............
[October 29th (Friday) 01:12 pm]
More than an hour had passed since the king's game order had arrived. The faces of students in the classroom had a deep color of fatigue. Everyone stood still without moving a single step. Iwamoto is by side of Takaaki's broken neck, his knees and hands on the floor, a pale lips trembling.
Yumeto wiped the sweat from his palms with his trousers while moving his gaze from side to side. In front of the podium, several female students stand close together. I wonder if they saw the king game email at that place, they're gripping smartphone in their hand.
...This is bad. Everyone is tired and someone will surely make noise. However....
Yumeto's throat swelled.
...If someone makes noise, I will be saved too.
Everyone seemed to be aware of that. A male student that sitting in the hallway side was glaring at his classmates, with eyes that looked like they were enemies of his parents.
His eyes were malicious, as if to force someone making a sound and telling them to be sacrificed. Yumeto realized that the boy was Seiichiro Fujiwara. Seiichiro is a few centimeters taller than Yumeto and has a well-proportioned face. He's physically thin, but you can see his muscular arms through the sleeves of his shirt, as if he's in an athletic club.
Seiichiro looked at Yumeto. Feeling something like strong hostility, Yumeto hurriedly averted his gaze.
--I don't like his eyes. I didn't realize it yesterday though.
Yesterday, Yumeto didn't talk to Seiichiro. It was partly because his seats were far away, but partly because Seiichiro didn't feel like actively conversing with the transfer student. The fact that Seiichiro has formed his own group centered around him is also a factor.
Yumeto took a deep breath, paying attention to the sound.
--Calm down. In this situation, there's no way Seiichiro-kun can do anything for me. No one can move due to the orders of the King's Game.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of sirens from outside. When I moved my gaze, several police cars were approaching from the other side of the school gate.
--The police! The police found out that King's Game is being played.
The police car stopped in front of the school gate, and several men came out from inside. From in front of the school gate, the men are looking up at the classroom where Yumeto and the others are. Apparently, he doesn't want to enter the school grounds.
Yumeto's eyes widened when he saw the men's mouths moving.
――Well.... Since the target of the king's game is our class, he's not a problem over there even if he makes noise. No, he might not have been infected with the Keludo virus before that.
I could see the town below through the cracks in the broadleaf trees, but they seemed undisturbed.
――Then, when did we get infected with the Keldo virus?
Yumeto remembered the broken vase on the teacher's desk.
――That's it. Hideyuki, the chairman of the committee, said that there was something like a glass container inside the vase. Among them is the Keldo virus... But is that really possible?
First, how did you get the Keldo virus?
Many questions popped up in my confused brain.
――No, now is not the time to think about such things. Concentrate and just make no noise.
Yumeto shook his head while wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. His classmates are staring at the school gate with eyes like they praying. I guess they hopes the police will do something about the situation. Some female students were desperately holding back their tears.
――The fact that the police came means that the government must also be working. If they use a program that can control the Keldo virus, it shouldn't be impossible to cancel the order. Until then, if everyone doesn't make any noise, there won't be any more casualties.
Yuna sitting on a chair is reflected in his eyes. Yuna twisted her body and looked out the window. Her flank hits the edge of her desk and leans slightly. The cloth pencil case on her desk was slipping and moving with her.
――It's bad! Yuna-san will be punished if that thing falls!
The pencil case slides off the edge of the desk. At that moment, Yumeto's body moved. He rises quickly from his chair and stretches his arms as far as it can go. Yumeto's body leans as soon as his right hand grabs the pencil case.
Yumeto fell off his chair with a loud thud.
"A·····"
Grabbing Yuna's pencil case, Yumeto looked up. His classmates stared at Yumeto with dumbfounded faces.
Yumeto stiffened and closed his eyes tightly. The image of himself with his broken neck popped up in his mind.
――Am I dying? Right now, in this place...
