Chapter Seventeen

Erisa Sakamoto was sitting at a long wooden table. The person who sat across from her was none other than herself.

The other Erisa spoke first. "Well, look at you," she said. "You're doing well."

Erisa nodded. "I am."

"Do you think you'll win?" asked the other.

"Yes."

The other Erisa leaned forward a bit. Erisa made eye contact with the other version of herself and held her gaze. "Why?"

Erisa gave a small laugh. "Why?! Because I actually want to live."

"Even at this price?" the other Erisa asked.

Erisa shrugged. "It's not much of a cost, really." She looked around the room. There was nothing in there, aside from their table and the light hanging from the ceiling. The walls were plain and white.

"Oh?" asked the other Erisa. It didn't seem like she really truly cared, though.

"Yeah, I'm better than them," Erisa said.

The other Erisa turned her head slightly. "Are you?"

"Of course!"

"And after? What will you do after, when there's no one left? You won't be able to sneak out with Daisuke and Kama. You won't be able to make fun of Imako and Suzume. You'll have to move out of your town. Your parents will be ashamed of you. Your brother will be scared of you."

Erisa thought about this for a minute, even though she had already done so before. "I don't need any of them. There will be other schools, other classmates. As for my family, don't you think they would be proud to have a relative who survived the Program?"

The other Erisa once again made contact with the girl across from her. "And what about Ruriko?"

Erisa broke eye contact. "What about her?"

"You know you won't be able to survive without her," the other Erisa said.

"Bullshit, of course I can. Besides, I have to try something. People who don't do anything when they are perfectly able to end up limiting their own chances. Those are the worst kind of people."

"Really?" the other Erisa asked. "And what exactly are the people who steal away the chances of others?"

Erisa said nothing, she just glared at the girl across from her.

"Erisa?" another voice asked. Erisa turned around. Behind her stood none other than Kiyoshi Okamoto.

"What do you want?!" Erisa asked angrily.

He remained standing, he showed no emotions on his pale face. "You're going to pay for what you did to me."

Erisa laughed. "I doubt it."

"My family cried, you know. My parents were watching. They saw what you did. You broke their hearts." It was as if Erisa could hear the Okamoto family's sobs. "You will pay, I promise."

"You're not the real Kiyoshi," Erisa said. "The real Kiyoshi wouldn't be mad at me, he'd understand what I did. So fuck off!" Erisa turned around, back to the other Erisa. "And you," she said, "You're a monster."

The other Erisa smiled. "I'm the monster here?!"

After that, Erisa Sakamoto woke up.

. ~ .

She stood up and rubbed her eyes. "Shit, how long have I been asleep?" she asked Ruriko, who looked at her the way a child would.

Ruriko shrugged. "About fifteen minutes?"

"Fuck," Erisa muttered under her breath. "I'll be right back."

Ruriko looked worried. She didn't want her friend to go. "That's what you said last time!"

"Don't worry," Erisa said. "This time I really do mean it."

"Do you promise?" Ruriko asked.

"Yes, I promise."

. ~ .

She ran to the clearing to meet Daisuke as fast as she could. She did hope he was alright, and that he had taken out Yukio, who was the biggest problem at the moment.

When she got there, she saw him, slowly staggering towards her. She ran towards him. He fell, she sat down next to him and cradled his head in her lap. He was covered in wounds. She was scared for him.

"Erisa?" he asked. "Oh, god. Erisa."

"It's okay, Daisuke. I'm right here. I won't leave." She looked down into his eyes. His stare seemed vacant, but she hoped he could still see her.

"I didn't get him, Erisa. He's stronger than we thought. I at least weakened him, though. I-I took out his eye, his left eye, but I couldn't kill him. I'm sorry."

"Daisuke, it's alright. You're still here, that's what matters." But she knew. Erisa knew that Daisuke was only moments away from death.

He knew it, too. "I'm sorry I won't be here to protect you. Will you be okay?"

"I hope so," she said. "And I'll try to win it. . . for you." She looked down on him again, she leaned towards him and kissed him.

"Oh god," he said. "I don't want to die. Stay with me, Erisa. Please." He grabbed her hand and held on to it. He was crying.

"It's alright, everything is going to be okay," Erisa said. "I love you."

"Erisa, I love," he gasped. With a sigh, he let out his last word, "you."

"It's okay . . . this was a love that I didn't mind dying for."

Boy #3, Daisuke Yamazaki - Dead

6 Students Remaining

Erisa lit up a cigarette as she walked away. She knew that the danger zones were being selected very carefully, almost as if to gather everyone together in one spot for one final showdown. They were rigging their experiment.

