Battle Royale

"Hey...," Noriko spoke up, "Shogo, I was wondering if there was any way we can contact others like Shinji."

Shogo shook loose another cigarette and shook his head. "I doubt it. If we were trying to reach a general, unspecified number of people, well maybe, but contacting a particular party or person would be difficult."

They fell silent for a while. Shuya stared at Shogo, who had his cigarette stuck between his lips. The tip of the Wild Seven crackled and grew shorter.

"Then...," Shuya said, nearly speechless, "there's nothing we can do."

Shogo responded flatly, "Oh but there is."

"What?"

"I have a plan."

Shuya stared again at Shogo's face wrapped in a cloud of smoke. Then he suddenly became excited and asked, "What do you mean? Is there a way out?"

Shogo looked over at Shuya and Noriko. Then he looked up at the sky in contemplation, his cigarette still dangling from his lips. His right hand touched the smooth surface of the collar around his neck, as if it annoyed him. The smoke slowly drifted by.

Shogo said, "There might be a way." Then he continued, "On one condition, though."

"What's that?"

Shogo shook his head slightly and then brought his cigarette closer to his lips. "We have to be the only survivors."

Shuya knit his brows. He didn't understand. "What do you... mean?"

"It should be obvious." Shogo looked back at them. "Meaning the three of us have to be the only ones alive. The others would have to be dead."

"But..." Noriko immediately raised her voice. "That's too much! So we're just looking after ourselves?"

Shogo held his cigarette between his fingers over his crossed legs and raised his brow, "Shuya's escape plan would amount to the same thing, though."

"No," Shuya intervened. "That's not what Noriko's saying. She's asking you whether our survival comes at the cost of everyone else. Right, Noriko? That would just be...horrible."

"Hold on guy." Shogo waved his hand. He crushed his cigarette against the ground. "I'm not against our group expanding, as long as we can trust them. But whether we find others or not, everyone besides the ones in our group will have to die."

"If that's the case," Shuya said enthusiastically, "We could inform everyone. If you have the most reliable plan then no one will oppose it. Then everyone would be saved? Right?"

Shogo pursed his lips in response to Shuya. Then he asked in a slightly irritated tone, "What if we're attacked before we even manage to get a word in?"

Shuya took a deep breath.

"Unless you're actively out to kill people, then, relatively speaking that is, the smartest way to survive would be to stay put and hide. That's the reason why," Shogo pointed to his collar, "the government is using this to force us to move. That's one of the basic tenets of this game. Don't forget that. You move around aimlessly, and you're a walking target for someone lurking in the shadows. With Noriko injured like this, we're prime targets."

He was right.

"Besides, when you insist everyone has to be saved, that only means we might not get killed here. But what if we end up as fugitives? We'll be chased by the government, and the probability that we'll get killed in the end is extremely high. I doubt anyone would submit to a plan like that. Don't forget. You don't know who your enemies are in this game. Blindly accepting everyone could ruin everything for you."

"But no one's..."

"That bad? Can you really say that, Shuya?" Shogo's eyes grew stern. "It'd be wonderful if everyone in this class were good. But if we're going to be realistic, we have to be careful. Think about it, you yourself were attacked by Yoshio Akamatsu and Tatsumichi Oki."

Shuya had told Shogo about Yoshio's assault when Shogo was stitching Noriko's leg. Shogo was absolutely right. He had no idea what Yoshio Akamatsu was thinking. He might have been trying to kill Shuya.

Shuya sighed. His shoulders drooped down as he feebly mumbled, "Then...then we're going to let most of our classmates, the good ones, just die. That's what this means, right?"

Shogo moved his chin up and down slightly, nodding. "It's not easy, but yes. I don't know if it's going to be most of the class, though."

They fell silent for a while. Shogo lit another cigarette. He smoked too much. And he was a minor.

Then Noriko said, "Hey wait." Shuya looked back at Noriko. "You said we might escape if everyone else dies, but we could also run out of time, if no one dies for twenty-four hours "

"Yeah," Shogo nodded. "That's correct."

"In that case, I guess your plan wouldn't work."

"That's right. But I highly doubt that'll happen. Besides, if everyone can really get along and agree to my plan then they're totally welcome. But I doubt that'll happen. So there's really no need to worry about it. Apparently only 0.5% of the national Programs have ended due to time expiration."

Shuya blurted out, " Apparently'? How would you know?"

"Hold on." Shogo again made a pushing gesture with his hands to stop Shuya. "We have more urgent matters at hand. You haven't asked me what my plan is."