It's a busy bar on the top floor of just another highrise in Buangan City.

"Hah. Fledgling nowadays. Never seen a drop of blood, yet complained as if they've committed an honest day's work," say a large man dressed in white blazer and a matching white fedora 2 seats on Lenny's right. He has the voice of a man who has smoked for decades.

"Now, now; let's not be mean to the young child. We don't support bullying behavior in this table," says a round woman in a floral dress with a whole crochet project on her lap, "You, out of all people, should know better, Mr. Principal".

The statement might be in his defense, but Lenny can't help but growl lowly before taking a sip from his glass of drink, "I'm 24".

"A child," she repeats; her voice a reminder of many kind old lady figures from your childhood cartoons and that is enough to get Lenny to bite back any comments. Unlike the judgemental principal of a private school over there, she owns a whole daycare and a kindergarten. Both have the tendency to patronize, yet their approach is completely different. Does it make any of them any less annoying?

No.

As Lenny finishes his drink, he catches the gaze of the pink-haired girl in a pair of thin-rimmed round glasses sitting at the end of the semi-circular bar. There's a twinkle of curiosity in that look before she, too, finishes her drink and asks for another mojito. She might appear like the typical college student, but don't let appearance fool you. If she is sitting among them, she is definitely not just a student.

"Well then, if a child is here in place of that other child, then is it safe to assume there is a family affair?" You can hear the teasing smile in that mock-question. The old man dresses in an expensive 3-piece suit. At a glance, you'd assume he is a man of class. Yet behind the wrinkly skin, the bony fingers, and the weak chuckle is a cunning man. "Between our leader and Eighth?"

"Mind your own business!" Lenny hisses. "If you want to start, why don't we start with yours? Manager of McConnen Insurance, twice divorced, and a married daughter. How far along is she again? Oh! She's five months pregnant with your first grandson. "

"My, my, what a loud young man. As they say, a cornered prey bites," The old man calmly links his fingers together under his nose, "Give him another drink, won't you, Third?" He tells the bartender, who coolly whips another drink for Lenny.

The old man then adds, "Before you continue, Mr. Samuel Leonhart, why don't you calm down," the mention of Lenny's real name is an actual threat. No one ever goes by their real name in these meetings. They all go by numbers; First to Eighth, with the Bartender being Third. 

Second's mention of Fifth's career as a Principal is a jab between two people who knew each other for a long time. However, Lenny is never a part of this party of 8. He is a total stranger; and his real name has no business to be mentioned in full by the old man. "We're all capable people in this table. If we want to reveal cards, Mr. Leonhart, I can always reveal the one card you never knew existed - and no, it's not about your secret crush on Eight's highschool girlfriend".

"..."

"... but if I say I know the name of your biological mother, Mr. Leonhart -"

"Woah, woah, woah, are we done bullying the kid here? God, to think that Third promised me a chill gathering!" The purple haired man in a biker suit groans from the opposite side of the bar. He is known as Sixth, and right next to him, the person with long red hair and a tight short black dress, is Fourth, who is busy texting someone.

"Look kid," Sixth addresses, "Everyone here has a second life, okay? We keep it a secret. A secret family, a secret civilian persona, a secret day job, a secret lover - whatever. If you want to keep working with these people, you keep their secret with you, you got that?" He scolds, "And if you can't handle having your secrets exposed, then don't bring up someone else's - especially not that Grandpa's over there! That man knows how many times you cheated in class back in grade school; that's how much he can sniff out of you!"

"I never cheate -"

"NOT THE POINT. You don't challenge a man way beyond you, kid! Now shut up".

Lenny maintains his glare at the old man, "He started it. He accuses Grim and Eighth of being related so he can look down at Eighth's candidacy as Grim's heir".

Sixth slams his drink to the countertop. "Kid, we know Eighth is Grim's grandson".

Taken aback, Lenny looks at them all one by one. They are not surprised at all. First, the mysterious old man; Second, the seemingly coddling lady; Third, the silent bartender; Fourth, the seductive woman (man?); Fifth, the obnoxious loud-mouth;  Sixth, the cool biker; Seventh, the 'college student'.

And then there's Eighth, whose seat Lenny is sitting on.

From First to Eighth, their title is ranked by the length of time they have spent with "Grim", their leader. There are more of them than just Eight people; all of which are called "Crows" - the companions of Grim who act as his eyes and ears. Their expertise? To gather information for Grim who acts as the executor.

