As the sun set and the first day of experiments on the Hive came to an end, a young blue-haired boy stepped out of the Kokuto café.
He wore a hoodie pulled low to cast a shadow over his face.
A black-haired girl working the counter called after him:
"Don't stay out too long! It'll be completely dark soon. Got that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," the boy replied arrogantly and stepped into the alley that led toward the street with the Hive.
Meanwhile, Yushin and I had gone to grab a soda from a nearby vending machine.
Removing his gas mask, the burly man said:
"Finally, I can breathe normal air again. I'm not entirely sure if the flu spreads through the air, but I'm going to lose my mind in this mask."
"No kidding," I replied, tossing a few coins into the machine.
A can of soda clanked down, which I took and opened. Yushin did the same.