Chapter 17: Warnings and insults.

Disclaimer: Obviously CSM is owned by Tatsuki Fujimoto and this work is not for profit. It's not even canon to begin with and never will be.

Notes: Why are you still reading asshole? The story is below.

0O0O

Again he was alone in a corridor in this building abandoned by God and apparently by any human being or devil, only now he was the one who pushed away the only person who was willing to hang out with him.

He thought this was ironic, she was the one who approached him the first time really wanting to chat, and now he scared her away by making her walk away from him and she probably didn't want to talk to him anymore. That would have worked for him before when he was even more afraid of her.

Wow, her first friend and he had already scared her away.

"Well done Hiro..." he told himself very sarcastically and scolding himself for being so stupid.

He must have thought twice when he asked Makima that question, she was willing to answer his questions but now he had scared her and she walked away from him, to where? Who knows.

If he had known before that asking her if she was a devil would affect her so much then he wouldn't have asked her in the first place, it wasn't even that necessary, he had already suspected it for a long time and Kishibe pretty much confirmed it. Oh but he had to, because he trusted that she would be very open with him.

It could be just him, but Makima denoted confidence, the confidence that any person should have in themselves and that they were not afraid of anything, that they faced everything without fear of defeat or loss.

It wasn't so true in the end, even someone who seems as confident and happy as her, has her fears and weaknesses. Yesterday she had shown sadness, and today fear, all of that was hidden behind a smile that partly seemed genuine but could easily crumble.

"I guess we have something in common" Hiro thought. The difference in that was that he didn't smile that often, although lately there were plenty of reasons to smile.

"Should I go after her? I don't even know where she went though" She had been so quick to run away, he'd only turned for a few seconds and she'd disappeared in the blink of an eye, or as if she'd never been there in the first place.

As if she had been part of her imagination, like an illusion.

"..."

Hiro began to worry about the possibility that he might be developing schizophrenia, perhaps Makima never existed in the first place and was just a figment of his imagination?

Perhaps the reality that he lived was just an illusion?

No, everything so far had felt very real, so he shouldn't be taking these thoughts too far into conspiracy ideas, Makima was just very good at appearing and disappearing.

How did she do that? He wanted to learn how to do it too but he wondered if it had something to do with being a devil, if so he would be very limited as far as stealth skills go.

Hiro tried to look through the glass at the training ground for the first time since everyone had entered there, he had been so busy talking to Makima that he didn't have the time or thought to see what the adults were doing.

From there he could see how both Kishibe, Quanxi and Dr. Nishimura were waiting for him, with a sigh and being aware that Makima probably wouldn't be back for a while, he walked towards the entrance wanting to end all this.

When Hiro entered, his eyes instantly noticed the white light that was in the place, it was very well lit, the huge light rods on the ceiling helped with that. The polished concrete floor made his footsteps clear and he could almost see his reflection in it.

Although the design was the least of it, at this moment Hiro was being assaulted by three intense gazes, Yuna had her hands behind her back looking at him calculatingly from top to bottom with her eyes being the only ones to move. Kishibe and Quanxi stood to the left and right of her respectively, looking at him with expectant gazes with their arms crossed as they glanced at Yuna from time to time, as if they were measuring her expressions.

"Emm, Hi" Hiro was intimidated by the look the woman was giving him, he felt like a cadet in a military service while his sergeant looked at him with contempt.

Did hunters count as soldiers?

Yuna raised an eyebrow, her gaze showing that she was less than

impressed "It doesn't seem to stand out much at first glance"

"Indeed, after all the boy is still a coward when it comes to demons" Kishibe said earning an irritated look from Hiro, it was true but it wasn't SO necessary to say it outright.

Yuna saw the details of the boy very well, black hair combed to the side with the barely visible detail that the lower part of his hair was a little shorter but not at extreme levels; a dark gray sweatshirt, blue pants, and black boots that fit his size.

If she had to define the child in one word, it would be: Normal.

Although, according to her experience, the appearances tend to deceive more than one, you had to not be superficial or you would never get to know the real person. Yuna thought it was crazy, but this time, just this time, she would try to trust Kishibe and Quanxi's judgment.

And if he didn't convince her in the end, then they'd better find another place to train the brat.

Kishibe looked around the field warily, his eyes taking in any detail that seemed out of the ordinary.

