----- H4

"I... I swear I saw her!" Yoji pleaded, his eyes jumping from Yukiko to Kazushi and back again. "I..."
Yukiko stood up decisively. "We have to find her."

She said it with such confidence and urgency, that Yoji was beginning to think Yukiko had changed with alarming speed already. What would she be like in a day or two? But she was still shaking a bit, evidentially still her normal scared little self.

"I'll... come too." Yoji said meekly. Yukiko looked down at him, and he quickly added "unless you don't want me around... anymore..."
"It's OK." she said. "I don't hate you. We just need to find her, and hope she's still OK." she replied, casting a quick glance around.
"What weapons have you got then?" Kazushi asked slyly.
Yoji reached his hand behind his back, and removed the gun from his belt. Kazushi's eyes lit up. "Whoa... nice one!"
"It isn't nice." Yoji replied coldly, the image of Mitsuko flashing before his eyes.

Yoji stood up too, and Yukiko turned to face Kazushi. She didn't like him, and in any other situation, she'd want him to go away and leave her the hell alone. But she had already made her choice. Mitsuko might have proven that there would be people out there playing, but Yukiko wasn't going to let that deter her. If she did, Mitsuko would still have won.

"Are you going to come too Kazushi?" she asked, attempting to smile.
Kazushi stared at her for a moment.

What the hell? She doesn't mean it! Oh, darling sweet Yukiko, how polite to evil nasty Kazushi she is! Bitch!

"No thanks." he replied coldly, his lips slightly apart, displaying a glimpse of his clenched teeth.

Yukiko glanced at Yoji in confusion. He was staring at Kazushi with much the same expression. "But Kazushi? We're safer in groups!"

Evidentially not... Kazushi thought. How come those two thought Yumiko was dead? Now they're in a hurry to find her? What, so they can finish what they thought they'd already done!

Kazushi rose up slowly and shook his head. "I'd only slow you guys down or whatever."
"You're faster than me on track!"
Kazushi shook his head once more. "No, I've made up my mind."
Yoji glared defiantly. "What the hell is this Kazushi?"
"Oh Yoji!" Kazushi groaned. "Just let it be, OK?"
"The #$?" Yoji screamed. "You seriously have to be kidding me Kazushi! I'm your best friend for #$'s sake!"

Kazushi rolled his eyes. Great, a mood swing, just on time, that's just fantastic Yoji...
Simply muttering to himself, Kazushi turned and ran at full speed away from the enraged Yoji and Yukiko, who had taken a step back from the pair of them.

"Kazushi!" Yoji cried after him. "Get the hell back here! You can't leave me, not now! Kazushi?"

----- G6

Niida ran angrily through the undergrowth, slashing with his fists at branches that got in his way. That little #$... him and Yukiko were probably #$ too...

Eventually, Kazushi began to tire from the sprint, and collapsed on some grass, panting heavily. His whole body was aching over, but he didn't care. Kazushi had always considered that pain was there to overcome, not to make a fuss about. You just have to get on with it...

He reached inside his bag to retrieve some water to sooth his throat, but stopped when his class list caught his eye. He reached in and fished it out, before taking the pen, and drawing a solid line directly through Yoji's name. You're already dead to me...

"How far can you swim Yoji?"
"Further than you!" Yoji replied, before giggling. He had a high pitched giggle even for an 11 year old. It was the summer before they would first go high school, and a trip to the beach had seemed to Kazushi's mother to be an excellent way to get her son to calm down about it. She'd invited his friend around too, that funny looking kid called Yoji.
"I'll race you!" Yoji threatened, obviously taking this very seriously.
"Where to?" Kazushi inquired apprehensively.
"See them rocks?" Yoji asked, pointing out over the misty see. There was a cluster of rocks visible a couple of hundred meters out. Kazushi screwed up his face.
"I'm not sure..."
"Are you a chicken?" Yoji teased, making a clucking sound and flapping his arms.
Kazushi turned to stare up the beach, where his mother was lying on a towel, reading some trashy romance novel and looking thoroughly bored. She didn't seem to be playing the boys the slightest bit of attention.
"I'm no chicken!" he replied angrily, and because Yoji's expression didn't change, he added "OK, fine!" reluctantly.

Kazushi raised a sleeve and wiped his eye. Damn, I'm sweating from that stupid run...

It was highly unlike Kazushi Niida to ever admit even to himself that he was crying. Even one single tear required a whole series of excuses. It was definitely too hot on the island. And Kazushi was still wearing his blazer. Plus, Yoji had been acting like a dick and pissed him off. Yep, it was just sweat.

