"Dreamer's club, eh?" Fami said, cranning her head back. It was sometime after the bell rung when you caught Fami walking out of her homeroom. The school day had ended, and much to your own dismay, Denji didn't show up at all. Still, you decided to seize the opportunity. Now was the perfect time, as Fami wasn't surrounded by her many cronies.
"You said that you'd throw in--" you said. Your stomach growled. She looked dead at your stomach, then at you. You awkwardly looked away. You forgot to pack your lunch for today, you were starving.
"I know what I said." She tilted her head.
You were angry at her. A lot of it all was your fault. You clenched your fist. "Good." You sassed.
She darted her eyes at you for a humbling second, and your anger faltered away. Her eyes were petrifyingthey were filled with the unknown - something that always terrified you. Darkness and the unknown walked hand in hand, and unknown were her intentions with you.
"Okay. Fourth floor, classroom 11-c. It's completely abandoned, and so far out, most people wouldn't think to walk there. It's not in Haruka's monitoring routes. But... You should only have your club on Wednesdays thirty minutes after you say goodbye to Haruka. Do it that way exactly." She said. The two of you approached the doors to the devil hunter club, and she threw it open with one strong hand. "You should decorate your club. It'll be cute." She flashed an eerie smile.
Sometimes, it was easy to forget she was a girl. She was so cold, it was hard to think she had a heart.
You shivered but nodded obediently. You whipped out your phone and shot Denji a quick text.
[y/n] dreamers club, 4th floor, 11c, tmrw
"My love." Haruka jumped to his feet when he saw you. The classroom was filled with members. They had Ramune pop open, each smiling and grinning ear to ear. The room was filled with chatter up, big bold smiles, and light laughs filled the air. Your eyebrows furrowed.
"Haruka." You said as he rushed in close. He smacked his lips against yourself. The kiss felt like a burn, a chaffing scar against you. You couldn't even bring yourself to pucker onto him. Guilt wringed at your heart. He pulled away, and you couldn't meet his eyes.
He didn't know where your lips had been. Who they had been with, and what they did with them.
"What is going on in here?" You asked, chuckling.
"Just a second." He grabbed your hand and pulled you into the circle as everyone stood. He pulled away from you, going to stand some ways away with his arms crossed. "(Y/n), (L/n). Present your offering to the Church." He flicked his bang with his hands.
You pulled open the box and flipped it upside down. The corpse of the button devil fell out and crashed against the floor.
Hums and gasps filled the room. Haruka cracked a cheezing smile, stroking his chin. "What do you think, my lady?" He asked Fami. "Is (Y/n)'s offering enough?"
When was Fami the leader of the club? You turned to her, and she smiled eerily fond. "The jury had decided...." She walked towards you, her hands behind her back, "That (Y/n)... (L/n)..." She pulled her hands out from her back, and there, a cap was in her hands. "Is now a member of the church." She cheered.
Roars filled the room, whooping and cheers drowning out all sound. You winced from it, giggling stiffly.
"About time!" Seigi boomed.
"I'm so h-happy you've joined us, (Y/n)!" Nobana clapped.
"Thank you guys..." You said.
"It's yours, you earned it." Fami said, extending the cap to you.
You stared at it for a second, anxiousness budding in your heart. You gulped.
"Put it on! Put it on!" They chanted.
You grabbed it and adjusted the cap onto your head. And as soon as your hands fell, you were bombarded in a hug. You could feel Nobana's Seigi's strong arms around you. You watched Fami grin and Haruka rush to join them.
"Our newest core team member!" Haruka laughed.
"You're going to be with us... forever." Fami smiled.
Your teeth rattled. You gulped, and you couldn't find the words. A burn nipped at your eyeballs, a log formed deep in your throat. The hug was tight, it was warm, and it was filled with joy and love. Yet, you were so empty, so unhappy. They pulled away, and Haruka took your shoulders in his hands.
"(Y/n). We have to show you the church building now. You're a core member. You're getting all the secrets I couldn't tell you before." His eyes were intense, filled with a foreboding zeal.
"And soon, (Y/n)..." He said, his tone frantic and passionate. "We'll be wed in that very church." A terrific giggle slid from his lips. Immediately, the rest of the club cheered and clapped. The sounds of joy bounced across the ceilings. It was bouncy and as loud as the clap of thunder itself. For every strike, you felt yourself sinking.
Your will was starving. A foreboding submission caused you to smile, although every part of you didn't. It was that same foreboding feeling that made you sink into Haruka, your claws dragging into the back of his jacket.
"Shall we check out the renovations? (Y/n)? We're going today." He kissed your head. Fami caught your eye, standing there, staring dead at you. She tilted her head, and your eyes began to lid. Your knees buckled in, and your weight shifted into Haruka.
You loved Haruka Iseumi...
Yes.
"Of course."
