Archive of Our Own

Denji held Pochita in his arms, looking up at an old man with sun bleached skin. He shivered as the rain pelted against his soft, malnourished body, and Pochita did too. The old man looked down at this scraggily, starving young boy with an expressionless face. He wore a large hat made of straw, and chewed on a piece of wheat sticking out of his mouth. He wore long blue overalls that stretched all the way down to his feet to the straps around his shoulders, and a white t-shirt underneath, stained brown with dirt and green with grass. His wrinkly, calloused hands counted money. Though judging by the frown that started growing down on his face, he wasn't impressed by the measily savings Denji managed to get off of his Dad's corpse just after he died.

"This ain't even close to enough, kid." The old man had a deep, gravelly voice. Though he was old, likely in his eighties at this point in time, his voice and his posture did not portray the image of an elderly man. "Your Pa owes me tens of millions of Yen. Why is he sending his kid out with just a few thousand?"

"My Dad is dead." Denji told him, sniffling not from the grief of the man who abused him, but because it was cold outside and he was wet. "He killed himself. Your son's told me to deliver to you the money by the end of the week, so I scrounged up whatever I could and…"

Denji shrugged, there was nothing else he could really say about it. His Dad was dead and left him with an enormous debt as his inheritance, and he couldn't pay it off. That was all that was there to it.

"Killed himself, did he?" The old man sighed, shaking his head, his disappointment evident. "What am I supposed to do with ya then? I'm willin' to guess my son's sent you my way for a reason."

"I don't know…" Denji shrugged helplessly, he hugged himself with Pochita in a desperate attempt to get warm while standing out in the rain.

"W-Woof!" Pochita barked, shivering.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go anyway, so I figured I'd come here and see what happens. Maybe I can work for you?" Denji offered suddenly as he held up Pochita in his hands. "Pochita here is a devil, but we have a contract. We keep each other safe. I can hunt devils for you, and I can start paying off the debt that way?"

"Kid, let me get one thing straight." The old man crouched down, jabbing his fingers against Denji's forehead. The young child stumbled back, falling to his butt and nearly dropping Pochita and causing the dog to yelp, and then growl at the man who pushed him. "I ain't my son's, and I am not the leader of the Yakuza in these parts no more. I started as a farmer and I intend to die as a farmer. I'm retired, you hear me? My sons might not get that, but I do. I'm done with all this debt shit, so you don't owe shit to me, you owe it to the Yakuza."

"Yeah, and the Yakuza said I had to come here!" Denji exclaimed, his own frustration bursting out in a fit of anger that caused the older man to lean back surprised. "I walked for days to get over here and I ain't leaving with nothing, old man! I don't have money, but I've got two arms, two legs, and a chainsaw!"

He patted Pochita on his side, and the little devil revved his chainsaw in response.

"Let me stay here, old man, and I'll work it off that way!" Denji suddenly offered. He didn't really know what he was asking for, and he knew that. He knew nothing about farming, he knew nothing about this old coot, and for all he knew his little outburst like this to the old leader of this sect of the Yakuza would just kill him for lashing out at him like this. But damn it, he had no where else to go! So Denji straightened his back, pushed himself back up to his feet, and glared daggers at the old coot before him. He literally had nothing to lose - besides Pochita, of course - worse thing the guy could do was run him off his farm, and Denji could find that old shack he passed by on the way here or something. It wouldn't be the most ideal situation, but at least he could have a roof over his head. Then maybe he could-

"Fine, then." The old farmer scoffed at him.

"E-Eh?" Denji flinched back. Did he hear that right? "Really!?"

"You're the one who offered to do it," The man remarked. "So don't act all surprised. It was about time I got some help on the farm anyway, and since my lazy ass son's won't do it, I might as well take you. I don't need to pay ya either, so really it's just free labor."

The old man spat out the wheat from his mouth, stuck his hands in his pockets, and flicked his neck over to the nearby barn. It was big, red, and had two big doors. It was even bigger than the house he used to live in with his Dad. Denji looked to it, and then back to the old man, a confused yet hopeful expression on his face.

