A.N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I've had lot of things going on. In the end of May I graduated from vocational school (I was studying business) and I'll move away from my parents' house in the beginning of July... and I got to find a job, easier said than done when the economic situation is what it is. Anyway, enough of excuses, to the story!

Chapter 6: Bitter Realizations

Luffy's (boy number 7) ears rang. The gunshot had come from somewhere really close. He turned around, seeing Paula (girl number 25) drop her mace as she held her bleeding shoulder in pain, causing some blood to fall on Luffy's face.

"Huh?" Luffy said, not understanding what had just happened.

"It is disgraceful to try to kill someone when their back is turned" a voice called out from behind a tree. Luffy and Paula turned to face the direction where the voice came from, both of them seeing Izou (boy number 20) from the third year. He was an odd person to say at least, always wearing makeup and dressing like a woman in his free time. Despite this he did look quite intimidating right now.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I didn't try to kill him!" Paula denied. The situation didn't look too good for her; in fact she firmly believed she was done for.

"Deny the truth all you want in hell" Izou said, preparing to fire the final shot, but stopped when Luffy got between them "What are you doing? Out of the way!"

"Aren't you Ace's friend?" Luffy asked, the shadow of his hat covering his eyes "Do you really think he'd accept you killing someone?"

Izou was surprised by the usually so cheerful boy, but soon regained his composure.

"I know he'd accept me saving the man he thinks as his little brother" he replied "Now move!"

"No" Luffy said stubbornly "Why do you want to kill her anyway?"

Izou's eyebrow twisted; he couldn't believe how stupid this guy was.

"Because she just tried to kill you!" he replied, pointing at the mace on the ground. Luffy blinked, asking: "She did?"

"Yes!"

"No I didn't!" Paula protested, seeing a small chance for her to survive "I just took the mace out because I heard something!"

"See? She's a good person" Luffy said with a grin, completely convinced by Paula's words.

"Last warning: move" was all Izou said. He was ready to take the risk of hurting Luffy in order to get rid of Paula.

"No way" Luffy replied, sticking his tongue out at Izou. As he saw the older man ready to pull the trigger he broke in to run, straight at the impatient third year student with the gun. He took a hold of the gun and Izou's wrist, yelling: "Run!"

Paula obeyed, picking up her weapon and bag before taking off. Luffy and Izou continued their struggle with the later winning, but the when he was finally able to push the younger man off Paula was already out of sight.

"Great, she got away" Izou said, but Luffy didn't catch the sarcasm in his voice.

"I knew you were a good guy" Luffy said with a laugh "Hey, have you seen anyone else yet?"

If looks could kill Luffy would be six feet under now; that's how mad Izou was. However, remembering who he was with and where he swallowed his anger, saying: "No¸ you and she were the first ones I saw." He considered it for a moment before asking: "Have you seen anyone else?"

"Yeah, I was with Ace and Vivi just a while ago" Luffy said, not even considering that it might not be a good idea to tell Izou this "Do you wanna come to see them?"

"I think that would be for the best" Izou said. He was suspicious by nature, but according to Ace Luffy wasn't capable of lying and because of the current events Izou wondered if the younger man wasn't capable of thinking either. As they walked Izou couldn't help but wonder why Ace had let his brother go alone with Paula. Was he wounded? If so, then how badly? A broken arm or something similar surely wouldn't keep Ace away from his brother in such a situation, right?

"Huh? They were here when I left" Luffy said, confusion written all over his face as he couldn't see his companions. Izou bit his lip, had something happened that had forced them to run away? Or did the shot he fired scare them off? ...No, that wasn't an option; Ace wouldn't leave his brother behind.

"Ace, Vivi, where are you?" Luffy called out, making Izou's face go pale "Not so loud, you idiot!"

"You're even louder than I am" Luffy pointed out, making Izou blush in embarrassment as he realized that Luffy was right. This game was really getting on him; it wasn't like him to be so careless.

