The V-tuber Who Became Obsessed With Me

Chapter 106: A visit to the tall concrete wall

( this Chapter is told from Ethan’s pov)

Two days earlier, Jade had received a phone call neither of us expected.

Kuro.

Alive.

The call had lasted less than a minute. Long enough for him to tell Jade that he wanted to see me, and only me.

Now, less than twenty-four hours later, we were standing outside Harrington State Correctional Institution.

I had driven past the place once before without giving it more than a passing glance. It had been one of those buildings that lived on the edge of your awareness, somewhere you noticed without ever really looking at. Just another stretch of grey concrete on the outskirts of the city.

Standing in front of it now was different.

The prison rose several stories into the overcast morning, its weather-stained concrete walls streaked dark from years of rain carving the same paths downward. Razor wire coiled along every perimeter wall, catching the weak sunlight in flashes that might almost have looked beautiful if you forgot what it was designed to do. Guard towers stood at each corner of the compound, their windows reflecting the pale sky so completely that the officers inside were little more than silhouettes.

It did not look like a place built simply to keep people from escaping.

It looked like a place designed to erase the idea that freedom had ever existed.

Jade stood beside me with both hands buried in his jacket pockets.

Neither of us spoke.

There wasn’t much either of us could say.

A harsh electronic buzzer shattered the silence.

BZZZT.

The outer gate rolled open just wide enough for visitors to pass through before stopping with a heavy groan of machinery.

"Visitors."

A correctional officer motioned us forward.

We stepped inside.

The gate slid shut behind us with a metallic crash that echoed across the courtyard, followed immediately by the heavy clunk of locking mechanisms sliding into place.

The sound settled somewhere deep in my chest.

The reception building smelled aggressively clean.

Bleach.

Disinfectant.

Old linoleum.

Everything was polished to the point of feeling sterile, yet nothing about the place felt welcoming. Fluorescent lights washed every surface in the same pale white glow, making tired faces look even more exhausted.

Families waited quietly in rows of plastic chairs.

A little girl swung her legs beneath her seat while asking her mother when they would see Daddy.

The woman smiled without answering.

Across the room an elderly couple sat shoulder to shoulder, neither speaking, both staring at the floor.

No one smiled.

Even the conversations happened in whispers, as though raising your voice inside a prison somehow belonged to the inmates instead of the visitors.

A correctional officer sat behind reinforced glass.

"Identification."

Jade and I handed over our driver’s licences.

The officer barely looked at either of us before typing our names into his computer with the detached rhythm of someone who had repeated the same process thousands of times.

"Who’s here to visit Kurosawa Aizawa?"

"I am," I answered.

His eyes shifted toward Jade.

"And you?"

"I’m with him."

The officer shook his head.

"The inmate requested one approved visitor."

He slid my licence back beneath the glass.

"That’s you."

Then Jade’s.

"You’ll wait out here."

Jade’s shoulders tightened for only a moment before relaxing again.

"It’s alright."

He looked at me.

"I’ll be here."

I nodded.

Somehow that didn’t make leaving him behind feel any easier.

At security I emptied my pockets into a grey plastic tray.

Phone.

Wallet.

Keys.

Watch.

Belt.

The metal detector beeped the first time I walked through.

An officer motioned me aside without a word.

I raised my arms while he ran a handheld scanner over my body, every movement deliberate, every pause just long enough to remind me that trust did not exist inside these walls.

A second officer inspected the soles of my shoes before finally nodding.

"Clear."

A visitor’s badge attached to a blue lanyard was handed across the counter.

"Wear it where it’s visible."

Another officer approached.

"Reynolds."

Whether that was his first name, surname, or simply the name everyone called him, I had no idea.

He didn’t seem interested in introductions.

"Follow me."

I glanced back one last time.

Jade gave me a small nod.

I followed Reynolds.

The first security door unlocked with another electronic buzz.

It opened only far enough for one person to pass through.

The moment I stepped inside it slammed shut behind me.

Only then did the second door unlock.

One at a time.

Always one at a time.

No shortcuts.

No mistakes.

No going back.

As we moved deeper into the prison, the building gradually changed.

The painted walls disappeared, replaced by bare concrete.

The air grew cooler.

Somewhere beneath the smell of bleach lingered old cement, rust, and something metallic that refused to disappear no matter how much disinfectant they poured over it.

Security cameras occupied every corner.

Their black lenses followed every movement without ever moving at all.

A voice echoed through hidden speakers overhead.

"Unit C movement complete."

A pause.

"Visitor escort proceeding through Corridor Four."

Another pause.

"Stand by for inmate transfer."

Everything sounded rehearsed.

Emotionless.

As though the building itself had learned to speak.

We passed a row of reinforced bars where inmates shuffled between cell blocks beneath armed escort.

Some ignored me completely.

Others watched.

One older inmate held my gaze for a second too long before an officer barked an order and he continued walking.

Without turning around Reynolds spoke.

"Don’t make eye contact."

"I wasn’t planning to."

"Good."

It was the first hint of personality I’d heard from him.

At another checkpoint my badge was scanned before another steel gate slid open.

Beyond it waited the visitation room.

Television had lied.

There was no glass partition.

No telephones.

No dramatic conversations through reinforced windows.

Just metal tables bolted permanently into the concrete floor.

Metal chairs.

Security cameras covering every angle.

Correctional officers stationed against the walls with the practiced posture of people who somehow watched everything while appearing to watch nothing.

Several other visits were already underway.

Parents.

Spouses.

Children.

Nobody raised their voice.

Nobody smiled.

Even hope seemed quieter in here.

"Sit."

I pulled out the chair and sat.

The cold metal pressed through my jacket immediately.

Reynolds took up position against the wall several metres away.

Then...

I waited.

Somewhere beyond the secured hallway came the distant sound of footsteps.

Then metal scraping against concrete.

Chains.

A heavy door opened.

Three officers entered first.

Someone walked between them.

At first my mind refused to accept what I was looking at.

Not because I didn’t recognise him.

Because the man walking toward me still had Kuro’s face, yet almost everything else about him had changed.