He couldn't believe his own eyes, there in front of him was someone he never thought he would see again. The one who he had came to be so fond of despite the other being such a pain in the ass. The one who took in and cared for him and Power. Denji immediately winced mentally at remembering his other friend.
Their deaths still hurt, Makima really did made sure that the memories were drilled into Denji's mind forever.
Suddenly, a hand reached out and cup his wet cheek. Denji gasps and looks up, finally believing the one who is in front of him to be real. More tears form and spill from Denji's eyes. His heart is struggling to take all of this. Just like with his mind.
"I guess I haven't done a good job making sure you and Power would remain happy, huh. Instead, I let myself be chewed up and spit out by Makima and killed by her. I let myself become the very thing I swore to destroy. This was all for nothing if Power is dead and your mind is completely broken. I'm sorry Denji..."
Denji stares the person down, "Aki...is it really you? I'm not hallucinating again? I swear to-"
"I'm real, I'm real," Aki reassures as he gently shushes Denji, "But I can only spend time with you for a whole day. It seems like the ones in the afterlife are seeing how much you need someone right now." He then looks a little to his left, spotting a little girl hiding behind his old bedroom door.
Before he could ask the following(and obvious) question, Denji said, "Oh...this is who the control devil revived into. But she has no memories of the past lives so I'm trying to give her as normal of a life as I can."
With Denji's encouragement, the girl, Nayuta, slowly came out. She looks at the ground shyly, waving her hand at Aki. Aki smiled gently and walked a bit closer to her, squatting down to her level. "What is your name?" He asks softly.
She blushes and fumbles her fingers, "N-Nayuta sir..." Aki chuckles and ruffles her hair, "Just call me Aki." Their heads soon turned to look at Denji, who let out a sound of disbelief while his face looks like he was scandalized. He was definitely not crying now.
"That is so not fair! You never let me call you by your first name when we first met! No fair! No fair!" Denji protests.
Aki sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Still a child I see...a loud one at that." He then flopped himself on the couch next to Denji, "Don't you have a new home that you purchased with the money I left you?" Denji nodded and laid down, placing his head on Aki's lap.
"I would rather stay in this home, I want to...remember what we all went through. Yes, some are bad but..there are ones that are good."
Aki combs his fingers through Denji's hair, occasionally feeling little hair knots, where he carefully untangles them. He also notice Denji's extra pale skin that looks more bony than ever.
He doesn't comment but instead relishes the silence. Nayuta has since gotten something to eat, sitting at the dining table with her drawing pad. Denji bought it for her just to get her to stop bothering him at unusual times, such as that time when she popped her head inside the restroom while he was taking a dump. Or when he was trying to relieving himself when thinking of banging ladies and such.
"I'm bored Den-Den, I don't want to sit a lot!" She complained. Denji huffed and remembered that she likes to draw, so he got her a drawing pad and told her to shoo.
Aki soon spoke once more, "What do you like to do?"
"I don't know...there is so much. But I only have a day with you." Denji said sadly.
"What's at the top of your list, then?" Aki prompted.
Denji hums for a bit, trying to remember. A minute passed before he finally did, "Oh yeah! I want to go on this crazy ride with you at this amusement park I found!" Aki has an idea on what amusement park Denji was talking about, but nevertheless let the boy lead him.
Denji looks back at Nayuta and calls for her, telling her that they're finally going out again. Nayuta cheer and zooms over to him and Aki. But not before grabbing Denji's wallet nearby just in case cash is needed at any point in time.
"Let's gooo!" She whoops while jumping in the air; she immediately heading out the door once her feet landed back on the ground.
And off they went.
--
"Den-Den! Aki! Let's go on the roller coaster! Comeee!" She yells out excitedly, already pulling the two men towards the ride. "But what about the merry-go-round?! We should save the roller coaster for later!" Nayuta, still pulling them along, sighs as if Denji really is the dumbest person in the whole wide world.
She explains,"We need to have excitement first, Den-Den! First round right after you come here should be all about letting out the energy and choose the best rides! Then later, after we eat, the calmer ones before we leave! Plus, you get sick more easier if you do a lot of movement after you eat!"
Denji pouts and looks away, "Are you sure you're like, six?" He grumbles. Nayuta sticks her tongue out and giggles at his offended expression, "I'm seven, almost eight!" Aki ruffles her hair again, "She has a point. I'm going with her." Denji scowls, "Fuck the both of you," Nayuta giggles again and playfully sticks her middle finger out at him, "you little shit!" Aki smacks the back of his head hard, scolding him on his language.
Denji sighs and drags his feet to follow Aki and Nayuta, who are now ahead of him as they continue walking towards the roller coaster. "Might as well go to Neverland after this. Once you're a teen, people forget about you, hmph."
