Hey, everyone. This is my first story, and it's a novelization of a manga I have. I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would make it into a story. So, here I am now with most of the first chapter. I hope you enjoy what I have so far!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOUBT
There's a game going around Japan called 'Rabbit Doubt'. The premise of the game is that all of the players are rabbits in a colony, and one amongst them is randomly chosen to be a wolf that infiltrated the group of rabbits. Every round, the wolf kills off a rabbit, and every round, the group tries to figure out which of the rabbits is actually a wolf in disguise. Sometimes the kids who play this game decide to meet up in person, and Yuu, Mitsuki, Rei, Hajime, Eiji, and Haruka have done just that. Unfortunately, one of them has decided to take on the mantle of the wolf and has already killed once. Who is the wolf, and can they be stopped before everyone meets a very unpleasant end?
Ch1: [Player]
One day, a wolf snuck into a group of friendly rabbits, disguised as one of them. As the others fell asleep, the wolf appeared in it's natural form. Day by day, one by one, the wolf killed and ate the rabbits. The rabbits, not knowing which was the wolf, arranged a meeting. Then -----
The tribunal decided on the one amongst them that they believed to be the wolf and killed it. If they chose correctly, the rabbits win. If they were wrong ... All of the rabbits would be killed and eaten by the wolf. This is the story of such a game ...
J A P A N: H A R A J U K U D I S T R I C T. A F T E R N O O N
"I thought I would be late if I stopped on the way, but, thank the lord: ten minutes to spare," murmered a thin, black haired teen. He sat down on a bench watching the congestion of the pedestrians grow as the sun reached it's highest point in the sky. He sighed uncomfortably, fiddling with his mp3 phone. "Just waiting like this is making me nervous. I wonder what kind of person will come ...?"
"Guess who?!" Exclaimed a female voice over Yuu's shoulder. Yuu gave a start, and looked around his shoulder, feeling a small pop in his neck from the quick action. A cute, young teenager's face was looking right into his.
"Mitsuki?" Yuu said slightly breathlessly, getting up off the bench and turning around to look at her. Mitsuki's bright school vest and skirt flashed in the sunlight. Her short red hair tousled around her head as she giggled.
"Quite correct. Yuu-kun, what are you doing at a place like this?" She asked.
"I could say the same to you. Why are you--?" He cut himself off short. Could she be the one? No, It couldn't be ...
"I'm here shopping with my Papa," Mitsuki replied, finishing his sentence. Yuu walked around the bench and over to her, feeling a little relieved.
"With your dad?" She started to giggle again.
"Yes. Since I did well on my test, he's going to buy me whatever I want." Mistuki reslung her green backback over her shoulders.
Yuu raised his eyebrows. "You ... Really get along well with your dad, don't you?" Wow, anything she wants ... Just for a good test mark.
"Yup!" Mitsuki exclaimed cheerfully. "So, who are you with?" Yuu started to feel a little awkward.
"Er, I ... I'm alone. There was just something I wanted ..." He stuttered slightly, knowing that if she knew, she wouldn't let it down.
"Something you wanted?" She asked.
"Wh ... Why would you care what it is?!" Yuu said, more sharply than he meant to. He saw her eyes become a little cold.
"Fun," Mitsuki said, emphasizing the word. "Well, whatever. About tomorrow--" She said, moving in a little closer. Yuu felt his face flush.
"Tomorrow? Whats going on tomorrow?" He asked her, taking a step back.
"Eh? Yuu-kun, tomorrow is my--" She began in a hurt tone, before being cut off by Yuu.
"Oh, no, it's already this late!" He said, suddenly panicked, glancing down at his phone which read ten after one. "Well, I'll see you later!" Yuu said hurriedly, slinging his backback over his shoulder, grabbing his books and breaking into a run.
"Wait, Yuu, in front--!"
Bam. "Of you ..." Mistuki finished, seeing Yuu collide with another person.
Yuu fell to the ground, massaging his right arm. His books laid strewn beside him across the ground. "S ... Sorry. Are you o--"
Before he could finish, Yuu found himself being pulled right off the ground violently by the front of his shirt and into the face of who he hit.
"Ugh .. I-I ... Hey..." Yuu tried to say as he was held. The person who held him by the shirt seemed to be older than himself, with light blonde hair and hard, green eyes. His black leather jacket gleamed in the sunlight.
