Surprise! I'm finally back with the next chapter. I'm really sorry for taking so long to update, I really don't have any excuses so I shall not give any. Just please find it in your heart of forgive me and continue reading. Please?
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The Reluctant GladiatorsChapter 15: A Deadly Mistake
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September 24: 5:00 AM
20 Students Remain
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Two young teens silently wandered through the forest around them. Their shoulders were slumped in exhaustion, or perhaps simply defeat. There had been not a trace of another student in hours now. The only sounds they heard were the chirping of crickets.
The game had been going for almost 12 hours now. And in that span of time they had not a single glance of a friendly student. Or more importantly, not a single glance of the two friends they so desperately wanted to come across.
Even though neither would voice the thought, one fear was constantly nagging in the back of their heads. Were their friends alive? Were they safe?
One teen's hand slowly clenched up. Without even realizing it, the hand began shaking. Not in anger, but in fear. Pure, unadulterateded fear. The image of a sweet girl had surfaced in his mind. In the image the girl's eyes were lifeless, her mouth open in a scream that would never be heard. Blood pooled around her head. A dagger was fully imbedded between her eyes.
Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly and stumbled to his knees. The sudden movement jarred his injured arm and he gasped in pain. Pressing his free hand against his injured shoulder he slowly began rocking back and forth. The image would not leave his mind. Kagome, sweet, beautiful Kagome, was dead.
Miroku worriedly knelt by his friend's side. Shock was plainly written in his eyes when he saw tears slowly winding their way down Inuyasha's face. Never before had he seen his friend cry. His hands move to gently remove the hand grasping the injured shoulder. He couldn't see any blood through the bandaging and sighed in relief.
"Inuyasha, what's wrong? Does your shoulder hurt?" he asked anxiously, he couldn't think of anything else that would bring Inuyasha to tears besides his shoulder.
Inuyasha continued staring at the ground. Once freed, his uninjured hand began shaking again. The image haunted him, followed him, laughed at him. "Why?" he asked shakily. "Why won't you get out of my HEAD!"
Jumping back in surprise at the angry outburst Miroku stared at his friend. Taking note of the shaking hand Miroku reached out and grasped Inuyasha's uninjured shoulder, successfully bringing his friend's attention to himself. "Inuyasha, what's wrong? What's in your head?" Miroku was once again shocked to find himself on the receiving end of the most fearful look Inuyasha had ever shown.
"Ka-Kagome," he stuttered out. "She's…dead."
Miroku's heart clenched up when he heard how much conviction was in Inuyasha's voice. It almost sounded like Inuyasha had seen it with his own eyes. But that was impossible. His friend was no psychic; the stress had to be getting to him. There was no way Inuyasha would know something like that.
When Inuyasha's eyes went back to staring at the ground Miroku gave his shoulder a firm shake. "She's not dead Inuyasha. You're just scared for her so you're thinking of the worse case scenario. But both she and Sango are alive."
Inuyasha's eyes closed in exhaustion and he slumped forward. Reacting quickly Miroku caught his friend in his arms.
His forehead resting against Miroku's shoulder Inuyasha spoke softly. "How do you know? How do you know we aren't searching for what is no longer there? The image was so real, so lifelike."
"They're strong. They won't die. You were injured Inuyasha, it only makes sense that you're now more frightened for them. That, and you're clearly exhausted. Let's rest here for a bit."
Miroku maneuvered his friend until he was leaning back against a tree. "Now rest," he demanded, not about to let Inuyasha weasel his way out of it this time.
Inuyasha struggled for a few seconds but gave up when Miroku kept him from standing back up. "We have to find…" he said, not seeming to be aware that a few moments ago he was saying Kagome was dead.
"In an hour," interrupted Miroku. "In an hour the next announcement will come. We'll prove to ourselves that Kagome and Sango are still alive. Then we'll continue our search."
Inuyasha slumped back against the tree in defeat. "Fine, you win. But in an hour we're leaving."
