Author’s Note: This is actually an alternate version of what ended up on AO3.
Title: Daily Bread
Prompt: Royalty
Pairing: Tsukkiyama
~~
The new apprentice was a hopeless rube and everybody knew it.
“Where’d they even find this kid? Can’t carry a full flour sack, gets blisters just from standing at attention or sweeping the floor. Doesn’t even have a surname.”
Kei didn’t care, as long as it didn’t affect him. Being a baker’s apprentice in the king’s city was an honor he’d had to fight tooth and nail for- nevermind that he hated every minute of it. Flour caked his face, dusted his hair, invaded his lungs with every wheezing breath. It meant extra rations to his family every quarter for giving up their youngest useless son to the city bakeries to prep meals for the troops, sorely needed after Akiteru had gone off to basic training. There was water and fresh food and every Sunday off. Better than most, better than he deserved, probably. So what if Baker Washijo had decided to give one of the coveted positions to someone who was terrible? God, was that kid terrible. His bread turned out half raw or half burned so often that it became the default bread- the worst bread of the day, only fit to feed the apprentices at suppertime. The other apprentice bakers just loved that. Kei put up with it for four days, watching the other idiots wind up the new kid to the breaking point, the loaves getting worse and worse under the pressure. Little things, stealing his shoes, a punch or pinch in the hallway, spitting in his tea. Kei had never seen Washijo beat anyone for their mistakes, but his patience had to be wearing pretty thin.
On the fifth day, Kei chose the oven next to the new kid on purpose. This was usually the spot for whoever came last, a punishment to be associated with this human disaster, but Kei was fed up. “I’m tired of eating your shitty bread,” Kei ground out between his teeth. The new kid faltered, blinking up at him nervously. “So you do exactly what I do.”
The kid did. He copied Kei gesture for gesture, measure for measure. He turned the dough when Kei did, let it rest whenever Kei stepped away. In the end, his rolls were good because Kei’s rolls were good. They ended up eating Ito’s rolls at dinner instead, when he’d mistaken sugar for salt. That was fine for Kei. He’d always preferred sweet things.
No the rolls were fine. And the next day, the sourdough loaves. Then the pumpernickel and then the apple tarts. Before he knew what had happened, the new kid was Tadashi, and Tadashi was attached. It would have been hilarious if it had happened to anybody else, this gangly kid with freckles and puppy dog eyes following Kei from station to station, chattering away. Kei was caught between bemusement that such devotion cost so little and the desire to find the right thing to say to get Tadashi to leave him the hell alone. He tried glaring. He tried ignoring him. He tried being cruel.
“It’s like you’ve never even dressed yourself before. It’s like you’ve never even seen an oven. Did you grow up in a shed? How backwards were you that you can’t do the simplest tasks? Pathetic.” Tadashi just nodded and nodded.
“Sorry, Tsukki,” Tadashi said, smiling up at him. He wasn’t, really. But he did try harder. And one day, when Tsukishima woke up, Tadashi was gone. Just… gone.
“Family business,” Washijo said brusquely when Kei had the chance to ask. “Anyway the king is ill and the troops are being relocated. We need twice as many rations from each bakery, so concentrate on the important things.”
Kei did. And he burned his bread twice that week thinking about freckles. After eight days, Tadashi came back as though he had never left.
“My brother was sick,” he explained over honeycakes, a golden smear against his cheekbone. Kei wanted to lick it off.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kei said politely.
“He was fine.” Tadashi said. “As long as he’s fine, here I’ll be.”
“I hope he stays fine,” Kei said firmly.
And the king got better and the orders slowed down and everything was like it was before except that Kei knew. He knew, but he didn’t say. Then Tadashi woke Kei up in the middle of the night, hand loosely over Kei’s mouth to keep him from calling out and waking the others. The place where Tadashi’s fingers pressed felt warm and shivery. Kei followed Tadashi out to the garden where the herbs for the savory pastries grew. The moon was very bright and everything was silver, green and lovely. Tadashi took his hand, mouth a determined line.
“I need to ask you something important.”
Kei swallowed hard, nodding.
“What do you want, Tsukki? More than anything else in the world.”
Kei couldn’t think. His mouth and his hand were hot, sensitive.
