They had to move the body.
Tatsuya didn't want to. Nobody did. But Hiroshi Amano's corpse was bleeding through the luggage compartment, and people were beginning to screyes A woman fainted. A child began to cry. A man started praying out loud. The soldier at the end of Compartment 3—pale, young, and clearly unprepared—stepped forward, trembling. "I-I need assistance with the body."
No one moved. Tatsuya stood. Not because he wanted to.
But because Nana was watching.
They carried the body to the narrow storage bay between compartments. Metal. Cold. Isolated. Tatsuya set Hiroshi down gently. His fingers brushed the dead man's coat—still warm.
That's what haunted him. The body wasn't cold yet. He had died minutes ago. The soldier tried to lock the bay, but the door jammed. "You okay?" Tatsuya asked.
The man shook his head. "This isn't what I trained for. They said… the Akuma couldn't get on board. That this train was secured." Tatsuya almost laughed. "They say a lot of things."
He turned to leave—and that's when he saw it. A flicker. A twitch. Hiroshi Amano's finger moved.
Tatsuya froze. His heart pounded in his ears. His body screamed to run, but he forced himself to kneel again. The soldier backed away. "Sir, don't—! He's dead. He's—" Tatsuya reached forward. Hiroshi's eye snapped open.
White. Glowing. Inhuman.
And then…he smiled.
"RUN!" Tatsuya shouted.But it was too late. The corpse moved like it had no bones—folding, snapping, rising unnaturally fast. Hiroshi let out a low choking sound, like someone trying to laugh through blood. His mouth opened far too wide. The soldier fired his stun-gun once. It did nothing.
Tatsuya grabbed a metal rod from the wall and swung as hard as he could.
CRACK.
The Akuma stumbled, snarled, then launched forward again. Back in Compartment 3, passengers had risen in panic. Some were climbing over seats, trying to escape. Nana stood near the aisle, sketchbook open again.
Her pencil moved quickly, and she muttered: "If I draw the door… it'll close."
Inside the storage bay, Tatsuya slammed the rod into Hiroshi's head again. This time, bone cracked. The Akuma staggered. Blood sprayed across the metal wall. Not red. Black.
Tatsuya's arms were shaking, breath ragged. The creature lunged again—and then, with a sudden metallic screech, the door slammed shut between them.A split second later—BOOM.
Something hit the door from inside.
Hard.Once.Twice.Then silence.
Tatsuya staggered back into the compartment. Passengers stared at him—some in horror, some in awe. His shirt was soaked in black blood.
And behind him… the door remained shut. Someone whispered, "Is he one of them?" Another said, "He fought it off. He saved that soldier."But Tatsuya didn't hear them. He only heard Nana's voice: "I didn't want to draw it, Onii-chan. But… I had to."
He looked at her sketchbook.The final image showed a metal door. Slammed shut. And a shadow behind it, pressing bloody fingers against the glass.
And beneath the drawing, a new word had appeared in red ink: "Containment."
The compartment was no longer silent.
It buzzed with panic, whispers, prayers.
People were scared of Tatsuya now.
Not because he was dangerous…But because he survived something they couldn't even understand.
The soldier—Yuuta, his name tag read—sat slumped in the corner near the emergency case. His helmet was off. His eyes weren't blinking enough.
Tatsuya glanced at him. "You okay?"
Yuuta didn't answer.Just stared at his gloves… soaked in black blood. He hadn't said a word since the fight. A woman in a green sweater suddenly stood up.
"Why are we just sitting here!?" she shouted.
"That man—Hiroshi—he turned! I saw it! Something is ON this train!"
A tall man near the door replied coldly, "And what do you want to do? Jump off?" "The next compartment!" she pointed. "Open the door—move forward. There might be military personnel there!"
"No one opens anything," a gruff voice barked.
It was an older man, ex-army by the way he held himself. "We don't move compartments unless authorized. Panic kills faster than monsters."
"Monsters are already here," someone whispered.
Nana tugged on Tatsuya's sleeve. He bent down. "What is it?" Her hand was trembling. "I… I think someone's walking between the cars."
"What?" She pointed to the sealed side-door that led to Compartment 4. It was locked tight, small window showing only the metal connector hallway between cars. Nothing was there. Tatsuya leaned closer to the glass—Tap.
Something tapped on the other side.He jerked back. But the window… still showed nothing. Just empty hallway. Slight flickering light. No figure. No shadow.
Just a growing sense of something watching.
