A/N: Happy new year! Well, really, it's just a new year, but you know what I mean. For WttF's first chapter of 2022, we have some extended character interactions, with some comedic elements. So, pretty much the usual.

It was by no means Naoko's intention to suddenly have to walk out on everyone during what seemed like it was shaping up to be a very interesting conversation. It was more just something beyond his control. Haru wanted someone to help him out, and Naoko was perfectly willing to help him, especially since it'd be pretty damn harsh to turn him down without a good reason. In that vein, "I'm participating in a group discussion" didn't seem to him like a very good reason.

All that said, Naoko agreed to do something for him. Still, he didn't know what it was exactly until Haru told him, and once he asked, well, it wasn't anything major. Naoko supposed that wasn't a huge surprise. Haru's voice sounded pretty mellow over the transceiver. If he were calm, it probably wouldn't be an urgent request. So, he decided to take his leave for real, and go and pay Haru a visit...but not before paying a visit to the library.

Almost immediately after opening the door and walking in, its only current occupant besides Naoko responded to his presence.

"'Sup, Naoko," Haru called out to him from his cell. "Sorry again for the trouble. It's just, y'know, I figured I wanted to spend today doin' somethin'."

"And that something is reading?" Naoko inquired.

"Well, yeah, it's better than nothin', right?" Haru responded.

"Of course it is," Naoko replied, moving up to the cell. "So, you want this book?"

"Are ya thinkin' this is some kinda prank or somethin'?" Haru asked rhetorically. It sounded a bit sarcastic, but he had a smile on his face, so it seemed rather lighthearted. "'Course I want it."

"Well, alright then."

Naoko handed the book over to Haru through the bars of his cell. Haru took the book from him without delay, and in exchange handed him a plate (His breakfast was served on it, but it was currently barren.) through a horizontal slot on the cell door.

Haru stepped back a bit from the bars of the cell and smirked. "Quite the exciting transaction, eh?" he asked jokingly.

Naoko chuckled politely. "Yeah, definitely. Have fun with that."

"I guess I will," Haru replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "No way of knowin', now that I think about it." He waved the book in front of him as if to emphasize his words as he continued. "I have no idea what the hell this shit's even about."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure what to get you. You didn't ask for anything specific," Naoko reminded him. "I just picked out whatever looked interesting."

"Fuck, you're right," Haru swore to himself. "Well, my bad. Guess I'll have to be more specific next time."

"Next time?" Naoko asked. "So, you're interested in getting more books to read later on?"

"Well, sure," Haru shrugged. "I know beggars can't be choosers and all that, but I'd like it if I could expand my, uh...Hm. Sorry, can't find the words…"

"Sounds to me like you want variety," Naoko surmised. "Is that it?"

"That's a good way of puttin' it, yeah," Haru replied. "'Sides, if I'm gonna be in here, I can't exactly read the same book over and over."

"I guess that's fair," Naoko figured. "Then again, I can't say for certain how long it'd take to read a book like that. Could end up taking a while."

"You serious?" Haru asked confusedly, flipping through the pages rapidly. "There's only gotta be, what, two hundred pages in this? Put your mind to it, you can finish one of these in just a few hours."

"Really? Wow," Naoko replied. "No offense, Haru, but I never knew you were an avid reader."

"Nah, I wouldn't say I am," Haru corrected him. "I mean, I like, say, the occasional fantasy novel, every now an' then, but it ain't really a big passion of mine. Crazy, I know, but it just doesn't excite me 'nless I'm really interested in checkin' it out."

"Well, it sounds like you're good at it when you put your mind to it, then," Naoko responded. "You should read at your own pace, though. No need to rush yourself."

"Oh, no worries there," Haru waved him off. "I'm all good. 'Sides, you're gonna be around if I need any more, right? 'Course, I guess it'd be bad to constantly pry you away from whatever you're doin'."

"True," Naoko agreed. "Also, what you said earlier about having to read the same book over and over. It'd be bad to have you in a state like that for a long time."

Haru gave Naoko a curious look, his interest notably piqued. "Long time, huh? How long am I gonna be in here again?"

"How long?" Naoko repeated back. "From what I'm aware, including the time you've been in here and stuck in your room, you can probably expect to be locked up for...I think two or three weeks? Maybe less if you stay cooperative."

Haru whistled loudly. "Damn. Well, that's actually not that bad, considerin'. Right now, though, I'm guessin' you still have shit ya gotta get to, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Naoko said. "Maybe I should try going back to the cafeteria. I feel like it's been a while already, but...I dunno, maybe they're mostly still there."

"The hell were you guys doin' there, then?" Haru asked.

"We were just having a conversation," Naoko explained. "It started with us talking about that cartoon from last night, and then…" Naoko was going to continue, but Haru spoke up before he could.

"Oh yeah," Haru said in recognition. "Yeah, I saw that. It was pretty cool, actually. Better than that first one, for sure."

