To What Lies Beyond (Part 2)

When morning finally came, nothing but the blinding rays of light were what penetrated through the window of Kazuki’s room. As he opened his eyes and turned off the alarm clock beside him, the thoughts that only popped up in his mind were the events that happened yesterday. It was clear that he was bothered a lot by it, and that he didn’t know whether he should believe it or not.

He continued with his usual routine. Going to the university to attend classes, working on his part-time job after, then finally headed home before the sun was completely replaced by the moon. This time, he didn’t feel much of the exhaustion as he did the past days. After all, his mind was entirely focused on the girl that crept up within his house yesterday evening.

Throughout this day, he was even so cautious that he checked every corner of his vision just to confirm that the crimson-haired girl wouldn’t be there. She said something about ‘getting killed’, after all. It wasn’t something Kazuki could just ignore.

He was just a few hundred meters away from his house, but he was still pre-occupied with the fact that nothing unusual happened to him today. He didn’t see the girl, nor did anything irregular happen to him. Of course, she did say that he had a day to think about his choice, so—

Kazuki didn’t want to think about it.

“—so she could be inside the house again.”

He wasn’t able to ask how she entered the house in the first place, but with the supernatural phenomenon he saw, he felt like he didn’t even need to ask anymore. That’s why, if she was there again waiting for him like she did yesterday, he knew he wouldn’t even be surprised anymore.

As the sunset bid goodbye, all that Kazuki saw was the same path he would always tread on the way home. The same sidewalk, streetlights, houses he would pass by, and the same empty feeling inside him.

As he reached the entrance of the house, he took hushed steps and turned his ears’ auditory perception at its max level to hear if there were any movements inside his house. Though, after a few seconds of acting like a creep in front of his own house, he finally decided to just enter normally, despite still being bothered that the girl might be inside.

To his expectations, she was indeed there. The same sandals he saw yesterday was presenting itself to him after he entered the house.

“Is she at the dining room again?” Kazuki muttered as he walked ahead the house’s hallway. He didn’t really have to be so cautious given that the girl had made her presence clear from the sandals already, yet Kazuki couldn’t hide his fear given the girl’s capabilities.

“Where is she?”

She wasn’t at the dining room. Yesterday, Kazuki caught her in an awkward situation when she was eating like a glutton. Right now, it seemed like she wasn’t doing the same. “Where could she be, then?” Kazuki thought.

He searched every nook and cranny of the house, but couldn’t find the girl. After a few minutes, he started to sweat, so he headed towards his room. It was by then that he realized, he forgot to search the place he should’ve inspected first.

Laying down on his bed was a crimson-haired beauty. She had rested in a position that it looked like she owned not just the bed, but the house itself. Even when Kazuki entered the room, she didn’t move an inch. It looked like she was sound asleep.

Kazuki simply settled his things at the side of the room, then slowly approached the sleeping girl. Taking a good look at her, Kazuki couldn't help but admire her flawless beauty. He was a bit worried that the uniform she wore might wrinkle, but more than that, the way she slept in this weird position also caught his eye.

Not long after, the girl opened her eyes. It seemed like she had been asleep for awhile with the way her eyes looked. Either that, or she hadn’t been getting enough sleep.

“You’re here already… You should’ve woken me up if you were here already.”

“Who in their right mind would wake up someone who’s sound asleep? A stranger, no less,” Kazuki thought.

The girl yawned and stretched her arms before she stood up. With an intentful gaze directed at Kazuki, a voice proceeded out of her.

“So, have you thought about the answer?”

Answer, pertaining to Kazuki’s choice whether he would become a wanderer or would stay at this world. However, not having a complete grasp between the choices themselves, he never ended up with a conclusion himself.

“You mean with your question yesterday?” Kazuki glanced back as he pursed his lips.

“Yes.”

“It’s not that it’s really hard to understand it, but ‘how to believe it?’ is the problem. I did see you use some kind of power yesterday, and that already added evidence that what you’re saying may be true. However, I’m not light-minded myself. I can see that you asked the question with all seriousness. Let me just confirm one thing. If I stay here, will I be killed?”

