Battle Royale

Shuya's eyes opened wide. But then again it made sense. That was probably why the other girls let Yukie stay with him alone here.

Yukie continued, "In any case, just stay put for a while. I'll tell them everything you told me. I'll insist you and Shogo can be trusted and convince them. As for contacting him and Noriko, I can't let you do that alone. That's just too dangerous. I'll discuss that with them too. So you just stay here." Then she asked him, "Can you eat?"

"Yeah."

In fact he was famished. He was worried about Noriko and Shogo, but he thought he should eat first. It would help his immune system fight against his gunshot wounds.

"If you have any food to spare I'd really appreciate it. I do feel pretty weak."

Yukie smiled. "We're preparing lunch right now. I'll bring you some. I think it's something like stew. Is that all right?"

"Stew?"

"Yeah, this place is loaded with food even though it's all just preserved canned food and retort food. But we found water and solid fuel, so we were able to cook it."

"Awesome. That's great."

Yukie's hand left the edge of the bed. She walked over to the door and said, "I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to lock the door."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry. There's someone who's terrified. So please, just wait," Yukie said. She smiled kindly as she opened the door and went out. Her two braids of hair swung like some mysterious animal's tail, and he caught a glimpse of a gun stuck in the back of her skirt.

There was a clacking sound from beyond the door. It might have been bolted shut. Was that how they locked him up?

Shuya managed to raise his upper body with his right elbow and looked up at the window above his head. The window was sealed with wooden planks and light leaked in through the gaps. This was done to keep intruders out—but right now it also served as an ideal place to lock him up.

The fingers of his near paralyzed left arm reflexively formed guitar chords under the blanket. The chords from that hit tune sung by the rock star the middle-aged man, the one who gave him his guitar, worshipped, "Jailhouse Rock."

Shuya took a deep breath and lay down on his bed. The slight movement was enough to send sharp pain through the wound in his side.

14 students remaining

60

The Okishima Island lighthouse was old but durable. It faced north with a tower seventeen meters high, and the living quarters, a single-story brick building, had been built as an annex to the tower on its south side. The dining-kitchen-living room was immediately south of the tower, and further south was the storage room and bathroom. Further down were two bedrooms, one large, the other small, along with another storage room right near the front entrance. The hall running on the west side of the building connected these rooms. (Shuya was resting in the small bedroom by the entrance.)

In the corner of the kitchen-living room, which was at least as large as a classroom, was a small table that looked out of place. Yuko Sakaki (Female Student No. 9) was sitting on one of the stools around the table, slumped over the white tabletop as if she were dozing off. Unlike the other five girls, she had wandered around the island for hours on end, so a single night here had hardly alleviated her fatigue. No wonder. She had a reason for not sleeping at all last night.

Yukie Utsumi's team used this room as their living quarters and slept here too. Someone had to keep watch at the top of the tower, but otherwise Yukie decided that everyone should stick together.

Right behind Yuko, Haruka Tanizawa (Female Student No. 12) and Chisato Matsui (Female Student No. 19) were busily preparing the preserved food in front of the stove, where solid fuel was lit up in place of the shut-off gas. At 172 centimeters tall, Haruka was an attacker on the volleyball team. She and Yukie, who was a setter, formed a great duo. She had short hair, so next to the long-haired, petit Chisato they almost looked like a couple. The meal was a retort stew mixed with canned vegetables. Above them were planks of wood they found in the storage room and hastily hammered into the frosted glass window, which let in the dull light of the cloudy sky. The planks were there to keep intruders out. As soon as they had arrived Yukie and the girls immediately sealed off every entrance and exit from the inside of the building. (The front entrance was designated as their primary entrance-exit, which was where they took Yuko in, but now it was barricaded with desks and lockers.)

Yuko had a clear view of the other side of the room where there was a writing desk with a fax machine and computer. To the left of it, Satomi Noda (Female Student No. 17) was sitting on a sofa placed against the wall, while the table that had been in front of it was now used to barricade the front entrance. Along with Yukie, Satomi was a model student, and although she always seemed a little frigid, now she looked pretty exhausted as she raised her wire-rimmed glasses and drowsily rubbed her eyes.