Turning Point 1

Denji came back to life the same way he always did: With the sound of the chainsaw starting his heart.

"Hmmm?" However, what greeted him at first wasn't the night sky, or even the sock girl that tried to electrocute him. It was the door "...Pochita?"

"..." The eye turned to stare straight at Denji, unblinking as always but somehow looking weirder than it usually did when Denji dreamed about the door.

"Pochita, I won't open the door." Denji reaffirmed his decision, aware of the child-like voice he had in the dream "So don't worry about it."

There was no answer though, and Denji was becoming impatient. He had heard his heart being started again, after all. And maybe that was Makima-san that picked him up after… After whatever happened, well, happened.

"..."

"Then, bye. I'll think about you when I go to sleep again, okay?" Denji turned around and walked away from the door.

He didn't know what was wrong with Pochita. But as there were things he should know, there were also those he shouldn't. And if Pochita wasn't talking about it, then it was probably for the best that Denji didn't know about it.

"Kill."

Denji stopped in his tracks. Pochita's voice was clear, but somehow it sent chills down Denji's spine like never before.

"Kill them." Pochita repeated. Although it almost didn't sound like Pochita at all "Save them all."

Denji turned around and saw light replace the door he had left behind.

He woke up.

Denji flailed for a moment until he fell off the makeshift bed. He blinked a couple of times before jumping back to his feet and drinking in his surroundings.

There were people dressed in all manners of protection, like the bug girl, but more armored. And way more like losers, if the explosion of color said anything about their life choices.

There was a girl by his side. Noodle arms, a whole mane for hair and thick glasses on her face, with a wide-eyed expressionless… Well, expression. She kind of reminded Denji of Makima-san, except Makima-san was several magnitudes prettier and still conveyed some emotion in her own way.

She was by her side, and they were surrounded. So Denji accepted that they were together in whatever happened and she was probably the one that revived him.

Denji grabbed at the cord. He was shirtless but otherwise dressed, not like it mattered in a fight.

The people around them tensed up, but his attempt to reeve his heart was stopped by the girl's slender arm on his own.

For a moment, Denji felt panic swell in his heart. After all, he was touching hands with a girl. But the fact that she prevented him from bringing out the chainsaws made him remember what was going on.

He glared at her, but the girl simply shook her head slowly. This seemed to make the situation deescalate a bit, so Denji accepted that he wasn't fighting then and there.

He still kept the cord in hand, because Denji wasn't an idiot and knew when a situation could explode at any second.

The girl dropped her arm and spoke.

...And Denji didn't understand a thing.

She scowled when Denji just blinked at her, but quickly turned her attention to the people around them. She said something, an urgent tone in spite of her otherwise expressionless mannerisms. There was more talking done, but Denji didn't catch any of what they said.

"Is there seriously no one that speaks japanese?" Denji asked the girl, but she simply stared dumbly at him.

Right. She didn't understand him either.

A man in blue armor stepped forward and talked to the girl. She now scowled, and crossed her arms while replying. She motioned for Denji and made the pulling motion from her non-existent chest and crossed her arms again.

The man replied something, turning his right arm upwards as if explaining something, the other one holding a long spear of sorts Denji was sure was a form of machine of sorts.

A smaller guy in full armor plating interjected, making the blue man with the beard regard him while he talked. Denji was really curious as to what was going on, but he had no way of knowing. Not without that speaking thing…

Oh, right. The bug girl made him touch some cables with the box.

...That killed him? Why? What happened when he did? Denji couldn't remember.

Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was that people around him seemed ready to fuck him up, but the bug girl was talking their way out of it.

There were things he was better off not knowing, but there were also things he had to make sure he knew.

The guy in the armor plating walked up to Denji and placed his hand on Denji's shoulder. His voice was reassuring, even with the language barrier still in place. The guy pointed at the makeshift bed behind Denji invitingly.

"Hmmm…" Denji couldn't see his face, but he complied as the guy was treating him nicely. So Deni sat down on the bed and clasped his hands on top of his legs while the other two discussed away.

It took a while, and no one was doing much of anything, but finally a woman dressed normally came to the metallic-looking room and regarded Denji after exchanging words with the blue man.

"Hello, young man." Oh! Japanese!

"Finally!" Denji perked up, almost going back to standing but seeing how everyone kind of flinched made him stay put "I mean… Hi."

"Yes. I will be acting as your translator and hers." She motioned for the most huge woman Denji had ever seen in his life… Horizontally.

She could easily fit three Denjis standing in front of each other, or maybe four if they were squeezed tight enough. Then again, Denji wasn't being fair. He was pretty slim, and his dispropotionate reaction was because he had never truly seen a clinically obese person in his life.

Man, she was living the dream. How much did she have to eat to get there? That was what Denji asked himself while he stared at the woman, unaware of the health implications of her state of being.

"...May I ask your name?" The japanese-speaking woman caught his attention again, not without a bit of difficulty.

"Denji." Denji replied.

"I see… Denji what?" Her words made the boy blink.

