Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Trapped In Purgatory ❯ Lesson 3: No Time Remains ( Chapter 3 )

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Trapped in Purgatory

By: Melissa Norvell

Lesson 3: No Time Remains

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Raiga's comb ran through his thick, black pompadour as he stood inside of the intricate doors of his mansion home. He was dressed in his best threads: a pin-striped, black suit with a silk, lavender undershirt and black tie, followed by shine, black, business shoes. Right now, the yakuza felt like a million bucks. “Ah, graduation is today. This is going to be badass.”

Pulling his black jacket over his shoulders, Taiga glanced over to his brother as he straightened the piece of clothing. “You don't say?”

He knew exactly what that meant.

“Yeah!” Raiga beamed. “I'm gonna be practicing graduation shit today.”

“Tch,” Taiga gritted his teeth together in defiance. “Lucky you, I get to do errands for you guys.”

“Aw, come on little bro,” the older yakuza sat his hand on his brother's shoulder. “I'm teachin' y'the fundamentals of bein' a good yakuza leader.”

Taiga turned, leveling him with a visage of irritation, “errand bitch isn't being a leader, you shit.”

His brother was just trying to make some kind of excuse for him to do his work for him. Taiga wasn't stupid. This was hardly training to be a yakuza leader. In fact, it was all a bunch of bullshit. His brother couldn't describe it in the kindest way known to man that would make him want to willingly accept that job.

“Ah, come on!” The yakuza playfully whined, prodding at his brother's nerves. “Give a guy a break here!” It WAS his graduation, and it was only going to happen once in his life. Raiga wasn't planning on going to college any time soon. It was only common courtesy that Taiga do this one little thing for him.

“No,” Taiga wasn't planning on getting conned into doing anything for him.

“Jeez,” Raiga backed away, closing one eye as his hands rested on his hips. “What crawled up your ass and died?”

It was true that Taiga was always in a bad mood, but that retort was filled with more malice than usual. The blonde didn't give her a response; he merely turned and stuck his nose up in the air.

“Y'in a bad mood today?”

“Forget it,” Taiga huffed.

“That means y'll do the errands?” Raiga's voice perked back up, retaining its happy tone.

“This once,” Taiga settled as he put on his black tie, fastening it around his neck.

He then paused in his movement as he felt a large hand on the side of his face and another on his stomach. Scowling, his head was shoved into his brother's cheek as Raiga lightly nuzzled him, which earned him a shaky fist in the air. “Thank you so much! I knew y'd help a brother out!” Raiga knew that he owed him this time.

“Whatever,” Taiga grumbled reluctantly, “Get the fuck outta here.”

Raiga ran over to the door and held his hand up with a smile of anticipation on his face. His hand turned the knob as he bid his brother goodbye. “Gotta jet! See y'when I graduate tonight!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taiga sighed as he finished primping in the mirror. If he was going to be stuck doing his dirty work, then he might as well look good doing it.

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At Shinjinku, Raiga walked through the doors and into the massive hallway where a few students were walking, in groups talking and someone was even passed out on one of the black, leather couches. That guy must have had a particularly rough day. Then again, the day before graduation was usually pre-grad parties or other festivities. A lot of people worried about graduation day, but he was taking it gracefully. It was a day of release, a day that marked a significant turning point in his life.

As he advanced down the hallway, saying hello to a few of his fellows, he ran into Akagi, who wore a look of bewilderment. Akagi didn't seem himself. There was something disturbed about him. The yakuza couldn't help but wonder what was up.

“Hey there, Akagi!” He greeted the baseball player in a friendly tone. “Something eatin' at ya?”

It took the youth a couple of minutes to reply, as if he didn't really hear him at first. Akagi seemed to come out of a haze of thought before answering. “A while ago, my roommate and I were talking, and they asked me if I remembered the class that graduated before ours and man, I can't remember them at all. I can't remember hardly anything about my past and when I do remember, I question. This is way too fucked up, even for me.”

