I Am All At Sea of Blood: Before Chainsaw Man

Chapter 1 : Yet Another Loss

The sound of the chattering seagulls and crashing waves echoed in the distance, drowned out by the static sound of the TV screen, which turned to show a figure of a man.

"Following a devil attack this afternoon, 13 injured civilians were recovered and safely brought to the hospital. All thanks to the efforts of the Public Safety team," the man announced.

Staring blankly and fixated on the TV was a girl sitting on her futon. Comfortably, she embraced the sunset light peering into her small room, its warm hue appearing to give her long red hair and amber eyes a bright glow.

Behind her resting back and outlining the rest of her body were a pile of pillows and dolls in differing shapes and sizes. Two layers of knitted blankets covered the lower half of her body, and laid beside her, was an assortment of books, fruits, and other snacks.

Between the monotone lines spoken by the man on TV, from the door across the room, she heard a click followed by a long creak. The girl, knowing just who to expect from the door, immediately turned her attention to it, her eyes filling with excitement in anticipation.

Out from the door came a boy with a bag in his hand. If it were not for his black hair and grey eyes, his smiling, freckled face would have been an exact mirror image of her.

"Welcome back home, Izuki Nii-chan!" The girl cheered with a smile.

For the boy, it was like she was just as bright as the sun behind her.

"Hahah... yeah... I'm home... Izumi," the boy said as he made his way closer to her, noticing the bright TV screen. "What are you watching?"

"Oh, I don't know, just some news, I guess. About another devil attack in the city."

"Oh no..." Izuki sat beside her, eyes still fixated on the TV. "Well, at least the devil hunters got to get rid of it, right?"

"Yeah..."

"That's good to hear then..."

"So, how was work today?"

"Well, about that..." The boy opened up his bag, revealing two plastic bento boxes. "The market's been very busy today, so I didn't have time to look for ingredients. I hope you are okay with having Konbini tonight."

"Oh... Well... that's fine by me. Are you okay, though, Nii-chan?"

"Hm? Well... to be honest, I'd rather cook for us both but-..."

"No... not the food. I'm asking about you." The girl's face started to fill with concern. "You said it was busy, right? Did anything happen? Did you get hit again?"

"Oh no, the boss was a bit too distracted for that... " Izuki shrugged before uttering under his breath. "Still got yelled at, though..."

"Hmmm..." The girl pouted, puffing her cheeks.  "You should really quit that job, Nii-chan. I don't like it when you are being treated like that."

"You don't need to worry about it. The pay is good, after all. Hahaha..." The boy chuckled. "Besides, Otousan used to work like that, too, right? He could manage all that with no problem."

"That's true... but still..."

Hearing his sister's voice fading, Izuki turned to her, whose smile had completely turned into that of a frown. As the sun's light began to fade, he quickly noticed the worrisome state of her skin's complexion.

"Hey, Izumi. You look very pale. Don't you think we should do 'it' now?" Said Izuki, inching even closer to her.

"Oh, come on, Nii-chan. I'm fine," she rolled her eyes.