Once,when I was a little girl, I fell in love. I didn't realize it right away, as I was a year younger than he and the daughter of one of his many nannies. At the time, to me, he was just another kid to play with. I never would have thought he would become such a fixture in my life. When we met he was four and I was three.
Mishima Ishiko
We would play hide and seek and tag in his giant house. Sometimes it could take up to half an hour to find each other during hide and seek. The backyard was filled with every piece of playground equipment a kid could dream of. Swings, slides, monkey bars, everything. Some days we'd just sit on the titter totter or ride the Merry Go Round for hours. If I ever fell he was there to make my boo boos better.
When he started school I was devastated. I was used to being around him all the time and once he started school I only saw him on the weekends. My mother was only his daytime nanny. We didn't play as much as we used to. After he did his homework, if he had any, I would sit next to him on the piano bench while he mimicked the likes of some of the greatest classical composers ever. Some days he would create his own pieces. The Christmas even when we were five we saw The Nutcracker performed by Japan's National Ballet. That night we laid under the Christmas tree, me sharing my Christmas wishes. I told him that one day I wanted to become a ballerina. He promised me I would become one. The day after Christmas his father's chaffer dropped me off in front of the Ehime Prefecture's finest ballet school. He watched all my lessons.
When it was time for me to start school I begged my mother to send me to the same elementary school as him. On my first day of school I regretted it. He acted like he didn't even know me. I went home in tears. Even though I knew he wanted me to come over, the next day I went over to the house of a girl I met in class. The day after that he approached me after my ballet lesson. I didn't see him sitting the back during practice. "Where were you yesterday? I wrote a new piece I wanted you to hear." I said just, just stared up at him, dark eyes full of hurt. "Was it because of the other day?" I nodded. He said nothing as he turned to walk away. He glanced at me over his shoulder. "You coming?" His hand reached out for mine. I giggled and ran after him, my hand taking his.
To this day I can still hear the song in my head. It was so full of emotion. It was a very dark and depressing song, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. He sat there, wiping away my tears with his thumb, unfazed. That song was sad enough to make any six year old cry.
The older we got the less we saw of each other. When he was ten his father had decided he was old enough and released all the nannies. I had taken a greater interest in ballet and my lessons had been increased to four times a week. He stopped coming to all my lessons. The summer I was eight I had my first lead role in a production. He missed it. I would go over there from time to time. He would help me with my homework(as he was much smarter than I) or sometimes I would just listen to him play for hours. Sometimes I would dance as he played, creating my own dances to go with his music. After he graduated elementary school his father and he moved to the Kagawa Prefecture, as did my mother and I.
By the time I joined him at Shiroiwa Junior High my hormones had kicked in and I realized I had a crush on him all these years. I took to staying at his side between classes. He would walk me to and from them. He seemed pleased with having a pretty ballerina by his side. Between my cool, poise ballet attitude and my association with him I was coined the class Ice Queen.
"But Kazuo, listen to me." He, Kiriyama Kazuo, stared down at me. I was stretched across his bed, my head in his lap. "I don't like those guys Kazuo. They're always around. Their stealing is going to get you in trouble and Mitsuru made your hair look stupid." Once, Kazuo wore his longer black hair loose, allwoing it to frame his beautiful face. Now it was slicked back in an obnoxious manner. "I miss you Kazuo. Don't you miss me?" Kazuo shook his head. "You haven't figured it out by now? I feel no emotion Ishiko. I don't get happy or sad. I don't miss anyone or get jealous. I could rape you right now and not feel guilty about it." I shook my head. "You wouldn't." "I could. You're a wonderful girl Ishiko and an incredibly talented dancer. Go, find someone who can love you. I'm sure Mimiura Shinji would love to take my place." I sat up and looked at him. "I don't care. I don't want to love anyone but you Kazuo, ever. Rape me, use me, hurt me, I don't care. Just let me be by your side, always." Kazuo shook his head and pinned me down on his bed. "I think you will care."
