Day 1

Elapsed Time: 0:04:44

Matsuri Okami (Girl #4) playfully tugged Akihide Yoshihara (Boy #21) out of the elevator and into the second floor hallway of the hotel. They had been running for a little while since the confrontation with Kyoichi Itsuka (Boy #2); they ran through E-5 and turned south into E-6 before stopping to look around. Matsuri had deduced that a hotel complex would be quite a useful stop for supplies and other weapons, and could serve as a solid base of operations.

Under normal circumstances, Akihide would've noticed that she was ever-so-slightly beginning to do all the thinking for him and treat him like an idiot, but any possibility of the thought dissipated when she pulled him into the elevator like an elegant dancer.

He pondered what Matsuri would actually look like if she decided to do professional dancing, but pushed the thought aside and remembered that they were in the Program.

Almost immediately, they got to work. The two of them split up; Matsuri had previously obtained all of the hotel keycards, which would allow them to freely scavenge the abandoned rooms. Kenihara had said that the denizens of this area had been evacuated under a false terrorist alert, which implied that there was still some supplies left in the buildings. Of course, the government probably went through the entire area and filtered out the things they didn't want Class 3-B to see.

After clearing out half the floor, they returned to one of the vacant rooms and sat down.

"Any luck?" asked Matsuri.

In response, Akihide fished through his bag and pulled a couple items out. "I found a small pocketknife, a broken pipe, a bunch of rope, and this thing." He took a toy slingshot out of his bag and placed it alongside the rest.

"That's better than a jar of thumbtacks, a fishing rod, an umbrella, and an empty bottle of alcohol," replied Matsuri.

"Hey, it might just give us a chance," he said, shrugging. "Every advantage counts."

Matsuri giggled. For a moment, panic struck Akihide, and he wondered if he had said something stupid again.

"What's so funny?"

"I like the way you say us," she replied, fixing her gaze through Akihide's head. "We never really interacted back in class, but now we're here and working together just like that. In a way, we wouldn't be talking here like this if it weren't for the Program."

It was true. Akihide had never really interacted with Matsuri; she had just been another name in the classroom to him. At that moment, he realized that this might've been the first time they had ever spoken together.

"I guess… that's an optimistic viewpoint," he said. "But… maybe thinking positive is all we can do now."

"You know…" Matsuri stood up and repositioned herself so that she was sitting alongside Akihide. "Even though we never talked, I still knew who you were."

It was the same for Akihide; he had heard of Matsuri Okami as one of Kyoichi's "Horsemen of the Apocalypse". He questioned why she had earned that title, since she seemed quite harmless enough.

"Akihide the idiot?" offered Akihide, continuing the conversation. "You can blame Yamamoto for that. It was his original idea."

"No, not that." Matsuri shook her head. "I kinda realized it was a rumor all along, so I never really believed in that. Plus, I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the real you - the real Akihide that has been buried underneath everything."

Her words sent chills down Akihide's body. There was only one person who he really felt comfortable being himself around. He had tried to stay as quiet and invisible as possible in class in an attempt to ditch the "Idiot" label, so he could only truly open up around this person.

Yet Matsuri was able to see through it all…?

"I've seen your kind heart," she continued. "I noticed when you offered to help Hayate with his sword practice, and how you always helped Boss and Ryu with their projects after they inevitably got stuck. It's such a shame that you weren't able to show that to everyone else…"

Akihide was unsure how to respond, simply because no one had ever said that before. Even after becoming an "Idiot", he always tried to be as helpful and kind as possible. He had always thought that it was an unrequited act, but now Matsuri was saying that she appreciated it.

The girl suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and roughly kissed him on the lips, pushing the back of his head into the side of the wall. Just as before, Akihide was unsure to respond, mainly since this was an entirely new experience for him.

A moment passed before they separated.

"Aki…" murmured Matsuri quietly. "I… I'm sorry, but… this is the Program, and we'll probably die and… I have loved you ever since I saw your kind heart. Would you… "

Spontaneous force seized Akihide's body. "Y-yes, of course…"

Matsuri didn't waste a moment. She wrapped both arms around his body and kissed him again with passionate force, and his eyes snapped shut in response.

Time was no longer a luxury they had. Akihide had never fully experienced the power of love and desire, so it was a great unknown to him. In the little time he had left, he decided to explore his unknowns before it was too late.

•••

Looking at something from a different perspective can often make a scene much more interesting. For example, Matsuri Okami's thoughts were far from similar to Akihide's.

Matsuri had a simple but efficient plan for the Program: she would become a hitch-hiker. She would find one of the guys and seduce him, lulling him into a false sense of commonplace and trust. By travelling with him, she would also be kept safe from any major threats - such as Kyoichi Itsuka and the rest of his gang.

Matsuri was well aware that Kyoichi was prone to abandoning his subordinates when he felt that they were no longer useful. She also knew that Ryuuta Okamura (Boy #4) was worth much more to Kyoichi than herself. Ryuuta was a physical powerhouse and knew how to shoot. Matsuri, on the other hand, was ultimately a millstone that needed to be provided for, as she was only useful in certain situations that would inevitably become rarer as her classmates went insane and lost the ability to reason. Maybe, if she survived long enough, she could prove her worth to Kyoichi once more… by outwitting and killing him.

