Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Reze was good at smiling. It was only natural, at a young age she was trained to manipulate her face, her words, her body, all perfectly. She mastered the art of seduction, the art of lying, becoming the perfect spy to weasel her way into any crevice the mission asked for and a smile is the perfect tool for that. Give a man a smile and you're already in.

“Here’s the money boss man, go ahead count it all~ Didn’t I do good~?” Reze said, smiling from ear to ear as she handed an old man an envelope full of yen through the car window.

“Meeting you really was a hell of a miracle, I wonder if I made a contract with a devil to be so lucky, haha.” The old man laughed as he counted the stack of yen in the envelope.

After he finished counting the yen he gave the girl a disgusting, teeth-shown grin accompanied by an equally vulgar and lecherous look, the same look the driver in the front seat had. Reze paid it no mind, she was all too familiar with the sight of his smile, it wasn’t special, it was the smile all her past targets had, the smile all men had.

“At this rate I can put down the old mutt I’ve been draining dry with a clear conscience, you’re a whole lot more dependable than that brat. You did good, we’ll be seeing each other soon enough, but enjoy the night.”

“Thanks for the night off, always a pleasure sir~ Get to me the usual way when you have my next job.” Reze replied, her smile not waning as she did a salute.

The debt collector nodded before facing forward and gesturing to the driver to go, they soon drove away leaving Reze alone on the street.

This was her newest mission: Infiltrate the Yakuza. This man wasn’t the most glamorous way in, being all the way out in the boonies, but it was the safest bet for the long game; she'd wiggle her way deep within Yakuza and make it to the main branch in the city soon enough.

She turned around, her smile falling to a flat line as she walked deeper into the alley, her movements straight and stiff like a soldier. Her mind wandered a bit as she thought of the job, but never too distracted from her surroundings.

‘This job is going to be a long one. They made me perfectly master Japanese for the sake of it. What’s so interesting about the Yakuza? No, It’s not my job to think. It’s just another mission. Still… It's nice being so away from the city, out here, it’s peaceful. Too bad I can’t stay longer, with how I’m doing it should be fine to ask the geezer to move me to the city in about a month, and then my real infiltration will begin.’

As Reze went deeper into the alleyway she heard the sound of small steps behind her. Being trained by the Soviet Union identifying footsteps was an essential tool and easy to do, these footsteps… it wasn’t a man or woman, an adult or child, it sounded more like… a dog?

Reze turned her head as she looked down to the origin of the steps and the first thing that immediately caught her eye was a chainsaw.

‘A devil? This must be the chainsaw devil… it’s so small and… cute… it’s not like you hear about anyone being afraid of chainsaws, they're dangerous, sure, but it’s not something people think about often.’ Reze stared at the small orange devil before her, immediately noticing it wasn’t friendly, it was stanced up as its mouth formed into a growl.

‘Devils don’t like humans, it’s natural to be aggressive but this is different… do they sense the bomb devil…? Astute little guy aren’t you… I’d rather avoid any unnecessary killings, but a devil is a devil.’

Reze reached into her back pocket to retrieve her knife, grabbing onto its handle before—

“Pochita! Pochita! Pochita… Where are you buddy!?”

Reze’s eyes flickered up to the new voice, the voice of a boy at the end of alley. His face turned, the look of concern changing to one of relief as he saw the devil or rather ‘Pochita’. Reze put on her mask, an innocent smile, still her grip wasn’t loose, her hand still holding the knife tightly from her pocket, preparing for anything that might’ve happened.

It was a boy, he looked to be around her age, scrawny with scruffy blonde hair, he wore an eye patch with a big green coat over his body over a loose white tank top and black pants. He looked like he’d seen better days or more precisely he never lived a good one.

The boy ran towards the two, immediately bending down to he pick up the devil when he was close enough, the devil’s eyes never broke from Reze, its lingering animosity still somewhat apparent but it retired to the boy's arms without a struggle.

