Chapter Four
Aika Maeda had been walking home from an after-school event the first time she officially met him. She didn't see him walking along the same street as her. She stopped to take something out of her purse.
That's when it hit her. Bam.
It literally knocked her backwards and began licking her face. She started laughing.
"Hoji! No! Bad dog, get off her!" she heard someone approaching. Suddenly, someone grabbed the dog's collar and began gently pulling him away.
"I'm so sorry!" the boy said while helping Aika up. She still had that smile on her face.
"It's no problem," she assured him. "I didn't know you had a dog. I'm sorry, I don't even know your name," she admitted.
"I'm Akemi. Akemi Yamasaki. This here," he gestured to the canine beside him "is Hoji."
"I'm Aika Maeda. It's nice to meet you, Yamasaki."
She began walking and he walked beside her. She was glad to have the company. "You're new here aren't you?" she asked him.
"Yep. I transferred over here from Kyoto last week. We're in the same class," he said with a smile and a slight blush.
How could he have been smiling? That is the question. He had been having a hard time adjusting to the third year class. The groups had already been formed and people already had their friends, as expected. Akemi thought he had a chance. Back at home, he was what one would possibly call "popular". He had a lot of friends and they all shared a lot of laughs. Some of them even cried when he moved. He thought he could make new friends. He had tried, but unfortunately, he had failed.
Aika suddenly felt bad, for she was no exception.
Little did either of them know that in a mere three weeks, they would officially declare themselves a couple.
. ~ .
Another thing that neither of them knew was that approximately five months later they would be the first group of students chosen for the Program.
Akemi had waited for her. Other students had intended to wait for their friends, but very few of them actually succeeded in this task. Perhaps they ran away because they were frightened. Maybe they thought that their friend was not worth risking their own life for.
Whatever it was, it does not apply to this case. Akemi Yamasaki had waited for Aika Maeda.
When Aika stumbled out of the school, tears were pouring out of her eyes. When she heard Akemi call out to her, she couldn't believe it. She thought she had died and that it was the voice of an angel going to take her to her own heaven. There were no angels there.
"Akemi?" she hugged him tightly.
"I'm here," he said softly. "I'm here, its okay."
"I thought you were gone forever or that I'd never see you again," she said.
He looked over her shoulder and saw the next student coming out of the building. "Come on, we have to go." He put his arm around her shoulder and together they walked.
They walked rather slowly. They just didn't care anymore. They did not need to tell each other that they would not be playing, the other already knew.
"Can you believe that we were chosen for this game?!" Aika whispered into the darkness.
"Can you believe that people would actually play?" Akemi asked back.
"Yes," Aika said. "I can. What about Sakamoto? You saw that look on her face. Even Satō-sensei said that -"
Akemi cut her off, "Please. You know she wouldn't kill anyone. He just said that to set us against one another."
"Fine, maybe not Sakamoto. What about Yamazaki or Murakami?"
"I haven't known them long, but I'd guess that Yamazaki is all talk and no action and Murakami wouldn't have the nerve. Why are you targeting the people that have it the hardest?" he hadn't meant to say that last line. She knew it. It had just slipped out.
"You're right," she sighed. "I'm a terrible person."
"No! Aika, no you're not. You're a logical person."
They drifted away into a silence that lasted about five minutes. Then Aika broke it by saying, Akemi, they said once every student left, the school would become a danger zone."
"Yes? I know."
"We're not close to the edge are we?"
"No we're not. I know that, too."
He stopped and sat on a rock. From there, you could see the ocean and the son rising just over the horizon. "Aika, if you want to play, you can go. I'm not playing, I refuse. Would you like to know why?" She couldn't speak. Silently, she nodded. "Because we can't win together. There can only be one winner and I don't want to go home without you. Besides, what do I have back there?"
"What are you talking about?! You have your father and Hoji and all the people back in Kyoto," Aika wanted to change his mind. Maybe she wanted to survive.
"Trust me, I know my dad. He protested, I know it. He's a very brave man, there's no way he'd let them take me. He's gone now. They probably shot Hoji too, for amusement. Kyoto? They've gotten along fine without me so far. The only thing I really have, Aika," he paused and looked into her eyes "is you."
She sat with him. "I-I love you, Akemi."
"I love you, Aika Maeda. I swear I would have made you my wife." They sat in silence for yet another moment before he said "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Together, they looked at the incoming dawn. Their side of the world was just awakening. "It is," she said. Neither of them pointed out that it was the last dawn that they would ever see.
In a scary unison, their collars began to beep. They each blocked out the image of Haru running around blindly before his death. They embraced each other and in a moment, they were gone.
Many say that a person sees their life pass before their eyes as they die. That is not what Akemi and Aika saw. They saw what could have been.
