Mitsuhiko awoke when he heard somebody knocking on the door. Feeling like he hadn't slept at all the hunter rubbed his head. The floor was definitely not a good place to sleep, his back was aching, he could feel his neck almost creaking and overall he felt terrible. The fact he was being awoken at such an early time, at least he thought, didn't help to improve his mood. –"What the fuck do you want?"-

-"Hikari-kun, these doors have a little slot on them"- to demonstrate it the person opened it from outside, pushing the slot open and waving their hand.

-"Cool. Now go away"-

-"We have your breakfast"- a different voice sounded, one Mitsuhiko knew well. Somewhat intrigued he stood up, hating how his muscles felt cramped, and walked to the door to see who was there.

Sasuga had been the one to open the slot, as Kobayashi had in his hands a big tray. –"Hi guys. Thank you"- Kobayashi passed the tray with the food through the slot. It looked rather delicious, obvious sign Sugita was still cooking. Grateful, Mitsuhiko asked with feigned indifference –"I'm surprised to see you here, Amy. Why are you here?"-

-"I, uh, I...how to say it..."-

-"As much as I dislike it he has forgiven you for the attempted murder. He specifically said he wanted to see you"- Sasuga quickly said. Mitsuhiko raised his eyebrows.

-"Amy, you're an idiot. I'm an evil man and I don't have redeeming traits. Why to forgive me like this?"- Hah! As if.

Kobayashi clutched his hands. It seemed to Mitsuhiko the young illusionist was a different person outside of the trial and during the trial. This was the usual Kobayashi he knew: a bashful commander who didn't seem fitting for an organization like Diavolos Avante. –"I...I'm not in condition of hating you. I can't afford to hate you. If I do...I fear I'm going to snap and kill you at some point...or you'll kill me later"-

-"As if we're going to let him out of this cell"- Sasuga sighed.

-"We will, we can't keep them locked for too long. These classrooms are no place for staying. Why did Veritas remodel these doors to lock and have this slot? Did he really expect to take prisoners or something?"-

-"It'd be nice if I'm let out soon"- Mitsuhiko piped up –"This place doesn't even have a bathroom"-

Sasuga showed his teeth in a very cheerful grin –"That reminds me! Koshimizu-san is sending you a little something to make your stay in this cell a bit easier. He knew these don't have a bathroom so he asked me to give you this. Enjoy!"- Sasuga passed a bedpan through the slot. Mitsuhiko took it, scowling.

-"This is not funny"-

-"Don't look at me like that! Koshimizu-san was the one who had this idea. I don't know if you have noticed but he loathes you three. Just fifteen minutes ago he was saying he wished he could give you three a good beating for daring to disturb the peace and order"-

Mitsuhiko felt his throat drying. Koshimizu definitely wasn't a weakling. If he attacked anybody with his hands it was sure it'd hurt a lot. Even if he was twenty years older than Mitsuhiko he wasn't sure he could stop him if he decided to teach him a lesson. –"A bedpan. I repeat, this is not funny"-

-"I have to go for now. I haven't finished fixing Lily, after all"- and with that Sasuga and Kobayashi started going away.

-"Wait, Sasuga-kun! Who is going to pick up the bedpan and empty it from time to time?"-

-"Do you seriously think anybody is going to come and pick up the bedpans we gave to you three? You have a window there; it should have a slot too. Use it to throw away any content"-

-"We should tell the others to stay away from that side of the courtyard..."- Kobayashi suggested, getting a smirk from Sasuga.

-"We will. Either way, people will come later. Believe it or not despite your attempted murder most of the commanders are thankful for your effort in the trial. Kayano-san would have gotten away with her crime if it hadn't been for you and Kobayashi-kun"- and they left. Mitsuhiko threw the bedpan aside in disgust. The foreseeable future definitely didn't seem kind to him.

-ooooo-

Just as Sasuga had said the window had a slot too, however that didn't help to calm him wasn't big enough to escape or get any help. For all he cared he still was completely locked in the cell.

After a while somebody knocked at the door again. Opening the slot Mitsuhiko looked outside and gasped. –"Lily! You look like new!"-

Lily smiled. She looked almost angelic in that moment. –"Not thanks to you, Hikari-kun. But I'm fixed. Sorry to hear you're locked"-

-"As if this cell will be able to keep myself locked for too long"- the hunter said, not believing what he was saying. Lily shrugged, so there was silence for a moment. –"I see you took off the pearls"-

-"Apparently one was what caused my malfunctions during the trial. I don't know how it got into my head but it must have been Monobear"-

-"So why are you here?"- Lily wasn't going to visit him just because, he supposed. There must be an underlying reason for that. Lily nodded, opening her horns. One was to project a video, the other was a speaker.

-"It'll be a bother to repeat it three times so I recorded my voice. Pay attention to this"- the image changed to a video of a hallway, Mitsuhiko recognized it as the hallway with the cells they were locked in. The video seemed to have been recorded early that day. –"Good morning prisoners. I figured it could be useful to inform you what has been opened. As you all know the second floor is now fully accessible. Let's take a look around..."- just on the other corner of the hallway the place turned into a big room, which seemed to be the center of the floor. There were stained glass windows, pouring colors into the room. On one side there were stairs, and when Lily descended them to open them Mitsuhiko could see they led to the Back Courtyard. –"The second floor has two entrances: this door and the stairs near the classroom cells. This place is a Lounge, where the students used to sit around and spend time together. It also was a hub to the places of this floor.

