Battle Royale

Shuya fell silent. Then he asked, "What is it?"

Shogo shrugged. Through the corner of his mouth, which was still holding the cigarette, he curtly replied, "I can't tell you."

Shuya knit his brows. "What?"

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"I just can't."

"What do you mean, 'not yet'? Then when do you plan on telling us?"

"I suppose when it's just the three of us left. Let me just tell you one thing, though. My plan won't work if anyone tries to intervene. So my plan can't start until we're the only ones left."

Shuya fell silent again. He stared at Shogo, who continued smoking, but then Shuya heard a voice whispering something inside his head. It was faint, but he could hear it.

As if he could hear this voice, Shogo grinned.

"I know what you're thinking, Shuya. There might be something else going on here. I might be joining you just as a means for my own survival. In fact, I might not have a plan at all. Once we're down to three, I might kill you two and win the game. That would work out nicely for me, right?"

Shuya was slightly intimidated. "That's not..."

"No?"

Shuya held his tongue and glanced over at Noriko. Noriko remained silent, staring at Shogo. Shuya looked back at Shogo.

"That's not it. It's just that—" Shuya stopped all of a sudden.

It was someone's voice. It was very distant, but he could tell it was electronically distorted. A voice calling, "Hey, everyone—"

29 students remaining

22

The voice continued. "Listen up, everyone—" It was a girl's voice.

Noriko said, "It's Yumiko." She was referring to Yumiko Kusaka (Female Student No. 7). She was a tall, energetic girl who batted fourth on the girls' Softball team.

"I'm going to go check this out." Shogo's face stiffened. He took his shotgun and stood up. He began walking east into the thicket towards the voice.

"We'll go with you."

They weren't done talking, but Shuya tucked his Smith & Wesson in front and offered his shoulder to help Noriko up. Shogo glanced back at them, but said nothing and began walking.

Once they reached the end of the thicket, Shogo stood still. Shuya and Noriko too stopped walking.

With his back towards them, Shogo exclaimed, "Why they're..."

Shuya walked up right behind Shogo, and like Shogo he and Noriko poked their heads out of the thicket.

It was a mountain peak. There was a viewing platform between the trees scattered on the peak. It was probably five or six hundred meters away from the foot of the mountain, where they were. But they could still see it clearly. The platform was a crude construction, resembling a shack with a missing wall. There were two figures standing under its roof. Shuya's eyes widened.

The voice reached them. "Everyone. Stop fighting and come here—"

Shuya saw an object held in front of the taller figure's face—it was probably Yumiko's. Was it a megaphone? The one cops use to address criminals cooped up inside buildings under siege? It felt slightly absurd ("Put down your weapons and come out with your hands up"), but he could see how her voice could reach not only them but the rest of the island.

"And the other one?" Shuya whispered.

Noriko replied, "It's Yukiko. Yukiko Kitano. They're really close."

"This is really bad," Shogo said with a grimace. "They'll get themselves killed totally exposed like that."

Shuya bit his lower lip. Basically Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano were attempting to convince everyone they should stop fighting. They were doing what Shuya had considered but gave up on after he was attacked by Yoshio Akamatsu. They firmly believed no one really want to play the game. They chose that spot to be as visible as possible. Or maybe they were already near that location.

"I'm sure no one wants to fight like this. So let's get together here—"

Shuya hesitated. He needed more time to process the situation—plus the conversation they were having hadn't been resolved. What if—it was unlikely—but what if Shogo was against them?

In the end Shuya spoke to Shogo, "Can you look after Noriko, Shogo?"

Shogo turned around. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going over there."

Shogo knit his brows and said, "What are you, stupid?"

His putdown angered Shuya, but he simply answered, "What do you mean? They're risking their lives doing this. They have no intention to play the game. They really don't. So they can join us. Besides, you just said they were endangering themselves."

"That's not what I meant." Shogo bared his teeth. It was an odd thing to notice, but they looked remarkably healthy. "I just told you. It's best to stay put in this game. How far do you think that spot is from here? You have no idea who you'll encounter on the way."

"I know that!" Shuya shot back.

"No, you don't get it. Everyone knows about those two now. If anyone attacks them, then the enemy's going to wait for others offering themselves up like you. With more targets—"

What gave Shuya the creeps wasn't so much Shogo's warning but his calm tone of voice.

"Please—everyone come here. We're alone here—we're not fighting!"