Moonrise

“I’m not sure how to begin,” Tetsu whispered as he looked away. “I’m curious, but I don’t want to ask anything if it’ll make you mad or upset.”
“I’m not made of glass, love. I won’t break.”
Tetsu turned back to look at him, his face flushed just a little, his eyes bright. Kei grinned, reaching up to sift his fingers through his raven dark hair. He rarely used endearments, but if this was the reaction he’d get if he did, then maybe he’d use them a little more often.

“Let me guess: the whole fighting thing is what makes you curious, and that just brought up a plethora of questions you’re just burning to ask.”
Tetsu shrugged. “Yeah. I want to ask, but…”
“You really are a big kitty cat, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t say that…”
Kei leaned forward and whispered, “I know how to make you purr.”
Tetsu’s hands found their way to Kei’s waist, under his shirt, and settled just where the top of his jeans ended.
“You might make me purr, but I can drive you insane.”
“Funny, that sounds like something I do to you, too.”

The kiss they shared was pure heat and passion, and was very nearly their undoing. They hadn’t kissed since Tetsu arrived, which - granted - was just yesterday, but traveling halfway across the country had made him tired, so they just fell asleep in bed rather than do anything else. And their time since hadn’t really been their own, especially with Kei meeting his family for the first time in years, and Tetsu finding out his aunt was really his mother.

“Ah!” Kei cried out, breaking their kiss, as Tetsu’s hands slowly played over his heated skin. Then, he realized they were in similar states of undress; naked from the waist up, and jeans undone and barely staying up around their hips. But he got his own back when he feverishly sucked a mark on Tetsu’s neck, causing the man to groan so low it sounded very much like a purr.

“We should stop,” Tetsu panted.
“We should,” Kei agreed. However, neither of them seemed willing to be the first to stop.

It wasn’t until they landed on the bed, Tetsu pinning Kei’s hands above his head and making Kei writhe underneath him, that they both eventually slowed down to a stop. They stared into each other’s eyes, panting and gulping for air. Tetsu let go of Kei’s hands, which came to rest on his upper arms, slowly gliding over his skin to his chest.

“When did you learn to fight like that?” Tetsu finally asked, searching Kei’s eyes for an answer.
“A question almost as effective as ice water,” Kei muttered, his hands dropping away from Tetsu’s chest. “Let me up,” he said quietly. When Tetsu didn’t move right away, he relaxed like earlier. “Let me up, Tetsu. Please.” When he still hadn’t moved, Kei looked directly at his lover. “I can get out, Tetsu.”
“Why haven’t you?”
“Do you want me to?”
Tetsu sighed and moved to the side. “No. Sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t move right away.” He laid a gentle hand on Kei’s chest and kissed him when Kei turned his head to look at him.
“I learned about a year or so after this started. From an Israeli man living in Kanagawa,” he explained. “I was cornered by some random thugs, and he came to my rescue.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Yeah, but not so much that it required medical attention. The man was able to patch me up, and he let me stay with him while I healed. He offered to teach me how to fight.”
“Kei…”
Kei laid his hand over Tetsu’s and weaved their fingers together. “If I found myself in another situation like that, or even against any of Grandmother’s people, I needed to know how to save myself. I couldn’t rely on the possibility that someone might come along and rescue me like Uriel did.” Slowly, he rose up so that he was sitting, and looking back at Tetsu, who moved so that his head was resting on his hand, propped up by his arm.

“What else do you want to know?”
“Would you be okay telling me?”
Kei shrugged a shoulder and smiled gently at Tetsu. “Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t.”
“Right,” Tetsu replied, grinning back. “Oh, but first! I have something for you.” He levered himself off the bed, but not before leaning in to give Kei a soft, lingering kiss, and then went to a bag that had been left in the room. “Mom brought this for me. Well, for us,” and he brought the bag over to the bed.
Kei opened the bag and smiled up at Tetsu. He pulled out their quilt. “I missed this,” he said, getting up and spreading it out on their bed. “Our trophy quilt,” he said softly.
“Yeah. She wanted us to have it while we were here. Picked it up on the way.”
“I love your mom,” Kei said without thinking. But once he realized what he said, he smiled at Tetsu.
“I know she loves you, too,” Tetsu replied, happiness radiating from him. “Come on, we need to have that talk,” and he reached down to lift a corner of the quilt up.
“Alright,” Kei replied. “Give me a sec. I’m gonna talk to Noya, though I’m pretty sure he knows already.”
“Knows what?”
“That I’m not going to fight anymore today. That we’ll be in here until we decide to come back out.” He came over to Tetsu and slid his arms around the man he loved. “Are you good with that?”
Tetsu nodded. “I’m good with that.”

