Line 44

Familiar (身近な) is the second chapter of the ninth volume and the overall forty-forth chapter of the Devils Line manga series.

Summary
Hans Lee jumps in to stop a gang of anti-devil extremists from hurting a young devil. First, he tries to stop them with words, but the leader of the group, Keiji Ochiai, sees himself as a vigilante doing something about the wrongs in the world. Then, he notices Lee's red eye. Seeing he won't get through to him, Lee insults him and his knowledge of devils. Then, Ochiai attacks Lee with a pipe which Lee dodges. Lee kicks him in the back and then deals with the rest of the group as they retaliate. He easily overpowers them and the extremists start calling him the "Silver Wolf" and run away. The young devil he protected calls him that name as well and explains he's a hero of justice, fighting for devils. Lee doesn't see it that way and gives the boy his name before going to see Feng Jing.

Feng looks up any mention of "Silver Wolf" on the internet. Apparently, he's saved roughly twenty people by coincidence. He says he always tells them his name is Hans Lee, though, and he compliments her for giving him the nickname. She says "Lee" was a good fit because of his Chinese lineage, which means Lee is half German and half Chinese. Feng invites him to live with her, no strings attached, although it's clear to Lee that she wants something more out of it and he asks her if she's interested in sleeping with him. She says yes, but they both can't say if they're in love or not. Feng asks the same question to Lee, and he says he would like to do it with her, too.

Then, Lee gets a message from a Yukio Kikuchi, an acquaintance who let him stay at his house in Sendai. He warns him that the cell phone he's using might be compromised because a man claiming to be the police managed to get his number from the store Lee purchased the phone at.

Feng asks if Lee will be staying the night, but with this news, he's unsure. Feng assures him nothing weird will happen if he doesn't want it to and she bought a futon and toothbrush for him and everything. Lee is nearly overwhelmed by her kindness, but then the doorbell rings and as she goes to answer it, he goes to the balcony. The man at the door holds up a picture of Lee and asks for his whereabouts, but Feng denies seeing him and tries to close the door. The man knows she's lying because they already spotted Lee entering her apartment. Luckily, the man is told to come back down by his partner, Yangwei Shen. Shen aims a shotgun at Lee on the balcony from the ground below. Lee jumps from the balcony with some food he took from Feng's apartment and Shen shoots him through the leg.

Lee runs off and calls Feng to let her know he's alright and to ask if she is too. He tells her that the people from the lab in Obihiro must have tracked him down through his phone, so he has to cut off contact with her for a while. He promises to come over again and apologizes for getting her involved before hanging up and shutting off the phone. He drinks a dose of blood to heal the wound in his leg.

In Sawazaki's apartment, Sawazaki suddenly realizes he's hugging Jill and pulls away. Jill is disappointed it ended so soon. Sawazaki apologizes for being unprofessional, but Jill assures him it made her feel better and she thinks she'll continue staying with him. Sawazaki isn't enthusiastic about it, but he doesn't tell her not to and even tells her he'll take her out to dinner. Jill is hopeful for a moment, but wonders if she didn't say something to make him uncomfortable. Sawazaki admits she said something similar to what Yukimori said and it took him back to something painful. Jill realizes he wasn't telling her to stay, he was just reliving a memory of Yukimori. When Sawazaki changes into his casual clothes she wonders why he didn't just go with short sleeves. She rolls up the sleeve and sees the scar he got from when Yukimori's girlfriend, Akane Kondo, sliced him with a knife. He says he's gotten into the habit of hiding it from his coworkers, but Jill says it's fine if it's just around her.

Jill becomes more and more convinced that she should tell him she'll move out instead of stay, but instead ends up asking to be hugged again. They both end up stepping around the issue and just decide to go out for conveyor belt sushi. Sawazaki is confused about his feelings for Jill and doesn't know for sure what her feelings are, but he still tries to keep it professional.

At a cabin in the woods somewhere in Gunma Prefecture, Takeshi Makimura wakes up in a bed, connected to an IV.

Chapter Notes

 * Hans Lee beats up the gang of extremists led by Ochiai and his reputation as the Silver Wolf grows for saving another devil from harm.
 * Feng Jing offers to let Lee stay with her as long as he needs. They both express their desire to sleep with each other.
 * Lee gets a message that says his location has been traced from his phone.
 * A group of security agents hired by ONLO try to capture Lee and he is shot in the leg.
 * Lee flees from Feng's apartment and shuts down his phone.
 * Sawazaki and Jill continuously fail to read the other's signals and neither knows how they feel for each other. Jill decides to stay with Sawazaki because she misinterpreted his hug as affection.
 * Makimura awakens in Gunma.

Characters

 * Keiji Ochiai
 * Hans Lee
 * Feng Jing
 * Yangwei Shen
 * Juliana Lloyd
 * Takashi Sawazaki
 * Takeshi Makimura