Chapter 12
Chapter 12, the story is getting tenser as time goes by! From now on, all chapters will have author's notes, where I'll explain some concepts I inserted in my chapters after the readers are done reading it. Please review!
Walking with a stranger is a strange thing. There's always the feeling of being chased instead of being followed, and insecurities take hold. It's impossible to predict what the stranger is about to do, what are his intentions or what he's really thinking. A tense atmosphere fills the air, like a cloud of black smoke. It's not hard to comprehend how Rena Kuroda and Natsumi Moriguchi felt while walking with Aya Tsunaba.
The girls had just looked up their localization in the map. They were on zone B-5, a poor area where the streets were narrow and dirty, and it was hard to ignore the smell of garbage. Finding Shizuko wasn't their objective anymore. It would be hard to spot her in such a large place like Saitama, being better to just randomly look for people to ally with.
This is where Aya came into picture. Since she found the two best friends in the park, the class's most undecipherable student did not say any word besides the first hello. Aya did not seem to be hostile, but the girls decided to abandon her there, out of distrust. However, the girl kept following them closely, like a stalker. Rena and Natsumi could understand her, of course. Who would want to be alone with so many killers around? Still, it was hard to let such a weird girl walk along with two of the most neutral students in class.
"Let's avoid walking many steps away from her. We should get closer." – whispered Rena in her friend's ear.
"Wait a minute, are you thinking of talking to her?" – answered Natsumi, surprised.
"Hell no. It's obvious that she doesn't want to talk to us. I mean, look at her. She seems like she's about to go berserk and attack us at any moment. But if we get closer, we might at least hear something from her. I think she wants to talk to us but is afraid." – Natsumi tried to believe that Aya was "only afraid", but it was impossible to do so; she did not look scared, but more like a porcelain doll. The girl with pigtails decided to open herself up.
"She makes me terrified just by looking at her. I mean, look at that katana. If that is not her assigned weapon or she has some experience with swords, then we are in a lot of trouble." – Initially, Natsumi actually liked her GPS tracker. Now, she thought herself to be the unluckiest girl in the world. It could warn them of other's presence, but little else.
Natsumi fell to the temptation of looking back again. Aya seemed more like an alien for her than anything else. She was just so… strange. It started with her appearance. Aya's neck was extremely long, her nose had the shape of a hook, and her eyes were very small even for Asian standards. However, she wasn't ugly, just …. Different. A westerner visiting Tsuchihara would have trouble with differentiating between the girls, but would pick Aya from the crowd really fast.
That wasn't all. Aya's behavior in class was very contradictory. She had grades as high as Sachiko Kirihara's, but never said a word in class or seemed to be interested in learning. She wasn't shy for sure, always seeming to be very proud of herself. However, she never talked to the other girls and seemed to enjoy not having friends. Last year, Aya was the only girl in class who did not go to the middle school graduation party at Rin Tosaba's mansion, with the excuse that she would "pray for the souls of all of her classmates." instead.
Natsumi and Rena were both Buddhist, and didn't really understand that phrase.
Anyway, Aya did not seem like a person anyone could trust. She acted like a distant shell, always wearing the same rigid facial expression. Her classmates could never say that she was arrogant, as it was almost impossible to know what was on her mind. It made her similar to Kumiko Noma, in a certain way.
As the two friends of Shizuko Honda got closer to Aya, Rena decided to ask an innocent question:
"So Aya, what are you doing after we get out of here?"- It was just an attempt to make the strange girl get out of her shell and act like a normal person.
"Me…?" – Aya shrugged and even seemed to smile a little. – "I'm not going to leave this place. I'm going to die as a hero." – The other girls' eyes opened wide.
"Aya, don't say that!" – Natsumi blushed and looked at Aya in the eye. "What is the point of sacrificing yourself for others, if you will be dead? You should try to escape on every opportunity, don't throw your life away!" – Martyrdom wasn't exactly the first word in Natsumi's mind. She thought that Jesus Christ was an idiot, despite not knowing that much about him.