“You need glasses, I know that. But big things. Money? Power? A title? Land?” Tadashi listed these things like they were types of bread, easy and familiar. “A place in the Royal Library. University. Anything.”
“Who are you?” Kei asked.
“Just a second son, like you.” Tadashi said, fingers still warm between his.
Second sons have limitations. No place. No education. They cannot inherit. Hold titles. Marry.
“I hate that,” Kei said, “being a second son.”
“That’s what you want to change?” Tadashi asked, raising one eyebrow. “The whole structure of the world?”
“Big things,” Kei agreed.
Then shouts rang across the yard and the gates burst open and the city guard took Tadashi away.
The next morning, the mourning bells tolled in the city. The king was dead. The troops were dispatched. Bread on top of bread, utilitarian, travel portions. Civil unrest, fighting in the streets. What did they expect? The king had killed his whole family off when he was only sixteen, had taken the throne from his parents and his six siblings in a blood soaked nightmare. He had been a second son.
Washijo called Kei to the side, took him up to the study.
“Always knew you were the smartest,” he said, eyeing Kei closely. “Damn shame that you’re a second son.”
“Was there something I could do for you?” Kei tried in his politest tone. It still wasn’t very polite. Washijo’s frown deepened.
“I have no sons, second or first. You are young and smart and I am old and tired. Stay here and finish your apprenticeship, work the shop, and I will leave it to you when I die. Bread is safe and stable. People always need bread. Or.” His eyes cut across to the window. A coach stood there, waiting. “If you get in that coach, it will take you away from this life into something different. Is it better or worse? I have an idea, but I won’t say.”
“I’ll go.” Kei decided. He knew without saying that Tadashi wasn’t coming back this time. No one came back when the guards took them away.
There was a letter in the coach from his brother. Akiteru, in recognition of a great service to the regeant, had been knighted. As such the entire Tsukishima household was entitled to certain amenities. Food. Housing. Steady income. Higher education, even for a second son. Beside the letter was a small wooden box that held a pair of wire framed glasses- expensively enchanted to match the weakness in each eye. The world slammed into focus and Kei thought he would never tire of the crisp lines of the world, of the detail neatly edged in a way he was used to seeing only smudges. At the University, the coursework was balanced but challenging. Kei finished the entire semester in a matter of weeks.
“More,” he demanded. “I’m here for a reason, aren’t I?” His instructors shared a look and picked up the pace. It took two years of study until they were satisfied.
“Amazing,” he’d overheard them saying. “No wonder he was chosen.”
“What a pity he’s a second son,” said another. Kei bristled as he climbed into the carriage sent to take him away. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when it passed the road leading to his home village, or to the road in the town where the bakery sat. The carriage did not draw to a stop until it crossed into the castle proper. And in a room filled with light, a dog at his feet, stood Tadashi, straight and tall, shoulders out, smile bright.
“Your Highness,” Kei said, but made no move to bow.
“Not to you,” Tadashi said, holding out his hands. “You’re early, Tsukki.”
“Am I?” Kei held Tadashi’s hand too gently, fingers curled around his pulse.
“It usually takes four years, you know. Sometimes six.” Tadashi’s fingers squeezed back.
“What are you doing?” Kei asked. “What am I doing here?”
“I need an adviser. I was in hiding the last few years. I’m the last surviving Prince, after my brother died.” Tadashi’s hands wouldn’t still; they moved lightly in his, like cupping fireflies.
“The King is dead. Long live the King,” Kei said softly. “I don’t care about a revolution. I just want to be by you.”
“That’s a shame.” Tadashi slid his hands up along Kei’s arms, along shoulder and neck, pulling him down into a kiss. “I want both.”
Kuroo works as a secret service member for the Japanese government in the extraterrestrial department. Or he would, if there were an aliens to investigate. See how once slow night at work and the first alien aircraft seen in months crashing down on Kuroo’s doorstep will change everything.
Read on AO3
Words: 3235
#kuroken
______________
Kuroo’s eye’s began to droop as the low hum of the twenty monitors in front of him lulled him to sleep. The only thing keeping him awake was dull flickering LED light above his head cast a dark greenish light on the small metal room. He moved his hand over to the desk where is coffee cup sat, ‘empty’ he sighed to himself, rolling his eyes as he placed it back down in the same spot, lining it up perfectly with the ring it had created on his desk.
