Chapter 15:...Are condemned to repeat it
0O0O
An unknown place, a void blacker than the one seen when you close your eyes, a place without sound, a place where not a single unknown soul could reside. The darkness seemed to have no end, there was no hope of finding a light at the end of the tunnel in such a desolate place where not even something material could be felt.
There was no way to make or feel a movement, it was just a static subconscious in time, waiting for something to happen and give meaning to its existence, or better, trying to make something happen that would wake it up or make it move.
It was a dream, he realized, there was drowsiness and he could barely feel the weak thread between reality and the fantasy created by his imagination, which made him understand that any noise from outside could wake him up.
The most amazing thing was perhaps, that he could think about all this without even waking up on his own
Suddenly, just like when a light is turned on in a dark room, some strange noises were heard from somewhere leaving behind the sepulchral silence, they sounded irregular and static like a television trying to resume the signal from the antenna. He took a lot of effort to try to recognize what it might be, until, he could recognize what it was... They were voices.
"IS tHis?" he recognized the question that came from a completely unknown voice, it was deep but at the same time with a sharp touch that denoted amusement or mockery.
"YEs, I fOuNd it" Another voice joined to destroy the silence that was in this unknown and desolate space. It sounded like a normal voice, the voice of a person, probably a young adult.
He couldn't recognize any of the voices, they sounded distorted, but he thought that even if he could hear them better, he couldn't guess who they belonged to.
"Hurry Up TImE Is GolD" The deep and playful voice spoke again giving a kind of order "If S... FiNDS OuT PrOBABLY KILL YOu"
"I KNOW" the human voice spoke again, it was the only one of the two that seemed to be getting clearer hearing "Try to change it, try to change it, TRY TO CHANGE IT, IT'S A DANGEROUS PLACE No...that ...place...everyone...the world...HIRO!"
As suddenly as it was, a rumble was heard from somewhere like an explosion in some kind of room. The two voices fell into a silence so deep that not even their breaths could be heard, it was as if whatever had happened... It left them mortified with fear.
"Jo JO..Sh...is here..."
"..."
"THere is No More tIme, I'M sorry, try aGain anoTher tiMe.."
The human voice made an irritated sound as if he felt dissatisfied with what was happening.
"Just do what your heart says"
Every sound that ever existed on that plane... He fell silent, as if someone had turned the volume down somehow.
With nothing else to process... Everything went white... And Hiro woke up.
0O0O
The blue-eyed boy looked at the ceiling of his room, his gaze was lost and his eyes did not move in any apparent direction. For a few moments his mind went blank, until the thought that if all of that was real, or if it was just a dream came to mind.
"What was that?" the tiredness that always came after a strange dream prevented her from thinking clearly. It was strange, terrifying, and completely out of place.
Kishibe had told him that many of the dreams didn't usually make so much sense, that in the end it would just be our brain trying to play a trick on us after drinking too much... That last one didn't apply to Hiro but he was sure his dream didn't make any sense. . Strange voices, strange noises, nothing fit his dream.
But in the end, it was just another weird dream. It wasn't necessary for him to think about it so much, so without further ado, Hiro sat on his bed, stretched out his arms, feeling wide awake. The sunlight was not coming through the curtains of his room this time, instead only a gray light entered, Hiro opened the curtains and realized that the sky was cloudy, it would probably rain at some point of the day, he realized with a shudder that it was a bit chilly, it would be wise to wear a coat this day.
Hiro went to his closet and took out a couple of clothes, a towel and left his room on his way to the shower, when he got to the room he could see Kishibe drinking coffee at the table, he was already dressed in his Hunter suit, his normally disheveled black hair was swept to the right today, Hiro thought it made him look a few years younger but he couldn't confirm it because he didn't know what Kishibe looked like 10 years ago.
(Notes: I don't see Kishibe in the manga beyond 55 years old, so let's say that at this point in the story Kishibe is 38 years old, and he was 35 when he rescued Hiro, following this logic he was born in 1942 , shortly before the end of World War II. So currently Kishibe [at least the one in this story] is young)
Hiro ignored him and headed for the bathroom trying to suppress his fear of taking a cold shower in the morning.
