Survival Of The Fittest

((Coming from Towards the River))

Kichiro could hear the sound perfectly now; the rushing of water. He stayed back, though. The riverbed was an open ground, people could be watching and they weren't in the best of positions.

He put his finger to his lips to show Kiyoko to stay quiet, and they sat down in a group of trees, the river still close by.

((Continued from: Towards the River))

Kiyoko sat down next to Kichiro and slightly bit her bottom lip as he motioned to keep silent.

'oh man whats going to happen is there someone watching'

"Rirakkusu (Relax)," he said as quietly as possible. This place wasn't as safe as he hoped, but it would do for the while. The river was loud, he was starting to worry he wouldn't be able to hear someone coming.

He tried to calm down for awhile, and believe he was safe, but the moments just kept passing by. It was too unsafe for him to talk, so he sat there thinking.

This girl is helpless, she can't speak any english, she probably doesn't even fully understand the game. I could be killing myself at this disadvantage, but... I would feel responsible if she died.

Kiyoko sighed and tried to untense while listening to the sound of rushing water.

Kiyoko slid her glasses up her nose and looked at Kichiro who was staring out into the clearing.

(Continued from the The Gazebo)

Cassandra continued to run away from the Gazebo, though the weight of her weapon and her bag tire her quickly and forced her into a fast walk. How could she have let herself prance out into the open like that, now there were people who knew what weapon she had and what she looked like. Would they tell everyone that she's dangerous? Would people start seeking her out to eliminate her? She liked being unknown much better.

She heard the sound of rushing water, there must be a river nearby. She tried to be as quiet as she can, but she snapped a few twigs along the way. Before she knew it, she was out in the open, a few meters away from a group of people. Uh oh, there's more than there were the last time. Perhaps she should've stayed at the Gazebo, she could've stood a chance against two people without guns.

It was too late to run back and hide, one of them must've seen her, running back now could give her an even worse reputation. That was one drawback about not being from the same class as these people, no one had time to judge you so they couldn't really tell if you were dangerous.

Kiyoko peered out towards the clearing and saw a girl....with an obsenely large gun!

"Oi,manazashi (Hey,look)" Kiyoko whispered to Kichiro as she pointed towards the girl holding the large gun

Low and behold, someone found them. Kichiro's eyes opened wide at the sight of a blonde-haired girl standing a few feet away. She didn't look especially fierce, but then he noticed the weapon: a shotgun.

He put up his hands, putting a finger to his lips to let the girl know not to say a word.

He mouthed, "We're not playing!"

Cassandra watched the people, one of them pointed at her and said something she could not understand, must be another language. One of the boys did seem to understand, however, and looked right in her direction. She had been spotted.

The boy seemed to be telling her to be quiet, and then mouthed something to her. They weren't playing, hmm? She nodded and backed away a bit, she didn't know if she could trust them but it was her best chance of earning some trust herself.

Kiyoko saw the girl look at them ,nodded and backed away. Kiyoko slowly slid her hand into her pocket and felt around for the box cutter.

Feeling the box cutter she stared at the girl like a deer in the headlights watching the girls every movement.

Kichiro looked at Kiyoko as if to tell her to stay put, then he did the dumbest thing he could think of; he stood and began to approach the blonde girl.

Talking as quietly as possible when he got to her, he said, "My name's Kichiro, do you need any help? Are you lost?"

Cassandra looked at the other boy, he seemed to be approaching her. She watched him very closely, if he did have a good weapon he could surely hit her from here. Thankfully, he didn't take anything out, though one of the girls seemed to be reaching for something. The boy asked if she was lost or needed help.

"I think everyone's lost here," she whispered, "And, well, we all kinda need help too. But if you're wondering if I'm injured or anything, no, I'm fine."

He nodded. "So, you understand the game. You're not...playing, are you?"

Suddenly his spot near the girl became very uncomfortable, like a bed of needles. And there was no way he could move without getting stabbed, or in the real case shot.

"Are you open to an alliance, if you're not? We could really use the help. My friend, over there, Kiyoko, she can't speak english."

Kiyoko saw that the girl noiced that she was reaching into her pocket and suddenly pulled her hand out of her pocketand moved her hand behind her back.

'damn she saw me' Kiyoko thought as she slid her thumb along the switch that extracts the blade

Hmm, this boy was quick to trust her, she thought. Though, perhaps an alliance would be nice, if only for some company and extra protection. The girl who was reaching into her pocket quickly pulled her hand out, maybe she wasn't going for a weapon after all. Cassandra still had a tight grip on her gun, even if she was in an alliance she couldn't let go of her weapon.

"Alright," she said, "I'll join with you. I'm afraid I can't let go of my weapon just yet, I'm sure you can understand why, and I don't want to kill any of you."

Was she really sure about that? Who knew how this stupid game would turn out? Cassandra knew she couldn' let herself snap, she couldn't actually kill anyone, right?

Kiyoko's head cocked to the side as Kichiro and the girl conversed in tounges that she didnt understand.

In her confusion her grip on the Box cutter losened and it dropped to the dirt with a damp thud.