----- F7

"Fumiyo, check him for weapons!" Yuka said happily. She smiled at Kazushi as if the situation itself were quite pleasant. Kazushi sneered at her while his hands remained in the air.

Fumiyo's jaw dropped. "You mean like... when policemen pat people all over... everywhere?"
Yuka nodded. "Yeah, like policemen!"
Fumiyo shook her head. "I don't want to, that's gross!"
"But you're the nurse's assistant! You've touched people before right?"
Fumiyo nodded. "Yeah, people, but not Kazushi!"

"Hey!" Kazushi growled angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Fumiyo quickly averted her gaze. "I... err..."

"Fumiyo, you take the gun, OK?"
"What?"
"I don't mind feeling for a weapon, so you take the gun."
Fumiyo looked panicked. "But... wha... what do I do with it?"
"You point it, and if he tries to kill us, you shoot him!"
Fumiyo gasped. "I can't kill him!"
Yuka sighed, as she forced the gun into Fumiyo's reluctant hands. "Just pretend you would." she whispered into Fumiyo's ear. She nodded.

Kazushi was feeling extremely pissed off by now. The two girls obviously didn't have a clue, and Yuka, as always, was underestimating the volume of her voice. He'd heard her whisper, and knew they didn't really have any power over him. Still, it would be wise to pick the best moment to rush forward and steal the gun. He didn't want Fumiyo squeezing the trigger by accident.

Giggling to herself, Yuka moved over to Kazushi and smacked against the pockets of his trousers.

"Hey, watch it!" Kazushi complained while Fumiyo continued to point the gun feebly.

"Hey Fumiyo?" Yuka called.
"... Yeah?"
"How big do you think his #$ is?"

Yuka erupted into hysteric laughter at the look on Kazushi's face.
"Don't #$ think about it!" he warned spitefully. "I will so kick your ass!"
Yuka stuck out her tongue and continued giggling.

"Yuka?" Fumiyo asked in her timid voice. "Maybe we should let him go... I don't like him being here! You heard what he's like at school! How he looks at the girls..."

While she had been saying all this, probably without noticing at all, Fumiyo had lowered the gun to her side. In an instant, Kazushi rushed forward, snarling, his hands reaching out for the gun.
"Fumiyo!" Yuka called out, getting up to chase after Kazushi.

Fumiyo, in her fright, had raised the gun once more before Kazushi had reached her. There had only been a couple of meters between them to begin with, and Kazushi hadn't had time to dodge out of the way when the sound of a gunshot echoed around the forest, accompanied by Fumiyo screaming.

Time froze yet moments passed. Dust settled, and Fumiyo prized her eyes open.

The gun was still extended, pointing out into the forest at the end of her rigid arms. Yuka was there in front of her, gaping down in horror at the body of Kazushi.

He was still breathing, that much was obvious, but there was a nasty bullet wound in his leg. Thankfully, Fumiyo had pressed the trigger before she'd finished raising the gun. A second later and she would have killed him.

It also looked like he'd hit his head on a rock when he had fallen over. His eyes were closed, and he looked as if he were asleep, seemingly untroubled by the new wound.

"Oh my god! You shot him!" Yuka said, horrified.
"You told me to!"
"Yeah, but I didn't mean it!"

Sobbing, Fumiyo dropped the gun to the floor and reached for her overnight bag.

"Wha... what are you doing?" Yuka asked in a shaken voice.
Fumiyo didn't answer first. She unzipped her bag and reached in till she found a top that she had packed for the trip. A cute little pink thing, but it would do. She rolled it up into a ball and handed it to Yuka.

"Press it down on the wound. You need to keep pressure on it!"
Yuka nodded, still seemingly in a state of shock. The most insuppressibly happy girl in the whole school was in shock... it wasn't like her at all. One time, Fumiyo remembered Ryuhei or someone like that had slipped a water bomb into her bag, and it had burst and soaked all her work, and she'd just laughed. Yuka never let anything get to her... until now...

And Fumiyo... she too had changed. She had shot someone. It wasn't like her at all. She was the gentle girl, the nurse's aid... she was the one supposed to be helping people, not shooting them!

She fished out another top, and also took the scissors from her kit bag. At first they had seemed a stupid weapon, but they were actually going to be very useful. Quickly, Fumiyo cut a long strip from the top to tie around Kazushi's leg to stop the flow of blood and give the wound time to heal itself. It was just annoying that the clinic was already a danger zone.

"Is he going to be alright?" Yuka asked, gazing at Fumiyo hopefully.
Fumiyo nodded. "Of course, yeah." But it wasn't the leg she was worried about. It was the concussion. She had no idea how bad it was. Fumiyo knew Tadakatsu had come in once with concussion from some sport or other... but the nurse had taken care of it herself, and Fumiyo couldn't remember what she was supposed to do!

All she could do was hope she wasn't going to be a murderer.

Fumiyo finished tying the material around his leg, keeping the pink top in place to soak up any leaking blood from the wound. She sighed. "Yuka seal of approval?"
Yuka looked up, seeming surprised to hear her old trademark. It was almost like a wake up call. She wasn't good at medicine like Fumiyo. She wasn't that clever, or that fit, or really good with anything but cheering people up. It might not be much, but it was all she had. Might as well try and do something right... She nodded. "Yeah, Yuka seal of approval you bet!"
Fumiyo smiled.

