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….Was the sound that Reze heard every time she pulled the pin on her neck. The loud noise deafened her eardrums even when her head changed shape into that of a bomb. The second after that, countless bomb fuses would squeeze her body tight. Each fuse wrapped onto her skin until her existence became the literal definition of a weapon of mass destruction.
She never liked the feeling of it–how heavy her limbs felt and how that weight was something she could never run away from. Not to mention that most battles that she had gone through would cause irreparable damage to the clothes she wore.
Be it the elegant summer dress she had taken a liking once only to realize that the color pink on her body would soon be covered in red–same with other colors.
Be it the black turtleneck she had seen from outside a store, only separated by a thin and invisible wall she could have easily punctured through.
Be it the long, floral-patterned skirt that would have fluttered against the wind only to get ripped and torn apart from a single explosion.
It never made her feel pretty. It never made her feel satisfied. It never made her feel special in any way. It just made her feel strong and scary, and being feared by others would make her even stronger, continuing this never-ending cycle. And as the one who stood at the center, she couldn’t escape. This thought alone, accumulated from one experience after another–with immeasurable amounts of blood her both hands had spilled–was more important than anything.
Her transformation always incinerated the fabric around her body. So she didn’t mind wearing only her flesh and blood, the coffin that walked alongside her.
Boom!
She hated that sound. Whenever the sound echoed throughout the wind, pain would soon follow. It was never the other way around. The sound came first before the pain–this painful feeling one could only describe as dying–shocked and tortured her neurons. It forced her to fight, and at the end of the tunnel, her hands were always meant to take someone’s life.
This time, it was a teenage boy. Only sixteen-years old in age, yet his vulgar way of talking and that perverted behavior screamed an idiot beyond any human comprehension. He had the heart of the Chainsaw Devil, but that was all. Instead of the word special, Reze would call his fate as misfortunate.
“How did I even laugh with him?” she thought before uttering her next few words out loud. The sound of traffic was pale in comparison with her sinister yet seductive voice. “Come here, Denji. I’ll teach you how we do battle.”
Thus it began.
Punches were thrown.
Chainsaws were swung around.
Bombs exploded all over the city.
The colorful explosions reminded Reze of the festival they had just gone to an hour ago. Walking side by side between crowded passersby and stalls selling food and toys. Whenever she looked to the side, Denji’s face was there. He would follow from behind, pacing his steps whenever she picked up the speed. But that peacefulness was no longer there, only a bloody dance with the night city serving as the backdrop.
And each time they clashed, Reze felt a prickly sensation drilling into her heart. It might be a fish bone that was stuck in her throat, confusing her mind amidst such a ballad of chaos. She ignored it, for her purpose in seducing this pitiful boy was to get the devil’s heart beating inside him.
Denji was as stubborn as a cockroach, but at the same time, it was amusing to see. His frantic action, which betrayed every human and devil’s expectation became a scene which forced out a laugh from her mouth.
Her laugh.
A laughter.
Even in the moment where deaths became insignificant and rubble buried mortal bodies underneath the immense pressure, she could laugh.
Why?
“Why?”
Only after the battle ended did she realize what caused it–both the question and the fishbone that remained dormant in her throat.
When her life was spared, a humiliating end for a soldier–a mere guinea pig.
When that white t-shirt was put on her so the sun didn’t peek at her naked body.
When that invitation to run away slipped from the mouth of the boy she had just tried to murder.
Boom!
She hated that sound even more now. For it hurt her and also that blond boy.
So at this moment, as her blood poured out from her severed arm and chest, she wanted to hear it no more. The lightning spear had judged her action from above. A surprise attack that she couldn’t expect. Death lingered in those spiralling eyes, so it surprised Reze that the witch’s hand could be so gentle.
Her right arm was no more. The hole in her chest made each heartbeat more painful than ever, as if it tried to pump as much life as possible only for an inevitable fate creeping up to her.
Reze would die, snuffed out by Makima’s very own hand.
Reze had her fingers already on the grenade pin on her neck, but no strength was left behind those digits to pull it off. Instead, the color faded from her body and eyes. Yet her gaze stayed on something–from a far, a few meters away, behind the rectangular window she knew like the back of her hand.
His head entered the frame. That same blond boy who had given her first flower–that beautiful white petals that danced in her hand.
“Really….Why didn’t I kill you the first time we met?”
Hazy.
She couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. This damp and narrow alleyway would be her final goodbye to the world. To the world that had been cruel to her. The one that had turned her into a weapon.
At least there was tranquility in it.
Vroom!
Bathing in her own blood, she had her final thought.
“Denji…, truth is…, I’ve never gone–”
Boom!
Darkness.
Pitch black which surrounded every direction.
Where the sense of left and right, above and down, front and back became null–almost nonexistent.
