Chapter 10: 7th Fragment – Rio

There was a time when the sky was dark gray without any clouds. Fortunately, it was bright enough for the future townspeople. One could say that there are no clouds in the sky because the scope of the oxygen dome used for this city was not as high enough. If someone sees a slight formation of the said sky cotton, it will be enough to cause a stir and posts related to rare clouds on the Ringnet.

 

Several people were passing each other along the street near some high buildings. The building proportions are various and have quite complex forms, such as a combination of two or three architectural styles that are merged into one. It is stacked up into a balanced multilevel unit that can contain many people.

 

—at the shopping area, where each place is busy with its own business, someone who shouldn't be there is moving slowly among those crowds.

The little boy walks down a busy shopping street, sometimes looking at the floating vegetation and holographic advertisement displays with empty eyes. His gaze was no longer than five seconds, and he kept walking without any destination in mind.

Seeing his yellow backpack and wearing a distinctive hat, one could immediately tell that this boy was still a student.

Little Arisa happened to take this shopping area route to walk home until she found a figure she was familiar with. She sees the boy who runs until he bumps into someone, apologizes with a tearful voice, and starts running again.

 

"That's Rio if I remember correctly."

 

The boy went down to the underground terminal where people used to take public transportation. However, according to Arisa, this underground terminal is the route to go farther from the city center, towards the corner of the city, which is not a friendly place for children.

 

As the little girl tries to keep watch of where her classmate is heading, Rio hastily boards one of the underground buses at the last minute. Arisa knows she won't catch up with him, so she gets on another bus in the same direction.

This is also Arisa's first trip to the city's outskirts—the border of the safe zone. The girl spread her gaze full of curiosity inside the vehicle. Several adults are standing on one arm because the available seats are occupied, seemingly immersed in each ring's hologram. Nothing much to see aside from indifferent adults on their own business.

The underground bus arrived at one of the destination terminals in approximately fifteen minutes. Arisa wasn't sure if Rio got off at this place, but she chose to stop here and try not to fall over among the other people who got off as well.

 

"Does he got off here?"

 

Arisa is aware of a figure going quickly farther from where she stands. She can see that Little Rio runs from the underground terminal and goes up to the surface, followed by her afterward. Arisa is also aware that her friend is crying to the point that several people turn their heads as Rio run past them.

The little boy continues to run, followed by Arisa behind. Rio does not care about anything else and keeps running, sneaking into the sidelines of the building without caring about anything.

 

"Rio! Hey, Rio!" Arisa shouted.

 

The little boy didn't hear and kept running, not heeding Arisa's call from behind. This did not make the girl affected, and she continued to pursue him.

Until Arisa realizes they will arrive at the area filled with deserted buildings on either side. Even the path is dilapidated and looks dangerous—they are at the border of the safe zone. This zone is shunned by most of the city's residents because this place is the corner of the oxygen shield. So, anyone would understand the risk if they were around this place.

 

Therefore, the little girl wears a respirator that is always in one corner of her school bag. Rio doesn't seem to carry his school bag around, so Arisa doubts if her friend brought it too.

However, she didn't bother with that and immediately put on the breathing apparatus before going back to chase Rio. The boy's figure looked distant. However, as Arisa gets closer, Rio slows down and falls to the ground.

 

The tiny body tried to get up again even though his tears were still there, messing with his face. Rio is panting, trying to control his breath again, and finally aware of his current situation.

He could no longer breathe freely. The clash of emotions and the struggle to live messed up his mind, so Rio gradually loses himself. The little boy did not expect that he had arrived in the zone that everyone had abandoned.

 

"Ah! Aah—"

"Do not panic. Take this."

 

Arisa thrusts the breathing apparatus on Rio's face, which he immediately puts on. The boy took a few breaths and calmed himself down before being picked up by the little girl again.

 

"I only brought one. Where's yours?" asked Arisa.

 

Rio shakes his head, and Arisa nods.

 

"Then, let's get out of here first," she said, pulling little Rio away from the border of the safe zone.

