Makoto Nishikado thought for a moment. "Nothing too demanding. Just don't go visiting shrines every other weekend like your predecessors did."
Chika Fujiwara blinked, not quite following.
"Then tear down every shrine in the world, Lord Chainsaw!" Beam could barely contain himself.
Yu Ishigami's eyes went wide.
Damn it, beaten to the punch.
"O-okay, I'll notify the cabinet right away!" Chika nodded frantically and pulled out her phone.
She had no idea why Makoto Nishikado held such contempt for shrines, but with all of Asia under his rule, whatever he said went. Demolishing every shrine in Japan was nothing. If he'd wanted Mount Fuji blown off the map, they'd have scrambled to make it happen.
"There's another issue we should address," Yu Ishigami spoke up.
Just as all eyes turned to Ishigami, the school bell suddenly rang
Shizuka Hiratsuka strode in from the hallway, cleared her throat, and managed a stiff smile. "Right, everyone... back to your seats. Class is starting."
One look at the room full of Reincarnation Game veterans and she winced internally. Every last one of them has superpowers now. What's the point of a lecture?
Ishigami raised his hand. "Hold on. I just need five minutes."
Hiratsuka stared at him.
Since when does a student get to say that? And aren't you in the middle school division? What are you even doing here?
"I think the ceasefire agreement with the US was a mistake," he continued.
The temperature in the room dropped. Every face shifted.
Their combat abilities made conventional weapons irrelevant, sure. But America was still... America. The country that had held Japan's leash for decades. Hearing it named out loud triggered something instinctive, a reflex buried deep in the national psyche.
"Oh?" Makoto Nishikado leaned back. "Go on."
"I'm not criticizing your prior decisions," Ishigami said quickly. "What bothers me is that when they signed the agreement with you, they didn't kneel." His voice rose, indignation building to a sharp edge. "That's disrespect. And disrespect demands a response."
Even the players who knew full well how fanatically devoted Ishigami was to Makoto Nishikado sat stunned.
Good lord. The girls couldn't have fabricated a provocation that absurd if they'd tried.
"And what would you suggest?" Makoto Nishikado asked, a faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
He'd been dissatisfied with the outcome of the last conflict anyway. The ceasefire had been a concession born of necessity, signed when his reserves were running on fumes. That constraint no longer applied. Which made the agreement, in his mind, equally expired.
"Total. Annihilation." Ishigami let each word land like a hammer blow. "Make an example out of them. Let the entire world see what happens when someone disrespects you."
Most of the class had seen genuine horrors across multiple worlds. They still flinched.
That's a bit extreme, even for you.
Megumi Kato and the others had assumed Ishigami would suggest something measured, maybe dismantling the American leadership or crippling their military. Not... genocide on a continental scale.
Makoto Nishikado, however, didn't bat an eye.
Americans, pitiable? Tell that to the Native Americans.
"Fine. I'll swing by after school."
Up at the lectern, Shizuka Hiratsuka's soul left her body.
These people discussed erasing a superpower with the same energy as planning a club outing. The world's superpower, no less.
Yet the one person who always followed Makoto Nishikado's lead without question chose this moment to object.
"No. Please remain here and oversee things from the rear." Ishigami squared his shoulders. "A mere country like the US hardly warrants your personal attention. Allow me to lead the charge."
Makoto Nishikado couldn't help but laugh. "You just want to test-drive your new powers."
"Please don't joke about this."
"I only wish to shoulder your burdens," Ishigami said, the picture of earnest devotion.
Makoto Nishikado said nothing. He fixed Ishigami with a look that said, plain as day: You're not fooling anyone.
Ishigami blinked back, all innocence.
Silence settled over the room. The two held each other's gaze while every girl in the class glanced between them like spectators at a tennis match.
"Hmph."
Makoto Nishikado maintained the nice try, kid expression. Ishigami kept up the guileless stare, but as seconds ticked by, the corner of his mouth started twitching, like a safety being thumbed off an AK one click at a time.
Chika Fujiwara and the others were losing it too. They had no idea what unspoken bit these two were doing, but something about it was unbearably funny.
Finally, Ishigami broke.
"I..."
"Save it. I can read you like a book." Makoto Nishikado waved him off. "But you only just acquired the Gun Devil's power. Don't go picking fights with the US yet. Train first. There's no rush."
"Yes sir!"
Ishigami snapped into a bow. His proposal had been genuine, motivated partly by loyalty and partly by... well. He wanted to show off. What guy wouldn't? It was the same reason half the fandom clowned on Sasuke for being an edgelord, but every last one of them knew the truth: give any man that kind of power and he'd flex twice as hard.
Once Ishigami finished, Hiratsuka ventured a tentative: "So... may I teach now?"
Makoto Nishikado nodded, and she exhaled, turning to write on the blackboard with visible relief.
