Naoko had plenty of free time on his hands. It wasn't the first time he did, of course, but he didn't have access to the second floor during those other times. He now had access to board games, a workshop, and even a pool. However, those things didn't distract him from what he wanted to do. While he was stuck with all these people, he was going to spend time with them. That was just what he thought was best.

Naoko peeked into the pool room, expecting there to at least be one or two people who were interested in the pool. It still stuck out in his mind, that was for sure. Sure enough, there were two people in the room at the time, those being Kimi, who was relaxing by the pool, her legs dipped into the water, and Ishi, who was enjoying a good stretch. Naoko, not interested in dealing with Kimi after what she had done previously, decided to speak to Ishi.

"Sup, Naoko?" Ishi said conversationally. "I was just gonna take a dip in the pool. Wanna join?"

Naoko figured that sounded like a good way to pass the time, so he nodded approvingly.

"Oh-ho!" Ishi replied. "Eager, are we? Alright, let's get changed and hop in!"

The two got changed and spent some time together, enjoying the pool that they had been blessed with. Naoko mostly swam around, not really doing anything to show off. By contrast, Ishi seemed very interested in showing off, as she began swimming laps around the pool, and also took multiple opportunities to show off, well, her body. Once they were done, they took the time to dry off and change back into their normal clothes. Naoko felt like the two of them grew a little closer thanks to the experience. He even decided to thank Ishi for the good time by giving her a gift, in the form of a very silvery multi-tool.

"Woah, thanks man! This looks great! How much do you think this would cost if you bought it in a store? Probably a lot!"

After the two of them had finished wrapping things up, Ishi suddenly met Naoko's gaze with a curious look.

"Hey, Naoko, I have a question."

"What is it, Ishi?" Naoko asked.

"Would you consider yourself to be an adventurous person? You don't really seem like one to me."

"Adventurous?" Naoko thought about this. Was he adventurous? He couldn't say he was. "I wouldn't consider myself a fan of adventures, if I'm being honest."

"You're not?" Ishi looked disappointed. "So you don't, like, go travelling, or just go somewhere fun?"

"I do both of those things," Naoko replied. "I just don't consider myself a lover of adventure. I've vacationed, and I've gone to interesting places, but I wouldn't think that makes me an adventurer."

"I see, I see," Ishi said. "That's kinda a shame, really. There's so much in the world. You're saying you're not interested in what the world has to offer?"

"That sounds like a bit of a loaded question to me," Naoko pointed out. "Are you saying you've traveled a lot in your life?"

"Hell yeah I have!" Ishi said proudly. "I've been all over the place. Of course, along the way I've used any opportunities I've found to update my online caving channel."

"So that's how you've managed to become so well known as a caver?" Naoko asked.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like Japan is the only country with caves or something like that. Hell, most of my big caving expeditions have been overseas, now that I think about it. Like the one that I told you about when we first met. The one with the Homo Erectus skeleton, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Naoko confirmed. "I'm no archaeologist, but I don't even think there were any Homo Erectus in Japan at all."

"None that I know of, that's for sure," Ishi agreed. "But yeah, I found that one during a trip. Funny thing is that it was a trip to the place where Homo Erectus was first found. You know where that is, right?"

Oh boy, Naoko thought, she was really hitting him with a hard question to answer. Again, archaeology was not his forte, but he figured he could still determine the answer if he searched his brain for long enough. Even after doing so for a bit, though, he only had a couple of answers he felt he could go with.

"Are you talking about Java?" Naoko guessed.

"Wow, that's right!" Ishi replied happily. "Good job, Naoko, you got it! Yes, it was in Java, the place in Indonesia. And I just so happened to find an entire skeleton! I one-upped Eugene Dubois himself, and I wasn't even trying!" Ishi struck a proud, hands-on-hips pose, which Naoko couldn't help but feel was a bit much.

"Heh, yeah," Naoko laughed awkwardly. "That really is impressive."

"Yep! Jaw-dropping finds like that are what keep me going. Maybe someday I'll find something even cooler than that. I'm thinking maybe a lost civilization, or one of those 'missing links' that people seem to bring up when they talk about evolution."

"That really sounds more like the job of an archaeologist," Naoko pointed out.

Ishi shrugged. "I dunno, man. Maybe I'm multi-faceted, and I have two talents. That'd be cool, right? Having two talents?"

"Having two Ultimate talents sounds like quite a feat, yes," Naoko agreed.

"Yep. Of course, I can't really test if that's true while we're in here. I'll get back to you on it, though! Promise!"

And with that, their conversation ended, as Ishi bounded off to somewhere else. Naoko wasn't sure what to think about Ishi's disposition, but was still glad to have learned something interesting about her. She was a traveller at heart, apparently. Something the two of them could talk about at a later time, maybe.

