January 16
Genre: Mystery/Tragedy
Summary: Everyone believes Prisoner 13224 is suicidal. Kaito, a new officer, is about to discover the wild fantasy created by his captive.

January 16

The atmosphere around here is oppressive.

I felt uncomfortable in my new uniform. No matter how many times I ironed it or unbuttoned some of the buttons, the uniform felt strange when I wear it. It's a new experience. I've never wore these kinds of fancy uniforms in my life. I need to get used to them to do my job without any distractions. What made it even peculiar is the handgun, handcuffs and the baton that are resting on the side of my belt.

I glanced to my side to catch a glimpse of a fellow officer, Gakupo, talking to me as we walked. Every time an officer walked by, he stopped in the middle of his speech to introduce the newbie, a.k.a. me, to the senior before continuing his sentence. His long purple hair that he always tied into a pigtail revolved behind his head as we continued to walk. I know I need to listen to him but it's hard to pay attention to anything when you're in a building built for the "bad people." He didn't seem to feel out-of-place walking in a hallway filled with endless numbers of prison cells with criminals behind the bars in each one.

"This is the area you'll be guarding," Gakupo explained, his finger circling a certain area in the air. I nodded as he started to explain what I'm responsible to do when I guard. I already know what I'm supposed to do. I reread the instructions many times last night before I went to sleep, but I let him instruct me without cutting him off. When he finished, we continued our stroll until we reached the main office.

"That's Yuuma," said Gakupo, pointing to a slender officer standing in the back of the room leaning against the window. "Go introduce yourself." He ordered.

Gakupo didn't hesitate to push me from behind and I was practically forced to greet a person I've never met. Coming closer, he seemed fragile. Yuuma looked away from the window and faced us with his arms crossed.

"Is this the newcomer?" he asked, setting his eyes on me.

"My name's Kaito," I began, extending my hand. "Kaito Shion."

His pink hair barely reached his eyes so I had a clear view of his golden eyes watching mine as he slowly reached out to shake mine. "Yuuma," he answered dully.

"Oh look, it's Kiyoteru," said Gakupo. I have no idea who's this "Kiyoteru" person so I turned around and spotted the glass wall Gakupo was looking at. There's a tall officer and a prisoner on the other side, walking past the office with his hand gripped tightly on a female captive so she wouldn't run away. His other hand held a key most likely to open the prisoners' jail cell.

We watched until the duo was out of our sight and Gakupo broke the silence first. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a sheepish grin. "Listen," he said, "prisoners stay locked in their room all day. No expectations. We give them time to go outside for some air. When they go out, you have to keep watch."

"I know." I answered. It was on one of the guidelines I read last night.

"There are many who obediently follow your orders," he continued, "but not all. Some pick a fight. That's where the baton comes in handy. A few need special care. They're suicidal."

"Not all of them have freedom." Yuuma explained. "They would rather die instead of wait for the day to arrive."

I nodded with my hands clenched. "I understand."

Gakupo flashed me a bright smile and patted my back. "Today's your first day. You'll do fine. We'll watch over you for a few days until you get the hang of it. Now, if you'll excuse me," he went over to a nearby desk and picked up a large can of paint and a paintbrush. "I'm a busy man. I need to start repainting the east side of the building."

I watched Gakupo go fulfill his mission until a cough broke my trance. It turned out to be Yuuma with his arms still crossed against his neat uniform. "I should warn you. Sometime this place is crazy," he said, "but you'll get used to it."

I found out Yuuma and I have the same schedule so we decided to stick together and he would show me around. He watched me do my job of leading the captives outside when it was time to give them fresh air. Gakupo was right about the prisoners. Many follow your orders but there are some who refuse and try to pick a fight. There were only a couple of times when I had to hold my baton. They all show different emotions, but they all have something in common. They all have the same lifeless eyes.

Outside, prisoners run a few laps or walk around aimlessly going nowhere while we keep watch. I watched the internees do whatever they're doing while Yuuma pulled out a tablet from somewhere in his pocket. He poured a few pills in his mouth followed by a sip of clear water from his water bottle.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Multivitamins," he says. "I don't have time to eat a proper meal."

I made a mental note to buy some on my way home in case I happen to have the same problem in the future.

