Moonrise

Tetsu walked up to the woman standing just outside the entryway to the house. For once in his life, she looked incredibly unsure of herself, which was so unlike her. Aunt Yui - no, his mother - had never once looked unsure of herself. At least, never where he could see it.

“Hi,” she said softly.
“Hi.” Tetsu smiled. “Mom.”
Her head dipped down for a moment, and then she looked up at him with a brilliant, if watery, smile.
“It’s been so long since I’ve heard you call me that.”
“Why, though? Why have I always called you Auntie, and not Mom or Mama?”
“I wanted everything to be as normal as possible for you, even if we were constantly having to move until it was safe,” she explained. “You were young enough that each time we had to move, you thought it was all so fun, so I did my best to help you keep thinking that way. Having you call me Auntie was just an additional layer of protection. At first, we made it a game. Eventually, you were calling me Auntie on your own, and I just never corrected you.”

Tetsu nodded. It all made sense. He couldn’t remember any part of his childhood that was particularly terrible. Not outside normal growing pains and puberty, and the anxiety of coming out. His auntie - no, his mom - was with him every step of the way; accepting him, loving him, and making sure he was happy with his life.

“Are you angry with me?” he heard her ask, her voice so quiet and small that he nearly missed it.
“No, why on earth would I be?”
“I just thought that you’d be angry because I’m your mom, and not your aunt. That I didn’t tell you first, and you found out through Mitsuhide. That… that…”
“I’m not angry, Mom. Please don’t cry!” He bent and caught her up in his arms. “You had your reasons, right?” He felt her nod into his chest. “You know, most of my friends in school thought you were my mom, and sometimes I thought so too. Finding out for sure isn’t that big a deal.”
“But, Mitsuhide..”
“His story was tied to yours. He couldn’t avoid telling us both.”
“Oh! What’s Kei going to think?”
“I’m going to think that you’re an amazing woman for raising your son the best way you knew how under the circumstances you were given.”

Tetsu turned to smile at Kei, who was standing a little bit away from them. Further back, he saw the elder Tsukishima standing half in the shadows. Tetsu gently pushed back from his mom, who was hastily trying to wipe her face.

“I’m not presentable. Go away,” she said half-heartedly.
Kei chuckled. “Not a chance.”
“Stubborn.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“It does run in the family,” both she and Mitsuhide said at the same time.
“So, am I going to officially meet Tetsu’s mom, or do I need to make an appointment?” Kei peeked around Tetsu to see Yuki smirking at him.
“You fell in love with a smartass,” she said to her son.
“To be fair, you’re the one who threw us together because you thought he’d be good for me. So, it’s really all your fault,” Tetsu added gleefully. “You’re not wrong, though.”
“I’m never wrong.”
“Maybe not, but you are a hot mess. I doubt you want anyone else to see you like that, so let’s go back to our bungalow, and we can talk there,” Kei said with a smirk.
“He’s also bossy,” she groused. But she went over to Kei anyway.
“Nice to meet you. Again.” She held out her hand in greeting.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Kei replied, taking her hand. But he gently tugged her into his arms. “So, do I call you Auntie or Mom?”
Yuki drew back just enough to look at him, fresh tears falling past her smile, and cupped his face in her hands.
“I’d love it if you called me Mom,” she replied happily. “But not yet, okay? The rest of our little army knew about your dad, but they don’t know about me. Besides, I think you officially calling me Mom would be a conversation you and my son would need to have first.”
“Okay. Auntie it is. For now.” He grinned at her.
“Great! Now, why don’t we go to that bungalow you mentioned so I can get cleaned up.”
“And you call me bossy,” Kei quipped as he took one of her hands in his. Tetsu came up and took her other hand, and the three of them walked back to the bungalow.

Mitsuhide smiled at them, and made his way to the main house, instead. A reunion would be nice, but not until everything was over and they could finally live in peace.

~*~

The next morning, everyone was gathered in and around the kitchen, eating the breakfast the ladies had made. Kei had tried to help, but Yuki banished him to go spend time with Tetsu, to which he offered no argument. Conversations buzzed quietly among the group; it felt like it could have been any normal morning gathering with a huge family. But eventually, everything quieted down on its own, and that’s when Mitsuhide and Bokuto stood up.

