The next morning, Janus, Suzu and Shika were the first people to arrive at the canteen. After acknowledging each other with a brief greeting, they went to get their breakfasts, and sat down-Suzu and Janus together at one table, Shika by herself on another. They waited; tense, for the others to turn up.

Akihito walked in casually. Upon seeing the three who were already there, his eyes lit up.

"Wa-hey!" he said, lifting his arms in a celebratory pose "So you guys are still alive. " Shika stuck her tongue out at him in response, and he grinned, going over to the vending machine.

"We have no money. How are-" Janus's sentence cut itself off in astonishment as Akihito left the vending machine a few seconds later with a cereal bar and a bottle of chocolate milkshake.

"I'm the SDHSL thief, remember? This is child's play."

Suzu rolled her eyes .Akihito gave another cheeky grin and sat down with Shika.

"Mind if I keep you company, Sayuri-san?"

"I…erm. Feel free to sit here."

Akihito did, and they sat there eating their breakfast in silence.

The others started to come in. Eirik was listening to music on a small iPod, one earphone hanging so that unidentifiable rock music could be heard. Marvin came in while harassing Kevin. Mirai somehow managed to sneak in without anyone noticing, suddenly appearing behind Suzu and making her jump. The others just entered relatively normally, saying good morning to everyone else and getting their breakfasts.

When they had all sat down at various tables, it was soon clear that all 18 of them were there. Instantly, the atmosphere changed.

"So, what are we supposed to do today?" Emi asked. She was still grumpy about the lack of internet, but thankfully she seemed approachable.

"I'm going to continue investigating, see if I can turn up something that was missed yesterday." Kyouko said.

"Where does that leave the rest of us?"

"I guess we just go about our lives, find a way to ki-pass the time." Shika suggested.

"Hmm." Kyouko said in response.

Suzu wrote something in her notebook, and Janus called attention to it. Eirik got up from where he was sitting alone, and went close enough to be able to see it.

"Until we can escape, we need to accept we are stuck here." He read.

"Eh? Accept it? Why?" Arisa said.

"Because railing against it won't help the situation." Kyouko said.

"You agree with her?" Arisa almost shrieked.

Janus spoke up "Suzu does talk sense."

"Except that she doesn't talk." Arisa countered.

Emi let out a long breath "Dude…" she paused, then continued "Just do whatever you want. "

Arisa rolled her eyes in annoyance, and didn't say anything more.

"Hold on! Since when were you two on first name terms?" Nanako pointed to Janus and Suzu, a questioning look on her carefully made-up face. Suzu looked confused. Janus gave nothing away.

"You two must have gotten awfully close last night…care to share?" Marvin asked.

"Karin-san, I don't think that you should be asking anything, not after yesterday. Besides, it's none of our business."Dai put Janus and Suzu he said "Sorry about that."

Janus nodded.

"Nothing to hide. Suzu just decided to fill me in on the rules you'd decided after I left…and we talked a while." He said.

That's right. Suzu wrote. She glanced subtly at Janus, and he looked back at her for a moment, and then they both concentrated on their breakfasts.

After a while, everyone else returned to their own conversations and breakfasts.

…

Nothing. There was nothing useful. Kyouko had searched this floor, looked in every last corner for a clue. But there was nothing. She might have found more if they had been allowed up to the second floor, but access was blocked. So, there was nothing. Not even of-of what? There was something in her mind, a something that was more of an absence than an actual item, something that seemed to drive all she was doing, but she couldn't remember what it could be. It was if the part of her mind that held those memories had been wiped clean.

Other, foggier memories filled her mind. Piano music, her little-kid fingers being guided by elegant older fingers. The smell of vanilla and sandalwood. The taste of birthday cake. Cherry blossoms spinning around her. The sensation of flying, as she was picked up by two strong hands. Childhood laughter.

It was the laughter that stuck with her, and when it continued to ring in her head she eventually realised that she was actually hearing laughter.

Focus. Where am I?

Outside the gymnasium. Cautiously, she opened the door. The laughter fell silent.

Akaya, Akihito and Makoto were standing in the middle of the gymnasium. All 3 were barefooted. Akihito had taken off his hoodie, and Makoto had taken off his blazer. Akaya was holding on to a basketball. All looked happy, but slightly rumpled.

