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‘Woooo! Field trip! Field trip!’ Power chanted, fists punching the air as Aki and Denji begrudgingly trailed along behind her. Just across the street were a few people shooting her disapproving looks as she skipped along - looks that were evidently ignored, given that she couldn’t care enough to take notice. The same couldn’t be said for the top-knot man behind her, who let out a sigh.
‘No, not a field trip. Field trips are meant to be fun. We’re going to the vet for Nyako and then we’re leaving.’ Aki glanced towards the cat snoozing away in Denji’s arms.
For the three devil hunters, no day could count as normal. Really, there’s nothing about devil hunting that could ever quite pass as routine. So when Nyako vomited, going to the vet together was just about the closest thing to normalcy they would ever get.
Power hummed, pretending to consider Aki’s words, finger to her chin. ‘Nuh-uh. You can’t go talking like that to your future president, y’know. If I say it’s a field trip, it’s a field trip.’
Too exasperated to bother answering - not that there would be a point, anyway - Aki huffed.
They should’ve just made Power go by herself. Perhaps, she could be trusted to take care for her own cat. Would save the rest of them the trouble.
‘Denji! Wanna hear about my new Nobel Prize-winning invention?’
Yeah, maybe not.
‘If you clean a vacuum cleaner… then… Aren’t you the vacuum cleaner?’
Aki still hasn’t settled on whether ignoring the pair - which would just earn him more nagging - or entertaining them was better.
Power and Denji were still at it. The last ten minutes had been filled with nothing but pure idiocy, of course, and though Aki would like to claim that he can be patient, that trait only seems to last a minutes around these two.
Denji, out of breath from laughing too hard at something stupid Power had said, turned to the exasperated man behind him.
‘Hey, Aki, what’d you call a fake noodle?’
Aki sighed once more, mentally bracing himself. He prayed for someone to give him a vacation. Maybe he'd ask for one when they got home.
‘Yes, I know, an impas-’
‘An impasta!’ Obnoxious of laughs erupted from the pair, tears in their eyes as they struggled to keep it together.
‘If you make one more idiotic pun, I will literally stab you.’
‘Pffff, sure!’
With the two running out of ideas for puns, Aki was finally gifted some silence. Only the sounds of footsteps on pavement could be heard as they walked towards their destination. Peace, tranquility - he could get used to this. A memory crept up to him of a time when it would be his own parents walking in front of him, as he trailed along with his brother. When he was younger, Aki believed these memories would be ones he would happily look back on as an adult during a future family dinner. Now, he can only ever find himself yearning for those simpler times, eyes stinging. Still, the serenity was nice, something that had almost become rare and foreign. Although he wouldn’t admit it, Denji and Power had filled a void that had existed for too long, and at the very least he was appreciative of that fact.
If you looked closely, you would spot the smallest smile on his face.
Yeah. Maybe he really could get used to this.
‘..Hey, uhhhhhh guys?’ Denji called out sheepishly, hesitance filling his voice. ‘Where’s Nyako?’
‘Aki, please stay calm-’
‘Don’t you tell me to stay calm! I am calm!’ He snapped, the roughness of his voice betraying his stress.
Power suddenly spun around, finger pointed, ‘Denji!’ she shouted, ‘If you don’t find Nyako right now, I’ll sacrifice you to the boogey man!’
‘...the what?’
‘The boogey man! I read it in a book!’
‘You read?’
Aki groaned. Now he knew, with absolute certainty, that these two would be the death of him. He quickly turned to face the boy. ‘Denji, you were holding the cat, where did she go?’
‘I don’t know- Why are you so mad? It’s Power’s cat anyways.’
Aki was well aware that he was constantly on the verge of losing it. But right here in broad daylight, on a public street - yeah, maybe this would be the time he finally snaps.
‘How do you not notice a cat going out of your arms?’
Before Denji could answer, Power came in between him and Aki, yelling. ‘If you dropped him, I will sacrifice you! I’ve got my lighter right here, candles and everything!’ Power threatened, flailing around her arm holding a ziplock bag full of birthday candles.
Denji glared at her, finally ticked off. ‘D’you read that in a book too?’
‘Nah, just a thing this old woman sold me. She said I could achieve world domination if I bought them.’
He looked at her dumbfounded. He scoffed, crossing his arms. ‘Right. Well, it’s your fault anyways, Power. It’s your cat.’
Power gasped, offended, charging at Denji and knocking him to the ground. He fell with a loud thud, yelping.
‘I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you! Nyako was starting to like you too much! Now get me my cat back!’ she sat on him, still waving her finger at his face.
Denji struggled to push her off as the girl threw a tantrum, throwing insults back and forth at each other. Meanwhile, Aki stared down at the two flatly, too fed up to do or say anything anymore. It's settled. He’ll be drinking tonight.
‘You are so dead, Denji! Dead-ji! Ha! That's right-’
‘Know what’s funny? Not you, so shut up!’
‘Oh yeah? Big talk coming from you, icky human-’
Denji swiftly grabbed the candles from Power’s jacket, scrambling to get back up.
‘Boom! Ha! Checkmate!’ The chainsaw-boy stuck his tongue out, holding up the ziplock bag. Power let out a growl, furious.
‘I don’t need candles to sacrifice you! I’ll just have to figure it out myse-'
The sound was quiet, but it was heard by the three.
A soft ‘meow’ came from behind them, and surely enough, there was the furrball they had been searching.
Turning slowly, they stared at the small cat walking towards them.
All was quiet.
After a few seconds of silence, Aki spoke.
‘...Given all we’ve been through, this feels a little anticlimactic.’
The other two hummed in agreement as Power picked up Nyako from the ground.
‘Maybe the vet will have to wait for another day.’
Denji turned to Power, whispering.
‘You took Aki’s money to buy those candles, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah, but he doesn’t need to know that.’