Line 38

Dive ① is the first chapter of the eighth volume and the overall thirty-eighth chapter of the Devils' Line manga series.

Summary
While he is unconscious, Yuuki Anzai remembers what happened with Kirio Kikuhara at ONLO when he was a child.

Yuuki gets stuck in a tree and Kikuhara comes to help him. Yuuki is too afraid to jump, so Kikuhara climbs into the tree with him and brings him down himself. It's Kikuhara's first time holding a child and he doesn't hate it like someone named Yuzuru did. Yuuki's guardian, Dr. Kubo, calls for him, but Kikuhara distracts him from going to her. He asks about a basement, but Yuuki doesn't know. They introduce themselves and Yuuki asks about the name Yuzuru. Kikuhara explains that it's his mother's name. She was always very distant with him. Yuuki says he doesn't have any parents, but the people at the orphanage are like a family to him. Kikuhara expresses his wish for someone like himself to connect with when he was growing up - someone to walk in the darkness with - and Yuuki asks if they can be friends. Kikuhara lightly declines because they are not alike. Before Dr. Kubo or his friends can find him, Kikuhara takes Yuuki with him.

Midori watches the commotion of the search for Yuuki from a window above and grows concerned.

Kikuhara continues to ask Yuuki questions about the lab and the researchers, but Yuuki has no answers. He happens upon a suspicious conference room and uses a stolen security card to enter.

Midori and her coworker Julius Kurtz go to find out what happened and they happen across a fellow researcher who's lost his security card. He bumped into Kikuhara in the cafeteria and after that it went missing. Midori tells Kurtz to go to the cafeteria to check with the other officers while she checks the monitoring room.

In the conference room, Kikuhara finds an elevator and offers to let Yuuki go. Yuuki is worried about him, but Kikuhara tells him that he does not want camaraderie. He likes to be alone. The type of friend he would have is one who he wouldn't meet, but would live in similar circumstances. Yuuki spouts off the policy of the orphanage, "you won't know until you try". Kikuhara accepts Yuuki's friendship, hugs him, and decides to take him down with him.

In the monitoring room, Midori catches sight of Yuuki in Kikuhara's arms in the elevator.

Yuuki's desire to help Kikuhara find a friend reminds him of Tamaki Anzai. Kikuhara tells Yuuki that Tamaki is his biological father and a serial killer. And even though he was sentenced to death, it was found out the he was secretly transferred to ONLO. He came to investigate if any others were transferred.

The elevator door slides open. The lights are dim and the walls are lined with cells holding transformed devils clawing at the glass. Yuuki starts to panic and begs to go back. Kikuhara calmly tells him that devils are a part of everyone. Kikuhara sets Yuuki down and tells him that if he wants to be friends, he has to walk alone in the darkness. He pushes his arms away and is about to abandon him in the underground lab.

Chapter Notes

 * Kikuhara comes to ONLO to find out if more devils on death row have been secretly moved there besides Tamaki Anzai.
 * Kikuhara steals a researcher's security card and goes off on his own to find the basement labs.
 * Kikuhara helps Yuuki Anzai down from a tree.
 * Yuuki tries to be Kikuhara's friend and in turn Kikuhara abducts him.
 * Midori Anzai locates Yuuki and Kikuhara on the security monitors.
 * Kikuhara tells Yuuki about his father.
 * They arrive in the underground lab filled with transformed devils in their cells.

Characters

 * Yuuki Anzai
 * Kirio Kikuhara
 * Tadaya Hiruta
 * Yuuko Tamaru
 * Dr. Kubo
 * Midori Anzai
 * Julius Kurtz