The streets were bustling as a woman with short, silvery hair made her way through the crowd, almost travelling down the marketplace like a snake due to the amount of people in her way.

The gentle stomps of brown leather boots were muffled by the crowd as her amber eyes shot around at the many stalls. Some of them being simple fruit and veg vendors which did catch her eye.

Taking a detour, she wormed her way to the front, close enough to see what was on sale. It was a good thing the crowds were busy today. As she watched one of the merchants behind the stall sell their wares, she grabbed hold of two of the vegetables in a bundle, one per hand. "How much are these?"

The merchant quickly sent her a look, briefly pausing from talking to the other customer. "What currency?"

"Yen."

"99 yen per bundle."

"Thanks," she placed the bundle back down. The act caused the merchant to return their attention back to a buyer. All the while she slipped back into the crowd.

Walking away, she glanced around, looking for other busy stalls, the food stalls specifically. The farmer's market coming to this part of the city was a blessing, it made this specific marketplace crowded even though it happened at least once a month in these parts. It was the perfect opportunity to buy fresh food.

A shame she didn't have much money to begin with.

Now that she had put some space between her and the previous stall, she took out a bundle of carrots, seemingly out of nowhere. She was definitely skilled at this, to her, it might as well be child's play. It was nice to know she wasn't rusty after a bit of inactivity. Most of her meals had been very cheap or free in the same way she obtained the carrots, so perhaps this impulse decision to get fresh produce will give her a nice meal.

Coming to yet another stand, the silver haired woman had a quick glance around as she thought about her living arrangements. A simple place, sure, but not the best. It was a wonder how she was able to get a place like that, but she would have to move eventually.

She could technically sleep anywhere, she had acquired a sleeping bag recently and had the means of not sleeping outdoors, but...

A sigh came from her lips. "Best not to think about it for now."

Today was meant to be a day to go out, among the bustling streets. She had to make the most of it. While there were definitely people around, looking at some radishes, mushrooms and whatever, taking a freebie was going to be tricky.

Carefully picking up one of the cabbages, she slowly began to pull it away. This was going to be tricky. Right as soon as it was out of sight, in case they turned around, the shopkeeper yelled.

"Thief!"

Instinctively, she froze. This wasn't good. Not at all. Memories flashed through her eyes within nanoseconds as she got paler than she actually was. This wasn't what she wanted right now. She took a step, unsure if she should drop the cabbage or not as she could practically hear her heartbeat pounding at her. She couldn't go back, not after all her hard work.

"Get back here!"

As soon as she took a step, someone had shoved her to the side. It took her off guard as fear crept through her body, but as she looked at who shoved her, her worry slowly came to a halt.

A person ran through the bustling streets, their act having cleared a path. They were garbed in a long sleeved shirt with black and white stripes and a small black mask that covered their eyes. This figure also wore a pair of light tan coloured baggy pants with a pair of black boots and black gloves.

So they were the thief? Knowing that it eased her worries.

The thief turned around, long white hair flowing behind her as she carried a comically large brown bag over her shoulder. A smirk appeared on the thief's lips. "Shouldn't have left your valuables out in the open."

Sticking her tongue out, a voice made themselves known. "Halt right there, thief!"

Standing at the end of the street was a man, a pro hero from the looks of it. He adjusted his helmet and goggles, holding his rectangular, see-through shield high.

The arrival of the hero did nothing to deter the thief's smirk. "Well, I didn't think that a hero would be here of all places. No matter." Swinging the bag of valuables, she threw it high into the air.

What goes up, must come down...unless it's caught by somebody else.

Above the thief was a man, adorned in the same exact outfit as the other thief, though he was a black beanie and his white hair was much, much shorter. He had easily nabbed the large bag of stolen goods.

"Good luck!" swinging the large bag over his shoulder. The new thief began to jump over the many stands.

The hero narrowed his eyes. "I see, so you're the pair of thieves that have been roaming these parts."

"That's right! The amazing, spectacular thieves have struck yet again!" her laughter filled the streets, onlookers backed away. They did not want to get in the hero's way.