“You scared me when you ran out of nowhere! I would be lost without ya, don’t do that again, Pochita!” The young boy said, leading to a soft bark from the devil in response as it nuzzled into the boy’s embrace.

‘Huh…?’

Reze's face hadn’t broken from her mask but behind that she gave the two a strange look, never in her life would she think she’d see a human and a devil get along so familiarly. A human treating a devil no different from a pet, like it was completely normal to do so. She knew some devils got along better with humans than others, but those were in terms of contracts and such, but this wasn’t anything like that, at least she didn’t think so. What could a devil possibly get out of a contract where they act like a pet for a human?

The boy gave the devil a pet before finally looking up to the girl in front of him. For the boy the whole world felt like it slowed to a stop as he gazed at her. In that instance his mind was overloaded by her presence, soaking up every facet of her existence that he could to make sure this wasn’t a dream because for him being in the presence of such a pretty girl was something he only dreamt of till now.

As time felt like it returned and his breath no longer stuck, he fell back onto the floor right on his ass as his mouth stayed stuck open before he yelled.

“Ah…! You’re a… you’re a girl!” He said flabbergasted as if he had never seen a girl before.

‘He doesn’t seem too sharp… I can work with this, a lot more interesting than those Yakuza bastards.’ Reze thought.

Reze's smile took a more sweet appearance, fully cranking up her act to the max, it was a sure way to get to any man. She leaned down to meet his face, the two being split by a few good inches.

“Correct! We’ve got a genius here~” She said laced with a sweet tone.

‘Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! It’s a girl! A real life girl! Right in front of me! Not like one of those in those pornos I find in the garbage but like a physical one! You’re seeing this, right, Pochita? A girl is right in front of me…! What do I do? What do I do?’ The boy’s mind raced with thoughts and feelings that were dormant until this moment.

He was a teenage boy, it was normal for him to have an active imagination and think about girls, but out here there weren’t any girls his age and for those who passed by they wouldn’t give him the time of day, but finally there was one, right in front of him, actually talking to him!

‘She’s so close… so pretty… she’s so hot! Totally hotter then those girls in the magazines… fuck… I gotta… I gotta lock in, this is a once and a lifetime opportunity! First impressions… First impressions…’

“Woof!”

The world felt still once more as the sound left his mouth. Maybe it was instinctual, maybe he was possessed, maybe it was just something he picked up from Pochita, but nevertheless what left his mouth was a bark.

‘Shit on a stick! What the fuck! Did I just fucking bark? I’m screwed! Fuck! I finally meet a girl, a really, really cute one and I fucking bark! Kill me—‘

His train of thought was broken as he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter fill the alleyway. He watched her mouth open from a smile to a laughing fit. His face burned with a blush as he saw her, he didn’t think she could look better, but that laugh, that smile, it made his heart pound even more.

‘She’s…. She’s laughing…? Most girls would look at me like I was a creep, a weirdo, I mean if someone did that to me, I’d think that… But, she’s really laughing like I’m funny… Geez… She’s so cute when she laughs…’

“Hahahahah…! You're killing me— haha, woof? The first thing you say to me is woof!” Her voice slipped between words and laughter as she covered her mouth, her blush peaking through her fingers. “I kinda thought you looked like a dog I had too, and to think you act like one too…~”

“Wait huh?!?! Are you saying I look like a mutt?!”

“Oh no no no!” Reze’s hands moved away from her mouth as she shook them pleading.

“I’m sorry, it’s just I lost him recently, it's hard to get my mind away from the little guy, I start seeing him in the smallest similarities...” Reze’s voice grew quieter as her laughter turned into sobs over her apparently dead dog, her hands went to cover her face.

“Wait! Don’t cry! Umm… I think I get that, I don’t know what’d it be like if I lost Pochita, he’s the only family I got, losing him would be a total crapfest. Like eating moldy bread in the trash, bad.”

