Battle Royale

by Koushun Takami

In her mind, the God of Light Ahura Mazda asked her this. Apparently, this voice came from the spindle-shaped magic crystal (in fact the mail order item was made of glass but Mizuho believed it was crystal) she wore.

  Of course. Mizuho responded. I saw that demon walk away after killing Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano. I lost track of him, but just found him. And I saw him kill that other demon who killed Kayoko Kotohiki. I must defeat this enemy. And I have followed him this far.

  Very well then. So you understand your mission?

  Of course, sir. I received your message from the local fortune teller, that I would become a warrior destined to fight evil. I didn't understand what it meant at the time. But now, now I understand completely.

  Very well then. Are you not scared?

  No, sir. With your guidance I have nothing to fear.

  Very well then. You are a surviving member of the Holy Dikianne Tribe. You are a chosen warrior. The light of victory will shine upon you soon. Hm? What is it?

  No, no. It's just that, great Ahura Mazda, my fellow warrior, Lorela Lausasse Kaori was killed (in their former Class B classroom, Kaori Minami, who spent some time hanging out with Mizuho Inada, would restrain herself from yawning every time Mizuho told her, "You're the warrior Lorela," but whatever). She…

  She fought to the very end, Mizuho.

  Ah. Oh, I thought so. But, but, she was defeated by the evil forces.

  Uh, well, yes. Well, that was because she was a mere commoner in origins. You are different. In any case, let's not fuss over the details. The important thing is that you must fight for her sake. And you must win. All right?

  Yes, sir.

  Okay then. The light. You must have faith in the cosmic light. The light that engulfs you. The light grew inside her. The great warm cosmic power that encompassed everything. Mizuho nodded again in her brief repose. Yes. Yes. Yes.

  Then she pulled the double-bladed knife (when she found the weapon in her day pack she thought it most becoming for a warrior) out of its sheath. She held it up in front of her face. A white light covered the blue blade, and Mizuho looked at Kazuo beyond the light.

  She saw Kazuo's back. It was wide open.

  Now then. You must cut down the enemy!

  Yes!

  In order to keep quiet, Mizuho dodged the bushes and dashed towards Kazuo. A light burst out from the short blade that had been barely fifteen centimeters in length, and it suddenly transformed into a legendary sword at least one meter long. This sword of light would pierce the evil monster with a single thrust. As Kazuo Kiriyama adjusted the branches with his left hand, his right hand calmly pulled out the Beretta M92F. Without even turning around, he reached around and pulled the trigger twice. The first shot hit Mizuho in the chest, stopping her, and the second shot went right through her head. Mizuho fell back as her wounds burst into gently curved red lines drawn through the air. The rain immediately began washing away the blood. Then the warrior Prexia Dikianne Mizuho's soul transmigrated to the Land of Light.

  His back still facing her, Kazuo Kiriyama put away his gun and continued arranging the branches. 4 students remaining

  71

  It continued to rain. Shuya was slouched against the wet rock wall as he watched the rain dripping off the edge of the thatched roof. He heard rapid gunfire. Then about five minutes ago he heard gunfire again, this time two single shots. Both times it didn't sound too close, but it didn't seem too far away either. It was probably somewhere in the northern mountain, where they were camping. A large raindrop slid along one of the "roof" leaves and fell by Shuya's stretched out foot wearing Keds sneakers, splashing against the muddy water.

  "Maybe Hiroki likes Kotohiki."

  That's what Noriko had said. "If I were him…I would have done the same thing." She glanced at Shuya.

  "I would find the person I cared about."

  Was it true? Did Hiroki like Kayoko Kotohiki? Why, when he was so close to the prettiest girl in their class, would he be into a Plain Jane like Kayoko?

  Well, maybe that's how it was. After all, Billy Joel sang, "Don't imagine you're too familiar…I'll take you just the way you are."

  Then…who was involved (the second series of shots sounded like it was just one assailant shooting away) in those rounds of gunshots he just heard? If he were to include the gunfire he heard immediately after leaving the lighthouse, it meant he'd heard guns go off three times since noon. (This wasn't including what happened to Yukie Utsumi's group.) It would be reasonable to assume at least three people had died. Then there were only five left? Which three got killed? Or maybe no one died at all, maybe there were just confrontations, and everyone managed to escape each other. Then eight students, including Shuya's group, were left.