He looked at Nana again. "You saw someone?" She nodded slowly, eyes locked on her sketchbook. "I think it doesn't want to be seen. It's not like Hiroshi. It's not broken. It's... curious."
Tatsuya's chest tightened. "Can you draw it?" She hesitated. Then whispered, "If I do, it might notice me."
Behind them, a loud bang echoed from the floor.Everyone froze.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Coming from below the train this time.
Like something… crawling. Passenger 5E stood. "We need to move. We need to move NOW." He ran toward the connecting door. Yuuta, the soldier, suddenly stood too—fast. Stiff.
"STOP," he shouted.5E didn't.
He slammed the access panel to open the door— CLICK. HISS.
The seal broke. Door slid open into the connector tunnel. "Don't go—" Tatsuya stepped forward— Too late.
5E stepped into the connector. He paused. "See? Nothing. There's noth—"SPLASH.
A black arm dropped from above.
Not attached to anything.
Just… dropped.5E screamed—And the lights inside the tunnel blinked out.
SLAM. The door closed again on its own.People screamed. Tatsuya pulled Nana close. Then came the sound.
Like footsteps... walking away... on the train's roof.
The screens inside the train turned on again. A new message blinked in red:
"Unauthorized passage attempt: 5E – Terminated." "Next Warning in: 06 minutes."
Tatsuya's hands balled into fists. He had a feeling…This wasn't the last warning. Just the first test. And something—or someone—was deciding who passed.
"Every passenger wants to live.
But what happens when the train demands death?"
The doors locked. A cold hiss of pressure sealed each compartment.
The lights turned dim. A red strip now pulsed across the roof. Passengers began panicking again.
"What is this!?"
"Why are we locked in!?"
"Someone OPEN THE DOOR!"
The screen at the front flickered to life.
No static this time. No delay.Just the masked conductor — silent, unmoving.
Behind him, a giant glowing emblem: a single Japanese kanji. "試 – Trial."
His voice echoed, calm as before.
"Passengers of Raijin-01, welcome to the first test." "One among you has disobeyed. Another has vanished. And a third… has already turned."
Tatsuya clenched his fists. "To proceed, a balance must be restored. You must vote."
"One life… in exchange for your passage."
Chaos.
People shouted. Cried. Fought.
"Vote?! We're not animals!"
"We didn't do anything wrong!"
"Why not HIM!? He opened the door!"
"No! Choose someone already wounded!" The soldier Yuuta stood up again. His hand shook. "There's got to be another way."
Tatsuya looked around. Fear had changed them all already. They weren't passengers anymore. They were players in someone else's twisted game.
Then he saw Nana. She was hunched over her sketchbook again, breathing fast. He kneeled beside her.
"Nana…?"
She turned the sketchbook around slowly. A face. Not twisted like Hiroshi.
Not strange like the shadow figure.
Just... normal. Human. Alive.
A girl with short hair, freckles. Maybe thirteen. Sitting alone with a stuffed bear in her lap. Seat 3B. Nana whispered: "She's going to be chosen."
Tatsuya's chest froze.He turned.
Seat 3B.
The girl was there — exactly as drawn. Holding the bear. Watching the others in silence.Her name tag read:
Mikasa Airi.
Tatsuya knelt beside Nana. "Can we stop it this time? Can we change what you saw?" Nana shook her head slowly.
"I don't know... I didn't draw her. It just… appeared."
Suddenly, the conductor's voice echoed again: "You have 3 minutes to choose. Or the system will choose for you." "Votes can be cast through your seat panels."
Airi's eyes met Tatsuya's. No tears.
No anger. Just one soft question:
"Will I… remember anything if I die?"
Tatsuya didn't answer. Because he didn't know.
People began voting. The screen updated: "Current Leading Vote: Seat 3B – Airi Mikasa."
Tatsuya stood, voice loud, trembling:
"STOP! She's just a kid!"
"She's not my kid," someone muttered.
"Better her than me," another said.
Final 30 seconds. Nana looked up at her brother. "I tried… I really tried not to see her."
And then—The light above Airi's seat turned red.
A panel opened beside her feet. Small. Square. Silent. Inside it: A single syringe.The conductor's voice returned: "Please complete the sacrifice. The door will not open until the injection is administered."
Tatsuya took one step forward—But Airi had already stood. She placed the bear in Nana's lap. "He's afraid of the dark. Keep him safe, okay?"
She smiled softly. "I hope you reach Amahara, onii-chan."
Tatsuya couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He watched as the girl picked up the syringe…And closed her eyes.