"Denji." He repeated, with a bit more force "My name is Denji."

"I know." The woman chuckled "But I'm asking about your surname."

Oh, like Aki and Himeno?

"I don't have one." He answered honestly. Makima-san didn't give him one, so he didn't have one.

"That can't be, though. What is your parents' surname?" The woman asked a bit hesitantly, the fat woman said something. But the one talking to Denji simply motioned for her to wait.

"I don't know." Denji replied again "They never told me."

"I see…" The woman turned around, her long black hair falling a bit off her shoulder, and talked to the other woman. The one that was wearing clothes like the devil hunters replied. Quick, curt, and with an edge Denji knew quite well.

This woman was more dangerous than she let on, or had been at least.

"Alright, Denji." The woman with the black hair turned back to him "Do you know who she is?"

"No."

"She is Director Emily Piggot, of the Protectorate ENE… Does that name ring any bells?"

"An old geezer told me about the pee-aru-tee." Denji scowled "But I forgot what it was."

The woman blinked.

"So you don't know the Protectorate?" She seemed to hesitate a bit, but Denji shook his head without much thought "Where are you from, Denji?"

"Japan."

"How long have you lived in Japan?"

"I don't know. More than 10 years, I guess."

"Who do you live with?"

"Aki and Power."

"Who is Power?"

"My buddy."

"And who is Aki?"

"The guy Makima-san put in charge of me."

"Who is Makima-san?"

"My boss lady."

"I see." The questions slowed down a bit, the woman delivering the information to this Emily person "What is Makima-san's full name? Where do you work?"

Makima-san's?

"I don't know."

The woman released a slow sigh.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"We are public safety devil hunters from Tokyo's special fourth division." Denji replied, making sure to say the things he was meant to and nothing else "Makima-san's Makima-san. No one calls her anything else."

"...And Aki-san?" Why did the woman look so defeated? She was really weird.

"Hayakawa Aki. Same division."

There was another pausa, information flowed and people moved. Everyone seemed more relaxed but Denji was growing hungry.

"And Power?" Now, that was a difficult question.

"I don't have the authority to tell." Denji replied mechanically.

"Does Power have abilities beyond human?" The woman asked. That wasn't a secret, strictly speaking. But it was still about Power's origins.

"I don't have the authority to tell."

"Is Power like you, Denji?" The woman smiled at him sweetly. He honestly wanted to calm her worries, but…

"I don't have the authority to tell." But it was what Makima-san wanted, so he would say that instead.

"Then what can you tell me about the public safety devil hunters?"

"We hunt and kill devils." Denji scoffed "That's our job."

"What do you mean by 'devils', exactly?" Denji frowned at the question "...Denji? Did something happen?"

"What do you mean what?" Denji parroted her puzzled tone "Devils, you know… Devils."

What kind of stupid joke was that?

"You mean like Hookwolf?" The woman's tone became icy, but Denji had enough of that particular accusation.

"I didn't know he was human!" Denji smashed his fist on the bed "I thought he was a fiend or something!"

"So you didn't target him especifically?"

"Aren't you listening?! I didn't know! To begin with, the Hell Devil dropped me in front of him without warning!" Denji wanted nothing else but to punch and kick, but he resisted. He knew the woman wasn't a combatant, and the struggle wouldn't be enough to blow steam.

These people were insane like that. He had to calm down.

"Hell… What do you mean Hell Devil?"

"The Hell Devil is the Hell Devil." Denji groaned "What do you understand by devils?!"

"Horned monsters, wings, red… That sort of thing." The woman shrugged, a bit calmer "Though I suspect you've been led to understand Changer and Breaker powers as some sort of supernatural…"

"The hell's a Baker or whatever?!" Denji jumped to his feet this time around. The room tensed again "Don't you have any fears?! How come you don't know anything about devils?!"

The old geezer was the same, but Denji chose to ignore him since he wouldn't get anything out of explaining. Besides, technically, he had no authority to tell about it.

"...What does fear have to do with this?"

Denji groaned rather loudly this time.

"So what? Devils just pop out of the ground? Aren't you afraid of death? Of the dark? Of heights?"

"Well, yeah but…"

"Then there you go! Of course there would be a Death Devil, a Darkness Devil…"

"And the Hell Devil exists because of the fear of hell?"

There they go! Denji was sure the woman had a brain between her ears.

He nodded in satisfaction.

"And what? Are you the Chainsaw Devil?"

"No." Denji replied.

"Then how come you have powers?" The woman sighed again, as if she had expected that line of questioning to go somewhere.

"I don't have the authority to tell."

"You can't talk about yourself?" The woman's smile grew stiff "Why?"

"To stop the spread of fear." Denji replied bluntly "Devils grow stronger when they are feared more."

He was, after all, a professional. And a professional understood that it was in everyone's best interest that devils remained as weak as possible. It didn't personally bother him if they grew in strength, but he understood it should. Though it was hard when he couldn't die no matter how strong the enemy.

Ah, speaking of…

"The girl with the glasses." Denji spoke up "I want to thank her for reviving me."