Stay With Me

In a darkened boardroom, with only enough light to make out those on either side of the table, five people waited for the matriarch’s next orders. In the back, stood two more people, but they were only there in case of an emergency, which was highly possible considering the amount of wheezing coming from the old woman at the head of the table.

“Grandmother? Are you alright?” a soft voice asked her from the left. “Don’t you think…”
“I’M FINE! There’s nothing wrong with me. Mind your business, Hotaru.”
“Yes, Grandmother,” the lady replied meekly, smiling like she always did.

Akiteru glanced at his mother, and then stared at the three men across from him. Washijo; the old man was the same age as his grandmother, if not older. He was a thinker, and he tended to be the man to recruit people for their hit squads. A few years ago, he’d retired from being the lead of the Specials, in favor of Omizu, who had more ambition than one could shake a stick at. Which was fine. Washijo was also the most senior member of this council, having been here, well, forever.

Akiteru couldn’t decide if it was because the man had a century-long crush on his grandmother, or if he was just here because he was bored.

Irihata had been here almost as long, but was at least ten to fifteen years younger than Washijo. He was in charge of surveillance and ran their spy network. He generally worked closely with Washijo, and barely tolerated Omizu. Those two rarely got along. The man was content to give his report to Grandmother, and sat grinning placidly while Washijo used his intel to give his reports.

This man could be dangerous, if he truly wanted to be. Which was not what Akiteru knew of him. Irihata did his job; no more, no less. And he was good at it.

Finally, his eyes landed on Omizu, who was also staring at him with narrowed eyes. The most ambitious, opportunistic, and brazen leader of the Specials, Akiteru was convinced the only one to like him was Grandmother. And that was saying a lot. Universally hated, even by his own teams, the only reason Omizu had climbed so high was his ability to impress Grandmother by doing exactly what she said, when she said it, and how.

Akiteru had a feeling the man was onto him. Though, it was a wonder he hadn’t caught on in the decade he’d been here. He just needed to be more careful from this point forward.

“Call off the hitmen… for now,” Grandmother pronounced. “I have another plan.”
“But ma’am!” Omizu protested, looking like someone just snatched away his favorite toy. “We were closing in on him!”
“From what I’ve been told, we were practically on top of him in Himeji. Nothing was done.”
“No, because we were not cleared for the hit. Your orders, ma’am.”
“Be that as it may, we also lost Terushima, and very nearly lost Kyotani, though we might still lose him if he doesn’t pull through the surgery,” Irihata said patiently.
“And about fifteen men on his team also met their ends,” Omizu added. “Taken out by just five of theirs.”
“Who?!” Grandmother sounded livid.
“Hinata, Nishinoya, Sugawara, Shimizu, and Hoshiumi,” Washijo reported.
“So much talent,” Grandmother sounded a little wistful. “How did we not get them to work for us?”
“Unsure,” Washijo said. “I offered them what you told me to, but they all came back with refusals.”
“Did they ever say why?”
“No. Just said no, and left it at that. Each year we tried to recruit from Karasuno, and each year turned us down.”
“Well obviously,” Omizu said sarcastically. “Why would they even consider working for us?”
“What do you mean?”
“The name alone,” he said as if everyone, including Grandmother, were simpletons. “They’ve been associated with your youngest grandson for thirteen years. They’ve made him part of their family. You could offer them the universe, and they’d still turn you down.”

Omizu slowly turned his smarmy gaze to him, and Akiteru smiled.

“With the exception of one,” Omizu said quietly. Akiteru’s smile disappeared. “What happened, Tsukishima-san? What made you turn against your Crows, and your little brother?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he sneered. “At least I didn’t kiss ass to climb the ranks, Omizu.”
“Watch it, kid! You’re not the boss…”
“Yet.”
“Calm down, Aki,” Grandmother’s rough voice came to him. “You’re still learning. One day, I’ll be glad to hand everything over to you. Then you can do with Omizu whatever you see fit to do.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Omizu was incredulous.
“He’s not wrong,” she said. “I’ve tolerated it this far because you do come up with some results. Watch your step.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now that that’s out of the way, Irihata, I need you to locate my grandson, and his… friend… as soon as possible. I want them captured and brought to me.”
“Kidnapping, ma’am?”
“Yes. It’ll be a family reunion… of sorts.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Washijo, I need you to find the most capable people to do this.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Omizu, you are to send out Tendo and Ushijima with Washijo’s people. With the loss of Terushima, and Kyotani out of commission, Tendo and Ushijima are the only ones fit enough to carry this off. Tendo will still be the lead. We'll keep Daisho here. Reel in Futakuchi. I want him here, too.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I don’t care how you do it, just get them here.”
“Right.”
“What about Kuroo’s aunt?”
“What about her?”
“Do we bring her in as well?”
Grandmother thought for a few minutes. “Yes. I doubt she’d want to be separated from her… nephew.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Dismissed.”

