The year was 2013. Japan was no longer existent as one nation, rather a coalition of nations comprising of China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Mongolia and Vietnam. This was the Asian Commonwealth. This was essentially a dictatorship, although the death toll was not a drastic one. Healthcare was good, crime rates were better and free opinion was condoned, there was no death penalty and a very effective prison system. The one hiccup in this supposedly perfect nation was that there were laws protecting youths, yet these laws created loopholes that any delinquent teenager could exploit to the level where they could almost get away with murder, the authorities would just blame the parents or guardians. This was becoming an ever-larger problem, and then someone came up with an idea. Something that would teach teens to stay in line. The Experimental Youth Combatant Program, better known as Battle Royale.

The idea was that 50 sets of 9th grade classes, the ones with the worst behavioural records; were hand picked, one class would eventually be chosen from these by vote. This class would be forcefully taken to a remote island in the south of Japan. Each person would be supplied with one ration pack and a randomly selected weapon; this could be anything from a flamethrower to a carving knife. The combatants would be fitted with electronic collars that would show their vital signs at all times, they would stay on the island as long as required, any attempt to escape would cause the collars to detonate. These events would be aired on television across the nation. The time limit was 1 week. Of all the teenagers placed on the island, only one would be able to leave, and that one could only leave; when all the others were dead.

Battle Royale

An Adaptation by Callum Davies

Chapter 1: The Cell

Kazuo

He woke up exactly 12 hours after first falling under. He was about 250 miles from where it happened now. The first thing he saw was a brown duffle bag, then he looked up and saw light shining through metal bars in the roof, it was the only source of light in this square box of a room. He was 17, skinny, 6 feet tall and could feel a haze hovering over him which told him that he'd been unconscious for quite some time. Running a hand through his short, dark hair he took one last look around, the room was featureless, nothing to see.

He picked himself up, nausea welling at the pit of his stomach, and walked a few paces forward, eyes adjusting to the low light. There was a ladder on the left hand side wall, the brown bag sat next to it but something else was on the ground next to that. A green three foot long case, like a guitar case, but thinner and the wrong shape, curious, Kazuo walked over to examine it, however before he could the sound of a loud speaker began to squawk from outside.

'Ahem. May I have your attention please, congratulations, your class has been hand picked to participate in 2013's annual Experimental Youth Combatant Program.'

Kazou's heart sank, he was on the program? This couldn't be real, no way, his class wasn't that bad was it? What about his parents? Did they know? He watched last year's program, he even picked a favourite, it just seemed like it would never happen to him. Before he could even take all this in the squawk box continued.

'Anyhoo, you will find yourself in a 4 metre by 5 metre cell, this cell is below ground and there are 50 of them on the island, your class is occupying 40 of them, this is Urashima island, I'm not going to divulge exactly where it is, but it has been uninhabited since it became the new battle arena 6 years ago. You will find that you have a metal collar around your neck.'

Kazuo hadn't noticed it up to now but sure as sure can be there it was, just a metal circle with a red LED light in the middle, it felt cold on his skin.

'By now I'm sure you've noticed it, this collar will keep track of your current location so we can keep an eye on you, it will also monitor your vital signs so we know when to cross you off so to speak. This collar also serves another purpose, it contains a very powerful wired explosive, if 24 hours pass with no casualties, or if the 1 week limited is exceeded, we will provide 1 extra's hour's notice and then detonate all remaining collars.'

Kazuo felt a shudder creep up his spine; it was a choice between murder and execution, perhaps even both.

'In your respective cells you will find your randomly assigned weapon, all of which are stored in green boxes, you can carry them around if you like but I'd advise against it, they're impractical. One quick note about that, due to a mix up with the security cafeteria and the hand-to-hand weapon supplies, one of the bags contains a ladle. I apologize for this mix up but there's nothing that can be done, we have no way of tracing who got it. Due to the fact that there are 40 of you and 50 weapons, the remaining 10 have been scattered in various locations on the island: a rapier, a bõ staff, a machete, a boomerang, a rather nice scythe, a bayonet, a long bow, a belt of 10 kunai knives, a silenced Wolfram PPK pistol, a Glock pistol and a large mallet are all still out there, mostly in the abandoned buildings that dot the island, happy hunting. The second bag contains the following: 7 days worth of food and sanitary rations, a jacket, a sleeping bag, ammunition for anyone with a gun, a med kit, binoculars and a special surprise that's new this year.'