"So, you wouldn't give your life for your friends?" – Aya's small, black eyes stared into Natsumi's like a lion searching for a prey. "I thought that you and Rena actually cared for each other. I was mistaken, it seems." – Natsumi's anger erupted like a volcano.
"No, it's not like that!" – The girl with pigtails yelled. "You don't know anything about us! You are a loser who does not have any friends! Just learn how to keep your mouth shut!" – Natsumi was about to slap Aya, but Rena intervened, pulling her arm away.
"Natsumi, just ignore her. I don't want to see more blood getting spilled here." – Rena strongly pulled the two girls apart. The trio kept walking in silence for a while, until Natsumi decided to break the silence after she got sure that Aya could not hear her and Rena.
"Rena, are you sure that we can really trust her?"
"After what she just did, not at all."
"Then why are you walking along with her?" – asked Natsumi, confused to the bone. "You have the gun, just shoot her in the leg and then we can go away."
"It's not the best option, believe me." – Rena was as reasonable as always. "We might not like her, but she's useful if we have to fight. I don't think she really wants to kill us. She could have done that a long time ago. Just look at that sword, she could have decapitated me with a single slash."
Natsumi tried to say something, but Rena continued.
"Besides, we only have this pistol. What if I run out of bullets? They only gave me two extra clips. She might help us while I reload my weapon."
"Yeah, but how can you be so sure that she won't just run away in case of attack?"
"Well… I can't." – Rena's face was dominated by sadness. "But I think we should try, right? It's better than going out there and adding more bodies to the death list." – After the first announcement, both girls got terrified. They were glad that Shizuko wasn't in the list, though.
"I just…" – Natsumi looked back at Aya again. "I can't stand being close to her, that's all. If you didn't stop me at that moment, I think I would have tried to kill her." – Rena was much taller and stronger than Natsumi, but the smaller girl was by far the most impulsive. Natsumi was kind-hearted and funny, but when she got angry, it was impossible to know when she would stop. Rena was the only one in the group who could face a good fight, but Natsumi was the one who started most of them.
"Natsumi-chan, don't even think about it. I know that some girls are playing out there, but we shouldn't be like them. If we start releasing our grudges towards each other, it won't be long until we go insane. And after someone goes insane in this game… there's no turning back."- Rena had paid close attention to the news reports from the Program in recent years. In all of them, students who cracked and succumbed to the pressure died soon after. Going crazy in The Program was like signing your own death sentence.
"I would rather die in this game than killing you. You know that." – Natsumi shrugged and looked away from the taller girl. For a moment, she forgot that Aya was there. Shizuko was a nice friend, but she did not compare to Rena. For Natsumi, Rena was almost like her mother: taller, protective and kind-hearted. Shizuko was a bit too arrogant, maybe because she was the prettiest one in the group.
Soon, Rena also started getting affected emotionally and hugged Natsumi. The smaller girl was slightly lifted off her feet, and stared at the yellow sun between her twin pigtails. It was starting to get colder in Saitama, but Natsumi still felt warm.
The hotel was a wonderful place. Kazukawa Inn was an oasis in the middle of a desert of poverty, and showed it. It did not have many rooms, but luxury was visible on every corner. The room occupied by the two cousins had two large bedrooms, a nice living room with an awesome TV system and several kitchen and medical utensils.
For Hisame Shikamoto, it would be the best place to stay and rest until near the end of the game. If it wasn't for her cousin Mari, of course, who started to complain about everything five seconds after they got into the hotel. It was the room that was too dirty, the oven that was hotter than normal, or simply her hair. There was always something.
"Hisame-chan, do you know how much I hate Japanese doors?" – Hisame laid her head back into the sofa and dug deeper into it. She answered her cousin sarcastically.
"Why, honey? Tell all your secrets to mommy, my little baby."
"Well, they are hard to pass through; pulling doors to the side is not my thing. Besides, they look so ugly, don't you think? American wooden doors are ten times better."
"Well, get used to it, because you are not in America. It's not my fault that you are poor and could never go there." – Hisame was slowly getting tired of her cousin's bitching. She had passively endured her Mari's annoyance for several years. But she was in The Program now, right? No rules, nothing to fear, nothing to lose.
