Miki Honda - Powaqqatsi [B3-A3]
Miki checked off the last danger zone at the six o’clock report. C5, B5, B1, and B3. As far as the only name on the report (Kazuhiro’s), she didn’t think about it. She simply crossed his name off the list; didn’t even make the connection that they he, Miki, Emi, and Harumi had all traveled together at one point.
He was gone. They were all gone. And now there were only five of them left.
She didn’t think either about how there were only six hours left. She was so far gone, she never entertained the possibility that this could well be the last day of her life. She only thought about where the four others could be hiding.
She got up, packing the list, map, and pen into her bag. Then she set out-where, she didn’t know. All she knew was that B3, her zone, would be a danger zone in just a few hours. She walked, clutching her newly-reloaded machine gun, waiting apprehensively for someone to jump out at her, but there was no one. It really was like she was the last one left. Everything was suddenly so calm and quiet.
Then, to her left, came the sound she was waiting for. Proof that someone was still alive.
Gunshots, echoing across the lake, coming from two differently distinct guns. They sounded close.
Nothing occurred to her now. She had heard plenty of gunfire over the past three days, had obsessed over the horrible thoughts that her friends were dying. But who was left now?
She didn’t care anymore. She cared about nothing.
Miki began to walk west, ready for anything.
Miki’s parents are out at a dinner meeting. They go to these things a lot, leaving Miki in charge of the house-not that there’s much to be in charge of. Her little brother isn’t that much fun to boss around. He’s not like Miki, who wants attention, to shock and rebel; he’s just a nice kid. He’s the good child. He’s always been the good child.
Miki and her sister Ayumu (who has always been the dramatic sibling) used to joke that Hachirou Honda would grow up to be a wimp or a brown-noser, but they’ve never really thought that maybe he’s just a nice kid.
Miki never really thinks of Hachirou, anyway. To her, he’s more like a piece of furniture than a real person. All she really knows about him is that he’s friends with Kenji’s brother and Emi’s brother, he likes anime, and he’s always been shy and timid. Always sad, too, for some reason. At least whenever Miki is around.
“Anything good on?” she asks, flinging herself onto the couch next to her brother. He’s watching some anime show involving gigantic robots. Miki rolls her eyes, grabs the remote off the coffee table, and starts flipping through the channels.
“Hey… I was watching that!” he protests, holding his hand out for the remote. Miki doesn’t give it to him.
“Who did mom and dad leave in charge?” Miki reminds him, smirking slightly to herself in triumph. Hachirou sighs and slumps back into the cushions, defeated. Miki keeps flicking through the channels, looking for something decent to watch.
“Hey Miki?”
“What?”
“Why are you…” Every word he speaks seems to cost him strength. He pauses, looking at his sister apologetically.
“Because there’s nothing good on,” Miki says, looking at him like he’s an idiot.
“No, it’s not that,” he sighs.
“Then what? Spit it out.”
“Why are you throwing your life away?”
Miki glares at him, letting her arm fall into the cushions as she grips the remote in anger.
“Did mom and dad tell you to ask me?”
“No,” he sighs again, “Kenji did.”
Now it’s Miki’s turn to sigh. “Figures. Tell him to mind his own business.” Hachirou looks down at his knees, looking embarrassed. They don’t say anything else for a few minutes. The only noise is the sound of channels flipping past, the noises from their programs coming in short bursts as Miki flicks faster.
Miki is angry. Angry at Kenji, for sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Angry at her parents, who keep trying to dissuade her from pursuing her dreams. Angry at her school, which doesn’t have good art programs and a shoestring budget. Angry at everyone.
Her brother can tell. He looks up and tries to apologize. Miki cuts across him.
“Forget it. Don’t apologize.”
He speaks again, sounding sad and troubled again a few moments later. “Why are you, though?”
“Oh for god’s sake,” Miki huffs, “its bad enough without you trying to… oh, never mind. Nobody understands me, that’s all. Nobody gives a damn.”
Hachirou looks sadder than ever. “A lot of us want to know…” he looks as though he’s choosing his words carefully, “… because… we care about you.” He goes red, averting his eyes from her again. Miki puts down the remote and gets up quickly.
“There’s nothing good on,” she says, looking strangely upset and angry. She strides out of the living room.
She feels guilty immediately after-it sounded like he had been wanting to say that for a long time, and she just walked out on him like she usually does when people try and talk to her; she’s always so angry at everyone. From the hallway, she hears the TV turn off. Peeking around the corner, she sees Hachirou sitting on the couch, looking miserable.
