"Did you ever believe?

Were you ever a dreamer?

Ever imagine heart open and free?

...

Ever want to be free?

Do you even remember?

...

Ever want to just stop?

Do you want to surrender?

Or fight for victory?"

30 seconds to Mars: Call to Arms


No comment, the lyric-part from 30 seconds to Mars tells everything about the two girls' wiev of life. Maybe they are based on real people? Maybe… maybe not… ;)


Chapter 9

The sun was slowly about to come up in the horizon. The first rays of light went through the leaves like dozens of pikes. The pit was dark though, where Sonoko and Riki had fallen yesterday into, but they could see the surroundings better than at nighttime.

Sonoko found herself waking up from a tiring dream, at first she thought this whole kidnapping happened only in her mind. But the bird-singing and the blowing wind let her remember, that all this nightmare couldn't be more real. She slept through the whole time that they had spent in this pit - Sonoko couldn't deny, it felt good. She had already more energy and the wound also was okay at the moment.

The girl rose from lying position, that was the moment the wound started to hurt again. As she touched the hurting spot, felt something soft in the arm. Lint. Someone has bound her wound. Obviously Riki did - but why does he carry bandages along? And since when is he interested in her state of health? Just like his twin brother, Kinji, Riki was always a loner and watched society with pretty much unconcern.

Sonoko took a look around in the pit. At the first sight it was more like an underground route which ceiling had fallen down decades ago, than a pit used to trap the unguarded. The pit was a tetragonal, precisely excavated hole with walls made of concrete. As time went by, these walls became full of creeping ivy and other bines, but the main thing, that climbing up to the surface from here was nearly impossible.

And where the heck is Riki? The girl was sitting in her own on the crackling carpet of dead leaves.

'He can't be such moron to leave me in the middle of the wild!'

Several minutes and she could hear footsteps coming from the near. Someone was approaching, but from which direction? According to the sound the guy is in the same ground-level. Sonoko barely turned the head leftside, she saw Riki coming through a small rift looked like it was also men-made. The rift was hardly seen because of the dim, just those would see it who knew that it existed there.

"There's a way out. This way!" said Riki shortly, after he was sure about that his partner was up "have to walk a lot, but we will reach surface in the near of the warehouse."

"Err... o-kay." Sonoko didn't know what to say. Then she thought about her wound.

"Anyway, I am grateful... Just let you know..." said, without seeing into the boy's eyes. She wasn't that thanksgiver type (who said out such things openly).

"For what?"

"For helping me... My injury..." Riki shook his shoulders:

"Never mind."

"So, can we go now?" he added.

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

Sonoko helped herself up with the healthy arm and followed the leader.

'What a shit-kicker! He doesn't even ask about how I am? Needles to thank him the help, he didn't even care! He just did, because our lives depend on each other's!'

The route was indeed a passage between underground bunkers, as they were abandoned for years, the two students had to use their watch-reflector if they wanted to find a way out.

Thanks to the watches, they reached surface about in ten minutes. At the end they found themselves in a small hole - it was 1,5 metres deep - so only a ledge stood between them and the open ground. Riki climbed out in no time, but Sonoko had problems. In this condition truly; in normal case she used to climb up even a 2 metres tall wall with her bare hands.

They could also see the grey roof of the warehouse from there, Riki immediately headed toward it - looked like he forgot about Sonoko.

"Hey, help me out! I can't climb up with one arm!" maybe Sonoko's yelling was a bit more angry than she planned.

Riki turned back after all, then helped the girl out of the pit by holding her at the unwounded forearm.

"Just in case you have forgotten, I am injured!" scored the girl again with angry face.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

The question was unexpected from Riki. It was quite a surprise for the other student.

'He want me to be his girlfriend or what? Or lay me? He didn't give a damn about girls so far, now wants to make up leeway before dying?'

Seeing Sonoko's obtuse grimace, the explanation came immediately.

"Just, 'cause I would not wonder at your singleness at all."

Sonoko thought, he went to far with that quip.

"Oh, yeah?!"