Everyone rose at the same time, bowed, and started filing out. But one command from Grandmother, and Akiteru stayed behind, as well as his mother. They spared a quick glance, tried not to show their confusion, and turned back to face the matriarch of the family.

“I had your rooms searched again,” she said calmly.
“Okay. What for this time?” Akiteru asked. He wasn’t worried. He kept nothing of any importance in there anyway.
Grandmother waved her hand. “Just a precaution. I can’t have my own family turn against me.”
Akiteru chuckled. “Why would we? You’ve taken such great care of us since you moved us in.” If she only knew how much it stuck in his throat to say that.
Grandmother placed a flip phone on the table softly, and nudged it forward so that it crossed the line between light and shadow. Akiteru recognized it as his mother’s phone. The one she usually kept hidden.
“Hotaru? Care to explain this?”
His mother remained silent, but her lower lip was quivering slightly. Akiteru folded his arms and acted like he was disappointed, but this… wasn’t good.
“I decided to have Yui Shibata brought in as well because of this,” Grandmother informed them. “I hope she’ll forgive you.”
“She will,” Hotaru said softly, hopefully. “She will.”
“That’s good. I was planning on bringing her in anyway, since I finally figured out who she really is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you think you could keep her identity a secret from me?”
“I’m sorry, Grandmother, but I’m not following,” Akiteru jumped in.
“I’ll have a file sent to your room, Akiteru.”
“Thank you, Grandmother.”
“Aside from the phone, everything else was cleared. Hotaru, I’m moving you. Be packed and ready in three hours.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
“Akiteru, I have something I need you to do.”

~*~

“Get word to Bokuto. He needs to split his group and add to the others. I’m going to pull in Oikawa, and two more people. We need everyone on high alert.”
“Sir, what happened?”
“Just get on it. And send word to both Akaashi and Narita that they need to expect a few more people.”
“Shouldn’t we tell them to split up? More people would draw more attention, would it not?”
“I think they know not to travel in a single pack, or flock.”
“Right. Even so…”
“Who do we send where?”
Writing could be heard, and a piece of paper was handed over.
“Bokuto will handle the splitting of his team, but I want these people sent to Akaashi and Narita.”
“Also, I need them to stay in place until I give them the order to go to the rendezvous point. I haven’t heard from Akiteru, and he missed his last call in. Until I find out what’s going on, no one moves anywhere. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright. Get out of here.”

Once the men were out, he sat down in his chair and covered his face in his hands. It had been several days since he’d gotten the short text that told him that shit was about to hit the fan. He went with his instincts; Grandmother was changing her game plan, but he didn’t know anything more. What was highly frustrating. And because Akiteru had gone dark, he could only assume the worst. Which meant, he needed to double up on protection for Tsuki, Kuroo, and Yui.

“I have to ask the same question,” another voice said into the silence. “Do you think it’s wise to add more instead of dividing them?”
“Instinct, Nekomata,” he replied quietly. “I have to trust that I’m right.”
“What do you suspect?” Hibarida asked.
“She’s not after Kei to kill him anymore. At least, not somewhere random. But without confirmation…”
“You think she has another plan for him?”
“I don’t know! This is driving me up a wall. I should have put someone else in besides Aki.”
“Well,” Ukai senior said. “Send in Oikawa. He’ll have them talking to him before they even realize he’s not actually one of them.”
“Too dangerous.”
“I agree. But he’s been chafing at the bit for something to do besides transportation, and a bored Oikawa is not a person you want to deal with right now.”
“Hmmmm…”
“I know you’re hesitant to send people out there, again, and take the chance that they could get killed… but as long as you let them choose who goes where, that’s their best weapon. They know their people, and their strengths, better than anyone,” Nekomata advised.
“Are you saying I don’t?”
“Not at all. But how often are you out there with them? You and Akiteru have let them make all the decisions in the field since day one. I trust them to know what they’re doing.”
“Well, in this case, I’ve already made that decision. Akaashi’s team needs more muscle. Narita’s team, well… they just need added insurance.”
“Right.”
“I’ll contact Suzumeda. She’s been with Bokuto, so we can discuss the plan further.”
“Sounds good.”
“Let’s just hope Akiteru gets word to us soon, or we’ll really be flying blind.”

