Konoha slowly raised his head, his eyes leaving the screen of his laptop as he gaze Kozume a disbelieving look.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am." Kozume fixed his glasses, "You'll be leading this operation."

"This is practically The Strays's very first mission, Kozume. It's your job."

"You're the only one who can do it."

The blond turned to the only woman in the room. Mai shrugged, "I'm the one who has access into the prison. Iwaizumi-san's coming with me."

"I'll be going with them, keeping an eye on Hajime and talk to our target. Inuoka, as always, will be our driver," the gang's leader stated, "You're working backstage, it's not that hard."

"If it's not that hard, why don't you do it?"

"You've done the most research out of all of us, Trojan. I trust you to do this."

"...Fine. But you owe me."

Kozume nodded, before he turned to Mai, "Alright. Snow White, the plan?"

She grinned, "Yes, sir!" She pulled out her phone and scrolled through it for a second, before she started.

"Well, to avoid any suspicion, we'll start the operation at noon. I have an authorized illegal access into the building, so I'll talk to the guards and stuff before I bring Kozume-san and Iwaizumi-san to our target's cells. I'm hoping that there will be no violence this time, but if there is, it will be his job to take care of it," she pointed at the ravenette, who nodded at her.

"So we're gonna walk in like there's nothing wrong. Like we're not a bunch of gang members about to release two dangerous prisoners from their cells."

"Don't go sarcastic on me, Iwaizumi-san," Mai hissed, placing her phone on the table, "Inuoka, can you bring my suitcase here?"

"Already did." Inuoka pulled the brown suitcase from behind the door, and placed it in front of the woman. "Here you go, Snow White-san."

"Thank you~" she sang, before she unlocked the said suitcase and opened it. Iwaizumi gave her a questioning look, but it soon turned into one of surprise when she pulled out two sets of the police's uniform.

"Tada~" she grinned, "I've been working with the cops for years before I quit, so I know the procedures of visiting the prison."

Kozume gave her an impressed look, while Iwaizumi and Konoha still had their jaws agape in surprise.

"I just have to contact some old friends here and there, and now you have it! We'll be wearing this when we go there, and the two of you will follow whatever I told you. Do as I say, and we will be able to pull this off without any problem."

"How long will this take?"

"To reach our targets' cells, fifteen minutes at most," she answered, "The tricky part is to get them to cooperate, and to leave the building without getting caught."

"Tendou won't cause any trouble." Kozume sighed, "It's just with Yahaba, I've never met him before."

"You're the legendary Neko, I'm sure he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to work with you, Kozume."

"I hope so. Snow White, how about our exit?"

"I haven't planned anything yet." Mai shrugged, "I need to see the situation at hand, first."

"Alright, just take care of it."

"Wait, what?!" Iwaizumi abruptly turned to Kozume, upon hearing his simple reply, "Kenma, she literally just said that she doesn't have any escape plan. And you're gonna go along with that?!"

"I have faith in her skill."

Mai grinned smugly, leaving the assassin with no more room to argue.

"... You all are insane..."

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"You mean?"

"You heard me." Kozume gave the waiter a thanful nod, before he pulled his apple pie closer and grabbed his fork. "A business trip outside Tokyo. Inuoka's coming with me, so you'll be alone for a while."

Kuroo exhaled deeply. It was so unlike him, but he couldn't help it. He had gotten quite attached. "How long?"

"I'll try to make it quick, about a day or two, but no promises. Five days at most, don't worry. With a day each going there and back here, we'll return within a week."

"...Alright."

"It's not like we're your only friends, right, Kuroo-san?"

Upon noticing Kuroo's silence, Kozume couldn't help but to let out a huff. "...We are, aren't we?"

"Well, Ken-..." Kuroo stopped himself. It was so damn rude of him! First name basis?!

But Kozume gave him a ghost of smile. "It's fine. Call me however you prefer it, no formalities required."

Kuroo cleared his throat, "O-Okay. Well, I did have some other friends, Kenma. But I haven't meet them for a long while."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"An unpleasant incident happened and we just... decided not to bring it up. It's kinda depressing, so..."

"That's some serious shit you got there," a new voice commented. Kuroo was caught off guard when he saw Konoha entered the room, holding a bag of potato chips. "And then you became a hikikomori?"

"More or less..."

"Lame."

Kozume sent him a warning glare, but Konoha shrugged mindlessly, giving Kuroo a bored look. "You won't die, will you?"

"Do you want me to?" Kuroo asked back, aleady annoyed at the blond, who rolled his eyes slightly.

"I don't care. But funerals are quite a hassle, so try to stay alive."

