Several camera clicks echoed out in silence as a girl with a built-in camera quirk took photos of the horrific scene. The crowd of a few bystanders tried peeking in to see what was in the alleyway, but more police officers stood by to let no one see the scene.

"Jesus, I swear that this looks like something out of a horror movie." A man with short-black hair and somewhat rectangular eyes said disgustingly as he squatted to get a better look at the crime scene. It was certainly one of the more gruesome scenes he had seen in his day, that's for sure. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he imagined the explanation he'd have to give to some parents whose children had to witness a man with glass shards sticking out of his throat stumbling out into the middle of the street from this alley and getting hit by a delivery truck.

"Anything you see interesting, Tsukauchi?" A nearby cop asked with a notebook.

Tsukauchi sighed and took a look at the other body further into this isolated alleyway. It was dark, damp, and all sorts of sketchy in the way it appeared; a typical area for unscrupulous figures or homeless people who live here. The fact that the other body was just as worse didn't help at all; missing fingers from both hands and a chewed-off tongue. The man had actually done this to himself and somehow got his tongue off too. His dull eyes seemed as though they were apathetic in what they saw through the end. The whole thing didn't make sense. Was it a drug session gone wrong? No, it couldn't have been with no visible amphetamines or narcotics in the area. Maybe a drunken fight went wrong with the way that the stench of cheap alcohol was in the air, mixed with the stench of someone's inner entrails. Definitely not a scent he'd like to have smelt first thing in the afternoon.

"Other than the fact that I'm creeped out by the scene, no, not yet."

When he'd gotten the call that there were two deaths nearby the Shizuoka prefecture in Musutafu, he'd jumped at the chance to see if this could've been connected to a series of serial murders from some young girl he was trying to bring to justice, but that was neither here nor there. This was something different. No stab wounds or drainage of blood from these two. His only other explanation for this was it had to be a quirk. No sane man, drunk or not, would willingly eat his fingers or chew on glass. But the question was where did the user go?

"Can you get the forensic team here any faster? I want this area scooped clean of any residue that may give us some answers.

"Right away, sir!" A woman quickly said as she pulled out a phone.

"Just what in the world did this to you?" He asked the dead fingerless corpse.

Golden eyes with a creepy red swirl stared out at the world before them. Makima meticulously analyzed the scenes in front of her. Soon after the arrest of that brute fiend, she walked off and explored her surroundings; checking the nearby buildings for familiar landmarks and stores to see if any had a magazine of some sort. She found out that she was in Musutafu, Japan. Though, to her knowledge, there was no way that such a place should exist. It did soothe her that she was in the Shizuoka Prefecture, but still... where had this city been all this time and why were there so many rampant fiends and devil-hunters with contracts running about? Even random civilians had looked as though they'd traded their humanity for blue skin, wings, or horns.

Was this some sort of hidden city that wasn't spoken about by the Government? If so, she wasn't told anything about it.

She wandered further, ignoring the gazes of people staring at her for too long, and hoped to find a lesser-damaged train site that could get her away from this place and into familiar territory.

There were humongous billboards advertising people with comical names like All-Might, Endeavour, and Best Jeanist as some of the top pro heroes, with the former being number one, apparently. Makima stopped to stare at them, seeing another with an animated cartoon selling cereal boxes. They all looked silly in the way that they talked about justice, the laws of good vs evil, and such. It was so... comical. Like a manga character straight out of fiction.

Makima wondered if there were 'supervillains' in this world as well that continued to create machinations time and time again, only to be defeated by the good guys, like the ones on that billboard. She let out a little smirk, thinking of how that would be wiped away by something with power like the Gun Devil or Chainsaw Man.

Chainsaw Man... Her smile faded away after remembering that particular memory of those two men who ruined her euphoric dream. All it took was a few more prods to completely push Makima away from that golden being that adored her for a brief moment. It was what she wanted; to be loved unconditionally and without judgment for what she was. In another life, she fantasized about being in a family that would love, laugh, and enjoy everything that a regular family would do.

However, it doesn't seem like it was meant to be. She frowned and shook her head. A small drink of tea would ease her mind for a while.

"I'm telling you, I know what I saw, Hayate!" A frantic girl with scruffy bangs said, clenching her fists as she yelled once more at her friend who seemed like he wasn't buying it at all. The trash-riddled apartment shook as the woman punched a wall.

"Sure, sure. I'm happy that you think you saw a bloody monster with chainsaws for hands jumping on the roofs yesterday for the sixth time. If you're going to continue talking like this, I think I should call your psychiatrist again. You don't seem to be taking your meds anymore, and hells, Emi, look at this place." Hayate gestured with both his hands to emphasize how horrible it looked.

Empty ramen packaging, spilled coffee stains riddled the floor, and cluttered clothes were not folded, but tossed around in a hurry.

"It could've been anything, Emi. Not some monster out of some weird, made-up story you found online."

