As Asa and Ukuri begin talking about hypothetical plans, you can feel yourself zoning out. You keep trying to pay attention, but your brain wants otherwise. All you've been thinking about is Chainsaw Man this, Chainsaw Man that, Denji this, Denji that, it's draining. Now some chick you apparently knew a long time ago is here.
You still can't comprehend why she cares, like, how good was your friendship for her to seek you out? Is it really just because she's.. bored? Like, this is some life-threatening stuff here, who would just automatically agree to it?
Wait, no, that's hypocritical. You're in this situation in the first place because you automatically offered to help Asa with this. Well, that's kind of different, right? She's your girlfriend, why wouldn't you help? Plus, Sizzie agreed just as fast and that wasn't really suspicious.. though, she does seem a bit suicidal so maybe that's why. Is Ukuri suicidal too then? No, no, that doesn't really make much sense. Maybe it really is just because she's bored.
"Y/N? Do you have any ideas?" Asa says as she taps your knee, snapping you back into reality.
"Huh? Uh.. not that I can think of, no.."
"Anything will help, we're just kinda spitballing here."
"Sorry, my brain's a bit fuzzy right now.. have you guys came up with anything?"
"Not yet, but, y'know, we just started talking about it so it'll take some time to form a proper plan. Are you feeling okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I think I'm gonna go take a shower to clear my head a bit. You two keep talkin' about the plan." You say, crawling towards your clothes in the corner and grabbing some of them.
"Okay.. take your time, Y/N. We'll let you know if we came up with something when you get back." She says, leaning in and kissing your cheek. You kiss her nose and get up, opening the booth door. "I'll try not to take too long. Ukuri, don't pull no funny business while I'm gone."
"Funny business? Elaborate."
"Uh.. like.. just don't do nothin' weird."
"That didn't elaborate on anything. Did you mean anything violent or sexual?"
"WHAT! Well, the violent part, kinda cuz I don't know if you're up to anything, but why even bring up the last thing.."
"That could fall under "funny business". I won't pull anything. Go take that shower, your hair is ever so slightly greasy."
"Your hair's probably even greasier with that beanie you got on.."
"So defensive. Go."
"Uh huh.." You walk out and close the door behind you, walking into a room next to the bathroom. It leads to a set of rooms, each having a private shower. Pretty fancy, honestly. It's even got towels.
You place down everything and grab a towel. You walk in a room and start to take your clothes off, placing them on a counter beside you before glancing in the mirror.
There's blood splattered all over you in the reflection. Your eyes widen as you look down, seeing nothing on your skin. The blood in your reflection remains despite none of it being present.
It seems your actions have tainted your reflection of yourself.
So deeply affected by the fear you were born from.
No matter how many times you cleanse your skin, your heart will never forget.
You'll never forget.
Nor will the world.
Not Asa, not Chainsaw Man, Denji to be more precise..
Not Chester.
No matter how many times you cleanse your skin, the blood will remain.
You choose to ignore it.
You take the rest of your clothes off and place them down, stepping in the shower and closing the curtain. The showerhead turns on. The water begins to pour out against the top of your head. You stare blankly at the wall, letting the water roll down your face.
The sound of blood rushing throughout your ears is becoming more prominent, as is the sound of your heartbeat. The water flowing down sounds like thousands of small drums being banged on above you, hitting you in the process. It's beginning to sting.
Oh.. the water's too hot.
You try to reach towards the knob to change the temperature, but your body won't move. It's as if there's an invisible barrier surrounding you, preventing your muscles from moving even an inch.
It's beginning to burn.
Why won't you move?
It hurts.
Just move. It's such a simple act, turning a knob.
Move.
Your face is beginning to feel numb.
Move.
The sensation of the water pouring onto your head is beginning to disappear.
Move.
Your eyes are open, the water is getting in your eyes. Despite that, you won't blink.
Move.
Why are you alive?
Move.
Don't subject yourself to pain.
Move.
It's only water.
Move.
Maybe you can run away.
Move.
It's all your fault.
Move.
You jerk your arm towards the knob, accidentally shutting the water off and breaking the knob in the process. You blink a few times, holding the broken knob in your hand. Turning it, you feel relieved it still works.
COLD! COLD! WAAAY TOO COLD!
You set it to a decent temperature. That's better. Your eyes feel a bit dry, so you rub them. Much better.
You start washing your body, your hair, all that. Not sure what "all that" would entail because you only have your body and hair to wash.
Oh.
You take your heart out and hold it away from the water, brushing your thumb against it.
"Hey, Heart?"
It rolls around in your hands.
"Am I gonna die?"
It stops rolling.
...
"Heart?"
It begins rolling again.
"You can talk to me, can't you? I heard your voice in my head that day."
It stops rolling once more.
"C'mon, say something. I know you wannaaa." You have a teasing tone in your voice, gently squishing your heart.
...
It rolls.
You close your hands, trapping it and preventing it from rolling. "Dude, don't ignore me. C'mon."
...
"Nothing?"
...
"Jeez, alright, fine." You put a little bit of soap on it, cleaning your heart and splashing water on it. "I don't get why you're bein' so difficult. Why would you talk to me once in my whooole life then refuse to do it again? I swear, I feel like you really don't like me sometimes."
...
It faintly glows a light pink color, bouncing up and down in your hand.
"Does that mean you do like me or are you just tryna trick me?"
It continues bouncing.
"Okay, okay, I believe you. Thank you for beating, Heart." You hold it still, kissing it and putting it back in your chest. You turn the shower off, walking out and grabbing your towel. After you dry off, you put your clothes back on. You avoid staring at the mirror the entire time.