"Go on, get." The man flicked his chin in the direction of the barn a second time. "You ain't gettin' into my house all wet like that. So go make a bed out of hay or somethin', and I'll bring ya some food."

"Oh, awesome!" Denji's smile was wide and bright. Today was the best day of his life! He was going to get a new roof over his head, he'd be able to make his own bed, and someone was going to bring him food too? He couldn't have asked for anything better. "Thanks, old man! I'll go over there right-"

"Nobu." The former Yakuza lord turned farmer corrected sternly. "Short for Masanobu. Stop callin' me old man, and use my name instead."

"Ah, sure!" Denji bowed his head slightly. That was how you showed respect to old people, right? "Thanks Nobu, you won't regret this! I'll be the best farmer boy you could have ever asked for!"

"Yeah, yeah." Nobu waved him off. "Now go on and get, before I come to my senses and run you off my farm."

Before Denji could reply, Nobu went and entered his home through the front door. He had a pretty comfortable looking house. It was made of dark wood. Maybe it was oak? He didn't really know the types of wood yet, definitely not by just looking at it. But it had a porch, a few windos, a chimney, and most importantly, a roof. Denji wanted to admire it more, but it was raining and he was cold, tired, and hungry. He took Pochita and wrapped him up in his shirt, and ran off toward the barn. He ran across an empty field with no grass. His feet got all muddy and dirty, but after walking and running for countless miles to get here over the course of a few days, he really could not care less about that.

When he got to the barn, he pushed open one of the big doors with both hands. It required all of his body weight to do that, and left him exhausted when he was finally able to fall into the barn. His body hurt, and the inside of the barn was just as cold as it was on the outside. But at least it wasn't raining on the inside. Denji forced himself to get back up, and he closed the barn door behind him. Then he fell to his knees, and turned around until he was sat on his butt and took in a long deep breath.

Several dozen pairs of eyes stared at him with curiosity and confusion. Cows, chickens, horses, sheep, and even a few goats and geese. Denji looked back at them with an equal amount of curiosity, and if he wasn't so tired right now he would have gone over to talk to them. Instead, he wanted to prioritize on making his bed. Pochita waddled along behind him as he got up and wandered over to the nearest bale of hay.

"Right… make a bed out of hay…" Denji pondered how to do such a thing for a total of ten seconds. "Guess I just gotta cut these weird little strings holding it together, eh Pochita? Time to rev up!"

"Woof!"

Pochita hopped into his arms and Denji shifted his hands to grab the handle on his back and the one above his butt. He pulled the starter and heard Pochita's chainsaw rev up. The nearby chickens panicked and ran away from him while he cut the little ropes and straps keeping this hay bale together. When he cut the last one, the entire thing surprisingly stayed in place as a cube. Setting Pochita down, Denji started grabbing arm fulls of hay and started piling it up in the darkest corner of the barn. It took a few trips, and his arms started to protest with soreness as he set himself up a place to sleep. When he was done with that, he made a little bed for Pochita as well beside his head. Then, for the first time in days, he lied down on his back and didn't wince in pain.

It was here that he finally took in what was in the barn properly. The chickens were able to roam free, as were the geese. Though the chickens seemed to give the geese a healthy distance. One of the cows from early had its head hanging over the wooden railing blocking them in, and it ate… he didn't even know how to describe it. Cow slop? Whatever it was eating from that weirdly shaped bowl just outside of its enclosure, he didn't know, but it seemed that they enjoyed it. There were pigs in the barn too, though only one of them had free reign of the barn. But he had a feeling that it just managed to get out of its little enclosure because it was small. Must've been a young one. A baby pig. What were they called again? A little piggie? Piglet? Something like that.

"Well, this is better than being left out in the rain, right?" Denji said as he fluffed up the little bundle of hay he used as a pillow. Pochita yipped at him as he sat on the little bed he made for him. "We get a bed, a roof over our heads, and we've even got a few new cute friends!"

He gestured over to the other animals he was now sharing the barn with. They didn't seem eager to bother him, which was nice, because he was tired and he felt like going to sleep.

