Chapter Text
Ryuhei Sasagawa (Boy Number 10) emerged into the school's courtyard, greeted with the silence of a vacated vicinity and the putrid smell of the coastline. To his right, was an open landscape that emerged into what appeared to be the ocean. That sadist Sakamoto wannabe had drilled into them that they were all marooned on an island somewhere, so this was as unsurprising as it was unwelcome.
He surveyed the area, as he made his way to shelter in the forest. There was no need to linger around. Ryuhei had his mission and had no intention of straying from it.
A head popped out from behind the greenery. Ryuhei clutched his bag, not yet having seen the contents.
"Psssst. Ryuhei."
Ryuhei's eyes lit up. That voice was unmistakable. He brisked forward and into the brush, uniting with the figure, Hiroshi Kuronaga (Boy Number 09).
"Hiroshi," Ryuhei breathed in relief. Whilst they were a measly number away from each other (only Yuko Sakaki came between them) he wasn't sure if the boy would bother waiting for him. Ryuhei was thankful he did.
Strength in numbers.
Both boys hid behind the thicket. Hiroshi rested on his knees, whilst Ryuhei lowered himself into a comfortable squat.
"Can you believe this fucking shit, man?" Hiroshi's voice was low enough for no lurkers to pay heed.
"What the fuck is happenin'? Yer see that shit they did to Dragonfly, then Buggy? Shit turned into a goddamn circus in there."
Hiroshi looked solemn for a moment, then clenched his jaw and put on a brave face.
Shit. Oh yeah. She died too, didn't she?
Ryuhei placed his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder and bore into his eyes with determination.
"Look, it ain't gonna matter, soon. We gon' go meet Boss and the guys, then we blow this shit-keg, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Atta boy," Ryuhei firmly patted the boy's shoulder and pulled away.
Whilst their classmates were lost in the commotion, Ryuhei and Hiroshi had their futures secured. Their leader, Kazuo Kiriyama (also known and referred to as 'Boss' by his underlings,) passed around secret messages to the two boys and their fellow comrades, Sho "Zuki" Tsukioka (Boy Number 14) and Mitsuru Numai (Boy Number 17). Ryuhei couldn't help but sport a smug smirk as he left his classmates behind. The boys were told to meet up at the southernmost tip of the island. Of course, that meant Boss already had a plan set up for the Kiriyama Family. The wheels are set in motion, all they had to do was stick together and escape.
Carefully, Ryuhei unzipped his daypack, anxious about his future means of safety. As he peered inside, Ryuhei knew immediately what he received. His eyes shot wide open as he whipped out an Ingram M-10 9mm submachine gun (However, thanks to poorly dubbed Hollywood movies, Ryuhei knew it best as that 'gangster' weapon, the MAC-10.)
"Holy fuck. Is that a machine gun?" Hiroshi's eyes glistened in awe.
"Yeah, yeah! Holy shit bruv, look at it. This could kill a goddamn gorilla, the fuckin' thing." With a wide-eyed, giddy grin, Ryuhei rotated the weapon in his hand and examined the tin-like structure. The magazine was unclipped, but that wasn't important. Not yet. He aimed the barrel towards the hollow and squeezed the trigger with a light click.
As Ryuhei kept preoccupied, Hiroshi dug into the pack to unveil a box of 9mm bullets and a magazine clip. He placed both items onto the grass and began to load the magazine.
Ryuhei pulled the gun to Hiroshi's forehead and clicked the trigger, with a light pyoom sound passing his curled lips. Hiroshi jumped out of his skin, some rogue bullets dropped into the grass. Proud of his achievement, Ryuhei faintly giggled to himself.
"The fuck, dude? You could've got me killed." Hiroshi pushed the barrel away from his vicinity and continued loading the magazine.
"Pfft. 'Got you killed' my ass. Yer the one who's got all the bullets. This thing ain't close to bein' loaded." Ryuhei wiggled the metal in his grasp.
"Look, can you blame me for being on edge?" Ryuhei held his tongue. He was never the best at reading the room. Hiroshi finished his task, as a silent Ryuhei watched. "I'm not giving you this, unless you keep your hands to yourself."
"Fine. I was only playin' around anyways." Ryuhei raised his palms up with a shrug.
Hiroshi eyeballed Ryuhei, then opted to keep the magazine by his side.
"So, what did you get," Ryuhei asked.
Hiroshi pouted. "You'll never believe what I got." Hiroshi dove into his pack and retrieved what, in the dark, looked akin to how a toddler would attempt to recreate an archery bow. Ryuhei's eyebrows curved up.
"Is that a bloody hacksaw?" Ryuhei just giggled at the sight of the utensil.