~*~

Twenty-four hours later, they joined the rest of the group in the kitchen for dinner. No one said anything, but both their moms looked incredibly happy seeing the two of them together. Since dinner was a serve yourself buffet style type affair, they grabbed a couple plates and piled each high with food, grabbed a couple glasses and a pitcher of juice, and sat down at the last table, in the seats left open for them.

Even then, they barely paid attention to anyone, still wrapped up in their own little bubble. Kei had answered all the questions Tetsu had for him, and Tetsu had done the same. They spent time relearning each other, almost like a second first meeting. They wore each other out, and simply slept, wrapped up in each other and their quilt.

They also decided on a couple things that concerned both them and the group overall, and that’s why they made an appearance at dinner. Otherwise, they’d have simply grabbed their food and drinks and retreated back to their little bungalow.

By the time everyone was enjoying dessert and coffee, Mitsuhide and Bokuto once again gained everyone’s attention.

“We’ve decided on our groups and will be giving you leave times and routes. You’re going to be traveling for a while, so be prepared for that. Ideally, we’ll all reconvene in Miyagi at the end of next month. You guys know what you need to do. Take your time, and be careful, alright?”
“Yes, sir,” they all said.
Mitsuhide looked over at Bokuto, who held a tablet in his hands.
“I’ll be calling out names for our Recon teams and the day you need to leave. But first, I have two things.” He looked at Oikawa, who leaned against the counter separating the kitchen from the dining room. “Have you chosen anyone to go with you?”
“Yeah. Akiteru and Kinoshita agreed to go with me.”
“Okay, wait. I thought you needed someone not easily recognizable,” Akaashi reminded him. “Akiteru is one of the most recognizable people in this room.”
“He wanted to go. We have a plan that would work much better if he went with us.”
“Alright. If you think it’ll be better, then I have no objections. Mitsuhide?”
Mitsuhide looked at his eldest son and, after a few minutes, nodded. “No objections.”
“Fine. Then, the three of you can leave whenever you’re ready,” Bokuto told them.
Oikawa looked at his teammates. “Tomorrow morning sound good to you?”
“Sounds good,” Kinoshita said. Akiteru nodded.
“With that taken care of,” Bokuto paused and looked at Yachi. “I know you haven’t worked with us in a long time, but I need you to be absolutely certain you want to join us again.”
“Hitoka, I thought you said…” Kei was visibly confused. “I thought you told me you weren’t involved unless they needed you.”
“That’s true. I left after… Well, I left. I only agreed to help out when they absolutely needed my help, and they kept that promise. They need me now, and I’m more than willing to help.”
“But…”
“Tadashi would want me to,” she said with a clear, strong voice. “Besides, I’m a Crow, too.” She laid one small hand over her heart, where her crow tattoo was. She smiled and looked back at Bokuto. “I want to rejoin,” she said simply.
“Done,” Bokuto said. “You’ll be working with Inuoka. I sent the travel route and departure time to his phone. I’ll need your number after we’re finished here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve also called someone else to help once you’ve reached your first stop. And actually,” he looked around at everyone else. “This is something we came up with last night. Just to mix things up, and to hopefully throw anyone off who follows you, I’ve called up a few more people. They will only be with you until you move on to the next place. And it will be someone different each time. They’ll meet you at each resting stop. I’m not going to tell you who they are, as that will make it a more believable random meeting.”
“Right,” everyone replied.
“So, we have Yachi and Inuoka in one group, Tanaka and Suzu in another, and finally, Hoshiumi and Suga. Routes and departure times have been sent to you. You guys will need to keep in contact with us. Twice a week is preferable, but also if anything comes up, alright?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Akaashi, Narita, Shimizu, Fukunaga, and Osamu will run interference for our guardians, if necessary. As with the recon groups, I’ve set up helpers along the way. They’ll meet up with you.”
“Right.”
“This leaves our guardian groups. I’ve got you split into three groups of three, and…”
“We’d like to stay together this time,” Kei spoke up, interrupting Bokuto. He tightened his hold on Tetsu’s hand. “I can teach him some of what I know before we leave.”
“Tsuki, I really wish I could…”
“I’m sorry, Kei. I can’t allow it,” Mitsuhide spoke up from beside Hotaru.
“Why not? If he can also defend himself, and I help protect…”
“We learned our lesson years ago,” he said quietly, and neither Kei nor Tetsu could ignore the way everyone went silent, some looking down or away. “By separating the three of you, we can keep you safer than if we put the three of you together. We can’t put you two together because it would burden those who would protect you.” Kei opened his mouth to argue, but Mitsuhide held up his hand. “What would you do if you saw Kuroo dead or dying? What would you do if you saw who killed him?”