***
Haruka held your hand warmly as the five of you walked to the building he talked so much about. The Chainsaw Man Church building was in the middle of the city. It was a large skyscraper, the top most coveted in scaffolding. There, meen worked, trying to fit a Chainsaw Man logo on the top of it.
"This is where the beauty happens." He giddily exclaimed, shooting his hands up into the air. "We've been saving up in secret for a long time. But Asa and Fami recently made a generous donation! We finally have enough to take this place off the ground." He said.
Your eyebrows quirked. For some reason, the building was eerily familiar. You couldn't place a finger on it. The location, the building... Nostalgia tickled fruitless at your brain.
"Is that why you haven't been calling?" You asked. Not that you minded.
"Duty calls, my sweet." He caresses his thumb against you. He pulls you up the stairs and into the building. The place was giant, filled with boxes, wrapped furniture, ans students from all kinds of schools working their butt off thr get this place set up. They even had hard hats on, some very serious clipboards, and few adults monitoring them. "This place will be a haven for us. A place for humanity to take back their lives from the devils. No more being slaughtered... We will become the warriors." Haruka clenched his fist tightly. Your face hardened at it all, terror rising in your belly.
"We've got a perfect system here too. The Church Elders got it all covered, so you don't have to worry about the legal stuff..." He smiled. How, could you not? This was horrible.
"You-- You said something about m-marriage?" You stammered. Your eyes met one of the few adults in here, hid eyes were dark, and he smiled a little too early at you. You averted your gaze and sunk into Haruka more. You were terrified, and you knew Haruka wouldn't be able to protect you. Knowing that only made things worse.
You were panicking, yet trying so hard to stay afloat.
"Yes. Every member of the church has to get married here. It's the only way for the state to recognize us as a religious sanction. It was a brilliant idea from the elders." He clapped a hand against his chest in aw. "America brought over the idea of adults getting married to enslave the Japanese! But Chainsaw Man devised a plan to free us from their slavery!" Haruka barked.
Denji would never!
"Haruka's lucky-- He already has s-some to marry." Nobana giggled. It was absurd how smiley he was. You stammered, shaking your head, as you staggered a step away from them- and right into--
A large hand landed on your shoulder. The man, his presence was big, his aura was large. You sucked in a uneasy breath as a booming voice resonated from behind, "So. This must be her? Huh, Fami?" He said.
You turned sharply, and there was that man from before. The adult with the dark eyes. He had his hair in a low ponytail, his smile unnerving.
"She's the one." Fami said plainly.
"My, my Haruka. Your fiancé truly is lovely. I'm so glad she finally came around." He said. He didn't remove his hand, and his eyes gazed between my club member hat and Haruka himself. Fiancé? You weren't anyone's fiancé. You looked frantically at Fami, your breath starting to get fearfully uneasy.
All she did back was that stupid, annoying head tilt she always did. This was bad. This was really bad you had to leave.
"Yes, she's heaven on Earth." Haruka smiled.
No. No.
Your vision was spotting. Everything began to blur and pull away, each to jts own direction. You were slowly starting to dissociate. The hand on your shoulder, the eyes on you, her gazed. Tears banged behind a glass wall, yet you looked so calm.
Denji.
Chainsaw Man.
Your stomach growled.
You were starving.
"--Right, (y/n)?"
Someone said.
You blinked. Pulling yourself into the conversation. You looked around a bit, blinking slowly. You couldn't find the source of who said it. Everyone's mouth was closed shut, and everyone had that same smile. "Oh- Uh. Yes." You said.
"Good." The adult said. "I'll be seeing you Monday, Tuesday, and Thrusday then." He pulled his hand off your shoulder.
Oh no.
What did you say yes to?
"Alright, club, get to work." He clapped.
Work doing what? Everyone scattered to their own directions. Quickly, you followed after Seigi, your head on a nervous swivel. Seigi started lifting boxes from the corner, and you grabbed some as well, rushing after his quick steps. You struggled to keep up with him. You were rushing down a long hallway, thriugh winding corridors and stair cases, elevators that were confusing-- until you made it to a disclosed room.
The room was large and filled with round beds. Chainsaw Man was on the ceiling, and light bulb was a romantic shade of dim red. Your eyebrows hardened as you dropped your box down. "What's this room?" You mumured.
Seigi flinched at your voice. He turned sharply to you, blinking in rapid surpise. "Oh, (l/n)." He said. "This is the initiative room." He gazed at the room with you, folding his arms together.
"Why is it a bedroom?" You had a bad feeling. But this, seeing this, made things worse.
"Before members get married, they sleep together here." Seigi said, in that deep, serene voice of his. He was always the voice of reason. Why was he being so unreasonable?
"I don't think this is... Good." You said.
