Battle Royale

"But," he said, "at the very least I wanted Shinji to join us. I think he'd come up with a really good plan. You'd be okay with Shinji, right?"

Noriko nodded and said, "Of course." Given the amount of time she spoke with Shuya at school, she had many occasions to talk to Shinji Mimura....Besides...

Shuya recalled how Shinji had helped her up and how he'd signaled him to calm down. He realized now that if Shinji hadn't done those things, he and Noriko would have remained dazed and been shot down like Yoshitoki.

As if she were thinking along the same lines that led to the inevitable, she looked down and quietly said, "So Nobu's gone."

"Yeah," Shuya answered quietly, as if it were a bizarre fact, "I guess so."

Then they fell silent again. They could reminisce but now was not the time. Besides, Shuya couldn't bring himself to take a stroll down memory lane over Yoshitoki. It was too heavy.

"I wonder what we should do."

Noriko stiffened her mouth and nodded without a word.

"I wonder if there might be a way to gather the ones we trust together."

"That's..." Noriko considered it, then became silent once again. It was true—there was no way. At least for now.

Shuya sighed deeply once again.

He looked up and saw through the twigs the gray night sky dimly glowing under the moonlight. So this was what it meant to be in a "no-win situation." If they simply wanted everyone to join, all they had to do was walk around and shout. But that would be an open invitation to get themselves killed by any of their opponents. Of course he hoped there weren't any opponents but...in the end, he had to admit he was scared too.

The thought led to an idea, though. Shuya turned to her and asked, "But you're not afraid of me?"

"What?"

"Didn't you wonder whether I'd try to kill you?"

Under the moonlight, he couldn't see well, but Noriko's eyes seemed to widen a little. "You would never do something so horrible."

Shuya thought a little more. Then he said, "But you can't know what someone's thinking. You said yourself."

"No," Noriko shook her head. "I just know that you would never do that."

Shuya looked at her face directly. He probably looked dazed. "You can...tell?"

"Yes...I can. I..." She hesitated, but then continued, "I've been watching you for so long now." She might have delivered these words more stiffly in a normal situation, or at least one that was a little more romantic.

That was how Shuya recalled the anonymous love letter he'd received written on light blue stationary. Someone had put it inside his desk one day in April. This wasn't the first love letter the former star shortstop and current self-proclaimed (sometimes by others as well) rock and roll star of Shiroiwa Junior High had received, but it made enough of an impression on Shuya for him to hold onto it. There was a poetic quality to the letter that touched him.

It read, "Even if it's a lie, even if it's a dream, please turn to me. Your smile on a certain day isn't a lie, it's not a dream. But having it turn to me might be my lie, my dream. But the day you call my name, it won't be a lie, it won't be a dream." And then, "It's never been a lie, it's never been a dream that I love you."

Was Noriko the one who sent that letter? He remembered observing how the writing resembled hers, and how the poetic style seemed similar too....So then...

Shuya thought of asking her about the letter, but decided not to. This wasn't the right time. Besides, he had no right to bring it up. After all he was so hung up over another girl, Kazumi Shintani, who would never, to take the phrase from that love letter, "turn to him," other girls and that love letter were of little concern to him in comparison. The most important thing now for him was to protect "the girl Yoshitoki Kuninobu adored," not to find out "who had a crush on him."

Then he recalled the bashful look Yoshitoki gave him when they had that talk. "Hey Shuya, I got a crush on someone."

Noriko asked him, "What about you, Shuya? Aren't you afraid of me? No, wait, why then did you help me?"

"Well..." Shuya thought of telling her about Yoshitoki. Come on, my best friend had a crush on you. So if I'm going to help anyone, it's got to be you, no matter what. I mean, really, come on.

He decided against this too. They were better off discussing this later, hopefully when they could take the time to, assuming that is, there would be any time later.

"You were injured. I couldn't just leave you alone. And besides, I trust you. I'll be damned if I didn't trust someone cute as you."

Noriko broke into a slight grin. Shuya did his best to return the smile. They were in a horrible situation, but he felt slight relief in forming a smile.

Shuya said, "In any case, we're lucky. At least we're together."

Noriko nodded. "Yes."

But...what were they supposed to do now?