Chapter Text
Not everybody is born equal, denji had understood that pretty early in life. Some had money and fame others a normal life, denji had none of those and never will. He knew he didn't get the same rights and privilege as others and accepted it. But that didn't mean he didn't dream of a normal life, a life where he didn't have to look inside the trash to find something edible, he would eat three meals a day and have all the food he wants. A life where he could warm himself up in the winter with a coat, where he didn't have to run errands for some gangs to gain some money. Honestly all denji wanted was a normal.
But denji could only dream. He honestly didn't think he'd die so early in life but you could say it's kind of laughable that he thought he could make it to at least 15. No really what was he thinking, people like him don't get these rights, he knew it and yet... he dreamt of it, he knew it and yet still hoped life would change for the better... why ? Why did he ever think his stupid dream would come true...
It's all dark now.... denji hates the dark, you never know what's in there. It's cold too, denji also hates the cold but worse of all he's scared.... what's going to happen now that he's dead, why did it have to happen. He wasn't ready yet, he didn't want to die. He's scared, he always been scared of dying.
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It was late in the afternoon, Kishibe and his team we're on their way to investigate a house, according to the women who called. She heard a lot of screaming from the house, she wasn't too sure if a fiend was in that house or not but one thing she was sure of is someone got murdered inside.
"What the hell is happening, this is our fifth fiend case of the day" Quanxi complained tapping her finger on the steering wheel. Usually the fiend special division didn't work more than twice a day but lately a lot of fiends have been causing chaos.
"We haven't had to deal with this many fiends since the fiend special division was created" Kishibe agreed. Something was causing all these fiends to come out of their hiding, something bad.
"Yeah and they're suddenly stronger" Galgali added
"What if it's a sign that devils are coming back !?" Kobeni worried from the backseats
"That's impossible kobeni, humans would have to fear devils like they used to but fortunately that fear was replaced with hate so it's not happening anytime soon" Galgali patted her on the back to calm her nerves.
"But still! What if it is happening?" She yelped, tears already threatening to fall
"Then we'll defeat them, we're not part of the strongest fiend special division for nothing" he replied confidently
"Enough chit-chat we're here" Kishibe cut in. Quanxi parked the car and took the keys out, as they all stepped out of the car a woman approached them.
"Thank god, you're finally here" She said a bit panicked
"Ok ma'am, tell us what happened" Quanxi replied
"Right, I was getting back from grocery shopping when I passed this alley and heard screaming, this part of the city is known for its numerous gangs so I hid, scared that they might get me next but I waited for about 10 minutes and no one came out the alley. It freaked me out because the screaming had stopped not too long after I hid, I didn't know what to do so I just called the fiend special division in case there was fiend in there" the woman explained
"Alley you say but I thought we were here to investigate a house" Galgali said bit puzzled
"You are, there's a door in the alley" She replied, pointing towards the poorly illuminated alley.
"Did you go in the alley ?" Kishibe asked
"No I was too afraid" the old lady replied
Quanxi and kishibe stared at women then glanced at each other, they did not believe her. There was no where to hide, all the shops were closed or abandoned and if she never went in the alley how does she know there's a door. Despite the plot holes kishibe decided he'll go take a look in the alley.
"Ok you three stay here and ask more questions, I'll go investigate" kishibe said then walked in the alley and quickly found the door the women was talking about, he approached the slightly ajar door and pushed it open. It was all dark inside so he took his flashlight out and was met with a horrible sight. A corpse layed near the entrance, blood everywhere, the man's skull was fractured leaving a huge dent in his head and from the look of it he was hit multiple times. Kishibe flashed the room to see if the culprit was still inside. The light landed on a boy sitting not far from the corpse, his head was down and tucked between his knees, blood dripped from his head to his knees. Kishibe walked out the house and whistled to get his team attention.
"What is it ?" Quanxi asked as she joined him in the alley, Kobeni and Galgali followed her.
"This" kishibe flashed the death body, their eyes all landed on the corpse
"Damn..." Quanxi raised her eyebrows in surprise
"Wahh !" Kobeni whimpered and quickly averted her eyes from the dead man
"Woah !" Galgali gasped
"There's a kid inside he's injured, Galgali you're good with kids, check if he's alright. Kishibe flashed the boy on the floor. "Quanxi you call the police and an ambulance". Galgali walked to the kid as Quanxi took her phone out. Kishibe then turned to Kobeni. "Kobeni take your flashlight out and try to find any clues inside the house" She nodded and got her flashlight out with shaky hands then walked in the house, avoiding the dead body. Now that everyone had a task at hand Kishibe focused on the body, he kneel down in front of the corpse and scanned it to find any clues on what happened. Kishibe found a broken beer bottle with blood on it in the man's hand. He touched the blood leaking from the man's head, it was still slightly warm, so whatever happened here must've happened not long ago.