"Where did they go?" Luffy wondered again. It was almost 11 pm; it was hard to see in the darkness "Vivi, answer if you can hear me!"

"I'm here!" Vivi finally called out, coming out of the bushes.

"What were you doing in there?" Luffy asked. Vivi bit her lip, worriedly eyeing Izou's gun. As he noticed this he tapped Luffy on the shoulder, giving the gun to him "Where's Paula-san?"

"She left, but I found the dress guy instead" Luffy told, earning yet another glare from Izou. Where did these nicknames come from? "Where's Ace?"

"I hid him in the bushes when I heard the gunshot" Vivi said "Uhh, Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Vivi said, nodding towards Izou, but Luffy didn't get the hint.

"If what is a good idea?" Luffy asked, confused.

"I'm not going to hurt anyone" Izou said when he saw that Luffy didn't even understand what Vivi was trying to say "And I'll leave after I've talked to Ace."

"Is he still sleeping?" Luffy asked. Vivi nodded, leading them to the bushes where the freckles faced man was "That idiot..."

Izou had realized that Ace's narcolepsy must've kicked in again.

"Who's an idiot?" Ace asked, sitting up "Hi Izou"

"You are" Izou replied with a sigh "Had a nice nap?"

"Yeah, but guys..."

"What?"

"Who the hell was stupid enough to hand Luffy a gun?" Ace asked, pointing at his brother. There was a moment of silence before Izou snatched the gun back "Much better. So, what are you doing here?"

"I just happened to run in to your brother while looking for you, Haruta and Marco" Izou told "I'm heading North, what about you guys?"

"We'll head to the village in south" Ace told "Wanna come with us? It'd be safer in a group."

"No thanks, I have to find those two" Izou said, yawning suddenly "And you already seem to have your own backups anyway."

"And you look like you're gonna fall asleep while standing" Ace said with a smirk. Izou shot him a glare, saying: "You're not one to talk."

"But Ace-san is right" Vivi said, getting their attention "You probably haven't slept since all this began and moving around on your own will make sleeping dangerous..."

"In other words you should stay here with us for a while and rest. We can leave in the morning" Ace reasoned "I'll keep watch first."

"And if you fall asleep?"

"I won't" Ace assured "I just slept for hours, didn't I? I won't fall asleep again so soon."

Izou wasn't really convinced by this; Ace had the habit of falling asleep in the weirdest moments.

"But I'm too tired to care right now; I suppose I have to take the risk." Izou decided with a sigh "Fine."

XXXXX

Sabo (boy number 19) cursed as he looked at his tracking devise. It had picked up a signal so he had decided to leave the road and go west to see who it was, but lady luck wasn't on his side today. The one he saw was no other than the queen of the third year, Boa Hancock (girl number 28)... or at least he was pretty sure from the silhouette he saw; it was so dark that he couldn't be completely sure.

"But I'm so not going to call out for her; better safe than sorry" Sabo reasoned. Hancock didn't really have the best reputation in the school "I have to hide somewhere."

He managed to crawl backwards in to a hole in a tree trunk, never taking his eyes off of Hancock, or what he thought was her "This can't get any worse."

"Good evening, my little warriors!"

"...never mind" Sabo thought, focusing on listening to Doflamingo's announcement "I'm very disappointed in you all; no one died."

Sabo couldn't help himself as he smirked; at least there was something good.

"So, to the forbidden zones: E7 from 1 am, B4 from 3 am and C6 from 5 am. Have fun!"

"C6? That's right here! Well, it's safe until 5 am; I'm not in hurry" Sabo thought. Right now he had to trust his memory and write the forbidden zones down later; if he lit the flashlight Hancock might notice. Luckily she seemed to be leaving already. Sabo decided to wait five minutes before coming out, just to be sure. But when the five minutes had passed by he noticed something.

He was completely stuck.

"Fuck my life"

XXXXX

Jewelry Bonney (girl number 21) munched on her piece of bread, frustrated. She hadn't seen anyone yet and that annoyed her. In this point anyone would have been fine.

