[1st POV]
What am I doing?
I asked myself when she told me to clean up in the hospital before coming back to her.
What am I doing?
I asked myself as I got into the car alongside Makima after she told me to follow.
What am I doing?
I continued to ask myself throughout the whole car ride.
Seriously, what am I doing?
I asked myself when we reached our destination.
"This is the Public Safety Commission headquarters," she said, like a grand reveal, while showing me the building in front of us.
"Cool," was my only response. I was not giving her anything to be happy about. And yet she smiled and gestured to follow.
I did, I followed her inside.
The headquarters looked like your average office building. There were a lot of workers, probably in the hundreds, who were working inside the building. Each floor was separated into sections.
The detective sector, the scouting sector, the cleanup sector, the main office, the devil hunters and so on. It was a living and breathing organisation comparable to the police or the fire department.
The interior was plain and, quite frankly, old fashioned. But perhaps that was because I was from the future and this world was still stuck in the 1990s. There were many papers as well, a despairing pile on each table, even though they had computers.
Japanese really loved their paperwork.
"The Public Safety Commission is a direct organisation under the Japanese government. There are probably thousands of devil hunters all over Tokyo, and we have at least half of them under our forces. The pay is good with good health care and paid days off, so if you want to become a Devil Hunter, the Public Safety Commission is the best choice," Makima explained as we made our way to her office.
"How many workers die each month?" I asked, and she briefly glanced back at me.
"That is a number I do not have at the top of my head. The Devil Hunting profession is a dangerous job like all forces, but the family of any dead employee is compensated generously," she said.
Maybe I was too incredulous of the whole thing. The anime never covered how and why Makima was this evil red flag woman. I only knew it as a spoiler, but apparently, she was the Control Devil.
Plus, my past life was already a murky memory as it is. It's a wonder how I still remembered the details of a show I watched in the first place.
"Here we are," Makima said as she led me to her office. It was a rather gloomy room with a dark theme, and much of the room was covered in shelves.
She took a seat at her table. There were also windows right behind her, the only source of light at the moment, so they shone on her features quite nicely. I'll admit, she was attractive.
After she sat down, she quietly opened the file already lying on her table. I caught a glimpse of it and saw a picture of the younger version of me. It was the same image I saw in the file I was given in the hospital.
Pink hair, a youthful face, and that was about it.
She took a few minutes to read the complete file. In the meantime, I was just standing there. But I did not mind that; it gave me ample time to gather my thoughts.
"So Jin…" she began after closing the file, "Can I call you that?"
"You can call me whatever," I said with a shrug. That was my new name in this world, the name I had in my past life didn't really matter.
"Okay, Jin. Do you know what you are?" she asked.
I nodded, "I was told I am a hybrid devil. The Pig devil to be exact."
Again, I cringed at that. Why out of all the devils do I have to be the pig devil? That was the most unflattering devil ever.
"Well, yes. But it seems the squad that was dispatched to respond to you did not mention how special you are," she said.
"Hybrid devils are a fusion between man and devil. People like you are rare and could be counted on your fingers, how many of you exist in the whole world," she said, "The way I see it, you have two choices."
"One, you either work for the Public Safety Commission as a Devil Hunter, or two, you will be put down as a devil," she said.
There was silence.
Now that was not really a choice, was it? Living or dying was not a choice you could give to someone. The answer was obvious.
"What if I want to restart my life and live normally?" I asked.
"That can never happen," she said with a shake of her head, "You are too dangerous. Or more specifically, you are too special for the higher ups to let go. Especially after you've shown yourself to be strong and capable enough to take down the Scalpel Devil by yourself."
"But don't worry, if you decide to become a Devil Hunter, you will be under my supervision. The fourth division, to be exact," she said with a kind smile.
That's what I feared.
But maybe this was not a bad thing. If Chainsaw Man had not appeared yet, it meant I would have ample time to prepare. And when he did, and the canon started, I would at least have my future knowledge of events to help me at the start.
I was sure this woman wouldn't just leave me alone, even if I was not working under her. So it's better to pretend that she had me under control.
