[3rd POV]
Who is Jin Nakahara?
The strongest Devil Hunter that ever lived.
The strongest hybrid that has ever been made.
The pride jewel of the Public Safety Commission.
The mad lad who could pull the two best waifus at the same time.
The most handsome man in the world, whose beauty was often compared to the stars. (The nice old lady where I buy flowers for Reze did)
And the true hell for devils.
He was the one who brought power to a name as insignificant as the Pig Devil.
Jin Nakahara was me.
...
Now, let's say something I am not.
This one is important.
I am not a brokie.
Unlike a certain author, after every Christmas and New Year.
Which was exactly why the party took place in a high-end restaurant. It was the same place where I took Denji to have a feast on the first day. But unlike before, the place I rented was a bit different from the VIP room we stayed in.
It looked more traditional.
Tatami mats lined the floor instead of a couch. It was spotless and warm. A low lacquered table stretched across the centre, already filled with ceramic plates, grilled skewers, simmered dishes, sashimi arranged with obsessive care, and several unopened bottles of sake resting in ice.
The soft lantern light gave the room a golden glow, and the thick walls muffled the outside sound completely.
"I offer this drink to everyone present in this room. Let's all celebrate for not dying!!" Himeno said, bringing her drink up in the air.
"To not dying!!"
"To not dying!!"
"To not dying!!"
"To not dying!!"
"To not dying!!"
"To not dying!!"
We all held our drink above the table and cheered.
"Kanpai!!!"
And then we drowned our drinks in one go. Makima also participated in the whole thing, although she did not scream much. That just cemented in my mind that she would be a dead fish during sex.
After I drank a whole cup of sake, I swore for the nth time to never drink it again. Alcohol had no effect on me, apparently, so I was only getting the horrible taste without the benefits.
But I would probably drink it again.
At this point, almost everyone was pretty damn drunk. I think I was also influenced by them and the vibe around the table. I think I'm drunk on the atmosphere alone.
The party went as perfectly as one might imagine. By the time Makima and I reached the location, everyone had gotten comfortable and in the mood. So we skipped the whole stage of people finding their hype for the party.
Right now, the members were having conversations among each other. Power was quite reserved, perhaps due to my and Makima's presence. She was content with keeping to herself and picking out the meat from the grills before anyone got the chance.
Denji was on his own with a beer in hand. He was looking at all of us around the table, a smile and dream in his eyes. It was like seeing a child getting their wish. In front of him was his special bread and jam waiting to be eaten.
Aki and Himeno sat with each other. Kobeni and Hiro too. And the rest of the members were spread around the table.
There were eleven of us in total.
"Now that everyone has gotten comfortable with each other, how about we get to know each other as the next phase?" Himeno suggested with red on her cheeks.
From the very beginning, she was the centre of the party. She acted more like a host than I did.
"And how are we going to do that?" Madaka asked.
"Simple. Let's begin first on why we became a Devil Hunter and get to meet all of you good people," she said.
"I'll begin," she said. "I became a Devil Hunter initially because I wanted to kill the Gun Devil. I was also a village girl who was not really good with studies so I thought the best way to come to Tokyo was by becoming a Devil Hunter."
"I have considered quitting my job countless times, but this job, once you enter it, has a way of trapping you," she said.
Of course, that was not the complete truth, but it was the gist of it from what I remembered in my past life.
The thing that made her stay a Devil Hunter was mainly survivor's guilt. She had lost many of her partners in her time as a Devil Hunter and the guilt of it made her unable to quit. She could not simply just walk away, scot-free. She felt like she owed it to her partners to continue doing the job.
And since Aki arrived, her permanence was cemented. She was not to quit unless Aki did because she loved him.
After she was done, Hiro surprisingly was the one to open up. I guess a part of him thought it was good to follow up on her crush proposal.
"I didn't actually want to be a Devil Hunter," he said suddenly.
Everyone looked at him.
He blinked, surprised at himself, then laughed awkwardly. "Guess that came out wrong."
Aki tilted his head slightly. "Then why are you here?"
Hiro scratched the back of his neck. "My father was one. Died when I was just a baby, but everyone told me he was a good man. I was a single child, and my mother was still young and beautiful. But even then, she never had a second husband. Heck, I don't think there was any other man in her life after my father passed."
"But she died when I was seventeen," he said, his voice suddenly becoming sober.
"At that point, I just decided to become a Devil Hunter and follow my father's legacy. I thought maybe if I followed the same path, it would mean something. Like I'd finally get to know him better. Know the father I never had and finally get a clue on why everyone said he was a good man."
There was a pause.
"I still don't," he added quietly. "But after working with you all and seeing what I have seen, I think I know a bit better what kind of a man he was and how he would feel."
I raised my drink after he was done with his story.
"To Hiro's father," I raised my hand.
Everyone followed suit, and we cheered.
"And may we all find maidens just as faithful as his mother!" I added, and everyone laughed.
After the laughter from my dumb blessing died down, the members began sharing their stories one by one. Some were ordinary, like because they always thought it was a cool hardcore job, while most joined because of the Gun Devil Incident.
"My turn," Takeda said. He was one of the newest members of the division.
