"Eh? A kitty?" a young man, Inuoka, asked to no in particular, as he stopped and stared back at the small cat in front of him. The golden cat stayed silent, looking back at him with its bright golden eyes.

"Uwaah! So cute!" he exclaimed, now crouching in front of the feline, "Hey, Kitty-chan, you don't look like any other stray cats. Do you have any owner?"

This time, the cat reacted. It turned away, facing the house next to the one Inuoka had just been kicked out from a few minutes, and meowed.

"That one? Alright, let's get you back to your home," Inuoka announced, gently picking the cat up and walked towards the front door of the said house. Strangely enough, there is no doorbell, and windows are closed as well.

Maybe the one inside's dead as well.

Alright... that's not funny.

Inuoka let out a deep breath before he knocked onto the door. No one answered the door, so he tried again and again, knocking harder and louder.

"Kitty, your owner's stupid," Inuoka muttered after a few minutes, and it seemed like the cat purred in agreement.

"Hello?! Excuse me!" he yelled, as he stopped knocking. His knuckles hurts, but he can still punch someone in the face, "I'm here to deliver the pizza your friends ordered for you!"

"I don't have friends!" Finally, some kind of response.

"Sir, please answer the door!"

"Get away from my property!"

Inuoka groaned, "But I only want to return something!"

Silence, then the clicks of locks (lots of them) being opened. It took exactly 90 seconds -yes, he counted- before the door finally was swung open.

And now, Inuoka began to regret his decisions. In front of him, stood one of the strangest man he had ever seen.

The man had a tall but a little slouched figure, his narrowed eyes showed irritation and exhaustion, with dark bags under them. His black-hair was in a bed head (horrible, just horrible), messy with his fringe partially covered his right eye.

"What?" the man demanded. Now that Inuoka could hear him more clearly, he noticed how his voice was very deep, a bit hoarse but with a commanding tone in it.

Oh, and his breath reeked like alcohol.

Inuoka slowly lifted up the cat in his hands, "... He's yours... right?"

A look of disbelief settled on the man's face, "What the hell."

The cat hissed, almost jumped onto the bedhead (Inuoka decided to call him that) with its claws out. Inuoka shrieked and tightened his grip, while the bedhead leaned back with a cringe, "Pudding, what the fuck?!"

"So the kitty's name is Pudding? It suits him!" Inuoka commented, petting the cat's black-tipped ears, which made it stop struggling, only letting out a hiss at the bedhead.

"Yeah, whatever. Now leave."

"But Pudding is-..."

"That cat hates me. Just take him if you want, or leave him outside. He's smart, he can take care of himself," the bedhead replied, "Step back so I can slam this door shut."

"You're messed up, man," Inuoka blurted out. His eyes soon widened at his own words, and he started panicking, while the bedhead's expression went blank at the scene.

"You're crazy."

"Why so cranky? I didn't do anything to you!"

"Your existence is disturbing me," the bedhead said, "Unless you know how to fix my life's problem, leave."

"... Well, then what's the problem?" Inuoka asked, "Besides Pudding hating your guts?"

"I haven't done the laundry for the past two weeks, the fridge's empty, my bank account was banned due to my bills, people keep pestering me to get a job and a girlfriend, not to mention how my laptop's broken and I really need it to stay sane."

"See? You're a freaking mess," Inuoka said with a small laugh, causing the bedhead to frown.

"Thank you for the useless input. Now get out of my sight."

"I'm not done yet, Mr. Grumpy," this time, Inuoka grinned, "I can help you with that last problem. You really need to socialize, because you know what? Your neighbor," Inuoka pointed at the house next to the bedhead's, "is the master of all kind of computers. A friend of mine, he is, and also a sadist. Don't worry, I never see him killing people in real life."

The bedhead raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, let's go to his place," Inuoka offered, "Don't bother changing your clothes, he wouldn't bat an eye."

With much doubt, the bedhead stepped out of his house, locking the door behind him, and began to follow Inuoka.

"Oh! What's your name, by the way? I'm Inuoka Sou, nice to meet you!"

"Kuroo Tetsurou. Don't you dare giving me any nicknames."

"You read my mind, so I'll follow your orders, Kuroo-sama," Inuoka said with a grin, watching as Pudding jumped out of his arms and gave his owner an approving 'meow', as if he was happy that Kuroo decided to leave the house.

"Did you even hear what I just told you?"

"Please don't hurt me, Kuroo-san!"

