Battle Royale

by Koushun Takami

Shogo paid no attention to Shuya's protest and moved forward, holding onto his shotgun. He went behind Hiroki and first checked his hands behind his neck. Then he rubbed his left hand over Hiroki's school coat.

  His hand stopped at a pocket.

  "What the hell's this?"

  "Go ahead and pull it out," Hiroki said with his hands held together. "But give it back to me." Shogo pulled it out. It was the size and shape of a thick notepad, but it was made of plastic or steel. The cover panel reflected the moonlight. After fiddling around with it, Shogo said, "Ah ha." He moved his body with the object in his hands and then looked down at the cover panel against the moonlight. He nodded and returned it to Hiroki's pocket. Then he thoroughly searched Hiroki down to his pant cuffs. He also checked his day pack and finally announced, "Okay. Sorry about that. You can put your hands down."

  Hiroki unlocked his hands and picked up his day pack and stick. The stick appeared to be his weapon.

  "Hiroki." Shuya broke into a smile. "Come on in. We have coffee. You want some?" Hiroki nodded somewhat hesitantly as he went through the entrance. Shogo looked outside and then shut the door.

  Hiroki stood still. With his back to the shoe cabinet that was filled with slippers, Shogo stared at Hiroki. The Remington muzzle was pointed down, but Shuya noticed Shogo's finger still on the trigger and felt slightly annoyed. He did his best not to let it get to him, though.

  Hiroki looked at Shuya and Noriko again, and then glanced over at Shogo. That was when Shuya realized that Hiroki was troubled not so much by him and Noriko as he was by them hooking up with Shogo.

  Shogo addressed the issue. "Shuya, Hiroki seems to want to ask whether it's all right for you guys to be with me."

  Hiroki smiled slightly and looked over at Shogo, and said, "No…I just thought it was an odd combination." Still smiling, he continued, "Shuya would never be with you if you were hostile. Shuya can be pretty stupid when it comes to certain things, but he's not that stupid." Shogo responded with a grin. He still kept his finger on the trigger though. In any case, for now Hiroki and Shogo were finished introducing themselves.

  "Ah, come on, Hiroki," Shuya gave him a smile.

  Then Noriko said, "Come on in. It's not our house, so I can't apologize for its messiness." Then Hiroki smiled, but he stayed at the entrance. Shuya supported Noriko with his left hand and then pointed at the hall.

  "Come on in. We'll have to get going soon, but we have a little time. We'll throw you a welcoming party." But Hiroki stood still there. Shuya realized how he'd forgotten to share an important detail. Hiroki might have been appalled Shuya was using the word "party" in this situation.

  "Hiroki, we can get out of here. Shogo is going to help us."

  Hiroki's eyes widened a little. "Really?"

  Shuya nodded. But then Hiroki looked down. Then he looked up again.

  "Thing is…" he said and shook his head, "there's something I have to take care of."

  "Something?" Shuya knit his brows. "Why don't you first come on in—" Instead of taking Shuya up on his invitation, he asked, "Have you three been together all this time?" Shuya thought it over and then shook his head. "No…me and Noriko were. And then…" Then he remembered what happened this morning. It'd been a while since the image of Tatsumichi Oki's skull split open assaulted him, and once again he felt a chill run down his spine.

  "…yeah. A lot of stuff happened, and we ended up joining Shogo."

  "I see." Hiroki nodded and then said. "Hey, have you guys seen Kotohiki?"

  "Kotohiki?" Shuya repeated. Kayoko Kotohiki (Female Student No. 8)? The one who, in spite of being into tea ceremony, seemed more playful than elegant?

  "No…" Shuya shook his head. "We haven't but…" He thought of Shogo and looked over at him, but he also shook his head, saying, "I haven't seen her either."

  Of course Kayoko Kotohiki had to be on this island. As long as her name wasn't announced yet in Sakamochi's announcements, she had to be alive. That's right—unless she was killed after 6 p.m. Once again he realized how he was letting most of his classmates die and felt awful.

  "What about Kotohiki?" Noriko asked.

  "Oh…" Hiroki shook his head. "It's no big deal. Thanks. Sorry, but I have to get going." He gave Shuya a parting glance and turned to go.

  "Hold on, Hiroki!" Shuya stopped him. "Where are you going? I told you we're safe with us, didn't I?" Hiroki looked back at Shuya. There was a sad look in his eyes, but they still gave away that humorous trace of irony. It might have been a look all his close friends shared. Yoshitoki Kuninobu (deceased, damn), and of course Shinji Mimura, and—now it seemed—Shogo Kawada.

