Chapter 16

"Hello, princesses!" – The evening announcement began at exactly 6 pm, raising itself above any other sound.

"Are you all enjoying the beautiful sunset? Well, I hope that all of you who can hear this are, because, unless no one dies in the next couple of announcements, it will be the last opportunity to see the twilight for most of you!" – Mrs. Suzuki kept giggling for a long time and then continued.

"However, I cannot deny how much I'm disappointed. Only two kills in the last six hours? Come on, girls, I know that the class is small, but you proved me last announcement that you can do better than this! Anyway…"

Mrs. Suzuki stopped for a while to read the names of the dead. She forgot it frequently and always looked at her script to remember who had been killed.

"The first gentle lady who died young was Girl #6, Kageri Shouzaku. For the lack of better words, she tried to crush someone else's life and got herself crushed instead. Well, Kageri, you should have used your brain more and realized that guns have safeties! Next, we've got the shocking death of Girl #17, Rena Kuroda. If I were you, Rena, I would have done some shooting training before the Program, because the way you fired your pistol was awful. Shame you cannot try it now, huh?"- Mrs. Suzuki tried to be sadistic, but she overacted a lot. The living girls would all laugh at her, if she wasn't talking about the death of their classmates.

"Let's move to the Danger Zones. In one hour, at 7 pm, zone F-1 will become a danger zone. At 9 pm, A-8. Finally, zone E-6 at 11 pm. This is all, ladies. Let's kill some more, shall we?" And then she finished the announcement.

Regret and guilt are not the same thing.

Guilt is defined by science and most dictionaries as a very emotional form of regret, in which the victim does not only feel sadness and anger over past actions, but also depreciates and blames himself for what happened.

Both feelings are parasites. They take over the mind in instants, and once they do it, it becomes almost impossible to get rid of them. Many people suffer from remorse over a single action for their entire lives, and some even commit suicide because of it.

Misa Fujiwara wasn't the type of girl who spends a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, much less thinking about suicide. But after killing in self defense (which is still murder, no matter what people say), the girl was seriously pondering about changing her principles.

"Did I really not have a choice?" When Misa saw Kageri Shouzaku's bloody body lying a few feet away from her, she could only feel anger and joy. Those feelings were replaced by sadness, a strange form of sorrow. Some strange feeling was forming itself in Misa's throat. Kageri wasn't the smartest or the nicest person in the world, but no one deserves to die while being still 15.

And worst of all, she could have spared Kageri's life. When Misa used the brick to hit her classmate in the face, the make-up loaded girl got disoriented long enough for her to grab her gun. Without the .44 AutoMag, Kageri was harmless, and certainly would not live much longer in that murderous game. Misa could have only threatened her with the gun and walked away, freeing herself of all troubles and dangers. She would have to shoot Kageri in case she tried to get the gun back, but she could also avoid the girl's death by shooting her in a non-fatal area.

"What would grandma say if she saw what I did?"

For Misa, her grandmother was, pure and simple, the best person in the world. A widow who was almost reaching 90 years old, her vitality matched her intelligence. She gave Misa good advice, but never overdid it, so that her wise presence was never boring or annoying to be around. If the students had been allowed to receive a helper during The Program, Misa would have chosen her grandma, big time.

"She's probably not watching me right now. She would have a heart attack if she did."

So that was how it was. Unless she won that thing, Misa would never see her grandmother again; much less hear her wise words. But still, she didn't consider herself winning. It was obvious that no one in her family would want her to kill for it. Right now, they were probably crying on their sofas, weeping on their beds, and swearing at the television. Watching Misa murdering Kageri on TV probably made them even more terrified. They did not raise their daughter for that.

"I wish I could say otherwise, but I don't have any other options besides playing. At least in self defense". When Mrs. Suzuki said that they would kill or be killed, Misa did not really believe in it. But reality was faster than her ideals. She could still try escaping, but did not have a plan. And even if she did, it would be hard to make it work. She would need to ally with more people, and after being attacked by Kageri, Misa was sure that she should trust no one. Besides, every time someone tried to defy the government, they failed. In the past, many deceased students got close, and some even tried to blow up the school with a bomb. A couple managed to escape five years ago, and even managed to kill The Program instructor! However, their tactic wouldn't work anymore, due to the several cameras installed on every single part of the city. And after those two escaped, both became fugitives for the rest of their lives.

