----- H5

The shrine looked very different in the day. The air of mystery and the impression of the grandure of the now ruined shrine was completely lost. Now it was just a set of crumbling ruins full of pain.

"Yumiko?" Yukiko cried as she flew up the stairs with Yoji following close behind her. The respondng silence was imense.

She gazed around, realising how different the place looked in the light. Frantically, she turned to Yoji, who simply shrugged as he followed her up the stairs.

"I guess we'll just have to have a look around..." he said.
"But why isn't she calling back?" asked the frantic Yukiko.
Yoji gazed back sadly. "I don't know... come on..."

----- I6

"What kind of supplies?"
"Anything you think will be useful. Don't worry, I know what I'm looking for." Replied Shogo gruffly.

Yumiko sighed. "If you expect me to help you then you've got to let me in on what you're doing!" she said angrily. "I can't help much if you're keeping all the important information to yourself!"
Shogo grinned. "Alright then. Look for medical supplies, anything you can use as a weapon and bird whistles. Satisfied?"
"Bird whistles?"
Shogo nodded. "I know what I'm doing."
"You'd better."
"Look, do you want to save your friends or not?" Shogo growled.
Yumiko nodded, realising that arguing with Shogo was a pretty pointless excersise. "Yes, fine! But I swear the moment it feels like you're just using me, I walk away. If I can't save them, I want to be with them."
Shogo nodded back with minimal interest and turned to walk again. The two were heading to the residential area in hope of looting some supplies, even though Yumiko still didn't like the idea. It still felt like stealing.

She hoped that Yukiko and Yoji would go back to the shrine and find the note she had left them... though she still had no idea why they had left her there alone.

----- H5

"Nothing..." Yukiko sighed. "Her bag's gone, but I found mine. But that's it..."
Yoji raised a reassuring hand to her shoulder. "At least we know she's still alive. We can still find her..."
"But she could be anywhere..."
Yoji was at a loss for how to reply. He wanted to be able to reassure her, but he didn't know how to. People skills wasn't a strong point of his.

He quietly stared around at the surroundings around the old ruin. Yumiko could be anywhere... and so could Kazushi...

----- F7

Kazushi had been keen to keep moving, as it at least gave him something to do. First thing was first... getting a decent weapon. He was #$ without one. Kazushi still hadn't quite decided if he should play, but he knew that whatever he decided, a good weapon would help him. The only problem was how to get one.

i>#$, how come Yoji gets a good weapon and I don't? How's that fair? #$... /i>

Kazushi continued to make his way through the forest, keeping an eye out for anyone, or any bodies he could scavange off.

Suddenly up ahead, a flash of blue! One of the girl's uniforms... definately. There was a girl nearby. He'd only seen it for a second, darting between the undergrowth. They were hiding... or were they just watching him? One way to find out...

He made his way to where he'd seen the flash of uniform, trying to make it clear he wasn't carying a weapon. "Who's there?" he called. At first there was no response, but then there was a sound of crunching leaves underfoot from behind him. He whirled around, only to find a girl there, pointing a gun directly at his head.

"Don't move"

----- C9

"I'm so knackered..."
"Stop complaining!"
"Can't we sit down a bit first?"

Mitsuru sighed. "Hiroshi, we gotta make a barricade!"
"Do it in a min... I need a fag..." Hiroshi complained, folding his arms.
"Stop being such a #$ dunce! If we don't make a barricade..."

"Then anyone could just stroll in?" questioned a cold voice from down the hall.

Mitsuru and Hiroshi jumped, both glancing down towards the door. Two very different looking figures were standing there. Mitsuru's eyes widened.

"Boss!"
"Indeed." Kazuo replied dryly. "I'd advice both of you collect some furniture we can use to barricade the door with immediately."

----- E4

"This isn't going to work."
"Of course it will!"
"The system's nearly perfect, you'll have to think better than this!"
"Nearly perfect? How do you figure that?"
"Because no one has ever escaped before! What makes you think you will?"