"Hey kishibe, I didn't know if i had to apply pressure since its a head injury so I just cleaned the wound a bit" Galgali turned to face kishibe
"Is the kid alright ?" He asked getting up from his position
"I honestly don't know, he didn't answer to any of my questions...and I found this bloody hammer next to him" he showed to kishibe
"..I found lots of alcohol bottles laying around the house and a letter that says he owns money" kobeni said from the other side of the room, still looking for clues.
"Just what the fuck happened here" he cursed
"The man had an unpaid debt... they probably killed him because he didn't pay in time" kobeni whimpered just thinking about what they possibly did to the man
"Mhm maybe....you think the kid witnessed it ?" Galgali asked, glancing at the boy who still hadn't moved. Kishibe had his own theory on what happened but before he could voice it Quanxi walks back in the house.
"They're here" she said
"kobeni and galgali you stay here with the police, explain them the situation. Quanxi and I we'll go with the kid to the hospital" kishibe hald ordered then walked to the boy. "I'm going to pick up kid" he warned the boy so he wouldn't panic. As expected he gave no reaction. Kishibe got out of the and walked to the ambulance, now that the kid was in his arm Kishibe could see his face, the kid looked exhausted, his eyes were barely open and he was shaking like a leaf. Kishibe laid the boy on the ambulance bed then walked to his car where Quanxi was waiting for him, he quickly got in and they all drove to the hospital.
Once arrived the kid was quickly taken in. All that was left to do now was wait for the doctor's results. As he sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room, he kept thinking about his theory on what happened and decided to discuss it with Quanxi.
"What do you think happened in that house ?" He asked
"Don't know but the person who murdered him must've been pretty pissed with guy" She shrugged
"Kobeni found a letter saying he owns money, she and galgali think that the man got killed because he couldn't pay his debt in time and think the kid witnessed it"
"Mhm..that makes sense" She hummed
"It doesn't. If the man was murdered by the person he owns money to, why is the boy still alive, sure he's injured but why didn't they finish the job, why leave a witness ?" He questioned
"The kid probably hid" She dismissed his questioning
"Probably but we found him at entrance near the corpse, the woman said nobody got out the house. If the murderer was still inside and the kid got out of his hiding spot, logically the boy should be dead" he argued
"You don't think..." She glanced at him, understanding what he was tryingto say.
"A bloody hammer was found near the kid and the man was holding a broken beer bottle with blood on it, we can't really assume anything" he sighed pushing his hair back.
"Well- excuse me are you the fiend specialist that came in with a kid ?" Quanxi was interrupted by a women with dark hair put in a bun and red glasses. She had large eyebags and a bored expression on her face.
"Yea that's us" kishibe replied turning to face the women
"Ok so some stitches had to be done on his head, we don't know if the boy has a concussion or not but we'll have to check tomorrow as he's currently unconscious. If you had any questions for the boy that will have to wait for tomorrow" She explained
"Do you know what caused his head injury" Quanxi asked
"The kid was probably hit with a bottle as we found a couple of shards on his head" the doctor replied. Quanxi and kishibe glanced at each other at the doctor's answer.
"How long will the kid be in the hospital ?" Kishibe asked
"Uh...probably a couple of days" She replied.
"Besides his head did he have any injuries ?" Kishibe asked
"He has some bruises on his neck" She answered "any more questions ?"
"No that was all" kishibe said
"Ok then have a good evening" she waved them goodbye then disappeared behind one of hospital doors.
They both left as well, as they reached the car in the parking lot of the hospital, Quanxi received a call. It was from kobeni, she accepted the call and started talking as kishibe waited for her to be done. When she finished her discussion, she turned to kishibe.
"The old woman is nowhere to be found"
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Denji woke up with a piercing headache, he blinked a few times to clear his vision but it didn't work for some reason the blur in his eye didn't go away so he tried to rub it away but as soon as he applied pressure on his eye he felt an intense pain traverse his eye to his head.
"Shit..!" He cursed. Denji has had a lot of injuries in the past but none of them had hurt like this one. He gripped the sheets in agony, when the pain finally passed he was left with a throbbing headache. He felt like his head was about to explode, he opened his eyes once more to see where he was and to distract himself from the pain. All he saw was hew cabinets next to his bed with some stuff on them that he could not make out, a few chairs to his left and a TV on the wall in front of him. He decided to lay back on the bed to rest a bit but before he could do it a woman entered the room.
"Oh! You're awake" she walked to one of cabinets and placed something on it.
