The chilling night winds felt great against his wings as he leisurely glided. At the pace he was going, he'd be at his destination in no time. It wasn't his favorite place to hunt in, but it was definitely not the worst. He spotted his landing space near a park and began to land.

He perched on the strongest seeming branch of a tree, then peeked out of the canopy of leaves to scope out his surroundings. No one around, but eventually someone would come. Preferably a healthy male who just had a dinner of yakiniku, no beer. The meat would be leaner, tastier, and without the bitter sting of alcohol. Not to mention he wouldn't be embarrassed when he had to rip the clothes off.

Subconsciously his cheeks turned a luminescent pink at the thought of seeing a female naked. Human he may not be, he was still a boy. No need to get strange thoughts.

"L-Look, I am really sorry I missed the deadline. I promise I'll get it in by tomorrow."

His body tensed up upon hearing the voice of a human. He wouldn't have to wait long, it seemed. Peeking his head out once again, he eyed his soon-to-be-meal. A man in a suit, late twenties possibly. The guy probably didn't get much exercise, so there might be an excess of fat.

Oh well. He wasn't feeling particularly picky today. In fact, he was feeling rather hungry after not eating for a few days. An extra fatty morsel could be just what he needed.

The man sat down on a bench, cuing him to drop from the tree and inch his way toward his food.

"Please, just believe me okay?" He continued on with his phone call, completely unaware of the creeping danger waiting for him to hang up. It'd be best not leave any evidence pointing towards them, as unlikely as it would be that any sane police officer would believe crow monsters eating people in the city. "Okay, fine. I understand. Tomorrow then." At last he put the phone down and gave a heavy sigh. The danger behind him advanced. "Ah, damn it. I knew I shouldn't gone drinking yesterday. Now the boss is breathing down my neck."

"You went drinking? Aww, I hope it's all out by now. Alcohol makes the meat and blood have this awful aftertaste. Sure, it's technically not totally inedible, but still."

"W-What the hell?!" The man jumped out of his seat, startled, and looked at the small boy behind him. "Where did you come from?"

"And you better not be a smoker too. The lungs are my favorite cut, and grey lungs are definitely not as tasty as pink lungs." A wide smile spread across his lips while he lunged forward, claws bared. The man shrieked as the claws pierced through his neck. His knees buckled beneath him, and soon he collapsed, mortally wounded. "Seriously, I'm really looking forward to some pink lungs, so you better not smoke."

He looked around once more, then proceeded to grab the man by the leg and drag it to a more secretive place to eat. A crimson trail was left behind in the corpse's wake, but being messy wasn't too much of a problem. As long as he left before sunset, it would be seen as a simple murder or the like.

The crow walked back to the underneath of a bridge arching over a river, perfect to dispose of the bones later. Once he secured his privacy, he tore off the clothes and threw the articles into the flowing river. Anticipation swelled up inside him as he debated on what to eat first.

He first twisted off the right forearm, suckling at the ensuing stump. Blood dripped down his cheeks in dark red lines as he drained it of all liquid. When the limb was mostly empty, he crunched down on the muscle, tearing away great amounts of flesh with each bite. The left-over blood, then the fat flooded into his mouth as he greedily ripped off more. The hands were always a little tricky to eat, needing a bit of dexterity to eat the mostly lean meat. Luckily, there seemed to be no taste of alcohol, meaning the guy last drank more than twenty four hours ago. He tore the last strip of flesh clinging to the bone with his claws and lowered it into his mouth, then disposed of the bone.

Next came the time to eat his favorite. The trouble with liking the organs was that they were buried underneath muscle and bone, thus requiring more effort to get into than just hacking it off. And unlike muscle their quality wildly varied with the person's health. Disease and, of course, things like drinking and smoking can cause the taste to deteriorate or make it unsafe.

He dug his claws into the chest as far as he could go and peeled back the flesh like an orange. A few stripes were eaten right away, the rest being placed aside; he didn't want to get full before getting to his favorite. The white ribs poked out, thoroughly embedded in pink muscle. He didn't have much love for the ribs— too small and boney— but he prefered not to waste so he pulled out all the pointy protrusions on a single side out one by one, putting it in his mouth and sliding out the meat with his teeth. Once finished, the crow poked inside the carcass to find the lung amongst the red gooeyness, and was pleased when he managed to wrap his hand around a good sized organ. With haste, it was ripped apart from the corpse. The boy started feasting upon it fervently the very next second. Evidently, the organ was a nice coral pink. This was turning out to be a good meal.

Deciding to save the other lung for later, he set his sights on the abdomen and sliced it open with one talon. He spread apart the muscle then reached in for the first thing he could pull out, which happened to be the spiraling cord that was the small intestine. Another of his favorites; a bit of a tough chew but, damn, was it tasty. He tore a sizable length out and plopped it into his mouth, half of the entrail sticking out of his lips, then continued to scavenge through the bowels for a different cut of meat.

"Nishinoya, there you are."

Instinctively his wings and every feather on his body flared up in surprise. He looked to where the voice had come from, and found two familiar figures.

"Don't worry, it's just us."

"Oh, Suga, Daichi! It's been what, a month since I last saw you?" Nishinoya said, entrail still sticking out of his mouth.

"Hey, that's gross. Don't speak like that," Suga scolded, prompting him to quickly slurp it up.

"You want to join me? There's plenty left. And how are Shouyou and the others?"

The two approached him, eyeing the mangled corpse. "They're doing fine, just a little picky is all. Hinata and Kageyama won't even touch the organs, and Tsukishima doesn't like anything with small bones."

