Asa walked down from the rooftop.
Her footsteps echoed on the stairs. Concrete. Metal railing. The usual. But everything felt wrong.
She replayed the rooftop in her head. Trying to make sense of it.
Yoshida had been there. Her partner in the Devil Hunter Club. The same boy Yoru had tried to hit on like an idiot. Standing next to him, a random blonde scruffy kid that looked brain-dead. And then, Tanaka. Her classmate. The one who'd been there when she killed Bucky. The one who'd watched her run from the field with blood on her hands.
She'd expected him to hate her. Everyone else did. The whispers. The looks. The shoes in her locker with raw meat. She'd expected the same from him, that cold distance, that judgment.
Instead, he'd looked more uncomfortable than anything.
Like he didn't want to be there. Like he was trapped. Like he was the one who'd done something wrong.
Asa frowned. Maybe that made sense. Yeah. He was still uncomfortable from witnessing her murder Bucky. Yeah.
'That's it,' she told herself. 'He's just uncomfortable around a murderer. Normal response.'
The thought didn't settle right.
The rooftop conversation had been weird from the start.
Yoshida had introduced her to the blonde guy- Denji, apparently. Some guy she'd never noticed before. And then they'd started talking.
About Chainsaw Man.
Denji was a fan. A hard fan. The kind who wore the merchandise and knew all the details and got defensive the moment anyone said anything negative.
Asa had tried to be honest. She'd hated Chainsaw Man at first- the chaos, the destruction, the way everyone worshipped him like he was a hero instead of a devil. But after everything? She was neutral now. He'd saved people. He'd saved that cat. Maybe he wasn't all bad.
The conversation had hit rock bottom when Denji started defending him.
Not like a fan. Like something else. Like he knew him. Like he was protecting him from gossip in a way that went beyond obsession.
Asa had thought it was weird. Then it got weirder.
The last straw was when Denji declared, with absolute sincerity, that he was Chainsaw Man.
He was proud of it.
Asa had stared at him. Yoshida had stared at him. Even Tanaka- who'd been quiet the whole time, looking like he wanted to dissolve into the floor- had stared at him like he'd grown an extra head.
"Loser," Asa had said. And walked away.
Now, descending the stairs, she replayed the conversation with her counterpart.
"Asa, where are you going?! That boy just said he is Chainsaw Man!"
"You aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, are you."
"...are you calling me stupid?!"
"Chainsaw Man wouldn't let that out like that! He'd get in trouble if his identity was exposed. And even then, he was a Chainsaw Man fan, shirt and all! Why would you take anything he said seriously? It would be so stupid if he was actually him!"
"I'm not stupid! I'm not!"
"Okay already! I take it back!"
The bickering had faded into silence. Yoru was quiet now. Thinking. Or sulking. Asa couldn't tell.
She pushed open the door to the street. The afternoon sun was bright. Too bright. She squinted.
'Yuko's house,' she thought. 'I said I'd visit.'
She started walking.
The courtyard was small. A patch of grass, some dying flowers, and two chairs. And there, stretched out like she didn't have a care in the world, was Yuko.
She was sunbathing like it was summer instead of whatever gray season this was.
"Ah!" Yuko sat up, beaming. "It's Chainsaw Woman! Chainsaw Woman!"
Asa stopped. Blinked.
"What?"
"You saved me from a devil! You're Chainsaw Woman!"
Right.
That day. When Chainsaw Man was fighting the Cockroach Devil. When the Bat Devil had almost killed them. Asa had carried Yuko out of the rubble- her ankle stabbed by a piece of debris, blood everywhere, both of them terrified. The only reason they'd survived was because the fight between Chainsaw Man and the Cockroach Devil had killed the Bat Devil by accident.
Asa hadn't thought of it as heroism. Just... doing something. Anything. Not standing still.
"Uhuh." She held up the bag she'd brought. "Here. I brought you soft drinks."