"Bastard ...." The older boy began coldly. "Where the hell were you looking?!" He yelled at Yuu.
Before Yuu could reply, he heard a giggle from behind him.
"Eiji. Let him go." A girl with golden hair said cooly. She was dressed in a red school uniform holding a cellphone with a rabbit key chain.
"That's ..." Yuu started to say as the boy named Eiji dropped him reluctantly. Suddenly, a red streak passed in front of Yuu.
"Mitsuki?!" he said as Mitsuki stood in front of him, her arms outstretched.
"Please bother someone else," she said darkly. Yuu sighed.
"Mitsuki, these people are --"
"I know, leave it to me!" She interrupted loudly, "I'm gonna beat these people!" the older blondes smiled.
Yuu looked at Mitsuki, "That's not it ..." he said, exasperated. Eiji rolled his eyes.
"Sorry. I was just teasing you guys a little." he said, still smiling.
"Look," the blonde girl said finally, showing Mitsuki her cellphone. An icon of a hung rabbit with the words Rabbit Doubt imprinted above it flared on the screen.
"Rabbit Doubt?!" Mitsuki exclaimed, staring at the screen.
"It seems we're all players in this game," the blonde discovered, sitting down on a small brick wall bordering the nearby park.
* * *
"You haven't seen the cell strap before?" Yuu asked Mitsuki, showing the rabbit hanging from the bottom of his cellphone. Mitsuki bent a bit to see it better. A look of recognition crossed her face.
"Ah! I know that one. Lately, a lot of people have it."
"The rabbit is the mascot of the game. It's kind of a signal to help people meet up." The blonde said. "Akechi Haruka. Nice to meet you." Haruka said with a smile.
"Hoshi Eiji," Eiji introduced. He smiled. "I always play this game with Yuu. So, sorry if I kinda scared you there, Mitsuki ..."
Yuu faced Mitsuki. "We decided to meet in person today, so we gathered here."
"Really," Mitsuki replied. Eiji looked at her sheepishly.
"But ... 'punk' ..." Mitsuki suddenly blushed, glancing at Haruka and Eiji.
"I-I'm really sorry 'bout that! I didn't mean to be so rude ..."
Haruka laughed. "Don't worry about that, it's fine. I don't mind, and Eiji has the face of a real yankee, so I bet he's used to it." Eiji felt a little resented
"We just met and you treat me like a friend, huh." He said more to himself than Haruka. Hearing this, she smiled.
"Oh my," Haruka began sarcastically, not looking at him. "Sorry, did I just hurt your feelings?" she glanced over at him. "I was just so surprised that you matched your in-game personality so well." Eiji looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Look who's talking. Listening to you talking, I thought you were way older." He replied icily.
Yuu felt tension rise as a silence descended over them. It feels like the air just thickened.
Mitsuki felt uncomfortable. She attempted to break the silence.
"Wha ... What type of game is it?" She began with a nervous smile. She smiled, embarrased, seeing these two intimidating people stare at her. "The Rabbit Doubt. I was just, er, kinda wondering if I could play, too."
" 'Find the lying wolf'.," Yuu said, flipping up his cellphone.
"What? Wolf--"
"It's this ..." He replied, showing her his screen. His username and rabbit icon were displayed.
"Oh, how cute!" Mitsuki commented on Yuu's rabbit.
"Everyone gets a rabbit character and are challenged in a mini-game," Yuu told her.
"Ah. So it's just a multiplayer game?" Mitsuki asked him.
"No ... Among the rabbits, there is a disguised wolf. "
Mitsuki looked at him. "A wolf?"
"That's the fun part," Eiji offered as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jeans back pocket."The goal of the game is to capture the guy that's the wolf."
"Meanwhile," Continued Haruka over the clicking of the cigarette lighter, "The wold tries to confuse people. Their goal is to trick the group."
"In other words, you have to find the wolf--" Before Eiji could finish, he looked up to see Mitsuki only inches from his face. Thouroughly startled, he shifted himself a few inches away from her face.
"Wha ... What is it?" He asked her in a suspicious tone.
"How old are you, Eiji-san?" Mitsuki asked him sweetly.
"Hm? I'm eighteen--" As soon as the words left his mouth, the cigarette left in a whirl of smoke.
