Battle Royale

by Косюн Таками

  After encountering Hiroki and somehow managing to escape him, Mitsuko first decided she needed a gun. She'd accidentally come across Megumi Eto and, upon hearing Yoshimi Yahagi and Yoji Kuramoto in the middle of their fight, she'd killed them and managed to get her hands on a gun (if she'd had a gun in the first place she would have gone back to the school and killed off everyone that came out one by one). Once she had a gun she could confidently move around the island, so it was easy to kill Takako Chigusa, who'd just finished fighting Kazushi Niida. (She should have finished her off though. She'd have to be more careful next time.)

  But now she was unarmed. She had used Megumi Eto's knife, and the only thing in her hand now was her original sickle from the beginning of the game. She had to get a gun because she wasn't the only one who chose to play this game. There was the machine gun shooter who killed Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano. She had just heard it go off again only thirty minutes ago.

  Of course, thanks to the shooter, she didn't have to kill off as many of her classmates. She could just let the assailant take care of that. She'd only kill when it came easy. In fact, after midnight, when she heard the machine gun's rapid gunfire along with the explosion afterwards, she decided it was best to avoid that area. A handgun against a machine gun, she'd be outmatched. So she decided to move somewhere she could view the area from a distance, and that was how she ended up finding and following Hiroki Sugimura. And that was supposed to be an easy kill but...

  It was highly likely she'd end up having to take on this machine gun shooter. Not having a gun would be a major disadvantage. Forget about gun against machine gun, it'd be hopeless with a sickle against a machine gun.

  Of course, she could have pursued Hiroki, but she thought it'd be too much trouble to get the gun back from him. His background in martial arts or whatever it was was no joke. Her right hand still stung from his blow. And this time, if he saw her, he'd be merciless and shoot her.

  So Mitsuko moved west along the longitudinal road and then entered the northern mountain, trying to find someone else. Approximately three hours had passed. And now she finally heard someone making noise. Mitsuko made her way through the thicket and moved forward, cautiously though. She mustn't be heard.

  The thicket ended. There was a small, open, mat-sized space in the middle of the bushes. The grove continued on and beyond her right. And to the left as well—in the corner of the space, a boy in his school coat had his back toward her. He nervously looked to his right and left as the dripping sound against the leaves continued.

  He was probably scared he might be attacked by someone. She could tell it was Tadakatsu Hatagami (Male Student No. 18). He was on the baseball team. Nothing exceptional, just an average guy. He was tall and well-built, and his face was average. His hobbies were...actually she had no idea, and besides there was no point asking now.

  The crucial thing was that, as Tadakatsu was attending to his business, Mitsuko realized he held something tightly in his right hand.

  It was a gun. It was a fairly large model, a revolver. She once again broke into that fallen angel's grin.

  Tadakatsu still wasn't done. He might have been holding it in for quite a while. He continued to look left and right while he emptied his bladder.

  Mitsuko quietly but quickly took out her sickle with her right hand. Tadakatsu would have to use both of his hands to zip up his pants. Even if he tried using one hand, he'd be vulnerable.

  It looks like this'll be the end of you. Didn't someone in a detective show get killed this way?

  The drips became sporadic. It stopped...and then another drip, and then it stopped completely. Tadakatsu once again looked around and then quickly moved his hands to the front.

  By then Mitsuko had already snuck up behind him. The back of his head, with short spiked hair, was right in front of her. She raised the sickle.

  She heard someone from behind say, "Whoa," and Tadakatsu suddenly turned around, along with Mitsuko. She (of course) put the sickle down and looked back at the speaker behind her.

  It was Yuichiro Takiguchi (Male Student No. 13). He was shorter than Tadakatsu and had a cute, boyish face. He held what appeared to be his weapon, an aluminum bat, in his right hand and stared at Mitsuko, his mouth agape.

  Tadakatsu saw Mitsuko and also said, "Whoa," and then muttered, "Damn," and pointed the gun at her. Seeing how Yuichiro's appearance didn't surprise him, Mitsuko realized they were together. Mitsuko cursed herself. Tadakatsu had left Yuichiro just to take a piss. How stupid could I have been not to check! Come on, you're both boys, can't you just pee next to each other!?

