YEAR THREE.80 4/4 Anamnesis & Provocation
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder
Keishin Ukai isn't sure how he ended up staying with the group of eccentric beach dwellers, but he won't complain. It's been a mind-bending last twelve hours and he's exhausted, but doubts he could sleep anyway.
The avian heir and the bunting had shown up in Sheru bay not long after the first wave had come and destroyed the vast majority of everything. Keishin had been helping scour the murky bay for missing people when he'd noticed their shapes over the coastal hills.
Tanaka had stopped in to grab a sweet for Natsu just that morning and told him that the short crow and several of the others would be gone to some spring festival a good day's walk inland, so he'd scrunched his face in confusion. But it had quickly dissolved.
Of course, they'd be on their way back after something like this.
He'd met them head on, knowing they would be aghast at what had become of Sheru Bay. They'd immediately inquired after Noya and Keishin had frowned, because the small crow was also supposed to have gone to the festival, and he hadn't seen him for two days. After a stuttering and broken explanation that the short avian had bolted and torn back home ahead of them, Keishin had felt something very much like dread settle in him.
The inn had been one of the few buildings that had been left even partially intact and still recognizable as having been a building. It had come to rest upstream in one of the creek ravines; in the pandemonium of the aftermath, he'd completely forgotten that the remaining unit members were supposed to be renovating it.
They'd arrived in time to find Tanaka, Daichi, and Bokuto crowding around a hole in the roof, Noya's frantic voice echoing from within.
"— Asahi's trapped! We need to get him out!"
They'd proceeded to hack their way inside only to find the other crow in shock, his one wing literally destroyed. It still makes his breath catch and his gut twist when he thinks about it now. They'd managed to find another axe to help them get inside, but Keishin had had to stop them from just cutting and pulling one of the walls away to get him out.
It had been over seven centuries since the last earthquake like this, but it was something he would never forget. He'd probably been around their age now, maybe a little younger… but he knows that they will feel loss as keenly as he had if they aren't careful. But that hadn't meant his interference had been welcome. Noya had nearly gone ballistic when he'd stopped them from lifting the wall off Asahi's pinned wing.
"What are you doing? We need to get it off him!" He'd screeched and Keishin had reacted under the insistent press of those memories by grabbing the small crow's shirt and jerking him up off his feet.
"And he'll die!" He'd snapped.
He'd lost a sister this way.
In that last earthquake… she'd been trapped under rubble for three hours, one leg crushed beneath a beam and bricks. They'd freed her.
And she'd died from shock an hour later.
Keishin remembered her shrieks as the pain became agonizing, her glazed eyes and confusion as she'd started shaking all over. After she'd been pulled from the mess, she'd rapidly gone pale, her pulse growing thready, and entirely nonexistent in the injured leg at all. She'd gotten violently sick, and increasingly weak, her mind slipping. She'd finally succumbed to unconsciousness while his family had panicked trying to save her only for her to stop breathing.
She'd been fine while she was trapped— in pain, but coherent and responsive, her mental capacity and pallor holding steady. Only later did they find out that they had incorrectly extracted her, inadvertently paving the way for her to die as her body overwhelmed her in the wake of blood being restored to the massively injured limb. The leg had been left too long without blood flow, the tissues dying, and when it had returned, the crushed dead muscles had poisoned her. She'd have been better off if they'd have amputated the limb at the outset and she might have survived.
Keishin remembers every detail from that horrible memory.
A limb crushed like Asahi's was very dangerous because it could kill even after it had been relieved of the pressure on it. There was a critical time frame where things would start going south as the tissues began dying, and he knew they were getting frighteningly close if not already past it. If Asahi had been there more than an hour, he was potentially at risk. And the wave had destroyed Sheru Bay about an hour before.
"We can't just remove the wall." He'd told the anxious crow. "We have to place a tourniquet."
"T-tourniquet, are you insane?" Noya had spat. "He doesn't need a tourniquet. We aren't hacking his wing off!"
"And if losing the wing is the only way to save his life?" He'd barked at the short crow who'd pulled up short with wide mocha eyes. "We aren't just going to hack it off, either. We can try to save it, but if it's too damaged, it will have to be removed or it will kill him."
The short crow had found Asahi with panic and Keishin had wanted to facepalm because they were wasting time. Anytime there was a major injury, things needed to move fast. Time was a critical commodity that would always be in short supply, and ten times out of ten, the quicker treatment was given, the better the prognosis.
"Asahi can't lose his wing!" He'd adamantly insisted and Keishin had wanted to smack the kid.
Honestly, with how badly it was pinned between those two walls, even if he managed to keep the limb, he'd never fly again. The long bones were shattered, they'd never heal properly. Asahi was never going to leave the ground again under his own power. But he'd been saved from acting on the urge to take a swing by the large crow in question.
"It's okay Noya. I honestly thought I—just getting to see you and the others again is a gift. If I have a chance for more than that, then I'm grateful." He'd said with calm sincerity.
"You can't be grounded!"
"I can Noya. If I lose a wing, I'll just be like the cats or Hinata. And that's okay." Asahi had said and looked up at him. "Place the tourniquet."
The libero had stared at the trapped crow with watering eyes for long moments before pulling his shirt and handing it to Ukai to use as a tie. He'd just finished wrapping it twice around the snared limb and had been tying it off when a shout had echoed from the roof.
