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Auditors, Contracts, and Social Worker

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Kobeni wished she'd tied her hair today. Hair down was nice. It looked nice. It was good for working in the office and going to a nice festival. It was not quite as nice when one was sprinting down a freeway at literal breakneck speeds with the wind blowing it in your eyes and your mouth every turn you took. It gave her more respect to all the people who'd fought like this before she got there, that was for sure.
And now she had to worry about her hair catching on fire.

Auditors, Contracts, and Social Worker is a Chainsaw Man AU fanfic written by GauchePear23, where Kobeni doesn't make it as a Devil Hunter, and is offered another job and takes it up, becoming Denji's social worker.

However, Kishibe isn't going to let her just sit behind a desk doing paperwork. He insists on continuing Kobeni's combat training for her own safety, and she insists on doing her job right. This results in her both fighting devils on a regular basis, as well as learning the ins and outs of government bureaucracy and even facing down Makima, all out of a desire to keep Denji safe. Nothing good ever comes from facing down Makima. All Kobeni has done is land herself face-first in the middle of one of the biggest political power plays of the century, with devils and weapons on every side.

Still, it's better than working fast food.

The author has also written a one-shot Delilah that is told from Reze's point of view.

This trope page has unmarked spoilers for both Chainsaw Man Part 1 and Part 2.


This fic provides examples of:

