Chainsaw Man: Mangekyo Sharingan

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Himeno Got Scared (EC)

"Kobeni, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to pay attention to her."

Kotone Asaba immediately said that to Kobeni.

"No, it’s not that I don’t want to... Reze has been really nice to me."

Kobeni Higashiyama said.

"Really? Then that’s fine."

Seeing that the expression on Kobeni’s face was normal, still slightly shy and introverted like usual, Kotone had nothing to worry about.

That was because he knew Kobeni’s inner thoughts showed on her face very easily.

After that, the three of them chatted for a while longer.

"We should get going."

At that point, Kotone spoke.

Then he took Reze back to Tokyo Public Safety.

When they parted ways, Kobeni did not feel especially reluctant. She only felt envious of Reze, who could work together with Asaba as his partner.

She needed to work even harder too, and make sure she could successfully enter Tokyo Public Safety as soon as she graduated high school.

Afterward, Kobeni Higashiyama returned to her room.

Only then did she open the gift Asaba had given her. Asaba had already told her before that it was all delicious food, and now she could not wait to open it and have a taste.

[Kobeni Higashiyama’s Affinity +5%]

[Kobeni Higashiyama’s Affinity progress has reached 90%. Achievement reward obtained: Constitution +1]

Kotone Asaba had just returned to Tokyo when Kobeni’s Affinity notification suddenly appeared before his eyes. He guessed that Kobeni was probably eating the food he had brought back.

"It’s so good! This one’s amazing too!"

Kobeni Higashiyama was so delighted by the taste that her feet kicked up with joy.

However, she got a little too excited, and the cake in her hand accidentally slipped free.

There was no way she could just watch the cake fall to the floor. If that happened, she would not be able to eat it anymore. Devil power erupted at once, and with sharp eyes and quick hands, she caught the cake right before it hit the ground.

After catching the cake in time, she also let out a sigh of relief. If it had gone like the first time she ate ice cream, she would have been moping for a long time.

By now, Kotone Asaba had already changed into his Tokyo Public Safety uniform. Since he would not be returning to Moscow Public Safety for the time being, there was naturally no need to wear Moscow Public Safety’s uniform.

He did not go to the Tokyo Public Safety building first. Instead, he went to deliver gifts to Aki Hayakawa and Himeno.

He found that Aki Hayakawa and Himeno’s "coordinates" were very close together, and they had not moved the entire time. It seemed they were probably sitting together, having tea and chatting or something.

Since the two of them were together, that was perfect for him. It saved him the trouble of making another trip.

Kotone Asaba and Reze arrived at Aki Hayakawa’s door, then rang the doorbell.

Aki Hayakawa and Himeno were having afternoon tea when they suddenly heard the doorbell.

Aki immediately got up. "I’ll get it."

Himeno followed him silently as well.

Through the peephole, Aki Hayakawa saw that the person outside was Kotone Asaba, and beside Kotone Asaba was a woman he had never seen before.

He was immediately surprised. Hadn’t Kotone Asaba gone to Moscow? Why had he suddenly come back?

Aki Hayakawa opened the door and asked, "Weren’t you sent to Moscow Public Safety? You’re back this quickly? And who is this?"

Aki Hayakawa’s gaze shifted to Reze, and he noticed the uniform she was wearing.

When Kotone Asaba went to Moscow, Moscow had also sent a Devil Hunter over at the same time. He still remembered what that person’s uniform had looked like.

It was almost the same as the uniform worn by the girl in front of him. He could more or less guess that this girl should be a Devil Hunter from Moscow Public Safety.

"I just finished an important operation and received a relatively long vacation, so I came back."

Kotone Asaba said, "As for her, she was my partner while I was at Moscow Public Safety. She came back with me this time."

"My name is Reze. I’m Asaba’s partner. It’s a pleasure to meet you both."

Reze bowed very politely. The smile she performed on her face was as friendly as ever, and most people would never be able to tell it was acting.

After coming to Japan, Reze always called Kotone Asaba "Asaba" in front of other people, but when she was alone with Kotone Asaba, she still called him "Koto."

"Hello."

Aki Hayakawa’s face showed no expression, and he bowed in return.

At that moment, Himeno poked her head out from behind Aki Hayakawa. "Wow! What a pretty girl. And she came back with Asaba too. Don’t tell me there’s something special going on between you two?"

Aki Hayakawa felt that Himeno being like this was a little rude, and immediately reminded her, "...Himeno, watch what you say."

"What’s wrong with that? It’s not like it’s some forbidden question. Aki, you’re great in every way, but you’re way too serious."

