Author's Note

At first, I wanted to wait until I was finished with chapter three to post this chapter…but I couldn't wait any longer. Haha, my bad. xP

Here's where things get a little iffy. I play around a bit with the Battle Royale rules and shiz, and there's a scene here with Keiko that I don't particularly care for, but I can't find any other way to move the story along…so…

-sighs- I'm gonna look back and regret writing that scene, I just know it.

Nanahara's pot lid makes a cameo appearance!

Oh, yeah! The other day I was reading 'How NOT to write Battle Royale fanfiction' by Fomalhaut, and there was something mentioned about all the Program instructors being male and a distinct lack of female instructors, and it caught my attention, so…

I now present my very own female Program instructor! I am rather fond of her. -smiles proudly-

All right, enough with my blabbering. Onward ho, and let the games begin!

WARNING! Some foul language, ahoy.


Chapter Two


Shogo was the first to wake up.

The students of Class C were sprawled on the floor, fast asleep. Shogo himself had been in the corner, propped up against the wall. Schoolbags and personal belongings were scattered here and there in a haphazard manner. Nobody was awake yet.

What the fuck was going on?

What happened to the class trip? They should have been at the Aoi Campgrounds by now.

Some other members of Class C were beginning to awaken now. He saw Arakawa Tadayuki, Saionji Yamato, and Nozaki Keisuke slowly getting to their feet, but Itagaki Hiro was still sprawled out on the ground. Tadayuki went on his knees and gently shook Hiro. "Hey, man, get up," he was muttering.

"Wha…wha…" murmured Hiro, his eyelids fluttering open. Hiro and Keisuke helped him sit up.

Shogo looked around, trying to determine his location. He was in a classroom, definitely. The lights were turned off, and the windows were boarded up with either plywood or sheet metal (so he couldn't tell whether it was day or night—damn), but he was pretty sure the long, rectangular shape at the very fore of the room was a blackboard, in front of which was what seemed like a teacher's table, and there were school desks pushed off to the sides of the room.

And…was that…a TV…? Huh. How weird.

Shogo lifted his arm to glance at his watch. The glowing digital numbers read 12:30 AM. Unless the watch had been tampered with, it was now very early Friday morning. They'd left Kobe late Thursday afternoon. He couldn't remember being transferred to this place, so they must have done it while the class was asleep.

But before Shogo could ponder this, he felt, wrapped snugly around his neck, a thick metal collar. He touched it carefully and found nothing out of the ordinary, other than the heavy duty electronic lock that kept it fastened around his neck. It felt like a piece of plain jewelry.

Shogo studied his classmates. Were they wearing collars too? Yes, they were.

Panicked murmuring filled the room. Nobody seemed to want to raise their voice above a whisper. Shogo looked around for Keiko and found her groggily getting to her feet, being helped up by Hayashida Kaoru.

"Keiko." He swiftly moved to stand in front of her. Kaoru helpfully disappeared to go help Chiyo and Himiko.

"Shogo." She did not resist as he pulled her into a light embrace. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm okay." Keiko looked around, at their classmates struggling to get up, all of them clearly frightened. She looked back at him, her confusion and slight fear mirroring his own.

Suddenly, the door at the very front of the classroom, right beside the blackboard, which Shogo had not seen (damn it, I should pay more attention, that door could have been our escape!) violently slid open, and the lights were switched on.

A woman, escorted by eight armed soldiers, came into the room. She wore a peach-colored badge that indicated she was a government official. Shogo quietly studied her escorts' weapons, wondering if he could identify them. His father loved to read gun enthusiast magazines bought from smugglers, and when Shogo was bored he would sometimes peruse these magazines.

The soldiers were all carrying M16 assault rifles, and the blades fixed onto the bayonet stud were M9 bayonets from the States.

So much for patriotism…our supposedly great and self-reliant army has to import weapons from America!

But Shogo was sure these were the real thing. Any misbehavior on the students' parts…BLAM. He stiffened and kept his eyes on the government official. She seemed to be waiting for everyone to wake up.

The government official was very pretty, Shogo realized. All the female government officials he'd ever seen had been damn butt-ugly. This one was tall and slender, with shiny chestnut hair that fell to her shoulders, and a face expertly enhanced with makeup. She wore a blue skirt and a white blouse that buttoned up to her neck, black pumps, square-framed glasses perched daintily on her nose.

