Battle Royale

by Koushun Takami

  Yutaka's admiration burst beyond the expression in his eyes as he shook his head vigorously. What about guard ship?

  Shinji nodded.

  They might find us but because game's run by computers my guess is they will be lax. One ship for each direction is kinda lame. Their weakness. Once computers down they won't know where we are. Guard ship will only be able to chase us on their own. If they have satallites, cameras can't see at night. We don't have to worry about our heads blowing up. We have chance to escape. It won't be easy.

  I have another idea.

  Shinji dug into the day pack and pulled out a small transceiver. This was another item he found in someone's house.

  / can increase output by customizing. Not hard. At sea I'll send out an SOS. Yutaka's face beamed. Some ship will pick us up.

  Shinji shook his head. No. Government will come at us so we give them false location. We escape in opposite direction.

  Yutaka shook his head. Then he wrote out

  SHINJI YOUR AWESOME

  Shinji shook his head and smiled.

  "All right, then." He looked at his watch. It was already 4 p.m.

  "We'll take off in five minutes."

  "Uh huh."

  Shinji felt worn out from all the handwriting, which he didn't do very often. He tossed his pencil. Like a PC communication log file, the back of the map was filled with letters. (He would have preferred to communicate by laptop, but Yutaka didn't know how to type.)

  Then he grabbed the pencil and added

  Not a great plan. Our chances are slim. This is all I can think of He shrugged and looked at Yutaka. Yutaka gave him a cheerful smile and wrote Let's go for it!

  22 students remaining

  44

  On the southern side of the northern mountain, a boy sat on a spot on a slope covered with thick vegetation. He was looking at himself with a mirror he held in his left hand, neatly arranging his pompadour with the comb in his right. Ever since the game began he might have been the only student in class, including the girls, who felt like he could afford to take good care of his hair. But that was only natural. Although he had a thuggish-looking face, he paid an inordinate amount of attention to his personal appearance, and although no one knew exactly why, this boy was known, or no, had been known until now as "Zulu," he was in any case…

  Queer.

  As for his location, he was at a horizontal distance directly two hundred meters west of where Shinji Mimura and Yutaka Seto were hiding. He was also approximately six hundred meters northwest of the medical facility where Shuya's trio was. In other words, he was right above the farmhouse where Shuya Nanahara had witnessed Kaori Minami get shot by Hirono Shimizu. If he looked up he would have had a clear view of the platform where the bodies of Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano were still lying, bathed in the light of the setting sun.

  This student arranging his hair had seen the corpses of Yumiko Kusaka, Yukiko Kitano, as well as that of Kaori Minami. He had actually seen more. Kaori Minami's was the seventh corpse he'd seen. Ugh, yuck. Leaves stuck in my hair again! Every time I lie down, this happens. With the pinky of his right hand, the boy brushed the blade of grass from his hair and then looked beyond his own face in the mirror to the woods approximately twenty meters below him. Ka. Zu. O. Are you asleep?

  The boy's thick lips twisted into a smile.

  Aren't you being careless? Well, even you could probably never guess that after you'd failed to kill me I'd be following you.

  Yes, this queer boy who was holding a mirror and comb was the only member of the "Kiriyama family" who'd escaped Kazuo's massacre by not showing up at the assigned meeting place. And now he, Sho Tsukioka (Male Student No. 14), was the only surviving member of the Kiriyama family. In the shrubbery was Kazuo Kiriyama himself, who'd already finished off six students. For the last two hours Kazuo had remained still, though.

  Sho looked back at himself in the mirror, this time checking his complexion as he recalled how Mitsuru would always warn him against referring to Kazuo as "Kazuo-kun." Mitsuru would say something like,

  "Hey Sho, you have to call the boss, boss." But even bold Mitsuru seemed to have a hard time with a

  "feminine guy," so as soon as Sho would respond with a casual sidelong glance, saying, "Oh, give me a break. Don't be so picky, it's not very manly," and Mitsuru would just grimace, mumbling and letting it go at that.

  Call him boss, huh? Sho thought as he looked over each of his eyes in the mirror. But you ended up getting killed by that so-called boss. You're a fool.