"Of course," answer Miroku before finding his own tree to lean against. Both friends drifted off into silence. Not a word was spoken between the two but their thoughts were surprisingly similar.
Both were completely dreading an hour from now when the announcement saying who had died in the previous six hours. They both knew that if two names were included on that list their worlds would fall apart.
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Eri reached out and tentatively nudged the sleeping Ayumi's shoulder. When the girl made signs of waking Eri quickly wrung her hands together nervously.
Ayumi's eyelids lazily fluttered open. At the sight of her terrified friend she immediately shot off the bed, all signs of tiredness completely erased from her body. "What's wrong?" she hissed nervously. "Is someone out there?"
Eri stiffly shook her head. "No, we're safe."
Ayumi grabbed both of Eri's shoulders. "Then what?" she asked urgently. "Eri, what's wrong?"
"I'm scared Ayumi," answered Eri truthfully. "It's 5 AM and there has still been no trace of Yuka or Hojo. They shouldn't have taken this long!"
Releasing Eri's shoulders Ayumi reached down and grabbed one of her friend's hands. She gently tugged the girl out of the bedroom and to the front room where one of them had been keeping watch since Yuka and Hojo had left. "Eri, have you heard any explosions? Anything that might have sounded like a grenade going off?"
Eri chewed her lower lip but then shook her head.
"Then they're still alive," soothed Ayumi, turning to look out the window. "The store probably didn't have what Yuka wanted so she's having to improvise. But they're still alive."
"What if someone snuck up on them?" asked Eri fearfully. "Then they wouldn't have been able to use the grenade to warn us!"
Ayumi wrapped one arm behind Eri's shoulders, the other wrapped in front of Eri's shoulders, to embrace her friend in a comforting shield. "Eri, don't think like that. Yuka and Hojo are smart; they wouldn't let someone sneak up on them. They'll be here soon, just wait. They'll come back."
When the frightened girl relaxed slightly Ayumi let out a soft sigh. It was so hard. So hard being the strong one. Especially when the same thoughts Eri was having were rushing through her mind as well. But she had to squelch them to be strong for her friend.
Ayumi tightened her embrace around Eri while resting her head on Eri's shoulder. Please Yuki, Hojo, come back soon. Eri and myself are not the strong ones. You two are. We need you.
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Shippo wearily continued walking. He was now in F5. He wanted nothing to more than to plop down and sleep for the next day. But he had vowed to himself he wouldn't stop until he found Kagome or death claimed him. So he had kept going even through his extreme exhaustion.
Brushing his sweaty hair away from his eyes he cursed in annoyance when the hair immediately fell back into place. "Yeah, smart one Shippo. 'Let's grow my hair out long! That would be cool!' Fucking moron," he grumbled under his breath.
He eyed the knife he was holding loosely in his other hand. He thought about chopping off his hair for a few seconds. At least that would solve the problem of constantly having to peer through a small shield of bright orange hair all the time. At the moment he was also cursing his choice of hair color.
"Yeah, another smart move idiot. Let's dye my hair bright orange! I may as well have a giant flashing sign that says "SHOOT ME!" Me and my dumbass ideas."
Shippo was so enthralled in griping about his stupid ideas he completely missed it when he stumbled into a small clearing. However, his thoughts went back to the situation at hand when a soft shriek broke through the silence of the early morning.
Shippo jumped about five feet in the air when he heard a girl shout in surprise. "Ah! Fuck!" he shouted in confusion. "I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" He covered his eyes with his hands, all previous thoughts forgotten as he fully expected to be killed.
Kagome eyed Shippo with a wry grin on her face before she lowered the arrow she had pointed at the intruder. She had woken to Sango's surprised shout and had immediately grabbed her bow while quickly notching an arrow. When Shippo continued shaking in front of her she spoke up to ease his tension. "Shippo? We're not going to kill you. You can calm down now if you'd like."
Immediately recognizing the soothing voice Shippo lowered his hands. He stared unblinking at the girl in front of him for several long seconds. "Ka-Kagome?" he asked, almost as if he was speaking to an apparition that would vanish in an instant.
