Summary:

It was supposed to be a simple stroll to the market for Denji and Nayuta. Pick up some half-priced food and dip. Well, that was the original plan until Nayuta's craving for ice cream got the better of him, now he wanted some.

When they turned to the dairy section, they realized they were not where they once were.

Meanwhile, Asa and Yoru reluctantly embark on a job that leads them to an eerie warehouse. It was pitch black, Asa stepped in, and the sound of her footsteps stopped.

Yoshida and Fumiko meet each other at a cafe, everyday Yoshida calls Fumiko to brief him on how she handling Denji, it's only logical, Yoshida himself appointed her to be Denji's bodyguard, but from what he's hearing, he's beginning to regret that decision.

Both of them were meant to go to Public Safety HQ, but they didn't make it.

Miri already knew something big was going to happen, there was this nasty lingering feeling inside his stomach, no matter how much he played piano to distract himself, it just wasn't leaving.

Maybe running to take his mind off things would be a good idea, later he came to find out it wasn't.

(Characters are taken from chapter 141)

Denji stared aimlessly at the batch of Chainsaw Man bun, a while back it was difficult to get your hands on any of these, they rather used to sell quickly, just for having the name of Chainsaw Man stamped on it. But now, they were just there looking like nobody had touched them, to add insult to injury, the price was half-off.

That felt like a slap straight to his face, he was-

Chainsaw Man had more worth than that.

Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if they used Asa's face to promote their shitty buns.

Somebody tugged his wrist. "So, how many are we taking?" Nayuta asked with a bun already in her hand.

"Ah... I guess as many as we want, I mean they're half-priced." The blonde lazily responded.

Nayuta pouted a bit before grabbing as many buns as she could and stach them into the basket Denji was holding. "Say... what do you want for dinner?"

"Ice cream!" Nayuta exclaimed without any hesitation.

"...That's not dinner."

"Well, you asked me what I wanted so there you have it, I want ice cream."

Denji frowned. "I meant something that I can actually cook, also we only came for some groceries and buns, so no."

"What? No way! You promised I'd get ice cream every day! You stinky liar!"

"I know, I know, but it's bleeding our money dry, and I haven't had many clients lately."

"You call them clients? Those whores who sit on you? I told you already, that you should raise the price! Imagine how much people would pay to sit on Chainsaw Man, we'd totally be rich."

Denji sighed. "Mind your language in public, will ya? And I won't be Chainsaw Man anymore, so that's the end. I'm pretty damn happy with my life now."

Nayuta spared him an unconvinced glance. "Are you?"

His eyes fell onto the Chainsaw Man for a moment before answering. "Yeah... aren't you?"

"I am, but I would be way happier with some ice cream."

"Yeah, me too." Denji scoffed. "So, what flavor?"

Nayuta's mood lightens up. "Anything but vanilla, vanilla is just too boring."

They walked for a minute asking where the dairy section was, and eventually, they found it, but in a single turn to the corner and a single step, their surroundings changed in a millisecond. It took them a full minute for their brains to realize what happened and another to take in their current whereabouts.

"What just happened?" Nayuta was the first to speak clearly taken aback.

"Nayuta, stay close to me," Denji cautioned, his voice steady despite the uncertainty creeping in. They found themselves in a peculiar hallway, reminiscent of those in cinemas, narrow with walls painted a deep crimson. The only illumination came from movie posters adorning the walls.

Among these posters, one stood out—the protagonist, Chainsaw Man, towering over a scene of destruction, buildings crumbling in the background. The title left no room for ambiguity: Chainsaw Man.

"Is someone making a movie about you? That sounds neat." Nayuta commented looking at the same poster Denji was glaring at.

"I know, right? But... nobody told me anything. Hell, I don't remember even taking a picture like this." Wait, was someone making a movie about him and without him!? 'I wish I could sue their asses!' Denji exhaled sharply, looked to the right and left, and the hallway extended almost... endlessly. "Are you kidding me? No wonder why it's called the Eternity Devil, it's an eternal pain in my ass!"

"Uh? That eternal loser, wasn't it dead?" Nayuta tilted her head.

"Thought so too, come on. We need to find some food." He extended his hand to Nayuta.

She took his hand, and unconsciously Denji brought his hand near to his chest, now he had a legitimate reason to turn, nobody would give him shit for it. Nayuta noted how a shine flashed in Denji's eyes, it made her smirk.

It was an old rusty warehouse, that barely could stand up, surrounded by equally rusted aluminum fences, and it had a devil problem as the locals put it. That's the most information Asa had, for now, she usually went blind in most of the missions the church assigned to her, and it mostly wasn't a problem, but Asa wasn't a person who liked surprises.

"There you again, overthinking on things that hardly matter. Let's go inside and deal with it already." Asa looked to her side, to see Yoru with arms crossed and a bored face.

"It matters!" Asa grumbled. "If we knew what we're up against, the jobs would be over much quicker!"

"We've been doing fine so far, and if anything your complaints are stalling us even more." Yoru snarly commented making her host click her tongue. "Get inside, kill the devil, get out, is that simple."

Asa sighed. "At least I'd wish they hadn't send us this far."

"On that, we can agree, why to send us this far for a measly devil? The church already has many 'initiated', so why us?"

"We are the face of the church, I guess that's why."

"That's right, who else but The Beauty Asa Mitaka? I suppose it is nice to know people look your way, isn't it?" Yoru said looking over to the distance.

"That's not the point!" Asa retorted.

"Mmh, whatever you say..." Yoru tapped her chin. "Regardless, it makes you wonder, Chainsaw Man hasn't been spotted in a long time, and from what Fami told us, he's living a normal life right now. I must admit is it quite maddening knowing he's having a peaceful existence."

Asa felt a small sense of relief coming over her chest, despite Yoru's crude comment, the possibility that Chainsaw Man is living a peaceful life all thanks to her brought a small smile and slight blush.

"Ugh, disgusting!" Yoru cried holding her head. "Seriously, can't you think about him without feeling these gross emotions?"

"Leave me alone, alright!? L-Let's get this over with!" Asa replied with her blush still evident.

It was pathetic of her, to have a huge crush on a man she had only met for a night, but he saved her in his own crude way. Chainsaw Man was an enigma to everyone, but Asa felt like she was the only one with a personal connection to him, once she assured him of a normal life, she wouldn't mind knowing him better.

Who knows, maybe when she tells him she's responsible for it, something more can come out of that.

Yoru felt a twirl inside her stomach. "I knew she was desperate, but this is too much..." she murmured.

Asa opened the rusty front door only to be met by complete darkness and a foul odor that escaped, she quickly covered her nose, she couldn't describe it, the only thing her mind related to that smell was: rotten, it took a lot of her not to gag.

Next to Asa, Yoru sniffed the air. "That smell, a devil was here that's for sure."

"Was?" Asa turned her head in Yoru's direction.

"A battle occurred here long ago, but the aroma still lingers... although, something smells familiar." Yoru thoughtfully tilted her head.

"Is there anything else?"

"Apart from the bad feeling I have about this place? No."

Asa frowned at her, but if Yoru said that, she must mean it, right? The teen gulped and her grip on her katana tightened, she exhaled slowly. She had done this many times before, she got scared even after all she had gone through, but she couldn't afford to be anymore, she had reason to see this through.

Who else would give him a peaceful life?

Steeling herself, she went inside and Yoru cautiously followed her, they walked for a while, their steps sounded muffled, and the warehouse seemed to be way bigger from the inside. An audible groan came from Asa. "...Yoru."

"I noticed, sadly is too late."

They looked behind them, the door where they came from was no longer there. They were trapped in a void of darkness.

Asa accelerated her steps, trying to find something to get them out of there, Yoru was about to speak when...

"Ouch!" Asa suddenly crashed into a wall and fell on her butt. "What?"

"This place..." Yoru said faintly looking around.

Asa rose and did the same just to feel an eerie sense of deja vu. She looked at a poster next to her. "Chainsaw Man?"

In a rather empty cafe, a waitress came with the orders of the two only customers, a strawberry parfait with a cold lemonade, and a coffee cake with an iced coffee to company. "Here you go." The customers were two teens, a girl with black hair and two ponytails at the side of her face, and a boy but she remembered him, it was hard to forget someone this good-looking, she recalled him coming here before with a blondie.

"Thank you." The boy politely thank her.

"Let me know if you need something else." With a flush on her face, the waitress retired leaving the teens alone.

Fumiko chuckled. "You have them head over heels."

"I know that, it doesn't help that they make it obvious," Yoshida replied taking a sip of his drink.

Fumiko's smile grew wider. "It's just hard to imagine a pretty boy is a hard-boiled devil hunter, seriously, why work for Public Safety when you could easily be a magazine model?"

Not breaking his signature smile, Yoshida said. "Never been interested in that line of work, but now that we're talking about it. Let's get right to it." He pulled out a pen and a small notebook, reaching for his pockets. "So, how's Denji?"

Fumiko played with her locks, as Denji's bodyguard every three days it was required that she feed Yoshida and Public Safety information about Denji's status, it was fairly simple, Denji wasn't a complicated person to talk to, and it helped that she was a woman, also he is a very direct person, as crude as his comments are sometimes, she likes that about him. "He's fine! And he's pretty fun to have around."

Yoshida simply mumbled something under his breath while writing in the notebook. "Good to know you're getting along with him, should make your job easier. So, what was he doing yesterday?"

Fumiko gulped and her smile faltered, she was so going to get in trouble for this, but if Public Safety was in the matter, she could lie. "W-Well... he offered me his chair services, it's surprising how comfortable his back is."

"Uh-huh..." Yoshida did not take his glance from the notebook. "What else?"

Fumiko grew anxious. "And... one of the weapons came to recruit Denji for church."

Yoshida gave her a blank stare. "And you let him?"

"Y-Yes."

Yoshida kept staring at her for a moment, it only made Fumiko on edge. "I see..." he finally said eyeing the notebook once more.

