Alright guys, sorry for the long wait for the story, while writing this chapter i started to also develop the next and ended up going on a long stride of writing these chapters one after another and building them both up with the story beats of the other. Hope you enjoy!

"I expect you to show some results, kid" a distant figure voiced within the seemingly endless expanse of abstract clouds and colors. Denji currently found himself in an endless void surrounded by nothing but his new mentors who were currently hiding their presence, all he could hear was the commanding voice of one of his current teachers.

"Honing your senses to one's energy is not an easy feat but you've shown promise up until now so keep your wits about you and remember your training" the voice continued as the light steps Denji heard around him suddenly vanished from his hearing and all he could take in was the subtle drone of the weird energy flowing along this strange realm they were transported into

"R-right" With a deep breath and his eyes closed, Denji began to take in everything around him to try and see and feel through nothing but this weird technique they'd been trying to teach him. At this point of his training, he was subjected to sitting cross-legged to keep his energy aligned…or whatever they told him. His body felt light but his head was muddy with so much noise that he could barely focus.

The whole premise was pretty much lost on him but he was told that this Energy-Sensing training would sharpen his senses to a whole new level. As their time there was passing, his back carried burn marks and bruises from being assaulted at unbelievable speeds from everywhere and at random times. He had to figure out their movements before they even made a sound and so far, he wasn't getting anywhere as he continued to search for faint signs of movement and changes in the atmosphere of the immediate area. He was still confused about why they had to move to such a weird place. In fact, everything he had been going through was a weird rollercoaster that made his short time serving public safety a non-eventful walk in the park.

"Hrrmm" His frustration grew as he simply couldn't perceive anything… no danger, no trouble, no nothing. Time kept passing and he grew more and more ten-

"Pay attention!" With a swift strike, a strong arm hit him right on the side of his bicep drawing a shriek of pain, clutching his now limp arm.

"Gyaaaaaah! Shit shit shit!" Denji had fallen to his side, clutching his now broken arm and writhing in agony as his assailant landed next to him, arms crossed with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Whoa, take it easy man!" Another taller figure shouted as he flew to their location with clear distress written all over his face due to the pain Denji was visibly going through.

"He's been through a lot worse, the kid is practically immortal anyways…here" A hand held his head back as another guided a small stream of crimson life right into his mouth. Following a loud gulp, Denji's arm started to straighten and his wounds healed to good as new.

"That still freaks me out y'know… You drink blood and you get all better no matter what" The other figure sat back, much more relaxed seeing Denji's freaky recovery.

"That would've come in handy plenty of times for me! Hehehe" With a charming chuckle, the more lighthearted of his companions in this weird empty place, softened the mood with a few strong pats on the teen's back.

"But cheer up, this guy's a hard-ass but we just want you to come out of this a real master y'hear? This is really important, if you get the basics of this down, nothin'll catch ya by surprise"

"The idiot's right. Being able to take the element of surprise out of any possible battle means a surefire victory and..." Crouching down, the more stern mentor placed his hand firmly on Denji's head and gave a small smirk.

"If I can't take pride in a student of mine being able to at least do this much then I'm no better a teacher than this dunce"

"Hey~!"

"Hehehe" With a small snicker, Denji began to feel more at ease and returned to his previous position, now breathing deeply and finding his head much clearer as he began to feel the very subtle changes in the atmosphere as the two figures faded, once again, into the nothingness.

Amongst the clutter and rabble of a local Ramen shop, a familiar crew of misfits went about their merry way chowing down on some bowls and reminiscing about the events of the past night.

"Speak!, you two never copulated?" spoke a certain blonde fiend as she continued to make a mess of the food in front of her.

"Hehehe you see…Denji here is more of a gentleman than you might believe" returned the senior with the eyepatch, as she shot a sort of mischievous grin towards him.

"Heh! You bet! I ain't gonna stray from the path! It's Miss Makima for me!" Denji triumphantly stated as he noisily slurped on some noodles, courtesy of Himeno herself.

"Snrrt" a crude snort interrupted his boasting as he turned to Aki who had just finished slurping his noodles with a confident grin.

Growling at him, Denji shot him with the classic glare of a high school punk "What's yer problem Top knot?!"

"None at all, dumbass, you just got a loooong way to go if you wanna impress Miss Makima" Aki replied as he calmly wiped his mouth before turning to Denji to continue his lecture.

"Makima is a class act and has been diligently working at the agency for longer than you might think, Shes is a serious woman focused on making this world a better place and our boss so think again if you think you're anywhere close to her heart"

"Oh brother… don't forget to kiss her feet next time we see her, why don't ya…" Grumbled an annoyed Himeno as she kicked his leg from below the table.

"Heh! I seem to remember her giving me a job here" retorted the blond as he waved his tie at the annoyed caretaker much to his buddy's amusement.