Kei didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He remembered the fight he had with Shoyo. Shoyo, who was still broken and shattered. Shoyo, who, even after all those years, was still bent on revenge that no one could talk him out of. What would he do if the same thing happened to him? What would Tetsu do? There was truly no way to know exactly what either of them would do, not until (or unless) it actually happened. All he knew for sure is that he’d be as broken and shattered as Shoyo as the end result.

“I made an exception for one couple, but they also know the reason why they can’t be together on most missions, and they accept that. It sounds heartless, and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you two stay together. Not until this is over.”

Kei simply nodded, and he felt Tetsu do the same. The two of them looked over at Yuki, whose eyes were swimming with tears, but none fell. She nodded, too. Eita quietly handed her a handkerchief, and Atsumu slid a little closer to her. Kei could already guess who would be protecting Kuroo’s mom. He heard Bokuto take a deep breath and exhale. His eyes had been on Akaashi, and vice versa. The Tanakas were cuddled up together, and Narita was holding on to Kinoshita’s hand.

“Eita and Atsumu will stay with Yui,” Bokuto said quietly. “All of you should have the information you need. You’ll be the first to leave.”
“Yes, sir,” both Eita and Atsumu replied, still concerned over their charge.
“Kawanishi and I will be with Kuroo,” Bokuto said, his voice gaining a little more strength. “I’ll get with you two later. We’ll leave a few days after the first group.”
“Got it,” Taichi answered.
“Yeah. Sure,” Kuroo replied, his arms had found their way around Kei, and he held tight.
“Tsuki, you’ll be with Hinata and Noya. You’ll be the last group to leave.”
“Right,” Kei said, with a glance at his two friends - brothers. “A giant with two pint-sized assassins. No one will even notice.”
“No, they won’t,” Noya replied. “We know how best to blend in, and we’ll show you, too.”
“You mean, better than I already know how?”
“You wouldn’t have to change your appearance,” Shoyo told him. “We can also show you more ways to fight.”
“In exchange for what I know?”
“Well, yeah. Duh.”
Kei shrugged. “Alright. When do we leave?”
“The rest of the week is yours to do whatever you see fit to do,” Mitsuhide spoke over them. “Oikawa’s group will be the only one to leave tomorrow. On that note, good night and good luck. We’ll meet everyone in Miyagi.”

The group rose up and started heading to their rooms. Kinoshita, who had finished talking to Narita, came over and sat down in the chair across the table, setting down the pair of crow earrings in front of them.

“These are for you both,” he explained. Kei took the earrings and nodded. “They are tracking devices,” Kinoshita explained further. “Wear them, or at least keep them on you at all times. That way, if anything happens…” his voice faded a little. “They have a max range of about five miles, and I gave Bokuto and Noya access to an app that can track the signal on their phones.”
“Thank you,” Tetsu said.
“No problem,” Kinoshita grinned. “Good luck, you two.”
“Be safe,” Kei told him. “See ya later.”
“Yeah. See ya later.”

Kinoshita got up and left, meeting up with Oikawa and Narita. They were about to get up and leave, but Akiteru was there, looking like he wanted to talk.

“I’ll go back to the bungalow,” Tetsu whispered in his ear, leaving a little kiss in his wake. Kei wanted to protest, but Tetsu just shook his head and smiled. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay,” Kei replied softly, watching Tetsu put their dishes in the sink, and then rummaging around for snacks. He smiled as he watched, until his gaze clashed with his brother’s.
“I know it might still be too much to ask, but can we talk?” his brother asked. Kei watched him silently for a few minutes, unsure if he really wanted to stay or not. But in those few minutes, he saw the brother he once knew; the brother he grew up with, looked up to, and loved.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied. For once, Akiteru looked hopeful.
“Do you mind if we all talk?” Akiteru asked, and his eyes focused on something behind Kei. Turning, he saw his parents standing in the doorway of another room. Part of him was already on guard. It was habitual, and yet, this was his family. He should trust them. Right? Still, he had half a mind to follow Tetsu.
“Please, Kei?” he heard his mother’s voice pleading.

Perhaps this meeting was something he needed, too. Perhaps he still had it in his heart to trust his family. He still didn’t have their entire story, and he wanted some sort of closure. His mother’s voice, pleading for him to talk to them, even if she hadn’t said the words other than please, was what decided him.

“Okay,” he finally said. He rose up with Akiteru, and followed his brother into a bedroom suite, and the door was closed behind him.

From the other side of the kitchen, Yuki smiled. It was going to be a rough meeting for them, but Hopefully Kei would realize he needed his family as much as they needed him right now. And she met the gray-eyed gaze of her son, who had watched Kei leave with his family, too. Well, at least while they were talking, she could spend a little more time with her son. She got up and went over to him, and they left to go to the bungalow to wait for Kei.