FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 9

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"I'm going to give you the opportunity to shoot me."

The class in its entirety sat unmoving while they stared, baffled, at Sousuke, who was now opening one of the boxes.

He removed a long rifle and a cartridge from the box, and loaded the five bullets. He walked back to Takahashi's desk and offered him the gun. The student could do little more than extend his hand to receive it, and hold it at arm's length while Sagara returned to the front.

"Don't forget to chamber a bullet with the bolt action. You did not miss any questions on the quiz, so I assume you were also paying attention this morning."

Some of the students looked back at Takahashi, who was still staring at the weapon in his hand. Finally he looked at Sousuke who was standing at parade rest in front of the chalkboard in front of the same aisle.

"Uh…" He blinked a few times.

"'Drop dead,' right?" Sousuke had a serious look in his eyes.

"Well… I didn't really…"

After a moment of silence, Sagara smiled. "Of course you didn't mean it literally. Inspect that rifle carefully."

The student cautiously looked at the rifle. "Um… it looks like the Mauser, but it's like it was just made…."

"A good observation. If nothing else, we can all see that it is not a weapon from nine decades ago, simply because of its condition. In short, that rifle was produced within the last three days. Pull the bolt back and look at the bullet."

Takahashi fumbled with the rifle before finally setting it on the desk and sliding the bolt back. "It's… blue?"

"The weapon does not use normal ammunition. Go ahead and fire at me."

Kaname spoke up finally, "Sousuke! Are you out of your mind, making him shoot you?"

"I never figured him for the masochistic type," said Kyouko on the other side of the room.

Sousuke looked slowly around the room. "I assure you all that I have no desire to be killed or seriously injured. But, Takahashi, you have over two dozen eyewitnesses here that would testify that I asked you to fire on me, should any injury occur. That being the case, I would like you to dispense with your ill intent towards me now, so that you will also enjoy tomorrow's excursion."

The young man scratched his head before slowly getting up and raising the rifle to eye level. Pointing directly at Sousuke, he put his finger on the trigger.

"Bolt." Sagara said.

The rest of the class loosened up slightly after Takahashi briefly faltered, and then finished chambering the bullet. He swallowed hard once before aiming again. "Then don't expect me to go easy on you, Sagara…."

"Understood."

Replacing his finger on the trigger, Takahashi looked down the sights directly at Sousuke's head, and with little hesitation, he fired.

The gasps of several students were heard from the loud noise the rifle made. Takahashi lowered his weapon and looked in surprise at his target.

Sousuke stood perfectly still as dust from the chalk tray at his waist settled to the floor. Less than a few centimeters from his head was a dark red spot on the chalkboard.

"Aiming for the head is only efficient for extremely experienced snipers. The torso is a considerably easier target to hit. In war, an instant-kill shot is entirely unnecessary. If someone is hit anywhere in the upper body, they will be unable to continue combat, assuming they survive at all."

Takahashi growled and raised the rifle up again, quickly pulling the bolt action back and forward. "Don't be so cocky!"

Crack! The percussive noise echoed through the walls. It wasn't as deafening as the real thing that Sousuke had fired earlier, but it certainly wasn't a quiet weapon.

Sousuke's body violently hit the chalkboard behind him. His knees buckled. After several seconds of silence, he coughed roughly once and stood up again. The dark red spot was on his chest this time, near his right upper arm. The projectile had pierced his shirt.

"I am impressed with your swift aim and relatively good accuracy, Takahashi. Now I am sure I won't regret having chosen you for a squad leader." Sagara put his fingers on the wound and grimaced. "Don't worry; it didn't even break the skin. This weapon was specifically created to simulate a real Mauser from the 1910's, without the potential for death, dismemberment, or permanent bodily damage. It does, however, sting considerably."

Kazama appeared to be the only one able to speak at this point. "Sagara-sensei, who made that gun?"

Sagara walked toward Takahashi while responding. "My colleagues have constructed two dozen various rifle replicas with the same functionality, as well as several pistols and two machineguns which are also non-lethal. They were produced specifically for this class."

Takahashi handed Sousuke the rifle when he arrived. He put his hand on his chest and sat down, breathing heavily, but trying to hide it.

"They are extremely accurate, with roughly one third the effective range of their equivalent rifle. The same scale of accuracy applies to the other weapons as well."

"Sousuke…" Chidori grabbed his arm when he passed by her with the rifle. "Don't tell me that our field trip will involve us shooting each other…."

"Actually, that is exactly what our field trip will be." Sousuke freed his arm slowly. "Along with these firearms and other weapons, we have dug trenches in the previously mentioned part of campus. We will be simulating trench warfare from the First World War."

"Are you kidding me?" one female student yelled, "There's no way I'm gonna get shot by one of those things!"

Sousuke stopped at the front desk and put the rifle down. "Participation is voluntary—but hear me out: Along with these weapons, combat gear was also specially manufactured for everyone here. The suits will match each student's dimensions perfectly."

Chidori stood up angrily. "Sousuke! Even if it's safe there, what about the rest of our bodies? What happens if we get shot in the eye or something?"

