Chapter Text
“Sh’o I wan’ed ta ashk, ‘hy didja sh’ae ‘ou wan’ed ta moov’ to vuh cawntry a‘gin?” Denji remembered he onced asked through a mouthful of their breakfast - a piece of untoasted bread paired with their condiment of choice spread across the chabudai. Denji picked jam for him and Pochita.
“Please don’t talk with your mouth full,” Asa lightly admonished him after swallowing the bread in her mouth, “firstly, you’re at a greater risk of choking by doing that, secondly, I couldn’t understand a word of what you said.”
“Sh’oree, I — ” Denji stopped to swallow, heeding Asa’s warning, “Sorry. I said ‘Why didja say ya wanted to move to the countryside again?’”
“Didn’t I already tell you this once? When I graduate college and get a good paying job, I want to move out to a rural town where no one knows me so I can start my life over again.” Asa took another bite.
“I know that part but, does it hafta be in the country specifically? Can’t ya also do the same thing by moving to another city? I don’t think the towns out there don’t have stuff like big restaurants ‘n stuff like theaters or aquariums and all those things. What wouldja do for fun rather than watch TV all day?”
It was about 6:20 in the morning on Saturday, Denji and Pochita’s fourth day of their stay as guests in Asa’s Apartment, and the two humans of this odd unit had gotten into a small argument over whether it was supposedly superior to live in the countryside or cities.
Despite being on the half of the argument representing the city life, Denji was in opposition to Asa in this one exception more out of genuine curiosity rather than actually thinking the idea of city life was superior over country life.
Asa chewed on her bread to think and swallowed, “That’s true, but that means I could learn to do a variety of things: hiking in the forests or mountains, fishing in the streams, maybe some gardening. Take up some hobbies like that so I’m not sitting in front of the TV all day when I’m off work or have nothing to do for the weekend.”
Denji hummed in understanding, those did sound like some pretty interesting stuff to learn or do. He also spied a little ant that had somehow crawled onto the chabudai.
“I admit it does sound boring for someone my age to aspire for a future like that, but it’s what I truly want and I’m going to try to be a little more selfish for myself.” She explained, “Did you also know? I once stayed to listen to this one speaker on the street proclaiming that about seven out of twenty people die due to a Devil-related incident. Do you know the reason for that, Denji?”
“Not a clue. I just know Devils like eatin’ people, and everyone’s gotta eat.” Denji explained honestly before taking another bite.
“I suppose so,” Asa let his simple thinking float around in her brain, “but my guess is that it’s only because it occurs in highly populated cities like Tokyo. Out in the country I read the statistics of dying from Devils are way lower.” Hmm, was that so? “Highly populated cities are like magnets for Devils because of the high amount of people in one area. In the country, there’s still a small chance, yes, but at least I won’t spend every occasion thinking ‘ Will I be near a Devil attacking today?’ or ‘Is it today that I become just another name on a list of casualties? ’”
Denji stopped chewing, he thought of Asa not coming home one day and against her wishes eventually left the apartment to go look for her only to find a big wall of names or something. While he couldn’t read very well, he was still compelled to read every last name hoping and praying that Asa was just being late, or was in a hospital, or something.
Worst case scenario, his eye would land upon three characters upon a sea of other characters: ‘Three’, ‘Hawk’, and A-S-A.
…
…
…
Well, no need to dwell on thinking of bad stuff like that if it didn't happen! Bye-bye for now, bad thoughts! Denji picked off a little piece of bread and dropped it before the ant. He watched it feel the bread, put it in its mouth, and take it back to its friends.
“Another reason I wanted to go to the country is because of this old story my parents would read to me, ‘ The Country Mouse and The City Mouse. ’”
Denji swallowed, “What’s it about?”
“It’s one of the many old stories told by this man from Greece called Aesop, basically one day a mouse visits their cousin in the country and when it was time for lunch, they didn’t like how simple the food of the country was.” She began.
“So they bring their cousin to visit the city and they eat all sorts of tasty foods, but then a cat attacks them. They escape but the city mouse tells their cousin they had lost their parents and most of their friends from cats over many days, weeks, months, and years. The country mouse then thinks that despite all of the tasty food, they'd rather live safely in the country and gnaw on plain seeds than live in the city and be gnawed on by constant fear.” Asa abridged another of Aseop’s anecdotes.
“At face value it’s a tale simply describing the system of risk vs. reward, but looking at it in real life; mice being people, cats being Devils. Life imitates art far too closely.”
Denji let the story, its message, and Asa’s explanations bounce around in his brain, “Good point.” He finally said, concluding their argument and giving Asa the win. Wasa. “I guess a life out in the country ain’t sounding too bad after all.”
“You think so now too?” She asked and Denji nodded.
“Yeah cuz’ then that would make trips to the city even better, like finding two whole bags full of bread and eating two slices for dinner, when you've been sharing one slice for a week!” Denji inputted his own allegory.
“Hmm… I guess once in a blue moon trips would be nice.” Asa considered and finished breakfast. She then got up and Denji followed her to the doorway, “You just gonna do some cleaning and watch TV again today?”
“Yep.” Denji nodded as he went in to give her a hug and some bunny kisses.
“Good boy,” Asa smiled at him when they parted and his shitty heart fluttered a little faster, “before I go, could you please put this in the second basket?”
“Huh?” Denji suddenly realized Asa was dressed in a white button up shirt that was under a black suit jacket and skinny tie with matching pants handing him a piece of paper. The same time he noticed that Asa wasn’t in her school uniform, he also realized that they were no longer in her apartment to begin with.
