The Heart of The Machine

by Kazbiruk

His first kiss was crap. He rooked his second one and stole the third. That's how this non-relationship started.

Denji left the bar. He still had a burning taste in his mouth. It was his… first kiss. Will everyone else's just remind him of it now? Makima said:

"Yes, you'll always know what it tasted like. But you'll kiss a lot more people. You will live so much and experience so much that you will not find enough time to remember it."

Then she took a lollipop from between her pink lips and slipped it between his. He was still blushing as she climbed into the backseat of the black car.

He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Himeno was standing behind him, swaying slightly and seemed about to say something. But then Aki appeared out of nowhere, so she just inhaled loudly and swallowed it. The lighter clicked a few times as he lit a cigarette. He was the epitome of resignation after two beers, as if someone had forgotten to put him in the washing machine the day before. He swayed and swam no more than the landscape, so he was probably standing pretty straight, bastard. "It's raining," Denji decided to point out, as if someone could call on the devil to change that.

"I need to take you to bed." He exhaled a cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"Oh, you've got the drunken care kicked in," she laughed.

"It's Friday," he said, as if that explained something.

"Whatever you're thinking, so you don't feel like a hen," she murmured cheerfully. City lights spilled into puddles. They had gone a bit when she said: "Guys, I only have one bed. And no futons."

Denji barked strangely. Aki immediately grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled him towards him.

"Oh!" the half-devil barked, surprised.

"Calm down, let's go home."

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Denji staggered to his feet and leaned heavily against the wall as Aki pushed him inside and closed the door behind them. Shouldn't he be more sober than he was?

"Aren't you a minor?" Aki asked quickly. "You should get an orange juice with grenadine, not a beer. Not to mention… how many?"

"I didn't count."

"You didn't count?"

"I can count to three."

"Clearly."

Aki pulled out the package, all rumpled and wet, and sighed heavily. He walked over to the radiator and placed the box there.

"Like out of a dog's throat."

"Hey, it's not my fault."

"You pushed me into a puddle."

"You shouldn't have given up," Denji snorted unsympathetically.

"Apparently I'm drunker than I think."

The half-devil sighed and walked over to his crumpled packet, then plucked out a completely wet cigarette.

"What are you doing?"

"I've been drinking today. I might as well smoke. I ate one once."

"Hey, hey, hey, give it back." Aki reached out his hand, but he didn't have time. The cigarette broke in two in Denji's hands.

"Oh. I'll take the next one."

"NO!"

"I deserve one."

"Naughty mutt! Give it back."

Without a word, Denji grabbed another cigarette and broke it quickly, looking at Aki with big, shining eyes. He groaned.

"I didn't have time to buy a second pack! Enough, I'm going to convenience store." What happened next was Aki straightened up and headed for the door. Denji was sitting right by the radiator, clutching a bent cigarette, staring at it intently without blinking like a psychopath, and wordlessly tangled his long legs between his landlord's ankles, on which Aki tripped utterly embarrassingly. Denji's long arm shot up from below and grabbed his pants. Where his ass used to be.

"Take your paws!"

"You're completely tanked. It's pouring down."

"I'm going to sober up a bit thanks to this."

"Stay. I won't anymore. I just wanted to get the taste of puke out of the back of my throat."

Aki looked at him calmly and sat down sluggishly next to him by the radiator, then started rummaging through his pockets.

"Hold it." There was a pack of gum in his hand. Denji grabbed it from his hand like he was about to change his mind and shoved all the squares into his mouth as if he was loading a magazine. "You're welcome. I found it in my uniform when I got the job."

Denji continued to chew thoughtfully.

"If I try very, very much, I can still smell mint." They sat in silence for a while. "It's nothing and it doesn't help."

"Brush your teeth."

"Disgusting!"

"Less than what you're living with now," Aki replied impatiently.

"It was my first kiss. It will always be."

"You'll be kissed by a lot more people."

"Makima said that too. But honestly…who's gonna kiss me?" Aki was silent. "Hey! I guess it's time to cheer me up."

"Who knows, maybe Makima will be interested. That, or some extremely perverted devil."

Denji made a particularly unhappy horseshoe on his lips.

"Makima wants to wait until I defeat the Gun Devil."

Aki snorted.

"Then prepare yourself for a long celibacy."

"What, you don't believe I can do it?"

"Believe me, more than anyone, I want you to succeed." This shut Denji down effectively, and he looked at him in amazement. "I'd like to kill him myself, but I know I probably won't be able to."

"You're going to die quickly with that attitude, man."

