Fanfic: Hikaru no go/Battle Royale Part 1
Here's the first part of that Hikaru no go/Battle Royale fic I've been writing. I figured I should put it up somewhere, after wasting all that time with it... ^^; For now, the fic resides here in my writing journal, even though I'm not sure if there's much audience at all for a fic like this among my f-list… I might some day post it to my ff.net account too, but this requires that I a) figure out a title for this, b) remember my password, c) fix certain parts that totally do need fixing...
I wonder what it is with me and strange crossovers, anyway. Yugioh/Solaris, Death Note/Mononoke, and now this... I'm pretty sure that the Hikaru no go/Princes Tutu one will remain unwritten, though. (ETA: Hahah! And now it, too, is written! xD) Well, whatever. At least this one is finally finished and won't be eating my time anymore. Hopefully. Unless I start editing this...
Characters: Mainly from Hikago (Hikaru and Akari... note: I said Akari, not Akira - though Touya's in this too, of course, and where there is Hikaru, there is Sai...) The only ones from BR to make short appearances are Kiriyama, Kitano and Mimura. And then there are some OC's who mainly exist to be killed off. Poor buggers.
Timeline: this takes place just a bit before that new first dan certification/award distributing ceremony thingy, whatever it's officially called (and by the way, if anyone knows exactly when that ceremony takes place, I'd be grateful for that piece of information. I'm guessing (hoping) some time in (late?) March, but I couldn't find anything definite.)
In other words, they're just about to finish the eighth grade. (In BR verse, I guess they should be in the ninth year, but that didn't quite work for Hikago timeline, so eighth year it is.) I've also taken some freedoms as on who is on the same class as Hikaru - for example, though he and Akari were in the same class in grade school, they apparently aren't anymore in the junior high, but... artistic license, you know.
PG-13, I guess, for some language and violence... though this isn't as bloody and violent as Battle Royale, and I hope it makes more sense.
(Because seriously, Battle Royale might be a good movie, but it makes no sense whatsoever. "Oh, the youth today really are difficult, skipping school and not respecting adults, what should we do? Hey, I know, let's take a group of ninth graders to an abandoned island and have them kill off each other! That surely solves all problems this world's facing." I mean… huh?)
Chapter I
Day 1, 00:00
Hikaru Shindou was crouching behind a large stone, hugging tightly his knees. Behind him grew a dense, dark forest, in his front rose a big, somewhat run-down building, a school that hadn't been in use for years. A door stood open, a door through which he too had just a moment ago passed, and… a few meters to the right of the door, a body lay on the ground, unmoving.
Eyes firmly closed he was attempting to tell himself that what was happening couldn't be real, things like this simply didn't happen - or at least, if they happened, they happened to other people, not to him. This was something he'd hear on the news, he might talk about it with his friends, and everyone would be horrified for a moment before they'd go on with their lives.
This wasn't happening to him.
A small, hesitant form appeared in the doorway, stopped there. Hikaru's eyes were still closed, but the ghost next to him was paying more attention to their surroundings.
"Hikaru, look…"
The boy closed his eyes more tightly and tried to huddle down into an even smaller ball. Shut up, Sai…
"Hikaru!" The ghost nudged his mind more sharply "Akari's there! You need to do something, before she too…"
A dry branch cracked somewhere, and at the same moment Hikaru's eyes snapped open, just in time to see the girl take a step forward.
He jumped to his feet. "Akari! Run!"
The girl froze for a moment, and he could see her lips forming a word he couldn't hear. "Run! " he shrieked. "Here!"
Then Akari was moving, and before he realized he too was running, wet branches hitting against his face, and a shot rang out behind them, and another…
He kept on running a long while with the bag he'd been given bouncing on his back, slipping every now and then on the wet ground, stumbling on roots, without any understanding of where he was going. Behind, he could hear Akari following him.
"Hikaru…"
He stumbled again, rose, went on.
"Hikaru… wait!"
Akari's voice was exhausted and seemed to come from farther behind than before. Out of breath as well, Hikaru finally stopped and fell on his knees. Behind him, the girl slumped on the ground as well, shaking and panting hard.