"Do not be concerned. The suits cover the necks, and we have helmets and protective eyewear, also personally designed. There is literally no risk for personal injury except in one case."

"What case is that?" Kaname sat down again slowly.

"If you are hit by one of these rifle bullets…," Sousuke took one cased bullet out of the clip and held it up. It was a metallic blue color. "At a range less than three meters…."

"Then what?"

"Then it is possible the bullet could pierce the skin on the one exposed area: the lower section of the face. Even this is non-lethal, and unlikely to cause permanent damage."

Some commotion came up after Sagara finished saying this. Several students seemed to be saying they wouldn't participate.

"However," Sousuke silenced the class, "if you are within three meters of an enemy, you have already been shot several times. Also, I do not anticipate anyone aiming for the face at this range. Even more unlikely than this is the possibility of two opposing soldiers coming within three meters of each other at all. As we discussed on Wednesday, trench warfare was rarely close-combat."

One male student grumbled with uncertainty. "So it's like paintball or something?"

"This type of weapon could no more be called a paintball gun than a 110-cm katana could be called a knife. It surpasses the abilities of the modern paintball gun in every way. A paintball's exit velocity, at maximum, is 320 kilometers per hour. The proprietary ammunition we have supplied for you travels between eight hundred and one thousand kilometers per hour. The ammunition and weapons are also specifically designed to counter the accuracy problem. In short, the weapons have half the maximum—one third the effective—range of the real thing. We have constructed the combat area in light of this: the trenches are roughly half the distance apart from what would be expected on the Western front." Sousuke passed one bullet to each of the students on the front row.

"I don't get it," the same student said, "if the shots go so much faster than a paintball, how does it not kill you?"

"A very good question. As you inspect the bullet, you will notice that a combination of materials are used. The ammunition was extremely expensive to manufacture, but I am told that there will be more uses for such ammunition, so the cost of initial production was acceptable. Without going into significant detail, the bullet's heaviest materials disintegrate during flight, and the remaining material continues on the normal path. This does affect accuracy considerably: extensive testing was needed to optimize it."

Kaede seemed to be in fairly good spirits about the whole thing. "So we get to fight against each other? And how did you get all this experimental stuff?"

"The equipment was made by a certain group of people who prefer to remain nameless. They have built, tested, and given us these weapons entirely free of charge. The primary purpose of this field trip is to have students understand the affects war has on the psyche. The principal and this group share my hope that our class will enjoy competition with each other while experiencing first hand what battle might have felt like. Again, participation is voluntary, but I hope that everyone will contribute their abilities."

Kaname folded her arms in front of her chest. "I don't know about this, Sousuke… it still seems pretty dangerous."

"Your concerns are valid. For the purpose of safety, the principal has approved some colleagues of mine to join us. They are all experienced in normal combat and with these particular weapons, and will stop any activity that could be hazardous."

Kazama sat up in his chair. "I'll do it!"

Sousuke pulled several sheets of paper from his bag. "Excellent, Kazama. I hope the rest of the class will share your enthusiasm."

"I'm in," Takahashi said, "as long as I'm not on Sagara's team."

"I guess I have to do it," said Kaname, "or else you'll probably do something really stupid."

Kyouko grinned at Chidori. "I want to be on Kana-chan's team!"

Chatter had erupted regarding who would be on whose side when Sagara silenced them.

"I realize you all would like to choose your own groups, but they have already been partly decided for the sake of fairness."

"Aww…" half of the class pouted at this.

"I would like to read the assignments now. They are not permanent, and anyone wishing to change his or her position can discuss that with me. Participation is still voluntary."

The class quieted down to hear their assignments.

"Squad leaders have been determined by several methods. First, those that scored highest on the quiz: Kazama, Chidori, Kaede."

"Kaede-san got the bonus question right?" someone asked.

"Shinji reads AS Fan all the time," Kaname said.

"And Kaname-san got to ride in a Savage during that hijacking incident!" Kazama said excitedly.

"Well, it was more like… 'on,' not 'in.'" Chidori responded. "But… Kaede-san…?"

"Eheheh…" Kaede scratched her head again nervously.

"At any rate," Sousuke said, "Takahashi has also demonstrated skill in the area of combat, so he will be a squad leader as well."

"Gee, thanks," he responded sarcastically.

"The basic setup will be as close to the real war as possible. There will be two squads from Germany, one from Austria, and one from Italy on the Central Powers. Kaede will lead one German squad, and Kurz will lead the other."

"Kurz-san is coming?" Kazama perked up again.

"Yes. Chidori will lead the Italian squad. I will lead the Austrian. For the Allied powers, there will be one squad from the United States, two from Britain, and one from France. Kazama will lead the American squad. Takahashi will lead the French. Two other colleagues of mine will also be participating, and they will lead the British squads. Each squad leader will be solely responsible for determining who will be on their squad and what weapons they will carry. The squad leaders themselves have been selected to fit the country they are representing. For instance, Kurz is a German squad leader because he specializes in rifles. I am the leader of the Austrian squad because I have a long history of battle experience, as did the Austro-Hungarians."

Kaede spoke. "So it sounds like it's supposed to go like the real war."