Later Kishibe and Hiro were in the car heading to the research and training center, this time Hiro made sure to have some breakfast before leaving, but a part of him regretted doing it since the last time he went, which was practically yesterday, he felt very nauseated by the things he saw, but he thought it was okay now that he knew what he was dealing with and he wouldn't feel so nauseated... At least he wanted to believe that.
He was dressed in a dark gray sweatshirt that managed to keep him warm, blue pants and small boots that adjusted to his size, Kishibe made sure that he had a pair in case he would one day have to do difficult tasks that would require going from one place to another. .
"I still can't believe this is happening" Hiro spoke in disbelief "I'm really going to start training, it's amazing"
Kishibe rolled his eyes "Yeah well, now you say that"
Hiro just gave him a sidelong look "I'm not saying it can be easy... I mean, I've already seen the scars on your body when you somehow come to the apartment without your shirt on"
Kishibe kept looking at the road "Hey, first of all it's not like I want my shirts to get dirty, the demons shed a lot of blood and that's it. And second, it's wise of you to know from now on that it won't be easy what you're going to do, you will suffer, you will cry, you will bleed and you will think about throwing in the towel. But... In the end, just remember that it was you who wanted to come with me"
"I know" Hiro replied seriously feeling confident "I have never forgotten, I promise you no matter what gets in my way or how difficult a challenge is, I will not back down" Hiro suppressed the tremor of fear and anguish that was forming in his body, he would not allow himself to be afraid anymore, not when he was already so close.
Besides, it was too late to regret everything.
Kishibe sighed knowing they were deadlocked to convince Hiro otherwise.
He will face hell and a thousand things that come with being a devil hunter, the things he will go through alone he will have imagined in his nightmares. He had told him before, being a devil hunter entails also being responsible for your own mental health, this job would eventually lead him to madness, and although that would give him more hope for life, it would not be a pleasant life.
Basically it was suffering in the purest of the word, every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month and every year of Hiro's life from here on...
They will be full of suffering and regrets, he knew because he was once just as excited as he was.
Will the child be able to put up with it all? He would have to be alive to know that.
"Quanxi... Whatever you have in mind I hope it's good"
"I almost forgot" Kishibe took something out of his jacket pocket "Take this" it was a small plastic bottle, the small bottle had no picture on it, it was just painted gray with a white spray cap.
"What is this?" Hiro questioned feeling very curious, was Kishibe giving him perfume to make him smell good? Well, he wasn't one to wear perfume often since he always made sure to use a good amount of soap in the bathroom.
"Spray it on your body" he insisted.
Hiro was doubtful but he did as he was told, incredibly the liquid in the bottle didn't give off any kind of smell, it was almost like water but Hiro doubted that it would be drinkable.
"I doubt this is perfume. What is it?"
"Well it's definitely not for you to smell good" Kishibe wasn't about to tell him that it was a body odor repellent. He didn't want Makima to recognize him by his scent again.
The Tokyo Hunter Agency usually give this to the top performing hunters on their first day of work as a form of extra protection against demons, so they would be less likely to detect humans by scent. Kishibe had only used his once...
But now it would be better to protect Hiro from that powerful nose that Makima possesses, he didn't want him to go through yesterday again.
The sprinklers weren't perfect but it was the only thing he could give Hiro for now as extra protection. The reason why they are not widely distributed is because they are very difficult to distill, especially when looking for one that can hide body odor from demons, for animals it was easier but since demons have such a precise nose, much larger than those of a dog, the only thing that the repellents achieved was to confuse its smell. That is why the way of creation had to be different from normal repellents, and more expensive of course, and even some were not effective against some demons because some tend to have a much more advanced or different sense of smell than the rest.
The liquid didn't smell like anything to humans but to a demon it was as if the original smell disappeared and was exchanged with a different one, but in the end it would still have traces of the original smell.
That's why they weren't perfect and the results would be different for each demon.
That's why Kishibe preferred to show his face to danger instead of being stealthy, at least most of the time when he's in control.
The hunter headquarters preferred not to spend so much money on this kind of thing and it was practically a waste of money when a hunter didn't use it. The day Kishibe used it for the first time was in a life and death situation where he needed a hasty escape, it was almost 10 years ago.