"Daichi! We have to move! There's another one coming!" Tanaka had called down to them and Keishin had gone cold.
Another wave?
It wasn't unusual for a coastline to be battered by multiple tsunamis after an earthquake like this… but it was the last thing they'd needed. Time had very quickly become a commodity they were fast running out of. If they could see another wave coming, they probably had five minutes before it would hit to get the crow out.
They had pulled the chunk of wall away from the stricken appendage as quickly as they'd been able. Keishin had swiftly snagged an axe and sliced through the last few feathers still wedged between wood panels and Asahi had outright collapsed with a heavy exhale, his eyes rolling back as the pain instantly vaulted.
Within moments, both Kageyama and Daichi looked green at the sight of the disfigured wing, and Noya had almost lost his mind. Keishin had barked sharply at them; they hadn't had time for that. Kageyama was the first to react and had focused on anything but the downed crow as he'd taken up across from Keishin and pulled an arm over his shoulder. They'd navigated the unconscious crow out of the twisted maze of what was left of the inn and had haphazardly negotiated him out onto the roof, the small crow panicking anytime the injured wing was jostled. Getting him up into the bright sunlight where Bokuto, Tanaka, Natsu, and Yachi waited allowed him his first real look at the damage instead of by the weak light of candle flame.
And, oh, was this bad.
The bones weren't straight anymore, the main joint between the two heavy long ones all but obliterated. It bent in the wrong places with every small movement and Keishin was pretty sure the tendon he could see on the underside was supposed to run across the top. Blood slowly leaked out through various lacerations all along the limb through the mangled covert feathers, bone and ligaments peeking out here and there. It was unnervingly similar to his sister's injuries that had claimed her life centuries ago.
And to make matters worse, Miss Haruka, their resident medical expert, was missing.
"Gods, this is awful." Bokuto had said in a hushed tone, snapping Keishin out of his daze.
And as the next wave had crashed against the shore, Tanaka had collected Natsu, and they'd lifted Asahi out of harm's way, headed for Takeda's on Daichi's order. And upon reaching the man's home, he'd been greeted with more staggering details about the eccentric beach group.
He frequently saw Bokuto and Akaashi after a shift at the docks, Suga and Daichi stopped in periodically every few days, the cats all made an appearance roughly once a week, the girls were regulars any time they made it into town, and the rest of the Karasuno unit— barring Kageyama and Hinata— showed up once in a while, too. And of all those people that he'd seen on a cyclical basis, he'd only known that the two he didn't see every day were a level pair.
As he'd helped set up a makeshift med area in Takeda's house, he'd quickly found that he was surrounded by them.
Upon carefully moving Asahi inside, he'd come face to face with Lev and Yaku glowing brightly enough to light the dim room enough to see by. He'd known the two cats were close, had always been able to see the spark between them, but seeing Lev clutching the unconscious russet feline to himself with a hardline determination that was tempered with gentle adoration amid the light that radiated from their ears while Suga had finished stitching his gut closed was eye-opening.
And that had only been the start.
Over the next few hours, he'd learned that Daichi and Suga were a pair, Bokuto and Akashi as well, Tanaka and little Natsu… and now Noya and Asahi, too. Yachi had surveyed the wing as Asahi had come around with an agonized grimace.
"I… I can't fix this." She'd whispered, horror screwing up her cute little face.
"You have to!" Noya had said frantically.
"I can't! I don't know where to start. We need Miss Haruka." She'd whimpered.
"We don't know where she ended up in this mess, so we'll have to go off my knowledge right now. We need to see if the wing is dead already. Daichi, can we get wet cloth to wrap it in? We will need it when we remove the tie and see if we have to take it off." Keishin had asked and Yachi had turned to him with grateful respect.
"I can get it!" Noya had yelped, on his feet in a flash, but Asahi had captured his wrist in a grip that showed veins down through his forearm with a grim expression.
"Stay Noya." He'd ground out through the excruciating pain and the short crow had frozen. "Just stay."
Furious, terrified, sorrowful tears had welled in Nishinoya's mocha eyes, and he'd dropped next to the long-haired crow.
"Okay. I won't go anywhere without you again."
The small crow had gone silent as they'd removed the tourniquet, hadn't complained even once when Asahi drew him up in a suffocating embrace as the pain multiplied another hundredfold. Keishin had never done anything like this; hadn't had the chance last time because he hadn't known beforehand. He'd hated putting the large crow through this as much as he'd hated watching his sister die.
But as the large crow had passed out under the onslaught once more, he'd glowed.
Apparently, the soft indigo hue that emanated from his wings had been a surprise to the others as much as to Keishin, because everyone had paused with shock. Noya had stared at the unconscious large crow as if he'd never met him before his face had scrunched up.
"It was you? This whole time? That stupid cat wasn't just jerking me around."
Keishin could make heads nor tails of the dumbfounded remark but Lev had stirred with a small smirk.
"Mori's pretty good at calling 'em." He'd said quietly, burying his face in the russet cat's hair. Tanaka had looked at him in disbelief.
"How are you even talking? Suga's still stitching up your gaping stomach." The thrush had looked up at him apologetically.
"I gave him white willow and ginkgo… the combination may have had unexpected effects."