"Isn't that manipulative brat with you?" he asked Hiro feeling very surprised, he thought that Makima would follow him here, weren't they friends? The girl seemed very clingy to him.

Yuna didn't know how to feel about Makima being referred to as 'Manipulative Brat'.

It seemed appropriate.

Hiro raised an eyebrow at Makima's nickname, if it was a nickname and not an insult, probably both but he still didn't understand it.

Yuna also noticed that the girl was not with him but she decided not to say anything for now, she preferred to see what the boy would say.

"Emm" Hiro didn't know how to explain it "She...she left"

Quanxi looked at him a little doubtfully "That doesn't say much"

Hiro sighed "I just turned around and she was gone, it's hard to explain but she comes and goes easily."

'Of course I do, in the eyes of a child Makima can slip away easily, on the other hand...' Yuna glanced at Kishibe sideways 'It's strange how even Claw, Knife and Needle couldn't spot her, even Kishibe with his years of experience were able to help him feel her presence'

Kishibe would have acted on that long ago but since his devils didn't sense the girl's presence, he looked very surprised the first and second time the girl got past his cover.

The idea of having a demon as a contract implied having at his disposal some of their abilities, that included, in some cases, smell. This was how Kishibe and his devil worked, if he didn't guess the presence of a devil then they would do it through the smell, or the sensations that a devil gives off, such as anger or hostility.

But apparently neither had been detected.

There was something very strange in that matter that they were not seeing, but that was a subject for another time.

"So you're the brat I've been told so much about, what did you say your name was?" Yuna questioned, her steely gaze not failing to intimidate him.

Hiro rarely felt intimidated, mostly he used to be afraid, but the times when he felt intimidated were few, like when he met Quanxi or all the times he exhibited his model of the solar system to the class at school.

As for devils, well... That picture of the chainsaw devil was hard to forget.

He could also include Makima when he wasn't smiling.

Right now Yuna was scaring and intimidating him at the same time, why are women so scary when they get serious?

Her mom was warm and loving for as long as he can remember, but she was scary when he and his dad did something stupid like walk into the house with dirty shoes and she'd get mad.

'Oh mom, I miss you' Hiro thought, lost in his thoughts, it was happening again, he was getting off topic 'Oh right, I have to introduce myself'

"My name is Hiro Takahashi, it's a plea-"

"Don't tell her it's a pleasure, because it never is" Kishibe interrupted and Yuna looked at him with a smile that was anything but happy.

"You know, the letter says that Quanxi was in charge of requesting the request, so only the presence of the hunter who requested it is necessary, other people outside the approval of the future hunter are unnecessary, the Anti-Devil Public Security Law says so"

"You just made it up"

"Anyways, get out of here!" Yuna pointed her finger at the door, as she glared at Kishibe with what could be described as annoyance.

"But-"

"Out!"

"But that is-"

"Out!"

"You can't-"

"Out!"

"You Bitc-"

"OUT!"

"Just go out for a while" Quanxi suggested "And by the way bring Hiro and me an ice cream, and honestly I don't think your presence is so necessary here, you've already said enough in my opinion"

Kishibe felt like he was 14 again following Yuna's orders "Whatever, at least I don't have to pretend to be interested in her speeches"

He walked towards the entrance but not before putting his hand on Hiro's shoulder, the boy looked at him strangely. "Good luck" he whispered so that only he could hear it.

Finally when Kishibe left the doctor had more freedom to focus on the boy "So Hiro Takahashi huh?" Yuna walked around him, studying his every action and expression.

Hiro had to look around trying to match the doctor's movements but she was circling him a little faster than he would like, but now more than ever he felt like a cadet at military school.

When would they start yelling at him?

"I've been told that you want to be a public security devil hunter, is that correct?" she questioned while continuing to move, but now she wasn't looking at him anymore and just looked straight ahead, seeming to meditate on all his words like a philosopher.

In Quanxi's view, this was just her way of judging a person or object that caught her eye and finding out if it was worth spending her time on. It was like one person judging another in the worst possible way for being inferior.

"Y-yes ma'am"

Yuna rolled her eyes, that stutter was going to be a problem.

"And... If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me why you want to be a hunter?" she asked, Hiro was going to give her an answer but she hadn't finished.