"Yeah, it's me Shippo," said Kagome with a small smile.
Before he even realized what he was doing Shippo flung the knife to the ground and rushed to Kagome, throwing his arms around her in a great, crushing hug of relief. "Oh thank god. Thank god I've found you. I've been looking for you," said Shippo, his voice full of relief.
Kagome hugged her childhood friend back then withdrew from his arms. "Looking for me?" she asked, confusion in her voice. "Why Shippo? Why would you be looking for me?"
"Yeah, why not just hole somewhere safe?" asked Sango.
Shippo rubbed the nape of his neck nervously. He was suddenly unsure of what to tell the two girls. What if they didn't trust him? What if they told him to go away? He wouldn't be able to handle it if they pushed him away. Then he truly would be dead. "I uh, was worried about you Kagome," he stammered, staring at his feet. "And I wanted to repay you for saving me." May as well go with the truth was Shippo's thoughts, especially since he was very possibly staring death in the face.
Sango looked from Kagome to Shippo, confusion plainly etched in her eyes. "What's he talking about Kag? When did you save him?" She was slightly taken aback at the sight of Kagome's eyes glistening with unshed tears. Obviously these two shared a past, but when? And what happened between them to cause Shippo to search for her best friend?
Without warning Kagome flung herself into Shippo's arms. Recovering from his slight shock he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Oh Shippo, how could you ever think you had to repay me?" asked Kagome, her voice thick with tears. "And here I thought you had forgotten about me."
"Forget? Kagome, how could I forget you? You saved me from that monster. I would never even be able to thank you enough for that. I could never forget you."
Kagome pulled herself out of Shippo's arms and proceeded to hit his chest with her small fists. "You big jerk," she sniffled. "Then how come you seemed to avoid me this year? It was like we never even knew each other!"
"I…I thought you were happy with your new friends," replied Shippo softly, now feeling foolish. "I didn't want to intrude upon your happiness."
"Um, guys?" asked Sango. "Mind filling me in on what's going on?"
Kagome grinned and grasped Shippo's hand. "Sango, I'd like you to meet Shippo. My early childhood friend. Who is a big idiot for thinking I wouldn't want to talk to him anymore."
Shippo blushed in embarrassment and smiled shyly at Sango. "Well, no one ever accused me of being a genius," he replied, earning a laugh from both of the girls.
Sango smiled at the newest addition to the group. Although she could still sense there was some deeper story between Kagome and Shippo besides just being childhood friends, but she wasn't one to pry. If they wanted to share they would. If it was something personal Sango wouldn't pest them for the story. The important thing was that she and Kagome had another ally. Quickly turning business-like Sango nodded her head towards Shippo's forgotten knife. "I'm guessing that's your weapon?"
Leaving go of Kagome's hand Shippo bent down o retrieve his knife. Twirling the handle between his fingers he sighed. "Yeah, this is what I got. Pretty worthless if you ask me. Did you guys fare any better?"
Kagome grinned mischievously. "Well, if you hadn't of covered your eyes with your hands you would have seen myself with a bow and arrow. Sango has rope and a boomerang."
Raising an eyebrow curiously Shippo glanced to Sango. "You got two weapons? Didn't think that would happen…"
Unconsciously Sango clenched one fist. "I…I was only given the rope."
"But the boomerang? Did you find it?"
Before the conversation could go any further Kagome spoke up. "It's a long story Shippo. One that's better off not being told."
Looking from Kagome to Sango, who was staring emotionlessly at the ground, Shippo understood. Shit, if I could have found them sooner perhaps I could have prevented it. Fuck you Kazuhiko, forcing Sango to kill someone. You'll fucking rot in hell.
Shippo sent Sango a comforting smile, which she wasn't aware of. "Well, that's good enough for me," he said nonchalantly, as if he was completely unaware of what Sango had done. Not that he blamed her of course. He sensed that it would had to have been a severe situation to force either of the girls to kill someone. Setting his jaw in a firm line he looked from Kagome to Sango, protectiveness shining in his eyes. The only way they would be injured or forced to kill again would be over his dead body.