The girl didn't consider herself too pretty, but neither a snag. There were times, when Norito Royama pay his address to her and Baku Baisotei also said, that she is a sweet one. Moreover, you don't have to go far, enough to take a look around in the 4th Zentsuji Junior High School: how many buns * are there! And they even think the opposite about themselves!

Meanwhile, Riki answered:

"Because you are always bitching for some reason." so according to him, therefore is Sonoko single.

"I am bitching, because I asked your help by climbing out from this damn hole?" Sonoko couldn't stand to speak out loudly.

"We're classmates." Riki said "I can follow your behavior with attention every day. Remember your tone a sec ago... If you can call it an asking... That's more like a shrillness."

He spoke in the greatest calm, just the way if he totally doesn't care the topic they were talking about.

"Good. Next time I won't say anything!" the other decided to remain silent indeed, but before she did, she must do the revenge.

"Not, that you would have a girlfriend!"

"Why are you so sure?" Riki was just as insensible like always.

They had stopped standing, now they started to go.

"A lot of girls are into you in the school, but it looks that girls leave you cold. Maybe you like boys!"

Sonoko didn't see Riki's smile (most likely the first time in his life). The moment the boy noticed this unconventional attitude, immediately took back his cold-blooded look.

"Think, what you want." he said.

"I do, I do."

Well, when she thought it through very deeply, maybe the facts are, that Riki truly has a girl, but that girl lives somewhere else. And Riki is loyal to her, hat's the reason he give other girls the cut direct. Still, Sonoko didn't want to admit that, at least she could mock at Riki about his "midlife crisis".

'God, what am I thinking? Not, that we have no other things to worry about! For example a real time survivor show...'

It was awful just to think about that she can't think at all soon. She may haven't noticed so far, but these were the moments, she liked to live for. For such small things. Maybe she had rather a spleen experience about life, but as it seemed to be lost, the girl realized: her status wasn't as full of suffer as much she perceived. She felt at that moment that she loves her classmates, the whole class, and she wouldn't be able to hurt either of them.

Shinji had gotten into Sonoko's imagination. They won't meet again... This year's training camp ...

She returned to reality for the creaking sound of the warehouse door. Sonoko and Riki stepped into a room full with small safes - comparing to the indoor atmosphere this one had a pleasant look. All the safes were already opened, except the 17th, that laid in the far corner on the left. It had only green light, the others shone in red.

They were late. They arrived at latest. No matter, what kind of weapon they are going to find in the box, it will be surely something low. If that something could be named as a 'weapon'.

Riki didn't hesitate, while ignoring everything else, stepped to the 17th safe and opened it's door. His arm in the black uniform disappeared up the elbow as he was on to take the weapon out of the inside. The secret content was a sack, which contained some strange looking glasses and a wrench.

Seriously?! A wrench? You can use it to settle a loose companion-screw with that, nothing else really. You have no chance, especially if the opponent has a firearm.

"What's that?"

Sonoko's focus turned unto another thing so took the glasses out of the boy's hands. She barely pulled them up, everything turned into darkness. More correctly, the colors turned out, summa summarum, she was wearing night glasses. They could have a good use of it after nightfall.

The girl took a few steps in the room with the glasses on her head and looked around carefully, she forgot to do that by entering the warehouse after all - a very considerable and careless mistake. In the warehouse room there was lighting, so she couldn't see much while wearing the glasses. No surprise that she fell through something solid as she walked heedlessly.

A body was on the floor - turned out, when Sonoko got into her feet (luckily, she didn't fall into the wounded arm) and saw Baku Shoda's remains. He was in the gloomy corner of the room... Blood and blood everywhere. Not to mention that horrible smell.

"This is... This..." she stuttered.

"Baku Shoda." the boy answered instead of her and took the glasses back.

"He's dead! He'd been shot! I can't believe it! Who... Who could kill a friend?!"

Sonoko had bad image about Shoda in the first year of high school, and that was, because Shoda hated her without a single reason. Or, because Sonoko was a bit boyish and didn't give a damn about fashion? Who knows, but with time, she found her place in the class so we can say, Shoda and her relationship was quite normal or average for now. On PE when they used to play football, Shoda always wanted Sonoko as full-back.