  • 10-Minute Retirement: Technically speaking, Kobeni retired from Public Safety after her first mission, and took up the non-combat social liaison job. Except, as Kishibe says repeatedly, there's no such thing as a "non-combat job" this close to the Devil Hunters. All the retirement really does is give Kobeni a few weeks to relax and get trained by Kishibe in a less stressful environment.
  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Kobeni's knife chops off Katana Man's hand in one swing.
  • Abusive Parents: Kobeni's father is abusive to his whole family; at best he treats Nobana well, but he's clearly emotionally abusive to him. Only his wife is seriously hung up by his death in the Gun Fiend's attack.
  • The Ace: Kobeni is actually pretty all-around awesome once she gets over her major fears. Not only is she an excellent physical combatant who utilizes her Devil Contract perfectly, but she's also dedicated to her clients, good at sorting through mountains of paperwork, and pleasant to be around. She's even willing to stand up to her bosses with perfectly-researched arguments on why they have to legally help people more. If her boss was anyone but Makima, she'd likely have been running that office herself within a couple years.
  • Action Girl: Kobeni fights Katana Man, nearly killing him and outmaneuvers the Snake Devil's attacks. She also helps fight Bomb Girl and the Typhoon Devil and fights off multiple Devils under Makima's control, and then fights off six different Hybrids.
  • Adaptation Deviation:
    • When Himeno throws up in Denji's mouth while kissing him during Division 4's dinner party, rather than her taking Denji back to her apartment afterwards so he can rest, Kobeni is the one who does so. Unlike Himeno, Kobeni does not make any sexual passes at Denji.
    • Instead of Denji's first meeting and fight with Katana Man and Akane occurring at a ramen shop with Aki, Power, and Himeno, it is when he and Kobeni are in a train with Aki arriving soon after.
    • Rather than taking Kobeni and having her play DanceDanceRevolution, Pochita's "date" to revive Denji involves taking Asa to the arcade and have her play Tetris on one of the machines.
  • Adaptation Name Change: A minor example; Violence in the series went by Galgali, here it goes by Galgalim.
  • Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
    • Kobeni is much closer to Denji, Aki, Power, and Kishibe, acting as a friend to the former three and an apprentice to the latter.
    • Kobeni interacts with Reze before and during their fight when the latter is Bomb Girl. The two also meet when Reze tells Kobeni she's going into hiding from Public Safety.
  • Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Downplayed as Kobeni becoming a social worker doesn't necessarily make her life any smoother (and in some ways actually complicates it a lot more in the long run), but not being on the frontlines in the battle against the Devils means she doesn't have to deal with being constantly traumatized and allows her to make personal connections a lot more easily.
  • Adaptational Badass: By virtue of being put in a position that doesn't reduce her to a Nervous Wreck, Kobeni is a lot more active compared to how she was in canon. She even becomes this universe's Violence Hybrid and helps fight Makima.
  • Adaptational Early Appearance
    • Kobeni meets Denji earlier on.
    • Denji befriends Asa in the middle of Part 1 instead of her being introduced in Part 2.
    • Nobana appears much earlier through Kobeni's scenes with her family before his proper appearance in Part 2.
  • Adaptational Explanation:
  • Adaptational Job Change: Kobeni works as Public Safety Special Division 4's liaison and social worker for Denji.
  • Adaptational Seriousness:
    • A lot of Kobeni's Butt-Monkey moments are toned down if not outright removed and the drama of her family situation is brought to the forefront.
    • The Class President's situation was treated as Black Comedy in canon, and barely given any attention. Here, she gets a full chapter from her perspective, showing how she was seduced by her teacher and how she only realizes he never really cared about her at the last second.
  • Age-Gap Romance: As in canon, both Makima and Himeno make passes at Denji, despite the fact that he's a teenager and they're in their twenties. Makima is doing it as yet another manipulation tactic, while Himeno genuinely thinks he's cute (and she was very drunk). However, since Kobeni is Denji's social worker, she tells him very firmly that these women should not be flirting with him. She gets in the same situation as Himeno in canon (taking Denji back to her apartment after a night drinking), but never considers taking advantage. She even files a grievance against Makima for sexual harassment, though this goes nowhere.
  • Angelic Abomination: The Violence Devil's true form looks like its namesake from the Bible, being comprised of rings, having multiple eyes and wings, and surrounded by interconnected arms and hands gripping one another. Its first words to Kobeni are even an inversion of the angels' "Be not afraid."
  • Ascended Extra:
  • Asshole Victim: Kobeni's abusive father is among the casualties of the Gun Fiend's rampage. Only Kobeni's mother cares that he's dead.
  • Badass Bureaucrat: Kobeni is a social worker, but for an ostensible pencil-pusher, she's a very skilled physical combatant who has a contract with a very powerful Devil. Even outside of her physical prowess, she's very good at negotiating with her bosses to ensure her clients are taken care of well and breezes through mountains of paperwork.
  • Badass Boast:
    • The Motor Devil delivers one when it makes its contract with Kobeni.
      Motor Devil: POWER! WE ARE POWER! STEAM IS POWER! FIRE IS POWER! WE ARE POWER, AND WE HARNESS WHAT WE ARE! WEAPONS! VEHICLES! ALL IS HARNESSED BY THE MOTOR! ALL IS BEHOLDEN TO THE MACHINE!
