Косюн Таками - Battle Royale

Kiriyama was the leader of the thugs in their district, a group that included Ryuhei and Mitsuru. Kiriyama was by no means big. At best he was the same height as Shuya, but he could easily pin down high school students and even take on local yakuza. His reputation was legendary throughout the entire prefecture. And his father being the president of a leading corporation didn't hurt. (There were rumors though that he was an illegitimate child. Shuya wasn't interested, so he never bothered to find out more.) Of course that wouldn't have been enough. He had a handsome, intelligent face, and his voice wasn't particularly low, but there was something intimidating about it. He was the top student in Class B, and the only one who barely kept up with him was Kyoichi Motobuchi (Male Student No. 20), who studied so hard he didn't get much sleep. In sports Kazuo was better and more graceful than almost anyone else in the class. The only ones at Shiroiwa Junior High who could compete with him seriously were, yes, the former star shortstop, Shuya, and the current star shooting guard, Shinji Mimura. So in every respect Kazuo Kiriyama was perfect.

But then how could someone this perfect end up a leader of thugs? That was really none of Shuya's business. But if there was one thing Shuya could tell, it was a sense, almost tactile, that Kazuo was different. Shuya couldn't say exactly how. Kazuo never did anything bad in school. He'd never bully around someone like Yoshio Akamatsu the way Ryuhei Sasagawa did. But there was something so... remote about him. Was that it? At least that's how it felt.

He was absent a lot. The idea of Kazuo "studying" was completely absurd. In every class Kiriyama remained quietly seated at his desk as if he were thinking of something that had nothing to do with class. Shuya thought, if the government didn't have the power to enforce compulsory education on us, he probably wouldn't come to school at all. On the other hand he might just show up on a whim. I don't know. In any case, Shuya thought, I expected Kazuo to skip something as trivial as a study trip, but then he promptly shows up. Was this on a whim too?

"Shuya."

Shuya was staring at the ceiling panel lights wondering about Kiriyama when a perky voice interrupted his thoughts. From the seat across the aisle, Noriko Nakagawa (Female Student No. I5) offered something wrapped in crisp cellophane. The bag sparkled like water under the white light, and it was filled with light-brown discs—cookies, probably. On top was a bow tied with a gold ribbon.

Noriko Nakagawa was another girl who was neutral like Yukie Utsumi's group. Other than her kind eyes, which were noticeably dark, she had a round, girlish face and shoulder-length hair. She was petite and playful. In short, she was an average girl. If there was something particular about her, it was probably the fact that she wrote the best compositions in literature class. (This was how Shuya got to know Noriko. Shuya would spend break periods writing lyrics for his songs in the margins of his notebooks, and Noriko would insist on reading them.) She usually hung with Yukie's group, but because she'd showed up late today, she had no other choice but to take an open seat.

Shuya half-extended his hand and raised his brow. For some reason Noriko became flustered and said, "They're leftovers from the ones my brother begged me to bake. They're best fresh, so I brought them for you and Mr. Nobu."

"Mr. Nobu" was Yoshitoki Kuninobu's nickname. Although he had bulging, friendly eyes, the nickname seemed appropriate for someone who could be, oddly enough, mature and wise. None of the girls called him by that name, but Noriko had no problem calling the boys by their nicknames, and the fact that this hardly offended any of them indicated how uniquely disarming she was. (Shuya had a sports-related nickname, the same name as a famous cigarette brand, but in the same way that Shinji was referred to as "The Third Man" no one called him by this to his face.) He'd already noticed this before, Shuya observed, but she's the only girl who calls me by my first name.

Yoshitoki, who'd been listening in on them, interrupted. "Really? For us? Thanks so much! If you made them, I bet they're delicious."

Yoshitoki snatched the bag from Shuya's hand, quickly untied the ribbon, and took out a cookie.

"Wow, these are awesome."

As Yoshitoki praised Noriko, Shuya grinned. Could he be more obvious? The moment Noriko sat next to Shuya he'd been repeatedly glancing over at her, sitting upright, completely nervous.

It was a month and a half ago during spring vacation. Shuya and Yoshitoki had gone fishing for black bass at the dam reservoir that provided the city its water supply. Yoshitoki confessed to Shuya, "Hey Shuya, I got a crush on someone."

"Huh. Who is it?"

"Nakagawa."

"You mean from our class?" "Yeah."

"Which one? There are two Nakagawas. Yuka Nakagawa?"

"Hey, unlike you, I'm not into fat girls."

"What the... ? So you're saying Kazumi is fat? She's just a little plump."

"Sorry. Anyway, well, uh yeah, it's Noriko."

"Huh. Well, she's nice."

"Isn't she though? Isn't she?"

"All right, all right."

Yes, Yoshitoki was totally obvious. But in spite of his behavior Noriko seemed oblivious to Yoshitoki's feelings for her. Maybe she was slow with stuff like this or something. It wasn't surprising, given her personality.

Shuya took a cookie from the bag still in Yoshitoki's hand and examined it. Then he looked over at Noriko.

"So they lose their flavor?"

"Uh huh," she nodded. Her eyes strained, oddly. "That's right."

"Which means you're sure they taste pretty good."

He might have learned this form of sarcasm from Shinji Mimura, Shuya often used it lately, to the dismay of other classmates ,but Noriko just emitted a happy laugh and said, "I guess so."

"Come on," Yoshitoki interrupted again. "I told you they were good, didn't I, Noriko?"

Noriko smiled. "Thanks. You're so nice."

Yoshitoki all of a sudden froze up as if he'd jammed his finger into an electric outlet and turned mute. Staring silently into his lap, he proceeded to devour his cookie.

Shuya grinned and ate the rest of his cookie. The warm, sweet taste and smell spread through his mouth.

"These are good," Shuya said.

Noriko, who'd been observing him all this time, exclaimed, "Thank you!" He could be wrong, but somehow the tone of her voice was different than when she thanked Yoshitoki. Well, wait...true, she was staring at him while he was eating the cookie. Were they really leftovers from the batch she'd baked for her brother? Maybe she'd baked them for "someone else." Or maybe he was just plain wrong.

Then for some reason Shuya thought of Kazumi. She was a year ahead, and a fellow music club member until last year.

In the Republic of Greater East Asia, rock music was strictly prohibited in school club activities, but when their adviser Ms. Miyata was absent, music club members would play rock on their own. That was the kind of membership the club attracted in the first place anyway. Kazumi Shintani was the best female saxophone player. When it came to rock saxophone though, she was the best in the entire club. She was tall (almost the same height as Shuya, who stood 170 centimeters) and plump, but with her remarkably mature face and her hair bundled by her shoulders, she looked awesome with her alto saxophone. Shuya was thrilled by the sight. Then she taught Shuya how to play difficult guitar chords. (She said, "I played a little before I started playing the saxophone.") From that point on Shuya spent every spare minute he had practicing his guitar, and by his second year he was the best player in the club. It was all because he wanted Kazumi to hear him play.

Then one day, when the two of them happened to be alone in the music room after school, Shuya played and sang a version of "Summertime Blues" which impressed her. "That was so great, Shuya. That was so awesome." That day Shuya bought a can of beer for the first time in his life and celebrated with a private toast. It tasted great. But three days later when he asked her out, confessing, "Um, I really like you," she responded, "I'm sorry, I'm already going out with someone." She graduated and went to a high school with a music department, along with her "boyfriend."