Kei wasn't exactly surprised when his leader returned early in the morning, dropping his bag onto the floor before he sat on the couch. He picked up his cat and began to pet it gently.

"Why aren't you asleep, Kei?"

"I was, but I woke up half an hour ago, and couldn't sleep again," Kei replied. It was silent for a while, until he decided to spoke up, "What was your relationship with Kuroo Tetsurou?"

There was a short, pregnant silence. "...You noticed, huh? You're too observant sometimes..." Kenma sighed, "Just childhood bestfriend, unfortunately."

"And he doesn't remember you?"

"That's the case," the leader replied, "Enough about me. What about you? I saw your reaction when we were busted in station-A at that time. Seems like you also knew someone."

"Yamaguchi. He was my friend at college. We never stay in touch, though. We're not that close. I tolerate him more than others, that's all," Kei reasoned. He didn't want to burden Kenma with his emotional stress like what happened to Hajime and Keiji, so he wouldn't tell.

"But you do care." Plans ruined.

"I-... Yeah. I guess I do. It can't be helped, but it's okay."

"It's not okay. Too many people are hurting, Kei. I need to stop this."

"But everyone made their own decisions, Kenma-san. Nothing can be done about it. None of us know this would happen. No one needs to take the responsibility," he argued. The topic is getting dark, and he disliked the idea.

"It's not a need. I want to. I want to do some good for once."

"You already helped us all. I think it's more than enough. Without you, I won't be able to afford my college. Not to mention the other members."

"You think how can I have that amount of money, Kei?"

Kei froze. Why didn't it cross his mind before?

"Bounty hunting," the answer came, "I've been keeping that as a secret, but I think you deserve to know, since you still worry about me. I kill people for cash."

'Murderer', was the first word that crossed his mind. How? He understood the bombings, since it has a valid reason. But this? Just for money?

"I only kill drug dealers, just like the bombs we set off months ago. It was really just out of spite, Kei. Indirectly, people like them ruined my life. My father was addicted to those pills that he forgot to take care of his family. My mother and I suffered for so long, she died and he committed suicide soon after. You can call it a grudge. It's just so selfish, but at least I also got to help you all financially."

"I know I shouldn't justify my actions with that, but I still did. I'm not as great as you think I am. I'm just a coward, hiding behind my words like this."

Kei looked down. Such explanations had now brought him an inner conflict. Painful, to learn that his leader had done lots of murder, just out of hatred, just to get money.

"Well... I suppose... It's not a completely bad reason. We are a part of this gang, we chose to take the risks so we won't blame you. Even about your actions. Even about what we did together. And even about the White Crows."

No reply. Kei turned to look at his superior, and he was shocked, to say at least. Kenma was staring at the ceiling, gritting his teeth. Silent tears were threatening to fall, but he blinked them away. The golden eyes glistened slightly, still misty.

The cat meowed, waking up his owner from his daze. Kenma let out a deep breath, as he rose from his seat, grabbing his bag and began to leave.

"Just wait. It will be over soon, I'll fix it all. Everything will be alright, I promise."

Kei watched as his superior left, and he sighed quietly.

'Sorry, Kenma-san. But now I wish that those crows can stop you. Because I know you will do something foolish just for our sakes, and I don't like that at all.'

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Kuroo let out a huff, taking a sip of his coffee, "Is everyone here?" he asked, looking around the meeting room.

"Yes. Even Ennoshita, he was released from the hospital this morning" Yachi reported, while the said man only nodded slightly.

"I guess we can start now then," the leader stated, before he stood up, "I've done some research with Oikawa and Bokuto. We interrogated a criminal who was once Neko's enemy, Satori Tendou. Sounds familiar?"

A few nodded, and Kuroo continued, "We managed to find out some of their weaknesses, and actually we also received a quite useful information. Oikawa, your report, please?"

"Right," the brunet nodded, "To sum it up, The Golden Cats are quite well-known. They're famous for their intelligence and their connections. They have another gang on their side; the Iron Eagles, whom was said to be the strongest in this town. The Neko himself is highly skilled. He seemed to be a bounty hunter who always chose drug dealers as his targets. The reason was still unknown."

"In the end, we have two choices now," Bokuto added, "It won't be easy, since they seem to always ways to outsmart us, but we can try to find them. Our source said that their physical abilities aren't that great, they're more of long-range fighters. Another choice is to wait for them. Neko already said that he would take action if we didn't find him soon enough. We can prepare ourselves so that we'll be ready when the time comes."

Sawamura raised his hand, "Sorry to interrupt," he said, "But I was one of the few who took care of Tendou's case. The Neko said that he would 'erase' us, right?"

"Yes. Anything you know about what he meant?" Kuroo asked.

"It's just a prediction, but he wanted to erase every trace of us, as if we never exist. Documents on Tendou, from his work and studies and his family, they were all gone. We couldn't find anything on the internet except for the news, and even the articles were always deleted a few days after they were posted. Due to some circumstances, we couldn't even ask anything from his family or relatives."

"Circumstances?"

"His parents were found murdered, and his sister went insane. His last relative, I think his cousin, was caught in a car accident and suffered from memory loss. And the strange thing is, everything happened after he was captured by the authorities."

"Could that be Neko's doing?" Yamaguchi wondered out loud, "It wasn't like they died from a sickness. You can kill someone or hit them with a car. And driving someone insane isn't that hard, as long as you know how to. Tortures and all, criminals are familiar with those."

"He's right," Kageyama poined out, "It's not impossible."

"Then we're risking not just our lives, but those who knew us as well," Yaku said, as he tapped his fingers on the table, "So, Kuroo-san?"

"Either we find them, or wait, of course. I want to hear all your opinions; which one, and why," Kuroo stated, sitting back down and crossed his arms.

"Just find them. I'm positive we'll be able to win easily if we face them," Oikawa spoke up.

"Agree. We'll have the element of surprise as well, so we have the upper hand," Bokuto added.

"I want to wait. We don't know where they are, and I think it'll be more worth it to use our time preparing ourselves," Tanaka stated.

"I guess they're not that weak. Neko himself is powerful, I've seen it myself. I chose to wait," Azumane said.

"I can't disagree. Some of us aren't that good in close combat, we need more preparations." This time, Ennoshita gave his statement.

"But as we already know, they can erase us. The risk is too big for me. I'll find them." Yaku.

"I'm taking this side," Kageyama grunted, glaring at the table, "Waiting for them felt more like we admit that we can't find them."

"This case is giving me the pressure. I want to get this over with as soon as possible. I want to find them," Daichi stated.

Yachi sighed. "I want to wait, but I can't put my family in danger. I'll find them."

"Then it's decided," Kuroo announced, "Six against three. We'll start looking for them. Sorry, Azumane, Ennoshita, Tanaka."

"It's fine. So where do we start?" Tanaka questioned.

"Security cameras. There's tons around this whole town. Oikawa, Yamaguchi, Azumane, Ennoshita, Yachi, the five of you will check through them all. Find any suspicious activities for the last 24 hours," Kuroo commanded, "The rest of you, follow me."

"We can do this, we'll find them. Now get to work, everyone! There's no time to waste!"

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