"Maybe we should give some to Asahi. He's probably in worse pain than Lev right now." Bokuto had remarked and Akaashi had returned with Takeda as if on cue.
"Already working on it." He'd said.
Noya hadn't heard any of it though. His awed gaze had never left Asahi's slack face. He'd leaned his head against the crow's shoulder, that almost reverent look wavering as the hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth.
"Do you know what this means, Asahi? It means that it doesn't matter if you lose your wing or not. You'll still get to fly again someday."
That had been hours ago.
Asahi still breathes and he still has his twisted, disfigured wing. Even in the wake of knowing that he could regrow it, Suga had pressed to try and save it anyway. The thrush had said healing damaged tissues or broken bones— no matter how shattered— was still easier for the leveler link than regenerating them altogether.
That didn't mean the road to recovery wouldn't be excruciating. The crow had dropped from the waking world twice more from the pain, even with Akaashi's questionable willow and ginkgo blend. He had gone pale, a sheen of sweat coating his face, and staunching the blood loss had been a challenge, but he'd been able to hold down fluids which was critical.
Keishin thanks every star in the sky above him that a wing had fewer major arteries than other limbs. Unfortunately, there were no fewer nerves or ligaments, though, and as it stood, the crow has had no feeling beyond the pain radiating from the limb.
Noya hasn't left his side for more than a few seconds, which was honestly a relief. Keishin didn't know what to do with that anxious mass of energy and Asahi seemed to handle and contain it with complete ease. He'd even just kind of smiled with a quiet 'I know' when Noya had informed him of his glowing status. The banded blond can totally see why they are levelers.
Voices break his train of thought.
"You won't even know where they are. You leave and it will be just one more thing to worry about." He hears Daichi say and then Kageyama scoffs. Keishin cocks an eyebrow and heads their way.
"That's easy for you to say. Your leveler isn't in the middle of the mountains somewhere."
"They're fine, Feathers." Bokuto says.
"The beanpole has cracked ribs and the blinky cat has a broken shoulder. Your version of fine is pretty warped." Kageyama snaps.
"They aren't alone, though Kageyama, there are six of them." Akaashi tries to reason with him.
"And three of the four that aren't injured aren't accustomed to fighting if they run into trouble. And Hinata might be out as well; he hasn't been sleeping well and his back has been killing him lately."
"Their numbers should deter most would be assailants. Normal people don't attack one on four."
"May I offer my thoughts?" Keishin breaks in and they all turn toward him. Daichi frowns slightly as if he expects to be overridden, but nods just the same.
"You've more than helped us; we owe you that much and more." Keishin dips his head in appreciation and looks at Kageyama who watches him expectantly.
"You should stay." He says, surprising the others, and the avian prince's gaze widens just a touch.
"Hinata—"
"Hear me out." Keishin cuts him off.
"All of your people might be accounted for, but Sheru Bay as a whole hasn't been so lucky. Most people survived, but last count, we had four dead, and thirteen missing, Miss Haruka among them. That number rose by another two after the second wave hit. Every extra set of hands is a blessing and Sheru Bay needs help."
"Maybe you've forgotten, but I'm not allowed in Sheru Bay." Kageyama growls.
"You aren't, but the others are— and at the moment, I doubt it matters as Sheru bay is literally no longer on the map. Suga and Yachi are already trying to help with injuries; Daichi, Tanaka, Bokuto, anyone else you can spare will mean the world to them.
"There's still close to a month before summer really arrives. Interim shelter is the first concern and we are already hashing that out, but the next thing they will need is sustenance. We can procure water just fine, but we've lost a month's worth of food stores. While Takeda has readily extended what he has left for you guys, the rest of Sheru Bay still has to eat, too. At the very least, you should stay and take care and provide for your group so that they can help do the same for Sheru Bay."
"I don't like leaving Hinata out there alone."
"Have a little faith in your leveler, Feathers; I saw you spar under your father, and you are both formidable opponents. And he isn't alone. Besides… if I know Hinata at all, he'd rather you stayed, too." Kageyama's expression is quite black, but Keishin knows he's caving at the mention of Hinata's inclination.
"I will stay until the day after tomorrow. If they haven't shown up by then, I'm going looking." He says in a rigid voice.
"If they aren't back by then, it won't be just you going to find them." Bokuto says firmly.
"Wait… wait a moment." Daichi frowns.
"You saw Kageyama spar back at the rookery? You knew who he was when we came here— knew all of us. Who are you?"
Keishin is surprised it's taken them almost four years to ask that question. To be fair, he's pointedly avoided it up till now, but he's been entrusted with all the beach crew's secrets today so he doubts he has any right to keep his own.
"My grandfather was one of the advisors to the Grand King. I grew up in the rookery, a few centuries older than you guys, but watching you become the first unit all the same."
"Why did you leave?" Daichi asks curiously.
"The wharf shop was left to my mother and I came out here to take it over."
"And why did you never turn us in?" Kageyama asks with a critical gaze.
"I recognized you immediately, and to be honest, I was mystified that you showed up here. But your reasons for leaving were your own. Looking back, I have to say they were probably justified." He says, his gaze drifting back toward the door and the three glowing level pairs behind it— because apparently Natsu was also grounded like her brother, by pinioning no less.