  "I have to see Kayoko Kotohiki about something. So I have to go." Something. What could that possibly be in this situation where moving around would only increase your chances of dying? Finally Shuya said, "Hold on. You can't go…not with any real weapons. It's too risky. And how are you going to find her?"

  Hiroki bit his lower lip. Then he pulled out that object resembling a mobile data terminal from his pocket and showed it to Shuya. "This is the 'weapon' I got in my day pack. Professor Kawada over there could explain." He pointed at his neck while his hand held the device. The silver collars around the necks of Shuya, Noriko, and Shogo were all shining. "Looks like this device detects anyone wearing these collars. Once someone's in the vicinity, they show up on the screen. But you can't tell whose collar it is." Shuya finally figured out the answer to Shogo's questions. It was thanks to this device Hiroki had been able to announce there were three of them and detect their movements. Like the computer at the school monitoring their positions, it could detect the position of anyone wearing a collar, even if, as Hiroki said, you couldn't tell who it was.

  Hiroki put the device back into the pocket. "See you—" He was ready to go when he suddenly stopped,

  "That's right…beware of Mitsuko Souma," he added. He gave Shuya and then Shogo a stern look.

  "She's playing the game. I don't know about the others, but I know for sure she is."

  "Did you fight her?" Shogo asked.

  Hiroki shook his head. "No. I didn't, but Takako…Takako Chigusa said so before she died. Mitsuko killed Takako."

  Shuya suddenly recalled how Takako was already dead. After hearing Sakamochi announce her death, he'd been concerned about its effect on Hiroki, but he was so happy to see him he'd forgotten this dreadful fact.

  That's right, Hiroki and Takako Chigusa were close. For a while, Shuya actually thought they were going out. But when he'd casually asked him about it, Hiroki chuckled and said, "She's in a different class. We've known each other since we were kids. You know hide-and-seek, that kind of thing. When we used to fight, I'd be the one crying." That sounded (of course Takako Chigusa was an amazing athlete, and pretty aggressive, but her taking on Hiroki, who was now over 180 centimeters tall and ranked in martial arts—a while back, that's right, the only time he visited his house, Hiroki reluctantly showed him how he could split a piece of pine wood with the palm of his hand) preposterously funny. But now Takako Chigusa was dead. And…given the way Hiroki had just described it, he was there when she died.

  "So you were with her?" Noriko asked quietly.

  Hiroki shook his head. "Just the very end. I…when we left, I hid in front of the school, waiting for her…

  but then Yoshio came back, and I got too distracted, so I lost Takako… then… as I looked for Takako I ended up losing my chance to join you, Shuya, and Shinji."

  Shuya nodded several times. So Hiroki was in front of the school until Yoshio Akamatsu returned. He probably hid in the woods. It was dangerous, of course. But that only showed how important Takako was to Hiroki.

  "But…" Hiroki continued, "I found Takako…I was…too late though." Saying this much, Hiroki looked down. He shook his head several times. Without being told, Shuya understood that by the time Hiroki had found Takako she was dying from being attacked by Mitsuko.

  Shuya thought of telling him how Yoshio Akamatsu had killed Mayumi Tendo, and how h
e had almost killed Shuya as well, but…it was irrelevant now. Yoshio Akamatsu was dead now too.

  "I don't know what to say, but…I'm so sorry," Noriko said.

  Hiroki smiled a little and nodded. "Thanks."

  "In any case," Shuya said, "Come on in. Let's talk it over, what's the—" He meant to say, rush, but refrained. If Hiroki wanted to see Kayoko Kotohiki while they were both still alive, what else could he do but rush? While Hiroki's connection to Takako Chigusa was clear, Shuya had no idea why it was so important for him to find Kayoko Kotohiki. But in any case, as they sat here talking, she could be fighting someone, or she might even be dying.

  Hiroki grinned. It seemed he knew what Shuya was thinking.

  Shuya licked his lips. He glanced over at Shogo and then said, "If you insist…" He looked at Hiroki and continued, "We'll find her with you."

  But Hiroki flatly refused. He pointed his chin at Noriko. "Noriko's injured. It's too dangerous. No." Shuya found the situation unbearable. "But you could be saved with us__How are we going to meet again if you leave?…" That's right. Once they separated it would be nearly impossible for them to meet again.