'That's it!?' Fumiko thought alarmed, not expecting that type of answer, Yoshida didn't even sound mad, although scratch that, hardly anyone can get a strong reaction out of him. She would definitely pay to watch someone else doing it.

"I'm not mad by the way." Yoshida stopped writing and started eating his coffee cake. "It hardly matters whether Denji joins the church or not."

Fumiko said with an unfamiliar frown. "Is that so?"

"Yes, I'm honestly quite surprised he didn't join taking into account everyone in that church worships Chainsaw Man, but if he was to join, we have control as leverage." Yoshida began to explain. "If we went after Denji, hardly anyone can stand against him, on the other hand. Control is an easy target, she is our leverage."

"Oh yeah, the little control devil..." Fumiko said with a tone of bitterness in her mouth, it never made sense to her how Denji saw control as a little sister. "Still, it sounds messed up..."

Yoshida chuckled. "You're one to talk, didn't you grope him when you first met Denji?"

Fumiko's heart sank. "You told me to cheer him up." she tried to defend herself.

"Was that really the only way?" Yoshida gave her an amused glare. "I'm not going to judge, a good devil hunter is one with a few screws loose, and a happy Denji means no Chainsaw Man."

Fumiko leaned back in her seat, no more Chainsaw Man sounded good to her, nobody needed him, the world had enough devils as it was. Denji was fun, direct, and a little bit of a goofball, but what she didn't understand about him, was why he deliberately chose to be Chainsaw Man. Didn't he realize he was making himself a target for other devils? Not only devils but other organizations too, hell even countries would pay a hefty amount to have a hybrid on their side.

Denji is a teen, he should be studying, making friends, or going to arcades.

So why...

'So why was he crying over that gun freak...' A bitter image came to her mind, a shirtless Denji kneeling over the gun fiend, while silent tears streamed down his eyes, his face reflected nothing but absolute uncertainty and pain, he should have been rejoicing over his victory over that monster, if it were up to her she would spit on the corpse.

She simply couldn't understand why.

"Hey Yoshida, about my request-"

"Sorry, I haven't got a response yet." Yoshida didn't let her finish her sentence.

Fumiko pouted. "What? No way, you've been saying for two weeks now, I'm Denji's bodyguard I should have access to his files."

"Not really, being his bodyguard doesn't entail that, just keep him from turning, you don't even have to make him happy."

"Do you have access to them?"

"I do, but never bothered to read them, I only know that the previous incarnation of control found him, ironic, isn't it?"

"Very," Fumiko said without much enthusiasm.

"Did Denji tell you about any future plans?" Yoshida said.

"Yes actually, he asked me to hang around in a plaza tomorrow."

"Tomorrow huh? How convenient." Yoshida said with a light chuckle.

"Tomorrow is that big operation you talked about for some time now, right?"

"Yes, everything should be going without a hitch," Yoshida said before taking another sip of his drink.

It was almost noon, and both devil hunters finished up their desserts, Yoshida ended up paying for both, and Fumiko allegedly forgot her wallet, when they were at the main door, Yoshida grabbed the door handle with Fumiko trailing close behind when he turned it, they were met by a red hallway and eternal obscurity in front of them.

A melody came out of a luxurious room, and a piano song traveled through the nearby hallway, the author was Miri, and playing the piano was child's play for him even when he was an actual child, but old habits hardly die.

It's not like he had anything else to do, he was stuck inside the church building, and he could barely go outside due to Public Safety being behind their asses, the only reason he had to go out was for a mission, probably won't be the case anymore, his cover was blown ever since that public safety bitch, that sushi woman who was sitting on Denji. Miri and by extension, the other weapons knew Public Safety was looking for them to put them back in cages, for them he was just a simple tool.

Miri felt his mouth tensing, and his train of thought fell on a particular individual: Denji. When he met him, it was the biggest disappointment in his life, to Miri, Denji was infuriating, Chainsaw Man was beloved, a hero, and people looked after him.

So, why was it that Denji was comfortable being a simpleton? He could have so much more.

It ticked him off to no end, Denji saved him from Makima so it was a pity, they couldn't be friends, Denji simply didn't know the bigger picture, the church was helping people, and they were going to save the world, and if that meant screwing over some people, then it's fine by him. After all, they were the good guys.

Then why...?

Why did he have a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach?

It's been like this for a while now, he couldn't understand what was it, it just kept nagging him since yesterday, it began after his talk with Denji, and while it was pretty obvious he was mad at him, the words that public safety bitch gnawed his mind.

'Sugo, are you sure you aren't being taken advantage of again?'

Just by remembering those words and that shit-eating grin that woman had, the notes he was playing began to go out of tune.

If that woman only knew. Miri had freedom, more freedom than public safety could ever give him. After what happened with Makima, he would rather die than go to another manipulator's hands. Public Safety was the handler and they were the attack dogs.

Not anymore...

A sudden knock at the door made him play the wrong key completely messing up the song, Miri clicked his tongue and opened the door, and he was met by a meek figure, he already knew who it was. "What do you want pipsqueak?"

"EK!" Nobana yelped taking a step back. "S-Sorry to bother y-you Mri, but Ba- Bar-Ba-!"

Getting tired of his incoherent mumbling, Miri said. "You mean Barem, right?" He knew Nobaba was terrified of him, but this was ridiculous, it's hard to believe someone whose literal definition of scaredy cat exists.

Then again, Barem wasn't exactly a normal guy, Miri felt creeped out by him, but scared? Never.

"Yes! Him, he- he wants to let you know to meet him at that Family Burger place tomorrow afternoon." Nobana explained while sweating a little.

"What does he want?"

"He didn't say..." Nobana replied looking at the floor. "He just said it is important."

"...Fine." That nasty feeling became stronger all of a sudden. "Just scram!"

"Y-Yes!" Without any hesitation, Nobana obeyed and ran away, Miri simply watched him, he remembered, that Nobana commented that he joined the church to escape his bullies, but everything went south for him when said bullies joined the church as well, he even had to give them the tour. Despite being a tour guide, Nobana was mostly known as the errand boy, scare him enough and he'll do whatever you tell him to.

Miri sighed heavily while closing the door.

Rubbing his temple, Miri grabbed his blue hoodie and pulled up his hood, he needed air or something else to distract himself. He wasn't an athlete type of guy, but he couldn't deny going for a jog wasn't somewhat enjoyable.

It sure beats being stuck inside.

He made sure nobody was following, he wouldn't hear the end of it if Barem found out about his little escape.

The running wind traveled alongside his skin, nobody was looking his way. It was perfect, at least until. Miri came to a halt, a police car not too far away came into view, and officers were nearby. He couldn't risk it, looking around for an alternative path, there was an alleyway.

Without thinking, Miri continued through there, his feet were fast and steady, he just wanted to get to the other side of this alleyway.

He made a blind turn to the right, the next second, he was met by a red wall and a poster on it.

"The hell!?" His loud voice echoed.

Everybody inside the hallways started to handle things differently. Like Denji, Nayuta, and Miri who continue walking until they find whoever is doing this, of course, with miserable success.

Others like Asa, Yoru, Yoshida, and Fumiko, assess their current situation, yet with the non-existent knowledge they had. Their chances looked slim.

Everything was practically hopeless until an autonomous and gloomy voice sounded through the hallway.

"Everyone is here? Good."

The lights illuminating the hallways started flickering simultaneously for each person.

Denji's heart beat faster with excitement at the anticipation, and Nayuta's grin became a full smile.

Asa's grip on her katana became shakier, Yoru told her to calm down, but it didn't work.

Yoshida stared emotionless at what was happening around him, it was a long time since he made peace with god. Fumiko instinctively grabbed her knife and with her twitching lip, she was going to put into practice what she learned in training, or at least what she remembered.

Miri had a bead of sweat covering his forehead and a firm grasp on his right hand, at any moment he would pull his trigger.

The lights started flickering faster, until they stopped, leaving everyone in the dark, silence engulfed the senses of everyone involved for a full minute. Until someone spoke.

"Come on man! Where are we now?" It was Denji's voice.

"...Denji?" Yoshida said with a subtle hint of surprise.

"Ah!? Yoshida!?"

"Hey don't forget about me!" Fumiko exclaimed.

"What the- Denji, do you know these people?" Nayuta asked while tugging something in the dark thinking it was Denji.

"Uh? Who the hell is tugging me?" Miri spoke with an aggressive tone.

"That voice... Miri?" Fumiko said recognizing the owner of that voice.

"I remember you, you're that public safety bitch from yesterday."

All of a sudden Nayuta felt a hand grabbing onto her head. "Hey, who's touching me!? Hands off!" a familiar scent came across her nose, it was that dog.

"I-I'm sorry, I can't see anything." A nervous Asa apologized. "Who are you guys?"

Denji's heart skipped a beat. "Asa?"

"Denji?"

Yoshida internally sighed in exasperation, the last thing he and public safety wanted was for Asa and Denji to meet again. Asa is war, and Denji is chainsaw, the last time they met, a lot of people died the day the Falling Devil arrived. Before he had hoped that Asa would turn Denji into a weapon, at least then it would be one less headache to deal with.

Now they're here... together, to Yoshida it felt like the universe itself was making his job harder. 'No matter, as long as they don't reveal their real identities it should be fine...' he tried to reassure himself.

In a single second, the lights went on revealing the room they were standing in, the walls were painted in a soft crimson color, and the floor was colored a deep brown, in the center, there was a set of four black couches, two in front and two behind, they were big enough to have three people sat on them.

Although, each couch was facing a screen, a really big screen.

While the layout wasn't exactly the same, everyone in the room simultaneously agreed that it reminded them of a cinema.

Everyone came to a standstill, they looked at each other with obviously mixed reactions, the most prominent being cluelessness and surprise, some of them recognized each other, some didn't, and nobody knew what to say apart from a devilish child.

"Who of you weirdos did this!?" Nayuta exclaimed pointing fingers at everyone.

