I don't own Battle Royale. I told you last time, damnit!
Hiya again! Many thanks to GinyuBrick! It's so nice to know that at least one person liked what I put a lot of effort into! I'll finish it just because I know that at least you'll read it!
Battle Royale: The Final Bout.
By Bubblegum Thai.
Chapter One. Let the games begin!
It's hard to believe that, as I run down an uneven path, in the pitch black, faced with the string possibility that I'll lose my life within the next 72 hours, all I can think about is what I was doing yesterday.
Does that make me a freak?
I keep thinking about yesterday . . . I could've been nicer to my brother, now that I think about it. He was being a pain though. I wonder what my parents think. I bet mum's crying and I bet Dad's hit the vodka . . . he's probably on his fifth glass already . . . my brother will come home from work early . . . I wonder if . . . if this is what went through Noriko's mind . . .? All this stuff . . .
At least she had Nanahara.
They think I don't know that she cheated the BR act . . . that she's wanted for murder! But, I do. Of course I do! I'm not stupid! I wonder how she is . . . I wonder if she'll cry when they read my name out on the TV. I wonder if she escaped Japan. If she did, does she even know . . . does she even remember?
"Yukiko!"
- - -
Yukiko skidded along the dirt path, falling over onto all fours, trying to get her balance on her palms,
"Masaru!" She gasped, grinning at Boys #1, Masaru Hijikata,
"Where's Hikaru?" He asked,
"I don't know . . . sorry . . . I was looking for you."
"Me."
"Mmmm hmmm." Yukiko nodded, "And Suguru, and Hikaru."
"I haven't seen Suguru. What weapon you got?"
"I don't know," Yukiko sighed as she shrugged, "I haven't looked yet . . . I just ran."
"Oh." Masaru smiled warmly, "C'mon . . . there's the old Primary school over here . . . its set back a way from the main road . . . good place to hide out, don't ya think?"
Yukiko shrugged, but followed regardless,
"You should condense your bags into one. Dispose of anything that you don't need."
"Like my maths textbook?"
"Yeah . . . if you like . . ." Masaru shrugged, as if he didn't care and Yukiko glowered at his back. Although he was her friend, Masaru had this nasty habit of being perfect at everything he did. Suguru used to tease him for it, "But don't forget to dispose of everything that you ditch, Yuki, someone who comes along after us will know that we've been there and will track us."
"We could burn it." Yukiko suggested.
Masaru stopped and whirled around, glaring at her,
"Are you stupid?!" He fumed, "That would be an excellent idea!" He declared sarcastically, "Send up huge smoke signals to let everyone know our position."
"I'm sorry . . . I'm not thinking strait!" She murmured shyly,
"Whatever." He grumbled, rolling his eyes,
"Masaru-kun, are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Oh . . . alright then . . ."
The pair walked in silence up the narrow path through trees, the moonlight providing little lamination for their course, but eventually they found the deserted school, its main door hanging off its hinges, threatening to fall at any second. Yukiko followed Masaru through, into the first classroom, which was dark and had wooden flooring. The desks were pushed up against the large side windows and the teacher's heavy desk had also been pushed up against the blackboard. Masaru hovered over it, tipping his bag out onto it and sifting through his personal belongings carefully,
"Are those pictures of Hikaru . . .?" Yukiko asked tentatively as she peeked over his shoulder,
"Yeah . . ." He answered softly, slipping them into his inside blazer pocket, "You got any pictures?" He asked after several long seconds of silence,
"Oh, yeah, I do." Yukiko answered in surprise, digging into her school bag and retrieving her diary. She popped open the clasp and pulled out a small stack from an inside pocket,
"Hey, that's me." Masaru grinned, pointing at a group picture which was all boys,
"Yeah . . . Paige wanted that one . . . so I made her a copy, but kept one for myself . . ."
"I wonder if this is what everyone who plays this game does."
"What?"
"Go all nostalgic, pull out photos and sit with them . . ."
"Maybe," Yukiko tilted her head to one side as she began to move through her bag, picking up small items and putting them to one side,
"What weapon do you have?"
Yukiko pulled out a butcher's knife, her eyes wide,
"Yikes!" She exclaimed,
"You could do a lot of damage with that!" Masaru commented, eyeing her suspiciously,
"Masaru . . . that isn't funny!"
"Weren't you listening to what Mr. Sato said?!" Masaru asked, frowning at her, "This is for real, Yukiko!"
"W . . . what did you get, Masaru?"
Masaru shrugged half heartedly, before snorting,
"This . . ." He whispered, handing her a small bottle of poison, "You'd think that they'd give me something better! I do deserve it!"
Yukiko frowned,
"They don't care about social merit here, Masaru." She scolded, "And you know that I never cared for that shit, either!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes,
"Whatever. We should probably leave. Go deeper into the island before others find us. Then we can rest."
"What about the others . . .?"
Masaru looked at her, a blank look screaming at her wearily,
"Let's just move, alright . . ."
"But I wanna find the others!" She whined,
"Fine!" He growled, "Then you can stay here!" He snatched up his bag and marched off in a huff, Yukiko sighed, dropping to her knees, "It's dark in here . . ." She whispered to no one, "I wish they'd given us a flashlight . . ." She sighed sadly,
"I've got one . . ."