Miki feels worse. All her life she’s been indifferent to her younger brother, treating him like he doesn’t exist. But he cares about her. She didn’t know anyone felt this way about her.
Does everyone really care?
Really?
Four and a half hours left. The sky was quickly growing dark, the sun’s rays coloring the wispy clouds a brilliant pink. Mere hours ago, she would have imagined what a fantastic painting it would make.
Miki checked her map again hurriedly. She had to be in A3. The lake was no longer visible, and she had definitely headed west. Marked on the map was a waterfall. Straining her ears, she thought she could hear something like cascading water. She followed the noise as best she could, going off the main dirt road to the source. She didn’t know why she was heading there. Maybe because it was just there on the map. There was no reason why anyone would be there. But they could.
Yes, there was definitely the sound of a waterfall as she got closer. She looked beyond a bend in the small trail, and there it was. It wasn’t a big waterfall, maybe twenty, thirty feet high. Miki followed the path of falling water to its base with her eyes.
She could see something in the water. Even from this distance, in this light, she could see it was a body, floating face up. The water around the corpse was red-it swirled in the current, streaks of crimson streaming downstream. It looked like Eizo (it was definitely a boy), though she couldn’t really be sure.
Four left. No... three left.
It took her another few seconds before she noticed something else-why hadn’t she seen…? Her stomach seemed to tighten at the sight.
She was looking at the other person. Someone was kneeling by the edge of the water.
Corpses don’t kneel. He was alive. He was definitely a boy, too-the uniform, the short hair… Taro. The only boy left. Miki took a step forward, determined, and despite what she was telling herself, terrified.
He turned around and saw her standing there. Reaching for his bag, he whipped out a gun and pointed it at her, but didn’t shoot. Miki raised hers, too, her heart racing, her face quite impassive.
She didn’t really know Taro that well. He was a friend of Emi’s and Kenji’s. She would never know him that well. Sometimes, a million years ago it seemed, they would talk, but the conversations had never lasted long. They weren’t friends. They weren’t even acquaintances now. They were supposed to be enemies.
Miki and Taro stepped slowly toward each other, not taking their eyes off of each other and not lowering their guns. The sound of the waterfall was the only noise. Taro looked worse for wear; he looked exhausted and worn out, his eyes bloodshot and with bags under them, and his hair ruffled. She knew she could hardly look any better.
“Taro,” Miki said. They stood about twenty feet apart. Miki’s voiced raised only high enough so as to talk over the rushing water. She was surprised at how steady her voice was, while her gut instinct was telling her to shoot now.
“Miki,” Taro replied, as though they were still in school, as if everything was still normal. They stood there, not knowing what else to say.
There really wasn’t much else to say.
“So… You killed him?” Miki could hear the forced casualness in her voice as she looked at Eizo’s body, which floated serenely on the surface of the water.
Shoot now.
Taro looked at her, and remorselessly replied “yeah,” after a few seconds. “Miki… Have you killed Emi?”
“No,” Miki replied truthfully. “Is she…? Do you know if she’s…?”
Shoot now.
“No… I haven’t se-“
Miki fired without warning, the sound of her gun once more drowning out any noises surrounding them. Taro’s reply and the sound of the waterfall were deafened by the volley of gunfire she sent at Taro. The force of the gun and the unexpected firing caused her aim to go awry, sending most of the bullets to hit harmlessly at rocks and dirt. Taro fell backwards, raising his own gun.
With another bang, Miki saw the end of Taro’s gun flash. She expected to be hit, but after a split second, realized he had missed. Miki flung herself behind a nearby rock as Taro fired again. She could hear bits of the rock shatter.
She took a quick glance from behind the rock. Taro had also found himself another rock to hide behind. He shot at her again. Another miss. She felt something warm dribble onto her cheek-she dabbed at it quickly, expecting to see blood on her fingers.
The liquid was clear, though. It took a moment for her to realize she was crying.
There was another shot. A small patch of dirt next to Miki’s leg was kicked up as the bullet sailed into it. She wanted it over with. She wanted Taro to die. She wanted them all dead. She wanted...
She threw herself out from behind the rock, exposing herself, but able to get a clear shot at Taro. He aimed at her again.
Their eyes met for the briefest of moments before they both fired at the same time.
Then the gunfire was over as quickly as it had begun.
