The room seemed eerily empty as Keith squinted through the darkness. He spoke a word softly and the computer's sensors turned the overhead lights on.
He hadn't understood why it had been him who'd been sent to clear out Shiroe's things. Surely, given how suspicious the events before his death, someone else would have been called upon. After all, couldn't there be incriminating evidence here still? But Mother Eliza had been very insistent – it was to be Keith who searched and emptied the room and Keith alone.
His fingers traced the iron band situated on his forehead and he wondered if it was some sort of revenge on the computer's part. To have the person who had killed the boy clear away all that was left. Even to Keith's military mind, it seemed a sick sort of joke. But of course, he would not question such an order. When had he ever questioned anything? He'd never felt the need or the inclination before despite the taunts from others that he was just that – a machine with no thoughts or feelings of his own.
And perhaps, that was why he had, despite himself, felt drawn to Shiroe. That cocky kid who had been every inch Keith's opposite and in a way, every inch his equal. Wasn't that why he had accepted the boy's challenge that time? He'd beaten him of course but not without some effort on his part – and that was the first time such a thing had ever happened. He'd drawn away from Mother Eliza after, not wanting her to sense the confusion in his thoughts.
But now, here he was in a dead boy's room; the same one who had always been so full of life. Irritating and offensive, but yes... it had almost been a relief to have him around. It had brought a sort of tension to his mind that he hadn't known could exist. Was this what having a rival meant? A true rival who you could stand on equal ground with - not the simpering one upping of the older students. Hadn't that been why Shiroe had sought refuge with him? And why he'd hid the boy away? Even if events eventually took a more cataclysmic turn. He was reminded forcefully of those words which had pushed him too far, had made him leave the indent of his hand on that shocked face. It had given him no satisfaction, even back then and no more now.
He walked forward, eyes examining every inch of the room, cataloguing it neatly. There were more things here than in Keith's own room which remained as blank as when he'd first entered it. Some pictures messily stamped to a wall, a collapsed pile of books on the desk and some tools for engineering that looked to have seen recent use. On closer inspection, he could see there was very little here that seemed to cast a negative light on the boy. His tastes in books were perhaps a little eclectic for someone who'd passed the Adult exam, but there was certainly nothing which spoke of his status as a Mu.
He peeled the pictures from the walls, stripped the grey bedding, methodically folded the clothes into a carrier for disposal. His fingers lingered perhaps a little longer on those items Shiroe would have touched the most – but that meant nothing he told himself. He was merely making sure there was nothing suspicious here. Eventually all that was left were the pile of books. The mechanical and mathematical texts were standard enough and he didn't bother to spare them a second look. At the bottom of the pile however was one worn, well thumbed children's book he was surprised to see. He would have thought Shiroe to have outgrown such things – but this, this was surely a book from before the Adult exam judging by its age. Why had he held onto it?
Curious, he sat down and opened the story, frowning a little at the bright colour pictures inside. A cocky looking boy in green flew in a starlit sky. He flicked through the rest of the pages. Strange. He couldn't say he really understood the story, some silly parable about a child who refused to grow up from what he could tell. But... it did seem to suit Shiroe.
He couldn't explain why but when he took the rest of the boy's things to the incinerator he held back "Peter Pan." Hid it away in his empty room – only now did he notice how very bare it was. And some nights he would sit and turn the pages, trying uselessly again and again to make sense of a Mu boy called Seki Ray Shiroe.