Here's the next chapter. Just a little forewarning-the second part of this chapter does get a little gruesome. You've been warned so don't complain to me if you get disgusted by it! But please enjoy (as gruesome as that may sound!). This is actually my favorite (and the longest) chapter so far, and no, not for the gore that will come. I actually like the first part more.
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The Reluctant Gladiators
Chapter 6: Alliance
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September 23, 2004: 10:00 PM
23 Students Remain
Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi all huddled in one of the houses on the northeast of the island. They were crouched behind the couch in the family room; they were in the dark because they wouldn't put their flashlights on in case someone was outside. They had come in through the front door; Yuka had smashed the window by it and reached in to unlock the door. There was now a wall between them and the front door, the kitchen lay between them and the entrance.
They were lucky to be together. If it weren't for Yuka they would all be wandering randomly around the island. But Yuka was able to keep her head. Being the first of the three released from the law office she had hid in the woods. She was able to round up her two friends, but she had almost missed Eri who was running wildly into the woods. When Yuka and Ayumi had caught their friend they had pulled out a map to decide where to go. Yuka had just pointed out the houses on the northeast of the island when they heard the gunshot. They turned in time to see Naraku grab Midoriko's bag and saunter off. At that moment they decided to forget about any planning. They ran for the houses. They had made it there without incident and were now deciding on what to do next.
"Do you think we should try and gather any other students?" asked Ayumi. She wanted to believe that most of her classmates were still sane. Even after witnessing the death of Midoriko she still held onto that hope.
"How can we trust anyone?" responded Eri. The murder of Midoriko shook her up the most. She came out right before Naraku. Midoriko had tried to get her to stop. If Eri had trusted her and stopped she would have been there when Naraku came out. He would have killed her just as easily as he killed Midoriko. Her blood would be mixing in with Midoriko's. Distrust saved Eri; she was not willing to give it up. She would find it hard to trust anyone besides her two best friends that were sitting with her right now.
"We can trust Kagome," said Yuka. In elementary school Kagome had been good friends with them. Over the years they had drifted apart, but Yuka still considered Kagome a friend. A friend Yuka could place her full trust in.
"Maybe," said Eri, "but how do you propose we go about finding her?"
Here they were all stumped. Even if they could decide on a few people to be trusted there was still no foolproof plan of finding them. They could all be killed while searching for the ones they could trust.
Ayumi opened her mouth to suggest an idea when she promptly shut it. She held a finger to her lips and pointed to the front door. "Someone's out there," she whispered.
Eri clutched Yuka's arm in terror. Shit, the window's broken. Whoever it is will know someone's in here. Oh dear god, I don't want to die. Please, whoever you are, don't be an enemy. Please don't be playing this game.
The three girls heard the front door click open. They heard shoes crunch on the broken glass that was spread all over the front entrance. They heard the deep breathing of the intruder.
"Hello?" came a tentative voice. "Is anyone here? Please, I don't want to hurt you." The faceless voice was wavering, it sounded like the owner was about to break down in tears.
Yuka recognized the voice. For a split second she thought of ignoring the terrified person and hope that they just left. But she quickly decided against it. It's no good to be alone, she thought before standing up to the terror of Eri and Ayumi.
Eri squeezed Yuka's calf in hope of forcing some sense into her friend. It failed. Yuka bent down and removed Eri's hand and gave it a gently squeeze. "Trust me," she whispered. Eri stared at Yuka with wide eyes, but she let her friend go.
Yuka stood back up and faced the doorway to the kitchen. Hopefully my trust won't get me killed. "Hojo?" she called out questioningly.
Yuka heard the boy give a gasp and then it sounded like he stumbled over a chair in the kitchen.
"Yuka? Is that you?" called out Hojo in hope.
Yuka smiled even though she knew Hojo couldn't see it. "Yeah, it's me. I'm with Eri and Ayumi. We won't hurt you. Come to the family room."
At the sound of approaching footsteps Eri and Ayumi held their breath. They could be the footsteps of hope or the footsteps of doom. They fervently hoped for the former.
Hojo appeared in the doorway and by the moonlight filtering through the windows Yuka could see the tears glistening on his face. "Yuka?" he said. "Is it really you? Please tell me I'm not dreaming."
Yuka walked up to Hojo much to the dismay of her friends. When she reached Hojo she held her hands out to her sides in a sign of peace. This is it. Now it's time to see his true colors. I hope to god I'm not wrong about him. "It's really me Hojo."
Hojo responded by throwing his arms around Yuka's neck. He started shaking in relief. "You don't know how relieved I am to find you," he sobbed.
Yuka patted Hojo's back. "No, I'm pretty sure I know," she said wryly.
Hojo left go of Yuka and stepped back. He smiled sheepishly while rubbing his eyes dry. "Sorry, I guess I let my emotions grab a hold of me."