Himeno complained.

"..."

Aki Hayakawa seemed speechless, and stopped talking.

"Would you call it something special? Well, I do really like Asaba."

A long-absent blush appeared on Reze’s cheeks as she hugged Kotone Asaba’s arm.

However, that blush was clearly something she had instinctively performed for Aki Hayakawa and Himeno.

That actually shocked Himeno. "You really admitted it? Impressive, Asaba! You weren’t in Moscow for long, but you already won over such a pretty girl!"

"..."

Aki Hayakawa was already speechless. Himeno really did speak casually.

Kotone Asaba was immediately made a little embarrassed by that. He had actually gone to Moscow Public Safety with Reze in mind.

He quickly changed the subject. "I also brought some gifts back this time. I hope you like them."

He transferred two gifts out of the Kamui dimension, and they appeared on the living room table.

"Thank you."

Aki Hayakawa thanked him before even seeing what the gifts were.

Himeno went straight over and opened them. "Let me see what’s inside."

"Pretty nice. It’s all food from the Soviet Union."

Himeno looked very satisfied.

[Aki Hayakawa’s Affinity +5%]

[Himeno’s Affinity +5%]

Aki Hayakawa and Himeno’s friendship Affinity both rose. They had now reached 55% and 45% respectively. Friendship really was fairly easy to raise.

"So are you going to keep working at Tokyo Public Safety next, or are you only back for vacation?"

Aki Hayakawa asked.

"I still have something else to do in Kyoto for now. After I finish dealing with the matter there, I’ll come back and continue working."

Kotone Asaba said.

"I see."

Aki Hayakawa did not ask about the Kyoto matter. It was not appropriate for him to ask too much.

"Then Reze and I will be going."

After saying that, Kotone Asaba prepared to leave.

"Huh? You’re leaving already? Aren’t you going to stay for some afternoon tea?"

Himeno said, "We can chat a little too. I’m pretty curious about what Asaba went through over at Moscow Public Safety."

"Asaba, you don’t have to mind her. If you have things to do, go take care of them."

Aki Hayakawa said instead.

"It’s fine. Having some afternoon tea won’t take much time."

Kotone Asaba thought it over for a moment, then accepted Himeno’s invitation.

Himeno’s Affinity had already reached 45%. It was only 5% away from unlocking the eighth Codex page.

This was a good chance to stay for afternoon tea and see if he could raise Himeno’s Affinity to 50%.

"..."

Aki Hayakawa said nothing else.

"Asaba is much easier to talk to. Aki, if you stay so serious and stiff, girls won’t like you."

Himeno still did not forget to tease Aki Hayakawa.

"I don’t need anyone to like me. Something like that has no meaning to me."

Aki Hayakawa said expressionlessly.

Hearing Himeno say that, even Kotone Asaba almost wanted to say, but Aki Hayakawa is very popular with you.

Kotone Asaba and Reze followed Aki Hayakawa and Himeno upstairs. Aki Hayakawa then made tea for him and Reze.

At Himeno’s request, Kotone Asaba talked about some of the things that had happened in Moscow. Of course, he only talked about the parts he was allowed to talk about.

"Asaba really is strong. It feels like you’re never in much danger no matter where you go. If it were us, we might suddenly lose our lives on some random mission."

Himeno sighed emotionally.

As she spoke, she subconsciously took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket, planning to have one.

"Himeno, if you want to smoke, please go to the balcony. Secondhand smoke is very harmful to other people."

Aki Hayakawa immediately said to Himeno.

"Fine, fine."

Himeno also knew that what she was doing was not good. She had only pulled out a cigarette on reflex just now. She then obediently went to the balcony.

"I’ll step out for a moment too."

As soon as Himeno walked out onto the balcony, Aki Hayakawa also got up and followed her.

"Give me one too."

Aki Hayakawa reached his hand out to Himeno.

Himeno took out another cigarette, but she did not place it in Aki Hayakawa’s hand. Instead, she personally put the cigarette into Aki Hayakawa’s mouth and lit it for him.

"Do you still remember how you said you’d only smoke that one time? You’ve smoked who knows how many by now."

Himeno teased him.

"No helping it. This stuff is addictive. But as long as it doesn’t affect my revenge on the Gun Devil, it doesn’t matter."

Even when Himeno teased him, Aki Hayakawa did not feel embarrassed. He simply said that in a flat voice.

"Right? You might as well enjoy life while you can. After all, who knows when we’ll suddenly die?"

Himeno said.

