"The Eastern Army has called a time-out!" Solaris the dealer announced. "There will now be a three-minute recess before we resume the Vanguard Battle of this Revival Round."
Nao Kanzaki gave a grateful sigh.
Standing up, she began to walk around the school library where this Revival Round was being held. Nao had used their time-out in order to prevent them all from falling into the LGT Office's trap. Now it was just a matter of convincing Mr. Fukunaga to take a loss in this round of No-Bullets Russian Roulette and not simply crush his opponent. It might take a good deal of effort on her part, but perhaps if she played to his incredible greed, it would all work out.
Glancing around the room stacked with shelves and books, the virtuous young woman tried to locate her two compatriots in the Western Army. Shinichi Akiyama was easy to spot. The brooding genius stood off by himself, one hand on his chin, apparently absorbed in thought. Perhaps it would be a good idea to enlist his aid in this endeavor. With that, she started towards him.
Without warning someone grabbed her by the wrist and gave a sharp yank.
Nao fell with a squeak. Disoriented, she found herself huddled behind a book trolley stacked with reading material. When the dumbstruck maiden looked to see who had pulled her down here, she was in for a surprise.
"Mr. Fukunaga?"
"Shhhh!" the fair-featured faux femme fatale raised a finger to his lips and gave a saucy wink. Attired in flowing blond wig and black temptress attire, he looked more the part of the woman now than in the previous two Games. With tastefully spare makeup to accentuate his girlish features, it was small wonder this man had fooled her into thinking he was of the female gender upon first meeting him.
Of course, none of that explained what they were doing huddled on the floor together. He was still holding onto her wrist. It hurt a little, but this discomfort was nothing compared to the unease Nao felt at being in this situation.
Just as she was about to ask for an explanation, of a sudden Fukunaga shook his head.
"Hush!"
He then indicated she should look over the top of the trolley. While not understanding, Nao saw no reason not to obey, and both of them peeked up over the edge.
On the other side of the library, the three members of the opposing Eastern Army, Skinny Spectacles, the Other Woman, and Couch Potato were deep in discussion. Apparently the first two were demanding an explanation for how their teammate could have allowed Fukunaga to control the course of the game so easily. The fat man cringed and replied back, but whatever explanations he was giving them, it didn't seem to be making an improvement on their moods. Though unable to hear what was being said, it was apparent by their body language and facial features that a very heated argument was taking place.
Fukunaga sank back down, and Nao followed suit. There was a gleeful look on his face that made her wish to be somewhere else.
"Here we go," the dude in drag whispered. "I've been waiting for this!"
She couldn't help herself. "Waiting for what, Mr. Fukunaga?"
His feverish eyes darted over to her, and he gave a disturbingly feminine giggle that made Nao's flesh crawl.
"Nao, you know how I'm all about making money, right?" She gave a nod of understanding, and Fukunaga continued. "Well, what you might not have picked up on is that I really enjoy causing pain and suffering to other people."
Kanzaki thought back to all the times she had seen him kick the crap out of their fellow contestants on the basis of whatever fresh incompetence they had displayed. "Actually, I might have noticed how you're a little…"
"I mean really enjoy it!"
There was no denying that his face had taken on a very vicious cast, and he seemed to be breathing heavily. He still hadn't let go of her hand for some reason.
"Y-yes, I realize that now."
Fukunaga snuck another quick peek over the lip of their cover, and then came back down to crouch before Nao. Their faces were only inches apart, and she was totally creeped out by the gleam in his wide eyes. Automatically she looked for salvation to where Mr. Akiyama still stood, but he apparently hadn't taken any notice of her plight.
"So anyway, at the same time that I've been cleaning the Eastern Army's clock, I've been poking that pig I'm up against, just to make him squeal. But the true fun comes now!" With that the excited cross-dresser hoisted them both up to spy upon the argument between their enemies. It was growing more vocal by the second. "You see, I pegged Couch Potato as the weak link in their group. If things start to go bad, they'll automatically take their frustrations out on him, because he just looks like a loser. The kind of guy who was born to eat dirt and come back for more. You know the type, right?"
"No."
"It's all about knowing how human beings react, Nao." He continued without seeming to have heard her. There was an expression of excitement on his face as he watched the altercation begin to increase apace. "When feeling threatened, they always look for someone weaker to take their share of woes out on. Because nobody is going to try and bully somebody stronger than them, right?"