If the first floor was for classrooms, the second is for workshops. We'll check what type of workshops we find here!"- Lily entered through the first door. –"This is the Carpentry Workshop. There are lots of tools and lumber, which you'll find on the walls. There's no storehouse for this stuff" the visit to the Carpentry Workshop was quite brief, Mitsuhiko knew this was only to show a more or less comprehensive view of the features of the new areas and nothing more.

After all it wasn't like he could go see for himself the new places. He had to be satisfied with what Lily was showing him.

-"This is the Theater Workshop. Here people sew the costumes used in the plays and create the props they need"- the Theater Workshop was a place with several tables with sewing machines, as well as cupboards and closets lining the walls. Overall it seemed like a simple place.

Lily left that place and went to the next one –"This is the Electronics Workshop. Here the students used to work on electronic and robotic equipment. Only those with certain permissions can enter, though. A special keycard is needed due to the potential dangerous tools in here"- A hand appeared in the screen, Mitsuhiko supposed it was Lily, and it pointed to a slot on the wall –"The keycard is inserted here and the door unlocks. Otherwise it's impossible to enter"-

Having left the Electronics Workshop they entered the last place, a room lined with shelves completely filled with books. Several round tables with computers were positioned in the center of the room –"And last this is the Literary Workshop. Those students with an affinity for words and languages used to work here and produce content for both school and work. That's it"-

-"Overall seems like a pretty boring floor to me"- Mitsuhiko said. It wasn't exactly the most exciting floor, everything seemed mundane and pretty much nothing neither was important for the commanders nor helped to find any clues about whatever was happening in the headquarters. It could all have been empty, for all he cared.

-"It's not useful to you, I suppose"- Lily shrugged and stopped the projection –"The Third Floor is filled with Laboratories, but with some luck nobody will die so it won't open. I'll present the second floor to the other prisoners now"- and with that Lily walked until she was in front of the classroom to Mitsuhiko's right. Not very interested on what Lily had shown him the hunter returned to a corner of the cell, resigned to spend several hours having nothing better to do other than staring to the walls.

-ooooo-

Somehow Mitsuhiko had fallen asleep, but the noises somebody was making on the door woke him up. Stretching to try to soothe his back pain he walked to the door, opening the slot. –"Takayama-kun, what do you think you're doing?"-

The bodyguard was apparently doing something with the hinges and the edges of the locked door. –"The others decided that to stop you three from doing anything I should keep an eye open at all times. I'll do that using these"- Takayama showed a black cube Mitsuhiko knew well.

-"More microphones"- Mitsuhiko said flatly. As if that had been of help before. Sure, it had produced important evidence but the point of them was that it would stop any murders from happening. What guaranteed it'd work now?

-"Yes, more microphones. I'm placing them where neither Lily nor Monobear can touch them, so there shouldn't be any problems now"- Takayama finished gluing microphones on the edges of the door, out of Mitsuhiko's reach. –"Hope to never see you again, murderer"-

I didn't get to kill him and it isn't like I'll try now. Mitsuhiko slumped onto the floor. People really are going to keep all of them locked until everything ended in one way or another. And all he could do is...stare at the ceiling or the walls. It was stupid.

What am I supposed to do now? Somewhat depressed Mitsuhiko went to the window and opened the slot. –"Yurie? Yurie, can you hear me?"- Mitsuhiko shouted. He wasn't worried about anybody hearing, it isn't like he was going to say anything incriminating or potentially murder-y. But no matter how much he shouted Yurie didn't say anything. Somehow the walls of the cells and the glass of the windows were pretty thick. Anything could happen inside a cell and nobody would be the wiser, as Mitsuhiko doubted the microphones could pick up anything from the inside.

The rest of the day went without any interruptions.

-ooooo-

It was night. An Accomplice was running. They knew they didn't have very long; the only option was to complete the mission and quickly go back. Arriving to the hall with the cells the Accomplice hurried to one of the cell doors, looking with expert eye at the wood. They quickly localized the microphones and took them off, making sure they didn't crush them accidentally.

Once they had taken the microphones they returned with the rest. Much to their relief, nobody noticed their absence.

It had been a perfect move.

When the path was clear and everybody was returning to whatever the commanders were doing before. The Accomplice, knowing there was no room for any mistake, placed the microphones on Yasumoto's door.

-ooooo-

Just what I needed. Another day in a prison.

That was what he thought just as he awoke. Just a couple hours after that, he got once another tray with food. They were getting piled up on a corner, four empty trays. –"Can't they take the trays away?"- Mitsuhiko said to the person who had come to give him the food. It was Romi.

-"The trays aren't that big of a deal, there are literally dozens of them. Just leave them aside"-

-"Has anything new happened?"- Mitsuhiko craved anything that could get rid of his boredom even for a moment. Romi sighed, as if she weren't supposed to say what she was going to say now.