Aki looked at him with a strange sadness that made Denji want to get up and run away without a word, or at least turn around and start making himself a marmalade and jam sandwich like there was no tomorrow, but for some reason he didn't, just sat there and stared at those big, sad eyes. There was only one way he could think of to get him out of this stupid mood. Without a word, he leaned down and moved closer to Aki's face, slowly so that Aki wouldn't jump out of his skin and he'd have time to dodge if he decided to drive his jaw into his brain with his fist. In the periphery of his vision, he registered a hand approaching him, but Aki just placed it calmly on his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I'm trying to kiss you."

"What for?"

"I don't know. To stop the thoughts floating in your head?"

"Do you want to distract me?" He chuckled, raising his eyebrows.

"Any one of us can die. I can only die with one puke kiss to my credit."

Aki wanted to tell him to back off and not talk nonsense, but the truth was that with their work, he couldn't say that because Denji might as well die with that one kiss as his entire experience around love. And while of course Aki wasn't in love with him, didn't even like the guy, he had to admit to himself that it would be pretty nasty to die like that. He sighed.

"How old are you exactly?"

"I don't know. But drinking beer is more illegal than a stupid kiss. And you won't go any further because you don't like me, even drunk. We can also do it casually and immediately forget it. In fact, I might be older than you. How old are you actually? Are you cheating when you buy cigarettes?" Aki shot him a look.

"You've thought it through thoroughly."

"Not at all. Will you kiss me or not?"

"Are you sure?"

"More sure than my first one. And then I was pretty sure, until I felt an avalanche of th…"

"We live together. I don't want it to get weird."

"It's just a kiss. It doesn't mean anything."

"I'm not going to kiss you until you brush your teeth."

"Well... don't be like that."

Aki rested his head against the wall and raised his eyes to the ceiling. The ceiling responded with silence. Denji kept looking at him expectantly like a bird of prey.

"All right. But we'll do it quickly." He rubbed his hand over his forehead. "Gods, I'm drunk."

"That will be your excuse for tomorrow."

"If you want us to do it, you'd better say no more." Denji leaned over and pushed his mouth out like a big wet algae eater. Aki reconsidered his life choices. "Stop arching your face like that."

"Ah. Then what am I to do?"

"Relax and make your mouth normal." He hesitated. He spread his arms and shook his hands firmly. "Let's do it." He clenched them slowly into fists. "Allow me to kiss you." He turned his head towards him. He leaned slightly. Denji stared at him with absolutely innocent anticipation. He cursed silently as something unbearably soft stirred in his belly. "Close your eyes and don't do anything weird with your face." Interestingly enough, Denji obeyed his command for the first time without saying a word. Maybe kissing him would affect the overall obedience rating in his squad. He realized that now he's just stalling. He turned to Denji, clasped his hands, perhaps a little too hard, around his wet shoulders, licked his lips and, without getting up, touched his mouth. They were dry, peeling skin, unkempt and slightly puffy, totally boyish, but a cold shiver ran down his spine. He pulled away with a slight chuckle. It hovered awkwardly close to his face. Denji bit his lip and slowly opened one eye.

"It's already?"

"Yes," Aki said, and hated himself a little, just a little, for the way his voice broke.

"Then why are we still nose to nose?" he asked slowly. Aki was still squeezing his shoulders. He let go of them, as if unsticking his fingers from the glass, and began to pull away. Suddenly, a wiry, tanned hand shot up from below and grabbed the front of his shirt. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for the approaching fist. He wasn't even going to defend himself. And so he froze in complete, dumb surprise as those same dry lips touched his mouth. A rough tongue ran over his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and parted his lips, and then Denji pushed his tongue all the way up to his throat. He choked on the sour taste. I think he smelled… blood. He pulled away from Denji and coughed.

"I'm not very good at this, am I?" He shook his head, still coughing. "I can't be so bad when I finally kiss Makima. It has to be perfect."

"It doesn't have to," he said slowly. Denji was no longer holding him, so he backed away with his back to the wall. "The magic of a new relationship is that not everything has to be perfect. You will get to know each other."

"You're not jealous? That Makima will be my girlfriend."

"What am I supposed to be jealous of?"

"I thought you were too…"

"I don't have time for such things. With Makima and no one."

"Do you have time for a non-relationship?"

Aki looked at him carefully out of the corner of his eye, resting the back of his head against the wall.

"No."

"What?"

"Whatever you're planning: no. First, I'm your supervisor. That should be enough for you if you had a brain and respected the rules, so I'll give you a second reason: you don't even like me. Makima doesn't expect any experience from you, so take it easy." He got up heavily from the floor and went over to the stove to make himself some tea. The open kitchen meant he had no wall to hide behind, but the tea might help with that… whatever it was. Or at least the great heart of the bell, slowly growing in his brain, pounding with a throbbing sound inside his skull. "And stop obsessing over the idea with that one-track brain of yours, or you'll overheat."

"Come on... I want to learn."

"Stop moaning."

"You're going to be alone anyway." He slammed the mug against the counter so hard it nearly broke. "If you help me, I will obey your orders."

