Shoes. I hadn't worn them in a long time. At home, in the closet, I had at least fifteen different pairs, but I usually always wore those provided by the New Tokyo Academy. All the ones I bought in stores were usually very expensive, but I never worried about them. Every now and then Yoichi would ask me to accompany him to buy clothing for his brother, who, due to his fragile nature, was forced to stay at home, and out of pity, I accepted. Usually, my friend stopped buying his clothes not in the shops I always went to, but in those on the outskirts of the city that were part of some economic chain. I never understood why, but I never dared to contradict Yoichi. If only then I had known that I would no longer be wearing shoes for all that time, I would have probably bought an entire shoe shop.
***
"Tell me, Subject 1, do you now know what an electromagnetic wave is?"
I knew it, but it obviously was a rhetorical question since I couldn't talk. The leather straps over my mouth muffled my voice and prevented me from moving my head.
I could see Mikami from the corner of my eye, and it wasn't a pleasant sight.
My heart was pounding against my chest, I thought it was going to explode. What was going to happen?
I was woken up in what I thought was the middle of the night by a pair of scientists who carried me in a new laboratory. At first, it looked like they just wanted to check my vitals, but after doing a quick blood draw they started to tie me up even more than I already was. My wrists, legs, neck, chest, and toes were soon handcuffed to the bed.
My mouth was sealed too, even if I kept silent for the whole time. I didn't know what was going on, my only rational thought shattered as soon as Mikami made his entrance in the room.
His cold, gray eyes were fixed on me like I was some kind of prize, while his mouth twisted into a crooked grin.
I immediately started hyperventilating, already trying to scream. I wasn't even enraged by Mikami's presence, I just felt fear and anxiety.
It all was way different from anything that ever happened during my previous imprisonment.
Judging by the man's smile, I was in big trouble.
He held a little notebook in his hands and scribbled on it without even looking, his gaze was way too focused on me.
I found it hard to breathe only from my nose while hyperventilating. My mind was racing, I couldn't even understand what was going on anymore.
I felt, suddenly, that the center of this man's attention was a very bad place to be at that moment. My attempt to scream was useless, just a sigh escaped my mouth.
"Humph!"
But it was enough to catch Mikami's attention. His happy expression made me shiver. He looked ecstatic, like something important was going to happen soon.
The way he moved around the room, how his eyes shined under the flashing lights, even the manner his smile widened every time I squirted my eyes shut had a dominating aura.
I wriggled more than ever in the foolish attempt to escape, but it was just a huge waste of energy.
I didn't even know why I was there, but only then I noticed a few scientists bringing some machines through the glass door.
I saw Mikami turning his back on me while fidgeting with something on the table. I tried to raise my head to see what was going on, but I was stuck on the bed.
Then, the blonde-haired man turned towards me with a large needle in his hands. It was filled with what looked like water, but I had the feeling that it wasn't quite the right answer. I tried to move away from him, but I knew I couldn't.
I kept staring at him wide-eyed, aware that the needle was for me. I didn't know what was going to do to me and for the past few minutes I hoped that when Ishida said: "human evolution" actually meant "trying to find a new vaccine".
I knew it couldn't be that: why would someone trap me in an underground laboratory then? No, all I understood was that what they did there was dangerous, and that I was important because I had something different in my DNA, or something like that. Ishida once dropped a few hints about the high probability of death when talking on the phone while I was listening, but that didn't scare me much since I already suspected it.
I didn't want to die, and surely Mikami wouldn't have permitted me to leave this world without being helpful for the research.
The gray-eyed man tightened the bindings around my arms as I struggled and squirmed under his icy gaze.
"Oh, trust me, you're going to want to be strapped for this. We're going to find out how many times a human being can break."
And that's what got me screaming even more. I didn't notice that I was biting the leather straps over my mouth at the point of hurting myself.
"Aha! I can see it in your eyes. The fear. What's gotten you so scared?" hissed Mikami as he roughly injected the needle's substance in my arm. I squirted my eyes shut, even though I didn't feel much pain. I slightly frowned when the blonde-haired man sat on a chair next to me and crossed his legs.
What the hell was going on?
After all he said I expected him to start playing sick experiments on me, but all he did was silently stare at me with a little smirk. Then why did they strap me? Why did he talk like I was going to be tortured by him? Was it all an act just in order to scare me? No, it didn't make any sense.
I furrowed my brows and shot him an interrogative look, but Mikami just took a pen from his pocket and started scribbling some notes on the papers next to him.
