A/N: I apologize for the long wait! For those of you who are also awaiting Healing You's update, it is on the way, do not fret, I have not abandoned it. You just have to wait, I only have less than a thousand words written… *cowers apologetically*
To theunhappytwins, Teto is with Ruko. I have no idea where that pairing came from, I kinda just used it.
To wakingthedemon007, homosexuality is illegal in Japan, the last time I checked. All the government is doing now is pissing off China and South Korea (don't tell them I said that).
To Dakimomoe, I am so sorry for the long wait! Here is your reward; hopefully it lives up to the previous chapter! I'm glad you liked it, I thought it might have been too sad to be liked.
To UK-Underworld King, to be honest, I didn't like the Hunger Games very much. The first book's good, but the second is just pushing it and the third should have never existed. I hope that this story can be better than the Hunger Games (a pretty tall order, I know). Yeah, not all homosexuals are the way I depicted them in this story, humans are rather despicable creatures after all, it is human nature.
To JustifiableMe, I didn't quite enjoy the last book of the Hunger Games, if it stopped at the first it would have been perfect. I hope this story will be as good as, or even better, than the Hunger Games, and I am delighted that you have enjoyed it thus far.
To Veran, OTP means One True Pairing, or the pairing you love the most.
To M'lisss, I'm glad that you took the time to review so many of my works, it really warms my heart! I am delighted that you enjoy this story, and if Haku goes home, Neru will too, you know. They're going home as a couple, but only one couple can make it, according to the Games' rules. Unless they find a way around it...
To all the others who reviewed, thank you so much! Every single review encourages me that someone out there actually likes this story! I love you guys!
Haruka
P.S A friend of mine might be reading this. If you are, hi! This was what I was writing while texting you~
That morning's little challenge came in the form of shadowy beasts once more, but they were much less human-formed this time round, instead looking more like insects, like… a pure black version of Scyther from Pokémon. They moved exceptionally quickly, so fast that Neru barely had the time to kill two of them before they were too close to fire at. Their attacks were much more devastating, the creatures aiming for chinks in their armor or for uncovered flesh, or attempting to twist off the metal plates by sliding their blades beneath them and pulling up forcibly, like a crowbar of some sort. None of the group had any time to look out for each other; it took everything they had to keep themselves alive.
Leaping over a blade while ducking her head to dodge one sweeping above her, Luka slashed in an arc to dispose of as many of those shadows in one strike as she could manage, grateful that their corpses crumbled into nothing the moment they died. It was much too chaotic on this battlefield already, they did not need extra bodies tripping them up or blocking their way.
The tide of enemies seemed endless, and perspiration poured down the pink haired warrior's body as she strained it, forcing it to keep moving as quickly as it could despite its constant complaints. To her left, she heard a high-pitched yelp of pain followed by a series of wild slashes that could have been dealt by either party, but could not spare even a moment to glance in that direction. Doing so would have been suicide; she just managed to lean far back enough to escape the reach of a shadow warrior's scythe-arm, which left a shallow scratch on her throat to warn her that she was within an inch of losing her life.
Just as Luka decapitated her last enemy, a scream of human terror, human agony, ripped through the tunnels at a deafening volume, amplifying further as it traveled onward, bouncing from wall to wall. Gripping her blade tightly in clammy hands, Luka ran toward the source of the sound, her friends at her heels; from the corner of her eye, the pink haired warrior noticed that Gumi was bleeding badly from a cut in her arm. From the looks of it, the wound was merely superficial and had done no damage to the muscle and tissue beneath the skin. Regardless of how serious it was, Luka was sure it had to be tended to soon for two reasons: one, bleeding out does not seem like an attractive way to die, and two, who knows what kind of infections can set in in the Andromeda Galaxy?
Being the fastest runner, Luka arrived first, skidding to a stop when she saw the slumped body of a human girl by the wall, lying limply in a pool of her own blood, her blade lying inches away from her pale and twitching outstretched hand. Around her, three of those shadowy warriors stood, one about to deal the finishing blow; before it could even process the group's arrival, Neru had shot it cleanly through the head. The other two charged, not quite as concerned about finishing off their badly wounded prey, and Neru had them disintegrate into nothingness before they even came close enough for the swordsmen in the party to reach with their blades. Keeping her amber eyes trained on the distance where the tunnel faded into blackness, Neru spoke through clenched teeth, obviously suppressing a string of foul language, "Go tend to her, I'll keep a lookout."