Still, Misa admired them.

"I don't know your names, guys, but you need to know that you are both heroes. You did what we all want to do. I hope The Program is stopped one day."

Misa loved her country. She would never replace Japan for America, or any other democracy in the world. She smiled every time she sang the national anthem, or looked at the Japanese flag. Also, Misa didn't actively want her country to become a democracy, as she was smart enough to know that there are flaws in both systems. But The Program… that wasn't human.

"They say that they are controlling the youth, giving them an injection of patriotism. But this is not fair. For each delinquent kid who dies, ten innocent ones bite the dust. That girl, Sato, committed suicide because of this game. Rena also died a while ago. Did they deserve it? Hell no. Nobody did, not even Kageri."

The memory of Kageri made Misa shiver in guilt all over again. But she controlled herself. She couldn't go insane, she never would.

Anyway, the girl did understand how Sato felt. Unlike what the other girls thought, Misa had not always been beautiful. Until around seventh grade, she was short and overweight, no more attractive than Sato or Kagura Soga. Besides, her appearance made her painfully shy and an easy target for the meanest girls at school.

Thankfully, her grandmother helped her against the bullying. She told her granddaughter not only to be proud of who she was and to like herself more, but also to fight back. According to Misa's grandma, those girls were also insecure and shy, using their image of strong and violent as a façade to hide their feelings. They would never solve their own problems, because they refused to accept them. "The only way of teaching this type of people is with a good slap", she used to say.

Misa obeyed. On the next day of school after that talk, one of those three girls called her fat. Instead of ignoring it and dying inside a little more, Misa slapped her. When that girl tried to punch her back, Misa threw her on the ground and pulled her hair, slapping her harder and harder. Finally, the bully gave up and went to the teacher crying. Her friends also ran way, much like the cowards they were.

From them on, Misa's life only got better. Puberty was generous for her, making her develop curves quickly and turning her childish face into a mature, serene one. Her lifestyle also helped, as Misa started to exercise herself constantly in order to get thinner, and also to treat her acne. Soon, she had some good friends, and the guys at school and outside of it came to know that she existed.

Until The Program began, crushing all of her hopes and dreams.

"Stay calm, girl, stay calm… it is not time to cry for what hasn't happened yet." Thought Misa, wiping away the sweat on her forehead. She knew that she had good chances of winning the game, even if she did not kill anybody anymore. She had a good weapon at the moment, did not have to worry about food, as her duffel bag was now filled with sweets she took from the bakery store, and the small number of contestants in the game made her chances of surviving even higher.

Why didn't she stay at the bakery store then? Sure, that place had enough food, but little else. Not even a bathroom. It was hard for her to avoid being discovered there, and the store did not have a place to sleep, for obvious reasons. It was smarter to go to a better place to hide, even if she was risking herself by walking alone on the streets, at night.

"Kazukawa Inn. This is a good place." Thought Misa, while opening her map and checking her own position. She was now on D-6, while the hotel was on zone B-9. It would take a couple of hours to get there, but it would be a much shorter trip than going to zone H, for example.

Reaffirming her intentions of surviving, Misa kept walking towards the hotel, not knowing that an odd pair of cousins was already taking shelter there.

"Oh, Rena… Oh my God, Rena…. I'm sorry, so sorry…"

The white tablecloth at the center of the room was completely wet. Not with spilled soda or ketchup, but with Natsumi Moriguchi's tears.

After all the stress she had been through while being attacked by Kumiko Noma, her reward was the knowledge that her best friend had been killed. Yes, Rena, the greatest girl in the world, had been probably shot to death by that bitch. Natsumi was now all alone, hiding in a small fast food store that did not even have a name. Worse, if she remained on zone A-8 for a few more hours, she would have her collar blow up.

"Alone" was an exaggerated word. Aya Tsunaba was there with her, calmly sitting opposite to Natsumi and eating some fries. Normally, Natsumi would dread being next to her, but after Rena's death, Aya simply did not exist anymore. She was just standing there, like a statue, while Natsumi's thoughts and memories went back to Rena.

