Chapter 1: Fan Followings and Paparazzi
The female host managed to stay in character, even though I was nervous. Letting out a laugh, she spoke for me. "Well, you know how rare it can be for some of our contestants to be regretful! Akiko, our first contestant will change her mind when the action truly begins!" the host said, as the guards had me directed towards a logo wall on another raised stage, accessed by a few small steps.
The logos behind me on the wall had the show's logo that I saw on the monitor. The rest of the logos appeared to be from random items, such as a TV channel and one that looked like it belonged to a fast food restaurant. Two guards patrolling the stage I was on was escorting a flashy guy with a pass labeled "PRESS" in black letters over a yellow background. A tablet and pen connected to it was the only thing he was carrying.
"Hey, Ms. Miyashita, I'm from a popular blogging website that has it's own fan community. What are your experiences on being here right now?" he said to me, as he got his tablet ready. "Wait! I don't know why I'm here! Look, I just woke up on my way here! I don't know what I'm doing here!" I pleaded to him in response.
"They announced your name in the trailers. They said you volunteered to be here. I mean, the show likes to have the prettiest ones be first in the show. You do look lovely, though." the journalist said to me. "Wait a minute, I don't recall checking my own appearance. I need a mirror or something." I calmed down, though I clearly sounded anxious while calm.
"Tell you what, selfies with contestants can vary depending on price. The pictures from the survivors get the highest of value. I can offer a quick selfie, if you want." He said to me, as he got his tablet of his set up. There was clearly something wrong here. I just knew it had something to do with my recent loss of memories. "A quick selfie, boys." the journalist was referring to the guards near the stage, as he gripped my shoulder and stood next to me.
The screen on the tablet was facing towards me. I could finally see what my face finally looked like. I looked like a typical high school student with a normal young face. My hair was long and sky blue which matched my eyes. On the bottom of the screen, I saw I was wearing a same colored dress top, along with a spiral symbol embed gold coin necklace that I didn't notice was on my neck.
Looking quickly down, I saw I had a skirt the color of a pumpkin with matching shoes. The journalist nudged my shoulder to look down up, where even though I made no attempt to smile, he took the picture anyways. "Very nice, indeed. Actually, I think the next limo just pulled up." Looking back at the spot where I got out, another kid popped out with a major difference. From the logo wall, he appeared to have bandages wrapped on certain parts of his head. Walking with the guards to where the hosts were, as the paparazzi were expecting me to pose for them, I listened in what the new kid said to the hosts.
"Next contestant is a famous fugitive that has been finally caught, Mr. Kazuyuki Yoshino. Yoshino, tell us your thoughts on being here on Despair Live?" the host asked him with the microphone almost shoved in his disfigured face. "A death wish, I would say. You didn't have to send a helicopter on me, you know?"
After finishing his interview, he was escorted to the wall where I was. The journalist who was standing with me immediately acted like I didn't exist and went to where Yoshino was to interview him. Getting a closer look at him, Yoshino was wearing an outfit, that could be easily mistaken for a kimono, expect he was actually wearing a long sleeved shirt and black jeans. His shirt was white with a repeating black flower pattern. He had a scar on his right side of his mouth, looking like a half Glasgow smile. There were bandages covering his right ear, nose, and his left eye where the other eye was a black colored peddle on a white snow field, similar to his black hair.
While the journalist was interviewing Yoshino with nonsensical questions, another limo showed up. Exiting was another girl who was wearing a red hoodie over her head. At the stage, she was introduced as Ms. Fumiko Takagi, a famous malpractice lawyer. "So Takagi, your experience in being a lawyer will help you cooperate with others?" "I'm not an official lawyer. I only deal with cases in malpractice. The title says it all." Takagi replied in a calm manner.
Up closer, Takagi was wearing clear frame glasses over her turquoise eyes. I could see underneath that red hoodie, she was wearing a white business dress, even trying to hide a diamond earring. After the journalist moved away from Yoshino, he bumped my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "You wanna fuck before we die?" he joked. I responded with a slap to the right side of his face that wasn't covered in bandages. "Damn pervert!" I yelled out to him.
"Relax for a minute, can we all have fun for once?" Yoshino said, rubbing his face. "I don't even belong here! What's this about dying? What is this show? Why am I here?!" "Someone appears to be off their medication. What kind of Ultimate are you? Ultimate Unlucky Student?" he continued joking. "Aren't you supposed to be a criminal or something?" I tried to insult him. "I think the police might have overreacted to me being on the run for about 6 years." Yoshino said, sounding almost embarrassed.