Swords were immediately sheathed, breaths inhaled sharply with shock and disgust as Luka carefully neared the girl, attempting to sidestep the dark pool that steadily grew beneath the girl's splayed body. Giving up, the pink haired warrior shrugged off her backpack and pulled out the first aid kit, eyes scanning the girl's body for the location of the wound that shed scarlet tears of her lifeblood. It was located somewhere on her chest, which was not a good sign, if her heart had been damaged, it would be far beyond the pink haired warrior's capacity to heal.
Hissing under her breath, Luka desperately pressed the last of her bandages to the girl's chest, wishing that it would just stop bleeding already. Blood, warm and sticky, continued to pool steadily on the floor beneath them, widening with each passing second, and she suppressed the urge to vomit as she cut away the girl's shirt, revealing the deep, jagged-edged wound. Around her, Meiko and Gumi cringed visibly, the green haired girl stumbling away to throw up in a corner, limbs trembling violently. Meiko cursed under her breath, dropping to one knee and pulling out her own first aid kit and handing Luka a fresh bandage to replace the bloodstained one in her shaky hands.
"Shit," Luka swore softly, exhaling slowly as she applied pressure to the edges of the angry-looking cut, "This is really bad… I can't… I can't do a thing…" Biting her lip, the pink haired warrior looked down at the ashen-faced girl slouched against the wall, breathing in shallow, pained hisses. Luka had no idea who this brown haired girl was, all she knew was that this stranger had received a mortal wound from those shadow beasts they fought off, she was about to die before their eyes and there was nothing they could do about it.
Barely conscious and delirious with the pain, the brown haired girl talked senselessly about her home in Inazawa, Japan, muttering something about a Hokke-ji Temple and about picnics in Heiwa Central Park with her family. Neru turned to leave, obviously uninterested in the dying girl and the stories she was spouting, instead polishing the tips of her arrows silently in a corner away from them and the violently trembling Gumi. Rummaging in her pack, Meiko brought out some sedatives she located in the outer pouch of the first aid kit, pleading Luka, "Give these to her; it will help with the pain, right?"
"She's a gone case, Meiko," Luka protested immediately, pushing the syringes away, "It would be a waste." The brown haired warrior responded that, gone case or not, no one should have to suffer when there were ways to relieve their pain. Shaking her head slowly, Luka sighed deeply, "You're too soft for your own good. It doesn't matter; she's too far gone to know anything anymore."
Rising, Luka mumbled a farewell to the dying stranger, listening to the ragged breath the girl took that would surely be her last. The tunnels were eerily quiet for that moment, save for Meiko's soft whimpering and Gumi's retching, as if the arena was holding a period of silence in respect to the departed soul. Steeling herself, Luka swore that there was no way this dying girl would ever be herself or Miku, she would do everything in her power to ensure that it would be them that got home. However… the Megurine Luka and Hatsune Miku returning to Osaka would never be the same, weighed down by all they had witnessed and endured during their disappearance…
[Elsewhere]
The dank, dark row of cells emitted a sickly odor that would turn anyone's stomach, the stench of starvation, of fear, of pain, of various bodily fluids and excrement. Ragged and half-alive, the prisoners lying lifelessly behind the metal bars gaze with glazed eyes at the alien as he walked by, tossing them their meals and laughing as they cringed from him. The male, Shion Kaito, had become much more withdrawn after seeing his lover, and in his sleep had been cursing at the girl whom committed suicide the day before, Masuda Lily. There was a hint of jealousy in that boy, but mostly, he had sounded angry at the blonde warrior for leaving, for giving up the fight and foolishly assuming the brown haired warrior loved her less.
A heart torn in two, filled with real affection for both parties, he had never seen such a phenomenon in his life. Cupid's second arrow was not as potent as the first, he observed, did that mean that Sakine's love for the boy would soon fade? It would be most interesting to watch if it did, the warrior would begin to falter and question herself, her feelings, consumed by guilt and pain and fear… that was the main event of the Mind Games, the painful torture of the minds of all living participants.
That turquoise haired girl, Hatsune, was still being the saintly, heart-meltingly sweet child she was from the beginning, feeding others before herself and murmuring encouragements to them when they despaired. She listened when they spoke endlessly about their lives back home, about their lovers and the things they had done together, often delirious with fever, while attempting desperately to nurse them back to health. Kagamine, the small blonde, had it the worst, her young, impressionable mind succumbed the fastest to despair and she spent most of the time sobbing, whimpering "I want to go home" like some little child. The girl in the very last cell, right next to Kagamine, Akiyama Chikane, spent most of her time trying to comfort her, but all her attempts were in vain. Hatsune appreciated them immensely and tried to thank her by giving her a little more food, but the dark haired girl declined politely as she said she was sure she would not have to suffer much longer, for her Chiaki-nee had made her a promise.