"You should obey my orders, for I am your commander."

Denji crossed his arms over his chest and straightened his legs, grinding his heels on the floor.

"But I'm not."

Aki tightened his hand on the handle of the cup and stared at its empty bottom.

"This is a bad idea."

"I am alone, you are alone." It's the perfect arrangement.

"No."

"Do not be like this. I don't want to die knowing I almost choked someone to death with my tongue in an unsexy way."

He almost told him "then don't die". He even turned around and froze. Everyone was dying. They died quickly and brutally. He looked at the kid. He agreed to take him to his apartment. Why? Maybe he was really lonely. Then he will feel guilty. But now the world was still spinning like a kaleidoscope.

"Let me think." He knew if he gave himself until morning, he'd never say yes. He also knew that Denji wouldn't let him live if he remembered it at all. And he probably will, son of a bitch, that's his bad luck. "I need… a week to think it over, no harassing. And you don't have to take my orders. Not because of that. Just listen to me because I'm right." He shrugged irritably. "Why am I saying this?"

"I will cover your back. I won't let you die. Until you teach me how to do it."

"Your morality is so strange I don't know if it exists. All people have to do is wave their tits in front of your face and you'll agree to anything. Only I don't have tits."

"I liked your kiss. I want more."

"You really are like a dog."

"Now that you've escaped to the kitchen, why don't you make sandwiches with jam and marmalade?"

Aki growled. At least five biting remarks passed through his head, and he didn't even notice when he reached for the bread. Something told him it was over, whatever came of it, in some strange way, no matter what, it was done. He just didn't know how.

"It was a one time thing," he muttered to himself as he pulled hot toast out of the toaster.

Denji shrugged and said nothing. Aki, even with his back to him, could hear the screws turning in his empty head.

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As soon as his head touched the pillow, Aki was fully aware of what he had done. All the fog of sleep that had been gathering gradually in his eyes for two hours disappeared and he lay there, suddenly completely sober, the quilt tangled around his legs.

For the next few days he walked around Denji like a ballerina and avoided him as much as he could, but the half-devil made no move towards him. Apparently he forgot, because even if he sobered up and changed his mind, he wouldn't let him live. Within a day, everyone at work would know that Denji had kissed him, and even worse, had been kissed.

Aki was still waiting for the attack. When it didn't, he decided he was relieved.

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Afterwards, many Tokyo residents claimed to have heard gurgling sounds. As if someone was drinking the remnants of Coca-Cola from a one-meter straw. They didn't know where he came from. Some heard it out of the ground, others in the office on the thirtieth floor. It disappeared faster than it appeared. No one called the cleaning services. Not plumbers, and especially not devil hunters.

Strange noises only led to belly-grabbing, more sharing of food in dodgy school cafeterias instead of buying from it, and a lot of awkward moments in city restrooms. As it was a sound considered embarrassing, regardless of how it was interpreted, all interested parties tried to forget about it as soon as possible.

Eventually the sewer drains began to clog up, and here and there water suddenly sprang up and puddled stinkingly in the streets. A team has been dispatched to the sewers. They never came back. Soon Makima's phone rang on the desk.

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Denji lifted his leg and shook the shit on it. It splashed so effectively that it landed on Aki and Himeno, even though they were standing on two different paths, between which flowed a river of underground sewage.

"Is it just me or do we always get the shittiest jobs?"

"It would sound better if you didn't shake your shit on me first," Aki muttered, examining the leg of his pants. He didn't glance at Denji, he'd been trying not to look at him for a week, which was made all the more difficult by being confined to the same twenty square meters. But that didn't stop him from complaining into the empty air. "I really tried to avoid them all."

"Hey, it's not mine."

"It became yours when it hit your shoe. And don't even try to walk into the apartment wearing those clothes."

Denji leaned over and looked him straight in the eye from below.

"Should I undress beforehand?" He bared his teeth. Aki, against his will and years of training, twitched.

Himeno hummed under her breath.

"Makima doesn't seem to like us."

"You mean this," he made a circle with his hand, pointing to the natural circumstances around him. " Or anything more?"

"I mean the two of us. You know who lives with me now?" She pointed her chin at the Blood Devil, who was now jumping up and down the walls, parkouring around the dirt splashes. "Hey, you understand that not all bacteria are visible? You'll have to wash later." Power snorted and snapped her claws at her, then raced up the ceiling and down the corridor. She disappeared around the corner, and suddenly they heard a long squeak. Himeno and Aki exchanged glances and followed her.

"So cool" she shouted. The crocodile's great mouth stretched out in front of her. He took up the whole corridor. He snapped his teeth barely, barely, but he didn't move. Aki approached him slowly and peered around his side.

"Looks like he's stuck."

"Is this your Gadzilla?" Power shouted, jumping up and down in excitement and staring at his teeth.