The tone in his voice was disturbed as he looked into the yakuza's eyes with shrunken pupils. Raiga wondered how long Akagi was left in thought on these topics. He looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to recall something, anything that unlocked a clue to either subject but when he thought about it, nothing came to mind.

“Come t'think of it, I don't remember `em either. Not their names, looks…no anything and I'm thinkin' hard here,” Raiga pushed his mind to the limits, trying to think of any little semblance of the graduating classes of the past, but nothing came. Try as he might, he was never able to recall anything. It was frustrating.

“No time remains for investigation. We didn't figure out shit,” the more that Akagi thought about it, the more he felt a harsh wave of anxiety slam into him. He ran his hands through his shaved Mohawk. He was really stressing out about all of it.

“You seem to care a lot about this,” Raiga was a little worried. Should he be thinking so much into it? He admitted that it was strange, but maybe the baseball player was blowing it out of proportion.

“Why, don't you?” How could Raiga ask the question like it was something so simple? Did the yakuza really not find it weird to not remember anything about his past?

“We haven't come up with anything,” Raiga settled. “Maybe we're over thinking it.”

“Then why am I not the only one who can't remember? Other people can't either,” Akagi wasn't the only one, and that was cause for suspicion.

“That's true,” Raiga agreed, “but we got no time.”

As soon as his sentence ended, the sound of a massive crash sounded through the hall. It sounded like someone had taken a wrecking ball to the school. The building shook violently, and a few pictures fell from the wall and expensive vases shattered on the ground. The student body looked around wildly. Fear and shock marred their faces as they talked among themselves. A few students screamed and wondered what was going on.

“What the fuck was that?” Akagi was among the students who glanced around in wonder.

“I…don't know…” Raiga looked puzzled for a moment before his visage hardened. “Let's go check it out!”

The two of them headed off down the hall, the sound of their footsteps mixed in with their fellows, who ran around screaming and calling out in terror. They made it out of the crowded doors and ran down the stairs and out into the courtyard where several students were gathered at the edges of the gates. Surrounding the school was a huge dome with a bright blue, partially clouded sky painted on it. The sky was very realistic, but it could never replace the sky they were all used to or the light-stuttered cityscape at night.

Why was this happening? Why were they being trapped inside of the school grounds?

“What the hell is this?” Akagi stared, stock-still as he looked up at the wall of the dome. His pupils were the size of pin pricks as he stared in shock at the wall before him.

“Looks like some kinda wall,” Raiga stated the obvious as he glanced up. Even the sky above was replaced with an artistic replica. “What's the big idea?”

“I told you, man,” Akagi looked to him, clenching a fist tightly. “Weird shit's happening!”

Raiga tried to keep his cool. He had been worse situations than this, and more chaotic ones at that. Being a yakuza leader put him in some dangerous situations that taught him from a young age to manage his feelings and keep a level head. Just like his men, these students may depend on his cool demeanor to get them through this time of hell.

“There's gotta be an explanation. Why would they do this?” It was really odd for a school to have a huge dome like that, much less use one to keep the students confined to the school. For what reason would they need to confine them in such a way?

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In the opposite part of the school yard, Taiga stared up at the same dome. He had no idea what was going on. In fact, when the dome came down it scared the shit out of him. He was still trying to get over that little heart attack. “What…just happened?” Taiga was in complete bewilderment. `I've never seen this before.'

After thinking for a moment, he drew back his fist and delivered a devastating punch to the thick wall. It made a bong sound, but to no avail. Then he drew back his foot and kicked it, but the results were all the same. No matter what kind of damage he tried to inflict on it, he got nowhere. `I want to escape. I don't want to be here. I've gotta find a way out.' Dashing off, the younger yakuza ran across the wall, hoping to find some kind of end to it. `Of all of the days I picked to pull a prank on Raiga for making me do his dirty work. Fuck me sideways.'

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Kazoo ran up to Izayoi in the dorm hallway. He had a worried look on his face when he heard the crash and hoped that she was alright. “Man, what the fuck?”