Besides all of this, Sonoko didn't apprehend how could one of them kill their friend such an ease. The figure in dark uniform looked horrible, full in blood; there was only one word to describe it: a 'figure'.

"The murderer thought that no one will noticed the body?" she was angry because of the powerlessness.

"He or she tried to hide the corpse." the reflection came from Riki and to be honest, Sonoko didn't like the way he spoke about Baku Shoda, but the signs were more important: after a closer investigation (except for feeling queasy) they could see that someone...

"Someone pulled Shoda into the corner." said Sonoko with growingly fear "the blood trails."

Her fingers quivered as she pointed at the small blood pool gathered around the dead body. It smudged at some parts and a long trail sprang out of it to a point, from where the boy was originally pulled into the actual place. According to the signs, this blood trail looked like someone wanted to mop it up before and hide Shoda away from other eyes.

"OMG!" said Sonoko unwittingly and was just staring at the blood unfreely. She wanted to find out so bad from now, how Shoda was murdered.

That person shouldn't have to walk away just easy! It can't remain in secret! They don't even know when the accident had happened but the many who found the boy in the warehouse, had gone to the next gaming field immediately - after entering the building and grabbing their equipment - all of them were probably in great fear and confusion because of the kidnapping (it is still so unbelievable!), then came the fight for their lives...

Sonoko's thoughts were on these things, while she stepped closer to the dry blood-splash which - seeing from the far - could be also some mud splatter. Riki was just standing in her near and thought about something very deeply. During that; unawares or not, he smeared the blood trail with his sneakers. Sonoko had that queasy feeling again, so she quickly ran out of the door into the next game field, avoid to throw up in front of Riki's eyes. If she can vomit at all with empty stomach.

Meanwhile she had hardly heard the rustling noise of the grass under Riki's feet, her thoughts were about one single aspect: if Baku died, wouldn't have been another body next to his? How comes it, that his partner is still alive? What is with the rule 'if you die-you will bring your partner into death too' ? What if... It was never such a restraint, all of that was a lie. Everything started to become blurry. Is it worth to thinking about that? Can they change on their miserable state?

Suddenly a short beep could be heard, just like one after the wolf-chase. The beep came just the time the electrical-controlled warehouse doors closed once and for all behind them. Then everything went silence, only some sole birds were singing for the upcoming dawn all over the second game field. Sonoko and Riki were looking into the display of the watches as one person; they had found a tumbling envelope on the middle and after opening it, a text came up:

"Good, finally the last of you managed to reach the second field! It took some time, but ah well... I am more sad about the dead so far: only four - FOUR - people since the events on the base! Naaa guys, you can be more tough than that; I hope you will work with full energy from now on! You have weapons, the only task is to kill everyone in your way. That's right, you can kill the partner now, there is no more in-pair-game, we thought you would enjoy solo game better. You can move freely between any zone - yeah, forest again for a change, the border-lines are electric fences - easy enough, huh? And the first (I am afraid also the last) good news for today: in this second field you do not have to worry about moving or mechanical traps... Or there are mechanical however, I cannot remember right :P but it does not matter, doesn't it? You will see!

I recommend to walk with open eyes! The list of dead students and the danger zones will be announced at 6 AM; yes, to keep you moving we had to make this - wise if you ask me - decision, we brought the danger zone system from Battle Royale in to Battle Comrade. The second field is partitioned into smaller zones from A to J, numbered from 1 to 10. I am going to send you the new danger zones (in every two hours a zone becomes danger zone) in every 6 hours, the first pack will be at 6 AM.

Be nice and avoid these, I take it you know the reason. Let me help if not: BOOM! And my advice for the next checking: When something is not forbidden, it is allowed! Good hunting!"

Sonoko used to read fast as a little girl. So it was nothing to read the text this time, too. She barely believed to her eyes. It was unknown, what will be Riki's reaction next, but her instincts said about a not so bright future.

The girl became tense as she glanced at the partner, seeing, that he was still reading. So she started to back to go away as fast as she could, expected, that maybe she is wrong about her expectation and Riki's reaction.

