A.N. = Lets see how this goes. Also, Italics are flashbacks. Or thoughts.

It was a cold evening, even colder than what was expected of a normal winter evening. The temperature dipping into the single digits, it was cold enough for normal people to hole up in their houses under the futons.

It was oddly comforting for a weird existence as myself, seeing as I had lived my whole 14 years of life inside a white room fully air-conditioned.

Tightening the gray coat around me, I sat down in one of the nearby seats.

I was currently present in a nearby park finishing my daily evening walk. Just because I was free for a while didn't mean that I could neglect my exercises.

It was honestly overwhelming, being outside. It still felt like an unreal dream which could be explained as I had never seen any outside interference in my life for the first 10 years of my life.

My entire life was a blank white slate.

White floors.

White walls.

White clothes.

All could be found in the White Room or WR in short. It was a project headed by a cruel man named Professor Ayanokoji, intending to create the perfect human. Someone perfect enough in his eyes, who could lead the future of Japan to its eternal glory.

He believed that a child could become perfect if they were raised the right way, vigilantly watched and meticulously planned. The right amount of nutrition, education and training were the true path to perfection.

He was partially right, too.

By carefully observing me and providing me with just the right amount of nutrition and education, I had achieved the peak of perfection for a 14 year old. Physically.

Mentally, I was a confused child who had never tasted freedom. Full of curiosities that could never be satisfied while I was locked in a room.

A one week trip to New York when I was 10 years old was not enough to cure my starvation of real world knowledge.

Granted, it was fascinating, but it still left me wanting for more by the end. Though the hope of ever going back outside until my curriculum was completed was miniscule.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, for the first time of his life, wanted something.

The next four years were colorless, lacking any sorts of excitement and emotion. Until the 20th of October of this year.

By some twisted sense of fate, exactly 14 years after the day I was enrolled in the white room, the horrid place was shut down for maintenance. The rest of the generations were either sent to safe houses or orphanages owned by Professor Ayanokoji. Some of the more luckier ones had connections and were sent to their respective guardians, be it butlers or cousins or siblings.

I was one of those lucky kids, sent to one of the mansions owned by my father who was also the head of the project. How lucky of me to have such a caring father.

Note the sarcasm.

Still, I was a bit lucky when I encountered Matsuo. Such a kind-hearted person suffering under my father, obliged to follow my father's morally gray orders while also supporting a 13 year old son was taxing for his mentality. Added to it the concern aimed towards me was making his life even more stressful. A cause of worry to me, it was.

A 9 year old me would have sent me to get my sanity checked if he ever heard that I cared for the health of a person. Understandable, seeing as trust and friends were the taboo of White Room.

It had truly hit me that I was free until I saw the bright sky outside the window after waking up on the 3rd day. Such a pity it was. The epitome of perfection was the least perfect person in my eyes.

Spending 3 months in the city, I was enlightened to many wonders of daily life. The simplest of things would arise massive amounts of curious questions. As they said, a hands-on experience was the best type of experience. Books could only explain so much.

My endless volley of questions would have given the most patient person endless annoyances. But my tour guide was not just a person. He was Matsuo's son Eiichiro who was also accompanied by his childhood friend Nanase Tsubasa.

The former was a blonde haired honor student of sorts, with a childish personality and the ability to get caught in all sorts of trouble. The latter was no better, following him to the ends of earth. Which was mostly to the detention room for some kind of trouble that Eiichiro had cooked up. Her innocent naivety was kind of cute too.

The sounds of an interview on the television in an electronics shop brought me out of my thoughts. Apparently, I had started walking back to the house, seeing as it was getting close to night time.

Back to the interview, it looked as if they were interviewing a child athlete, someone whose team had apparently massacred the entire basketball league of middle school. They were some sort of monsters in basketball, destroying any opponent that came to their court. Strong enough to earn a cool sounding moniker too.

"I am pretty sure they wouldn't appreciate being called monsters." I had commented when I first heard about the nickname from Eiichiro. And he didn't look like the type to call someone a monster, how despicable they might be. It was most probably coined by someone else and was picked up by Eiichiro.

"The way they play, they have earned their name." He replied back without hesitation.

Out of all the players being interviewed, which was just 6, the most strangest one was the red haired one. A smirk on his face while he answered questions. His eyes, though, held the competitiveness of a white room attendee. He was someone to watch out for, someone interesting.

Turning away from the screen, I took a few steps towards his previous destination. Thoughts turning towards carefree topics like the weather or what was on dinner tonight. Food under the Matsuo family was mouth-watering, to say the least.

A sudden familiar voice was one to break me out of my thoughts. They seemed to be calling out to me.

"Kiyotaka! Wait for a second, please." A slightly winded yet recognizable voice reached my ears.

Looking back, a mop of blond hair approaching me was visible in the sea of citizens. Stopping slightly, I let the person in question catch up to me. A few deep breaths later, he calmed down and started walking beside me.

Apparently he had been looking for me to bring me back home, thinking I had been lost. Kind of him but slightly foolish. A masterpiece never forgets the roads he walks on. Especially if he strolls it everyday for almost 3 months.

"I was just coming home. You didn't have to worry." I tried to reassure him.

"It's not me who was worried. Dad sent me to look for you." Ouch. At least lie and say you were worried for me.

Sigh. "He's been the same for the last 2 months. It's not like I would just run away." And even if I did, I wouldn't drag these people with me.

"I know. I know. But dad's been like that throughout my whole life." He replied back without any hesitation, while his face had a slight smile.

Making small talk, we headed back to the house, passing the whole large district. The other people were the same. Busy and in a hurry. Various sorts of people passed me, some interesting while most were the general black haired Japanese citizen.

A poster about a school caught my attention, mostly because Eiichiro was staring at it with interest. It was nothing eye catching, until you saw what was written.

100% employment and college entry rate.

Oh. That's interesting.

Eiichiro, on being noticed looking, further explained. "It's an elite level school which boasts 100% employment and college entry rate. You just need to graduate from that school and your life is going to smooth-sailing. Getting into it is pretty hard though. Me and Tsubasa are hoping to get into it for our high school year." High ambition but knowing these two, they would be able to do it.

"You both are just 13 now. Put some extra effort in your academics and you will surely be able to get into it."

"Thanks, Kiyotaka. I hope so too." He replied back with a smile.

"Besides, you just need to give Nanase some private lessons if she is lacking behind a little. Just don't get carried away during it." I replied with a teasing tone while he blushed at the implications. Trap set and target spotted.

"Hey! We would never do that!" Target caught in the trap.

"What are you talking about? I could have just been talking about games but you took it in an indecent way. What a perverted mind you have." Finish with an innocent face and an accusation and the target gets KO'd. Although, now would also be a good time to start running.

He groaned at being caught in such an obvious word trap while blushing even more at his own imagination. Chasing after me in annoyance, I also ran towards the house while my thoughts unconsciously wandered.

'Advanced Nurturing High School'? Sounds interesting.

Word Count - 1565

Done.