Chapter Text
Like most disasters in Yachi’s life, it begins with her mother.
Her mother operates on a totally different wavelength than Yachi. Yachi dreams about what it’s like to just do things without frantically overthinking every possible outcome. Her mother is just like that; all womanly confidence and bold decisiveness. It made her a successful businesswoman but perhaps a less attentive mother. Because while Yachi is completely certain her mother is trying to be caring and well-meaning, she is also fairly certain she’s about to have an aneurysm.
“How could she send this to me?” Yachi makes a strangled sound as she tries her best not to let out any loud, panicked screams. “Why would she send this to me?”
Yachi’s eyes scan the card sent along with the package, nearly giving herself a papercut when she rushes to pick up the thick cardstock.
In her mother’s slanted and thick handwriting, the card read:
My dearest Hitoka-chan,
I hope you’re doing well in Miyagi. That crooked landlord of yours better not be taking advantage of you. A client of mine had sent this to me as a gift but I believe you will find much more use out of it than me. Remember darling, you’re not getting any younger!
Love,
Your Mother XOXO
Succinct and to the point. Very much like her mother.
Yachi eyes the contents of the package again, pushing aside the pink tissue paper. In the centre of the box lies an ornate glass bottle, closed tight with a heart-shaped cork. The liquid inside is a dark purple-pink colour, slightly shimmery, and looking rather viscous when Yachi tilts the bottle around. If the design of the bottle isn’t a big enough giveaway already, a slightly faded tag hangs from the neck, and in glossy print is labelled: Love Potion No. 9 .
She can feel the stress flooding through her veins. This is not good . If someone sees her with this potion Yachi is sure it’s going to cause a lot of trouble. For herself especially. Obviously, the only rational thing to do in this scenario is to dump that shit down the drain before anyone sees it.
Yachi shoves the small bottle into the waistband of her pink pyjama bottoms, using the oversized sweater she has on to conceal the bump. She leaves behind the packaging and note in her room and heads down the stairs into the main kitchen. It’s late in the evening so she’s fairly certain the work kitchen will be empty right now.
Yachi quietly approaches the kitchen doors, leaning against the door jamb and peeking her head inside. She sighs in relief when she sees it is empty. She sees a few ingredients and bowls out already though. Hinata must already be starting to prep for tomorrow. Yachi better be quick if she wants to deal with this secretly.
She stands in front of the deep stainless steel sinks, eyeing the potion one more time. She’s pretty sure it would sell for a solid amount at some shady market.
Yachi shakes her head— there is no way she’s keeping this thing, to sell or to use. Better to get rid of it and pretend it never happened.
(Because who needs mature coping mechanisms when you have denial?)
Yachi clasps the bottle with one hand and the cork with the other and pulls, struggling a little. Finally, the cork comes off with a pop! and a fruity scent wafts into the air. Yachi is pretty sure love potions only work after digesting them but she plugs her nose with her thumb and index finger anyway.
Bye-bye, love potion, Yachi tips the bottle towards the sink and—
“Yaaaaaaachi!” Yachi fumbles a bit, nearly dropping the bottle. “Yachi-san!”
Hinata’s bright head of orange hair appears at the door, “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you. Kuroo-san says we’re having a team meeting and told me to come get you because you weren’t answering your phone— oh , whatcha got there?”
“Nothing!” Yachi leaves the opened bottle on the shelf above the sink, wiping her sweaty hands on her pants. “Just came to get some blueberries!” She grabs a handful of the freshly washed berries sitting next to the sink, “Yum! Let’s go, we wouldn’t want to keep Kuroo-san waiting.”
Hinata is thankfully distracted by the berries in Yachi’s hand, grabbing a few for himself, “Aren’t they so sweet? I was gonna make some pie with them later but then I got hungry, so Kenma and I went out for food and—” Yachi listens to Hinata chat away as they exit the kitchen, her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip with worry.
