Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mitaka, your partner is Hayakawa.” 

Asa's grip tightened on her pencil. She slowly turned her head around behind her. Off in the back sat Denji. He was fast asleep, drooling and slobbering all over his desk. 

Awesome. Asa was stuck with him. The Chainsaw Man delusional wannabe fanboy. The guy who stood her up just the other day.

He was so annoying. Who the hell asks someone out on a date, only to stand them up? Denji, that's who. The stupid bastard probably just wanted to embarrass her. Whatever. It's not like Asa cared. Denji was stupid anyways. And he was much too messy and disorganized. His clothes were all wrinkled. His teeth were weird. He was super totally dishonest. And probably a terrible person. And an even worse boyfriend.

Also, Asa didn't need a relationship. She was way too focused on getting her body back from Yoru.

At the end of class, Asa gave Denji's chair a little kick. He was still asleep, and the small puddle of drool had grown until it was nearly dripping off the desk. Gross.

“Hey. Denji.”

The boy jumped up, looking around wildly. “Huh? Whaa? Who? What's going on?” His eyes settled on Asa and he relaxed. “Oh, it's just you. Is class over?”

“Yeah. You've been asleep this entire time,” said Asa. She looked at him distastefully. Denji had a stupid expression on his face. The cheek he'd been sleeping on was squished and red. He blinked slowly.

“Huh? Oh, uh…yeah. Sorry,” he mumbled, “‘S just that I've been doing a few all-nighters.”

“Oh? Scrounging for more cigarette butts so you can scam the poor homeless junkies?”

Denji rubbed his eyes. “Nah, ‘s not that. Just that my little sister has more homework than usual, she's been making me help her out. Dunno why she's doing that, she already knows the stuff…” He let out a yawn. “So, what did I miss?”

Asa blinked. Little sister? Ah, the one Denji mentioned during their aquarium date. The sort of friend-roommate-little sister he was going to send off to college. Now Asa felt a little bad about being so hostile over his in-class nap. But only a little. He was still a dick.

“We were partnered up on an assignment about devils. Our topic is on devils disguising themselves in buildings.”

It was barely noticeable, but Asa saw Denji's face twitch, like he had remembered something. 

“So like at the aquarium, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Right, the aquarium. Where they went on a date together. And then Denji had asked her out on another date. And then stood her up. “Anyways, I know a place where we can meet someone who can give us more information on that. We can go there tomorrow. Stop by my house in the morning.”

“Oh, alright. Sounds good.”

“Yeah. Okay. Bye.” Asa spun around and walked out of the classroom. As she gathered her things, Asa couldn't help but feel irritated at Denji's attitude. He didn't seem the slightest bit remorseful for standing her up. Like. Literally what the heck?? Did he know how embarrassing it was to be waiting all day for him?

Asa slammed her locker shut. Dickhead.

Knock knock knock knock

Ugh…

Knock knock knock knock

What an obnoxious noise. Asa tried to tune it out.

BANG BANG BANG

Asa woke up with a gasp. What was that–oh there's someone at her door.

Asa opened the door to her apartment, greeted by Denji's grinning face.

“Morning Asa.”

“What are you doing at my apartment?”

Denji blinked. “Uh. The assignment? You said to stop by your house.”

Oh yeah she did say that. “Oh, I forgot. Sorry about that, I'm not ready at all. Just come inside while I get dressed.”

Asa cursed herself in her mind as Denji sat down on her couch. How the hell did she forget? Why did she sleep for so long? 

“ Today we can attempt to turn him into a weapon again .”

Asa's eye twitched. Oh yeah, because Yoru wouldn't shut up last night. All she did was ramble on about things that probably weren't even real. World War Two? Yeah right, no way the world would ever let a country get that bad. Nuclear weapons? The concept of such a thing even existing made Asa laugh.

Asa grabbed some clothes and entered her bathroom.

“ Your conversation with him yesterday was good. Very very good. Nothing makes people feel more guilty than killing a helpful and kind family member, especially if they have a daughter or little sister. His spinal cord will make an excellent sword, capable of slicing through boulders like butter. ”

Asa undressed herself, climbing into the shower and turning it on. “That's only if we could even turn him into a weapon. Ah!” She recoiled at the freezing cold water. Stupid ass heater. It never worked.

“ I just had a thought Asa. Imagine how incredible it would be if I could turn Chainsaw Man into a weapon. Ahh… ” Yoru sat on the closed toilet seat, staring at the ceiling dreamily. “ The destruction a Chainsaw Man Chainsaw could bring about would rival the incredible destructive power of Nuclear Weapons…how I miss Nuclear Weapons… ”

“Nuclear Weapons this, Nuclear Weapons that, were you two lovers in the past?” Asa stepped into the water that had finally heated up to an acceptable temperature. “Actually, don't answer that. I don't wanna know.”

“ Where exactly are we going today? ”

Asa grabbed a bar of soap. “A place a friend of my mom asked us to meet up at. He used to be a devil hunter so he should know about devils pretending to be buildings.” She cleaned herself, washed the soap off, stepped out of the shower, dried off, and put on her clothes. Yoru watched as Asa brushed her teeth and hair.

“ Interesting. Once we have collected our data from this friend of your mother's, perhaps we could– ”

“Oh my god shut up.”

Asa stepped out of the bathroom. Denji was sprawled out on her couch. Why was he so relaxed? There was no reason that Denji should've felt so comfortable in Asa's house. How irritating. 

“You're out. We can get going.” He pointed at the backpack on his back. “I got my notebook and stuff in here. You can just copy down all my stuff once we're done.”

“Okay.” Asa walked out the door, hardly waiting for Denji to catch up with her. He ran to her side.

“Hey, you said a place where we're meeting someone who knows about devils and buildings. Can you like. Uh. Explain who that is?”

“An old friend of my mom works there. He used to be a devil hunter and he once took on a job where he was trapped inside a devil disguised as a house.”

Denji furrowed his brow, like he was trying to remember something. “I was gonna say something but I forgot what it was…”

Asa rolled her eyes. Denji couldn’t stop finding ways to look worse and worse. 

“We’re here.”

Denji and Asa stood at a gate. Inside was a large building. It wasn’t much. You wouldn’t even be able to tell what its purpose was just from outside. Asa struggled to undo the lock on the gate, her eye twitching when it refused to unlock. 

“Shit,” she muttered. Hovering to hide it from Denji’s view, Asa gripped the lock and quietly whispered to herself. 

“Lock pocket knife.”

The stupid lock turned into a pocket knife. Asa stuck it in her pocket. 

“Woah, the lock disappeared! Where did it go?”

“I ate it.”

Instead of looking at her like she was stupid, Denji looked almost impressed. “I’ve also eaten my fair share of inedible objects.”

Asa rolled her eyes. Of course he had. He probably ate rocks for fun when he was a kid, it’d explain why his teeth were so fucked up. Denji was stupid like that. Glue, erasers, pencils. Probably stuff like that.

“Let’s go inside.”

Asa opened the door to the building. The overhead lights flickered on. The two began walking through the halls. After several minutes of climbing stairs and walking through empty halls, Denji spoke.

“Hey uh. So what exactly is this building?”

“...I don't know.”

“You don't know?!”

“No!”

“And it's so empty, where is everyone? Where are we? Why is this place so quiet? Where's the guy we're supposed to meet?”

Asa screamed and gripped her head in frustration. “I don't know, okay?! I have no idea what I'm doing! I don't know where he is or why he wants to meet here!”

“Dude, what the hell?!”

“Shut up!” Asa kicked the wall. “Whatever. This is dumb. Let’s just leave.”

Asa walked away at a brisk pace, not even checking to see if Denji was following behind her. God, she was so stupid. They’d been wasting their time. Denji probably thought she was stupid. And unreliable. And a liar. She probably was. She totally was.

Whatever, his opinion didn’t matter. Asa didn’t care what he thought, all she cared about was getting a good grade on this paper.

Asa stopped on the second floor. She looked behind her. No footsteps. Weird.

“Denji?” Asa called out hesitantly. “Are you there?”

No answer. Asa jogged back up the stairs, looking up and down the halls. 

“Denji? Where are you?” There were several rooms along the halls, was he in there?

“Denji if you’re playing a prank this isn’t funny. If you’re in the rooms, just get out, we need to get going.”
There was a creak from down the hall and around the corner. Asa huffed. “Stop playing around, if we get a bad grade on this paper, it’s gonna be your fault.” She rounded the corner and saw an open door. There. Asa looked inside the room. 

And then she blacked out.

When Asa came to, she was uncomfortably aware of the light shining in her face. Bright fluorescent lights that hurt her eyes and had no business being so blinding. 

“Asa.”

She laid on the floor, sprawled out. Yoru was standing over her. She didn’t even have the decency to at least stand in front of the light.

“Get up.”

Asa stood up and dusted herself off. “Wow, not even a “are you okay, Asa?””

Yoru sniffed. “Why would I ask that when I know for a fact that you’re fine?”

Asshole.

“I heard that.”

Piss shit fuck asshole.

“Stop that,” Yoru snapped. “We have no time to stand around and act like children. It seems you’ve fallen for a devil’s trap. We need to find the devil and kill it immediately.”

“Okay, but I don’t think we’re even in the same building,” Asa pointed out. The layout and walls and lights were different. 

“My point still stands,” said Yoru. “We must get moving.”

Asa looked around. They were standing in an empty gray hallway that stretched on in either direction as far as the eye could see.

“Which way do we go?”

Yoru began walking. “This way.”

Asa huffed but followed anyways. The hallway was completely bare, just smooth gray walls. Mind-numbingly boring. 

After walking for who knows how long, Yoru froze.

“Asa, there, do you see that?”

“See what?”

Yoru pointed down. Asa looked to see where she was pointing.

“Oh wait yeah I see it.”

The two ran forward until they were stopped in front of it. There was an end to the hallway. A gray wall and a door.

Yoru pressed her ear to the door, narrowing her eyes.

“I don't sense any presence behind the door, nor do I hear or smell anything. It should be safe to open, but I suggest you stand back anyways Asa.”

No need to tell her twice. Asa didn't have a death wish. She stepped off to the side until she was practically hugging the wall, cautiously watching as Yoru grabbed and handle and hey wait a minute Yoru isn't supposed to be able to interact with things–

Yoru flung the door open and jumped back cautiously. Nothing flew out from inside, no ominous appendages reaching out to grab anyone. 

“It looks like it's safe,” Asa observed. She and Yoru walked in through the door.

A little something was bugging Asa. Normally, Yoru couldn't interact with things unless she was in control of Asa's body. But Asa was in control of her body, so how come Yoru was able to open the door?

No time to dwell on that, though. The door slammed shut behind them, and when Asa turned around to look, it was gone. Just a dirty, dark yellow wall.

“Where are we?” she murmured. 

It was a small, dimly lit room. The walls were grimy and yellowed by years of smoking cigarettes. The ground was covered in cheap beer bottles and pieces of trash. A single large old leather chair was placed against the wall.

The air smelled stale. No other way to describe it, just old and stale.

It wasn't a closed room. There was an empty door frame on one of the walls.

Yoru wrinkled her nose. “The home of a bum who's going to die of liver failure or lung cancer any moment.”

A loud shout quickly caught Asa and Yoru's attentions. Cautiously, Asa looked out into the other room. It must’ve been the living room, evident by the musty couch, the dusty coffee table, and the TV that looked like it was about to explode any minute.

“Fuck!” A loud clatter and the sound of glass breaking rang out in the air. A tall man walked into Asa's sights, tearing his hair and kicking items on the floor. 

“God fucking dammit! That piece of shit beat me at the casino. I'll kill that stupid son of a bitch next time I see him,” the man screamed. He grabbed a bottle off the floor and threw it against the wall. It shattered, eliciting a quiet whimper of fear from the little boy huddled in the corner. The man turned to look at him.

“Fuck you cryin’ for, huh? I don't see you fucking doing anything ‘round here. You wanna cry? I'll give you a fucking reason to cry you little shit.”

Asa's eyes widened as she realized that she recognized the little boy. It was Denji. He couldn't have been older than eight.

Denji shook his head.

“‘M not crying, I promise!”

The man scoffed and turned away, showing his face to Asa. He was like a carbon copy of Denji, must’ve been his father. 

He walked out of the room and returned a moment later holding a bottle of beer. He flopped onto the couch, popping the cap off and taking a swig.

“What are you looking at?”

Denji had glanced over at his father for only a second, quickly averting his gaze when he spoke.

“N-Nothing.”

“You looking at my bottle? Huh? Is that it?”

“N-No–”

“You want some?” 

Denji shook his head, but his father ignored him, staggering over and grabbing Denji by the chin. Denji began shrieking and flailing as his father brought the bottle to his mouth, pouring the beer down his throat. Denji sputtered and gagged, choking on the foul-tasting, acrid alcohol.

“Yeah, drink that up,” his father sneered. “What, you don't like it?”

Tears began running down Denji's face as the bottle emptied. His father clamped a hand over his mouth, stopping the boy from spitting out the bitter drink. Denji tried to swallow, but gagged. He screamed as the beer shot from his nose, burning his nasal cavities. 

He curled up, sobbing loudly as tears, snot, beer, and saliva dripped down his face. Denji's father threw the empty bottle off to the side and stumbled away.

“What the fuck.”

Asa was in a state of shock. What the fuck just happened? What did she just witness? Was she hallucinating? Hesitantly, she walked over. Denji didn't react to her, could he not see her? She attempted to put her hand on his head, but it simply phased right through. She couldn't interact with anything.

“Yoru, I-I have no idea what the hell is going on,” she stammered. Yoru stroked her chin thoughtfully. 

“Perhaps this is one of the Chainsaw boy's memories.”

Asa almost gagged at the thought of this being an actual memory belonging to Denji. This was a horrifying scene, even more so if it was actually a lived experience.

Yoru tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Asa, another door appeared.”

Another door had appeared, the same one that brought them into this memory. Asa made a beeline straight for it. She didn't want to be here any longer. 

Before closing the door behind her, Asa hesitated for a moment to look back at Denji in the corner. Curled up and pitiful, Asa felt her throat tighten. Was this really the same stupid boy who never shut up about Chainsaw Man and drooled all over his desks?

She forced herself to look away. Asa slammed the door shut, leaving the scene behind.

Chapter Text

“Ow dude…what the balls.”

Denji’s head hurt like a bitch. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head and looking around.

He was in some kind of weird empty hallway with lights that were wayyyy too bright. The hallway just seemed to kind of go on…forever?

“Godfucking damn it, don’t tell me that piece of shit is back already,” Denji snarled. He reached through his shirt to grab his ripcord, only to realize it wasn’t there.

“What the hell?” Denji grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it down, staring at the smooth skin of his chest. No ripcord in sight.

Okay, this was definitely really bad. No ripcord. What else was missing?

“Asa?” Denji called out. He couldn’t see her in the direction he was facing. Denji turned his head around to check the other end of the hallway.

No Asa, but there was a wall. And a single door. 

Denji was hesitant to open it. He couldn’t turn into Chainsaw Man without his ripcord, what if something attacked him? Actually, why didn’t he have his ripcord? Was he dead? Was he dreaming? Also, opening doors typically didn’t yield very good results for him. 

But it was either that or walk down an endless hallway. Maybe there was something good on the other side of the door?

Denji got up and walked towards the door verrrry carefully. He pressed his ear up against it, there was no sound coming from the other side. 

Alright. Gotta rip off the bandaid. Denji grabbed the handle and flung the door open. And.

Nothing. Nothing happened.

As in, nothing shot out at him or anything. But the door led somewhere weird. Denji stepped through into a classroom.

It looked a lot like Nayuta’s classroom. He scanned the room before zeroing on a little girl who he recognized after a moment.

It was Asa, pictured eight years old. She wore her hair in two twin braids. It was very cute.

Denji watched as a boy approached Asa, sat at her desk. She was working on something, doodling little cats in the margin of the paper. The boy tapped on her shoulder and she looked up.

“Huh?”

“Asa,” he whispered. “I really like you, I think you’re cool.”

Asa froze, looking very surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. Can you meet me behind the playground after school?”

Asa nodded eagerly and then returned her attention to her paper, her demeanor much brighter. She failed to notice the group off the corner, giggling and looking at her.

As Denji stood, the setting around him changed. He blinked, and he was somewhere different. It was incredibly jarring.

The scene shifted to later that day. Asa stood behind the playground, waiting, completely alone. 

Another shift. Asa at home, weeping in her mother’s arms.

“Why didn’t he show up?” she sobbed. “H-He told me I was cool, and to meet him, a-and then he never came!”

“There there,” her mother said. “Maybe he forgot? Ask him tomorrow.”

Another shift. Back at the school, Denji assumed it was a day later. Asa approached the boy, who was surrounded by his friends. Unsurprisingly, they were the same group of people who had been laughing at Asa.

“Why weren’t you at the playground?” Asa asked quietly.

“Why would I go there?”

“Because you said that I should meet you there. And you said that you liked me and that I was cool.”

The boy looked at Asa with an expression of disgust that most definitely should not have been possible for an eight year old to make. “Are you stupid? I lied. Why would I ever think you’re cool? You’re totally lame.”

“She’s super stupid,” one of the girls crowed. “Stupid Mitaka, Stupid Mitaka! No boy would ever like you!”

Denji watched as Asa burst into tears and ran away.

Holy shit.

“Hey dude, what the fuck? Not cool!” Denji stomped over to the group of kids and swung at them, his fist passing through them like he was a ghost. Denji pulled his hand back, staring at it.

“What the hell? Am I dead?!” Denji slapped himself in the face. Okay, ow, that hurt. He couldn't have been dead. So then what was going on? 

Okay , he thought, let me put on my super smart thinking cap . 

Him and Asa were at the weird suspicious building to meet up with a guy. Asa said she had no idea what she was doing. Asa ran away. Denji ran after her. Denji passed out. Denji woke up in a weird suspicious hallway completely alone. Not only that, but he was missing his ripcord. Denji opened the super suspicious door and walked into whatever this was. Clearly this was one of Asa's memories.

So was he dreaming? Or was this a devil's attack? 

Denji looked around again. The door to the classroom had changed back to the same one that had led him into this memory. 

There was no reason to stay here. Denji needed to continue investigating.

Denji walked through the door, and as he expected, he returned to that gray hallway. This time, there was an end in sight. And at the end of the hallway was yet another door.

Denji walked through the door into another classroom. It wasn't the same one as the last one.

Asa sat towards the front of the class. She seemed a little older, maybe eleven or twelve. 

She was focused on her work, and nearly jumped out of her seat when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see the girl sitting in the chair behind her giving her an awkward smile.

“Asa Mitaka, right?” the girl asked. Asa blinked and nodded slowly.

“Do you have the answer for number seven? I wasn’t paying attention haha,” the girl said. Asa glanced back at her paper.

“It’s fourteen,” Asa whispered. The girl gave her a grateful smile.

“Thank you so much!”

Asa looked incredibly confused, but her face eventually melted into a happy expression.

“No problem.”

Class ended shortly after, and as Asa was leaving to grab her stuff, the girl from earlier ran up next to her.

“I’m Sayaka Hinata,” she said.

“Oh. I’m Asa Mitaka. Or, well, um, you already knew that,” Asa said, fumbling over her words. Sayaka giggled.

“You’re silly, Mitaka.”

Asa blushed. Sayaka probably thought she was stupid now. 

“Do you wanna be friends?”

She perked up. “What?”

“I said, do you wanna be my friend?”
Asa’s face lit up. “Really? You wanna be my friend?”

Sayaka nodded. “Mhm.”

“You're my first friend, that's so cool!” Asa said with a big smile. Sayaka laughed and waved at her.

“I live over here. Bye Asa!” Sayaka ran off and left Asa alone. Asa practically skipped the entire way home. She opened the door to her house.

“Mama! I made a friend!”

Asa's mother stood in the kitchen preparing a meal. She smiled at Asa.

“Really? That's great sweetie.”

“Mhm!” Asa sat down at the table, swinging her legs. She was very very excited. 

Denji couldn't interact with any people in these memories, but he could interact with objects, albeit in a limited way. He sat down in one of the chairs, studying Asa.

If he remembered correctly, he'd never really seen Asa hanging out with people, other than Yoshida and that one girl who disappeared. Which meant she probably didn't have any friends. 

Based on the last memory he was in, people seemed to hate Asa, or at the very least dislike her. So she probably didn't have any friends in the past either.

Denji tapped his chin thoughtfully. What did these memories have in common with each other? Were they just memories that had strong emotions connected to them? 

This was definitely a devil's doing. So what devil was this? Memory devil? Possibly. 

Denji had assumed that this was the end of the memory, but the scene shifted again. 

Asa was at a playground, sitting beneath a slide with Sayaka.

“Now that we're friends, we should do friend stuff together!” Sayaka said. Asa's face brightened.

“I dunno what friends do together,” she admitted. 

“Friends tell each other their big secrets,” Sayaka whispered.

“Really?”

“Yes! I'll go first. My secret is that I hate Mister Fuko. Now what's yours, Asa?”

Asa brought her knees up to her chin and thought long and hard. Finally, she leaned in to whisper in Sayaka's ear.

“I have two. Um, I don't have a dad. Or, I have one, but he left my mom. And my other secret is that I really like Akira.”

Asa leaned back. Sayaka nodded. “Okay.”

Asa shifted. “You won't tell anyone, right?”

Before Sayaka could answer, the teacher called out for everyone to return to class. Sayaka smiled at Asa. “It's time to go back to class.” She ran off, leaving Asa under the slide. Asa cocked her head.

“She never answered my question,” she said softly. 

Another scene shifted. Denji assumed it was the morning of the next day. Asa walked down the hall into her classroom, setting down her bag.

Everyone in the class was staring at her. Asa looked down at the ground. This was not an unfamiliar feeling.

Sayaka was off in a little group at the back of the classroom, sitting with a few girls and the boy that Asa liked. Asa walked over, but when her eyes met Sayaka's, her heart sank.

“Hi Mitaka!” she said cheerfully. The smile on her face didn't reach her eyes. Asa laughed awkwardly. 

“Hi Sayaka. Can I, um, sit here?”

Sayaka cocked her head. “Um, no?”

Asa's heart sank. “Why?”

“Because you're weird, and I don't like weird people.”

“Oh.” Asa honestly couldn't say she was surprised. People had been treating her like this for a long time. But for some reason, this stung in particular. She was so stupid to think that anyone would want to be her friend. So so stupid. 

“We don't wanna hang out with weird girls,” one of the other girls said.

“Yeah. That's probably why your dad left, because you're a freak.” 

Asa stood as still as a statue, her fists clenched. Her bottom lip quivered.

“So you should leave, Mitaka. We don't want you here,” Sayaka said calmly. Asa swallowed and shook her head. 

“Okay,” she said, her voice cracking embarrassingly. Asa turned around and wiped her eyes, which had begun to tear up. She needed to go to the bathroom. Yeah.

As she walked away, Asa heard Sayaka and Akira giggling.

“What a loser,” Akira said.

“Yeah.”

As soon as she was out of the classroom, Asa ran to the bathroom, locking herself in the big stall. She practically collapsed onto the sink, bawling her eyes out. 

“I don't understand!” she wailed. “Why doesn't anyone like me? What's wrong with me? Why can't I make any friends?”

Her loud cries eventually turned into quiet pathetic sobs and hiccups. Asa looked at herself in the mirror. She looked disgusting, with snot and tears running down her face. 

Denji watched with heavy discomfort as Asa keeled over and curled up on the floor. 

The stall door had changed back into the same door from earlier. 

Calling this uncomfortable was an understatement. Denji felt like he was violating Asa somehow. He opened the door and closed it, leaving the memory behind. 

He was back in the hallway, and yet again was there another door at the end. 

Denji slumped to the floor and stared at the ceiling. Where was Asa right now? Was she safe? Denji hoped she was.

Based on the last two scenes, Denji was sure he'd figured out what the devil was. Memory Devil was too vague. Traumatic Memory Devil, possibly? Or maybe just the Trauma Devil.

Denji didn't need to guess what was on the other side of the door at the end of the hall. Another bad memory. 

…It could wait.

Chapter Text

Asa could say for certain that there was no one on this earth she hated right now more than Denji's father.

And yet…

Her hand faltered on the doorknob. This was the seventh door, she’d be entering Denji’s seventh memory. 

Asa was beyond glad that Yoru was here with her. Despite the origin and nature of her relationship with Yoru, Asa had come to… enjoy having the devil with her. Yoru certainly wasn’t a friend, but she was someone who was there for Asa. And she was here with her now, going through all this with her.

“What’s wrong?”

Asa furrowed her brow as she looked at the door knob.

“It’s nothing. I just…I feel like I’m really not going to like what’s on the other side of this door.”

Yoru scoffed. “Of course not. You haven’t liked what was behind the last six doors.”

“I know! But it’s just, I feel like this one is going to be really bad.”

“Either way, we have to open it.”

“Yeah. Yoru, what do you think this is. Like, what's going on right now?”

Yoru crossed her arms. “A devil attack.”

“Yeah, I think so too. But, what devil?”

“Based on everything we’ve seen, I suspect this is perhaps a devil related to memories, specifically traumatic ones. It’s possible that it’s sending us through the chainsaw boy’s memories, although I don’t know why.”

“Do you think Denji is going through the same thing?”

“In what way?”

“Like, I’m seeing his memories. So do you think he’s seeing mine?”

“Possibly.”

Asa cringed at the thought of Denji going through her memories. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with.”

Asa opened the door, greeted by the living room of Denji’s house. He was lying on the couch, seemingly asleep.

Asa closed the door behind her, standing in place. Yoru began walking around the space, looking around.

“I’m a bit tired of this, if I’m being honest. There’s only so many memories of child abuse I can handle,” she said, wrinkling her nose. 

While crudely worded, Asa did agree. Not to mention these all seemed to be close together, since Denji’s injuries in one memory could be seen in another. He didn’t even have time to heal.

The sound of the front door opening jolted Denji from his sleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

“Papa?” he mumbled. “Is that you?”

Denji’s father walked into view, standing in the doorway between the living room and hallway. Asa was surprised that he wasn’t holding a bottle, since he usually was in these memories.

He swayed on his feet, his eyes unfocused. 

“Where’s the money?” he slurred, his voice raspy. Denji blinked.

“Huh?”

“The money, boy. Where’s my money?”

“I-I don’t–”

“Where the fuck is my money??”

Denji shrank back as his father stalked towards him, pointing an accusatory finger. 

“I need that money,” he snarled. “What the fuck did you do with it?!”

