White Room--Hara

My name was Hara.

It was my name, and the codename I had in the White Room. As for why my surname was Uesugi, the people who sent me out had told me.

After that, I learned a few things from their casual conversations.

"That kid's got it rough. The Uesugi family went bankrupt years ago. After everything that happened, the head of the family killed himself, and everyone else involved went to prison."

"Tell me about it. When I heard the kid was from the Uesugi family, I was shocked too. Sigh, I wonder what's going to happen to her now."

"Why do you care so much? How much do we even make a month? Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

"True."

That was when I learned my name was Uesugi Hara.

Then I regretted coming out. I should've stayed inside.

Although I'd grown up in the White Room, I was different from most of the others in my year. I'd been born with a wide range of emotions.

Most of them, on the other hand, had long since become emotionless machines from all the training in the White Room.

Of course, a few still had some feelings left. For example—

"Hara, do you like carrots? I don't."

The girl sitting in front of me was the one speaking. Her codename was Yuki.

She pointed to the carrots on her tray and asked if I liked them.

"I wouldn't say I like them, but I don't dislike them."

I wasn't particularly interested in carrots. If she'd asked about something sweet, I could've given her a definite answer.

"I see. Kiyotaka, do you like them?"

Kiyotaka ignored her.

I nudged him with my elbow.

He paused, then replied, "Carrots contain one of the nutrients humans need to consume."

"I see. So, do you like them?" Yuki asked again.

He was silent for a moment before answering, "I don't know."

"Oh." Yuki sounded a little disappointed.

"Hara, do you want this?" She suddenly looked up at me with an innocent expression and held out the carrot she'd bitten into with her chopsticks.

"You've got spit on it," I said, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"Oh." She obediently took it back, then pointed at the untouched carrots on her plate. "What about these? Do you want them?"

I glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner, unsure what would happen if I accepted.

So I nodded toward her. "Kiyotaka just said carrots have nutrients you need. If you don't eat them, you might not keep up with training and get eliminated. What then?"

"Huh? I don't want to get eliminated!" She panicked at once and took a bite of the carrot on her chopsticks, her little face scrunching up. It was clear she was having a hard time eating it.

Hmm... Kind of... cute?

"Cute" was an adjective I'd read in a book. It seemed like it fit here, I thought.

After the meal, Yuki wandered around the cramped classroom, walking in circles.

When she came in front of me, she suddenly cried, "Whoa!" and toppled toward me.

Kiyotaka, who was beside us, started to reach out and catch her, but when he saw what I did, he quietly lowered his hand.

Once Yuki got up, her eyes were wide open.

Kiyotaka calmly analyzed the situation from beside her. "It's strange to fall on a flat surface."

Meanwhile, I pointed at her and laughed. "Hahaha, Yuki, you're so clumsy."

"Could it be accumulated fatigue? No... It doesn't look like it," Kiyotaka continued to analyze.

"Hmm... I don't feel tired, so why did I fall? That's a little strange." Yuki tilted her head, thinking.

Perhaps she'd heard me laughing, because a never-before-seen expression suddenly appeared on her face.

I abruptly stopped laughing and stared at her in disbelief.

Kiyotaka froze too, surprise flashing in his eyes—Yuki was smiling.

Yuki was surprised as well.

That was right. She was smiling.

She was the second person in our year to show that kind of expression. It wasn't like the expressions I usually forced onto their faces with my hands. This was an emotion welling up from deep inside.

"Just now... I..." Yuki touched her face, her eyes full of confusion and bewilderment.

"That's right. It's called a 'smile.'" I looked at her, my tone turning serious. "Yuki, you just smiled."

As training grew harder, I noticed a problem: whenever someone reached a goal too easily, the difficulty went up the next time. So I started holding back some of my ability.

I wanted to tell Kiyotaka. He was strong too, but the people in charge watched our every move, so there was no way to talk about it.

All I could do was hope he'd notice the problem too.

Thankfully, he did.

Later, the two of us were called in for a talk—or rather, interrogated. They demanded to know why we'd been holding back.

But with our intelligence, it was easy to fool those self-proclaimed instructors.

Even so, no matter how much we held back, the people destined to be eliminated were still eliminated in this race.

All kinds of classes.

Common knowledge lessons with VR, too.

Day after day, year after year.

The same days kept repeating, as if they'd never end. In a world with almost no rest, we were drilled over and over.

There wasn't much else to say. No matter how complicated or tricky the tasks were, they were still the same things we had to do.

Tomorrow, the day after, the day after that... Again and again. Once the elimination line caught up to you, you had no choice but to leave.

"—Fail!"

The instructor stood in front of Yuki, his voice as flat as ever.

"H-How could this..." Yuki's voice trembled as she collapsed onto the floor.

Nothing was impossible. With the passing score constantly rising, someone was bound to be eliminated. This time, it was Yuki.

"Stand up." The instructor's voice was still devoid of emotion.