"Oh, totally!" Denji trudged up to them and, fascinated, immediately ran up and stared beside Power at the crocodile with teeth the size of his head. Aki found himself having to restrain himself from approaching him, grabbing him by the tailcoats and shaking all his impossible carelessness out of him. "I had a T-shirt with her once. It as torn a little. A lot. I dug it out of the garbage can. Never mind. I'm thrilled to meet you!" He stretched his hand straight into the great mouth. Aki almost teleported through the air. The mouth opened and pecked at his arm like a giant worm fish on a hook. They heard the roar of an engine. "Sooo coooool"

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When they climbed out of the drain and Makima patted them on the back with a laconic smile, metaphorically of course because they were all covered in sewage, when everyone finally left and Himeno dragged Power to a nearby lake for an illegal bath, Aki actually realized his dream. He grabbed Denji by the collar and pushed him to the nearest cul-de-sac with the intention of throwing him the world's biggest scolding, although he wasn't entirely sure why, because everything worked out. Denji cut the devil's head off with his own chainsaw hands, and only blood nearly drowned them all as it gushed from its armored neck.

Nevertheless, Aki ended up pinning him against the wall in some alley right next to the dumpster with a quiet whimper. By this point, he was completely desensitized to smells and was letting his anger out through all his skin pores along with his sweat, a lot of it, so he didn't care.

"Oh my gosh, I have a flashback from our first fight!" Denji bared his sharp teeth. "What are we going to do this time?"

"You're stupid," he said, looking straight into his laughing brown eyes.

"Eh, don't say that, or I'll believe it," Denji muttered, losing all interest and picking his own ear.

"I'm serious. You are not immortal."

"Looks like I am. A bit."

"You can bear more than me, Himeno, even the Blood Devil." But that doesn't mean you have to take risks.

"Risk gives adrenaline. Adrenaline allows me to pull the pin. You know how it works, all that jazz."

"You don't have to push your hand for monsters to bite it away. We are a team. We work together. We're making a plan."

"You didn't care until recently. What changed? Do you have any feelings in your heart? Sorry, I still want to be with Makima." Aki looked him in the eyes wide as if a vein was about to burst, then let him go without saying a word and turned his back on him. "Don't be offended. How about a little consent kiss."

Aki almost groaned. So much for hoping that Denji somehow forgot what happened and wouldn't torment him.

"Go and breathe."

"And I understand that. Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Why? It's been a week and not even one peck on the cheek from you. What's going on?"

"I didn't sign any bloodpact."

"Very funny."

Aki still had his back to him, but at least he stopped. His shoulders dropped. Denji's ears twitched. Was he softening?

"We were drunk. It doesn't mean anything," he replied, looking down at the ground. "Count it on your merit list and forget it."

"I know it doesn't mean anything. But we can continue it."

"What for?"

"Out of boredom. And because everyone else drops dead."

Aki's back stiffened.

"For your own good, you'd better stop talking. Now."

"Come on. You admitted it yourself. I have a better chance of surviving. Think, you won't have to feel guilty… ah!" Aki spun on his heel and pinned him against the wall.

"Shut it up, man. Shut up."

"…And I will not mourn you."

They stared at each other for a moment. Denji with his hands up like he was nothing and Aki just couldn't stand it. Suddenly, he thrust his head forward so that the skin on his neck stretched over the tendons.

"What are you doing?" he asked, but didn't move away. Denji still didn't break the eye contact between them until his mouth hung inches from his face. And then his neck ended. They stayed like that for a split second, Denji with his neck craned idiotically and Aki crushing the front of his shirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a sinewy, tanned hand creeping slowly up to his ass. He let go of him as if he had been scalded and, without looking back, all stiff with rage, disappeared around the corner. Denji licked his chapped lips.

"What a cowardly asshole."

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Another phase of no-kissing ensued, much more frustrating in Denji's opinion, because Aki had shown an extraordinary knack for disappearing for days and there was simply no time to approach him.

He was obsessing over this and pacing around the empty house, eating toasts in Aki's bed without a plate (with no visible reaction) until suddenly one day Makima called them to the office because there was a sign of the Gun Devil in some hotel, so he ran there like a dog with a wagging tail. And then Aki decided to take a knife to the rib for him.

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Aki lay in bed and tried to take as shallow, meaningless breaths as possible. He drew the blinds on the windows and tried to escape from the pain into sleep. So he closed his fully conscious eyes and sighed heavily, trying to adjust himself on the pillow. His stomach flexed slightly and he groaned in pain. He gasped in quick, rustling breaths and squeezed his eyes shut. So it was only at the last moment that he heard the door shudder and the quick patter of bare heels pounding on the floor. Suddenly he felt the pillow being yanked from under his head.