A wedding. A child. A school where that child would be safe. Age. Grand-children. Peace. Happiness. Just like that, their futures were washed away.
"Aika Maeda . . . is it really possible. . . for someone like you to exist? . . . Or have I been dreaming all along?
Boy #20, Akemi Yamasaki – Dead
37 Students Remaining
"Akemi . . . there is so much I have to say to you . . . I wish we could see a new dawn tomorrow. . . At least I die in the comfort of your arms."
Girl #1, Aika Maeda – Dead
36 Students Remaining
. ~ .
Tadashi Sasaki hated himself for being right. He knew he couldn't win. His weapon didn't add to his chances either. A sock, really? It wasn't even a pair of socks; it was a single sock. It even had a hole in it!
"Well this is just great! This is just really fucking great!" he yelled to the sky. He couldn't even see it completely because the thick jungle foliage blocked his view.
He heard laughter behind him. "It is great, isn't it?! In fact, it's so great that words can't describe it! Let's get right to the action, shall we?"
A lone figure jumped out of the shadowy plants and placed its hands on Tadashi's shoulders. It laughed again. "Recognize me?"
"N-No," Tadashi choked out.
"Aww, that's too bad. You'll never get to know your killer! Ah, well. Can't win 'em all, can we?"
With that, a single metal object sliced the air, traveling through Tadashi's neck. The assailant put it to her side as the boy fell to the ground.
She laughed yet again and fave a smile that no one could see. She grabbed his bags and said "See ya later!" and skipped away.
"Damn it. . . The one time I knew I was right. . . is the time I wish I was wrong. . . "
Boy #16, Tadashi Sasaki – Dead
35 Students Remaining
. ~ .
Kama Murakami felt sick. The nice girl act had taken a lot out of her. She'd have to remember not to be nice to her future victims. Still, Tadashi had never bothered her. That didn't mean that he was to be spared.
She had heard something. It was off to her right. It was loud and it was close. Her grip tightened around the sickle which had been in the backpack she had been assigned. She smiled. This time, it was an evil smile. She was going to win it, wasn't she? She ran off to the right, closer to the noise. "Another target is about to go," she thought.
She didn't know that if she went a little ways to her left, she might have been able to take two other targets by surprise. She might have been able to kill Erisa Sakamoto and Kiyoshi Okamoto. But that would have made the game a lot less fun.
. ~ .
Fumika Ishii wasn't supposed to be in this game. She was better than all of the others! She was the most popular, the prettiest, the smartest, the cutest girl in the world! At least, that's what she thought. Little did she know that her makeup was running because of the tears. She was oblivious that her pink nail polish was chipping off. She ignored the fact that she was covered in icky sweat. She was beautiful. Every boy wanted her and every girl wanted to be her.
She realized her errors while in the program. She wasn't perfect. It took reality to be brutally shoved down her throat in order for her to understand that. She was genuinely, truly sorry.
She heard a chuckle. Despite the fact that it was getting brighter and brighter with the incoming dawn, she still couldn't see properly. "Who's there?" she asked, sounding more confident than she really was.
"Fumika Ishii, you made my life miserable. You managed to make every single day into a living hell for me. Prepare to pay for it. Prepare to die!"
A strong force hit her from behind. Something sharp dug into her back. This time, the killer had the sense to roll her victim over so she could see who had bested her.
"K-Kama Mura-a-kami? I-I'm s-so sorry," were the last words that Fumika Ishii would ever say.
She looked into the eyes of the girl she had picked on for an uncountable number of years. It was obvious that Kama didn't expect an apology. She laughed and spat blood.
Fumika, the girl who had once been so proud, let out a heart wrenching, inhuman scream. She was dead.
"I am sorry, Kama. . . I'm sorry to everyone. . . We all could have been . . . should have been . . . friends."
Girl #6, Fumika Ishii – Dead
34 Students Remaining
. ~ .
"What the heck was that?!" Kiyoshi asked.
Erisa shrugged. "I don't know. Unless you want to stick around to find out, I suggest we head in the opposite direction." She began to walk away.
Kiyoshi didn't follow. "Shouldn't we see if they're alright?" he asked himself.
"Kiyoshi?! Come on. Remember, you're the one who wanted an alliance. Don't slow me down. Come on!" Erisa said impatiently.
Against the will of Kiyoshi's conscience, they moved on.
AN: Well, what do you guys think? I wanted to make the Aika/Akemi scene right, how'd I do? Also, I have a feedback question that I want to ask you guys. Aika guessed that Erisa would be one of the killers. Do you think that Erisa will be a killer? I just want to see the result that her first impression gives. (Side note: This story is about the whole class, much like original "Battle Royale" but the true main character is Erisa, much like Shuya.) So what do you think? Is she a killer or not? Thanks so much for reading! Make my day and leave a review too?