Chapter Text
Kuroo adjusted the bandana higher up his nose as he walked. It was a warm night, so it was a bit stuffy, but he didn’t like his face to be seen when he was patrolling their territory with the other Cats. He didn’t want anyone he might… Have an altercation with while he was out to come make trouble at his shop. The only one outside of the Cats who knew what he looked like was Daichi, the leader of the Crows – their rival gang. Despite being his sworn rival, Daichi was a decent guy. Kuroo trusted that he wouldn’t abuse his knowledge. So far, that hadn’t blown up in his face, so Kuroo guessed that it was a good enough reason to keep trusting him.
He let out a long sigh and clasped his hands behind his head, knuckle dusters pressing into his skin slightly. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long night.
“What, bored of me already, Tetsu-chan?” Oikawa mock-gasped from next to him. He had his hood up and a mask covering his face. It was one of those high-end fashionable ones, and had a red skull printed on the centre. He had at least eight different ones, as far as Kuroo could tell, and he had no idea where he even got them. “I’m offended. You should be grateful that I decided to come with you tonight.”
Kuroo rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway. “You only came with me because it’s Iwaizumi’s turn to go with Kyoutani,” he said. “And I told you not to call me that when we’re out here.”
Oikawa stuck his lower lip out, and gave a melodramatic sigh. “It’s not my fault that Mad Dog-chan needs someone to keep him in check, and that Iwa-chan’s gigantic arms make him the best man for the job. And why not? It’s not like anyone would guess that the oh-so cool tattoo shop owner is tetsu-chan,” he said.
Kuroo scoffed. “They will when you call me that in front of the customers all the time! You’re possibly the least subtle person I’ve ever met.”
“That’s so rude, tetsu-chan! I thought you loved me,” Oikawa whined.
“You’re a menace. I’m starting to think Iwaizumi was right,” Kuroo deadpanned. “You can’t call me tetsu-chan at the store and when we’re out on business. You have to choose one.”
Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, bat loose in one hand. “I choose both! None of you appreciate me, I swear. I am a delight. Only that kid from the Crows treats me with the right amount of awe. Maybe I should go join them. Then what would you do without me, hm?”
Kuroo nudged him with an elbow. “You’re not joining the Crows. Iwaizumi would have your head. Besides, that kid is impressed by just about everything. He nearly started shaving his own hair mid-fight because he thought Terushima’s undercut was so cool,” he pointed out.
Oikawa burst out laughing, high and melodic. “Terushima was so excited about it, too. He nearly cried when Daichi stopped the kid.”
Kuroo’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He paused mid-step and fished it out, opening a text from Kenma.
Kenma: You need to come to the wharf now. Lev and Terushima are getting into trouble.
He sighed again, and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Come on, we gotta save Lev and Terushima’s asses again,” he said, turning and jogging in the direction of the wharf.
Oikawa followed, though it wasn’t silently. It wasn’t a long run to the wharf – they hadn’t been that far from it in the first place. But the entire way Oikawa complained about how he couldn’t get in another fight and how he’d just gotten his hair done and how his face was too beautiful to mess up again. Kuroo had just rolled his eyes and told him to shut up and text Iwaizumi. It took them about five minutes to get to the wharf, and when they got there, Kuroo quickly figured out why Kenma had texted him.
There were four guys from the Crows there – the kid with the orange hair, whom he’d dubbed Shrimpy, the tall guy with the bowl cut and the intimidating glare, and two guys that Kuroo didn’t recognize. The odds might have been a bit fairer if Kenma was more of a fighter – or a fighter at all, really – but he was mostly just there to help keep Terushima and Lev out of trouble. He was the brains of their group, rather than the brawn. Terushima and Lev were getting pretty close to two of the Crows – Shrimpy and the grumpy one – while the other two hung back and watched with crossed arms.
Kuroo made his way up to them, all square shoulders and confidence. He placed a hand on Lev’s shoulder, putting himself between the Cats and the Crows. He looked the two Crows up and down, glaring at them.
“What are you doing here?” He demanded. “You know that this is our turf.”
“We have business here,” the grumpy one replied simply. “You got a problem with that?”