“I heard a crash and there's a wall around the school,” Izayoi was really worried and looked on the verge of tears. “We can't get out,” she was already beginning to feel the claustrophobia overcoming her. Izayoi couldn't stand being trapped in one place in close proximity with other people.

“I don't understand! What's going on?” Persephone walked up, outraged by the events.

From behind her, Raiga and Akagi walked up to join the group. Izayoi turned to them and asked if they knew what was going on.

“I'm freaked out,” Akagi mentioned his current state.

“You mean no one knows what's going on?” That was strange. Raiga thought for sure that someone would have some kind of idea of what was happening.

“No,” Persephone shook her head, “I was in class when I heard a crash outside. I came out to look around and I saw this dome.”

“I feel vulnerable to whatever it is I'm supposed to be scared of,” Kazoo didn't like the feeling at all. There was no true threat that he knew of. Sure, the school was really weird, but this was crossing the line. Now they had all been taken hostage by whatever it was that was keeping them there.

“Whatever it is, it's pretty obvious they don't want us t'leave.” Unfortunately, Raiga knew that they were now at the beckon call of whomever it was that was holding them hostage.

“Maybe there's a way out. Maybe we just have to split up and try to find it,” Persephone wasn't going to take it sitting down. She had to find out what sort of person would do such a thing. There was no way that she was going to sit around in a school all of her life.

“All students report to the gymnasium. Repeat, all students please report to the gymnasium!”

A deep voice blared over the intercom, causing all of the students to look towards the direction of the projection.

“Damn,” Raiga cursed under his breath.

“Maybe we'll figure out what's going on,” Persephone's green eyes were hopeful as she looked towards the other students. Surely it would be explained to them. Maybe it wasn't as bad as they all thought it was. At least, that's what she thought.

“Come on,” Izayoi started walking in the direction of the gymnasium with a determined look on her face. “Let's go.”

The others followed her, hoping that they would find their answers there.

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Inside of the gymnasium, all of the students were present and dressed in their graduation attire. It looked as if some huge formal event was happening as the best dressed huddled together and talked amongst themselves in groups on the basketball courts and up in the stands. Confusion seeped through every pore as sounds of sorrow, confusion, sobs and unsettling topics floated around. Everyone who had been introduced to Inori was all clustered together.

“Did you guys hear about what happened?” Liam leaned into the group, perplexity riddled into his features.

“S-Something made an awful noise,” Arata spoke up. He looked visibly shaken up by the incident.

“I thought it was an explosion,” Shiko knew that it certainly sounded like one.

“I saw it shoot down, like a big, glass wall. People barely made it under. Some turned away, and some…” Okasana jerked her head to the side with a tormented expression, “didn't make it.”

“Y'mean?” Raiga was afraid to know what exactly she meant, but he felt the need to ask it anyway. It was as if a driving force of curiosity propelled him forward.

“They were crushed by it,” the psychiatrist's face hit the floor.

“I was outside when it came down. It shot over the top of the school,” Osmond could hardly believe what he had seen. In fact, it took him a while to get over the shock he felt after he did see it. All he could do was stare in disbelief.

“We're trapped in here, but for what reason?” That was the main question that Kazoo wanted answers to.

“Maybe they'll have an explanation for us,” Roxy was eager to see what the school officials had to say about this.

“I hope this isn't their idea of a graduation prank.” If it was, Leo found it very cruel that they would do such a thing.

“Don't even bring that up! That's sickening and twisted!” Akagi didn't even want to imagine that kind of thing. He had enough bad things going through his mind.

“What if it has nothing to do with school at all?” Kasuga casually brought up a question that caused chills to go up and down their spines.

“What?” Leo turned and looked at her. What exactly did she mean by that?

“Are you serious?” Kazoo asked in disbelief.

“There is no faculty here. Don't you think that's bizarre?” Ryuunosuke had noticed it for a while. As much as he scanned the gymnasium, he could see no hints of anyone older than their teens.

