Archive of Our Own ^beta

He wakes up, in the middle of an ocean of darkness. He’s surrounded by shadows, and sitting in what feels like the coldest of steels.

-”Wh– What…?”-. He mumbles, as he tries to stand up to no avail. He had forgotten one of his arms was missing, and as he tried to use the other one to stand up– A million little pains crawled through his body.

He coughed some blood out. -”Wh-where…”-. He doesn’t understand. He feels dead, he knows he should be– Is this heaven? Is this hell?

As he wonders, something pops out. Various images start appearing around him, as they cover what seems to be walls of whatever… room? he’s in.

As he sees the images, he slowly understands what they are.
One shows Makima, glaring at him with those yellow, devilish eyes. It sickens him now, it makes his stomach turn and his heart shake in hatred… but he remembers the comfort it gave him the first time.

Another one, shows him in a back alley, slowly taking a cigarette to his mouth. It’s been a while since I’ve smoked one…, he thinks; as he sees himself being interrupted by a kick in the balls. He remembers that pain well.

A new image shows itself. It’s him in a restaurant, a girl with an eyepatch sitting across him. Himeno… He can’t make out what she’s telling him, but he already knows. It hurts to know.

The last image appears before him.

He’s in the middle of the dining table, as two other beings bicker with each other from each side. He remembers yelling at them, acting annoyed, but feeling… at peace. Feeling like life was getting actually good for once.

Feeling like revenge didn’t matter anymore.

As he ponders his mind off to all these different thoughts, a being shows itself, right in front of him. He feels cold.

A devil. Probably four or five dozen feets long.
Many ammo belts entangle the end of its body, as they’re followed then by a grotesque torso, cut right open and showing what feel like millions of human skulls staring at him. In its disgusting, skin-less face rests the barrel of a gun and many sharp teeth, as a multitude of different rifles and such cover its arms and its back.

-”Hayakawa Aki.”-. Says the being, glaring straight at him even with no eyes to be seen. Aki glares back, with his dim blue eyes, evoking a sense of both fear and sheer loathe.

-”What do you want?”-. He asks, gritting his teeth and clenching his only fist. He hates this thing. The monster that stole his life, that killed him, the monster who used his body as a vessel of destruction.

-”You and I both are going to die.”-. Is all the thing says in its metallic voice, as it breathes in and out harshly and its belts all hit each other in sporadic movement.

Aki only keeps staring at him, as everything feels colder and colder and–
-”I already know that, dipshit.”-. He knows. He knows what happened. For whatever reason, the memories of what truly happened moments before his death became clear to him. Tears form in his anger-filled eyes.

-”As it is a power of I, I have maintained our body somewhat alive. But time is short, and I have a proposal for you.”-. It says, as its guns all face the ground and it tries to relax its own body.

-”A proposal?!”-. The fucking nerve. -”Do you not even know how much you’ve taken from me already? Do you really think that I–”-. He’s interrupted.

-”I know the reason behind your hatred towards me, human. We share a body, and thus I know of every memory and feeling within your brain.”-, It pauses for a second, glancing at all the memories being showcased around them.

-”And that’s why I know something for sure. You fear death, do you not?”-. A knot forms inside Aki’s throat. He wonders, if only for a second, if he even agrees with the devil. He got used to knowing and feeling he’d die, after all.

-”Not entirely because of yourself, but because of the people you met in the world of the living. You fear for their safety, am I wrong?”-. Aki gasps at the remark.

Denji. Power.

He wanted to ignore this feeling… but he can’t. He knows what he did. He left them without warning, got himself killed, and then made them go through the hell that was the Gun Fiend.

He didn’t teach them how to cook. How to keep up a house. He didn’t–

He didn’t even say goodbye.

-”My proposal to you, human…”-. The devil pauses for a second, in what Aki can’t understand if it's disgust or some other feeling. -”A contract. I will give you another chance at life, as I will inhibit your heart.”-.

That made him flinch in disbelief. A contract? With the Gun Devil, of all devils!? Part of him wanted to refuse, part of him didn’t want to lose the little pride he’s got left.
But the other part desired to see them again. To check if they were okay, to cook for them, to send them to bed and wake them up like he always did–

Who the fuck cares anymore? He’s going to regret it later.

-”What do you want in return?”-. The hunter is still clenching his fist, which is now bleeding from the sheer strenght put on it. He can’t believe what he just said, he–

-”We’ll kill Makima. We’ll take her from your world so that the Conquest Devil can be reborn.”-. Makima.

Those eyes make themselves present inside his mind yet again. His blood boils, dripping from his palm as he still clenches. He feels like his teeth could shatter from gritting, he feels like his heart is going to hammer through his ribs and come out of his body.

She did this. She ruined him. He can’t even imagine what she’d be doing to Denji and Power now, but he fears the worst.