Riki caught sight of her in this backing position, that was kind of a comical pose, but not this time, when the boy's face was totally empty. Okay, maybe there was a little interest in his eyes.

"What's now? You want... To attack me?" Sonoko asked in trembling voice, still moving backwards.

"I have no other choice." came the answer.

The typical minute, when everything could be sensed in slow motion, like in movies - time stopped for a while, then events got a big speed-up, faster than ever. That happened here, too; Sonoko found herself running away from Riki in sprint - she could barely breathe and the wounded arm hurt again. Every step felt like she was running on burning ember without shoes, but she mustn't stop. She had to reach that thick forest which was lain next to that meadow by the warehouse, where they were before or else Riki will surely got her. Not if Riki couldn't reach her until she reach the forest. Heavy thing...

Sonoko ran and ran, but it had no effect to put even greater effort to the flight, it seemed, Riki is going to got her with she made it to the first few woods.

CRACK! A cracking sound and the "gift" from the soviets, the wrench hurtled into a wood beside Sonoko. She remembered that Riki threw it after her, then a a mysterious classmate came over the way and barged against the Ryusaki twin, who didn't count on that, so the classmate could knock him over.

Sonoko slowed down, but didn't stop. She watched how the classmate fought with Riki and said his last words:

"Run, Sonoko!Run!"

Now she recognized Asuya Fukuda (boys #12) in the classmate's character. This sudden came help was a bit surprising but the girl felt also some guilt, why she left Asuya behind to Riki. She didn't want Asuya to disappoint in her so left the two boys permanently. Her legs hurt very much though. You wanted to remain in practice? Now you can be, girl!

Some minutes passed and Sonoko had no strength left, cold sweat covered her whole body. She was hungry and felt dizzy, the first rays of the morning sun danced blurry in front of her eyes, as they wanted to break through the forest leaves. Her legs was moving on their own initiative: trees, tall grass or leaf-litter, spiky bines - she pushed herself forward through everything was coming up to the way. She wanted just one single thing at the moment: to get off from Asuya and Riki.

'I wonder, what is happening now with Asuya and Riki? Is it over now? It will surely end up with someone dying.'

She was busy with her thoughts so no wonder that she fell over herself in a venous root which was stood out of the ground. The downfall was very awful, Sonoko's white shirt became dirty, even if she didn't care right now.

"Rats!" she cursed.

She was up to her legs in no time and looked around after the thing she fell over in. She regretted it later: that wasn't a root at all, those were two mud-stained legs in a dark trousers with white rapper-shoes. The rest lied in the bushes, leaves covered the whole figure - namely Isato Okumura (boys #9) in black uniform. The one amongst the few joculators in the class, although his appearance was sometimes a bit grim or sly - there wasn't a day on the school when Isato couldn't cheer up the mood during lessons. So this boy was lying in the ground now with opened eyes (Sonoko saw only the white parts) and a small hole (a bullet hole, dammit!) in the middle of his forehead.

It was a horrible sight, Sonoko could barely matter, how many horror movies she had seen in her life, nobody could prepare for this. That was the second execution she witnessed today. And a headshot! It's really a headshot! The loathing, pity and grief, the awaring of, that it was no way out, made Sonoko anxious: you can never tell who was preying upon you in every corner - maybe somebody was watching her even now and just waiting for the perfect time to attack. The girl felt herself as she was standing in the middle of an open field as an easy prey.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself: the murderer had already left and she was taken care of by her angel anyway - vainly - she still saw in the darkness Okumura's dead body, the white eye parts and blood everywhere. Result of another "friend's" sickening work. At best that was the person who killed Shoda in the warehouse, otherwise more joined to the game.

The second statement was more likely, Sonoko wasn't that naive for assuming the best about everyone.

Suddenly hard, confident steps could be heard again. Then a dark figure approached from the near bushes, it was a boy for sure - if some girl would have come her shirt would be garish against the green surroundings. Unfortunately, the boy was coming nearer ad nearer, moreover he held a gun! Here's the murder ladies and gentlemen!

