Kenma stood in front of the large, old building, his hands in his pocket as he stayed frozen on his spot.

It wasn't fear. He hesitated not because he was scared, but he was now in doubt. So many possibilities. His friends losing their trusts, hating him, and many more bitter things. Yes, he's the leader and nothing would change that, but at the same time he didn't want to be some kind of tyrant.

A low chuckle escaped his lips. Maybe Hajime was right. He protected them all just so that he didn't lose them. Maybe Keiji was telling the truth. Kenma never understands, because he never had any of those called friends or family.

"Isn't it amusing? I'm such a fool."

Kenma wanted to laugh, but somehow he couldn't. That strange feeling, holding him back to make sure he kept his composure, it was now so suffocating.

His mother died in her sufferings, and his father committed suicide, running away from the harsh reality. Even those who were supposed to care the most still leaves him.

'I want to die.'

A small smile made its way into his lips, and he repeated the phrase in his head. 'I want to die,' each words seemed to fit perfectly, 'I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, want to die, want to die, want to die, to die, to die, to die, die, die, die, di-...'

"Kenma-san?"

Kenma was instantly snapped out of his thoughts. It was Yuu, standing beside him, looking at him with worry as he placed a hand on Kenma's shoulder.

"Are you crying?"

Kenma's figure tensed, and he gently touched his cheek, to feel some wet tears on his tears. His eyes widened slightly, and he let out a soft chuckle.

"Ah. I didn't realize that," he muttered, before he smiled at his underling, "I'll be alright in a sec. Just go ahead and get inside."

"...If you said so... But don't make us wait for long, Kenma-san!"

Kenma merely nodded, and watched as Yuu ran off. He stayed on his spot for a while, wondering whether he should enter or leave. However, suddenly his guts told him to turn around, and when he did, something wheezed past him. A knife, which lodged itself onto a tree a few meters from where his head was.

Had he was a milisecond late, he would have been dead.

Kenma scoffed, and turned to look at the culprit. His rivals, turned out. Both of them were wearing their usual dark coats, silver handkerchiefs tied around their neck.

"Good luck next time," Kemma stated calmly. The two men huffed, one of them crossing his arms.

"You haven't change, Neko. Let's go inside already."

"... You're the guests, not me."

The three entered the building, walking upstairs in silence.

"Can you stay here for a while?" Kenma asked as he stopped in front of the lounge's entrance. His two guests merely nodded their heads, and Kenma entered the room.

He expected to find it empty, and it was close enough.

Almost all of the members were inside the room, and they all have a bag with them. Kenma only let out a sigh.

"Don't worry. I already told you, I'll never force you to stay."

Kei chuckled, "You never forced us to leave, either, right?"

Kenma froze, and this time Sugawara spoke up, "We'll be staying here for a while, at least until we're done with those crows. You don't mind, do you?"

"Their leader only wants me, Kou. You shouldn't try to interfere, it'll be dangerous."

"But Kenma-san! We're a part of this mess, too!" Lev yelled with a disbelieving look, "You already said it's dangerous! We won't let you go against them alone!"

"Lev, I asked for it myself."

"Well, then take my words as a request!"

Kenma hated to admit that Lev was one of his weakness.

"... Fine. But you will follow my orders."

"Yes, sir!" All the members yelled in sync, bringing a small smile onto Kenma's lips.

"Thank you."

"We should be the one saying that!" Hinata exclaimed, "Oh, and by the way, Keiji-san and Hajime-san are upstairs. They told me to tell you that."

Kenma's smile fell, "Alright. I'll talk to them. Kiyoko, the Iron Eagles are outside. Aone needed the files about the White Crows, and Wakatoshi asked for the latest bounty information. Please give them our finest hospitality."

"Understood."

As Kiyoko went to welcome the guests, Kenma walked upstairs. However, he stopped as soon as he met the two on the staircase.

"... You returned." Keiji's words seemed.like a statement, a disbelieving one, and Kenma couldn't help but to huff.

"It's my job."

"Ken, I know you don't think that way."

The blond couldn't help but to chuckle at Hajime's statement, "Yeah, you're right. As you said, without you, I'm done for."

Keiji sighed, and walked past Kenma, "You did no wrong. I started it."

"And we have no right to complain, because we're the ones who chose to be here," Hajime added, before he followed Keiji. Kenma only let out a deep breath, and shook his head slightly.

"What are you apologizing for? Nothing happened yesterday. Both of you didn't do a thing to me."

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"About the name Neko mentioned yesterday..." Oikawa trailed off, fixing his glasses. Kuroo looked up, motioning him to continue.

"Satori Tendou. Every data related to him were erased from the internet, there's no trace of him. But I'm sure I've heard the name before, so we did more researches."

"And we found this," Bokuto finished, as he showed some pictures to Kuroo, "Seems familiar? He's the one who held you captive 2 years ago."

Kuroo's eyes.lit up in recognition, "Ah, right. I remember him. But why would someone delete all the info?"

Oikawa raised his hand, "Alright, I'm getting a bit lost here..."

"Around two years ago, Kuroo was captured by a criminal group. He was locked up for a week, and strangely enough, they only tortured him lightly, without any interrogation," Bokuto explained briefly.

"And they recorded my sufferings," Kuroo grunted.

"You heard him," Bokuto stated, "Anyways. On his seventh day, 3 fully armed people came and killed almost all of his captors. Not much details, but Satori Tendou was the only one survived, with mortal wounds, too. He was later jailed, and done. We still haven't found out the real motive."

Oikawa raised an eyebrow, "How about we try asking that Satori Tendou?"

"He didn't admit anything during the interrogation."

"So what? We can still try, at least to find out more secrets about Neko." Oikawa smirking now, as he took off his glasses ever so gently.

"... I suppose it's not a bad idea."

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