Chapter 134: Visiting Old Friends
Tokyo Public Safety.
Otonashi Chiya dropped by to visit some old friends.
"Director Yoshimura, I won't be working for the Leningrad Military Department anymore, and I likely won't continue working for Tokyo Public Safety either. However, I'll be back to visit occasionally."
Chiya was currently in Yoshimura Taki's office.
"After everything that happened—things we ought to apologize for—the fact that you're even willing to visit is incredibly magnanimous of you," Yoshimura Taki said with a face full of regret.
As a high-ranking official in Tokyo Public Safety, he had naturally heard rumors about what had recently transpired within the Cabinet. He also knew that the ones responsible were Chiya and his subordinates. He felt nothing but guilt toward Chiya; after all, he was the one who had persuaded Chiya to follow the Cabinet's orders and work in the Soviet Union, only for such an unpleasant situation to unfold.
"Don't say that. The actions of those Cabinet members have little to do with you or Tokyo Public Safety," Chiya said with a faint smile.
Chiya, who drew clear lines between right and wrong, naturally wouldn't take his anger out on Director Yoshimura. It was obvious that an average person would have no way of knowing the specifics of the contract between the Soviet military and the Japanese Cabinet. Even as a Director of Public Safety, Yoshimura was just an ordinary citizen in the eyes of those Cabinet big shots.
"I understand. You will always be welcome here at Tokyo Public Safety," Yoshimura Taki said, finally breaking into a smile.
"Mhm. That's all for now, then."
With that, Chiya left the office. As he walked away, Yoshimura Taki couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He hadn't expected that after such an ordeal, Chiya would still be willing to speak with him so cordially.
In the lobby, Chiya ran into Hayakawa Aki and Himeno.
Himeno immediately waved at him. "Hello! Otonashi-kun, you're back?"
"Welcome back. Is this a paid vacation? How's the work over in the Soviet Union?" Aki asked calmly.
"Aki, and Himeno-senpai," Chiya greeted them with a smile.
"You could call it a paid vacation. I'm back for a few days. The work in the Soviet Union was... alright."
Seeing their expressions, it was clear that Aki and Himeno had no idea about the massive events that had just occurred. Chiya decided not to reveal anything to them.
"With Otonashi-kun's abilities, I bet you've already made quite a name for yourself in the Soviet Union, haven't you?" Himeno teased.
"..."
Chiya smiled but said nothing. In a certain sense, he had indeed made quite a name for himself.
"In a couple of days, I'm planning to accompany Aki-kun back to his hometown in Hokkaido to visit his family's graves. Would you like to come along, Otonashi-kun?" Himeno asked.
"Himeno-senpai, Otonashi finally has a few days to relax. We shouldn't impose on his time," Aki interjected.
Hayakawa Aki spoke up immediately. Chiya was back to relax, and visiting graves was a heavy affair; it clearly didn't seem appropriate to him.
"It's fine. I'm quite free these few days," Otonashi Chiya said.
"Alright then. Sorry for the trouble," Aki thanked him. Although he didn't want to impose on Chiya's time, having Chiya accompany him to Hokkaido for the memorial was actually what he hoped for most.
[Ding! Host has activated the achievement 'Hayakawa Aki's Favorability (Lv. 4).' Gained 15 Attribute Points!]
"See? I told you, Otonashi-kun is as kind and considerate as ever," Himeno said with a smile.
"Don't take his kindness for granted," Aki immediately lectured his senior.
Himeno scratched her head. "Oh boy, Aki-kun is lecturing me again, even though I'm the senior here."
Hokkaido
Otonashi Chiya, Hayakawa Aki, and Himeno arrived in Hokkaido and rented rooms in a hotel near the cemetery, as the formal grave visiting wouldn't begin until the next day.
In the dead of night, while Aki was fast asleep, Himeno called Chiya out to the balcony. Resting her arms on the railing, she suddenly began to speak as if to herself.
"So much time has passed, yet Aki-kun hasn't changed at all. He's still stubbornly chasing revenge against the Gun Devil. No matter how much I try to persuade him, he won't listen..."
"A devil as strong as the Gun Devil... forget revenge; the moment you meet it, you'd probably lose your life in a second."
"So many people in Tokyo Public Safety wanted revenge, but in the end, many of them were killed by devils that only possessed a single flesh fragment of the Gun Devil before they even saw the real thing."
"Just one fragment is that strong. How could we possibly beat the complete Gun Devil? Don't you agree, Otonashi-kun?"
Chiya listened quietly to everything Himeno had to say. Only after she finished did he speak up. "True. But I don't think Aki is stupid. He likely knows his revenge is almost impossible to achieve. It's just that... he probably has no other motivation to keep living right now."
Looking at the situation from a "God's eye view," Chiya naturally saw things much more clearly than Himeno.
In the original story, as the people Aki knew died one by one—especially after the "Darkness Devil Incident"—he uttered that classic line: 'I'm scared.' At that moment, Aki had clearly begun to waver. Compared to revenge, he became more worried about Denji and Power dying, because by then, they had become like family to him.
But the current Aki, aside from his good relationship with Chiya and Himeno, had no one else he truly cared about. Therefore, his mind was still consumed by revenge—or rather, by the guilt and self-blame he felt over the death of his parents and, especially, his younger brother.
In the original timeline, after Aki was controlled by Makima, the 20% of the Gun Devil's body summoned by the U.S. was also killed by her. To break the contract between Denji and Pochita ('Show me your dreams'), Makima deliberately forced that 20% into Aki's corpse, turning him into the Gun Fiend.
Even then, the Gun Fiend Aki still held an obsession—not for revenge, but for a snowball fight.
It was because he had told his brother to go home and get gloves that his brother was killed by the Gun Devil just as he reached the front door. Aki, standing not far away, survived by sheer luck and witnessed the whole thing. Perhaps he believed that if he had just let his brother stay and play a bit longer, his brother wouldn't have died. Thus, a "snowball fight" became the deepest obsession in his heart, lingering even after death.
Aki likely hadn't wanted to live for a long time, but carrying hatred and guilt gave him a reason to persist. Even knowing he couldn't win, he felt he had no other choice.
"Motivation to live..." Himeno gradually fell silent.
"Until he finds another reason to live, we must at least ensure he doesn't sacrifice himself," Chiya emphasized to Himeno. "So, try your best to stop him from using the Curse Devil's power. However, even if he reaches a point where his remaining lifespan is near zero, I still have a way."