"Urghh…"

Denji's eyes sluggishly creaked open as his dreamless sleep came to an end. He'd managed to get some sleep in the end, though only after staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours, forcing himself to tune out the soft snores of his new roommate. Denji stared at the roof blankly for a minute before sluggishly turning his head to glance over at the futon Reze had been sleeping on the night before, only to find it empty.

'Huh… wonder where she's got to…', Denji thought blearily as he closed his eyes again. He still felt exhausted, and it wasn't just because he had a girl sleeping in his room. Instead, he felt like he'd woken up from a nightmare only to remember not a single thing about it. It was frustrating, and it had happened a couple of times since he started at Public Safety, but at this point, Denji was just putting it down to sleeping somewhere that wasn't a shed…

"Sleep well, Denjiii?", a soft voice whispered beside him, their breath tickling his ear

"Nah, was kinda crap real- wha!?"

Denji nearly jumped out of his skin as he bolted upright, whipping around to face the direction the voice had come from, now well and truly awake as he met the eyes of the girl who had just moments ago been on his mind.

"The hell are you doin' up here Reze!?"

The girl in question was currently reclining on the bed right next to where Denji had been lying, propped up on her elbow, her hand supporting her head. Reze was grinning like a Cheshire cat as she responded, "What? I thought you would've enjoyed sharing a bed?"

"Well… I'm not against the idea…", Denji scratches his cheek idly in embarrassment, "How long have you been there, anyways?"

"Geez…", Reze pouts as she pushes herself up into a seated position with her legs crossed, "It's not as fun when you don't get all flustered y'know…"

Denji grins at her faux disappointment, deciding to press his advantage, "So what were you doin' in my bed anyway? That's awful clingy for someone who's only a couple feet away."

Reze fixed him with a deadpan stare, "The plan was to make you go red as a tomato, but you just haaad to ruin all my fun…"

Denji smirks at that, "You say that, but I think you just wanted a closer look at the merchandise!"

For her part, Reze continued staring at him for a few moments, her expression unreadable as she slid over to the side of the bed and stood up.

"Reze…?", Denji watched as she began to make her way to the door, confused at her unresponsiveness. He was just about to open his mouth to question her as she looked over her shoulder with a sly smirk on her face.

"You drool in your sleep by the way."

And with that Reze stalked out of the door, leaving Denji behind trying to splutter out a coherent response. "Hey! That's not tr-", Denji's eyes widened in realisation mid-way through his shout.

"How'd you know that?! Just how long were you were you watching me sleep?!"

"I'm going in for a shower Denjiii, no peaking!", Reze's muffled voice responded, dripping with mirth.

"Reze?!"

'Bit late for her to tell me not to peak now, I've seen everything already…'

Denji was grumbling as he made his way to the flat's small kitchen, yawning as he opened a cupboard and fished out a canister of coffee and a bag of sugar, and then ambling to the fridge and grabbing a carton of milk, setting both down on the counter.

'Though, seein' that view in the daylight would be nice…', Denji was lost in thought as he held two mugs in his hands, his cheeks rosy as he thought back to that night at the school, Reze's lithe form lit up by the light of the moon.

Denji brought the mugs over and put the kettle on to boil, the thought of seeing Reze naked again proving hard to shake, the sound of the running shower from the bathroom only working to fuel his imagination further. As he prepared the coffee, Denji found himself grinning, only a couple of months ago he'd been living on the streets, and now here he was, living in a comfy flat, working a government job with people he (generally) got on with and making coffee for a hot girl he'd just been in bed with.

Sure, people tried to kill him every once and a while, but it sure felt like he was living in a dream…

Denji brought the cups over to the living room table, setting Reze's down before sitting down on the opposite side, taking a sip from his own drink.

'Eh… ain't half bad, definitely better than yesterday's anyway'

As Denji sipped on his coffee, he noticed a post-it note stuck to the side of the table, picking up the small note, immediately noticing that it was Aki's handwriting as he read:

'Took Power to meet up with her new buddy, a kid called Yoshida. Makima has decided to give you two the day off, so I left a bit earlier than usual. I won't be back until late, so you'll have to sort dinner out yourselves. Stay out of trouble and try not to make a mess.'

"So, what's it say?"

"Wha-?!", Denji jumped in shock for the second time in the morning as he looked up from the note at the girl who was making a habit of sneaking up on him. His scolding was stopped in its tracks before it even began, as Denji stared at her with his mouth agape.

Reze looked down at him, bemused, as she stood opposite him her still damp hair hanging down to her shoulder blades, clad only in a towel that stopped at her mid-thigh. Denji's eyes trailed up and down her body, drinking in the view before quickly snapping his mouth shut again, and shooting Reze an annoyed look.

"I wish you'd stop doing that", Denji grumbled as Reze sat down opposite him at the table. She just smiled back at him playfully, "Oh, but it sure looked like you enjoyed the surprise to me?"

