Chapter Text
Kuroo hated going undercover.
Yes, he was good at it. His ability to keep his facial expressions and scent in check, along with his generally shady personality, made him a perfect undercover agent. Plus, he would do anything for Daichi, even if he weren’t the prince.
However, it didn’t mean he liked being the bad guy.
He crossed his arms as he waited to be let into the decrepit building. The outside was unassuming: dark, bland-- a perfect hiding spot for illegal omega smuggling operations. After establishing a “reputation” in town and asking around, he managed to get a drunk sailor to reveal “where he could get a good time”.
The door opened and he slunk inside, greeted by a burly alpha reeking of alcohol, “You are Kozume?” He nodded at the fake last name, smiling despite the fact the interior made him want to puke. The front room only had a beaten up couch and a coffee table. Dark stains littered the carpet. He picked up unnaturally fresh scents- lavender and orange, mostly. Those definitely weren’t alpha scents.
“I’m looking for something fast,” he feigned indifference, “What’s your price?”
The man looked him up and down and shot him a toothy grin, “A hundred gold for a night.” The sailor had told him fifty; he probably upped the price based on his put-together attire. He shrugged, handing him a small coin purse. He’d get it back, if things went well, “I want my pick.”
The man knocked on the back wall, and three men were escorted out of a separate room by large thugs. The guards forced them to their knees in a row in front of Kuroo, and he used this time ‘examining them’ to assess their physical state.
The first was young-- a fact disturbing in itself. He couldn’t have been older than sixteen. His wild orange hair, matted and dirty, covered his wide eyes. Even in this position, he looked ready to fight-- Kuroo respected that.
The next one was far more docile in demeanor. His facial features were angelic and soft, albeit dark circles under his eyes. He seemed more downtrodden with his gaze lowered and scent gland exposed. The alpha was far more concerned with this one’s health; he could see the outline of the omega’s ribs and dark bruises near his neck. Kuroo took a step closer to examine for a forced mating bite and he heard the final omega let out a small growl. He rolled his eyes and tilted the dark-haired omega’s head further. No mating bite. Good.
The final omega-- the one that growled at him-- was a tall, lanky blond with golden eyes and a permanent scowl. He smelled like fresh strawberries and sported pale bite marks across the front of his chest. He had a pair of cracked, loose glasses hanging off his face that he couldn’t even fix with the thug holding his arms behind him. Kuroo’s heart ached, but he couldn’t let it show. He shot the omega a sinister smile, “I like blondes.”
The guard holding the omega nodded and yanked the lad to his feet. “There’s a back room for you,” the head asshole gestured to one of the side doors. Kuroo grimaced, “No thanks. I’ll give you an extra ten gold if I can take him to the inn.” He fished the extra money out of his pocket and held it up for the head alpha to see. Their plan wouldn’t work unless he could leave.
He seemed to consider the tradeoff, “Fine. But we’ll know if you try to take him from the inn.”
He wanted to taunt the despicable alpha for being so naive, but he held his tongue. So long as he kept his cool, these omegas would get justice. Tonight.
Playing his part, he wrapped an arm around the sweet smelling omega, “This will be the best night of your life,” he teased knowing that it might actually be once the omega was freed. He leaned forward and whispered into the omega’s ear, “Nod if you three are the only omegas here.”
The boy recoiled and shot him a confused stare. Kuroo raised an eyebrow, prompting the lad to give him an answer. He nodded, and he smiled, “Perfect. Come along.” He pulled the omega to the door and feigned a leisurely stroll in the direction of the town inn, “Wait…” he muttered under his breath, listening for the signal. Once he passed the threshold of the bushes, he raised two fingers at the owl-eyed leader hiding in the bushes.
The world turned to chaos.
Knights situated in the cover of trees surged forward and stormed the small building with swords and shields. Bokuto, their fearless leader, gave Kuroo a hefty pat on the back as he rushed inside; Kuroo trusted him to get the other two omegas out of there without further injury.The blond turned and tried to wiggle out of his grasp in a panic, but Kuroo held firm, “Stay still-- they’re getting your friends.”
“Don’t...touch me…” the boy clawed at Kuroo’s arm to try to get free. There were shouts from inside the house, but the alpha had faith that Daichi’s team wouldn’t put the omegas in the crossfire; they were the best for a reason.