"Could you explain to me, or rather enlighten me with the great answer that this bitch..." she pointed to Quanxi who gave him a peace sign and middle finger at the same time with both hands "...And the another asshole outside want me to hear from you?!" Yuna said with some aggressiveness and a hint of sarcasm, stopping and looking at Hiro with what could be described as…Irritation, but you couldn't tell if she was irritated by Kishibe and Quanxi or by him, perhaps by the three.

Hiro was surprised by the aggressiveness of the doctor, in part he already expected it since they told him that she was in charge of taking care of Makima, if he added two and two he could say that since yesterday he had been bothering her in some way even though it was never his intention.

When he ran away and returned to Makima, (which was partly his fault for listening to her), because of the sudden request that was given to them by morally wrong means, and because of whatever Kishibe and Quanxi were talking about him to his back.

It seemed that she definitely didn't have a good image of him, he didn't know if Kishibe and Quanxi had done well or just made things worse.

He hoped it was the first because hia dream had never been so close to coming true, and at the same time so close to vanishing like dust in the air.

'Where should I start?' Hiro thought, realizing that he didn't have many options to get out of this situation easily, he just had to tell her version of her story and see if it would be enough to convince her. She might be able to show him what Kishibe saw in him, even though she had no idea what she was.

If there was a God up there, he wished he was seeing it, because he was going to need a miracle if something went wrong.

0O0O

The search for ice cream was not going well, mostly because Kishibe didn't know where to go to get ice cream in a gloomy place like this. They didn't even have a soda vending machine, and so they wanted he to get at least one fucking popsicle.

Although it was better than listening to Yuna talk for another half hour, Kishibe already had many ways to sleep, he didn't need another.

Where the fuck was he going to get an ice cream stand right now?

"Go outside"

That was a good idea, any idea that involved getting out of here was considered a good one.

Without further, Kishibe headed for the exit, when he left the field he found himself again in that corridor where the lower-ranking devils would make noise due to any tiny disturbance in the environment.

However, there was something strange this time, Kishibe decided to notice the differences between the last time they passed through here and now that he was back trying to get out.

One: The red lights were replaced by white lights illuminating the place with a quality light; He didn't know if the lights could now be changed at will with a button somewhere, but anyway this place could be more noticeable now and for Hiro it would probably be less creepy. Truly many things had changed here since he graduated as a hunter.

And two: Even though there were many devils locked up behind those vaults, they were all silent...

The whole place was silent.

It was not a silence that felt pleasant, quite the opposite. It was like being in the underground area A but the atmosphere was much more sinister caused by an unknown force. It seemed that at some point something bad was going to happen and no one would be prepared for it, the atmosphere felt increasingly tense and dark. Something... Or someone was forcibly keeping the devils silent, for one reason or another.

Could it be fear? Afraid of what exactly? What could be out there that silenced the fear of beings that were created from it? It was something strange and out of the ordinary, devils are not usually afraid of other devils, and if they were, those devils would have to be very strong to cause even the slightest disturbance in them.

But in his experience, there were other methods of subduing demons.

Kishibe looked ahead observing every detail that might be out of the ordinary for him, both of his eyes moving quickly looking at the corners, the ceiling and the walls. Nothing seemed different, that still wasn't a good sign, because there was something out of his sight that was causing all of this.

They could call him crazy (he was) but in this kind of situation it was better to stay alert for anything that could happen suddenly, experience had told him that a place that harbors only silence was a dangerous place, especially if devils were the ones they were silent.

Kishibe walked slowly, his goal was the exit, hopefully nothing bad would happen and he would get out of here without using any of his abilities.

It was really very quiet, so much so that he could hear the sound of his shoes touching the floor with each step, even if he concentrated a little he could hear his own breathing. Just to make sure, Kishibe approached a vault and just like yesterday he knocked on the door to see if this time the devils would react again.

Nothing.

As much as he knocked on the door, the devil simply did not make any kind of noise, or he was not interested in his presence, or he was afraid of making noise.

Kishibe put that aside and went on his way, definitely something very wrong was happening with this place but he couldn't see or guess exactly what it was.

The exit wasn't that far now, there was only half the hall left and he would be getting closer and closer to getting ice cream, to all this he didn't ask Quanxi what flavor he wanted, nor Hiro, well he would get them what he considered suitable...