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"Haiba Lev, right?"

As the tall man stared down at the orange-haired woman in front of him, he couldn't help but to smile at her, "... It has been a while, Natsu."

The woman grinned, "I never know it was possible to grow even talle than you already were. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess, "Lev replied, "Have you finished your medical studies? How was it?"

"I enjoy it. There were few strange cases, but during my internship time, I found new people, new friends, and I'm grateful for that. All thanks to my brother, I never understand how can he be able to save that much money while taking care of me, but-..." Natsu stopped herself once she realized how all her new friends' expressions changed. Shouyou seemed guilty, Tsukishima turned away, Kiyoko looked down, while Yuu and Ryu were annoyed. Terushima cringed, but Lev...

For the first time ever, Natsu was scared of him.

"... Shou, you never told her?" Lev was the first time to speak up, but his tone was far too strict that even Tsukishima froze in shock.

"I... never had the chance to..." It felt as if the temperature had completely dropped, no one dared to move as Lev glared at Shouyou.

"You haven't told her? It has been years, so long since he first helped the two of you! The least you can do to pay him back is not to hide-..."

"Lev, stop it!" Terushima interfered, "Calm down. As far as I know, she has been away for years. We can just tell her now."

"W-What is it?" Natsu tried her best not to be scared, but the tension made her shiver.

Lev let out grunt, and let out a deep breath, before he turned to face her, "Your brother... wasn't exactly the one who paid for that."

Natsu gave him a questioning look.

"I don't even go to college, Natsu. How much can someone get paid with that level of education?" Shoyou retorted, his tone bitter, "Even if I worked 24/7, I wouldn't be able to save that much money to pay for years of medical education. Not to mention that you're a medical specialist. So... yes, I lied."

Natsu's eyes widened in shock. How can she not realize that sooner?

"Then... how?"

"You remember the short guy who helped you when he was kidnapped? The one with blonde hair and golden eyes? Kenma Kozume?" Kiyoko asked.

Slowly, Natsu nodded.

"He's the one who paid for it all," Lev stated, "He was the leader of our organization, and your brother joined us. That's where he got the money from, so he could take care of you without working much."

Natsu stayed silent. Yuu clicked his tongue, and spoke up as well, "Don't look so gloom. Now you know the truth, and that's what matters. Don't blame yourself for thinking it was Shou and not Kenma-san, it wasn't wrong."

"Alright. So..." Natsu trailed off, "Where's Kenma-san?"

"He... was no longer with us," Kiyoko replied, "and-..."

"He died two years ago." Clearly, Lev despised the topic, "You are late. But he said you're welcome, if that makes you feel better."

"Lev! Why can't you-..."

"I'll be in my office if you need me," Lev announced, ignoring Ryu, "And Kei, please inform the members about the next meeting in two days."

"Wait." Everyone turned to look at Natsu, shocked at how her tone changed.

"What is it?" Lev asked back. His gaze said that he was a bit curious of what does the young doctor had to say, and Kei almost couldn't hide his amusement. Even despite the way he acted, Lev never truly changed.

"This organization... What's the name?"

"We're inactive now, so there's no use of a name," Lev replied, "But people once knew us as The Golden Cats."

Natsu let out a deep breath. "A gang. Why am I not surprised?" she mused out, "That meeting you had just mentioned... It means that you all are still a part of another gang, right?"

"Some things are better left unknown. It's getting late, you should go home," Terushima tried to change the subject, already panicking. Things will get nasty if outsiders found out about who they are, and worse if Lev really got pissed.

"Classified information, Hinata-san. Now I suggest you to leave. Our conversation is done here."

Natsu narrowed her eyes. Yes, the way Lev said that all made her scared of what might happen, but being a doctor means taking risks and fight off your own fear. The woman kept a bravado and glared back at him.

"Haiba-san, I'm not finished yet. I want to at least repay Kenma-san back," she said calmly, "Since he's gone, I think I will just stick with helping you all."

"We don't need you."

"But how does a professional medic sounds to your gang?"

Lev stared down at Natsu, a bit taken aback. It's not everyday someone volunteered to join his gang. However, he found no trace of fear in her eyes, all he could see was just her determination.

"Are you sure? You will have to put us as your top priority. Even besides your job and family."

Natsu shrugged, "Sounds alright to me. I'm sure it'll be fun."

At that moment, Shouyou swore he almost got a heart attack.

