Hi everyone! This is my first Battle Royale fic ^_^ Hope you enjoy it

Noriko Nakagawa is tied to 3 people: Shuya, Kawada and Kitano. These ties begin to sever when she realises that she could use her innocent, shy schoolgirl image to her advantage and stand a chance in winning the Battle Royale Programme. Her instrinct to survive brings her to the decision to kill Shuya and Kawada, her two saviours if she stands a chance of getting to and killing Kitano, the man who put the 42 students on the island to kill one another. But will the brainwashing effects of the game get her killed first? And when she feels such strong passion for Shuya, Kawada and even her own teacher, could she ever betray their trust?

Chapter 1: Noriko's attraction to Kitano makes Kawada furious after she tells him her dream. But when the pressure of perhaps never seeing Shuya again crosses her mind when she wakes up and he's not there, she's terrified and Kawada becomes concerned. After revealing a secret to her, Noriko seizes her opportunity to strike...

For one short, precious hour, everthing was perfect. Dreams became reality, and nightmare's reality was far behind me. The taste of blood was exchanged for cool, refreshing ice-lollies, the screams of agony ceased and became birdsong, and the ominous waves that hit the island became a gentle stream flowing by my feet. But what made everything perfect was the friendly face I dearly missed and knew I would never see it again. The face of Kitano.

Under the sepia smog of the city we walked side-by-side, mostly silent, just staring ahead. Sweat clung to our faces and the air was thick with urban noise, but we were happy. Just walking together. Me, his student. Kitano, my teacher. I never did have that many friends until Shuya really came into my life, but Kitano, in those days of boycotting school and nationwide rebellion, became someone I could speak to without fearing what he would say.

He was the Kitano I remembered, the Kitano in my dream. He was chatty, healthy... there was no gunshot wound on his thigh where Nobu had shot him. Yet his dark eyes held a hidden fear that he thought he could disguise well. This was not the kind Kitano I knew who died broken by society and the rejection of his daughter. Swimming in the brown waves of his troubled eyes was laughter, sarcasm even. I was so absorbed in the emotions in his eyes that I struggle now to remember what we were saying…

"You OK?"

"What?" I quickly snapped out of my reverie. Kitano smiled slightly.

"Anybody sees us together, they'll lock you right back in the toilet."

Did I really care? Then again, being terrorized by Mitsuko and her gang was never a pleasant experience. I would sometimes spend hours after school in claustrophobic silence before someone found me. Usually the cleaner.

"It'll be somebody else's turn," I replied with a faint smile.

Kitano studied my face as I quickened my pace to match his. "Are my classes boring?" he asked.

"Yes," I chuckled, and it was the truth. However, despite the fact I was the only one attempting to endure his long, boring lectures, I sometimes learnt things. I would try and help Nobu too, teach him what I learnt, but all he would say was "Ah Nori, what's the point? I'll forget it all anyway!". Yet he still seemed more than keen to be in my company, even when I tried to pass on Kitano's knowledge. I began to wonder what he was really thinking. His eyes, like Kitano's, held secrets I knew he was guarding but they were much less sinister.

"How dare you," Kitano said with a mock frown. "I go into class... You guys all look like a pile of potatoes. Slappin' em around helped me tell 'em apart, even got to like 'em. But not anymore. Now you touch a student, you're fired."

His cheerful tone had vanished and suddenly his face darkened, became much more sinister. "Can't even lose it when a student stabs you!"

We stopped walking then. I stared into the angered brown waves. "I'll tell you just one thing," I said.

"What?"

"That knife that stabbed you... Actually, I keep it in my desk at home." Why I said that I had no idea. Was this a lucid dream? Did I really know what I was saying? "When I picked it up, I wasn't sure... but now, for some reason, I really treasure it." I was losing unconsciousness fast; the solid shapes of reality flickering before my eyes again, the smell of death pulling at my eyelids. But there was so much I still wanted to say... "Our secret. Just between us."

