15 Years Prior

Kuroo hunched his body down, practically a second coat to surround Kenma as they trudged their way up the main streets of Diamonds capital.

The last of the winter snow was still thawing around them, turning the well traveled streets into a sludge of frozen mud and ice patches, and the last thing Kuroo wanted was a fall. Kenma was still short-barely eleven and small even for that. Getting knocked over could mean getting lost in the crowd, maybe even trampled if they were unlucky about it. All of which would very adamantly not be happening. Not on Kuroo's watch.

It was Kuroo's job to protect Kenma. It was what he'd promised to Kenma's mother and his own father before they'd even left the village. It was what he was marked to do as Diamond's future Ace. If anyone asked him, he was fairly sure by now protecting Kenma was what he was born to do, actually.

Which now meant getting Kenma to the palace unharmed.

And keeping him unharmed every other day, for the rest of their lives, if it was up to Kuroo.

That said, he still felt a little bit better once they'd gotten out of the central market, the crowds thinning enough that Kuroo felt comfortable shifting his hold to something a step down from what was practically a human wall separating Kenma from the rest of the world.

He eased, just slinging an arm around Kenma's shoulders to keep them both close and smiling as he felt Kenma's shoulder relax in the less busy streets.

And, then, Kenma sneezed.

Kuroo stopped, pulling them off to the side and assessing critically that the worn out wool hat was still tugged firmly around Kenma's ears, the scarf still would surrounding exposed skin, and Kuroo's own faded coat hanging baggy around the smaller frame of Kenma's shoulders.

Kenma gave him a look that would appear blank to anyone else but, through years of practice, Kuroo could pick up the mix of exasperation and indulgence. "It was just a sneeze."

"We can take a break if you want," Kuroo offered. "We've been walking all day. It might not be a bad idea anyway."

"The palace is warmer," Kenma shot the suggestion down.

Kuroo chewed on his lip. "Yeah….but, who knows how long it's going to be to convince someone to let us in, not to mention find one of the Suit. Could take until the night. Maybe we should wait until the morning, see if-"

"Money," Kenma reminded him.

"...Yeah."

The trip had taken longer than expected, neither expecting quite the traffic or just general wear it would take to make it from their village all the way to the capital. Neither Kenma nor Kuroo's families were rich anyway-both single farmers, trying to make sure their remaining crops made it through the sudden cold front. They'd barely been able to scrape together what savings they had to secure the journey over the mountains, coins that had been stretched far too thin to afford an extra stay at a city inn.

"I can find something," Kuroo promised.

Kenma smiled or….well, his eyes turned up slightly and Kuroo knew what that meant.

"I'm fine," Kenma said.

Kuroo looked him in the eyes and when Kenma didn't look away, Kuroo nodded-way too used to taking Kenma's assessments as truth to even try putting up a fight for too long.

He led them back to the street, arm wrapped back snugly to pull Kenma closer in an attempt to keep him warm.

Even under the coat, Kuroo could feel how Kenma's shoulders had gotten too boney. A worse winter than expected and a sudden bout of fever was all it took and the memories of Kenma sweating in a too cold hovel were still a bit too fresh for Kuroo to relax at "just a sneeze".

In the end, maybe it was for the best-he didn't know how much longer it would have taken their parents to finally be convinced to let them off if it wasn't for a few pointed arguments about palace resources.

Anyway, none of that was particularly what Kuroo wanted to think about so he filled the silence in one of the ways he knew best, inane rambles.

"Who do you suppose we'll run into first?" Kuroo went on without expecting an answer. "My bets on Queen Nekomata. Apparently the Jack's really big on visiting the Research Institutions once winter starts clearing up so who knows if she's in the palace." He paused. "Course could be the Ace, I suppose; but, I bet he spends most of the time training." His smile fell a bit. "Rumor is that with the King passed, the Ace already submitted his intention to retire, hope he still stays around long enough to teach me a few things."

He smirked down at Kenma. "Though, hey, think I could beat him in a duel now?"

