The Horrifying Match

"How about a hand for Baek, everyone?"

The audience cheered like the announcer had prompted.

"Alright, then! Time to announce the next match!"

Makoto smiled and looked down at Yukiho, snuggled deep into her chest. "You can come out now, Yukiho. The body is gone."

Yukiho slowly pulled away from her best friend. "Th-there's no more blood?"

"No more. You can look."

Yukiho nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Makoto-chan," she squeaked. "Th-the way that man murdered was very…scary."

"I know what you mean," Makoto agreed. "Half the people here are so merciless. It's scary."

"The next match will be with Yukiho Hagiwara!"

Yukiho screamed involuntarily. "I…th-that's me!" she stammered. "W-what if I fight someone strong…?! I don't want to die!"

Makoto gripped her hands. "I failed with Yayoi, but when it comes to you I will not let you die."

"Her opponent is Makoto Kikuchi!"

Makoto twitched. "Wait, already? I just had a match two matches ago."

"Th-that Nina woman was the same," Yukiho declared. She let out a loud cry and hugged Makoto again. "Oh, Makoto-chan, I'm so glad…! This means—"

"Yeah, I know," Makoto interrupted. "It means I can knock you out of the tournament without killing you, and then you won't be at risk." She grinned. "Yukiho, this is really great!"

"Come on!" Yukiho giggled. "Let's go down, so I can hurry and get out of the tournament…!"

"Right!"

The two friends ran into the arena together, smiling and waving to their friends. Upon entering the arena, Yukiho and Makoto retreated to opposite sides, Yukiho as far against the side wall as possible, and faced each other. Makoto took a deep breath and set her face into a frown.

I already know how I'm going to "kill" her, she reminded herself. I'm going to strangle her. I hope Yukiho doesn't have a sensitive neck or something…

A few more seconds, and then Makoto charged at her best friend and slid behind her, instantly hooking one arm round Yukiho's neck and the other under her arm. Yukiho gasped, startled, but she quickly realized that Makoto wasn't actually choking her. In fact, the smaller girl barely felt any pressure at all. She caught onto Makoto's plan quickly and forced herself to cough, clutching at Makoto's arm to make it seem more realistic.

"Am I hurting you?" Makoto whispered into her ear.

Yukiho coughed forcibly again. "No, I can barely tell your arm is there."

"You're doing great," Makoto praised quietly. "Now listen. I'm going to tighten my hold a little. You might feel a bit more pressure but I promise I won't hold you long enough to actually choke you. When you're really running out of breath, I want you to fall limp or something. Pretend you've lost all your breath and you're dead, and then I'm going to throw you to the ground. It might hurt a bit, OK?"

Yukiho pretended to gasp for breath. "O-OK. I understand. Please take care of me," she said.

"That's my Yukiho," Makoto breathed softly. "Alright, let me know if I'm hurting you too much." She pulled her arm tighter around Yukiho's neck. "Are you still breathing alright?"

Yukiho squeaked. "I-I'm fine, it was…" She trailed off and coughed, clutching harder at the arm around her throat.

"Are you sure you're alright…?!"

"I-I'm fine, really…!"

Makoto let out a breath of relief. "I'm going to make this simple for you," she announced, loud enough for the audience to hear. "You just relax and let the breath leave your body. It'll come naturally, I promise."

"P-please let me—" Yukiho broke off and coughed. Makoto frowned and Yukiho smiled at her for just a second to assure her that she was alright.

"It's really pitiful how you cry for mercy," Makoto laughed. "This is a fighting tournament! If you didn't want to die, you shouldn't have signed up."

"You made me sign up…Makoto-chan."

Makoto winced. "I…"

"Oh, Makoto-chan, I'm sorry!" Yukiho gasped. "I-I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine," Makoto insisted, lowering her voice again. "You're right, after all. But don't worry. I'm going to get you out of this."

Yukiho tried to nod, then settled with a smile instead. "Thank you…" She coughed, more realistic-sounding this time. "M-Makoto-chan, it's starting to hurt…"

"Can you still breathe?"
"Yes."

"Just a little longer, Yukiho. Just a little, tiny bit longer."

Yukiho fell silent and waited. After about two minutes, her gasps became more frantic and she clutched desperately at Makoto's arm. The boyish girl waited for Yukiho to fall limp, signifying that she had started to lose breath, Makoto took a deep breath and tossed her to the floor.

Both of them forgot about the jagged rock at the edge of the arena.

The seconds Yukiho hit the ground, Makoto knew something was wrong. The fragile brunette gasped and her eyes widened. Her mouth was hanging open, her body twitching. Makoto gazed at her, bewildered.

"Yu…Yukiho?"

Yukiho tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Blood pooled out on the ground beneath her head. She moved her lips as though she were saying something, but no words came.

Makoto fell to her knees and grabbed her hand. "Yukiho…?!"

Yukiho's eyes rolled back in her head. She heaved a great, shuddering sigh, and then she fell still. Makoto gaped down at her.