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“Second basket.”
It took Denji a second to realize the hand holding the paper out to him didn’t belong to Asa and that he was no longer in the apartment. His mind snapping back to the present, he took the paper, grabbed the stamp from its inkpad, pressed it down firmly enough to clearly show the red symbol in the proper area, and slipped the paper into its assigned basket.
While Denji didn’t like to think back on his days of being indebted to the Yakuza up until he met Asa on that fateful night while scavenging from the dumpster, being their personal Devil Hunter for the last four years had conditioned Denji to believe the life of a proper, legal Devil Hunter was in constant motion and Devil killing. He was half-right.
Said other half was the side of Devil Hunters being a proper job with sitting on your ass for hours and other… ‘be-you-ow-cra-see’ shit Denji couldn’t really care to remember. From what Asa had explained to him in layman’s terms was that this side of Devil Hunting was the part where they say ‘Sorry for letting that Devil fuck some shit up before we killed it’ but with a piece of paper.
His understanding, not Asa’s exact wording.
From what Denji saw of the process: they took a quick read over of the paper, signed their name on the bottom, stamped it, and tucked it away into a basket to be given to someone else later. Rinse and repeat while taking a few breaks along the way. Have a smoke, piss or shit if you feel like it during that downtime, or go out for some lunch and then come back to stamping and filing until it was time to go home or be invited out for drinks and a meal or two at some restaurant.
Having never learned to properly read and having penmanship where it was considered that chickens had scratched out somehow more readable characters than his katakana, Denji was only trusted to help stamp papers and put them away into their proper baskets.
Although one part of him was initially pissed at being given an insultingly simple-minded task he quickly came to realize that he was off doing the easy shit boring as it was, so he had no reason to really complain. But it also helped that Asa took notice of his initial disappointment and privately encouraged him to be the best stamper and organizer he could be… and he might very damn well be the best stamper and organizer in the division. Maybe in all of Public Safety even considering how many people either died or quit a year after joining.
Especially now after hearing a couple of months ago that—
“Top basket.” His thought was interrupted. Asa once also told him that who you’re also working with can really make or break a job too. While she had good and friendly, albeit somewhat reserved, company at her old job as a waitress, the skinny topknot Denji was currently shackled with today as a helper was a complete ass.
Regardless, Denji stamped the paper and slipped it into its proper basket before letting his eyes and mind wander again until he was given another paper to stamp and put away.
His gaze landed on the little calendar nearby. ‘ Huh… February already? ’ he thought to himself as reached for the nearby bag to snack on some more nuts, ‘ I wonder what’s the difference between eating these and uncooked beans? They kinda feel the same, would anyone notice someone eating uncooked beans and think they were just eating nuts? Beans and February… Why do those two together specifically sound familiar? Wait… ’
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“Oi, do ya know wuzza month ‘n a half after January 15th ?” Denji suddenly spoke up as he snacked on a handful of trail mix from the unattended bag he found, claimed, and took from the common room, “And it’s also the 3rd today, right?”
“What’s the occasion? Fourth basket.” Aki replied in a neutral tone as he scribbled his signature on the dotted line and passed it to Denji before moving onto another paper.
“Just remembered something z’all…” was Denji’s only explanation.
Aki gives him a quick side glance to read his expression; it's unusually contemplative, as if he’s actually thinking about something deeper and it had something to do with that certain day somewhere a month and a half after January 15th.
Shit, he’s getting himself invested in what the idiot could be planning on… “It’s February 3rd today and either February 7th or February 8th. Second basket.” he finally answers.
“ Hah? The 7th or 8th?! Well, which is it? Make up your fuckin’ mind!” Denji shouts and stamps the paper with a bit more aggression before he puts it into the proper basket.
“If you divide fifteen in half you’ll get seven-and-a-half, but since there’s no February 7.5 it’s either the 7th or 8th. Second basket.” Aki explains.
Denji hums in consideration as he stamps the paper and slips it into the proper basket. A moment of silence passes before he asks again, “What days are the 7th ‘n 8th on?”
Aki takes a quick glance at the little calendar on his desk, “Friday for the 7th and Saturday for the 8th. Top basket.”
Aki discreetly watches his reaction from the corner of his eye as he stamps and puts the paper into its assigned basket.
His expression is still in that unusually contemplative state… ah, fuck it. He’ll bite, “Why ask about one of those two days specifically? Third basket.”
“None of your beeswax is what.” Denji snips at him and their conversation at last dies.
“Whatever.” Aki exhaled through his nose as he looked at the clock which now read 1:30 PM. Standing up from his chair and doing some light hand exercises, the mountain of paper he had to deal with this morning had shrunken into a decent mound… it was about as good a time as any to take a break, “I’m going out for a smoke. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
“Hey, ya got any spare papers?” Denji suddenly asks again just as Aki was about to walk out of the cubicle, taking a highlighter and a spare black, blue, and red pen each from their cups.
Turning back and opening the drawer containing two stacks of spare blank printer papers, Aki takes a sheet and hands it over to the younger man to do what he pleases with it before finally leaving and heading to the designated smoking area.
Opening the door leading out a small area, Aki catches the familiar scent of smoke first and a cheery noise directed towards him second.
“Hey, a happy lucky day for both of us! I’ll give you the last one for a light?” Himeno called as she offered the final cigarette sticking out of the pack.
