CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. . .
. . .FRIEND OR FOE !
┄﹒DENJI WOKE UP IN A SWEAT FROM HIS REOCCURRING DREAM, ONE THAT SEEMED TO WARN HIM EACH NIGHT ABOUT A DOOR. it was as if that was the only thing he could dream about and he was starting to hate it.
he sat up in bed to see nyako sitting there in front of him, meowing twice.
"nyako..." denji addressed the cat as if it could talk, "i had that same dream again."
the blond soon got up from bed and walked out the bedroom, taking a seat at the table where food was already waiting. still slightly warm so it wasn't there for long.
"nyako's a traitor..." power held onto her cat, who was trying to lick her face. "not only did she sleep in denji's bed while i was gone, but she keeps doing it after i came back. betrayal is one of the stupidest things that humans do..."
erity giggled quietly at power's words about the cat, also taking a seat next to denji. "she'll start sleeping with you again, power. just give her some time?" power only huffed in response, which made erity sigh. "are you okay, denj?"
she was concerned about the boy who hadn't said a word to anyone yet, it was strange for him to be silent. erity wasn't aware of the impact reze left on him.
༺♰༻
"i've been working hard for so long that i've received paid leave. i'm going to enoshima. would you all like to come along?" makima stood in front of the four of them, a happy look on her face for once.
denji was the most excited out of all of them— the boy jumping up and down with the biggest smile they have ever seen, probably. "hell yeah!"
"yes." aki spoke for both him and erity.
makima looked at the blood fiend next, as she was the only one who hadn't answered yet. power blankly stared at the older woman, "i have something urgent that day..."
"i haven't even told you the date yet, power." makima shook her head subtly and looked up at aki, "i'll match it to hayakawa's schedule, so let me know when you're on break."
"i don't use my leave time, so whenever is fine..." aki looked down at makima, ignoring the hyper denji moving constantly next to him.
erity looked at him with a smile, "you seem happier than this morning!" she clapped her hands together happily. "would this be your first trip?"
"ya!" denji put his hands behind her head, a visible flush on his face. "and it's a vacation with makima... it's like a dream come true! this is definitely one of my top 10 moments in life!"
the girl ignored his words about
makima and looked away from the boy, crossing her arms over her chest with a silent huff. she didn't understand why he seemed so in love with the older woman.
the sound of the door opening was faint but erity was the one who turned towards it first, only to see around ten people walk into the room. they were all dressed in the typical uniform for devil hunters— but she could be wrong.
they all walked up to makima, ignoring the other four inside the room, quietly talking to the woman and side-eying them.
"what's this?" power asked with her eyebrows slightly raised, an unsure expression on her face.
makima's eyes traveled back to the four after hearing what they had to say. "this isn't good."
they were led over towards the nearest tv and turned it on, switching to the news channel almost instantly.
"friend or foe? behold the fearsome chainsaw devil! dispatching any devils with the roar of its saws, clad in public safety devil hunter's clothes: this is the chainsaw devil. one witness says it saved her while...—"
erity looked away from the television and up at makima, her face was blank and she only looked down at denji.
"the bureau regulates media coverage, but they've failed this time. the damage was so great that they couldn't censor the broadcasts." makima explained the situation at hand with a serious tone.
while the other two were still staring at the tv. "look, it's denji's fighting on the train!" power pointed out, while denji looked back with a happy look. "feels good to be on tv!"
"bomb... finished her work, it seems." makima spoke with an eerie tone, staring directly at denji. "thanks to the media, it's spread across the world that denji's in japan. america and china will want to have him. a non-hostile devil like denji is highly sought after."
"well it's not like we're gonna let them have denji." erity grabbed denji's hand, pulling him closer to her body with furrowed brows.
the blond boy stared at her with slight widened eyes, not expecting the girl to grab his hand or even pull him closer towards her.
"bomb was an agent of the ussr, right? why are they trying to increase denji's viability?"
"enoshima... is that an island?" denji had a smile on his face as he looked at both power and erity, the latter still holding onto his hand.
"actually, my summer house is in enoshima!"
erity looked at power strangely, "you have another house?"
"denji, the vacation was just an act." makima told denji before he could get anymore excited, ignoring his confusion. "go get kusakabe and tamaoki from miyagi public safety's 2nd division. and subaru from kyoto's 1st. and hire the private hunter yoshida hirofumi for one month."
"yes, ma'am."
"from here on, assassins all over the world will be coming here to kill you. think of it as having no freedom for a long while." makima walked out with the group and aki following her, leaving the other three behind inside the room.
erity's eyes looked away from the door and towards the ground, sighing quietly at the thought of denji being in danger again.
"hey, denji.. you know i'm gonna do everything i can to protect you, right?" the grey eyed girl put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed slightly, "you can put trust in me, and zan!"
the boy looked at her, "and zan?"
"mhm! maybe you can even see him soon!"
༺♰༻
aki thought back to when he, angel, and erity went out for lunch during their time of patrolling. the three were sat inside of an empty restaurant, which was perfect for them.
"i'm sure you already know, but devils never just die. even if you reduced it to ashes, as long as humans fear its name, it'll revive."
"zan has mentioned that before! only a little bit though... he doesn't like to tell me much sometimes." erity excitedly started but she soon started to pout, crossing her arms at the last part. "don't they come back in hell?"
angel nodded in agreement to her words, "thats correct, and i don't know whether it's true or not, but they say devils that get killed in hell will get revived here. devils rotate in and out of the two worlds."
"so devils come here from hell... you're a devil. got any memories of hell?"
"do you have any memories from your mother's womb?" angel retorted.
aki stared at angel for a minute before inwardly sighing, letting his body relax. "so... what are you trying to get at?"
"...do not tell anyone what i am about to tell you now." angel looked at erity who sat next to him, "especially you... i know how you are with those other two. i asked the guys in special divisions, and none of them remember hell. but everyone... everyone remembered hearing a sound right before dying there."
"a sound?" both aki and erity asked curiously.
"yeah. interesting enough... the entire special divisions had heard the same sound."
aki stared at the devil in front of him. "...what was it?"
"i've pulled chainsaw's cord before. the roar of his engine.. it's the same sound as that." angel finished with his oddly scary answer to aki's question, and it didn't sound right to the two humans.
"denji...? in hell...?" erity was deeply confused at the information that angel gave them, not fully comprehending anything he was saying.
aki's mind was full of thoughts from that interaction that day, walking behind makima down the hall in order to deal with their new situation.
ꗃ ──────────── ❥
feb. 28th, 2023
mar. 7th, 2023 (published)
NEXT CHAP; 👩⚖️
IF YKYK which i hope so kinda...!
ND ALSO THX FOR 11k, ITS UNBELIEVABLE TBH BUT I LOVE U ALL☹️☹️🤍