Battle Royale

After eating awful bread and water for breakfast, Takako decided to wait until 1 p.m. to leave the house. She'd been hearing what sounded like gunshots ever since the game started and hid in a corner of the abandoned house, but now she thought staying cooped up like that wouldn't do any good. She had to join up with someone—at least a friend she could trust—and proceed.

Of course it was possible friends she trusted wouldn't trust her. But...

Takako was a beautiful girl. Her upward-curving eyes were a little fierce-looking, but they matched with her sharp chin, well formed mouth, and nicely defined nose, all of which gave her an "aristocratic" look. Her long hair was dyed with orange streaks, which might look odd at first, but with her jewelry—which included earrings, two in her left ear, one in her right, designer rings on the middle and ring fingers of her left hand, a total of five bracelets on her wrists, and a pendant made from a foreign coin—she managed to assert her own look that made her all the more attractive. Her teachers didn't really approve of her hair and gaudy jewelry, but she got good grades and because she was the track team's star sprinter, she never got directly criticized. Basically Takako was very proud. She wasn't going to be bound by the silly school rules that the other girls followed.

Whether it was—unfortunately enough—because of her beauty, or her pride, or whether it was because she was simply shy, Takako didn't have many close friends in her class. Her best friend was Kahoru Kitazawa, whom she'd known ever since elementary school, but she was in another class.

But...

But there was someone in her class whom Takako could trust. The student wasn't a girl, though. She'd known him since they were kids.

And with him in mind, she couldn't help being preoccupied by something.

When she left the school building Takako thought someone who'd left before her might come back. In that case, she'd have to leave with extreme caution. And it was best to leave the school by foiling the assailant's expectations.

When she came into the hall, she peeked outside through the exit door. There were woods in front of her, and a hill on the left. The area to her right was relatively open. The assailant, if there was one, would have to be hiding in the woods or in the hill.

Takako stayed down as she left the building and dashed to her right, staying close to the school building wall. The track star let her mighty legs cut loose. She didn't even have to think about it. She ran down the street through a cluster of houses and into a narrow alley. Then she ran toward the base of the southern mountain. All her energy was focused on getting away from the school and finding somewhere to hide. But...

What if there had been someone in the woods or in the hill in front of the school who had no intention of attacking her? In other words...what if..."he," who'd left before her, had hid in the woods or the mountain, had been waiting for her? Maybe she'd lost her chance by running out of there at full speed?

No.

She didn't think so. What else could she have done? Anyone hanging around the school was jeopardizing his or her life. They had known each other since they were kids— it was nothing more than that. They had remained decent friends through all these years. She thought it was presumptuous of her to think that he—Hiroki Sugimura (Male Student No. 11)—would risk his life waiting for her.

The important thing was finding someone now. Finding Hiroki Sugimura would be ideal, but she knew that was too optimistic. She'd settle for the school representative Yukie Utsumi or some average girl. As long as she was careful not to get shot, she could calm them down....If they were calm already, that would be even better (although the thought of someone calm under these circumstances was a bit scary too). To find that someone...that was all she could do for now.

The one thing she knew not to do was to raise her voice. She had proof of that, now. From the abandoned house Takako had also seen Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano die on top of the northern mountain.

So Takako decided to leave the abandoned shack where she was hiding and climb up to the peak of the southern mountain. Once she was there, she'd descend the slope by circling the mountain, checking for anyone hiding in the bushes. She could throw pebbles at the bushes just as she'd been doing ever since she left the shack. Once she figured out who it was she could decide whether or not to approach that person. At noon Sakamochi had announced that the area around the peak of the southern mountain would become a forbidden zone at 3 p.m., but as long as she didn't run into any problems she'd be able to completely survey the area before then. Also, if there was anyone in the area then he or she would have to be out of there by 3 p.m. She'd have a better chance locating someone on the move.