The long haired thief raised an eyebrow. "You ain't going after the goods? That's good for me." she picked up a thin piece of wood, pointing it at the hero. "I hope you'll waste some time with me."

She moved her black glove just enough to keep a firm grip on the wooden stick. To the hero's surprise, the wooden stick was completely covered in what looked like gold in a matter of seconds! It wasn't bright or shiny as gold. It was pretty dull.

"Gold?" The armoured hero raised his shield as the thief went on the attack. Swinging the now golden stick, the hero realised.

The hits from the once wooden stick were more impactful than he had ever expected as they bounced off his shield.

"Get out of here you fool!" she yelled to her companion, while continuing her assault. It didn't do much as the hero began to walk forward. "Stay back you!"

The long haired thief jumped back and the hero noticed something. The gold on the stick, a part of it fell to the ground. So he proceeded onward.

Working quickly, the thief did the same to the stick with the lid of a trash can. Now she had her own, dull gold shield before she went back onto the attack.

"Sorry. I have no time for this!" the hero bent his legs, almost as if he was going to rush forward. A feeling on the back of the thief's neck caused them to jump away, throwing the stick like a javelin.

Sadly for them, it was an ineffective act as the hero charged forward with not only great speed, but with power backing it up.

Holding the golden trash lid shield up, the hero rammed into the lid as the gold that coated the shield broke off, floating to the ground.

"Please surrender."

Yet she did no such thing, letting go of the shield as they jumped out of the way, the hero darting down the street.

By the time the hero stopped, the long haired thief placed her hands on herself, right as a layer of dull, non-shiny gold began to surround her. "I'm not losing here!"

And the hero charged once more.

However, as the short haired thief jumped away thanks to the other, he was immediately cut off by a man in a black suit, wearing a sharp orange visor over their eyes. The man floated down from the sky, a pair of wings that looked like they were made out of steel appeared from their back.

"Going somewhere?" the floating man asked, causing the thief to flinch.

Grabbing hold of the bag, the villain moved his glove, enough to reveal the small marking on his palm. He pushed in onto the bag and began to spin it around and around. "You want this? Here!"

The male thief threw the bag, but it was a wasted effort as the steel winged hero batted it away with ease.

Interestingly enough, the bag came flying back to the thief. After another spin of the bag, it was thrown again, this time the blonde, suited hero catching it mid-air. There, he noticed a mark on the bag, resembling the one he had spied briefly on the thief.

"Ah. So this is your quirk. It's very interesting." the hero mused.

The male thief gulped.

Back at the stands, the silver haired woman decided to leave, but with how close the pro hero with the shield got closer, dangerously so. Running was not an option. However, she did hear the voices of the crowd around her.

"Whoa is that Icarus?" one voice seemed to ask. "I haven't seen him in action in the past few years!"

"Right? And the charging hero Furore is here too?"

"Those thieves...were they the ones that...?"

Furore and Icarus. She turned her attention back to the heroes. It would do good to keep an eye on them for a little while.

Suddenly, a loud smack came from above. The winged hero had charged into the thief, steeled wing first. As soon as one fell, so did the other. The gold of the other thief had shattered, the coat of gold broken and nowhere to be seen.

The shield hero had pinned down the thief between his shield and the wall. As soon as he removed it, she slumped down. "Phew."

The pro-hero known as Icarus flew down, thief in one hand, the comically large bag in the other. As soon as he got close, he dropped them both, letting Furore handle the capture of the pair of thieves.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." the steel winged hero clapped his hands together. "I'll leave this in your hands until I return. I'll handle bringing them in, so keep an eye on them."

"No worries. Thanks for the hand, Icarus."

Now that the other hero had taken to the skies, the other hero turned his attention to the tied up thieves and then, onto a woman who had been knocked over moments prior.

"Miss, are you okay?" the hero asked as he came to her side. "She shoved you pretty hard."

As soon as the hero got closer, the silver haired woman quickly darted her attention to the ground and realised that she was still on the ground. She silently berated herself for choosing to watch instead of getting up, now that it called one of the heroes over.