Shinji grinned at the question. Of course it was ego, what else? Being Shinji was always enough for him. He always knew he could do what he set his mind to, because he could always better the performances of others. The fact that no one else had managed to escape was almost more encoraging than not.

But Izumi didn't seem convinced. She just stared across the table with her face set in that knowing and cynical grin of hers. "Well? What makes you think that you of all people can do it?"
Shinji scratched his chin. "My uncle..."
"Your uncle? Oh, well I must say that is indeed such a relief!"

Shinji stared back at Izumi. Those were hard yet somehow warm eyes of hers, not ones easy to stare directly at. She was a tough crowd, he had to admit. Of course, she had probably been there in the crowds cheering during games (not that Shinji really took time to look back at them) but now that it was really life and death, she seemed hard to convince. The sensible thing to do would be to try and get rid of her, but Shinji had a feeling that she would be a useful ally in the game. The fact that she was being so hard to convince was good. With her around, it was impossible to come up with a bad plan. If there was something he'd overlooked, she'd be there to point it out immediately. It seemed even anal people had their... uses.

She wasn't Yutaka, and she never would be. No one could be as good a friend as Yutaka, and Shinji would have gladly exchanged the capable, allert and frosty Izumi for the clumsy, blubbering and idiotic Yutaka, but he couldn't do that now.

The programme had taken Yutaka away from him. Simply for that, the bastards back at the school were going to pay, and to make sure they would pay, Shinji was going to team up with Izumi Kanai. She just didn't know that yet.

"He was in the resistance movement." Shinji said, raising an eyebrow cheerily. "If there's anyone who could bring down the programme, then it's him. Well, he ain't here, but luckily, I'm the next best thing."
Izumi let out a little laugh, more at Shinji's egotism than anything else. "Alright..." she said, grinning gently. "Let's say we give it a shot. What happens when the system goes down? How many get to walk away? Just us or everyone?"
"Anyone who is able to put down their weapons and walk away."
Izumi nodded. "Right then. I say we team up and try. Maybe get some other people to join up."
"You mean, Shuuya, Hiroki, people like that?"
"Yes, and a few of the girls too. Satomi's clever, and personally, I'd feel safe if I had Robobitch as an ally. She'd be tricky to get on board though."
"I could win her over..." Shinji said, raising an eyebrow playfully.
"I doubt it, but it's your funeral." Izumi said, before raising a hand to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry... that probably wasn't the best phrase to use considering the situation..."
Shinji smirked. "Don't worry about it. Now give me a sec, and I'll give this a try."

Izumi nodded, and Shinji started typing on the laptop. Izumi wasn't good with computers, so she probably wouldn't have understood what he was doing if she'd asked, but escape was something she could understand.

Of course, rebelling against the programme meant rebelling against the government, and for Izumi, that meant rebelling against her father too. But would her father i>really /i> want her to kill? To die? She wasn't even sure herself. He was always cooped up in his office, always stressed out for some reason or other, even though his position wasn't one of that much responsability. He hadn't had much time for Izumi, and she was only just begining to realise how little she knew of him. One thing was for certain though, if she killed, it wouldn't be simply because someone else wanted her to.

So she had been pleasantly surprised to find that Shinji Mimura was planning an escape. She'd heard that he was clever, but somehow never really believed it. He was the sort of person who got through exams by pure luck, and possibly a little cheating. All she'd ever really thought of him was: i>"Nice body, shame about the ego!" /i>

And now she was placing her trust in him. It seemed unwise, and she wasn't totally convinced, but she was willing to give it a try at least. She had her doubts, but Shinji fed on popularity, and she expected that he'd do better if he didn't know about her little doubts.

People were already dead. That meant people out there were playing. She couldn't stay in denial about it... or pretend they were suicides. i>Hardcore Souma commiting suicide? Please... /i>

No... the game was very serious. Had people got too deep into it now to ever emerge? Could they really save anyone? Izumi was willing to try... and if not...

She knew how to use a gun, and she wasn't afraid.

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

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