Sorry about taking so long to get this chapter up. I had it written fast but I was never able to get around to typing it. So I'm sorry for the delay. Well, the game begins this chapter so I hope you enjoy it you bloodthirsty animals! : ) (guess I can't really say anything since I'm the one actually writing it!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Battle Royale.
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The Reluctant GladiatorsChapter 3: Threatened
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September 23, 2004; 6:00 PM
26 Students Remain
"…Sesshoumaru Taisho."
Everyone watched as Sesshoumaru gracefully rose to his feet. As he silently walked to the front of the room Rin gazed at him fearfully. When he reached her he gently squeezed her shoulder. At this slight movement he suddenly had three rifles pointed at him. Rin, who was previously smiling gratefully at her friend, was now squeezing her eyes tight. She was waiting for the gunshots. Her best friend would die all because she was too scared to conceal her fear from him. When no gunshot came she tentatively opened one eye.
Sesshoumaru had not moved at inch. His hand was back to his side but other than that he hadn't moved.
"When I call your name you will come directly to the front of the room. The next person who touches another will be shot," said Kazuhiko coldly.
Sesshoumaru clenched his fists in anger and finished his long trek to the front. When Kazuhiko handed him his bag he grabbed it and then stood still.
It was a silent battle of wills. Sesshoumaru and Kazuhiko stood at eye level. Sesshoumaru was the only one who was as tall as Kazuhiko. As the class watched breathless the two giants stood still.
Rin gripped the sides of her chair. Please Sesshoumaru, just leave the classroom. Don't do this. Don't stand there and try to threaten Kazuhiko. I'll be fine, but if you get shot now I won't be. I can't do this alone Sesshoumaru. I need you by my side. Please, leave. Just leave.
Sesshoumaru stood there, his eyes full of hate for the man standing in front of him. He was comforting his best friend. All he had done was place a hand on Rin's shoulder. And this bastard threatened to kill him. The bastard threatened to blow his body apart right in front of Rin. Sesshoumaru wasn't scared for his own life; all he wanted to do was protect Rin from as much as he was able to. And that included her watched him die. As he continued his silent battle against Kazuhiko he felt something poke him in the stomach. He looked down to see a pistol pressed to his midsection. He looked back up and was greeted by Kazuhiko's smirk.
"You may want to get a move on it since your three minutes are wearing thin," said Kazuhiko.
Sesshoumaru bit his tongue to keep from saying something that would give Kazuhiko a reason to shoot him. He had to stay alive for Rin. He would not let his best friend go through this terror alone. His eyes flashed with hate once more and then he walked out the door.
Once Sesshoumaru's three minutes were up Kazuhiko called the next name.
"Kagura Utsumi."
Kagura left without trouble. The next two students, Kanna Yahagi and Hojo Chigusa, left silently as well.
"Kagome Higurashi."
This is it, thought Kagome, at any time from here on out I could die. Kagome stood up. As she walked she caught Sango's eyes. She made no signal but Sango knew exactly what Kagome wanted to say. She would be waiting outside. Sango only hoped that waiting wouldn't cause Kagome to die.
Kagome left the room quietly. She missed the eyes that trailed her figure out the door. Inuyasha clenched his fists. Stay alive Kagome. As soon as I get out of this room I'm going to find you. So you better be alive.
As soon as Kagome left the room she slowed down her pace. She wanted to waste as much time as possible in the building. There were only four students ahead of her but she didn't know if any of them were playing the game. Shit, this isn't any game. This is as far from a game as you could possibly get. A game is suppose to be a friendly competition, not murder. They're all wrong. This isn't a game.
Kagome was abruptly taken out of her thoughts when a man stepped out of another office. He pointed his rifle at Kagome. "Don't loiter around. Get out of this building now," he commanded.
Kagome stared at the rifle with wide eyes and then turned and fled. She wanted to put a wall between her and the gun. Once she got outside she leaned against the wall and waited for Sango. She didn't have to wait long as Sango came running out of the building not a minute later. Kagome grabbed Sango's arms and pulled her friend to a halt.
Sango spun around wildly and held up her hands in a defensive measure. When she saw it was Kagome she lowered her arms. "Kagome let's get out of this open area. There are trees just over there, we can wait in them," she said, her pupils dilated with fear.