"All right now, everyone awake?" the woman cheerfully exclaimed. "I hope you all had a nice long nap! You're definitely going to need it."

The woman walked to the front of the classroom, standing right in the very middle. Two of the soldiers flanked her, while the other six guarded the door. "First of all, I am your new instructor. My name is Sato Mariko."

The female class rep, Hayashida Kaoru, raised her hand and stood up. She looked frightened, but determined.

"I don't understand what's going on Sato-sensei," said Kaoru, her voice shaky. "Were we in a traffic accident or something?"

Her words sparked off a volley of more questions.

"Hey, yeah, we were supposed to be on the class trip, right?" shouted Aizawa Minoru.

"Where the hell are we?"

"What time is it?"

"Did you fall asleep too?"

"Who the hell are these guys?"

"Where's Ando-sensei?" That one was Yamamura Akane, who was closest to Class A's teacher.

"What's going on here?"

"All right, all right, please, everyone, let's have some quiet. Thank you for that question, Hayashida-san," said Sato Mariko, nodding politely in Kaoru's direction. "Please calm down and I will explain. Sit down, everyone."

Too afraid not to obey, the students sat on the floor, or on nearby chairs that hadn't been overturned, or on the bare desks. Slowly Keiko sank into a cross-legged position on the ground, never once releasing her grip on Shogo, which forced him to sit down too.

"What an obedient class!" Mariko exclaimed approvingly. She turned back to the board, missing the looks of utter loathing a majority of the class shot her, and wrote in big characters…

Battle Royale Act

And underneath that…

Survival Program

Mariko turned around once more to face the class. "You all know this law?"

Some looked at the chalkboard with confusion, while others wore expressions of comprehension and horror. But nobody spoke up.

Mariko sighed and shook her head. "Don't they teach anything to kids in schools these days?" she said regretfully. "Ah, never mind. I'll explain. As you all know," she began, "this once-great country's going to the dogs. It's no good anymore. And you know whose fault this is?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the students. "It's the fault of today's youth. In other words, you, today's students.

"So, to inspire respect—and fear—for the government, for adults, this law was passed, the Millennium Educational Reform Act, also known as, the Battle Royale Act."

Mariko clasped her hands together and beamed. "That's lesson one!" she exclaimed. "Now, lesson two is this: you guys kill each other off."

Panicked murmuring filled the classroom. A few students smiled hesitantly, as if expecting to be told that this was all a big joke. Their smiles disappeared pretty quickly.

"Until there's only one left," continued Mariko, ignoring the students' frightened muttering. "Nothing's against the rules. The laws for murder don't apply here. Basically, it's kill or be killed."

The panicked murmurs were replaced by stunned, disbelieving silence. There was a rustle as almost everyone instinctively flinched away from Mariko. "This has got to be some sort of joke," Shogo heard Harada Hitomi murmuring.

"I'm afraid this is no joke. Now then, your class will be mentioned in the morning news," said Mariko. "And your parents have already been notified. I'm sorry to say that those parents who resisted…well, let's not dwell on sad details, all right?"

Shogo froze. His father was never one to take government bullshit lying down… Was his father one of the parents to resist? Was he now dead? He felt Keiko stiffen in his arms, and tightened his grip around her. It'll be okay, he wanted to tell her, but knew that if he did, he'd be lying.

"Who was that who asked about your class teacher? You? Was that you? What's your name?"

Akane stood and nodded. "Yamamura Akane. Yes, Sato-sensei. Please. Where is Ando-sensei?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Well…" Mariko rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "Ah, it can't be helped. Your teacher Ando…he, well, he stole from Kurata here"—she indicated the soldier on her left—"a pistol, and he shot himself in the mouth. It made a pretty bloody mess, you know. The cleaning crew isn't going to be happy."

Akane clapped a hand to her mouth and backed away, her eyes filling with tears. Other students were staring at Mariko with horrorstruck expressions. Their teacher, kind, funny Ando-sensei, who had been joking around with the math geeks in the front of the bus, who cared for his students like they were his very own children, was now dead? Impossible! This had to be some sort of macabre nightmare…it had to be!

"He was peaceful enough and didn't protest your participation in the Program, but I guess he couldn't live with the guilt, now could he? That's really too bad. It's always a pity when adults can't serve the government properly. We're supposed to have learned from our past mistakes already, right?" She laughed, but no one laughed with her.

