That Wasn't Supposed To Happen

Let's Teamwork!

When Chihiro entered the dining hall, with Byakuya just in front of him, he immediately noticed that they were the last ones to arrive. The rest was already sitting at the table in the middle.

As soon as they were noticed, a thickening silence fell over the room and Chihiro knew it wasn't because of, though it didn't look like Byakuya particularly cared.

The heir took a seat at one of the smaller tables, one that just so happened to be the farthest away from Sakura. After a moment of hesitation, Chihiro followed Byakuya who for once didn't seem entirely displeased by that.

Kyoko was the first one to break the silence. "Now that's everyone is here, we can discuss our findings," She said calmly, her voice a stark contrast to the tension in the room.

"Right! Sakura and I checked all the windows on the fifth floor, front to back, but they were covered with metal plates... just like the widows on the other floors," Hina explained, pouting slightly.

"Which means no chance of escape on the 5th floor, either..." Kyoko said, closing her eyes for a second.

"But when we were looking around, we did notice something about the layout!" Hina continued, enthusiasm clear in her voice.

"W-what exactly did you notice about the layout of the school?" Chihiro asked, not quite sure what the girl was talking about.

Suddenly, Kyoko turned to him. "You took a good look around the fifth floor yourself, right Chihiro?" She asked.

"H-huh? W-why do you ask?" Chihiro stammered, not knowing why Kyoko was asking him of all people.

"Because if you did, you must have noticed it. The fifth floor is lacking something every other floor has," The lavender-haired girl explained, her gaze focused on Chihiro.

Something all the other floors have...

Chihiro hadn't paid much attention to it while exploring, but thinking back, there was something that was missing from the fifth floor.

"A-are you talking about...stairs? There aren't any stairs leading up from the 5th floor. That's what you're talking about, r-right?" Chihiro asked tentatively, a hint of nervousness slipping into his voice.

"Yes, it looks like the fifth floor is the last one," Kyoko responded, nodding her head slightly.

They continued talking about the rooms on the fifth floor for a while. At one point Chihiro mentioned the pickaxe he had found in the garden, but none of them had any idea how it could have ended up there.

Slowly, the tension in the room became less thick and the suspicion between certain people seemed to fade. However, when Kyoko spoke up once again, all that progress disappeared.

"My concern is with the bio lab. That was the only place on the 5th floor that we couldn't access," Kyoko said, a thoughtful look on her face.

"The bio lab, huh? I wonder what's in there..." Hina murmured, tilting her head slightly.

"Whatever it is, we don't need to worry about it at the moment. Don't bother thinking about something that can't be understood no matter how much you think about it," Byakuya said, speaking up for the first time.

Is he... trying to be nice?

"Your miniscule brains can only do so much, so focus on utilizing them efficiently," The blonde continued, a small smirk forming on his face, completely disproving Chihiro's hopeful thought.

"Care to repeat that, Byakuya?" Taka asked, his voice uncharacteristically icy. The raven-haired boy was once again glaring at the heir, a frown on his face.