Chapter 3: As Luck Would Have it

The sight of Nagito, of all people, moving under the cover of darkness, threw Byakuya off guard. He had completely disregarded the Lucky Student as a threat due to his likeness to Makoto. That had been a mistake, apparently. He was only stumped for a second, then he raced across the room in order to thwart the other boy's plans. He arrived at the long end of the table, throwing back the tablecloth just as Nagito disappeared beneath it from the side.

The knife, stuck to the underside of the wood with glowing duct tape, was immediately noticeable. His first instinct was to push Nagito away and make a grab for it before he could take it, but something else caught his attention. A small movement from beneath. With a frown on his face he spared a glance downwards and what he saw through the cracks in the floorboards made him freeze. Teruteru was standing there, holding a white sheet over his head. There was a long skewer in his hands. His eyes were fixed on the general direction of the knife, brows furrowed in concentration.

Just what in the world was going on here? Wasn't one person planning a murder enough? He pieced the information together immediately. Teruteru wouldn't be able to see anything but the glowing paint in the dark and he was holding a weapon. It was obvious that he was just lying in wait to kill whoever was going to take the knife. That meant Byakuya couldn't crawl any further to reach for it, lest he bring himself in danger. He might have sworn to keep the other students alive, but that didn't mean he would be risking his own life for that end.

The second of hesitation was enough for Nagito to stretch his hand out to the knife. "Don't!" Byakuya shouted, not knowing exactly who he was directing the command to. It didn't matter anyway. Neither of them listened to him. Teruteru readied his skewer the second Nagito ripped off the knife.

Byakuya only had a moment to react. Immediately, he made a grab for Nagito's left arm, yanking him hard towards himself. It was a risk, bringing an armed person closer, but if he didn't act, Nagito would be dead within a minute. A startled noise came from the boy when his arm stopped supporting his body weight and he was hauled to the side just as Teruteru stabbed upwards. A cry of pain indicated that he hit his intended target.

However, Byakuya couldn't see what was happening under the table anymore. The edge of the tablecloth had fallen down again in the scuffle, hiding Nagito's lower body from view. Byakuya himself toppled backwards, hitting something that turned out to be a person. Whoever it was cried out in surprise as he was knocked over.

Chaos broke out; people were shouting and stumbling about in a rising panic. "Nobody moves!" Byakuya's voice boomed authoritatively over the din of noises. "And Teruteru, stop this instant, if you don't want to get executed!" He was counting on the possibility that he would be too alarmed at being found out to do anything else. At the very least it might buy him some time to get Nagito out of his range.

"Wha-wha-wha—!" The cook's voice could be heard through the floorboards as the shuffling in the dining hall slowly died down. "N-n-no, that's not—! I didn't mean—! I didn't want to! H-he was the one—!"

Byakuya ignored his panicked stuttering in favor of sitting up, quickly taking in the aftermath of the attack. Nagito, though his face was scrunched up in pain, was alive, but not necessarily out of any immediate danger. He couldn't tell where Teruteru had gotten him or if the wound would be fatal. He didn't waste any time and dragged the injured boy all the way out from under the table, so he would at least lie on the portion of the floor where the carpet covered the gaps in between the boards. Just in case.

Everything seemed to pause for a second and the resulting silence was only accentuated by the sounds of nervous breathing across the room. Then something clattered to Byakuya's left and a female voice screamed. "I said, nobody move!" he repeated with more emphasis, already anticipating the worst as he turned his head to see what was going on now. Was there a third attacker? More voices rang out again.

"Eeek! I-I-I'm so sorry! Please forgive meeee!"

"Seriously, what's going on?"

"Hey, did someone… y'know…?"

"Can't someone just make some damn light already?!"

Byakuya could only stare at Mikan while he was silently wondering how on earth she had managed to fall and land in a compromising position like that. And her attempts at getting up only made things worse. She was currently in the process of tying herself up with a string of sausages.

"Stay calm, everyone! Everything is under control. Just stay put until the situation is fully resolved!" Byakuya tried once more to create some semblance of order.

There was shuffling behind him, then the person he had knocked over asked, "What the…? Is that a knife?"

Byakuya looked around himself immediately and spotted the weapon, still glowing from the paint on the hilt, a little to his side. It must have landed there in the scuffle. At that moment, Nagito lunged at it.

