"It's kinda suspicious, don't you think? Meeting in a bar like this, instead of somewhere more open?"

"That day, we also dropped him off here. He probably knows the owner or something."

"You only made it worse, Kozume." Konoha sighed, "You sure it's alright to go alone?"

"I thought you have more faith in me."

"You sounded more and more like that woman." The blond handed him a gun, and Kozume secured it in the holster on his waist.

"Nametsu-san isn't a bad person, Konoha. Don't hate her so much."

"I just despise her attitude."

"Try to tolerate it." Kozume walked out of the car and slammed the door shut, "Well, I should go and finish this."

"I'll be outside, just contact me if anything happens."

Kozume nodded, and entered the bar, making his way towards the counter. Behind it, a black-haired man was carefully placing a bottle back into the rack behind him.

"Matsukawa-san, right?"

"That's me," the bartender replied, turning his attention to the brunet, "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to meet Iwaizumi-san."

Matsukawa raised an eyebrow, "Proof?"

Kozume turned away, pulling his hair slightly to show the tattoo on the back of his neck. The bartender accepted it before he pointed at the door on the corner of the room. "Just go in there. He's upstairs, third door on the right."

"Thank you." Kozume followed the direction until he reached a guest room, which he entered without a word. Sitting on one of the couches, was Iwaizumi.

"You're early," he noted, "What if I haven't got here by the time you've arrived?"

Kozume shrugged, taking his seat in front of the ravenette, "We've known each other for years. I remember most of your habits."

Iwaizumi chuckled, pulling out a pack of cigarette, "You still smoke?"

"Not anymore. I thought you hate it?"

"I did, but it's a good distraction." Iwaizumi sighed, lighting up one for himself, "I mean, I'm killing for a living. It gets to me sometimes."

"Well, you didn't do so mindlessly. You're no murderer." Kozume put on his glasses and set his gaze back on his old partner, "So, let's get to business. Who hired you, and what exactly do you have to do?"

"Usagi, an informant."

"She's a dangerous one, Hajime."

"I was reluctant, actually," Iwaizumi replied, "Keiji now works as an informant as well. Weeks ago, he contacted her, asking for information on you. She couldn't confirm anything about your chance of survival, but she demands payment. And Keiji forced me to do this."

"Fukurō, I've heard about him," Kozume confirmed, "Anything else?"

Iwaizumi clenched his fists, "Someone told the military that I was the culprit at Oikawa's party. It must be him, no one else was there."

"... He was friends with Bokuto, but would he go that far?" Kozume sighed, "Should I confirm this? I think I know where Bokuto and Keiji would meet to discuss all of these. Well, if they really did."

"You're going too far. Our deal was to make sure Inuoka will be able to escape, that's all. If Bokuto caught me, it's fine."

"It's just a favor for an old friend."

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Kozume silently entered the café, taking his seat at the corner, just beside the window. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on, while a waiter approached him.

"Nekomata-san! How are you? I haven't seen you lately, Inuoka-san said that you've been busy."

"Well, I have a little time to spare for now," the brunette replied, "I'll have my usual, Yachi-san."

"Alright! Just tell us if you need anything else!" the blonde woman was about to leave when he stopped her.

"Actually, there's something I need to ask," he stated, gaining her full attention, "I've been looking for an old friend of mine. I heard he's currently in Tokyo, so I was wondering if you've seen him recently." From his phone, Kozume showed her a picture of Akaashi. Yachi frowned and politely shook her head.

"Sorry, I can't help you. I haven't seen anyone like him."

"It's alright. Thank you."

"I'll get your order now," Yachi excused herself, and Kozume returned back to his work, typing on his laptop, even until he didn't notice that someone had taken their seat in front of him.

"Nekomata, huh? Doesn't it resemble your old nickname too much, Kenma-san?"

Kozume looked up from his screen, to meet the sight of no other than Tsukishima Kei. The megane smirked slightly, giving him a small nod of greeting.

"I didn't make it up," he replied, "It's the name of the man who saved my life."

"Aren't that a bit rude?"

"That's strange coming from you, Kei." Kozume chuckled, "He allows me to use his family name. Technically, Kozume Kenma is already dead."

Tsukishima nodded. "But here you are, back in Tokyo after two years."

"You don't seem so surprised."

"We all have our assumptions. It's hard to imagine that you, of all people, died." Tsukishima sighed, "What are you doing here, with Yachi-san?"

"I'm looking for Keiji. Have you meet him?"