Kazushi stuffed the class list back into his bag with fury he himself wasn't totally conscious of, and removed the bottle of water he had drunk from earlier. He unscrewed the lid and tipped it back, letting his mouth fill with water...

His mouth began to fill with water as he waved his arms frantically. Kazushi was a terrible swimmer, but he hated it when someone went on about something he was bad at, so he could hardly pass up Yoji's challenge. He'd never have lived it down. He just hoped Yoji would be a bad swimmer.

It was a good thing for Kazushi that Yoji was in fact, a very good swimmer. As they had neared the rocks, Kazushi had begun to loose control and sink beneath the waves. Yoji had been able to grab hold of him around the waist, and somehow swim both of them to the rocks, where Kazushi clambered up, coughing up water.

"Dude, you should have just said no..." Yoji said, panting as he clambered up to sit next to Kazushi.
Kazushi was about to look up and make some come back, when a wave broke against the rocks.

Water splashed heavily against the two boys, and Kazushi shook his head angrily, shaking the water off. Yoji just sat there, staring at him and grinning. Kazushi couldn't help but crack a smile too. "You are such a dork Yoji!"
Yoji laughed contagiously. "Coming from you?"
Kazushi couldn't help but smile at that. The both of them were so ridiculous in their own way. It was something that had always isolated them from everyone else at elementary school, but Kazushi enjoyed having a best friend.

"We make a good pair of dorks!" he joked.
Yoji raised his hand to his ear, struggling to hear over the sound of the sea. "Pardon?"
"I said," Kazushi called, "we make a good pair"

"Not anymore..." Kazushi hissed under his breath. When they had got to high school, everything had changed. And since meeting Yoji in the forest, he'd realised that Yoji was now an entirely different person. "Looks like you've got better things to do. And... and so do I..."

You're out there somewhere Takako. Kazushi grinned. He didn't need Yoji. No, everything was great now. He was much better by himself.

----- C4

Kazuhiko Yamamoto was sitting in the north shrine, shaking his head sadly. I'm such a fool...

Sakura was now dead. She was dead, and he hadn't even properly got to say goodbye. Just that last lingering stare as she left the classroom, and he gripped in his hands the letter she had dropped for him.

Meet me at the shrine. I will always love you.
Saki xxx

But Sakura had never turned up. The gentle wind that blew in through the Shrine's entrance was the only visitor. It was so peaceful and tranquil, that Kazuhiko could easily see why someone had chosen it as a place for a shrine.

He sniffed, and reached up his hand to wipe away his tearful eyes. You always do this... do something wrong and can't work out what... and now she's dead because you keep messing up and don't know why...

"I'm sorry..." Kazuhiko cried out. "I'm... I'm so sorry!"

Shou looked up in interest. Was that... Kazuhiko Yamamoto? I'd hit that!

Giggling, Shou moved forward in the direction from which he had heard the voice. If he'd bothered to get his map out, he would have noticed the shrine in the zone, but it wasn't like that bothered Shou much.

Strolling through the undergrowth with his derringer raised, Shou began to take in the scenery of this part of the island. How utterly divine darling! Oh... why didn't I pack a camera! It's just the perfect opportunity for a self portrait!

Smiling glamorously, Shou caught sight of a small brown bird on a branch a few meters away. Shou gasped with delight. "Oh sing my sweet! Sing for Auntie Shou?"

The next thing Shou heard was not the peaceful bird song he had expected. A gunshot pierced through the air, sending the bird flying away in panic. Shou whirled around with the gun raised.

Silence.

Slowly, he moved forward. Cautiously at first, then more confidentially, before breaking into a run. A small building was coming into view just up ahead, and Shou was keen to get there as soon as possible. If Kazuhiko wasn't there, at least Shou would have cover against the gunfire. It didn't seem like Kazuhiko to shoot at someone else, which must mean there was someone else there too.

Shou finally reached the building, and burst in through the entrance. He stared down at the floor and gasped in surprise. Kazuhiko lay sprawled on the floor, his brains and a lot of blood leaking in a pool beneath his head. In his contorted hand, he still held onto the revolver, facing towards the fatal bullet hole in his right temple.

Shou stared for a few moments, hearing his own heartbeat loudly in the stillness of the shrine. Then, he bent down and removed the gun from Kazuhiko's hands. "Thank you darling." he cooed, before giggling. "Hope you don't mind..."

----- H4

Yoji stood perfectly still, gazing out into the empty forest. "He... he was my best friend..." he said quietly in utter disbelief. "What did I do wrong?"
"You didn't do anything wrong." Yukiko said back quickly and reassuringly. She was only trying to make him feel better though, as she really had no idea. Boys had always seemed so strange to her. She no longer feared them like she used to, but she still found them strange. Yoji could well have offended Niida in some way that she didn't pick up on.

