The Unnamed Poet : Volume 1

Chapter 20 : The Elections

I am a genius, the chances if someone like me being born could not be calculated before I was born, for no one was as smart as I was.
Those were the thoughts of Kobashigawa Kumiko as she was wondering one thing. Why can I still be tricked. Why is it that I was not top of my class. Probably because I’m bored is what she thought. Probably because I am not challenged. And whilst that was true. She could not bear the fact that someone weaker than her intellectually actually had the upper hand over her at school.
She used her points to find out which club her friends were in. Club 33, she needed to get into club 33 and for that to happen she was forced to win the next match. She kept walking the long, iron and thick walls. The echo was something she could not hear, Kumiko could only focus on the game. She finally reached her destination and there she saw two girls, each one was around 162cm tall. One of them was blonde with blue eyes and another one had brown eyes with curly black hair.
She approached them to find out if these were the girls she should go against.
-Kumiko K- «Yo… I assume you two also got in a tricky situation like mine… but oh well. Which one of you am I going against? I’m surprised you waited for me and did not go off to fight by yourselves»
The two girls looked at Kumiko bothered and irritated by the way she talked.
-???- «Piss off alright? Why would we fight each other. We are going to battle together. And don’t you call us ‘you two’ bitch. We have names. My name is Jacolien Raithel»
Said the blonde one.
-Jacolien- «And that girl over there is Liesbeth Raspoel! Show respect to us you bitch!»
Said Jacolien as she chewed some gum. Kumiko examined her body, she showed a but more skin than most people especially for her age, these two girls were around Kumiko’s age maybe a bit older. Tanned too from what she could tell, the way they stood too showed a lot about them.
-Jacolien- «Fuck are you staring at bitch?!»
-Kumiko K- «… Miss Raithel… how’s your older… brother?»
She checked her reaction.
-Kumiko K- «No sister? Yeah older sister… you also have a younger sibling… this time a brother? Nice I must’ve guessed correctly. Look lass I understand you have some issues with your father so you choose to dress like that but talk to me in that tone again and I’m going to ensure you can no longer speak»
Liesbeth spoke up wanting to defend her friend. She grabbed her arm as she did that. She was too call before, in fact she seemed to be in her phone and not caring.
-Liesbeth- «Listen bitch! THAT’S HER NATURAL COLOR!—»
-Kumiko K- «Divorced parents miss Raspoel?»
-Liesbeth- «H-how»
-Kumiko K- «Your clinginess and odd mood swings, plus the two of you dress and show a bit too much skin, that means you probably seek attention from your parents or other males to replace the affection you’re missing»
Kumiko could have been wrong for all of said things she mentioned but the subtle movements of the girls betrayed then so she was able to read them.
The girls looked at each other and laughed making comments such as ‘affection?! Do not get me laughing all that much’. Kumiko felt resentment towards them, she has had experience with such people before. These girls were disgusting people in her eyes, but that was not what she was thinking. These girls mentioned fighting Kumiko together at once. Is that even possible?
-Kumiko K- «You know you made a small statement earlier I want to confirm. What do you mean I have to fight the two of you both?»
The two girls looked at each other and looked over to Kumiko as if mocking her.
-Liesbeth- «Are you dumb? This game allows us to bet! So fight us both! If you lose you die you disgusting bitch!»
-Jacolien- «Yeah yeah!»
Kumiko’s eyes seemed to be covered by a shadow as she tilted her head and smiled.
-Kumiko K- «And if I win. You two will become my followers and assist in my election, after that you two can fuck around and do whatever you want»
The girls laughed at her. Kumiko chose to risk so much that it outweighed the benefits, she had no reason to agree to this and yet she did. Jacolien spoke up first.
-Jacolien- «Are you trying to be a saint or something?! Give it up bitch. No one here is a good person… you will simply die you fool»
-Kumiko K- «Oh well. The way I see it I do not really have anything to lose. Either way I will end up with two people assisting me in my election as a club leader. So let’s go bitches, name the game»
And so the girls proposed the game, its name was ‘Lost, Wronged Labyrinth’!
