章 72: 68
Kayoko Kotohiki (Female Student No. 8) was hugging her knees in the bushes. She was on the southern slope of the northern mountain, in sector E=7.
Evening was approaching, but the light coming through the bushes didn't change much. It just stayed dark. In the afternoon, the area was covered with thick clouds, and just two hours ago it finally began raining.
Kayoko wrapped a handkerchief around her head to shield herself from the rain. Thanks to the branches over her, the rain didn't hit her directly, but her shoulders were drenched. She was cold. And of course more importantly…she was terrified.
Kayoko had first hidden on the eastern side of the northern mountain peak, in sector C=8. So of course she witnessed Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano getting killed in front of her very own eyes. She held her breath. She knew that their killer was near, but she instinctively thought she would be risking more by moving. She stayed absolutely quiet. As noon and then night passed, she managed to avoid any attacks. She moved twice in accordance to the forbidden zone announcements. The second time she moved was immediately after noon today, because the southern side of the peak, sector D=7, was going to become forbidden at 1 p.m. So the northern mountain peak was now surrounded by three forbidden zones. Her allocated area was definitely shrinking.
She hadn't met anyone yet. She heard a lot of gunfire, sometimes in the distance, sometimes near. She even heard an explosion, but she just remained still and absolutely quiet. The announcement every six hours made it clear though, the number of her classmates was steadily diminishing. At noon there were supposedly fourteen remaining. And then there was more gunfire. Was it now just twelve? Or ten?
Kayoko put the heavy gun (Smith & Wesson M59 Automatic, manual included, but Kayoko of course could care less about the gun's name) down by her feet and massaged her right-hand fingers with her left hand. She'd been holding the gun all this time, and now the muscles in her fingers had gone numb. The palm of her hand was flushed red and imprinted with the gun-grip pattern. She was completely exhausted, both from sleep deprivation and the threat of attack. Because she was too scared to enter a house that might be occupied, the only food she ate was the bread and water that came supplied with her day pack. She was hungry and thirsty. Her water intake was grossly inadequate. She did her best to save the supplied water and only drank over a liter since the game began. If there was one good thing about the rain, it was that she could collect water by putting the recently emptied water bottle under a dripping branch, but it wasn't even a third full. She would intermittently remove the handkerchief from her head and wet her dry lips with it, but of course this did nothing to relieve her dehydration.
Kayoko let out a long, weary breath, combed back her short, shoulder-length hair, and took up the M59
again. She was in a daze.
As she sat, dazed, she thought of that face again. She kept on thinking of that face ever since the game began. He wasn't as familiar as her parents and older sister, whom she thought of as well, but he was very important to her.
She just began learning tea ceremony when she first saw "him" at an event conducted by the school where she attended tea ceremony class. It was the fall of her first year in junior high. Sponsored by a government park for an autumn holiday, the tea ceremony was held outdoors for tourists. The actual practitioners performing that day were all adults, so Kayoko and other students her age took care of menial tasks, like arranging outdoor seating and preparing biscuits. "He" was one of the masters of the tea ceremony.
He arrived around noon, much later that day. He was good looking, but he still looked boyish, as if he were still a college student. Kayoko thought, oh, this guy must be helping out too. But he addressed Kayoko's teacher (a 42-year-old woman) at her seat, "I'm sorry I'm late," took her place, and prepared the tea.
His preparation was very impressive. He handled the tea whisk and bowl incredibly gracefully, and his posture was impeccable. Despite his age, he didn't look odd in traditional clothes. Kayoko put her tasks on hold and was gazing at him when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw her senior in the Tea Ceremony Club at Shiroiwa Junior High, the one who'd invited her to attend the tea ceremony school.
"He's pretty hot, huh? He's the grandson of the headmaster. Well, to be more accurate, he's the master's mistress' grandson. I'm a fan too. I mean, basically I've been going to tea ceremony class just to meet him."