"We are grateful for your silence." Daichi says sincerely and Keishin nods.
They all jar as the earth under their feet trembles with another aftershock— one of several already, and Kageyama and Akaashi step back inside to check on the others. As it quickly subsides, the banded blond breathes a mild sigh of relief now that one minor crisis has at least been postponed. It would be less than ideal to split the beach crew even more when they have three critically injured ones right here.
Asahi might have made it through the first few hours, but that destroyed wing is a prime candidate for necrosis and will need to be watched carefully. Lev's stomach might be stitched up and the cat very lucid, but sepsis could easily infiltrate that injury. Perhaps most concerning of the three is Yaku, who has yet to stir. He's bruised and battered, one arm broken, but he doesn't have much for open wounds, which makes determining what is wrong a hundred times more difficult.
If the small cat doesn't wake by tomorrow, Keishin worries that he maybe never will.
It is getting late the following afternoon and the young avian heir has long grown restless by the time a wagon driven by a couple monks rolls up carrying the half dozen missing beach crew along with a rash of sorely needed supplies.
Keishin smiles slightly at the reunion between Kageyama and Hinata. The wagon hasn't even stopped before the redhead is leaping from the back of it, flying past him, and throwing himself into Kageyama's waiting embrace. The avian prince ditches discretion altogether, and buries his face into his leveler's hair, chaste kisses finding his ear and temple.
"Please don't ask me to leave like that again, idiot." He says gruffly and Hinata nods and presses into him a little more.
Tsukishima climbs out gingerly with the help of one of the monks, a small, dark haired man who's careful not to jar a splinted wing while the freckled crow hovers anxiously. Kiyoko and Kenma help Kuroo down, and Keishin has to give the cat props for muffling his curse. He wonders how often those two would have preferred walking to the discomfort of a wagon that bounces across every stone in the road. Yachi joyfully greets them before sharing a brief hug with Shimizu, but the little bunting trails after the female crow with starry eyes until Shimizu spins and plants a decidedly not so chaste kiss on the blond.
Keishin greets the large silver haired monk, a quiet man by the name of Aone, and explains about their small coastal town. He's surprised to learn that he and the other monk, Moniwa, are from the temple that collapsed on the black cat and the ibis. The bears have brought with them so many things that Keishin wouldn't have even considered.
There isn't just food, there is clothing, and tools, and medical supplies. He's brought all the necessary implements to begin rebuilding, and he's even brought half a dozen ravens. Keishin has to marvel, because it was one of the last things anyone was thinking about, but one of the most critical things they'd need if they wanted to stay in contact with other towns. Sheru Bay's own small aviary was destroyed much to Natsu's extreme distress for the birds they'd lost. Hinata turns toward Daichi with a neutral expression.
"Why are we holed up here? What happened to the beach house?" He asks and Keishin notices the other five pause at the question as well.
"It's gone. There isn't even a foundation left and the beach looks nothing like it used to. The only reason we know where it used to be is because the stream is still there." Tanaka answers for him.
"Eh? It's really… gone?" Yamaguchi asks with wide eyes.
"Yeah. You want a detailed description of its final moments, you can ask Lev. He and Yaku were inside when the first wave hit." Bokuto says and Kuroo's gaze turns sharp.
"They are alright?" He asks, his voice hollow.
"They are still alive, if that is what you are asking…" Tanaka says with a frown, "But they aren't exactly in stellar condition. Yaku hasn't woken up yet and Lev is on a mission to eviscerate himself any time he moves. Akaashi and Suga have been doing everything they can, but if Yaku doesn't come around soon, we may be facing a bad situation."
"Anything else I should be worried about?" Kuroo asks heavily.
"Asahi's grounded now, too." Bokuto offers frankly and all six of them turn horrified eyes to the streaked owl.
"Grounded?" Yamaguchi echoes in a choked voice.
"Yeah… he got caught between a couple walls and one of his wings got destroyed. On the bright side, we found out Noya is his leveler, so he won't stay that way." Hinata's jaw drops.
"Asahi? And Noya?"
"Yeah." Kageyama murmurs and one of Tsukishima's brows cocks.
"You mean none of you guys had that figured out?" He asks with a condescending smirk, and Akaashi glances over his shoulder from where he's helping Aone unload the wagon, the smaller owl's hand rising.
"I did." Bokuto's head jerks toward his leveler, his golden eyes going wide.
"What? Since when?"
"Since Lev let it slip years ago." Kuroo shakes his head.
"That stupid cat." He grumbles with a sigh. "That brings the total flightless avian count to what? Four? How did that number quadruple since last year?" He murmurs, one hand rising to his head in a beleaguered gesture. "I wish I'd been here. All of us."
"No one could have known this would happen, Kuroo." Kenma says.
"I want to see it." The freckled crow's declaration silences them all and everyone turns toward Yamaguchi. His face is set into a resolved expression, his mouth pursed into a thin line.
"Yamaguchi—"
"We haven't been to Sheru Bay, yet. I want to see it." He repeats firmly, cutting off the ibis.
"Are you sure?" Hinata asks cautiously. The crow frowns and nods.
"It's… there isn't much left of it." Kageyama says uncertainly.
"I don't care." The crow says and Keishin lets out a weighted breath.
"I know a decent vantage point where you can see pretty much the full scope of it. I'll take you there." The redhead turns to his leveler.
