Otoriphobia

11: The Abattoir.

"..."

The brand-new cafeteria was nearly identical to the one they were accustomed to- apart from the fact that it did not connect with any dorms or changing rooms.

The room was bland, and the group's late breakfast felt dry and tasteless, in part due to the mood that had settled in after the deaths of Hiroto and Risa.

Arisu and Kishibe sat off at their own table as they ate their food, but the 4 former members of Blue Team- Yuuna, Rin, Tomoko, and Korekiyo- sat in silence together as they had their meal.

Risa's death had bothered them, especially Korekiyo, who felt an intense hatred toward Kishibe for manipulating her and the others, but what disturbed the group's usual cheeriness even more was the loss of their friend Hiroto.

Tomoko hadn't even touched her food, and Rin took note of this and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Tomoko... make sure to eat. There's plenty of bread..."

"..."

Tomoko didn't reply to Rin and stared down at the food with a blank, uncaring face.

"...She'll be back on her feet by the next game."

Korekiyo muttered as he ate his food.

"Hiroto's gone... but that won't stop us from taking down Kishibe. We'll find a way to beat him and Ricky both, I'm sure of it."

"D-Don't be so quick to jump into revenge, are you crazy...?"

Rin glared over at Korekiyo.

"We... we're all still recovering, you included. It's way too early to be thinking about how we're going to settle the score."

"Miss Kagemori..."

"I appreciate your efforts to hold the team together, even in spite of your distrust... but if that means I'm going to have to take him on alone, I will."

"I-I never said you're going to take him on alone."

Rin sighed and gently touched her eyepatch with one hand.

"...We're still a team, after all. It's just... we shouldn't dive straight into it."

"..."

"Rin's right. The wound of losing Hiroto... it's... still fresh, Koreki-nii."

Yuuna clutched his own arm, sighing.

"...Everyone's tired. I mean, it's... hard to push forward in a bind like this."

"..."

Korekiyo folded his arms.

"Yuuna... do you think the wound of losing Mamiko isn't "fresh"...?"

"...!"

"I-I...."

Yuuna began to speak out, but decided to bite his tongue and allow Korekiyo to continue.

"..."

"My heart... still can't accept the fact that my beloved sister is gone."

"But, because I have my younger brother still with me... I'm able to push on. And you were able to push on, too, weren't you, Yuuna-? You're still alive and well."