"I… I can't… run any…more," she managed to get out.
Hikaru just shook his head. "This is crazy," he muttered. "Crazy." He closed his eyes again but opened them again quickly as unpleasant images flashed in his mind.
"What the hell's wrong with that guy!" he suddenly exploded. "He can't just come and do something like this! Can't…"
Akari shook her head tiredly. "I know. This… this is…" She covered her face with her hands. "Poor Yamada-kun…"
Hikaru flinched. He wished he hadn't been watching quite so closely when that damn Kitano had pushed the button and Yamada's collar had exploded, tearing his throat open. His hand rose to finger the collar around his own neck. A warning example. To make them take this seriously. And now, Yamada wasn't the only one dead.
Hikaru opened his mouth, glanced at Akari, and closed it again. The girl was still breathing heavily, but at least her shaking had stopped. She looked up at Hikaru and frowned. "Hey… who was the one shooting there?"
Hikaru swallowed. "Nakamura. Apparently he got a gun, and decided to get started right away."
"Nakamura?" Akari was stunned. "I don't believe this. I just don't… I don't know about this Kitano guy, but… Nakamura? Shooting at us? That's just…" Her voice trailed off, and Hikaru simply shook his head - he certainly had nothing to add to that.
"Hikaru…" Sai's voice echoed quietly in the back of his mind. "I don't like to point this out, but… maybe you should check what kind of weapons you two have…"
A heavy sigh escaped the boy and he closed his eyes once again. "Yeah… yeah. Maybe we should," he muttered aloud.
"Huh? Should what?" Akari asked as Hikaru started digging through his bag.
"Check our weapons."
"No…" Akari began shaking her head vigorously, but nevertheless she too soon opened her bag and started examining the contents in the light of her flashlight.
Hikaru pulled something out of his bag and gave an exasperated snort. "What the heck is this supposed to be?"
Akari pointed the light toward him. "Rope," she said.
"I know it's a rope! What am I going to do with a rope? How do you fight with a rope! Am I supposed to hang people or what?"
"What, you mean you'd want a real gun?" Akari's voice was sharp. "You want to start killing too?"
Hikaru lowered the rope to the ground and shook his head. "No… but I don't want to die either. How can I defend myself with a rope? If some people take this seriously… like Nakamura… and then there's that… what was his name again? That so called transfer student…"
"Kiriyama."
"Yeah. If he jumps on us, what am I going to do with a damn rope?" He sighed. "What do you have?"
Akari turned back to her own bag, and took out a small metal object. "A pocketknife," she said. "It has also a corkscrew and small scissors and… a can opener."
"Oh great. That's sure useful."
"Mmm." Akari put the knife into her pocket and took a look around. "Maybe we should go somewhere. It's in the middle of the night and it looks like it might rain again… I'm getting cold."
"Yeah." Hikaru stood up. "But where?"
"We did get a map too, didn't we…" Akari took the map out. "I wonder where we are… we were just running blindly, and I don't even know where we left from."
Hikaru looked at the map over Akari's shoulder and shrugged. "Let's just walk somewhere. This is a small island, after all."
It didn't take long before they came out of the forest to a small road. They started following it, and when the first rain drops hit the ground they saw a house, a shack, really, in a turn of the road. They reached the old building just when the downpour started.
"Huh, that was good timing." Akari shook her hair and water droplets scattered around. "What a cozy place…"
"Looks like it's ready to fall down," Hikaru said. "Well, at least the roof's not leaking. Much," he added, when a drop fell on his cheek.
They sat down on the floor - the chairs in the room didn't look too reliable. "I'm tired," Akari muttered. "And it's night. But do we dare to sleep? Maybe we should take turns…"
Hikaru yawned, mouth wide. "I'm tired too. We need rest." Sai? he added in his mind. What about you? Could you keep a watch and warn us if anyone's coming?
Of course¸ came the quiet answer, and Hikaru lay down on the floor, feeling a little reassured. "It's ok, Akari," he said. "Let's sleep. No one's coming here in this storm."