"Yukiho? Yukiho! W-what happened?!" Shocked, Makoto slid her arm to the back of Yukiho's head. Her fingers touched stone. She pulled Yukiho's head off the ground and gasped. Yukiho's head had landed on the jagged rock. The force with which she was thrown onto it caused the pointed object to break through her skull and pierce her brain.

In other words, Makoto had killed her.

Makoto's eyes filled with tears. She lay Yukiho on the ground beside the rock absentmindedly, gaping in terror at the bloody solid that had ended her best friend's life.

"No…"

She felt Yukiho's pulse. Nothing.

"No…no, no, no, no…no! NO! Yukiho! YUKIHO!" Makoto screamed in horror. She shook Yukiho's body violently. "Yukiho, wake up! WAKE UP ALREADY! YUKIHO!"

The audience murmured to each other, bewildered. The idols up in the waiting area frowned. Makoto screamed again.

"What are you doing, Yukiho?! Get up! This wasn't supposed to happen! You were supposed to be OK! I was supposed to protect you! Now get up…! GET UP!" Makoto cried. She gave up on shaking Yukiho after the girl showed no signs of opening her eyes. She stared at her a few more moments and then let out a bloodcurdling scream, the most grievous, sorrowful sound anybody in the audience had eve rheard in their lives.

Absolutely mortified, Makoto gazed down at Yukiho's corpse for a long time, trying to figure out what her last words could have been. At last, a slight smile crossed her lips and she chuckled.

"Were you telling me to go with you?" she asked sweetly, running her fingers through Yukiho's bloodstained hair. "I understand. That was it, wasn't it?" Her chuckle turned into a full-on laugh, the same maniacal laughter the audience had heard her utter when Yayoi died. "Don't you worry, Yukiho! I'm coming! I hear you calling me!"

Makoto suddenly reached over and pulled the jagged rock out of the ground. She turned the sharp, pointed edge in towards her chest and laughed.

"I'M COMING!"

The audience let out a collective gasp as Makoto drove the edge of the rock deep into her chest. She yanked it out and waited a few moments before stabbing herself again, and again, wildly lodging the sharp solid into her body before drawing it out and re-inserting it into a different vital organ, all the while screaming wildly at Yukiho's body.

Leo, up in the waiting area, wasted no time in running down the stairs and into the arena to stop her new friend. Ritsuko followed after her quickly. The two nineteen-year-old girls hurtled over to Makoto to stop her from killing herself, just as the girl smashed herself in the head with the blunt side of the stone. Leo tackled her to the floor and tore the rock from her hands before tossing it to the ground away from her.

"Snap out of it!" she ordered. Makoto just chuckled.

"Aren't we friends?" she purred. "Come on, Leo. Yukiho wants me. I have to go to her. Hand me the rock."

"You're insane!"

"Am I?" Makoto shook her head and looked over at Yukiho's body. "We understand each other. That makes me insane? I don't think so."

Ritsuko ran down to the two and crouched beside them. "Makoto, calm down. We'll get you to the hospital and they'll take care of you, OK?"

Makoto's eyes suddenly turned angry. "Take care of me? Take CARE of me?! What about Yukiho, huh?! Will they take care of her? No, of course not! They can't! She's DEAD!" she screeched, lurching upwards and throwing Leo off of her. The spelunker tumbled to the ground and started after her, but not before Makoto reached the rock and wildly began stabbing herself again. Leo ran up and grabbed her hand, trying desperately to keep her from murdering herself.

"Let go of me!"

"Please calm down, Makoto!" Leo begged. "Just calm down! I know you're upset but you can't kill yourself!"

"Would you let go?! Yukiho! Yukiho, I hear you! I'm coming!"

Ritsuko frowned and ran up to them. Leo held Makoto's arm away from her body while Ritsuko ripped the rock out of her hand again. Makoto growled and turned on her.

"Leave me ALONE!" she shouted, tearing out of Leo's grasp and heading for the rock again. Before Leo could pin her down again, she grabbed the rock and jumped on Ritsuko, driving the edge into her neck. Ritsuko screamed. "Do you like that?! This is what you get for trying to stop me, you b*tch!"

Ritsuko moaned in pain and Makoto laughed maniacally again. Leo frowned and ran to her. Before the insane girl could do any more damage, Leo slammed her head against the wall of the arena, effectively rendering her unconscious. She pulled the rock from Makoto's hand, and Makoto slid to the ground, leaving Ritsuko panting on her back, covering her neck with her hands.

Leo knelt by her. "You OK?"

"Are you?"

"Fine," Leo assured her. "…stay here. I'll get the paramedics." She stood and started off.

"Leo!" Ritsuko called hoarsely. She coughed. "Get a psychiatrist, too."

Leo took one look at Makoto's blacked-out body and nodded. After one last glance at Ritsuko, she ran out of the arena to find the paramedics, Makoto's laughter echoing behind her as she tried to force out the memory of her friend's descension into madness.