Crickets chirp in the distance as soft rays of sunlight beam through the wide windows, casting its energy into a room with white walls and ceilings. The soft light touches the skin of a young girl with short pink hair with unkempt bangs sticking out from the sides. Under the bangs are two pink eyes that remain lazily attentive to the view in front of her, although her expression appears uninterested.
She’s muted all other sounds around her other than the crickets, listening to them chirp as her back rests against a wooden chair and her arms rest on top of a wooden desk. Behind her seem to be other desks with four metal legs each, all on a wooden floor.
The girl is dressed in a formal gray blazer over a collared white shirt and brown vest, rather thick clothing especially with the uncomfortable warmth of the room. All she can do however is sit and wait, tuned out from the world around her, waiting for this excruciating session to end.
Later, the girl walks down a long white hallway, free from her earlier work. She lets out a soft relieved sigh before letting out a smile while continuing forward, silently walking past green boards along the wall with white papers stuck onto them with thumbtacks, reading different messages presumably from flyers.
Her arms stay by her side as her eyes wander around the corridor, casually strolling with soft footsteps followed by a faint sound akin to glass shattering. While walking, she lets out a strong yawn, stretching her arms as she unleashes the exhaustion she’s felt from another long day of excruciating education. However, optimistic to a pleasant resolution, she comes to a stop upon approaching a pair of wooden doors.
Turning to face the doors, she coils her hand around the steel handle, and attempts to pull the door open. Inexplicably however, the door doesn’t seem to budge, as though locked. Her expression shifting into one of perplexity, she attempts to pull harder, grunting through a closed mouth as she struggles to open the door, but to her dismay she comes to no success.
She peers in through the glass windows in the doors, spying on the room within. Inside, she can see a room similar to the one she was in with white walls, and covering the floor are rows of legged wooden desks. She presses her forehead against the glass while trying to peer at an angle to see if anyone is there, to which her eyes shoot wide open.
On one of the chairs closest to the near wall is another person facing away. They seem to also be wearing the gray blazer, and also have long straight purple hair that reaches down their back. They seem to be peacefully minding their own business, visible in the corner of the girl’s eye.
The girl makes a fist with her hand before slamming it against the door, yelling, “YO!” in a soft, high feminine voice. Curiously, the purple-haired person doesn’t seem to react to the callout, not budging from their position. Their body stays turned away from the girl, causing the girl to retry, slamming the door twice while shouting, “HEY, OPEN THE DOOR!”
Once more however, she fails to grab the person’s attention, as though none of the sounds she’s making is audible inside the room so close to her.
Exhausted and confused, the girl steps back from the door, confused with why she wasn’t able to grab the person’s attention. She lets out a soft sigh, trying to reinvigorate herself with the strength to persevere.
As she prepares herself to body the door, the sound of cracking beside her catches her attention, and she slowly turns her head to face down the hall with a curious expression. As her eyes set on the corridor however, that curious expression morphs into one of immense dread.
Behind her and down the seemingly infinite white hall, there appear to be illuminated pink cracks in the floor, with the widest crack following the girl’s exact path, and others seeming to be branching off them. The branches reach the walls, with there being cracks along the walls and ceiling as well, continuing to spread with every passing second.
The girl’s dreadful eyes stare at the glowing pink cracks with rigid patterns like lightning, watching more form and consume the hallway. Her head lowers as she follows the widest crack before ascertaining that it led down to below her white shoes.
Overwhelmed in fear, the girl turns towards the door and begins frantically slamming them with both of her fists, screaming desperately, “HEY! OPEN THE DOOR! HEY! LISTEN TO ME! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR!!”
The sound of debris collapsing alarms the girl, triggering her to glance behind herself with shriveled pupils. She watches in terror as fragments of the floor begin plummeting, revealing a black abyss below.
She returns her attention to the door before slamming her shoulder against it repeatedly, crying “LET ME IN!! HELLO?!! HELP!! LET ME IN!! PLEASE!!”
Glancing behind herself for an update, the girl watches to her horror as fragments of the wall and ceiling drift away, as though the entire corridor was being pulled from all sides. As more fragments plummet, it reveals a greater view of the void, which has the resemblance of space, although there seem to be long radiating pink streaks among the darkness.
Powerless, the girl watches the floor continue to collapse, with fragments closer to her beginning to fall as well before she feels the ground beneath her feet begin to shake, becoming unstable as more of the floor is consumed by the pink cracks.
