Hey all, or at least to the few people who read this story. It's weird, it seems like no one likes to read about death. Weird. : ) But as promised, here is the last chapter without death. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or Battle Royale
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The Reluctant GladiatorsChapter 2: Doomed
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Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see himself sitting in a chair. He took in his surroundings and saw that he was in an office with drab colored walls. There was one window that looked outside into surrounding woods. He could smell the ocean so he assumed that since there was no sand and trees didn't tend to grow in the sand he was on one of the islands that surrounded the mainland of Japan. The office he was in was large, but once 26 students were put into it it grew a little cramped. The office was empty except for his classmates who were all sitting chairs that were set up in rows. In the front there was large oval desk and a massive leather chair. The chair was facing the wall so Inuyasha couldn't tell if there was someone in it or not.
Inuyasha felt something scratching his neck so he lifted his hands up to scratch it. He was surprised to touch metal. He splayed out his fingers and realized it was a collar. Panic welled up inside of him when he remembered the bus trip. His throat clenched up when he remembered the cold man saying that his class was selected for the Battle Royale.
"Psst. Inuyasha. You there?" came a voice from Inuyasha's left. Inuyasha jumped in fear but calmed down when he realized that it was only Miroku.
"You damn idiot. Don't scare me like that!" said Inuyasha angrily.
Miroku shrugged his shoulders but he was pleased to see that his friend was unharmed. Before they could talk further the chair swiveled around and they saw the man from earlier sitting in it. They immediately froze up in fear.
"Good. I see everyone has finally awakened. And I'm guessing that everyone wants to know who I am. The name's Kazuhiko. That's all you need to know. I have conducted the Battle Royale for the past five years. So don't try anything stupid around me. No student has ever succeeded in harming me," he said. "Now I will start orienting you to what is about to happen." The whole time Kazuhiko spoke his smirk never left his face. He loved seeing the students look on in fear. "As I previously told you your class was selected for this year's Battle Royale."
"Why us? Why was our class picked?" asked Kouga in a surprisingly calm voice. He wasn't going to give the bastard Kazuhiko the pleasure of hearing his voice quiver.
"The class that is picked is completely random," replied Kazuhiko.
"Why does there have to be a Battle Royale?" asked Kagome softly. Softly because she almost didn't want to know the answer. She was afraid that the answer wouldn't make sense and that it would shed no light on the reason a class of 9th graders had to die every year.
Kazuhiko face the girl. "Why? Why is there a Battle Royale? The answer is simple. The government wants to study what happens when a group of people who used to be friends are placed in dire circumstances. They want to study how people react to what is given to them. They want to study how minds under stress and fear act."
"What? That's the reason behind this senseless bloodshed? We are test subjects? You kill a class of students to study how the mind works?" shouted Kagome.
"It is only senseless to those with lesser minds. The government knows what it is doing. It is not our place to question what the government does. To question it would cause you to die."
"Like hell I'm not going to question it. I'm going to die anyways. The government has already killed me," spat out Kagome.
"But you're wrong," said Kazuhiko.
Kagome stared at him, rage clouding her eyes.
"The government will not kill anyone in this room." Kazuhiko stopped talking to Kagome only and addressed the whole room. "Look around you. These people sitting around you, your fellow classmates, are who are going to kill you. The person who ate lunch with you yesterday could be the one who kills you today."
At these words many of the students looked suspiciously at one another.
Kazuhiko's smirk grew eviler. "Battle Royale. A fight to the death. A fight until only one remains. This is what you guys will be doing."
Kazuhiko walked to the chalkboard and quickly drew a rough sketch of a map. "You are on an island. It has an area of about 16 sq. miles. Everyone who use to live on it have been evacuated. We are the only ones on the island. And only one of you will leave this island alive." Kazuhiko drew some squares on the map to mark the buildings. "There are many buildings on this island. We are located in the law office in the approximate center of the island. This will be where I'll be monitoring your progress."
Kazuhiko divided the map into 64 squares. "The map that will be provided for each of you will be divided in this way. Your map will mark the terrain as well. But the most important feature will be the grid. Since the purpose of the Battle Royale is to kill you cannot stay in the same place. So every six hours, at 6 and 12 in the morning and evening, I will make an announcement that will be heard all over the island. I will relay to you the areas of the island that will be off limits. Every hour one more area will become off limits. Dead zones, as I like to call them. It will be your responsibility to be out of those areas at the appointed time. If you fail your collars will activate. Each collar has a bomb in it and it will explode."
Everyone's hands went up to their necks and gasped when they felt the collar encircling it. Rin and Shippo started tugging at it.
"And if you try to take it off they will also explode," added Kazuhiko.
Rin and Shippo's eyes widened and their hands dropped to their laps.
Kazuhiko grinned triumphantly. "Now you will also not be going out there weaponless. To make the game exciting weapons will be provided." At a slight nod to the open door three men came in carrying black duffel bags. They dropped them on the ground and immediately grabbed the rifles that were hanging over their shoulders and pointed them at the students.
"In these bags you will find a random weapon along with a map, compass, watch, flashlight, water, and food. That is all that will be provided. When you leave I will hand you a random bag. No one will know what weapon you carry so no one will know who the most dangerous is."
"Once you leave this building you can do what you please. You can head out on your own or wait for your friends. But since we need you guys to kill there will be rules. The Battle Royale lasts for two days. If more than one person is left at the end of the second day all the collars will go off. And if in the next two days there is ever a span of six hours where no one dies the collars will again explode. So it really is in your best interest to hunt each other down and kill."