Yuko's face lit up. "Awesome! Soft drinks!" She grabbed the bag, peered inside, grinned. "Gosh, I didn't do anything but sunbathe here! But it's okay, the sun is gorgeous." She patted the chair beside her. "Sit with me, Asa!"
Asa hesitated. Then sat.
"'Kay..."
Silence.
Awkward silence.
Asa stared at the dying flowers. Yuko stared at the sky. The sun was warm. The air was still. Everything was fine. Everything was normal.
Except it wasn't.
Asa could feel the tension building. The things unsaid. The secrets she was carrying. The secrets she'd never told anyone.
"Ummm..." her voice cut through. "Sorry, I can't stand awkward silences. I never know what to say during these times."
Yuko let out a breath. "Ahaha, what gives? It's not like I know any better. I've never had any friends."
Asa turned. Stared. "You're kidding me, right?! You totally look like you have a lot of friends!"
"There are people who talk to me in class." Yuko shrugged. "But you're the only one who came to check up on me."
The words hung there. Real. Heavy. True.
Yuko was quiet for a moment. Then her face brightened.
"Oh! I know what to do!" She lit up, wincing slightly as her leg moved. "In moments like these, you're supposed to share your darkest secrets! I read it in a book once. Sharing secrets is how you deepen your friendship with others!"
Asa's stomach dropped.
Darkest secrets.
She had too many. The teacher. The class president. Yoru. The things she'd done, the things Yoru had done using her hands, the things she couldn't take back.
"I thought about mine and I..." She looked away. "Have too many dark secrets that I can never share. Sorry."
Yuko leaned forward. Eyes wide. Genuinely curious.
"Really?! I wanna know! Spill!"
Asa's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"...Well, I can tell you one." She stared at the ground. "I was holding my pee in elementary school... and ended up wetting my clothes. But I told everyone it wasn't pee."
Silence.
Then Yuko exploded.
"Ahahahaha! No way!"
"The whole class was nice enough to play along with the lie," Asa mumbled.
"Ahahahahah!" Yuko was laughing so hard her leg was shaking. "Ehehehe... ow ow my leg! Ahaha! My leg!"
"I still scream underwater when I remember it."
"Ahahahah my leg, ow!" Yuko clutched her side, gasping.
"Are you okay?"
"Ahhahaah, yeah." She wiped her eyes. "It's just that... you can't just spill secrets like that!"
"Aren't we supposed to share our darkest secrets?"
"Even then!" Yuko caught her breath. "After that story... I feel like I need to say something big."
"You'd better!"
Yuko's smile didn't fade. Her and Asa were simply staring at the sky.
"Promise you won't tell a soul."
Asa's chest tightened. "All right, all right. Promise."
"I killed someone yesterday."
The words landed like stones in still water.
Asa didn't move. Didn't breathe.
"I see."
"It was my neighbour."
The silence stretched. Cracked.
"Why..."
"Because he'd gamble on the pachinko even though he was on welfare for disability."
Asa's mind went blank.
"The hell..."
"Yup."
"What the hell..."
The silence was different now. Heavier. Wrong.
Asa stared at Yuko. Yuko stared back. Her expression hadn't changed. Still open. Still honest. Still waiting.
"Are you joking?" Asa's voice came out small.
"Nope!" Yuko grinned. "Wanna see? I buried it myself, of course. It's in this backyard!"
She gestured at the dying flowers. The patch of dirt. The ordinary, peaceful courtyard.
Asa's stomach turned.
"No..."
"Welp." Yuko leaned back. "This is my darkest secret."
She looked at Asa. Really looked.
"Don't worry, Asa. I won't spill your secrets either. About peeing... and about the Teacher, the Class President, and about Yoru, and about Tanaka."
Asa's blood went cold.
"Wh..."
"Thing is, Asa." Yuko's voice was calm. Too calm. "I didn't tell you one secret. I made a contract. With the Justice Devil."
She tilted her head.
"I can read minds."
The world tilted.
"I know your mind. Even things that Yoru does that you don't. Like Tanaka, for example. You don't know anything about him, but Yoru knows. And I know too."