"Heh, those two don't know what they're missing. But I understand Tsukishima. Having to spit out those little bones is totally annoying. So, what did you want?" he asked, also offering them a strip of the breast.

Daichi raised his hand in decline, and said "Nishinoya, we want you to return to the murder."

He stared down both of them, unsurprised by their request, before kneeling down for another piece of intestine. "…Has he returned?"

The black haired crow seemed to hesitate before answering "…No."

"Then I'm not coming back." Nishinoya twisted off the other forearm and drank in the blood as fast as he could. Afterwards, he threw the drained limb to Daichi. "Take the rest to the others. You need it more than me."

"Please, I know that what happened on that hunt is still affecting you, but the nestlings need their Guardian Deity! And more than that, they miss you," Suga pleaded. "The murder is incomplete without you and-"

"I'm sorry, I just can't," he cut in. "Not yet. I know I'm being selfish, but I just… I don't know, I just can't go back yet. Send my regards to Shouyou and the others. See you." Nishinoya turned and ran, building up enough speed to take off in an instant. Soon the landscape of the previous prefecture was far below him and he was cruising on the gentle currents yet again.

It had only been a month since he departed from the murder, yet he always found himself thinking about them. They were young, unable to fly, and thus unable to hunt, as hunting required them to hit-and-fly-far-away. So, while they were developing, the older ones had to look after them.

Thinking about it now, Nishinoya began to feel the guilt about leaving them by themselves resurface once more. Suga, Daichi, Tanaka, and Ennoshita must be wearing themselves out feeding and protecting them. Young ones ate more, were prime prey for owls and wolves. And when he was still there, he did sentry duty—watching the perimeter and alerting everyone of any incoming threats— most often. No one dared attack while he was on watch.

But, now that he wasn't there, what would happen? Were they getting enough food? Did they get attacked? Were they forced to move the nest? The questions rushed through his mind, feeling heavy enough to weigh down his wings. Maybe he should come back, just for a bit. Bring back a delicious carcass with him; the one he left with Suga and Daichi wouldn't be enough for all of them.

Yeah, just to check in and give them food. That's it, nothing more. Just a check in.

The crow started to descend, looking for a safe place to land. He was still in the city, a ways from where he was before, so he should be able to find prime meat. This time he would watch his prey, assess their health; there was no way he was gonna feed some drunkard riddled with disease to the small ones. Nishinoya spotted a rooftop he could watch a moderately busy intersection on and landed quickly.

A few people passed by, all old guys in suits. Not the best for eating. Then a lady that was having trouble going straight walked though, likely having just finished a night of heavy drinking. Pass. Guys with cigarettes were looked over, as well as a few runaway kids. Someone with a huge bag of pills was ignored , then an abandoned child. No one worth feeding to the little ones.

Nishinoya sat back, a heavy expression on his face. There were many variables when hunting, and the usual procedure to hunting was to stalk the prey for at least a few hours to ensure quality as best they could. What he did before—killing the first guy he saw—was a huge gamble. He got lucky, bringing in such a high quality carcass right of the bat. Then again, maybe this place was just a bad place to scout— where the lowlifes of the night gathered. What the small ones needed was a healthy male, no alcohol, smoking, or tattoos; inked skin was usually unsafe and disgusting to eat, so no Yakuza. He looked down at the intersection again, finding only some lanky teen that reminded him of Tsukishima. The sight of the kid reminded him of how skinny he was. All the more reason not to get impatient and get some good meat.

He took off again and flew into the direction of the city's outskirts. Hopefully he'd find a suitable meal there. The air was crisp with the smell of freshly formed dew, signifying that he had at best a few hours to find someone good enough before the murder's rules restricted him from hunting. He might not actually be with the murder right now, but he still felt an obligation to follow them. They were like principles, or something. Which meant no killing during the day.

So, with morning looming close, he decided to walk around and act human to find someone. Nishinoya tucked his wings in after dropping into an empty back alley. He untied the jacket around his waist and slipped it on: a solid black one with a four character idiom, one of his prized possessions. It covered the large slits on his skirt and all of his feathers strewn about his skin, making being a human even easier. Next Nishinoya took the pair of gloves from his pants pocket and carefully pulled them over his talons, lest he tear the fingertips out and ruin yet another glove. Now the only problem were his long tail feathers jutting out behind him. Usually to hide those he'd borrow a long coat from… . The only option he had left was to uncomfortably stuff the feathers into his pants. It was a strange thing to do, and even then they still poked out of his pant leg. He hoped no one would notice.

After the deed was done and he was reduced to awkwardly waddling, he made his way out to the street. It looked rustic and worn out, lit up with the few stores open before the crack of dawn. Not a person around. Maybe he should find a club, but then there would be a rather high chance they'd be pumped full of beer and drugs. He thought about it as he wandered the streets, stopping when a poster plastered on the side of a building caught his attention. It read 'Special Light Show held at the Shopping Center Today, 6:00' in bright yellow letters.

An event like that would attract the right kind of people. I mean, no drunkard would go to this, right? And besides that, it sounds kinda fun.

Six o'clock was cutting it close, but he was confident he'd be able to pull it off. Nishinoya strolled down to the next street as casually as he could, wondering when he should go. As he turned the corner, he glanced into a store window and got a good look at his reflection. Nishinoya didn't notice it before, but, he was dirty. Dust and grime were caked on his face, and his hair was drooping down, weighted with oil. The blood that dripped onto his cheeks and claws had now dried into a rust colored crust. He really should have washed up in that river.