Emi scowled, "You're not listening! I'm not crazy. I saw it! I know what I saw!" She pointed out to the window with a trembling finger. She remembered it vividly as though it were yesterday.

A tall, menacing creature as dark as the night with chainsaws for hands and a face mixed with an evil grin. It was horrifying as it peered into her window with bright yellow eyes that just stared at her. As soon as she saw it, the thing jumped away from the balcony and glided towards Kamino's downtown area, no doubt causing havoc in its wake.

Or hiding for the perfect moment.

The fresh brew of tea and coffee filled the packed café as loads of young students and adults flooded in. Makima was among them as she waited in line, staring at the menu.

It seemed odd to see the café staff use more of their abilities to heat hot water with their bare hands and see that nobody batted an eye at that. If that happened in Tokyo, everyone would be screaming and thinking that there were devils afoot.

A girl with a bright smile and purple hair was the cashier and the one who heated the water called out to her, "Hi there, welcome to Comet Bucks, what would you like?" Offering Makima her cheshire, but false grin to her as it seemed as though it was company policy to give the customer a smile while serving.

Makima held a finger to her chin as she scoured the menu again, "I'd like a coffee please, with a bit of sugar and milk." She handed the girl 500 yen, though she hesitantly took one look at it and sneered.

"Ma'am, I'm sure you think this is funny, but that isn't money."

Makima looked a little confused and looked at her yen, there was nothing wrong with it. Why was it being refused? "I don't understand, why do think that?"

Before the girl could annoyingly call over her manager to yell at Makima, a small voice stepped in.

"Ha, ha. That's a pretty funny one, old friend. But, I think that your jokes are in poor taste in these parts of town. Allow me to pay for it." A small, mouse-like thing waddled its way to the counter and did a tiny jump to slap some yen onto the counter. Just as that lady said, her yen looked vastly different from his.

"Hm," The girl narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Thank you for your patronage."

Makima nodded her thanks and took a seat by the windows, the view of cars and pedestrians walking by looked like the perfect spot. She didn't think that the mouse creature would ask to sit with her for a bit.

"I apologize for my intrusion, though I'm sure you know that counterfeit money is a crime." The mouse said while taking a sip of his own brew of coffee. "Against my better judgment, I deduced that perhaps there was more than meets the eye with your situation, is that correct?"

The mouse was clearly more intelligent than it looked, that much was clear. And by the looks of it, its existence is also accepted in this world as nobody wants to cry out in fear or shoot it with something.

She rested her chin on both hands and smiled, "I'm quite thankful for your rescue, but forgive me for asking why you did that. You could've easily let me suffer the consequences and see me be kicked out of this establishment."

The mouse sighed heavily into its drink, "That is probably in due part to me being a good person. I can never stand seeing someone suffer from something that they themselves know wasn't their fault. I saw that in your face when you offered that girl your money. You didn't feign surprise like most criminals do when they're caught in the act; your reaction was genuine, and I pride myself on interpreting stuff like that."

Makima let out a small laugh. It was amusing to see this mouse talk so proficiently and in a refined manner. "You're quite perceptive for a mouse, may I know your name?"

"It's Nezu. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said with a smile. "And may I know yours?"

Makima leaned a bit forward, her eyes centering on Nezu, "Makima," She said with a bit of energy as she scanned the little intelligent creature from top to bottom. "Say, can you tell me where I am?"

Tsukauchi rubbed his eyes, he'd been at the computer monitor for ages now in hopes of learning something new from this case. It wasn't much to work with, but the forensics team came back with some good news.

There was a third suspect at the scene of the crime. There were faint traces of red hair left not too far from the scene, it did seem as though there must've been an altercation. Further testing revealed that neither of the two even had any contact with this individual. One of them did have some on a twig, perhaps as a weapon for self-defense, but it must've ended too quickly to get a strike in.

Did this person have some sort of quirk that allows them to control them for a brief moment? What were its conditions? He and his team were drawing up ideas. One of them was a freak-quirk accident gone wrong where one of their friends just unlocked their abilities and accidentally used them unconsciously. Though that idea went out the window as soon as it got to the man eating his own fingers conclusion. Who in their right mind would order their friends to kill themselves as painfully as possible? Only a demon or a psychopath would do that.

Next was the potential of yakuza taking their anger out on their informants. It's a bit of common knowledge that some of the yakuza use homeless people as watchers or spies to keep an eye on other gang families or the police themselves. It lined up with the excruciating punishments that these two guys went through, but a look into their backgrounds suggested nothing of the sort. They had no criminal records to speak of nor ties to any yakuza.

The last and most probable was that this was a villain's doing. It made the most sense with how awful the whole situation was. Tsukauchi's fellow policemen tossed around a few ideas that this was a villain who likes misery and suffering, and uses their quirk to watch it unfold as a devil would to a poor human. They all shuddered a little at the thought of it.

Tsukauchi's idea was that this had to be an organized or well-thought-out villain and most agreed with him. His reasoning was that when the DNA tests came back, there were no traces as to who it was. Whoever's hair was left at the scene didn't exist or was erased from the system. This meant that whoever did this had probably gone to great lengths to remain undetectable.

