"Should we have invited Sakuma to play?"

All of the spies had just come back from a trip into town, having spent the evening in a classy dance hall and returning to the Cultural Society Headquarters, spent and tired from the excitement. They had figured the best way to wind down was with a game of poker before bed.

"No, I'm sure he's been asleep since we left." Miyoshi answered, pulling out a deck of playing cards from the tin box on the shelf. "Besides, we're playing a real poker game this time."

"Afraid you'll actually lose a round if he joins?" Hatano quipped from his seat near the door.

His joke was answered with a side glance from the brunette as each of the five men playing took their seats around the largest table in the room. "I won't take an insult about my ability to play by someone who isn't even going to participate."

Hatano shrugged, placing his arm against the table and turning his chair to face them so he watch the game unfold from his spot in the room. The only others who weren't included in tonight's game were Kaminaga and Fukumoto, both men that probably danced the most out of all of them that night.

"Tazaki, aren't you uncomfortable in that?" The question was from Odagiri who sat across from the man at the table, eying his blue suit jacket with concern. The rest of them had taken off their jackets in favor of wearing just their dress shirts and waistcoats due to the warming weather, but Tazaki had opted out of that option.

"Not particularly." Tazaki had picked up the cards that were distributed to him, fanning the cards out and looking at his starting hand. He inwardly sighed, wishing he had enough luck to have already started out with a pair.

The game officially began with Miyoshi's contribution of an ante, which should have been done before he handed out the cards, but no one seemed to complain when they followed afterwards and placed in the same amount.

Throughout the game, each time Tazaki replaced his cards, his hand seemed to be getting less and less desirable. Amari had already folded and sat back to watch the rest of the game, but after the rough day he had, he didn't feel like giving up simply out of spite for himself.

Earlier that morning, Fukumoto had handed him a hot bowl of miso soup which he promptly dropped on the floor after tripping over a misplaced suitcase, courtesy of Kaminaga who had left it there the night before.

After cleaning up the mess and apologizing to Fukumoto, he decided to take a shower to clean himself up, only to find that one of the water pipes had burst after he turned the knob. Thankfully, Amari was just outside and rushed in to fix the problem before the entire facility was flooded.

As if that hadn't been enough to ruin his day, he was sent on an errand to restock their food supplies and was left with a specific list of ingredients to find at the supermarket. He had succeeded in gathering everything he needed until it came time to purchase and Tazaki had searched in his pockets to discover that he had left his wallet back at the agency.

It was the worst day he's ever had.

Tazaki looked through his hand one more time and humored himself with the thought of cheating, but realized he wasn't even in the mood to attempt. After the day he had, it would just be his luck to own a losing hand on the first game of poker. Instead, he called and added more chips into the pile in the middle, giving off the impression that he was equipped enough to hold out.

Not long after, Jitsui folded and now it was just Tazaki, Miyoshi, and Odagiri left in the game. Tazaki was sure Miyoshi had this round in the bag, his facial features calm and collected as always and his eyes focused on the cards he was hiding from prying eyes.

Odagiri was no different, having one of the most solid poker faces out of all the spies in D-Agency, despite constantly losing in their joker game. Perhaps it was part of his time in the army that kept his face so tight-lipped and taciturn, his habits ideal for a serious game and keeping his opponents guessing his next move.

He felt like he was backed into a corner with no way out, having done this to himself. If he had just given up near the beginning of the game, he could have spared himself the loss of his chips and his humiliation.

As if sensing his discomfort, Amari turned to look at Tazaki from the corner of his eyes as the man leaned back into his chair and sighed. He looked like he was ready to cave any minute. "Tazaki?"

The other didn't answer him, most likely too lost in thought to have heard him. He reached out to tap him on the shoulder and halted when his eyes caught something moving inside of his jacket. It was a lump- no, two- that were moving around inside of his suit like some kind of strange appendage.

Something small had popped out suddenly, Amari realizing it was just one of Tazaki's precious pigeons. It's gray coloring contrasted with the dark blue of his suit and it's head tilted as if observing the game on the table.

Amari would have ignored it and went back to studying everyone's moves if another pigeon hadn't pushed its way out of its confines and cooed.

That wasn't a good sign.

He glanced at Tazaki and one look indicated he hadn't even noticed the pigeons yet, and his eyes were beginning to narrow into near slits. Was that sweat running down the back of his neck?

Another pigeon appeared and Amari was starting to become restless. Whatever was happening, he didn't want to be anywhere near Tazaki at the moment.

The sound of feathers ruffling and another coo had caught Jitsui's attention, who was sitting beside Tazaki on his right. The abrupt sight of three small birds tucked away inside his large jacket made Jitsui smile, having hardly ever given the chance to see his pigeons in person. "Aw, aren't you-" Jitsui blinked as a fourth one joined the others- "oh."