“I didn’t do anything! I promise!” Denji was pressed as far up against the couch as he could. 

He squealed as his father grabbed him by the arm, throwing him against the opposite wall. Denji scrambled back in vain.

His father raged towards him, reaching his hands out to grab Denji by the neck and squeeze. 

“You're a lying little filthy thief, you know that!?” he screamed. “You're a waste of space and a piece of shit!”

Denji’s hands flew up to grab his father’s wrists, desperately trying to pull them away. He kicked and struggled, but he was no match for his father’s blind drunk rage. 

Denji’s struggles grew weaker and weaker as he continued to suffocate between his father’s grasp. His hands went limp and fell into his lap. Black spots danced in Denji's eyes. Spit frothed at the corner of his mouth and dripped down his chin. He couldn't breathe. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die, he was going to die he was going to die.

One hand flailed around on the ground, closing around something.

One of his father's old empty beer bottles.

Denji raised it and brought the bottle down on his father’s head with a sickening crunch, the glass shattering. Small pieces embedded themselves in his father’s head. 

His hands loosened from around Denji’s neck. Denji took a deep breath and kicked his father backwards. He toppled back and collapsed on the ground with a dull thud.

Despite the fact that Denji’s father was clearly passed out, Denji continued to grip the bottle, standing over his father. He was trembling violently, and his hands shook so much that it seemed like the broken bottle would fall from his hands any moment. He stared at his father, frozen to the spot for a moment, before screaming and bringing the bottle down over his head again and again and again, until the bottle shattered completely in his hands, cutting into his palms. 

If there was any hope that Denji’s father might’ve been alive, it had been destroyed completely. Blood pooled around him, staining the floor a dark red. 

Denji collapsed, his eyes wide as saucers. Asa had no idea how long it was until he moved. Denji moved off his father, stumbling out of the living room. He fell to the ground, opened his mouth, and let out an inhuman noise. 

To call it a scream would be an understatement. It was an animalistic cry, full of so much pain that Asa felt like it was clawing at her eardrums.

Denji screamed until his throat was raw, and then he continued to scream. 

And then he fell silent. Denji curled up, beginning to gag and retch. Sour bile spilled from his mouth and onto the floor in front of him. Tears dripped from his eyes as he began wheezing and hyperventilating. 

And then he fell still. Not completely, every once in a while he’d twitch, but that was it.

“...”

“...”

Asa didn’t protest as Yoru grabbed her hand and led her to the door, removing the two of them from the memory. Yoru sat her down against the wall gently, which was good, because Asa’s knees felt weak.

“I…” Asa’s mouth felt dry. Her throat felt thick, her stomach was rolling. “I don’t know. I’m just–I don’t know.”

Yoru leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Her brows were pinched, she was thinking hard. 

“It appears we’ve been going through the boy’s memory in chronological order. Therefore, we may be able to leave once we finish going through his memories.”

Asa buried her face in her hands. “I don’t want to keep going through these memories.”

“We don’t have a choice, Asa,” Yoru snapped. “Either we go through the memories or we’re stuck here forever. Need I remind you we are under attack? We probably aren’t even in our own body, something could attack our physical body at any moment and we’d have no way to defend ourselves. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“I know! God, but this is fucking nuts! I just watched Denji kill his own father. And he was what, ten years old? Give me a break.”

“No, Asa. Are you even listening? We can’t take a break. We need to keep moving. If you’re really feeling that bad, I can carry you.”

Asa groaned and clawed at her face. Yoru was right, they needed to keep moving.

“...Fine.”

Yoru sighed and leaned down to pick up Asa. This was such an insane situation, Asa didn't even know how to feel.

Yoru carried her into the next memory. 

Unlike the previous memories, this one took place outside. 

Denji stood in front of a grave. It was raining, and Denji was already soaked. A car was parked behind him, and Asa could see someone in the passenger’s seat. The man must’ve been in his fifties or sixties. 

“Your father hung himself, you hear me, boy?”

Denji nodded listlessly, as if his body was on autopilot. Asa furrowed her brow. That wasn’t right, she’d watched Denji kill him. 

“And he did so without paying this month’s installment. You’ve got until tomorrow to put together 700,000 yen. You can beg for it or spread your legs. Do whatever you can to get that money, I don’t care. Or else we’ll chop you up and sell the bits.”

With that, the car drove away. The rain had soaked into Denji’s clothes and hair, and there was a deeply uncomfortable chill that seeped into his bones. One that he felt would never go away.

“Seven hundred thousand yen,” Denji whispered, his voice cracking. “Where am I supposed to get seven hundred thousand yen?”

The sound of a chainsaw revving broke Denji out of his thoughts. He turned to the tree his father had hung himself from. A creature poked its head from behind.

It looked like a small dog. However, it had no ears. Instead, a chainsaw protruded from its head, and a handle stuck out from its body.

“A ch-chainsaw?” Denji said.

“That’s…” Yoru’s eyes widened. Asa squinted. Chainsaw…?

Denji stumbled backwards, falling onto the ground. The Chainsaw Devil walked out from behind the tree, approaching Denji.

“A devil,” he whispered. Denji’s face scrunched up. “If you’re gonna kill me, just do it. I’m dead anyways…”

“Asa,” Yoru said, narrowing her eyes. “This is Chainsaw Man.”

“Chainsaw Man??” Asa looked at the small devil. No way that thing was Chainsaw Man.

It had collapsed in front of Denji, lying on its side. It panted heavily, and Asa could see two heavy puncture wounds.

“It’s hurt. You’re gonna die too…?” Denji said. His eyes widened and he held up his arm. “Bite me! I’ve heard that drinking blood can heal a devil. If you don’t wanna die, bite me!”

The Chainsaw Devil stood up on shaky legs, closing the distance between itself and Denji. It sank its fangs into Denji’s arm, eliciting a wince from the young boy.

“My blood isn’t coming for free though, this is a deal! I’ll help you…so you help me.” Denji’s body relaxed as the Chainsaw Devil took his mouth off Denji. 

“Afterall…I don’t want to die.”

The wounds on the devil stopped bleeding before closing up completely. Its demeanor immediately brightened. The devil jumped into Denji’s lap. His eyebrows shot up.

“Aw, you’re kinda friendly, huh?” Denji chuckled. The devil let out a little bark.

“Since we’re gonna be working together in the future, I guess I should name you, huh?” Denji raised an eyebrow. “You look a bit like a pooch… Hm.. pooch–...ita? Pochita?”

The devil barked again. Apparently, it seemed to like that name. Denji smiled and grabbed it, holding it up.

“Alright then, your name is Pochita. My name is Denji. I think we’ll be working together for a long time.” Denji set Pochita back onto the ground, pressing his finger against one of the blades on the chainsaw. He yelped and pulled it back, sticking the finger in his mouth.

“Ouch, those are sharp alright. They could do some serious damage…” Denji wiped his finger off on his shirt. “I need to make lots of money by tomorrow. I don’t think it’s possible, but maybe the old man will let me live if I can prove I’m useful. Think you can help me?”

Pochita cocked its head. Denji tapped the flat side of the chainsaw.

“I’ve heard that devil bodies are pretty valuable. If I can kill devils and give them to the Yakuza, I could make money without having to, y’know…” Denji gestured between his legs. Pochita barked.

“You get it? Great.” Denji picked up Pochita and stood up. “We should start looking now, alright?” Denji began walking towards the city.

“Asa, the door is back.”

Asa, who had been staring at Denji, blinked. “Huh?”

Yoru nodded her head to the door that had appeared out of thin air. 

“Ah, alright. Guess the memory is pretty much over…let’s go.”

“Yes. Let’s.” Yoru carried Asa through the door and out the memory, setting her back on the floor of the hallway. Asa brought her thumb to her mouth, gnawing on her nail.

“So…” she said. “That was the Chainsaw Devil. Chainsaw Man. But he didn’t look like Chainsaw Man?”

Yoru huffed, tapping the floor with her foot. “A very long time ago, I, alongside my sisters and the weapon devils, fought Chainsaw Man. It was a long and terrible battle. I was partially consumed, and nearly all the weapon devils were destroyed. In the end, my eldest sister nearly managed to defeat Chainsaw Man. However, before we were able to properly subdue him, he disappeared. We scoured Hell and Earth for ages, however we were never able to find him. It appears that the reason for this was that Chainsaw Man had turned into…whatever that was.”

“Alright…And then he came across Denji, and Denji healed him.”

“It also appears that Denji made a contract with Chainsaw. In exchange for saving him on the brink of death, Chainsaw had to help Denji with making money to pay off his father’s debt to the Yakuza.”

“So– So does this mean that Denji is actually Chainsaw Man? Like, he wasn’t lying?”

Yoru shrugged. “Perhaps, but we haven’t seen anything that truly proves that.”

“...Well now I want to know what happened.”

A very large smile spread across Yoru’s face. “Only one way to find out.”

Chapter Text

"Asa honey, if you wanted to get a pet, what would you want?"

Asa looked up from her soup, staring at her mother.

"Huh? A pet?"

"Yes."

Asa smiled. "Probably a kitty, can we get a kitty?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Asa beamed, kicking her feet back and forth. She'd always wanted a cat, but money was tight, and Asa's mother wouldn't be able to support the both of them, plus a pet. But she'd recently gotten a raise, and things finally seemed to be looking up for the two of them.

A cat...yes. Cats were wonderful pets. They didn't require too much maintenance. People always said cats were cold. That they didn't love their owners. But cats liked Asa. The strays on the street always began meowing when they saw her, running up to rub against her leg or climb up her body.

Cats liked Asa. Asa liked cats. A cat could be a friend, someone to take away Asa's loneliness.

Maybe a black cat...those were cute.

Asa was snapped out of her daydreaming by the distant sound of sirens. She looked out the window, off in the distance. 

Buildings were being torn from the ground, and Asa could see a hint of pink flesh within the storm of debris. She looked at her mother.

Asa's mother furrowed her brow, standing up from her chair and picking up Asa.

"Let's go honey, we don't want to get caught—"

Asa screamed as a chunk of concrete flew through the window of their apartment, demolishing the door to the bathroom. 

"I thought it was farther away!" Asa's mother shouted. She practically dragged Asa out of the apartment, rushing her down the stairs. 

Asa felt a little dizzy, and her mom had to push her to keep running. But once a piece of shrapnel nicked her leg, Asa began picking up the pace. 

Asa could hear yelling in the distance, mentions of Public Safety arriving in a minute or so. Last she had heard, one of the strongest devil hunters was in the area. Maybe they'd be safe. 

"Meow..."

Asa's head snapped to the side. A small white cat was dragging itself along the ground, its hind legs broken and bleeding. Unthinking of the dangers around her, Asa ran over and snatched up the cat. 

And then...she tripped. 

It always happened. She always tripped at the worst times. 

Asa felt her mother wrap her arms around her and haul her up. She shoved Asa, and the girl had just enough time to turn around and watch as a car slammed into her mother at full force.

"MOM!!" Asa screamed. 

Behind them, the devil began screaming. It began moving away from them, off in another direction. It was leaving. Asa didn't need to keep running.

She stumbled over to the car, the cat still held in her hands. She sat down  before she could collapse. 

"Are you alright dear?"

Asa looked up. She recognized the old woman approaching her. She lived a few floors below Asa. The woman took off her hat. 

"Poor thing, this must've been awful for you..."

The cat in Asa's arms looked at up at Asa, flicking it's tail back and forth. The woman blinked.

"My, it's a kitty cat! You managed to save the cat? How wonderful."

Its hind legs were matted with blood, staining its pristine white fur. It matched the color of the car next to her. Just like the cat, flecks of dried blood stained the white. Asa's stomach rolled. She should've been sitting next to her mother. Her mother should've been alive.

Maybe, deep down, there was something wrong with her. Something wrong with her brain, or her body, maybe. Which would explain why she was such a screwup. 

Asa's mother was dead. And it was all Asa's fault. 

"Are you feel alright, honey?"

"Here, let me help you?"

Warm hands that were just like Asa's, a kind face just like Asa's. A face that Asa would next see again, because Asa was stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

Asa hunched over and wailed.

Denji narrowed his eyes as he looked over the scene and tried to make sense of it. 

Part of him could kind of understand how Asa felt. Denji was responsible for killing his father. Asa probably felt like she was responsible for killing her mother. That kind of guilt was very powerful. It was probably even worse for Asa, considering she actually liked her mother. 

Denji had seen Asa trip on multiple occasions. How did that make her feel? Did it remind her of this moment? What about her cat? Did Asa feel guilty everytime she came across a cat?

Perhaps it would trigger bad memories if he asked, but Denji was really curious. 

Originally, he envisioned Asa as someone cold and aloof. After their date at the aquarium, she seemed much more...fun? But even still, she seemed pretty blunt when he attempted discussing their second date.

And then there was the way she had suddenly changed during their second date. Yelling at him about how she didn't like him, and how he needed to stay away. And then suddenly kissing him. 

She was so odd, was this why? It was pretty clear at this point that Asa saw herself as a weird person, possibly even a bad one. Did she say that stuff during their date because she was worried that Denji thought she was weird? Did she actually like him? Was she pushing him away because she didn't want him to say anything mean to her? Or was she worried that she'd accidentally hurt Denji somehow?

Denji wanted to ask, but he couldnt do that until he could actually see her. And to see her, he needed to get to the end of her memories and find out how to escape.

There probably wasn't much more to this memory. Denji turned around to face the door that had appeared. He opened it and walked through the hallway into the next memory. 

Asa sat next to a bookshelf, reading a book. Her hair was a little longer.

The cat she had saved was lying around her shoulders. Its legs had healed. 

This must've been a few months after the death of her mother.

Denji looked around. He peered outside the window. Several kids were playing soccer. A few girls were talking outside.

Some of the kids looked related, most of them didn't. Was this an orphanage?

A quiet meow brought Denji's attention back to Asa. She smiled at the cat, scratching it under its chin.

"Look Crambon, this book is about you!" she said, holding the book up to the cat.

Crambon meowed again and rubbed against Asa's face. She began reading again, occasionally scratching the cat and giving him little kisses.

There was a knock on the door. 

Asa looked up as it was opened. A woman walked inside.

"Asa, can we talk?"

Asa closed her book. "What is it, ma'am?"

"It's about your cat. Why don't we have my friend who likes cats take him in?"

Asa's face turned sour. "Huh?"

"One of the other kids is allergic. This is unhealthy for you too. You depend on that cat for companionship instead of talking to the other kids."

Asa's face went stone cold again as she looked at her feet. "Don't wanna."

The woman sighed and sat down next to her. She gestured to the window.

"All the orphans here...Devils kill their parents. Mine too, my mom was killed in the recent Typhoon Devil attack."

Asa's eyes widened.

"But y’know, the other kids, they can still laugh and play outside because they became a family here. Your cat's the only cat here. Don't you think he'd be happier living at my friend's house? With other cats?"

Asa chewed the inside of her cheek. Was it true? Was Crambon lonely? She didn't want to be the cause for that. Another being suffering because of her selfishness...

"Crambon."

"Crambon?"

Asa nodded as she picked him up and held him up to the woman. "His name is Crambon. Make him happy..."

The woman smiled and took the cat from Asa's hands. She left the room. Asa's lip quivered as she looked back at her book.

"He'll be happy now," she said softly to herself.

The scene shifted to night time. Asa laid in bed, drifting off to sleep. A younger girl in the bed next to her turned her head to face Asa.

"Asa," she whispered. "Are you asleep?"

"What?" Asa snapped.

"Where's your cat?"

Asa opened her eyes and looked at the girl. "Why?"

The girl bit her lip and looked rather guilty. "Its just...when me and the other kids were playing by the river, we saw something in the water. Ren went to check it out and..." her voice faltered. "There was a cat in the water. It looked just like yours..."

The door creaked as the woman walked inside.

"Hey you two! It's lights out, go to sleep."

The girl let out a little squeak as she pulled the covers over her head. Asa stared at the woman. It was a it difficult to tell with the lights off, but Asa's face seemed pale.

"Ma'am, Crambon...Crambon's okay, right?"

The women looked at Asa with a face of apathy.

"Everyone here lost their family. You can't be the only one with a family member." She shut the door. 

Asa stared at the ceiling. Denji walked over to look at her.

Her face was entirely blank. She was just completely frozen.

Denji stayed to see if she reacted somehow, but she didn't at all. In fact, she hardly even blinked. No tears, no sniffling, not even a hint of sadness. Just...nothing.

Denji left the memory and sat down in the hallway for a minute to think.

Did Asa feel guilty? Did she feel responsible for the death of her cat? She had no way of knowing what the woman would do to her cat. But still.

Denji could definitely sympathize this time. Afterall, Crambon must've been Asa's only companion. Just like Pochita.

The more Denji looked through Asa's memories, the more he wondered about her. She'd always seemed so cold, but now he felt like she had a reason to be. 

She was so lonely. Denji rested his chin against knees. 

"Asa," he murmured. "I..."

He really wanted to talk to her. To try and understand her. He needed to be out of here soon.

Chapter Text

Denji was leading Asa on a wild goose chase.

The memory started out with Denji waking up in the morning. He sat up and looked around. There was no Pochita in his arms. 

"Pochita? Pochita?!"

He quickly began to panic, and he left his little shack at he called home to look around for the little Chainsaw Devil.

Asa had no difficulty keeping up with the young boy as he ran around the city. He looked in dumpsters and under cars. 

"Pochita!? Pochita?!" he cried, becoming more and more frantic as time went on without the devil by his side. 

After what must’ve been hours, Denji finally returned to his shack, sweaty and on the verge of collapse. He had been crying for a while now, and if Asa didn't know this was a memory, she'd be worried that he'd die of dehydration and exhaustion. 

Asa walked into the shack, where Yoru leaned against the wall. She met Asa's eyes before rolling her own. 

Right next to Yoru, sitting next to a box, was Pochita. The Chainsaw Devil was crying, and he ran to Denji the moment the boy walked through the door.

Denji gasped and grabbed Pochita, sobbing as he held the devil in his arms.

"Pochitaaa," he sobbed. "I thought you were gone! I thought you were dead! I thought a devil had kidnapped you!"

Pochita let out a bark as he attempted to press up harder against Denji. Denji collapsed on his bed, squeezing Pochita tightly.

The two stopped crying, and eventually, they fell asleep.

Yoru snorted. "How foolish, to Denji, is Pochita not simply just a pet? Why be so emotional if he were to disappear or die. Right Asa?"

Yoru turned to Asa, who seemed to be tearing up.

"Asa?"

Asa wiped her eyes. "I can see where Denji is coming from..."

Yoru raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for an explanation. Asa sat down on one of the boxes and sighed.

"I...used to have a pet. His name was Crambon. I saved him during a devil attack. He was just a cat, but I didn't want him to die. Maybe I should've let him, since my mom would still be alive if I hadn't tried to save him." Asa chewed on her lip at the thought of the painful memory. "But I did save him. And I killed my mom by doing so. My mom was really my only friend. I thought that I was going to be alone now, but I had Crambon. I began staying at an orphanage. I didn't like interacting with the other kids, so having Crambon really helped. He was always by my side, even while I slept. When I cried, he would jump in my lap and try to make me feel better. He was my friend, and he was even family. Which is why-" Asa's voice cracked. "-Which is why it hurt so much when I lost him. And here..." Asa gestured to the sleeping Denji and Pochita. "I can see where Denji is coming from. He's all alone, no family and friends. And the Yakuza is making him kill devils to pay off his father's debt. But he's got Pochita to keep him company. They're like family. Pochita isn't just a pet devil, just like how Crambon wasn't just a pet cat."

Yoru furrowed her brow. "So you are saying that Chainsaw Man is not a pet to Denji, but rather a friend?"

"Right."

Yoru crossed her arms. "I was not aware that Chainsaw Man could come to understand such concepts..."

"Why?"

"Why? Because he is The Hero of Hell, a god of destruction. He kills devils and erases them from existence."

"Like with your Nuclear Weapons?"

"Yes! I simply can't fathom how Chainsaw Man could see others as friends when he's so...so destructive." Yoru squinted at the little devil. "Perhaps it's because of his current form. This thing couldn't kill a devil on its own to save its life."

Asa jumped off the boxes and sat at the edge of Denji's mattress instead. 

Denji looked so peaceful when he was asleep. It was hard to believe this was the same crude boy she'd met.

He was so young too, he couldn't have been older than thirteen. And already he'd been through so much. How on Earth did he deal with it?

"Pochita..."

Asa blinked. Denji had woken up for whatever reason. He looked at the little devil in his arms, who was still fast asleep.

"I'm so glad I found you," he murmured, running a finger through his orange fur. "Life would be pretty crappy, but it's not. Cause you're here. I'd like to live a normal life one day, but for now I'll settle for this. Cause I'm not alone, I have you..." He yawned and his eyelids began drooping. It didn't take long for him to fall back asleep. 

Asa's heart felt heavy. She stood up and motioned for Yoru to follow them.

The door to the shack had long since turned into the door to the hallway. Asa leaned back and did some mental math.

Seven...and Denji meeting Pochita was his eight memory. And then three more, including this one, made eleven. 

Denji was about eight in his first memory, and twelve in this memory. So that was eleven memories over the span of four years. 

Denji was eighteen now, six years after this latest memory. 

If the amount of memories per year corresponded consistently, then that meant they had about eighteen more memories after this. 

"How dreadfully tedious," Yoru said with a sigh. "Eighteen more memories? We better speed through them."

"Yeah." Asa walked towards the door, motioning for Yoru to follow her.

To Asa's surprise, it only took four memories until they reached the point in Denji's life when he was sixteen. 

Given that this was only two years before Asa had met Denji, she'd been hoping that things would start to look up for him. But no, his more recent memories were still just as bad. Especially the ones where he underwent surgery and sold his body parts to make money pay off his father's debts.

Watching Denji undergo the knife made Asa feel horrible, and she wasn't even the one being cut open. The recovery was brutal, and it was a miracle that Denji didn't die of an infection. 

And it definitely made Asa curious. At this point, Denji was missing his eye. But Asa knew that he had his eye NOW.

How did he get it back?

Asa continued to ponder that as she opened the door to the next memory. 

It was late at night, and Asa stepped into a car.

She blinked. This was new. 

The old man drove the car while Denji sat in the back, holding Pochita. Asa sat down in the middle seat, while Yoru sat next to her.

"Perhaps we'll be done with his memories soon," Yoru said. 

"Maybe." Asa looked at Denji. He stared out the window, his fingers working through Pochita's fur.

The drive ended when the car stopped just outside a warehouse. Asa and Yoru slipped out of the car as Denji opened it.

"I wonder what's traumatic about this memory," Asa murmured. 

Denji yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"The devil's in here?" he asked sleepily. The old man nodded and walked into the warehouse, Denji following behind him. 

Asa stayed near Denji while Yoru went off on her own, walking around the warehouse.

After a minute of walking and no devil, Denji spoke up.

"A devil showed up here sir?" Denji looked around. "I don't see it, maybe it hid somewhere?"

The old man stopped walking. 

"Denji my boy, you have our thanks."

"Uh...huh?"

"You're obedient like a dog, and work for cheap like one too."

"What?"

"Only problem with dogs is I can't stand the stench..."

Shlckk

Blood began to drip from Denji's nose and well up in his throat. The sharp tip of a blade appeared from Pochita's stomach, courtesy of the blade that had skewered them both.

"Us Yakuza, we wanted to get stronger to make more money. So we made a contract with a devil, just like you did."

"What we wanted was a devil's power." The old man was lifted off the ground, and his body slowly began to rot. His voice mixed in with another voice, hissing and grating. "And what I wanted was Devil Hunters' death!"

From the shadows emerged a grotesque looking devil, its flesh decaying. Its eyes bulged from its head and its teeth were rotting. Multiple appendages stuck out from its body, several of them connected to some of the members of the shambling hoarde beneath it.

"Devil hunter boy, these fucks were real suckers! Insanely fucking stupid! All I had to do was promise them power, and they willingly became my slaves!" it cackled. "Though, they turned into zombies with that power, since I'm the Zombie Devil!"

Denji stumbled backwards, one hand clutching his stomach and the other clutching Pochita. The little devil was in a terrible condition.

"Devil hunters kill devils, so I hate you! That's why I'm going to kill you!" The appendages detached from the zombified Yakuza members, and they all turned to focus their attention on Denji. 

"You guys, cut him to pieces and throw him in the trash."

The hoarde lunged at Denji, and he narrowly managed to escape their grasp. He began running, but his movements were sloppy and uncoordinated. Denji clamped a hand over his mouth, coughing up blood. 

It's not fair...I just wanted to dream about a normal life, that would've been enough!

But you couldn't even let me have that.

A blade came down on Denji's head, slicing through his skin and skull, and severing his brain in half. The boy fell to the floor, letting out a raw, earsplitting scream.

It didn't last for long. The blade came down again and again, until Denji was no more than a pile of limbs and severed chunks of flesh. Amidst the carnage, Pochita was split in half.

The zombies gathered up the pieces of the boy and his devil, dumping them into a trash can.

There's no way this was a real memory. Asa began to gag at the fresh memory of Denji's severed head, and chunks of her breakfast expelled themselves from her stomach.

"How dreadful..."

Asa turned around to see Yoru. The devil looked sick to her stomach as well.

"Yoru, I—" Asa clamped a hand over her mouth, feeling her stomach roiling again. "I don't understand, Denji is dead."

Yoru seemed deep in thought, as if trying to rationalize what had happened. "Indeed. Not to mention, the boy certainly isn't a fiend or a devil in disguise. He's human-"

"POCHITA!!"

Asa let out a scream as Denji burst out of the dumpster, holding his hand out to grab something that wasn't there. As Asa looked at his face, Yoru was staring at his chest.

"Asa." 

"What?"

Yoru pointed at the starter in his chest. It perfectly resembled Pochita's tail.

"That's..."

"Chainsaw Man," Yoru said, finishing Asa's sentence. The Zombie Devil's attention was drawn over to the dumpster.

"Huh? He's still alive after we cut him into ribbons? Gross! I realllly hate devil hunters! You guys, eat that freak!"

The hoarde rushed towards Denji, ready to eat him and destroy them for good. 

Denji's eyes flitted between the former Yakuza members, some of whom he recognized.

These guys already had plenty. How come they wanted an even better life?

Am I the same?

I should've just been happy with Pochita. But I kept dreaming for a better life.

Oh, I get it.

Everyone dreams, you can't help it. Then dreaming ain't a bad thing.

...

'S not a bad thing, but...

Denji hooked a finger through the starter on his chest.