"They might be looking for shelter too," Akari said doubtfully, but lay down as well. Then she snorted. "They're our classmates! What am I afraid of?"
Nakamura's our classmate too, Hikaru thought, but didn't say anything.
It was a restless night. Once they finally managed to fall asleep they both woke up many times from dreams bordering nightmares and lay awake long minutes listening to the rain and fearing the smallest sounds. In the early morning, when they finally were sleeping more peacefully, they were startled awake by loud music.
"Good morning, everyone!" a voice rang over the music. "It's six am and time to wake, sleepyheads. This is the list of your dead friends, in the order they died…"
"What?" Akari rubbed her eyes. "What is he talking about?"
"Girls #4 Sayaka Watanabe, girls #17 Kaoru Tanaka …"
Akari froze. "Sayaka?" she whispered. "Did he… did he say…"
"Yeah…" Hikaru scrambled up. "I… I saw… it was Nakamura. He shot her right after she came out…"
"Why didn't you tell me!" Akari shrieked and threw her flashlight, the first thing to hit her hand, toward the boy. "How could you not tell me!"
"Only three deaths, so far, but I can excuse you this time - you're still new to the game. Do your best today, and remember, you only have three days! Now listen carefully, I will give to you the danger zones…"
"Why didn't you tell me… Sayaka…" Akari fell down on the ground, sobbing. "Sayaka!"
The report was over and a heavy silence fell over them. Hikaru stared at the crying girl feeling completely lost. Then he moved closer to her and patted softly her shoulder, not knowing what to say, and suddenly had his arms full as Akari flung her arms around his neck. "Sayakaaa…" she mumbled against his chest.
"Eh, hey, Akari…" He patted her again. "Try to calm down, ok?"
"I wouldn't want to disturb her mourning, but you should take the map out again."
Map? Hikaru looked up at Sai who was watching the girl with a sorrowful expression. Why?
"The danger zones. Remember, the exploding collar? You weren't apparently listening, but I can tell them to you."
Oh… "Oh!" Hikaru jumped up so that the girl almost fell down. "Sorry Akari, need to write the zones down…"
He took out his map and marked the zones according to what Sai told him. Then he looked at the map with a frown. "Now… all we have to do is to figure out where we are…"
Akari came to look at the map as well, still sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Let's see, wasn't it some school where we left from?" She bent over the map. "Isn't it this one? At least I don't see anything else here marked as a school… and then…" she bent even closer, "then we ran into the forest… here? And came to a road… maybe this one, or this… we followed it to the right, and there was a sharp turn, and there was this house… look, here! Do you think we could be here?"
"Eh…" Hikaru blinked at the map. "I guess…"
"I think she's right," Sai said. "But that means…"
"We're in the next danger zone," Hikaru finished aloud.
"Yeah. I guess we'll have to get going. At least it isn't raining anymore…"
They gathered their things in silence. It seemed to be turning into a beautiful day; all the clouds had dispersed and the sun was climbing up to a blue sky. Hikaru blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Sure looks beautiful here…"
"Mmm…" Akari didn't seem to even hear what he had said, and a few tears were again rolling down her cheeks. "Let's go…" She started walking onward but had barely taken two steps when Hikaru stopped her.
"What?"
"I heard someone behind the house," Hikaru whispered, and Akari swallowed.
"Should we take a look?" she whispered back.
"Maybe…" Sai?
"I'm on it." The ghost took a look behind the corner and returned soon. "One of your classmates, I don't know his name. He looks pretty miserable… and doesn't seem to have any weapons - well, at least nothing big."
Alright. Hikaru nodded. "I'll take a look, wait here."
He peeked carefully behind the corner. True enough, the sight that waited him was quite miserable - a completely drenched muddy boy who sat on the ground, shivering.
"Hey, Morita," he said, and the boy jumped up taking a sharp, terrified breath.
"Ah, Shindou… you really scared me there…"
"You don't look too well," Hikaru said. "Are you hurt?"
"No, just… wet."