"Is that you, Bonney-chan?"

...well, almost anyone.

"Yes it is, now get lost" Bonney said, putting what was left of her bread back to her bag. She didn't want to drop it in case she had to run. The blond boy, Sanji (boy number 28) held his hands in front of him as a sign of surrender, saying: "I'm not going to hurt you, Bonney-chan."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm leaving" Bonney said, standing up. Even that one idiot from the kendo club would've been better; she didn't trust this womanizer.

"Wait!" Sanji called out, trying to grab her arm, but she managed to pull it away "Don't touch me, asshole!"

Sanji, wanting to help Bonney, tried to get a hold of her again, this time with success. However he soon realized it to be a mistake as Bonney took out her weapon, a pair of chopsticks, and stabbed his arm with them. Now, normal chopsticks aren't really that sharp, but when you stab someone's arm with them with your full power, they can pierce flesh. That's what Sanji learned as the two sticks stuck out of his arm. Screaming in pain, he let go of Bonney and the girl took the chance to get away. He held his arm, watching as the pink haired girl run. If he went now he could still catch her, but decided against it. She was dangerous, and he already had one lady to protect.

"I can't take the risk of going down here; I have to return to Shirahoshi-chan!" Sanji realized, pulling out the chopsticks. He'd protect the ones he could; the others had to somehow make it on their own.

XXXXX

"There's nothing in here" Franky (boy number 15) said with a sigh as he searched the lab with Iceburg (boy number 17.)

"Ma~, stop being so impatient, Bakanky. We'll find something" the violet haired man said, not looking away from the papers he was reading.

"Stupid Bakaburg; we can't waste any time" Franky muttered, smirking as he found something that might be useful "Hey Bakaburg, come check this out, it looks super!"

When he got no answer Franky turned around, asking again: "Bakaburg?"

"Down here" Iceburg called and Franky noticed that he had crouched down to look under a bookshelf "I found something."

"Super" Franky said "Well, what is it?"

"Just a second" Iceburg said, reaching down under the bookshelf "Aha!"

Iceburg pulled his hand out, holding something white.

"Look what I found"

Franky's eyebrow twisted as he wondered how many screws this game had made loose on Iceburg's head. Clearly pretty many.

"Bakaburg, that's a mouse" Franky told "Not super; it won't help us at all."

Iceburg ignored him, wondering: "What should I call him?"

"How about Bakamouse?" Franky asked, irritated. They had work to do!

"I'm not naming it after you, Bakanky" Iceburg shot back "Ma~, I think I'll call him Tyrannosaurus."

"That's the most stupid name ever" Franky told, face palming "Not super."

"Shut it, Bakanky. What did you want to show me?" Iceburg asked, putting his new friend Tyrannosaurus on the table as Franky handed him a book. Iceburg eyed the book for a moment before saying: "This is written in another language; I can't read this."

"You can't? Damn" Franky said "I thought it might have something useful since it was in a locked drawer."

"We just have to keep looking" Iceburg said "Come here, Tyrannosaurus."

Franky's eyebrow twitched again. That guy was going to drive him crazy...

XXXXX

Chopper (boy number 3) held Kaya's gun tightly, hiding close to the front door. After hearing something from outside he had woken up Kaya (girl number 3) and told her to hide, saying that someone was probably coming.

"Be someone from our class, be someone from our class" Chopper pleaded, gritting his teeth. There were lot of scary guys in the third year; he didn't want to face them "Ace or Franky would be fine, too..."

He heard steps and saw someone trying the doorknob, but fortunately he had realized to lock it. If they were lucky the guy wouldn't even try to get inside. Chopper sighed in relief as the person walked away, but soon he grew worried again as he heard a door creak.

