Another new POV. This chapter’s an interesting one, serving as a counterpoint to the terrible bit with Yoshimi.

Takako Chigusa (Female Student No. 13) stuck her head out from under the shadow of a tree trunk. She was halfway up the eastern side of the island’s southern mountain.

That means she’s between H4 and H5. H3 will be forbidden in a couple hours, so she’s fine, but it seems like she’s in an area likely to have traffic.

Her weapon is an ice pick, and she’s also a good runner. She’s been hanging out in a decrepit shack that was pretty well hidden. The house doesn’t appear to have been all the way back in H3.

now she thought staying cooped up like that wouldn’t do any good. She had to join up with someone

Although she does mention Of course it was possible friends she trusted wouldn’t trust her. Which is a surprising way of thinking.

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.

So she’s quite the free spirit, which I think counts for more when you’re in such a repressive society.

Despite this, the book says she’s also shy, which kind of makes sense – people who do their own thing can be doing it because they can’t really fit into the standard mold. She does have a best friend, but she’s in another class.

Luckily, there is someone she’s close to in this class, a boy she’s known since they were little.

Takako actually seems pretty together. She’s the first one to consider the possibility of being ambushed outside the door. She assumes they’d be hiding in the hill or forest, so she sprints through the open area to her right instead. Afterward, though, she wonders if maybe her friend was waiting, but then she decides probably not, since waiting would be a risk too.

She thought it was presumptuous of her to think that Hiroki Sugimura (Male Student No. 11) would risk his life waiting for her.

Of course we know that Hiroki is currently wandering around looking for two girls, so probably he would.

She’d prefer him, but she’s not going to be picky. Yukie would be nice or any of the other regular girls.

As long as she was careful not to get shot, she could calm them down

Like I said, she really seems to have things together. She knows other people are going to be panicking but doesn’t see that with the same finality as other characters seem to.

She also knows not to make noise. Like, it seems, basically everyone, her hidden little house still had a window looking out onto where Yumiko and Yukiko were standing on the northern mountain. But impressively, she’s decided to leave anyway and head for 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.

Ah, so she’s actually hoping for the increased traffic to help her out. Clever.

She’s not completely chill. The collar around her neck is really freaking her out and feels suffocating, but she can’t do anything about it.

Suddenly she heard a rustling sound. Someone’s head popped out of the bushes, approximately ten meters to her left. She could see the back of his coat and the back of his head. Its hair was slightly disheveled but still smooth. His head turned left and right checking the area.
Takako froze. She was in trouble. It was a guy. Guys were trouble. She had no particular reason to think so, but she had a hunch anyone besides Hiroki Sugimura was trouble. And she could immediately tell this guy was not him.

The manga makes it explicit, with Sakamochi encouraging the boys to rape. The book is more subtle about mentioning it, but it’s a distinct undercurrent so far in all the girls’ decisionmaking. The girls have all wanted to join up with other girls, and the group of girls earlier explicitly try to convince Kaori it’s safe because it’s only girls. The reasoning hasn’t factored into any of the boys’ decisonmaking, in contrast, except possibly Shogo’s, who’s probably more aware of it after living through one set of games and may have had it on his mind when he saw Noriko was safely with Shuya.

Anyway, Takako recognizes the boy as Kazushi, the one who accidentally killed Yoshio.

Oh man, why did I have to bump into this jerk?

And, it seems, is enough of a jerk to stand out in a class that involves two different delinquent gangs.

She decides to run off, but he calls to her to wait. She stops, reasoning that if he had a gun he’d have shot her, and that the shouting is dangerous.

When he reaches her, though, she notices he’d got the bowgun.

Should she have stopped?
No. Takako reassured herself, she’d done the right thing. Kazushi Nuda was a forward on the soccer team. Top athletes like him were as fast if not faster than track runners. Even though Takako was a star track runner, he’d have eventually caught up with her.

Well, perhaps. But you might have lost him or he might have given up rather than risk it. And I’m not really convinced a soccer player would be better than someone whose whole sport is running.

But as you say – Either way it was too late.

She wonders what he wants. Maybe he thinks he’s trustworthy and wants to join up…but she can’t stand him. So I suppose it’s a mirror of her own statement about finding people she can trust but not being able to trust her.

To put it bluntly, she couldn’t stand his kind of chumminess. She also couldn’t stand his arrogance. They’d been classmates ever since their first year in junior high. (Hiroki became her classmate in second-year.) Without putting much effort into them, Kazushi was above average in grades and sports, but in spite of that or maybe it had nothing to do with that his immaturity really stuck out. He tried to impress others, and when he’d screw up he’d come up with some lame-ass excuse. Furthermore, and this was really stupid, but when they were first-year students, there were rumors that she and Kazushi were going out. (Junior high kids don’t have anything better to do. Well, let them say what they want.) Every time the rumors got going again he’d go to her desk and touch her on the shoulder (how dare he) and tell her, “There’s a rumor floating around about us.” Takako would turn away and brush his hand off with the reply, “Oh, I’m so honored.”

