Natsuki Yuu stepped onto the balcony.
The rain had finally stopped, but the sky was still a dull gray. In the distance, a thin red mist drifted like gauze, blurring everything beyond a certain point.
Nearby, the ground was coated in thick, sticky bloodwater, clinging to the concrete like glue. It looked terrifying.
Natsuki Yuu reached out and swept the bloodwater on the balcony into his storage space, saving himself the trouble of cleaning.
And if he ever needed it, he could always take it back out and use it as a hidden weapon.
"Finally… the rain stopped."
He leaned on the balcony railing.
A few Blood Corpses sensed him and started shuffling over.
Mashiro Shiina went pale. She shrank behind Natsuki Yuu, trembling.
"Don't be scared. They can't get up here," Natsuki Yuu said.
He flicked a pebble downward.
It smacked a Blood Corpse right in the head.
"Twelve points in Strength and Agility… pretty handy."
Just then, Natsuki Yuu felt something.
He turned his head.
Sure enough, on the balcony to the other side, a Blood Corpse slowly stumbled out.
Serious Justice let him sense danger within range.
This one was inside that range.
Its body was smeared with thick blood, and chunks of meat still clung to its mouth.
Mashiro let out a sharp scream.
And it did not end there.
Behind it, another Blood Corpse crawled out.
It was Mrs. Kobayakawa.
Half her body was gone, torn apart with bite marks all over. She could only drag herself across the floor, inch by inch.
Mashiro covered her eyes with both hands.
"They can't come over," Natsuki Yuu repeated calmly.
He pulled out a roast chicken, tore off a drumstick, waved it in front of the Kobayakawas, then tossed it down.
Instantly, the two Blood Corpses threw themselves off the balcony after it.
Thud. Thud.
Their bodies smashed hard enough to crack and splatter.
But they still crawled, crawling toward the drumstick like starving insects.
"Interesting."
Natsuki Yuu tore off another drumstick and tossed it into the crowd of Blood Corpses below.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! That's too much food to waste!"
A voice shouted from above.
Natsuki Yuu looked up.
It was the Yoshino family on the fifth floor.
"Exactly! If you don't want it, don't waste it! Give it to us!"
Mrs. Yoshino, fat enough to look like she had never missed a meal in her life, yelled down in a shrill voice.
"I want roast chicken! Roast chicken!"
The Yoshino brat pointed at the chicken in Natsuki Yuu's hand, drooling like a starving dog.
"Hey, kid! You heard me! Throw the chicken over here!"
Mr. Yoshino snarled.
"Oh, sure," Natsuki Yuu answered.
"That's more like it," Mr. Yoshino said smugly.
Then his eyes widened.
Natsuki Yuu casually tossed the entire roast chicken straight down.
"Oh no," he said lightly. "My hand slipped."
"You bastard! You did that on purpose!"
Mr. Yoshino exploded in rage and grabbed a beer bottle, hurling it at Natsuki Yuu.
"Your throw's pathetic," Natsuki Yuu mocked. "What, you're weak in every way?"
The bottle did not even reach halfway.
Mashiro covered her mouth and giggled.
"Damn you! Just you wait!"
Mr. Yoshino's face burned because he knew he really was not much of anything.
"Just you wait! You threw away my roast chicken. I'll kill you!"
Even the Yoshino brat threatened him.
"You Chinese punk, listen up," Mrs. Yoshino screeched. "Hand over your food. My younger brother is a police inspector. When this is over, I'll have him arrest you!"
"Oh, I'm soooo scared!"
Natsuki Yuu pulled a face at them, then turned to Mashiro.
"Go get the cola. And a chair."
Mashiro hurried off and brought both.
Natsuki Yuu sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and sipped his cola slowly.
"Ah, soda really hits the spot."
"Why aren't you drinking any? Don't tell me you don't have any at home."
"Mashiro-chan, don't be shy. Drink with me. We've got plenty of this stuff."
Seeing him lounge there and drink like it was a normal afternoon, the Yoshinos nearly burst with anger.
They had not eaten in a full day.
Their stomachs were glued to their backs.
"Ahhh. Roast chicken with cola," Natsuki Yuu sighed, enjoying himself. "Now that's happiness."
He pulled out another roast chicken and deliberately waved it around in front of them.
The Yoshino family's eyes turned red with hunger. They looked like they wanted to leap down and bite him themselves.
"Give me the chicken, you bastard!" the Yoshino brat screamed. "If you don't, I'll beat you to death!"
He actually pulled out a slingshot and aimed it at Natsuki Yuu.
Natsuki Yuu crooked his finger.
"Call me Grandpa first, little brat."
"Maybe Grandpa will feel generous and reward you with a chicken bone."
"Damn you! I'll kill you!"
The brat yanked the slingshot back and fired a glass marble.
Natsuki Yuu lifted a hand and caught it.
Then he flicked it right back.
"AH! AHHHH! W-WAAAH!"
It hit the Yoshino brat square in the balls.
He collapsed instantly, rolling on the floor and howling.
"You Chinese punk! Have you no shame?" Mrs. Yoshino shrieked. "Bullying a child!"
"Just you wait!" Mr. Yoshino's face was purple with rage. "If I ever get my hands on you, I'll make you regret it!"
"Which dog is barking?" Natsuki Yuu dug in his ear and asked Mashiro.
Mashiro, playful for once, barked twice.
"Woof, woof."
Natsuki Yuu flicked her forehead.
"I didn't tell you to bark."
Mashiro held her head and stuck out her tongue.
The two of them flirted and teased each other like the Yoshinos did not even exist.
The Yoshino family had never been treated like this.
They were used to throwing their weight around the building.
Mrs. Yoshino relied on her brother's connections at the police station and acted like she was above everyone else. She looked down on the other residents, especially outsiders like Natsuki Yuu.
In her mind, he was the kind of foreign criminal who should be dragged away in handcuffs.
The Yoshino brat was the classic demon child, the type who peed in the hallways, fired slingshots for fun, harassed women passing by, and stole whenever he could.
As for Mr. Yoshino, he held some minor leadership role at his company, so he walked around the apartment complex with his nose in the air, looking down on everyone.
In short, the whole family was trash.
And Mashiro had been bullied by them before.
Mr. Yoshino ground his teeth.
"Just you wait… just you wait."
"I'm waiting," Natsuki Yuu laughed.
He watched them retreat in humiliation, then turned to Mashiro.
"Well? Was it fun? Feel better?"
Mashiro blinked, stunned.
"Natsuki-kun… you did that for me?"
"They've bullied you plenty," Natsuki Yuu said. "Of course I was getting payback for you."
Mashiro's heart warmed. Then she looked at his hand anxiously.
"Natsuki-kun, are you okay? Let me blow on it."
"Hahaha. It's nothing," Natsuki Yuu said. "That toy slingshot can't do anything to me."
With Strength and Agility at twelve, he was beyond normal people. Ordinary weapons barely mattered.
"Natsuki-kun is amazing…"
Mashiro looked at him with shining admiration.
"Of course," Natsuki Yuu said. "Stick with me and you'll eat well and live well."
He pinched her chin and planted a loud kiss on her lips.
Just then, a voice came from above.
"How much for that roast chicken? I'll pay. Sell it to me."
Huh?
That voice… why did it sound familiar?
Natsuki Yuu looked up.
And there she was.
Yukino Yukinoshita.