Across the island, a shot rang out as the speakers crackled, a bullet lodging itself in the plaster of apartment wall as it left a burn mark on the back of Ayane Mirasaki's head, having grazed the flesh just enough to avoid death. With a clatter, her weapon fell to the floor, her whole body trembling at how close she had come to her own death, by her own hand no less. Doguru's face, it still flashed before her eyes, that look he'd gotten just before the end, just before he'd…fired his gun. She was a coward and she knew it; she had taken the same gun, and she was going to finish herself off, but the pressure was just too much, and Ayane couldn't bring herself to do it. So that was where she'd ended up, at rock bottom with suicidal thoughts and her own near death still fresh within the tormented mind she now possessed due purely to the Program. Kamana's words were almost a welcome relief from the horrible images she saw now from just those few seconds of pure and utter fear.

"Good morning class…it's a nice day isn't it? I love the smell of blood, death, and decay…it's just such a pleasant aroma, don't you think? Anyway, let's skip the small talk for now and just get to the good stuff, the stuff I know you're 'dying' to hear…hehe. As of the last update, if you recall, there were 19 of you still alive. Well, three have gone down since then, although I assume Miss Izumi did far more than that with her little boyfriend before the end. First to go was female student number 2, Itaki Hanai. Then in a delightful little killing that rivals that of Romeo and Juliet…that pathetic play by the quote unquote 'civilized' world…but I digress. Male student number 6 Kane Blaku died first, just a minute or two before his beloved, female student number 13, Kasumi Izumi. Their deaths have brought our class down to the sweet sixteen…and you should be proud of yourselves for surviving this long. Whether you've fought fiercely, or hid like weak little cowards, the point is, you've outlasted the majority of your classmates, and by the end of this day, you may very well be finished with this game."

Yuji spat on the floor as he listened to Kamana's words, as she acted like fighting in this little game was some grand honor. Like the tiny little placard he'd received from the first win meant something in his wretched existence. Across the city, Ryo listened, knowing who Kamana was talking about when she mentioned fighting fiercely, and he ran his hand over the blade of his machete, Yo's face transfixed within his mind. Shun, Mira, and Akari whispered silent prayers to the souls of those who had been felled, as they held pencils ready over their maps in preparation for the announcement of danger zones. And Ayane couldn't stop crying, her name one of sixteen survivors while so many were rotting, having died alone, or in the company of some psychopath. They hadn't gotten to say goodbye to all the people they loved; their family…their friends…Doguru…it was such a horrible fate.

"And as for the danger zones, three as usual. At 7 AM, E-4 becomes a danger zone, and the same goes for I-7 at 9 AM. And at 11 AM, G-5 does the same. That's E-4 at 7, I-7 at 9, and G-5 at 11. That's it for this update. Continue on this path and you may break a speed record. What a great honor that would be. Goodbye!"

"Give me…give me the gun."

Through tear clouded eyes, Ayane could make out the form of none other than Tomiko Nakano, her voice accompanied by the wooden slap of an axe handle hitting against the palm of her hand. Tomiko had already been nearby when she heard the loud sound of Ayane's misfired shot, and she ran, or to be more specific, hobbled, as fast as she could to get in on the action, and hopefully manage to secure herself a firearm. The door was unlocked, and with Ayane distracted by her own personal problems, it had been an easy task for the handicapped drug addict to sneak up and wait for her chance. The gun was just lying there, by Ayane's feet, it's owner so preoccupied with her pathetic blubbering that it was simply being neglected, and could be put to far better use by Tomiko. Were she not wounded by Donki Pon, she would've made a grab for it already, but unfortunately she was not running at one hundred percent.

"Give me that gun Ayane."

