Aki Hayakawa and Himeno

It was already Friday.

Because of yesterday's incident with the Jealousy Devil, school had canceled classes for the day. Together with Saturday and Sunday, that meant a three-day break.

Tokyo Public Safety would be sending people to examine the Jealousy Devil's corpse today, so the cancellation worked out perfectly for Asaba Kotone.

Just before noon, someone knocked on the door.

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

To his surprise, he found two familiar faces: Aki Hayakawa and a young woman wearing an eyepatch over her right eye.

Asaba Kotone recognized the woman with the eyepatch as Himeno at a glance.

Of course, he was the only one who knew her. She didn't know him.

He was a little surprised, but it made sense. In the original story, Himeno had been Aki Hayakawa's first partner when he joined Tokyo Public Safety. That meant she was also in Special Division 2 at this point in the timeline.

"Long time no see, Hayakawa."

Asaba Kotone gave no sign that he recognized Himeno and simply greeted Aki Hayakawa.

"It's only been a few days."

Aki Hayakawa's expression and tone were as cool as ever.

"I'm Himeno from Tokyo Public Safety's Special Division 2. Sorry for the trouble."

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

"Let's find a suitable place first."

Asaba Kotone spoke.

He didn't want to transfer the Jealousy Devil's corpse from the Kamui Dimension into his house. If all that blood and flesh dirtied the place, he would have to go to the trouble of cleaning it up.

Nor did he want to let Aki Hayakawa and Himeno enter his Kamui Dimension. The Zombie Devil's corpse was still stored there, after all, and he certainly couldn't let outsiders see it casually.

"Then follow me."

Himeno spoke.

"Pochita, I'm heading out for a bit."

Asaba Kotone called out to Pochita.

"Woof!"

Pochita answered.

"Is that the devil you keep as a pet? Hayakawa told me about him."

Pochita was sitting on the sofa, hidden behind its back, so Himeno couldn't see him from where she stood. But she knew his name and asked Asaba Kotone about him curiously.

"Yes, though I think 'companion' is a better word."

Asaba Kotone corrected her.

Although Pochita certainly looked like a pet in his current form, he knew perfectly well that once Pochita returned to his Black Chainsaw form, the word "pet" wouldn't fit him at all.

He also noticed one small detail: Himeno called Aki Hayakawa "Hayakawa," rather than calling him "Aki" all the time as she did in the original story. Apparently, since they had only started working together a few days ago, the two weren't close yet.

Then Asaba Kotone followed Aki Hayakawa and Himeno outside, where two vehicles were parked. One was a sedan that looked like the one Aki Hayakawa and Himeno had driven over, while the other was a truck, presumably meant to carry the Jealousy Devil's corpse.

"Let's use the truck's cargo compartment. Passersby won't be able to see inside, so it won't cause a panic."

Himeno motioned for Asaba Kotone to bring out the Jealousy Devil's corpse inside the truck.

Asaba Kotone nodded slightly, then transferred the Jealousy Devil's corpse from the Kamui Dimension into the truck's cargo compartment.

Neither Aki Hayakawa nor Himeno looked particularly surprised at the vortex of distorted space or the Jealousy Devil's corpse that suddenly appeared.

Aki Hayakawa already knew Asaba Kotone had this ability, and Himeno had learned about it from him as well.

In fact, Tokyo Public Safety had already begun investigating Asaba Kotone's abilities. After all, he had killed both the Jealousy Devil and the Carp Devil, which had eaten a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh. Someone so powerful and so young was bound to attract attention from multiple quarters.

"This really is the Jealousy Devil's corpse. You're still in high school, Asaba, and you're already this strong. You're stronger than most of our Devil Hunters in Public Safety."

Himeno rubbed her chin as she examined the Jealousy Devil's corpse. Once she confirmed its identity, she couldn't help praising Asaba Kotone.

The pair previously assigned to hunt the Jealousy Devil had belonged to Special Division 3. They were considered mid-level Devil Hunters even within Tokyo Public Safety, yet they had failed to kill the Jealousy Devil despite working together.

This high school student, on the other hand, had killed the Jealousy Devil all by himself. His strength put him above most people in all of Tokyo Public Safety.

There had been reports not long ago that Asaba Kotone had successfully hunted a devil that had eaten a piece of the Gun Devil's flesh, but Himeno had thought the media was exaggerating. In her view, a team of four working together didn't prove how strong any one member was.

Now, however, she understood just how strong Asaba Kotone was.

"You're too kind."

Asaba Kotone replied modestly.

Once the truck's cargo compartment had been secured, Aki Hayakawa and Himeno prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Himeno had something else to say to Asaba Kotone.

"Seriously, when are you going to join us at Tokyo Public Safety? You seem to be Hayakawa's only friend. This guy's so gloomy every day. Maybe he'd perk up a little if you came."

Aki Hayakawa immediately replied, his face expressionless, "Aren't you the same?"

"Well, what can I do? My last partner was killed by a devil. Am I supposed to be happy about that?"

Himeno spoke.

"I'll join Tokyo Public Safety when the time comes."

Asaba Kotone answered.

He wasn't sure exactly when that would be, but he would go once the time was right.

"Then it's a promise."

As she spoke, Himeno took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, pulled one out, and offered it to Asaba Kotone. "Have one. We can say our goodbyes once we're done smoking."

Looking at the cigarette Himeno held out to him, Asaba Kotone was just about to say that he didn't smoke when Aki Hayakawa spoke first. "He's still in high school. How can you ask him to smoke?"

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

Himeno laughed, not taking it seriously at all.

"Sorry, I don't smoke."

Only then did Asaba Kotone get a chance to speak.

"All right..."

Since she barely knew Asaba Kotone, Himeno didn't insist. Instead, she turned to Aki Hayakawa. "Well, you're not a high school student, Hayakawa. You can have one, right?"

"No. Smoking rots your bones."

Aki Hayakawa refused just as firmly.

Asaba Kotone smiled at that. It wouldn't be long before Aki Hayakawa changed his tune.