The second stop approached quickly.
As the front and rear doors opened, the remaining passengers still on board stood up one after another to exit. The little boy sitting in the single seat on the right smiled and waved goodbye to Hayato and Nanase Ren, his lips moving as if saying something they couldn't quite hear.
The massive bus interior was now down to just the four human survivors.
The blue-haired delinquent stood up and moved to sit next to the middle-aged man, making sure both double seats had people in them to maintain the seating rule pattern.
By this point, everyone had the rules memorized perfectly. No way were they going to violate them accidentally.
Next stop. The next stop was Chiba Station, their destination, their salvation.
As long as they reached Chiba Station, they could survive and leave this nightmare behind.
Tap tap...
At the front door, several figures appeared in the dim light outside.
Four people boarded the bus one after another, moving in synchronized steps.
They wore matching outfits, gray work uniforms stained with some kind of grayish-white substance that looked vaguely like dust or plaster. All four had faces that were difficult to make out clearly, whether from the lighting or some other reason.
"The bus is about to depart. All passengers, please take your seats immediately."
The driver's standard reminder echoed through the space as always, that cold voice never varying in tone.
The four newcomers walked down the aisle in perfect synchronization, their steps matching exactly. The entire boarding process was silent, without any obvious abnormalities or threatening behavior.
Soon all four had taken their seats in a specific pattern. They sat directly behind where the blue-haired delinquent and middle-aged man were positioned, and behind where Hayato and Nanase Ren sat.
Nanase Ren froze the moment she realized an anomaly was sitting right behind her. She could feel its presence like a physical weight, could sense it staring at the back of her head. Fear made her afraid to move, afraid to turn around and confirm what she already knew.
Finally she could only carefully reach out and grasp Hayato's hand, seeking comfort and safety in that contact.
Hayato glanced at her but didn't pull away. Instead he enjoyed the sensation of her soft, delicate hand in his, the warmth and slight trembling communicating her fear clearly.
The blue-haired delinquent and middle-aged man had their hearts in their throats, anxiety at maximum levels. Their eyes couldn't help glancing backward repeatedly, terrified the anomalies behind them would suddenly attack.
But the bus drove for quite a while without incident. None of the four showed any aggressive reactions. They were quiet and still, just like those initial low-key anomalies who'd boarded at the start and caused no problems.
Could it really be that nothing was wrong this time? Both men thought hopefully, their anxious hearts settling down slightly as time passed without disaster.
Another minute went by peacefully.
Then the silence was finally broken by a low, deep voice from one of the four.
"Hungry."
"Eat sheep."
"I'm telling you, I want to eat sheep."
"Barbecue."
"Delicious."
The simple words seemed to carry some kind of hypnotic power, drawing out people's desire for food and creating an ever-increasing sensation of hunger in everyone who heard them.
"Hungry."
"Eat."
"Sheep..."
"Want half."
The voices grew stronger and louder, overlapping each other with a faint explosive quality building beneath the words.
Hayato knew immediately that another rule had activated.
Hunger. The compulsion to eat. And specifically, to eat sheep.
But this "sheep" probably didn't refer to actual animals. His mind made the connection quickly.
He looked at the two anomalies sitting in front of him and saw their bodies beginning to change. Their slim gray work uniforms started bulging continuously as muscles expanded beneath the fabric. Hair sprouted from visible skin, growing thick and dark. Features shifted into something bestial, caught between human and wolf.
A bizarre transformation was happening right before his eyes.
Drip...
Drip...
Saliva began flowing from elongating jaws, dripping onto the seats and floor.
Hayato didn't need to look behind to know that the two anomalies seated there had also transformed into the same wolf-beast hybrid forms.
This time, the rule was clear: feed the anomalies until they were satisfied to pass this trial. "Eat sheep" until full.
Hayato activated his time stop and began careful observation, trying different approaches to deal with the threat. He attempted to attack and kill the transformed anomalies, but found his efforts had almost zero effect. They were too strong, too resilient in this state.
As the bus continued moving forward, the anomalies' movements became increasingly pronounced even in frozen time. Getting closer to their prey with each passing moment.
Closer and closer, the distance shrinking.
Drip-drop, drip-drop. Saliva was already falling onto the seats where humans sat, the wet sound audible. Nanase Ren had completely latched onto Hayato's left arm, her grip so tight it would probably leave bruises. She'd figured out the nature of this trial too: feed the anomalies until full. But that meant using human lives as food.
How could they possibly do that? What choice did they have?
She glanced upward despite herself and immediately shut her eyes tight in terror. The sight of that gaping bloody maw full of sharp teeth, those crimson eyes gleaming with hunger, was too much. She couldn't look even once more without feeling her sanity crack.
Hayato had developed a hypothesis about how to solve this, but he wasn't in a hurry to test it. After all, there were four anomalies present and only four humans. The math worked out in a grim way.
The blue-haired delinquent and middle-aged man also felt the anomalies closing in from behind. Those heavy breaths washing over the backs of their necks, the drip-drop of saliva hitting their shoulders. Every sensation reminded them that danger was approaching fast.
But how were they supposed to deal with this? What could they possibly do?
