Nothing to say except please enjoy!
"What's wrong?"
"Hmm? Nothing."
"Iwa-chan, I have known you for how long and you actually think you can hide things from me? Oikawa spoke in a singsong voice.
"They're late." Iwaizumi muttered.
"Who? The troublemakers?"
"Yes them. They should have been back by now, or at least checked in."
"You know those two have no concept of time when they're together."
"I'm going to duct tape a clock to their foreheads if they keep this up." Iwaizumi dragged his hands down his face, why did they always do this?!
"It's those two, they'll be okay." Oikawa reassured him.
"I guess you're right." Iwaizumi muttered not entirely convinced, "Oh, I'll go check that." Iwaizumi gestured vaguely to the flashing light on a console in front of him. There were quite a few things they needed to catch up on now that they were back full time. Oikawa hummed his acknowledgment as he watched him leave the room.
"Kindaichi." Oikawa called loud enough for the said man to hear through the door opposite the one Iwaizumi just exited from.
"Sir?" He answered as he opened the door only slightly intimidated. This is normally the post that Matsukawa or Hanamaki would be occupying, but with them out, he now filled the position. Kunimi peaked around him in an eerily similar way to how Mattsun and Makki would do.
"Take Yahaba. Find them." Oikawa ordered. No other words were needed. Everyone knew who he was speaking of. Those two might be notorious for not watching the clock, but that didn't mean they would just sit around and do nothing. They needed eyes on those two troublemakers immediately.
"Yes, Sir!" Kindaichi gave a small bow and backed out of the room. One look at Kunimi was all he needed before the two of them took off running through the halls to find their third member.
Oikawa signed to himself, he didn't like that Iwaizumi decided not to tell him what "little errand" he had sent the two off on, but it couldn't be helped now. He needed to make sure they were okay. Figuring out what they were up to could come later.
"Welcome back, Sir." Sarukui greeted as he saw his boss approaching him.
"It's good to be back!" Bokuto smiled at him, "You. Go see a medic." He ordered to Kohona.
"I'm not going to leave you." Kohona argued.
"I'm going inside, where I will stay." He added at the shorter mans look, "I'll be fine." Kohona mumbled under his breath but knew he wouldn't win this fight. Relenting, he sent a glare at his boss as he left to head towards the medic area.
"Do you need anything, Sir?" Sarukui asked him.
"No, but I need to speak to Yamiji. Where is he?"
"In his quarters, Sir."
"Of course, he is." Bokuto mumbled under his breath too soft for the other to hear. He nodded instead to show his understanding and made his way inside. He never liked these meetings. Normally it was just him getting yelled at about how much better the family could be, how he could be a better boss, and what he should be doing. He scoffed as he made his way through the hallways, why did he made Bokuto boss if he was just going to criticize him every chance he got? All he ever did was sit around on his ass all day and complain. Bokuto had half a mind to take up Kohona's offer for a "mysterious accident" to happen but knew he couldn't risk something like that. For better or for worse, Yamiji strengthened their image by still being around in the family and he had helped Bokuto secure his place as boss. He used to be so much better, but age did not seem kind to Yamiji's mind as he now had extreme views that made it impossible to change his mind. He supposed it might be a good thing he didn't do anything other than sit around all day with how he acted.
He quickly found his way to the dreaded door and was greeted with two guards. He waved them off, he didn't need his own men hearing him get chewed out. After ensuring they left, he knocked on the door.
"Come in." A deep voice called. "Ah Bokuto, how nice of you to visit."
"Hello, Yamiji, how're you doing today." Bokuto greeted as politely as he could.
"Oh, my headache is just terrible, but then again it always is. And my knee is real bad today." Bokuto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They had tried to help him, but there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him. It was all mental. You couldn't help someone who didn't want to get better.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Can I get you anything?" Bokuto forced a smile.
"No, no. Tell me, how have your little excursions gone?"
"I forged an alliance with Nekoma." Bokuto said, better to get it out in the beginning than say it later. Oh, here it comes Bokuto thought as Yamiji's face hardened.
"You what?! How could you betray the family like this, boy?!" Yamiji spit out.
"I have betrayed no one! This family needs alliances in order to survive. Not to mention, the extra money will help us greatly. I have strengthened this family!" Bokuto defended.
"Those Cats cannot be trusted; they will claw your eyes out as soon as they get the chance! How could you be so foolish?"
"Name one time they have ever given us a reason not to trust them! Nekomata always treated us well and his successor is no different."
"Oh yes the successor! They are weak! You can use this opportunity. You could finally destroy Nekoma." Yamiji giggled like a mad man.
"We have no intention of starting a war with Nekoma. It would be meaningless bloodshed."
"What is with your sudden opposition to blood, boy? You've never had a problem with it before." The scar on Bokuto's face stung at his former boss's words. He resisted the urge to hiss.
"That only happened because I was still under your thumb." Bokuto muttered, "I will not start a war to appease your fantasy."