"Oh, no."

Amari suddenly pushed his seat back and stood up, finally recognizing what was about to happen.

"Amari? Where are you going?"

His footsteps picked up and he broke into a run, aiming for the door to the cafeteria. "Every man for himself!"

In that very moment, a flurry of gray and white bursts from Tazaki's suit and all hell brakes loose. The force pushes Tazaki back into his chair and dozens of pigeons are suddenly everywhere.

Miyoshi ducks quickly before the flock hits his face and he's suddenly crashing into the legs of the chair to his left, knocking Kaminaga out of his seat and forcing them both onto the floor.

"What the hell, Miyoshi!" Kaminaga has no time to act out his rage as a group of pigeons come his way and he covers his face, their talons nicking his hair and pulling at the strands.

Amari makes it to the door just as he hears Hatano scream behind him, and he reaches for the door handle. He turns the knob a few times before he knows it's jammed and he curses, pulling at the door harder. Someone runs into him and he turns around to tell them off, his eyes widening as three pigeons come at them from the other side of the room. "Shit!"

Jitsui was the one who bumped into him, his smaller stature pulling at his arm in an attempt to remove him from the entrance. "You're blocking the way out!"

"I'm not! The blasted door is stuck!"

"Then let me-" Jitsui tugs too hard on his arm, pulling his whole weight into prying him away, and the rest of Amari's body follows. "Tazaki! Get up and get your stupid pigeons under control!"

That seems to snap him out of his haze, the man frantically getting to his feet and snatching the first pigeon he could grab. It squawked when his hands wrapped around its wings and Tazaki felt guilty as he stuffed it back into his blue jacket before reaching for another one.

Kaminaga and Miyoshi had finally gathered their bearings and the shorter one had found the broom, swatting away any birds that threatened to harm them from their spot in the corner. "Disgusting-" Miyoshi smacked a pigeon away with the brush end- "vermin!"

Kaminaga was behind him, grabbing onto his shoulder with one hand and armed with a cleaning spray bottle with another. "Fukumoto, some help over here!"

Fukumoto had long-taken initiative of the situation by grabbing Odagiri and pulling him over the kitchen counter and towards safety. The two men were currently shielded by the wall and the pigeons seemed have ignored their presence from the rest of the chaos, choosing instead to torment the rest of the group on the other side of the cafeteria.

Jitsui, after successfully prying Amari away, had given the door a shot. The knob was jammed somehow, preventing him from completely turning it all the way. "This training facility is so strapped for funds, we can't even afford to fix a fucking door!"

"I told you!" Amari had gotten up, batting away a bird that tried sitting on his head, and rushed to the door again. "Stop pulling, you're going to break it!" He grabbed onto Jitsui under his arms and locked him into a grappling hold, trying to wrench him from the door knob. "Let go, Jitsui!"

Jitsui's iron grip was too strong when he pulled him back and in the struggle, they had both completely ripped the handle off of the door and the force sent them backwards onto the ground.

Tazaki managed to stuff a third bird back in its hiding place before looking around and spotting Hatano hiding under the table. He saw him reach for something behind his back pocket, and the glint of metal was all he needed to know before he dived.

His back hit the table as he slid into Hatano, his hands reaching for the small gun in the cramped space. "Don't kill them!"

Hatano tried to push him away, rolling onto his back and trying to either kick him or latch onto him before the gun could be taken. "I'm going to shoot your fucking birds if any of them come near me with their filthy diseases!"

"They're clean, I promise!" Tazaki pushed and toppled Hatano, effectively trapping him against the tile and snatching his wrists to keep him from aiming the gun in the air. "Give me it!"

"Over my dead body!"

A pigeon had knocked over a small pile of plates in its surprise, sending them crashing onto the floor beside them and Hatano screamed directly in Tazaki's ear, his finger twitching against the trigger of the gun and sending a bullet flying into the wall across them.

Kaminaga and Miyoshi both flinched, their moment of hesitation costing them as the flock of birds surrounding them had taken the chance to claw at their clothes and hair. "Why are they acting like this?!" Kaminaga swatted and sprayed the bottle at a nearby pigeon, nearly screeching as one of them had dropped their feces onto his shoulder. "Pigeons are ruining my life!"

"Not all pigeons!" Tazaki's voice had wavered at the end due to a well-aimed kick to his stomach from Hatano, his body lurching forward and coughing violently in response to the attack.

Hatano was now free, but Tazaki's hand had latched onto his arm before he could get very far. "Let go of me!"