Yukiko jumped at the sly voice that had come from the shadows. She turned sharply, glaring into the darkness,
"Who . . . who's there?!" She demanded, trying in vain to stop her voice from shaking. A tall boy with a number one hair cut stepped from the darkness, his eyes glinting wickedly, "Hi . . ." She breathed, her fist tightening against her chest, "Is that your weapon?" She asked, stepping forwards slightly,
"No."
"Then how did you,"
"Found it." Hi Ike answered quickly, "This is my weapon . . ." He said casually, drawing a katana slowly from his belt, "Quite . . . sharp . . . huh . . .?"
"Ye . . . yeah . . ." Yukiko gulped and took a step back, eyeing the blade cautiously,
"What's your weapon, Yukiko?" Hi asked, following her, matching her steps.
Yukiko held up her knife and smiled slightly. Hi only smirked,
"Betcha don't know how to use that, Yuki." He chuckled,
"I . . . I don't want to know!" She began to sob,
"Oh, shhhhh," He soothed, edging forwards, wrapping his arms around her waist,
"I just wanna go home!" She choked, digging her fingers into his blazer in search for comfort,
"Shhhhh," He whispered, "It'll all be over soon . . ."
She pulled back slightly, large glassy eyes peering up into his face, frowning slightly,
"You know a way out?"
"There is only one way out of this game, Yukiko." He gave her a psychotic yet toothy grin and in a flash, Yukiko was backed against the main wall, pressed into children's paintings and drawings with the thin blade of Hi's katana against her delicate throat,
"The torch," She spat, "You didn't find it . . . did you . . .?!"
"Nope." He grinned slightly, "Well . . . in a way, I suppose that I did . . ." He continued, tapping his chin in thought, "Ya see . . . I FOUND it in Satsuki's hand . . ."
"S . . . Satsuki . . .?" Yukiko stammered, "YOU BASTARD!"
"Now . . . how do you know that I killed Satsuki?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE A MONSTER!" She screamed, darting from his grip, under his arm and towards the door,
"There you go, just like always, Yukiko, avoiding your problems!" He sneered, "Suguru's little buddy . . . no body harm his little friend, am I right?"
He darted forwards, slashing at her with his katana, drawing blood as it sliced through her blazer and shirt, cutting her across the stomach. She winced and doubled over slightly, holding onto her bleeding stomach,
"NO!" She screeched, grabbing the teacher's heavy leather chair and rolling it towards Hi. He caught its back in a tight grip and pushed at its base with his foot, sending it hurting towards her. It hit her square in the centre of her back as she scrambled for the door, knocking her over and pinning her beneath it. Advancing slowly, her grabbed her loosening ponytail pulling her head right back,
"Bye bye, little Yukiko." He snickered, slicing the blade delicately across her throat.
She gurgled slightly before collapsing into a widening puddle of thick, crimson blood. He smirked, wiping his soiled blade on the thick leather of the chair back and bent to pick up the butchers knife which Yukiko had dropped in their scuffle. He admired it before collecting Yukiko's bottles of water and chocolate bar before dumping them into his own bag and leaving, a satisfied smirk on his face as in his mind, he relieved his triumphant leap from the roof of an allotment shed onto Satsuki Chiba, slicing her practically vertically in half as she stopped to check her map.
As he stepped outside, still twirling his blade happily in his fingers, he looked up and down the path. As he turned around to head in the direction which led even further into the island, he came face to face with Masaru,
"Oh, hello!" Hi greeted, "I thought you left little Yukiko all alone!" He snickered, "Well . . . I suppose you still can have your little girly conversation . . . I mean . . . what's left of her probably has about the same amount of intelligence as the old Yukiko . . ."
"You always were a jerk." Masaru sneered,
"Now, Masaru . . . dear Masaru . . . that hurts me . . . I was expecting you to scream and lunge drunkenly at me . . . oh well . . . if we must do this the hard way . . ." Hi sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.
Before Masaru had time to react, Hi had skilfully thrown the butchers knife which he had acquired only minutes before hand directly at Masaru, which had landed square between his eyes. Masaru stumbled backwards, his hands twitching open and closed as he reached up shakily, staging backwards, he fell over, his limbs still moving in short, sharp motions. Hi towered over Masaru, smirking as he raised his Katana over her head before bringing it down into the school's most popular boy's chest. It pieced his uniform and skin easily. Hi gritted his teeth as he heard the metal scrape bone and with a sadistic smirk, after firmly impaling Masaru into the ground, he removed his blade and the knife, rubbing it clean on his trouser leg. Happy with his kill so far, Hi continued his trek deeper into the Forrest, picking up Masaru's bag enroute.
Girls #4 Satsuki Chiba, #8 Yukiko Nakagawa, Boys #1 Masaru Hijikata dead. 37 to go.
- - -
Shivering, huddled under a kitchen sink, somewhere in the town that surrounded the high school base, Paige Stevenson sobbed into her bare knees,
"I'm so cold . . ." She stammered, looking disgustedly at her weapon which she clutched in her hand, "Did they think this was some sort of joke?!" She growled, glaring at the pointed rock in her hand,
"P . . . Paige . . . is that you?!"
The American transfer student looked up to see Ai Takami enter the room, blocking the moonlight,
"Paige, please tell me that's you!" Ai called shakily.
Paige crawled out from under the sink and met Ai full in the face,
"What do YOU want?!" She growled,
"Please Paige . . ." She began pathetically, "I never wanted to upset you . . . I know that I was always a bitch to you, I'm sorry . . . I never really meant it! Honest!" The girl stammered, "But . . . look . . . we can help each other out, right?"