As Sonoko thought not long ago, he had been hiding somewhere and waited just for her. Sonoko almost cried out loudly, but seeing that the classmate haven't noticed her presence yet (he walked too calmly and wonderingly, like already did his job and now everything was ready) - or this was the catch. The girl had no better idea, quickly hid behind a huge shrub and waited with intensely beating heart. When the boy came very near to her, the girl saw the student uniform filled with dried blood. No doubt, this one is playing. Ah, great... We have found the culprit, Watson!

And now she also saw that so called culprit in the midday light, the handsome Kinji Ryusaki (boys #14). Who probably suspected the presence of the other, because now he was walking with more care and looked around carefully after every step as he would be ready to shoot at any moment.

'What if Kinji knows, that I'm here and he goes into the opposite direction purposely?'

Just for a diversion dissembling that he thinks he is alone there... Then will stab Sonoko in the back. Sonoko didn't want to wait until that happens, but if she made a movement, she will surely reveal herself. So as Kinji was half in her sight, the girl started to stalk on all fours, contrary like Kinji did. She didn't believe that she could make it without a scratch, nearly felt the fatal shot on the back.

She covered a pretty much distance in this position, amid sharp rubble-stones, dirt and mud until she thought, things settled down a bit. Then came the next adrenaline-dose. A frightened wildling, maybe a deer came up out of the blue in a great suddenness, skipped over the girl and finally vanished - but the entering turned out a bit noisy.

"Damn!"

Sonoko cried excitedly, maybe louder than she should have. She felt, that her heart almost jumped out of the chest. Kinji stopped moving in a far place. He hearkened and after a short planning, he started moving again - and this time into Sonoko's direction.

The girl couldn't do differently, jumped into the thick bushes with great speed. From that hiding she got a great view by the surroundings of the place she was standing afore, as Isato Okumura's body also could be seen from there. Kinji reached Okumura by then, and after stopping he crouched and was just examining something for minutes long. He ran over his finger on the ground just like he would show over the path of something in his mind. Of course! He is searching for clues! For lack of advanced gadgets he's doing the survivor's way by using clues: the nature as GPS.

Sonoko left some traces behind and Kinji Ryusaki had found them. Later the boy got going along these traces. Sometimes he lifted up his head but it seemed like he was still watching with the "third eye" while reading the signs. He was following Sonoko's previous path apparently, skillfully and without a noise - the twin watched over not to graze to anything. His actions were cunning, that much Sonoko could say.

An agonized scream saved her skin after all (even it meant someone's end), an unexpected moan came from the near, that goaded Kinji's curiosity. He turned into the direction, he heard the screaming from and alike his brother, Riki, ran away toward the sound with enviable speed. Kinji disappeared soon in the wild.

Sonoko lightened right away and took some deep breath as sitting down to the ground to have a rest. Even she considered to move on immediately, would be quite a foolishness to waste this acquired-as-a-gift escape. Rather a surprise in the next moment, when across the way another girl stepped out of a cracked tree-hole.

Sonoko just realized who was there. The girl who she wanted to meet all the time: Rumiko Ozawa (girls #9.) She didn't need to shout, Rumiko also noticed her presence and waved her hands to greet the friend. Sonoko waved back and smiled.

"Hi, it's so good to see you!" Rumiko seemed so happy.

As the other one, too.

"Yeah" Sonoko nodded "we won't separate again. But lets go and find some shelter before Kinji's going to come back."

"Okay."

Rumiko looked around restlessly, although there wasn't any sign of movement in the near at the moment.

The warehouse, which connected the two game fields together was in the zone J5, the two students were standing in J4, westwards from it. As long as they won't be furthermore from J4 (and also from Kinji), they didn't feel safe, so they headed toward another zone. It was the zone H4, 200 metres far from J4. Their shelter was a small wooden hut, looked like an old wood-shed. Its door could be closed, and it has also an "emergency exit", a small window near the rooftop.

Big enough for Sonoko and Rumiko to crawl out in case of an attack. That was the best they could wish for a hiding place!

"That's the best we can wish for a hiding place!" said Sonoko and finally sat down to the floor, next to her classmate.

She drew up her knees to the chin and put her arm around them. They were both in this position, and none of them said something, until Rumiko noticed Sonoko's injured and bandaged arm.