"I never really gave farming a thought, and I know nothing about it. But I'm sure we can make it work. Right, Pochita?"

"Warf." Pochita nodded.

"Right." Denji yawned widely, wincing at his own smelly breath. He hadn't brushed his teeth in over a week now, and he didn't know when he'd get the chance to do something to fix that. Maybe the old man- Nobu would let him borrow a toothbrush or something.

But that was something to figure out later. For now, Denji closed his eyes, and felt Pochita snuggle up with him. He only met Pochita a few days ago, on the same day he attended his own Dad's funeral. But they quickly became good companions. He was a little scary at first, but he would much rather have Pochita with him than not.

Just as sleep was starting to take him, he felt a foot collide with his side, startling him back to wakefulness. Growling, Denji sat up and stared up at Nobu with gritted teeth and an angry expression.

"The Hell was that for, Nobu!?"

A towel was thrown over his lap.

Nobu crouched down and placed a wooden bowl atop it. The bowl was full of rice, with beans, and some meat. Probably chicken with beef or pork. He didn't really mind what it was nor did he care. He was a starving child, and just by looking at it, Denji felt his mouth begin to water and his hands shook as he apprehensively reached out to cup the bowl in his hands.

"Food." Old man Nobu told him. "I told ya I was gonna feed ya, didn't I?"

"Y-You were serious about that?" Denji looked at the man with shock in his eyes and on his face. During his long journey here, there has been a few creepy men who offered him some food as long as he did something for them at night. He learned not to trust those men quickly, beause even his own Dad never offered him something without taking something back in return, and that usually ended up with him getting hurt. So someone actually giving him food without asking for anything in return was something he genuinely didn't think would ever happen to him.

"Unlike most men these days, I actually mean what I say." Nobu stood up, and immediately made his way to the exit. "Eat all of that. The rain is going to let up tomorrow, and we're going to have a lot of work to do. Don't make me have to come wake you early."

"Will I get more food if I work well?" Denji asked while chewing on rice.

"Don't talk with your mouth fool, that's disgusting." Nobu scolded. "But yes, you will. Think of it this way; As long as you do what you're told and help me keep this farm afloat, I've make sure yer belly stays full. That's how your debt will be paid off."

"Deal!" Denji exclaimed happily, ignoring his earlier scolding as bits of rice and beans flew out of his mouth.

"Ugh…" Nobu left the barn, returning to his home to likely head to bed himself.

Denji quickly devoured the food that he left for him, and made sure to let Pochita have his fill as well. This was the most food he was ever able to eat in one sitting, and he felt his stomach was full for the first time in… ever? It probably was the first time he was ever full.

Denji decided that he liked this feeling.

He let out a pleased sigh as he leaned back on his hay bale bed. More comfortable than he's ever been in his life.

Pochita let out a pleased huff as well, lying on his back beside him as he closed his eyes, and immediately fell asleep.

Denji joined him not long after. The rest of the night passed by in silence, and he listened to the pitter patters of the rain outside the barn as he fell asleep.

Denji was a light sleeper. It was something that just sort of happened as he grew. Especially when he had to sleep outside under trees. He had to be able to wake up at the slightest sound of danger, so he could relocate himself and Pochita to find somewhere safer.

This time, he woke up to a rooster crowing in his ear.

Denji woke up in a slightly panic, his arms flailing out to steady himself as he dreamed himself as falling from a great height. The rooster skittered away like the little fucking rat it was, still crowing loudly as it ran around the bar on its little legs. Pochita growled along with him as he glared at the rooster.

"I want that thing for dinner tonight." Denji bemoanded as he fell back into his hay bed. "Fuck… that scared the shit outta me. But old man Nobu said to wake up early anyway, right?"

"Woof…" Pochita was not pleased with being woken up in such a way. There were dark spots under his circle shaped eyes. He imagined he had those dark spots too.

"It's fine, at least we got some good sleep." Denji yawned again, before pushing himself onto his feet. He felt his bones crack and pop pleasently. The hay bed definitely wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was miles better than anything he had access too recently. The dirt underneath it was pretty soft too. The hay was just so he didn't get too dirty while laying on it for so long to sleep.