"No," Kenma said flatly.

"Kenma!" Kuroo whined dramatically. "How could you?"

"Not yet," Kenma amended.

"That sounds better." Kuroo considered for another second. "Probably need to get a sword, too. Feh, don't know why duels always gotta be with blades. Archery's much better. Why would I ever use a sword when I've got a bow?"

Kenma shrugged minutely and Kuroo noticed he'd looked up, eyes focused on the crates being loaded off of the smaller river boats. An official looking woman stood beside it, surveying the progress and inventorying on fine parchment the symbol that marked each of the boxes' origin.

Kuroo let out a low breath in relief. "Good, looks like the extra grain from Spades already made it this far."

"Not much from Hearts," Kenma remarked quietly.

"Hmm?" Kuroo blinked, looking at the boxes again. The most-and by a good bit-were from Spades as made sense from Cards' main crop supplier, a few of the finer good were marked with the Clubs symbol, one every so often from Futakuchi, even less from Hyakuzawa, and fewer still from Nohebi.

Kenma was right. Compared to the boxes from Spades or even Clubs, the number from Hearts seemed paltry.

Kuroo shrugged. "Maybe they had a bad winter, too. Whatever. The extra from Spades will probably help enough."

Truthfully, Kuroo had absolutely no idea if that was true. Their village was a smaller one, fairly self-sufficient for the most part and Kuroo only knew just a little bit more about the country's crops in general from talking to his dad about when to sell what and where.

Even a quarter of those Spades crates was more food than Kuroo had seen in a lifetime. The Clubs crates probably had more jewels than the village put together.

But, Kenma was better at that than him, able to put together the larger pieces despite the fact he'd never even seen their edges.

Which meant there probably was something more in what he was saying.

"Or maybe Hearts' Ace is being a dick again," Kuroo said, not bothering to keep the contempt out of his voice. "Another season where Hearts 'needs to keep their extras and their extra's extra saved back', eh?" He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you'd think Hearts was preparing for a war with all their shit about keeping their stocks up."

Kenma was still frowning.

"It's fine, Kenma," Kuroo trudged them along. "I'm sure if it gets too bad, Queen Nekomata will say something." He grinned. "Heh, or hey, maybe our Ace will deck that Hearts' asshole like he did at Spades' tournament a few years ago. That would be cool, right?"

Kenma hummed, neither in agreement nor disagreement.

Kuroo took that to mean either Kenma thought he had a point or had decided he'd rather not continue talking about it until he had more to go on. All options which basically meant Kuroo was good to change topics.

"What do you think the palace is like," Kuroo leaned in, close enough he could drop his voice down to a whisper. "I heard it has spires that are so sharp it looks like they're cutting through clouds."

"Clouds aren't hard to cut," Kenma pointed out.

"Really killing the energy I'm trying to build here, Kenma."

Kenma smiled, the small but noticeable one, and the sight made Kuroo's shoulders ease.

"Well, fine," Kuroo whispered back, "I still think you're going to love it, though." He focused on Kenma's face as they walked up the next hill, watching for the incremental changes in expression. "You know, one day, Kenma, I'm going to find you something that I know you'll finally admit is amazing."

Kenma met his eyes. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Find me something amazing," Kenma clarified.

Kuroo smirked. "Oh, you are so on. Challenge accepted."

Then Kenma stopped suddenly, eyes flying wide.

"What?" Kuroo blinked, cursing himself for being distracted as he looked at what had gotten Kenma to make that expression.

In front of them, the palace of Diamonds rose up from mountains and river, spires so high that they disappeared up into the sky and waterfalls rushing down around it.

It was larger than anything Kuroo had ever imagined could be built with human hands and, beneath his arm, Kenma had gone entirely still in a way that meant-for once-he was just as stunned as Kuroo himself.

Kenma recovered first, expression composing first even though his eyes were still wide.

Kuroo made it through to give him a grin.