Yuka laughed good-naturedly at the now flustered boy. "It's quite all right. We're all girls here so we won't make fun of your little crying escapade."
A bright smile lit up Hojo's face. It felt so good and safe to be in the presence of this friendly and trusting girl. Before he stumbled upon this house it felt like he was drowning in despair. He thought he would never be able to feel safe or smile again. But just a couple of minutes with Yuka and he was already smiling. He felt safe and relaxed in her presence.
Yuka looked over her shoulder and beckoned for her friends to join her.
Eri and Ayumi stood up and cautiously walked up to join Yuka and Hojo. Hojo stuck his hand out. "Friends?" he asked anxiously.
With a grin Ayumi grabbed Hojo's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Well if Yuka trusts you then I guess I will too. Great to have you onboard for this ride through hell," she said brightly. Hojo smiled in return then placed his hand out for Eri. He looked at her hopefully.
Eri looked warily at the hand held in front of her. She wanted to trust him; she desperately needed to trust him. She had to know that there were still other people she could trust. But it was so hard. Not even 4 hours before she saw Midoriko die. She watched Naraku walk away from her still warm body. She knew the boy standing in front of her was not Naraku. But she couldn't will her hand to realize that. Her hand stayed limp at her side.
Hojo saw the conflicting emotions in Eri's eyes and her slightly trembling body. He withdrew his hand so he wouldn't cause further damage to the obviously frail girl in front of him. He knew something had to have happened to make her react this way when her friends trusted him. And whoever did this to the girl he wanted to hurt. He felt an odd sense of protectiveness for her come over him. It had to be because her friend's trusted him and saved him from facing this danger by himself. Hojo clenched his fist at his side. I don't blame you Eri. Please, don't feel bad for not trusting me. I place the blame entirely on whoever did this to you. But don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'll protect you. Whatever bastard did this to you will pay.
Yuka, also noticing the trembling body of Eri put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders. She led Eri back to the floor they were sitting on previously.
Ayumi looked at Hojo with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Hojo. Please don't be mad at her. She has a reason for being like that."
Hojo turned to face Ayumi. "What is it?" he asked softly.
"Midoriko tried to get her to stop. She was trying to gather as many students as she could so no one would die. Eri didn't trust her and ran into the woods to hide from her. Naraku came out next. He shot and killed Midoriko. If Eri had trusted Midoriko she would be dead right now. Midoriko had trusted everybody and she died. Eri can't get that out of her mind."
Hojo stepped back as if someone had punched him. It wasn't because of what Ayumi said about Eri. He still felt sad for the girl but now his mind was on someone entirely different. "Midoriko is…dead?" he asked in disbelief, grief clouding his eyes.
Ayumi nodded sadly.
Hojo grabbed his head in pain and started rocking back and forth on his heels. "No…no…NO!" he screamed, frightening all three of the girls. "She's one my best friends! We still need to graduate high school together! We still need to go to medical school together! She's not dead. Not dead. SHE'S NOT DEAD! You're wrong. You're WRONG! She's just injured. That's it. She's injured and she's needs my help. I need to go save her," cried Hojo vehemently.
Ayumi grabbed Hojo's hands and pulled them away from his head. She squeezed them gently. "Hojo, Naraku shot her point blank in the chest. She's gone. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But if you go back to her your collar will explode. Remember? The area surrounding the law office is a dead zone. Midoriko did what she did because she believed that her classmates wouldn't kill anyone. She did that because she didn't want anyone to die. The last thing she would want is for you to die because you thought she was still alive. Please, stay with us," pleaded Ayumi.
Hojo's shoulder's sagged. The tears continued to stream down his face but he realized that Ayumi was right. "You're right. I'm sorry for being stupid."
Ayumi smiled sadly and embraced Hojo. "It's not stupid to care for your friends," she said softly.
Yuka watched as Ayumi led Hojo to sit with them. Eri was still leaning against her but Yuka knew Eri heard everything Hojo said.
When Hojo sat down he made sure to sit as far from Eri as possible. He now knew what terrified the girl and he couldn't blame her. Naraku had killed Midoriko and made Eri a nervous and untrusting girl. He would pay dearly for that. Hojo looked up in surprise when Eri stood up and sat down by him.
"I heard what you said about Midoriko," she said softly, staring at the wall in front of her. "And I'm sorry for not trusting you before. Only a true friend would react the way you did. I know now in my heart that you could never kill someone in cold-blood. I hope you'll forgive for not trusting you before."
Hojo smiled sadly and drew the girl into a one-armed hug, resting his head atop of hers. "There's nothing to forgive Eri. I never blamed anything on you."
Eri was surprised. She felt safe in Hojo's arms. Before now she never really knew him that well. And yet here he was holding her while her classmates could be dying. And she felt safe. That moment sealed it. She could place her life in Hojo's hands and he wouldn't forsake her.
