"You—!"
Issei stormed toward the newcomer in anger and grabbed him by the collar.
"How dare you push me? Huh? You think you can get away with it just like that?" he growled.
"H-Hey, calm down," the newcomer stammered, "you're overreacting. I did it for everyone's good!"
"For everyone's good? By shoving me out? By leaving me to die?"
"Look, that wasn't my intention! If I hadn't pushed you, that monster would've killed all of us."
"So what you're saying, you son of a—, is that you're some kind of hero now?"
The newcomer, clearly fed up, shoved Issei's hands off his collar and grabbed Issei's collar in return, speaking in a low, serious tone,
"You're the one crossing the line now. And anyway, no one else here seems to have a problem with what I did."
He let go of Issei's collar.
"Oh, so now I'm the problem?" Issei sneered, glancing around at everyone standing nearby. "None of you had an issue with what he did? Huh?"
"Enough already!" Mr. Yamamoto, standing nearby, yelled. "This isn't the time for childish fighting! Did you not see how dangerous that monster was? And here you are, squabbling like kids. Young people these days have no manners!"
Issei shot him a side glance, smirking bitterly.
"Spare me the lecture, old man. Manners sound pretty damn hypocritical coming from someone who abuses his own wife."
"What? What did you just say?" Mr. Yamamoto fumed, marching towards him.
"Are you deaf, old man? I said shut up. You're the last person here who should lecture about manners!"
"You little—!" Mr. Yamamoto charged toward him, but Shun stepped in and blocked him.
"What's your problem? Get out of my way!" Yamamoto barked at Shun, glaring at Issei. "Today I'm going to teach you a lesson!"
Shun replied calmly, "Didn't you see? He wasn't even scared of that monster. What makes you think you can take him down?"
Mr. Yamamoto hesitated and stayed put, gritting his teeth.
"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" the newcomer challenged Issei.
Cracking his knuckles and neck, Issei grinned, "Gladly."
Before anyone could react, Issei landed a solid punch straight to the newcomer's face, sending him stumbling back two steps.
Everyone around gasped.
"He punched him!" someone whispered.
"That guy's insane," another murmured.
"Yeah, this is just plain bullying," a third person added.
The newcomer wiped blood from his mouyand spat on the ground.
"So now you've resorted to violence, huh?"
"What, scared of a little fight now?" Issei taunted after a pause. "Besides, you had it coming."
"And what exactly did I do wrong? Huh? Explain why you think I deserved that punch!"
"You really don't remember? Want me to remind you?"
"I didn't do anything wrong!" the newcomer snapped. "Everything I did what I had to—for all our sakes. You saw how strong that creature was! None of us could even move! You couldn't beat it either. If it wasn't for me, we'd all be dead right now."
Issei laughed mockingly, "What the hell are you talking about? That thing almost killed me? I nearly had it down! I was the one who saved you all!"
"That's just your delusion," the newcomer shot back. "You didn't defeat it — it had you! If I hadn't pushed you, you'd be dead already! And for your information, you're not the hero here. We're alive thanks to him," he said, pointing to the brave man who had helped save both the officer and Issei.
"You should be thanking him, not acting like a jerk."
Issei's temper flared. He was about to tackle the newcomer to the ground and punch him again when—
Sae grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"That's enough!" she said firmly. "This isn't the time to fight amongst ourselves!"
"Stay out of this, girl," Issei snapped without even looking at her, his eyes still locked on the newcomer.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Sae yelled. "In a situation this bad, this is what you're worried about? We should be focusing on where that monster even came from!"
"She's right," Shun said calmly.
"Yeah, yeah, she's right," others agreed too.
Issei stayed silent for a moment, breathing heavily. Then he said, "Fine. Let go of my hand."
Sae released him, and Issei stepped back. The newcomer also slowly got back on his feet.
"Hey, officer," someone called out, "can you explain what's going on? Why are there so many monsters roaming around the city? Was this some government experiment gone wrong?"
The wounded officer, sitting on the ground with support from the brave man, spoke up, "No, I... I have no idea either."
"Oh great," someone grumbled. "We pay taxes so we can feel safe, and these guys are using our money for shady experiments!"
"Why don't you do something then? Aren't you supposed to protect us?" the bus driver asked. "Isn't that your job to protect us? Why not call the military or something!"