"I want to go, too." He says with one of his determined looks and Kageyama's head tilts but he doesn't refuse Hinata's request. The avian prince had been into Sheru Bay twice since returning and Keishin had been right; no one batted an eye at his presence in the wake of this disaster.
"Yamaguchi." Tsukishima watches the crow with a steep focus, a tension around his eyes, but the freckled crow meets his gaze without flinching.
"It's okay, Tsukki. I'm going to go. I'll be back in a bit."
Kageyama gathers up his leveler— they haven't broken physical contact since their reunion and it would be foolish to expect anyone else to take Hinata at the moment, and Keishin takes to the sky with a nod. The young level pair and Yamaguchi follow him, the streaked owl tagging along as well.
Keishin has to marvel at the former sentries' physical condition; Kageyama is barely hindered by Hinata's extra weight and keeps pace easily beside him. Being in such close proximity with the former first unit drives home everything he already knew about them. They are all in peak physical shape, their stamina and strength impressive, and they are all exceptional at logical analysis and processing. He'd seen them spar in training bouts when his grandfather had brought him to the military compound when he was younger and he remembers being quietly awed at their skill even as budding adolescents.
Now, nearly fully grown adults, they've lost a lot of the more childish attributes they'd had back then, their features sharper and movements even more precise and controlled, everything calculated and intentional. He's never seen them in real action, but he knows they've seen actual combat since Tanaka had given him a rough synopsis on their brush with the snake nest after he'd brought Natsu into his shop the week after they'd returned. And he remembers how that gull who'd harassed the small redhead and bunting had looked after Kageyama had been through with him.
They really were a frightening group to take up against… but having gotten to know them, Keishin knows they are so much more than that lionized, untouchable 'first unit'. They were some of the closest-knit people he'd ever met, and infinitely more compassionate than their 'warrior' image and training would have led one to believe. They readily offered most people the benefit of the doubt, were never averse to helping when it was needed, and they were surprisingly vulnerable.
Tanaka was hyper protective of them all, but a complete pushover for the younger redhead sibling. Daichi had gained wings like Kageyama's with his last molt, and Keishin knew he'd been considerably rattled at nearly having lost the thrush. Suga himself had only gotten more serene after his brush with death, and he'd taken up Yachi's decision to learn everything he could from Miss Haruka in order to be able to help people. Noya had been irate that he hadn't been there for the fight and thoroughly given the black cat an earful before Asahi had restrained him from throwing punches. Keishin doubted the large crow could ever hurt anyone with how pacifistic he was in general.
And though he hadn't seen them as much as the others, the level pair beside him had mellowed with their run in with the snakes. Kageyama takes insults with far more grace than he has in the past, and he is never far from Hinata's side, the redhead able to completely ease his black moods in moments. Hinata himself… has dimmed somehow. He was still sunny and happy, would still join in on pranks, and was still perpetually optimistic, but… his eyes look older. It was only after he'd asked the black cat about the kid that Keishin had learned how closely they'd actually tangled with the snakes.
And Keishin had lamented that loss of innocence as much as any of the others, no matter how unavoidable it might have been. It had hit them all, but Noya had been extremely upset over that turn of events and Bokuto had taken it especially hard, doing everything in his power to bring that brilliant spark back to the small spiker.
The person who could mitigate the occasional bouts of melancholy best, however, was Kageyama, the dark-haired setter simply pulling him into an embrace with a quiet look of lament. Keishin could tell the gesture had spoken of experience, had rung with solidarity in the form of both support and inherent understanding, and the banded blond had wondered where along the line the avian heir had had the misfortune of taking a life that he knew exactly the most effective way to comfort the redhead.
As Keishin touches down on the roof of a shed on the hillside that Sheru Bay used to be nestled up against, he can't picture the former first unit like he used to—as nothing more than a cold and calculating team that functioned with perfect efficiency.
They are all human with very human emotions and feelings. They are all as colorfully individual as everyone else and they are just as susceptible to pain. They laugh, they cry, they smile, they argue and play, and they hurt just like all people, and Keishin is gratified to have discovered that.
Yamaguchi stares with wide eyes, and Kageyama lets the redhead down onto his own feet and he steps forward with a slack jaw. Bokuto, who's seen all this already, had been here when it happened just like him, stands oddly silent behind them, and Keishin can't bring himself to break it before they've had a chance to really take it all in.
Most of Sheru Bay has been stripped down to nothing but bare earth, the remnants of destroyed buildings here and there, splintered bits of wood and debris lacing the landscape. Trees that weren't uprooted are dying from the seawater that saturated the soil after the two major waves, one of the boats that was docked at their small port resting aground not far from where Keishin's shop had stood, another blocking the path that would normally skirt along the beach to the location of the beach crew's old home. Almost nothing remains and it is a shock to the avians seeing it for the first time.
"It… really is all gone." Shouyou whispers.
"Yeah. The body count is at twelve so far. We still have seven missing." Keishin supplies with a sigh. And only a few hours back, he'd received word that Miss Haruka had been found. Unfortunately, she hadn't been found alive. It's a hard reality; the woman had always reminded him of his mother.