"Behind you"

Without even hesitating, Kishibe drew one of his knives that was hidden in his sack, and with blinding speed he turned around and threw it with great force at the demonic entity that had been behind him all this time and had been following him all the way. .

The knife traveled at a speed so fast that an untrained human eye wouldn't have been able to detect and pierce anyone, but either by virtue or simply because her eyes were already used to this kind of speed, she caught the knife inches before it made contact with his forehead.

Makima's hand managed to catch the handle of the knife before the point pierced her brain, with her eyes directly on the weapon, she could see that it was perfectly sharp, so much so that it could probably cut through many other people before losing his grip edge or break. If this thing had succeeded in his task, the knife would have gone through his head and ended up somewhere in the other room.

If she took into account the speed and force with which they lunged, she would definitely have killed her in an instant.

Luckily she reacted in time.

"Tch" heard the hunter's complaint, his name was Kishibe, right?

"Shit, I almost destroyed public property, my mistake" Kishibe taunted her, referring to her for what she really was.

Makima stopped seeing the knife and her eyes focused on the hunter, she looked at him as inexpressively as his features allowed her, there was something in him that made her only feel hostility towards him, she didn't like him for nothing.

That's why her face looked blank to Kishibe, it looked as if the girl was looking at nothing but he knew that this was one of her ways of showing contempt towards someone, it wasn't the first time he'd seen that kind of look after of all. He was also very clear that Makima did not know very well how to handle her emotions, so feelings like anger and among other things would be shown incorrectly.

How she was doing now, looking at him without his face revealing any kind of emotion and without saying a single word, but deep down harboring a lot of contempt for him.

If Hiro looked at this, for sure he would reconsider the idea of being friend of this girl... Who still gave him ugly looks.

"I must say your stealth skills are impressive, I didn't notice you until near the end"

"..."

Kishibe tilted his head "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"..."

Makima looked at the knife in her hand, then back at Kishibe, she repeated the same action one last time.

"Yeah...I don't think it was a good idea for you to throw the knife at her"

Repeating the same pattern, Makima only needed a flick of her arm to throw the knife back at his original wielder, it wasn't with the same speed but her strength was almost the same.

Kishibe allowed himself to blink once before easily taking the knife in his hand, instantly his arm recoiled slightly from the impact making him realize that this girl's strength was something else entirely.

Her past life memories of her weren't there, but the strength of her was, or at least part of it.

It was probably something about being a devil but rarely would you see a kind of reincarnation in a child where the demon still kept her strength. The Taken do tend to have their full strength when they take on the body of a human, but reincarnations don't come with the full package.

Makima in this case was no different, but she still had a lot of strength and powers that he didn't even know if she had already awakened. Hopefully not, he'd rather get out of here and buy ice cream than fight with Hiro's supposed best friend.

"Here, it looks like you dropped it" Makima replied without changing her expression, she didn't seem sorry for having attacked a public security hunter while she was still in the examination process, if someone else saw this and reported it they would give the order to kill her .

Yuna had explained it to him with simple words and filled right to the point.

'If you prove to be useful to us in the long term, you will have the right to live as you want, but if you prove otherwise, we will kill you'

Still, she decided to go ahead and attack him, she just wanted to do it.

"Hm, your strength is ridiculous for your current condition, don't you think you should be more respectful to your elders, you fucking control devil?" Kishibe snarled, his tone showing disgust at her.

In response the girl just raised her right arm, Kishibe instantly became alert in case she tried something, the way she uses her powers is usually unpredictable mainly because they didn't even belong to her in the first place.

But he was a bit taken aback when she only pointed a finger at him. It seemed as if they were accusing him of something.

"And you don't think you should follow the order they gave you, public safety dog?" she questioned herself with the same intensity in her voice.

"Hehe"

"Hmm"

"..."

Kishibe quickly realized what she meant "So you've been listening all this time, why am I not surprised?" Her insult didn't seem to affect him in the slightest, after all he already knew what he was, like her, he was just another tool for the government.

The only difference is that he did have human rights.

She stopped pointing her finger at him trying to calm down even a little, but how she wanted to point her hand at him in the shape of a gun and be done with it.

