The memory burned.
Human's hands were still shaking as he landed. The concrete cratered beneath him. Dust rose like a curtain.
Her grip on his wrist. The casual, effortless strength. The way she walked past the battle like it was nothing. The way she talked about food, about her sisters, about things that didn't matter- while he strained against her hold like a dog on a leash.
She noticed. She definitely noticed. And she didn't care.
Then, when he was at his limit, when his arms were trembling and his teeth were grinding, she looked at him. Not with anger. With mockery.
"Fine, I'll let you play outside. Behave, all right?"
And she let go. Like letting a puppy off a leash. Like he wasn't even worth holding onto.
Human's eyes opened.
The dust was still falling. Chainsaw Man was thirty feet away, engines idling. Yoru was perched on a chunk of rubble, the Yuko Leg Sword resting across her shoulders. They were both watching him. Waiting.
He didn't give them time.
"DAMN THAT THING!"
The scream tore out of him. Not cold. Not calculated. Raw. Vocal cords stretching, cracking, pushing past human limits.
And then he was moving.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Chainsaw Man didn't have time to react. Human's blade- long, curved, sharp enough to split air- came down where his head had been a second ago. He rolled. Rubble scraped his back. The blade bit into concrete, carving a trench three feet deep.
"Whoa- !"
Human pulled the blade free. Turned. Swung again.
Chainsaw Man blocked with his chainsaw arm. Metal screeched against bone. Sparks showered.
"Hey!" Denji's voice was muffled, annoyed. "I was in the middle of something, dude!"
Behind him, Yoru moved.
"Yuko Leg Sword!" The blade came up, not at Human, at Chainsaw Man. He jumped back, chainsaws whirring, barely avoiding the swing.
"HEY! Both of you?!"
Human didn't care. His other arm had already transformed- cleaver, wide and heavy- and he brought it around in a horizontal arc. Chainsaw Man ducked. The cleaver passed through the space where his chest had been and kept going, slamming into a chunk of broken wall. Concrete exploded.
Yoru was already swinging again, at Human this time.
He blocked with his blade. The impact shuddered up his arm.
"You're in my way," she said. Flat. Cold.
Human's eyes locked onto hers. "You're in mine."
They pushed against each other. Blades grinding. Sparks flying.
Chainsaw Man watched from the side, scratching his engine-head. "Are you two gonna fight each other or me? I'm getting confused."
"Shut up!" they both yelled.
The fight became chaos.
Human swung at Yoru. Yoru dodged, swung back. Chainsaw Man tackled Human from the side, not to save anyone, just because he was there. They rolled through rubble, through broken glass, through a pile of debris that used to be a classroom wall.
Human threw him off. Chainsaw Man landed on his feet, chainsaws roaring.
"You're annoying," Human said.
"Thanks!" Chainsaw Man charged.
Human's blade met his chainsaws. Metal screamed. Human pushed. Chainsaw Man stumbled back. Human followed- cleaver raised- but Yoru was there again, sword cutting across his path.
He jumped. The sword passed beneath him.
He landed. Spun. His blade caught Yoru across the shoulder, not deep, but enough to draw blood.
She hissed. "You- "
Her hand shot out. Grabbed a chunk of rebar from the rubble. "Rebar Spear!" It transformed in her grip- twisted, jagged, deadly. She threw it.
Human deflected with his blade. The rebar spear spun off into the darkness.
Chainsaw Man was already behind him. Human turned, too slow. Chainsaw Man's kick caught him in the back. He stumbled forward. Yoru's sword came down. He blocked, barely, at the last second.
"I was going for his head!" Yoru snapped.
"You're welcome!" Chainsaw Man called back.
Human's vision blurred. Rage and pain and something else, something that felt like embarrassment, all mixing together.
He needed to hit something. Needed to kill something. Needed to feel the thing that made the crawling stop.
In the rubble behind Yoru, a girl was hiding. The bully. The one Yuko had almost killed. Her face was white. Her lips were moving. Praying, maybe. Crying, definitely.
