The street was finally quiet.
Not peaceful.
Just… less broken than before.
Smoke still drifted through the air.
Blood still stained the shattered road.
And the survivors who had made it through the night were only now beginning to understand that they were still alive.
A little away from the center of the battlefield, several figures stood in battered silence.
Maru rested one hand on her katana, breathing hard.
Daichi leaned on his axe, shoulders heavy with exhaustion.
Tatsuma had dropped onto a broken chunk of concrete, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth while pretending he wasn't one step away from collapsing.
Hikari and the others had come down from the rooftop too, though they still looked pale from everything they had seen.
And in the middle of all of it—
Kenta was still lying flat on the ground.
Completely motionless.
Like a dead man who was too arrogant to admit it.
Maru glanced at him and clicked her tongue.
"…Is he dead?"
Daichi looked down.
"…Unfortunately not."
Tatsuma raised a weak hand.
"…Boss is tough."
A pause.
Then he grinned.
"…Like a cockroach."
Kenta's voice came from the ground a second later.
"…Say that again and I'll bury you."
Tatsuma pointed at him immediately.
"…See? Full of life."
Maru let out a tired breath.
Then footsteps echoed from the ruined street nearby.
Uneven.
Heavy.
Dragging.
Everyone turned.
Rishiro was walking toward them.
Or at least trying to.
His clothes were stained with blood.
His face had gone pale.
His breathing was rough enough to hear from where they stood.
And the moment Maru saw how bad he looked, her eyes sharpened.
"…Oi."
Daichi straightened too.
Even Tatsuma's grin faded.
Rishiro took another step.
Then another.
Then Maru and Daichi moved at once, catching him from both sides before he could fall forward.
Maru frowned.
"…You look like hell."
Rishiro gave her a tired look.
"…Thanks."
He coughed once.
"…Really know how to comfort a guy."
Daichi adjusted his grip to keep him steady.
"…What happened?"
Rishiro stayed quiet for a moment.
Then answered with a straight face.
"…Nothing."
All three stared at him.
Maru's eye twitched.
"…You're covered in blood."
"Not all of it is mine."
Daichi frowned.
"…You can barely stand."
"Still standing."
"Your legs are shaking."
Rishiro looked down slowly.
"…Rude."
Maru clicked her tongue.
"…Idiot."
Then without warning, his knees gave out completely.
Before they could catch him properly, Rishiro dropped sideways and hit the ground right beside Kenta.
THUD.
Both of them ended up sprawled across the broken road like they had been personally insulted by life itself.
Silence.
Then Kenta slowly turned his head.
Rishiro stared up at the night sky and let out a weak breath.
"…You alive?"
Kenta's face twitched.
"…Barely."
A pause.
Then Rishiro asked, still staring upward,
"…What happened to you?"
Kenta's expression darkened instantly.
"…Apparently some guy in a mask beat me half to death."
He shifted slightly, then winced hard.
"…Then told me to respect my elders."
There was a brief silence.
Then Rishiro muttered,
"…Oh."
Kenta narrowed his eyes.
"…What kind of reaction is that?"
Rishiro exhaled.
"…Nothing. Just sounds annoying."
Kenta clicked his tongue.
"…It was."
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then Maru looked between the two of them.
Really looked.
Both were flat on their backs.
Both were bruised all over.
Both looked like they'd been dragged through ten different fights and lost an argument with a truck.
And somehow—
both still looked equally irritated.
A grin slowly spread across her face.
"…You two look weirdly alike right now."
Daichi blinked.
Then looked between them too.
"…Huh."
Tatsuma sat up a little straighter.
"…Wait."
His grin returned.
"…You're right."
Hikari adjusted her glasses and glanced between the two boys.
"…It is a little similar."
Akira nodded almost immediately.
"…Same exhausted face."
Ryo added, "Same angry face too."
Aiko looked at both of them, then said softly,
"…And same stubborn face."
Kenta turned his head sharply.
"…Excuse me?"
Rishiro frowned without lifting his head.
"…The hell does that mean?"
Maru folded her arms, openly grinning now.
