Paranoia, Hate, Or Something More?

Chapter 4 - Misguidance

The next day I woke in a cold sweat after having the same, gore filled nightmares I have had so many times before. I lay in bed for a while, reflecting on the events of the previous day. What I couldn't shake from my mind even by the time I had made my way to school was the story about the dismembered body found in Hinamizawa. But that's just what it probably was, a story. Made up by the media to create an interesting headline most likely. I guess I could ask around school about it, but it may seem like I'm prying - which I am. I'd already asked Satoko - who was quick to deny a crime like this had happened, which gave me some re-assurance. I would ask Keiichi, Mion and Rikato see what they thought, I decided. Having finally made my way to school I cautiously made my way into class; It might have been Keiichi that Satoko was aiming for with her classroom weapons before, but I wasn't entirely sure I wasn't a target yet. When I opened the door nothing was thrown at me, and nothing made me suspect a trap, so I strolled into the classroom and sat in the place I had yesterday. All the people I had sat with yesterday were there, and class began before I could make a discussion.

"Ok, guys." The teacher said to the table I was sat on as she explained the "So, 5 to the power of two times by 5 to the power of one, subtract 7 to the power of eleven divided by 7 to the power of eight is? You should know this; I gave you plenty of homework homework!" I was about to tell her my answer having just done this in my old school, however Mion's hand shot up unnecessarily - the teacher was about a meter away from her - and answered before me.

"Well simplyfying the equation you end up with 5 to the power of 3 times by 7 to the power of 4. And the answer to THAT equasion is...wait..." She got out her calculator and began speedily typing in numbers. "125 take away 2401, which is minus...2276!" She said beaming. She had got the same answer I did, the teacher gave her approval to our meathods and left.

After there was no sign of the teacher coming back (as she was too busy helping children of other ages) Mion delved into her bag and dug out her textiles work - a bag. It was so professional, something you wouldn't be surprised to see in shops like New Look and TopShop. She diddn't say another word untill we left class at the end of the day - when I struck up a coversation with her. This was my ideal time to ask people about the Dismembered body and if it was a true story or not; and she was the closed person around who I at least vaguely knew.

"Hey, Mion!" I called to her as the was walking out of school. She diddn't hear me, which made me feel like a complete idiot. "Mion!" She finnaly turned around when I got closer to her. "So I read the papers from last week. Some-one died here?"

"I suggest you leave that subject to people who know more about it, Rena." Yet another unclear answer? Gosh, I'm going to end up going insane! "Speaking to you reminded me, me and Satoko are popping round to your house tomorrow- don't worry, we know where you live, its not hard to work out when the entire village is talking about it - and drop off some food we made; as a 'welcome to your new home gift'. I hope you and your mother enjoy it." She said, diverting the conersation from the topic I was so eager to talk about. And with that she turned and walked away down the path that must lead to her home. Am I ever going to get a straight answer from anyone?