Chapter Text
“Power generator failed again, eh?” Denji asked, voice rough from sleep.
He spoke it almost into Asa’s ear, he was that close. In her sleepy state, Asa felt her cheeks go red. They’d been cohabitating for sixteen months now, but sharing her futon—as raggedy as it was in this post-Japan nuclear winter—felt insanely intimate, almost to an unbeatable point. That, plus the fact they found an intact ramen shop with second floor lodging in the mountainous town of Takayama. In Asa’s (secret) opinion, their current situation felt more like they were husband and wife than they did friends. Maybe…maybe that’s the reason she invited him (platonically) into her bed a month ago.
“I’ll go see if I can start it up again,” he mumbled, carefully pulling away the covers. Asa’s reaction was instantaneous. She grabbed for Denji’s arm, as huge, bumpy and red as it was. The simple movement made her biceps ache.
“No—don’t. We can look at it when it stops snowing.”
“Asa…”
“Please. Stay,” Asa insisted. “I’ll freeze without you here.”
“…Okay.”
Denji—the hybrid, superhero, man, fiend, devil, or whatever he was—don’t protest as Asa pulled him back into the futon and let go. He eased his way back under the comforter, consciously trying not to tear anything. With a rusty sigh, Denji settled back on his pillow—close to Asa, but not touching, just in the way that she was comfortable with. It was dark annd a bit cool upstairs, but with Denji’s body heat, Asa remained warm under the futon cover.