Battle Royale

[Riki]

If we get to go home. That choice of words was uncomfortable. Fiyori bit her lips, preventing herself from commenting. Was Alba this naive? Did she really believe in a future where the two of them would live? Or was she just being polite, using a phrase like this to not step on any toes?

Fiyori didn't know. Especially not with someone as Alba.

She simply nodded, then.

Then they turned around and walked back into the cafeteria. Her eyes mustered the tables and walls and benches for one last time. But when she raised her head, she saw they had a new visitor, and Fiyori halted.

[Deamon]

((Kimiko Kao continued from Takasago))

Their progress had been slow, but it wasn't something Kimiko was going to complain about. She had expected things to be slow. It didn't look like Min-Jae was capable of anything more than an excruciating painful gait.

They hadn't encountered anybody though which was both good and bad. It was good because it meant they hadn't been required to go through the risk of a fight or tense standoff, which would have had a good change of turning ugly, considering who they were and how many weapons she visibly possessed. She had the assault rifle in her hands, and the nodachi slung over her back along with her bag, but the end of the glock was also visible in her pocket while the tantō remained out of sight in her other pocket. Layers of visible and invisible protection in case anyone came to her with violence in their minds. The downside of their decision however was that it left them to wonder with no real goal or plan. It was a waste of their time and energy. Kimiko felt it was a waste of Min-Jae's energy more than hers. He could have used the time they had spent walking to rest and recuperate from his injuries. Instead they were blindly moving through corridors in the asylum.

The asylum itself was silent. It's long hallways feeling especially cavernous and deserted now that they were down to the final few. Despite Min-Jae's presence Kimiko couldn't help feeling alone. There was no fooling herself. The alliance with Min-Jae was one of convenience born from the fact they had been friends once. Kimiko was under no illusions that only one of them could leave the island alive. That was a problem for the future however.

For now they had decided to stop in the cafeteria. Kimiko had never been in the cafeteria, she had never decided to explore much of the asylum. Instead she had spent much of her time outside of it or only staying in specific rooms. Her knowledge of all the different corners of the place wasn't good.

Regardless she turned back to Min-Jae, who was further down the corridor due to his struggles with movement, and pointed at the cafeteria's large wooden door before pushing it open and entering.

As soon as she did so she saw Fiyori Senay and Alba Reyes. Kimiko hadn't seen Fiyori in all her time on the island but knew who she was from around Cochise. Alba she had seen, once at the very beginning of her time on the island. She had been there when Kimiko had killed Bradley.

They both had guns.

Kimiko looked between the two as her heartbeat began to speed up and body tensed.

What was going to happen she couldn't say for sure.

But she knew deep down that violence was the only conclusion.

[backslash]

((Min-jae Parker continued from Takasago))

The next morning brought good news and bad news.

The good news: Jon was definitely, totally, one-hundred-percent dead. So were Caedyn and Emma. Three less known threats to deal with. Kimiko also hadn't opted to shank Jae during the night, which was somewhat surprising. Jae had his suspicions about her reasons for wanting him to stick around, but he didn't voice them just yet. They'd burn that bridge when they got to it.

The bad news was that they couldn't leave the asylum. They, and whoever else might be left, were getting herded in more and more tightly, and it wasn't hard to figure out why.

It was almost over.

Jae thought back to the first day, more than a week ago now, and tried to remember what it was like. Every day now was one that he hadn't been able to envision waking up to.

He let Kimiko choose which direction they headed in; as long as they didn't go back to the rooms where Henry and Asha's bodies lay or down into the basement, he had no real objections. Staying put was good in theory, but they were both running low on supplies. Sooner or later, trouble was going to find them no matter what.

Kimiko's sudden stop as she entered the cafeteria suggested that it was going to be sooner.

Jae was a few steps behind, but he got a glimpse inside and caught sight of a familiar face that told him everything he needed to know.

"Fuck," he panted, and fumbled for the safety on the rifle.

[Laurels]

"Alright. Next place then," Alba said, following Fiyori out of the kitchen and back into the cafeteria.

The two of them stepped into the cafeteria. Alba noticed Fiyori taking one last look at the tables and chairs all over the cafeteria, but began to make her way to the door. The cafeteria was clear, but they needed to make sure the hallway was open before they moved out. Alba had made a promise to Fiyori, and she needed to act on it now by taking things way more seriously and being more willing to do what needed to be done to survive. Surely, being the lookout would be a part of that.

Alba had barely gotten two steps from Fiyori when the doors to the cafeteria opened. Alba froze as she saw the figures entering. She couldn't believe it. It was the duo they were most afraid of running into. Kimiko, who murdered Bradley back on the second day and killed several more after that. Jae, who was constantly causing trouble for Alba and killed Brendan and Jon. They were the two most dangerous students left, and now they were here.

Alba noticed Jae was already starting to fumble with his rifle. Alba didn't even need to think. She had the safety off on her gun in a second, then raised the rifle. Now was the time for her to prove she could protect someone, and that she could be the kind of person to take the risks needed to stop the most dangerous people left.