“It must have been death then.”
Could it be the Death Devil then?
“–ze.”
Yet, a voice called out her name.
Her name–the one she had given to herself.
Again and again, each time getting louder.
“Hey–”
It wouldn’t let her sleep peacefully.
Death had welcomed her, but why did someone still try to pull her out of this serenity? She didn’t get it. She didn’t want to.
“Hey, Reze!”
Alas, she woke up. She was wearing a plain t-shirt and pants that only covered up to her thighs–nothing unusual about her appearance.
The view was no longer of that alleyway. Rather than a desolate place surrounded by grayness that suffocated the eyes, her surroundings were that of a rice field. In the distance, mountains towered over houses. What surprised her the most was the view right in front of her eyes.
White t-shirt, fluttering against the wind just like that dress she had wanted. The broad back before her eyes hunched over, and on top of that was the head of that blonde boy. His unkept hair was pulled back by the wind, though each strand of it resisted getting blown away.
And only after collecting herself that she noticed that she was on a bicycle. In this case, she sat on the seat near the back wheel. The sound of rubber grinding onto dirt and pebbles below chased away the drowsiness.
“Finally you woke up,” Denji said. “You suddenly passed out. Are you hungry?”
“Denji…?”
“Hmm?” Denji turned around to see Reze’s confused face. She was beautiful. “Yes, that’s me. What’s up?”
There was silence. Once again, Reze looked around at the strange scenery around them. It was somewhat melancholic. The thumping of her heartbeat matched the tempo at which Denji pedalled the bike.
“....Where are we?” Reze asked. Her voice was soft.
“Beats me.” Denji’s answer sounded like no answer at all. Then again, he was just being honest. “I’ve just been pedalling like a madman for hours now.”
“Do you want to change with me then?”
“Nah. I’m somewhat a perpetual motion machine, you know, so this is nothing. Besides, I can’t let a girl get tired just for me.”
Reze couldn’t see his face, but she was sure that he smirked after saying that.
“Typical Denji….” she thought before opening her mouth. “Denji.”
“Hmm?”
“....Nevermind. It’s nothing.”
“You should seriously eat. Delicious food is the best medicine.”
As the wind washed them down like a refreshing shower, allowing their hair to dance alongside it, Reze tried to remember what had happened. She had made amends with death. Cold and stiff, she would have succumbed to the ending that had encroached on her, and yet at the last second, the sound of chainsaws buzzing emerged.
Only one person could have done that. Denji must have come to her rescue. And as he had promised, they ran away together–always side by side. From one city to another. From one prefecture to another. They might even be outside the country right now. Denji would be too dumb to know that, while Reze had only been daydreaming.
But that would mean he had broken out from Makima’s chain–from her control. Were his chainsaws sharp enough to cut through that witch’s cold and manipulative grasp, one that couldn’t care less about Denji’s heart?
Reze didn’t even understand herself remembering what could have been her own imagination. The peacefulness hanging in the air dulled her senses. She had to grab onto her focus again.
So, she began to sing:
день моего свидания с джейн
(The day of my date with Jane)
все готово yтpом
(Everything is already prepared)
мы пойдем вместе в церковь
(In the morning we will go together to church)
Мы будем пить кофе и есть омлеты в кафе
(We will drink coffee and eat omelets in a cafe)
После того как мы прогуляемся в парке
(After that we will take a walk in the park)
Мы пойдем в аквариум
(We will go to the aquarium)
и увиде любимых Джейн
(And see Jane’s favorites)
дельфинов и пингвинов
(The dolphins and penguins)
Посло обода мы отдохнем
(After lunch we will rest)
итак, что мы сделали утром?
(So, what did we do in the morning?)
Мы будем говорить об этом пока не вспомним
(We will reminisce and try to remember)
Мы не вспомним
(But we won’t remember)
И ночью мы будем спать в церкви
(And at night we will sleep in the church)
The sound stopped. Her lips were shut together like before as the last breath escaped her lips.
“First time I heard you sing,” Denji said. If he weren’t riding the bicycle, he would clasp his hands already. “You should sing more.”
“And why is that?” Reze asked.
“Well, your voice is very pretty.”
“And what parts made it sound pretty?”
“I don’t know. Your voice just sounds so pretty!”
Reze smirked at that remark. One second later, she pushed her face onto Denji’s back. That sensation was enough to jolt the boy. Such a simpleton, though Reze didn’t mind all of that.
“So, do you want to listen more?”
“Absolutely!”
“Well….Hmmm….Maybe another time.”
“Then that’s a promise.”
“Of course.”
“By the way, what does the song mean?”
That question made Reze chuckle.
“Really? You seriously want to know?”
“Hey, are you somehow mocking my intelligence?”
“Not mocking, but criticizing.”