"Look, I don't why I'm here! I just wake up in a limo!" I pleaded with him. "Well, how did you sign up? People who volunteer are usually given a contract and ones in prison are forced here to add tension to the cast of characters in each season." "Wait, you're saying that people in prison are forced onto this show?"
"Are you faking amnesia or something?" Yoshino started to see the problem I was facing. "I think I have amnesia. I just woke up in a limo, that's all! I don't even know if I have parents or friends or.." I was getting ahead of myself. "They said your name, didn't they?" Yoshino asked. "They said my name is Akiko Miyashita. I'm apparently an Entertainment Instructor. I teach people to become clowns or something."
Another limo showed up for another kid to appear. This boy that appeared with a barely gold flaked jacket with a fedora. When they had him on the stage, he was acting all brave and what not, when they announce his name as Keizo Tamao, Ultimate Music Pirate. When he came to the wall, his tone immediately changed from bragging about being here. "H-h-hey, guys? You wouldn't mind s-s-sparing me on the first day, right?" Tamao said, while he was up close shown a bruised and faint left gold eye. He had his hair in a samurai ponytail to make room for his sleazy fedora.
The next people to arrive were Akane Sadakaya, the Ultimate Bookkeeper, wearing a lime peel colored business dress with dark blue eyes and dark red hair. Yoshino bumped my shoulder again, telling me that Akane's talent is involved in the criminal underworld. "I heard she's on the run." he claimed to me. Another boy named Mitsugi Koiso who was the Ultimate Surgeon appeared in purple doctor scrubs with a face mask covering his mouth and black glasses on his blue eyes. His hair was a mix of blue that was turning into black. A rectangle badge was stitched onto his scrubs of a scalpel under a phrase in latin, "Pulsus Sacrifico".
Fuko Kamimura and Takanori Kashiwada appeared in the limos next. Fuko was a healer similarly to Mitsugi who was a military nurse, helping soldiers in training or at war. Even though, I didn't talk to her at the start, I thought she would make a cute girlfriend for Koiso, as both of their professions were medical related. She wore a black sweater, matching her hair, visible under a white lab coat with several medals on each side of the coat. She still had blue gloves on her hands, which match the color of her eyes. Takanori Kashiwada was the Ultimate Gunrunner, making major gun deals and even makes his own guns. He was surprisingly colorful for a gunrunner. He had pink hair that was matching his tinted glasses over his navy blue eyes. His vest was patterned, showing dark, oily looking flowers in the same colors of his eyes over his pink shirt going with his pants, accompanying him with an emerald tie. A magenta colored carnation flower was on the right side of his vest.
The next two who wondered on stage were the most polarizing. The increase in camera flashes didn't help. "Ughh.. oh great. A politician." Yoshino let slip out of his mouth. Etsuko Shigemori was declared the Ultimate Politician, being the youngest and was the leader of her own politics club. "Who is she?" I said to Yoshino. "Hadn't you seen on- Need to remember, you have amnesia. Look, she's the leader of the TÅitsu party. Your typical political nonsense." Yoshino showed a disinterest in Shigemori's talent.
Shigemori surprisingly looked like a ghost, as her skin was white, though she wore a purple suit jacket under a diagonal black and blue stripped hoodie with a long skirt. Her hair was a violet color with her eyes being a duck egg blue pastel color. Everything are going casual at the wall, for short. Contestants were chatting with each other, journalists, fans, you name it. Until-
"My fellow rocketeers from the planet of Earth, I have arrived from the wormhole in the stars near the seventh moon of Pluto! Prince Okazaki has arrived!" Most of the crowd looked to see Okazaki appear in a tokusatsu costume, designed to look similar to a sci-fi spacesuit and a military uniform. His costume was in a mix of light and dark green colors, though his shoulder pads were red and a circular shape at his right of his chest where his heart is was made into the costume. His helmet covered all of his head, expect his mouth, where his clean teeth were visible, including a built in visor to help him see.
"Prince Okazaki, you are the Ultimate Prince! You have came to Earth to be in this year's killing game. How will your intergalactic skills make you win?" the host, staying in character while interviewing Okazaki. "I have defeated many foes for the benefits of justice and victory. I have reached destinations from which are impossible. And I have faced challenges that even the deus ex machina has appeared to assist me! All of this for making the universe a brilliant place." Okazaki responded, as he made this way to the wall. "It's a pleasure to meet you all! Man, it's glad to fight against some worthy foes here."