"Hisame-chan…"- Mari started bawling. Again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I don't want to make you get angry with me, I'm just scared… I don't have anything to protect myself with." – Hisame knew her cousin well enough to avoid falling into her tricks. It was always the same thing. Mari would start playing the victim and saying that she was sorry, only to come back at full force two minutes later. It always happened.
And of course, Hisame ended up being the evil cousin, the bad girl.
"Mari, cut the crap off. We're fighting for survival here, OK? If you don't want to make me angry, then just fucking shut up for a moment." – Mari's face turned redder, and it was clear that Hisame's words made her angrier. But Mari never listened to what her cousin had to say. She got angry because of only one word.
"Hisame-chan, I told you to call me Mary! You know that my name is Mary since the moment I was born!"
Hisame laughed at the ceiling. It was the same story all over again. Mari hated her own name simply because it was Japanese. Since seventh grade, she wanted to be called Mary instead. It was just a pathetic attempt to seem more American than she was. Hisame usually obeyed, though. It was better than having to listen to her cousin's rants and self-victimization.
"Look, you were born Mari and this is your name. Deal with it. Come on, Mari you have such a beautiful name, look at mine. Hisame, much uglier than yours! I hate my name too, but I don't think it would be better if I had an American one!"
"You don't understand. None of you do." – continued Mari, playing the poor victim one more time. "All Japanese names are ugly and the way we Asians look like is ugly too. Come on, Hisame-chan, you never wished of being named Rachel or Sarah, have blonde hair and blue eyes and live in California?" – Hisame smiled meanly.
"Hmmm… maybe. But that would be because people are rich there, and we are not. However, if you decided to do something more productive and get out of this couch, we might get there one day. Isn't that what you want?" – Mari's lachrymal ducts were filling with water again, almost making her blue lens fall to the ground.
"Yeah…" – the blonde wiped away her tears and went to the kitchen to start serving lunch, which was boiling in the oven. Meanwhile, Hisame rested on her blue sofa, thinking about Mari.
Hisame's cousin fascination with America started more or less five years ago, after one of their uncles left Japan in order to escape the government. Although American social networks were not allowed in the Asian country, Japanese ones were quickly proliferating, and their uncle talked to Mari online for months. He always told her about how much America was such a wonderful place, with freedom, beautiful people and a lovely culture. Gradually, Mari started getting attached to the country the government despised, and dyed her hair. The lenses came soon after, and since a year ago, Mari dragged her cousin to the black market to buy an American film on DVD every weekend.
"Well, she's partially right. America is a democracy where people can vote and choose their own leaders. But they are very overrated. They also have their fair share of problems, which my cousin is too stupid to see. Why does she never come back to normal?" – Before Mari's obsession began, she and Hisame were friendly towards each other. Sure, they did not meet very often and weren't the best cousins in the world, but at least did not argue over silly stuff. Their uncle's conversations with Mari coincided with her arrival at Tsuchihara, where Hisame studied since second grade. In other words, Hisame's school life became a living hell.
As Mari did the table, Hisame reflected if teaming up with her cousin was a good idea. Mari was the only option she had, but it was better to be alone than getting a bad company. The impatient girl was starting to believe that they wouldn't survive much longer together. Mari was useless in combat, and would only create another problem for her cousin during a fight.
Still, Hisame had to agree with her cousin over one thing.
If they were living in America, they wouldn't have gotten selected for The Program.
Out of all the girls in that island, Chitose Higurashi and Yoriko Shibasaki were by far the happiest ones. They shouldn't be. Miki Nakayoshi was dead because of Yoriko, and nunchakus and sickles were not the best weapons a student could receive. But good friends are able to make anyone happy, and the two girls proved it. Instead of grieving over dead students or slowly falling into madness, the pair remembered their good times at school and quickly forgot about all of their troubles.
"Do you remember that day when we were in chemistry class and you almost burned the teacher with acid?" – Chitose started tapping her friend in the shoulder and smiled.
"Well, we almost got suspended. Me for doing that, and you for laughing at him."- Yoriko was having so much fun that she did not even remember Miki's death mask.