Reze lowered her hands so her eyes were visible, her piercing emerald pupils staring into the boy on the floor with a devil in his arms. Through her hands she smiled as a small laugh left her mouth.

“You say such weird things… still, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as interesting as you.” Her hands dropped fully, allowing him to get a full look at her blushing face once more as Reze smiled softly at him.

‘Yeah… Pochita… I’m totally in love!’

Chapter Text

Ever since she first heard Aesop’s fable about the two mice, Reze had already made her decision; She wanted to be the country mouse no matter what. To her a peaceful life was something she could only dream of in the ocean of blood that surrounded her. The life she lived, the life that wasn’t even hers, as a weapon, a spy, an assassin… She never wanted it and if she could she would just leave, run away, but life wasn’t that simple, nor was it kind.

With this new mission Reze finally got a glimmer of what a simpler life was like, it wasn’t exactly what she imagined, but it was the closest thing she’s ever gotten. A little taste of what could be. Still she had to admit, it was boring. That was the fate of the country mouse, in exchange for peace and safety they had to forgo the pleasures the city mouse was promised. Even with knowing that, she thought there’d be more to do.

Her missions were just missions at the end of the day, but they usually had some entertaining aspects, but this one didn’t. The Yakuza had her doing odd jobs around the already small town, sometimes it was debt collecting, other times it was stealing, occasionally just roughing someone up, of course there were the messier things... None of it was exciting, or fun, and it didn’t fill her schedule nearly enough. So much free time, but this town had nothing to do to fill it. It was empty, drab, a place where people lived and nothing else, never experiencing anything more than the basics.

So when she met a boy with a pet devil in the alley, it became the most interesting part of the job. The young man asked her if she would like to go back to his place, and she had nothing better to do, so why not see where this goes? It was better than doing. He and the devil, despite its initial aggression, didn’t seem like any harm and if things got ugly she was more than capable of handling it.

Reze stood in front of the boy’s house or more precisely his shed. It was small and beaten up, made of metal sheets held by a wooden frame. It laid on the outskirts of town, a decent ways away from anyone else, smaller than even a cheap motel room. Reze hadn’t given herself high expectations of the boy based on his appearance, but at least he had a home.

“Sorry, if you were expecting something– anything more, but it’s nicer on the inside! Uh, not really, but kinda!” He said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

He headed to the door, simply turning the door knob to open it, not even having a lock to secure it. But, that made sense to Reze as followed right behind him as they entered his home. He had nothing.

It definitely was a shed. It had an old tool box in the corner, some loose pieces of scarp wood around, some tires, and a wooden box that she assumed acted as a pseudo table. The only sign that he was living here was a mattress on the floor, a dirty beaten up mattress without any sheets or a blanket, not even a pillow.

The boy sat on the mattress with Pochita moving to lay down next to his feet as he patted the spot next to him. The boy was an open book, his face was completely red as his mouth formed into an awkward shape. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out this boy didn’t have much experience with women or any at all, Reze wouldn’t even need to try with him, but it was still fun to play with him.

Reze played the curious girl act as she looked around the shed, carefully maneuvering around the small area with arms behind her back, taking in each sight with feign intrigue before sitting herself right next to Denji on the mattress.

“I think you’re right~ it’s definitely nicer on the inside~ I can appreciate a minimalist~” Reze said as she scooted ever so closer to the boy.

“I don’t know what that is… B-but, it’s homie, right? I don’t got much stuff, but I got a roof over me, a bed for me and Pochita to crash on, it’s a good home!” He said with a smile showing off his jagged teeth. “Ain’t that right, boy?”

Pochita responded with a happy bark as he stood up on all fours, his pull cord tail wagging like a dog as his tongue stuck out. Reze hadn’t known the two for long, but they were a weird pair, the Chainsaw Devil being a noticeable oddity. The Devil wasn’t as dumb as the dog it played, it must’ve sensed the bomb heart she had when they first met, but any sign of aggression dissipated when the boy showed up. Reze had met all sorts of Devils across her life, but this ‘Pochita’ was unlike any she had met before.