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“So… are you and her man getting along and playing nice with each other today?” Himeno asks before taking another drag.
Mitaka Denji and Mitaka Asa. Currently the hottest topic of gossip in Public Safety; their young ages were something that wasn’t too uncommon but the fact that they were a married pair of Devil Hunters was certainly something that would immediately pique interest.
Especially so that when they were also currently the newest pupils under Kishibe on top of the other kid he also took on not too long ago.
Having caught wind of news that her old master was taking on some more new pupils, Himeno felt inclined to check out the newbies herself and being both her buddy and chaperone from the terrible hangover Himeno was nursing that day Aki was right behind her.
Aki only gives a disgruntled noise at remembering their first meeting as he puffs out some smoke.
“Great! So you didn’t kill him yet nor has he kicked you in the balls again. Ah, sorry, I meant, he ‘protected’ you from another surprise attack from the ‘Nut Devil’ again. Heh heh, I like ‘im.” Himeno chuckles.
“How’s the girl?” Aki asks.
“Honestly? I’m both proud and envious of her; the kid is just outta school, found a boy she’s absolutely crazy for and in turn is crazy for her and managed to lock him down, got no in-laws chewing her ears off, doing pretty well on the papers side of Public Safety because she’s decent at counting and reading, got herself a job that’s in high demand and pay… albeit with an equally high mortality rate as the trade-off but still … all that and she’s only eighteen!” Himeno blew out some more and realized, “Oh shit, it just hit me now… are… are we side characters in her story? Is she the main character of this world?”
“Doubtful.” Aki took in another drag of smoke and a comfortable silence fell between them for a moment. Until Aki remembered Denji's uncharacteristic scheming, “I know it’s useless to read a crazy person, but that dumbass husband of her’s is planning something.”
“Hm? Denji? What did you pick up from him?”
“He asked what’s a month and a half after January 15th.”
“Ahh, my sense of woman’s intuition is tingling.” Himeno took a drag and blew out smoke, “From what I think, he’s planning to celebrate something involving her; an anniversary of whatever they did that day or maybe a birthday. Her birthday specifically.”
That made sense… which in turn raised more questions, most prominently what husband was unaware of his own wife’s birthday? According to both them and their documents they got married only about two weeks ago, but surely the two had dated for at least a year or two before committing to such a thing, meaning that they would’ve at least been around to experience one of their birthdays. Maybe it was just a case where Denji was being stupid again and— NO! No, no, nope… stay yourself Aki, this isn’t your business, let the boy drown when giving his wife a shitty birthday party if he couldn’t properly plan ahead. Let nature take its course.
As he snuffed out the stubby cigarette into the ashtray Aki couldn’t help at why he was getting so invested in the Mitakas’ personal matters.
They were just two kids who got hitched and somehow crossed paths and got picked up by Master Kishibe to become Devil Hunters. From what Aki overheard from Himeno’s drunken prodding when they went out for drinks and a meal so the newest batch of rookies could introduce themselves, only Asa seemed to have some stakes as a Devil Hunter as she lost her parents to the Typhoon Devil. Denji meanwhile was somewhere between tight-lipped and uninterested with sharing his past up until the point he met Asa when he was homeless and scavenging for food in a dumpster.
“Mmh, sorry I didn’t take an extra pack with me.” Himeno apologized as she snuffed out her own cigarette, “You look like you need a couple extra.”
“No thanks. There’s no good in smoking excessively; you already got me into smoking but I won’t be a chain smoker.”
“And I only offered because you're working yourself up over those two.” Himeno leans back and stretches her arms out as they look directly back at a peculiar murder of crows observing them from electrical wires, “Do you think both of them are gonna make it to a year? Wanna place some bets?”
While it didn’t enlighten him (it was more like shining a flashlight into a dark corner) that possibility was what supposedly the root of Aki’s growing frustration whenever he’s thinking about the two.
Just another family that would be ripped apart by Devils. It was something not uncommon to hear… it happened to him… so why does he still care? “It’s still pissing me off. This is just another tragedy in the making, nothing special… but it’s one that is so easily avoidable, I think. One that’ll end less painfully… maybe…”
Aki senses Himeno reaching her hand over to his face, “You’re such a sweet guy, you know that?” she says softly while lightly pinching his cheek. “Asa told me once how she wanted to go and live off in the country before becoming a Devil Hunter. Not too bad a dream really… if that’s so, wanna visit them together once in a while when a year is up?”
Fifteen minutes was up, time to get back to work.
“We’ll see… but sure.” Aki held the door for Himeno to walk through first and the buddies walked back together, “It’s not really a bet though if both of us are rooting for the same side.”
“Mmmph, true… so —”
“Dibs on them surviving.” Aki suddenly stated.
“Wuh—? Wha—?! Hey! You can’t just throw me under the bus like that and peg me as a bad girl for making me take the side where one or both of them bite it!” Himeno cried out.
Aki ignored her and walked back to his desk, half not believing himself that he was doing this.
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Denji appeared to have not moved an inch from the desk when Aki came back as he was still hunched over the paper with a determined expression doodling… something .
From what he can see in his drawing in one corner there is an oval with several lines sticking out of its top all adorned with red tears surrounded in yellow highlights accompanied by some upside down red and blue tears with squiggles emerging from their bottoms, in another corner is a blue square that has two red loops and squiggles on top of it, and on the bottom was the most immaculate and complex of his drawings yet.
Two stick figures sitting across from each other in what he assumes are red chairs eating from a bowl and square topped with black squiggles.