Drowning in despair, the girl grips onto the steel handle of the door with both hands as the silver tiled floor beneath her feet plunge into the abyss. The remainder of the corridor collapses, crumbling into fragments before being cast away, leaving the girl clinging to the door for dear life in the vast emptiness until all that remains is the door, as it seems even the room on the other side is completely annihilated.
Screaming frantically, the girl glances around the space, noticing colossal pink veins that shine like stars encapsulating the void, seeming to be surrounding the girl in a massive spherical shape similar to a wired ball. Branching off from the veins appear to be more, similar to the cracks in the corridor, gradually covering the void as the girl continues to shriek into the cold abyss, alone without a single soul to accompany her.
The entrapping pink sphere suddenly shrinks in an instant, enclosing in such a rapid manner beyond physical comprehension. Only managing to release one more helpless yelp, the globe encloses on the girl, wiping all else out.
Squealing in horror, Kokei immediately sits up with a terrorized expression. Streaks of tears run from her eyes as she stares blankly ahead for a few moments, her long pink hair disordered with visible tangles. Her cries abruptly end upon the revelation that she was displaced, swapping her consternation for confusion.
She finds herself in a vast room with light-gray walls, a light-cyan ceiling and light-purple floor. The walls have a soft texture reminiscent of carpet, and the floor has an odd design that seems to mimic an ocean with cracks in the water, which initially cause Kokei’s hands to further grip the surface she sits on before understanding that it was no more than an aesthetic.
Bringing her attention to the surface she’s on, she notices herself to be on a wide white mattress with proportions similar to a king size. There’s also a soft headboard against the wall, and protruding from the edge against the headboard seems to be a long wavy pillow that perfectly fits the width of the mattress, being a perfect thickness. There appear to be slimmer pillows along the edge which stack, leading to the headboard which has another wide pillow protruding from it, acting as another cushion. All of the pillows however appear attached to the mattress, as though part of it.
Beside the bed are two white tabletops that hover at the same level of the bed, equalling nightstands. Along the left wall is a large arch-shaped aperture that invites a glaring cyan light into the room as an adequate and only light source that illuminates the whole room. The overwhelming light forces Kokei to blind herself with her hand and quickly turn away, further investigating the room she seems to have awoken in.
To the right of the opening is what appears to be a full body mirror. On the other side of the room is another hovering table by the corner with a levitating chair softened with thick white cushions. On the far side from the desk is a larger white sofa chair that rests against the corner, facing her with a hovering table accompanying it.
The room beyond the minimalist furniture is otherwise vacant, at least comparatively to the arguably overly furnished bedroom she was accustomed to with her merchandise plastered in every spot she could manage to cover. Instead, this room was nothing like her room.
That’s when the epiphany shocks her, this wasn’t her room.
Kokei’s initial instinct is to pat her body and rush her eyes to scan herself, to which she finds she is still dressed in the attire she last adorned, her cupcake hoodie and white socks. Pulling her sleeves up, no marks were visible on her body, as it seemed her immediate priority was confirming that she was fully intact. After glancing at her right fingertips, her eyes race to the other side of the room, where a white door resides in front of her.
Throwing herself off the bed, Kokei carefully makes her way to the door, walking on her toes as though attempting to avoid being sensed. Her eyes wander around before focusing on the mirror as she walks past it. In the few moments she gets, she scans her body, confirming that it looked like her and there were no glaring deformities such as missing limbs or any other notable injuries.
After passing the mirror, she resumes her attention to the door, slowing down as she hides beside the door, putting her back up against the wall. After taking a deep breath and holding it in, she waves her hand in front of the door, causing it to dematerialize. She then counts another second in her head before then taking action, leaping through the doorway and out into the unknown grounds.
Staying still after the leap, Kokei gazes down what appears to be a white corridor with soft balanced lighting. The floor has a tender white carpet, and along the walls appear to be more white doors as though she was in some sort of hotel. In the distance appears to be an open doorway into an open space, although from her angle she’s unable to get a better look.
Her concentrated glare seeks through her disarrayed bangs as she slowly lets out her breath, noting that there doesn’t seem to be anyone. Still however, she has no idea where she is.Perhaps she attended a business trip that required her to stay over at a hotel, although her profession hardly ever calls for them and she couldn’t recall any current ones. Perhaps she went to some party and stayed over, although she doesn’t recall having such rich friends. Perhaps she was brutally knocked out while out and about and dragged into some shady white van before being transported off to some trafficking base where she’s never going to see the light of day again, living out the rest of her eternity chained to a cruel unforgiving universe.
