Survival Game, Book 1: The Fool

Act One: Chapter Four

"Hello? Is this the residence of Ryou Nakahara-san?" The voice on the other line spoke with an accent that told of Kansai origins. Possibly Osaka, but Ryou wasn't entirely sure. He was too busy trying to keep his trembling hand steady from dropping the phone onto the wooden floor below. He'd received the call that evening as soon as he returned home, and for once, he was thankful his mother was working and his brother was having dinner with a friend. It'd been two months since his school was announced as the Survival Game's target but things had been quiet and as of recent, Ryou had reached 20 days of abscenes. He never meant to do it, exactly, but with summer break edging closer, he'd been more busy during the months of June and early July. He spent extra time studying so he'd still pass despite his truancy, along with continuing to work and keeping house. He thought everything would be fine, as long as he kept up his grades. Now, he wasn't so certain.
"Yes, it is." He finally replied after a long moment, his throat dry enough to where he almost forgot how to speak. He wasn't sure why he kept worrying so much about this one specific phone call, but he felt it was something bad. He was never the one to get phone calls, that was his mother's usual task, so why would he get one like this? He knew it wasn't a staff member of Kamiyama High School, he'd have known the voice, and he was certain there was no teacher that came from Osaka. It couldn't possibly be anyone from work, as he was on good terms with most of the employees and would know them well enough. Stop freaking out. He quickly told himself. Just listen to her and maybe she'll tell you who she is.
"Good evening, Nakahara-san. I am Azumi Kimura, I assume you've heard of me?" She didn't wait for an answer, though Ryou couldn't give her one if she did. He was panicking inwardly, oblivious to his outside surroundings, knowing exactly what this might mean. No. There's no way she'd put me in that program over abscenes! If the school had an issue with it, they'd want to know the cause of it and wouldn't punish me as harsh as this. Maybe she just wants to see what the students recommend. Yeah, I'm sure that's it! Maybe even Yu Matsunaga got a similar call. It's probably just a protocol... He tried to calm himself down as she continued. "I'd like you to come into my office tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m." She explained, giving him the address for him to sloppily write down on a piece of stationary laid on the table in front of him. "You're fine, don't worry. Your school instructed me to call you about some problems they're concerned with."
That was it. In her words, Ryou knew she meant his missing days. Maybe they just want to question me. But... why her? It seems a little extreme... He forced himself to swallow nervously, trying to find his voice once more. Is she going to put me in that weird program? That'd be against the rules she has to follow, wouldn't it? His mind whirled with unanswered questions, wishing he could ask her everything, but never finding the words to say. "I hope to see you there, Nakahara-san." Azumi must've knew he hadn't hung up. "Please be there accordingly." The line cut off afterwards, leaving Ryou standing, dumbfounded, with the phone still in hand. He finally was able to hang up and put the phone down, his body numb with shock at the whole phone call. At first, he couldn't comprehend what just happened, staring at the stationary paper with Azumi's address on it as if it had magically appeared onto there and he hadn't wrote it down moments ago. When it finally occurred to him that he did write it down and that he had a meeting there the next day, he tore out the piece of paper and folded it neatly. There's no way I'm letting Mom find out about this. If she did... He didn't even want to imagine her anger if that happened.