“I’m sure you all are wondering why we brought everyone here, and added a few more to our number,” Mitsuhide said as he looked at everyone. “Unfortunately, our plans have had to change. Originally, I wanted to keep everyone in large groups,” he started and then looked over at Bokuto.
“Which didn’t make much sense. Yes, there would be safety in numbers, but it would also mean those groups would be easier to spot, no matter how much we divided and regrouped. Example being Himeji.”
“So, we decided to break up into smaller groups again,” Mitsuhide added. “The ultimate goal is to regroup in Miyagi. If everything goes the way we want it to, we shouldn’t even need to fight our way in. Of course, things have already gone sideways more times than I care to count, so we need to be prepared for that, as well.”
“We’ll split you up into teams. Some of you will be on reconnaissance. We’ll need you to report back on any sightings of Specials. And they have been deployed, so keep your guard up,” Bokuto said. “Some of you will run interference; we need you guys to distract and divert anyone who gets too close to the last teams, which will be our guardians. You guys will be in charge of protecting Kei, Kuroo, and Aunt Yui. At all costs.”
“Wait,” Kei spoke up for once. “Not at all costs. No one dies.”
“Kei…” Suga said sympathetically from across the table.
“No one else dies,” Kei amended, but no less firmly.
“I have to agree with him,” Tetsu added.
“I understand,” Bokuto said quietly, taking a long glance at Akaashi before talking again. “But we all knew what we signed up for when we joined Mitsuhide and Akiteru. We all knew there was going to be a chance that we’d die. If that’s what it takes to keep you safe and stop your grandmother, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Well then, I’ll fight, too,” Kei told them, and Tetsu grabbed his hand, looking at him like he’d lost his mind. “I’ll explain later,” Kei said quietly, squeezing Tetsu’s hand in reassurance.
“No. We can’t ask that…” Bokuto started but, surprisingly, Hinata spoke up.
“He can fight. He’s really good, too. He even beat me. We may need him to fight if it comes down to it.”
“Sho, to be fair, you’d already…” Kei started to say, but…
“How long do we have before we need to leave?” Noya interrupted, giving Kei a warning look.
“We’re going to stagger groups, so depending on how we divide you, that’s when you’ll leave,” Mitsuhide answered him. “But first, Akiteru will fill you in on the changes he knows about.”

Akiteru stood up from his place beside Hotaru, and looked around the room, his gaze finally landing on Kei. “She’s called off the hitmen,” he said first, and the room erupted into excited chatter. He waited for everyone to settle down, and spoke again. “That doesn’t mean this is over. She now wants Kei, Kuroo, and Yui brought to her.”
“Okay, but why the sudden switch?” Akaashi asked. “She’s been wanting him dead for a decade, now she wants him brought to her alive?”
“She never really explained herself beyond, ‘a family reunion, of sorts,’” he said with air quotes.
“I want to know why her sudden interest in Aunt Yui and Kuroo,” Eita spoke up from where he sat beside the Miyans and Kawanishi. “I know they were under our umbrella because of their ties to Tsuki, but now she wants them brought in, too?”
“She remembers who you are,” Akiteru said directly to Yuki.
“Damn,” was all Yuki said. Kuroo wrapped his arm around her, and Kei took one of her hands in his.
“Didn’t really answer my question,” Eita said, his voice laced with irritation.
“Yeah, yer only makin’ us even more curious,” Atsumu said.
“Instead of answerin’ our questions, yer makin’ more,” Osamu added.
“The story is hers to tell, guys, and it doesn’t change the fact that we’re protecting her, too,” Mitsuhide spoke over them.
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Grandmother has deployed what’s left of the Specials, except for Daisho and Futakuchi. That leaves team lead Tendo, Ushijima, and however many people they send out with them. We’ll need to be super careful, and always assume you’re outnumbered if you encounter anyone.”
“Ushijima’s mine,” Hinata growled, and nearly everyone turned their surprised attention to him. “No one else touches him. He’s mine.”
“Shoyo,” Yachi reached over and laid her hand on his arm. He would have snatched it away from her touch, but she didn’t let go. “Don’t you dare go on your own to hunt him down.”
“I’m not. I know what my job is.”
“Good.”
“At the moment, this place is still safe from detection, so we have some time to get ready. Kinoshita, Osamu, and Suzumeda, I need you to strengthen our protective barriers, and re-encrypt the scramblers. While you’re doing that, we’ll assign groups, and start sending the recon groups out by the end of the week,” Mitsuhide resumed their meeting. “Oikawa, you already have your assignment, so you can leave whenever you’re ready. If you still think you need it, you can pick anyone here to help you.”
“I just might,” Oikawa said, narrowing his eyes and looking around. “I need at least one or two people that could blend in, and aren’t easily recognizable.”
“Well, you are in charge of the project. Just let us know by this evening. We’ll be assigning groups then.”
“Sounds good.”
“Alright, everyone, the day is yours. Be back by dinner time.”
“Yes, sir, dad!” nearly everyone said at once.

~*~

A few hours later, they were in the clearing between the main house and the bungalows, going through a range of exercises to limber up. Nearly everyone had gathered around, curious to see what Tsuki meant by knowing how to fight. Plus, several were even more curious to know how he’d managed to beat Hinata, when then man was among the fastest to strike and stun his opponent before incapacitating them.

