"Do you have a name?"
Once he was sure the chainsaw pup had drunk its fill, Makoto Nishikado tore a strip from the hem of his shirt and wrapped the wound on his palm. He kept his voice soft.
Arf?
The chainsaw pup tilted its head. Apart from the conspicuous chainsaw sprouting from its skull, a casual glance would've mistaken it for an ordinary fat dog.
Nishikado chuckled.
He knew Pochita could talk. The little devil just wasn't in the habit of doing so.
"Then how about I call you Pochita? Sound good?"
"Arf!"
"Good boy. C'mere, let me hold you... hey, hey, hey, quit licking!"
After finally prying Pochita loose, Nishikado pumped his fist in the air. "Right! To celebrate our fateful meeting, let's go get a proper meal!"
"Arf!"
Pochita's bark was pure enthusiasm. Nishikado scooped up his new companion in his left arm, formed a one-handed seal with his right, and vanished.
Eng-gay-land. The Chainsaw Man world's version of it, anyway. A small restaurant tucked into some forgettable street.
"Sir, please don't do this."
Saika Totsuka, dressed in a server's uniform, wore a look of helpless distress.
"Hey, girl, I'm a regular here. What's the harm in one little date?"
A blond man had Totsuka's wrist in a grip he refused to release, his face slick with the confidence of someone who'd never been told no.
He'd been fixated on the delicate-featured Asian "girl" since the moment he walked in.
The other men in the restaurant weren't much better. Their eyes tracked Totsuka with undisguised interest. The food might've been good, but the server was clearly the main attraction.
"B-but I already have someone I like! And I'm a guy!"
Totsuka's eyes glistened, voice cracking toward tears.
The blond man's grin only widened. So did the grins around him.
This was England, after all. The lads weren't exactly deterred.
"Son of a..."
Ryo Kurokiba was already rising from his seat, but Soma Yukihira caught his arm.
"Relax. Someone's going to handle it."
The words had barely left Soma's mouth when a figure shot out from the side and planted a kick square in the blond man's chest, launching him across the room.
"Get out! Show your face in here again and I'll put you through the wall every single time!"
Hachiman Hikigaya, all traces of his usual low-key demeanor gone, stood with bloodshot eyes and a voice like a drawn blade.
The blond man, minus several teeth, stared up in disbelief. He hadn't expected the unassuming Asian kid to hit like a freight train. The killing intent radiating from those red-rimmed eyes was no bluff. He scrambled to his feet and bolted.
"You okay, Saika?"
Hachiman turned, and his voice went gentle in an instant.
"Hachiman!" Totsuka threw both arms around him, face buried in his chest. "I was so scared!"
"It's fine, it's fine... I'm here."
Soma stared.
Kurokiba stared.
Zenji Marui stared.
Shun Ibusaki stared.
The entire Food Wars crew wore identical expressions of complicated discomfort, as though someone had force-fed them a five-course meal of public affection.
"Doesn't Totsuka have powers too?" Marui muttered under his breath. "Why didn't he..."
"Probably auto-switches into damsel mode around Hikigaya," Kurokiba deadpanned.
Soma blinked. "Wait, he's a guy?"
A figure emerged from the kitchen, and a measured voice answered for them all. "In this day and age, love between two men is hardly unusual, boys."
Soe Nakiri. A man confronted with reality.
It had only been days since Nishikado and Alice had gotten together, and this doting father had been promptly shipped off by his own daughter. Alice had decided Dad was cramping her style and dispatched him to her classmates' restaurant overseas.
Nishikado had no complaints. Sleeping with the man's daughter while living under the same roof had an awkwardness that was hard to shake.
This little restaurant was Hachiman's operation. He and his crew had left Japan following Nishikado's advice, settling overseas to lay low while Nishikado dealt with the Control Devil and led everyone back to reality.
"Yo. You two are still disgustingly cute together, I see."
The familiar voice cut through the room. Hachiman, Totsuka, and every member of the Food Wars crew whipped around at once.
