Moonrise

The monitor beside the bed barely beeped. All her vital signs were so low as to be nearly non-existent. She had been unresponsive for the last two days; all they could do was wait. The doctor and his nurse had done everything they could to keep her alive, as she had wanted, but her sheer stubbornness to stick to her medications or rest when directed, didn’t help her overall situation.

Grandmother was dying. It was only a matter of time.

He’d notified Washijo and Irihata first, as directed, and they’d come to see her one last time. The doctor reminded them that they were now under strict secrecy: no one else could know. Whether they’d listen to him or not remained to be seen. They left a few minutes later, muttering to themselves about a will and if she’d made any changes to it in the last year. The conversation was shut off as soon as the door closed, so the doctor didn’t hear the answer. Sighing, he slumped in his chair beside the bed.

“You haven’t eaten since yesterday,” his nurse reminded him, none too gently, from his desk across the room.
“I know,” he replied. “Haven’t been hungry.”
“You know better.”
He looked over his shoulder at her. “You really need to work on your bedside manner,” he admonished.
“Why? Most of the patients I’ve been around didn’t need me to be all sweet and chipper.”

The doctor blinked. She had a point. They’d both been hired at roughly the same time, but she had been fresh from college. If there had been a time for her to learn a gentle bedside manner, working here had ruined it for her. He almost pitied her. Out of the numerous patients they’d had over the few years they’d worked here, all but one died. And there was no assurance that one would survive, now that he’d been sent back out before he was fully healed. He turned back to face Grandmother. Or rather, what remained of her. The monitor was showing him numbers, most in the low double digits, and a few had gone to zero readings.

“Fine. I’ll eat something. But not now.”
“Good. Anything in particular?”
“Not really. Maybe something light. Some soup, or something.”
“I’ll go to the kitchen.”
“Thank you.”

She left almost immediately, leaving him with the dying woman. With nothing else to really do concerning his patient, he rose to his feet and tugged the blanket a bit higher, and then walked over to the window. Without Grandmother’s… guidance… or her exact decisions, her three councilmen moved ahead without her.

They made the decision to put all their people out into the field, casting a wide net for their intended targets. The older men stuck to what amounted to her last wish from their final meeting: capture, not kill. However, from there, they really didn’t know what else they could do. She didn’t get the chance to give any further orders.

Omizu, naturally, had wanted to revoke her orders and continue with the mission before she’d changed it: kill her youngest grandson. Word got to the doctor that he’d gone so far as to assume control of the residence, though how he’d managed that with Washijo and Irihata agreeing was still a mystery. At one point, Omizu tried to demand entry to this room, but the doctor had absolute dominion here, and he denied Omizu’s demand.

Needless to say, the doctor was fairly certain he was already on the man’s bad side. Maybe not the first one on the man’s shit list, but a decent jump up into the top ten, surely.

Maybe once the old lady finally died, he should make himself scarce. Take the nurse with him. God knew the girl had an attitude that could get her killed, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. She was a good nurse, for the most part, and he’d hate to see all that potential lost. He’d ask her when she came back.

If they were lucky enough to make it out alive. If Omizu was truly in charge, then the odds were… unfavorable, since they both knew too much.

Just then, the doctor noticed movement beyond the tree line which kept Grandmother’s suite from full view of the main residence. His eyes went wide the moment he recognized who he’d just seen. In that same moment, he realized the room was silent. No beeping noise; nothing at all. Turning and moving toward the bed, he placed two fingers on her neck, and used his stethoscope to confirm what he knew had happened.

Grandmother, otherwise known as Ahma Tsukishima, was dead.

~*~

“Hisashi, you come with me. I know a way into her suite that only family is supposed to know,” Akiteru told the youngest of their team. “I have no idea if Grandmother changed her schedule, but we shouldn’t run into anyone.”
“Okay.”
“If anyone asks, you’re my new recruit from Fudai, who had recently graduated from Seijoh.”
“Hey now,” Oikawa sounded offended. “Isn’t it enough that we lost Mad Dog to Team Evil?”
“There were a few others, Tooru,” Akiteru reminded him.
“Yeah, but they were never on the team,” he dismissed them with a wave. “Joining Team Evil proves they weren’t that smart, in addition to being bad volleyball players.”
“Quite the speech,” Kinoshita said sarcastically.
“Guys, put a lid on it,” Akiteru interrupted. “Tooru, you’re going to stay hidden until you see the signal, got it?”
“Right. Gimme the phone, Kinoshita,” he held out his hand, clearly still fuming from the verbal scuffle, plus the fact that he had to hide. Nevermind the fact that he wasn’t even the leader like he thought he’d be.
“Oikawa…”
“Yeah, I know. Team player and all that. If I don’t see the signal in an hour, assume you both are either captured or dead and get the hell out of Miyagi. Call your dad first, and the others with phones after.”