The figure on the right had red squiggles that were highlighted for hair and dressed in what is supposed to be a shirt with a black tie which Aki guessed was meant to be Denji himself, but the figure across from him was Aki who at first assumed to be Asa but upon closer inspection failed to have the neck-length hair she had but it was longer and styled in two… pigtails? Low, unbraided ponytails?
“HEY! DO YA MIND?!” Denji suddenly shouted as he covered his drawing with arms and shifted the paper away from Aki’s sight… damn, he lost the element of surprise and got too interested. Aki considered feigning aloofness and getting right back to finishing the paperwork, but the brief image he saw of Denji and Mystery Twintails having a meal together compelled him for answers.
“Sorry. Just wanted to say… nice meal they’re having…” Aki slowly began — the plan was to play it cool and slowly work his way in, “are they having a good time?”
Denji looked back to his drawing and then back to him, “Yeah, having a great time…” he answered quickly. Still not willing to show the full drawing to Aki.
“Good, but would you mind finishing your drawing later? It’s time to finish the rest of this paperwork off.”
A look of confusion flashes across his face, “I ain’t drawing , ‘m makin’ a list !” Denji specifies as he shows him the full piece of his ‘list’, “I know I can’t write for shit. So ‘m using pictures to organize my plans.” That makes sense. It also turns out there was one last drawing Denji was in the process of making before he caught Aki peeking at him.
It was of him and Mystery Twintails sitting on a rectangle together… his noodly nubs for hands were all over her… one hand on her the area supposedly meant to be her chest, the other… on her crotch. Fuck-king newlyweds… The other figure surely had to be Asa, but in a time when her hair was apparently long enough to style into twintails.
Before Denji put his list away, Aki was able to quickly take another second look at the other drawings now under the context of Denji setting something up for his wife. Himeno was right: It appeared that Asa’s birthday was approaching and the deadline was somewhere on the 7th or 8th.
“Even though you probably won’t be my helper tomorrow, do you think you can still help me to win a bet? Fourth basket.” Aki asked.
“Nah,” Denji replied immediately, “it’s your fault if you lost shit, I ain’t gonna help ya.”
“I just have some questions to ask that will help you focus on giving your wife a good birthday rather than what you’ve been planning.”
Denji went wide eyed before his voice lowered to a growl, “How the fuck didja know about what I was plannin’?!”
“A woman’s intuition. Second basket.”
“What? You ain’t a chick!”
“No, but I work closely with one. Want me to help you or not?” Aki offered again looking at Denji dead on.
“Y-You ain’t gonna be telling anyone else about this?” He childishly asked in a just barely audible whisper.
“Not a soul, especially her. Top basket.” Aki pledged.
Denji silently stared at him for a moment before flashing a sharp-toothed grin, stamping the paper, and putting it in the top basket, “Heh, y’know maybe you are a nice guy after all.”
“Let’s start by telling me what kind of cake she likes. Second basket.”
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Stamping and slipping the final piece of paper into its basket and another day of work comes to an end. Fully extending her legs under her desk and arms up into the air until her joints popped rhythmically, Asa was more than happy today was a day on the domestic side of being part of Public Safety.
No ‘training’ from Master Kishibe for her and Denji until they were beaten black and blue (or red and dead before being given a blood bag in Denji’s case), no going out in public and awkwardly throwing around her newfound authorial weight towards civilians and outranking officers when serving as back up for a Devil Hunter.
Once upon a time Asa thought that when she became an adult and entered the workforce, the job she’d secure would’ve been something like this mundane as it sounded - but she liked it and that’s all what truly mattered. She had mostly gotten what she wished for aside from the dual-sided nature of her job of being in the office filing papers one day and then possibly fighting for your life against the supernatural tomorrow. Or vice-versa. Or in that consecutive order on the same day.
“Hey, baby.” A familiar voice in decent English imitating a particular character from a show he had miraculously rediscovered and recalled from his bleak preteen years greeted her.
“Hi, honey, ready to go home?” Asa asked as she got up from her seat and began walking towards the exit with Denji in a peppy stride next to her, “Any hints on what dinner will be for tonight? Do you want to make a quick detour and do some last-minute shopping together?” she asked as they made to take their usual route back home.
“Ehh… sure.” Denji took a moment to recall the inventory of the fridge, “We’re almost out of eggs and rice, and I need some pork, cheese, and some vegetables.”
“What types of vegetables are we talking about?”
“Whatever one's ya feel like eating.”
“Alright, tonkatsu curry sounds pretty good for tonight.”
“I…! I can’t really surprise ya can’t I? Ha ha, yeesh…” Denji sheepishly let out a low exhale at her perceptiveness, something that always amazed and secretly worried him simultaneously.
Asa paid him back with a smile before a factor dawned on her, “Oh yeah, I finally had a moment yesterday to look around where we were and I don’t think any of the nearby stores have any koshihikari, you okay with not eating that for the time being until we find a store that has it?”
“Nah, it’s fine. Rice is rice, what’s the difference?”
“The difference is that you liked it. You practically inhaled that onigiri I made you out of koshihikari and whatever I could scrape together in my apartment that one time!”
Although officially ‘married’ in the eyes of the law and two weeks fresh into their marriage, Denji and Asa both argued and made a variety of nonsensical, sensical, and hypothetical conversation with each other all the way from the Official Public Safety Committee Building to and through the aisles of the store they stepped into and up the stairs to the front door of their new apartment like a couple who had been married for decades.