"I’m not that easy to kill. At the very least, I’ll die after killing the Gun Devil."

Aki Hayakawa said.

"Then let’s hope we can find that Gun bastard soon..."

When she reached this point, Himeno suddenly fell silent. A little while later, she spoke again. "Hey... Aki, how about we go back to the private sector? In the private sector, we won’t have to deal with Devils that strong. With our abilities, we could live pretty peacefully. We could hunt more ordinary Devils and sell them on the black market for good money, then enjoy life however we want."

"..."

Aki Hayakawa exhaled a mouthful of smoke and said, "If you want to go back to the private sector, go back yourself. Before I kill the Gun Devil, I won’t leave Tokyo Public Safety."

There was not a trace of tact in Aki Hayakawa’s words. He rejected Himeno completely and directly.

His goal was extremely firm. He had to avenge himself on the Gun Devil. To him, nothing was more important than that.

Even if speaking that way would make Himeno sad, he felt it was best to say it clearly and directly.

"..."

Himeno looked at the scenery outside. Her mood was clearly somewhat low, and she said nothing else.

Aki rejecting her was also within her expectations, because she had rarely seen anyone as determined as Aki to take revenge on the Gun Devil.

However, many Public Safety Devil Hunters had wanted to kill the Gun Devil at first. Over time, their thoughts changed. She was one of them.

In truth, one of the reasons she had entered Tokyo Public Safety was also because she wanted to kill that Gun bastard. But after experiencing so many things, personally watching her previous partners die miserably at the hands of Devils, and seeing so many Public Safety Devil Hunters sacrifice their lives, her thoughts had gradually changed.

Now, she was scared. She was scared of losing Aki.

They often struggled terribly even against Devils that possessed pieces of the Gun Devil’s flesh. When the time came to actually face the Gun Devil, there was probably only death waiting for them. That was why she wanted Aki to give up on avenging himself on the Gun Devil, but from the looks of things, that was clearly impossible in the short term.

All she could do was wait for enough time to pass. Once Aki had experienced more, perhaps he would gradually give up. She just did not know whether she and Aki would live until then...

At that moment, Kotone Asaba glanced at Aki Hayakawa and Himeno outside on the balcony, and discovered that Aki Hayakawa had already been led into smoking by Himeno this quickly.

As for what Aki Hayakawa and Himeno were talking about, he was not curious, and he could not hear it either.

His eyes simply had strong powers of insight. That had nothing to do with his hearing. If he could hear them from that far away, that would be strange.

The atmosphere on the balcony was somewhat heavy. Aki Hayakawa and Himeno both silently smoked without saying a word.

At that moment, Himeno broke the heavy atmosphere. "By the way, Aki, have you noticed? Asaba doesn’t seem to pay much of a price when he uses devil power. According to what he said, he killed two Devils with Gun Devil flesh pieces yesterday. He should have used devil power quite a few times, right? And yet today he’s still completely lively."

Although some Devils took the price of a contract all at once, those one-time prices were not light. Almost all of them left the contractor disabled.

Just like the Ghost Devil she had contracted with. It took her right eye, and in return, she could freely use the Ghost Devil’s right hand.

But Asaba did not look disabled anywhere at all. She had never seen him pay any price when using devil power either. She was very curious about what the contract conditions between Asaba and his Devil were.

"I noticed that a long time ago. Maybe the contract conditions are related to his eyes. His eyes are clearly different from ordinary people’s. Not only are they bloodred, they also have a special pattern. Maybe his eyes hurt a lot."

Aki Hayakawa guessed, "Although they’re extremely rare exceptions, there have been cases where the price of a one-time contract was relatively light. His eyes becoming like that should be the price of the contract."

Himeno also felt that what Aki Hayakawa said made sense, so she did not think too much more about it. "He’s practically chosen by fate. The devil power he obtained is that strong, and the contract price is so light. Compared to that, the Ghost Devil I contracted with was way nastier. It ate my eye outright."

The Ghost Devil could not hear Himeno’s casual complaint. Only when she actively connected with the Ghost Devil could it hear her words, though even if it did hear her, it would not matter.

Kotone Asaba, who was drinking tea, had no idea that Aki Hayakawa had explained away his ability purely through his own guesses.

After a while, Aki Hayakawa and Himeno finished smoking at almost the same time, then came back in together.

After that, the four of them chatted about all sorts of things, laughing and talking together.

Himeno’s Affinity also rose naturally.

[Himeno’s Affinity +5%]

[Himeno’s Affinity progress has reached 50%. Achievement reward obtained: Constitution +1]

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