Would it make things easier for her? Definitely yes, but there was another factor that she had been taking into account in the last few hours, and that was Hiro; even if they didn't make it known to each other, she could easily tell that Hiro liked the hunter, Hiro still wouldn't appreciate her trying to attack the person in charge of taking care of him.

Even if the mere thought didn't please her, she had to admit that Kishibe was very important to Hiro, even more so than she was right now.

At least that was the idea that she had developed from the few interactions that she observed.

Now a new goal had arisen deep within her mind, how would she go about turning the tables on her in her favor?

Although because of what happened recently there were many possibilities that nothing she imagined could be possible.

Damn reality.

"What was your plan? Attack me from behind and make my body disappear so no one could find it?" Kishibe asked.

'What if I erase his memory?' Makima thought, ignoring Kishibe's question and looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. An action that confused and irritated the adult.

"Hey, I'm talking to you" she complained to herself.

'...No, I could risk erasing something more valuable than our recent conversion from him.'

"The Silly Girl Said What"

'I don't have many options with him, maybe I shouldn't have run away' she kept thinking to herself.

"Looks like it didn't work"

"The stupid devil said what"

"What?

"It worked"

"BASTARD"

"It's not funny"

Kishibe was starting to lose patience "You don't want me to throw another knife at you, do you? This time it won't be to your head"

...

This guy didn't know when to shut up?

Makima reluctantly stopped looking at the ceiling and glared at it angrily "I wanted to make sure you got the hell out of here"

Kishibe snorted "Of course, you don't show it but deep down I know you want to send me to the afterlife, but if you try you'll find yourself reincarnated again in another body, just like last time"

'Last time?' Makima didn't know what he meant by that but he didn't give her time to find out.

"Unfortunately I am not allowed to touch you even a hair, I would be killed if I did, however..." Kishibe did not frown this time, but his eyes showed the coldness and truth in his words, which came out so clear and icy.

"I've never mourned the death of a child while doing my job, it's something that happens every day... Until now. If you hurt Hiro I won't hesitate to put a bullet through your skull, then I'll find you again and I'll do the same again"

If Makima hadn't disliked him before, now she definitely did.

"Doctor Nishimura was right" Makima spoke looking at the ground.

"Hmm?"

A few seconds later she lifted her head and looked at him with her bright yellow eyes, but this time she started to smile, a slowly growing smile that was definitely not friendly in any way.

"You really are irritating"

Deja vu, Kishibe hated that smile, and how he wanted at this moment to lower his teeth so that she would stop smiling.

But he refrained knowing the consequences.

Kishibe sighed in exasperation seeing that Yuna didn't put him in a good position with the girl, it's not as if he really wanted it but he didn't like thinking that they both shared the same thoughts, if that was the case everything would become a disaster for everyone.

"I don't know what terrifies me more, the possibility of Quanxi or Hiro dying, or that part of that bitch's personality rubbing off on you" It was enough to have one Yuna in the world, having two would be worse than a world without alcohol or women.

What was next? Makima torturing people and the justification of it is by science and for the good of humanity? Don't make him laugh.

What other things would Yuna have told this girl about him?

"Anyways, don't forget, if you hurt the boy..." Kishibe waved his hand simulating a gun "Bang, you die"

Makima felt a strange feeling but not one that wasn't new, Yuna had called it 'Offense'. She had experienced it very few times and all those times were equally strange.

"Who do you think you are to speculate what I'm going to do?" Makima replied, but that smile quickly disappeared with his words "You're not very smart if you think I would do something like that"

She hurting Hiro? She couldn't imagine it in any way, Hiro was her friend, the most precious person to her and she would be damned if he got hurt in any way because of her. She would never hurt him and Kishibe didn't know her at all if he thought she would dare do something to her friend.

If it were possible, she would be willing to protect him.

"Huh? Of course you will"

Makima was starting to get angrier and angrier, but Kishibe hadn't finished and now he was smiling, it was as if places had been reversed.

"You say you won't hurt anyone in the future, but you just can't help it, that's how you work and that's how you've acted in all your lives. It's your nature, and you can't fight it, I'm not a fortune teller, but knowing your past, even if you didn't try, you will make life miserable for others. As I said before, it is your nature, your kind can't help but cause chaos because that's what they were created from the dark for."

"A devil who says she won't hurt anyone, from what I see the comedy devil is on the loose"

"..."

