Naoko and Yori made their way to the kitchen, passing by some other students on the way. Naoko took the time he had to take a look at the list that Yori had shown him. It was pretty overwhelming, to say the least. Fourteen people, each with different requests. Haru wanted a steak, Takeshi wanted a burger, and Bankei apparently thought she was ordering at a restaurant or something, because her request was almost absurdly well-detailed. Naoko couldn't even remember having to make dinner for so many people at the same time.

"You look nervous," Yori noted. "Are you worried you won't be able to handle the workload?"

"Yeah," Naoko admitted. "It's a lot of responsibility, isn't it?"

"Don't worry about it. It'll be easier once you actually try it."

It wasn't much, but Naoko certainly appreciated the sentiment. He smiled a little.

"Thanks."

As the two of them expected, Yasuo was waiting for the two of them in the kitchen. The two of them managed to walk in on him preparing various pots, pans, and utensils.

"Ah, there you two are," Yasuo said, looking over at them. "I just thought I'd make the necessary preparations for the both of you. The ingredients are on the counter there." He gracefully waved his hand towards a nearby countertop, where a large variety of ingredients stood. From a cursory glance, Naoko came to the conclusion that they had everything that they needed.

"Good job," Naoko said. "I gotta say, though, I'm surprised this facility even had all this in stock."

"Yasuo and I talked to IMONO," Yori explained. "It claimed that the facility contains a variety of food ingredients and other goods. We should have enough stockpiled to last us years."

"That's what it said, yes," Yasuo affirmed. "It also said something about an automated garden. If nothing else, we won't starve. Anyways!" Yasuo looked like he didn't want to entertain that thought for long. "We should get started. If either of you need anything else, I can retrieve it for you."

"That's fine. This looks like everything we'll need," Yori said, moving to take the ingredients from the counter while looking at their list. "I'm actually impressed on how thorough you were at preparing all this. Did you use a separate list?"

"No, no," Yasuo replied humbly, "I just committed everything to memory."

Well, that was impressive, Naoko thought. Whatever. No need to dwell on it. They had work to do. The three of them began to cook and, well, it was easier than Naoko thought it would be. Yasuo ended up being very attentive and was able to instruct them whenever they needed it.

Aside from Yasuo's instructions, the three didn't talk much until Naoko looked over at Yori cutting some vegetables. He couldn't help but notice that she looked troubled by something, even with her stoic expression.

"Yori, is something wrong?" Naoko asked. Yori looked over at him, confused.

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing's wrong." She paused for a few seconds. "I was just thinking about something."

"You were?" Yasuo inquired, not looking down from his work. "Well, then, feel free to make your thoughts heard."

"Very well then," Yori replied. "I noticed something interesting, and it made me remember something I'd rather not think about."

"What did you notice?" Naoko asked, worried.

"It may seem strange, but," Yori began, "this knife here?" She held up the kitchen knife she had been using to cut. "It's very sharp."

"Hm?" Yasuo's interest seemed piqued, as he looked up from adjusting the heat on the stoves to look over at her. "What about that worries you? That sounds like it should make things easier for us."

"As much as I'd rather not entertain the thought," Yori elaborated, "it made me recall I had been thinking of earlier. That being the capacity we have to bring harm to one another."

Naoko's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't really think that people might try to kill each other to escape, do you?"

"Surely the two of you must have thought about that possibility as well, right?" Yori asked. "The prospect we've been given is rather grim. The idea that we're trapped here, cut off from the outside world. It seems to me that such a situation could lead to at least one of us acting out of desperation."

"That's a fair point," Yasuo admitted. "Still, I don't think that that would seem like a good idea to anyone. IMONO has even stated that those rules act as a deterrent. Besides, there's also what Eryu has promised us."

"Uh," Naoko piped up, "it's probably best we not talk about that right now." He looked over at a camera that hung from the ceiling at one corner of the room. There was nothing to indicate that it was turned on at the moment, but better safe than sorry.

"Yes, he did say that, but that could have been nothing more than an empty promise, as far as anyone can say," Yori argued. "I don't mean to undermine his efforts, but let's not rush to conclusions and assume everyone will be okay with him leading us."

Yasuo shrugged his shoulders. "He does call himself the Ultimate Autocrat."

"That's just the title he was given," Naoko argued. "He told me so himself."

"Hm." That was all Yori said in response. Everyone could tell that they weren't making things any better by dwelling on such things. The three of them would continue for some time, keeping conversations to a minimum.