Kazuo had already opened both bags by this point, the weapon was in fact a double barrel shotgun, brand new and already loaded, not the most practical of weapons but that wasn't what was on his mind. The brown bag was exactly as the intercom said, the surprise, the only thing left, was a PDA with a virtual map on it.

'I just paused there so you could find it for yourselves, ah the wave of technology, it's a special palmtop device that'll make the remainder of your lives that little bit easier. Whether as last year we made you draw out the markers on a map, this year we have this, every morning at 7 we'll announce the danger zones, these squares are marked red on the map, should you enter one of these zones your collar will start screeching at you, this means you've got 5 minutes to get the hell outta dodge before you go KABLAMO! He he he, sorry, ad libbing a bit there, anyway, some areas are always like this, such as our headquarters, the others change every day, making sure people don't stay put you see. This palmtop indicates those spots, shows you where you are, bleeps when someone's within about 5 metres of you and indicates where they are when they get this close. You can also access the national news, watch the previous day's episode as soon as it's available and if you're too lazy for that you can check who's dead and have a look at their final moments, oh and we've put Tetris on there. Finally, the ocean perimeter is guarded so don't get ideas about swimming away, if the guns don't get you the collars will. I'm also required to tell you that you're next of kin have been informed of your participation and that the only other way you can be let off the island is if the diagnostic we ran on you while you were under reveals any serious disease, should that occur you'll be declared unfit to compete, your collar deactivated and you'll immediately airlifted out, if anyone interferes with this process the helicopters have mounted turrets. You're cell will open in T-minus 10 minutes; good luck to you all and enjoy the game. Oh one final point, if you're going to do something drastic, and lets face it you will, try and do it in an area with lots of cameras, those multi-angled shots are pure gold, until tomorrow little soldiers, sayonara.'

Kazuo sat there, motionless, at first he became angry, and then he came close to tears. He knew there would be other people who didn't want to play into this, on one hand he didn't want the last time he saw his family to be when he walked out the door before they were even awake, on the other he could never watch his friends die just for an exit ticket. It was overwhelming, he could almost see the walls closing in around him and he could feel the burning in his chest, like cold fire, paralysing him, then a noise startled him to the point where he almost cried out. The bars above him had opened. He didn't leave for at least another half hour, contemplating what to do, he heard almost no noise from outside, and this intimidated him further. Eventually he summoned up the courage to leave, he considered leaving the gun behind but he decided that even if he didn't play, nothing would stop some people from going after him, he needed to defend himself. Even such passing thoughts made him feel guilty, but it was something he'd have to adjust to. He picked up the silver gun, it was heavier than he thought, slinging it over his shoulder, he climbed the metal ladder, letting one hand back to hold his ration bag. The island overwhelmed him, the harsh sunlight, the trees all around, he was at the edge of a large area of forest with a hill behind him, it had a small gazebo like structure on the top, as soon as he got all the way out of the cell the bars shut, he guessed they were wired to do so after detecting that you'd left, no sense in hanging around in one, eventually you'd be flushed out.

Kazuo remained where he was for quite some time, he closely examined the PDA map, the main complex was in the middle and all of the danger zones were located around the island perimeter, for the day at any rate. He checked the class roster many times, every time he checked there were no casualties, not one, this felt somewhat gratifying. Eventually Kazuo plucked up the courage to head up to the gazebo, it looked like a good strategic point, for the moment. He was more tired than he expected an the hill proved a hard thing to climb, he felt the cold of the 4 beers in his bag, he'd been smuggling them in, not quite the school trip he'd originally envisioned. To pass the time Kazuo tried to imagine how they'd be handling this, for Kyo, it almost seemed an ironic predicament, getting handed a weapon is exactly the kind of thing he got off on. Kazuo would often make joking death threats, mainly when he was around Mitsuru and Yoshinori, he honestly had no idea how either of them would be feeling right now, not to mention the girls, he could never even picture Atsuko or Hanako holding a gun, neither of them ever would, Miho with a weapon would be a force to be reckoned with no doubts there, but in truth it'd probably never happen. Why was he thinking these thoughts? He didn't know what to think anymore, everything just felt fucked up, he hated this place, he hated himself, all he could think of was seeing his friends again, but at the same time he wanted to stay away from them, the concept of seeing them die was too much to stomach.