She smiled.
"I also know what you did to the teacher and your class president. You killed them? Or not really- it was Yoru. And I know what you think of Chainsaw Man."
She reached out. Touched Asa's hand.
"Don't worry, Asa. I know it's not your fault. I will help you. Somewhat."
Asa's mouth opened. Nothing came out.
"Wh-what..."
"Of course, I didn't make this contract for no reason." Yuko's voice hardened. Just slightly. "After all, it's illegal for random people to do so."
She squeezed Asa's hand.
"I want to bring justice. I saw how you get mistreated for no reason. I saw how the bullies treat you. I read your mind and saw many sad things."
She let go.
"Don't come to school tomorrow."
Asa stared at her.
The sun was still bright. The air was still warm. Yuko was still smiling.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The walk home was quiet.
Too quiet.
Asa kept her head down. Her feet moved on their own- left, right, left, right- but her mind was somewhere else. Stuck in Yuko's courtyard. Stuck on those words.
'Don't come to school tomorrow.'
Yoru walked beside her. Invisible to everyone else. Arms crossed. Face unreadable.
"It's my fault, isn't it?" Asa's voice came out small.
Yoru glanced at her. "Hm?"
Asa didn't answer right away. She stared at the cracks in the sidewalk. The gray concrete. The nothing.
'Yuko made that contract because of me.'
The thought had been circling since she left. Circling and circling, getting sharper each time.
"Yuko made..." Asa swallowed. "That contract with a devil because of me, didn't she?"
The words tasted wrong. Like admitting something she'd been trying to hide.
Yoru's expression didn't change. "Well, yeah. She said as much herself."
The memory surfaced. Yuko's voice, calm and certain:
'I saw how you get mistreated for no reason. I saw how the bullies treat you. I read your mind and saw many sad things.'
Asa's chest tightened.
She'd done that. Her mind. Her sadness. Her weakness. Yuko had seen it all and decided- what? That she needed to fix it? That she needed to become a monster to protect her?
"Yuko..." Asa's voice cracked. "How do- how do you think she'll get rid of my bullying problem tomorrow?"
Yoru didn't hesitate. "She warned you to stay away from school tomorrow. Enough said."
"What's that supposed to mean...?!"
"Why do you keep asking?" Yoru's voice was flat. "You already know."
Asa stopped walking.
The street was empty. The sun was setting. Everything was orange and red and the color of something ending.
"She's going to kill the classmates that bully me, isn't she?"
No answer.
"But that's..." Asa's hands clenched. "I have to stop her!"
Yoru turned. Faced her. "How?"
"How...?" Asa's mind raced. "I'll go back and talk her out of it."
"Go back and talk her out of it." Yoru's tone was mocking. "How will you do that?"
"What are you-"
"How will you go back when your body belongs to me?"
Asa didn't have time to react.
The shift happened in an instant. One moment she was standing on the sidewalk, the next she was pushed. Shoved aside. Watching from somewhere else.
Her body moved without her. Straightened. Rolled its shoulders. Turned toward the sunset with an expression that wasn't hers.
Asa tried to go back. Tried to push forward, to reclaim what was hers. Her hands went through her own shoulder like smoke.
She was outside now. Looking in. The ghost again.
"Give me back my body!"
Yoru didn't even look at her. Just kept walking. Asa's legs. Asa's feet. Not Asa's choice.
"You aren't talking Yuko out of anything." Yoru's voice was calm. Final. "We'll kill her at school tomorrow."
Asa's blood went cold.
"You..."
She couldn't find the words.
"You can't... be serious..."
Yoru glanced back. Just a glance. Enough.
"Our goal is to defeat Chainsaw Man." Her voice was matter-of-fact. Like she was explaining something obvious. "He might show himself if we fight Yuko's devil transformation at school. And if he doesn't-" She shrugged. "Hunting her will get us into the Devil Hunter Club. Besides, we can't let a human know about me, can we?"
She smiled. That wrong smile. Asa's face, but not Asa's expression.