"Ha! Show him the fruits of his impudence" Power cackled as she patted his back violently, both annoying and affirming Denji.

"Yeah Yeah, ease up will ya?"

"Hehehehe…" With a soft giggle, Himeno rested her head on her hand upon the table as she looked on at the unfolding chaos with a certain sense of contentment. It's certainly been a while since she's had such a consistent string of good times. Since the party, she's been nothing but smiles contemplating that maybe her partner taking in these two maniacs wasn't too bad at all. Denji was still a matter of interest they would discuss in private as both his powers and Makima's reluctance to talk in detail about him, even to Aki, was certainly suspicious. The fiend was...well it's much better behaved than the usual unhinged chaos she would come to expect from a devil's temperament. She was a pathological liar, violent, and a complete egomaniac but she spoke in complete sentences and was mostly a team player, she seemed especially attached to Denji though, which was another interesting tidbit. Denji was still a human from what little they could gather and fiends would only go as far as to tolerate them but that Power is constantly hanging off of him since their encounter with the bat devil.

Setting her bowl aside, she fixed her gaze on Aki and could only muster up a few deeply philosophical thoughts.

'Man, he's hot...' but also, she would ruminate on everything else that came with that hotness, he was a team player, handsome, he's mostly cold but thoughtful in everything he did. She knew he cherished their partnership given he's never pushed away her advances, though he showed no initiative towards anything except killing the gun devil and…pleasing that bitch Makima.

With a deep sigh, Himeno chose to remain in her head as she swirled the broth with her chopsticks watching the little bits of noodles swirl around separate but ultimately ending up together by the flow of the liquid. Feeling a bit of silence in front of her she looked up across the table to spot the young blond's gaze fixated sharply on the man that sat down across the restaurant.

"..." Denji was in the middle of enjoying the last slurps of his messy bowl of ramen when he suddenly felt the all-too-familiar shock running across his spine. Directing his attention to the source of the small change in pressure he locked his eyes with a hand hidden beneath a trench coat of a quiet, solitary man sitting far from them though he could tell that man was watching them closely even if he seemed entranced in his food.

"Yo, Top-knot"

"What?"

"You know that guy?"

"No, Why?"

"Something doesn't sit right with me" Extending his leg he nudged Power and she immediately responded.

"Why must you disrupt my mea-" Stopping her in her tracks, the fiend's demeanor changed to a stoic gaze as her eyes met with those of her buddy. This is the first time she's seen his eyes so focused and intense, this meant a battle was a'brewing and she would not miss out.

"What are you guys-" Himeno tried to interject as the change in atmosphere began to raise her alertness, before getting cut off.

"This guy's trouble…" Denji firmly informed her as she raised her eyebrow and scanned the man calmly sitting down, before settling on believing him as the other two were already on high alert. Exchanging glances with Aki they resolved to pretend to enjoy their meals in peace as Denji and Power, in their hard-headed way, could not be bothered to pretend any further.

"You know, it's rude to stare…" A gruff voice pointed out as a pair of dark eyes finally rose to set themselves on the group.

"Not a very nice way to start a conversation, but…" Getting up, much to the worry of those already on edge, the mysterious man nonchalantly continued, regardless.

"I have business with the kid there"

Taking out a small snapshot from within his trenchcoat, the stranger revealed a picture of a young boy happily posing for a photo with an older, stern-looking gentleman.

"That anyone I'm supposed to know?"

"You've spoken to me human and with no honorifics! Have you a death wish?"

With a small smirk, the man chose to ignore the yapping girl and turned his attention to Denji "Suppose you've let your head rot to oblivion…this is my grandfather you see"

Raising an eyebrow in slight confusion Denji retorted "...And?"

With a low growl of annoyance, the man shook the picture once in front of Denji "Asshole, this was a great man…before he was killed by a smug little prick not too long ago" Putting the picture back, the man switched to the other side of his trenchcoat as Denji's senses were on full alert.

"But see…Word on the street is the Gun devil's after your heart" Pulling out a gun the man fired first onto Denjis's head preparing for the satisfying splatter of blood to come out from the idiotic teenager's head.

CLINK

"W-what?"

"Impressive!"

"D-Denji h-how?"

"What the fuck are you?" Astonished, the man stumbled back for a few seconds at a scene he could not believe even after seeing it unfold before his eyes.

"The fuck is your problem?" Denji barked at the man as he threw the hot piece of lead that was caught between his thumb and index finger to the floor and got up, cracking and stretching his neck.

With another volley of shots and growing ever more desperate, the man switched his focus to the rest of the group as the blurred image of his primary target zoomed across the table and took every shot.

Turning his back to the assailant, Denji was now holding a speechless Himeno as a trail of blood was now descending from his forearm.