"Hatsune," he called when he got to her cell, watching as the petite girl eyed him warily from under her miraculously clean blanket, "Only one of you in here can make it out alive, you know. If it's one of them, it won't be you." He slid the tray of food to her, surprised when she crawled forward on shaky knees and stood upright before him, slender fingers gripping on to the bars for support. Those turquoise eyes bore deeply into his, clearly showing him the extent of her determination, of her kindness, of her hopefulness; there was something solid in this girl no one could ever hope to break. No matter how cruel the world was to her, she would always treat it with warmth and kindness, she would always find a way to forgive and forget. She would encourage and support her competition without a moment's hesitation, even when the thing at stake was her very own life.
"Hey, if it were up to you, who would live?" he asked, wondering what sort of answer she would give. Would she support one of her new friends, Yowane Haku, Yokune Ruko or Akiyama Chikane, or her childhood friend Kagamine Rin whose mind was steadily rotting away? Or would it be a stranger, one of those random boys that he disliked?
"If it were up to me," she said slowly, her voice raspy but still musical, pleasant to the ear, "All of us would go home."
"Oh? Even us aliens? We're trapped here too, you know," he probed, a joking tone in his voice, wanting to get some kind of angry reaction from her to show that she was truly a human, flawed and selfish, instead of some angel reincarnate. To his surprise, she nodded, honesty and sincerity burning in her brilliant eyes, "I don't want anyone to die." She would not even hate those who had hurt her, those who had hurt her lover, she was like a doormat inviting others to step on her and forgiving them regardless of what they did. If a girl like her ran the world, it would be absolute chaos, for the darker (AKA rest) of humanity would surely take advantage of her inhuman kindness.
On her knees now, too weak to keep herself upright, dragging the tray behind her, the turquoise haired girl began handing out her food once more, ignoring all half-hearted attempts by her starving friends to get her to eat instead. The boys, on the other hand, fought like animals, refusing to pass on the food that landed in their hands, devouring it noisily and exchanging blows through the bars. He cringed in disgust at their behavior, as did Yokune, that dark haired girl was a human after his own heart.
The long-distance communicator on the alien's wrist buzzed, informing him that a girl named Fujisaki Ayame had been killed in the morning challenge, wounded in the heart and left to die by the shadowy monsters emptied into the tunnels, and her boyfriend Ogawa Sasuke was to be disposed of along with her. Tossing the last of the apples at Kagamine Rin, sneaking her an extra as he pitied the small blonde girl, the alien backtracked to one of the cells near the entrance where a dark haired boy lay, stuffing himself with food as the other two behind him shouted and raged for him to pass it down as it was meant for them.
"Ogawa Sasuke," the alien liked the way Japanese names sounded, much nicer that strange European names like Lidewij or something along those lines, "Your time here is up." Pulling out a small black device from his pocket, he aimed it at the dark haired boy and fired a red concentrated laser beam that pierced through the boy's head, killing him instantly and splattering his blood across the cell. Those around him yelped and backed away, trembling, as a metal claw descended from the ceiling to collect the corpse for disposal. "Good riddance."
There were but eight fighters left in the competition, and the Games have not yet lasted a full week. This would be among the shortest and most eventful Games in its illustrious history, as well as the most not artificially colorful. Who knew humans could have blue, purple, pink, green and turquoise hair naturally? The fact that there were pure-blooded Asians with blonde hair was surprising enough.
"Everyone has to die, Hatsune," the alien turned to look at the girl once more, studying her shock and fear-filled features, "It is only a matter of situation and timing." With that, he turned and left the dungeon, sliding the heavy door shut behind him, unable to bring himself to even glance at her wounded expression.
"Hatsune-chan, don't listen to him," a brave little voice encouraged just before the door closed fully; Akiyama Chikane. That girl was incessantly hopeful and refused to ever give in, much like Hatsune, though she was not as painfully selfless and adorable. She was a human, Hatsune was an angel.
[Elsewhere, again]
"Screw you bastards! Give me back my Ruko!" Chuckling under his breath, Dredor watched as the girl with the strange hairstyle, Kasane, ripped through the ranks of shadow monsters with the strength and ferocity of a chimera. Her eyes burned with inhuman rage, the sword clenched in her pale fists trembled with the power she was exerting upon it, the rocks behind her opponents practically cracking as she slammed the monsters into them. She seemed promising, having shown not the slightest sign of faltering or hesitation despite being completely alone outside the challenges.