When the hero followed her gaze, he looked a little to the left, where the stand was with the cabbage she had just moments prior which was now covered in dirt, her worries crept back up as she tried her best to keep a confident expression and avoid eye contact. "Seems like the cabbage is ruined now thanks to them," he sighed, helping her up before something was placed into her hands. "Here's another one. On the house."

Huh? "What about the mon-"

"It's fine!" the charging hero laughed. "I'll pay for this one! Now go out and enjoy yourself! The farmer's market isn't around for long these days!"

With a quick thanks, she immediately walked off, her heart pounded. That was close. She wasn't expecting someone like a hero or thief like that to appear. Perhaps she was lucky today but that only made her rethink her current objective.

Meanwhile, back at the stand, Furore looked down at the large brown bag and back to the tied up thieves as they waited. He looked back up, adjusting his goggles thinking about what took place.

So he pulled out a phone while he and the thieves waited for the other hero to return.

A smooth, small orb dark as coal sat in the middle of an empty white room. That was, until flames engulfed the orb.

A large sphere of red flames had engulfed the core. The heat was enough to cause the smooth orb to rock and sway a little. The owner of the miniature ball of flames, watched as his thrown fireball grew in size as whatever was engulfed began to shift and change.

"Come on you bastard, hurry up."

If it was up to him, he would have just left the orb as it was. Dump it somewhere nice and cold, maybe at the bottom of the ocean and just carry out his job, but sadly, this decision wasn't his to make. So he kept at it.

A thought occurred to smash the orb into tiny little pieces, but that wasn't really satisfying.

Seconds passed before Tai noticed a significant change within the flames. The smooth, coal looking orb now had four, small points on it. It looked like a five pointed star that had the top point ripped off.

While he watched with a frown, the orb's points grew in length as it started to gather what appeared to be mass around it until it grew a second orb where the top point of the star would have been.

The shape was that of a human and it took only seconds.

Tai waved his hand after another minute of standing around, the flames dispersing as quickly as he did. The humanoid shape on the ground groaned and Gin Shinoha sat up.

"It's great to have you back with us, yet again," Tai spat, "now hurry up and get changed."

Grey eyes glared into the guard's red ones, but without a word, he started to get changed into the uniform that resembled the one he usually wore.

Now that he was dressed, Tai immediately followed the prisoner back to the male ward. Though, there was something off about his re-emergence.

"How many days has it been?" he asked with his tone being cold as usual.

"Days don't matter to you convicts."

Now this allowed Gin to ponder his thoughts. "If days have passed, I should have formed sooner..." he sent a quick glance over his shoulder, but as soon as he did, a nasty glare was fired back at him.

The message was simple. 'If you don't want to become an orb again, keep your eyes forward'.

By the time they arrived into the male ward, and he was 'free' to go about his days again like normal. He felt it. Something had changed in the air it seemed, or maybe that was the cold chill that ran through his greyish toned body when he reformed.

He didn't even have a chance to take a step as he was kicked from behind. "Come on, hurry it up." Despite how it said it, it still carried a nasty snarl to it.

Stumbling forward, Tai took a step back while keeping an eye on the prisoner while he worked on the door behind him. At least now he could carry out his duties once more.

Now, when was one going to mess up this time?

Shimaru stood in a room as he glanced over at the other occupants. Standing in the room with him was the skull headed prison bus driver Zugaikotsu, the cloning Bunri and finally the understanding Alexios.

The guard who carried the air of a butler looked back to the table in the middle of the room. There was only one reason for them to be here of all places.

"It's been a while, Zugai." Alexios smiled at the skull headed woman.

"It has. I see you've been doing well."

"Haha, considering recent events, I have to be. For the sake of the prisoners."

As the two began to talk, Shimaru redirected his attention to the table. The table with a white cloth over it. A clean, white sheet that hid its obvious contents.

"I don't really understand why we're waiting this time. We know how this procedure goes." sighed Bunri as he leaned against the wall.

Shimaru adjusted his monocle, "with the recent murders, it's only natural that this would have some discussion."

"That's true," Zugaikotsu joined in. "I've heard all about it."

Bunri sighed, "yeah. Vito went pretty crazy. Oddly enough, there was a lot less death that I expected..."

