Battle Royale

"Whether you meet Kayoko Kotohiki or not," Shogo said, "if you want to see us, make a fire somewhere and burn raw wood to get some smoke going. Make two fires. Of course, leave as soon as you make them because you'll only attract-attention. And make sure you don't cause a fire. Once we see that we'll make this call every fifteen minutes, say, for fifteen seconds. Try to find us by following this sound."

He pointed to the bird call.

"This sound is your ticket out of here. If you're up for it, you can come aboard our train."

Hiroki nodded. "Okay. I will, thanks."

Shogo took out his map. He unfolded it and handed the map and his pencil over to Hiroki. "Also, I'm sorry for keeping you, but I need you to mark where Takako was killed. If you saw anyone else, I need to know those locations too."

Hiroki lifted his brow slightly as he took the map. He spread the map out on the shoe cabinet, under the moonlit window, and held the pencil.

"Give me your map. I'll write in the locations of the bodies we know," Shogo said. Hiroki stopped writing and handed over his map. The two began marking the maps side by side.

"I'll bring some coffee over," Noriko said and left Shuya's arm. She limped down the hall, using the wall as support.

"Did Takako say whether Mitsuko had a machine gun?" Shogo asked as he wrote.

"No," Hiroki answered without lifting his eyes, "She didn't say anything about that. I do know that she was shot several times. It wasn't a single bullet."

"I see."

As the two proceeded, Shuya explained the fates of Yoshio Akamatsu, Tatsumichi Oki, and Kyoichi Motobuchi. Hiroki nodded as he continued to write.

Shogo was done marking Hiroki's map. He pointed at it and explained, "This is where Kaori Minami was killed. Shuya saw Hirono Shimizu escape. She might have done it in self-defense. But either way, you should be careful."

Hiroki nodded. Then unexpectedly he said, "I saw Kaori too," and pointed at the map. "Before noon. She fired at me, but I think she was in a panic."

Shogo nodded and exchanged Hiroki's map with his.

Noriko came out into the hall, holding a cup. Shuya went down the hall and took it from Noriko, who walked unsteadily. He offered it to Hiroki, who took a sniff, whistled lightly, and then held it. "Thanks," he said and took a sip. Then he put the cup on the raised entrance floor. It was nearly full.

"I'll see ya."

"Hold on." Shuya pulled out his SIG-Sauer from under his belt. With its grip pointed at Hiroki, he offered it to him. He also pulled out an extra cartridge from his pocket. "If you still insist on going take these, okay? We have a shotgun and one more gun."

The first gun was Kyoichi Motobuchi's, and the Smith & Wesson was now with Shogo. Shuya's handing over the SIG-Sauer gun would decrease their fighting capacity, but Shogo didn't intervene.

But Hiroki shook his head. "You need that, Shuya. You better protect Noriko all right. I can't take that. Even if someone attacks me, I just can't do it." He tilted his head and then examined both Shuya and Noriko. He broke into a slight grin and then added, "I always wondered why you two weren't going out." Then he nodded at each of them and quietly opened the entrance door.

"Hiroki," Noriko called. Her voice was quiet. "Be careful."

"I will. Hey, thanks. And best of luck to you guys."

"Hiroki..." Shuya was getting choked up, but managed to say, "We'll meet again. That's a promise."

Hiroki nodded and left. Shuya held Noriko and stepped through the front entrance, watching Hiroki as he quickly ascended the mountain.

Without a word, Shogo gestured to Shuya and Noriko to move back and close the door.

Shuya took a deep breath and turned around. He could barely see the steam still rising from the cup Hiroki had left on the floor.

20 students remaining

49

The moon was high in the center of the sky. There wasn't a single cloud. The white light from the nearly full moon cast a thin film over the rest of the sky, obscuring the stars.

Shogo, who was leading, stopped. Shuya, who was supporting Noriko with his shoulder, stopped too.

"Are you all right?" Shuya asked Noriko.

She nodded. "I'm fine." But Shuya could tell she was still unsteady.

Shuya looked at his watch. It was past 11 p.m. now, but they'd already left G=9, which was now a forbidden zone. They had to find another place to settle down.

They were tracing their way back along the foot of the northern mountain. The area was scattered with trees. A little further down and they'd be near where Kaori Minami was killed. Immediately to their left, Shuya saw a flat, narrow area that extended from the island's residential area on the eastern shore. The flat land spotted with houses then became increasingly narrow, like a triangle. The road traversing the island supposedly passed through this pivot and headed to the western shore.

Shogo turned around. "Now what do we do?" Noriko's blanket was tied to the top of the day pack on his shoulder.

"Can we stop at a house, like we did just now?"