.......
Order 2
[Saturday, October 30, 11:53 am]
As 12 o'clock approached, the students gathered in the Class 2A classroom. Everyone is nervous and no one wants to speak. Yumeto sat in his seat and looked at the screen of his smartphone. I haven't received an email from the King yet. When I looked up, the other students were looking at the screens of their smartphones and mobile phones just like Yumeto.
After confirming that everyone had gathered, Iwamoto, who was on the podium, opened his mouth.
"I just spoke with the detective, but it seems that the king has not been caught yet."
The students faces stiffened at those words. Chairman Hideyuki let out a breath through his pale lips.
"So you're saying there's a possibility that you'll receive an email about the King's Game?"
"...Ah. I was told to act calmly at that time."
"Can we will be act calmly? No one can be calm in a situation where their lives are at stake."
"That's probably right"
Iwamoto laughed dryly.
"Even I, as a teacher, can't keep calm in the current situation.."
"Sensei..."
Librarian Hinako stood up from her chair.
"Isn't it possible that the email won't arrive? For example, the king was one of the three who died yesterday."
"I don't think so."
Hideyuki answered instead of Iwamoto.
"If the king was in the three dead, they would have known what the order was. In other words, the king wouldn't die on that order."
"...I.... I see."
Narumi smiled when she saw Hinako, who dropped her shoulders in disappointment.
"There's something about Hinako that's missing. Or is she the one who make her look like she's not the king?"
"Wh..., I'm the king? What are you talking about?"
"Because Hinako was the first that find vase with the Keldo virus in it, right? There's also the possibility of her performing, likes putting down the vase yourself and pretending to find it."
"There's no way I would do that! First of all, there is program called Nano Queen that can control the Keldo virus, right? I don't have a computer, so there's no way I can use that!"
"How about that? It's hard to make that program, but it should easy to use, isn't it?."
"...Do you really think I'm the king?"
Hinako let out a growl at Narumi question.
"Hmm. When you say like that, I don't think so. In that case, the other suspicious person is probably Seiya-kun.
"Eh? M...Me?"
A short boy sitting at the window seat pointed at himself with a surprised face. The boy was fair-skinned and wore big glasses. His delicate body was thinner than Yumeto's, giving him the image of being timid.
Seiya blinks his eyes behind his glasses.
"Why am I the king..."
"Seiya-kun was really good with computers, wasn't he? You have a lot of computers at home, right? I have a feeling you might be able to fool the police and send orders for the King's Game."
"Well, if it goes through a proxy server, the IP address will be difficult to understand."
"You see?, I don't know much about computer terminology, but you know a lot."
"Are you suspicious of me just because of that?"
"That's not all. I've seen it before."
Narumi licks her plump lips with her pink tongue.
"Seiya-kun, you were walking with Tomoki-kun in the shopping district in front of the station before. That was about a week before Tomoki-kun committed suicide."
"a...."
Seiya's face turns pale.
"At that time, I just happened to meet Tomoki-kun on the way home from school. Normally, when I meet my classmates outside, we just talk like that"
"Hmm. It's just a coincidence? Back then, everyone knew that Tomoki-kun was being bullied, so weren't you afraid to talk with him? You shouldn't want to be targeted by a group of bullies too, right?"
"Hey! Narumi"
Ryuji hits the desk with a bang.
"A bullying group, are you talking about us? The school has decided that Tomoki's suicide and the bullying weren't related!"
Seiichiro slaps Ryuji on the head as he lets out an angry voice.
"Calm down, Ryuji."
"But, Narumi, she talking like we bullied Tomoki."
"That's a fact."
"Oh, hey! Seiichiro..."
"No, I reflected about it too."
Seiichiro looked around at his classmates as he brushed his bangs on his neat eyebrows.
"I thought we were getting along well with Tomoki, like playing professional wrestling together, but he may have felt it was bullying to him. That's why I'm thinking of apologizing to Tomoki's parents too."
Everyone stared at Seiichiro with surprised faces.
"Don't make a strange face. We didn't mean to bully him, but it's true that Tomoki committed suicide. That means that we are also responsible for it. So if there's a king among us, let's just stop."
Seiichiro stretched his hands to the left and right, and smiled with a tense face.
"Even if we play the king game, Tomoki won't come back to life. Rather than that, it would be better for us to properly reflected and bow our heads in front of Tomoki's grave, right?"
At that moment, the smartphone on Seiichiro's desk rang. At the same time, other students smartphones and mobile phones also play ringtones.
