Denji groaned as he sat up, wiping the dust from his eyes. He looks to his right to see Power hugging her spare pillow, still fast asleep. It's been only a few weeks since Aki's death and Denji still felt like it just happened yesterday. He's still shocked about how human he felt and all the more grateful for having Power by his side. She'd been very caring of him during his time of grief and it took him by surprise. He knows they are close but he'd expected for her to be a bit more indifferent to his feelings.
The boy checked the clock.
5:00 AM.
He slowly fell back onto his pillow and stared at Power. Her hair was covering her face and some of it was in her nose. He resisted the urge to snicker before gently sweeping it aside.
He stared at the ceiling. It's been boring lately. The activity of devil attacks were rather low. He smiled slightly when he remembered Power swinging a blood bat she made at the baseball devil they fought a day ago, sending its head(shaped like a baseball of course) flying into a house. The two were found on the ground howling in laughter when the clean up crew came.
Spending time with Power always helped him take his mind off Aki, to keep the heartache and dullness from coming back. She didn't know it, but he was happy to be with her, to gorge on food together, to sleep together, to read together, and to play videogames together.
Though he does wish he could do these things with Makima, who always just seemed to be busy all the time.
He was brought back in front of that damn door again. He wanted to step forward but didn't.
"You killed me. Murderer." He could hear from the other side.
Aki...
Father...
"WAKE UP!" A voice roared.
Denji propelled up, crashing his head with Power's.
"Fuck!" Denji cursed, rubbing his head. He watched as Power did the same.
"You were mumbling and crying in your sleep." Power said, as if she knew the answer to his coming question.
"I see..." Denji checked the clock to see it was 9:40 AM. He must've fell back asleep.
"Now that you're up, what are we doing today?" Power asked as she got off the bed, stretching herself.
"I dunno. What do you want to do?" Power went to her drawer and pulled out two little pieces of paper.
"Yesterday, when you stayed behind to talk with Makima about whatever it is you two talk about, the old man came up to me. He said that an old friend gave him these 'tickets' as he called them to the ice skating rink. He had no use for them so he gave them to me so I can take you on a 'date', then just left. Though I'm confused, how can I take you to the months or years?" Power furrowed her eyebrows in thought.
Denji's eyes widened. A date? Kishibe wants her and him to go on a date?
He knows that people should like each other people before going on one.
But...
He doesn't like Power.
He doesn't like Power.
Not in the way he liked Reze or how he likes Makima.
But he still likes her. She does make him laugh. She is surprisingly good at videogames. Her face when they pig out on food is pretty endearing.
She is his friend. Maybe even his best.
Shit...
He was still a fool when it comes to this romance junk.
All he knows is that he is in love with Makima and he can't betray her. He made that mistake with Reze and it left him broken.
A desire pulled at his heartstrings...
But it wouldn't hurt to just spend time with Power...
Right?
No romance.
"Power, a date is also an outing between two people where they do stuff together."
He specifically left out the "liking each other part" to prevent the awkwardness. They didn't need that.
"Then what's the big deal? You were sweating and looked all weird. If that's it, we go on dates all the time, like when we fight Devils together, or ate at that restaurant together or a bunch of other times." Power shrugged nonchalantly.
That's right... he and Power did hang out a lot, all without knowing that it's a date. That didn't even cross his mind. He smiled that he could still do those things together with Power but not be in love with her. After all, his heart does belong to Makima.
"It's nothing. When do you want to leave?"
"After breakfast, after I try that new egg recipe thing you were working on." She licked her lips in hunger, rubbing her stomach.
"You mean omurice?"
"Yeah that."
"Alright I'm on it." He walked out of her room and closed the door behind him, letting her get dressed.
As he walked to the kitchen, he had a feeling today was going to be a fun day.
A soft smile graced his lips as he thought about what he and Power would do together.