  It was true. Sho Tsukioka had been more cautious than Mitsuru. It wasn't as if he had a clear sense of Kazuo the way Mitsuru had imagined right before his death, but Sho had always held the basic belief that betrayals happen all the time. That's how the world is. One could say that, compared to Mitsuru, who was just a good fighter, Sho, who'd seen more of the adult world as a result of going in and out of the gay bar his father ran ever since he was a kid, was more sophisticated.

  Instead of heading straight to the southern tip of the island, as Kazuo had requested, Sho moved inward from the coast, weaving his way through the woods. This ended up being a hassle, but it probably only cost him ten more minutes.

  He ended up seeing it all from the woods along the beach. Three bodies, two wearing coats and one in her sailor suit, sprawled on the rock stretching out into the ocean across the beach. There was Kazuo Kiriyama, standing quietly in the crevice of the rock, hidden in shadows from the moonlight. Mitsuru Numai appeared almost immediately. After a brief exchange, he was pummeled by machine gun bullets and left on the rock that was drenched with blood now (its stench even reached Sho).... Oh my, Sho thought. This is trouble.

  By the time he began following Kazuo Kiriyama walking away from the scene, Sho had already decided on his course of action.

  To assist him in this course of action, the top candidate was undoubtedly Kazuo Kiriyama. He couldn't hear what Kazuo and Mitsuru were saying to each other, but given how Kazuo had decided to play the game, he was sure Kazuo would be the best. Furthermore, at the very least, Kazuo carried not only a machine gun (was that his supplied weapon or did it belong to one of the three students he had killed?) but also Mitsuru's pistol. No one could win in a direct confrontation with Kazuo now. Sho had one advantage though, something he knew he was extremely good at. He had a talent for sneaking into places and stealing when no one was looking and was also good at following people. (When he found a boy he liked, he could stalk him endlessly.) A talent to be sneaky—what do you mean sneaky, how dare you?—in all respects. As for the weapon he found in his day pack, it was a Derringer

  .22 Double High Standard. The cartridge was a magnum, lethal at close range, but not the best gun for a shootout.

  So Sho thought, even if Kazuo Kiriyama was going to emerge victorious, he'd have to take on tough guys like Shogo Kawada and Shinji Mimura (definitely my type) who, if they had guns, would probably end up injuring him. And all that fighting should wear him out.

  Then…I'll just follow him until the end. At the very end I can just shoot him from behind. The moment he thinks he's finished off the last one, he'll let his guard down and that's when I'll shoot him. Even Kazuo would never suspect someone would be following him, especially me, since I blew him off last night. That way Sho wouldn't have to sully his hands in this game where you had to kill your classmates off one by one. It wasn't that he felt a strong moral objection to killing them, it was just that, he thought, I don't want to kill innocent kids, it's so vulgar. Kazuo's going to do the killing. I'm just going to stay behind him. He might be killing someone right in front of me, but it's not like I can interfere, that's too dangerous. And so at the very end, I'm going to kill him out of self-defense. I mean, if I don't kill him, he'll kill me. That was his line of thinking.

  There was another advantage he had in following Kazuo. If he stayed close to Kazuo, then he wouldn't have to worry much about being attacked. And on the off chance that he was, as long as he dodged the
first attack Kazuo would have to respond. All Sho would have to do is flee the scene and Kazuo would take care of the rest. Of course, that would also mean losing track of Kazuo, bringing his plan to an end, so he wanted to avoid this scenario as much as possible.

  He decided to maintain a basic distance of twenty meters behind Kazuo. He'd move forward when Kazuo did and stop when Kazuo stopped. There was also the issue of the forbidden zones. Kazuo must have also been considering it, so he'd probably keep a good distance away from the zones. As long as Sho maintained his distance, he should be safe from entering the zones. When Kazuo stopped, he'd check the map to make sure he wasn't in a forbidden zone.

  Everything had proceeded according to plan.

