"That way," Shuya said. The policeman came running at them.
"We have to run, Noriko! Run as fast as you can!" he said. As they dashed out, Shuya thought, hey, doesn't that sound familiar.
He glanced behind him. The police officer held out his gun. Shuya pulled out his Beretta. The officer shot immediately. BANG BANG. Two sweeping shots, but luckily no one in the crowd, including Shuya and Noriko, was hit. There were cries though, as some fell to the ground for cover, while others having no idea where the gunfire came from scattered in random directions. The officer, his gun down, ran toward them again, but then crashed into a fat woman carrying groceries, and clumsily fell. The woman fell too, and her bag of vegetables for dinner tumbled and slid on the floor.
That was all Shuya saw. He was looking ahead now.
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:
Together Noriko we'll live with the sadness. I'll love you with all the madness in my soul. Someday girl I don't know when we're gonna get to that place. Where we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun. But till then tramps like us baby we were born to run.
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. Published by VIZ Media, LLC 295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
© 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 acknowledgement: 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.
Printed in the U.S.A.
ISBN 1-56931-778-X
First printing, February 2003 Twelfth printing, March 2008
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.
Koushun Takami, Battle Royale
(Series: # )
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