Keeping watch is an easy task. It wasn't long until an emphatic scream pierced our ears from a building somewhere behind. I noticed many prisoners ogling at the building where the sound came from but then turning back and doing whatever they were doing as if they forgot what happened a few seconds ago. Very few didn't intend to stare and acted as if they were deaf. I turned to face Yuuma for answers, but he was acting like one of them.

"What was that?" I inquired, looking uneasily at his inscrutable expression.

"Nothing," he deadpanned.

"Shouldn't we go and see?"

"No, we don't."

"But what if someone's in trouble?"

I heard Yuuma sigh and click his tongue. "One of us has to keep watch," he says. "You go."

For a second I felt unsure if I should leave Yuuma behind; but after realizing someone might be in serious trouble, I hustled to the area where the sound took place.

My hypothesis was correct. I heard more screams followed by a low grunt. The more I heard, the more I was tempted to see what was happening. The screams were enough to lead me to an open cell. I started to panic until I noticed a fellow officer with medium brown hair limping when he walked out of the prisoner's room and locked the door. Everything seemed fine, but the panic started to return when I caught sight of his right hand bleeding perpetually.

"Are you okay?" I questioned, unable to take my eyes off his red hand.

The officer must've not noticed me earlier because he took a step back in surprise and looked at me incautiously.

"Are you alright?" I said again. This time I was watching his chocolate-brown eyes staring into mine.

"Yes," he replied, readjusting his glasses. "I'm fine."

But he's not. The fresh blood is still oozing out of his skin.

The man must've noticed me gazing at his injury because he quickly hid the bloody hand behind his back and said, "I'll be fine. Ignore what you just saw." He then rushed past me muttering "She's a monster," along with other harsh words until I couldn't hear him anymore.

I couldn't understand what happened just now. Curiously, I took a peek at the cell he came out of. The room is dark without a hint of light but I'm able to make out a small figure- possibly a female- looking like it's sitting on the concrete ground. I glanced at a tag hung next to the door of the prison cell and quietly whispered the written words to myself,

Prisoner 13224.

It's not one of the captives I'm ordered to keep watch. I stared at the drops of blood before realizing I'm wasting valuable time. Perhaps Yuuma can answer some questions I have in mind.

"How is she?"

How is she? I thought. I was right. How did he know?

I faced Yuuma in confusion. "What?"

"Prisoner 13224," he explained, rolling his eyes. "You went to see her, right?"

"Yeah," I answered, remembering the number written on the tag. "I did."

"How's she doing?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure." I admitted. When he looked at me with questioning eyes, I quickly added, "I didn't have time to look at her."

He didn't ask any questions after that. I guess I looked like I was thinking of her because Yuuma suddenly says, "She's older than she looks."

I turned to face him in surprise. "What?" I asked.

Yuuma looks at me and I immediately know who he's talking about.

I finally gathered the courage to ask, "…What kind of person is she?"

He sighs. "I don't know much about her."

"You don't?" I glanced at him unsure if he's telling the truth or not.

Yuuma shrugged as if he's saying he didn't care what I thought of him after that. "All I know is she's always causing trouble," he says. "She's suicidal."

I remember Gakupo telling me there're some people who need special care. Prisoner 13224 is in need of care. I made another note to myself to be cautious whenever I'm around her.

The next day, I was given an extra task by the higher-ups.

I'm ordered to watch an extra batch of prisoners for the time being while an officer stays home to recover from an injury. I didn't feel bothered by the assignment. Instead, I felt proud. I figured they assigned me to be the substitute because I'm doing well for a newcomer.

The prisoners I'm assigned to watch are polite. They all followed my orders without any rude remarks as I led them outside to their limited freedom. Not all tasks are easy to accomplish. A problem arrived when I somehow ended up standing in front of Prisoner 13224's room.

"Prisoner 13224," I called her number. I waited a few seconds before unlocking the bar. "It's time to go outside." I announced.

The door opened and I waited for her to come out, but I realized I looked like a fool when she didn't come out nor respond to any of my calls. I called her number again and again until I gave up and entered her room. She was lying down in the back of the room with her back facing me. Curiously, I walked toward her. She wasn't asleep. Prisoner 13224 was softly patting the concrete ground, whispering something I couldn't quite catch.

