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“For someone so lazy, your rage is quite a surprise. It’s exciting.” The Control Devil still smiled through a mouth stained with blood and her arms bound in chains. The audacity she had was despicable. The Control Devil flipped back her vermillion bangs, blinking with those yellow eyes full of feigned innocence.
Sickening. Angel felt sick to his stomach at the nonchalance he faced. “How much excitement could you possibly want anymore. Death is what awaits you, come into it with sincerity.”
“Hm. Perhaps if you tell me a story, I might allow my end. Enlighten me about a certain someone. I did bring you two together, after all.” The Control Devil leaned against the grimy alley wall to make herself more comfortable—as if she could with her body cocooned in metal.
Angel sneered, but the mention of that certain someone made him loosen his grip on the golden sword he pointed, the memory of a black leather glove across his lips, and the sudden heavy weight he felt through them. Angel looked down at the Control Devil’s bruised face, somehow still retaining her usual elegance.
Kneeling down, Angel tilted his head back towards the sky and sighed. “What I will say to you now is not for your sake. It is for him. ”
****
“You’re leaving.” It’s not a question, it’s a declaration. “There’s something wrong, Aki, and you’re stupid to ignore it. Why work this hard when you can retire and live happily? Why do you still ache for revenge that cannot be achieved?”
“Angel. My life is scraps not worth saving. If hunting this godforsaken devil is the way my life ends then so be it.”
Angel gazed at his companion, usually straight backed and stoic, now hunched with a furrow between his brows. He hated it. He wanted to reach across the space between them and smooth it out with his fingers. What a pipe dream that was.
There was a breeze carrying the scent of the sea on it, the contrast of the dying sun with the cold metal of the skyscrapers making Angel feel dizzy. “So it’s a night ambush, then?”
“Yes. The plan is to make sure there are as little casualties as possible. At least according to Makima.”
“Ha. As little casualties as possible. We both know the Gun Devil does not care for time of day.”
Angel could feel Aki step closer, inhaling the scent of lemongrass that always clung to him. Stubbornly, he stared at the horizon, not deigning to give Aki any attention.
There was a pinch near Angel’s elbow, the fabric of the suit bunching together and still he did not move his face.
“Angel.” A low murmur came from Aki, sending shivers down Angel’s back.
Aki suddenly wrapped his arms around Angel’s waist, bringing him close to his chest. Aki’s heartbeat drummed a steady rhythm, echoing between their shared space.
Too close.
“Aki, if your life force drains because you’ve suddenly become sappy I will smack you and give you a better reason to die by my hands.”
“Maybe skin to skin will kill me, but this won’t.”
Angel watched, unmoving, as Aki pressed a dark cloth against Angel’s lips and leaned in until their eyes fluttered closed and the only thing separating them was the handkerchief outlining the shapes of their mouths.
Angel’s stomach dropped but he grabbed Aki’s tie and yanked him even further inside the small bubble of space. Aki’s eyes sprung open, deep blue irises staring into Angel’s red ones, and watched as his scarlet hair flapped in the afternoon breeze.
They stayed like that for a few moments more, until Angel took a loosened strand of Aki’s inky hair and tucked it behind his ear, so careful to avoid touching. “Don’t you dare die, Aki.”
****
Angel sat on a bench across an ice cream shop, digging the little fluorescent spoon into the soft serve.
“Division 4’s Angel, I presume?” A deep voice came from behind him, and Angel turned around to see a tall, graying man with a scar extending from the left corner of his mouth to his ear. His long overcoat reeked of alcohol and Angel scrunched his nose.
“What do you need me for, Special Division 1 Leader?”
“Your presence is needed at the city square. Or what’s left of it, anyway.” Without waiting for a response, the man turned around and walked in the direction of the square, one mile away. Angel made to follow, but as he stood up his stomach dropped, the sinking feeling only worsening with every step he took.
He saw the torn sleeve of the suit first. Tattered and bloodied, but still smelling of lemongrass. Angel drew a sharp breath and sprinted through the mess of uprooted concrete and shattered glass, jumping over dented iron beams and scattered body parts, willing his tears to stay put.
