Tadakatsu once again looked around and then quickly moved his hands to the front.
By then Mitsuko had already snuck up behind him. The back of his head, with short spiked hair, was right in front of her. She raised the sickle.
She heard someone from behind say, "Whoa," and Tadakatsu suddenly turned around, along with Mitsuko. She (of course) put the sickle down and looked back at the speaker behind her.
It was Yuichiro Takiguchi (Male Student No. 13). He was shorter than Tadakatsu and had a cute, boyish face. He held what appeared to be his weapon, an aluminum bat, in his right hand and stared at Mitsuko, his mouth agape.
Tadakatsu saw Mitsuko and also said, "Whoa," and then muttered, "Damn," and pointed the gun at her.
Seeing how Yuichiro's appearance didn't surprise him, Mitsuko realized they were together. Mitsuko cursed herself. Tadakatsu had left Yuichiro just to take a piss. How stupid could I have been not to check! Come on, you're both boys, can't you just pee next to each other!?
This wasn't the time or place to lecture them. Tadakatsu's revolver (which, although it hardly mattered, was a Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum) was pointed directly at Mitsuko's chest.
"Tadakatsu! Stop it!" Yuichiro said, his voice trembling, probably from her sudden appearance and his fear of seeing someone get killed in front of his very own eyes. Tadakatsu looked like he was ready to pull the trigger at any moment, but his finger on the trigger stopped a fraction of a millimeter before the hammer fell.
His gun still pointed at Mitsuko, Tadakatsu looked over at Yuichiro.
"Why!? She just tried to kill me! Look! A sickle! She's holding a sickle!"
"N-no." Mitsuko croaked as if her words were stuck in her throat. She made sure her voice was high-pitched and trembling, and of course, she didn't forget to flinch her body back. Once again, the star actress had a chance to show off her talents. Watch me now.
"I-I…"
She thought of dropping the sickle, but decided not to, since it would look more natural holding it.
"I was just trying to call you. Then I-I realized you were peeing, so I…" Mitsuko looked down and made her face blush. "So…"
Tadakatsu didn't lower the gun. "You're lying! You were trying to kill me!" His hand holding the gun was trembling. He'd restrained himself from shooting her because he'd never shot someone. The moment he saw her he probably would have fired reflexively, but now that Yuichiro had intervened he had time to think and hesitate. And that meant…
…he would lose.
"Stop it, Tadakatsu," Yuichiro pleaded with him, "Didn't I already say how we have to join up with others—"
"You got to be kidding." Tadakatsu shook his head. "There's no way I can be with this bitch. Don't you know who we're dealing with? She might have been the one…who killed Yumiko and Yukiko."
"N-no…I would never…" Mitsuko made her eyes brim with tears.
Yuichiro said frantically, "Mitsuko isn't carrying a machine gun. She doesn't even have a gun."
"We can't know for sure! She might have tossed them once she ran out of bullets!!"
Yuichiro fell silent for a while, but then said, "Tadakatsu, you shouldn't raise your voice." His voice sounded different from before. It was calm and kind. Tadakatsu opened his mouth slightly as if he'd been caught off guard.
Mitsuko was also a bit surprised. Yuichiro Takiguchi was into anime. He was the otaku of their class, but now he sounded quite dignified.
Yuichiro shook his head. "You shouldn't be so indiscriminately suspicious," he continued as if admonishing Tadakatsu. "Think about it. Mitsuko might have sought you out because she really trusted you."
"But then…" Tadakatsu knit his brows. His gun was still pointed at Mitsuko, but the tension of his fingers on the trigger seemed to wane. "Then what do you suggest we do?"
"If you insist she can't be trusted, then we can take turns keeping an eye on her. I mean, even if we were to tell her to leave, you'd still be worried she might attack you later when she has the chance."
Well, I'll say, I'm impressed. He's sharp and articulate. I mean, putting aside whether he's making a good call (which in fact would be to shoot me now).
Tadakatsu then licked his lips a little.
"Come on. We need more people on our side. And then we have to figure out a way to get out of here.
