The Dissolving of Monochromacy

Chapter 2

The night seemed to have gotten colder. It nearly sent a shiver down Kiku's spine as he walked in perfect line. Lines of soldiers, nurses, and doctors at tables stood glaring over lists of names and sent people to different cabins. Kiku walked forward to a desk with a dark haired male seated at it. The man looked far too delicate to stand in the line of fire, and had on a military doctor's uniform. He looked over the top of his glasses at Kiku.

"Name please?" said the man in a faint German accent. Kiku froze. "Name, sir?"

"Er... Kiku."

"Kiku what?" asked the man as he looked at Kiku with annoyance playing in his eyes.

"Kiku Honda, sir."

The man flipped through a few papers, which gave Kiku time to find the Doctor's name. The man's name was Doctor Edelstein, which was printed on a patch on his jacket. Before Kiku could think, Doctor Edelstein pointed behind himself.

"Cabin four. You'll be with Toris Laurinaitis, Yao Wang, and Eduard von Bock," said Doctor Edelstein. "NEXT!"

Kiku was quickly shoved along. He slowly neared his Cabin... though he was slow, the whole day washed over him in a blur. Nothing quite made sense, but nothing was dismissible. All of it mattered, but it truly bothered him that he couldn't remember anything in great detail... well, anything but the speech from Captain Jones.

He was pulled from thought when a man a few meters from him waved.

"Hello, Kiku," said Toris. "I didn't know we'd end up in the same cabin!"

"I can't believe I got drafted! I would have thought that they'd take all of the very young men first!" said a man with dark hair angrily. Kiku looked to the man.

"You don't seem old," he added quietly.

"I'm older than you'd believe," answered the man.

"Well," said a blonde man as he opened the door, "Let's head in and introduce ourselves!" Everyone silently agreed and entered the cabin. It was small, dark, and dusty... There were two metal-framed bunk beds, and thin, overused mattresses.

"Wow... this place is gross," said Toris.

"A little cleaning never hurts," said Kiku.

"Well, before we clean, we should learn names. I'm Eduard," said the blonde as he pushed up his glasses.

"Hello Eduard, I'm Toris," responded Toris with a smile.

"And I'm Kiku--"

"I'm Yao," said the man with dark hair.

"What did you guys think of the two speakers?" asked Eduard.

"I really liked the second one. The first one was kind-of mean... but the second one was entertaining and it seemed like he cared about us," Toris said as he stepped over and used a towel from a drawer to wipe dust from a small table.

"Both of them were fine," answered Yao, who started inspecting each mattress in the cabin.

"I'll have to agree with Toris," said Kiku as he also started cleaning with a towel. Eduard chuckled and took a towel to the window at the back of the one-room cabin.

"I agree with Toris, too," he said.

There was a silence that followed that... however, it was quickly broken by Eduard's inquiry.

"Hey -- Yao is it? -- why didn't you dislike the first speaker? He was being mean to everyone," asked Eduard. Yao pursed his lips as he pressed a hand down on the bottom mattress of the bed left of the door.

"He was being mean to get us ready. It was out of care for us, the army, and the country. War is of right and wrong, though each side believes they are right. War is--"

"War is wrong," interrupted Kiku, "War is useless. Rather than killing and destroying, couldn't we settle arguments? There really is no right if both sides kill and take and destroy and rape and sabotage. No one is right. I've heard war changes people, and most of the time it is for the worse. So get ready, everyone."

There was another silence.

"War is everything Kiku said. War was never meant to create. So take the few things the Colonel said, multiply it by three-hundred, and add a possibility of death, and you've got war," Yao added as he moved to test the mattress above his last.

Before anyone could say anything more, the door to the cabin opened. The Colonel stood in the doorway tall and menacingly. The four in the cabin stared.

"I heard the things you said about war. No matter how you feel, things in war must get done. Which of you was last to speak?" he asked as he glanced over the four. Yao's hand went up. "You are ready for training. Have you been in war before?"

"No. My father has been, though. He told me about the things he saw. It was plain awful. He told me that he never wanted me to have to fight. However, here I stand," responded Yao after standing tall. The Colonel smirked and chuckled slightly.

"My father was in war too; but he wanted me to fight and kill the bastards that made him lose his legs. Here I stand," he added. Yao gave one uniform nod.

"I'm sure you made your family proud."

"Ah, yes. I did. I hope the same to you--"

"My father is dead now, sir," said Yao, afterwards biting his bottom lip.

"Then, soldier, I hope you make me proud," said the Colonel. He then turned and stepped out. Yao let out a breath and turned to the other three in his cabin.

"What colour is this?" he asked as he pointed to his shirt.

"Red," said Toris, the only of the three that could see colour.

"I can see it... I can see red," he said. He laid back on the bottom bunk of the bed and looked to the top bunk.

Another visitor stepped in.

"Hello, Captain Jones!" said Eduard.

"Hello! How is everyone tonight?" asked the Captain. Kiku looked up from his cleaning to the wall with widening eyes. He slowly turned and saw the beaming Captain in the doorway.

"We sure are great!" answered Eduard.

"That's fantastic! I hope that all of you get along well in the Cabins here, and that you all work well in the army. I personally can't wait to have you all fighting beside me. What are your names?" asked Captain Jones.

"Well, I'm Eduard-"

"Toris-"

"Yao-"

There was a pause. The three men turned to Kiku who stood frozen. His bottom lip trembled slightly before he cleared his throat.

"A-And I'm Kiku..."

"I'm glad to welcome you four: Eduard, Toris, Yao, and Kiku. I'm sure you'll all thrive here! Dinner will be served in twenty minutes at the mess hall, then it'll be sleep time. See you all in the mess hall!" said Captain Jones happily. He then left, and closed the door behind himself.