“Something strange is going on,” Monica didn't like it one bit.

“I don't like it,” and neither did Ryuunosuke.

“Me either,” Persephone agreed, “I want to know what's going on.”

“This can't be a part of graduation, can it?” Osmond didn't want to think it was, but what else could it be?

“O-Of course not. Why would they do that?” The very fact that the model would suggest such a thing made Shiko's blood run cold. She didn't even want to consider that she school would participate in such a god-awful thing.

“This school has weird rules, but still,” Ryuunosuke agreed with the environmentalist. There was no way that a school like Shinjinku would do such a thing.

“It's scaring me,” Shiko's voice trembled. Thoughts ran through her head as several men and woman in suits with black executioner's hoods over their heads entered the room.

They walked across the stage as the curtains rose and the entire gymnasium fell silent. The only sound that could be heard was the clacking of black dress shoes and high heels as they walked across the wooden structure that was risen up from the basketball court. They stood uniform, in a straight line and a tall male stepped forward, grabbing a cordless microphone from the stand.

“Who the hell are these guys? What kind of prank is this?” Osmond was getting irritated at not knowing what was going on. He was sick of all of the buildup it was taking. He demanded to know what was going on.

“Man, I don't like this,” Akagi felt like throwing up just looking at those guys.

“It's can't be that bad,” the model paused, “right?”

“Optimism breeds stupidity,” Kaizerschmarren crossed his arms over his chest and wore the same stern look he had all that time.

“What did you say?” Osmond turned to him in an angry tone. He didn't have time for some military brat shooting him smart remarks.

“We're standing beside of each other,” Kaizerschmarren noted, “I didn't think I needed to repeat myself.”

As if their argument sparked a torrent of octaves, the other students began to talk among themselves again. Their separate conversation molded together into a sea of discombobulating words and phrases. The figures in suits stood silent for a moment, before the one that held the microphone spoke.

“Silence!”

The room went quiet as all of the student's attention was cast to him. Glancing around through the eyes of his hood, he scanned the apprehensive youths before continuing.

“As you are all aware, you have been contained on school grounds. This event is called graduation and it is how those of Shinjinku Academy are chosen to be set fourth into the world. We of Shinjinku are like precious chicks, longing to break free of our shell and explore the outside world,” his speech was both passionate and militant. The hooded man was deeply symbolic about his views on the goals and ways of the academy.

“So what is this?” Ryuunosuke was still confused, “an egg-dome thing?”

“Sounds symbolic,” Okasana wondered if the dome was supposed to represent the egg and if they were supposed to break out of it somehow. Was this all a representation of their flight into the real world and their coming of adulthood?

“Sounds strange, like scare tactics to me,” Monica wasn't convinced that it was as easy as that. There was something about those words that unnerved her to the core.

“That's a strange graduation event. Are we having some sort of final test?” That was what Roxy was getting from it all, anyway.

“We got to break out of the shell to escape. If this dome is the shell, then us chicks have to find a way out of it.” It was simple, really. Osmond believed that the dome was just like a giant puzzle and they had to try to figure out how to raise it. Maybe it was something that was supposed to make graduation fun.

“I've got my doubts that this is an event,” Kazoo was highly skeptical.

“Where's your spirit?” Kaizerschmarren mocked his fellow classmates. “Don't you find it intriguing?”

“It sounds like a creative way to go out, a final challenge of our intelligence.” It sounded like an innovative idea to Kasuga. Honestly, what were her classmates afraid of?

“Why is it a surprise event, though?” Kazoo still wasn't convinced. There was something up about it.

“I don't like it,” Liam frowned.

“Sounds kind of cool to me,” Osmond disagreed. Maybe everyone was getting the wrong idea about what was going on. No doubt it was scary and unexpected at first, but in hindsight it sounded kind of fun. Shinjinku more than likely had good intentions behind it. That eased him a little.