He looked at you with his eye, his eyepatch gleaming in the red light. "I know. But I trust Haruka." He paused, sheltering a deep breath. "Haruka's been taking care of us for so long. He's got a good heart... He's my bestfriend, so I trust him."
Your eyes softened. "Do we have to do this?" You asked.
"I'll try to put mines off for a while. Nobana's being picked first by Barem." He said.
"Barem?" You asked.
"The man you talked to earlier." He said.
"Ooh... What does he do around here?" You asked.
"He's one of the Elders. He's a very high member. He pretty much takes care of everything." Seigi hummed.
"Isn't that... Wei--"
"(Y/n)." Seigi said sternly. "I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole." His eye was strong, his glare pleading.
You looked up at the ceiling, one last time. There was a camera in the corner of the room. This place was a cult. Haruka brought you into a cult. At this point, the whole world could know about your scandal-- you didn't care. But now, after such a sentence. You had to figure out just what was really going on here.
"Attention Members. Please report to the Cafeteria for Lunch." A female voice appeared on the intercom. Her voice was eerily familar.
Seigi opened the door for you, and you stepped out right after him. Members started to pour out from all kinds of rooms and corridors, and luckily for you, Seigi made sure you didn't get lost in the crowd.
The cafeteria was large, with tables filled with Chainsaw Man trinkets and reminders everywhere. His face was on the walls, posters of him on vendering machines-- all of it. You followed Seigi to the line. The lunch staff were all very pretty women, their faces were beaten with makeup, their hair tied wonderfully up. Their uniforms were Chainsaw Man chief outfits.
"Chicken or beef?" She smiled at you.
"Chicken." You said with a stutter. She slapped on food onto your tray, ans you smelled regretfully. When you turned back around, everyone was in a circle around their tables. You froze for a second. Nobody ate, nobody moved, each person stood, holding their that in hand.
What were they doing?
"Lady, get to your table." A mean voice gruffed. You looked to your left in confusion, and much to your surpise, there was a very handsome man before you. His hair was black and wild, his eyes were light. He wore a blue hoodie with a blazer over it, with pretty eyelashes and a brazen stare. His face only scrunched more when you stared at him.
"You're going to miss the prayer." He stepped forward and squinted at you. His face only sunk into more anger and annoyance. "Are you deaf?" He snorted.
"Uhm..." You mumbled. "Er... Haruka..." Erm..." was all you could stammer out.
"Huh--" He jeered.
The intercom blared a little jingle, and the hole room went slient. The sky from before abruptly turned to face the wall, his hands in a salute. You frantically copied him. He whispered, "you don't Salute--"
Singing filled the room, and voices lifted up to chant. All together, they professed their lives in unison. "To Chainsaw Man and the glory of Japan. Humanity will overcome devils, and the ruin of them will fill the cities. We will stop at nothing. We will fear no death, we will persevere. For Chainsaw Man, we will give up our lives, our bodies, and our minds. To the Church, we solely dedicated our bodies to. Long live Chainsaw Man's legacy."
Your jaw fell slack, you gasoed sharply. They kept chanting, how could you witness this? You turned, high tailing it out the room. "Wait-- Idiot!" That boy called in a gruff grunt.
Nevermind. Nevermind. Nevermind.
You had to breakup with Haruka, you had to flee this place. You bursted into the hallways, and there more people were frozen, chanting the same stupid thing. You whimpered anxiously, turning down the next hallway, were more and more stood. You heard footsteps behind you, and you gasped and started bolting.
The winding hallways began to split, left or right, right or left. Nervous tesr budded down your face as you randomly picked on after the other. Chamsic whimpers and cries bounced from your belly. You sounded like a frantic stray cat, bellowing out for its mother. The footsteps were heavy, whoever it was high on your tail.
Left. Right. Right. Left. And suddenly, you were met with a dead in, where a door sat on the other side. You threw it open and dove straight in. The room was dark storage closet, with a small silver of a window bringing the tiniest of light. Boxes and chairs, party material, and miscellaneous items galore filled the room.
Your dove underneath a table, and cupped your mouth.
The door flung open with a clamoring boom. You flinched. Your pursuer stepped in and shut the door behind him. His feet left a melancholy echo as he walked around the room. "Girl... Come out." He said. It was that boy again.
"You're new here. I can tell." He stopped and sat on a chair feet away from you. He slouched.
Tears streamed out from your eyes. You trembled greatly, struggling to keep your own breath quiet.
"You know I can literally see you." Your heart stopped. He leaned over in his chair, and his face popped into view. He stared dead at you. "Why are you crying." He sighed.
You couldn't bring your lips to move. "I am your superior." He squinted. You didn't say anything. He stood up angrily, and you whimpered. He stomped over to the table, and flipped it back, the clamor causing you to cry out. The table turned on its side, and grabbed onto the leg to keep it steady and crouched right in front of you. His stare was annoyed, his eyes were cold.
And you were completely boxed in.