My head was still pounding from using my ability so much throughout the day, but I walked toward the apartment all the same. As I got closer, I saw the other residents poking their heads out of their units. They were various shapes and sizes, and some were clearly metas: one had horns and grey skin with yellow eyes while another had large, sharp teeth that hung outside of her mouth.

  The three hovering outside of the landlady's door were dressed in obvious gang member attire — dark leather jackets, blue jeans with chains near the waists, black boots. Another giveaway was that the one on the outside sported a metal bat over his shoulder like he was some sort of lumberjack. The thug on the other side held a chain in his hand and allowed it to freely dangle on the ground. One of them spoke up as the landlady walked out.

  "Look, Mrs Himiko," he grunted. "Our bosses have given you plenty of time to consider their offer. It's time to pay up and come under our protection."

  I was afraid of it being some sort of shakedown. I really, really hate being right.

  Mrs Himiko stood before the three of them with such a calm demeanor that even I was put off by it.

  "Oh my, it seems they misunderstood me, though I'm not sure how. I'm quite sure that I told them that I had no interest in placing my and my tenants' home under the so-called protection of a couple of ruffians."

  "Let's just break her legs and scorch the place," one thug told the one in the middle.

  "Yeah, an old run down place like this is sure to have some faulty electric wires somewhere. Recipe for a fire, I'd say," the other chimed in.

  "Mrs Himiko, I mean this with all sincerity, please reconsider," said the one in the middle.

  Even though I live here, I can always find a new place to lay my head. Ultimately, this doesn't concern me... I'm not getting involved again.

  I turned to walk away, but a sudden warm gust surrounded me and gently pulled me back for just a second. I knew right away.

  You really won't let me ignore this. Will you, partner?

  Alright. Alright. Time to go back to work.

  AGH!! No good!

  I still can't activate my ability just yet. I guess we’ll have to do this with one hand tied behind my back, so to speak.

  Alright, quick plan, what is there around that I can use? Think!

  As I tried to think of what to do, Mrs Himiko gave her answer.

  "I will not be joining your mob bosses' 'family.'"

  "Wrong choice!" the one in the middle yelled as the one to his right pulled the bat from his shoulder and swung down.

  COME ON!!

  "AGH!" a yelp of pain came from someone as the sound of metal clanged on the ground.

  I looked up to see the previous wielder of the metal bat buckled to his knees with the other two stepped slightly back in shock. I moved to my right a bit to get a better view of what was happening. I saw Mrs Himiko's eyes remain closed and her body remain almost perfectly still while her hand had the bat wielder's wrist in a very painful lock.

  "You bitch!" the chain wielder yelled as he pulled back and swung.

  The result was the same — a wail of pain and the sound of metal landing on the ground, only this time there was an additional yelp. The chain had missed the land lady and impacted the side of the bat wielder's face before falling to the ground. It was only when the third engaged that I fully understood what had happened.

  As he stepped forward to strike her, Mrs Himiko leapt up and spun, causing the two whose wrists she held to crash into each other before being let go of. In a moment, the third yelped and stepped back holding his face, presumably feeling the pain of a sharp kick. The chain had not missed earlier, per say. She had just dodged it and returned to her previous ground.

  The three of them began trying to attack her simultaneously, but she elegantly dodged every single attack, redirecting some and infuriating them all the more. Watching it reminded me of the futility of trying to attack Damien. Every single blow was either dodged or redirected into a wall or one of the other thugs. After a minute of watching them make fools of themselves, one stepped back and reached into his jacket.

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  "Fuck this!" he pulled out a pistol and aimed at the land lady's head.

  He never fired, though. Not because of me, but because as he did, something pierced his head from the side. That same something had impaled the other two multiple times. My eyes traced the long, almost claw-like objects back to their origin, the hands of a young woman probably barely older than me. The three thugs twitched for a couple of moments before blood began spilling from their bodies like some sort of gore movie. As quickly as they filled the air, they disappeared back into their host as she ran over to the land lady.

  "Mrs Himiko, a-are you alright?" the young woman stammered as she got closer.

  "Yes, Alicia, dear. I'm fine, thank you for your help," she answered in an almost disturbingly calm voice.

  "I-I didn't mean to kill them, but I couldn't let them hurt you. I-I'm so sorry!" the young woman buckled into the land lady's arms and began sobbing.

