((Hirono Shimizu continued from Taking Stock))
At last, Hirono couldn't handle it any more. She sank to her knees in the sand, her gun dropping hands balled into tight little fists and threw up what little was in her stomach. Gasping for breath, she dry-retched, then thumped the ground beneath her feet with her knuckles, half in frustration and half in anguish.
Ever since leaving the clinic, Hirono had been trying to keep her mind off that hole she'd blown in Niida's head, off the expression of surprise and terror on his face just before she'd shot him, off the steadily drying blood splattering her face, torso, clothes... She hadn't met with much success. Everytime she'd looked at the gun in her hand, it had reminded her, every thought dragged back to the simple fact that...
You killed him 'Rono. You killed him and you didn't have to. You bought into the government's bullshit.
"No I'm not," Hirono muttered, eyes downcast. "I'm not playing."
When it counted, you were. If you were stronger, you could have run him off. You had the gun, you had the power.
"I had it to start with..." she murmured to herself, recalling the stunned, sick feeling she'd had when Niida had distracted her long enough to bring her down and get hold of the firearm. "What was to say he could have got the upper hand again?"
That was different 'Rono, and you know it. He couldn't have done a thing with a gun to his head. You bought into it!
"No choice," Hirono said, the words failing to strike a chord with her in the slightest. There had been a choice, there was always a choice. When it came down to it, for all her high-horsed notions about Mimura and his motives, for her staunch refusal to bow to Kamon's wishes... she'd played the game.
Hirono rocked back onto her haunches and sat there on the beach. All at once, the fear the frustration the guilt and the sorrow came pouring out of her and Hirono Shimizu, considered by many to be one of the toughest girls in the class, started to cry her eyes out.
Backlash
Eastern Shore - F10
((Hiroshi Kuronaga continued from Black Canvas))
Stupid bastard... Stupid fuckin’ bastard…
Akamatsu’s interference was still on Hiroshi’s mind as he trudged slowly along the sandy beach, cursing himself with every heavy step as he tried to unjam the pistol. He didn’t know much about guns, admittedly, and the only time he’d ever seen someone unjamming a pistol before was during some TV show he’d seen a couple of years ago.
It looked simple enough. Remove the magazine and take out the lodged bullet. On paper it sounded easy enough. However, what it didn’t mention was how fiddly the process was, and it had taken Hiroshi over an hour before he finally removed the damn thing.
After reinserting the magazine, Hiroshi contemplated the thought of firing a practice round just to see whether or not he’d really fixed it. But that thought was immediately dashed the second he heard gunfire in the distance somewhere. No need to invite the whole island to my whereabouts...
... Besides, I’ve gotta save every last shot for when I find man-tits again.
He still couldn’t believe how everything had gone to hell so quickly. Things for the Family were going so well at first, before they made the decision to stop at the residential district. He and the gang (Well, most of the gang) had teamed up in an effort to try and get back at the government, form a rebellion so that they could show those bastards that nobody tells the Kiriyama Family what to do! That even with the threat of death, they were still willing to stand up to the man and fight against the program and the oppression it symbolised! And how did they get repaid for their efforts?
They get gunned down by goddamn Akamatsu of all people. Fucking idiot! Why didn’t he just LISTEN TO ME! If he did, we could have had a chance to get our own back at the government! But NO! You had to get scared and start shooting shit up didn't you? Like a big fuckin' DOOFUS!
Well if that’s the way you wanna play it Man-tits then fine... Next time we meet, I’ll show you. Show you exactly WHY you don’t wanna be fuckin' with the Kiriyama Family! Once I get my hands on you, I’ll make you wish you were never even fuckin’ BORN! You hear me Man-tits! You’re gonna be beggin’ death to take you away once I....
......
... Jesus Christ, what the hell am I thinking!
He stopped momentarily, looking up at the night sky above. His gun lay limply at his side as he let himself calm down, the cool air making it all the more easier.
Akamatsu’s not the enemy... He was never the enemy, even as he opened fire on us and wasted Mitsuru... Its this fuckin’ program that’s the real enemy here! The way it makes you do things, think things... The way it caused people like Akamatsu an’ Kazuhiko to turn into freakin’ psychopaths! The way it nearly turned ME into a freakin’ psychopath!
