Chapter Text
Kobeni Higashiyama stood next to the other members of the fourth division, listening to Miss Nayuta drone on about her new favorite videogame in what was supposed to be a mission briefing. She had strategically positioned herself as far away as possible from the fiend calling herself Power right next to Hayakawa, who usually could control the devil quite well. Not that the fiend would have dared to try something in Nayuta’s office, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Even after a year of working in division four, she couldn’t help but find it weird, that their division had a child as a leader, but she had learned to just accept weird things, if they were not immediately dangerous to her, even if she quite often found herself strangely scared by the girl.
Still, there was something off about her. Apart from her being what appeared like a 15-year-old leading a public safety division.
What was even weirder though, was how nobody else seemed to question her age. Kobeni wondered, if the girl might have a devil contract, that kept her from aging or that made her younger (not only her body, but also her mind).
But it was probably better if she didn’t know. It was a lesson she had learned early on, but had become even more important, when she started working for public safety. Ignorance is bliss, as the scary eye-patched women with an eyepatch they had to fight against several months ago had said.
The briefing ended, when Nayuta send them out of her office, yelling something about them just distracting her from playing her games, which must be the reason she was not doing well at the moment.
Kobeni waited a bit longer, as Power usually got out of Nayuta’s office as quick as possible, to get some distance between themselves, letting Mr. Hayakawa, Miss. Himeno and some new members of the division pass before leaving through the door herself.
When she was outside, she let out a deep breath. Nayuta always seemed innocent and childish, but something about the girl always made Kobeni feel tense and uneasy. And just as she had learned to not question things too much, she had also learned to listen to her gut feeling. Even if she always had a bad gut feeling, if she was being honest, but sometimes it was especially bad.
The other members were just going around a corner, Power having a fit over Nayuta’s decision to drain her off more blood as she was apparently still too strong, after she snatched the sea cucumber devil away from some private hunters, which was the reason why they had been summoned to Nayuta’s office in the first place.
Mr. Hayakawa was obviously annoyed by her, but was currently trying to ignore her, just as a parent would his child when it was throwing a tantrum. Just that this child had threatened Kobeni’s live more times than she could count, obviously taking pleasure in her stressed reactions. Devils were devils at the end of the day.
“Uhm, Miss Kobeni?”
“Ah, wha-?“
Her gaze had been so focused on the fiend finally going around the corner with the others, that she hadn’t noticed Denji at all. An uncommon mistake for her, but it happened, especially if she was tired.
The blonde kid with an eyepatch hat joined the division together with Power about a year ago. Apparently those two had formed an illegal, leaving them no choice but to join their division.
Kobeni wondered, if Power had taken his eye, and what she did with it. Generally, she sometimes wondered what devils did with all the body parts that public safety personal sacrificed to them, but as usual, it was probably better not to know.
Unlike Power, Denji was a quite kid, who was walking with a slouch and who always had a somber, almost sorrowful expression on his face, as if he had lost something dear to him. He could get rather feisty however, if he was provoked or if Power dragged him into trouble with her.
Just a look at him, and you could tell, that he had been through a lot. Kobeni was often jealous of the other public safety members, who didn’t spend their entire live in a state of constant fear, but were still competent enough to survive. But somehow, she didn’t envy Denji at all, even if he wouldn’t have to spend all his time with Power, there was just an air of sadness and melancholy about him, that made her feel almost sympathetic.
It was obvious, that just like herself, devil hunting was not, what he wanted to do. Kobeni wondered, what kind of situation a child would have to be in, to be forced into a contract with a horrible devil like Power.
But despite all that, Denji was a competent devil hunter, always doing what he was told under Mr. Hayakawa or Miss Himeno’s direction, even if he could get a bit rebellious at times (however giving him something tasty to eat usually calmed him down). Fighting together with Power – who seemed to be weirdly fond of him in her own way – he had taken down some relatively high-level Devils. But Kobeni had noticed, that recently, his fighting style had changed. While before, he fought like he didn’t care if he got hurt or died, he now fought to survive. It was subtle, but noticeable to Kobeni. Also, he seemed to be a bit less sullen for some weeks now, at one point, she had even seen him smile.
“Uhm, sorry, Miss Kobeni …”
“Uh, ah, sorry Denji, uhm, I was spacing out, uhm, getting not enough sleep for a while now …”
It was true. She had been deployed against the vampire devil with Miss Himeno, hunting it mostly at night. It had not been a very strong devil, but still a very scary one, making her lose sleep because of nightmares as well. But that was nothing new to her.
“Uhm, it’s no problem. Uhm, if it is alright, I wanted to ask you a question.”
He seemed nervous, wringing his hands, his eyes shifting, not looking into her face. The way she usually acted. But it was quite strange to see him act this way. She hadn’t talked with him a lot, because he was usually a very quiet person, drowned out by Powers loud rambling.