"This won't have consequences on my body right?" Hiro still had his doubts about this perfume of dubious origin.
"No, look at it as a shield and that's it" Kishibe knew how Hiro would react when he heard that this was a repellent that would block his smell from demons, in this case so that Makima couldn't find it, he would of course get angry and he wasn't in the mood for childish tantrums.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, forget it"
0O0O
Later the car parked in an available spot near the entrance, coincidentally Quanxi was already there waiting for them, leaning her back against one of the stair rails. Her hunter outfit accompanying her as usual, if someone else like Kishibe who had a keen eye could notice the hidden weapons in that outfit.
Kishibe had always described Quanxi as beautiful, with a bizarre sense of humor, and difficult...but overly lethal. Of course he wouldn't say that to anyone else, if he did his head would probably end up in a ditch.
"If you wanted, you could take longer" Quanxi said watching how they both got out of the car "Being out here is better than being in there"
Kishibe made sure to lock the car "Stop all the drama, it's been many years since you were last here, they've remodeled a lot, now there's air conditioning"
Hiro was the first to reach the entrance, raising his head to look at Quanxi and thinking that it would take a few years for him to match or exceed his height. He would have to drink more milk, at school they said that drinking milk helped the body grow.
"Tell me" Quanxi looked at the boy with his analytical eye trying to find some flaw that would make them back off what they were going to do "Are you ready?"
"Yes" he answered seriously.
She raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced, the slight tremor in her legs and the body aura that denoted his nervousness told her the opposite.
Hiro cringed at her sight "Well actually I'm not as ready as I thought, but it's too late to back down now" he shrugged rubbing her right arm with his left hand, an odd habit for him.
Quanxi seemed satisfied with the answer "That's right, once you accept death as your only destiny you can escape from any fear. Let's go"
Quanxi led the way, being the first of all to enter, she appreciated with her eye how the whole place had undergone a great change since the last time she set foot in this place. Its seemed more modern and less somber than she remembered.
They even had a receptionist and waiting chairs!
"Hello, welcome to the Devil Containment and Research Center" she greeted them kindly.
Hiro raised an eyebrow "I thought it was the devil hunter training and research center"
"It's the same but we do so many things here that we don't know what to call it anymore" she shrugged, smiling.
Hiro didn't know what to say to that.
"Hello, I'm Quanxi" she swore she heard someone behind her slap his face, probably Hiro "We come to accept the application to start the training of a future devil hunter"
"Applications approved by the government, whether public or private, must be sent directly to the director of the Research Center, either personally or by correspondence"
"We will go personally"
"Okay, she's currently in her office but I heard that she would be spending the rest of the day at training ground 1 starting at 8 AM, it's currently 7:50 so you can find her on the way."
"Thank you" Quanxi thanked and headed for the entrance leading to the first training ground, which was basically the place that was guarded by two hunters. She didn't know who was the director of this place but she always knew that it was a woman, now she would find out.
"Just out of curiosity" Kishibe approached the table "Who is the director?" he wasn't sure why this question terrified him. But if he wanted to get rid of all suspicion then he would have to ask.
"The director is the Doctor. Yuna Nishimura" the secretary said with a calm smile, then regretted it when Kishibe's face turned grim and deadly serious, his eyes looked down and showed no sparkle of life, even Quanxi stopped his walk when she heard the name.
She clenched her fist feeling the anger rise in her but her face was blank "Of course it couldn't be that easy" Quanxi knew it was going to be difficult for Yuna to accept a request from them, maybe if she told her it was coming directly from the Japanese government would convince her.
But that was only the first problem.
"Yuna Nishimura?" Hiro's question broke the awkward silence of the place "Isn't she the one you had the meeting with yesterday?" he was very curious why this woman could change the mood of the two adults that he considered the strongest in the world.
Kishibe turned to look at him as he held his temples "Yes, and she is also the woman who is in charge of Makima's care, just like I am in charge of you"
"Oh" Hiro replied, then all of reality hit him like a sledgehammer in the stomach as he realized the problem "Oh..." His face was hard to read but it was because his brain almost exploded at that moment when he understood everything.