First giving her bag of groceries to Denji, Asa unlocked the door with her own key and held the door open for Denji to walk through before following after him.
“Oh, welcome home darling.” A familiar voice greeted them.
“What the?! Aaargh! Asa! ” Denji groaned as he placed the bags on the counter.
“Ugh… I know, I heard him too.” She called back in an exasperated tone as she shucked her shoes off with her feet and neatly set them next to Denji’s.
“You better not call me that again because, one, I’m already married, ya fartknocker! And, two, I ain’t into dudes!” Denji mouthed off to their visitor.
Placing a hand on Denji’s arm to smooth down his metaphorical bristles, it was now Asa’s turn to give a tongue lashing. A one-two, husband-wife combo! “Don’t get your tentacle in a twist, Yoshida, we’re only like five minutes past our curfew because we went to buy some food.”
“Please relax yourselves Mrs. and Mr. Mitaka, I don’t expect you two to return back home exactly on the dot.” Yoshida explained with that easy going smile that he always kept on, “I’m just following what the old man tells me to do, making sure that you don’t take this chance to run off to someplace like Hokkaido while he has business in Kyoto.”
“We’ll do that when the geezer finally dies, like he said, remember?” Denji rolled his eyes as began taking out some cookware from the bottom cabinets.
Yoshida hummed cryptically before making his way to the door. “Well since you’re both back, I see no reason for me to stay longer.”
“What a shame. You sure you’re not gonna at least stay with us for dinner?” Asa sarcastically muttered with her arms crossed.
“No thank you, I appreciate the invitation though. Have a good night Mitakas.” Yoshida waved goodbye as he opened and closed their door himself. Somehow he had managed to lock it for them too, going by the additional sound.
“Dammit, he’s probably using a small tentacle or something to lockpick the door which is how he gets into the apartment before us sometimes.” Asa realized. “I hate to say that it’s really smart of him to use his contract pragmatically like that.”
“Pfft, not smart enough though.” Denji assured as he began chopping up the vegetables, “He probably thought you were being lateral when you asked him to have dinner with us.”
“The word is literal , honey,” Asa gently corrected before looking over the kitchen space, “need my help for anything?”
“Nah, you go on ahead and take your shower. I’ve got it down to the second, you watch! The moment you put a new shirt on after your shower, dinner will already be on the table for us.”
“Liking that confidence in your time management. Alright then.”
Five steps into Asa leaving the kitchen, “Uh, actually Asa couldja —?” Denji called out. Only for Asa to wordlessly grab the remote, turn the TV on, change it to a particular channel, and adjust the volume to an audible level.
“…I can’t get anything past ya, can I?” he sheepishly rubbed his neck. Asa paid him again with her smile as set the remote on the counter and walked out of the living room and into the bedroom.
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6 AM on the dot like always. As much as they wanted to feel each other’s embrace and warmth for as long as possible it could be argued one of the worst things about getting up from bed was the compelling need to pee. Denji was quicker to answer nature's call as he sleepily stumbled out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.
Although Asa had no longer had a reason to prepare herself to go to school and the start of her school/work hours had bumped up from 7 AM to 9 AM, humans were creatures of habit. Denji considered how he was also up and about more so than Asa, maybe he was still a little bit human too? Regardless he needed to make breakfast for them, that didn’t really change.
Interchanging each other’s spot in occupying the bathroom, it was Asa’s turn to pee, wash her face, and brush her teeth as Denji went to the main room and opened the curtains to let the morning sunlight in. Opening the door leading to the balcony, the calm and cool morning wind that rushed in was the just the thing to really wake up Denji.
Cracking some eggs into the sizzling pan and setting the bread into the toaster by the time Asa came out of the bathroom and went to collect the newspaper sitting outside their door, Denji finished making the Laputa Pan and poured two cups of Megu-Milk to start breakfast.
Now working at the same place, there was really no need to inform if the other was going to be coming home late or something so early morning talks were a bit of an odd topic. Neither of them didn’t know how to approach for the first few days when that comfortable silence between them had been totally exhausted.
So Asa turned to picking up and reading the morning paper to fish out any interesting bits she thought that would make good conversation or having some ‘adult talk’ with Denji as she put it, imitating how when she was a child she overheard her own parents talking about a variety of things that came to a sudden stop when she came to the table for breakfast.
It was mostly small exchanges of reminding each other which bills had to be paid soon or requesting if the other could do a certain chore/errand for them while they were out or before they came back. It was to help ‘shake out all of the bad stuff early in the day so they wouldn’t have to argue about it later’ as her father put it when he once explained the origin of that quirk when Asa asked him about it.
It was mostly serving her and Denji well, except for the first few times when Asa saw Denji visibly stiffen and pallor at the mention of the hustle to make payments again. She rubbed circles on his back and reassured him the worst that could happen to them if they were behind on paying up was that they’d get some warnings before being forced out into the streets.
Denji didn’t like the thought of bringing his wife along through another round of the struggles of being homeless, but comparing his previous experiences it wasn’t as bad as the shit he waded through once, but it was still something Denji swore to prevent as best he could with all the power Pochita gave to him.
After breakfast and changing into their Public Safety Devil Hunter Uniforms the pair made their way to the door for their shoes and to officially begin throwing themselves into opening the present that asshole Schröedinger had mailed them today.
“Ab-pap-bup!” Asa specifically vocalized and Denji turned around to face her, “Your tie is all screwed up.”