Before he could really process what was happening, Byakuya instinctively threw himself at Nagito, using his massive weight to his advantage to subdue him and hold him down. The other boy didn't give up, though. Lying on his back, he blindly stabbed upward with the knife now firmly in his grasp. He missed Byakuya's face by a few inches.

Despite his scrawny appearance, Nagito possessed quite a bit of strength, Byakuya found out as they wrestled for the knife. Even operating without his eyes, he managed to fend Byakuya off quite efficiently. With his free arm, he tried to pry off the fingers Byakuya had wrapped around his other hand holding the knife, struggling all the while so Byakuya had to use his left arm to keep holding him down.

"What do you think you are doing?" Byakuya snapped at him, his voice tinged with frustration. "Let go!"

Nagito's brows furrowed in response. Twisting slightly, he succeeded in freeing one of his legs enough to bend it in front of himself and kneed Byakuya in the stomach.

He wheezed from the sudden blow, his grip slackening, which gave Nagito the opportunity to rip his hand from his grasp. Byakuya hissed in pain when the sharp edge of the knife cut deeply into his lower arm. Reflexively, he flinched back. Nagito used the momentum to push him off further. Struggling to sit up, he raised the knife above his head, ready to strike again.

Byakuya had nothing to defend himself with. He barely had enough time to bring up his arms in front of himself for protection, hoping that Nagito's aim would be off due to the darkness.

But the impact never came. Instead, two arms wrapped themselves around Nagito's arm from behind, holding it in place. Surprise crossed the face of the Ultimate Lucky Student. "No!" He exclaimed, trying to yank his arm from the grip. "I can still—" But Byakuya had already pounced on him and with the help of Hajime incapacitating Nagito's arm, he could finally disarm the boy.

Nagito was wriggling beneath him in an attempt to get away, but Byakuya grabbed his other free arm as well and directed it to Hajime. "Here, hold him down," he commanded, and after a moment of confused fumbling, Hajime had secured both of Nagito's arms. With Byakuya sitting on his legs, he was completely immobilized.

Byakuya quickly slipped out of his dress jacket and wrapped the knife in it, so its glow wouldn't attract any more wannabe murderers like a light bulb would lure in moths. Leaning backwards, he slipped the bundle of cloth underneath the same table Nagito had taken it from in the first place, just for good measure. As soon as the knife was out of his sight, Nagito stopped fighting against them. In fact, he seemed to deflate as he laid unmoving on his back, staring into the dark with blind eyes.

Quickly, Byakuya glanced around to make sure he hadn't missed anything else that was going on while he had been distracted. The noise had obviously left the rest of the students in distress. They were restless, shouting confused questions or moving carefully in the dark with their hands outstretched in front of them. Only Mikan was lying on the floor, not moving anymore. She had apparently given up on getting out of her precarious situation, whimpering quietly to herself.

The door was open. He quickly checked each of them in turn and realized that Kazuichi and Sonia were missing from the room. He faintly remembered the mechanic telling them that he would try to do something about the power outage shortly after the lights had went out. But it was still dark and he hadn't returned. Could Sonia have gone after him to make use of the distraction?

While he couldn't rule out the possibility, he recalled the fact that he had seen the circuit breaker very high up on the wall in the office. It was very unlikely that anyone would have been able to reach it to fix the power, even if it wasn't pitch black. So, it wasn't surprising that Kazuichi hadn't been able to help. That still didn't answer the question where Sonia had disappeared to.

"Everyone be quiet!" Byakuya raised his voice again. He could see the students stop and glance in his direction, but their faces were still full of distress. "There has been an issue, but it has been resolved. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just remain calm for the time being. That's your leader's order! I need you to stop panicking and do as I say. Did I make myself clear?"

There was a certain amount of hesitation mixed into their reactions, but in the end, they were all nodding or making some sound of agreement.

"Byakuya?" Hajime asked quietly next to him. "Do you know what's going on? I just saw the glow and—"

"Yes," he interrupted him curtly. "I could see it all. Good thinking on your part. More importantly—"

He didn't get to finish, because at that moment, the lights came back on. It was accompanied by surprised noises coming from the students. Byakuya quickly took off his night-vision goggles and squinted at the sudden brightness.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?!" the boisterous voice of Nekomaru reverberated through the room, making him glance up.