"Oh no, the backdoor!" he realized, silently going towards the other end of the house. At the moment he didn't need to worry about Kaya; to get to her hiding place one would have to get past Chopper when using the backdoor. He waited behind a corner, waiting for the guy to come in sight. He was already pointing the gun at the doorway. He almost pulled the trigger in fright as he heard a crash. It seemed that the guy tripped on something in the dark.

"Ow!"

Chopper froze, he knew this voice; there was no mistaking it.

"Usopp?" he asked slowly, hiding the wrong way behind the wall as he tried to see who it was without being seen himself "Is that you?"

"Chopper?" Usopp (boy number 11) questioned, pointing his flashlight at the younger boy. It really was him!

"Y-yeah" Chopper said, not being able to hold his tears in any longer "I'm glad it was you..."

"What's up with you; crying all of sudden?" Usopp asked with a small laugh despite the fact that tears were already running down his face as well.

"Chopper-san? Are you alright?" Kaya called out, walking in to Usopp's view from behind Chopper. Pointing the flashlight at Usopp she realized: "Usopp-san?"

"Good to see you're both okay" Usopp said, wiping his tears away in a blink of an eye. After recovering from her little shock Kaya started to cry too "Usopp-san!"

"Hey wait; the axe!" Usopp yelled as Kaya ran towards him with Chopper's axe in her hands. She stopped, looking at the weapon before putting it down. If Usopp hadn't stopped her someone might have gotten hurt.

"I'm so glad you're alright" Kaya sobbed as she kneeled next to the man, hugging him.

"Good to see you're okay, too" Usopp said awkwardly "Are you two alone?"

"Y-yeah" Chopper said, feeling that he should tell Usopp about Marco later when Kaya wouldn't hear them "Are you?"

"Yeah" Usopp said "Did I wake you two up?"

"Well I was keeping watch, but Kaya was sleeping" Chopper said with a yawn "Maybe we should talk more in the morning."

"I'll keep watch; you two go to sleep" Kaya decided, surprising the other two.

"But Kaya-"

"You haven't slept at all, right Usopp-san?" Kaya interrupted "And Chopper-san hasn't slept much either; it's better if I'll keep watch first."

Usopp hesitated. He was tired as hell but he didn't want to let Kaya stay up on her own... and yet it still seemed to be the best solution.

"Okay, but wake me up when you get too tired."

XXXXX

Kalifa (girl number 7) broke in to a house in the village, careful to not to be seen. She had been resting in another house in the same village ever since the game started, but now she was on the move to find some food. Sure she'd eaten the bread she had, but it wasn't exactly her idea of a good meal.

"It seems someone else's here too" Kalifa thought as she saw a flash of light that disappeared quickly. If it had stayed on someone might just have forgotten it like that, but since it got turned off meant that she wasn't alone "Let's see if it'll be my first kill or an ally..."

She walked as silently as she could, clutching her spiked whip in her hands. A gun would've been better; with something like that she wouldn't need to go so close to the people she was about to kill.

"Who's there?" Kalifa smirked; had it been her she wouldn't have given away her location by speaking. Well, this was better for her. She hid behind a corner without response, waiting that the other person, who was definitely a woman, would come out to see if someone was there. When that happened she'd attack, most likely trying to strangle the other woman with her whip.

"Hopefully she doesn't have a gun..." Kalifa thought, reminding herself: "Well, risks are a big part of life."

After ten minutes of patient waiting Kalifa finally heard steps; whoever the other woman was she was coming closer.

"Just a little more" Kalifa thought, careful to not give away her position just yet. Patience was the key to a successful crime, or as Spandam (boy number 2) called it, successful job.

"Now!" she thought, wrapping the sharp whip around the other woman's throat. The victim, Conis (girl number 15), dropped her bazooka as she tried to pry the whip away from her throat with both hands. Kalifa was much stronger than the shorter blond and pulled harder, causing the spikes to sink in to Conis' skin, making her scream. Thin trails of blood fell down the younger girl's throat as she struggled with the little power she had left, but it was no use. She let go and Kalifa let her body to fall limp on the floor.

