As soon as Kazuichi Souda left the school, he ran. He ran away from the school, ignoring the shout from someone – or something, just something out to get him out to kill him – and farther into the trees. When he figured that he was at least a reasonable distance from the school he collapsed, leaning against a tree as his shoulders shook with sobs. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening, not to a class with people like Byakuya Togami in it, so many of his classmates were so important, they wouldn't just kill them.

Once his tears had stopped enough for him to be able to see, he pushed back his beanie and his hair and dug through his pack. It was night, but he found his flashlight and peered in to try and figure out what, exactly, he had gotten in terms of weaponry.

He didn't know if he was going to play. He didn't want to – it scared him shitless – but he knew, he knew that he was going to be the first to die.

There was no 'weapon', and for a second Souda thought that he hadn't gotten one. Then his hand closed over a small, boxy object and he pulled it out. It was some sort of electronic… a little weird, but okay.

He powered it on and was faced with another mini-map of the island. Thirty-two blinking lights assaulted his eyes, as well as the school's zone being red instead of the neutral tones that the rest of the island was colored.

He'd gotten a tracker.

He didn't even need to play, all he needed to do was stay out of everyone's way and out of the danger zones – which also seemed to be helpfully marked off – and he would be fine. He pulled out his map and compass and, holding his flashlight between his teeth, pinpointed where he was.

The zone to the west of the school zone. He switched back to his tracker and nearly fainted when he saw two dots in that zone.

He whirled around, unsure which was him and which was the other. Was it Hinata? Oh, please, please, please let it be Hinata, or even Sonia – if he could rescue her… get her off of this… he'd definitely…

He turned off his flashlight and shoved everything back into his bag apart from the tracker, keeping his back against the tree and watching as the dot came closer to his stationary dot. The surrounding areas were either fully populated or forbidden. He didn't have a choice. He'd have to stay and home that he wasn't seen –

A flashlight beam hit him square in the face and he squinted, dropping to his knees and holding his hand above his eyes to try and not go completely blind. There was a scoff and Souda snatched his flashlight back to retaliate or at least figure out who it was.

As soon as he saw who it was, he scrambled back to his feet again.

It was Gundam Tanaka, flashlight in one hand, Uzi in the other. Souda swallowed, pressing his back to the tree. He could feel himself start to cry again. Tanaka dropped the flashlight and steadied his grip on the Uzi.

He was going to be the first to die, and all he had to fight back with was this stupid tracker.

"P-please…" Souda said, voice small. Tanaka's face was impassive.

"The Dark Gods of Destruction foretold this day," he said. His voice was completely even and without emotion. "I didn't listen. I decided to go on the trip anyway. I will get back to them, however, one I reign supreme."

Souda clutched the flashlight tighter. "Please don't… don't…"

"You are expendable," Tanaka said. He laughed a little, and Souda pressed himself harder against the tree. He wondered how long he would make it if he ran – if he could manage to get himself to run, his legs were shaking something fierce and his feet seemed locked to the ground – then dismissed the thought entirely.

His finger curled over the trigger and Souda made a small noise in the back of his throat. He crumbled totally, curling into a ball and putting his arms over his head, shaking and tears and snot dripping off of his face to land on the ground, breath hitching in his throat. He heard Tanaka scoff and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the moment when bullets tore through his body and killed him.

He heard the gunshot, and another one, and another one, and another one, and another one, but didn't seem to be dead. In fact, that hadn't sounded like an Uzi at all. He looked up through his fingers just in time to see Tanaka topple over forward, and Leon Kuwata behind him with a pistol in his hands. Souda wiped off his face hurriedly.

"Kuwata!" he squeaked out. He was hardly recognizable at first – his usually vibrant orange hair and goatee were slicked with mud.

"Souda?" he said, then smirked a little. "Come on. We need to get your hair taken care of."

"I – what?" Souda asked, hand going up to his hair. He'd dyed it pink before this school year, in an attempt to make people like him. Because it was cool to have your hair weird colored, right? That was the thing with Kuwata, his hair wasn't naturally orange.

"Come on," Kuwata said. He grabbed Tanaka's pack, flashlight, and Uzi, tossing his pistol to Souda, who fumbled with it. "Careful, Jesus."

Souda shoved his flashlight back in his bag and slung it over his shoulder, keeping an eye on the tracker.

"What's that?" Kuwata asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"A tracker," Souda murmured. "Shows us where everyone is?"

Kuwata cracked a grin. "That'll be good," he said. They paused beside a river and Kuwata took the gun and the tracker from Souda and pulled him down on his knees beside the river. Souda froze. Was he going to drown him? Had he just… killed Tanaka to get his hopes up and…

He swallowed and then his head was in the river, calloused hands working at his scalp. Souda panicked, wriggling around. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe and Kuwata was killing him, he was killing him and he was going to –

He was up above the water again, gasping for air. "That should do it," Kuwata said. Souda wiped water from his eyes and reached up to his hair. Covered in mud. "When it gets light out, we'll be seen easy if we have hair like that. So. How does the tracker work?"

Souda grabbed the tracker and zoomed it out to show the whole island. "It has everyone on here… can't tell who's who, but it has a dot for everyone… even when they're dead, I guess," he said, noticing that Tanaka's dot was still there. Stationary, of course, but still there. He remembered Tanaka and abruptly burst into tears, pushing through his explanation anyway. "An'… an' it shows the d-danger zones, and-"

He broke off, sobbing. Kuwata nodded, pulling Souda into his chest and he cried there, staining Kuwata's shirt with tears and mud and snot.

"I- I'm sorry – I – fuck, he's dead, he's dead and he was goin' ta kill me, he was-"

"Yeah," Kuwata said. He seemed solid when Souda wasn't paying attention, but he was shaking. "Yeah."

With that, he shoved Souda away and threw up in the river. He sat back as if nothing had happened, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand and turning to Souda.

"We're gonna hole up in some… I dunno, someplace good. Wait for Oowada and Fujisaki. Anyone you need?"

"H-hinata," Souda said. It was the first person who came to mind – Hinata his soul friend.

"Alright, him too," Kuwata said, nodding. "What? No girls?"

Souda flushed. "Sonia-san," he said. Then he brightened. "Wait! Now that Tanaka's gone, there's nobody else she'd go for, right? I've got a chance now?"

"Maybe," Kuwata said. He sounded a little weird, but Souda dismissed it. "Yeah… girls'll be wanting to get that cherry popped, right? Wonder if we can find Maizono, too?"

"Maizono, yeah," Souda said. "So, we should find a place, right?"

"Right," Kuwata said. "We can take turns with the tracker, sleeping on and off. Both of us should be alive for the danger zones, too. In case we get separated.

"Yeah," Souda said, breathing out a sigh of relief as the two of them stood up, Tanaka's things split between their two packs, and headed to find their hideout.

31 STUDENTS REMAINING

This is probably the most entertaining fanfiction I'm writing right now – there are going to be some shorter chapters, most likely, when people just sort of die, but Souda and Kuwata are two people we'll follow for a few random chapters!