Its rules were simple, first the team must be played with two different teams, the members of each one were already decided and therefore Kumiko would play against the two dutch girls. Next, one person of each team receives a tablet, this tablet shows the layout of the labyrinth including some small traps that they can activate at will. The other contestant will be given a gun with two bullets, using that gun anyone can kill anyone, to ensure that the person who was shot is dead and to fully complete the game, the contestants inside the labyrinth will wear a collar around their neck. Said collar will send a signal to the tablet for the location of both participants by measuring their heartbeat. If the beat of the heart stops then the light on the collar and the signal is stopped. The game finishes once the status the player in the opposite team inside the labyrinth is confirmed dead.
Additional rules are : Each person can kill only one person, after that the gun is automatically disabled through MD. In addition to that bullets cannot be stolen. If the ring stops beeping then we count that as a death but the game will not be fully finished until MD ensures the death of the participant by examining then further.
-MD- «THERE WE GO! Now for the game to start! Miss Jacolien Raithel and Miss Kobashigawa Kumiko will be entering the labyrinth! Since Miss Kobashigawa lacks a partner she will take upon both roles so we shall grant her a tablet in the case she leaves the labyrinth first! There’s only one exit… so be careful…»
Kumiko and Jacolien… stepped inside two Seperate doors. Liesbeth was looking through the tablet given to her, she could see two dots moving forward and could distinguish which one was Kumiko and which one was Jacolien. Or it could be MD confusing her to make the game fair? She thought.
For the time being no traps were set off but a thought was inside the two girls : Kumiko would try to escape fast and use the tablet to kill off Jacolien.
This was the safest way to survive this game.
Kumiko was trying to devise a plan, she needed to win and for that the best possible way was to control the tablet. But she needed victory without ending the life of anyone. Kumiko with the gun in one of her arms and the other one… not being there, she was walking around the labyrinth.
Jacolien held the gun with both of her arms and planned on shooting Kumiko on sight. For them this was the final game and if they ended her life then they would pass and become leaders of a club.
Jacolien thought to herself, ‘If me and Liesbeth win this then we will be able to go against one person as two, if I consider the possible solutions then it is likely that since we are two leaders we could get the club members to vote for us’
For the Dutch girls victory was a necessity if they wanted to survive here. And so Jacolien instead of looking directly for an exit decided to look for Kumiko, she made slow steps and was careful of her surroundings, these slow steps saved her.
A small pistol came out of the wall besides her but she jumped in time to avoid getting hit by the bullet.
-Jacolien- «(What was that… did I activate a trap? Of some sort? No MD did not mention anything like that, plus if it was activated by a switch I pulled I would be dead. Then it must have meant that Liesbeth activated that!)»
Jacolien understood that her life would have ended in a flash in the case that what she activated was a trap. From the knowledge she was given of the game she understood that Liesbeth activated a trap. She needed to get Liesbeth to understand that it was her and that she should target the other person!
Meanwhile, Liesbeth who just pressed a red wall saw one of the two dots who was the closest moving in circles.
MD was getting excited at the game, surprisingly.
-Liesbeth- «I see Jacolien… you’re moving in a circle! I see! Then that must mean the other dot is!—»
Liesbeth who was about to press that button pulled her finger back as swiftly as possible for she saw something she did not expect.
-Liesbeth- «T-the dot… the second dot… is also moving in circles!?»
That was exactly right, Kumiko heard a gunshot not too far away, but that is not the sound their glocks make, it was a different weapon and that must have meant that Liesbeth activated a trap! She tried thinking as fast as possible and came up with two solutions :
1. That trap killed Jacolien therefore I can move however I choose to
2. Jacolien survived that trap and somehow notified Liesbeth of her situation and that it was indeed her.
Kumiko tried thinking to herself if both options are possible, both the girls were very smart considering they have two victories each. Therefore Jacolien probably gave her a signal of some sort which would lead to Kumiko’s demise. She chose to go with the second option since she needed to be careful.