"W-What the hell are you doing?!" Eiji asked incredulously, staring as she took the cigarette and threw it on the ground. Yuu leaned against a pole and waited for Mitsuki's anti-smoking tirade to being.
"No smoking under the age of twenty!" She stated loudly. All her sweetness seemed to had disintegrated along with the cigarette and replaced with a stark seriousness.
"Y-yes m'!" Eiji apologized sincerely.
Haruka had an expression of concern on her face."What's wrong with Mitsuki-chan?" she asked Yuu, who walked over to Haruka. "She's amazingly serious."
"She's been a class representative since elementary school," Yuu replied, "Her dad's even a cop."
Haruka looked back at her. "So she's a thouroughbred of seriousness, then, huh." She laughed, then pressed herself against Yuu.
"So ... How far have you gone with Mitsuki-chan?"
Yuu immediatly bolted away from Haruka, blushing furiously. Haruka, who was leaning against Yuu, fell onto the ground.
"Sor ... Sorry! Are you okay?" He asked, feeling clammy.
"Owie ... I'm okay." Haruka replied, who was on her hands and knees on the sidewalk. She looked up at him.
"Wow, your face is beet red. If you're this honest, you won't last long in the game."
Yuu heard footsteps behind him over the pounding in his ears.
"Hey, Haruka ...! Cut it out!" The twosome turned around to see Mitsuki, still with a serious face, only it wasn't stern for Eiji's smoking habits. Haruka pushed herseld up.
"Mitsuki!" Yuu exclaimed nervously, knowing what was coming next. Mitsuki slapped him across the face, yelling at him, "Illicit sexual relationships are prohibited!"
* * *
"So, when are the other two coming?" Yuu asked, feeling the side of his face still burning. Mitsuki was sitting on the wall, her arms crossed, while Haruka was getting over a laughing session. "Rei said she's not good with crowds, so she'll be late, and Hajime had something to do with his university so he couldn't come." Haruka held up her cellphone. "He sent me a text just now."
"He just doesn't wanna come. Forget about him." Eiji suddenly said coldly. Mitsuki looked at Eiji.
"What's wrong with Eiji?" She asked in low tones.
"If you fail the game, the wolf will attack a rabbit. Whenever Hajime is the wolf, he prefers to start by eating Eiji. They really don't get along too well." He added as Eiji glowered at him.
"Really..." Mitsuki replied. Haruka let out a laugh.
"Getting angry when you lose at a game ... You're like a kid!" She told Eiji with a smile.
"What!?" Eiji snarled, "It's just that he's a total asshole!" As he spoke, he heard a rolling sound behind him. He turned around.
A small, young girl no older than fifteen in a wheelchair rolled to them. Her hair was a long, beautiful black that framed her cute face and brown eyes. She had two red ribbons in her hair that matched her red skirt and purple turtleneck. In her lap was a large, white stuffed rabbit with large red eyes.
"Not good with crowds, are you?" Yuu asked Rei.
Rei blushed. "Ye-Yes ... My name is Hazama Rei."
Haruka walked over to her. "I didn't know you had a wheelchair,"
"What a cute stuffed animal," Yuu added.
"I lost my strap, and I didn't have anything else, so ..." Rei said in a small, shaky voice. She held up her cellphone to show the rabbit charm was missing.
She looks pretty nervous. "Rei ..." Yuu said, somehow recognizing the name.
Eiji immediatly got down onto his knees and held her small hands. "It's great to meet you!" He told her enthusiastically. "I'm Eiji. I didn't think you would be such a cute girl." He smiled a sweet, handsome smile.
Rei felt her face go red. "So, after we finish here, how about we--" Before Eiji could finish he felt himself being pulled right back up by Haruka.
"So why do treat her so much better than Mitsuki-chan and me, huh?" She asked him as she held him in a wrist lock with a smile, but with anger in every syllable.
"Let's talk a-about this ..." Eiji managed to say as he pulled himself out of the lock. As Haruka and Eiji struggled, Yuu stared at Rei.
"Hey, Rei ..." He began.
"W-What is it?" Rei replied, still feeling uncomfortable.
"Sorry if I'm wrong, but ... Have we met before?"
Rei was quiet for a few moments. "...No."