"You alright, ma'am?"

"...Uh huh" Stunned, she could only stare with wide eyes at the teen as he set her down back at her seat and turned to glare at the man with a mysterious rumbling overtaking the entire structure and knocking the man off balance.

"Dammit, what the hell is going on?" Putting his weapon up once more he noticed that the girl with the red horns was no longer in his sight.

"wha- OOF" A swift palm strike from below sent him into the air as Power had already darted towards his location before he could even notice.

"Denji!"

"Already on it." In a split-second, a fist rampaged through the space between them and met the man's stomach as he felt everything around him fade into nothingness.

"H-how…" Losing his grip on his consciousness the man fell to his knees, then the ground as a pool of barf and saliva formed below him, the product of the swift impact to his gut.

"..." Looking down at his assailant, Denji sighed in contempt before turning to Power and high-fiving his buddy before she immediately latched onto his arm.

"A most admirable display Denji! But were it not for me you lot would be a bloody mess!"

"Yeah yeah…" Turning to Aki, Denji resumed his more serious demeanor "Well, you're the veteran here, any idea who the hell this dumbass is?"

"No idea…But seeing as the threat is neutralized I'm more interested in how the hell you're gun proof…Is that supposed to be a feature of your weird powers? I thought you could only cut things" Poking at Denji's chest, the senior continued to press him "And what was that earthquake that seemed to happen as if on cue?... I want answers''

"I'll…I'll tell you later"

Ignoring his shifty, annoying eyes, Aki sighed and turned to his partner "Anyways…How are you Himeno? Are you alright?...um…yo."

"Wha…" Eyes glued on Denji once more, it seemed this kid had nothing but surprises for her. What was that speed, that power? What the hell was he?

"Hey! Senpai you there?"

"Snap out ye trance, Harlot!"

"H-huh?" blinking a few times she snapped back to reality, seeing as the group was now fixated on her as if what just happened wasn't world-shattering. "O-oh I'm fine but…That man is a total stranger to me as well, but why does he even have a gun?"

"My question exactly, these are only issued to some public safety agents and police, You can't exactly get one so easily here" Aki responded as he lit another cigarette to calm his nerves.

Chiming in, Power pointed back at the unconscious man behind them "The miscreant mentioned the Gun Devil before firing at us, isn't that our primary objective?"

"Shit, the fiend is right, if the devil is just handing out weapons to criminals the entire department might be in trouble…" Aki rubbed his chin as he began to pace and mumble to himself about how they should approach this situation.

"Well, I would assume it's best we take the filthy human in for questioning" Power chimed in, now unraveling from Denji's arm and placing her hands on her hips.

"True, it's safe to assume this man wasn't acting on his own, who knows how many more people the Gun devil might've gotten to do its bidding…alooot of baddies out there hungry for power" Walking towards the man, Himeno motioned for Denji.

"Help us take him back to HQ. Your girlfriend's gonna want to hear about this"

"Pfft! I wish" Denji answered, amused and grinning at her remarks "But sure let's-"

Stopping in his tracks, Denji outstretched his arm to stop Himeno from going any further as well.

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

Denji's eyes widened as he began to walk back, hooking Himeno's and Power's arms around his and dragging them down with him "Something's coming! Duck!".

With a thunderous crash, a strange snake-like creature burst through the windowed wall of the restaurant destroying the upper half of the building and leaving the group exposed to the outside. The behemoth seemed to appear out of nowhere as they were several stories over the street level and there was nothing to suggest it even came from anywhere but thin air.

The group cautiously got up as they saw its mouth open and a young girl calmly walking right out of it

"What now?..." Aki growled under his breath as he slowly placed his hand across his line of sight in position to summon Kon.

"Ghost.." Raising her hand slightly, Himeno called for her devil's aid, turning to the ghastly hand in front of her, showing its gnarly teeth in disapproval.

"I will not face this woman or that man, they are harrowing beasts"

"W-what? I need you Ghost! This is the first time you've ever said anything like that just…what the hell is that girl?" Studying the girl's frame, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary if you didn't count her chaotic entrance and strangely calm demeanor. She was petite and frankly not threatening-looking at all except…She felt chills when the girl's cold gaze came over to them.

"..." Scanning the area, the woman's stoic gaze rested upon the motionless body of the assailant.

"So you've lost." She uttered quietly to herself as she leaned in and grabbed him by the back of his neck.

"Get up."

"Ugh…." Standing up, the formerly unconscious attacker grumbled to himself as she scolded him.

"How the hell did you allow yourself to lose?"

"Underestimated them…no worries, it won't happen again" The man winced as he removed his hand to reveal a blade sticking out from his arm. As his cold glare focused on Denji.

