Косюн Таками - Battle Royale

The room grew silent again. Everyone now knew. This was real. It was no mistake, nor was it a prank. They were going to be forced to kill each other.

Shuya desperately tried to think clearly. The unreal situation had put him in a daze. His mind was spinning from the horrible corpse of Hayashida and the role it played in this horror show.

They had to escape. But how?...That's right...first he'd meet with Yoshitoki...Shinji and Hiroki...but how was the Program actually conducted? The details were never publicized. Students were given weapons to kill each other. That much was known. But could they talk to each other? How did the government monitor the game?

"I...I..." Shuya's thoughts were interrupted. He looked up and opened his eyes.

Yoshitoki Kuninobu half rose and gazed at Sakamochi, unsure, it seemed, whether he should continue. He looked as if his words were beyond his control. Shuya's body tensed up. Don't provoke them, Yoshitoki!

"Yeeees? What is it? You can ask me anything."

Sakamochi offered a friendly smile, and like a puppet Yoshitoki continued, "I...don't have parents. So who did you contact?"

"Ah ha," Sakamochi nodded. "I remember there was someone from one of the welfare institutions. So you must be Shuya Nanahara? Let's see, according to the school report you were the one with dangerous ideas. So..."

"I'm Shuya," Shuya interrupted, raising his voice. Sakamochi glanced at Shuya and then back at Yoshitoki. Still in a daze, Yoshitoki glanced back at Shuya.

"Oh, that's right. I'm so sorry. There was one more. So you must be Yoshitoki Kuninobu. Well, I contacted the superintendent of the institution where you were both raised. That's right...she was very pretty," Sakamochi said and grinned. While his smile appeared to be cheerful, there was something disturbing about it.

Shuya's face tensed up. "What the hell did you do to Ms. Anno?"

"Well, like Mr. Hayashida, she was very uncooperative. They both didn't accept your assignment, so in order to silence her, well, I had to...," Sakamochi continued calmly, "... rape her. Oh, don't worry. It's not like she's dead."

Shuya flushed red with anger and leaped up, but before he could say anything, Yoshitoki said, "I'll kill you!"

Yoshitoki was standing up. His expression had changed, though. He'd always been so friendly to everyone. No matter what happened, it was impossible to imagine him getting angry. His expression now was something he saved for those rare times he was truly enraged. No one else in class might have ever seen him like this, but Shuya had seen him this upset twice. The first time was when they were fourth graders and a car ran over the Charity House's pet dog, Eddie, right in front of the gate. Frantically, Yoshitoki chased after the fleeing car. The second time was only a year ago, when a man had been using the school's debt as leverage to come on to Ms. Anno. After she managed to pay back the money, and thereby rejected his advances, the man cursed her out right in front of them, as if he wanted all the Charity House's residents to hear him. If Shuya hadn't stopped Yoshitoki, the man would have lost his front teeth, though Yoshitoki would have also been severely injured. Yoshitoki was extremely kind, and even when he was insulted or picked on he usually laughed it off. But when someone he truly loved was hurt, his response was extreme. This was something Shuya admired about Yoshitoki.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Yoshitoki continued, screaming, "I'll kill you and dump you into a pile of shit!"

"Hmm." Sakamochi looked amused. "Are you serious, Yoshitoki? You know one must be responsible for the things one says."

"Give me a break! I'm going to kill you! Don't you forget it!"

"Stop it, Yoshitoki! Stop it!"

Yoshitoki paid no attention to Shuya's screaming.

Sakamochi spoke in a strange, kind voice, as if to appease Yoshitoki.

"Look, Yoshitoki. What you're doing right now is voicing your opposition to the government."

"I'll kill you!" Yoshitoki didn't stop. "I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you!"

Shuya could no longer contain himself and right when he was about to scream again, Sakamochi shook his head and waved his hand at the three Special Defense Forces soldiers standing by the lectern.

They resembled a chorus group, like the Four Freshmen. The men in fatigues, Tahara, Kondo, and Nomura, all lifted their right hands in a dramatic, emotionally charged pose. But their hands were holding guns. Now the chorus would have been something like, "Baby please, baby please, spend this night with me—"

Shuya saw Yoshitoki's bulging eyes open even wider.

The three automatic pistols exploded all at once. Just as he was stepping out into the aisle, Yoshitoki's body shook as if dancing the boogaloo.

It happened so quickly that Noriko Nakagawa, who sat right behind Yoshitoki, along with the rest of the class, didn't even have time to duck.

The gunshot sounds hadn't even died down before Yoshitoki slowly tipped over to the right and crashed in between his desk and Izumi Kanai's on the right. Izumi shrieked.

The threesome stood with their right hands extended. Thin smoke from each of their barrels simultaneously trailed upward. Shuya then saw in between the legs of the desk the familiar face turned towards him. The bulging eyes remained open, fixed on a point on the floor. A bright puddle of blood began oozing out onto the floor. Yoshitoki's right shoulder began twitching down to his fingers.

Yoshitoki!

Shuya stood up to run to him, but Noriko Nakagawa, who was sitting closer, was quicker. "Yoshitoki!" she screamed and crouched down beside him.

Now Tahara, the frivolous one, aimed his gun at Noriko and pulled the trigger. Noriko tumbled forward as if she were swept off her feet and collapsed on top of Yoshitoki, who continued to twitch.

Tahara immediately pointed his gun at Shuya. Shuya's mind was racing now but his body was frozen. Only his eyes moved. He saw the blood spurting out of Noriko's calf.

Sakamochi said to Noriko, "You will not leave your desk without my permission." Then he looked over at Shuya, saying, "The same applies to you, Shuya. Now sit down."

Shuya did his best to take his eyes away from Noriko's bloody leg and Yoshitoki underneath her. He looked Sakamochi directly in the eye. His neck muscles had tensed up from the shock of the scene.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Tahara still pointed his gun at his forehead. Shuya remained still, bursting out, "What the hell are you doing!? We have to get some help for Yoshitoki...and Noriko.... "

Sakamochi grimaced and shook his head. Then he repeated, "Forget about it and sit down. You too, Noriko".

Noriko, completely pale from looking at Yoshitoki lying underneath her, slowly looked up at Sakamochi. She seemed overwhelmed with anger more than she was with the pain she must have been suffering from. She raised her eyes and glared back at Sakamochi. "Please get some help." She spoke each word deliberately. "For Yoshitoki."

Yoshitoki's right arm continued to twitch. But while they watched over him the twitching subsided. It was evident his injury would be fatal unless he was treated immediately.

Sakamochi sighed deeply, then addressed the frivolous one, "Then Mr. Tahara, will you please take care of this."

Before they could figure out what he meant, Tahara pointed his gun downward and pulled the trigger. BLAMM. Yoshitoki Kuninobu's head bounced up once, then something from his head splashed onto Noriko's face.

Dumbstruck, Noriko's mouth hung open. Her face was covered with a dark red substance.

Shuya realized his mouth was hanging open too. Although part of his head had been blown away, Yoshitoki's eyes still remained focused on the same part of the floor. He was no longer twitching, though. He was motionless.