Safe
The crisp evening air stung Asher's lungs as he stepped out of the restaurant.
The street was harshly lit by the glare of the streetlamps lining the road. Their breaths became billowing mist under the light.
"My apartment is only a few kilometers away. I assume you'll be fine walking that much?" Mei looked back at the ragged-clothed child behind her. No one could have guessed that little boy was the one who saved her.
Asher nodded and walked along beside her.
"What's a 'Fixer', anyway? And why did he mistake me for one?" Were the Fixers also like him, able to use E.G.O like [Fairy Queen]? But then again, his System seemed pretty unique, so maybe not.
"Hm... Fixers are a peacekeeping force employed by the Associations. Well, the main headquarters of the Associations are all in the Nests, though. Only their branches are stationed in the Backstreets. Other than Associations, Fixers are employed in Offices as well."
So the Backstreets were more lawless than the Nests. His resolve to get into the Nests only increased.
"Then why don't you move the Nest in Section 12?" After all, if it was so unsafe in the Backstreets, then why would anyone live here?
"Sigh... Moving to any of the Nests needs a 'migration permit', which you can only get from nearly ten lifetimes' worth of my salary, even if I stop paying all of my bills. It's simply not possible, Asher." Her eyes dimmed, showing dead complacence. It seemed like she had already accepted her position in the Backstreets.
The two walked for a while in silence, not sure what to say in order to break the still tranquility. Finally, they approached a dilapidated apartment building.
Although it was entirely intact, it still had a musty, rotted air to it.
The steps creaked loudly as they walked up them. The doors they passed by all had their peepholes and windows boarded shut. None of their lights were open as well.
As they neared a door at the end of the hallway, Mei took out a set of keys and shoved them in the rusted keyhole with relative difficulty.
"Home sweet home, I guess," Mei grumbled as she swung open the door, revealing a pitch black room. Mei swiped at a pair of flashlights that hung beside the door.
She handed him a flashlight, turning hers on. The light from the device was barely bright enough for him to decipher the general layout. The only room he could see so far was a grimy, cramped kitchen, with a hallway connected at the back that presumably led to the bedroom.
Even the room given to him by Hal was bigger than this. The kitchen was so small that if both of them stood beside each other, shoulder to shoulder, it would've nearly covered the entire width of the space.
"I'll prepare some food. Bathroom's in the hallway if you need it." Mei turned her back away from him to cook. Asher stared at her movements, only relaxing after she took out a package of tofu and some vegetables from the refrigerator.
'Looks like I'll become vegetarian at this rate...' The incident in the restaurant traumatized him to the extent where he didn't want to eat meat ever again.
He looked at the dark, menacing hallway leading out of the kitchen, his gaze irrationally suspicious.
'What sort of secrets could she be hiding??' Like a detective, he turned on his dim flashlight to investigate.
Only three rooms were in the hallway, two on the side and one on the end. Checking the rooms on the sides first, he opened the doors to find...
A clean-ish, pleasant smelling bathroom, and a small room for washing clothes. He didn't know what he expected, really.
Although nothing seemed off about those two rooms, he had yet to check the one at the end of the hallway.
Tiptoeing dramatically, he opened the door with a creak, revealing the cleanest room of the entire apartment, Mei's bedroom. It was so spotless, even cleaner than the room Hal gave him, like a hidden escape from all the horrors of the Backstreets. Crumpled pink sheets sprawled on the mattress.
'Everything's normal...' He felt rude for being so suspicious of an ordinary person. He even fixed her bed as his strange form of an apology.
He walked back to the kitchen, following the mellow fragrance of food.
In the compact kitchen, Mei was cooking some unknown combination of vegetables all stirred into a single pan.
After smelling the heavy stench of meat for so long, the light, earthy aroma stimulated his appetite.
He popped his head over her shoulder, peering down as he stepped on the tips of his toes. She glanced back at him and tilted the pan back so he could see what she was cooking.