"If you're gonna get in our way, then die!"

The hoarde pounced on Denji, burying him under a pile of writhing rotting flesh. The Zombie Devil seemed irritated. 

"That punk is bound to stay dead if he's eaten..."

As if right on cue, a chainsaw cleaved a zombie in half, tearing and shaking off several others. Chainsaw Man burst from the swarm, slicing and shredding through the group of zombified Yakuza members.

"Why're you...?!" the Zombie Devil shouted. "Did that shitty runt of a devil take over your body? That makes you the same as me!"

Chainsaw Man turned his head in the direction of the devil before jumping at him, his chainsaw skewering him straight in the eye. The Zombie Devi let out an agonized shriek as Chainsaw Man began tearing it apart, killing it and leaving nothing but shredded ribbons of devil flesh. 

Despite the source being gone, the Yakuza members were still zombies. Chainsaw Man looked all around him.

"Looks like you guys are devils through and through now..." He lunged at them and began laughing.

"Then since I'm a devil hunter, I've gotta kill every last one of you!"

He slaughtered several, letting out a gleeful noise as he pulverized the old man.

"Oh yeah!" he shouted, "If I kill all you fuckers, my debt'll be gone, won't it!?"

He cackled maniacally as he continued killing the zombies. By the time they were all dead, he was practically swimming in gore. 

He cleaved the final zombie in half, successfully killing the hoarde. And then he stopped moving.

"..."

"..."

Asa shouted as Yoru slapped her upside the head.

"Ow?! What was that for?!"

"I told you he was Chainsaw Man!" Yoru shouted. "I was right, you said I was wrong, but I was actually right! Who's stupid now, Asa?!"

Asa glared at Yoru and rubbed her head. She looked back at Chainsaw Man.

He was at the center of all the carnage. Unmoving. He was in an almost catatonic state.

Yoru finally stopped laughing and celebrating her small victory. She clapped a hand on Asa's shoulder.

"Let's go, Asa."

"There's no door."

Yoru made a face. "Huh?"

"There's no door, Yoru. This memory, it's not over."

Yoru tapped her foot impatiently. "Why would it not be over?"

"I don't know, but we can't leave until we've seen the rest of it."

"What more could there be to this memory?!"

"I don't know!" Asa glanced outside the warehouse. The sun had begun to rise, it had been a while since the memory first started. Asa opened her mouth to say something, but Yoru spoke first.

"Asa, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Asa concentrated hard, trying to listen for any important sounding noises.

"I hear a car." Yoru grabbed Asa's hand and brought her to the entrance of the warehouse, where a car had just parked.

Two men in suits left the car, followed by a woman with pink hair in a braid. Asa narrowed her eyes. This woman seemed very important, she excluded an aura of dominance.

The woman walked into the warehouse, passively gazing upon the gorefest inside. 

"Someone beat us to it," she said. The two men flanked her side, wearing expressions of disgust and concern at the scene inside. The woman's gaze fell on Denji. She cocked her head.

"One's still alive," the man on her right said. The woman walked up to Denji, studying him.

"You're a strange one," she murmured. "You don't smell like a devil or a human."

Denji seemed to stir, swaying slightly on his feet. The woman smiled at him.

"Did you do this?" she asked.

"H..." Denji rasped. "...Hold me..." He began to fall backwards. The woman embraced him in a hug, keeping him upright.

Denji's chainsaw head began to melt, turning into a kind of liquid. It sloughed off his head, revealing his human face.

"It's a human," the woman remarked. One of the men came up behind her, holding a hand out.

"Careful ma'am, he may be taken over by a devil."

"No, you can recognize a fiend by looking at their face." The woman let Denji down gently. She sat on her knees, cradling his head gently in his map. "I came here to kill the Zombie Devil, since I'm a devil hunter working for Public Safety. You've got two choices, I can kill you as a devil." She gently wiped some leftover residue off Denji's face. "Or I can keep you as a pet human."

What the fuck? Asa thought.

"If you pick being my pet, I promise I'll feed you well."

"Feed..." Denji said. "What would you feed me for breakfast?"

"Hmm..." the woman said, holding her chin. "Toast with butter and jam, salad, coffee, and maybe something sweet if you're good?"

Denji closed his eyes.

"Sounds like heaven..."

The woman chuckled. Asa couldn't stop staring at her. There was something...not necessarily wrong, but there was something about her that gave Asa a bad feeling. 

"The door appeared."

"Yeah, yeah," Asa dismissed Yoru, continuing to stare at the woman. Yoru had to physically drag her out of the memory, closing the door behind them.

Just before she'd left the memory, Asa had caught a glimpse of that woman's eyes. Bright red irises, ringed with yellow. Asa glanced at Yoru's eyes. They were the same.

"That woman, she wasn't human," Asa whispered. "Who, no, what was she?"

"Control."

"Control?"

"Yes," Yoru muttered. "One of my sisters. The last time I saw her, her form was much different. But I could still recognize her immediately."

"Wait wait. Like, the Control Devil?"

"Yes."

Asa nodded slowly. The more she thought about it, the more concerning it became. Denji being found by such a powerful devil. But she didn't seem malicious. Scary? Yes. But evil? No.

"More importantly," Yoru began, "We've confirmed that Phony Chainsaw Boy is actually Legitimate Chainsaw Boy. If there was any other reason for us to get out of here as soon as possible, it would be because I have finally found my nemesis, Chainsaw Man. We must make haste, Asa."

Asa pursed her lips. She didn't think it was possible, but she'd almost forgotten about Yoru's stupid one-sided rivalry. That was definitely going to be annoying once they were out of here, but Asa would just have to deal with it once it came to pass.

As she walked, Asa ran through her thoughts on Denji in her head. 

She'd originally found Denji to be crude and stupid. Her opinion of him got a little better at the aquarium. He started seeming a little nicer, more sympathetic. It was fun, being with him in that aquarium.

And then he asked her out on another date, stood her up, and Asa's opinion of him plummeted. She wasn't a stranger to being stood up, but that had really stung. She thought Denji liked her, that maybe he was different from all the people who looked at Asa and thought fucking with her was funny. She was the weird girl, the anti-social girl who never spoke to anyone, or to most people, who?

But then he stood her up, and Asa was eight years old again, trying to figure out why people didn't like her.

And then he didn't even have the nerve to apologize to her. It was fine, Asa had gotten over it. Who cared about that stuff? Certainly not Asa, she had to focus on getting her body back. She was better off without him. And he was probably better off without her.

But then everything happened and Asa just couldn't get the image of eight year old Denji, covered in bruises, out of her head. 

Denji, choking on the ground. Denji, crying and curled up in the corner. Denji standing over his father. Denji in front of a grave. 

Denji swallowing bottlecaps and lit cigarettes just for a couple hundred yen. Denji, sweating and pale on the floor as the botched stitches in his side burst.

Denji chopped up into little pieces.

She wished she could see into his mind, wished she could just try and understand what he was thinking. Asa's head was hurting. She couldn't just imagine Denji as some stupid boy anymore, all she could see was his past. 

Her heart was just aching thinking about him.

But surely, they were through the worst of the memories. Surely, it wouldn't take long until they were done.

Asa would see him soon.

Chapter Text

Denji was so glad he was out of the orphanage era of Asa's traumatic memories.

It was almost physically painful having to walk through a door and into that house. Denji vowed to himself that if he ever saw the head of the orphanage, it was on sight. 

So when he walked through the door and found out Asa had moved to an apartment, he nearly collapsed to his knees. He'd never have to see that horrid woman ever again. In a way, she reminded him a bit of the Yakuza he had to see regularly. Of course, she was no where near as terrible as they'd been, but the dismissive look in her eyes when she spoke to Asa reminded him of how the old man looked when he showed up at Denji's shack for the month's installment, demanding money, even if Denji was on the brink of starvation.

Denji was also sure he was nearing the end of Asa's memories. The last memory had taken place at the end of the last school year, which meant that whatever memories he was going through from this point on would be taking place during their current school year.

He huffed as he stretched in front of the door. 

"Alright Denji," he said to himself. "You're almost done, then you can get outta here and look for Asa."

Denji placed a hand on the knob and opened the door, walking into Asa's classroom.

"Today marks three months of having Bucky with us at school. I will now ask a student with devil hunter aspirations to kill Bucky.

A stupid looking headless chicken say on the desk at the front of the class. It hunched over sadly.

"Buckaw..."

Asa had a smug expression on her face as she smirked at the devil.

Finally.

A girl stood up from her seat. Denji recognized her a bit, he saw her around the school sometimes. She was Asa's class president.

"Mr. Tanaka," she said, "the whole class talked it out, and we've decided. We won't eat Bucky!"

Asa stared at the class president in disbelief.

What?!

"We eat living things, we can't deny that...but Bucky isn't just a living thing or a devil, he's our friend!"

The teacher and class president stared at each other for a moment before he placed a hand over his heart.

"That's just what I wanted to hear!" he said happily. Asa looked incredibly confused.

Excuse me!?!

"Bucky is hereby pardoned and will continue to live as a member of the class!"

The Chicken Devil and students all began to cheer. Mr. Tanaka had started crying.

"As your teacher, I didn't want you kids to take life lightly, not even a devil's. I'm so proud of you all for learning this lesson! Forget math class today, let's all go outside and play some soccer!"

The students all rushed out of the classroom, leaving Asa alone in her seat. She sighed and got up, lethargically walking to join the rest of the students outside. 

Rather than join in, Asa stood off to the side, watching as her classmates played soccer. Mr. Tanaka walked to stand next to her.

"Not gonna join them?"

"No," Asa said sharply.

"High school is more fun with friends, y’know."

"I'm here to study, not make friends," Asa said bitterly.

"Hey, Mitaka!" The class president shouted from the yard. "Come play soccer with us!"

"Err, no, I—"

Asa yelped as the Chicken Devil jumped in her arms and clucked.

"Buckaw! Asa Mitaka! Come out of your shell and play soccer with me!"

Asa's breath hitched.

My name? Only the teacher and class president remember my name.

She glanced at the rest of the class, all of whom were smiling at her, waiting for her to join them. Asa felt a little giddy. She began running towards them. 

A group of friends walking together. Three girls giggling in the bathroom. A couple on the stairwell.

People socializing, making friends.

I get it. I was...jealous of them.

A foot stuck out in front of Asa, going completely unnoticed by everyone. Asa tripped, Bucky still in her arms. The devil let out a little dying cluck as her full weight fell on top of it.

A few people ran to help Asa up, but as soon as she was back on her knees, no one was looking at her. They were all looking at the dead devil on the ground, its guts all over the floor and stuck to Asa's uniform.

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my god?!?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"He's dead!"

Several people covered their mouth in horror, and some even fell to their knees. And then their eyes were no longer on Bucky, but rather, the source of his untimely passing.

Asa felt like a deer in headlights. Everyone was staring at her. Horror, anger, disgust.

If Asa was an outsider observer, maybe she'd look at herself like that too.

Denji sucked in air through his teeth. He was wondering why this was one of her memories. And now it was obvious.

The scene shifted to that night, in Asa's apartment. She laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Hypothetically, if one person in class had to jump off a roof, and everyone had to vote for that person, I think everyone would vote for me.

I don't blame them.

I'd vote for me too.

The next morning. Asa walked into class. And there it was again, that deer in the headlights look as everyone in class turned in unison to stare at her.

Asa visited the grave made for Bucky, courtesy of the class president. She could feel the eyes on her.

No, Asa didn't deserve to visit the grave, not when she was the reason it was there in the first place.

Asa's apartment. She stared at the ceiling again before grabbing her pillow and screaming.

"AHHHH!! AHHHHH!!! FUCK!!! I WANT TO DIE!!"

Denji winced. He couldn't begin to imagine how harsh this must've been on Asa.

Asa screamed into her pillow, until she heard the faint sounds of a doorbell over the yelling.

She removed her face from the pillow, glaring at her door. The ringing was incessant, who the hell was even there?

Asa opened the door.

"Hello Mitaka."

"Mr. Tanaka, Class Prez. Why are you here?"

"Come walk with us, Mitaka."

Asa followed the two out of her apartment.

"It was the class president's idea to visit Bucky's grave," said Tanaka.

"I'm sure Bucky will forgive us up in Heaven if all three of us apologize."

Asa stared at her shoes as she walked. When Tanaka and the class president crossed the crosswalk, Asa stayed on the other side. 

"Eh? What's wrong Mitaka?"

"Huh?" Asa glanced up at the crossing signal. "It's just...the crossing signal's red."

"It's night," the class president chastised, "There aren't any cars and no one's around. It's really not a big deal."

"Ah, but you're right Mitaka. Sorry about that, we should always obey traffic signals," said Tanaka.

The class president looked at him, then looked at Asa.

"You always do this," she chuckled. Asa cocked her head.

"Huh?"

"You're always...always always always such a goody two-shoes."

Tanaka glanced at her nervously. "Uh, prez?"

"Mitaka, did you know Mr. Tanaka apologized for Bucky's death to the entire class on your behalf?"

Asa shifted uncomfortably. Something was wrong.

"Did you know..." The class president's body began to swell and bulge beneath her uniform, tearing at the stitches and fabric. "...that Mr. Tanaka was the one who told me to befriend you?"

Asa's heart felt like it was going to stop. "H-Huh?"

The top half of the class president's uniform burst, her upper body transforming into a grotesquely disgusting mass of shiny pink flesh.

"Did you know Mr. Tanaka likes YOU, even thought he's having sex with ME?!"

Two large arms formed on either side, lifting the rest of her body off the ground. Four other heads popped out alongside her first one. They all sneered at Asa.

"Eep?!" Asa stepped back in horror.

"I made a contract with the Justice Devil to find out how to reach my happy ending with Mr. Tanaka!" the class president screamed. One of her arms flew towards Asa's face.

"I just need you to die!"

Asa leapt back, narrowing avoiding the appendage. The impact of the president's arm against the floor sent chunks of concrete flying. Asa hit the floor.

"I held it in...but I can't take it anymore!" the president cried. "Nothing I try works because you're alive!"

Asa felt sick. Surely this wasn't reality?

"You know what the Justice Devil said to me?" A finger pointed at Asa. "Trip her! She'll fall and crush Bucky!"

Sweat dripped down Asa's face. She stared at the class president.

"Ah ha ha! I laughed my head off! But you know what, Mitaka? I should really thank you. You and Bucky taught me how precious life is!"

Asa couldn't move. She was frozen in place. All she could move were her eyes, which did nothing but watch as the class president went in for the kill.

"Thanks."

Seconds before Asa's impending doom, she had a thought.

The arm lashed at her face.

Oh, I wasn't responsible for Bucky's death at all.

The appendages sliced through her head.

Oh. The class president was jealous of me too.

Asa's face was cleaved in half, sliced from her ear to just below the opposite side's eye.

Oh. It must be like that for everyone. Everyone's jealous of sombody...

Asa's eye popped from it's socket. Her brain matter and facial tissue splattered onto the ground.

If I'd known, I could've had a better life. Maybe I could've even had friends, or even a boyfriend.

Asa's corpse slumped against the concrete.

I wish...I wish I'd tried living just a little more selfishly.

Denji's mouth opened in shock. Asa Mitaka had fucking died?? Hello??

Denji's eyes flitted to the crosswalk signal. There, in the darkness were two glowing eyes.

He blinked. They disappeared. Asa Mitaka stood up.

"Mitaka?!" Mr. Tanaka shouted. Asa shambled over to him. "Mitaka?"

"Didn't I just kill you?" the class president said in disbelief.

Asa placed a hand on Mr. Tanaka's head.

"Tanaka Spinal Cord Sword."

Tanaka's face turned purple and several veins began popping out. His neck elongated until his head burst from his body, his spinal cord being torn from the rest of his bones. The tip of his spinal cord had sharpened to a point.

The class president stared in horror. "Wha—Wha—What the hell are you?!"

Asa's grip tightened on her sword.

"What the hell am I? My name is War Devil. Die for my warmup kill!" she shouted.

"No, you die!" The class president's hand flew to shred Asa—No, the War Devil into ribbons, but War flicked her hand up, severing it cleanly from her arm.

"Ah—Ah! Aah!!" 

War held the hand, looking over it with satisfaction.

"A fine hand," she announced. "I'll be taking that now. Hand grenade."

The hand shrunk and took on the form of a fleshy grenade.

"Give it back!" The class president screamed. She lunged at War, a stupid decision. War sliced her down the middle, cutting her body in half. 

The class president collapsed as War dropped the sword. 

"There, a happy ending," she said, walking away and tossing the grenade over her shoulder. It exploded and pulverized the girl-turned-devil, blood and guts showering everywhere.

War looked at the wall, narrowing her eyes at a Chainsaw Man poster. She flopped back onto the pile of gore on the floor.

"Just you wait Chainsaw Man," she sneered. "I'll make you vomit Nuclear Weapons back up!"

Denji squinted. No way this was real, cause if it was, that meant Asa was dead and now she was a fiend. Which didn't make sense, because Asa was totally human. There's no way she was a fiend. Plus, she didn't have any noticeable weird head deformities, like Power's horns or Beam's entire face or Violence's four eyes.

Denji mulled over the possibility of her being a hybrid, but he didn't see any devil replacing her heart. 'Sides, this "War Devil" seemed like a pretty intense character, they were absolutely nothing like how Mitaka acted.

Wait a minute.

What did she say about him? Vomit Nuclear Weapons? Denji scrunched up his face as he thought long and hard, that was definitely a bad thing. Denji also didn't knew what a nuclear weapon was, but Pochita did have the ability to erase devils. Was that a devil he'd once eaten? How was War going to make him vomit up Nuclear Weapons? Did she hold a grudge against him? Did she hate him? Did she want to kill him? Denji hoped not, because on the small chance that Asa was actually a fiend being controlled by the War Devil, that would mean that Asa was another girl in the list of women who wanted to kill him. 

Then again, Asa hadn't done anything particularly malicious to him. Yeah, she'd done weird things, like kiss him suddenly, but she hadn't tried to kill him. 

No.

Wait.

Tanaka Spinal Cord Sword...Denji Spinal Cord Sword. 

God fucking damn it.

Chapter Text

Nayuta was right. Of course she was right.

"Denji, every woman you meet tries to kill you, right? What makes you think this dog is any different?"

Maybe it was cause Asa was cute, or she seemed like a genuine person instead of a hybrid or a devil or a little girl being controlled by a devil, or a fiend or a human being driven by desperation. 

At the aquarium, Asa just seemed real, y’know? But no, Asa was dead, and all Denji knew was a devil who wanted to kill him, or at the very least make him vomit.

"If Asa is dead, doesn't that mean she technically doesn't have anymore memories?" Denji wondered outloud. Maybe if he walked through that door, he'd be out, and then he could escape and hopefully never have to run into Not-Asa ever again. 

Denji groaned loudly and hung his head. This fucking sucked man. Denji opened the door.

But then instead of being back in the building, he was in yet another one of Asa's memories.

That didn't make sense. Or, well. This was still Asa's body, and her brain. So maybe War's memories in Asa's body still counted?

Asa laid asleep on her bed. Denji sat down in a chair and stared at her. He really did like her, or at least whatever personality War had put on to trick Denji.

Asa suddenly sat up in bed, panting heavily and shaking. Her hands moved to feel herself, patting her body and head frantically. She looked at her reflection in the window, tracing over her cheek and nose.

No scars.

"Was it all a dream?" she whispered.

"This is no dream, girl."

"BWAHH!!"

Asa screamed, and Denji screamed along with her.

Another version of Asa had materialized next to the bed. However, she had the same scars that War had.

War and Asa stared at each other in perfect stillness and silence for a minute straight. Finally, Asa reached up to pinch her cheek. War narrowed her eyes and pointed at Asa.

"This is your reality now. Hurry up and accept it," she said bluntly. "Now eat and go to school. If you disobey, I'll kill you."

Asa's jaw dropped. War widened her eyes to appear more intense and serious. Asa pinched both her cheeks.

"I said this isn't a dream!" War shouted. She pointed at the TV, which Asa hadn't even realized was on. The news channel was playing.

On the screen were pictures of Tanaka and the class president. The text beneath them read "two people found dead".

"Your class president and teacher both died yesterday. We killed them together."

Asa's eyes widened as the image of War slicing the class president in half flashed through her mind.

"E-Excuse me?!" Asa shouted. "I didn't kill anyone! You killed them!" She held her hand out to push War, but her hand passed clean through the devil. Asa pulled her hand back in shock.

"You can't touch me," War said. "I'm just a hallucination your brain is creating."

"A hallucination? What are you?!"

"You died yesterday." The devil pointed at herself and smirked. "I'm the War Devil. I claimed your body."

Asa silently got ready. This definitely didn't feel real. On the walk to school, Asa asked the one nagging question banging around in her brain. 

"If you took my body, how can I still move?"

"I left half your brain intact. I'm unfamiliar with human society, this should prevent anyone from finding out I'm a devil while I infiltrate your school."

Asa side eyed War. "Why do you wanna go to my school so badly?"

"Because Chainsaw Man's there."

"Huh?"

War pointed at Asa's uniform. "Check your pocket."

Asa fished around her pocket and closed her hand around something circular. She pulled it out and held it up."

"A devil killed by Chainsaw Man was found clutching that button. I checked around and found out those buttons are used for this school's uniform." Asa and War made it to the school gate. "That means Chainsaw Man is going to your school incognito."

Asa looked up and down at the building. She swallowed and wiped her hands on her uniform.

"On second thought...I don't wanna go in there."

"If you won't obey me, I'll destroy the last half of your brain. Then you'll die for real."

Asa thought about her classmates. Sweat began dripping down the side of her face.

"I still...I still—! I still don't wanna go to school...!"

War frowned. "I'm not bluffing. You'll be dead and gone."

Asa groaned and pressed her head against the school's gate.

"Are you hearing me girl?! I'll kill you!"

"I'd rather you kill me than go to school!"

War growled. "Ugh, what a pain!"

Asa noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes. Someone had approached her. She turned to look at them.

"Are you alright?"

It was a boy. Black hair, pretty tall, and pretty pretty. He gave Asa a small smile.

"Uhhh..."

"Do you want me to take you to the nurse's office?" he asked.

"Uh!" Asa began waving her hands around. "N-No! I'm fine! No problems here!"

"Ask him if he knows Chainsaw Man's secretly identity!" War hissed. Asa shot her a dirty look.

"Can you shut up for a second?!"

The boy gave her a funny look. "Excuse me?"

Asa's face went pale as she looked back at him. "I am so sorry, I was not talking to you."

"Tsk! Fine, I'll ask him myself."

Being forced out of her own body was an absolutely undesirable experience. Asa let out a little yelp as she was suddenly watching her body from an outside perspective. War got up in the boy's face.

"You. Boy. Do you know anything about Chainsaw Man going to this school?"

"I heard that was a rumor. But I just transferred, so I don't know much. Just that he might be in the devil hunter club, or something like that."

"Hmm..." War narrowed her eyes as she looked him up and down. "Alright. Boy..." War placed a hand on her chest and batted her eyelashes. "Shall I make you my boyfriend?"

"WHAT?!" Asa shouted. 

"Hmm...No thanks." And then he walked away. Asa had gone bright red, burning hot embarrassment coursing through her veins.

"WHY WOULD YOU ASK HIM OUT?!" she screamed. War didn't seem phased in the slightest by Asa's outburst.

"I have the power to turn what's mine into weapons," War said. "If that boy fell for me, I could turn him into a weapon, no?" She stared Asa dead in the eyes. "I want to turn as many humans as I can into weapons. To go to war with Chainsaw Man."

Asa clenched her fist.

Turning humans into weapons?

Asa unclenched her fist.

Going to war with Chainsaw Man?

Clench.

Huh?

Unclench.

Uh! Um! Wait a second! Hold up! I'm involved in some serious shit now!

Clench.

This devil murdered my teacher and class president. And, like, a War Devil is seriously bad news, right? The scarier the devil's name, the stronger it is. Can I even turn back into a normal human to begin with? Sooner or later, won't this devil take over my body for good??

Unclenched.

I have to talk to a devil hunter—

"Tell anyone the smallest thing about me, and you're dead."

War had a thing for staring into Asa's eyes, and it made her really really uncomfortable. Sweat dripped down Asa's face as War continued to stare her down.

"You can't hide your thoughts from me. I am you."

Asa's chest felt like it was being squeezed.

"You finally understand your situation...good." War pointed at the school. "We're going to the devil hunter club to find Chainsaw Man." She paused. "If we can beat Chainsaw Man, I'll give you your body back. I trust you'll cooperate?"

Give her her body back? Asa wanted her body back. 

"I'll...I'll help you! So you'd better give my body back!"

In the corner of his eye, Denji noticed the door had appeared. He left the memory and sat down to gather his thoughts.

Alright. So Asa wasn't dead. She was alive, but she was also sharing her body with a devil that wanted to kill him. And then cooperating with that devil in order to get her body back.

Denji briefly remembered something Asa had said to him during their second date.

"You should just stay away from me Denji. Or you'll wind up dead."

He scrunched up his face. At the time, he thought Asa was just exaggerating to justify not wanting to be around him. But now with the whole "you need to kill Chainsaw Man and I'll give you your body back" thing, it made sense. 

Did that mean she knew he was Chainsaw Man? Denji hoped so, but also then again that would mean War knew about him, and she'd continue to try and kill him. On the other hand, she'd mentioned that she wanted to turn humans into weapons. If she thought Denji was just a regular human, then that meant that Asa had said that because she didn't want War to turn him into a weapon. And then that also meant that they had no idea he was Chainsaw Man, so War probably wouldn't try and continue to pursue him.

So like, did that mean Asa didn't try to kill him? She did say she'd cooperate with War in beating Chainsaw Man, but then again, Asa had never attacked him personally. Denji suspected the Spinal Cord Sword incident was War's doing. And later, Asa had tried to push him away to protect him. So TECHNICALLY she hadn't tried to kill him!

Denji let out a little cheer. Asa had broken the cycle! She didn't want to kill him! (Technically).

There was a good chance Denji had one or two memories left before he was finished. Hopefully they'd reveal a little more information about Asa and her devil. Maybe Denji could help her out? If he learned the technicalities of how Asa's fiendishness work, maybe he could pull a few strings, contact a few people to help Asa out. 

"Alright Denji," he said to himself. "Let's do this."

Denji opened the door to the next memory and stepped into it.

"I guess Yoshida skipped school today."

Asa sat on a bench next to a girl. Denji vaguely recognized her. Yuno? Yoko? Yuko. Yeah, Yuko. The girl that had gone missing following that one attack.

