The amusement park

Himeno smoked as she made a call to Tokyo Public Safety.

After the call, she came over to Asaba Kotone and said, "Public Safety has transferred the two million yen to your account. Want us to come with you to check?"

"No need to go to all that trouble."

Asaba Kotone shook his head slightly.

His phone had vibrated a moment ago. Even without looking, he knew it was a text notifying him that the money had arrived.

Besides, he knew what sort of people Aki Hayakawa and Himeno were. Even if he didn't trust Tokyo Public Safety, he could still trust those two.

"All right. By the way, could you let me in on a little secret? What devil are you actually contracted with?"

With business out of the way, Himeno couldn't contain her curiosity. "I've heard about all those abilities of yours. They're a bit like those of the devil I'm contracted with, but yours seem much stronger."

"Sorry, I'd rather not say."

Asaba Kotone had no way to answer that.

He didn't have any devil powers in the first place. His contract with Pochita wasn't about power, either; it simply meant Pochita would stay with him. Even if he wanted to answer, he wouldn't know how.

"Okay, then we'll get going. Bye~"

Since he wasn't comfortable answering, Himeno didn't press him.

Leaving aside the fact that Asaba Kotone had no devil powers, even if he insisted on making something up, he wouldn't know which devil to invent. He had so many abilities, after all.

Beyond the abilities he had already used, he still had two major trump cards he hadn't revealed: Susanoo and Genjutsu.

There was no need to use either Susanoo or Genjutsu yet. Besides, he was surely being watched by plenty of people now. Revealing his trump cards ahead of time would do him no good.

He intended to save those trump cards for troublesome opponents, such as Makima, Master, Cosmo, the Cosmos Fiend, and so on. Not that they could threaten his life-with Kamui, his defense could be called absolute.

But he still had things he needed to do, and those troublesome individuals might get in his way.

As for why he hadn't mentioned his copying ability, strictly speaking, it wasn't really copying. It worked by relying on the Sharingan's perceptiveness to capture and memorize an opponent's Taijutsu movements or ninjutsu hand seals. He could then imitate the movements he had memorized, making it look as though he had "copied" them.

The Sharingan itself had no copying ability. Whether it could achieve that effect depended on its wielder.

For example, without sage power, even someone who saw an opponent using Senjutsu through the Sharingan couldn't "copy" it. The key was whether they met the necessary requirements themselves.

Asaba Kotone couldn't achieve that "copying" effect against devils, either. Humans gained devil powers by signing contracts with devils. Take Aki Hayakawa: using the Fox Devil's power was as simple as making a single gesture. But could Asaba Kotone summon the Fox Devil's head by making that same gesture? Of course not.

Unless he also signed a contract with the Fox Devil. That was the only way to obtain the Fox Devil's power.

Still, the Sharingan's perceptiveness could shine in his hands, allowing him to anticipate enemy movements and granting him an astonishing capacity to learn.

Aki Hayakawa and Himeno were already on their way back to Tokyo Public Safety.

"Shouldn't you learn to smoke, if only to get along with people?"

Himeno was driving, and she still wanted to teach Aki Hayakawa to smoke.

"I have no intention of sucking up to anyone."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Aki Hayakawa looked out the window, his tone cold.

"Then let me guess why you joined Public Safety. To kill the Gun Devil, right?"

Himeno had seen right through him, and surprise immediately showed on Aki Hayakawa's face.

"Everyone who joins Public Safety with that gloomy look is the same. Only Public Safety is allowed to possess pieces of that gun bastard's flesh, after all. Devil Hunters don't live long anyway, so smoking doesn't really matter."

"I'm not going to die that easily."

"Then please don't. Having my partner die would be a real pain..."

Asaba Kotone wasn't going to sit idle during his three days off. He planned to take Pochita out to eat, drink, and have fun. Not only would that build affection, it would also keep things from getting too boring.

Places like amusement parks, arcades, burger joints, and so on.

Today, Asaba Kotone took Pochita to an amusement park first.

But just as he was buying a ticket at the entrance, Kobeni Higashiyama and Rika Matsumoto walked straight in through the passage beside him.

That passage was for people who already had tickets, which meant Kobeni Higashiyama and Rika Matsumoto had obtained theirs some other way.

Asaba Kotone was quite surprised to run into Kobeni Higashiyama and Rika Matsumoto at the amusement park. Japan really was small.

Just then, Rika Matsumoto, who was walking ahead, turned back to speak to Kobeni Higashiyama and happened to spot Asaba Kotone waiting to buy a ticket.

"Huh? Asaba?"

Rika Matsumoto was astonished.

"What?! Asaba's here too?"

Hearing Rika Matsumoto's surprised exclamation, Kobeni Higashiyama immediately reacted just as strongly.

"Look~ over there."

Rika Matsumoto pointed toward Asaba Kotone.

Kobeni Higashiyama followed her gaze and spotted Asaba. When she saw him wave to her, she immediately waved back.

A little later, Asaba Kotone finished buying his ticket. Kobeni Higashiyama and Rika Matsumoto were still standing there, apparently waiting for him.

Since Asaba Kotone had already gained some local fame in Chiba Prefecture, many people knew what he looked like. They also knew that a harmless devil followed him everywhere. That devil was cute, too; only the chainsaw on its head was a little frightening.

Thus, his appearance at the amusement park with Pochita in his arms didn't cause any panic.

Everyone knew this little orange devil wouldn't hurt anyone. At most, they simply didn't dare approach.

"What a coincidence, Asaba."

Rika Matsumoto looked pleased.

"It really is."

Asaba Kotone sounded equally amazed.

Suddenly, Rika Matsumoto's expression changed, as though she had just remembered something. "Oh! I just remembered there's something urgent at home. Sorry, but I have to head back. I'll leave little Kobeni with you, Asaba!"

Without giving Asaba Kotone a chance to accept or refuse, Rika Matsumoto slipped away as soon as she finished speaking.

"..."

Asaba Kotone froze briefly, but soon understood what Rika Matsumoto was up to.

"Huh...? Wh-what?!"

Kobeni Higashiyama was utterly bewildered.

Did Matsumoto just leave? Doesn't that mean it's just Asaba and me now?!

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