“How’s that any different!”
The question still rang in Reze’s head. Why did she laugh so much with Denji?
That fake smile she had always worn like a mask slowly faded away. Happiness blurred into reality, and once she realized it, her lips were curved upward. A genuine smile in a long time, all shown for Denji’s back.
He couldn’t possibly see that expression on Reze’s face.
She didn’t want him to see it.
After a while, the view beside them changed. The mountains vanished, and its place was a sea–vast and unrelenting. It was like a pearl, the surface jagged with each wave that rippled one after another. The sight attracted her. Without knowing it, she held Denji’s sleeve tighter than before.
“Denji, can we stop for a while? I want to go there.”
That request surprised Denji a little. He followed the direction where Reze was pointing . Usually, he would have granted that request in a heartbeat. But….
“Emmm, are you sure? Won’t it be bad for us?”
Denji matured a little. Maybe it was because of the dangers lurking everywhere. After his defiance of Makima, both of them had been hunted. Away from Japan didn’t mean breaking away from the Public Safety Devil Hunters–not breaking away from Makima’s control.
Want it or not–pitiful or not–they were mere mice, and every pest should be terminated.
“Just for a while, please.”
“E-enngg….No, it’s too dangerous.”
“If you do, I will smooch you.”
“Hang on tight!”
Then, just like that, Denji sped up. Again, Reze let out a burst of laughter. It made her feel insane. Nothing about this made sense. One single mishap and carelessness would cost their lives, and yet, smiling and laughing and crying and living had never been this easy.
Yes, she must be insane.
“Huuhhh….Huhhhhh….Huuhhhh….”
Denji was panting. His mouth and throat burned in pain. It had been a bad idea on his part to drain all of his strength just to cycle.
“N-need…, water….”
On the other hand, Reze was already off the bicycle. Her two feet connected with the ground, and at the same time, she pulled out a bottle of water. It took her no more pauses before pouring the liquid into his opened mouth, letting the water clenched her thirst away.
Denji, who witnessed all of it, suffered not just from physical attack but also mental toil of Reze sapping all the water for herself. What he didn’t know was her action that followed through.
She hopped towards Denji. Both hands soon wrapped against his head. Both were so gentle that Denji almost didn’t register it on his head. The next sensation his body felt was the soft press of Reze’s body onto his. Being shorter than him, she stood on tiptoe to reach his face–or, to be more accurate, his lips. And as they connected with one another, Reze poured the water she had in her mouth using that kiss.
The stimulation Denji received all at once almost paralyzed him. His hands swayed in the air, not knowing what to do next. He didn’t need to think too hard, though, as Reze handled everything until the very end–until their mouths parted away. At the end, she licked her lips. Her cheeks were flushed. Weirdly enough, even though she had shown this kind of expression many times for Denji before, this time she didn’t want him to see. If she had to give an explanation, it would be because she was embarrassed.
Denji didn’t think much of it, though. He had passed out for a few seconds before realizing what had happened to him. This blissful feeling, he could only convey it using a few words:
“Aren’t you too naughty?”
Reze, having turned her body already, heard Denji’s comment. “Hmmmmm~? You didn’t like it.”
“I like it!”
“How much?”
“I like it so much!”
As they approached the sea, a cold breeze came to greet them, brushing against their hair. Reze kept walking towards where the body of water laid.
Footsteps were dyed red–that crimson red of blood. Denji followed from behind. None of them saw it. None of them knew it.
How majestic the view was. Everyone who saw it would think how little their part is in the world. Reze thought so, but the moment after, it became nothing again.
She preferred that little pool they had shared their time together. The sea would separate them. That pool, however? Even when apart, they would eventually reach one another. In the pool, where they only had eyes for each other. They would become one again, and Reze just realized what she had wanted to obtain this entire time.
Thereafter, they would return to that festival. Eating candy apples and sharing one, robbing every stall with how good they were at games. And although they had school tomorrow, the night was still young. It never ended for them, as the hours that were fleeting away when together felt ethereal.
–m!
“There are still many places left to go. However, we won’t be able to run anymore. When it eventually comes, will you still be here, Denji?”
“You don’t even need to ask me that.”
“Well, just confirming.”
–om!
Then a wave splashed over them. The water pushed over the sand beneath their feet. Its edge reached the footsteps they had left, bringing away the color red from them and only leaving their marks on the sand. Those would be unbothered and untouched by anything else.
“Reze is smarter,” Denji said. “So I will screw up a lot. Then again, you promised to teach me everything that you know, right?”
–oom!
The lie she had made under the disguise of a promise. This time, however, her heart leaned towards the latter.
“Actually, I have a confession to make.”
“What is it?”
Reze turned around.
Boom!
“Truth is, I’ve never gone to school either.”