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“Bang.”
Flesh, keratin, and bone vaporized as the blast tore his leg away. The pain should have been a blinding, searing flash, but with all of the damage he had accumulated – he barely felt it.
“Ghk…!” Denji lay on the ground, unable to resist. That blast took off his final limb, the rest having been cut off in that skirmish with that Locust Devil or destroyed by Yoru’s sudden intervention. Blood spurted from his stumps and seeped through the cracks of his armor.
“You’ve lost, turn back into my Chainsaw Man!” Yoru ordered, keeping her finger trained on Denji’s chest.
His chest trembled with each breath, “That- That was a cheap move!”
“You mean like how you ate my friends?” Ever since she defeated the Black Chainsaw Man, Denji had taken over and had proved to be the most vexing and frustrating fight that Yoru had had in a long time. The boy had strapped her devil allies and followers to himself, forcing Yoru to accidentally harm them.
“You… Switching to Asa like that was way worse!” Through his distorted devil voice, she could tell that there was a furious undertone. She had taken advantage of him by showing Asa’s pained and scared face.
She tilted her head to the side, confused, “What are you talking about?”
“You used her face!”
“…When she’s afraid, Asa can take control. The moment you did me the favor of getting rid of that troublesome devil, her fear was relieved, and I regained control.”
Denji stayed silent, it wasn’t clear whether he believed her or not. But it didn’t matter.
“Hurry up and turn back already.” She demanded of him.
“Ptoo.” A wad of blood and spit landed on Yoru’s cheek. In one final act of defiance, Denji spat at her.
Her eyes twitched, heat flared and flushed her face. “Bang.”
“Hrrk!” That blast punched into his chest, tearing apart his black and red armor. His flesh caved in, revealing the beating of his orange heart.
“I don’t want to turn you into a weapon, Denji. Turn back into the Black Chainsaw Man!” She readied her finger at his gut, careful not to aim at the heart.
“Wait…” Denji said, weakly. Yoru’s finger curled as she waited for him to continue. His black and red keratinized armor began melting away, revealing his bloodied and muscular frame. His blonde hair was slick with his own blood. His brown eyes met her own red ones. Finally, he declared, “I lost.”
“Then turn back already.”
He gasped, taking labored breaths as he made a request, “Can… Can I talk to A-Asa?”
“No.” Yoru replied flatly. She had been wanting to get this over with ever since he retook control.
“You- you already… won! Does it m-matter?”
“Hmm.” Yoru thought, looking down at her feeble opponent. She looked to her side, seeing Asa stand there. Her lips were trembling, and she could see tears welling up in her wide eyes. “Very well. It’s not like the two of you could do anything anyway.”
Yoru’s head drooped forward before snapping back straight, granting her host control.
“Denji!” Asa cried out. She rushed to Denji’s side and knelt down, taking his head onto her lap. She had watched Yoru take advantage of Denji dropping his guard around her. These injuries, the ripped off limbs, the exposed chest, were all her fault. His brown eyes met hers as she nestled his head carefully on her lap.
“Asa…”
His voice was uncharacteristically weak. Underneath the layer of blood and sweat, she could tell that he was going paler by the second. Instinctively, she reached out for his ripcord.
“Stop. I will take back control if you try to pull that.” Yoru announced from the side.
Asa’s head whipped around, seeing Yoru sitting on a piece of rubble, her legs crossed. “He’s bleeding out!”
“Then you better make it quick.”
The coughing sounds beneath her snapped her attention back to Denji. “Sorry. I-I couldn’t save you…”
He felt her hands tighten around him. His vision was growing hazy, but he could see the gritting of her teeth. A coldness had been creeping its way through him, interrupted by the warm drops that fell on his face.
To Asa, this was her last hope. He was the last light in her life that had been so clouded and so dim for so long. She had been ready, ready to be eaten and erased. But he had convinced her to hold on, and she held on. Now she was holding him in what was to be their last moments together. “You’ve… You’ve saved me so many times! And this…” She looked again at his injuries. Her left hand landed on his exposed chest, sticky and warm. “You’ve gotten hurt because of me!”