They stood in silence for a moment. The boy, Morita, shifted from one leg to another.
"So…" he finally said. "So. How are you?"
"Fine."
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah." Hikaru hoped Akari would understand to stay out of view. Just in case. "Um, what… are you planning to do?"
Morita laughed. There was a panic-stricken tone in his laughter, and this time it was Hikaru's turn to shift nervously.
"Do? Live. I hope. Did you get a good weapon?"
"…good enough."
"Did you hear? Three of us are already dead. Dead! Maybe more, by now." Morita laughed again, shortly and hysterically. "Good enough? Good enough to keep you alive? Say, are you playing this game?"
"What are you talking about? Of course not! That's just…"
"Then you're planning to die? Cause the only way out… the only way out…"
And he jumped at Hikaru with a scalpel in his hand.
"Morita, don't…!" Hikaru dodged, fell, rolled aside… and saw from the corner of his eye a thick tree branch coming down to Morita's head. The other boy fell on his knees, holding his head, and Hikaru made a dive for the scalpel. He scrambled back to his feet, breathing heavily. On his right side Akari clutched the tree branch, lips pressed into a tight line.
Hikaru drew a deep breath trying to steady his voice. "Akari. Let's go." Keeping a careful eye on the now crying boy who was trying to scramble back to his feet, they backed away.
"Wait! Wait, don't… don't go…"
They grasped their bags and ran, as if by mutual consent.
"Wait!" Morita's ragged shout came from behind them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… don't leave me alone!"
Soon his voice faded away, and Hikaru and Akari slowed down, first to jog, then walk.
"Has everyone gone mad here?" Hikaru snapped once he'd recovered enough breath.
"How could Morita do something like that? He's always been so calm and sensible and… and… nice."
Hikaru snorted. "Well, now we've got this," he said looking at the small scalpel he was still holding in his hand. "Not really that useful, either…"
Akari was looking at the map again. "Come. Let's go this way," she said and started walking.
"Where are we going to?"
"To the shore."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
And they went on.
~*~
Back in Tokyo, in Kaio Junior High, the short school day of Saturday was just about to be over. Among the other students, Akira Touya as well was gathering up his things, going in his mind over the game he had played with his father this morning. Pieces of conversation floated around him, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
Have you heard? Yes, awful, isn't it…
The whispering seemed more heated than usual, at the same time intense and quiet, as if the students were afraid to talk aloud of the matter in question.
A whole school class? Who would do…
Touya closed his bag and started to walk to the door, saying a goodbye to their teacher on the way. Absentmindedly he noted that the teacher as well seemed to be somehow worried.
Police…There's no leads…
Touya glanced at the girls who were just walking past him and decided he could as well be curious.
"Excuse me… what are you talking about?"
The girls looked at him in surprise. "That kidnapping case," one of them said. "Surely you've heard of it? A whole school class was kidnapped on their class trip."
"Oh, that. Yes, I've heard about it."
"Awful." The girl shook her head. "Why would anyone do something like that?"
"For ransom?" a passing boy suggested, and they shrugged.
"Maybe. Though they haven't made any demands yet, nobody knows who's behind this."
More people stopped around them. "What class was it again? How old are those kids?" one of them asked.
"Wasn't it eighth year?" another answered. "I think. Haze Junior High, class 8C."
Touya froze. "Haze…?"
"Yes, it definitely was Haze," another boy confirmed. "And eighth year, the same as us."
One of the girls shuddered. "Awful."
"Yeah, it's just…"
The conversation went on but Touya wasn't listening to it anymore.
Haze. Shindou. He was in the eighth year. But was he on 8C?
The other students moved on and he was left standing alone in the middle of the corridor.
Certainly not. Why would Shindou have to be involved? Haze was a big school with many classes. And even if it happened that Shindou was on 8C, then what? Why would it matter to him... Either way, it was an awful thing, like the girls had said, regardless of who were among the kidnapped.
He started moving again. He'd go to his father's go salon, as he always did after school, and forget all about this. It wasn't his problem... not to mention that there was hardly anything he could do about it.
