Chapter Text
The Violence Fiend didn’t know what to make of these memories left over in the brain of this body. They’re foggy, but he can still sometimes recognize a few of the people in them and- the weird feelings that went along with them.
Like, with that Blood Fiend- Power, she called herself. Violence didn’t think she did anything to him- but he remembers a hazy memory.
Whoever used to be in this body- angrily tells the Fiend to quit laughing- one of the only words he could make out of all the garbled words in these memories. The sound of her laughing is filling the yellow-colored hotel room- or was it brown? He found details of these memories were often hazy, sometimes dream-like almost- He was pretty sure humans normally pointed at people with one finger, and not six.
Either way, whenever he saw that Fiend he felt a pang of uncharacteristic resentment- one of the only times he felt happy he was wearing that gas mask, that constantly dumped poisonous gas into his respiratory system, so his fiendish abilities didn't get too out of whack, and he didn’t start rampaging.
Or, maybe it wasn’t that laughing getting on his nerves- it was her laughing at his Timid Devil-Hunting Partner, Kobeni.
Kobeni… She- he didn’t know what these feelings he got whenever she was near were. I mean, when he was fighting zombies with his roommate Beam, or other members of Public Division 4, he didn’t feel, as protective. With her, it felt like a primitive urge, to protect her from any harm- why he was fine taking the brunt of the devil fights.
Violence does know one thing- her cheeks sometimes turn a shade of pink whenever he does nicer things for her, like insist on paying for little treats when they go on patrol. Or complimenting how nice those red clips in her hair looked- she looked so happy when he did those things!
He liked seeing her happy and wanted to spend more time with her, outside of patrols; so when he knew Beam would be out of the company-owned apartment one night, near the end of patrol (around 5:40 pm), he asked;
“So, Kobeni, Beam’s going to be gone from my apartment- would you like to come over tonight? 7 pm?” He tilted his head a bit to the side, and watched Kobeni blush, then tighten her grip on the waffle ice cream cone enough for it to snap. The white vanilla soft serve also sprayed a tiny amount on her dress shirt.
“Oh dear-” he grabs a black handkerchief from his pocket- one he started carrying on him in case Kobeni forgot hers (he liked seeing the way her face lit up when he handed her it, saving her from needing to make a detour to one of the public bathrooms to wash her hands off.) and hands it to her, as she shifts the cone into her other hand, now holding it by the lower part that wasn’t burst.
She mutters out something that sounds like a flustered “Sorry” and “thank you.”
“No need to Apologize- I’m sorry if my question upset you.” He says, momentarily considering backtreading but Kobeni interrupts his train of thought.
“No- I-It’s fine. I’d lov- I mean Like to do that!” Kobeni agrees, wiping it off of her uniform and hands, then handing it back to Violence, a blush still faintly visible on her face.
His heart- it feels… different? More full, more… warm? All he knows is, that it feels like adoration and happiness passing through him; He thinks it’s what humans call love? Before he can ponder this new emotion, Kobeni asks a follow-up question
“What would we do?”
Violence scratches his leather-covered chin.
“Hmm- We could buy some sweet treats for you to enjoy or make dinner, maybe rent a puzzle game from a store? I’m open to whatever you’d like to do.” Violence thinks aloud. Then- a memory pops into his head.
He’s walking down this same street, with a shorter woman with brown hair, and those same hair clippings. The conversation is garbled, the woman’s face almost looking blurred, as he picks up a few words;
“The movie, Sky of Love?” the blurred-face woman asks. He looks down in an oddly reflective puddle on the street. Looking back at him is a man with short spiky hair and a scar on his cheek- but then he’s looking back at her, more non-intelligible words leak from his mouth, in a voice he doesn’t recognize- the only words he makes out being: “That’s a nice movie.”
“-Violence?” Kobeni asks- shyly waving a hand in front of his beak- “You froze for a moment there.” She says- Violence turns to her and nods- “Ah, just saw another memory from- whoever used to be in here”.