"And I'll use this chance to get a go on that fraud, if I can. Not a priority." She turned back toward the sunset. "But it's sweet to catch three birds with one stone."
She started walking again.
"I'm staying in control until Yuko is dead."
Asa stood there. Watching her own body walk away. Watching the sunset turn the world red.
Yuko was going to die. Because of her. Because Yuko had wanted to help her. Because she'd been weak enough to need help. Because she'd been stupid enough to let someone see.
Yoru's voice drifted back, casual and cruel:
"Try not to scream. It's annoying."
Asa didn't scream.
She just watched.
And the sun kept setting.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The school was quiet.
Too quiet.
Yuko limped down the hallway, her crutches clicking against the floor with each step. The wound in her leg still throbbed- the Bat Devil's parting gift- but she ignored it. Pain was temporary. Justice was forever.
She looked small like this. Pathetic, even. A girl with glasses and crutches, shuffling through an empty corridor while everyone else was in class. No one would look at her and see danger.
That was the point.
She stopped at the window. Looked out at the courtyard below.
'Don't come to school tomorrow.'
She smiled.
Today, she would bring justice to this evil world. Even if she had to crawl.
She lifted her gaze toward the hallway. And froze.
A figure stood in front of her. Asa's body. But not Asa. The stance was wrong. The eyes were wrong. Ringed orange. Predator's eyes.
A katana hung at her side. Already drawn.
Yuko's mouth opened slightly, then closed. The surprise faded quickly. She'd known this was coming. She'd read it in Asa's mind, in Yoru's thoughts, in the shape of things to come.
"Nice to meetcha, Yoru."
Yoru didn't respond. Just stared. That gaze- flat, hungry, patient- was all the answer Yuko needed.
She tilted her head. Read the surface thoughts. The plan. The trap. The three birds.
"I see." Her voice was calm. "That's the reason you're going to hunt me."
Yoru's grip tightened on the katana.
Yuko looked past her. Toward the classrooms. Toward the sounds of normal life continuing, unaware of what was about to happen.
"I'm amazed that Chainsaw Man goes to our school." She laughed softly. "It's kind of a letdown, though. Having Chainsaw Man around doesn't stop bullying." Her eyes hardened. "I guess he'll only kill devils."
Silence.
Yuko met Yoru's gaze.
"Move aside, Yoru. We can fight after I kill these bullies, can't we?"
Yoru tilted her head. That wrong angle. That predator's curiosity.
"You're planning to run as soon as you've killed your targets, though." Her voice was flat. "Since the Devil Hunters will show up if you take too long."
Yuko's smile didn't waver. "You can't beat me if we fight anyway. I can read your every move."
"So beat me and kill me, then." Yoru raised the katana. "Although, that'd kill Asa too."
Yuko's expression flickered.
Her gaze dropped to the floor.
"I like Asa." Her voice was quiet. "But I hate you."
The crutches fell.
Muscles swelled under Yuko's skin- tearing through her uniform, reshaping her frame, growing. The window beside her cracked from the pressure. Students in nearby classrooms didn't even look up. They were attending class normally. They had no idea.
Then she changed.
It happened fast- too fast- flesh unfolding like something that had been folded too many times. Appendages burst from her sides, long and thick, covered in something that looked like fish skin. Her legs fused together, then split into tentacles, each one lined with suckers that pulsed. Her skull cracked. Her brain pushed out, expanding, swelling, until her upper head was nothing but exposed gray matter pulsing under the fluorescent lights. Two appendages grew from the sides of her head, twitching, sensing.
The only thing that remained of Yuko was her mouth. Her nose. Still there. Still her.
Windows shattered.
Yoru moved.
The first tentacle came down- fast, brutal- and Yoru blocked it with the katana. The impact sent vibrations through her arms. She didn't flinch. The second tentacle came from below. She jumped. The third from above. She twisted in mid-air, katana cutting through flesh, severing one of the smaller appendages cleanly.
Dark fluid sprayed the walls.