~*~

Everyone was in the dining room at the villa eating the dinner Tsuki and Kiyoko had cooked up, when two things happened simultaneously. Kinoshita’s alarm went off, and he took a look at Narita before they both got up and ran from the room. At the same moment, Tsuki’s private phone also buzzed. Taking their cues from that, everyone else finished eating and began to clear everything away. Tsuki excused himself, and went out into the courtyard to answer the call from Tetsu.

Hinata and Noya followed him, but stayed out of sight.

“Moonshine, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Why? You sound frantic. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. We’re all fine. But something’s happening. Akaashi just told me I need to wipe this phone and break it.”
“Wait. What?”

He heard someone come to a stop behind him, and he turned to find Narita standing there. He gestured for a moment to speak, and Tsuki took the phone from his ear.

“I’m assuming Kuroo just told you about the phones?”
“Yeah.”
“Security precautions. I’m here to tell you the same thing. You need to destroy the phone.”
“Why?”
“Bokuto heard from his superior that something’s gone sideways, and we are amping up protection for you, Kuroo, and Aunt Yui.”
“His superior? You mean my brother?”
“No. He hasn’t been heard from in the last week.”
“What…?”
“I don’t know anything further. I’m sorry. But please, make your phone call with Kuroo quick, and then we need to destroy it.”
“Okay…”
Narita turned on his heel and started walking away, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Please, we still need you to trust us.”
“I do.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about two seconds from running?”
“Habit? Sorry.”
“It’s fine. See you inside.”
“Right.”

He turned his back on Narita, who had already gone back inside. Slowly, he lifted the phone to his ear.

“You heard?”
“Yeah.”
“Guess we have no choice.”
“No. But then, we kinda knew we’d have to eventually, right?”
“Right.”
A few moments of silence.
“I wish you were here,” they both said at once.
“I hate that you’re so far away,” Tetsu said softly.
“Yeah. Same.”
“We’ll get through this, okay?”
“Ever the optimist.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not. I love that about you.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Are you blushing?”
“Yes, he is! He’s totally blushing!” Tsuki heard Aunt Yui holler.
“Here she is,” Tetsu said and he heard him hand the phone to Yui.
“Kei, be careful out there,” she said urgently. “Be safe. If you need to run, do it, okay? No matter what anyone says, if you think you need to run, run.”
“O-okay,” he stuttered, more so because she used his given name, which she’d never done before.
“We love you, Kei. Don’t do anything stupid like getting yourself killed.”
“Aunt Yui!”
He heard both Tetsu and Yachi protest. Hell, he thought a few of the others may have joined in, but he couldn’t be sure. It sounded like the phone had been passed again, because now Yachi was there.
“Kei?”
“Hitoka?”
“Be safe, okay?”
He heard her voice shake, as if she were about to cry.
“I will.”
“Promise me?”
“I promise.”
“Good. I don’t want to lose you like I lost Tadashi, okay?”
“You won’t. I’ll be careful.”
“Okay.”
“Hitoka?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. I’ll keep it safe.”
“You better. He wanted you to have it.”
“What? Why?”
“He always felt a little sad that he couldn’t feel the same way for you that you did for him. He was going to give it to you himself, but you had to run, so…”
“Thank you.”

Movement from the side gained his attention. Both Hinata and Noya were waiting for him.

“Let me talk to Tetsu, Hitoka.”
“Right. See you, Kei.”
“See you.”
He waited for the phone to be passed and heard Tetsu thanking Yachi.
“It’s time. I gotta go.”
“Yeah. I love you, Kei.”
“I love you, Tetsu.”
“Be safe.”
“I will. You be safe, too.”
“I will.”
“I’m not saying goodbye. I’ll see ya later, okay?”
“Yeah. See ya later.”

Tsuki quickly hung up the phone, went into the settings, and started a factory reset. When it was done, he cradled the phone in his hand like he had Tadashi’s class ring. This phone had been his life line to Tetsu, and now… well, now it was nothing more than a standard flip phone. Looking up at his… brothers, he attempted a smile, but knew he’d failed. Taking a few steps, he handed the phone to Hinata and mumbled, “you do it. I can’t.” He walked between them and into the villa, stopping for no one and went directly to the room he’d been given.