The plethora of logical theories flood through her head, with each being more terrifying than the last. Still soldered with shock, she can’t properly remember the events of the day prior, or at least the events leading up to the final moment of consciousness. Her hands curl into tightened fists as she grits her teeth, arming herself to take on her kidnappers. She wouldn’t go down without a fight, she’d battle her way to freedom, destroying anyone in her way whether it be lowly criminals, small gangs, or multi-continental militaries.
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“Hey!” calls a precipitous raspy voice from behind her, a voice befitting of a degenerate, immoral hunter bygone of man but rather a heartless beast, preying on innocents he can get his slender fingers on to subjugate them to his insidious plots.
Screaming in a concoction of dread yet determination, Kokei swings her body and fist towards the voice.
“Hey hey hey!” shouts the slender senile man Kokei faces, dressed in his brown overcoat, immediately recognized to be her dear friend Ekitai. He raises his hands to cover his face after having dodged the swing before begging, “Take it easy! You’re going to knock a tooth out, or all of them!”
Kokei’s eyes enlarge in astonishment at her friend’s presence, not expecting him to be with her as well. She lowers her fist in comprehending that he’s no threat, panting heavily from the stress that swarmed her in that heated moment.
“Don’t scare me like that baka,” lectures Kokei, noticeably on edge. However, the presence of an ally puts her mind at ease for a moment, relieved to have someone with her. That ease however is quickly drowned out by a resurfacing of disquietude, as she leaps at Ekitai and begins patting his shoulders, as though also examining him for potential anomalies.
Stumped at his friend’s frantic movements, Ekitai lowers his hands before calmly apologizing, “Sorry, I was relieved to see you is all. You seem all fine I think-.”
“Wait Ekitai, now’s not the time to talk casually, we need to get out of here. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you know what’s going on and why we’re here? I’m relieved I’m not the only one, but it’s not much better that you’re also being dragged into this. Are you okay? You seem fine, I’m so sorry if they did anything to you! We should get going as soon as possible before we alert anyone, are you able to fight? Have you taken your meds?”
Ekitai blinks twice from the absurd line of questioning, stepping back only for Kokei to persist in patting him down. He tilts his head in confusion, reclaiming, “I take it back about you being fine. Uh, give me a second. Uh, I’m not hurt I don’t think, I’m all healed up anyways. I mean I’m always ready to fight, I’m so happy you’d ask me! I never thought you’d be interested in these things, who’re we fighting?”
Kokei raises her head to look up at Ekitai before declaring, “Whoever put us in here, come on Ekitai, focus! We gotta get moving before they find that we’re awake, if we get caught who knows what sort of twisted, demented, sick minded games they’ll put us in.”
Her eyes intensify into a glare as she lowers her head, muttering bitterly, “I swear, abducting a young defenseless woman and senile old man, what kind of freaks are they?”
“Did you have to word it like that?” inquires a calm, deep voice of a man with a dauntingly deadpan demeanor which lurks behind Kokei.
Kokei’s eyes shoot wide in horror as she yelps violently, spinning to face the abductor as she raises a fist. Without hesitation, she throws a punch straight at the source, bellowing with all the might she could summon to aid her on her escape.
The curled fist strikes the aged leather jacket adorned by the man standing before her, who stares down at her with his pale white face. His distinct four locks of white hair jump from the force of the strike, although beyond that, he is unmoved, as though fixed to the ground.
Kokei’s jaw drops in terror as she slowly raises her eyes to meet her opposition. Her pink eyes rise up to meet the dull blue eyes of the man, who stalks her with a dead glare, one that immediately sends shocks down her spine.
The man lets out a soft sigh that seems rooted in disappointment before contemplating, “Am I supposed to be saying ‘good morning’ right now?”
Shrieking in response, Kokei leaps backwards, recoiling from her first strike. Her fist still balled, she glares with inferno’s rage at the man, analyzing his emotionless face that could be mistaken for a corpse, which slowly blinks while maintaining eye contact.
Screaming with shut eyes, Kokei slurs, “You’re even more terrifying than I’d guess! What a creepy old face, I knew only someone twisted by an old life of degeneracy could become so cruel and vile! Creep! Villain! Freak! Pervert! Weirdo! Scumbag! Dog! Lowlife!! Beast!!!”