Against her better judgement, Kobeni couldn’t help but feel curious, what this was about.
“Uhm, yes, of course.”
“And, uhm, I am sorry to ask this of you, but could you … could you keep this a secret from Aki and Miss Himeno … especially Miss Himeno”
Huh? What could this be about?
“I, uhm, I can’t really promise you, but if it’s not something dangerous, then it should no problem. I don’t usually talk about private stuff a lot anyway, hahaha!”
She let out a nervous lough, trying to put him at ease with a joke at her own expense, cringing at the sound of her own fake laughter.
“Uhm, thank … so, well, it is about a girl … uhm a girl that I like …”
Huh?
“Huh?”
“Ah, yeah, there is a girl that I like a lot, and uhm …”
“I don’t think I am the right person to ask this, uhm, maybe ask Miss Himeno?”
Denji’s eyes widened as he looked around in panic as if the other one-eyed devil hunter could suddenly appear if her name was called.
“I can’t, uhm, you know how she is, please …”
He sounded downright desperate. But then again, Kobeni did notice, that asking Miss Himeno about love-advice would be a fatal mistake. At the latest at the next time she was drunk, which was usually not a long time away.
“Ah, sorry, I, uhm, I get it, it’s just that I … well I am not a very experienced person when it comes to … well, stuff like that …”
In fact, Kobeni had been afraid of men ever since her mother made her actually visit a brothel to show her one of the two career options, that her parents deemed lucrative enough, to get her brother through college while also paying for their own dept. Just the thought made her panic, feeling sick. No, she would rather die.
“Uhm, Miss Kobeni?”
She snapped out of it quickly.
“Ah, sorry, uhm, still tired. I don’t think I can give you any good advice, sorry Denji.”
“I … the girl I like, I don’t think Miss Himeno could give me good advice here, she is, uhm, she is very sensitive, even if she doesn’t like to show it. I don’t think, she would appreciate me following any advice Miss Himeno would give me. Uhm, but you are very sensitive as well, so …”
Kobeni felt like she should be offended but had to agree with Denji.
“Uhm, ok, so what is your question?”
Denji’s eyes shifted as he was still not looking her in the face. There was even a faint blush appearing on his face.
“Uhm, so … there is this girl, she is super smart, and for some reason she had volunteered to teach me how to read, well she volunteered at first, but I could convince Aki, that she should get at least a bit of money for it, because teaching me is probably hard, and uhm, this had been going on for three months now … she is kind of weird, like sometimes I feel like she is me and at other times, she is super nice and tells me how I deserve better and should start to think for myself and stuff like that …”
Kobeni didn’t know what to do with this information, so she just nodded as if to invite him to continue.
“So, uhm, anyway, I think I really like her. She was like super weird at first, but once you get to know her, she is actually super funny and nice and stuff …”
He stopped again, his blush now getting more visible. It was a rather unreal sight on his usually melancholic face.
“So, two days ago, we were talking about sharks, because there were posters for this movie she said was unrealistic and then she invited me to the aquarium …”
So that is where this was going.
“So … uhm, you want to ask, if she invited you on a date?”
Probably not, but then again, apart from the eyepatch, Denji was not a bad looking boy.
“Nuh uh, uhm, she actually asked me, if I wanted to go on a date to the aquarium …”
Huh, so what was this about?
“Uh, ok? So, uhm, sorry, but what is your question?”
“I … I really, really like her a lot, she is like, super smart and pretty and all that, but … like I have never gone to school at all, and I know I am kind of weird, I can never get another job than this one, I have scars all over my body, I am always bound to Power, I just … I am just afraid that if I go out with her, I will end up hurting her … I … she is such a nice person, but I spend my day killing devils with chainsaws, even when I was a child, that … that was all I was ever good for … you know, uhm … yeah”
“So … you wonder if you are good enough for her?”
Thank God. For a moment she had been afraid he would ask her about some sexual advice.
He shook his head.
“I know that I am not good enough for her … I know that I am selfish by even agreeing to go on this date with her, making her think I am a better person than I am … I just … I just don’t want to hurt her, but I also really want to go on this date with her … I feel like an even more horrible person because of that …”
Denji was practically stumbling over his words right now. Kobeni blinked. To see him so vulnerable and bashful was certainly unexpected. He did look almost cute, even with his sharp teeth and eyepatch, wringing his hands absentmindedly. Kobeni could see, why that girl asked him out on a date. There was just something about him, that made you want to make him feel better. While Kobeni was probably unable to ever fall for a man again, she still felt the sudden urge to help him.
“Uhm, I think that the fact, that you even think about the whole situation like that shows, that you are a very nice person, so, uhm, I think she certainly could do worse …”
Great, very good Kobeni.
“Uhm, like there are guys out there, who just want to use girls, uhm, yeah.”