"…I'm not alone," she softly murmured.

I bent down next to her and started to smell something strange; something metallic. Taking a closer look at her moving hand, I noticed a strange color oozing down from her wrist and the same color splattered on the spot she was patting her hand.

It's blood.

The blood on the ground seemed strange. I had a feeling something was wrong. I leaned toward her to examine it a little closer and noticed the blood seemed to be smeared. It's smeared to create some kind of picture. I noticed the constant movement of her hand caused the illusion to become deformed.

Before I could do anything, she moved quickly and turned around to place her hand tightly around my throat, forcing me create heavily unattractive sounds to come out of my mouth. She's trying to kill me. I didn't have the strength to reach for my baton. Seconds later I found myself able to breathe again when I spotted two guards pulling her away from me and starting to drag her away. It was the prisoners turn to create the sounds I made earlier, and I found myself looking at her in fear.

Some prisoners obey the orders given to them while others pick a fight. Some are healthy but the ones who don't fit into that category are considered crazy.

Prisoner 13324 is a crazy person.

My hand raised on its own to feel my bruised neck. I continued to sit on the ground, waiting for the shock to fade away. My lips are chalky pale. My brain couldn't function properly after that incident. I didn't know what to do.

"You alright?" said a voice.

I looked up and saw Gakupo leaning against the doorway. He didn't have the same frightened expression I had. His was calm, but I can feel his anger bristling under his skin.

"Yeah," I responded, slowly getting up from the bloody ground. "I'm alright."

Gakupo told me to take a rest and he'll take care of everything. He said he sent someone to take the captive somewhere quiet so she could think of what she did wrong. He led me back to the office and ordered me to sit down and take a few minutes to steady myself. Gakupo stayed next to me while I tried to forget what I just experienced.

"Does she…"

He gazed into my eyes and said, "Hm?"

"Prisoner 13224," I hear myself say. "Does she always draw stuff using her blood?"

Gakupo didn't seem to know anything about what I just said because he said, "Draw what?"

"…Nothing."

Gakupo had to excuse himself to go finish his work. I later found out my hands and my uniform was stained in blood so I walked to the restroom to wash my hands. I looked at my reflection on the mirror and the sight of it surprised me. My throat was a deep, crimson red. You could actually see the shape of Prisoner 13224's fingers outlined in the coming bruise, and all I could do was stare at it.

The next day, I felt nervous. I didn't know how I should act around Prisoner 13224 after almost getting killed by her. I didn't want to go near her but I was curious about the doodling she made.

I went inside and found her in the same position as yesterday. I noticed her wrist was neatly wrapped in a bandage, but then I realized her other wrist was bleeding. Why is she doing this to herself? I grabbed her arm to halt her actions, but she struggles and tries to pull away from my grasp, saying something I couldn't understand. She's weak. It wasn't long until I had her pinned to the ground.

"You're bleeding," I insist, my bottom lip is trembling.

"I'll live."

I stopped myself just in time to realize she actually said something I understood. She spoke. She spoke to me. Prisoner 13224 actually talked to me.

I caught her looking at my neck.

"Remember this?" I told her, releasing my grasp and pulling my tie low so she could see it closer. "You did it to me when I first approached you."

"I did that?" she questioned. I looked at her when she backed away, realizing it wasn't a question. "I did that," she said again. But this time, she said it so quietly that I almost couldn't hear her.

"Why are you doing this?" I heard myself say to her. "You're hurting yourself."

She didn't reply. She bit her bottom lip to indicate she wouldn't say anything to me.

"I saw it," I said after a few moments of silence. I pointed to a spot next to her. "The picture."

She seemed startled when I told her what I knew. The way how she started to shake told me I wasn't seeing things. There's something she's hiding from me, and I'm determined to found out what it is.

"Why?" I asked again. "Why do you hurt yourself?"

No words left her mouth.

"Do you not want to tell me?"

She nodded.

I sighed. "Then can you at least tell me why you draw on the floor? You make it look like you're trying to kill yourself."

She didn't reply. It was expected but I found myself sighing. I'm wasting valuable time. I was about to get up until I felt a pair of cold hands grab my arm and pull me back with a soft whimper. I looked at the hand in surprise and my eyes widened when I realized it belonged to the prisoner.

