Shuya looked at her. "What were you planning on doing?"
Yukie shrugged. "I thought it was hopeless. We were just discussing whether we were better off trying to escape or staying here a little longer. But we haven't made any decisions."
Shuya then realized he'd forgotten to ask something else he'd forgotten. "How did you guys get together?
All six of you?"
"Oh," Yukie nodded. "I went back to the school, and I called on everyone."
Shuya was surprised. "When?"
"That would have to be right after you and Noriko ran away. Actually, I saw Kazushi Nüda run…I really wanted to get back in time to contact you, but anyway, that's how I saw…those two dead right in front of the school entrance."
Shuya raised his brow. "Yoshio was only unconscious, right?"
Yukie shook her head. "I wasn't able to get a close look…but he looked dead at that point. There was an arrow…stuck in his neck."
"Then Kazushi—"
Yukie nodded. "I think so."
Shuya then asked, "Weren't you scared there'd be others like Yoshio?"
"Of course the thought occurred to me…but I just couldn't come up with any other option other than forming a group. So I went to the woods in front. I figured if I hid there I wouldn't be seen. And if I was, then that was just too bad."
Shuya was deeply moved. He had to look after Noriko, who was injured, but still, he'd passed on the others and ran away. Hiroki Sugimura said he'd waited for Takako Chigusa, but he was a guy, and he also practiced martial arts.
"Wow. I'm amazed, Representative."
Yukie smiled.
"You call Noriko by her name, but with me it's 'Representative,' huh?"
Shuya didn't know what to say. "Oh well—"
"Don't worry, it's all right."
A smile flashed across her face. Then she continued a little sadly, "Then Yuka Nakagawa came out…and I called her."
"Were you able to convince her right away? Don't get me wrong—I think you have a good reputation."
"Oh, well." Yukie nodded. "I didn't come back alone. I was really shaken up at first, but I just had to come back, and on the way back, I totally lucked out, I found Haruka. You know how Haruka and I are best friends.
Shuya nodded. Haruka Tanizawa and Yukie were both on the volleyball team.
"I talked to Haruka. When I told her we should go back she resisted at first, but we had weapons. I had a pistol in my pack. When Yuka heard the two of us call she managed to trust us."
After some consideration, Shuya mentioned that "rule": "But…you can't necessarily trust someone who's paired up in this game."
Yukie nodded. "Yes, that turned out to be true."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we decided not to have boys…sorry…we discussed it and decided boys could mean trouble. So we let them go, and then there was Fumiyo—" Yukie stopped. Fumiyo Fujiyoshi (Female Student No.
18) had died before their departure. "After her came Chisato. So there were five of us. We also called on Kaori Minami but…"
Shuya filled in the rest, "She ran away."
"Yes, she did."
Shuya realized he hadn't told her that he'd seen her die. He thought of telling her—but decided not to.
Now that Kaori's killer Hirono Shimizu was also dead, it didn't seem relevant and besides, it wasn't a pleasant memory. Also, as awful as it sounded, he couldn't afford to waste any more time talking about the dead.
"So Yoshimi reacted the same way as Kaori?" Shuya uttered the name of the last female student seat number, Yoshimi Yahagi, along with Kaori's and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Names of the dead. Both of them. Both… of…them. Jesus. The smiling face of the man in the black suit made a sudden appearance in Shuya's mind. It'd been a while. Hey there, Shuya. So you're still alive? You're a tough one.
"Well…" Yukie looked away from Shuya and pursed her lips. She squinted. "That was different."
"How so?"
Yukie took a deep breath. "I said we should call on her. But some of the girls protested. You know Yoshimi was friends with Mitsuko. They couldn't trust her."
Shuya fell silent.
Yukie said looking away. "So she's dead. We let her die."
Shuya said, "No, you're wrong."
Yukie looked back at Shuya.
"It was beyond your control. It's no one's fault."
He knew it didn't sound very convincing, but that's all he could say .
Yukie grinned wryly and sighed. "You're kind. You've always been so nice."
They nearly fell silent, but then Shuya had to say something, "You should have called on Shinji." Yukie's group could have at least called on Shinji Mimura, who was at the tail end of the student list. "He could have been trusted."
Yukie sighed again. "I thought so too…but Shinji didn't have a very good reputation…among the girls.
You know, he was kind of a playboy. And his intelligence was kind of intimidating. You know how he intervened when Noriko was injured? One of the girls said that might have been calculated."
It was the same explanation Shogo gave when he mentioned he'd seen Shinji.
"Before we could decide, Shinji was gone." Yukie shrugged. "In any case, we'd decided against boys. So we didn't call on Kazuhiko either."
That's right. Kazuhiko Yamamoto, who went out with Sakura Ogawa, who despite his good looks was kind and unpretentious, and therefore must have been popular with the girls. Yukie's group decided against contacting him too, though. And given this policy, it was only to be expected there'd be some friction over taking in Shuya here.
Shuya realized Yukie only accounted for five of them. She hadn't mentioned Yuko Sakaki (Female Student No. 9).
"What about Yuko? You haven't mentioned her."
Yukie nodded and looked back at Shuya. "That was luck too. We came here yesterday morning…Nice fortress huh? Last night, I think it was around 8 p.m., Yuko just stumbled by here. She was totally terrified."
Yukie stopped as if she had something else to say. Shuya was about to ask her what was wrong, but Yukie continued, "…in any case, everyone knows Yuko. So it wasn't a problem."
That summed up her account. Shuya thought of asking more about Yuko Sakaki but decided not to. If she'd been alone until last night then she might have encountered something horrible. Did she survive someone's attack, or did she see students killings each other, or did she come across a corpse torn up from fighting?…
Shuya nodded slightly several times. "I get it now."
"There's one thing I don't get," Yukie said. "It's not a big deal but…Hiroki was saying he needed to see Kayoko Kotohiki, right? And that was why he didn't join your group."
Shuya was worried about him ever since he summarized his situation to Yukie. Hiroki was still alive and so was Kayoko Kotohiki. Did he manage to find her?
"He had to see her. I wonder why."
Shuya shook his head. "We didn't ask. He was in a hurry. We were wondering too—"
As he spoke Shuya couldn't help but wonder, did Hiroki manage to find Kayoko Kotohiki? If he did then—
Shogo's voice suddenly returned: "This sound is your ticket out of here. If you're up for it, you can come aboard our train."
Shuya opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, "The bird call."
"What?"
Shuya looked over at Yukie. "I know a way we can join Noriko and Shogo."
"Really?"
Shuya nodded. Then he struggled to move his body. He could explain later. "I have to contact him now. I have to get going."
"Hold on," Yukie stopped him. "You need to rest."
"I can't. The more I lie around—"
"I said hold on. You might want to listen to the girl who's in love with you." She managed to say this as she blushed a little with a playful smile. "We took you in here because even if you woke up you wouldn't be able to move. Your sudden burst of energy might terrify some of the girls."
Shuya's eyes opened wide. But then again it made sense. That was probably why the other girls let Yukie stay with him alone here.
Yukie continued, "In any case, just stay put for a while. I'll tell them everything you told me. I'll insist you and Shogo can be trusted and convince them. As for contacting him and Noriko, I can't let you do that alone. That's just too dangerous. I'll discuss that with them too. So you just stay here." Then she asked him, "Can you eat?"
"Yeah."