But his whole demeanor changes once the three of them reached the roller coaster ride. Nayuta manages to get on due to being slightly taller than most seven year olds and her putting on a mature act. Which surprisingly fools the ones in charge of the ride. Aki slips on the ride and places Nayuta in between his legs (somehow).
He buckles the two in just as Denji was doing the same. No one except for Nayuta and Denji can see Aki. So to everyone else, it just looks like Nayuta sitting on the seat. "Ready ladies and gentlemen?!" The one in charge of the ride yells out, hyping up everyone. Everybody on the ride scream out 'yes' and were soon off.
Aki just sits there with a bored expression throughout the ride while Nayuta screams happily and throws her arms up into the air. Denji on the other hand, clings onto Aki's arm and lets out a different kind of scream. Aki sighs but then smiles at the Denji's adorableness. He is sooo not letting the boy forget it for the rest of the time he is here.
The ride then went into a spiral upwards, causing Denji to feel nauseous. Aki notice the change in expression and caught onto what could potentially happen quickly. He shook his arm a bit to make Denji let go but to no avail. "You better not throw up on me!" He threatens.
Denji tightly closes his lips, not wanting to embarrass himself and potentially ruin the day. Eventually, the nausea went away just as the ride was over. The three of them got off and zoomed towards the place to see pictures of those who were on the ride. When Nayuta saw the group photo, she bursted into laughter.
"Scary cat! Scary cat! Den-Den is a scary caaaat!" She sang while jumping back and forth on each of her feet. Aki snickers while Denji just curses the kid out. Nayuta sticks out her tongue at him again and stops jumping. Instead, taking his hand in hers with a soft smile. "Let's go to the bumper cars next Den-Den. And then, Aki will buy us food." Aki gives her a deadpanned look.
Nayuta only shrugs with a smirk when she looks back at him.
"You know that I am dead, right?"
"Yeaahhh, but you have money!"
"Denji has money too...ugh, whatever."
"That's the spirit Aki-bear!"
Aki shakes his head at her nickname for him, but follows the two brats anyway.
--
The two came back home, absolutely tired. They actually went on many more rides, crazy and easy going alike, before remembering that they had to eat. Denji insisted that they get pizza and some wings, while Nayuta wanted some dumplings and crab rangwoon. Aki didn't care but suggested that the two play rock-paper-scissors to see who will win. Nayuta ultimately won but said that they could make a compromise. So they are dumplings and chicken wings. Barbecue and lemon pepper ones to be exact.
After taking a bath and changing into her home clothes, Nayuta fell asleep in her room. Leaving Aki and Denji by themselves in the living room. The two were silent as they watch some superhero movies on tv. Neither one of them want to be reminded that in a few hours, Aki will have to go away again. This time, not being seen...
Forever.
Denji had his little diary with him, writing in it what happened today and his feelings about everything. Aki stood up and stretch a bit, "Did you do your homework?" He asks. Denji stops writing and looks up at him with a glare. "What a way to ruin the peaceful atmosphere." He grumbles.
Aki shook his head, "If what you say is true that you're doing well academically, then you need to keep that up. I can help you with some if you want." Denji ponders on it and eventually agrees. Closing his diary and putting the utensil away for next time, Denji gets up and goes to get his homework. When he comes back, Aki is already at the living room table.
Denji places a mini packet on the table, "I only need to do this packet, I did half of it already. I really hate this shitty math thing though. What purpose does this abomination even have in life? It will definitely not make me stronger..." Aki stares at the boy as the other starts going on a ramble about how math is horrible and can suck his..you know what. So on and so forth.
Aki notices the slow change in Denji's demeanor, how his hands became twitchy and the boy not staying still. He then took Denji's hands in his, "You need to calm down. You're shaking too much." Denji's lips stretched to a small smile.
"Busted..." He whispers.
Aki sighs, "It's not your fault of what happened to me. Rather, I thank you for ending my life, I wouldn't want to hurt you, Power...or anyone else. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live as a monster. Now, before I have to go, can we please get started and finish the homework?" Denji bits his lower lip briefly before releasing it.
"Alright..."
That's how the two spent their last minutes, just catching up on life(on Denji's end) and doing homework. When it was time to say goodbye though, Denji finally releases those tears while hugging Aki close. "Can you please stay? Pl-Please?" The older male smiles sadly, not saying anything. But that was enough for Denji to know that his hope has been utterly crushed.
When they eventually parted, Aki held two of his fingertips. "Be great, Denji...live life to the fullest while being careful at the same time. The world is cruel...so, so, cruel. Take care of the brat as well...goodbye, love ya."
The figure of Aki disappears as if he was snapped into dust. Denji looks on and doesn't say anything until all the traces of Aki was gone.
"Love ya too...Aki."
