Sousuke, meanwhile, was wearing his old fatigues. He shouldered his AEG with a practiced motion and did a few light warmup exercises.
“Sousuke,” said Kaname. “You look pretty confident.”
“Yes. I’m going to finish you off quickly and go home.”
“Grr...”
Sousuke’s taciturn nature could be very annoying at times like this.
Then Ihara approached timidly. “Chidori-san. Here,” he said, handing her a small envelope. “The JB concert tickets I promised you.”
“Huh? But... we haven’t won yet,” Kaname protested.
“No problem. I was going to give them to you either way.”
Kaname was silent.
“Let me tell you one thing before the match starts. We might be a lousy-ass team... but we’re all honored to be fighting at your side. Thanks to you, we’ve regained the enthusiasm we started this hobby with.” Ihara, the boy with the old-man face and goatee, spoke with eyes shining in a way that was appropriate for his actual age. Complete trust, beyond advantage and disadvantage... Theoretically, giving Kaname the ticket she was doing this for might diminish her enthusiasm, but they apparently didn’t doubt her at all. “However it turns out, I won’t have any regrets,” he declared earnestly. “Let’s give Sagara-kun a run for his money!”
“R-Right,” stammered Kaname.
Then Hayashimizu, playing the referee, said, “Are you ready? It’s a simple elimination game, as previously explained. Just defeat all members of the opposing team. We’ll expect self-reporting for any hits taken, but I’ll be tracking both sides with binoculars from the safe zone. First, Sagara-kun will move to the north side of the field. Five minutes later, I will blow a whistle to start the match. That is all. Any questions?” Hayashimizu looked around at the group and saw none. “Good. Please begin.”
“Roger,” Sousuke said, hopping a few times like a track runner before a meet. Then he let out a quick breath and ran into the forest of the game field.
Sousuke’s insistence that he’d finish them off quickly wasn’t an idle boast. As a super veteran elite soldier, he would demolish their amateurish plan in just the first five minutes.
First, he crushed the Lemon Squad, led by Sasaki Hiromi. Hiromi had reported that they were moving through the brush when both his teammates abruptly took five or six BBs from behind and had to check out. Hiromi fought back as best he could, but it was pointless. He fired BBs into the brush where he thought Sousuke had to be, but then out of nowhere, Sousuke appeared behind him. One quick hit to the back of the head, and he was done.
《Lemon-1 here. I have no idea how he did it! Send reinforcements... gahh!》 The message cut off.
“Sasaki-kun?!” Kaname cried. “Respond, Sasaki-kun!”
“You mean Lemon-1, Chidori-san. You’re the one who insisted on call signs...” said her squadmate, Ihara.
Ignoring the comment, Kaname cursed. “Dammit, Lemon Squad’s down. I forgot how weirdly good he is at sneaking and hiding and stuff...”
“This is awful. Then it won’t be possible to herd him to the point we—”
Just then, there was a communication from Peach Squad. Peach’s leader was Inoue, the man with the cross-shaped scar. 《Peach-1 here! We’re taking fire! We’re returning fire while heading for Point Del— Wagh!》
“I-Inoue-kun?!”
Another voice came across on the same channel. 《P-Peach-2 here! Peach-1 is dead. I’m taking command of this squad. Heading for Point Del— Wagh!》
“What?!”
A third voice chimed in. 《Peach-3 here. Peach-2 is dead! I’m the only one left! I’m gonna try to return fire. Heading for Point Del— Wagh!》
The transmission cut off. It was one “wagh!” after another. Honestly, Sousuke’s efficiency was really just disgusting.
The same thing happened with Melon Squad. Just a few minutes after Peach Squad’s total elimination, they were already in trouble. The voice of knife-user Ebikawa came over the radio. 《Hahh... hahh... Melon-1 here. My subordinates are all down...》
“Hang in there, Ebikawa-kun!” cried Kaname.
《It’s no use... He got me in the gut. I don’t have long...》
“No... don’t die!”
“Wait, are you a zombie now?” Ihara asked awkwardly.
Zombie play—to stay in the game despite taking a hit from a BB—was against the rules.
Ignoring his teammate’s objection, Ebikawa kept up his theatrical speech. 《Khhh... he’s headed your way. We managed to lure him to our target destination. It’s all up to you guys now...》
“Nngh... Ebikawa-kun...”
《Reminds me of the Laotian border... Take care of things, Commander. Make sure you... hrrrk!》
With those final words, Melon-1 expired. Kaname closed her eyes meditatively, turned off her radio, and asked Ihara, “Hey... how was that, rules-wise?”
“Umm... seems borderline safe. It’s not against the rules to roleplay over the radio like that after you die, so...” Ihara said awkwardly.
“Okay, okay... But what it comes down to is, we’re the only ones left,” Kaname concluded. “Fortunately, it seems we’ve got our enemy right where we want him...”
Just then, they heard empty cans clinking together in the underbrush at their four.
“Ah!” It was a tripwire they’d set up in advance. Sousuke had triggered it! Setting up alarms like that seemed a little like cheating, but it wasn’t technically against the rules. And it was the only way for them to stand a chance against a master stalker like Sousuke.
“Over there! Shoot!” Kaname, Ihara and their squadmate whipped around, took cover, and began firing in the direction of the sound. BBs rained down on the underbrush with a pop-pop-pop sound. She expected firepower like that would be enough to hold Sousuke down, but...
The next instant, BBs began to shower them from a completely different direction!
“Wah!” One squadmate was hit and immediately taken out of the game.
Sousuke had used a decoy to trigger the tripwire. They should have known that the seasoned veteran wouldn’t have fallen into such a simple trap.
“What?!” Kaname cried.
A shadow was rushing through the dim jungle: it was Sousuke. He was coming at them like a wild, nimble beast, all while shielding himself among the trees. There was nothing for them to aim at.
It’s no use, Kaname realized. We’re dead. He’ll get Ihara-kun first, then me...
“Graaaah!” Just as she thought that, Ihara did something incredible. Rather than firing at Sousuke, he hefted up his AEG and threw it at him.
“Ah?!” Sousuke knocked away the airsoft gun flying at him. He certainly hadn’t expected Ihara to throw such an expensive tool without hesitation.
In a real fight, Sousuke wouldn’t have hesitated to get violent, with elbow strikes and knee strikes to get the charging Ihara in a grapple. But here, he hesitated. This was their chance.
As Sousuke tried to take aim again, Ihara charged him with all his might, hitting him with a low tackle.
“Geh?!” Sousuke staggered and fell down on his behind. Ihara fell with him.
“Now, Chidori-san! Shoot him!”
“Um...”
“Shoot him and me together!” Ihara implored her. “Go!”
This really would be their last chance. Urged on by Ihara’s shouting, Kaname pointed her AEG forward... At Sousuke and Ihara, grappling in the mud...
“Hurry!”