"He hasn't returned to our base since our last meeting, just like Hajime. We don't know where they are, and we never found them."

"We, as in, the rest of the Golden Cats? The Silver Lions?"

Tsukishima nodded, "And Yachi-san already says that she knows nothing, I thought you would leave."

"She's obviously lying. It just confirms my suspicion." Kozume paused, turning his attention to Yachi, who made her way towards the two. She placed the brunet's orders on the table, before greeting Tsukishima and asked for his request. Once she left, Kozume continued, "I'm hacking her CCTV system. I need proof."

"What's going on?"

"Keiji, as an informant, reported Hajime to the military. Bokuto, specifically. Hajime was the assassin who did the shootings at Oikawa's party a while ago, I'm pretty sure you've heard about it?"

"We already have our suspicions that those two were a part of it, but we didn't expect Keiji to do that..." Tsukishima muttered, "What's your plan?"

"I don't have any," Kozume admitted, "yet. If you are going to help me, I might just tell you." He took a bite of his apple pie, glancing at the clock.

"The Silver Lions has been looking for the two of them. I'm sure you know what we're capable of. And I can also ask Yamaguchi for updates on the military's side."

"One more thing: Don't tell anyone that I'm still alive."

"Deal."

Kozume passed Tsukishima a small slip of paper, on which he scribbled down his contact information. "My codename will be Hades, if you're wondering." He finished his dessert and turned off his laptop.

"God of Underworld. How fitting." The blond handed the paper back to the brunet, who slipped it into his pocket.

"I already have what I need, so I'll be taking my leave now. Hajime is still waiting for the info."

"Alright then. Until we meet again, Kenma-san. Don't die."

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"Kozume-san... I'm not ready for my own funeral..."

"You're not going to die, Inuoka," Kozume briefly replied, letting out a heavy sigh. He had returned to the Guillotine with Konoha, after discussing the plan with Iwaizumi and making sure they have everything ready.

"But I gotta admit, you're playing risky as usual, Kozume," Konoha commented, "You're fighting against two organizations. The military, and Usagi's gang. You said it yourself that The Mad Alice is dangerous."

"True, that's why we're not gonna show ourselves. Hopefully, they won't find us. That reminds me; where's Kyouken?"

"Yahaba is on his way here with him," Mai answered as she entered the room, "Kozume-san, can you please knock some sense to that redhead freak? Just today, he already breaks into our archive room for the third time, messing up our files! Someone needs to keep an eye on him!"

"But Mai-chan, it's just some papers! Why are you so mad?" Tendou asked, as he trotted into the office with a chocolate ice cream in his hand.

"By 'some', you mean one-fourth of our archives," Mai sneered, glaring at the redhead, "And don't you dare call me that! It's 'Nametsu-san' for you!"

"Olololo?" Tendou tilted his head, "How demanding of you, Mai-chan."

Kozume huffed, glaring at the two before returning his attention to Inuoka, "You don't need to worry. You just have to stay under their captive for about two days, then I'll get you out. I'll try to make it quicker, but it will take a while for me to break into their security. I also plan to get access to their system, after all."

"As long as they don't try to kill me, then I'll cope with it."

"I'm pretty sure you won't get hurt. After all, they wanted you to work for them." The gang leader turned to his second-in-command, "Konoha, have you-..."

"Wait, I got a call," Konoha interrupted, pulling out his phone, and frowned at the caller's ID. "It's Yui."

"Put it on speaker."

Konoha did as he was told to, "What is it, Yui?"

'Akinori! Thank Lord you answered right away! Is Kozume with you?'

"Yes, I'm here. What's wrong, Michimiya?"

'It's Nekomata-san. His sickness relapsed again this morning. I need some help with the shop and all, can one of you come here?'

"I can do it," Kozume and Konoha said simultaneously, causing them to frown and look at each other.

"You have your job, Kozume. I'll take care of this."

"But Konoha, you-..."

"It's final, don't complain. Besides, I don't think you'll be able to take over all of Nekomata-san's usual work," the blond stated, "I'll be there by tomorrow morning, is it alright, Yui?"

'Of course! Thank you so much, Akinori! Kozume, I'll contact you if anything happens. Don't worry too much, and take care!' She hung up, and Konoha placed the phone on the table with a heavy sigh.

"Does this mean I'll have to take care of your assignments?" Mai asked, crossing her arms.

"No way, woman," Konoha chuckled, "I'll finish them myself."