“Why yes, I have a problem with that,” Kuroo shot back. “You can’t just come here, to our turf, and harass my members without my permission.”
“We don’t need your permission to go anywhere!” Shrimpy cried out, puffing himself up to make himself look bigger. It didn’t work very well.
“When it’s on my turf, you do,” Kuroo gritted out. These arguments always went nowhere.
“Who says it’s your turf anyway?” One of the guys Kuroo didn’t recognize called out, walking up to them. “Isn’t this practically surrounded by our territory anyway? Who says this isn’t ours, too?”
Kuroo lifted his gaze to the new guy, anger boiling in his stomach. The lower half of his face was covered by a bandanna, much like Kuroo’s own, and he had a beanie covering his hair. He was watching Kuroo through keen, golden eyes, and Kuroo couldn’t help but think that they looked like an owl’s. They were beautiful.
Okay, whoa, most definitely not the time.
“I do,” Kuroo snapped. “This is our turf. Now get the fuck out of here before you make me really angry.”
The owl-guy pushed inbetween Shrimpy and the grumpy dude, sidling up into Kuroo’s personal space. “Or what?” He said, and damn if this guy wasn’t pissing him off so much he would jump his bones.
But, as it stood, these guys were their rivals and they were making themselves more than unwelcome in his territory. So, he drew back his arm and swung at the guy’s face. The guy’s eyes widened in surprise, but he managed to dodge, just barely. Kuroo’s knuckle duster grazed his face, leaving a red mark across his cheekbone.
If the guy’s face had been uncovered, Kuroo thought that he would have been smiling just then. He could see the twinkle in his eyes.
Vaguely, Kuroo could have sworn that he heard Kenma scoff, “so much for getting them out of trouble.”
Kuroo ignored him. The guy jumped backwards and dropped into a fighting stance, and then swung back at Kuroo. Kuroo danced out of the way, and aimed another punch at the guy’s stomach. It landed, causing him to double over and cough violently. But, it left him open to the uppercut the guy threw at his jaw.
Kuroo hissed at the pain but didn’t let himself falter.
It wasn’t long after that the others broke out into fighting as well. Oikawa went up against the grumpy dude, Terushima against Shrimpy, and Lev against the other one that Kuroo didn’t recognize. They were all pretty evenly matched. At this rate, they’d all end up bruised and bloodied by the time any of them were actually willing to retreat.
Kuroo took another punch to the gut, and stumbled backwards. Damn, this guy could punch hard. Kuroo shook out his arms and huffed out a breath, trying to take his mind off the pain. He was just about to rush at the guy again, when he heard Iwaizumi’s voice.
“Holy shit, are you guys incapable of staying out of trouble?” He yelled. “Tell me why the fuck this guy is the leader again.” Kuroo didn’t have to look to know he was gesturing at him. He didn’t think he’d ever be so grateful to hear Iwaizumi yelling at them. Then again, he probably thought that every other week, actually.
“Iwa-chan! Mad dog-chan!” Oikawa called. “You certainly took your time. My pretty face could have been ruined by now!”
“What a travesty,” Iwaizumi deadpanned. Kuroo snickered.
“Now, who wants to tell me what you’ve gotten yourselves into this time?” Iwaizumi said.
“These guys were in our turf!” Lev cried out. “We were just trying to make them go away.”
“Yeah!” Terushima agreed.
Kuroo straightened, looking at the guy he’d been fighting, and then glancing over at the others. Shrimpy and the grumpy guy looked understandably nervous. Kyoutani’s reputation as the Mad Dog (despite being a member of the Cats) preceded him. No one wanted to fight him. The other two, however, looked oblivious.
“You sure you want to continue this fight?” Kuroo said, putting his hands on his hips. “You’re outnumbered. Plus, we have Kyoutani here. You won’t like him when he’s angry.” A smirk pulled at his lips, and he had to stifle a laugh at his own joke.
“Huh? What’s so special about him?” The guy said, glaring at Kyoutani.
“That’s the Mad Dog!” Shrimpy whispered harshly. “We should get out of here. If we don’t, Daichi will get mad at us.”