Paige tilted her head to one side. Ai did look genuine enough. The terror in her eye and the pale tint of her skin would be hard to fake, by even the most talented of actresses and Paige knew from experience that Ai was a terrible liar,
"What's you weapon?" Paige asked, sighing,
"This!" Ai looked proud as she produced a tracker,
"What about your friends?" Paige asked, raising a slender Auburn eyebrow,
"Yoko and Mimarin are no where in sight . . . besides . . . Yoko already told me that she's playing for real. Mimarin was the last to be let out. She's girl #20!" Ai confirmed knowledgably, "Please Paige . . . let's be friends!" She beamed with over enthusiasm, "We can help one another out! Look out for one another! Figure this all out!"
Paige sighed but nodded regardless,
"Did you hear that scream awhile ago?" Paige asked quietly,
"Yeah . . ." Ai sighed, straitening her short skirt as she slumped beside Paige against a cabinet,
"I think . . . I think that it was Satsuki . . ."
"Satsuki?" Ai furrowed her brow,
"Yeah. Satsuki Chiba. She was my friend. I sat next to her on the bus. You wouldn't know her though, she was one of the 'little people'." Paige sneered,
"Oh . . . Chiba . . . yeah . . . now I know . . . Yoko used to call her 'Chubby Chiba' . . . I never said it though."
"It was because of your friend Yoko that Satsuki almost died."
"I'm sorry Paige, for everything, I mean!" Ai sobbed, "I only did it to protect myself! Being tough helps me block out the real world!"
"I know it does . . . but sometimes it just isn't right . . ." Paige sighed, fingering her weapon slowly.
- - -
"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do . . .?"
"Yes . . ." Replied a voice hesitantly.
Shizuka Yadate and Yasunari Konishi stood beneath a large tree, Shizuka leaning against the thick, heavy trunk holding a pistol loosely in her hand, looking up at Yasunari, her boyfriend,
"I'm not so sure, Shiz-chan." Yasunari whispered softly, taking her hand in his, "Surely, we can fight this."
"No. There is no fighting it." She answered calmly, "I'll do it for you. It'll be over soon."
Yasunari closed his eyes and knelt before her, letting her press the barrel of the gun against his forehead. Slowly, she squeezed the trigger, letting him fall to the floor in a bloody mess. She pulled the gun back steadily and looked at it with intrigue. After several minutes she stood and smirked,
"Men are weak." She said aloud, stepping backwards, still staring at the remains of her dead boyfriend before bending and placing his grenade in her bag and moving off through the trees to continue her quest.
Boys #6 Yasunari Konishi dead. 36 to go.
- - -
"Jun! Don't!"
"COME ON YOU BASTARD! OWN UP!" Jun Oochi screamed, digging his foot deep into his victim's stomach,
"Jun, please don't!" Tommoyo pleaded, grabbing his arm, "Just leave him! He can't hurt us! He has no weapon!"
"Do you think I believe that?!" Jun sneered, kicking Toshio Nishi once again as he lay on the ground, "C'mon you bastard! I know that you know a way outta this!"
Tommoyo was forced to release Jun's arm as she stepped back towards the group of six that stood behind her. Two girls; Hikaru Aoki and Ami Tenkawa along with four boys; Tetsuya Kon, Tadashi Hiraga, Akito Onizuka and Shinji Nishio.
Shinji shook his head and heaved his bag onto his shoulder,
"I can't take this anymore." He muttered to Tetsuya, "I'm gonna go find everyone else. Suguru and Kensuke for a start! Together they'll never take us down!"
Jun turned and directed his machine gun towards Shinji's head,
"Take one more step Nishio and I'll shoot!"
"What do you think I'm gonna do, Jun?!" Shinji exclaimed, "You're my friend and I'm not going to attack you in the middle of the night! Let me go and find the others!"
"No."
"Paranoia is a cruel mistress." Shinji muttered, dropping his bag and held up his hands in defeat, "Ami . . ." He looked at the girl with anger, "Can't you do something?"
"Like what?!" Ami snapped before huffing and folding her arms, "I'm as useless as you are!"
Shinji rolled his eyes at the pure stubbornness of his friend whilst Jun turned back towards Toshio, who had managed to crawl several feet in the time that the friends had been arguing,
"HEY! That just proves it!" He muttered, "YOU'RE GUILTY!" He screamed, running forwards, pointing at Toshio who cowered beneath a bush. As Jun marched towards the terrified teenage boy he reached into his discarded bag and pulled out something heavy and dark. Within a matter of seconds, Jun was stopped in his tracks, his body riddled with bullets, landing among the mud with a loud, harsh 'splat'. Toshio threw his gun onto the ground and shuffled backwards whimpering loudly, his eyes moving from the freshly used machine gun to the now dead body of Jun Oochi,
"Shit," Shinji whispered in disbelief, blinking in a double take,
"No way . . ." Muttered Akito.
All of a sudden, the bowl-cut head of Tadashi Hiraga charged forwards, his Ninja Stars held tightly in his grasp,
"YAH!" He screamed as he threw two under the bush. They flipped sideways in the air, one catching the base of Toshio's spine, the other nipping at his neck. Tadashi threw the third and it skimmed the bottom of Toshio's left, sock clad foot, his brown school loafer strewn somewhere in the bush,
"AH!" He screeched, grabbing his foot and spine as Tadashi continued to charge forwards, now followed by Tetsuya Kon, his best friend, who was waving his megaphone over his head,
"BASTARD!" Tetsuya yelled as Tadashi grabbed the machine gun and reached under the bush, grabbing Toshio's bad foot, dragging him out from under the dead plant. Toshio's cried as he clawed in the dirt, trying desperately to escape Tadashi and Tetsuya, who were waiting for him once he was fully revealed,
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He pleaded, shielding his face as the pair bore down upon him,
"SORRY WON'T BRING HIM BACK!"