A hand grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled, buttons popping off. His lips found one of my nipples. Slowly he began to bit down harder. A moan gave way to a scream. "Stop it Kazuo. That hurts!" He didn't stop though, not until I felt warmth trickling down the side of my chest. Tears welled in my eyes. "I'm sure this is not what you had in mind for your first time. His fingers hiked up my skirt. I hear a tear as he ripped my panties. He stripped down, revealing himself before climbing over me. "I wish I was sorry." I cried out as I felt him enter me. The pain was unbearable. Tears trickled down my cheeks as I waited for his warmth to fill me. When it did he rolled off of me, gathering me in his arms. Forgive me, always, for your own sanity." His thumb wiped away my tears as I cried. "I don't care. Just let me love you."
I could have tried to fight him off. Kazuo had trained me in various martial arts himself, but he was the superior fighter. My legs were strong, yes, but I was still only a ballerina. I could have screamed but it would have done me no good as the servants were out doing shopping. It was fall when that happened and Kazuo moved my mother and I into his giant house. Word got around school that I had moved in with him and along with being coined the Ice Queen I was coined the token "Bad Girl" as well.
I still remember the day I found out that Kazuo had been kidnapped for the program. It still seems like only yesterday yet more than three years have passed.
School let out. I walked Kazuo and his gang to the bus that was waiting for them. It was nearing the end of the year and his class was going to an island for three days as their graduation trip. It was the longest I would have been away from him since I started junior high almost two years prior. He was never very affectionate in public, that was just his nature. That day he held me close. The fingers of one hand ran through the ends of my hair, the other wiping away tears. "I'm going to miss you Kazuo. I'm going to be lost without you." His hands reached behind his neck, undoing the clasp of the silver chain he always wore. I had gotten it for him Christmas during his first year in junior high. He draped it around my neck and clasped it. A finger raised my head up and his lips found mine in the sweetest kiss he ever gave me. "I love you Kazuo." A nod. It was always his response. "I love you too and I will miss you." They were empty words but I didn't care. I needed to hear them and he knew that. He gave me a final kiss goodbye before boarding the bus. I didn't leave until the bus was out of sight.
I had been in the shower when my mother heard the news. Some military officials contacted his father at work and his father sent word right away. Mother came running into my bathroom, frantic. "Kazuo...The Program..." It took a moment to sink in but when it did there was a scream and everything went black. I woke up in the early hours of the morning, panicking because Kazuo was not there with me. The doctor told my mother I was in shock as I held Kazuo's pillow. He said I just needed a couple of days of rest. I would not rest though. I was dressed and ready for school at my usual time.
When I arrived I went straight to the headmaster's office. I ignored his secretary's protests as I stormed into the inner office. "How could you? How could you let them take Kazuo?" He looked up at me. "Do you think I wanted thi? Do you think I asked for one of my classes to get picked for The Program?" Tears were streaming down my face. "Why didn't you try to stop them?" He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "There was nothing I could have done. No use getting killed over spilt milk. Listen to me Ishiko, he stands a good chance at surviving. His mental condition will prevent him from any feelings of regret or guilt. He just might make it through." I pulled away and stared up at him. "I will see you in three days." Without another word I turned and left the office.
For three days I waited at home with the news channel on. I spent the better part of those days dancing. I could hear his music in my head and danced myself to exhaustion. I was lying in bed when they begin to show live footage from the end of the game. It wasn't Kiriyama Kazuo that I was staring at as the winner, but Kawada Shogo. I returned to school but three days late. I had spent those three days in a mental institution.
At the end of my second year my mother and I moved to a new prefecture. She didn't want me near all those memories. I refused to take ballet. I went to school, came home, and slept. It was a cold November day when a late breaking news segment interrupted the movie I was watching. It was live footage of the end of this year's Battle Royale. They said his name was Yonai Kengo. I was drawn to the television. The cold, emotionless look on his face. Those empty, near black eyes. My fingertips brushed across his cheek, but only felt the cool glass of the television. The feed stopped. I failed my third year of junior high. Mother and I moved again.