Haruka appeared over Rei, holding the handles and ready to steer. "What? So you're a flirt, too?" She asked him disdainly.
"No!" Yuu defended. But still, I'm sure that I've seen her before ...
Haruka looked at Mitsuki, who had been quiet for a while. "Oh, yeah. Are you coming, Mitsuki-chan?"
"Huh?" Mitsuki exclaimed, "Is that okay? I don't even know you that well ..."
"It's more fun with more people," Yuu assured her. He smiled at her.
"Then it's decided," Haruka said, gripping the handles of Rei's wheelchair. "Let's go."
* * *
J A P A N: K A R A O K E C L U B. E V E N I N G
"Geez ..." Yuu said to himself as he cleaned his hands in a washroom basin. "We're in a karaoke place, and I haven't even sung one song. Haruka hasn't let go of the mic since we got here." He smiled. "Well, it's fine. Everyone seems to be haveing fun." He stepped out of the washroom once he was done, and headed back to the main room, as he past by a hallway, he noticed Rei with Eiji hanging over her, her large stuffed rabbit in her wide wheelchair pocket.
"What are you guys doing?" He walked over and asked the twosome. Eiji looked up. "Yuu ..."
Yuu laughed. "Did you guys run away from Haruka's singing?"
Eiji didn't answer. He gave Yuu a long, dangerous look before walking out. "Yeah, yeah. Then I'm going back." As Eiji walked around the corner, Yuu turned to Rei.
"... Is everything okay?" He asked her.
Rei let out a sigh of relief. "You ... You saved me. He keeps asking me to go out with him after we're done here." She shook her head. "He's just so ..."
"Why don't I get you a drink from the vending machine? It'll make you feel better." Yuu asked her. She looked at him.
"Thanks. Here," Rei handed him a few coins. "I want some white pop, please."
"Okay," He replied as he walked over to the vending machine and punched in the coordinates for a white pop and a bottle of water. As Yuu bent down to recieve the beverages, he spoke to her, "You know, it's kind of understandable," He gave Rei her drink and sat down on a long, backless bench. "Since you're so cute,"
Rei blushed. "Do-Don't say such silly things!"
"It's okay. I'm kind of relieved. It looks like you've relaxed a bit." Yuu told her as he broke the seal on his drink. Rei looked down at her undrunk pop.
"Was I that unnatural?" She asked him quietly.
"Not exactly unnatural. Maybe more like guarded." Yuu replied as he took a sip from his water bottle.
"Though I suppose I shouldn't be the one talking ..." Rei said slowly. "Yuu-san, do you remeber the show Saimin Shoujo? Girl Hypnotist?"
"Um, that girl that was awesome at hypnotism? She was on tv a lot three or four years back. Really pretty girl." Yuu said.
Rei looked down at her hands that were folded uncomfortably in her lap. "That ... Was me."
"Really," Yuu replied, "That's pretty cool." Yuu was about to take another drink, until he realized something.
"What!?" He exclaimed loudly, getting up from his seat. Rei appeared as if she would like nothing better than to sink into the floor and never be seen again.
"I mean ... On the street. I thought I knew you from somewhere!" Yuu sat back down. "I remember it well. Mitsuki and I watched that show every day, like a ritual."
Rei suddenly put her finger up to her lips and shushed him. "Ah, sorry," He told her, lowering his voice.
"It'll be bad if somebody hears us," She told Yuu.
"You were really famous back then," He told Rei, more quietly this time. Rei looked stressed as she closed her eyes.
"That's awesome," Yuu finally said. Rei opened her eyes in disbelief. She turned around to face him. "...What?"
"This is the first time I've met someone famous," Yuu smiled.
"Umm ... You're not suspicious of me? You believe in hypnotism ...?"
Yuu closed the cap on his water bottle. "Well, you can do it, right? I believe you." He replied.
Rei swung her wheelchair around. "Wa ... Was that a pick-up line?" She asked.
"What?" Yuu looked at her. Rei turned around again, giggling.
"Ah, please keep this a secret from the others," Rei said.
"Why?"
"It''s just so embarrasing ..."
"Really?"
As Yuu wheeled her out of the hallway and down to the main karaoke room, he saw a fresh cigarette butt on the floor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm gonna be adding more to this chapter, so you'll see some updates in the next few days.