Chapter 4: Hell Comes Quietly

Hitomi Kawamura (Girl #8) hid in a grove of tall, green trees. Making sure no one could see her, Hitomi tossed the bright, pink jacket she wore earlier into a bunch of bushes a few yards away. All she wore now was a black t-shirt and blue jeans. To add to her concealment, Hitomi stuck her legs closed to her chest and pushed her body beside the largest tree in the grove. Hopefully no one would come by and see her. Just in case someone did happen to discover her hiding spot, she held something black and metallic in her right hand. It was a gun; more specifically, a submachine gun known worldwide as the Skorpion. The gun had a short barrel and was overall small in size. However, it did carry many rounds and her survival pack was equipped with seven more magazines.

Sitting in the grove for nearly forty minutes, Hitomi already heard loud gunshots and screams radiating through the trees. The screams especially made Hitomi fear for her life for she couldn't tell if the screams came from people dying or from people killing. At the beginning of the day Hitomi had no idea they would be forced to kill one another. Matter of fact, all Hitomi was thinking about when she left for school this morning or yesterday morning, depending on what time it was now, was meeting new people, mainly guys. Like the rest of her friends, Hitomi liked boys; she liked them a lot. Unfortunately, she had bad taste in guys, or at least that's what Kasumi, Reiko, and Saori thought. Almost every guy she dated, they objected to. It got annoying after a while, but Hitomi couldn't do a thing about it. They were right after all. Speaking of her friends, Hitomi wondered where they were currently. Were they running around? Were they together? Were they dead? No, no they can't be dead. Hitomi was sure they weren't dead. She shook the idea out of her head and tried to think of something else.

No matter what, though, Hitomi's mind kept coming back to her friends. Out of the three, Hitomi knew Saori the longest. The two were in the same swim team when they were little and went to the same elementary school. When they got into junior high, though, Hitomi decided to quit swimming and focused on her grades and, of course, boys. They still remained pretty good friends, though, and hung out as much as they did in elementary. The next person Hitomi met was Reiko. They ended up in the same class in sixth grade and had been friends since then. She met Kasumi last when Kasumi defended her from some creeps in town. That was in seventh grade. Ever since then, the four had been inseparable. Wherever one went, the others would follow. You couldn't see a single one of them without the others following close behind. It was quite strange that now, in their probable final moments alive, they were nowhere near each other. Hitomi wanted to flip out her cellphone and call them all up and tell them to meet somewhere, but her judgment stopped her. She didn't want to risk making any sound just in case somebody was near. The thought still lingered in her mind though.

Suddenly, the sound of twigs cracking emanated from somewhere near. Hitomi's head moved in every which way, searching for where the sound came. Hesitantly, she raised the Skorpion level to her head. Though the sound definitely came from somewhere close to the grove, Hitomi couldn't see exactly where. Hunched down on her knees, she continued to search for whoever made the sound while pointing her deadly weapon forward.

"Hitomi?" someone said from behind.

Startled, Hitomi spun around and fell on her bottom. She pointed the Skorpion up at the figure in front of her and readied herself to pull the trigger.

"Hey, hey, don't point that thing at me," the voice requested. The figure took one step forward, prompting Hitomi to point the Skorpion forward even more. However, the sliver of moonlight shining through the tree trunks revealed the identity of the figure. It was Enishi Tenken (Boy #13).

Giving off a sigh of relief, Hitomi lowered her gun and sat up. Her eyes remained on Enishi the whole time. Somewhat giggling, Hitomi though how lucky she was that it was Enishi who stumbled upon her. Enishi was a decent guy, not like the others Hitomi dated. He was actually kind and sincere and genuine too. Plus, he was cute. Enishi had medium-length, black hair that looked stylishly messy as if he purposely made it look disheveled. His lean body sported a clean white t-shirt and black jeans. Tied around his waist was the black track jacket Hitomi had seen him wearing earlier. Dropping his survival pack to the grass, Enishi sat down beside Hitomi.

"What are you doing out here?" Enishi asked.

"Hiding. What'd it look like?"

"Hiding."

A soft giggle escaped Hitomi's mouth and she looked over at Enishi. He was sitting quietly and calmly against the tree with his hands on his raised knees.