Kyouko had the feeling that it was a stupid question, but she had to ask "What are you doing?"

"Playing basketball. Duh!" Akihito said.

"It's not like an actual game or anything. More like messing around in a way that vaguely resembles basketball." Makoto explained.

"If that makes sense. " Akaya added.

Kyouko pursed her lips, deep in thought. Then she nodded.

"Hey…do you want to join us? You look a bit lost."

Kyouko blinked in confusion at what Makoto was asking.

"I don't really know how to play-apart from a few odd Elementary school memories. "She said hesitantly.

"That's fine. We're all the same. We're just having a bit of fun, to keep our spirits up. "Makoto replied cheerfully.

"Better than moping!" Akihito chipped in

Keep our spirits up. Just by being in the company of these three, she was feeling that happen. It couldn't hurt to actually join them.

"Okay." She took off her boots, socks, jacket and tie, and stashed them on the side with the other shoes and outer layers, and lost herself in the game for a while.

…

Shika was bored. Really bored. Why weren't there any animals here? She briefly wished she could have taken Sora with her, but then decided that she was glad that she hadn't. Monobear would've probably eaten him. Even though she knew bears didn't eat dogs. Generally.

She decided to go into the kitchen and search out a snack, but she was so absorbed in her mission she almost tripped over someone. Giving a start, she straightened out and looked at who that person was.

"Oh! Isaki-san, what are you doing?"

Suzu turned from where she was sitting in front of the open freezer, a chisel in hand. Shika slowly approached the freezer. The particular section Suzu had opened was larger than it looked, and there were large blocks of ice inside. Suzu had been chipping away at one, but Shika couldn't tell what it was yet.

"Cool! You're making something. I can't wait to see what it is. Don't mind me. I'm just getting some food. "

Shika went to a cupboard when something occurred to her.

"Aren't you cold, Isaki-san?"

Suzu smiled faintly and shook her head. Shika mentally kicked herself.

"Of course you aren't. You're used to it, aren't you?" Stop talking, Shika…

After locating a packet of rice crackers, Shika sat next to Suzu to watch her work. Suzu shifted slightly to allow Shika to have space, but apart from that seemed utterly absorbed in her work. They sat like that for a while, deep in silence, until Suzu reached in and pulled the finished product from the freezer.

Smiling, she shook it. A ringing sound resounded for a small moment.

"Whoa! A bell! And it works!" Shika was slack jawed in amazement.

Suzu smiled and blushed.

"There's an idea. If you had some bell to ring every time you were writing in that book of yours, everyone would be able to hear you. Except, find an actual bell. That one would melt. "

Suzu smiled again, and put the ice bell in the freezer, shutting it and standing up. Shika stood up as Suzu wrote in her notebook. Then, she showed the page to

That's a great idea. It read. I'll see if Jay'll help me. Perhaps you can come too, if you like?

"Who's Jay?"

Janus Abandonato. Suzu replied.

"Oh." Shika noticed something in Suzu's eyes as she had written that name. She couldn't be sure, but growing up in a house full of females had helped her understand a thing or two. But she decided not to call attention to it. Yet.

"Nah, its fine. You go. I'm still hungry, so I'll probably be raiding the kitchen for a while."

Suzu nodded, and left the room. Shika threw away her empty wrapper and grinned as she searched the cupboards.

…

Janus and Suzu had been searching in the storage room for a long time when Marvin came in, looking harassed and somewhat rejected. She paid them no heed as she instantly started searching for something. Janus raised an eyebrow.

"Would've thought she would have been trying to harass someone. "He mouthed.

Suzu wrote in her notebook in response.

Perhaps she has other interests too. This was written in broken English.

"Now that would be a miracle."

"Perfect!" the two of them turned in surprise as Marvin started reaching into a box and pulling things out rapidly and stuffing them into a sack. Some of the items clinked as she put them in. Then, she pulled out two small bits of material. After considering the materials, she put them down, and started to strip off her clothes.