From beside him, Tetsu stretched quietly. Obviously, Kei had learned to fight out of necessity, but to what extent? Had he ever been in a situation where he needed to fight?

For all that it felt like they had known each other forever, there was still quite a lot Tetsu didn’t know about Tsuki. How did he even start asking questions about a time in Tsuki’s life that he would likely prefer to forget? Would Tsuki even answer any of them and not be angry that he even asked? Would any of those answers change the way they felt about each other?

“Still with us?” Kei’s voice interrupted his thoughts, a tiny smile curled the corners of his mouth.
“What? Oh, yeah,” Tetsu muttered, catching up to the rest in their routine. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“Pardon?”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Let my thoughts carry me away.”
“Easy enough to do while stretching. Care to tell me what they were about?”
“Maybe not now,” Tetsu said carefully. “Your loyal viewers are curious about your fighting abilities.”
“Ah,” Tsuki said, nodding his head a bit. “You’re curious, too.”
“Yes, but not for the same reasons.”
“Right.”
“Be careful, okay?”
“Always.”

They finished with their stretching and everyone made a wide, loose ring around Tsuki, and he stood in the middle. Tetsu watched as his love just stood there, arms kept at his side, his feet about shoulder-width apart, his stance was calm, as if he were merely waiting. Which he was. The idea was that he wasn’t going to know who would attack until the attacker made their move. Blunted and/or unloaded weapons could be used, but this was meant to be more a hand-to-hand combat sort of demonstration.

“If you have any questions, please ask at any time,” Tsuki told them before they started.
“That’s if you’re not too tired, right?” Tanaka asked with a smirk.
“I don’t plan on being tired,” Tsuki replied calmly.
“Or, if you are unable to talk,” Kawanishi looked rather confident.
“I’ll be able to talk just fine,” Tsuki answered with the same tone as before.
“You think you’ll be able to last?” Eita joined in the questioning.
“I can end the fight in less than five seconds,” Tsuki said. “Without killing anyone.”
A ripple of murmuring passed through the group. Tsuki remained waiting.
“Have you killed anyone?” Hoshiumi asked quietly.
“No. Flight before fight. Fight only if absolutely necessary to save myself and get out of a desperate situation.”
“Has it ever been absolutely necessary?” Tetsu asked.
Tsuki didn’t answer right away. “Yes.”
“Why the pause?” Noya questioned.
“I can fight and win if I have to, but I don’t want to. I hate fighting. I’ll always choose to run first.”

Almost as soon as he answered that, Kawanishi came at him. He fully intended to shove Tsuki off his feet, but that never happened. In fact, Tsuki had slapped his arms down, shifted to the side, had both arms caged around Taichi’s head, and with one swift movement, had him face down on the ground. He reared back as if to punch him between the shoulders, but stopped just short of doing so.

Tsuki was back in his waiting stance before anyone had time to process what just happened.

“Holy hell,” Noya and Tanaka said, amazed.

Thinking it was over, no one guessed that Atsumu would rush him, but the next thing anyone knew, he had his hands around Tsuki’s neck, as if to strangle him. But once again, things moved at a fast pace. Tsuki swung low and hit Atsumu below the belt. As he let go and doubled over, Tsuki came up and hit him around the neck and started kicking, eventually pushing him back with enough force to put him on the ground.

“Are you okay?” Tsuki asked calmly, back to waiting.
“Yeah,” Atsumu said as he slowly stood up and dusted himself off. “Wounded pride, maybe.”
Tsuki simply shrugged. “It’s not like I can’t be beat. You just need to figure out how.”

Tetsu did his best not to let his jaw drop open at the ease Kei fought with. It was almost like seeing someone he didn’t quite know, and he wasn’t too sure how he felt about it. From time to time, he’d catch Kei’s eyes on him, and see a question in them, but then someone else would try their luck at trying to win against Kei, and being on the losing end. Even a couple of the ladies tried their hands at fighting him, but after the initial surprise of fighting women, he still ended up besting them.

The only two (well, three) that hadn’t yet fought him were Eita, Hinata, and Tetsu. The latter opted out automatically. He wasn’t much of a fighter compared to Kei, but he also wasn’t going to fight the man he loved anyway. Not because he knew he couldn’t win, but because he knew Kei would feel horrible if he hurt him, so he wisely stayed out of it.

