wasn’t expected, but you did love them. And there was so much more time for you to get to know them better, but now…

        “Oh shit, we have to get out of here!” Shaking yourself out of your daze, you pulled away completely, shivering at the cold that nipped your skin in seconds. 

        Both men snapped themselves out of the haze as well, one snagging your wrist while the other led the way up the stairs. Soon enough, each man had a hold on either of your biceps, both protecting your sides and leading you through the halls. 

        Initially, you wanted to announce that you might have a better idea of how to navigate Kuroo’s mansion, but you soon swallowed your words when you noticed Akaashi’s calculating gaze as he directed all three of you around. “This way,” he mumbled, jogging at a pace just slow enough that you weren’t completely left in the dust. 

        The sun was reaching higher in the sky, you noticed, just half of it reaching over the horizon and lighting the sky a dusty orange. The maze of halls and stairs was much more manageable now that you could actually see them with natural lighting. 

        At last, the three of you reached a foyer. One glass staircase led directly down to the middle of a large entryway, and just a few yards from where the last step met marble stood a pair of wooden double doors. The slaps of your footsteps sounded like thunder compared to the elegant pads of both Bokuto and Akaashi’s feet, but being so close meant no time for precaution.

        “Oh YN, surely you didn’t think I was that gullible.”

        So close, and yet so far. Just as your hand had touched the curved door handles, Kuroo’s voice stopped you in your tracks and chilled you to the bone. 

        Caught, trapped, cornered--whatever you wanted to call it. To put it simply, you were screwed. Spinning on your heels, you took in the sheer number of werecats. With no time to count, you estimated there were about ten transformed cats in all, each ready to pounce. Kuroo stood in his human form with folded arms, shaking his head in disappointment. 

        Oh yeah. We’re fucked.

        Bones crackle just to your left and where a silent Bokuto used to be, a hissing creature now stands at the ready. Still human-shaped, each muscle in the vampire’s body now appears doubled in size as viscous claws extend from each finger. Elongated fangs sharper than needles pierce through his gums and a glowing red takes over the deep auburn of his eyes. 

        On your right, Akaashi’s hands, now completely free of cuffs, radiate a maroon smoke, both pointed toward the crouching enemies. A line forms between his brow as spells wait to be cast on his lips. 

        While the odds weren’t looking good before, both transformations your boys had undergone make you feel just a little bit better about the results of this battle. 

        Akaashi reaches out a smoldering hand to push you behind them, closer to the door. “You’ll be okay, my love.” He glances back at you with a small smile. “I never lie to you, remember?”

        You nod and step back farther, hoping that promise wouldn’t be his last. Only one thing was for sure, and that was that nobody was coming out of this unscathed.

        Across the room, Kuroo’s teeth bare at the action and the black ears that had formed on his head flatten. “Don’t touch her.”

        And with that, he pounces. 

        The room that had been so tense and quiet just seconds earlier explodes into pandemonium. Hisses, catlike and vampire-like both travel around the room as you quiver against the door, fighting back the urge to flee. 

        A foreign language slips off Akaashi’s tongue in a rage as red mist envelopes the room, paralyzing three cats right in their place. Two others pounce on him and just like that, they are slammed into the wall with a swift wave of his hand.

        Bokuto, on the other hand, is drowning underneath a pile of cats. Flexed claws tear into every inch of skin, but he gives just as much as he gets. One cat yowls and flees after receiving a dagger-like fingernail in the eye while another drops to the floor with a kick against its head. 

        Part of you wanted to help in some way while the other urged you to flee from the house completely. As an unofficial compromise, you stood glued to your spot, unsure if you could move even if you wanted to. 

        Cougar-sized cats go flying with another flash of red from Akaashi’s hands, one crashing right into the staircase and you cringe at the crack that echoes with it. Blood spatters to the floor and soaks into your pant legs as Bokuto sinks his teeth into the throat of a pure white cat, tearing away and spitting out a solid chunk of flesh. 

        All the sights and sounds are macabre, but like a car crash, you just couldn’t look away, completely enraptured in horror. Even the scent of blood flooded your nostrils at this point, forcing you to gag and turn away just when a cat is kicked into the wall directly by the doors. 

