"Every day, I dread going to sleep."
"Because whenever I close my eyes, I worry I'll never open them again."
When Tetsu no Sosuke opened his eyes, those were the words he heard. He stared dazedly at the pitch-black ceiling, his head still foggy. An unpleasant smell hung in the air.
Medicine... and definitely not good medicine. He had no feeling in his chest.
But his injuries were clearly still there.
Where was the person speaking?
Several questions surfaced in Tetsu no Sosuke's mind at once, but the last was clearly the most important.
It would determine whether he was safe or in danger.
He searched the room and soon found the speaker.
The man leaned against the wall, his head tilted upward at a forty-five-degree angle, looking like a poet.
His clothes were ragged, and his eyesight seemed poor—or perhaps he was simply staring into space.
Tetsu no Sosuke considered it for a long while before deciding not to speak.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Despite his decision to stay quiet, the man noticed him right away.
Tetsu no Sosuke could only nod and ask in a dry, hoarse voice, "Where am I?"
"A fine place." The answer was unexpectedly simple, and the man made no attempt to hide anything. "Prison."
"..."
Tetsu no Sosuke fell silent for quite a while. What was going on? Prison? How could this be prison?
Growing anxious, he tried to sit up, but his body simply would not let him.
The man said, "You're badly wounded. They used the most basic medicine on you. They don't care whether you survive."
"...Why am I here?" Tetsu no Sosuke carefully searched his memories, but found nothing that explained it.
The man studied his face, his expression gradually turning intrigued. "You don't know?"
"Am I... supposed to?" Tetsu