Chapter Text
“Kamishiro?”
Rui raised his head, looking to the side. “Hm?” the lonesome child hummed, turning to face the classroom door where a woman had stood. He had seen her before. She had taken a few of his peers out of class, then brought them back around ten to fifteen minutes later.
He raised a brow, standing up from his seat and walking over to her as she waved for him to come forth. “Are you taking me out of class?” he asked.
The woman smiled, ruffling his hair, “My, you’re such a smart kid!”
Rui stared up at her with a smile. He laughed, “My mom and dad tell me that a lot!”
He was in fifth grade, and really never got taken out of class before. Usually, it was always the kids who struggled with reading or writing. This time, however, Rui noticed that they were only taking the kids with good grades and efficient skills out.
It was mostly strange to him, he hadn’t experienced this before, but he didn’t question it any further.
The woman led him out the door and down the hall. He followed carefully, holding his breath in case he made her uncomfortable just by a simple noise. He felt like he had to be perfect or else she’d pity him. If this was the same as what the kids who struggle with school went through, he wanted to prove he was far better than them.
Eventually, they reached another room. She opened the door and let him go inside first, then shut it gently once he walked in, following behind him. “You can sit down there,” she pointed at a chair beside the desk in the room. Sat on the desk was a strange device Rui had never seen before. It had all sorts of buttons and knobs, he couldn’t figure out what it was used for.
Beside the device had been a pair of bulky brownish-gray headphones. They seemed to be connected to the device. Rui wondered what this could be. Perhaps it was for another teacher? No, that couldn’t be it. He knew that for certain because as soon as he questioned it, the woman sat down in the chair opposite from his and started pressing buttons.
“We will be doing a hearing test! Please place these on your head,” she picked up the headphones and handed them to him.
All of this seemed rather sketchy, Rui had thought. He had done several hearing tests in his life, especially since his parents were concerned that he would have bad hearing due to the amount of sound he was always exposed to when working on robots or shows. Not ever in his life had he ever seen this device used in those hearing tests. Alongside that, the headphones looked far different than what he saw in front of him now.
But he didn’t have any choice but to listen. After all, it wasn’t like him to ignore the teacher's instructions. Not unless it was about vegetables anyway…
Rui grabbed the headphones and placed them over his head. The impact of the earmuff squeezed his ear, making it rather painful. It was bearable though, so he endured it.
The woman smiled at him, “Wonderful!” she said, clicking a few other buttons. All of the sudden, Rui began hearing this light ringing noise. It was constant and didn’t stop. “I will play an audio for you, please listen to its instructions.”
“Okay,” Rui muttered, feeling uneasy about the whole scenario.
She pressed another button and turned a knob to the right. Right as she did that, a click was heard within the headphones and then the voice of a man began to play. Beside the man’s voice was a rhythmic pattern of beeps, almost as if it were a melody for a song he had heard before. He couldn’t figure out what song, so he tried to ignore it.
“This is the first step along your path to a gateway. A gateway beyond, which is discovery. Your own discovery of reality, of truth, of who and what you are.”
Rui tilted his head a bit, a little confused. If this had been a hearing test, what was with the odd start? He sighed quietly, continuing to listen.
“Now, a simple preparation. Because of the special audio techniques used, it is important that certain sounds reach your right ear and others your left ear. To be sure of this you should be hearing my voice in your right ear at this moment,”
Within the middle of the sentence, Rui could only hear from the right side of the headphones, taking in the sounds of the voice.
“If you are not hearing my voice in your right ear, turn your headphones around now so that you are hearing my voice in your right ear…”
Proud of himself for having them placed on the right side, he internally applauded himself.
“Now, use these tones to adjust an equal balance in both ears and a volume or loudness that is comfortable for you.”
The ringing sound continued, though the rhythm became silent and it was a long static noise. To his best ability, he fooled his mind into changing the volume. The loudness of the headphones quickly deafening to a much quieter one. His face became relaxed, much different from the strained expression from before. The woman in front of him had widened her eyes, but she opted on staying quiet.
Suddenly, the noise of an ocean began to play and it stayed at the same volume Rui had mentally set it to. The voice continued to speak. “Now as you listen to the sound of ocean surf, move your body into a more relaxed position. Release any tensions or strain points. Move into whatever relaxed position is best for you.”
The sound of surf plays, and that's when the man began to describe the feeling of being at the ocean and the understanding of relaxation. As he spoke, the words of vibrations hit Rui’s skin cold, making him feel all that was described. The hairs on his arms stood up quickly, and a chill ran down his spine. Though he stayed put, his eyes closed and fully endorsed in relaxation.