"And what now? Should I wait for someone else to show up or go hunting?" Kalifa wondered "I suppose I let the others kill each other for now and stay in the village. I can just kill the people I come across with."

XXXXX

"Good morning, my warriors! How did you sleep?" TrafalgarLaw (boy number 12) looked up at the speakers as Doflamingo spoke. He was still on the beach, close to Marigold's body, having decided to leave after the 6 am announcement.

"For breakfast we have one corpse today; girl number 15: Conis. Now for the forbidden zones: C11 from 10 am. Aren't I being nice; making only one new forbidden zone? Have a nice day!"

Law marked the forbidden zone down; it was far away. Good.

"It would probably be safer to go through the woods than the village" Law realizes, deciding to go to the village in south west. Even though he was calm, he had no idea what he should do once he got to his destination. He wasn't going to, or at least he wasn't planning to go on a killing spree, but he'd kill for self defense. Should he search for a way out of the island? A way to get rid of the collar? If someone had dynamite or something as dangerous as a weapon he could even try to blow up the whole school... yes that would work. He should look for other people from the village.

XXXXX

"So you're really going to go out there on your own?" Vivi asked from Izou, wanting him to change his mind. It wouldn't be safe to go alone.

"Yes I am; I still have to find Marco and Haruta" Izou said stubbornly. He wouldn't let anyone or anything change his mind. Straightening his shirt, he asked: "How about we meet in the village you're heading to in three days? I'll come there even if I can't find them."

"Sounds good" Ace said "Don't fall down; I know you're not used to in wearing pants."

"Don't you die by falling asleep on a forbidden zone" Izou shot back, eyebrow twisting "And at least try to keep your brother from causing trouble."

"I'm not a miracle worker you know" Ace said with a smirk "But I'll do my best."

Izou smirked, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"I'll see you in three days, then" Izou told, leaving the three others on their own. As he disappeared from sight Ace said: "Let's get going."

The three of them walked, carefully keeping an eye on their surroundings. Getting ambushed now wouldn't do.

"Stop" Ace said "I hear something."

"Is someone coming?" Vivi asked fearfully.

"Shh!" Ace hissed, slamming his hand in front of Luffy's mouth as he noticed that his little brother was about to say something. There was no doubt about it, someone was coming. The sound of the steps hadn't changed, but they were getting closer, so whoever it was either hadn't noticed them yet or wasn't afraid for some other reason. He hoped it was the first.

"Isn't that-"Vivi whispered quietly as the person came to view, but was cut off by Luffy who had removed Ace's hand from his face: "Nami!"

Indeed it was her, the orange haired girl from the first year, Nami (girl number 12.) She was holding a small weapon and none of the three others were sure what it was, but at least it wasn't a gun.

"I'm glad to see you're alright" Vivi said, taking a few steps towards her friend, but stopped when she saw her backing away "Nami?"

Ace narrowed his eyes; something wasn't right here. Nami looked like she was afraid of them... was it just because of the game or had she already seen something that prevented her from thinking straight? Well, it would be weird if someone did think completely straight in this situation... in fact they, or at least he and Izou, were weird just like that. Luffy was just too stupid to realize the seriousness of the situation.

"It's good to see you Nami!" Luffy called out, obvious to the fact that something was wrong, that Nami wasn't really so clad to see them "Have you seen anyone else?"

"Luffy, I think there's something wrong with her" Ace whispered, not taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Huh?" Luffy said, looking at Ace before turning his attention back to Nami "Nami, are you okay?"

When he didn't get an answer Luffy started to walk towards Nami, who was rooted to the spot. Ace wanted to stop his brother but decided not to. The kid was good with people; he might be able to calm Nami down. When Luffy got close enough to touch her Nami suddenly panicked, activating her weapon, a stun gun. Time seemed to slow down for Ace as he saw his little brother being zapped with it.

One day, 7 hours and 15 minutes of the game gone

47 students remaining

A.N: Because everyone loves cliffhangers, no? ;D