Mai gave him a doubtful look, and he crossed his arms, smirking smugly, "They don't call me 'Jack of All Trades' for nothing, you know?"

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In front of a large luxurious house, a woman stood with her arms crossed. Her white dress fitted her tall, slender figure perfectly, just like the rabbit-like masquerade mask she wore. Beside her, was a black-haired man, wearing a black suit, the half top of his face also covered by a black owl-like mask.

"Just an hour left," the woman stated, looking at her watch. With her sultry voice, she would have been mistaken as a princess of some sort, if only she wasn't twirling small dagger around her fingers. "Is he really coming?"

"He's not one to go against his own words, Usagi-san." The man fixed his gloves, "He will finish his part of the deal."

"Your military friends wouldn't interfere with anything, right, Fukurō-san?"

"Don't worry. They'll wait until Kishi left this place to arrest him. You'll still get that programmer, what's his name again?"

"Inuoka Sou." Usagi let out a sigh, "How about we wait inside? It's a bit cold out here."

Fukurō wordlessly nodded, following the woman inside, but not before sneaking a glance at the car parked outside, from which a man flashed him a grin and a thumbs up.

As soon as the house's doors were closed, Bokuto's grin turned into a frown, as he looked at Yamaguchi. "Hey hey hey... What was that about?"

Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow. Bokuto pointed at the house, now with two men guarding the front doors. "That. Akaashi just went in."

"They probably have something to discuss. I don't it matters, Bokuto-san. Akaashi-san can take care of himself."

"But still... it's just suspicious, you know?"

Yamaguchi shrugged. "Don't think about it too much. Remember what we're here for."

Bokuto nodded and looked down, not noticing the way Yamaguchi silently pulled out his phone to read the text he had just received from Tsukishima.

'It's confirmed. Iwaizumi won't be there for the exchange. The programmer will be coming alone.'

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"How the hell did you even find out about this?" Ryuunosuke asked in disbelief, staring at the screen of Tsukishima's laptop. The megane smirked mockingly, turning his gaze to the Silver Lions' members around him.

Besides Ryu, there's Lev, Shouyou, Semi, and Saeko. The six of them were standing on the top of a building across Usagi's mansion, waiting for a chance to approach Keiji and/or Hajime.

"I have my sources, of course." At the reply, Lev and Saeko sent him a glare.

"Someone owed me a favor, and he sent this picture to me. He heard a bit about the rendezvous point so he told me."

"Owed you a favor? No way!" Shouyou exclaimed, "You blackmailed him, didn't you?"

Tsukishima merely shrugged. "Who knows. Oh, look, I think it's him." He pointed at the jeep that stopped not far from the mansion.

"Ooh! It seems so! Fifteen minutes early, not bad at all!" Saeko commented, "Wait a minute. He's alone?"

"That's not Hajime," Lev noted with a frown, "Something's wrong here."

"The car left." Taketora narrowed his eyes, his grip on his binoculars tightened, "That woman looks familiar..."

"Who? The one in red jacket?" Ryuu muttered, "She's escorting that brunet inside..."

The said woman, unbeknownst to them, was more than just an escort. She had been waiting behind the gates, watching as one by one, the unwanted witnesses arrived. She ran to her target's side as soon as he stepped inside, giving him a welcoming smile as to how every deceiver would do.

"Good evening, Sir!"

"O-Oh, yeah! Thanks!" the brunet replied, at which she scoffed inwardly. However, she kept her facade.

"Are you here to meet Usagi-san?" he nodded awkwardly, and she grinned. "Can I have your name? And also, what exactly brings you here?" she questioned, pulling out a small notebook and started flipping through the pages.

"My name is Inuoka Sou. One of your staff came to my apartment a few days ago; he said that Usagi-san has a job to offer me. He gave me this address and told me to come if I'm interested, so I did."

"Ah, right! You're on our list! We've been waiting for you!" she exclaimed, as she entered the mansion, "Follow me, Inuoka-san. I'll take you to Usagi-san's office. I'm her assistant, just call me Red."

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"U-sa-gi-chan!" a voice was heard from outside the room, "I'm coming in!"

Fukurō gave Usagi a questioning look, but then the door was pushed open. A brunette peeked in, humming slightly before she spoke up.

"I didn't interrupt anything, right?"

"What is it, Red?" Usagi asked.

She grinned, disappearing for a few seconds and returned while dragging a brunet. Red pushed into the room, patting his back reassuringly as she looked at Usagi.

"I got him. Inuoka Sou."

