Years later, Sakayanagi Arisu still remembered the morning she fell in love with chess. The pure-white building was like a brooch pinned to the mountainside, while the trees and grass were quiet as if they had come from billions of years ago.
Through the one-way glass, Sakayanagi Arisu saw the figure who would haunt her dreams from then on.
A boy her age sat quietly in the room, playing chess. The contrast with the adult across from him, who was scratching his head in frustration, could not have been sharper.
That peerless figure, and the black-and-white pieces, left a profound impression on young Sakayanagi Arisu.
"Dad, who is he?" Sakayanagi Arisu pressed both hands against the glass, her rosy little face nearly touching it. Her breath had already fogged up a patch of the glass.
"Ah, him..." Narimori Sakayanagi's voice was sorrowful, as though mourning the boy's fate. "This room was established for the 'Artificial Geniuses,' and he is the finest—and the only surviving—result. His name is—"
"Yuto." An uncle in a white coat answered for Narimori Sakayanagi. He looked a few years older than Dad, and the gray at his temples was already beginning to spread.
"You're here, Professor Suzukake." Dad bowed to him, and Sakayanagi Arisu hurried to greet him too.
But she kept silently repeating the name to herself: Yuto, Yuto, Yuto...
While Dad and Uncle Suzukake were talking, Sakayanagi Arisu seized the brief lull to ask what she had been wondering. "This room was established for the 'Artificial Geniuses,' but is it possible that those selected were already geniuses who had received a better education?"
Dad and Uncle Suzukake both looked at her in surprise, but it was a question little Sakayanagi Arisu simply couldn't make sense of.
Were they geniuses nurtured here, or had they been geniuses from the start? There was no way to verify that, was there?
The fact that only one remained seemed to support her argument, too. If they could create geniuses, shouldn't there be more than one? Didn't the fact that there was only one prove that Yuto was a genius unlike any other?
"It seems you have a wonderful daughter, Mr. Sakayanagi."
Uncle Suzukake's tone was gentle. He crouched down to meet her eyes. "You're right. At this stage, humanity knows very little about genetic evolution. Even identical twins with precisely the same genes can develop differences in personality and ability as they divide and differentiate.
"All we're doing is exploring the limits of human education. Even if, in the end, we manage to identify true geniuses and give them the very best education, we'll have fulfilled our mission."
There were many words that eight-year-old Sakayanagi Arisu didn't understand. She nodded, only half following.
"Then I'll prove this approach is wrong. Artificially created geniuses will never surpass true geniuses. I'll prove it."
If she could prove that, would she be able to rescue that boy from this meaningless experiment?
Sakayanagi Arisu turned back and gazed at Yuto through the glass, as if trying to etch his figure into her memory.
The game was already over. Even little Arisu, who knew nothing about chess, could tell that Yuto had won without breaking a sweat.
"You don't need to put that kind of pressure on yourself, Arisu." Dad seemed a little concerned for her.
"What's wrong with that, Mr. Sakayanagi?" Uncle Suzukake seemed delighted. "I'm looking forward to seeing what Arisu's future holds."
"Dad, when we get home, I want to learn chess."
Narimori Sakayanagi paused. "All right."
He could never resist his adorable daughter's requests.
So I'm going to school here starting today. With three years of confinement ahead, it looks like I'll have to wait three more years to see him again.
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the school gates and the bustling crowd. She tapped her cane against the ground and set off, already bored.
Some classmates cast pitying looks at her because of her impaired mobility. Sakayanagi Arisu found it amusing.
Others kindly offered to help her, and she politely refused them all.
Like fungus that knew nothing of night or day, like a cicada that knew nothing of spring or autumn. A crowd of ordinary people who couldn't even control their own fates, yet presumed to pity a genius like her.
I hope these childish little squabbles will offer me a bit of lonely amusement.
Once I've dealt with all these minor annoyances, a colorless high school life might not be so bad.
Sakayanagi Arisu had always believed that she and Yuto would meet again somewhere, and feel as though they'd known each other forever—even if they were both old and on the verge of death...
What was he doing now?
As soon as Sakayanagi Arisu entered the classroom, she drew quite a few stares. She looked around and spotted the only empty seat.
I suppose I'm the last to arrive because of my poor mobility.
She gave a polite but distant smile and slowly made her way to her seat.
She happened to glance at the classmate beside her, and Sakayanagi Arisu's mind seemed to crash.
Even after eight years, she recognized at once the boy who had haunted her dreams. And the nameplate on his desk clearly read [Amasawa Yuto].
How could he be here? He shouldn't be. This was impossible. He should still be in the White Room...
Sakayanagi Arisu's mind was like a chaotic parliament. One part insisted it was impossible, another was swept up in elation, and only a small part remained calm enough to assess the situation.
"Hello, Amasawa. Long time no see."
Sakayanagi Arisu reached her seat and greeted him in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Hello, Classmate Sakayanagi."
The instant their eyes met, Sakayanagi Arisu felt the three years of high school ahead of her shift from colorless to rose-tinted.
Amasawa Yuto had noticed Sakayanagi Arisu too. They should have been meeting for the first time, right?
His impression of her was limited to the overwhelming aura she'd had in the first season of the anime. She hadn't even done anything, but she still exuded the presence of a powerful character.
She was clearly going to have a role in the story later.
Amasawa Yuto had been in this world for sixteen years, and he'd forgotten many of the details. Besides, he'd only seen the first season.
But judging by her reaction, did she know him?
The anime hadn't mentioned anything about that. Was this more of the story he hadn't seen?
Amasawa Yuto had more than that to think about. He should have been meeting Sakayanagi Arisu for the first time, yet he inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.
He definitely hadn't met her in the White Room. Had he run into Sakayanagi Arisu somewhere after leaving it?
The questions kept piling up.
"Hello, Amasawa. Long time no see."
Sakayanagi Arisu had greeted him first.
"Hello, Classmate Sakayanagi. What do you mean by 'long time no see'?"
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I forgot this is our first time meeting in person." She looked delighted. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
She was speaking silently. Amasawa Yuto had never learned to read lips, but Sakayanagi Arisu was speaking slowly, and he was familiar with the phrase. He still understood what she was saying.
—The White Room.
Before you continue