But it was Haze, the nagging thought returned. Eighth year. What if…
He started walking faster, making a sudden decision. A change of plans. He could go to the go club a little later. After all, he had to admit to himself that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on any game before he made sure of Shindou's whereabouts.
Next chapter
I wonder what it is with me and strange crossovers, anyway. Yugioh/Solaris, Death Note/Mononoke, and now this... I'm pretty sure that the Hikaru no go/Princes Tutu one will remain unwritten, though. (ETA: Hahah! And now it, too, is written! xD) Well, whatever. At least this one is finally finished and won't be eating my time anymore. Hopefully. Unless I start editing this...
Characters: Mainly from Hikago (Hikaru and Akari... note: I said Akari, not Akira - though Touya's in this too, of course, and where there is Hikaru, there is Sai...) The only ones from BR to make short appearances are Kiriyama, Kitano and Mimura. And then there are some OC's who mainly exist to be killed off. Poor buggers.
Timeline: this takes place just a bit before that new first dan certification/award distributing ceremony thingy, whatever it's officially called (and by the way, if anyone knows exactly when that ceremony takes place, I'd be grateful for that piece of information. I'm guessing (hoping) some time in (late?) March, but I couldn't find anything definite.)
In other words, they're just about to finish the eighth grade. (In BR verse, I guess they should be in the ninth year, but that didn't quite work for Hikago timeline, so eighth year it is.) I've also taken some freedoms as on who is on the same class as Hikaru - for example, though he and Akari were in the same class in grade school, they apparently aren't anymore in the junior high, but... artistic license, you know.
PG-13, I guess, for some language and violence... though this isn't as bloody and violent as Battle Royale, and I hope it makes more sense.
(Because seriously, Battle Royale might be a good movie, but it makes no sense whatsoever. "Oh, the youth today really are difficult, skipping school and not respecting adults, what should we do? Hey, I know, let's take a group of ninth graders to an abandoned island and have them kill off each other! That surely solves all problems this world's facing." I mean… huh?)
Chapter I
Day 1, 00:00
Hikaru Shindou was crouching behind a large stone, hugging tightly his knees. Behind him grew a dense, dark forest, in his front rose a big, somewhat run-down building, a school that hadn't been in use for years. A door stood open, a door through which he too had just a moment ago passed, and… a few meters to the right of the door, a body lay on the ground, unmoving.
Eyes firmly closed he was attempting to tell himself that what was happening couldn't be real, things like this simply didn't happen - or at least, if they happened, they happened to other people, not to him. This was something he'd hear on the news, he might talk about it with his friends, and everyone would be horrified for a moment before they'd go on with their lives.
This wasn't happening to him.
A small, hesitant form appeared in the doorway, stopped there. Hikaru's eyes were still closed, but the ghost next to him was paying more attention to their surroundings.
"Hikaru, look…"
The boy closed his eyes more tightly and tried to huddle down into an even smaller ball. Shut up, Sai…
"Hikaru!" The ghost nudged his mind more sharply "Akari's there! You need to do something, before she too…"
A dry branch cracked somewhere, and at the same moment Hikaru's eyes snapped open, just in time to see the girl take a step forward.
He jumped to his feet. "Akari! Run!"
The girl froze for a moment, and he could see her lips forming a word he couldn't hear. "Run! " he shrieked. "Here!"
Then Akari was moving, and before he realized he too was running, wet branches hitting against his face, and a shot rang out behind them, and another…
He kept on running a long while with the bag he'd been given bouncing on his back, slipping every now and then on the wet ground, stumbling on roots, without any understanding of where he was going. Behind, he could hear Akari following him.
"Hikaru…"
He stumbled again, rose, went on.
"Hikaru… wait!"
Akari's voice was exhausted and seemed to come from farther behind than before. Out of breath as well, Hikaru finally stopped and fell on his knees. Behind him, the girl slumped on the ground as well, shaking and panting hard.
"I… I can't… run any…more," she managed to get out.
Hikaru just shook his head. "This is crazy," he muttered. "Crazy." He closed his eyes again but opened them again quickly as unpleasant images flashed in his mind.