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer, right?
"So, what will it be?" she asked, her smile still hanging there.
"Just kill me."
She paused, and then blinked in surprise. She straightened her posture and pushed herself back on the chair. "Really?"
"Of course not. I will work for the Public Safety Commission," I said in the end. I just wanted to see her react, see if she could read my mind. It seemed she can't read minds, at least, thank god.
"A wise choice," she said.
I scoffed.
"You can come in now, Aki," she said, looking past me and towards the door. I turned to look too, and when the door opened, I saw a young man with an ugly man bun coming inside.
"This is your senior Devil Hunter, Aki Hayakawa. And Aki, this is a new member of our division, Jin Nakahara," she did the introduction.
"Nice to make your acquaintance," Aki said with a small bow.
"Same goes for me," I said without bowing. I got a feeling he didn't like me from that instance.
Makima simply smiled once more, "Aki, it's getting late, so can you let Jin live with you for the time being?"
Aki looked hesitant, but in the end, he gave a nod, "That wouldn't be a problem."
"Great, then I will leave him in your hands. You can go," she said, and after Aki gave another bow, he left.
"You come with me," he said firmly when he opened the door.
I was already dreading the future. But hey, at least I was living. Beggars can't be choosers.
…
…
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[3rd POV]
(The Cabinet Office)
That very same day, Makima went to the Cabinet Office to report on the incident as requested. The appearance of the Scalpel Devil could not be ignored as that was one of the more dangerous devils, especially since it appeared in the Tokyo Hospital of all places.
The issue regarding the hybrid must also be addressed. Hybrids were rare and few, so the higher ups wanted to hear everything they could about them.
The Cabinet Committee on Devil Control and the Public Security Bureau Chiefs were the people in the hearing.
"So you've decided on your own to add this new hybrid under your division, without giving any information prior to the higher ups," one of the officers asked Makima, who was standing in front of them.
"I suppose I did," she answered with a stoic face.
"May I ask why?"
"The issue was urgent and demanded action on the spot. I find no reason to delay the decision we would eventually all come to in the end," she said, causing a murmur between the higher ups instantly.
"Explain yourself," one of the chiefs asked.
Makima almost released a bored sigh, but she gave her answer, "To be completely honest, I couldn't risk letting him get away. Jin is special and unique in a way that I've never seen in any other human or devil. He is even more special than you know."
"There are fewer than ten hybrids in the whole world. I think we all know how special this case is," one of the chiefs said.
"But you don't," Makima said, staring them dead in the eye. She only had two eyes, but in that moment, it felt like she was staring at every one of them.
"The Pig Devil is weak among devils. We've even killed it multiple times before and have data on its abilities, like its poison blood. But Jin was able to show a unique ability we've never seen before," Makima explained.
"Although the traditional pig is not fearsome by any means due to the overuse of them as livestock, they have a very interesting reputation in different mythologies and religions."
"Most mythologies believe the pig to be a cursed animal, a vessel for evil spirits, demons and sins mainly associated with greed and gluttony. Some believe they are animals of corruption and cursed rebirth. Some myths mention Demon Lords being sealed into the body of a pig. And in the book of the biggest religion in the world, that is Christianity, it is written that Christ banished a demon legion inside a herd of pigs," she said.
"And in his battle against the Scalpel Devil, the Pig hybrid grew stronger as he ate the devil's flesh. In a battle where he was outclassed in the beginning, he was able to overpower that same devil in the breath of minutes. By the end of the battle, the hybrid was showing an interesting transformation in his body, specifically his fur, which was gaining razor edges," she said.
And paused.
There was silence.
"It was as if he were absorbing the powers and abilities of the devil. Or perhaps he was absorbing the Scalpel Devil entirely."
The whole room was quiet, and it took a full minute before someone on the committee spoke again.
"If what you said is true, then we will hand him over to you to keep on a tight leash," the chief said.
Makima finally showed a smile.
"Yes, I'll keep him under control."
…
…
[IMAGE]
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