Akiteru nodded. That was the basic plan, in a worst case scenario. If things didn’t go sideways, then Oikawa was to join them inside, and provide a distraction. Hisashi was to hack into the residence database and download everything he could find. They didn’t have long. They had to work fast, but their goal was to find Grandfather's will, and access any other information that could be used against Grandmother. Names, places, dates, orders, etcetera.

Pray to whatever higher power listening that nothing went wrong. Akiteru was banking heavily on the fact that he was still the heir apparent. But he wasn’t so stupid as to believe it would work for long. Leaving with mother hadn’t been his best idea, even if he thought so at the time.

“Once we’re done, and have everything we can get our hands on, we bug out, split up as soon as possible, and then meet up again at our rendezvous point. Hisashi, do you have everything you need?”
“Yeah. Couple of flash drives and I memorized the passwords you gave me. I’ll be able to take it from there.”
“Great. Tooru?”
Oikawa brandished his handgun, and cocked it. “Locked and loaded, sir.” Then he grinned slyly. “Also, these,” and he showed them his throwing knives and a set of shuriken.
“Hoshiumi?”
“The knives, yeah. Gave me a crash course on throwing them accurately. He was even impressed how quickly I caught on,” he preened.
“Okay, but the stars?”
“Oh, yeah. These are Hinata’s.”
“Hinata? Why would he…?”
Kinoshita looked panicked. “Gimme the phone,” he said, grabbing for the phone.
“You can’t call anyone, Hisashi. We’ll definitely get caught, and that would defeat the purpose of this whole operation.” Akiteru said urgently. “We have to go now if we plan on completing this mission.”
Kinoshita nodded. “Fine. Oikawa, you need to text everyone as soon as you can. Tell them you have Hinata’s stars.”
“Okay,” Oikawa sounded confused. “Why?”
“Look at them. You’ll know why.”

Akiteru and Kinoshita left, running through the trees until they had to sprint across an open area. He saw them disappear around a corner, and he took up position so he could see the signal. Before he put the stars away, he looked at them closely, trying to see what Kinoshita meant. It didn’t take long to find it.

“Shit,” he sighed heavily. “Shoyo, you goddamned idiot.”

Engraved on each star were the names Shoyo and Tobio, one etched more recently than the other. Shoyo had never once let anyone so much as touch them since his husband had been killed.

He flipped open the phone and texted Mitsuhide.

~*~

“You son of a bitch!” Washijo screeched, and nearly everyone in the room jumped. The elderly man almost never yelled, but when he did… Well, no one escaped unscathed. “Her last orders were to capture, not kill. You had absolutely no authority to change that order! What makes you think you had the right?”
“Okay, so after we caught them, and brought them here, what the hell are we supposed to do? Have a fucking garden party?!” Omizu fired back. “Grandmother gave us no further orders on the subject before she collapsed.”
“Both of you calm down,” Irihata’s voice was calm, but carried enough weight to shut them up, even Washijo. “So, you’ve already sent everyone out into the field, including Daishou, who’s set up at the remote base to facilitate communications. You’ve also sent them out with the order to kill Tsukishima, and anyone associated with him. Correct?”
“Yeah,” the younger man shrugged. “Well, except for the home guard. They’re still here. Anyway, it made sense to fall back on the previous order.”
Irihata growled. “You have a point. Still, it doesn’t negate the fact that you took command without the right to do so.”
“Someone had to! The traitor isn’t here.”
“Akiteru is no traitor,” Washijo grumbled. “We have no proof that he turned on us.”
“Do we need it?” Omizu asked. “What more evidence do we need besides the fact that he disappeared the same day as his mother?”