Naoko decided to head back up to the first floor and see what was going on there. By chance, he wandered into the cafeteria, and found himself face-to-face with one of the few people he didn't plan on seeing.

"Eh-heh. Hello, Naoko. Fancy seeing you here. Here for some, erm, what would you call it? Grub?"

Yes, Naoko was, indeed, face-to-face with Bankei herself. Granted, she was currently just sitting down and enjoying some tea, but that didn't make things any better for Naoko. There was also the fact that Mine was nowhere to be found. Apparently Bankei needed some alone time every now and then, too.

"If you'd like, you can join me," Bankei offered with a smile.

That offer sent shivers down Naoko's spine. It seemed so friendly, but with Bankei, who knew what she was really thinking? It could've been her attempt to get a chance to poison him, or get information out of him. Even if it was genuine, and she just wanted a tea buddy, it still didn't sit well with him.

Still...saying no almost seemed worse. Who knew what she'd think of him running off? Naoko decided, against his better judgement, to take the offer. "Sure, why not?"

"Alright, well," Bankei replied, "you can use some of the hot water I've brewed up, I suppose. Tea bags are in the kitchen pantry. I recommend green tea, personally."

And that was how Naoko ended up having a tea party with Bankei. Not his finest moment, but at least it was actually pretty tranquil. The tea was decent, and Bankei mostly kept to herself. After a while, it even seemed like the two of them grew a little closer. Naoko didn't like thinking about that, though. Still, to keep up appearances, he decided to give her a gift in the form of a stone talisman, which so happened to have some sort of esoteric rune on the front.

"Oh, well, I wasn't expecting this from you. This is a nice gift. Kudos to you. You are an adept gift-giver."

After some time had passed, Naoko was left feeling like Bankei was curious about something. The way she was looking at him was...strange. He wasn't sure if he would have to be the one to say something about it or not, but after some time of contemplation, Bankei made the decision for him.

"Naoko, I have a question for you."

Naoko hoped that it wouldn't be a bad question. The kind of question that would force him to dance around the real answer. "Yes?"

Bankei began playing with a strand of her hair. "May I ask, what is your knowledge of myths and legends?"

"Myths and legends?" Naoko asked.

"Yes, that is what I said," Bankei said, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Not much," Naoko answered. "That's your specialty. I remember you boasted about knowing every yokai, for one."

"That was an example I gave, yes," Bankei confirmed. "That's only a sliver of my knowledge, of course. If it was all I had to my name, I wouldn't have the title that I do, now would I?"

"Well, it is impressive," Naoko pointed out.

"That's relative, is it not?" Bankei replied. "There are children half our age that are able to memorize hundreds upon hundreds of collectible cartoon monsters. Compared to that, memorizing yokai is very attainable."

Naoko shrugged. "You still know a lot more about them than me. I hardly know the first thing about yokai."

Bankei raised an eyebrow. "You don't? That's odd. Do you mean to say that you don't know of, say, oni?"

"Oh, I know about oni," Naoko replied.

"Good. Then what about tengu? Or umibōzu?"

"Are you trying to quiz me or something?" Naoko asked.

"Eh-heh. Not exactly what I had in mind. I can, however, if it would help you learn. For example, there's a famous aquatic yokai known for the bowl it has on its head. Would you happen to know its name?"

An aquatic yokai with a bowl on its head? That definitely sounded familiar.

"You're talking about the kappa," Naoko answered.

Bankei smiled. "Correct. I suppose you do know the basics. That's a good starting point. If you'd like, we can meet later and I can teach you more of what I know."

Naoko kinda wanted to just say no to her, but that wouldn't exactly sit well with her, and he didn't want to provoke her or anything. So, he gave as ambiguous of an answer as he could.

"We can, I guess. Depends on whether or not we get the time."

"Oh, I'm sure we will," Bankei said, her smile unwavering.

Naoko left after that. That was...a pretty tame discussion, all things considered. Whether or not he had actually learned something was dubious, but Bankei seemed to want him to learn something. Maybe if they met up again, he would, but whether Naoko would agree to do so remained to be seen.

After that relaxing reprieve, Naoko and the rest of the fourteen were able to have dinner together again. Conversation was light, as expected, but once they were finished, and began to leave, one of them stopped Naoko, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Hey, Naoko," Eryu said. "We're gonna be meeting up soon, remember?"

Naoko nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, I remember. No need to worry about that."

"Good," Eryu replied. "I spoke to Yori earlier, and we've agreed to meet in the computer room again. It should be safe to have another meeting there."

"Will we be trying something, or just talking?" Naoko asked.

"Talking, mostly. Nothing that I think we'd have to hide. Bring some paper and a pencil again, though, just in case."

"Of course," Naoko replied.

"Good. Meet us there in 10," Eryu instructed.

"See you guys there."