You walk back and open the booth door, seeing Asa and Ukuri..
Uh..
"Why does Asa look so out of it.." You say to Ukuri, closing the door and sitting down.
"She asked for me to further elaborate about my ability. I said it would be easier to show her."
"Dude, she's kinda.. pffft.. she's kinda drooling.."
"I'm aware. I distorted her reality in a harmless way. She's most likely seeing what you'd typically see with a hallucinogen."
"Oh..? Huh.. so she's basically super high?"
"You could say that, I suppose. Super might be an understatement."
You wave your hand in front of her face. She doesn't even blink. "Asaaa?" You say, tapping her nose.
"Perhaps she can't hear you?"
"What, is she stuck in her head or something?"
"It's possible."
"I see.. well, make her reality normal again."
Ukuri claps her hands together, forming a shape that resembles a tear drop with her hands. The moment she closes her hands together, Asa blinks a few times and looks at you.
"Bubbles are the answer to the universe."
"Huh."
"Think about it. We come into existence, floating and waiting to be popped. We're all bubbles. The universe is a bubble, and we're microorganisms living inside of it. The bubble, which is the universe, is never-ending, constantly expanding with its inevitable fate of collapsing in on itself and popping. We're literally bubbles living inside of a bubble."
"..."
"..."
"Bro, what did you do to her?"
"I did nothing except distort her reality. Perhaps she's having an existential crisis?"
"I'M NOT! THAT'S LITERALLY JUST THE ANSWER TO THE UNIVERSE!"
"Asa, that don't even make sense.. like, why bubbles specifically?"
"..Because they're bubbles? Obviously?"
"Huh.. maybe we are bubbles."
"See, now you're getting it! I'm not having a crisis or whatever, we're literally just bubbles."
"Yeah.. bubbles.."
"Well.. anyways, do you feel any better?" Asa says as she scoots closer to you.
"Oh, uh.. yeah."
"That was oddly unconvincing and now I don't believe you."
"WHAT! WHY!"
"YOU SAID, "Uhh.." WAITED A MOMENT, THEN SAID "Yeah."! THAT'S VAGUE!"
"W-WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?!"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe like, "Yeah, I'm feeling okay." or something!"
"Then, yeah, I'm feeling okay!"
"You're just saying that because I gave you an example."
"Jeez, Asa! Seriously, I'm okay!"
She squints her eyes at you, looking you up and down and looking away. "If you say so."
"DUDE!"
"I'm playing, dummy. I believe you."
Ukuri clears her throat rather loudly to get your attention. You both look over.
"May we tell her our plans now?"
"Oh! Yeah, we came up with something. Well, two things, actually." Asa says, grabbing her notebook from beside her and opening it to the last page. "I wrote it down earlier.. it's a draft, though."
You take the notebook and look at the page.
It reads:
"Plan 1!!! Destruction route. We could cause a huge ruckus around the city and frame it as a devil attack without actually harming anyone, effectively driving Denji out. Ukuri can erase his memory of being Chainsaw Man, which would include anything he's ever done as Chainsaw Man, basically making him unable to effectively fight back. we could kill him this way by destroying his heart.
risks: devil hunters + he may see the starter on his chest and just pull it, allowing him to be Chainsaw Man and fight back despite not knowing what's going on :("
You finish reading the first plan.
"So we just destroy the city and jump him while he's clueless if he pops up?"
"Mm.. basically, yeah."
"Seems pretty risky.. could work, though."
Ukuri scoots a little closer to you two. "Since he's a hybrid, he likely has a contract with the Chainsaw Devil. If I could find out what that contract entails, I could break the contract by making him forget what he needs to do to keep it sealed and possibly separate the two."
"..How would we find that out?"
"Not sure. I can access memories, but only relatively recent memories. As he's been Chainsaw Man for quite some time, I doubt I'd be able to find it."
"Okay.. lemme read the second plan."
You look further down the page.
It reads:
"Plan 2!!! Kidnapping route :3! we could simply kidnap him, though we'd need something to sedate him with and very careful planning. everything would need to go perfectly once we flesh out this plan if we go with it. once we kidnap him and bring him to a secluded area, we can take his heart out and destroy it like that. easy peasy.
well, not easy peasy since we'd need to get the things to sedate him, we'd need to leave since this would be a team plan kinda thing, and his little sister can't be home. she's a big problem. if she were to see us, it'd be over. even if he saw us, he'd definitely pull his starter and we'd follow plan 1 from that point on. to get something to sedate him and knock him out, we'd have to get something like chloroform which is typically in hospitals, meaning we'd have to steal it without being seen by anybody in public. it's a safer option so we can avoid devil hunters or hurting anyone, but definitely risky."
"..Y'all don't got any plans that don't involve risks?"
"Do you have any ideas then?"
"..Not at this moment.."
"We can't really decide which to pick. Again, it's just a draft, but.. which should we pick, Y/N?"
...
You have a decision to make.
Either stick to what you're good at and bring him out through destruction, possibly risking the lives of civilians and having loads of devil hunters show up since you're actively being hunted..
Or.
Carefully plan out a hospital heist + kidnapping, risking you two being seen by the public eye or having his sister/roommate catch you all, ending everything.
Decide.
no seriously decide you genuinely have a choice COMMENT WHICH ONE GUYS I'll also do a vote on my ig story for those who follow me on the gram. whatever has the most votes, I'll write. :3!
just remember
your actions have consequences. <3