Line 42

Mother's Devils' Line (マザーズ　デビルズライン) is the fifth and last chapter of the eighth volume and the overall forty-second chapter of the Devils' Line manga series.

Summary
Anti-devil activists are marching in protest, some with bags of blood tied to the tops of long sticks so that they can identify devils and flush them out. Sawazaki watches it on the news from his job at Public Safety Division 1 Section 1. His coworker, Aya Shinjo, bashfully asks him out to dinner and he casually agrees to it.

Ishimaru comes to talk to Sawazaki privately a moment later. Ishimaru informs him that Anzai is coming to Tokyo that night from Saitama where he was being treated by Dr. Kanou. Ishimaru wants to question Anzai about what he knows about Kikuhara. Section 11 has been investigating him and the CCC, but it's gotten harder. The CCC is now operating as an NPO, helping the victims and families of those affected by blood drinking cases. Sawazaki agrees to meet up with Anzai, so he goes to cancel his previous date. Ishimaru points out how oblivious he is about that girl's feelings and asks how Jill would feel if he went on a date with another girl. Sawazaki and Jill are still living together, but they are not dating. He's letting her stay because she's going through depression from being unable to deploy and the disbanding of F Squad. Sawazaki texts her about Anzai, but she doesn't have the energy to go.

Tsukasa marches with determination into the auditorium of Keio University to see the lecture by Midori Anzai. Miwako hurries to keep up. Midori takes the stage and starts the lecture by introducing herself. Tsukasa recognizes her from the R2PC conference she went to. Everything about her and her appearance seems to point to her being Anzai's mother. Midori explains that devils are definitely human and that many countries have been researching them for years. She says her lab, Obihiro National Laboratory, researches devil biology, shares data with other research centers, and weighs in on legislation regarding devils. Her goal is to help people realize that devils should not be as feared as they are. Using a diagram, she explains that bloodlust is a spectrum with "human" at one end and "devil" at the other and that devils can be anywhere on that line. Tsukasa asks a question and Midori realizes who she is. She answers that some devils have no bloodlust at all, just like a human.

After the lecture, Midori talks to her colleague, Kurtz, about Tsukasa. Before she can get a guard to find her, Tsukasa comes backstage on her own. Midori goes on a bit more about her diagram and suggests that humans might not always be a zero on the scale. Tsukasa inquires about humanities research positions at the Obihiro lab. Unfortunately, Midori says they are not in demand. Midori offers to let her come to Obihiro to read through the academic journals they have, though. Tsukasa accepts. Tsukasa seems to have made up her mind to change majors to sociology. She wants to find out why devils' lives are shorter than humans, and since there is no genetic difference between humans and devils, the answer may lie in that field.

When they exit the building, they wind up right in the middle of a large protest against Midori's lecture. They decide to push through. The protest grows more and more violent and they get separated. Suddenly, Anzai grabs Tsukasa's arm and pulls her out of the crowd. They still aren't supposed to have contact with each other, but it's too painful not to say anything, so they lovingly compliment each other before parting. Both are flustered after the experience. Anzai is caught by his guard, Tomoaki Ogata, after slipping away to the "bathroom". They head to the hearing with Ishimaru and Section 11.

Kikuhara walks to his car with a member of Section 11, Saeki, who is monitoring him. Kikuhara gets a message from Shirase that she was unable to persuade her superiors of his plan to pin the blame on other members of the CCC. When Saeki opens the door to Kikihara's car, it explodes. The CCC is trying to kill Kikuhara. Because he was far enough away from the car, Kikuhara is able to walk away from it, but his face is severely burned and he is bleeding from his head.

Chapter Notes

 * Tsukasa and Miwako go to see Midori Anzai's lecture.
 * Bloodlust is a spectrum that devils and humans both share. (This is a devils' line).
 * Tsukasa decides to change majors so that she can learn more about devils and try to help them.
 * Midori invites Tsukasa to ONL to read academic journals.
 * Tsukasa gets lost among anti-devil protesters and Anzai pulls her out. They cherish the few moments they share before they have to part.
 * The CCC attempts to kill Kikuhara by blowing up his car but fails.

Characters

 * Takashi Sawazaki
 * Aya Shinjo
 * Megumi Ishimaru
 * Juliana Lloyd
 * Tsukasa Taira
 * Miwako Toda
 * Midori Anzai
 * Julius Kurtz
 * Yangwei Shen
 * Yuuki Anzai
 * Tomoaki Ogata
 * Kirio Kikuhara
 * Saeki

Extra Information

 * In the English translation, Tsukasa's university is called "Keio University", but it is actually read "Kageo University", the same as it was in Volume 1.