*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*
The ringing of the alarm clock woke me from my sleep. I slowly sat up in my soft bed, stretching and sleepily rubbing my eyes. As soon as everything stopped swimming before my eyes, I looked out the window. It was still early morning, the sun had just begun to rise, and it was still quite dark outside.
After turning off the alarm and making my bed, I went to wash my face.
Splashing water on my face, I looked at my reflection
in the mirror. My short black hair was damp at my forehead, and drops of water were running down my face. My gaze was immediately drawn to the unusual color of my eyes: yellow pupils with several red rings. This eye feature was also shared only by the Four Demon Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and I must admit, it looked quite mesmerizing no matter how much I looked. In addition, there were three scars on my face: one ran along my left cheek, starting just below my eye and ending at my jaw. The second ran from my left cheek to my right, crossing the bridge of my nose. The third was also on my left cheek, crossing the first, running from left to right. The scars were thin and even, so they weren't disfiguring at all. My face was above average in height, with short black hair and sharp features.
After relieving myself, washing my face, and brushing my teeth, I headed to the kitchen, put the kettle on the stove, took a frying pan out of the cupboard, along with sunflower oil and salt, and eggs and chopped tomatoes from the refrigerator. I put the frying pan on the stove, poured in the sunflower oil, waited a bit, cracked a few eggs, stirred them, added salt and chopped tomatoes, and soon my favorite and simple breakfast was ready. The kettle soon boiled, and I made myself some coffee.
After breakfast and a quick wash, I went out onto the balcony and lit a cigarette, musing over today's meeting with Makima. Come to think of it, it's actually quite dangerous to mess with her, due to her cunning and manipulative nature, which is to be expected, as she's a demon of control or conquest, so that's natural for her. This also applies to her ability to control, which works on both humans and fiends. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, she might be more loyal to me, but I'm not entirely sure. And I could try explaining that I don't pose a threat to all of humanity, although in the manga, she intended to use the Chainsaw Demon to kill the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and other demons who pose a threat to humanity in order to create a perfect world. Again, I could try explaining to her that the concept of war is unlikely to be eradicated, like with nuclear weapons, which were consumed by the Chainsaw Demon and vanished from human memory, only to be reinvented by the US and used in the war against the USSR when they dropped them on cities. If that's how it works, of course. War will happen sooner or later, that's human nature. Even if I'm simply killed, it's not that bad, since I'm effectively immortal, like other demons.
Demons go through cycles of reincarnation. If a demon is killed on Earth, they'll soon appear in Hell; if a demon is killed in Hell, they'll appear on Earth. And Makima hasn't found Denji yet, so there's no need to worry too much about me being erased. And the Chainsaw Demon won't go down without a fight. That's it. I need to start packing; I want to clear this all up as soon as possible.
After finishing smoking and stubbed out my cigarette in the ashtray, I started getting dressed. I put on a simple white T-shirt, an autumn windbreaker, jeans, and sneakers. I also had to put on sunglasses to protect my eyes. Once dressed, I grabbed the bag of documents and, locking the apartment door, went down the elevator and out into the street.
It was getting lighter outside, and people were getting up and getting ready to go to work and other errands. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I started dialing a taxi using the business card I had. Soon I heard a dial tone and someone answered. I gave the driver my address and waited, but in the meantime, I decided to have another smoke.
I pulled a new pack of Hi-Fight cigarettes out of my pocket. I'd never tried them before, but I wanted to see what they were like. I lit the tip of the cigarette with a lighter and took a drag, blowing out a puff of smoke. My first impression was that the smoke tasted strong, with a hint of bread and something sour. The cigarette was strong, but not as strong as the cigarettes I usually buy. I decided to try them after seeing how often others smoked them, and overall, they were pretty good. While I waited for my taxi, I decided to play some more snake on my phone.
...
A little time passed, the cigarette had already gone out and been thrown in the trash, and on the small phone screen, a large text about the loss glowed. In the background, a long snake, taking up almost the entire screen, was smashing into itself, stars swirling above its head.