The senior informed her how he was nineteen years old, and how after graduating from high school he was already ranked as an "instructor" with many disciples. Kayoko's only reaction at the time was, Oh, he's from another world, so there're people like him. That was all but then…
She began spending more hours in front of the mirror whenever there was a tea ceremony school event, or whenever she knew he would be appearing as a guest in her class. Given her age she didn't use makeup, but she did wear her traditional kimono immaculately, kept a comb in her hair, and carefully inserted her favorite dark-blue hair clip. Her flowing brows, and although not very large, curved eyes, and although short, well-shaped nose, wide lips, nicely shaped at the center, she thought, sure, I might not be stunning, but I do look pretty mature....
The reason she fell head over heels for this man adored by adolescent girls to middle-aged women alike may have been pretty simple. After all, he was handsome and intelligent, cheerful and considerate, basically the kind of ideal man you hardly believed existed. On top of that, he apparently didn't even have a girlfriend.
Kayoko had two important encounters with this man (although from someone else's perspective they might not have seemed all that special).
The first one occurred at the tea school's demonstration ceremony the spring she became a second-year junior high school student. The ceremony was held at the headmaster's home in Shido-cho near Shiroiwa-cho. Almost immediately after the event began, there was a problem. A special guest, the central government's regional cultural representative, suddenly began complaining about the tea ceremony. It wasn't the first time. They were government officials who announced their "absolute loyalty to preserve the nation's absolute sanctity," but many of them in fact abused their power. Some would even request kickbacks in return for arranging increased national traditional arts funding which the headmaster would politely refuse, so this could have been a way to get back at them by stirring up trouble.
The problem was that the headmaster was absent because he was hospitalized. The heir who substituted for the headmaster and his heir were both so completely intimidated their incompetence could have led to the school being shut down. But the nineteen-year-old master saved the day. He took the belligerent official to another room, then returned alone and said, "The official has left. He seems satisfied now, so there's no need to worry, everyone."
He said no more, and the attending established members of the school also refrained from inquiring any further. As a result the rest of the ceremony proceeded smoothly. But Kayoko was concerned. Knowing him, he could very well have assumed full responsibility, saying something like, "I am in charge of today's ceremony," and if that were true then the official could get back at him by concocting a report and arranging his arrest for being a malign influence against the government (and as a result sending him to one of those "reeducation camps").
After the ceremony came to an end with no further interruptions, they began to clean up the area, and she waited for him to be alone. When he went to move the seat cushions, she decided to call on him. Sir…
He stopped, still holding the cushions, and elegantly turned around towards Kayoko. His sad eyes made Kayoko's heart race, but she managed to continue, "Is everything all right, sir?" He seemed to understand what she was getting at and broke into a smile. Then he said, "I appreciate your concern. It's all right though." Her concern was suddenly eclipsed by the thrill she felt in having her first real conversation with him.
Then she asked, "But…but that government official looked so mean, what if?…" But he stopped Kayoko and said something sophisticated, as if admonishing her. "That official doesn't necessarily get a kick out of doing what he does. I'm sure this kind of thing happens all over the world…but the way this country is…it twists people…We're supposed to strive for harmony and that's what the art of tea is supposed to accomplish… but it is very, very difficult to achieve in this country." Near the end, he almost seemed to be addressing himself. Then he looked back at Kayoko and continued, "Tea ceremony is powerless. But it's also not such a bad thing either. You should enjoy it while you can." He smiled kindly, turned, and proceeded to walk away. Kayoko was in a daze and stood still for a while. The unpretentious way he talked made her feel at ease…and even though she didn't completely understand what he was saying, it impressed her, and she thought, wow, he's so mature.
In any case, she might have made an impression on him because ever since that encounter he would always give her a warm smile whenever they met.
The crucial encounter occurred during the winter of her second year. Kayoko came out into the old temple garden of another tea ceremony and gazed at the camellia flowers there. (In fact, she was thinking about him again.) Suddenly she heard suddenly someone from behind say, "They're beautiful," in a transparent voice now familiar to her. At first she thought she'd imagined it, but when she turned around she couldn't believe he was there…smiling at her. It was the first time he addressed her without any reference to teaching tea ceremony or official duties.
And so they had a conversation.
"So you find tea ceremony interesting?"
"Yes, I love it. But I'm not very good."
