Battle Royale

Yutaka Seto (Male Student No. 12) was running frantically down the slope. He was on his hands and knees, so he was actually crawling through the bushes. His size-S black school coat covering his small body had nearly turned white from dirt. His large eyes had a childish innocence to them, but right now the class clown's face was contorted with fear. After he'd left the school building and up until a few moments ago, Yutaka Seto had been hiding out in the bushes near the northern peak, in other words approximately fifty meters below from where Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano were calling to everyone with their megaphone.

Although he was at an angle from them, Yutaka could see them clearly. He kept on hesitating, deliberating over what he should do, but finally right when he decided to join them, he heard the sound of distant gunfire. He thought he could see the two look in the opposite direction from him. Then as he hesitated over whether he should go check it out, within a matter of ten or twenty seconds he heard the sound of rapid-typewriter-rattling gunfire and Yumiko Kusaka's amplified shriek. He saw her fall. Then Yukiko Kitano was also shot down.

They were probably still alive at that point. But Yutaka just could not bring himself to come out and rescue them. After all—he was a born jokester, fighting was just not his thing, and on top of that, his supplied weapon turned out to be a fork, the normal kind you would use to eat spaghetti. Then he heard a gun being fired twice, somewhere beyond his sight. He knew then that the assailant had finished off Yumiko and Yukiko.

The moment he realized this he took his bags and slid down the side of the mountain. I'm the next target! I know it! After all I'm the nearest one!

All of a sudden Yutaka realized he had created a cloud of dust all around him. Oh no! No! This sucks! This blows more than your mama! Hey, now's not the time to come up with stupid jokes!

Yutaka then changed his approach, keeping his palms (his right hand held the fork, so it was clenched) and shoe soles on the ground to make sure his body wouldn't slide down the slope. He felt the skin of his hands scraping away, but he didn't care. Damn, if someone saw me now they'd think it was funny. Ladies and gentlemen, the Human Beetle.

After moving forward like this for several minutes Yutaka finally stopped. Slowly he turned around. Through the trees he could make out the summit where Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano had been killed, but it seemed far. Everything was still. He strained his ears. There was no sound.

Did I escape? Am I safe now?

As if answering his own question, something dug into his shoulder.

Yutaka froze up with fear and shrieked, "Aieee!"

"You fool!" Someone hissed as the grip on his shoulder relaxed and instead a clammy hand covered Yutaka's mouth. But Yutaka was completely oblivious to this voice, utterly convinced he was caught by the killer, and swung the fork in his hand in a fit of fear.

The fork made a clacking sound and stopped there—For some reason, nothing happened. Yutaka nervously opened his eyes.

The figure in front of him was wearing a school coat. He'd blocked the fork with his large automatic pistol (Beretta M92F). He held the gun in his left hand. Given their respective positions, and the fact that he had his right hand over Yutaka's mouth, Yutaka's fork would have stabbed him pretty deep if he were right handed. But this guy was left handed. And there was only one left handed guy in Class B.

"That was dangerous, Yutaka."

The front of his wet-looking hair was styled with gel. His eyebrows rose at a sharp angle, and beneath them were his piercing but humorous eyes. Finally there was the earring in his left ear. It was Yutaka's best friend, "The Third Man," Shinji Mimura (Male Student No. 19), grinning at him and gently removing his hand from his mouth. Stupefied, Yutaka lowered his fork. Then he finally yelled out, "Shinji! It's you Shinji!"

"You idiot!" Shinji Mimura hissed at Yutaka, and once again shut Yutaka's mouth while he shouted from relief. Then he let go and said, "This way. Don't say a word. Just follow me," and walked ahead of him into the low bushes.

As Yutaka followed him, dazed, he gradually saw how he had descended from the top of the mountain to the more level area below. Within a matter of minutes he'd covered a good distance.

Yutaka then glanced at Shinji Mimura's back. But then he was suddenly overwhelmed by a horrible idea and felt weak in the knees.

Maybe Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano were killed by...Shinji? Then the killer chasing Yutaka would be him! But then why hasn't he killed me yet? I mean, come on, I always thought of him as my best friend, and Shinji knows that. If we're together, Shinji could, for instance, have me keep watch and help him increase his chances of survival. Then, when we're the last two left, Shinji could kill me. Wow, what a great idea! If this was a video game, that's what I'd do.

You jerk! What are you thinking!?