  Kazuo left the southern tip of the island and after entering several houses in the residential area (probably finding what he was looking for), he decided to head to the northern mountain for some reason and then sat down. In the morning, when he heard the distant gunfire, he looked over there, but decided not to move, perhaps because of the distance. But then a little while later when Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano began calling from the peak of the mountain with their megaphone he moved quickly and after making sure no one was responding to their call (now wasn't there another gunshot? Sho believed there was, urging Yumiko and Yukiko to hide. Wow, how wonderful, so there's a real humanitarian out there. He was moved, but not enough to alter his plans) he shot them dead. Then he descended the northern slope. There was another distant gunshot, but he stayed put on this one too. Then, this just happened, just before 3 p.m. he began moving after hearing gunfire on this side of the mountain. But what he (and Sho) found at the source was the dead body of Kaori Minami, lying inside a farm equipment storage shack. Kazuo went down to check the body, probably to go through her belongings, but it looked like someone else had gotten there before them. Then he proceeded to move on—

  And now he's in the woods right under me.

  Kazuo's plan seemed simple, at least for now. Once he knew where someone was, he'd go there and shoot away. Sho was exasperated by the merciless way he'd killed Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano (Kazuo, you have such a plain name but your actions are out of control. And yet my name sounds like a celebrity's, Sho Tsukioka, but I'm just a Plain Jane), but it was pointless to fret over these details. For now he should be happy that Kazuo was completely clueless about his presence. Kazuo appeared to be resting quietly. He might have been sleeping.

  On the other hand Sho couldn't sleep at all, but he felt he was strong in that department as well. Naturally. Girls had more stamina than guys. That's what I read in one of those popular books. What turned out to be a real drag instead was that he was a heavy smoker. The smell of cigarette smoke, depending on the wind direction, would give him away to Kazuo. No, the sound of his electronic lighter flicking open could be even more fatal.

  Sho pulled out his pack of imported Virginia Slims Menthol cigarettes (he liked the name, though of course it was hard to get them in this country, but there were places that carried them, and all he had to do was steal them. He had piles of boxes in his room) and carefully placed the thin cigarette between his lips. He caught a whiff of the faint smell of tobacco leaves and that unique menthol odor and felt mild relief from his withdrawal. He wanted to fill his lungs with smoke—but somehow managed to suppress the urge.

  I simply cannot die. There's too much fun waiting for me in my prime.

  To distract himself, he lifted the mirror in his left hand and caught a view of his face with the cigarette in his mouth. He tilted his head slightly and examined his sidelong glance. I am so pretty. On top of that, I'm so smart. It's inevitable I should be the winner of this game. Only the beautiful survive. That's God's—

  Out of the corner of his eye, the bushes rustled slightly.

  Sho quickly removed the cigarette from his mouth and put it into his pocket, along with his mirror. Then he gripped the Derringer and grabbed his day pack with his left hand.

  Kazuo Kiriyama's slicked-back head appeared on the edge of the bushes. He looked to his left and right and then northward—directly to the left of Sho—up the slope.

  In the shade of the azalea tree covered in pink leaves, Sho raised his brow slightly. What's he doing?

  He heard no gunfire. No strange noise at all. Was there something over there?

  Sho looked over there, but saw no movement.

  Kazuo emerged from shrubs. He had his day pack on his left shoulder and the machine gun slung over his right shoulder with his hand on its grip. He began climbing the slope, weaving his way in between the trees. He quickly reached Sho's higher position and moved on up. Sho then stood up and began following him.

  Not at all in keeping with his large frame, 1 17 centimeters tall, Sho moved gracefully, like a cat. He carefully maintained the twenty meters behind Kazuo's black school coat that intermittently flashed between the trees. Sho's confidence was justified when it came to this sort of thing. Kazuo's movement was also very precise and quick. He'd stop in the shade of a tree, check ahead, and where the vegetation got thick, would get on his knees and check underneath before proceeding. The only trouble being that…

  …your back's wide open, Kazuo.

  They must have covered a hundred meters. The observatory was on the top left. Kazuo stopped there. The rows of trees in front of him were interrupted by a narrow, unpaved road. It was less than two meters wide, just wide enough for a car.

  Oh…this was the path leading up to the peak. We crossed it right before we saw Kaori Minami's body. On Kazuo's right, where he was looking, there was a space with a bench and a beige prefab toilet. Maybe it was a resting area for climbers on the way to the peak.