"Wait, I'll help you!" Denji patted his pillow until feathers began to fly. Aki grabbed him quickly by the wrist. He laid his head flat on the sheet.

"No need," he replied.

"Gee, I'm just trying to help," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Relax," he swallowed loudly and tightened his hand around his wrist reassuringly. "Actually, it's more comfortable for me. But can you make me some tea?"

The tea was poured cold and he found a thick layer of sugar at the bottom along with dry leaves, so he just made a non-committal sound and put it on the nightstand. All this time, Denji hung over him like a sad question mark. Aki raised his eyebrows.

"Thank you for the tea," he said. Denji didn't even flinch. Aki closed his eyes. "I don't want anything else. I just need to rest."

"You covered me," he blurted out.

„Yeah. I remember. I was there."

„For no reason."

Aki snorted and immediately regretted it because he felt it in all of his right ribs.

"I can't let my subordinates stab each other."

"Yeah, it's much better that they stab you. You could have done a lot of things. You could have grabbed her hand. Finally, you could have let her stab me. You know very well that it would do nothing to me."

Aki moved his head to the side and looked at him more closely.

„Are you worried?" he asked with a weak smile.

"No, you're the one who's worried. I think I've heard about something like that. The guy shields the girl from the treacherous blade of the sword and then they kiss and everything while he's on the floor bleeding so I came for the kisses, right?" He rapidly bent down and found himself right in front of his face. An evil light flashed in his eyes and his smile suddenly seemed much more predatory. They stared at each other. „So, what's now?"

Aki held his chest with his hand.

„Watch my ribs."

Denji stamped closer to his head.

"Are we going to kiss at an angle?"

"No."

"I brought you tea."

"I covered you. I have a six-centimeter hole in my ribs."

"Exactly." He blinked. "I can kiss you in gratitude. I just can't do it sideways. I can't do it in general."

"You're so tiresome that I don't know why you're still waiting for my permission."

"Totally makes sense."

Denji closed his eyes and leaned over the missing few inches. This time his neck didn't let him down and he kissed Aki, who was staring at him irritably, straight into his open mouth and shoved another argument back down his throat with his tongue. This time, Aki gave up. He narrowed his eyes and gently ran his own tongue over the brazenly jostling intruder. Denji moaned softly into his mouth.

To hell with it. He'll come up with a suitable excuse for himself. He was tired. He was on too many painkillers.

He hadn't been touched by anyone in months.

He raised a hand and buried his fingers in his red hair. Strands slick with sweat, his skin almost burning his fingers. He tilted his head a little to better accommodate Denji's mouth. He lifted his chin slightly. The half-devil groaned in protest. Aki stroked his head reassuringly, held it gently, and started sucking his tongue. Denji grunted. He ran his tongue over his lips. It tickled and he shivered as slick, wet lips slid down to his. Trying to adjust better to the position of his mouth, Denji shifted his ass and almost fell on his ribs.

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Aki awoke suddenly in the middle of the night and immediately knew what had woken him up. Denji was standing over his bed, stomping his feet, a pillow clutched in his hand as if he were a six-year-old having a nightmare. Aki wanted to blow him off. His rib still ached and he was sure that with a horny guy under one duvet, he really wouldn't be able to sleep. But somehow he couldn't.

He'd read his file and knew that Denji probably never had anyone he could sneak into bed with in the middle of the night.

He sighed and tugged the opposite corner of the quilt up. Denji bounded to his other side in a few big leaps, slid under the covers, curled up with his back to him, and was asleep in about two seconds before his head settled neatly on the pillow. Aki blinked in the darkness. Well, that was a bit of an unexpected turn of events.

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That day he awoke to discover a stray long arm on his chest. Denji has made a habit of sleeping in his bed. About once every two hours he tried to pretend to accidentally grab his ass in his sleep. They kissed before getting up for several long minutes between each alarm clock. Sometimes Denji would steal a kiss or two from him as they passed each other on their way to the bathroom. Aki made him sandwiches with jam and marmalade and did not react when raspberry slime landed on all the furniture in the apartment. Sometimes he pretended to be asleep and didn't notice the hand squeezing his buttock. They had entered into a kind of routine, a small, silent arrangement, and it was only from the trailing looks Denji gave him when he thought Aki was busy and not paying attention that it was not enough for him.

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They were standing in front of a lame, annoying copy of Denji. Aki pulled him out of the projectile's flight path, and in response, he stepped on his sword and wouldn't let him use it, because in his infinite stupidity, Aki revealed to him one night that he was eating a piece of his life every time. He had to recover from the annoying idiot-half-devil-hammerfish chopping off half of his body, and for those few moments the rest of the team had to defend him. Which meant Aki had to protect him. He was crushed into the pavement so hard you could almost hear the bones breaking. Then two things happened. Himeno tried to sacrifice herself to her Devil. Power told her to shut up and put her stupid crush in a pocket, then pulled Aki out from under her sword. Nobody knew she could be so fast. Perhaps she didn't know it herself. She jumped up to Denji and fed him her blood.