The coach, who was standing closest to them, was staring in shock at the scene of Byakuya and Hajime physically restraining Nagito on the floor. That drew the attention of the others and they shuffled closer, loudly expressing their feelings about this. How annoying.

"Byakuya, your arm!" Hajime sounded worried.

Byakuya quickly glanced down at himself, only now noticing the torn and bloody sleeve over the deep gash in his right arm. "That is not important right now," he dismissed the issue. He quickly moved on to check the student beneath him. Nagito was looking at him evenly, showing no emotion, but that wasn't what worried him. His green jacket was tinted red with blood on the right side of his body. An abdominal wound?

He cursed under his breath, then looked up again to give out instructions. "Mahiru, help Mikan up, so she can treat Nagito." When the girl just stared at him, he snapped, "Hurry up, he is injured!" That spurred the photographer into action and she quickly made her way around the table, not even questioning the state she found Mikan in.

"How did he get injured in the first place?" Hiyoko demanded to know. "Didn't you confiscate all the dangerous items? Don't tell me he tripped on thin air like that pig shit over there."

Mikan wailed loudly, apologizing for existing or something like that. Frankly, Byakuya didn't care about anything that didn't have to do with the issues at hand. There were more pressing things to focus on right now. He briefly considered not telling them what happened, but if he was going to order them to leave the room, he needed them to be on guard.

"The details are not important right now, but he got attacked by Teruteru," he said. There, that had to suffice. Byakuya ignored the gasps and turned to Nekomaru. "I need you to stay here with Hajime and keep Nagito restrained without hindering Mikan. Make sure he doesn't get an opportunity to attack anyone. He is not as harmless as he looks. Do you understand?"

"A-ah, yes," Nekomaru answered quickly. Hajime nodded with a frown on his face.

"Does any one of you know how to get beneath the floorboards?" he now asked loudly. Nobody answered, some were shaking their heads. Great. "Listen, I've got some tasks for all of you, so you better pay attention. If anyone comes across Teruteru, restrain him, or if you can't do that, notify anyone else immediately."

"Notify, how?" Ibuki asked with her hand raised up in the air.

"I don't care. Yell for help or something." He waited for the girl to nod, before he continued. "Alright, then. Ibuki, you go and look for Sonia. Hiyoko, you go to the office and see if Peko and Kazuichi are there."

"Gotcha!" Ibuki complied easily and rushed out of the room. Hiyoko lingered for a moment longer and almost looked like she was going to disobey, but then she quickly followed her.

Now, Byakuya got up from the ground, wary that Nagito might try to break free from Hajime's grip again, but he didn't. He seemed to have silently accepted defeat. Nekomaru was taking his place now in holding down his legs.

In the meantime, Mahiru had finished disentangling Mikan and the nurse rushed over to them. For a moment, she looked panicked at the sight of her bleeding classmate, then her demeanor changed and it was replaced by calm professionalism. Satisfied that Nagito was in competent hands, Byakuya stepped away to allow her access.

A second later, he was already striding across the room, picking up his pepper spray and the key for the second duralumin case containing the weapons in the process. He wasn't going to just leave it unattended. Then he nodded to Mahiru. "Go outside and inform Chiaki about what has happened. Akane, Gundham, you are coming with me. We are looking for Teruteru. Don't hesitate to stop him if he tries to escape."

"Can't we finish eating fir—"

"Now!" he bellowed impatiently. With a look of regret, Akane stuffed the entire meat pastry she was still holding into her mouth and followed him, chewing quickly.

The hallway was different. The fire door in the corridor leading to the kitchen and storage room was half-closed. Byakuya gestured to his two companions and hurried over to the kitchen. As he had already suspected, it was empty.

They didn't wait around and continued over to the storage room, finding the door slightly ajar. Byakuya pushed it open carefully, but the room was deserted as well. However, his eyes immediately focused on the previously hidden trap door on the floor. It was wide open, with a set of stairs leading beneath the building.

"Wait here," he instructed Gundham and Akane and climbed down. The faint light of the moon dimly filtered through the wooden bars that blocked the way outside all around the building. Teruteru couldn't have escaped from here. He had to have gone back through the storage room.