Now Skinny was jabbing a finger in front of Potato's nose emphatically with every other word, and the Other Woman looked less and less inclined to be the voice of reason. Things were growing alarming, but not because of those three. Fukunaga had seized hold of her arm with both hands and was squeezing in anticipation. Whatever rapture had taken hold of him seemed to be increasing. The only fortunate thing was that with his attention off her, he didn't notice when she turned and waved surreptitiously at Mr. Akiyama for help.
Unfortunately, neither did Mr. Akiyama.
"Suppose you can write sqrt(2)=a/b where both a and b are natural numbers," the lanky ex-con pondered aloud. "Square both sides to get 2=(a/b)^2. Multiply both sides by b^2 to get 2b^2=a^2. Now a^2 is then an even number, so 2 must divide a^2, which means…"
For once, Nao seriously wished Akiyama wasn't so damn smart. A stupid person would have at least noticed she was in trouble over here!
What kind of trouble? Not sure I want to know. Anyway, Fukunaga was going off again.
"And if more than one person focuses on the same patsy to vent, then their reactions are bound to get even more exaggerated because they see someone else backing them up so it makes them more confident of victory! Listen!" he gasped. "We can hear what they're saying!"
It was true. From the far end of the room, Nao could pick out a few words being shouted. "You… useless…! … march back in …be a man!"
To Nao's profound horror, Fukunaga had now taken to rubbing the back of her hand against his cheek, never taking his eyes off the scene occurring before them.
"And now the primal urges are taking over!"
Couch Potato was backed up against a desk, cringing in on himself like a threatened hedgehog. The Other Woman was yelling at him now too, echoing everything Skinny said. "…tub of guts… I go down… aking you with me!"
Fukunaga's face was flushed, breathing in heavy pants. Nao tried desperately to pull herself free, but failed in the face of his superior strength. She therefore had to settle for keeping herself at arm's length while he continued to nuzzle her wrist seemingly unawares.
"The compulsion to behave savagely grows as the victim exhibits defeated behavior!"
Fukunaga's eyes were shining. Spectacles grabbed Potato by the collar and began shaking him back and forth, shouting in his face. "Goddammit, you lose one more goddamn dime, you better put that goddamn toy gun in your mouth and pray the next cartridge is real! Otherwise I'm gonna…!"
"All notions of civility go out the window!"
With his attention occupied, Nao took this opportunity to wave rather blatantly at her other partner. 'Mr. Akiyama! Over here, over HERE!'
"…in which case by the same reasoning used for a^2, there are an even number of 2's in b^2. In either case, there are then an odd number of 2's on the left hand side and an even number of 2's on the right hand side, which is logically impossible. Therefore…"
'Would you step out of Genius Land for two seconds and HELP ME? I'M BEING… I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M BEING, BUT I KNOW I DON'T LIKE IT!'
Her captor was moaning excitedly, his cries growing higher and louder with every moment. "Every word, each breath out of the prey's mouth is an insult!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Couch Potato babbled hysterically. "Don't hit me, please don't hit me!"
"What did you say?" Skinny was screaming into the man's frightened face. "What did you SAY?"
"The blood is rushing to your head, you can't even hear them anymore!"
Nao scrunched her eyes tight in desperation, seeking to ignore the sensation on her skin as Fukunaga continued to babble.
"A woman is watching you, encouraging you to show your strength and manhood! The last reason to hold back is gone!"
"Hit him!" the Other Woman was screaming. "Hit his fat stupid face, will you? Just HIT HIM!"
"Yes…" Fukunaga moaned ecstatically, nuzzling Nao's wrist and licking her on top of that. "YES…!"
Teeth clenched with revulsion, she shut her eyes and tried to block it all out.
"WHAT… DID… YOU…!"
"… our assumption that sqrt(2)=a/b must be incorrect, and so…"
"… SAY?"
And with that, Skinny hauled off and socked the Potato in his gut.
"YEEEEEESSSSSS!"
Everything went quiet after that.
When she finally found the courage to crack an eyelid, Nao observed Skinny Spectacles being hauled off bodily by some Liar Game attendants while a few others saw to Couch Potato, who was sitting in a chair and gasping painfully.
She then took note of her own situation. Beside her, Fukunaga had calmed down, eyes shut and breathing going back to normal. He finally let go of her, and Nao snatched her hand away and cradled it to her chest.
Fukunaga gave a sigh, flushed and slightly trembling. He patted his cheeks, opened his eyes and turned to look at his unwilling partner. Kanzaki cringed.
"Thanks, Nao," the transvestite said. "That was great."
He then stood up, gave her a pat on the head and sauntered off, stretching his arms lazily overhead and humming like a kid on the way to school.
Nao sat there for a few seconds.
"I feel dirty," she declared, and went to go ask if there was a shower handy in this building.
FIN.