Hiroshi nodded halfheartedly and sighed. Against the submachine gun, it seemed pretty pathetic.
"Soz, I shouldn' be laughin', but that's so unfortunate." Ryuhei continued his giggle fit, not remotely as apologetic as he so claimed.
"H-hey. I can do some real damage with this thing."
"Yeah," Ryuhei mocked a sawing motion. "Just really tug at their ankles, huh? Get 'em slow 'n dry, Really nick that Achilles heel."
"Piss off."
Ryuhei just giggled more.
With that, Hiroshi scanned their surroundings and brought himself up to his feet. Ryuhei followed suit. Hiroshi already had the compass and map stuffed into his trouser pockets, ready to go. Forgetting something, Ryuhei reminded Hiroshi with a shrug and a wiggle of the weapon. The smaller boy stared at him for a few seconds, before he handed the magazine over with an eagle eye. Ryuhei beamed as he clipped the magazine in place, much to Hiroshi's chagrin.
The duo made their way down the southern way path, which exited into an open shore. The coast was clear, however, another trail led southwest from the area. They both remained quiet throughout their journey, uncertain of what may be lurking in the shadows. A shuffling sound in the distance, close to the residential area, alerted them but wasn't close enough for them to be alarmed.
Following the path, Hiroshi nudged Ryuhei and gestured towards the distant lights beyond the ocean. It became clear that they were in fact on an island. Given the route to Takamatsu, Ryuhei assumed it was an island in the Seto Inland Sea. Ryuhei only nodded in response.
The trail opened up on a beach. Ahead, the southern mountain bore a jagged reef that buried itself into the shore. In the darkness, the rocky mound looked like a collapsed dinosaur.
Hiroshi raised the compass and map, eyeballing to confirm their location. Just beyond the reef, was the southernmost tip of the island.
Ryuhei raised his Ingram and gestured his head towards the rock. After Hiroshi understood, the pair raced out onto the field of sand. Ryuhei aimed the gun, whilst using his left to tug the strap and hold the gun in place. As much as Ryuhei wanted to play around and mimic the gun etiquette from all those gangster movies, he couldn't run the risk of sacrificing his and Hiroshi's lives due to a moment of play. He'll have enough time to practice once the gang has reunited.
Sure that it was safe and clear, Ryuhei lowered his weapon and caught up with his smaller companion, who was examining the wall of rock. Ryuhei's face dropped, seeing just how high and steep the climb was, even at the most shallow end.
"Yer gotta be shittin me, man."
Hiroshi rammed his elbow into Ryuhei's rib cage. A shush escaped the smaller boy's lips as Ryuhei staggered away and clutched his chest.
"The fuck was that for? There's no one around, dipshit. And we was talking way louder at the school, anyways."
Hiroshi just rolled his eyes and dragged his body up the reef.
With the Ingram equipped in his right hand, Ryuhei attempted to scour the coarse wall. It had only taken a couple of steps before he lost his grip and slid back down to the bottom. His bags slipped from his left shoulder and landed with a hefty thud. He winced as the rock shards broke the top layer of skin in his gun-wielding palm.
"Idiot," Hiroshi breathily laughed, trying to keep his voice down. He halted his climbing and looked down upon the other. His sprawled body looked akin to a spider on a wall.
"Aye, laugh it up, midget." Ryuhei lifted his gakuran jacket and tucked the Ingram down the back of his waistline. The front would have been more accessible, but he didn't want to run the risk of unloading the magazine into his crotch. Then he might as well just put the gun up to his head and end it all.
Ryuhei picked up his bags and gave himself a running start and leapt back onto the wall. With this cue, Hiroshi promptly sped up his ascend.
The cliffside was steep, but a manageable climb. In no time, Ryuhei's lanky frame caught up to Hiroshi. The two locked eyes for a brief moment, both acknowledging their unspoken vertical race. Hiroshi's face dropped, as Ryuhei's face beamed with a cocky grin. They both knew who the winner would be.
As Ryuhei claimed his small victory, he struggled to drag himself up to the surface. With no trouble in his wake, Hiroshi effortlessly hoisted himself up to the top. He looked down his nose, with a large smirk across his face. Ryuhei managed to pull himself up.
Upon the surface, was a long stretch of cliff and a field of boulders and smaller rocks. To their right, was a bulge of rock that stood taller than they. The front had a ledge that looked almost comfortable to sit on. It looked like exposed spinal vertebrae. The beach continued upon the other side.
Ryuhei pouted, his defeat by his own ineptitude. Smug, cheating bastard. Making me look bad.