The three of them would eventually hear people entering the cafeteria. Peeking into it, Naoko saw that everyone was there, being herded inside by both Eryu and Michio. Naoko looked away and towards Yori and Yasuo.

"Well, they're here," he said. Fortunately, the cooking was just about done, and Yasuo quickly began filling plates. Within mere seconds, he was walking out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria with multiple dishes in hand. It seemed only fitting for the Ultimate Waiter.

Naoko and Yori picked up what little slack remained, and soon joined the others. Thus, the three of them could finally unwind after having worked for quite some time. Naoko sat by Hoshi, Mine, and Ishi, and decided to initiate casual conversation. After finding himself speculating about whether or not the group could remain cohesive, it felt good to see people getting along with each other. It made him confident in placing his trust in them.

That feeling of confidence ended up lasting only 5 minutes or so. After that amount of time had passed, Naoko saw, out of the corner of his eye, that something was happening on the other side of the cafeteria. Haru had just bumped into Kimi after standing up to get something, and in the process caused her to spill her drink on her sweater.

"Bastard!" Kimi's voice rang out. That certainly got everyone's attention. Naoko swallowed nervously. He didn't like where this was going.

"C'mon, kid, I just bumped into ya a little," Haru argued. "No need to shout at me."

"'Just a little'? You totally did that on purpose!"

"Did not!"

"How could you bump into me?" Kimi gestured towards her entire body, seemingly emphasizing her small frame. She then pointed to Mareo, who was sitting between her and Haru. "Android Boy was sitting right next to me, and you didn't bump into him."

Naoko buried his face in his hands. This was less than ideal. Still, he made an effort to stop it from getting out of hand, and began to stand up. Eryu, who was near where Naoko was sitting, apparently had the same idea, as he was already standing.

"So what?" Haru said, sounding both defensive and pissed off. "I stumbled a little. It's not like I punched you or somethin'." Given Kimi's angry expression, that was not the right thing for Haru to say.

"Alright, you two. Drop it," Eryu said firmly.

"Not until she apologizes for callin' me a bastard," Haru responded.

"Not until he admits that he did that on purpose!" Kimi was being no better, clearly.

Eryu pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please, we aren't children. You two both need to calm down."

Kimi pouted and crossed her arms. "Don't insinuate stuff like that," she said. "I'm not a kid."

"Could've fooled me," Haru snarked. This comment led to a nearby student letting out a controlled yet still very much amused laugh.

"Eh-hehehe," Bankei laughed. "Good lord, you two are quite the pair. Isn't that right, Sasa?" Bankei looked over at Sasa next to her with a smug smile still plastered on her face. Noticing that people were looking at her caused the timid girl to jump and nearly drop her onigiri on the floor.

"P-please don't make me a part of this," Sasa squeaked.

"Bankei, please don't laugh," Naoko said. "This was all just an accident. Let's not let this spiral out of control and drive us apart."

"Oh?" Bankei said in mock surprise. "Is that meant to imply that we were ever united? I think that if this little incident proves anything, it's that we're all just wayward children."

Naoko was flabbergasted at this claim. What the hell was she talking about? Furthermore, why the hell was she saying any of it? Whatever the reason, it sure was riling up Eryu.

"Bankei, if you don't stop acting like this, there'll be serious consequences," Eryu warned.

"Consequences?" Bankei responded. "Are you saying you'll kill me or something?"

"None of us are going to kill you," Naoko cut in. "He's just saying that you'll be punished."

"But IMONO has no rules in place against making unwanted comments," Bankei retorted.

"Maybe not," Eryu responded, still cross, "but that doesn't mean we can't have rules amongst ourselves. Behavior like yours shouldn't be tolerated."

There was a pregnant pause. Bankei had an expression on her face that was difficult to read, but she eventually settled on a look of regret.

"I suppose you have a point," Bankei admitted. "Still, I have a question for you, Eryu: Who's coming up with these rules? Are they decided by a majority vote?"

Eryu's body language was becoming more relaxed before Bankei said that. After she did, though, it went straight back to a controlled lividity. "I came up with this stuff. Is that a problem? If it was, I'd expect someone to make their thoughts heard. And if someone did have a problem, I'd listen to them."

"Are you sure they aren't saying anything out of fear?" Bankei countered. "Fear of what you might do to them if they spoke out of turn? It wouldn't be very surprising to me. You seem like the type of person to instill fear in others for your benefit. Your Ultimate title says it all." Even with her blatant jabs, Bankei's body language was unchanged. Her arms remained relaxed at her side, and she still had a large, amused smile on her face.