Shogo was shocked when Keiko suddenly raised her hand and stood up.

"Sato-sensei," she said. Neither her voice nor her body shook with fright. The only thing betraying her emotion was her fists, which were clenched so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "My parents are both in Tokyo…my older sister just gave birth there. Nobody's home. Who did you contact?"

"Ah, yes, you must Onuki Keiko. I was warned about you, Onuki-san. They said you came from a dangerous family…ah, well, anyway, we managed to contact your parents in Tokyo. Don't worry."

Keiko's mouth hardened, but she nodded and sat back down. She looked up at Shogo, and he clasped her trembling hands in his, at the same time thinking, dangerous family, what? Keiko smiled weakly at him, but there was no mistaking the terror in her eyes.

"Now then, the rules. I think you guys more or less have the basics of this game down pat," said Mariko. "Your aim here is to be the last student standing—by killing all the other students. The winner goes home with a guaranteed stipend from the government, and a card autographed by the Dictator. Isn't that great?"

Nobody answered.

Shogo wanted to leap to his feet and spit in Mariko's face, but thought—and rightly so—that doing this would get himself shot.

"Now then, time to watch the video. Please try not to fall asleep."

One of the soldiers with Mariko took a remote control from the pocket of his camouflaged trousers, pointed it at the TV, and pressed a button.

The TV blinked to life. The Battle Royale logo, a large red BR surrounded by red laurel leaves, the words 'Battle Royale' and 'Survival Program' above and below it respectively, filled the screen. A cutesy, hyper voiceover, accompanied by equally cutesy, hyper music, proclaimed excitedly, "The right way to fight a Battle Royale, by the BR Act Committee!"

The Battle Royale logo disappeared from the screen to reveal a young girl who looked to be about the students' age. Her short, spiky hair had a pretty psychedelic dye job—red, yellow, orange, and hot pink streaks. She wore a bright yellow t-shirt, camouflage-patterned shorts, combat boots, and lots of gaudy jewelry.

"A big hello to everyone from Class C, Kobe Junior High School," said the girl cheerfully, saluting them all.

Shogo shook his head. This was way beyond screwed up.

"You are the lucky class chosen for this year's Battle Royale! Congratulations!" She spoke like Mariko, like the chance to fight in a Battle Royale was a prize to be won. "Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Listen well to fight right and with gusto!"

A 3-D image of an island appeared on the TV screen. The graphics zoomed in on different angles, allowing them to see the topography of the island. "You are on a deserted island that looks like this," said the girl on the TV. "It's got a circumference of about eight kilometers"—she extended her arms in a wide arc—"but we evacuated everyone, so it's empty!"

A crisscrossing grid of lines appeared on top of the image of the island. "The island is divided into many zones like this." The girl indicated the grid. "Every six hours your teacher will broadcast updates—that's four updates a day!—about which zones will become danger zones. If you're in those zones, you should leave quickly, because the danger is…" She trailed off, a little ominous smile playing her lips.

The image of the island disappeared and behind her appeared an image of the collars the students were wearing. "Okay, now about those collars you're wearing!" There was a shuffling noise as several students touched their collars, unaware until now that they were wearing the things. "They're one hundred percent waterproof, shockproof, and of course, permanent! It monitors your pulse, informing us of your location and movements.

"So," she said, her voice rising in pitch, "if you linger in a danger zone or cause trouble, we can identify you, and transmit radio waves that trigger alarms in the collars and…boom! It explodes!"

There were frightened gasps. Those who were fingering their collars immediately let go.

"If you try to rip it off, it explodes too, so promise not to try that, okay?"

Mariko held up a hand, and one of the soldiers pressed another button on the remote, pausing the video. "Okay, everyone. Any questions at this point?"

Everyone was silent, or at least they were, until a sudden outburst erupted from one of the students.

"NO!" Fujigake Himiko suddenly screamed. She stood up, angrily pointing at Mariko. "You bastards! You think we're going to play your sick games like a bunch of dogs?!"

Himiko's friends moved quickly to restrain her. "Hey, Himiko, cut it out!" shrieked Chiyo, pulling on Himiko's school coat so she fell back to the ground.

"Shut up, Fujikage!" screamed Takezawa Kyoko. "We can't hear the video!"