Rena was the reason why Natsumi became such a funny girl. It was the girl with pigtails who started to enjoy her friend's company first, and not the other way around. However, despite not being ugly or an outcast, Natsumi used to think that Rena was too much for her. They did not like the same things, and did not have that many classes and activities in common. While Rena was into track and soccer, Natsumi did ballet and chorus. It seemed like they would be classmates forever and nothing more.

Until a day four years ago, when Natsumi saw a comedy show on TV. Although they had to be careful about the jokes they made, or otherwise the government would have them executed, those comedians really had talent. Natsumi never laughed so much before, and her family couldn't appreciate it more. Natsumi wasn't the best person to be around when she got angry, and sometimes she would even curse at her own parents. If she got a bad grade or felt ignored at school, it was impossible to resist the girl's fury. No one could deny, though, that her personality improved a lot since she decided to tell jokes and be funny.

The next day, Natsumi decided to tell the jokes she learned on TV to Rena. All of them. Soon, Rena was asking for another joke every time she got bored, and Natsumi started to watch that program every night. The girls got closer and closer, and went together to a comedic show a month later. It was the beginning of their friendship.

For a while they only had each other, until Shizuko Honda came into the group two years ago. Natsumi did not like her at first; she was a little too arrogant due to her appearance and success. Not that Natsumi would refuse to help or even talk to Shizuko; she would just not become her friend.

However, her fame as the class clown had spread through the class quickly, and soon Shizuko started asking her for jokes as well. Surprisingly, Shizuko laughed louder than the others, and never forgot to congratulate Natsumi, who started to reconsider her vision of the pregnant girl, for her good work. And all of a sudden, the pair became a trio.

But Shizuko wasn't important. Not even her pregnancy, that caused her friends so much trouble, existed for Natsumi. Only Rena actually mattered. And Rena was dead: shot, stabbed or whatever. If there was someone that Natsumi would never manage to crack a laugh out of, it was herself.

Natsumi did not become the class clown to get more popular. She did it because of Rena. In case they had never become friends, Natsumi would be unhappy. Nothing would satisfy her enough, she would always ask for more. With Rena though, she didn't need anything else besides being her friend. Nothing made Natsumi more confident, more full of life, than seeing Rena's smile, or listening to her joyful laughter.

Laughter. It was everything Natsumi needed.

She tried to focus on the good times she had with her friends, and to forget about The Program. But the only image that came to her mind was of the bullets flying through the air, Rena's bloody hands, and Kumiko's sadistic smile. Instead of laughing, Natsumi burned with anger, desiring, no, needing to find Kumiko and Mrs. Suzuki, tie them both to chairs and then beat the shit out of the.."

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" A female laughter filled the room. Natsumi took a while to identify the person who thought that her anger and Rena's death was something funny.

Aya, indifferent to Natsumi's pain, was laughing her ass off while eating her fries. Her smile and cheerful tone did not hide anything: she immensely enjoyed Natsumi's suffering.

"I shouldn't have trusted this bitch." Thought the girl with pigtails, while preparing herself to strangle Aya with her bare hands. Since they got separated from Rena, Aya continued keeping her mouth shut most of the time, but also self-proclaimed herself as the leader and started giving orders to Natsumi. The idea of hiding in that restaurant was hers, and she was also the one who baked her fries all by herself (she was extremely good at cooking). Natsumi obeyed her blindly, too scared and heartbroken to question anything. The girl did not even run away while she had the chance. She actually did the right thing, because Aya had a useful weapon, and if they decided to split, Natsumi would be completely defenseless.

Aya kept laughing, not worried about the possibility of being heard and attracting potential killers, like Kumiko. Meanwhile, Natsumi's anger boiled and boiled, until she finally got enough of it.

"SHUT UP!" Jumping from her chair as higher as possible, Natsumi lunged her arms at Aya and strongly pushed her to the floor. The strange girl fell along with her chair, hitting the hard floor with a small grunt of pain. For a while, she stayed on the floor, before starting to get up very slowly. Natsumi shivered with fear. She had probably made Aya angry.

"She's going to kill me now that I did that. Damn." Despite the overwhelming pleasure after pushing her enemy to the floor, Natsumi slowly came back to her senses, regretting her decision more and more. Aya had the sword, and was now coming fast; with tears falling profusely from her eyes, Natsumi shielded her head to protect herself, even though she knew that it was useless. She had no time to run; Aya was on her before she could turn around.

