Mukuro scanned the house's surroundings from her vantage point on the top floor as Kyoko and Chihiro approached the door. They'd arrived some twenty minutes after she and Makoto had, and she wanted to make sure that they weren't being followed by enemy reinforcements. As they walked through the door, she kept scanning for another half hour before, not entirely satisfied, she shouldered her rifle and headed downstairs to Makoto's room. Despite herself, she couldn't get Junko's words from Hope's Peak out of her mind.

'Did you eliminate your rival for Makoto's attentions? Or did you help play matchmaker instead?'

Kyoko had been a decisive ally to Mukuro at Hope's Peak, but the idea of losing Makoto to the detective still scared her. 'She's beautiful, and she didn't... didn't betray him... like I betrayed Chihiro...' Her heart sank as she again cast her mind backto her admission to him. 'What if he tells Makoto about last night? He's going to know I'm a pervert for dreaming about him! He'll want nothing to do with me!' She abruptly stopped on the staircase and steadied herself against the wall. 'I have to - no. Calm down. Control yourself. Stay focused. You... you need to hold it together in front of him. You have to get him out of here alive.' She slowed her breathing down. 'You have a mission. That's all that matters now. Just focus on that.' She closed her eyes, and concentrated on controlling her breathing.

A few minutes later, she finally reached the door to Makoto's room and opened it. Kyoko looked up as though she'd been expecting her. 'I saw you keeping an eye out, see any trouble?' 'No, I think we're safe for now', Mukuro replied, noticing Kyoko's rifle leaning against the wall before catching Chihiro's eye. He was sitting on the end of Makoto's bed. After looking at her for a second, he averted his eyes. Guilt stabbed at her stomach once again. Trying to ignore it, she shifted her gaze up to Makoto, still lying where she'd left him. 'How are you feeling now?' 'A bit better', he replied with a hint of sheepishness. 'I think you were right... I will be more useful if I get some rest.' 'Of course', Kyoko interjected firmly. 'Your stitches are holding for now, but you'll slow us all down if your wound opens back up. Give yourself time to heal.' 'I... also need some time to rest... I'm sorry', Chihiro mumbled. 'It's fine, don't apologise', Mukuro said awkwardly, glancing in his general direction without making eye contact before turning back to Kyoko. 'Now, we're going to need more supplies. You said that some of the houses around here had food?' Kyoko nodded. 'That's right. But first, I think we need to establish exactly what's going on in this country.' Makoto nodded. 'One of our seniors, Sonia Nevermind, was the princess of this place. That can't be a coincidence, can it?' 'It's not', Mukuro said, guilt creeping into her stomach yet again. 'Nevermind was one of Yukizome's students. She... was filled with despair on the same day Yukizome was. All - well, most of her class was. When Nevermind came back here, she... she killed her family and took over. She raised an military that was fanatically loyal to Ultimate Despair and set them loose on all of Europe.' She paused, feeling her stomach grow tighter and tighter as she took in everyone's reactions; Makoto was staring at his feet with a mournful expression, Chihiro was blankly looking into a corner, and Kyoko was watching her like a morbidly curious hawk. 'That would explain the Monokuma helmets', the detective said, stroking her chin. 'We knew this was some kind of game for them, but this could explain what's going on with the houses... this region, maybe even the entire country, has been prepared for us.'

'So... what do we do?' asked Makoto, barely concealing his fear. Kyoko turned to Mukuro. 'Yukizome said that we could leave if we flew a plane out of here. Do you think that's true?' She thought for a moment. 'Yes... but only if we can get to the plane. That will be the hard part.' 'Can... can any of us fly?' Chihiro asked in a quiet voice. Mukuro nodded. 'I can. Fenrir had some BAE Hawks and Karakorum-8s that we used for CAS, and I learnt how to fly those.' 'So, we can find all the others and fly out of here!' Makoto said, his smile breaking through the despair that had hung in the room. Mukuro's heart sank. She knew what the smart thing to do was, but... 'how can I tell him? I'd be betraying him again. I have to -' 'We can't.' She glanced up with a mixture of relief and shame as Kyoko said what she'd been too scared to. 'Everyone is scattered, and they're going to get even more scattered with every passing second.' Makoto's face fell, but Kyoko's was as hard and uncompromising as stone. 'We can either save ourselves, or save no-one.' Suddenly, her face soften ever-so-slightly. 'And some of us have people to look after back home.' Makoto slowly nodded. 'Yeah... I guess... you're right.'