Back then, she could just brush him off without really worrying. That’s not true now.

Takako spoke cautiously. She had to get away from him as quickly as possible. That’s what it came down to.

She’s under no illusions about the direction this is going to go in.

I’m torn about this chapter. On the one hand, from a practical standpoint she’d have been better trying to go along with his whole be-my-girlfriend thing. On the other hand, it’s really satisfying to see her refuse and the complete breakdown of the Nice Guy thing.

Takako didn’t mess around with her response. Get to the point, cut to the chase. Her best features. “The fact is, I don’t want to be with you.”

He wants to know why. She gets ready to run.

He points the bowgun at her.

“I don’t want to resort to this,” Kazushi said.

Well then. Takako thinks that this is what she hates so much about him.

“So you better stay with me.” he tells her, his eyes glued to where her skirt is torn.

“Give me a break. You expect me to join you with that stuck in my face?”
“So you promise not to run away?”

She tells him to put the gun down. He asks again if she won’t run, and she says again to put it down, so he finally does.

Then he assumed a smug tone as he said, “I’ve always thought you were fine.”
Takako raised her well defined, elegantly arched eyebrows.
She was exasperated. After threatening her life like this, he has the nerve to say I’m fine!

The book gives her a lot of this kind of description. It then goes on to have Kazushi stare more at her legs.

“So I won’t kill you. Just stay with me.”

Saying no of course gets the bowgun aimed at her again. She says stop it, he says stay, she says no. She demands to know what he wants.

He says he’ll protect her so she should stay and she’ll be safer with him.

“You’ve gotta be joking. You have the nerve to threaten me like that and say you’ll protect me? I can’t trust you. Get it? Can I go now? I’m going.”
Kazushi replied, “If you move I’ll shoot you.” He aimed the bow gun directly at her chest.

He starts talking about how she must be a virgin because he bets Hiroki is too much of a wuss to sleep with her.

Takako is far too angry to feel afraid. She says yeah but It’s none of your business, asshole!

And then.

Kazushi continued, “We’re gonna die anyway. Don’t you want to try it once before you die? I’d be a good partner.”

Takako is so stunned she laughs. Which seems particularly fitting given one of the descriptions of dating is that women face the fear of assault while guys consider being laughed at the greatest crime.

Then she says again that she’s leaving.

I don’t want to be with you. Just put that down and leave me alone. Otherwise, I’ll take it that you’re going to kill me. All right?”
Kazushi didn’t move his bow gun. Instead he raised it up to his shoulders and threatened her, “This is my last warning. You better obey me, Takako.”

Takako actually finds this freeing. She’s tried to resolve this peacefully and politely. Now she goes on the offensive.

“I see. So you just want to rape me. Right? You think dying gives you the right to do anything?”
Kazushi glared back at her. “That’s not what I said…”

But as she knows, it’s what he means.

“Right now, you might want to worry more about your life than about your lame-ass dick.”
Kazushi’s face suddenly flushed. His mouth twisted as he spouted off, “Shut up! You really want to get raped?”
Takako grinned and answered, “So the truth comes out.”
“I told you to shut up!” Kazushi repeated. “I can kill you if I want, you know!”

He then brags that he killed Yoshio, and says that it’s a game and this is how it works. She thinks he’s just a coward, but also that if he did make it to the end and had the chance, he’d kill the other person and just make an excuse for it.

I understand now. So whether it was by consent or by raping me you were going to fuck me and then kill me. As long as you could survive by having everyone else including myself die? I see. Did you calculate how many times you could fuck me too?
Her spine tingled with disgust and fury.

She asks if he’s ashamed. He asks if she wants to die. She says to shoot her, then throws a handful of pebbles into his face and takes off.

It doesn’t work. He shoots her through the leg before she can get out of sight.

Seeing her sitting there, he tossed aside the bow gun and took out a pair of short sticks chained together

The nunchucks are Mayumi’s weapon, and the books adds that the one Kazushi was actually given was a shamisen, basically a banjo. Apparently they’re often made with dog or cat skin, cat skin being the higher quality version. Weird, Japan.

But back to the really creepy – there’s only one reason he’s exchanged one weapon for another, and it’s not a good one.

“It’s your fault,” Kazushi said, panting. “You provoked me.”

She just glares and pulls the arrow out. She dropped her bag while she ran, but she’s still carrying the ice pick.