"Yeah, let's just say you didn't give her a good first impression" Kishibe sighed knowing that Yuna's opinion of Hiro probably wasn't the most positive.
Hiro analyzed it for a minute and thought the same as Kishibe, if Doctor. Yuna was the same to Makima as Kishibe was to him, then the possibility of entering this training was a bit further than he thought, at the same time, the chances of re-interacting with Makima were greatly reduced. He still remembered the look of horror and shock on the woman when he and Makima got out of that elevator, he couldn't imagine exactly what she thought of him, but judging how Kishibe's reaction was... It's probably that hers was not better.
Hiro swallowed, the trust he had built up slowly fading away.
"Well, it's not one of our best moments, but we have to try it anyway" Quanxi commented in a somewhat hasty manner, she followed the path to the training field.
Kishibe looked at her as if she was crazy, even knowing that Yuna was the headmistress and guardian of the control devil, she still insisted on going all the way and getting Hiro into this facility.
Hopefully whatever she's planning is good, it has to be, she wouldn't take such a risk or get upset about something like that if it wasn't for a good reason.
The path to the gate was the same, Kishibe and Quanxi flashing their hunter dog tags. Now that Hiro had a better look at the door he realized that it was like a small vault just like the ones that contain demons but human-sized, he supposed that it was an extra way of security in case something bad were to happen.
They entered the room with red lights and just as Hiro expected the demons began to make noise with the human presence, he didn't know when he would get used to this because it was still creepy to walk through here.
"Hm, this place hasn't changed at all, the lights still haven't changed" Quanxi and the others walked halfway down the hall until she stopped abruptly, a little further ahead was the training ground where Yuna should be, just steps away from getting Hiro accepted in this place.
"Alright" she turned to see her partner and the boy with a hard to read face "Do any of you have any idea how we are going to convince the principal to let you train here?" she pointed her finger at Hiro as if he were the center of the problem.
Well actually it was.
She earned a blank look from Kishibe "I thought you knew what to say, you were the one who wanted to move on."
Quanxi clicked her tongue "I know but I'm not sure if saying it's under pressure from the Japanese government would be enough, she could tell them herself that it's a bad idea and automatically our application would be invalid."
Kishibe thought about it for a moment "I don't think so, we have some power when it comes to moving certain decision threads, technically we are collecting one of the favors that the government owes us for doing their dirty work, I think they would take that into account first our decision before hers"
"Hmm, well I guess doing a lot for them has paid off" Quanxi wasn't one to brag but she had to be honest, they had been the best hunters of their generation, they had done a lot for the Japanese government in the last 15 years and they had risked their lives on more than one occasion in the most difficult jobs anyone could imagine, the prime minister had once told them that if they needed anything, anything, they could ask for it.
So Yuna would be under a lot of pressure to agree to Hiro's request, but she knew that Yuna might go to the extreme and attempt suicide before that happened.
"I'm starting to feel bad about this" Hiro knew that this was not morally correct.
Quanxi smiled at him "Hey don't see me like that, it's normal to use some influence to rise faster, companies and politicians do it all the time"
"Anyway, let's continue" Kishibe ordered and everyone started walking towards the door, each one with a different concern, Quanxi was afraid that Yuna was such a stubborn bitch that she would do anything not to accept Hiro, Kishibe was worried about whatever Yuna would do to Hiro when she sees him, when she sets her sights on a child she considers different from the rest it doesn't usually end well.
And Hiro was afraid of both.
Kishibe leaned close to Quanxi's ear. "It's likely that by now she's already caught our scent" he whispered.
"So she just smelled Hiro too" Quanxi felt her forehead twitch, this was getting worse and worse.
"I doubt it, I gave him some of my repellent, so her presence probably won't be a bother for us while we talk with Yuna"
Quanxi narrowed her eyes "You know that's not going to be enough to hide his scent from her, she has a very sharp nose, plus remember that they hugged so it's likely that she can recognize his scent from miles away"
Kishibe sighed "We have to try" he said wishing that Makima's sense of smell hadn't fully developed. All devils can smell humans accurately but Makima's nose was a completely different thing.
It was probably the devil with the greatest sense of smell he's ever met.
At most the repellent would only confuse her but it wouldn't completely hide Hiro's scent.
