Battle Royale

That's right. So that's how it was. It didn't matter how bad her reputation was, Mitsuko Souma was just another third-year junior high school student like her. Even Mitsuko Souma couldn't take part in something as horrible as killing other classmates. She was just lonely and scared out of her wits.

And...oh, how terrible, I'd actually considered it. I thought of killing her.

I'm so...I'm so horrible.

Megumi burst into tears, overwhelmed by self-loathing along with the security that she now felt she was no longer alone, she was with someone.

The knife slipped through Megumi's hands. She crawled on the floor, emerged from under the table, and held Mitsuko's offered hands. As if a dam inside her were bursting, she blurted out, "Mitsuko! Mitsuko!"

She knew she was shaking this time from a different kind of emotion. It didn't matter. She was...she was...

"It's all right. I'll stay with you. We'll stay together."

"Uh-huh." Mitsuko scrunched up her tear-stained face and squeezed Megumi's hands in return, nodding and repeating, "Uh-huh, uh-huh."

Megumi held Mitsuko like this on the kitchen floor. She felt the warmth of Mitsuko's body and she felt all the more guilty as her arms felt Mitsuko's body trembling helplessly.

I-I was really thinking of doing something horrible...so horrible...I was actually trying to kill this girl...

"Hey...," Megumi began to blurt out, "I-I..."

"Hm?" Mitsuko lifted her teary eyes up to Megumi.

Megumi pursed her lips tightly to stifle a shriek and shook her head. "I-I'm so ashamed of myself. For a moment, I was trying to kill you. I thought of killing you. Because I was... I was so scared."

Mitsuko's eyes widened when she heard this—but she didn't get upset. All she did was slightly nod her face which had been scrunched up from crying hysterically. Then she offered a warm smile. "That's okay. Really. Don't get too upset. It's only to be expected. In this awful situation. Really, don't get upset. Okay? Just stay with me, please?"

After Mitsuko said this, she gently held Megumi's face with her left hand and pressed her left cheek against Megumi's cheek. Megumi could feel Mitsuko's tears.

Oh. Megumi thought, I was so wrong about her. It turned out Mitsuko Souma was an incredibly kind girl. She managed to forgive someone who tried to kill her with such a kind response, "It's okay." Didn't our teacher, Mr. Hayashida, who's already been killed, warn us how wrong it is to judge people just by their reputations?

With these thoughts, Megumi felt something well up inside her again. She held Mitsuko's body even more tightly. That was all she could do for now. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I am such a horrible person, I am really—

The slashing sound Megumi heard sounded like a lemon being cut.

It was a nice sound. The knife must have been really sharp and the lemon fresh, the way they are on television cooking shows, as in, "Today, we'll be cooking lemon salmon."

It took her a few seconds to realize what had occurred.

Megumi saw Mitsuko's right hand. On the left side under her chin. Her hand held a gently curved, banana-shaped blade that reflected dully against the flashlight beam. It was a sickle—the kind used to harvest rice. And now its tip was stuck in Megumi's throat....

Her left hand clutching the back of Megumi's head, Mitsuko dug the sickle in further. It made another crunching noise.

Megumi's throat began to burn, but it didn't last very long. She couldn't say a word and lost consciousness as her chest warmed over with blood. She expired, unable to form any idea of what it meant exactly to have a blade stuck in her throat. Betrayed in the arms of Mitsuko, she died without any thoughts concerning Shuya Nanahara or her family.

Mitsuko let go of Megumi, who collapsed onto the floor right beside her.

Mitsuko quickly turned off her flashlight and stood up. She wiped away the annoying tears (which she could produce any time. It was in fact one of her special talents). Holding the sickle in her right hand up to the moonlight, she whipped the blood off onto the floor. The blood drops made a splattering sound against the floor.

Not bad for starters, Mitsuko thought. She was hoping for a knife that was easier to use, but it turned out a sickle wasn't so bad. She hadn't been careful enough though in entering a house that might already be occupied. From now on I'll have to be more careful...

Looking down at Megumi's corpse, she spoke slowly and quietly, "I'm sorry. I was also trying to kill you."

_{31 students remaining}

_{Part 2}

_{Middle stage}

_{31 students remaining}

₁₄

Their first night broke into a bright dawn.

Shuya Nanahara looked up and watched the blue sky gradually turning white through the thicket. The branches and leaves of oak, camellia, some kind of cherry, and other kinds of trees wove an intricate net around them and hid them.