Reclaim (Haikyuu Kingdoms!AU)

Acceptance

"Where's your new friend?" Tsukishima asked as Hinata entered the training ruins. 

"He's taking some time off to explore," he replied, grabbing a pair of worn leather gloves and his blade. 

"And who's this?" The blonde pointed to a hunched-over foreign advisor on the ground. 

"This is Kenma. He's-"

"Holy shit! Is that Kenma Kozume from the Nekoma Kingdom?" Tanaka yelled as the Karasuno group approached the two. Kenma stood up, brushing off his lap with a sigh. 

"Watch your language, sir," he replied. "A pleasure to meet you all. Hinata here has informed me that you would like to schedule some sort of appointment with the king, no?"

Sugawara and Daichi exchanged looks before nodding. "Yes, we would like to meet up with the king of the Nekoma Kingdom."

Kenma nodded wistfully. "Well, you've got my undying attention. What will you show me, Karasuno?"

"Who are you?" Kageyama looked up to a man with a straw hat on. He had rectangular glasses hiding a curious face underneath. 

"Uh..." he looked away. "Bob."

"Oh! Are you a foreigner?" he asked with a bright smile, clutching the splintered handle of his rusty metal rake. "I've never met anyone who wanted to travel to the Outer City!"

Right, the Outer City of my kingdom is poor and seems uninhabited, Kageyama thought. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm tending to my crops," he replied. "Though I am about to have lunch. How about you join me? I'll tell you a little about the Outer City."

Kageyama hesitated before nodded and following him into the man's small home. 

"I'm sorry, I don't have a lot here."

"No, it's fine. Cozy." The thatched roof was held up by multiple unstable wooden beams that looked to have been installed years ago. The cold, damp floor had pieces of straw littered around, and a dirty wool rug was placed before a homemade double bed with a thin mattress and rock-hard pillows. The comforter that engulfed the bed was full and fluffy. A round table with two chairs was in a corner next to a makeshift fireplace. 

"Thank you. It's not much, but its home. I can't say it's all that cozy, though." He walked over to some shelves and took a mug down. "Wait in the seat, I'll get some water from the back."

Kageyama took a seat, taking in the shack around him as the man walked out of the room. There was no door, but there wasn't much that robbers could steal in the house. He acknowledged that the Outer City was poor, but not impoverished. 

"I'm back. Sorry, you're probably used to something more... extravagant. This is all I have in store right now, at least. I'm going to make some homemade honey beer tomorrow, though. Ukai likes it."

Kageyama perked up at the arena owner's name. "You know Mr. Ukai?"

He nodded, taking a sip of his cold water. "We live together! Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Takeda Ittetsu. Nice to meet you, Bob!"He stuck his hand out with a smile. Kageyama shook it with a curt nod. 

"So, what's with the Outer City? What are its problems?" If Kageyama had to start appealing to his citizens, he should start with a major problem that his past generations had left him. 

Tadeka looked around, a frown crossing his face. "Look around. You can already see what's wrong. We don't have modern technology, we don't have proper running water, and we don't know the latest trends."