"What were you doing?" Hitomi questioned him.

"Me? Nothin, I was just walkin around," Enishi said casually. His relaxed attitude seemed strange to Hitomi. For someone being in a situation as grave as the one they were in, she expected him to act more serious. Instead he acted as if he was taking a walk around town like he usually did.

While driving around in her dad's car, Hitomi saw Enishi walking around town frequently. She usually saw him pacing back and forth along the river or just sitting there, staring up at the sky. Other times he was leaning against the rail of the boardwalk at the edge of town. Never did she see him with anyone else. People around school said they saw Enishi and Hiro hanging out together, but Hitomi never did. She constantly saw the two of them out of school, but never together. The question of them being gay together came up on her mind, but thought against it. Two guys as handsome as they were wouldn't be gay. Why would they? They could practically get any girl in school if they wanted. To Hitomi, though, it seemed like neither of them wanted anything to do with girls. Many times had Hitomi tried hitting on Enishi and flirting with him, but he never showed any kind of feelings for her other than friendship.

"Is that your weapon?" Enishi asked, pointing his chin towards the submachine gun in Hitomi's hand.

Hitomi raised the Skorpion to her face and answered, "Yup, this is what they gave me. Pretty lucky if I say so myself."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good gun – a Skorpion. Doesn't have as much power or range as other guns, but in a game like this, it's perfect. Plus, it can fire 850 rounds per minute. That's a lot if you think about it considering that gun's power. You can also use it as a single-shot or fully automatic. That's always helpful," Enishi informed her.

Smiling, Hitomi stretched her hand out towards Enishi.

"What?" Enishi wondered.

"Take it," Hitomi told him. "I have no use for it. Who am I gonna kill?"

"Saitou?" Enishi suggested with a friendly smile.

Saitou Takuya (Boy #15) was a jackass. He dated Hitomi for about six months. Their relationship was good and they appeared very much in love. But in truth, Saitou was cheating on her with some girl in Class B. He apparently hid that fact very well since none of Hitomi's friends knew and they practically knew everything about everyone's social life. The only way Hitomi actually found out was when she found a Polaroid picture taped onto her desk. Pictured in the photo was Saitou making out with the girl and sticking his hand down her pants. The photo surprised the hell out of Hitomi and she felt like bitch-slapping Saitou and his hoe. She only chose not to in fear of getting a smudge on her perfect record. If she knew was gonna end up in Battle Royale, though, she wished she did slap them both. Fortunately, Saitou was in their class and would die soon enough. Horrible as that thought was, Hitomi couldn't help but smile at it.

Hitomi laughed a little and replied, "As much as I'd love to, nah. Someone else can make that jackass kiss his life goodbye."

A charming smile formed over Enishi's smile. It was the same smile that made him so attractive and eye-catching. The smile was friendly and compassionate, but had a tinge of mystique to it. Along with his intensely glowing brown eyes, Enishi's smile was simply astounding.

Hitomi almost felt like making out or even having sex with Enishi, but at a time like this, the idea was sickening. She didn't want to be having sex while her classmates were dying. It just didn't sound right. To get the thought out of her mind, she shook the Skorpion and looked Enishi in the eyes.

"Are you gonna take it or not?" she asked. "My arm's getting sore."

Chuckling, Enishi took the Skorpion out of Hitomi's hands and placed it by his side. Gray steam drifted out of Enishi's mouth as he exhaled. Without looking at Hitomi, he asked, "You got any smokes on you?"

"Smokes? I didn't know you smoke," Hitomi recalled.

"I don't."

Hitomi couldn't help, but laugh out loud no matter how loud it was. She covered her mouth her right hand and continued shaking as she laughed. Shaking her head, she reached into her survival pack and drew out a pack of Wild Seven cigarettes. It was the one thing that made Hitomi imperfect. If she didn't smoke she was sure she'd be the only perfect girl in the world. After all, she was beautiful and she did get good grades. Still giggling, Hitomi tossed the pack of cigarettes to Enishi.

