AN: Apologies for the long, unannounced hiatus. I have experienced challenges this past summer concerning health. I am working to ensure that this will not interfere as much with my fanfiction in the future. In any case, here is another chapter. Enjoy!


This is becoming unfortunately familiar, Airi thought, coming back to consciousness. She found a classroom before her eyes. Airi wanted to believe that she had simply fallen asleep in class, and that a teacher was going to embarrass her any moment now for her carelessness. She wanted to, but she couldn't even summon the false hope. For even as she was coming to she felt cold metal wrapping around her wrists and her neck. She lifted her hand half-heartedly, not even wanting to look.

Clink. Yes, definitely handcuffs. They hooked around the backing of the chair, effectively killing any ideas Airi had about repeating her earlier act.

There was something else, a definite warmth touching her back. A person? Airi twisted and found that she was sharing both the seat and the handcuffs with another girl. The girl had long dark waves of hair, as well as a faint stain of unnatural lipstick -purple?- clinging to her lips. She too seemed to be taking stock of her surroundings. The two met eyes for a few moments, before each turning back to assess their situation.

The classroom was filled with people approximately Airi's own age, though she thought some of them might have been older. Everyone seemed to have been paired off, or rather, handcuffed off. Still, these pairings appeared completely random. Some students were still wearing their school clothes, while others wore casual dress. Those in the latter category seemed to be most alert, though there were exceptions both ways. Most notably, a boy in a black uniform had draped himself over his chair, while his his handcuff partner sat shivering on the tile. His hair was a wild mess, a gingerish mane. Is he chewing gum? As soon as Airi looked at his eyes, she realized he had been examining her the entire time. She held her ground for a few moments, then turned away, feeling unexplainably sick to her stomach.

She turned her attention to the rest of the room, scanning faces. Good, I don't think I know anyone here... That's a good thing, right? Some of the teens even wore what appeared to be prison uniforms, though Airi hoped that they might simply be janitors or some form of maintenance crew. Although, wouldn't it be a bit weird for the Program to only take a few members of a maintenance-

The thought cut off as soon as it had sunk in. I'm in the Program, Airi realized, her blood stilling in her veins. I'm really in the Program.

The door to the room opened quietly as a young woman walked in. She didn't appear to be much older than anyone handcuffed, possibly in her early twenties. She certainly didn't dress as if she were, Airi noted, as the woman wore a neon orange t-shirt and camouflage shorts with a studded black belt. Airi's throat tightened as she realized that the shirt was emblazoned with the letters B and R- Battle Royale. The woman stopped at the front of the room, planting her hands on her waist with a sickeningly sincere smile.

"Hello, everyone! Don't you feel lucky?" She giggled, tossing her short hair. The room was silent, except for a single chuckle. Airi snuck a glance behind her, seeing a boy in military dress. Everything about him was smartened up to army standards, except for one foot in rebellion, tapping incessantly against the floor. His smirk grated on her nearly as much as the noise. Just what is he so impatient for...? "You can all call me Onee-chan. I'm sure that we'll be best of friends, eh?" Airi's attention flicked back to the woman, though slowed by her disgust and confusion.

"Well, you've all been told you're in the Program. One way or another, right?" She giggled again. Airi had a hysterical urge to giggle as well, just to think that something was actually that pleasant. "Just in case, I'm here to tell you the Right Way To Fight A Battle Royale!" Her voice bounced with the tell-tale tone of memorization. Has she been brainwashed? "Congratulations! Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you! Fight, fight, fight until everyone's dead but you!" A few gasps echoed around the room. Airi knew that even though most people must know the basics of the Battle Royale, it was shocking to hear it out loud, for real.

"Listen well. I believe in you all! Anyone can win if his or her mind is put to it! No rules, but one important thing! There's a time limit on this game, which is three days. If we haven't got a winner after three days, all the necklaces you're wearing automatically explode! And no one wins. As long as we're here, lets fight hard to make sure that doesn't happen! And oh yes," she paused, smiling vibrantly to the unresponsive crowd, "About those necklaces. They're one hundred percent waterproof, shockproof and permenant! It monitors your pulse, and your you linger in a danger zone, or cause trouble... BOOM! It explodes! If you try to rip it off, it explodes too, so promise not to do that, eh?"

"There's a few things you gotta know! You are on a deserted island that looks like... this!" She slid the adjustable chalkboard, revealing a map drawn on the board behind it. "We evacuated everyone, so it's empty! The island is divided into many zones. Every six hours, I will broadcast updates about which zones are becoming danger zones. Aren't you excited? If you're in those zones, you should leave quickly, though. Because..." she drew a line over her neck with her finger. "You'll leave the room one by one, but first you get a kit! Inside is food and water, a map and compass, a flashlight and a weapon. So check it out later, ok? There's also personal hygiene for the girls- we wouldn't want to worry about something so silly now, eh?" Oh, I'm sure there will be plenty of blood without, Airi thought. The morbidity of her own thoughts scared her- she wondered vaguely if she were in shock.

Onee-san put her finger to her lips, and leaned in. "Now, I bet a lot of you are wondering why you're here." The class shot to attention. "This is a real special game, eh? You see, the government wanted to try something new. Now that the games become more popular, we have a lot of lovely volunteers!" She clapped once, her eyes finding particular faces around the room. Airi tried desperately to match the movement to whoever she was referring to, but failed. "Even so, we still have a lot of no-good people... Yes, I'm talking to you jailbirds! All of you who mock grown-ups by breaking the laws- and getting caught. Better play this game better, guys!"

A girl in the front raised her hand slowly, drawing all attention to her. Airi thought that in any other context, the same might have happened anyway- the girl was absolutely stunning. Tea-colored hair hung straight to her collarbones, framing her heart-shaped face gracefully. Even the way she held her hand up was elegant, her white-polished fingertips curling delicately towards her palm.

"Yes, Etsuko? I do hope I can call you all by your first names, by the way, because I'm simply not allowed to know your last names! Government business," Onee-chan said, standing taller.

"I'm sorry, but... I've never been to jail. And I didn't volunteer, I'm sure. Isn't there a misunderstanding?" Etsuko questioned softly, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Oh no, Etsuko, there's no mistake. You and eight other people in this little classroom feel exactly the same way. You know who you are!" Onee-chan waved dismissively. Airi felt her heart sink into her toes.

"But why then?" A boy said, standing up. He was rather tall, his change in stature causing his partner's arm to dragged up with him. The boy in question looked baleful at his counterpart's rash behavior, hesitantly standing up to relieve the pressure.

"Oh, but Kichiro! All of you eight have committed the worst crime of all. Or your parents have! Betrayal or rebellion against the government! You ought to be ashamed. You eight are prisoners of the country- in fact, you volunteered your right to live as soon as you did such bad things!"

Airi glanced around the room. Kichiro, Etsuko, a few other faces seemed just as paralyzed as she felt. But as she looked around, finding streaming tears, open mouths, even blank stares, she knew several things. One, that her parents had never once been dishonest with her. Two, that neither she nor they had caused any trouble for the country, as much as they might not agree with its policies. And three, that none of that mattered at all.

She was innocent- innocent in a room full of murderers, criminals and defectors. She was as good as dead.