He couldn't walk into go an event like this. He'd totally stand out! First he had to wash up, though it was a precarious thing to be exposed in a human settlement. Nishinoya had to be quick. Could he just find a facet and clean it off? No, the dirt was too compacted; he needed lots of soap to wash it off. He didn't have the time to blindly search for another river either, seeing how he just flew off in whatever direction before. Then, was there a sentō nearby? It'd be risky, but who'd be up at this hour?

Now the boy ran in earnest after making his decision, hopeful to find a sentō that opened real early. There has to be one, and hey, if he got lucky maybe there'd be prime meat taking a bath. He stepped across the corner and sprinted straight ahead, not wanting to miss the light show. Nishinoya continued for what felt like half an hour or so, far longer than he would've liked, but delighted when he saw the old-fashioned building sticking out like a sore thumb among the modern buildings. His luck got even better when he saw it had opened a mere ten minutes ago.

Nishinoya entered through the sliding doors, greeted by the lady by the desk. This sentō appeared to be an old one, probably with a long family history. It was plainly decorated with only a vase of bright chrysanthemums to liven it up.

"I'd like to use the baths. How much is it?" he asked to the lady.

"One hundred eighty yen, please," she replied, a sleepy draw in her voice.

He reached into his back pocket and took out the appropriate coins, glad he didn't have to wait for change, then placed it on the tray.

"Okay, go ahead. The boy's side is on the right."

"Thank you, um, do you have any shampoo or soap, oh, and a towel?"

The lady went under the desk and produced a pink bottle, blue bottle, and two towels. "The soap's a hundred yen each, but the towel's free."

He gave her two hundred yen coins, then grabbed the bottles and towels. "Thanks," Nishinoya hastily said before speed walking into the changing room. As he did, he happened to see the pricing and became unamused at what he saw.

'Adults- 480¥ Children 11 and below- 180¥'

That lady mistook me for a kid!

Sure, Nishinoya was rather… diminutive compared to the rest of the murder, and humans he would suppose, but that was no reason to think he's some kid! He's not that small! He was the sentry, the small ones' Guardian Deity! He fought off giant owls, cats, and even a white eagle once! He was tougher than any human!

But, being the adult he was, he ignored it and just started to undress. As it was early in the morning, there seemed to be no one else there with him. Good, he thought. He could bathe in peace. Nishinoya glanced at the clock, reading four forty. He thought to himself that he shouldn't stay long to wash off while putting away his clothes, bag, wallet, gloves, one of the towels, and… oh. He still had this. For a moment he paused, staring at the forgotten memento: a single ebon feather. Nishinoya was sure he had tossed it to the wind a few days prior. How did the plume find its way back into his pocket?

Whatever the case, he didn't want to see it any longer, already feeling the shadow of memory loom over him, but still he did not possess the mental strength to throw it out again. He placed it into the bin, out of sight under his clothes. Afterwards Nishinoya entered the baths cautiously, turning left and right in search of other people. Still alone.

He sat down at one of the sinks and started to douse himself with the water bucket. Once he was thoroughly soaked, he squirted some shampoo into his hair, carefully lathering. He poured a bucket on his head to flush out all the soap suds, then washed his dirt-tinted skin. The brown water streamed away onto the floor, and suddenly he looked completely normal without all the grime. When was the last time he bathed? He couldn't really remember, but apparently too long ago. Nishinoya continued by rubbing soap into his towel and scrubbed down his tail feathers. It was difficult to do by himself, and he definitely couldn't reach a few places, but somehow he managed. He then took care of his hands, rinsing out the blood and flesh out from under his talons. The last thing that needed a good washing were his wings. All fourteen feet of them.

Usually he'd be at a river, by himself and not near any human settlements when he washed his wings. No worry about being discovered. Did he even have enough room to completely unfurl? Probably not. He spread out half the length of his wings, curling them around himself, and poured a bucket full of water on it, then carefully lathered the individual feathers. Nishinoya rearranged a few out of place plumes at the same time, noticing they were quite worn out. Maybe the time was nearing for him to molt. Once that was done he extended his wings just enough so he could wash the second half and repeated the process.

Nishinoya moved his wings in small flaps, shaking off the water. Now he was completely rid of all dirt and grime, ready to infiltrate a light show for the small ones. He glanced over to the clock, reading five ten.

It's risky to be completely exposed in a human establishment. I should get out of here, but…

His eyes darted to the tub of warm, temping water next to him. The one thing that kept rivers from always being his go-to place to wash was the perpetually chilly water. He could never enjoy a bath there. It wasn't often he went to a sentō; the last trip was a few months back with the entire murder. And now that he was there, he might as well enjoy it, right? But, he had to get to the light show. He was already there for quite a while. But, just five minutes?

Before he had any time to think on it further, he found himself stepping over the tiled wall of the tub and submerging in the opaque water. The warm liquid gripped his tired muscles, causing them to loosen up. Nishinoya even unfurled his wings half way. Well, actually, unfurled them so much, they nearly filled up the entire perimeter of the tub. In this state, he was completely vulnerable, but he was too relaxed to do anything about it. It just felt so good after an entire day of flying, pretending to be human, keeping his wings wrapped tightly around his torso, and staying out of plain sight. Of course, those tribulations were on par with what life had become after he left, but still. He was tired, and he wanted to unwind.

Nishinoya closed his eyes, sinking even further in the water, and could swear that he fell asleep for a time. However, he was himself awakened by the most terrible sound he had heard all day: the door to the baths sliding open.

He'd been far too careless.

