Folie a Deux
Chapter Two
by Technomad
Kazuhiko and Sakura slipped through the bushes, keeping as quiet as they could. In the distance, dawn was breaking over the Seto Inland Sea, bringing the promise of a grey day.
After killing Yukio and Haruka, they had headed deep into the woods. Finding a sheltered spot in the lee of a big rock, they had settled down for the night. They had taken it in turns to sleep, while the other kept watch. At one point, they had heard the harsh stutter of a submachinegun, several times. Other than that, the night had been peaceful. At dawn, they had moved out, after breaking their fast with some of the issue bread and water from Yukie and Haruka's bags---they were saving their own rations up.
"We should be finding people soon," muttered Kazuhiko. "I just hope that whoever it is with that damned submachinegun doesn't come upon us unexpectedly. That much firepower could take us down before we could do anything about it."
"I wish we knew who had what," Sakura answered, just as quietly---they had long since perfected the ability to speak to each other very quietly, without seeming to move their lips. They knew that murmurs carried less well than the hiss of whispers, and they didn't want to be overheard. "Some of our classmates wouldn't be a threat no matter what they got, while others---"
"Others---like us." Kazuhiko gave his girlfriend a wink. "Who do you think might be a threat?"
"I'd be most worried about Kazuo Kiriyama and that bunch of thugs he has following him around," answered Sakura, after a moment's thought. "Then I'd say that Mitsuko and her slappers might be a real threat, particularly if they're working together." She grinned. "Not that that would last long. I certainly wouldn't trust darling 'Hardcore' behind my back with a weapon!"
"She's got talent, but I'd say that she's much too impulsive to really make a success of crime," Kazuhiko said, after a moment's consideration. "She could do better if she wasn't quite so fixed on the immediate profit."
"I imagine she'll be able to use the old sex appeal to lure a bunch of people in to their destruction. She did that back in Shiroiwa, at least if the rumor mill could be trusted," Sakura mused. "You remember that boxer that was killed, a few months ago? I'm fairly sure I saw sweet Mitsu with him on the street one evening, and she was very flush with cash just after his death."
"I remember him. He had a pretty bad reputation, from what I heard about him. You remember Old Tanaka?" Sakura nodded; they had sold quite a bit of their stolen goods through the old man's second-hand store; he was the only fence in Shiroiwa. He thought they were a pair of delinquents from a different neighborhood than the one they actually lived in, and didn't know their real names. What he didn't know, after all, he couldn't tell the wrong people. "Well---Old Tanaka knows people in the boxing world, and he said that guy was known for really being brutal, and there's several theories about what happened to him. If Mitsu did do it somehow, she got away clean." Kazuhiko grinned. "Apparently nobody even whispered her name."
"Like you said, she has talent," Sakura dismissed the subject. Pulling out a bottle of water from Yukie's bag, she sipped it, making it last for as long as she could. "But we have each other, and that's better!"
"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" Kazuhiko leaned close.
"Yes, but you can say that any time." Sakura kissed him.
A rustling sound in the bushes alerted them that they weren't alone, and they both drew their guns.
"Kaz! Sakura! It's just us! Don't shoot! For Buddha's sake, don't shoot! We're not playing!" Yukiko Kitano came out of the bushes, her hands up in the air. After a few seconds, her inseparable pal, Yumiko Kusaka, followed her. Both girls looked terrified.
"We're so glad to see you! Can you believe it---people out there are playing?" Yumiko seemed to be in the lead, as so often with those two. Sakura and Kazuhiko watched them silently, as Yumiko went on: "We're heading up to that observation post---the one on the hill. We're going to call out to the others. If we can get them to join us, we're going to stop the game cold!"
Yumiko sounded very sure of herself. She turned, and behind her back, Sakura and Kazuhiko exchanged glances. As plainly as though they'd said it aloud, they asked each other: Is this woman for real?
Sakura couldn't quite believe what she'd heard. Were those two idiots, or deaf? They'd been in that hell-classroom; they had to know the rules. It wasn't like the Program was any big secret, after all. They broadcast it every year, and no video store was without its selection of Program DVDs.
That said…if they were stupid enough, or naïve enough, to believe that they had a chance to overthrow the Program by passive resistance, who was she to turn away such a windfall? Behind the other girls' backs, she made a signal to Kazuhiko. Stall them.
"Well, that's a great idea, Yumiko. You and Yukiko come up with some good notions!" Kazuhiko's voice rang with sincerity, just as it did when he was luring a victim in to his or her doom on the streets of Shiroiwa. "Tell us what your plan entails! How are you going to let people know where you are?"