Eventually he came within sight of the gazebo, then there was a beeping noise in his bag. He fumbled to reach into it, it was the PDA of course, it was loudly declaring that someone was close, indicated by a flashing red dot on his map, not moving, in the gazebo. Kazuo felt his heart throbbing, he was terrified, but of what, his friends? Why? He knew, but he didn't want to even think it. He slowly moved toward the white domed structure, he crouched, the beeping got ever louder, he felt fear choking him, someone was waiting over the other side, and that someone could be the last person he'd ever see. Slowly, he placed one hand on the rail, and peered over.

Satoshi

The north face of Urashima Island overlooked an offshore oil rig and a group of boats about 50 metres out, all with mounted gun turrets. Satoshi sat, feet dangling over the edge, examining the weapon he'd been given. He knew enough about weaponry to be aware that he was holding nunchuks, something he'd only ever seen on television. Satoshi was a well-rounded kind of guy, he had always had decent leadership skills and seemed to have a good handle on his life, but this was too much. Part of him was aware that something like this would overwhelm anyone, but still. He remembered watching last year's program, he remembered who he rooted for. This made him wonder if people were going to root for him, if his parents or even grandparents were watching this. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and stood up straight, no point in sitting around doing nothing he thought. He stumbled over the rocky face, examining the grid map on his PDA to be absolutely sure he didn't stray into the danger zone a few feet away. He walked out into a clear open area with forest on either side, he decided that letting his anger well up wasn't healthy, so he begin practising with his nunchuks. He swung left, right, not with precision but with pure anger. Why him? He was a good kid. He always did his work. Hell he was one of the best in his class, maybe the best, he didn't deserve this. He turned to face left and swung in a massive arc but nearly went off balance. With a roar of fury he ran and hacked at a nearby tree repeatedly. Again and again he struck at it, he could feel his muscles getting strained, then he felt that painful tug, he'd pulled his right bicep.

Satoshi slumped down on the ground, glasses falling to the floor as his head bowed, he wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing, but he didn't want to get up until the pain in his arm went away. He futilely searched his bag for some treatment for pulled muscles, but eventually just grabbed one of the 'Battle Bar' brand energy bars in his ration kit. It was disgusting; it tasted like weak old fruit paste mixed with grit salt, which is probably not a long way from what it really was. He checked what else was in there, a thermos full of what smelled like coffee, another one full of soup, a few bottles of water, 12 ready meals, another 11 of those hideous bars, 12 wrapped sandwiches, different stuff inside each one and 12 packs of freeze dried ice cream, all different flavours. He had always liked freeze dried ice cream, at this point he decided he should look at the positives, no matter how few and far between they were. He decided that, in terms of self-defence and even if he had no intention of killing anybody, he needed a better weapon, the Glock or the Wolfram seemed to be the best option, but he would make do with whatever he found. After examining the PDA more closely Satoshi found the notepad function and wrote himself a list of objectives:

Find someone (Atsuko preferably)

Look for a replacement weapon

Find a good vantage point/secure building for temporary accommodation

Establish a system of communication

He began to move north, the map marked a house and the relief setting indicated that it was on top of a hill. Satoshi was so busy examining his PDA he didn't realise that were he to look up he'd be able to see the house as clear as ever. He decided to listen to his Mp3 player, he'd brought it for the coach journey and plane trip but now he decided classic rock would be a good medium to help him calm himself. The act of moving up the hillside seemed more tiring than normal, he guessed he was still groggy from when they put him under. He remembered everything, sitting on the bus, laughing, trying to work Tetsuya's last nerve, his reactions were priceless. Tetsuya could've been dying, he thought. He knew it hadn't really sunk in yet, that was what he was dreading, not the combat, not the sight of his friends, just when it would finally get him, he was supposed to be the down to earth one, the leader, but what if this was too much? No, he told himself, he wasn't going down that easy, he had to focus on the positives, always the positives, otherwise he could loose it, he wasn't gonna let that happen.