The man who entered sat down by a faucet near the door. It didn't seem like he noticed the crow yet, but when he finished washing and came over to the bath, Nishinoya would be finished. Damn it, he thought, I should've left when I had the chance! Should I kill him? No, someone would definitely see me! He didn't dare turn around to look, fearing the ripples would give him away. All that could be done was to sit quietly and await exposure. While he waited, Nishinoya started to slowly fold in his wings. If a fight became inevitable, their twelve foot length would be but a hinderance in such a confined space. He needed to be able to bolt out of there as quickly as he could once the guy saw him.

The sound of the man pouring buckets of water reverberated throughout the bath. It made him even more nervous when the bucket made an empty clank against the floor, followed by tense silence. He couldn't tell if he had gotten up, or if he was just washing himself. Nishinoya still didn't want to turn around. A few minutes passed like that, without any discernable change. Maybe the guy had left. Should he turn and check?

"Man, what am I going to do?"

Nope. The guy was still there.

"Work is terrible, and I barely get any time off. And now they've got me getting up at this hour in the morning."

He continued to aimlessly vent his woes to the air for quite some time. Nishinoya wasn't sure how much time had past, but he knew he had to get out soon. He could sneak past the guy, except with all the mirrors and the noise he'd make upon leaving the tub, it'd be unlikely that he'd go unnoticed. The room turned silent again, though this time he decided to crane his neck just a little to see the man. Bit by bit, his field of vision rotated just enough to see where the sounds seemed to come from. The man was gone.

However, his soap and shampoo were still by the facet; the guy was going to come back. Nishinoya swiftly stood and tucked in the elbow of his wings, then wrapped the rest around himself. He exited the tub, cautious of slipping, and walked towards the sliding door. Opening it just slightly, he peeked in, seeing the man looking for something in his bin. Nishinoya shifted the door down enough to sneak in and quietly closed it behind him. He hoped the man hadn't seen his clothes, tentatively tip-toeing across the changing room. The man continued to rummage through his pile of clothes for something, not yet noticing he wasn't alone. Nishinoya continued to tip-toe until he at last made it to his own bin, never taking his gaze off the man for a second.

"Ah, there it is. I can't take a bath without this." He seemed to have located whatever it was he was looking for, and entered the bath again.

Nishinoya somehow eluded discovery.

He gave a small sigh of relief, then reached for the towel in his bin. He wiped himself down, first his limbs then his torso, before shaking off the water on his wings with a few flaps. Nishinoya threw on his clothes sloppily and quickly, almost piercing a hole through his gloves even. Once he was dressed, he reached out for his other possessions and froze upon seeing the feather. He could just leave it here. It'd be gotten rid off for good. There was no reason to stir up those emotions. The thing would just make things more painful than they already were.

Nishinoya placed it into his pocket. Afterwards, he ran out of the bathroom without even looking at the desk lady.

The crow looked up at the sky, and found it still dark. A clock inside the sentō read five twenty-five, still enough time to get to the light show. Now that he was safe, he walked towards the nearest store window and took out a bottle of gel from from his bag. He squeezed out a good sized dollop, rubbed it in his hands, then carefully ran his fingers through the flat hair. Soon his hair was as spiky as before, and he again looked four inches taller. Nishinoya replaced the gel in his bag.

With thirty five minutes before the event, Nishinoya took to the air in an instant. The wind weaved through his hair as he flew, feeling especially good after a bath. He went in the direction of what he hoped to be the shopping center, but found he didn't have to look hard. Amidst the sea of lights was a single patch of darkness, and Nishinoya knew he had found the right place. He began to descend.

The event was being held in a square of sorts, decorated with strings of unlit lights. A surprising amount of people had gathered, most of whom looked college or high-school age, holding cups of coffee and having light conversations with others. Lean, tall, decent chance of no bad stuff in their systems. Good. There was a good selection.

His plan of action was to find someone who had gone alone, chat them up, and lure them away from the square with the Eyes of Corvus— an innate ability every crow had. It wasn't hypnotism or anything, it just made them… open to suggestion. Yeah, that's it. He'd look them in the eye, and they'd become unable to refuse anything he said.

The crow scanned the crowd for that single person suitable to be a carcass. A somewhat muscular guy was standing by the tree in the center, but it was likely he was waiting on someone with how he was nervously waiting for a call to pick up. He thought to himself that luring a guy away in this situation would be far harder than it would a girl. As embarrassing as it was to see a girl naked, he needed to get the nestlings some food. So, for them, he would… pick up a date.

Nishinoya could feel his face get hotter as he inspected the possible candidates. He settled on a lone girl in a green sweater sitting on a bench, gazing forward at the unlit lights. She didn't appear to be too skinny or too plump, just the right balance, and had the face of that honors student everyone hated for being so uptight. All right. Here goes.

"Good morning. You excited for the event?" he asked, approaching her.

"Hm? Uh, yeah. I've been looking forward to it since last year." The girl smiled, and patted the space on the bench next to her. Nishinoya sat down, gulping nervously from interacting this closely with a female.

"This event's annual then. What is this light show all about? Any meaning behind it or anything?"

"No, no, this isn't some festival that's been celebrated since the Edo period or anything like that. It's just something a group of college students organized to have fun. This is the third year they've done it, and it's always a blast. Um, my name's Rikona, by the way." She held out her hand. The boy looked at it for a moment, as if scanning it for potential danger, then accepted the gesture.

"Nishinoya. Nice to meet you," he said, his eyes repeatedly darting to the side, then back to Rikona.

"So, are you a college student too?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I am totally in college," Nishinoya replied in an obviously stilted voice. He looked down to the tips of her light brown hair, avoiding direct contact. "You know, most people mistake me for a kid cause I'm so sh-vertically challenged. You don't think that?"