"You damned brat…it's time you atoned for your sins, I hear that you're the same as me…So I'll just slice you up and make your life a living hell until you grovel and beg for forgiveness!" Snarled the man as his body began to contort and grow…swords? His appearance resembled Denji's transformation as a sword sliced its way out of his head and the rest of his face was just jaws with exposed teeth. Similarly, his arms grew swords from each hand as he gathered his bearings and crouched ominously.

"It's over."

"Hmph!..as if asshole!" Denji pulled the chord on his chest and transformed into his wild appearance as he cackled at the man readying his attack.

"Gyahahahaha! Come at me loser!" with the roar of his engine, Denji moved into a stance of his own, ready for anything that may come.

Gritting its teeth, the bladed monster suddenly disappeared from view and returned to everyone's field of vision in a fraction of a second. Everyone was left stunned as the resulting force of his ludicrous speed blew their hair back as well as their minds. How were such movements possible?

"I-i couldn't even see him?..." Power stammered to herself as she stumbled over her steps.

"W-what" Himeno stuttered as she fell on her behind, blood staining her suit but one thing was certainly off.

"Denji! You alright?!" After realizing what just happened, Aki immediately switched into his battle stance just about to summon the fox as he looked at Denji's bloodied body, strangely still standing.

"The hell are ya guys mumbling about?"

With the sound of metallic clutter cutting through the tension, everyone's eyes turned to the towering devilish man still standing tall though subtly shaking.

"What…the hell?" The mysterious girl questioned as she began to take a few steps back.

"I- I wasn't informed of this, Damn it!"

"U-ugh…" The man fell to his knees as blood began to splatter from his mouth and the protruding swords shattered to the ground.

"Well…that's that" Denji turned his head to keep an eye on the man, making sure he didn't have any new tricks up his sleeve before a yell pulled him out of focus.

"Denji look out!" Himeno alerted him as she pointed behind him to the behemoth suddenly making its appearance again, seemingly out of thin air. With a ghastly chomp, its jaws closed on Denji's body as the girl emerged from underneath the coiling body of the devil, blood dripping from her finger as one of her nails withered away into nothing.

"I was told Chainsaw Man was currently just some batshit crazy brat…I don't know what mess public safety has cooked up with that monster but nothing escapes Snake's jaws. Now he and his powers belong to the g-"

VRMMMM

The drone of a chainsaw began to slowly rise from the sounds of the crumbling building as the gargantuan monster began to swing around violently thrashing everything around it.

"Snake! What is this?!"

"Miss Sawatari! I-" With the bloody roar of an engine and a piercing flash of light, the Devil's body was swiftly eviscerated as a cackling Denji, a demon in his own right, spun right out of its guts, the chainsaws at the end of each arm now imbued in a sparking light and any rubble, flesh, and other miscellaneous devil parts they came in contact with gave way to it's empowered bladed chains like butter under a hot knife. Covered in strange white flames Denji rose from the bloody mountain of otherworldly flesh and turned towards the frightened woman as he extended his arm and the chains began to detach from the chainsaws and extend rapidly towards the girl, halting her attempted escape.

"Awright missy! You're either gonna be my ticket to impressing Miss Makima or I'll shred ya right here, you decide!" pulling her to him, she fruitlessly struggled and kicked him as he only watched on, all but the chains holding her captive, now melting away revealing his more human features.

"Shit shit shit shit shit! Snake, the mission failed! End it!" She shouted into the wind but this time to no answer and the rest of her nails intact. Both she and Denji look over to the corpse of the devil now lying gnarled and disemboweled on the floor of the destroyed restaurant.

"Yeeeeaaah nothing's happening…dude or dudette's dead." With a smug grin, he swiftly moved behind her and delivered a strike to the back of her neck, watching as her eyes grew dull and shut.

"That's that, Let's take the cutie back guys, seems to me like more of these weirdos might pop up anytime…soon?" Denji halted as he noticed the dumbfounded looks on their faces.

'Shit…'

A wide-eyed Himeno stormed up to him and cupping his face to drag him down to eye-level, she began to unload the mess that was in her head from witnessing the teen's swift and efficient disposal of two highly dangerous individuals. Aki was still frozen in place and Power darted for him with a look of absolute awe on her face.

"Denji what the hell is going on!?"

"That was an amazing display partner!" Coiling her arms around Denji's arm, much to his surprise, and buried her face on his shoulder with the biggest smile.

Aki, slowly bringing himself back down to reality, joined the fray as he walked right up to Himeno's side and crossed his arms "You weren't nearly this competent back at that hotel and now you're doing away with two armed assailants, one who can transform just like you and another with a mysterious contract with the Snake Devil, not to mention killing the devil itself, which, to my knowledge, was pretty high up on our list of dangerous encounters."