I returned to ballet. I used my charm to seduce the three toughest guys in my class. I had a good feeling about this clas. I became like Kazuo. A ring leader, emotionless and void. One day they announced a class ski trip. I knew. I smiled to myself. This was what I had been waiting for.
While the rest of my class freaked out, wanting to know what was going on, I just sat there, fingering the silver chain around my neck. I don't have the time nor the want to recap those events. I set a new record; One day, Eighteen hours, and Forty-Two minutes. I used my three goons as my weapons and my shields. I turned Miyavi and Daisuke against each other. Kyo...I killed him to win the game. Upon my win I was institutionalized again.
For nine months I was locked away in that place. One day I had received a visitor. My mother had stopped coming to see me after the first month. He claimed to be the uncle of someone I went to school with who had liked me. He said his nephew was Mimiura Shinji. He gave me a letter he claimed Shinji had wrote before he was kidnapped. It was really from Nanahara Shuuya, begging me to escape the hospital and join him. That was a name I hadn't thought of in a longtime. He also told me to get in contact with Shinji's uncle when I got out. There was also a letter in there from Shinji's uncle, explaining a bit about The Wild Seven. Two months later I was released.
Mimura got me to a small town in South Korea, telling me Shuuya would be there in a few days. I used that time to learn about The Resistance. The townsfolk were mostly Japanese anti-government exiles so most of the books in their library were in Japanese. I had read and learned a lot over those three days.
"Once, I wondered how you could love someone like Kiriyama." The voice behind me was one I had not heard in years. I turned around to see Nanahara Shuuya standing there. "Then, when I saw you standing there, victorious I knew that it no longer mattered why. Just that you did love him. You fought for him, just like I fought to keep Noriko safe." A name I hadn't heard in just as long. We had never spoken but knew who each other were. I knew him as the star basketball player and Rock music enthusiast. He knew me as Kazuo's girlfriend and the girl Mimura Shinji was liked but would never have. "Shuuya..." Tears welled up in my eyes at the sight of Kazuo's former classmate. Our non-existant past no longer seemed to matter as he held me, wiping away my tears. If was the first time I felt compassion from a man. That made me cry harder.
He took back to a small village on the west side of Japan's coastline. We spent two days together. We talked about memories from school, our games, many different things. I wasn't sure I wanted to know but I had to ask anyway. "Shu, what was he like? During the game." I stared up at the leader of the Wild Seven. "He was ruthless. Almost anyone who got in his way never lived to tell about it. He would have killed you without a second thought. He was playing the game." Again, I was curious. "Who..." "Kawada Shogo. I am guilty of trying to kill him twice." I understood.
Later, "I know it doesn't matter but why Kiriyama?" I looked at him. I thought for a moment and couldn't help but smile. "I've known Kazuo for as long as I remember. My mother was one of his nannies. We went to elementary school together. I adored him. He wrote his first piano piece when he was five. Martial arts and athletics came natural for him. I never once saw him study but he always got perfect marks." My smile got bigger. "Christmas Eve when we were five he promised to make me a ballerina and he did. He was perfect in every way, except he couldn't feel any emotion..." "But he always treated you right?" My face saddened. "He tried, but sometimes...Oh don't you think like that Shuuya! Most of the time he did. He loved me in his own way." "But you always forgave him?" "Always, for my own sanity." Shuuya knelt down in front of me and wiped away my tears.
A couple of days later Shuuya and Sakai Mitsugu left, leaving me with two other Wild Seven members, Mitsugu's girlfriend Aya and their infant Takashi, and the rest of the Wild Seven Band. Souda Maki's parents had fought in the Resistance and died as a result. She had heard about Shuuya's cause and hunted him down, becoming the third memeber of the Wild Seven. The band included another previous winner, Mai. There were a few teenagers, Chizuru, Imawato, and Shiro. Four children, Jin, Sayuri, Mitsko, and Minoru. I didn't meet the other Wild Seven member until a few days later. When I did, I came face to face with previous winner Yonai Kengo.
