Chapter 9: The Outside World

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Five days have passed since Sora's frighteningly realistic "nightmare", as Ryuko has just barely managed to convince the white haired boy to call it. it's now the weekend and though the boy has had a few nightmares during that time, none were on the level of the one five days prior. He would wake up sweating and shaking but he would aim any electricity towards the new, improved battery sitting next to his bed and most of the damage to the room had been repaired by a group of support item creators who took the destruction as a worthy challenge rather than a set back.

Now the boy and his guardian sit silently, eating their breakfast which consisted of nothing more than a small bowl of rice. After Ryuko brought home a veritable feast of food for Sora, in an attempt to find out what he liked or disliked, they quickly discovered that his shrunken stomach, which had received no food in eight years, couldn't handle the sudden intake of mountains of food. The result was a rather foul smelling clean up job for Ryuko and an hour lying in bed for Sora to recover.

Though there had already been times where Sora would be reprimanded by Ryuko for certain actions, such as attempting to fry the television when a horror movie came on, he certainly had no complaints about his stay. Ryuko was patient with him. If he didn't understand something, she would explain it in detail as many times as he needed. When he would have sudden panic attacks, she would carefully, calmly work to get him to relax which often ended with him in her embrace though no tears had been shed since that night.

There were times Ryuko would try to bring up his past, citing that talking about it would be a good step towards moving past it and healing from the experience. Certain events, like the lesser physical torture, was surprisingly easy to talk about. When it came to the likes of the masked man in a suit or his protégé however, it was like those doors had been shut tight, wrapped with indestructible chains and surrounded by flames hotter than the sun. In simpler terms, whenever those two were brought up, Sora shut down.

As the two quietly eat their breakfast, Ryuko glances up at the child whose body had slowly started to look more like a healthy child and less like a starving ghost. "I was thinking about going shopping today. Would you like to come?" The sudden question catches Sora off guard, causing him to accidentally flick a spoonful of rice across the room. Silence follows as they both shift their attention towards the trail of rice dotted across the room and lay eyes upon the small collection of grains now sitting perched on the windowsill. Ryuko chuckles quietly, letting Sora know that it wasn't a big deal, though he still feels bad about it considering he seems to cause destruction wherever he steps. "Sorry...I'll clean it."

The boy gets up and enters the kitchen to search for paper towels. When the boy is unable to find them, he turns to Ryuko and she seems to immediately know what he was about to ask. "There's some in the pantry. Third shelf on the right, above the sauce." Sora follows his guardian's instructions, locating the cleaning supplies exactly where she said they would be. He hurriedly starts cleaning the small mess he made, starting at the table and working his way over to the sunbathing grains. "So...What do you say? Want to do some shopping with me?" Sora pauses for a moment, mulling over Ryuko's question.

If he went, he would be able to truly experience life outside for the first time in eight years. No police officers guiding him around, nothing to run or hide from and nothing to fight. His thoughts then travel back to the cheery, pink-skinned girl he witnessed while in the back of officer Tsukauchi's squad car. The joy filled expression on her face still clear as day in his mind generates a yearning in the boy's heart. An aching feeling that he too would like to experience such joy. On the other hand, could he really trust himself not to have an episode while they were out? What if he saw someone who looked vaguely like one of the people who experimented on him? What if he couldn't handle the loud noises or large crowds?

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