Megurine and Akita have not yet shown any signs of weakness either, their love still burning powerfully strong and fueling their determination. Their sociopathic nature was a plus; they were not too affected by the deaths of others, even if it were right before their eyes. When Fujisaki perished painfully, delirious from the agony she was experiencing, right in front of them, Megurine had refused to ease her suffering in order to save their limited supplies, and Akita had simply regarded the gruesome scene with calm eyes, almost as if she were bored. Sure, Megurine had been pretty shaken by the girl's death as she was not as sociopathic as Akita, but her will remained strong, and that was an amazing feat in itself in such depressing, hopeless conditions. It was actually commonplace for at least one challenger or prisoner to lose his or her mind and go crazy each year, and it seemed this year's would be little Kagamine Rin. Not that anyone could blame her; she was but a child of fourteen after all, painfully fragile.
"More money's come in for Megurine, sir," one of the assistants, one with bright, neon purple hair, spoke up, eyes on the screen before him, "She's pulling ahead by a full seventy dollars now. And Sakine's got two thousand on her to be the next one to die. Sasazaki has eight thousand, though." Dredor simply smiled in response, he knew that the warrior Sakine would not be going down as soon as people thought she would. Her love was strong, as was her guilt; it would be enough to drive her through the next challenge at the very least, possibly more. For them both, she had said, she would fight for them both. How interesting, Andromeda would love to see how far she could go with a heart like that.
"It is such a pity that Masuda killed herself," Dredor remarked absently, "The drama between her and Sakine would have increased on a daily basis. Though, too much drama makes it seem like some overhyped reality series, eh?"
"Yes sir," the neon purple haired alien knew that all he was to do was agree with his superiors, he could just tone them out and respond mechanically if he was particularly busy, "Masuda's suicide seemed dramatic enough for them anyway."
Dredor laughed in response, nodding, "Well, Quint, you are not wrong there. Anyway, Megurine and Akita should be enough to keep them glued to their seats." Smiling automatically, the neon purple haired alien, Quint, nodded in return, carefully watching a scene unfolding on one of the screens to his right. Dredor noticed where his attention had strayed and chuckled, "Another of our unique, unlikely pairs this year. How are they doing in the betting department?"
"Rather well. Akiyama is actually right behind Akita, losing by three hundred," Quint responded, his tone betraying his surprise, "I honestly didn't think-"
"Quint, my boy," he was cut off by his superior and respectfully shut his mouth, "This relationship has even more risks than a normal lesbian one! The chances of it being false are, hence, even lower, they have so much more on the line! Am I making sense?"
The neon purple haired alien nodded, understanding what Dredor was trying to tell him; indeed, the love between Akiyama Chiaki and Akiyama Chikane was frowned upon even more by society as they were not only in a lesbian relationship, they were in a lesbian incest relationship. Chiaki, the elder sister by three years, was your typical protective knight in shining armor, while Chikane, the younger, was your typical naïve, endless optimist who believed in knights in shining armor despite being sixteen years old. Their meetings were rather quiet affairs, which was why people did not notice them as much; it seemed that the sisters spoke to each other with their eyes instead of their mouths. Those who noticed were quite sure they would go far, but even if they won, acceptance was something they would not find back home in Nagoya.
"Chiaki-nee, I… I kind of don't want to go home," the younger girl was saying on the screen, making the elder stare at her in surprise, eyes questioning. Softly, the girl replied, explaining, "I mean… here… at least we'll die loving each other, right? They… haven't pulled us apart yet, haven't made us doubt our feelings… if we have to die, I want to die like this." Her elder sister's eyes grew warm with understanding and they embraced tightly, Chiaki muttering something inaudible to the cameras into Chikane's ear. The younger girl's eyes brightened a little in response, shining with tears, "I'd like that."
That scene was from the reward the last challenge gave, last night, one that made many who betted on the sisters winning the Games rethink, some even withdrawing their bets as they feared the girls would commit suicide like Masuda in order to die loving each other. However, Chikane had asked at the beginning if she could die in her elder sister's arms, and Chiaki had promised she would. How in the world could they attain that, separated as they were?
This year's Mind Games was getting more and more interesting as time passed. All viewers should keep their eyes glued to the screen, in case they miss out any of the exciting events that were surely around the corner.
A/N: So, should I continue?
Haruka