“Have you heard of the Movie “Sky of Love”? That’s a nice movie.” Violence speaks, regurgitating the words from the memory:
and now it’s Kobeni’s turn to pause for a few seconds staring at him with wide eyes, before re-orienting herself. “Yeah- do you like rom-romance movies?” She seems to stumble over the word romance- Violence isn’t sure why, but he answers with; “Guess so” shrugging his shoulders.
More time passes, and the clock hits 6 pm- they both say their farewells, as Kobeni tells him he’ll be at his apartment at 7 pm- Violence having already given her his address. She walks to her home (despite it being nearby and the sun still being visible in the sky, Violence still offered to walk her home), and he walks to the local store to pick up some ingredients, and a Sky of Love DVD from a video rental store nearby, if she wanted to watch it after dinner.
As he’s looking through the shelves, he thinks of Katsu!- fried chicken cutlets, and rice- it’s simple, but something he could make look elegant. And perhaps a vanilla sundae with a cherry on top!
Huh, that’s interesting- that first dish… feels like something he- already made? He tries combing through his memory for it but then brings up nothing. Regardless- he puts the needed groceries in the cart, pays for them (the cashier acted like he wasn’t wearing a mask), and then walks back home to his and Beam’s apartment.
Beam is off on his patrol for the night, so Violence has the admittedly smaller-than-average space to work with. He had to look up the recipe for the Katsu in a cookbook somebody had lent Beam and saw it would take around 25 minutes to make- looking at the clock, it was currently 6:20. He figured he’d make it at 6:35 pm- which meant he had time to tidy up the apartment a bit.
He cleaned up his room and the general kitchen + living room area, making everything look neat, and then he put on a green hoodie that matched the green of his mask and some black sweatpants.- It only takes him around 10 minutes to do all that, leaving him a quick 5-minute break.
He grabs a book of Haikus that he’s halfway through Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō. He got into it recently, as more crossed wires between his memory, and the memories of this body- sparked.
After that nice, 5-minute Haiku break, he’d start cooking- getting the needed ingredients and pans out, placing the pan on the small stovetop, and pouring rice into the rice cooker. He seasons the chicken cutlets, covering them in flour- then dipping them in the yellow egg mixture. He gets out the panko crumbs, and opens the bag, letting them flow into a bowl.
His mind begins wandering off, half focused on the task at hand, as he presses the cutlets into those crumbs, the other half thinking of Kobeni- again. He wished he knew if he smelt bad or not- usually he took a bath after patrol, keeping the gas mask on the entire time as he scrubbed his body off of any devil gunk leftover on it.
Today was a lucky day, however, as the only devil encountered ended up only getting his hands dirty as he dispatched it with ease, and Kobeni peered from the alleyway with her cute eyes-
Cute eyes?
I mean, he supposes they were cute- brown, and full of life- whether he was paying for a treat for her during a patrol, or if she was worrying about him after a Devil managed to get a hit in on him. I mean, she didn’t need to worry really- it would take a lot to kill one like him.
Although he supposes he’d be more worried about her, even as he took his last hypothetical puffs of the poisonous gas. Violence’s mind snaps back to the current task at hand, as he realizes he hasn’t had to look at the cookbook in a while, despite this being his first time making the dish.
“Huh.” He thinks aloud- then comes to his conclusion, maybe subconsciously this previous body knew? Reminding his hands what movements to make, as he starts to fry the chicken cutlets- then hears a knock on the door.
“You can come in, door’s unlocked!” He calls- and Kobeni opens it; calling into the kitchen; “I’m here Violence!”
“I’ll be out with dinner soon- the dish is Chicken Katsu!” He calls back.
“Oh, Lovely- that’s one of my favorites!” Kobeni excitedly replies, as she takes a seat on the floor, in front of the table.
Shifting his attention back to the Katsu, he flips the final cutlet over and hears beeping from the rice cooker- letting him know the rice is done. He places strips of the katsu on top of the rice on the single plate, taking it out to the room with the table.
