As he ran next to Noriko, a thought suddenly occurred to him. The screaming, their hasty footsteps, and the officer warning them to stop all receded as his mind was occupied with this thought.
It might have been inappropriate. And besides… he’d ripped it off. Oh, man.
But still he thought this:
The screaming and yelling swelled back, returning with the sound of Noriko’s heavy breathing and his heart thumping.
We’re still on the run. That’s for sure.
Right on. This time we’re on.
And we won’t stop till we win.
Now, once again, “2 students remaining.”
But of course they’re part of you now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Koushun Takami was born in 1969 in Amagasaki near Osaka and grew up in Kagawa Prefecture of Shikoku, where he currently resides. After graduating from Osaka University with a degree in literature, he dropped out of Nihon University’s liberal arts correspondence-course program. From 1991 to 1996 he worked for the prefectural news company Shikoku Shinbun, reporting on various fields, including politics, police reports, and economics. Although he has an English teaching certificate, he has yet to visit the United States.
Battle Royale, completed after Takami left the news company, was rejected in the final round of a literary competition sponsored by a major publisher due to the critical controversy it provoked among jury members. With its publication in Japan in 1999, though, Battle Royale received widespread support, particularly from young readers, and became a bestseller. In 2000, Battle Royale was serialized as a comic and made into a feature film. Mr. Takami is currently working on his second novel.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Yuji Oniki is a writer and translator.
Copyright
© 1999 Koushun Takami. English translation
© 2003 by Yuji Oniki/VIZ Media, LLC.
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan by Ota Shuppan in 1999
“Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen.
Copyright © 1975 Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP).
All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
Excerpt from HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by George Orwell, copyright 1952 and renewed 1980 by Sonia Brownell Orwell, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
Editorial acknowledgment: Tomo Machiyama
No unauthorized reproduction of any portion of this book is permitted without written consent of the publisher. The stories, characters, institutions, and incidents mentioned in this book are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.
Published by VIZ Media, LLC
295 Bay Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
Printed in the U.S.A.
ISBN 1-56931-778-X
First printing, February 2003