I had woken up with one of Kazuo's pieces playing in my head as I so often did. After I did my warm ups I started dancing to the non-existent music. "So this is the ballerina Shuuya was so desperate to have..." The startle made me falter. "How long have you been standing there?" His arms crossed over his chest. "Long enough." What did he mean by that? "I don't see what's so special about you." Chizuru came up behind him. "She and Shuuya went to school together. And besides, she did winner a Battle Royale." Chizuru scolded. "Be nice to her!" Kengo said nothing before walking away. "It's nothing personal. He's like that with everyone. The kids were scared of him for three months."
Soon I got settled in with the Wild Seven gang. I helped tend to the garden. I found myself taken by little Sayuri. Sayuri found herself taken with me. She was five and had the curiosity of an infant who just started walking. She loved helping me in the garden.
Yoani Kengo approached me once again a couple of weeks later. I was lost in Kazuo's music again. "Dance my pretty ballerina, dance." He didn't take me by surprise again. "Shuuya told me you have a background in martial arts." I nodded. Kazuo trained me himself. "Let's see what you got." I shook my head. "No Kengo-kun. I only practice dance now." He cringed at the formailty. "I knew a ballerina could never be a fighter." Those words angered me. I caught him off guard with a low kick. We sparred for a good fifteen minutes before I crumpled in defeat. He knelt down to make sure I was alright.
The next morning he showed up at my bunker door as I was in the middle of warm ups. He wanted me to go on a run with him. We jogged out of the village in silence. "Dawn was always my favorite time of my game. For a little bit of time I was able to get lost in it's pretty colors and, if only for a few minutes, made me forget I was playing the game." I looked at him. Was Kengo getting soft? "I'm really a good guy once you get to know me!" "I don't remember the sunrise. I was too busy playing." His hand grabbed mind.
Every morning we would run an hour to the near by lake, spar until we were exhausted, and, if weather permitting, we would go for a swim. Then an hour run back. In his spare time Kengo would teach the children hand to hand combat. I taught Sayuri the basics of ballet. Kengo encouraged her to practice, telling her one day she would be as good as me. Sayuri adored Kengo. Shuuya returned a couple of months later with a few more for the band.
Aya, Chizuru, and I prepared a lavish dinner for them. Sayuri told Shuuya I was dancing again and he insisted on me dancing before we ate. I did as he requested. I slid onto the floor in front of the chair Kengo was in, leaning on his leg. "Shinji always loved to go see you dance." I was silent for a couple of moments, thinking. "Remember when Tsukioka Sho confessed his love for Shinji over the loud speaker?" Shuuya laughed. "Yeah. None of us let him live it down. Everyone was picking on him. Even the innocent Ice Queen joined in the fun." I shook my head before hiding my face in her hands. "Noooooo!!!" Shuuya pulled my hands away. "Yes. You and Kazuo cornered him by the gym." I threw my arms up in the air. "Alright, alright. Kazuo and I cornered him and I decided to have a little fun before telling him to stay away from my queer. Then Shinji told me he didn't want my queer, he wanted me." Shuuya nodded.
"Hey Shu, Kazuo once told me Shinji liked me..." Shuuya grinned. "Obsessed more like it. He was crazy over you. You were unattainable and Kazuo never let him forget that. That wasn't the first time Shinji took a beating from Kazuo's group for you. Wasn't the last either. I'm sure he was thinking of you when..." I looked at him. "When what?" "When Kazuo killed him." I sobered up and soon there after excused myself to put Sayuri to bed. It was Kengo's night to put her to bed but I needed to get out of there.
The next morning didn't say anything on our run to the lake. While we were sparring he started to lay into me. "You're still upset over him Ishiko? He was a bastard. He couldn't love you, he couldn't appreciate you! It's time for you to get over him and let yourself love me." Those last few words were barely heard as she sent a hard kick to his chest, knocking him down. As soon as he hit the ground she was by his side. "Kengo? Kengo? Kengo!" Tears spilled down my cheeks. He startled me, pulling me down to him. His lips found mine, fingers running through my hair. I was shocked for a moment then realized I was relaxing and started to kiss him back. It was so different from kissing Kazuo. Where there was once emptiness there was now a new feeling of passion. My lips tingled and the sensation went down my throat as his tongue found mine. It was a passion I had never experienced before. He was so gentle, thoughtful, caring. Passion seemed to meet new heights as she called him name over and over. It seemed like forever before we collapsed onto each other. We had a new glow about us as we returned to the village.