"MURDERER!"
"GET HIM!" Hikaru screamed, balling her fists and stamping her foot,
"No!" Ami cried, "Just let him go! Don't lower yourself to his standards!"
"Are you kidding?!" Hikaru growled, "He'll come back and get the rest of us if we let him go!"
Ami blinked, tears trickling down her cheeks,
"This is horrible!" She sobbed, withdrawing against Shinji slightly. Shinji grit his teeth and turned away, holding Ami's head against his chest and burying his face in her shoulder-length hair,
"Don't look." He whispered.
Akito gasped as Tetsuya began to bring his megaphone down in hard blows. After six or seven heavy hits with the heavy end of his 'weapon' and the handle of his own machine gun, Toshio's screams began to quieten. A few more hits from both and Toshio fell silent. The two boys gave him a few more hits for good measure before turning away. Tadashi wiped a splash of blood from his cheek and Tetsuya from his eye. They rubbed blood soaked hands on their black uniform trousers and regarded their onlookers with psychotic satisfaction,
"An eye for an eye," Tetsuya muttered,
"A tooth for a tooth." Tadashi finished as they made their way slowly towards the others. Tommoyo was on her knees, her long, dyed crimson hair hung all around in ringlets, hiding her face as she sobbed into her hands,
"Jun . . ." She sobbed as Hikaru's arms went around her shoulders,
"It's alright . . . he's in danger no longer . . ." Hikaru soothed, "And the boys got revenge . . ."
Tommoyo sobbed louder, pushing Hikaru's arms off of her back and making a disgruntled screech, she stood and stormed off, grabbing her bag as she did so. The others watched after her before Akito sighed heavily,
"Someone should go after her," He huffed, heaving his bag onto his shoulder, "It's not safe for her to be out there on her own."
Shinji nodded in mute agreement,
"I'll go with you. We might see the others."
"Yeah."
"C . . . can I come too . . .?" Ami whispered shakily,
"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, gently touching her chin, "Of course you can. Find Yuki?"
Ami grinned, sometimes Shinji knew her too well. It was natural for Ami to reach out for Yukiko at times like this, friends since they were babies; Yukiko was always the most fearless of the pair. Tadashi and Tetsuya glared at them,
"What ever happened to safety in numbers?!" Tadashi growled,
"Well . . . you successfully scared the crap outta Tommoyo!" Akito snapped,
"Watch it!" Tetsuya muttered,
"I think that megaphone's gone to your head!" He snorted,
"We got this now, haven't we?" Tadashi said as he held up Toshio's machine gun,
"Well, we're off to make sure that Tommoyo is alright and find everyone else!"
"Yeah! Like Suguru and Yukiko! And Masaru, c'mon Hikaru! I bet he's looking for you!" Ami chime in.
Hikaru avoided her glare and Ami narrowed her eyes,
"Don't you wanna find Masaru?"
"No . . ."
"Why not?!"
"Because it's too scary out there! To go wondering around would be stupid!"
"But you love him!" Ami huffed, "Wouldn't you do anything for him?"
Hikaru avoided the question, looking away again,
"Fine!" Akito sighed, "C'mon guys, let's go!"
"Tadashi!" Tetsuya exclaimed,
"Let them go." Tadashi said wisely, "Get Jun's weapon."
Tetsuya nodded and knelt beside Tetsuya, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Jun's compass,
"Looks like he lucked out."
"We all did." Tadashi chuckled, "Not anymore though!"
"YEAH!" The other two agreed happily as Tadashi pumped the machine gun in the air triumphantly.
Boys #11 Toshio Nishi, #15 Jun Oochi, 34 to go.
- - -
Suguru huffed as he walked beside Kensuke; they clambered up a muddy bank at the base of a hill, struggling to get to somewhere safe for the night.
Whirling around at the sound of gun shots and screams, Kensuke lost his grip. He let out a small, startled scream as his feet struggled for grip, but he continued to slip, falling backwards. All of a sudden, Suguru grabbed his wrist tightly; skin slapping against skin startled birds in the trees that surrounded them. The squawked and flapped at the disturbance,
"Jesus!" Kensuke gasped, clasping his chest as Suguru pulled him up onto a ledge, "Thanks, man." He sighed,
"No problem." Suguru answered modestly,
"Seriously, I coulda died from that fall."
"It's alright. How about here? It's pretty high up and outta the way."
"Yeah, this should be alright." Kensuke nodded, reaching into his bag and puling out a stake loaf of bread, "Hmmmm . . . appetizing!" He scoffed, taking a bite out of it,
"I hope everyone's alright." Suguru murmured, staring into the darkness,
"Yuki?"
"Yeah . . . Paige . . ."
"Yeah . . ." Kensuke smirked, "How'd ya figure . . .?"
"I just know you too well!" Suguru grinned, winking slightly.
The pair fell silent, soon after falling asleep on the small ledge.
- - - To be continued . . .
Phew . . . my chapters are getting longer . . . if it's a problem, let me know and I'll break them up!
