A/N: This chapter's gonna be pretty short, at least in comparison to recent chapters. This is partially because I actually had a lot of trouble writing it. After a couple revisions, this is what I've got, so I hope you enjoy. This is gonna lead into another "interlude", which I must admit has been a long time coming.

Naoko didn't know off the top of his head where he would need to go in order to meet up with everyone else again. After he left, just about anything could've gone down, and people could've gone just about anywhere in the facility. Nobody was in the hallway when Naoko stepped outside of the medical room, though, so he was on his own in this regard.

He figured that it would be a safe bet to return to where he had seen everyone last, that being that featureless, square-shaped room he could get to with a simple walk to his right. It made sense to check there, and if nobody was there anymore, then it led to the dorms, so he figured he'd stop by. Pushing open the double doors to the room, he saw that most everyone had left the room, and that there were currently only two inhabitants. Eryu was next to the doors leading to the dorms, pressed up against the wall a little and looking very frustrated. That automatically gave Naoko a bad feeling about what happened between everyone after he left. There was also Mine, who was standing in the middle of the room and whipped her head towards Naoko almost dramatically as soon as he entered the room.

"Naoko, you're back!" Mine said, sounding relieved. "You were gone for a while. Everyone else left a couple minutes ago. What took you so long?"

"I didn't plan on staying for very long," Naoko explained. "Bankei, though, she said that she really wanted to explain what happened between her and Haru. She explained everything that happened, apparently."

"Oh god, seriously?" Mine asked worriedly. "She explained everything?"

"I don't think she left anything out," Naoko replied. "We may have to run the story by Haru, though."

"Geez," Mine said. "How is she, then?"

"I don't entirely know," Naoko admitted. "Mareo doesn't really know either. She's gonna need a lot of rest, though. Oh, and before I forget, she said she wanted you to stop by."

"She did?" Mine said, eyes widened. "Well, that's cool. I was actually thinking of going to check on her, so..."

Mine stopped as he looked at Naoko, who had started to give her a worried look without realizing it.

"Something wrong, man?" she asked tentatively. "You're looking at me weird."

"I am?" Naoko asked. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"What is it?" Mine asked quickly. "Is it something about me, or Bankei? Or both?"

"Uh, maybe both, actually," Naoko responded. "Mine, it seems to me like you're really worried about her."

"Of course I am!" Mine said. "She just got beaten up. Why wouldn't I worry about someone after something like that?"

"I'm sorry," Naoko apologized. "I guess it's just that I didn't expect you two to become, uh, close."

"Close?" Mine interrupted bemusedly. "What do you mean? Do you think we're...dating? 'Cause we're not, just so you know! Haru was just mad when he said that!"

"I know, but…" Naoko paused briefly. "You know, the reason you started spending time together was so you could keep tabs on her."

"Oh!" Mine exclaimed in understanding. "I remember that, yeah! I mean, you guys were thinking, after what she did early on, she was dangerous, or something like that. Well, I know that's what Eryu thought, at least."

Something about Mine's voice and expression gave off a feeling of unsuredness as she said that last sentence. Naoko, curious, looked over to Eryu, who still had a large frown on his face and a general look of bitterness. Sure enough, he was looking at Mine very disapprovingly.

Naoko looked back at her. "So, you don't think she's dangerous?"

"I dunno about dangerous," Mine said awkwardly. "Sure, she's been a little weird, and she's said some stuff that's been a little bit harsh, but...I could say that about a lot of people here, y'know? Like Kimi. I don't think she's bad, per say, even if she's, y'know, really rude."

Naoko nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, okay. But Bankei isn't supposed to be in our group anymore. Not officially, anyway."

"Yeah, but…" Mine trailed off and looked like she was trying to discreetly look behind her. Presumably, she was thinking of Eryu, who still hadn't spoken or even moved during their conversation. "...I dunno. I know the last time I told you about me spending time with her, I got some weird vibes, but other than that? She's actually been pretty chill while we've been together. Crazy, huh?"

"Hm. I see," Naoko said. "Still, do you know about why she was kicked out of the group?"

"I remember Eryu didn't like her after she…" After saying this, she actually did look behind her over to him. "Shit, sorry, this is probably a bad time to talk about that."

"It's okay," Naoko replied. "We can talk later."

"Right!" Mine exclaimed. "No need to keep rambling! We have places to be, don't we?"

"I guess so," Naoko shrugged.

"Okay! See you later!"

With that, she departed from the room in what was practically a blur. She left Naoko wondering where she was coming from, exactly. Were they really becoming friends? Mine hadn't yet reported anything strange from her, really, so presumably they had been together for a while without any significant issues arising between them. With that in mind, Naoko supposed that they could have formed a bond of some sort. Even still, one of them was still Bankei, and she was...Well, she had certainly been acting strangely, to say the least.

Before Naoko could dwell on that point further, he noticed Eryu was beginning to approach him.

"You can probably tell that things aren't going well right now," he said.

"Well, before I left, Kimi said something that worried me," Naoko replied. "It sounded like the beginning of a really bad argument."

"That's exactly what happened," Eryu replied. "She, well, I guess you could say that she tore into me. It was nothing new from her, and we both know what she's usually like, so that's not a good thing."

"She really doesn't like you, huh?" Naoko commented.

"She never has. I just don't get people like her. I get having grievances, but she's just so damn unpleasant all the time. And now she's made it everyone's problem."