He pushed the last bush aside, saw the house. It was a nice house too. Oak door, two stories, rather inviting. He grasped the brass handle and turned. Inside it was dark as a crypt, but fully furnished. This was odd; it looked like it was ready to receive visitors. How disgusting he thought, these people going to all this effort to make him and his classmates feel welcome even though they were going to die, it was like putting a death row inmate up in the Hilton, pointless. Then Satoshi heard something above him, footsteps. They sounded panicked, he rushed up the stairs. The stairs led to a long corridor. The interior was all Japanese style so the doors were wood and paper, he could see a silhouette behind the furthest one, just standing there. Then suddenly there was a loud noise, first a loud clank, then a crash as dust exploded out in front of him. Satoshi felt something on his face, he put his hand up and wiped it off, it was blood.

The dust cleared and the door was still closed, the silhouette was still there, if a little closer, blood was seeping through the bottom and was splattered over every wall. Then Satoshi saw it, there, in the middle of the door, poking through, a harpoon. It had gone right through the centre of the silhouette. The paper and wood of the door creaked and buckled then shattered. Satoshi saw who it was, it was a boy he recognized as Kenji, one of that poser tough guy crowd, he had never liked him. But now he was staring at Satoshi with empty dead eyes, steeped in his own blood, switch blade in his right hand. Satoshi felt his chest heave, he could feel the vomit welling up inside him, he could see everything, Kenji's chest was being pushed up by the barbed spike, yellow liquid was dripping from his belly and leaking out of his wide mouth, it stank. Satoshi looked up, he saw something even more horrible. There, with a massive scratch across his chest, harpoon gun in his shaky hand, eyes wide with fear, was Yoshinori, his friend.

'Yoshi? What the fucking hell have you done!'

Yoshinori stared back at him, a tear rolled down his cheek, chin quivering, Satoshi had never seen him like this, Yoshinori slowly opened his mouth to reply.

'My….my finger slipped'

Masako

In the almost dead centre of the island there was a tall hill, almost a mountain. On the east ridge of this hill there was a cave, this is where Masako and Hanako decided to stay, not long after they found each other. Masako was a short girl with straight hair that didn't reach far past where her head met her neck; she had glasses that she wore more or less all the time. To anyone who had just met her she would seem very quiet and somewhat shy, to her friends she was neither of these things. She sat there, weighing her weapon in her hands, it was a musket, which anyone can tell you is a very old conventional weapon, Masako wasn't sure what to make of it, it looked brand new, some kind of restoration on an old theme. Hanako grabbed her shoulder.

'You don't plan on using that…thing, do you?'

She asked

'Not if I can help it, what did you end up with?'

Hanako, a slightly taller girl with longer, curly hair, produced a formidable looking ice pick from her bag

'I'm not entirely sure what this thing is.'

'It's an ice pick I think, it doesn't look it'd be much use in a fight.'

'I'm not going to fight anybo_'

'I know, I know.'

'Besides even if I could I_'

'Let's maybe talk about something else'

Hanako turned back around in thought. Masako had just said this to dodge any morbidity, she didn't want to think about any of the grim principles of this game, she'd never liked it, it always struck her as more of a guy thing, getting off on gore and things of that nature. She fumbled with the metal collar around her neck, she'd already tried to yank it off but it was futile, it was sealed tight. Strangely, she'd been able to handle the situation quite well, she hadn't cried, screamed or anything like that, Hanako on the other hand was midway through washing off the black lines of mascara when they bumped into each other.

Hanako at this point was checking the PDA, suddenly a look of shock crept over her face.

'Oh…oh no'

'What? What happened'

'Someone's gone.'

'Who? Who?'