"Right, so what do farmers do in the morning?" Denji asked himself as he looked around the barn. The animals were lively, and many of bigger ones like the cows and even the horses were sticking their heads out to empty bowls. "Feed the animals? Seems like something farmers do in the morning. What do you think, Pochita?"

"Woof!" Pochita nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright then, let's feed em."

It didn't take long to find what he imagined was the sacks of food that were meant for the animals. They were kept on the upper floor of the barn, and he had to climb a ladder to get to it. He found a sack of rice that he took handfuls of and threw on the ground for the chickens. He found another sack that had that weird sloppy shit in it that he saw the cow eating from last night, and filled all those weirdly shaped half-cylinder bowls with it. The cows seemed to appreciate it, as they instantly started eating when he filled them up. Next, he turned to the pigs, and wondered what they needed to eat. He decided on the bag of oats that was labeled with the big bold words of 'PIG FEED' written on its label. The pigs snorted and squealed as he got near them, but quickly closed the distance as he threw the food on the ground for them. That bag was almost empty, so he just emptied it in there for them just to get it out of the way. He went on to feed the horses, geese, and sheep as well with various foods that he found were labeled for that kind of animal. It took him nearly an hour somehow to get that all done, and the animals seemed to be slow eaters.

"Well, animals are eating now." Denji said with a pleased nod to himself. "That means that's taken care of. What do I do next?"

"Till the field." Nobu's voice suddenly answered for him.

"Woah!" Denji jumped in fright, spinning around and nearly falling over as he balanced on one foot. "How are you so damn sneaky!?"

"Perks of the trade." Nobu tossed a tool at him suddenly, a tool that Denji was barely able to catch. It was a hoe, the handle was made from chipped wood and the metal part was rusty. Hardly a tool in its best condition, but still a tool nevertheless.

"Go till the wet soil in the field outside. We've got to plant the new crops now while the ground is soft and wet. You should be done by nightfall."

"It's going to take me all day!?" Denji paled, balking at him. "I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

Nobu tossed him something else. It collided with his chest, and then fell to the ground with a dull thud. Denji looked down at it, and saw that it was a banana. A singular, yellow, banana.

"It ain't a good idea to fill yer belly too much in the mornin's," Nobu explained. "Eat light, and eat right. Come supper time is when you can fill your stomach to the brim. Hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." Denji replied with a huff. "I don't know how to till fields though. What do I do with this?"

"Use that hoe to scrape at the dirt." Nobu told him. "Straight lines. Follow the indents in the field from the last time I did it. Simple. Real easy thing to do. Even a child like you can't mess that up."

"Right," Denji gulped, suddenly nervous. Now that Nobu put it like that, he couldn't just go and mess it up now. There was pressure on his shoulders that Denji didn't know how to describe.

"I'll go get started then."

Tilling a field by hand was basic work.

That was what Nobu said.

To the old man's credit, it was easy.

But after pulling the hoe through the heavy, wet dirt for five hours straight, going back and forth across the field with barely any breaks, Denji felt like his arms were about to fall off.

And he wasn't even halfway done yet! He felt like an entire day has gone by, but it wasn't even noon! Initially he wanted to try and get this done quickly so that he could prove to the old man that he can do something wrong. But this entire field has been kicking his ass in every direction it could. His hands had blisters on them now, and he felt his soft hands harden with painful callouses. Still, Denji didn't give up. For another few hours, he kept trudging away with the hoe. Thankfully, the crop field he was supposed to till wasn't too big. He had no idea how to measure it in his head, but if he was supposed to be able to do it in a single day than he imagined it wasn't supposed as big as it could be.

While he was tilling, old man Nobu came by and handed him a sack of seeds. Rice seeds. That was all the grain this man grew, apparently, though he definitely wanted some other plans in the future. While Denji was tilling away with his hoe, he was planting the seeds one knuckle into the moist soil just as Nobu told him too. Pochita followed along, digging the holes for him and then covering it back up with his little paws as he worked. Denji knew he couldn't have done this all without his best buddy, so he was going to make sure that Pochita got some extra food tonight for all his hard work.