"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"
Yoji stared at him in amusement for a moment, as if he was trying to figure something out, before nodding and laughing. "Let's go back"
Kazushi smiled. "Kay."

Yoji reached out his hand to Kazushi, who looked at it in confusion.
Yoji chuckled. "Dude, you're gonna need my help again to get back to the shore without drowning."
"Oh, right, yeah!"

Kazushi reached out and grabbed Yoji's hand with his own. Yoji winked, and jumped off the rocks, and back into the sea, pulling Kazushi in after him. Once again, Kazushi felt that helpless feeling of drowning, but Yoji's arm was around his waist in an instant, their bodies pulled close together as Yoji swam for the both of them back to the shore.

Later that evening, Kazushi had gone around to Yoji's house like he did so often.

Yoji's father was a business man of some kind with a plump salary. The house wasn't a mansion, but it was still big and well furnished. Yoji was the only child, and his parents still acted like they were teenagers who had just asked each other on a date. They spent every other night out on dates it seemed, totally obsessed with each other, and Yoji was left home alone, almost as if they kept forgetting he existed..

People were always coming over. Tadakatsu and Shuuya (who Yoji had been friends with back those years ago) but Kazushi more than any other. Kazushi and his mother weren't especially close, so she didn't really mind if Kazushi went out or for how long, and Kazushi was glad to get out of the house. It wasn't a particularly nice house, stuffy and falling into disrepair. Not like Yoji's house.

The two boys were in the living room, on a white leather sofa, watching some teen comedy on the TV. A half finished pizza lay in the cardboard packaging it had been delivered in on the table with two empty glasses that had not long before contained some wine Yoji had found in the cupboard. His parents were always buying wine for each other, so they'd hardly notice a bottle gone.

Unfortunately, Yoji was very much a light weight, and was currently giggling to himself, despite the movie turning out to be quite lame.

Kazushi stared at him and chuckled to himself. Yoji sure was a funny guy to watch. And a great guy to hang out with. Not like most of the cunts at school. Most guys were annoying and stuck up, and all of the girls were annoying and stupid. The only thing to tell apart two women was which one he'd #$ first.

Yoji turned to face Kazushi. "You're my best friend..." he mused.
"Err... thanks." Kazushi said, trying to sound touched. He wasn't too sure how to react to Yoji when he was drunk. Yeah, that was it. He was drunk... that was what was making Kazushi feel weird. Like nervous, but not... why the hell would he feel nervous? That would just be stupid... Yoji was a #$ guy after all.

"Give me a hug!" Yoji suggested, hiccupping merrily.
"Dude, don't be a fag!" Kazushi teased.
"Hug?" Yoji pleaded again, reaching out his arms.
Kazushi sighed and pulled Yoji into an uncomfortable hug. "This feels dumb..." he said.
"You're cuddly." Yoji replied. "And I..."
Kazushi pulled out of the embrace. "What?"
"I'm going to throw up!" Yoji announced.

Kazushi started slipping back into consciousness. The very first thing he noticed was pain. Sharp and jabbing, and it brought him back to reality harshly.

He opened his eyes, but shut them again as the light was too bright.. "Wha..." he groaned.
Before he could speak properly, someone had raised a water bottle to his lips, and he drunk gratefully.

This time, when he opened his eyes, it was better, and he could see Fumiyo smiling awkwardly as she held up the water bottle. He was leaning against a tree and she was kneeling beside him.
"Sorry." she said as soon as she was sure he was listening.
Kazushi gazed around in confusion for a moment. "For... for what? Huh?"
Fumiyo bit her lip for a moment. "What do you last remember?"
If Kazushi was in his normal state, he would probably have told her to mind her own business and go #$ herself, but he was still dazed and suggestible. "Ran away from Yoji..."
"OK great!" Fumiyo said, seeming oddly relieved.
"So what were you so sorry for again?"
"Nothing! Oh, absolutely nothing!" she said nervously.

"Oh, he's awake!" Yuka cried from nearby where she had been eating one of the bread rolls from her bag. She made her way over exitedly. "That's great! I was so scared when Fumiyo..."
"Found you!" Fumiyo interrupted.
Yuka grinned at her knowingly. "Yeah... when she found you. Uh-huh..."
"What's with my leg?" Kazushi asked.
"You got shot, but whoever it was wasn't there when we found you." replied Fumiyo, on the verge of blushing.
Kazushi gaped at her for a moment before laughed sarcastically. "Oh... that's good... that's very good…"
Fumiyo sighed, sure he must have remembered what really happened. "OK, fine, I'm sorry, but I didn't want..."
But Kazushi interrupted her. "The #$... he followed me! He had a gun, I saw it! He #$ shot me! The backstabbing #$!"

Fumiyo cast a confused look at Yuka, who shrugged.

"What time is it?" Kazushi questioned, still dazed and not quite thinking like his normal self. If he had been, he'd never be talking to a couple of girls. Especially not ugly ones.
"Five to noon." Fumiyo replied. "The second reports about to come on I guess."

Kazushi nodded. "Good..."

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