Thanks for reading! Please RnR!
Hiya again! Many thanks to GinyuBrick! It's so nice to know that at least one person liked what I put a lot of effort into! I'll finish it just because I know that at least you'll read it!
Battle Royale: The Final Bout.
By Bubblegum Thai.
Chapter One. Let the games begin!
It's hard to believe that, as I run down an uneven path, in the pitch black, faced with the string possibility that I'll lose my life within the next 72 hours, all I can think about is what I was doing yesterday.
Does that make me a freak?
I keep thinking about yesterday . . . I could've been nicer to my brother, now that I think about it. He was being a pain though. I wonder what my parents think. I bet mum's crying and I bet Dad's hit the vodka . . . he's probably on his fifth glass already . . . my brother will come home from work early . . . I wonder if . . . if this is what went through Noriko's mind . . .? All this stuff . . .
At least she had Nanahara.
They think I don't know that she cheated the BR act . . . that she's wanted for murder! But, I do. Of course I do! I'm not stupid! I wonder how she is . . . I wonder if she'll cry when they read my name out on the TV. I wonder if she escaped Japan. If she did, does she even know . . . does she even remember?
"Yukiko!"
- - -
Yukiko skidded along the dirt path, falling over onto all fours, trying to get her balance on her palms,
"Masaru!" She gasped, grinning at Boys #1, Masaru Hijikata,
"Where's Hikaru?" He asked,
"I don't know . . . sorry . . . I was looking for you."
"Me."
"Mmmm hmmm." Yukiko nodded, "And Suguru, and Hikaru."
"I haven't seen Suguru. What weapon you got?"
"I don't know," Yukiko sighed as she shrugged, "I haven't looked yet . . . I just ran."
"Oh." Masaru smiled warmly, "C'mon . . . there's the old Primary school over here . . . its set back a way from the main road . . . good place to hide out, don't ya think?"
Yukiko shrugged, but followed regardless,
"You should condense your bags into one. Dispose of anything that you don't need."
"Like my maths textbook?"
"Yeah . . . if you like . . ." Masaru shrugged, as if he didn't care and Yukiko glowered at his back. Although he was her friend, Masaru had this nasty habit of being perfect at everything he did. Suguru used to tease him for it, "But don't forget to dispose of everything that you ditch, Yuki, someone who comes along after us will know that we've been there and will track us."
"We could burn it." Yukiko suggested.
Masaru stopped and whirled around, glaring at her,
"Are you stupid?!" He fumed, "That would be an excellent idea!" He declared sarcastically, "Send up huge smoke signals to let everyone know our position."
"I'm sorry . . . I'm not thinking strait!" She murmured shyly,
"Whatever." He grumbled, rolling his eyes,
"Masaru-kun, are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Oh . . . alright then . . ."
The pair walked in silence up the narrow path through trees, the moonlight providing little lamination for their course, but eventually they found the deserted school, its main door hanging off its hinges, threatening to fall at any second. Yukiko followed Masaru through, into the first classroom, which was dark and had wooden flooring. The desks were pushed up against the large side windows and the teacher's heavy desk had also been pushed up against the blackboard. Masaru hovered over it, tipping his bag out onto it and sifting through his personal belongings carefully,
"Are those pictures of Hikaru . . .?" Yukiko asked tentatively as she peeked over his shoulder,
"Yeah . . ." He answered softly, slipping them into his inside blazer pocket, "You got any pictures?" He asked after several long seconds of silence,
"Oh, yeah, I do." Yukiko answered in surprise, digging into her school bag and retrieving her diary. She popped open the clasp and pulled out a small stack from an inside pocket,
"Hey, that's me." Masaru grinned, pointing at a group picture which was all boys,
"Yeah . . . Paige wanted that one . . . so I made her a copy, but kept one for myself . . ."
"I wonder if this is what everyone who plays this game does."
"What?"
"Go all nostalgic, pull out photos and sit with them . . ."
"Maybe," Yukiko tilted her head to one side as she began to move through her bag, picking up small items and putting them to one side,
"What weapon do you have?"
Yukiko pulled out a butcher's knife, her eyes wide,
"Yikes!" She exclaimed,
"You could do a lot of damage with that!" Masaru commented, eyeing her suspiciously,
"Masaru . . . that isn't funny!"
"Weren't you listening to what Mr. Sato said?!" Masaru asked, frowning at her, "This is for real, Yukiko!"
"W . . . what did you get, Masaru?"
Masaru shrugged half heartedly, before snorting,
"This . . ." He whispered, handing her a small bottle of poison, "You'd think that they'd give me something better! I do deserve it!"
Yukiko frowned,
"They don't care about social merit here, Masaru." She scolded, "And you know that I never cared for that shit, either!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes,
"Whatever. We should probably leave. Go deeper into the island before others find us. Then we can rest."
"What about the others . . .?"
Masaru looked at her, a blank look screaming at her wearily,
"Let's just move, alright . . ."
"But I wanna find the others!" She whined,
"Fine!" He growled, "Then you can stay here!" He snatched up his bag and marched off in a huff, Yukiko sighed, dropping to her knees, "It's dark in here . . ." She whispered to no one, "I wish they'd given us a flashlight . . ." She sighed sadly,
"I've got one . . ."
Yukiko jumped at the sly voice that had come from the shadows. She turned sharply, glaring into the darkness,
"Who . . . who's there?!" She demanded, trying in vain to stop her voice from shaking. A tall boy with a number one hair cut stepped from the darkness, his eyes glinting wickedly, "Hi . . ." She breathed, her fist tightening against her chest, "Is that your weapon?" She asked, stepping forwards slightly,
"No."