"Cool!" Yuko's voice came from somewhere inside the mass of flesh. Genuinely impressed. "But you're in my way!"
A tentacle shot from the side of her head- the one nearest the broken window- and snaked outside. Yoru tracked it, katana raised, waiting for it to come back-
It reentered through the window besides her.
She didn't have time to turn.
The tentacle slammed into her side, sending her flying through a classroom door. Wood splintered. She crashed through the window on the other side, hit the floor, rolled, came up with katana still in hand.
Students were everywhere.
"Wah!"
"What the-"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Yikes!"
They scrambled away from her, from the broken window, shocked and confused. The teacher- a skinny bald man in a short-sleeved shirt- looked out the door, saw Yuko's transformed body filling the corridor, and reacted instantly.
He crossed to the button under the chalkboard. Pressed it.
A bell rang through the entire school. Then an automated voice:
"A dangerous devil has appeared on campus. Please evacuate the building immediately via the nearest escape route."
Students began filing out. Calm. Confused.
"Freaky."
"Is this a drill?"
"Nah... wait. Is it?"
"This is not a drill."
The voice came from behind them.
They turned.
Yuko was there. Outside the classroom. Her massive form blocking their view. Her exposed brain pulsing. Her tentacles coiled.
"GYAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Screams erupted. Students ran.
Yuko ignored them. Her gaze scanned the fleeing crowd. She wasn't looking for just anyone. She was looking for them.
"WHO PUT RAW CHICKEN IN A SHOE CUBBY THE OTHER DAY?!"
Her voice echoed through the hallway. Students fled away from her. She didn't care. She was searching. Reading.
She found them.
Three girls. Running together. Trying to blend with the crowd. Trying to escape.
Their minds were loud. Panicked. Guilty.
"It was you girls?" Yuko's voice was almost gentle. "I knew it."
She stepped forward.
Yoru's hand closed around a pencil. She raised it, aimed, and the word tore from her throat with absolute conviction.
"Pen... cil... SPEAR!"
The pencil whipped through the air- faster than any pencil should move, faster than anything that small had any right to be. Three points. Three edges. A weapon forged from desperation and the scraps of a classroom.
Yuko's tentacle coiled around it mid-flight. Caught it. Held it.
"Geez!" Her voice echoed from somewhere inside the mass of flesh. "I told you, I can read every move!"
Yoru didn't respond. She was already looking at another pencil in her hand. Her expression flickered- disappointment, frustration, something colder underneath.
"I can only make weak weapons with these..."
Yuko's tentacle flicked. The pencil spear reversed direction. It stabbed through Yoru's back before she could dodge.
"Bleurhg!"
Yoru staggered. The pencil had gone clean through- the stab was brutal. Enough to make her stumble.
Students screamed. The hallway was chaos now- bodies pushing, shoving, trying to escape the broken windows, the broken doors, the monster in their school.
Yuko didn't care about any of them.
She was looking at one girl. One specific girl. The one whose mind was loudest. The one who had laughed loudest when Asa's shoes were filled with meat.
"Stop it!" The girl was backed against the wall. "Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!"
Yuko's voice was almost gentle. "I won't stop. You're a bad guy."
The tentacle whipped. The girl's head slammed against the wall.
Her life ended that instant.
Yuko's gaze swept the hallway. Searching. Reading.
"The last one..." She turned her head. "Ran that way. Hm?"
A figure blocked her path.
Tall. Cap pulled low. Fists raised, spiked knuckles glinting under the fluorescent lights. Behind him, the remaining students fled through the broken windows, through the emergency exits, through anything that led away from here.
"Devil Hunter Club member!" His voice was clear. Steady. "Seigi Akoku!"
Yoru, still recovering from the wound in her back, looked up. Shock flickered across her face. "A devil hunter?!"
"Argh!" Yuko's voice cracked with frustration. "I don't want to hurt innocents!"
Her tentacle lashed out anyway- fast, brutal, aimed at the tall boy's chest. He deflected it. Easy. Smooth. Like he'd done this a hundred times.