"Really? I've been impressed with your excellent posture during your preparation. It's not just that your back is upright. There's a kind of intensity."
"Oh, no, I'm really no good at all...."
With his hands tucked inside his sleeves, he still wore his kind smile and glanced up at the camellia. "No, I really do mean it. Yes…just like those flowers. There's something strained…but there's beauty in that. Something like that."
Of course, she was still just a child, and he might have only been complimenting a hobbyist dabbling in the school's tea ceremony. But that didn't stop her from getting excited. Right on! (She snapped her fingers only later in the bathroom.)
From that point on Kayoko began to practice tea ceremony more seriously. She thought, I can do it. Of course, I'm still just a kid, but once I'm eighteen he'll be twenty-four. That would totally work.... And so that was her memory of him.
Kayoko buried her face into her skirt. A warm liquid which wasn't rain oozed into the area covering her kneecaps. Kayoko realized she was crying. Her hand holding the gun trembled. How could all this be happening?
She wanted so badly to see him now. Sure, she was still a kid. But in her own adolescent way, she really did love him. This was the first time she ever had serious feelings for someone. She wanted a single moment with him so she could tell him this much. She wanted to tell this person— kind enough to describe her as "beautiful" even if it was only referring to her tea ceremony skills—"I'm still a kid, so I may not understand what it really means to be in love. But I think I am in love with you. I really love you." Something like that.
Something rustled in the bushes. Kayoko looked up. She wiped her eyes with her left hand and got up. Her feet moved automatically and took a step back from the source of the sound. A boy in a school coat—Hiroki Sugimura (Male Student No. 11). His face and torso emerged from the bushes. The sleeves of his coat and shirt were torn off, revealing his right arm. The white cloth wrapped around his shoulder was stained with blood and—perhaps it was because of the rain—it oozed pink. And his hand was holding…a gun.
Hiroki's jaw dropped, but what really caught her attention when she saw his grimy face were his eyes. They were gleaming.
Kayoko felt a sudden surge of fear. How could she have not noticed sooner before he got this close, how—
"Kotohiki—"
Kayoko let out a shriek and turned on her heels. She entered the bushes. She didn't care about the branches scraping against her face and hair, or getting drenched in the rain. She just wanted to escape. If I don't… I'll get killed!
She made her way through the bushes. There was a twisting path approximately two meters wide. Kayoko instinctively decided to run down there. If she ran uphill, he would catch up, but if she ran down then maybe…
She heard a rustling sound behind her. "Kotohiki!" It was Hiroki's voice. He's coming after me!
Kayoko summoned all her strength from her tired body and ran as fast as she could. I can't believe this, I should have been jogging instead of learning tea ceremony if I'd known this was going to happen.
"Kotohiki! Stop! Kotohiki!"
If she had been calmer—that is, if this were a scene in a movie and she were in the theater watching the actor performing as she munched on some popcorn—then it would have been obvious he was pleading with her. But right now it sounded like he was saying: "Kotohiki! You better stop! I'm gonna kill you!" She wasn't going to stop. The path forked. She took the left one.
The area opened up on her left. Rows of tangerine trees spread out in the dull light coming through the silky rain. Beyond them was a thicket of short trees. If she could enter that area—
It's impossible, she thought. She had at least fifty more meters to get there. It was hopeless. While she struggled through the uneven rows of tangerine trees, Hiroki Sugimura would catch up to her and shoot her from behind with his gun.
Kayoko clenched her teeth. She didn't want to, but she had to. After all, he was trying to kill her. She stopped on her right foot and spun around to her left.
By the time she had turned around the gun was in her hands. That thing called the safety had been released ever since she'd read the manual. The manual said you didn't have to raise the hammer, all you had to do was pull the trigger. The rest was…up to her.
Less than ten meters away, Hiroki Sugimura stood still on the slope, his eyes wide open. It's too late. You think I won't shoot?
Kayoko extended her arms and squeezed the trigger. With a pop, a small flame exploded from the muzzle, and her arms jerked back from the recoil.
Hiroki's large frame spun around as if he were hit. He fell back.
Kayoko ran over to him. She had to finish him off, finish him off! So he wouldn't get back up again!