The sound of something snapping echoed through the classroom, and Yumeto opened his eyes. In front of him stood a schoolgirl with her head bent at a right angle.
"Ah..."
The girl student moves forward like a broken robot. Her hands, which were hanging loosely, twitched, and she fell forward.
A female student is lying in front of Yumeto, who is lying on his side. Her eyes, which had lost their luster, reflected Yumeto's face, who had forgotten how she was breathing.
"Wh...why?"
Yumeto muttered in a hoarse voice while holding his neck with his hand.
"I'm going to be punished..."
"Yuriko-san made the sound first."
The chairman, Hideyuki, got up from his chair and answered Yumeto's question.
"Yuriko-san's emotions were running high. She must have leaked out her sobs when the police came. It's a shame."
"I see....so I didn't get punished..."
Yumeto lowered his head and looked at Yuriko. Yuriko was dead with a startled expression on her face. She may not have been aware that she made the sound. Her wide eyes were filled with tears.
Seeing Yumeto and Hideyuki conversing, the other classmates also let out their voices. A male student takes a deep breath and rises from his chair.
Female students hugging each other while crying. There was a mixture of screams and cries.
"Can we talk now?"
"Yeah. Three people got punished."
"Oh, you saved me. I was saved."
"Hahahaha. I survived."
"Yumisu, Yumiiiii!"
The voices of his classmates overlap and reach Yumeto's ears.
"Yumeto... Kun...."
Yuna approached Yumeto, who had collapsed.
"I didn't notice the pencil case. If Yumeto hadn't grabbed the pencil case, I would have died. Thank you."
"Ah, no, you don't have to worry about it. It's not a big deal."
Yumeto answered while handing the pencil case to Yuna.
"Actually, I was planning to grab it without falling."
"You saved me even though your life was in danger."
"No, I wasn't thinking about anything at that time. I just thought it would be bad if the pencil case fell."
"Even so, there is no doubt that Yumeto-kun saved my life..... a...."
The expression of Yuna who lowered her head becomes cloudy when she sees Yuriko.
"Yuriko-san..."
"Is she your friend?"
"…..She wasn't as close as friends, but she was in the same group. She was in the tennis club, and she always practiced on the court until dark."
Yuna slowly looks around her classroom.
"Yumi-san was in the art club. Takaaki-kun was in the cheering squad."
"I see·······"
"They died under the punishment of the King's Game, didn't they?"
"Yeah. I can't think of anything else. Suddenly breaking their neck like that."
Gritting his molars hard, Yumeto turned his gaze to his dead classmates. He didn't feel sorrow that much. That's probably because he hasn't interacted with the three of them yet. Still, there was a sharp pain deep in his chest.
――Perhaps, you might have become friends with everyone who died.
At that moment, I heard a man's voice outside the window. A young man in a suit is standing in front of the school gate with a loudspeaker.
"Akaikeyama High School 2nd year class A, I am Daiki Miyauchi from the Saitama Prefectural Police. Calm down and listen to what I have to say!"
A squeaky voice is heard from the loudspeaker.
"A little while ago, an email was sent to the prefectural police from a person claiming to be the king. According to the content of the email, you may have been infected with the Keldo virus. Please do not leave the school building until the correct information is known."
Yumeto moved to the window with his classmates. Their large truck is parked behind Miyauchi, which has a loudspeaker, and men in white protective suits move around nearby. The open school gate was closed and sandbags were piled up.
"What is that? Then you can't go home?"
Yohei, who was next to me, slapped the window frame with his palm.
"What are the police thinking? Aren't they going to take me to the hospital?"
'they are going to lock down the school'
Yumeto clicked his teeth.
"There aren't many houses near the school, and it's dangerous to move us around."
"Dangerous?"
"It means that there is a possibility that the Keldo virus infection will spread around."
Iwamoto twitches the corners of his lips to force a smile.
"Everyone calm down! Either way, there's nothing we can do."
"Sensei, I have something I want to ask you."