Without hesitation, the girl responded.

“Didn’t I answer that yesterday already? But if you’re that unsure of what I’m saying, I’m fine with that as well. Ultimately, it’s your choice. You’re a misfit even if you can’t decide for yourself, so it’s not like anything will change. To reiterate, I won’t kill you. The system of this city will.”

Kazuki eyes started to look moist as his glum expression showed up. He started to sweat.

“How can you be so sure I’ll be killed?” Kazuki asked the girl.

“You’re a stubborn person, eh? Well, that’s actually part of why you’re a misfit. In any case, let me ask you this, why would you think I’d lie?”

Kazuki stood frozen in place from the girl’s rebuttal. In the first place, who was she? Why would she warn Kazuki about something like this? Is he the only misfit in this society, or are there others like him that are or will experience the same circumstance? There was no reason for the girl to barge into his home, tell him that he’ll be killed if he won’t join them, and even give him a day to think about it if she’ll just lie in the end.

Before the girl could part her lips, Kazuki initiated to speak.

“Although, I don’t really like living here anymore. As you said yesterday, I lost my attachment to this world when mom died. I don’t really mind struggling to live here, but there’s only one thing why I considered going along with what you said.”

After pausing to take a breath, Kazuki continued.

“That is, if what you said is true, then that means there is a lot more to this world that I don’t know. Whatever unknown that may be, that’s something I want to explore. Living in this cramped world is suffocating, anyway. Lastly, I now know that you’re not lying at all,” Kazuki said with determined eyes.

“So, it wasn’t a waste giving you a day to think it through, I suppose?”

Just as Kazuki was about to answer her, he noticed the wound on the girl’s right leg.

“What is that? Are you fine? What happened to this?”

The girl immediately took a backstep before Kazuki could approach her and examine the wound. She was obviously aversive about it.

“D-don’t mind this…”

Kazuki stared at her crimson eyes for a few seconds before he made a certain decision. He went outside his room in a hurry. The girl was left perplexed with Kazuki’s sudden action. It didn’t take long for Kazuki to return, bringing a first-aid kid with him. The cover was a bit dusty, but the contents were all secured. He quickly opened it up, then procured the alcohol and cotton.

Despite the girl being aversive earlier, she couldn’t move the slightest when Kazuki took this much initiative to treat it.

“We should treat this before it gets worse. Please sit down first.”

The girl, despite being hesitant, just followed through Kazuki. The cold expression she masked disappeared, and she was instead flustered currently.

W-what is this? I’m not even done explaining the situation to him, yet he went and did this. What’s up with this person? I’m even a stranger he barely knows yet.

“There, finished,” said Kazuki as he covered the wound with a band-aid after disinfection.

“T-thanks, I guess,” the girl voiced as her eyes fluttered, trying to avoid Kazuki’s gaze.

The crimson-haired girl cleared her throat while Kazuki kept the first-aid kid, then spoke.

“So, I assume that you’ve settled with that decision of yours already?”

Like how the girl answered his question earlier, he showed no hesitation.

“Yes.”

The girl smiled, then reaffirmed herself as she nodded her head.

“That’s good. Don’t worry, I assure you that you’ll come to understand everything once we get out of this cage.”

The girl began to channel something. She began to glow purple like she did yesterday, along with her eyes. A sword appeared in her hand, the shape resembling a katana from what Kazuki knew. The sword wasn’t made of metal, but from the purple aura that emanated from the girl. It was like a virtual sword, yet at the same time, it was real.

She cast the sword on the ground with force, then twisted it. The ground shook, and the room glowed purple yet again. The space within the room began to crack, yet somehow, Kazuki wasn’t the slightest fazed by it. After all, he saw the girl exhibit a similar ability yesterday. More than that, the main reason he agreed on all of this was because of something that may seem absurd. He simply didn’t want to stay in this shallow world. If he was going to get killed anyway, then he’ll use his life to satisfy his curiosity’s thirst. That was, exploring the unknown he could’ve never imagined that was outside of this world.