        It howls in pain, but the proximity between you and the slumped, bleeding form goes completely unnoticed until you feel a pinch in your side. 

        No. Not a pinch. The cat’s jaw has unhinged and enveloped your left hip completely, digging in hard enough to meet bone. Tears spring to your eyes and your jaw drops in a silent scream. Shock does nothing to fend off the pain as it forces you to your knees. 

        The cat scampers away just when you find the strength to release a small moan. Hands grab at your side, and you don’t realize they’re your own until you cry out at the sheer amount of red drenching your hands. 

        Blood is everywhere, soaking into your shoes and socks. Pooling onto the floor around you. And yet, when you reach to cover the wound, you can no longer feel the large punctures it had left. 

        “YN!” Twenty feet away, Akaashi throws a hand out toward you while another helps Bokuto to his feet. The door behind you flies open and you drag yourself to your feet, hanging onto the doorway for support as you step outside. 

        Fresh air never smelled more sweet, and when you reach down to feel your wound once more, you almost choke in disbelief to feel damp yet completely unruptured skin. 

        What the hell? WHAT THE HELL?

        Two hands grab your waist and throw you over a broad shoulder, leaving your head and arms to sag against what appears to be Bokuto’s lacerated backside. 

        “You’re gonna be okay, YN, we’re getting out of here!” Bokuto shouts over the wind rushing in your ears. The speed the forest floor passes by your eyes is inhuman as the vampire weaves in and out of trees, Akaashi keeping in perfect stride just to the side of you both. 

        An overflow of blood rushes straight down into your head, forcing you to lift your skull just a little to fend off the dizziness. In the distance, Kuroo’s mansion of black and red brick grows blurry, and yet does nothing to obscure the sight in the doorway. 

        Two glowing green eyes peering from within the darkness. 

        Neither Akaashi nor Bokuto has noticed, but the sight of it has caused you to tense up and go still in the latter’s hold. 

        “Don’t worry, my love,” Akaashi grunts out as both men begin to slow to a stop. Bokuto shifts his hold on you, now gripping the backs of your knees and your shoulders. A hand, Akaashi’s, glows a gentle pink before he brushes through the hair on the top of your head. “We’re going home.”

        A wave of exhaustion washes over you, forcing your eyes to droop closed. 

        “You can rest now. We’ll keep you safe.”

Previous  Masterlist  Next

Reborn (Bokuto/Akaashi x Reader) ~Chapter 6~

(Supernatural/Soulmate AU)

*GIF not mine*

Summary: How do normal people react when they get kidnapped by a vampire and a wizard claiming to be their soulmates? Because you try to choke them out with their own breakfasts. But maybe that’s just you. 

A/N: Ayeee, so it wasn’t like riding a bike and maybe just maybe this chapter sucks ass, but here we go! The long awaited part 6 of Reborn! I’m so happy y’all are liking it so far and I can promise you this won’t be the last chapter of *this year.* Winter break’s not over yet, so don’t lose hope now! Merry Christmas from me to you and, as always, enjoy!💜

Tag List: @burntcilantro  @alloverbutterflies  @neonghxst  @zaejia  @momothepeachgirl  @black-veil-chemicalz  @bumblebeel  @blxkstar  @keigosbitch  @spicyiwa  @rikorene  @idiot-juice-enthusiast  @cherriomilkmangos  @floriane4536  @shimy-deko  @lanceyfancypants  @asteroikawa  @bokutowo  @ichiraku-verse  @samie-babie  @astro-anomaly  @hq149  @paganandshit  (some don’t work 😔)

Word count: 4500

        “YN.”

        Bokuto stirs on the ground, whimpering your name just once more while he stutters out a breath. Behind his lids, his eyes stir rapidly but not once does he wake. 

        The sight warms your heart just as much as it pains it. They’re alive, but at what cost? It was clear Kuroo hadn’t bothered to feed them in the week or so that they had been left in the cages, leaving both their bodies to wither to breathing skeletons. 

        Akaashi’s cheekbones jutted out in the moonlight as his head leaned against the wall. His lashes gently brushed the skin just under his eyes as he slumbered but he still looked ready to startle at even the smallest of noises. 

        One of those being your footsteps brushing the concrete of the basement. 

