Equal Ground (Kiyotaka Ayanokouji x Kiyone Ayanokouji) [Rewrite]

Prologue I - The Place We Call Home

How would you define the word "home"?

Different people would say different things about the word "home." Some would say home is a physical domicile or structure in which a person or household resides. Others would say home is the place where you feel the most comfortable and welcomed, a shelter and a sanctuary providing escape from the world. A lot of people would say home is the place where you spend the most time in.

For me, that isn't the case at all.

Those white walls and floors without any windows, my "home", is nothing but a prison cell to me. I spent my entire life in that place, and not for one second could I say it was peaceful. After sixteen years, I took the one chance I had to escape. I've already spent half a year here in this school, and today was supposed to be just a regular day. I went to sleep,  expecting to wake up in my dorm room.

So why...

Why do I find myself back here in this place?

I'm standing back in this familiar hallway. Musty air. White walls. Things that I constantly have to remind myself to forget.

It's so quiet, yet I can still hear the cries of children seeping through the walls. Some of which I recognize, along with hundreds of others I don't.

Perhaps it's better that way, though. The thought of these white halls being devoid of anything other than the permanent scent of blood in the air is far too lonely for even someone who's given up on the world.

Having no other choice, I walk back towards the end of the white hall in this place I call home- ignoring the cries and wails of the other's that weren't as fortunate as me. At the very least, I can find some solace in the fact that I'm still in my school uniform.

My feet take me through the white labyrinth I've all but memorized, towards the place where I slept. I don't quite understand why, perhaps some sort of sense of nostalgia is what lead there.

As I turn the corner towards my room, I spot a girl walking into it. She had long brown hair, paired with empty brown eyes that have seen too much.

Somehow the only living thing I've seen since returning to this place...is somehow more lifeless than everything else.

It reminds me of myself, in a strange way.

I follow the girl into the same room I used to reside in.

She turns around, and her lifeless eyes meet mine. Even though I'm sure I have never seen this girl before, there's an odd sense of familiarity in my mind.

"...You're not part of this facility." The girl speaks in a flat tone.

"...That's not...entirely accurate. I was once in the same position as you."

"...Is that so...?" Though there is no change in intonation, I could tell there was curiosity. "...Who are you?"

"...Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, lone survivor of the 4th generation." Saying the title out loud fills me with a sense of disgust. But it was the easiest way to identify myself.

"...Impossible..." She mumbles. Her eyes widen slightly, but that was the most emotion I've seen out of her so far. Instead of replying, I close my eyes. Moments later, I opened them back up to stare at her with the same dark, lifeless eyes she carries.

"..." She doesn't say a word. That alone was enough to prove that I was a subject of this place. Nobody outside of the White Room can possess these eyes.

"I didn't catch your name." I say.

"...Kiyone Ayanokouji, lone survivor of the 4th generation."

...

..

.

All of a sudden, I jolt awake.

I quickly look around. I'm not back in that place, I'm in my dorm room. So it was...

"A dream...huh..." I mumble. What an odd dream.

When I was younger, I used to have nightmares everyday. Any person would after experiencing the horrors of that place.  But its already been years since the last time I've experienced them, why are they suddenly recurring now?

And that girl...the way she looks reminds me of myself. Even her name was similar to mine. She said she was a member of the 4th generation as well, but that's impossible. I can remember the names and faces of every single person who y̶o̶u̶ m̶u̶r̶d̶e̶r̶e̶d̶. were with in my generation. I know for certain that girl wasn't among them.

The familiarity is also very odd. I felt like I knew her all my life even though we just met. It was almost as if I was looking at a mirror...

...No way, right?

She couldn't be...me?

No...it couldn't be...

But it would explain so many things...

Why would my mind come up with such a thing, though?

...Well, no use thinking about it too much, I suppose. It's probably just a one time thing.

It's probably because of all that anime the Professor forced me to watch with him. Genderbending is something quite often used for comedic purposes in media. My brain was probably fixated on that aspect of it for some odd reason while enjoying the show.

I mean considering that most people in my class do weirder things all the time, imagining yourself as a girl in your dreams should be considered pretty normal for my age...right?

...

"Internet-sensei, please don't fail me now..."