They opened the door and were surprised when they saw that there was still no one in the place.
"This place still seems amazing to me" Hiro said, looking through the giant mirror at the large training ground, no doubt he hoped to train in this place very soon. He rested his hands on the glass to get a better view of the place.
Quanxi approached him "This place brings back unpleasant memories" she could still remember the burning of her fists bathed in blood... In Kishibe's blood rather.
Kishibe felt a tingle in his jaw, this place affected him a little.
Quanxi patted her head "I'm pretty sure you too will leave with bad memories of this place" she said calmly and with her gaze blank.
Hiro felt a drop of sweat break out on him, he could no longer distinguish between Quanxi's jokes and when she was serious.
0O0O
A few minutes before. Yun's office.
The doctor looked at the clock on the wall and it was 7:45 AM, Makima's training would start at 8 so there was still time to prepare. Today would be a relatively long day, she would have to write down every process and detail of Makima's training in every power she has developed so far, all for the annual report.
Every year it becomes more extensive because the girl usually discovers a new power that she has to study and test again to finally put it into practice and add it to the report, it was a process... Long and tedious due to the various things she had to investigate, how such an ability has been created, how it works, how you can activate it and try to extend it as much as you can.
That report ended up full with many pages, she would be very angry if the government only gave it a skim. With some effort she could finish it tonight if she took the rest of her other jobs away from her to focus on this one, luckily they gave her until Monday but she wanted to finish it today.
She had already prepared everything necessary for the various reviews of her powers, all that was needed was... Well, Makima herself.
The door to her office opened and closed, she didn't take her gaze from the clock, watching intently as the second hands moved and moved. Time for a researcher was precious, and it was something she unfortunately couldn't have much of.
How she wishes she had time to rest even once, yesterday's events had only stressed her more than usual and now she had to do this, she swore that if anything else happened to interrupt this investigation it would make her scream.
"Are you ready?" she asked the person who entered.
Makima nodded, she was dressed in a white t-shirt that was covered by a light blue jean jacket, she also had a white skirt that reached her knees with black stockings that covered her legs, and flat shoes for more comfort. Makima wondered where they got all these clothes for her, but she felt comfortable in them.
Yuna looked at her and raised an eyebrow "Will you be dressed like this?"
She nodded "I feel comfortable in this, besides you said that they were just a review of my powers so it won't take much effort"
"Not for you, I'm the one who has to do the hard part" she got up from her desk "If you're done let's go, we have a morning and possibly a long afternoon ahead of us"
She opened the door but before leaving she stuck her head out to see both sides of the hall, because of what she passed yesterday she no longer knew what she could find in this building, and she honestly preferred that no one interrupted her this morning.
"Let's go" the Doctor and the girl traveled through the corridor until they reached the elevator, Yuna pressed the button that would take them to the lower level making sure not to mistakenly press the buttons that would take her much lower.
That reminded her that she still had several devils waiting to be studied by her, the control devil had been absorbing all her work time so lately it was rare to focus on another devil that wasn't Makima. It was kind of... sad for her to sacrifice knowledge for knowledge, but in the end she kept what was most important and interesting.
She would have lost himself more in his thoughts during all those seconds it took to get down, until suddenly Makima's head was stretched upwards with superhuman speed., her nose began to detect something, some familiar smells and a very strange one.
Yuna noticed with interest how Makima was starting to inhale the air, apparently she had discovered something "What's wrong?" she asked her.
Makima was starting to feel irritated, a small part was because of the smells that she already knew who they belonged to, and the other part because she still couldn't recognize the strange smell, ironically it had a touch of familiarity but couldn't guess where it was from. .
Had she smelled it before?
She didn't like the feeling of not being able to recognize a smell, it was as if they were submitting to his senses… she didn't like that
"There is a very strange and strong smell in the building, along with two others that I already know"
Yuna's interest began to grow, she hadn't thought about the possibility that Makima's senses might fail... Or could it be...?
"Tell me, how is that strange smell?"
Makima caught it in the air again "I can't describe it, it's something strong but it doesn't seem like it's something I've ever come across, but at the same time it feels familiar but it's like something is blocking it..."
Yuna narrowed her eyes suspiciously "Something like a barrier?"
