Makima smiled faintly.
Subsequently, the two got up and left the restaurant.
"Take care on your way back, please come again."
The waitress at the door bowed slightly, watching the two get into a black car.
Not long after.
The people in the private room noticed that Arata and Makima still hadn't returned since they stepped out.
So they asked Denji and Aki Hayakawa to go out and look for them.
Denji went to check both the men's and women's restrooms.
Aki Hayakawa went outside.
Both returned with no findings.
Seeing the waitress who had been standing by the door, Aki walked over and asked, "Excuse me, did you see my colleagues go out?"
"The two of them left half an hour ago."
"Left half an hour ago?!"
Aki found it strange and pulled out his phone to call Arata.
But after ringing for a while, the call went unanswered.
"How is it, Aki? Did you find Arata and Miss Makima?"
At that moment, Himeno slid open the private room door and walked out, supported by Kobeni.
"Himeno-senpai, the two of them left half an hour ago."
"No way, they left without saying anything? Besides, Arata and Makima's relationship isn't good enough for them to leave together, right?"
"Um... Himeno-senpai, why don't you sit over there first," Kobeni said, struggling as she helped Himeno sit on a nearby chair.
"Maybe they went their separate ways," Aki said, absolutely certain in his heart that Makima wouldn't go home with Arata.
Besides, Aki had known Makima for a long time.
He had never heard Miss Makima mention having a boyfriend.
In Aki's eyes, Makima was solely devoted to her career.
No matter where she went, she always wore that white Public Safety uniform.
She seemed completely uninterested in romance or men.
Previously, a second-generation government official had pursued Makima.
He brought flowers every day to woo her.
But after the second day, Aki never saw that man again.
"Did you see where my master went?" Denji asked the waitress.
"I saw them get into the same car."
"No way, Miss Makima couldn't have gone with Arata to that kind of place, right?!" Drunk Himeno started spouting nonsense, though she was actually speaking her true thoughts.
If possible, she'd be more than willing to take Aki home with her.
"How is that possible?!!" Denji roared immediately after.
His ultimate life goal, Arata had actually achieved it in reality?
He refused to accept this fact.
"A superior actually going to that place with an employee? Your Division 4 is way too messed up."
"Tsurugi, don't talk nonsense." Kiko Natsume punched Tsurugi on the arm.
"Stop spouting nonsense. I know Miss Makima best. It's impossible for her to do that kind of thing with Arata. After all, the two usually have no interaction and have even fought before."
After saying this, Aki called Arata again. This time, the call connected.
"Aki, put it on speaker," Himeno whispered.
Aki held the phone to his ear and listened for a moment first.
Only after confirming there were no strange noises did he turn on the speaker.
"Hello, speak."
"Where are you?" Aki asked.
"I'm soaking in a newly opened hot spring bathhouse."
"Where is Miss Makima?"
"She drank too much and wanted to go back, so I hitched a ride with her car to go take a bath."
Hearing that things hadn't developed in the direction they had feared, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
"I told you so, how could my master possibly do that with Miss Makima?" The massive boulder in Denji's heart instantly dropped.
"Arata, are you not coming back tonight?" Tenten leaned in close to the phone and asked.
"I'll head back after I'm done soaking. Nobody steal my couch."
"Okay, then I'll wait for you."
Hanging up the phone.
Everyone stopped worrying about Makima and Arata.
They began splitting into groups to head home.
Denji and Tenten went home.
Himeno, Kobeni, and Noriyuki Natsume went to Kiko Natsume's house.
Arai and Aki Hayakawa went to Tsurugi's house.
Peter went home by himself.
After hanging up, Arata placed his phone on the edge of the hot spring.
At this moment, Makima, wrapped in a bath towel, was soaking right across from him.
The two were separated by a distance of 4 meters.
"Was that Aki-kun calling?" Makima asked.
"That's right. But couldn't you wait until after I finished bathing to chat with me?" Arata, with a towel wrapped around his waist, said helplessly.
When bathing alone, he could comfortably lie spread-eagle on the surface of the water.