"Where am I ?" He asked
"You're at hospital" She answered. The hospital ? Why would he- memories of yesterday's events flashed in his brain, right he's alive, he survived. How the hell did he get here ? And when ? Last thing he remembers is being all alone in the dark and it was hard to breath, he doubt he was able to walk so
"How did I get here ?" Denji asked himself out loud
"You were brought here by some fiend specialists" the woman answered him. Why doesn't he remember that, maybe it happened while he was in that dark place.
"So what's your name little guy" She asked with a smile
"Denji" he said after a bit of hesitation
"You can call me nurse Tomoko" he nodded. "You're hungry ? I brought some food for you" She placed a plate of curry rice on his lap and pit a water bottle on nearest cabinet then handed him a spoon.
"Eat up !" She encouraged. Denjis stared at the meal, stomach grumbling at the smell. A warm meal just for him, he didn't wait any longer and just gobbled the curry rice.
"Wow! Slow down or you're gonna choke" she chuckled
"I haven't ate in a while" denji said in between bites. Tomoko stayed for bit but quickly changed the subject.
"How's your head ? Any pain ?" She asked
"Hm yeah when I woke up it hurt like hell and when I touched my eye it got worse, like my head was going to explode" he said placing the plate back on the cabinet then getting the water that the nurse previously placed there.
"Hmm it's not surprising since you came in with head injury" She hummed. "I'll get you some pain killers before I run some tests" She got up from her chair and look through one of cabinets to find some medical tools, she pulled out a small flashlight, a book and some crayons. She came back with all the items and placed them on denjis bed then carefully checked his stitches, they were ok so she moved on to his eyes. Tomoko took the small flashlight and flashed it denji eyes, first the left eye then the right one. His right eye didn't react to the light like left one had, she hummed at the different eye.
"You said your headache got worse once you touched your eye, could you describe me your vision" She asked turning the flashlight off
"Uh...well it's kind of blurry" not sure how to describe it
"Blurry you say" the nurse had an idea of what the problem could be but she wanted to be sure of it, she put two of her fingers up. "Ok denji how many fingers do you see ?" She asked
"This is stupid, i can still see it's just blurry" he rolled his eyes
"I know you can just trying to figure something out" She rolled her eyes, mocking him
"I see two fingers" he gave in
"Ok now cover your left eye then tell me what you see" she instructed
"Ok ?" As soon as he covered his eye denji couldn't decipher anything anymore. "What the! I can't see shit" he cursed
"Try to right one" She instructed again. Denji did as said to, this time his vision was more clear, the blur was gone and he could properly see Tomokos face. "The blur is gone"
"So I was right, denji you got a lazy eye"
"A what ?" He asked confused
"A lazy eye is an eye that isn't aligned with the other. It kind of drops and you can't do anything anything about it" She explained
"So I'm stuck like this" denji took his hand off his face
"Not really you could get corrective eyewear or do a surgery" She reassured him
"Really then let's do the surgery now !"
"Sorry denji but I can't, you're healing from a head injury, operating on you now would be very delicate" She chuckled
"This sucks" he crossed his arms in disappointment
"Why don't we continue our tests little guy" she opened the book to a random page then placed the book in front of him and asked him to read it out loud. Denji stared at book for a moment then admitted he couldn't read. She understood and just asked him to replicate the kanji on a paper she gave him. While he copied the letters on the paper denji asked why did she want to read, she answered that it was to check if he didn't have any problems with the part of his brain that takes information in. Sincehe couldn't read she changedit to copying the kanjis. When done denji gave her the paper for her to check, the writing was a bit wobbly but it was still understandable.
"Good we're done with the tests you'll finally be able to rest" she took all the items on denji bed and placed them all on the cabinets, she then pulled out a tablet of pills got one out then gave it to denji with some water. "It's for your headache" She said. Denji took the pill drank some water then gave it back to the nurse who put it back on the cabinet, she started putting her tools back in the cabinets and as she did denji was getting sleepy. When Tomoko left the room denji had already fallen asleep.
He was woken up 2 hours later by the sound of talking, denji piled an eye open to see who was talking but found no one and figured the noise came from the corridor. He heard a woman's voice then a man's voice, the man's voice was really low but it was kind of gentle. They seemed to be discussing something important but denji couldn't care less about their conversation, he just wanted to go back to sleep but before he could close his eyes someone opened the door.