Once we spend some time with her we'll see whether we can trust her, right?" Yuichiro insisted and finally Tadakatsu nodded, still eyeing her suspiciously. He said in a tired voice, "Well, all right."
Making herself look relieved, she let her body unwind. She rubbed her left hand against her eyes deliberately filled with tears. Yuichiro let out a sigh of relief too.
"Get rid of that sickle," Tadakatsu said, and Mitsuko immediately tossed it to the ground. Then she nervously alternated glances at Tadakatsu and Yuichiro.
Tadakatsu said, "Search her, Yuichiro." Mitsuko looked back at Tadakatsu, her eyes opened wide as if she didn't understand. Then she looked at Yuichiro who stood still in astonishment. Tadakatsu repeated himself. He aimed the gun at her. "Hurry up. Don't be so bashful. This is a matter of life and death. You know that."
"Okay…all right." Yuichiro put his bat down and reluctantly came forward. He stood right beside Mitsuko.
"Hurry," Tadakatsu insisted.
"Uh huh."
His dignified manner was gone now. He'd gone back to being his usual weak otaku self.
"But—"
"Hurry!"
Yuichiro said, "U-uh, Mitsuko, I'm really sorry. I really don't want to do this, but I have to," and he ran his hands lightly over her body. Even in the dim light at dawn, she could tell his face had turned bright red.
How cute. Of course, she didn't forget to act all embarrassed too.
After he was done searching, he lifted his hands. Tadakatsu said, "Look under her skirt too."
"Tadakatsu—" Yuichiro protested, but Tadakatsu shook his head.
"I'm not trying to get my rocks off. I just don't want to die."
So Yuichiro blushed even more and said, "U-uh, I was wondering, could you lift your skirt up a little?"
Oh my, let's not have a heart attack here, little boy.
But Mitsuko only answered in a meek voice, "O-okay," and lifted her skirt bashfully again up to where her underwear was nearly visible. Geez, this was turning into one of those adult videos titled Fetish Special! Starring Real Junior High School Girls!
I've actually been in them.
After making sure Mitsuko had nothing to hide, Yuichiro said, "I-I'm done."
Tadakatsu nodded and said, "All right. Yuichiro, I want you to tie up her hands with your belt."
Yuichiro gave Tadakatsu another reluctant look, but Tadakatsu refused to give in, aiming his gun at her.
"Those are my conditions. If you can't accept them, then I'll shoot her now."
Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, then at Tadakatsu, and licked his lips. Then Mitsuko said to Yuichiro,
"Yuichiro, go ahead. It's all right."
Yuichiro looked at Mitsuko, but then nodded, pulled out his belt, and held Mitsuko's hands. "I'm sorry, Mitsuko," he said.
Tadakatsu still pointed his gun at her, and said, "You don't have to be so polite with her," but Yuichiro seemed to ignore his warning as he gently wrapped the belt around her wrists without saying another word.
As she innocently offered her hands, Mitsuko was thinking how lucky, in spite of the situation, she was to have been discovered right before lifting her sickle. (She had also wiped the blood off the sickle earlier.
Now that's luck.)
Now then, what's my next move?
16 students remaining
56
"So that's how I thought we had to seek other classmates," Yuichiro said and stopped, glancing at Mitsuko. Dawn had already broken, and she could see how his face was grimy with dirt.
They were sitting next to each other in the shrubs. Of course, Mitsuko's hands were tied up with the belt, and her sickle was tucked in the back of Yuichiro's pants. Tadakatsu Hatagami was in a deep sleep. He still held onto his gun which he had in fact tied to his hand with a handkerchief.
After she ended up with this duo, Tadakatsu was the one who insisted on taking turns sleeping.
"I agree we have to find others, but let's get some sleep. We've been up all this time. We'll lose our ability to make sound judgments." Once Yuichiro agreed Tadakatsu said, "First, it's going to be Yuichiro or me.
Then Mitsuko can sleep after us," and Yuichiro responded, "I can sleep later," so the order was decided.