The blond jerked his head back, colliding with his nose. His head exploded in flashes of color and pain, and his free hand flew to his face, “What the hell!?” The boy escaped from the crook of his arm, but he grabbed the lad’s shirt before he could get too far, “We’re trying to save you, you ass.”
The head of the royal guard stepped out of the doorway, “All clear bro.” He saw another knight shoot him a thumbs up from the opening.
He continued to fight with the omega, barely able to address the fellow alpha, “Get the omegas secured before removing the alphas.” He grabbed the omega’s wrist, “Listen to me you little shit-” he waited until the omega ceased his struggling, “What’s your name.”
“Fuck you.”
Off to a great start, “Okay, fine. Be that way while we’re trying to help you.” He started to steer the lad towards one of their carriages. Tanaka appeared shortly after with the orange-smelling omega, and Kai carried the final injured omega to the carriage. As soon as the other two boys appeared, the blond ceased his incessant struggling in Kuroo’s grasp.
The royal carriage contrasted the woodland area they’d hidden it. It was Kuroo’s personal ride, a gift from his adopted brother’s family, and would be ideal to transport the freed omegas without raising suspicion from the rest of the castle staff. He opened the door and ‘assisted’ (read: pushed) the lanky omega inside; in his defense, his nose was bleeding thanks to the omega’s tantrum and he’d have to nurse the pain the whole ride back
The angelic omega joined the blond in the corner farthest from him, pressing a hand to the boy’s cheek and scanning his neck for injuries, “He hurt me more than I hurt him,” Kuroo joked. The blond looked at him and snarled.
Once the creamsicle omega joined his buddies, Kuroo cleared his throat, “I know this is probably confusing for you, so I’ll try to keep this short until you have some time to calm down. My name is Kuroo Tetsuro, and I am the loyal advisor of Prince Sawamura, heir to the Karasuno crown.” The words came easy to him after years of practice, “May I have your names?”
Silence.
He rubbed his sore nose, “I just want to know what to call you besides blondie, ginger, and other one.”
The smallest pointed to himself, “Hinata.”
“Thank you Hinata,” Kuroo turned to the two taller omegas, “And you two?”
“Akaashi.”
“Tsukishima.” Kuroo could sense the venom in blondie’s voice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, although I wish it were under different circumstances.” He peered out the carriage opening, watching Bokuto load the alpha criminals onto the wagon, “Please relax, no harm will come to you now. Not on our watch.”
Hinata cocked his head to the side, “Why should we trust you?”
Kuroo shrugged, “I literally just rescued you?” He gestured vaguely to the carriage they were sitting in.
“For all we know you’re just bringing us to another shithole,” blondie- Tsukishima- retorted.
For a bunch of omegas just freed from literal sexual slavery they had a lot of snark, “Let me explain as much as I can for you, okay? Hopefully it will help you.” He took a seat across from the three frightened boys, “The prince has been trying to end omega smuggling for years. It was his first law as heir to the Karasuno throne that male omegas were not used for ‘entertainment’-- same as female omegas... but he recently suspected that his orders weren’t being followed through. He sent me, his favorite advisor and confidant--” he puffed his chest out, “--to investigate. I caught wind of a male omega ring and staged a fake tradeoff to confirm illegal activities were taking place. Now we’re here.” He pointed outside at the other concealed carriage, “The assholes who’ve been holding you are being brought in for questioning. Prince Daichi asked us to bring any omegas we found directly to the castle where he can apologize and speak to you.”
Hinata seemed to acknowledge his explanation, but Akaashi and Tsukishima shared a pensive glance, “What if we don’t want to go to the castle? What do you plan to do with us?” Tsukishima challenged him.
“Well, technically I can’t force you, but your friend here needs medical treatment-” he pointed at the angelic one, “-and something tells me you three want to stick together.”
Now that the three of them were together in one tight space, Kuroo smelled the way their scents intermingled. These three weren’t just prisoners; they were a pack. Akaashi smelled like a hot cup of coffee, Tsukishima of strawberries, and Hinata of oranges. There was also a faint lavender scent on the three of them with no discernable owner, but he was sure it came from another omega.
Tsukishima looked at Akaashi, eyes trailing from the lad’s neck to his stomach. Kuroo wasn’t sure if he’d consider the omega’s concern as protectiveness or defensiveness. Was he worried about the other two, or just worried about being around Kuroo and other foreign alpha scents? Tsukishima turned from Akaashi to Hinata, who nodded, “Fine.”
Kuroo smiled, “Let’s get you all somewhere safe.”