-----H7
Akamatsu had never really considered luck to be one of his defining qualities.
It was something like true friends... it tended to elude him. Sure, there were people who were happy enough to talk to him, and occasionally stick up for him in a fight, but there was often little more to it than just that. It was more like acquaintances. Yukie Utsumi was no exception to this rule.
The girl seemed to be a really popular member of class, and people certainly had a lot of respect for her. Akamatsu didn't really tend to, as he never really saw the point in respect. In a few years, they would all leave school, and he'd most likely never see any of them again, not that it bothered him much. He was almost glad for that fact, somehow alluding himself that it would all be better after school. He just had to get through the next few years... and then... it would all be OK.
So it had come as quite a shock when Utsumi had caught up with him as he travelled south.
He was walking through a built up area, just down some faceless street of houses with fairly large gardens. In a way, it was almost fun. A whole island to themselves. It was like one huge big RPG, and it was real life. But exiting wasn't enough to cushion the blow that the whole was going to get him killed.
They'll come for you first... they always go for you, you're an easy target! You think they'll be nice now? Time to play nice?
They'll kill you first!
The sound that came from behind him caused him to whirl around.
There, just down the road from him stood Utsumi, waving at him. Yukie Utsumi, female class representative. Yukie Utsumi, always with a group of friends... so popular. She's a winner Yoshio...
They'll come for you
"Hey!" she called out, waving. "It's me, Yukie!"
"No!" Akamatsu screamed, raising the crossbow. It's only a game...
But he couldn't do it. To scared... too scared...
Turning again, he fled away from her, running around a corner into a side alley. He gazed around in panic. The walls of the two buildings rose to his sides, and at the back of the alley stood a pile of various bins piled with rubbish that would never be collected. It was a dead end. Trapped... Oh no! It was a trap! There arn't supposed to be any traps on level 1! Level 1 is supposed to be easy!
"Akamatsu? I won't hurt you!" came Utsumi's shrill voice, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps.
Akmatsu turned to face the entrance to the small and dark alley, his crossbow raised. His finger shook over the trigger... so dangerously close to firing as he slowly backed away into the darkness, trembling and whimpering in fear.
"Aakmatsu?"
Then, a terrible sound came crashing through the echoing alley. It sounded loudly across the area they were in, loud and shrill, yet short lived...
Totally unmistakable. A gunshot. What was worse, was that it was followed by a shriek. Akamatsu gasped.
There was silence. He listened out, his finger still shaking on the trigger. Too much noise... you're making too much noise... they'll hear and come for you!
Only silence.
They'll come for you...
Though he was utterly terrified, Akamatsu called out in a wavering voice "Utsumi? Are you there?"
He regretted it at once. She would come now... she'd fired, she must have a gun... You're going to be killed by a girl!
"No..." Akamatsu whimpered, the darkness closing in... "No..."
Then, a footstep. Close.
And another.
And another.
Akamatsu's eyes widened in fear, leaking warm tears that poured down his face. Someone was outside... right outside.
Suddenly, the light at the end of the entrance to the alley was intruded, as a figure appeared there. Akamatsu bit on his lip...
Oda...
----- H6.
"Mitsuko?"
"Don't talk."
Mitsuko grinned. Yoji was fine bait. Sitting in the classroom, she had written the names of her classmates lazily, not really caring for the order. Simply who came to mind. Yes, she had felt no remorse. Why bother with it? Her life was threatened, and she wasn't going to let anything take it away from her. Not anymore, it was her life after all, and she was just starting to have fun. No more letting other people fuck her over.
She owed the world some hefty revenge. It was her turn to take.When in the classroom, she had been so ready to start pumping lead.
But as she emerged, she had found Kayoko's body there already. People had already started killing. Many more could be dead. For all she knew, half the class could be gone by 6am. It might be a big leap of faith, but with the freaks in her class, she wouldn't put it past them.
That's when she realised that maybe she should hold out for a while. Go somewhere cosy, and have a bit of fun while she was at it. If people really were killing, let them fight amongst themselves. She didn't want to put herself in danger of course... and when there were but a few remaining, she would emerge. She'd only have to take a few out. Kazuo... Kiriyama... Mimura... hell, even Takako. There was some serious competition out there, but she could take them. Especially after they'd gone through the fighting themselves. Yes, she'd sit the first round out.
And while she was at it, she might as well have some fun. Hell, Yoji might even come in useful somehow, though Mitsuko doubted it. The mere fact that she was totally in control was enough to make her not need to kill him. She liked being in control. She simply wouldn't have it any other way.
----- H7
Vulgar.
The overweight kid shaking out of fear in an alley way of trash. Oda smirked. How terribly disgusting.
"Yoshio?" he asked in his posh, correctly pronounced and yet somehow still repulsive voice.
"Where's Utsumi?" Shrieked the larger boy, the crossbow shaking in his hands.
Oda raised an eyebrow... Do bullet proof vests really protect against bolts? It would be wise not to risk it... befriend the heathen... temporarily...
"There's no need to wave that obscene contraption around" he snarled. "Unless your intention is murder."
"Where is she!" cried Akamatsu, his face rendering itself in anger. It seemed the wimp was getting a little headstrong. "Where is she!"
Oda sighed. It was utterly pointless. The oaf is clearly unstable...
