Chapter 4: Burning Questions with No Answer Part 1

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The taste is… bitter. Maybe more sugar?

… Almost there, maybe just a little more cream and-! Perfect! The taste is just what I like most, so within seconds, I'm drinking as much as I can, desperate to keep the wonderful taste in my mouth.

"Hey, hey! Alright Aka sweetie, calm down!" My immersive drinking is interrupted by a laughing voice, "Geez, you're chugging that down so fast! You like it?"

"Mhm! It took some changes, but it's really tasty!" I respond, eager to drink more.

"Weeelll, who do you thank for letting you try some of her morning coffee?" She rhetorically asks me, forcing a cozy smile out of me.

"Thank you for letting me try your coffee mommy!" I answer back, before going back to drinking. She simply sits next to me and pats my head, adding onto that cozy feeling I am having. Before long, my cup is empty, and she takes it over to the sink.

"Oh, that reminds me sweetie, I have to ask," She starts, cleaning my cup, "Why did you let them die?"

In my state of shock, I turn towards her, and the kitchen disappears, and the woman at the sink turns her head towards me, her head turning completely backwards.

"Why did you let us die Aka?" She says, her voice transforming into a mesh of a female, and two male voices, all sounding familiar. My mind started to race, trying to rationalize this situation, while the creature slowly approached.

"This is all your fault Aka"

"And you're going to pay for it." The voices surround me, my brain in overdrive, not understanding, but understanding at the same time. Faces of the people I've let die, and dozens of others close in on me, and the only thing I could think to do was scream. I screamed and screamed until-

"Aka, holy shit wake up!" I heard a clear, conscious voice, calling me into the real world again. I awoke to find Poppy, on top of me, grabbing my shoulders. She looked worried, but regained her composure after seeing me open my eyes.

"Jesus, took ya long enough." She said, climbing off of me, "You were movin' around and yellin' in yer sleep. What kinda stuff were you dreamin' about?"

"I… I don't know." I replied, climbing out of bed, rubbing my face, "Just felt like a terrible nightmare."

"That or a really kinky wet dream. Now hurry up, we gotta go get breakfast!" Poppy exclaimed, hurrying me out of my cell as per usual, which started our usual walk down the halls by ourselves.

"Soooo, who's the lucky person ya dreamed about?"

"Poppy, it wasn't that kind of dream. It was a nightmare."

"Well then what was the nightmare about Akles?"

"I….can't remember. It must've been something to do with...yesterday though."

"...So was it Liam ya dreamed about?" Poppy asked, with a smug smirk on her face.

"Poppy, I'm serious!" I replied, admittedly laughing at her response.

"And I am too! Why are you tryna hide this from me?" She asked, severely overthinking the situation, before gasping, "Were you dreamin' about meeee?"

"You wish!" I answered, shoving her lightly out of embarrassment.

"Say what ya want, ya can't stay in the closet forever!" Poppy replied, laughing maniacally at her brilliant detective work. She continued to barrate me with jokes, and I continued to question why I even told her anything, until we approached the Cafeteria. Surprisingly, there was no quippy comment from Mia, or anyone, when we entered. The room was quiet, and almost everyone looked solemn for one reason or another.

"Good morning Aka." Were the first words I got from Urkstin, who had only now realized we were there. I gave him a friendly wave back, before getting myself breakfast and sitting down. We all ate in relative silence for a while, and I could see occasional glances in my direction, all of them staring for the same reason. They all think that this was my fault. I want to say something, I had to say something, but the words couldn't form into a coherent sentence. Thankfully, Urkstin chimed in again feeling the hatred for me.

"H-Hey everyone…"

"What is it hun?" Risa questioned, looking concerned for him.

"I just… I just wanted to share my thoughts on what happened yesterday!" He spat out, looking as if it was painful for him to say. Nevertheless, he had everyone's attention as he continued.

"I know that everything that happened was a… really bad sequence of events. And I know that everyone has a person to blame for all of it-"

"Most of us blame Nishinzu, yes." Mia said, hard and honest, catching Urkstin off guard.

"W-well that's the thing Mia! I don't think it's her fault at all!"

"The bloke left that guy locked up for days and didn't tell us until it was too late mate." Jambo retorted.

"I know that! But she would've gotten him out sooner if it wasn't for the punishments the mean guy on the Loudspeakers gave him!" Urkstin replied, giving out reasonable explanations on my behalf.

"Even so, she didn't have to lock that guy up when she first woke up. That is a mistake entirely on her part." Mia continued, still trying to pass blame entirely onto me.

"She had no idea what kinda situation we were in! She didn't wanna take any risks!" Poppy chimed in, getting defensive for me as well.

"No matter how you look at it, Nishinzu is responsible for everything that happened to Balad, one way or another. It doesn't matter if it was all reasonable or responsible. It is all her fault technically," Mia stated, being more of a bitch to me than ever before.

"If you are retorting with technicalities, Ms. Mia, then it is very easy to come back and respond that the one truly responsible for all of this is the one behind the Loudspeakers, yes?" Liam asked, accidentally sounding condescending.

"Well yeah, of course I know that!" Mia shot back, sounding a lot more defensive, "I'm just saying we shouldn't let her make any more irrational decisions!"

"You could find ways to say that without sounding mean though lady." Akira shot back, "You're not exactly helping our case by acting like that." After hearing all of our comebacks to her cold and mean attitude, Mia simply slumped in her seat and moped to herself, while the rest of us ate and talked amongst ourselves.

"So, remember how we said we were gonna set up schedules for taking showers?" Urkstin asked.

"Ah yes, we were never able to fully commit to that idea, because of the unfortunate events that transpired soon after." Liam responded.

"Ah yeah, so we're all still stinky." Poppy quipped, still grossed out by the idea.

"We should probably set up those schedules then. I wouldn't mind splitting it into guys and girls for the groups, if that's alright with all of you huns." Risa suggested, prompting some odd reactions from some people.

"Why don't we do two or three lads or chicks per group instead? I don't want a damn sausage party in the showers." Jambo replied, prompting a new idea that warranted better reactions.

"I agree with Jambo, I don't wanna be cramped in a shower with girls I barely know." Akira agreed, letting everyone else agree as well.

"Alrighty then!" Poppy started, "We'll have to get times though, so how about for starters we-"

"Attention all contestants." Poppy's statement was interrupted by the sound of the Loudspeakers coming on, filling all of our hearts with dread.

What could they possible want now?