Branch K-02, part 6 (after battle)

One day, a new transfer student named Demian was placed in the class next to mine.

He was surrounded by a crowd every time I saw him.

But I got the sensation that he didn't feel attached to anyone around him.

To me, he seemed as if he were almost floating in the air; he was aloof like that.

Likewise, he didn't seem too interested in me, either.

That's how it was at first, at least.

It happened during a boring engineering class.

My eyes kept drifting away from the board, and before I knew it, they were looking out the window instead.

Through that window, I saw him taking a walk.

Like usual, he was surrounded by his fellow students, wearing a faint smile.

Even his expression felt different from the kind someone his age should make; that smile carried a mature yet solitary aura.

Basking in the sunlight, he stroked his hair.

Huh?

I thought I caught a glimpse of some weird red thing on his forehead.

Was I mistaken? Maybe it was the blinding sunlight reflecting off his skin.

And then…

I had the feeling I made eye contact with him.

……

Some students were still chatting outside.

As soon as I felt his gaze, I quickly averted my eyes and looked down at my desk.

Ever since that strange incident, Demian started to talk to me in a friendly manner.

Oddly enough, on the days when Demian approached me, Kromer didn't come to greet me.

Nevertheless, whenever she had a chance to, she'd come and make sure that I remembered our promise.

I often have this dream, Sinclair.

In it, I climb an endlessly long ladder. Then everything down below comes into view. The Nest, the Backstreets, the Outskirts, all of it.

And when I look beneath my feet, all the lights are out in the City, as if the end of all things had come.

Fallen into silent death, empty of any motion.

Indeed, it's the state of death itself.

Demian, have you been to the Outskirts?

I whispered to him, frightened.

He was talking about a forbidden place where no one could or should go.

Sinclair, the world as people want to define it can't be divided into places of where you should and shouldn't go.

Do you think love and freedom can be found within the confines of this Nest? Compared to here, life is much richer in the Outskirts.

There's something I've been pondering for a long time, and I thought that maybe that's where I could find the answer.

Whenever I spoke with Demian, I could feel my soul mature a little.

But I never mentioned my fears about the upcoming prosthetic procedure or my peculiar relationship with Kromer.

Even though he wanted to know more about me, I was hesitant to share my secrets.

I was too ashamed to bear my deeply hidden fears before him.

And finally…

The promised day had come.

Yo, Sinclair, can you show me your basement?

Her words struck me out of nowhere, yet they were as light as a feather.

She asked me that as though it were something as simple as picking up an eraser, and I almost caught myself agreeing to it.

W-Why our basement, exactly?

If the rumor I just so happened to hear is right, your house is connected to a scandalous place. There's something I've got to check.

But my parents…

"…won't like it." I couldn't even bring myself to finish this humiliating sentence.

If you let me check it out, Sinclair…

I swear I'll keep that promise with you, cross my heart.

Just sneak me the basement key and I can navigate just fine…

Unable to detect the faint, familiar feeling hidden in her words, I slowly nodded…

Thus, the world of evil began there, right in the middle of our house.