Day 16 after transmigrating into the world of Chainsaw Man.
Kuroto began making deliberate preparations.
His days were spent working with Reze at the coffee shop.
His nights were spent studying the devil activity patterns and Public Safety surveillance networks in Tokyo.
He had no combat ability.
But he possessed something far more valuable:
Knowledge of the original plot.
He knew the locations of Public Safety's hidden branch offices.
He knew which devil hunters would appear in certain districts and at roughly what times.
He knew the operational patterns of many of Makima's controlled agents.
Right now, information asymmetry was his only weapon.
But that alone wasn't enough.
The system had already made it clear.
If he wanted to change Reze's fate, she had to want to change it herself.
He couldn't drag her away from the predetermined path.
She had to walk off that path on her own.
And today—
Something unexpected happened.
Morning
When Kuroto opened the café door, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
Reze looked terrible.
Not sick.
But pale.
As if the strength had been drained from her body.
Kuroto placed the Mont Blanc cake on the counter without asking anything.
One of the most basic principles in spy training was predictable responses.
If someone asked, "What's wrong?"
The standard answer was always:
"Nothing."
If he asked directly, she would only build a wall.
So he didn't ask.
Instead, he began talking about random things while working.
He mentioned that the ramen shop next door had changed its flavor again.
He talked about a funny video he saw yesterday of a dog rolling down a staircase.
He even joked that he almost caught his finger in the coffee grinder.
At first, Reze didn't respond.
But half an hour later—
When Kuroto said:
"The dog's expression when it rolled down the stairs looked exactly like our shop owner."
Her lips twitched.
"That was an Akita."
Kuroto blinked.
"Huh?"
"The dog in that video."
"It's an Akita, not a Shiba Inu."
"Akitas are much bigger."
"You saw the video too?"
"…I just happened to see it."
Her voice carried a trace of guilt.
Kuroto immediately understood.
She had seen his social media post from yesterday and searched for the video herself.
She had been secretly checking his posts.
The realization made his heart beat faster.
But he pretended not to notice.
The atmosphere slowly warmed.
11 AM
The café was empty.
Reze sat on a small stool behind the counter, swinging her legs slowly.
"Kuroto."
"Hmm?"
"How long have you been called that?"
Kuroto frowned.
"What do you mean? Since birth."
"What else would it be?"
Reze looked down at her hands.
"Right."
"Normal people have names from birth."
Kuroto's movements stopped.
The implication behind those words was heavy.
Normal people had names.
But what about her?
He already knew the truth.
Reze's real name had never been revealed in the original story.
It was possible she had never been given one.
"Reze" was simply a code name assigned by the Soviet military.
A designation.
Not a name.
"And you?" Kuroto asked.
He already knew the answer.
But he wanted her to say it.
Reze stopped swinging her legs.
Several seconds passed.
"Reze is my name."
"I know."
"No… what I mean is…"
She hesitated.
"Reze is just my name."
"It wasn't given by parents."
"It doesn't have any special meaning."
"It's just… a label."
Her voice sounded strangely flat.
As if she were talking about someone else.
But the fact that she avoided eye contact meant something else.
She cared.
More than she was willing to admit.
"A name can have whatever meaning you give it."
Kuroto shrugged.
"Who says names must come from some deep story?"
"Does your name have a story?" Reze asked.
"Not really."
"My mom's surname is Shiranui."
"My dad just flipped through a dictionary and picked 'Kuroto' randomly."
"He said whichever character he landed on would be my name."
Reze looked up.
"Really?"
"Yeah. My dad is that casual."
Kuroto smiled.
"But later I looked it up."
"The character 'Kuroto' means peace and ease."
"So even though it was random… it ended up sounding pretty good."
Reze's expression softened slightly.
"Reze can have meaning too."
Kuroto continued.
"Re—like a flower bud."
"Ze—like… well…"
Reze rolled her eyes.
"What kind of nonsense explanation is that?"
Kuroto laughed.
"No, seriously."
"A bud."
"A flower that hasn't bloomed yet."
"Doesn't that sound nice?"
"It means infinite possibilities."
"Still waiting to bloom."
He said it sincerely.
Reze stared at him.
For a long time.
Then she looked down at her hand.
"Hasn't bloomed yet…"
She repeated quietly.
