Chapter 20: Drinking

The group stumbles out of the hotel bloodied and drained. Denji is glad to have retrieved the Gun Devil fragment but promptly keels over from exhaustion. Himeno hauls him to a hospital, leaving Arai and Kobeni to brief Makima on what happened. Later, Himeno floats the drinking outing they had vowed to have inside the hotel. Aki mentions that Kobeni and Arai are leaving the bureau, guessing the ordeal scarred them, while Himeno suspects guilt over turning on Denji is the real cause. Aki agrees to come only if Makima joins, and when Himeno probes Makima's interest in Denji, he stays quiet, steering her instead toward whether he means to ask Makima out.

At the restaurant, the 4th Division chats cheerfully. Denji is frustrated that his illiteracy keeps him from reading the menu, then recalls Himeno's pledge of a french kiss. She tells him she will go through with it once she is drunker, since sobriety makes her shy. Thrilled, Denji happily pardons the others for their earlier attempt on his life. The group takes turns introducing themselves, and most are startled to learn Denji is only 16.

An older hunter named Fushi mentions offhandedly that his partner died the previous day, unsettling the younger devil hunters. A tipsier Himeno starts flirting with Denji, whose excitement climbs when he hears she tends to kiss people while drunk. Then Makima walks in, and Denji turns flustered, suddenly unsure whether he even wants to kiss Himeno. The chapter sits within the Eternity Devil arc and Volume 3, and maps to Episode 7 of the anime.