God, their expressions during that staredown. She'd been terrified that if she cracked up, they'd erase her next.
She wasn't alone. Yotsuba Nakano and Chika had been biting the insides of their cheeks the entire time.
The final bell came as a mercy.
Everyone packed up. Ishigami called his parents to let them know he wouldn't be coming home after school anymore. He'd be training at the Suzuki estate under Makoto Nishikado's guidance.
His parents were floored. They'd spent years neglecting their gloomy younger son, and now he'd somehow latched onto the most powerful man on the planet.
"Yotsuba, want to come along?" Makoto Nishikado called out, spotting her gathering her things.
She pointed at herself, eyes wide. "Me? I'm... allowed?"
"Yui tells me you kept up your training regimen the whole time you were over there. Your physical baseline should be well above average by now. It'd be a waste not to build on that."
Yotsuba Nakano had always been the most athletic of the five sisters, and according to Yui Yuigahama, she'd maintained her exercise habits throughout the entire decade-plus in the Chainsaw Man world. The next time she crossed over and picked up a combat ability, or maybe a close-range Devil Fruit, she'd be unstoppable.
"Then... let me go tell Ichika and the others! Wait for me, okay?"
She bounced out of the classroom, the ribbon on her head bobbing with each step. She looked, for all the world, like a little rabbit.
"Found a new target, Teach?" Utaha Kasumigaoka's voice dripped with amusement. "Recruiting another sister for the family?"
"Her athletic talent is exceptional. Letting it go to waste would be criminal."
He punctuated the point with a firm squeeze of Utaha's thigh through her black stockings.
"U-um, Makoto... Kokoro and the others are here. They're waiting for us."
Kotonoha Katsura approached, still a little nervous.
That reminded him. Nayuta's elementary school let out much earlier than the high school. The kid had probably been waiting at the gate for a while.
"Let's go."
He nodded and started walking. If that girl got bored enough, there was no telling what she'd do.
The group swept through the halls and out toward the front gate, where a crowd of students had gathered, none of them leaving.
They parted the moment they spotted Makoto Nishikado.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
Kotonoha froze.
On the ground in front of the gate, Otome Katou and her three lackeys, Minami, Natsumi, and Kurumi Mori, were down on all fours, barking like dogs. Every few seconds one of them lifted a leg in a grotesque imitation of a mutt marking a fire hydrant.
Mercifully, Shuchiin Academy's skirts were long enough to preserve some dignity.
"Ahahaha!"
Perched on Otome's back like a throne sat a girl who couldn't have been older than six, cackling with unbridled glee.
"N-Nayuta, please stop!" Kokoro Katsura tugged at the girl's arm, accomplishing nothing.
"Nayuta. What did you do this time?" Makoto sighed.
Kokoro, who'd been prickly with him that very morning, stepped forward to defend her friend. "I-it's not Nayuta's fault! It's... it was because of me."
She told them everything.
After school, Kokoro and Nayuta had come straight to Shuchiin Academy to wait for Makoto and Kotonoha. That's when they ran into Otome and her crew.
Earlier that day the four of them had passed by Class 1-F and spotted Kotonoha standing beside Makoto Nishikado. She hadn't been as clingy as some of the other girls, but anyone with functioning eyesight could tell she'd entered his orbit.
That infuriated the group that had spent years tormenting her. And when they'd learned that Makoto Ito had dropped dead of a sudden heart attack, Otome couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Damn bitch. So what if her chest is a little bigger and her face is a little prettier? First she seduced Makoto Ito, and the second he dies, she hooks up with Nishikado!"
Otome had led her three stooges off campus, ranting nonstop like a machine gun with the safety filed off. Kotonoha felt like a curse custom-built to ruin her life. Stole her crush, and now that Ito was gone, she'd immediately latched onto the most powerful man alive.
And she was an heiress on top of it.
How does she get to live like that?
The irony, of course, was that Otome never dared breathe a word against Kaguya Shinomiya or Chika Fujiwara. She knew full well those two would end her without blinking.
"Honestly, Nishikado's taste is garbage," Natsumi chimed in. "What does that woman have going for her besides her chest?"
"Hey, keep it down," Minami hissed. "If Ishigami hears you..."
Everyone at school knew: the moment someone badmouthed Makoto Nishikado, Yu Ishigami would materialize out of thin air like a random encounter.
Natsumi scoffed. "We literally just saw him in the classroom. What, does he have dog ears or something?"
"Who exactly has garbage taste?"
A young voice cut through the chatter. The four spun around and found a strikingly beautiful girl sitting atop the school gate, legs crossed, looking down at them. A beauty mark sat just beneath her left eye. She couldn't have been older than six, but the face was already a preview of something devastating.
"Who the hell are you?" Otome snapped on reflex.
"My big sister is NOT just some big-chest girl!"