"Best not to jinx it," a charming smile from Alexios followed a chuckle. "We don't want him breaking out again."

As that was happening, there was only one thought in Shimaru's mind, "why Vito?" He had no time to ponder as the door opened as Seimei walked in with Carna in tow. As all attention fell upon the two, any lingering conversations were saved for later.

Seimei took centre stage, walking around the table and grabbing the sheet. "I know you might be wondering why we're having a discussion now, but I want to go over the procedures for today."

Upon seeing the nods of the guards, he removed the sheet, revealing one of the inmates killed by Vito. The mashed form of the orange garbed prisoner was unrecognizable. Whoever they were, their last seconds looked like they suffered complete and utter agony. "For the most part, we're going to be following the same procedure. Zugaikotsu, transporting the corpses will still be the same."

"Understood sir," she saluted. "I'm already in position, all that's left is to load the bodies."

He then turned to the monocle wearing guard. "Shimaru, I want you to lend Carna a hand with checking previous prisoner documents."

And the butler just bowed. "You can count on me sir."

"Am I to presume that Bunri and I will be handling the heavy lifting?" asked the olive skinned man with his hand slightly raised, which caused the warden to nod.

"But not just that." Now that got their attention. There was more?

"There's more? What else could there be?" the cloning guard inquired. "Increased security measures?"

"More or less," the caped warden walked around the table. "It also correlates with Shimaru and Carna's task."

"It does?"

"With Vito's recent outbreak, the body that was found days before was killed by Vito himself." Carna explained, taking over the conversation. "While Eris is questioning him as we speak, that particular body has shown signs of being tampered with and we suspect that a third party was involved after Vito had killed the inmate."

Shimaru hummed, the cogs clicking in his head. "I see. So you want us to check over past prisoner records while they keep an eye on the bodies in case of anyone trying to get their hands on it for some reason."

"Correct. We're going to be checking records of prisoners that have lost their limbs, whether they're alive or dead."

Now it was making sense. "Upon reviewing the records, we can determine whether or not that particular victim has been tampered with this third party. The missing limbs will be the give away."

"Oh!" Zugaikotsu bounced up. "So if a prisoner is alive, you can question them on how they lost it while if they're dead, you can question the other guards or other prisoners that knew them?"

"I don't think so," Alexios hummed. "A guard finding the body doesn't always mean that they had a hand in it. Plus the records might show a pattern of which inmates were targeted."

Carna nodded, "right now, the bodies where some limbs or body parts were missing when they were brought in are going to be our top priority."

Meanwhile, Bunri frowned at the thought. "That would also call the others into question..."

Ah yes, how could they forget. Vito was let out, which meant someone had access to his cell in some way. A terrifying thought.

As silence fell heavy within the room, a strong voice brought them back to reality. "It doesn't matter who let Vito out. We can easily deal with them. Right now, it's this third party that needs to be found, if they are different people."

The way he looked around at the occupants in the room filled them with reassurance. "Now, if everything is in order here, I need to head back. I trust you all to handle this. I believe in your efforts."

"Understood, sir!" they all chanted.

As they watched him leave, Shimaru began to follow Carna while the other three stayed with the bodies.

Bunri soon turned his attention to the bus driver, stricken by a wonderful idea. "Hey, Zugai. You need a hand with the offloading, right? I have an idea."

The infirmary in the male ward had quite the number of patients lying in its beds. Some had been released back into the prison since the incident that caused them all to be here, but there were a few that remained.

One of these prisoners was none other than David. Conscious, he sat up in the bed, taking this time to look over at all the others who remained. A few familiar faces popped into mind.

The first was Gousen, who was still unconscious and will be for some time according to the doctor. The next was Rhys, who was also in a similar boat. While he had been awake moments prior, he seemed to be gathering his strength through rest.

That took his attention on the ones who were awake. Kuroishi sat in the bed, silently. It was as if he was staring into space. Reiji wasn't that far as he faced away from them all on his side and Inyoku with a bandaged arm, remained seated on a bed.

That left one other person who immediately took his full attention. Jin.