It’ll be fine. Just a quick meeting and then I’ll get rid of the evidence and no one will show up and arrest me and I won’t have to spend the rest of my life in magic prison with murderers and drug dealers and—
“You’re here!” Yachi’s thoughts are disrupted by an eager Kuroo who’s standing at one end of their meeting room (which is actually just the first-floor bathroom that transforms into the meeting room when Kuroo brings a whiteboard in). Kenma has already taken his preferred seat (the tub) so Yachi sits on top of the toilet seat and Hinata hops up onto the sink counter.
Kuroo, their magnanimous leader/boss, begins the meeting once they all arrive. He drones on about sales and seasonal produce. Yachi’s only half-listening, too busy trying to look as unsuspicious as possible, sweaty hands twisting the thin fabric of her pyjama pants, attempting to release some of her pent-up worries.
The meeting is nearing the end and Kuroo asks if they have any suggestions for improving the bakery, like he does every meeting. It’s mostly an empty gesture, one that allows Kuroo to segway into whatever hare-brained scheme he’s come up with this time.
“Kenma! You need to start pulling your weight. You have way too much untapped potential,” Kuroo admonishes.
“I’m okay with underachieving,” Kenma says, sending a thumbs up in Kuroo’s direction.
“You hardly even stay in your cute cat form when customers come.”
“This is a bakery, not a cat cafe,” Kenma deadpans.
“Alright. If you don’t want strangers petting you, I have another idea!” Kuroo whips out a frilly-looking maid outfit, complete with a set of faux cat-ears.
“Kuroo-san…” Yachi is at a loss for words, momentarily forgetting her own struggles.
“Kenma, I bet we’d get way more customers if you wore that!” Hinata says gleefully, nearly toppling over as he shakes with laughter.
Yachi watches as Kuroo creeps closer to Kenma, trying to coax him to try it on. Kenma hisses, back up as far as he can in the cramped bathtub. Hinata howls with laughter, urging Kenma to wear the outfit too.
Right before Kuroo fully closes in on him, Kenma transforms into his cat form and makes his escape, dashing out the door as Kuroo chases him.
It’s a fairly normal way to end one of their meetings, if Yachi is being honest.
˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗
Yachi’s original plan had been to hightail it back to the kitchen and dispose of that damned potion and then maybe take a nap because it’s been a stressful hour and a half and she deserves it.
However, her plans are derailed by a sad-looking Cat-Kenma, covered in thorns, leaves, and dirt. He meows up at her dolefully, tail hanging between his legs and ears dropping against his head.
Kenma: 0, Prickly Bushes: 1.
“You troublesome familiar,” Yachi sighs, scooping the small calico cat up gently so as not to aggravate his wounds. “What did I say about trying to escape from the balcony at night?”
She takes him to her bedroom and then into her tiny bathroom, setting him on top of the counter and pulling out her first aid kit.
Yachi tends to Kenma’s wounds, plucking thorns from his fur and putting ointment on his small scratches. She finishes by placing a Hello Kitty bandaid on his forehead just because. The small calico cat does not look so pleased.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Yachi chides, “If you don’t want to be stuck in your cat form be more careful not to get injured from now on. You’re lucky I didn’t tell Kuroo and Hinata what happened to you. You know they’d never stop teasing you about it.”
Kenma meows at her, dejected and a little embarrassed.
“You’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Yachi promises, running her fingers along his spine, “They’re just a few small scratches. Get some rest and you’ll be good as new.” Speaking of rest, Yachi’s body suddenly feels sluggish and tired. She tucks away the first aid kit and flops down onto her bed, a large yawn escaping her mouth.
Kenma looks morosely at his Nintendo Switch, meowing sadly at it. Unfortunately, cat paws just were not made for playing Animal Crossing. Since gaming is no longer an option, Kenma decides rest really is the only choice and hops up onto Yachi’s bed, curling up next to her chest.
Yachi, with sleepy, jerky movements, tugs Kenma closer, snuggling up with her familiar. As she drifts off to dreamland, she can’t help but feel like she’s forgetting something. But the drowsiness in her mind and the soft warmth of Kenma lull her into a heavy sleep before she can remember what she’s forgetting.
˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗
It’s during that dreamy, almost-awake state, when your mind is trying to remember why you even exist and need to wake up, that Yachi remembers that thing that she forgot last night but couldn’t remember if she was forgetting because she forgot she was supposed to remember to do it.