"No fair. Nar, it doesn' even count anyways, you were ahead of me. Cheater." Ryuhei brushed down the front of his uniform, sure to wipe off any sand and rock dust.
"It's not my fault you're too stupid to pull yourself up a ledge, straw-head."
A (pleasant) sound of pebbles scattering emerged from the left, interrupting the bickering. Ryuhei leapt up and spun around to find the source.
Across the plane, stood a boy donned in a black school uniform, with uniquely slicked-back hair.
The boy, Kazuo Kiriyama, also known as "Boss", stood frozen in place. In the dark of the night, he looked like a stone statue, crafted by the gods.
"Boss!"
"Yo, Boss!"
"Kuronaga. Sasagawa," he replied. His voice was as cool as ever. Ryuhei almost forgot they were participating in a class-wide deathmatch. His thin face brightened up.
"Boss, Boss—Yer never gonna guess what!" After that pathetic display, Ryuhei desperately needed to one-up Hiroshi. He needed to look better for the Boss man. What better way than to brag about his high-tier weapon?
It had only taken one step forward before Ryuhei's sharp eyes adjusted to the moonlit terrain and saw that. He halted in his tracks and stared down at the mound by Boss's (plain, but prestigious) tipped loafers.
Hiroshi, who misunderstood the tone, parroted Ryuhei and made his way toward their leader.
"Yeah, yeah! You'll never guess wha—," Hiroshi was stopped in his tracks. Without thinking, Ryuhei grabbed Hiroshi by his jacket and pulled him back to his side. It was a habit Ryuhei adopted when he needed to keep his younger brother away from trouble at home. It was a frequent occurrence.
Ryuhei was too fixated on what was in front of him, to notice Hiroshi's initial confusion and eventual realisation.
The two remained silent for a moment, their gaze flipped between Boss and what was next to him.
Ryuhei caught his breath and filled the silence.
"... What's that?" The more he stared, the more features became clear. The black sailor suit uniform made it apparent that this was a girl. She was facedown, which made identifying her difficult. Her frame was petite and had long hair. Several girls before them had long hair, but only one wore a hairpiece.
"Wh-why is there a girl here? Who is that-?" Hiroshi piped up, seemingly a mere step behind Ryuhei. C'mon, man, catch up.
"That's Kanai." Ryuhei's voice was hoarse. He caught sight of the blood that pooled from her neckline. Her throat was slit.
"Wh-... Why is Kanai here? What happened? Did… did she try to kill you?"
Kanai was only one seat number before Boss, a measly two minutes ahead of him. If they were headed in the same direction, he would have caught up eventually. Did she run ahead? Did she tail him and tried to ambush him? But who would be stupid enough to pick a fight with the Kazuo Kiriyama? Unless she was just that terrified and mindlessly lashed out.
Without flinching, Boss mechanically flickered his gaze between the two boys. He nodded at Hiroshi, before he casually turned and fixed his sight on Ryuhei.
Well, that settles it, right? Boss was minding his own business, and then Kanai scrambled after him and attacked. He had no other choice but to put down the crazy bitch, right?
Sure, in a life-or-death game, even some cute little pretty preppy privileged rich girl could lose it and do whatever she had to to survive. You have to eat or be eaten. It's only human nature. What Ryuhei couldn't put his finger on, however, was why a strong guy like Boss would go so far as to kill a tiny girl, even in self-defence? Did she have a gun? Ryuhei was, after all, blessed with an Ingram MAC-10. More classmates must have been gifted with heavy artillery also, right? That must have been it. He had no other choice than to retaliate.
"Wait— Kanai?" Hiroshi replied, confused. "That's weird as hell. I can't picture that, at all. You think you know someone—"
"What weapon did she get?" Ryuhei nodded towards Kanai's form.
After a moment, Boss removed his sight from Ryuhei, to Kanai. Whatever she had, it was still on her person.
"May I?" Boss raised his palms up and gestured towards Kanai.
Ryuhei meekly nodded his head.
Boss crept down towards Kanai's torso. He carefully pried away one of her hands that was tucked under her body. The boy didn't flinch whilst handling a classmate, just barely dead. His movements were meticulous and melodic as if this was just another menial task.
In unison, Ryuhei and Hiroshi both looked at each other, eyes wide; mouths agape.
It's not like Kanai was still amongst the living. That, down there, was a hollow husk of what Kanai used to be. What harm could Boss do to her, just tugging around at her arm? It shouldn't be a big deal. Despite the logistics, the casual nature of manhandling the corpse of a former classmate, made Ryuhei's insides turn. He pulled Hiroshi in closer as he tightened the vice he had on the boy's jacket.
