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Chapter Fourteen
Daisuke was cold. The winds were blowing by him, causing him to shiver. The snow kept piling up around him. It was falling from the sky as if it's only goal was to bitterly pound on him. But he kept trudging through it. He kept walking. He had to get to that light, no matter how far off it seemed.
He walked for hours on end. He wouldn't stop until he got to it. He wasn't exactly sure what it was he would find there, but he knew it would be exactly what he was looking for. He struggled, it nearly took him an eternity, but he got there.
He did not feel pride at making this achievement. He did not feel happiness, or any positive emotion one can name. He felt a pang of fear, but it was gone as soon as it came. He did not feel anything negative, in fact he did not feel anything. He felt nothing, which was the best feeling he had ever felt.
A girl was there, she was the source of the light. Daisuke would not pretend that he did not recognize her. He knew quite well who she was. And she knew him.
When she looked at him, she did not have a smile upon her face. He was smiling like a madman, she was not. She just looked at him. Around her, Daisuke noticed that there was no snow whatsoever, instead there was a circle of grass. There were even flowers.
He said her name, but it felt foreign on his tongue, as if he had never said it or hadn't said it for an awfully long while. In fact, it all seemed foreign. It was as if she wasn't his girl anymore. It was as if she had never interacted with him and had no desire to interact with him. He had changed as well, but his loyalty did not fade. Her loyalty, on the other hand, he was unsure exactly where her loyalties resided. He hated himself for thinking that. She was his, and he knew that there was no way she would betray him. He believed that, he had to.
"What am I doing here?" he asked her.
"You're dreaming," she said. Her voice was soft. "I don't dream anymore. I actually miss it. Right now, I envy you."
"I'm asleep? In the middle of the Program?!"
She did not smile. She felt the fear coming off of him in waves. She allowed herself a small smirk, lasting only a few seconds before it completely vanished. "One does not have to be asleep to dream."
"So what am I doing then?" he asked. Part of him wanted to prove her wrong and show her that she didn't know everything, even though she pretended to. The other part of him felt like crying at her feet and begging her to make it all stop.
"What are you doing? This." She waved her hand and there was now a small hole in the blizzard, as if it had been a painting and she had cut a circle through it only to reveal a different painting underneath.
When Daisuke looked through it, he saw a terrifying scene unfurling beneath. It was him, he was there but he was also here, and he was fighting a boy he barely recognized. He knew his name and his face, but not much else. "Should I stop this?" he voiced aloud.
"No," said his girl. "I don't want you to."
"What do you want?" he asked. Did she want this? Did she want this massacre?
"I want us to win," she said. She said it in a way that was so innocent, so thought out, that even Daisuke was convinced that she could do no wrong.
He stepped towards her, and before she could step back, he wrapped his arms around her. "We will," he said. He wanted to kiss her. Words can't describe how badly he just wanted to stay there and hold her, to kiss her neck, to hold her hand, to never let go of her embrace. But he knew he couldn't. He had to find her first, he had to protect her where it really mattered.
"Go back down there," she whispered in his ear. "Find me. Win."
Daisuke nodded. "I will." And with that, she slowly disappeared; she was blown away with the snow and the wind.
. ~ .
When he arrived back in the Program again, he was hot. He was sweating. He was hurt. There was blood all over his hands, all over his face, and all over his back. Was it his blood or someone else's?
He looked around, trying to find someone who it could possibly belong to. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could give it back.
He didn't want to do this anymore. He didn't want to play this game, he didn't want to follow the rules. He was Daisuke Yamazaki and he did whatever he wanted. He didn't want to do this anymore, but he would. He would do it for her. He would win it for her. Why? Because he loved her and that was the only emotion he felt of which he was sure.
When he saw what he had done, he fell to his knees and put a hand over his mouth.
On the ground in front of him lay a boy. It was Koji Yoshida. Koji was covered in blood, he had a huge gash across his forehead. He made eye contact with Daisuke, his killer.
He pointed a shaking finger at him and uttered one last word. "Why?"
"I never did anything to you. . . why, just why?"
Boy #10, Koji Yoshida - Dead
10 Students Remaining
. ~ .
Where, oh where had her Koji gone? Her name was Hikaru Yamasaki. She was going out with him. It may not have been a big deal to anyone else, but it was to her. He was her first boyfriend, and she couldn't have been happier.
He reminded her of a teddy bear, or maybe a puppy. He had to step up for the Program, though. He protected her, but he was not a murderer. They had been holding hands, she had only walked off a little but to use the bathroom. He should have stayed where he was. She wanted to call out to him, but she was afraid she would be discovered.
Instead, she walked around a bit. She heard a gasp. That was him, right? It had to be.
She walked over with a smile. That faded as she saw her lover there, dead. Her mouth dropped open.
"I'm sorry," said a boy who she knew she should fear. "You needed him, didn't you? Well she needs me, and I need her more than you can imagine. You have to help me."
"I'd never help you," she said.
"I don't need you to physically help," he said. "What I need, is for you to die."
He stood up and stepped towards her. He didn't want to hurt her, she was like a dandelion. What he was looking for though, it was a rose.
She turned and tried to run, but his hands found their way onto her neck before she even got a chance.
"I pity the girl that you did this for."
Girl #8, Hikaru Yamasaki - Dead
9 Students Remaining
. ~ .
She knew it was a risk, she did. She knew she shouldn't have crossed into a new zone. Ruriko would worry until she got back, wouldn't she? Still, there was only one thing Erisa was born to do.
She was walking. She just needed to see if there was anyone around. If she knew what it was she was going to find, she would have ran in the opposite direction.
. ~ .
He was nearing the edge of the zone. He didn't know why. He was just wandering. That was the only thing he could do, he couldn't find her that day and he knew it. It just wasn't the day.
He was going to continue forwards, but there was a large hill. He didn't want to climb it, so he just stood there looking at it.
Someone cleared their throat behind him. "It's me, don't worry. I want to make a deal with you."
"Oh?" asked Daisuke.
"Yes. You're going to walk up the hill there, and I'm going to walk in the opposite direction. We won't have any problems," said the boy.
"Okay," said Daisuke. But he didn't mean it.
The boy walked away slowly. He walked backwards, never taking his eyes off Daisuke.
Daisuke, the larger of the two, jumped towards him and pushed him. He fell to the ground. Daisuke stood over him and wrapped his arms around the boy's neck.
Suddenly, he looked up. He couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was fate.
What he saw changed him. For there, standing on the top of the hill, was none other than girl number eighteen, Erisa Sakamoto.
AN: Cliffhanger! Gasp! I kept listening to Billy Talent's "Navy Song" and "Hospital for Souls" by Bring Me the Horizon, not sure which one really inspired the first part up there. By the way, the book I was referencing last chapter was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review?
Sami:Wow, you're eleven?! I wouldn't have guessed, I thought you were at least in high school! If you write as well as you review, I don't think anyone can tell, and it's always good to get feedback as soon as you can. I've been publishing fanfictions online for three years and I've been on a number of websites. This one is my favorite, though. You can read, you can review, you can publish, yes, but you can also privately message other users, add stories and authors to a favorites list, get email alerts for stories, and join forums/communities (I haven't really done that, though!) This website is a little hard to figure out, but once you get it, it's amazing. And other sites, there's Quizilla, which is fun for taking quizzes and polls. I've published some stuff on there but it's way too glitchy. There's also Wattpad, but it's a little hard to actually get good feedback on. I've been on a few others, but those are the only ones that left a somewhat good impression. Maybe you won't agree with me on this, but I think Fanfiction is the best!