Battle Royale

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.