“You hungry, Pochita? I think I got some bread…” The boy turned around as he began looking for something to feed the Devil, his eyes scanned the room till he found the bread laying limply against the mattress on the other side.

“There it is!”

He reached to the other side as he grabbed the bread, splitting it in half as he fed one half to Pochita. He was about to bite the piece of bread himself but he saw Reze staring at him.

“Oh, uh, you hungry? Here!” The boy let out as he held the stale bread out to Reze. “Sorry, this is all I got to eat, this geezer I… help… ain’t been giving me jobs recently, there haven’t been any devils in the area I can hunt.”

Reze looked at the gesture the boy offered, giving him a sympathetic expression as she shook her head.

“You’re sweet, but don’t worry, I’m not hungry.” Reze replied simply.

That was all he needed to hear, the boy tossed the scrap of bread into the air letting it fall straight down into his mouth, as he scarfed it down in one gulp.

“Man, that wasn’t really filling… we’re gonna have to go looking for scraps tonight, Pochita.”

“Woof!”

“I think the bakery is throwing out their bread soon, that’ll last us a month if we’re lucky! Let’s just not get caught like last time!”

“Woof!”

Reze watched as the broke young man and his pet devil talked. It was a depressing topic, needing to resort to stealing and scavenging for food, but they still spoke so casually about it. She followed him to sate her boredom, but this quickly became a lot heavier than she anticipated. Reze had heard all sorts of sobs stories, mostly from people begging for their lives, and even her own life counted as one, but this time was different. She was right here, seeing this boy’s life play out its tragedy, a broke young man with his only friend, a devil, having nothing to eat or drink, barely getting by, and from the looks of it his body paid a greater toll than most. But still… he wasn’t broken, broke, yes, but his heart hadn’t given in, even when talking about scavenging for food, he had a sort of hope in his voice, something so alien to her.

“Anyways… so… you got a name?” The boy asked as he turned his attention back to Reze.

“Haha, of course I do, names Reze, and you are?”

“That’s a really pretty name, Reze! I’m Denji!”

“I’m glad you think so~” She replied before turning away, letting her voice fall to a hush whisper. “He’s got a cute name too~”

She purposely let her words be loud enough for him to hear, his face burned a brighter red as he looked away, he really had no idea what to do.

‘He’s fun to tease, even though I know what he’ll do, the way he does it is so fun to watch.’

“So Reze… anything you’d like to do… I don’t got much of anything, I asked you to hang out, but I got nothing to do in this shithole…” His voice was a bit more timid, more apologetic with him having nothing to offer to her.

“It’s fine Denji, I won’t lie I didn’t expect much anyways when I went along with you, it doesn’t help that this town doesn’t offer much of anything… So let's talk, I haven’t had a decent conversation in ages, you can give me that right~?”

“Yeah! I can talk! I’m talking right now!” He whipped his head as he moved closer excitedly. “So, uh, what’cha wanna talk about?”

Reze let out a short giggle at his reaction. He really was a kid, so easily excited, so happy at just a conversation with a girl. Talking to someone like this, normally… had she ever done that? Her entire life was a script, being given and written by another, all for the sake of a mission. Reze never got to talk to someone, not truly. The other kids that were with her in the Soviet Union, they were silent, their eyes so blank and lifeless, her eyes were like that too until she learned how to fake it. But his eyes, or eye, was different, Denji, despite the hardships had a light in them, they weren’t a lie or an act, they were genuine.

The two spent hours talking about nothing really— random topics, interests, just whatever came to mind. Denji really didn’t know much, the best she got was he liked naps and eating, the latter being harder to do with his financial status. He worked for the Yakuza, he was forced to pay off his fathers debts and had been working as a devil hunter for them since he was a kid.