"Now that you mention it, you are pretty short." Rikona gave an understanding grin. Nishinoya restrained himself from instantly rebuking her, and ran a reminder through his head that he needed to do this for the nestlings. "But no, I could tell you're not a kid. I guess it's just, I don't know, your face? Or maybe your eyes."

"Huh? What about my face?"

"There's this seriousness or matureness in your expression. Like you understand responsibility. I'd say that's pretty rare, considering all the guys that come to college just to party. I know way more people like that than I should." She shuffled in her seat. "Anyway, I think that's a good thing. You can't survive in the real world without a sense of responsibility."

"I see. Thanks, I guess. Your face looks pretty responsible too." …Did I really just say that?

Rikona seemed surprised at his response, and for a moment he thought he might've blown his chance, but then she started giggling. "You're pretty funny."

"Ah, eh, well, um… ha haha…." Nishinoya knew with certainty that he was as red as a tomato. He needed to get of this situation right now! Nishinoya looked all around the park: the unlit strings of light, the groups of people that grew by the second, the trees that seemed to be the centerpiece of the show, the coffee- the coffee stand! "Hey, you want some coffee? It's pretty early; you must be tired."

"Oh, sure. I was about to get some anyway."

"I'll get it for you. What do you want?" Nishinoya stood, eager to recollect his bearings.

"A tall hazelnut with two creams and two sugars. Here, I'll give you the money-"

"No, no, I'll pay for it. Consider it a gift," he insisted.

"Are you sure? You don't have to do that. That coffee stand is student run, and all the proceeds go directly to the school, so I don't mind pitching in."

"Don't worry about that, I got it." Nishinoya ran off before she could argue with it any further. The line was moderately long, but he could wait a bit. The more time he had to calm down, the better. He kinda felt bad that Rikona was being so nice to him when he was planning to kill her and feed her corpse to the nestlings, but he knew he cared more about them than some random college student.

It was a ten minute wait before he reached the front of the line. "Good morning, welcome to the Dawndrip. What would you like?" the cashier said.

"A tall hazelnut with two creams and two sugars, and um…" Nishinoya had a sinking realization that he never thought about what he wanted. This was the first time he had ordered coffee, or even drank coffee. He heard it was bitter, so people put lots of sugar in, but how much do people usually put in? And, what did 'tall' mean? What was-

"Sir?"

"Oh, sorry. Spaced out there. I'll have a…." His sight wandered to the jugs of something behind the cashier. Were those names of flavors on them? Mocha, white chocolate, cinnamon, peppermint, vanilla… vanilla? Like the ice cream? That sounded okay. "Tall vanilla… with two sugars and two creams."

"Okay then, two tall coffees will be six hundred forty yen, please." He gave the cashier a five hundred yen coin and a fifty yen coin, receiving ten in change. "It'll be a moment. Please step over there."

Nishinoya joined the other early risers, whom were keen on getting their caffeine fix. He placed the coin into his pocket, then wondered how much he actually had. He took out all the folded bills and coins out and counted it up. Five thousand, six hundred, thirty eight yen. That was more than he remembered he had. His usual income of money came from looting the bodies of people he ate, so he usually knew how much he had. Whatever. More money to get human food like popsicles and stuff.

"Tall hazelnut and tall vanilla?" a guy from the counter called.

"That's me." Nishinoya grabbed the two coffees, the warmth of the drinks permeating his palms, and went off to sit with Rikona. She was staring at the trees again, chin resting on her wrist. "Rikona, I'm back! Here you go."

"Thanks. I-it wasn't too much, was it?" She grasped the cup with apprehension, as if wondering if it was okay for her to take it.

"No, it was only three hundred twenty I think. Don't sweat it, just drink up while it's hot." he said, sitting down with her.

Rikona continued to look uncertain, but conceded after seeing Nishinoya's bright grin. "Okay, fine. Thank you for the coffee." She took a long sip of her drink, then exclaimed "Oh man, that feels so good! I've been up since five o'clock with only an apple for breakfast. I didn't realize I was this tired."

"Most people would have trouble getting up before noon. I think it's amazing that you voluntarily got up so early."

"Heh, stop flattering. Even if it's true."

Nishinoya laughed a little, then looked at his own drink. It was still warm, steam visibly rising out of the cup. He raised it to his nose and sniffed it a little, picking up on sweet notes of vanilla. It smelled alright. Nishinoya took a small sip, and was pleasantly surprised at the creamy, totally not bitter flavor. Why didn't he try it before? He's had all kinds of human food like meat buns, tonkotsu ramen, and GariGari-kun (his personal favorite), but never coffee. He proceeded to have another, larger sip, only to have his tongue scalded by the hot liquid. Nishinoya resisted the urge to spit it out, and forced the coffee down.

After reeling in from the sudden pain, he asked "So, how's college?" despite not knowing what college or even school was like. "It treating you well?"

"I-I guess so. At first it was really hard. In the first week I was slapped with an English essay and pages upon pages of reading. Your high school teachers don't tell you about how hard the transition is. All they say is that 'you're preparing yourself for the real world' and how 'it's your first big step towards your dreams'." Rikona placed her cup on her knee, head towards the ground. "But, anyway, I adjusted eventually. It got better when some seniors showed me a way to relax. It's a little expensive, though. I took a job just to support it."

"Ah. Good to hear." Most of what she said made no sense to him, but he assumed it was alright. "College seems like it'd be a lot of work."

"Seemslike?"

Crap, I slipped! "Uh, y-yeah, it seemed like a lot of work when I started, too. Lots of um, homework and stuff. Super hard, I was busy all the time," he said, scrambling to cover his mistake.

