(no subject)
Title: Buffy Royale
Author: kanedax
Pairing: #53 Kazuo Kiriyama (Battle Royale) / Buffy Summers (BtVS)
Rating: R for mild language and suggested adolescent violence
Continuity: May 21st, 1997 in both realties (Page 172 of BR; a little under two weeks before “Prophecy Girl” in BtVS, season one)
Summary: Buffy Summers has her first experience with inter-dimensional travel, and learns a hard lesson in the process.
Notes: For the
brain_asplode pairing community, Round 2. The rating I gave this story is fairly strong considering the content involved. It’s more of a warning for anyone who hasn’t read Battle Royale, either the novel or the manga, or seen the movie. The story concept is extremely disturbing for those who are of a certain moral fiber. If you’re not bothered by the concept of 14 and 15 year olds being forced to fight to the death, feel free to read. Otherwise, you have been warned. I don’t own Buffy or Kazuo. Joss Whedon owns one. Koushun Takami owns the other.
whoomp
The soft sound barely touched the quiet morning as a hole was torn in the fabric of reality.
Buffy Summers felt the sharp pain of sudden light in her eyes as she was thrown through it. Even before she landed in the grass she knew that she wasn’t in Sunnydale anymore.
“Have fun, Slayer,” she heard her opponent say as instinct pushed her into a roll, bringing her to her feet moments later. She spun around to face him, but what she saw caught her off-balance.
The vampire, dressed in an outfit straight out of some bad Bruce Lee movie, faced her from the darkness of the Sunnydale sewers where they had been fighting only seconds before. Now it looked like she was looking at him through a window, one made of a circle of glowing light.
“I’ll tell the Master you’re out of the picture,” he continued, smiling through pointed teeth.
Not if I have anything to say about it, she thought as she sprinted toward him. She sprung forward, preparing to tackle the vampire, but he waved his hand and the window closed. Her arms grasped air, and she landed with a hard thud in the grass, knocking the wind out of her.
“Ow,” she gasped, pushing herself to her knees and clutching her arms across her chest. She reminded herself once again that she should probably wear a sports bra to school more often. Never know when Giles is going to send her on another one of these “missions.”
“Oh. Great,” she muttered, looking down at her white top, now streaked with green grass stains. “That’s gonna be a fun one to explain to Mom.” It was tough enough trying to excuse the bloodstains, but a streak like this…
Forget what you tell her about the grass stains, her mind said. How did you even get them in the first place? Why aren’t you in the sewer anymore?
“Okay, right,” she said, looking around. “Get your bearings.”
She was outside. Obvious enough conclusion. Looked like some kind of forest. In the distance, maybe a half mile away, she saw a small mountain.
Not like the ones in California, she thought. More like Mount Fuji.
She walked forward three paces toward the mountain when she felt her sandal tap something on the ground. She bent over and picked up a clear plastic bottle. There was a label wrapped around the upper half, but the words on it were in another language. Whether it was Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, Buffy couldn’t tell. Definitely Asian, though.
“Wonderful,” she sighed. “I go after a vamp in the sewer, and suddenly I’m in a different country.”
She took a moment to let the words sink in. She was in a different country. How’d she get here? Could she get back? What will her mom think when she turns up missing? Or Giles? Xander? Willow? How could she get in touch with them to let them know where she was? Where was she?
What if the Master…?
Breathe, her brain said firmly as panic started closing in. Maybe this is another nightmare thing. You know how to handle those.
Buffy looked around. No sign of Billy or his asteroid projection. No sign of the Ugly Man coming after Number 19.
I already took care of him, though, she thought. Besides, it’s not like I ever had a nightmare where I end up in Vietnam, or something. This is something different…
She shook her head. In her time with Merrick in Los Angeles she had been under the impression that Slayers only fought vampires. But in the few months she had lived in Sunnydale she had fought a hormonal robot, a psychic projection of a Little League coach, and a girl who turned invisible because no one looked at her.
And now this…
“What have I gotten myself into?” she asked the mountain. She jumped when the mountain responded in a high-pitched female voice. It was in another language, probably the same one on the bottle, and sounded like it was coming from a broadcast of Sailor Moon.
Buffy squinted at the face of the mountain. There was a roofed viewing platform along its edge, and she could barely make out two bodies standing in it. The voice seemed to be coming from there, like one of them had a megaphone.
So it’s not a recording, she thought. And although she couldn’t understand the words, she could hear the fear in the girl’s words.
What’s going on around here? she thought, but her thoughts ended instantly. Her ears picked up a faint rustling behind her. Her muscles tightened. Whoever was behind her was doing a good job of making sure they weren’t heard. Anyone without Slayer senses wouldn’t have heard him.
