Takura's POV:

In the short history of DICE, we've never been led by anyone who was tall. I mean, 5'1 was the tallest record and that's only because Chiasa and Kokichi were the same height.

Now we are being led by a 4'11 goth girl.

So I guess ironically I always look down to my leader.

Jokes aside...I never knew Mirai could act like this. When the tunnel plan failed and we were recaptured heavy new restrictions were put on us including us being handcuffed while we slept and this time instead of horrible matresses we had none whatsoever.

We also now had smaller rooms, and smaller groups. I guess they were scared we would gang up and use our numbers to escape. We probably should have done that.

Physical combat though has never been these shut ins strong suit though, we were trained by Kokichi to use our wits.

Now I kind of wish I took some of those street fighter moves into real life.

Our rooms were on different levels and were locked tight with one of those really good master locks, the kind that don't break even with a hammer or enough force.

Glad to know I'm worth a long term investment.

I probably shouldn't make jokes about this. But that's all I know how to do.

Mirai though...wow...even after we eventually figured out she got water tortured by the head goon, came out of that situation with some cold hard will.

She braided her hair for once something I've never seen her do, and started organizing us properly rather than the sporadic leadership we had been doing previously, she acted like an actual leader assigning us roles and tasks to do in secret along with code words for certain situations.

She even started acting sweet in front of the guards trying to get them on her side, which worked occasionally. They never would suspect her of much due to her childlike appearance.

Again why can't the leaders of DICE look their age? Kokichi could have passed off as a middle schooler for crying out loud!

But...seeing her like this is scary. I don't know why, by all means this is better than her usual attitude, even if she hasn't laid off the booze and smokes. The only thing that changed in those habits is she can't have actual bottles or cans anymore, instead they give it to her with styrofoam cups.

I guess that could've been another way we could have escaped.

Are we idiots or just pacifists who don't like hurting people? I can't tell. Maybe its both.

Maybe we never had the guts to try.

"Hey good looking, what's shaking?" Genkei asked as he slumped down next to me. I shrugged "just thinking..." I mumbled as I stared as the door got locked.

"What do you think of Mirai right now...?" I mumbled, "that's she's finally megaevolved to Mega Bitch, oh the horrors" Genkei shuddered.

"Be serious...I'm worried about her...she's never acted like this before..." I scolded him.

"I don't know...really I don't. Honestly I'm kind of surprised I wasn't the one to take the initiative and instead it being little Miri, kind of disappointed in most of us" Genkei said with a shrug.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, "Miri is the youngest, next only to you. So Eiji, Tsuki, Nao and me have been slacking, we're supposed to be the ones looking out for you two and not the other way around." Genkei said with a hint of resentment.

"I'm sorry you weren't doing your job" I muttered voicing my annoyance, "damn that came out wrong huh?" He asked.

"What do you think?" I asked dryly laughing, "Mirai is just young...that's all. Honestly probably the most action focused leader DICE has ever had" Genkei lamented.

"Really? I thought the phantom thiefs were pretty action based" I countered. Genkei continued to shake his head.

"Nah, Kokichi is a strategist. He will plan out thousands of plans and intricate details before he goes all out, his back up plans have back up plans and those also have, wait for it, back up plans. He's a genius that's why, Miri though? She isn't Kokichi. She doesn't make plans, she goes on whatever her guts telling her and goes all in with no regrets" he told me.

...

"That...sounds surprisingly smart..." I mumbled shocked, "what do you mean surprisingly?!" Genkei gasped comically.

I laughed.

I laughed so hard I didn't realize what I was breathing in.

I didn't notice even when I fell down and hit my head against the cement as he tried to reach for me.