Denji turned to look at himself in the hallway mirror used for any last-minute adjustments, “Fuck, thought I had it this time. Can never make this dumbass knot tight enough without strangling myself.”
Smiling at her beloved’s constant strive to make himself somewhat independently autonomous, Asa wordlessly undid Denji’s tie to properly tie it and kissed him on the cheek before opening the door to get to work.
It was almost 9:30 AM when they were both called down to the Public Safety Building’s parking lot. Miss Himeno, Mister Aki, and another of the rookies (Arai Hirokazu if memory serves right) were standing there. The last one to arrive was that rabbit-like girl Asa swore to have met in a few places before, Higashiyama Kobeni.
“We’ve been dispatched for a case of Devil activity,” Aki began immediately when they had gathered, “in the last 36 hours there’s been a report of a Devil in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku ward. Four Public Safety Devil Hunters before us went in along with several officers of law enforcement and failed to report back. From what our intel had gathered we’re dealing with a Devil of the ‘Abstract Class’ so be extra prepared for what it can do.”
‘Abstract Class’ Devils were one of the two major classes a Devil was categorized under, the other being ‘Physical Class’. Abstract Class Devils were those who fell under the attributes of Devils being born from mankind fearing more specific phenomena from common things like sudden loud noises to niches such as being unnerved by too much of a certain color in one place.
Their biggest form of threat was usually the versatility allowed from being associated with the particular fear resulting in more reality defying abilities as opposed to the more realistically based Physical Classed Devils, like for example the Shark Devil only being able to submerge itself and swim through any surface be it liquid or solid and possessing such a bite force strong enough to rip and tear nearly anything to chunks or shreds.
“Uh, Hayakawa,” Arai began, “is there even a vehicle in Public Safety large enough to transport all six of us?”
“No, we’re taking two vehicles with myself and…” Aki stopped as if realizing something.
“You mean one vehicle and you and Ko-be-ni here will be driving us to Kabukicho! She’s got a car of her own, don'tcha know?” Himeno jumped in a little too enthusiastically, wrapping an arm around and pressing herself into said girl who squeaked at the sudden contact.
“B-b-but I— my car’s e-engine is really s-slow— and I just only paid for l-l-last week’s da-damages—” she began to meekly protest, “And-and-and… o-okay. My family always forced me t-to drive them wherever they wanted to go s-so…” Kobeni submissively agreed to be the second driver.
“Woo! Yeah! Hey, hey Asa how ‘bout us girls all ride each other… together in the same car?” Himeno offered as she also brought in Asa with her other arm.
The peculiar smell from being directly next to Himeno caught Asa's attention, “Miss Himeno are you drunk again ?”
“Whaaaa? No! I admit I drank but, ‘M sober ‘nuff ta werk.” she slurred, “Aki’s with me, he saw I took the bare mininininium of two… two big gulps of two cans of beer!”
“That solves our driver and passenger situations,” Aki began again, “Higashiyama and I will be driving us to Shinjuku, be wary of the Abstract Class Devil, enough said. Let’s get moving. Mr. Mitaka, Arai, you’re with me, Higashiyama you’re behind me.” Aki commanded and walked off.
“Yeah! Let’s burn some rubber!” Himeno called after Aki as she let go of Asa and Kobeni, before slapping Kobeni on the ass to get her into gear and to her car, “Hey Kobeni, Asa, we should be like those American girls and make a quick detour to get some Starbucks on our car trip!”
“You had your chance to get coffee in the break room, Himeno, we got a job to do.” Aki called back and Himeno made a whining noise. Arai followed while fiddling with something in his pocket as Denji and Asa took up the rear.
“Are you okay with me riding with Miss Himeno and Kobeni?” Asa asked, “You didn’t speak up or argue that I should ride with you, or you ride with us.”
“Nah, it’s cool. You’re literally right behind us unless that Kobeni shrimp gets us separated by a red light or something.” Denji explained as he walked with his hands behind his head. “Plus, I also got something to talk ‘bout with Topknot too.”
“Alright see you there, drive safe.” Asa said as she broke off to be with Kobeni and Himeno.
“ I should be the one telling you that!” Denji called back.
“I know!” Asa sang.
The sextet of Devil Hunters got into their cars and began the drive out to Kabukicho. Not too long into the route before they got onto Koshu Kaido Expressway, they got separated since Kobeni had hit the brakes hard at the traffic light when it suddenly turned red.
](i)[
“Dude, she totally fuckin’ knows…” Denji babbled with an uncharacteristic amount of panic in the passenger seat, “We gotta abort; I told ya Asa’s smart enough to clearly see through the shit I try to hide! Like yesterday, when she figured out I wanted to make tonkatsu curry for dinner and changed the TV to what I wanted to watch! The plan’s fucked! ”
“Do you ever think it’s because you're far too telling with what you're feeling?” Aki advised, “That said, did you say anything about or alluding to her upcoming birthday at all?” Denji shook his head, “Then keep it that way until the day comes.”
They drove on in silence down the Expressway for a couple more minutes before Aki asked again, “You got an idea for the present yet?”
“No.”
“Then that will be on you, I already covered my end of what I’m doing.”
“…Thanks, by the way. I never actually thanked ya yesterday for helping me with all this.”
“Whatever, just make sure the both of you survive for a year. That’s all I ask and then you'll get half of what I win when I get it, or all of it if I don’t like it, or I’ll get you something else instead if I do take it.”
Between looking back to see if the girls were behind them again, Denji was also furiously shaking the one brain cell he loaned on for any hint of an idea on what would be a good gift for Asa.
