My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Tick--

A young girl twiddled her thumbs and looked from left to right in the long, empty corridor.

"Cee...?"

Her lost voice rang out as she called someone's name.

Tock--

"Where did you go?"

Tick--

Her bare feet sunk gently into the soft red carpet that lined the floor, creating small and shallow imprints as she turned around while searching.

"Come on, it's not funny anymore..."

Tock--

The girl's hair blended in with the yellow wallpaper that decorated the corridor, and her amber eyes darted towards the resounding analogue clock, seemingly distressed, as she let out an annoyed groan.

"Mmnn. Where is he...?"

She was looking for a friend, but as usual, he didn't make it easy for her.

Was he hiding again, or was it the fault of those darn Professors?

There was no way to know if they had taken him somewhere, or if he simply didn't want to play today, or if he was avoiding her for some reason.

"Ugh... I wish I could ask him..."

Nothing should have happened to cause him to do that, but if that wasn't the case, then why was he nowhere to be seen?

She had already checked the room where he spent the majority of his time, but he wasn't there, so where could he be?

"Hmm~..."

Wandering around to search some more, the girl was beginning to realise that today might just not be her lucky day.

He really was avoiding her, wasn't he?

The girl pouted, when all of a sudden, a possibility occurred to her.

"Did something happen...?"

Feeling like something was definitely up either way and that whatever it was was responsible for her not being able to play with her friend, she hastened her pace.

At that moment―

RUMBLEEE~~!!

A deep tremor occurred.

"Wo-oahh...!!?"

As the entire world shook, the girl stumbled and flusteredly grabbed onto a groove on the wall beside her so as to stop her fall.

Was it another earthquake? Somehow, the girl doubted it.

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"Eeeh..."

The rumbling persisted for roughly three seconds before dissipating, and the girl was quick to realise what had happened. Furrowing her brows as she made sure she could stand properly without tripping, she let out a disgruntled mutter.

"Ey, how could you start without me..."

Without wasting any further time, she turned around and rushed down the corridor from the way she came; the hem of her light one-piece dress fluttered behind her as she zoomed, evidently quick on her feet.

"Haa, haa...!"

Before long, she arrived at her destination; opening a door at the end of the corridor that was supposed to be locked behind multiple layers of security, a vast space was revealed.

With wide, unvarnished white surfaces, countless open wooden crates and boxes and seemingly random items scattered all over the place, it was an almost entirely blank room that gave off an extremely unsettling feeling.

On one side, there seemed to be a bed, but it was all very out of place and off-putting.

The room's generous size only added to its disconcerting and even creepy aura, but to the girl, who had long grown accustomed to this place by now, something like that didn't even occur.

Rather, she was focused on the boy sitting cross-legged in the middle of said room, who was staring at an inexplicably large black mark on one of the walls; it almost looked as if a tremendous explosion had gone off and covered it in soot, but the wall had remained unscathed.

No, considering the circumstances, that's most likely exactly what had happened.

"Ah, so you are here after all!"

Gazing for a moment at the back of the boy's head, the girl approached with a stomp.

"Cee!"

Stopping just behind him, the girl stood with her hands on her waist as if to showcase her displeasure with the boy.

"...?"

Hearing the girl's angry voice from behind, the boy moved.

As his head of long, black hair turned: dark blue, languid eyes of seemingly bottomless depth were revealed.

On the boy's expressionless face, the ends of his previously straight lips looked to curve ever so slightly upwards as he took in the appearance of the girl who had called him.

"Hi, Ruti."

His face, which was blank just a second ago, now wore a small smile, and the visible torpor in his eyes seemed to have retreated, even if just a little.

"Cee, why did you hide and play without me?"

To the girl, Ruti's sad tone as she plopped to the ground beside him, the boy tilted his head.

"Did you come in? Truthy said it was medication day, so I thought you wouldn't come."

The kids didn't have to take their medication every day, but usually, whenever it was time for the two of them to take their medication, the kids would spend the rest of the day sleeping or otherwise lazing around and resting in their room, and it eventually became normal to not see each other on those days.

That's why the boy was so surprised to see her.

At his explanation, Ruti exclaimed.

"Ah! No, I wanted to tell you; I managed to get away with skipping it for the second time today!"

Grinning from ear to ear as she bragged about something one normally shouldn't, the boy only showed a smile at the girl's characteristic cheerful enthusiasm.

"They let you skip two days?"

The boy was impressed; since the two of them were under such heavy surveillance, it was already tough to get away with skipping one day of medication, and yet Ruti had somehow managed to get away with it for two straight days?

It was an impressive feat.

Understanding this, the boy suddenly realised why Ruti was so energetic today.

"Hehe~ I guess it's 'cause I'm so smart~ After I got away, I came to find you, Cee, but you weren't here. Where did you go?"