"Well---" Yumiko opened her bag---"we got a 'surprise' like they mentioned. This one's a bullhorn!" She produced it with a smile, and Kazuhiko's eyes went wide. "With it, we can be heard for over a kilometer, and people should be able to hear us all over this island! See?" She pulled out the map she had been issued, and indicated the scale of distance at the bottom. "Of course, a lot of the island's covered with forest, but we should get a lot of people who'll hear us!"
Kazuhiko nodded. When the other girls' attention was distracted, he caught Sakura's eye for a second. He tapped his forehead significantly.
Sakura agreed completely. Clearly, the other girls had gone insane. She knew enough about the Program to be aware that every time it was run, contestants went mad. Some just withdrew into themselves, refusing to accept the new reality; others became delusional, or attacked everything in sight in a killing frenzy. She was self-aware enough to know that many people would think that she and Kaz were mad, which, she thought, conferred an advantage in the Program. After all, if one was already insane, would that not provide protection against further insanity?
A premonitory crackle interrupted them. "Hush!" Kazuhiko said, gesturing for silence. "Time for the announcements."
Yumiko and Yukiko fell into blessed quiet as Kamon's self-satisfied drawl echoed out over the island: "Rise and shine, little warriors! What say we forego ritual and get right down to it, eh? I know how pressed you all are for time, so I'll try to keep this brief."
Sakura had her class list out, and licked the tip of her pencil, ready to tick off the names of the dead. Kazuhiko caught her eye and nodded approval. Yumiko and Yukiko were staring off into space, as though they thought that would take them out of the game.
"Just a quick reminder before we get down to it," Kamon continued. "Do please try to limit your activities to areas covered by more than one camera, if you could. Multiple angles make it easier to package the highlight reel for DVD. You understand?"
Yumiko and Yukiko both looked furious. If Kazuhiko hadn't emphatically gestured for quiet, Sakura was sure that they'd have burst out with enraged diatribes against the Program and all those who could gain pleasure from watching it. While Sakura wasn't as indignant about the whole thing as they were, she honestly couldn't blame them for being upset. If they knew what we are, they'd be even more upset, she thought gleefully.
"Right, now, on to the dead!" Kamon sounded utterly content; a man at peace with the world and his place in it. If she and Kazuhiko had met him on the street, with that attitude in place, Sakura was quite sure that they could lure him in to his doom with little problem. Such self-satisfaction was a sure sign of overconfidence. And overconfidence, when dealing with such as herself and Kazuhiko, was a sure ticket to disaster. "Boy #1, Yoshio Akamatsu. Boy #3, Tatsumichi Ooki. Boy #9, Hiroshi Kuronaga. Boy #10, Ryuhei Sasagawa. Boy #17, Mitsuru Numai. And, last but never least, Boy #20, Kyoichi Motobuchi. The class representative was one of the first batch to go."
Sakura had noted down the names of the dead. She and Kazuhiko exchanged glances when Yumiko and Yukiko's attention was elsewhere. We'll talk---later.
"Now, on to the not-so-gentler sex," continued Kamon. Sakura perked up and paid close attention; she counted on Kazuhiko to keep track of the boys and analyze how things had been going among them. She was in charge of "girl business," as they referred to it. "Girl #2, Yukio Utsumi. Girl #3, Megumi Etou. Girl #5, Izumi Kanai. And Girl #12, Haruka Tanazawa. A real record-breaking pace has been set. Can you keep it up?"
At that, Yumiko and Yukiko looked like they were about to burst with rage. Sakura smothered a giggle at the way their faces turned red, and they visibly struggled to control themselves. If Kazuhiko hadn't made a shushing gesture, Sakura was sure that they'd have started shouting angrily, and any players---other than ourselves, she thought---would have found them even before they put their harebrained scheme into operation.
"Now, moving on to restricted areas---I hope you have your pencils ready," Kamon said, the cheap loudspeakers distorting his voice slightly. "Effective from 0700—J-2. 0900---F-1. 1100---H-8. Bingo!" A chuckle. "Sorry, couldn't resist! Until next time!" The loudspeakers clicked once as they were shut off.
Kazuhiko finished marking his map as Sakura did hers. Yumiko and Yukiko hadn't even pulled out their own maps. Now that they didn't need quiet any more, Sakura caught Kazuhiko's eye, and at his nod, she pulled out her pistol. Yumiko and Yukiko never knew what had hit them.
Sakura squatted down to look through their bags, heedless of the bleeding corpses. "Too stupid to live, weren't they?"
Kazuhiko knelt down to help out. "Too stupid to live."
