"This place is too exposed. Let's move to the central dome."

  The owner called out, and I took the lead.

  "Follow my path exactly."

  I had already mapped out the blind spots—the places where the security cameras couldn’t see, thanks to the shadows cast by the plants.

  "Careful, we’re leaving the pavement."

  The owner warned the surface dwellers, something I’d never even thought to mention.

  From behind, I heard things like "Whoa," "I slipped," and "Keep it down,"

  proving how hard it was for them to walk on soil and stone.

  "Hey, don’t stop all of a sudden."

  Kiyosumi-san muttered behind me as I paused beneath the traveler’s tree.

  I’d tried to stop quietly—his complaint felt unfair.

  Ignoring him, I stepped between two enormous leaves.

  "This way."

  "How tall is this tree…?

  Fifteen meters? Easy.

  And this leaf—it's bigger than the bed in our dorm."

  Behind me, Tsurubami-kun was whispering to Akisumi-kun.

  They were way calmer than the adults.

  "Tsurubami-kun, you’re in the dorms, right?

  We should hang out sometime—no, never mind.

  Anyway, did you know the seeds of this tree are blue?"

  I wondered if Akisumi-kun felt a little intimidated by him.

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  Surface dwellers are scary—but fascinating.

  "Let’s sit here."

  I sat down first, beneath the traveler’s tree,

  where a sliver of moonlight filtered through the glass dome ceiling.

  I looked up at the giant fan-shaped leaves stretching toward the dome sky.

  It felt like they were protecting me.

  When I looked back down, everyone had taken a seat in their own way,

  all quietly staring at me.

  —Oh no.

  They’re waiting for me to say something.

  "………"

  "Why are you hiding out in a place like this?"

  Kiyosumi-san finally broke the silence.

  A bit sharp in tone, but I was grateful.

  "A place like this?

  You mean, why I’m in the botanical garden?"

  I nodded toward him.

  The moonlight glowed against his tanned skin—it looked beautiful.

  "This place… is similar to the underground world where I live."

  "Don’t joke around.

  What, you’ve got jungles underground?"

  Kiyosumi-san laughed.

  When he laughed, that sharpness of his faded—he even looked like a kid.

  "I’m not joking.

  The underground is filled with plants—from tropical to subarctic,

  from deserts to wetlands—every kind of flora from the surface."

  He gave me a doubtful look.

  Then Tsurubami-kun quietly spoke beside him.

  "What he’s saying is true.

  The underground was full of plant life.

  The geography was almost the same as this town,

  but plants grew everywhere, all kinds of them."

  "I believe it."

  Akisumi-kun, sitting next to him, responded immediately.

  Their relationship didn’t feel like simple friendship—it was something more.

  "What about the sun?"

  Kiyosumi-san threw the next question,

  no longer wary of me—just sincerely curious.

  That’s something I really like about surface dwellers.

  "In our world, the sun appears only twice a year.

  When it does, we gather six months’ worth of energy—

  and use it little by little, carefully, until it comes again."

  Thinking about the day we welcomed the sun,

  I couldn’t help but smile.

  Everyone was still staring at me.

  "Is the sun what you worship?"

  Kiyosumi-san asked with the most serious expression I’d seen yet.

  "No, it’s not."

  It was clear I needed to explain more.

  As that thought formed—so quiet I could almost hear the moon whisper—

  Kiyosumi-san murmured:

  "Since we on the surface worship the darkness…

  I thought you, down below, would believe in the opposite—

  in the light… in the sun."