Kishibe kept talking without wanting to stop, he wanted to make her position clear to Makima, even if Yuna had already done it, it was his turn to do it.

"You are nothing but pure evil, experienced hunters like me can easily see that and you have shown cruelty and destruction throughout history, you are the embodiment of manipulation and absolute control of everything you come near..."

This time Kishibe pointed an accusatory finger at Makima, her smile long gone.

"You destroy everything you touch"

Makima was silent, she felt stunned, as if Kishibe's words had made a hole in her head to embed itself there and that it was the only thing she thought about.

She didn't know how to respond to that, she didn't know what she should feel now either, fear, anger, happiness, rage, astonishment... Many emotions but she didn't know where to start.

In the first place she was not foreign to her nature, she had been told part of her past a long time ago and she quickly accepted it so it was never an obstacle in her life, even doctor Yuna had told her that it was not worth thinking about in that because the best thing was always to see the future and forget the past. But this man was pointing it out in a way that sounded very... Personal.

"You... You can't be sure about that" Makima said trying to change his point of view.

"I know very well that you will..."

Makima gritted her teeth, her mind was continually denying Kishibe's words, she wasn't going to hurt anyone knowing the consequences, and she definitely wouldn't hurt Hiro, she wasn't like that.

She didn't want to be like that.

She... She was a devil, but did she really have to come and cause destruction?

"But you just can't help it"

However, here she was, reincarnated in another body with a new life ahead of her. But if she was here it was because the same thing had happened again. She had done something wrong in her past life, and the one before, and the one before, and the one before...

"It's Your Nature"

Even if it was, how would she take advantage of the manipulation? She would grow up to be a hunter and she would use her powers to kill other devils, but other than that she didn't know what else she could use it for.

"You are nothing but pure evil"

She maybe didn't know the answer because she hadn't found it yet.

"You destroy everything you touch"

It was true? she had not caused misfortunes in this life that she knew of, she had only made a hunter angry and almost drove her teacher crazy but other than that, there was nothing else.

And until recently she hadn't met other people to know if she destroyed their lifes.

Hiro seemed to be fine by her side, he had even become her friend but... Like, she had ruined him recently so their friendship was in doubt.

She couldn't quite believe Kishibe, she couldn't see the future and she just didn't know how she could cause all the disasters he talked about.

She didn't want to... However if it was a situation involving Hiro... she wouldn't know what to do but she was sure she would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

If she was only destined to come to wreak havoc on this world where Hiro lived... she'd rather not return to a human body, maybe that way she'd keep him safe.

'Hiro... I would never hurt you... But if necessary... I would do anything for you'

Until recently she had discovered what it was like to have a friend, someone special to her, someone she would want to spend every possible second with and experience all kinds of things in this life, someone she would do anything for.

Perhaps that was what Kishibe was referring to? That she just can't help it because there was always something compelling her to wreak havoc? Hiro in this case was the only reason for her, for now.

"If you don't say anything, I'm going to retire" Kishibe recalled that they sent him to buy ice cream "However, I'm not that bad, but I won't say this because I like you, quite the opposite"

He turned only his head to see her "I don't like you getting close to Hiro, he's still too naive to notice how dangerous you are"

"It seems we agree on something" Makima murmured although Kishibe heard her anyway, she looked at the ground holding her left arm and rubbing it gently as a consolation.

"However, if what's going on in there goes well, it seems I won't be able to stop you two from getting close, either because the boy is so stubborn that he'll try to find you or because you will too" Kishibe sighed "So at the moment you are allowed to get close to Hiro"

Makima looked up in astonishment, she didn't expect the hunter to say something like that when he was saying nasty things to her a few seconds ago. It was very strange if she considered that he hated her and she hated him, but he was allowing him to be close to Hiro.

She couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"But you know, if you do anything to him, I'll kill you"

And that was the condition, Makima felt a great need to roll her eyes, which she eventually did because of the enormous annoyance that this was causing her.

"I'm getting out of here" Kishibe turned to leave, Makima watched as the figure of the hunter left the huge corridor, until finally she was the only one there.

Makima didn't know how to deal with what would happen next, if she was realistic she didn't need the hunter's permission to approach Hiro, she was going to do it anyway, he wasn't going to tell her what to do. However now that he told her he could make things less annoying for her, she was sure even Hiro would be happy to hear this.

