Now for a mammoth chapter. It’s back to Shinji and Yutaka.
Shinji is practicing dropping something to see if it pops. Presumably this is some part of detonation. He’s been fussing with it for a while, and Yutaka says they’ve got to get going. Shinji starts to get mad but manages to calm down before he snaps at Yutaka. Honestly, Yutaka’s probably right here.
He unhooked the lead wire connecting the battery and mini-motor which was used for the test and began peeling off the plastic tape attaching the motor unit to the battery.
I’ve kind of lost track of what all this is doing. Maybe it’ll get explained again later.
They’re in the farm shack place, which now is described at having a lot more stuff and being basketball-court sized. There’s plenty of fertilizer for Shuya’s bomb.
Setting the wire across sector G=7 where the school was turned out to be a hassle. First, Shinji tied the end of the wire to the tip of a tall tree behind the rock they’d climbed on. Then he took the other end and began walking between the trees, but then a gust in the upper region of the sky acted up, so guiding the garbage-bag balloons proved to be difficult. There were at least ten occasions where he had to climb up a tree to loosen the wire. On top of that, given how the enemy could be anywhere in the dark, he had to worry about Yutaka, so the endeavor ended up exhausting him.
He heard Kazuo’s attack, although he had no idea who was involved and he couldn’t have intervened anyway, so he just ignored it.
Finally Shinji began building the electric detonator, but this also turned out to be difficult. He didn’t have the proper tools, and furthermore the device required a delicate balance. Electric current had to run through the device at the moment of impact against the school, but at the same time he had to make sure it wasn’t so sensitive it’d be ignited in the middle of the rope cable by, say, a bump or knot in the rope. But somehow he managed to build it, using a motor (which he removed from an electric razor) instead of the detonator for the test.
Ah. So that’s what was going on.
It’s a pretty clever solution, and with how jury-rigged it is, it makes sense he’d be concerned about testing it. On the other hand, it’s midnight and Sakamochi announced that one of the areas they’re using will be forbidden in an hour, so they really do need to get a move on.
He sets up the real detonator and gets the gas and ammonium nitrate bomb. All this only gets them to 12:09 AM. Plenty of time, he figures.
The plan:
They would unravel the rope and leave it there and then go around the school, going up the mountain into F=7. He would take the wire tied to the top of the tree and reel it in immediately. The rope stuck to the wire would then come to them. He would proceed to attach the pulley to the gas-can gondola with the detonation device and thread the rope through it. Then he would stretch the rope taut with one swift motion and secure it to a tree.
And then they hit the school.
then they would take the tire tubes they’d already hidden behind the rock in F=7 and run towards the western shore, escaping by sea as planned. If they could mislead the government by sending a false SOS signal using their transistor radio and get to the next island, Toyoshima, in less than a half an hour as calculated, then they would take a boat. (He had experience with a motor boat. He was really appreciating all the wisdom his late uncle had imparted.) Then they would probably escape into Okayama, hopefully landing on an obscure shore, and then they’d be fine. They could take a freight train heading to the countryside. Or they would furnish themselves with a car passing by. After all, he had a gun. Carjack. Nice.
The only real issue with this plan is the distance the collars can be sensed. If the government can track them, then without actually removing the collars, they have no chance. (Also, the carjacking plan would clue the government in to the area they ended up at – Shinji really doesn’t seem to have much of an idea of how to stay hidden in the long term.)
He’s also got some more bottles full of the bomb fluid, so Plan B is to try to take out the guard ship and escape on that.
The only thing he’s a little nervous about is using the gun. He’s never fired one before. But everything else comes easy to him, so he figures it can’t be that hard.
Then Yutaka tells him the pulley’s missing and they freak out. They spend five minutes on this, until Shinji gets desperate enough to use the flashlight and they find it.
Shinji stops to think about how he doesn’t even know if this plan will work. He tells Yutaka they might die, but Yutaka’s okay with that.
Then someone else appears.
The figure shrieked, “D-don’t shoot! Shinji! Please don’t shoot! It’s me! Keita!”
Shinji is less than overjoyed.
Keita explains he saw the light and came to it. Yutaka is happy, while Shinji’s freaking out. He keeps the gun aimed at Keita, saying he can’t join.
Yutaka whined right beside him, “Why, Shinji? We can trust Keita.”
Shinji shook his head. Then he thought, that’s right, there’s something you don’t know about us, Yutaka.
It wasn’t a big deal. In fact it was a trivial incident.
See, last year he and Shinji were hanging out. He realized he’d forgotten something and left, and then a bunch of older kids tried to mug Shinji. Keita returned in time to see this happening, but just went back into the store and pretended to browse.
Shinji takes out the older kids easily, but he’s still mad that Keita was such a coward.
So it was a trivial story. And he’d never shared the incident with Yutaka.
But maybe trivializing a story like that one could get you killed in this game. This isn’t revenge, Uncle. This is what you’d call the real world. I simply can’t be friends with him.
Nothing in the story really suggests that Keita is a dangerous person to them, just that he’s someone you can’t rely on in a pinch. There really seems to be an element of anger to Shinji’s decision, that he’s still holding a grudge over what happened.
Keita drops his knife and starts crying and apologizing for running off back then, but Shinji thinks it might just be an act. And, he rationalizes, he’s responsible for Yutaka too. (It’s interesting to wonder how this would have played out if he didn’t have Yutaka to be concerned about, since he seems to be thinking he personally has nothing to worry about from Keita, but on the other hand, he’s in the middle of something he can’t afford to explain either way.)
So Shinji refuses. Keita keeps begging and starts coming toward them.