"What the hell's wrong with that guy!" he suddenly exploded. "He can't just come and do something like this! Can't…"
Akari shook her head tiredly. "I know. This… this is…" She covered her face with her hands. "Poor Yamada-kun…"
Hikaru flinched. He wished he hadn't been watching quite so closely when that damn Kitano had pushed the button and Yamada's collar had exploded, tearing his throat open. His hand rose to finger the collar around his own neck. A warning example. To make them take this seriously. And now, Yamada wasn't the only one dead.
Hikaru opened his mouth, glanced at Akari, and closed it again. The girl was still breathing heavily, but at least her shaking had stopped. She looked up at Hikaru and frowned. "Hey… who was the one shooting there?"
Hikaru swallowed. "Nakamura. Apparently he got a gun, and decided to get started right away."
"Nakamura?" Akari was stunned. "I don't believe this. I just don't… I don't know about this Kitano guy, but… Nakamura? Shooting at us? That's just…" Her voice trailed off, and Hikaru simply shook his head - he certainly had nothing to add to that.
"Hikaru…" Sai's voice echoed quietly in the back of his mind. "I don't like to point this out, but… maybe you should check what kind of weapons you two have…"
A heavy sigh escaped the boy and he closed his eyes once again. "Yeah… yeah. Maybe we should," he muttered aloud.
"Huh? Should what?" Akari asked as Hikaru started digging through his bag.
"Check our weapons."
"No…" Akari began shaking her head vigorously, but nevertheless she too soon opened her bag and started examining the contents in the light of her flashlight.
Hikaru pulled something out of his bag and gave an exasperated snort. "What the heck is this supposed to be?"
Akari pointed the light toward him. "Rope," she said.
"I know it's a rope! What am I going to do with a rope? How do you fight with a rope! Am I supposed to hang people or what?"
"What, you mean you'd want a real gun?" Akari's voice was sharp. "You want to start killing too?"
Hikaru lowered the rope to the ground and shook his head. "No… but I don't want to die either. How can I defend myself with a rope? If some people take this seriously… like Nakamura… and then there's that… what was his name again? That so called transfer student…"
"Kiriyama."
"Yeah. If he jumps on us, what am I going to do with a damn rope?" He sighed. "What do you have?"
Akari turned back to her own bag, and took out a small metal object. "A pocketknife," she said. "It has also a corkscrew and small scissors and… a can opener."
"Oh great. That's sure useful."
"Mmm." Akari put the knife into her pocket and took a look around. "Maybe we should go somewhere. It's in the middle of the night and it looks like it might rain again… I'm getting cold."
"Yeah." Hikaru stood up. "But where?"
"We did get a map too, didn't we…" Akari took the map out. "I wonder where we are… we were just running blindly, and I don't even know where we left from."
Hikaru looked at the map over Akari's shoulder and shrugged. "Let's just walk somewhere. This is a small island, after all."
It didn't take long before they came out of the forest to a small road. They started following it, and when the first rain drops hit the ground they saw a house, a shack, really, in a turn of the road. They reached the old building just when the downpour started.
"Huh, that was good timing." Akari shook her hair and water droplets scattered around. "What a cozy place…"
"Looks like it's ready to fall down," Hikaru said. "Well, at least the roof's not leaking. Much," he added, when a drop fell on his cheek.
They sat down on the floor - the chairs in the room didn't look too reliable. "I'm tired," Akari muttered. "And it's night. But do we dare to sleep? Maybe we should take turns…"
Hikaru yawned, mouth wide. "I'm tired too. We need rest." Sai? he added in his mind. What about you? Could you keep a watch and warn us if anyone's coming?
Of course¸ came the quiet answer, and Hikaru lay down on the floor, feeling a little reassured. "It's ok, Akari," he said. "Let's sleep. No one's coming here in this storm."
"They might be looking for shelter too," Akari said doubtfully, but lay down as well. Then she snorted. "They're our classmates! What am I afraid of?"
Nakamura's our classmate too, Hikaru thought, but didn't say anything.
