A Fleeting Utopia

Chapter 2

Tsumi shifted around in her sleeping bag, straining at the whisper of light seeping from the window. It was probably around 5 o'clock. There weren't any empty dorms on the training floor so she was sleeping in a small, empty room that probably was intended for weapon storage. At least she had got clean sleeping clothes (which were MUCH more comfortable than the wet, mud stained tank top and sweatpants she was wearing when she woke up) but this room's walls were so thin that she could hear all of the traffic on the nearby streets.
The only other option was to share a room with Nova, since Ikuu and Juno already had roommates, but she had strongly opposed to that.
"There's no space. I already have a bunny making messes all over my room. Plus, I don't need any more people in my way." Nova had grumbled.
"A bunny?" Tsumi said quietly, dumbfounded. Nova had a bunny?
"Aww, that sounds so lonely," Ikuu said with false pity. "But lucky for you, you are not a selfish person and will let Tsumi take the other bed in your room. Right?" Ikuu grabbed Nova's hand and forced it into Tsumi's. "See! Friends!"
Nova's face turned red as she let go of Tsumi's hand, though Tsumi wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment.
Tsumi sighed. "Are you sure Nova's dorm is the only place I could crash tonight?"
"There's an empty storage room near my dorm! I'm sure we can fit a sleeping bag in there." Juno piped up.
"Sure, I'll take it."
Juno had looked surprised. "You're not even going to ask to see it? Well, whatever floats your boat. I'll fetch the sleeping bag for you right now."
But now Tsumi was starting to regret that decision. Ikuu and Juno each had their own roommate, and Nova was the only one that didn't have to share? She should have just been stubborn and got a good night's sleep.
Actually, she had about 3 hours until she really needed to get up. 3 hours of peaceful sleep she could still get, if she snuck into Nova's room.
But I don't have an alarm or anything to wake me up before she gets up and sees me.
"I'm sure it's fine," Tsumi said to herself as she shook off the sleeping bag and got up. She cautiously opened the door, being sure not to make a sound. But when she reached Nova's dorm, the light was still on.
Great. Now I have no chance of getting any PROPER rest.
But just before Tsumi turned around, she heard a noise coming from the room. Crying, she realized.
Maybe...
Maybe if she could pretend to be all nice and caring and help Nova...
With a simper growing on her lips, Tsumi softly knocked on the door. With haste, she fixed her complexion to look more confused and concerned. If this was going to work, she was going to have to stay in character and seem like she genuinely was woken up by Nova's crying and got up to comfort her.
"Don't come in," Nova blubbered from inside the room.
Of course, this wasn't going to be easy.
"Nova? Are you okay?" Tsumi said, poking her head through the door. Nova, her red hair now out of her pigtails and spilled over her shoulders sloppily, sat on one corner of the bed, clutching a somber looking stuffed dog. Her face was red and streaked with tears.
"Of course it's you. You probably just want to crash here tonight, right? Well, go ahead. I doubt you'll be able to sleep anyways."
Tsumi tried not to wince as she moved further into the room. Was it that obvious? Nevertheless, the plan was still in action.
"Answer my question." Tsumi inwardly cringed a little at this. But if Nova wasn't going to tell her what was going on, she was going to have to be more forceful.
"Well, if you have to know, it's Cinnamon. She's gone!" Nova cried, clutching the stuffed animal tighter.
"Cinnamon...?"
"My bunny!" Nova wailed, flinging the stuffed dog onto the floor.
Tsumi didn't really know what to say. She had never seen Nova act like this. "O-oh..."
Nova stared at Tsumi for a few seconds. "I need her back if I'm ever going to get to sleep."
Tsumi was going to have to take action to help her if this was ever going to work.
"Where do you think she went?" Tsumi asked, shuffling her feet against the carpet.
"I'm not sure, but I think she might have gone into Juno's dorm," Nova sniffled. "But there's no use in trying to get her now. You'll probably wake Juno and her roommate, Autumn up. I might as well just get no sleep."
"I won't," Tsumi promised, backing out of the room and shutting the door behind her. 
Tsumi crept into the nearest room and closed the door, assuming it was Juno's dorm. But there was no source of light therefore no way for her to confirm that. She cracked the door and let some light from the hallway seep in. Peering down at one of the two beds, she confirmed that it was indeed Juno's dorm. But where was the bunny?
Tsumi started by looking under the bed, hoping to see a pair of glowing, slightly disturbing rabbit eyes staring back at her, but no luck. She tried shuffling her hands around the desk, but surrendered the idea when she almost dropped a candle on her foot.
This is useless. I don't have a flashlight, and there's no way I'll find it if it's hiding somewhere in here. I should just leave and save myself the trouble.
But moments before she exited the room, she thought she saw a flash of brown coming from a small door on the side of the room. The bathroom, she realized. She nervously stepped in, hoping the bunny wouldn't jump at her. It was only a small, glassy-eyed creature but they had always creeped her out for some peculiar reason.
Hey! I didn't remember that about myself! Even if she didn't remember anything about why she was here, she was at least beginning to remember a few things about her own personality. For a second, she felt like maybe things wouldn't be so bad here.
Until she looked up.
The bathroom mirror was smeared with thick, red blood and shattered, large chunks of sharp pieces still hanging in the frame of the mirror. The corpse of a small brown animal lay motionless in the sink. It had numerous large punctures through its body, almost like it had been stabbed to death. Tsumi stifled a scream. Who would do something like this? Juno? No, that couldn't be. Maybe Autumn, her roommate had a grudge against Nova or something. But she sure would have to hate Nova a lot to do something like this...
But when Tsumi glanced at the sink again, ready to clean the bunny's sorry-looking body off and preserve it for burial, or maybe have Ikuu inspect it to see how it died, it was gone. The shattered mirror had returned to normal. The smeared blood, the bunny...It was almost like it had never happened.
Tsumi blinked hard, dumbfounded. How could it have disappeared in less than a minute? There must be something else going on here. No person could have come in the room and cleaned everything so quickly.
But was she sure of what she'd seen? It was very early in the morning, maybe she was just seeing things. Feeling a sudden urge to leave, Tsumi rushed out of the room, leaving the door half opened in a panic. She barged into Nova's room, only to find her half asleep with the bunny wrapped in her arms.
Which shouldn't be possible.
"You found her?" Tsumi asked gingerly.
"Yeah, it turned out she was hiding under my bed," Nova yawned. "Anyways, if you really need to, you can take that bed." Nova motioned sleepily to the bed on the other side of the room. It was smaller than hers and a bit scruffy, but still suitable.
"I'd rather not, thanks."
"Really? Well, your loss," Nova said, then muttered under her breath, "the one time I actually try to be nice she doesn't want it. Hmph!"
Tsumi was too tired to put up with any more of Nova, especially now that she was pretty much back to normal. Besides that, she wanted to forget everything that just happened. Maybe she could convince herself it wasn't real. And sleeping in the same room as the bunny most definitely would not help her forget.
Tsumi trudged back into her little room, snuggling into her sleeping bag to attempt to get as much sleep as possible, wishing she had never gotten up.
It's fine. I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Tsumi assured herself as she drifted off to sleep. But the truth was, she probably couldn't be more unsure than this.