While praying in his heart, Yumeto checked the screen of his smartphone.
[10/30 Sat 12:00 pm.
Sender: King
Subject: King's Game
Text: This is the King's game played by Akaikeyama High School 2nd year class A students and homeroom teacher Kazuyuki Iwamoto.
The King's orders are absolute, so be sure to obey them.
*Withdrawal is not permitted.
*Order 2: Hold a secret ballot with the whole class after 12 hours. Write on a piece of paper with a black pen the name of the person you want to live, and with a red pen the name of the person you want to die. Give +1 point to those whose names are written in black pen, and give -1 point to those whose names are written in red pen. Punish the person with the lowest score. END]
As soon as he finished reading the email, Yumeto exhaled heavily.
――After all, the king's game continues. And this order....
When I looked around, my classmates were staring at their smartphones and mobile phones with pale faces. Iwamoto, who was on the podium, was also staring at the LCD screen while shaking his hand holding the mobile phone.
"S-Sensei!"
Miki Maeda, the vice chairman, rushed over to Iwamoto.
"What are you going to do with this order?"
"Ah...no....."
Iwamoto wiped his sweat with his shirt sleeve.
"Anyway, calm down, Miki."
"Calm down?, with this order, someone will definitely be punished, right?"
Miki's words pierce the hearts of the students.
--- That's right! With this order, one person will surely die. And it's up to our votes to decide...
Yumeto felt suffocated and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
"What is this order?"
All at once, the students roared.
"Are you kidding? You can't vote like this!"
"Yeah. I don't have any classmates that I want to die"
"But, if you don't follow the orders of the King's Game, you'll be punished, right? There's no choice but to do it."
"That means people will die because of our votes, I don't like that!"
"I don't want to do it either. But if I don't do it, I'll die."
"No! I don't want to die!"
"No one wants to die definitely!"
"Everyone, keep calm!"
Iwamoto slapped the blackboard with his palm.
"There's no point in making a fuss here, right? Besides, we have time. Maybe the police will do something about it by then."
"What if they don't do something about it?"
Narumi asked Iwamoto a question.
"There's only twelve hour left until the vote, I think it's going to be difficult to catch the King during that time."
"that is..."
"Hey, Sensei. Are we going to vote then? Someone's going to die."
"... I can't judge either. I'll consult the detective."
After saying that, Iwamoto walked out of the classroom with anguished expression on his face.
Narumi shrugs her shoulders with a disgusted look on her face.
"Well, if you're just a civil servant, you can't judge anything."
"Narumi-chan, what should we do?"
Wakaba of the same group approaches Narumi. Seeing Wakaba with tears in her big eyes, Narumi smiled.
"You're fine. You're popular with the boys too. As expected, it's impossible for you to get the lowest score."
"Is that ....so?"
"Yeah. More than that, I'm more worried. I'm aware that I stand out, so someone who hate me might do something."
"Narumi-chan should never be punished! I'll write Narumi-chan's name with a black pen. If I do that, you'll get an +1 point."
"Thank you, Wakaba. You're a normal person, but you're a very good girl."
Narumi hugs Wakaba and turns her eyes to her other classmates.
"It's like a popularity poll that boys used to do. This time it's a mix of men and women, and there's a punishment game"
Yumeto bit his lip and lowered his gaze to his desk.
.....If there is a vote, I might be the one with the lowest score. As a transfer student, I don't have any friends, and I have almost no relationship with my classmates. Even today, the only people I talked to were Yuna-san and Yohei-kun.
Imagining his classmates writing his names in red pens, Yumeto's cheeks twitched.
.......
[October 30th (Sat) 01:42 pm]
When I opened the rooftop door, the blue sky spread out in front of me. The sun is hovering overhead, making the rooftop floor glow white. Yumeto sat down on the bench placed in front of the wire netting that prevent them from falling, and then stared at the king's game email displayed on the screen of his smartphone.
"Vote in a little over 10 hour....."
Iwamoto's explanation, who came back to the classroom several minutes ago, disappointed Yumeto and the others. There was no way for the government to lift the King's Game order at this point, and it was up to the individual to decide whether or not to follow the order.
Also, Yumeto was shocked to hear that he would not be charged with a crime even if the person he voted for was punished and died.
...If you say such a thing, everyone will have no choice but to vote. But maybe that's the only way we can do it. If you abstain from voting, you are likely to be penalized, and that will only lead to more people being penalized.
"Were you here, Yumeto-kun?"