"Listen, Noriko," Kitano's face changed again, suddenly more tranquil. My dream was ending. My throat closed and tightened painfully as I tried to tell him my time was running out. "Yes?"

"What do you think a grown-up should say to a kid now?"

A grown-up could say anything, I wanted to say. A grown-up could say that I was telling the truth all along, even when everyone else turned their backs on you. A grown-up could say I was not to blame. Children were not to blame. I couldn't answer Kitano's question. A fire coughed and spat somewhere in reality, forcing thick, choking smoke down my lungs. Kitano was gone, lost in my watery eyes, fading slowly into the light...

All too soon had perfection been torn away, clawed from her hands by the stench of burning leaves. Noriko woke, startled by the suddenness of the dream's disappearance. Kitano was gone. Her palms were cold with sweat, cooled by the evening breeze. Slowly the sights and sounds of all that was real stirred in her mind and her nightmare resumed.

...Kitano?

"You OK?" Kawada sat only a metre away, pausing his cooking over a basic stove. It occurred to her then that the missing face of Kitano really linked to another dearly missed face... dearly missed faces. "Nori?"

"Oh, er... I had a dream."

"A dream, eh? What about?"

"Erm, it was about..." Noriko knew that saying she dreamt about Kitano would cause unwanted curiosity. Her dreams were private, her own little haven which made sense to her.

It's our secret...

The fire crackled as Kawada absent-mindedly added more wood to it. Noriko focused on his eyes. They were so much more easy to comprehend than Kitano's, but not as understandable as Nobu's had been. The flames flickered in his dark eyes, and somewhere deep within them held anxiety, curiosity...and another peculiar emotion but she couldn't quite place it. "... Is this to do with Shuya?"

"N-no, not Shuya," she stammered, although that reminded her that Shuya had been missing for several hours now. Terrified by Kiriyama's relentless gunfire she had fled with Kawada into the forest, watching with pain as great as the gunshot wound to her leg as her dearest friend vanished into the darkness. His valour had saved their lives, but whether it saved his own was a story she was dreading the conclusion of. "But is he OK? Is Shuya back yet?"

"Does it look like he is, Nori?" Kawada replied sarcastically. "Sorry, but your boyfriend isn't back yet."

"He's not... he's not my boyfriend!" Noriko retorted. "My dream was about Kitano!"

Before Kawada could even begin laughing at his teasing, his face turned sour. "...Of all people you had to dream about, you dreamt about him? The guy who never lifted a finger to stop you kids from this torture? No, worse than torture... Please tell me you were skinning the guy alive and pumping his brainless skull full of lead."

Noriko shuddered. "No...no of course not. How could you even think that? What Kitano's doing to us... he has no choice. It's the Programme. That's what has caused him to change."

In one brisk movement Kawada leapt to his feet, his arms tensed. Fury burned like poison through his veins and his glare cut through Noriko's defenses like a guillotine. "That man...that piece of scum... please Noriko, don't go on his side." As composed as he looked, his voice wavered dangerously. "He's had since 1945 to make up his mind. We won the war. Grown-ups won the war, giving them the right to decide our fate. Now look at the sad, downright ugly state this country is. You think that's acceptable?"

"O-of course not, Kawada-san!" Noriko breathed. "I never said that was acceptable!"

"Then tell me what this dream was about. I'm intrigued now that you've lit the fuse of my political opinion."

Doubt flashed across Noriko's mind. The smoky, specter-like gas from the cooking stove drifted lazily past her face, less pungent now that Kawada had stop adding fuel. Never one to contribute to political argument, she felt it was her only choice to sway the conversation back to Kitano.

"Well," She shuffled forward on a ragged tatami mat and stared down at her hands. "It was nothing really. We were walking along a river,"

"Hmm, OK," Kawada said impassively. "Carry on,"

"We were talking about… school,"

"School?"

"Yes, about how he used to like us, but then…he lost faith in us as respectable teenagers." A delicious aroma exuded from the bowl on the stove. Kawada dipped a wooden spoon into it, his face a storm cloud on the verge of explosion. He sniffed the mixture and returned the spoon to the mat beside him. "How do you cook so well, Kawada? I was never so good at it at-"

"I said carry on," Kawada snapped, startling warm tears into Noriko's eyes.