“Isn’t that bad?” Reze asked concerningly.

“Bad?” He asked.

“… or should I say messed up. You’re just a kid, Denji, 16… you should be in school, not slaving away for the Yakuza because your dad was a bum.”

“I guess, but what other choice do I got…? If I don’t they’ll kill me and Pochita, I ain’t ready to die yet, besides going to school seems kinda lame, it’s just learning ain’t it?”

“Schools are a whole lot more than that, but you’ll only understand it if you go yourself.”

“Too bad there ain’t a school near here, but I’m fine like this.” Denji said as he laid back on the mattress, his arms stretched out across the fabric.

“Are you…? Tell me, Denji… how are you okay with this life?” Reze asked as she laid down beside him, her head rested on her palm as she stared into his eye.

“Well… I can still dream. There’s so much I wanna do, I can’t do it here, but being able to dream feels really nice! I ain’t gonna be trapped here forever, me and Pochita are gonna get out of here, we’re gonna go to the city, we’re gonna sleep on a real bed! Eat tons of food, we're gonna have fresh bread with jam on it! And…”

“And…?”

“It’d… it’d be cool if you were there too…”

”Oh, Denji, I didn’t think you were so smooth…~” She said with a teasing smile.

”I didn’t—That wasn’t— Was… Was that good?” Denji asked shyly as he turned his face back towards the ceiling.

”Haha… You’re fun to talk to, I’ll give it a solid 7 out of 10~”

Denji’s eye lit up as he smiled brightly, jagged teeth and all.

”I really must be a genius! That’s the best grade I’ve ever gotten! Well the only grade I’ve ever gotten, but like that’s really good!”

Reze stared at Denji, her eyes lingering on the smile on his face, unlike the men she normally saw, it wasn't disgusting. Unlike her, it wasn’t fake. Unlike everyone… it was different.

Chapter Text

Denji laid on top of his beaten mattress with Pochita laying on his stomach. The young man stared aimlessly into the ceiling above, lost in thought. It was a few hours since Reze left, the girl promising him they’d meet soon, but this entire experience left the boy overwhelmed, both his mind and heart racing. From this singular experience with this one girl came so many thoughts and feelings, all hitting him like a truck, in this moment he thought more than he ever did before, causing his restlessness.

“Pochita…” Denji called out before pausing, thinking if should really say the words in his heart. “I… I think… I’m in love…”

The Chainsaw Devil looked up as he heard the boy’s confession, his eyes locked onto the boy.

“It’s only natural, right? She’s… she’s the first person who didn’t treat me like shit… sure, she said I looked like a dog, but dogs are cute, that's gotta be a compliment. People always call me dirty and smelly. Nobody ever comes near me unless they gotta, but she did. This is the first time someone’s been close to me willingly… she came here, inside this rinky dink shed and talked with me… for hours…! She laughed at me, smiled at me… fuck… she… she might like me!”

Denji expressed, his hands on his head as he reached revelation after revelation.

“I don’t know about her, I might be overthinking, but I do know me and you know me… I like people who like me… I like her… even if she doesn't like me like that… I still think I like her.”

The Chainsaw Devil gaze never broke as he listened to his friend's words, slowly he walked on Denji’s chest closer to the boy’s face as he nuzzled into his cheek against Denji’s before laying right down on top of chest.

“Is that… your blessing? Haha… thanks buddy, sorry about keeping you up, let’s go to bed… yawn… I think I'm gonna have way better dreams tonight…” Denji said as he closed his eye shut to drift into slumber.

His mind had settled, no longer overwhelmed with thoughts of Reze after confessing to Pochita, but he still couldn’t sleep. He was starving. Denji let out a sigh as he scooped Pochita up and placed him on the mattress.

“I’ll be back later buddy, I’ll bring ya back something too, but I can’t sleep like this…” Pochita let out a small bark in response as the devil continued its rest.