Azumi's headquarters was located in the middle of a crossing, the tall building looming over several business offices and various stores and restaurants. Such a building wasn't uncommon in Tokyo, but Ryou was still shocked to see that she owned such a place. Then again, I probably shouldn't be so shocked... He thought to himself as he pushed through the glass doors. Azumi was a powerful figure at the moment, it was only natural for her to have such a large headquarters. Maybe she has employees too. There was nobody in the lobby when he entered, though it'd seem pointless for only one person to work there. Not to mention the clean, newly waxed floors and a desk crammed in between a row of elevators, full of papers and various files, displayed evidence that others had been here.
"Ryou Nakahara-san." A familiar voice addressed him through a pair of speakers attached to the wall in between the elevators. "Please go through any of the elevators and head to the top floor. I'll be waiting for you there." The speakers cut off afterwards. If Ryou wasn't so anxious, he'd think this was like some spy show where he was the agent and she was a villain who had anticipated his arrival. His throat began to grow dry once more as he stepped into the elevator and headed to the top floor, his heart pounding. You'll be fine... He reassured himself as he had during the trip there. You'll be fine. He clenched his fist to try to stop himself from trembling, a cold sweat breaking out onto his forehead as he stared up at the floor numbers, going up and up without stop. When it did stop on the top floor, Ryou was almost paralyzed with anxiety and he had to force himself to drag one foot in front of the other.
A casual yet organized office stood in front of him. There was a desk in the center with three chairs surrounding it, one behind the desk while the other two stood in front of it. There were papers and files on this desk too, but more neatly stacked and placed into organized categories depending on what each file was about. There were a few filing cabinets nestled into a corner at Ryou's right, next to two decorative bonsai trees framing the elevator. Other than that, the furniture was minimum and the main attraction to the office room was the large windows that made up the wall parallel to him. The skyline of Tokyo stood clearly through the glass, afternoon sunlight glimmering onto the buildings below. That was where Azumi Kimura stood, gazing out the window without a single glance to acknowledge Ryou's appearance.
Ryou took a few steps closer towards the woman, wondering rather she heard him enter or not. He had approached the desk by the time she turned around, an unknown glint in her blue gaze, as if whatever was going through her mind had placed her into some far distant memory Ryou could never understand. "Ryou Nakahara-san." She addressed him politely, though the tone of her voice made it sound like more of a question than a greeting. "I see you have came. I have your file right here, if you're ready, we can begin the discussion."
"The... discussion?" Ryou repeated the words as if they were foreign to him. He assumed it'd just be a simple question and answer, a survey of some sorts. What if Hideo comes home from soccer practice? Or Mom from work? He fretted. His mother was working a normal shift today and would be back by 6:00 p.m. Would this meeting take that long? The numb feeling from before had returned now, causing his legs to freeze in place and his hand permenantly gripped the black pants of his school uniform. "What discussion?"
"Your school informed me you've missed the equivalent of almost a month from school. They were quite concerned. Your grades are top class and for the first two years of high school, you had perfect attendance. In fact, even your middle school records were completely spotless. Up until now, the last time you'd missed school was in grade 3 of elementary school, when you had some rather... traumatic experiences." Her expression turned almost sympathetic as she spoke the last sentence, reading through a file she'd picked up from the desk that Ryou assumed was his own. "As you can guess, your principal was very concerned. I had requested to see your employee records as well and it seems you favor attending it than putting your academics first. May I ask why?" The Kansai accent came out again as she looked up from her file to turn her narrowed gaze at him.
"Umm... it's family matters." Ryou responded uncomfortably, wishing for nothing more than to change topic or avoid the conversation. "I'm just trying to help out, that's all." He hoped the brief answer would give her enough context to understand what he was meaning.
Azumi's reply was a slow nod, looking down at the file once more. "Yes, I'm sure you are. You didn't seem like a troubled child and I understand how stressful life can be sometimes. Your school thought the same. When they contacted me, I felt like I should do more than just ask you some questions to help understand why this occured. I thought I should make an offer to you, to help you with your troubles." When Ryou didn't—or couldn't—reply, she continued after a moment of silence, making sure Ryou was waiting for her. "I think you should enter my program."
That was it. The words Ryou had feared to hear her say were now a reality. His mind whirled with a sudden dizziness when he heard them spoken, yet his legs stayed frozen as if they were two blocks of ice, numb and unmoving. "What...? What do you mean...? I-I can't! There must be a mistake! I'm not a delinquent, you said it yourself!" He had to fight to keep his voice from coming out in a shrill wail. He was no child, nor was he going to present himself as such. "I can't do it! I don't even know the Grandmasters, they're nothing to me! I don't even know what they want! I... I..." His voice trailed off, not knowing what to say, what to do...
"Nakahara-san..." Azumi began in a gentle tone, her expression sympathetic, almost motherly even. "Don't think I am asking you to do it because I think you're bad. I don't think any of the chosen candidates are, actually. I believe this program will help you. The money you receive from the program will help your family and you'll still graduate. The school said its students won't be chastised for their time here either. It'll benefit you and your family."
At first, Ryou wanted to immediately protest and walk out, but then he began to think. Mom... Hideo... I can still do what I'm doing now if I did this, but... "What about that drug? How do you know it won't kill us? How do you know that's not their plan, to kill us all with that drug?" He demanded, trying to control his voice from panicking. His grip had tightened to where his hand began cramping up from the pressure. "If I'm going to help you, I'm not going to make my brother watch me die too."
"And you won't have to." Azumi reassured him, folding her arms casually. "The AX drug does have such powers, we just can't tell the public that. Can you imagine if we did? The only way I'd gotten permission for this program was if I train you before taking the drug, to see if you can have a chance at surviving. I personally select each candidate I think could survive the after effects, the true cause of death from AX. You were one of those candidates. I knew you'd succeed as soon as I saw you." The way she spoke was slowly convincing Ryou. He needed to help his family and this'd solve his money and school problems. But... at what cost? I can't allow my mother having to plan another funeral just because I listened to this woman. "But... how do you know?" He repeated once more. "You're so confident we won't die."
"I know because I've tested the drug. 5 people have lived and survived the effects. All of the Grandmasters as well. Additionally, the ones who have died all suffered medical issues so we think their motive is, in their own sick way, to try and cure these people but fail each time. What AX stands for also proves this. X is actually the Roman numeral for 10, while A stands for Eternal. So, I'd assume this is their 10th version of the drug, and their motive may be involved with eternal life. Or that's what we think right now. Either way, it's still too early to tell." Azumi explained, though Ryou thought she sounded like some encyclopia from the vast knowledge she'd held from the press. "Additionally, you could fail the tests and be put out of the program. However, I'll explain that once I get the others together. I'll call you again when that happens... and if you accept my offer. Will you, Ryou Nakahara-san? Will you join my program?"
Ryou wasn't sure when he replied or if he did, at first. By now, his head throbbed with the heavy amount of information and his thoughts kept being occupied by his mother and brother. In the end, his reply was a simple, "I do." and the deal was sealed.
"I thank you. I'll contact you soon. Please wait until then." For the first time during the conversation, Azumi gave a brief smile. "I look forward to working with you. I hope we'll make excellent progress together."