"I'm going to see you now, Rena."

But when Aya got only an inch away from Natsumi, she did something unexpected: instead of attacking, she approached her face towards Natsumi's, and after realizing that the girl with pigtails would not try to run, Aya kissed her in the cheek.

The shock was instantaneous. Natsumi would NEVER get kissed by another girl! Aya was definitely crazy, why did she do something like that? Natsumi wanted to punch Aya, no, she wanted to brutally murder the freak. But fear was still paralyzing her arms, and Natsumi only yelled and swore:

"What the fuck! What the fuck did you do, Aya! What the hell is wrong with you?"

If Natsumi's push did not make Aya angry, her words did. Aya started to slowly raise her katana…

It was too much for Natsumi. First, she had been chased by a psycho, and now she was sharing the same table with another one, as if nothing had happened. Worse, she just got kissed by a girl she absolutely despised. Natsumi cursed at her own foolishness, but there was no way back. If she wanted to live, running was the only option. Turning her back away from Aya, Natsumi started sprinting and quickly ran towards the main door, which was only four feet away.

She wasn't fast enough. Aya ran after her and quickly swung her katana, cutting Natsumi in the back. The curvy blade sliced Natsumi's arteries and damaged her spine, inflicting on her the most horrendous pain a human being is able to feel.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" The girl with pigtails fell to the floor instantly, with all of her hopes of reaching that door on time completely destroyed. The pain on her back was excruciating, it felt like if she had just been burned with a clothes iron. The slash wasn't that deep, but it went through nearly all of Natsumi's back, in a diagonal-to-the-left pattern. The arterial blood that came shortly after started to pour on the floor, impregnating the air with its smell.

Despite all of the pain, Natsumi still had to reach that door. She was crying like a baby, but giving up was not an option. Rena was now in heaven, watching over her friend, and she couldn't be disappointed. Rena would want Natsumi to live, to survive that game and then tell their story to other people. Crawling towards the door, Natsumi raised her right hand while spitting blood from her mouth. She slowly started to get up, bleeding and sweating. While the pitiful struggle against her inevitable death continued, Aya spoke behind her.

"When Judas sent Jesus to his death, he kissed his master in the cheek. The symbol of his betrayal."

Natsumi was halfway through getting up when Aya easily caught up with her. She quickly and efficiently made a horizontal slash on Natsumi's belly, much deeper than the previous one.

Agony erupted from every pore of the girl's body as she fell to the floor again. That cut was bloodier and ruptured several of Natsumi's organs. Soon the entirety of her uniform was colored bright red. The girl howled in pain on the floor while holding her ruined insides, shaking her legs uncontrollably. With her stomach and intestines perforated, Natsumi vomited blood and everything she ate on the last few days all over the floor.

Natsumi was dying, and dying in a way that no one would wish for. Looking at her own ruined belly, she could clearly see her intestines, spilled on the floor along with bile, gore and more blood. Natsumi's vision turned redder, and blood started to drip down her legs. If her sense of humor was still intact, she would have laughed at the irony of being turned into a burger inside of a fast food. But the feeling of being ripped open and cooked inside a hot stove made it impossible to think.

Suddenly, Aya started to pull Natsumi's hair backwards, making the girl's bloody face stare at Aya's malicious, sadistic one. Through her ruined vision, Natsumi could see that Aya was feeling an orgasmic pleasure over her death. Her small eyes turned into black voids, and her teeth became as pronounced as wolf who's about to eat its prey. And unfortunately for Natsumi, Aya's torture wasn't over yet.

"When Jesus was nailed in the cross, dying a violent and painful death, he asked for water. What he received instead was the sharp blade of a spear, mixed with vinegar, inside of his mouth." After saying those unholy words, Aya inserted her Katana inside Natsumi's mouth and made a third slice, brutally cutting the skin on the left side of the dying girl's face.

Natsumi did not scream. Not only because she was too weak for it, but because blood filled her mouth in such a way that she felt like being suffocated. A sharp pain came from the wound, and after licking the mutilated skin, Natsumi realized that she had suddenly been given a Glascow smile. As she crashed to the floor for the third time, bleeding more profusely than ever, Aya continued her hellish speech:

"Finally, after Jesus died, a roman soldier named Longinus impaled the son of God's ribs with his own spear, to certify himself that He was dead."

