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Chapter 37: Aki Hayakawa and Himeno

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Aki Hayakawa and Himeno

Today was already Friday.

Because of yesterday’s Jealousy Devil incident, school had been canceled for the day. Including Saturday and Sunday, that meant there would be three days off.

Tokyo Public Safety was sending someone today to inspect the Jealousy Devil’s corpse, so school being canceled was actually convenient for Kotone Asaba.

A little before noon, someone knocked on the door.

Figuring it was probably someone from Tokyo Public Safety, Kotone Asaba went to open it.

In the end, the people who had come were actually two familiar faces. One was Aki Hayakawa, and the other was a young woman wearing an eyepatch over her right eye.

Kotone Asaba recognized the eyepatch-wearing woman at a glance. It was Himeno.

Though he was the only one who knew her. She did not know him.

He was a little surprised, but it also made sense, because in the original story, Aki Hayakawa’s first partner after joining Tokyo Public Safety was Himeno. In other words, in this timeline, Himeno was also in Devil Extermination Division 2.

"Long time no see, Hayakawa."

"It’s only been a few days."

Aki Hayakawa’s expression and tone were as cold as ever.

"I’m Himeno from Tokyo Public Safety’s Devil Extermination Division 2. We’ll be in your care from here."

Himeno showed her Public Safety ID and immediately got down to business.

"Let’s find a suitable place first," Kotone Asaba said.

He had no intention of transferring the Jealousy Devil’s corpse from the Kamui dimension into his home. If that bloody flesh dirtied the house, he would have to go through the trouble of cleaning it.

He also did not want Aki Hayakawa and Himeno to enter his Kamui dimension. After all, the Zombie Devil’s corpse was still inside, so he definitely could not let outsiders see it casually.

"Then follow me," Himeno said.

"Pochita, I’m going out for a bit," Kotone Asaba told Pochita.

"Woof."

Pochita answered.

"Is that the devil you’re keeping as a pet? I heard about him from Hayakawa."

Pochita was sitting on the couch, blocked from Himeno’s view by the couch itself. From her angle, she could not see Pochita, but she knew his name, so she asked Kotone Asaba with some curiosity.

"Yeah, though I think ’partner’ is a better way to describe him."

Kotone Asaba corrected her.

Although Pochita’s current appearance did make him look like a pet, Kotone knew very well that once Pochita returned to his Black Chainsaw form, the word "pet" would have absolutely nothing to do with him.

He also noticed a detail. Himeno called Aki Hayakawa "Hayakawa," not "Aki" the way she did in the original story. It seemed that since they had only just started working together a few days ago, Aki Hayakawa and Himeno’s relationship was still not that close.

Afterward, Kotone Asaba followed Aki Hayakawa and Himeno outside. There were two vehicles parked outside. One looked like a sedan driven by Aki Hayakawa and Himeno themselves, while the other was a truck, probably meant to transport the Jealousy Devil’s corpse.

"Let’s do it in the back of the truck. Passersby won’t be able to see inside, so it won’t cause a panic."

Himeno gestured for Kotone Asaba to release the Jealousy Devil’s corpse inside the truck’s cargo area.

Kotone Asaba nodded slightly, then transferred the Jealousy Devil’s corpse from the Kamui dimension into the truck.

When they saw the swirling distortion of space and the Jealousy Devil’s corpse suddenly appear, neither Aki Hayakawa nor Himeno looked particularly surprised.

Aki Hayakawa already knew that Kotone Asaba had this ability, while Himeno had also learned about Kotone Asaba’s abilities from Aki Hayakawa.

In truth, Tokyo Public Safety was already investigating Kotone Asaba’s abilities. After all, he had killed both the Jealousy Devil and the Carp Devil that had eaten a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh. His strength was astonishing, and he was still young, so he was bound to attract attention from many sides.

"This is indeed the Jealousy Devil’s corpse. You’re still a high school student, but you’re already this strong, Kotone. You’re stronger than most of our Public Safety Devil Hunters."

Himeno rubbed her chin as she looked at the Jealousy Devil’s corpse. After confirming it, she could not help but praise Kotone Asaba.

The ones previously responsible for hunting the Jealousy Devil had been a pair of partners from Devil Extermination Division 3. Even within Tokyo Public Safety, they could be considered mid-level Devil Hunters, but even the two of them working together had failed to kill the Jealousy Devil.

Yet this high school student had killed the Jealousy Devil alone. Looking across all of Tokyo Public Safety, his strength was greater than most people’s.

Not long ago, there had been news that Kotone Asaba had successfully hunted a devil that had eaten a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh, but at the time, Himeno thought the media had exaggerated things a bit. She felt that a team of four working together did not prove that any one of them was especially strong.

Now, however, she understood Kotone Asaba’s strength.

"You’re giving me too much credit," Kotone Asaba said modestly.

After the truck’s cargo area was closed up, Aki Hayakawa and Himeno also prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Himeno said something to Kotone Asaba.

"Seriously, when are you coming to Tokyo Public Safety? Hayakawa seems to only have one friend, and that’s you. This guy walks around like he’s half-dead every day. If you came, he might get a little better."

Aki Hayakawa immediately replied expressionlessly, "You’re the same."

"Nothing I can do about that. My previous partner was killed by a devil. Am I supposed to be cheerful after that?"

Himeno said.

"I’ll join Tokyo Public Safety when the time comes," Kotone Asaba replied.

He was not sure exactly when that would be. In any case, once the timing was right, he would go.

"Then it’s a promise."

As she spoke, Himeno took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, pulled one out, and offered it to Kotone Asaba. "Have one. Once we’re done smoking, we can part ways."

Looking at the cigarette Himeno was offering him, Kotone Asaba was just about to say that he did not smoke when Aki Hayakawa spoke to Himeno first.

"He’s still a high school student. How can you ask him to smoke?"

"What does that matter? We’re all Devil Hunters anyway. Who knows which day we’ll die? Enjoying life while you can is what matters most."

Himeno laughed, not taking it seriously at all.

"Sorry, I don’t know how to smoke."

Only then did Kotone Asaba get the chance to speak.

"All right..."

Since she was not that familiar with Kotone Asaba yet, Himeno did not insist on making him smoke. Instead, she turned to Aki Hayakawa and said, "Then Hayakawa isn’t a high school student, so he can have one, right?"

"No. Smoking rots your bones."

Aki Hayakawa also refused decisively.

Kotone Asaba smiled at that. It would not be long before Aki Hayakawa changed his mind completely.

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