'Kenji'

'Kenji? That kid who used to cut school every Thursday? Fuck, FUCK! I used to sit next to him in English, he…sometimes we talked about music and stuff.'

'I suppose we're going to have to get used to this.'

Right then there was a noise outside, footsteps began to emanate through the cave, Masako froze.

'Shit, who the hell is that?'

Before Hanako could answer a thankfully familiar voice sounded

'Hello?'

It was Kyo's, seconds later he emerged round the corner, Kyo was very tall, not quite the tallest, that honour belonged to Mitsuru, but he wasn't far off. He had long wild hair and often dressed in an abstract manner, now he was standing there, panting, with two Kama in one hand. Kama were one-handed weapons that resembled scythes, they were a traditional weapon in Japanese history. He also had a long bow slung over his shoulder, Masako remembered that horrible announcer mentioning a long bow. She was somewhat relieved to see Kyo, but it had been Yoshinori she'd wanted to emerge, she wasn't so much concerned for him, he could handle himself, but she worried how she'd get through this without him around.

Hanako by this point had already ran up to greet Kyo, who barely reacted to this, he was trying to catch his breath so he could speak.

'I…I…I…. you have to come with me'

He panted

'We….Why? Where?'

Questioned Masako

'I…I was scouting, I'm using one of the houses, I'm with Atsuko and Miho'

Mitsuru

It had been 12 hours, he may never see his family again, he'd been pitted against his best friends, his chances of survival were one in forty, and Mitsuru Oshii couldn't help but laugh. This may sound insensitive, but Mitsuru was the one who'd ended up with a ladle as a weapon. Fate as it seemed, was not without a sense of irony. Mitsuru was now travelling north east from the bottom corner of the island, he was with a boy named Yuji, Mitsuru didn't know him very well but they'd ran into each other early on and decided to stick together, considering this stunted baseball prodigy had ended up with a Katana as a weapon, it seemed like a wise move to stay with him. Mitsuru's defining attribute was his height, he was very, very tall with short cut hair, he was an advocate of bizarre comedy shows and Hayou Miyazaki movies, he had an absurdly childish sense of humour shared by some of his friends, his other friends either didn't understand his constant application of innuendo or were merely irritated by it. For all his messing around he retained some level of maturity, especially in a situation like this, he knew as well as anyone else how severe a predicament he was in, he knew about Kenji, it was shocking even if he hadn't liked him, but he was trying not to let panic consume him.

'Hey Mitsuru, you alright?'

'What? Yeah, fine, lets keep going.'

'Going where, specifically? We've been walking for quite a while now.'

'Urm, my palmtop says there's a cave through that section of forest, looks like a good place to hold up for a while.'

Yuji nodded silently. The two of them hadn't been conversing much, it'd been somewhat awkward, neither one really knew what to say to the other. Mitsuru's mind was warped with doubt, he was convinced he should have been able to apply himself in this situation; his father was in the military, he knew about situations like this. Or so he thought. No military figure in history had experienced a challenge of this magnitude. They moved into a section of trees, Mitsuru delved into his bag and fished out an energy bar, he figured food would help settle his uneasy mind. It did. The bar, as far as Mitsuru was concerned, was delicious, it had just the right texture, not too gritty and not too gooey, it seemed to be something positive to pull out of this situation. The only other pacification was thinking about home. Just like that Mitsuru had devised a way to pass the time.

'Hey, Yuji'

'Yeah?'

'Where would you rather be, right now?'

'Damn, that's a good question, I'm tired, but I don't want to be in bed for some reason, so… Hey I know, in my leather recliner, watching the game.'

'You have a leather recliner? That's ace'

Yuji chuckled; Mitsuru felt as if he was finally breaking the ice with this guy, hopefully he'd be able to keep it that way.

'Hey I tell you what else, I'd kill for an ice cold beer right about now, where the hell is Kaz when you need him?'

'Yeah, so you persuaded him to sneak them in?'