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"Yo! Aone, Ushiwaka!" the bartender greeted cheerfully, waving at his two customers, who entered the place without much words. They took their seats in front of the counter, and gave a nod of greeting at the said bartender.

"We'll have the usual, Matsukawa-san," the taller one, Aone, stated.

The bartender hummed in reply, placing two cups on the counter. "So what's new?" he asked, as he dropped some ice cubes into each cups.

"There's a group of assassins who's messing with us, and we have yet to find them," Ushijima, the other male, replied.

Matsukawa chuckled, as he grabbed a large bottle from the shelf and filled the cups with its content. "Well, you'll eventually catch them. Tell me something I don't know?"

"... Rumors said that the Neko is alive," Aone muttered, as if he was reluctant to even acknowledge his words.

Matsukawa almost dropped the bottle. He quickly put it aside and pushed the two cups towards his customer, before clearing out his throat and tried to regain his composure, "Neko? You mean the leader of The Golden Cats? Even the whole gang had been disbanded, right?"

"No," Ushijima stated, "Technically, The Golden Cats had only gone inactive."

"Then what about Neko? If he was alive, why didn't he go back to his gang or anything? And how come people began to have that assumption two years after his death?"

Aone pulled out an envelope from the inside of his jacket, "Here is one of the five we've gotten so far. Apart from us, many gangs had received these things as well. Many began to assume it was Neko."

Matsukawa narrowed his eyes, taking the letter and began to read it. In short, it contains threats, dares and mockery, all handwritten in Courier New font.

"I'll keep it for now, alright?" After a nod from the two large men in front of him, he continued, "How did you receive this letter? Was it sent to your hideout, or given by someone?"

Ushijima let out a growl.

"He sent it to our members' apartments and houses, all addressed to our gang. And no one has ever received the letter twice."

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The woman laughed slightly, fixing the masquerade mask she had been wearing the whole time. She patted the man's head mockingly, her slender fingers trailed the ropes that tied him onto the metal chair.

"Took you a while to cooperate, Na-ka-shi-ma-san," the woman commented, playing with her long hair, "Shall we start now?"

"Where's my sister?" the man, Takeru Nakashima, growled in reply, "And who are you?"

The woman giggled. Her white mask glimmered in the dim room, as she put her hands behind her head, imitating a pair of ears at the top of her head, "Call me Usagi! The White Rabbit~" she sang, "Don't worry, Makoto-chan's fine, as long as you don't try anything suspicious. I'll bring her here if that's what you want?"

"Please do," he grumbled. She gave him an overly-sweet smile and clapped her hands twice, gesturing one of the masked man in the room to leave. The guard soon returned with another woman, with short strawberry blonde hair, wearing a dress that goes above her knees, and also with her hands tied on her back..

"Makoto! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Takeru-nii," the woman said with a forced smile, "What about you?"

Takeru sighed, "Don't worry about me," he turned to look at Usagi, "Now what do you want?"

Usagi smirked, "Tell us what you know about Neko."

"I know nothing about him."

"Liar." Usagi made her way towards Makoto, and stopped behind the younger woman, "Come on, Takeru-kun, just make this quick. Or maybe..." she made a gun gesture with her right hand, placing it beside Makoto's head, "bang?"

Makoto let out a deep breath, "Neko's already dead, right? I think it wouldn't hurt..." she muttered, fear crept into her as she saw the gun in the holster placed on Usagi's waist.

The man clicked his tongue. "How unladylike, Usagi-san. Using threats to get what you want?"

She gave him an approving nod, "Well, I'm not here for your entertainment. So what are you going to do now?"

"I'll do what you want, but once I'm done, you'll let us leave without telling anyone about this."

"We have a deal, Nakashima-san."

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NobleWarrior:
Never thought the day would come when you ask for a stranger's help.

Black-Owl:
You don't have to care.

NobleWarrior:
Don't be so bitter. Do you still believe that he's alive?

Black-Owl:
... He wouldn't die that easily.

NobleWarrior:
Why now? Two years after the incident and not sooner.

Black-Owl:
I only found out about Usagi not long ago.

NobleWarrior:
About that... I don't trust her.

Black-Owl:
Reason?

NobleWarrior:
I'm not sure... But something felt wrong about her. Suspicious, to say at least.

Black-Owl:
You need to relax a bit.

NobleWarrior:
As if. My risk of getting killed is twice greater than yours.

Black-Owl:
What's the worst that might happen?

NobleWarrior:
If you put it that way...

Black-Owl:
I'll be careful.

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