“Oh, shit!” She bolts upright, eyes wide and panicked, hair a frizzy mess, clothes rumpled and skewed.
Yachi rushes to get out of bed, stumbling into her fluffy bunny slippers and bolting out of her bedroom. She nearly trips and breaks her neck as she dashes down the rickety wooden stairs. She overslept. The sun was already up and the bakery was already open and ready for business.
Yachi finally reaches the kitchen, pushing the doors open and throwing herself inside. She’s out of breath, inhaling sharply as she clutches at the cramping muscles at her side. The kitchen is already set up, cookie trays lined, and bread baking in the oven.
Hinata, because he’s a wonderful and kind friend, must have let Yachi sleep in and taken over her morning prep. While Yachi is very touched and grateful, her mind is tunnel-visioned on her singular goal, which is a stepping stone in her larger, life-long goal of not getting shanked and bleeding out in prison.
“No! Nononononono… ” It’s empty. Well, almost empty. Yachi picks up the glass bottle, which only has a tiny amount of liquid left at the very bottom. She glances around the sink area, which is practically spotless. Did someone drain it already? Or has it already been used?
Yachi grabs the sink counter to steady herself. Her mind rapidly thinks of every scenario that could have played out, each one getting progressively worse.
This is it… This is where her life begins to go downhill. Someone’s going to find out about the love potion and then it’ll be traced back to her and the authorities will show up and take her magic license away and then lock her up and she’ll have to spend the rest of her life wearing ugly prison clothes and joining prison gangs so she doesn’t get killed in her sleep and—
“Dude, are you okay?” Yachi whips around to see Kenma (now in human form) standing behind her.
“Kenma…” Yachi's voice comes out choked and watery. She crouches to the floor, arms wrapping around her knees. Kenma kneels on the floor next to her, patiently waiting for her explanation. Yachi takes three deep breaths before turning to Kenma and explaining.
“So, you know how my mother doesn’t understand personal boundaries—”
After a quick but in-depth rehashing of the last 24 hours (and maybe a couple of ugly tears), Yachi looks expectantly at Kenma, hoping he knows what to do now. Kenma, unlike Yachi, has the wonderful ability to stay calm and collected during stressful times and Yachi is eternally grateful for his wisdom and poise during times like this.
“Damn, that’s messy.”
“Kenma! Help!” Yachi clutches at his forearm, almost falling in her unstable squatting position.
“Okay, relax. I mean we don’t actually know what happened to the potion, right? So, that’s step one.”
“Right. Okay,” Yachi rises to her feet, slightly unsteady.
“Just cast a replay spell,” Kenma suggests. “Easy enough, right?”
And Yachi does so, pointing her finger at the glass bottle and chanting the incantation. Pale blue light emanates from the potion bottle and a mirage-like shimmer appears in the kitchen, recreating the events that occurred around the bottle in the last day or so.
Yachi first sees her own image, bringing in the love potion and uncorking it above the sink. She then leaves it on the shelf above the sink when Hinata pops in, the cork loosely put back on the neck of the bottle. The mirage fast-forwards, as the bottle remains untouched on the shelf for some time, before slowing down again. And then there’s Kenma, dashing into the kitchen. The small cat jumps up onto the countertop and then the shelf, heading for the kitchen window. In his hasty escape, Kenma’s tail flicks at the potion bottle, knocking it over. The contents leak out slowly, falling into the large bowl of blueberries below. The mirage fast forwards again, this time stopping a few hours later. Hinata returns and dumps the bowl of blueberries, now soaked in the love potion, into a pot and turns the heat on medium as he makes some pie filling. The mirage finally ends when Hinata pulls a freshly baked pie out of the oven, the blueish shimmer dissolving into the air.
“Huh,” Kenma nods after seeing what happened.
“ Kenma …” Yachi is pretty sure she’s shaking right now.
“Okay, this might look like my fault,” Kenma starts, “but if you think about it, it’s mostly yours. Don’t worry though, I’ll support you no matter what.”
