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it’s oddly quiet on the subway train. it’s a given considering what shiro and ezi are escaping from — the riot, or whatever it was, was the thing of nightmares for androids. worse is that one of shiro’s optical parts is now completely ruined. he’s lucky ezi found him, even luckier the other seems to know leon  ( or, knows  of  him at least ). it’s not too surprising given leon’s job.

shiro sticks close to ezi, head down, hood up. anything to conceal the blue neasource staining his face and hands. it’s on his hoodie, but there’s no way someone could surmise it’s  his  neasource unless they saw his eye. he’s fine now, ezi is right here and he’s pretty much invading the guy’s personal space as he tends to something on his phone  ( contacting leon maybe? hopefully? ). so he’s okay, except not really because he’s still  terrified  someone is going to jump up and start something mid-ride.

briefly, he thinks back to midori and how he’d have readily stood up to fight against the persons responsible for his and their friends’ deaths, but he’s practically a vibrating phone after the riots. funny how he’d step up to help someone else, but not himself. the thought it quickly dashed away when the subway slows to a stop and he’s guided out and onto the platform outside.

lower level, of course, and he’s guided right to ecostay, to a floor he’s never been on. when the door opens there’s leon waiting for them. he never thought leon lived here, in the same building as him, all this time. but then, shiro doesn’t talk much with anyone in ecostay, why would he? it’d open up too many possibilities for something to go wrong.

the shadows grow steadily as shiro wanders down the streets, glancing into shops and just enjoying the atmosphere of the upper layer on his day off. it would be more enjoyable if the air didn’t feel unsettled; if there wasn’t this strange sensation bubbling at the bottom of shiro’s stomach, a wave of anxiety creeping up on him. the type of anxiety he only feels on his darkest days when the memories are too much.

a shout rings out above the bustling of the crowd, making shiro whirl around towards where the voice sounded out. seconds after the voice come the booms and the shouts, everyone scattering like roaches under a light. shiro is pushed and shoved as he stands there in shock, reading each laser as his mouth hangs open.

a fight breaks out nearby him, three hooded figures grabbing at an android. shiro isn’t a fighter so he carefully flees the area and he doesn’t try to be a hero even though guilt slowly eats at him (  he can’t break again — ‘ i’m sorry, so sorry ’ he chants in his head  ). across the street isn’t any better and he winds up caught right in the middle of another group who are just waiting for their opportunity. he doesn’t slip by them as easily as the first group.

they hit him until he gets on his knees, arms covering his head in defense. he doesn’t strike out at them even when they shove him to the ground and begin kicking him. tears slide out of his squeezed shut eyes, but a bigger commotion nearby causes all of them to leave him and he slowly lifts his head only for him to realize one stayed behind and is watching him intently.

before he can cover his face, the man takes a swift kick at his head and connects the tip of a steel-toed boot to his right eye, the optical part blinking out before becoming static filled. the man leaves him when he’s called away.