Beyond Control 11 (Patreon)

Beyond Control 11 - or ‘I refuse to be Controlled, so I will attain the [Heavens] to not get dommed by a certain redhead Control Devil' (Chainsaw Man, SI!)

Two days.

That’s how long it took me to get my plans to ‘take care’ of the Soviet Union.

Truth be told, you can’t exactly ‘kill’ a country, but you can make them rather ‘shy’ when their own leader finds himself face-to-face with the Anti-God Preacher in his lovely dacha in Moscow.

The man was terrified at first glance, but he seemed quite cooperative when I took the DISC with his memories. I learned of the location of the Bomb Devil and the 28% of the Gun Devil the Union had. Finding them both took me hours of wildly moving through the rain, and, a day later, I was back home.

Reze had been aware of what I did, and she eyed the news over the collapse of the USSR with mixed feelings. The way this all came to happen was a bit of a ‘mental assassination’ that extended beyond the Secretary and struck the various members of the government’s cabinet, the full politburo and some high-ranking military members.

With this massive political crisis, nationalists managed to muster the strength for a huge decentralized uprising that was currently ravaging what unity the Soviets had been so proud of for decades now.

This was… relieving to me. One less troublemaker in the big scheme of things, but the world was far from safe as I studied what I got from slaying the Bomb Devil and claiming such a limited amount of the Gun Devil.

The former granted me ｢Killer Queen｣, but it was the Jojolion version for some reason. I could create explosive bubbles and my ｢Sheer Heart Attack｣ ability was now smaller but could be mass-produced.

An odd turn of events, but maybe the original ｢Killer Queen｣ would have been too powerful to handle for this world. It was frustrating how this nerfing was getting at this point but…

The Gun Devil’s portion gave me something neat. ｢Emperor｣ was such a nice thing to own, the Gun Stand being one of the most OP items to have around for long-ranged attacks.

To celebrate, I had planned to take Reze out for another shopping spree but, right as we were going out, we were both ‘intercepted’ by a certain redhead that I had not encountered in a while.

“John-san, it’s been so long,” Makima greeted right as we were done crossing one of the busy streets, standing there, waiting to… ambush us?

“Oh, if it isn’t Makima-san. Truly, it’s been a while- how are you?”

“Doing well, and… I have a feeling you are doing smoothly too. A friend of yours?”

“Childhood friend,” Reze answered, having been told a bit more on who was the ‘big bad woman’ she had to be quite careful around. “I am Reze. John and I have been friends since we were quite young and… I suppose you are Makima-san. John spoke highly of you.”

A delicate smile broke the formal one Makima had on her face.

“I am glad to hear that but… I am sorry to sound a bit dismissive of you, but I had been trying to reach John-san for something I wanted to give him.”

I frowned with a confused glance aimed at what item Makima was retrieving from her bag, a faux mirthful smile on my face as Makima fished out a small rectangular box before handing it to me.

“Oh? That looks expensive. What is it?”

“A gift.”

Her words betrayed a degree of amusement. Not of the good kind.

I braced myself for what I was going to see there and… I held back a growl at the item itself: a red necktie.

It was common for people to give neckties as gifts if they worked together in offices that required those, but I never once wore one around Makima, making it a rather ‘silly’ gift to deliver… unless one knew a bit of lore on the meaning of ‘Sicilian Necktie’.

It was slang for a mafia-related practice. A boss would grant a necktie as a gift to one of his subordinates with the underlying meaning that this was meant to be seen as a collar. One that can then be used to choke a traitor if needed.

The implication was further confirmed when I realized the brand had Sicilian ties. It had to have been an expensive work… for a man-sized collar. Still, I couldn’t refuse it, not without creating an issue with Makima in regard to control and… I had to play in a way that would deconstruct her effort into something else.

…I had an idea.

“O-Oh my,” I muttered shyly, one of my hands hiding my mouth to limit the chances of smiling at this silly act. “Makima-san, so forward I am… stunned.”

Reze blinked, Makima frowned, and the latter mustered her questioning look in words.

“Forward? How so?”

“W-Well, neckties are usually gifts that are given from a woman to a man that they are… well, intimate about.”

A strange ‘tension’ appeared on Makima’s face at that response.

“Is that… so?”

I nodded. “I remember one time when my mother gave one to my father as a gift, and she told me that it was one way for a housewife to thank their husband.”

It actually used to be a thing in Italy but… it is no longer a tradition many follow through even if we were now in the late 90s.

Reze blinked again, yet her attention was aimed at Makima, seeing the redhead blush a bit at this remark.

“I…I see.”

I actually embarrassed her? I mean, this is what I wanted but she genuinely looks so… flustered.

“Well, I suppose it can be embarrassing and…” She closed her eyes for a moment, appearing deep in her thoughts for just a second. “And I suppose I should remedy this. Are you free this Saturday afternoon?”

…What?

“M-Makima-san, that’s-”

“I am asking you for a date, yes,” The redhead confidently rebuked, her face still a bit flushed, then turning to Reze. “Would that be a problem for you, Reze-san?”

“Nope,” The girl remarked with a shrug. “We are friends and I think of him as a teddy bear big brother.”

The redhead smiled at that, pleased enough with the answer. “Good. Then, I suppose Saturday is fine?”

…

“Yes.”

“I am glad to hear that, then we can meet by the local park’s entrance and then… pick a restaurant from there. Nothing too fancy, just to test the water.”

I nodded. “I guess you are really…  into this, aren’t you Makima-san?”

My counter had the intended effect of creating another blush. “I am just… trying to make amends.”

Liar.

“Sure, sure,” I replied, sounding unconvinced. “Well, until Saturday then.”

The smile she gave me as she departed left me a bit… ‘tense’. Not in a bad way, oddly enough.

With Makima gone, Reze and I resumed our walk and-

“...You didn’t tell me she likes you.”

I sighed at the girl’s point.

“You are mistaking liking someone with ‘being concerned by them’.”

“I wouldn’t say that she was threatened,” Reze argued, sounding a bit surprised by my response as if I was lying. “She looked curious, interested.”

“Because…” I hummed, feeling like this was getting a bit out of that reasoning I had too. “I resisted her ability to cast control over me. As the Control Devil, that sort of development does have a degree of relevance.”

“Well, would that be enough to make her ignore the fact I am the Bomb Girl?” Reze inquired, this time giving me a serious look. “I mean, for a time I thought she was going to discover me, but she was so focused on you that she didn’t use her smell to notice what I really was.”

And that was the reason why I was a bit confused. I mean, Makima could have noticed and said nothing about it, but the fact she appeared so at ease around Reze while also not questioning her full situation sure felt a bit of a stretch in that regard.

I couldn’t help but suspect that… she was obsessing over me due to the fact I resisted her control power. Which meant the date was going to be a most intense affair to be dealing with and… I guess that was going to be a mess to deal with.

But while I was worrying about this, I was barely prepared to see quite the news flashing on some of the electronic billboards.

The Chainsaw Man has been exposed to the world while fighting some small-fry fiends hired by foreign forces. And I knew that Makima was behind it to trigger the International Assassins Arc and get her plans moving despite Reze no longer being in the equation.

This was… not going to be fun.

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AN

Quanxi (+her mini-harem) comethin’!