Kayoko stopped approximately two meters away from him. There was a small hole in the left side of his chest (she'd actually aimed at his stomach), and the fabric around it had turned dark black. But his sprawled right hand still held his gun. He still might raise it. The head. I have to aim for his head. Hiroki turned his head around and looked at Kayoko. Kayoko pointed the gun and pulled the trig—
She stopped…because Hiroki had tossed his gun aside. If he'd had that kind of strength he could have pulled the trigger. What was going on?
The gun spun around once and landed on its side.
Huh?
Kayoko stood still, holding the gun, her short hair drenched in the rain.
"Now listen." He lay on the messy path ridden now with puddles as he said painfully, somehow fixing his eyes on Kayoko, "You have to burn some fresh wood. Build…two fires. I have a lighter in my pocket. Use that…then you'll hear a bird call."
Kayoko heard him, but she had no idea what he was talking about. She had no idea what was going on. Hiroki continued. "Follow that bird call. Then you'll find Shuya Nanahara…Noriko Nakagawa, and Shogo Kawada. They'll help you. You got that?"
"Wh-what?"
Hiroki seemed to be smiling. He repeated patiently,
"Build two fires. Then find the bird call."
He awkwardly moved his right arm, pulled out a small lighter from his school coat pocket, and tossed it over to Kayoko. Then he painfully closed his eyes.
"Okay, now go."
"Whaaaat?"
Hiroki suddenly opened his eyes wide and yelled, "Go now! Someone might have heard the shot. Go!" Then as if fitting the pieces of a complex jigsaw puzzle into place, Kayoko finally managed to get it. This time she got it right.
"Oh…oh…"
She dropped the gun and fell on her knees beside him. She scraped her knees but she didn't care.
"Hiroki! Hiroki! I…I can't believe…I can't believe I did this to you!…" She burst into tears. Sure, there was something intimidating about Hiroki Sugimura. He seemed tough since he studied martial arts, plus he didn't talk much, and when he did he was always gruff. When he spoke to other boys, like Shinji Mimura and Shuya Nanahara, he would smile but otherwise he looked grumpy. She also heard he was going out with Takako Chigusa, and they looked so close. Kayoko only thought, I don't get Takako's taste, I wonder maybe if you're that pretty, you're attracted to someone intimidating. In any case…that was her impression of him. So in this situation where her classmates were being killed off one by one she was absolutely terrified of Hiroki Sugimura. But then…it turned out…
He closed his eyes again and said, "It's all right." He was smiling. He looked content. "I was going to die soon anyway."
Kayoko then finally noticed he had another wound on his side, soaked in liquid that wasn't rain.
"So…go now. Please."
Kayoko sobbed convulsively and touched his neck gently. "Let's go together. Okay? Stand." Hiroki opened his eyes and looked at her. He seemed to be smiling. "Forget about me," he said. "I'm just glad I got to see you."
"What?" Kayoko opened her tear-stained eyes wide. What? What did you just say? "What…what do you mean…" Her voice was trembling.
Hiroki exhaled deeply, as if to bear the pain, or maybe it was a long sigh. "If I tell you, will you go?"
"What? I don't get it. What do you mean?"
Hiroki said without hesitating, "I love you, Kotohiki. I've loved you for a real long time." Kayoko once again didn't understand Hiroki. What's he talking about?
Hiroki continued. He was looking up at the sky raining down on them. "That's all I wanted to tell you. Now…go."
Kayoko then uttered, "But I thought…you and Takako…"
Hiroki looked into her eyes again. He said, "You're the one."
She finally got it. She was blown away as if struck by a huge wrecking ball swinging from a demolition crane.
Love, me? You wanted to tell me…don't tell me you were trying to find me? Is that true? If so…then what did I just do?
Her breath was raspy. She kept on getting choked up, but finally she managed to cry out,
"Hiroki…Hiroki!"
"Hurry," Hiroki said and coughed out a mist of blood, spraying Kayoko's face. Hiroki opened his eyes again.
"Hiroki…I…I…I…"
Her body was supposedly dehydrated from lack of water, but the tears kept on gushing out.