"Alone," she whispered.

"What?" I leaned closer to hear her better.

Prisoner 13224 started to tremble and I realized this is something no one ever sees her do. "I didn't want to be alone," she says.

Prisoner 13224 whispered something about using her blood to draw random people on the ground so she wouldn't feel alone. The way she rolls around in her sleep and her hand constantly patting the ground smears the picture making it look like she's suicidal. She way how she held my hands proved to me that she's afraid. She's like a child who's afraid of the dark. Her actions made me want to hug her and be her friend. And I did.

Prisoner 13224's guard successfully healed and came straight back to work. I realized that I saw him once before I met him the day his hand was bleeding. It was the day when I first arrived. His name is Kiyoteru. He's the guy who I saw taking a prisoner to their cell when I first arrived.

He came back to work, but that doesn't mean I stopped seeing Prisoner 13224 altogether. I offered to help him and he agreed. With Kiyoteru around, we couldn't talk much without getting caught. The only time we can talk is when I escort her to and from outside. We decreased our pace to lengthen our time together. The more we talked, the more she stopped acting suicidal.

From that day on, I spent every free time I could spare visiting Prisoner 13224. I learned many things about her. I learned that her name is Luka and she's twenty years old. I've always thought of Luka as a mere prisoner who acted suicidal, but I never realized how beautiful she is up close. Her long pink hair mesmermized me. The way how she would look at me with her dazzling blue eyes made me fall for her. We never talked about our history. It was a useless subject. I would tell her about the outside world and she would always be eager to listen to my stories. Talking about the world seemed to interest her. Even the tiniest things somehow fascinated her. She's like a child who's eager to learn new things.

There were many times when I wanted to break the rules and take her on a journey somewhere far away. It would just be the two of us together. I wanted us to be normal people and go on normal dates. I wanted us to have a normal relationship without anyone thinking of us as an officer and a prisoner.

We always talk whenever I visit her. All I wanted to do is speak to her and listen to her husky voice.

"I have second thoughts about my life," she admitted when I once visited her.

"Now you're not alone," I grinned. "I'm right here. I'll talk to you anytime you want."

We both smiled.

Yuuma has a person he secretly likes.

I didn't know until I saw him in the office one day looking worriedly at a phone he held in his hands. The Yuuma I know always lacked emotions. I had to blink a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"What's wrong?" I asked when I reached him. "Are you sick?"

"He's about to ask someone out," answered Gakupo, who was sitting on a nearby couch. He didn't seem to care that there were paint marks all over his uniform.

I blinked in surprise and said, "A girl?"

I watched Yuuma starting to shake as he began to type something on his phone.

"Who is she?" I inquired, turning his phone so I could see the name of the contact.

"She's a childhood friend of his," Gakupo answered again. "Her name's SeeU."

"SeeU?" I repeated the name out loud, thinking silently to myself how strange it sounded.

Gakupo has the power to read people's minds because the next thing I know, he's telling me everything he knows about her. I learned that this SeeU girl Yuuma has a crush on is Korean, seventeen years old, 159 centimeters tall, weighs 44.5 kilograms, has azure eyes and long curly blonde hair that reaches to her upper thigh, her voice is light-hearted and cute, wears fake cat ears for fun, likes cats, wears XXS size clothes, and favors cream puffs.

In short, she's cute and lively. She's the exact opposite of Yuuma.

It's also kind of stalkerish how Gakupo knows this information about someone else's soon-to-be-girlfriend.

I raised an eyebrow at Gakupo. "How do you know so much about her?"

He shrugged. "I met her a few times."

"Do… do you think she'll say yes?" Yuuma asked, looking at us for hope.

Before I could respond, Gakupo answered first.

"It won't work," he says. "You two are two different species."

I rolled my eyes and ordered Yuuma to look at me. "She'll say yes," I assured him. "Don't listen to a word he says."

I sat on a desk and started to spin a pen with my fingers while watching Yuuma type his proposal. Yuuma is a good person. Any girl would be lucky to have a guy like him as their date.