        They fluttered and slid open, revealing those gunmetal blue eyes you adored so dearly. Even though the dank scent of decaying meat stung your nose, you still inhaled when Akaashi seemed awake enough to notice you. 

        “YN…?” he mumbled, sleep and exhaustion gruffing his voice. Your heart jumped at the familiar tone and you bit back a whimper. 

        “Akaashi-”

        “YN!” Akaashi sprung himself up from the dusty floor and crashed into the iron bars, shackled hands clanging against the metal. “YN, oh God, please tell me this is real.”

        “It is,” you nodded, tears gathering in the corners of your eyes, “it is, and thank fuck you’re okay.” Carefully, you reached out a hand and cupped his face, releasing a breathless laugh when he kissed your palm before leaning into the hold. 

        Even the smallest touch felt like pure euphoria as Akaashi’s cheek brushed against your fingertips, lighting up a million tingles all throughout your body. A shiver works its way deep through your bones, bringing goosebumps and a haunting reality along with it.

        “Kuroo,” you swallowed, observing as Akaashi’s gaze grew hard, “he said you guys were dead.”

        His jaw twitched but the wizard kept silent, taking the smallest of glances back at Bokuto through the bars of his own cell. 

        The action makes you pause and panic, your hold on Akaashi faltering as you too look at the vampire collapsed on the floor. “Wait, Bokuto, is he-” you glance back at the wizard as he shakes his head, reaching a single hand up to press your palm back against his lips.

        “No, my love, he’s okay. I promise. It’s surprisingly hard to kill the supernatural.”

        “Then why-”

        “Trust me, YN, it’s better if you don’t wake him.” Akaashi’s hold on your wrist tightens in warning, but there’s more concern in his eyes than anything. “You don’t want to see him like this.”

        “Akaashi,” your voice softens as you brush a hair from his forehead. It’s cold to the touch, a disturbing fact you struggle to shake away before you continue. “I’ve seen him through this phase before, and even then I could trust him. Let me try.”

        “My love, forgive me, but you’re wrong.” Your brows furrow as the wizard gazes into your eyes unflinchingly. There’s a concern you’ve never seen before that stuns you for a split second.

        Even Akaashi himself seems haunted by what’s happening to Bokuto just a few feet away. You can still hear his whimpers and see his body tremble, but the younger man was right--there was something feral about the vampire’s movements now. 

        Every twitch jolted his body like a strike of lightning and every moan had the smallest of rumbles layered beneath. His form was curled in on itself, but it seemed like the days he had been in captivity had only stood to make him grow larger. In a single ray of the moon, you could see his hands now.

        His nails had grown sharper than knives and each tip was doused in red. 

        “What happened to him? What changed?” With struggle, you tear your uneasy gaze away from the ecstatic boy you had grown to know. “It’s only been a week--I know he’s gone for longer without… my blood.”

        “Yes, when he knew you were safe. Now, it’s been one week and he hasn’t heard or seen a single thing from you.” The wizard stole another glance at his longtime friend. “Things are different this time. He’s changing and losing control of himself.” 

        Guilt tore at your heart now because, deep down, you couldn’t help but feel this was your fault. Bokuto was in pain because he was worried about your well-being. Back when you were in the mansion, he would constantly check up on you however often he could. When he couldn’t, Akaashi was sent to be the messenger. 

        Now, he’s had no one to reassure him of your safety. Kuroo could have killed you for all he knew and no doubt that thought had been eating at him for the past seven days while he was stuck in this cell. 

        That’s exactly why you needed him to see you now, so he didn’t have to worry anymore. 

        “Akaashi, I can’t just let him stay like that.”

        “YN, don’t!” Akaashi’s eyes widened when you twisted out of his grip and moved towards Bokuto’s cell. The wizard reached for you in a panic but only groaned when his shackles once more clanked against the iron bars like a warning. “YN, please, even I don’t know how he’ll react right now! He’s too dangerous!”

        It didn’t matter. You had left him to suffer like this and you couldn't stand the thought of just leaving him in there without ever letting him see you in return. 

        It wasn’t fair, and in your heart of hearts you knew you wanted to feel his touch just as much as you had wanted Akaashi’s. 

        “Bokuto,” you called out as loud as you thought was appropriate. There was still the variable of you being in what you hoped was a soundproof dungeon to be considered, and you held onto that hope as you tried to get the vampire’s attention. 