"Oh, OK." She paused to compose herself. The true ferocity of Kawada's nature had seeped through the tough armour he'd worn for the past two days. It was a shock to anyone's system, particularly when the pressure of killing was so powerful that no one knew who to trust anymore. "He seemed upset that nobody wanted to attend his classes except me. Well, I would, but they were so boring, Kawada-chan! It would have been nice to have you and Shuya with me so I wouldn't be lonely,"

Kawada eyed her, the faintest glimmer of a smirk playing on his lips. "Riiiiight…"

"No, I'm serious Kawada-chan!" Noriko said more cheerfully. "I've never really had that many true friends. Megumi… she was one of the greatest friends I ever had, and now… Anyway, enough of that or I'll get upset again…"

"Too right. You can't afford to be a coward in this game," said Kawada. A new smell, the tantalizing tang of teriyaki bubbled from the bowl. Noriko's stomach growled longingly.

"Er… yes of course. Anyway, we were talking about school and how he couldn't hit back at Nobu when he attacked him. And I still have the knife that stabbed him, believe it or not. I told him this and… he asked me what a grown-up would say to a kid now. I wanted to answer but the dream ended too soon."

"Too soon? Id've been glad to get outta that nightmare!" Kawada interjected. "I would have said 'What the hell? Do you have some kind of obsession with me, Nori? You love me so much that you'd even keep the knife with my blood on that could've killed me?'"

Shock electrocuted Noriko. "W-what?! You think I love Kitano?!"

"Did I hit the nail on the head?"

"I-I…"

"Just say it, Nori," A smug grin spread across Kawada's face, but his body stance told a different story. Noriko's whole body shuddered with anguish. Her own mind had disconnected from her when she had joined the game, controlling itself, manipulating her thoughts. Perhaps this was another self-consciously planted seed she had never realised until now. "Kawada.-chan…" she choked, tears clouding her eyes. "I don't know what I want anymore!"

Fiercely she threw her head to the floor, her body arching awkwardly, agonizing sobs tore up through her throat as confusion swallowed her trembling form. Too often had Kawada seen it before; the truth of the nightmare eating away at sanity. Along with loss of sanity came the soul-destroying bereavement of not knowing who you are or what you want. Even his beloved Keiko has gone through the phase, snapping out of it only a few hours before her death.

He couldn't let Noriko destroy herself.

"Noriko, I'm sorry."

"No! You're not sorry at all!" she screamed, balling her hands into fists. "So what if I feel something towards Kitano? I feel much more strongly for Shuya! I…I-"

"Nori, it's OK. I shouldn't have said those things. You were on the brink of losing yourself already," Kawada said, a gentle voice breaking through the tough defense. "I know you don't feel anything towards Kitano. The game makes you think outrageous things. In the first game I played, a guy was chasing after a girl he'd hardly ever looked at in class…"

"But Kawada, I want Shuya…"

"People in this world are wanting things all the time but never get them. The world doesn't work like that. It never has."

And indeed, what he said was true. Noriko turned her heard, stared out into the foggy abyss hiding the island's carnage and knew in her heart that Shuya was one of those things she couldn't reach out for. He was a shield, a crutch to lean on while her wounds healed, a friend, a stepping-stone to freedom.

"I can't just sit here…"

"We have no choice," Kawada sighed. "At least until this area becomes a danger zone. We don't know who we'll run into if we just charge out into the unknown."

"You say people want things but never get them?" Noriko exclaimed. "Well that's because nobody ever tries to get them anymore! They expect others to do their deeds for them!"

Suddenly, Kawada's eyes softened. "Oh believe me, people do try. Harder than you think."

The bubbling mixture in the pot on the stove was cooling now. The smell was not as strong now that the fog had descended lower, leaving a damp taste to the air. Noriko turned back to Kawada. A faint glimmer of hope reflected back in her eyes. "What do you mean, Kawada-chan?"

