I hadn't even gotten a chance to turn on the lights in my bedroom before seeing my glass panel door with a giant hole through it. My room was dark and empty since I didn't finish unpacking yet. A full moon illuminated the night, and instead of the moonlight reflecting on my balcony door, the light was reflecting through it. The light bounced off the shattered pieces of glass on the floor and decorated my ceiling with tiny stars.
Truthfully, I didn't know how to feel about the situation. Was I supposed to be angry that my home was broken into, scared that an intruder could still be here, or just sad because I had to spend money to repair the glass door? After taking a few moments to calm down and check the entire apartment, I concluded that nothing had been stolen. Nothing was messy, and the boxes were still primarily unpacked. Come to think of it; the balcony door didn't even seem to be slid open.
Since the glass door wasn't open and the front door was still locked when I returned, there was no way a thief could've come in and escaped. Realistically, what kind of polite thief would close and lock the balcony and entrance doors after robbing me? I looked at the gaping hole in the sliding door and walked towards it. However, a sudden pain erupted from my right big toe out of seemingly nowhere. The room wasn't set up yet, so nothing was there to hurt me, but I somehow managed to stub my toe on something hard and heavy.
Shockwaves were sent up my spine as I clenched my palms and winced in agony. Immediately, I started to hop on one foot because my other foot was throbbing. As I flailed about without direction, I bounced onto another hard, heavy object. The top part was flat, but that didn't help as I lost my balance. As I came crashing down toward the floor, I could only think about what I did to deserve this much torture. Then when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my forehead crash-landed on the thing that I had stubbed my toe on earlier. I was often told that I was thick-headed, but that didn't seem to be the case, as it felt like this thick object had fractured my poor skull. The pain was so immense that I'd rather stub my toe 100x over than endure the pain I was feeling right now.
"Ugh, ugh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
I groaned as I fought back the urge to black out. My vision was getting hazy, but luckily I didn't see any traces of blood on the wooden floor. In front of my eyes, I could only faintly make out the root of all my pain. Even though it was dark in my room, the moonlight managed to reflect on it, and the object was somehow shimmering. It was shiny, and its luster was beautiful, but something like this was impossible. Even though I couldn't see, it was evident that what was in front of me was a solid gold bar. There was no mistaking that glistening yellow gleam.
My body was still writhing on the floor, and my eyes were only a couple of centimeters away from the shattered glass pieces. Even though I landed on this thick solid gold bar, I secretly was happy that I didn't land on the jagged glass pieces littering the floor. My injuries would have been more severe for sure, and I breathed a sigh of relief since that wasn't the case.
If I landed on a gold bar, then that makes it certain that no one was robbing me. Common sense dictates that a thief only takes items, so it wouldn't make any sense for a thief to leave a gold bar behind, let alone two gold bars.
The pain in my forehead was still there, but it was subsiding bit by bit. The numbing pain was tolerable as long as I didn't touch it. I regained strength in my legs, managed to bring myself to my feet, and stood up. Immediately, I looked behind me and confirmed a second gold brick in the room. Now, this begs the question of how these gold bricks of doom even found their way into my bedroom. They clearly weren't here when I inspected this apartment while signing up for the lease. I also doubt the landlord would have been generous enough to give me such an extravagant house-welcoming gift.
If I were a single-brain-celled Otaku, I might've dawdled on this mystery for way longer. However, I was better than them and managed to solve the case. I looked at the gaping hole in the balcony door and the gold bricks on the floor again. Anyone with half a brain could deduce that a third party had intentionally thrown two gold bricks into my bedroom.
Now you may wonder, "why would someone do such a thing?"
To that question, I only have one thing to say.
"I don't know."
I was confused and stumped. My face was visibly baffled. There was simply nothing to gain by throwing gold bricks into my home. In fact, due to the sheer size of these bricks, I think I could cover the repair bill for not only the balcony door but also the wall that Yui had punctured earlier. I was even confident that after the repairs, I would still have a lot of yen left over for anything I wanted. Well, it was a roundabout way to fix the wall, but I'm glad everything worked itself out.