He couldn't talk after the hit he took, but he had enough training to continue moving and he forced himself to remove the gun from his hold. He used his superior height by shifting and using his legs to trip Hatano as he tried to run, knocking him down and pinning him with his longer legs.

From the position, he easily grabbed the gun and tucked it inside of his pant pocket instead.

By the time Tazaki had Hatano restrained, Kaminaga was running across the room to pull Jitsui to his feet and dragging him towards the windows. He had risked his defense and left the bottle with Miyoshi to use if needed, hoping Jitsui would be the one to fix this mess. "You're the only one small enough to fit through these windows and call for help!"

Jitsui looked back at Hatano, who had just been pinned to the ground by Tazaki, and nodded. Lifting a nearby chair over his head, he planned to throw the furniture into the window and break the glass, but Kaminaga stopped him.

"No! Just climb out of the window normally!" Kaminaga huffed as he unlatched the lock on the windows and pushed up, creating an open space small enough to fit Jitsui without any problems. "Go and get Yuuki!" He barely had any time to finish his order when a group of pigeons came at him with ferocity, screeching and pecking at his face like they were the spawns of Satan.

Jitsui didn't look back as he slipped out into the humid night and ran through the garden of prickly bushes that snagged onto his pants and cut into his skin. He saw some of the pigeons had taken his lead and escaped through the open window, the spy already knowing the trouble they were going to be in when Yuuki finds that they got out.

He already had pigeon feathers stuck in his hair but the thought of his state of appearance hadn't registered as he sprinted to the front door of the building, yanking the door open and making his way up to Yuuki's office.

His footsteps pounded against the rickety stairs as he turned the corner and came in the room unannounced, the leader of D-Agency seated at his desk and filing something away.

The man only took one look at Jitsui before he sighs deeply. He knew he heard a gunshot go off downstairs and he only hoped that whatever it was, he didn't need to get involved. He gives himself a moment to gather whatever patience he may need for the situation and finally stands up, grabbing his cane and limping to the door and towards wherever Jitsui is going to lead him.

It hadn't taken long for him to deduce that the sounds of his spies' screams were coming from the cafeteria room, the shadows of their bodies cast against the milky window of the door as they pounded the walls and yelled for help.

Jitsui only waited beside him when Yuuki finally opened the door and Miyoshi was the first one to tumble out, his head hitting his chest before he stumbled and ran out into the hall, several pigeons following him and flying into various areas of the facility before the rest of the members followed him out.

Each one was covered in scratches, bird feathers and other various fluids that Yuuki really didn't feel the desire to verify as he waited for the commotion to settle and the pigeons were no longer surrounding all of them.

Tazaki was the last to emerge from the cafeteria, bloody wounds around his fingers and face as he stood sulking in the entrance and joining the rest of the spies in the hall behind him.

Yuuki takes that second to sigh again, his patience already wearing thin. With a deep breath in, he spoke. "Who is responsible for this?" The question already had an obvious answer, but with it he could see just how guilty the other was with how he decided to answer.

As expected, Tazaki answered honestly. "I am."

Yuuki watches as the pigeon that had landed on the stairway had decided to perch itself on Tazaki's head, nestling and fluffing its feathers. "You were in charge of one pigeon."

"...Yes."

"Are all the hutches on the roof empty?"

Tazaki's gaze lingered at Yuuki's shoes. "...Yes."

Yuuki stares at him longer and taps his finger against his cane. "Do you have the pigeon I assigned to you for your mission tomorrow?"

Tazaki hesitates for a moment, raising his hand to answer before he searched his jacket for the five pigeons he had managed to get back. He searched all of them for the band attached to their leg, none of them matching the description. "...No."

"...Go find it."

"...Okay."

Tazaki had been sent outside to search for the missing birds alone while the others remained at Headquarters to retrieve the pigeons that were loose inside of the building. His attempts at recovering the birds had been unsuccessful, the man calling for his pigeons in a beckoning manner and getting little response.

"Coo! Coo!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to them, hoping they would at least hear him from where he was. It was three in the morning and the only people loitering outside at this time were shady dealers and drunkards. The night was warm but his chest was cold and he longed to find the pigeon he needed for his mission.

"...Coo." It was the sound of a sad, broken man as he softly cooed at the sky, his voiced cracking and eyes searching for any birds that were gathered around the buildings or the park.

He took a seat at one of the public benches to rest, rubbing his face to clear the sleep from it. "I'll never find them at this rate." He sighed and reached into his suit jacket, pulling out a small bag of crushed crackers he had saved for the pigeons earlier that day.