"I think so, I can't be sure since it's the first time I've seen something like this" the redhead replied.
'I knew it' Yuna thought 'Someone is using a repellent'
There was only one means that could confuse the smell of a devil and that was repellents, but that was only given to the best performing hunters.
Makima's gaze didn't seem to denote emotions, she seemed to be blank and her eyes didn't move, but deep down she felt... angry.
She was angry at the fact that they were hiding something from her, and they were going against what she wanted to achieve and that was to recognize a simple scent.
Where did these emotions come from?
Yuna looked at Makima "Tell me, whose are the other two scents?"
Makima was about to reply but just at that moment the elevator doors opened, Yuna would have stepped out of the elevator but she stopped abruptly when she saw the people who were already in the training ground.
Quanxi, Kishibe, and Hiro turned their heads in sync to see Dr. Yuna and Makima standing in the elevator.
They stayed like that for a few moments without saying anything, looking at each other, the atmosphere full of hostility was deathly silent and very uncomfortable for the young boy who only came to have a request accepted.
Why did this kind of thing always have to happen to him?
Yuna's finger pressed fast at a random button, in fact she did it multiple times in a panic attack that just made her want to get the hell out of there and never deal with this crap again. She didn't realize that she pressed one of the subway buttons.
Quanxi and Kishibe looked expressionless as Yuna tried to escape from the place in a hurry, it would have been funny if it weren't for the fact that they had a grudge against her.
Hiro looked back and forth uncomfortably, but his blue eyes quickly met Makima's yellow eyes, they both looked at each other in confusion, clearly they didn't expect to find themselves in this kind of situation. Just before the elevator door closed, Makima shot Hiro a smile, the boy didn't have time to say anything to her before the elevator door closed.
There were a few more seconds where nothing was said.
"What just happened?" Hiro asked very confused by this whole scene.
Kishibe scratched his chin "I think we scared them away"
Quanxi looked at the elevator for a few more seconds before speaking in a monotone voice, "Let's stay here a while longer, they'll be back any minute."
0O0O
Makima could easily tell that this was déjà vu, because again she was nodding her head in sync looking at Doctor Yuna pacing back and forth in the narrow space in the elevator, one of her hands holding her head up in consternation.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit" she was muttering as if she couldn't believe her ownt reality "Why are those two here!?"
Of all the people in the world she definitely didn't want to run into Kishibe and Quanxi, dealing with one was hard enough, especially when they got involved in matters that didn't concern them, but two was already something she couldn't bear.
Yes, Yuna really didn't have any appreciation for any of them; they were talented at their job, she could admit that, after all she was the one who supervised their training. What she didn't like about them is that they never knew how to appreciate everything she did with them.
"Don't you like them doctor?" Makima asked, she didn't like the hunter that much either, but she had nothing against the other hunter, in fact her scent wasn't special to her even though she could recognize it.
"Not at all" Yuna answered quickly and without any hesitation "They are ungrateful and irritating people..."
Yuna knew that Kishibe already had all the information he wanted, so there was no reason to go back, and Quanxi probably already knew about all of this before Kishibe himself, knowing her, she probably gathered information for him before coming here, after all, both are good at sticking their noses into other people's affairs.
It's been like that since they were teenagers.
And now that she remembered it, they were accompanied by a little person.
"That boy who was with them" she looked at Makima for an affirmation "Is it Hiro right?"
Makima blinked for a moment but then a small smile formed on her lips, lately she had been smiling more than usual, for her it felt right to do it when something she wanted was fulfilled...
"Yes, it's him. But if it's only been a day since he last came, did you forget what he looked like?" The girl's smile did not waver.
Yuna's expression showed irritation "I was more busy not fainting from what I was seeing" she rubbed her chin trying to think of a plan to get out of this as quickly as possible.
"Where we go?" Makima asked feeling curious, since Yuna had randomly pressed a button she didn't know how far down they were going, but the elevator still didn't stop.
"Hmm?" Yuna looked at the control panel and realized that in her surprise she had pressed the S button, she had sent them up to one of the last levels.
"Oh great" she said not really excited "This is going to take a while"
Makima was curious as to what she would find to the end, in the three years she had been here she hadn't fully explored all the facilities, only as far as she was allowed.