"I couldn't resist, I swear! It seemed like you put the acid on his seat by accident!"
"Well, if it wasn't for Asuka seeing the liquid and warning him, I think we would have lost a year of middle school!" – Answered Yoriko, and both girls started laughing.
They were not very far from finding more people. The two did not know it, but Rena, Natsumi and Aya were just a few blocks away from them. The most opposite friends in class were now very close to the border of Saitama, on zone A-4.
"And what about that game, which I would have lost if it wasn't for you?"- remembered Yoriko.
"I still have that poster at home."- Chitose answered and laughed with joy. Two months ago, Yoriko's volleyball team had a match that was extremely hard. Yoriko was one of the best players, but the other school was strong. And Chitose, who promised to come to school in a Saturday as soon as possible, did not show up. It was awful.
After twenty minutes into the game, Chitose appeared on the cheering bench, with a poster depicting a picture of Yoriko with her body replaced by the Wonder Woman's. It had "Go, Yori-chan!" written all over it. After that moment, Chitose did not stop rooting for her friend even to get some water, and Yoriko's team managed to turn the tables quickly and win the match.
"I felt so awesome on that day." – Yoriko faced the clouds in the sky as she said that. A real friend wasn't something many people have the chance of getting in a lifetime, and yet a shy girl like her managed to do it. Unlike many other girls in class, she wouldn't change Chitose for Rin's group, or getting more popular. What she had was more than enough for her.
"Well, it would be ungrateful if you didn't. I spent twelve hours working on that poster. This is why I got there late." – Chitose giggled and Yoriko did too. They couldn't feel any better.
The street where they were walking on slowly went upwards and turned into a hill. It was hard to keep walking in the sun without getting tired, but the two friends kept going ahead until they saw a house of wood at the top. It did not have a specific name in the map, but it's drawing was there. Therefore, they would still be inside Saitama's limits.
"It seems it is our day of luck, Chitose. Let's rest there for a while. Who knows Asuka and Kyoko are around to see us inside." – Most people would say that it was a lesbian gesture to hold another girl's hand. Yoriko and Chitose were straight for sure, but it did not stop them from holding hands and start walking towards the house.
Until Yoriko heard a buzzing, chainsaw-like noise from behind her. She turned around.
Kumiko Noma stood a few steps away, coming from a small alleyway. The beautiful girl smiled sadistically when she saw the two, and started running at them with her chainsaw still stained with Tomoko Kobi's blood.
"Oh my God! Run,run!"- Yoriko knew that they did not have any chances against that chainsaw, so it was better to run away. Her brain got instantly filled with adrenaline. The attack was so sudden, so unexpected! They had been away from the game for too long. It was time to go back to reality.
The two friends released their hands and started running down the street in absolute panic. Chitose was sweating with fear. She knew that it was impossible for a very short girl like her to run very fast. Yoriko was several feet ahead from her. Meanwhile, Kumiko quickly took the opportunity and caught up with Chitose with her chainsaw. She then swung the blade sideways, ready to split the small girl's body in half.
Chitose miraculously dodged the attack, but not entirely. The impact made her fall to the floor, blood flowing profusely from her completely severed left hand. She took one second to feel the pain. But when she did, it was agonizing.
"AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!YOOORIIIIII-CHAAAAAANN!"- Having her small hand cut off in an explosion of blood and flesh, the girl was drenched in the most absolute agony a human being could feel. It was a miracle that she could still reunite forces to scream.
"Oh no, oh no!"- Desperate, Yoriko started running back to help Chitose. Her mind was filled with fear and worry. How could they be so unlucky? They were having the best of times together, and suddenly Chitose's hand got cut. But it wasn't time to lament on fate. Kumiko already had her chainsaw high above her head, ready to chop Chitose's head off.
With a sudden spurt of rage towards Kumiko, Yoriko swung her sickle sideways, in order to pierce through Kumiko's neck like she did with Miki. It shouldn't be so hard, as she had the element of surprise. But Kumiko's reflexes were extremely fast, and after seeing the blade coming, she threw herself on the floor in order to dodge.