"Well, Kenma, welcome home."

ooooooo

The ocean was a vast kind of concept that was much easier to understand in figures and naval maps right up until one was thrown smack in the middle of it and, suddenly, realized how big it actually was.

Leaning against the railing of the ship's bow as the sun started to rise over the horizon, Kuroo imagined that he could feel every current, every wave, every drop that separated him from his home.

Kuroo had never particularly been one for reminiscing. He'd grown up and with that, meant he'd traveled a million more steps and seen a thousand more amazing things than a simple farm boy bringing his best friend to the palace. Looking out at the ocean was a lot different than seeing the Spires of Diamonds for the first time; but, somehow, Kuroo still had a similar sense of unsteadiness shifting under his feet.

It felt like change.

Kuroo didn't exactly know what that change would mean. He didn't know if he liked it yet.

There was a half groan, half yawn from next to him and Kenji leaned on the railing next to him, shirt untucked and hair looking in desperate need of a brush.

"You're up early," Kenji remarked.

"So are you."

"Ah, and that's where you're wrong, Mr. Ace." Kenji halfheartedly held up a finger in a parody of a reveal. "For I…..never slept."

The side of Kuroo's mouth ticked up. "I've had those nights. They suck."

"Yeah, well," Kenji sagged against the rail, rubbing a hand against a face that was probably overdue for a shave, "it's not like there's anyone who wouldn't lose a bit of sleep about planning to kill their last family member, no matter how much of a shit one he's been." Kenji paused thoughtfully. "Actually, I take that back. I don't think my uncle's lost one day of sleep in his entire life. But, still, I'd rather not make him my standard."

"I'm sorry," Kuroo offered quietly. He'd been a soldier long enough to know those words rarely helped anything and he'd been an Ace long enough to know they should be said anyway.

"It's for Futakuchi," Kenji said just as quietly, not looking away from the water. "If it's for Futakuchi, I can accept just about anything….that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

Kuroo shrugged. "Yeah…..pretty sure being King means being unhappy about a lot of things."

"I'm not King," Kenji corrected sharply. "I won't be. Getting rid of my uncle and stopping his plans is one thing; but, being King….I'm not going to do it. Don't ask."

"Alright."

Frankly, at this point, Kuroo didn't particularly care who was King of Futakuchi as long as they weren't attacking anyone and Kuroo could go home to his own king.

Kenji's eyes grew sharper. "Speaking about 'unhappy', you don't look particularly happy yourself, Ace."

Kuroo rolled his eyes. "You know you can just call me by my name, Prince Kenji."

"Kuroo," Kenji amended flippantly, "let me rephrase: I thought after Moniwa got you back in contact with your dearly beloved Suit, you'd be over the moon. Seems to me like you're bogged down even worse….which is saying something considering you were in the process of getting beaten up first time we met."

"Was there a question in there or…."

"Don't bullshit with the sleep deprived," Kenji huffed. "I meant what's the stick in your ass now, Kuroo?"

Kuroo didn't respond for a long moment.

They'd gotten in contact, yes. His Suit didn't think he was dead or, even worse, a traitor and a murder. However, his kingdom was still in danger of being attacked at any second, a Blood Mage could still use him like a puppet, they were in a foreign country and planning on assassinating a leader, and he had no idea when he could go home. All of which he thought were pretty reasonable options to not exactly be thrilled.

Really, really fair options, actually.

But, Kuroo didn't get the title of Chessmaster by not being able to handle multiple strategies at once, no matter how bad the stakes. They were worries; but, if he was honest, not enough to drive him up to the ship's bow to measure distance between here and Diamonds.

In the end, there had always only been one thing that could make him like this.

He kept his lips pressed firm.

But, his fear couldn't do anything to help Kenma this time. Kuroo couldn't do anything. For the first time he could remember, he'd left Kenma alone.

And it wasn't even something he could fix. Not yet. Not when Kenma said he should stay here even if it meant leaving him alone.

So, no, Kuroo wasn't particularly worried, he was terrified.

Those weren't the kind of things he could just admit to a foreign leader, though. Not even one that was helping them.