“Kenma!” Yachi latches onto the sleeve of Kenma’s sweater, whether to stop her hands from strangling him or to ground herself, she wasn’t sure.
“What are you guys doing?” Hinata pops into the kitchen, the sleeves of his white t-shirt rolled up past his shoulders and candy red apron tied around his waist.
“The pie!” Yachi releases Kenma and rushes towards Hinata, “Did you sell anyone the blueberry pie?”
“Don’t worry,” Hinata assures her, “it’s been ages since I forgot to charge customers for stuff!”
Yachi inhales sharply through her nose, trying her best not to break down. She’s clasping onto Hinata’s arms with more force than necessary, the pads of her fingers digging into his firm biceps. “So you did sell that pie? The pie you prepped for last night and baked this morning?”
“...Yes?” Hinata nods, confused but very used to Yachi’s incoherent mumbling.
“Uh oh,” Kenma sighs, digging through the refrigerator for a milk box.
“Hm?” Hinata blinks, looking in Kenma’s direction.
“To whom?” Yachi shakes Hinata’s shoulders, “Who did you sell it to? How much? How long ago? Did you see them eating it?”
“Uhh,” Hinata pulls a face as he tries to recall. “Well, first Oikawa-san came in for the milk bread he ordered a few days ago and while I was ringing him up I was like ‘Hey, you wanna try some of this blueberry pie?’ and he said ‘Okay!’ so I sold him a slice. I think I saw him eat some before leaving. And then Atsumu-kun came in and complained about Osamu-kun for like 20 minutes and then said he needed something delicious to get him through the rest of the day so he bought some taiyaki and a slice of pie too and then ate it until Osamu-kun came and dragged him out. Then Kageyama-kun came in and was being super weird but it got kinda busy before I could ask him what’s wrong so I just sent him off with a complimentary slice since it’s his favourite, so he definitely ate it later. I’m pretty sure no one else bought any after that though.”
Kenma walks back up to them, milk procured. He looks like he’s about to say something but closes his mouth, opting to give Hinata a gentle pat on the shoulder instead.
“Oikawa-san, Atsumu-san, and Kageyama-kun,” Yachi recites, retracting her hands from Hinata’s biceps. “Would it work with that many people?” She locks eyes with Kenma.
Kenma shrugs, sipping his milk.
“Would what work?” Hinata asks.
“Maybe it doesn’t even work if it’s in pie anyway, right?” Yachi continues, feeling a bubble of hysteria rise in her chest.
“What’s going on?” Hinata asks again, pouting slightly at being left out. Yachi looks back at Hinata, guilt washing over her.
“Hinata-kun…” Yachi starts apologetically, heart hammering against her chest and lips trembling.
“Wait,” Kenma steps in, his cool fingers wrapping around Yachi’s wrist. Yachi looks up into his sharp, golden eyes. Although they both were introverted and shy, Kenma is always calm and rational, whereas Yachi turns into a sweaty disaster. Yachi trusts Kenma with her life. Even now, here he is stepping in to help her—
“You should tell Kuro at the same time. I can’t sit through this again, I have a raid scheduled with Yaku and Tora.”
“...I should have left you in the dumpster where I found you.”
“Yachi, please. We can only deal with one of your poor decisions at a time.”
˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗
Fifteen minutes and a nerve-wracking explanation later, the four members of the bakery staff sit in Kuroo’s office (the upstairs living kitchen, which becomes Kuroo’s office when he sits at the head of their small dining table and replaces their centrepiece with the Brita filter pitcher), the near-empty love potion bottle neatly lined up next to the five-eighths of the remaining blueberry pie.
“Hmmm,” Kuroo hums, chin resting in his palm as he squints at the two objects on the table.
“It’s all my fault,” Yachi insists, for probably the seventh time already. She keeps her head down, eyes screwed shut, waiting for Kuroo’s response.
“It’s not!” Hinata interjects, “It’s my fault too. I should’ve paid more attention.”
“It’s my fault also,” Kenma adds dully, “But like, way less than you two, obviously.”
“You’re sure that’s a real love potion?” Kuroo ignores them, pointing a finger at the bottle.
