Rumble

#1

((Yumiko Kusaka continued from The Worst Game In History))

Huddled in the corner of a room, in the walled house, Yumiko Kusaka had been crying for hours. Ever since that awful man Kamon had announced over the PA that somebody had killed Yukiko. Her best friend, practically joined at the hip, and she hadn't been able to find her. Even though Yumiko had left first and Yukiko, last, she still could have done something. Waited around perhaps. She had a gun - she could have warded any others off and stuck there until Yukiko had come out, and then they could have stuck together...

But it was wishful thinking. It hadn't happened, and so here she was, crying.

Even as she sat there sobbing though, Yumiko wasn't entirely unaware and defenceless. Much as she hated the thought of having to defend herself, in practicality, she knew that being prepared was her best option. In each hand, she held a pistol. In her right, her drawn Beretta M92F, the left, the Grand Power K100 which rightfully belonged to Shuuya Nanahara.

Never got... never actually got to tell him about... well, about that...

Naturally Yumiko didn't understand the impraticalities of dual wielding, but the pistols bolstered her confidence a little. If anybody hostile came knocking, two guns would make them think twice, right?

Well, Yumiko sure hoped so, she didn't want to even think about what would happen if the threat failed...

There was a sound at the door. It took a moment for Yumiko to register. When she'd entered the house earlier, she'd wedged a chair against the front door, making it rather difficult to open. The sound was... Yumiko blinked. A knock? Somebody was actually knocking? Yumiko let out a little giggle at how absurd that was, then all the humour went out of her. Somebody had found her... what if it was a trick? Maybe if she just kept quiet...

No! You can't let fear do that to you! What if it's somebody like... well, I don't know, somebody I can trust? I have to at least check. That way, if it is, I can protect them! If I don't go out to them, someone else might come along and...

Yumiko's mind was already made up, she stole through the house, a gun in each hand, to the front door. The knocking came again, patient but persistent. Yumiko put down the Beretta for a moment and removed her makeshift barrier, then picked up the gun once more before clumsily opening the door a little.

Then fully. A big smile came onto her face.

((Chisato Matsui continued from The Worst Game In History))

"Chisato!" Yumiko cried. Okay, so maybe Matsui wasn't her closest of friends, but they'd hung out on occasion, and Yumiko knew that she could never hurt anyone. She hoped she knew Chisato could never hurt anyone.

A relieved smile was the order of the day for Chisato, and she made a short gesture to the side.

"Yumiko, good to see you're alright!" Chisato looked in the same direction as she'd waved. "Yuichiro it's okay, you can put that down."

The head of Yumiko snapped around and saw, standing just to the left and a little back from the door, Yuichiro Takaguchi, the otaku... and he was holding a shotgun. However, even as she looked at him, he was in the process of lowering it and Yumiko understood. He'd been standing there for security, just in case the person inside the house had been less than friendly. A smart precaution.

((Yuichiro Takaguchi continued from The Worst Game In History))

"Have you been holed up in there this entire time?" Chisato asked Yumiko, who looked down at her feet, then nodded.

"Most of it. I didn't want anybody to see my weapons and think I was threatening th-"

"YOSHIMI!"

Three heads looked around in confusion. The call had come from a distance away...

~*~

((Yoji Kuramoto continued from The Worst Game In History))
((Yoshimi Yahagi continued from Gameplan))

"YOSHIMI!"

Yoshimi Yahagi started at the sudden shout, whipping her gun up from its position in her lap to point it in that direction. She'd been sitting on the floor of the farmhouse, obsessively polishing her uzi when somebody had crept in through the door and called out. Now, she glared at...

The uzi's barrell wavered. "Yoji?" she murmured.

And so it was. Yoji Kuramoto, her boyfriend, a hatchet held unthreateningly at his side and a look of both astonishment and relief on his face.

"I finally found you! Thank god Yoshimi I was so-" Yoji had begun to walk towards her, but now paused as Yoshimi thrust her gun forward, aiming at his chest. He looked disbelieving. "Y-Yoshimi? Come on now, don't p-play around!"

"I'm not! I-I can't trust anybody Y-Yoji, not even you! J-just do yourself a favour and l-leave, Yoji!"

Yoji still looked shellshock, but nevertheless raised his free hand in a placatory gesture.

"A-alright Shimi, no need for this to get n-nasty. Easy, I'm just leaving."

Yoshimi got to her feet, and as Yoji backed away from her and out of the building, she followed, keeping the uzi firmly trained on him to ensure that he was going to stay gone. One step backwards, she advanced one forwards and so on until Yoji was outside. Thinking it best to see him gone, Yoshimi moved through the doors...

And Yoji swung around with his hatchet aimed at her hands! Yoshimi shrieked, stumbling backwards and pulling the trigger of her gun without hesitation. The uzi spat bullets at her boyfriend, stitching a line of holes up his chest. He jerked like a marionette for a couple of seconds then went crashing to the ground.

Ninth Grade/Class B - BOY #8: YOJI KURAMOTO: ELIMINATED
27 STUDENTS REMAINING

~*~

The three of them were still trying to figure out where that shout had come from when gunshots ran out. Yuichiro's heart skipped a beat. The call had been directed at Yoshimi - Yoshimi Yahagi. One of Hardcore Souma's bunch. Could see be out killing people? Well, they had to find out somehow. Somebody was in danger! Yuichiro wasn't big and he wasn't brave, but if he knew one thing, it was that in this situation, they needed to stick together, and they weren't going to get that by leaving others to die!

"Come on!" he called to the others, hefting his shotgun. "It came from over there - we've got to go see!" Yumiko and Chisato exchanged glances, then nods. Yumiko handed Chisato one of her two pistols and they took off after Yuichiro. Rounding the corner of the house, they immediately spotted somebody a short distance away, standing over a corpse, just outisde of the doors of a farmhouse. Yuichiro squinted and his stomach plummeted. It was Yahagi, and she had a gun.

"Erm, you guys, this might not be such a-" Yumiko began, then Chisato called out.

"Yahagi! Yahagi it's alright! You don't have to play! You'll be safe with us!"

Yumiko and Yuichiro looked at Chisato aghast, then at each other. As Yoshimi's head snapped up and she raised her uzi, the two of them turned as one and booked it back towards the walled house. There was an extended burst of gunfire and Yuichiro, glancing over his shoulder, saw Chisato get hit and go down soundlessly. However, he soon had other things to worry about as a lance of pain struck his shoulder. The otaku stumbled, almost falling, but the much taller Yumiko caught hold of his arm and held him steady, allowing him to regain his balance.

After that, the two of them just kept on running and didn't look back.

Yoshimi watched the two of them go, then popped the clip in her gun and reloaded calmly. Two more gone. Soon... soon she wouldn't need to be scared any longer.

Ninth Grade/Class B - Girl #19: CHISATO MATSUI: ELIMINATED
26 STUDENTS REMAINING

((Yumiko and Yuichiro continued in Count On Me, Yoshimi continued elsewhere))