Let them get closer, she thought. Then I’ll get the drop on…
click
Was that a gun?
A voice spoke behind her, the man’s voice this time, in the same language as the girl on the mountain.
“Sorry,” Buffy said, cursing herself for not acting sooner. She raised her hands above her head. “I don’t speak… umm… Asian…”
There was a slight pause. She wanted to attack whoever was pointing the gun at her, but didn’t dare move. She might be fast, but not bullet fast.
“You’re an American,” the man said in perfect, unaccented English. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, I’m an American.”
“You’re not in our class.”
“What?” Someone’s got a gun to my head, and he’s talking about school?
“Our class,” the man repeated. He paused as the girl on the mountain spoke through the megaphone, then continued. “Third Year Class B. Shiroiwa Junior High School.”
“I’m not even from… where am I?”
“Sakamochi said that the island was cleared,” the voice continued, as though she didn’t ask anything. “Do you live here?”
“I… what?”
“Do you live here?” No panic in the voice. No anger. Mellow. Flat. Like the speaker didn’t even care about the answer.
“No, I don’t live here. Where is ‘here’?”
“They didn’t tell us. Are you with the Program?”
“I am so far from the program that it’s not even funny,” Buffy snapped. “Are you going to shoot me, or can I put my arms down? I can answer questions better when my fingers aren’t tingly from blood loss.”
There was another pause. Oh, shit, she thought. He’s considering it.
“Put your arms down,” he said after what felt like an eternity. “Turn around.”
Buffy did as she was told, and faced her attacker for the first time. What she saw surprised her.
It was a kid. About her age, if not a year or two younger. He was Asian, like the language suggested, his long, black hair slicked back. He was dressed in a Japanese school uniform, the barrel of his gun, which Buffy recognized from numerous Bruce Willis movies as an Uzi, was pointed idly at her chest.
“You’re not with the Program,” he said in that flat, almost robotic, tone of voice. “And you’re not from the island. Why are you here?”
“I told you, I don’t even know where ‘here’ is. Am I in Japan? China?”
“You’re in the Republic of Eastern Asia,” he said, as if he was just talking about the weather.
“Never heard of it,” Buffy said, mildly confused.
“You haven’t? You’re an American. We’re your enemy. I’m surprised the soldiers haven’t killed you yet.”
“There is no Republic of Eastern Whatever,” Buffy said. “I may have fallen asleep in geography, but I know that much. And I suppose you’re not going to kill me, either?”
The boy paused, looking past Buffy toward the mountain as the voice of the girl spoke again. After it stopped, he looked back at her. “I don’t know if I’d get penalized for killing a non-participant. Besides, it’d be a waste of bullets.”
Buffy’s brain was still attempting to collect all this new information (Participant in what? Why would you need to conserve bullets? What’s the Program?) when the boy continued talking.
“Are you from another dimension?”
Buffy blinked. “Whuh?”
“You don’t know how you got here, you have never heard of the Republic. I heard a noise that sounded similar to a dimensional portal.”
“Umm…” Buffy was taken aback. “How… what… maybe?”
“Bears the markings,” the boy said.
“I couldn’t say,” Buffy replied. “I was fighting… a…”
“You were fighting a vampire,” the boy said. “You had a stake when you came, but it rolled into the bushes.”
Buffy’s eyes narrowed. This was almost creepy, how much this boy knew.
“You had something to do with it, didn’t you?”
The boy shook his head. “No, I just read about them.”
“You read about vampires? And dimensional whatsits?”
“Yes.”
“And they don’t freak you out?”
“It was something to do,” he said calmly.
“Uh huh.”
The girls voice emanated from the mountain again. The boy looked up, his face an unemotional mask.
“I should keep playing,” he said to her, walking toward the mountain.
“Wait!” Buffy said. “If you know about dimensional portals, do you know how to open them? Do you know how I can get back?”
“Yes,” the boy replied. “But I’m playing right now.”
“What do you mean, ‘playing’?” Buffy asked desperately. “What’s going on here? What’s the Program?”
“It’s what we’re in right now,” the boy said, pulling the lever back on his Uzi. “My class. I should take care of Yumiko and Yukiko before someone else does. Excuse me.”
Buffy’s heart skipped a beat, and she ran after him. “Take care of them? You mean kill them?”
“Yes,” the boy said, his voice still emotionless. “Excuse me.”
“Oh, woah, no you’re not!” Buffy yelled, running in front of him. “You’re not killing anyone.”
“I already have,” the boy shrugged. “I’m in the game. Excuse me.”