  "Are you tired, Shuya?"

  They were sitting next to each other in a row, but Shogo, who was on the other side of Noriko, asked,

  "Maybe you should sleep a little."

  Shuya looked back at them. "No." He gave a smile. "I slept a lot until noon. I bet you haven't had much sleep."

  Shogo shrugged. "I'm fine. But Noriko. She didn't sleep at all waiting for you." Shuya looked over at Noriko, but she waved her palms at Shuya and smiled. "That's not entirely true. I dozed off a little here and there. Shogo's the one who hasn't slept for my sake." Shogo chuckled and shrugged. Then he held his right hand up to his chest in a salute and said, "I shall always guard you, Your Highness."

  Noriko grinned, touched his hand, and said, "The honor is mine, Shogo." Shuya raised his brow and observed their interaction. It was odd how close Noriko and Shogo seemed now. Ever since the game began, Noriko seemed to speak to Shogo mostly through Shuya, but now things seemed different. They seemed like a good pair on their own. It was only natural though, given how they'd spent over half a day without Shuya.

  Shogo suddenly pointed at Shuya and said, "Uh oh. Shuya's getting jealous." Noriko opened her eyes wide and looked at Shuya. She smiled and said, "No..." Shuya blushed a little. "I am not. What are you talking about?" Shogo shrugged. He raised his brow and said to Noriko in mock exasperation, "He says he trusts you, out of love."

  Shuya wanted to say something, but he was speechless. Shogo began laughing. Clacking up, really. Despite the urge to protest, Shuya ended up going along with it and chuckled too. Noriko was smiling too.

  It was a brief but wonderful moment. It was the kind of conversation and laughter you'd share with your longtime friends, hanging out with them after school at your favorite cafe Of course, looming over them was the feeling that they were all here only after attending a friend's funeral.... Still smiling, Shogo looked down at his watch and went outside to check again for a signal from Hiroki. Noriko grinned and looked at Shuya. "Shogo likes to kid around." Shuya smiled. "Yeah, but…" He squinted at the open space.

  I might have been jealous.

  Shuya looked back at Noriko again. He was about to tell her in a joking way, "I may have been jealous." Then Noriko would probably laugh and say, "Yeah right."

  Shogo returned to the front of the roof. His stubbly face was moist with raindrops. "I see smoke," he said and immediately turned around.

  Shuya quickly got up. He helped Noriko up with his uninjured right arm. They walked to where Shogo was standing.

  The rain was light now, so he could make out the smoke drifting in the sky. As he followed Shogo's eyes…he saw a white column of smoke on the opposite side of the northern mountain. Two columns, in fact.

  "Right on!"

  Without thinking, Shuya gave a little holler out as if singing a rock and roll song. His eyes met Noriko's. Noriko, no less enthusiastic, broke into a grin and said, "So Hiroki's safe." Shogo took out the bird call from his pocket and teaked it as he observed the smoke. The cheerful chirping of a little bird rose and spread out into the rain covering the island. As he continued, Shogo checked his watch. Fifteen seconds later he stopped.

  Shogo then looked over at them.

  "Let's wait a little more here. My guess is he won't hear this sound u
nless he's close. It'll take time." They returned underneath the roof.

  "Hiroki probably found Kayoko," Noriko said. Shuya was about to nod but stopped when he saw Shogo's mouth stiffen. Noriko also stopped smiling.

  "Shogo…" Shuya said.

  Shogo looked up. Then he shook his head. "It's nothing. I just think things might not be what they seem."

  "Huh? But…" Shuya raised his opened right palm. "Hiroki would never give up though." Shogo nodded. "That might be true." He stopped and then looked away from them. "But he might have only found Kayoko Kotohiki dead."

  Shuya's face became tense. He was right. Kotohiki seemed to be alive up until noon…but there was all that gunfire. They'd just heard those single shots. After searching around for two weeks, Hiroki might have ended up discovering Kayoko Kotohiki had died.

  Shogo continued, "Or there might have been a totally different outcome." Noriko asked, "What do you mean?"