-”And when or if Makima is killed, will you be sated?”-. He asks, knowing there must be a catch. There always is.

-”If the being known as Makima is no more, then the only thing I expect from you is to continue your life as a Devil Hunter. You wouldn’t deny killing any that harms those you love, right?”-. He can feel the devil’s bloodlust almost creep out of its body and entangle him. Still, it’s not a bad contract. He’s had worse.

-”Whatever.”-. He looks away for a moment, acting disinterested. -”I accept.”-. He says, without meeting the devil’s gaze.

-”Then we shall be one, Hayakawa. You will be reborn in this world.”-. The devil laughed maniacally as it disappeared from Aki’s view, along with the entire realm that he was standing on.

He wakes up.

He’s got both arms– That’s good. He can feel his heart pulsating like it never has, as it feels as heavy as pure steel. That tracks, I guess.

The bad part– He’s inside a coffin, God knows how many feet deep. He isn’t scared though, as he recognizes he’s no longer human. Denji was inmortal, wasn’t he? So, that’d mean…

For a moment, Aki wants to rest here. His body still aches, he guesses it to be because of the whole coming back from the dead. Does Denji feel like this every day?

He raises both arms, pushing strongly against the coffin’s door. It easily opens, as it looks like he’s acquired some super strength in becoming a devil.

Dirt rains upon him, as he slowly digs himself out of the burial. Finally, there’s light; which blinds his blue eyes like it hasn’t in a while.

He notices then, his suit is half-torn, and one of its sleeves is completely missing. It’s not hard to think clearly about why or how.

As he looks around, he recognizes the place. This is where those who died as Public Safety members were buried, as he remembers Himeno taking him here a couple of times.

As he looks around and sees all the graves, he wonders–

Would he be here?

Of course not. He wasn’t human, as he was but a mere devil. They buried Aki because he once was human, at least. They would never give such honour to a devil.
Angel, his last buddy. He remembers the face full of anger that he saw before everything went blank. His stomach twitches at the thought.

As he glances at the place, he notices something. A small building, probably containing someone to look over the graveyard. He doesn’t have many options, so he just decides to thrust his body towards it.

As he makes his way to the cabin, he opens the door with a strong kick, the guard resting inside waking up from the noise.

-”AH!”-. Shouts the man, taking and pointing a gun at him.

-”Don’t shoot. I’m Aki Hayakawa, from Tokyo’s 4th Divison. Put me in contact with Captain Kishibe.”-. The man in front of him drops his weapon and flinches in fear, as he approaches the phone. -”Th-The 4th Division was disbanded…”-. He murmurs, shaking and already marking the numbers.

-”What?”-. Aki spits out of his mouth, somewhat in disbelief. Does that mean– Power and Denji– He prefers not to think of it, as the phone gets picked up.

A familiar voice comes from the artifact. -”What do you want?”-. It says, in an annoyed and rugged tone of voice.

Aki doesn’t doubt for a second, getting close to the man and taking the phone from his hand. -”Captain Kishibe! It’s me, Hayakawa! I need you to come here, now!”-. He shouts at the old man, with hope in his voice.

-”...Hayakawa?”-. Kishibe sounds as confused as he’s ever been, like he’s talking to a ghost. -”I’d prefer to explain it to you in person. I’m at the Bureau’s graveyard, please come quickly!”-.

-”...Fine.”-. He hangs the phone after talking, sounding… cautious. Aki can’t blame the man, but it did make him afraid, if only a little. What if he– It’s better not to think of possibilities now.

…

Some time passes, and Kishibe shows himself at the graveyard, drinking his cheap beer like he always does. Aki was waiting for him at the entrance.

-”Captain.”-. He says, to bow down in respect for a moment before meeting the old man’s eyes.

-”...Are you the actual one? Or is this some kind of trick?”-. Asks the old man, looking at Aki from bottom to top.

It hurts to admit what he did, but he knows he has to. He takes a deep breath before doing so.

-”The Gun Devil kept my body “alive” for– some time. I don’t know how long, but it did. In the end, I made a contract with it.”-. Kishibe’s eyes widened if only a little as he spoke.

-”It inhibits my heart now.”-. He says, almost ashamed of himself. Almost. Because he has a reason for this. He needed to do this.

-”So, you’re like Denji now?”-. Says Kishibe, as Aki nods slightly. -”What contract did you make? What did it want?”-. He continues, to instantly take a sip from his flask.

-”It gave me a new life, in exchange for…”-. He doesn’t know if he should say it. He fears saying it. But who cares, there’s no point in hiding it now.

-”In exchange for killing Makima, and when that was done, to keep on slaying devils and feed to the Gun’s bloodlust.”-. He says, almost choking in his own words from the sheer disgust. He still can’t believe he did this–

-”Well, I’ve got some news for you.”-. Kishibe takes yet another chug at his beer. -”Makima’s dead. Denji dealt with her already.”-.