"Is he not serious about joining the Devil Hunter's Club?" Yuko said. Asa munched on Taiyaki.

"Why'd you decide to join, Yuko?"

"Cuz I wanna be a devil hunter, duh! You can make lots of money without even needing to go to college! Not to mention my parents were killed by a devil...so it'd be like I'm avenging them! I'd be an avenger! Perfect, right?!"

Asa blinked. Parents...killed by devil... She got up in Yuko's face excitedly.

"Mine too! My parents were killed by a devil too!"

"Really? Is that why you're joining, Asa?"

Asa smiled awkwardly. No, she was joining because there was a Chainsaw Man-hating devil that had taken over her body, and was going to kill her if she didn't join the Devil Hunter's Club to look for Chainsaw Man so she could kill him. But Asa couldn't say that.

"Uh—yeah, more or less..."

"Oh man!" Yuko began shaking her fists excitedly. "This is gonna sound so wrong, but like, we're totally like manga characters, don't you agree?! When we become devil hunters, we should totally partner up and be each other's buddies! Like two Avenging Angels of Death!"

"Sure. If we become devil hunters."

"Awesome!" Yuko cheered. "No takes-backsies!" She stood up from the bench. "Whenever I get excited I get the urge to pee. I'm gonna go pee!"

Asa's lips twitched. Yuko was fun. She was interesting, and she was nice.

"We should kill her."

Yoru had appeared on the bench.

"Come again?"

"The remains of your kill belong to you. We should kill Yuko and turn her into a weapon."

"Don't be ridiculo—"

"To kill a devil, you need a powerful weapon, no? The guiltier you feel about creating a weapon, the stronger it is. You like Yuko. She'd make a powerful weapon. Luckily, this city has a lot of abandoned buildings. Choose the location wisely, and you'll be able to kill her with minimal risk."

Asa stared at War. "There's no way I'm doing that, are you insane? You're always jumping to violence, what, is that the best you can come up with?!"

"You aren't here to make friends, remember, girl?"

"Girl this, girl that, stop calling me that! I hate it!"

The people on the street were staring at Asa, but she didn't care. She was already sick and tired of War.

"Do not change the subject! Girl, you are—"

"I literally just told you to not call me that! I have a name! Asa! A-S-A!!"

"Well you don't call me by my name either," War argued. Asa growled.

"That's because "War Devil" is just awkward and weird!"

War huffed and leaned back in the bench. "I'll allow you to avoid this subject for now. She'll make a better weapon if you get closer anyways..." War thought for a moment. "War Devil is a difficult name for you to use, is it? Very well then! Call me Yoru. If it serves my quest to kill Chainsaw Man, I swallow whatever you say...Asa."

Asa had been tense during the entire conversation. She finally relaxed.

"Thanks...Yoru."

Yuko returned from the bathroom and Yoru vanished. 

"Asa, let's walk around!"

Yuko grabbed her hand and began dragging Asa around the city. It was...nice.

Kill Chainsaw Man? Turn Yuko into a weapon?

I don't care about that disturbing stuff.

I haven't had this much fun in forever. I couldn't care less about anything else.

The two girls walked up the stairs of a building.

"Hey Yuko?"

The girl turned to look at Asa.

"Hmm?"

Asa fidgeted with her hands. 

"This is the most fun that I've had in a long time."

Yuko blinked, then smiled.

"I'm so glad!"

A devil crashed through the wall just in front of the girls, sending several people flying off the building. It enclosed its hand around one man, pulling him towards its mouth. Impervious to his screams, the devil bit his hand, pulling and pulling until it ripped his arm from the rest of his body. 

The people who hadn't been flung off the railing were all lying around, either dead, dying, or bleeding terribly. 

Asa and Yuko took a step back. The devil turned to look directly at them.

"Asa." Yoru materialized next to the girl. "I have bad news and more bad news."

Her heart thumped in her chest.

"First, we can't beat that devil in our current state. And second, I just learned I can't take control of your body when you're stricken with fear..."

Asa had started trembling a bit.

"Asa. Back away...slowly and quietly."

Asa took one step backwards. Then another. And then she and Yuko turned to run.

"I said slowly, you idiot!" Yoru shouted. She stepped back as the devil started chasing after Yuko and Asa. It didn't take long for it to catch it. It slashed at them, narrowly missing them. Rather, it completly destroyed the floor and railing, sending Asa and Yuko flying. Asa let out a pained scream as she hit her head. She rubbed it, looking at Yuko.

A piece of debris had completely pierced her leg, and Yuko had hit her head so hard she had passed out.

Behind the two of them, the devil had grabbed a woman and lifted her up to its mouth. 

"Asa."

Yoru kneeled next to the girl.

"Kill Yuko and turn her into a weapon."

Asa's mouth opened and closed. She couldn't.

"It'll increase our chances of survival. Besides, she's good as dead anyways if she can't run."

No, I can't—

"Don't worry," Yoru whispered. "You are me. So I know. You aren't sorry for killing Bucky.

You're sorry you were seen killing Bucky."

No—

"Lucky for us, there's no one around. Turn Yuko into a weapon quick while there's no one around. Come on Asa, didn't you make a promise to yourself that you'd live more selfishly if you got a second chance at life? Kill her if you want to live."

Asa's eyes darted between Yuko and the axe lying on the ground. A quick chop to the neck would be enough. Yuko couldn't run, she was good as dead. The devil was still behind her, it could attack any moment. 

Asa reached out to grab Yuko and pick her up. Asa got up on her feet and began running as fast as she could.

"You damned fool!" Yoru shouted. The devil began chasing after Asa.

Asa wasn't the most athletic girl, and Yuko was a good fourty-three kilograms of extra weight. This was bad, this was a bad idea, Asa was going to die. 

Asa slammed the front of her foot on a stray tile, knocking her off balance. 

Oh. I forgot.

A birthday cake, a race. Her mom.

I always trip and fall at the most critical moment.

Asa struggled to her feet, wiping away the blood that dripped from her nose. She picked Yuko up again, tightening her grip on the girl.

Yuko had said that no matter what she did, as long as her heart was in the right place, that's all that mattered to her.

Me too.

I...I want to live like that too!

Yes, it's my fault my mom died. But...that time...and Bucky, my heart was in the right place!

Asa began running again, pressing down the urge to vomit and pass out. 

So I'm going to save her, no matter what!

The devil lunged, it's jaw wide open and read to crush Asa beneath its teeth.

"Fuck!"

Asa screamed as the blast behind her knocked her off her feet. She turned her head to see the devil chasing them no longer had a lower half, courtesy of another devil that had burst through the building and taken a bite.

Where the hell had it come from?! Asa looked around, finally seeing a human sized entity grabbing the new devil by its guts. 

"Hey wait that's—!"

"That's me!" Denji shouted, broken out of the immersion in the memory. 

The devil, which Asa recognized as a cockroach, grabbed Chainsaw Man and flung him at the building in front of them.

She blinked. Chainsaw Man. Cockroach Devil. Dead Devil. 

Not trying to stick around and be put in more danger, Asa grabbed Yuko and hurried down the building, avoiding any falling debris. She heard two loud thuds behind her, an explosion, and a wet splat.

"Paramedics, paramedics," Asa mumbled to herself. "Gotta find the paramedi—there!"

Asa ran over to a group of paramedics who were tending to several injured people. She stopped in front of one, breathing heavily.

"My friend, she's hurt."

The woman glanced at Yuko and pointed over at a cleared out area. 

"Leave her there, we'll treat her soon."

Asa gently set Yuko down on the floor and began walking home. 

Denji left the memory.

First of all, it was pretty awesome that he saved Asa without even knowing it. When he saw Asa again, he'd have to reassure her that it was really no problem, he was just cool like that.

Second of all, he knew a little more about War, or Yoru, now that she had a name. At least about her powers. Denji was a little curious as to why her Spinal Cord Sword thingy didn't work on him. He did like Asa at the time...which possibly(?) made him fit the criteria of belonging to her in a sense? 

Maybe it was cause he was Chainsaw Man, so he was just built different. Probably that.

Despite Asa's promises to cooperate with Yoru, she seemed pretty uncooperative when it came to turning Yuko into a weapon. Asa seemed like she didn't want to kill anyone, which was a good sign for Denji.

This memory had happened...what, a month or two ago? Lots of stuff could happen in a month. Denji needed to keep moving.

Chapter Text

But surely, they were through the worst of the memories. Surely, it wouldn't take long until they were done.

"You jinxed it Asa."

"God, leave me alone!"

Asa and Yoru stood in the hallway, taking a well-needed break from the shitshow that was Denji's life.

Asa definitely had to admit, after the aquarium, she wanted to get to know Denji a little better.

This was not what she meant.

"I think I'm actually going to die," said Asa, clawing at her face. "I don't know how Denji has put up with all of this."

And there was a lot to put up with. 

Asa really truly thought that Denji joining Public Safety and being under the watchful eye of one of the most powerful devils out there would be enough to keep him safe.

Instead, Denji had the shit beaten out of him by that one guy. Aki? Aki. Aki had clocked him hard, Asa's own face hurt seeing that.

And then Denji was partnered up with Powhatshername. And then she tried to kill him. 

Asa also learned that Denji was a sex-crazed pervert. Okay, when she put it that way it definitely sounded way worse than what she thought. But how else do you describe a guy who's ready to kill a devil just to cop a field? A perv...

And THEN there was that job over at the hotel, where Denji and Aki and Power teamed up with those people. Kobeni and Himeno and Arai. And then they got stuck in the hotel, and then the devil in the hotel had everyone turning against Denji.

Three entire days. That's literally crazy!! Denji fighting a devil for three entire days?!

And then they got out and went to a bar and Himeno VOMMITED in Denji's mouth. Asa was never going to get over that. She was going to throw up just thinking about it. If Asa's first kiss was some guy emptying his breakfast into her mouth, she'd probably kill him and then kill herself.

And then there was that stupid ugly loser Katana guy with the gun, who started shooting people when Denji was literally just trying to eat a meal. And then Himeno died and then everyone was dead. 

That was certainly an escalation from girl throwing up inside mouth.

...

"I don't feel like crying at all though...

...Would I cry if Power died? Nah...that wouldn't make me cry.

What if Aki died? Nope,

What about Miss Makima...?

If Miss Makima died, I'd probably down in the dumps for a while...but I think I'd be back to happy in three days. Cause for me, as long as I got three square meals a day, a good night's sleep, and a bath, I'm living the high life.

Did I lose not just my organ heart, but my human heart too?"

"Hey Yoru, do you think Denji is heartless?"

Yoru raised an eyebrow. "Is this because of when the boy was in the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm...possibly. But I don't think that's enough to call him heartless. After all, he hardly knew Himeko. So if she were to die, there's no reason for him to cry. Not mention Hanimo threw up inside his mouth. There's no reason for him to get sad over that vomit woman."

"Himeno."

"Whatever. My point is Asa, I don't think that that alone is enough to judge Denji as heartless or not. If anything, I'd judge him over the fact that he has Chainsaw Man of all devils as his heart. But judging him over not crying when someone dies? I do not feel like that's something so easily decided."

Asa furrowed her brow. 

She wasn't a stranger to not crying over deaths. After all, they were common place. How many classmates had their lives stolen in devil attack? Countless. And Asa didn't bat an eye at most of them. 

But those were people Asa didn't care about. Or sometimes, people she even despised. Denji didn't seem like he despised Himeno.

But Asa certainly didn't like her. That woman gave Asa a bad feeling the moment she saw her, which proved to be reasonable when she, one, threw up in Denji's mouth, and then two, tried to have sex with him. 

But in the end, that was what Asa thought, not what Denji thought. So what? Was he heartless?

No, he definitely had a heart. How could you love if you have no heart?

"You're thinking about her."

"Huh?"

Yoru pointed at her neck and made the motion of pulling a grenade pin. "Bomb, you're thinking of her."

Yoru was right. Asa was thinking of Reze, that bomb hybrid girl.

Denji's love related trauma was way different than Asa's. Asa had boys making fun of her and daring each other to ask her out as a joke. Denji had women in their twenties trying to touch him, and teenage girls trying to kill him. What a difference.

Reze was honestly very interesting to Asa. Denji had spent about a week going to the cafe she worked out before falling for her. It wasn't a surprise to see why, Reze was pretty cute. And not only was she cute, but Denji was. Well. Denji.

For the first sixteen years of his life, Denji had done nothing but work and dream of love. And then he had become a devil hunter, which meant more work, and more dreaming of love.

Of course, he had Makima, but from what Asa observed, a relationship with Makima seemed like something she dangled over Denji's head. It seemed obtainable, but only if Denji worked. And Denji worked, and that request was juuust out of reach, but only if he worked just a little bit more...

And then came along Reze, someone who was open to Denji's affection and actively made advances. Someone who sympathized with him. It'd be crazy if Denji wasn't interested. 

All that for Reze to end up stabbing him in the back. And Denji still wanted her.

Asa made a face, was he insane? Reze had attacked him, attempted to murder him, and when that failed,  admitted she was just faking it — although, Asa still thought she mightve been lying just to save face — and Denji still showed up at the cafe with flowers, waiting for her to arrive when she never did. 

How odd. 

Asa heard Yoru let out a little chuckle.

"What?"

Yoru smirked. "You're jealous."

"No I'm not!"

"Asa. I am you. I feel everything you're feeling. You are jealous of Bomb."

"No!"

Asa Mitaka was not jealous of Reze. Yes, Reze was totally super cute, and Denji was head over heels for her. But she was also a Soviet spy who had been kidnapped as a baby or whatever and her transformation into the Bomb Hybrid was probably ten times worse than Asa's death and transformation into the War fiend. The cons outweighted the pros. 

"You can rationalize it all you want, you're jealous."

No. Asa was not jealous. Asa was the opposite of jealous. In fact, she almost pitied Reze. Reze showed up one day in the rain, and Denji immediately fell in love with her. Not a week after they met and he was imagining her in skimpy lingerie. Everything was in place for her, and then she bit Denji's tongue off, chopped his hand off, and stabbed him in the back. Assuming Reze was entirely detached from him and that these were actually good things, she was moments away from completing her mission and then a fucker with a shark for a head swooped in and snatched Denji off his feet. 

If Asa was Reze, she'd be absolutely livid. Not jealous.

"Jealous. You're jealous."

"Just drop it!"

Asa was not jealous of Reze, and she had no reason to be, because Reze never showed back up and Denji was probably over her. And it wasn't like he had time to focus on her, because once one threat was gone, another popped up immediately after. That boy could not catch a single break.

Because then there were a bunch of assassins trying to kill him, which was literally nuts. There were those American guys, and that Chinese woman with the fiendish companions.

"I think they were more than just companions."

"Oh my god Yoru shut up."

And then there was that freaky guy, Santa Claus. Except he wasn't actually Santa Claus, and the real Santa Claus was that woman with the apprentice and the needle. And then she snapped Denji in half and sent everyone to Hell — literally what the actual fuck — in exchange for the power to turn into literal nightmare fuel.

And then everyone was in hell and then that freaky ass Darkness Devil appeared, and then everyone's arms were gone and then everyone was dying and Asa could hardly even comprehend what was happening. 

She did know that the shark fiend had died. That actually made Asa quite upset. Time and time again he'd proven to be a valuable and loyal asset, it was a shame that he died.

And then some more shit happened and Makima appeared? Somehow? And she did some thing that Asa still couldn't comprehend and sent everyone back to Earth. How did she do that? Was the apprentice boy not dead? How was Makima controlling him?

Either way it didn't matter. Everyone (who was still alive) and their limbs were back on Earth, and Denji had to fight Freaky Claus. And he fucking set himself on FIRE.

Normally Asa would brush it off as a boy being stupid, but now she knew for a fact that Denji had several loose screws, just like what that old devil hunter man with the scar said.

In the end, Denji somehow won against that doll woman. Well, Asa wasn't sure how, since he had passed out, which ended the memory, but he was still here, right?

And that was as far as Asa and Yoru had gotten so far. Maybe they were almost don—

"Asa, if you jinx us and we end up going through another ten memories, I will destroy the other half of your brain."

"Alright, alright, I won't finish that thought."

The door to the next memory led to Denji's bedroom. The boy was in bed, cuddling the blood fiend and toying with her hair and horns. 

Looking at the sight, Asa couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy. The two there had started out trying to kill each other, and now here they were, together happily in bed. 

"Are you jealous of the fiend?" Yoru asked. Asa shook her head. 

She was jealous of Denji. Jealous that even after everything that had happened to him, he still had a sense of friendship and familial relationship with the people who hated him when they first met. Jealous that even after everything, Denji still found a way to wake up in the morning and keep going.

Why? How?

Asa's eyes flitted over to Power. Her and Aki Hayakawa...the way they seemed to complete Denji's normal life, there was no doubt that was it.

Ding Dong!

Denji yawned and stretched as he rolled out of bed, scratching his head.

"Looks like he's finally home," he mumbled. Power continued snoring away as Denji approached the door. 

Just as he was about to place his hand on the door handle, he froze. 

Asa squeaked as she felt two arms wrap around her and pull her to the side. 

"Yoru, what—"

"There is something dangerous behind that door," the devil hissed. 

"But this is a memory, nothing can happen to us—"

"I don't care!"

The doorbell began ringing relentlessly. Power stepped out of the bedroom and began glaring at Denji. The phone began to ring.

"What's going on?" she grumbled. "I'm trying to sleep."

Denji looked at the phone and walked towards it to answer it.

"Oh, the phone. Gotta answer the phone," he muttered.

"The door bell's ringing! Aren't you going to answer the door?"

"Oh. Yeah. I know. Just...give me a minute. Don't answer the door."

Power cocked her head. "Why not?"

Denji ignored her in favor of picking up the phone.

"Who is it?" Power asked.

"It's Miss Makima." Denji held the phone to his ear. From where Asa stood, she could see his face and expressions.

Slight irritation. "No...I just woke up..."

Confusion. "The gun devil?"

Amused disbelief. "Haha...come on! Thats not funny. Why would some stupid gun guy show up at my front door?"

A brief moment of nervousness, "Miss Makima...?" before turning into a blank slate of neutrality. "W-Well hey! You can count on me! Lucky he came to us instead of the other way, huh? Saves on travel fare!"

Cracking jokes, a clear sign of anxiety.

Denji's face twitched before breaking out into an uncomfortable grin as Makima said something. He set down the phone and turned to face Power.

"Hey! Why can't we open the door?!"

"Oh. Right, um. Makima says...it's a gun fiend at our door? I guess?"

Power scowled. "What? You're talking nonsense!"

"No really, Makima said so—"

"You are such a fool!" Power scoffed. "Topknot still hasn't come home, remember?! He's the one ringing the doorbell."

Was this dramatic irony?

The uncomfortable smile on Denji's face faded as beads of sweat began to form on his face. He looked like he was about to be sick.

Power cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at the door, trying to make her voice heard over the relentless funeral bells. "Hey! That's you, right Aki?!"

Almost as if in response, the door bell stopped ringing, filling the air with a deafening silence.

"Power. Take Meowy and leave from the balcony."

"What? Why—"

"Power!" Denji snapped.

Power blinked before grabbing the cat and leaving for the balcony. She murmured something to it.

Denji stood facing the door. It was really not that far away, but the handle seemed like it was miles in front of him.

"It's just in case, that's all," he murmured to himself, slowly walking towards the door. "There's no way some stupid gun guy would bother to come and greet me!"

Denji chuckled nervously as he placed his hand on the door handle. "Miss Makima is just playing a prank, that's all!"

He twisted the knob and opened the door, flashing a smile to the person on the other side of the door.

"Right Aki?"

Aki did not respond, could not respond. Couldn't even look at Denji, because instead of a pair of eyes, there was the muzzle of a gun protruding from his forehead.

"She's serious??"

The gun fiend's face moved to point towards the direction of Denji's voice.

"Oh, so, this is for real. Gotcha. Well, uh, do we fight...?"

"Denji..."

It was Aki's voice,  but there was something beneath, reminiscent of the sound of bullets being loaded. The fiend raised its left appendage — not an arm, because there was no arm, just smooth solid metal taking the shape of an M4 — and pointed it at Denji.

Denji's face contorted as if he was about to start crying.

"Why do you know my name...?"

The appendage fired once, blew Denji in half, destroyed the majority of their apartment, and sent him flying backwards.

Asa blinked, staring at the destroyed hallway where Denji once stood.

"Oh, that's why."

The fiend flew past her and Yoru.  Asa wrestled out of Yoru's grasp, running over to look out of the gaping hole in the apartment the fiend exited out of.

Denji had already transformed, and had moved to shield Power from the gun fiend's next shot.

It fired and the ground exploded, sending the two flying. 

"Denji!" Power shouted. The boy groaned and struggled to his feet, noticing something out of the corner of his eye.

Two pedestrians were eyeing him and the gun fiend warily. The fiend must've noticed them too, as it let out a groan and pointed its gun at them.

"Huh?! Don't do it...stop! DON'T AKI!" Denji screamed. The fiend fired a shot at the bystanders, completely pulverizing them and tearing out the ground where they once existed.

Denji screamed and leapt at the gun fiend, slashing at it with his chainsaw. He landed it a hit, and the fiend began to vocalize.

"Yah...tahh...ouu ahh eee...Vah!!!"

Not a moment later did the fiend fire a shot, completely destroying everything in a straight line in front of it. Cars exploded, house were obliterated, the streets were destroyed, and hundreds of people died. 

The shot itself sent Denji and the fiend flying backwards. They landed near a young woman, who began to run away.

The fiend noticed. It grinned and pointed its gun at her.

"Aki! Stop!" Denji flung himself in front of the woman to shield her, tanking a direct hit. He slammed backwards into building, looking up just in time to see the fiend fire a shot at the woman and kill her.

There was nothing but carnage. All caused by the fiend that wore Aki's face. It grinned but it was wrong, because it had Aki's face and Aki never smiled like that.

It seemed trigger happy almost. Everytime it fired, it smiled and laughed like it was playing some sort of game.

"Idiot!" Denji kicked and punched at the fiend, but it was half hearted.

A group of people surrounded the two fighting. The fiend shot at Denji and laughed and it made noises in Aki's voice.

"Aki! Aki Hayakawa!! Can you hear me?! Snap out of it!! This is the last thing you'd ever wanna do, isn't it?! Wake up, jerk-face!!"

The fiend opened its mouth as it began to retaliate, and it tried to speak but it just wasn't right.

"Aah! Gah!! Haa haa!!

It pointed the gun at Denji and fired a shot, tearing out a chunk of Denji's side and causing his intestines to fall out.

The fiend seemed to falter for a moment, but the moment Denji stood up, it grinned and aimed again.

"Turn back!" Denji sobbed. "Turn back! Turn back! Turn back into Aki! Please!"

He grabbed onto the fiend, attempting to wrestle its appendage down. The muzzle of the gun protruding from its forehead began to blow, before shooting a concentrated bullet.

Everything in the line of fire exploded, except for Denji. Denji slammed backwards into a telephone pole, hacking and coughing up blood. He looked up to see people gathering around him.

One woman held up a knife and stabbed her hand, letting blood drip into his mouth.

"Save us...please..." she whispered.

"I don't want to die!"

"I saw you on TV."

"I have kids, you gotta save 'em!"

The people crowded around him and helped him up. They began to back away as the gun fiend slowly approached.

It was smiling it was fucking smiling and it drove Denji nuts.

Why?

Why did it end up like this?

The fiend took aim as Denji lunged and sunk his chainsaw into its body, shredding its organs and killing it.

"Denji..." It croaked. Denji froze.

"Why...are you crying? I've never...seen...you cry..."

The fiend went still.

The chainsaws melted and the gun fiend, no longer supported, fell to the ground. Denji collapsed to his knees and screamed.

It was like watching a train wreck. Asa couldn't look away.

Yoru grabbed her and led her out of the memory. She set Asa down on the ground gently.

"I don't...I don't wanna keep going," Asa murmured. She twisted her hand in her hair.

What the hell was this anyways? Was Denji's life just misery porn? Asa couldn't count how many times she wanted to vomit whole going through his memories. This was genuinely just sick.

How? Just how was Denji still going?? What the fuck was on the other side of the next door??

Yoru grimaced.

"Perhaps just one more break wouldn't hurt..."

Chapter Text

Denji opened the door to the next memory.

In front of him was Yuko sitting in a chair. Asa rounded the corner, holding a few bags. 

"Ah!" Yuko began clapping her hands. "Chainsaw Woman! It's Chainsaw Woman!"

"What?" Asa said. Yuko smiled.

"You saved me from a devil! You're Chainsaw Woman!"

"Uh...huh..." Asa rolled her eyes and handed her bag to Yuko. "Here. I brought you soft drinks."

Yuko took them and laughed. "Awesome! Soft drinks!" The girl set them down next to her and leaned back in her chair. 

"Gosh, I've been so bored Asa! I can't do anything but sun bathe." She looked at the sky. "The sunsets real gorgeous from here. Sit down with me Asa!"

Asa smiled faintly and sat down in the chair next to Yuko's. "Kay."

The two girls sat in silence for a moment before Asa opened her mouth.

"Um. Sorry...I can't stand awkward silence moments. I never know what to say during them..."

"Ah ha ha! What gives?! It's not like I'd know any better. I've never had friends either!"

"You're kidding me, right?! You seem like you'd totally have friends!"

"Well." Yuko looked at the sky. "I have people I talk to during class, but you're the only one who's stopped by to check on me. Hmm..." Yuko thought for a moment. "Oh! I know! At moments like this, you're supposed to share your deepest, darkest secrets! I read in a book once that having shared secrets is how you make best friends."

Asa's cheeks puffed out in concentration as she tried to think of something. Actually, more like something that she was okay with sharing. "I just thought about mine, and...um. I have way too many secrets I can never share."

"Really?! I wanna know! Spill!!"

"Well, there's one I can tell you." Asa cringed as she thought back. "There was this one time in class I was holding in my pee, and I wound up peeing myself during class. I lied and. I said it wasn't. Pee. And that it was sweat." Asa buried her face in her hands. 

"No way!"

"The whole class was nice enough to play along..."

Yuko began to cackle, her laughs broken by the occasional "ow! ow!" and a grab to her leg.

"I still scream underwater in the bathtub when I think of it."

Yuko laughed so hard she began crying a bit. "Ah ha!! Ha ha! Ah! Leg, ow ow owww!!!"

"Are you okay?" Asa asked concernedly.

