I Am All At Sea of Blood: Before Chainsaw Man

Chapter 15 : Pause

Izuki stood alone in the containment department office. His body leaning on the walls, he fidgets with his pocket knife, spinning it on his palm and juggling it between his hands. It was a mild amusement for the man at the receptionist table across from him, but for Izuki, it was a little more. A little distraction from the troubling sense of doubts that was starting to emerge was what it was. The scent was still fresh in his nose, a mark of his short detour to the weaponry. But even after equipping himself with the most weapons he was allowed to, anxiety and excitement mixed and swirled in his head, causing him to be rather restless. That was until the sounds of dangling chains started to fade in from the distance, signaling him to put the blade back and calm himself down.

He looked over in the direction of the room's entrance. Even when he already expected what might come, he could not help but be taken aback by the sight of Arch all restrained and tugged along the chains. Her white shirt was stained, covered in splotches of red, yellow, and brown; her hair tie was worn haphazardly, and her hair matted. Izuki gave the guard, pulling her chain, a silent glare as Arch was slowly released from her restraints, anger, and disbelief starting to fill him at the thought of what she went through for the days he was hospitalized. But when Arch's eye cover was lifted from her eyes, Izuki straightened his back, exhaling his anger, and put up a smile suited to welcome his Buddy.

"Good day, Arch," He greeted her. "It's been a while since we've seen each other, right? How are you feeling?"

Arch did not answer. Instead, she gave the very same glare Izuki had given to her restrainer. Ignoring Izuki's presence, her eyes followed the man's line of vision until he finally was out of their sight. Izuki, recognizing their shared feelings, once again called out for her, hoping to water down her anger.

"Arch? Hello?" He tapped her shoulder, startling her. "Are you alright?"

"What? Me?" Arch's gaze slightly softened when she laid her eyes on him, or at the very least for a few seconds before she backed away, crossed her hands, and raised her voice at him. "Wha-what do you think you are doing? Touching my body all you want?! After all the things you-"

"Shhh! Your voice!" He pressed his hand against her lip, taking a quick glance at the man by the desk, who kept a suspicious gaze on them.

Well, she bounces back quickly, that's for sure. No need to worry about that.

Izuki sighed, seeing anger still very much written in Arch's eyes. His eyes trailed up to what was on Arch's head. Sliding his hand off her lips, a smile formed on his face as he felt a small sign that gave him a sense of reassurance, "I see you are wearing the hat I gave you..."

Arch let out a soft grumble, her eyes averting from him as if trying to avoid his presence. "S-so what? It's just a hat..."

"You did it all on your own... I'm impressed..." Izuki tilted his head, catching a glimpse of Arch's tentacles peeking under the hat. "Looks like you missed a few spots here..."

"Kyaaa! S-stop touching me so suddenly there!" Arch squealed, feeling the young man's touch as he tucked in her tentacles.

"Sorry... sorry... Just a little more..." He said, ensuring that her tentacles were kept securely under her hat. "There you go..."

"Hmmm..." the fiend lowly grumbled, flaring her teeth at her. She doesn't seem to appreciate his gesture.

"Now then... Should I do the same to your clothes as well? It looks a little messy..."

"I'm fine!" Arch asserted, puffing up her chest."This style perfectly suits my taste, can't you tell?"

"Errr...Sure..." That statement was a clear lie, but at this point, Izuki figured it was probably best to run with her lies than pry even more, even when he wanted to do the opposite. "Then, shall we start our patrol then?"