The birds inside his coat were becoming restless at the sound of the bag and so he pulled them out and set them by his feet as he tossed the crumbs at them to enjoy. He sat there, watching as they pecked and nibbled at the food, cooing and staring up at him for more.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of flapping wings that he turned around and discovered a small flock of the pigeons he'd thought he'd lost forever had returned, their gray feathers brushing against his clothes as they attempted to steal the crackers from his hand.

He stared, three of the now recovered birds sharing the cracker and dropping the crumbs on his lap as they ate in collective peace as if nothing had happened at all within the last half-hour of his search.

He took the chance he had and tossed out more food for the rest, receiving loving looks and attempted cuddles by his feathered friends as they snuggled into him for more warmth.

He gently rubbed one of them around its neck, disturbing the feathers there but the pigeon didn't seem to mind as it leaned closer for more affection. "You must have been spooked after everything that happened." Tazaki rubbed under its belly and felt it coo again. "It's alright now. I'm taking you all back home."

He glanced down and noticed it was the pigeon Yuuki requested for him to find, a familiar leg band strapped to it. He smiled, picking it up and tucking it into his suit so it could stay warm and bury itself in his pocket.

What was left of the crackers were now nothing but crumbs on the ground as the rest finished their meal off and looked at Tazaki for direction. They knew him by his face after the amounts of visits he had made to the roof of the training facility, having given each and every one of them an equal amount of attention, training, and food. While they could all easily find their way back to the hutches, they found that Tazaki's presence meant they were coming home together.

He called out to them and they all flocked, some sitting on his shoulders and head while the others flew as they navigated through the streets and towards the Cultural Society building.

Jitsui and Hatano were there to greet him at the entrance, both men cleaning up the mess the birds had left in their wake. "Look who's back." Hatano wiped off the handrail of the staircase as he stared at the pigeon resting in his breast pocket. "And I see you've managed to bring them back."

"Yes, all of them." Tazaki walked past them and onto the stairs, taking the routine route towards the roof. "Did you have any trouble catching them?" He had hoped they had done it without violence and that none of them were hurt.

Jitsui was focused on sweeping up the remaining feathers on the ground as he spoke. "Yes, we gathered all of them and returned them to the hutches."

"And?"

"And not a single one was injured." Jitsui hummed. "They don't like Miyoshi or Kaminaga apparently. They tried to attack them so Yuuki sent them on clean-up duty like us."

"I see." Tazaki paused on the stairs, looking down at them both. "Thanks." He didn't bother to stay after that, wanting to avoid Hatano's argument over his appreciation. After all, he sounded too emotional even to his own ears.

He hadn't run into any of the other members by the time he arrived on the roof, the other birds that had decided to fly ahead already settled into their homes and ready for Tazaki to lock up their cages.

He took each one out of his coat pockets and set them inside, returning his carrier pigeon last so he could rub at its feathers one more time before closing the doors of the hutches and going back inside.

He had immediately gone back to their dorm room, closing the door behind him and spotting Sakuma still asleep in his cot. Amari, Fukumoto, and Odagiri were getting ready for bed, each of them changing out of their clothes.

Amari had various bruises on his arms from Jitsui's harsh grip while the other two were completely unharmed from the fiasco. "Where's Miyoshi and Kaminaga?"

"The showers." Amari slipped a clean shirt on and pulled the sheets back on his bed, settling in for the night. "They finished their chores not too long ago and decided to clean up before bed."

"They're covered in scratches," Odagiri commented, "Miyoshi wasn't happy about it."

Tazaki could understand from the way they were handling the pigeons in the first place. With a broom and spraying water, that was enough to frighten any bird. If he was being honest, he felt they deserved whatever injuries they sustained in the cafeteria.

Tazaki walked over to his cot and began to undress, taking off his clothes and pulling out his sleepwear for the night. As he sunk into his bed, he heard Amari from across the room shift and address him.

"If you're ever stressed about something, you can always vent to us." The man sat up to face him even though they were in the dark. "You don't always have to rely on your pigeons to cope."

"Amari is right. We're free if you ever need an open ear." Fukumoto had adjusted the pillow behind his head and turned on his side before becoming silent.

Tazaki sat and thought about their offers, feeling rather bashful now that they had admitted they cared enough about him to listen to his troubles. He did rely on his pigeons, maybe a little too much for it to be healthy. They were his friends, yes, but so were the members of D-Agency.

He hid his smile and pulled the sheets higher to cover himself before he closed his eyes. The room was peaceful, the sounds of Sakuma's even breathing from the other end of the room enough to loll him into sleep. His body relaxed and he sighed in comfort, glad to have finally earned a restful sleep after such a long day.

The quiet was broken by the sound of Amari's voice.

"How did you fit them all in your jacket?"