“I'm not convinced,” Roxy agreed with Liam and Kazoo.

“Neither am I,” Shiko commented. She wanted to know what else was involved with the dome.

“However, among the elite, all chicks are not made equal. There are those who are killed before ever having the chance to be allowed to mature into adults. Only the strong survive.” The announcer's words became dark and foreboding.

“What does that mean?” Akagi was unnerved by the suited man's sinister edge.

“Yeah, that was pretty dark,” Shiko nervously ran her hands over each other.

“Does that mean some of us aren't graduating?” Ryuunosuke questioned.

“You should know that,” Kaizerschmarren shot. “Like he said, some are more elite than others. If you thought you were all equally special, you're wrong.”

“I don't get it. I mean, everyone is here,” Izayoi didn't know what to make of that symbolism. Weren't they all equally special, considering they were all attendees of the same school, each with individualized talents that fit them? Sure, some were in the top percentile or they held positions in the student council, but she didn't want to think of it like that.

“All of you attend graduation, not all of you get diplomas.” Honestly, did the white-haired soldier have to point everything out to them? Kaizer was beginning to wonder if any of them would get diplomas at this rate.

“Well,” Osmond paused momentarily, “I hope I don't have to leave you all behind. I passed my classes.” One thing was for sure, the model was definitely getting a diploma. Kaizer's words weren't going to shatter his confidence.

“Maybe this exorcise depends on whether or not we graduate,” Roxy brought up a rather unorthodox method to prove which students were worthy of diplomas. If it was anything like passing a physical test, she was going to dread it. The portly business woman was better at problem solving than being physical.

“I wish he'd just get to the point so we'd know what to do,” Kazoo was getting impatient. This long, drawn out meeting was just a bunch of bullshit in his eyes.

“As you all know, becoming a member of Shinjinku Academy, the student population from the point on will mean sacrificing life outside of the dome. You all are forbidden from leaving or having contact outside of the school itself. The only way out will be through a body bag.” After the words were uttered, the student body was sent into a flurry. Students chattered among themselves. Some cried. Some went into hysterics, and others were shocked into silence.

“What did he just say?” That was enough to make Monica uncross her arms and stare blankly at the figures. She could hardly believe what she had just been told.

“You're shitting me,” Leo was in complete shock.

“D-Did I hear that right? What does that mean?” To Osmond, it all felt surreal. It was like he was sucked into some sort of horror novel.

“Sounds like genocide if I ever heard it,” Raiga's expression hardened.

“That's already horrifying. I am done with this shit,” Liam felt as if he was going to have a heart attack. This couldn't be happening. Surely, it was a prank. It just had to be a prank.

“He's joking, right?” Persephone glanced around, hoping that someone would tell her it was all a lie. “Did he really say a body bag?” No…this just couldn't be true. There had to be some way to escape that didn't involve dying. What was going to happen? Was everyone going to die? She felt herself panic.

“No…this can't be happening,” Leo didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't even know all of the details, but the one about the body bag was enough for him to know that something nefarious was going down..

“They really did trap us here,” Monica clenched a fist to her breast and scowled, “one of a bitch.”

“We can save ourselves, right? We just have to find a way out,” Akagi was desperate for some type of hope right now. More than anything, he needed it.

“Didn't ya hear him? The only way out is in a body bag?” Monica was fully aware of what that meant. Akagi needed to face facts.

“That means there's no way out,” Raiga looked intense but on the inside he struggled to keep his composure. He didn't understand what was going on or why the school was doing this to them. Did someone take over the campus?

“There's gotta be,” Leo was frantic. “They can't just hold us prisoner here. People`ll know we're missing.” The authorities would come and get them out. After all, they were famous. If they came up missing for too long then someone would call in. Their parents would get worried.

“Aren't you scared, Kasuga?” Ryuunosuke had noticed that the criminologist was not fazed at all. She just stood there normally, with the same complacent look she always had. It was uncharacteristic for someone who was told they were being held hostage and the only way to escape was to die.