"That is partly true. The initial conditions of each squad will hopefully emulate the respective countries well. However, the course of history can be changed, so to speak. There is no reason to assume the Allied Powers will emerge victorious."

"Yeah," said Takahashi, "especially if Sagara and this Kurz guy are on the same side."

"Yeah, isn't that a little unfair?" said Kazama.

"It is true that the Central Powers will have more experienced squad leaders. However, the combat area has also been designed with the war in mind. The Central Powers are spread to several fronts, leaving them slightly more vulnerable. It will not be one long trench versus another. But while I'm sure you all have many more questions, I would like to distribute the equipment, and the squad leaders must select their soldiers first. It would seem fair that my colleagues are not here to make the first choices, so those less experienced can select the best soldiers, ideally."

"I'll take anyone who hates Sagara," Takahashi said immediately. A few students raised their hands feebly.

"That appears to be one squad already created. You may come to me to determine your weaponry outfit." Sousuke began taking all the rifles, pistols, MG's, and various other arms out of the boxes, displaying them on the desk.

"Kyouko, you want to be on my team?" Kaname asked while the other students discussed.

After almost half an hour, the squads had been determined and their weapons chosen. Sousuke assigned all the students that weren't chosen by classmates to the remaining squads, and allowed them to choose their own weapons, saying that this decision may be changed by their squad leaders during the trip. He instructed each of these squads separately on who their previously anonymous squad leader would be.

"Now," he said, "Before we go any further I'd like to have everyone make sure that the weapon they have chosen is from their own country. If you're a Lee-Enfield fan and are on the Austrian squad, tough luck."

The class laughed at this while inspecting their weapons.

"Ammunition is readily available here at the front. You may take as much as you think you will use."

"Use for what, tomorrow?" Kaede asked.

"As much as you will use for practice. Firing these weapons for the first time in live combat is ridiculous. You may train with your squad outside of class until tomorrow. You may not train with anyone who is not in your squad."

"But I have track practice!" One female student wailed while looking at her Springfield.

"Do not worry. You will also have roughly one hour of on-site training before we begin the battle tomorrow."

The excitement from the students had been rising steadily ever since Sousuke had assuaged their concerns for safety.

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Kogure-sensei was walking down the hall happily, looking at a small piece of paper. "I can't believe the principal just gave me such a big bonus! Although I wonder why she said what she did about keeping quiet if I saw Sagara's class…."

Curiosity got the best of him, and he walked over to the classroom door. Peering inside he saw the class gathering ammunition, inspecting rifles, and making battle plans on their desks.

Kogure looked from the classroom to the check in his hand… then back to the classroom… then back to the check.

He shrugged and continued walking down the hall, humming.

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"Class, our period will be over shortly, so please gather your armor and weapons and set them against one of the walls. You may pick them up on your way out this afternoon. Before the end of the day, I will have wrapped each weapon in a cloth designed both to keep the weapon clean and to disguise it from view while you return to your homes."

"Ha—i" the class said, and they proceeded to line up their weapons as instructed. When the class was over, they walked out, some of them talking about their squads, others complaining about the rifle they were stuck with.

When the classroom was almost empty, Kazama ran up to Sousuke. "Sagara-sensei! Thank you so much!"

"Ah, it was no favor of mine, Kazama, you are fit to be a squad leader." Sousuke packed up the remaining weaponry and clothing.

Kazama left after bowing to Sousuke once. The classroom had become very quiet now.

Kaname walked up to him, and slowly pushed herself up to sit on the front desk.

"So… you put us on the same side, huh?" She slowly kicked her legs dangling from the desk.

"Yes," Sousuke stacked the boxes in the corner, "although we will be in different trenches. The Central Powers were too divided by the time the Americans arrived in the war."

"Yeah… the Central Powers…."

"You were the most suited for the Italian squad. I was best placed with Austria."

"Best suited, huh…" Kaname stopped kicking.

"Uh…" Sousuke detected something was wrong.

"I'm really sorry, Sousuke."

"About…? Oh… don't worry about it."

Chidori looked up at Sagara who was standing there with a box in his arms, avoiding her eyes. "So… Tessa is going to be there, right?"

Sagara froze. "Uh…"

"It was pretty hard not to notice who was climbing out of the window."

"Yeah, that is… um…"

Kaname picked up a revolver and after pulling back the hammer, she spun the cylinder a few times. "Mao-san, too?"

"…yeah, I didn't know anything about it until just then."

"Well… I guess you'll have to fight against your Captain and your real squad leader, right?"

"…I hadn't considered that."

"I'm sure Kurz won't hold back."

"That's true."

"And if I get Tessa in my sights…"

Sousuke paused. "Pull the trigger."

Kaname grinned and spun the revolver around one finger several times. Skillfully stopping its rotation by grabbing the handle, she pointed it at Sousuke, who looked surprised.

"Bang!" Chidori bit her lip to suppress her smile and hopped off of the desk. She set the pistol down, grabbed her bag and ran out of the door.

Sousuke stood in the empty classroom and scratched his head. "But Italy changed sides in the real war…."

(to be continued...)