Cherry Bomb
Kishibe knocked on the door to Hayakawa’s apartment, Power and Reze stood in front of him like trick or treaters accompanied by a not-so-enthused father. Power was still eating fries out of the fast food meal Kishibe picked up for them, and Reze was occasionally snatching them while Power was distracted; she’d finished her meal on the drive over. The complex was dark, but Kishibe remembered the house from when he killed Power and Denji here that one time, there were even still some holes in the ceiling from all the spears, good times.
Aki answered the door, an expression crossed his face that was at once, terrified, caring and utterly resigned; a chimaera of emotion. Reze waved meekly, keeping one hand interlocked with Power’s for security. “Hey Hayakawa, I found Power wandering about one the street and decided to bring the scamp home.” He said, as jovial as he’d ever sounded before, placing a hand on Power’s hair and ruffling it.
“Captain, I’m sure there’s an explanation for this...” He said, terrified of losing his job (and thus, his only way to find the gun devil). But Kishibe stopped him mid sentence.
“Don’t grovel, kid. It’s beneath you. Look, I had a delightful talk with these two and it opened my eyes to some things. Now I know we got off on the wrong foot with miss…” He left a gap, allowing Reze to fill in the information, he liked to pretend it was just him being bad with names, it was definitely the alcohol.
“Reze.” She filled in, before letting Kishibe continue.
“Miss Reze. But, she’s assured me she’s not a threat. And I have it on good authority that Makima’s stopped looking for her. So I think you know what I’m about to ask you.” Kishibe continued, stopping again briefly awaiting Hayakawa’s response.
“With all due respect, captain. I don’t have any more rooms. I already had to clear out the room I’d been using as an office when Power moved in. I don’t wanna make her sleep on the couch, it seems demeaning.” Aki said, surprisingly reasonably given the circumstances.
“Look I know you’re not running a devil daycare, but I’ve got nowhere for her. And if she breaks into any more apartments, the cops will get involved.” Kishibe implored.
“She could stay with me, I already reacquired the larger mattress that Denji stole from me. There’d be enough room for her there.” Power butted in. Neither of the two men seemed enthused by the idea for obvious reasons.
“I mean, it’s not like they’re gonna get pregnant. Just let them share it.” Denji shouted from inside the apartment, insightful as always.
“Fine, but don’t talk too loud after dark, the walls here aren’t very thick.” Aki said, allowing yet another devil into his home. Power grabbed Aki in a hug, something he definitely wasn’t expecting. “Thank you!” She said, another genuine surprise. Power hadn’t thanked anyone before as far as he knew. Maybe she really did like this girl?
“Thank you, I know we didn’t have a great first meeting, but…” Reze began.
“Just… Let’s not talk about it. I think it’s better we pretend the first time I met you was when I saw you with Power.” Aki cut her off, trying to forget about all the fight with the bomb devil. Reze nodded, following Power inside.
“Given your history, I figured you’d be taking this a lot worse.” Aki said, jabbing Kishibe lightly with his elbow.
“Well, unfortunately for me, I’ve grown quite attached to the little shitheels you call roommates.” Kishibe responded, taking a swig from his flask.
“Don’t I know it.” Aki replied. “Can I get you anything for the road? Tea, coffee? I think I have a whiskey around here somewhere.” He asked, trying to usher the captain away so he could get some sleep and approach this well rested tomorrow.
“If I drink much more I think I’ll run someone off the road.” He said with a slight exhale one could just about interpret as a laugh, notedly taking another drink before realising his flask had finally been emptied. “Thanks though. Have a good night, Aki.” The captain said as he wandered off into the night.
“Okay, I’ve got a splitting headache and it's late. I’m going to bed. Power can show you where the bathroom is if you need it. There’s still some food on the table. Goodnight.” Aki said as he walked back towards his room.
“Goodnight!” Reze responded politely as Power half dragged her into her room. Postponing the inevitable awkward conversation with Denji. She was not looking forward to that.
“This is my bedroom. Or I guess, ours now. Weird. But anyway, it’s the best one in the house, of course.” She boasted. Directing Reze’s attention towards a small construction of pillows, blankets and a cat bed, Power began another spiel. “This is where Meowy sleeps sometimes. Other times she sleeps with that traitorous Denji. Or on top of the laundry basket if it’s been dried recently.” She rattled on.