The grumpy dude smacked Shrimpy upside the head. “Dumbass, don’t say his name in front of them!” He scolded. Kuroo let out a bark of laughter.
“My point still stands! We gotta go!” Shrimpy hissed back. The grumpy one glared at him for a moment, but then nodded. They both retreated, pulling the other two along with them.
“This isn’t over, cat boy!” The one with the owl eyes called back, staring directly at Kuroo. Kuroo suppressed a shiver.
“You’re damned right it isn’t!” He called back.
Two days later, the bruise on Kuroo’s jaw had faded into an ugly yellow colour. He kept it covered up with makeup anyway. It wouldn’t be good for business to look like he just got jumped in a back alley, even if it was a tattoo shop.
He was just busy setting up, double checking his appointments for the day and counting the float for the till, when Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Terushima let themselves in. Kenma was already there, being one of the other artists for Kuroo’s shop. It was a small shop, so there were just three of them that ran it – Kuroo and Kenma as artists, and Terushima as a piercer. Though, Terushima even being there before the shop opened was something of a miracle. On busier days, Oikawa sometimes helped out as a cashier slash receptionist. He was always great for business. All the girls on the street flocked in, suddenly wanting tattoos of their own.
“You know,” Iwaizumi said. “I thought that as leader you were supposed to get these idiots out of trouble, not get into it yourself.”
Kuroo looked up from where he was counting the money. “Hey, man, you weren’t there,” he replied lazily, shrugging.
“Yeah,” Terushima huffed. “One of those new guys was seriously rude. Trying to act like it was their territory and not ours. Can you believe it?” Kuroo was suddenly reminded of those golden eyes.
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “I can, considering they do it all the time. These stupid fights are becoming more and more frequent, it’s ridiculous.”
“Hey,” Kuroo said. “It’s not my fault they’ve got an attitude problem. Daichi’s really gotta get those kids under control.”
“Yeah! The one nearly hit my face with a crowbar! What would you all do then, hm, Iwa-chan? My beautiful face would be messed up and this entire gang would descend into chaos,” Oikawa complained.
“I’m sure we’d manage without you, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi said, shooting him a look and crossing his arms.
“Mean, Iwa-chan! Totally mean!”
Iwaizumi ignored him in favour of looking at Kuroo again. “So what are we going to do?”
Kuroo sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll call a meeting tomorrow,” he said. “We can talk about our best next move then. I have to open up now.”
Kuroo put the money into the till, and then moved past the others to open the door, flipping the sign from closed to open.
Iwaizumi shrugged. “Alright, well, I just came to drop this one off,” he said, jerking his thumb at Oikawa. “I’ll be in on Friday for my next session on my thigh piece. See you tomorrow.”
“Try not to miss me too much, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa teased. Iwaizumi just rolled his eyes and cuffed him on the back of his head.
“Sure, see you then,” Kuroo said. “I’ll text you the details of the meeting.”
Iwaizumi gave a curt nod before heading out the door.
It was a slow morning, mostly spent goofing around behind the counter. Neither Kuroo nor Kenma had any appointments till later that day, and they didn’t take bookings for piercings. Still, there was the odd chance of a walk-in for a small tattoo. They got a couple of phonecalls asking if Terushima was there, inquiring about their hours, and the like. That was just about it till around lunch, when Kuroo’s first appointment was due.
One Bokuto Koutarou, in for a consultation and design session. He’d phoned in about a week before.
Kuroo was busy lazing, half-sprawled, across the counter when he walked in. Kuroo glanced up, the sounds of Terushima and Oikawa bickering vaguely in the background, to see eyes that he recognized looking down at him. He jerked upright, surprised by the familiarity, but couldn’t quite place them. The man was tall and broad, with black and white hair spiked into two points, and an excited grin. He had an intricate sleeve on his left arm, and Kuroo could see more tattoos poking out from underneath his collar and right sleeve.
“Bokuto, I take it?” Kuroo asked, letting a lazy smile fall on his lips. “I’m Kuroo Tetsurou. What can I do for you today?”
Bokuto nodded. “That’s me. I want an owl tattoo on my back. I don’t have time to start inking today, but I thought we could design? I have some concepts on my phone,” he said, moving over to the counter. “I had a look at some of your stuff online, it’s really great.”
