It happened so quickly that Noriko Nakagawa, who sat right behind Yoshitoki, along with the rest of the class, didn’t even have time to duck.
The gunshot sounds hadn’t even died down before Yoshitoki slowly tipped over to the right and crashed in between his desk and Izumi Kanai’s on the right. Izumi shrieked.
The threesome stood with their right hands extended. Thin smoke from each of their barrels simultaneously trailed upward. Shuya then saw in between the legs of the desk the familiar face turned towards him. The bulging eyes remained open, fixed on a point on the floor. A bright puddle of blood began oozing out onto the floor. Yoshitoki’s right shoulder began twitching down to his fingers.
Yoshitoki!
Shuya stood up to run to him, but Noriko Nakagawa, who was sitting closer, was quicker. “Yoshitoki!” she screamed and crouched down beside him.
Now Tahara, the frivolous one, aimed his gun at Noriko and pulled the trigger. Noriko tumbled forward as if she were swept off her feet and collapsed on top of Yoshitoki, who continued to twitch.
Tahara immediately pointed his gun at Shuya. Shuya’s mind was racing now but his body was frozen. Only his eyes moved. He saw the blood spurting out of Noriko’s calf.
Sakamochi said to Noriko, “You will not leave your desk without my permission.” Then he looked over at Shuya, saying, “The same applies to you, Shuya. Now sit down.”
Shuya did his best to take his eyes away from Noriko’s bloody leg and Yoshitoki underneath her. He looked Sakamochi directly in the eye. His neck muscles had tensed up from the shock of the scene.
“What the hell is going on here!?” Tahara still pointed his gun at his forehead. Shuya remained still, bursting out, “What the hell are you doing!? We have to get some help for Yoshitoki… and Noriko…”
Sakamochi grimaced and shook his head. Then he repeated, “Forget about it and sit down. You too, Noriko.”
Noriko, completely pale from looking at Yoshitoki lying underneath her, slowly looked up at Sakamochi. She seemed overwhelmed with anger more than she was with the pain she must have been suffering from. She raised her eyes and glared back at Sakamochi. “Please get some help.” She spoke each word deliberately. “For Yoshitoki.”
Yoshitoki’s right arm continued to twitch. But while they watched over him the twitching subsided. It was evident his injury would be fatal unless he was treated immediately.
Sakamochi sighed deeply, then addressed the frivolous one, “Then Mr. Tahara, will you please take care of this.”
Before they could figure out what he meant, Tahara pointed his gun downward and pulled the trigger. BLAMM. Yoshitoki Kuninobu’s head bounced up once, then something from his head splashed onto Noriko’s face.
Dumbstruck, Noriko’s mouth hung open. Her face was covered with a dark red substance.
Shuya realized his mouth was hanging open too.
Although part of his head had been blown away, Yoshitoki’s eyes still remained focused on the same part of the floor. He was no longer twitching, though. He was motionless.
“See?” Sakamochi said. “He was already dying. Now then, please return to your seats.”
“Oh…” Noriko looked down at Yoshitoki’s deformed head, “…my…”
Shuya was also stunned. His eyes were glued to Yoshitoki’s face, lying between the legs of the desk. His thoughts were completely paralyzed, as if his own brains had been blown to bits. Memories of Yoshitoki flashed through his dazed mind. The little adventures they took, camping or walking down the river, a rainy day spent playing an old board game, mimicking “Jake and Elwood,” the heroes who, like themselves, were orphans in the American movie The Blues Brothers (amazingly, it was a dubbed version, although the voice actors were horrible), which had become a blackmarket hit, and then just recently, Yoshitoki’s face when he said, ” Hey Shuya, I got a crush on someone.” And then…
“Are you two deaf?” Sakamochi repeated. Yes, Shuya was deaf to his words. He just stared at Yoshitoki.
Noriko was no different. If they hadn’t moved, they would have followed in Yoshitoki Kuninobu’s footsteps. Right beside Sakamochi, Tahara pointed his gun at Noriko, while the other two pointed theirs at Shuya.
But it was thanks to a calm, in fact light-hearted voice calling out, “M-m-m-mister Sakamochi,” that Shuya was brought back to his senses, at least enough to gaze numbly at the caller.
Beyond Yoshitoki’s empty seat, Shinji Mimura had his hand raised. Noriko slowly looked at him too.
“Hm? Let’s see. You must be Shinji Mimura. What is it?”
Shinji put his hand down and spoke, “Noriko looks injured. I was wondering if I could help her get back to her seat.”
Despite the extremity of their situation, Shinji spoke in the usual voice of The Third Man.
Sakamochi raised his brow slightly, but then nodded.
“All right, go ahead. I really want to get things moving.”
Shinji nodded, stood up, and walked towards Noriko. As he approached her, he took out a neatly folded handkerchief out of his pocket and leaned between Yoshitoki’s corpse and Noriko. He first wiped Noriko’s face, which was covered with Yoshitoki’s blood. Noriko hardly reacted. Then he said, “Stand up, Noriko,” and put his hand under Noriko’s right arm to help her get up.
Then, with his back facing Sakamochi, Shinji looked at Shuya, who remained half-standing. Under his sharp, well defined brows, his eyes which always had a mildly amused look were now dead serious. He raised his right brow and moved his chin, shaking his head slightly. His left hand pushed down, as if he were making a pressing motion. Shuya didn’t understand this signal. Shinji made the same move again.
Although he was still dazed, Shuya finally understood that Shinji was telling him to calm down. He looked back at Shinji… and slowly eased his way back into his seat.
Shinji nodded. After returning Noriko to her seat, he turned around and returned to his seat.
Noriko sat down. Blood poured out of the wound in her right leg dangling from her seat. Her white socks and sneakers were soaked in red, as if she were wearing Santa Claus boots, but only on her right foot.
Noriko was coming to her senses a little too. She seemed to be making a gesture to thank Shinji. But as if he could see out the back of his head Shinji shrugged his shoulders to stop her. Noriko withdrew and saw once again Yoshitoki’s body lying below her right hand. She stared at him without a word but her eyes seemed to be brimming with tears.
Shuya also looked again at the corpse, his view partly obscured by the desks. Yes, it was a corpse. There was no doubt about it. It was hard to comprehend, but Yoshitoki had become a corpse, the corpse of someone with whom he had shared ten years of his life.
As he looked at Yoshitoki’s gaping eyes, Shuya’s anger became more pronounced and clear, like a throbbing pulse. The anger rushed through his entire body so powerfully that it almost made him shake. His feelings, which had been muted by the initial shock, were beginning to surface. Shuya turned and bared his teeth towards Sakamochi.
Sakamochi looked amused by Shuya. Shuya would never forgive him for this. He was going to kill the bastard.
Shuya had been on the verge of blowing up the way Yoshitoki did. But then…
Shinji Mimura had intervened at the crucial moment, telling him to calm down. Shuya immediately recalled how he got the signal from him only moments ago. Of course if he blew up now he would end up like Yoshitoki. And more importantly… now the girl whom Yoshitoki adored so much was severely injured. If he were to die now… what would happen to Noriko Nakagawa?
Shuya tried his best to tear his eyes away from Sakamochi. He looked down at his desktop. He felt wretched, as if his heart were being crushed from anger and sadness that had no outlet.