Miri's eyebrow twitched. "The hell are you calling weirdo? You brat!" then he glanced over at Fumiko. "If anything I wouldn't be surprised if this is some of the Public Safety's bullshit schemes."

Fumiko shakes her head in negation. "Now hold on Sugo, why would you think that? As far as we know this could be one of the church's schemes, you know?"

"Bullshit, if we planned anything like this I would know," Miri said crossing his arms.

"Has it crossed your mind that they wouldn't fill you in? Just a thought, even though this is oddly similar to what happened in the aquarium with Famine.." Fumiko commented giving Miri an amused glance.

"Enough Fumiko." It was Yoshida giving a wary glance to her, then redirected his gaze to the hybrid. "I assure you, Public Safety doesn't have anything to do with this."

"It's doesn't mean a lot coming from another Public Safety kiss-ass." Miri clicked his tongue. "Can you believe this, Denji?" no response. "Denji?"

Asa and Denji stared at each other, it was painfully awkward for Denji, as far as Asa knows, he was just an asshole who stood her up. The least he owes her is an apology. "Heeey Asa," he said with a crooked smile plastered on his face.

With arms crossed and a clear frown on her face, Asa said. "Is that all you have to say after you stood me up?"

"Yes? I-I mean, no! I just wanted to-" Denji felt how someone glared from his back.

"Denji! What did we agree on?" It was Nayuta speaking with a warning tone.

"I'm just gonna apologize, that's all!" Denji pleaded and Nayuta's eyes softened.

"Fine, just no funny business between you and that loser."

Asa's eyebrow twitched at being called a loser by a child, sparing a single glance toward the little girl, she looked her straight in the eyes. Those spiral eyes, they felt familiar... no, it wasn't her feeling this sense of familiarity, it was Yoru. "This brat is..." A sense of realization washed over Asa before Yoru forced her out of her body, and scars appeared on Asa's face, her eyes changed as well. "...Control?"

"Hello, sis..." Nayuta calmy said.

"You look smaller than I remember... did someone finally knock you out of that cloud? Tell me, do you still go by that name? What was it again...? Makima?"

Denji's body went cold. "H-How do you know that name?"

"Shut up boy! Me and my sister are talking."

Nayuta gave Yoru a cold glare before responding. "Don't know who this Makima is, my name's Nayuta, and I'm Denji's sister."

"You and this boy, siblings...?" Yoru said with perplexity in her voice, before bursting out laughing. "Pff... Ha...Ha...Hahahahaha!"

"What's so funny?" Nayuta asked with a scowl.

"Oww... haha, is this what happens when humans laugh for too long, that's so sad. Haha..." Yoru held her stomach while her laugh died down. "I find it funny that you out of all of us, reduced to a mere child, and now with a brother? Let me guess, did you brainwash him? Oh, how mighty Control has fallen."

"Grr, no way, I didn't brainwash him, Denji loves me because of the way I am, isn't that right, Denji? Tell her!" Nayuta reiterated tugging Denji's arm.

"Uh... yes..." Denji lazyly said. 'What the fuck is happening?'

Nayuta continued pointing at Yoru. "It's not like you are any better, being in the smelly loser's body, how's that working out for you?"

Yoru clicked her tongue in annoyance, she was about to make another snide comment until Denji intervened. "Alright, can anyone care to explain to me what is going on!?"

Miri stepped in. "Denji, dude... seriously? You haven't figured it out yet? Mitaka is a devil, to be more specific the war devil."

Denji stared blankly at him before mumbling. "Oh... ah!"

Miri looked perplexed at Denji's calm demeanor. "How can you be so calm?"

"I mean kinda knew that already." Denji's voice fell flat.

Denji's answer caused perplexed reactions among everybody, except for Yoru who looked unimpressed, and Yoshida who felt mostly annoyed. "Wait, Denji since when you knew Mitaka was a devil?" Fumiko asked.

Denji started to reminisce about his date with Asa or the war devil? Honestly, Denji wasn't sure how it worked, was Asa a fiend? He scratched his head. "Uh, after the aquarium date," he answers honestly, back then when Asa touched his head and they both locked eyes, that's when Denji realized, but he chose to ignore it. Probably not for the best.

The scars on Asa's face faded away. "You knew..." she said with a trembling voice. "You could have been in danger, still you asked me out... why?"

"I... had a good hunch," Denji said while scratching his head.

"Denji..." It was Yoshida's cold voice, it sounded colder than usual. "Are you telling us, you already knew that Asa Mitaka was a threat to you and deliberately asked her out on another date?"

"Yes," Denji replied without hesitation. "Why are you on my ass about this anyways? Wasn't you who introduced me to her?"

Yoshida pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Fair enough..."

Miri smirked and Fumiko muffled her chuckle.

"So, you're Nayuta's sister, huh." Denji looked over to Yoru. "What's the deal with you?"

As soon as he said that, the scars came back."None of your business, but I am curious, you are aware that you live with a devil, and your life is in constant danger just for having her around. Then tell me why you keep going with this big brother charade, are you sure she didn't take control of you?" Yoru looked at Denji bleakly.

"She wouldn't." Denji solemnly stated.

"How can you be so sure?"

Nayuta got closer to Denji grabbing his arm, Denji placed it around her. "She's family, do I need any other reason?"

"You can't be serious." It was an irked Miri. "Does Makima still have a hold on you!?"

With gritted teeth, Denji retorted quickly grabbing Miri from the collar. "Piss off! Nayuta isn't like her."

"Yes! Fight! Fight!" Nayuta exclaimed excitedly as a small struggle began between Denji and Miri.

"Mmh... should we do something?" Fumiko murmured to Yoshida, and both of them watched the interaction unfold, Fumiko thought it was fun to watch, but Yoshida, not so much.

"Yes, thanks for reminding me." Yoshida gave her a dry reply, he moved away from his partner, and with a light push, he separated Denji and Miri. "Denji, I believe we have more pressing matters, like finding a way out."

The lights went out alerting everyone, there was only a single light source, the one coming from the screen. "Welcome everyone." text appeared on the screen and the same voice from before covered the entire room. "Do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm."

Everyone shared skeptical looks among themselves and Yoshida dared to ask. "Are you the one who sent us here?"

"Yes, but as I said, nobody is in danger."

"Not very reassuring considering we don't even know where we are, or who are you?" This time it was Asa who returned back to her body. "Are you a devil?"

"I don't have a name, but I'm not a devil. I'm just a mere spectator"

Fumiko raised her hand like a student asking a question. "Hey, while I like your mysterious vibe, could you get on with it?"

"I gotta agree with her on this, you sound like a bad guy in a movie with all this secrecy," Miri added.

"Good point, as for my name you can call me Judge, and don't worry it doesn't have any correlation with me as an individual."

"Riiight..." Nayuta said awkwardly out loud before whispering to Denji. "Hey, Denji, can you tell this guy to let us out?"

"Nayuta, shush" Denji replied.

Yoshida decided to cut in. "Say... a 'mere spectator' wouldn't have the power to bring six people against their will here. What are you?"

"In this room, I am god."

The room suddenly went cold, Asa, Fumiko, and even Nayuta had their hair on end, and Miri had a nervous tick, gladly no one noticed. Yoshida was left confused, and so was Denji who had his mouth lazily open. Yoru, on the other hand, had her interest piqued.

Composing himself, Yoshida continued. "A so-called god brought us here for what exactly?"

"For what reason? Well, to watch a movie."

"Huh!?" Everyone in the room yelled.

"Maybe movie isn't the word, more like a show."

"So, you brought us to watch a show?" Miri frowned. "What's the point of this anyway?"

"That's what I'm getting at, everyone here knows Chainsaw Man, some of you love him, some of you hate him."

Asa looked down with a small blush, Yoru chastised her for it, and Fumiko blew under her breath with animosity.

"I'm pretty sure, everyone here wonders why Chainsaw Man is who he is, why he does the things he does, so that's why I brought you here, to know Chainsaw Man as a person by looking into his past."

There was a pregnant pause as some people went into deep thought. Asa was thrilled, to say the least, for quite some time, she wanted to know who was under that metallic and brute mask of his. Although Yoru thought that by witnessing her archnemesis past, a weakness could be shown to exploit in the latter future, she smirked at the idea.

Fumiko on the other hand wasn't as thrilled as Asa, she couldn't deny that she wanted to know more about Denji, he was supposed to be a teen, so what led him to become like this? At least, the opportunity shows itself, and as tacky as this 'Judge' guy is, she was glad she could watch Denji's life firsthand instead of waiting on some bureaucracy crap.

Miri simply looked bored at the screen, while he wasn't opposed to seeing Denji's past, he wasn't convinced it was worth the effort to sit through everything but chose to keep it to himself. He wanted to get away from the church, even for a little bit.

"What if we don't want to?" Yoshida asked frowning.

"Alright, kids raise your hand if you want to experience absolute cinema."

Asa raised her hand without hesitation whatsoever.

Fumiko did the same prompting a glare from Yoshida, she simply smiled at him.

With heaviness and reluctance, Miri raised his.

"It's a tie..." Yoshida said.

"Actually, Yoru also raised her hand," Asa replied looking over at Yoru who as she said had her hand raised.

"That doesn't count." Yoshida glared at her with coldness.

"It does, Yoru is an entity separated from Asa, well, 'separated' might not be the word but you get the point. Either, way you all are stuck here until I say otherwise."

"Why even ask?" It was Miri with an annoyed look on his face.

"It's funny."

"Hey! Wait a second, me and Denji have pets, they are gonna starve to death if we don't go back!" Nayuta exclaimed heatedly.

"Yeah, what she said!" Denji agreed with the same tone his sister had.

"Don't worry, this place works under time dilation rules."

"Time dila-whaaa?" Denji looked incredulously at the screen. "The hell dude!? You're just making words up."

"It means time passes slower here, you can spend days or weeks inside here, but from the outside, only an hour or two could have passed."

"Aaah... oh," Denji mumbled understanding the explanation before groaning and slomping on a nearby couch. "Aww, man, this sucks!"