Their Organization is unnamed, but the people of Buangan City calls them The Reaper. In a city of Crime Lords, The Reaper is among many vigilante groups enforcing their own idea of justice; chasing 'criminals' and, sometimes, 'ending' them. Corrupt politicians, child trafficker, murderers, you name them; this Organization would be on their neck and end them in their sleep. After all, in Buangan City, it takes a crime to take down another. 

With that, Grim became the icon of dark justice in this city. You'll find graffitis of his name and symbol; and in merch shops, tourists would make a line to get a mug with Grim's name. 

And it is these eight people who will later decide who will be the next Grim.

There are two candidate for Grim's seat; Eighth and Seventh.

"So with Grim not here, what are we doing?" Fifth complains.

"Eighth and Seventh," the bartender, Third, answers, "We're going to hear about their projects".

"Great," The Fifth grunts, "Seventh?"

The girl calmly puts down her glass of mojito. Lenny can't tell how many she has drunk this hour alone, but the girl seems unaffected by the amount of alcohol. "XenTech. Secret project for a weapon," she's curt, but she is promising a lot. XenTech is one of world's biggest tech company at the moment. They don't make weapons, normally; but if they were, everyone would be interested. That information would be valuable.

Whispers of intrigue could be heard among the numbers. Lenny takes a deep breath as Fifth address the next number, "Eighth?"

"He's aiming for Larks Security".

"Huh," Fifth snorts, "Be more original, won't you?"

"I have to say, The Larks is known to make weapons, secret or not. XenTech, however? That is new," Second does not halt her crocheting as she fawns over Seventh.

"Not weapon. Even better," Lenny disrupts, "An heir".

Everyone stops. 

Not a lot is known about Benjamin Larks, the gun mogul, dubbed the Lion of the Port, and the current patriarch of The Larks. Married three times, all of them ended before they ever produced an heir to the Larks name. 

"You're positive he has one?" Fifth voices.

"Eighth is. He has a good reason to be," Lenny claims. 

"He's always morally grey - Mr. Larks," Second points out; this time, her crocheting project is resting in her lap untouched, "If we can approach the heir, we can certainly read his movements better".

They are very good at keeping their information hidden. None of the crows have managed to steal an information from this family before.

"And Eighth has enough information in his hand to pursue an investigation?" Sixth is in awe.

"Yes. In fact, he's just getting started".

***

Kai: Hey. Can u pick up the tiramisu from the bakery on parang street?

You: sure

Lenny huffs and continues walking to the apartment. He already picked the tiramisu before he read the message. He'll be there in time to help with the welcome dinner, however much he despises the idea.

Because Kai needs him.

"You're here! Wonderful - now can you help me move this table?" Kai does not linger by the door to greet him. Instead, he turns around to get back to work. 

Lenny trails behind with the bag of dessert from the popular bakery as the other guy starts to ramble about the welcome dinner he has prepared. "How'd the meeting go?"

"Hm, not bad," Lenny pauses, "Seventh is going for XenTech".

"That's cool. That'll get Viv somewhere".

Lenny cringes at the mention of Seventh's real name. "I mentioned the thing about Benjamin Larks".

"Oh, that'll get YOU somewhere," Kai tilts his head toward him as he continues to walk through the hallway. "Viv will pick after you. Knowing her, she'll find him in no time. "

"But it should be you doing the investigation! It was your idea. You said Angelo Drake is Benjamin Larks' secret son".

"Yea, after I read a few Insta-posts about him strutting around Fashion District! I wasn't 100% confident he is. I was speaking straight from my ass".

No, he wasn't. The thing about Kai is that he is scarily accurate in many of his previous deductions. It's why he is the perfect Grim candidate.

"Whatever. If the Organization wants to pursue it, good on them. It won't be me doing it!" Kai shrugs without a care in the world.

This again. If Kai continues to avoid the Organization, he is going to lose his chance at being the next Grim. Lenny's attention darts to the big family picture above the fireplace.

Kai stands on one side of a large antique chair in that picture; shoulders squared, and face carefully neutral. He is dressed in a set of black tuxedo; all sleek and pristine; though his hair is kept in style with his personality; all pulled up to a dramatic ponytail that was curled and volumous with side fringes.