"You too, huh? Yeah, college certainly is a step up from high school. The work is super tough, but at some point it becomes doable for everyone. The only question is when." Rikona's face turned playful yet serious at the same time as she sipped at her coffee again. "But that shouldn't be a problem for someone as responsible as you."

"Me, responsible…. No, I wouldn't really say that. I've been shirking my duties lately, and it must be affecting the people I care for." His mind flashed to the feather in his pocket, but he quickly refocused on the conversation. Nishinoya tried not to reminisce too much–he preferred to look forward than back– but sometimes the what-ifs took over his thoughts. Should he have stayed with the murder, despite what happened? It was hard to tell.

"Care to share? I'm willing to listen." Her voice was sincere, and Nishinoya couldn't detect any underlying meaning in her words. He shouldn't discuss anything concerning the murder with humans, but she just seemed so honest. And after an entire month of keeping it to himself, perhaps sharing his story with someone else would ease his mind, if only just a little.

" … Sure, I suppose," he said reluctantly. "Just promise you won't tell anyone else, okay? I mean it."

"Alright. I promise. Now come on, tell me what happened." Rikona pulled forward, eagerness apparent.

"This happened about a month ago. See, I have lots of um… younger siblings I have to look after. Of course, I don't do it by myself. I've got a few older siblings as well. We take care of each other, protect each other," the crow retold, filtering out any incriminating words and replacing them with ones he thought would be acceptable to a human.

"You don't have parents?" she asked.

"Like they care about me…," Nishinoya muttered to himself, before realizing he now had to backtrack. " I mean, n-no, I have parents. They're just… away most of the time. Anyway, last month I had this sort of fight with my older brother. We just started getting really really angry, and we started to yell and push each other. Then, in the fight, my little brother tried to stop us and got… hurt. Cause of me." Nishinoya turned away from Rikona, feeling the regret threatening to contort his face.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. You don't seem like the type of guy who'd do that," Rikona said sympathetically. "Is your brother okay?"

"I don't know. I ran away from them after the fight. My older brother too. Even though I have a duty to protect them, I just left. I mean, how the hell could I do that?!" His voice suddenly raised, surprising Rikona. "S-Sorry for shouting. It's just, looking back on it now, it was such a stupid decision. Because I wasn't able to own up to what I had done, I abandoned Shouyou and Kageyama and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi! Sure, there's still Ryuu and the others, but the only one who can do sentry as well as I can is Daichi, and he probably has to lead the hunting group just to get enough food! How could I be so stupid?!" Nishinoya whipped his head up to face Rikona, and found her wearing an expression of both confusion and concern.

"I-I'm sorry, sentry? Hunting? I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Oh, uh, sorry. Disregard that please. Just a slip of the tongue, I was thinking of something in um, a video game we were playing before. Swears flew and tempers were tested, it riled us up," he explained.

"Nishinoya, I didn't-"

"Please don't apologize. You didn't need to hear all that heavy stuff. You're just a random stranger I happened to come across today, so why am I burdening you with this? It's my cross to bear, not yours." He again turned away, scooting a little to the side to put some space between them. "I'm sorry if that ruined the light show for you."

"No, I'm the one who insisted on hearing your story, remember? If anything, it's my fault for making you bring up such painful memories. So I should be apologizing too. I guess we're both at fault here, huh?" She flashed an understanding smile. "And besides, you're not the only one with a cross to bear. Even someone like me couldn't…." Rikona trailed off.

"Well, I guess-I mean, I suppose, well, um…." Nishinoya stuttered at a loss of more words than usual. Sure, he had trouble talking one-on-one with girls, but he couldn't recall a time when it was this bad.

"And, Nishinoya?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me saying this…."

"It's okay. Go ahead."

"I think it would be best if you came back to them." The boy's face turned stern as she spoke. "You might think it's not my place to tell you what to do; I really am just a stranger you just happened to meet today. But, even still, I think you should see them again. Say what you want, but I really do believe you are a responsible person."

"But I abandoned-"

"Yes, you did, but you recognize that it was a mistake and you deeply regret it. I think that that's enough reason for you to come back. Besides, how else are you going to get closure if you just stay away? I mean, they must miss having their dependable brother around."

Please, I know that what happened on that hunt is still affecting you, but the nestlings need their Guardian Deity! And more than that, they miss you.

"I'm sure they're not mad anymore, not even your little brother," she said.

"He's not the type to get mad or hold grudges, that's for sure," Nishinoya admitted. "A real good guy, my um, little brother. He always said that he looked up to me."

"Hey, come down here! I have to show you something!" he shouted up to the highest branch on their tree. Nishinoya looked to the excitable boy jumping about by the base of the sentry's post, seeming as though he would burst from anticipation.

He took one more scan of the surrounding forest before responding "I can't, I'm on sentry duty, remember? It'll have to wait until later."

"I promise this will only take a few minutes. Please, I've been wanting to show you this for like forever!" The boy put on the most adorable, pleading face he could muster and stared hard at the sentry. He knew out of everyone in the murder, Nishinoya was the most likely to break to it. "Please?"

"Ah, fine. Let's see it then." It was a clear dusk that day, and most of their predators were probably going to sleep. He hoped he could spare at least a few moments for the nestling. Nishinoya jumped down to the boy stood, flapping to steady his landing. "What is it?"

The boy completely unfurled his wings and pointed to the feather tips. "Look, my primary feathers are done growing! I can fly with everyone else now!"