"What's wrong, Senpai?" Fumiko asked tilting her head in Denji's direction. "I thought you would be excited, I mean we'll finally get to know how you became Chainsaw Man!"

Denji looked at her lazily. "Eeeeh, kinda? I just don't want to-" 'There are some things I don't want to remember...' a bitter taste formed in his mouth. "It's a breach of my privacy, you know? Not cool man, what if they show me jacking off?"

"Seriously? That's gross!" Miri uttered with a tone of disgust while trying to erase the mental image he just got because of Denji's comment. "You're not going to show us that, are you? Miri asked Judge, but to Miri's dismay, he didn't get an answer.

Nayuta rolled her eyes, and Fumiko giggled.

"Your privacy? This isn't about you, this is about Chainsaw Man." Asa said to Denji not amused, then her eyes fell on Fumiko. "Did he tell you he's Chainsaw Man? Are you dumb enough to believe it?"

"No way! Senpai wouldn't lie!" Fumiko exclaimed dramatically, it didn't leave much point to interpretation, she was messing around.

Asa felt her left eye twitch. "Who are you anyway?"

Fumiko shrugged not looking at Asa and with a totally not suspicious whistle she said. "Oh, I'm just a normal student from Four East High School, and Chainsaw Man's biggest fan."

Asa was about to say something until Judge spoke again.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot. Everyone here knows who Chainsaw Man is except Asa."

At that statement, Asa's eyes went wide as plates, and so did Yoru's. "W-What?"

"Uh oh..." Fumiko muttered under her breath and looked at Yoshida, to her surprise, he looked the same as always, calm and collected.

Fumiko was wrong, dead wrong, Yoshida was seething from the inside as he was witnessing his efforts to protect Denji's identity go right down the gutter.

"I don't see a way I could break it down to you, Asa, so I'm just gonna say it. Denji is Chainsaw Man, there I said it, eat shit Yoshida."

Asa's world came to a halt as she slowly turned her head to see Denji. "You...? You are..."

Denji lifted his shirt, revealing a sole cord on his chest. "I told ya."

"Did you expect me to believe you after that lame-ass reveal!?" Asa exploded reminiscing the first time she met Denji.

"What!? No way!? That was totally natural!" Denji defended himself.

'We had Chainsaw Man all this time in front of us, and those many opportunities we had to kill him, wasted...' Yoru whispered beside Asa, yet oddly enough she sounded calm.

Asa's legs felt wobbly, she was feeling dizzy, she let her body fall on a nearby couch and ran her hand across her face. 'Denji is Chainsaw Man, Chainsaw Man is Denji...' she honestly didn't know what to say or think, whatever feeling Yoru said she had for Denji died when he stood her up, but he's Chainsaw Man, he probably didn't come that day maybe because he was doing Chainsaw Man stuff, like saving people, or something like that, yes that's it.

Being Chainsaw Man takes time out of Denji, the time when he's supposed to be having a normal life and living at peace, Denji sacrifices himself for the sake of others...

'It shouldn't be like that.'

"There you go again, Asa, with that head of yours on the clouds, you're just making excuses for him at this point." Asa looked beside her seeing Yoru who was sitting next to her.

"...Aren't you mad? Denji is Chainsaw Man, I am honestly surprised you didn't take over and try to kill him right now."

"Sounds tempting, yes. Although we are outnumbered, and even if we weren't it doesn't affect our plans." Yoru stated with a small smirk. "What was that human saying? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, yes that one. Getting closer to that Denji boy means getting closer to Chainsaw Man. It will be easier to get him to let his guard down. Admittedly, It'd be harder with Control around, but we can work around it ."

Asa stayed silent before glaring at Yoru."How doesn't affect our plans?"

Yoru spared her host a glance. "Please Asa, I know it doesn't because our feelings haven't changed, I know you're as devoted as you initially were when Fami came to us with that proposition. I know you still want to save him, even when there's the possibility that he doesn't like us back."

Asa looked down at her lap, her hands tightened into fists, she was right, so right it hurt.

"It also helps that you fell in love with the same man, twice may I add."

"Shut up!" Asa exclaimed out loud provoking every eye to fall upon her, they were like vultures, and she simply hugged her legs and hid her face screaming internally.

"Uuuh... is she okay?" Denji asked blankly staring at Asa.

Nayuta shrugged. "Who cares?"

"Now, with that out of the way we should begin, we already wasted enough time as it is."

Asa raised her head showing a blush still present on her face. "Wait, I haven't even processed everything yet!"

"Too bad, you'll have time while you watch this. Now, I believe some of you aren't acquaintances with one another, so let's introduce ourselves. Start with name, age, and profession."

Everybody looked at the screen, clearly not too eager to Judge's proposition.

"Either you guys do it, or I'll do it for you, and don't lie."

With a loud groan, Denji stepped up. "Uh... my name is Denji, I'm seventeen, and..." he gestured toward himself with his thumb and declared proudly "I am Chainsaw Man!" Nayuta approached him and signaled for him to kneel beside her. As he did, Nayuta leaned in and whispered something privately into his ear. "Seriously?" he scoffs while smirking. "Fine.

With one swift movement, Nayuta sat on Denji's shoulder, her brother stood up making Nayuta's high and mighty silhouette stand out more. "My name is Nayuta, I'm one year old, and I'm Denji's sister and the Control Devil!"

"She never changes..." Yoru stated dryly looking at her sister. Even this incarnation of her sister had those high and mighty vibes she used to show, except Nayuta was way more vocal about it.

Asa exhaled heavily and stood up. "My name is Asa Mitaka, I'm sixteen, I study at the Four East Highschool and I'm the face of the Chainsaw Man Church."

Taking over Asa's body, Yoru spoke. "My name is Yoru and I'm-"

"Booo, Yoru" It was Nayuta taunting her sister.

Yoru's eye twitched. "I-"

"Booo, Yoru sucks, booo."

"Boy, I suggest you put her on a leash..." Yoru stared directly at Denji, her tone clearly showed she was running out of patience, Denji nudged Nayuta making her pout. "Good, now like I was saying, I am the War Devil, and I am as old as humanity's fear of war is."

Sighing heavily and with not much enthusiasm Yoshida began. "I'm Yoshida Hirofumi, I'm seventeen as well, and..." he looked to the screen for a moment continuing. "I'm Public Safety Devil Hunter."

"Oh! My turn!" Fumiko announces enthusiastically unlike her partner. "The name's Fumiko Mifune, I'm twenty-two, and I'm a Public Safety Devil Hunter."

"Twenty-two?" Miri gave a cynical smirk to Fumiko. "The hell is a hag doing in a high school? Do you have a fetish or something?"

Fumiko flashed him a brittle smile. "Oh, it's just part of the job," she shrugged away his taunt.

Miri rolled his eyes. "I'm Miri Sugo, I'm seventeen, and part of the Chainsaw Man Church top brass, I am the sword hybrid, I am Sword Man." he introduced himself not beating around the bush.

Fumiko giggled. "Sword Man, really? What are you five? Come on Miri, I know you can come up with something better."

Miri had enough. "You bitch-!" he was about to charge at her, but that's when Judge spoke again.

"Alright, enough, before we begin I'd like to stipulate some rules. First, devil's contracts are prohibited, so everyone here is powerless."

Hearing that statement Nayuta tried to shoot out a chain out of her finger, yet nothing came out. Miri grabbed his right wrist and tried to pull the trigger, but he couldn't, it was like the trigger wasn't there.

"Second, there won't be any pauses while the show is running, I can make exceptions but that's up to me, and thirdly, there's a bathroom right down that corridor behind you, the door is kept closed and only opens when we finish an episode, you can also use it if some of you need some privacy. Lastly, please despite what you witness here, behave yourselves, Am I clear?"

"Yes." Everyone said at the same time, some sounding less interested than others.

"Good, now everyone please take a seat."

Denji and Nayuta sat on the nearby couch on the right, Denji relaxed his legs and spread them a bit while his head rested on his left hand, and Nayuta lay down on the other end resting her legs on her brother's lap, he didn't mind.

Asa and Yoru took the couch directly behind Denji and Nayuta, Asa brought her legs onto the couch and hugged them, on the other end Yoru had her arms crossed as well as her legs.

Miri took the left couch all by himself, his legs stretched out and arms extended and resting on the couch's back.

Yoshida and Fumiko sat behind him, Yoshida sat in an upright posture, and Fumiko had her hands clasped in her lap with her usual smile.

At a moment's notice, everybody had a popcorn bucket and a cup of soda in their hands, the shock hadn't settled in when Judge's sole voice said.

"Denji, ready for a trip down memory lane?

'Fuck no.' Denji almost spat back, but the screen turned dark, and the chapter title showed: A boy and his dog.

The screen showed the point of view of someone walking along a lone dark alleyway, they turned to the left, and it showed a dirty dead-end, only a door with several blank notes was facing them.

Denji sucked up a breath a frown, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, unbeknown to him Nayuta glanced at him with a knowing expression.

She vaguely remembers this from Denji's memories, that door was a testament to the boy's trauma. However, every time she remembered when she got inside his head, a feeling bottled up inside her.

She had used her powers before and used them unapologetically with other kids at her school, but with Denji was different. She actually felt guilty. 'Ugh, what a shitty feeling!'

From behind the brother and sister duo, Asa watched the screen and it made her feel an eerie sense of familiarity, it made her shiver.

They slowly approached the door, their shadow reflected against it, and their hand tried to reach the doorknob while slow but hoarse gasps became louder and louder.

Everyone watched with focus sensing something was about to happen, except for one individual.

"Wait, no!" Fumiko quickly exclaimed and covered her eyes. "A jumpscare is about to happen, isn't it?"

"Fumiko, you're a devil hunter, devil hunters work with devils..." Yoshida dryly trailed off.

"Leave me alone, alright? I've never been good at handling jumpscares." she defended.

Yoshida rolled his eyes, and Miri who watching from a distance smirked.

'Barem was right, Public Safety has gone to shit.'