He closed the distance in two steps. His spiked fist drove into Yuko's gut.
"Hrk?!"
She folded. The spikes tore flesh. Dark fluid sprayed.
A pencil flew over Yuko's head- she caught it without looking, tentacle coiling around it, reflexes honed by the Justice Devil's gift.
"Hey!" She sounded almost offended.
"Let's kick this up a notch!" Yoru was fully recovered now. Standing. Holding a pencil case like it was a quiver of arrows.
Yuko expected something, but was interrupted as a bolt was shot at her.
Yuko blocked. Barely. The bolt tore through her arm instead of her head.
"Ow!"
"That you, Furio?!" The tall boy didn't look back.
The one holding the crossbow was shorter. Freckles. Nervous. "Man, that thing's freaky!"
Yuko's tentacles whipped toward him. He stumbled back-
And the tentacles were cut in three pieces.
"Owww!" Yuko's scream echoed. "The Devil Hunter Club again?!"
The one holding the katana was a girl. Cap covering her upper face. Blade already moving to the next strike.
Yoru stood back. Watching. Counting.
Three Devil Hunters. Yuko surrounded. Her limbs severed. Stab wounds covering her body. Dark fluid pooling at her feet.
"Come on, now." Yoru's voice was almost disappointed. "Don't die before Chainsaw Man even gets here."
The hallway was silent for a moment. Just the drip of black fluid. Just the breathing of the hunters.
Then Yuko laughed.
"Don't worry." Her voice was calm. Chilling. "I didn't want to kill innocents, that's all."
She lifted her head. Her eyes- still there, still hers- scanned the three hunters.
"You just ganged up on me and bullied me." She tilted her head. "You're bad guys too, aren't you?"
The hallway exploded.
Tentacles erupted from her body- new ones, faster ones, stronger ones. They moved with a purpose that reading minds gave. One stabbed through the tall boy's shoulder. Another stabbed the freckled boy's abdomen. A third caught the girl with the katana mid-swing and threw her through a window.
"Urgh?!"
"Geaaah!"
"Oof!"
The girl fell. Disappeared into the courtyard below.
The hallway was quiet again. Two hunters lay bleeding on the floor. Yoru stood at the far end, watching.
Yuko looked at the bodies. Then, spared a mere glance at Yoru, as if she didn't want to even look at her.
"Now." Her voice was soft. "Be good unless you want to wind up like them."
She turned slightly. Not facing Yoru fully. Enough to see her. Enough to be seen.
"I know all your plans, Yoru. I know that you hid your personal property in every classroom to use as weapons. That you pulled up the hallway floorboards and can turn those into weapons. That you set traps in the restrooms and the courtyard." A pause. "I even know that, as we speak, you're thinking about trying to turn my severed legs into weapons too."
She smiled.
"Don't try anything else. I'm going to save Asa from her bullies."
The hallway was silent.
Then-
"I have one more plan."
Yuko's voice was different now. Softer.
"I don't see much point in that one." She almost laughed. "The 'leave it all to Asa' plan."
She reached out.
Asa felt it before she understood it- the shift, the release, the sudden rush of being herself again. Yoru was pushed aside. Asa was back in her own body. Her own legs. Her own hands. Her own breath.
She looked up at Yuko.
"Asa!" Yuko's smile was bright. Genuine. "Please, just stay right there."
Asa's mouth opened. Closed. The world was spinning.
"Wait, what?! Huh?! Ah..." The pieces clicked together. "What are you thinking?! You absolutely can't do-"
Something interrupted her.
The pressure hit first.
It was like the air itself had weight. Like something old and vast and wrong had decided to pay attention. Yuko felt it. Yoru felt it. Asa felt it in her bones, in her teeth, in the part of her that still remembered what it was like to be a normal girl in a normal school.
Then the voice.
"I am quite curious. What's shocking you? Tell me more."
Yuko looked down.
A hand was through her back. Through her stomach. Out the front. Fingers spread. Wet. Red.
She stared at it.
The hallway was silent.