"What happened to you?" Rumiko asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Sonoko answered after a moan "Inukai had ran at me with a lance."

She stared the orange scarf as Rumiko did.

"Does it hurt much?"

"I can get used to it." Sonoko acted like it wasn't something big at all, she didn't want to see Rumiko in stress.

"But what if the wound is going to be infected? Can I take a look? Maybe I can help." she wanted to do it straight away.

"Ryusaki took care of it." Sonoko refused with a soft smile.

Rumiko's eyes became round from surprise.

"Riki? He was your partner?"

"Yes."

"Mine was his brother. The worst we could get..."

"Hell yes... Now I can understand the situation before."

"Imagine..." Rumiko started to tell her escaping story

"Kinji wanted to kill me immediately after he had red the text message about solo game. I had extreme luck, that he went to settle his routine duties, so I could read the message first. I could never read fast enough, but now it was my day. I just ran without knowing any direction or something."

"Riki did the same. I mean, he wanted to kill me."

Sonoko told her part.

"We were in an open ground, he would have caught me, but... But Asuya came, so I reached the forest and escaped... I hope he's okay..."

"Yeah..."

"I don't understand why he helped me. He risked his life for me, instead of trying to find Yaeka! She is his girlfriend! I would surely look after my love in his place!"

Sonoko felt some guilt, it was enough to think, that Asuya may not lived through the fight with Riki. The other one was sitting in silence, too, she became gloomy by hearing the word "my love". She stared the floor as she would be in another world in head.

"I bet Asuya didn't get Yaeka as partner." Sonoko continued speaking "but getting the Ryusaki twins, it was an ass thing from fate. Even Murata would be a better teammate! Riki and Kinji are crazy!"

"U-huh..."

"Rumiko, everything's alright?" Sonoko finally noticed the other student's bad mood.

"Huh? What? Sure..." Rumiko, like someone was waking up from a charmed dream, started to speak, but about a finished topic.

"I could hide easier from Kinji, I think... I had more time, because Isato showed up and Kinji wanted to kill him first. Poor fellow, he had a horrible end."

She closed her eyes tightly to get rid of the sight about Isato Okumura's dead body. Rumiko was always a serene type and didn't like to see people hurting or arguing each other. It were times, when she was out of her mind and pelted the others abuses in her near, but by those occasions she tried to do harm only in the furniture. That was the trace of her parent's divorce, the heaviest times of her life, when one bad thing followed the other.

"Do you have any weapon?" Sonoko suddenly asked. She helped Rumiko to come back to reality in mind.

"No, Kinji took away from me."

"That bastard Riki took away mine, too!"

Silence came again among them. Sonoko returned to worrying about her wound, as it started to hurt with great pain - it was greater than before. Now the sitting was also uncomfortable, but she didn't even complain a word. At least the wound wasn't bleeding. If she will be lucky, she won't get septicemia. As a little girl she had been hurt by any rusty stuff, she never got septicemia. Maybe luck won't leave her even now.

Rumiko came up with a new thought.

"Did you see Shoda?"

"Sure. We were the last ones with Riki."

"Really?" that wasn't the answer Rumiko expected.

"Really." so Sonoko told the adventure with the Etsumi-Yurisa team and all the followings happened with her so far.

Her friend listened to the speech with serious face.

"You had a hard night then... day... or whatever..." answered quietly and with sympathy "I'm sure it wasn't easy to pull through.

Sonoko shook her shoulders: Never mind now.

"I have no idea, what would I do... I think nothing, sith I want to be the other me... So badly... You know..."

Sonoko, seeing her face in blush understood what did Rumiko mean by that. But she didn't understand, why is it so hard for Rumiko to speak about topics which are always on card in every day. The Ozawa girl tried to be though and started to speak: We didn't meet anyone just animals and a lot of military traps... If Kinji was not there, I would surely be dead by now...

Sonoko conceded, that she became also uncertain about their "theory", if she thought about her angel; or it was simply, because they won't be a "connective person" soon. Who knows. There is no way out from here, they are going to die all - that was certain now - her body, the instincts were against it, in soul she thought, she had already accept death.

