Chapter 4

The smell of blood and rotting filled the room. Lunar and Lucy were the first to find Sayori's remains. Her dark brown eyes seemed paler than usual, and her mouth was slightly open. They just stared at the corpse and hoped that other people would walk in to find it. Hiro walked in after a minute or two. Lunar and Lucy looked at him. They looked like witnesses, there was a look of horror on their faces. He was planning to tell Sayori that breakfast was about to be made, but now he had to call everyone to Sayori's room. He did so and everyone came in, one by one. Tao stared at the corpse. He knew Sayori for most of his life and now she was... gone. Somebody killed one of his best friends.

"They're picking their victims wisely." Leon sighed, he put his hands on his hips and walked about. Tao looked at him, then back at the body.

"Did anybody check on Sayori?" Leon continued. Everyone looked at Harvey.

"Well... I went into her room and she seemed pretty mad. I told her to come out when she had calmed down. She didn't come out for the rest of the evening." He said. Leon sighed then placed his hands to his face. He felt really stressed, he should have expected a death to come sooner or later, but it was too soon for his liking. It was only the second day.

"We can expect a death each day at this rate." Zac said. Marley hugged him in fear. Silence filled the room as everybody stared at Sayori's remains. Most of them wondered what she did to deserve this.

"Are you feeling alright Tao?" Hiro asked. Tao looked at him with an expression that didn't say how he was feeling, but whatever he was feeling, it was bad.

"What do you think, Hiro? I've just seen one of my best friends dead and rotting! Is nobody mourning this death like I could be if I had a little bit less self-control? For all I know, the people who murdered her are in this room. Any room could have a gun within it or just any kind of proof that someone here is betraying us. I will not let Sayori die in vain, and I shall lay to that." Tao yelled. Everyone was silent. Tao didn't seem liked he cared for anyone or anything, yet he said all this about a friend. After a minute or two it seemed like Tao lost his self control and started to cry. This automatically set off everyone else in the room. Tao never cried, but when he did, this one time he did, it was almost heartbreaking.

Before anybody could try to comfort him, he went to his and Leon's room and slammed the door behind him. Leon went out into the living room and walked back and forth for a bit.

"I say Leon ought to search for evidence. He's one of the smartest here." Harvey said.

"Do we really need to go snooping in other people's rooms? It's not very polite, is it?" Hiro suggested.

"Searching people's rooms is a way to help gather more evidence rather than just listening other people speaking." Marley spoke up. Everyone agreed and started to do some activities to help with their grieving.

* * *

Why did this have to happen? Why didn't they choose anybody else? They could have picked Harvey or Hiro, but no. They had to choose Sayori. These thoughts were repeated over and over and Tao felt like they would be there forever. It wasn't fair.

"Hey." A low voice spoke. Tao knew the voice. It was the man he had to help the other day. He turned his head and saw Leon. He knew it wasn't the best time to, but he couldn't help but smile when he saw him. He didn't know why.

"Hi." Tao mouthed. Leon sauntered to where Tao was and sat next to him.

"I... I guess what I should say is... I'm sorry for your loss." Leon sighed. Tao laughed a bit. He could tell Leon wasn't great at being kind, but he appreciated his efforts;even though they didn't help much. Tao thanked Leon and Leon smiled as a reply.

"Who do you think did it?" Tao questioned. Leon looked taken aback by Tao's question. It was an understandable question, but why ask?

"Why do you want to know?" Leon asked.

"I want to kick them out as soon as I can. It'd be better for all of us, then." Tao said. Leon was surprised. Tao didn't seem vengeful, he didn't even seem like he would be.

"We can't be certain though. Besides, you can't put your life at risk like that. I won't allow you to do it again."

"You'd try to strangle me again, wouldn't you?" Tao chuckled a bit after he said that. Leon didn't take it all that well. He didn't panic like he did last time, but the guilt was there.

"Don't dwell on that too much. I still haven't fully recovered." Leon mumbled. Tao looked worried.

"Oh, uh... sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Silence fell between them.

"Did you love Sayori, Tao?" Leon asked after a minute or two. Tao looked at him with a confused look.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just," Leon started. "When this all started, when you entered the classroom, Sayori hugged you and you went completely red. Ever since then you started acting like a couple. It was a bit odd since you normally push girls away when they hug you and everything... It led me to believe you loved each other." Tao thought a bit before answering. He didn't know how to answer since he didn't think about it much. He told Leon after he thought about it for a while.

"Well, I wouldn't say I was in love." Leon stared at him with shock.

"It... it seemed so obvious though! The way you acted, the way you..." Leon stuttered. Tao couldn't help but laugh at what the other was saying. Leon crossed his arms. Tao gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him that he was sorry if he upset him. Leon said that it was alright.

"Anyway, the reason why I went red was because I'm not used to affection or simple things like that. It isn't to do with love or anything. I started to think about if I had feelings for her or not, but I just loved her as a friend. I don't think we'd have been a great couple, if I have to be honest." Tao explained. Leon nodded, but there was one more thing he didn't understand.