Before the hand could make contact everything went dark.

"Oooh... that was scary..." Fumiko remarked taking her hand off her eyes.

"Oh, that was something," Miri commented, looking perplexed by the scene.

Fumiko then whispered to her partner."Hey, you think it means something?"

Yoshida observed Denji for a moment, noting his awkward demeanor, before commenting, "Knowing Denji, that's most likely the case."

The female devil hunter grinned. "Good thing we'll get to know him more."

Eyes slowly started to open viewing nothing but a metal sheet ceiling, the camera panned out to someone getting up from a filthy mattress, someone with light hair, and a lump of orange laying beside him.

"I think that's you, senpai!" Fumiko stated plainly.

Miri seized the opportunity to tease her. "Geez, way to state the obvious."

Yoru's gaze locked onto the orange lump, and one of her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

The shots started to focus on how poor and miserable Denji's place was.

"Y-You lived there?" Asa shyly asked Denji.

The boy looked back at her, and with reluctance he replied. "Ah... yeah, it was uh... more comfy than what is shows here."

Miri snorted. "Really? You call that dump comfy?"

Denji simply scowled at him.

"And where are your parents?" Asa had suddenly asked, and she knew she had fucked up when noticed Denji jerk slightly.

Denji didn't look her way, and while staring at the screen he said. "Just keep watching."

"Wow, and to think you have the nerve to call me out for not having this 'tact' you humans comment about," Yoru whispered into her host's ear.

"Shut up!"

The blonde wouldn't dare to say it out loud, but it was oddly nostalgic seeing that shack.

"Better head to work," Denji said with a groggy voice.

Walking in the forest, Denji reached a roadway and followed alongside it, the shot of a nearby town was shown. "It's about 60,000 a month for cutting down threes, right?" the boy talked to himself.

'So, he worked before starting school?' Fumiko thought to herself curiously.

"Then, there's that kidney I sold. That was 1.2 million."

Everyone in the audience went rigid as stone at the statement, except Denji who averted the look everyone gave him, and Yoru who had no sympathy for the boy.

"Sold your kidney...?"

"Why would you?"

Asa asked with horror filled in her voice, and Yoshida as well, despite sounding calmer he couldn't deny that it somewhat shocked him.

The shot switched to Denji's face, focusing on his right eye. "My right eye was 300,000."

Nayuta felt how her teeth gritted.

Fumiko felt a twitch in her right eye.

Then to the lower half. "Sold one of my nuts..." briefly orange short paws were shown walking. "How much was that again? I think... not even 100,000."

Miri looked at the screen in absolute dismay. "Dude... that is just wrong."

Yoshida crossed his legs uncomfortably.

He pulled out a small notebook. "And I still owe... about 38,040,000 yen."

"How could you possibly owe that!? You're just a kid!" Fumiko exclaimed.

"Uuh... I don't know if they gonna show it, but I was in debt with the yakuza... can you just keep watching?" Denji said and that last sounded like pleading, not wanting to talk further than he needed to, Fumiko could see it and she gave in.

A tiny bark came from behind and Denji fixed his gaze on a small canine-like creature, a chainsaw was protruding from the center of its head, a handle emerging out of its body, and with a short tail looking like a chainsaw pulls cord. The creature was hissing with its fur on high alert.

It didn't take a genius to recognize what this creature was, it was dead given.

'Chainsaw?' Nayuta's pupils dilate, this thing was the thing she was unconsciously yearning for, it was a little underwhelming looking at it like this, despite that she still felt drawn to it. Nayuta's hands went cold as she suddenly heard chainsaws roaring inside of her head.

The devil child took Denji's hand and squeezed it, feeling its warmth. Noting the coldness in her hands, Denji whispered. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, just got cold," she replied trying to sound nonchalantly.

Denji gave her a small grin before returning his eyes to the screen, a knot formed in his throat after watching it for a while, his lip twitched, and his eyes crystallized. Looking at Pochita again genuinely filled him with emotion, he hadn't seen him since...

"Crybaby." Denji felt something touch his cheek, it was Nayuta noting his mood, the big brother simply stuck out his tongue to her making his sister pout.

"Aww, it is so cute!" Fumiko giggled like a little girl. "But, it's hard to believe that's chainsaw."

"Looks can be deceiving, especially with devils," Yoshida said with a smile, although, he found it more funny than cute.

Miri simply looked perplexed, thinking that the dog creature was praised by the church.

Asa had a small blush, admittedly she wasn't a dog person, but like that Public Safety woman said, that thing was cute, it could be made into a nice plushie.

"Stop putting those thoughts in me!" Yoru screamed suddenly making Asa flinch.

"Sorry, sorry!" she apologized before asking. "Is this really...?"

"It is, this the Chainsaw Devil...but it's weakened.' Yoru grinned as the sight of her nemesis reduced to this just like she was, to nothing more than a pet to that Denji boy.

"I heard ya, Pochita," Denji said with a smile closing his notebook. "Let's kill this thing already."

'He even named him?' Yoru frowned.

"A dead devil's usually good for about 300,000..." Denji walked over to a building wall while holding Pochita like a chainsaw. He pulled Pochita's cord, and the blade started revving, crouching and hiding behind a destroyed wall, Denji observed the Tomato Devil. "Devil hunting pays the best!" the devil looked directly at the camera.

The chainsaw withdrew out the devil's recently carved flesh, and Denji wiped the sweat out of his forehead. "That it'll be the Tomato Devil," he announced standing on top of the devil's carcass. "He'll revive from the seeds, so you might wanna burn them."

"Tomato Devil, really?" Miri scoffed. "Who in their right mind would be scared of a tomato?"

"Dummy," Nayuta retorted. "Devils are not only born of fear but negative emotions as well." Miri shot her an annoyed glance.

"So that also counts for people who are allergic to tomatoes, right?" Asa chimed in, earning a nod from Nayuta.

"Being allergic to tomatoes? Damn, that sucks. That means those people can't eat pizza. That's fucked up," Denji commented.

"Yep," Nayuta hummed in agreement.

A short old man approached wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora. "Nice work, Denji." he complimented the boy, revealing his face the old man had a long white beard and wearing glasses. "This carcass will bring a fair price in the black market. I'll pay you 400,000."

Denji's expression brightened. "Thank you very much!"

"After what you owe and interest, that leaves 170,000. So after the finder's fee, the admin fee, management cost, and so on..." With each passing word that came out of the old man's mouth, the brightness on the boy's face faded away.

"Geez, that old fart really knew how to take the joy out of a hard day's work," Miri said.

Denji nodded. "You have no idea..."

"That only us with a measly 70,000," Denji said opening a small envelope with his pay and walking through the town street. "After the water bill and other stuff, I owe..." A heavy sigh follows, with Pochita walking beside him. "Funny how that works. I only got 1,800 yen left. No food at home, so this gotta last us for one month... Pochita looks like dinner is gonna be a slice of bread."

"You had a water bill to pay on that dump?" Miri asked incredulously.

"They made me pay for it, and the tap barely even worked," Denji complained.

Denji continued walking passing by a grey car, and from the inside, he was being watched. Inhaling a cigarette, the yakuza goon casually asked the old man sitting behind him. "Why hire a brat like him to hunt devils?"

The old man raised his head slightly and said. "He's paying us what he owes us. Well, technically, it was his deadbeat old man's debt."

'So, it isn't his own debt? That... sad' Asa thought grimly.

"And a kid with a pet devil can get the job done?"

"The thing about real devil hunters is... they don't easily hand over a devil carcass to the yakuza." The old man explained. "Besides, the good thing about Denji is that he does whatever he's told."

The car suddenly drove up to Denji, only stopping next to him. "Hey, dog!" the yakuza called out from the driver's seat while holding up the cigarette. "I'll give you 100 yen if you eat this cigarette." he proposed with a slimy grin.

"What a prick!" Nayuta spat.

"For real?" Denji said with the enthusiasm of a child. "Well, don't mind if I do." with that the boy grabbed the cigarette and placed it into his mouth seemingly swallowing it.

"Have you asked for help?" Asa asked earning a soft glare from Denji. "Police, or even normal people of that town, surely they would have-"

"They wouldn't." The blonde cut her up. "Everyone in that town knew I was in deep shit with the yakuza, so they knew to stay away from me... they didn't even look at me, I was practically invisible to them..."

Asa felt like something punched her in the gut.

"It doesn't help that yakuza gangs have contacts anywhere," Yoshida added.

The yakuza driver laughed to his face, and from the passenger's seat, the old man warned. "We'll be in touch if there's another devil. Try to run away, and you're pig slop." the yakuza tossed the bill toward Denji who fumbled with it for not wanting to drop it, and then he drove away leaving Denji and Pochita alone.

Denji looked back at the car with a toothy smile, before sticking out his tongue revealing the cigarette sitting on it. "Blah." he kneeled and threw the nicotine away, and patted Pochita. "That'll keep us for another three days."

"He's smart, I'll give him that," Yoru commented.

Fumiko giggled in the background.

At the dingy old cabin, Denji was inside partially reclined against a wooden pallet, Pochita sat in between Denji's legs biting on a slice of bread his friend was holding. "The other day I heard... that normally, people just put jam on their bread, before eating it. Normal it's just a dream for us, though."

Denji took a small bite out of the bread himself and said. "Probably gonna die without having a girlfriend, too. Not like I could invite a girl into this dump, anyway." he put the slice down. "No money to go on dates, either." Pochita gave him a sad look and whimper.

Asa unconsciously tightened her fists, Yoru noted that and rolled her eyes.

The boy turned his head to the window reflecting the droplets of rain pouring down. "If I could have a dream come true... I at least wanna score with a girl before I die."

"Pretty reasonable," Miri said before a sly grin came to his lips. "You know you could have gotten all that and more if you joined the church, right?"

"Piss off, I ain't joining your cult of weirdos!" the blonde spat back.

Yoshida watched the interaction with a smirk.

