A Life Without Color

Chapter 12

Soooo tired...

My fingers trailed against the padded walls of the gymnasium, leaving small imprints in their wake. I tried to remember the last time I'd felt something soft. It had to have been at least a month.

Horikta's eyes were blazing with anger as she stood in front of me. She gesticulated wildly while her voice rose and fell, punctuated by intermittent shrill screeches that echoed in my eardrums. Her lips moved, but the only sound I heard was a jumbled mess of syllables that made no sense whatsoever, her face reddening as the pitch of her voice increased far beyond a comfortable decibel count. As her voice grew louder, so did the ringing in my ears. I snickered to myself at the absurdity of it all.

Now she'd gone quiet and was staring at me like I lost my mind.

"Kiyotaka is ... laughing?" Kei murmured incredulously. She looked at Horikita with an almost jealous expression.

Kei was the perfect example of the white room's capability to break a person. She was no longer the vibrant and strong headed girl that stood her ground against bullies. A stab of regret pierced my chest as I remembered what I'd done to her back then.

I used Kei. She should have been furious with me for it. Unfortunately for Kei, she never had a chance. The love she feels for me was destined to occur from the moment I decided to manufacture it.

I truly am a defective human being. An innocent girl like Kei would never have been on that man's radar if I hadn't brainwashed her into being my puppet. When we got out of here, I was definitely going to do everything within my power to make it up to her.

.Of course, this was contingent on there being anything left of her to escape with. Kei was a shell of her former self. Most days, she spent all of our lessons curled up with her knees tucked tightly against her chest. I kept waiting for the instructors to call her out on it, but I guess they decided it was fine as long as she was listening.

Experimentally, I reached my hand out to her head. She immediately flinched away. Kei didn't let anyone get too close to her these days. Not even me.

Too many missed meals had turned her from a healthy young woman into a hollowed out starvation victim. As she babbled apologies for flinching, her shirt lifted up, clearly revealing her ribs protruding against her creamy skin. Her stomach was always roaring in protest as if begging her to sate it.

I followed her petrified gaze to the new piece of equipment that had been erected in the middle of the room. It looked like some kind of makeshift boxing ring with clear glass steps leading to a chalky raised platform about three feet off the ground. White ropes, presumably made from hemp wrapped around this impromptu arena. It was yet to be discovered whether they were there to keep people in... or to keep them out.

All we were missing was a referee. Oh, wait...

The doors swung open with a thud and that man strode in with all of his usual condensation and grandeur.

Grandstanding again, huh? As if he needed to at this point. Those that were doomed to fear him were already lowering their eyes, ashamed of their weakness. And those of us that possessed the spirit to resist his machinations wouldn't be broken by such insignificant tactics.

His feet clacked against the hard floor. With each step, the lights slowly faded away until the entire gymnasium was engulfed in darkness.

Guards flowed in like a school of fish, surrounding us on all corners. The edges of their dark uniforms were lit up by small flashlights pinned to their lapels, giving the space an eerie yet organized glow. That man shone  like a lantern as he stood in the center of the circle they created. His lapel bore no flashlight. Instead, the entirety of his outfit radiated a blinding white light.