[1st POV]
You would think that after all the shit I've been through, I'd have at least the tiniest difficulty in sleeping.
Nope. You would be wrong.
I slept like a baby under twenty seconds.
People I knew just died, my apartment was bombed, I just slaughtered a bunch of humans and ate some.
However, those did not pose an issue to me when it came to sleep. I was always like that even in my past life. I had the rare ability to strip everything from my soul and just focus on the moment. Unbothered by the horrible past or the grim future.
Make the best move. And the best move here was for me to have a restful sleep.
Two hours into the sleep, or maybe three. I was woken by the faintest sound of my hotel door opening.
I heard footsteps, barely audible. Like something soft planting lightly on hardwood.
I kept my eyes closed, pretending to sleep, even when the door to the bedroom was open, and she walked in.
Reze, I could tell from the smell.
She sat at the bottom of my bed while I lay straight like a corpse, a blanket on top of me. She stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. A duration one would never indulge in had they known the other person was aware.
She lifted the end of my blanket. I could feel the cold air rushing in and caressing goosebumps on my skin. But the chill was quickly replaced by warm flesh as Reze snaked into the blanket.
Perhaps her slim body had a purpose. She slid right on top of me, barely causing a disturbance. She stopped when our feet lay at the same place. But since she was shorter, her head lay on my chest.
She was just like a cat.
Her breathing became louder as she snuggled into my chest, taking in the warm air mixed with my scent. A scent that I did not doubt was disgusting and probably scary to her hybrid nose.
And then her breathing relaxed.
I moved my arm and wrapped it around her. She froze for a second before simply melting with a sigh.
"You were awake," she said softly.
"Hmm,"
"Sorry I woke you up. But I kinda blew up my apartment," she said.
"Hmm,"
"I had other places to stay but I also needed the protection," she said.
Who? I wanted to ask but I didn't. She probably needed to get away in case other agents or people from the Soviet Union came for her.
"Makima paid a visit," she said.
I saw the dark ceiling of the hotel room as I opened my eyes. I looked down and lifted the blanket to see Reze already looking up at me.
"Did you know she is not a human? She is the Control Devil," she said, revealing vital information she thought I wouldn't know.
Silence.
"You knew," she concluded in the end, "Did you also know she was responsible for these attacks?"
I didn't know it for sure but I wasn't surprised by that either. Like I said, the anime hinted heavily at Makima being responsible for all the shit that took place in Chainsaw Man.
Everything bad in this world was Makima's fault.
"And she called me incompetent," Reze scoffed before tearing her eyes away and snuggling in my chest. "I was worried she'd trap you in her little mind games. But I guess you entertained her tricks as much as you did mine,"
"Did she try to kill you?" I asked, letting the blanket fall and cover her head again.
"No, she was warning me more than anything," she said, her voice a little muffled under the thick fabric.
I exhaled loudly. Makima's image flashed in my mind. She was someone I had half figured out. Since she knew about Reze already, I don't think our plan to run away was possible anymore.
"I guess I don't need to ask how you blew up your apartment," I said with a chuckle. I pulled my hand out from the blanket and patted her covered head.
The moment was here. Reze was sleeping with me. So there was no way I could go back to sleep. My mind began wandering on what to do next. Since my knowledge of the anime ended here, the future looked darker than usual.
We didn't talk for a long time. My hand kept running down the mound of her head. At this point, I thought she had fallen asleep.
But I was told otherwise when she spoke again.
"You like her too, don't you,"
Hell no. I thought.
But I didn't say anything.
And maybe that said something.
Something Reze knew better than even I did.
If there is one thing I want to do, it would be to figure out Makima and complete the story I was told only half by the anime.
Who is Makima really? What was her goal? Her dream? And where the hell did Denji fit into her vision and now, me.
What did she really want?
I was infinitely curious.
Reze shuffled on top of me. Her legs came up from both sides, straddling me once more as she rose. The blanket remained on her head and fell when she sat fully.
She was wearing the Public Safety Commission uniform. Out of all the random clothes I gave her, she chose to dress like me.
"I don't think we can run away Jin. Not until I kill her," she said, her emerald eyes standing out in the dark. Not glowing, but the colour seemed to shine.
"And she'll try to kill me too,"
"....."
From running away from everything to having to face the current situation first before I could be free. The night evolved into something far more complicated.
"I won't force you to pick a side," Reze said, "But I'm sorry, you can't have it both ways."
"Either I die, or Makima does."
Right.
You can't have your cake and eat it too. The future I was hoping for had Makima alive and the canon unfolding as it should be, while Reze and I ran away. Erased, like our existence was supposed to be in this universe.
But I couldn't just run away if I killed Makima. That would destroy chains of events planned by fate.
And that changed everything.
Makima.
I need to talk to her.
..
..
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[3rd POV]
(Public Safety Commission Headquarters)
Even after Jin left to complete his assignment of killing the Yakuza, the meeting continued.
What had started as an emergency briefing slowly shifted in nature. When everything that needed to be said in that room was said, the majority of the people present were dismissed. The remaining members relocated deeper into the building, to a place few were ever allowed to enter.
It was a hall reserved for committee meetings between the highest ranking personnel in the government.
The committee hall was designed to make people feel small. The ceiling rose higher than necessary, as if to remind people the things discussed in this room were bigger than them. The walls paneled in dark wood polished to a mirror sheen. A long semicircle of desks faced inward, elevated just enough that everyone seated there looked down on whoever stood below.
There was no one standing in the center this time.
Every chair along the semicircle was occupied. Twelve people in total. Ministers, bureau heads, legal oversight, intelligence and military liaison. All of them had slept less than three hours, and it showed. Their tired eyes hinted at the kind of fatigue that came from decisions made too fast and consequences that lingered too long.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy. Not tense in the way of shouting or panic, but weighed down by pressure.
