Deviant

Chapter Sixteen: Outtake~

"Phew~!" I sighed as I patted my belly. "Thanks again for the food, Clear~!"

"It was nothing, Kain-san!" the aforementioned person insisted. He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and propping his head on his upturned palms. "Though, I am curious, Kain-san; how did you eat so fast without showing your face?"

I grinned as I leaned back in my chair. "Skill and lots and lots of practice~!" I gave a smirk. " You of all people should be able to relate!" We both laughed at the crappy joke.

Looking at Clear, my eyes drifted towards the back door, which lead outside to the generator. I frowned as I remembered the incident from a couple of weeks ago. The generator sustained a shit-ton of damage from me shoving my arms inside it, but it's still functional....barely, that is... I can fix it, but the repairs would be superficial in several days; so, at the end of the day, I'll still have to buy another one. That in itself was no problem, but the thing bothering me the most was the state of the generator before I damaged it. It was only a year and a half old, so it shouldn't glitch in such a way... I recalled Aoba's words and how he felt paranoid with my absence. Did someone come and tinker with it? No... I would've sense them, and the nearest city is about a three days hike away, so no human could've ran away so quickly... Unless...

My expression darkened as flashes of metallic and white flashed through my mind.

"-san? Kain-san!?"

"H-Hunh?" I flinched, startled from my musings.

Clear was gripping my shoulders rather tightly and shaking me.

"Clear~! I'm okay! I'm okay~!" I yelped as I was shook back and forth.

The masked man stopped but he didn't release my shoulders, only slacken his grip on them. All was silent when Clear began to shake.

"Y-you was m-making a weird face." Clear stuttered. "I-I thought my cooking g-gave you indigestion...!"

I gave a chuckle, my bad mood lifting. "Indigestion?" Well the thought of them does give me a stomach ache...

"Who...?" Clear asked worriedly.

I gave a small grunt when I realized that I had spoken my thoughts aloud.

Well, if it's just Clear... I let him know a little.

"There's some bad people after me." I murmured,"who wants me to be with them forever..." I unwarranted shudder flowed through me at the thought.

Clear was silent for a moment before he gripped my shoulders tighter. "I understand."

Is he telling the truth...?

My eyes flashed as I looked at him. Yes.

A sense of comradeship came over me as I bowed my head.

"Thank you."