"You're playing into their hands!" shrieked Himiko. She struggled out of Chiyo's grasping hands and aimed a punch at Kyoko's nose. Kyoko screamed and ducked, but Himiko's fist still managed to catch the side of her face.

"We're all playing into their hands!" Himiko shouted. "I'm not having it! I'm not having this!" She raced forward and snatched something from her bag, something that glittered under the harsh fluorescent lights.

"Die, bitch!" she screamed, running towards Mariko. In her hand flashed an open switchblade.

Suddenly Keiko was out of Shogo's arms and on her feet, and before he could stop her she had tackled Himiko. "Himiko, don't!" she screamed, wrestling Himiko for the knife.

"No, Keiko, let me go!" howled Himiko. "We have to end this! Right now!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Himiko!" screamed Keiko. "Give me the knife! Don't be stupid!"

The class erupted into chaos as Keiko struggled to overpower Himiko and take the knife away. The girls were shrieking for Himiko to let go of the knife, while the guys were stopping some of the other girls from joining the fight. Tadayuki and Shogo, who were nearest Keiko and Himiko, hurried to try and separate the two girls, but before they could do anything two of the soldiers had stepped forward and pulled Himiko and Keiko apart.

"Stupid girl," the soldier holding Keiko's wrists muttered as he roughly pushed her into her circle of friends.

"Kei-chan!" cried Kaoru, throwing her arms around Keiko. Chiyo, Sakura, Etsuko, and Kanako quickly grouped themselves around her, blocking her view of Himiko.

"No, no, help Himiko!" sobbed Keiko, trying to free herself from her friends. "Help Himiko!"

The other soldier dragged Himiko, still kicking and screaming, to the front of the classroom. "Be quiet!" he snapped, but whether he it was to the students or Himiko no one was sure.

Mariko sighed. "I hate to do this—you know, every student killed by the instructor is a deduction from their salary. But we were authorized to use force, if deemed necessary." She held out a hand to the soldier she'd previously identified as Kurata, and he passed her a revolver.

It happened quickly. One moment Mariko was holding up Kurata's revolver, pointing it at Himiko, and the next, a loud bang had gone off, and a red stain bloomed on Himiko's blouse. She stood still for a moment, stunned, staring at the scarlet stain on her chest, before falling backward into the cluster of students, clearly dead.

Terrified screams filled the air as everyone scampered backwards, desperate to get away from the corpse—yes, Fujikage Himiko was now nothing but a corpse. Mariko raised her pistol and fired a few shots into the air to quiet the crowd, but even above the noise of her gun everyone could hear Keiko's scream.

"Himiko!"

Keiko finally managed to throw Kaoru's arms off her and crawled to Himiko, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Himiko!" She pressed her face to Himiko's still warm body, unmindful of the blood. "Himiko, Himiko!" she sobbed.

Shogo suddenly remembered that Fujikage Himiko was—had been—Keiko's best friend.

Keiko was still sobbing over Himiko's body. "Nooooo," she moaned. "No, no, no…"

Mariko stepped forward, shaking her head sorrowfully. "Ah, what a waste," she said. "Such a pretty girl. Smart, too. Prepared for anything. Wonder what she thought she might need that switchblade for? Onuki-san…you were her best friend, what do you think?"

Keiko suddenly looked up, her face wet with her tears and Himiko's blood, and her eyes glimmering with hate.

"Hey, Onuki-san, what's that look for, huh?" Mariko drawled. "Show some respect."

Keiko stood, her whole body trembling with rage, revulsion and horror evident in her face. She tried to lunge forward to Mariko, but before she could get very far, Kaoru and Etsuko had grabbed her arms and yanked her back into the crowd of students. She let out a cry of pain as she fell. Shogo pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair, murmuring, "Shh…shh…" Instinctively Keiko leaned her head on his shoulder and continued to sob.

"Keiko, it won't do you or Himiko any good to get shot," Kaoru whispered frantically, tightly gripping Keiko's left hand. "She's dead. There's nothing we can do. Please, calm down."

Breathing noisily through her mouth, Keiko nodded slowly. A shudder went through her body, and she bit her lower lip to try and stifle her sobs. She hadn't yet wiped the blood and tears off her face.

"Okay, let's continue with the movie. Please, no more interruptions." As if someone had just asked for a bathroom break. Shogo gritted his teeth. They were completely and totally at the mercy of a homicidal maniac!

Mariko nodded and turned back to the TV, nodding to the soldier who stood by the TV.