"Then how did you,"
"Found it." Hi Ike answered quickly, "This is my weapon . . ." He said casually, drawing a katana slowly from his belt, "Quite . . . sharp . . . huh . . .?"
"Ye . . . yeah . . ." Yukiko gulped and took a step back, eyeing the blade cautiously,
"What's your weapon, Yukiko?" Hi asked, following her, matching her steps.
Yukiko held up her knife and smiled slightly. Hi only smirked,
"Betcha don't know how to use that, Yuki." He chuckled,
"I . . . I don't want to know!" She began to sob,
"Oh, shhhhh," He soothed, edging forwards, wrapping his arms around her waist,
"I just wanna go home!" She choked, digging her fingers into his blazer in search for comfort,
"Shhhhh," He whispered, "It'll all be over soon . . ."
She pulled back slightly, large glassy eyes peering up into his face, frowning slightly,
"You know a way out?"
"There is only one way out of this game, Yukiko." He gave her a psychotic yet toothy grin and in a flash, Yukiko was backed against the main wall, pressed into children's paintings and drawings with the thin blade of Hi's katana against her delicate throat,
"The torch," She spat, "You didn't find it . . . did you . . .?!"
"Nope." He grinned slightly, "Well . . . in a way, I suppose that I did . . ." He continued, tapping his chin in thought, "Ya see . . . I FOUND it in Satsuki's hand . . ."
"S . . . Satsuki . . .?" Yukiko stammered, "YOU BASTARD!"
"Now . . . how do you know that I killed Satsuki?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE A MONSTER!" She screamed, darting from his grip, under his arm and towards the door,
"There you go, just like always, Yukiko, avoiding your problems!" He sneered, "Suguru's little buddy . . . no body harm his little friend, am I right?"
He darted forwards, slashing at her with his katana, drawing blood as it sliced through her blazer and shirt, cutting her across the stomach. She winced and doubled over slightly, holding onto her bleeding stomach,
"NO!" She screeched, grabbing the teacher's heavy leather chair and rolling it towards Hi. He caught its back in a tight grip and pushed at its base with his foot, sending it hurting towards her. It hit her square in the centre of her back as she scrambled for the door, knocking her over and pinning her beneath it. Advancing slowly, her grabbed her loosening ponytail pulling her head right back,
"Bye bye, little Yukiko." He snickered, slicing the blade delicately across her throat.
She gurgled slightly before collapsing into a widening puddle of thick, crimson blood. He smirked, wiping his soiled blade on the thick leather of the chair back and bent to pick up the butchers knife which Yukiko had dropped in their scuffle. He admired it before collecting Yukiko's bottles of water and chocolate bar before dumping them into his own bag and leaving, a satisfied smirk on his face as in his mind, he relieved his triumphant leap from the roof of an allotment shed onto Satsuki Chiba, slicing her practically vertically in half as she stopped to check her map.
As he stepped outside, still twirling his blade happily in his fingers, he looked up and down the path. As he turned around to head in the direction which led even further into the island, he came face to face with Masaru,
"Oh, hello!" Hi greeted, "I thought you left little Yukiko all alone!" He snickered, "Well . . . I suppose you still can have your little girly conversation . . . I mean . . . what's left of her probably has about the same amount of intelligence as the old Yukiko . . ."
"You always were a jerk." Masaru sneered,
"Now, Masaru . . . dear Masaru . . . that hurts me . . . I was expecting you to scream and lunge drunkenly at me . . . oh well . . . if we must do this the hard way . . ." Hi sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.
Before Masaru had time to react, Hi had skilfully thrown the butchers knife which he had acquired only minutes before hand directly at Masaru, which had landed square between his eyes. Masaru stumbled backwards, his hands twitching open and closed as he reached up shakily, staging backwards, he fell over, his limbs still moving in short, sharp motions. Hi towered over Masaru, smirking as he raised his Katana over her head before bringing it down into the school's most popular boy's chest. It pieced his uniform and skin easily. Hi gritted his teeth as he heard the metal scrape bone and with a sadistic smirk, after firmly impaling Masaru into the ground, he removed his blade and the knife, rubbing it clean on his trouser leg. Happy with his kill so far, Hi continued his trek deeper into the Forrest, picking up Masaru's bag enroute.
Girls #4 Satsuki Chiba, #8 Yukiko Nakagawa, Boys #1 Masaru Hijikata dead. 37 to go.
- - -
Shivering, huddled under a kitchen sink, somewhere in the town that surrounded the high school base, Paige Stevenson sobbed into her bare knees,
"I'm so cold . . ." She stammered, looking disgustedly at her weapon which she clutched in her hand, "Did they think this was some sort of joke?!" She growled, glaring at the pointed rock in her hand,
"P . . . Paige . . . is that you?!"
The American transfer student looked up to see Ai Takami enter the room, blocking the moonlight,
"Paige, please tell me that's you!" Ai called shakily.
Paige crawled out from under the sink and met Ai full in the face,
"What do YOU want?!" She growled,
"Please Paige . . ." She began pathetically, "I never wanted to upset you . . . I know that I was always a bitch to you, I'm sorry . . . I never really meant it! Honest!" The girl stammered, "But . . . look . . . we can help each other out, right?"