The black haired prison newbie remained in the provided bed next to Reiji, sleeping the day away. Leaving him to sleep, David turned to the others, save for Gousen and Rhys due to obvious reasons.

There was not much to really say. While they were all on speaking terms to some degree, they weren't exactly chummy around one another. There was a common point though. "How did you fare against that guy?"

A simple question with simple answers.

"I would have won if it weren't for the arrival of the guards..." mumbled the snake, his tail shaking a tiny amount.

Reiji didn't move. He just pulled up the blanket.

Kuroishi glanced up, staring for a little while. "Not long," the corners of his lips almost twitched upwards as he recalled the event. "You?"

The buzz cut prisoner stared down for a second. "Same, really."

"So that means I lasted the longest among you guys!" Inyoku stood, showing off those fangs as he shouted, garnering attention.

"Sit back down, Inyoku." the doctor, Lambert, entered. "A bed is no place to stand...unless you want to be tied down to it, of course."

Inyoku didn't move, so the doctor turned to Gousen. "Judging from the way he's been healing, he should be waking up either tonight or tomorrow...probably." he said with a yawn, outstretching his hand.

Upon seeing a twitch from the prisoner, Lambert got to work. His dark, almost coal coloured fingers began to expand, coiling around both Gousen and the bed. Even over the prisoner's mouth. Then, Lambert broke his hand away, the coiled bars snapping off, revealing that his fingers were perfectly fine despite the solid bindings holding the inmate down.

Binds: Lambert's fingers act like binds! They can extend and wrap around a target, restraining their movements! Lambert can then break the binds off while the target struggles with the binds.

"You don't want to be confined any longer, do you, Inyoku?" Lambert didn't even need to look in the snake's direction to tell that he was already sitting back down, albeit a bit grumbly when he did so.

Now, walking over to David, he lowered the clipboard. "You're free to go, David."

Blinking, David got out of the bed as a guard stood in the corner, right next to the infirmary doors.

The guard gave him a smile. "Thank you for not causing any trouble."

That took the bearded prisoner off guard a bit. "Uh...no problem?" The authenticity of it was really surprising, and before he knew it, he was already halfway out of the door.

As David walked out of the infirmary, sending one last look to Jin, he was greeted with some fresh air that didn't smell like a hospital of some sort.

He didn't really get too far into the male ward, only a quick walk around to see that there had been some repairs as a hand gripped his shoulder. It was then that he locked eyes with a completely different guard, who smiled at him. A smile that was the complete opposite of the guard in the infirmary.

"Where do you think you're going, Flannegan?" the guard smiled. "I think you're forgetting something."

Confusion turned into surprise as the guard said four little words. "It's about your parole." Wide eyes slowly eased back into their natural shape. Just a quick wave of their finger, the guard walked off.

Without a word, David followed this other guard.

Fushiko was really surprised when Demelza first approached her. Usually she did the approaching around here.

Wanted or unwanted.

Mostly unwanted.

The masked inmate, face fully hidden, gazed up at her. Sure, Fushiko was standing on the table, but it felt kinda nice. Then, from the corner of her eye, she was sure she spotted Nozomi in the distance, but when she had a proper look, she had already left.

"Wonder what she was doing...? Ah well, not important!"

Turning her attention back to Demelza, the inmate full of energy decided that sitting around (or standing in her case) was boring. Jumping off from the table, the taller and older inmate issued the order.

"Let's go somewhere else!"

Without saying a word, Demelza quickly followed the flared bob haired woman to wherever it was she was taking them. Karakuri on the other hand had that peculiar glint in her eye as she heard her current follower speak up.

"You're a lot more genuine with your happiness than some others I've been around."

Well that was certainly out of nowhere. It almost made her trip. "So bright. It's almost like watching the sun."

"Blinding then!" she laughed as the masked Brathwaite chuckled.

"That's one way to put it," she mused, following Fushiko still, a bit closer than before. Her tone was just as sunny as how she described the brown eyed woman that led her to who knows where. "By the way, where are we going?"

Whether it eased her or not, the answer she got started off with a lazy shrug. "Wherever the fun is I suppose!"