"…Honestly, you both look like brothers."
That did it.
Both Rishiro and Kenta turned at the same time.
And both shouted at the exact same moment—
"Fk you."
"Hell nah."
The group went still for one second.
Then Tatsuma burst out laughing.
Daichi snorted right after him.
Even Hikari had to turn her face away slightly.
Maru looked way too pleased with herself.
Kenta looked offended to his core.
Rishiro looked like he wanted to die on the spot.
"…I hate all of you," Kenta muttered.
"…Can't," Rishiro mumbled weakly. "Too tired."
Maru clicked her tongue.
"…Good."
Daichi crouched slightly and looked down at them.
"…Can either of you sit up?"
Kenta grunted and forced one arm under himself.
Rishiro groaned like the request itself was a personal attack.
Tatsuma raised a hand.
"…I would help, but I'm also busy almost dying."
Maru gave him a dead look.
"…You're useless."
Tatsuma smiled proudly.
"…Thank you."
For a moment—
just one short moment—
the ruined street felt lighter.
The blood was still there.
The wreckage was still there.
The fear from earlier had not fully disappeared.
But laughter had returned.
And after a night like this, even that felt strange.
Then slowly, the mood shifted again.
Rishiro forced himself upright first, wincing so hard it looked like his soul nearly left his body.
Kenta sat up a second later, slower than usual and far less cool than he probably wanted.
Now both of them sat there on the broken road, bleeding, bruised, and breathing like they had run straight through hell.
This time, no one joked.
Maru's grin faded.
Daichi's expression hardened.
Hikari looked down the ruined street, thoughtful.
Even Tatsuma stopped smiling.
Because now the fight was over.
And that meant they were left with the questions.
Kenta wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"…That thing tonight…"
His grin was gone now.
"…What the hell was that?"
No one answered immediately.
Rishiro lowered his gaze slightly.
Maru noticed.
"…You saw something?"
Rishiro stayed silent for a moment.
Then shrugged faintly.
"…I don't know."
Kenta gave him a flat look.
"…That's a lie."
"…Wow," Rishiro muttered. "Amazing detective work."
Kenta ignored that.
"…You disappeared."
His eyes narrowed.
"…Then that monster show ended."
A quiet tension settled over the group.
Hikari's eyes sharpened behind her glasses.
Daichi crossed his arms.
Maru watched Rishiro closely.
Tatsuma, for once, didn't interrupt.
Rishiro let out a slow breath.
"…I just know something was off."
The others stayed silent.
His gaze drifted toward the distant ruined road.
"…That guy…"
He didn't say the name.
Didn't need to.
Everyone knew who he meant.
The masked hunter.
The one who had turned the entire battlefield upside down.
Rishiro's brows pulled together.
"…He didn't feel human."
A chill passed quietly through the group.
No one argued with that.
Because they had all felt it.
That pressure.
That coldness.
That overwhelming, unnatural presence standing in the middle of the street like death itself had decided to wear a mask.
Daichi muttered, "…Yeah."
Maru's hand rested lightly on her sword.
"…Whoever he is…"
She didn't finish.
Didn't need to.
Kenta looked down for a second, then clicked his tongue.
"…Still annoying."
That got the faintest breath of amusement out of Rishiro.
"…Because he knocked you out in one hit?"
Kenta looked at him.
"…You wanna get hit too?"
"…Pass."
For half a second, the air softened again.
Then—
it changed.
A presence brushed across the ruined street.
Weak.
Shaky.
But familiar enough to make every single one of them go still.
Maru's hand instantly tightened around her katana.
Daichi rose to his feet.
Hikari's eyes snapped toward the darkness.
Kenta's expression hardened.
Rishiro slowly lifted his head.
From the shadows ahead—
a figure staggered forward.
Wounded.
Shaking.
But alive.
The Yokai leader.
Its face was twisted with fear, hatred, and something even uglier than either.
It should have been gone.
It should have died with the rest.
And yet—
there it stood.
Watching them.
Smiling.
The night suddenly felt cold again.
End of Chapter 42