Shinji is really, really screwing up here, and it seems out of character. I guess the idea is that he’s too tired and stressed to think straight, but still, it doesn’t seem to occur to him to deflect things. Telling Keita to meet up with them elsewhere would have let him avoid the issue of not wanting to risk their plan, and if he really doesn’t trust the guy even to escape with, he can give him the wrong meeting point. Keita might refuse, but still, he’s more likely to go along with that.
Shinji shoots at his feet. Keita stops, then starts again.
If Keita was going to pull out something besides his knife, it would have to come from his right arm.
Can you aim well? This time it won’t be a threat. Accurately?
Of course.
There was no time left. Shinji pulled the trigger again.
He felt his finger slip.
He shoots Keita through the chest.
Yutaka runs over, but there’s nothing he can do. He starts shouting at Shinji, who says he just meant to shoot him in the arm in case there was another weapon. Of course, there isn’t.
Yutaka demands to know if Shinji’s whole escape plan was a lie.
Shinji starts having a long internal monologue ramble about how that doesn’t make any sense, concluding with the realization that Yutaka must have suspected him a little this whole time, when he never suspected Yutaka at all. So he throws him the gun and says that if Yutaka doesn’t trust Shinji, he should shoot, and that he shots Keita because he wanted to protect Yutaka.
And then Yutaka runs over to him and they both cry.
Yutaka. I was trying to protect you. How could you suspect me? I trusted you…but then again, maybe Keita Iijima felt the same way. How horrible to be suspected by someone you trust. I did an awful thing.
And before we can consider how once again, they’re undone by fear of each other, there’s the sound of a machine gun.
Shinji is shot and fatally, but it’ll take a while for him to actually die. He grabs for the gun and fires at Kazou, but doesn’t hit. Yutaka may be already dead.
So, there’s nothing left to do but try to use the bomb. He throws the pieces together and sends it rolling toward Kazou, running away to try to shield himself from the blast. And it works, blowing up the room.
Shinji looked over to the edge of the parking lot where Yutaka was lying…
…when he saw the overturned light truck’s door—it must have been busted—open with a dull creaking sound. (He could hear it faintly. Some of his hearing seemed to be coming back.)
Kazuo Kiriyama stepped down onto the ground. He held the tin-box-like machine gun in his right hand as if nothing had happened.
Yup, Kazou is pretty much unkillable.
Shinji felt like he should burst out laughing.
It really is kind of absurd, but Shinji is nearly as exaggerated as Kazou, so this seems a more fair turn of events than with Yumiko and Yukiko, who were just ordinary people making the sort of attempt any regular kid could have.
Shinji is sprayed with more bullets. He’s still just barely alive.
Kazuo Kiriyama’s Ingram burst out once again and Shinji’s thoughts came to an end. The bullets had torn apart his cerebral cortex. Near his head, the cracked front windshield was now shattered, most of its fragments sliding into the car, but some of the finer mistlike particles fell on Shinji’s body already covered with dust and debris.
Shinji slowly fell forward on his face. Debris bounced up on impact. It took less than thirty seconds for the rest of his body besides his brain to die. The memento of his beloved uncle—the earring worn by the woman he loved—was now stained in blood running down Shinji’s left ear, reflecting the glow from the building now consumed in red flames.
Well. That’s that.
So yeah, this entire subplot was basically a long fakeout. I’m not that much a fan of it – Shinji’s skills are just too over the top, it lends the whole thing a cartoonish property. It does have some parallels with the main group (Shinji’s long rant about how the idea he’s tricking Yutaka makes no sense brings to mind how very differently Shogo’s been handling things) and I do like that Shinji’s characterized well enough that he ends up struggling with the weight of stress and fatigue – it’s very, very rare for books to consider that. I think it’d have been better if his skills were just scaled back as much as possible.
17 students remaining
Well, we’ve winnowed down the cast sharply there.
This marks the end of the second section. From now on, it’s the final stretch.
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: Shinji’s former friend who he’s been avoiding since he proved to be cowardly. Wasn’t playing. Shinji shoots and accidentally kills him.
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: Bulletproof vest. Strangles Hirono, gets her gun.
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. Attacked but failed to kill Shuya, Noriko and Shogo. Kill count: 9.
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 Takako. Has a device that shows him when someone with a collar nearby, also armed with a staff. Searching for two girls, one of which was Takako and the other is Kayoko.
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. Killed by Kazou.
13 Yuichiro Takiguchi
14 Sho Tsukioka: Part of Kazou’s gang. Escaped Kazuo’s massacre. Gay. Had a gun. Stalked Kazuo, tricked into a forbidden zone and killed.
15 Shuya Nanahara: Main character? Minor but utterly harmless teenage rebelliousness. Popular with the girls. Killed Tatsumichi. Attempted to stop Hirono and Kaori’s shootout, failed. Escaped Kazou but fell off a cliff.
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. Shot and accidentally killed Keita. Killed by Kazou.
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: The other girl Hiroki is looking for. “The one who, in spite of being into tea ceremony, seemed more playful than elegant”.
9 Yuko Sakaki: Sees Shuya kill Tatsumichi and runs away unnoticed.
10 Hirono Shimizu: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Tormented Megumi. Killed Kaori in a shootout, left Shuya alone. Shot Toshinori but failed to injure him and was killed.
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. Hiroko knows she murdered Takako and passed the message on to Shuya’s group.
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. Found by Hiroko shortly before she dies, tells him Mitsuko killed her.
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. Currently severely ill.
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. Cracking under the stress of the games. Killed by Hirono.
21 Yoshimi Yahagi: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Colt weapon. In love with Yoji. Killed by Mitsuko.