Hunger
No one in the room said anything. Maybe everyone was just so used to people dying every half an hour that no one was surprised anymore.
Sayaka began to tear up and covered her eyes. Serena rubbed the girl's back and frowned.
Reira stirred slightly, but didn't wake up, instead rolling over to rest his head on Serena's thigh with a quiet moment of: "Nii-Sama."
"What? How?" Shun asked, his throat having gone dry. First Ruri, now Yuto. This couldn't be happening to them – not after all they'd gone through to get to this point. "Weren't the three of you together?"
"Yeah, but Yuto stepped on the vase that fell over!" Yuya explained through gasps and gulps "And we heard something and then…I don't know! It was too dark! I don't know what happened!"
He pressed his palms over his eyes in frustration.
"Does that mean that there is someone else in the house?" Sawatari questioned, looking alarmed at the idea.
"This room and the next one share a bathroom – maybe someone snuck out that way and we just didn't notice? I mean, we were all so worried we weren't really paying attention, and someone could've snuck back in when Yuya and Yuya burst through the door" Rin pointed out, looking at the bathroom than Gongenzaka's room shared with Shun's.
"I'm about to lose my mind" Allen shook his head "We should've listened to Kaito and not come."
"We need to get the hell out of here!" Dennis yelped, jumping off the bed as though it was poisoned.
"Not in this weather" Rin glanced out the window at the raging blizzard outside.
"Have we figured out why we haven't been able to get hold of the police yet?" Yuzu asked.
Sawatari frowned. "I've tried more than ten times. No one is answering. I can try again, but it's probably futile."
"Wait" Yuri put his hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner "Is it just that the blizzard has cut the power lines or that the phone rings and no one answers it?"
Sawatari's eyes widened. "The phone continues to ring…"
Everyone glanced at one another in confusion and shock. Something was off. Very off.
"That would mean that no one is there!" Sayaka squeaked.
"But someone's always at the police station" Yuzu pointed out "They can't just not have someone there."
"This is wrong" Shun frowned "That must mean that something happened at the police station."
"Well, I'm pretty sure this blizzard would prevent them from even being able to help us out" Rin added.
"This is really bad!" Yuya began to tremble "We can't just stay here! These killers are picking us off one by one!"
"We're all tired, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting pretty hungry" Dennis admitted, holding his stomach.
"Dennis, is now really the time?" Yuri groaned.
"I'm kinda hungry, too" Sawatari agreed with Dennis "It's been several hours since we've eaten anything."
"We don't need to worry about that!" Allen grinned, patting Sayaka's shoulder "We have an expert chef right here!"
Sayaka went red with embarrassment, but Allen gave her a grin of confidence.
"Is that a good idea, though?" Yuri asked, folding his arms "To have her cook for us? What if Sayaka is one of the killers? She could easily poison our food."
"We'll just have to have a few of us watch her very closely" Shun decided "I don't want to have to feel like I can't trust Sayaka, but if it's what we have to do…"
Sayaka shook her head. "No, that's fine. I understand. Let's bring some pillows and blankets and make our way to the kitchen. We might as well get comfortable; we might be in there awhile."
At Sayaka's suggestion, everyone lined up and held hands with one another, to prevent another Yuto accident from occurring. Sawatari led the group with the flashlight, and they all made it safely to the kitchen.
"Wait!" Rin shouted after they locked all the doors to the kitchen "We're in the kitchen. We should check for knifes and any other silverware that could harm us."
"The knifes are on top of the refrigerator" Sawatari explained, shining the flashlight on the fridge.
Shun, the tallest man in the room, reached for the wooden box the knives were kept in, but his eyes widen with surprise when he noticed none of them were in there.
"What?" he checked the box again. "How many knives were in here?"
"I don't know" Sawatari shook his head "Maybe about ten?"
"I'm guessing the killer took them ahead of time and has been using them to kill our friends" Yuya suggested.
"Yeah, but if that was the case, wouldn't the rest still be on the killer's body?" Allen suggested "Do we need to do some kinda strip search?"
"I'm pretty sure the girls would have a hard time hiding a bunch of knives in their dresses" Yuri glanced at Sayaka, Serena, Yuzu and Rin. The latter three all glared at the look he was giving them.
"I mean, if we absolutely had to, I'm sure we could show you that we don't have any on us…" Sayaka blushed "But I hope we don't have to resort to that…"
The boys nervously glanced at one another. No one wanted to be the pervert in this situation. Even Yuri looked a little uncomfortable.
"Maybe that won't be necessary…" Shun shifted awkwardly.