  "Hiroki." It was Shogo. He still held the shotgun, but his finger wasn't on the trigger anymore. Hiroki looked over at him, and Shogo pulled out something small from his pocket with his open hand. He lifted it to his mouth and bit on its metal end, twisting it. It made the chirping sound of a bird. It was a loud, brilliant, and playful sound. Like a robin or chickadee.

  Shogo released his hand from his mouth, and Shuya realized that it was Shogo's device—a bird call?

  Forget why he would have one in the first place…it was one of those things that mimicked the sound of birds chirping.

  "Whether you meet Kayoko Kotohiki or not," Shogo said, "if you want to see us, make a fire somewhere and burn raw wood to get some smoke going. Make two fires. Of course, leave as soon as you make them because you'll only attract attention. And make sure you don't cause a fire. Once we see that we'll make this call every fifteen minutes, say, for fifteen seconds. Try to find us by following this sound." He pointed to the bird call.

  "This sound is your ticket out of here. If you're up for it, you can come aboard our train." Hiroki nodded. "Okay. I will, thanks."

  Shogo took out his map. He unfolded it and handed the map and his pencil over to Hiroki. "Also, I'm sorry for keeping you, but I need you to mark where Takako was killed. If you saw anyone else, I need to know those locations too."

  Hiroki lifted his brow slightly as he took the map. He spread the map out on the shoe cabinet, under the moonlit window, and held the pencil.

  "Give me your map. I'll write in the locations of the bodies we know," Shogo said. Hiroki stopped writing and handed over his map. The two began marking the maps side by side.

  "I'll bring some coffee over," Noriko said and left Shuya's arm. She limped down the hall, using the wall as support.

  "Did Takako say whether Mitsuko had a machine gun?" Shogo asked as he wrote.

  "No," Hiroki answered without lifting his eyes, "She didn't say anything about that. I do know that she was shot several times. It wasn't a single bullet." I see.

  As the two proceeded, Shuya explained the fates of Yoshio Akamatsu, Tatsumichi Oki, and Kyoichi Motobuchi. Hiroki nodded as he continued to write.

  Shogo was done marking Hiroki's map. He pointed at it and explained, "This is where Kaori Minami was killed. Shuya saw Hirono Shimizu escape. She might have done it in self-defense. But either way, you should be careful."

  Hiroki nodded. Then unexpectedly he said, "I saw Kaori too," and pointed at the map. "Before noon. She fired at me, but I think she was in a panic."

  Shogo nodded and exchanged Hiroki's map with his.

  Noriko came out into the hall, holding a cup. Shuya went down the hall and took it from Noriko, who walked unsteadily. He offered it to Hiroki, who took a sniff, whistled lightly, and then held it. "Thanks," he said and took a sip. Then he put the cup on the raised entrance floor. It was nearly full.

  "I'll see ya."

  "Hold on." Shuya pulled out his SIG-Sauer from under his belt. With its grip pointed at Hiroki, he offered it to him. He also pulled out an extra cartridge from his pocket. "If you still insist on going take these, okay? We have a shotgun and one more gun."

  The first gun was Kyoichi Motobuchi's, and the Smith & Wesson was now with Shogo. Shuya's handing over the SIGSauer gun would decrease their fighting capacity, but Shogo didn't intervene. But Hiroki shook his head. "You need that, Shuya. You better protect Noriko all right. I can't take that. Even if someone attacks me, I just can't do it." He tilted his head and then examined both Shuya and Noriko. He broke into a slight grin and then added, "I always wondered why you two weren't going out." Then he nodded at each of them and quietly opened the entrance door.

  "Hiroki," Noriko called. Her voice was quiet. "Be careful."

  "I will. Hey, thanks. And best of luck to you guys."

  "Hiroki…" Shuya was getting choked up, but managed to say, "We'll meet again. That's a promise." Hiroki nodded and left. Shuya held Noriko and stepped through the front entrance, watching Hiroki as he quickly ascended the mountain.

  Without a word, Shogo gestured to Shuya and Noriko to move back and close the door. Shuya took a deep breath and turned around. He could barely see the steam still rising from the cup Hiroki had left on the floor.

  20 students remaining

  49

  The moon was high in the center of the sky. There wasn't a single cloud. The white light from the nearly full moon cast a thin film over the rest of the sky, obscuring the stars. Shogo, who was leading, stopped. Shuya, who was supporting Noriko with his shoulder, stopped too.