Kamon... That fat bastard. HE’S the one who we should all be trying to kill, not each other! If we’d just all banded together at the start or somethin’, then we might of stood a chance! Teaming with the rest of the family... that was a sweet move, definitely. But in order to take down the program, we should have stayed behind and banded with everyone else! Even smartasses like Shinji or pussies like Noriko. If we did that, we could have all united against the government TOGETHER, like a proper rebellion! No way they could have wasted ALL of us! Hell, maybe its not too late! Maybe I can still find a couple a people still willing to fight against the program. Form a resistance movement or some shit...
But... Fuck man, who am I kidding... I ain’t no leader. I haven’t got any charisma, not like Kazuo or Mitsuru. Whose gonna trust me anyway? I’m one of the Kiriyama Family, remember? I’ve never given them a reason to trust me... I won’t lie, I’ve broken my fair share of noses. Given out my fair share of beatings. Threatened plenty of kids for their lunch money...
But, god fuckin’ damnit! You’d of thought people would get real! Sure, I ain’t exactly a saint. But even I can tell when something’s fucked up! And if so-called “good guys” like Akamatsu start firin’ on people on sight, then I don’t know what the hell to think anymore...
After his long internal monologue, he suddenly heard a soft noise in the distance, further up the beach. He couldn’t tell what it was at first, but after a while it became evident that it was the sound of someone crying. And, sure enough, as he looked in the direction of the sound he could make out the rough shape of somebody kneeling down in the sand. A girl most likely. But then again, according to the announcements Yuichiro’s still around somewhere...
He slowly made his way northward towards the source of the noise, holding his gun tight in safety. Whilst he’d not completely lost hope that there could be a way out, he still didn’t want to risk the possibility of letting someone waste him whilst his guard was down...
Eventually, he could finally make out who the crying girl was. To his surprise, it wasn’t any of the more obvious candidates like Noriko or Yumiko. Instead, it was none other than Mitsuko’s top bitch Hirono Shimizu.
What the hell!?! Hirono?!? Why is SHE crying?
To say the sight confused Hiroshi would be something of an understatement. Whilst he wasn’t exactly a misogynist, he still believed that girls were mostly a bunch of wussies whose only use was the fact that they happened to be quite appealing to the eyes (Amongst other things...). But Hirono was different. Hirono was one of the very few girls whom Hiroshi could honestly say he respected. After all, even back at that dreaded classroom she had way more balls then the rest of the class judging from the way that she'd gotten herself in harms way just to save a sap like Shuuya Nanahara. And even though she’d been unsuccessful in her little rescue attempt, there was no denying that what she made the rest of the class look like a bunch of chickenshits by comparison.
Which made it all the more awkward for Hiroshi to see her in this state.
Should I say something? I’ve gotta at some point... Only a matter of time before she notices me watching her like this...
He gulped quietly as he lowered his gun somewhat, whilst still keeping it ready should he be forced to bring it back up suddenly. He scratched the back of his head, wondering what to say to the sobbing girl who was barely ten-ish metres away from him by this point...
Well, here goes nothin'
“Uh... Hey, uh... You ok there?”
Stupid bastard... Stupid fuckin’ bastard…
Akamatsu’s interference was still on Hiroshi’s mind as he trudged slowly along the sandy beach, cursing himself with every heavy step as he tried to unjam the pistol. He didn’t know much about guns, admittedly, and the only time he’d ever seen someone unjamming a pistol before was during some TV show he’d seen a couple of years ago.
It looked simple enough. Remove the magazine and take out the lodged bullet. On paper it sounded easy enough. However, what it didn’t mention was how fiddly the process was, and it had taken Hiroshi over an hour before he finally removed the damn thing.
After reinserting the magazine, Hiroshi contemplated the thought of firing a practice round just to see whether or not he’d really fixed it. But that thought was immediately dashed the second he heard gunfire in the distance somewhere. No need to invite the whole island to my whereabouts...
... Besides, I’ve gotta save every last shot for when I find man-tits again.
He still couldn’t believe how everything had gone to hell so quickly. Things for the Family were going so well at first, before they made the decision to stop at the residential district. He and the gang (Well, most of the gang) had teamed up in an effort to try and get back at the government, form a rebellion so that they could show those bastards that nobody tells the Kiriyama Family what to do! That even with the threat of death, they were still willing to stand up to the man and fight against the program and the oppression it symbolised! And how did they get repaid for their efforts?