The door banged open as two men barged into the meeting. One, the subject of their current conversation. Two, someone none of them had seen before, yet somehow looked familiar. “This wasn’t part of our mission,” Kinoshita grumbled only loud enough for Akiteru to hear.

No one paid much attention to him, even after he commandeered Omizu’s laptop and sat down at the far end of the table. He opened it, typed in one of the passwords he’d memorized, and got in on the first try. Quickly, he inserted a flashdrive and began downloading as many files as he could and hoped to god they had any information they could use against Grandmother and her evil minions.

“Akiteru!”
“The one and only.” he replied sarcastically. “Now then, since you seem to be in the middle of a meeting, perhaps you can fill me in on, well, everything you’ve just discussed.”
“Why should we?” Omizu asked menacingly. “You’re a traitor! Guard….!” his voice was suddenly cut off as Akiteru held a gun to his head.
“Do I need to remind you of who I am?” he asked quietly.
“N-no, sir,” Omizu’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty. He backed away, and slowly sat down.
“Hands on the table where I can see them.”
“What? Why? I’m not a traitor…”
“I don’t fucking trust you, Omizu. Never have. Hands on the table. NOW!”
Omizu did as directed. He wasn’t afraid of the gun. He was more afraid of the look in Akiteru’s eyes. Never before had he looked like he’d kill someone and not regret it.

Washijo and Irihata had also sat down, and the two took turns explaining what had just transpired. Omizu stewed in his seat, looking like he was about to start gnawing the table. His hands had curled into fists, but they remained on the table.

“So, you’ve sent the rest of our men, as well as those left of the Specials, and given them the order to kill my brother?” Akiteru asked the younger of Grandmother’s councilmen. The gun had yet to waver; it was still aimed at Omizu’s head.
“That’s the gist of it, yes,” Omizu answered.
“Bold of you,” Akiteru said as he rounded the table so that he stood next to a now shivering Omizu. “Bold of you to assume you had the right.” The muzzle of the gun was now resting against the man’s head.
“Now, Tsukishima,” Irihata said in a calm voice. “Be reasonable.”
“I’m being perfectly reasonable, Irihata,” Akiteru said, as if this was a normal everyday occurrence. “This man has been nothing but a bane to this council, and a thorn in my side. It would be perfectly reasonable to kill him for his transgressions, don’t you agree?”
“Oh, put that gun away, before you do any damage,” Washijo said from his chair. “You’re not fooling anyone, young man.”
“Come again, old man?” Akiteru replied, swinging the gun around to point at him. “Do you want to test me?”

Washijo stared at him for what felt like years, but Akiteru never backed down. A tiny smile appeared for a brief moment, and then the elder shook his head, glancing at Irihata, who nodded.

“I’m not testing you. At least, not how you think.”
“Come again?”
“Have a seat,” Irihata said, pointing at the head of the table. “You’ve earned it.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I think I’ll remain standing.”
“Fair enough.”
“Update me on Grandmother. I’d heard something about her health declining?” It was a total guess, but by the looks on their faces, he’d hit a nerve.

The men told him everything about that day, and as they talked, the door opened behind them, the doctor entering the room. The first clue they had for his presence in the room was the black armband he wore.

“Gentleman. She’s dead.”

~*~

[Update: Akiteru and Kinoshita are inside Grandmother's suite.]
[When?]
[Thirty minutes ago. I’m waiting like a good boy.]
[Stop it, Tooru. Act your age.]
[Right.]
[Anything else?]
[...]
[Tooru?]
[...]
*Ten minutes later*
[Tooru?!]
[Sorry, I had to scramble my position. There’s more activity than there should be.]
[Okay. Are you safe?]
[I am. I don’t know about Aki or Hisashi.]
[Shit.]
[My thoughts exactly.]
[What were you going to tell me?]
[Are you sitting down?]
[Just tell me, jackass.]
[... I have Hinata’s stars.]
[Oh my god]
[Yeah. Can you relay that message? I need to stay alert. This activity wasn’t supposed to happen.]
[I will. Keep me updated.]
[As soon as I can. It might be a while before I can text again, so don’t get all worried and ping me.]
[No promises.]
[I’ll put the phone on silent, then.]
[Fine. Just keep me updated.]
[Understood.]

Mitsuhide closed the phone and sat down, resting his elbows on his legs and gripping the phone between his hands. Hotaru came into their room and set a tray of food on the table, and poured a drink for him.

