The red dot blinked. Again. Again. And again. The last ten minutes had consisted of her concentrating on the lone two blinking dots in the middle of the GPS screen. There was no sign of the other person. She switched the screen from the right to the left, but she couldn't see anything other than the dots representing them.

She placed the GPS down onto the ground, and folded her knees and tucked them beneath her chin. The wind felt cool, and for this she was a little thankful, because it gave a chance for her to feel the sweat and dirt in her hair to dry.

It was hard for her to believe they'd made it this far. She wasn't particularly athletic, she wasn't good with confrontations, and she knew she would be too afraid to go against another person one on one. And yet she'd outlived the others who had every quality she didn't which were important to survival. Luck was certainly one part, but sitting here, watching the ocean with the silence of the island, it made her feel more afraid than she felt when there were many other students still alive, and it made her wonder if that luck was only false hope that lead her to believe they would survive.

Even if she did manage to go back to normal civilization, what then? Would she still go back to school, enter the tenth grade, as if nothing was wrong? Would she be able to do that? After seeing everything she had on this island, would she be able to pretend as if this was all just one bad dream?

The problems and worries she had before coming on this trip seemed so irrelevant and unimportant now. Being carefree, going shopping with friends, joking around with her sister, all the things she'd enjoyed until now, she wasn't sure if she would be able to feel the same level of happiness going back.

What about her parents? Her family? Did they know she was going on a trip like this? Did they know the government was making them kill each other? She tried to think back to the day of the trip but she couldn't remember her parents acting any different. They were still smiling. Her mother had even handed her a wrapped bento box, telling her to go and have a good time. Was that all an act? Did they just know and did nothing to save their daughter? What about her little sister who was a year younger than her, did she know too?

Why was the government making them do this? What had they done so wrong that the adults felt the need to punish them in this matter, by making them kill each other?

This wasn't the first Battle Royale. To the contrary, the government had been doing this for years. She had even been faintly aware of it, because of the news coverage it received, but she never paid much attention to it. Hundreds of kids her age had been getting killed, year after year, and she had done nothing. And now, here she was on the island. Like the others. And this time, it was she who faced possible death.

She wanted to go home. Feel the softness of her bed sheets, experience the feeling of safeness again. She wanted to go to school, go shopping, joke around with her sister. It didn't matter whether it would be the same as before or not. She would try to go back to normal life. Try. That would be all she could do.

A yell coming from the bottom of the cliff startled her from her thoughts. She quickly stood up, running over to the edge of the cliff, seeing if she could see any sign of Motobuchi. There was none. She walked farther along the cliff, but still, nothing.

"Motobuchi." She whispered, but the waves crashing against the cliff muffled her voice. Cupping her mouth, she repeated his name in a slightly louder voice.

Had he fallen in? Maybe he had edged too close to the waves and had gotten carried away? What was she going to do? She rushed back to the camouflage bag they had been carrying and emptied out the contents but there was nothing. Two bottles of water, some stale bread, a map, a cookie cutter, the textbook…nothing she could use. Throwing down the contents in frustration, she went back to the cliff, trying to see if the extra few minutes that passed had been enough for Motobuchi to regain his composure and climb back up to reassure her he was okay.

But there was only silence. She called out his name a few more times, but he didn't reply. Walking back and forth along the edge, she tried to look over the sharp angle to see below. She couldn't see anything more than a few meters ahead. Not enough to see Motobuchi, wherever he was. Feeling panic rising, the possibilities of what might have happened to Motobuchi ran through her mind.

Perhaps he had slipped and fallen into the water? Perhaps he had just scratched his hand on a rock and he was really all right, but he couldn't hear her calling out to him so he didn't reply? Perhaps he had already drowned during the time she was panicking about what to do?

And then it hit her. The GPS. It kept a track of all the people on the island, but it didn't keep track of anyone who died. Because she had seen the GPS in full view before and only a few dots remained. Of course. Going back, she clutched the GPS in her hand, and taking a deep breath, centered in on the area she was in right now, close enough to see the blinking dots.

He was still here. But this time, the GPS screen showed not two, but three dots.