The sun was starting to go down by the time Denji was finally done with the work for today. The entire crop field was tilled, and the seeds were planted. He found a wooden chair by the field to sit in, and he practically fell into it. His hands throbbed with pain, and when he looked down at his palms, he found that some of his blisters had popped. Causing some cold yet somehow also hot liquid to trickle from his hands, as well as a little blood.

Strangely, Denji didn't feel much pain. Nor did he find himself frustrated with the back breaking work he had to do. He felt a sense of pride. Pride in that he was able to do something he was sure the old man didn't think he could do. The entire field was tilled and the seeds were planted. He didn't know how long it would take for the rice to grow, but he was going to demand for first pickings when he got the chance!

"We did it, Pochita." Denji told his buddy as he gazed upon his work. "And the sun isn't even all the way down yet! We really outdid ourselves today."

"Woof!" Pochita's little tail wagged.

"I wonder what old man Nobu is going to want from us next…" Denji thought out loud, leaning forward in his chair. "Or maybe we'll get the rest of the day off? We did till a whole field after all…"

"Woof."

"Yeah, you're right, Pochita. He'd probably just find more work for us to do." With a put-upon sigh, Denji forced himself back up to his feet. His throbbing and bleeding hands protesting as he grabbed the old wooden handle of his hoe before he started wandering off to a patch of land that looked like it was recently cleared out. The man mentioned before he wanted to start growing more plants like tomatoes and shit. He just needed more space to do it.

Denji wondered why Nobu didn't just use his influence as the former leader of the Yakuza to just make some of those guys do it for him. He was old as fuck, did he really expect to get it done all by himself?

"I bet he'll make us some extra good food tonight if we surprise him with this." Denji cackled as he felt a new burst of energy come forth in his small frame. His naked feet slapped against the muddy dirt as he made his way a little into the woods with Pochita hobbling along at his side. He didn't expect to get done with a whole extra plot of land today, but getting started would be something at least!

As Denji made his way into the woods, something caught his eye. Or rather, his sense of smell. He was no dog, but there was no mistake and and easy feat to smell something rotten. Immediately, Denji got on guard, especially when Pochita started growling in the direction of something large, round, and red. It looked like a massive tomato, rooted to the ground by various root like appendages taking the shape of human arms and hands. Far from being frightened, Denji crouched behind a nearby tree with Pochita in toe. Dropping his hoe in favor of grabbing Pochita by the handles on his body.

"Looks like a devil…" Denji whispered to his buddy, his hands tightening around the handles. Pochita growled softly in response. "Tomato Devil, it looks like… Think we can use its seeds to grow some new crops for the old man?"

"Woof!"

"Heh, you're right." Denji yanked on Pochita's starter. "Either way, I heard being a devil hunter was good for making some moola!"

Denji stood atop the corpse of the Tomato Devil. He was covered in tomato juice, head to toe, which might have also been the devil's blood. He smiled smugly at Nobu, who eyed him and the devil up and down with a shock and surprise that seemed new for the old man's old and wrinkly features.

"Gotcha a devil, Nobu!" Denji cheered, lifting Pochita onto his shoulder as he kicked at the dead devil beneath him. "You wanted new crops, right? Well, I've got you a infinite resource of tomato seeds! Just gotta make sure the big one stays down since it can come back from the seeds, but I'm sure you can work that out with your kids right?"

"How the fuck did you manage this?" Nobu asked him, his old mature voice pitching higher to match his surprise. "You look like you weigh less than a sack of animal feed."

"Hey, I'm stronger than I look!" Denji puffed out his chest. A twelve year old he might have been, he was still strong as Hell despite that! If he had his shitty Dad's genes, then he was going to grow big and strong anyway. He was just starting to grow into it sooner than most would! "And I've got Pochita too! He's the chainsaw devil I told ya about."