A flash of white engulfed the screen, and with that came a change of scenery, now there was a rainy landscape covered in grass with a single, there was a small boy looking down at a grave and a car next to him, and from the driver's seat the old man spoke. "Bastard hung himself before paying this month's installment first."

Everybody looked grimly at the little boy on the screen.

Denji did not take his eyes off the grave. "Boy, you got until tomorrow to put up 700,000 together. You can beg for it, whore yourself out, I don't care. Just get it done. Otherwise, we'll chop you up and sell your bits." the old man drove away leaving his cruel warning very clear.

If Nayuta could, she would jump into the screen and beat the living shit out of that old man, a sentiment shared by Asa. 'How dare he say something like that to a child?!' she thought indignantly.

The boy was left alone not knowing what to do, until a revving sound caught his attention, looking behind him Denji spotted Pochita coming out behind the three with a clear threatening expression. "A chain- chainsaw?" startled, the boy tumbled backward onto the ground. "A devil..." he looked to Pochita before closing his eyes resigned. "If you're gonna kill just do it, I'm dead either way."

The audience leaned in closer, intrigued.

"I see, so this is how they meet," Yoshida remarked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Nothing happened, Denji opened his eyes just to meet the sight of Pochita lying in front of him showing its gushing wound. "It's hurt...? You're gonna die too?"

Yoru cackled inside of Asa's head, seeing this sight was just priceless to her. "Take that you little prick!"

Awkwardly, Asa looked beside her. "You did this?"

"Of course, that kind of wound was made by the finest of weapons, unfortunately, it cost me the Lance Devil." Yoru clicked her tongue.

"But you couldn't finish him off?"

Asa's comment added to Yoru's frustration. "He escaped!" then she averted her eyes to Nayuta. "Because of her!"

"Your sister? What did she do?" Asa asked quietly.

"I had him, groveling on the ground with his torso spilled open and guts scattered around, and what Control does? She controlled my weapons, knife, lance, maze, axe, and hammer turned against me, and took me by surprise, Chainsaw Man got up and started feasting on my body, Control simply smiled while watching... I managed to fight back and got out barely alive, but my body was reduced to almost nothing." Yoru explained.

"But why...?" Asa's voice trailed off, filled with confusion and disbelief.

Yoru sighed heavily, the weight of her memories evident in her voice. "Control always had this sickening infatuation with Chainsaw... she believed that she could create a better world with him at her side. She always thought she was better than us just because she thought she had a 'clear mission.' And you want to know what was the worst part?" She paused, her gaze distant. "She never held a grudge against us. She always pitied us. To her, we were below her. She looked down on me and Fami, and even..." Yoru's voice trailed off.

"Yoru...?" Asa's voice was soft, filled with concern.

Yoru shook her head. "Forget it, let's just keep watching..."

"Okay..." Asa replied, sensing Yoru's discomfort and deciding not to push further.

The boy stared at the devil, and suddenly the image of Denji's father with a rope around his neck flashed in his mind, and it made his eyes widen.

'They practically look the same...' Yoshida thought, along with some others.

"Bite me!" said Denji holding out his forearm. "I heard drinking blood can heal a devil. If you don't wanna die then bite me!"

Weakly Pochita stood up and approached the kid with a cautious look, when it got close Pochita sank its fang into Denji's flesh making the boy wince. "My blood is not free, though. This is a deal! I'll help you... so you help me, I realize I don't wanna die anymore..."

"This is surprising..." Yoshida said honestly. "Devils don't do these types of deals unless they're desperate."

"I agree with that boy, especially when it means to be some sort of pet to a human," Yoru commented to Asa.

"I wanted to live, Pochita wanted to live, I don't see how's that surprising," Denji said with a scowl.

"Only weaklings resort to that, prideful devils like my loser sister would rather die than be saved by a human," Nayuta added.

Asa looked at Yoru. "She's not wrong...'

"Shut up!"

In a narrow alleyway at dusk, a small devil carcass fell on the ground, the old man and two other yakuza behind him looked with expressionless faces, it was Denji holding up his new partner like an actual chainsaw. "Why don't you hire me as a devil hunter?" he proposed with sweat and a determined look on him.

Nayuta giggled a little. "You used him as a chainsaw? That's funny!"

Denji caressed his sister's head. "We were the best duo, those suckers could ever hope for."

Miri watched the scene with a strange look on his face. When he thought about it, hybrids are usually born as a government pet project of any country that can afford a devil's heart, but what he was witnessing, the relationship between Denji and Chainsaw looked mutual.

'Chainsaw must have some plans behind Denji's back...'

Denji woke up hugging a sleeping Pochita, he shifted over facing the ceiling, and murmured. "Too hungry to sleep. When I can't sleep, I start thinking about money, and it makes it even harder for me to sleep." his words made Pochita wake up, and his friend simply crawled onto Denji's chest looking down at him with a smile. "I know what dream I wanna have when I sleep." Denji placed his hands behind his head. "Gonna put some jam on my bread, and share it with ya."

"Then flirt with a girl... I'll play video games with her, and sleep hugging each other." the blonde looked directly at Pochita with a sharp smile. "Sound sweet, doesn't it?"

"Aww, that's pretty sweet, you know Denji, any girl would be pretty lucky to have you as their boyfriend." Fumiko looked at Denji.

"Ah... thanks," Denji mumbled with a blush while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Although, Fumiko noticed how Nayuta was looking at her, with those dead spiral eyes of hers. She gulped.

Asa couldn't shake the sense of jealousy out of her chest.

Yoshida thought thoroughly and reached his own conclusion. Denji, someone born in extreme poverty wanted to dream of mundane things anyone could afford, anyone but him. The sole lack of these simple things most likely messes up with his perception of what 'normal' is, his lack of education doesn't help either.

Give him all these basic things, and he's happy, like a dog. The parallels are so similar it's uncanny.

Yet, Yoshida couldn't understand why Denji was disobeying him, he even told him to come to him if he needed anything, instead, Denji just went out of his way to make his job harder. So, thy Denji wanted more?

'I suppose a dog can't stay still forever.'

Pochita simply replied with an excited bark, slowly Denji's face started to turn more strained, and he suddenly sat coughing hard on his hand, drops of blood tainted the already filthy mattress, shocked Denji saw the palm of his hand covered in blood, making Pochita bark in concern. "Y'know, I heard my mom died from a heart disease that made her cough up blood..." he stated wiping the remaining blood off his mouth.

'This guy can't catch a break, huh?' Miri thought with arms crossed over his chest.

Some people in the audience gasped, most notably. Asa and Fumiko.

A few loud knocks came from the door, and a voice said. "Got a devil for you, Denji. Time to work." it was the old man.

The old drove alongside the empty streets at night, Denji looked out the window reflecting his bleak expression. 'Wish they'd at least let me dream...' The car drove along the road until they reached the outskirts of an old abandoned warehouse. Once inside, Denji asked while holding Pochita. "There's a devil in here, huh?"

Asa's eyes slowly widen at a sudden realization. "That warehouse... isn't that where-"

"Where they take us from? Yes... I knew that stench was familiar, Chainsaw was there." Yoru stated.

"Chainsaw Man was there? So, that means..." Asa returned her eyes to the screen with nervousness.

He got no response, he pressed again. "I don't see anything, you think it's hiding?"

Nothing came out of the old man's mouth. "Or maybe it already left?"

"It's an ambush..." Yoru stated making Asa shiver.

A few silent steps later, the elder man stopped walking and so did the boy behind him. "Denji, my boy..." he began. "We're pretty grateful to you, you know?"

"Is that so...?"

An eerie feeling started bubbling up among the watchers.

"This feels like the beginning of a slasher film," Yoshida mused.

Fumiko almost felt the urge to shout 'Run!' at the Denji on the screen but refrained, realizing it would be embarrassing.

"You're loyal as a dog and work cheap like one, too. The only problem is I can't stand the stench." Denji was suddenly jostled from behind, to his horror he looked behind to see a zombie had stabbed him on the back with a katana, skewering him and Pochita together, both of them coughed blood.

Asa recoiled at the scene, a gut-wrenching feeling creeping over her. Yoru couldn't help but smirk at Chainsaw getting impaled.

Yoshida remained as rigid as stone, though his eyes widened slightly in surprise. Fumiko gasped in horror at the scene.

Miri winced, his expression darkening into a frown.

Denji watched the screen with a pained expression, his hand gently patting his chest.

But it was Nayuta who was the most vocal, not hesitating to yell out, "You fuckin prick!"

Denji grabbed her by the shoulders and with a soothing tone he said. "Calm down, Nayuta, that happened a long time ago anyways." he then flashed his shark-like teeth. "Also, we haven't even reached the best part!"

The little sister looked at him with a frown and thought about what her brother said. "The best part?"

"It'll be cool, I promise," Denji reassured her, making her calm down for good, and with reluctance she glued her eyes back to the screen.

"Even the yakuza think about getting bigger and making more money, kid." the old man continued as a tendril reached out to him and lifted him off the ground. "So, like you, we made a deal with a devil." a giant shadow behind him started becoming more noticeable. "We wanted demonic power..."

"And I want devil hunters..." a distorted voice made itself known, and out of the dark shadows came a floating giant limbless torso without a head, a human-like face to the right side of its torso, its organs were hanging with multiple tentacles, and a horde of undead beneath it. "Dead!"

Denji gasped in shock and horror.

"You know, little devil hunter, these guys are dumb as hell. Total suckers!" the devil began to explain as the horde slowly approached the bleeding boy. "I offer them a bit of demonic power, and they offer me to become my slaves... Even though the power turned them into zombies. You see, I'm the Zombie Devil."

Miri chuckled a bit. "He's not wrong though, fuckers didn't think this one through, didn't they?"

Asa looked intensively at the screen with arms crossed. "They got what they deserve."

Denji smiled to himself and said. "Oh, they're gonna get a lot more."

Denji struggled to get up. "And I hate devil hunter because you go around killing devils, so I'm gonna kill you. Boys, kill him and toss his bits in the trash." the devil gave the order and the zombies followed.