"And those moves are not normal…it was honestly amazing…" Softening her glare, Himeno sighed and playfully patted his cheek before turning and hooking her arm around the still-troubled Aki.

"You got yourself a pretty good prospect eh?" She playfully poked Aki's cheek to which he replied with an annoyed grunt followed by a small smile.

"I guess…still, Denji I want to know what the hell is up with you…We'll talk when we get back, time is precious, who knows what the hell is going on" Aki motioned Denji to hand the girl over.

"We'll take the girl, take the man and everything he came with. If we can ID him we'll be able to get to the bottom of this. If the gun devil is starting to move again we have to be on our toes." Aki motioned for the body of the girl as he started to walk amongst the rubble towards the stairs

"U-uh sure" Denji then promptly cursed to himself as he handed the girl over to Aki before turning to find the space where the body of the man once lay, now empty.

"Shit…I guess he really is like me" Denji uttered as Aki growled in frustration and directed the group to hastily keep moving.

"We don't know when or where that guy is gonna strike again so let's MOVE" Hurrying down the staircase the group quickly found themselves facing a trembling Kobeni surrounded by about a half dozen bodies of random men.

"Kobeni?!" Himeno shouted as she carefully stepped closer to the girl not knowing if she finally snapped or if the pair they fought brought more friends.

"U-um…M-Miss Himeno" Overcome with a whirlwind of emotions the small young woman could only drop the gun and cradle her face, moistened by tears.

"I-it's m-my fault" Almost falling to her knees amidst the sea of blood, her tired body fell onto the support of Himeno's arms As the rest surveyed the carnage.

With a low whistle, Denji scratched the back of his head with his still free hand trying to soak in the landscape "You did all this dude? Where was this back at the hotel?"

"This is…impressive to say the least"

The Hayakawa trio walked along the aftermath of the battle, looking for any key clues about their attackers as the troubled girl looked for calm and comfort in Himeno's arms.

"A-Arai…was killed, I couldn't even react in time…t-to save him" Kobeni struggled to get her words out as she gripped the sleeve of Himeno's suit.

"Oh…you poor thing it's alright" Ever the motherly figure, she stroked her poor juniors head in an attempt to calm her down whilst holding her tightly.

Noticing the scene and feeling a little uneasy at seeing a cute girl cry, Denji tapped on Power's shoulder as she continued to hold onto him "Hey, give me a sec okay? I wanna say somethin', and I dunno what's gotten into you but I ain't your furniture"

"Such insolence! Fine, dummy! but be quick about it" Dropping her hold, she gave the blond a nasty look and walked off to lounge around, completely ignoring Aki's annoyed stare.

Shaking his head at the fiend's antics, Denji just settled to ignore her usual stunts and made his way to the girls.

"H-hey she's right you know…the way I see it, y'guys are kickass no matter what, and…in the battlefield, these things can happen, it's not anyone's fault but the person that attacked you guys so take it easy on yourself" Squatting down in front of the girls he gave Kobeni his signature 'peace' and toothy grin.

"Wow, well said Denji" pleasantly surprised, Himeno shot Denji a warm smile before pampering her junior some more "It's okay to mourn, Beni dear, but don't take it too hard"

"Thank you both…Denji-'' Extending a small delicate hand, she gripped Denji's shirt, still trembling.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry…I tried to get you killed…"

"S'alright, just promise me you won't wimp around anymore and I'd be happy to work with ya anytime!"

With a small chuckle, the young upstart got up and bowed before her two colleagues before shooting them an awkward smile.

"Thank you both!"

"Don't sweat it cutie, now give us the rundown, let's leave the fallout of this attack until after we can regroup with the others."

"R-right!" Straightening her posture, Kobeni began to explain the details of her own harrowing experience to the two, making it very clear, very fast that this was not only targeted to Denji but the entire Special Division 4, including Makima.

"That's what I could gather from the radio I took from our assailant, their motives or origins I do not know…forgive me"

"Well shit, you hear all this Aki?" Himeno motioned for her partner to join them with Power following close behind.

"Yeah, whatever it may be plotting, that Gun bastard's got his eyes set on us. If Kobeni could listen in on all of their communications, the strikes were only targeted to our division with not even a single mention of the other ones, and apparently, the bastards attacked Miss Makima as well"

"Yes… Though there was no confirmation of it being successful…unlike the others, and the strangest part is there have been zero words from the other group since I got here"

"You check all their radios?" inquired Himeno, now rubbing her chin, trying to make sense of everything.

"Yes… All silent"

"That's strange…" Aki added, passing the girl off to Denji and grabbing his Public Safety-issued cell phone. "I'll contact headquarters and give a quick debrief, see if we can get a car here quickly"

All agreeing to the plan, Denji took the unconscious girl off of Aki's hands and threw the body over his shoulder.

