DAY ONE ; 6:33 P.M.

Chihiro Fujisaki's fingers flew over the keyboard, pausing only briefly every so often to wipe sweat out of his eyes. It sounded kind of stupid, but it was really hot in the tourist association that they'd stayed in, especially on the top floor. Most of the Ethernet cables had been taken out with the ports smashed, but he'd found one in a small room on the top floor. After he'd gone down, found the network closet, and activated the port, he'd started in on it.

"Fujisaki-kun."

Chihiro nodded once. He was almost at a point where he could stop, but if he stopped now, he'd lose where he was and probably mess it up if he tried to jump right back in. "Second," he said.

After a few more minutes, he leaned back and glanced at her.

"Sorry," he said, turning a little red. She was just looking at him, eyes flat and body still, and it made him a little nervous. He was probably boring her, and he felt bad about her having to do all of the manual labor… he was a boy, and she was a girl – a pretty, strong girl – and he should be doing the heavy lifting…

But, if he was being completely honest with himself, he was just about useless when it came to everything but computers.

"I was looking around downstairs and I found some food," she said. "It's warm in this room, and you'll get overheated if you don't get a break."

"I opened the window," Chihiro said, a little weak.

"It will be nicer outside," Kirigiri said, and Chihiro nodded and stood to follow her, glancing back at the computer. He didn't want to be gone for long. Immediately after gaining an internet connection, he'd downloaded a program that he'd created a while ago, and had just finished tweaking it.

It was quiet until they got down to the ground floor. Kirigiri went straight through the kitchen, grabbing a basket that she had evidently filled with food, and the two of them sat outside with their backs to the wall and their eyes to the tangerine grove just a little bit away from them. It was weird, because it was almost like he could hear a banjo playing in the distance.

It was probably just in his head, though.

"Nanami-san is dead," Kirigiri said abruptly. Chihiro winced – he tried not to listen to the death part of the broadcasts, because he didn't like to know which of his friends had died, but Chiaki Nanami… Nanami and Chihiro had gotten along well together. They'd been close, and hearing her name on the broadcast…

He sniffled a little, wiping at his eyes. "I-I-I'm sorry," he said. He took a breath of air. "I just- we were- we were close."

Kirigiri nodded.

The food she had put together was a bunch of odds and ends from the kitchen – little things that she'd managed to cobble together into a meal. It was a lot nicer eating outside than inside – around noon, he'd eaten a little bit of his rations up in his room with internet connection, alone, and… it was nice to eat out here with Kirigiri. It was a little breezy, and the sweat on his skin made it feel even cooler.

Suddenly, Kirigiri froze. He glanced at her, eyes wide.

"Wh-"

"Shh," Kirigiri said. She stood up. Chihiro followed her lead. "I think… I see someone…"

Kirigiri pulled out the gun that was tucked in her skirt and gave Chihiro another look that clearly said 'stay quiet.' Chihiro thought back to the knife that was still up in the room with the computer and winced.

"Stay here," Kirigiri hissed. Chihiro, while he didn't think that he could really handle being by himself in a situation as terrifying as this, nodded. He swallowed and wondered if whoever it was could hear his heart beating, because that was just about the only thing that he could hear at the moment.

He glanced around and wondered if there was anything he could use to protect himself, just in the off chance that Kirigiri had misplaced where the sound had come from and whoever it was ended up attacking him. He could use the basket as a shield, he guessed, but…

He wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't prepared for this game in the least, let alone the part where people actually… actually killed each other. It had been so nice for the past few hours. It had been so nice, getting his hands on a computer and spending time with Kirigiri and… and if there was someone out there and if Kirigiri couldn't scare them off (he refused to think about Kyouko Kirigiri killing someone, he liked her too much to want to think about her having to kill someone)…

He swallowed and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly and resting his chin atop them. He was shaking a little. He tried to think that Kirigiri was wrong, but…

"Fujisaki-kun! Watch out!"

That was Kirigiri's scream – he jumped to his feet and grabbed the basket, ready to throw bowls or whatever at whoever it was – and he only caught a glimpse of blonde hair and an orange kimono before someone stepped in front of him and met a sickle with a katana, blocking the blow.

It was Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

21 STUDENTS REMAINING

And with that the next update is in September have fun.