"Fuck!" panicking Denji managed to get up and run away with zombies chasing behind him, he still coughed blood, and some zombies blocked the path in front of him so he turned right. "How do I get out of here!?" right in front of him there was a door with an exit sign on top, his eyes widened with the tiniest glimmer of hope, and he knocked down a nearby locker making a zombie trip, but it didn't slow the rest of the horde down.

Fumiko's heart was beating fast due to suspension. "Come on, come one..." she mussed to herself

Yoshida looked at her and sighed, it was obvious where this scene was going, his partner was just deluding herself.

He coughed again holding Pochita tightly, eventually a zombie caught up to him and tried to grab him, but Denji swayed the arm away. "Let go!" the zombie swung the rusty machete he was holding and slashed the boy making him trip.

Denji looked helpless, and soon enough the other zombies caught up to him sinking their knives right into the boy's flesh, an agonizing scream echoed around the warehouse.

The female devil hunter couldn't hold it anymore. "No! You were so close!" she exclaimed gaining a few glares which she chose to ignore, although, Denji appreciated the sentiment behind it.

Denji felt a hard squeeze on his hand, it was Nayuta who was holding onto it and looked visibly tense, he squeezed her hand back and she relaxed.

Asa may not have said it out loud, but she agreed with that woman, Denji was so close, if only...

"Are you trying to fool yourself, Asa?" Yoru suddenly said glaring at her host. "No matter how you looked at it, that boy was dead anyway."

Asa said nothing, her hands were cold and the screams weren't making it any better, she gulped and without anyone looking, she covered her ears. Unfortunately, it did not make the screams go away, they just sounded muffled.

'It's not like I'm asking for much...' he tried to reach out... something, a futile effort as his hand got stabbed into the ground. 'All I want is a normal life! Is that too much to ask?' the zombies started pilling up on Denji.

Asa's lip twitched, it was getting harder to hold back her tears.

Under the moonlight, the shot focused on a trash bin, and inside there was Denji's mutilated body, his limbs scattered like everyday trash along with Pochita who was cut in half. On the commissures of Denji's mouth, a single drop of blood made its way down through the trash and into Pochita's mouth, the devil barely managed to open its half-dead eyes, and a flashback played.

"You can't..." Yoru muttered just loud enough for Asa to hear.

"Yoru...?" Asa asked meekly looking at the war devil, she looked pissed off.

"You can't die like this, you little orange fuck!" Yoru snarled completely taking Asa aback. "The only one who gets to kill you is me! And only me!"

Apparently, Asa wasn't the only one getting emotional.

"Pochita!" A voice was calling. "Pochita, it's time to work." it was shirtless Denji presumably waking his friend up.

Amidst the quiet of the forest, the piercing whir of a chainsaw stood out, the shot focused on Denji as he wielded Pochita like an actual chainsaw against a single tree, and with a solid kick, the wood went down.

And there they were, Denji and Pochita were sitting on top of a log pile while the boy was feeding his friend a single slice of bread, the devil looked happy as it chewed on it. "Pochita, there's a good chance I might die fighting a devil." Denji started speaking with a soft tone. "My only regret would be leaving you on your own."

Denji's shoulders slumped in sadness, Pochita technically wasn't on his own anymore but sometimes it felt like he was, they had not talked to each other for so long. Although, if they did what would Pochita say?

'I haven't been living my best life exactly, but it's a normal one... kinda. Would Pochita be happy?' He looked at Nayuta. 'Well... I'm happy with how things are now, even with everyone on my ass, this is what I wanted...'

His heart aches for some reason.

"You might end up starved, or a devil hunter could kill you..." Pochita simply looked intently at Denji with its smile, the blonde looked up at the blue sky and continued. "I've heard that devils can take over dead bodies. So, if you can do that then... I want you to take my body."

"The yakuza won't be on your ass if you wait until I've been buried, right? And then, you could move out of here... and then..." Denji turned his head to Pochita with its tail wagging. "I want you to live a normal life, and die a normal death." Pochita brightened up at what Denji said, and the boy grabbed it and held it up with a smile. "You gotta make my dream come true."

Fumiko frowned. 'A devil living a normal life... sounds ridiculous...'

A solitary drip of blood traversed the length of the chainsaw's chain, a chain that was slowly reattaching Denji's limbs—veins wrapped around Denji's chest, fusing him with Pochita.

Denji opened his eyes, he found himself cramped inside a trash bin with Pochita right in front of him. "Pochita?" he asked and Pochita responded with a gleeful woof, a smile formed on Denji's face. "Did you take my body like I said?"

Pochita stared at Denji without saying anything, until. "I always loved hearing you talk about your dreams, Denji." the devil spoke and it took Denji by surprise. "Here's the deal, I'll give you my heart... and in exchange I want you to show me your dreams."

Miri raised an eyebrow. "So, just like that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Suddenly Denji replied defensively.

"I mean, a boy meets a devil, and they become best friends, one dies and the other sacrifices his life to save him. Man, sounds out of a manga, don't you think?" Miri stated humorously.

"Fuck you." Denji spat back dryly.

"I don't think that's just it..." Asa cut in looking down at her lap. "Denji and Pochita's friendship goes deeper. The only thing they have is nothing but each other, Denji's life seems isolated, and it looks like Pochita is the only meaningful connection Denji... it puts into perspective what are they willing to give for each other, it's sweet and kinda poetic at the same time."

The room went silent, Asa hated the silence.

Every eye was on her right now, looking at her weirdly even Yoru was part of it, and as quickly as she could she stammered. "O-Or maybe, I'm just reading too much into it!"

However, a thought crossed Asa's mind while watching the screen. "Am I doing the right thing by wanting them to separate?" she glared at Denji for a brief moment.

"Does it matter?" Yoru cut in sharply. "Now, now, Asa, no second thoughts."

"But... he at least deserves to know..."

"Are you really willing to risk our plans out of pity? I can't believe you." Yoru sigh. "Go ahead, we'll see how he'll react, will he be mad? I don't know, after all, we're just trying to rip his heart out."

Asa gulped and looked down at her thumb, she hadn't thought about it. How would Denji react?

Denji jerked his eyes open and bolted upright from the trash bin. "Pochita!" breathing heavily and sweating profusely, he scanned his body. "No wounds?" surprise was shown in his tone as he spoke to himself, his focus shifting to the cord dangling from his chest. A sudden flashback flashed through his mind of Pochita bounding happily, the cord trailing from the place where its tail had been. "Pochita...?"

His words didn't go unnoticed, the horde of zombies shifted their focus on Denji. Even the Zombie Devil was taken aback by Denji's sight. "What's this? You're alive even after being sliced up? Gross! I seriously hate devil hunters." the rotten devil exclaimed in disgust before ordering its pawns. "Guys go ahead and eat him." the zombies slowly dragged their feet toward him.

'These guys had plenty already, so why'd they want even more? Am I the same?' Denji began to ponder. 'I wasn't satisfied with the happiness I had with Pochita. I kept dreaming about having a better life.'

Yoshida inwardly chuckled and gazed at the blonde boy. 'How ironic...'

'I guess we all dream about stuff like that, huh? Then I can't blame ya. I won't but...' Denji's voice was raised as he brought his hand closer and closer to the cord. 'If you get in our way, then...' Suddenly a flood of images passed through his mind. 'You'll die!' firmly Denji finally pulled the cord.

Denji smiled and announced. "And here comes the best part."

The audience leans in closer with intrigued gazes, it is obvious what will happen, but how it will play out, is another story.

The zombies closed in on Denji, tackling the boy and more undead started pilling up on him. "He's bound to stay dead after being eaten." the zombie devil stated as the sounds of munching and groaning filled the air and for a moment that was all that could be heard. Suddenly, a loud buzzing noise filled the air, causing the devil to glance at the heap in confusion.

Suddenly, the zombies were cut in half from the waist, and their limbs and blood were scattered in the air. A savage roar came out as a figure with jagged long metal teeth and a head shaped like a demonic helmet painted in orange with a black chainsaw handle at the back it stood on the undead with his three chainsaws buzzing the loudest.

It was unmistakable. Chainsaw Man was born.

"Yes! Fuckin finally!" Nayuta cheered.

Fumiko giggled. "We were due for an action scene."

"Yeah, it was getting boring with this sob story," Miri added gaining a glare from Denji.

Asa must admit that moving out of the depressing scene was a breath of fresh air. Her puffy eyes were glad.

The devil looked at the hybrid completely baffled. "What are you!? Did that devil runt take over your body!? That means you're one of us!"

Without any warning, and with extreme force and speed Denji jumped straight for the devil, as soon as he got close enough he aimed for the left eye, sinking his chainsaws Denji giggled and the devil screamed in pain as its eye was getting torn out.

Cheers broke out, and unsurprisingly Nayuta was the loudest. "Rip him apart!" Denji couldn't help but laugh at his little sister's enthusiasm.

"Whoooo!" Fumiko clapped excitedly.

Yoshida quietly studied Chainsaw Man.

Denji gruesomely expelled the eye from its socket, a gory spectacle that left the devil reeling. With a swift motion, one of its tendrils snaked out, ensnaring the hybrid and hurling him against an iron column. Denji crashed to the ground with a pained groan. "Ouchie..." he muttered, only to be met by the approach of a burly zombie wielding a rusted metal pipe. With a resounding thud, the pipe struck Denji's metallic head, causing it to jerk sharply to the right and emit sparks, yet leaving not a scratch on its surface.

The hybrid looked at the burly zombie and his eyes shined through his metallic head, with one move Denji pierced the zombie through the chest with one of the chainsaws on his arms, two more zombies approached him, and he made quick work of them by slicing them up.

The Zombie Devil grabbed two zombies and threw them in Denji's direction. "Stay away!" it said with desperation.

"Some devils aren't as fearful as some make it out to be," Yoshida commented.

Miri laughed. "Hehe, he's throwing them like turds."

The corpses landed on the boy, but he shoved them away. "Move!"