    • The Violence Fiend has an internal one when removing his mask and preparing to fight the Darkness Devil.
      "But he was powerful, and he was ancient. He was the rock and the hand of Cain, the spear of Romulus in his brother’s stomach, the rage of Kali. He was the blade that cut Osiris into a thousand pieces and scattered him to the winds. He was the finger that gouged out Horus’ eye. He was all of this and more. He was the gas that drowned the soldiers in the trenches. He was the shrapnel that left a man on crutches for life. He was three inches of steel, hammered into shape, thrust into your heart. He was not Death, but he was the deliverer of death at the hand of another. He was ancient. He was powerful. He was Violence, and he would not yield."
    • Galgalim gives one when talking to Kobeni as the Violence Devil.
      BE AFRAID. ALLOW FEAR TO CONSUME YOU. ALLOW FEAR TO OVERTAKE YOU.
      I AM THE MEANS THAT JUSTIFY THE ENDS.
      I AM THE POWER OF DICTATORS AND THE POWER OF REVOLUTION.
      I AM THE HAND THAT BREAKS THE HAMMER AND THE HAMMER THAT BREAKS THE HAND.
      I AM THE KILLER AND THE KILLED. THE SLAYER AND THE SLAIN. I AM ALL THAT YOU ARE, ALL THAT YOU YEARN TO BE, ALL THAT YOU FEAR IN THE WORLD AND IN YOURSELF.
      I AM GALGALIM. I AM VIOLENCE. AND NONE ARE BEYOND MY REACH.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Denji is a lot closer to Kobeni because her duties as his social worker involve her checking on him and making sure he's okay. Multiple people, Kobeni included, note that Denji is extremely loyal to anyone who shows him even the slightest amount of kindness; the fact that Kobeni is the only person who isn't trying to take advantage of him means she's one of the most important people in his life.
  • Behemoth Battle: When Aki confronts Akane and Katana Man after Himeno is killed, Akane summons the Snake Devil while Aki responds in kind with the Fox Devil.
  • The Berserker: Kobeni in her Hybrid form is an absolutely brutal fighter, tearing her opponents apart with her bare hands. Galgalim wanted to merge with her for precisely this reason.
  • Big Eater: Kobeni varies between Forgets to Eat and eating a lot. Between her money problems, her family issues, and the fact that her devil contract is Cast from Calories, she's got a lot of hangups regarding food.
  • Body of Bodies: The Violence Devil's true form is made up of countless hands and arms—every hand that has ever committed an act of violence. When Kobeni transforms into the Violent Thing, a crown of hands bursts out of her skull, covering her face and eyes. She also has the ability to make hands burst out of solid surfaces.
  • Boring, but Practical: Kishibe says that the Motor Devil is a common early contract; it provides a simple benefit, for a simple cost, but if you let it get out of control it will still kill you—making it perfect for training new Devil Hunters on how to handle a contract.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Kobeni's father is emotionally and financially abusive to her, despite the fact that she is a trained Devil Hunter. She contemplates murdering him several times, and it's clear that the worst consequence would be that the paperwork would be a mild inconvenience for her. He's killed in the Gun Devil attack without fanfare.
  • Cast from Calories: Kobeni's contract with the Motor Devil has her house it in her stomach and have the devil eat whatever food she consumes. Kishibe advises her to make sure she eats enough so Motor doesn't eat her insides.
  • Comically Small Demand: Downplayed with the Motor Devil. Its contract with Kobeni has it so the Devil will consume whatever food is in her stomach whenever she uses its power. If there is nothing else to eat when Kobeni tries to use her contract, Motor will take a bite out of her insides.
  • Commonality Connection:
  • Cool Big Sis: Kobeni is effectively a caring older sister to Denji as his social worker. Makima deliberately had Kobeni assigned to Denji as part of her plan to give him hope only to take it away. Her Break Them by Talking speech to Denji has her claim Kobeni quit her job to spend more time with her "real" family.
  • Cowardly Lion: Kobeni has always been somewhat of a Nervous Wreck who was nonetheless very adept at violence, from being able to scare her school bullies to breaking the wrist of a would-be mugger. It is because of this that the Violence Devil offers to merge with her into a Hybrid.
  • Death by Adaptation: Madoka is one of the casualties in the assassinations on Public Safety.
  • Decomposite Character: Shio takes Asa's role as Yoru's host. Conversely, Power takes Yoru's role of Sharing a Body with Asa.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Quanxi and Katana are willing to work with Public Safety after Kobeni kills them both about a dozen times each.
  • Dies Differently in Adaptation:
    • Instead of Taking the Bullet in the head for Kobeni while getting ambushed by Yakuza assassins, Arai dies saving Power after getting shot In the Back.
    • Rather than sacrificing her entire body to the Ghost Devil, Himeno dies after getting shot by the Yakuza sent by Katana Man and Akane.
    • Instead of Power running him over with Kobeni's car, the assassin who performed a Kill and Replace on Kurose is killed by Yoshida summoning the Octopus Devil when the former is making an attempt on Denji's life.
  • Discard and Draw: The Motor Devil leaves Kobeni after she becomes the Violence Hybrid.
  • Ear Ache: Kobeni's transformation into the Violence Hybrid is triggered by her pulling her ear off.
  • Eldritch Abomination: A few scenes from the point of view of the Violence Fiend make its alien mindset perfectly clear. It's not just a guy that likes violence, it's the purest expression of all violence and murder and bloodshed. When it merges with Kobeni, her Hybrid form is notably more alien than the Weapon Hybrids.
