Battle Royale (47 page)

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."

Tadakatsu 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 her, 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?"

Mitsuko replied, "Well…" She moved a little and felt the morning dew on the grass soaking through her skirt. "I've been running away. You know, away from the gunfire. That's why…that's why when I saw Tadakatsu I was so scared…but I was also so tired and scared of being alone and I thought of calling out to him…I thought maybe he'd understand…but I just couldn't tell whether it was the right thing to do or not…I just didn't know…"

Yuichiro nodded again. He glanced at her again and looked down. "I think you did the right thing."

Mitsuko smiled and said, "I think so too." Their eyes met and they smiled at each other.

"That's right," Yuichiro said, "I'm sorry. I forgot. You must be thirsty. You lost your bag, right? You probably haven't had any water in a while."

She had left her day pack behind when she fought Hiroki Sugimura. She was actually pretty thirsty. She nodded. "Could I…could I have some water?"

Looking away from her, Yuichiro nodded back, reached out for the day pack and picked it up. He pulled out two water bottles and after comparing them he chose the sealed bottle and tucked away the other one. He broke the seal off the new bottle.

Mitsuko put up her belt-bound hands. Yuichiro was about to hand over the bottle to her…but then stopped. He glanced over at Tadakatsu who still seemed sound sleep, then looked down at the plastic bottle in his hand.

Then he put the bottle down by his leg.

Hey there, aren't you going to let me have a drink? You decided not to spoil the prisoner because that might upset tough Sergeant Hatagami?

Yuichiro took her hands without a word instead, had her raise them, and fingered the belt around her wrists. He began to unfasten it.

"Yuichiro…" Mitsuko said as if surprised (which in fact she was), "…are you sure this is okay?

Tadakatsu will be really mad."

Concentrating on her wrists, Yuichiro answered, "It's all right. I have your weapon. Besides, how can you drink with your hands bound like that?" Yuichiro glanced up at Mitsuko again.

She smiled warmly and said, "Thank you," making her cheeks blush as she looked down.

The belt came loose. Mitsuko rubbed each of her wrists. Because the belt wasn't tight they were fine.

Yuichiro offered his bottle to Mitsuko. Mitsuko grabbed it and took two brief, delicate sips. She returned the bottle.

"That's all?" he asked and stopped wrapping his belt around his waist. "You can drink more. If we run out, we can always get more from some house with a well."

Mitsuko shook her head. "Oh no, I'm fine."

"Okay."

Yuichiro took the bottle. After he stuffed it into his day pack, he buckled his belt around his waist.

Mitsuko said to Yuichiro, "Yuichiro." He looked up.

Mitsuko quickly reached out her free hands and gently held his right hand. Yuichiro appeared to tense up, not because he suspected her of some ulterior motive, but more simply because a girl was holding his hand.

"Wh-what?"

Mitsuko smiled warmly. She opened her nicely shaped lips and gently spoke, "I'm so glad I'm with someone like you. I was so scared I've been shaking all this time…but now I'm safe."

Yuichiro seemed to break into a grin. His tense mouth quivered and he finally managed to blurt out,

"You're safe." It seemed like he wanted to take his right hand back, but Mitsuko refused to let go, clutching onto it. Yuichiro had a hard time speaking and his voice sounded nervous, but then he managed to utter, "I'll protect you, Mitsuko."

He added, "We have Tadakatsu too. He's pretty worked up right now, but once he calms down, he'll see you couldn't possibly be our enemy. Then the three of us can work on finding the rest of the class. Then we'll come up with some way of escaping."

Mitsuko gave a warm smile. "Thank you. I'm so relieved."

She squeezed her grip on Yuichiro's hand. Yuichiro blushed even more and glanced away again. He said,

"U-uh, Mitsuko. Y-you know, you're really p-pretty."

Mitsuko raised her brow. "No…really?"

Yuichiro nodded repeatedly. Rather than nodding, he seemed to be trembling from the unbearable tension. This made Mitsuko smile and she realized this smile had no ulterior motive.

Well, almost none.

16 students remaining

57

Sakamochi's 6 a.m. announcement woke up Tadakatsu. He hadn't even slept two hours, but insisted it was enough and untied the handkerchief from his wrist to get a good grip on the gun. Then he sat by Mitsuko and Yuichiro. Yuichiro insisted on her sleeping before him, but Mitsuko abstained, so Yuichiro ended up lying down. (By this time, they had learned that four students—Keita Iijima, Toshinori Oda, Yutaka Seto, and Shinji Mimura—had recently died. The new forbidden zones were not in their vicinity.) Tadakatsu was dismayed to find out the belt on Mitsuko's wrists had been unfastened, but Yuichiro managed to convince him it would be okay. Of course, even if Yuichiro hadn't unfastened the belt, Mitsuko had plans to have it unfastened anyway…using Tadakatsu.

Now then.

She couldn't really afford to take her time. If Hiroki Sugimura showed up he'd completely blow her cover. (She wondered, what is he doing wandering around like that anyway? Is he, like Yuichiro and Tadakatsu, trying to find others to hook up with?) And there was…that machine gun shooter.

Although Yuichiro had said to Mitsuko with a smile, "I might not be able to sleep," he went out like a light in five minutes. Given how he was an otaku boy, he couldn't have much stamina. He must be tired. Unlike Tadakatsu who snored, Yuichiro fell into the hushed deep sleep of a little baby.

Tadakatsu kept a good distance of three meters on her left, sitting against a tree. He had short, cropped hair and light acne above his cheekbones. And the eyes above them…were cautiously watching Mitsuko.

The revolver in his right hand was no longer pointed at her, but his finger was definitely on the trigger, as if to indicate he could shoot her at any moment.

Mitsuko waited another half hour…and then after making sure Yuichiro, whose back faced them, was still asleep, she turned to Tadakatsu and quietly said, "You don't have to look at me like that. I'm harmless."

Tadakatsu grimaced. "You never know."

As if responding to Tadakatsu's retort, Yuichiro's body stirred a little. For a while Mitsuko and Tadakatsu looked at Yuichiro's back. His deep breathing resumed, though.

Without looking over at Tadakatsu, Mitsuko took a deep breath to indicate her fatigue. Then she moved her legs, putting her right knee down on the ground and bringing her left knee up.