Chapter Three
Kaiyo Yamada was easy to get along with. If you asked anybody, they would tell you just that. She was somewhat shy and she was always polite. Perhaps the most prominent characteristic she had was loyalty. She would stick by her friends for as long as they needed her. She didn't know that she would be with them literally to the death. Then again, with a few minor exceptions, who did?
Anyways, let's not go into what could have been when we can openly discuss what was.
Kaiyo's loyalty knew no bounds. If anyone needed something, anything she was there. She never asked anything of anyone. She hoped that people would be willing to help her when she needed it. She would have liked having a little help in the future. That is not why she helped people, though. She did not expect them to return the favor. It was just a small, barely glimmering hope.
Hope. That is one of the first things that is destroyed once you enter the Program. Hope, trust, innocence. They are all gone. They simply disappear. Loyalty doesn't always fade right away, isn't that strange? Maybe the students still have a very vague bond with their classmates. Maybe they refuse to think that anyone could become a murder victim at the age of fifteen, never mind the murderer being a classmate.
Either way, whatever it may be, lives would be lost. Kaiyo had hoped that people would remember what she did for them. Maybe they could spare her just once and she would never bother them again. She could slip by and wait until the whole Program was over. She thought that maybe, just maybe she could win. She forgot that even if she waited it out and was one of the last two, she would have to kill in order to escape an early death.
She knew. They wouldn't hurt her. They couldn't. Maybe she could meet up with someone and they could survive together? It would be harder alone. Everyone knew that. That's why someone had to want her on their team. They weren't all monsters. Right? She could have belief in that, right?
As soon as she exited the building, the first thing to greet her was an arrow to the head.
"It's alright. . . I forgive you. . . I wasn't going to win, anyways . . . was I?"
Girl #11, Kaiyo Yamada – Dead
39 Students Remaining
. ~ .
The boy in the bushes with the crossbow smiled. Another one dead. He couldn't kill them all, though. Not right away. Some of them might come in useful later, right? He couldn't kill them all; they might be able to lead him to the one person he wanted to find.
He made a promise as soon as he heard that they would be in the game. Without her noticing, he stole a glance at her face. He regretted it. He grew reattached to her, no matter what he did to try to distance himself. They were all going to die anyways, right? Why not protect the one he loved?
He knew that he was young and that anyone out there would make fun of him for claiming to have experienced love, but he knew. He knew it was real. No matter what she said to him, no matter whatever aggravated glance she threw his way, no matter what she did, he would love her. It was a funny feeling, actually. He had never felt it about anyone else.
He thought about her all the time. The way she laughed when she thought no one was looking, the way her brow furrowed when she discovered a difficult academic problem, the way he life was worth more than anyone else's. He would gladly kill for her. He'd do anything for her. If he could only find her. . .
Daisuke Yamazaki sighed and stood up. The boy behind him was still clinging on to his life. He coughed up blood and spit it at Daisuke.
"Wow, Umi! You're still alive?! Congratulations. Breathing is perhaps the only thing you can do well, isn't it?" Daisuke kicked Umi Ōta in the stomach as he walked away. For good luck.
. ~ .
Umi's breath was slowing. He knew he was dying. It wasn't fair. It wasn't.
He thought that Daisuke was his friend. When Umi saw Daisuke's weapon, he didn't think that there would be any harm in turning his back to his friend. Daisuke was powerful, but what could he do with a sample of men's cologne? That's right. Daisuke's original weapon was a cologne sample. Useless, huh? That's what Umi figured. He was wrong.
Well, he was right about it being useless, but he was wrong about Daisuke. When Umi turned to walk away, Daisuke leapt on him. It was unexpected. Umi didn't have the time to reload the crossbow, never mind aim it. Daisuke was an excellent fighter. He punched, he kicked, and he won. He knew that Umi was down, but he still managed to smash the smaller boy's head against a rock which lay on the ground.
Daisuke was aware of how powerful he was. He senselessly beat Umi Ōta to the death. Almost.
Umi was still conscious and slowly dying. His senses were numbed. The only feeling of pain that registered was Daisuke's foot in his stomach. That sent him over the edge, howling in pain.
Daisuke walked away and was gone. Umi was now not afraid to show his weakness. He cried. He thought about his mother. He called out to her, but he knew she couldn't hear him.
She had raised him all on her own. His father left one day. He said he was going to the store to get a pack of cigarettes and he never returned. Umi was four years old. From that time one, he did anything he could to make his mother proud of him. He wanted to step up and be the man of the family. He was, too. That's the terrible part. He got a job so she could quit hers. He would do anything for her. She loved him. She loved him more than anything. Umi forgot that sometimes. Self-confidence was his weakness. He would die thinking that he wasn't good enough. Now he was leaving, just like his father.
"Mom?! Mom, I'm sorry. I can't be. . . I can't be. . . " No more words would come out of Umi Ōta's mouth. Umi was dead.
"Mom?! Mom, I'm sorry. I can't be . . .I can't be . . . to you what you are to me."
Boy #13, Umi Ōta – Dead
38 Students Remaining
. ~ .
Erisa stopped. She was tired. She was completely out of breath. Considering that she was the first one out, she figured that it was safe to assume that she was far enough away from everyone to take a break.
She sat down. It was then when she finally got to observe the land around her. It was pitch black outside, but she could tell that there was a beach nearby. She could smell the salt and hear the waves pounding upon the sand. Obviously, there was a pretty thick jungle. What else was there? Erisa didn't know and she didn't care. It could wait.
She unzipped the backpack. On top was a flashlight. She knew it was a risk to do so, but she turned it on. Inside was a map and a pen, obviously to mark off the danger zones. Also, with the map there was a folded class picture. Who in their right mind would want that? Erisa did. Below the picture was a loaf of bread and a water bottle. She dug a little deeper to find her weapon. Once she did, she smiled.
. ~ .
She held her weapon. Well, that's a little inaccurate considering that it was sort of . . . huge. She heard someone approaching. She hit the weapon behind hr back.
"Who's there?!" she asked, her voice loud and clear.
"It's m-me! Kiyoshi!" a terrified voice said as he came a bit closer.
"Kiyoshi?" Erisa asked. The boy had a flashlight and pointed it towards her face, causing her to squint. He then put it on the ground. They could now see each other. He moved even closer. He needed someone.
"Erisa!" he sighed with relief. "I'm glad it's you."
She faked fear in her voice as she said "You wouldn't try to kill me, would you?"
Kiyoshi laughed. "No, I swear it." He could tell by the look on her face that she didn't believe him. He tried to prove it. "We're friends," he added. The words on the bus which were said before the two of them entered this hell.
She pulled out the extremely sharp machete which had been in her bag. The blade alone was approximately fifteen inches long and incredibly sharp. She held it towards Kiyoshi.
"Show me your weapon," she ordered. He looked completely shocked. "Show me your weapon!"
He held up his hands as if in surrender. He slowly reached into his pocket. When he brought his hand out of it, his weapon was in his hand. His assigned weapon was a common ballpoint pen.
AN: Well, here's chapter three! I hope you guys like it. The next chapter will probably be a little better, though. Special thanks to Aeyra and evanrules8 for reviewing! To
Aeyra – Thanks so much for the concrit!
evanrules8 – I agree with you. I don't want their deaths to be meaningless. What did you think of this chapter?
I'll keep updating and I hope you both (and maybe a few others) keep reviewing!