Something glinting on the ground made him go a little further. It was an iron skewer, red with blood. It had a handle in the shape of a bone. Of course. The giant meat on the bone. So, he really did end up overlooking something. How unlike him. Though, he had to admit it was a clever hiding place.

When he looked up, he could see a glowing mark from the same paint that was on the duct tape and the knife handle on one of the floorboards above him. So that was how Teruteru had known where he had to be. That didn't explain where he had run off to, though. He quickly picked up the skewer and returned to the storage room.

Akane just ogled him, but Gundham took a step back at the sight of the weapon, raising his hands as if preparing himself for a fight. "The juice of life that is still coating the blade and the dark ominous aura that clings to it—! There is no doubt… This is the cursed Sword of Bone Teruteru wielded this night, isn't it?"

"It's just an iron skewer," Byakuya corrected him impatiently. "And yes, that is the case." He looked around himself, spotting a laundry basket containing a bloodied tablecloth that had been thrown into it. So that was what the white sheet had been. He went over to the basket, pushing the soiled cloth aside and shoved the skewer in as deep as he could so it would be difficult to find or access.

"How nefarious," Gundham grumbled. "Was he perhaps possessed by a demon of the Nether Realm?"

When he was satisfied with the hiding place, Byakuya straightened back up. However, as he did so, he felt the blood rush from his head and black spots danced across his vision for a moment.

"Hey, easy now!" He faintly heard Akane's voice and his sight cleared again to see her holding him upright with a firm grip on his shoulders. "You shouldn't be walking around like this, dripping blood everywhere. You'll just get woozy like right now."

After making sure that he could stand on his own, she turned around and, without hesitation, made a grab for Gundham's scarf. The breeder took a startled step back, gripping at the piece of clothing she was now pulling at, but his retreat was stopped by the doorframe behind him "What do you think you are doing, you fiend?!" He exclaimed immediately, his voice sounded more alarmed than angry.

"Calm down, I just need your scarf." She practically ripped it out of his hands when she was done unwrapping it from his neck. Once she had forcibly taken possession of it, she immediately turned around again and used it to bind off Byakuya's right arm so tightly that it almost felt like it cut directly into his flesh. Gundham was left muttering something under his breath as she did so, but the athlete ignored him.

"There, all done," she announced, satisfied with the result.

Byakuya mentally agreed, this would suffice to dim the blood loss. He probably should have done that sooner, he conceded, but the urgency of the situation had led him to ignore his own injury for the time being.

With a nod and a quick "Good work," he left the storage room, hearing the other two trailing behind. When they turned the corner, they were greeted by the sight of most of their classmates assembled in the hallway in front of the dining room.

"There you are!" Mahiru exclaimed reproachfully, with her hands on her hips. "Where have you disappeared to? We were looking for you!"

"We were looking for Teruteru," Byakuya replied with just a hint of annoyance seeping into his voice. Apart from the four people who had been left in the dining room, it seemed most of them had turned up again. He spotted Sonia and Kazuichi in the crowd; both of them looked unharmed. Even Chiaki was with them. The only ones still missing were Teruteru and—

"Where is Peko?" he asked immediately.

"We don't know! She wasn't in the office," Ibuki piped up cheerfully as if that wasn't something to worry about. "But we do have a lead on Teruteru!"

"And where is he?"

"Ah, actually," Chiaki spoke up quietly, "we don't know that either. But I did see him leave the building."

With that, she had his full attention. "He left?" His eyes narrowed. "When?"

"I don't know exactly," she replied with a finger on her cheek. "It was a while ago. He seemed to be in a hurry and didn't even answer when I asked him why he was leaving already."

"Where did he go?"

"He went in the direction of the cottages."

He thought for a second about the best course of action from here, before saying, "Very well, form two groups and look for him outside. If you find him, bring him back here. No solo missions. If you need to split from the group, at least go in pairs. Sonia, you are coming with me."

"Understood," she said, looking completely serious.

He waited until they were done discussing their plan on where to look first and they marched down the hallway. Then he turned to go back into the dining hall with Sonia, both to check up on Nagito and to have Mikan take a look at his arm.