"It's all right," Hiroki said kindly. He closed his eyes slowly. "Kayoko…" he called her by her first name as if it were a precious treasure. It was probably the first time he had ever called her by her first name. "I don't mind at all.. -dying because of you. So please, please go. Or else…" Kayoko kept on crying, waiting for Hiroki to continue. "Or else"?
Hiroki didn't say anything. Kayoko slowly reached out for him. She held his shoulders and shook them.
"Hiroki! Hiroki!"
In a TV drama when someone died their words would be cut off, like, "Or el—" but Hiroki managed to say in a painful but clear voice, "Or else." So there had to be more. Or else?…
"Hiroki! Hey, Hiroki!"
Kayoko shook his body one more time. Then she finally realized he was dead. Once she realized this, the dam restraining her torrent of emotions suddenly collapsed. A shriek was welling up inside.
"AHHH!" On her knees, Kayoko fell over Hiroki's body and cried. He loved me…he loved me so much he sought me out at the risk of being attacked. Any encounter could have led to an attack on him. In fact, the wound in his side…the wound on his shoulder… came as a result of him trying to find me.
No…there's more. Kayoko stopped sobbing for a moment.
I was the one who attacked Hiroki. At the very end, when Hiroki managed to achieve his goal. Kayoko shut her eyes and cried again.
He loved me…just like I wanted to tell "that guy" how I felt about him, Hiroki was thinking the same thing about me, looking for me. Someone in my class cared for me that much. And yet…and yet___
Suddenly, Kayoko recalled a scene. It was when they were doing their cleaning tasks. Kayoko was wiping the blackboard with a wet rag and when she couldn't reach the top, Hiroki, who had been slacking off, rested his chin against his hands that were holding the upright broom as if it were a cane, and said, "You're too short, Kotohiki." He took the rag from her and wiped the area she couldn't reach. The scene came back to her.
Why…why didn't I see how kind he was? How could I not notice how someone loved me so much? If I'd thought about it, I would have realized if Hiroki wanted to kill me he could have immediately shot me with his gun. But I couldn't tell. I wasn't able to understand. I am so stupid. I—
Another memory came flashing by.
When she was telling some of her classmate friends about "that guy," Hiroki, who was nearby looking out the window, muttered, "You're being foolish, getting so worked up like that." It made her mad at the time, but in fact he was right, she was being foolish. And yet…and yet Hiroki told her he'd cherished this fool.
She simply couldn't stop crying. She pressed her cheek against his warm cheek and continued to sob. Hiroki told her to go, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. I'm going to keep on crying, I'm going to cry over the dedication (it was irreplaceable) of this boy who loved me and my foolishness (I was such a kid thinking I was actually in the running for "that guy"), I'm going to keep on crying. Even if it was suicidal in this game.
You plan on dying with him? A voice whispered to her in her thoughts.
That's right, yes, I'm going to die with him. I'm going to die for the sake of Hiroki's love for me and my foolishness.
"Then why…don't you go ahead?" the voice said.
Kayoko suddenly trembled and turned around. She saw the long, beautiful, rain-drenched hair of Mitsuko Souma (Female Student No. 11), gazing down at her, gun in hand.
BAM BAM, two dry pops formed two holes in Kayoko's right temple. Kayoko's body then landed on Hiroki Sugimura's body.
Blood slowly began flowing out of the holes in her head. The blood continued flowing down her face against the rain washing it away.
Mitsuko lowered the Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum and said, "You really were a fool. You should have understood him."
Then she looked over at Hiroki's face.
"Long time no see, Hiroki. Are you glad you got to die with your beloved?" She shook her head, disgusted, and proceeded to walk forward to pick up the Smith & Wesson M59
Kayoko dropped and the Colt Government .45 (which had been Mitsuko's) Hiroki had tossed aside. She looked down at the intertwined bodies and put her finger against her lips.
"Now what was that about…building a fire?"
Then she shook her head. With her foot she brushed away Kayoko's skirt covering part of the M59 and reached for the blue gun, when she suddenly heard the rattling sound of an old typewriter.
6 students remaining
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