  Shogo took out a pack of cigarettes and answered curtly, "It's very possible Kayoko didn't trust Hiroki." Shuya and Noriko both fell silent.

  Shogo lit his cigarette and continued, "Well, in any case, let's just hope Hiroki can make it back here. We'll see then whether he's with Kayoko or not."

  Shuya was hoping Hiroki would return with Kayoko Kotohiki. Then… there would be five of them. Five of them could escape.

  Only five.

  Shuya then recalled that Mizuho Inada was still alive, at least she had been at noon.

  "Shogo."

  Shogo glanced at Shuya.

  "Inada is still alive. I wonder if we can't contact her."

  Shogo shrugged. "I keep on saying this, but it's best not to trust the others too much in this game. To be honest, nothing against Hiroki, but I don't necessarily trust Kotohiki either." Shuya bit his lip. "I know but—"

  "Well, if we can afford to, then I'll come up with some way to contact Mizuho, but," he blew out smoke,

  "don't forget, we may not be around to do that."

  That's right, Shogo had said, "At the very end. Once everyone else is dead, there's a way out." That meant no matter what, they would have to confront Kazuo again and also take on Mitsuko Souma. He wasn't sure about Mitsuko, but there would be no way around fighting Kazuo. There was no way Kazuo could die easily. Which mean that…everyone in Shuya's trio might not survive fighting him. Shogo puffed on his shortened cigarette and said, "I'm going to ask you again, Shuya." He exhaled a puff of smoke and continued to stare at Shuya, "Even if we manage to hook up with Hiroki, we're probably going to have to fight Kazuo again and Mitsuko___Are you prepared to be merciless?" So that's what it came down to. They could afford to contact Mizuho Inada only after they'd defeated Kazuo and Mitsuko. Although he wasn't comfortable with how he'd gotten used to the idea of killing his classmates no matter how extreme the circumstances were…

  …Shuya nodded and responded, "I am."

  4 students remaining

  72

  Shogo tweaked the bird call. It was the third time. The rain was now lightening up, and the drops falling off the edge of the roof became less frequent. The time was already past 5 p.m. After he heard the same bird sound four times Shuya managed to join up with Noriko and Shogo. But that was because he had some idea of their location. It could take Hiroki longer to find them since he didn't have that information.

  Shogo returned under the roof and lit a Wild Seven.

  He blew out smoke and asked out of the blue, "Where do you want to go?" Shuya looked at Shogo, who was sitting on the other side of Noriko. Shogo turned towards him.

  "I forgot to mention it, but I have a connection. Once we get out of here we can stay there for the time being."

  "Who's that?" Shuya asked and Shogo nodded.

  "A friend of my dad's," he continued. "He'll see to it that you get out of this country… I'm assuming you'll want to do that. You'll get killed if you stay in this country. You'll be hunted down like rats."

  "Escape the country…" Noriko said, surprised. "We can really do that?" Shuya also asked, "Who's this friend of your father's?"

  Shogo looked at them, as if considering something as he held the cigarette to his mouth with his left hand. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and said, "Right now isn't a good time to tell you." Then he continued, "In case we end up splitting up during our escape it'd be bad if either of you get caught and share our plans with the government. It's not that I don't trust you. But once they torture you, you'll eventually end up confessing. So I'll be in charge of getting us there." Shuya thought about it and then nodded. It seemed like he was making the right call.

  "But…let's see," Shogo said. He bit his cigarette and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. It looked like the sheet on which they'd all written that statement, "We shall kill each other." Shogo tore it in two and then scribbled onto both pieces. He folded them up neatly and offered one to Shuya and the other to Noriko.

  "What's this?" Shuya asked and began opening it up.

  Shogo stopped him, saying, "Hold on. Don't look at it now. It's our contact method, just in any case. The time and locations are written on it. Go to that place and time every day. I'll do my best to get there too."

  "We can't look at it now?" Noriko asked.

  "Nope," Shogo said. "Look at it only in case we end up splitting up. In other words…your note and Shuya's have different information. It's best you two don't know what's on each other's note. Just in case one of you gets caught."

  Shuya and Noriko looked at each other. Then Shuya turned to Shogo. "I'm going to be with Noriko no matter what."