I suddenly started to wonder how two different people could get along. Luka and I are two different people. We're different species. We're different, but we get along just fine. We never fight and argue. If she wasn't a prisoner and I stopped being an officer, we could go on normal dates like every other couple. Just the thought of it made me smile.

The speaker hung on the ceiling started to beep and a female voice was heard all over the office.

Officials have announced…

I watched Gakupo roll his eyes and groan.

"Here we go again," he muttered.

…due tomorrow…

Yuuma started to click his tongue as he kept his eyes focused on his phone. The announcement was the least of his worries.

Prisoners 4526, 14714, 2841…

"It never ends."

…378100, 62527…

"Why isn't she responding?"

…13224…

The last sound was the sound of my pen dropping to the floor.

"Good work today," said Yuuma with a smile. He was adjusting his black beanie when he said that to me. "See you tomorrow."

I nodded and watched him leave while I put on my signature blue scarf. Gakupo has to work tonight and Kiyoteru already left the building a few minutes ago. Since Yuuma and I have the same timeslot, we usually head outside together. But not today. Yuuma made plans with his new girlfriend while I wanted to be alone for a while. I finished gathering my stuff and looked around the office. It's empty. The other officers left or are doing their night shifts. I closed the door behind me and began to walk.

I made sure to lower my pace when I passed Luka. She was inside her room, sleeping. I didn't want to wake her so I silently smiled to myself while looking at her. She doesn't know what's coming for her when she wakes up the next day. I didn't tell her about the announcement. Prisoners aren't supposed to know until the day of the event.

I want to help her. I want to free her. I have access to the keys in the office. I could easily get it and free her. I want to take her outside and show her the world she's missing out.

I can't do it.

Gakupo, Yuuma, Kiyoteru and the other jailers have been here long enough to get used to the penalty. This is the first one I'll be experiencing.

I'm not ready.

How can I let her go without trying to do anything? I wanted to bang my head against the wall after thinking how useless I am. My hands are clenched tightly into a fist until I thought of something. An idea popped into my mind and I turned around to go back to the office to get started. Gakupo has the can of paint resting next to his desk. I prayed no one would see me.

Morning arrived without any trouble.

I don't know how I managed to sleep, but I did. I must've been very tired last night because right when I arrived home, I felt asleep without another thought.

I'm in the office sitting at my assigned seat. Kiyoteru volunteered to escort Luka- no, Prisoner 13224- to her destination. I can feel myself tremble and my heart beating like a staccato. Officers and prisoners are not allowed to have romantic feelings toward each other. No, they're not supposed to have any feelings in the first place. It would only bring them pain if they did, and it's true. No one can tell what I looked like because my face is buried against my hands. Gakupo is sitting in desk, silently reading a book he brought. Neither of us says a single word until a sound of fast paced footsteps came to our way. It indicated someone's arrival.

"Hey," gasped a voice. The voice belongs to Yuuma. Judging by the lack of air, I guess he ran here.

After a few seconds of silence, I heard Gakupo answer for me.

"What is it?" he says.

Yuuma deep a deep breath before answering, "Someone painted the walls."

"What?"

"Someone drew on the walls using paint."

"Draw where?"

"The exit leading to the place," Yuuma answered.

No one needed to ask him where the place is. Everyone knew.

"What did they draw?"

I saw Yuuma shrug between my fingers. "Random stuff," he answered. "Cars, grass, animals, business stores, and lots of people. Whoever drew that should seriously start taking art lessons."

"Is that it?"

"She smiled," stated the pink-haired officer. "I was on my way here when I saw them pass by. I saw her smile and… crying."

She smiled. I felt my shoulders loosen after hearing him say that. My body started to tremble, but I still didn't reveal my face to the others.

I felt Yuuma lean close to me to get a better view. "Kaito," he asked curiously, "are you crying?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I excused myself from the others and practically ran outside. The fresh smell of paint spread around the hallways making me cringe and wish I had something to block the awful smell. My failed attempt of drawing the world is smeared all over the walls. It's not breathing, but to me, they all seemed alive. I'm sure she thought the same when she passed the hall.

Prisoner 13224 wasn't alone.

A/N: As you all know, the London Olympic already started. I felt like writing a tragedy one-shot after watching the Men's 400m Freestyle and finally started to type this after watching the Women's Individual Epee. I was not amused with the results.