Aki flinches, his eyes widening and the beating from his heart slowing down a little. He tries to form words to say, he opens his mouth– It just closes again.

It takes him some seconds, but he finally spits something out.
-“D-Denji…”-. He looks at the ground, still in shock. -“He– He did it?”-. It feels good, even if unexpected. He feels the Gun enjoying the news, and he does feel proud– Proud that Denji could see beneath the lies, that he was finally free.

-“Hayakawa?”-. Kishibe’s voice snaps him out of his little trance. -“Y-yes, sir. If it doesn’t concern you–“-. He pauses for a bit. -“Can you take me to them? I– I need to see them.”-. As he speaks, he sees how Kishibe’s eyes and mouth twitch a little at the mention of “them”. It makes him feel heavy, even if it seems like nothing.

-“Hayakawa…”-. Kishibe looked down to the ground, to then meet Aki’s eyes as he drank his beer. –“I’m gonna be honest with you.”-.

Oh, no. Here it comes. He’s gonna have to be taken by Public Safety, or killed, or–

No. This isn’t like that. This is worse.

-“The fiend– Power.”-. Aki’s heart feels like it’s pumping into his throat as Kishibe speaks, making him feel dread take over his whole body. He doesn’t like this. This isn’t good.

-“Makima got her. She’s dead.”-.

When he heard those words, he felt as if he was falling down. Like the earth engulfed him into its core, like the Gun Devil just undid the contract and he was dead again.

-“Wh– What…? “-. He doesn’t have words. No thoughts either. His whole body and mind feel empty.

His heart feels hollow, like all the steel and gunpowder aren’t there anymore.

He falls. He can’t even resist his own weight anymore, his legs crumbling into dust as Kishibe catches his body.

-“I’m… sorry.”-. This can’t be real. This is a nightmare.
The old man never apologizes. That just doesn’t happen, no matter what–

This is a joke, right? Right?

-“P-Power…”-. His rational side slowly takes over his brain, clouding away his emotions.

Power died. He left them alone, and Makima killed her.

He could’ve prevented it. The only thing that kept him alive– Protecting them, taking care of them, loving them–

He failed them. He failed Denji, he failed Power.

-“W– Why…?”-. He blurts out, without expecting a response. His mind is still cloudy, his vision only half working.

-“I’ll take you to Denji. It’s the least I can do.”-. Kishibe sighs, sostaining Aki’s body on his shoulder and taking him to his car.

As he leaves Aki on the back seat and seats on the driver’s, he asks.

-“Hayakawa. You there?”-.

Aki’s vision becomes easier, as his breath slows down a little. -“Y-yes, sir.”-. He murmurs, resting on the seat.

-“Good. I’ll have to update you on a lot of stuff, and I need you alive for that.”-. He deeply wishes he could rest, but he understands. Only God knows how things may’ve turned out after his death, Makima’s, and… Power’s.

It still feels unreal. It still makes him want to scream, it still makes him want to die. Why did the damn Devil take so long to wake me?!

In the ride to wherever Kishibe is taking him, the old man explained to Aki everything he knew.

Makima’s plan with Denji, Power’s death and her sacrifice, and Denji’s own plan of disposing of the Conquest Devil. It was all a little hard to follow, especially the latter; but it was simple.

-”He… he ate her?”-. Aki’s eyes and mouth are wide open after Kishibe tells him all of this. He can’t deny that does sound like a Denji way of solving the problem, but at the same time– What the fuck?

-”As weird as it is, it was the only loophole around her contract with the Prime Minister. He also said some bullshit about “sharing her sins”, but whatever.”-. The old man sighed as he had his hands on the car wheel, patiently waiting for a moment to take a sip out of his flask.

-”Anyways. I got some people from the Bureau to assign him to high school, he’s gonna be starting it in a few months.”-. The old man was focused on the road, and Aki swayed his mind away from the last topic as the excitement of those news made itself present. A light smile appeared on his face, and his eyes shined brightly for a second.

-”I’m really happy to hear that. He always talked about wanting to get in one…”-. He remembers promising to teach him kanji some weeks before… everything. It pained him a little that he had to postpone it so far down, but he’s at least excited to help him study now.

-”I guess I should tell you this.”-. His eyes met Aki’s through the car’s rear view, as dry and dull as ever. -”The kid needed a last name to actually enter. Can’t go around as just “Denji” there.”-. He stopped the car in a red light, quickly taking a sip from the flask without any cop outside noticing.

-”Legally, his name’s Hayakawa now.”-. Aki’s steel heart skipped a beat at this. For a second, he thought he might’ve misheard– But no. His ears hadn’t been failing him, and Kishibe himself would never misspeak.

