Denji opens the door to the apartment. He flips the switch that turns on the single hanging light fixture in the center of the room. There is a television atop a dresser set against the wall opposite the door. A game system on the floor near the television. Boxes are stacked against the right interior wall. Near the boxes a mini-fridge scarcely supplied with snacks. On the left interior wall, there's a door slightly ajar. Adjacent a tube radiator sits braced to the floor extending to the ceiling. Asa takes a step into the apartment following behind Denji. Asa was displeased by how unkempt the apartment appeared. With a look of disgust on her face Asa says..
"N- No way".
Denji walks towards the television and presses the power button.
"I know it's not like, awesome but we don't have options".
The newscaster on the television speaks...
"It appears now that the Church of Chainsaw and Public safety are working together, on the hunt for Chainsaw Man and Mitaka Asa. They are not only traitors to Japan but to humanity. We need them brought to Justice! If you have any Information, please don't hesitate to inform authorities."
"This is the only room" Asa said with a look of embarrassment.
"What, you've never shared a room before?"
"Of course I have!" Asa exclaimed.
"Ok so what's the problem." Denji replied with a blank face, feigning ignorance as to why Asa may be hesitant.
Asa's face shifted from embarrassed to deadpan
"I'm leaving".
Asa steps out of the front door to leave the apartment and closes it behind her.
"Everyone is to stay indoors. A snowstorm is anticipated to affect the entire prefecture and last through the night". The newscaster proclaimed.
Asa opens the front door shivering after being blasted by the cold winter air. Without a word she walks toward the radiator and turns the knob to heat up the apartment. Denji and Asa begin scouring the small apartment for anything that will make their indefinite stay more comfortable. The dresser is filled with movies and some games. Denji walks towards the stacked boxes and begins to rummage through them finding sleeping mats and clothes among other necessities. He finds a couple books. One details public safety hunter guidelines, and the other is "Parasyte volume 10". Asa peers into the only other room in the apartment to find a small bathroom with a squat toilet, sink, shower head, and drain. After pulling the only mat they could find they both sat still on the floor watching the television.
"Hey, want to play some video games?" Denji suggested with enthusiasm hoping to break the gloom that had begun to set in the apartment.
Asa turns her head and shifts her torso to face Denji to remind him of her missing arm. Silently staring daggers at him with an otherwise expressionless face. Realizing he'd made a mistake, and desperate to lighten the mood, he opens the dresser to pull out a deck of cards and some board games. Denji teaches Asa how to play several different card games. Games he would play to swindle people as a means to pay back his debt to the mafia.
"Playing these sorts of games is illegal."
"Yeah, but it's fun."
"How can you be so casual about being a criminal."
"Hmm. It kept me alive when I was a kid and now it helps me take care of Nayuta."
"I guess that's not so bad." Asa mutters.
"Huh."
"Never mind!" Asa says.
They shift to playing board games. These games Asa is familiar with. Playing with Denji gives her a warm joyful feeling. Denji's child-like fascination and enthusiasm reminded her of playing the same games with her mother when she was a kid. It also reminded her of the times she would spend at the orphanage playing alone, missing those moments with her mom. Denji's infectious enthusiasm soured after being completely outmatched by Asa's proficiency in the game. He jokingly accuses Asa of cheating to mask how he'd grown tired of losing. Afterward Asa attempts to play Mario kart with the one hand she had. Denji was cheering for her but ultimately, she kept losing and got frustrated. Denji, sitting beside Asa, grabs hold of the controller with his right hand. The half of the controller Asa was struggling to make use of to assist her.
"No-n, Yes! Haha" Asa exclaimed in excitement as she got her first win.
During their celebration, they both recognized how close they'd gotten. Their faces inches apart. They both blush.
"We can watch a movie" Denji suggested
"Why'd you put on a romance film?" Asa muttered.
"The only movies here are romance." Denji replied.
They sat silently transfixed on the television. The soft glow of the screen envelops their faces and dimly lights the dark room behind them.
"(This guy is a total loser, yet I can't help but root for him)" Denji thinks to himself.
"This guy is a total loser." Asa says aloud.
"He's Trying his best."
"It's admirable but he's still a loser" Asa said plainly. "You can't just make a fool of yourself and expect someone to fall for you. Grand public gestures are cringe. What girl would fall for that? It's totally unrealistic. Plus, she's out of his league, they exist in two different worlds. Also, the art direction is completely inconsistent. In the first half the gray tone doesn't match the bubbly hopefulness he approaches school with. The excitement that naturally pairs with the school festival scene is undercut by the depressing color palette and aggressive change in tone from the previous scene. This is objectively a poorly directed film. The most annoying thing is it's lacking in her perspective, she falls back into being little more than a goal for the main character."
"Didn't know you were passionate about movies like that"
The Film continues....
As its ending Denji begins to sob
"That was a good movie" Asa said
"Didn't you say it was bad"
"It is. The full picture brings into focus what the director really wanted to say about how scary infatuation in para-social relationships are. In the end I enjoyed it"
Sometime after the movie ended, they were both laying on the single king size futon mattress that was available in the apartment. Asa had changed into the oversized pajama set they found after rummaging through the boxes earlier in the day. Denji wore his boxer briefs and a long tee. Both laying on opposite ends of the mattress facing away from each other.
"Denji...."
YOU ARE READING
Winter Nights
FanfictionDenji and Asa are the most wanted individuals in Japan. There is a snowstorm brewing and Denji can only think of one place to hide out. He leads them to the apartment Kishibe smuggled kobeni and himself to when they were being hunted by Makima. From...