"What'd she do?" Naoko asked.

"Well, starting out, she called me an idiot," Eryu said unamusedly. "Apparently, when I initially made the call to have Haru around to break up fights, I should've known that he would take to getting angry with her over minor accidents. Seriously, how was I supposed to know that would happen?"

"Well, you still had him play that role after that started happening," Naoko pointed out.

Eryu groaned in frustration. "She said that too! She said that it was stupid I wasn't punishing him more than I was. Especially after what happened during the pool party. I know it makes sense she'd be mad after what happened because of that, but as mad as she actually was?"

"I remember he said he was worried about being punished some other way, after the trial was over, because the party was cut short," Naoko recalled.

"And maybe I would've gotten to doing that if Haru hadn't gotten himself into more trouble! Anyways, it's not like she thinks that Haru is the big issue. Apparently she thinks I'm an 'annoying control freak'."

"Oh yeah, she told me that once," Naoko responded. "She didn't tell me why she thought that, exactly. Just that she thought you were overbearing."

"According to her, she thinks that because I stepped up and tried to get us organized," Eryu said bitterly.

"Is...that how she said it?" Naoko asked skeptically.

"Well, no," Eryu replied hesitantly. "Still, that's basically what she said. I stood up and made promises that we'd be able to get through this and escape, and apparently, because we haven't made any real progress on that, I was blowing smoke up everyone's asses. And just so you know, 'blowing smoke up everyone's asses' is how she said it."

Naoko looked around worriedly. "Should we really talk about stuff like this? IMONO's probably watching us at this point."

"It knows what I said," Eryu responded quickly. "Granted, saying it out in the open would raise alarm bells, but referencing the fact that I said it should be fine. But yeah, even though we haven't even seen the full extent of this place, apparently we were supposed to figure out how to escape with what little we have."

"I'd imagine she's just upset about being trapped in here for so long."

That didn't come from Naoko or Eryu, strangely enough. It turned out that while they were speaking, Yori had slipped into the room from behind them. That was, to say the least, quite a surprise. Eryu jumped noticeably when she began to speak, but quickly regained his composure before turning to face her.

"Yori? How long have you been listening in?" Eryu inquired.

"Not for very long," Yori replied. "Anyways, you two should probably know that Haru is currently safe inside of his room, and everyone else seems to be fine as well. Though I have a feeling that after what we've been through earlier today, people are going to be rather uneasy for the time being."

"I guess that makes sense," Naoko reasoned. "So what should we do now?"

"Now?" Yori responded. "Really, what you should do is completely up to you. As for myself, I plan on keeping an eye out. At the present time, we have one individual with potentially very worrisome injuries, another that's being confined, and everyone else has become shaken for one reason or another. I believe that what's needed is a more passive approach."

"A passive approach?" Eryu asked incredulously. "How will that help?"

"For one thing, given our track-record," Yori began to explain, "attempts to forcibly solve issues between us have been largely ineffectual, and we all know it. Unilateral decision making isn't going to be taken well, whether that's organizing a party, or sharing sensitive information about each other."

"You say that like we've done both of those things," Eryu replied.

"I'm not trying to insinuate that," Yori clarified. "What I'm trying to say is it would perhaps be better if we avoid making any major, group-wide decisions, unless of course it contributes to…" She paused and shifted her body very subtly towards the security camera hanging from the ceiling. "...Hm. Still, avoiding a repetition of previous mistakes isn't my only reason for wanting to be more passive."

"What other reasons are there, then?" Naoko asked.

"Well, you weren't here, Naoko, when Kimi and Eryu had their argument, but I was," Yori began. "It got me thinking. I assumed that to Eryu, it would be worrisome, because it could mean that Kimi's sentiments could be spread to others, and that may lead to more conflict than we'd want."

Eryu nodded. "You're not wrong."

"Based off of this," Yori continued, "if you're worried about Kimi's arguments swaying other people's opinion of you, the one thing you should avoid doing is proving her right. If she thinks that you're a control freak, then you need to show that you can be lenient, and non-assertive."

"That just sounds like caving in," Eryu curtly responded.

"If you don't like it, then you don't have to take it to heart," Yori replied. "What the both of you do is your decision, not mine. I simply believe that, for the time being, we should be more cautious and allow things to play out, so long as there is no significant risk for escalation or harm."

"You really think everyone will be able to smooth things out together, huh?" Naoko responded.

"Maybe they can, maybe they can't," Yori replied. "Something tells me we'll need to really keep an eye out. I have a bad feeling about a few of us, simply due to how things are now. Nonetheless…" Yori took a deep breath and gave a small smile. "I do believe that we're all good people."

"When you say we-" Eryu began to say.

"I'm referring to our group," Yori spoke up quickly. "Bankei isn't being included. I'm holding my tongue in regards to her, but I agree that there is something very strange about her actions thus far."

Eryu gritted his teeth discontentedly. "Yeah, alright. I see what you're saying."

"So, what do you think I should be doing for the time being?" Naoko asked.

"Perhaps you can do some socializing?" Yori suggested. "Just a thought."

"Well, yeah, that sounds great," Naoko replied.

"It's better than staying in bed all day," Yori said. "That's definitely something I'm confident about."

"I guess you have a point," Naoko shrugged. "I don't know if I'd really be able to accomplish anything if I were stuck in my room."

"Yep," Eryu agreed.

Naoko smiled. "Alright, sounds like a plan," he said as he turned to leave.