"Damn! I need to eat more raw meat!" she murmured and fainted.

Aki got up heavily from the ground, his legs flexing slightly under him, and he seemed to have double vision. He looked at Denji's red hair, shining like a halo in the hot midday sun. But he stepped in.

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Aki always thought he would get some sort of warning. He had a sword that told him when he would die. It was true that he hadn't spoken to him in a long time, and he hadn't let the Devil in his eye tell him how he was going to die.

But somehow he expected the Gun Devil's arrival to come with some kind of foreshadowing. A plague, a deluge, a call from Makima.

Until recently, it didn't matter at all. But now, somehow, it was different.

He stared at Denji, as idiotically confident as ever, with pure horror. A moment before the fight, he caught his eye and wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

Denji frowned and said completely uncharacteristically for himself, completely serious:

"Later."

At that point, Denji became his commander. What he didn't know was that there wasn't going to be any later. Not for Aki.

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Denji ran into the house. Makima fired him from her office, not a word about their deal. Technically, in the end, she defeated the Gun Devil. Denji couldn't even care about it at this point.

His hands trembled, covered in blood. Somewhere deep inside, he couldn't forgive Makima for telling him to let go of Aki's body.

"He's dead," she said in that pathologically reassuring tone of hers, and Denji just couldn't stay there. He ran home like a coward, not waiting for the body to be loaded into an ambulance or… whatever you put people in, obviously ultimately and irretrievably dead.

He didn't close the front door. Aki always did. It was one of the points of their old, habitual arguments before they even started…whatever they had.

He went into the bathroom and hovered over the faucet, but he couldn't turn on the water. It was the last trace of Aki he had.

He heard the creak of the front door opening.

"Whoever came here... Get out!" he shouted, and pushed the bathroom door open with his back. He fell into the corridor and froze. Behind the slowly opening door stood Aki, his shirt stained with blood and dirt and the barrel of a gun sticking out of his forehead.

"You…" he growled, his eyes white with fury. "You!"

"Give me your heart," he drawled in a choked voice.

"I will kill!"

He forgot to activate Pakita and lunged at it as if he was about to tear it alive. Aki, no, Fiend with Aki's face, grabbed his hands with perfect confidence. He still knew what was going to happen in the next half a second. Go to hell!

"Give me your heart-t," said calmly, almost friendly, the monster who had taken the only human that gave a damn about him.

He squeezed his hands firmly, but didn't break them. It didn't change the fact that he couldn't get away from it. His hands were immobile in the pressure as in iron chains without a chain.

"If you want my heart, you'd better give me Aki… bastard," he shouted in a complete idiotic tone.

"D-d-do," He replied, and Denji thought he sounded oddly cheerful about it.

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"So how does it works? We sign some paper and you rip my heart out?" Denji had no idea how he was so calm. He was sitting on the couch and Aki, the Gun Devil, was standing over him and watching with that farsighted eye of his. He wasn't even holding him down in any way, he just stood over him and watched, his head tilted slightly to the side as if it were weighing him down.

"You know damn well you don't."

"The Hunters will be here any minute."

"Are you worried? I left them with other amusements, take it easy. That's the advantage of being in many places at once. We have a little more time to ourselves."

"Will Aki live? Will he be… himself?"

"Yes. I didn't devour his soul. He'll have a... scar on his forehead. But I didn't damage his brain, however badly that might look."

"If he dies, you won't give me back my heart anyway," Denji muttered grimly. Aki just stared at him blankly. He just wanted to know one more thing. "Will Pakita die when you take my heart?"

Fiend looked at him searchingly, and after a moment's hesitation, as if searching for some lost information in his mind, replied:

"No."

He slapped his hands on his pants and stood up.

"Okay, how do we do it?"

They were about the same height. The Gun Devil tilted his head a little more. Denji watched as the eyelids closed over his corpse eyes, his bloody face approached, and as his lips pressed softly against his mouth. Denji felt the gun barrel cold against his temple. She dug in slightly as Aki deepened the kiss. Denji stared at his closed eyelid in shock, then just… closed his eyes. He felt cold hands slide his jacket off, then reach for the buttons. Liquid iron on his tongue.

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One would think that sex between two monsters would be brutal. Denji thought it would be weird and funny if it ever happened between them. That he'd smear his ass with frying fat straight from the pan, Aki would call him a lid, and then it'd be rough and awkward and they'd be talking filthy curses to each other, and then they'd cum in the other's face or come in fast and it would pour like porn. Aki pressed him to the sheets, hugged him and kissed his neck with tickling, electrifying kisses. The blinds in the room were closed as always. Denji stared at the dim ceiling. He felt the cold metal against the side of his head. He hugged the pale, broad back awkwardly and carefully looked at Aki's face. The skin was pale, covered with brown, dried blood and bruises, and had a faint pink blush on cheeks. He hummed softly from time to time.