A small object swished past her head. She turned, and the GPS clattered to the floor and her skin lost its color.

He had told her. To keep her attention on the GPS.

"…Kiriyama…?"

The student had his handgun leveled to her heart. She didn't have time to react before he fired. One, two, three shots. She crumpled to the ground, her hair covering her face. Her chest felt as if it were on fire, but she was still alive. The bullet proof gun had saved her, but he was going to notice something wasn't right when no blood showed through. Through her stray hair, she watched him bend down beside her, and pick something up.

The GPS.

He was going to know Motobuchi was here. She grabbed his leg, and the GPS flew out of his hand in surprise, going over the edge of the cliff. She clutched her head, bracing herself for the bullet that wouldn't miss killing her this time. But there was none. She opened one eye, and slowly looked up.

Kiriyama had drawn his gun back to the hook on his belt.

He grabbed the back of her shirt, forcing her to stand up. What was he doing? He couldn't….her question was answered when he pushed her over the cliff. The wind bit her ears as she fell, and she couldn't take a deep breath before hitting the water. The cold liquid was a shock to her senses, and she choked, struggling to stay afloat. Her clothes were dragging her under. She took off her jacket, letting it float away in the current, and tried to swim towards the cliff.

Her swimming became even more frantic when she heard the distinct sounds of bullets flying over her head, piercing the waters behind her. The bullet proof vest wasn't going to save her when he was aiming for her head. The current was going to push her under for the second time when she felt rough hands grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her in.

Her knees hit the ground with a thud. She coughed, the water she had been forced to swallow when she had fallen in coming up in small spurts. She clutched her chest. It was still burning from the gun shots earlier. The bullets had now subsided, and they were alone.

"Where…are we…?"

"A cave probably." Motobuchi answered, "I found it when I slipped on the rocks."

Her heart was slowly returning to normal, and she felt slightly calmer. Surveying her surroundings, she looked up at him questioningly.

"No boats, I know." He said bitterly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I…heard you yell out when you fell and I thought something had happened to you. I was trying to find a way to find you and I..."
"It's okay, it was my fault for not letting you know I wasn't hurt." He noticed her holding a hand to her heart. "Did you get hit?"

"Yes…but I'll be fine." She shivered slightly. When she had fallen into the waters, her panic had erased any feeling of coldness she would have otherwise felt a few seconds in. But now, with the waves hitting the rocks, spraying her with cold water, and the wind making its way into the fabric of her shirt and skirt, she was freezing.

He took off his jacket, and handed her the clothing. "Take your shirt off and wear this instead. It's better if you keep the bulletproof vest on even though it's wet. You'll probably still be a bit cold, but at least this'll keep you a bit warm."

"But what about—"

"I'm going to go search a bit deeper to see where it leads to." He cut her off, facing his back to her and venturing in to the darkness.

Motobuchi touched the rough wall, feeling for the rocks as he ventured a few steps in. He found only darkness. It really was a cave. The only exit was the one they were standing in now. If Kiriyama caught up to them here, they had no chance. He had a machine gun, and what did they have between the two of them? One soaked bullet proof vest. The rest of their items had been left at the top of the cliff. No food, no water, not even the useless cookie cutter. Now, he would have been grateful to even have that.

He came back to where Satomi was standing. She had changed into his jacket, and she was wringing the excess water from her shirt.

"We have to get out of here."

"Why? Kiriyama must have thought he killed me, because he stopped shooting."

She folded up the shirt and tucked it into a pocket in her skirt. It would dry quickly once they'd reach land, and just as soon she could give him back his jacket. Even though he had not let her ask the question, she knew he was just as cold as she was. He had gotten soaked saving her.

He shook his head at her suggestion. It wouldn't be that easy. Kiriyama, although he hardly ever showed up to class, was an elite who he could never beat in studies. The guys he hung out with weren't bright, but there was something different about him. There was an unnatural gleam in his eyes he always found threatening. No, Kiriyama wouldn't just assume he had killed Satomi. He would come down to find proof.

There was a reason why Kiriyama had made it this far, and it wasn't because of luck.