"Well'p now we wait~"

In sunny Kyoto, Makima calmly walked down the enormous staircase out of a majestic temple as a pair of nervous hunters followed closely behind. After thanking the correctional officers and informing them of the clean-up procedure, the trio began their way back to the station and then to Tokyo.

"Um Miss, we've gotten word that all of Special Division 4's agents have been hit but some did manage to survive the assault, Hayakawa just informed us that his unit is fine and they are currently with Higashiyama who also survived…they're…the only ones that managed to make it out"

"Hmm, I see." In a low and almost monotonous tone, Makima ruminated on the results of this assault.

"They are amazing, aren't they? Hayakawa managed to find himself surrounded by an ever more impressive group"

"Seems so, Miss" The lady of the group responded.

"Let's try to pick up the pace then, there's a lot to discuss once we make it to Tokyo, this will likely not be a single, contained event."

"Yes, ma'am" The duo now responded in unison.

As the calm breeze wafted over them on their brisk walk home the dark events that took place just moments prior and the bloody information she gathered on the status of the rest of Division 4 seemed to float away with the gentle caress of the wind only to be replaced by the cold, analytical storm that raged on her mind.

How was any of this possible? She had guessed this group would pose a greater threat to the hunters except for Hayakawa's group and that Higashiyama girl who swiftly eliminated a small armada consisting of a very dangerous hybrid and a girl with a powerful contract. Her eyes in Tokyo managed to relay to her a scene she could hardly follow. The boy never moved like that, The boy could never do any of that. The vessel for her hero never once displayed this level of combative prowess before. A bullet barely broke his skin and the air around him turned so violent on a whim the entire building shook. She could remember her throat becoming dry and her knees almost failing her, the sense she got from that battle gave way to a new feeling of uncertainty she never experienced. Her expertise is control and domination, no chess piece moved out of her path and any variable would be swiftly dealt with. But this time she was shaken, her heart accelerated as for the first time since she had a healthy memory, she didn't know what would happen next.

As her mind raced she almost failed to notice they were already on a train ride back to Tokyo. She, once again, leaned on the glass of her cabin and pondered upon the setting sun.

What did she have to do to keep this puppy-turned-wolf on her side?

"Miss Tendo."

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"This whole mess has my mind in a whirl, could you check when my next free day is?"

"S-sure Miss, right away"

"Thank you, dear"

Placing a hand on her chest, Makima closed her eyes and gently blew out a small sigh. Never has her head been this muddy and it irritated her to no end. She needed to get a grasp on the situation and she could not afford to let anything slip out of her control.

Denji was still her dog, regardless. That will NOT change.

After Dropping Himeno off, the trio drove back to Aki's apartment with Denji almost busting down the door, much to Aki's anger.

"Mannnnnn what a day huh?"

"Will you take it easy on the door? You two may live here now but this is still MY apartment"

"Yeah, yeah…Hey Powie what's up, man, you can let go now...hellooo" Denji had already taken notice of it but ever since the attack the fiend was hanging off of him like a fly to stale Takoyaki, even more so than before. Grumbling like a displeased child, she loosened her grip on his arm and crossed her own.

"What a pitiful man, to deny closeness with such a bewitching beauty!"

"Yeah sure buddy, you hungry? Aki'll make ya something"

"Maybe I'll just let you both starve since you're getting real comfortable with the idea of ordering me around"

"Heathen!"

"Bwahahahahaha! Man what a riot, I'll wait at the table, Mr. Sir"

"Grrrrr Fine! But I'm giving half your serving of meat to Power and we're still a long talk about just what the hell is up with you"

"HA! You are now my favorite, ponytail!"

"Ass…"

After a bath each and a lively meal, Power retired to the bath while Aki and Denji stayed behind and chatted at the table.

"Spill it, Denji, what happened back there"

"I…I'm just that strong y-you never noticed?"

"Sure, let's say I didn't, that still isn't enough to explain just how you're able to do all of this. Why is it that you can transform into a Devil and why are you bulletproof and so blindingly fast?"

"Fine! But only 'cause the food is good…"

"And…the fact that you live in MY apartment"

"-On Miss Makima's order, so that ain't just cause you're some saint"

"Heh, I'll give you that. But don't change the topic."

"Fine, Well I died once and the chainsaw Devil back then was my bestie so… he became part of me and brought me back to life with like a Devil's heart…That's the quick explanation"

"So… The chainsaw devil is also responsible for your other strange feats even before you transformed?"

"Uh, y-yeah! Transformin' just gives me those cool chainsaws but I'm stronger all around!"

"Yeah, but you were nowhere near that good back at the hotel. Took you three days to beat that infinity Devil and while it was strong it didn't seem that especially capable"

"Look man, I'm just strong! I beat it, didn't I?" Feeling a little cornered Denji snapped back, raising his arms defensively.