"I thought that was just a weird lookin' dog." Nobu took off his hat to scratch the top of his bald head. Pochita barked to display his offense to the label. "I was just comin' out to find ya for supper, but I didn't expect you to be done with the field and also kill a devil too… Seems like you ain't a waste of space after all."

"Hehe!" Denji preened at the praise.

"I'll get some of my boys to take the big body," Nobu explained. "Take as many of these seeds as you can, though. We'll see if we can use 'em."

"Aye, aye, old man Nobu!"

"Just call me Nobu, damn it." Nobu sighed.

"Right, just Nobu." Denji rolled his eyes. "So, am I going to be able to stay now? I can do till the fields, protect the farm from devils, and take care of the animals. That's all it takes to be a farmer, right? I can be useful."

"There's a Hell of a lot more for you to learn…" Nobu pointed out. "But I guess I can use my last few years to teach ya. Come mornin', I'll show ya how to groom the horses and teach ya how to tend to the rest of the farm. If you can handle devils, you can handle that."

"Hell yeah I can!" Denji audible whooped and jumped into the air with a cheer.

"Idiot." Despite the insult, old man Nobu still cracked a smile. "Get yourself cleaned up now and put on the new clothes I left for ya in the barn. If you're gonna stay here you're gonna look the part and drop that homeless orphan get up. Ya hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" Denji gave Nobu a mock salute.

"Hell of a lot more of a listener than my other idiot sons." Nobu scoffed. "Now go on and get while I get my boys here."

"Sure, let's get outta here Pochita-"

Denji cut himself off as he was rattled with coughs and a sharp pain in his chest. He stumbled as he climbed off the Tomato Devil's body, only being caught by Nobu before he can hit the ground. He let Nobu hold him up as he continued to cough and hack up blood. Which caused both the old man and Pochita to look at him with shock and concern.

"Kid!? What the fuck's wrong with ya?"

"Woof!?"

"A-Ah," Denji heaved, pausing as he finally got a good deep breath in. "I-It's my heart… My mom had some condition, they said she died while coughing up blood like this. Guess I got it too."

Denji wiped the blood off on his shirt.

"It's fine, though. I'll be fine." Denji chuckled, spitting out the rest of the blood from his mouth. "My Mom managed to live long enough to have me, right? Means I'll get to live that long too."

"Kid…" Nobu gave him some look, a look that made Denji a little uncomfortable. "Go to the house, and take the rest of the day off."

"Eh?" Denji looked up at him. "Your house? Didn't you say i'm not allowed-"

"Changed my mind." Nobu waved him off. "Living in a fuckin' barn is probably not gonna help with that shitty heart you've got. I'm no doctor, but I imagine being skinny as you are and unhealthy as shit probably isn't helpin' with it. I've got an extra bedroom, it used to belong to one of my sons. It's empty now, so I might you might as well find some use for it."

"I get to sleep in a bed tonight?" Denji looked up at the old man, he felt the features on his face stretch as his eyes widened and he felt a new lightness in his chest. It felt warm?

"Sure…" Nobu turned away from him. "Use the shower while you're at it. You smell like shit."

"I get to use an actual shower too!?" Denji's face went red with excitement. "Hear that Pochita!? I think we finally hit the jackpot!"

"…" Nobu looked down at him intently.

Denji paid no heed to it, as he took Pochita in his arms and ran off toward the house.

"Fuckin'…" Nobu shook his head and sighed. "Goin' soft already… you old coot. You just met the damn kid."

He was going to need to have some words with his sons about sending Denji his way.

But he might as well keep him now that he was here.

Nobu was old. He knew he wasn't long for this world. As a former Yakuza lord, his life wasn't exactly one that was well lived. There were countless lives he'd ruined, countless families he'd destroyed. He wanted to get away from that life, that was why he started this farm. His own Pa didn't want him to live the life of a peasent, or so that was what he always said. So he made him inherit the job, and made a gang lord out of him. He did his duty though, and now was his time to rest, and it was his time for his son's to take over the Yakuza after him. In this part of Japan, the Yakuza made their gains by being loan sharks to desperate and stupid people.

Denji's Father was just one of the many people he'd ruined.

