The Colorless Cage (5)

My name is Nakamura Aoko.

I’m 16 and currently entering my first year of high school. The school’s front walkway was lined with cherry blossoms, and since it was spring, the sight was nothing less than beautiful.

All around me were the faces of fellow first-year students, frolicking with their friends in the most carefree of manners. The faculty greeted them with pleasant smiles on their faces, and some were even interacting with upperclassmen already.

Disgusting.

Look at all of them, laughing without a care. Even in a world where wishes can truly be granted, happiness was nothing more than a pipe dream. In fact, you could say that it was even harder to attain.

All I had was this one wish in my back pocket. One wish I couldn’t use, else I’d be ridiculed for wasting it on something as trivial as getting into a school.

That’s why I suffered so much.

I was never good at academics. You could pretty much say that I was downright stupid, but even I had one redeeming quality.

I was strong.

This was the best school in the prefecture. I was the best karateka in the prefecture. That’s the only reason why I even got in.

Why go to all the trouble?

Money. Even with an abundance of wishes, this world still runs on something as foolish as printed paper that anyone could wish into existence.

In fact, there was even a financial crisis a few years back precisely because of that.

But here, I’d be able to get into a good university and find a good job. I was very realistic. I may be the best karateka here, but the moment I went to nationals, I’d get dunked on.

In any case, it wasn’t a career path. The only thing that I could do was conform to society’s norms or use my one precious wish.

It was obvious that I only had one choice.

At least, that’s what I thought until I met him.

It was just another day at the club dojo. The members generally avoided me whenever it was time to spar. Most of them were just here because they were a little better than average compared to their peers, and egomaniacs never liked tasting defeat.

After I beat everyone in the club, no one wanted to talk to me anymore. It didn’t matter to me, though. I’d gone through the entirety of middle school alone, cooped up in the library and studying furiously by myself in futility.

I had finished my kata, and I was just about to wrap up when the door slid open.

“Here’s the clubroom, Nakano-san. I, uh, didn’t take you for someone who was into karate.”

A dark-haired boy of average stature was standing in the doorway, but that wasn’t who caught my eye.

It was the absurdly beautiful woman who stood next to him.

She walked directly toward me, her long black hair swaying in the wake of her graceful movements. She didn’t even stop to bow at the entrance.

Just who the hell is this shameless beauty?

I stared at her as she stood right in front of me. There was absolutely no aspect in which I could beat her.

Her build was slender, but I could sense a very specific sort of pressure which emanated from her very core. It was the kind that was only present in those who had witnessed and fought in countless battles.

Even in strength, I was inferior.

“What do you want?” My voice trembled slightly, but I managed to control it.

She leaned in closer to me and stared me straight in the eyes. Then, she frowned and turned away abruptly.

The woman stopped next to the boy and grabbed his arm.

“I’m taking him then.”

I shrugged. The moment I did, she immediately left. A sharp pang of regret and loss struck my heart, but it passed quickly.

Even so, I wondered why.

The next day, she showed up again. Alone.

“How many tournaments have you won?”

I frowned. What an odd question. She could have gotten the answer just by searching the name, but I humored her anyway.

“Twelve. What’s it to you?”

Again, she turned on her heel and departed without a single word spoken to me.

On the third day, he showed up.

“Hey, uh, Nakano-san told me to come here, but I’ve got no clue what she wants. Name’s Kirisake Eiji, by the way. I don’t mind if you just call me Eiji, though.”

“Nakano-san...? You mean that disgustingly beautiful girl that you were with?”

Eiji stared at me for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “Yeah, her. Though... ‘Disgustingly beautiful’, huh? I guess that’s actually pretty fitting.”

I smiled. “Really? I thought any guy would be head over heels for a girl like that.”

“You’re not wrong. I was too, until she turned out to be a total wacko. I mean, she introduced herself as ‘Kurokami Izanami’ and then called me her ‘knight’ on the first day of class. Then, she spent the whole evening dragging me around to the weirdest places doing the weirdest things.”

“You callin’ my clubroom a weird place?”

His eyes widened in realization. “N-No! I was just saying, like, she took me to the art club and marched right up to the club president and then asked her if she was into bondage!”

I nearly spit out my sports drink. “She WHAT!?”

“Yeah. And it only gets crazier. Thing is, she was doing these things almost like she was on autopilot, y’know? It felt like she knew the school’s layout even better than I did. Left me wondering why I even bothered showing her around.”

“And now she’s sent you here to ask me if I’m into bondage,” I said jokingly.

“Dear god, I hope not,” he laughed. “Still, I’m not entirely sure why she made me come here.”

I poked Eiji in the shoulder, eliciting a yelp of surprise. “Maybe she brought you here to bulk up as her ‘knight.’ You’re pretty lanky for a dude.”

“H-Hey! I’ll have you know I used to do karate back in middle school! I nearly got picked to compete on the school team!”

“Oh? Wanna go for a round, then?”

I don’t really know why I offered a match to Eiji back then, but maybe it was because I was having a normal conversation for the first time in high school.

Maybe because I thought I had finally found a friend.

Little did I know, I had just stumbled into something far, far greater than myself.

But I regretted none of it. I just wish...