“Pretty sure,” Yachi nods, “My mother probably wouldn’t send it if she wasn’t sure herself.”
“Hmm,” Kuroo hums again, examining the tag around the bottle’s neck.
“I’m willing to accept whatever punishment, Kuroo-san! Please don’t punish Hinata-kun or Kenma though,” Yachi bows her head, nearly smashing her forehead on the edge of the table. Kuroo is quiet for another moment but Yachi is too nervous to look up and see his reaction.
He’s firing her, isn’t he? Oh god, she’s gonna be fired but Kuroo-san doesn’t know how to tell her, that’s why he hasn’t said anything—
“2371,” Kuroo says eventually. Yachi looks up, blinking in confusion.
“2371?” Hinata questions.
“Yachi, you owe me 2371 yen,” Kuroo leans back in his seat, crossing his arms.
“Huh?” is all Yachi manages to say.
“The cost of the remaining pie we can’t sell and the wasted ingredients. I’ll be deducting it out of your next paycheque,” Kuroo stands up, yawning.
“You’re not firing me?” Yachi jumps to her feet. She’s so happy she thinks she may cry.
“Are you crazy?” Kuroo grabs her face, squishing her cheeks between his palms. “Who’s gonna make all our magical desserts otherwise? Those cupcakes that make your skin sparkle? Or that honey cake that cures sore throats? ”
“Oh, oh! And those singing taiyakis! Not to mention the special cinnamon buns you make,” Hinata adds, “I love those!”
“Yacchan,” Kuroo chides, shaking her head from right to left, “You’re an important part of this team. Got it?” He shakes her head up and down for her.
“Kuroo-san...” Yachi’s heart feels touched. She silently promises to work even harder, so she doesn’t let her team down like this again.
“That’s true and all,” Kenma drums his fingers against his cheek, slumped over in his seat, “but I hope you have an actual plan, Kuro. I don’t think I’d do well in prison.” Kenma nods towards the love potion and blueberry pie.
“You would die very quickly,” Hinata nods solemnly.
“No need to panic,” Kuroo releases Yachi. He grabs a kitchen towel and sits down again, picking the bottle up without getting his fingerprints on it, “What do you know about love potions?” He asks Yachi.
“Not much,” Yachi confesses. “Mostly just things I’ve read in older texts. I’m not even sure what kind of love potion it is,” Yachi sits down again too, feeling more collected than she had all day, “It could be a dual-ingestion type or a love-at-first-sight type. Or some other, less common type.”
“We’ll keep an eye on the three that ate the pie and we’ll get someone to take a closer look at the potion. Let’s not panic until we need to,” Kuroo advises.
“It might not even work anyway. It’s gotta be pretty old, right?” Hinata leans in to get a closer look at the glass bottle.
“Exactly. It may just be that nothing happens at all and we can all continue with our merry lives,” Kuroo says with a wry smile.
“I mean, if that stuff is as old as you say, there is a good chance we may have given those guys some food poisoning,” Kenma points outs.
“Which we will vehemently deny any responsibility for,” Kuroo promises.
“Wah, Kuroo-san! You sound real shady when you say things like that,” Hinata says in awe.
“Thank you!”
“That couldn’t possibly have sounded like a compliment to you…”
“Hush, Kenma. We still have one last thing to do before this meeting is adjourned.”
“If you’re thinking about bringing the maid thing up again, I will cough up a thousand hairballs on your bed.”
“Not that,” Kuroo waves again. “We should get rid of the rest of the evidence. Just in case, you know?”
“Shady.”
“ Super shady!”
“Just go get the stuff,” Kuroo rolls his eyes.
Their lunch break starts with Yachi calling for an emergency meeting and ends with the four of them standing on the rooftop, throwing the leftover blueberry pie into a trashcan and lighting it on fire. They all stand in a circle, watching the flickering flames grow and consume the pie, the burnt crisp slowly deteriorating into ashes.
(Un)fortunately, this is not the first time they’ve ended their lunch break by incinerating something on the roof. Yachi should probably not feel as comforted by that fact as she is.