So, he shrugged again. "What can I say? I'm a deep thinker. You should try it some time, Captain."

Kenji snorted, either taking the weak jab or letting Kuroo off the hook. "You're right, I shouldn't stop you just because you've started thinking. I'm sure it's a new experience for you."

"And yet I still found time to sleep last night," Kuroo taunted right back, falling into their normal rhythm.

"Kick a man while he's down," Kenji tsked. "This is what Diamonds has sunk to. I'm already shuddering about what we can expect for that Mage of yours you invited."

Surprising both of them, Kuroo threw back his head and barked out a loud laugh.

"Trust me," Kuroo smirked when he'd finally settled, "No one knows how to expect Lev."

ooooooo

"Awww," Lev pouted, poking at his small breakfast, "I can't believe the festival's ending already."

Akaashi sighed, not looking all that put out. "It's definitely been an eventful one."

Suga nodded. "Of course, the bad part of that is that today and tomorrow will be the last time we can meet in person until Hearts' Festival." His frown deepened. "Three months is a long time if it means whoever these Hawks are could be planning something."

"Not to mention, it's been an entire week and the people have barely seen any of us since the opening ceremony," Yaku added. "Even with the Winter Festival mainly being for exhibitions, they've had to have noticed only Lev and Suga have attended anything."

"That'll make the rumors worse," Oikawa surmised quietly.

"About that," Tsukishima spoke of for the first time and the entire room sat a little bit straighter, everyone either consciously or unconsciously wary from the last Suit meeting. Tsukishima ignored their worry deftly. "I think the rumors are being perpetuated by the Hawks."

"Why," Konoha asked.

"It makes the most sense." Tsukishima shrugged. "They're looking to sow chaos between the people, right? That was their whole point in having Kuroo try to kill another Suit member. Their plan wouldn't work if no one knew Hinata was dead." He leaned back in his chair. "Plus, it explains why the body we found was wearing the Ace uniform when Hinata wasn't wearing it when he was attacked. They needed a body easily recognizable as our Ace and everyone knows that uniform, even if they don't know Hinata's face. If anyone else found the body first, we'd already be dealing with a small uprising on our hands."

Kenma blinked. "Hinata wasn't wearing his uniform?"

Tsukishima shrugged. "Apparently, he had it under his clothes. Don't worry, he destroyed it when he got to Futakuchi. Unless something screws up monumentally, no one on the islands should be able to link the Ace of Spades back to Hinata."

"Fake body is still creepy." Bokuto wrinkled his nose. "Can we like….I don't know, throw it away or something?"

"Probably a bad idea to throw away our only concrete example of blood magic," Suga said. "Not to mention, we think it might originally have been a Spades' civilian. I've been trying to break the spell; but…." He shrugged, "Kageyama and I are going to be looking at everything we have on blood magic to see what else we can find out."

"So, what are we going to do with the body," Konoha asked. "Will Spades take it?"

"No," Kageyama said vehemently. "I don't even want to look at it."

Tsukishima and Suga exchanged a look.

"Our King has a point," Tsukishima said. "Hinata's too easily recognizable in Spades, even if they don't know he's the Ace. Keeping a body that looks identical to his in our castle is too much of a risk."

"We can take it," Iwaizumi offered. "It makes the most sense. Hearts is where we'll all be for the Spring Festival; so, it'll work in case Suga and Kageyama find something. Or if Kyotani wants to look at it."

Mad Dog grunted in distaste, making his feelings on blood magic abundantly clear.

"Agreed, Hearts makes the most sense to take the body," Tsukishima tapped his fingers against the table. "Hinata already found information on the Hawks plus-even without our Ace-we're still the most suited for information gathering, so Spades can take point on finding the Hawks."

"Are you sure you want to," Akaashi asked when it was clear no one would. "You said they were working with your brother, it's fine if you'd want one of us to take the lead."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "A brother I've never met. I'll be fine.

The rest of the table hesitated.