Paige tilted her head to one side. Ai did look genuine enough. The terror in her eye and the pale tint of her skin would be hard to fake, by even the most talented of actresses and Paige knew from experience that Ai was a terrible liar,
"What's you weapon?" Paige asked, sighing,
"This!" Ai looked proud as she produced a tracker,
"What about your friends?" Paige asked, raising a slender Auburn eyebrow,
"Yoko and Mimarin are no where in sight . . . besides . . . Yoko already told me that she's playing for real. Mimarin was the last to be let out. She's girl #20!" Ai confirmed knowledgably, "Please Paige . . . let's be friends!" She beamed with over enthusiasm, "We can help one another out! Look out for one another! Figure this all out!"
Paige sighed but nodded regardless,
"Did you hear that scream awhile ago?" Paige asked quietly,
"Yeah . . ." Ai sighed, straitening her short skirt as she slumped beside Paige against a cabinet,
"I think . . . I think that it was Satsuki . . ."
"Satsuki?" Ai furrowed her brow,
"Yeah. Satsuki Chiba. She was my friend. I sat next to her on the bus. You wouldn't know her though, she was one of the 'little people'." Paige sneered,
"Oh . . . Chiba . . . yeah . . . now I know . . . Yoko used to call her 'Chubby Chiba' . . . I never said it though."
"It was because of your friend Yoko that Satsuki almost died."
"I'm sorry Paige, for everything, I mean!" Ai sobbed, "I only did it to protect myself! Being tough helps me block out the real world!"
"I know it does . . . but sometimes it just isn't right . . ." Paige sighed, fingering her weapon slowly.
- - -
"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do . . .?"
"Yes . . ." Replied a voice hesitantly.
Shizuka Yadate and Yasunari Konishi stood beneath a large tree, Shizuka leaning against the thick, heavy trunk holding a pistol loosely in her hand, looking up at Yasunari, her boyfriend,
"I'm not so sure, Shiz-chan." Yasunari whispered softly, taking her hand in his, "Surely, we can fight this."
"No. There is no fighting it." She answered calmly, "I'll do it for you. It'll be over soon."
Yasunari closed his eyes and knelt before her, letting her press the barrel of the gun against his forehead. Slowly, she squeezed the trigger, letting him fall to the floor in a bloody mess. She pulled the gun back steadily and looked at it with intrigue. After several minutes she stood and smirked,
"Men are weak." She said aloud, stepping backwards, still staring at the remains of her dead boyfriend before bending and placing his grenade in her bag and moving off through the trees to continue her quest.
Boys #6 Yasunari Konishi dead. 36 to go.
- - -
"Jun! Don't!"
"COME ON YOU BASTARD! OWN UP!" Jun Oochi screamed, digging his foot deep into his victim's stomach,
"Jun, please don't!" Tommoyo pleaded, grabbing his arm, "Just leave him! He can't hurt us! He has no weapon!"
"Do you think I believe that?!" Jun sneered, kicking Toshio Nishi once again as he lay on the ground, "C'mon you bastard! I know that you know a way outta this!"
Tommoyo was forced to release Jun's arm as she stepped back towards the group of six that stood behind her. Two girls; Hikaru Aoki and Ami Tenkawa along with four boys; Tetsuya Kon, Tadashi Hiraga, Akito Onizuka and Shinji Nishio.
Shinji shook his head and heaved his bag onto his shoulder,
"I can't take this anymore." He muttered to Tetsuya, "I'm gonna go find everyone else. Suguru and Kensuke for a start! Together they'll never take us down!"
Jun turned and directed his machine gun towards Shinji's head,
"Take one more step Nishio and I'll shoot!"
"What do you think I'm gonna do, Jun?!" Shinji exclaimed, "You're my friend and I'm not going to attack you in the middle of the night! Let me go and find the others!"
"No."
"Paranoia is a cruel mistress." Shinji muttered, dropping his bag and held up his hands in defeat, "Ami . . ." He looked at the girl with anger, "Can't you do something?"
"Like what?!" Ami snapped before huffing and folding her arms, "I'm as useless as you are!"
Shinji rolled his eyes at the pure stubbornness of his friend whilst Jun turned back towards Toshio, who had managed to crawl several feet in the time that the friends had been arguing,
"HEY! That just proves it!" He muttered, "YOU'RE GUILTY!" He screamed, running forwards, pointing at Toshio who cowered beneath a bush. As Jun marched towards the terrified teenage boy he reached into his discarded bag and pulled out something heavy and dark. Within a matter of seconds, Jun was stopped in his tracks, his body riddled with bullets, landing among the mud with a loud, harsh 'splat'. Toshio threw his gun onto the ground and shuffled backwards whimpering loudly, his eyes moving from the freshly used machine gun to the now dead body of Jun Oochi,
"Shit," Shinji whispered in disbelief, blinking in a double take,
"No way . . ." Muttered Akito.
All of a sudden, the bowl-cut head of Tadashi Hiraga charged forwards, his Ninja Stars held tightly in his grasp,
"YAH!" He screamed as he threw two under the bush. They flipped sideways in the air, one catching the base of Toshio's spine, the other nipping at his neck. Tadashi threw the third and it skimmed the bottom of Toshio's left, sock clad foot, his brown school loafer strewn somewhere in the bush,
"AH!" He screeched, grabbing his foot and spine as Tadashi continued to charge forwards, now followed by Tetsuya Kon, his best friend, who was waving his megaphone over his head,
"BASTARD!" Tetsuya yelled as Tadashi grabbed the machine gun and reached under the bush, grabbing Toshio's bad foot, dragging him out from under the dead plant. Toshio's cried as he clawed in the dirt, trying desperately to escape Tadashi and Tetsuya, who were waiting for him once he was fully revealed,
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He pleaded, shielding his face as the pair bore down upon him,
"SORRY WON'T BRING HIM BACK!"