Masanobu knew he wasn't a good man. That's why he refused the offer of letting anyone help him out with this farm. He built it with his own two hands, and wanted to die there. Alone, and buried in some unmarked grave under the tree behind his house like he deserved.

Taking Denji in probably wasn't a good idea. But for some reason he just…

Masanobu shook his head, ridding his mind of such dark thoughts.

He wasn't a good man, but he can at least make sure one kid could become one in the future.

Four years had passed.

Denji had a growth spurt after the second year. Going from the height of a small child to six whole feet tall. After finally being able to fill his belly with food on the regular, he had begun to fill out too. Living off of rice and chicken for the most part for those four years made it so that he was able to boast having some great looking and well sized muscles. The hay bales that he struggled to drag around were now easily thrown onto his shoulder and tossed to the animals to feed on. The fields became easier and faster to till every season too, and the animals had grown a liking to him. Recognizing him as their caretaker and protector.

A devil would wander close to his territory every few weeks or so. Sometimes only after a few months, especially during the winter. But thanks to his country grown strength and Pochita, he was always able to fend them off. His heart still hurt and he still coughed up blood from time to time, but it was starting to get less painful. He had to give thanks to his much healthier body for that, and to Nobu as well for getting him some medications to help out with his condition.

The old man passed away not too long ago, sadly. Mister Masanobu was always a closed off, quiet man, and never really opened up to him about anything. But Denji knew that he cared about him. He left him this farm after all, and even told his sons to forgive his debt on his death bed. Nobu was closest to a Father that Denji has ever had, and he made sure to bury him under the big tree behind the house like he once asked him too.

Denji's daily routine was rather simple.

Wake up to the sound of Fucker (The rooster that always crowed every morning to wake him up) every morning. He fed the animals, groomed the horses, collected the chicken eggs and tended the fields. He made sure that the Tomato Devil never grew large enough to become a threat again, and he was able to make quite the deal on the devil grown tomatoes that he was able to grow from the seeds it left behind. The devlish tomatoes actually tasted really good, especially when put on burgers, so he had a little buisness selling it to the local restaraunts for them to put in their foods. He also made sure to treat himself every once in a while. The rice fields weren't as successful, but whatever he wasn't able to sell he instead stored away for himself to eat instead, or he'd put it in a composter to help the next season's crops grow or even just give it to the animals to feed on.

Now was the end of just another day for Denji the farmer. Pochita slept near his feet as he rocked back and forth on the rocking chair that Nobu always sat on during his last year of life. The old man's legs gave out, and the responsibility to take care of the farm fell to him. Nobu seemed pleased with his growth, and had no qualms with leaving the farm to him. He was glad for that, because Denji didn't know what he would have done if the Yakuza came in and seized all his hard work for themselves when Nobu died. If there was one thing Japan was known for it was loyalty to ones family, and that was something even the Yakuza seemed to abide by.

Denji popped another pill into his mouth to help keep his heart condition at bay as he looked over the farm. He liked doing this at the end of every day. Just looking at the hard work he was able to accomplish at just the young age of sixteen. He was still so young, and yet he didn't feel it. His hands were rough and calloused now, he was big and tall, and he wore the old clothes the farmer before him used to wear. Denji sported a straw hat - that straw hat was adorned with white flowers, flowers that he planted on top of old man Nobu's grave - with blue overalls, and he even had boots now. He was a proper man, even if he technically wasn't the age of one just yet.

Pochita woke up and started to growl suddenly, making Denji roll his eyes as he looked around at nothing.

"What're you growling at this time, Pochi?" Denji asked, looking in the same direction his friend looked at. "Is it another devil? I swear, they are just getting more and more annoying."

He grabbed the double barreled shotgun he set against the railing of what was now his porch, and stood up as Pochita started to bark.

"Warf! Woof! Ruff!"

"Do you actually see somethin'?" Denji narrowed his eyes, double checking to make sure his gun was loaded before traveling down the two steps to plant his boots against the ground. "Anyone out there!? Show yourself, this is private property you know!"