  "It will be okay, dear. We'll figure something out."

  "Um, can I do anything to help?" I finally managed to say as I walked up. "I-I live near by, and — "

  "Nearby?" Ms Himiko chimed in. "Do you really think I would forget you, Kyu, dear?"

  Kyu? What the hell?

  "I, uh, I don't — "

  "Don't worry, dear, Mr Damien made sure your rent is taken care of," she interrupted with a smile.

  "Y-yes ma'am," I had no desire to argue over a free roof over my head. "Anyway, how can I help? What did they even want?"

  "They're thugs and their bosses are scum bags that try to make people here pay them protection money. The authorities don't even do anything about it!" the young woman jumped in.

  "Alicia, dear," Ms Himiko tapped her shoulder.

  "Yes ma'am," she shrank back.

  This seems familiar.

  "Anju, dear. Could you come down here, please."

  After a minute or so of footsteps quickly and unevenly walking on the second floor, a figure descended the stairs. It was the heavy set guy that lived next to me. He sheepishly walked up beside Mrs Himiko and nervously fidgetted.

  "Yes ma'am?" his voice was quiet.

  "Now, dear, I know you don't like to do this, but we need you right now," she calmly said as she stroked his short hair.

  "I-I really hate it, ma'am... I feel so gross," he squeaked.

  "Anju, dear, I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you with a nice hot pot tomorrow. How does that sound?"

  "W-with the soup and rice?"

  "Of course, dear."

  What the hell is going o — HOLY SHIT!

  The guy unhinged his jaw, and his mouth grew to monstrous size. His arms became like the giant metal buckets used by construction equipment and scooped the bodies of the three thugs into his mouth one by one. The scraping of his hands on the pavement, the crunch of each piece of each body as he bit down, the smell of it all. I gagged several times before I managed to hobble over to a trash can and force myself to throw up. By the time I had returned, there was no indication of any altercation.

  The guy went back to his normal appearance almost instantly and bore as disgusted a look on his face as my stomach felt. He quietly turned and slowly walked back up the stairs. The handful of people that had gathered for the whole event had scattered back to their units, and I was left staring at the land lady who still remained calm and bore a neutral look on her face.

  "Thank you for offering to help, Kyu, dear," she smiled as she turned and walked back into her unit before closing the door.

  I slowly walked back to my own trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen. I had heard of metas having unimaginable abilities before, but that was so far outside of what I had expected that I was completely unable to process it. I walked back into my unit to see a figure sitting at my desk. He turned around, and I saw his mask once again.

  "Hello, Kyu, dear," he chuckled.

  "What the hell is going on, Damien?"

  "Well, obviously, you can't go by Ishigami Kazuma anymore. We both know how that'll turn out," he said as he mimicked his mind being blown.

  "Kyu… nine… you're disgustingly ironic... anyway, what's really going on here."

  "Isn't it obvious? This apartment complex, this haven, is exclusively filled with metas."

  "Everyone here?"

  "Everyone," I could feel his smile under the mask. "Well, everyone these days — that Yamada girl was a norm, after all. However, without her, it's a purely meta establishment."

  "Damien... What happened to her after I got knocked out?"

  His demeanor changed, and I felt his smile disappear. "I think you know now what happened, regardless of if you accept it."

  "N-no... no, that's not what happened." I replayed the horrifying sight that I had just witnessed. "S-she died... and... and was eaten?!"

  "Shimimura Anju, resident of unit 13, a Glutton meta," he sneered. "As you saw, he hates his ability, especially when he has to use it to do dirty work, but between my... coercion... and Himiko Miku's kindness, he will usually do what's needed of him."

  "You're just using them like Eclipse used me!"

  "A poor comparison, my stubborn child. Where Eclipse took your home, she gave them one. I can hardly blame them for defending it."

  "Call it whatever you want, I'm no one's tool," I turned to walk out.

  "Oh, Kazuma," he chuckled. "You truly have no idea..."

  As I turned back to yell at him, I saw that my apartment was completely empty. Silence filled the air. Through that silence, my stomach rumbled, and I gave in to my almost sickening ability to be able to eat anything after what I had just witnessed. I closed my door and resumed my nightly routine of a scarce dinner, a short shower, and going to bed by a single candlelight.