My Lie, Your Ring, This Rose| Kamukoma

🥀 Chapter 31 🥀

Dim or light? Dim. A petite notebook laid on the student's desk. The notebook was a dim grey, nothing interesting about it. It was probably the student's notebook, for taking notes or doing doodles when they got bored. The windows in the classroom were open so that air ventilation could proceed. The fresh air slipped quietly in the room, circling the desks and the chairs. It whirled around the front of the chalkboard, where smudges of unwashed chalk marks settled. The wind then proceeded to wrap itself around the notebook. It flipped the book a couple of pages. The first section introduced a beautifully neat and organised workbook. The writing was fine and delicate, with hints of swirls at the front. The topic sections were highlighted with pastel blue and green, indicating where the first bit of writing started and where a new topic formed. The wind skimmed over the pages and went to the centre of the notebook. It was in the middle where doodles of insignificant objects came into form. The writing was a little pale as the ink was starting to run out. This could be due to the constant scribbles in the corner of each page. The wind skipped to the end of the book, already feeling bored. A few pages were blank until the very end of the book had something that looked like a letter. Not a letter to someone but to themselves. A diary entry. It was short but it still had a deep sense of misery, which was odd for such an organised notebook. The entry was scruffily written, like the person didn't have enough time to finish it. The wind took interest in this and examined the entry. The diary spoke about being invisible to someone. The person talked as if they were a ghost and that they were speaking their empty thoughts out loud, yet no one was hearing them. They were waving neon blue flags in front of other people's faces, yet no one was listening. It was too hard to detect if this was with friends, family or something else, but it was unsettling. The date was a while back,though, on the notebook, so the wind had to just hope that the person had gotten new friends or brought the topic up with others. Light. There was another page though. The wind flipped through it, interested to see it. There was another piece of piece of paper. One where the person again talked about their emotions. Although instead of a sense of dim misery, there was light. It was the person expressing their emotions for meeting new acquaintances and getting along with them much more. So the whole thing was about friends. I tapped my finger on the dining plate. The plate was so thin, yet it could hold so much food. I hummed and looked around. Judging from the worry in everyone's eyes, they seem concerned about this. I still refer to my peers as everyone though. I have made one friend out of all of them and that was Kiibo. I can't call the rest of them my friends yet. I don't know them at all, I don't know their thoughts or feelings in anything. However, Izuru seems to know everything about everyone, yet he doesn't call them his friends.
"The Sonorous and Peculiar Melody will be about the shocking disappearance of the Kamukura family jewels and gemstones. We have hidden the jewels in a specific room in the palace. There will be clues around the palace to indicate where they are," Kirumi explained softly, while staring at Sayaka. I wonder why she's staring at her so much. It was a stare where you were angry at a person more than examining them. I sighed, I might ask her later.
Kyoko got up and bowed as she dismissed herself. Since this was her competition, she did not need to participate in it.
"Could we perhaps have more information on the gemstones?" Rantaro asked, while pouring some water for himself. The ice clinked as it hit the cup. I frowned, the case of missing jewels and gemstones. That may be challenging. I directed my eyes to Kirumi. If she was staring at Sayaka, could it be that Sayaka might win?
"There are four gemstones in total, all in black cases. One tanzanite, one jelly opal, one blue lace agate and one fluorite. We did not use any of the red or black gemstones as we feared that they might get damaged in the process," Kirumi continued. She blinked away from Sayaka and gave us her signature smile.
"You may begin. Please exit to see the first clue," Kirumi bowed as chairs scraped the floor. Demons from all over the table got up, leaving their plate either half finished or empty. I looked at Kirumi and smiled at her. Everyone rushed out of the room while I took my time to get out of my chair.
"Do be careful of Sayaka," Kirumi sighed. I raised an eyebrow as my chair shifted backwards. I bit my lip. I walked around and pushed my chair back into its original position.
"Why?" I tilted my head in confusion. Kirumi sighed and clutched her head as if a headache was starting to form. She pursed her lips together and looked at the floor.
"Her thoughts are practically on fire and you never mess with fire unless you have water," Kirumi muttered. She shook her head, as if it would clear her mind. "Never mind now. You may continue with the competition."
I nodded and quietly walked towards the dining room door. My footsteps were quiet and the more the door came to view, the more worried I became. I didn't want to be the target of despair for anyone. I may not be able to entrance people with my explanation of how hopeful we should be, due to my wristband, I don't want to be involved in any mess. Any mess involving with despair that is. In this competition, despair may be inevitable, but I don't want to feel it. I want to see it and I want to see hope overcome it with a winner because that's just who I am.