Human saw her.
And he moved.
Not at Chainsaw Man. Not at Yoru. Past them. Through the gap between them. A single step. All he needed.
Chainsaw Man's eyes went wide. "HEY- !"
He threw himself sideways, chainsaws first, barely intercepting. The impact cratered the ground between them. Concrete chunks flew.
"What the hell?!" Chainsaw Man's chainsaws ground against Human's blade. "I was in the middle of looking at that girl's, I mean, why her?!"
Human didn't answer.
He shoved. Chainsaw Man stumbled back. Human lunged again-
Yoru's sword came down. He blocked. The impact shuddered up his arm.
"Get out of my way."
"No." Yoru's voice was flat. She wasn't protecting the girl. She just wanted him to stop wasting her time.
Human's jaw tightened.
He swung wild. Both blades. Yoru ducked under one, jumped over the other. Chainsaw Man tackled him from the side again- shoulder into ribs- and they crashed through a pile of debris.
"Man!" Chainsaw Man's voice was strained. "You're really obsessed with that random girl! Why?!"
Human didn't answer. Couldn't answer. The words wouldn't form.
'Because she's weak. Because I can. Because I need to feel something and she's right there.'
He threw Chainsaw Man off. Stood. His blades were trembling.
Yoru was behind him. He turned- too slow. Her sword caught him across the back. Not deep. Enough.
"You're pathetic," she said.
Human screamed.
Not words. Just sound. Frustration and rage and shame, all pouring out at once. He swung wild. Both blades. No form. No strategy. Just violence.
Chainsaw Man ducked under one. Yoru jumped over the other. The blades cut air, cut rubble, cut nothing.
"You're going to tire yourself out!" Chainsaw Man called from behind a broken car.
Human spun. Lunged.
This time, Yoru was ready.
The Yuko Leg Sword came up- not to block, to catch. The blade slid between Human's ribs. Not deep. Not fatal. But enough to make him gasp.
She smiled. "Gotcha."
Her other hand was already reaching for a piece of debris. She had him. Open. Vulnerable.
Chainsaw Man was closing in from the side, chainsaws ready.
Two birds. One stone.
Human struggled. His blades scraped against the sword, against the air, against anything.
"I'll- "
Something pink flickered at the edge of the rubble.
Chainsaw Man didn't notice. Yoru didn't notice. Human's eyes caught it, a tentacle, retreating into the shadows, but he didn't have time to process.
Tentacles erupted from the ground.
Not from Yuko. Not from any contract anyone had made. Pink. Suckered. Fast.
One wrapped around Chainsaw Man's waist, yanking him sideways. Another coiled around Human's throat- not choking, dragging. Both of them were lifted off their feet, pulled through the air, and then down.
Through cracks in the rubble.
Into the darkness.
Gone.
Yoru stood alone.
Sword still raised. Chest heaving. Blood dripping down her arm.
The girl behind her was gasping, trembling, on the verge of something worse than tears.
Yoru stared at the patch of ground where the tentacles had come from.
Her hand lowered.
"...Damnit."
She didn't move. Didn't chase. The moment was gone.
The girl started crying.
Yoru ignored her.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Denji fell from the ceiling.
He hit a desk- wood cracked- rolled off, and lay there for a moment, staring at the water-stained ceiling tiles.
"Oof."
He pushed himself up. Rubble shifted. Dust fell from his hair.
He was in a classroom. Empty. Dusty. Chalkboard still had notes from yesterday. Chairs overturned. A globe in the corner.
And hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in pink tentacles like a fly in a spider's web, was Human.
Struggling. Twisting. The tentacles didn't budge. His arms had returned to normal, flesh instead of blades, but his eyes still burned.
Denji scratched his head. "Uh."
A figure stepped out from behind the teacher's desk.
Yoshida. Hands in his pockets. Expression calm. Almost bored. He looked at Denji, then at the cocoon, then back at Denji.
"You're loud," he said.