He felt tired, but restrained the ability of falling asleep. His eyes were heavier than they had ever seemed before. He let out a sorrowed breath, and suddenly the audio cut off. He opened his eyes and found the woman in front of him to be baffled. It didn’t seem like she had cut the audio herself, hence her reaction. Rui was confused, “What happened?” he asked, taking off the headphones.
The woman hesitated, then she smiled, quickly writing something down on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard. When she stared back up at him, she replied, “You passed the test! Expect to be pulled out of class every week, Kamishiro!”
Rui scrunched up his face, confused and more so hurt by the fact he had to be pulled from class for things as ridiculous as this. “I passed, yet I still have to come down here every week..? Isn’t this for the less intelligent kids?”
She shook her head, “Nope! It’s for wonderfully smart kids like yourself. You’re extremely gifted I’ve heard!” she said.
Rui stared, something in his chest stinging. He wasn’t sure why his chest felt that way, but he ignored it. It probably was nothing. “I see..” Rui kicked his feet against the ground, “what’s your name, miss?”
“That’s not important, hun. Come on, let’s get you back to class!” she stood up, lending out her hand for him. He grabbed it, being pulled up to his feet.
He wasn’t exactly sure why she refused to give out her name. Usually he had a pretty good guess, but he really couldn’t figure this girl out! Something about her was very off, and he didn’t like it at all.
But.. She seems trust worthy enough.. He told himself as he was brought back to class.
—
For the next few weeks, Rui had been taken out of class once a day. He was brought to the same room every time and was told to do specific things.
For the first week, he was asked to use his intuition to guess which flipped card was what. As a result, he got every single one correct. The same woman had once again written down something on the clipboard. By the second week, the same process had occurred except he was forced to solve puzzles using tangrams. Again, he succeeded and she wrote more down on the paper. From the few glimpses he got at the paper, his name appeared to be on there as well as a chart and quite a few notes. It didn’t bug him much, he just figured it was to keep track of what he did and didn’t get right.
Today was his third week doing this. He was paired up with several other students and brought to the gymnasium. The gym was dead silent and there was nobody except those students and the woman in sight. As they were instructed to sit down in rows amongst the gymnasium floor, they were handed a small clear cup made of plastic with this strange pink liquid inside.
At first, Rui thought it might be that bubblegum flavored medicine his parents would give him when he got sick. But when he gave it a smell, it was far from it. The scent was similar to antifreeze, though not exact. He wasn’t sure what the substance was.
The woman clapped her hands once in a loud manner, staring at the small crowd of students. She gave that same cheshire grin she always did as she spoke, “Welcome, students! Today will be your last day in this program. I must advise you to listen to our instructions for your final test!” A few students set down their cups to applaud, but she shushed them, continuing to speak on. “Today, we have given you a liquid to consume. Though, carefully listen to us.”
Everyone glanced around, wondering what she could possibly mean by ‘us’ and ‘we’. She was the only adult in the room. It made no sense for her to say that. At least, that’s what was believed until she waved her hand and a group of people came walking out from the stage in the gym. They walked down the steps and over to her side.
“These people will be by your side today in order to help you proceed cautiously!” she exclaimed.
Once the class settled from their excitement about the new people, she began to explain the instructions. “You must place the liquid in your mouth and swish it around for about thirty seconds. Then, you may swallow it.” She guided, “You must not leave a single drop.”
Rui was a little suspicious of this, but he brushed it off. The school wouldn’t put them in danger. It’s their job to help them learn while also keeping them safe. He grabbed the cup and gently settled it to his lips, allowing the liquid to drift inside his mouth. Once it was all in there, he began to swish it around his mouth, carefully counting down from thirty.
It seemed like the other students were doing that as well. Many of them used their fingers to count, which was expected since they were still in elementary school, but Rui was proud of himself for being able to count alone. He could count forever if he wanted to.
Eventually, he reached the number ten. He continued to count down, but something caught the corner of his eye.
About four of the students seemed to have fainted.. It wasn’t his business, but it definitely caught him off guard. He finished up his counting as the adults ran towards the kids and then swallowed. One by one, more kids began dropping into slumber. His worries exceeded him.
Rui went to get up, but the moment his feet tried to push up his body, they became weak. His vision grew blurry, dizzying even, and his balance broke. He crashed to the ground, unable to hold himself up, and fainted.
—
Once Rui awoke, he couldn’t feel a thing. His entire body felt numb. Extremely numb. As always.
This was a nightmare he regularly had. A nightmare about a memory he couldn’t confirm to be true. He was about seventeen now. He wasn’t sure what that memory was of, but it scared him.
He lived in a place that he couldn’t quite describe. White or gray walls, rooms filled with medical supplies and testing equipment.. Alongside that, several psychologists, doctors, and scientists filled every room. At least, every room except for at night. At night, they all got to go home.
All of them except the subjects. The subjects never got to leave.