She wandered the borderlines between zones which were still safe. That's where she found her. She was walking, too.

She was walking with her head down, she looked skinnier than she was before, and she was even paler. She looked lost, she looked broken. She saw Erisa and made no motion towards her. Both girls stopped walking.

"Murakami, Kama," Erisa greeted.

"Erisa," Kama said quietly.

"Daisuke's dead," Erisa said.

Kama sat down. Erisa did, too. "Did he tell you?" she asked. Erisa nodded. "You know, I never thought you two would end up together. I figured he and I would settle for each other and stay where we were for the rest of our lives. I could see it all."

"Where did you see my future going?" Erisa asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know, Erisa. It doesn't even matter. This fucked us up."

Erisa nodded and offered Kama a cigarette, which she took.

"I need your help," Erisa said. "Daisuke tried to kill Yukio, who is our biggest threat. He got hurt and didn't make it. But he said he weakened him. Yukio's now blind in his left eye. I've been thinking, what if we could take him out? I'm not sure if I could do it alone."

"And after?" Kama asked.

"We make a pact ahead of time not to kill each other, but let's say an hour, after Yukio's death it doesn't matter anymore. We part ways. We can also try to see if Ruriko will be of any use in this."

Kama laughed. "You mean Ruriko's still alive?!"

Erisa didn't find that funny. "If you kill her, I kill you. Stay away from her."

"I wouldn't waste my time killing the likes of her. I agree with this, but do you even have half of a plan?"

Erisa smirked. "You underestimate me too much, of course I do."

"Tell me."

AN: Yeah, this was due the 12th, I said I'd get it out the 9th, but what day is it? The 14th. Sorry guys! Before you guys leave this as concrit, yes, there will be a part featuring Kama and her opinion on teaming up with Erisa, but it fit better into the next chapter. Anyway, this story's almost over! I can't wait to see how all of you react to the ending (but at the same time I'm going to miss contact with you guys!). I have this all planned out, so I love seeing how you guys guess at it. It makes me so happy and every review I get just makes my day, so thank you for your time! Thanks for reading, review? Oh, and one more thing? I see a lot of comments against Erisa. A couple of you gave some good reasons, but I'm looking for more, so I'll leave you with this question; why exactly? Please be as detailed as you can!
Please Respond: Yes, I admit the chapter was pretty rushed, probably because I don't really want to end up boring you guys with a lot of their plans but not enough action. Hopefully this one doesn't seem like it was written as fast. Thank you for reviewing!
Sami: Alright, August 13th sounds fine for the end of the sequel/alternate thing. I don't even know what to call it! I have a name for it, it probably won't give away spoilers, but I'm still a little hesitant to tell you guys (I think I have somewhere before, like twice, but oh well!) I know a lot of people don't like Erisa, but I really like writing her parts! As for cigarettes, well you're not in high-school yet, but here's my advice, don't. It's not like I view smoking as a problem (I think people can do whatever they want to do), but you shouldn't while you're underage, wait until you're at least old enough to make the decision to legally buy them. In high school (or maybe even now, I don't know your exact circumstances,(plus my state's a lot different, it's legal for people of any age, including kids and teenagers, to smoke but you have to be 18 to buy them. This state's really weird)) people may offer them to you, but don't feel like you have to say yes, people are pretty cool with whatever you say, yes or no (I've said no politely to people before, just don't give them a problem and they won't give you one.) They won't be offended and they won't make fun of you, so do whatever you decide, don't think about them! So yep, that's my somewhat cheesy lecture on peer-pressure, but you probably get those enough! On a lighter, probably more interesting note, I see your point, but at the same time, think of Shuya and his music. He knew he wasn't supposed to have American rock music, but he did anyway. He has his own stubbornness, so does Katniss. The major difference between the two is that Shuya stepped up to be a revolutionary leader whereas Katniss whined about it over and over. Ah, BRII is very good! It's a bit harder to find (not like extremely hard, you just have to know where to look, I found it on the first try), there's no English dub, there are subtitles but it's in Japanese. Here's why, it came out in either 2002, which was after 9/11. In the first scene, it shows two buildings being blown up by Shuya (who is labeled as a terrorist). So, American movie producers didn't want to pick it up and pay for it to be dubbed over. I understand why, but at the same time they were Japanese buildings (I forget what they're called now, I'll probably remember right after I write this), but anyway, it shows Noriko and Shuya still together. Oh and in original BR, I do believe that Chigusa really cared for Hiroki. I know he liked Kotohiki, but he was perfect with Chigusa.

Wow, the responses I write you are always so long. Sorry, hope you don't mind!