Hideyuki stood before Iwamoto.
"You received the paper from Yohei earlier, didn't you? Isn't that related to the King's Game?"
"Ah....."
Iwamoto takes out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
"Isn't this a prank..."
The classmates who were nearby raced to check the letters written on the paper.
"I will become king and punish us..."
Hideyuki's murmur caused his classmates to make a fuss.
"Hideyuki-kun, does that mean we have a king among us?"
"There's a non-zero chance of that."
Hideyuki replied without looking away from the paper.
"From the content, there is no doubt that it is related to the King's Game. So it was the person who wrote this paper and infected us with their Keldo virus. I'm guessing that they put a test tube containing Keldo virus in the vase earlier. By breaking it, they spread it throughout the classroom..."
"Why you're just calmly reasoning!"
Suddenly, an angry voice rang out and the desk fell over. When Yumeto moved his gaze, he saw a large male student breathing heavily in front of the collapsed desk. The male student had broad shoulders and was over 180 cm tall. His hair is short and his face is tanned.
"Who is it?"
The male student looked around at his classmates with glaring eyes.
"You're in here, aren't you? It's the bastard who infected us with the Keldo virus."
"Don't be silent! , say something!"
"It's Impossible, Ryuji."
Seiichiro, who was glaring at Yumeto earlier, put his hand on the boy's shoulder. Seiichiro twisted his lips with a grin and tilted his head slightly.
"They wouldn't do something like this if they're going to give their name here. There's no doubt that they're serious."
Seiichiro glances at Yumi's corpse lying at his feet.
"But you're an idiot. I don't know who you are, but you'll never get out of prison. No, if you kill three people like this, you might get the death penalty even if you're a minor."
"It might die more."
A female student stood up from her chair with her semi-long hair swaying. All eyes are focused on the female student. The girl student had a beautiful face. She has plump double eyelids, plump lips, and thin eyebrows. She is about 160 cm tall, but her legs are long and well balanced. Like a top class idol.
Seiichiro moves his larynx and approaches the female student.
"What do you mean by dying more? Narumi."
The girl called Narumi slightly narrows her eyes and opens her lips.
"It means that the King's Game may still continue."
"The King's Game continues? That's not true, right? The Japanese government has a program that can control the Keldo virus."
"Yes. I think it was 'Nano Queen' ."
"Then, even if we're infected with the Keldo Virus, it should be fine, right?
Seiichiro moved his gaze as if asking his classmates for their consent.
"I heard that the orders of those who survived in Hokkaido were lifted with that program, I don't know about what the life expectancy of them though"
"That's why it's a problem. That information, everyone who lives in Japan knows it, right? In other words, even the king knows it."
Narumi glanced at the paper Iwamoto was holding.
"If you knew the government would get in the way, I don't think you would have given an order like this. You could have ordered us all killed at once, but they ordered us to kill only three."
"Just....three..."
"If you're in the position of the king. First of all, aren't you the ones the king really wants to kill most?"
Seiichiro's eyebrows twitched at Narumi's words.
"Tch... To tell you the truth, it wasn't our fault that Tomoki killed himself. He committed suicide on his own will. He's really annoying"
"Isn't it better not to speak ill of Tomoki-kun too much?"
"Why? Because of Tomoki, we got caught up in the king's game!"
"It means that the king doesn't think so. They think we all killed Tomoki-kun, even It's unintentional."
Narumi shrugs her shoulders and sighs.
"And the king was on good terms with Tomoki-kun. Otherwise they shouldn't be doing this"
"So what is it!"
"You still don't get it? Swearing at Tomoki-kun might hurt the king's mood."
"Ah..."
Seiichiro's mouth moved like a goldfish. Seeing that, Narumi chuckled.
"Looks like you finally got it. I don't mind if the king resents you and gives you outrageous orders, but it's a nuisance if you get me involved."
"Um...…You think we're going to receive orders again, right?"