Tsukishima's entire countenance darkened. "I'll actually be fine this time. Trust me."

Akaashi acquiesced with a nod.

"If you need help," Konoha offered.

"We all do," Oikawa said bluntly. "Spades is down a member, Diamonds is about to be down two, we have a coup that's already tried to kill two of ours and we have a Blood Mage after us. We don't even know if he's gotten control of anyone else."

The entire room seemed to shudder at the thought.

"It's most likely he doesn't," Suga spoke quietly, "at least not another Suit member. If Akiteru could have controlled one of us, there's no reason he wouldn't have this past week when we were most vulnerable."

"Or they're planning something bigger," Oikawa suggested.

Konoha sighed. "People can always be planning something bigger that doesn't have to mean the worst option."

"But it could," Oikawa said. "We need to at least consider it."

"Okay, but how?" Yaku spoke up. "We already established that we don't know how long they've been watching us. Maybe a year, maybe a decade? That puts practically all of us at risk. There's no way to even tell."

"So, what do you suggest," Oikawa asked sharply. "Hoping for the best?"

"No," Yaku said, narrowing his eyes. "But, until we have proof one of us could be at risk, the best option we have is to trust each other." He made a wide gesture to encompass everything. "The Hawks' main plan so far has been to turn people against each other. If we can't even trust each other because we think someone might be under control, then the Hawks win anyway. We don't have another choice but to trust each other."

Oikawa considered for a long moment.

"Cards Stands United," Iwaizumi reminded gruffly.

Oikawa gave a small smile, nodding. "Alright."

"We'll still try to find out more about blood magic," Suga said. "Maybe we can find a way to counter it."

Konoha winced. "If there was a way, I'm pretty sure we'd have heard of it."

The words sunk in around the table.

The Diamonds' Winter Festival was finally coming to an end and there was only more questions than when it started.

ooooooo

Aone had always thought of himself as the type of man that could live by a few simple principles.

The first, the oldest, the one that had been instilled in him over and over before he'd even gotten to see a sword: Protect those in need of protection.

Aone liked that principle. It was straightforward, not always easy to do but at the very least easy to understand. Of course, he was fairly sure his parents had never predicted this meant becoming a pirate; but, then again, Aone still thought of it as protecting the weaker….just maybe not against the foes that one would expect.

That was another thing he'd learned as he'd grown, there were those he'd found he couldn't protect. There were problems that he'd learned could not be solved with a sword and the right application of weight. Some things were bigger and more complex so that's where the second principle came in.

The second, almost as old as the first, the one that had guided his family for generations and back to the founding of his country: Serve the rightful heir.

That one was another one that had gotten somewhat more complicated as the years went by; but, Aone believed he'd learned how to adjust. After all, the rightful heir wasn't always the one who sat on the throne, merely the one that should sit there. In Aone's mind, there was no doubt at all that he was following this principle to the letter. Now, he only needed to convince his rightful heir of that.

Third: Stand by those that would stand by him.

Aone had always found this one easy enough. He was fairly loyal already by nature; it wasn't a burden to find more people who he was willing to call fellow allies….he'll admit he wasn't expecting to add a Cards' Ace to the mix. But, if the Ace of Diamonds could help with principle two, Aone wasn't turning away from it.

Fourth: Always trust what he could see before what he was told.

Which led him to his current contemplation.

Aone slashed down with his sword as if to aim for his opponent's arm before changing the angle at the last possible second to swipe for the neck.

Tense. Beat. Pause.

The sword was less than an inch away when Hinata stumbled back, dropping the knife and cringing with an upheld hand as if that was going to do anything to stop a sword.

"I yield! I yield!" Hinata yelped out. "Mercy!"

Aone stopped immediately, sword returning to a loose hold at his side.

Hinata dropped his woefully inadequate block, grinning up at Aone with shining eyes. "That was amazing, Aone! You were like pow! and then swishhhh! I barely even saw it coming when you swapped the angle!"

Aone had made it a habit of training all the new ship members, the longest for a little over five years.