The boy shook his head at the question. "Nowhere. I was looking through some of the boxes for stuff."

The piles of wooden crates that filled some parts of the terribly disorderly and expansive room were each large enough to fit an adult man or perhaps even two, so it was easy to imagine that such a young child could fit inside one and be missed.

Hearing the explanation, Ruti nodded and then pointed to the black scorch mark on the wall at the back of the room; it was a new addition to the room that definitely wasn't present the last time she visited, so she was curious.

"Cee, what's that for? Did you make a new toy?"

He followed her gaze and nodded. "Oh. They started watching me from there."

Ruti's eyes widened as one side of her mouth raised in aversion.

"Ehh~? But, how? There's no glass there anymore..."

The boy nodded slightly.

"I was wondering how they still knew what I was doing even after I broke all the cameras and even the strong glass last time, but it turns out they replaced it with a one-way window now instead."

To the boy, it didn't matter too much that they could still see him from the furthest wall since it was the only place from where the Professors were able to observe him.

Thanks to all the boxes and other random piles of junk in the room acting as an obstruction, there were still plenty of nooks and alcoves where he could mess around without enduring their watchful eye

"Really? Can we get rid of this one, too?"

Ruti's eyes sparkled as she leaned forward and asked, to which the boy thought for a second.

"...I made a new bomb with the nitroglycerin you gave me a while ago and wanted to test it out while scaring the Professors a bit, but it didn't really work to break the wall."

"Oh... Was it not good enough?"

Feeling disappointed, Ruti put on a look of despondence for a moment before the boy shook his head.

"No, it is. We just need some more if we want to break the one-way glass."

Ruti felt down after thinking that maybe her help wasn't worth anything, but after listening to the boy, she lit up.

"Hehe, nice. I'll try and make some more, but the Professors all like shoving sticks up their butts, so it's hard. But, I think I can make some today thanks to being let off the hook today also."

"Oh, really? Then, maybe we can do it."

"Can we? Let's do it now!"

Jumping to her feet, Ruti couldn't suppress the emerging excitement and hopped in place with a bright smile.

"It's a celebration!"

Looking at her, who exclaimed with a cheeky grin, the boy tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Nch nch nch; she wagged her finger at him.

"Silly Cee. It's for getting away with no medication! We have to punish the Professors and show them we aren't to be underestimated!"

"Oh..."

The boy, too, felt grateful that Ruti was able to get away with not taking her medication for two straight days.

Because he also had to take the same medication as her, he understood how truly awful it was, as well as the feeling of extreme lethargy that followed, so he was glad that she could get some relief from it all, even if only a little.

However, for the boy, who was always placed under much stricter monitoring and management rules than Ruti, he felt a tad bitter about it.

"Also, I thought that maybe, if we can get them good, they might realise the medication is useless and give up forcing us to take it?"

It was an optimistic hope and an unrealistic one.

Their medication worked just as intended, and they all knew it, including Ruti; nevertheless, she wanted to believe the day would come when she wouldn't have to take it anymore.

"Cee, do you want to play? It'll be fun to see their faces when they realise what happens when they underestimate us!"

Feeling himself getting swept along by her infectious enthusiasm and reckless spontaneity, the boy eventually nodded his head at the girl's request to play.

"Alright."

"Hehe, yes! Okay, hold on a second."

The boy gazed silently at her, who cupped her hands together and focused her concentration for a moment.

"..."

Not five seconds later, with a subdued glow, a colourless, odourless liquid began to manifest from seemingly thin air within the girl's hands.

"Ahehe, I did it~ It's been a while..."

Staring at her hands with a genuine smile, Ruti seemed happy that her power was working again.

Immediately dumping the extremely hazardous liquid on the floor without a moment's hesitation and wiping her hands on her dress, finally, she turned to the boy.

"Cee."

Grabbing his hands, her wide, amber eyes pierced his own.

"Let's play."

"..."

As usual, they seemed to carry a spark of insanity embedded within them.

Although they contained such a high level of vitality, it couldn't have been a good combination for the long term.

"...Okay."

Faced with her earnest request, he nodded.

"Yay~! Thank you! Let's do it!"

Swaying her body in all directions as she pulled the boy's hands around joyfully, the boy had one thought as he wordlessly stared back into those unforgettable eyes.

Those eyes.

Now, they contained nothing but glee and goodwill.

However, those things weren't certain to last forever, and he learnt that to be fact.

Deep within his heart, the boy held a concern

One day, those eyes.

The eyes that currently looked at him with amity and compassion.

Would they eventually look towards him with contempt or resentment?

Just as everyone else's who had come before her.

"..."

It was something that couldn't be answered by simply asking a question, and so the boy couldn't alleviate the feeling of something tightening in his chest.