[ e s c a p i n g f r o m n o t h i n g ] // [ o p e n ]
— The room Touko was in had no windows, and she wondered if she was suffocating, the thought flickering across her mind for only moments before she banished it. The sterile and boorish white, surrounded her, herself being anything not bleached bright. Still, Touko found some solace in the harsh antiseptic and bleach in the room.
Touko had been a sickly child, her skinny legs and weaker lungs keeping her in the hospital frequently. It'd been a quiet relief in between her constantly warring parents and schoolyard bullies when she had gotten sick or injured.
The first thing that clued her in that she hadn't gone to sleep willingly was that she wasn't combo locked to the bed; she'd done that for years, ever since Syo had come out and she had been afraid about not being the one who woke up the next morning. A nurse had come in and explained things to the drowsy girl, waiting for her lids to stop drooping and smiling kindly. Touko liked nurses; if she weren't severely haemophobic, then maybe she would've thought about becoming one.
Touko kicked one leg over the edge of bed. The skirt wasn't her usual ankle length but it covered up her upper thighs and went to her knees, so for now it was good enough. She looked in the small mirror the woman had left behind. Her hair was longer than she remembered, but it was cleaned, trailing down past her knees. She pulled one leg over the other, like a dainty lady in a period piece that she'd idolized. Working slowly, she braided her hair; one braid, not two. New hairstyle, new planet, she supposed.
They left no make up but she made do with some tricks her older cousins had taught her. She pinched her colorless cheeks until there was some color in her face, pink and rosy enough to make her look better than a corpse. She sucked on her lips to make them stand out more. The little sink in the room had escaped her notice at first; but she stood up and made her way over, washing her face carefully. In the mirror, she supposed she looked a little pretty in certain angles, if you squinted. In reality, she looked much prettier than she thought, but that was something for another day.
Her feet met the ground solidly, sliding them into the shoes they'd given her. Flats, simple and black; they were exactly her style and fit her foot perfectly. She wondered if it were coincidence or intended that way, but deemed it the former. No one would go that far for her.
Touko's legs were still unsteady but she made her way out the door and into the pristine, sterile hallways, trembling under the sudden weight. She wondered if there were secretly concrete blocks on her feet, but that was irrational and stupid.
She could feel someone's eyes on her, and she turned abruptly towards them, hackles rising. "What do you want?" Touko barked, walls visibly going up as she did. "Are you just shocked that you've never seen someone as ugly as me?"