Janus hid behind the box, face steaming red. He didn't want to see any more of Marvin than he had to. Suzu gave him a look as if to ask what was wrong. He didn't respond, instead deciding not to move until he heard clinking again. They both peered around the box. Marvin was leaving the storage room, now wearing little more than a hot pink bikini top and a mini skirt that could have been mistaken for a handkerchief.

And off she goes to terrorize the male population. Suzu wrote. Janus had to take a while to decode what she had tried to write.

"Yes. I still can't possibly see how anyone is interested in that…wanton girl. "

Suzu's mouth twitched. She got up and started searching the shelves. Janus helped her, and he didn't talk to her for a few minutes, until his hands felt something.

Pulling down a small bell with a glass handle, he handed to her.

"What about this?"

Suzu tested the sound. It was a pretty, twinkly sound. Most importantly, it was clear and unmistakeable. Suzu smiled and nodded.

"Great!"

Suzu's smile eventually faded, and she fell deep into thought.

"Suzu?"

She wrote something carefully and handed the notebook to him.

Carefully, he interpreted her words.

"Alcohol….Karin-san? Are you surprised though? She'd do anything to get laid."

Suzu took back the notebook and wrote in it again.

Go too far with alcohol and the consequences are forever.

"I…uh. You said 'the consequences are forever?'"

Suzu nodded.

"But, you realise nobody will actually go near her to get drunk in the first place?"

She mocks Kobayashi-kun's health concerns as innuendo. Watari-kun would just flirt right back. He wouldn't let her actually touch him, but he'd play her at her own game for a while. And Kevin Brown is one of the more impressionable ones, unaware of his own feelings.

Janus looked at her. She seemed fearful.

"You're actually pretty observant, aren't you?"

She blinked,baffled.

"Your eyes are windows, Suzu. " he told her.

She bit her lip and looked down. Janus felt a wave of guilt sweep over him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. As long as she doesn't approach me. She'll feel the heat of Hades if she does. Anyway, let's go. It's a bit stuffy in here. "

…

That evening, all 18 of them arrived for dinner. Eirik, who had gradually begun to warm up to people , volunteered to make dinner, which turned out to be some sort of casserole with bread on the side.
Again, they either sat in little groups, or alone as they ate their food. Afar went around giving some people items he had collected-a jewellery hanger shaped as a sakura tree for Kyouko, a rainbow coloured pencil topper for Makoto, cell phone stickers for Suzu , a top hat for Janus , a ring for Akihito ,and other various items. Some things he threw at Nanako and an apparently tipsy Marvin, but apart from that, there was very little drama.

They were all relieved when they went to bed. At the back of their minds, the possibilities of their deaths were still strong, but they were able to fall asleep peacefully.

…

Arisa had woken up in the middle of the night with an extreme craving for chocolate. She really didn't want to break their Night Time rule, but she was going mad. Searching her bags for some only turned up a few stray chocolate drops, which wasn't nearly enough. So she decided to get dressed and wait until it became 7am. Then she could be the first in the kitchen, and make herself a very chocolaty breakfast.

She passed the time working on mathematical proofs and reading one of the books Onee-Chan had packed for her .Finally, Monobear's inane morning announcement blared out, and she practically exploded from her chair. Once she had left the room she was considerably calmer, but she was still walking rapidly.

This is why she almost tripped over something on the floor.

She fell with a heavy crash, putting her arms out to protect her face. Stunned, she just lay there for a few seconds, and then she eased herself into a sitting position so she could see what she had tripped over.

A person.

"Hey, what are you doing asleep?" she reached over to poke him on the cheek. He was cold. So very, very cold.

It was then she clocked other details. Not just that he was cold, but the fact that his eye were wide, their greyness staring into nothing, and that his skin was paler than it had ever been. That and the long trail of blood that extended out behind and alongside him. The trail of blood she was now sitting in.

She knew that she should get help, knock on people's doors. But as she tried to stand up, her legs kept shaking and she kept falling. Over, and over this happened, until the terror overtook her, and all she could do was scream.

And so, I leave you with a cliffhanger-can you guess who died? Even if you can't, you'll find out next chapter anyway. In case you are wondering about the chapter title, a lot of TV shows tend to treat their first episode as a 'Pilot' episode, even titling it as such. And this is the first murder so…

Anyway, please leave feedback.