A Life Without Color

Chapter 4

"Huff huff," panted Kei as we ran along the track. The cold wind blew past us, lashing against our frozen skin as our feet pounded against the dirt.

After waking up to the sound of a shrieking siren this morning, we'd been escorted outside and ordered to run a mile for our warm up.We were surrounded on all sides by giant white walls that towered so high they seemed to be chatting with the clouds. An obscene amount of money must have been invested in keeping us contained.

It was clear who would be struggling the most with physical activities during our time here. Both Ike and Kei were desperately pushing themselves past their limits. Their faces were as red as rhubarb as they wheezed their way through their second lap. Kouenji had finished his mile 10 minutes ago, and was stretching on the grass with a satisfied grin. From what I've seen, this doesn't even compare to his normal morning training routine.

I was lightly jogging alongside Yosuke and Horikita. A cloud of sand and debris blew into our path, causing the two of them to start hacking like a pair of smokers whose lungs were on their last limb.

I suppose I'm just used to this kind of thing. It didn't bother me at all.

I shaped my hands into a semicircle and brought them up to my mouth, trying to warm myself by transferring thermal energy from my breath to my body.

Yosuke, who'd been keeping pace with me this whole time, kept pausing to look over at me. His brow was furrowed like a shirt that hadn't been ironed in months. The events of yesterday had been hard on everyone. It would be fair to say that my classmates were all significantly traumatized. Nevertheless, Yosuke seemed more concerned with my mental wellbeing than anything else.

However, now wasn't the time to concern myself with him. For the next stage of my plan, I needed that person's assistance.

Continuing to jog at a consistent speed, I looked over at Horikita who had maintained second place since we started running. If things continued down this path, Horikita would probably be one of the last ones to drop out. Only Kouenji and I would be able to outlast her. However, I didn't intend to allow us to remain that long.

Horikita flinched when she realized that I was staring at her. Her face tightened as she glared back. I slowly raised an eyebrow at her aggressiveness, and slightly inclined my head to indicate that she should slowly make her way over to me. She seemed to get the message because she adjusted her pace until she was jogging right next to me.

"You have something to say to me?" Horikita murmured.

She kept her voice low, in order to avoid being overheard.

Oh Horikita, how naive you are.

"Subject Horikita, no talking!"

One of the guards that had been supervising our run, was rapidly approaching us. Horikita narrowed her eyes at me.

"You.. Did you do that on purpose?"

I stayed silent, preferring not to get caught up in her punishment.

Horikita attempted to sidestep the guard, who was now blocking her path. His long, blonde ponytail swayed in tune with the roaring of the wind. It made him look like there was a propeller attached to the back of his head that could cause him to take off at any moment.

Horikita was about to learn a vital lesson in the white room.

There are no do overs... There are no second chances...

If you break the rules, you suffer the consequences. No begging, no pleading, and no amount of apologizing will save you from your punishment.

Horikita flinched as the guard held out his left arm to stop her from continuing. With his right arm, he theatrically formed a fist, and slammed it down on her head, nearly knocking her over from the force of the blow.