        “Bokuto!”

        Nothing. Just another stir of his body and another whimper of your name.

        Akaashi was still reaching for you, warning evident in his voice as pleaded with you in any way possible to stop. 

        “Please, YN, what if he hurts you? I’ve never seen him like this. He could snap, for all we know.”

        You stayed silent, letting the thought of being hurt by Bokuto roll off your back. Even if he did, which you doubted, you didn’t want your finding them to be in vain. 

        If Kuroo were to ever discover you had found them tonight, you at least wanted to see Bokuto one last time and vice versa before the cat undoubtedly took you away.

        However, nothing you whisper-yelled seemed to stir the slumbering vampire. In a last ditch effort, you glanced around the room for something--anything, really. Like… that pebble that just so happened to be inches away from your freezing toes. Perfect.

        “YN, don’t even think about-” Too late.

        The pebble ricocheted right off Bokuto’s temple and onto the floor inches from his face. 

        For a few seconds, you and Akaashi both held your breath as the atmosphere of the basement grew ten times thicker. 

        But nothing happened. 

        In fact, all Bokuto did was stop snoring and even making a peep, and you figured you had found his secret “Silent Mode” button. His body stopped twitching and shivering, and after a couple seconds, Akaashi rolled his eyes and let his shoulders fall to their original place. 

        “Well done, my love. If I had known all I needed to do was throw a rock at Bokuto’s head to shut him up, I would’ve done that the second day we got here.”

        “Akaashi!” you chided, huffing at your failure of a plan. What more could be done that couldn’t wake up the entire werecat clan? 

        The wizard only shrugged. “My love, I know you wanted him to see you, but it was too much of a risk. Neither of us know how he would’ve reacted. Count your blessings and return back to your room before that cat finds you’ve escaped.”

        “Akaashi…”

        “I’ll let him know you were here and you were okay,” he gives you a soft smile before nodding to the creaky door you had entered just twenty minutes ago. “Be safe.”

        “I-”

        “Darling.”

        “Yes?”

        The voice hadn’t startled you in the slightest; it was only the look of shock on Akaashi’s face that had made you realize oh shit, that was Bokuto.

        You swiveled back to the second cell so fast you gave yourself whiplash, your head growing woozy but that didn’t stop you from sprinting back in front of your vampire. 

        His eyes were open now, his back no longer facing you. A shadow was cast on his body when he had rolled over, however, and now all you could see in his dim, molded cell were his glowing red eyes. 

        Two flaring orbs the color of fresh-spilt blood pierced your soul from twenty feet away one second.

        Bokuto’s hand wrapped around your throat the next. 

        Fangs bared, you couldn’t even brace for impact before the shock hit you like a freight train. It numbed the pain you were so used to for what must’ve been a minute as you stood there, a statue of horror. 

        Finally, your brain caught up to the action and you cried out, pushing against Bokuto’s chest as a burning sensation festered against your throat. A loud thumping pounded against your ears as you whined, feeling his teeth dig deeper in than they ever had before. A fogginess took over your eyesight as your knees grew weak; suddenly, all you could do was let your jaw hang open as oxygen lodged in your throat.

        “Bokuto, stop, you’re hurting her!”

        Stop, please. It hurts.

        Oh God, please let me go.

        Muffled under the sound of your blood sloshing against your eardrums, you can hear Akaashi’s yelling and then-

        Two knocks at the wooden door.

        The pressure and pain around your neck all release at the same time and you collapse to the ground, trembling while pressing a hand to your neck in despair. A cry rips its way out of your throat just before the door squeals open. 

        “Am I interrupting something?”

        Kuroo slips in through the doorway, observing the scene with pursed lips. When his gaze lands on you, his dark eyes flash for a split second before he produces a pristine, white handkerchief from the pocket of his basketball shorts. 

        “YN,” the werecat presses a hand against yours on your neck, urging it away before replacing it with the cloth, “did he hurt you?”

        You don’t make a sound, still focusing on trying to steady your breathing while Kuroo crouches by your side. Before you know it, his lips are pressed against your damp forehead and, of course, the reaction is instant. 

