Battle Royale (Remastered) by Koushun Takami

Author:Koushun Takami [Takami, Koushun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781421565989
Amazon: 1421565986
Goodreads: 18280791
Publisher: Haikasoru
Published: 2014-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

21 students remain.

45

Noriko stirred, then opened her eyes. It was past seven in the evening. Her unfocused gaze drifted across the ceiling of the now dim room. Then she looked at Shuya by her side.

He half rose from the stool he’d pulled over and removed the damp cloth from her forehead. He placed his hand where the cloth had been. Just as when he’d checked not long before, her fever was nearly gone. Inside himself, Shuya let out a sigh of relief. Thank you. Oh, thank you.

“Shuya,” Noriko said, still sounding a bit dazed, “what time is it?”

“Past seven. You got some good sleep.”

“Oh.”

Noriko slowly sat up in bed. Shuya took his hand off her forehead and helped her sit up.

She said, “I⁠ ⁠…”

Shuya nodded. “Your fever broke. Kawada says it probably wasn’t sepsis. Just a really bad cold. You were exhausted.”

That seemed to put her at ease. She slowly nodded, then turned to Shuya. “Sorry⁠—to be so much trouble.”

“What are you talking about?” Shuya shook his head. “It’s not your fault.” Then he asked, “Can you eat? We have rice.”

Her eyes widened. “Rice?”

“Yeah. Just wait here a moment. Kawada cooked some up.” Shuya left the room.

He stood in the kitchen doorway. Kawada was sitting on a stool, leaning back against the wall. The last traces of sunlight came in through the window, and motes of dust floated in the blue, almost indigo light, which didn’t quite reach the edge of the room where Kawada sat, leaving him submerged in near darkness.

Noticing Shuya, he asked, “Is Noriko awake?”

Shuya nodded.

“How’s her fever?”

“I think it’s gone. Her temperature hasn’t gone back up.”

Kawada gave him a slight nod, then stood, still holding the shotgun, which hadn’t left his grasp for one moment. He lifted the lid of the pot on the gas burner. The two boys had already filled their stomachs with rice and miso soup⁠—though all they had to add to the soup was some leaves from an unidentified plant growing in the backyard.

Shuya asked, “Has the rice gone cold?”

“Hold on for five or ten minutes. I’ll bring it in when it’s ready.”

Shuya thanked him and returned to the examination room.

He sat back down beside the bed and gave Noriko a small nod. “It’ll be a moment, but Kawada will bring you some rice⁠—actual rice.”

Noriko nodded, then said, “Is there a⁠ ⁠…bathroom here?”

“Yeah, uh, over this way.”

Shuya helped Noriko off the bed, and holding her arm, he guided her across the front waiting room to the bathroom. She was still unsteady, but this was a great improvement from the pain she’d been in before.

When she was ready, he escorted her back. She sat on the edge of the bed, and he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, as Ms. Anno used to do for him at the House of Mercy and Love when he was a little boy.

“After you’ve eaten,” Shuya said, pulling the edges of the blanket snug, “you should sleep a little more. We’ll have to leave here by eleven.”

Noriko stared at him.

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