More flying zombies came his way, along with the desperate cries of the devil. "Stay back! Back! Get away!"

"Pathetic excuse for a devil, only small fries beg," Yoru said amusingly.

"Stay away! Don't do it!" the devil's efforts were futile as Denji sliced the rotten bodies before they could even hit him. "Don't come near me!"

Denji plowed through the zombies like a madman, slicing and dicing his way to the target. He soared over the undead with a jump, heading straight for the Zombie Devil. "Die!" the devil screeched, throwing a tentacle at Denji in a desperate attempt to stop him. But Denji just shrugged it off, slicing the tentacle like it was nothing. Closing in fast, he didn't give the devil a chance to react before burying his blades in its skull.

"Yes! Cut that fucker in half!" Nayuta exclaimed hyped.

Yoshida eyed her, and Fumiko frowned nervously and whispered. "She's a bit rowdy, isn't she?"

Yoshida shrugged in response. "Devils can't hide their sadistic nature..."

The devil let out a piercing scream of agony as Denji drove his chainsaws deeper into its skull. With a final twist, the devil's body split in half and crashed to the ground. The chainsaws whirred to a stop, and the zombies froze in their tracks. Covered in blood, Denji surveyed the scene in silence before speaking. "Looks like you went all out devil mode, huh?" he remarked, glancing around at the groaning carcasses. "Well, you hired me to be a devil hunter, didn't you?"

Everyone liked where this was going.

"So, I better kill all the devils, right!?" Denji pulled the cord again, the chainsaws started revving and the boy began to slice the zombies left and right. "Oh yeah! Once I'm done with you guys, I won't owe a damn thing!" Denji's maniacal laughter echoed as keep carving the rest of the zombies.

"About time," Miri commented with a grin. "Justice has been made."

"Shame they are just brainless zombies, wish I could hear them scream in pain," Nayuta added.

Fumiko couldn't help but ask Denji. "What have you been teaching her?"

"Ah, well, anything that's on the educational channel." the blonde replied awkwardly.

The sun rose behind the mountains, and the sunrays eventually reached the warehouse and so did a black car parking nearby, three individuals wearing black trenchcoats and pants came out and approached the scene. Out of these three, only one stood, a red-haired woman.

Miri gritted his teeth at the sight of the woman, and with all the venom he could spew out, he growled. "This bitch..."

Denji sat straight, and his eyes brightened, everything came back in and flooded his mind. The time he touched her breast, the lollipop kiss, the theater date... he felt, happy? Is this how he was supposed to feel? He didn't hate Makima, she gave him everything he dreamed of, yet after everything she had done to him, there wasn't even a grudge against her he could hold, nothing... and the mere image of her simply made him feel contented.

Even if he thought about...

The smell of gunpowder.

A birthday cake plastered on the floor.

His skin turned noticeably sickly pale, and he felt lightheaded. 'Oh god, how long until this shit is over...?' he inwardly said while touching his forehead, his brain was feeling like mush.

Miri took notice with pressed lips, and for once he sympathized. "Dude, you okay?" he asked Denji.

Denji completely taken aback, stammered. "I-I... it's just... it's just odd, you know? Seeing her again..."

Miri nodded. "I get what you mean." 'Can't wait to see this bitch getting what she fuckin deserves.'

A worried Asa watched the interaction, her eyes fixed on Denji. "Looks like Control made quite the impression on those two," Yoru said. "Not surprising, she always prided herself in using other people."

"What does that mean, Yoru?"

"Out of my sisters, Control was the cruelest," Yoru stated, Asa gulped and inevitably looked at Nayuta.

Once inside, the red-haired spoke. "Someone else got here before us." she looked over the dead bodies before locking her eyes on Denji who standing there without any reaction.

"Is this-" Fumiko was about to ask, but her partner beat to it.

"The woman that was almost wiped out Public Safety a year ago? Yes, this is Makima." Yoshida stated analyzing the scene.

"She's pretty..." Fumiko whispered with a slightly bewildered tone.

"I know, personally I'm glad I didn't interact with her, otherwise I would have been under her thumb," Yoshida said honestly. 'I can thank Kishibe for that.'

"There's one alive." one of her escorts remarked.

She didn't respond, she simply walked up to Denji. "Uh, you smell strange. Not like a human or a devil." giving Denji a faint smile she sideglance him. "I take you did this, right?"

A weary Denji lifted his head, almost toppling backward. He barely managed to mumble, "H-Hug me..." His body didn't hit the ground, as Makima fulfilled his request.

The helmet started to melt away alongside the chainsaw, only to reveal Denji's bewildered face. "He's human," Makima stated softly.

"Any chance he's possessed?" the other escort suggested.

"Not at all, I can tell who's possessed with a look at their faces," Makima replied and kneeled her and Denji down. "I came here to kill the Zombie Devil. I am a devil hunter with Public Safety." then she carefully rested Denji's head on her lap and continued. "You have two options: I can kill you as a devil, or I can keep you as a human. If I keep you I'll make sure you're well fed."

Nayuta quietly watched Makima, this is her... she's the reason why Denji shifts while he's asleep,

She's the reason why he sometimes wakes up with a scream and a cold sweat,

She's the reason why sometimes Nayuta finds Denji looking at nowhere for a long time, and who knows how long would he still do that if she didn't intervene

She's the reason she found Denji crying silently over a suit...

She's the very same reason why Denji is so messed up...

Nayuta made her mind, she despises Makima.

Denji stared at her with eyes wide open and for a moment he looked over the rotten carcasses he left, he looked back at Makima. "When you say that... like, what's for breakfast?"

Makima pitched her chin and looked up. "Bread with butter and jam, salad, coffee... maybe a dessert, I think?" she glances at the boy with mild curiosity.

Denji looked in awe. "That sounds awesome."

"And that would be a wrap for today's episode."

Judge's voice made itself known as the screen went dark, and the room lit up.

"Y'all get a one-hour break, you can do whatever you want in the meantime. Also, the bathroom is open in case anyone wants to use it. I'll see you guys later."

There was a silent pause for a few moments making it clear Judge wasn't with them for now, Miri stood up and began to stretch while looking at Denji. "That's quite the fucked up backstory, no offense intended," he remarked casually.

Denji shrugged and grunted. "None taken..." he honestly couldn't be mad, Miri was telling the truth, although, while he was watching it, he didn't think it was that fucked. Seeing everything again felt normal, just plain old normal. 'Shit... what does that say about me?' he thought in a small moment of self-awareness that creep in.

"But, I gotta say, why did you just stand there the whole night after you killed those dumbasses?"

"Ah..." Denji awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Not entirely sure... by the time I was done with those guys, I was exhausted, and may or may not passed out."

Yoshida butt in. "Yes, Denji had a tragic life... I can understand where he comes from now, at least now these days it's certainly better."

Denji raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... I mean, can't get any worse."

"With that heart of yours, who knows?"

Miri gritted his teeth. "Woah, Denji, you weren't kidding you said this guy was on your ass, I know you guys keep him from becoming Chainsaw Man."

Yoshida simply glared at Miri. "That's how it should be, Denji doesn't need to suffer anymore, we can provide him with the life he dreams of, as long as he does what he's told."

Denji stayed silent.

Miri continued. "Should he deserve more? Didn't he save Public Safety a year ago? The least you fuckers could do is give him a break. All of you aren't better than Makima, and she was an actual devil for fuck sake!"

Their banter continues, the words coming out of their mouth were nothing but fuel for each other.

Denji wasn't having it anymore. "Will you two shut the fuck up?"

Denji closed the bathroom door and with a click he locked it, looking around the bathroom looked pretty sanitized, the floor was reflecting the lightbulbs on the ceiling, he could actually eat out of the floor and not get sick, probably.

To his right stood five stalls, their dark wood contrasting with the otherwise bright surroundings. Opposite them, on the left side, a long trough sink rested upon a marble countertop, accompanied by a large mirror reflecting back at him.

"It's a good thing that Judge guy didn't forget about toilet paper," said Nayuta coming out of one stall. "You wanted to talk about something, right?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk without any of those asses talking like I'm not there."

"So, what's this about?" Nayuta asked intrigued.

Denji paused for a moment, there wasn't any way he could sugarcoat this, and he sighed. "Nayuta... do you remember anything?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, do you remember anything about your previous incarnation?" he asked this time carefully.

Nayuta stared blankly at him before responding. "Dummy, once devils die their personalities and memories die as well."

"I suppose you're right... I was curious I guess." Denji awkwardly looked at the floor.

"Is this about that Makima lady? Did she hurt you?" Nayuta suddenly asked.

Denji gulped. "I-" If there was someone he could be honest for, it was Nayuta. "Yes, she hurt me... a lot." to say was an understatement.

"Are you mad at me?" Nayuta tightens her fists.

"Why are you asking that?"

"I am Control, and she was my previous incarnation, I'd understand if you-"

"Nayuta, stop, just no..." Denji kneels to her level. "I want to make clear that no matter what you watch, you'll always be my little sis, and I would never be mad at you."

The little devil's lip twitched, and in a second she hugged Denji. "And why is that?"

Denji chuckled and hugged her back. "Because I love you."

With a cheeky smile and chirping tone, she said. "Ding-Dong! Correct!"

"Sorry if I made you upset." the big brother apologized.

"I'll let this one slide, just this one."

Brother and sister were about to leave the bathroom, but when Denji opened the door, he was met by the sight of a feminine figure waiting just outside.

Nayuta growled. "What do you want?"

"Asa?" Denji didn't expect her at all.

"Hi, Denji..." Asa greeted shyly. "Could I talk to you?"

At the back of Asa's head, Yoru was screaming in rage.

Autor's Notes:

This is something I wanted to do for a while, I don't think I ever came across a CSM reaction fic, so I did one myself, there might be inconsistencies with some characters, especially with Fumiko and Miri (With Miri we barely know him, and just don't understand Fumiko's character.) Hopefully in future chapters, we get more of them, if not then they might as well be OCs.

~Please review.