        “Don’t touch her!” Akaashi sneers at him, wrapping two fists around his iron bars tight enough to leave his knuckles white. “You have no right to lay a finger on her.”

        “And you do?” Kuroo laughs bitterly as he pulls away, still keeping one hand against your back to keep you upright. “Look what happens at just a little touch.” He gestures from your blood-soaked nightgown up to your shivering shoulders. “She gets hurt.”

        You don’t bother sparing enough energy for a rebuttal. Even an ounce might leave you unconscious any second, so instead you stay silent and observe. 

        Akaashi’s face is guilt-ridden as he stares at you, his eyes just as broken as his heart. Bokuto, on the other hand, is facing away from you entirely. His back is curled over his entire form as he crouches in the darkest corner of his cell, but you can hear the smallest of wails as he does so. His shoulders shiver and shake as he hugs himself, whispering incomplete thoughts littered with “monster,” “kill,” and “YN.”

        “No excuses now, are there?” Kuroo sighs and shakes his head. “You were the ones who hurt her. Can you accept that, or are you so selfish that you still want her to crawl back to you?”

        Akaashi flinches like he’s been slapped, cringing as he avoids complete eye contact with you. Instead, all he can do is stare at the rag slowly gathering more and more blood at your collarbone. 

        At that point, you think the exertion is worth it to defend them, but before you know it, Kuroo’s whisked you up into his arms and carried you all the way through the door with a slam. 

        “Don’t worry, kitten. I won’t let an incident like this ever happen again.”

                                ~~~

        “How’s your steak?”

        “It’s fine.”

        “Too raw? I know you don’t like that much pink in the middle.”

        “It’s fine,” you repeat, sliding the knife back through the meat without so much as a glance towards Kuroo. 

        You know he’s been growing frustrated at your lack of a response lately, but you weren’t quite sure what else to do. It’s been three days since Bokuto attacked you and you still can’t shake it from your mind. 

        Nightmares haunt you, chasing after you with glowing red eyes. As always, you try to run but your feet feel like they’re trapped in quicksand. You’re never fast enough, and then--bite. 

        The bandage on your neck is useless at this point; you know it because you’ve had experience in the neck-wound area. Bokuto’s bites, no matter how hard, only take a day and a half to heal. Only after your first bite was there the lasting effect of trauma and nightmares--now was just another exception. 

        That’s all you wanted it to be, at least. You hoped it was just a little accident (as easy as it is to say after having time to get over the pain). And yet you knew it was hurting the boys trapped deep down in the basement. 

        Sometimes, you still think you can hear Bokuto crying out your name. 

        Most of the time, you blame it on your imagination. 

        “YN.” Kuroo’s snap draws your attention back to him, reminding you that you still had to play nice with him. “Lost up there, huh?”

        “Uh, yeah,” you return to chewing on another bite of steak. “Just thinking.”

        It was a tad too raw.

        “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

        “Doesn’t everybody?”

        Kuroo chuckles, watching over the rim of his glass as you swallow a gulp of wine. “There’s that fire I love.” 

        You almost choke on your drink.

        A sly look appears in his eyes as he stares you down, setting his own utensils on the table to prop his elbows up and fold his hands. From there, he sets his chin down on his knuckles and tilts his head. “You’re thinking about them again, aren’t you?”

        Hmm, play dumb or be honest, play dumb or be honest…

        “Don’t try to play dumb with me.” Damn. “There’s not much you can hide from me anymore, YN. I’ve known you too long.”

        This pisses you off. He didn’t know you. No one really knew you. The only people who knew you were-

        “Bokuto and Akaashi hurt you, YN, and yet you still want to be with them. If that’s not blind love, I don’t know what is.”

        “They didn’t-

        “How’s that bite doing, by the way?”

        “Don’t,” you hiss, throwing him a nasty glare. “Don’t pretend you know shit about how I feel or who I care for.”

        “Do you care for me?”

        “Fuck you.”

        “That’s not an answer,” Kuroo simpers.

        “Maybe try that ‘thinking’ thing and you’ll find one.”

        His face falls and his jaw clenches. “Fine. I relent,” he holds his hands up as a gesture of peace before picking up his knife and fork once more, digging back into his dinner. “That topic of conversation makes me lose my appetite anyway.”