Well, let’s think it through Denji: What does Asa like?
Movies, his cooking, chicken-flavored broth udon… the Carnations were already covered, and he told Aki about how he felt about her as if it weren’t obvious enough. Aki said he’d look it up later in the… ‘Han-ko-bat’ or some shit like that, Aki told him that it was something about flowers that some chicks knew about.
What else?
…
…
…
Fuck.
Denji had to again swallow the truth that he was at least smart enough to know he was too stupid that he didn’t know he didn’t know. Constantly going over and over everything he could recall of Asa reacting positively to something.
Was he a bad husband for not picking up every last detail that made his wife smile? Aside from what he mentally listed earlier, one thing she smiled the most at was his dumbass fumbling around and speaking out on whatever he thought… What else could make her smile like that?
Wait a minute…
“Fuckin’ eureka, dude…”
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The ‘Girls Only car trip’ wasn’t turning out too bad. Although anti-social and— “Oi! Oi! Wait a minute!” Denji called out. (Oops, almost changed perspectives prematurely.)
He turned to look back at the third person in the back seat that he completely forgot about, “Hey you!”
“Me?” Arai pointed to himself when he noticed Denji glaring at him, taking out an earbud to hear him more clearly.
“Hey, you didn’t hear shit ya hear me?!”
“I… I wasn’t listening at all, I was listening to my cassette tape about a compilation of Haikus.” Arai showed him his Walkman. “I have no idea what you were talking about.”
“Good, you better keep that trap shut.” Denji nodded and turned forwards.
Arai gave Aki a confused look which he caught a glimpse of in the rear-view mirror, “Don’t even bother Arai, you’re not paid enough to question his bullshit.”
‘Tongue blunt and head loose
Indecipherable then clearly simple upon a flip
Time… Can’t be paid enough’
~ Arai Hirokazu
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The ‘Girls Only car trip’ wasn’t turning out too bad. Although anti-social and not willing to make a conversation, Mitaka at least was considerate of Kobeni’s feelings and being a helpful additional counterbalance to their excitable senior making a drunken ruckus in the back seat. If all goes well, it would be eight days straight since her car got into an accident! A new record!
As she drove Kobeni did what Himeno suggested only when Asa found it acceptable; turn on the radio and sing a song together? Sure! Stop to get some McDonald’s? No, we need to catch up to the boys. Accept some jackass hot rodder egging them on to engage in a street race? Make it look like you're accepting and then back out.
Fourteen or so meters later they saw their would-be opponent’s vehicle had been apprehended by a police cruiser. That was a good laugh they shared over some deserved karma, then they had almost lost Himeno when she stuck most of her body out the window to show off a pair of endangered birds as they drove onto the Expressway.
“Ah, this has been great! Hadn’t had this much fun on a car trip since my family went to visit my Grams when I was a kid.” Himeno laughed, wiping tears from her eye, “We should do this again sometime, when we’re all off the clock. Or, like, on someone’s birthday. Who’s got a birthday coming up?”
“Actually,” Asa began, “ my birthday is coming up at the end of this week. I totally forgot about it!”
“Ayy!” Himeno cheered, “Nineteen going on… nineteen! …Right?”
“Um, w-wouldn’t you rather c-celebrate it alone with your h-husband, Mitaka?” Kobeni meekly spoke up.
“Ah, poo… it’s terrible that it’s actually a good point.” Himeno pouted, “How about it gets crashed anyways and Denji becomes our manservant for the day?”
“The worst part is, knowing Denji, he’d totally do it.” Asa giggled, “He’d do anything we’d ask of him from trying to run for Prime Minister to being a human chair.”
Himeno slid closer to Asa, “So what’cha two gonna do? Got anything special planned? Is it something naughty ?” she asks in a sultry tone.
“Honestly? No idea. I guess… stay at home, maybe get some take out, cuddle… yeah…” Asa ended lamely.
“Really? That’s it?” Himeno said in disappointment, “Well I’m totally crashing your party now. You’ll need some alcohol.”
“Thanks but no thanks, all I need is just him being there really…” a little sappy, but still a very cute statement Kobeni thought, “I’ve just been having these terrible thoughts lately of whether or not we'd survive to see next year together, or next month… next week… tomorrow…”
Silence washes over the car at being reminded of the weight of their mortality due to their jobs hung thickly in the air. Kobeni can’t think how her knuckles could get any whiter as she strangled the steering wheel.
This was not a good time to talk about potentially dying as she, in retrospect, navigated through various masses of metal zooming at high speeds. God, if you’re there, please don’t let the Car Devil or whatever pop out of nowhere as they’re driving. Just one Devil a day… please?
“But I’m gonna try to do what Denji does when coming across something upsetting,” Asa proclaimed with some new vigor in her voice, “by not thinking about it at all! Then, hopefully, I’d forget what I was worrying about in the first place and come back to it when I’ve stopped worrying as much as I did.”
There was some logic to that way of coping. Although ignoring a problem was never the way, sometimes putting it on the back burner and coming back to it when in the right or certain headspace would lead you to considering ideas you never had before to potentially solving it.
“Hmm… okay, so nothing too fancy for your special day. Fair. But you gotta do something with him on Valentine's!” Himeno will not let this go, will she?
“He’s yet to have chocolate.” Asa considered. How odd… Kobeni has seen Denji put tons of odd foods in his mouth, be it snacks from the vending machine to rescuing half eaten foods sticking out from the garbage but he’s yet to have eaten chocolate ?