But with Makima nearby, Arata could only wrap a towel around his waist, lest he inflict Makima with megalophobia (fear of giant objects).
"Tell me, how many devils have you actually contracted?"
"It doesn't hurt to tell you. There's the Fly Devil, the Cucumber Devil, the Mosquito Devil, and the Mantis Devil." Arata rattled off his weakest devils all at once.
"What is your purpose in joining Division 4?"
"To prevent tragedies from happening, and also to keep an eye on you."
"Keep an eye on me?"
"Yes. I know all about your plans, and I'm already prepared to put you to sleep."
"What plans of mine do you know?" Makima said indifferently, not taking the secrets Arata claimed to know to heart.
But Arata didn't plan on pretending anymore and laid his cards on the table.
He laid out Makima's entire plan from start to finish.
After he finished speaking, Makima was completely stunned.
Aside from her usual expressionless face, this was a look she had never shown before.
Subsequently, she quickly stood up. The bath towel fell from her body. She raised her right hand, formed a gun gesture, and aimed it at Arata.
Bang!!!
Suddenly, an incredibly strong impact blasted toward Arata.
The calm water surface churned into massive waves.
Indoors, it was as fierce as a rainstorm.
But at this moment, Arata was no longer in his original spot.
Only the towel he had used to wrap his waist was left floating on the water.
"Since you want to make a move, I can oblige you."
Swish!!!
Behind Makima, Arata had already transformed into Freddy.
His bladed claws swiftly sliced across Makima's neck.
A head fell into the hot spring and bobbed to the surface.
Immediately following, thousands of flies swarmed Makima's head, biting frantically.
But it wasn't long before Makima resurrected.
It was just that the bath towel on her body was gone.
The two were fighting completely naked.
"How about we pause for a moment so I can put some clothes on first?"
The concept of shame did not exist in Makima's heart.
Wearing a uniform normally was just to conform to human life.
She took aim at Arata once again.
Bang!!
An invisible force shot from Makima's fingertips once more.
Arata hastily jumped to the side.
The door to the hot spring room was blown to smithereens by the intense impact.
It even pierced through over a dozen walls.
The hot spring bathhouse was instantly thrown into chaos.
Many bare-bottomed men and women scrambled back and forth in the hallways.
They had no idea what was going on.
But their only thought at this moment was to escape.
At this time, in the collapsed room, a swarm of rats darted out from all directions, charging straight at Makima.
Taking advantage of the rats drawing her attention, Arata delivered a flying kick to Makima's back.
He kicked her out of the hot spring room, sending her face-first into the ground.
The frenzied rats quickly pounced on Makima, gnawing at every part of her body.
"Rat Devil. Fly Devil."
As Makima stood up, she muttered the demonic powers Arata had just displayed.
The moment her words fell, the rats on her body all exploded into mush and dropped to the floor.
"Take this!!"
Arata dashed forward rapidly, using his bladed claws to slice Makima directly in half.
But soon, Makima resurrected again.
"It's useless. You're only attacking the citizens of Japan."
"Who says it's useless? At the very least, I'm helping Japan control its population."
Bang!
Bang!
Makima attacked continuously.
A newly opened hot spring bathhouse that hadn't even been in business for a few days was reduced to ruins.
"Die!!"
When Arata reappeared, both his claws pierced straight through Makima's abdomen.
Even though he couldn't kill her, at least he made her feel pain.
After killing Makima consecutively over ten times, Arata suddenly stopped his movements and stood in place.
He looked at Makima with a smile.
But Makima didn't hesitate in the slightest. She quickly fired another shot at Arata.
Bang!
The extreme impact blew Arata's body to pieces.
His head and legs landed perfectly intact on the ground.
After it was over, Makima's expression was incomparably cold.
She casually picked up her clothes and put them on.
She intended to leave.
But suddenly, she felt her vision start to blur.
An overwhelming drowsiness weighed down on Makima's eyelids, causing them to slowly sink.
Makima tried to resist.
But soon, her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.