When Kuroo was first told he’d be working for the secret service he was over the moon; it had been all he’d ever wanted as a kid and he was thrilled he’d be able to serve Japan in a way that required ultimate skill and intelligence. However, as the years bled on, alien discoveries became less and less and workers in the department were given other positions to fill while they waited for any signs of extraterrestrial life.
So watching security cameras became Kuroo’s. ‘What a waste!’ he would always say to himself. Maybe if something was going on he was in the best shape out of everyone to go chase after the culprits, but nothing astounding really happened any more. No fights, no explosions. Everyone was to professional and the security controls was to high for any outsider to get close to the base.
At least if anything happened to crash down in exactly the right spot, Kuroo would be the first to see it and know exactly how to approach it. He rested his head in his arms which were crossed on the desk, it was late so he wouldn’t be missing anything anyway. He dozed off, dreaming of the days where his departement filled their usual office with loud witty banter, more like brothers and sisters then co workers.
Friday night’s after a long week spent drinking together when their Friday day shifts ended, just enjoying their time, fresh off training. Kuroo fit in so well with all of them, not once did he feel like he didn’t understand the joke or that anyone was less than anyone else. They were good times. Now he just sat and watched, waiting for the day that an alien graced their monitors again.
***
Kuroo shot up from his office chair, jumping back quickly to doge one of the monitor as it came in an extremely close proximity to his head. Red emergency lights were flashing, tinting the grey room amber as alarms blared, his original disturber of his slumber. He checked the monitors quickly, rapids searching them for the cause of the panic. He eyes landed on the bottom right screen - the entry to the bomb testing field - where he caught sight of it.
A large purple aircraft, unlike any design he had ever seen in his time working with the government and airforce. It’s sides were glowing blue as smoke rose from the crater it had dented into the patch desert. He knew instantly what it was, his bones riddled with excitement, adrenaline pumping furiously through his veins.
Maybe he wouldn’t be the first to know.
Kuroo ran, sprinted down the halls, instinct and muscle memory from the last four years guiding him through the concrete labyrinth of underground hallways. His could hear multiple footsteps echoing off every surface, increasing his speed so that he could still be to the crash site, the first to discover what was inside. No thought of possible harm could stop him as the elevator to the surface appeared at the end of a long hallway, it’s blue glass revealing it’s vacancy.
“Yes.” He panted out as he reached the cool glass, resting on it as he slammed the button to open it, breath taking over all noise. The swooshing sound of the glass seemed to last forever as the eager man shook with anticipation. As he leaped inside he let the door shut, turning around with the biggest grin. He could still be first. Kuroo’s small flattered as he looked down upon the hall as the machine lifted him up.
It was empty; the footsteps he had heard clambering off the bricks were that of his own. ‘It’s fine, it’s late, it was still night outside. There is always less people on night shifts.’ He told himself, not wanting to even entertain the idea for a second that no one was excited or knowing about this as he was. The alarms were still going off like crazy, why was no one else around?
As he reached the top level he didn’t even let the door open the full way before squeezing himself out, not hesitating to run into the freezing cold night air. He cool now see his rapid breath as he was drawn to the flying object, feeling that he was only a short distance away as he flew past the metal fence acting as a barrier around the field. He had to slow down as the smoke from the crash got into his passage way and caused him to cough. He hoped that anything inside it was still alive as he struggled to catch up with everyone else. The everyone else Kuroo had convinced himself must already be there.
He entered the thick cloud of smoke that was close to the door of the aircraft that had been forced open upon the impact. He knew he was acting irrationally and against all his training by blindly running into the scene with no preparation and no protection besides the clothes on his back. His old sports jacket from highschool protected him well enough from the cold but would it from alien weaponry. He didn’t care, the thoughts of his hayday came back to him. The extraterrestrial and UFO department would flourish once again.
“KUROO!” He heard a shout, the only thing thus far that he stopped him in his tracks.
He wiped his head around trying to see through the thick cloud, eventually re emerging from it, to see the first sign of human life that night so he could go back to seeing the first sign of alien life in almost a year.