"Anyways," Kozume cleared his throat, "We're leaving tomorrow, so Konoha, make sure you're already at Inuoka's place early in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah... But I won't join your presentation, you got me?"

"As if I trust you on that, Konoha," Kozume retorted, frowning, "Now go home and start packing."

"Whatever." Konoha gave Kuroo a small nod before walking away, leaving Kuroo with Kozume inside the living room. The brunet still had his eyes locked on the screen in front of him, the controller in his hands. His character kept moving around and switching his weapon to a large shield, avoiding the boss's attacks.

"The two of you look more like enemies than friends," Kuroo commented, "I thought you were pretty close."

"It's more like... rivals." Kozume let out a sigh, "I'm not exactly a social person and he's not one to make friends, but we can tolerate each other well enough."

"And Inuoka?"

"Just my assistant. But he sticks around more often than he needs to, although neither I nor Konoha really minds."

The boss was beaten, and as the scores appeared on the screen, Kozume turned his gaze to the clock above him. "Ah, I need to start packing, too. How bothersome."

Kuroo nodded, taking this as his cue to leave.

"Well, I'm going home, then. Have a safe trip tomorrow, Kenma."

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"Just giving a tour to the newbies right here. You know, the usual," Mai told the warden in front of her, as she pointed to Kozume and Iwaizumi, who stood behind her quietly. The warden gave her a doubtful look, which she returned with an innocent smile, showing her badge and handing him an envelope.

"Here you go, my letter of assignment. It has been busy for a while, so we didn't have time to contact you in advance. But we need as many personnel as available, so these guys need to learn what they have to know asap."

The warden nodded, reading the letter before he finally motioned the group to enter.

"Fine, you may go in. We'll confirm the rest to your superior, Nametsu-san."

"Thank you!"

As soon as the three went inside, Iwaizumi immediately turned his attention to Mai, holding back his anger. "So that's your name, huh? Nametsu?"

'Just a reminder: Codenames are required in missions, Kishi-san,' a voice rang through their earpieces, causing Iwaizumi to growl in annoyance.

"Is that supposed to be important, Trojan-san?" he asked back, "You should have thought otherwise, with our current situation."

'It is, at least, placed third in my priority list. To avoid any information of our identity leaks anywhere, we have to-...'

"What's your first and second, Trojan?" Mai cut off, still keeping her pace. Kozume gave his partners an amused look as he saw their reaction upon Konoha's answer.

'First: My own safety. I need to make sure I won't get caught. Second: Neko has to get out, no matter what. I'm here to get paid, it won't be nice if the boss's dead.'

'That's just rude...' Inuoka commented, 'But well, no one will die tonight, right, Neko-san?'

"No promises, Dodger," Kozume replied, "Anyways. Trojan, you heard the warden. He's going to confirm our visit to the police headquarters. Anything you will do?"

'I can hack into their system, messing up their data and possibly jammed the signal. But that will give you no more than an hour. It would be dangerous if I stay there for too long, they might be able to trace us back.'

"An hour? That can do. Work on it, Trojan." Kozume noticed Mai's signal, "We'll contact you later. Dodger, you're on standby."

'Got it.'

Mai tilted her head, smiling at the brunette. "Here you go," she motioned t the door in front of them, "The restricted area, a place where both our targets, as high-class criminals, are locked inside. High security and stuff, but inside is soundproof, so no outsider can hear anything. To make it even better, the prisoners won't even know what's going on outside their cells."

"You mean, we can do anything?"

"... What are you trying to imply, Kishi-san?"

"Oh, nothing." Iwaizumi cracked his knuckles, and smirked, "All this insanity just made me feel... murderous. And this is the perfect chance to let it out, right?"

Kozume chuckled. "Try not to kill anyone, and make sure no one sees our faces. Trojan, can you take care of the CCTVs?"

'Already did,' Konoha lazily replied, 'Inuoka's keeping an eye on the hacking process. Trojan's here, ready for your orders, Neko.'

"Perfect." Kozume put his white medical mask on, tying his brown hair and handed his glasses to Mai, who grinned in excitement. Iwaizumi already tied a handkerchief around the lower-half of his face, now pulling up his sleeves. Kozume threw him a pair of gloves similar to what he's wearing, and the ravenette slipped them on without question.

"Let's have fun, shall we?"

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"All clear?"

"Sadly, yes. I was hoping to make use of some more punching bag." Iwaizumi scoffed, "Snow White-san, can I have my shirt back?"

Mai huffed. Kozume was good, but Iwaizumi was amazing. His power (and looks) is top-notch. A part of her regretted telling him to take off his shirt, because she's having difficulties holding back her nosebleed now. However, it was necessary.

