Chapter Text
Sunlight peaked through the open curtains of Kobeni's apartment, landing right on her face. It scrunched up a bit before her eyes fluttered open. Kobeni groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes, and yawned. When She got up, her feet landed on the ground… and for some reason it felt squishy?
"OOF! What the hell!?" Kobeni jumped into the air like a feline, tears immediately flowed from her face like a waterfall. "HMMPH! Owwwww…" The mysterious voice groaned. She landed on her feet planted right back on the couch, and looked down at the intruder, immediately awake as if she chugged kiloliters of coffee. She quickly realized what… and who she stepped on.
"W-W-WHY WERE YOU S-SLEEPING ON THE F-FLOOR INFRONT OF MY COUCH!" Kobeni screeched, surely waking up every single one of her neighbors, which she did not care about at the moment.
"Cough. Cough. You never told me where to sleep! I didn't wanna take your bed, so I thought the floor was fine! The rug is way better than what I used to sleep on!" Denji groaned as he sat up and pointed at the disheveled woman.
Oh that's right… I was gonna give him the couch…
"Oh. I-I'm sorry D-Denji. A-are y-you okay?" Kobeni asked as she carefully stepped off the couch, sure to not step on the boy again.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good…" Denji muttered as he pulled himself up.
She quickly led him to the kitchen and pulled out a pan and a carton of eggs. "W- ahem- Would you like eggs? J-Just something to start the day?" Kobeni asked as she turned the heat on the pan, and cracked the egg.
"Oh hell yeah! I've never had eggs! They were always rotten when they were thrown out. Bleh." Denji stuck his tongue out and his face scrunched up. Kobeni immediately started to giggle at his face… until she processed what he said. Immediately her giggling stopped.
"… What do you mean you've never had eggs?" Kobeni whispered.
"Just me and Pochita couldn't afford them, and like I said, too gross when they were thrown out." Denji shrugged his shoulders. Kobeni stared at the boy for a long moment, before realizing the eggs she cracked in the pan were starting to burn.
"Oh… oh okay… Um… How would you like your eggs?" Kobeni asked, just above a whisper.
"Y'know, cooked?" Denji asked with his eyebrow raised.
"N-No Denji, like w-what style of eggs?"
"I dunno, I'll just have what you're having. The ramen you made last night was really good, you gotta have good taste!" Denji got another big toothy grin.
Ba-bump.
"Oh okay… I'm just gonna scramble them," Kobeni started to whisk the (mildly burnt) eggs, and her eyes began to wander around her kitchen landing on the clock on the wall… 8:15 A.M. "Ah! We're gonna be so late!" Kobeni finished up the eggs and shoved them in her mouth, thankfully, she didn't have to tell Denji twice as he practically inhaled his serving. they threw on their uniforms (Denji in the bathroom and Kobeni in her bedroom) and flew out the door and through her apartment complex. They ran through the streets, threw themselves down the stairs into the subway station… and watched the train they were supposed to be on speed past them. Kobeni dropped to her knees and started crying.
Stupid contract. Stupid me. Stupid Denji. Stupid train. I should've just stayed in my room last night. My alarm would've woken up. I would've been able to leave extra early because of my luck. I always account for my luck. Now we're going to be late.
All of the sudden Kobeni felt herself get lifted up. She rubbed her eyes and when they were cleared up she realized that Denji had hoisted her onto his back.
"W-WHAT ARE Y-YOU DOIIIIING!?"
"We gotta get to work, right? Can't do that if you're crying on the ground. Just tell me where to go, you crybaby!"
Kobeni couldn't speak any longer, the only things leaving her mouth were hiccups and cries, so she pointed from over his shoulder. He blew through the crowds with insane speed, while still carrying Kobeni. Kobeni saw the Public Safety headquarters come into sog by once they turned the last corner.
We might do it! We might get there on time!
"Atleast Miss Makima didn't care!" Denji said trying to cheer up Kobeni as much as possible before they got to the fiend scene their boss had ordered them to check out. "Why does your contract matter though?"
"O-Oh, m-my contract affects my luck… they know that I'm not the most r-reliable…" Kobeni explained as she led them through the police perimeter, before one of the cops stopped her.
"Excuse me, Miss, this is a devil scene, I must ask you to leave." The officer harshly grabbed onto Kobeni's arm. Kobeni quickly scrambled for her badge.
"P-Public Safety D-D-Devil Hunter, K-Kobeni Higashiyama, I-I'm here w-with my trainee. P-please let go…" Kobeni muttered. The officer stared at her, still gripped onto her arm.