A good samaritan might bring these gold bricks to the police station or even the apartment's main office. However, I abide by the rules of "finders, keepers."
If they didn't want me to keep the gold, then they shouldn't have thrown it through my window in the first place. I bent over and picked up the gold bar from the ground. It was cold, and there was a certain heft to it. At the bottom of the gold bar, I felt a note strapped with a thin rubber band. I took a deep sigh and thought,
No way this is a hate note, right?
Well, whatever it was, maybe I'd get all the answers I was looking for if I read it. I took the note off the rubber band and unfolded it. To my surprise, the writing on the note was cute looking, and there were doodles of bunnies and emojis everywhere. This note was way too feminine to be written by a boy, but who knows? We live in a time where it's possible for a man to throw a gold brick with a girly note attached to it; I won't judge.
The only thing written on the note was.
Sorry for making you upset earlier
-Starlight Ruri
Only Otakus would call themselves something as stupid as Starlight Ruri.
My blood started to boil in anger, and I could feel my veins about to explode. I couldn't believe it. This gold brick belonged to the Neet trash. Even if this gold brick was worth a fortune, I don't want it anymore. This gold brick has been contaminated, polluted, and stained with the Neet's germs. I wanted nothing to do with her, and here she was, trying to pick a fight with me. She had some nerve to break my glass door. I don't care if she wanted to apologize to me. Who'd want an apology from some filthy Otaku anyways?
Anyways that explained the first gold brick. However, there was still the matter of the second one. There probably was a note attached to that one too. I knew that I shouldn't have given her any more time, but I should still see what the other one had to say. I picked up the other gold brick, and another note was underneath it too. I unraveled it without much hesitation. The note's cuteness was annoying, but what the note said made my blood boil.
Guess I missed your balcony and threw the note straight through the door. My bad. I'll repair everything in your apartment free of charge. Also, feel free to keep both gold bricks as a house welcoming gift!
- The Bestest Neighbor Ruri
CHARITY? I DON'T WANT HER STINKING CHARITY! WHEN WOULD I EVER NEED HELP FROM SOMEONE LIKE HER?
She could take both gold bars for all I care. In fact, she could take one of them back right now. I'm a firm believer in an eye for an eye. She broke my door, so I'll break hers. I walked around the jagged glass pieces in a huff and slid open the shattered balcony glass with all my strength. The balcony door shook a bit as it slammed into the end of its rail track.
As I stepped onto the balcony, I realized I couldn't think clearly.
Instead, I couldn't control myself. My anger was at its peak, and the only thing I could think of was breaking the neet trash's door. Everything was happening so quickly, and my body was moving on its own. Before I knew it, the gold brick in my hand had been launched. I had hurled the gold brick with all my anger, contempt, and strength.
A blood-curdling shriek came from next door in a split second as the sound of shattering glass broke the silence of a peaceful spring night. A loud thud came from next door, but I couldn't tell if it was the gold brick hitting the floor or a body dropping. From the balcony, I could hear audible footsteps quickly approaching the impact sight. Then after that, I heard the pudgy building manager's voice. There was a sense of panic in it as he said,
"What happened? Blood? Ruri are you alright? Wake up! Come on! We need to get you to a hospital! Wake up Ruri!"
I didn't have time to process why the building manager was next door because my body was quivering in fear. My breathing was stifled, and I could feel my heart sink as I realized I might have just killed my neighbor. I could've ran away, but instead, I hopped over the small ledge that separated my balcony from the neet trash's. If I had indeed murdered someone, I wouldn't run away, even if it was an Otaku. I'm a firm believer in an eye for an eye. If I did something wrong, I should be held accountable.
The lights were on in the neet trash's bedroom, and my sudden appearance had caught the pudgy building manager by surprise. As he held the neet trash's unconscious body in his arms, his eyes stared at me with sheer contempt. I didn't think that someone's eyes could be that cold, but I felt the hairs on my forearm sticking up.
If the neet trash Katou Ruri had indeed died, I would probably be next.