-”It– It is?”-. As he spoke, a million emotions wrapped around his brain. It felt nice, great– He’d say it’s even better than coming back from the dead. -”Yeah. The brat said it just “felt right”.”-.

A single tear streamed down from Aki’s left eye. It wasn’t too hard to imagine, but it was just so fucking sweet. The bastard that kicked him in the balls the first day they met, who made a mess on his dining table almost everyday for weeks, who sometimes threw shit at him to wake him up– He loves this bastard so much.

They fell silent for a while, until Kishibe let out a big sigh as they were once again stopping at a red light.

-”Kid, I gotta tell you something. This is actually important, so pay attention.”-. Aki only looked to the back of the man’s head, as a knot tied itself on his throat, full of curiosity and a little bit of fear.

-”Denji doesn’t live alone right now. He’s got the cat, and also some dogs that belonged to Makima.”-. Well, that isn’t all that bad– He didn’t know Makima owned any pets, but he guesses it makes sense. He can live with animals, if he withstood a whole year with a half-devil and a fiend–

-”There’s also a little girl. Her name’s Nayuta.”-. That took him off. Denji is taking care of a kid? Denji? -”How–”-. He’s interrupted by the old man.

-”She’s a devil.”. He pauses, as the car takes off yet again. Aki slowly processes the information, it not being too out there for him to understand. -”The Conquest Devil.”-. Aki gasps, his eyes widen, and his heart feels a little heavier.

His stomach turns– He wants to vomit so much. -”Why– Why would you–”-. He wants to be mad, he wants to scream– He just can’t. For some reason, he can’t.

Those honey colored, swirly eyes… he remembers them well. He hates them. Hates how much they lied to him, manipulated him, gave him everything he ever wanted just to take it all away.

-”Don’t get too pissy, Hayakawa.”-. The man sounded as nonchalant as usual. -”The kid doesn’t remember anything of her past life. I had to do something, or else the government would turn her into Makima again.”-.

He wants to be mad. He wishes he could be… but he knows Kishibe’s right. Letting the Conquest Devil out there would be too dangerous, and the goverment would just make the same mistakes all over again. Still, he can’t really think straight.

-”But… Why Denji?”-. He wanted it to sound aggressive, or intimidating, or something– He realizes he just sounds like a sad puppy.

Why him? Why put him through even more danger? Makima ruined him once already, and–

-”I don’t have the time. And leaving her under anyone from the Bureau would put her too close to the government.”-. Another simple truth. Denji, for all he knows now, is just a normal teen. A normal teen with a kid living in his house, something that the Bureau or the government wouldn’t think about.

-”And still, the brat’s the only “civilian” that would actually listen to me. Do I look like the type to have friends or family, Hayakawa?”-. You look like the annoying sarcastic type, Sir -”No, Sir.”-. He wishes Kishibe wasn’t right. He wishes the old man didn’t always have a good point, but he does. He can’t do anything about it, aside from adapting.

-”If you wanna, I can get you somewhere else to live. You’ll have to get used to seeing Conquest’s mug from time to time anyway, though.”-. He doesn’t fucking want another place to live. He wants to go home, with his family. He wants to return to some of the normalcy he lost.

There’s another silence. Now, it’s accompanied by Aki’s many thoughts. Thoughts of what he’ll do now, of what the Gun will do, of what would Denji want. He hates this.

-”The road is still pretty long. The graveyard where they put you was supposed to be hidden from society or something.”-. The man looked at the rows of traffic that were stacking infront of them. -”Use this time to rest. I know your head’s probably a mess right now.”-. At least, he cares about him; if only a little. Aki decides to comply, resting on his seat and dozing off for a while.

He dreams, again. He’s in the same black void from before, and the Gun stands tall before him.

-”Hayakawa.”-. It says, pointing one of its many rifles to the man. -”What will you do now that we know of Conquest’s demise?”-. Asks the Devil, taking Aki aback. He was planning to ask the same thing.

-”I– I don’t know. Do you want to–”-. He's shaking, and doesn’t want to look at the thing’s face. It’s already hard to withstand it being part of him, looking at it only makes it worse.

The Gun interrupts. -”Unlike you, I do not desire revenge. The being known as Makima is no more, and the Conquest Devil that lives on this Earth isn’t the same as her. I will only retaliate against it in case that it does become like the one before it.”-. This leaves Aki to think. So, now he really only needs to keep killing devils. Now, he has to think what he’ll do with the kid.

After some minutes, having the Gun silently stare at him, he decides. -”I’ll do whatever Denji wants.”-. He doesn’t want to hurt him. His only family, the kid who even took on his family’s name– He wants the best for him, at all costs. It doesn’t matter how hard it may hurt him. He’ll get used to it.

-”Hm. You humans truly amaze me.”-. The Gun dissapears from sight, as Aki wakes into reality once more.