It was a restless night. Once they finally managed to fall asleep they both woke up many times from dreams bordering nightmares and lay awake long minutes listening to the rain and fearing the smallest sounds. In the early morning, when they finally were sleeping more peacefully, they were startled awake by loud music.
"Good morning, everyone!" a voice rang over the music. "It's six am and time to wake, sleepyheads. This is the list of your dead friends, in the order they died…"
"What?" Akari rubbed her eyes. "What is he talking about?"
"Girls #4 Sayaka Watanabe, girls #17 Kaoru Tanaka …"
Akari froze. "Sayaka?" she whispered. "Did he… did he say…"
"Yeah…" Hikaru scrambled up. "I… I saw… it was Nakamura. He shot her right after she came out…"
"Why didn't you tell me!" Akari shrieked and threw her flashlight, the first thing to hit her hand, toward the boy. "How could you not tell me!"
"Only three deaths, so far, but I can excuse you this time - you're still new to the game. Do your best today, and remember, you only have three days! Now listen carefully, I will give to you the danger zones…"
"Why didn't you tell me… Sayaka…" Akari fell down on the ground, sobbing. "Sayaka!"
The report was over and a heavy silence fell over them. Hikaru stared at the crying girl feeling completely lost. Then he moved closer to her and patted softly her shoulder, not knowing what to say, and suddenly had his arms full as Akari flung her arms around his neck. "Sayakaaa…" she mumbled against his chest.
"Eh, hey, Akari…" He patted her again. "Try to calm down, ok?"
"I wouldn't want to disturb her mourning, but you should take the map out again."
Map? Hikaru looked up at Sai who was watching the girl with a sorrowful expression. Why?
"The danger zones. Remember, the exploding collar? You weren't apparently listening, but I can tell them to you."
Oh… "Oh!" Hikaru jumped up so that the girl almost fell down. "Sorry Akari, need to write the zones down…"
He took out his map and marked the zones according to what Sai told him. Then he looked at the map with a frown. "Now… all we have to do is to figure out where we are…"
Akari came to look at the map as well, still sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Let's see, wasn't it some school where we left from?" She bent over the map. "Isn't it this one? At least I don't see anything else here marked as a school… and then…" she bent even closer, "then we ran into the forest… here? And came to a road… maybe this one, or this… we followed it to the right, and there was a sharp turn, and there was this house… look, here! Do you think we could be here?"
"Eh…" Hikaru blinked at the map. "I guess…"
"I think she's right," Sai said. "But that means…"
"We're in the next danger zone," Hikaru finished aloud.
"Yeah. I guess we'll have to get going. At least it isn't raining anymore…"
They gathered their things in silence. It seemed to be turning into a beautiful day; all the clouds had dispersed and the sun was climbing up to a blue sky. Hikaru blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Sure looks beautiful here…"
"Mmm…" Akari didn't seem to even hear what he had said, and a few tears were again rolling down her cheeks. "Let's go…" She started walking onward but had barely taken two steps when Hikaru stopped her.
"What?"
"I heard someone behind the house," Hikaru whispered, and Akari swallowed.
"Should we take a look?" she whispered back.
"Maybe…" Sai?
"I'm on it." The ghost took a look behind the corner and returned soon. "One of your classmates, I don't know his name. He looks pretty miserable… and doesn't seem to have any weapons - well, at least nothing big."
Alright. Hikaru nodded. "I'll take a look, wait here."
He peeked carefully behind the corner. True enough, the sight that waited him was quite miserable - a completely drenched muddy boy who sat on the ground, shivering.
"Hey, Morita," he said, and the boy jumped up taking a sharp, terrified breath.
"Ah, Shindou… you really scared me there…"
"You don't look too well," Hikaru said. "Are you hurt?"
"No, just… wet."
They stood in silence for a moment. The boy, Morita, shifted from one leg to another.
"So…" he finally said. "So. How are you?"
"Fine."
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah." Hikaru hoped Akari would understand to stay out of view. Just in case. "Um, what… are you planning to do?"