They get gunned down by goddamn Akamatsu of all people. Fucking idiot! Why didn’t he just LISTEN TO ME! If he did, we could have had a chance to get our own back at the government! But NO! You had to get scared and start shooting shit up didn't you? Like a big fuckin' DOOFUS!
Well if that’s the way you wanna play it Man-tits then fine... Next time we meet, I’ll show you. Show you exactly WHY you don’t wanna be fuckin' with the Kiriyama Family! Once I get my hands on you, I’ll make you wish you were never even fuckin’ BORN! You hear me Man-tits! You’re gonna be beggin’ death to take you away once I....
......
... Jesus Christ, what the hell am I thinking!
He stopped momentarily, looking up at the night sky above. His gun lay limply at his side as he let himself calm down, the cool air making it all the more easier.
Akamatsu’s not the enemy... He was never the enemy, even as he opened fire on us and wasted Mitsuru... Its this fuckin’ program that’s the real enemy here! The way it makes you do things, think things... The way it caused people like Akamatsu an’ Kazuhiko to turn into freakin’ psychopaths! The way it nearly turned ME into a freakin’ psychopath!
Kamon... That fat bastard. HE’S the one who we should all be trying to kill, not each other! If we’d just all banded together at the start or somethin’, then we might of stood a chance! Teaming with the rest of the family... that was a sweet move, definitely. But in order to take down the program, we should have stayed behind and banded with everyone else! Even smartasses like Shinji or pussies like Noriko. If we did that, we could have all united against the government TOGETHER, like a proper rebellion! No way they could have wasted ALL of us! Hell, maybe its not too late! Maybe I can still find a couple a people still willing to fight against the program. Form a resistance movement or some shit...
But... Fuck man, who am I kidding... I ain’t no leader. I haven’t got any charisma, not like Kazuo or Mitsuru. Whose gonna trust me anyway? I’m one of the Kiriyama Family, remember? I’ve never given them a reason to trust me... I won’t lie, I’ve broken my fair share of noses. Given out my fair share of beatings. Threatened plenty of kids for their lunch money...
But, god fuckin’ damnit! You’d of thought people would get real! Sure, I ain’t exactly a saint. But even I can tell when something’s fucked up! And if so-called “good guys” like Akamatsu start firin’ on people on sight, then I don’t know what the hell to think anymore...
After his long internal monologue, he suddenly heard a soft noise in the distance, further up the beach. He couldn’t tell what it was at first, but after a while it became evident that it was the sound of someone crying. And, sure enough, as he looked in the direction of the sound he could make out the rough shape of somebody kneeling down in the sand. A girl most likely. But then again, according to the announcements Yuichiro’s still around somewhere...
He slowly made his way northward towards the source of the noise, holding his gun tight in safety. Whilst he’d not completely lost hope that there could be a way out, he still didn’t want to risk the possibility of letting someone waste him whilst his guard was down...
Eventually, he could finally make out who the crying girl was. To his surprise, it wasn’t any of the more obvious candidates like Noriko or Yumiko. Instead, it was none other than Mitsuko’s top bitch Hirono Shimizu.
What the hell!?! Hirono?!? Why is SHE crying?
To say the sight confused Hiroshi would be something of an understatement. Whilst he wasn’t exactly a misogynist, he still believed that girls were mostly a bunch of wussies whose only use was the fact that they happened to be quite appealing to the eyes (Amongst other things...). But Hirono was different. Hirono was one of the very few girls whom Hiroshi could honestly say he respected. After all, even back at that dreaded classroom she had way more balls then the rest of the class judging from the way that she'd gotten herself in harms way just to save a sap like Shuuya Nanahara. And even though she’d been unsuccessful in her little rescue attempt, there was no denying that what she made the rest of the class look like a bunch of chickenshits by comparison.
Which made it all the more awkward for Hiroshi to see her in this state.
Should I say something? I’ve gotta at some point... Only a matter of time before she notices me watching her like this...
He gulped quietly as he lowered his gun somewhat, whilst still keeping it ready should he be forced to bring it back up suddenly. He scratched the back of his head, wondering what to say to the sobbing girl who was barely ten-ish metres away from him by this point...
Well, here goes nothin'
“Uh... Hey, uh... You ok there?”
Kicking Akamatsu in the face since 2010