  "I know I know," Shogo grinned wryly, "but we can't rule out the possibility you might get separated again, like you were when Kazuo attacked us."

  Shuya pursed his lips and looked over at Shogo…but ended up nodding. He exchanged glances with Noriko and put away the memo. So did Noriko.

  It was true. Anything could happen. Escaping this island in the first place was going to be incredibly difficult. But if that were the case then shouldn't he and Noriko also come up with their own place and time to meet? Without telling Shogo? Then again, if Shogo ended up getting caught by the government then their situation would be hopeless anyway.

  Shogo asked, "So…where do you want to go?"

  Shuya recalled how Shogo wanted to know their ideal destinations once they fled the country. He folded his arms and thought about it. Then he said, "It'd have to be America. It's where rock came from. I always wanted to go there, at least once." He thought, I didn't think I'd be escaping there, though.

  "I see." Shogo nodded. "What about you, Noriko?"

  "I don't really have anywhere in mind but…" Noriko said and glanced over at Shuya. Shuya nodded back. "Let's go together. All right?"

  "Oh…" Noriko's eyes opened wide. Then she formed a smile and nodded. "Sure, if you're all right with that."

  Shogo smiled. He took another drag from his cigarette and asked, "What will you do once you get there?"

  Shuya thought about it. Then he answered with a grin, "I'll be busking with my guitar. At least I'll make some change."

  Shogo chuckled, "Huh." Then he said, "You best be a rocker. You're talented. From what I hear, in that country the odds aren't stacked so high against you even if you're an immigrant or exile." Shuya took a deep breath and gave him a skeptical grin. "I'm not that talented. I don't have what it takes to be a pro."

  "I don't know about that."

  Shogo smiled and shook his head. Then he looked over at Noriko. "What about you, Noriko? Anything you want to do?"

  Noriko pursed her lips. Then she said, "I've always wanted to be a teacher." Her reply caught Shuya by surprise since he'd never heard about it. He exclaimed, "Really?" Noriko turned to look at Shuya and nodded.

  Shuya continued, "You wanted to be a teacher in this lousy country?" Noriko grimaced, "There are good teachers too. I…that's right," she looked down and continued, "I thought Mr. Hayashida was a good teacher."

  It had been a while since Shuya re
called the corpse of Mr. Hayashida, whose head was half crushed.

  "Dragonfly" died for their sake.

  "…you're right," Shuya agreed.

  Shogo said, "It might be difficult to become a teacher as an exile. But you might be able do research at some university. Ironically enough, the rest of the world seems very interested in this country. Then you might be able to teach." He continued staring ahead, then tossed his cigarette butt into the puddle by his feet. He put another cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He continued, "So you should go for it, both of you. Be what you want to be. Follow your heart and give it your best shot." Shuya thought what he said was kind of cool. Follow your heart. Do your best. The way the late Shinji Mimura would also say something sometimes that hit the mark.

  Then he realized something.

  "What about you?" He asked anxiously, "What are you going to do?" Shogo shrugged his shoulders. "I told you. It's payback time against this country. No, that's not it. They owe me, and they're going to pay me back. No matter what. I can't join you guys."

  "No…" Noriko said with anguish.

  Shuya responded differently, though. He clenched his teeth and said, "Let me join you." Shogo looked at Shuya for a moment…then he looked down and dismissively shook his head. "Don't be stupid."

  "Why not?"

  Shuya said insistently. "You're not the only one with a grudge against this fucking country."

  "That's right," Noriko insisted. Her response surprised Shuya. Noriko looked at Shogo and continued,

  "We'll do it together."

  Shogo looked at them. He heaved a deep sigh. He looked up and said, "Look. I think I told you before that this country might be fucked up, but it's well run. It's almost impossible to take it down. No, I'd say it's absolutely impossible right now, but I…" He turned around and then looked beyond the roof at the sky turning white from the receding rain. Then he looked back at them. "To use a cliche, I just want to take a stab at it. I'm getting back at them. I'm only doing it for my own sake, which isn't such a bad thing." He stopped and then said, "No, it's not bad at all."

  "So then—" Shuya said but Shogo interrupted him, raising his hand.