She was so close…
((FTD Teeeim. I think Shaun is going to post after me for the actual vote, but I don't know. :O Anyway, I hope this is alright with everyone! PC approval granted from Shaun. Tell me if anything needs changing, anyway. |D GOOD LUCK!))
He was gone. They were all gone. And now there were only five of them left.
She didn’t think either about how there were only six hours left. She was so far gone, she never entertained the possibility that this could well be the last day of her life. She only thought about where the four others could be hiding.
She got up, packing the list, map, and pen into her bag. Then she set out-where, she didn’t know. All she knew was that B3, her zone, would be a danger zone in just a few hours. She walked, clutching her newly-reloaded machine gun, waiting apprehensively for someone to jump out at her, but there was no one. It really was like she was the last one left. Everything was suddenly so calm and quiet.
Then, to her left, came the sound she was waiting for. Proof that someone was still alive.
Gunshots, echoing across the lake, coming from two differently distinct guns. They sounded close.
Nothing occurred to her now. She had heard plenty of gunfire over the past three days, had obsessed over the horrible thoughts that her friends were dying. But who was left now?
She didn’t care anymore. She cared about nothing.
Miki began to walk west, ready for anything.
Miki’s parents are out at a dinner meeting. They go to these things a lot, leaving Miki in charge of the house-not that there’s much to be in charge of. Her little brother isn’t that much fun to boss around. He’s not like Miki, who wants attention, to shock and rebel; he’s just a nice kid. He’s the good child. He’s always been the good child.
Miki and her sister Ayumu (who has always been the dramatic sibling) used to joke that Hachirou Honda would grow up to be a wimp or a brown-noser, but they’ve never really thought that maybe he’s just a nice kid.
Miki never really thinks of Hachirou, anyway. To her, he’s more like a piece of furniture than a real person. All she really knows about him is that he’s friends with Kenji’s brother and Emi’s brother, he likes anime, and he’s always been shy and timid. Always sad, too, for some reason. At least whenever Miki is around.
“Anything good on?” she asks, flinging herself onto the couch next to her brother. He’s watching some anime show involving gigantic robots. Miki rolls her eyes, grabs the remote off the coffee table, and starts flipping through the channels.
“Hey… I was watching that!” he protests, holding his hand out for the remote. Miki doesn’t give it to him.
“Who did mom and dad leave in charge?” Miki reminds him, smirking slightly to herself in triumph. Hachirou sighs and slumps back into the cushions, defeated. Miki keeps flicking through the channels, looking for something decent to watch.
“Hey Miki?”
“What?”
“Why are you…” Every word he speaks seems to cost him strength. He pauses, looking at his sister apologetically.
“Because there’s nothing good on,” Miki says, looking at him like he’s an idiot.
“No, it’s not that,” he sighs.
“Then what? Spit it out.”
“Why are you throwing your life away?”
Miki glares at him, letting her arm fall into the cushions as she grips the remote in anger.
“Did mom and dad tell you to ask me?”
“No,” he sighs again, “Kenji did.”
Now it’s Miki’s turn to sigh. “Figures. Tell him to mind his own business.” Hachirou looks down at his knees, looking embarrassed. They don’t say anything else for a few minutes. The only noise is the sound of channels flipping past, the noises from their programs coming in short bursts as Miki flicks faster.
Miki is angry. Angry at Kenji, for sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Angry at her parents, who keep trying to dissuade her from pursuing her dreams. Angry at her school, which doesn’t have good art programs and a shoestring budget. Angry at everyone.
Her brother can tell. He looks up and tries to apologize. Miki cuts across him.
“Forget it. Don’t apologize.”
He speaks again, sounding sad and troubled again a few moments later. “Why are you, though?”
“Oh for god’s sake,” Miki huffs, “its bad enough without you trying to… oh, never mind. Nobody understands me, that’s all. Nobody gives a damn.”
Hachirou looks sadder than ever. “A lot of us want to know…” he looks as though he’s choosing his words carefully, “… because… we care about you.” He goes red, averting his eyes from her again. Miki puts down the remote and gets up quickly.
“There’s nothing good on,” she says, looking strangely upset and angry. She strides out of the living room.
She feels guilty immediately after-it sounded like he had been wanting to say that for a long time, and she just walked out on him like she usually does when people try and talk to her; she’s always so angry at everyone. From the hallway, she hears the TV turn off. Peeking around the corner, she sees Hachirou sitting on the couch, looking miserable.
Miki feels worse. All her life she’s been indifferent to her younger brother, treating him like he doesn’t exist. But he cares about her. She didn’t know anyone felt this way about her.
