Survival Game, Book 1: The Fool

Act Two: Chapter Eleven

Kouji stood in wait for the remaining participants, a feeling of slight awkwardness shuddering through him as he glanced from Azumi to Yuriko, the tall girl who stood a few feet away. Neither of them had spoken to him, and he preferred that at the moment, but the silence that enveloped the lobby was a peculiar one. It was an eerie silence, that much was for sure, but also a rather peaceful one at the same time. He was sure he wasn't the only one bothered by it, but Azumi had been so focused on the entrance door to comment and Yuriko looked as if she didn't even seem to notice at all. Or care. Kouji assumed both.
"Kimura-san. Who else are we waiting for?" Yuriko spoke up after a few seconds. Her voice was laced with some sort of forced curiousity, as if she didn't care but was pretending she did. She even did a slight tip on her head to emphasize the question that reminded Kouji of some doll programmed to ask a set form of questions and say phrases in a monotoned cheerfulness. Thinking about it now, Yuriko's voice was no different from a doll's either. She had the same monotoned cheerfulness too.
"Ryou Nakahara and Kris Aramaki are left. However, I doubt neither of them seem the type to walk out on us. Nakahara-san seemed sure in his decision whenever I called him earlier." Azumi responded, not taking her eyes off the glass door. "They have until 9 to be here."
Kouji glanced at his watch. 8:30 a.m. If I knew they'd be late, I'd have not been in such a hurry. He'd left around 7 that morning just in case and arrived an hour later. Now he'd wished otherwise. When he left, he was motivated by fury, remembering Noguchi's threat of, "Watch your back, boy. I'll be watching you." in that same icy tone from before. In a haze of anger, he stormed out the door and headed to Azumi's headquarters. Now, he could tell his glucose levels had dropped and he had to blink slowly a few times to stay awake. His head felt fuzzy and he couldn't think clearly, which only increased his irritance. How can I get through this program if I can't even think properly?! He snapped at himself inwardly.
The door swung open, interrupting his thoughts, and a girl stormed into the lobby. Her face was pressed into a scowl, giving off the same pissed off expression Kouji must've had when he first entered. I wonder what happened to her... Kouji glanced at her as she formed a line beside him. At first, he wasn't even sure she was a girl and that his first judgement was mistaken, but as he glanced at her again, he realized he was right. He found himself glancing at her a third time when something caught his eye. A vast array of piercings aligned her ear and two small ones pierced her lower lip. He counted around 12 in total and he was certain she had 10 more on the other ear to match. That's at least 22 piercings... how'd she even get so many?
"I did them myself." As if she read his thoughts, the girl looked up at him, the anger in her dark green eyes slightly diminished. "If that's what you're wanting to know. And if it's about the other thing, I'm a girl. I'm just not fond of skirts or frilly outfits." There was a hint of venom in her tone, as if there was something more to her hatred than she claimed, but Kouji didn't ask. "What about you? What's with that scar? I've seen you in school before, but I never really believed those rumors. You're Kouji Kawakami, right? Of Class 1-5?"
"Yeah. The scar's an old injury though, and it wasn't from a fight. I got it as a kid. And you're Kris Aramaki of Class 1-9?" He guessed, despite the obviousness of it. I mean, who else would she be? She's clearly not Nakahara. He'd only heard of Kris from the high school newspaper, despite never actually seeing her before. The only thing he even knew about her was that her older sister, Satsuki, was some famous model for weekly fashion magazines. I probably shouldn't mention that one though... He had a feeling Satsuki was the cause of Kris' dislike for feminine fashion. "Umm... so why are you here? Did you post an article the school didn't like or something?" He asked instead, though he could think of several reasons the school would disagree with Kris.
"Something like that." Kris answered with a shrug. "I heard you got in for beating up Daiki Maruyama. To be honest, Kawakami-san, he had it coming a long time ago. I'm sure you won't be the first or last to have punched that guy."
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll get beat up again when he goes back to school. Once he gets some facial reconstruction done, that is. Maybe it'll improve his looks and then he'll have to thank me." Kouji agreed. "Oh, and, since we'll probably be working together from now on, just call me by my first name, okay? I don't want any association with the last name. My father wasn't a very good man, to put it lightly." He quickly added.
"Sure... if that's what you want... Kouji." Kris reluctantly muttered, a slightly flustered tone edged in her voice like she'd never referred to anyone by such causalities before. "In that case, you can call me Kris. I think that'd work better for both of us..." She muttered the last part mostly to herself.
Kouji was about to reply until the glass door behind them swung open once more, announcing the arrival of Ryou Nakahara. The older boy said nothing, reluctantly taking his place among the others. He looks like he's in a room with a bunch of crazed murderers. Kouji noted, looking at Ryou's pale face and eyes darting back and forward at the other three. He only straightened up when Azumi gave him a brief nod and said, "I'm glad you made it."
Whenever Azumi finished, she turned to the group, watching all of them intently as she greeted them with, "I welcome you four to joining our third and official trial of the Survival Game."