Elevation

Chapter 10

For a moment, no one moves. No one breathes.

Then Sonia shrieks, and the spell is broken.

"Where are they?!" Sonia cries. "Where is Tanaka-san?? Where are the others?"

"Koizumi-nee!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH, THEY'RE COMING FOR US!! WE'RE DEAD, WE'RE DEAD-"

"SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" Nidai roars, even louder than the alarm, and everyone flinches. "Let's discuss this calmly! No freaking out! AND WILL SOMEONE TURN OFF THAT DAMN ALARM?!"

"I got it!" Souda squeaks and rushes over to silence the alarm system.

"And you!" Nidai points at the nurse, who's still standing in the doorway. "We have some questions for you."

The nurse steps into the room, looking extremely troubled "I-I don't know what happened! They're all supposed to be in here, n-none of us moved them! there must be some mistake!"

"A mistake?!" Owari repeats incredulously. "A mistake?! Our friends have vanished, and you're calling it a mistake?!"

He flinches, "I'll go get the others, maybe they know something I don't-" And takes off down the hallway without a second glance.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" Owari yells, her face contorted with fury. "How could they have just disappeared??" Everyone seems to be at a complete loss for words.. or ideas.

Until Souda speaks up.

"I... I don't think that's what's happened here." He says quietly, sitting on one of the empty beds.

Owari advances on him. "What then, Souda? Did they get up and walk away? Huh?! Is that what happened??"

Souda shakes his head vigorously "No! I'm just saying that maybe.. We've been wrong to trust the staff the Future Foundation sent to take care of our friends."

Sonia makes a face. "You think this is the Future Foundation's doing?"

"Why not?" he looks at all of you with clear desperation etched into his face, his arms outstretched. "Who really thinks they truly accept that we got to live that easily ? Naegi himself said he was expecting a much bigger fight than what they gave him. Maybe they've been trying to get to us all this time, waiting for the moment when we finally let our guard down-" He moans and grabs his beanie, his eyes tearing up. "I can't believe I didn't realize this before..!"

"Hold on, hold on." Sonia raises her hands and speaks soothingly, trying to calm Souda down. "Have you forgotten? Naegi handpicked all of the staff here. These people are not our enemies."

"Well maybe Naegi- "

"Naegi is not a traitor." You interrupt, glaring at Souda. "He's trying to protect us. He's my friend. So don't finish that sentence."

"Fine!" He snaps. "That doesn't mean he couldn't have been fooled by these people."

Owari crosses her arms and looks down. "He has a point..."

Sonia groans. "Not you too, Akane!"

"But..." You look down, remembering how helpful and reassuring Taeko had been. "They seemed really trustworthy."

"Maybe it's not all of them, I don't know. Maybe it's just one or two." Souda sighs. "Point is, I don't think we should trust them. I don't think we can trust them."

"Well, what can we do about that at this point?!" Saionji snaps. "If they did something to our friends, it's too late to stop them now!"

"It doesn't make sense," Sonia frowns, shaking her head. "Why would they have taken such good care of everyone if their ultimate goal was to harm them..?"