The girl frozen on the screen began to move again. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!" She let out a merry laugh that was so out of place here. "Silly me. There's a time limit on this game: seventy-two hours. That's exactly three days!" She held out three fingers to demonstrate. "If we haven't got a winner after three days"—her voice turned the sad tone of a little girl who has just lost sight of her favorite doll—"all the collars automatically explode, and no one wins.

"So, as long as we're all here"—her voice became cheerful again—"let's all fight hard to make sure that doesn't happen, okay?" She raised a fist, like she was cheering for a team.

Mariko nodded, and the video paused once more. She walked over to the door and called out, "Hey, I need you guys to come in!"

More soldiers marched inside, wheeling metal racks inside the classroom. From the racks hung several thick army-issue day packs—enough for the entire class. The racks were pushed to the very center of the classroom, right beside Mariko.

Again, the movie began to play.

The girl now had a long gray table before her. Displayed on the table were bottles of water, loaves of bread, a plastic packet containing a map, pencil, watch, and compass, a flashlight, and another one of the drab day packs.

"You'll leave the room one by one," the girl was saying, "but first, you each get a day pack like this one." She indicated the pack on her table. "Inside is food and water, a map and compass, a watch, a flashlight, and a weapon, so check those out later, okay? Ah, the girls might need some personal items, so you can all take your own bags with you.

"Each weapon is different. And it's not just guns and knives either. The weapons are randomly chosen, so maybe you'll get lucky, maybe not. It eliminates natural advantage," the girl explained. She plucked out the weapon from the day pack on the table. It was a pot lid. "Ooh…" she murmured sympathetically. "This one's not too lucky, eh?"

The picture jumped, and then the table was gone. "Okay, you'll be leaving by class number!" she cheerily proclaimed. "When I call your name, I want to here a nice, big 'Here!' Step forward, claim your day pack, and you may leave the premises. Anyone loitering in the hall will be punished. Ah, yes! My, I'm so forgetful today! Thirty minutes after you leave, this school will become a danger zone, so you should all get out of here as fast as you can, all right? You should be at least…let me see…two hundred meters away. Got that? All right!

"Okay, here we go! Male Student No. 1, Aizawa Minoru-kun."

"H-Here!" Minoru's voice was shaky, and he glanced back fearfully at his classmates as he ran to collect his bag and day pack, stumbling out of the classroom. He began screaming hysterically as he ran down the hallway outside, his screams getting fainter as he got further away.

So much for being a tough jock.

At this point Shogo remembered that Keiko's student number was fourteen—three numbers away from him. Was it safe to wait outside for her? The video girl did mention that anyone loitering in the hall would be punished (Shogo assumed it meant that anyone loitering in the hall would be shot). But she didn't say anything about waiting outside the school building. And anyway, he had thirty minutes before the school turned into a danger zone.

"Female Student No. 1, Akimoto Sayuri-san."

"Here," said Sayuri coolly. She slowly rose and sauntered forward, her arm unfolding like a swan's neck to take her bag from its place on the floor. She accepted her day pack from the soldiers, smiled flirtatiously at Kurata, and left the classroom.

While the next student ("Male Student No. 2, Aoki Kazuma-kun," said the video girl) was collecting his things, Shogo noticed something. Akimoto's girls all wore alarmingly reassured looks on their faces, like the looks they had when some poor boy had just been conned into buying them all lunch.

Was Akimoto Sayuri planning escape with her group? Or were Sakai Emiko, Harada Hitomi, Takezawa Kyoko, and Takezawa Sachiko dead meat?

Shogo figured Sayuri was cold enough to do just that. So did that mean Sayuri was going to play?

"Female Student No. 2, Fujikage Himiko-san."

There was no movement. Himiko's corpse was unmoving, her blood oozing out onto the floor. Keiko let out a dry sob and turned away, almost nuzzling Shogo's chest. It was a very inappropriate time to enjoy this—but hey, he was a teenage boy with an attractive girl, who just so happened to be the girl he liked, in his arms. He was human, after all.

"Sorry about that," said Mariko casually. "The video was pre-made. Carry on."

"Male Student No. 3, Arakawa Tadayuki-kun."

Tadayuki slowly rose, every inch of self-confidence still intact. He grabbed his bag and received his day pack, then made a nodding sort of motion at his friends. Hiro, Keisuke, and Yamato nodded back. Was that a signal? Would Tadayuki be waiting for them outside?