-"Well...Monobear went last night to the dinner room and gave us a motive; practically confirming...that whoever is controlling him is trying to destroy us"-

-"As if that were a secret"- Mitsuhiko droned. He had no time for stupidity from others. Romi bit her lip before looking to the side.

-"I brought Lily here, she can show you. Basically Monobear dragged us to the Meeting Room and showed us...a video. The important part is that the Main Board aren't who locked us here"-

-"You can't have watched anything"- Mitsuhiko pointed crassly.

-"But I can listen"-

-"If it isn't them then who?"- It was a possible big clue to know what was going on. That'd explain a lot of things, among them why Veritas and the Main Board had allowed the mutual killing game to happen despite loyalty being the main trait they had. Romi made a vague gesture towards Lily.

-"Just watch the video and get your own conclusions. To be honest I don't know anymore what's going on...I had thought the Main Board were the bad side here"-

Lily stepped in front of the door of Mitsuhiko's cell, ready to show what Monobear had given them as a motive. As soon as an image was projected against the wall Mitsuhiko narrowed his eyes, unsure of what he was seeing.

There were four people against the wall, their wrists and legs tied to pipes. The four of them were struggling to untie themselves, but it was impossible. From what Mitsuhiko could see one was Veritas. He recognized the old man who led the organization, that cape was impossible to ignore. There was a male and a female he didn't recognize, but he supposed they were...part of the Main Board. What other explanation would there be for them to think they were innocent? The last person, tied as well, was of a gender Mitsuhiko couldn't determine, as that person was showing their back to the camera.

Monobear appeared, his eyes glowing sinisterly. –"Hello commanders. These are the Main Board. We have caught them and locked them in the last floor of the Headquarters.

If you want to see them alive and receive the reward promised at the beginning of our game at least three of you will have to die so the survivors reach the last floor...supposing none of the murderers are successful..."-

There was something strange in Monobear's way of talking. Instead of it being cruelly playful, the Monobear of the video was concise and threatening, without even taking a moment for the commanders to process what he was saying. After a very small pause the bear walked to Veritas, unsheathing his claws –"Without the Main Board Diavolos Avante is like a headless chicken...you don't want to see the organization fall, do you?"- Monobear pressed his claws against Veritas' neck, just deep enough for him to bleed. The hunter could see scratches and some dry blood on the old man's neck; it was possible this wasn't the first take of the video.

Monobear stepped away, drying the blood on the black side of his fur. –"This'll be the only warning. Thank you for your attention"- and that was the end of the video.

Mitsuhiko stayed silent for a moment while Romi waited for his opinion, finally saying: -"...that sure was a thing"-

-"The reactions were very strong"- Romi commented –"Monobear played a very strong card, everybody is about to explode. If nothing happens...I think somebody will do something very stupid"-

-"What about you?"-

-"I couldn't care less what happens to those four. I'm leaving DeeEy, remember?"- Romi pushed Lily away. –"Kobayashi-kun was almost murdered last night"-

-"Wait what? What happened?"- So Amy almost dies again?

-"Yes. He was trying to open the door to the Basement, the one at the left end of Camp Lily, and Mimori-san found him. They argued and Kobayashi-kun was almost strangled. If it hadn't been for Sugita-san who heard the scuffle we'd have a victim already"-

-"Is she locked now?"- Mitsuhiko asked, although there were no more cells. Romi shook her head.

-"They both explained what had happened and Koshimizu-san determined a punishment wasn't needed. Mimori-san simply lost the control; she wasn't really planning to kill him, but damn if it didn't cause a mess! Everybody gathered to try to understand what happened!"-

How fun. We both almost murder the same person, I get locked away and she's left scot-free. Mitsuhiko thought bitterly, grasping the lock in an attempt to calm down. While he was fidgeting in his rage he accidentally slid his hand on a piece of wood that splintered from the door, making a nasty cut. –"Fuck!"-

-"What?"-

-"Nothing, I just got cut"- Although he was bleeding and had stained the doorknob with quite an amount of blood it wasn't a wound that'd need stitches or anything like that. –"Either way, was that all that happened?"-

-"That courier almost got killed too"- Romi shrugged –"And before you ask, no, it wasn't a murder attempt. She...she almost attacked Monobear after the announcement. It was quite a ruckus, she was furious! Screaming something about that video being an absolute lie"-

-"Really?"- If Emiko had attacked Monobear then it must have been something serious for her. Does that mean...Tanaka-san knows something about the Main Board? I-"I suppose you all asked her what happened, right?"-

-"We did but she refused to say anything further than that, but she made pretty clear that..."- Romi struggled to imitate Emiko's tone of voice –"...the Main Board is involved in something very suspicious. Don't trust that video"-

Not too long after that Romi left, leaving Mitsuhiko with his thoughts. Monobear's video, Emiko's behavior, Mimori's murder attempt against Kobayashi...certainly a lot of events in one night.

...how does this all relate to each other, I wonder?

If you have a concrete character you'd like to spend Free Time with in the next chapter just leave me a PM or a review stating who. Hosoya and Yurie are unavailable due to, well, being locked away.