"Really?" Naoko asked. He wasn't really sure what Haru would have thought about it prior to him stating his opinion, but, well, he seemed content with it. "That's nice. I gotta get going, though, if I'm gonna make it back. Before I left, things took an interesting turn."

"Well, shit, you gotta get goin', then," Haru replied, his tone implying he really did want him to do just that. Naoko agreed with this sentiment and quickly left. He had spent enough time chatting already.

From the holding cell room, it was a relatively straight shot, going from there to the stairs leading up. All Naoko needed to do was go through a single hallway that placed the flower nursery and the library opposite to one another. Naoko took this straightforward path, hoping that he could, indeed, get back to what he and the others were talking about before. For all he knew, a revelation could've been made, and he needed to know if that was indeed the case. Realistically, though, he was just interested in hearing any sort of insight or information that could've been brought forward.

However, a good chunk of Naoko's time was already spent on his little errand, and because of this, he soon found that he wasn't going to be able to just walk in and expect things to be the same as when he left. Of course, he figured this out as soon as he tried walking up the third floor's staircase, because as soon as he approached it, he could distinctly hear people going down it. Looking towards the noises coming down from above, he could see that it was a group of three. Two were Mine and Ishi, which wasn't that strange considering what Naoko had recently learned about them, though as they were coming down, Naoko noticed Ishi seemed a bit different than usual. He couldn't dwell on this long, though, because someone was currently tailing behind them. He wasn't sure who he would've been expecting, but that third person looked to be Takeshi.

Naoko didn't really have time to dwell on any of this for very long, though, since the three of them clearly noticed him just as quickly as he noticed them.

"Oh, hey! Check it out, Mine, it's your favorite boy!" Ishi said happily upon spotting him.

"Huh?" Mine replied confusedly. "C'mon, Ishi, he's not my favorite."

The four of them made it to the bottom of the stairs, and Ishi wasted no time giving Naoko a humorous look. "Uh, oh. Hear that, Naoko? You're not Mine's favorite boy!"

"That's...not something I needed to know," Naoko pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I'm just joshin'," she admitted. "If it's any consolation, though, you're totally in my top three."

"I didn't need to know that either."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Takeshi shrugged, arriving at the bottom of the stairs himself. "I'm just here to let you know something real quick."

"You are?" Naoko looked away from the two of them, and towards Mine and Ishi. "What about you two? Do you two need to talk to me about something too?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that!" Mine quickly corrected him. "Sorry if we gave you the wrong idea. Ishi and I were just talking about something, and we came to this floor to look into it."

"Uh huh. Mine here had a nifty little idea, and we're here to see it through," Ishi boasted. "Oh! And speaking of ideas, check this out!"

Ishi reached behind her and flipped her hair almost dramatically, and upon doing so made Naoko realize what seemed different about her. It was her hair. It was still long and red, but now she was wearing it just a bit differently than before.

"Is that a ponytail?" Naoko asked.

"Yeah! It was my idea," Mine explained. "I found a hair tie and thought it'd look nice if she put it in her hair."

"And it does, if I say so myself!" Ishi stated proudly. "Now I got that sexy ponytail look going on."

"Cool," Naoko stated casually. As nice as the moment was, though, he couldn't help but be distracted by the fact that Takeshi was basically on the sidelines at that point, waiting for his turn to speak to him. Granted, he seemed okay with it, but Naoko had to get to him eventually. With that thought in his mind, he looked back at Mine and Ishi and decided to move things along. "So, you two came here to do something, right?"

"Oh god, you're right!" Mine exclaimed. "I can't believe that slipped my mind!"

"Don't worry, girl, it happens," Ishi assured her. "At this point, though, we probably should get going. Be back in a bit, you guys. Don't go anywhere!"

The two of them went straight past Naoko and into the flower nursery. Naoko wasn't sure exactly what sort of idea Ishi might have had in relation to it, but whatever it was, it gave him time to address Takeshi, who took the opportunity to step forward and address him properly.

"Did you do that for me?" he asked.

"What?" Naoko replied.

"You, uh…" Takeshi paused for a moment. "You know what? Don't worry about it. I'm just sorry you had to send them off just so I could talk to you sooner."

"It's no big deal," Naoko assured him. "They had their own business anyway. So, what'd you want to tell me?"

"I just wanted you to know that I'll be helping you out for a while," Takeshi explained.

"Helping me?"

"Yeah. With Haru, I mean," Takeshi answered him. He proceeded to take out a small walkie talkie of his own and held it in front of him. "I mentioned it to Eryu, and he showed me where they keep these things."

"Ah," Naoko said in understanding. "Well, that's great. Thanks for helping out, man."

"You're welcome," Takeshi replied, nodding slightly. "Still, though, I should probably tell you that the reason I wanted to tell you in person…" He suddenly stopped, and looked like he was reconsidering something.