"My leg hurts! It hurts so bad!! Ha ha ha! Geez Asa, you can't just go around telling people that stuff!"

"Well, I thought we were supposed to share our deepest darkest secrets."

"Even then! Gosh! Ah..."

"Your turn, Yuko."

"That's a pretty deep dark secret, but I think mine will be able to top it! It's a pretty big secret!"

"It better be!"

Yuko let out a sigh, finally calming down. She looked over at Asa and grinned. "Promise you won't tell a soul?"

"Yeah! I promise, I promise."

Yuko looked back up at the sky.

"I killed someone yesterday."

"Huh? Uh...who?"

"My neighbor."

"Wow..."

Yuko was silent, seeming very content to sit in her chair and enjoy the sunset.

"...Why'd ya do it?"

"Cuz he'd go gamble at Pachinko even thkught he was on welfare for disability."

"What the hell...?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell..."

Fifteen minutes of uninterrupted silence followed as Yuko looked at the sky and Asa stared. 

An old man walking a dog passed by and waved at them. His dog barked.

"Who's that Yuko? A friend of yers?"

"Yup!" she said cheerfully. "Asa's my friend!"

The old man laughed. "Have lotsa fun when yer still young, ya hear?"

"We will!" Yuko shouted back. The old man began to walk away.

"That's 'Ol Mister Asada. He gives me pickles and snacks sometimes."

Asa slowly turned her head to look at Yuko. "Hey, Yuko. You were just kidding about that thing earlier, right?"

"Wanna see?"

"...Huh."

"The body is in my backyard, wanna see it?"

Asa stared for a moment. "No..."

"Alright! But anyways, this is super awesome!" Yuko cheered. "We both shared secrets, that means we're besties now!"

"Um-"

"Don't worry, I promise I won't tell soul about your secrets! About you peeing yourself. About how you killed Mr. Tanaka and the class prez. About Yoru."

Asa's eyes widened. A cold feeling of dread washed over her.

"H-How'd you-"

"No secrets between besties," Yuko said. "The thing is, I made a contract with the Justice Devil yesterday! A contract with the Justice Devil turns your sense of justice into power. Now I can read minds! It's great for me since I don't understand people."

Beads of sweat began to drip down Asa's face, despite the mildly cool temperature. This was bad, this was really bad.

"Now there are no more secrets between us!" Yuko said happily. "Wow! It feels great to get that off my chest."

"A-Aren't unathorized contracts illegal though? Why'd you go and make a contract with a devil?"

"It's okay when it's in the name of justice! I made this contract to save you, Asa!"

Huh.

Yuko sat up and gave Asa a reassuring thumbs up.

"I'm going to get rid of your bullying problem! Don't come to school tomorrow."

Asa walked home, Yoru following right behind her. 

"It's my fault, isn't it?" Asa said softly.

"Hm?"

"Yuko made that contract because of me, didn't she?"

"Duh. She said that herself."

Asa thought of the girl, how cheerful she seemed while telling Asa she was going to "get rid of her bullying problem."

"Yuko...Yoru, how do you think she's gonna get rid of my problem."

Yoru sniffed. "She warned you to stay away from school, no? That speaks for itself."

"...What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Why do you keep asking? You already know." Yoru turned around to look at Asa. "She's going to kill your bullies."

There was no way Asa could let her do that. "But that's-I have to stop her!"

"How?"

"How...? I'll go back and talk to her."

Yoru cocked her head. "Go back and talk her out of it? How will you do that."

Asa pursed her lips. "What are you—"

"How will you go back when your body belongs to me?"

A cold shiver passed through Asa the same time that Yoru did. Suddenly, Asa Mitaka was no longer in control of her body again.

"Hey! Give me back my body!" Asa shouted. Yoru rolled her eyes.

"You aren't talking Yuko out of anything. We're killing her at school tomorrow."

Asa stared at her in disbelief. "You—You can't be serious."

"Our goal is to defeat Chainsaw Man," Yoru said. "He might show himself if we fight Yuko's devil transformation at school. And if he doesn't, hunting her will get us into the devil hunter club. Besides, we can't let a human know about me and live, now can we? I'm staying in control until Yuko is dead."

Asa opened her mouth to protest, but she closed it without saying anything. There was nothing she could do to stop Yoru.

"..."

As Yoru and Asa walked away, a door appeared next to Denji. He exited the memory and took his now mandatory post-memory/pre-memory break to gather his thoughts.

He one-hundred percent remembered that thing with Yuko, but his memory was also kinda fuzzy. What was Asa doing while that was happening?

More importantly, how the hell did she deal with Yoru?

The devil seemed dismissive at best, and condescending at worst. Not including the way that she took control of Asa's body with no regard for how Asa felt. It almost reminded him of how invasive the Yakuza had once been. Entering his shack while he slept, putting their hands on him, watching him at all times. 

Of course, it wasn't exactly the same, but...still.

Denji guessed that the next memory would include the fight against Yuko, and he was right on the money. 

The door opened to a hallway. To his right stood Yoru, and Yuko was to his left.

Yuko walked on crutches. She stopped when she noticed Yoru.

"Nice to meetcha, Yoru."

Yoru looked at her impassively. The girl held a sword, but Yuko didn't seem the least bit phased. She seemed to study Yoru for a moment.

"Ah, I see. That's the reason you're gonna hunt me," Yuko sighed. "Y'know, I'm pretty amazed that Chainsaw Man goes to our school. But it's...sort of a let down, isn't it? Having Chainsaw Man around doesn't stop bullying. Guess he only goes after devils in the flesh."

Yoru snorted. Yuko scowled.

"Move aside, Yoru. We can fight after I kill the bullies, can't we?"

"But you're planning to run as soon as you've killed your targets. Since the devil hunters will show up if you take too long."

"You can't beat me in a fight anyways. I can read your every move."

"So beat me and kill me. Of course, you'd kill Asa too."

At the mention of killing Asa, Yuko's face darkened. "I like Asa. But...I hate you."

Yuko's body swelled and her flesh became pale. The windows of the school shattered as she completed her devil transformation. A disturbing looking thing, with writhing tentacles and a gaunt frame. 

Yoru tightened her grip on her sword and parried an attack from one of Yuko's tentacles. She slashed and severed multiple tenticles.

"Cool!" Yuko said. "But you're in my way."

Despite protecting herself, Yoru couldn't stop herself from being launched through a window and into a classroom. Several students screamed and scattered.

Yoru could see Yuko's devil form rushing through the halls. A voice came from the loudspeaker.

Warning! A dangerous devil has appeared on campus. Warning! Please evacuate the building immediately via the nearest escape route. Warning!

Yoru stood up and brushed herself off. She ran through the halls and grabbed a pencil. She rounded the corner, and there was Yuko

"Pencil Spear!" she she yelled as she launched it at Yuko. The pencil elongated and sharpened, gaining another two points. Yuko caught it. How irritating.

"Geez! I told you I can read your every move!"

Yoru looked at the other pencil she'd grabbed with disdain. "I can only make weak weapons with these," she muttered. 

Yuko continued her rampage, but before long, several students carrying weapons and wearing the Devil Hunter Club cap appeared.

"A devil hunter?!" Yoru shouted.

Yoru passively watched from the side as the student devil hunters ganged up on Yuko. 

"Come on now, don't die before Chainsaw Man even gets here," Yoru said.

"Don't worry, I just didn't want to hurt innocents, that's all."

Yuko immediately retaliated, impaling and killing some of the hunters, and incapacitating the others. When she was done, she turned to look at Yoru.

"Now be good, unless you want to end up like them. I know all your plans, Yoru. I know that you hid your personal property in every classroom to use as weapons. That you pilled off some of the hallway floorboards and can turn those into weapons. That you set traps in the restrooms and courtyard. I even know that as I speak, you're thinking about trying to turn my severed legs into weapons too. Don't try anything else. I'm going to save Asa from her bullies."

"I have one more plan."

"I don't see much point in that one."

Yoru closed her eyes. "The "leave it all to Asa" plan. 

When she opened her eyes, they were no longer tinged with red, and her face was devoid of any scars.

"Asa! Please, just stay right there. Wait, what?" Yuko paused for a moment, then gasped. "Huh?! Ah, what are you thinking?! You absolutely can't do that!"

Asa looked at the floor, seeming almost ashamed. "You...you killed a bunch of people!"

"Not that many!" Yuko protested. "Only three or four. The gun devil killed over a million people! Plus, I only killed bad ones! Like I said! You don't need to do what you're thinking!"

Asa narrowed her eyes. "Yoru! Tell me how to make weapons!"

The devil materialized, leaning against the wall. She scoffed. "I doubt that would make a strong weapon."

"Just tell me!"

"...Touch something that belongs to you and call its name."

"I'm telling you, there's no point!"

Asa gripped her uniform tightly, she hesitated for a moment, but then shouted.

"Super-Strong Uniform Sword!"

The cloth was shredded and pulled off Asa, leaving her in only her bra and underwear. In her hands was sword that seemed to be made of the same material of her uniform. It even had the same little ribbon.

"Yuko! I'll solve my own bullying problem. Stay out of it! Don't make me slice you up to stop you!"

"Geez Asa!" Yuko said, "Think about it! If I kill devils in a notorious devil attack, then bullies all across the country will get scared, and bullying will decrease. No, it could stop all together. Not just yours, but all the bullying in Japan!"

...No more bullying? No more raw chicken in her shoes, no more people calling her weird or creepy, no more guys making a mockey of her-

"And then I could become a symbol of justice, just like Chainsaw Man!"

Asa blinked. "What the hell does Chainsaw Man have to do with this, do you even hear yourself?!"

"Yuko, when you made your contract, what did you give the devil in exchange for your powers?" Yoru asked. 

"There was no give, I only received. When I was given this power, I received a heart that shines with the light of justice along with it."

Asa called bullshit, that's definitely not how devil contracts worked. 

Yuko turned around and waved one of her tentacles at Asa. "I still have one more bully to kill! Go put on some clothes Asa!"

"Wait! Stop!" Asa ran after her. She adjusted her grip on her sword and readied herself to swing. "I'm only gonna cut your legs off, sorry!"

Asa swung and Yuko flicked the sword away with ease. Asa held her hands open in shock. 

"Told you it'd be weak," Yoru muttered.

"Damn it!" Asa shouted. 

"I told you it was pointless," Yuko said. "You can't stop m—"

Yuko's entire body fell apart into little sliced up pieces, spurting blood and guts everywhere and absolutely engulfing Asa in entrails. Yoru's eyes widened.

"Woh?! Strong?!"

"GYAHHH?!" Asa screamed, looking over all the little chopped up Yuko bits.

"You've surprised me!" Yoru said, sounding awfully pleased. "The swords I've made out of people I've killed are always average."

"Buh- Sure, but...that uniform was something my mom bought me before she died..." Asa gestured over to the mess in the hall. "But I definitely didn't meant to do this!"

There was a sense of discomfort in the pit of Asa's stomach. This reminded her just a bit too much of Bucky.

"Ghhkk...Ah..."

Yuko's head, which was still in one piece, began to groan.

"Yuko?!" Asa ran over and knelt down beside the severed head. "Yuko, are you dying?! Don't die!!"

The head was silent. Asa wrung her hands. No, Yuko couldn't be dead. She was Asa's first friend, she couldn't—!

"Do you want to save her?"

Asa looked to the side, where a young woman stood. 

"...Huh?"

"Do you want to save her?" The woman asked again. "I can do that. Do you want me to?"

"...Yes."

The woman began to walk over until she stood directly over Asa. There was something off about her, that Asa couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Anything for my little sister," she said.

"Y-Your little sister?" Asa said confused. 

Asa blinked once, and when she opened her eyes again, everything was rubble. She slowly got into a suitable sitting position and rubbed her head.

"Ow..." She heard the sound of chainsaws whirring.

Chainsaws.

Yoru got to her feet and snarled. 

"Chainsaw Man!"

That blasted devil was right in front of her. Yoru balled up her fists. Chainsaw Man. Right where she wanted him.

Yoru grabbed one of Yuko's severed legs and turned it into a sword. She pointed it at Chainsaw Man.

"Remember me, Chainsaw Man?!"

"Woah!...Do I know her?!"

...

Did he know her?!

Of course he knew her! That hell forsaken devil piece of shit was the entire reason she was reduced to this state. And now he—he—!!

He was totally ignoring her in favor of a girl that had appeared from the rubble!! Yoru couldn't pass up this chance! She gripped her sword and lunged at Chainsaw Man, ready to shred him into ribbons, only for him to disappear in front of her eyes. Yoru swung at thin air. 

No Chainsaw Man.

...

"He vanished."

Yoru couldn't believe this. It had to be some sort of sick joke. 

"Is...is he saying I'm not even worth his time?" Yoru looked at the sky and screamed.

"SHOW YOURSELF CHAINSAW MAN, I'LL OBLITERATE YOU!!!"

She began kicking the debris and rubble, snarling and seething.

Now was probably a good time for Denji to leave. The door was right there.

Once again in that gray hallway, Denji flopped onto his back and sighed. 

It was a little funny, this seemed to be the second time he saved Asa, and the second time he had no idea. Looking back on it, he was so focused on her body that he didn't even really remember her face. 

If there was one thing this memory proved, it was that even in such a weakened state, Yoru was still rather strong.

Not strong enough to defeat Denji, of course. But that Uniform Sword really was something. 

"...My spinal cord would totally make a bomb ass sword," Denji murmured. 

Alright, no more dilly dallying, Denji needed to keep moving. He needed to find Asa.

Denji opened the door and stepped through the other side.

"Ah!"

Denji opened his eyes and gasped. What? Who? Where was he? Everything burned, it burned really really bad. It was dark and Denji couldn't see anything and his body was in pain all over.

Denji struggled, feeling multiple things wrapped around his limbs. 

He was soaked. Something was all over his body. God it burned so fucking bad. The things restraining him were soft and squishy, and with enough struggling, Denji managed to pull one arm free. He held his hand up right in front of his face, desperately trying to see why the fuck it hurt so bad.

His skin was just gone. Exposing the red angry flesh beneath. The burning sensation on his hand was felt all over his body. His entire body. Was probably just like this.

Shit.

Denji needed blood, and he needed it fast. What was happening? What was going on? Flesh? The appendages wrapped around his limbs pulsated slightly. As if blood was running through them. Denji twisted and twisted until he was in the position to take a bite. Any simple movement felt like his skin was being ripped from his body. Which it probably was. 

Denji had never felt more grateful for his teeth. He chomped down on what must've been the devil that had put him through that entire ordeal.

The devil bled purple, and Denji lapped it up frantically, feeling his skin form again on his body. The burning sensation subsided until it was gone altogether, and now Denji could think. Where was he? He reached under his shirt. The starter was there. 

He was back in reality. And most definitely under attack.

Denji was ready to pull his starter and go ham on whatever the fuck he was inside, but he froze when he heard a weak cough.

"Asa?"

Denji writhed a bit, managing to slip out of the restraints. He managed to stand up, but as far as he could tell, he was surrounded by the devil. A bit like when he fought the eternity devil. 

Another cough. Coming from his left. Denji struggled his way, feeling the walls become narrower and narrower until he felt like he was being compressed. 

And then popped out the other side. He was no longer being squeezed, but it really wasn't that much roomier than before. It was still dark. Denji felt around the space until he noticed an odd shaped lump. Multiple appendages wrapped around something. Denji grabbed several and began to pull them away, slowly uncovering what was beneath them.

Asa. Denji pulled away more of the appendages, leaving Asa's face and chest uncovered. But at some point, the ones that were left —wrapped around her limbs and lower body— tightened and he couldn't even dig his fingers between them and Asa's skin.

"Asa? Asa!"

She wasn't responding. 

Whatever this devil was, it was seriously the fucking worst. Denji couldn't bust out his chainsaws, since they were in such a confined space, and there was a good chance he could accidentally kill Asa. 

It was getting easier to see. Denji looked back at the girl, trying to gauge her condition.

Her breathing was somewhat shallow, and she seemed to be drenched in sweat. But it was hard to tell because Asa's skin was inflamed and red, some of it beginning to slough off her body.

"Shit shit shit!"

Unable to think of anything else, Denji bit down on his finger as hard as he could, his teeth penetrating down to the bone. Blood began to steadily drip from the wound, and Denji held it over Asa's mouth and let it drip onto her tongue.

The corrosion began to heal, but it wasn't fast enough to negate the damage that was being currently done. 

"Fuck fuck fuck, what do I-"

He attempted to pull her out, but the grip the appendages had on her was ridiculous. If he pulled any harder, Asa could very well simply fall apart and dissolve before his eyes.

Denji thought back to earlier, when Asa had gotten rid of the lock on the fence. She'd mumbled something under her breath, and then it disappeared. 

Oh. She didn't eat it, she turned it into a weapon. 

Denji frantically scrounged around her pockets, closing his hand around something small. He pulled it out.

"A pocket knife?"

It wasn't the most effective thing, but it was better than just his teeth. 

Denji began stabbing and slashing at the appendages, successfully managing to free her arms and torso. Not wanting to waste more time, Denji wrapped his arms around her and pulled.

The lower half of her body was free, minus her skin. 

But she was free of the acid, which meant she was safe. For now.

Denji took the pocket knife and slit one wrist, letting the blood gush into Asa's mouth. 

Her skin began to form again, and if Denji still had any doubt that she wasn't a fiend...well, it would be gone by now. As she began to heal, the redness and swelling of the skin she still had went down. But she was still out cold, her pulse was frighteningly weak, and her breathing was much too shallow for comfort. 

Denji looked her over to see if there was some way he'd be able to wake her up. He noticed that, irritatingly, there was an appendage that Denji hadn't managed to sever. Just a thin little strand that went inside her ear. Denji closed his hand around it and yanked, before a wave of indescribable pain hit him.

He collapsed to the floor and twitched, trying to keep down the wave of nausea that was hitting him. "What...the fuck..." he panted. 

"Oh dear...it seems you woke up too soon."

Chapter Text

"Asa please...let's just go."

Asa looked up at Yoru. The girl's eyes were puffy from crying. Wasn't that just so embarrassing? Asa sniffed and wiped away a stray tear. This entire thing with Denji's memories was really starting to get to her.

It really was just sick in the head. Denji's life was just one unfortunate series after another, and he never ever seemed to get a break. Asa wasn't even the one living it, she was literally just watching it and she was already getting embarrassingly weak and emotional.

"Do you want me to carry you through the next memory?"

Asa shook her head and dried her face. Yoru having to carry her through Denji's next memory because Asa was too busy crying was even more embarrassing than right now.

"I'll just—I can walk," Asa insisted, her voice cracking awkwardly.

"Okay then, let's go."

Asa stepped through the door, exiting out the other side into a park. It was mostly empty. Over there, sitting on a bench near several vending machines, was Denji. 

The boy was eating some ice cream, but he didn't seem to be enjoying it. Asa sat down next to him. Hesitantly, she tried to touch his face. Her hands phased right through him, what did she expect? She obviously wouldn't be able to reach him, not here at least. 

Denji finished his ice cream and pulled the bare stick out of his mouth with a wet pop! He looked down lettering written on the stick.

Winner!

Denji's hand began to tremble as he stared at the popsicle stick. He doubled over and began to heave, before vomiting up his stomach's contents.

I killed Aki.

Denji dropped the popsicle stick and buried his face in his hands. He spread his fingers to peek at the stick on the floor, dropped in the puddle of stomach acid, half digested food, and melted ice cream.

"What a waste," Denji mumbled. The very last thing Aki did for Denji after Denji murdered him was give Denji some money, and here he was, wasting it all.

He was so fucking disgusting. 

God, what was he even doing? 

My brain is all jumbled up from the moment I wake up to whenever I fall asleep.

No matter what I watch or think about, it all goes to crap.

Even good food doesn't taste good anymore...

My brain must've turned to crap.

Denji wormed a hand beneath his shirt and began lightly caressing the area around his starter.

"Pochita..."

"Denji?"

Denji turned to see who had called his name. Makima stood there, looking very concerned. Denji bit his lip and seemed to shrink, as if trying to make himself seem small and pathetic. He pointed at the little puddle on the floor.

"I won a free ice cream..."

Makima grabbed his hand and rubbed it gently. "Poor thing...your hands are freezing."

Denji furowed his brow. "'S alright, even if my hands are cold, it's not like I'll die. Besides, I won a free ice cream."

Makima shook her head. "That just won't do, if your body gets too cold, you'll start feeling depressed."

Denji let out a choked laugh. A little late for that now, wasn't it? Makima frowned.

"Denji. Stand up."

Denji groaned, but forced himself onto his feet. He was hunched over. Pitiful.

"Woof..."

Makima smiled. "Good boy." She nodded her head in the direction of her apartment. "Follow me home. Let's have some warm tea."

Makima's apartment was very nice. Perhaps the nicest apartment Asa had ever seen.

"I'm back," Makima said, opening the door. Seven large huskies rushed to greet her and Denji, jumping excitedly and rubbing all up against them. 

"Ahhh, alright, alright already! I'm glad to see you too," Makima said, petting the dogs crowding around her. A couple had obviously taken a liking to Denji, from the way they were practically trying to knock him over.

"Wahh...mmph!" Denji pushed away a dog that was licking all over his face. 

"Look, someone new came to visit! Isn't that nice?" Makima took one of the dogs' face in her hands and turned it so it was looking at Denji. "That's Denji, why don't you say, "Woof! Good evening!" to him?"

"Woof, good evening," Denji mumbled to no one in particular. 

Denji sat on her couch, mobbed by the dogs while Makima rummaged through her cabinets. He scrunched up his face as slobber got everywhere. It was a little gross, but a little voice in the back of Denji's head told him this was where he belonged. Surrounded by Makima's dogs. Not as a guest, but as one of them. 

"I have black tea, green tea, chai, chamomile, genmaicha...do you have any preferences?" Makima called from her kitchen. 

Not really. Denji had always seen tea as something fancy, not the kind of thing someone as poor as him could afford. 

I could probably afford it now...

Could he?

Of course I can, I have plenty of money now...

Money he gained after killing Aki. Denji felt a little queasy. He shouldn't have been able to afford anything like this. Denji didn't deserve to indulge using Aki's money. Not like this. 

"Whichever one tastes the best," Denji said. They'd probably all taste like shit. 

Makima came back and set down a treat. She smiled at Denji. "Here, why don't you have some of the tiramisu I made?"

One of the dogs behind Denji perked up and began barking. Makima laughed and pet him gently. "No, not you! Down, boy!"

"Huh?"

Makima wrapped her arms around the dog and propped him up. "This boy's name is Tiramisu." She grabbed one paw and waved it up and down, as if saying hello. She began speaking in a high pitched voice. "Hi! I'm Tiramisu!"

Denji cracked a smile. The dog right next to him rolled onto its back, and Denji began rubbing its stomach. Makima noticed and smiled. "That one's name is Cream Puff." She scooched until she was pressed up against Denji. "That's nice, having your tummy rubbed, isn't it? I bet that feels good, Cream Puff."

Makima was so close to him, she was so warm and cute. The tension in Denji's shoulders disappeared. His face felt warm.

Makima picked up a bag off the ground and began waving it around. 

"Who wants a treat?"

The dogs all began jumping up and down in a frenzy as Makima began hand-feeding them. Denji took a bite of the tiramisu and pet a few dogs that began nosing at him. He drank from his tea. Makima leaned back and laughed as the dogs began kissing her face. 

In Denji's head, there were two voices. The first one screamed in his head, day and night, replaying the slick wet sound of Aki's guts splattering everywhere as Denji's chainsaw retracted. Digusting, you're digusting. I killed Aki. I'm digusting.

Ever since Denji had walked into Makima's apartment, the second voice spoke over the first one. It soothed the raging hatred in his head, replacing it with something else.

This might be...the best place in the world.

Denji set down his cup. Makima took his hands in hers and rubbed them gently. "Good, your hand warmed up."

"Yeah..."

Makima buried her face in Tiramisu's fur and hummed. "The best thing you can do when your hands are cold is to touch a living being..."

"...Thank you, Makima."

"Hmm?"

Denji looked at her. "Because of you, I've managed to recover a bit of the damage..."

Makima smiled and pulled him close. His ear was so close to her lips. She was so warm and solid and grounding.

"You went through quite a lot there," Makima murmured. "You did really well to survive it. You really are a good kid."

Denji's face went warm at the praise. If Makima said he was a good kid, then surely, it was true.

"Heh heh, haa, ahhhh..." Denji's voice cracked and his eyes began to water. "Ugh!" He pulled away from Makima's embrace. He was crying, how embarrassing. "N-No! Wait! It's not like that!"

Before Denji could keep crying, the dogs mobbed him once again and began kissing his face. "Wahhhh!! Ha, ha gahahaha!!!"

"Denji, you saved me too. So do you remember our promise?"

"Eh?" Denji giggled and turned to look at Makima. His mind was completely taken over by the dogs. Makima rolled to face him.

"Just tell me what you want me to make come true for you."

The dopey smile on his face faded as he came to the realization of what Makima was talking about.

Makima's promise that she'd do whatever he wanted. Anything he asked, she'd make it come true.

What did he want from Makima?

A kiss? Nah, Denji had had enough of those...

A grope? No, he'd already gotten one feel of Makima's tits.

...Sex?

...

Denji wasn't in the mood for that right now.

Right now, Denji had the world in his palm. All he needed to do was close his hand, and he'd get whatever he wanted. 

Makima's house was warm. It smelled like sweets and tea and gentle perfume. And dog fur.

Makima's dogs seemed so happy, so content. How much did they have to think? Dogs didn't have to work or worry or think. 

The first voice in Denji's head was so loud, but it was being drowned out by the second.

Aren't Makima's dogs living the good life?

Don't you wanna live something like that?

Don't you want to be one of Makima's dogs? One of her good boys?

Just think about how comfortable and happy you'd be...

...

"A dog. I...want to become...your dog."

Makima cocked her head. "You want to be my dog?"

Denji nodded sheepishly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"...I don't....I don't wanna think for myself anymore. I used to only think about what I had to do to not die. But now it's like there are ten thousand things to consider, and it's legit—I mean, really exhausting. I killed Aki because because it looked like hundreds of people were gonna die if I didn't stop him...but once I calmed down and really thought about it, maybe there was a better way." Denji's throat tightened. "Maybe Aki only died because I was stupid. A-And if—If I had never become friends with Aki in the first place...then...I'd have never felt like a piece of shit. There's no point in thinking about this stuff, yet it's all I can think about from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep." Denji met her eyes. "You're smarter than me, right? So if I just do whatever you say, I don't hafta think...or feel this drained."