Does everyone really care?
Really?
Four and a half hours left. The sky was quickly growing dark, the sun’s rays coloring the wispy clouds a brilliant pink. Mere hours ago, she would have imagined what a fantastic painting it would make.
Miki checked her map again hurriedly. She had to be in A3. The lake was no longer visible, and she had definitely headed west. Marked on the map was a waterfall. Straining her ears, she thought she could hear something like cascading water. She followed the noise as best she could, going off the main dirt road to the source. She didn’t know why she was heading there. Maybe because it was just there on the map. There was no reason why anyone would be there. But they could.
Yes, there was definitely the sound of a waterfall as she got closer. She looked beyond a bend in the small trail, and there it was. It wasn’t a big waterfall, maybe twenty, thirty feet high. Miki followed the path of falling water to its base with her eyes.
She could see something in the water. Even from this distance, in this light, she could see it was a body, floating face up. The water around the corpse was red-it swirled in the current, streaks of crimson streaming downstream. It looked like Eizo (it was definitely a boy), though she couldn’t really be sure.
Four left. No... three left.
It took her another few seconds before she noticed something else-why hadn’t she seen…? Her stomach seemed to tighten at the sight.
She was looking at the other person. Someone was kneeling by the edge of the water.
Corpses don’t kneel. He was alive. He was definitely a boy, too-the uniform, the short hair… Taro. The only boy left. Miki took a step forward, determined, and despite what she was telling herself, terrified.
He turned around and saw her standing there. Reaching for his bag, he whipped out a gun and pointed it at her, but didn’t shoot. Miki raised hers, too, her heart racing, her face quite impassive.
She didn’t really know Taro that well. He was a friend of Emi’s and Kenji’s. She would never know him that well. Sometimes, a million years ago it seemed, they would talk, but the conversations had never lasted long. They weren’t friends. They weren’t even acquaintances now. They were supposed to be enemies.
Miki and Taro stepped slowly toward each other, not taking their eyes off of each other and not lowering their guns. The sound of the waterfall was the only noise. Taro looked worse for wear; he looked exhausted and worn out, his eyes bloodshot and with bags under them, and his hair ruffled. She knew she could hardly look any better.
“Taro,” Miki said. They stood about twenty feet apart. Miki’s voiced raised only high enough so as to talk over the rushing water. She was surprised at how steady her voice was, while her gut instinct was telling her to shoot now.
“Miki,” Taro replied, as though they were still in school, as if everything was still normal. They stood there, not knowing what else to say.
There really wasn’t much else to say.
“So… You killed him?” Miki could hear the forced casualness in her voice as she looked at Eizo’s body, which floated serenely on the surface of the water.
Shoot now.
Taro looked at her, and remorselessly replied “yeah,” after a few seconds. “Miki… Have you killed Emi?”
“No,” Miki replied truthfully. “Is she…? Do you know if she’s…?”
Shoot now.
“No… I haven’t se-“
Miki fired without warning, the sound of her gun once more drowning out any noises surrounding them. Taro’s reply and the sound of the waterfall were deafened by the volley of gunfire she sent at Taro. The force of the gun and the unexpected firing caused her aim to go awry, sending most of the bullets to hit harmlessly at rocks and dirt. Taro fell backwards, raising his own gun.
With another bang, Miki saw the end of Taro’s gun flash. She expected to be hit, but after a split second, realized he had missed. Miki flung herself behind a nearby rock as Taro fired again. She could hear bits of the rock shatter.
She took a quick glance from behind the rock. Taro had also found himself another rock to hide behind. He shot at her again. Another miss. She felt something warm dribble onto her cheek-she dabbed at it quickly, expecting to see blood on her fingers.
The liquid was clear, though. It took a moment for her to realize she was crying.
There was another shot. A small patch of dirt next to Miki’s leg was kicked up as the bullet sailed into it. She wanted it over with. She wanted Taro to die. She wanted them all dead. She wanted...
She threw herself out from behind the rock, exposing herself, but able to get a clear shot at Taro. He aimed at her again.
Their eyes met for the briefest of moments before they both fired at the same time.
Then the gunfire was over as quickly as it had begun.
She was so close…
((FTD Teeeim. I think Shaun is going to post after me for the actual vote, but I don't know. :O Anyway, I hope this is alright with everyone! PC approval granted from Shaun. Tell me if anything needs changing, anyway. |D GOOD LUCK!))