“Why should I be? This is exciting,” the Lolita smiled. Most people would be shivering in fear. However, this girl could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins in sheer delight. It was another grand case that she alone could solve. With a situation like this, Kasuga could once again be the hero of Shinjinku Academy, if not Japan.

“What? You're deranged,” Monica didn't see her fascination with the situation as anything but twisted.

“This means there's a criminal behind all of this,” Kasuga defended her viewpoint. “A sinister plot of mass murder on the rich and well endowed. I find it riveting.” In fact, her blood was pumping so much she thought her heart would explode in her chest at the very thought. It was the perfect case to investigate from the inside out.

“I don't like it,” Izayoi grabbed her wrist in concern, “I already feel claustrophobic and paranoid.” It was as if the walls were closing in on her and all of the idle chatter was drowned out in an eerie sense of silence.

“As prestigious students of Shinjinku Academy, you all are the hope of the future. We have the special honor of breaking the world's youth, giving the world only the most talented individuals as they cannot be tainted by the useless. How could the world revere us with such weakness showing? We cannot allow our precious foundation to be cracked,” the suited figure continued to preach to the student body, sending words of terror and repression their way.

“Darwin's Law,” it was very apparent to Arata what this was.

“What?” Izayoi was confused at his sudden sputter of scientific terms.

“Darwin's Law is the survival of the fittest, the weak parish. There is a form of Darwin's Law that exists in humanity,” Arata could see it in the man's words. He could hear it in his praise and sickening passion. Could it be that this is a small scale version of what the Nazi had done so long ago?

Why would anyone want to try out something that had failed before? He didn't understand their logic.

“Social Darwinism, just like the rule of Hitler during the age of the Nazi,” Kaizer knew the law all too well, at least from a military standpoint. He found it amusing, really. Such an outdated set of beliefs were making a comeback. He wondered if the mastermind could really pull of something that had failed so many times in the past.

“That's not exactly what this shit is,” Kazoo didn't know if it didn't want to believe it or if he was trying too hard to get away from the comparison, but it wasn't completely relatable.

“You're wrong,” the white-haired male wasn't going to waste a second shooting him down.

“Huh?” Kazoo was caught off guard by his proclamation.

“That's exactly what this is,” Kaizer began to explain. “If you prove yourself to be the best you get to leave, and live in a world populated with the best. Over years the weak and unfit die out, allowing a superior race to flourish.” He was certain that was the goal of the administrative staff of Shinjinku Academy. Not to mention, it was what their every word implied for their situation in specifically.

“No way,” Kazoo still didn't want to believe it.

“Are you implying someone gets to leave and the rest of us just stay here and die off?” Osmond couldn't even imagine something that cruel. It was like a game of desire, the one who excelled with the strongest desire would be set free and the rest were doomed to a life in purgatory.

“I'm not sure who's crazier, you or Kasuga.” The both of them had very weird reactions to be trapped in a place they would have to spend eternity in, or even possibly die in. Kazoo thought both of them were shady.

“As a result, we have formed our own very special graduation that all of you are lucky enough to participate in. If you refuse to participate in the graduation, encouragement will be supplied.” They had their ways of making the student body bend to their whim, and they would utilize it if they had to.

“What does he mean by encouragement? Encouragement to do what?” Leo didn't like the sound of that at all. What were they going to force them to do?

“I don't want to know,” Osmond wished he'd never come to graduation or at least that he was so late that the dome closed and he couldn't get in. This was a nightmare.

“They're gonna force us to do something. Man, I want out of here,” Akagi was losing his mind. Panic ran thick through his blood. The more the man in the suit talked, the more he wanted to scream and run for his life. He wanted so desperately for there to be a way out, some little detail that the suited men would overlook, some little flaw in their system that would allow them to make a run for it.

“What happens if we can't graduate?” Liam was afraid to ask, and he feared the worst, but he was better knowing than not.

