Chapter Text
It was over in but a flash.
The stench of blood filled the air, as the chainsaw empowered by the Blood Devil’s remains rapidly hacked away at the Control Devil, each link tearing away more and more of her flesh, overtaking it with its own blood. Power’s blood invaded Makima’s veins, whose body fought a futile war to maintain control over her own body.
“How… are …y…?” Makima spat, the words accompanied by a lethal amount of blood.
She just couldn’t comprehend how it could have happened. A mere teenager… Beating her, the Control devil, and with such a cheap trick, on top of that? Makima felt the Blood Fiend’s remains taking hold over her body, she entered into a state of panic. As a last-ditch effort, she tried to extend her fingers to touch the chainsaw heart, but her limbs were no longer hers to command. How delightfully ironic.
“I will be taking Pochita back now, thanks.”
Makima’s eyes followed as Denji put her grand prize back into his chest with despair. The audacity of that boy! Possessing such great power, and wasting it all on chasing mere cheap thrills-!
What thought might have followed, could not be realized, as the foreign blood breached the blood-brain barrier, conquering Makima’s will. With whatever little consciousness she had left, for the first time in her life Makima was afraid.
Turns out, her sister really was above her, after all.
As Power’s metastasis concluded, a dreadful numbness started in Makima’s toes, creeping ever upwards, locking down every fiber, muscle and tissue in its path. Finally, it started to overtake her neck and head. as her grasp on reality started to fade away, the last thing the Control Devil would see and hear on this earth, was the sound of a minivan’s engine whirring, driven by her strongest devil hunter.
“Oh! Sensei’s here to pick us up! Great timing! Sorry ‘bout this, Miss Makima.”
As Denji made the final incision on the devil’s body, his eyes caught a glimpse of a body in the metallic blade of his chainsaw. A glimpse of an incredibly nice piece of ass.
A piece of ass, that he just so happened to fixate on for a whole week not so long ago.
Denji’s entire mind was overridden by a single thought.
‘If there’s a chance, she’s still alive…’
He rushed past a confused Kishibe, who just shrugged, and took a sip from his flask, before squatting down in front of Makima’s remains.
“Can’t believe that after all this time, a mere brat did you in” He studied her lifeless eyes. “Your eyes have always been so unsettling, Boss. Never quite got used to it.” The Veteran took one long last look at the Devil, and he stood up. “I had my doubts about the kid’s plan, you know. The one time he tried to strategize, it went terribly. Well, I guess even in my old age, I can still be surprised once in a while.” He poured the rest of his flask’s contents out next to Makima.
“Good riddance.”
“Sensei!” He heard Denji shout from a distance.
“Hm?” He turned to the sight of the devil hunter carrying what seemed to be one of the hybrid’s bodies bridal style. “Do you have any blood?” He asked in a panic.
Kishibe motioned towards the minivan. Denji immediately bolted towards the vehicle. Once he started to rummage through the trunk, he started wildly discarding everything that wasn’t what he was looking for. Kishibe buried his face in his palm as he saw a perfectly good blood bag being thrown away alongside some other items in Denji’s frenzied search.
He approached the boy and took out his pocket knife.
“Hey.” He threw the knife in front of the confused boy. “You threw away the only bag I brought.” Kishibe turned away and opened the driver’s seat door. “If you want blood, then I suggest you get slicing. And I expect you to go around and fetch everything you threw away.” And with that, he slammed the door.
Denji looked down at the girl laying in front of him. He grabbed the knife and pushed the blade to his palm, but his movements stopped before he could slide it across the delicate flesh.
Should he be really doing this? As much as he crushed on Reze, she did kill a lot of people. Not to mention, Denji still had no clue if she really liked him or not.
The sound of thunder could be heard from the distant clouds.
He couldn’t really fault her not showing up at the café, Makima clearly got to her first before she could reach him.
‘That is, if she was even planning to meet him.’
Suddenly, reviving her didn’t seem like the best idea. In fact, it was starting to seem like the opposite. At worst, she will kill him and take Pochita the first chance she has, and bring him to… whoever she wanted last time. What if she was really telling the truth when she said it was all an act? Then again…
‘I really don’t want to be alone again.’
With newfound determination, Denji slit his palm, letting the blood drip from his wrist into Reze’s mouth. For a while, nothing happened, but as more and more droplets dripped onto her tongue, suddenly, she swallowed, and her chest rose for the first time in a while, however ragged those breaths were.
Tears of joy started to drip down on Denji’s cheeks. He let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding, as he gripped Reze’s forearm with this uninjured hand. This would be the third time his life would change irreversibly. But at least, now he wouldn’t have to face all the changes alone.
“That’s not completely true.” He clutched his chest. “You’ve always had my back, isn’t that right, Pochita?”
He felt the devil in his heart thump in affirmation.