"You're serious about this?"

Denji held up a peace sign.

"You sure? My dogs have to obey me with the utmost obedience.

He gave her a thumbs up. Makima beamed. She held out her hand. "Paw."

Denji blinked. He made his hand into a fist and placed it in Makima's palm.

"Good dog. Roll over."

Denji flopped to his side on the couch and rolled onto his back. Makima leaned over him and placed her hand on his forehead, stroking it gently.

"What a smart dog you are, Denji. Good boy."

Asa frowned.

"What is the problem? The boy said he wanted to be her dog."

"I know, but it's just..." it seemed sick, dehumanizing. It left a terrible taste in Asa's mouth.

Denji whined and leaned into Makima's touch.

I think this is the right answer for me.

Ding Dong!

Makima turned to face the door with a smile. "Ah, there she is. I called Power over." She looked back at Denji. "Stand."

The boy stood and cocked his head. "Why'd you call Power over?"

"Dogs don't need to think, silly."

Denji tilted his head and smiled. "Woof."

Makima held out her hand for Denji to take it. "Alright, let's go see her."

Denji took her hand and happily trailed behind Makima as she walked towards the door.

"You open the door Denji. And I'm going to kill her."

"Woof...huh?"

"Asa did I hear that right or-"

"No yeah I heard the exact same thing?!"

What did Makima say??

"Wait, what...?? Huh? W-What'd you say, Miss Makima? Hah?"

Silence.

"Were you joking?"

Silence.

"M-Miss Makima?"

Makima turned to look at Denji.

"Go on Denji."

Denji.

"Open the—" DON'T OPEN IT! "—door, Denji. You should be the one to open it."

Beads of sweat began to drip down Denji's face. The warm comfort of Makima's house was suddenly humid and suffocating. The sweet scent of tea and pastries turned sickly. He wanted to cough and double over and—

"You don't have to worry about a thing," Makima murmured, pulling him in close. "Trust me."

What was wrong? Nothing, nothing at all.

Denji approached the door.

When I open the door...

His hand hovered around the handle. Don't open it.

When I open the door, Power will be there smiling.

Denji flexed his hand anxiously. Don't open it.

She'll pull a party popper...

He rested one finger against the top of the knob. Don't open it.

...And she'll be holding a cake, and...huh?

He closed his hand around the handle. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Why whould she have a cake?

Denji opened the door. 

Oh duh, because...tomorrow is my birthday.

Denji stood face to face with Power. The fiend held a cake, with the words, "Happy 17th Birthday, Denji!" written. She looked anxious, she looked horrible, she looked sick. Like she didn't want to be there at all. But she was, because it was going to be Denji's birthday. And she couldn't miss it. Because they were family... 

"Denji."

"H-Hey..."

Denji walked to the side just a bit for Makima to fit next to him in the door way. Makima raised an arm and pointed a finger gun at Power, closing one eye and aiming at her.

"Bang."

Power stood there in one piece, and then suddenly she was in two. Not three, why not three? Only two, or maybe a thousand tiny pieces. Everything from her neck to her waist exploded, splattering on the crater in the wall behind her. Bits of gore flecked Denji's face. He looked at Power, then at Makima.

Power.

Makima.

Power. Makima.

Makima grabbed his hand and frowned. "Yours hands are cold again, poor thing. Shall we go back inside?" She ushered Denji behind her. He got one last look at Power before Makima slammed the door shut.

Denji sat down on the couch next to her. He felt like he would burn up any minute, like his lungs were filled with thick clots, like he was going to choke and die any moment. 

"Oh dear, it seems like the tea went cold. Shall I make some more?"

"Am I dreaming?"

"Hmm?"

"...Hmm?? Miss Maki—Miss Makima, is this a dream?"

Makima was silent.

"Huh? What? What is it??"

Makima fell onto her side. "Pfft...he, he he, hee hee—!" Her shoulders began shaking and her eyes scrunched up. She rolled onto her back and opened her mouth. Her entire body shook as her face began to go red and her lungs had expelled every last bit of air in them. Tears formed in her eyes.

Denji couldn't understand.

What was so funny??

"Ahh..." Makima stopped laughing and wiped away the tears on her face. "That was a good one! Take your shirt off."

Denji stared at her in disbelief.

"Well?"

Dogs don't need to think, they just need to do what they're told.

With shaky hands, Denji removed his t-shirt. He flinched as Makima rested her head in his lap. She threaded a finger through the starter on Denji's chest.

"Pochita giving you that heart in exchange for you living a normal life...that wasn't a promise. It was a contract. I thought long and hard about how to break that contract. I thought about what I had to do to hurt you so badly that you could never recover, so you couldn't live a normal life anymore. It wasn't easy, you know. Afterall, you were pretty satisfied with the life you were living with Pochita before. So the first thing to do was make sure that you experienced an extraordinary amount of happiness. I prepared a job for you, paid you money, had you eat all sorts of delicious foods. And then I gave you a loving family. Aki, your responsible, loving older brother. Power, your bratty and troublesome little sister. I made that happiness your normal life. And then I destroyed it all. From now on, whatever happiness, whatever normality you feel, I will be the one to give it to you, and I will be the one to take it away. If you overcome your sadness and make new friends, I'll kill them. If you find a lover and have a family with her, I'll destroy it all."

Denji's throat closed up, his chest tightened.

"Why..."

Makima smiled. "Because the time has come to pay for your sins."

Denji's face was practically drenched in sweat. It was gross and disgusting, perfectly fitting for a disgusting thing like him.

"I investigated your past. A child's mind really is an incredible thing. They can just shut away memories they don't like behind a door. They're hidden behind the door so you can keep living, right? Without that, you wouldn't be able to live a normal life. Your father didn't kill himself, did he? You killed him, right?"

Denji's pupils shrunk as he remembered that day. Bringing down a bottle over his father's head over and over.

"He was drunk and seemed like he was going to kill you, so you didn't have a choice. But the adults around you wouldn't get the money they were owed that way, so they called it a suicide. The door has finally been opened." Makima placed a hand on Denji's cheek and stroked it gently. "You helped me kill Power. You killed Aki, even thought you might have been able to save him. You even killed your own father."

Denji had a father, and he killed him. And yet, someone as horrible as him kept dreaming of a normal life. Pochita graced him with a second chance, Makima had graced him with food, Aki and Power had given him a family. Denji was blessed with a normal life, and he destroyed it.

"A boy who does all that doesn't deserve to dream of a normal life, does he?"

He didn't deserve anything.

"Nuh uh."

Asa had been in shock for the past several minutes.

"Asa."

"What?"

"Do you have a super power? Do you have the ability to say something, and then the exact opposite happens?"

"Huh??"

Yoru cleared her throat and began to count off her fingers. "Exhibit A. Surely they were through the worst of the memories," Yoru mimicked. "Exhibit B, that girl is quite cute, perhaps things were going to start looking up for Denji. Exhibit C, being under the watchful eye of one of the most powerful devils out there would be enough to keep him safe. And Exhibit D, Denji being found by such a powerful devil. But she didn't seem malicious. Scary? Yes. But evil? No." 

"SHUT UP!!!" Asa dropped to her knees and groaned. Holy fucking shit she was actually exhausted already. 

There was nothing else to be said that she hadn't already said. Denji's past sucked. It was horrible. Misery porn. It'd be really great if they fucking FINISHED ALREADY!!!

"PLEASEEEE!" Asa shouted to the ceiling. "ENOUGH!!! I FEEL HORRIBLE ENOUGH!!! I GET IT!!! DENJI ISN'T A DICK HE'S A VICTIM JUST PLEASEEEE LET US BE FINISHED ALREADY!" she wailed.

Asa kind of just felt numb at this point. Not to say she was used to it or anything, but there was only so much tragedy a girl could handle witnessing before running out of ways to react and tears to produce. It wasn't that Asa didn't feel like crying, it was more just she literally couldn't. 

Feeling like he was responsible for Aki and Power's death...that he fucked up and it was his fault. Asa understood that all too well.

And it felt horrible.

There were times where Asa wanted to sleep and not wake up after the day of the Typhoon Devil attack. And it had only worsened after Crambon had died. But Asa had managed to keep going. She pushed down her guilt and keep going. Afterall, Asa was no stranger to being and feeling alone. 

But Denji was different. 

How had he ever managed to recover? Asa looked over at the scene. The contrast between Denji's still body on the couch, and Makima's calm demeanor, the liveliness of her dogs, the homeliness of her apartment, it was sickening.

Makima set down her salad and grabbed a knife. She spread strawberry jam and butter on it, and prepared it neatly on her plate. She brewed coffee and prepared it all on her table, finishing the display with another plate of tiramisu. 

"Bread with butter and jam, salad, coffee, and dessert," she murmured to herself. Makima took a piece of the tiramisu and fed it to one of her dogs, scratching it behind the ear. "Of course, I suppose some people don't deserve to have their dreams come true."

Asa had fully expected the memory to end, but it continued through Makima finishing her meal to her fixing up her clothes. 

Once she was ready, Makima stood over Denji. He hadn't moved a muscle since first lying down. All he did was stare.

"Get up."

Obediently, Denji stood up from the couch. Makima grabbed his head and began leading him out of the apartment. 

Power's body had disappeared, but the crater in the wall and blood were still there. Denji didn't look.

As Makima rounded the corner, several kneeling figures were seen against the wall. 

Yoru held out her arm to stop Asa from following.

"Wait a moment," she hissed.

Makima murmured something to Denji, but it was obvious he wasn't hearing anything.

"—iting for this, the day of resurrec—"

The side of the building exploded, the force slamming Makima and Denji into the wall. 

"What the fuck?!" Asa looked at the hole in the building, noticing a group of people atop several other apartment rooftops. A rain of gunfire came down upon Makima, narrowly missing Denji. Her eyes twitched. More gunfire. When the shots were done, Makima wiped away some of the blood on her face.

"Save me, Chainsaw Man."

Denji's previously catatonic demeanor dissipitated. His eyes shot up and he moved unnaturally to his feet, as if being yanked by strings. Denji's intestines shot from his stomach and wrapped around his neck. He walked to the hole in the side of the building and pulled on his ripcord.

And then everything froze. A door materialized.

"Wait, is this where the memory ends?" Asa said confused. 

"It must be. Let's move," Yoru said.

Instead of taking a break, Asa and Yoru went into the next memory immediately.

"This is..." Yoru said.

Rather than step into a memory, Asa and Yoru had stepped into some kind of void. And right at their feet, curled up into a ball, was Denji.

Chapter Text

He seemed to be unconscious. He twitched feverishly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated over and over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. No, no, no..."

Asa knelt down and reached her hand out. Gently, she placed a hand on Denji. He was warm. She was actually touching him. 

Asa's lip quivered. Her entire body shook as she took his twitching body in her arms.

"Asa...the door is here."

Asa ignored Yoru in favor of studying Denji's face. 

"Asa, we need to go!"

"Shut up!" Asa held onto him tighter. Ever since Asa saw that first memory, since she saw Denji's small, huddled form, she wanted nothing more than to hold him. And now she finally could and—and—

Tears began to drip down Asa's face. They splashed onto Denji's face, and Asa quickly wiped them away.

He seemed so small and broken. 

Asa didn't want to fix him, nor would she be able to. She just...

If they were suspended in time during this moment, if Asa had to spend the rest of eternity cradling him in her arms, she probably wouldn't mind...

He dug through the trash, pulling out a half eaten burger in a soggy, tattered wrapper. Various bugs crawled about the food, and Denji picked them off half-heartedly.

The burger itself was alright...sure, the bread might've been moldy and the tomatoes and lettuce might've been rotting and the patty was probably rotten, but it was better than nothing. 

The entire burger was rotten, rotten rotten rotten, disgusting and disease filled. Rotten to the core.

Denji took a bite and forced himself to swallow. Then another bite, and another. And then he let Pochita eat the rest.

Denji's stomach churned. He leaned back against the dumpster and worked his fingers through Pochita's fur.

"Hey, Pochita. Just once in my life, I wanna try a hamburger that isn't rotten, y’know?

He didn't deserve that.

Denji looked wistfully at the couple sitting on the park bench. 

The guy wasn't really anything special, but man, the girl was seriously totally cute. 

"Woof!" 

Denji looked down at Pochita. The little devil wagged his tail and began walking in the direction of their shack. Denji took one last look at the couple before following Pochita. 

Back at the shack, Denji munched on his last slice of bread. He finished it and began shaking the bag for any crumbs. Nothing. He flopped back on his bed, his stomach growling. 

"'M so hungry," he groaned. Pochita jumped on his stomach. Denji grabbed him and rolled onto his side. He thought back to the couple on the park bench. What did people usually do on dates? They went out to eat, and then kissed? Denji didn't really know. He'd like to know. 

"I wanna go on a date with a girl so bad..."

He didn't deserve that. 

Denji began to twitch and shiver violently, his eyes twitching beneath his eyelids. He seemed to be saying something. Asa leaned down to listen.

"I don't deserve anything..."

I don't deserve anything.

God. That fucking feeling of worthlessness, Asa knew it all too well.

Feeling like maybe she didn't even deserve to keep living.

But. When Asa looked at Denji, there was a little flutter of hope in her heart. 

Asa craved a relationship. She wanted friends, so very desperately. But in the end, something always always went wrong. Yes, no matter what, Asa was never able to connect with anyone. Except for perhaps Yuko, but even that ended in disaster. All it managed to prove was that Asa was and would always be alone. And it was hard. So hard, that sometimes, Asa just straight up wanted to kill herself. No sugarcoating, she just wanted to be dead. 

For a long time, Asa thought it'd be easier like that.

No more whispers behind her back. No more giggling while she walked through the hall. No more staring up at her ceilings at one in the morning, wondering why she even bothered to sleep, knowing she'd wake up and go through everything all over again.

But then she did die, and just before her death, Asa realized that she wants to live. And here she was, still alive.

But it was hard. Asa really didn't want to waste that chance she'd been given, but sometimes Asa really just wanted to lie down and sleep, because it was just easier that way.

If Denji could keep going, even after everything...then surely, she could too.

What did he want? What were his motives? Just like Asa, he was given a second chance at life, no? Or maybe even a third. Maybe if Asa could just understand what kept him going, it would be easier for her to keep going too.

Asa gently stroked her hand against Denji's cheek. "Just what is going on inside that head of yours...?" she murmured.

"You'll never be able to figure it out if we stay here," Yoru said, tapping her foot impatiently. "We've wasted enough time. Lets go, Asa."

Reluctantly, Asa set Denji down.

"I'll see you soon, she whispered."

Yoru and Asa stepped into the next memory.

"Come on, come on, wake up!!"

Power slapped Denji's cheek lightly until the boy's eyes fluttered open. 

"Power...?"

"Denji!!" The fiend wrapped her arms around Denji and squeezed him tightly. "I'm here to save you!"

The look in Denji's eyes could only be described as empty, defeated, worthless.

"I...I've lived enough, Power. I ate a lot of good food, flirted with a cute girl, I got to play video games with you guys, slept next to you. From my view point of when I was still stuck in my debt trap...I really did get to live my dream life. So I'm good. Besides, there's nothing left for me waiting in life anyways."

And it's all my fault. I destroyed it all.

"Besides, you won't be there, right?"

Power scrunched up her face and banged on Denji's chest. "Denji, you dummy! Dummy dummy dummy! Don't say that! Do you miss me so much you can't do anything?!"

"...I do." 

"You are so foolish. When devils die in this world, they are reborn in hell. They are not the same though, so I won't be me anymore, I'll be a different Blood Devil. Which means when we meet again, we'll probably be enemies. Denji. Go find the blood devil.  Find them, make friends with them somehow...and turn the Blood Devil back into Power again. Then I can be your buddy again, can't I? Denji," she murmured. "This is a contract. I'll give you my blood. In exchange..."

Power closed her eyes and lowered her head until her and Denji's noses were lightly pressed against each other.

"Come find me."

Denji screamed and burst from the dumpster he laid in, reaching out for the devil who wasn't there.

"Power!!"

Denji's head whipped back and forth, looking around the space. No sight of her. 

"No, no no no no...!" Denji's voice cracked as he gripped his chest, his palm right over his heart. "Power..."

"Denji."

Denji's eyes widened as he looked to the side. A small, delusional part of him prayed that maybe, just maybe it was Power, but the voice was far too deep and rough to sound anything like her. 

Kishibe pointed his flask at Denji. "Question. Are you Denji, or the chainsaw monster? If you're Denji, I'll set you free from Makima somehow. If you're that chainsaw monster, then keep on sleeping in the dumpster."

Kishibe glanced over to the boy, who held up a peace sign.

"Good. Come with me."

My chest hurts. It feel funny, it feels empty. I'm not a very big fan of it.

...

I'm really tired. I wish I could sleep, but I can't. I have to stay awake and fight. I have to wait for Miss Makima to let her guard down.

Miss Makima...she really hates me, doesn't she? I guess that's okay. 

I don't wanna kill her, but I guess I gotta, right, Pochita?

Pochita? 

Oh, right. That's alright, I'll see you soon.

Makima jammed her elbow into Chainsaw Man's stomach, the force ripping a hole and causing his intestines to spill out. Sticking her hand into the hole, Makima swiped her hand back and forth, severing his body in two. She tossed his bottom half away, gripping his head and stabbing her hand up his body. She closed her fingers around the pulsating orange devil in his chest, pulling it out of his body.

The thick metallic scent of blood filled the air as blood spilled from Chainsaw Man's body. Makima gazed at him, her face expressionless. 

"It was unavoidable that you'd lose to my bare hands. You aren't Chainsaw Man, after all. How can I get you give up on this world, Denji? What do I need to do for you to turn back into Chainsaw Man."

Chainsaw Man coughed, spitting up blood from the back of his throat, the glob landing on Makima's cheek. Makima's eye twitched. 

"Chainsaw Man doesn't spit up phlegm. Chainsaw Man...doesn't wear clothing. And he doesn't talk. Every action he takes should be chaotic. And yet, despite not understanding him at all...you were chosen by Chainsaw Man." Makima brought his face up to hers, staring at him in disgust.

"If you're going to get in our way, then die."

Makima tugged, tearing Pochita away from Chainsaw Man's body. She slammed his body onto the ground, watching impassively as the glow in his head faded.

With everything said and done, Makima sat against a tombstone, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and brought it to her lips, taking a deep breath.

"Koff koff!! Gyaugh..." Makima threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with her foot. She cleared her throat.

"I've beaten you twice." Makima held up Pochita, smiling at him. "Chainsaw Man, you belong to me now. We'll be together forever." She rubbed him against her cheek, sighing happily. "Let's eat a lot together, sleep together, and have a happy life together."

Behind Makima, the ground littered with corpses began to shift, a small body rising. The body pulled out a blood red chainsaw, stumbling over to Makima and pulling on the power cord. 

"Huh?"

Makima turned around, and before she had any time to react, Denji was bringing it down on her body, slicing her from her shoulder to her thigh.

"Ah—!! Whuh—?!" Makima glanced between Denji and the Chainsaw Man corpse. She collapsed to her knees, her body attempting to knit itself back together.

"You fiiiinally let your guard down," Denji said. "I'll be taking Pochita back now, thanks." He wiped the blood from his nose, reaching down to pick up Pochita. He stuck the devil back into his body with a wet slick noise. "Man, talk about a close one...I wound up usin' every last bit of the blood Power gave me."

"How...are you—"

"That "Denji" you were fighting? The whooole time, that was a Pochita I tore offa my heart. I vaguely remembered bein' able to fight like that, so yeah."

Copious amounts of blood spurted from Makima's wound. Denji sighed. "Your wound is healin' slow, right? That's cause I made that chainsaw from Power's blood. I'm makin' it run amok inside you."

"This is hardly enough to—"

"Yeah, I don't expect a cheap trick like this to kill ya."

Makima huffed, glaring at Denji. He heard the faint noise of an engine whirring, and turned around to see a large van driving up to them.

"Oh! Master's here to pick us up. Great time." He turned around to look at Makima again. "Sorry 'bout this, Miss Makima." He revved the chainsaw again, raising it above his head.

The bright fluorescent lights flickered, the lights much dimmer than they were when Asa and Yoru had first appeared there. Yoru chewed on her nails, glaring at nothing in particular.

"How infuriating," she snarled. 

"Huh?"

"Chainsaw Man, obviously."

"Oh."

"You don't seem to understand what I'm saying, Asa. Even with his powers weakened by that chainsaw boy, he still managed to kill Control. Control! One of my sisters!"

"But he's still Chainsaw Man, the same guy that weakened you."

"No, no, you aren't understanding it, Asa. Chainsaw Man was at his full power when he partially devoured me. Now he's living within that boy, which should weaken him exponentially. Sure, he's still strong enough to kill the odd powerful devil, but Control? A horseman? I underestimated how strong we'd need to be to wage war on him in human-devil hybrid form."

Asa furrowed her brow. Wage war on him in devil-human hybrid form. Wage war on him as Denji. Asa didn't want that. 

Of course, it didn't matter what she wanted. Yoru slammed her fist against the wall.

"Whatever. Enough sulking. Next memory."

Denji opened up his fridge, pulling out some tupperware full of unprepared meat. He set it down on the counter, right next to a small stack of papers full of recipes. At the bottom in the corner of each recipe was a signed named. Aki Hayakawa. 

Denji hummed to himself as he gathered vegetables and spices, all while muttering to himself quietly.

"Y'know Miss Makima, even after everything I've been through, and everything you did to me, I still love you from the bottom of my heart." Denji sliced up an onion, wiping away a few stray tears. "But the people that died cause of you aren't gonna forgive you. Which is why, like, I'll bear your sins with you."

Denji fried the meat along with the vegetables and spices, turning off the stove once it was cooked properly.

"And then I was like, "but how do I do that?" Do I strap on a bomb and then blow us up together? But I was told physical attacks won't work. So then I was like, "oh, if attacks won't work..." and I was totally like, "eureka!" And I got the best idea. All I gotta do...is become one with you."

As Denji spoke, he poured soup into a bowl and prepared some rice. He set it all on a table, the soup, rice, and meat. 

Denji clapped his hands together. "Bon appetite!"

He picked up the bowl of miso soup. "I'll start with the miso soup."

...

"So this is how you taste, Miss Makima..."

"W-Well maybe he just meant metaphorically!" Asa said defensively. "But he's no cannibal!"

"Okay, even if he did, it was just the one time!" Yoru said in a whiny nasally tone.

"What?!"

"The boy himself said it," Yoru pointed out. "The same day he said he was Chainsaw Man! And you didn't believe him them, but I was right in the end! Same case here."

"Okay, but—but I said people! Makima was a devil!"

"Just face it, I'm right, Asa! Chainsaw boy ate Control."

"But when Chainsaw Man eats devils, aren’t they erased from existence? If he ate Makima, wouldn’t control cease to exist?"

"Maybe it has."

Asa pointed an accusatory finger at Yoru. "Bullshit! That's bullshit, cause if Chainsaw Man ate Control and erased her from existence, you'd be out of my body!"

"I'm not controlling you," Yoru argued, "I'm merely sharing your body and using it when I need to!"

"Oh you—!" Asa began to march forward, but collapsed after a single step. She screeched and grabbed her head, shaking on the floor.

"A-Asa?!" Yoru said, kneeling down and waving her arms around, unsure of what to do.

After a moment, Asa stopped screaming.

"What..." she panted, "the fuck was that??"

"What happened?"

Asa got to her knees, gingerly holding her hand against her ear. "I-I dunno, it felt like someone dug spikes into my brain and used them to pull it out my ear." Asa winced as she pulled her hand away from her ear. She looked around nervously, as if she expected it to happen again. When nothing happened, she let out a sigh.

"It may be a mental attack from a devil," Yoru said. "I think we've spent too much time fooling around in here and forgotten that you're most likely in danger."

"Yeah. But hey, uh, look on the bright side! Makima is dead, so. Y'know..."

"We're almost out of the memories."

"Yes!" Asa finger gunned at Yoru. "I just didn't wanna say it cause..."

"You didn't want to jinx us and leave us trapped in here for another five memories."

"Yeah!" Asa nodded her heads towards the door. "Let's go and get outta here."

The sound of giggling filled the air as several children ran around, crowding the dogs. Meowy wrapped around Denji's shoulders like a small scarf.

"I ate it all. Miss Makima didn't revive from my stomach or the crapper. She's dead."

"Guess she is," Kishibe said. "Attacks don't work against Makima. How'd you kill someone unkillable?"

Denji pursed his lips and looked at the ground.

"There was something I figured out from past conversations and interactions. Makima doesn't remember faces. She perceives people she finds interesting by scent. So I took a gamble." One of the dogs rested its head on Denji's lap, and Denji scratched it behind the ear. "I bet that Makima only saw Chainsaw Man this whooole time...and not once did she ever see Denji." Denji felt his nose burn and his throat tighten up as he blinked away the tears in his eyes.

You know Makima didn't care about you at all? Everything she did was to get to Pochita, everything she did to you a simply a means to an end. Not even casualties, because a casualty matters. To her, you were less when nothing. Her words, her promises, her gesture, they all meant nothing. 

...

But...that's okay. Even if Miss Makima never once cared about me, that's okay. I still love her, even after everything. And I'll never forget her. 

One of the children was a little too close to Denji and Kishibe for comfort. She attempted to climb up on one of the dogs. Denji pointed his finger at her.

"Hey, short stuff! Big important super secret meeting happening here! Beat it!"

The girl turned around and Denji yelped as she bit down on his finger. His eyes widened.

He knew that feeling. He knew it very well.

"Have you ever had your finger bitten? Memorize it. Know it so well that even if you lost your sight, you'd recognize me through my bite."

"Muh–Muh–!!"

The girl looked up at him, her bangs shifting to reveal her eyes – bright red eyes, ringed with yellow.

"That's Control," Yoru whispered. Asa blinked.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." Yoru cocked her head and frowned. "How surprising, I would've never imagined that she'd have reincarnated as such a little devil. Strange."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, no. It's just. We are Horsemen. Similarly to Primal Fears, we're practically on a whole separate level from regular devils. Neither me, nor Fami, nor Death, have ever reincarnated. It seems as though Control is the first of us to do so." Yoru sneered. "And by Chainsaw's hand of course."

"Miss Makima?!"

Denji felt a chill run down his spine. He was suddenly too cold for comfort, yet the sun beating down on his body made him feel like he was being baked in an oven.

"A boy like you has no right to wish for a normal life."

"Remember this feeling, Denji."

