𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗, chainsaw man

07. the prey & the predator

Ever since they had set foot in Wazuka Aki had taken notice how on edge this town made Seira feel. She tried to hide it, but the irritation that made her eyes slant daggers and forced her jaw to clench gave the emotionless woman away, and Aki only wished to know what the deeply rooted reason was behind the rigid and unmoving stance she had on the town. He couldn't pinpoint if it was the fact that a primal fear was terrorizing the town, or if it was because she originated in some form or fashion from this town.

Lucky for both of them today Seira had decided to give up on the useless door knocking and turn to a more suitable approach, trap setting. Seira had told Aki that the devil most likely ran for the forest that consumed the outskirts of Wazuka, and that they would ambush the servant of Hell back to its safe space, only to catch it there. They were going to make the predator a prey; they were going to make the devil's playing field their court of thorns.

They had left early morning, the sun just barely peaking over the surrounding mountains, and Aki had barely had a few sips of his coffee before Seira was practically dragging him out the front door. She had a backpack strapped to her shoulders, and a bag filled with assortment of hunting objects flowing out of it. She had a pep in her step, and it was the first time on this trip Aki had seen Seira content in Wazuka. He liked to see her in such an ethereal state, for it often made his stomach flutter with butterflies.

When they had reached the forest, they snaked their way through the overarching trees, and Aki couldn't help but find himself thinking that if he had done this alone, he would have been scared of getting lost in natures maze. Seira bobbed and weaved her way through with ease, as if she had done this every day for her whole life, and Aki caught himself thinking on how many times had she come out to these woods to maybe read or become with nature.

Aki would never admit this, and often times had to erase it from his mind so as not to give away his secret, but he had read Seira's diary awhile back when she had left to attend Sunday mass. He felt ashamed by this, and often he kept himself up with the thought that he had committed a sin, and figured a confession to the priest would wash away his sin. Her diary didn't reveal much, or at least nothing that he was looking for in particular, but it had revealed how mesmerized Seira was to nature, for she often described the need to return to a place called Eden. He didn't quit know if she was talking about a physical Eden or using it as a metaphor for a place she had to abandon for the small apartment in Tokyo, but he often wondered what her Eden must have looked like. Was it a gorgeous garden overflowing with towering trees, the grass and bushes painted with the brightest of greens nature could offer. Did the animals talk with fluent sentences and live in harmony of one another. Did Seira have an Adam accompanying her amidst her stay in paradise, and did she get seduced by a talking serpent. Did she damn herself for her deal with the Devil? Was this forest her Eden at one point?

They had been out in the forest for a good majority of the day, and Aki grew hungry for lunch as he set up the last of his handful of traps. He couldn't help but wonder if he was actually trying to catch a bear with all the traps he was setting up. Seira set up more intricate pieces of equipment, such as a trip wire that shot out needles of poison that would prick the enemy if they fell into the trap. Aki had questioned if they should really be doing such a thing, for he worried that a passerby would fall into such menacing traps, but Seira insisted that no one ever came into these woods, especially not after the sudden appearance of a devil.

"Seira, it's past lunch, do you think we could take a small break from this?" Aki shouted so that she could hear him, for she was a few feet ahead of him, but she never responded.

Aki waited a few minutes for a response, but one never came, and with the seconds ticking by he become more anxious. He slowly approached the place he last saw her at, each step carried more fear than a child who feared the darkness of their bedroom. As he came up on the half put together trap that Seira was working on, he stared mortified by the sight in front of him. A deer had been brutally disfigured, almost to the point of unrecognizable, with fresh putrid blood smeared everywhere. Its stomach torn open, and intestines pulled out of their rightful place, the long fragile legs of the docile animal twisted and turned in weird shapes. The head beaten and battered as if it were smashed several times by a blunt object, the skull struct open, but the brain was missing.