        Nostrils flaring, you take another indignant sip of wine.

        Kuroo eyes you as you do so, lips twitching as you set down the glass. “Let us talk about something else, kitten.”

        “Please no.”

        “What did sweet little Akaashi tell you about magic?”

        His question actually prods your interest for once and you sit up a little straighter. What did you remember? Only that he didn’t want you to mess with it or you would die… or something along those lines. 

        “Judging by your curiosity, I’m guessing it wasn’t much.” Kuroo licks his lips. “Though, might I add having your full attention is thrilling, if I do say so myself.”

        “Get on with it, jackass.”         “At least I get a nickname. One point for me,” Kuroo snickers. You roll your eyes and empty the rest of the wine glass, but that only seems to excite him more. 

        “Kitten,” he finally begins, “magic can be wielded by anyone. Spells and such can be cast by your average Joe.”

        Anyone? Kuroo’s point in all of this was still beyond you, so you urged for him to continue. 

        “So?”

        “So, wizards only exist for the simple reason that they are the only people powerful enough to use and create light magic. ‘If the soul is pure’ and all that other bullshit.”

        “Why are you telling me this, Kuroo?”

        “Because, kitten, dark magic can be wielded by anyone--though, using it is… severely frowned upon.”

        At that moment, you felt a twinge in your stomach. A small churning that lifted up, up, up into the top of your chest and expanded until you almost felt it hard to breathe. 

        And then the bubble burst. 

        Burp.

        “Oop, excuse me.” You cleared your throat. “Anyways, fascinating story, Kuroo, but what does this have to do with, oh, I don’t know, anything?”

        A glint of something sparked in Kuroo’s gaze but disappeared just as fast. “Nothing, kitten. Just thought you would have liked to know. And now, something you might be more interested in.”

        “Yes?” Like you were on the edge of your seat. 

        The werecat huffed, his irises growing thinner. “I’ve decided to allow you one visit to those scumbags, but don’t expect me to be this generous again.”

                                ~~~

        Walking down the same hallways you had followed just days ago felt… bittersweet. You wanted to feel excited about seeing Akaashi and Bokuto again but it felt like a boulder had been dropped in your chest, shoving down any ecstatic emotions you’d expected to have. 

        Something was terribly wrong. 

        Kuroo wasn’t being any too discreet about the situation either. A forced frown but glowing eyes told you to be wary of whatever you were going to find in the basement. 

        Or whatever was going to happen. 

        You knew you would have to confront what had happened with Bokuto. What he’d… done to you. As you followed the marbled paths of Kuroo’s home with two werecats just on your tail, you couldn’t help but feel the urge to curl up in a hole and hide rather than discuss that. 

        You’d rather eat bugs. You’d rather bungee jump and break the string. You’d rather-

        “We’re here.”

        The boy you’d assumed was Kenma--and rightfully so--lackadaisically gestured towards the door, not even bothering to open it for you before walking off with his friend.

        “Wait!” You held out a hand to stop him, “You’re not… like, supposed to come in with me?” Not that you wanted him to, but you figured Kuroo would want some sort of visual on you while you talked to your soulmates. 

        “Do you need me to wipe your ass too?” the blond man sneered, one hand on his hip while the other clutched a phone at his side. “Just hurry up before I leave you to find your way back to your room.”

        With that, he dropped to the floor just outside the hall, legs laid out flat in front of him while he began tapping away on the glowing screen. 

        What a delightful guy. 

        Huffing a sigh, you hugged the sweatshirt around your body closer to your stomach, remembering just how cold and miserable the room had been the last time. Though the horrifying end of the reunion just three nights ago had shocked any thought of temperature from your mind, you still remember returning to your room that night with blue fingers.

        Just the thought made you wonder how Bokuto and Akaashi were even still alive in there. 

        Swallowing all your anxiousness, you tiptoed your black sneakers all the way to the oak door at the end of the hall and hovered a hand over the chrome knob. 

        Even in the flickering light, you could see your warped appearance. Thick, dark circles framing red-stained eyes served as a heavy reminder that you hadn’t gotten a solid night’s sleep in a week. You could feel your own mouth draw into a natural frown and couldn’t bother to put in the effort to smile. 

        You knew this interaction was going to suck, but it was the not knowing of how much that made you refrain from even turning the handle. 