"Aki?"

"Not yet." He broke away from him and slid down slowly. Denji felt his ass lift up and squealed as he felt a wet tongue between his buttocks. A ridiculously awkward thought occurred to him. Has he washed today? He felt himself blush. He couldn't help but make soft, sudden noises as he felt his tongue move inside him.

It's all he'll ever have. It's more than he really thought he'd ever get. And Aki will live.

The Gun Fiend spat on his hand. Denji saw the rhythmic movement of his elbow. He got up again and slowly covered him with himself. He suddenly tore his head away from his neck and frowned.

"We have to hurry," he gasped, looking into his eyes through half-lidded eyes.

"Mhm," he murmured absently and hugged him. The Gun Fiend lowered his head, crushing the muzzle into the pillow, and snorted a laugh into the crook of his neck. Denji felt his hips buckle, as they slid under him, denting the mattress mercilessly, and pressure appeared on his buttocks. Denji was familiar with pain, moreover, he liked pain, and that was before he became half-devil. So he pushed his body down without a moment's hesitation. Fiend grunted and closed a hand on his shoulder, then rose and began to push himself inside him with slow movements. Denji groaned, closed his eyes, and pushed the back of his head into the pillow. His head fell slightly to the side as he gasped with pleasure, running his hands over Aki's body until his hands tightened on Aki's hips.

"Denji?" The Gun Devil twitched inside him. Redish lashes fluttered, Denji turned his head slightly and looked up. Aki's blue eyes stared at him in surprise. His gaze slid down and was sharpened by pure terror. With a soft groan, he reached a hand towards his face, where he found fresh blood. His blood.

"Aki," Denji whispered in relief and came on his stomach with a strange lightness in his heart. He touched his fingers to his chest. What will it be like to lose heart? Will he just… die? Will Pachita die? The devil promised it won't happen.

"What's going on?" His hips kept moving against his will. Inside Denji. "What am I doing?"

Denji lifted his wiry, long arm and pressed a hand against his cheek.

"It's okay. Finish." Aki wanted to protest, but his stomach was filled with lust and something else. Some disgusting, crushing his consciousness, presence. His head throbbed and he wanted to scream in pain, but his body refused to stop. Denji slowly slipped his thumb into his mouth. "I wanted it." His teeth clenched and he tasted the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. The thing is, it wasn't just metallic, it was sweet, wonderful... roasted like caramel. It melted on his tongue like chocolate. Denji looked at him through narrowed eyes. His darkened chocolate eyes glittered between his lashes. Aki leaned in to touch him, to embrace him.

"Kill me," he whispered urgently. Denji jerked up. Aki came softly, with teeth bitten into his neck and a flexible tongue licking his blood.

"Everything's fine," Denji said, as if he had jammed himself against him. "You died, but soon the Gun Devil will set you free and you will live."

"What have you done!" Aki screamed in horror, trying to pull himself out of his embrace. Denji turned out to be stronger than him. Apparently the Gun Devil had no intention of interfering in their quarrel.

"I made a deal with him. It's right, Aki."

"I am a Fiend," he said deadly.

"It's temporary," Denji said tremblingly. "He'll be out soon."

"What did you do, Denji? What did you say to him!"

"You always cared for me, you really were the only one who cared, so, so I did…"

"You gave him your heart," Aki said, staring at him with terrible eyes that were not helped by the blood flowing into his eyes from the wound on his forehead. "You impossible idiot. You can not do it."

"I already did," he replied, raising his bitten finger to his eyes.

"Why?" he replied weakly.

"Like I said… you treated me okay," he replied miserably.

Aki shook his head in disbelief.

"Not enough for you to sacrifice yourself for me. I'm dead, Denji, it's just a shell. I'm just a monster inside."

"No," he replied, shaking his head slowly.

"Being a Fiend is irreversible.

"No."

"It's impossible, Denji."

"Possible, after all ... I exist!"

"It's not…" Aki stopped. "So that's it. What deal did you have with the Devil, exactly, word for word?"

"That you'll live. That he didn't destroy your brain and you can come back."

"I'm just like you. Like you and your devil."

This moment was chosen by all the hunter squads to fall through the window. Aki squealed and grabbed the duvet. Aki got up and jumped off the bed. The change was instant. The barrel fired in a quarter of a second and he became the Gun Devil again. Himeno's hand wobbled at the sight of them, but quickly she regained her icy blood and aimed it at Aki.

"No, wait, don't shoot him!" Denji began to protest, wrapping the sheet around himself.

"What's going on here?" she gasped. "Denji?"