"Oh, really? Let me take a closer look." Nishinoya carefully inspected each of the large black feathers, looking for the smallest indication they were still undeveloped. The first few seemed like they were indeed hollow and flight able, but his suspicions were confirmed as he got towards the middle. "Nice try, I can see the pin feathers. You aren't sky ready just yet."

"Aw, you noticed? But I want to go flying as soon as possible and see the human world…"

"You know you'll just fall if you try to fly with underdeveloped wings." He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, giving a wide smile. "And the human world isn't going anywhere. You'll get to go eventually."

"But Tsukishima got to go!" He flared his feathers as a sign of annoyance.

"That was cause he needed to get glasses; a one time exception, that's all." Despite Nishinoya's assurances, his face was still downcast. If he left the nestling like that, there was a solid chance he would be sulking the rest of the day. Nishinoya had to cheer him up somehow, and looking up to the sky, found an idea. "Why don't you come up to the sentry's post for a little bit?"

"Really?! I can?" the nestling exclaimed, his cheerful presence returning immediately.

"Sure, Daichi's not around!…Right?" He nodded a yes to Nishinoya. "Okay then, get on. We'll be up there in an instant." Nishinoya turned his back to the boy and stooped down. Then with great vigor, the boy jumped onto Nishinoya in one bound, his size surprising Nishinoya as he was nearly toppled over. "Geez, you're getting really big!" the older crow remarked, struggling to get up for a moment before he was able to straighten out his legs. "I used to do this all the time, and I never had trouble back then."

"Hey, it's been at least nine years since then! I've done some serious growing! I bet I'm taller than you, even."

"You? Taller than me?" The boy shook his head enthusiastically, drawing only a stifled chuckle from Nishinoya. "And what of it?" he said as he bent his knees back and suddenly launched into the air. The boy on his back loudly whooped from being airborne, feeling a surge of pure exhilaration flow through him. Nishinoya mischievously smirked upon passing by the sentry's post, instead zooming even higher into the dawnlit sky. "Hold on tight!" was his only warning to the boy before he did a backflip mid-air, then dived head first. Nishinoya proceeded to spin in a corkscrew manner as he descended until he was inches away from crashing into a branch. He pulled up at the last second and performed a final loop the loop before finally decelerating. Both him and the boy were uncontrollably laughing while Nishinoya steadily dropped back to the sentry's post. "Height don't matter when you're up in the sky. So being a little taller ain't much of a big deal."

"Whatever y-you say!" the boy said, still laughing. "That was so awesome, I can't wait to fly on my own."

"You better be excited. Flight's the best part about being a crow." Nishinoya sat down, with the boy following. They both looked forward at the setting sun in the distance, the rose hued sky, the peach colored clouds. "We might not have strength, or size, but flying is just so much more than that. It's all we really need. It's free-"

"Freedom," he finished, surprising Nishinoya. "You said something like that, back then."

"Oh, did I now?"

"Yes, you did!" The boy playfully nudged his arm, and they both chuckled a little.

"I suppose I might've said something like that." Nishinoya ruffled the boy's already messy hair in response to the nudge, with it being quickly pushed aside. The two exchanged a stern expression for a second, before both shifted into wide grins. They again laughed, persisting for a time. Afterwards the crows sat in a comfortable quietness, with the other's company all they required.

Nishinoya then turned his head down, and said "Ten years."

"Hm?"

"It's been ten years since then, not nine." The boy realized what he meant after a moment of confusion.

"…Oh, right. It has been ten years, huh? Lots of things have changed in that time. I got taller than you for one." Nishinoya promptly bonked him on the head. "But, I'm glad that, at the very least, one thing hasn't changed."

"What?"

"You're still with me."

Nishinoya found himself speechless after hearing that, and turned to face the boy. He didn't return the look, continuing to admire the scenery. The older crow, still in a daze, said "Of course I'm still here. There's no way I'd just abandon you like they did."

"I know that you wouldn't," the boy replied. "You'd protect me as long as you were able, and even when you weren't. You're not like them."

"And I never will be. Those bastards were just the worst," Nishinoya hissed bitterly. "Forget about them. If they didn't want us, then why should we even give them the time of day, you hear me?" He gave a small nod. "Good." Nishinoya wrapped his left wing around the boy to assuage him, whom did not object in any way against his gesture. Quite some time ago, they had done this rather often, and it still remained a solacing act. The warmth of Nishinoya's black feathers brought him a nostalgic sort of comfort, and he was glad for it. The boy leaned his head into the crook of Nishinoya's wing, finding it still cradled him perfectly. "…You enjoyed that flight just now, right?" Nishinoya asked abruptly.

"Of course I did! What part of 'That was so awesome, I can't wait to fly on my own' did you not understand?" he answered, his infectious brightness coming back.

"You're serious about flying on your own, right?"

"Uh-huh…."

"How about I teach you myself, then?"

"Seriously?!" The boy straightened up and beamed directly at Nishinoya. "You're seriously serious about that?"

"Yes, I am seriously serious about it," he said, holding back a laugh. "It might be easier for you to learn from me, since our wingspans are similar. I can teach you how to glide, how to flap, and all those crazy moves I just did."

"Yes, please, I'd love it if you taught me! I want to do those spins, plus that really steep dive! I want soar through the air on my own, just like you and everyone else."

"And to do that, you'll have to be patient and wait for your feathers to grow." The boy groaned as he leaned his head back onto Nishinoya's wing. "Besides that, though, there's…." Nishinoya glanced at the boy, his face still gleaming with elation. "No, never mind."

"Nishinoya!" someone yelled from down below, drawing their attention. "It's your turn to hunt! I'll take over the sentry's post now."