He strained his eyes to see the person running towards him, yelling back as soon as he could make out the black and white spikes of his old coworker.
“Bokuto! Late to the party are we?”
“No fair, you were closer.” He called back, placing his hands on his knees to regain a steady beat once he reached his friend.
“Yeah well so were a lot of other people, but do you see them. Do they even know what is happening?” The taller man gestured to the barren land.
“Oh they know alright.” Bokuto stood, “Kuroo, none of them know how to deal with this, the only ones who do are those of our department.” He encouraged Kuroo to work out the answer himself, which he did quickled.
He cursed under his breath. “You’re right, most of us had day shifts today.”
Bokuto nodded.
“Is anyone else here tonight, it is hardly possible that it is only us.”
Bokuto replied after a thinking for a second. “There maybe a few.”
“Shall we wait for them-”
“Yes.” Bokuto didn’t even let him finish. “You may be the best at this but you acted as if you knew as much as the the people back in the control room watching us by the way you just ran in blindly. We need people with supplies and weapons, we don’t know what’s in there, so as much as I want to run in there and kick some alien but - surely not as much as you do - we need to be prepared.
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Kuroo wanted to sound cold but due to his impatience it came out more whiney, like a child.
“With them.” Bokuto looked back in the direction of the facility. Three figure were closing in on them, traveling by motor bikes to move faster. Soon their old coworkers and friends Kiyoko Shimizu, Daichi Sawamura and Kōshi Sugawara were revealed to them, bringing them guns and stunning devices as well as capturing and communication mechanisms for their own use.
“Ready when you are.” Daichi stated instead of a greeting.
“I’ve been waiting so long for this to happen.” Sugawara said bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Yes! So excited, Suga.” Kiyoko agreed, more words then they ever thought she could say in a day, this was as rare as the aliens.
With our friends now there to provide backup, Bokuto and Kuroo re entered the slowly clearing crash site, just able to make out the ramp up to the ship using the glowing light emitting from the aircraft as their guide. Once they were up in the foyer of the aircraft, there was still no sign of life, only two identical hallways leading off in opposite direction.
“You take right, I’ll go left.” Kurro commanded and we set off.
“Make sure to shout if you get anything.” Bokuto tapped his walkie talkie which was fastened to a pocket on his sleeve before disappearing behind the opening.
It was a surprisingly quiet and anxious jog down the hallway. Kuroo never stopped once, checking every room, going up two flights of ramps. ‘Maybe the aliens didn’t have legs’.
Everything had been empty so far. Was it possible that this was nothing but discarded space junk from another species?
Kuroo had found himself directly above where they had entered, but about five stories higher. He was on the final floor and the only thing he had found was a very large window that looked upon the whole base.
This room and all is corresponding doors was his only hope left.
The first door he tried on the other side of the room lead to an area identical to the one he was in just before, most likely Bokuto would be arriving through it shortly if his journey was as uneventful as Kuroo’s own. He tried the rest, breaking them down if he had to. All were just simple storage cupboards. He would definitely have to investigate these later for artifacts.
Kuroo’s heart was breaking as he was left with one more door. The white metal was the only thing that stood between him and his biggest dream coming true. Setting his things down on the big confrance looking table in the center of the room, all except his gun, he approached the door.
“Not locked he whispered to himself as it slid open from simply censoring his presence. The small room was lined with a bench running the length of the walls and had shelves above them full of glowing substances. A medical bed positioned in the middle. Kuroo could feel a lump in his throat forming at the empty room until he almost fell over after the sudden realisation of two feet sprawled out on the floor behind it.
“No!” he gasped, unable to believe if this was real.
He approached the unconscious body slowly, more of the apparently small figure was revealing itself to Kuroo. He did a double take when he saw the full thing.
“Human?” He questioned to nobody.
He quickly vetoed that idea once he began to search the alien, which only made his heart flutter.
Most of the beings features were the same apart from it’s dark purple hair turning blonde at the end of it’s shoulder length style, pointed ears and red marks just under its eyes.
He went to touch it’s arm. Hesitating slightly before realising that nothing had happened. He picked it up supporting its head which had flopped into his chest, and under its knees.