Denji stood up from the mattress before exiting his shed. He was met with the darkness of night covering all his surroundings. Nevertheless, he began walking towards the general direction of where the town was. Denji wasn’t scared of the dark, there was nothing in it anyways. He heard in the city there were muggers and murderers waiting around in the shadows for their victims, but in this dump, there really wasn’t anything. The worst thing around here was the Yakuza, but they couldn’t mess with Denji anymore than they already have.

The town was dead. It made sense, it was the middle of the night after all, but it’s not like it had many people during the day either. Denji sometimes wondered if the population was low or people just stayed clear of him, the latter made sense, he smelled horrible and hung out with a devil, that was bad news to anyone… So why did Reze not mind?

’Thinking about it now… why did she do that? Maybe… eh, I don’t know, maybe she’s the only good person in this shitty area.’

Denji thought no further on the topic and continued to search for something edible. The young man eventually found himself in front of a vending machine, its dim light sticking out like a sore thumb in the darkness. Most of its buttons were worn or had completely fallen off, only a few had lights on to signify it had a drink to purchase. This town really was dead, not even the vending machine saw much use, god knows when was the last time someone restocked this thing.

’Why am I even here? I don’t got money for this…’ Denji thought as he stared at the machine blankly with his mouth agape.

The boy was about to turn and leave until he heard the sounds of coins being put into the slot before a slender hand pressed one of the buttons still lit, a can of coffee falling down below. His eye moved to where the body attached to the hand was, it was Reze, dimly lit up by the vending machine’s light. Denji stayed stock still as he processed who was next to him.

”Reze…” He muttered under his breath.

”In the flesh…! Happy you remembered~” The girl chirped as she bent down and retrieved the can of coffee from the machine.

”I wouldn’t forget’cha, not in a million years…” The boy responded as he looked away with a hint of red on his cheeks.

Reze smiled her signature grin as she stood back up, parallel with Denji.

”So, what’cha doing so late at night? Looking for me~?” She asked teasingly.

”Nah, I can’t eat you, I was too hungry to sleep so I went out to look for something.” He said deadpanned, not getting the undertones of her words.

”That sounds rough… Want some of this~?” Reze asks, holding up the can of Coffee to her face.

“What is that…?” Denji asked as his eyes squinted to try and read the can, unfortunately it was in Kanji, something he hadn’t learned to read.

“It’s coffee~ it’s what adults drink to stay awake at their dead end jobs.”

“I ain’t ever had co… coffee…! But I’m tryna go to sleep, don’t wanna stay up the rest of the night.”

“Cmon it could be fun, if you stay up late we could hang out, just you and me exploring this place all alone, all night, kinda like a date—“

At lightning speeds Denji retrieved the can from her, promptly opening it as he took a swig of it. He only got to a quarter of the way through the can before he heeled over spitting it out as he held the can out back to Reze.

“Eww…! Yuck! That tastes like gutter water…!” The boy complained with his tongue stuck out.

“Hehe~ You’re such a child, Denji~ it’s not that bad.” Reze teased as she took the can back from him, taking a small sip before promptly sticking her tongue out in the same way. “Ew… it actually does taste pretty bad.”

“See! See! It wasn’t good because it was bad…! Not cause I’m a kid…” He huffed.

Reze turned the can as she inspected it, relying on the dim light to read the description.

“Ah, that’s what’s wrong, it expired two years ago.” She explained.

“This shithole doesn’t have anything…” Denji sighed, as his stomach made a grumbling sound. “I definitely can’t go to sleep when the thing I tasted was that shit.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you get something yummy to eat as an apology for making you drink something expired~” As Reze said this she peaked around looking for the devil that usually followed Denji. “Hmm, I notice Pochita isn’t with you, where’s the little guy?”

“Ah, he’s asleep right now, I didn't want to make him get up so late, I promised to find some grub for him too.”