"I'm sure the government is doing everything it can for our safety," the officer replied weakly.
"Hmph, doing everything, huh?" the driver muttered bitterly.
"Fine, let's at least call for help ourselves," Sae said, pulling out her phone.
"No use," Shun said calmly. "None of us will have any network."
Everyone quickly pulled out their phones and checked.
"Hey... no signal on mine either."
"Same here."
"Mine too!"
"What does this even mean?" Sae asked.
"I don't know... maybe a disaster?" Shun guessed.
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Sae asked again.
"What else? Everyone should go back to their own rooms," another resident named K suggested.
"Hey, wait a second!" Mr. Yamamoto objected. "What if that monster comes back and breaks through the shutters? What about the people on the ground floor?"
"That's not my problem," K shrugged. "Besides, there are newcomers too — they can help protect you."
"What the hell are you saying?" the bus driver protested. "Why should we stay on the ground floor? Our lives matter too!"
"So what do you want me to do? Where will you stay? Go back to your homes?" K said sarcastically.
"This isn't the time for jokes," the driver snapped. "We all know how dangerous it is outside. We'll stay somewhere inside the building — in some empty room."
"And how will you stay? Got a key?"
"Everyone just stop it!" Mrs. Kobayashi interrupted. "If the shutter breaks, we'll all be in danger. We need extra security on the ground floor."
"Yeah... she's right." Another resident said.
"She has a point." Another lady agreed.
"Alright then," Sae suggested, "families with kids can go back to their rooms. The rest of us will stay down here on the ground floor."
"No! No way!" everyone protested at once. "Our lives are just as precious! And that monster is way too dangerous!"
"I'm okay with it," Shun said calmly.
"Same here," Issei added.
"Count me in," the brave man said.
"Me too," Sae nodded.
One by one, hesitantly at first, everyone else gave in.
Just then, Mrs. Yamamoto hurriedly brought a first aid kit.
"Here... the kit," she said.
"Who told you to bring it? These days you've started doing whatever you feel like, haven't you?" Mr. Yamamoto snapped at her, glaring furiously.
"I… I just wanted to help," Mrs. Yamamoto replied in a trembling voice.
"You dare talk back to me?" Mr. Yamamoto shouted, raising his hand threateningly.
"Enough, Uncle," Sae interrupted sharply. "You seem to have forgotten that there's an officer among us. If you lay a hand on anyone, you could be arrested for domestic violence."
"Arrested? Where would you take me? We can't even leave this place. We're still inside our own home — we can do whatever we want here," Mr. Yamamoto retorted.
"So what if we can't leave? That doesn't mean we can't lock you up in one of these rooms," Sae replied coldly.
"Enough! Everyone just stop talking!" Mrs. Kobayashi yelled.
"There are two dead bodies here, and two others who are badly injured. We should focus on them first."
...
Meanwhile, Shun and Issei carefully carried the two dead bodies into another room — along with their severed heads.
"Th-thank you," Issei said quietly.
"For what?" Shun asked.
"For keeping the shutter open for me."
"It's nothing. After all, you're my neighbor. It's the least I could do," Shun replied.
"Hmm..." Issei nodded, falling silent.
Both of them stood there, staring down at the bodies.
"So... what should we do now? We can't just leave them like this. Their bodies will start to rot," Issei said hesitantly.
"Should we burn them?" Shun suggested, glancing at Issei. "Or maybe... bury them?"
"Maybe... burying them would be better," a voice said from behind them — Yami.
"That guy... he was my younger brother. He was terrified of fire. We grew up together, side by side. I had promised our parents that I would always take care of him... but now, all of a sudden, he's gone. I couldn't even keep my promise. What kind of elder brother am I, if I couldn't even protect him?" His voice cracked as he pulled an envelope out of his pocket.
"This... this is his college acceptance letter. I was planning to surprise him with it... but..." he choked, struggling to hold back his tears.
Shun and Issei stayed silent, simply standing there, sharing his grief.
...
"Alright then," Sae said, "those with kids, go be with them."
The families moved toward the elevator.
Suddenly—
"Wait... look!"
Someone pointed.
The elevator—it was already moving.
Descending.
2nd floor down
1st floor down
Ground floor...
DING!