Then, this just happened, just before 3 p.m. he began moving after hearing gunfire on this side of the mountain. But what he (and Sho) found at the source was the dead body of Kaori Minami, lying inside a farm equipment storage shack. Kazuo went down to check the body, probably to go through her belongings, but it looked like someone else had gotten there before them. Then he proceeded to move on—
And now he’s in the woods right under me.
Kazuo’s plan seemed simple, at least for now. Once he knew where someone was, he’d go there and shoot away. Sho was exasperated by the merciless way he’d killed Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano (Kazuo, you have such a plain name but your actions are out of control. And yet my name sounds like a celebrity’s, Sho Tsukioka, but I’m just a Plain Jane), but it was pointless to fret over these details. For now he should be happy that Kazuo was completely clueless about his presence.
Kazuo appeared to be resting quietly. He might have been sleeping.
On the other hand Sho couldn’t sleep at all, but he felt he was strong in that department as well. Naturally. Girls had more stamina than guys. That’s what I read in one of those popular books.
What turned out to be a real drag instead was that he was a heavy smoker. The smell of cigarette smoke, depending on the wind direction, would give him away to Kazuo. No, the sound of his electronic lighter flicking open could be even more fatal.
Sho pulled out his pack of imported Virginia Slims Menthol cigarettes (he liked the name, though of course it was hard to get them in this country, but there were places that carried them, and all he had to do was steal them. He had piles of boxes in his room—and carefully placed the thin cigarette between his lips. He caught a whiff of the faint smell of tobacco leaves and that unique menthol odor and felt mild relief from his withdrawal. He wanted to fill his lungs with smoke—but somehow managed to suppress the urge.
I simply cannot die. There’s too much fun waiting for me in my prime.
To distract himself, he lifted the mirror in his left hand and caught a view of his face with the cigarette in his mouth. He tilted his head slightly and examined his sidelong glance.
I am so pretty. On top of that, I’m so smart. It’s inevitable I should be the winner of this game. Only the beautiful survive. That’s God’s—
Out of the corner of his eye, the bushes rustled slightly.
Sho quickly removed the cigarette from his mouth and put it into his pocket, along with his mirror. Then he gripped the Derringer and grabbed his day pack with his left hand.
Kazuo Kiriyama’s slicked-back head appeared on the edge of the bushes. He looked to his left and right and then northward—directly to the left of Sho—up the slope.
In the shade of the azalea tree covered in pink leaves, Sho raised his brow slightly.
What’s he doing?
He heard no gunfire. No strange noise at all. Was there something over there?
Sho looked over there, but saw no movement.
Kazuo emerged from shrubs. He had his day pack on his left shoulder and the machine gun slung over his right shoulder with his hand on its grip. He began climbing the slope, weaving his way in between the trees. He quickly reached Sho’s higher position and moved on up. Sho then stood up and began following him.
Not at all in keeping with his large frame, 117 centimeters tall, Sho moved gracefully, like a cat. He carefully maintained the twenty meters behind Kazuo’s black school coat that intermittently flashed between the trees. Sho’s confidence was justified when it came to this sort of thing.
Kazuo’s movement was also very precise and quick. He’d stop in the shade of a tree, check ahead, and where the vegetation got thick, would get on his knees and check underneath before proceeding. The only trouble being that…
…your back’s wide open, Kazuo.
They must have covered a hundred meters. The observatory was on the top left. Kazuo stopped there.
The rows of trees in front of him were interrupted by a narrow, unpaved road. It was less than two meters wide, just wide enough for a car.
Oh… this was the path leading up to the peak. We crossed it right before we saw Kaori Minami’s body, Sho thought.
On Kazuo’s right, where he was looking, there was a space with a bench and a beige prefab toilet. Maybe it was a resting area for climbers on the way to the peak.
Kazuo surveyed the area and then looked behind Sho, but Sho of course had hidden himself away in the shade. Kazuo stepped onto the path and ran up to the toilet. He opened the door and went in. He stuck his head out and looked around again before he closed the door. He left it slightly ajar, maybe just in case he had to escape if something happened.
Oh my. Sho brought his hand to his lips. Oh my. Sho remained crouched, trying hard not to burst into a fit of laughter.
It was true, since Sho had started following him, Kazuo hadn’t gone to the bathroom even once. He might have used the toilet in one of the houses he entered before sunrise, but in any case, it’d be impossible to hold it an entire day, so Sho assumed he took care of business hidden in the bushes. (Anyway, that’s what Sho did. It was a pain not to make any sound though.) But turned out he was wrong. After all, Kazuo Kiriyama came from a wealthy family. Maybe the thought of going anywhere besides a real toilet was out of the question. He must have remembered seeing this toilet when he passed through here a while ago. That’s why he came back here.
That’s it, I’m sure. Even Kazuo Kiriyama has to pee. How cute.
He was pissing against the bowl now. Sho could hear it splashing against the bowl. Tee hee. Once again Sho tried hard not to laugh.
Then he remembered something and flipped his wrist over to check his watch. They were near sector D-8, which Sakamochi had announced would turn into a forbidden zone at 5 p.m.
The elegant italic numerals on the women’s watch indicated 4:57 p.m. (He’d set his watch to Sakamochi’s announcement, so it was accurate.) Sho took out his map and examined the northern mountain area. The mountain road was only marked by a dotted line on the map, and the rest area and public toilet wasn’t marked in or outside the lines marking off D=8.
Sho suddenly became tense and unconsciously lifted his hand up to his metallic collar. He suddenly felt the urge to return the way he’d come but—
He looked over at toilet, where the sprinkling sound continued. He shrugged and exhaled lightly.
We’re talking about Kazuo Kiriyama here, after all. Even if nature called, he would have checked his position. The reason why he cautiously looked over here before moving out of the bushes where he was hiding was to determine whether the toilet was in D-8 or not. And Sho’s position was approximately thirty meters west of the toilet. Kazuo was closer to the zone than he was, so the fact that Kazuo was over there, in other words, meant that he was safe too. He mustn’t lose Kazuo by succumbing to irrational fear. That would ruin his plan.