Blades of Despair

-Chapter Fifty-Six-

Burn the Pages

Mina held tightly onto my hand as we ascended inside the elevator to the floor beneath the trial chamber. She was furious; angrier than I had ever seen her. Perhaps she felt that the world had wronged her by letting Yoneda survive the events in the laboratory and not Iowa. I also felt that there was an injustice in Yoneda's continuous ability to avoid death, or at least being maimed to the point that some sense was knocked into him. I was tired of his hateful charades.

"Why are we even investigating, Morihei?" Mina asked with a deep sigh.

"I agree with you," I told her, "we already know who is culpable. However, I suppose there's no harm in proving their guilt unanimously."

"I guess you're right, but why are we checking the arts room? It's not like you or Ori could have killed Iowa from a different floor."

"If we've been asked to do it, we might as well," I replied, "as I said, if we can prove our innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt, then that makes the identity of the culprit definitive."

"You're right, Morihei," Mina admitted glumly, "I'm just sick of all this. And Iowa... she didn't deserve to die..."

"Nobody deserves to die, Mina", I cautioned.

"No, he deserves to," Mina said, meaning Yoneda. I hummed. Part of me would have been happier if Yoneda had died in place of Iowa, but that didn't mean I was happy that a murder had happened at all.

"Yoneda is..."

"A fucking cockroach," Mina muttered. "Every time that bastard should have died, he just survives. It's almost like he borrowed Ori's talent, just so he could survive and torment us."

"He seemed pretty weak when we found him in the laboratory," I noted, "like there was something that was hurting him. I wonder if..."

"He was probably pretending," Mina scoffed, "he's mad enough to inflict pain on himself to avoid suspicion."

"I'm not convinced," I admitted. "Yoneda may be insane, but he's smart. I'm surprised he would create a crime scene that only he could access." Mina was silent, and I knew she was considering the truthfulness behind my concerns. Yoneda was the Ultimate Polyglot and therefore one of the most erudite among us, aside maybe Edward, Miyagawa and Morino. While I was aware that only he could commit the crime that killed Iowa based solely on the fact that he was the only student with the opportunity to do it, something was not falling into place. I hoped that our joint investigation would ascertain what that was.

Shortly after our discussion, we arrived at the arts room. We walked inside with little hope of finding any evidence that would help us solve the case, but I told Mina that we still had to look hard. Just in case. I was now at odds with this academy of the school; being locked inside it for so long with no food or water had caused me to develop a personal disdain for the room. I closed my eyes I sighed. I'm just glad everyone else is okay.

"Morihei, are these your drawings?" I opened my eyes and saw Mina pointing at a small pile of papers that had been stacked in the far corner of the room.

"Ah, yes!" I exclaimed. "Ori and I did some artwork to pass the time before we died." Mina started fishing through the papers and laughed uncontrollably. "What? What's so funny?"

"These pictures." Mina wheezed, "are awful!"

"They are not!"

"They are too! What's this one supposed to be? A three-legged cat with an eyepatch?"