"I was born an orphan in the Aoba Child Welfare Home. Most of the orphans there had their parents killed by devil attacks. But I was different because I was abandoned by my parents. They are still alive, I think. The other children would always pick on me for that, saying I was not wanted and stuff," he said.
Another story sadder than most had to share.
"So I never really bothered or tried to become a Devil Hunter like the other kids. I wasn't lured in by the obvious propaganda they put on the orphanage so that every kid becomes a Devil Hunter to avenge their parents," he said.
"But becoming a Devil Hunter was easy and almost forced in the orphanage. So I became one. Mind you, I could quit anytime I wanted to, but I didn't really have anything else to live for. My whole life, I thought I was alive with the sole purpose of dying," he said.
"Everyone dies eventually. So the main reason I stayed was that I thought that if humans were all meant to die anyway, I wanted to die with a bang," he said.
"My life never meant anything; it was unwanted from the start," he chuckled to himself. "But I thought here, at least maybe my death can mean something."
Holy fucking shit, that's heavy. I think I'm gonna cry. A lot of the members were already crying, especially Kobeni. Hiro and Madaka, who were sitting beside him, gave the man a much-needed hug.
"I was a soldier in the JGSDF," Madaka said. "I was good at what I was doing. But an injury from battle made me unable to continue my job."
"The enemy threw a flashbang. Thinking that it was a grenade or other explosives, I moved to save my comrade and tried stopping the blast with my body. The flashbang exploded right in my face, causing this scar," he said, pointing at the scar that ran across his face.
"And I was blind for a while, so I was discharged from the military. But my vision recovered over time. The doctors called it Photochemical Retinal Injury. Turns out, I was not completely blind, and now I can see well with the help of glasses," he said.
"The government took away my disability compensation after a new medical exam. They even made me pay back the little money I had spent, since it was an incorrect assessment. And I had to find work again. I tried normal jobs for a while, but I just couldn't do it. In the end, I decided to continue working in the field I knew best. I was not going to join the military again with the way they betrayed me, so I joined the Public Safety Commission instead," he said.
I always knew Madoka was secretly a badass. This just proved my suspicion.
"Why are you being so humble?" Himeno said. "Did you know, in his time in the military, the Minister of Defence himself gave him a medal?"
"Really?" Aki asked in surprise.
"The Defence Merit Medal," Madoka nodded before downing another drink. "In the end, it was just cheap metal. Doesn't mean shit. I threw it away after the government sent me a bill I needed to pay back from the compensation they withdrew."
"The government is so ass."
"It's corrupt to the core."
The members continued sharing their stories. Kobeni also shared hers by the end, about how her parents favoured her brother and they needed money to send him to college.
It was either that she became a prostitute or a Devil Hunter. And she chose the latter.
Aki's reason for becoming a Devil Hunter was pretty straightforward. The Gun Devil killed his family, and he joined for revenge. He was going to kill the Gun Devil one day.
But he said that in a very Sasuke way.
Even Denji shared how he became a Devil Hunter.
"Well," Denji said, scratching his cheek, "mine's easy."
"I was broke. Like, really broke. Like eating garbage broke," he said. "I didn't have parents, didn't go to school, didn't have shit. The only thing I had was debt and my chainsaw dog Pochita."
"Then I died. Then I didn't."
A pause. But Denji didn't explain further.
"I joined because Miss Makima said I'd get three square meals a day and a bed to sleep."
Everyone turned towards Makima, who only gave the slightest smile.
And lastly.
"What about you, Captain? Why did you become a Devil Hunter?" Himeno asked after everyone else in the division had shared their story.
"Hmm?" I paused mid-eating.
Everyone's eyes were on me now. They knew about the legendary Pig Devil, yes, but most didn't know how or even where I came from.
Why did I become a Devil Hunter?
I swallowed my food. "Are you sure you want to hear it? It's pretty dark and sad."
This time, even Makima straightened herself. She was clearly interested in what I was about to say, although she knew everything about me.
"Even edgier than Aki's?" Himeno asked, blinking.
"Hey!" Aki was offended, but still smiling.
"Much edgier. He is a ball compared to mine edge," I said.
Everyone was more interested now.
And so I began.
"In a land of myths and a time of magic... the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy," I said.
"His name's... Merlin."
"....."
"....."
"....."
"I knew he was going to say something stupid, but this is beyond anything I could imagine," Aki said, breaking the silence.
"I'm just messing with you," I said with a wave, before giving an answer. "When the Public Safety Commission found me, they gave me two choices. Be killed or work for them. So I decided to work for them."
"Huh, that might not be a lot, but that's quite dark," Madoka commented.
"I know, right? Simple and bleak," I said.
The party continued for a few hours afterwards before it came to an end around 8 pm in the night. Makima left earlier, and I had to help Aki carry Power and Denji, who were both completely passed out like children.
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Author: The backstories mentioned here are my own, except Aki, Denji, and Kobeni. Others I just made up, so it's not canon for those who didn't know.
Those who don't read the Chainsaw Man manga, don't flex this fanfic knowledge in discussions.
I talked to this girl one time about One Piece with my fanfic knowledge. Most embarrassing moment of my life. And yes, I never watched One Piece. My knowledge is purely fanfic.
Confidently saying Dragon has the weather weather fruit and Xebec has the death death fruit was just one of the things I said to her.
Don't do it, guys.