Hojo gently released the girl, glad that she now trusted him. It saddened him to think that it took his reaction to his beloved friend's death to get her to trust him, but after hearing what Ayumi said he understood why it took that.
Hojo straightened up and the girls could tell he was about to get down to business. "So what weapons do you guys have? I have a 9mm Uzi in my bag."
"Why aren't you carrying it?" asked Yuka.
Hojo shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I just don't feel comfortable holding a gun. And I definitely don't feel comfortable shooting someone, especially someone I know." Unless if that person is Naraku. I would gladly put a bullet between his eyes.
Yuka nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I don't think I would be able to either. So I guess it was a good thing we were friendly."
Hojo lightly smiled. "Yeah, I took my chances with that. I could have come in here with my gun raised, but that wouldn't work too well for good first impression. So what weapons did you guys get?"
The three girls looked embarrassed at this question. "Well, we didn't exactly look yet," said Ayumi, her cheeks tinted a light pink.
"What?" exclaimed Hojo, "you didn't look? You were wandering around completely defenseless?"
"Heh heh, I guess it slipped our minds?" suggested Eri.
"No shit," groaned Hojo. When he saw the girls still sitting there looking embarrassed he groaned again. "Well are you going to look or not?"
The girls dove for their packs which earned them a snort from Hojo.
"And just what the hell am I suppose to do with this?" said Ayumi in exasperation. She held up 5 darts that normally came in the cheap dart sets. "Play a relaxing game of darts while people are hunting me?"
Yuka smiled in amusement and then pulled out her weapon. It was a hatchet. "Eww," she said, "I'm not chopping anyone up!"
"Don't worry, if someone comes after us I'll just blow them up." Eri smiled victoriously and held up half a dozen hand grenades.
"Nice weapon," commented Hojo. "Just make sure you don't pull the pins out."
Eri smacked Hojo on the back of his head. "I may be a girl but I still know how to work a hand grenade."
Hojo rubbed his head and apologized. He caught Yuka staring at the grenades as if they had sprouted faces and were now talking to her. "Hey, is something wrong with her?" he asked in Eri's ear.
Yuka heard him and looked up. She grinned triumphantly. "I think I have a plan."
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Yura walked dejectedly through the woods. She saw no point in even trying to survive. After all, she thought, I got stuck with a fuckin dinner fork. She clenched said weapon in her right hand. She wanted so much to just dig it into Kazuhiko's smirk and gouge out his tongue. She was so lost in her thoughts of maiming Kazuhiko that she completely missed it when she walked into a clearing. Which was already occupied by someone else.
Mayu Kuronaga looked up when she heard someone enter her clearing. Mayu was a short, stocky girl who didn't have any friends. She had just moved to Tokyo and so didn't have any friends at Shikon High. Before Yura had disrupted her thoughts she was thinking about her idiotic mother. Her mom thought it would be better for Mayu in a big city with a better education system. Before they lived on an island not unlike the one she was now on. Figures that the high school she transferred to just had to be the one picked for the Battle Royale. But if Mayu had to compete in it she was glad it was with these classmates. These people she didn't know. She could kill them without feeling remorse.
When Yura heard someone jump to his or her feet she froze in mid-step and looked up. The new girl, Mayu, was glaring murderously at her and holding a hammer. Yura immediately dropped her bag and crouched down into what she hoped to be a fighting stance. She would prefer if she didn't have to kill anyone but she wasn't going sit back and let someone murder her. "What are you doing?" she asked tightly.
Mayu chuckled dangerously. "What does it look like bitch? I'm going to kill you. I'm gonna fuckin bash your skull in and then do the same to the next person. I'm going to kill everyone so I can go home and tell my asshole of a mother what a fucked up decision she made in moving me to Tokyo."
Yura got a firmer grip on her fork and laughed humorously. The first person she ran into just had to be a psychotic girl with parent issues. And now she was going against this girl armed with a fork. Damn my luck. A mad girl armed with a hammer versus little ole Yura armed with the good old-fashioned dinner fork. My chances look pretty damn slim.
Mayu smirked and then charged Yura. She held her hammer up high and when she reached Yura she swung it down aiming for Yura's head.
At the last possible second Yura recovered from her shock at being charged. She dodged to the right but the hammer still managed to graze her left shoulder. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground, her shoulder throbbing. From the corner of her eye she could see Mayu raise her hammer for the killing blow. Yura had a surge of anger for the girl in front of her and quickly pulled her legs to her chest and aimed a kick at Mayu's shins. She smirked when Mayu fell to the ground with a scream. Brandishing her fork Yura flipped over and crawled on her hands and knees to Mayu.
Mayu saw Yura coming and copied her move. She managed to kick the fork out of Yura's hands. When Yura cursed in anger Mayu took the opportunity to pounce on her. The two girls rolled and fought tooth and nail. When they finally came to a rest Yura had the advantage as she was on top.
