Chapter Text
CRAAACK! It’s the sound that interrupts their intimate moment.
Denji falls face-first onto the pale, soft sand of the beach, unable to feel any movement from the neck down. Reze merely turns her back on the boy, beginning her slow, calm steps. Steps that carry her away from him.
For a moment, she stops, tells him he’d better wise up, and then goes back to what she was doing. She resumes her escape.
The poor, stubborn boy shouts his offer again.
The girl gives no reply…
The sight of her disappearing, moving farther and farther away, leaving without him, fills him with despair and deep hurt.
Still insistent, he now yells to the Shark Fiend, Beam, to pull his starter cord. Denji’s request proves useless, for the half-man, half-shark figure lies unconscious, overtaken by exhaustion.
In other words: once again, no answer.
One tear, two, three, many slip from his eyes and slide down his face; some complete the journey to his chin. Others meet their end when they reach the hybrid’s lips. He tastes them, and salt overwhelms his tongue.
An even saltier flavor floods his mouth when a wave crashes into him; the force of the water nearly flips the fool onto his back. Nearly.
As soon as the sea retreats, Denji realizes that the soaking blow wasn’t entirely bad (even though his right ear is now flooded with water), since his precious cord—once crushed beneath his chest—has been freed from that lifeless body, ready to be pulled.
The blond tries to bite the thing that will free him from that situation, but fails. He knows he won’t reach it. His frantic struggle halts when he notices a watery mountain rushing toward him and understands that this is the little push he needed.
The impact throws the cord straight into Denji’s sharp teeth, and in the same instant he bites down and hurls his neck back with all the strength he has.
Result: the only lifeless being left at the edge of that beach is the loyal and powerful Beam.
Denji’s shirt does its job of covering her nudity, but fails to protect her from the cold. Each gust of air that strikes it pierces her skin like a blade, sending shivers through her entire body.
Even so, Reze holds herself together. A soldier of the frozen winter that was the Soviet Union could not allow herself to be disturbed by mere morning breezes.
“But a pair of pants wouldn’t be a problem right now,” she confesses to herself. Or at least, she thought she was the only one to hear that confession…
“I’ll lend you mine!”
“What!?” The spy quickly turns to find the source of that voice and is met with her former target wearing a huge grin.
“You just said it! That pants wouldn’t be a problem. And I’m wearing some right now! Some that, soon enough, you’ll be wearing!”
Reze wipes the look of surprise from her face after realizing how ridiculous she must look. She tries to assess the situation, but only questions come to her.
“I literally paralyzed you! How are you standing in front of me right now!?” The words don’t even come out with the furious tone she intended. The girl can’t help but hold back the genuine curiosity the situation stirs in her.
The boy’s smile widens even more.
“A magician never reveals how he performs his tricks!”
Magic. Like the kind he did with the flower.
The young woman still hadn’t understood how Denji had done that, even though her more logical side realized he had simply vomited what he had previously swallowed. Nevertheless, although Reze tended to listen to logic, when it came to the gift she received the moment she met him, the spy allowed the more fantastical side to triumph.
That wasn’t a regurgitated, disgusting flower. It was a magic trick! A magic trick done for her and her alone!
“I don’t want your pants! Are you asking to be killed by me?! Why are you coming after me?” Her questions are accompanied by a cruelly pointed finger at the naïve hybrid.
“Because… Because… Because you can’t go unpunished for your crimes, Reze!”
“...”
“What?”
So he came to fight?
Reze hated the disappointment Denji’s words stirred within her. Part of her had believed this attitude of the chainsaw boy was another attempt to run away with her. It would have been adorable. But he was there to settle unfinished business. She hated herself for entertaining such a childish thought.
“You need to pay for what you did! And I, as judge, sentence you to pay for your actions by accepting my proposal! Since it seems like that’s something you don’t want…”
That childish thought rises from the ashes!
Especially since she can’t help but notice how the last part slips out in a melancholic tone, bordering on a whisper. Empathy begins to surface—until the absurdity of that argument sparks in her mind.
“And who decided you’re the judge, huh?” A nearly inaudible giggle escapes her voice. It amazed the assassin how every interaction she had with her target, regardless of its nature, became something fun, amusing.
Even in their bloody battle, the bomb recalls how comical it was to see Denji riding a giant shark with legs. He made her smile far too easily.
And that was very, very, very concerning.
Is that his gift, or is that my weakness?
“Well… I beat you. So I’m the judge. Fair enough.” The satisfied expression that appears on his face shows how proud the blond is of his clever remark.
“Fair.”
“...”
“...”
They stare at each other. And stare. And stare.
Obviously, Denji hadn’t planned his script beyond that moment… The only option was to improvise.
“So… like I said… I’m the judge in this case and—” His train of thought is cut off by an impatient Reze, who grabs his wrist and invites him to a race.
“I consider myself guilty of the charges! And I’m willing to bear the consequences of my actions, Your Honor!” Denji’s steps fall into sync with the quick rhythm of Reze’s legs, both running beneath the cozy morning sun on that endless beach. The chilly breeze reminds the girl of the donation the boy had suggested earlier.
“Actually, I want your pants, to be honest.”
“Uhh… I was kind of joking. I forgot my underwear. This is all I’ve got…” The blush on his cheeks is the same one that appeared whenever she teased him during those incredible days they spent together.
Not only rosy cheeks bloom from the young man’s revealing comment, but also the answer to the question Reze had asked herself earlier.
Is that his gift, or is that my weakness?
Both!
Reze finally concludes.