"This appearance of yours...and the things you say, are unworthy of Chainsaw Man."

"Chainsaw Man doesn't wear clothing, and doesn't talk. Every action he takes should be confusing, unreadable, sporatic. And yet, despite not understanding him at all, you were chosen by him. If you're going to get in our way, then die."

Something round floated up to the top of the soup, spinning until it stared straight at Denji. Accusingly. It almost even blinked. The exact same eye that stared at him as Denji brought Power's chainsaw down on Makima.

Denji's stomach churned, and he nearly clamped a hand over his mouth. His ears rang so loud he hardly managed to register what Kishibe was saying.

"–id was discovered in China. I nicked her. She isn't Makima anymore, she's the new Control Devil."

The girl scratched one of the dogs underneath the chin. "Doggy."

Denji's racing heart slowly began to beat steadily again.

"Makima is dead. The Control Devil doesn't have any of her memories or anything else. That said, if we leave her with the government and let them raise her, odds are she'll turn out like Makima again."

Another sharp pang. "Seriously...? I don't wanna eat any more meat for a long time."

"Yep." Kishibe turned to face Denji. "Which is why I'm leaving her to you."

"Huh?!"

Kishibe sighed and pulled out his flask. "I'm about to get real busy. Figured leaving her in your care would be the best course of action."

Denji gnawed on his lips, staring at Control out of the corner of his eyes. She hit him with an intense stare, instantly filling Denji with a sense of dread.

Denji swallowed hard. She pointed at him, and Denji scarcely had a second to register what was happening before he began to panic. Was she going to attack him??

"Doggy."

Denji shook his head. "Y–Yeah, no way I can..." Denji turned to tell Kishibe there was no way he could live with kid, he was just too on edge around her. But the spot on the bench next to him was completely empty.

"Bwahh?!?!"

Denji looked around, but there was no sight of the man. He turned back to Control, who had jumped onto the back of one of the dogs. He laughed awkwardly. "Hey, uh. Little girl, what's your name?"

"Nayuta."

Part of him wanted to tuck tail and run away, but Denji knew it was a bad idea. Nayuta could easily turn into Makima two point oh.

"Suh. So. Nayuta, whaddaya wanna eat?"

"Bread." There was no hesitation or thinking before her answer. Denji sighed.

"Pretty inexpensive devil to keep, arentcha?"

Nayuta smiled and flashed Denji a peace sign. Denji returned the gesture.

Returning to the now very familiar hallway, Yoru stroked her chin, obviously deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Asa asked.

"I don't know, I just can't help but feel like I've seen that Nayuta before."

Asa felt that too. She shrugged. "I mean, she's got the same eyes as Makima. And your eyes, and Fami's eyes. Maybe it's just cause you're both Horsemen?"

Yoru shook her head. "No, no. It's something else but I just can't seem to put my finger on it..."

"Mmm. You think we're almost done now?"

"Uhh probably."

Chapter Text

"Who are you?!" Denji hissed, tightening his grip on Asa. 

"Perhaps I should be asking you that..." The voice was coming from all around him. This must've been the devil that had trapped him and Asa. "Imagine my surprise when it turns out that both humans I captured were actually War and Chainsaw."

"Cut the shit," Denji snarled. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? To eat you, obviously."

Of course, typical devil activity. Denji rolled his eyes as he looked around. He made a few mental notes of what exactly was happening.

He and Asa were trapped inside the devil. The stomach, maybe? It seemed like it, especially with that weird acid they'd been submerged in. Denji looked behind him to where he had come from. The area had closed off, leaving him stuck in the small space with Asa. 

There was some weird tendril inside Asa's ear. Denji reached up to touch his own. Yeah, there was one stuck in his ear too. He didn't try to remove it, especially with how badly trying to remove Asa's had hurt. What was their purpose? No time to think about it.

"You didn't answer my first question," Denji said. "Who are you?"

"I think you might already know the answer to that."

Denji scowled. Another stupid fucking cryptic devil. 

"Trauma?"

"You got it."

He chewed on his lip nervously. From the way this thing acted, it didn't seem to be one of those bigshot devils, like Darkness. If it was, he and Asa would probably be dead by now. But it wasn't weak, and also not stupid, so Denji had to be on his guard.

The space they were in was far too enclosed, and Denji couldn't risk busting out the chainsaws, cause there was a pretty good chance he'd accidentally slice Asa's head open, and she was only a fiend, she couldn't survive that kind of direct damage.

One of Denji's hands moved to grab the lock pocket knife. 

"So, you saw what kinda stuff I'd been walking through?" Denji asked, mostly just trying to stall for time and distract the devil while he tried to figure out how such a small knife was gonna break him and Asa out of there.

"Oh yes, and I know what Asa Mitaka has been seeing too."

"Shit," Denji muttered. There was that confirmation that Asa had been going through his memories. On one hand, it was awesome that now she knew he was Chainsaw Man. On the other hand, it kinda fucking sucked that she knew he was Chainsaw Man, cause of the whole murderous Chainsaw Man-hating War Devil sharing her body.

"Asa Mitaka has some lovely memories, but you, I've never seen someone to tortured in their life. It's incredible, if only Asa Mitaka had a few more memories, the two of you would've been dead and digested already. What a pity. To think how much stronger I'd be after consuming both War and Chainsaw."

"Yeah, I bet ya'd be real strong." Denji gripped the knife, letting Asa gently slip to the floor. "Course, that'd only be if you ate us, which ya can't do when you're dead!"

Denji lunged at the nearest wall of flesh, stabbing the knife into it and shredding it up. Purple blood spurted from the wall, but Denji had hardly done anything.

Something wrapped around his waist, pulling him back to the center of the area. The sudden grab surprised him, losening his grip and leaving the knife embeded in the flesh, away from Denji's reach.

"Let go of me, you psycho freak!" Denji howled. He grabbed the tentacles wrapped around his waist, trying to pull them off him. He had just barely managed to actually get a grip on them when the world around him shifted to a dimly lit room. 

"Stupid bastards are trying to rob me."

Denji's eyes widened as he heard the familiar sound of glass shattering.

"Wait, h–huh?! No, no no no," he muttered. "I–I–!!"

"Do you know why you're in this situation, despite being so "strong and powerful?" the devil asked.

Denji gasped, his feet scrabbling against the slippery floor. This wasn't reality, it was just another memory. Denji had to remember that he was actually in the devil, not back at that house. He had to–

"Shut your mouth, boy! The least you could do is spread your useless scrawny legs for money instead of crying!"

"Stop, stop!!"

"Because it doesn't matter if Chainsaw Man gave you his heart. At the end of the day, you're still a filthy, weak human."

Denji blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what was real and what was the memory. Something thin slithered and wrapped around his wrists. Denji's stomach churned.

"NO!!" he screamed. "Please Papa, I'm sorry!! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!!" he sobbed, thrashing wildly. The devil snickered. For all his power, this was all it took to take down Chainsaw Man.

The devil raised Denji's arms above his head. As Denji slowly began to return to reality, he was vaguely aware of something slithering around his shoulder and armpit.

"I can't help but feel bad for you, I really do..." the devil said. Denji was a mess, rendered helpless in such a short amount of time. "Just kidding!" it cackled.

Denji screamed as another memory flashed before his eyes. He could practically feel the hot breath in his face, the stale, nauseating smell of beer, the rough, bruising grip on his arm—

"It's not nice to play with my food, but I just can't help it!" Denji shrieked as the appendage circling his arm tightened and then sliced it clean off. The severed arm fell on top of Asa's unconscious body, soaking her in blood. 

Denji hyperventilated, frantically trying to make sense of anything in front of him. It was useless. The loss of blood had his head spinning. He couldn't figure out anything, the mixture of reality and memories leaving him blind to the tentacles that wrapped around his body. At first, it felt gentle, in such a way that made Denji want to vomit. Then the grip on his body tightened, cracking his bones and probably rupturing some kind of internal organ.

He began to cough, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. From the corner of his eye, Denji caught of glimpse of Asa on the floor. Despite everything happening, there was a clear thing Denji could focus on, that being the need to help her.

"A...sa..." he slurred through a mouthful of blood. He couldn't just leave her defenseless like this! "I need...to..."

Denji screamed, hacking up a lung. Something punched a hole through his chest, the blood dyed end peeking out the other side. Denji's eyes fluttered shut as he felt something gently carress his cheek.

"Goodbye, Chainsaw Man."

The first thing Asa noticed was how thick the scent of blood was in the air. The next thing she noticed was the sticky, coagulating liquid seeping into her clothes. The third thing she noticed was the thing laying on her chest, heavy and unnatural.

Asa rose from the floor, wrapping a hand around Denji's own. The warmth had already seeped from it, leaving it cold and stiff. She looked at it for a moment before realizing what it was. She glanced at the floor, eyes widening at the sight of Denji's mangled body.

"D–Denji?"

"Are you kidding me? Now you're awake too?"

Yoru materialized behind Asa, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We're awake," she whispered. Asa stared at Denji, her eyes flitting back and forth between the severed arm in her hand and his pale, unconscious body.

"First Chainsaw Man, now you? No matter..." 

Asa looked around. No gray walls or fluorescent lights. They were back in reality, but Asa had no idea where they were, at all.

"What the fuck is going on?" Asa whispered. She was so confused, and also very very scared.

"I'm starting to think that eating you two is more trouble than it's worth," said a voice. 

"That's the devil that attacked us," Yoru said.

"Yeah, I can tell!" Asa scratched at her skin. "Where is it though?!"

"All around us," Yoru murmured. "We have no time to waste, turn Chainsaw's hand into a weapon and attack it, before it attacks us."

Oh. Right. Asa was holding Denji's hand. His severed hand. Ohh she was going to be absolutely sick.

"Now, Asa!"

"Denji Arm Sword!" Asa shouted in a panic. Denji's hand stiffened until it was nearly rock hard. The flesh and muscles on his arm melted until most of it gathered around his wrist. The now-exposed bone sharpened to a point.

"Oh come on," the voice scoffed. "If Chainsaw Man couldn't beat me, what makes you think you ca–"

Asa waved the sword around in front of her, the blade cutting through the devil's flesh as if it was simply air. Asa heard the devil howl as it was torn apart, light beginning to peek in from outside the wound.

Something stabbed through Asa's leg, and she screamed, slashing behind her. She cut another chunk out of the devil, letting more outside light shine through.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!!" the devil screamed. With the area finally lit, Asa noticed its pink flesh that was slowly fading to grey. Asa stepped backwards, attempting to steady herself. There was an area that faintly pulsed, and Asa rushed forward, driving the tip of the sword through it.

No sooner had the blade pierced the spot than the devil exploded, throwing her across the room. There was a sick cracking noise, one that didn't belong to Asa. 

She coughed, wiping blood and bits of gray off her face. However the room looked before, it didn't look like that anymore. Purple blood and grey matter covered every surface available, save for the center of the room which was quickly turning red, thanks to Denji's bleeding body splayed out on the floor.

Asa's eyes widened as she got to her feet, stumbling over to him.

"Denji? Denji?!?"

There was a massive hole in the center of his chest, exposing his insides. Interestingly, there was a flash of orange amongst everything else, attached to grey wires that pulsed rhythmically.

"That's De–"

"That's Chainsaw Man," Yoru snarled. "That stupid orange piece of shit!"

"Denji's hurt, is he dead??" That was a stupid thing to ask of course he was dead. Asa needed to help him, he'd be fine with just a little blood–

"Kill him."

Asa froze, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead. Her eyes looked to the side. Yoru's face was inches away from hers. 

"But–"

Despite not being able to touch Asa at all, Yoru moved behind her. Phantom limbs gently grabbed Asa's arms, guiding them to raise her sword and position it just above Denji's heart.

"Kill him."

"Wait–!!" Asa looked at Denji. Despite being in control, Asa felt like she was watching the scene from outside.

"Do it Asa!" Yoru urged. 

Asa blinked, and suddenly it was like she was back in the memories, watching Denji collapse after killing his father, killing Aki, killing Power. So weak and small vulnerable. He was just a boy, afterall. 

"He might be Denji, but he's also Chainsaw Man," Yoru hissed. "He is my enemy, he is our enemy. No sad backstory is going to change that. Everything we've done up until this point is to reach our goal. To kill Chainsaw Man, and to give you your body back. Do you want your body back? Or are you so foolish that you'll abandon a perfect opportunity? He's helpless, defenseless! We won't ever get a chance like this ever again!"

Asa's breath caught in her throat. All she needed to do was bring the sword down on Denji's chest and pierce his heart. How ironic, for Chainsaw Man to die by his own hand. Asa's hands gripped the handle so tightly that the sword could've broken apart.

Denji was absolutely defenseless. All Asa needed to do was destroy his heart. 

"I...!"

"Just do it already!" Yoru screeched. Asa wailed, frozen in fear. She couldn't do it, she couldn't do it. Asa threw the sword aside, the weapon shattering upon hitting the wall. 

"I can't!" she sobbed. "I can't hurt Denji!!"

"You're such a fool!" Yoru howled. "Foolish, foolish! Why are you so stupid?? Finish him, kill him, kill him!!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!!" Asa slammed her hands over her ears, scrambling away from Denji's body and slamming into the wall. Asa picked up a shard from the blade of the sword.

"Don't you dare, don't you fucking dare!"

Asa stabbed into her hand and Yoru screamed, clutching her own. Asa returned to Denji's side, haphazardly letting the blood drip onto his face before she finally managed to get it into his mouth. 

It trickled down his throat, and Asa and Yoru watched —in relief and horror— as Denji's body healed, muscle and skin forming and knitting back together to make him good as new.

"I hate you, I hate you so much!! You're so stupid!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!"

Terrible anxiety practically flowed through Asa's bloodstream and seeped out her pores. She was terrified, terrified that she might hurt Denji somehow. Such strong terror kept Yoru out of her body. 

"Why?! Why can't you just kill him?!" Yoru howled.

"I don't want to hurt him!!" Asa sobbed. "I can't, I just can't!! He–"

"I don't care what he's been through, I care about whether he's dead or alive, because he's Chainsaw Man–"

"I know! I know! I get it, Denji is Chainsaw Man, Chainsaw Man is Denji. I can't hurt Denji, which means guess what?! I can't hurt Chainsaw Man!!"

"Then I'll do it myself," Yoru snarled. A cold chill ran down Asa's spine. Yoru stomped her foot in a rage. "Stop being scared and let me in!!"

"No!"

"Asa, I swear!"

It was like everything was dialed up to a hundred. Asa was so overwhelmed, she felt like simply shutting down. But not here, Asa needed to go somewhere where she and Denji would be safe, from her.

"Do NOT–Stop!!"

Asa spun around and ran out the room, back home, far away from Denji.

Denji's eyes fluttered open, staring at the dimly lit ceiling. The lights flickered on and off, barely illuminating the area.

What's going on?

Oh. Right. Asa Mitaka and the devil.

...

Was it a dream?

Denji sat up, looking over his tattered clothing, the massive craters on the floor, wall, and ceiling, and the grey gore coating every inch of the room.

Definitely not!

Denji rose to his feet, leaving the room. He jogged up and down the halls, checking each and every room until there were none left on the floor to check, and then he moved onto the next floor, until every nook and cranny of the building had been thoroughly searched. There was no sign of Asa anywhere. 

Denji rubbed his head. He totally died inside the devil, and now he was back. Asa had totally killed it, which meant that she must've revived him and then dipped.

Alright, wait. Denji was a little confused. Didn't Asa want him dead? Or, well, no actually. Yoru wanted him dead. So why didn't Yoru kill him? Or was Asa so terrified that Yoru couldn't take Asa's body and do anything?

Damn it... Even if it put Denji's life in danger, he really wanted to find Asa and thank her for saving him.

Denji walked out of the building, looking up at the sky. It was pitch black out, which meant they must've been inside that devil the whoooole day. And they never got that interview from Asa's mom's friend. They had one day left to write that essay on devils disguising themselves as buildings.

"Once I get home, I gotta shower," Denji muttered to himself. "Then I gotta sleep, and then go to Asa's house so we can finish the essay."

Tomorrow was definitely gonna be a busy day.

Chapter Text

It was not being a busy day, at least in the way Denji wanted it to be.

He knocked on Asa's door, then began banging his fist when that didn't work. 

"Asa! Asaaaaa!!" he called. No response. He wasn't even sure that Asa was even home, since her blinds were all closed. At some point, one of her neighbors must've been fed up because he left his apartment, threatening to beat the shit out of Denji if he didn't leave.

Denji scowled and reluctantly slunk away. Where else could he look?

Asa was not a very social person, so he doubted that she had any friends to visit. So he could avoid apartment complexes or the rare house.

Denji checked in parks, looking for any black hair in pigtails. No such luck.

He checked behind dumpsters, just in case Asa liked to pet the feral greasy unfriendly cats that used to scratch him when he was scrounging for food. Nothing there, but one of the old ugly cats must've recognized him, because it launched itself at him and clawed at his face. There was no Asa, just several cuts just waiting to get infected.

"Ow. Ouch. Yeow. Ouch!! Ow!! Ahh!!"

Denji dabbed at the ugly red slices on his face with rubbing alcohol, vocalizing every time there was even just a slight sting.

"Come on, it can't hurt that much!" Nayuta shouted from the couch.

"Well maybe it does!" Denji yelled back. Nayuta appeared in the doorway, staring at Denji.

"Oh, you look terrible."

"Tell me about it," he grumbled. "Been out all day and I haven't managed to do anything except get yelled at and scratched in the face."

Nayuta's gaze, which hadn't changed physically in the slightest, became scrutinizing. Denji tensed up.

"You're looking for Asa Mitaka, aren't you?"

Denji splashed water on his face, wincing as his entire face stung. "Uh, no? Why would you think that?"

"You suck at lying."

Denji threw the cotton pad into the trash, leaning closer to the mirror to pick out the small cotton fibers that had gotten stuck in his cuts. "Alright, so what if I am? Can't a guy just try and finish his homework assignment?"

"You can do it all on your own, you don't need to look for her. But you're looking for anyways. Why?"

"Um. If she doesn't do it, my grade won't count...? Yeah."

"You're lying again. Something happened yesterday."

"Nuh uh."

Nayuta pointed at the floor, where Denji had thrown the blood soaked shreds of what used to be his clothes. "Alright. Yeah. Sure."

Denji cursed himself under his breath for being too lazy to throw those out the window last night. 

"Alright. Fine, something happened last. But that's none of your business!"

"It's totally my business!"

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh uh!!"

"Yeah huh it's totally my business!!" Nayuta pointed a finger at him. "You just don't wanna tell me cause it means I was right!"

"Right about what?!"

"Right that she was no different than any other dog!" Nayuta stomped her foot. "And I thought that I said you hadda stay away from her! You got too friendly and then she tried to kill you! But you don't wanna tell me that cause then it means I was right!"

"No way! That's not what happened at all!"

"Yeah huh."

"Nuh uh!!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Asa did not try to kill me!" Denji snapped. "We were attacked by a devil and it tried to kill us. She saved me, actually." He turned back to the mirror and inspected his cuts. "I don't get why you don't like her anyway, she's fine."

"I already told you, she smells weird."

"What the hell does she even smell like?"

Nayuta thought for a moment. "A lot of stuff. Dirt, fire, gunpowder, metal, sweat. It's gross."

"Don't call her that."

"Well it's true!" Nayuta huffed, crossing her arms. "She totally smells gross. I don't get why you like her either."

"Because—" Denji's breath caught in his throat as he thought back to his second date with Asa. The way Asa had said she wanted nothing to do with him, only to suddenly turn around and kiss him. 

"She kissed me. And..." Denji looked down at the floor. "It was nice. But now I don't know if it was even her."

"Huh?"

"But even if it wasn't her, I still—I still liked it! It was still nice! Even if it was meant to hurt me, it was still way better than all the other shitty kisses I've had! So whatever! Maybe she smells gross or something, but she still saved my life, and I still got a great kiss from her! So I wanna say thank you!"

Nayuta studied Denji's face. "You're serious?"

"Seriously serious."

Nayuta fell silent, and Denji walked past her to leave the bathroom.

"I can help you. But you need to tell me exactly what happened last night between you and Asa Mitaka."

Denji turned around to look at Nayuta. "When you say help me, what do you mean?"

"I'll find her," Nayuta said. "And I'll make sure you can talk to her without anything dangerous happening."

"Really–"

"But." Nayuta went to sit on the couch, next to one of the dogs. She pointed at Denji. "I'm gonna be there when you talk to her. And if I think the situation is too outta control for you to handle, I'm sending her straight back to square one and erasing all her memories. Got it?"

"Like, before the project?"

"Yeah. And if it's really bad..." Nayuta cocked her head. "I might erase her memories to before she even met you."

"But–"

"No buts!" Nayuta shouted, wagging her finger. "This is for your own good, Denji. You're a crazy danger magnet when it comes to girls. Who knows what could've happened if I hadn't come home when Mitaka kissed you? Nothing good, that's for sure. Besides, I already told you. You don't need anyone but me."

Denji bit his lip. "You promise that you'll let me talk to Asa? Like, even if what I tell you happened yesterday was the worstest terriblest thing ever?"

Nayuta sighed and held out her pinky. "I promise."

Denji smiled and interlocked his pinky with hers. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise. Now tell me! Every detail! I'll know if you're lying."

"Man..." Denji sat down next to her. "Alright, well, Saturday morning I went to her house..."

"...and then I came home. And I've been looking for her, but she's totally avoiding me."

"..."

"..."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Nayuta stared at Denji blankly, not a hint of emotion on her face. Denji squirmed under her scrutinizing stare.

"Nayuta, she doesn't wanna hurt me. Just War does! Asa could've killed me last night, but she didn't. Doesn't that mean she has some kinda control over War?"

"Did she have control over War when War tried to turn your spinal cord into a sword? A one off case of her being so terrified that War couldn't possess her body doesn't mean you'll be safe around her. She's avoiding you for a reason, Denji. Because she's not as delusional as you."

"I know that! But..." Denji frowned. "I know I'm being delusional or whatever, I know War wants to kill me, I know I'd be putting myself in danger by trying to thank Asa. But I just. I don't care."

"You're really seriously willing to risk dying, possibly for good, just to thank a girl for kissing you. And it wasn't even a normal kiss."

"Okay, now you're just exaggerating," Denji snapped. 

"This is dangerous."

"I know! I know! Oh my god!" Denji buried his face in his hands. "But I owe it to Asa. I owe it to her to thank her, and I owe her an apology."

“Why?”

“S’just that when I was going through her memories, I saw some stuff. Guys askin’ her out as a joke, and she was super upset about it. I don’t want her thinking I was just one of those guys, that I asked her out and stood her up cause I thought it was funny. I gotta explain it to her. She deserves that much, at least. This entire thing, none of it was her fault. The only mistake she made was being unfortunate enough to try and turn me into a weapon, and then being unlucky again and having me assigned as her partner.”

Nayuta narrowed her eyes. “Uh huuuh…”

“What?”

“What what?”

“You're looking at me weird.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“And she's just really cute,” Denji blurted out. “Like super duper cute and she's got this little gap in her teeth and she's got nice eyes and when she's thinking about something, she scrunches up her face and when she gets mad her tone gets all mean and it's kinda nice actually and I kinda like it and–"

"Denji. Shut up."

Denji closed his mouth and scratched his head. "Uh, sorry..."

"Oh my god..." Nayuta sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why did I get stuck with a brother who only ever likes girls who want to kill him?"

Denji huffed. "You don't gotta start getting mean."

"It's not mean, it's true. You'd be dead if you didn't have me looking out for you. You're lucky you have such a nice sister who's going to do what you want rather than what's best for you."

Denji perked up. "So, are you gonna help me find Asa and thank her?"

"Give me her address."

Asa had been holed up in her room all day. She laid on her bed, a hand clamped over her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from throwing up.

The anxiety in her body went from mild to paralyzing over a simple knock on the door. Asa stared up at the ceiling, sweat dripping down her temple as she heard a faint "Asa! Asaaaaaa!!" from outside her door.

Asa squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the noise.

Go away! Please!

Eventually, the knocking ceased, and Asa's eyes opened. 

Yoru had not appeared since the night before, no doubt seething over Asa's refusal to kill Denji and her failure to kill Chainsaw Man when he was already half dead. But Asa could just feel her lurking about, waiting for Asa to calm down. To become...reasonable.

Yeah. Not happening. Asa needed to go for a walk or something because this was getting ridiculous.

Putting on a coat, Asa walked out the door and down the street. Her stomach growled. Asa was hungry. She stopped by a convenience store, buying a bottle of soda and some snacks.

"That'll be 300 yen," the cashier said. While Asa fished a few coins out her pocket, the cashier squinted at her.

"Say, what's your name?"

"Hmm?" Asa dropped the coins on the counter. "Who's asking?"

"Well, there was a boy in here earlier looking for a girl that matches your description."

Asa froze. "Uh...he didn't happen to have blonde hair, did he?"

"He did, actually."

Asa groaned. "What the fuck is he doing?" she muttered under her breath. She snatched up the bag filled with her items. "If he comes back, don't tell him I was here, okay?"

"Okay...?"

Asa left the store and fumbled with the cap of her soda, nearly spilling it all over her when she opened it. It began to bubble.

"Shit–!!" Asa brought it to her lips and drank, coughing as it nearly ran down her throat and made her choke. Some of it dripped down her chin, and after only a few moments it was sticky and gross. Asa frowned and wiped at it, getting it on her hand. "Ugh...you've got to be kidding me." She continued to walk drinking the soda and eating her snack. But it quickly became irritating, and Asa found herself back inside her apartment, finishing the last of her snack. Her stomach growled. She was still hungry. 

Asa heated up a quick meal, sitting down at the table to eat.

“So he's been looking for you. Actively seeking you out.”

“...”

“You can't hide forever, Asa.”

Asa picked listlessly at her food, digging her fork at it and using it to break up the rest of the stuff on her plate.

Across the table, Yoru stared at her, looking almost bored.

“It's time that you stop this little temper tantrum of yours and wake up. We have a job to do.”

“ You have a job to do,” Asa muttered. “Leave me out of this.”

“Leave you–oh, oh! Asa, Asa Asa Asa…” Yoru chuckled. The devil slammed her hand on the table, the impact making zero noise. “You are a part of this. You became a part of this when we began sharing our body–”

“It's my body! I never wanted you to take it!”