“You will never leave this school. Do not fear, you are not completely useless. You still have purpose.” Everyone in life was worth something; even those deemed useless still had one final task to achieve.

“So, they intend on enslaving us,” Roxy drew a terrible conclusion from it all.

“He said that like we're utterly useless. Didn't you have to be special in the first place to come here? Why are we being treated like trash?” Shiko was a little outraged by the suited man's implications. If they had so much talent and so much potential to become something great then why was this happening?

“We're prisoners in our own school,” Monica answered her question.

“This will not be a crime that you get away with. The authorities w-will kn-know about this,” Arata's voice shook with those words. Soon, their parents would report them missing and the police would come and free them.

“Yeah, you can't just kill us like that!” Akagi shouted defiantly at them. It looked like they didn't think their plan completely through. That would show them that they couldn't get away with anything.

“You're pretty passionate about preaching your bullshit,” Monica added, her tone calm.

“Here you compete for the right to graduate. Doesn't that excite you?” The suited man was taking some sick sense of enjoyment from all of this.

“No really, no,” Roxy said with an unamused tone.

“Oh, it's an honor, you know,” he gestured behind him as two of the suited figures pulled the sheets off of what appeared to be a massive pile of weapons. There was enough killing devices there to arm the Japanese army.

The students stared on with fear and terror as he turned back to them. “Last man…or woman standing wins the right to graduate.”

“You mean we have to kill each other?” Akagi's eyes were wide and fear locked his joints up. This situation got more and more bleak the more that suited man spoke.

“This is torture!” Ryuunosuke shouted. Didn't they see what they were trying to do? Were they insane?

“We're not gladiators, we're students,” Arata didn't know how they thought that they would do their bidding. None of them truly had it in them to end another's life…did they? He hated to think of what was running through his fellow's minds right now.

“I'm not killing anyone,” Roxy folded her chubby arms over her chest and turned her head to the side, “go fuck yourself with barbed wire.”

“You can't get away with this!” Shiko shouted in defiance, “We won't do what you say!”

At least, she wasn't going to.

“How is this in agreement to the school board? Do they even know about this?” Surely this wasn't some sinister plot with them. Roxy was more inclined to think that they were taken hostage before she would agree that they were involved. There was no way they would do something this sinister.

“They probably killed them, too,” Kaizer commented, making their situation even bleaker.

“That and old man Mandio,” Kasuga agreed.

“These procedures are important and necessary,” the suited man assured them that this was definitely a normal graduation. This was how they did things year after year, and this procedure would run as smoothly as all of the others.

“It's never necessary to kill anyone,” Osmond argued. Their logic and outlook on the ways of the world was severely skewed if they thought that was normal. What kind of people were these?

“Ah, militant force,” Kaizer still seemed amused by their methods.

“Y'mean concentration camp,” that's what Raiga felt the situation was. He could see all of the similarities.

“I'm not doing it,” Leo was adamant about not giving into their whim.

“Come, you all should grab weapons while you can. There is no sense questioning it,” the man in the suit taunted them. Didn't they want to ensure their lives? Didn't they want to have the upper hand in case one of them decided to lose their marbles and go on a wonderful killing spree? It would be smart to grab one even if they didn't intend on using it right away.

“What a beautiful, horrible idea,” Kaizer smirked devilishly.

“Fuck you, Kaizerschmarren,” Raiga shot, glaring the military brat down with cold eyes.

“We didn't do anything to deserve this,” clenching his fists to his sides, Ryuunosuke looked down. His body trembled with rage, hopelessness and sorrow. He didn't know what to do.

“It's up to each and every one of you to save yourselves. There is still hope if you can figure out the key behind graduation.” While their situation was undoubtedly bad, he didn't want to make it seem like they had no objective to obtain. After all, it wouldn't be too fun if the suited man just made everything doom and gloom.

“Key behind graduation,” Osmond mimicked the question.

“Don't fail yourselves or this school. This is a place where all of your horror comes true and not a single soul gets through,” his tone was militant, full of hope at first, but it quickly dripped with darkness by the time the phrase ended.

