I Am All At Sea of Blood: Before Chainsaw Man

Chapter 9 : Rabid Dog

Through the restaurant's back door, they went to the long interconnected alleyways. Stepping on puddles of freezing murky pools with filthy air around them, where they became the mealtime show for the beady eyes of both mice and crows around them, Izuki and Arch did their search for the devils. Every turn they had to take, Arch would press her ear onto the walls around them before leading to the devil's supposed location.

Izuki, who had one hand on the radio and the other ready to draw out his weapon, steadily followed with caution. The standard procedure would have been to evacuate the premises to prevent potential casualties immediately. Still, he couldn't just do that for the mere suspicion that a devil is around without solid proof. All the paperwork that he would've needed to do if he were to cause unnecessary panic and property damage is something he'd rather not deal with once he got himself back in the headquarters at the end of the week. As he continued tracing his Buddy's footsteps, he asked her the question.

"So how are you sure the devil will be around here anyways?"

Arch, who was about to feel the walls again, glanced back at him, "That's the thing, I am not sure of it myself."

"Huh? What are we even doing here then?" Izuki asked.

"Remember when I told you my powers don't work as well out of water?"

"Yeah?"

"I can detect the presence of other beings around me from sensing their vibrations alone. When I'm in the water, I can basically feel everything, but out here in this body, I can barely feel what is out there," she replied, pressing herself against the wall. "This is probably the best way for me to do it, but even with this, I could only make rough estimates."

"I see..."

Like what she had done before, she began to feel her surroundings, fully delving herself into the sea of sensations, and like before, she felt for the devil around them. It's close, but how close exactly? Her wondering for the answer led her to press herself against the wall harder, hoping to get a better picture where it might be. However, before she could pinpoint where it might be, something else just had to interrupt her flow abruptly.

VRMMMMMVRMMMMMM

The roaring sound of an engine tore the air and ground surrounding it, piercing right through Arch's ears.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!" Arch screamed out, instinctively pushing herself so hard from the wall that she fell right into a puddle behind her.

VRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"Arch?" Izuki rushed to pick her up. "Hey- hey, are you okay?"

"My ears! My ears!" She cried out, shivering and covering both her ears. She didn't even take a glance at the hand Izuki offered her. "What the hell is that sound?! IT HURTS!"

VRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Izuki looked around for the source of the sound, trying to maintain his composure in the confusion.

Is it the devil?

Holding the fiend tight in his arm, he braced himself for any upcoming attack, his right hand tightly gripping the gun handle in his belt.

VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

When he finally found its source, though, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seen from the gap of the alleyway, not too far from the streets, was a park lined with trees along its perimeter, and around one of those trees were a group of men, all dressed in neon orange safety vests and white helmets. One was directing his team, two carried sticks and branches off the ground, and the other one, suspended by the team's truck's lift to match the tree's height, held in his hand a bright-colored chainsaw. It finally clicked together.