“I’ve got one. The only one. You see anything? I’m heading out. Over” He spoke into his own walkie talkie.
“Nothing I’m on the ground again. Over.” A crackly voice gave back. The magnetic energy of the ship must be interfering with the radio.
Kuroo brought the small alien out of the aircraft, a vehicle ready to take it back to camp.
“That’s all?” Suga sounded happy and sad at the same time. Kuroo could relate. He rode with the being and soon they were back, alone, in a medical looking room of the human’s own.
Still dumbfounded that the being looked so human he began to look closely at it again. It was breathing, he noticed, so he decided to pull up a scanner to see what this thing was made of, unsure about how it had bloody lungs!
With the big metal contraption over the sleeping alien he turned it on. As it loaded up Kuroo moved his face really close to the other, looking at the birthmarks on the aliens face. From what he could see, with the mouth and eyes being shut, it looked so human. He could only possibly be a-
Golden eyes snapped open.
“AHHHH!” It let out a screech, raising a hand and pushing Kuroo away and hurtling itself off of the table and into the corner of the small room.
“It’s okay.” Kuroo said, aware that it probably couldn’t understand it, as it covered it’s face with a hand, bringing its head down to its knees.
“Where am I!” It demanded.
‘Holy Crap!’ Kuroo was flabbergasted.
“English!” He yelled, instantly switching from his native tongue to the western dialogue.
“What?” It didn’t look up.
“You speak English!” He made clearer.
“What’s English?” It replied.
“Oh, well I can understand you, and you, I” He explained.
“I guess.” It looked up finally, glowly lifting it’s gaze, a look of fear turning to confusion as it had also instantly noticed their similarities.
“You’re… Altaen?”
“Human.” They spoke at the same time.
“Oh, human.” It sounded disappointed.
“Altaen!” Kuroo repeated, still excited.
“You know of us?” It asked.
“Well yeah,” Kuroo’s face faltered for the second time that night. “Only that race has been extinct for centuries.”
“Nope.” It mumbled
“Their planet was exploded.”
“Well they didn’t get all of us.”
“How?”
“There is this thing called Some of us were on a mission in this other thing called space.” It spoke very sarcastically for how quiet and shy it also was, barley meeting Kuroo’s eyes.
“Oh so you are like ten thousand years old then?” Kuroo asked.
“No.” The alien sounded irritated now. “Breeding.” It responded quickly, regaining its shy composure.
“Right. So do you mind if I ask a few more questions.”
“Sure. then can I leave.”
“That’s not up to me.”
“So i’m gonna be dissected or something.”
“No, no. We may not be as advanced as you sir, but we have come far since the days of mutilation. My job is to keep you safe. So you’re good as long as you stay by me.” Kuroo smiled.
“Cool.” The alien sounded calmer and relaxed its shoulders a little. “Ask away.”
“Name?”
“Kozume Kenma.”
“Cool.” He wrote it down.
“Race, Altaen.” Hw spoke as he noted. “Gender.
“What’s a gender?”
“What do you mean? Altaen’s have genders.”
“We these ones don’t. What ever a gender is.”
“You must have evolved past them in the last ten thousand years.
“Possibly.”
“Reason for crashing on our planet?”
“That’s a joke right?”
“Yeah. But why’d you come near us.” Kuroo admitted.
“Joyride. Not my fault your magnetic field is hella strong.”
“Hella?”
“Really.”
“I know what it means. Just why.”
Kenma shrugged.
“Well for now that’s all I need. Mind if I take a photo.”
“For science?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.”
Kuroo took Kenma to the food court then. It was really empty this time of night so they could chat in peace.
“You eat human food.”
“Never tried it. Is it like goo?”
“I’ll get you some jelly.”
Later the pair was sitting at a table, Kuroo using all his effort to make the situation as comfortable for his guest as he could. They could work with the crew tomorrow, he quite like this new discovery.
They ate jelly together in silence for a bit before Kenma looked up to see Kuroo staring.
“Do I have a booger or something?” They covered their nose with their hand, looking down and wiping it.
“No! No. Just curious.” Kuroo reassured Kenma.
“Then what?” He grew embarrassed.
“I just didn’t think an alien we found would be this small.” He said honestly.