  This wasn't the time or place to lecture them. Tadakatsu's revolver (which, although it hardly mattered, was a Smith & Wesson Ml9 .357 Magnum) was pointed directly at Mitsuko's chest.

  "Tadakatsu! Stop it!" Yuichiro said, his voice trembling, probably from her sudden appearance and his fear of seeing someone get killed in front of his very own eyes. Tadakatsu looked like he was ready to pull the trigger at any moment, but his finger on the trigger stopped a fraction of a millimeter before the hammer fell.

  His gun still pointed at Mitsuko, Tadakatsu looked over at Yuichiro.

  "Why!? She just tried to kill me! Look! A sickle! She's holding a sickle!"

  "N-no." Mitsuko croaked as if her words were stuck in her throat. She made sure her voice was high-pitched and trembling, and of course, she didn't forget to flinch her body back. Once again, the star actress had a chance to show off her talents. Watch me now.

  "I-I..."

  She thought of dropping the sickle, but decided not to, since it would look more natural holding it.

  "I was just trying to call you. Then I-I realized you were peeing, so I..." Mitsuko looked down and made her face blush. "So..."

  Tadakatsu didn't lower the gun. "You're lying! You were trying to kill me!" His hand holding the gun was trembling. He'd restrained himself from shooting her because he'd never shot someone. The moment he saw her he probably would have fired reflexively, but now that Yuichiro had intervened he had time to think and hesitate. And that meant...

  ...he would lose.

  "Stop it, Tadakatsu," Yuichiro pleaded with him, "Didn't I already say how we have to join up with others—"

  "You got to be kidding." Tadakatsu shook his head. "There's no way I can be with this bitch. Don't you know who we're dealing with? She might have been the one...who killed Yumiko and Yukiko."

  "N-no...I would never..." Mitsuko made her eyes brim with tears.

  Yuichiro said frantically, "Mitsuko isn't carrying a machine gun. She doesn't even have a gun."

  "We can't know for sure! She might have tossed them once she ran out of bullets!!"

  Yuichiro fell silent for a while, but then said, "Tadakatsu, you shouldn't raise your voice." His voice sounded different from before. It was calm and kind. Tadakatsu opened his mouth slightly as if he'd been caught off guard.

  Mitsuko was also a bit surprised. Yuichiro Takiguchi was into anime. He was the otaku of their class, but now he sounded quite dignified.

  Yuichiro shook his head. "You shouldn't be so indiscriminately suspicious," he continued as if admonishing Tadakatsu. "Think about it. Mitsuko might have sought you out because she really trusted you."

  "But then..." Tadakatsu knit his brows. His gun was still pointed at Mitsuko, but the tension of his fingers on the trigger seemed to wane. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

  "If you insist she can't be trusted, then we can take turns keeping an eye on her. I mean, even if we were to tell her to leave, you'd still be worried she might attack you later when she has the chance."

  Well, I'll say, I'm impressed. He's sharp and articulate. I mean, putting aside whether he's making a good call (which in fact would be to shoot me now).

  Tadakatsu then licked his lips a little.

  "Come on. We need more people on our side. And then we have to figure out a way to get out of here. Once we spend some time with her we'll see whether we can trust her, right?" Yuichiro i
nsisted and finally Tadakatsu nodded, still eyeing her suspiciously. He said in a tired voice, "Well, all right."

  Making herself look relieved, she let her body unwind. She rubbed her left hand against her eyes deliberately filled with tears. Yuichiro let out a sigh of relief too.

  "Get rid of that sickle," Tadakatsu said, and Mitsuko immediately tossed it to the ground. Then she nervously alternated glances at Tadakatsu and Yuichiro.

  Tadakatsu said, "Search her, Yuichiro." Mitsuko looked back at Tadakatsu, her eyes opened wide as if she didn't understand. Then she looked at Yuichiro who stood still in astonishment. Tadakatsu repeated himself. He aimed the gun at her. "Hurry up. Don't be so bashful. This is a matter of life and death. You know that."

  "Okay...all right." Yuichiro put his bat down and reluctantly came forward. He stood right beside Mitsuko.

  "Hurry," Tadakatsu insisted.

  "Uh huh."

  His dignified manner was gone now. He'd gone back to being his usual weak otaku self. "But—"

  "Hurry!"