Kagome nodded and the girls quickly made their way for the cover of the trees. They made it there without incident. "Do you think we'll be safe here until Inuyasha and Miroku get out?" asked Kagome quietly.
"I don't know," answered Sango truthfully. "They'll be the last two to get called out. So I don't know. I don't even know who is playing this game."
"It's not a game."
Sango looked at her friend who had quietly spoken. "You're right. It's not a game. It's madness. It's not right."
Kagome nodded in agreement. "Well while we're waiting we should see what weapons we have," said Kagome unzipping her duffel bag.
Sango nodded. She still refused to kill anyone. She couldn't picture herself killing any one of her classmates. But she was also logical enough to know that she had to be prepared. She opened her bag and pulled out a coil of rope. She looked to see what Kagome had received. She saw that her friend had a little more luck than she had. Kagome was holding a bow and had ten arrows poking out of her bag. She laughed at Kagome's luck. Kagome was the best archer in the school. She had been taking archery lessons since she was seven.
Kagome glanced up at Sango's laugh. She smiled in return. She had gotten lucky. Of all weapons this was the best she could have received. "What did you get Sango?"
In answer Sango held up her rope. Kagome raised her eyebrow. "That's your weapon? Well you better stick by me. I'll protect you," she said completely seriously.
Under any normal circumstances what Kagome had said would have been laughed at. No one ever vowed to protect their best friend in 9th grade. But then these were the least normal circumstances you could ask for. Kagome did not want to kill anybody. But she also knew that if someone threatened Sango's life she would not hesitate to shoot. The last thing she wanted to witness was the death of her best friend of 9 years.
Sango smiled gratefully at Kagome. The two girls settled back against a tree. So far they had gone unnoticed by all the students that had left. They only wished their luck could continue.
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Midoriko Ogawa cautiously stepped outside the building. She was a little disappointed when she saw no one waiting outside. She was hoping that the class would band together and refuse to play such a pointless game. But her hopes were dashed as soon as she stepped outside. They had all run off. Midoriko decided to take it upon herself to rally the rest of the students that would be following her. She waited outside the door for the next student.
Eri Oki sprinted outside the open door. She vaguely saw a figure standing outside. When the figure raised their hand Eri put on a burst of speed and fled into the woods. There was no way she would trust anyone who was standing outside the door. For all she knew they were waiting for unsuspecting students to come out so they could kill them. Eri wouldn't fall for that trap.
Midoriko let her arm fall back down. She didn't mean to frighten Eri but it looked like that was all she was able to accomplish. She sighed and waited for the next student to come out.
The next student to cross the threshold was Naraku Onigumo. He casually stepped outside acting as if he wasn't scared at all. And he really didn't have any reason to be. His weapon was a gun, a Cougar Magnum to be precise. When he had opened his bag and seen that he smiled. It was one of the more powerful pistols. And Naraku knew how to use a gun; his dad had been taking him to a firing range since he was eight.
Midoriko sighed relief when she saw that Naraku wasn't frightened. Good, it looks like I'll be able to recruit him. He doesn't look like he'll scare easily. Midoriko stepped out of the shadows and walked over to Naraku.
"Naraku?" she said softly. She didn't want to surprise him by speaking in a normal voice.
Naraku looked towards the girl who was talking to him. It didn't really matter who she was. He would kill whoever got in his way. There was no way he would die on this pathetic island.
Midoriko, seeing that Naraku was listening, strengthened her voice. "I'm so glad you aren't scared. I was thinking that if we all teamed up we could find a way off this island."
Naraku brought his right hand to his waist to where he had previously stashed his pistol. He pointed his gun at Midoriko and clicked off the safety.
Midoriko saw the gun and took a step back. "You…you're playing!" she said in disbelief. It was so hard for her to imagine anyone playing this terrible game. It was unfathomable that a student would willingly kill his or her's classmates.
Naraku smirked at the trembling girl. "Of course I am. Do you honestly think I would let one of you kill me?" He fired his gun once into Midoriko's chest. Then without waiting to see if she died he grabbed her duffel bag and sauntered off.
Midoriko gasped in pain. She lay on the ground staring up at the night sky. Her blood pooled around her and her once shiny black hair became full of the dark, sticky substance. As she slowly faded into the painlessness of death she thought back on her classmates. She realized that all of them would die and suddenly she was glad to be the first one killed. She would never want to witness or hear about her friend's deaths. And with that final thought Midoriko passed on. And she was lucky. She would be one of the few students who would die without a heart full of hate.