"Well, most of the boys have already taken off their coats" Rin pointed out "Honestly, I'm pretty positive that it would difficult to hide so many knives on your own body."
"Besides, we're all right here" Yuzu added "If anyone were to up and stab one of us, the rest of us would obviously figure out who the killer is."
"True" Shun agreed.
"I'm hungry" Reira finally spoke up.
"Me too, little man, let's get something to eat" Dennis agreed, ruffling Reira's hair with a grin.
"Why don't we go ahead and start cooking?" Sayaka began to tie her long flapping sleeves so they wouldn't get in the way "Anyone want to help out?"
"I will" Yuzu raised her hand.
"I can help, too" Dennis stretched out his arms.
"We're all dead" Yuri joked, receiving a laugh from Serena and a cheeky wink from Dennis
The group began looking through the cupboards and cabinets, looking for things to eat. Of course the place was packed with food, so they had a wide selection to choose from.
Sayaka decided to make some chicken and rice. She didn't want to make anything too extravagant for fear of the idea of someone possibly finding a way to poison the food, just in case worse came to worse and someone actually tried it. Dennis prepared the rice while the girls began making the chicken. Yuri, Shun and Serena watched over the three chefs while Yuya, Rin, Reira, Sawatari and Allen rested in the corner and waited patiently to be fed.
"The food's almost ready!" Yuzu announced "Can I get someone to help out with setting the table?"
"Sure" Rin shrugged and she, Sawatari and Allen stood up and prepared to set the table.
Sawatari got the glasses, Allen took care of the plates and Rin handled the silverware. Since the dining room was too wide an area for them to feel comfortable in, they decided to remain in the kitchen. There was a decently sized table near the back of the kitchen, which at most held eight people. Sawatari, Allen and Rin set the rest of the dinnerware at the bar area by the fridge, which conveniently seated three.
"Okay, food's ready, guys!" Sayaka called out.
The group grabbed random plates and each served themselves platefuls of warm chicken and rice. There was plenty for everyone. Serena, Sayaka and Yuri sat at the bar area while the others sat at the table.
"Wow, this is really good!" Sawatari grinned after trying both the rice and chicken.
"Thanks" Dennis, who was sitting opposite him, smiled "But Sayaka's the master chef."
"Yeah, but you're the one who made the rice by yourself" Yuzu praised him, giving him a pat on the back, and Dennis shrugged his thanks.
The group didn't talk much amongst themselves. There wasn't much to say. They were eating whilst six of their friends were dead, their bodies scattered around the mansion. Everyone tried not to think about it and did their best to keep their food down.
Ten minutes later, almost everyone was finished eating.
"Yum, that was so good!" Rin smiled as she rubbed her stomach "I'm full!"
"Yeah!" Yuya grinned "That was really good food!"
He gave Sayaka a thumbs up and she smiled back in return.
Shun glanced at Reira noticing that he hadn't eaten much of his rice. Actually, he had some pieces of chicken left too. "Reira, why aren't you eating?"
"…"
Shun looked at him steadily, noticing that he was staring straight ahead with a look of horror on his face. "Reira, are you okay?"
Maybe the traumatic night had finally caught up with him? It was affecting them all, just most of them were trying to bury it.
Reira clenched his teeth and grabbed his jacket, clenching his fist near his heart. He huffed loudly like he was trying to say something, but leaned forward and bashed his head on the table instead.
"Reira?!" Shun jumped up in shock, and the rest of the table turned toward the seven-year-old.
Reira didn't raise his head.
"Oh no" Yuzu rushed to Reira's side "Don't tell me—!"
"What's going on?" Sayaka turned around and asked, but suddenly the plates on the bar's counter clanked loudly. She spun back around and noticed Serena had her head on the counter.
"Serena?" Yuri, who was closest to her, shook her shoulder. "Hey, Serena?"
No answer.
"Shun!" Sayaka yelped "Shun, something's wrong with Serena!"
Shun heard Sayaka calling out and began to sprint over to her side when, for a third time, everyone heard the dinnerware rattle as a third head collided with the table. But it didn't stay there, for this person fell out of their chair and onto the floor.
"Allen!" Yuya jumped up, as he had been sitting next the boy.
"W-What's going on?!" Yuzu asked, now trying to shake Reira awake.
"I-I don't know!" Sayaka panicked, not sure whether to shake Serena or not.
"Please don't tell me…" Shun muttered, kneeling down next to Allen and placing his fingers on Allen's throat.
"What are you doing?" Rin asked him.
Shun removed his fingers from Allen's neck and sighed disappointedly.
"Guys" he said solemnly as he stood up and faced the group "I think that Reira, Serena and Allen have been poisoned."