“Don’t do it,” Kazushi said. “It’s no use.”
She tilted the ice pick sideways, pointing it at his chest. “You said this was a game, right? Fine. I’ll be your opponent. I won’t lose against an asshole like you. I’ll give everything I have to erase your existence. Got it? Do you understand? Or are you too stupid?”
But Kazushi still seemed at ease. He was probably thinking how she was a girl, and what’s more, injured, so he couldn’t lose against her.
“I’ll say it again,” she continued, “Don’t even think of raping me after beating me to a pulp. Look, little kid, you should worry more about your life than your dick.”

And that gets him to attack. She does a pretty good job of blocking and dodging, but she’s already badly injured and he manages to disarm her and then crack them against her skull. Then she kicks his knee and when he goes down, she jumps on his back and uses her long nails to gouge out his eyes. It’s graphically described. He tries to attack her, but blinded, there isn’t much he can do and he falls down again, at which point she takes the opportunity to stomp on his crotch. A bit unnecessary there, Takako. Grinning madly, she tries to crush his throat, then jams the ice pick in his mouth.

His arms which were struggling to pull at her leg suddenly froze. Takako pushed further. It sunk into his throat without much resistance. Kazushi’s entire body, from his chest down to his toes, then went into convulsions as if swimming the submariner. Then it stopped. The albino eyes still remained open, surrounded by a spider’s web pattern of gooey blood like running paint.

And it’s over.

She doesn’t feel anything but empty and in a lot of pain.

And then Mitsuko says her name.

She seems Mitsuko is carrying a gun and knows she has to escape.

“Are you all right?” Mitsuko asked. Her voice sounded terribly kind. She didn’t point the gun at her.

But it’s Mitsuko and she’s in terrible condition as well, so she’s cautious. Mitsuko compliments her managing to kill Kazushi and continues to sound very sincere when she says she’s really impressed by it.

“Say,” Mitsuko said. “You never went out of your way to impress me.”

Takako stares at her in confusion. She tells us this is true, she never liked the idea of sucking up to people, so she didn’t find Mitsuko intimidating like a lot of the girls.

At least, not then.

“I was always a little envious,” Mitsuko continued. “You were so pretty, and you were a better girl than me.”

The fact she’s speaking in past tense is immediately evident to Takako.

But…” Mitsuko’s eyes twinkled playfully. Now she was back to the present tense. “I really like girls like you. Maybe I’m a bit of a dyke. So it’s…”
Takako’s eyes opened wide. She turned around and began running.

I’m not entirely sure why she’s running, if it’s because she’s expecting to be raped or expecting to be killed. Either one makes sense.

I believe this is the first sign of real cruelty from Mitsuko, and I think it’s connected to the rest of her dialogue being some degree of true, although what parts mattered and how exactly she felt is harder to judge. She may have been jealous of another beautiful girl – or, given her backstory, resentful that Takako hadn’t suffered like she did. Takako being better than her in some way is probably the core of it, whatever that may mean exactly to Mitsuko.

I’m pretty sure the final bit is just harassment, although considering how screwed up Mitsuko is about sex, who knows for sure.

Takako makes it twenty meters before Mitsuko shoots her several times in the back.

Mitsuko put down the gun and said, “It’s too bad.”

Well.

So, like I said, I’m of two minds with this chapter. Provoking Kazushi wasn’t the smart thing to do, but at the same time I really like the way the story treats him as a result. And in the end, it doesn’t actually get her killed. She manages to kill him and quite brutally without any textual condemnation, and it’s only the addition of Mitsuko that proves beyond her abilities. It’s a very good counterpoint to Yoshimi’s chapter.

24 players remaining

Also, as you can see by the current count declining by only one, she’s not dead yet.