“I have a good feeling that everything is going to be okay,” Hinata grins, the colour of the fire almost as bright as the joyful gleam in his eyes.
˗ˋˏ°• 💘 •°ˎˊ˗
Everything (obviously) was not okay.
It’s the next day and this time Yachi wakes up on time, right before sunrise. She makes herself a cup of tea and enjoys the pre-dawn view outside. She gets dressed, ties her apron tightly around her waist and gets to work. She spends the early morning baking bread and cookies, filling in tart crusts, piping icing on top of cupcakes, neatly arranging everything in the display cases.
The morning passes by quickly. Only a handful of customers come in so Kenma doesn’t need any help at the register. Yachi takes the time to set aside some cinnamon rolls that she infuses with a simple relaxation potion, as a gift to Hinata for covering her shift yesterday. Yachi puts in extra care while making them, making sure the spell is just right so Hinata can have a peaceful night of sleep. Finishing up, Yachi wraps the cinnamon rolls and sticks a note with a little doodle of Hinata on top, setting the dessert aside for Hinata to eat after his shift finishes.
It’s almost 1 PM now so Yachi heads to the front, arriving just in time to see Ushijima carrying in boxes of fresh strawberries.
“Wow!” Yachi skips up to the taller man, clasping her hands, “They look so perfect!” She praises, examining the perfectly shaped strawberries. “I wish I was as good at plant magic as you are, Ushijima-san.”
“I hope you find a good use for them,” Ushijima smiles at her, carrying the heavy boxes all the way to the back kitchen.
“Strawberries!” Hinata cheers as he finishes tying his apron, getting ready for his afternoon shift.
“There’s a few more boxes left.”
“I can get them!” Hinata offers, bouncing out the door. Ushijima and Yachi follow him (at a much calmer pace), friendly chatter springing between them.
Ushijima has some spare time after his delivery so he takes a seat by the large windows as Yachi brings him some refreshments and snacks. Yachi is setting down a plate of fruit tarts (topped with the fresh strawberries that were just delivered) when she hears a commotion by the entrance.
“It’s alright! I got it, I swear,” Hinata is carrying in the last few boxes of produce, expertly sidestepping Oikawa who stands in front of him, arms outstretched as if he’s offering to help.
“Wow, Shoyo,” Oikawa praises, “You’re so strong!”
“They’re not that heavy,” Hinata laughs.
“Oikawa-san,” Yachi wipes her hands down on her apron as she approaches him. “Should I pack you your regular order?” A box of milk bread and some jasmine milk tea.
“Mmm, I think I want to try something new today.”
Yachi pauses. Oikawa, who has been a regular at their bakery for some time now, usually never deviates from his regular order. He only occasionally orders something else along with his milk bread and tea. She shakes her head; maybe he’s getting something for a friend.
“Uh, what would you like to try?” Yachi asks, stepping behind the display counter.
“Hmm,” Oikawa ponders, eyeing the desserts and sweets on display. “Shoyo!” He smiles, looking up when Hinata emerges from the back kitchen. “What do you recommend?” Yachi watches as Oikawa bats his eyelashes in Hinata’s direction, leaning against the counter and smiling lazily.
“Uhh...” Hinata pauses, looking back and forth between Yachi and Oikawa. Yachi shrugs and leaves him to handle Oikawa’s order as she grabs a pitcher of iced tea to serve to Ushijima.
“Is Oikawa alright?” Ushijima asks. Yachi follows the direction of his gaze to where Oikawa is dragging Hinata closer, pointing at various desserts and asking Hinata to describe them.
“What about this one, Shoyo?”
“Oh, that’s cotton cheesecake. It’s super light and fluffy, I bet you’d like it.”
“Whaaaat about…this one!”
“That’s a donut, Oikawa-san. The sprinkles are cat-shaped though!”
“Hmm...I think I want something you made. I want something that Shoyo made with his own hands,” Oikawa lifts Shoyo’s hands up into his own, cupping them gently as he stares at Hinata.
“Uhh…” Hinata flushes a vibrant pink, looking everywhere but at Oikawa. “I made banana bread earlier!” He blurts, extracting himself from Oikawa’s hands. “Banana bread is my specialty.”