The inmate with bright silver eyes had to wonder exactly where that would be, but Fushiko kept on walking. "Whatever happens, we'll find something! Just come on!"

Sitting around wasn't something he thought he'd be doing today, then again, it beat doing the old, standard stuff that would be doing if he wasn't assigned to this task.

Ah, but who was he kidding? Really. He volunteered for this.

He stretched in the seat, arms reaching high before coming down fast, scooping up his trusty drinking gourd with relative ease. He crossed a leg as he leaned back, pulling down his already lowered cap.

Of course, just as soon as he got comfortable, the awaited visitor arrived. He didn't even have to lift up his hat to see just who it was. He already knew. Those pair of silver, steel wings and that orange visor that he hadn't seen in quite some time now.

As the target floated down, two different clumps of meat were placed, or dropped, onto the ground.

"I see that they're already halfway dressed for prison," a lazy tone came from the gourd-drinking guard, who did just that.

The winged hero shook his head. "I suppose it was helpful that they already have a part of the dress code down pat." Now, the hero touched the ground as he looked over to the two prisoners and back to the lowered hat guard. If that hat was any lower, it would make it look like he was actually asleep. "These two had some interesting quirks."

The guard lowered the gourd. "In what way?"

"Well, she," he pointed at the long haired thief, "has a quirk that can coat things in gold from what I heard from another hero on the scene."

He then pointed at the beanie wearing thief. "And this one has a quirk that allows him to mark objects that can return to him."

A lazy, half-assed attempt at a whistle came from the guard. "A perfect set of quirks for some thieves."

"Not perfect persay, but definitely good for their current, or rather previous, occupation."

When the hero turned to the guard, he witnessed the guard lean back into a lawn chair that the guard had managed to set up. Shaking his head, he decided to continue.

"Interesting quirks aside, their sentence is only a minor one," Icarus continued. "Styx was close and I hope that you see to it that these inmates have a successful rehabilitation."

Placing the gourd down, the guard just pulled the tip of his cap down. "Right. I'll handle it on my end, alright? Geez. You could have taken a detour or something."

"Whatever you say, Dion." the winged man took to the skies once more. "I need to report back and get back to my work."

As quickly as he arrived, the man flew off, leaving the drinker with the two prisoners. They were tied up and couldn't really do anything in their current state.

Maybe five more minutes wouldn't hurt?

When Sae ended up agreeing to work with Ashita and Yua for Shi, she didn't think the first thing they'd do was go and grab something to eat.

Upon asking why, she was expecting something like: can't eat on an empty stomach! That sort of response. Perhaps she wasn't giving them enough credit when she got her reply.

"It's better to lie low for now," smirked the info broker, "actively looking around for clues would just garner us unwanted attention."

"...I'd rather get this done with sooner than later."

Ashita's smirk eased into a smile as she picked up a white plastic cup. "I thought your training would have helped you not rush into things?" The way she arched her eyebrow up with a playful look caused the usually lonely prisoner to scowl.

"Don't bring that up," oh how sour her tone had become within seconds. "After this, we should at least look for something. I mean, you could probably find what we need within seconds, can't you?"

Yua, sitting silently, glanced in the white haired woman's direction while Ashita, cup to her face, gave a slight chuckle before returning to her drink.

Wondering if she was going to say anything or not, Sae turned to her own meal. It wasn't anything fancy. Just some honey spread over some toast. She took a bite of the bread, but as she did, she saw Yua just...staring at her.

Quickly chewing and swallowing the bitten piece of toast, she returned the look. "What?" she glared at her fellow prisoner with flowers in her hair.

"I didn't know you liked eating bitter things."

Any intimidating frown that Sae wore crumbled into confusion. "...what? Bitter?" Even Ashita paused, but instead of looking confused, a small smile formed on her face.

"What you're eating. It's bitter."

Emerald eyes turned their attention to the piece of toast in her hands. "You mean my toast...?"

The oleander prisoner pointed at the amount of honey that was splattered all over. "I didn't realize you liked bitter foods in that amount."

"Wait...does she mean the honey?! I know I put a lot on there but…" from toast to Yua, the disbelief still on her face, she had to know now. "You...you think the honey is bitter...?"