Completely unknown to Shippo was how utterly true that single thought would become.
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Following about ten feet behind his friend, Hakkaku let out a tired sigh. If there was one thing you could never call Kouga that would be lazy. They had each taken an hour long nap at the doctor's office while the other had kept watch. Hakkaku had woken up barely five minutes ago and was still in the process of waking up.
Hakkaku dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, attempting to erase the tiredness from his body. It was hard deciding each person would only sleep for an hour. But they didn't want to risk the person who was keeping watch accidentally falling asleep. So they had decided that an hour was the max that either of them could force themselves to stay awake for. And even that had been hard. During his watch Hakkaku lost count of the number of times he pinched or even slapped himself to stay awake. It was with great relief when he saw his hour was up and he could wake his sleeping friend.
Letting out a jaw-cracking yawn Hakkaku realized that he was falling even farther his friend. With a barely audible groan his sped up until he was once again ten feet behind Kouga.
"Can't you find it in your heart to slow down just a little bit?" grumbled Hakkaku, adjusting his pack's strap until it rested more comfortably on his shoulder.
Kouga slowed down a minute amount in response to Hakkaku's complaint. "Sorry, when I'm tired I tend to walk faster to try and keep myself awake," he apologized, glancing over his shoulder at his exhausted friend. He also tightened his grip on his butcher knife. And the faster we go the faster we can find that bitch and kill her.
"Freak," mumbled Hakkaku before once again the two friends drifted off into silence. A few minutes later found Hakkaku once again lagging further and further behind Kouga.
A silent 30 minutes passed in this way. Kouga leading while Hakkaku kept anywhere from 10 to 40 feet behind him. They were once again in the woods and slowly but steadily heading northwest. It was a pure guessing game for where Kagura might be headed. In fact, both friends fully realized their chances of actually finding her were slim to none. But that wouldn't stop them from searching.
Kouga abruptly stopped walking when he caught a glimpse of movement from in front of him. Peering intently through the tress he saw a skirt. A girl was ahead. A lone girl. Swiftly, yet silently, sliding his pack to the ground Kouga crouched down and brought the butcher knife up in front of him.
Hakkaku stopped rubbing his eyes and reopened them to discover Kouga looking as if he were about to attack someone. Kagura, we've found her! He quickened his pace but not enough to make an excessive amount of noise.
Kouga stealthily crept closer to the female. All he could make out was her figure in the darkness of the early morning. Trying to determine if it was actually Kagura, Kouga paused for a second to see if she would move.
Once Hakkaku got within 15 feet of his friend he stopped moving. Craning his neck he was able to clearly see the girl.
Kouga waited patiently for the girl to move and reveal herself as Kagura. He didn't have to wait long.
"Ginta…" breathed the girl softly.
Kouga's eyes hardened with hate. The bitch was daring to brag about her kill!
Hakkaku watched breathless as his friend lunged at the unsuspecting girl, knife poised dangerously in the air. Then his eyes snapped back to the girl.
Red hair…"FUCK!" shouted Hakkaku, breaking the deathly silence of the morning. The next second he was running full speed at his friend. "KOUGA! NO!" he screamed, praying he wasn't too late.
Kouga broke through the bushes blocking him from his prey. With one solid thrust he drove the knife into her back. When he felt the warm, thick, liquid of death running down his hand his head was cleared of all rage. He smirked down at the bitch who had dared to think she would get away with Ginta's murder.
The pained and frightened eyes of Ayame stared back at him before she stumbled forward and fell to the ground, the knife still protruding from her back.
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Rubs hands evilly together. That was rather fun if I say so myself. An innocent stabbing, did anyone else like that? Heh, well, I should hopefully be able to get the next chapter out in 2 weeks. Mainly because I'm flying to Japan tomorrow and so will have a shitload of time to write. Be there for 2 weeks and then fly back home. So with luck end of May, early June, will see the next chapter to this.