"Female Student No. 3, Harada Hitomi-san."

"Here!" Hitomi called out, hurrying forward to claim her bags. She still seemed a bit shaky, but her face had the same confident look Akimoto Sayuri's did when she left.

"Male Student No. 4, Asari Yoshio-kun."

As Yoshio stumbled forward to get his bags, Shogo pondered who of his classmates would be willing to play this game. Kawagishi, maybe. Akimoto? Again, maybe. Omura Yumiko, Kawagishi's right hand in the gang, was tough-hearted enough for Shogo to consider her a threat. What about Kawai? Was he all talk and no walk, like his follower Aizawa? Or was he a threat too?

"Female Student No. 4, Hayashida Kaoru-san."

Kaoru squeezed Keiko's shoulder as she got up, and discreetly touched Chiyo's hand as she left. "Take care," whispered Miyazaki Sakura.

"Male Student No. 5, Funaki Yutaka-kun."

Funaki clumsily grabbed for his bags, and when his day pack was tossed at him, he missed it. He dove for it and scrambled out of the classroom, shooting frightened looks at his classmates as he fled.

"Female Student No. 5, Ichiyusai Masako-san."

Masako gave her boyfriend, Kuramoto Daisuke, a hug, and whispered something. It might have been, "I'll see you there," but Shogo couldn't tell. Daisuke gently tucked a strand of Masako's hair behind her ear and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Hey, Ichiyusai, hurry it up, will you?"

Masako took her schoolbag and stepped forward, her head held high. She caught her day pack and swept out of the classroom twice as regally as Akimoto Sayuri had only moments before, shooting the soldiers a disdainful sneer that one normally reserves for something nasty stuck to one's shoe.

The roll call continued. Goto Masao, Iesada Chiaki, Hideki Saburo, Kawasaki Ai, Hiraoka Mitsuru, Kihara Etsuko, Inoue Ichisake, and Kitano Kanako all left without incident. When Hiro's name was called, he nodded at Keisuke, Yamato, and Shogo, then grabbed his things and hurriedly left.

Soon, after Koizumi Chiyo left the room, Shogo's name was called.

"Male Student No. 11, Kawada Shogo-kun."

"I'll wait for you," Shogo muttered quietly in Keiko's ear. "Be careful." He gently kissed her right temple, then stood and picked up his schoolbag. He calmly caught his day pack and left the classroom, slinging both bags over his shoulders.

Keiko, still kneeling on the ground, watched him go, her face deadened and expressionless.

The hall was unlit, although there was a long line of soldiers all the way until the school exit, presumably to prevent anyone from waiting in the hallway. Shogo hurried out, his back prickling uncomfortably as he felt the stares of the soldiers.

Directly outside the school was a wide baseball diamond, for the country's 'national pastime'. Off to the other side was a pathway edged with trees and bushes. The path broke off into two dirt roads, both leading into the woods.

"Hey, Shogo," someone whispered his name.

From behind one of the trees, Arakawa Tadayuki poked his head out. "Come on, get over here," he hissed.

Shogo quickly went down the pathway and slipped into the woods. Tadayuki was there, but also hidden in the shadows were Asari Yoshio, Itagaki Hiro, Hayashida Kaoru, and Kawasaki Ai.

"Hey, where's Kihara? And Kitano?" Shogo asked.

"They ran off at top speed," Kaoru tearfully sniffed. "We called them, but I guess they must have thought we were someone else, because they didn't look back and even picked up their speed."

Well, Shogo mused, at least they're together.

"Who's still inside?" asked Hiro. By 'who', Shogo assumed he meant who of their friends was inside, who was still inside that they could trust. He hated that he was falling into the mindset of this fucked up game, but it could not be helped. Here, it was kill or be killed.

"Keisuke," answered Shogo. "Yamato. Miyazaki and Keiko. We might be able to trust Miyamoto and Shimizu. Yamamura too, but I think she'd want to hook up with Funaki and Iesada. Daisuke is still inside, but he'll definitely want to meet up with Ichiyusai. We might be able to trust Yoshifumi, but I'm not too sure."

"Let's wait for them before we make our move," Tadayuki decided. "We have thirty minutes before the school becomes a danger zone, so let's make sure we're out of here by then."