Out of all the girls, why did it have to be this one?
By this time, Boss untucked Kanai's weapon and slowly straightened himself back to Ryuhei's level. He gripped it by the handle to show off the Phillips head, then carefully flipped it over and pointed the grip towards the duo.
Ryuhei could barely make it out, but it appeared to be a screwdriver.
That… That was it?
A cold sweat trickled down Ryuhei's forehead.
Ever since he first made the oath, Ryuhei was convinced that, had Boss killed a man and needed help, Ryuhei would happily dig the body and ask questions later. What more could he do? Boss saved his brother without a second thought and continued to save the Family on multiple occasions. Despite this conviction, however, Ryuhei couldn't help but shake the feeling that something more was going on.
He couldn't pinpoint why, but Boss's calm yet beautiful eyes felt different here than they did back home.
"J-just a screwdriver," Hiroshi stammered. "How… How could she try to kill you?"
"She happened to be here." Boss, calm as ever.
"So, she didn't," Hiroshi couldn't seem to make heads or tails of what was going on. Neither could Ryuhei, for that matter. "Kanai was… then why—"
"Sh-she shouldn't have gotten in the way!" Ryuhei interrupted, surprised by his own outcry. The scene felt like right out of a body invasion flick. If Boss wasn't going to fill them in, then Ryuhei would have to do it for him. The scenario didn't hold within Ryuhei's reality, his response was fitting to the nonsense.
"Right, Boss?"
Boss didn't respond.
Ryuhei continued on, his words spewed like vomit.
"We don' need anyone else! These useless fucks can rot in hell, yeah? Fuck 'em!"
For whatever reason, Hiroshi's confused expression morphed into shock.
"Eh? What? Why are yer lookin' at— Look, I didn't mean it like that! It's just us guys gotta stick together! Right, Boss?"
"Hm."
"Right! Yeah! Yeah, so we guys got our plans. Those guys do whatever, yeah? Then we, Zuki 'n Mitsuru, go sailin' off in the sunset and go about our business, yeah?" Ryuhei nodded, assured by his assumption.
Hiroshi nodded along, back on the same page. "Right! So, what's the plan, Boss?"
Boss watched motionlessly. After a moment, he lowered the screwdriver by his side.
"Plan?"
Ryuhei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, the plan? To get off this piece've shit island?"
Hiroshi made exaggerated gestures with his hands. "How about, we don't kill any more people, but we don't gotta save 'em either? Sounds good, right?" Quite the audacious move, in fact.
"I had thought about that."
'Had' thought.
Stunned silent, Ryuhei looked back down to Kanai, once again. From there, he caught sight of Boss readjusting the grip of the screwdriver. Ryuhei's shoulders tensed.
Boss's eyes remained fixed in Ryuhei's direction, however, flickered between seemingly random parts of his body and areas around him. As Ryuhei watched Boss, a realisation dawned on him. No regret, no remorse, no sadness, not even a glint of fear twinkled in the other's icy glare. Ryuhei could feel his inside become increasingly cold.
This was an examination.
Ryuhei became very aware of his surroundings. The reef was three metres-wide, not even the length of both Ryuhei and Hiroshi combined. Ahead, Boss was maybe four or so metres away from the duo, tops. Despite Ryuhei's military-grade weapon, Boss could still make a move and bolt toward them in no time. The heavy breeze from the shoreline below reminded Ryuhei of the long drop down the reef. It would take nothing to just push them off the side and let gravity finish the job.
The two continued their staring match.
Before he knew it, Ryuhei realised he was stuck participating in a real-life western duel. Stick 'em up, cowboy!
He waited another moment, letting the tension fester within him.
A seagull cried in the distance.
As if waiting for his cue, Boss lunged forward and pelted toward Ryuhei. His armed grip was primed and ready for the kill.
Ryuhei tossed his arm behind his back and unsheathed his Ingram. With one panicked motion, Ryuhei squeezed the trigger, as he whipped the gun up to his target.
BRATATATATATATA!
The roar of bullets tore across the reef, up through Boss's legs and cut through his torso. Ryuhei's arm underestimated how heavy it would wield, sending his arm immediately towards the sky.
Boss quickly lost his balance and tumbled towards Ryuhei as he struggled to regain his composure.
"Ryuhei!" Hiroshi slammed his shoulder into Ryuhei, who tripped to the side of the rocky mound, as Boss staggered past and rammed his ribcage into the ledge where Ryuhei once stood. A faint clink emerged from the distance, from Kanai's screwdriver launching away from the scene.