Next to him, slightly leaning toward the chair with her two arms lounging at the head of the chair, is his mother; Godiva Owens, in a long black dress and long black hair with big curls. A small smile adorns her beautiful face. Mysterious and elegant as always, this woman manages to always say a lot with just a glance.

And in the chair, is Edward Owens; old and wise in his black suit.

In that picture is all four generations of Grim; Edward Owens as the first and third, Godiva Owens as the second; and soon, hopefully, Kai as the fourth. And, really, Kai is well on his way to be the fourth Grim, if not for that man.

Lenny glares at the framed pictures lined on the fireplace below the family picture. In many of them is that man. There's one of him holding an award from a prestigious science award, one of him holding baby Kai, one of him holding a big fish next to a man Lenny doesn't know - there are plenty of him in this penthouse, yet Lenny has only seen him step into this place once.

His name is Hisashi. And as much as Lenny regrets it, he is Kai's father. You can see it in the sharp lines of Kai's features; the defined slim jaw, the sharp slanted eyes, the thin nose; all those are features you'd find in Hisashi.

He doesn't understand what possessed Godiva Owens, the most notorious and praised Grim, to chase the guy and bed him, enough to get a baby out of him and quit the Organization out of love. Love! All that talent just for her to just dump it for a man that ended up leaving anyway to pursue a career as a marine biologist.

Hisashi moved, thankfully, to the neighboring town called Angkasa City. For a while, Lenny thought that'll be enough of him (except Ms. Owens would continue to find him). But no. Hisashi just had to adopt a child; a child that Hisashi allowed Godiva to name. She named him after her own father - the one and only original Grim; Edward. And Edward Owens (and Lenny also has no idea what possessed him) lets the fricking child have it.

So they now have a Nanami Edward who lives 8 hours away in a neighboring town to obsess over. He shouldn't have been a problem, especially with the knowledge that Nanami Hisashi is currently deep below the sea level (probably fanboying over an octopus), until Nanami Edward made the sudden decision to move to Buangan City.

And that is enough for Kai to decide he wants to take some time off from the Organization, technically giving up the candidacy for Grim against the Seventh, because he wants to be a proper big brother to this kid Hisashi adopted.

Lenny honestly hopes that the ocean would swallow Nanami Hisashi whole.

"Shit!! Edski boarded an earlier flight!! He's been at the airport for 2 hours!!" Kai gawks at his own phone, "Fuck! How did I miss his texts??"

As if on cue, the doorbell makes a buzzing noise, signaling someone at the door. It could be the kid.

But all Lenny blurts out instead is, "Did you just nicknamed him Edski?"

***

Ivanov Phillips paces nervously in his patron's penthouse, only stopping when the penthouse elevator gives a loud ding! The double elevator door opens to reveal a handsome man.

"Angelo! Where have you been!?" Ivan exclaims, "Mr. Larks was looking for you and I ran out of excuses to tell him!"

Michelangelo Magnus Drake has his car key hanging from one finger as he spins it casually. He walks away; intentionally avoiding a fuming Ivan. "Angelo! Do not ignore me!" He trails behind the younger man, who keeps ignoring him as they walk past the indoor garden and right up the stairs, "Angelo! I know you went to the airport!"

Angelo stops at the top of the stairs to face him. As angelic as he looks, Angelo has a side to him that scares Ivan. But not today; not after he lied to Ivan. "You lied to me, and made me lie to your father! You said you were out to check on one of your clubs," he then sighs, "That man has been looking forward to spend time with you! What were you up to?"

The shadow that casted Angelo's face suddenly lifts up, "Oh, nothing really. Just picking up my future wifey".

Ivan blanched, "W-wha?"

Angelo turns around and goes to his room; closing the door behind him as he takes his phone out of his pocket to type a short text. The name at the top of the message says, "Wifey".

You: Say hi to brother dearest for me!

***

Somewhere on the higher levels of Fashion District's most popular apartment complex, Nanami Edward stands in front of a massive metal door with his luggages parked around him like a fortress. His brows knit at the short text he just received, causing him to mutter a short, "Weirdo" under his breath as he rolls his eyes.

With that, he decided to push the bell button once again. Before he does so, the door opens up to reveal a young man that bears an eerily close resemblance to his adoptive father.

"Ed-ed!! Welcome home!"

***

To be continued.