“Meowy!? You never told me you had a cat! I love cats! Where’s the kitty?” Reze’s eyes lit up as she began scanning the room for the cat. Power grinned, her girlfriend loved Meowy already, she was perfect. She bolted out of the room to find the feline, finding her on top of the laundry basket, as per usual. Then darting back into the room, the cat held aloft like a golden idol. “This is Meowy. One of the best creatures in existence!” Power yelled, immediately ignoring the whole “be quiet after dark” rule, because it was stupid.
“Awww! What a cutie!” Reze immediately put on a baby voice and gently yet purposefully took hold of Meowy. “Such a bestest baby. The cutest kitty I’ve ever seen!” She babbled at the aloft feline. Giving her a small kiss on the forehead with an exaggerated “mwah” sound. Wait, kissing. Power forgot all about it. Damnit, humans in the movies always kiss in airports. Did she miss her chance? Did she have to go to France now or something? She still didn’t understand what Denji had been talking about. It probably wasn’t that important, topknot said that those movies were stupid anyway. They had stupid stinky humans in them, Power was better than that. Reze was too, because Power said so.
After setting Meowy down so she could enter her cat house, the two women changed into their nightclothes again, stood on opposite sides of the room and facing away, for decency. Then they immediately climbed right into bed, Power clinging onto Reze for dear life, as always. “You know, as far as devil contracts go, I’ve definitely had worse.” Reze remarked as she stroked Power’s back through the cheap fabric of her pyjama top.
“Oh, well, I actually had been meaning to talk to you about that.” Power said sheepishly, only just remembering the fact that she’d totally meant to tell her about this earlier.
“Hm? What do you mean?” Reze responded quizzically.
“Well. I know it’s hard to believe but… I think I made a mistake.” Power admits, not noticing how bad that sounded.
“You what.” Reze said, offence clearly taken. She sat up in the bed, looking down at Power.
“No! Not like that. Choosing you was the best thing I’ve ever done. And compared to all the brilliant things I’ve done, that’s high praise. I mean - the actual, like, contract.” Power stammered and rose up to meet Reze’s eyes as she explained herself.
Secretly Reze was relieved it was just Power being stupid, but she still couldn’t quite shake the offended tone. “Explain.” She demanded.
“The thing is, I’m a fiend. And fiends teeeeechnically can’t make contracts. At all. Even though I’m the best fiend ever and think the rule is stupid.” Power explained.
“So, this whole time I thought I’d fallen in love with you because of the contract. And only now do you tell me there never was a contract?” Reze asked.
“You fell in love with me?!” Power responded, neither of them had ever said the word before, the words reverberated in her head like tinnitus after a flashbang.
“Oh. Well. I suppose, yes. I don’t really know what it feels like, to be honest. But you make me feel ways I haven’t felt before. And I have to assume that it’s, you know. That.” She said, dancing around the word like she was avoiding landmines.
Without thinking, acting purely on the devil instincts that got her into this mess, Power launched herself at Reze, hugging and squeezing tight as possible. “I love you too.”. Reze hugged back twice as tight, giving in to the overwhelming feeling washing over her like a wave, maybe it was love, maybe it wasn’t. But she was happy. She was never happy, and Power made her happy. She deserved this. She owed it to herself, the scared little girl in the lab, to feel this happy.
“Say it again.” Reze whispered, desperate to hear those words.
“I love you, my princess.” Power said, putting her stupid corny accent back on.
“I could do without the funny voice, but…” Reze began, pulling Power down into the bed, entrapping her legs within her own. “I like when you call me princess. Do that more.” She whispered in Power’s ear, sending shivers down the fiend’s spine.
“Well, if you want to be a princess, then do I get a kiss for saving you earlier?” She asked, trying to be smooth, it did not work. She tripped over her own words like an actor without a script. Reze rolled her eyes and laughed in response, planting a slow and delicate kiss on Power’s lips. She relished in seeing Power’s eyes widen and her brain short circuit at the tenderness. As Power went slack in disbelief, Reze grabbed the small of her back and pulled her close again. “Where do you think you’re going, you have to cuddle me to sleep, your princess demands it.” She says in the same mocking accent Power does when she pretends to be an old English lord.
By the time Reze woke in the morning, meowy had worked her way in between them, soaking up the warmth of both of her new roommates. Reze scratched the cat’s head as she waited for Power to wake up. She let out a large stretch and a loud, groaning yawn. Reze kissed Power on the forehead, jolting her awake with surprise. “Good, you’re awake. Meowy isn't much of a conversationalist. And I have a question for you.” Reze said eagerly as Power wiped the sleep out of her eyes.