“Small!” Kenma stood, speaking the loudest they had yet, slamming their hands on the table moving around to Kuroo who also stood, a near foot above them.
“Well watch this.” They raised his eyebrows as he began to grow, Kuroo was amazed at the being ability. However when they finished their party trick they were still a few inches of matching Kuroo’s height.
“Cute.” Was all he said.
“I’m not cute he said, pouting.
Kuroo took the opportunity to look back into Kenma’s eyes. The golden iris’s contrasted perfectly with their purple pupils, a match to the creatures hair.
They were catlike in shape and absolutely breathtaking.
“No, no your not. How about… Gorgeous?” Kuroo blushed slightly at his attempt. ‘Was that a flirt?”
“Gore...Jesus?” Kuroo had thought Kema would get flustered but he just tipped his head to the side.
“No, um… Beautiful.” Kuroo tried. Again with no success.
“Something else.”
“I don’t know? Stunning.” He was running out of ideas.
“I did not!” Kenma just looked more offended than happy.
“I don’t know!” Don’t you have any positive words for physically appealing people.” He wracked his brain for other English words to explain with.
Kenma thought for a moment. “Hot?” Kuroo blushed deeper.
“Uh, Kinda. Maybe more, charming?” He stuttered.
“Well, we have one… It’s uh… Perfect?”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
Kenma’s eyes widened. Their marks began to glow as they shrunk back to their first size.
“Um, oh, thanks…” They really were flustered now.’ Kuroo thought. ‘And yes, that was a flirt. Sooth Kuroo.’ He smirked to himself.
Kenma took his seat again and Kuroo his. They chatted for a while longer before Kenma began to yawn and Kuroo offered to show them to a room in their facility. He agreed to stay in a neighboring room for the duration of Kenma’s stay due to, as Kenma had put it, the fact that they didn’t know anyone and he was the only one that they felt comfortable with.
Kuroo wasn’t sure if that kind of sentence held the same value in Altea as it did on Earth but he let it slide. Kuroo went and sat on the end of the ‘Perfect’ creatures bed, watching as they sat down too.
“Thanks for not cutting me open.” Kenma smiled, however their head was still facing is lap and their hair still covered most of their face.
“Thanks for eating jelly with me… and breaking a scanner but that is for a different day.” Kuroo tried to joke.
Kenma yawned again so Kuroo told him goodnight and made to leave. Right as he was about to leave, Kenma called to him. Kuroo first wondered if this would be like in the movies where the alien would ask something awkward like ‘would you stay with me tonight.’ or some other embarrassing thing. But even if secretly he hoped they would, Kenma just tilted his head once more.
“Really, tell me what a geder is? Is it like lumps? Or an extra limb?”
Weather you live in Australia or the cuzzies over the ditch in New Zealand and the week is already begun, or your in Cali and you are still furiously tyipng/drawing to have your work perfected, the week has begun and you may submit your creations as you please!
Haikyuu Fantasy Week is 8 days dedicated to creating content for our favourite volleyball boys and girls with a Fantasy twist. We are encouraging you to create anything you feel like
When is it?
Tuesday 20th - Tuesday 27th of March 2018!
What are prompts?
Our prompts are like themes for each day of the week. An idea to base your work/content off. Every day has two or three to choose from and you can pick any; mash them together; or mix entire day’s prompts with another if it fits what you plan to make, just tag it accordingly. (We will be making a masterlist of the posts and this will just make it easier for the Mods to organise it)
How can I contribute?
You can make (but are not limited to) fanart, drabbles and fics of any length, edits, playlists, podcasts, headcanons, cosplays etc. with the daily prompts. They can be interpreted in anyway you would like.
Is shipping allowed?
YES OF COURSE. You are free to ship characters in your work, although ship hate will not be tolerated. Although appreciated greatly it is not necessary to include and wholesome friendships are hugely anticipated!
thank you so much for all your incredible stories and artworks this week. we were only hoping for a small amount of submissions on our first run of doing this and we are so happy with the outcome!
we will continue reblogging any late submissions until Sunday so if anyone has unfinished works, don’t think you can’t still finish and post them!
Keep a look out for the next time we run this and make sure to spread the word.