As summer started Shuuya and Mitsugu left once again, this time taking Maki with them. Kengo would come and go for days at a time, leaving me with the rest of the band. I kept myself busy with tending to the gardens and teaching the little ones how to read and write. Summer gave wave into the cooler tempertures of fall. The three returned, with three more in tow. The latest winner Sakuri Saki and another previous winner Kazama Koji. They had found each other in Dawn of Ijima. Koji helped her perfect her sniping. When the teacher Saki came with turned out to be a traitor she tried to help him escape. The group kicked her out and Soji went with her. From there they found Shinji's uncle and the Dawn of Asia. Saki and Soji had been wondering one day when Shuuya happened to run into them. The third person was Imakire Satoshi. He was one of the rare few who had managed to escape mid-game. Right before the first frost Shuuya took us to a remote island. It was there he revealed The Wild Seven's intentions.
"I told each of you one day we would have to fight for our freedom and we would have to defend ourselves. That time is coming soon. As Christmas Day dawns we are going to bomb the Shinjiki district in Tokyo." None of the band said anything. I slid my arm through Kengo's, holding onto him tightly. We all got up very early Christmas morning to watch the bombs get dropped. To our former country we gave a big fuck you. From Kengo I recieved a promise of eternal love. Our present to Sayuri...two parents to love her and for her to love.
Nothing happened after the attacks. There was no retaliation from the government. That worried some of us but Shuuya didn't seem surprised. He guessed they were going to wait until we would least expect it. As it warmed up we continued our life on the island as it had been in the village. Yoji approached me with a bow and a quiver of arrows. It turned out I had a knack for archery. Kengo smiled while he watched along aside the kids. The older children started on betting where I would hit on the target. Over a year had passed since the last Battle Royale. Mitsugu, Satoshi, Nishi, and Shinobu started planning an escape route through an old oil pipe. Kengo and Iwamoto worked on extra support for the base. The rest of the band prepared rations and supplies for the bomb shelter with two doors. Weapons and ammo were supplied by the Dawn of Asia(!). A week before Christmas I found out I was pregnet.
It's Christmas Eve and I don't have much time. A large group of us are escaping through the oil pipe. Kengo wanted me to go. "GO!" He was screaming. "NO! I came here with an purpose and I intend on carrying it out." Kengo grabbed me and shook me lightly. "I love you and I'll be damned if I let you and the baby get killed!" I stared at him. "How..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Go. Raise our child for our cause Ishiko." I shook my head and he hung his head in defeat. We spent our last couple of hours of peace intertwined.
I am sending this with Chizuru in case I do manage to escape. I will get your revenge Kazuo. I love you...
This tale is a sad one. A tale of how the government can destroy anything, including love. Chizuru came to me with this shortly after I returned to the group. "Shuuya, you knew her the best. You should finish her story." After reading it I couldn't refuse.
Ishiko fought hard, we all did. She was spectacular, few living past her poison arrows. When they got too close she turned to her martial arts. Oh how her fluid, flawless movements reminded me of Kazuo. The government once again took love away from Ishiko. Her scream made the heavens cry as she watched him die. "KENGO! NO!!" She fell atop his lifeless body. I had to grab her and drag her away. We kept fighting. I heard her gasp and knew she had been shot. I pulled her into a safe spot. I held her as her life slowly slipped from her. "I'm finally going to be with Kazuo again. This time he's going to love me Shu." I cried as her life slipped away.
She fought for her freedom and she fought for love. To this day I have never been able to get her last words out of my head. "It doesn't matter why you love what you fight for, just that you love what you're fighting for. Fight for us Shu. Fight for our love. All of our love."
Nanahara Shuuya
Wild Seven