The Neighbour's Keeper

Scanning the area to locate where the voices were coming from, Lenny saw that it was from the middle of two apartment complexes on the left side of the road ahead, a dark alley where the streetlights didn't illuminate.

Bam!

With an abrupt thud echoing through the area, Lenny heard the male voice cry out in pain, followed by a series of expletives.

"Argh! You fuckin' bitch! Come here! How dare you? Do you know who I am?!"

"Ahhh!" Screamed the female in pain. 

Coming up to the dark alley, Lenny peered in and saw a brown-skinned lady in a skimpy dress kneeling on the ground, while a white-skinned fat Northeast Asian man grabbed her hair. The man wore a gold chain on a white short-sleeve designer t-shirt, which revealed his full arm-colored tattoos and a thick classic watch on his left wrist.

'…Isn't she the new neighbor I saw the other day?' Lenny thought as he contemplated on what to do. Scrutinizing the lady, he saw her eyes were slightly widened and her brows rested weakly, fear and tiredness were written all over her face.

Noticing the stranger standing at the entrance of the alley, the slim-eyed rich-looking fat man angrily cursed, "What're you fucker looking at?"

"S-Sorry…" Lenny frightenedly turned away. Intimidated by the man's wide figure, he decided not to interfere in a matter that wasn't his business. Who knew whether the man could make his life worse than it already was?

As Lenny walked further up the street, he heard the sound of multiple slaps, screams, and expletives.

"I already have enough troubles in my life as it is…" Lenny muttered, convincing himself that he wasn't in a state where he could help others as he hadn't even finished helping himself.

Just then, a notification bell rang from his phone in his pocket, followed by the necessary information sprouting out from an unknown corner of his memory.

[Task #1: Save the lady in distress.]

Difficulty: Easy.

Reward: 5 VP.

Ending In: 4 mins 59 secs.

The corner of Lenny's lips curled up slightly at the new task. He immediately pivoted and headed back to the dark alley.

With the lady pinned down on the cold ground, the fat man cursed repeatedly as he undid his belt.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed someone arrive, prompting him to look up. Seeing it was Lenny, he angrily and frustratedly spat, "Fuckin' bastard! You wanna join me or what? Why do you wanna cock block me?!"

"Get off her," Lenny calmly said, a slight grin playing on his lips.

"Or else what?" The fat man's face contorted in annoyance. He started adjusting his belt as he stood up to face Lenny.

However, deciding not to wait for the bastard to prepare, Lenny quickly ran up to him and smacked his head with a thick stone he had hidden!

Due to the unexpected, impromptu attack, the fat-tattooed man instinctively raised his hand to shield his face at the last second.

With the thick stone colliding with his arm, the man groaned and screamed, "Fuck man, you wanna kill me?!"

Laboriously, he completely stood up, and took a few steps back. Forgetting to buckle his belt, his mobility was greatly hindered. The brown-skinned lady quickly stood up and pressed herself on the wall.

"Fuck, man. This ain't even your business." The fat-tattooed man, clenching his fists, said to Lenny, pained at the fact that the skinny stranger was intervening.

Lenny didn't mind the lady and charged at the fat bastard, who swung his tightened right fist back at Lenny. However, he was too slow and clumsy. 

Lenny reflexively dodged the punch by curving under his arm, then appeared at his back, and waited.

Seeing that his fist missed the target, the fat-tattooed man quickly turned around, afraid the assailant may use the chance to launch a counterattack. 

After waiting for his opponent to turn around and face him, Lenny delivered a swift kick to his nether region.

"Aurgh!" A pained cry escaped from the fat-tattooed man's mouth. 

Instinctively grabbing his crotch and retreating, he cursed repeatedly. 

"Urgh, fuck dude! All this, because of some bitch?! Do you know who you're messing with?!"

With a slight curl on Lenny's lips, he mirrored Boss Falcone's fighting stance with two fists up to his face and charged at the fat bastard.

The fat-tattooed man raised his left hand to gesture, and yelled, "Wait!"

However, his plea fell on deaf ears as Lenny sent a right hook jab straight into the man's jaw, followed by another from his left, then another from his right. It was similar to the combo Boss Falcone had used on him!

The fat-tattooed man, who was about Lenny's height but weighed about 50 pounds more, stumbled and fell on his back due to the feeling of disorientation. Regaining his focus, he frightenedly crawled backward and pleaded. 

"Wait! Stop! I've left her alone! Stop!"

Lenny quickly climbed him and used his knees to pin the latter's shoulders down on the ground. 