He made sure to ask for the tests to be sent overseas to get it tested in other forensic labs to see if their killer was a foreigner. Tsukauchi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on from the number of questions he'd be getting if words gets out that there was a potential untraceable villain running amok in Musutafu.

"I'm getting some weird vibes, Sansa."

The feline officer nodded, "Agreed, sir." He saluted and the shake of his tiny bell made a noise. "May I make a suggestion?"

"Go ahead, I'm in need of more."

"Might you try and ask someone else to see if they saw anything?"

"We've already done that, Sansa, I need something else."

Sansa shook his head, "No, no. Like animals."

Tsukauchi widened his eyes and grabbed Sansa's shoulders and shook them with glee. "You're a genius, Sansa!"

Of course! There were bound to be birds, dogs, or cats who saw it.

"Sansa, I need you and a couple of others to round up anyone who can speak with animals, and be on the double!"

No one escapes justice, villain. Not even a ghost like you will slip by us. Tsukauchi smiled at the digital picture of a single strand of red hair. He already imagined putting cuffs on this wicked person and sending them off to Tartarus. No one should have the ability to control people. It was simply inhumane.

This wasn't her world.

Makima deduced that much from the conversation with that mouse. He regaled her with stories of heroes and how everyone grew up with quirks and that it's a natural facet of life now. Of course, there were few who weren't born with powerful quirks or any at all, and it did create a bit of a divide in society, but that is also a common thing, at least to Makima. He also told her that he had never ever heard of the Public Safety Devil Hunters. In fact, he said that what she was talking about sounded like something out of fiction or a highly-thought out organization made up by her and her friends.

And then came the topic of her money. Nezu pointed out that hers was severely outdated. Like, it ought to have been in a museum or a collector's item.

Makima recalled that it was 1997 when she was trying to obtain Chainsaw Man, and when she asked what year it was, Nezu obliged and said it was 2130. A vast leap in time into a different world. That would probably explain why none of her contacts on her phone weren't working.

She soon felt bored by that topic and moved on to the topic of heroes. She learned that Nezu, the highly-intelligent animal that everyone questions is either a dog, mouse, or a bear, is the principal of a top-tier hero training school in Musutafu.

A school made to train the next generation of heroes that will continue to serve Japan. Their own talents are nurtured and catered to their abilities as much as possible to get the most out of them. Nezu said with pride that All-Might and Endeavour were former students at his school and that any child that comes out of his school has the potential to be great.

The two exchanged words with one another, though one was gleaming more information than the other without their permission or their awareness.

She smiled as the mouse told her all she needed to know. It was a nice change of pace. Nezu didn't withhold information at all, he laid it all out on the table for her. The little thing prided itself on analyzation, but to her, it was like breathing. There were no lies in his words or his facial expressions. He really didn't know anything about what she asked him.

Things like Chainsaw Man and such didn't even elicit a single hesitant answer. This was a little depressing to hear, but it was good to know that she didn't have to force things her way this time. She doubted the possibility that the deaths of those two plebs in that alleyway would go unnoticed. It'd probably take one more day or even sooner to make news to the people about their gruesome demises. She smiled into her coffee at the recollection of that man's horrified face as he was told to eat glass.

Makima looked at the clock on the wall and realized that she'd spent quite a bit of time in this café. "Please excuse me, but I have things to do." She took one last sip at her coffee and bowed to Nezu, "I appreciate all things you've told me. It was... enlightening. "

"Of course! I fear I must be going as well. I have to get prepped for the upcoming new term for my school."

"Ah, before you go," She placed a hand on his tiny shoulder to stop him and knelt down on one knee to make eye contact, "Can I have your number? I'd like to stay in contact."

Nezu's mind blanked for a while, "Oh, yes. Where are my manners, I wouldn't dare turn down a good conversationist, ha!" He quickly brought out a pen and scribbled down his number, "Here it is. I am usually available most Saturdays and Sundays, but I'll answer many messages you send if it's an emergency during weekdays."

Makima clapped both hands and let out a gorgeous smile, "Splendid. I'm sure we'll stay in touch." She waved him goodbye before leaving the Comet Bucks Café, a satisfied smirk ever present on her face.

And now all she had to do now was get an official presence in this place. She'd have to find a forger of some sort, most likely a yakuza or a criminal with a good reputation.

Her first order of business was to try and find the sketchiest bar or locations. After she gets a fake ID, maybe she should try getting into an official job again. Maybe something similar to the Public Safety Bureau back home. Her eyes locked onto another one of those billboards of a hero smiling with a bunch of adoring fans. This one had a freezing ability. To have that on her side certainly sounded useful if the local authorities ever catch up to her. And maybe an official type of person, one that would allow her to have her way through the system legally.

I should really find myself another dog or two.

AN:

Makima's in need of loyal pups again. ;3