5
Chapter Eight
"Hm," said the man while staring at the screen. "They all seem to be in the same area. Maybe they still believe in each other?"
Yemon SatÅ laughed. "I don't think so. Pure coincidence. Besides, they're all dying. If they wanted to live they wouldn't all stay there, now would they?"
"Still, it is a possibility."
"Please. You're just reading into it too much."
The man smiled. "No, not at all. You're not looking at it enough. You probably don't even have a guess as to who will win, now do you?"
"You mean a bet?" Yemon asked. All of the people in the room looked up from the computer they were stationed at. "My opinion would probably be the most accurate and also the most biased, considering that I've taught these kids for a year in the past. Either way, we will have none of that in these halls. Do you all hear me?" Everyone around the room nodded. "It's about noon. Make it a danger zone. I'm going to read off the announcements."
. ~ .
Erisa Sakamoto was still following the group. They didn't even know it due to the fact that she was always so far behind them. She wondered where it was they thought they were going. There was nothing in the direction they were heading. Nothing.
"Good afternoon students!" a voice said cheerfully. "How about you all put down your weapons and listen to this? It seems as if many of you are gathered into one place. I advise that you either kill each other fast or split up. Keep in mind that zones with a lot of people in them will become danger zones."
As Yemon was reading the new danger zones off, Erisa was trying to think of a way to use them to her advantage. She couldn't think of one.
"Now the weaker ones who are no longer with us. Girl #20, Yuka Matsuda. Boy number - -" Yemon's voice seemed to be caught in his throat. Erisa looked up from the class picture and stared off in the direction of the school building as if she could see him. He quickly regained his articulation abilities. He cleared his throat and said, "Boy #9, Kiyoshi Okamoto." He proceeded to name every student. "Which makes a total of thirteen dead, if we didn't forget any unfortunate soul. Thirteen and eight last time makes a total of what? Twenty-one! That's right! Let me just say this right now: I don't think I've ever been more proud of any of you than I am at this moment. Enjoy your killings, try not to die. See you next time, if you're lucky enough!"
Erisa laughed.
. ~ .
Suzume, Imako and Ruriko were walking in a respectful silence. They had tried to convince their friend to stay, really they had. She left out of love. At least, that's what they told themselves.
"This is going to be a danger zone in less than an hour," Suzume pointed out.
"You think we don't know that?!" snapped Imako.
"What are we going to do?" asked Ruriko. The simplicity and bluntness of her question left them all in silence.
There wasn't much that they could do. They had no weapons. All they had received was a thin wire, a fan, and a key covered in rust. They assumed that it went to nothing. Still, Ruriko held on to it like she held onto her hope.
"We're going to get the fuck out of the danger zone as soon as we can," said Imako.
"Are you seriously that stupid?! Everyone's going to be getting out at the same time, we should just wait until everyone has already gone," insisted Suzume.
"That makes no sense. Do you want to explode?! It's no fun, just ask Haru!" shot back Imako.
"I think you're both pretty fucking stupid," said Erisa as she walked towards them.
"Erisa! When did you get here?!" asked Ruriko with a huge smile. She shrugged a response.
Ruriko walked over to her friend and embraced her in a hug. Erisa wasn't sure if she should return this gesture. She did, but almost with fear in her movements.
As soon as they let go of each other, their peaceful moment was shattered.
"Put your hands up!" yelled Suzume.
"We have a gun!" added Imako.
"Really? What a coincidence, so do I," was Erisa's calm response. She knew that they had no weapons. She knew that Ruriko wouldn't let them kill her even if they did. She knew that she could kill them. She also knew that she couldn't.
"Ah, one more thing?" asked Erisa. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to be taking your weapons now. That is, if you have any."
"Who's going to make us?"
Erisa laughed, "You guys really are moronic." She quickly grabbed Ruriko and held her gun to her temple. "Weapons. Now."
Suzume's hands balled into fists. Imako chuckled. Ruriko went silent.
"Stop playing around. We all know that you wouldn't shoot her," Imako said uneasily.
"Do you really know that?" asked Erisa. "How well do you know me? How do you know I wouldn't do it?"
"We don't," said Ruriko. She was terrified. "Guys, we have no choice. Just give it to her."
Suzuma and Imako opened their bags and threw the so-called "weapons" in Erisa's direction, afraid to move closer.
"Now," said Erisa. "Drop your bags and run before I change my mind. You all might just escape with your lives."
They just stared at her. Their bags were all they had. Ruriko still stood with a gun to her head.
"Go, guys. You're my best friends and I don't want you to die for me."
They took a last look at her and glared at Erisa. It was as if the two moved as one. Together, they left. Erisa bit her lip. When they were out of earshot, she let out a laugh.
" . . . and I don't want you to die for me?! What kind of bullshit is that?!" Erisa said between a series of laughs.
"Hey, it was true!" Ruriko said with her hands on her hips. "They believed it, didn't they?"
"You knew I wouldn't kill you, though?"
"Of course!"
Erisa stuck out her hand. "Allies?" Ruriko shook it.
. ~ .
She went over his house once. Daisuke would never forget that night. His father was out of town for a few weeks and his mother hadn't been around since the day of his birth. He was alone.
It was the middle of the night. Someone was knocking at his door. He went to open it. He was genuinely surprised by who he saw standing there. "Why are you here?" he asked.
She smiled and chuckled. "Hi, Daisuke! Listen, my parents are fighting it out and I didn't want to stay for it. Got a place where I can sleep tonight?"
Daisuke melted the minute he saw her face light up in that smile. "Sure," he said. "Come on in."
She followed him into the small house. She was giggling. "Hey Daisuke? Want to know a secret?"
"Of course," he said while clearing the couch for her.
She laughed again. "I'm drunk." The giggles resumed. She jumped on the couch and laid down.
"Really?" he asked. He wondered why he hadn't smelled it on her the minute she first came in. Maybe he didn't want to/
She chuckled again. "Yep. But don't think you're going to get anything out of it."
He sat down on a chair and stared at her. "That's not what I was thinking," he said. Her eyes were closed. She looked peaceful. "Anything else you do which I should know about?"
"Everything," she said without opening her eyes.
"You tired?" he asked her. She nodded.
"Night, Daisuke."
"Goodnight, - "
Before he could hear himself say her name again, he snapped out of his memory. He didn't want to remember that night. Well, he did. In all honesty, he really did. But that meant he would also have to remember the next morning.
It was about eleven o'clock. He had just opened his eyes and realized that she wasn't on the couch anymore. He sat up and looked over towards the door. It was half open, with her still standing there. He would never forget the look she gave him. It was filled with so much hate. Then she left, just like that. They hadn't really spoken after that incident. But he loved her.
He didn't know why. He hoped he would figure it out once he saw her again. He loved her and he would find her. He had to.
AN: It has been forever. I've been so busy finishing my COTC story, I totally forgot about this one. I was celebrating finishing one and was legit being so lazy, sitting, eating breadsticks, and planning new fanfics and I was like "Wait! I have First to finish!" And I decided that I wasn't going to really focus on reality today, I was just going to write. It was worth it.
Aeyra : I just realized today that I never answered your questions in my last AN. Hope you're still reading! And I thought that Akako could be a boy or girl name. And it wasn't originally, I've been noticing that a lot with this story, actually! One of the characters is named "Aika Maeda" and the actress who plays Noriko in the BR movie is named Aki Maeda and I didn't do it on purpose, I was just like ". . . oh?"
Anyway, I'll be updating this a lot more now. Please review! Thanks for reading!