"Hm?" Naoko asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Takeshi apologized quickly thereafter. "I was just thinking maybe I should apologize for not volunteering sooner. I mean, damn, Bankei got three people acting as caretakers, and you got stuck with Haru all on your own? That kinda seems like you got the short end of the stick."

"Oh, I wouldn't say it's all that big of a deal," Naoko assured him. "I've been okay handling him on my own thus far."

"I'm sure you are, yeah," Takeshi agreed. "It's just...I don't know. I've just been thinking about some stuff recently. I remember how we talked in the storage room, and I ended up talking about how I feel like I don't wanna talk unless it adds something to the conversation. You know what I'm talking about?"

"Of course I know what you're talking about," Naoko replied. "So that had something to do with what you've been thinking about, huh?"

"Basically, yeah," Takeshi responded. "Sometimes I just feel like I could be doing more around here, y'know? Do you ever feel like that?"

"I've felt that way before in the past, sure," Naoko answered. "Recently, though, I'll admit, I haven't felt that way very often."

"Maybe that's because you've been doing a lot of stuff around here for us," Takeshi suggested. "Meanwhile, I feel like I don't do that sorta thing a lot of the time. I'm just kinda here, doing nothing. I don't wanna just laze about and not help people. I wanna be a good samaritan to you guys, because you're my friends, and I'm just…kinda worried that I've been falling flat."

Naoko frowned as Takeshi gave his explanation. To him, it sounded like Takeshi was being really hard on himself, and honestly, he wasn't sure just how true his claims about himself really were. After all, while he might not have done anything particularly spectacular within, say, the last couple of days, he'd certainly helped before then.

"What about that party we had not too long ago? You played a pretty important role, I think."

Takeshi looked back at him awkwardly. "I mean, maybe, but that didn't exactly go well for us. Hell, when 'you-know-what' happened, I ended up being kinda suspicious."

"You did help prove Hoshi's innocence," Naoko reminded him.

"And then Bankei made us all realize it couldn't have been either of us," Takeshi said through an extended sigh.

"That doesn't mean that you didn't help us," Naoko argued. "There are people among us that have done less for us than you have, and honestly, I don't think that's really a bad thing. I know this might sound a bit strange, but, the way I see it, nobody here should feel obligated to help."

He noticed that Takeshi still looked pretty self-conscious. He understood just by looking that what he was saying was by no means the solution to his worries, but that didn't mean he didn't want to try and give him some assurance.

"That being said, though," Naoko continued, "it's good to have you helping out."

"Thanks," Takeshi replied, still not quite at ease. "Oh, and sorry for having to listen to me complain. I don't want to seem like some sort of debbie downer, it's just that...well, like I said, sometimes I feel like-"

Before he could put his exact feelings on the matter into words, the door to the flower nursery practically slammed open from behind the two of them. Ishi and Mine, who had left not too long ago, exited the room and returned to the bottom of the stairwell, Ishi having a large folder tucked under her arm confidently, and Mine carrying a pot full of red flowers almost exuberantly.

"Sorry to butt in," Ishi said, "but would either of you fine young men care to lend us young ladies a hand?"

"Huh?" Takeshi responded confusedly. "Well, maybe, but…"

"Nah, but seriously though," Ishi continued, dropping whatever act she was doing. "I hope you don't mind, but Mine and I have pretty much decided that this place needs sprucing up."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Naoko agreed. "If you want to do something about it with those flowers we've been given, then that seems like a pretty good idea to me."

"Exactly!" Ishi stated proudly. "Mine and I were talking about how boring it is around here, and she figured that since we have a room that's, like, basically all about pretty-looking stuff, we could use some of that pretty stuff to make this place look kinda, I dunno, presentable."

"C'mon, Ishi, there's no need to hype it up so much," Mine chimed in.

"What?" Mine said in mock-defense. "I think it was a smart idea!" She looked away from Mine and towards Naoko and Takeshi. "So, what do you guys think about helping us out? Y'know, for real?"

"Well, that sounds like it'd be great," Takeshi replied. "I've always liked that place ever since we first got it, and...well, yeah, doing something with those flowers sounds nice. I just hope there's no conflict of interest. I kinda just told Naoko I'm gonna be helping him with Haru."

"Oh?" Mine said, seemingly intrigued. "That's, uh, pretty cool. So, you know what you're gonna be doing for that, huh?"

"I dunno," Takeshi admitted. "Say, Naoko, is there anything I should know?"

"Well, he might want us to bring him more reading material," Naoko replied. "He hasn't said much about that, but he did mention something offhandedly about liking fantasy books."

"Seriously? Fantasy books?" Ishi asked. "Huh. Never took him for the type. Ah well, that's cool and all, but we sorta, y'know, have stuff we gotta be doing. Wish us luck, you two!"