        Just when you made the conscious thought to cover your nail-bitten fingers with a cotton sleeve, you heard Kenma rise from his position on the floor and walk away. 

        Well that didn’t last long. 

        And with that, you opened the door. 

        The staircase was more haphazard and creaky than you remembered. Each step squealed under the slightest pressure, making every move you made sound like rat torture. There was a distinct scent of bleach and body odor that wafted up and singed your nose hairs as you crept down the stairs, a held breath bubbling your cheeks. 

        Like night and day, the room you now entered had a depressing atmosphere about it. Or, at least, that’s what it gave you. This time, there were no waves of excitement arriving with thumping heartbeats in your chest. This time, you knew exactly what you were getting into.

        Starting with Akaashi, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. 

        Unsurprisingly, Bokuto was curled up in the same corner, but it appeared like he hadn’t moved since the last time you’d come down. 

        Part of you was thankful you didn’t have to be met with those glowing red eyes again. 

        Akaashi’s eyes cracked open the second he heard you scuffing along the floor, and he rose from his position with extreme care. Cautiously, he held up his cuffed hands and approached the bars. He was trying not to scare you away. 

        “YN.” He mumbled your name with a tenderness you would find in a mother consoling her child. “Are you okay?”

        Anger bubbled at the words. Surely he was patronizing you? In the back of your head, you felt a voice scratching at you, trying to tell you that this was Akaashi. You cared for him as he cared for you, and he didn’t deserve a lick of mistreatment. Neither of them did. 

        Fuck that.

        “Am I okay?” You scoffed, throwing him a bitter smile. “Oh, I don’t know, Akaashi, do I look okay? Does the bruise around my throat look okay? Does my bleeding wound look okay? You tell me if I look okay!”

        Fury lodged itself in your throat as you charged towards his cell, sneering when he backed away just out of reach. Your hands wrapped around the bars and tightened just enough to satisfy your urge to strangle. 

        “My love, calm down.” Akaashi looked you over, head-to-toe, with a concerned gaze. “Something’s wrong, just tell me.”

        “Aww, of course sweet little Akaashi wants to make everything better,” you pouted, puppy dog eyes on full display. “What are you gonna do? Curse all my pain away like last time?”

        The wizard flinched at the jab, furrowing his brows before setting his jaw. “This isn’t you, YN. Kuroo’s done something to you.”

        “That’s where you’re wrong, my love,” you spat. “This is me finally being honest with you. Doesn’t the truth hurt like a bitch?”

        He pursed his lips, forcing himself to stay silent while observing your every move like a hawk. The feeling of his eyes on your skin only helped to piss you off more. With an indignant huff from your nose, you released your iron-grip on the bars of his cell and stepped back, lifting your chin to stare down at him. 

        “All right, Akaashi. Hide that anger like you always do, but I won’t hold back. And you know who else won’t hold back?” You drag your gaze to the right, trailing along the musty room until finally landing on the slumped form in the corner of the only other cell. A perfect target. 

        Akaashi didn’t even bother to follow your gaze before shaking his head. “Please, YN, whatever Kuroo’s done to you, don’t take it out on him. Bokuto’s already punishing himself enough for what happened.”

        “No, Akaashi.” At last, the wet blanket spoke. “I deserve whatever she has to say.”

        “Bo-”

        The vampire cut off his friend by rising abruptly, joints cracking with the movement as he stumbled over to the bars of the cell to face you. 

        Seeing his face made you pause in your agenda. The last time you had seen him, you never really got to study his face--especially with all the biting that was happening. Now, you finally noticed. 

        His eyes were back to their signature golden, though they may as well still have been red considering how bloodshot they were. The skin of his cheeks were damp while his lips were bitten and bleeding, and all you could focus on was just how much love he still held in his gaze. It was disguised as regret as he slumped his shoulders in so much he could’ve caved in on himself any second. 

        You loved it. He had become so broken like an empty shell of himself that he couldn’t even bear to look you in the eyes and confront his mistake. The guilt wafted of him in waves and you drank it right up. 

        The nagging voice in the back of your head fought back full force and stole the glare right off your face, but it never stood a chance against the words that slipped out of your mouth. 

        “I hate you.”

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