The loose bun peeking from beneath a pile of devil intestines made him stop abruptly, stupefied. Carefully, Angel crawled into the mess and lifted Aki’s limp body, stumbling into a cleaner area.
“Aki…?” Angel’s voice cracked. He looked into his companion’s face and saw a gash down his forehead. Only one thing could have made such a mark upon Aki. Devil possession.
Angel’s breathing quickened and he cradled the lifeless body into his arms, rubbing his thumbs across Aki’s cheeks, still warm.
Warm. Touch. Aki.
Angel clenched his jaw.
That’s when he noticed the black studs Aki always wore. Slowly, Angel removed the earrings from his companion’s corpse and jammed them harshly into his own ears, not caring for the tiny rivulets of blood dripping on his thumbs.
The sound of gravel jolted Angel’s spiraling thoughts, the same graying man standing over the two companions with what seemed like pity.
“He made a contract with the Gun Devil. Makima promised this contract would protect you. Evidently, he was lied to. Do what you wish with this information. I’ll be at this location.” Division 1’s leader slipped a folded piece of paper into the pocket of Angel’s suit and once again walked off, taking a sip from the silver flask at his hip.
Angel tipped his head back and glared at the sky.
Blue. How dare the sky be so blue when all Angel could see was red.
****
“We won’t be heard here. This location is secured from the Control Devil’s ears.” Graying Man grunted as he sat in an armchair, surrounded by the odds and ends crowded in the dingy basement they sat in.
Angel stared blankly at the ground, scuffing his boots against the cold concrete floor. “Where.”
There was no need for clarification.
“Presumably biding her time at some shrine. Hiding, maybe. She’ll show her face soon, though. Maybe with some bait.”
“Am I to be this bait?”
“HAHA. No. You’ll deal the finishing blow.”
“You mentioned a contract with the Gun Devil. Explain.”
Graying Man fiddled with the piercing on his left ear and released a breath. “Makima convinced Aki that he needed to make a contract with a Devil more involved, and told him to find the Gun Devil to make a contract and then use said contract to kill it.”
“Aki is a fool, but he isn’t as stupid—“
“Control Devil’s coercion is not one easily escaped. You’re one of a few exceptions, Angel.”
“Why…why would he do this despite….”
“Despite the Gun Devil bringing him into this work? Makima has a twisted sense of humor. I know first hand.”
Angel blinked a few times, trying to calm the rage he had pent up in the last 36 hours. “Clear everything for me. All I need is a direct path.” Angel scrunched his nose as he walked past Graying Man. This time he smelled of tobacco.
“Fine with me. Don’t let that anger slip away. Dying is no longer better than work.”
“Shut up.” Angel closed the door of the basement and walked out, running his fingers through his hair. He reached into his suit pocket and grabbed an almost empty pack of cigarettes.
Aki’s pack.
Only two were left, one was clean and Angel stuck it into his mouth. The other had words written with red ink in a messy scrawl: Easy Revenge.
Tch. Aki you bastard.
Angel lit the cig inside his mouth and slipped into the crowded streets of the city.
****
“Alright, alright. I don’t need anymore of your words, seeing as I know how the story continues.” The Control Devil smiled sweetly, showing no teeth. “Hmmm. Aki was a fool. So easy to take care of. Humans are funny like that, aren’t they Angel?”
Angel gazed calmly down at the Control Devil, dusting off his pants from the dust on the ground.
“Aki may have been a fool. But he is not your fool.”
“I see your little eye twitching. My mistake; I must have hit a nerve.” She giggled.
Angel’s breathing quickened once again, but he no longer cared to suppress it. He no longer had anything to care for.
Red. Angel craved red.
The hilt bruised his sweating palms, dug into his calluses. He didn’t care.
“Bang.”
One stab. Dark crimson splashed Angel’s cheeks.
Red was all he wanted.
Another slice and the Control Devil’s serene face rolled a little ways further down the alley. A trail of red followed her.
More.
A sea of red flooded the dingy alley when Angel walked out, holding a tuft of crimson hair at his side. He stepped up to Graying Man and thrust the object he carried into his arms.
“Dispose of her as you wish.”
Angel stuffed his stained hands into his pockets, leaving in the glow of a sky so deep blue it made him want to sob.