He's not sure any of them would have caught the shift in angle fast enough to react.

But, he is sure all of them were trained enough to block with a blade rather than their hands.

Aone took the knife off the ground and handed it to Hinata. "Don't drop your blade."

"Sorry," Hinata rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "this is a lot different than just throwing the knives for hunting, you know?"

Aone nodded, shifting back into his ready stance.

Hinata mirrored him.

Aone attacked again, purposefully moving at a slower pace to try to draw Hinata into the rhythm of the motions. It worked. Hinata was catching more, still at the last second and almost a miss but still he caught it.

Aone dropped the pace, stabbing up violently and fast.

He kept his eyes open and fixed and….there.

Tense. Beat. Pause.

Faster than it would take to blink, Hinata's muscles tensed and readied to move before there was a beat of stillness and a pause just long enough to turn any defense Hinata could make into a last minute scramble.

Hinata backed up fast, tripping over his feet as he did so and almost stumbling before catching himself with those good reflexes that Aone knew he had.

"Watch your paths of retreat," Aone pointed out.

"Right!" Hinata beamed. "But, hey, at least I didn't drop my knife this time!"

Aone tilted his head in acknowledgement.

He attacked again when Hinata had relaxed, clearly expecting the snippet of talk to have signaled the end of another match.

Aone darted forward.

Hinata's knife swiped up on reflex, catching the sword and throwing it off a millisecond before it stabbed his chest.

A beat as they both stared at each other.

Hinata dropped his knife before scrambling down to catch it."Ack! Sorry! Sorry, I know don't drop it! I just got excited! I can't believe I got that one!"

Aone watched him.

Hinata's grin never faltered. "Guess it was delayed survival instinct, huh? Or maybe beginner's luck. You're a really good teacher, Aone! Thanks!"

Aone didn't really think he was teaching Hinata anything, actually.

Instead, Hinata was a mess of beginner mistakes and sharp moves-ones that Aone had never seen from experts-that only faltered at the last second to end in more trouble than if Hinata had just stuck to the basics.

And, then, there was how Hinata tensed-always ready to make a move that never seemed to be actualized.

Aone compared it against anyone he'd ever fought before and couldn't find a match.

Knights and pirates with advanced training would sometimes tense like that, those with ready muscles and fast reflex honed by keeping them alive for years. But, they always knew how to then act on that tension.

The ones he'd trained would often begin with the same mistakes Hinata made; but, never quite so consistently. And when they did have moments of advancement, they were always a bit sloppy-carrying the awkwardness of a new movement that needed practice rather than the efficient motions Hinata sometimes made.

Out of curiosity, Aone compared it to his matches against Kuroo but couldn't find a match there either. The Ace of Diamonds clearly knew his way around a sword-he was good at fighting with one, not that Aone had really expected anything different. But, even without Kuroo offhandedly complaining about the lack of a bow, Aone could see the way it was a secondary choice rather than his favored weapon. The sword movements were efficient; but, they looked like practice rather than true passion.

Hinata's style was utterly unique and very sloppy.

….almost like it wasn't Hinata's true style either.

Aone smiled to himself.

Kenji had called Hinata "weird"; Aone was going with "interesting" for now. Besides, there was always the fifth principle: Always find respect for a good fight.

The only thing was Aone was fairly sure fights with Hinata weren't about whether he could win; but, rather when he could move fast enough to get Hinata to move on instinct rather than carefully fumbled dodges.

All in all, it made for an entertaining fight.

Besides, Aone felt pretty certain Hinata was the Ace of Spades.

So, that was definitely interesting.

He might mention it to Kenji when he had more to go on.

Until then, Aone was enjoying his new opponent.

ooooooo

It hadn't gotten better.

Kenma wondered if he was being selfish.

He breathed in, closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He leaned against the wall of one of the many closed off storage spaces, too high in the Spires for many to bother seeking out.

In a way, Kenma thought it had gotten even worse and that alone made a horrible, sick, crawling feeling he thought was guilt sinking somewhere below his stomach.