  Kazuo surveyed the area and then looked behind Sho, but Sho of course had hidden himself away in the shade. Kazuo stepped onto the path and ran up to the toilet. He opened the door and went in. He stuck his head out and looked around again before he closed the door. He left it slightly ajar, maybe just in case he had to escape if something happened.

  Oh my. Sho brought his hand to his lips. Oh my. Sho remained crouched, trying hard not to burst into a fit of laughter.

  It was true, since Sho had started following him, Kazuo hadn't gone to the bathroom even once. He might have used the toilet in one of the houses he entered before sunrise, but in any case, it'd be impossible to hold it an entire day, so Sho assumed he took care of business hidden in the bushes. (Anyway, that's what Sho did. It was a pain not to make any sound though.) But turned out he was wrong. After all, Kazuo Kiriyama came from a wealthy family. Maybe the thought of going anywhere besides a real toilet was out of the question. He must have remembered seeing this toilet when he passed through here a while ago. That's why he came back here.

  That's it, I'm sure. Even Kazuo Kiriyama has to pee. How cute.

  He was pissing against the bowl now. Sho could hear it splashing against the bowl. Tee hee. Once again Sho tried hard not to laugh.

  Then he remembered something and flipped his wrist over to check his watch. They were near sector D=8, which Sakamochi had announced would turn into a forbidden zone at 5 p.m. The elegant italic numerals on the women's watch indicated 4:57 p.m. (He'd set his watch to Sakamochi's announcement, so it was accurate.) Sho took out his map and examined the northern mountain area. The mountain road was only marked by a dotted line on the map, and the rest area and public toilet wasn't marked in or outside the lines marking off D=8.

  Sho suddenly became tense and unconsciously lifted his hand up to his metallic collar. He suddenly felt the urge to return the way he'd come but—

  He looked over at toilet, where the sprinkling sound continued. He shrugged and exhaled lightly. We're talking about Kazuo Kiriyama here, after all. Even if nature called, he would have checked his position. The reason why he cautiously looked over here before moving out of the bushes where he was hiding was to determine whether the toilet was in D=8 or not. And Sho's position was approximately thirty meters west of the toilet. Kazuo was closer to the zone than
he was, so the fact that Kazuo was over there, in other words, meant that he was safe too. That's right. He mustn't lose Kazuo by succumbing to irrational fear. That would ruin his plan.

  Sho pulled out the Virginia Slims he'd taken out a moment ago and put it between his lips. Then he looked at the dimming sky. At this time of year, it'd still be another two hours before sundown, but the darkening sky was now tinged with orange from the west, and the tips of several tiny clouds had become bright orange. It was beautiful. Just like me.

  The sprinkling continued. Sho grinned again. You must have held it for a long time, Kazuo. It still continued.

  Oh, I really need a smoke. I'd like to take a shower, polish my nails, and mix my favorite screwdriver, and as I sip this drink I'd have a nice relaxing…

  It still went on.

  Oh geez, I wish he'd stop. Hey, let's wrap it up, come on and let's get to work. But…it still continued.

  That was when Sho finally knit his drooping, thick brows. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and quickly got up. He approached the toilet, moving along the shrubs, and squinted his eyes The sprinkling sound continued. And the door was left slightly ajar.

  Just then a sudden wind blew by, opening the squeaky door. What brilliant timing. Sho's eyes opened wide.

  Inside the toilet a government-supplied water bottle was hanging from the ceiling as it swung in the wind. Kazuo had probably pierced it with a blade because there was a very thin stream of water trickling out, fluttering with the wind.

  Sho panicked.

  Then he saw the back of a school coat below, weaving its way through the trees. He saw the unique slicked-back hairstyle which he could recognize even from behind this far away. Wh-wh-what? Kazuo? But then…hey, but I'm…

  As Kazuo disappeared beyond the shrubs, Sho heard a thud. It resembled the sound of a silencer, or a gunshot into a pillow. It was impossible to say whether the sound came from the bomb itself in the government's custom Program collar or from the vibration it made through his body. Over one hundred meters below, Kazuo Kiriyama didn't even look back as he glanced down at his watch.