Nishikado strolled toward them, waving with a grin.
Soma and the others nearly fell over themselves.
Hachiman and Totsuka, more accustomed to the man's antics, didn't jump quite as dramatically, but their eyes still went wide.
"You actually came?"
Before the groups had scattered, Nishikado had distributed Flying Thunder God kunai to the leaders of most squads. Hachiman's was one of them. He'd always assumed that if Nishikado ever wanted to catch up, his first stops would be Megumi Kato or the Akizuki sisters, the women in his life. The idea that he'd come here first was the last thing Hachiman expected.
Nishikado walked in and dropped into the seat the handsy blond had vacated. "I'm starving. Get us something to eat."
"Us?"
The word hung in the air. Then everyone noticed what Nishikado was cradling in his other arm: a round, pudgy little dog.
With a chainsaw growing out of its head.
Hachiman, the shop's owner and self-appointed bouncer, snapped his fingers at Soma and the others. They scrambled back to the kitchen without a word.
"So, uh..." Hachiman scratched the back of his head, fishing for conversation. "I really didn't expect you to come see us."
"I didn't come to see you."
Nishikado's tone was level. "If I'd gone to Megumi or Ayano first, I might've led enemies straight to them."
Back in the kitchen, Soma and Kurokiba stumbled mid-stride and nearly faceplanted into their pots.
Great. So if WE get targeted by enemies, that's totally fine.
"Hold on, did he just say Ayano..."
"Is there even a player named Ayano in this round?"
Hachiman's eye twitched. He forcibly redirected his attention to the creature sitting on the table. "So, uh, this dog... yours?"
"He's adorable!" Totsuka leaned in, reaching for Pochita. "And that little saw on his head..."
Grrrr!
The instant Totsuka's fingertips got close, Pochita's low growl sent him tumbling backward onto the floor.
"Don't touch him," Nishikado warned. "Pochita's guard is up around anyone who isn't me."
"Is... is that thing a devil?" Hachiman helped Totsuka up, disbelief written across his face.
"Yeah. We've already signed a contract."
A hush fell over the room.
Every one of them remembered. Before they'd parted ways, Nishikado had drilled it into their heads: never sign a contract with a devil unless it was life or death.
And now he'd gone and done it first.
Then again, looking at the pudgy, harmless little furball in front of them, and then thinking about the man who'd single-handedly steamrolled half the planet in the real world... they figured this dog probably wasn't in a position to make any outrageous demands. At most, it just wanted kibble.
"Here you go. Yukihira-style steak rice bowl."
Soma emerged from the kitchen carrying a heaping bowl and set it down on the table.
Arf!
Pochita barked once, mouth already wide open, ready to dive in.
"Wait! There's onion in that!" Soma blurted.
He didn't own a dog, but he knew the basics. Back when he and his dad ran their diner, customers brought pets in all the time and loved to sneak them scraps off their plates.
Pochita ignored him completely and buried his face in the bowl, devouring everything at manic speed.
Eat eat eat eat EAT!
"He's a devil," Nishikado reminded him.
Soma realized what a stupid thing he'd said, scratched his head in embarrassment, and retreated to the kitchen.
Kurokiba, Marui, and the rest followed with dish after dish.
"Mr. Nishikado, how are Alice and the others doing?"
Soe Nakiri drifted over, unable to keep the question in any longer. Leaving his wife and daughter behind had been agonizing, but he could read the room. Nishikado clearly preferred not to have other men around, so he'd accepted his exile.
"They're fine. Got their own little shop running too." Nishikado bit into a lamb chop as he spoke. "Guys with bad intentions show up now and then, but I've dealt with every one of them."
"Oh, good, good."
Soe nodded, then a thought struck him. "By the way, what was our bet, exactly? I've asked Leonora multiple times, but she won't tell me."
Nishikado gave him a look that was half-smile, half-warning. "You really want to know?"
Something about that smile made Soe's throat go dry. "On... on second thought, never mind."
A powerful instinct told him that learning the truth would lead to something catastrophic.