Rui wasn’t quite sure why they were considered to be ‘subjects’, he never understood it. Perhaps it was because of the millions of tests they performed daily on them. They treated them like experiments.
Rui was a part of these ‘subjects’. There were hundreds of them. He recognized a few of them from that recurring nightmare he had, but he didn’t know their names. He didn’t understand why they were in his dream. He didn’t ever share a classroom with them. He couldn’t even remember if he went to school. He couldn’t remember anything from his childhood.
All he knew was that he was a subject for these workers. A project for them to complete.
Every now and then, a few hundred more kids are sent to the building. They’re given rooms and are examined for a few days before given tests. Rui remembers when that happened to him, when he first arrived.. But it’s been eight years since then.
He was happy that he knew how to count. Most of the people there didn’t. He couldn’t remember where he learned to, but he was happy he could. He knew what things were unlike many of the other people. He guessed he was just smarter than the rest. He congratulated himself for that.
Rui sat in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced over at the digital clock on his nightstand. It was five-thirty in the morning. The workers didn’t start messing with everyone until seven in the morning. He smiled, “Huh, I guess I woke up early today.”
He swooped his feet over the side and grabbed his socks off the end of the bed where he pulled them off last night. He slipped them back on and let his feet touch the ground. He yawned. There was no light in his room, which was always the case unfortunately. Of course, there was a hologram of a window on his wall during the day, but before six-thirty in the morning, it didn't appear. The doors of their rooms didn’t unlock either until then.
It wasn’t like he could go anywhere. He had nothing better to do than just stand around. At least, most people in the facility did that. Rui, thankfully, was not most people. He managed to snag a book off of a counter during testing and take it back to his room. He did this often so he would have something to entertain himself with. When he finished the book, he would always end up drawing on the pages for fun. He stole a marker off of a scientist once and had used it ever since. However, if a page interested him, he didn’t draw on it. Instead, he marked on the page before it as, “IMPORTANT.”
He kept the books hidden from the workers beneath his bed. If he were to get caught with his act, he wasn’t sure what they would do to him. He had seen quite a few people get dragged to some other place and never come back, and that scared him.
Rui crouched down and reached for a book, but as he did, he suddenly heard a rattle of keys and a click from his door. He immediately moved his hand away and stood up quickly, turning to face the intruder. He sat down on his bed to look casual. As soon as he had, the door opened. Standing there were two people.
One of them was a psychologist, looking rather frustrated. The other was a boy who looked about Rui’s age with blonde hair and pink tips. The psychologist pushed the boy inside the room and huffed, “This is your room, kid. I don’t even know how ya’ got here..” he shook his head and stepped away, shutting the door and locking it back up.
The boy jumped at the sound of the door shutting, glancing back. He let out a sigh once it seemed safe, then he turned and saw Rui, immediately freezing again. Rui stared in disbelief, absolutely confused as to why some random guy was just assigned his room. Let alone why some random guy just got here if he’s Rui’s age.
Rui got up and walked over to him, “Who are you?” he asked sternly.
The guy gulped, “I-I don’t mean to intrude–!” he immediately bowed down in apology, placing his hands together. “My name is Tsukasa Tenma! That’s all I know!”
Rui raised a brow, “So you are new..” he crossed his arms, “I guess we’re roommates then.. But it is a little weird that you were put into this age group. They only take little kids and then let them grow up in the rooms they have, switching the age groups as they move up..” he rambled.
Tsukasa swallowed hard, “A-age group..? Take little kids..?!” He looked like he was about ready to faint. As soon as Rui noticed the man fall back a little, he pulled his arm out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him forward. The man gasped, staring at him, “Am I dreaming? Wh-What even is this place!? Where am I!?” he exclaimed loudly.
Rui covered his ears from the noise, squinting his eyes, “could you be any louder..?” he muttered. He sighed, “I can’t exactly answer those last two questions, but I can tell you you’re going to wish you were dreaming.”
The blonde grabbed onto his left arm, holding it nervously, “..What do you mean by that? Who are you anyway?” he asked.
“Rui Kamishiro, and by that I mean you’ll hate it here. Everyone does, everyone but the employees.” he explained, shrugging, “You get used to it though.”
Tsukasa shook his head, “You’re kidding?”
“Nope,” Rui laughed a bit, “tested on all day.. Forced to talk about how experiments make you feel, but if you say you hate them you get shocked… Ah, and forced to take random vitals of liquids you know nothing about! Alongside that, some puzzles that test your intuition, then more testing.” He rambled on and on, but as soon as he saw Tsukasa’s reaction, he froze.
He probably doesn’t remember anything either.. He’s just as scared as I was when I first arrived.. He told himself, seeing the same expression he saw in himself years ago.