“I’ll buy all of it,” Oikawa states immediately.
“Huh? There’s like four loaves though…”
“If the man says he wants all of it, then pack all of it, Hinata!” Kuroo, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, claps Hinata on the back. Kuroo claims he has no magical abilities himself but Yachi is skeptical when seeing his ability to miraculously show up whenever money is involved.
“All four loaves?” Hinata raises an eyebrow at Oikawa. Oikawa nods enthusiastically, smiling brightly at Hinata. “O-okay then.” Hinata packs up all four loaves of banana bread. “That’ll be 2700 yen, please.”
Oikawa taps his credit card to pay before leaving a generous cash tip in the jar on the front counter. “Bye-bye,” he waves, carrying his boxes of bread, “I’ll see you soon, Shoyo!”
“That was...weird,” Ushijima settles on. Yachi laughs nervously, shoving a fruit tart in her mouth before she blurts out something incriminating. From behind, she hears Kuroo praise Hinata for making a good sale while Hinata remains baffled.
“Is the banana bread that good?” Ushijima muses, taking a sip of his iced tea.
“Of course it is. Shoyo’s the best at making bread!” Bless Kuroo and his inability to miss an opportunity to schmooze. Yachi is only half-listening to Kuroo answering Ushijima’s questions about wheat quality and banana-to-nut ratios, her mind busy replaying Oikawa’s strange interaction with Hinata.
Before she can think too deeply about it, the bells chime as the front door is opened.
“Yacchan! You ready to trade?” Yachi stands up, smiling as she goes to greet the newcomer.
“Osamu-san, it smells so good!” Yachi accepts the package of onigiri, setting it down on one of the unoccupied tables. Miya Osamu operates the onigiri shop across the street so employees from both shops were quite familiar with each other. Yachi and Osamu have a weekly custom in which Osamu brings some delicious onigiri for everyone and, in return, Yachi gives him a box of assorted sweets and some taiyaki for his brother, Atsumu.
“Whatcha got for me this time?” Osamu asks, sitting down and unpacking the rice balls.
“Hang on. I have everything wrapped up in the back,” Yachi dashes to the back kitchen to grab the specially wrapped box. This time she had packed an assortment of macarons, several different flavours lined up neatly. Returning to the storefront, Yachi sees the other Miya twin loitering around the front counter.
“Atsumu-san,” Yachi bows her head in greeting. “I used that playlist you sent me to make some singing taiyakis for you. I have them all packed up here—”
Yachi pauses when she realizes Atsumu is hardly paying any attention to her. She peaks over the counter to see what could have stolen his attention.
“Shoyo- kun, ” Atsumu drawls, leaning over the counter to get a better look at Hinata who was restocking the paper bags. “Did you miss me?”
“I saw you like, yesterday,” Hinata replies, still digging around beneath the counter.
“That’s so long!” Atsumu cries. “I missed you ,” he adds childishly, pouting as he sags against the countertop. “Come out and eat, would ya?”
“I’m working, Atsumu-kun,” Hinata huffs out a laugh, standing upright.
“What about your lunch break?” Atsumu continues to wheedle, “I brought some fresh onigiri with your name on it.”
“I already had lunch,” Hinata rolls his eyes, smiling, “Jeez, you don’t usually come and bother me at work until the evening. Both you and Oikawa—” Hinata stops himself like he’s pausing to consider something. He glances over to Yachi and they lock eyes for a second. Yachi and Hinata have been friends for such a long time, it only takes half a second for them to both realize they’re having the same realization.
“Osamu-san!” Yachi practically shouts. “Here’s your desserts!” She shoves the package into Osamu’s arms. “Thank you so much for the onigiri. We’ll enjoy them greatly, I’m sure. Your break is probably over soon so I won’t keep you waiting anymore,” Yachi says in a frantic hurry.
Osamu (bless his soul) doesn’t hang around any longer or question Yachi’s sudden bout of weirdness.