Mayu, not caring that she was on the bottom, landed a punch on Yura's left eye. Yura retaliated by punching Mayu in the mouth. She screamed in agony when pieces of Mayu's teeth became lodged in her knuckles. Mayu grinned through a broken and bleeding mouth. She grabbed the sides of Yura's face and dug her nails in deep. She dragged her hands all the way down Yura's face. Her nails became full of Yura's skin and blood.
"Fuck you!" screamed Yura in pain and rage. She made a fist and slammed it down on Mayu's nose. She smiled in sadistic pleasure when she felt Mayu's nose collapse under her fist.
"I'm gonna fuckin send you to hell!" yelled Mayu before kneeing Yura in the stomach and flipping them over so she was on top. She paid no heed to her inability to breathe through her nose or the fact that blood was continuing to stream out of her mouth and onto the flailing girl beneath her. All that mattered was killing this threat to her life. Her hands enclosed on Yura's neck and began choking the life out of the girl.
Yura's good eye snapped open when she felt Mayu begin to strangle her. She looked wildly around her for a weapon. She saw her fork lying a few feet to her left. She reached out her left hand and grabbed nothing. The fork was an infuriating two inches too far. Yura strained as hard as she could. One inch…1/2 an inch…she felt her eyesight start to dim. She was losing too much oxygen. She was running out of time. She strained even harder. A little farther. She silently cheered when she felt her fingers slide over smooth metal. She enclosed her fingers upon her weapon and brought it to her side. She maneuvered it until she held it like a knife she was going to stab someone with.
Mayu paid no attention to Yura's movements. All she focused on was tightening her grip around the dying girl's neck. When she saw Yura open her mouth to try and get air she grinned triumphantly. "Die bitch," she growled.
Yura managed to smirk. "Wrong," she gasped out before plunging her fork into Mayu's right eye.
Her reaction was instantaneous. Mayu screamed in pain and jumped off of Yura, the fork still imbedded in her eye. She collapsed on the ground and cursed incoherently.
Yura leisurely stood up. "What is that you little bitch? I can't understand you," she laughed. She walked to the sobbing girl and kicked her onto her back.
Mayu stared up at the Yura, fear clouding her undamaged eye. She began gurgling on her own blood, she could no longer spit the blood out of her mouth and she couldn't breathe out of her nose. It felt like she was drowning.
Yura casually reached down and picked up Mayu's abandoned hammer. She tossed it from hand to hand while slowly getting closer to Mayu. "Sorry," she said coldly, "but it seems it's your day to die."
Mayu watched in horror as Yura brought the hammer up. I love you Mom. I'm sorry. Mayu watched the hammer come closer and closer. Her eye widened. Then she saw no more.
Yura ripped the hammer out of the now dead girl's head. With her other hand she pulled out her fork. After the fork saved her life she didn't want to part with it. When she saw an addition to her fork she slightly gagged but quickly used her hammer to push off the unwanted eye. Then grabbing both her and Mayu's bag she left the clearing.
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There, so how was my first gore scene? Hope it wasn't too bad. And hopefully I didn't turn anyone off of my story, that wasn't the intent! Well as always, please review and tell me what you think! I think next chapter we will have to check up on Kagome and Inuyasha. So look forward to it. Later.
Review Responses:
Mewie: I completely agree, in the anime Sess is always looking out for Rin so it would be like a father making out with his daughter if I made them romantically involved. Which is a little disgusting if you ask me! Hehe, already thinking of Kouga's death? Aren't you a kindhearted soul!
Tanoliko: Yup, I agree with you. Reviews that say update soon and that's it are a little disappointing to get. The least they could say is good story! And I went ice skating on Saturday. The stupid blades I got were bad so I couldn't turn fast, couldn't skate backwards, and I kept feeling like I was going to fall down. I didn't, but I was close several times!
Lady-of-the-darkness: Well the second half of this chapter was for you! I sure hope you enjoyed your first gore scene. I don't know how I did so you'll have to let me know. And I definitely say read the book. But do it after my story is complete, or else you're realize how sucky of a writer I am! : )
Raven222: Well really, after the 2nd chapter where Kazuhiko told them the rules there won't be very much plot development. The plot is pretty much kill everyone, I don't really know how to develop on that. There will be side stories with many of the characters as you have read, but that's really it. And as for the weapons each person got, well you'll just have to wait and find out! : )
Moonglow gal: Yup, you had your death free chapter only to come back and read how Mayu got massacred. Aren't I evil? And glad you agree with me on the Sess/Rin relationship. I could never read a Sess/Rin story because it would seem too sick to me.
Guardian of the Hell Gate: Yea! New Reader! I'm so glad you like it. And of course I'll be continuing. I'll be continuing until this story is complete, I'm hooked on my own story.