The bright side to the situation was that Haru and Mine were able to restrain Eryu as soon as he moved to lunge at Bankei.

That single incident stuck in everyone's mind for the rest of the time they ate dinner together. It was hard to forget, after all. Naoko didn't know what to think, but he knew that he couldn't just stand around doing nothing. As soon as everyone was finished, Naoko went to speak to Eryu about what had happened. He had decided to retreat to his room, and Naoko rang his doorbell, not sure if he'd even want to answer. Whether or not he wanted to, he did, and he looked as happy as Naoko expected (I.E. not at all).

"Hey, Naoko," Eryu said, looking uncomfortable. "Thanks for backing me up there...and sorry for flying off the handle like that. I'm not good at handling myself when people talk about me and my talent like that."

"No, I understand," Naoko assured him. "To be honest, I have no idea why Bankei acted like that. It seemed like she wanted you to react the way you did."

"Yeah, in hindsight, it was pretty obvious," Eryu admitted. His eyes were trained on the floor in front of him. "I can't believe I took the bait like that. Just...what the hell is her problem?"

"I don't know. Want me to talk to her about it?"

"I would definitely appreciate it, yes," Eryu replied.

After some more light conversation, Naoko left to find Bankei and give her a good talking to. After what had happened earlier, people were seemingly avoiding her. Still, Naoko decided to stop and ask if anyone had seen her, because she wasn't in her room.

"I remember seeing her as we left the cafeteria," Takeshi explained. "It looked like she might've been going to the washroom. I'd check there."

"Really?" Naoko replied. "Thanks."

"No problem. To be honest, though, I don't know why you'd want to talk to her after what she did."

Naoko couldn't blame him. He had a feeling that things wouldn't go well at all between the two of them.

Naoko entered the washroom, and noticed that one of the side rooms seemed to be occupied. He could see some steam coming from behind the closed door. That must be her, he thought. Naoko knocked on the door.

"Sorry," Bankei's voice came from inside the room, "someone's in here."

"Bankei, it's me," Naoko said back. "I want to talk to you."

"Eh-heh. Naoko, what could you possibly want to talk to me about? Or…" Bankei's voice took on a more seductive tone. "Are you thinking of joining me?"

"Wait, what?"

"Eh-heh. Don't worry, I'm just kidding," she said. "I'm in the tub. If you want to talk to me, I'd rather you wait until I'm done. I'd like to relax after this long day."

Naoko rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll wait. Just don't take too long."

Naoko lied down on a bench and waited patiently, wishing he had brought something to pass the time. A long fifteen minutes later, Bankei opened the door, who maintained her modesty via a long towel wrapped around her body.

"So, you'd like to talk. Is that it?" Bankei asked.

"Yes. What you did in the cafeteria could use some explanation."

"Oh, right," Bankei said. She acted like she was surprised, but Naoko didn't buy it. "Don't worry about that. I did that simply because I don't care much for Eryu's grab for power over us."

"Really?" Naoko asked, unconvinced. "Is that why you provoked him like that?"

"Well, yes," she replied. "We all heard what he said, you know. He said he was going to lead us to our freedom or some such. To be honest, I'd rather not be under his thumb."

"Are you saying you don't want to get out of here?" Naoko asked.

"Well, I suppose I do," Bankei admitted. "I just don't think that following Eryu would be the best way to do so. I'd rather everyone handle this new, unprecedented situation in their own way, rather than be controlled by one man."

"How would that be any better? At least with Eryu, we have some coordination, right?"

"I suppose," Bankei replied. "Still, I would say that it'd be much more...interesting if we weren't so coordinated."

Naoko was taken aback. "Interesting?"

"Yes. Interesting. Is this whole situation not entirely fascinating? It's like one big social experiment, to see how people react to a significantly different lifestyle being thrust upon them. I'm sure whatever people do in response to it, it'll be absolutely fascinating."

Naoko felt his anger rising. "Don't be stupid, Bankei. This isn't a game. You know that, right?"

"Oh, come on," Bankei scoffed. "No need to take this so seriously. You won't get much out of life if you can't learn to appreciate the ugly parts of the world."

Naoko looked at her incredulously. Bankei didn't seem to mind, though, as she just smiled.

"Well, I shouldn't expect you to understand. It's not like I need you to, anyways. If nothing else, your irritable temperament is at least mildly humorous."

Naoko didn't want to make the same mistake that Eryu did. He walked away from her and out of the washroom. Clearly, he was not equipped to deal with her.