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Kagome and Sango gasped and covered their mouths with fear and disgust when they heard the gunshot. They had just witnessed Naraku murder Midoriko. They had watched Naraku pull the trigger. They had watched Midoriko fly backwards. They had watched the blood streaming out of Midoriko's chest. And they did nothing. They didn't try to help the dying girl. Both of them were too frozen in fear to move. As one they turned to each other.
Sango reached out an arm and put it around Kagome's shoulders. They sat like that in silence for several minutes. It was the only way they could think of to mourn Midoriko. They couldn't bury her so they honored her death. In that way they missed Naraku enter the woods just a hundred yards east of them and start walking towards the girls.
Sango jerked her head up suddenly when she heard a twig snap. She stared off into the woods and thought she saw a figure dart behind a tree. She quickly stood up and beckoned for Kagome to follow her.
Without question or comment Kagome stood up and grabbed her bag. Whatever it was Sango saw scared her. Her friend's eyes were darting from tree to tree. At every sound she jerked. Kagome assumed that Sango had seen a student. She began following her friend deeper into the woods. As they briskly walked away from the law office Kagome's senses grew alert. She heard every rustle of leaves, every step Sango took. She heard the cicadas whispering in the trees. They almost seemed to be warning her from some hidden danger. She could almost hear them saying keep walking. Someone is following you. Don't look behind you just keep walking. Kagome knew that behind any tree there could be somebody. Whether friend or foe was up for grabs. But after witnessing the murder of Midoriko Kagome didn't want to see anyone unless they were Miroku and Inuyasha.
Sango led her friend deeper into the woods and away from the mystery shadow she had seen. She thought they had put enough distance between them and the shadow so she stopped walking. She turned to Kagome to tell her what she saw when her eyes grew wide with fear. Naraku was 20 feet away from them, a gun pointing at Kagome's back.
Sango reacted instantly. She dove at Kagome and grabbed her around the waist. She heard the gun go off and immediately rolled to the left with her friend. She kept rolling until she got under the cover of some bushes. She grabbed a handful of dirt and jumped up. As soon as she saw Naraku she flung the dirt at him. Without waiting for his response she hauled Kagome to her feet and together they took off running.
Sango and Kagome ran for what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only ten minutes. When they finally stopped they fell to their knees and attempted to catch their breath. Both of them were covered with scrapes and cuts from where branches hit their exposed skin. Neither cared. They were both alive. That's all that mattered. They were alive.
Kagome looked at her friend. Sango had tears streaming down her face. When she touched her own face she realized she was crying as well. She crawled to Sango and embraced her friend. Sango had saved her life. If it weren't for Sango she would be in the same position as Midoriko, her eyes lifeless and her body unmoving.
Sango wrapped her arms around Kagome. She had almost lost her best friend. If she had turned around a second later she only would have been in time to watch Naraku blow Kagome apart.
The two friends sat and rocked each other. It was too much. Only an hour had passed and their lives had already been threatened.
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There you go, your first death scene. And from here on out there will most likely be a death every chapter. And for the guns, I don't know guns at all. All I know about guns has pretty much come from my experiences with playing James Bond games. And who says videogames don't teach you anything? : ) So if my guns seem weird or stupid or they don't even exist, I'm sorry in advance!
Review Responses:
Tanoliko: Wow, I'm glad you like it! And if you like to read than I recommend reading the book Battle Royale. It's a bit long but I think it's better then the manga.
Chaoticxsky: Do you happen to know how hard your name is to type? And I only wish I was creative to come up with the concept myself. But alas the great author Koushun Takami came up with Battle Royale.
Jen: Alright, a new reader! Yea! And don't worry, I won't be taking this story down. So you'll be able to see how all the Inuyasha characters die. : )
Mewie: To be honest I didn't quite remember the specifics to all the rules. So I made my own variations because I didn't have the book to look at. Hope they work ok!
Moonglow gal: I've never read Lord of the Flies so I don't know what kind of book it is. And wow, you seem like a vicious person! And depending on your favorite characters you may have some time to plan your hunt of me or you may have to start pretty soon! : )