This apocalyptic feeling let into her mind the last close-to-death experience, aka the view of Baku Shoda's cold body.

"I can't even imagine, who could do such a thing." Rumiko started. She wanted to remember him as a confident, charismatic boy, but the body fully covered in blood... It made her shiver again and again.

"I think they were afraid of Shoda. 'Cause he was strong and all. The one centric in the class." said Sonoko.

"Maybe. He was a bit... showoff. Like the others, who has rich parents."

"Yeah, he sold the Suzuki, the inheritance left by her father to a Mitsubishi Eclipse. The Suzuki wasn't good enough."

"That's not the point!" Rumiko interrupted her "we are all afraid. We are all choose our life instead of other's, that's understandable. I think the ones, who aren't themselves anymore are killing, because they are distrustful and want to evade betrayal. No?"

She took a short pause before saying out her final words:

"No matter what happens: I won't kill. I don't want to."

"Neither do I, but sometimes... If I am very angry, I think I could do it... I know if that's a terrible thought..."

"That's natural. But if you had the chance, you won't be able to do it." Rumiko looked into the other's eyes "killing is more difficult than innocents think, if you ask me."

"I don't know. I start to be more and more uncertain. You said right now, how will friends become enemies. I couldn't ever imagine, that any of us could do harm for the others. I thought we are a solidary class!"

"This case is different now... An impossible situation."

"I thought at first, we could gather and figure something out. Not that way, like Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano did in BR... I have that much carefulness but... Now I don't believe in that."

"That was a story from Koshun Takami. This IS reality! Things go elseway here. I am thinking about something in these days often..."

"And what is it?"

"We live in a student hostel and meet each other every day, but I don't know our classmates. I still don't know what should I expect from them."

'Can I trust in them? Could we accomplish, that we convince people to trust us? Can we successfully prove with our actions that we are not in this so called game? This blind bargain leaves always a question: what guarantees, that they believe us?'

Sonoko, to do something other, not just sitting, dusted her shirt (although it was so dirty, that one washing wouldn't be enough), then the skirt.

Meanwhile Rumiko continued:

"What do you think about gathering only our roommates? It may worth a try."

She talked about the room Nr. 370 in the student hostel, in which they lived on weekdays. Namely: Nana Bunya, Chisato Ozawa, Midori Ogiwara, Sonia Tenzai and themselves.

"But I have concerns about Chisato. She never liked me."

Rumiko looked like as she really was ashamed of her malevolent feelings, but Sonoko understood that. Don't need to fool others, if we fell that way. Anyway, more people were in Sonoko's "not trustworthy ones in 3/e" list.

"Now we are talking. The best if only you and I remain in the team. I had said many times before, but I am going to say it again: my trust is only yours 110 percent." Sonoko sounded clearly and confident, no one should say that she is lying.

"You know a lot of things I haven't tell even to my mother." she added.

Like hearing this applause at the first time, Rumiko got flurried. In a pleasant way of course.

"My trust is yours, too. Even if I don't know how did I deserve that."

"That's just... Things goes..."

Sonoko wished she could say out, how much she respected Rumiko. Naturally she would, but she only knew it in the bottom of her heart, everything was so distant and intangible. This was not a friendship like before, in Amika Kentaro's (she trusted in Amika very much, but Amika betrayed her - 'the last summer affair with Nana' had something to do with that) or Sayuki Shimanouchi's case; Sayuki was her best friend as a kid in elementary school. Sayuki also betrayed Sonoko, but later regretted it and thought everything will be the same. Sonoko forgave her, but things wasn't the same, no matter how much they wanted to believe the opposite.

That was the Kuroki girl's early childhood, here in the 4th Zentsuji Junior High School Amika deceived her, that they are best friend: that wasn't so, Amika was always with Nana and together they always toyed with Sonoko. Sonoko started to have a friendship with Rena then, but for that time Rena was in Benika's hands.