He let out a sigh, “But uh.. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. Like I said, you get used to it.. err..”
Tsukasa frowned, “Do you.. know why I can’t remember anything prior to me showing up here?” he mumbled.
Rui placed a hand on his hip, “Sorry, I can’t help when it comes to that.. I find it easier to assume this has always been your home, you just hadn’t become conscious until now.” he told him.
The blonde stared at the ground in devastation, “..I don’t remember anything but my name and age.”
“Recently, that’s how it seems to be for most people. Don’t feel too bad about it.” He went to place a hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder, but almost immediately Tsukasa jerked back, his eyes flying wide open as if he was afraid to be touched.
Rui flinched, being reminded of how he had been when he arrived. He was terrified back then, afraid to let anyone near him. That was the main reason he didn’t have friends here. It wasn’t like they were allowed to interact anyway, but with the slim chance you could, Rui stayed alone.
His gaze softened, trying to let Tsukasa know he isn’t a threat. “Take as much space as you need, Tsukasa-kun.”
“Tsukasa-kun..?” the blonde mimicked with judgement, “We barely know each other!”
Rui let out a slight giggle, “We’re going to have to get to know each other more eventually. There aren't two beds here since my age group typically gets their own bedrooms for some reason I haven’t figured out yet. I guess you were a special case though..”
“I.. I guess that’s true..” he kicked his foot against the ground, “Since we’re here, could you explain how this place works..?” There was hesitation in his words, Rui could see it clearly. The boy was nervous, as one would be.. But that didn’t stop him from trying to get answers. That alone made Rui think they may just get along.
With a light chuckle, Rui nodded, “Of course, it’s not too hard to understand. Every morning, we must be up by six-thirty. The doors unlock at seven, and we leave to take our first substance of the day to fulfill our hunger. It is rather nasty, and I would prefer food, but unfortunately they only offer that to the workers. After that, we are assigned to a different doctor to make sure we’re in proper shape to go get tested on. The doctors don’t typically care though. They make sure we aren’t sick or something then lend us off. After we do that, we meet up with scientists. They run tests and experiments on you until they’re given a satisfying answer, or until you pass out if it’s something you must operate too. After that, we’re given another substance to be given as lunch. Then we go to the psychologists to do tests that involve puzzles or anything to test your mind. Once that is done, the psychologists examine how you feel, then you’re fed a pill to replace dinner. After that, you’re assigned to the showers, then back to your rooms where the doors remain locked until seven in the morning.” He explained, “Ah, and a little tip, like I told you earlier, when the psychologists evaluate your feelings, it’s better to lie and say you love everything they’re doing. With an answer of, ‘I hate this place’, you’ll receive a shock as they set wires up to you during that assessment.”
Tsukasa groaned, “That sounds awful!”
“It is awful, but we have no choice. If we don’t listen, we get taken somewhere.”
“Taken where?”
Rui shrugged, “Dunno, I’ve never gone.. But everyone who’s been taken has never returned, so I’d rather not misbehave. At least, not in front of them.” he answered.
“Hah?!” Tsukasa gasped, spreading out his legs and arms where he stood as if he was a baffled cartoon character, “You’re lying!”
With a shake of his head and a hum, Rui said, “I’m being serious,” He understood why it was hard to believe. Never seeing someone ever again was terrifying, especially when it seemed to be a punishment. That fear and disbelief though was enough to make you not want to show your bad behavior. It scared Rui, that was for sure. “Anyway, you should probably get some sleep, Tsukasa-kun. The door doesn’t unlock for another hour and a half..” he glanced over at the clock, “Scratch that– an hour and fifteen.”
The blonde sighed, “I am tired, so I guess it’s for the best. What about you though? Will you be sleeping?”
Rui nodded, “I love getting extra sleep, so most definitely.” he rushed over to the bed and flopped down, “Hope ya’ don’t mind having to cuddle up.”
Tsukasa blushed profusely out of embarrassment, “I- I don’t mind at all!” He declared, trying to seem tough in that sense, “I.. It’s not like we have much choice anyway.”
Rui smiled, lending out his arms. Tsukasa walked over and hopped into the bed, ignoring Rui’s plea of hugs, “Ehhh?” Rui complained.
“I still don’t know you that well, Rui..”
He laughed, “Yeah, I know.. I was merely kidding. That’s stuff for parents anyway.”
Tsukasa glanced over at him, “For parents–?” Then it hit him. Rui didn’t know much about anything unless it came to book smarts since he kept everything he knew from childhood knowledge.. He didn’t know anything about how life itself worked.. Tsukasa of course couldn’t remember much himself, but he at the very least understood what a relationship was. He let out a fond laugh and shut his eyes.
Perhaps being here won’t be so bad if someone as amusing as him is by my side.. Tsukasa thought.