Chapter Text
Recently, Denji had been feeling warm.
Not in the usual, physical sense, like the heat of the sun beating down on their back, or the heat from a warm shower. No, this was a different kind of warmth. It was a soft, comforting warmth that spread through his chest whenever he experienced simple, everyday moments with Aki and Power.
Every time he and Power got up to their usual antics, he felt it. Whether they were arguing over something trivial or teaming up to prank Aki, it filled him with a sense of belonging he hadn’t felt before. Watching Aki meticulously prepare their meals, with his serious demeanor that contrasted sharply with the chaos Denji and Power brought into the apartment, added to that feeling. And when the three of them were together, sharing a meal or just sitting in companionable silence, it was like a cozy blanket enveloping him.
Right now, he felt that warmth as he trudged next to Aki, both of them burdened with grocery bags. Power was a few steps ahead, skipping merrily with a lollipop in her mouth and Meowy cradled in her arms. The sight of her carefree nature made Denji smile despite the weight in his hands.
“A little help would be great right now!” he called out loudly, his voice tinged with playful frustration as he eyed Power.
She spun around, her eyes wide with exaggerated surprise before she burst into a loud, raucous laugh. “Help? From me? Ha! You’re hilarious! You just can't handle a few grocery bags! Weaklings like you need to toughen up! Besides, Meowy and I are busy with important stuff!” She held up Meowy, who gave a nonchalant blink, as if to emphasize her point, giving the cat an affectionate squeeze.
Denji sighed dramatically, shaking his head at her antics. “Yeah, right. Important stuff,” he muttered, though he couldn’t suppress the grin tugging at his lips. He watched as Power turned back around, continuing her skipping and completely ignoring his pointed glare.
“Power, slow down,” Aki called out, his tone calm and collected. He seemed completely at ease with the situation, which made sense—he wasn’t the one struggling with two grocery bags. But then again, Denji had offered to carry them.
Despite his annoyed huff, Denji found that he didn’t mind all that much. The sun was setting behind them, casting a warm, golden glow over everything. The streets were quiet, with only the distant hum of the city providing background noise. It was a rare moment of peace and normalcy in their otherwise chaotic lives.
As they walked, Denji looked at Aki, who was carrying his share of the groceries with the same stoic expression he always wore. There was a sense of stability in Aki’s presence, a reliability that Denji had come to depend on. And then there was Power, bounding ahead with her wild energy, bringing a spark of unpredictability into their lives.
Yeah, Denji thought. This warmth was something he could get used to.
…
Of course, that’s when everything had to go wrong.
Power noticed it first.
She stopped suddenly, pausing with a stumble as she looked up. Denji could hear confused purrs from Meowy.
“Power? Why’d you stop?” Denji called out, also stopping. Then he felt it too- a strange, tugging sensation in his gut that only seemed to grow stronger.
Denji heard Aki saying something, but his words sounded muffled in his ears. He turned around, vision starting to turn hazy, but he couldn’t do much else before the sensation of falling enveloped him.
Next thing Denji knew, his body was colliding with something hard.
He let out a loud ‘
oof’,
body rolling a few times before stopping. A groan escaped his lips as Denji pushed himself up.
Damn,
that hurt.
He looked to where he thinks he landed, only to see Power pulling herself out of a dumpster, a disgruntled looking Meowy on her head. Denji would have laughed if it wasn’t for the situation they were in. To his left, he saw Aki laying on the ground, blinking himself into awareness.
“What the hell…”
He muttered, forcing himself onto shaky legs. Holding onto the dirty wall for support, he almost didn’t hear the shaky gasp from behind them.
Almost.
He spun around immediately, hand already gripping the cord that’s on his chest, only to come face to face with a guy in a ski mask.
The man was staring at him, mouth agape and eyes opened wide as he stepped back.
Denji blinked, squinting his eyes as the guy began muttering.
“W-what? You- this isn’t- I’m not able to do-
that
.”
The man said, voice shaky as he stared at the three of them. Denji frowned. He was about to take a step forward, grip on the cord tightening in case he needed to turn into Chainsaw man, but before he could do anything, he heard Aki groan.
Whipping his head to the side, Denji saw Aki sitting up. To do that, he had to take his gaze off the masked figure, which meant that he didn’t see when the guy pulled out a gun, aiming it towards Denji with a shaky hand.
He did, however, see Power slicing the guy’s neck, baring her teeth.
“Hah! The great Power has defeated you!”
She sneered as the man dropped to the floor, gun hitting the ground as he gurgled. Blood spilled out of his mouth as the life left his eyes, but that wasn’t the part that Denji was focused on.
“Oi! What if that guy was the reason we all ended up here? He probably coulda told us what happened! Plus, he seemed plenty guilty.”
Denji said, but his attention quickly went on to Aki instead, who was rubbing his head.
“But whatever. Guess he’s dead now.”
Denji muttered.
Power just maturely stuck her tongue out at him, before grabbing Meowy and coming over to where Denji was hovering over Aki.
“Topknot!”
She said, poking at Aki. “Why are you always getting hurt, huh? You need the great Power to protect you!”
Moewy purred as if to agree, and Power grinned.
Aki batted her hand away, taking a second to orient himself before standing up too.
“Give- give me a second.”
He grumbled. While he was doing that, Denji looked around at the place they found themselves in.
They were in a dingy, dirty alley- the kind which its only purpose was for people to dump their rubbish in. There were two dumpsters to the side, one of which Power had landed in. Denji saw a dent in one too, and he winced. That was probably where he had hit his head on the way down…
The rest of the alley wasn’t really all that impressive. Save for the guy that Power had killed, there was really nothing else worth noting there. It looked like any other alley.
He sighed, then turned to the other end. Walking past Power and Aki, he headed to the entrance of the alley, expecting to see any normal street in the city.
Instead…
“I… don’t think we’re in Tokyo anymore.”
He could feel Aki and Power stand next to him, both of them staring at the crowds in the streets silently.
Because it looked like it was
filled
with Devils.