Morita laughed. There was a panic-stricken tone in his laughter, and this time it was Hikaru's turn to shift nervously.
"Do? Live. I hope. Did you get a good weapon?"
"…good enough."
"Did you hear? Three of us are already dead. Dead! Maybe more, by now." Morita laughed again, shortly and hysterically. "Good enough? Good enough to keep you alive? Say, are you playing this game?"
"What are you talking about? Of course not! That's just…"
"Then you're planning to die? Cause the only way out… the only way out…"
And he jumped at Hikaru with a scalpel in his hand.
"Morita, don't…!" Hikaru dodged, fell, rolled aside… and saw from the corner of his eye a thick tree branch coming down to Morita's head. The other boy fell on his knees, holding his head, and Hikaru made a dive for the scalpel. He scrambled back to his feet, breathing heavily. On his right side Akari clutched the tree branch, lips pressed into a tight line.
Hikaru drew a deep breath trying to steady his voice. "Akari. Let's go." Keeping a careful eye on the now crying boy who was trying to scramble back to his feet, they backed away.
"Wait! Wait, don't… don't go…"
They grasped their bags and ran, as if by mutual consent.
"Wait!" Morita's ragged shout came from behind them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… don't leave me alone!"
Soon his voice faded away, and Hikaru and Akari slowed down, first to jog, then walk.
"Has everyone gone mad here?" Hikaru snapped once he'd recovered enough breath.
"How could Morita do something like that? He's always been so calm and sensible and… and… nice."
Hikaru snorted. "Well, now we've got this," he said looking at the small scalpel he was still holding in his hand. "Not really that useful, either…"
Akari was looking at the map again. "Come. Let's go this way," she said and started walking.
"Where are we going to?"
"To the shore."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
And they went on.
~*~
Back in Tokyo, in Kaio Junior High, the short school day of Saturday was just about to be over. Among the other students, Akira Touya as well was gathering up his things, going in his mind over the game he had played with his father this morning. Pieces of conversation floated around him, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
Have you heard? Yes, awful, isn't it…
The whispering seemed more heated than usual, at the same time intense and quiet, as if the students were afraid to talk aloud of the matter in question.
A whole school class? Who would do…
Touya closed his bag and started to walk to the door, saying a goodbye to their teacher on the way. Absentmindedly he noted that the teacher as well seemed to be somehow worried.
Police…There's no leads…
Touya glanced at the girls who were just walking past him and decided he could as well be curious.
"Excuse me… what are you talking about?"
The girls looked at him in surprise. "That kidnapping case," one of them said. "Surely you've heard of it? A whole school class was kidnapped on their class trip."
"Oh, that. Yes, I've heard about it."
"Awful." The girl shook her head. "Why would anyone do something like that?"
"For ransom?" a passing boy suggested, and they shrugged.
"Maybe. Though they haven't made any demands yet, nobody knows who's behind this."
More people stopped around them. "What class was it again? How old are those kids?" one of them asked.
"Wasn't it eighth year?" another answered. "I think. Haze Junior High, class 8C."
Touya froze. "Haze…?"
"Yes, it definitely was Haze," another boy confirmed. "And eighth year, the same as us."
One of the girls shuddered. "Awful."
"Yeah, it's just…"
The conversation went on but Touya wasn't listening to it anymore.
Haze. Shindou. He was in the eighth year. But was he on 8C?
The other students moved on and he was left standing alone in the middle of the corridor.
Certainly not. Why would Shindou have to be involved? Haze was a big school with many classes. And even if it happened that Shindou was on 8C, then what? Why would it matter to him... Either way, it was an awful thing, like the girls had said, regardless of who were among the kidnapped.
He started moving again. He'd go to his father's go salon, as he always did after school, and forget all about this. It wasn't his problem... not to mention that there was hardly anything he could do about it.
But it was Haze, the nagging thought returned. Eighth year. What if…
He started walking faster, making a sudden decision. A change of plans. He could go to the go club a little later. After all, he had to admit to himself that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on any game before he made sure of Shindou's whereabouts.
Next chapter