“If you’re done, can we pack up? It won’t be long before Public Safety gets here.” Kishibe reminded him.
“Huh? Oh, right.”
Denji took one last look at Reze before he hurried out of the van to collect all the rubbish he carelessly discarded. And among the scraps, Denji found a bag of blood he failed to spot the first time.
“Let’s see… Sensei!” He held up the bag, a shit-eating grin on his face. “This one still has some blood in it!”
“Not for long if you keep dripping it!”
Denji hurriedly turned the bag upside down to prevent the hole from leaking any more.
As he rushed back to the car and they took off, a hybrid’s Adam’s apple twitched ever so slightly.
For the longest time, they were the highway’s only occupants. Rice fields speeding alongside them, the rainfall providing a subtle but calming percussion to the three passengers inside.
“For your own sake, my eyes were deceiving me when I looked at her.”
“Huh?”
“I said, I really hope the girl you took is not who I think she is.”
“I don’t understand.”
Kishibe let out a tired sigh.
“Let me put it in simple terms. Last time I checked, this girl was a mass murderer, and a soviet spy. Best case-”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve thought about it already.”
“Did you think about it, or did it just cross your mind?”
Denji didn’t have an answer to that.
“Look kid, my feelings are usually reserved for my flask,” He backed his statement up by taking a huge sip, all the while keeping a firm eye on the road. “And I hate to admit it, but you and the fiend sort of grew on me.”
Kishibe glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“There’s no guarantee she will be on our side when she wakes up. Hell, if she wakes up.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been under Makima’s control for God knows how long at this point. Bottom line is she won’t wake up until after you did your part. Not to mention, it’ll be a nightmare to find proper care for her. Makima took out a lot of my associates back in the city, and a proper hospital won’t accept her without any records.” He caressed his chin in thought. “Paying off the doctors wouldn’t work either; all it takes is one idiot pulling her pin out to cause me a decade’s worth of paperwork…”
The road came to a train intersection. As their luck would have it, the barrier lowered just before they were about to cross. No choice but to wait it out.
“That’s kinda shitty…” Denji leaned forward in his seat. “Man, I’m never gonna get a girlfriend.”
A freight train. They were going to be here for a long time. Kishibe allowed his mind to wander for a minute.
‘I just cannot wrap my head around the kid. This girl wiped out an entire division and nearly killed him, and he’s still pining for her after all that she’s done?’
‘You have to be honest with yourself, he’s truly more akin to you than you thought, old dog.’
A vision of silver appeared in front of his eyes, bangs veiling over a dark eyepatch. Hold on…
“How about that…”
As the last carriage passed in front of them, the barrier lifted up to allow them passage once again. Kishibe wasted no time in getting moving along.
“You’re in luck, kid. I just thought of a solution to your problem.”
“Really? What is it?” Denji perked up his head.
“There’s this one doctor in China, Quanxi used to bring her girls to her when they got sick. She’s the only one I can think of who has the qualifications and won’t rat us out.”
“That’s awesome, Sensei! I knew you were the best.”
‘This kid holds me in too high of a regard.’
It wasn’t long before the soundscape was once again dominated by nothing but the quiet tapping of the raindrops on the van’s metal hood.
Denji opened the fridge to see that there were only three containers remaining from the McKima meals. The containers held the labels Liver, Uterus, and Head. Great. Just great. He purposefully left the yuckiest parts for the end, letting Future Denji deal with those problems.
Unfortunately, Future Denji became Present Denji, and Past Denji was having a great big laugh at him.
‘You can’t keep delaying it,’ His subconscious told him, ‘You gotta eat it sooner or later.’
Denji groaned as he reached for the least unappetizing of the three, the liver. At least it’s something he has eaten before.
He put up some potatoes to boil as a side. It wasn’t long before he was sitting tableside, staring at the plate of fried liver, served alongside parsley potatoes.
“Denji! Power! Come get breakfast!” Aki shouted from the kitchen, before placing down two mugs of coffee on the table.
“Give me the Grub!” Denji bolted to the living room, and knelt down at the table.
My, my, look at all the options! Jam, marmalade, bacon, eggs! (“Is that chocolate nut spread I see?”) Denji’s eyes couldn’t get enough, and neither did his mouth. To Aki’s abject horror, Denji didn’t hesitate to immediately mush an entire boiled egg in his mouth.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Aki demanded.
“Bwa- eading?” Denji responded with a full mouth.
“Just how have you been raised, exactly?”
“I haven’t.”
Aki swallowed whatever comment he wanted to hurl at the brat. He really shouldn’t expect someone to know tableside manners if they had nobody to teach them.
“Ugh. Listen to me. Put down the bread, - On the plate! - Yes, swallow first.” Aki sighed.
After pulling his composure together, Aki looked into Denji’s eyes.
“You need to kneel down, and put your palms on your thighs.”