"It's possible. Anyway, it's better not to worry about it just yet."
"Yes...."
Hideyuki interrupts their conversation.
"Certainly, it would be better not to make careless remarks on this occasion. But I don't think there is a king among us."
"Hmm? In other words, what was written on that paper was a lie?"
"At least it's suspicious that there's a king in this place. I think they're trying to make us fight each other like that."
"Hmm... I see. Chairman."
Narumi licks her upper lip with her pink tongue.
"But I think there is no doubt that the king has something to do with Tomoki-kun. That's the only reason that our class has start playing the King's Game, right?"
"Well, the possibility of someone related to Tomoki is high. His parents and siblings should be checked by the police."
"Oh, that's good. Iwamoto-sensei."
Narumi called out to Iwamoto.
"Give the paper to the police. If all goes well, then maybe we'll find a king"
"Ah, that's right."
Iwamoto folded the paper he was holding and headed for the door.
"Okay! You guys wait here! I'll talk to the police."
"Yes. Good luck."
Yohei let out a voice of admiration when he saw Narumi smiling and waving her hand.
"Narumi is so calm. As expected of Queen"
"Queen?"
Yumeto put his face close to Yohei's ear.
"What does that mean?"
"She's the queen of our class. You can tell by looking at her appearance, but Narumi has become a reader model. She is also the leader of the upper class of the school caste."
"What is school caste?"
"Hey hey. Don't you know? It's about the class system."
Yohei pointed to two shivering female students hugging each other in front of the classroom.
"The short girl with twin tails is Wakaba Suzuki. Iori Shirakawa is a Japanese beauty type girl with long hair. Also, the male member, Hisashi Yukihara. So, the three members plus leader Narumi are the top group of them. How do you know they're the best?"
"...Appearance?"
"Narumi is of course, but Wakaba is a loli-type girl, and Iori is the second most popular among boys after Narumi. I don't think it's a coincidence that they are gathering."
"Are there other groups?"
"Yeah. Seiichiro Fujiwara is the leader of another group. Ryuji Matsunaga, who just knocked over his chair and went on a rampage, and several others. I think it's best not to get involved with them"
Yumeto's eyebrows twitched at Yohei's words.
"What does that mean?"
"It's the group that caused Tomoki to commit suicide."
Yohei lowered his voice and turned his gaze to Seiichiro.
"Tomoki was bullied by their group. They forced him to look into the girls' locker room and made him eat dead cicadas."
"Isn't that....such a terrible thing?"
"We also stopped their bullying when we found it. But you can't always find it. I think there was bullying outside of school too."
"Didn't it become a problem when Tomoki-kun committed suicide?"
"They got into a fight. It seems that they told Tomoki's parents that there was no bullying at school. Of course, I don't think his parents would agree with them."
"That's true"
"Even after Tomoki committed suicide, they are the ones who want continue to bully someone. You should be careful too. Because what they're after is single people who aren't in other groups."
"Are there still other groups?"
Yohei's jaw moved at Yumeto's question.
"Chairman… It's Hideyuki's group."
"Yohei-kun is in the chairman's group?"
"No. I'm single, but I'm not alone. I just feel like I want to keep my distance from any other group. But I'm quite a sociable man. That's why I'm calling out to you, the transfer student, right?"
Hideyuki approaches Yumeto and the others while they are talking.
"Yohei, Yumeto, can you help me? I want to move Takaaki and the others to the next classroom, At this rate, everyone won't calm down."
"Ah...Yeah."
Yumeto hurriedly replied. Youhei, who was next to me, also sighed and shook his head.
"Huh..., Are we going to get caught up in the king's game again? And this time, it's even limited to our class. Damn it!"
Hearing Yohei's words, the expressions on the faces of his classmates stiffened.
More than four months have passed since the king game involving high school students all over the country. At that time, high school students were desperate to survive. It was the same with Yumeto.
Will that nightmare begin again?
.............