Warning:
This will include language and gore. Do not read if you think it is not appropriate for you. If you don't listen and it makes you upset, haha, that's not my fault. You have been warned m8.

~~~
The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. The group of government officials sat anxiously in their chairs, all focusing on one thing: the glass bowl in the center of the room. It was huge, big enough to hold a highschooler's desk chair. However, it held not a chair, but instead thousands of sealed envelopes. These envelopes held names of ninth grade classes throughout the Republic of Greater East Asia.

"Alright, I want to get this over with. Enough moping around."

The man that was speaking was Riku Yamazaki. He held one of the highest ranking jobs in the room, and everyone straightened their spine out of mandatory respect. Riku Yamazaki was a short, thin man with a face that was in a permanent scowl. He rarely smiled or laughed, and glared at everyone with a fake smile that seemed to say, you're worthless. As a big fan of the Program, he loved to select the classes that had to compete. It was the highlight of his year, every year. He used to be the person who went to the island with the children and informed them about what they were about to endure, but then "that stupid girl" took his place.

"I said no more moping about!" Yamazaki said, raising his voice. "This is one of the most important events this year and you all are looking like it's you about to die!"

Only the hum of the rotating fan above their heads made a sound. Yamazaki smiled and walked towards the glass bowl. "Fujimoto! What is this? The twenty-second one this year?"

A large man cleared his throat and stood up, accidentally pushing the small chair he was sitting on backwards. "Uh, uh... no, it's the, uh... twenty-sixth, sir."

Yamazaki nodded his head and bent over, sticking his left arm into the glass. He muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes. A few workers silently prayed, because they had children in the ninth grade. Just because their parent worked in the government did not mean they were going to be excluded. Yamazaki eventually pulled out a pure white envelope. Everyone held their breath, because even if you had no family in the grade, you were still reminded of all the young life lost. Not that they could express their true feelings, of course. Immense punishment awaited anybody that dared question the rules and ways.

Fingers trembling from excitement, he ripped off the flap of the envelope. He pulled out the small slip of paper with the class and school name written in midnight black ink from the typewriter it was typed on. Holding on to the paper with both hands, the envelope fluttered to the ground, landing with the back to the air. The postal stamp that held the design of the letters BR surrounded by red leaves, the logo of the Program, was there for the entire room to see. Just another reminder that the Program is very much real.

Yamazaki's voice was clear, even a bit melodic. Like when an adult soothes a young child to sleep. Reading from the card, he announced, "Class 9-C. Sakura Academy."

~~
List of Students:

Male Students:
1. Ryuu Abe
2. Yori Akiyama
3. Masaru Fujita
4. Kenta Hashimoto
5. Arata Honda
6. Jiro Ikeda
7. Hiroto Inoue
8. Naoki Kawaguchi
9. Yuuto Kimura
10. Kuro Kobayashi
11. Kenji Kurosawa
12. Henry Landon
13. Ryouta Maki
14. Gaku Matsuoka
15. Gorou Matsuoka
16. Haruto Mori
17. Aoi Nakajima
18. Daisuke Oshiro

Female Students:
1. Kaori Aishi
2. Hina Fukui
3. Youko Hamasaki
4. Masami Himura
5. Yuri Ito
6. Sayuri Kato
7. Riko Kita
8. Satomi Maeda
9. Moriko Matsumoto
10. Ami Minami
11. Ayano Saito
12. Koharu Suzuki
13. Miho Tanaka
14. Rei Ueno
15. Yumi Yamada
16. Mio Yamamoto
17. Hana Yamashita
18. Hoshi Yukimura