Denji wiped his jam-stained hands on his shirt, which earned him a barely disguised sneer from Aki, but much to his surprise, Denji didn’t complain about being asked to pause eating. ‘Not yet, at least.’
“Okay, what’s next?”
“Fix your posture, for starters.” Denji straightened his back. “Now, you put your hands together, and give blessings to the food.”
“Why’s that?” Denji asked, his mouth left hanging.
“It’s-” Aki stopped. He didn’t expect to have to explain hundreds of years of culture to a teenager today. Truthfully, he had never stopped to think about it himself, either. Aki remembered it as something his parents had taught him to do from early on, and he has spent his life watching other adults do the same before eating, as well. If he had to be honest, Aki hadn’t had the slightest clue about the reasons, either. Besides, it’s not like he had the time to waste to ponder about such pointless things, with the Gun Devil still at large.
‘It’s just how things are.’
‘He’s not going to accept that as an answer, you know. Hell, you no longer accept that as an answer anymore, either.’
“We do it because ‘good grub’ like this is not a given. We have to cherish food every time we get to eat it, as well as the people we eat it alongside.” Aki put his palms together and bowed.
“Thank you for the food!”
Denji took the fork and stabbed into the liver. He stared at it with apprehension, but ultimately, he gave in and put the bite in his mouth.
The liver tasted better than he expected. He had only had Duck’s liver before, and decided he didn’t like it. Guess Makima tasted better than a duck.
‘I wonder how Reze’s doing.’ He wondered.
Kishibe has kept every update on her extremely brief, only relaying the barest of information, never more than a few words at any given query.
He would say things like “She’s alive” or “The Doctor agreed to take her”. The last thing he said was that She had arrived in China safely. But that was over a month ago. Denji was slowly starting to lose hope that he’d ever see her again.
As he was deep inside of his thoughts, Meowy jumped on his lap, curious about what kind of delicious meats Denji might be eating. Quite rude of him not to offer the starving kitty any, if you asked her.
“This isn’t for you, Meowy.” Denji said as he set her aside, something Meowy immediately voiced her disagreements about. “It’s not time for dinner yet.”
The cat just glared at him with a murderous look, before loafing down on the carpet, keeping a keen eye on the hybrid’s plate.
After making sure Meowy wouldn’t come and swipe a piece of liver off of his plate, Denji finished his meal.
He was about to wash the plates when the phone in his apartment rang.
“Hayakawa.” He picked up the line.
“It’s Kishibe. Meet me in Iwatodai Park this Saturday. We need to have a chat about your plan.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t be late.” Kishibe hung up.
Denji stared at the plastic shell In his hand.
“He didn’t even say when.”
“Crème puff, come back!”
The Husky obediently jogged back to Denji’s side, as he was walking towards the bench where Kishibe was waiting for him to arrive. The park was nearly empty, the only people aside from the devil hunters was a teenage girl, playing with a little girl, who seemed to be her little sister. Denji saw the little girl looking at the dogs with wide open eyes, so he let go of the leash. The excited dogs ran over to the two girls, who immediately gave the pets the attention they craved.
“I ate it.” Denji sat down next to Kishibe. “And she didn’t revive. Not even from the crapper.”
Meowy balanced herself on the bench and started to purr against Kishibe’s head.
“Seems she didn’t. Although, I have to know. How did you manage to kill someone with so many measures to become untouchable?”
Denji shrugged. “Well, you said that nobody could hurt Ms. Makima, right? Well truth is, I didn’t want to hurt her. It was Love.” He cupped Tiramisu’s cheeks. “L. O. V. E.”
Meowy continued her affection assault on Kishibe as he shook his head. “I’m more interested in what happened at the graveyard. How did you manage to sneak up on her?”
“Well, Ms. Makima perceives us via scent. And I realized, she only ever perceived Pochita, never Denji. So, I kinda had a thought to let Pochita take care of the fight while I hid away. And it ended up working.”
Kishibe hummed. Meowy finally ceased her fur-spreading mission on Kishibe’s suit, and sat down in-between them. Noticing the kitty, the little girl from before rushed to the bench, ready to pet another fluffy animal.
“Hey, beat it kid! We’re discussing super secret stuff right now!” Denji pointed at the girl.
In response, she bit his finger.
“Ow Ow Ow-” Denji’s iris narrowed into a single point. That bite was familiar.
“Remember it so well, that even if you go blind,” Denji stared at the yellow and red circles in the girl’s pupil.
“You’ll know it’s me from my bite.”
“Ms Makima??” He shouted.
The older girl grabbed the kid’s shoulders and scolded her.
“Now now, Nayuta, that is no way to greet a stranger.”
‘That voice…’
He looked up and saw two enchanting green eyes hiding behind a curtain of beautiful dark purple hair.
“Hi, Denji.”