"Got it, Chikara!" he replied, then said to the boy "Looks like it's time to go."

"Wait, is that…? Nishinoya, did you bring him up to the post again? You know that that's dangerous! Hasn't Daichi scolded you enough times for this?"

"Nope!" The crow could hear his friend sigh in disbelief.

"Just get the heck down here already!"

"Give me a second!" Nishinoya turned to the boy. "You ready to go? I have to go and get a nice, juicy carcass with our ace."

"Wait, wait, I want to ask you something first."

"What?"

"What does flying on your own feel like?"

"Don't you already know the answer?" The boy nodded no. "Well, put simply, it feels-"

"Free," Nishinoya said out loud.

"Huh? What's free, Nishinoya? Nishinoya?" Rikona shock his shoulder when he didn't respond, continuing to space out. He reacted near immediately and slapped her hand away in surprise. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you or anything."

"No, that was my fault for just getting into a daze like that. I'm sorry for hitting you."

"Hey, I'm getting a sense of deja vu here," she said, giggling again. "We already played the blame game, didn't we? So let's just leave it at that."

"…Okay. Sure." Nishinoya raised his coffee cup to his lips and took in a long dip of the slightly cooled liquid. Rikona appeared to do the same, letting them both take a breather from the conversation.

"So what was that 'free' thing about?" Rikona asked soon after.

"I was just remembering this thing I told to my little brother. Nothing more then that." He hoped she wouldn't ask anything further than that, doubting he could prevent any more slip ups.

"And what did you remember? Was it about that fight?"

Damn. "No, it happened before. We were having fun together and talking about a bunch of stuff. Like what happened a long time and… how I'd never abandon him." He lowered his head onto his intertwined fingers, feeling he needed to collect himself before he accidently spilled something important. Rikona didn't disturb him or ask what was wrong, only patiently waiting for him to continue. "I'm such a jerk," Nishinoya said, shifting his chin to his fingers. "How could I do that to him after I told him all of that stuff, after I made him that promise?"

"You're not a jerk, Nishinoya. You were just pushed into a difficult situation." Rikona tentatively placed her hand on Nishinoya's shoulder, to which he made no clear response to. "Do you really think it's okay if things stay like they are?" He remained silent and peered downwards. "Do you think the issue will resolve itself if you just keep on running away?"

Her words were piercing. Her questions were ones he had asked himself everyday during the past months, and ones he didn't want to answer, or perhaps, didn't have an answer to. Nishinoya sat up, still not replying, and drank his coffee dry in one big gulp. There was an overwhelming urge to crush the cup in his hands—it wouldn't exactly be hard—but he simply tossed it into the nearest garbage can.

"The light show's starting," Rikona informed, lightly tapping him. She stood to gaze at the lights that had started to shift colors, turning on and off in accordance to the beat of a song blaring out from an unseen speaker. Rikona, as well as everyone in attendance, seemed absolutely enchanted by the showcase. The bright reds gave way to a dark green, then disappearing all together into whiteness. Nishinoya found himself staring in awe as well, only seeing something similar when a swarm of fireflies came by the nest. "It's as great as last year."

Rikona focused intently on the bright lights. She wasn't paying attention to anything else. The people around them, too. Nishinoya knew that the conditions were ideal.

It was time to hunt.

He knew that in his head. When he thought about it, it made perfect sense. No one was going to notice them leave, Rikona was distracted. There was no better time than now, but, for some reason, he couldn't force himself to move. Was it because he had gotten to know her, and she had listened to his story? No, he's gotten close to the prey before for far longer than the probable thirty minutes he's spent with Rikona, and they've never made him freeze. Then again, it might not've been Rikona that was making him stop.

"Nishinoya," she said without turning from the lights, apparently not as enraptured as he had previously thought.

"Y-Yeah?"

"You're going back to them, aren't you? Because that's the kind of person you are." Rikona beamed a bright smile at him. "They'll be happy to have you back. That's what this stranger thinks anyway."

"Rikona…." Nishinoya turned his head down again, not knowing what to say to that, and found his line of sight attracted to something on the floor. He picked it up, realizing it was the black feather, somehow ending up in an unexpected place again. It was the embodiment of his mistake. Just the mere sight of it made the deep seated self loathing within him ignite into a cold flame that pervaded his entire being. His anger, at himself, at that hunt, at-

"What's that? It's really pretty."

That was it. He couldn't do this anymore. "I have to go now. Enjoy the rest of the show, and forget about me," he said, staring straight at her with piercing vermillion eyes, ones she wasn't sure he had before.

Dispontantly, Rikona nodded. "…Bye then. Thanks again for the coffee."

"Don't mention it." He backed away, waving to Rikona, before sprinting away. Nishinoya took off into the air once he found himself a vacant area, flying towards nowhere in particular. What a strange thing he did. That was the first time he intentionally let the prey escape. It would've been a cinch to just kill her. He could've done it at any point in his conversation. And yet, he still let a perfectly suitable carcass slip right through his fingers.

There was no point in deliberating whether he did the right thing or not. What mattered was that he didn't have a carcass, and hunting hours were now over. The crow looked down to the ground and spotted a patch of grass surmounting a beaten down nature trail. Nishinoya, feeling he needed a little time to think things over, decided to descend onto the earth and lay down. The soft dirt felt nice upon his back as he relaxed as best he could. A still chilly gust swept across the greenness he laid in, his hair moving with it.

He was burning. With hatred, regret, and more than anything, with umbrage at himself. Why did he run? Why couldn't he have done anything but blow up back then? Why… why couldn't he come back? Was it because of…

Asahi?