Miroku clenched his fists. There was no way in hell he would ever murder one of his classmates. He was sure everyone else felt the same way. After all, most of them knew each other since first grade. How could that bastard Kazuhiko actually expect them to raise a weapon against their childhood friends? He was insane, the whole Japanese government was insane to think this madness would ever work.
Kazuhiko seemed to know exactly what Miroku was thinking. "Now I'm sure many of you are thinking that no one will kill each other. After all, you were all friends yesterday, correct? Well, everyone who thinks that is wrong. There has been a Battle Royale for the past 15 years. And every year there has been a winner. There has never been a year where the class binded together and all died together. It doesn't work that way. The very essence of the human nature is survival. Humans will do anything to survive, even kill a person they were friends with yesterday. Humans are also selfish creatures. Very few are actually willing to risk their life to save another. And under stress and fear your mind will break. You will come to suspect even your best friend of betraying you. In circumstances such as these you will be surprised what you, and your classmates, are capable of. So remember, even if you are unwilling to kill there are the students who will. In this very group there are murderers."
"Now we are going to do a little exercise. I would like everyone to stand in a circle. And if you try anything one of my men will have no problem killing you."
Everyone silently did as Kazuhiko said. As they made a circle it was apparent where some alliances would form. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome immediately joined together. There was no question that they would seek out each other out on the island. Kouga, Hakkaku, and Ginta did the same. And Rin and Sesshoumaru were practically glued to each other. Rin was shaking like a leaf but Sesshoumaru was stiff, he was obviously being strong for his friend.
Kazuhiko walked to the center of the circle. "Now repeat after me: I will kill." When no one said anything Kazuhiko pulled out his pistol. "If you don't say it I will shoot you."
Sango thought she could have resisted. She wasn't going to say those dreadful words. But when Kazuhiko swung his pistol until it rested on her she changed. Looking into a barrel of a gun finally made it real for her. She realized that at any moment she could die. As she joined her classmates in the mindless chant she was silently screaming. Kazuhiko was right. No one wanted to die. When standing on death's door you would be willing to do almost anything. But I won't kill anyone, swore Sango. That bastard Kazuhiko will never get the pleasure of seeing me kill someone.
As the class chanted 'I will kill' Kazuhiko's face widened into a grin. It was enough to make everyone's blood run cold. They realized that he enjoyed seeing them frightened. That he would put a bullet in their brain with pleasure. "Ok, enough of that. Now chant: 'Or I will die.'"
This time the class started chanting without a second's pause. This was Kazuhiko's favorite part of the orientation. He was able to witness first hand the changing of a class of students. He was able to see eyes harden as everyone realized what he spoke of was true: no one wanted to die.
As Kagome followed in the mindless chant she let her eyes wander throughout the circle of her classmates. She was frightened to see some people's faces change right before her. They went from being scared to being filled with resolve. Fight it! Don't give in to the hate! We don't want to kill each other!' she silently screamed. But at that point Kagome already realized it was too late. She knew the game was real. Her class was to be sent outside with weapons and told to kill each other. And the frightening thing was that many of her classmates would be participating.
"Enough. Sit back down," ordered Kazuhiko when he knew that the message had gotten through to everyone. The students quietly filed back to their seats. Kazuhiko went back to the front of the room.
"Now for the final pieces of information. First, some of you may be wondering how your parents let this happen. They had no choice. By this point they would have been notified of where their children are. And if they attacked the men who told them then they will be dead."
At the revealing of this information there were several audible gasps. Sango closed her eyes tight and silently willed the tears to go away. Her father hated the government. She was almost positive that when he was told his daughter was taken away for a government experiment he would attack whoever the messenger was. She only prayed that he withheld this time. If she died, as she most certainly would, that would be ok, but she didn't want her family harmed. She opened her eyes when she realized that Kazuhiko was speaking again.
"Second, once everyone is out of this builiding it will become a dead zone. So if you're thinking of coming in to kill me you better rethink your plan. Because if you come back you will be without a head."
"Finally, you will be leaving the building one at a time in alphabetical order. One person will be released every three minutes. And if you ever wonder how many people are left in the game I will inform you during my announcements. I will go through the list of the students who died in the previous six hours. And remember, if at any time there is no one on that list all the collars will activate."
Kazuhiko walked to the desk that was in the front of the room. He picked up a sheet of paper that everyone assumed was the class list.
"My one piece of advice for everyone: trust no one. Trust will get you killed. Now we will be starting at a random place on the class list. The starting person was picked earlier."
Kazuhiko looked down at the list. "And the first person to leave is…"
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Oops, seems I forgot to fill in who the first is to leave. Sorry about that! And if anyone is interested I made a map of the island to help me out in this story. So if anyone would like me to send them a copy I will, you know in case you want to know what areas get turned into dead zones. Just tell me in your review. Well the next chapter should be ready in a few days so you won't have long to wait. Please review!
Review Responses:
Crazy for vampire: It's fun being sick and twisted! We are the few who can enjoy stories like these!
Chaoticxsky: Hehe, sadly that won't happen. And if they did refuse to fight then they would all by exploding collars.
Moonglow gal: Ginta and Hakkaku are Kouga's two buddies in the anime. They tend to call Kagome 'sister.' Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi are Kagome's 3 friends from school, they're the ones who are always trying to hook Kag up with Hojo. And I've got my layering of pads, so when you hurt me (which you most likely will) I won't get hurt. : )
