Makima.
The Control Devil.
The hidden ruler behind the Public Safety Devil Hunters.
The true mastermind standing at the top of the food chain in the world of Chainsaw Man.
She stood less than three meters away from Kuroto.
Holding a cup of black coffee.
Wearing that eternally gentle smile that somehow felt colder than ice.
Kuroto's brain ran through a dozen possibilities within three seconds.
Why was she here?
Had she discovered Reze?
Or worse—
Had she discovered him?
The Bomb Girl arc hadn't even begun yet. In the original story, there was no mention of Makima monitoring this coffee shop a month in advance.
But that was the original timeline.
Kuroto's presence alone had already become a variable.
"What's wrong?"
Makima tilted her head slightly.
"Did I scare you?"
"No…"
Kuroto forced his facial muscles to relax and produced a stiff smile.
"Sorry. I was just surprised to see a customer here so early."
"You came in through the front?"
"The door should have been locked."
"It wasn't."
Makima raised the coffee cup in her hand.
"Your coworker opened the shop earlier."
"She made me a cup of coffee and went to the back room to get something."
So Reze had arrived before him.
Which meant—
She had already interacted with Makima.
A chill ran down Kuroto's spine.
But he forced himself to walk calmly behind the counter and put on his apron.
Showing tension now would be suicide.
Makima specialized in reading people.
Any deliberate disguise would be seen through immediately.
The only safe approach was to behave exactly like an ordinary café employee.
"Are you an office worker from around here?"
Kuroto asked casually.
"We rarely get customers this early."
"Just passing through."
Makima smiled softly.
"I work for a department directly under the Cabinet."
"I had some field duties nearby today."
Directly under the Cabinet.
That meant Public Safety's Devil Hunter division.
She wasn't even hiding it.
"Sounds impressive," Kuroto replied dryly.
"It's nothing special."
Makima took a sip of coffee.
Her gaze drifted around the café.
Calm.
Gentle.
Yet somehow taking in every single detail of the room.
At that moment, the back door opened.
Reze walked out carrying a box of tissues.
She greeted Kuroto with her usual bright smile.
"You're here."
Then she noticed Makima.
Without hesitation, she continued naturally:
"This customer's coffee is ready."
Neither of them showed anything unusual.
On the surface, it was just an ordinary customer speaking with two café workers.
But Kuroto understood the truth.
Among the three people present—
One was the Control Devil in human form, the most dangerous being in Public Safety.
One was a Soviet-trained spy and Bomb Devil hybrid.
And he—
Was the only person who knew both of their identities.
Also the weakest one in the room.
The situation felt like standing between two nuclear warheads while holding a lit match.
"You two seem to get along well."
Makima spoke suddenly.
Kuroto's heart skipped a beat.
"We're just coworkers," Reze replied casually.
"Is that so?"
Makima's smile didn't change.
"But the atmosphere between you feels very relaxed."
"In my department, colleagues rarely have such natural interactions."
"Maybe it's because our café is small."
Kuroto joined the conversation with a friendly expression.
"There's not much hierarchy here."
"With stressful jobs like yours, it's normal for coworkers to be tense."
Makima glanced at him.
Just one glance.
Soft.
Harmless.
Yet Kuroto felt as if an invisible hand had gripped the back of his neck.
It wasn't killing intent.
It was something worse—
The sensation of being completely seen through.
"You're right."
Makima set down her cup and stood up.
"The coffee was very good."
"I'll visit again."
She walked to the door.
Then paused.
Looking first at Reze.
Then at Kuroto.
"By the way," she said gently,
"This street hasn't been very peaceful lately."
"There have been reports of low-level devils nearby."
"Be careful when you close the shop tonight."
Her tone sounded like simple concern.
But every word felt like stepping on a blade.
Was she hinting at something?
Or merely asserting control over the area?
The door closed.
The café stayed silent for a long time.
"You were very nervous."
Reze spoke first.
"Was I?"
"Yes."
She leaned against the counter and stared directly into his eyes.
"Your fingers were trembling."
"Your heartbeat accelerated."