Speaking of Hiro, even if she was already allowed to talk to him, there were two problems.

Dr. Yuna.

And Hiro himself.

Kishibe seemed to know that he couldn't separate them now, so somehow he gave in and let her get closer to Hiro but still keeping an eye on her to watch her every move. But what would doctor Yuna say? Her posture was also necessary to make a decision, she said that getting close to people did not bring any benefit, she was becoming convinced little by little but then she met Hiro and it seemed that everything she believed in was nothing more than a lie.

How could she show the doctor that even having someone by her side, her abilities and goals would not change? Her answer was still not presented to her, she had gotten rid of a weight but there was still another. And if she was honest with her...

She was afraid, afraid that Dr. Yuna wouldn't agree with her getting close to Hiro, she wouldn't know what to do at that moment.

And the problem with Hiro, well... Even if she had the permission of that hunting jerk, and Doctor Yuna's, how would she deal with a Hiro trying to find out what she really is? Their friendship could be ruined if it isn't already, he could be afraid of her or hate her as well.

So many problems and she couldn't solve them all, maybe time could answer her doubts. But she didn't like to wait, she wanted an answer as soon as possible, but more than that, she wanted to know right now what Hiro thought of her now.

'Maybe it's best to go back'

Makima walked to the other side, she had cowardly escaped because she didn't want to deal with Hiro right now, but now she felt ready to talk to him again.

Things could go right or terribly wrong, but she would take a chance.

She would risk it for him.

0O0O

Chapter premiered in wattpad on 01/31/2023

Notes: Yeeeee, I'm going to have to cut the chapter here.

Why will they wonder? There are several reasons for that but I will mention the most important ones.

It's 5am and I haven't slept at all, even though my sleep schedule got messed up many years ago, it's still extreme for me. I want to sleep.

Another is because I wanted to make a unique chapter between Kishibe and Makima, the two had not had the space to talk to each other because, as you have already seen, they have a lot to talk about, and it seemed perfect to me that Kishibe, when going out to buy ice cream, would meet with Makima who was hiding from Hiro, I said that it would be a good time for both of them to talk, it occurred to me shortly after I started writing this chapter

Another is because... People let's be real, I'm stretching this out too long, an event of almost two days has lasted almost 10 chapters and has taken a year of publication to complete, the problem always resurfaces in the lack of time and inspiration that I had in 2021 and 2022 for the school, I released chapters every 3 months and although they were about 8k words, I felt that it was not enough to satisfy the viewers.

I felt like a shitty writer who wants to go far, but can't even release chapters on time in the time that was established.

Now that I've graduated and I'm on a gap year I have all the time from it to write and finish my other book Immortals fuck it, I want to nominate it for the wattys but I've been saying the same thing for two years because I haven't finished it yet. But for the same reason, I had no time or inspiration left, even now I'm kind of low on it.

There is also the stupid thing that I set myself the goal of finishing the games I bought in 2021 for my ps4, just two weeks ago I finished god of war 4 and I want to buy ragnarok (even if it spoils everything) and I was missing resident evil 2 remake that I already have it somewhat advanced, I already cleaned the police station and I'm in the sewers with an injured Ada, I'm missing Clare's chapter but I don't want to think about it now XD. I'm also very close to finishing red dead redemption 2, my arthur is already dying but I dressed him up for the big day.

I mean basically that's what I've been doing this month, but I feel that when I finish those games I will finally take a load off my shoulders, by the way they are great games, but they are very long. So when I finish them I'll be able to write more freely, because apart from writing, I also like to play a lot.

Another thing is that there are so, so many things that I want to show in this story that a single chapter does not give me the space to do it, because I feel that if I put everything in a single chapter it will turn out horrible, without unwinding or seeming like It was written without interest, which is quite the opposite, because everything is done for a reason and that is why I put scenes like Kishibe and Makima, to extend the development of this story and the characters as much as possible.

That's another reason why this event goes on so long, but definitely the next chapter will be the last one that shows Hiro and company at the research center.

And I think it definitely won't take long to come out, mainly because there's not much left to tell.

One last thing is that I wanted to publish the chapter before the end of January.

But bro is literally the last day of the month.

I know but it still counts right? At least I don't premiere it until March XD.

See you guys, take care.