Minutes later, the two had reached the depths of the facility, when the doors opened Makima could feel a strange cold that came from the place much stronger than the air conditioning of the library, her eyes wandered all over the place and he could admire how different it was compared to the other cellars where they contained the demons.
The most remarkable thing was that there was only a single vault.
It was at the end of the corridor which was already very long, but throughout the whole place everything seemed to be dirty, the puddles of dirty water, cobwebs in the corners, the rats that lived there, the partially destroyed floor, everything accompanied this place along with a single focus that functioned as lighting.
Makima felt that the aura emanating from this place was not natural at all, it was disturbing, eerie and gloomy. This place didn't feel right at all, whatever was behind that one vault made this whole place impossible to bear.
"What is this place?" she asked, her eyes never leaving that huge door, as if at some point something was going to come out of there suddenly. It was a devil that was there, but what exactly? What kind of devil could be almost to the bottom of these facilities? Yuna had told her that they classify the most powerful devils in the vaults from A to Z, so the devils on the first floor were insignificant to any hunter, if so, the most dangerous ones should be on the top floor.
But in the S level there was only one.
Yuna blankly looked at the door that was at the end, the light bulb moved a little, giving her to understand that the devil knew that they were both there.
"Nothing special, just one more devil from the bunch" she said with what seemed disinterested, but deep down she just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
Yuna pressed the button that would take them back to the training ground, Makima never taking her eyes off the place until the doors closed again.
There was nothing left but the deadly silence that always accompanied this place.
There were a few seconds where no sound came from behind those doors.
"And so it all starts again"
0O0O
"Auntie Quanxi?"
"What?"
"What's behind your patch?"
"Nothing special, just a scar"
"...Can I see?"
"... No..."
Hiro sighed feeling disappointed and defeated at the same time, he walked over to Kishibe who was sitting in a waiting chair further away from them "I did what I could"
Kishibe shrugged "I told you it wouldn't work"
They would have talked more but at that moment the elevator doors opened again, everyone saw this time how Yuna came out of the elevator apparently alone, but in reality Makima was trying to hide in the corner of the elevator at Yuna's request, she thought that maybe like this they would not see it.
"Kishibe... Quanxi, what a surprise to see you here" although she greeted the two hunters his eyes fell on Hiro looking at him with disgust, the boy had the incredible need to hide behind one of the hunters, but he felt that if he was moving even though even an inch would only make her angrier.
"Dr. Nishimura, it's been a while, although I wishes it was longer" Quanxi greeted in the least friendly way she knew.
Yuna snorted "As much as you wanted to talk to me, I must recommend you to leave, this day I will be busy with a project and I will need as much time as possible, so I do not need distractions or meetings on this day. The exit is there by the another hallway if you are so kind..."
"In fact we knew you could be busy but we didn't care and we came anyway" Quanxi interrupted her.
Yuna felt a vein of fury form on her forehead, they had only shared a few words but they were already irritating her "And what could be so important that you two have to come see me in person?"
Kishibe moved to be on a par with Quanxi "Come on, it's not like your job is that hard"
Yuna frowned "Hey asshole you better shut your mouth if you don't want your license to be revoked!"
Hiro didn't know when they started to insult each other, he stood there between them, his head turning from side to side when one insulted the other.
"You get older every day" Kishibe said.
"Quanxi doesn't love you!" Yuna returned forcefully.
Kishibe's gaze was blank. "I already know that…" he said with a heavy sigh.
Hiro moved a little away from them to a safe distance where they couldn't notice his presence, he didn't want to be in the middle of this matter even though this visit directly involved him.
He sat down in one of the waiting chairs that Kishibe was previously sitting in, he guessed it would be a few minutes before the discussion ended.
He moved his legs in the air realizing how insignificant he was in stature if his legs didn't even reach the ground.
"To be honest, I didn't expect to see you so soon" said a female voice next to him.
Hiro instantly flinched but calmed down a bit when he looked to the right of him and saw that it was just Makima. She was smiling calmly at him as she moved her legs in the air, another habit she was starting to do when she was feeling happy or pleased about the situation.