"MURDERER!"
"GET HIM!" Hikaru screamed, balling her fists and stamping her foot,
"No!" Ami cried, "Just let him go! Don't lower yourself to his standards!"
"Are you kidding?!" Hikaru growled, "He'll come back and get the rest of us if we let him go!"
Ami blinked, tears trickling down her cheeks,
"This is horrible!" She sobbed, withdrawing against Shinji slightly. Shinji grit his teeth and turned away, holding Ami's head against his chest and burying his face in her shoulder-length hair,
"Don't look." He whispered.
Akito gasped as Tetsuya began to bring his megaphone down in hard blows. After six or seven heavy hits with the heavy end of his 'weapon' and the handle of his own machine gun, Toshio's screams began to quieten. A few more hits from both and Toshio fell silent. The two boys gave him a few more hits for good measure before turning away. Tadashi wiped a splash of blood from his cheek and Tetsuya from his eye. They rubbed blood soaked hands on their black uniform trousers and regarded their onlookers with psychotic satisfaction,
"An eye for an eye," Tetsuya muttered,
"A tooth for a tooth." Tadashi finished as they made their way slowly towards the others. Tommoyo was on her knees, her long, dyed crimson hair hung all around in ringlets, hiding her face as she sobbed into her hands,
"Jun . . ." She sobbed as Hikaru's arms went around her shoulders,
"It's alright . . . he's in danger no longer . . ." Hikaru soothed, "And the boys got revenge . . ."
Tommoyo sobbed louder, pushing Hikaru's arms off of her back and making a disgruntled screech, she stood and stormed off, grabbing her bag as she did so. The others watched after her before Akito sighed heavily,
"Someone should go after her," He huffed, heaving his bag onto his shoulder, "It's not safe for her to be out there on her own."
Shinji nodded in mute agreement,
"I'll go with you. We might see the others."
"Yeah."
"C . . . can I come too . . .?" Ami whispered shakily,
"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, gently touching her chin, "Of course you can. Find Yuki?"
Ami grinned, sometimes Shinji knew her too well. It was natural for Ami to reach out for Yukiko at times like this, friends since they were babies; Yukiko was always the most fearless of the pair. Tadashi and Tetsuya glared at them,
"What ever happened to safety in numbers?!" Tadashi growled,
"Well . . . you successfully scared the crap outta Tommoyo!" Akito snapped,
"Watch it!" Tetsuya muttered,
"I think that megaphone's gone to your head!" He snorted,
"We got this now, haven't we?" Tadashi said as he held up Toshio's machine gun,
"Well, we're off to make sure that Tommoyo is alright and find everyone else!"
"Yeah! Like Suguru and Yukiko! And Masaru, c'mon Hikaru! I bet he's looking for you!" Ami chime in.
Hikaru avoided her glare and Ami narrowed her eyes,
"Don't you wanna find Masaru?"
"No . . ."
"Why not?!"
"Because it's too scary out there! To go wondering around would be stupid!"
"But you love him!" Ami huffed, "Wouldn't you do anything for him?"
Hikaru avoided the question, looking away again,
"Fine!" Akito sighed, "C'mon guys, let's go!"
"Tadashi!" Tetsuya exclaimed,
"Let them go." Tadashi said wisely, "Get Jun's weapon."
Tetsuya nodded and knelt beside Tetsuya, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Jun's compass,
"Looks like he lucked out."
"We all did." Tadashi chuckled, "Not anymore though!"
"YEAH!" The other two agreed happily as Tadashi pumped the machine gun in the air triumphantly.
Boys #11 Toshio Nishi, #15 Jun Oochi, 34 to go.
- - -
Suguru huffed as he walked beside Kensuke; they clambered up a muddy bank at the base of a hill, struggling to get to somewhere safe for the night.
Whirling around at the sound of gun shots and screams, Kensuke lost his grip. He let out a small, startled scream as his feet struggled for grip, but he continued to slip, falling backwards. All of a sudden, Suguru grabbed his wrist tightly; skin slapping against skin startled birds in the trees that surrounded them. The squawked and flapped at the disturbance,
"Jesus!" Kensuke gasped, clasping his chest as Suguru pulled him up onto a ledge, "Thanks, man." He sighed,
"No problem." Suguru answered modestly,
"Seriously, I coulda died from that fall."
"It's alright. How about here? It's pretty high up and outta the way."
"Yeah, this should be alright." Kensuke nodded, reaching into his bag and puling out a stake loaf of bread, "Hmmmm . . . appetizing!" He scoffed, taking a bite out of it,
"I hope everyone's alright." Suguru murmured, staring into the darkness,
"Yuki?"
"Yeah . . . Paige . . ."
"Yeah . . ." Kensuke smirked, "How'd ya figure . . .?"
"I just know you too well!" Suguru grinned, winking slightly.
The pair fell silent, soon after falling asleep on the small ledge.
- - - To be continued . . .
Phew . . . my chapters are getting longer . . . if it's a problem, let me know and I'll break them up!
Thanks for reading! Please RnR!