"Bah! You will soon learn. Let them betray you, it will be your fault!" Yamiji waved his hand around. "What else have you done?"
"I secured a contract with Datekogyo." The Owl braced himself for this one. Yamiji's arm twitched like he was going to swing out and hit Bokuto, but realized he was too far away for that to happen.
"Now I see, you want to ruin this family." Yamiji shook his head. Bokuto's eyes prickled but he refused to let it show, he knew it would be bad, but he was never prepared for what the man would say. "What possessed you to do such a thing?"
"We need the money." That was the only answer he would give.
"We have plenty! That is no reason."
"That is a reason! You almost bankrupt us! I am doing all I can to fix that, and I have done so without revealing the precarious position we are in to others." Bokuto growled.
"I made us stronger!"
"You made us larger! That is not the same! You gave us men and territory, but not a way to sustain it. You almost doomed us!"
"Do what you will! You are the boss now! I don't know why you visit me if you just plan on yelling at me when I don't deserve it." Yamiji sputtered with large, fake sobs starting to run down his face.
"Because you—forget it." Bokuto cut himself off. The man would never listen. He stood up and exited the room without another word.
Bokuto made it a few hallways away before he slipped into an empty room. He quietly closed the door before sliding his back down it. He knew this wasn't really the words of his own mentor but the words of an old mans twisted mind. It didn't make it any less painful though. This man had practically raised him, he took him in when he had no one else and then groomed him to be the man he is today. How could these words not affect him? He covered his eyes with his hand to hold off tears. He refused to cry anymore over this man. He was no longer his mentor, he reminded himself of that, but it did little to comfort him.
He took a few shaky breaths to calm himself down. He didn't have time to hide in this room, he had other duties as a boss that he needed to attend to. He didn't have the luxury of a mental breakdown, not anymore.
He took a deep breath and made sure his eyes were dry before creeping back out of the room. Regardless of what that old man said, he was the boss, and he would bring his family to new heights.
Iwaizumi was still worried about Makki and Mattsun as he made his way outside of the building, but he trusted those two to be okay. He dreaded the next conversation with Oikawa about it though. He needed to find a believable excuse about what kind of errand they were running for him. He couldn't tell Oikawa about Shiratorizawa. The brunet had already been through so much suffering at their hands; he didn't need old memories being dragged up. Iwaizumi had to calm himself as his own memories started to resurface. There was no evidence that Shiratorizawa was preparing to make a move against Seijoh, but everyone knew to deal with Shiratorizawa was to make an enemy of Seijoh. Nohebi was low on the list of people Iwaizumi tolerated, much less liked, so he didn't care about losing them. He was surprised that they would try to work with them though. It wasn't their style. He shook his head, he couldn't think of that now, he had another interesting problem to deal with right now.
"Yaku." He said as he opened the outside door that led to a secluded alleyway.
"Yo, Iwaizumi." He greeted.
"It's been a while." Iwaizumi commented.
"It has been. Oikawa still driving you crazy?" He asked politely.
"He is, though I doubt you came here just to see who is getting into my pants. What do you need?" The raven said bluntly.
"Fair enough," Yaku snickered, "I need a favor."
"I figured as much. Name it."
"I need you to attack a certain Nekoma convoy at a certain time and place."
"Should I be worried about your loyalties?" Iwaizumi rose an eyebrow. He had gotten some strange requests from the blond cat before, but nothing like this.
"It's Kuroo-dono's orders." Yaku informed him.
"Right." That did nothing to help Iwa's confusion, but at least now he knew it wasn't a betrayal and there was some semblance of a plan behind it. "What exactly do you need from me?"
"Unidentifiable assailants attack the specified convoy; their target escapes conveniently into a third parties' path. The assailants pursue, but back off when the third party retaliates. Everyone goes home and no one dies."
"Well, that's not risky at all." Iwaizumi crossed his arms.
"Our men won't engage; they'll just be getting the target out of there. I'm sure plenty of cover can be arranged to be in the path of the pursuers so no harm will befall them." Yaku finished.
"One condition." Yaku gave him a suspicious look, "If you're going to risk my men, you could at least tell me who the third part is." Iwaizumi demanded.
"Fukurodani, specifically Bokuto." Yaku sighed. He knew the raven would never agree if he didn't give him this.
"Didn't you Cats just make an alliance with them?" He asked confused.
"We did, that's why you're not to engage them, but back off instead."
"Whatever. I'll let Kuroo play his game. Let me know when and where and we'll be there." Iwaizumi found it strange, but he could spare the men and honestly, he was curious as to what would happen.
"We'll have the scene ready before." Yaku nodded his head before blending into the shadows of the alleyway to return to his own territory.
Chapter 14 is in progress! I'm really excited for the next chapters so stayed tuned! Check out my profile for other Haikyuu stories. Thank you so much for the wonderful support! See you next time! ~Kiera540