The problem was that if he was thinking logically-which Kenma always tried to do-then it was better. Of course, it was. Kuroo was alive. Kenma had seen him, had talked to him, knew that he was coming back. Hinata was alive with him. So, yes-logically-it was better.

The clammy, itching feeling beneath his skin had never been logical. It was a feeling that wanted to be held tighter, far away from people and talking, to a place where he didn't have to worry about having the right thing to say and could simply take the silence and focus on everything else.

That feeling had not gotten better, it had only gotten worse and Kenma was starting to suspect it wouldn't get better any time soon. Not until Kuroo and Hinata were back and Kenma didn't have to find the words to speak anymore.

The problem was that Kenma didn't have that kind of time.

Kuroo and Hinata were both needed in Futakuchi. Kenma had always been good at seeing the larger picture. Without action done on Futakuchi's home territory, without stopping their King, the problem would only increase until eventually an attack on Cards hit home. Kuroo and Hinata were their best chance at stopping it-the pieces that needed to stay at the other side of the board.

And Kenma couldn't afford to wait for them. He was King. There was a coup being attempted. There was blood magic and-like the King of Hearts had brought to attention this morning-the doubt on who else might have been affected. Diamonds had already been brought to the forefront of the attack and the people were scared. That was Kenma's responsibility.

He'd ever had to face it alone before.

There was a hesitant knock at the door, followed by shuffling feet.

Kenma held his breath and hoped whoever it was would just walk away.

The other Suits were busy putting their final preparations underway to leave Diamonds. Lev was getting ready to leave himself and Yaku was helping. None of those tasks needed Kenma. There shouldn't be anyone trying to find him until the evening.

"Kenma?" called a voice, uncharacteristically quiet. "It's just me. Can I come in? Please."

Even if Kenma had to guess, he didn't think he would have guessed that voice.

He thought it might have been the surprise alone that caused him to say, "Come in."

The door to the storage room inched open, slowly at first until bright eyes found Kenma's and a smile spread out on the visitor's face.

Bokuto shut the door behind him before heading to where Kenma sat and sitting across from him, noticing the tension in Kenma's shoulders and moving just far enough away to where he saw Kenma relax.

The King of Clubs and the King of Diamonds sat facing each other on the floor of a dusty old storeroom, more fitting for mice than royalty.

"How…," Kenma started before clearing his throat at the way the word seemed to cling uncomfortably in his throat.

"Huh?" Bokuto blinked, tilting his head in confusion before he seemed to guess at the question's end. "Oh, this was the only storeroom with the door shut. I guessed and got lucky. I don't know. You don't really like to go outside and if I had to pick somewhere in the palace….," he shrugged, "this just seemed like somewhere I'd go if I didn't want people to see me." Bokuto shuffled again, smile getting softer and warm as always. "Thanks for letting me come in."

"It's a storeroom," Kenma said.

"It's your storeroom," Bokuto corrected and Kenma didn't think he meant it in the same way as it being in Diamond's palace.

To be honest…..Kenma had never thought he understood Bokuto particularly well.

Bokuto had always seemed loud and big, offbeat and hectic in a way that was inherently different from the soothing dependability of Hinata's constant motion.

They weren't exactly close-more being brought together from corresponding positions and shared friends. Kenma knew Bokuto as Kuroo's close friend-one that had always been outstandingly good at getting Kuroo to relax when he'd overwork and, for that, Kenma would always be appreciative. He knew him as Akaashi's husband-a strange relationship that somehow made sense, but Kenma felt had given him more insight on Akaashi himself rather than the man he'd married. He knew Bokuto even more rarely from how Hinata would sometimes talk about him-bright, energetic, fun, someone that would cause Hinata to ramble excitedly more than providing information for Kenma to actually form an opinion.

The truth was that, for Kenma, Bokuto had always seemed something of an opposite polar force. They might have the same people gravitating between them; but, that didn't exactly make it any easier to meet in the middle.