'He didn't take much persuading, yeah that's what I'd want, an afternoon game in the setting sun with a nice ice cold_'

It all happened so fast, the sound of the gunshot cut through the air like a razor sharp knife. The echo bounced off the trees and into the air; and time itself stood still. Yuji stood there, static, face paralysed in a final stare of fear incarnate. The image told the story, where the bullet had hit, what angle it hit at and where it came out; it burned into Mitsuru's memory and he could feel Yuji's blood on his face. Yuji crumpled to the floor, Mitsuru didn't have time to react before another shot sliced through the air. He felt it, burning, across his arm, Mitsuru fell to the ground. It hurt so much, this was all real, he was hiding in cover, a bullet had narrowly missed him and his classmate was lying face to face with him, stone dead.

Tetsuya

Welcome to hell. That's all that ran through Tetsuya's mind when he woke up in that metal case, welcome to hell. The chamber was where he still sat, he'd been checking the PDA on a regular basis and knew full well that Kenji and Yuji where dead. He wasn't particularly bothered about Kenji, but he'd known Yuji, he'd liked him, everyone liked Yuji, but few people actually knew him, Tetsuya considered himself to be one of the few. The weapon he'd been issued was a standard revolver, he wasn't even going to take it with him; to him it was a symbol of everything this wretched fucking game stood for. Tetsuya was a likeable guy; he had imagination and creativity to a degree not shared by many others. He valued his friends far more than most; no one could say a word against him. He was mid height with hair that was short at the back with a long slick over his eye. He was a renowned acrobat and dancer. He did have a habit of complaining in the same way Kazuo did, if a little more loudly than him.

He left the metal box and began to move in the direction of the main town, if there was anywhere to find refuge, he thought, it would be there. All that went through his mind was his friends, where they were, if they were dying, he just didn't know, he didn't want his last memory of Satoshi to be being flicked in the nose by him for the 8 millionth fucking time. At first he sang to himself to calm his nerves, but self-consciousness got the better of him, so he decided to run. The trees flew by him like the world was changing as fast as he was running; again and again he felt them brush against him. Eventually the inevitable burning heave in his chest subdued him, he had a stitch. He clutched one hand to his shirt, and then he tripped over something.

He hit the ground hard, his head knocked against the root of a tree, he immediately reached up to be sure he wasn't bleeding, luckily he wasn't. He turned to see what he'd tripped over. Suddenly his breath started to heave, he tried as best he could to hold back the vomit, for Temari, the girl who sat near him in maths and twirled her hair, was lying at his feet. She'd always got on his nerves, why twiddle her hair like that, and why all the goddamn time? But now, lying at his feet, pool of blood moving out like the tide, he felt something else. Not only was she dead, but she had an enormous gash clear through her left shoulder, Tetsuya could see her ribcage. Lying next to her, steeped in blood, was a chainsaw. What was worse, it had been blocked up, by Temari's flesh. Tetsuya couldn't hold it any longer; he vomited, and then lay, sprawled on the ground.

'Why? Why? FUCKING WHY?'

He squealed through his burnt throat.

After a very long time, he picked himself up, pulled his shirt collar up over his mouth, and looked through her pack. He took a second thermos, and then he saw something, her ammunition, it was gas canisters, for a flamethrower. He was aghast. Best-case scenario: she never took it with her, worst case: her killer had taken it. He tried to push such thoughts out of his head, and began to move on. He walked onward through often thick sections of forest, it had started getting dark and his movements were aimless, he often veered in random directions, having given up looking at his PDA and would stop to rest constantly for often long stretches of time.

It wasn't until about 3am that he finally pulled in at the town, from what he could tell it wasn't the dried out husk of a place he'd imagined, it looked like a traditional town, for all intents and purposes it was. There were several houses lined up around the area, along with a large barn and a tall bell tower with an adjacent living area. Before Tetsuya could take all of this in, a hand grabbed him from behind, dragging him back. In shock Tetsuya turned, facing him was a panicked looking Shinji, framed by a slick of moonlight. Shinji was on the baseball team, in the past year Tetsuya had come to realise he wasn't so much the tough guy anymore; he'd seemingly come to terms with his own intelligence so to speak. Here he was with a very formidable looking 12-gauge shotgun in hand. Before Tetsuya could speak let alone react, the sound of a gunshot flickered past them.