"Denji this man is a fiend specialist and he came to ask you some questions" She said as the man entered the room and sat on the chair next to his bed
"Call me kishibe" the guy introduced himself
"Denji" denji replied, he moved into a sitting position on the bed so he could face the man
"I'll leave you two alone" the woman said before closing the door
"As she said I'm here to ask you questions regarding yesterday incident, if you have anything you want to ask don't hesitate" kishibe said, denji nodded
"Ok I'll start with the basics, how old are you ?" He asked
"...uh 9" kishibe raised an eyebrow at the unsureness of his answer but didn't comment on it
"How are you feeling ?" He asked. Denji stared at him already done with the man's question
"Can you just get to the point" denji said with a hint of annoyance in his voice
"Right, yesterday me and my team found you at what I assume is your house, we found you not far from a dead body. Did you know the person who died ?" He asked
"...yeah that was my dad"
"How did he die ? " kishibe asked getting straight to the point
"...I killed him but I didn't mean to, it wasn't on purpose" denji tried to justify himself
"Calm down, I'm not here to point fingers just finger out the truth so how about you explain what happen before you defend yourself" kishibe calmed him down
"Well-
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Denji was on his way home, he just got back from an errand for a gang. They gave him a good amount of money with that much he'll finally be able to buy himself some food given he hadn't had anything to eat for a few days. As he walked the front door he was lifted off his feet then dropped inside the house. Denji used the wall the help him back up, he noticed the beer in his father hand and understood he had to get to hell out. Denji tried to discreetly leave while his father chugged down the bottle, denji made sure to keep his eyes on his father. But unfortunately as soon as denji glanced at the front door, his father took the opportunity to hit him in the head with his now empty bottle. Denji fell to the ground, blood dripping from his head.
"What is wrong with you ?" Denji yelled clutching his head. He tried crawling away but his father grabbed him by the ankle and started pulling him towards him.
"Get off- hands landed on denjis neck. He immediately trashed for air, his father punched in the face to keep him still. He lost vision for a split second but that didn't stop him from scratching and kicking his father but it had no effect on his father, he only tightened his grip on his neck. He was starting to lose consciousness, denjis arm gave out and fell to his side as they did so denjis hand landed on something without thinking he hit his father who screamed in agony as he gasped for air. He looked a saw he was holding a hammer.
"You little shit- denji hit him again and again and again and again until he could the hammer anymore. Denji fell to the ground still gasping for air. He tried his best to fill his lungs with air but I was no use as the darkness slowly took over.
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-that's what happened" denji finished his story. Kishibe mentally sighed at his story, being a fiend specialist he was used to gruesome shit but this one was just cruel.
"Has your father ever hurt you before yesterday" he asked carefully to not upset the kid
"No he'd usually ignore me" denji shook his head
"Not trying to say you're the one to blame for your dad's behavior but do you have any idea why he would suddenly want to kill you" he pushed a bit
"No" he shook his head again
"Not even the slightest idea" he pushed a bit more
"I already told, I don't know" denji groaned at kishibe insistence
"Ok then, do you have any family member that could take care of you ?" He asked
"It was just me and my father" he answered. The man stayed silent
"...so what's gonna happen to me now ?" Denji broke the silence. "Am I going to jail for killing my father ?" He added
"You won't go to jail, it was self defense they won't hold you accountable" denji slightly relaxed at his words. "You'll most likely be sent to an orphanage" denji said nothing
"Any more questions ?" Kishibe asked, denji shook his head
"Well then I'll be leaving then, have a good afternoon" and with those words left the room
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Kishibe walked back to his car as he got in, he finally released the sigh he's been holding in. He suspected the kid but he didn't expect that story, killing your father at 9 years old. This will definitely leave a mark on the kid. God he really needs a drink
He took his phone out and called Quanxi, she answered it at the second bip
"What do you want ?" She said already annoyed
"I'm thirsty" is all he said, she stayed silent for a couple seconds
"I'll be there in 15 minutes" She sighed then hung up
Kishibe tossed his phone on the seat next him and started the vehicle. He was on his way to the bar they used to go to when they first started their job as fiend specialist. This bar held a lot of memories, good and bad ones. He parked his car not too far from the establishment. It was a quiet place, not many people knew this place since a bit hidden. Kishibe preferred it this way. He walked to the bar, glanced at the 'good time' sign when he entered. The owner who also was the bartender smiled as kishibe sat down, kishibe didn't even need to order as the bartender knew his order by heart, he gave him a small glass of vodka with an ounce of lemon.
When Quanxi arrived, she sat next to him without saying a word. The owner served her a cocktail, they both sipped their drink before kishibe broke the silence
"...i think I'll take the kid in" he confessed
"I knew it was going to be something stupid" She sighed, tired of his bullshit "Why did I even come" She grunted
"I don't see why you're complaining" he said paying not mind to her
"Are you stupid or you're just trying to piss me out"
"Just trying to help the kid" he shrugged sipping on his drink
"Ok but why him ? We've found a lot of kids in our carrier, why is he the one that stood out to you ?" She questioned him
"My guts are telling me to take him" he looked her in the eyes. She sighed knowing he was dead serious.
"...just think about it for couple days" She gave in knowing no matter what she said he wouldn't back down.