Enishi pulled out a single cigarette and held it in his hand. It was the first time he'd actually held a cigarette. The small, frail stick in his hand was the color of bone with a brown-colored tip. Flipping the cigarette around his finger a few times, Enishi stuck it in his mouth and turned to Hitomi to ask for a lighter. The girl was prepared for she stuck out her left arm and lit the cigarette. With the cigarette lit, Enishi took a long drag then exhaled. Smoke puffed out from his mouth for the very first time. Laughing at the thought of himself smoke, Enishi took another drag and formed an 'O' shape with his mouth. Exhaling, he puffed out 'O' shaped smoke.

Hitomi's face lit up with wonderment as she watched Enishi make 'O' shaped puffs of smoke. "How do you do that? I've always wanted to do it, but I just suck."

"Inhale the smoke and hold your breath. When you open your mouth, form an 'O' shape with your lips and exhale," Enishi instructed her.

Hitomi pulled a cigarette of her own from the pack of Wild Sevens and lit it with her green lighter. After taking a long drag of smoke, she held her breath and formed an 'O' with her mouth. As she exhaled, the smoke drifted out like it normally did. Making an annoyed expression with her face, she tried once more. Again, though, she failed. After numerous tries at puffing out smoke in the shape of an 'O', Hitomi grunted and tossed her cigarette to her feet. She raised her right foot over the cigarette butt and stepped on it.

A pause went through the grove and neither student talked for nearly two minutes. Neither Hitomi nor Enishi looked at one another as they quietly sat in the grove. Enishi flicked the cigarette away from his hand, but didn't bother stomping it out. If they were lucky, it would hopefully burn down the forest and just kill everyone all at once. Gazing up at the night sky, Enishi watched a bright star shoot by. As a kid, everyone was told to wish for something whenever you see a shooting star, but Enishi never got the point. What's the sense in wishing on a comic occurrence? They couldn't bring you a new bicycle or someone to love. They especially couldn't grant your wish of getting a new father, a better father, someone who didn't abuse you. Enishi cursed at the star in his head and closed his eyes to rest for a few minutes at least.

"Have you ever had sex?" Hitomi broke the silence.

Who would ask such an awkward question at a time like this? Enishi squinted his eyes and looked at Hitomi with confusion.

"What did you say?"

"Have you ever had sex? Are you a virgin?"

Embarrassingly, Enishi smiled and said, "No, I had sex once."

"With who?"

"I don't remember."

A shocked expression appeared on Hitomi's face and she shouted loud enough for anyone in the grove to hear, "You playboy!"

Laughing, Enishi replied, "It was a while ago and she doesn't live in Takami. Sorry if I have trouble remembering people I met only once."

"You only met her once?" Hitomi wondered. "Didn't you want your first time to be special? Didn't you want it to be someone you love?"

"I never really thought about it," Enishi revealed. "Sex wasn't really something I thought about a lot."

"Yeah right! All guys think about sex," Hitomi replied. "Twenty-four-seven, that's all you guys think about!"

"No it's not," Enishi argued. "Well not for me anyways."

"Well, what do you think about then?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Come on! This is the end of the world for us. You might as well spill all your secrets now," Hitomi exclaimed.

Smiling and chuckling, Enishi looked Hitomi in the eyes and said, "I never noticed how pretty you are."

Hitomi's face lit up bright red as she blushed. Enishi smiled and continued eying her. She had long, black hair that was worn down to her shoulders. Some of it up front was pulled back while the rest simply fell over her shoulders. Even through the encompassing darkness, Enishi could make out the black t-shirt she wore with the Kanji writing scrawled vertically on the left side. Taking his eyes off her, Enishi sat back against the tree and sighed.

Relaxing, Hitomi eased closer to Enishi and put her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to have sex?"

"Right now?" Enishi asked, confused. Her head still leaning on Enishi, she nodded. "Uh… are you sure? I mean, we're in the middle of a killing spree."

"If we're gonna end up part of the list of victims we might as well have sex, right?"

"What sense does that make?" Enishi wondered.

Hitomi shook her head and took Enishi's head with her soft hands. Pulling his face closer towards hers, she muttered, "Just take me."