Staring back blankly, the host in the leather jacket watches blankly as his assailant begins panting tiredly. He doesn’t move nor seem to react to the barrage of insults, but rather just blinks again at her. He then releases a soft sigh through his nose before softly remarking, “A living thesaurus, I assume you’re done.”
He then raises his head to face Ekitai before challenging with a more stern tone, “It looks like your friend here has the wrong idea of why she’s here. Why don’t you better explain it to her that you’re the one that wanted me to ‘abduct her?’”
Kokei’s pupils dilate immediately with a tsk and she immediately turns her gaze towards Ekitai with a horrifying expression imbued with the explicit emotion of betrayal. She glares at Ekitai with wide, demonic eyes, further pressuring him as he steps back with a soft chuckle.
“Eheh…I’m not sure what you’re talking about!” responds Ekitai in a constricted tone, forcefully exerting a white lie in front of his friend.
“I’ll punch you,” calmly threatens the host.
“Okay okay,” surrenders Ekitai, raising his hands for a moment before lowering them. He slouches forward with a defeated sigh, meeting Kokei’s gaze, which stares straight into his soul as though the creator was judging his entire life in that instant.
Chuckling again to relieve the stress, Ekitai stands up straight before first asking in a casual tone, “So uh…Kokei…do you remember yesterday?”
Kokei tilts her head from the odd question, and remains in position for a few moments of deep contemplation and self search. She hums softly, attempting to recall the memories of the previous day, although she had an odd sensation akin to a hangover, unable to properly recall events and even now still feeling slightly in a haze.
She straightens her neck before admitting softly, her voice seeming far more calm now speaking to her friend, “No, not really….”
Opening his mouth in an awestruck expression, Ekitai immediately recognizes what work would be cut out for him if he were to properly explain how she ended up here. He turns his gaze towards the host in an attempt to retreat, however he’s met by a deadpan glare that sends a burning arrow straight into Ekitai’s chest.
Realizing the burden had been transferred to him, Ekitai returns his gaze to Kokei before apprehensively explaining, “Well so basically, yesterday you invited me to your house for a chat, and I brought along these…friends!”
While Ekitai remains focused on Kokei, the host’s eyes immediately dilate into a terrifying glare that he exerts onto Ekitai.
“And so it was going pretty well, we were having nice talks about work and stuff, and then BOOM we were ambushed by a group of Exhumans!”
Kokei’s expression immediately becomes shocked as she cries, “Wait, Exhumans, in my house??”
Ekitai nods twice before continuing, “Yes, Exhumans, they barged in and one of them even hit you! But it’s okay, because the rest of us teamed up to fight them! It was epic, we uh…we…we did fighting things…and it seemed like we were going to lose at first, but then we got the upper hand and we managed to defeat them! And more Exhumans showed up and it seemed like we were going to lose until you came out of nowhere shooting lightning and stuff everywhere like some sorta crazy superhero, it was crazy and then we defeated all of them!!”
“The full story,” commands the host, noticing that Ekitai was avoiding the final detail.
Ekitai scratches the back of his head with an innocent chuckle before concluding, “Yeah, yeah. Well so anyways, after you did all that you sort of went to sleep, and well…I mean your house was attacked by Exhumans so like…I was worried about you because like I didn’t want you to be attacked again especially when you’re alone, so I sort of well…asked Rohan over here if he could bring you in~. I was protecting you though, and I mean he was so nice about it he brought us all here into this…this…actually where are we?”
Interjecting Ekitai’s question, Kokei spins towards the host and pursues with her own line of interrogation, premiering with, “Wait, excuse me, my house was attacked by Exhumans? Isn’t it a mess then? Did you destroy all my expensive furniture?? Also ew Rohan is an ugly name.”
Before Rohan could defend himself, Ekitai emerges with a quick answer, “It’s fine actually, Rohan cleaned your house after everything, so it’s fine!”
Tsking again, Kokei glares with a razor-sharp tension at Rohan whilst acknowledging in a voice seemingly on the edge of insanity, “Wait…you let…this random stranger…mess with my house without anyone else around to watch?? This creep was just touching whatever he wanted and moving whatever he wanted~...oh no…he didn’t go into my room did he?!?! Hey, Rohan, you didn’t go into my room right? Because I swear to every god that’s been worshiped I will kill-.”
“No I didn’t,” abruptly confesses Rohan.