Hiro tried to smile but it was difficult when a few seconds ago his heart was pounding with fear "H-hey Makima"
The redhead's smile grew a little more "Hey Hiro"
Hiro was about to ask her a few questions but Makima quickly embraced him in a crushing hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck, taking in his scent and automatically feeling calm and even though it had only been a day since they met, she already missed this feeling.
Hiro felt his face heat up, and with some uncertainty he hugged her back, or at least he tried, he just patted him on the back, it was more uncomfortable when there were people around watching them but it seemed that Makima didn't care absolutely.
Oh how he wished he had that confidence.
"Your mom is deader than-" Yuna was going to say another insult but froze as she looked past Kishibe, her eyes catching the moment when Makima (who was supposed to be in the elevator) hugged the boy who he was sitting on the chair. It should be said that she did not bother to hide her happy face, and the boy had such a red face that it seemed that he was going to faint.
Yuna's look now was one of pure horror "Makima what the fuck!?" Yuna looked back at the elevator thinking that her mind was playing tricks on her, she looked back to the front but no, Makima had crossed her line of vision and had appeared next to Hiro.
Upon hearing the name, the two hunters widened their eyes in surprise, turned around quickly and could see the same thing as Yuna, the control devil hugging Hiro.
Kishibe narrowed his eyes with hostility "It happened again" again that girl had managed to evade his defense and slipped away right under her nose. He was having such a hard time finding an answer.
Quanxi looked at the scene interested, first it was interesting to finally see the control devil in person and not when she was trying to sneak away trying to take a picture of her. On the other hand, this seems to be the moment that Hiro told her had happened yesterday. If all went well then easily this kind of thing could happen more often than everyone expected.
"Hey kid get away from her!" Yuna yelled in frustration, she was about to go towards them but Quanxi's hand stopped her abruptly.
Quanxi had her typical calm look combined with seriousness "Let's leave them like this for a while, you and I have something to talk about"
Kishibe frowned at her and Yuna looked at her dumbfounded, clearly neither of them agreed with her idea.
"Are you crazy!?" Yuna wanted to decline, none of this should be happening in the first place, I don't know she had tried so hard in these last three years just for idiots to come and ruin all her work that she had done with Makima. She could easily see it while Hiro and Makima hugged each other, that little bond of friendship that she was developing was only gradually ruining the ideas and mentality with which she wanted to see the girl grow up.
But she had told her so many times that social ties were useless, but here she was being friendly to a child. If this continues, her development plan will not be successful or she will not give the same results.
Quanxi took out the letter that was sent to her yesterday from her pocket, she put it to Yuna's face and she could recognize the government seal, along with the prime minister's recognizable signature.
She took it in her hands "What is this?" she asked herself cautiously.
Quanxi smiled knowingly, Yuna knew at that moment that it was probably not a good thing "How about we better discuss it inside the training ground" Quanxi opened the door for both of them.
Kishibe walked in but first gave her a look to make sure Makima didn't do anything illegal.
Yuna recognized the style of the letter and the type of the Japanese government seal, it was gold in color and the drawing was of the Japanese flag. She looked at the two hunters, her eyes started to widen, then she looked at Hiro who was still being crushed by Makima, then at the letter. She did the same process twice.
She connected the dots, and when she understood, her brain shut down, her expression turning between a mixture of surprise and dismay.
"Son of a..."
0O0O
Chapter premiered on wattpad on 31/10/2022
I had to cut the chapter in this part because honestly it was getting very long and in order not to overwhelm them I will try to make chapters of at least 6,000 words, and if they were more than 10,000 it would be because it is a special chapter.
Uff currently I'm liking the manga with the appearance of another demon from the horsemen of the apocalypse, and the anime is great. Everything is going smoothly for Chainsaw Man.
I hope to release a new chapter in November, but you see that lately I premiered a chapter when a version of Genshin Impact is already finished XD
Something that I realized with surprise, is that December 24 will already be a year since chapter 9, that is, we almost had to wait a year to see another encounter between Hiro and Makima XDDDDD._.
I'm really sorry, but well my excuse here is that I used all the free time I had to rest from my tasks or to do them in the first place, and play Genshin obviously.
I hope you liked this chapter, so see you for the next one, bitch.