“You’ll have to get through me first,” Buffy said, assuming a battle stance.
“You’re not in my class, I’m not going to fight you,” the boy said. “Excuse me.”
He stepped past her, and Buffy swung her fist toward his face. She didn’t go full strength, knowing that she was just hitting a regular human, but was shocked nonetheless when the boy caught her fist in mid-swing.
“You’re not in my class,” he repeated. “I’m not going to fight you.”
“I’m not going to let you kill those girls!”
The boy looked at Buffy blandly, looked toward the mountain. He shrugged, set the Uzi on the ground, and turned to face her, striking a ready pose that Buffy recognized from her jujitsu lessons.
“So you are gonna fight me?” she said.
The boy shrugged. “This is fun, too.” His foot flew forward with almost blinding speed, and Buffy barely had time to react before knocking it aside.
“Holy…” she gasped, just blocking a chop to the neck.
This kid can’t be human, she thought as they traded punches and kicks with a speed and intensity that would have killed most people. He’s younger than I am, but he knows more moves than Merrick and Giles have shown me. The discipline this kid must have… he’s a machine!
To an outside observer, the fight lasted no more than thirty seconds. But to Buffy it felt like hours passed. For the first time since fighting Lucas, she found herself on the defensive, barely able to get any attacks against this emotionless killer.
At last, it was one throw too many. The boy’s fist flew past her flailing arm, and struck her in the abdomen. Buffy buckled at the waist, giving the boy enough time to throw his enclosed fists down onto her back. Buffy fell the ground, still conscious, but knocked out of the fight.
She’s not dead, Kazuo Kiriyama thought as he looked down at the crumpled American. But if I leave her here she’ll keep me from winning the game.
He thought about killing her. The gun would cause too much noise, but he could easily snap her neck or slice her throat.
Sakamochi’s still an unknown commodity, he thought. If I’m going to win, I can’t kill her. I don’t know if I’ll be disqualified for killing a non-participant.
There was only one thing to do, his constantly rational mind concluded.
Kiriyama muttered a few mysterious words (he vaguely remembered when he read this spell in his father’s library; sometime between teaching himself to play trumpet and mastering the Kurdish language, he thought absently) and a glowing ring grew in the middle of the world, opening into a darkened sewer beyond.
He remembered exactly when this girl had arrived, and knowing that the spells he memorized mastered both time and space, was able to place her right back where she came from. The vampire, dressed in a ceremonial kimono that Kazuo, who had sewn one or two in his time, guessed was purchased from a cheap American costume shop.
“What the hell…?” the vampire mumbled as Kazuo, flinging Buffy over his shoulder, stepped through the portal. The demon was so perplexed, knowing that he had just thrown this girl out of his dimension a second ago, that he barely even noticed Kazuo until the boy shoved a nearby tree branch into his heart.
The vampire fell to dust, and Kazuo didn’t react one way or another.
Inter-dimensional travel, he thought. That could be fun.
He could help this woman. He knew that. A world where demons existed and terrorized the populace. He knew that he was powerful enough, knew that he was educated enough, to help her defeat them all.
“Please,” Yukiko said from the other side of the portal. “Everyone come here. We’re alone here. We’re not fighting!”
Kazuo Kiriyama touched his temple briefly with his fingertips. He looked down at the girl one last time, and then turned back to the portal.
Maybe I’ll come back someday, he thought as he stepped through and picked up his Uzi. After all of this is over. It might be fun.
In the meantime, he thought as he jogged toward the mountain, I have two girls to kill, and a contest to win.
Buffy staggered as she rose to her feet. Her vision swam before her, and she leaned against the sewer wall.
I’m back, she thought hazily. He brought me back.
I lost, another part of her replied. He was, what, 14? 15? Just a human. And I lost to him. And because I did, those girls are going to die.
Buffy’s jaw clenched. She could feel the tears of anger run down her cheek.
I let him go. And I don’t know how to get back. They’re going to die, and it’s all my fault.
I was too weak, she thought as she worked her way back toward the sewer’s entrance. If I lost to him, how do I stand any chance against the Master?
She would have to work harder, she swore. Work harder, train harder.
After the dance, she interjected. Xander, Will, and I will go to the dance. Have some fun. Then I’ll start training harder. It’s not like the Master’s going anywhere. I have plenty of time.
As for the boy… well… he didn’t sound like he was the only one playing. Maybe someone will get to him first.
She stopped in her tracks, instantly repulsed at the thought that she hoped one human might kill another.
Classmates fighting each other to the death, she shuddered. What a dimension.
She sighed as she stepped into the light of the slowly setting sun.
“What a way to live.”