“See ya later,” He waves with a kind smile. “Oi, ‘Tsumu! Let’s go.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Atsumu waves a hand, not taking his eyes off Hinata, who looks rather awkward and nervous. “I’m hanging out with Shoyo-kun. Go on without me.”
“Quit bothering people while they’re working,” Osamu scolds, dragging Atsumu by the back of his collar, all the way to the door.
“Bye, Shoyo-kun! I’ll be back later!” Atsumu calls out. Yachi’s fake smile finally drops when the twins are out of sight. She feels herself deflate a little, grabbing onto the edge of the counter to steel herself.
“Yachi…” Hinata looks at her, a little panicked and a little weary and honestly, same, Hinata-kun.
“Did you guys do something?” Ushijima asks. Crap , Yachi had forgotten he was still here. “Everyone is acting very...odd today.” Yachi rushes over and sits in the seat across from him. Hinata stands behind her, hands on her shoulder and they both lean in closer to whisper at Ushijima. They pause, looking at Kuroo for a second. Kuroo rolls his eyes and makes some excuse about having spreadsheets to look at and disappears. Yachi and Hinata promptly return their attention back to Ushijima.
“You’re here often, Ushijima-san,” Yachi says, carefully choosing her words. Ushijima nods at her, face as impassive as ever. “Would you say Oikawa-san’s and Atsumu-san’s behaviour was out of the ordinary?”
“But,” Hinata butts in before Ushijima can respond, “Oikawa-san and Atsumu-kun aren’t really normal ever . They’re both, uh, what’s that word? Flammable?”
“...Flamboyant?” Yachi asks, eyes looking upwards even though she can’t really see Hinata.
“Yeah, that!” Hinata nods, his chin brushing against the side of Yachi’s head.
“Both your statements are true,” Ushijima agrees, “But they both seemed rather fixated on Hinata.” Yachi tilts her head up to get a proper look at Hinata as she’s sure they have identical expressions of panic on their faces.
“I didn’t forget your birthday or anything, did I?” Ushijima asks Hinata, slightly amused.
“Nope!” Hinata grins, fidgeting with nervous energy. “Just a weird day I guess.” Ushijima stays silent, sipping his iced tea. Yachi watches droplets of condensation slip down the side of the glass. Her mouth feels uncomfortably dry right now.
“Whatever is going on, I’d get help. If it’s just the two of you...it’s bound to get worse,” Ushijima says finally, setting his glass down. “No offence,” he adds as an afterthought.
“None taken,” Yachi and Hinata mumble dully. Hinata sags against Yachi, his chin resting on top of her head, as they both stare ahead glumly.
“I should get going now. Thank you for the iced tea and fruit tarts,” Ushijima grabs his things and gets up. Hinata and Yachi wave him a half-hearted goodbye.
“I guess he’s right. Kuroo-san also said we should get someone to examine the potion.”
“I know,” Yachi sighs, “I just don’t like the idea of involving more people. But I guess it can’t be helped if other people are seeing what we’re seeing.”
“Don’t worry, Yachi,” Hinata gives her a comforting squeeze, “We’ll get through this together!”
“Thanks, Hinata-kun,” Yachi smiles. Hinata’s optimistic presence helps lift Yachi’s deflated spirits a little.
She stands up, ready to get back to work, when a figure at the edge of the room catches her eye. Yachi looks to the left to see a sleepy Kenma emerging from the stairwell, “Yachi... food…”
“Where have you been? You disappeared and missed half your shift,” Yachi scolds but goes to get him some onigiri anyway.
“I went to take a quick nap but I couldn’t fall asleep. This damn crow was being so loud, right outside the window,” Kenma pouts, sitting on the chair and nibbling on his onigiri. “I was gonna chase it away, show it who’s boss, you know? But I got hungry…”
“Kenma, you’ve never chased anything in your whole life,” Hinata giggles.
“I’m a pacifist.”
“I’ve seen you play video games. Pacifist my ass,” Kuroo scoffs, returning from who-knows-where. He takes a seat at the table and grabs some onigiri, as well. Their bickering continues, Hinata laughing and commenting every now and then, while Yachi excuses herself to go make a call.
“Senpai,” she can’t help but whine a little, “I need your help.”
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