“Well too bad,” Yoru snapped. “Don't be ungrateful! You wouldn't even be able to argue with me right now if I didn't save you. You died, Asa. You died and you're only here right now because I saved you. So yes, girl,” Yoru sneered. Asa's eye twitched. “You are a part of this, whether you like it or not, because the alternative was never, is never! Being a part of anything ever again. I saved your life Asa, and I can undo that whenever I want. Human society is not suddenly so confusing anymore.”

“Fine then, kill me!”

As soon as the words left Asa's mouth, she regretted it. A cold empty sense of dread settled in her stomach. Yoru appeared behind her, and Asa could feel the eyes boring into the back of her head.

“Is that what you want?”

“No,” Asa whispered. “I–I don't want that.”

The feeling in Asa's left hand disappeared. She could do nothing as she felt Yoru's fingers slowly wrapping around her neck.

“Because I can do that.”

“No. Don't.”

“You are foolish, Asa. Stupid. You could've had your body back by now. But you had to run away instead of finishing the job.”

Asa's hand began to tingle as feeling returned to it. Asa dropped it back on the table, making a fist and digging her fingers into her palm.

“I…I can't. ”

“...This is what I just don't understand about you,” Yoru growled. “You feel for this stupid boy but why?! Before yesterday you could hardly stand him! What was it you said? He was crude? Stupid? Vulgar?”

“...Yes.”

“You’ve hardly known Denji. What on earth could possibly have happened for you to suddenly feel so much–”

“What the hell do you mean what on earth could’ve possibly happened, you were there! We saw everything!”

“I saw that Denji has Chainsaw Man inside him,” Yoru snapped. “I saw that Denji is my enemy, and I want him dead. That means he’s your enemy too.”

“Okay but–”

“But what?! But what, Asa?! What about Denji could possibly have moved you so much that you can’t kill him?”

“I just–”

“You just what–”

“Will you shut up and listen to me?!” Asa cried. Yoru shut her mouth and glared at her. 

“Yeah, Denji is still crude and stupid and vulgar,” Asa said. “But. But…” Asa sagged in her chair. “Before this I saw Denji as just…I dunno. He said something I thought was stupid, he asked me out on a date, then he asked me out on a second date and stood me up. I don’t know what I saw him as, but then I opened that door and I saw him in the corner and he just seemed. Real. He stopped being the stupid Chainsaw Man wannabe loser who asked me out on a date and started being Denji. He has a past and a personality. A–And it was hard to process, y’know? Seeing him go through so much and then finally be forced to do something, because the other alternative was dying . He had to kill his own father, and I saw that and I just. I wondered how he felt.”

“You–”

“I'm not done talking,” Asa growled. Yoru narrowed her eyes. Asa continued.

“Because, like. I also lost a parent, and I was directly responsible for them dying. So I guess. I guess I just want to talk to him. I want to know him. I've been inside his memories and I've been inside his mind but I want to know more!” Asa bit her lips. “I want to know more about Denji. And yeah, maybe that means I want to know more about Chainsaw Man.”

“...” Yoru fell completely silent. When Asa looked up, there was no one there.

Asa sighed and finished her food. God, what was she going to do tomorrow? She'd have to see Denji at school. Could she just not go? That might work for a few days, but she couldn't start consistently missing school. Shit. Shit shit shit. What was she going to do??

She needed to sleep.

Not even bothering to brush her teeth, Asa flopped into bed and promptly passed out.

She woke up to more knocking. The sick feeling in Asa's stomach returned. Denji–

"Is this the Mitaka residence?" a voice from outside her door shouted. It was a different voice, far too deep and smooth to be Denji's. The anxiousness in Asa's chest faded, although there was certainly still a sense of nervousness thrumming in her veins.

Asa got out of bed and walked to the door, looking through the peephole. There was a man outside, wearing a post office uniform. He held a box and clipboard. "Hello? Is there anyone inside?"

"Y-Yes!" Asa said. "This is the Mitaka residence."

"I have a package for an Asa Mitaka. Can you bring her out?"

"This is her."

"Ah! Perfect. I need you to sign."

Asa sighed in relief. This would be quick. She didn't order anything, but perhaps it was a gift? Asa placed her hand on the knob, and she was only thinking about how almost nobody knew where she lived by the time her door was fully open. 

The man moved out of the way, giving the girl standing behind him a clear shot to Asa. She pointed at her.

"You."

Asa blinked. A chain shot from the tip of the girl's finger, straight into Asa's forehead. And then everything went dark.

Chapter Text

Why did Control lose to Chainsaw Man? Despite all her planning, her countless subordinates, her "flawless" moves. Victory was spelt out for her before Denji was even in the picture.

It is because she was stupid. 

Stupid enough to love Chainsaw Man.

Chainsaw Man is not like her, or I. He is not a Horseman. He is not intelligent. 

I will admit, initially I underestimated him. Like Control, I allowed myself to fall victim to his jaws, to be consumed. But unlike Control, I was not reborn. Unlike Control, I have not changed. I will not make the same foolish mistake and fall in love with Chainsaw Man. Mark my words, I will tear him from the chest of that boy and destroy him myself. 

...

If only I wasn't stuck in this foolish mortal body, controlled by a silly stupid girl! Her, and her stupid, foolish, misguided, romantic feelings! For Chainsaw Man's vessel, of all people!

Nayuta watched Asa's body drop like a rock. She crouched down and poked Asa's cheek. Asa did not stir. Of course she didn't. Nayuta had controlled her into thinking she was asleep.

Nayuta sighed and sat down, poking Asa's face over and over as she thought long and hard. She had already promised Denji that she'd let him talk to Asa, but she didn't say when. 

She was going to need more time to think on this.

"Ughh..." Denji stared at his paper, his eyes heavy as a boulder. He hastily added "and Mitaka Asa" next to "a paper by Hayakawa Denji" up in the top corner. Thankfully, he already had enough experience regarding the House Devil, and he'd managed to contact Kobeni not even an hour ago in order to ask for a professional account from the Eternity Devil fiasco.

"E–Eh?? But you were there...why do you need my account?"

"Everyone else is kind of dead and I needed one outside source."

"Oh..." Kobeni adjusted her tie and blew on her soup. "I see. Um. How did you find me?"

The paper was basically done. Denji stuffed it into his backpack and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey, 'yuta, you almost done?" 

"Give me a minute!"

Denji mumbled a confirmation and waited til she opened the door. Foamy toothpaste still lined the corner of her lips. Denji wiped it away.

"I'm so tired."

"Then let's sleep."

Denji and Nayuta got comfortable, Meowy curling up against Nayuta's back.

"Hey, Nayuta, what'd ya do while I was out looking for Kobeni."

"None of your business."

Denji huffed. "Tell me."

"Nah."

"Tell me or I'll tickle you."

"Nuh uh."

Denji growled and dug his fingers into Nayuta's sides. She squealed and giggled, squirming in his grasp.

"Tell me!"

"Okay!! Okayy!!! Stop stop stop!!" Denji relented and Nayuta took a deep breath. "I...took the dogs to the park."

Denji raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really."

Satisfied with her answer, Denji grabbed her again and closed his eyes. "Aight, if you say so. Mm...good night."

Nayuta watched Denji as he fell asleep. It sucked, the way he was so gullible and trusting. Well, only for her, and it didn't really suck. It was great, because Denji wasn't questioning her taking the dogs to the park, even though it had rained earlier.

Nayuta already knew how to deal with Asa and War in the meantime. She could take as long as she want figuring out how to give this all a happy conclusion. Of course, that didn't mean she was going to take forever to figure out what to do. 

"Meow."

Nayuta twisted in Denji's grip, turning around to grab Meowy.

"Humans are so complicated, Meowy," Nayuta said distastefully. "This problem with War Fiend Girl may not be resolved so easily. And the longer it takes, the more anxious Denji is going to get."

"Meow."

"I wish I could simply make her forget everything, like I did last time." Nayuta sighed. "But then Denji will get upset, and I hate seeing him upset." Nayuta scratched under Meowy's chin. "He doesn't think rationally enough. Hell, he hardly thinks at all! It'd be easier for him, and Asa Mitaka, if I just made her forget everything. It would save them both a lot of pain and confusion."

"Meow."

"True, I am feeling tired. Perhaps I should just sleep on it." 

"Meow!"

"Here you go." Denji handed Mr. Nakamura the paper.

"Thank you," the teacher said dismissively. "Mitaka isn't here today."

"No, she's not."

"Do you know why?"

"She..." Denji struggled to come up with an excuse. "Bleeding?"

"Alright. Back to your seat."

Denji returned to his seat. He glanced at Asa's empty seat and frowned. Was she avoiding him still? Even at school? Was she gonna miss every day because of him??

Denji sighed and pulled out his notebook. He really hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't wanna be the reason Asa failed this class and couldn't graduate, that'd suck! Maybe he should go try and find her again?

No, Nayuta had told him she had it all under control. Denji blew a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. He obviously trusted Nayuta, but what exactly did she mean by that?

Denji probably would've been able to solve it. Cause like, the only real reason he was in danger was cause he was incapacitated, y’know? So if he fought Yoru one on one, he probably would've been able to beat her, yeah? Not too bad, obviously, he didn't wanna hurt Asa. But he definitely wouldn't have lost or anything.

"Hayakawa! Pay attention!" came a sharp voice. Denji looked up at the teacher, who was staring at him. "You should be focusing on the board, not Mitaka's empty desk."

"Oohh," said one of the girls in the front. "Looks like the chair can't stop thinking about that bitch!"

A couple other girls in the glass began snickering amongst themselves. Denji grit his teeth.

"Shut up!" he growled. "Don't call her that!"

"Meow." Denji dropped his backpack onto the floor and sighed. He needed to get out of this damn uniform already.

Meowy curled his tail around Denji's leg and rubbed up against him as Denji shucked his jacket off and onto the floor. He kicked his pants off, not even bothering to grab a pair of shorts. He rolled under the covers and came to a stop, face to face with Meowy.

"Meow."

"Yo."

"Meow."

Denji chewed on his lip, worrying the flesh between his teeth till it was red and swollen.

"Can I tell ya somethin', Meowy?" Denji said.

"Meow."

Denji scratched him under the chin. "I kinda miss Asa. I mean, it's sorta weird, cause it wasn't like we were best friends or anything. Are you allowed to miss people you hardly talked to?"

"Meow!"

"It's like. I saw her in the halls a bit, didn't think much. Then Yoshida made me talk to her on the roof and she called me a loser, which felt kinda shitty, but not as shitty as it could've been, cause at least she was a hot girl. Then she asked me out on a date outta no where. And then we went on the date, and she was really boring, but then all of a sudden she was super fun. And then the date was awesome. I walked her home and Yoru tried to kill me, and I didn't even know. And then she came over for my second date and sorta kissed me, cause I dunno if it was her or Yoru. And then Nayuta erased her memories, which sucked. And then next time I saw her was in class when she asked me if I was gonna scam homeless people."

"Meow."

"I went to her house, and we went to the building. So that's like, what, four interactions? And then I did go through her memories, which I guess is like, a fifth one. But my point still stands, I know all this stuff about her, but I hardly even talked to her. So am I allowed to miss her?"

"Meow..."

"Her hair." Denji took the tips of Meowy's ears between his fingertips and played with them. "Her pigtails are pretty cute. I like her eyes, and she's got a lil' gap between her front teeth."

"Meow."

"I like the way she talks. She talks to me like I'm kinda dumb sometimes, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but it's also kinda nice, if that makes sense? And then when she gets all excited, her voice goes high pitched and it's cute. I like how she looks at me."

"Meow!"

Denji propped his head up on his hand and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Y’know when I was in Asa's memories I saw some stuff, a couple of boys asking her out and standing her up. And she ugly cried reaaal hard over it. I don't want her thinking I asked her out that second time as a joke. I gotta apologize. I really did wanna go on another date with her."

"Meow."

"When this is all resolved, I'm gonna ask her out on a date."

"Meow!!!"

Denji chuckled. "Thanks Meowy."

Tuesday, nothing. 

Wednesday, nothing. 

Thursday, Denji walked into class, and there she sat in her seat. His heart skipped a beat, and he made a fist, nearly making himself bleed from how hard his nails dug into his skin. 

Okay, no, now was not the time. Denji sat down, throwing glances Asa's way throughout the entirety of the class. She didn't seem to notice him, odd.

Being the mess that he was, by the time Denji had finished packing up, Asa was already out of the classroom. No matter, Denji could go after her once school was over.

He forced down a huge smile. Finally, he'd be able to speak to Asa and thank her.

"And when you come back tomorrow, we will be having a test on limit," the teacher said. Denji couldn't even bring himself to care. He stuffed everything in his backpack and was out the door before everyone else. He hurried down the stairs, running out to the back alley he knew Asa walked through to get home. 

"Asa, Asa!"

He saw her round the corner, and he ran to her.

"Asa! Asaaa!!" He tackled her, shoving his entire weight onto her and pinning her against the wall.

"H–Huh??" Asa shoved him off her, staring at him with a mixture of confusion and anger. "What the fuck? Who are you?"

Denji's grin faded.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Denji pointed at himself. "I–"

Asa held a hand up to silence him. "Ah ah ah! Listen, I don’t know who you are, and I don't care. I'm really stressed out right now and I'm dealing with a lot of stuff, and I don't need some guy I've never seen before tackling me. Goodbye."

Denji dropped his hand to his side. "Asa, I don't–"

Asa stiffened and adjusted the straps on her backpack. "I need to go. Whoever you are, don't follow me. Or you'll die. Goodbye."

Before Denji could even try to figure out what the fuck was going on with Asa, she was gone.

"What...?"

Nayuta turned the knob and opened the door to the apartment.

"I'm home!!"

She walked in and yelped as Denji scooped her up.

"Hey!!" she giggled. Nayuta turned her head to look at Denji. He was frowning at her.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"Huh?"

"You did something, I know you did! Asa was here today, and I went to say hi to her and she didn't even recognize me!"

"Oh."

"What. Did. You. Do?"

Nayuta struggled, but Denji held tight. Eventually, she groaned and slumped in his arms.

"I did what I had to, alright? She's fine anyways, she's still got all her memories. This is temporary anyways."

Denji let go of Nayuta and she turned to point at him.

"Besides, she totally would've killed you today if she recognized you."

"Recognized me?"

Nayuta shrugged.

"Nayuta, tell me what you did."

She sighed.

"...Fine."

Chapter Text

Asa groaned and rubbed her head, staring at the ceiling.

"Oww," she hissed, touching the tender bump at the back of her head. She pulled her hand away and let it drop into her lap. Her door was closed and a box was left on her mat. Asa looked at it suspiciously.

The last thing she remembered was opening the door for the post office guy. Did he knock her out? What the fuck? Asa looked around quickly, trying to see if there was anything missing. He might've tried to rob her.

Nope, nothing missing, at least in her kitchen. She stood up and checked her bedroom. Nothing gone. Asa snorted, it wasn't like there was anything valuable.

She returned to the box, gently nudging it with her toes. It didn't explode, so Asa grabbed a knife.

Asa cautiously sawed away at the tape, ready to leap away at any moment in case the box contained some kind of trap. With the tape successfully gone, Asa opened the box and looked inside. The scent of fresh paper wafted up. A book...? Multiple books? Or. No.

"What the fuck...?" Asa pulled the colorful contents from out of the box, turning it over. 

Shark Kick! Volume one! When unassuming Californian beach goer and surfer, Mikey McCool is bitten by a shark, he never expected that the blood transfusion he'd recieve would be mixed with shark blood! But instead of dying, he's transformed into Shark Kick! With the athleticism of a human, and the teeth and powerful bite of a shark, there's nothing Mikey can't chomp his way through, including evil baddies!

"What??"

Asa looked back in the box, the entire thing full of volumes one through fourteen. Asa dropped the box and stared at it.

"I didn't fucking order this?! Who sent this to me?!"

In the end, nothing was stolen, and Asa passed off the volumes of Shark Kick to her downstairs manga collector neighbor in exchange for three thousand yen.

Asa returned to her room and flopped back onto the bed, draping a hand over her forehead.

"So tired..." she murmured. "And I've been missing classes....this is so stressful."

She stared at the ceiling. Okay, it'd probably do her some good to really take in what the situation was.

Denji was Chainsaw Man. Yoru hated Chainsaw Man. Yoru knew that Denji was Chainsaw Man. Yoru was going to kill Denji if she could. Asa did not want that. Denji was likely aware that Yoru knew he was Chainsaw Man and also that she wanted to kill him. Denji was hopefully going to avoid her. 

Asa's only saving grace was that it'd been harder for Yoru to take over her body. Likely due to the gnawing anxiety at the pit of Asa's stomach. Every waking moment it felt like there was a rock in Asa's gut, rolling around until she felt sick. It made it all the more difficult for Yoru to take over it.

What if...what if I never figure this out?

Asa rolled onto her side, gripping her pillow tightly in her fist. She chewed on her bottom lip.

What if I'm doomed for the rest of my life? 

What a silly thing to think, Asa was already doomed for the rest of her life, relegated to sharing her body with Yoru. Sure, it felt like it had gotten a little better. Hell, just a few days ago, Asa was thankful to be sharing her body with the devil! How ridiculous. Yoru was a devil. There was nothing to be thankful for. Asa had simply been clouded by loneliness. And now that she and Yoru were back to square one, Asa wanted nothing more than to be alone in her body again.

This ridiculous situation with Denji had simply reminded Asa that not having control over her body at all times was awful.

Asa closed her eyes, her head beginning to pulse in time with her heartbeat. The beginnings of a headache.

"Just...one nap, will be fine."

"This has gotten out of hand," Yoru said. Asa munched on her cereal. 

"You said that already," Asa muttered.

"I am repeating it because it is true. If this keeps up, it will cause trouble for the both of us. You need to go to school."

"Don't wanna." Asa brought the bowl up to her lips and drank the remaining milk. She set it down and licked away the droplets caught above her lip.

"We are going to get in trouble at some point. Surely someone will come to check up on you, no? And then you will have to go to school anyways. Would you not prefer to go on your own accord, rather than be forced?"

"I'm going to be forced either way," Asa said bitterly. Yoru looked displeased. 

"I haven't taken over your body at all," she said. "You don't trust me anymore?"

Asa picked at her nails anxiously. "How can I?"

"I saved your body, Asa. I'm why you're alive. I haven't done anything to you while I'm in control."

Asa swallowed, ignoring the anxious pit in her stomach. "We have different goals, different things we want. Just because you haven't hurt me doesn't mean you won't do anything I want. Or don't want." Asa left out the fact that only a few days ago, Yoru was threatening to kill her. She didn't need to say it anyways. She didn't need to say anything around Yoru. 

"I promise not to take over your body, then," Yoru drawled. "Happy?"

Asa chewed on her lip. Yoru crossed her arms. They both knew Asa didn't trust her, they both knew there was no reason for Yoru to keep her promise. Asa closed her eyes, her head throbbing slightly.

"Thursday."

And on Thursday morning, Asa stood in front of her mirror, gripping the sink counter as she willed down the sick feeling in her stomach.

It wasn't just Denji, although Denji had certainly been the catalyst. Asa couldn't stop thinking about how it didn't feel like she was in control anymore. If she had even been in control at all since Yoru had risen up off the ground. 

Asa splashed cold water in her face, trying to distract herself from the near permanent nauseous state she was now in. On the walk to school, it never felt like Yoru was about to take over. But it didn't make Asa feel any better. By the time she was sat down in her chair, her uniform had a few blood stains, courtesy of the crescent shaped wounds in her palms, caused by her nails digging into the skin. Asa's hand trembled slightly as she picked up her pencil. She felt eyes on the back of her head. Too many people looking at her. Too stressful. 

Asa forced each and every step throughout the day, her entire body stiff, as if she was trying to hold onto it somehow, as if Yoru wouldn't be able to enter if she was tensed up enough. Like she could force Yoru out of her body. 

Before her last period, Asa hunched over a toilet, her body shaking as she was caught between wanting to vomit and wanting to keep it down. Denji next period. Denji in a few minutes. How fun. 

Finally, Asa ended up in class, her lunch still seating uneasy in her stomach. The grip on her messenger bag was hard enough to break bone, probably. She sat down in her chair. She didn't see Denji. 

When walking into class, she had briefly scanned over the classroom. The faces blurred into one another. Asa could hardly name anyone, but that wasn't anything new. There was no need for her to memorize faces. She couldn't name anyone in her class really. Anyone but Denji, and Denji wasn't there. 

The violent tension in her muscles gradually ebbed, and her stomach eventually settled. And by the end of class, Asa almost felt normal.

Asa packed up her stuff, her mind somewhat preoccupied. She almost didn't hear the teacher call her name.

"See me for a moment before you leave," he said. Asa mumbled a confirmation, setting her bag somewhere easy to grab.

"Yes?" she asked. The teacher handed her a copy of her and Denji's paper.

"Very good job well done, Mitaka. Hayakawa turned it in on time, surprisingly. I assume you did most of the work?"

"Err, actually, Denji did most of it," she said, scratching her neck. Hard to do work when your evil body-stealing devil is ruining your life. Her teacher's eyebrows shot up.

"Really? I'm surprised. Well, I suppose it makes sense. You've been sick, no? Hayakawa told me you were, ah, bleeding. My wife's menstural cycle is also incredibly harsh on her. You ought to get that checked out if it's gotten so bad you can't come to school."

Asa stiffened, her eye twitching. Seriously?

"Anyways, that's all I wanted to tell you. You may leave, Miss Mitaka. If you'd like, I can give you the address of my wife's–"

"I'm fine, thank you," Asa said sharply. "Ah, goodbye..." Asa grabbed her backpack and gave her teacher a short wave before running out of the classroom.

"That–!! What the hell?!" Asa yelled to herself. She clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling rather mortified at the conversation she just had. 

"Are you upset? Perhaps it's time we find Chainsaw Man so you can yell at him," Yoru said cooly. Asa shot her a nasty glare, pointing a shaking finger at her chest.

"Do not start with that," Asa snarled. "I was finally starting to feel okay, even after my teacher said that. We are not hunting Denji after school, we are going home."

Yoru scoffed and swatted Asa's hand away, the gesture made futile when her hand simply passed through. "You know–"

"Mememememememeh," Asa mocked, making a mouth with her hand and flapping it open and closed. "You know we could just kill Chainsaw Man and your body would be free. You know you're so dumb, Asa. We just need to kill Chainsaw Man, we just need to defeat Chainsaw Man, why didn't you kill Chainsaw Man? Shut up!!"

Yoru's mouth dropped open, and Asa felt a little satisfied at her shocked expression, before a small pit of dread formed in her stomach.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"You are not sorry."

"I'm not," Asa admitted. Please don't kill me please don't kill me over this please don't—

"The bell is about to ring," Yoru said flatly. Asa glanced at one of the clocks on the wall and cursed under her breath.

"Yeah, let's go." Asa rounded the corner, ignoring the couple that was looking at her funny. 

Asa rumaged through her backpack for any spare yen coins or bills, frowning when her fingers turned up empty.

"I'll just eat at home," she sighed. The frown on her face deepened when she heard loud footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, something heavy barreled into her, pinning her against the wall of the alleyway.

"Asa, Asaaa!!!"

"H–Huh??" she stuttered. She shoved the person off her, looking at him. She squinted, making out a couple of unfamiliar features contorted into a massive grin. Who the fuck?? "What the fuck?? Who the fuck are you??"

The boy who tackled her stopped smiling. She scanned down the list of faces in her classes, not that she really remembered too many, especially not boys. Yeah, she had no clue who this guy was.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" the boy ask, pointed a finger at his chest. Asa tilted her head, did she know him...?

Nah.

"I–"

Asa's hand shot up as she closed her eyes, already mentally writing off whatever words he was gonna say. "Ah ah ah! Listen, I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I'm really stress out right now and I'm dealing with a lot of stuff, and I don't need some guy I've never seen before tackling me, goodbye."

Asa stiffened as she watched Yoru appear next to her, arms crossed and eyes pointed. She was thinking.

"Asa, your scissors are within reach. There's no one around, we could kill this boy and turn him into a weapon."

"Asa, I don't–" the boy said. Asa adjusted her backpack so the pocket with her supplies was just farther out of reach.

"I need to go," she said flatly. "Whoever you are, don't follow me. Or you'll die. Goodbye."

Before the boy could protest, or before Yoru could pull any bullshit, Asa was running away. She stopped once she was sure there was considerable distance between her and that guy.

Yoru sneered as she saw Asa's pinched face. "So we can't kill Chainsaw Man, and we can't make any weapons. It's like you don't want your body back." She reached out for whatever reason, and Asa recoiled.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed. There was an old woman a few feet away from her that paused to stare at Asa. Asa's cheeks went red as she began to speak.

"Sorry I um. Have a neurological disorder."

The woman stared for a few moments before beginning to walk the other way. Asa buried her face in her hands.

"Shit..."

"I just made it so she can't recognize you," Nayuta said, running her fingers through Meowy's fur. Denji raised an eyebrow.

"She like, knows what you look like and stuff," Nayuta clarified. "But if she looks at you, she doesn't recognize you. You just look like a totally different person."

"So how long does this last."

"It lasts for as long as I want it to." Nayuta crossed her arms. "And I'll undo it when you can be sure that War isn't gonna try and kill you in your sleep."

"Nayuta–"

"What? You live, she lives, we all live and we don't have our memories erased. I am looking out for you," Nayuta said. "And I'm looking out for Asa Mitaka too, since you like her so much. You," Nayuta said, poking Denji in the chest, "have no sense of self preservation. Just because you're Chainsaw Man doesn't mean you're invincible. You need to use your brain." She rapped her knuckles on Denji's head. "I know you have one, you just need to use it more. Come up with a solution that'll keep both you and Asa Mitaka safe. I, quite frankly, don't care if she's happy or not with whatever outcome happens. And while I care about your happiness, I care more about your safety. If both of you are unhappy, then so be it, as long as neither of you are dead."

"Wow, thanks," Denji muttered. He closed his eyes, smacking his brain to try and force it to create a solution

"I'm hungry," Nayuta said loudly. Denji opened his eyes, still hitting his head.

"Whatcha hungry for?"

"Pork tonkatsu!! With ice cream!!"

"I'll get ya some," Denji muttered. "Did ya finish your homework?"

"No," Nayuta said, "but it's so boring! Can you help me. Please." The tone of her voice made it a demand instead of a question. Denji chuckled.

"Sure, I'll help ya. After we eat."

"Yay!!" Nayuta cheered. She turned her attention back to Meowy as Denji began to busy himself in the kitchen.

This whole thing with Asa...there had to be a solution somewhere. Even if it meant days upon days of heachaches, he just had to think of one.