Crossing her arms, the stoic woman nodded.

"...you can't be serious..."

Yet, as she looked into the unchanging expression, she couldn't help but notice that she was serious.

At least, it appeared that she was serious.

"Honey isn't bitter..."

"I have tried it myself and it was bitter each time."

Ashita on the other hand, smiled to herself.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed hold of Sae's face, raising the edges of her lips up into a smile. "We should have taken a photo, we got to see Sae show something other than brooding angst!"

A quick and violent swing of her arms got the culprit off her. Said culprit just wagged her finger back and forth.

"Now, now. That was uncalled for!" the culprit, Chikuha, teased.

"And what do you want, Chikuha?" Once again, Sae went back to snarling.

Walking around, the bomber took the open spot next to her current victim. "It's really rare to see you associating with someone else." Suddenly, a hand slapped itself onto the broody prisoner's forehead. "You ain't sick..."

Another violent swing followed. "Stop it." She picked up the plastic knife, butter or no butter, she pointed it at the Styx's explosive inmate.

"Oh no. I'm in trouble now~!"

Gritting her teeth, Sae proceeded to back down, dropping the plastic knife. The co-ed ward wasn't the place to do this. She almost slipped up there.

"Where did all that bravado go~?"

"Shut up."

As Yua and Ashita watched the two had their back and forth, Yua turned her gaze to the taller one when she spoke. "I suppose we should at least have a quick look around when they stop."

"Didn't you say that we should lie low?"

"I did," the info broker smiled, crossing her bandaged arms, "I rather we stick to that, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least humour her with a minor investigation. There's a place we could check out without many distractions."

"And where's that?"

"A place where people go to pray."

When Mizaru was called to the warden's office (one of them) he had no idea what to expect. Sure he had hunches as to what it could possibly be, but those thoughts involved group meetings.

As he opened the door, after a brief knock, he asked, "you called for me?"

"We did. Thank you for coming." Seimei smiled as Mizaru properly entered the room, walking stick in hand. "It's about what happened with Vito."

"Or rather, the meeting that was interrupted." Eris added as Mizaru made an 'O' shape with his mouth, instantly knowing what they meant now.

"Do you reckon it's fine to reschedule the meeting now?" Mizaru tilted his head. "After what happened with the convict, things might be risky if something like that happens again?"

Seimei's eyes shot up. "There's no better time. The more time we waste, the higher the chance of failure in the operation. We gave it some time, took the necessary precautions and planned accordingly. Now should be a good opportunity to act."

Eris nodded, "it's as he said. Now's the best time. It would be risky for whoever let Vito out to do it again. Don't worry, we'll explain the details in time. Rather soon in fact."

"I'll go ahead and gather everyone again-" before the tanned skinned guard could even take a step, the male warden immediately jumped in.

"Sorry Mizaru, there's actually a few people who will be busy at this moment. Due to increased security and whatnot."

Eris also joined in, "it will be better to inform them later, for now this meeting is going to be a small one."

As she kept her eye on the slightly younger warden, to see if he had anything to say. Which he did. "After Eris gives you who to bring, I shall inform you on what happened. This is strictly confidential for the time being."

The blind guard instantly saluted. "Yes sir!"

Eris fixed up her eyepatch and without missing a beat issued the order. "We'll keep this short, gather the following people. We need some other guards in case another incident occurs."

Setting up the meeting was fairly easy, especially with less numbers than before. Both the wardens sat as they waited for the others to arrive at their last minute meeting and from word of a scuffle breaking out, who knows who'd turn up now.

"Do you plan on telling anyone who doesn't arrive for this meeting?" Eris asked, flipping through the page of a book while Seimei sat patiently in his chair.

"A few." There were indeed a few people that came to mind. "What about you?"

She kept her attention on the book, "likewise. I'll inform them after the meeting is over."

While Seimei said nothing, he had the same thought. There were busy people to tell in private once this meeting was over.

Now, with the members of the staff walking in, it was time for the meeting to begin once more.