"When we were little," Yamaguchi says quietly, drawing their attention, "There was this day games thing in the neighboring town like an hour's flight away. Just one of those 'air relays' things they put on for kids. Our parents weren't able to come, so Akiteru took us. Tsukki didn't like me at all, but his mother would scold him any time he'd scoff at me, but I didn't really care. We didn't live by the coast so there weren't many gulls for him to blend in with and he was like that with everyone." A small smile tugs at his mouth before it disappears again.
"We left early in the morning when the sun was just coming up and Tsukki had already won something— I don't even remember what it was, but he was always taller so his wings were naturally larger than most kids in our age group which gave him an edge.
"I was just getting ready for my turn when the shaking started. Akiteru came out of nowhere and snagged both of us and pulled us away from all the buildings and huddled us up under a tree that I remember seeing sway far enough that I was sure it would snap. When it finally stopped and we went back home, there had been a slide and our entire hillside… there was no home to return to— no house, no community, no family. There weren't even landmarks so we couldn't even tell where anything used to be. Everything was gone." He says and Keishin wonders if the others are reeling at the freckled crow's words as much as he is.
"I never thought I'd live through something like that again."
It's surreal, he thinks, that the crow beside him had also lost people in the same big quake that took his sister. They'd been nowhere near each other, didn't know the other in the least, and yet… they share the experience. He imagines that most everyone could still remember where they were and what they were doing when that one had ruptured their lives. And he's positive that centuries from now, they will still all remember this one with just a grim of clarity, too. Hinata is the first to recover.
"You didn't. Not entirely. We're all still alive this time— Tsukishima, too." He says with conviction and a small smile, but Yamaguchi frowns slightly.
"I won't run from this anymore." He murmurs his eyes finding the redhead. "Tsukki almost died because of me. If I hadn't frozen up, he wouldn't have left in the first place."
"Yamaguchi… that's why you guys have the rest of us. When one of us falls short, everyone else will step up. As long as you are with us, we will have your back." Hinata says and Yamaguchi's eyes widen just a bit. His dark orbs slide back to the devastated Sheru Bay.
"Is that so?" He asks rhetorically, a smile just barely tugging at his own mouth. Hinata grins.
"Of course!" He says brightly before turning back to his leveler. "Can we go back? I want to see Noya and Asahi. I never got the chance to give them crap for finding out they were levelers after we did!" Kageyama smirks and offers his back to Hinata who happily clambers on.
They all take to the sky after the young level pair, Keishin feeling both lighter and heavier. He absently hopes this isn't the way it will always be around these guys. He doesn't know how much more heartbreak and worry over them he can stomach. But… just knowing them, living through their hardships with them… he's sure that it's worth it and he knows that he will suffer a thousand more tragedies with them if they will allow it.
Ahead of him, he sees the redhead glance to the side and his face momentarily slacks with surprise. Kageyama can't see his face, but he does turn his head in inquiry of his motion and Hinata jerks slightly. He says something to Kageyama that Keishin can't quite hear, and the setter nods before resuming his course.
Then the grounded avian turns and finds the banded blond crow. With a small smile, he points to the hillside beneath them. As Keishin follows his gaze, he sees another cart loaded with goods, it's driver paused at the junction where the road splits to go down into the ruin of Sheru Bay.
He nods and the redhead grins before turning and hunkering back down across Kageyama's back. Bokuto has caught sight of the figure as well, but Keishin waves him off, letting the owl know he'll take care of it. He banks away from them and plunges down toward the cart and driver.
It's a woman, he muses with surprise as he gets closer, and she looks up at him with sharp dark eyes as he closes in on her. Keishin almost frowns because she almost looks familiar.
But that thought is immediately sidelined as he takes in her appearance. She's mostly garbed for the early spring weather, but her heavy mantle is left open to the warmer air. Her outfit below is perhaps not the most modest, the thick black bracelet on her arm and the piercings in her ears lending her a more derelict or eccentric appearance. Her blond hair is bleached, he can tell, and it's pulled back on one side by a pretty mitsudomoe pin. Her arms rest on her knees in front of her, her black wings slack behind her, and he assumes she's probably a crow and swallows.
Shit. This chick is actually… quite attractive.
He belatedly rues the fact that he volunteered to intercept her.
"Good afternoon!" He calls amiably as his feet touch down. "You, um... seem a little lost. Can I point you in the right direction?" He asks and her head tilts.
"Perhaps. It's taken me longer to get here since none of you country rubes know how to post any signs. I'm looking for Sheru Bay. Which way?" She says with a scowl that tweaks Keishin's memory.
"Eh… it's that way, but there's nothing left." He says, pointing down the road into the town. She frowns with a tightness around her eyes.
"Did you live there?" She asks bluntly and he swallows again.
"I did."
"Then maybe you can tell me where I can find someone. I'm looking for a guy named Ukai. He used to run a shop by the docks." He blinks stupidly before shaking his head.
"Um… yeah, that would be me, actually." He supplies, completely dumbfounded.
This is a first. He's definitely never had some cute punk girl ask after him like this before.
Her eyebrows rise.
"You are a lot younger than I imagined. Are you sure you're the Ukai I'm looking for?" She asks skeptically, her chin rising with suspicion. He can't decide if that's an insult or a compliment. Maybe both?
"Ah. Yes?" He says uncertainly.