“Any news?”
“Yeah, and it’s not good.”
“But we just got started! How can it all have gone wrong already?”
“I don’t know. Just pray that we get through this on the winning side.”
“Okay. But at least eat something.”
Mitsuhide smiled wryly. “Always making sure we have something in our stomachs before we do anything.”
“Better than suffering a growling tummy while doing … whatever.”
“True. Look, give me a few minutes to text everyone, then I’ll tell you while I eat. Deal?”
Hotaru nodded. “Deal.”

~*~

Once Kiyoko received the message, she sat down and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. The rest of her group had made it to their second rendezvous point in Osaka, and met with their next contact, Shinji Watari. The others were all currently eating dinner at the cabin they were staying at for the next couple days.

Damn it! She’d hoped this wouldn’t happen, but apparently Shoyo wasn’t going to give up his thirst for revenge. Nor did he expect to make it out alive. It was curious as to why he’d given Oikawa his shuriken, but they didn’t have time to think about that. She had to let them know. Slowly, she rose from her seat and walked over to her current teammates.

“Guys, I have news, and it’s not good. Oikawa has Hinata’s stars.”

~*~

“Guys, we need to talk,” Bokuto told his team as they waited to meet up with their new contact. “But not here. Have we secured lodging?”
“Not yet,” Suzu reported. “Osamu is still looking.”
“Is it bad?” Kuroo asked, clearly worried.
“Yes. Very.”
“What’s up?” Tanaka asked as he came up to meet them. He had another with him, and Bokuto grinned.
“Good to see you again, Konoha!” he said, reaching out to shake hands with his former teammate. “What brings you here?”
“Sight-seeing with the fam. We’re going to Gifu castle later. Have you seen it?”
“Nope! Mind if we tag along?”
“Not at all! There’s a few openings at our hotel, too, so if you can book a room or two now, we can all meet up for dinner.”
“Sounds good.”

As they chatted and walked, Osamu caught up to them.

“I found a place, sir,” he told Bokuto. “A bit small, but we’ll fit.”
“Great. Hey, Konoha! Care to join us for a little bit before we go to the castle? We just got here and could use a little rest.” He leaned closer and whispered. “I just got some bad news. We gotta talk.”
“Sure!” Konoha said, keeping up the act. “Lead the way!”

As soon as they were all settled in their small, almost cramped, room at the hostel Osamu found, Bokuto made eye contact with each of his teammates.

“Hinata gave his stars to Oikawa.”
“Oh, shit,” Tanaka said, looking like Bokuto had just told them they had five seconds until the world exploded.
“Wait. I’m confused,” Kuroo said into the silence that followed.

Boktuo sighed and, with Tanaka, explained the story of Hinata’s stars.

~*~

Akaashi quietly closed his phone, and looked at Narita.

“Find Hinata,”
“Okay, but…”
“Just find him, please. Now.”

His words were polite, but his tone of voice brooked no refusals. Narita went to find the younger man, who had once again disappeared.

“What’s up, Keiji?” Hoshiumi asked.
“Shoyo gave his shuriken to Oikawa.”
“Wait. What?”
“You heard me. That little idiot’s planning to get himself killed.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding.”

Suga came up a few minutes later, walking alongside their contact while they stayed in Shimane prefecture: Takanobu Aone.

“Oh, the irony,” Keiji muttered as he turned to greet the quiet giant. He bowed respectfully as Aone did.
“Good to see you again,” Aone said quietly. “We have been given permission to stay at the nearest shrine. The monks prefer you to be there by sundown.”
“We’ll try. We have to find Hinata first.”
“Do you need help?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“Wait. Why are we looking for Shoyo?” Suga asked.
Keiji looked at the older man apologetically. “He gave his shuriken to Oikawa.”
“Shit.”
“Pretty much our same reaction. Come on, let’s go.”
“Find Noya. He has a knack for finding Shoyo.”
“Right.”

Word spread to the other members of their group, and soon, everyone was searching for Hinata. Once Kei found out, and after Noya told him the back story of Hinata’s stars, he decided he was going to kick the redheaded shrimp’s ass thoroughly. Enough so he’d barely have time to think about getting himself killed, much less actually carrying through with it.