"Hey asshole, let her do her job." Denji spoke up, snapping the officer out of his confusion. He quickly pulled his hand off and let them past.
"Th-Thank you, Denji. N-Now when we engage with the fiend, I w-want you t-to show me your… d-d-devil power, okay?" Kobeni whispered as she shivered. She pulled open the door.
"What's a fiend?" Denji asked as he went into the house first, and moving towards the stairs, following the trail of blood.
"A fiend is just a devil that took over someone's body? Were you not taught that in school?"
"Never went, am I fiend?" Denji shrugged and asked as they got to the top of the stairs, and continued to follow the trail to a door at the end of the hallway.
"N-No Denji. Fiends have… w-w-well you'll see." She quickly turned the knob and pushed it open, revealing a blue faced man with mandibles, with some vague meat being torn apart in them.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. What am I doing here. I'm gonna throw up.
"Don't look! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you devil hunters!" The fiend bolted towards them.
"WUAAAH!" Kobeni quickly cowered against Denji, Kobeni squeezed her eyes shut and saw her quiet life flash before her eyes before she heard:
WHUTCH
She opened her eyes and saw Denji standing in front of a headless corpse.
"W-W-Why didn't you use your ability?" Kobeni quietly asked as she backed up form Denji.
"Ohh, well when I use my power to kill devils… it's real violent and you were right next to me. If I pulled my cord, you could've gotten caught in the crossfire." Denji shrugged.
"O-oh thank you, Denji! I'm gonna head down and report this. Look around and see if there are other devils. This one could possibly b-be playing d-dead as well." Kobeni directed, before she went outside.
"The fiend is taken care of, everyone is free to head to their homes, it's safe!" Kobeni called out. Suddenly her phone started ringing. She fumbled for her phone, tapping her pockets before pulling it out and almost dropping the device.
Miss Makima.
"H-Hello, Miss Makima, th-th-the fiend is taken care o-of. W-we can head o-on patrol—"
"That won't be necessary, Miss Higashiyama. I need you to come back to headquarters, I've found the perfect partner for Denji. You can go back to being partnered with Arai."
"O-oh a-are you sure? I-I mean Denji is d-doing quite well, but—"
"Yes. Come back to the office. You can continue on your route with Arai."
"Y-yes ma'am…" Kobeni weakly relented, and Miss Makima quickly hung up.
Arai's nice… but the past two days with Denji has been pretty good.
Just then, Denji came out the door with passion. He quickly made his way to Kobeni.
"H-Hey Denji, we gotta head back… Miss Makima found you a new partner…"
"Oh… I thought you were my partner?" Denji asked as a bit of his earlier passion seemed to fizzle out a bit.
"W-Well, turns out you're getting paired up with someone e-e-else… I'm sure they'll be g-great." Kobeni assured with a quivering smile.
"I mean alright…" Denji shrugged and slumped over as he followed Kobeni through the street.
Kobeni nodded along as Miss Makima gave Denji the mission for the fourth special division of Public Safety.
I hope Denji doesn't mind working with devils…
"As Miss Higashiyama knows, this special division is going to utilize devilish assets, including fiends and human friendly devils—"
"Melons!" Denji shouted out of nowhere, interrupting Miss Makima. Kobeni turned her head slowly to look at the boy, who only looked forward at their boss with determination.
I hope Denji's partner can deal with whatever this is.
"The fruit?" Makima asked as she bent to her side, also clearly confused.
"D-Denji, have you b-been paying attention?" Konami whispered in his ear, through her teeth.
"To what?" Denji leaned to his side and whispered.
"I'm pairing you up with a buddy starting today."
"But I got a buddy right bere?" Denji mindlessly grabbed Kobeni's arm and raised her hand.
"Y-Y-Yeah b-b-bu—"
"Well, yes, Miss Higashiyama will provide you guidance, she will have her own buddy. In Public Safety, for small-scale missions, patrolling, and so on, we act in pairs for safety's sake…"
All of the sudden Kobeni's attention was brought to the door. She heard yelling and proud stomping towards Miss Makima's office.
Bump.
"Perfect timing— looks like your buddy's here."
BUMP.
"Be careful…"
BUMP.
"She's on the fiendish side." Suddenly the door flung open and Kobeni jumped at the noise. She was met with strawberry blonde hair, crimson horns, and piercing cross eyes staring right at her and Denji. Kobeni's jaw had dropped, and immediately began sweating bullets.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Grovel pitiful humans! My name is Power!" The horned fiend announced, commanding the room.
Ba-bump
I've never seen someone so beautiful…