1 Yoshio Akamatsu: “the biggest kid in the class, the timid type, the kind of kid who’d always end up the target of pranks and insults.” Bowgun weapon, kills Mayumi, killed by Kazushi.
2 Keita Iijima
3 Tatsumichi Oki: jock, handball. Hatchet. Runs into Shuya and Noriko, attacks when Shuya reaches for a weapon and accidentally killed in the resulting fight.
4 Toshinori Oda
5 Shogo Kawada: Looks older than the rest, has facial hair already, transferred in, scarred. Shotgun. Saves Shuya and kills Kyoichi. Doctor skills.
6 Kazuo Kiriyama: Awesome. A sociopath who decides to play the game by flipping a coin. Possesses several guns. Kill count: 6.
7 Yoshitoki Kuninobu: Shuya’s friend since childhood, they grew up in the orphanage together. Killed for threatening Sakamochi.
8 Yoji Kuramoto: Seen briefly by Mitsuru. Yoshimi’s boyfriend, attacks her. Killed by Mitsuko.
9 Hiroshi Kuronaga: Part of Kazou’s gang. Killed by Kazuo.
10 Ryuhei Sasagawa: Delinquent. Part of Kazou’s gang. Bullied Yoshio. Had a younger brother. Killed by Kazuo.
11 Hiroki Sugimura: Tall and knows martial arts. Seems tough but is actually shy, likes Chinese poetry. Shuya’s friend. Close to Chigusa. Has a device that shows him when someone with a collar nearby, also armed with a staff. Searching for two girls.
12 Yutaka Seto: Class clown. Best friends with Shinji, joined up with him. Fork weapon. Had a crush on Izumi. Decides to take on the government.
13 Yuichiro Takiguchi
14 Sho Tsukioka: Part of Kazou’s gang. Escaped Kazuo’s massacre.
15 Shuya Nanahara: Main character? Minor but utterly harmless teenage rebelliousness. Popular with the girls.
16 Kazushi Niida: jock, soccer. Killed Yoshio by accident. Had a crush on Takako, tries to get her to stay with him and assaults her. Asserts he’s chosen to play. Killed by Takako.
17 Mitsuru Numai: Delinquent. Part of Kazou’s gang, pistol weapon, tried to keep Ryuhei from bullying Yoshio, believed himself Kazuo’s adviser. Killed by Kazuo.
18 Tadakatsu Hatagami: jock, Shuya’s friend when they were younger. ‘Shuya had started playing electric guitar, which was considered an “unpatriotic” activity. Tadakatsu’s mother was uptight about that sort of thing.”
19 Shinji Mimura: Shuya’s current friend. ‘short hair and wore an intricately designed ring on his left ear’, highly athletic, knows a lot of information, particularly about the outside world. Extremely cool under pressure. Best friends with Yutaka, joined up with him. Pistol weapon. Uncle probably part of the rebellion. Decides to take on the government.
20 Kyoichi Motobuchi: Class representative, dad’s a government official. Sees Shuya’s fight with Tatsumichi. Pistol. Killed by Shogo.
21 Kazuhiko Yamamoto: Sakura’s boyfriend. Gun. Commits suicide.
Females
1 Mizuho Inada: A friend of Megumi’s.
2 Yukie Utsumi: class representative, braided hair, Haruka’s volleyball teammate. The first one to speak after their abduction. Noriko’s friend. Not playing, joined up with Haruka, sees Kazuhiko and Sakura’s suicide.
3 Megumi Eto: Friends with Mizuho and Kaori. Had a crush on Shuya. Diving knife. Killed by Mitsuko.
4 Sakura Ogawa: Kazuhiko’s girlfriend. When she was young, she saw her father killed by the government. Commits suicide.
5 Izumi Kanai: ‘the preppy whose father was a town representative’. Killed by Kazuo.
6 Yukiko Kitano: Yumiko’s friend. Dart and dartboard. Crush on Shuya. Killed by Kazuo.
7 Yumiko Kusaka: Yukiko’s friend. Hand grenades. Crush on Shuya she’s hiding. Uses a megaphone to try to talk to the rest of their class and convince them to stop killing and join up with each other. Killed by Kazuo.
8 Kayoko Kotohiki
9 Yuko Sakaki: Sees Shuya kill Tatsumichi and runs away unnoticed.
10 Hirono Shimizu: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Tormented Megumi.
11 Mitsuko Souma: Delinquent group leader. “Even though Mitsuko had the gorgeous looks of a pop idol, she always wore a strange, listless expression on her face.” Has two knives, a pistol and a bowgun. Seems to have resented Takako. Kill count: 4.
12 Haruka Tanizawa: Yukie’s volleyball teammate, exceptionally tall. Not playing, joined up with Yuki.
13 Takako Chigusa: Close to Hiroki. Track star. Ice pick weapon. Rebuffs Kazushi and is attacked by him. Kills Kazushi. Shot by Mitsuko.
14 Mayumi Tendo: The first death in the game, killed outside the school.
15 Noriko Nakagawa: She has a crush on Shuya he’s unaware of and Yoshitoki has a crush on her she may be unaware of. She’s nice and likes literature. Suffering a leg injury.
16 Yuka Nakagawa: Yoshitoki says she’s fat. Class clown.
17 Satomi Noda : “model student who wore wire-rimmed glasses which suited her calm, intelligent face”
18 Fumiyo Fujiyoshi: Killed for whispering to Yukie. “She was the nurse’s aide. She was quiet but very caring.”
19 Chisato Matsui: always quiet and withdrawn
20 Kaori Minami: A friend of Megumi’s. Yukie asks her to join her group, but she was too afraid to do so. Pistol. Sees Hiroki briefly. Currently cracking under the stress of the games.
21 Yoshimi Yahagi: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Colt weapon. In love with Yoji. Killed by Mitsuko.