Battle Royale

Kaori was trembling. She was still holding the gun. Then she snatched her belongings and ran in the opposite direction. As she ran, her agitated mind raced with thoughts. She was sure Hiroki Sugimura was trying to kill her. Why else would he have snuck up behind her without saying anything? Hiroki Sugimura probably didn't have a gun. He saw that I did and ran away in a panic. If I hadn't noticed him—and shot at him—then Hiroki Sugimura would probably have stabbed my chest with a knife or something. A knife! I have to be careful. I have to shoot anyone I come across. No mercy. Otherwise, I'll end up getting killed... killed!

Oh no...I can't stand this anymore. I want to go home. Take a bath. Pimple cream. Cocoa! Video. Flip Side. Junya. No mercy. Shoot. Shoot! Cocoa. Junya. Cream! For my pimples! No mercy, Junya.

Tears came streaming down Kaori's cheeks. The lid on the locket on her chest remained open and Junya Kenzaki's cheerful face swung violently left and right, up and down.

No mercy. Junya. I'm going to be killed! Shoot. Mom. Sister! Dad. Shoot! Shoot! The new record release!

Kaori was losing her mind.

25 students remaining

36

"All right then, here's the body count."

Sakamochi's voice continued. It was the noon announcement.

New members on the waiting list for funerals were Tatsumichi Oki, Kyoichi Motobuchi, and of course Yukiko Kitano and Yumiko Kusaka. The other ones were Yoji Kuramoto and Yoshimi Yahagi.

"I will announce the forbidden zones for this afternoon. Now, I want you to take notes. Get your notebooks out."

Once again, Shuya pulled out his map and pen from his pocket. Shogo also had his map out.

"At 1 p.m., J=5. At 3 p.m., H=3. At 5 p.m., D=8. Got that?"

J=5 was the southeast shore of the island. H=3 was near the top of the southern mountain. D=8 was the hilly area on the southeast side of the northern mountain peak. Their zone, C=3, wasn't announced. That meant they wouldn't have to move.

"It may be rough losing your friends, but cheer up. You're all so young, you've got so much ahead of you! Over and out."

With this series of happy-go-lucky platitudes, Sakamochi's announcement came to an end.

Shuya sighed. He put away the map and examined the student list, which was now ridden with check marks. "We're down to twenty-five students. Damn."

Shogo cupped his hand as he lit another cigarette. Then he said, "It's like I said. The numbers are steadily dwindling."

Shuya looked up at Shogo. He got Shogo's point. The more classmates that died the closer they were to escaping. But...

"That was uncalled for."

Shogo only shrugged. He shifted his eyes and then said, "Hey, I'm sorry."

Shuya wanted to say more, but he tore his eyes away from Shogo's face. He pulled in his knees and stared down between them. There were several tiny yellow flowers poking out from the grass, and an ant was crawling up one of the stems.

This was the issue. Shuya had felt like they'd become buddies when they talked about rock, but in the end there was still something about Shogo that bothered him. Was it simply that there was a cold side to Shogo?

He took in a small breath...and then thought of something else. Of the six deaths Sakamochi had announced, Yoji Kuramoto and Yoshimi Yahagi were the only ones Shuya didn't witness. He was pretty sure they were going out. Did that mean they were together? And the two gunshots they heard after 10 p.m...was that them? If so, who could have...

He remembered the sound of the machine gun slaughtering Yukiko Kitano and Yumiko Kusaka. Did the same person kill them too? Or...

"Shuya," Shogo said. He looked up. "You haven't had breakfast, right? This government-supplied bread sucks, but I found some coffee and strawberry jam at the supply store. Let's eat."

Shogo took out a jar and a slim can (200g) of canned coffee. The jar's label was illustrated with strawberries, and he could see the shiny, thick, red contents inside the glass. Shuya assumed Shogo was going to toss the coffee into a pot of boiling water on the fire. Shogo also pulled out a bag of plastic cups.

"You loaded up."

"Yep," Shogo nodded. Then he proceeded to pull out a long, thin box. "Look at this. An entire carton of Wild Sevens."

Shuya decided to cheer up. He smiled, nodding. He took out the bread in his day pack and offered one to Noriko.

"Noriko, we should eat."

Noriko looked up, still hugging her knees. "I'm...all right. I'm not hungry."

"What's wrong? Is your appetite..."

Shuya realized as she looked down again how pale her face had become. He'd suddenly realized how quiet she'd been.

"Noriko?"

Shuya approached her. Shogo observed them as he opened the lid of the coffee can. "Noriko."

Shuya touched her on the shoulder. Noriko clenched her hands together. Her lips were tightly shut, forming a straight line across her pale face. Only now did Shuya finally realize that air was painfully hissing through her lips. She was having difficulty breathing. She closed her eyes, released her hands, put them on his arm, and leaned against him.