Something within his rice field shifted, and Denji shifted his body toward it. He was about to raise his gun at a potential threat, but stopped when he saw - a girl? A teenage girl? Denji almost couldn't believe his eyes.

A dirty girl, at that. Her white shirt was stained brown and green with dirt and grass. She wore black shorts, and her shoes were a little raggedy as well. She had purple hair, with a long bang running down the center of her face, and sharp green eyes that he could feel staring at him as she stepped out of his rice field. She held her hands up as if she was surrendering to him, yet she still took some steps toward him.

"Heyooo~!" The girl greeted him cheerily, far more cheerily than he expected someone so dirty to do so. "Thank goodness I finally found someone! I got lost in the woods hiking, but I saw the barn through the woods and saw my refuge!"

"You were hiking alone in the woods?" Denji asked, confused at this whole situation already. "How'd you manage to get yourself this lost? Town's literally in the opposite direction."

"Is it?" The purple haired girl gave him a teasing grin. "Silly me, I didn't realize! I'm just a silly girl, you see, and I'm not from around here! So I didn't know I was going the wrong way until it was too late."

"Huh…" Denji eyed her up and down, before looking at Pochita for help. "What do you think, Pochita? Do you believe her?"

"Grrrrrr…"

"Right," Denji cleared his throat. "A young girl hiking in the woods alone with no bags, wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the fall, I knew something was up too."

"Woof!" Pochita barked.

"You're gonna believe a dog over me?" The girl pouted at him adorably, and if Denji were a lesser man, he would have fallen for it-

"What's your name?" Denji asked, lowering his gun and falling for it.

"Reze!" Reze lowered her arms and approached him, a bright smile on her face. Her hand reached up to rub her neck as she got closer, and he could see that she was wearing some kind of black strap around her neck. "What about you, country boy?"

"Denji." Denji smiled at her. "This is my farm, doesn't have a name yet. So I just call it the farm."

"For real?" Reze burst out laughing, buckling over herself and devolving into a fit of giggles. Denji looked at her with an expression of wonder, not knowing why he felt so pleased to hear her joyous sounds.

"That's so silly! You're so silly, Denji-kun." She closed the distance, standing up straight with her hands hidden behind her back. "Seriously, what's with that?"

"Er…" Denji felt his face burn a little. "I don't know… just never really thought of a name for it. Took it over after an old man died, and he never named it either."

"Hmmmm?" Reze frowned, her lower lip shaking a little as some emotion appeared on her face. "That's so sad… you're all alone here now?"

"Eh, it's not all bad." Denji shrugged his shoulders, and reached up to the top of his straw hat, and took one of the white flowers adorning it. Reze seemed to physically flinch as he handed the white flower toward her, the hands behind her back falling to her sides as she looked down at it hovering in front of her face.

"Cheer up, no need to feel sad for me, Reze." Denji told her before taking off his hat and letting it hang around his neck on his back instead.

"Wow…" Reze accepted the flower, pinching it between two of her fingers. "You're real interesting… you know that?"

"I am?" Denji looked at her, his eyes widening with surprise.

"Bahaha!" Reze burst out with laughter again. "Why do you look so surprised at that? My, you really are silly."

She looked up at him with a bright expression, her smile widening as she put the white flower above her ear in her hair. The sun beamed down on her face, and Denji looked at her with awe.

"Well, I'm real hungry and tired… mind if I stay here for a bit?" Reze asked him suddenly, casually, as if it was no big deal. "I always wondered what it was like living out in the country-side, after all. I never really liked the big cities anyway."

He looked down at Pochita for help.

Pochita shook his head frantically.

Denji nodded his head at Reze.

"Oh, um… sure, I guess?"

Pochita face palmed with his paw.

"Yay!" Reze jumped up and hugged him suddenly, making Denji feel sparks run up and down his spine. It was the first time a girl has ever hugged him before. "Thank you, Denji, you won't regret it!"

"Haha, yeah, sure." Denji hugged the girl back, the two of them entered his home, and he made sure to make her the best bowl of rice and chicken he could ever hope to make.

Yeah, maybe being a farmer wasn't a bad decision after all.