He'd assumed it was one of those unspoken things. That Bokuto felt it, too, without them ever having to mention it.

None of that explained the how or the why for Bokuto being here now.

Bokuto wasn't looking at him, focusing on drawing patterns in the dust instead and Kenma couldn't tell if the lack of directness was for him or Bokuto.

"...I thought you might be having a rough time," Bokuto admitted. "Sometimes it's like that for me, too. Like I can handle the pressure when people need me and are focusing on me. But, then when they look away and I get a chance….," Bokuto's waved a hand absently, "it's like it all hits me at once and then, I have to deal with it and that sucks."

Bokuto lowered his voice even further. "I don't really like people to see me like that, though. I can….I mean some of the time having Akaashi can help a little bit; but, everyone else….," he swallowed, pausing to find words in a way Kenma couldn't recall him doing before. "It's not really like it's a fun thing to talk about, right? It's not something I want them to worry about. Fates, it's not something I want to think about even if a lot of times I can't stop thinking about it."

Bokuto trailed off and there was a long wavering silence that followed behind the admission.

"Why now," Kenma asked. "Why me?"

"Oh." Bokuto looked up and that small smile was back. "Because I thought it might help. Sorry, that's the other part. I really don't like to talk about it; but, sometimes I have to. Sometimes, they need to know, too." Bokuto rubbed the back of his neck. "And...sometimes talking about it helps it get better; sometimes the pressure is still there-it depends on the time, I guess. I don't think there's any way that always works; some times just suck until I get through them. But, that's….," he blew out a breath, "the point is that, either way, then at least someone else knows about it. Then, at least they can help. I mean….they can't help anything if they don't know, especially since sometimes I say like a lot; but, none of it's really what I meant to say and that's just…."

Bokuto cut off his ramble, waving a hand again. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know you're not alone." He finally met Kenma's eyes and the look was soft. "I know Kuroo's not here and Hinata's gone, too; but, that doesn't mean the rest of us can't help, too."

Kenma looked back, feeling like his mouth was too dry to speak. He tried anyway. "I'm not….good at talking."

Bokuto nodded, propping his head up like he was thinking.

"Alright, that's fine." Bokuto shrugged. "It's okay to help in other ways. Akaashi doesn't really like talking too often either; so, sometimes, I just bring him food when he's busy or play something so he'll go to sleep." He grinned. "Yukie always likes us to spar with her when she's stressed. You can try that!"

Kenma's lip quirked up without him even thinking about it.

"Or maybe not," Bokuto continued amicably. "Point is there's a lot of ways we can help. So, just think about it, okay? Just because you don't want to talk, doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself, alright?"

Bokuto rolled his shoulders, not really expecting an answer from Kenma.

"I guess…," Bokuto finally said, so quiet that Kenma could barely hear it, "I guess also I really wanted to talk to you, too. For me. I mean I know everyone loves Hinata and Kuroo and is happy and everything; it's just…," he rubbed at his eyes even though they were dry, "I really, really thought they were both dead."

"They're not," Kenma said for both of them.

"Yeah," Bokuto agreed readily. "But, you get what I mean, right? Just because they're fine now, it doesn't mean all that other feelings and stuff just went away."

Kenma nodded.

Bokuto's face slowly folded back into a smile. "Thanks for talking to me, Kenma."

Bokuto stood up in a stretch, wiping the dust off his pants which only really succeeded in spreading it everywhere.

Bokuto frowned at the pants before shrugging. "Okay, I'll let you have your storeroom back again."

A small part of Kenma was struck with the sudden urge to ask him to stay, the far larger part of him really did want the quiet.

Kenma struck a compromise down the middle.

"Thank you," he said to Bokuto's retreating back. "I'm glad you found me."

Bokuto's smile widened to a grin, tipping his head in acknowledgement.

The door shut back behind him.

And…..amazingly….

Kenma did feel a little bit better.

ooooooo

A/N: Sorry, guys, I'm a few hours late of my planned post date but thank you all for your support.

Next Post Date: Oct. 4-5