"P-Pleasure to meet you!" the man stuttered, bowing at Usagi, who rose from her seat with a frown on her face.

"I see. Where's the other one, Red?"

Red let out an almost inaudible growl, "He's not here."

"How unfortunate." Usagi's gaze landed back on Inuoka, "I'm sorry, would you mind waiting a bit longer. I need to finish a few things, first."

"Of course! Don't mind me!"

"Red, take him to the guest room. Then get back here; you know what to do."

"Understood! Inuoka-san, this way." The girl led Inuoka out of the room, closing the door gently.

Once their footsteps could no longer be heard, Fukurō stood up, looking at Usagi. "Your target is already here. I'll be taking my leave now."

"Are you sure about that?" Usagi smiled, "My part of the deal may have ended well, but those military friends of yours won't be pleased."

"Why would it bother you?"

"They would try to achieve something, at least. Don't you think so?" Fukurō nodded slowly, and she made her way towards him. Instinctively, he took a step back, much to her amusement, "Well, that puts me and my underlings in danger, doesn't it?"

"Are you scared?"

"No, don't take it wrong. If they failed to arrest the assassin, they surely would at least bring back some gang members to their headquarters, instead of coming back with nothing."

The door was opened, and Red walked in, this time wearing a black cloak. She pulled out a gun, tossing it to Usagi, and grabbed the shotgun from her back as she walked towards Fukurō.

"I mean, we don't exactly mind if the military tries to interrogate one or two of us." Her hands skillfully prepared the shotgun, "But you already brought them here, to one of our bases. That's gonna be troublesome in the future. You need to pay for some compensation."

Fukurō, like before, took more cautionary steps back. However, he soon bumped onto the window behind him. "You'll gain nothing from killing me. And also, the soldiers outside will hear the gunshot."

"You sure about that?" Red asked, aiming the shotgun at his head, "They left already. Almost every room in this mansion is soundproof."

"Besides, it's not bad to have one less rival in our info-trading business," Usagi added, "Go ahead, Red."

Red grinned, "Bye-bye."

And she pulled the trigger.

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"Akinori!"

"Hey, Yui," Konoha greeted in reply, allowing the woman to hug him for a few more seconds before he finally said, "Can you let me go? I've been driving all night long; I'm a bit tired right now."

"Oh, sorry!" The brunette, Yui, apologized, "Thanks for coming here! I'm so glad you can make it!"

Konoha nodded wordlessly, listening to Yui's ramble as she led him inside the house, "I got your room ready, clean as before. How long can you stay here?"

"As long as I need to."

"Well, you took lots of your clothes to Tokyo, so I don't think the ones here will be enough. You can use Kozume's, right?"

"I brought some of mine, too, no worries. How's Nekomata-san?"

"If he's not getting better in two days, we would have to take him to the hospital. He's asleep now."

"I see," Konoha seated himself on the couch before he turned to Yui and asked, "So why did you want us to come here? It's totally unlike you to ask for help. I don't mind, but usually, you would have texted us."

Yui sighed, shaking her head as she went to close the windows, before locking the door as well. Konoha waited until she finally sat down, and gave him a look of worry.

"I feel like someone has been watching me."

Konoha frowned, "... What do you mean?"

"Exactly how it sounds like. Some kind of stalker. I just found a note inside the mailbox yesterday!" she pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to Konoha. "Is it about Kozume? I only know that he was a gang leader and whatever, but if this doesn't stop, I'll have to ask him the real details."

"No. The more you know, the more dangerous it will be for you." Konoha huffed, "It doesn't make sense. We moved to Tokyo. Why would they know about this place?"

Yui shrugged, turning her gaze. "Does this put us in danger? For Nekomata-san and me?"

"I'm not sure, but I won't risk it. I'll tell Kozume."

"So you'll be staying here until it's over?"

"I don't think it's possible. With this, I'll have to get back to Tokyo," Konoha muttered, "But I think I can ask someone to watch over you two. He's Kozume's old friend, a wanted criminal but he's a good guy. Would you mind?"

"... I'll pretend that I know nothing about him, except that I knew him in high school, he needs a job and I let him work in the shop. Convincing enough?"

Konoha chuckled. "Not bad."

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Forgive me for this good-for-nothing chapter. I was supposed to update 2 days ago but I haven't finished the chapter by then. Schools starts tomorrow and therefore I will no longer be able to keep up with my usual every 10-days update schedule. So sorry in advance (Let me cry TT_TT)

-Rae