With that conclusion, one of the Itsuka Family's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse decided to abandon ship.

After about four minutes, Matsuri opened her eyes, double-checked that Akihide's were still closed, slid a hand into her bag, and raised her assigned weapon - a meat cleaver - towards the side of Akihide's head.

Akihide squirmed a bit, but Matsuri had wrapped her legs around his waist and her other arm was still restraining his upper body. The idiot didn't even think to open his eyes.

With her free hand, she plunged the meat cleaver into-

•••

Akihide's eyes shot open when he heard the sound. It sounded like someone had smashed something against something else, and it was right in front of his face.

Just like before, Matsuri Okami was facing him. However, there were two main differences: she had been holding a nasty-looking meat cleaver, and she was lying lifelessly in his arms like a ragdoll.

"She's not dead, just unconscious."

The voice made him snap to attention, and he realized that someone else was there.

"You're getting careless, Aki. What is this, the third time I've had to help you out?"

Akihide looked up at his savior. "Heh… thanks, I guess."

Standing over him was the one person he truly felt comfortable with: Sherman Tendo (Boy #14). In his hands was a small bronze lamppost.

"Sherman?"

"Who wants a piece of my lamp?" Sherman twirled the lamppost around. "Glad to see you're alive, Aki. Though we have another problem: what shall we do with her?"

It took a moment for Akihide to realize that Matsuri had been bluffing the entire time. She had specifically said those things to earn his trust, just so he would lower his guard.

Traitorous bitch!

"She deserves to die," he seethed. "I put my faith in her, and she was just trying to backstab me this entire time. Scum like that don't deserve to live."

Before Akihide could pick up the meat cleaver and kill Matsuri, a hand wrapped around his arm.

"We can't do that," said Sherman solemnly. "We're only four hours into the Program. Has your moral compass deteriorated that much? Program or no Program, killing someone is wrong and should only be used as a last resort. It will haunt you forever, if you manage to survive."

Akihide pushed his anger aside to listen and heaved an exhausted sigh. "Y-you're right, Sherman. But then… what should we do?"

In response, Sherman picked up the thumbtacks they had gathered with fiery eyes. "If we have the supplies to pull it off… I have an idea."

•••

Sherman Tendo was a Japanese American who had immigrated to his parents' home country a couple years before. He preferred being addressed by his American name for reasons uncertain. Yamamoto Himura (Boy #16) had once joked that Sherman had done this because he was still attached to America.

After arriving to class, Sherman instantaneously shocked the class with his serene, mature appearance. He practically emitted calm and tranquility, giving him the appearance of a perfect person.

Of course, his twin sister Megumi Tendo (Girl #9) knew this was all fake. Unlike Sherman, she was much quieter and shy, preferring to stay unnoticed in the background. This had always been a part of her personality, even before the Incident.

Megumi carried a secret that she had hidden from even Sherman, who knew her better than anyone else. Within the past few months, she had noticed that her own mental stability had begun to teeter. She would become overwhelmed by stress and enter "phases" of instability, followed by periods of calm and realization of what had just happened.

By sheer luck, she had been able to maintain this secret in front of her twin brother and her entire class. Of course, then came the Program… which meant that it probably was all meaningless now.

Seeing Yuusuke Shimizu (Boy #9) walk out of the school with an enormous rifle (maybe almost as tall as he was, she thought, were he holding it vertically!) was the last straw. Unable to put together the images of the friendly, likable Yuusuke with the rifle, Megumi abandoned logical thought. The walls of her mind shattered, leaving nothing but an irrational urge to win the Program.

Her designated weapon was a scalpel. Sure, it could've been better, but it also could've been worse. At least you can kill with a scalpel.

Megumi spent the next few hours wandering aimlessly through the streets. Had she checked her map, she would've noticed that she was in E-1.

When she noticed the plumes of smoke coming from a building a little while away, she immediately realized that someone else was probably there. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to potentially win the Program, she began to make her way towards the direction of D-1 to get there.

It didn't take long for her to run into someone else on the way, however. Her ambusher was wearing a hooded jacket and some kind of mask, preventing her from identifying who it was. In his hand was a nailgun.

A nailgun? I could've sworn I saw Rei with a nailgun… is that Rei?

Unfortunately for Megumi, psychological instability tends to do things to judgement. When someone is pointing a gun at you, it is usually not a good idea to try and identify who it is.

"Rei? Is that you?"

Beams of pain pierced through her belly and shoulder as the assailant fired. Megumi's body was thrown back by the impact, and she stumbled backwards and onto the ground.

"Interesting observation. Close, but not exactly."

The voice was masculine. If Megumi had still retained logical thought, she probably would've been able to figure out who it was. After all, she had very sensitive ears and was good at analyzing sounds and music.

Not wasting a moment, the assailant raised the gun again and sent a nail through the center of Megumi's forehead, effectively ensuring that her secret would remain unknown.

For now.