"Eh... and how am I supposed to win this?" Sighing and muttering quietly under my breath, I turned off the phone and put it in my pocket.
And suddenly, my ear caught the sound of a car approaching. Looking over, I immediately realized it was coming. A yellow Toyota Crown Comfort with red stripes and a roof light reading "TAXI" pulled up next to me, the front window rolled down, and a middle-aged man in a shirt, tie, cap, and white gloves looked at me from the driver's seat and spoke: "Did you call a taxi?"
"Yes, yes, I called," I said casually, walking to the back door, which automatically opened for me. I climbed into the backseat, and the door slammed shut.
"Where should I take you?" the man asked, peering out from the front seat.
"I need to go to the Public Safety Demon Hunter Headquarters. Do you know where to go?"
"Yes. I've driven people there a few times. Client, make yourself comfortable, and have a nice trip," he said politely, returning to his seat. A few seconds later, the car pulled away.
*Sigh* I sighed, leaning back against the soft seat and looking out the window as we drove.
...
Some time later...
After paying the taxi driver, I got out, grumbling about the high fare. I could hear the driver's voice behind me, "Thank you for choosing us." The door closed behind me, and the car creaked away.
After watching him go, I turned and looked at the building in front of me. It was a wide, windowed structure, four or five stories tall, including the roof, definitely about the same size as a floor, with a flagpole fluttering the Japanese flag. A beautiful entrance, a smooth road, well-kept bushes and trees, lampposts. A lot of money had clearly been invested here. Men and women in formal suits were entering and exiting the building.
After passing several people, I walked through the doors and found myself in a spacious, high-ceilinged room, swarming with people. Looking around for the reception desk, I spotted a long desk nearby, where a pleasant-looking, dark-haired woman sat writing something. I walked toward her.
"Miss, hello, can I bother you for a moment?" I said to her after I reached her.
Hearing someone's voice, the woman looked up from filling out a form at her desk. Seeing a stranger, she smiled and greeted him, then asked questioningly, "Greetings, I'm Koeda Hina. Can I help you with something?"
"Yes..." I was about to say, but was interrupted.
"Ah... you must want to become a demon hunter, right?" She quickly scanned the man, taking particular note of the scars on his face. Then, moving her gaze over his body, she noticed that he was not wearing the typical hunter uniform, and assumed he had come here to find a job.
"Hm... Yes... But that's later. Could you call Makima? And tell her someone I know has come to see her," I said, clearing my throat.
Raising an eyebrow in surprise and opening her eyes slightly, she looked at his face for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Um... Could you tell me? What's your relationship to Miss Makima? What's your name?"
"Can you just call her?" I said more forcefully, looking her in the eye.
"Okay..." she said hesitantly, still wondering what his relationship to Makima might be. But she decided to let him know anyway, perhaps it was important, and picked up the station phone on the table and began dialing. Even if he did something wrong, there were plenty of hunters here who could deal with him, Koeda thought, lifting the receiver to her ear.
There was a dial tone, and soon the call was answered.
[...Yes?] - A female voice was heard on the other end.
[Hello. Miss Makima! This is Koeda.]
[What's wrong?]
[You have a visitor here. He didn't introduce himself, but said he was an acquaintance. Should I let him in?]
[Interesting... Okay. Send him my way.]—a thoughtful tone could be heard in the voice on the other line.
"Aha... Got it. I'll send him to you now." Koeda said, hanging up and then turning to me.
"Miss Makima is waiting for you. Take this elevator to the third floor, then go straight down the hallway, look for room 138 on the left." Pointing at the elevator, Koeda told me how to get to the room.
"Thank you," I thanked her, and headed straight for the elevator, following the directions.
When I reached the elevator, the doors opened, letting four people out of the cabin. As soon as they exited, I entered the elevator with two more people.
After a short wait, I soon found myself on the third floor, and it wasn't difficult to quickly find the room I needed.
And here I am... standing in front of her wooden door. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, I finally knocked on the door. It was time to meet the antagonist of the first part of the manga face to face.
"Come in," a soft female voice called from the other side of the door.
Clamping down on myself, I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open...