Suddenly, Yumeto turned around when his name was called. The chairman, Hideyuki, was in front of his gaze. Hideyuki gives Yumeto the bread he was holding.
"It's the bread that was provided earlier. I didn't know what you liked, so I brought it randomly"
"Ah, thank you."
"No, I just wanted to talk to you, so come on."
"Talk? What is it?"
"...who are you going to vote for?"
"Huh? Is voting in king's game?"
"Of course"
Hideyuki smiled wryly and sat next to Yumeto.
"You're a transfer student, so you don't know much about our class, do you? Even if it's okay to write their name in a black pen, wouldn't you worry about who you write in a red pen?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"…....I see. Well, it's not that easy to decide. My vote might kill my classmate."
Yumeto's body reacted with surprise to Hideyuki's words. Seeing that, Hideyuki's eyes narrowed.
"You seem to have a serious personality. Seiichiro's group and the others seem to be desperately thinking about who they should vote for to ensure their safety."
"People in Seiichiro's group?"
"Oh, I see. Look like you know about the group? By the way, my group consists of myself and Vice Chairman Miki Maeda, Yoko Marui, Ai Soeda, Miku Oshizono, Sakura Iwashita, and the boys are Takeshi Oshii and Shiro Tsurumi. It's just that we often work together. Minami Yuriko was actually in our group too..."
A deep wrinkle formed between Hideyuki's eyebrows.
"Since I'm the chairman of the committee, it would be nice to treat all my classmates the same way, but that's just not the case. Inevitably, there will be classmates who are on good terms and classmates who are not. To me, Narumi's group seemed self-centered, and Seiichiro's group was a troublemaker. Still, I've been associated with them for more than half a year. But you're different from them, the transfer student"
Hideyuki stared at Yumeto's face.
"So, we're going to vote for you."
"Vote for me..."
"I don't need to go out of my way to say it, but I think Yumeto would like to know why he was voted for. See? it's my intention that want to vote for you, so everyone in my group might vote for you, not just me. Still, I told them to vote freely."
".....Oh.....I see."
"I see? Won't you criticize me?"
"Because I think it can't be helped."
Yumeto laughed with a pale face.
"If you don't vote for someone you're punishing yourself, and writing your name in red is suicide."
"Yeah. I don't think you can avoid punishment even if everyone writes their name and gives the same score. I'm sure everyone will die"
"That's right. The person with the lowest score becomes everyone."
"In other words, to minimize the damage, it's better to vote honestly."
With a deep sigh, Hideyuki closed his eyelids.
"You said earlier that you haven't decided who to vote for, then you should vote for me."
"Hideyuki-kun?"
"Yeah. I'm voting for you, so you shouldn't feel guilty too, do you?"
Saying that, Hideyuki stood up.
"I'm the chairman of the committee, but I'm surprisingly hated, especially by Narumi and Seiichiro."
"is that so?"
"Narumi and the others don't want to participate in class events, and Seiichiro and the others quarreled over Tomoki."
"Are you trying to stop the bullying?"
"As far as I could see, but I didn't actively stop him. Tomoki often acted alone, and I often stayed with my close classmates. So, it such a pity."
Hideyuki continued his words with a self-deprecating smile.
"It's not something I can say when i will vote for you, but I want you to survive. If the king's goal is Tomoki's revenge, then you'll just be forced to involved with this."
"....."
When Hideyuki disappeared from the rooftop, Yumeto gripped the bread he had received.
"Is this a sure -1 point?
When I opened the classroom door, I saw Yuna standing by the window. Yuna is talking to a female student. Yumeto realized that the girl Yuna was talking to was Fuka Matsuzaki. Fuka was a slender girl in her short bob. She is slightly taller than Yuna and has tan skin.
.....Come to think of it, Yuna-san and Fuka-san weren't in Hideyuki's group.
"Ah... Yumeto-kun."
Yuna interrupted her conversation with Fuka and approached Yumeto.
"Well, this child is..."
"You're Fuka-san, aren't you? Fuka Matsuzaki-san."
After Yumeto said that, Fuka loosened her cheeks slightly.
"You remembers the girl's name, too. I don't think i even say hello to you yet."
"It's important for a transfer student to remember the names of their classmates."
"Though that effort may be in vain. Yesterday, three classmates died, and today, maybe another one will die. It might become easier and easier to remember."
"I might die before that happens."
Yumeto laughed with a pale face.
"It's a disadvantageous order for the transfer student."
"That's the same for me and Yuna. When it comes to voting, being in the group has an overwhelming advantage."
