Author's note: Aside from a whole new year, and having to visit some family, thanks for waiting.

Battle Royale II: The Game

Chapter 20: Two E's: Envy and Explosions

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"And to make matters worse, once Ayatsuji had imprisoned him and Whirlwind, she'd also began scoping out my class to be the next one chosen. Especially when we'd ended up replacing the old 3-B." Keiji concluded.

Takagi and Kanami were literally speechless, before Takagi finally spoke, "Your father staged a revolt...? I never knew that until now..."

"Kanami knew this as well. Besides, I can't be the only one that gets out of the Program unscathed. I just had to find some allies to help me out." Keiji said.

Takagi suddenly rose up, and told him, "I might as well join in on your crusade. For your family's sake, and for Ayaka's sake, too."

Keiji and Kanami were surprised, but Keiji smiled confidently as he replied, "Then...welcome to the Great Crusade of 1998." He offered the dark blond-haired man one of his hands, to which Takagi shook it with an equal smile of confidence.

"By the way, what's your name in full?" he asked.

"I am Keiji Miyazaki, son of Shouichi Miyazaki." the brown-haired man replied.

"And I'm Kanami Honda." Kanami added.

At the same time, Takagi was able to find a revolver, as well as a box of ammunition, handing them over to Keiji.

"Thanks." he said with a smile.

Suddenly, the sound of bullets could be heard outside, prompting the trio to quickly notice.

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Outside the clinic, there was a young man riding a bicycle upon a slope. Upon stopping in his tracks, he took off the helmet, and looked behind as fast as possible.

The man happened to be Seiichiro, who was noticeably out of breath. To his shock, Akihito was running right after him, before firing his machine-gun several times.

Eventually, he got off the bicycle and abandoned it, before climbing up the slope. As he was nearing the clinic, the reddish brown-haired boy relentlessly followed him, hoping to finally 'catch' him.

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Back inside, Takagi told Keiji and Kanami, "Let's take a look at the map!"

It wouldn't take long for the brown-haired boy to take out his map, and splay it onto the table for him and the others to look at. "If we all meet again and avoid getting killed, we'll rendezvous at the shrine. Don't forget!" Takagi said.

The duo silently agreed by nodding, before he yelled, "GET DOWN!"

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As Keiji and Kanami heeded Takagi's commands, Seiichiro was still outside, behind the clinic. He found himself hopelessly cornered by Akihito, before he yelled, "What do you want from me?!"

"Nothing. I just want you gone." Akihito replied, before resuming his firing nonetheless. It didn't stop Seiichiro from curling into a ball reminiscent of a beehive, narrowly avoiding the numerous bullets that headed his way.

Akihito sighed, and took off. This left Seiichiro to look down and exclaimed, "This bulletproof vest works wonders! I can't believe he didn't kill me!"

He then looked over at the rooftop of the clinic, and said to himself, "Now...to deal with Keiji."

It was clear his jealousy for Keiji had began to manifest in something very dark. He had craved to be just as popular and famous as him, but in order to do so, Seiichiro had to effectively kill him.

Pulling out his machete, he began to climb up to the rooftop of the clinic. However, he was unaware that Keiji, Kanami and even Takagi had hid somewhere in the building.

"Keiji...Keiji...where are you?" he asked in a very sinister tone of voice.

That is, until he felt something hit his torso. Looking down, Seiichiro saw that the blade of a katana pierced through him, and turned his head to see Akihito standing before him.

He had also decided to surprise him by climbing up and attacking him by using the katana he had found while searching the island. Seiichiro was just about to curse when Akihito finally sliced at his back, before cutting his head off, and it swiftly fell off the roof and into the ground.

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Hearing the screams from outside, Keiji noticed that they belonged to Seiichiro. In fact, he had been very unaware of his former friend's intent to killing him as punishment for having greater fame and recognition than him.

"Was that Miyagi?" he heard Kanami ask in a very low whisper.

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Back outside, Akihito crouched before the now bloodied, headless corpse of Seiichiro, before he said, "I don't have time for this."

It wouldn't take long for him to jump off the roof, walking towards Seiichiro as he took out a grenade.

Seiichiro Miyagi, Boy #20, deceased

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Back inside, Keiji, Kanami and Takagi were tense, wondering if the noises were finally gone. It seemed so as a long bout of silence filled the air, until...

The sounds of the doorknob as it rattled could be heard by the trio, as well as a key attempting to open the door. Almost quickly, Takagi took out his SPAS12, waiting to fire.

Then, the sound of glass broken occurred, and out from the window was the decapitated head of Seiichiro, prompting Kanami to shriek in terror. It also didn't help that a grenade was in his mouth about to detonate at any second.

And it did; causing the clinic to explode. Akihito also showed up, firing at the trio.

Takagi and the others were able to get out of there without being killed, and he began shooting at Akihito while Keiji and Kanami hid in the shadows.

However, the brown-haired boy had remembered the revolver and ammunition that he was given, and began firing at him, too. "Takagi! We'll meet you at the shrine!" he yelled at the dark blond-haired man.

"Yeah! Now take Kanami and head out!" Takagi replied.

With that, the duo started running until several bullets were able to nearly reach them, causing them to take two different hiding spots. "Keiji!" she exclaimed.

Keiji was about to yell when he found out that Akihito had used another grenade in an attempt to kill both him and the brown-haired girl. He quickly sprinted, before the second explosion could be heard, and he found himself landing into the ground from such an impact.

"Keiji! Where are you?!" Kanami called out in desperation, looking around to see where he was. Did he disappear? Or was he dead? That was all she needed to know...

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With love for my fans,

Chrissy