Blades of Despair

-Chapter Twenty-Six-

Vermilion Seas

I barely slept a wink. It seemed like every passing moment in this academy was a harbinger of innumerable, turbulent thought, and those thoughts stopped me from falling victim to my fatigue. I was so very tired, but I was scared. I was scared that if I dared close my eyes, they may never open again. Now that we knew that there was a traitor in our midst, my anxieties had skyrocketed. One of you is a traitor. One of you lied during the last class trial. The truth was, I knew someone had lied during the last class trial; Miyagawa had lied to protect me from suspicion. Could he be the traitor? But why would protecting me betray the group? Then there was the other student who I know had lied at least once during the trials. Morino had hidden the fact that he had found Sanda's video camera that had recorded her murder, a fact which also made him a likely candidate to be the one working against the group. However, I just couldn't understand why anyone would want to support a group bent on killing innocent teenagers, and destroying completely those that survived.

Turning onto my side, I reached over to my bedside table and turned on my Seiko-pad to check the time. Six in the morning. I groaned at how early it was and turned over again, but after another hour of restlessness I decided to give up and head to the cafeteria. I sleepily made my way over to the kitchen and poured myself a deep mug of coffee and waited for the inevitable arrival of Iowa. I did not have to wait long.

"No sleep?" I heard her calm voice come from the entrance to the cafeteria. I lazily peered over the top of my coffee mug to look at her. Like me, dark circles were evident underneath Iowa's eyes.

"Yeah," I mumbled groggily, "no sleep." Iowa quietly walked past me and into the kitchen. I think she asked me if I wanted anything to eat, but I didn't pay attention. The thoughts that had been keeping me awake had now returned and were making my anxious nervous grip on the mug tighten. I barely noticed the pain the heat was inflicting on me.

"Ori, why are you gripping that cup so harshly? It might shatter." I hadn't realised I had closed my eyes tightly shut, but when I opened them I saw Iowa's concerned face. She was holding a plate stacked with a few buttered croissants in front of me.

"Sorry. I'm just feeling uneasy after yesterday."

"Don't apologise," she said with a sad smile. She then placed the food on the table in front of me. "Here, you need your energy. Coffee isn't a meal." I waited until she had returned to the kitchen before taking a bite. I didn't want her to see how ravenous I was; I scoffed the first croissant in seconds, and the second and third soon disappeared after it. I licked my lips in satisfaction and put both my hands around the mug of coffee again. This time, the heat felt comforting. Iowa then came back into the cafeteria and sat in the chair directly opposite to me.

"I don't think I have ever thanked you for making meals for everyone, Iowa," I said, breaking the uncertain silence. The Ultimate Chocolatier shrugged.

"There's no need for thanks, it was something I offered to do for everyone," she replied. "Mina wanted to help this morning, so Ouji and I agreed to show her how to cook yesterday afternoon."

"So, are they coming here?" I asked, but Iowa shook her head.

"Ouji isn't feeling very well. She has a really bad headache, and I think Mina has slept in because I still haven't had a response to my messages. In any case it's no concern whether they come or not, cooking has become easier since..." She didn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she was going to say. Now that four of us were gone, we had less people to worry about. But the worries, the doubt and fear grew inversely to the number of living students. We were all terrified, and we knew we were. No matter how many benevolent gestures, group activities and laughs we had, the bears were always there to remind us that they wanted us dead. My reverie was abruptly broken by an apologetic shout.