I couldn't help but compare him and Ishida. It was a natural thing to do, I guess. From what I knew, Hayato Ishida would have never scared me like that, on the contrary, I had the feeling that he would have made it look like a little issue, nothing more. I couldn't be sure, but that's what I thought about it. On the other hand, Mikami seemed to enjoy my suffering, and that's one of the things that I couldn't understand about him.
A part of me, mostly the desperate one, wished for Ishida's presence. Or, better said, I wished for Mikami's disappearance.
"You're really hopeless. Still wishing for your knight in shining armor to come here, huh?" asked the blonde-haired man as he cracked his knuckles.
I stared at him wide-eyed, not believing that he always managed to guess what I was thinking. Was I so predictable?
Mikami was looking at me, clearly pleased by my confusion and incredulity.
"I don't really like being put in second place, but I guess that I've got no chance against him. But tell me Subject 1, how do you think he'll react when you'll die?"
That was an easy question. He would have been disappointed. Annoyed maybe. He'd have to find another lab rat, well, unless he already had others in his laboratories around the world. It made me angry, but it being mad at him was useless, it wouldn't have changed my position anyways. He would have just looked sadly at my lifeless body before going to shake hands with his next victim. Nothing more.
Mikami let out a loud sigh "I think he would get really mad if you died, even if Ishida himself predicted your death at some point. From what I saw, he really cherishes you. Be grateful, you've earned special treatment. He's all strange, caught up in the bullshit he drinks instead of coffee, but he's the one in charge here. Too bad you won't probably see him again."
I have to admit it, his words made me flinch. Knowing that I was going to die in that hellhole was still painful, even though I already realized that since the previous two weeks.
"He didn't even explain why we abducted you, right?" asked after a few minutes Mikami. I just glared at him, already expecting bad news.
"I'll just tell you a little bit since we'll have to wait for some time. Well, Ishida really put much effort into it, but I think it's all crap. In his last studies, he affirms that our brain continuously shifts in other realities, but that our "mind frequency", that's how he called it, it's set on a specific one. From what I understood, we're like radios: always ready to change the channel. No, we're not talking about shit like Hollywood cheap movies, but I think it's foolish. But still, I'll enjoy seeing you suffer for his beliefs."
I didn't understand a single thing. In my weak state of mind, coping with what Mikami told me was like climbing Mount Everest while wearing sandals. I just kept looking at the ceiling, my face void of any emotion.
I didn't know what was he waiting for, but I didn't like the way he smirked.
We stayed in silence for what felt like hours, the only sound in the room was the beeping of the machines next to me. My eyes felt dull due to the lights on the ceiling, but my hands were still trembling.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, I felt a thump in the back of my head. I furrowed my brows, thinking it was all my imagination. Then, I felt another. And another. Suddenly, my hands started shaking, while cold sweat started trickling down my neck. It was a strange sensation, the numbness I felt until a few minutes before completely vanished.
Then, the thumping in my head became stronger and louder. I could feel my heart beating faster than before. Next, I felt myself grow hotter. My whole body was trembling and burning, while my mind was too cloudy.
Afterward, I felt a little sting in my ribcage. Then another in my shoulder. Eventually, every single part of me was all sweaty and hot.
I let out a pained gasp as I felt a cramp in my stomach. I heard Mikami muttering something to himself, but the only word I understood was "Finally".
Then, my back started hurting. Another cramp in my leg and ribcage made me jolt up.
And that's when I understand why the restraints.
In a few minutes, I found myself screaming and crying, begging Mikami to make it stop. Words can't describe the pain I felt. It was like being slowly crushed by a truck, but at the same time being burned alive. Even though I had a strap over my mouth, my screams still filled the room. Even blinking was painful.
My broken cries and silent prayers didn't help, the scientist in front of me just smiled at my agonizing figure.
My fingers searched for sheets to hold onto while my lungs screamed for fresh air. I was on fire, even though I had the feeling that I could have easily drowned in my own sweat.
I screamed in pain until my brain couldn't endure it anymore. I was sure that I would have died there. I wanted it to finish at all costs. My limbs twitched at every new cramp, and it felt like I couldn't breathe. My vision was blurred by hot tears that stroked my cheeks, but that was the last of my problems.
I kept jolting up every second as a sharp pain invaded me. My ears were plugged, but I could still hear a faint laughing in the distance. I didn't recognize that voice, my brain wasn't working anymore.
If Hell was a feeling, then it was nothing compared to what I was going through.
Was I going to die like that? I didn't know, mostly because I immediately passed out after I asked myself that.