Lunch Break
For the first time—
Reze sat down right beside him.
Not shoulder-to-shoulder.
But only about a fist's width apart.
After eating half her Mont Blanc, she suddenly asked:
"If someone didn't even choose their own name…"
"…are they really a person?"
Kuroto stopped chewing.
That question was heavy.
He had to answer carefully.
"Did you choose your name when you were born?" he asked.
"No."
"Then nobody chooses their name."
"Everyone is named by someone else."
"But that doesn't change the fact that we're human."
Reze fell silent.
"What if someone wasn't even named?"
"What if they were just… numbered?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
Kuroto felt a sharp ache in his chest.
He turned toward her.
Reze was staring at the cake in her hand without eating.
"Then give yourself a name."
"Or let someone who cares about you give you one."
Reze slowly looked up.
For a moment—
Her eyes didn't belong to a spy.
Or a weapon.
Or a devil hybrid.
They belonged to a little girl.
Confused.
Hopeful.
Searching.
"…Would you?"
Her voice was almost a whisper.
"What?"
"Would you… give me a name?"
Kuroto's mind went blank.
"You already have one."
His voice sounded hoarse.
"Reze."
"Re — like a flower bud."
"Ze — I'll change it to the 'Ze' meaning good fortune."
"From now on, that's what it means."
Reze froze.
Then she smiled.
Not a polite smile.
Not a trained smile.
Not the mask she wore for missions.
It was a genuine smile that reached her eyes.
It lasted only two or three seconds.
But it was the most beautiful thing Kuroto had seen since arriving in this world.
Even more beautiful than in the manga.
[Target Reze emotional fluctuation — extremely strong.]
[Fate deviation value: 18%]
[Warning: Target's fate trajectory has deviated significantly.]
[Fate correction may occur.]
[Please be cautious, host.]
Kuroto's heart sank.
Fate correction.
It meant the world itself was resisting the change.
It didn't want Reze to be saved.
That Night
Fate corrected itself.
On the way home from work, Kuroto took a shortcut through a dark alley.
Something moved on the wall.
A Shadow Devil remnant.
A weak devil fragment born from humanity's fear of darkness.
Not strong.
Roughly the level of a wild beast.
But for an ordinary human—
It was deadly.
The shadow peeled away from the wall and lunged.
Kuroto dodged instinctively.
But its claws still tore across his arm.
Three deep wounds opened instantly.
Blood spilled out.
Yet his mind remained strangely calm.
This wasn't coincidence.
It was fate's retaliation.
The shadow attacked again.
Kuroto knew he couldn't dodge twice.
Then—
BOOM.
A violent explosion echoed through the alley.
The shadow devil was blown apart instantly.
Heat blasted across Kuroto's face.
At the alley entrance—
A figure stood silently.
Reze.
Her right arm had transformed.
From the elbow down, her arm gleamed with metallic black and gold.
A burning fuse extended from her wrist.
The combat form of a Bomb Devil Hybrid.
A partial transformation.
Her expression was ice-cold.
"Reze…"
"Shut up."
She walked over and grabbed his injured arm.
Her movements were rough.
But when her fingers touched the wound—
They became careful.
Almost gentle.
"Why were you walking in an alley like this?"
Her voice was cold.
"Shortcut…"
"No shortcuts."
"Okay."
"Take the main road from now on."
"Okay, okay."
"You agreed too quickly!"
Kuroto looked at her angry face and almost laughed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Reze froze slightly.
Her arm had already returned to normal.
But Kuroto had seen everything.
He pretended he hadn't.
"Just passing by."
She said stiffly.
The least convincing "just passing by" imaginable.
Kuroto looked at her—
At this girl who claimed she was passing by,
But had probably been secretly following him home for several nights.
Warmth filled his chest.
You've already changed, Reze.
You're no longer just a weapon executing missions.
You're worried about someone.
Someone ordinary.
Someone insignificant.
Someone named Kuroto.
"Come on."
Reze grabbed his sleeve and pulled him toward the alley exit.
"Let's treat that wound first."
"Where?"
"I have a first aid kit."
Her safe house.
She was taking him to her safe house.
Kuroto's mind went blank again.
But he didn't refuse.
Not because of the system.
Not because of strategy.
But because—
She was holding his sleeve tightly.
As if she were afraid he might disappear.