Elapsed Time: 0:06:00

As it turns out, the government had been going through the area beforehand to secure it. They also had precisely placed cameras and loudspeakers all throughout the city, ensuring that everyone would be able to hear Kazumitsu Kenihara's timely announcements concerning the deaths of their classmates.

How lovely.

Speaking of lovely…

"Goooood morning lovely students! Hope you've been enjoying your first couple hours of the Program! I'm quite pleased to see that some of you are really getting into the game; it's always interesting for me to discover one of the most unlikely candidates suddenly transform into a serious player!"

This instantaneously caught the attention of Shunpei Furuya (Boy #18). Being naturally paranoid, he quickly scribbled a reminder in his notebook that someone had already succumbed to the pressure of the Program.

"Now then, onto the dead. Please make sure to write this down in your casualty log, as it will probably be quite helpful later on. Our game's first kill was Girl #12, Hagane Rei. Her last hour was topped off with an interestingly dramatic end, but her life was ultimately cut short by an unlikely assassin. Had she lived, she might've made the game quite interesting. Kudos to to the killer; you got the first kill."

Kenihara paused for a moment, taking a breath and flipping through a paper. Shunpei presumed it was the report of the dead.

"After her were Boy #17, Fukuda Hotaru and Girl #2, Uramen Nanae. As these two can testify, poor communication can literally kill. Maybe if you shout your intentions for peace out towards the world, you might get a little farther in the game… at least, if you don't give away your position and get killed."

Everyone knew that Ryu Fukuda was one of the two members of the "Inseparable Duo". Shunpei couldn't help but wonder about how Boss was holding up with his friend's death. As for Nanae, he couldn't care less about her. Nanae was always just a sheep blindly following Ren Aokawa (Girl #1), so Shunpei had never felt any emotional attachment to her.

"Next up was Boy #16, Himura Yamamoto. One of the class's rich kids is one of the first to go; is that really a surprise? Though I was intrigued by what he was trying to do, not that it would have worked. This type of kid always tries to bribe their way out of things after all."

Bribery, huh?

Shunpei chuckled under his breath. In his eyes, Yamamoto had always been one to throw money at his troubles until they faded away.

"After him was Girl #5, Kawamoto Iyumi. Quite unfortunate, honestly; she seemed to have a lot of potential, especially with her prior studying of the Programs. I would have expected her to survive longer - possibly even winning."

The nutcase died? Not surprising. Frankly, she probably went insane.

"Boy #5, Kamiya Hayate. This boy had skills like a budding samurai; one would've expected him to have a mind like one too, but I guess not. Not important now, since he's nothing but an art project now. Though that was a pretty unpleasant trick you pulled on your friend… most likely, he'll find out about that at the worst moment."

Art project…?

Why would Kenihara describe him as an art project? The only thing-

No way. I always thought she was a little crazy, but not this insane…

"The most recent casualty so far is Girl #9, Tendo Megumi. It's always interesting to see what happens to the unstable ones. There have been times when the victors were insane, while other times the insane folks just charge out and get themselves killed. Unfortunately for Megumi, this time it was the latter."

Shunpei idly wrote down everything that he had heard. Beside him, he saw Toshimi Mitoratsu (Girl #17) fall on her knees in shock. Masaharu Akamine (Boy #1) rushed to her side to comfort her.

"That's seven dead, and thirty-four to go," continued Kenihara. "Now for the danger zones: at 7:00, G-3 becomes volatile. At 9:00, A-7 becomes unsafe, and at 11:00, walking into E-5 will reward you with an explosive surprise. That's all I've got for you now; until we meet again, good luck and stay alive!"

"What does he think this is, a joke?" muttered Shunpei bitterly. "Some kind of goddamn comedy show?"

"This is going to become a television show, you know." Masaharu's cheerful exposition was gone for the first time. "If we all get killed, the world will get to watch us. Isn't that an honor?"

"That's why we've got to go out with a bang." Newfound confidence surged through Shunpei's body. "If we make our Program gruesome enough, wouldn't it shock the viewers into pushing for its closure?"

"Someone tried that a couple years back," said Masaharu glumly. "It didn't work, obviously."

"What's to stop us from trying too?" replied Shunpei. "If we're still alive, we can all just blow ourselves up or something."

"Quit saying that!"

Toshimi burst up in anger, shoving Shunpei onto the concrete with a firm hand. The boy was taken completely off guard; he had never seen Toshimi angry in the years he had known her.

"Stop saying that everyone's going to die, Shunpei," she murmured between sobs. "Please… all we can do is cling onto our hopes now. Why do you always have to… be such a cynical person?"

Shunpei had honestly never thought about that. He had no response.

"Listen…" Toshimi sat up on the side of the street, burying her head in her hands. "Somewhere out there our friends are killing each other senselessly. The least we can do is fight to change this, so no one else will have to suffer the same fate. There is nothing worse than a senseless death, but our friends and maybe even us - we might die a pointless, senseless death if nothing changes."

Silence.

They sat in silence for a while, just thinking about everyone else whose futures had been robbed by the Program. They sat and thought of the countless other senseless deaths, and a spark for potential change.

Girl #9 Megumi Tendo - Dead

35 Students Remaining