Maid-sama Survivor
By moonlight ray
Chapter 1
The First Challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS. Fujiwara Hiro does (I'm so jealous).
[A/N: Finally, I present you all with the long-awaited Chapter 2! Enjoy, and please continue to review and vote! Note: baka=idiot/moron, and kawaii=-cute]
The sharp, echoing vibrations of a gong woke every contestant from their sleep. Well, everyone except Misaki, who had gotten up early so she didn't have to change with the boys. Cabin A was filled with groans and annoyed complaints. "What time is it?" Kurotatsu mumbled, voice still groggy from sleepiness and holding a pillow over his ears.
"Six-thirty in the morning," replied Misaki, glancing at her watch.
"They'd better have a good reason for waking me up this early." Tora muttered under his breath, while shoving the covers off and grabbing his clothes.
"I'm with him on that one," Aoi agreed grumpily, climbing down from the bunk beds.
Gerard strode out from the shower rooms and Sakura ducked in to freshen up. Kanou was next in line, followed by Kuuga. Nobody was in a particularly happy mood. Maybe things are going better in the other cabin, Misaki speculated, though she heavily doubted it. After all, you can't but Usui and Yukimara in one cabin without expecting trouble…
She was right. In Cabin B, things weren't going much better. But with Satsuki, Hinata, and two of the three idiots present, the mood was a good deal brighter than in Cabin A. Still, the standard grumbling could be heard.
Everyone arrived down at the beach where they found Maria waiting for them. Parked behind her were two helicopters. "Are they sending us back?" Shiroyan whispered.
"I don't know," said Ikkun.
But it was Yukimara who actually voiced the question. "U-uh, sensei, is someone leaving the island already?"
"Oh, don't listen to those three baka, Yukimara." Misaki assured him. "You're not getting voted off."
"Yet." Usui added, smirking.
"Shut up, you're not exactly helping here!"
"But it's true…"
"Look, you're making him cry!"
"I don't care,"
"USUI!"
"…about anyone other than you."
Misaki's face flushed, and she looked away, refusing to meet Usui's gaze. "Yeah, I know." she murmured. "But you should still choose your words carefully and be more considerate of others."
"So what's with the aircraft, hmm?" Kuuga demanded, getting back on topic.
"Oh, it's for your first challenge." Maria explained. "These helicopters will drop your groups off on opposite sides of the desert area. You will find backpacks containing everything you'll need to survive for the day in there. The objective is for your group to trek through a new environment and make it to that beach house first." She pointed to a glass and wood structure on a cliff to their left. "The first group that arrives may stay there for the night, and the losing team will have to spend the night camping out in the forest and the next morning, they'll have to send off a team member, one that was voted off the previous night. 3 (That's supposed to be a heart)"
"Hold on a second there," objected Shiroyan. "How exactly are you gonna make sure that we make it back?"
"What if one of us gets bitten by a poisonous snake?" Kurotatsu chimed in.
"Or is attacked by a wild coyote?" suggested Ikkun.
"Or… or gets lost in oblivion, with no way back!?" Shiroyan wailed.
Various scenarios appeared above the trio's heads, showing all the worst cases that could take place.
"It's the desert," Aoi pointed out bluntly. "The worst that can happen is that you'll run out of water and die of thirst."
"What if we get lost?" asked Kurotatsu.
"There's map and compass in the backpacks for each of the groups." Maria answered.
"How about if we get fooled by a mirage and are cut off from the people with the maps!?" Ikkun opposed.
"Oh, just shut up and get in there already! The longer we take to begin this stupid task, the longer it'll take for us to complete it." Tora snapped.
Naturally, instinct kicked in for the idiot trio just in time, and they rushed onto the helicopters without another word. "Are all school presidents so scary…?" Kuuga mused, as he too climbed into the helicopter.
"Misaki's not scary," Sakura said, also getting onto the aircraft. "And I think Igarashi-kaichou is quite the gentleman."
"I'll say," came the sarcastic response. Soon, everyone had boarded their helicopter and the challenge officially commenced.
{Scene change to private room with Aoi sitting in an armchair, speaking to camera}
"This is pathetic. The only reason I'm still here is because of the reward. If it wasn't for that, I'd be outta here by now." Aoi rolled his eyes. "Well, at least I'm not teamed up with those three morons. And Misaki-chi's pretty good at these things. For once, she can put her unfeminine self to use. Because once I get the prize, it's a kawaii-filled life for me! I'm not going down without a fight, and this time, my father isn't here to stop me!"