The two underage students began making out, their hands and fingers crawling all over one another's bodies. Enishi grabbed the end of Hitomi's t-shirt and pulled it over her head. As he continued to kiss her, he saw the black bra she wore. While making out, Enishi unhooked Hitomi's bra. At the same time, Hitomi untied Enishi's jacket from his waist and unbuckled his belt before removing his jeans. Sliding his right hand down Hitomi's panties, Enishi pecked her neck several times. Hitomi took Enishi's shirt off and pulled his checkered, tan boxers off his legs. With his body naked, Enishi pulled off Hitomi's panties and penetrated her.

A soft moan left Hitomi's lips as her body began moving up and down in synchronization with Enishi's. Licking his lips, Enishi kissed Hitomi's chest as she rubbed her slender figure against his body. After what seemed like hours – thought it was really only a couple minutes – Enishi began to feel his appendage swell. Apparently, Hitomi was feeling the same way as her body bobbed up and down harder than ever. Gritting his teeth, Enishi held Hitomi's gentle curves with his thick hands. Minutes later, both let out a loud, satisfied groan and their bodies relaxed. Hitomi, who sat atop Enishi, slouched forward and laid her head against Enishi's right shoulder. Breathing exhaustedly, Enishi kissed Hitomi on the right cheek and pulled her into a strong embrace.

"How was it?" Hitomi asked, feeling great for the first time since the Battle Royale started.

"Great," Enishi replied with a wide grin on his face.

"That's good," Hitomi muttered, "considering this was my first time."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Was it with someone special?" Enishi asked, remembering what Hitomi had said earlier.

With a soft giggle, Hitomi answered, "Special enough."

Being in Enishi's hands was not something Hitomi planned to be in when she woke up today. There were a lot of things she didn't plan to be doing and this certainly wasn't one of them. Though as sick as it was, it felt wonderful. It was a great feeling to be having when you know you're gonna die within a matter of seventy-two hours. Suddenly, that feeling escaped her. The feeling she felt now wasn't wonderful at all. It was stinging and painful.

Jutting out from Hitomi's bare back was a four-foot long blade that shined in the moonlight. Blood laced the sharp edge of the blade and dripped to the lush, green grass. Hitomi stared down in horror at the katana stuck in her gut. What made it even more horrible was seeing Enishi holding it with a grin on his face. The sticky, red fluid trickled down Hitomi's thin belly and dripped onto Enishi's lap. With a sharp pull, Enishi forced blood to squirt uncontrollably from Hitomi's stomach. A groan unlike the pleasurable one from earlier emanated from Hitomi's bleeding mouth. As she lay on her side in unbearable pain, Enishi wiped the blood on his lap with Hitomi's black t-shirt and began to dress. He picked up his boxers and jeans and slid his legs into them. After tying the track jacket around his waist once more, Enishi looked down at Hitomi and pointed his designated weapon – the katana – at her face.

"Why?" Hitomi mouthed. Tears almost running down her face, she stared Enishi in the eyes, the same eyes she was staring into just a while ago when they were fucking.

"I'm sorry," was all he said. With his other hand, he aimed the Skorpion at Hitomi's face and pulled.

RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!

Like Enishi said earlier, 850 rounds shot out of the Skorpion in the single minute he held onto the trigger. The bullets flew through the dry, humid air of the island and tore through Hitomi's face within seconds. The beautiful, young girl's head shook hysterically as the bullets pounded her skull and brain. Fragments of white bone poked out from her skin that was a creamy complexion only a minute ago, but was now crimson red. There was also a strange, gray matter that leaked out from the many holes in Hitomi's head. She looked like swiss-cheese now, with hundreds of holes in her head. She was completely unrecognizable; the only way one could identify her now was to check the reports for the Battle Royale.

Emotionlessly, Enishi stuck the Skorpion down his pants and sheathed his katana in the scabbard tied around the back of his black jeans. He walked a few paces over and shuffled through Hitomi's survival pack. Inside were the original contents of the survival pack, including the seven magazines, and some stuff she took from her own backpack. All Enishi picked up were the extra magazines and bottles of water, which he tossed into his survival pack.

Walking away from the corpse of Hitomi Kawamura, Enishi callously stated, "All the lucky ones die first." And boy was he right about that.

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