Getting Denji Settled

Asaba Kotone woke up early and went out to buy breakfast to bring home.

After he and Pochita finished eating, he left a portion on the table for Denji when he woke up.

The Zombie Devil's corpse was still in Asaba Kotone's Kamui Dimension, but he was in no hurry to sell it on the black market.

Once he sold the Zombie Devil's corpse on the black market, it would expose the fact that he had killed the Zombie Devil and those zombified Yakuza bigwigs.

Although what he had done was perfectly legal, the Yakuza didn't care about the law. Once the other Yakuza learned he was responsible, they would definitely retaliate.

Just like in the original story, even though that old bastard Hamano had already become a zombie, his grandson, Hamano Daiki, still believed there might have been a way to save him. He resented Denji for killing his grandfather and wanted revenge.

Asaba Kotone wasn't afraid of the Yakuza's retaliation, but he didn't want Denji to become a target too. He therefore had no intention of revealing the Zombie Devil's corpse. It wasn't as if he was short on money anyway.

That way, the Yakuza wouldn't discover he was responsible. In the original story, the reason Hamano Daiki, the Katana hybrid, had learned that Denji killed his grandfather was that Makima had orchestrated the whole thing.

When the time was right, he would wipe out the entire Yakuza operation of the Hamano Family and eliminate any future trouble.

Denji had gone to bed very late the night before, and it was his first time sleeping so comfortably, so he didn't get up until ten in the morning.

Denji washed up and changed before coming out of his room.

"Good morning, Kotone."

"Morning! Your breakfast's right here. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold."

Denji sat down and ate his breakfast. Even now, he still felt as though he were living in a dream.

"By the way, Denji, do you want to go to school?"

Asaba Kotone suddenly asked.

"School...? I've never even thought about that. I didn't even go to elementary school..."

Denji gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"At your age, you should be starting middle school. I can send you if you want."

Asaba Kotone said, "You might meet a girl you like in middle school, or one who likes you. You can make friends with your classmates too."

"Girls..."

Denji was just at the age when he was starting to take an interest in romance, so he was immediately tempted. "I do! I want to go to school!"

[Denji's affection +5%]

Sure enough, his affection had risen again.

But Asaba Kotone wasn't doing this just for the affection. He also wanted to get Denji settled.

He couldn't stay by Denji's side forever or take him along everywhere. Even setting aside the Yakuza's impending retaliation, he would be dealing with increasingly dangerous people and devils in the future.

So he wanted to get Denji settled. Letting him receive his compulsory education, make friends at school, and meet a girl he liked would be a pretty good arrangement. After all, that was exactly what Denji dreamed of.

After Denji finished breakfast, Asaba Kotone took him to a nearby middle school.

Japan had nine years of compulsory education covering elementary and middle school. Since it was compulsory, public middle schools admitted students without entrance exams, so it didn't matter that Denji had never attended elementary school.

However, the school term had already been underway for a while, so Asaba Kotone was prepared to spend some money and pull a few strings.

When he arrived at the school gate with Denji, morning classes had just ended, and the gate was open.

The security guard clearly wasn't going to let him walk straight in, though. Not only were his eyes unusual, but he also had a devil like Pochita with him.

The students heading home all gave them a wide berth. Still, some students who weren't quite so afraid of devils thought Pochita was adorable. After all, Pochita normally looked just like a harmless pet.

The guard had just moved to stop them and was about to speak when Asaba Kotone produced his identification.

The guard froze for a moment. "...You're a Devil Hunter?"

He checked it carefully and confirmed that it was indeed identification issued by the Civilian Devil Hunter Guild. His attitude immediately became much more respectful.

"This is my companion. Can Pochita come in with us?"

Asaba Kotone was, of course, referring to Pochita.

"Well... yes, but..."

The guard looked a little troubled.

Although this orange dog was presumably the devil the young man had contracted with, and there should normally be nothing to worry about, he still feared the possibility of someone getting hurt. A devil was a devil, after all.

"If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility."

Asaba Kotone supplied the words the guard wanted to say but felt awkward bringing up.

"Then there's no problem."

The guard immediately let them through.

The nearby students had also heard what the guard said. Upon learning that the young man in the pure white coat was a Devil Hunter, they all looked at him with admiration.

"Did you hear that? I think that guy's a Devil Hunter!"

"He really is. He doesn't look much older than us, but he's already a Devil Hunter certified by the Civilian Devil Hunter Guild. I wonder when I'll be that amazing..."

"His eyes look so cool, though. Do you think he got them by making a contract with a devil?"

"..."

These middle school students admired Devil Hunters as heroes. After all, Devil Hunters were the heroes who protected them from devils.

Quite a few of these students wanted to become Devil Hunters themselves. Some wanted revenge because devils had killed their families, while others simply dreamed of becoming one.

Once inside the school, Asaba Kotone headed straight to the principal's office.

He had expected things to be troublesome, but as soon as the principal learned he was a Private Devil Hunter, the principal politely agreed to enroll Denji on the spot.

After asking, he learned that the principal held Devil Hunters in great esteem and would relax the requirements as much as possible whenever one brought a child to the school.

That saved Asaba Kotone a good deal of trouble.

Afterward, he took Denji out for lunch.

During lunch, he explained things to Denji. "I have other things to do next, so I won't be staying here all the time. Take this phone and this money. You can call me whenever you need anything."

Asaba Kotone had already prepared two phones. Of course, phones in this era were only the kind used to make calls. He had saved his number in the one he had prepared for Denji.

"Okay..."

Although Denji was very reluctant to part with him, he was even more reluctant to cause Kotone any trouble, so he said nothing more.

Before leaving Denji, Asaba Kotone marked him with a set of "coordinates."

Kamui allowed spatial teleportation. Even if he were in Chiba Prefecture, for example, he could teleport straight to Denji through the Kamui Dimension.