“Eita, why haven’t you gone?” Kawanishi asked his friend and former teammate. “You were pretty badass in school. I bet you could at least land a hit or two on him.”
“Common sense,” Eita answered simply. “Why fight when you know you’ll get beat?”
“Now I see how you ended up in so many fights,” Kawanishi replied, wiping a hand down his face. “A simple question that can provoke just about anyone.”
“I mean, it’s just a question.”
“Sure, but it’s all in how you ask it. The tone of your voice; the look on your face that just screams challenge.”
“How many trips to the principal’s office did you make?” Tsuki asked, using the exact same tone and look on his face as Eita.
“A few,” came the reply.
“He was a regular,” Kawanishi added. “I swear, they knew each other on a first name basis.”
“Taichi, no giving away my secrets.”
“How much of a secret is it when the whole school knows?”
“Truth.” He turned back and smirked at Tsuki. “You really didn’t answer my question.”
“Why fight when I know I’ll get beat?” Tsuki repeated with a lift of an eyebrow. “Pretty sure I answered that early on.”
“Flight before fight. Only fight to get out of a desperate situation. Hate fighting, and will always run first.”

Tsuki said nothing, but his stance shifted from just waiting and seemingly calm, to something more… ready, if one could call it that. His gaze never left Eita, but Tetsu noticed slight movement in the ring of people. Hinata had somehow moved around behind Tsuki; Tetsu had never even seen him move. Hoshiumi had also moved, but made sure he was noticed. Same with Noya. Were the assassins going to gang up on Tsuki? Was Eita and Kawanishi just a distraction?

Tetsu had long ago set aside the thought that Tsuki’s former teammates wouldn’t fight him out of loyalty, and he’d be partially right. They were Crows; Crows were scrappy and had no problems fighting amongst each other even though they were close friends.

“Wait. I thought this was going to be one-on-one,” he said to Suga, who came up to stand next to him.
“Not every fight is one-on-one,” Suga answered quietly. “In fact, quite a few start like this. Corner or surround the target, keep their attention on one person so the others can get in position. Hope the target hasn’t noticed the others. Then, attack.”
“Okay, but why do this to Tsuki? Hasn’t he already proven himself?”
“Oh, he’s proven himself well enough. For single person combat. Eita is the one who suggested testing him like this.”
“And you agreed?”
Suga shrugged. “It wasn’t my decision to make. Consider me curious, though.”
“Curious? How so?”
“We know he beat Hinata coming here, though one could say he had the advantage before the fight even started. Anyone could have beaten Hinata that day,” Suga said cryptically. “But everyone is well-rested and back in top form, so now they’re all on a level playing field.”

Testu watched Tsuki carefully, and was equally worried and amazed. He could tell Tsuki knew he was surrounded, but hadn’t let on that he knew. Eita hadn’t moved from where he stood to Tsuki’s left; neither had Kawanichi, on the right. Hinata had ranged out behind Tsuki, and Hoshiumi had disappeared completely. Noya was directly in front of him, arms akimbo, and smiling.

“You know, don’t ya?” the former libero asked Tsuki.
“Directional points: north, east, south, west. Hoshiumi is…” he tilted his head a bit, and grinned. “Up.”
“Five against one.”
“Could be worse. What are the rules?”
“Does Krav Maga even go by any rules?”
“Not really, no. Like any martial art, or fighting, defense is preferred. But if, or when it comes down to saving my own life… anything goes. However, this isn’t a “them or me” situation.”
“Right. So, no killing, obviously, but also, no broken bones. We can’t have anyone out at this point in the game. You may knock anyone out. You are only fighting the five of us, and no one else.” Noya looked around at everyone left. “No one gets involved. No matter what. In fact, if you’re going to watch, we prefer if you do so from somewhere safe.”

For a moment, no one moved. And then, slowly, people left the ring and moved to the villa. Most found a spot to watch from the windows, but some had simply gone on to do other things. Tetsu was torn. He wanted to stay and be there for Kei, but…
“Noya, may I have a moment?” he heard Kei ask quietly.
“Yeah,” Noya replied with a gentle smile. Whatever passed between him and Kei, he understood the need for a brief time out. The shorter man turned to face Tetsu and Kei, who had stopped in front of him. “Just for the record, this was given the green light by both Mitsuhide and Akiteru.” His head jerked toward the house, and they both looked at the windows.

From the second floor, Tetsu could see Kei’s parents and older brother watching. Along with his mom. Both men looked impressed, but Kei’s mother was in tears. Still, she hadn’t moved away from the window. Tetsu’s mom stood next to her, arm around the other’s shoulders.

“Come on,” Kei said gently. “We should talk.”
“Do we have enough time?” he asked as they walked toward their bungalow.
“Don’t take all day,” Noya called after them. “We need to at least be cleaned up by dinner time.”
“Right,” Kei said, taking Tetsu’s hand and tugging. “We won’t be long.”

Once they reached the bungalow, Kei went in first, closing the blinds and curtains over the big window, and then turning on all the lights. Tetsu followed him in, closing and locking the door behind him. They met in the middle, standing close enough to touch, but far enough away that they could look at each other without going cross-eyed.

“Talk to me, Tetsu,” Kei said softly. “Please.”