"You're going to survive with that space suit on?" Yoshino asked. "Made from the finest of titanium. That's my game, but the rules changes when the real challenge begins." Prince Okazaki reminded Yoshino. Next was Kanae Kurahashi, the Ultimate Molecular Gastronomer, who arrived wearing a trilby hat that covered her long brown hair that matched her eyes. She was wearing a dress top in a raspberry red and had a light and dark blue striped skirt with some matching shoes. When Jotaro Yamamura appeared, Yoshino's behavior changed immediately to loathing.
"That little fedora wearing shit! He's here?!" His voice was still quiet, though it wasn't a whisper. Jotaro did appear with a fedora that was colored white with a black stripe around it, he strangely appeared wearing a monocle on left eye, a pink colored ascot at his neck, wearing a white and cream colored suit and pants with his blond hair and gray eyes. "Akiko, don't believe anything you hear from him." Yoshino said, in a threatening tone. "What's wrong? Some sort of bad blood? I mean, maybe you sho-" I tried to have him be more peaceful towards Jotaro, but I accidentally provoked him further. "It's not bad blood! That asshole is more horrible than me and he's the one who gets away with it!" Yoshino clenched a fist, his voice turning into a shout.
Jotaro was talking in an interview with the hosts, talking about how he helped people with his talent as a self-help guru, making him the Ultimate Guru. I knew Yoshino was a criminal, but I couldn't tell if Jotaro was lying. During the interview, he appeared to sound honest. Though, I can't say that I didn't believe that Jotaro was lying, since Yoshino might as well attack me. I only knew he was a fugitive, but I didn't know what made him a fugitive, so I remained silent.
Jotaro appeared at the wall, though he appeared to have not noticed Yoshino, nor his angry glare at him. Sadako Takano appeared later, wearing a dark green dress with matching colored eyes and white hair. Her dove earrings stood out, as she was almost covered in jewelry. Another thing about her was the dragon tattoo on her left shoulder that extended to her arm. She introduced herself as the Ultimate Watchman. I didn't understand how she was a "watchman", since isn't that supposed to a talent in security? Which I wonder as she finished her interview.
At one of the limos, it was tilting to the point where it appeared that the front wheels were going to go off the tarmac. As it stopped for the passenger to exit, the limo began to shift towards whatever was inside was moving around at. The door was opened, as a large muscular man similar to a build of a circus strongman exited the limo. He stood at 6'4, where one can see his muscles from a distance. There was an oxygen mask over his mouth that was connected by a hose to a bunch of oxygen canisters he had holstered on his back with a harness. I recognized the outfit he was wearing. It was a chef's outfit in grey, including a moderate sized chef's hat. His hair was hidden under his hat, though his eyes were a purple color.
Those already at the stage looked at him like he was a hulking beast. As he got closer to us, there was the smell of oranges in the air, coming from his..oxygen tanks? The chef was breathing in flavored air through the tanks to his lungs. Some cameramen and the hosts started to head to his position, so it would be quick to introduce him quicker. "Takashi Takayama, you're the Ultimate Celebrity Chef. You did say in an interview that you were to participate here."
"My announcement to be here was to have my fanbase be in high spirits and stay hopeful." Takashi spoke in a gruff and calm voice. "This was something that I took interest in for a long time. I wouldn't want to say why, but I felt that my fans would be happy to see me here." Everyone standing me were anxious as he lumbered to the wall. The last two seemed normal with the second to last being Mai Oishi, the Ultimate Chess Player.
Knowing what chess was already, I thought of her as a casual person wearing a blue raincoat with a small necklace with rubies shaped like chess pieces, matching her eyes with a light black hairstyle covering her left eye. Ryuji Asakawa, the last student to arrive was the Ultimate Interrogator. What I saw immediately of him was his emotionless white mask, that made it hard to see his eyes as they appeared to be empty. Appearing in a tan plaid jacket with colorless hair, he was the final contestant.
All 16 of us stood at the wall where the camera flashes intensified. The game officially started. "All of this season's contestants have arrived! Send open the gates!" the host shouted, as the looming gates were opening. The armed bodyguards had us line up and made us walk through the gates to the unknown. In the distance past the gates was studios and a theme park ahead. I look at Yoshino, where he had the look of acceptance on his face with a little smug grin.