More shame flowed into Mukuro's heart. She hadn't told them about the hostages in Tōwa City - she hadn't had the time to explain Junko's entire plan back at Hope's Peak. 'Or... was I just too scared to tell them everything?' 'Mukuro?' She noticed with a start that Kyoko was talking to her. Everyone was staring at her in confusion. 'Is everything okay?' 'Y-yes... I was just... considering what our tactics should be.' Kyoko raised an unconvinced eyebrow, but didn't challenge her. 'You mentioned finding more supplies earlier?' Mukuro nodded, relieved. 'Yeah. You can show me the houses that have food, and we'll both bring it back here.' She turned to look at Makoto and Chihiro. 'You two, just stay here. Just rest. The sooner you heal, Makoto, the sooner we can get out of here.' Makoto opened his mouth as if you protest, but quickly backed down. Chihiro, on the other hand, nervously raised his voice. 'We can't... look after ourselves like this... what do we do if the soldiers find us?' 'Fire that', Kyoko replied, pointing at her rifle, 'we'll hear it and come back here immediately.' Her eyes turned to Mukuro. 'Let's go.'

'So, you know your way around an AUG?' Mukuro asked as she stepped back out onto the snowy village street with Kyoko. 'An AUG?' Kyoko's usually stony face betrayed a hint of confusion at the Ultimate Soldier's question. 'Armee Universall Gewehr. The rifle you took from that soldier', Mukuro explained, feeling excited at the opportunity to talk about one of her passions. 'It's an assault rifle made by the Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr. Standard issue for Austrian, Novoselic, and Australian infantry, although Australia uses a locally built variant called the F88 Austeyr. It fires -' Mukuro suddenly became aware of Kyoko staring at her with a raised eyebrow. 'Sorry,' she mumbled, 'I get carried away sometimes...' 'Well, you wouldn't be the Ultimate Soldier if you didn't know your weapons', Kyoko replied with an almost imperceptible smile. 'I've only used a pistol a few times against targets on a shooting range, you might have to teach me how to use an AUG.' 'Sure', Mukuro nodded. 'It'll be easy, seeing as you already have experience with firearms. thought you might from the way you held the rifle.' 'Thank you', Kyoko said as she glanced at the houses to either side of them, then turned down a street to the right with Mukuro. 'It was my Aunt who taught me how to shoot. She said that I needed to defend myself, because a dead detective doesn't solve any cases. I didn't bring a gun with me on cases, though. Most of the family looks down on that sort of thing.' 'I see', Mukuro said.

Before she could ask what type of pistol it had been, Kyoko came to a stop. 'We're here. This building has food in the kitchen.' They were standing in front of a single storey brick house, its facade pockmarked with a few bullet holes. 'Perhaps someone tried to run', Kyoko said, glancing at Mukuro as if to gauge her reaction. She nearly nodded and moved into the house. The first thing she noticed was the fridge. It was full of an eclectic mix of food; chocolate mousse, raw chicken breasts, milk, eggs, ice cream, bread, peas, apples, frankfurts, avocados, apples, and bacon-flavoured ice cream to name a few.

Mukuro shook her head. 'What the fuck is bacon-flavoured ice cream?!' Quickly turning her attention to the eggs, she took one and cracked a hole in it before swallowing what was inside. She turned to face Kyoko and handed her a second egg. 'Try it, it's a good source of protein even when it's raw.' The detective accepted. 'Thank you.' Mukuro nodded, then turned back to the fridge. 'We should start looking through this. We'll have to figure out what's useful and what isn't, and what we can take with us and what we'll have to eat here.'

The two got to work, silently sorting through the food. But after a few minutes, Mukuro couldn't help but thinking about what had happened back in the forest. She glanced over at Kyoko and broke the silence. 'How's Chihiro doing?' 'She's doing alright', Kyoko replied, keeping her eyes on the fridge's contents. 'No injuries. She does need rest, though.' Mukuro nodded slightly, silently building up the courage to ask her next question. 'I have to ask, don't I? I... yes. I need to make things right after he helped me.' 'What... what about... emotionally. Is... she coping?

Kyoko paused, but said nothing for a few moments. 'She's... upset', she finally said, choosing her words carefully. 'She seemed angry at you.' Mukuro had been expecting words to that effect, but they still stung. Kyoko watched her for a moment, then continued. 'I think she might still be somewhat suspicious of you.' Mukuro's heart sank down to her feet. Her hands balled up into fists, her nails digging into her palms as her breathing became rapid and shallow. 'Thinks that I might still be helping Junko?! He... I... after everything I've done to help... I still hurt him that badly?! What... what can I do to make things right? Is he -'

'Don't do anything. I'll talk to her.' Mukuro glanced up as Kyoko interrupted her spiralling thoughts. 'Huh? What do you mean?' The detective sighed. 'I'm confident that you're on our side - or at least Makoto's.' 'W-what?!' Mukuro's heart jumped back into her chest and started racing. 'Reading people is an important part of being a detective, and your body language isn't exactly subtle when you're around him, the detective continued calmly. 'What does she want?' Mukuro thought, her mind racing yet again. 'Is she trying to blackmail me? Is she going to take him for herself? Is she -' 'Don't worry, I won't tell him', the detective stated. 'I have no interest in your feelings for him beyond the fact that it means that you're on his side - and, by extension, mine.' 'I... th-thank you', Mukuro stuttered. Kyoko nodded, the subtlest hint of a smile on her face.

'But...' Mukuro's heart sank. 'I still haven't told you the truth about your father...'