“Thanks, man,” Kuroo said, grabbing his sketch book and pencil from underneath the till and placing it on top of the counter. “You can grab one of the chairs from over there and bring it here.” Kuroo gestured to the waiting area. “What sort of concepts do you have?”
Bokuto grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the counter, sitting down. He fished his phone out of his pocket and brought up an image of an owl tattoo on someone’s back, before sliding it over to Kuroo.
“I want something kind of like this,” he said. “But I want the wings to be bigger, like, the main focus, and I want it to be in colour.”
Kuroo made an impressed noise. “That’s a really cool idea. Cool, let me sketch out something basic quick.” Kuroo picked up his pencil and began to draw, his pencil flitting quickly across the paper. “Why an owl, if I might ask?”
Bokuto shrugged, grin broadening just marginally. Kuroo found that he liked the way Bokuto’s grin lit up his whole face. “I’ve just always felt an affinity for them, I guess.”
Kuroo returned his smile as he sketched. “I’ve always been more of a cat man, myself.”
Bokuto’s smile faltered for a second, and he gave Kuroo an odd look. Kuroo was just beginning to worry he’d said something wrong, when Bokuto spoke again. “You kind of remind me of a cat,” he said, laughing to himself. “Especially your smile. It’s nice.”
Kuroo paused in his drawing for a moment, feeling a hint of warmth in his cheeks. Had he just… called Kuroo’s smile nice?
They chatted for a while longer while Kuroo drew, talking about random things. Kuroo found out that, while Bokuto was quite an active guy, he had a guilty love for binging the same shitty reality shows that Kuroo did. When Kuroo was done, he flipped the sketchbook to face Bokuto and slid it over to him.
“What do you think?” He asked.
“Oh, man, I love it!” Bokuto exclaimed. “How’d you get it so perfect the first time? The last artist I went to had to re-sketch my design like, six times.”
Kuroo gave Bokuto a bashful grin, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging. “Glad you like it, dude.”
Bokuto held up the sketchbook for closer inspection, grinning almost from ear to ear. “I want this on me, like, now.”
Kuroo laughed. “Well, we can schedule your first session, if you’d like?” He suggested. “When works for you?”
“Do you have any free slots tomorrow?” Bokuto asked. “Please tell me you do.”
Kuroo turned to his computer, glancing over his appointment schedule. “I have a free slot just before closing, if that’s good for you.”
“That’s perfect! Thank you so much! Can I take a photo of this? Oh, man, Akaashi is gonna love this,” he said. “Either that or he’s gonna kill me for getting another tattoo so soon.”
“Hey, well, try not to die before I’ve put that tattoo on you,” Kuroo joked, snickering. “I’m actually pretty excited to do it. And sure, go ahead.”
Bokuto picked up his phone and snapped a picture before pocketing it again. “Great, man, I’m super amped for this. I gotta bounce, but I’ll see you tomorrow!” Bokuto said, turning to head out the door.
“Yeah,” Kuroo said, waving. “See you tomorrow.”
When Bokuto was out of sight, Kuroo let out a long breath, letting himself relax back into his chair. Terushima and Oikawa poked their heads into the room. Kuroo hadn’t even noticed them leaving, to be honest. He wasn’t sure where Kenma had gone off to.
“Looks like someone’s taken with his new client,” Oikawa teased. “You’re actually blushing, Tetsu-chan.”
“I am not,” Kuroo huffed. “He’s just… Energetic.”
“You are so blushing,” Terushima laughed.
Kuroo groaned. “Okay, fine, I’m blushing. He called my smile nice.”
“Ah, young love,” Oikawa sighed dramatically. “A beautiful thing.”
“Talk to me when you’re done making gooey eyes at Iwaizumi.”
“Didn’t he look kind of familiar though?” Terushima asked.
“Yeah, he kind of did,” Kuroo said.
It was like a scratch at the back of Kuroo’s mind, where he recognized Bokuto from, but he just couldn’t figure it out. Eventually, he gave up and went about the rest of his day, trying not to let how beautiful Bokuto’s eyes were distract him from his work.