Chapter Text
3 Sisters + 1 Cafe = Too much trauma
Sister 1: Nayuta
The cheery afternoon atmosphere hung heavily on the little girl, as she coloured in a new book. Denji, her brother/guardian, had scrounged up just enough from his cigarette sales to get his little sister a new colouring book, for her stellar scores in the monthly examination. She was comfortable making friends, and was even considering bringing some over, despite the fact the house was filled with a cacophony of dogs barking, alongside Meowy's occasional purr. Despite her prior malevolence and manipulative nature, the new incarnation of Makima had no issues making friends, even if textually it wasn't mentioned. Perhaps the abrasive and rough yet frank nature that Denji had, had rubbed off on her, and it seems acting like Power, being rough and tumbly, was one that helped her get along well with other kids in school.
From being one of the quiet wall-flowers in class, she was now part class-clown, teacher's pet (who knew when to dish abuse, in the special way only 4th graders can), as well as part of the semi-cool kids clique ("the cool kids are boring, I'd rather hang out with the mid kids, they seem to have rizz, even if they're mid"). Despite the apparent illogicity of a 4th grader in 1997 knowing 2023 slang, it seemed that time was wibbly-wobby/convoluted, so this was to be. Either way, all these textual discussions were not an issue for our heroine, who steadily coloured in the lines, with some occasional cheeky pinches outside, "It adds flair! It makes the art nicer!" she thought, as she painted the tiger into life.
The phone suddenly rang. Nearby the drooping aloe, in a neatly labelled pot, it seemed odd. "People don't normally call me or Denji-kun", she thought, and Kishibe's sagely (well, if the sage happened to be a fan of drink) advice rang out. "If someone calls, and you weren't expecting it. Just leave the phone alone. It could be a scam caller, or even worse, some asshole who's out to fuck with you". Despite the fact her teachers drilled stranger danger into her, and the humor of the word "asshole" ringing in her ears, she thought to herself, "Why not? Denji-kun is gonna complain if the call's important, and who knows, maybe it's one of Chainsawman's fans?" As she approached the ringing phone, the dogs picked up on the new stimuli, and began barking. She ignored the choir and chorus of barks, similar to Meowy, who had gotten used to the noise, and spoke curtly yet neutrally "Hello? Who's this?"
"H-hello, Is Denji with you now?" It was Beni-chan! One of her more unusual caretakers/babysitters, who cried more than her, and prone to breaking down over the smallest things, this time bomb of a woman (who unfortunately did not have bomb powers) was the one calling her. "HELLO BENI-CHAN! I'VE MISSED YOU!! WHEN ARE YOU COMING OVER?!" Kobeni shyly replied "A-aaah, Nayuta-chan, I've been meaning to, but this new place I've been working at, they've been running me ragged, and I've had to work longer hours than usual." Nayuta replied with "Oh no, it's a pity, I really really miss you, sis". Kobeni felt her heart warm up a little. After running away from home, and switching from job to job, escaping from the madness that was the Family Burger clusterfuck with Pochita, it sometimes felt lonely having no contact with the family, except for the rare call with her brother in high school. As she was about to seep into sentiment, she looked down at the post-it note she was holding. It said "Call Nayuta/Denji. Get Nayuta to the restaurant." Kobeni knew that this was an order, not a suggestion, and as she nervously wracked her mind, as to how she was going to drag Nayuta there, her boss sauntered over. A devil, holding their own decapitated head, made of the multiple corpses of people who yeeted themselves over the balcony would normally attract much scrutiny, but with the food she made, people didn't complain, just like the devils in hell.
"Kobeni-chan, do we have a problem here?" "N-no, boss, I'm on the phone with N-Nayuta". "Let me take over, Beni-chan, you seem tired". "O-okay". As Nayuta continued on the phone about her day, unbeknownst to her, a more nefarious entity took over the call. "Kobeni-chan wasn't feeling well, Nayuta, so I'm taking over the call". "Who's this? Who's speaking?" "It's her boss, Rakka". "Your name is weird" Nayuta uttered, with all the tact that a child could offer. "As the Falling Devil chuckled, she said "Well Nayuta-chan, Kobeni has been telling me how much of a good girl you've been, and I've decided to give you a treat on the house! Just tell your older brother to drop you off at Jinbocho at 1:30 p.m on Saturday". Nayuta pondered at the randomness of the call, it seemed almost suspicious, but the presence of Kobeni meant it couldn't be that bad, right? As she considered the offer, Kobeni's shaky voice took over the call, albeit sounding less rattled "Nayuta-chan, we'd be glad to have you over, so please consider! Thank you very much!!" before shutting the phone off. As the sounds of beeps took over, Nayuta stood there, the sounds of barking coming into cognizance.
"What do I tell Denji?"
Meanwhile, in a kitchen, smelling of freshly washed dishes and just-wiped tables, the ever-smiling woman came to an increasingly teary-eyed Kobeni.
How did Kobeni end up working with such a powerful devil? Why does her food-related adventures end with chaos and extreme havoc on her end? Rakka sympathetically said "Kobeni, I understand you worry about Nayuta, but I don't intend to do anything evil with her. I'm not Akane, nor am I here to cause the end of the world now. I'm just here to cook, before the forces that are, rend the world into destruction. Now don't worry your head off, and join me for drinks after this". Kobeni whined, as she knew where this was going. The izakaya down the road was unquestioning, and did not mind the fact that the woman was made of corpses, or the fact that she may be a portent of the world's end. Perhaps it was hypnosis, perhaps it was just a devil wanting a good time, but Kobeni was always one of the staff roped-in into impromptu post-work karaoke/drinking sessions. "Was it really worth avoiding being a hooker?" she thought, as the idea of another night nervously singing in front of the Falling Devil presented itself.