"Run!" she shouted to Fiyori.

She clenched down on the trigger as hard as possible, unleashing a hail of gunfire at Jae and Kimiko, and let out a scream as she did so.

[Riki]

Was there anything Fiyori could have said? Something she felt the urge to throw at Kimiko? Maybe there was, but it would be pointless either way. After all, Kimiko wasn't able to talk. As such, she wouldn't be able to hear either.

The silence between the three of them died abruptly.

Alba told Fiyori to run. She nodded, instinctively moving forward. Passing Kimiko. But no, that was dumb. Very dumb. If she did that she was gonna be hit for sure. Fiyori stopped herself, and turned around.

The was backwards was the way forwards. Kinda. She didn't know. The noise made it difficult to think.

Fiyori sprinted back towards the kitchen. That felt right. There would be cover, she could make use of that. Fiyori crouched down and peeked from around the corner. Her gun was raised. So much sweat, so much sweat on her palms. Her heart felt like exploding and jumping and dancing all across her ribcage, tearing itself apart against the ribs.

"Alba, quick!" Fiyori said, her voice strained and drowned out.

[Deamon]

Kimiko saw Alba begin to raise her gun and dove to the side.

She wasn't quick enough.

There was a burning at the tip of her ear and she instinctively reached up to feel it. It was a ragged mess and her hand came back covered in blood. Luckily it wasn't anything life-threatening. The rest of Alba's shots slammed home into the wall where Kimiko had been standing, so things could have been much worse.

Scrambling Kimiko plucked the assault rifle off the floor and got herself up to one knee. Using the table she had taken cover behind to brace the gun she placed her sights over Alba and let loose with a burst of fire at the girl.

There was no other option.

[backslash]

Fucking fuck of course he couldn't catch a break for one goddamn day-

Jae squeezed off one shot at Fiyori's retreating back before he had to jerk back out of the doorway to avoid the fire from Brendan's girlfriend. He thought Kimiko might have been hit, but wasn't sure. He didn't look back in to check, instead flattening himself against the wall and struggling to disentangle himself from the strap of his bag so he could get a proper grip on the rifle.

His mangled hand burned and his ears were ringing.

The Brendan Harte Fan Club was really starting to grate on his nerves.

He waited until there was a pause in the gunfire from inside the room to chance another shot.

[Laurels]

Alba stepped back a bit as she fired. Most of her bullets hit the wall, but it did look like one may have hit Kimiko after she dove to the ground. Jae was firing at Fiyori from outside the cafeteria. Alba noticed Kimiko duck behind a table, so she quickly stepped back as fire was returned.

"Fi! Kitchen!" she shouted.

She began to make her way to the double doors of the kitchen, spraying bullets in the general directions of Kimiko and Jae. She had no clue if she could hit either of them, but she had to hope it was enough.

Fiyori was closer to the kitchen, so Alba could cover her while she got in. Alba continued to step back and fire in a sweeping direction. She prayed this would end quickly. If she and Fiyori were trapped in the kitchen, they'd need to figure a way to defend themselves and escape if needed.

[Riki]

Oh no, that wasn't happening. A bullet whizzed past Fiyori. Someone took a shot at her, and that was enough. She stopped in her tracks and turned around again.

There was Kimiko going down. Not 'cause she was dead, unfortunately. Just got herself some cover. However, she also saw someone else. Min-Jae, his most fuck-faced of all goths, took the potshot at Fiyori and had the audacity to retreat out of the door again.

Fiyori's eyes and her aim darted between the two. She pulled the trigger, but to no avail. Her indecision led to the bullets hitting the wall only. A stray struck a painting. Alas, the pieces did not fly to hit Kimiko in the head.

However, things were still heated. Kimiko was firing on her own, and Min-Jae was sure to strike again. Fiyori kept the gun pointed at the empty air of the open door, but stepped backwards.

"Show your cunt-face, Min-Jae." Fiyori screeched. "I wanna shoot it!"

But no, for that moment, retreat was the call of the hour. Fiyori slipped into the kitchen, hiding just behind a corner. Close enough to attack. Close enough to turn their fucking bodies to minced meat.

[Deamon]

Fiyori started firing as all semblance of the situation being under control was destroyed. The bullets from Fiyori's gun smashed something behind Kimiko, causing a light rain of dust to fall onto her.

Their plan was to fall back into the kitchen. Kimiko had no idea of whether the room contained an exit they were planning on using to escape or if they were just falling back because there was more cover available to them.

Staying low and behind the table Kimiko moved further to the side of the room and out of Alba and Fiyori's combined fire.

She had no way of communicating with Min-Jae which put them at a disadvantage but he seemed to be using the doorway they'd entered through as cover.

Alba's sweeping arc of fire made it next to impossible for Kimiko to raise her head up and return fire.

Instead she did the opposite and dropped to her side on the floor. Taking a moment to brace the gun against her body before firing at Alba's legs.