Kobeni is wearing a blue and white dress, and as he sits down across from her- another unfamiliar memory passes through his head, as now he’s in a restaurant, with some familiar and unfamiliar faces- notably, Makima, that blood-fiend Power, the boy named Denji, and… Kobeni, wearing that same outfit.
He snaps back to reality, however, and says; “your dress looks nice, Kobeni.” He sees her cheeks gain a light shade of pink, and he can feel his face heat up just a tiny bit beneath the mask.
“Thanks- It’s a hand-me-down from my older sister…” Kobeni says- and Violence scratches his chin, racking his memory for something related to that- accessing a different one instead. She takes a bite of the cutlet she holds with the black chopsticks, chewing and swallowing it.
“You have- 8 sisters and a brother, right? That must’ve been quite an interesting family.” Violence thinks aloud, and Kobeni lets out a small little laugh that makes the Fiend’s heart soar.
“Yeah-I, It was.” Kobeni agrees, eyes full of curiosity, confusion, and anxiousness. “Must’ve been a lucky guess- or I’m finally losing it, and I already told you-” Now it's her turn to think aloud, worry in her voice rising.
Violence notes this- and places a hand on the one that's lying on the table, not holding the chopsticks. “Don’t worry- I think it’s just something this… body, remembers, I think?” He raises his inflection of voice at the end, while Kobeni blushes at the physical contact, taking another bite of the dish.
He changes the topic, asking her “How’s it tasting?” tilting his head slightly to the side in curiosity.
“Really Great!” Kobeni nods, a smile on her face as he continues to watch her eat. He gets a pang of this, odd feeling that he’s been here- or in this similar situation before.
“Hey, Kobeni-?” He asks, and as she looks back up at him, he feels as though he has two options
-mention the weird sense of familiarness he’s feeling right now
-mention those feelings he has with her.
He goes with the first one- “Do you ever get this- weird feeling you’ve done something before? But you’re not sure what, when, or where?” He asks
Kobeni nods- “I think it’s called Deja Vu- and I’ve been getting it recently. Have you?”
“Yeah- mainly with you.” She makes a face that looks like she’s considering she might’ve told him too much, but Violence gets rid of that worry as he nods-
“It’s… Odd. I feel this weird resentment towards Power, even though she’s done nothing to me, and like- I’ve seen you wearing that dress before.” Violence says, as Kobeni momentarily freezes, but continues eating, almost finished with the food on her plate.
“Huh.” She says aloud- “When I met you, I felt like I already knew you from someplace else as well.
“Right!?!?” Violence eagerly agrees, Kobeni finishing her food as Violence continues with his train of thought; “I just feel, this… connectedness with you I don’t feel with anyone else.” Kobeni nods; “So do I…”
They both sit in seemingly subdued silence for a moment, not sure what they want to say to the other- then Violence asks; “Want a vanilla sundae with a cherry on top? I got a sundae dish on my way back home today.”
Kobeni eagerly nods her head; “Yes!” Violence strolls off into the kitchen, grabbing the sundae dish, cherries, and vanilla ice cream. He remembers that when he started wearing this mask, he had to resist the urge to rip it off and eat every single food he saw. Now? It’s more like a light pang of annoyance.
He stacks the scoops of vanilla just right, placing the cherry on top; and bringing it out to Kobeni. “Want to sit on the couch and watch Sky of Love while you eat? I rented the DVD on my way back home.” Violence offers that as an option, and Kobeni sits up “Absolutely!” she says.
Another look of excitement on her face as he handed her the sundae prompted another pang of that warm, fuzzy feeling in Violence’s fiend heart. He gets the movie set up as she takes a spoonful of the sundae, placing it in her mouth.
“How’s it taste, Kobeni?” He curiously asks-
“Super good!” She exclaims. Violence smiles, resisting the urge he has to nuzzle up closer to her- the two sitting close enough together on the couch for their shoulders to slightly graze each other.
As the two watch the movie, it makes some of the memories of this previous body-owner more clear. Violence would occasionally slightly turn his head to look at Kobeni, and see her reactions to events in the film- and also notice how tired she got throughout it until she slumped her head onto his shoulder near the end.