"And when you put on your apron, you buttoned it in the wrong order."
"You normally fasten it from top to bottom."
"Today you did it from bottom to top."
Kuroto: "…"
That level of observation.
He had nearly forgotten.
The girl standing in front of him was a professionally trained intelligence operative.
"She's very pretty."
"Is it strange for me to be nervous?"
He tried to brush it off.
Reze narrowed her eyes.
"You think she's pretty?"
"Objectively speaking… yes."
As soon as he said that, he noticed a subtle change in Reze's expression.
It wasn't jealousy.
Reze probably didn't even understand the concept of jealousy.
It was more like discomfort.
"…Whatever."
She turned around and resumed working.
Wait.
What kind of reaction was that?
Kuroto's mind raced.
Was Reze feeling negative emotions because he complimented another woman?
He almost laughed.
But a more serious problem quickly replaced the thought.
Why was Makima here?
This had never happened in the original story.
Was it the butterfly effect caused by his actions?
Or had Makima been monitoring Reze from the beginning, and it simply wasn't shown in the manga?
Neither possibility was good.
If it was the first, it meant he had already attracted Makima's attention.
If it was the second, Reze's situation was far more dangerous than he thought.
He needed information.
That afternoon, Kuroto left work early.
Instead of going home, he wandered through the streets near the café.
Soon enough—
In a quiet alley, he noticed several people in police uniforms patrolling.
Ordinary pedestrians probably wouldn't notice anything strange.
But Kuroto knew how Public Safety Devil Hunters often disguised their patrols.
They wouldn't appear on an ordinary commercial street without reason.
Unless—
The entire area had been placed under surveillance.
Because of Reze?
Or because of something else?
Back in his apartment, Kuroto locked the door and sat on the bed.
He began reconstructing the timeline.
In the original story, Makima intervened only after Reze's identity was exposed.
But now—
More than twenty days before the Bomb Girl arc—
Makima had already visited the café.
Two possibilities.
First:
Makima already knew Reze was a Soviet hybrid and had secretly been monitoring her.
Given Makima's intelligence network, this was extremely plausible.
Second:
Kuroto's actions had altered certain details of Reze's behavior, which were detected by Makima's surveillance network.
Either way, the conclusion was the same.
His window of opportunity might be shorter than one month.
"System."
[Yes.]
"How much has the fate deviation increased?"
[Current deviation: 2.5%.]
"Is there any way to accelerate it?"
[Suggestion: deepen your emotional bond with the target.]
[The stronger the emotional bond, the stronger the target's desire to deviate from her destined fate.]
[This will increase the deviation rate.]
"So basically… make her care about me more?"
[That is one way to interpret it.]
Kuroto fell silent.
It sounded simple.
But getting a girl raised as a weapon to genuinely care about someone—
Was practically impossible.
In her worldview, relationships were defined only by two concepts:
Using and being used.
To shatter that belief…
You couldn't rely on confessions.
You couldn't rely on lectures.
You could only let her discover something herself.
That some things existed between people that had nothing to do with exploitation.
Something warm.
Something unconditional.
The next morning, Kuroto brought two cream puffs to the café.
When Reze accepted the bag, her fingers lingered on his palm for half a second longer.
"Yesterday…"
She spoke quietly.
"That woman…"
"Were you really nervous just because she was pretty?"
Kuroto froze.
Reze didn't look at him.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the paper bag.
She had been thinking about it all night.
That realization caused a sharp ache in Kuroto's chest.
"No."
He answered calmly.
Reze finally looked up.
"I was nervous because she looked dangerous."
"The gentler someone's smile is…"
"The more careful you should be around them."
Reze stared at him for three seconds.
Then the corners of her mouth curved slightly.
Not a fake smile.
A genuine one.
Barely restrained by her own muscles.
"You're quite cautious."
"In a world full of devils," Kuroto replied,
"people who aren't cautious don't live very long."
Reze said nothing.
She lowered her head and opened the cream puff.
Cream smeared on her fingertips.
Without thinking, she licked it off.
Kuroto immediately looked away and continued working.