"Because they can collect their own votes."
"It's a natural. Besides, you can protect people who are likely to be voted for with plus points. Seiichiro seems to want to protect himself with that."
A look of disgust appeared on Fuka's face.
"He looks like he's using money to buy votes."
"Buy votes?"
"If you give Seiichiro a plus point, he will give you 100,000 yen."
"100,000 yen? That much?"
"Seiichiro's parents are the president of a construction company. If it's around 100,000 yen, it's cheap, isn't it? Yumeto, if you wants money, why don't you go see Seiichiro?"
"I don't need 100,000 yen as a high school student."
Yumeto tapped the pocket of his trousers that contained his wallet.
"Fuka-san, have you decided who to vote for?"
"I will vote it for myself, though, with a black pen. I still can't decide who to write with the red pen. No matter who you are, it's too bad for anyone."
"Yes. I can't decide either."
"But you have to vote for someone!"
As if to convince herself, Fuka's tone became stronger.
"If you don't vote, you will be punished, and that won't make you win the King's Game. It will just increase the number of dead people."
"Yeah. I think it's bad to abstain from voting."
"In that case, persuade Yuna. She says she can't choose anyone."
"Yuna-san?"
Yumeto turned his gaze to Yuna.
"Yuna-san, if you don't vote, Yuna-san will die."
"I know that."
Yuna shakes her tightly clenched fists.
"If the person I voted for dies....."
"You still have to vote. There is no point in abstaining."
"Is Yumeto okay? Your classmate might die in front of you."
"...I'm not okay."
Staring at Yuna from the front of him, Yumeto answers.
"I just transferred to another school, so I don't have much interaction with everyone, but they're still my class mate. Even so I have no choice but to choose someone."
"Choose...."
"Yumeto was right, Yuna."
Fuka tapped Yuna's shoulder.
"It's not the time to worry about other people. Maybe the students who aren't in the group will die. In other words, it's all of us, including transfer student, Yumeto-kun."
"...Yes. Maybe we will die."
"Usually, no one would vote for Yuna, who is highly liked, but you were on good terms with Tomoki-kun."
"Is that be the problem?"
"You might be thought of as a king. You have been protecting Tomoki-kun from Seiichiro and the others several times, right?"
"Well, if you see a classmate being bullied in front of you, anyone should try to help them. Even if it's not Tomoki-kun."
"Well, Yuna could have saved anyone. but...."
"...Are you doubting me? Fuka."
Yuna rolled her eyes and stared at Fuka.
"But I'm not the king!"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not suspicious of Yuna. But I don't know about the other classmates."
Saying that, Fuka turned her gaze to Yumeto.
"The transfer student, Yumeto-kun, probably doesn't understand, but there are some dangerous people in this class."
"What about Seiichiro-kun and the others?"
"Yes. The leaders, Seiichiro and Ryuji, stand out, but the other three are also dangerous. Satoshi Kumagai, Yoji Hamaya, and Souta Kanzuka. I think Souta is particularly dangerous."
"Kamizuka... Souta..."
Yumeto remembered Souta, who was smiling innocently by Seiichiro's side. He was the shortest in the class and looked like a junior high school student.
"I used to thought that Souta was in Narumi's group."
"Ah, he look like a baby-faced idol. He's very popular among girls. He's doing well in his grades and in sports."
"But he was helping Tomoki-kun's bullying, wasn't he?"
"Yeah. Somehow, I feel that Souta is different from Seiichiro and Ryuji. He's always smiling, but I don't know what he's thinking in his heart. Even now that we are involved in the King's Game, but he doesn't seem to be upset, right?"
"Come to think of it, I feel like he was more calm than the other boys. Even when Takaaki and the others died first, he wasn't too scared."
The state of the classroom at that time is reproduced in the brain. In the classroom where his classmate with a broken neck was lying down, Souta was sitting still on a chair. It seemed as if Souta was the only one who living in everyday life.
"You mean you can't tell people by their appearance..."
"That's right. Besides, if it's a normal situation, there's no problem, but when it comes to this kind of situation, there are children who change their personality. Both boys and girls."
Fuka looks around the classroom where her classmates are.
"Seiichiro and the others usually do whatever they please, but Narumi and the others are also a self-centered group. Besides, I think there are some dangerous person among the chairman group and those who aren't in the group."
"Who is it?"
"...Maybe it's me. I don't want to die, and I'm going to do whatever I can to help me survive."
"Anything········"
Yumeto's throat rippled as Fuka stared at him with her sharp eyes.
........