Well, it was his fault for asking her for advice.
“Haha, I don’t think she would ever fall for something like this, she usually hates guys. First time we met, I murderized a devil at her school. I returned some days later, because I kind of wished I could go to school to and she immediately thought, I was some creep and was threatening to call the police. Hahaha!”
He seemed to be strangely fond of the memory of his crush almost calling the police on him. But it seemed like the girl knew about the danger, that man could pose.
“Oh? So how did she end up tutoring you?”
“I just told her, that I have never been to school and wished I could read, and then she offered me to teach me. She seems super tough at first, but she is actually a big softy!”
Or maybe not, if she immediately offered some guy with an eyepatch free lesson, when he told her a sob story.
“Uhm, so, how have the lessons been going?”
“Well, I have never been to school, so I was having a hard time concentrating. But I really didn’t want to annoy her, so I tried hard. I actually can read the entire menu at the sushi shop by now!”
“Oh … uhm, that is great!”
“Yeah, she is a super good teacher! I told her that she could do this for a living, but she says, that she doesn’t like children, hahah!”
“Uhm, and you have been paying her for those lessons?”
“She actually planned to do it for free, but soon noticed, that I would need a lot more time, because I am kind of dumb, and since she couldn’t pay for her electricity anymore, I asked Aki, if he could give me an allowance for some reading lessons. He actually gave me a bit more as a reward for putting so much effort into it!”
Kobeni had never heard Denji talk so much. He seemed to really love talking about the girl, as if he had been waiting to talk with somebody about her. Maybe it was not the girl, that was gullible, but Denji? Maybe she was just manipulating him for money? Would she wants money for the date?
“Uhm, so, she had been inviting you to the aquarium?”
“Yeah, she is even paying for the tickets, even if I was against it. Gave me an 30 minute lecture about ema-, am- … emancipraction?”
“Emancipation?”
“Yeah!”
“She seems like a very nice girl.”
“Absolutely, she is amazing!”
Denji nodded full of excitement, before his expression became sullen again.
“But yeah, she is super good at school and super smart and super nice … and I am some stupid kid who has no other choice than to be a devil hunter because I am too stupid for another job … like, thanks to this job I am actually better off than before, I actually get to take showers and stuff, but still … and the scars, and Power, I just … ah, I just wish I could make her happy, but I feel like I will just end up hurting her. I hate it, I hate myself so much for being too weak to tell her, that dating me is a stupid idea, ugh, damn it!”
“Uhm, I mean … she had been teaching you how to read, so she knows, that you never went to school. And after teaching you for three months, I think she knows how intelligent you are … uhm, maybe you should just tell her about the other stuff?”
“But if I tell her about it, she will probably hate me, and like, I can’t really tell a girl about the big scar from selling one of my balls at the first date, even I know about that.”
The wha-
“Also, I don’t think words will really do Power justice when I tell Asa about her.”
Oh yeah, Power. That would be the biggest problem.
“Like, with all this stuff, I feel like I would betray her, if I don’t tell her, but I also don’t think, telling her at the first date would be right, I just … I just don’t know, so, uhm I know you are a sensitive person, so when would you want to hear about stuff like that?”
“Uhm, listen Denji. I … I know your first date is a huge deal for you … uhm, it would be a huge deal for me as well … but, uhm, how about you just enjoy your first date, and then … tell her the next time you meet her for tutoring? Like, not about everything, the … uhm … the scar I think isn’t that important, uhm, but tell her about Power … and tell her about how you feel. I think it really shows that you are kind and caring, but at the same time, she will know about all those issues you have and can decide, if she wants to go on a second date.”
Denji did look thoughtful at that.
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I mean, she is probably just inviting me out of pity, just as she teaches me how to read out of pity … but, you know, even if I know that, I just, I just can’t help but hope that she actually likes me, you know … I know it’s selfish and too much to ask, but, like, I really, really like her …”
He seemed very vulnerable now, somewhat smaller than ever before.
“Uhm, when is your date, Denji?”
“Actually, in just one hour, thank god Power is getting her blood drained, it’s getting harder and harder to find something to keep her busy.”
Kobeni could not imagine, how horrible living with Power must be.
“Oh, well, uhm, I know it’s rich coming from me, but I think you don’t need to worry. It will be alright!”
Kobeni gave him her most optimistic smile, which admittedly was not much.
But Denji did softly smile back.
“Thanks, Miss Kobeni, that was actually very helpful! So, if you ever need somebody to talk to, you can always come to me!”
“Uhm thanks. If your date is in one hour, you should probably get going?”
“Uh yeah! Damn, you’re right!”
He dashed away, more energetic than she had ever seen him before.
“Uhm and Denji, please tell me how it went tomorrow!”
He gave her a peace sign before vanishing behind a corner.
Well, Kobeni certainly did wish him the best. Well, he would tell her tomorrow.