Salvation 2035

Chapter 30- Warmth

『Keisha』

     This place is absolutely stunning. There's something absolutely ethereal about nature reclaiming its rightful domain, once tainted by man. From what I could gather, this city was one of those company towns, in which a large corporation would set up office buildings and a nearby residential area for its workers. Often, there wouldn't be too many amenities, as in this case, it's limited to a park, a school, a few grocery stores here and there, and some sort of rec center. This place was made to maximize efficiency and productivity, therefore putting the lives of its employees as a secondary priority. The fact that most of it is being slowly swallowed by plant life is strangely beautiful.

     I snap a few more pictures of a skeletal skyscraper. I wish I could climb up onto it, but that'd be kind of a crazy thing to do. I mean, it looks structurally intact, but I'd be taking a pretty big leap of faith the further up I go.

     "Oh, there you are," the familiar voice of Tsuki says from behind me. He's wearing one of his trademark looks; an oversized leather jacket and those patchy ripped jeans. "Have you seen the mall yet?" he inquires

      "Mall?" I repeat. "There's a mall here?" If it wasn't obvious already, I have a thing for abandoned malls. I like to photograph abandoned buildings in general, but malls just hit differently. I dunno why.

     "Well, what's left of it anyway," he comments. "I only explored it a bit, but there's this super cool place where there's a skylight over this garden that's overgrown, but since there's no power, it looks like the garden is the only place that's lit up—"

     "Don't spoil it for me!" I cut in. "Lead the way."

     He extends a hand to me with a soft smile and says, "let's go." I gladly take it in mine.

     "That was pretty slick, I must admit," I praise him.

      "I've held hands with pretty girls before, you know," he brags.

      "Oh, who?" I inquire.

     "You."

      "Oh, right! Back when we first left Kydoimos I had to get you and Abel to hurry up!" I reminisce. My time in Kydoimos just seems like a little blip in the past. Leaving there was probably the best decision I made. There's no use living the way others want you to when it contradicts your dreams.

      "Y-Yeah, right," he replies. Even though he's trying to hide it, I can tell that right now his heart is racing. His ears are a bit red, and his hand is a little sweaty. I'm not complaining, though. Usually, people say it's bad to date someone with very little experience when you yourself are the opposite since what you idealize in a relationship is probably very different. I'm sure we'll be able to find common ground, though. Tsuki's a year younger than me, but he's definitely as mature, or even more so than me or anyone else I've been with. It's nice to be able to talk to someone genuinely for more than five minutes.

      "I kinda want to climb to the top of one of those skyscrapers so I can see this whole place," I change the topic.

     "Honestly, I was thinking the same thing," he nods. "I think I saw a few that looked pretty structurally sound that we can try out. We'll go to the mall later."

     When he says that in such a casual tone, I feel like we just have a regular date at the mall. Man, it would rock to go shopping with him. I'd finally be able to try on pretty dresses and shoes, and I'd get to see him pull off literally anything he puts on, we'd take pictures together and we'd go out to eat in the food court and maybe catch a movie... I guess urban exploration will have to do for now.