This time, there were less people in the room. Mostly due to the recent outbreak (the one that ruined the last meeting) that happened, but that didn't matter now. Less people or not, the show must go on.

The first guard to enter was the blindfolded Mizaru, followed by the bottom half masked Iwazaru Sarugaku, the third of the Sanzaru trio. Followed by the Yukiko and the small, bird featured woman and finally Dahlia. They all took to the seats with the large, round table.

"There's less people this time," noted Dahlia, seeing much more empty seats.

"It's nothing too strange," Mizaru commented, "ever since Vito's breakout, we've been really busy and security has increased. It's no surprise that less people will arrive."

Iwazaru was silent while the winged woman kicked her feet as she swayed side to side on the chair. "Maybe we should just go out there and grab more?" the bird legged woman laughed.

"That won't be necessary," Mizaru shook his head while Dahlia joined in.

"If they're not here, that's their problem."

Yukiko however turned to the wardens. "Then shall we proceed with this meeting?" she asked, intertwining her hands together. "It would be bad if another distraction interrupts this meeting."

Eris nodded, her sole visible eye taking a serious and sharp look began the meeting. "There are two things to discuss at this meeting. The first is a continuation of the last meeting we tried to have. The second is due to the recent incident that occurred with Vito, or rather, the reason Vito got out of his confined cell."

Now that got everyone's attention.

"Then where shall we start?" asked the blind guard.

"I think it's obvious," grinned the harpy featured woman, "Eris was obviously the head interrogator right? We should start there!"

Dahlia nodded. Best to get on with it.

Coughing, Eris shuffled around some papers on the desk before her. "As I led the interrogation, I was sadly unable to lend a hand myself in the beginning, as I had received an important call. There is a reason I bring this up, but for something later on," she flicked through some pages that were on the table, taking a few out and sliding them into the middle of the table, "please have a look at the information provided. Mizaru has already been briefed on this matter beforehand."

As they all grabbed their respective piece of paper, save for the blindfolded Mizaru, their eyes scanned over the words.

"Sadly, Vito proved to be of little information, however, it did spark some light on the situation. On the papers provided, there is information that I have gathered from questioning the prisoner." She sighed, fixing up her eyepatch.

Yukiko looked from the piece of paper to the warden and back again. "Is this...a reliable account?"

"Of course. I don't see how that inmate would be able to resist."

Dahlia dropped the document on the table. "From what this tells us, we should be very careful around who we talk to, regarding this bit of information," she then turned to the wardens, "was this also why less people attended this meeting?"

Eris didn't move, keeping her eye locked on the guard. "People are also busy."

Iwazaru nodded, putting the page down as he crossed his legs.

Pausing, the harpy looking woman glanced around the room. "Then... what's the other matter...?"

Now, it was Seimei's turn to take the lead.

"It's time to discuss Styx's rumour," sighed the male warden, crossing his arm with just a serious and sharp look that Eris had.

The room was silent. There was only one rumour that they thought of as a serious matter. So, they silently remained for the warden to explain. That's when the warden opened his mouth.

"The rumour in question is about-"

"Hey, Touya!" Remko called out as he ran up to the older, yellow haired prisoner.

"Oh, Remko. Yes?" he gave a polite smile as the younger prisoner huffed.

"You never mentioned the rumour in full, I was curious about it. The one about escaping this place."

The slender inmate turned around to face the fresh meat. "And what do you want to know exactly? Rumours are just that. Rumours."

Remko took a second to get his breath, he had been running all over the ward for this guy. "The rumour had to be based on a prisoner right? Even if the guards made it just to taunt us or some other prisoners wanting hope of some kind, if it's based on somebody, it could help us out...somehow...I hope...maybe..."

Touya stood still for a moment, turning away and back again. "The rumour is indeed based on somebody, but from the way the guards treat it, it seems to be mostly that. They even carried trays of food out of the wards."

Remko frowned, "get to the point!" he kept that to himself as Touya coughed into his hand.

"It was an inmate from the female ward. They say she's locked up in her own little cell apparently."

"And just who is this inmate?"

"She goes by the name-"

At this moment, two different voices spoke the same name.

"-Mariko Tsujihara."