  • Exact Words: The Violence Devil made a deal with Kobeni Higashiyama in exchange for fusing with her into a Hybrid: "Show me who you are." It is rather disappointed that this didn't result in slaughtering literally everyone, but admits that the contract was not broken.
    Violence Devil: Perhaps you, too, will disappoint me. But I've seen the shape of your soul. You will kill as long as it is necessary, and it will always be necessary. So kill as you wish, spare who you wish. I will tend to the bones.
  • Face Death with Dignity: When Makima sees what Denji plans on doing to kill her for good, she simply thinks that death could be a mercy for her.
  • Fights Like a Normal: Much like the Violence Fiend, Kobeni as the Violence Hybrid fights using mostly her bare hands.
  • Foil:
    • Kobeni is made one to Makima; they are both older women that Denji finds attractive, have him as their ward, Kobeni being his social worker and Makima being the one who recruited Denji into Public Safety, and both develop relationships with him due to treating him kindly. However, whereas Makima only ever manipulates Denji to further her goals, Kobeni legitimately cares about him.
    • Galgalim to Pochita. Both are powerful Devils who fuse with their respective humans, Kobeni and Denji, partially motivated by how they've taken a legitimate liking to them. However, while Pochita cares for Denji due to being grateful for caring for him and became his heart to pay him back, Galgalim is interested in Kobeni because of the violence she can inflict and offers her its power so she can continue doing so while the Violence Devil gets to watch. Additionally, in contrast to Denji and Pochita's friendship, Kobeni isn't very pleased with Galgalim's fascination in her.
  • Foreshadowing: In chapter 3, Kobeni reflects how good she is at inflicting violence despite her dislike of it. In chapter 25, the Violence Devil offers to fuse with her so it can see the violence she's capable of.
  • Fragile Speedster: Using the Motor Devil, Kobeni can move with incredible speed and cut through bone with an ordinary knife, allowing her to kill mid-tier devils in a single move. However, she has almost no defensive abilities, especially when ambushed. When Chainsaw Man becomes public and everyone is worried about assassins, Kobeni is taken off Denji's detail because she's not suited to fighting defensively. After fusing with the Violence Devil, Kobeni drops this weakness due to now having a Hybrid's Healing Factor while still retaining the speed and strength that makes her so deadly in combat.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: The Violence Devil wants to merge with Kobeni because it knows the violence she's capable of. It also applauds how she helped Denji kill Makima, namely cooking her cut up remains into food and feeding them to him.
  • In Spite of a Nail: Aki still becomes the Gun Fiend and Denji is forced to kill him.
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Kobeni's sister Shio spurns her Only Friend, which in turn gets her a negative reputation throughout the entire school, so that Yoru can't turn any of them into weapons.
  • Mayfly–December Romance: Quanxi muses that any form of immortality makes relationships with ordinary humans difficult. This is one of the reasons she entered into a relationship with a group of fiends. After they die, she muses sadly that she managed to outlive them as well. It's one of the reasons she propositions Kobeni, who is also a hybrid now.
  • Mechanical Abomination: The Motor Devil appears to Kobeni as a massive engine.
    "The infernal engine's roar tore her from her peace. Her eyes opened and were met with the sting of gasoline fumes and the red-hot flames of a furnace. The engine was massive, a collection of pipes and gears and pulleys a thousand stories high. That was how it looked in a dream, after all. The demon of automation. The Motor Devil."
  • Mythology Gag: Kobeni mentions that she worked in a fast food place before Kishibe approached her with a job offer of being a liaison for Public Safety.
  • O.C. Stand-in: In canon, Kobeni never disclosed the identity of the Devil she had a contract with or what that contract even did. The Motor Devil essentially fills the role of that Devil, with a proper exploration of its relationship with Kobeni and the powers it specifically grants her.
  • Odd Name Out: After fusing with the Violence Devil, Kobeni's Hybrid form is this on two levels: first is that she's the only Hybrid so far to not be formed from merging with a Devil representing a physical weapon; second is that the title for her Hybrid form doesn't include a specific gender pronoun with the narration calling her the Violent Thing and characters referring to her as the Violence Hybrid on occasion.
  • Ominous Mundanity: "The Violent Thing" should not be as terrifying a name as it is. In context, it comes off as not being able to find a better description because all that is left is, well, a violent thing. Even when Kobeni regains control and her nature as the Violence Hybrid becomes clear, that form is still mostly referred to as "the Violent Thing."
  • Parental Favoritism: Kobeni's father dotes on her brother as the "heir", but dismisses her and her sisters as worthless. At her high school graduation, she was informed that they wouldn't be sending her to college so that they could save for her little brother. Nobana, however, isn't quite sure he actually wants the path that their father is laying out for him, but is clearly well aware that his father's favor is fickle, and is terrified of defying him.
  • Pedophilia Is a Special Kind of Evil:
    • Kobeni is horrified when she finds out Makima has been indulging Denji's attraction to her. She's also uncomfortable with Himeno offering to kiss him for defeating the Eternity Devil. Kobeni even tells Denji point blank that it's not appropriate for grown women to flirt with him.