Denji blinked. "Where'd you come from?"
"I've been here."
Denji looked at the cocoon. Looked at Yoshida. Looked back at the cocoon. The tentacles pink, suckered, unmistakably octopus, were coming out of Yoshida's shadow.
"Did you... do that?"
Yoshida shrugged. "My devil contract doesn't like loose ends."
Human thrashed inside the tentacles. His mouth moved, words, maybe, but the tentacles were wrapped around his jaw. Nothing came out.
Denji sat on a desk. Rubbed his shoulder where Human's blade had cut him. The wound was already closing.
"So..." He looked around. "What now?"
Yoshida was quiet for a moment.
"Now," he said, "we wait."
"For what?"
"For him to stop."
The tentacles held.
Minute after minute. Human's struggles weakened. His breathing slowed. His eyes still open, still burning, lost some of their intensity.
Yoshida watched. Denji watched too, mostly because there was nothing else to do.
"He's calming down," Denji said.
"Maybe."
"Why did he go crazy like that?"
Yoshida's eyes flicked to the cocoon. "Someone humiliated him."
"Huh." Denji scratched his chin. "That's it?"
"That's enough."
Denji thought about it. About all the times he'd been humiliated. About all the times he'd wanted to hit something after. About the times he'd actually done it.
"...Yeah," he said. "I guess."
Inside the tentacles, Human's rage was cooling.
Not fading. Just... settling. The fire was still there, still burning, but it had stopped spreading. The memory of her grip was still fresh, still sharp, but it wasn't driving him anymore.
He could think again.
He could feel again.
And what he felt was exhaustion.
His body ached. His arms, back to normal now, throbbed where the blades had been. His ribs, his back, his chest- all of it hurt.
He stopped struggling.
The tentacles loosened. Just slightly.
Yoshida noticed.
"Tanaka."
The name hung in the air.
Inside the cocoon, something shifted.
Tanaka woke up.
Not like waking from sleep, more like surfacing from deep water. The world came back in pieces. The pressure of tentacles around his body. The taste of blood in his mouth. The ache in every muscle.
And the voice in his head, quieter now, exhausted too.
'...I'm done.'
Tanaka blinked. The classroom was blurry. There was a blonde guy sitting on a desk. There was a tall boy with earrings standing near the window.
"...Where am I?"
Yoshida's expression didn't change. "School. Empty classroom."
Denji waved. "Hey. You're back."
Tanaka looked at his hands. Normal. No blades. No claws. Just skin and scars and the memory of what they'd done.
"What happened?"
"You tried to kill a bunch of people," Yoshida said. "Then my devil caught you."
Tanaka's stomach turned.
"How long...?"
"Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen."
Denji shrugged. "It felt longer."
Tanaka closed his eyes. The tentacles were still around him. Still holding. Still there.
"Can you..." His voice cracked. "Can you let me go?"
Yoshida studied him for a moment. Then he nodded.
The tentacles released.
Tanaka fell.
He hit the floor with a sound that was less dramatic than it should have been. More of a thump than a crash. His body wasn't cooperating- his legs were numb, his arms wouldn't move right, and his face was pressed against a dusty floorboard.
"Oof."
Denji stared.
Yoshida stared.
The tentacles retreated into Yoshida's shadow, disappearing like they'd never been there at all.
Tanaka lay on the floor. Not moving. Just breathing.
Denji's face twitched.
Then his shoulder shook.
Then he made a sound, a choked, strangled sound, that was definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent not a laugh.
"I know you're trying not to laugh, Denji."
Denji bit his lip. His face was red. His whole body was trembling.
"I'm not- " He snorted. "I'm not laughing."
"Yes, you are."
"I'm not!" Another snort. He covered his mouth with both hands.
Yoshida looked at them. His expression didn't change, but something in his eyes softened. Just a little.
"Can you stand?" he asked Tanaka.
Tanaka pushed himself up. His arms shook. His legs shook. Everything shook.
"...No."
Denji lost it.