  Yuichiro said, "U-uh, Mitsuko, I'm really sorry. I really don't want to do this, but I have to," and he ran his hands lightly over her body. Even in the dim light at dawn, she could tell his face had turned bright red. How cute. Of course, she didn't forget to act all embarrassed too.

  After he was done searching, he lifted his hands. Tadakatsu said, "Look under her skirt too."

  "Tadakatsu—" Yuichiro protested, but Tadakatsu shook his head.

  "I'm not trying to get my rocks off. I just don't want to die."

  So Yuichiro blushed even more and said, "U-uh, I was wondering, could you lift your skirt up a little?"

  Oh my, let's not have a heart attack here, little boy.

  But Mitsuko only answered in a meek voice, "O-okay," and lifted her skirt bashfully again up to where her underwear was nearly visible. Geez, this was turning into one of those adult videos titled Fetish Special! Starring Real Junior High School Girls!

  I've actually been in them.

  After making sure Mitsuko had nothing to hide, Yuichiro said, "I-I'm done."

  Tadakatsu nodded and said, "All right. Yuichiro, I want you to tie up her hands with your belt."

  Yuichiro gave Tadakatsu another reluctant look, but Tadakatsu refused to give in, aiming his gun at her.

  "Those are my conditions. If you can't accept them, then I'll shoot her now."

  Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, then at Tadakatsu, and licked his lips. Then Mitsuko said to Yuichiro, "Yuichiro, go ahead. It's all right."

  Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, but then nodded, pulled out his belt, and held Mitsuko's hands. "I'm sorry, Mitsuko," he said.

  Tadakatsu still pointed his gun at her, and said, "You don't have to be so polite with her," but Yuichiro seemed to ignore his warning as he gently wrapped the belt around her wrists without saying another word.

  As she innocently offered her hands, Mitsuko was thinking how lucky, in spite of the situation, she was to have been discovered right before lifting her sickle. (She had also wiped the blood off the sickle earlier. Now that's luck.)

  Now then, what's my next move?

  16 students remaining

  56

  "So that's how I thought we had to seek other classmates," Yuichiro said and stopped, glancing at Mitsuko. Dawn had already broken, and she could see how his face was grimy with dirt.

  They were sitting next to each other in the shrubs. Of course, Mitsuko's hands were tied up with the belt, and her sickle was tucked in the back of Yuichiro's pants. Tadakatsu Hatagami was in a deep sleep. He still held onto his gun which he had in fact tied to his hand with a handkerchief.

  After she ended up with this duo, Tadakatsu was the one who insisted on taking turns sleeping.

  "I agree we have to find others, but let's get some sleep. We've been up all this time. We'll lose our ability to make sound judgments." Once Yuichiro agreed Tadakatsu said,-"First, it's going to be Yuichiro or me. Then Mitsuko can sleep after us," and Yuichiro responded, "I can sleep later," so the order was decided. Holding his gun (which should have been handed over to Yuichiro who was keeping watch, but Tadakatsu didn't even mention it, nor did Yuichiro protest), Tadakatsu lay down and fell asleep within a matter of seconds.

  Mitsuko had an idea how they hooked up. Tadakatsu hadn't slept at all until he met Yuichiro, and he probably couldn't sleep after joining him. Why? Because he was probably afraid Yuichiro might attack him by surprise. And even though Mitsuko might be much more threatening than Yuichiro, now that she was with them, even if Tadakatsu slept, Mitsuko and Yuichiro would have to keep an eye on each other so long as he held onto his gun and remained cautious. He could still get some sleep. (Of course, Mitsuko hadn't slept at all either, but it was nothing to her. She was much tougher than your average wimpy junior high school kid.)

  Yuichiro and Mitsuko remained silent for a while, but then Yuichiro told her how he'd ended up joining Tadakatsu.

  It turned out that Yuichiro also didn't move at all during the day, but then assuming he was safer at night (of course, Mitsuko thought, it could go either way. You could escape detection at night, but that also meant it was hard to detect your opponent too. But of course, if you were in a tight spot and had to run away, night was better), he cautiously began to move and encountered Tadakatsu only two hours before Mitsuko encountered them. The two tried to concoct an escape plan but came up with nothing...and so Tadakatsu stepped out to pee, but because he was taking so long Yuichiro got worried and checked on him. And that was how he found Mitsuko.