Boss, hurry up and think of something! The middle-aged man screamed internally, but no brilliant solution came from behind them where Hayato sat.
Slurp...
The wet sound of a tongue against skin made the blue-haired guy's whole body shudder violently. In that instant he'd felt an ice-cold tongue lick across his cheek, leaving a trail of saliva. They were about to start eating. This was it.
What should he do? His gaze fell on the middle-aged man sitting beside him, and a terrible thought formed.
Feed him to them. As long as the anomalies ate the middle-aged man, the blue-haired guy felt certain he could survive. One sacrifice to save everyone else.
Having made his decision, he acted immediately. His fist swung hard into the middle-aged man's abdomen without warning.
"Ugh..."
The pained sound came out choked and suppressed, the cry of someone trying not to make noise even while being attacked.
The middle-aged man hadn't expected the blue-haired delinquent to turn on him so directly and violently. Shock and betrayal flashed through his mind.
But survival instinct kicked in immediately. He understood the younger man's intent perfectly and knew he had to fight back or die.
Thud...
Bang...
The two started fighting in earnest, fists flying as they grappled. The young and physically strong blue-haired guy quickly gained the upper hand, his street-fighting experience serving him well. Within moments he'd grabbed the middle-aged man's head like he was holding a basketball, fingers digging into hair and scalp.
"Sheep. He's yours," the blue-haired guy said carefully to the wolf-beasts behind them, voice shaking but determined.
After speaking, he immediately switched seats to the single position on the right side, moving as fast as possible. Every second of delay could mean becoming the next meal instead.
"Rip..."
"Crunch..."
The sounds that followed were wet and terrible, accompanied by the middle-aged man's screaming that quickly turned into choking gurgles. His large body was torn into pieces with shocking efficiency, meat separated from bone, everything consumed completely and thoroughly until nothing remained.
The blue-haired guy kept his eyes squeezed shut, refusing to watch. He couldn't bear to see what he'd just condemned another human being to suffer.
"So full..."
"Sheep, delicious."
"You are... good sheep. Won't eat you."
The words came from the two wolf-beasts who'd fed, their voices satisfied and content.
Hearing this, the blue-haired guy almost cried from relief. His gamble had worked. He'd bet correctly and would survive. The guilt about what he'd done could be dealt with later. Right now, being alive was what mattered.
The two werewolf anomalies visibly shrank and receded, their bestial features fading as they returned to humanoid form. The transformation reversed, leaving them looking like normal passengers again in their gray work uniforms.
The blue-haired guy's attention shifted to the last two anomalies, the ones sitting behind Hayato and Nanase Ren.
When he managed to look clearly at them, he froze in confusion.
What was going on? Why had those two already changed back to human form as well?
Did that mean the pretty nurse had been sacrificed? His mind jumped to that conclusion immediately.
But then he saw Nanase Ren still sitting next to Hayato, her expression tense but very much alive and whole.
She was still there. Still breathing. How had they dealt with the anomalies without anyone dying?
The blue-haired guy was completely baffled, unable to figure it out at all.
Then Hayato raised his hand, and a candy wrapper appeared in his field of vision. Understanding dawned immediately.
The candies the boy had given them earlier had helped Hayato and Nanase Ren get through this crisis. They'd fed the candy to the wolf-beasts instead of human flesh, and apparently it had been enough to satisfy them.
Regret surfaced briefly in the blue-haired guy's mind. But then thinking about how dangerous the game with that boy had been, how close Hayato had come to losing and being taken away, he quickly let go of the regret.
Rather than playing games with that creepy kid for candy, it had been better to sacrifice a companion. Cold logic, but effective. He'd made the right choice for his own survival.
Now that Hayato and Nanase Ren had fed their two anomalies as well using the candy, he felt completely at ease. His biggest worry had been that Hayato might choose to sacrifice him instead, might decide the blue-haired delinquent was more expendable than the pretty nurse.
Compared to Nanase Ren, his position in Hayato's priorities was definitely rock bottom. If someone had to be thrown to the wolves, it would've been him without question.
Nanase Ren had witnessed the entire brutal scene, had watched the middle-aged man get torn apart and devoured. She trembled with chills that had nothing to do with temperature, shaking from horror at what she'd seen and from terror at humanity's capacity for cruelty.
If Hayato hadn't used the candy to satisfy the hunger of the two anomalies behind them, would she have been next? Would he have sacrificed her to save himself?
The thought made her feel sick.
Hayato pushed his phone in front of her, the screen displaying new text.
The only one allowed to eat you is me!
Nanase Ren stared at the message, confusion flickering across her features before understanding hit.
Then her face went bright red with embarrassment, and her hand came up almost on instinct to punch his leg lightly.
What are you saying?! So embarrassing!
But despite the mortification, most of her fear and anxiety dissipated in that moment. Her mental state improved considerably, the tension draining away.
The man beside her wouldn't sacrifice her. He couldn't bear to. That certainty settled into her bones and made everything feel slightly less terrifying.
Hmph. Men are all like this, she thought with a mix of exasperation and fondness.
Hayato knew his goal had been achieved. The girl's spirits had lifted, and that was what mattered. Keeping morale up was crucial for survival.