Leaving this place wasn't so bad, actually. At least, that was what I thought.

But Yuki didn't see it that way. To her, the instructor's verdict meant losing her place in the White Room, and she didn't want to lose it.

"No! I... I... don't want to!"

"I'll say it again. Stand up!"

"Please, give me one more chance..." Yuki desperately resisted as the instructor tried to drag her away. "M-My score really wasn't high enough, but I passed yesterday's physical training class! And my score was... only two points short! I'll study hard, and I'm sure I'll pass the next test!..."

But no matter how much she cried and begged, the result wouldn't change.

She was two points short this time. With the difficulty increasing again next time, she'd fall even further behind.

Even if they let her off this time, she'd still be eliminated later.

The instructor ignored her and glanced outside.

A few more instructors came in, apparently planning to take her away by force.

"No! Don't!" Yuki struggled to wrench her arm free, then frantically ran toward Kiyotaka and me.

"Help me! Kiyotaka! Hara! Please help me! I don't want to leave!" She cried as she begged us for help.

I gave Kiyotaka a look, then shielded Yuki behind me.

But Kiyotaka didn't react. As far as he was concerned, Yuki no longer qualified to stay.

"Yuki, there's nothing wrong with leaving this place." I looked at her, feeling a little sorry for her.

"No! I don't want to leave! Please, help me..."

By then, the instructors had surrounded us.

"Wait!" I slapped away an instructor's reaching hand.

"You dare hit me?"

Smack! A slap landed across my face, and I fell to the floor.

"Hara!" Yuki panicked, looking ready to fight back.

I raised a hand to stop her. We couldn't fight back now. Absolutely not.

I could've dodged, or even retaliated, but that would only make things worse.

"Please, wait—" I got back up and continued to shield Yuki, raising my voice as I shouted, "Yuki hasn't been feeling well since this morning! She might not have performed properly because she's sick!"

I was about to continue when someone grabbed me by the collar.

"Managing your condition is part of your ability. Do you think making excuses like that will help? Besides, she seemed fine this morning." The instructor glared at me.

"That's true. But if it's an unforeseeable situation, that's another matter." An instructor beside us suddenly spoke up.

"Unforeseeable?" The instructor gripping my collar let go.

The other instructors gathered around and began examining Yuki. I patted her hand, telling her not to be nervous and to cooperate with the examination.

"She's bleeding? Where's the injury... Oh, I see."

"She seems to have a slight fever too. She really isn't in good condition."

"Take her to the infirmary first. We'll decide whether to eliminate her after a thorough examination."

As Yuki was led out of the classroom, she looked back at me through her tears. Our eyes met, and I nodded to reassure her.

The instructor gave me a meaningful look. "We'll let it go this time. Don't do this again."

I said nothing. I just stood there in silence.

But Yuki never came back.

She was still eliminated.

After Yuki left, my days became boring. I had no one to talk to anymore.

The others were all emotionless. Talking to them was no fun at all.

Before I knew it, there were only two of us left from the fourth generation.

Kiyotaka and me.

We spent a long, long time together. When we sparred, we always ended in a draw. Neither of us could eliminate the other.

One thing worth mentioning was that my record looked better than his. I had zero losses.

In other words, as long as I didn't leave of my own accord, Kiyotaka could only remain "second place forever."

But later, everything changed.

I happened to hear something from those people.

Kiyotaka was the son of that Ayanokoji Atsuomi.

"Kiyotaka, did you know you're Ayanokoji Atsuomi's son?" I asked him.

"I found out recently," he replied.

"I see. So now you're Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?"

He stayed silent, which was as good as confirmation.

I looked at him. He was still like a robot, without a trace of emotion.

I scoffed. "That man's ruthless, sending his own flesh and blood in here. What are you to him, anyway?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't say anything. He just stayed silent.

"Ayanokoji, you really are boring."

From that day on, I never called him "Kiyotaka" again.

I knew he and Ayanokoji Atsuomi had no relationship beyond blood. But why should I have to train harder than him?

Damn that Ayanokoji.

"Ayanokoji, I'm tired," I said to him beside me.

"If you're tired, go to sleep," he replied expressionlessly.

"You know I don't mean that."

He didn't say anything.

"Ayanokoji." I looked at him seriously. "I'm done playing this game. I've let you win for so long. How about I let you win one last time?" I said with a smile.

He looked back at me, his eyes still utterly calm.

We looked at each other—was that goodbye? It had to be, right? At least, that was what I thought...

During our last spar, I looked at him and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Then he knocked me out with one punch.

When I woke up again, I was lying in the infirmary, cursing up a storm in my head.

Damn it, Ayanokoji. You hit like a freaking truck.

The instructor stood beside me and said, "You've been eliminated."

"Oh."

I suppose I'd finally gotten to experience the same treatment Yuki and the others had.

At least, that was what I thought.

And so, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was the only one left from the fourth generation.

He became the sole person from the fourth generation to remain.