Battle Royale

Shuya finally realized his torso was naked and that his throbbing left shoulder was bandaged. (Given how it felt, he deduced the bullet shattered his shoulder blade and was now lodged in there.) The right side of his neck—he felt a burning sensation right below his collar where there was another bandage (but this bullet wound must have been a minor scrape). And then on top of his left elbow. (It felt heavy. The bullet had most likely exited, but perhaps because the bone or tendon was torn off, it felt paralyzed.) Also his left side. (The bullet had pierced it, but it seemed to have missed his vital organs.) Shuya awkwardly moved his unscathed right arm and lifted his blanket, confirming he was indeed covered with bandages.

He returned the blanket and asked, "So you treated me."

"Yes," Yukie nodded. "We found an emergency first-aid kit in the lighthouse. We stitched your wounds a little. Not a great job, since we didn't know what we were doing and we could only use the string and needle from a sewing set. It looks like the bullet in your shoulder...is lodged in there. We couldn't do much. I thought what you really needed was a blood transfusion. You were bleeding so badly."

"Thanks a lot."

"Oh no," Yukie smiled kindly. "I can't believe I got to touch a guy's body! I even got to take off your clothes."

Shuya chuckled. While she was both very smart and considerate, she could also say bold stuff like that. That's right, she'd been like that ever since he got to know her on a rainy day in the elementary school gym, negotiating the space allocated for Little League practice and girls' volleyball. And that's right, at the time he'd said to Yoshitoki, "Then there's Utsumi, who's on the volleyball team. She's pretty cool. That's my type. You know, real outgoing."

Of course right now he wasn't supposed to be indulging in idle emotions. But when Yukie said, "Oh, yeah, here," and offered him a cup of water, Shuya couldn't resist whistling. He was in fact really thirsty. The cup was already there, on the side table beyond his field of vision.

He thought, how impressive, Representative. You'll be a wonderful wife some day, no, a wonderful woman. No, you might in fact be a wonderful woman now. I've actually thought that for a while.

He took the cup, raised his head, and drank. His neck wound hurt as he swallowed and grimaced. But he drank it all.

"I might be asking for too much," he said, returning the cup, "but I think I should drink a lot more. And also...do you have any kind of painkiller? Anything. It'll help me."

Yukie nodded. "Sure. I'll go get some."

Shuya wiped his lips and then said, "It's amazing your friends accepted me. I mean, I could be an enemy."

Yukie shook her head. "We couldn't just let someone die.

Besides..." She stared into Shuya's eyes and smiled playfully. "It was you, Shuya. I'm leading this group, so I forced everyone to agree."

Did that mean that...she also thought there was something special about them ever since that time at the elementary school gym?

Shuya probed further. "Which means...that some of them were reluctant. I knew it."

"Well, come on. Given the circumstances." Yukie looked down. "Don't take it the wrong way. Everyone's very agitated."

"Yeah." Shuya nodded. "I know."

"But I convinced them." She looked up and smiled again. "So you should be thankful."

Shuya was nodding when he noticed Yukie, who'd just been smiling, was now for some reason suddenly on the verge of tears.

She stared at him and said, "I was worried sick. I thought you might die, Shuya."

Shuya was taken by surprise and looked at her.

Yukie continued, "I just wouldn't know what to do if you died."

Her voice was now sobbing.

"...do you understand what I'm saying? Do you see why I had to save you, no matter what?"

Shuya stared at Yukie's tearful eyes and slowly nodded. Then he thought, geez, I can't believe how popular I am.

Of course...this might have been a psychological result of their confinement. Under these circumstances, they were probably going to die soon (no, according to the rules, they were definitely going to die. He'd never heard of someone else besides the winner surviving the hellish Program), and now that the survivors were becoming fewer and fewer, maybe a boy that you liked "a little" ever since having an exchange in the corner of an elementary school gym might turn into somebody you'd "die for."

No, that probably wasn't the case. She couldn't have opposed her friends unless she really cared for him. Besides, how else could she have trusted him?

"I understand. Thanks," he said.

Yukie wiped her tears with the lower palm of her right hand. Then she said, "Tell me. You asked about Noriko and Shogo. You said, 'we'. Does that mean you were with them?"

Shuya nodded.

Yukie knit her brows. "I get Noriko...but don't tell me you were really with Shogo."