Pouting in frustration, Kokei turns back to face Ekitai, placing her hand against her head as she contemplates deeply. Humming softly, she reports in a more delicate voice, “Hmm…I can vaguely recall yesterday kind of…it’s sort of coming back to me now actually. Well I mean…I guess if you, my good-friend-who-could-do-no-wrong-other-than-that-freak-behind-me Ekitai, wanted this for me…I understand…I guess it would be dangerous if I could be targeted again, it was very thoughtful of you to want to protect me like that….”
Ekitai smiles with wide satisfaction from the high praise, nodding his head while basking in the delightful compliments, “Mhm mhm, you know I always have your back, Kokei!”
However, Kokei’s delicate expression morphs into one of apprehensive curiosity, and she slowly turns her head towards Rohan with a tilted neck in an inhuman fashion. Her wide gaze pierces Rohan as she interrogates ponderously, “Wait…why exactly were Exhumans ambushing my house though? When you were coincidentally there? Hm Rohan?”
The immediate questioning strikes Rohan’s chest as he stares blankly back with a terrified expression, praying that she wouldn’t bring on such heavy questions so soon. He’s locked in a gaze with Kokei’s glare as she stares at him with the stance of a killer.
“Oh my, Kokei, you’re awake!!” suddenly exclaims a mature feminine voice seemingly out of nowhere. From behind Rohan, a woman emerges into the conversation smiling widely in a black blazer with soft green lights. She waves her hand, her amber hair flowing behind her as her glistening green eyes pierces the tension in the hall.
The woman races to Kokei before immediately embracing her, startling Kokei for a moment. Rocking Kokei in the extended embrace, she greets, “How are you feeling today Kokei? You seem active and alive, did you sleep well last night?”
As the two continue to embrace, Rohan takes a step back and lowers his head, concealing his expression while letting himself depart as the focus of the conversation.
For a moment Kokei stares blankly in bewilderment, although as her mind continues to recall her recent experiences, memories flow back into her mind that contextualizes much of what she was currently facing.
“Dana?” she implores softly, remembering that name from the other day, although not entirely sure that she remembers correctly.
The woman nods her head twice before confirming, “Mhm, it’s me! Sorry I’m late, I was busy doing work, but here I am!”
“You were just talking to me-,” Rohan attempts to correct, but is interrupted by Kokei, who responds, “Oh I see, no worries, it’s good to see you too!”
Dana releases the embrace, smiling warmly at Kokei, who seems more at ease now. However, with more time to recollect herself, more anxieties emerge from within the unknown depths, bringing Kokei’s expression to once again shift to concern.
Kokei agitates immediately, “Wait, shoot, today’s a workday! I need to get to my office, oh god I’m probably already going to be late, shoot shoot shoot what am I going to do??”
Ekitai tilts his head in initial stupefaction before idly imploring for clarification, “Work?”
Kokei raises her head to regard Ekitai before scolding, “Some of us aren’t deadbeats and actually work. It’s called making a living, baka!”
Giggling softly from the reprimand, Dana assures, “Don’t worry, I contacted your boss and explained that you needed some time off from work.”
Kokei lowers her head to return her attention to Dana before imploring, “Wait, you can do that?”
Giggling again, Dana boasts, “Well, I just need to tell them who I am, and I can do anything!”
Kokei’s eyes sparkle in awe from the confidence Dana exudes, admiring, “Woah, you’re amazing! You’re so cool! Thank you!!”
Basking in praise, Dana nods her head twice with a wide grin before inviting, “Hey, why don’t we go downstairs and get some breakfast? I’m sure you’re hungry, come on let’s eat!”
Nodding in response, Kokei agrees, “Okay!”, to which Dana turns around and begins walking down the hall, guiding Kokei who follows behind.
Watching the two walk past him after forming the idea, Rohan opens his mouth to refute, but no words manage to seep out. He only watches silently as the two leave before Ekitai approaches Rohan, stopping to notice him.
“Hey, come on, I can’t wait to see what the rest of this place looks like! Wait, is this a hotel or something? There’s no way it’s your house, it’s massive! I’ve never even seen a house this big, I mean it’s crazy!”
Rohan lets out a soft sigh before turning around and beginning to follow the two, softly answering, “Yes, it’s my house. Don’t get lost.”
Ekitai’s yellow eyes sparkle in wonder as he begins surveying the hallway, his jaw dropped as he makes soft sounds of amusement.
“Come on,” reiterates Rohan, to which Ekitai does begin following, still entrenched in the wonders of the house.
Ekitai inquisitively implores, “Do you get lost here?”
“No, it’s my house,” Rohan answers bluntly.