"Tofu vegetable stir-fry. We'll have to eat in the kitchen though, there's no space anywhere else." She turned off the stove, separating the food into two plates and sticking two little rods into each dish.
Mei didn't bother with pleasantries and immediately began to eat where she stood, holding the plate to her mouth with her hand.
Asher glanced at the two sticks, looked at how Mei was eating, and copied her method. He used the two sticks to haphazardly shove food into his mouth.
Something told him that wasn't the right way to eat with those, but he didn't really care.
The two ate in silence and finished in quick succession. Mei left Asher to his own thoughts as she went to the bathroom, preparing to take a light shower before bed.
'Huh? Where will I sleep?' The sudden thought struck him, filling him with a strange sense of unease.
"Hey, did you fix my bed?" Mei had changed into a light blue pajama outfit, and her damp hair flowed down past her shoulders.
"Mhm. I just felt like it, I guess."
She smiled and patted his head again.
"C'mon, go take a shower, Asher. I'm sure I can find something clean for you."
Mei led Asher to the bathroom, where he stood in confusion. Which towel does he use? Should he even use one of her towels? After a quick moment of hesitation, he ended up drying himself with his own clothes and called for Mei, who tossed in some random clothes for him to wear.
He came out wearing a bright pink onesie, causing Mei to giggle as soon as she saw him.
"Hey, Mei... Do I sleep in the kitchen or something?"
"Huh?? No, you can just sleep here right?" She patted her bed with her hand.
"But isn't that-" Mei interrupted him with an irritated stare.
"Kid, you can't be older than fourteen. Sometimes I slept with my mother too, even when I was older than you. Sleeping with your mom isn't embarrassing or anything." It seemed like Asher had been surprise adopted.
She spoke in such a matter-of-fact manner that he could hardly refuse. In fact, she spoke so naturally that he was hardly even embarrassed. At least she spared him some dignity and gave him another blanket for himself.
They both turned off their flashlights and were left in the darkness.
Asher coughed quietly.
"Why did that man mistake me for a Fixer? Do they also have outfits like me?"
"Not necessarily, but most Offices have their own uniform, so to speak. He might've thought you were from some attention seeking Office out there. And sometimes they have strange weapons too, bought from the workshops or Wings."
Mei turned her body to him, also having her own questions to ask.
"Speaking of, where did you get your gear, anyway? It swapped with your other clothes so fluidly, it must've costed an arm and a leg, right?"
'Well, technically it costed a literal arm and a leg, plus much more.' He closed his eyes tiredly, but he couldn't tell her that.
"I don't know. I just woke up with it, I suppose. Heh, I only have memories of today, nothing before that."
Or after that, Asher added as an afternote. Because according to the System, he came from the future.
"You might actually have been a Fixer in the past, y'know? You looked so experienced back there, even... killing that man so effortlessly."
Asher glanced at Mei, but he couldn't make out her face in the darkness.
"Are you scared?" He remembered her face hours ago, as it turned from hysteric to forced calm. Was that normal?
"Not really. So many people die here that all of us here have learned to adapt pretty well. But seeing 'it' so up close still shocked me. My neighbor died just last week, actually. I was the one to clean his body for the funeral. Paid nicely."
It seemed like even the 'normal people' of the Backstreets were completely abnormal.
"How did he die then?"
Mei ignored his question, lying in silence for a while. When she spoke again, the topic had miraculously shifted.
"You might have to hide in the closet tomorrow morning, alright?"
"Eh? But why-" He was cut off as Mei's soft hand covered his lips, sealing them shut.
"Go to sleep, kid. I'll explain tomorrow. Don't go outside no matter what."
She shifted away from him, and soon enough, her breathing became deep.
But Asher wasn't ready to go to sleep just yet. He slung himself out of bed and prepared to go outside, wanting to check out these 'Sweepers' that Mei warned him about.