Battle Royale

"Eat, Shuya. Noriko and I already had lunch," Shogo said, cigarette in mouth. His stubble had thickened. He grabbed the edge of the can with a handkerchief, poured the soup into a plastic cup, and offered it to Shuya.

Shuya took it and slowly put it against his mouth. The taste of broth spread through his mouth. Then the warm liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach. It wasn't as bad as he'd expected.

Noriko offered him bread. Shuya took a bite. Once he started chewing, he was surprised to find he could eat. He ended up eating it all instantly. Regardless of the mental state he was in...his body had been starving.

"Would you like more?" Noriko asked and Shuya nodded. "A little more soup." He raised the empty cup. Noriko refilled it this time.

Taking the cup, Shuya said, "Noriko."

She looked up at him. "What is it?"

"Are you feeling all right now?"

"Uh huh." She smiled. "I've been taking cold medicine. I'm fine."

Shuya looked at the side of Shogo's face. Shogo nodded, cigarette dangling between lips. He'd taken another antibiotic syringe kit from the medical clinic, but it turned out that was unnecessary.

Shuya turned around to Noriko again and smiled back at her. "That's great."

Then she asked the same question she'd been repeating over and over. "Shuya, are you really all right?" Shuya nodded. "I'm fine."

In fact, he wasn't, but what else could he say? He could see over his cuffs how his left hand had grown pale compared to his right hand. He wasn't sure whether it was due to his shoulder wound or elbow wound. Or it might simply be because the bandage was too tight around his elbow. He fell his left arm get stiffer and stiffer.

He had another sip of the soup and put the cup down by his feet. Then he called Shogo.

Shogo, who was checking the Uzi, raised his brow and looked at Shuya. "What is it?

"It's about Kazuo."

That's right. As he contemplated the events that had occurred since yesterday, the question that had been occupying him right before he split up with Shogo and Noriko suddenly came back to him. The gunfire he'd heard right after he left the lighthouse also reminded him. In other words—as he'd yelled out before, "What's the hell's he doing!?"—meaning, what kind of person was Kazuo Kiriyama?

As far as he could tell, Kazuo wasn't the only one willing to participate. Tatsumichi Oki, whom Shuya had fought, possibly Yoshio Akamatsu, and if Hiroki was right, Mitsuko Souma might also be in the same category. But...Kazuo was absolutely merciless. His coldness and calmness. The strange vibe he always got from Kazuo suddenly exploded in this game and assaulted them. Shuya once again recalled the flames erupting from the machine gun, and the cold eyes behind them. He felt a chill run down his spine.

Shogo remained silent, so Shuya continued, "What...what's up with him? I just don't get it."

Shogo looked down and tinkered around with the Uzi's safety device, equipped with a full-auto/semi-auto switch.

Didn't Shogo say there was no need to understand? Shuya wondered whether Shogo would give him the same reply.

But Shogo had a different response this time.

He looked up. "I've seen people like him before."

"In the previous game?"

"No." Shogo shook his head. "Not there. Totally outside of this game. You see a lot of things when you're the son of a doctor working in the slums." Shogo took out another cigarette and lit it. He exhaled and said, "A hollow man."

"Hollow?" Noriko asked.

"That's right," Shogo nodded. "There's no place in his heart for logic or love, no. For any kind of values. That kind of person. On top of that...there's no reason for the way he is."

No reason, Shuya thought, or did he mean he was just born that way? That's—

Shogo took a puff and exhaled. "Hiroki warned us about Mitsuko Souma, right?"

Shuya and Noriko nodded.

"We still haven't seen for ourselves whether Mitsuko's really up for this game. But from what little I've seen at school, I think Mitsuko and Kazuo are similar. The only difference is that Mitsuko's abandoned all reason and love. There was probably something behind that. I have no idea what it was. But Kazuo doesn't have any cause. The difference is crucial. There's no explanation behind Kazuo."

Shuya stared at Shogo and mumbled, "That's scary."

"Yeah, it's scary," Shogo agreed. "Just think about it. It's probably not even his fault. Of course you can say that about anyone. But in his case he probably could never grasp 'an unknown future'. Nothing could be more terrifying than to be born that way."'