“This is dirty and wrong,” Izayoi frowned and hugged herself out of insecurity. She didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't even want to be at that school.

“I…I can't kill anyone,” Ryuunosuke's head was still down and his voice low. He would never dishonor himself in such a way. His use of martial arts was supposed to be used in defense and to help people, not to murder them. To do so was shameful, and he wanted no part of it.

“I can't do it, either,” Osmond closed his eyes and frowned. He didn't know what he would do if someone decided to kill him.

“Maybe no one will do it,” Shiko tried to be optimistic. She didn't want to think that any of her classmates would be capable of doing such a terrible thing.

“Someone will break,” Kasuga said calmly, tearing down any hope that the girl had.

“I'll kick their ass if they try,” the sukeban made her threat known and reinforced it by slamming her fist into her hand.

“Sure, stop a sword through the heart,” Kaizer held out a hand and closed his eyes. That smirk still plastered his face. Honestly, was she stupid or what?

“Why don't you go get murdered somewhere, since you like this sick little game?” Monica had enough of Kaizer's stupidity. He was just as messed up as the people in execution hoods. Hell, he should have been up there with them as far as she was concerned.

“What do you mean by figure out the key behind graduation?” Liam glanced up to the stage and directly questioned the group. He wanted answers. If there was a way to get out then he wanted to learn about how he could achieve that goal.

“Even though it's requested that you figure out the riddle, or kill no one but yourself, we have a few rules designed for your comfort.” It wasn't as if their lives confined in the school were going to be utter hell. There were some perks to their plan as long as they cooperated.

“I don't think anyone's getting comfort out of this,” Osmond knew that he definitely wasn't.

“I feel fine,” Kasuga argued his point. She wasn't killing anyone yet and it was her choice to do so. As long as she had that freedom of mind, then she was in control of her destiny. There were ways of getting out of any situation, as long as someone remained level-headed about things.

“Okay, anyone who is sane,” the model corrected himself and shot Kasuga a look that clearly said she was crazy. “The two with white hair don't count.” He referred to Kaizer and Kasuga.

“So, what is this? Some kind of supposed mutual killing?” Monica wondered what they were trying to get them to do.

“Barbaric gladiator sport,” Kaizer clarified, “blood sport at its finest.”

“I don't really like the sound of that,” Osmond really wished Kaizer would stop talking at this point. He wasn't sure what was worse; the fact that he sounded all too happy about killing people or the fact that he kept comparing it to a blood bath.

“We don't have a choice but to hear them out,” After all, they were trapped inside of the school. Leo knew that even if they left there would be no way that he could escape. Leaving only meant they'd miss all of the rules of the game and that would be cause for error and death.

“I don't want this,” Akagi sank to his knees and held either side of his head, “I want to go home.”

“Make sure that you take comprehensive notes of these rules. They won't be repeated and if you break them, then we'll simply have to put someone on trial and no one will like that.” Above anything, a trial was the worst fate for either one or all of them depending on the circumstances. However, the suited man would just let them figure it out on their own.

“Wait,” Kazoo paused, “a trial?”

“I think it will be a far cry from those mock trials,” Izayoi had a feeling that she didn't want to know.

“How are we going to have a trial? I've never even taken debate class. I'm not ready for this,” Osmond was shit out of luck when it came to being able to be involved in anything that was legal. Usually, he had people who took care of that part of his life. The model felt a panic wash over him.

“I don't want to know what happens if we're guilty of a crime,” Shiko could only imagine that it was something extremely cruel.

“You probably die,” Kaizer said simply. Why not just get it out there? It was their fate regardless. Whether they killed each other or not, it didn't truly matter when the hooded figures were around to make them do it anyway.

“Don't say things like that,” Liam was tired of his morbid talk.

“He's correct,” the hooded man clarified, “If you're found guilty of breaking the order of the school's rules, then the punishment is execution.”

…To Be Continued