  "I was so scared at first, I thought I couldn't trust anybody. But then I realized most of us probably just want to escape."

  Yuichiro stopped and glanced at Mitsuko. The otaku of Class B, Yuichiro Takiguchi avoided direct eye contact in his conversations. He always looked down. Still, from the way he talked to her, Yuichiro didn't seem to be all that cautious towards her. For some reason.

  And so Mitsuko pretended to look somewhat relieved and asked him, "So Tadakatsu had that gun."

  Yuichiro nodded. "That's right."

  "Weren't you scared of Tadakatsu?" Okay, now act even more relaxed and a little more intimate. "No, I mean even now. He won't let go of it."

  Yuichiro grinned. "Well, first of all, Tadakatsu didn't shoot at me or anything. He did point his gun at me. I was classmates with him in elementary school. So I know him pretty well."

  "But..." Mitsuko made her face look slightly pale. "You saw how Yumiko...Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano died. Some of us are playing this game. How can you be sure Tadakatsu isn't one of them?" She nodded and then said, "...he even suspects me."

  Yuichiro tightened his lips and nodded several times. "That's true. But if we just sit still we'll end up dying. It's best to try. I can't be like Yumiko and Yukiko, but I was thinking how we could get others to join us gradually."

  He glanced into Mitsuko's eyes for a moment and then looked down. He seemed even more withdrawn than usual, maybe because he wasn't used to looking at a girl's face so close up. (She was probably right on the mark, and on top of that, he was dealing with the most beautiful girl in the class.)

  "You can't blame Tadakatsu for holding onto that gun. He's scared out of his wits."

  Mitsuko tilted her head and forced a smile. "You're so good."

  Yuichiro glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

  Still wearing her smile, Mitsuko continued, "You have to be brave to be like that, to be able to empathize with others like that."

  Yuichiro looked down bashfully again and nervously ran his right hand through his messy hair and said, "I don't think so." Then without looking at her, he said, "So...could you cut him some slack for suspecting you? I think he's really scared. He trusts no one."

  Trust no one. The phrase really tickled her and she grinned.

  Then she said as if sighing, "I guess he can't help it. I have a reputation. You probably don't trust me either."

  Yuichiro paused and then turned to Mitsuko. This time he
looked at her a little longer. Then he said, "No." He looked down at the ground after saying this, and continued, "Well, I mean, I'm even suspicious of Tadakatsu when it comes down to it. I mean..." He pulled out some grass by his feet. Then he tore the grass that was moist with morning dew into small strands. "I mean, yeah, I haven't heard great things about you. But that's so irrelevant in this situation. I mean, sometimes it's the respectable ones who end up breaking up under stress." He tossed the torn grass by his feet. Then he looked up at Mitsuko. "I don't think you're such a bad person."

  Mitsuko tilted her head. "Why?"

  Maybe it was because she was staring at him, Yuichiro nervously looked away again. Then he said, "Well...it's your eyes."

  "Eyes?"

  Still looking down, Yuichiro began tearing out more grass. "You always had a scary look in your eyes."

  Mitsuko forced a smile. She tried to shrug her shoulders, but it didn't work because of the belt around her wrists. "I guess."

  "But..." The grass was torn into quarters, then eighths. "But sometimes your eyes look really sad and kind."

  Mitsuko stared at the side of his face and listened without responding.

  "So," he tossed the grass again and continued, "I've always thought you weren't as bad as everyone said you were. Even if you'd done bad things, I was pretty sure you did them because you couldn't help it, because there was some reason behind it that wasn't your fault."

  He was stuttering, his voice incredibly shy and tense as if he were confessing his love to a girl. Then he added, "I just don't want to be so foolish I couldn't understand that reason."

  Mitsuko sighed inside. Of course, she was thinking, boy, you are naive, Yuichiro. But then...

  ...she smiled and said warmly, "Thank you." Even she was surprised by the kindness in her voice. Of course, it was deliberate, but maybe the reason it sounded too real to be an act was that there was a little bit of true feeling in her words. But...that's all it was.

  Yuichiro then asked, "What about you, Mitsuko? What were you doing till now?"