Ayane's eyes darted to the floor where her weapon lay, then back at Tomiko, a strange, almost crazed look on her face as she wielded that weapon that had once been Donki's. Had she killed him? No, not possible…his name hadn't come up on the list of the dead. Perhaps he had been assaulted by Tomiko, and in a struggle, she'd gotten his weapon while he escaped. Or what if it were something worse? What if Donki lay, dying somewhere, because he'd been attacked? He wouldn't have come up on the announcements, but he'd still have lost his weapon. But why then wouldn't Tomiko have taken his gun? It didn't matter what the answer was, whether Tomiko was a threat or not; at that moment, she was a danger to both herself, and Ayane, and it was by no means safe to allow her to get her hands on a firearm. Reaching down slowly, Ayane's fingertips quivered as they drew closer and closer to the cold and deadly metal, the near-homicidal glare of Tomiko's coal eyes fixated upon her every move.

As Ayane grabbed the grip of her gun, Tomiko blinked only once, before letting out a wail that could make a banshee flinch. The axe was already moving before Ayane realized what was going on, and had Tomiko been in her right mind, her aim may very well have been true and ended Miss Mirasaki right then and there. But as it was, she was not in her right mind, and missed by about a foot, the blade of her weapon smashing down into the weak porcelain of the bathroom sink. Ayane tried to fire off a shot, but in her frantic panic, she'd forgotten entirely how to operate her gun. This gave Tomiko all the opportunity she needed, and with another swing, she smashed the toilet to pieces, once again missing her target, but not by such a great margin the second time. Ayane let out a scream and dodged the backswing, charging from the bathroom and dropping her gun, letting it slide across the floor, forgotten.

With the thought of a firearm lost from her mind, Tomiko found herself in a nearly feral gaming mindset. She had intended to claim a gun for herself and no more, but now, that somewhat innocent ideal was gone, and she wanted to kill, to claim fresh blood for herself and to take out another player. There were after all, only sixteen left, and Ayane was just one step closer towards going home to her family and "friends" that helped her feed her addictions. She chopped wildly, a rabid dog among humans, her weapon grazing the doorframe and spewing chucks of wood across the room, the remnants showering the floor and Ayane as the poor, frightened girl tried to escape.

Tomiko had gone berserk, bludgeoning anything and everything within her axe's radius, and quite literally ripping the apartment to shreds. Yet somehow Ayane remained unscathed, deftly avoiding all blows due to her fear having been overcome by the tremendous surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins to power her fight or flight defense mechanism. It was just the two girls, one a confrontational drug addict coming down off a high and into a forced withdrawal, and the other a quiet and frightened otaku fangirl, both forced to fight and kill each other in concurrence with the sick and twisted rules of the program. That was just the kind of entertainment the government officials who came up with the whole idea enjoyed, and just like Tomiko's aim, the action kept getting better and better.

As the deranged addict's abilty to heft the unweildly instrument increased, she was coming closer to hitting her target with every slash, as evidenced by the near devastating connection made between the powerful axe head and Ayane's skull, a blow that instead shattered a common table lamp, spewing ceramic shrapnel onto both combatants. Ayane tried to see beyond the commotion she was a part of, looking for a door or some other way to escape the situation, but Tomiko, like an unmoving wall, stood in her way and prevented any hopes of exodus, backing the poor defenseless girl into a corner. With her axe rearing overhead, a metal scorpion's tail ready to strike, Tomiko let out a warrior's cry and swung, missing only because of Ayane dropping to the floor at the last second. Tomiko would've gotten a second, very easily executed hit, had the somewhat dulled and shimmering edge not embedded itself within the thick plaster of the wall.

With the brief opportunity presented before her, Ayane wasted no time in bolting towards the door and her safe freedom. Halfway to the exit, she was halted by the glint of metal, the second gun Donki left behind just a few feet away, lying inconspicuously upon the room's coffee table. After considering the possibility of staying and fighting, she lowered her body, extending her arm to grab the pistol, at least for self defense before leaving. Had she been standing up straight, the game would've been over right then and there, Tomiko having dislodged the axe and immediately having lost her grip, the weapon flying across the room with the blade missing Ayane just enough to ensure her survival. However, the handle was not as forgiving, and with a thwack, it left a heavy bump in the girl's hair before ricocheting off the table, taking a huge chunk with it, and landing upon the floor with a clatter.