"What I mean, Nori, is… I've wanted something quite recently but it's impossible for me to get it,"

"Oh, you mean…"

"No, I don't mean Keiko. I've wished for Keiko but wishing will never bring her back."

"Kawada-chan, what is it you want?" A lone gunshot pierced the air, echoed, and disappeared. The stove stopped burning.

"Nori, I want you."

Gunfire stammered like claps of thunder over the hut. What was more shocking, the gunshots or the proclamation, Noriko didn't know. Before anything else could be said, Kawada dragged her forcefully into the hut and slammed the door as the shots rang louder.

"They're close but they won't come near us, I hope,"

Noriko, shaken by the unexpected turn of events, prized Kawada's fingers from her arm and backed away. "W-what did you just say?"

Furiously Kawada pulled out his bag of weapons that he'd stashed beside the door and pulled out a handful of grenades. He gently turned the dormant weapon in his palm, tapping the pin lightly with his forefinger. "This should keep 'em away if they get too close,"

"Kawada, please answer me,"

The lack of '-chan' snapped his head round. A broken double bed had been slammed haphazardly against the unpainted wall and Noriko sat upon up hugging her knees tightly against her chest. Her satchel which had not so long ago been burdened with useless items such as a pair of binoculars as her only weapon, held a shotgun which Kawada had managed to scrounge from a dead corpse's arsenal. She pulled it out. She held it uneasily In her hand.

"Oh, Nori," Kawada said quietly, placing the grenade back in his bag. "I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm only speaking the truth."

"But you don't though," Noriko replied. "True and false don't exist here. I don't believe you."

"I've protected you and Shuya since the game started. You would be dead if I hadn't found you two. You've trusted me with your lives." Kawada approached the terrified girl but hesitated as her small fingers tightened on the trigger. "Please, Nori, I'm not armed."

"Hm…"

Slowly Kawada raised his hands and sat down next to her. They both knew she would never kill if given a choice, but as the instinct to survive as the number of students dwindled, the pressure to kill only became greater. Like a vet would do so to an injured wild animal, Kawada gently stroked her shoulder with his fingers. Noriko flinched from the touch but allowed herself to feel it.

"Shuya…" she whispered. Fresh tears swelled in her frightened brown eyes. "Kawada… he isn't coming back, is he?"

"I can't answer that. All we can do is hope he gets back safe." Noriko bowed her head, allowing her hair to hide the falling tears on her cheeks. Kawada's fingers soothingly caressed the exposed skin of her neck. "Ah, Nori, you know it kills me to see you crying again,"

"What if he's dead, Kawada? What hope do we have?"

"You have me, Nori," Kawada replied, pulling her into a tight embrace. To his surprise, she did not try to pull away from it. "Right now, think about yourself and what you need to survive."

Her right hand which still held the gun relaxed as Kawada's hand slid softly under her fingers and entwined around them. It fell with a clatter to the floor. The air was silent now apart from their breaths and the ocean waves. Noriko lifted her head and forced a weary smile.

"I know what I want," she whispered into his neck. "And I want Shuya."

"I know you do," Kawada sighed, smiling back at her. Impatience expanded like a balloon in his chest just from the suspence of her tentative pauses.

"But I know what I need, too." Tightly she squeezed his hand. "I need you,"

And even then as she said those words she felt the ties which bound her to her saviours loosen on her strongest rope and tighten on the other. The equilibrium that she had tried for so long to keep between friendship and love toppled with willingness and scattered their significance into meaningless words as her lips searched for Kawada's. An ice-cold sensation jolted down the older boy's spine as the reality of her soft lips crossed the boundaries of his fantasies. Every cell of Noriko's body that had ached to be released from her perfect schoolgirl image dissolved, leaving her desires to take over. An urge to dirty her image, to be a normal teenage girl in a corrupt society intensified her lust, the power of her kiss. She had taken a back seat in life for too long. Urgently her hands clawed at Kawada's to slide shamelessly against her thighs, disappearing under her skirt.