"Hmmm…I won't pry that much. I've never heard of Devils and humans joining together so I can't really make any sense anyways and you did save our lives so if anything that's reason enough to trust you"

"Hell yeah man, keep making good food and I'll have yer back!" With a toothy grin, Denji extended his fist towards Aki who replied with a fist bump much to his surprise

"Heh! If there's more of that I'll cook you something even better if you'll help me kill the Gun Devil"

"Easy peasy, Don't even sweat it!" Denji beamed although the back of his head was plagued with a bit of guilt for not being fully truthful to his roommates and…friends? Himeno was the first to ever say it outright but he's been living with Aki and Power for a while now and they pretty much do everything together so…Are they also friends? Denji never had friends before so this sent him into deep thought as he laid back and stared at the ceiling.

"Well, I'm heading off, we gotta be early at Miss Makima's office so don't spend all night lying there."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit" Waving Aki off Denji went back to staring at the ceiling and wondered about the blossoming relationships. It wasn't long until he'd just settled into this life he had after living most of his life in what's hell and now just hanging around with all of these people was slowly becoming his new normal. It helped that he spent a couple of years with his teachers and the rest of the weirdo-aliens. Denji had adjusted to a lot of different dynamics back then and it did help him be more in tune with being a bit social. He still wondered if he could keep it going and continue with his training in secret. If they, Himeno, hopefully, Makima, and who knows who else was sticking along for the long haul, Denji had to come clean eventually, keeping the secret going was too exhausting even after just a few days.

The danger that posed was also too real to ignore, Denji knew watchful eyes were keeping tabs on him and his entire universe and that the real nature behind his newfound strength would cause such a big stir it might alter their plans for him. Also bearing the fate of the universe on his shoulders was tiring as all hell but he had built up a resolve to push for better things during his training…Makima…his friends and his purpose; Everything seemed less muddy and stronger in his head than anyone else. Living a good life was building something nice with them and if Pochita's words of warning were anything to go by, the toughest part was going to be bringing his first love into the fray. Makima was entirely different from what he imagined but he still loved her and being surrounded by so many people with insane resolve made his insanity a bit more believable. At least he had to try.

"Oi. Denji, are you not going to sleep?"

"Oh Hey, I'll be there in a minute"

Hearing a small hum as a response he went back to contemplating the nature of his newfound place and role in the world. He had acquired a skillset that made most of his new job as a hunter a breeze, but it came at the cost of too much trouble and unwanted attention. And Miss Makima… She wasn't an idiot either. He was sure that if she ever caught sight of him doing anything out of the ordinary she would be immediately suspicious and he had nothing to prepare him to deal with her if she asked him anything about it. One look into her eyes and there was no way he could lie to her, she was just so- oof!

Startled at the sudden weight coming down on his stomach he opened his eyes to find his partner sitting on him in what was to him, the most dangerous get-up he'd ever seen. She sat with a small pair of red shorts that barely covered the top half of her thighs and a very un-Power-like crop top that only hung down to the middle of her ribcage, exposing her taut stomach to the brisk night air.

He lay speechless as her hands laid on his chest supporting her weight on him, her crosshair eyes focused solely on him and sending strange chills down his spine. Her eyes had a different energy to them, slightly narrowed and glistening in the dimly lit room; she didn't look like a bratty, spoiled, goblin that just wanted to cause chaos. These were the eyes of a woman that's as woman as women could get... At least as far as he knew.

"Power…what's…up?" As his body rose to meet her at eye level, the shift made her slide down his stomach to the floor as her legs moved from straddling him to folding behind him. It was almost eerie how she never once broke eye contact as her hands slid up his chest to his face and…slapped him.

"Yeouch! What the hell, asshole!"

"Denji! Are you going to stay here on your own?"

"What?"

"Come to bed with me, dummy!"

"I said I'll be there in a sec geez! What? Do you need a bedtime story now to fall asleep?"

With an annoyed growl, she grabbed at his cheeks and roughly pulled them.

"Are you really so dense?"

"What the hell are you on about? And what's with that getup you look…um"

"I look what?!"

"Weird! It's too weird!"

"Weird? The audacity of this meat bag!"

"No! I mean you're you! Since when are you…aghh!"

"Speak!"

"Hot! There I said it…and it's weird! Why are you, like, hot?" Denji quickly turned to face the wall in an attempt to not see her reaction or even look her in the eye. It felt so strange for him to say that about Power. Sure he was into her at the start but after that boob fiasco it was done, they were always close but he didn't see her like that again. He was supposed to only have eyes for Miss Makima dammit!

Blinking in silence for a few seconds she began to process his words and a small blush made its way to her cheeks as well as the smug-est, bratty-est grin anyone could imagine.

