Battle Royale

Yumiko lightly shook her short, boyish hair with a sarcastic smile. She looked over at Yukiko Kitano (Female Student No. 6), who was sitting near her, also against the wall. Yukiko remained in a daze, staring at the wooden floor bathed in light. Even though it had the bombastic name "Okishima Island Tourist Association" the building resembled a plain town council hall. Down by the lower entrance, there was an office desk, a chair, and a rusty file cabinet. The desk had a phone (she'd tried using it, but of course, as Sakamochi had warned, there was no dial tone). Inside the file cabinet they only found some unattractive tourist flyers.

Yumiko and Yukiko had been friends ever since nursery school. At nursery school they were in separate classes and lived in different neighborhoods too. They met thanks, once again, to the Halo Church where their parents took them. When they met it was Yumiko's third visit, but for Yukiko it seemed like it was her first, and she looked intimidated by everything there including the gong ringing with every chant and the general atmosphere of the heavily decorated church. So Yumiko approached the quiet girl left alone by her who were preoccupied with some other task and said, "Don't you think this is all so stupid?"

The girl looked a little shocked, but then...she smiled. They were friends ever since.

Although their names sounded similar, they were very different from each other. Yumiko was energetic and got labeled a tomboy. Even now (although the chances of that "now" returning were very, very low) she batted fourth on the Softball team. Yukiko was domestic and baked cakes for Yumiko. Yumiko was now fifteen centimeters taller than Yukiko. Yukiko often said she envied Yumiko's height and her well defined face, but Yumiko was in fact more envious of Yukiko for her petite body and round cheeks. That's right, they were totally different, but they were still best friends. That didn't change.

Fortunately (well, that's putting it harshly), the death of Yoshitoki Kuninobu (Male Student No. 7) before his scheduled departure enabled their own departures to be only two minutes apart from each other. After Yumiko left the classroom, she hid behind a pole and waited for Yukiko, whose face had turned white. They left together (twenty minutes later Yoshio Akamatsu returned to begin killing, but they were unaware of this) and headed north far beyond the residential area, following the road on the eastern shore. A little ways up the northern mountain they found a single building standing alone on a hill. They locked themselves inside here.

...over four hours had passed since then. They were exhausted from the extreme tension and remained sitting next to each other as time flew by.

Yumiko looked away from Yukiko and along with her stared at the floor.

Even though she was in a daze, she continued to think. What in the world were they supposed to do now?

Sakamochi's announcement was audible even inside this building. Aside from Yoshitoki Kuninobu and Fumiyo Fujiyoshi, nine classmates were already dead. Aside from Sakura Ogawa and Kazuhiko Yamamoto...the others couldn't have been suicides. Someone was killing someone else. Right now someone might have been dying. In fact she thought she'd heard gunfire right after the 6 a.m. announcement.

How could you kill your classmates? Of course those were the rules, but she couldn't believe there could be people who'd actually follow them. But...

But if someone tried to kill her...if she could assume that much, then she would probably fight back. Yes.

If so, then...

Yumiko looked at the megaphone lying in the corner of the room. Could she use that? If she could...

Wasn't there something she could do? She was simply afraid of doing it, though. Not just of doing it. Because while she couldn't believe anyone was playing the game, she also couldn't rid herself of this overwhelming fear. That's what made her seek shelter here with Yukiko. What if...what if someone really did...

But—

She recalled something from when she was in elementary school, the face of her best friend. It wasn't Yukiko. The friend was crying. For some reason, the only clothes she could remember on her friend was her pink sneakers.

"Yumi," Yukiko said and interrupted Yumiko's thoughts. She faced Yukiko.

"Let's eat our bread rolls. We won't come up with any good ideas if we don't eat." Yukiko provided a kind smile. It felt slightly forced, but it was still her usual smile.

"Okay?" Yukiko repeated and Yumiko returned her smile and nodded.

"All right."

They took out their bread rolls and water from their day packs. Yumiko looked at the two cans inside. The cans were a greenish silver, and at the top a cigar-sized stick stuck out, attached to a lever and a metal ring approximately three centimeters in diameter. She assumed it was a "hand grenade." (Yukiko's "weapon" was a set of darts. It must have been some kind of joke. It even came with a wooden target board.)