Battle Royale

Shogo quickly took out another larger bottle from the cardboard box. He placed it on the small desk nearby, prepared another syringe, and looked over at Shuya. "It's not easy to diagnose septicemia. To be honest I can't tell whether this is from septicemia or just a cold. Antibiotics are pretty potent, and that's why we're testing this on her, but the fact is my experience and knowledge is pretty limited, so injecting her with this syringe could be pretty dicey. On the other hand..."

Holding Noriko's hand, Shuya waited for him to continue.

Shogo took a breath and continued, "If she is suffering from septicemia, then we have to treat her as soon as possible. Otherwise, it'll be too late."

Fifteen minutes passed by quickly. In the meantime, Shogo checked her pulse again and took her temperature. The thermometer read 39 degrees Celsius. No wonder she could barely stand.

Shuya couldn't tell the difference between the two adjacent marks from the syringes. Shogo also appeared to reach the same conclusion and took the larger syringe.

Crouching down slightly, Shogo asked, "Noriko. Are you awake?"

Noriko answered with her eyes shut, "Uh huh..."

"I'll be honest. I don't know if you're suffering from septicemia or not. I think you probably are."

Noriko nodded slightly. She must have been able to follow Shuya and Shogo's conversation moments ago.

"It's all right...go ahead."

Shogo nodded and inserted the syringe, this time deeply. He injected the liquid and removed the needle. Then he wiped her arm with the cotton and told Shuya, "Hold this."

Shogo took the empty syringe and walked over to the sink to toss it away. Then he came back.

"Now she's got to sleep. You look after her for a while. If she looks thirsty, you can use the whole bottle."

Shuya said, "But that's—"

Shuya shook his head.

"Don't worry. I found a well behind the building. As long as we boil the water we can drink it." Shogo left the room. Shuya turned towards the bed. With his right hand pressing the cotton swab and his left hand gently holding Noriko's hand, he watched over her.

22 students remaining

42

Noriko fell asleep almost immediately. Shuya checked to make sure she wasn't bleeding from the shot, then he tossed the cotton swab, tucked her arm under the blanket, and left the room.

The doctor's living quarters was beyond the waiting room next door. There was a kitchen at the end of the hall on the right. Shogo was in there. The gas stove next to the sink wasn't operating, but on it was a large pot filled with water, and under it a pile of charcoal was glowing red.

Shogo was standing on a table, looking through a built-in ceiling cabinet across from the sink. That's when Shuya noticed for the first time that Shogo was wearing New Balance sneakers. He'd assumed they were some domestic brand like Mizumo or Kageboshi. New Balance! He'd never seen them before!

Whatever. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm looking for food. I found some rice and miso, but nothing else. The vegetables in the fridge are rotten."

Shuya shook his head. "You're stealing."

"Of course I am," Shogo said dryly and then added while he continued rummaging, "Forget about it. Just be ready. Anyone could show up at any moment. If the machine gun shooter shows up, we'll be dead. So be ready."

Shuya replied, "Yeah, all right."

Shogo jumped off the table. The New Balance shoes squeaked against the floor. "Is she asleep?" he asked. Shuya nodded.

Shogo pulled out another pot from under the sink, walked up to the plastic rice container in the corner, and poured rice into the pot.

"So you're boiling rice."

"That's right. Noriko won't recover eating that terrible bread." Shogo scooped up a bowl of water from the bucket on the floor and poured it into the pot. He combed through the rice and only changed the water once. Next to the boiling water, he placed several pieces of charcoal from his day pack onto the other burner, then took out a pack of cigarettes and emptied them into his pocket. Then he crumpled the pack, lit it with his lighter, and stuck it into the charcoal. Once the charcoal was lit, he put the lidded pot of rice on the burner. It was an impressive sight.

"Damn," Shuya said.

Shogo took a break as he lit up a cigarette and looked at Shuya.

"You'te so good at everything."

"Yeah?" Shogo answered lightly. But something else flashed through Shuya's mind. The moment Kaori Minami was murdered...you know what's going to happen but there's nothing you can do to stop it. Slow motion. Kaori spins around and the left side of her head's blown off. It was blown away, did you see that?...If it had been Shogo instead of Shuya, the outcome wouldn't have been so horrible.

"Are you still bummed about Kaori?" Shogo said. Once again, Shogo's psychic powers were on. The sunlight doesn't reach this far inside, but that didn't seem to affect him.

Shogo shook his head. "Don't let it get to you. It was a bad situation. You did your best."