 

Along the way, the two exchanged breathing apparatus until they reached where it was safe to breathe again. Once there, Arisa put it back in the corner of her school bag, looking back at his friends, still sobbing.

 

"You almost died earlier, you know," said Arisa. "Why did you run to such a dangerous place without carrying a bag?"

 

Rio didn't answer. He cannot meet Arisa's gaze as he only looks at the ground. And then, the tears started to flow again.

Arisa knows that she won't be able to hear why Rio did such an outrageous thing. So, she brings him to sit in the corner of the abandoned bus stop while waiting for the boy to calm down. Silently, the little girl watched how Rio vented his emotions. She almost did not blink and observed Rio closely. His cry emanates in this deserted place for a few dozen minutes.

 

A small conclusion appears in Arisa's head. She comes closer to his classmate and hugs him tightly, to the point it is suffocating. The little girl doesn't intend to let go of her embrace until Rio finishes his whimpering.

 

Arisa is currently feeling the sensation of how the human body is warm. The erratic heartbeat, sobbing breaths, and small muffled groans she felt so close gave her a new perspective.

 

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So this is of it feels to hug someone.

 

She hugs him so tight that Rio is no longer wailing and trying to breathe instead.

 

"Uh… I can't really breathe..."

"I see. If I let you go, you won't cry anymore?"

"I won't."

 

Arisa let her embrace go, looking deeply into the face of a classmate who looked so confused. She wanted to ask Rio about what had just happened now that he was calmed down.

 

"Do you realize that you're running into this place?"

"No… I didn't know that I had arrived at this place," replied Rio, who was still sobbing a bit, "once I realized it was already hard for me to breathe."

"You're so emotional to the extent that you are not aware of endangering yourself. Why are you running while crying?"

 

Rio looked down, trying to reorganize his heart before revealing something that made him act this way.

 

"…my parents fought again. This time it was so terrible that all the kitchen's stuff was being thrown around."

Arisa nods. Quietly listening is the right thing to do for now.

"I tried to stop them. However, my father didn't like it and slapped me so hard until I fell," said Rio with a trembling voice. Arisa can see how her classmate's cheeks have bruises.

"That's why… I… I… don't know. I don't want to go back home again. Really do not want to."

 

Rio is about to cry again, so Arisa quickly hugs him back. The little guy widened his eyes at this treatment and was silent for a while.

 

"You can't die, okay?" Arisa asked.

"Why?"

 

Arisa thinks about the best answer to that question.

 

"You know, we always heard from the teacher's warning about the outer zone countless times. The border of the safe zone is no different either." Arisa exclaimed, "As a human being who only has one life in our body, it's only natural that we have to take care of ourselves no matter what.

 

Listening to that explanation, Rio can't say anything back.

 

"So don't die, okay?" asked Arisa once again.

 

The little girl looked at Rio so earnestly. Her classmates don't really understand Arisa's answer just now because of his scrambled emotion.

However, there was one thing he could understand. Arisa doesn't want Rio to die in vain here.

How Arisa was willing to follow him to this dangerous place and lend him her only breathing equipment left quite a big impression on Rio. He couldn't stop staring at the face of the person who had saved him just now and given him a piece of obvious advice.

Thus, Rio finally smiles and hugs Arisa this time.

 

"Thank you, Arisa," Rio said quietly.

 

Little Arisa smiles and rubs her classmate's back gently.

 

That is a faint, fleeting memory of Rio in their timeline.

 

Rio is a classmate she had saved at the Safe Zone border in Arisa's eyes, nothing more.

 

"If I'm not mistaken, Rio's parents divorced a few days after that incident," Arisa muttered.

 

Arisa glances out the window, looking at the dark sky with clouds illuminated under the moonlight. A few sparkling stars above greet Arisa with their faint light due to the light pollution. Indeed, it's a calm evening.

 

"I know that if I reject his feelings, he will be definitely sad about it. After all, that's how a human's emotion works."

 

That night, Arisa decides to gaze at the night sky for a bit longer before bed.

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