“But of course, I’m one of the smartest people alive, I’m in the running for a nobel prize, you know?” She pontificated as Reze rolled her eyes yet again.
“You fell asleep before me and I felt you move around a lot. Do devils dream? I’ve never been able to ask before.” Reze asked, genuinely curious.
“Of course I dream, I’m the best at it. Nobody can dream as well as me.” She said, flexing her incredibly thin arms as if there were firstly any muscle there whatsoever, and secondly any correlation between her physical build and her dreaming capability.
“Power, be serious.” Reze asserted, finding the boasting somewhere between charming, useless and annoying.
“I dream, mostly about being back in the forest. It’s peaceful, just me and Meowy. No work, no Makima, just hunting and feasting.” She rattled on nostalgically as she picked up Meowy and placed her between her horns so she could stretch herself out while Power scratched her tummy. “What about you? Your smell is similar to Denji’s, he can dream, I assume you can too.” Power asked.
“Well, if I can dream, I don’t remember them. Because of my training, I don’t sleep for very long. You know?” Reze said, not wanting to dower the mood but evidently upset.
“But you slept in longer than me? Are you waking up in the middle of the night? That’s impossible, I am the best at cuddling in the entire world!” She asked, clearly caring about her girlfriend’s sleep, but also indignant at knowing her cuddling skills were being questioned.
“You’ve definitely helped me sleep longer, but I meant before I met you.” She clarified. “I’ve had nightmares about my time in the weapons program. Those I remember. But I can’t recall any pleasant ones.” She said, rolling away from Power to stare at the ceiling. Hoping the blank white plaster would help her remember a nice dream, but it never happened.
“Well then, it seems I’ll have to make you so happy in waking life, you’ll never have a nightmare again. As the best girlfriend in the universe, it will be easy for me.” She declared, splaying herself across Reze’s chest and kissing her on the cheek.
She did exactly as she claimed, doing everything she could to make Reze happy over the coming months. She bullied topknot into shopping for the things Reze liked, she bullied Denji into not being weird about the whole thing, and on one day she left to bully the building manager for leaving a complaint about her not being on the lease.
On that same day, Reze was doing the dishes. She wanted to help around the house, since Power often outright refused to and she didn’t want Aki to do all the work. She didn’t notice she was alone in the apartment with Denji for the first time since she moved in. Reze had fit right into the routine of the place now, but she and Denji rarely spoke. She had nothing to say, and she expected Denji would be furious with her. But one day, he broke the silence.
“So, you settled in?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head.
“Yeah, you guys have been great. Aki’s a really good cook, huh?” She said, trying to curtail anything too serious.
“Yeah, if you can put up with how much he bitches about the groceries.” Denji laughed. Reze reciprocated, though she thought it was a little rude to speak about him behind his back. “So… You don’t hafta tell me if you don’t wanna. But… Why did you not come back? And then you like, did?” He asked, confused.
“Denji… I tried to come back, but Makima stopped me. I was right in front of the cafe. Power saved me. That’s how we met.” She said, stopping her scrubbing and dropping the plate into the full sink.
“So you wanted to come back? Why? You said you never liked me?” Denji asked.
“I didn’t. Not like that. I pretended to want to be with you because of my training. But you were fun to be around. I just don’t like you the same way I like Power.” She was firm in her words, not wanting to hurt him for convenience’s sake, but not wanting to give him any indication there were still any feelings there.
“Oh, that makes sense. Anyway, how did Makima kill you?” Denji said, no hint of disappointment or ill will.
“You took that well, I figured you’d be more angry with me.” She said, surprised.
“Well, I guess knowing you never liked me like that means it hurts a little less. It sucks, but at least I know, y’know? Why did you try to come back though?” Denji said, unusually sage.
“Well, the truth is, I’ve never gone to school either. I figured a friend who knew just as little about being normal as me would be fun, I guess.” She said with a shrug, getting back to the dishes.
“Bitchin’. So we’re still friends?” Denji said, extending a hand towards Reze.
“Yeah, still friends.” She said, holding her hand out still clothed in the wet marigold glove.
“Ew, not with your wet ass glove with all the wet food on it.” Denji said with a retch.
“Oh come on Denji, do you not think I’m a “hottie” anymore? Shake my hand” She said, stepping away from the sink and moving her wet gloved hand towards Denji’s face.
“Dude, not cool!” He said, vaulting over the coffee table to escape the unpleasant sensation of wet food.
“You cannot escape me, fool!” She said, emulating Power to a T as she began chasing Denji around the apartment, giggling like a lunatic.
Still friends.