"Ho ho! So it worked! I must say I had zero doubts on the power of my charm but I knew this wondrous body would enchant you someday, you wild beast!" With another slap she shot him a beaming smile full of smugness and just like that, she was back to the usual fiend he knew.

"There it is." clamping down on her cheeks with his hand he squeezed her face earring a few grunts of protest from the fiend.

"So what's the deal with you?"

"If I must explain, well…" With the slight tinge of red still adorning her cheeks she buried her face in his chest which was…cute? All of this was sending Denji for a whirl, this was not how he envisioned his day going.

"Today you displayed a wonderful prowess for combat and…it was impressive and…I don't especially care for any humans but I cannot deny strength when I see it and once again you assisted us in winning that day…"

"Uh huh…so how does that explain you acting' all weird?" Stroking her hair, he couldn't help but smile at her acting so unlike her usual self, she really was a cute girl for the moment.

"Don't be so dense Denji… you were…cool"

"Oh? Well look at Powy being all girly~" he teasingly patted her back as she looked up and her eyes…were the same as they were when she first jumped him.

"-And it ignited in me this burning desire to mate."

"Huh?!" Crawling on all fours, Denji darted backward until his head hit the kitchen counter behind him.

"Wuh-wuh-What?"

"A Devil as amazing as I, Power, values strength in combat overall, and I could sense an overwhelming strength within you… You shook the very foundations of the building with your presence, as you did to my body. As the dust settled, your scent was so enthralling I could barely hold back" Power explained as she slowly crawled towards him.

"Y-yo, s-seriously?"

"Very …so I decided to do some research and present myself as would be most pleasing to your eyes, dummy! So react!"

"Power…y-you're actually serious?" Denji's voice now eased down as she arrived at his spot, her face now mere inches away from his.

"Yes, so…" Leaning in, she supported herself by placing a slender hand on his shoulder and put her lips to his ear.

"Take me." She whispered before tilting her head towards the curve of his neck just before his torso, breathing in the scent of his blood traveling just beneath the skin. Her eyelids fluttered in desire as she tentatively brushed her lips against the reactive skin.

Feeling a strong hand grip her exposed waist she smiled and wrapped her arm around his neck before using her weight to pull them both back with Denji now over her, her legs firmly locked behind his hips and her other hand snaking around his neck as well.

Denji's breath was short and quick as his eyes seemed lost although not in thought... His hormones were on full blast as the erotic scene unfolded before him. She was beckoning him to do as he pleased and even came to him in such a tempting way. He slammed his fists on the floor next to her trying dearly to regain control over his mental state but his outbursts just made her bite her lips and dig her nails into his back in excitement.

"Denji!..." tightening her legs around him, she pushed their hips together and licked her lips as she felt something that piqued her interest now pushing against her.

"Dammit!…" Feeling her fingers coiling around the waistband of his shorts and tugging he growled in frustration and took her hands away, pushing them to the floor behind her earning a surprised yet still aroused look from her. It seemed force was her preferred language but Denji had other plans.

"Power i-…Shit, I can't believe I'm saying this"

"What?..."

"I…I really want to! Don't misunderstand me!"

"Then do it! You humans prefer the bedroom no? I'm growing impatient Denji so take me there"

"I-i can't dammit! You know…you know I want..my first time to be with Miss Ma-"

With a notable whoosh and a gust of wind, Power slipped out of his hold and adjusted her clothes, which were halfway off, and took off into their room but not before looking back at him with a nasty scowl.

SLAM….CLICK

She locked the door. She really didn't want to look at him right now and he could understand that much, at least.

"Shit…" He couldn't believe he blew off two chances to graduate into adulthood now and with two girls that would've been completely out of his league at any other point in his life.

Things were starting to get annoyingly complicated around him. Turns out Power's into him but hates his guts cause he didn't do anything to her. Aki is clearly suspicious of his powers even if he did choose to stop questioning him, for now. Seemed like the only people going with the flow, at least as far as he knew, were Himeno and Miss Makima. He sighed as he rolled on his back and went right back to staring at the lonely ceiling while feeling like trash who couldn't even get laid even if it was in front of him on a platter, twice. But he's holding out for something special, he needs to at least see if it'll work out before even thinking about letting loose.

Hearing the door open next to him, he turned to find Aki who wordlessly poked his head out from his room with a drowsy and annoyed face on.

"Ah, sorry, everything's cool" Denji gave him a peace sign and chuckled awkwardly as Aki just nodded.

"Sleep. No sleeping during the meeting tomorrow, Good night."

"Night." After the door closed, Denji just laid back and found a comfortable spot before letting his body give in to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would bring better things, especially since he would get to see Makima again. With high hopes, he smiled to himself as he dozed off into the night.