People often make a convenience of Sonoko's trust and kindness, no wonder, that she became quite shy and felt uncomfortable in company. This kind of past hardened her, so she decided to go on her own path and won't depend on anyone. That's why she felt, that she can't give that friendship to Rumiko, what the girl deserves. Not like Sonia Tenzai, who seemed a good friend of Rumiko in these times.

To be this nostalgic, Sonoko felt pain in her head.

"I have enough of everything. This whole shit is beyond hope."

Rumiko was ready with a comforting answer as always:

"Do not forget, we are not on our own."

Sonoko should expect for this kind of answer, but she was too confused to think about anything at the moment. But she knew exactly, how did Rumiko mean by that. Whom was she referring to, to be specific - so the chatting continued just at the point, where it broke when Rumiko shut up perplexedly.

The ones who they were talking about were Lyx and Iku: their guardian angels. The invisible watchers, who took care of them all day and all night. It was quite strange (or crazy) for others, but these two didn't care about that. Not many were let into this "theory" anyway - that everyone has a guardian angel - just a few knew about their secret. For example Sonia didn't accept that, she grew up in a catholic family.

The main thing about how this whole theory was born in their soul: the Empire was by and large a catholic nation until Emperor Yoshiro hadn't established his own cult. Sonoko and Rumiko looked upon this Catholicism to be a great hypocrisy - good example was their own school, the 4th Zentsuji Junior High School: the institute was registered as one of the main Catholic schools all over the Empire, but when the Yoshiro-cult had began, they apostatize the only God among the first ones. That was the reason the two girls started to find a new religion, a solid spot in their life to hold on to. The "theory" just came then, it wasn't just made up.

The basics was very simple: you were someone in the past, and you will be another; and in this current life you are the so called "connective person" through who you were and you will be. This "connective person" has a task: find the reason why is he or she here in the world, and when the reason had been found and the task had been solved, the connective person can leave. But they aren't alone on this tough path, they all have a guardian angel to help them out in their difficult times (in Sonoko and Rumiko's case Lyx and Iku). It is just a form of (a not free-and-easy) transmigration. But after you are aware of that, you can find the answers in your life more easily, from which you were puzzled before and didn't understand why things had happened as they did. The theory was only in a nutshell, Sonoko and Rumiko just kept it secret from public, because it wasn't that sort of thing people can learn from books or memorize for weeks at a time - like math - the theory needed an open, free mind.

So at the time Rumiko said out:

"Do not forget, we are not on our own."

Sonoko was thinking about Lyx and Iku, that they are watching them, even if the girls couldn't see.

"I wish He would be here... For real... And Lyx too. Then it won't be anything to be afraid of." said Rumiko.

"We could save the whole class." Sonoko added.

It was early in the morning now, the sun woke up and shone through the small window of the hut. Many small light-flacks were dancing on the floor.

"Oh, it's morning now." Sonoko noticed, as her belly, it growled like a hungry wolf howled.

"Yeah, we should eat. But find something at first. I can't just sit here!" Rumiko stood up, she were tired of waiting.

If they remain here, others will find them - and in the worst case - not in his/her own. That would be their end. Sonoko angrily kicked the wall:

"In BR, at least the kids got food, they had no problem with eating and drinking! No food? What kind of idiot soviet custom is this? Eh, communists!"

She hardly finished talking, a whizzing sound sounded, coming up from the open air. It was like the sound of an engine... like a...

"Plane!" the two girls shouted as one person.

They don't care about danger anymore, were immediately running into the wild meadow. What if a Japanese scout-fighter was coming? They were saved then!

The early rays of hope had gone just as fast as they came. Sonoko and Rumiko caught sight of the plane soon, and also the hammer and sickle crest on it. It was a carrier, and luckily it started to drop out small boxes with parachute: probably something from Moskvin.

"Maybe it's food! As long as I'm not dead, I need to eat something!"

Sonoko started running from the hill to examine the packs. Rumiko followed her.

Meanwhile, many other planes showed up in the far horizon, so the girls could see, that other packs are landing in the zones nearby. Just a few second later, a short beep and all the students could see the text message on their watches. It was 6 PM.


* Bun = slang, meaning: unattractive, ugly


[Number of students: 32]


Isato Okumura eliminated