If he still had a hand, he would have grabbed onto her forearm, “I… I wanted to save… you.” His voice was growing quieter into a whisper.
“…I wanted to save you too.” Asa cradled his head on her lap carefully, his breaths were growing shallower. “But I couldn’t. And all it did was make things worse!”
In between gasps, Denji said, “But… you did… in the air…”
She had to think, it must have been when he was sent into the air by the Falling Devil. “But we lost…” She remembered how they had to run away, how they were defeated so easily, and how Yoru’s powers and fear was magnified at just the right moment.
“You… said you… would… make me… happy…” His mind flashed to that moment, when he was deep down in despair. At that time, she grabbed onto his leg, like a warm fire tearing its way through a dark cold. It had been a long time since the last time anyone told him that they would make him happy.
“Then that means I’ve failed! Look at you!”
“Ha… ha!” Denji let out a weak laugh and smile, cutting through her guilt with surprise. “I’m… falling asleep… to a girl’s… arms…. That was… always a… dream of mine…”
His eyes started to narrow. Time was almost up. It wouldn’t be long now for Yoru to take back control and end their moment together. Her brows knitted tightly as tears began to freely flow. Even though she promised to make him happy; even though he had invited her to a world together - there was nothing she could do. She promis- wait, promised?
An epiphany struck her and her expression straightened, “Denji, stay awake!” She took her left hand off his chest and patted his cheek.
Off to her side, she could hear Yoru laugh in disbelief, “There’s no way that would work!”
His eyes slightly widened, and his brown irises met her own again. “Denji! Make a contract with me! If you give me all of you, I’ll give you all of me!”
“…Huh?” His whisper was almost inaudible now.
“Just say it! Say you’ll give me all of you!” His hesitation only intensified her anxiety, they were just a few seconds away from their time being up.
Barely any air passed through his lips as he said, “I’ll gi… give you… all of… me”
“Ha ha ha!” Yoru walked over, holding her gut. “You’re so desperate and foolish, Asa!”
Asa didn’t respond or look up at her. She just stayed still, holding Denji as he closed his eyes. Her skirt was soaked and sticky in blood now.
“Well time’s up! I’m going to- wait what?” Yoru flinched as she was declaring. She was expecting a sudden flick of blackness before having a sudden change in perspective.
Yoru reached her hand out at Asa and tried again. Nothing happened.
She put more effort into it, strain visible on her face. Nothing happened.
“No…” It couldn’t be…
Finally, Asa spoke without looking away from Denji’s still face, “Don’t you get it?”
“No…” Yoru knew what Asa was going to say, couldn’t help but verbalize her disbelief.
Asa yelled, “You can’t take over my body anymore because I belong to Denji now!”
“No… no…”
“And you can’t turn Denji into a weapon anymore because he’s mine!”
“No, no, no…”
“Yoru!” Asa looked up at Yoru with a defiant glare. “Do you remember what you said to me?!”
Yoru’s eyes moved back and forth from Denji’s sleeping face and Asa’s indignant expression. “What?”
With one hand, Asa pulled her hair out of the ponytail, letting it flow freely down her back. Then she pointed at Yoru and she declared with a yell, “You stay put and watch, Yoru!”
Asa could hear a smattering of unintelligible screams mixed with shouts of disbelief. But that didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was the boy in her lap. It was finally her turn to save him. Gently she lifted his body off her lap and set him on the ground. She raised her hands up. With her left, she opened her palm. With her right, she pointed at her palm.
“Bang!” She winced as a hole was excavated through her hand. She let the blood flow and drip down into Denji’s barely opened lips. When her wound automatically closed back up, she reached down to his starter and pulled. “Wake up, Denji!”
His eyes snapped open, and his limbs reformed instantly. All the deep gashes on his body sealed back up. The discoloration of the various bruises regained their former color. “Woah!” He said as he sat up suddenly. He turned to Asa.
He had been expecting to be turned into a weapon, but instead what greeted him was a kneeling Asa who looked back at him with a smile. He felt his own grin break through his shock. Color rose up on her cheeks. Why was she blushing?
She had let herself smile at him, and she let it linger for a moment when he returned the smile. But there was something that bothered her, and she said, “Put on some pants!”