"Noriko, I… I didn't know you felt-"

"Save your breath, Kawada-chan…" Noriko whispered seductively into his ear. The distraction of her tongue –not only laced with allure, but her hypnotic taste- paralyzed Kawada as her hands discreetly unbuckled the belt on his jeans. The feeling was unbearable… for once Kawada had no control of his body. Here she was, the girl he thought could fill the space in his heart Keiko had left behind… someone so innocent and weak… but was now thriving off of violent lust. The straining muscles that fought against her powerful advance failed him and the girl mistook it for surrender. In one swift movement, he was beneath her body; pinned down and at her mercy.

"N-Noriko, what the hell are you d-doing?" Kawada managed to choke out the words. Still busily prying the buttons from his now loosened jeans, she said, "You do know there is only one day left, don't you?"

"Oh, Nori, please don't fall to that level… Don't throw your virginity away just for the sake of it."

"Dammit, Shogo! Don't you understand? We're going to die in 24 hours. 39 people die and only one can live! Right now I'm living my life to the full."

Kawada gaped at her, shocked that she had used his first name. "But only the reckless will throw away the one precious thing left in the last hours of their lives. For God's sake, Noriko, you're only 15! If you value yourself you'll stop this right now!"

"I'm sorry," Noriko breathed, successfully freeing the last button. "But I'm sick and tired of being the girl who's never noticed. I'm going to die and I want to make the most of the last hours of my life. Now, are you ready?"

Forcing her lips down onto his once again, the boy could not give an objection. His body convulsed as her fingers hungrily traced the contours of the toned stomach beneath his shirt. The reaction amused her, and again she would tease the spasms from him.

"Noriko… stop this now,"

"No,"

"Noriko, I'm not going to say it again,"

"Then don't!"

It was all over in a matter of seconds. Kawada freed his arms and released the dying energy in his arms in one powerful swipe at the girl's face. The hard knuckles of his hand connected with Noriko's jaw, sending her flying off the bed and onto the floor in a cowering, screaming heap by the door. "Oh…my…" A trickle of dark blood oozed from her bottom lip. "I'm s-so…"

"Just shut up, Nori," Kawada hissed. "What the hell has happened to you?"

Hurriedly Noriko straightened her blouse and stood up formally. "I lost it, Kawada-chan. I couldn't control myself. I-"

"Stop, Nori," Kawada sighed impatiently. "I know what this is about."

"Just forget anything happened, OK? I don't know what happened… It was like I wasn't me." Noriko replied.

"But that's not the whole truth, is it?" Kawada slowly rose from the bed to button his jeans, his face flushed with embarrassment. Noriko waited for him to continue but even after his jeans were buttoned there was no further comment.

"W-what truth haven't I said?" she stammered. "I've admitted everything! I was in the wrong, OK? I'm sorry. Really,"

This only made Kawada laugh. "Deep down, I know you know,"

A confused silence followed. "OK, OK, we can't waste any time. We're finding Shuya."

"What?"

"Haha, you know what." Those words alone were enough to stun Noriko into silence again.

"Only Shuya can knock the sense back into you!"

And, as those words were spoken, I really had no clue what he meant. It was only as he grabbed my wrist and walked with me through the empty woods that I realised, deep down, I was a prisoner in more senses than one. A prisoner to the damned island. A prisoner to Shuya. A prisoner to Kawada. And… dare I even say it? I was a prisoner to Kitano. Something bound me those people. The scales had been tipped. I didn't know who I wanted. I didn't know what I wanted.

I couldn't tell Kawada the truth. I couldn't tell him I was bound to him, loved him and had just attempted to kill him.

Little did I know that I would soon not only be breaking my ties to Kawada; all three bonds would be severed, endangered as if every person was an object of a gambling obsession.

I would be losing everything.

Woo first chapter done! I intended the plot of the story to be only a Noriko x Kawada oneshot but then it grew into something a bit more complicated. ^_^ Please review!