  "Are you all right?" Shuya asked Noriko.

  She nodded. "I'm fine." But Shuya could tell she was still unsteady. Shuya looked at his watch. It was past 11 p.m. now, but they'd already left G=9, which was now a forbidden zone. They had to find another place to settle down.

  They were tracing their way back along the foot of the northern mountain. The area was scattered with trees. A little further down and they'd be near where Kaori Minami was killed. Immediately to their left, Shuya saw a flat, narrow area that extended from the island's residential area on the eastern shore. The flat land spotted with houses then became increasingly narrow, like a triangle. The road traversing the island supposedly passed through this pivot and headed to the western shore. Shogo turned around. "Now what do we do?" Noriko's blanket was tied to the top of the day pack on his shoulder.

  "Can we stop at a house, like we did just now?"

  "A house, huh." Shogo looked away from Shuya and squinted. "It's really not a good idea. As the number of zones decrease so do the number of houses. The moment someone needs something, they'll want to enter a house. Whether it's to eat or whatever."

  "Hey, if you're worried about me, I'm fine now. Even outside," Noriko said. Shogo flashed a smile and then silently looked over the flat land. He looked as if he was taking Hiroki's marks on his map into consideration as he took in the view.

  Along with the bodies he'd seen, Hiroki had given detailed explanations of how they had died. The body of Kazushi Nüda was right near where Takako Chigusa had died. Along with his eyes being gouged out (!), his throat had been stabbed. In the residential area that was now forbidden was Megumi Eto. Her throat had been slashed by a blade. (Shuya felt a pang in his chest over this one, since Noriko had told him how Megumi had a crush on him.) To the east, Yoji Kuramoto and Yoshimi Yahagi were killed where the eastern shore's residential area met the southern mountain. Yoji was stabbed in the head, and Yoshimi had been shot. At the southern tip, Izumi Kanai, Hiroshi Kuronaga, Ryuhei Sasagawa, and Mitsuru Numai were all found dead together. Mitsuru Numai was shot several times, while the others'

  throats were slashed. Three of Kiriyama's group had died together, the only exception being Sho Tsukioka, who got caught in a forbidden zone.

  "Shogo," Shuya said. Shogo looked back. "Do you th
ink Mitsuko Souma killed Yukiko and Yumiko?" Even now, as he asked this, it all felt so unreal. He didn't believe a girl could do such horrible things. Of course he had no doubt, since it was Hiroki who'd informed them, but he still couldn't restrain the urge to dismiss it all as a delusion.

  "No," Shogo shook his head. "I don't think so. After Yukiko and Yumiko got killed by that machine gun, you know how we heard pistols going off? That was to finish them off. But Hiroki said Takako was alive after being shot when he found her. Which means her killer wasn't as thorough. Of course she might have let Takako go, knowing she was going to die anyway. But given the times and locations, I just don't think Mitsuko Souma's the one with the machine gun."

  Shuya recalled the machine gun fire he heard before 9 a.m. The killer was still roaming around the island. And the distant gunfire they heard a little afterwards…was that Mitsuko Souma?

  "Eventually we'll…" Shogo forced a grin and shook his head, "…meet him or her. Then we'll know for sure."

  Shuya recalled something else that had been bugging him. "When Hiroki showed us his radar, I was thinking how Sakamochi must know we're together and our positions as well." Shogo answered as he surveyed the flat land, "That's right."

  Shuya moved his shoulder to give Noriko better support. "Won't that hinder our escape?" Shogo chuckled with his back to Shuya. "Nope. Not at all. Don't worry." Shogo looked over the flat land again and said, "Let's go back to where we were."

  He continued, "A common strategy players in this game take is to show up anywhere they hear some action. That's because of the 24-hour deadline. Because of that limitation, they kill when they can. And the fact that they're on a killing spree means they're on their own, so they can't afford to sleep much. So the match has to be kept short. If something happens near them, they go there, and if there's a fight already going on, they sit back and then they finish off any survivors. That's why we should stay somewhere we can avoid confrontations. If we get mixed up with someone who's panicking then one of the top players is bound to show up. If we go back where we were it's unlikely we'll meet anyone. Since Tatsumichi Old and Kyoichi Motobuchi, who'd been hiding there, are no longer around, that area is pretty much uninhabited."