[backslash]

Jesus fuck, what had Jae ever done to Fiyori? He hadn't even seen her here before now.

He had considered giving her some kind of thanks for helping to take Isabel down when he'd first heard that announcement, but now he took it back. Bitch wasn't getting any thanks for piling on the aggravations he had to deal with.

Another quick glance inside rewarded him with a glimpse of Fiyori retreating further into the kitchen and Kimiko apparently holding her own behind one of the tables. Jae caught on to her plan as she dropped to the ground and fired low.

He caught a blur of the other girl through the rifle's scope and followed Kimiko's shots with his own.

[Laurels]

Alba began to hurry her steps a bit towards the kitchen. Fiyori had already hurried in, so Alba could just burst through the doors and take shelter. They knew all the ways in and out of the kitchen, so they could possibly bolt if needed, or surprise Jae and Kimiko by using some of the racks to block them from advancing or hide in the pantry or meat locker for shelter.

Alba took another step backwards, when she suddenly felt sharp pains beneath her knees. She quickly looked down, stopping the immediate hail of bullets, and realizes she was bleeding. Kimiko was under a table, but she had taken a low shot to hit Alba in her legs. Alba let out a cry in pain as she reached the door.

She could feel her heart rate starting to increase. If she was hit in the legs and feet, it'd be hard to run. It'd be hard to do anything. Forget this fight, but she might not make it to the evening at this rate. Suddenly, she felt really scared.

Alba pushed her back to the doors and pushed her way in. As she did, she felt a sharp impact against her torso. She felt herself stumbling backwards, falling into the kitchen. The doors swung shut behind her, but she soon fell onto her backside. The rifle clattered to the ground by her side, along with her two bags.

"Fi!" she cried out, her eyes darting around for Fiyori.

Alba felt some pain emanating from her body, and quickly looked down at her torso. At the side of her body, near her waist, was a growing spot of blood. Her eyes widened and her breathing increased. This couldn't be good.

[Riki]

Oh, that wasn't good at all. With Fiyori now being behind cover, Jae and Kimiko had taken to focusing their shots at Alba. Fiyori's eyes widened with shock as Alba was hit and went down.

Wasn't it what Fiyori wanted, though? Was it not that she wished for someone else to kill Alba so Fiyori would not have to? And wasn't this one moment the one moment with the most chance of that happening?

And yet Fiyori moved. Yes, even though Alba could die here, and remove that emotional burden with it, Fiyori felt different. In that one moment, Fiyori had wanted nothing more to move, and make sure Alba would life. Somehow, anyhow.

She took shots at the table where she still presumed Kimiko to be. With the other hand, she grasped at Alba's shoulder. Even though this might've hurt like a bitch, Fiyori had to drag her further into the kitchen.

[Deamon]

The hail of bullets from Alba stopped as Kimiko's own shots hit her legs. Then she saw Alba get hit by Min-Jae's shots and fall back into the kitchen.

As soon as it happened Kimiko pushed herself up into a crouch to move away from where she had been. It turned out to be a smart decision as one of the two girls returned fire. She felt a bullet graze her leg, slicing through the top layers of skin. It burned almost as badly as her ear did but she ignored it and kept moving.

Until mercifully, the cafeteria fell silent for the first time since she had entered it. The brief moment of respite allowed her to check her ear with her hand. She assumed it was bad since she could feel the blood from it running down the side of her face and her neck, it was starting to soak her shoulder as well.

She was met with a sharp and intense stabbing pain as soon as her hand touched and when she brought it back it was saturated in the crimson red of her blood. The closest approximation she could think of was if she had dipped her hand in a bowl of the fake blood people used at Halloween.

Her eyes scanned the doors that Alba had fallen through and Fiyori had shot from, she presumed it led to the kitchen.

They had retreated deeper inside.

Kimiko popped the assault rifles magazine out and tried to count how many bullets she had before deciding to just reload the whole thing, stashing the other magazine in her bag

She rested the assault rifle on the table, keeping it trained on the doors as she waited for Min-Jae to catch up with her.

[backslash]

There was a lull in the gunfire. Jae's ears were ringing.

Another glance inside confirmed that Kimiko was still mostly in one piece; they had driven Fiyori and Brendan's girlfriend back into the kitchen. Kimiko was already setting up to fire on anyone who showed themselves, so Jae took a moment before entering the cafeteria properly.

His injured hand was stinging like hell, and his shoulder felt like it was beginning to bruise from the rifle's kick. He really would rather use the crossbow, but that didn't seem like a good bet against two people with guns. He had barely gotten away from Brendan's girlfriend twice without equal firepower; if she wanted to keep pushing the issue, he could return in kind now.

When nobody reemerged from the kitchen, Jae stole in and settled behind the table near Kimiko. "You figure there's any way out of there?" An emergency exit for employees, maybe, but this place didn't exactly seem up to OSHA standards and the world outside might as well not exist for all the good leaving the building would do.