Lenny smirked and mockingly repeated, "Come on, baby. You know you want this."

With that, Lenny tightened his fists even further and delivered a punch to the man's mouth, then another on his nose, and another, and another, and another.

'...This bastard is a hungry wolf too.' Lenny thought, comparing him to the likes of Boss Falcone and Johan.

Images of times he faced deep humiliation, embarrassment, and outright torture flashed through his mind. 

Boss Falcone's barrage of kicks as he cowered on his apartment floor.

Pow!

Johan's mocking laughter after he kissed the brat's foot and barked like a dog. And the group's joint laughter after Johan's girl said he "disgusted" her.

The times he lied on the phone with his mother, Sarah, that he was a manager in a great company, but couldn't send her money to get better clothes. 

Pow! Pow!

The disdainful looks he received from Emily, his other neighbors, and the street vendors. 

The entire neighborhood knew him to be a walking disaster, from which they actively scrambled away from. Some outright acted as though he didn't exist but called him numerous names behind his back. 

All this rage and sadness overwhelmed his mind.

"Stop! You'll kill him!"

The brown-skinned lady voiced as she dragged Lenny's arm, stopping him from unloading all his frustrations and anger on the now fairly innocent fat-tattooed man.

"Haa… Haa…"

Panting heavily, Lenny let her drag him, taking in the sight of his opponent's immensely bloodied and brutalized face. 

The fat-tattooed man's eyes and cheeks were heavily bruised, his nose was tilted in an unnatural manner, and a few of his teeth were broken with thick blood coming out from his mouth.

'…I-I did that?' Lenny thought in horror, shocked as to how he had allowed himself to lose control for a moment there. But just then, he received a familiar message.

[Task completed.]

"What are you staring at? The police are on their way, let's go!" The lady shouted as she dragged Lenny away from the scene. 

Due to all the ruckus, the residents had already alerted official authorities. And with the warring sirens that were heard in the distance, they were most likely on their way already.

…

Arriving at the third floor of the red-bricked apartment complex, the young brown-skinned lady walked to her apartment door and said to Lenny, "Please wait…"

She quickly searched through her small purse before taking out a key and unlocking the apartment door.

Despite the dim lighting of the hallway, Lenny still scrutinized her. 

With a clear almond skin tone, she had natural, long, light-brown curly hair, and a delicate oval face with a few tender spots from the assault. She looked to be in her early twenties and was about an inch or two shorter than Lenny. The skimpy dress stuck tightly to her hourglass body.

Unsure of this sort of development, Lenny took a step back and said with an awkward smile, "Um, my apartment is just further down…"

The young lady turned and grabbed Lenny's wrists, revealing the bruises on his knuckles, and said calmly, "They'll swell if they're not treated immediately."

Then, she entered the apartment and switched on the lights, but left the door wide open.

"Um, am I to…? Okay…" Lenny hesitantly entered the apartment. A sweet feminine fragrance wafted through his nose.

'...So this is what a lady's room smells like…' Lenny thought to himself in sheepish amusement as he closed the door behind him and scrutinized the room.

The apartment was very clean, similar to his with the arrangement of the kitchen and bedroom. 

"Come, sit here," the lady said, holding a small first aid box and pointing to the dining chair. 

Lenny hesitantly complied.

She sat at the other dining chair, still in her skimpy dress. Then, she voiced, her tone was calm and icy.

"Honestly, thanks for that. That guy didn't stop pestering me just because he bought me a drink. I allowed him to bring me home, but he must have misread my intentions. Show me your hand."

Lenny awkwardly placed his hand on the table, and she grabbed it.

'...Her hands are soft,' he thought.

Then, his gaze unintentionally moved over to the cleavage before him. Quickly removing his eyes and changing his focus, he forced himself to think of other things.

Remembering the brutalization he brought upon the fat-tattooed man, he voiced, "Is he… going to be okay?"

She simply shrugged and used a wet cotton wool to dab Lenny's knuckles. 

"Maybe. Someone must have already called an ambulance for him. If he presses charges, I'll press for attempted rape and sexual assault, too. But, for a skinny person, you're quite strong."

'Skinny…'

At that word, Lenny couldn't help but recall the time the spider-tattooed brat and his girl likened him to that of a skeleton and a twig.

Downtrodden, he hesitantly retracted his hand from the young lady's grasp and stood up. 

Her face expressed her surprise, and just as she was about to say something, Lenny spoke.

"Thanks, and… and goodnight."

With that, he turned around, headed straight for the door, and left. 

The beautiful lady just stared at the apartment door in disbelief before her expression shifted to one of deep thought.