Pondering to herself Kumiko remembered that after the game’s rules were announced, no subtle messages occurred between the two girls meaning Jacolien picked a safe option that could be easily recognizable from the tablet. Moving in circles!
Liesbeth did not take activate another trap due to her being worried she might kill Jacolien. Liesbeth tried to think, ‘Would Jacolien do random circles for no reason? Or did she understand I almost killed Kumiko and is showing me she’s there… I cannot press anything yet, it’s too risky!’.
Until now one trap was activated.
The gunshot could be heard meaning that Jacolien and Kumiko were close to each other. As Kumiko made sure to be quiet with her steps she took a turn and suddenly she was behind Jacolien. Shaky her hand was as she raised the gun with the two bullets towards Jacolien, she should not kill her but what if she hurts her somewhat? Like take away her ability to walk. No, she could not, she wanted to win the game without hurting anyone. She turned around and Jacolien did so too. Another bullet was then fired.
Liesbeth noticed five minutes after that, a dot was gone from the tablet. She smirked, she knew it was Jacolien who killed Kumiko. Jacolien would have shot Kumiko if she appeared behind her like that meaning that this person was Kumiko and Jacolien killed her!
She went near the exit door with her back facing it.
-Liesbeth- «Come Jacolien! HUG ME FOR WE HAVE WON AGAINST THAT WHOREBAG!»
And then… a gun was placed on the back of her head. She slowly turned around to see a very aggravated Kumiko, she jumped back horrified.
-Kumiko K- «… did you call me. A whorebag?»
-Liesbeth- «Oh no definitely not no! No! I did not I didn’t!»
Kumiko took a shot at her liver. The pain Liesbeth felt was excruciating but now she looked up at her laughing.
-Liesbeth- «Idiot! You… you wasted your last bullet did you not!—»
And then Kumiko fired a shot at the ceiling.
Liesbeth could not believe it, ‘we cannot steal bullets but… did… did she steal the whole gun after Jacolien was killed?! Wait hold on a second why is she shooting me, she can only kill one person right? What happened… why can she—’
-Kumiko K- «You activated a second trap remember? You killed Jacolien, whorebag»
That made no sense! Liesbeth did not activate a trap to kill anyone! Or did she? Liesbeth’s memory was getting foggy and she started getting dizzy too. She saw Kumiko pull a gun from behind her, that must have been her own gun. She pointed it at her head. Liesbeth at a vulnerable moment after killing her own friend was crying her eyes out.
-Kumiko K- «Goodbye miss Raspoel»
-Liesbeth- «I GIVE UP! MD I GIVE UP STOP THE GUN STOP THE GAME I LOST WE LOST I GIVE UP!—»
And then it was that she saw Jacolien almost having taken, the final shot at Kumiko. She turned around and all she could say was ‘w-what happened’.
-Kumiko K- «Sorry! I lied before. You should check the tablet of yours!»
Liesbeth immediately grabbed the tablet and saw something. Jacolien’s dot was… still beeping, she then took a good look at both of their collars and saw that Kumiko’s was broken.
-Kumiko K- «I shot my own collar, you see I did not wish to kill anyone nor harm anyone, so I broke my own collar by hitting it against a wall really hard. But damn it was hard getting away from Jacolien, thank God she is a slow runner, that would not be a problem if she wore sports shoes for once though hoho»
-Liesbeth- «B-but. Your gun, you shot two bullets… how did you… did you not have… another bullet or another gun?!»
-Kumiko K- «No no! You see you were confused so I just pulled the gun behind me and up front again, it was the same gun. And about the bullets… I was bluffing!»
She took her tongue out playfully.
-Jacolien- «B-bluffing? Y-you mean…»
-Liesbeth- «No…»
-Kumiko K- «Yup! I bet it all in this! In all honesty I had no more bullets left, if you had not given up I’d be a goner! Oh and yeah you did not activate a trap don’t worry Liesbeth. I lied about that heheh…»
It was a lot to process, the two girls had lost… the match… the winner of the Long, Wronged Labyrinth is… Kobashigawa Kumiko!