“No, more than that. Y’know…” Himeno whispered into Asa’s ear, “ Fuck.~ ”
“I— I… WHAT?! ” Asa went red.
And there was the thing with Kobeni dreaded as a driver. Being so quiet, her passengers sometimes forgot she was the one moving the car and temporarily became invisible leading all sorts of conversations from general to very personal were let loose to fly.
Still couldn’t be worse than another short-lived job she took on in the past as a Cab Driver and was the unwilling audience to some customers getting down on each other in the back seat.
She shuddered, recalling the memory of driving one such couple and hitting the brakes hard when she saw she was about to crash into another car running a red light. The man screamed complete bloody murder and the woman swallowed a little more meat than she was expecting.
“You’re still newlyweds! Put in a request for some days off to have a honeymoon; take him on a trip ‘round the world while you rock his at the same time! Bend his back into a—!”
“A-Alright, can you just please stop vocalizing the idea of Denji and I getting i-intimate? It’s not always made of… of that in a marriage you know?”
Himeno’s eye widened in realization, “No way… are you two still virgins ?”
“ Why do you care?! ”
“Oh ho ho! I bet you’ve never even seen him naked without turning away!” She guffawed and pointed.
“I… I did! Se-se-several times before our marriage! And we… we did do s-something… once! I… I ga… I p-per… I p-p-performed his first act of a hand job on him!” Asa admitted in embarrassment and Himeno cheered. Poor Asa somehow fell hook, line and sinker at a drunk’s insinuation.
Kobeni just sighed and tried her best to tune out their arguing as she got off Route 4 and drove down 3rd Street. Just two more right turns and they were in the Kabukicho District, nothing else could go wrong now.
…
…
…
Oh my God!
Kobeni!
Kobeni, watch out for that jaywalking, legally blind old lady who is pushing her cat in a stroller in the middle of the street!
KOBENI!!!
Days Since Last Car Accident: 0
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Five minutes after arriving at the site as Aki took care of stating their presence and getting filled in on the situation by the police, Denji and Arai took notice of and watched a somewhat misshapen 1965 Fiat 500 pull up and lose its front bumper before sputtering and going completely silent. It was a miracle the pitiful thing was still standing on all four wheels.
Three doors opened, three women exited the car, and two doors closed while the other fell off. “Yeah, I don’t think you can just buff this one out Kobeni.” Himeno closely inspected.
“Asa!” Denji cried, shoving Kobeni out of the way, “Asa, you alright?”
“I’m fine, honey, we just hit a bump in the road.” The old lady and her cat were fine, oblivious to what she caused and carried on her merry way.
“Well, let’s get this started.” Himeno adjusted the lapels of her suit jacket and pulled on one side to properly align the shoulders for once looking like the professional Devil Hunter she was, “Did Aki go and meet the senior officer to fill him in on what’s going on?”
“Yes, Miss Himeno, he went that way.” Arai answered as he led them to the outside of a club, the perimeter cordoned off by yellow police tape. Aki was there debriefing with an older man to get as much info as he could on the situation.
“Anything that can help us know what we’re walking into Aki?” Himeno asked.
“Just some occasional popping sounds, not unlike ones of a balloon filled with too much air.” Aki relayed what was relevant from the officer’s report.
“Did they call in the tactical response unit?”
“They have but the morning traffic is jamming them up, also Kabukicho’s streets are a little too narrow to fit the van and the equipment close enough to the site.”
“Tell them to step back, in five minutes we’re going in.” Himeno ordered as she turned and motioned for the rookies to follow her back to the cars.
Opening the trunk of the car the boys rode in, she, Arai, and Denji all pulled out three cases filled with a variety of weapons. “Pick your poison, it’s time to get to work.” Himeno said as she went for the baton first.
Asa took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and Denji gave her hand a firm squeeze and his trademark sharp-toothed grin. She squeezed it back and returned with a smile of her own, “Let’s earn every last yen of that little green bag we’re going to get.” Asa said in an attempt to psyche both of them up.
Looking over the cache of weapons, each of the rookies picked out weapons that befitted their fighting styles or Devil Contract.
Arai went for a simple spiked knuckle duster and slipped it over his right hand, while Kobeni meanwhile nervously looked over a line of combat knives before picking out the 15cm blade and then taking a set of eight throwing knives and wrapping them around her hips.
Denji yawned and absent mindedly scratched at his chest where Pochita’s ripcord beneath his shirt dangled but failed to rev it up before he chose to take a handaxe. Asa also took a moment to observe her arsenal and chose to go with the sword out of familiarity with her past kendo training.
Aki turned back to the officer after seeing everyone else armed appropriately, “Tell everyone we’re going in first. If we don’t come out in fifteen minutes, assume we’re dead.” The officer nodded and Aki went to hold the tape up for everyone to walk under and headed towards the club entrance. Eleven eyes stared down what could potentially be death’s front door…
The Devil Hunter, it was not unlike any other job of protecting your fellow man like an officer or soldier, and it too was not dissimilar where all walks of life came to be such because of various things: For the greater good, to protect their friends and family, the simple fact that it just pays pretty well and along with the really good benefits.
There was only one key difference that separated the Devil Hunters, unlike the former altruists or realists, was that a sane Devil Hunter never made it to a year. The ones who survived the longest and truly flourished in the field were those who had a couple screws loose. It took a year to weed out the sane ones, and the day after the survivors who showed they had a few screws loose celebrated. The hunt was on!