“Then I’ll extend my apology to him too, come on I think I know just the place~” Reze said as she took Denji’s hand.

‘Holy crap…! A girl’s holding my hand…!

Denji allowed Reze to drag him through the streets, navigating through the dark town; it was about a 5 minute walk before he felt her no longer pulling his hand. The two were in front of a building, the specific type of building wasn’t something Denji could identify from how dark it was, but he could tell from the box shaped outline in the darkness.

”Where we at? A store?” The boy asked.

”It’d probably be better if you thought about it like that, it’s store where everything is free~”

“You mean stealing don’tcha?”

”I’d say it's surviving because it's for you, and to survive anything goes. Don’t tell me you haven’t actually ever stolen before? I didn’t know you were such an upstanding citizen~”

”Nah, it’s just the last time I tried to, I got caught, got my ass beat so hard I could barely move, figured I’d be better off sticking to dumpster diving.”

”That would put someone off, well don’t worry I’ll show you how to steal the smart way.” Reze said smiling as she began walking towards the door of the building, Denji followed right behind her relying on her footsteps and silhouette.

”Is this something they teach at school?” He asked.

”Stealing? Pfff- No way, school’s don’t teach you how to be a criminal, they teach you how to avoid being a criminal, filling your head with all sorts of life lessons~ I just happened to pick this skill up.” Reze bent down as she began to fiddle with the lock on the door, it only took a few seconds before an audible click was heard. “Let’s go~”

Reze went in first with Denji quickly following, the girl had her hand brushing against the worn wallpaper looking for the light switch. It didn’t take her long to find the switch and switch it on, the once dark room erupted with light, revealing a room somehow messier than Denji’s place. The room was messy, the floor and furniture littered with alcohol and cigarettes with a foul aroma filling the area, just bring in the room felt wrong.

”Ew… Reze what is this place? You live here?” He asked as he covered his mouth with his sleeve.

”Now why would I pick the lock of my home? This is a warehouse where those Yakuza thugs like to hang out, y’know drink beer, smoke, have sex~ There’s bound to be food too.” Reze explained.

”Is this alright? I already got enough troubles with them…”

”We’re just taking whatever food they have, it's not stealing anything valuable to them, besides there's no way for them to know it was us anyways. They’ll probably think they ate it all when they were drunk.” Reze turned to face Denji, giving him a reassuring smile, as she tilted her head forward getting closer. “I know they don’t have anything especially yummy here like I promised, but think about like payback for all they’ve done to you~ Doesn’t that leave a good taste in your mouth…~?”

”When you put it like that… Let’s go shopping!” Denji grinned before bending down and grabbing a loose trash bag, emptying out all its contents onto the floor before scavenging the area.

Reze had told him to see this as a store where everything was free, the boy had never gone grocery store shopping before. All those stores were way too expensive for him and he barely made enough to buy a pack of bread. Sometimes around town he’d see people hulling a bunch of bags filled with food, fresh food! It wasn’t stale, rotten, or moldy like the stuff he had. The stuff around this dump wasn’t fresh or fancy, but it wasn’t expired and old either. Even if it wasn’t like the stuff everyone else had, Denji couldn’t help but smile and cackle like a kid in a candy store as he filled the bag with anything he could, this was still better.

Reze watched from the door, carefully listening to make sure no one was coming, but still paying close attention to Denji as he indulged himself. He seemed so happy. This wasn’t much better than dumpster diving, not in her opinion. The food was left out, forgotten, probably to be left out till it went bad. But he didn’t care. He filled that bag up with loose slices of bread, half eaten meats, and fruits that had some bruises. Still he smiled and laughed like this was something good. Still smiled his jagged tooth grin.

For a moment, just a moment, her eyes stopped scanning the area, her ears stopped listening for a threat, her focus went fully onto him and his dopey smile.

‘I’ve never met anyone like you… Denji.’