Shoot... to win? Of course we shall. Who can really expect Toshinori Oda to stand aside and let delinquent scum win such a game? The trash of the poverty line... the faeces of the factories. No, none of these kids would do. Yes... there were those with class like Oda... Kiriyama for example, but he simply couldn't win. No, such a distant person, acting as if nothing mattered, as if the rise of the masses was insignificant! Those like... like the repulsive Shuuya Nanahara and his crones, they want power. They crave it and he ignores them. He even exposes himself to the likes of Sasagawa, Kuronaga and Numai. Rotten children! He simplycannot win. And then there is Motobuchi, is there not? A whimpering idiot. I don't expect such a boy could possibly survive the very beginning of the game. He is not worthy.
But Toshinori Oda is. They shall all see of course... like that Utsumi girl. How very vulgar she was...
Raising the gun he had managed to snatch from Utsumi before turning it on her, Oda's face croaked into a grin.
They'll come for you...
"No!" Akamatsu cried, firing on reflex. You have to fight before they attack you! Then jump!
The bolt flew through the air obviously a lot quicker than Oda had been expecting, and he had also underestimated Akamatsu's aim, thinking all those electronic games were just simplistic recreation for the mentally insufficient. It appeared he was rather unfortunately mistaken.
The bolt hit Oda in the left of his forehead with enough force to piece the hard bone of his skull. At the same time, Akamatsu jumped into the air. However, his foot slipped on a nearby carton or some fruit juice of other that was leaking a slimy and slippery concoction that sent Akamatsu to the ground. As he landed, the gun fired. It all happened so fast...
The air cleared, and the silence began to settle in. Akamatsu realised that from his crouched position in the alley, he had raised his hands to cover his ears.
Slowly, he removed them, and gazed up at the back wall with childish innocence, gaping at the bullet hole. If he had not tripped, he would probably have been in it's path when it impacted. So close to death...
He turned his head.
There, in the entrance to the alley lay the body of Toshinori Oda, his once ugly face now even worse for wear, the skull cracked open by the bolt at the top. Akmatsu whimpered. "No... I..."
Passed level 1...
Akmatsu stared in disbelief. They did come for me first... I was right...
But I'm still alive...
He reached out a trembling hand to the crossbow. You're on level 2 now... you can't quit the game... you already played...
You already killed...
He staggered out of the alley, trying to do so while staying as far away from the body as possible, save for a moment where he reached out a trembling hand to get the gun, a high pitched whine escaping his thick lips.
Just down the street, he could spot the lifeless body of Yukie Utsumi... she... would have tried to shoot me too... it's just like a game...
With the gun under his belt, he slunk of into the night, shivering, terrified and alone.
But he was used to it.
----- H5
Yukiko and Yumiko slowly ascended the steps of the shrine. Yumiko kept a makeshift watch, keeping an eye out for anything that looked suspicious, though they both knew that if someone was hiding close by, they were unlikely to detect them.
The shrine itself was old and practically in ruins. Yukiko would have been enchanted with the dark romanticism of it, had they visited in a better circumstance.
"Yoji?" she called weakly, her voice echoing of the crumbling stone walls. There was no response, apart from a few bird cries, and about a dozen crows taking flight from the various hiding places in the walls.
Yumiko sighed. "We probably arn't going to find him tonight... we should get some rest."
Yukiko swung round. "But, we can't give up!"
"Tactics Yukiko," Yumiko said in a lecturing tone. "If we stay up all night, we probably won't find him and we'll be too tired tomorrow when the island is swarming with people. If we get rest, we'll stand a better chance."
Yukiko, glanced around for a while in desperation, almost in hope that some piece of evidence she could use against this argument would present itself, however, it did not. "OK..." she whispered.
Yumiko smiled and nodded. "I feel bad about it too..." she said as she removed a water bottle from her bag. "Oh..." she said in surprise.
Yukiko walked over. "What's the matter?"
"I've got grenades... we forgot to check for weapons!"
Yukiko gasped. "We... did..." She wasn't too keen to find out what hers was. She didn't want anything bad, but didn't really want anything good either. Gritting her teeth, she drew back the zip of the bag.
Inside was a dart kit with darts. Not even proper ones... it was just a kid's toy set. She withdrew it, and handed it to Yumiko, who sighed, and placed it on the floor.
"Well," she began, looking at her grenades, "at least we have something to defend ourselves if we need to..."
Yukiko shook her head. "I won't touch them."
Yumiko smiled, and then chuckled. "The world needs more people like you Yukiko..."
Yukiko shrugged. "And more people like..."
Her voice trailed away as Yumiko raised a finger to her lips. Such a gesture frightened the life out of Yukiko... Yumiko wouldn't never do something like that unless it was important, especially in such an important situation. She must have heard something. Stealthily, Yumiko crept back to near the entrance, coming back only a few seconds later.
"We've got company."
"Who?" Yukiko asked, her eyes wide with panic.
"Yoji..."
Yukiko clasped her hands together. "Oh, that's wonderful..." but as she started to walk towards the door, Yumiko held out an arm to stop her.
"Mitsuko too... she's got him at knife edge..."
Yukiko gasped. "Hardcore Souma? Oh no… what do we do?"
Yumiko looked around frantically. There were the grenades... and that was all they had to use... What do we do indeed...
Yoji gulped carefully, still aware of the blade around his neck. The shrine up ahead seemed like a potent location... and end to the journey. Yoji really didn't want to know what happened next... What the hell can I do?
Mitsuko smiled. Yoji was almost on the verge of panic. She loved it when they squirmed under her control. Oh Mitsuko... so many possibilities, what will you do now
She chuckled. "Keep going Yoji... good boy..."
Yumiko bent down and grabbed one of the grenades.
"What are you doing?" hissed Yukiko. "Yumiko... no! You arn't going to..."
Yumiko shook her head. "Course not that! But we have to do something!"
She slid the pin out of the grenade...