"Clean that up first. I'll be doomed if I have to wash blood stains out of these shirts. And if they don't come out,  I would be sold out for sure."

"Will that make any difference? You don't even try to hide your identity to begin with." Kozume, who fortunately has some decency to keep his clothes clean, told her. Iwaizumi had pulled off his handkerchief, wiping the drops of blood from his chest. Not his blood, but his victims'.

"Neko, I have grudges. They know who I am, and the shock therapy hopefully will do them some good." Mai inwardly sighed, sneaking glances at the assassin's figure, pretty convinced that soon those perfect abs would be out of sight. "And besides, it would be rude to return people's clothes with stains. Blood stains, moreover, is harder to get rid of, don't you know?"

'Basic knowledge of all women,' Konoha commented. Everyone could hear him smirking.

"Go to hell, Trojan~" Mai sang, earning a snicker from Inuoka. Finally handing the shirt to Iwaizumi, she then turned her attention to the leader, who's already 'transformed' back to his previous 'nerdy' look.

"Shall we go now, Snow White?"

Mai nodded, unwrapping a candy she had taken from the wardens' desk. Ignoring the unconscious bodies on the floor, she flipped through the notebook on it, before she stopped at a certain page. "Tendou Satori, his cell is... third one, on the right side."

Kozume walked up to the said cell, "This one?"

Another nod. The half-dressed Iwaizumi was shuffling through the bodies of the wardens, until he called out, "Kenma!"

Kozume turned, catching the set of keys Iwaizumi had thrown towards him. "Please, call me Neko. And stay on guard here, understood?" He unlocked the door, placing the keys in his pockets and fixed his glasses.

"I'm coming in."

'Good luck, Ko-san!'

Mai sent Iwaizumi one last look, a bit surprised to found him already lighting up a cigarette. He doesn't seem to be the type to smoke (in other words, signing up for his own slow, painful death), especially in the middle of a job. But she dismissed the thought, making her way towards the cell. She walked in, to find something more absurd inside.

Satori Tendou looks even more crazier than the rumors.

A grown up man. Spiky, bright red hair. A calm, laid-back attitude, despite being in prison.

And most of all, childish behavior, that might be more irritating than Konoha.

"Neko! What a coincidence to find you here!"

Yes, it's confirmed. Irritating.

"I heard you are wiling to work for me?"

Tendou shrugged, tilting his head, "It's getting boring here. So, do you mind?"

"I do, but your skill might be proven useful in the near future. I'll deal with you just a bit longer."

"You mean, you need me?" The redhead is now smirking, but it doesn't look like Kozume is in the mood to hear any jokes. It was obvious from the way he immediately grabbed the handle of the door, giving Tendou a flat look.

"I'm leaving."

"No, no, no, no! Neko! I get it, I get it! I'll behave! Please get me out of here!"

The brunette eyed his nemesis skeptically for a moment. Mai smiled in amusement, watching the way Tendou's face turned one filled with hope and anticipation.

"... Fine. But," Kozume's glare hardened, "You will follow whatever I say. Do otherwise, and I'll send you six feet under."

Tendou abruptly nodded, until his eyes landed on Mai.

"Ooh~ Who's the lady, Neko?"

"For now, just call me Snow White." Mai left the room, followed by the redhead, who still had his attention on her. "We wouldn't want to spill anyone's secrets here, right? And the ravenette over there, he's Kishi."

"I know him! He's a part of Neko's gang, right?"

"Was." The said assassin corrected, "Neko, our second target?"

'Snow White, how about giving him his codename? You usually have hilarious ideas.'

"As I've said before, go to hell, Trojan," Mai muttered, as she glanced at Tendou. "Wait a minute. Um... Oh, I know. I'll call you Freak. That codename suits you."

"H-How offensive!"

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Black-Owl:
Konbawa. I would like to offer you some information. With a proper 'payment', of course.

GreatHornedOwl:
And who are you?

Black-Owl:
An informant, that's all I can say for now.

GreatHornedOwl:
... I can't trust you just yet.

Black-Owl:
Understandable. So, about my offer? Would you mind hearing me out?

GreatHornedOwl:
I don't mind.

Black-Owl:
To put it simply, I know the culprit behind the incident at Idaina's silver anniversary party.

GreatHornedOwl:
Interesting. How about a meet up, face to face? It would be safer to exchange information outside the internet, wouldn't you agree?

Black-Owl:
For my own safety, I expect you to come alone.

GreatHornedOwl:
Deal.

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Iwa-chan is bae material <3

-Rae