However, the sickle still scratched Kumiko's face badly, creating a large cut on her right cheek. Some strands of her hair were also cut by the blade. Dropping the chainsaw with the pain, Kumiko was completely defenseless, creating the perfect opportunity for Yoriko to kill her right there.
But Yoriko did not do it. The moment she prepared the final strike, images of Miki's dead face, bloodied and pale, flooded the tall girl's brain. Yoriko wanted revenge, but the memory of the murder she committed still haunted her. She wasn't born to be a killer or to get into fights, and the guilt made her hesitate for a second.
It was everything Kumiko needed. Not looking as beautiful as before because of the cut, she got up with amazing speed and grabbed Yoriko's hand that was holding the sickle. The taller girl struggled to free herself, but Kumiko was stronger than she looked. Punching Yoriko's face twice and making her enemy grunt in pain, Kumiko effectively pushed the girl with the sickle towards a signpost nearby, hitting her head against the metallic surface.
Yoriko's head was spinning, and nothing but fear remained in her body. However, she was more worried with her friend Chitose than with herself. Seconds earlier, Chitose stopped screaming, and Yoriko could see with the corner of her eyes that she had passed out. "No, please, someone help me, don't let her die, don't do this to me, she cannot be dead…"- Yoriko's fear was like a parasite, completely paralyzing her on the floor.
Kumiko wouldn't wait for her enemy to get up. She slowly and creepily got close to Yoriko, ready to slice her in half with the bloody chainsaw. A simple task, fast and easy. Winning The Program wouldn't be that hard, after all.
Yoriko's instincts guided her, and she finally opened her eyes wide enough to see Chitose's fallen nunchaku a few inches away from her. In a violent and desperate move, the tall girl grabbed the melee weapon and stood up while swinging it upwards. The nunchaku hit Kumiko in the base of the jaw, almost breaking it. The most beautiful girl in class fell to the floor bleeding through her mouth, and quickly realized that the impact broke two of her teeth. However, Yoriko's survival instinct told her that she could not kill Kumiko. Besides the chainsaw, the class beauty had two pistols tucked into her skirt. Chitose was dying, and she needed her friend's help. Yes, Chitose was the most important one there.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"- releasing her adrenaline and screaming like a banshee, Yoriko quickly ran towards her fallen friend and picked her up, carrying the smaller girl like a baby. Yoriko was a strong girl, and Chitose's light weight made her someone easy to hold. Kumiko started to stand up, but Yoriko was already far from her, running to the wooden house.
"Come on, Chitose, wake up, please!" – As Yoriko's tears fell on Chitose's face, the tall girl saw that her friend was still alive. Chitose was pale but still breathing, and did not feel cold like a dead person does. However, her arm was completely covered with blood, and she would not last much longer.
Yoriko kept running faster and faster, dodging a bullet from Kumiko that was aimed for her head. When she finally reached the house, covered in sweat, the girl got in with ease and locked the door.
"BAAANNGGG!" - Another bullet from Kumiko's Walter PPK hit the wall only a foot away from Yoriko. But she wasn't worried about it anymore. As she put Chitose on the floor and started barricading the door, Yoriko strongly doubted that her friend would live to see her playing volleyball again.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Some American or Asian readers might get offended by this chapter, due to the Hisame/Mari scene. I would like to apologize in case it happens, but my intention is to characterize the way the cousins view their own country. I know many people in real life who truly despise the place where they were born, due to a persistent lack of self-esteem most of the times.
In this chapter, I also decided to break a cliché I spotted in the original and in many Battle Royale fanfics. The main villain (Kyriama in the original, Kumiko in my case) never gets wounded until the final battle. Mitsuko Souma survived until near the end of the game without a single scratch, the same with Kyriama. I don't think this is realistic, as a villain might be evil but he/she is also made from flesh and bone. Everyone can get hurt and die in The Program.
Some readers might believe that Yoriko was stupid, for not killing Kumiko when she had the chance. But as already written, Yoriko is very fragile and not made for fighting. Besides, I would not kill such an important character like Kumiko without fleshing her out first. (Nothing was heard from her so far)
So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was the hardest one to write so far! Thanks for all the help!