The silence was thick as the group settled down to wait for their other friends to come out. Before they could call out to Miyamoto Fuyumi, though, she ran off at top speed, like Kihara Etsuko and Kitano Kanako earlier on, shooting panicked glances over her shoulder as she went. The next person to come after her was Kawagishi Seishiro, but nobody trusted the teenaged gangster enough to call out to him.

They managed to call out to Miyazaki Sakura on her way out. She dashed into the woods and collapsed in Ai's arms, crying her eyes out, her hand over her mouth to stop the sounds of her sobs from reaching others.

Kawai Noboru passed them, swearing under his breath as he rifled through his day pack, searching for his weapon. Trusting Itagaki Hiro was about to call out to him, when Tadayuki and Shogo pulled him back.

"As much as I hate to say this," said Shogo grimly, "there's no guarantee we can trust someone like Kawai."

After Kawai, the top female member of Kawagishi's gang, Omura Yumiko, stepped outside. She darted behind a clump of bushes and stayed there until Kuramoto Daisuke came out. Shogo and Tadayuki exchanged glances, wondering whether to call out to Daisuke or not, but with someone as risky and untrustworthy as Omura Yumiko nearby, they decided not to give away their positions.

Then, suddenly, Yumiko came out of the bushes. She stared at the portion of the forest where Kuramoto Daisuke had run off to. "Just as well," Shogo heard her mutter. "He's too crazy about Ichiyusai anyway." Then she hid herself again in the bushes.

Not long after Daisuke had disappeared, Keiko came out of the school, suspiciously studying her surroundings as if looking for enemies hiding in the shadows. Her schoolbag and day pack were slung over her shoulder. She'd already wiped Himiko's blood and her own tears from her face.

"Onuki? Is that you?" Yumiko called out in a pitiful, terrified voice. She stepped out of the bushes and ran to Keiko, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. "Oh—thank God! You're okay, right? You wouldn't dream of killing me, right? I was so afraid—"

But before she could continue, Keiko stepped back and removed something that had been tucked into the waistband of her skirt. She raised it and pointed it at Yumiko. In the pale light of the moon Shogo could see it was a gun.

"Save the drama for someone who'll actually fall for it, Omura," said Keiko, in a quiet, calm voice.

"What? You think I'm actually playing?" sobbed Yumiko, never once breaking character. "How…how could you, Keiko? I know—I know I don't have a good reputation around school but…but…you're talking about killing off classmates here! I could never do that!"

"Wow, Yumiko, what a great performance. Your best one yet, I think," said Keiko sarcastically. "Just step off and leave me alone, okay? Why don't you try your tricks on the next guy to come out, huh?"

"I can't stand this," whispered Sakura. "Why is Keiko being so mean to Yumiko? I'm gonna go talk to them."

"No, Saki, don't move!" hissed Kaoru, and pulled Sakura back.

It was just in time too, because while Yumiko had been distracting Keiko with her tears, her hand had crept to the waistband of her skirt, where she'd tucked in her own weapon. Keiko, apparently having seen Yumiko's hands move, darted off into the woods, quickly vanishing from sight. She took the same path Daisuke had, which led away from the group's hiding place.

Yumiko chased after Keiko and fired off one shot from her into the brush. She stopped just before entering the woods, apparently deciding that Keiko was not worth her bullets. "Damn it," she muttered. Then, angrily, she shouldered her bags and took off, not wanting to risk an encounter with another player.

Shogo had already gotten up to go after Keiko, but Tadayuki pulled him back. "Hang on a minute," he said. "I've checked the map. There's a small farm on the outskirts of the residential area. When you've got Keiko, go meet us there. Yoshio, Hiro, go ahead and take the girls there. I'll stay here and wait for Keisuke and Yamato."

"But—" Kawasaki Ai protested.

"No buts," said Tadayuki firmly. "As Omura has proved, it's too dangerous for a great number of people to be waiting out here. What if another group discovers us? Another group that happens to be playing?"

Ai had no answer.

"All right," said Shogo. "I'll meet you at the farmhouse." He took off in the direction Keiko had fled, all the while praying to whoever was listening up there that she was all right, that she was okay. I'm going to protect you, Keiko, he thought grimly to himself. If I have to die doing it I'm going to protect you, no matter what!

Game Begins, 1:00 A.M., May 21st

Female Student No. 2 Fujikage Himiko, dead

39 students remaining