He could hear the rise and fall of her breaths, and with only twenty minutes left in the film, he placed his head on hers, also wrapping a protective hand around her upper waist, pulling her slightly closer as he let his friend snooze.
Violence could feel himself drifting off to sleep as well, and he’d only wake up later as he felt Kobeni tapping him on the shoulder and asking; “Violence?”
He blinks his eyes a whole bunch, then looks at Kobeni, asking her; “What’s the time?”
She tells him; “Looks like it’s 3:23 am.”
Violence yawns- offering her two options; “mmh- well, I suppose you can either stay over, or I can walk you home.”
Kobeni’s face heated up as she heard the first option- before she went with the second one. Violence nodded, and started putting his shoes on; “Leave anything?” He asks;
“No- I don’t think so,” Kobeni says, grabbing her hat and putting it on. It’s only a 15-minute walk to her apartment. The street lights are still on, and the night sky is clear- except for one, single, star. Kobeni stays close to violence like it’s another patrol- and he’s occasionally looking around, making sure there are no threats nearby.
He could rely on his sense of smell like other fiends do to know if there are any threats nearby- but the poisonous gas makes everything smell the same; like nothing.
As he turns onto a street, they cross by familiar red lanterns, a closed cafe, and- a flyer for a local, upcoming movie, releasing sometime soon.
He’s hit with another sense of Deja-Vu as Kobeni calls it, so he decides to start another topic: “I’ve been reading Haikus lately. Tried Writing them a couple of times as well- do you like Haikus?”
He tilts his head to the side as he asks that, and Kobeni says; “I just like hearing them- haven’t heard one in a while though…” She trails off, staring ahead, a look of sadness on her face.
“Would you like to hear one now?” Violence asks
“Absolutely!” her face lights up again, sadness lifting, as Violence thinks of one- he’s about to say one he’s read- but then he looks up at the sky. He sees the single star, thinks of the current street, how familiar it is- and he goes with one leftover in the mind of this body.
“You are like one star
In this night sky, beautiful,
Lovely, and adored”
Violence looks at the star- then at the one walking beside him. Kobeni has stopped in her tracks, looking like a deer in headlights, muttering out something. Violence asks; “What? Too sappy for a haiku?” While looking around- maybe she was reacting to a Devil?
“You- that Haiku- Arai-?” She spits out a couple of shaky words, starting to tremble, a tear rolling onto her cheek as Violence draws himself closer to her- taking one of her hands to try and calm her down. This seems to work, as she grasps it, and looks up at him with a less panicked, more curious yet confused expression- before a look of realization comes upon her face, a tear-stained onto her right cheek
“What’s wrong, Kobeni?” He asks- did he do something wrong?
“It’s you.” A bitter, small smile formed on her face
“You came back…” She trails off, timidly brushing a hand on VIolence’s mask (Which he doesn’t object to)
“Who came back??” Violence asked again, feeling very confused until she said a name:
“Arai.”
He accesses the memories again, a particular one. A lady with an eye patch and he are sitting across from each other in some kind of office. “So- Arai. I’ve finally found a recruit to pair ya with! She’s been dropped by a couple of her other partners, but maybe you two will be a good fit.” She says in an optimistic voice, with a hint of carefreeness mixed in.
“I’ll work with whoever you pair me with, Himeno-san.” That same, unrecognizable voice speaks with his mouth, and Himeno nods. “Well, that’s great! You two are going on your first patrol now!”
“Wait what-” He tries interjecting, but then the door swings open- he turns to it, as Himeno speaks; “Hirokazu Arai, Meet Higashiyama Kobeni!”
That same girl Violence is staring at now walks in; that same anxious look on her face, those same red hair clippings, and those same, brown eyes, peering into his now.
He’s drawn out of memory by suddenly feeling a weight wrapping around him- Kobeni tightly hugging him.
He hugs back.
“I’m never leaving you again.” He murmurs into her ear. Kobeni starts letting tears- tears made of sadness, grief, happiness, bitterness, and other complicated emotions- but ultimately; Hope- Flow.