"Uh huh. I'll kick your ass if you are lying to me." She says bluntly, a sterile expression flattening her mouth, and Keishin almost huffs in surprised amusement.
"I don't doubt that. May I ask who's asking?" He says with a wry smirk.
She's totally adorable.
She frowns darkly and cocks a brow at him.
"You don't sound like you're from around here."
"I've only been here the last couple centuries or so. Not long enough to strip away my rookery accent completely yet. Would you have a name to go with that lovely cagey disposition? It might be nice to be able to tell my friends who handed my ass to me." He murmurs, enjoying the way her scowl wrinkles her face and her arms cross in front of her with affront.
"Keep pushing hotshot, and it won't be just your ass." She grumbles with a glare and he laughs.
He feels like he could go on a verbal spar with her for the rest of the day… but he's sure the rest of the beach crew are waiting on him. Besides, if she's determined not to tell him, then he might as well quit while he's behind.
Shame. I bet I could wind her up pretty good.
"Heh. Keep your secrets, then. That road will take you into Sheru Bay— or what's left of it, but I should probably get going. If you need to find me, ask for Takeda. Anyone can point you in the right direction." He says with a wave and turns to take off.
"Wait." She says with a scowl and he pauses. "Wait a moment. I'm… I'm looking for—"
She breaks off and they both look up to see an incoming pair of black wings and Ukai recognizes Tanaka.
"Hey, Ukai. Hinata said you'd need help—"
"Ryuu!" The woman screeches and as the crow lands beside him, the former sentry is nearly bowled off his feet with arms full of the blond. The bald crow blinks before his face goes slack.
"Saeko?" He says with a mystified expression and Keishin blinks.
They know each other?
"Freaking pinfeathers! Saeko!" Tanaka blurts and crushes her in a death grip, swinging her around with a grin.
She laughs and hugs him back and Keishin has the irrational urge to scowl. The crow sets her down and holds her at arm's length, his face a mask of joyful incredulity.
"Saeko, what the hell? What are you doing here?" She beams back at him.
"Spring came early this year so migration was early, too. We'd been back like two days when the quake hit. We've put together as much for supplies as we could come up with for you guys."
"Is it just you? You came out here alone?"
"Mm!"
"You idiot, that was dangerous! And what if you were followed?"
"Everyone was busy trying to fix the rookery. No one was going to notice me being gone." She says and Keishin cocks a brow, a tendril of a thought tickling the back of his mind.
"Eh… sorry, Tanaka, but… who is she?" He asks politely. The bald crow straightens and his trademark cocky smile slips into place as he looks down at the blond beside him.
"Ah, sorry! This is Saeko. She's my crazy sister. She's the reason the rest of us sentries are insane." Saeko jolts and punches him in the ribs and Tanaka doubles over with a laugh.
"You brat!" She barks, but Keishin's chest breathes the slightest sigh of relief, the banded blond never even realizing he'd been holding it.
Sister. Somehow, he's unreasonably happy to hear that.
"Heh. I can see the family resemblance. Wait… Saeko. Saeko… as in the drummer chick? Your sister is her?" He murmurs to the bald crow and the woman's brown eyes snap back to him.
"You! You don't get to say anything. You were most unhelpful." She growls and Keishin snorts.
"I answered every one of your questions. And you were the one threatening my ass." He says with amusement and Tanaka brings a hand to his face in embarrassment.
"Again, Saeko? Why do you always do this? This is why Jiji banned you from family gatherings." He says before reaching for the horse that patiently waits with the cart, a grin still tugging at his mouth.
"You are so dead if you say one more word, Ryuu." She growls and Tanaka laughs again.
"Come on. The others will be happy to see you."
Keishin walks the ten minutes back to Takeda's with them in relative silence, content to listen to the siblings bicker. And the longer he's around the blond woman, the more entertaining she becomes. If she lives in the rookery, perhaps he will have to make more frequent trips to visit his mother.
They round the corner up the way and Tanaka sucks in a breath. Keishin blinks and follows his gaze and then his jaw drops.
"Feathered cat balls on a stick. They're gonna be alright." He murmurs, relief washing through him.
Lev sits in a chair in the evening sunlight, Yaku cradled in his lap… and the small cat's eyes are open and taking everything in. Despite the nagging voice that states that under no circumstances should Lev have ever gotten up with his stomach like it is— something Keishin is also positive he will catch hell for from his leveler when Yaku realizes, the banded blond smiles, his eyes rising briefly to the sky in thanks.
For the first time in the last two days, he feels the mountain of stress fall away from his shoulders. Asahi will live and even fly again with his leveler there for him. Lev and Yaku will also pull through, although Keishin wonders if this instance will make both of their ears completely white or something. Kuroo will heal like new in a few months, the ibis, too. And they are all back together. A shout from Hinata pulls him from his thoughts and he turns only to be met with curious brown eyes framed by blond hair.
"Eh…" He says, taken off guard by Saeko's intent stare.
"What?" He asks. Her head tilts.
"That was a hell of an oath. Especially with little ears around." She says and her gaze pointedly slides toward Natsu who bolts toward them.
Saeko's face morphs into one of surprise as Tanaka swiftly hands her the horse's reins before the child throws herself at the bald crow. He catches her up with a grin.