"You fainted though. I heard that it happens sometimes when you're in love and the other does something that makes you quite flustered." He said. Tao shook his head with a smile.

"That doesn't happen. People faint from heart problems, emotional distress, other specific causes. I fainted from shock. Like I said, I'm not used to things like hugging. It causes me to get shocked and to heat up in the face. Besides, blushing doesn't just mean attraction to someone. Maybe do some research before assuming things next time." He said. Leon smiled and nodded.

"You feeling better now?" He asked.

"Only slightly..." Tao said, gloomily. "To be honest, now would be the time for one of Sayori's hugs..." Leon rubbed the back of his neck and opened his mouth a couple of times before saying anything, then said.

"I know it wouldn't be the same, but I could hug you..." Tao looked at him in disbelief. Leon didn't seem like he would be a hug type of person. Tao thought his efforts were sweet though.

"Yeah, I feel like any hug would help." He said then hugged Leon. Leon hugged back and it lasted for a while.

"For someone who doesn't seem to hug much, you give good hugs." Tao said letting go.

"I could say the same for you." Leon chuckled. Tao smiled. Now he definitely felt better.

* * *

"What! No, it's not me! Why do you suspect me, of all people?" Lucy shouted. Hiro looked at her in disbelief.

"Who else would it be? It's obviously you and Lunar."

"Okay, I don't know what goes on in your head. Most people in this school has something that makes them wrong in the head. We may have that, but that doesn't mean we kill people. You make assumptions that can't be justified. What evidence do you have? Just dancing in the middle of a lock down? It could be a coping method for her. You don't have enough evidence!" Lunar shouted. Hiro looked like he wanted to give them sodium pentothal if he could get his hands on it.

"I don't agree with you Hiro." Marley said, a threatening tone in his voice. "Lunar wouldn't do such a thing. With what she's had to deal with, and I've dealt with things just as bad as hers. We care about each other, she knows the effect it would have on me if she killed people." Zac nodded in agreement.

"I don't know... I'm kinda leaning towards Hiro's thought. It kinda makes sense..." Harvey stuttered. Zac seemed agitated.

"For goodness sake. For all you know, they could be our chance of survival. What if it's you two, then? You're just taking the one piece of evidence you have and then say Oh, they must be the murderer! You're full of nonsense. The both of you!" He practically screamed. Hiro rolled his eyes and turned his back on the group. He mumbled something along the lines of Not my fault if you get killed.

"Right, that does it!" Zac growled. He would have pounced onto Hiro if Marley didn't hold onto his hand.

"Just leave it, Zac. He'll get over it by tomorrow." Marley told him. Zac wanted to protest, but he knew that Marley had given him the more sensible option. So left it at that.

"I guess you're right. Maybe we should all take a day to relax, then speak in the morning. Everyone agreed and went to do their own things.

* * *

A few hours had passed by and it was almost 9 o'clock at night. All Harvey needed to do was change into his pyjamas. He decided to head to the bathroom to change. He headed in there and was greeted by Lunar throwing a trainer at him.

"What are you doing in here? Haven't you heard of knocking?" She whispered while trying to yell. Harvey looked away, just in case.

"I'm not in an embarrassing state, you can look, but don't barge in like that again..." She sighed. Harvey looked to see her only without her shoes on. That explained where the trainer came from. Harvey apologised for what he did and Lunar just crossed her arms.

"Okay... what do you want?" She asked.

"I just came in here to change..." Harvey said. Lunar thought for a couple of seconds.

"You can do so first. I'm going to go listen to music for a bit." She said, then barged past him to her and Lucy's room. Harvey sighed with relief. He would live another day. He walked forward a bit then took his shoes off. Before he could take his socks off, something crashed into Harvey's arm and he fell to the floor holding his arm. The pain felt unbearable. It was like it was broken. He turned onto his back and looked up. There was a figure in a cloak that draped over their body, only their feet were visible. Their mask was black and white, and it didn't look like they could see out of it. They were carrying a huge hammer, that explained how his arm was in the state it was.

"Oh, hi there. You um... come here often?" Harvey stuttered, trying not to yell in pain. The person just stood over them. Harvey sat up and realised how if he were to stand up they would tower over them. They seemed to be tall, but most people are compared to Harvey.

"Even in your dying moments, you still seem... how do I say it? Oblivious?" The person said, the voice sounding like a robot's. Harvey's heart dropped. Maybe he wouldn't live another day. He wanted to call out, but there would be no point. He would be killed either way. Besides, the others would get hurt. He was lost for words anyway. He could only take sharp breaths because of the pain in his arm. He could only mumble.

"Who are you?"

"I'm someone you know, but you'll never know who." They replied. With one quick swing of their hammer, Harvey's head was smashed with the hammer, and he died.