    • All of chapter 37. It's from the Class President's perspective, recapping a pretty depressing backstory where she lost both her parents, which is a role Mr. Tanaka is all too happy to fill, serving to highlight how disgusting and manipulative their sexual relationship is. The author themselves stating they view Tanaka as one of the most evil characters in the series.
  • Point of Divergence:
  • Pragmatic Villainy: The Board that controls Public Safety are the source of a lot of the problems in the fic due to their anti-devil policies. They consider Kobeni an enemy because she stood up to them multiple times, and treat most of the people she cares about as weapons that they should be able to do with as they wish. However, they also begrudgingly admit she's better to have around than Makima, because her desires and methods are both clear, and she is willing to work within their own system. Compared to Makima, who obeyed all their orders without question and then pulled a Zeroth Law Rebellion out of an apparent genuine desire to help humanity.
  • Primal Fear: The fic explores a few of the canon Primal Fears in more detail, really emphasizing their Eldritch Abomination nature.
    • The Darkness Devil changes the very formatting of the fic when it is on screen, and even all the other powerful devils and devil hunters are completely powerless before it. The Violence Fiend going full power might have slowed it down for half a second. Or maybe it didn't even notice, because they were all so far below it that they didn't even qualify as insects.
      It was the nothing of that which lay in-between.
      The Not-Knowing.
      The Not-Feeling.
      The Void.
      The Abyss that swallowed all.
    • In canon, the Violence Devil spent all its time as a Fiend (which is weaker than a pure devil), and drowned in tranquilizing chemicals to keep it docile. But when push comes to shove, it's still one of humanity's most ancient fears. Sure, by the strict definition of the term, it doesn't count as a Primal Fear (because that term is supposed to be for devils that have never died in Hell), and it can't stand up to the likes of Darkness, but it's still one of the strongest devils in the series. Kobeni as the Violent Thing is able to fight all eight Weapon Hybrids by herself.
  • Redeeming Replacement: Following Makima's death, Kobeni is basically put in charge of Public Safety. Needless to say, she puts it towards actually doing good rather than use it for any nefarious plans.
  • Reluctant Warrior: Kobeni never wanted to be a Devil Hunter; it just seemed a better way to make money than prostitution or fast food. But it turns out she's really good at it.
    Kobeni: I hate it. I hate hurting people, and I hate how good I am at it. I hate that I break people so easily, I hate that it's all I'm good for. I-I hate that I worked so hard in school just for them to tell me I either needed to—that I needed to sell my body, either for pleasure or for pain. I hate that that's what matters to everyone.
  • Ship Tease: After their fight, Quanxi propositions Kobeni. Kobeni politely turns her down, but Quanxi leaves the offer open.
  • Simple Solution Won't Work: When Kobeni becomes Denji's social worker, she immediately starts filling out all the paperwork that no one else was bothering with, including filing a sexual harassment grievance against Makima for her manipulation of Denji. Makima calmly, reasonably, intimidates Kobeni into dropping it; Kobeni leaves her office crying, and nothing changes. However, Kobeni does eventually manage to move around Makima by submitting requests to Makima's superiors to get Denji some more rights and privileges. Kishibe is in awe.
    Every chance she got this girl spat in Makima's eye. Every chance she got, she contradicted her, pushed back against her, made herself known. She marched into the room where the men who held Makima's leash sat, the only ones who could enforce their will on her, and proved her wrong in front of them. She convinced the few outside of the woman's power to override her will.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Power survives through living on in Asa's body, Asa, in turn, does not get killed by the class president and doesn't fuse with the War Devil.
  • Speak Ill of the Dead: Kobeni's sister Shio refuses to pretend there's anything good to say about their father after he dies in the Gun Devil attack.
    Shio: I-I-I'm sorry, I just keep hearing people try to be nice or-or trying to show some respect for the dead, and he doesn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it, and we deserve better than to feel like we have to pretend we aren't all better off with him gone.
  • Think Nothing of It: Kobeni dismisses her many accomplishments as minor and unimportant compared to what everyone else is doing. She's just fulfilling her job as Denji's social worker. Multiple people point out that the job was intended as a meaningless make-work position; no one expected her to go to any real effort, much less wade through all the government bureaucracy for Denji and Power, all while balancing her Devil Hunter training and fighting off skilled assassins.
  • The Vamp: Makima, as in canon, uses her sexuality to manipulate Denji. Kobeni immediately reports her for sexual harassment... which goes nowhere, because Denji doesn't actually have any human rights, so Makima is allowed to do whatever is necessary to control him.
  • Villainous Glutton: The Motor Devil lets Kobeni use its power in exchange for eating whatever food is in her stomach every time she uses it. If Kobeni's stomach doesn't have any food in it when she tries using her contract with the Motor Devil, it will begin to eat her internal organs.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Kobeni naturally isn't pleased whenever the Anthropomorphic Personification of humanity's fear of violence compliments her on her brutality.
    Violence Devil: Your wrath is spectacular, and it ought not go to waste.

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