Chapter Text
By the time he figured out Reze was probably not going to pull off a trick on him, she had already wormed her way back into his life.
"Hey, if you could have one thing right now. What would it be?" She asked as they hung out on the rooftop, looking down on the teens playing around below.
"Sex." Denji replied immediately before stuffing his face with the sandwich he brought.
"So fast!" Reze did that thing where she almost laughed at him "And lewd too."
"What's wrong with wanting sex?" Denji asked between munches. It was a miracle anyone could understand him.
"Nothing, I guess." Reze sighed pleasantly "Just, y'know, it's kind of a waste for a wish."
“But it is what I want.” Denji furrowed his brows as he swallowed.
“Yeah, but it’s anything you want y’know. Surely there’s something more impossible you could wish for.” Reze retorted, sounding like her serious real self for once. It seemed like she wanted Denji to think seriously here.
“But impossible is impossible. So why wish for it?” Denji retorted, still not giving up on his wish.
“But it’s hypothetical.” Reze insisted.
“What’s hypothetical? Is it tasty?” Denji replied.
Reze sighed and let her head hang as she gave up.
“No wonder you don’t have any friends.” She muttered.
“Dreaming about impossible things is weird.” Denji stated. Thinking back at how hard it had seemed to live a normal life back when it was just him and Pochita.
“Surely the idea of the impossible is very subjective when devils are involved.” Reze peeked at him, as if seizing him up.
Denji had to stop himself from reaching for the chainsaw starter under that gaze.
“I’m not that smart. I don’t understand these complicated things.” Denji replied easily enough.
“Don’t you wish you had better things?” There she goes again, asking stuff like that.
“Yeah.” Denji agreed quite easily.
Reze didn’t smile. Just like Denji knew where those questions headed, Reze had come to expect the kind of answers he’d give her.
“But they’re lame.” Hey! She didn’t have to come out and say it like that! That did hurt Denji’s feelings! Just a bit!
“What’s wrong with wanting lame things? Besides, sex is awesome.” Denji pointed a finger at her.
“You wouldn’t know, you’re a virgin.” She retorted.
“I won’t be forever!” Now that made him worked up.
“I think you’re missing the point here.” Reze straightened her back, hands on the rooftop’s rail.
“Then what would you wish for? Huh?” Denji angrily asked back.
“I… I don’t know.” Reze turned her gaze back to the people below.
“See? So you just didn’t get anything from your wish.” Denji huffed triumphantly.
“I could think about it.” Reze pointed out.
“You said ‘right now’, thinking about it isn’t deciding right now.” Denji protested.
“You’re so annoying!” Reze pushed him without any strength behind the motion, looking cutely upset with him.
“You set the rules, not me!”
“It’s an icebreaker Denji, an icebreaker. You’re not meant to think too deeply about it.” Reze frowned “Or do think deeply and say something cool. Those are your options.”
That made Denji perk up.
“Cool how?”
“I dunno. World peace, extermination of all devils. Stuff like that.” Reze shrugged.
“Nah, those are things I don’t want.” Denji shot her down “In a world where there’s peace and no devils, Chainsaw Man can’t shine after all.”
Reze covered her face.
“It’s. An. Ice. Breaker.”
“I don’t care, that’s not true.” Denji replied.
“But it sounds good.” Reze argued “It’s not about whether it’s false or true, but about how people perceive you. You say the right thing, people like you. You don’t, they hate you. Simple as that.”
“Is it really?”
“Well, no. It’s a lot harder than that. Sometimes even if you do everything right people will still hate you.” Reze leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, and then on the rail.
“Man, being loved is hard.” Denji sighed.
“Eh.” Reze huffed.
“You don’t count! Being cute is totally cheating!” Denji got mad.
“A simple difference in skills.” Reze ignored him.
“I bet if we acted the same, more people would still like you!” Denji insisted.
“Well, it’d be weird no matter if we both behaved like you or me.” Reze argued.
“Still!”
“No, Denji. You just don’t have common sense.” She looked down on the students below with longing, as if she missed something they had but she no longer did. Or perhaps she never had it, but Denji didn’t get it. He saw those guys enjoying themselves, and that was it. None of them had what he really wanted “You’re too different, and can’t help showing it off to everyone.”
“Hmmm…” Denji didn’t really get it “And you?”
“That’s different. I was trained to blend in with normal people.”
“Right. But you couldn’t answer your own question.” He said.
“I can always use generic answers, unlike you who couldn’t even get a half-decent answer out.” Reze showed him her tongue.
“But you didn’t.”
“You’re so pedantic!”
“Stop using words I don’t understand!” Denji retorted.
“You suck, you suck so bad. I’m not inviting you anywhere with my friends.” Reze frowned cutely.
“Why do I want your friends anyway?” Denji muttered.
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll catch the attention of some cute girl that will overlook all your faults.” Reze blinked twice, as if trying to convince him of her words.
Denji sighed.
“Maybe.”
“You don’t look too excited.” Reze looked perplexed, although Denji doubted she actually felt like that.
“I dunno. Going out, walking around aimlessly and listening to people talk about stuff I don’t know about…”
“Yeah, it’s pretty dull.” Reze stated in her actual tone of voice. Showing her real feelings for a moment “But it’s something we must do to blend in.”
“Screw that. I need money, and no one else will be killing devils if Chainsaw Man doesn’t show up.”
Reze turned to him with a completely neutral expression.
“You literally worked as a devil hunter before. Devil hunters are a thing. That you know exists.”
“Oh! And I can’t fail any more tests!” Denji cradled his head as if in pain.
Reze sighed.
“You haven’t studied at all, have you?”
“I’ve been busy being Chainsaw Man!”
Reze shook her head.
“You can’t fail, Denji. That’d be pretty embarrassing. No one would want to use you as a chair.” Somehow, in spite of always laughing about it, Reze managed to say that sentence completely seriously.
“It might be better to drop off and start working again…”
“Don’t.” Reze stated, kicking Denji’s instincts back into awareness.
She chuckled, shaking her head. As if she wanted to take off that moment of seriousness.
“I’ll help you study. You can’t drop off.”
“You can’t come to my place.” Denji replied in a serious tone.
“Then treat me to something.” Reze smiled at him in that charming way that he knew was fake.
Denji considered it for a moment.
“Okay.”
“Cool. Does ice cream sound good?” Reze clapped her hands together.
“Why didn’t you ask for ice cream in your wish?”
“I can’t ask for ice cream in a wish! That’d be dumb.” Reze laughed, patting Denji’s shoulder all the while.
He didn’t get it. At some point ice cream had been as impossible to acquire as world peace after all. And he knew Reze had felt this way as well.