Natsumi did not hear anything. Instead, the tortured and brutalized girl stopped struggling and curled into a fetal position, waiting for the final blow. Numbness invaded her body, and as the pain disappeared, images of her life flashed before her eyes. Out of all of them, her best moments with Rena were the ones she could identify the most. "I'm sorry, Rena… I'm sorry… I failed with you, failed…" Tears came pouring down again. Not of pain, but of sincere sadness. Natsumi was alone, hopeless; she would die like a slaughtered pig, unable to fight back, save herself or help anyone. Her life had been worthless, meaningless and short. And all of her thoughts would be over soon.

In the midst of the chaos and pain, the dying girl felt a small burst of joy. Although death was now certain, she wouldn't be alone anymore. Rena would be there, waiting for her, smiling and hugging her friend with her peaceful arms. Natsumi would make her laugh again, and they would soon forget about The Program, cherishing their own fortune. They would patiently wait for Shizuko, and laugh at the faces of Aya and of all the other girls who caused them to die. Because now they would be together n a better place, somewhere where there is no violence, no betrayals and no losses.

Natsumi never really believed in any religion. For her, God was an invention from people who did not want to face reality and then tried to hide themselves in prayer. But now everything that she wanted was for the afterlife to be true, for heaven to really exist, for things not to end there.

Natsumi's wishes were interrupted by an impact on her back. It was Aya's katana, sinking deeply into her body. The metallic weapon impaled Natsumi's left lung and punctured it instantly, but the dying girl only felt a small pain. The blade kept going deeper, cutting through flesh and muscles, and by the time it perforated Natsumi's heart, the girl with bloodied pigtails was already dead. But before Natsumi left this world, she could still muster one last thought.

"Rena…?"

But Rena wasn't there. Only darkness. Darkness and silence.

Aya Tsunaba stared at Natsumi's extremely bloody and ripped body. The girl had been tortured, cut open, disfigured and mutilated. A perfect first kill.

Aya never thought that it would be that easy. Natsumi's "weapon" helped, of course. It wasn't completely useless after all. Now Aya would know who was close to her, thanks for the GPS tracker. She did not kill Natsumi before because of a hidden fear. Rena would probably come to kill her, after knowing that her friend was dead. But after the announcement revealed that Rena was gone, Aya had no time to lose.

For years, she had stood in the background, watching those sinful demons going against God's law and destroying everything that He created. She wanted them to stop sinning, to remember who Christ was and forget about that demon named Buddha. It did not work, because they had the power.

"But I have the power now. And if all of the sinful sluts in this class did not die before this game, in order to go back to hell, then It's my duty to show them how hell is like myself." For Aya, The Program was a great opportunity. It was the perfect time to teach her classmates who actually ruled the world, by inflicting them pain and making them talk to Him personally. Natsumi was the first, the first of a string of teenage girls who would now feel His wrath on their porcelain skins.

In other words, The 2011 Battle Royale had just met a new strong player.

Looking at Natsumi's corpse, which had gotten itself enveloped in a huge lake of blood, Aya Tsunaba smiled.

"One down."

Girl #19, Natsumi Moriguchi- Dead

15 to go

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Natsumi's death is probably the most painful murder so far. Worse kills are coming in the future, so if any reader has a sensitive soul I advise you to stop reading. I'm going to describe the blood and gore in detail, after all this story is not rated M for nothing.

Aya is the second villain in the story. She took a while to reveal herself, but from now on she'll get a prominent role and become a main character. Her behavior as a silent and insensitive girl was nothing but a mask to hide her true malevolence.

A small curiosity about Natsumi: her last name, Moriguchi, was taken from the main character of the 2010 Japanese movie "Confessions". It is a masterpiece of revenge cinema and in my opinion, one of the best movies of all time. I highly recommend it to each and every one of you.

Responding to Terryl and Percival Jones: I've changed my mind about what I wrote last chapter, of what I would do in The Program. Playing to win is not the best option, as it makes everyone turn against you. I believe that, realistically speaking, I would try to hide somewhere and kill only in self-defense. I might ally with some people, but only if I know them well in real life and trust them. I think that the best way to survive is counting on someone, but not on everyone.

And thanks for the support. I promise I won't lose my faith in mankind again.