'What the hell?'

Tetsuya wheezed

'Suzuki, he has some kind of powerful pistol, he's had me pinned down for a while now, stick with me if you want to live, for now.'

Tetsuya silently obeyed, here he was in the middle of a gunfight between a right handed screwball pitcher and the only guy who got an A+ grade in Music theory, these were people he knew, liked, and related to. And all of them, all of them were going to die. Welcome to hell.

Atsuko

No one can tell you how you'll react when you're faced in a situation like Battle Royale, people can assume that you'd react in a certain way, but they can never be 100% sure. A lot of people would have said that Atsuko would have cried. She didn't. She sat, alone in her cell, curled up, and fell asleep, for 3 hours. There was no particular reason for this, but the shock had caused a system malfunction to some degree. She just didn't know how to feel, the only sure thing was that she would, come hell or high water, find her boyfriend, Satoshi. Atsuko was a medium height girl with not quite straight, not quite curly hair that she'd endlessly tinkered with the colour of in earlier years, of late she'd reached a satisfactory balance but the original pigment was lost to the ages. Her and Satoshi had been dating on and off for a number of years, their most recent relationship, a few blips aside, seemed to be the most serious and long-term commitment thus far, it was clear that she was very much in love with him and him with her. Her only goal at this point was to find him, but what then? That was the question she was blocking out, almost like covering her ears and yelling 'la la la' in a mental context. Denial wasn't advisable but it seemed to have been working, it wasn't going to work for ever, but that was the point, as soon as she found Satoshi, she could talk through it with him, all the more reason to find him, fast.

She hadn't been checking her PDA nor did she want to, knowing how her former classmates met their end would have been the final factor in her completely losing it. When she finally crawled out of the cell she found that the highest point on the island over looked her, she was in a wide expanse of grassland with few trees. It was here that she heard the crying. She walked towards the sound and began to hear her PDA beep in her bag, however no one was there. She decided to press on, yet she still heard it, the sobbing, echoing all around her. She moved back, her PDA was beeping again, she took it out to examine it, however when she did the beeping was not showing up on the radar, she could hear it, but it wasn't there. She looked up.

'Help me.'

A ghostly figure, a girl, had appeared right before her, the apparition whispered these words in her ear. Atsuko screamed and reared back. It was gone. She sat there, panting heavily, what had that thing been? What did it want? She only got a glimpse of the pale, tearful face, enough to see the empty, milky white eyes, but not enough to identify it. Slowly, quivering, she turned back. The crying returned, it haunted her every step, gradually, the tone changed and the crying morphed, into laughter. Atsuko turned and screeched

'Leave me alone!'

Why was it there, why was she there? Why had she been chosen for this? She felt the tears, but as she had been doing, held them back. A voice sounded from afar.

'Atsuko?'

It was Kyo's; he walked up the path with his bag hanging out of one hand, two scythe like weapons in the other. She ran up and embraced him, happy to see anyone.

'I heard you yelling, who were you talking to?'

'I… No-one.'

Kyo shrugged. They walked across a forest covered section of the island, Atsuko always kept Kyo talking, she didn't want to risk hearing the crying girl again. The forest was vast, angled light shone through the green leaves and bathed the entire area in fractured beams, the trees were beautiful, ironic that in an island that had seen so much death, there could still be beauty. The two of them reached a house, forgetting Kyo and overwhelmed by curiosity, Atsuko ventured inside. It was clean, too clean, fully furnished and immaculate, it even smelled nice. The thought of labouring cleaners replacing shot up tables and wiping blood from the walls was another that Atsuko tried to repress. The crying started again. It drifted down the hallways and surrounded her; only, it was a different tone this time. It sounded like someone else. Atsuko moved up the stairs, her PDA started beeping. The corridor seemed endless, the crying emanated from the last door on the left side. Slowly, she turned, and pushed the door open. There, slumped on the floor, was Miho, steeped in tears. Miho was a close friend of hers, shorter with dyed red hair, just as emotional, just as in love. Atsuko felt a sigh of relief. Then she turned; the ghost was standing behind her. It stood there, pure white skin, it was then Atsuko saw who it was, it was her. It stared, like a spectral mirror image, white eyes, wearing a tattered gold dress that flowed around its body and darkened away like silky liquid. It shivered, white hair blowing when there was no wind, its eyes returned, framed in glossy tears. It's white lips opened and uttered a single word.