Another small figure stepped forward, fists balled at her sides. One look at that face, a near-perfect copy of Kotonoha's, and Otome's crew instantly knew who she was.
Remembering how easy Kotonoha was to push around, Minami didn't spare the younger sister a second thought. "If she's not the big-chest girl, then what? Flaunting those things to bait every man in sight."
"Cheap as a dog in heat," Natsumi added with a sneer. "If you don't want to end up like her, kid, I'd keep my distance."
Kokoro was still in elementary school. She was tougher than her sister, sure, but she was no match for veteran bullies. Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them.
Nayuta clicked her tongue from her perch on the gate.
My lackey. Only I get to mess with her. Who do these bitches think they are?
And unless she'd heard wrong, they'd also insulted Makoto.
Her expression shifted. Anyone who'd spent time around Aki Hayakawa would have recognized it immediately. It was pure Makima.
"You seem to love dogs so much. Why not try being one?"
Otome and her crew looked up and met a pair of eerie golden eyes, ringed like a target.
"Say 'I'm a dog.'"
A cold smile spread across Nayuta's face.
And that was how things had ended up like this.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
The four of them were still at it, barking without pause.
Makoto listened to the whole story and nodded. "Sounds about right. They had it coming."
"Hehe!"
Nayuta puffed out her chest with pride, hands on her hips. Then she pointed at her four new pets. "So what do we do with them next? Walk them to the bathroom and make them eat out of the toilet? Or make them mount each other right here like strays?"
Every onlooker went silent, from Reincarnation Game veterans like Erina Nakiri, Alice Nakiri, and Yukino Yukinoshita, to civilians like Chika Fujiwara, Marin Kitagawa, and Rindo Kobayashi.
They could tell this little girl was a power user too. Hina, watching from the outer ring, guessed it was something similar to her older sister's illusion abilities.
What terrified her was how casually vicious the child was. Toilet feeding and public mating, suggested with the ease of someone picking lunch options.
Meanwhile, the students who hadn't been chosen by the Reincarnation Game, Miyuki Shirogane, Terunori Kuga, and the rest, swallowed hard. The first suggestion was revolting, but they wouldn't have minded witnessing the second.
"It's no fun if you do it," Makoto said, scooping Nayuta up off the ground. He turned to Kotonoha. "How about it? They bullied you for years, didn't they? Want to take this chance and finish them off?"
Stunned silence rippled through the crowd. Then they remembered who they were dealing with, and the surprise faded.
"I... I..."
Kotonoha's eyes went wide. She'd spent over a decade in the Chainsaw Man world, true, but she'd been a wallflower the entire time, hovering at the edges, never in the thick of things. Her personality hadn't changed much from before the crossing.
If she'd gained anything, it was that her fear of men had dulled somewhat.
"You won't?"
A flicker of disappointment crossed Makoto's face.
Not getting Kotonoha to personally deal with Makoto Ito had always been a small regret of his. At the very least, these four bitches should die by her hand.
Kotonoha's chest tightened when she saw that look. She never wanted to see disappointment on his face. Especially not disappointment she'd caused.
She clenched her fists. Reached into her bag. Drew out a small craft knife from art class.
Holy shit, she's actually going to do it?
Chika, Terunori, and the rest couldn't believe their eyes. The quietest girl in school had steel in her spine after all.
Kotonoha's breath came in ragged bursts, each one stoking her resolve.
"A-as long as it's what Makoto wants me to do, I... I... I'll..."
"Whoa, hold on."
Just as she'd steeled herself to go through with it, Makoto stopped her.
Hina, Haruno Yukinoshita, and several others jolted.
Am I dreaming? Makoto Nishikado... showing restraint?
He plucked the craft knife from her hand. "What are you going to do with this little thing? I've got something better."
He took Kotonoha by the hand and led her back into the school building, calling over his shoulder: "Keep an eye on them. Don't let the dogs run."
"Yes, Lord Chainsaw!" Beam snapped to attention.
Ishigami went red with fury. Beaten to it. Again.
Minutes later, in the Shuchiin Academy infirmary.
Shizuka Marikawa pulled on a mask and surgical gloves, picked up a scalpel, and tilted her head with her signature airheaded innocence. "Performing a heart transplant in a school infirmary... that's a first for me. Are you sure about this, sweetie?"
Kotonoha lay on the exam table and nodded. "As long as it's what Makoto wants, I'll do it."
"Well... alright then."
The nurse said nothing more and unfastened the front of the surgical gown.
"Oh my! At this rate, you might even catch up to me someday."
Marikawa's chest nearly brushed Kotonoha's face as she leaned in, and the girl's cheeks flushed crimson.
Could I really get that big?
But thinking of her mother's chest—which easily rivaled and possibly surpassed Shizuka Marikawa's—Kotonoha felt it was highly likely.
Would Makoto like that?