"How's my little Bel?" He says with a laugh and she rattles off something unintelligible at him punctuated by 'Baldy', and Saeko stares as he captures her hands and suspends her in the air with one of his before dragging fingers across her belly. As she screeches with laughter, Tanaka's feral smirk slips onto his face.
"How many times have I told you? I don't speak your munchkin babble. Now what were you trying to say?" He asks pausing his assault. Natsu gasps and looks at him with her brow scrunching despite her smile.
"Se?" She squeaks and Tanaka raises a brow and resumes his attack and she squeals again.
"Non!" She gasps, "Mwen—" When he pauses again, she's breathing hard but she watches him steadily.
"Mwen— I… I no know word!" She squawks when he makes to tickle her again.
"Ah." He says and catches her up again.
"What do you not know the word for?" He asks and Natsu points at him and then at Saeko. Realization dawns.
"Sister." He says with a grin and she smiles, her face lighting up like Hinata's.
"Se… s-sister."
"Yep, Saeko is my sister." The little girl stares at her for a long moment before turning back to the bald crow.
"You right. Flowers Bad." Tanaka sputters as laughter rolls from his gut, and he's still busting a gut as he sets her down.
"Come on, Munchkin. Saeko's brought us a bunch of stuff, too. We should take care of it." He croaks, taking the reins from Saeko and handing them to Natsu. They lead the horse off, leaving Saeko standing beside him with a very bewildered expression.
"She… kinda looks like Hinata." She says and Keishin grins.
"Your eyes are sharp as they are beautiful." He laughs and she turns on him with her jaw hanging.
"You—"
"That kid is his honest to god blood sister. I don't suppose you missed the little pin in her hair either? The sunflowers?" He says and her mouth closes with a click, her eyes drifting in rapid thought.
"No?" She says cautiously.
"Ask him about that. That kid is… unique, especially with regard to Tanaka. That will be a conversation you probably won't be prepared for. He sure wasn't." Keishin laughs. She frowns before looking around at the others, her gaze wide and curious as she takes in the owls and cats, the two bear monks, before she looks back at him.
"I thought they lived on the beach." She says with narrowed eyes and Keishin cocks a brow at her.
"We did just have an earthquake?" He says and she looks away.
"It's gone, same way as my shop. I'm sure it will be rebuilt soon enough; that's the way it goes. Another few years and the town will have a new face, another century people will have halfway forgotten the events of the last few days. That's… just the flow of life, no matter who it leaves behind." He says, thoughts of his sister briefly skimming through his head.
Somehow, he can remember her now with far less pain than he had before this quake. Perhaps having been able to save Asahi from the same fate— and by extension, Noya, allows him wistful joy at her memory.
"Who did you leave behind?"
He jars and looks down at Saeko with her sharp brown eyes, unprepared for the question. For a long moment, he mentally stumbles, before smiling slightly.
"My sister. The last big one like this, I lost my sister." He murmurs, looking back at Lev and Yaku, Hinata chattering happily to them before Kagaeyama calls him over toward Tanaka and the wagon.
"I'm sorry." She says and he shrugs mildly before turning a devious smirk back on her.
"So I get the feeling there is a particular incident that got you banned from family functions. I feel like it's a safe bet to assume sake was involved."
"Why, you—"
"Little ears, remember… although I didn't peg you as one who'd care about something like that." He says with a grin. Her jaw works and her wings ruffle like she wants to zing him with a good insult, but can't decide which to hurl and Keishin full on laughs.
He was right. Winding her up is a blast.
Across the yard in a chair, a lanky gray cat tightens his grasp just a little more around his leveler, ignoring the pain radiating from his gut.
"Hey Mori." He murmurs, his gaze tracking the banded blond and new female, and the small cat in his arms barely moves at the sound of his name.
"Mm?"
The grey cat grins as the crow laughs while the newcomer nearly spits her teeth at him in frustration.
"I think I can see what you mean when you say there's this kind of 'spark'." He says and the russet ears on his chest shift just enough so he can see what the grey cat is talking about.
"Ah…yep, that would be it." He says and the lanky cat smiles happily.
A/N: And that's it for year three. My POV for this one was decided after Ukai's seiyuu passed away as kind of a tribute, but the more I wrote him in, the more no one else seemed even remotely appropriate. Also, welcome to another one of my atypical ships. I stumbled across a couple brilliant pieces while researching Saeko, and have been unable to ship either of them with anyone else since- I invite you to join the madness:
p/92mY9F
post/140634571603
I think there might be a couple others, but I'm half asleep. I was shite for formatting and cleanup, so I apologize for any errors. Heh, Nyx is dead. Im getting pulled in for OT to help other depts and it's tax season so im already busy as hell. Two 10s and a 12 already, another 12 tomorrow, supposed to play in a Thursday night vb league, and they want me to come in for a few hrs before my flight on friday, and 2 days of travel after that. I feel like I should tie a surrender flag to a stick and wave it at life as it sails by.
My sincerest apologies guys, but I might take a couple days' sabbatical for my own sanity. Pulling crazy sleep dep schedules is fun and all on weekends when I have no real obligations, but when I have to be up at 530 tomorrow for another long day and have to NOT miss a flight the next... yeah, adulting sucks. I will try to post friday or saturday, but I am hoping to be back on schedule for sure by sunday. Again, I'm sorry for the short notice. Love y'all, have a fantastical evening!