dakishimetai | denji

九

With a pail bucket filled with water infused with a lavender scented multi purpose cleaner, Ame sets the bucket down besides her feet before kneeling down to let the cleaning cloth soak into it; raising it up and then twisting it before cleaning all the furniture that dusts could fall and rest on. As a window in the living room was left open by her, Shirohato flies inside, resting on top of the refrigerator.

"Hey" The white dove tries to get Ame's attention while she wipes the television stand. "Do you like him?" The white dove asks.

Ame continued to clean, though she did not respond to the bird's question, she heard the bird loud and clear.

"Come on, Ame." The white dove says again, begging for her attention. "I know you've been through a lot over the years, but something tells me that he's different." The white dove chirps. "You've never faced a defected wish before and now you two are under one roof. You're bound to fall for him!" Shirohato reasons.

Blood and soot covering a human's face. Shriveled appearance. The sounds of guns and bombs roaring in a field. The never ending heavy rain and thunder that would wash away people's homes that leaves families and individuals homeless, some face down on the water. Ame has seen it all - has seen every possible way human's die. And she's granted some of their wishes, some she did not when she deemed the person unworthy and have caused too much havoc on earth.

If she were to fall for him, she'd only find her halo breaking into little pieces while half of her body falls down into the scorching, boiling water. Forever will half of her scream and shout, begging to spare her.

"I can't." Ame whispers, soaking the cleaning cloth again into the water inside the bucket before raising it up, twisting it and then cleaning the windows. "I'm scared of falling in love. You know that." She spoke, casting the white dove a quick glance before facing her back to the bird. "I'm already contented with-"

"Oh, are you really?" Shirohato retorts. "Are you really contented with watching people find their partners, fall in love, get married, have children and then die by each other? I know you want those too, Ame." Shirohato said, flapping its wings as it flies to rest by the window sill.

"If it helps you feel better, I think you can fall in love with that...kid." The white dove says. "Remember what that lunatic told you? 'For every man that crosses your paths and decides to give you his heart, shall face an instant death.' That kid's not really human. At all." The bird beams.

Finally breaking into a small smile, Ame pats Shirohato's head gently. "You really hate that one, don't you?"

"I hate it so much I wanna rip it to shreds and toss the remains to hell!"

"You know wanna hear something interesting?" Makima begins to say, seated in the backseat of the car, holding a cup of coffee while Aki seated behind the steering wheel, driving around Tokyo.

"Do amuse me." Aki responded. "Denji is just so unpleasant. What do you expect from him?"

Makima took a sip before replying. "All devils are born bearing a name. As that name becomes feared, the devil itself increases in power. Denji can become a chainsaw demon." Makima hums before taking a whiff on her coffee. "And I think that's interesting." She adds, "But I'm not talking about Denji here. I'm taking about Ame."

Aki looks at Makima through the rear view mirror for a second before casting his eyes back on the road. "What about her?"

"If the people knew that the wish angel is real and not a hoax, a cult would likely come up to worship her." Makima spoke, "She's never been abroad so Ishiwara Kanji's Terrestrial Theory could be debunked. Or perhaps, there was another wish angel before her."

"I was so sure that the hunters I dispatched in Gose shi in the Nara Prefecture would be the ones to find her. The first emperor of the country is buried there, the written poems all lead to the mountain there. But Ame's in Takaharu cho, the place I chose to dispatch myself." Makima looks at Aki's back figure before taking another sip. "Or maybe I just overlooked a few records."

"Why don't you ask her about it?" Aki offers, stopping the car at a red light. "You'd know everything if you only ask her."

Makima smiles, setting her half cup of coffee on top of her lap. "I like the thrill of knowing it all along the way." 

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"For how long do humans work?" Ame asks, cutting tofu into bite size cubes. Kazuto happily sitting on a futon cushion while reading a manga, Shirohato resting on top of the dining table.

"I've heard it's an eight to five on the week days." Kazuto spoke, eyes not leaving the printed pages of the manga book.

"But times change!" Shirohato pipes in, "Some go on nine to six, starting on Tuesday to Saturday!" The white dove lightly skips across the table and takes a look at what Ame's doing. "What are you making?"

Ame smiles a little before cutting another block of tofu into bite sizes. "The phone here earlier rang, when I picked it up it was Aki telling me that Denji's in the hospital."

"I'm glad he is." Kazuto mumbles, but Ame was quick to whip her head to face him.

"Don't be like that!"

"So...you're making him food?" Shirohato asks

Ame nodded her head. "Well, I saw from couples back then that their wives would give their husbands a bento box! So I'm making one for the first time!" The older girl beamed.

"Oh wow" Shirohato replies. "You're wife training then!"

"It's not like that!"

A light wooden bento box wrapped in a yellow cloth with little star designs rested in between Ame's hands, her feet taking her to the room number where Denji currently rests. Not from afar in the hallway, she could already spot Aki exiting the room while two women stood in front of the room, one with short hair and an eye patch the other with long hair in pink and a set of red devil horns.

"Thanks for coming here." Aki spoke as soon as he spotted Ame. "I thought you should come here so his recovery would speed up." He added.

Before Ame could say anything, Power, despite her hands cuffed, sniffed the delicious aroma wafting around her nostrils. Following where the aromatic scent could have come from, it lead her to the visible skin of Ame's left wrist.

"Golden blood! Golden blood!" Power chanted, waddling towards Ame before sinking her teeth onto her skin. Her action alone caught Aki and the other woman with him along with Ame in surprise.