A man from internal security finally broke the silence. He had been speaking for most of the last hour, going over reports and timelines, and now his voice was hoarse.
"Devil Hunters were targeted after hours. Residences were bombed. Assassination attempts were confirmed," he said. "Intelligence has concluded this act to be retaliation. The Yakuza have been losing influence for years. Their assets were frozen, their territories seized, and the increased cooperation between Public Safety and local law enforcement ensured their revenue streams collapsed over time."
He paused briefly.
"They felt cornered."
"So they struck back?" one of the members asked.
"Lashed out would be a better word," the intelligence officer replied.
The military liaison leaned forward slightly. "There is always room for other possibilities. As you said, these Yakuza were losing influence and were under tight control. So how could they possess guns and bombs. None of their known backers has that type of capability. We made sure of that."
A few heads nodded.
"So what is this other possibility?" the chairman asked.
"I think the conclusion we have is only half the truth," the military officer said. "The top layer of what happened. This has all the markings of a proxy action."
The room shifted. Chairs creaked softly as people adjusted their posture.
"A proxy?" someone asked.
"Yes," the officer said. "The Yakuza were desperate, but desperation alone does not grant access to military grade explosives or coordinated intelligence on Devil Hunter schedules and residences. Someone supplied them. Someone trained them. Someone pointed them in the right direction and then stepped back."
Silence followed.
The intelligence director frowned. "You're suggesting foreign involvement."
"I'm suggesting foreign interest," the officer corrected.
Another committee member spoke grimly. "That's a bold claim."
"It's a realistic one," the officer replied. "Japan holds an abnormal concentration of devils, hybrids, and contracted assets. And now, information about Jin Nakahara and his Pig Devil ability has leaked. That alone makes us a point of interest. If you were another country, you wouldn't attack Japan directly. You'd weaken Public Safety to create instability and force internal conflict."
"And which country would you suggest?" the chairman asked.
The officer hesitated for half a second.
"The United States would be the obvious answer."
A few quiet murmurs rippled through the hall.
"They have the reach," he continued. "The intelligence infrastructure. The interest in devils. And a long history of destabilizing rivals indirectly rather than through open conflict."
"And do you not find it strange that this attack took place right after we got wind that the information about the Pig Devil ability was leaked? If this was solely the Yakuza lashing out, they could do so any other time. And a reminder to everyone that Jin Nakahara apartment was bombed. And the new Katana Devil Hybrid and the individual Akane Sawatari with a Snake Devil contract were found near his apartment. Jin was their main target," he said.
The murmurs did not grow louder. If anything, they died down, replaced by something more uncomfortable.
Acceptance.
When looking from that angle, it seemed like foreign interference was more probable than just a local gang attack.
"The leaking of the Pig Devil information is also another issue that needs to be tackled," the intelligence officer said with a sigh.
But no one said anything to follow up on that topic. The abilities of the Pig Devil had been top secret from the start. The people who were aware of it were also few.
So tackling that topic meant pointing fingers, which none wanted to do. It was vital that the committee work together right now.
"Foreign intelligence monitoring will be increased," the chief said in the end.
"And Jin?" the legal representative pressed. "What is to be done about him."
"He will remain operational," the chairman said. "He is too valuable to sideline for the sake of protection."
"We will keep him busy by giving him enemies that align with our interests. If he is always moving forward, he has less time to question where he stands. On our end, we should not hesitate to use him anymore since the world knows about him," he said.
No one spoke immediately after that.
The words hung in the air longer than they should have while the members murmured among themselves. Using Jin Nakahara freely was everyone's dream option, but were they sure it wouldn't be without consequences?
The military liaison was the first to speak out again. "Keeping him active is one thing. Using him openly is another."
The chairman did not look at him. "Clarify."
"If foreign intelligence believes Jin Nakahara is being deployed deliberately," the liaison said, "then every mission he completes will be read as intent. They will use it to gauge the Pig Devil's ability and react accordingly. We've already shown the world that he is capable of killing the Accident Devil; should we really show more?"
The legal representative shifted in his seat. "You are suggesting that simply allowing him to operate could be interpreted as provocation."
"Yes,"
A pause.
"In that scenario," the intelligence director said, "every escalation on our side demands a counter-escalation. Not necessarily military at first but maybe economic pressure, iIntelligence interference. And surely more assassinations."
"Indeed. If the idea that the countries are using the Yakuza as a smoke to hide their main intention of killing Jin Nakahara should be true, then we should expect more attempts in the near future," one of the members said.
"This failure will only lead to them hitting and trying even harder,"
More discussions took place.
"Once a weapon like hybirds are known," the minister of defence said, "They stop being a deterrent and start being a target."
"And once they know that weapon grows infinitely," the chief added, "it becomes something other nations cannot afford to ignore."
"Worst case scenario," the chairman said slowly, "what does this become?"
The liaison did not answer immediately.
"A devil arms race," he said at last. "Foreign governments accelerating devil research. Forced contracts, human experimentation and maybe the revival of the hybrid programs. They were initially shut down becuase the morality and the losses were too much for the reward. But now that they know what a great success could look like, they'd want to imitate."
"And that'd lead to more problems," one of the members groaned, "For example, countries collapsing under devils they cannot control. Perhaps due to contracts,"
Too many things to consider.
So many variables.
The world was not at war, but it wasn't at peace either.
This wasn't supposed to happen if the universe followed the canon. But the so-called canon was now unsavable.
Fate collapsed and forged something new.
For the better, or for the worse.
..
..
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