"It's still Aki… in a… way."

Himeno's shoulders slumped slightly.

'I don't know what's going on here, but you've been deceived, Denji."

"No, no, I made a deal with him."

Makima climbed the window and stepped gracefully inside.

"What arrangement?" she asked, and her smile could cut glass.

"Eh, I gave him my heart." He scratched his head. "Sorry."

Makima stared at him for a moment with completely unblinking eyes, then said:

"Ah. Squads one, two, seven and four: let's go. And I'm expecting you two at my office tomorrow morning, dressed."

"That's it?" Power and Denji shouted simultaneously. The Gun Devil just nodded silently, watching her grimly.

"Denji, I'm glad you found someone you like more than me." She smiled at the Gun Devil, who was staring at her hatefully like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity. "Sometimes when a person likes someone very, very much, they want to own their heart… metaphorically. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"We can't leave it like this," Himeno said dryly.

"Are you going to hunt other Devils with us, Aki, The Gun Devil?" Makima asked, still smiling.

He turned his head and looked at Denji.

"Yes," he replied simply.

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The monster that killed his entire family wiping it off the face of the earth lived in his body now. He stood in the shower, staring at his hands that were dripping water and wondering if that was he who was actually holding them up in the air.

He registered Denji's presence outside the door even before he heard him. He didn't know how he did it. He was killing devils through walls by simply walking into a building and shooting at the ceiling. He always avoided civilians. He didn't know how he could trust himself, but he kept going on missions. The entire extra squad was there only to watch his back. He knew he could kill them all. Secretly from Denji, he brought three resignations. Makima tore them all up.

Aki made room in the shower without a word. Denji slipped into the cabin. His hair instantly stuck to his forehead under the stream. Aki moved it with his thumb. Denji grabbed his face and calmly leaned in for a kiss. He was actually a bit taller. Aki felt his sharp teeth on his lip. He pushed his lips and scratched the pink skin against one of them. Denji drank his blood like honey with his slightly rough tongue.

"There's something of a dog about you."

"Mhmm, and your blood tastes very metallic." Denji pulled back. "Are you wondering how much of a Gun Devil you got in you?" he replied, looking him in the eye.

"I go into the building and…I shoot before I think."

"In our job, you don't have to ask questions first."

"When he comes out... I can't control myself."

"I don't control myself either. That's the whole fun in that."

"Gun Devil killed my whole family."

Denji hugged him. He stroked his back with his slippery hands, small drops of warm water splashed against them, stood and was silent for a moment, and then decided to speak anyway.

"Then when he destroyed the cities?"

"Yes. I always thought I lived to kill him."

"Makima said that the Gun Devil is like a force of nature. It's not inherently bad, it becomes so in the hands of the people who use it."

"She wants me to fight for her. But I can't be trusted."

"I trust you."

"That's what I worry about the most."

"You haven't left with my heart in a suitcase yet, so I guess I have a reason to trust you." Aki didn't find a quick answer to that. He buried his face in the crook of his neck and felt a sudden shot of pain in his forehead that made his eyes water.

"I will always fight on your side," his mouth replied, and he knew perfectly well that he had not spoken the words.

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"Do you still have the Future Devil in your eye?" Denji asked him once after a particularly fast fight.

"I'm not going anywhere," his eye replied grimly. Aki may have died, but he didn't, so the deal stands. Sitting in the head of the Gun Devil is like the best action movie."

"I like action movies," Denji muttered. "Actually, I've never seen one."

Everyone looked at Aki hopefully, from the fuzzy Future Devil to the Gun Devil inside his brain.

"We can start with The Terminator ." He replied as he walked home. Denji did a happy dance, then ran after him with his arms outstretched like an airplane. He ignored the approving murmur of the Gun Devil in his brain.

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Kobeni thought she would die in the dust, they all ran after Darkness Devil and lost her behind them. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her in the middle and lift her from the rubble.

"I have a rule," Aki replied, the barrel bleeding in his forehead. "I never leave people behind."

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Himeno flashed the Wind Devil between the buildings. Somewhere on her back, Power tried to bind him with blood for the only organ that didn't melt into the air, his heart, but of course it kept disentangling itself with the grace of a prima ballerina.

Suddenly, a gust knocked her off her feet and pushed her into a glass skyscraper. From the floor of some office, she saw the heart get three shots. The great aerial body groaned and, this time irretrievably, dissolved in the air.

Power grabbed the upper frame of the window, cutting her fingers, and jumped inside.

"How many broken ribs?" she asked, plucking the glass out of her hair.

"Mostly glass in the back," she muttered woefully. Power pulled her slowly to her feet. "None of us have died in a month," she said thoughtfully.

Power laughed, showing all her teeth, as she always was.

"I don't believe we'll all survive just because Aki was jealous and wanted a dog."