Best friend... he was my best friend...

Yoji turned to face Yukiko, trembling as he did so. Best... best friend...

"We... should get going" He said, stuttering.
"Niida's gone..." Yukiko said, trying her best to bring reality home to Yoji. It was painful in a way, but she knew that chasing after Niida when he clearly didn't want to be there wouldn't help them.

Yoji shook his head. "No... I meant we should get going back to the shrine. We need to find Yumiko."

Somehow, the loss of Kazushi had brought back Yoji's feelings of guilt with force. Yumiko was still alive, but because of him, they had left her at the shrine, considering she hadn't run away, which Yoji thought unlikely. Kazushi had left by choice, but Yumiko almost definitely hadn't. It was time to make up for his mistake. He'd lost his best friend, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to Yukiko.

Yukiko stared at him almost in wonder. She didn't know exactly what he was feeling, but she knew that Kazushi running off like that would be tearing him up. She knew that if Yumiko had left her for seemingly no reason when they had less than 3 days to live, it would have made her loose it.

"Thank you." she said as she followed him back towards the shrine, though she wasn't sure if he heard her or not.

----- C10

Mitsuru looked around, his hawk eyes surveying the ground in front of him carefully.

Before him, the trees parted, and there was a small grassy area around the tall lighthouse. The lighthouse itself would be very secure if it happened to be either empty, or occupied by friends, but that grassy area... he'd be out in the open for a few seconds. If there was anyone else nearby, it could be fatal.

He took in a deep breath and wiped his forehead. Then, gripping the gun tightly, he set off at a sprint towards the door of the lighthouse which lay around 20 meters away.

Mitsuru was a very athletic boy, though he didn't mix with the Jocks. This meant that it didn't take him long to get to the door at all, and he had soon opened it, stepped inside, and closed it again.

He smiled. See, nothing to worry about! I can do this...

He turned, and stared down the corridor at his new surroundings. There were some doors that led off to the left, most of which were open. Mitsuru began to walk down the corridor, glaring into each room as he passed. A thorough check could wait.

The door at the very end was the only one closed. Mitsuru stared at it suspiciously for a while, before walking forward. Slowly, he reached out his hand and gripped the door knob.

The door flew open at once, pulled open from the other side, and Mitsuru jumped back, crying out in surprise.

Hiroshi was standing in the doorway with his dagger raised and a snarl on his face. When he saw who the intruder was, he relaxed. "Yo Mitsuru."

Mitsuru simply nodded. "Anyone else here?"
"Nah, I went through everywhere and checked when I got here."
"Was that long ago?"
"A bit."

There was a silence between the two boys as Mitsuru shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" Hiroshi questioned defensively, shrugging his shoulders and glaring at Mitsuru.
"You didn't even barricade the door! Hurry up, we should do it now!" Mitsuru said. "Before someone like Motobuchi comes striding in!"
"Yeah... well I was gonna!"
"Sure..."
"Shut up!"
"No you shut up!"

BOYS
#1 Yoshio Akamatsu
#2 Keita Iijima
#3 Tatsumichi Ooki
#4 Toshinori Oda
#5 Shogo Kawada
#6 Kazuo Kiriyama
#7 Yoshitoki Kuninobu
#8 Yoji Kuramoto
#9 Hiroshi Kuronaga
#10 Ryuhei Sasagawa
#11 Hiroki Sugimura
#12 Yutaka Seto
#13 Yuichiro Takiguchi
#14 Shou Tsukioka
#15 Shuuya Nanahara
#16 Kazushi Niida
#17 Mitsuru Numai
#18 Tadakatsu Hatagami
#19 Shinji Mimura
#20 Kyouichi Motobuchi
#21 Kazuhiko Yamamoto

GIRLS
#1 Mizuho Inada
#2 Yukie Utsumi
#3 Megumi Etou
#4 Sakura Ogawa
#5 Izumi Kanai
#6 Yukiko Kitano
#7 Yumiko Kusaka
#8 Kayoko Kotohiki
#9 Yuko Sakaki
#10 Hirono Shimizu
#11 Mitsuko Souma
#12 Haruka Tanizawa
#13 Takako Chigusa
#14 Mayumi Tendou
#15 Noriko Nakagawa
#16 Yuka Nakagawa
#17 Satomi Noda
#18 Fumiyo Fujiyoshi
#19 Chisato Matsui
#20 Kaori Minami
#21 Yoshimi Yahagi

32 to go