-MD- «EEEEEND! Wow that was short but AAAAAAWESOME! Well miss Raspoel and Miss Raithel, since you agreed to becoming the followers of Kobashigawa Kumiko I can no longer render the two of you as players. Meaning if miss Kumiko is one day out of the game I end both your lives and you can no longer participate in the elections at all aside from the orders your boss gives you. That is it! Goooooooodbye!»
As the two girls felt incredibly down by such a loss they cried, Kumiko beat two people meaning her victory meant significantly more than against one person. Kumiko approached Liesbeth who was on the floor and offered her one hand.
-Kumiko K- «Help me with my elections. You two…»
-Liesbeth- «You’re annoying you know that? Fine fine… master, let’s get you to win!»
Liesbeth said with a smile, her tears still running as she stood up. Kumiko smiled back and began walking towards the exit. MD had already healed her injury.
-MD- «Miss Kumiko! You have finished all your three battles and earned second place! Pick the club which you wish to visit!»
-Kumiko K- «… club 33, is my choice»
-MD- «You’re in luck! Only one more contestant picked that club meaning all the less competition! Would you like to know his name?»
-Kumiko K- «No I’m good, I’ll know when I meet him»
-MD- «ALRIGHT! I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK!»
And so Kumiko finally made her way through the halls… for the elections… she and her two new followers made their way towards club 33.
In the meantime at the club MD made the announcement that the elections would begin in five minutes and asked everyone to come down at the lobby, it was not necessary but it would help the elections a lot.
Archive was looking around the room and his eyes met a man who he did not know but Kumiko did Ishihara Midori. He called out to him and Midori approached him.
-Midori- «Oh hi… you’re Kumiko’s husband right?»
-Archive- «Fiancé actually»
-Midori- «Oh sorry sorry my bad. Well how can I help you?»
-Archive- «… have you seen Benedict Titterington, or maybe, Tamotsu anywhere? I need to find both of them»
-Midori- «Look man relax. Tamotsu is probably in his room and we should be glad that American fellow is not here»
-Archive- «(Huh. Is he racist or something?)»
-Midori- «Plus I’m sure you should stay here, it was you people who said that one of the candidates was going to be an old comrade of yours…»
-Archive- «Oh yeah… I would not move anyways»
-Midori- «(For what reason?!)»
-Archive- «(Life is a bummer…)»
It was then that they were interrupted as from the ground rose a platform standing at seven feet tall with two podiums on it. Then four people appeared.
-MD- «Ladies and gentlemen! Let me introduce to you our candidates! One is Kurikawa Hideo! He earned second place at the election process! Do you have anything to say for yourself Mr. Kurikawa?»
An innocent smile, a bit too innocent appeared on the man’s face as he stood over the microphone on the podium.
-Hideo- «I would be glad to do so! You see I like to believe that I am a very cautious person and yet I know when to take a risk. Especially at such a place with high stakes I should be balancing both should I not?»
From the crowd a voice was heard.
-Shiro- «BOOOOO FUCK YOU»
And was immediately injected with a serum and passed out.
-MD- «My dearest apologies Mr. Kurikawa!»
That man was obviously pissed off but only Kumiko saw that.
-Hideo- «No need no need to apologize! This club has a lively bunch which is what I am going for! I need these fearless individuals for the future of both me and this club! Now any questions? I would like to answer then now to avoid confusion with my fellow future club members!»
A man lifted his hand, it was Chiba Nobu a club member.
-Hideo- «Hm? Yes speak up!»
-Nobu- «How the hell do we know you can take risks, like nice way you’re talking over there but I ain’t buying SHIT!»
The crowd started agreeing too and Hideo got annoyed, again only for Kumiko to notice.
-Hideo- «My my… you all got spunk. I admire people such as yourselves. How about I show you all why I can take good risks then?»
-Nobu- «Yeah go for it asshole!»
Hideo looked towards Kumiko who was standing at the podium and took out a gun he had bought using his victory points and pointed it at Jacolien and Liesbeth, before anyone could say anything he shot them both in the forehead and they dropped dead.
-Hideo- «Soooo… does that work for you my club?»