Battle Royale

"We can't know for sure! She might have tossed them once she ran out of bullets!!"

Yuichiro fell silent for a while, but then said, "Tadakatsu, you shouldn't raise your voice." His voice sounded different from before. It was calm and kind. Tadakatsu opened his mouth slightly as if he'd been caught off guard.

Mitsuko was also a bit surprised. Yuichiro Takiguchi was into anime. He was the otaku of their class, but now he sounded quite dignified.

Yuichiro shook his head. "You shouldn't be so indiscriminately suspicious," he continued as if admonishing Tadakatsu. "Think about it. Mitsuko might have sought you out because she really trusted you."

"But then..." Tadakatsu knit his brows. His gun was still pointed at Mitsuko, but the tension of his fingers on the trigger seemed to wane. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"If you insist she can't be trusted, then we can take turns keeping an eye on her. I mean, even if we were to tell her to leave, you'd still be worried she might attack you later when she has the chance."

Well, I'll say, I'm impressed. He's sharp and articulate. I mean, putting aside whether he's making a good call (which in fact would be to shoot me now).

Tadakatsu then licked his lips a little.

"Come on. We need more people on our side. And then we have to figure out a way to get out of here. Once we spend some time with her we'll see whether we can trust her, right?" Yuichiro insisted and finally Tadakatsu nodded, still eyeing her suspiciously. He said in a tired voice, "Well, all right."

Making herself look relieved, she let her body unwind. She rubbed her left hand against her eyes deliberately filled with tears. Yuichiro let out a sigh of relief too.

"Get rid of that sickle," Tadakatsu said, and Mitsuko immediately tossed it to the ground. Then she nervously alternated glances at Tadakatsu and Yuichiro.

Tadakatsu said, "Search her, Yuichiro." Mitsuko looked back at Tadakatsu, her eyes opened wide as if she didn't understand. Then she looked at Yuichiro who stood still in astonishment. Tadakatsu repeated himself. He aimed the gun at her. "Hurry up. Don't be so bashful. This is a matter of life and death. You know that."

"Okay...all right." Yuichiro put his bat down and reluctantly came forward. He stood right beside Mitsuko.

"Hurry," Tadakatsu insisted.

"Uh huh."

His dignified manner was gone now. He'd gone back to being his usual weak otaku self. "But—"

"Hurry!"

Yuichiro said, "U-uh, Mitsuko, I'm really sorry. I really don't want to do this, but I have to," and he ran his hands lightly over her body. Even in the dim light at dawn, she could tell his face had turned bright red. How cute. Of course, she didn't forget to act all embarrassed too.

After he was done searching, he lifted his hands. Tadakatsu said, "Look under her skirt too."

"Tadakatsu—" Yuichiro protested, but Tadakatsu shook his head.

"I'm not trying to get my rocks off. I just don't want to die."

So Yuichiro blushed even more and said, "U-uh, I was wondering, could you lift your skirt up a little?"

Oh my, let's not have a heart attack here, little boy.

But Mitsuko only answered in a meek voice, "O-okay," and lifted her skirt bashfully again up to where her underwear was nearly visible. Geez, this was turning into one of those adult videos titled Fetish Special! Starring Real Junior High School Girls!

I've actually been in them.

After making sure Mitsuko had nothing to hide, Yuichiro said, "I-I'm done."

Tadakatsu nodded and said, "All right. Yuichiro, I want you to tie up her hands with your belt."

Yuichiro gave Tadakatsu another reluctant look, but Tadakatsu refused to give in, aiming his gun at her.

"Those are my conditions. If you can't accept them, then I'll shoot her now."

Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, then at Tadakatsu, and licked his lips. Then Mitsuko said to Yuichiro, "Yuichiro, go ahead. It's all right."

Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, but then nodded, pulled out his belt, and held Mitsuko's hands. "I'm sorry, Mitsuko," he said.

Tadakatsu still pointed his gun at her, and said, "You don't have to be so polite with her," but Yuichiro seemed to ignore his warning as he gently wrapped the belt around her wrists without saying another word.

As she innocently offered her hands, Mitsuko was thinking how lucky, in spite of the situation, she was to have been discovered right before lifting her sickle. (She had also wiped the blood off the sickle earlier. Now that's luck.)

Now then, what's my next move?

16 students remaining

56

"So that's how I thought we had to seek other classmates," Yuichiro said and stopped, glancing at Mitsuko. Dawn had already broken, and she could see how his face was grimy with dirt.

They were sitting next to each other in the shrubs. Of course, Mitsuko's hands were tied up with the belt, and her sickle was tucked in the back of Yuichiro's pants. Tadakatsu Hatagami was in a deep sleep. He still held onto his gun which he had in fact tied to his hand with a handkerchief.