Misaki jumped off the end of the rope ladder, landing on the sand with a thud. She looked up just in time to see the helicopter retract the ladder and leave. "Is everyone here?" she inquired, scanning the other contestants before her. She had jumped last because she wanted to ensure that everyone else had landed safely first. "Okay, good. We're all present. Do we have all the supplies?"
"Five backpacks, fully stocked." Sakura chirped.
"Perfect. Alright, grab a bag and get hiking. Someone, get out the map and compass. If you get tired of carrying a bag after a while, give it to someone who isn't carrying one. We've got no time to waste. Let's go." Misaki instructed. She picked up the heaviest-looking bag, swung it onto her shoulders, and waited for everyone else to do the same. In the end, everyone was carrying bag except for Igarashi Tora and Gerard Walker. Misaki sighed. Figures.
"I've got the map and compass!" declared Kurotatsu, waving them in the air.
"Hand them to Igarashi-kaichou. He should be able to direct us onto the correct path."
"Any reason you're asking me in particular?" Tora questioned, eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"Well, you live in a giant mansion, and Miyabigoaka is six times the size of Seika."
"So?"
"If can find your way around there, you should be good at reading maps, right?"
Nobody spoke for a moment. All eyes were on Tora, as amusement and consideration weighted themselves on his face. Finally, he spoke. "Then why don't you ask Gerard-san? His castle is larger than my mansion in comparison."
Everyone turned to stare at Gerard. He held up his hands defensively, as if saying, Don't look at me!
"One of you, just read the map!" Misaki exclaimed, exasperated.
Tora shrugged and took the map and compass from Kurotatsu. "Alright, then, this way." He began to walk, and everyone else proceeded after him.
"I'm hungry; who has the food?" Shintani complained. Team B had been walking for a couple minutes now, and the heavy bags combined with the unbearable heat of the plain desert area were getting to them.
"I do, but you're not getting any of it yet." Satsuki sang, playfully wagging her index finger at the teen. "We need to save it, because that's all we have for the whole day."
"We're going in the wrong direction," Shizuko suddenly piped up. She let out a nervous laugh and turned the map right-side up. "We are supposed to be heading that way."
Shiroyan and Ikkun groaned. "How come you didn't find out sooner!?" shouted Ikkun, upset at having walked all this way for nothing.
"Can't we at least have some water? I'm parched." Shiroyan offered.
"Who has the bag with the water pouches?" Usui asked.
Maki held up one of the seven circular water capsules, one for each of them. "There's also a larger container at the bottom, for cooking the food. The water in there isn't purified, so please don't drink from it."
The water capsule was passed around and everyone took a sip. The cool liquid was soothing to their dry lips, and it was refreshing to their bodies. Once all the team members had a drink, the water capsule was handed back to Maki, to store in the shade of the backpack so it would remain at a colder temperature than their surroundings for the next time they would need it.
"Let's continue on, then." Shizuko said, leading the way.
"H-hey… wait for me!" Yukimara yelled, struggling to get up. He didn't want to be left behind, as seeing he was the slowest among his group members.
{Scene change to private room with Shiroyan sitting in an armchair, wailing at camera}
"It's so hot out here! Why am I separated from Kurotatsu and Misa-chan!? It's not faaaaiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrr!" The room starts to flood with the amount of tears Shiroyan is shedding, but he doesn't notice. "We're never going to make it before the other team! They've got Misa-chan! And it's also blamed on Kaga-san! She'd been leading us the wrong way for a whole seven minutes! We could've gotten much farther if not for her big mistake!"
A dark aura appears over Shiroyan's head as he kneels on the ground, defeated. "I'm never going to get that photo shot with Misa-chan now…"
Two more hours into the day, Team A had decided to stop and have a rest. Breakfast had been served on the helicopter ride, but that now seemed like such a long time ago. Almost everyone's stomach was growling from hunger and their throats all sore from lack of water. "Is it time for lunch?" Aoi questioned wearily.
"It's eight thirty-seven," Misaki informed him, reading her watch. "Still a while before we can eat."
"Can I have some water?" Sakura asked.
Kurotatsu passed the capsule to her, after taking a sip for himself. Sakura drank gratefully, letting the moisture of the water soothe her aching throat. But it only seemed to burn more once she screwed the lid of the capsule closed once again and handed it silently back to Kanou, who was carrying the bag filled with the other water capsules.
"Hey, isn't that a helicopter up there?" Misaki pointed towards the clear blue sky, where a faint silhouette of a rescue copter was just visible. The familiar whirring of the propellers told the contestants that it wasn't just their imagination.
Sakura jumped up excitedly. "We're saved!"
"Hand me a mirror." Tora instructed, holding an empty palm towards Sakura. "I'll signal it down."