Once that axe stopped moving, there was a glint in the eyes of both young warriors, and the final vibration signaled that the race was on. Tomiko lurched forward on her bullet-strained leg, like a wounded rhinoceros, broken, but still deadly. She was halfway across the room before Ayane arose, dizzy and seeing double, with good enough vision to know exactly what was going on with her opponent. With wobbling legs, Ayane followed, not wanting Tomiko to regain the weapon that had wreaked so much havoc thus far. Tomiko reached the weapon first, kneeling briefly to grab it, and basking momentarily in the glory of her achievement as she rose. She was victorious in her quest for the axe, and Ayane stood no chance so long as she wielded it.

She was still patting herself on the back when Ayane came crashing into her, too dizzy to keep her footing. Tomiko stumbled backwards, the impact being too strong, and herself having been caught very much off guard. She felt her back hit the weak windowed barrier to the outside, and moments later, heard the crash, and felt a rush of air at her back. Her shoes left the ground, and her back was pulled down, and her body cleared the window as she started to fall. The rush of wind blew up against her body, and Tomiko screamed in horror as she, felt everything come crashing back into her. For the first time in years, the haze that had clouded her mind ever since that first time her older brother had gotten her high was gone, and she was terrified. Every horrible thing she had done in her life rushed back to her, all because of her stupid addiction, and now, as she fell, she would never be able to take them back.

Gravity was the enemy, and just before she hit the ground, she managed to utter one word, a simple 'sorry' that was the last thing to ever pass her lips. Her spine shattered on impact, bits of bone traveling through her body and leaving the girl in intense pain as she lost all feeling below her neck. She could do nothing more but watch in horror for that split second before the very axe she had fought so hard for, smashed into her face, ending the weak-willed drug addict's life forever. For Tomiko, it had been the ultimate act of God, truly punishing her for all she had done to others, hurting them and filling them with pain and fear, as she had to watch as her own death came right before her eyes.

High above, Ayane sobbed as her eyes befell the gruesome scene, topped off by the disgusting splat that signaled the fight's end. Tomiko lay down there, her body contorted in multiple directions, a few bones seemingly spliced through the skin beneath her clothes. And extending from her face was the axe, perfectly bisecting the girl, her very nose split right in two, like some twisted piece of bloody modern art. Tomiko's skirt blew in the gentle breeze, the only movement coming from her lifeless form for a few seconds, up until, with a squelching sound, the axe fell loose, the handle collapsing into Tomiko's chest, which only caused more blood to squirt out from the wound.

It had been an accident, a clumsy accident, hadn't it? Ayane hadn't wanted to kill Tomiko, she only wanted to disarm her, and make sure that she couldn't hold the power of life and death in that axe. But there was more to it than that, and Ayane knew, in the back of her mind, that there was more. Tomiko had attacked her first…she hadn't been thinking straight…the Program forced her to kill…all of these excuses were part of Ayane's attempt to rationalize the events that had just transpired. No matter what she said to try and ease her mind, the fact still remained that she had taken human life, that of someone who despite having attempted killing her, had only managed to give her a bump on the head, and forevermore, she would know that in her heart, she had caused the death that had come upon Tomiko.

Despite her deep desire to mourn and cry, not for her adversary, but for her own innocence, Ayane knew it was not safe. Tomiko's screams, the very gunshot that had probably led her there, and the breaking glass, not to mention the body laying outside, it would only lead more people to her. There were people worse than Tomiko in this game, people who were not simply crazy, but in fact, were enjoying the Program, and the freedom it gave them, and they would tear her apart like wild animals. With feelings of evil in her heart, a murderer with no one to care for her, Ayane hustled through the apartment to gather up the multiple firearms she'd been left with. Kazo's body lay in the bedroom, and Doguru's on the couch, remarkably untouched by the chaos that had ensued the battle, and Ayane gave final glances to neither. She ran from that apartment, never looking back, not wanting to give the horrific memories a chance to settle and burn themselves into her mind.