Ryuhei grazed his flesh against the rock and bruised his arm and back against the more jagged protrusions. He ignored the pain and scrambled to his feet and up to Hiroshi's side. He pushed Hiroshi's tiny frame behind to shield him and aimed the Ingram towards Boss.
The boys watched for a moment.
On the rock ledge, Boss convulsed and struggled to pull himself up. Large craters emerged from his back, like swiss cheese. From what Ryuhei could tell, the boy seemed to have lost the function of the left side of his body and his right was on its way out. He pulsated with soft moans and desperate gasps.
"B-boss…?" A quiver escaped Ryuhei's lips.
Despite the attempted ambush, the sight of their dear friend in such agony, cut deep within Ryuhei's core.
The boys hurried to Boss's side and carefully circled around his left, still somewhat cautious. Boss twisted his head to face the pair. His eyes, as vacant as they were beautiful, couldn't hold their focus. He tried to pull himself up with his right arm, inching closer to his underlings. He resembled a zombie, dragging himself to find more brains.
"Boss!" The feeling of dread Ryuhei felt was solely focused on Boss. He pulled up closer and, with the aid of Hiroshi, the two turned him around and let him rest his back against the rock ledge. Coughs erupted from the boy, who could hardly keep his head up. Ryuhei clasped his hands around Boss's jawline and raised his head to their level. He tried to wake him up by patting his cheek. "C'mon, Boss, stay with us!"
"Y-yeah, you gotta stay awake!" Hiroshi kept Boss's shoulders upright and shuffled closer. "Mitsuru and Zuki are gonna be here soon."
"They're gonna wanna see you, Boss."
"Yeah! Then we'll get you patched up, then we can all escape together, okay? You don't have to be afraid anymore."
Ryuhei hadn't even considered the possibility that Boss may have been afraid. He'd always presented himself in such a calm demeanour. But, maybe this was how he expressed fear. Surely he was being groomed to take over his father's prefecture-wide company, so it's possible that he learned how to put on a brave facade, no matter the situation. That maybe he was startled by Kanai's presence at the rendezvous, he lashed out in a panic, then turned on the boys because he was so paranoid that they would just recklessly abandon their sacred oath to him. A lump formed in Ryuhei's throat.
"L-look, I didn'... Yer don't have to be afraid anymore, okay? We gotcha back. It doesn' matter that yer killed Kanai. Alright? Yeah, we'll figure it out. He'll understand, okay?" Ryuhei forced a smile that clashed with his upturned eyebrows. He somehow looked like both the comedy and tragedy masks at once.
"Right! We're gonna sail out into the sunset together. Just, we five."
Boss's eyes rolled into his skull, before focusing on Hiroshi's distraught face. Hiroshi gasped in relief.
"See? It's okay—"
A swift gust of wind brushed under Ryuhei and embedded itself into Hiroshi's tricep. Ryuhei's eyes widened, seemingly having noticed it before Hiroshi could react.
"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"HIROSHI!" Ryuhei pulled away from Boss and desperately tried to pry his hand from the smaller boy's shoulder. Ryuhei squeezed Boss's wrist until he finally let go of the weapon's hilt.
Hiroshi shot back from Boss and crumpled over. He clutched his shoulder and writhed on the spot, in an attempt to alleviate the pain.
"The fuck are yer doin'?! We didn' fuckin' do anythin' to ya!" Ryuhei grabbed Boss's shoulders and slammed him against the ledge. Boss gasped a feeble spray of blood from the back of his throat, onto Ryuhei's thin face. He briefly forgot the severity of Boss's condition, in unbridled fury.
Boss used whatever energy he had left, to coil his head towards Ryuhei. "You shot me."
Ryuhei's mouth dropped. He had shot him. Self-defence or not, he had broken his oath of loyalty.
"I-I… I didn't…"
"Those are the rules of the game, are they not? Only one can survive… Those are the rules." Despite his shredded condition, Boss still delivered each word with such command.
"You think I give a shit about that?! Jesus Christ, give us some credit! How long have yer known us for, huh? How much shit we been through! Yer seriously think we'd try anythin' but escape this shithole?!"
"I… Didn't mind either way."
"Eh…?"
"Escaping with you, or obeying the rules. I wasn't sure." Boss craned his neck, peering beyond Ryuhei and was fixated on the horizon. Ryuhei could see the lights of Takamatsu's coastline in Boss's glassy eyes. "I find it difficult, sometimes. Telling the difference between right or wrong."
Ryuhei didn't have any words. Hiroshi could barely eat through his own pained whimpers, to attempt a response.
They waited for their fearless leader to continue on. Neither boy had noticed that beyond his vacant stare, Kazuo Kiriyama was already dead.