"Wait—isn't this cheating?" Kanou objected.
"Who cares?" Aoi retorted, practically glowing from the knowledge that he wouldn't need to bear this stupid desert any longer. "No one ever said we couldn't do this."
Tora was already angling the small compact mirror Sakura had handed him a moment ago in just the right position to catch a ray of sunlight, reflecting it up where the helicopter pilot would hopefully be able to see. About a minute later, the aircraft was already lowering in altitude, a voice through a megaphone was saying, "Don't panic. We're here to rescue you."
Cheers erupted through Team A's members as one by one, they grabbed hold of the rope ladder thrown down from the rescue copter and started to climb. Soon, everyone was on their route back to the beach house, on their way to victory.
"We made it!" Satsuki cheered, approaching the beach house.
"Could it be that we won!?" Ikkun gasped.
"Maybe. Let's go inside and see!" Shintani rushed into the beach house, only to find Team A's members there waiting for them, all lounging in or around the Jacuzzi, sporting new swimsuits (courtesy of the special beach house wardrobe).
"B-but how'd you get here before us?!" Shiroyan exclaimed.
"We had help," Tora said, smirking and sipping from a reddish-orange cocktail.
"A rescue copter delivered us." Sakura clarified.
"That's not fair! We had to hike all this way while they just called a helicopter! Isn't that cheating!?" Shiroyan opposed.
"Not at all," Maria waved her hand dismissively. "It wasn't in the rules, so it's still fair game."
"Oh, well," Yukimara shrugged. "A beach house isn't that good, right?"
A dark aura surrounded Yukimara as his group members ganged up on him. "Not that good?" hissed Shiroyan.
"It's got a Jacuzzi, a balcony overlooking the seas, water beds, and exclusive closet selections!" Ikkun added.
"Not to mention gourmet dinners every night!" Satsuki said.
"With top-quality service, of course." Maki agreed.
"And we have to camp out in the forest, with lots of wild animals such as snakes, and tigers, and poisonous spiders, all lurking around the corner…" Usui taunted.
Yukiamra began to squirm. "Okay, okay… maybe it is that good."
"Speaking of which," Maria cut in, to Yukimara's relief. "Here's your camping supplies! Good luck, and don't forget—tomorrow morning, you'll have to vote one team member off!" She handed them two tents with their setup supplies, sleeping bags, and pillows. "Happy camping! 3 (Again, that's supposed to be a heart)"
At seven o'clock sharp, when the sky was almost completely dark, Team B was called out for the voting while Team A hung out in the beach house, enjoying a plentiful BBQ dinner under the stars. They arrived at the beach to find a campsite set just a few meters away from the moonlit sea. Mild waves crashed against the shores in a steady beat, the only sounds penetrating the otherwise silent evening. Occasionally, the happy chatter of conversation from Team A out on the balcony could be heard.
"I'm so jealous, Ikkun." Shiroyan told his friend.
"Why is Kurotatsu the lucky one?" Ikkun sulked, envy welling up inside of him. Their black-haired friend got to live in an awesome and hip beach house, hang out with Misa-chan, and feast on BBQ that night while they had to sleep in the jungle, without Misa-chan, and eat a normal dinner. It just wasn't fair.
The only person who appeared to be enjoying themselves was Usui, who was telling Yukimara all about the scary things that prance around in the jungle at night. Even Satsuki was a little distraught than usual. Hinata was sniffing the air with a longing expression, probably picking up on the scent of the outdoor meal carried over by the soft breeze.
Maria beckoned the group to join her seated around the campfire. The glowing embers from the flame lit up her face eerily. Once all the contestants were seated, the host began to speak. "Here is how to voting will work: I am going to give each of you a pen and ballot. On it, you'll write the name of one member you want to leave the island. When you have finished, place it in that tikki. You can say a comment, or just put it in. When all the ballots have been collected, I'll tally up the votes and the person with the majority of votes will have to leave the next morning."
Everyone nodded without saying a word. They seemed to all sense the seriousness of this event. The ballots were filled out and handed in, one by one. Nobody bothered with a comment. Maria flipped through them, then announced, "It appears that Kaga Shizuko is to be removed from the island."
No one was particularly surprised. She was, after all, one of the reasons that they had lost the challenge. It was because of Shizuko's mistake that they had wasted a few moments of valuable time. Though Team A's helicopter lift wasn't Shizuko's fault, they might have at least stood a chance if it hadn't been for that one slip-up.
"We will see you off tomorrow morning then, Kaga-san." Maria informed her. "You may all return to your tents now. Sleep well; the second challenge begins tomorrow as well."