He didn't laugh loud, more of a wheeze, a breathless, helpless sound that escaped through his fingers. His shoulders shook. His eyes watered.
"Dude," he gasped. "You just- you fell- from the ceiling- "
"I know."
" -and you just- "
"I know."
" -and your face- "
"I KNOW."
Denji collapsed onto the desk, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.
Tanaka sat on the floor. Covered in dust. Covered in dried blood. Looking like he'd been through a war and lost.
Yoshida watched them both.
Then he smiled. Just a little.
"You're both idiots," he said.
"Probably," Tanaka agreed.
Denji kept laughing.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The sun had set.
The courtyard was quiet. Devil Hunters had arrived, cordoned off the area, started taking statements. Students were being sent home. Parents were crying.
Yoru stood alone. Still in Asa's body. The Yuko Leg Sword hung at her side.
The girl from before, the bully,,had been taken away by someone. A parent, maybe. A teacher. Yoru didn't care.
In her head, Asa's voice surfaced.
"Is it over?"
"For now."
"What about Tanaka?"
Yoru's jaw tightened. "Gone. For now."
"And Chainsaw Man?"
"Also gone."
Asa was quiet for a moment.
"Yuko..."
Yoru didn't answer.
"She's really dead, isn't she?"
"Yes."
Another silence. Longer.
"I want my body back."
Yoru didn't argue. She let go.
Asa stumbled. Caught herself. Looked at her hands. At the sword. At the rubble where her school used to be.
She was crying. She didn't know when she'd started.
The Yuko Leg Sword dissolved in her grip. Pieces of flesh and bone fell to the ground. Asa stared at them.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no- "
She knelt. Picked up a piece. Didn't know why.
The remains were already turning to dust.
She held them anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tanaka was standing now. Barely.
His body still ached. His head still pounded. But the tentacles were gone, and Human was quiet, and he was himself again.
Denji had stopped laughing. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching.
"So," he said. "You good?"
Tanaka looked at him.At the stupid, earnest, completely stupid expression on his face.
"No."
Denji nodded. "Yeah, me neither."
They stood there. Two boys who'd tried to kill each other. Two boys who didn't know what came next.
Yoshida checked his phone. "Devil Hunters are clearing the area. We should leave."
"Where to?" Denji asked.
"Anywhere else."
Tanaka took a step. His leg buckled. He caught himself on a desk.
Denji watched. Didn't offer help. Didn't make fun.
Tanaka appreciated that more than he could say.
They left through a broken window. Dropped into an alley behind the school. The night air was cold. The stars were out.
Yoshida led the way. Denji followed. Tanaka limped behind them.
At the mouth of the alley, Yoshida stopped.
"Tanaka."
"Yes?"
"The devil inside you. What's his name?"
Tanaka hesitated. "Human."
Yoshida nodded. "Does he talk to you?"
"All the time."
"And right now?"
Tanaka listened. The voice in his head was quiet. Tired. Ashamed, maybe.
"...He's not saying anything."
Yoshida was quiet for a moment.
"When he does," he said, "tell him he owes me."
He walked away.
Denji looked at Tanaka. Grinned. "Dude, you're really weird."
"I know."
"Like, really weird."
"I know."
Denji shrugged. "Cool. See you at school."
He walked away too, hands in his pockets, whistling something off-key.
Tanaka stood alone in the alley.
The stars were out. The air was cold. His body hurt.
'...Are you okay?'
Tanaka closed his eyes.
'No.'
'...Me neither.'
A long silence.
'I'm sorry.'
'For what?'
'For... that. For losing control. For...'
Another silence.
'...For being what I am.'
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tanaka's face morphed into disgust.
'I'm not accepting sorry from the kinds of you.'
'...Was expected.' Theresponse from Human wasn't giving the idea that he was sorry at all.
'See what I mean? And even if it was genuine I wouldn't have accepted it anyway.'
'Yeah.'
The night was quiet.
Human was quiet too.
Tanaka wished it stayed that way forever.