'Cry'

The situation overwhelmed her. Atsuko let it all in, the fear, the doubt, the sorrow, tears began to roll down her cheeks. The ghost smiled, and faded away. Atsuko stumbled over to Miho; they sat together, and cried, and cried. It's never good to repress emotion, Atsuko learnt that fact the hard way, but on the first day of this horrible game, she learnt a valuable lesson, there would plenty more crying along the way.

Yoshinori

There was swearing. Had the cells not been sound proof, everyone around would have heard it, Yoshinori yelled every swear word under the sun when he was in that cell, he attacked the metal walls and screamed as anger overwhelmed him, there was no question that wrath was his sin. Yoshinori, Yoshi to his friends, was quite tall with long hair, he was very mathematically and scientifically intelligent, normally he had a good handle on his bad moods, but this had proved far too much for him. He eventually emerged from the cell, calmed, and with his own agenda, find his girlfriend Masako as quick as he could. Granted a lot of others had the exact same agenda, but he wasn't any less motivated. He found himself standing before a large mansion situated on the edge of a forest-covered hill. He'd given a lot of thought about how to apply himself. The first thing he did was to have breakfast. The energy bar was okay but the coffee was the crown jewel, he figured he must have been groggy from being knocked out, so it served as a wake up call. He also found needle marks on his skin. Knowing he'd been violated in this way infuriated him, but he kept it all in, he didn't want to lose his temper in the wrong situation.

After two cups of coffee, a battle bar and an egg mayonnaise sandwich, he headed into the house. As he walked in he instantly heard a loud beeping from his PDA, unzipping his bag he examined the map, it indicated that the person in question, was right above him. Suddenly he felt the onset of a new emotion, flooding all through his body, it was fear. The weapon he'd been given was a harpoon launcher; it was had a winch so the spear could be retrieved. He took it up in self-defence. He could barely move, the fear was petrifying, making him as to stone and he didn't know why. He took out his MP3, selected a particularly heavy album, put the volume up to full and listened. He used the music in his ears to drown out the fear, for the most part, it worked. He moved quickly up the stairs. The hallway was an L-shape with another flight of stairs at the other end, the traditional doors were paper thin, he'd easily be able to see the person, he thought. He moved around and towards the door and saw a glint of shadow. He calmed himself and slowly placed his hand on the door, then heard sliding, the one behind him had opened. He felt a tug on his earphones then felt them loosen, whoever it was had cut the wire. The next thing he felt was cold steel against his neck.

'Hey Yoshi, how's life?'

That voice, it was Kenji, that arrogant poser, Yoshinori had never liked him much before and he fucking hated him now, he tried to hold the anger in yet again. Kenji pulled him back into the next room and kicked the door shut.

'You're all mine, I'm going to slice your head off, it'll make a nice gift for Masako, maybe I'll kill her too, you know, after whatever else I feel like doing.'

Yoshinori felt something well up inside him, he drove his elbow into Kenji's chest, it knocked him back. Kenji yelled out and sliced blindly, Yoshinori felt the burning run across his chest, then the blood. He was not angry, he was calm, he knew what he had to do, he had to kill him, not for anger, not for retaliation, Kenji was a threat to his life. Kenji intended to kill him. Kenji had to die. Calmly, Yoshinori took up his harpoon gun, steadied his aim, and pulled the trigger. In a cloud of dust the spike blasted out of the gun with a metal clunk, he heard it impact, first against flesh, then bone. Suddenly a quiver ran over his body. The dust cleared. Blood flooded the floors. Kenji's frozen look of shock stared back at him. Kenji's insides were ripped apart. Kenji was dead. Yoshinori had murdered Kenji. Yoshinori was a murderer. And there, as Kenji's corpse crashed through the brittle paper of the doors, staring back at Yoshinori, was Satoshi.