As she spoke, she plucked Aki's note from Denji's grip, scanning her eyes over it quickly before setting it back down on the table. "So, Topknot's left already and we have the day to ourselves, huh?", Reze picked up her mug of coffee, taking a sip and letting out a satisfied hum as the first sip hit her tongue, "Thanks for the coffee by the way, you're getting pretty good at this."

Denji threw her a lopsided grin, "What can I say, I learned from the best."

"Nice try flatterer, but I never taught you how to make one", Reze rolled her eyes as Denji shrugged.

"Eh, was worth a shot…"

Reze looked at the blonde boy strangely for a moment before a fond smile lit up her face as she suddenly stood up from her position opposite Denji and stalked around the table.

"Huh? What's up?"

Reze didn't say a word as she set down her coffee beside Denji's, before proceeding to sit down right next to the boy, leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder, her eyes looking up at Denji coyly.

"Sooo… The whole day off hmmm…?"

Denji met Reze's gaze, his mind momentarily short-circuiting at the feeling of a scantily-clad Reze nuzzling into his side, the towel swaddled around her being the only thing between his arm and her chest.

"O-oh… ummm… huh?", Denji stuttered, the feeling of her breath on his face and the damp feeling on his shoulder from her still-wet hair, "Uhh… Yeah, that's what it says…"

Reze grins as Denji's face goes red, making him flustered must rank among one of her favourite pastimes, not that she has all that many…

"Wellll… I was just wondering what you had planned for today", Reze batted her eyelashes and pouted as Denji seemed to snap back to reality, "After all, it'd be a waste of our day off if we just lay around here all day".

Realisation flooded onto Denji's face. He'd been so distracted by everything that had happened he'd never even thought that far ahead. He racked his mind, trying to think of a response.

"I've got it!", Denji exclaimed, grinning proudly, his shy demeanour swiftly disappearing to Reze's surprise, "How 'bout we have that date I promised you?! May as well do it now, while we've got the chance!"

Reze blinked in surprise, the tables having been turned on her, not having expected Denji's exuberant response. Recovering quickly, she smiled softly and picked up her coffee again, "Hmmm… that sounds like a lovely idea Denji."

Reze finished off her coffee quickly before setting the cup back down and looking back at him curiously, "Any chance you'll share your plans with me?"

Denji smirked back, throwing up his signature peace sign, "Nah, not a chance, I've got the greatest date plan ever, so no need to worry!"

'Ooh, keeping your cards close to your chest, huh?", Reze raised an eyebrow, her face lit up in amusement, "Well, I suppose I'll just have to wait and see where you take me, consider me intrigued!"

"Though, I do have one problem though…", Reze waves a hand gesturing to herself, "I don't really have anything to wear for a date, and we'd probably get some weird looks if we both turned up in our work uniforms."

Denji shrugged nonchalantly in response, "I don't really see what the problem with our uniforms is, they're pretty comfy…"

"Oh, Denji, Denji, Denji", Reze playfully chided the boy, tutting as she chastised him, "You could get away with just wearing your suit, but a girl needs to dress up for this sorta thing you know!"

As she said this, Denji thought back to his last date with Makima, 'Oh yeah, now that she mentioned it, Miss Makima did go all out dressin' up for our date…'

"Yeah, I suppose that's true", Denji conceded the point to the other hybrid, "I guess if you need something to wear you could steal some stuff from Powy's room, pretty sure she's got tons of clothes lying about in her room, so I doubt she'd notice some stuff missing", he gestured in the direction of Power's room lackadaisically, "You'll just have to check that what you picked out is clean. We just got Power to start washing her clothes regularly sooo…"

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out, thank you Denji!"

"No problem, besides it's not me you should be thanking, it's Powe-", Denji froze as he felt a soft, light sensation brush his cheek. Reze giggled as she pulled back from Denji's cheek and rose up to her feet and made her way towards Power's room.

"I'll be out when I'm changed, you better be ready by the time I'm out Denjiii!"

"Dear lord, what a mess… Ты шутишь, что ли?!"

Reze stared in awe at the pile of clothes pilled into Power's wardrobe. The room itself was messy enough, with dishes lying around and loose clothes and underwear strewn over the floor and bed, but the wardrobe…

It was both awe-inspiring and awful in equal measure, with what felt like every type of clothing imaginable pouring out of the completely unorganised wardrobe. Reze's eyes trailed over the clothes she could see, there was everything from sundresses, t-shirts, shorts, skirts and much more.

'Is… that a nurse's outfit…', an overwhelmed Reze's eyes were drawn to the more complex outfits the fiend had decided were worthy of being hung up. She sifted through the truly vast number of cosplays the devil had amassed: a bunny girl outfit, maid outfit, butler outfit, a police uniform (handcuffs included), a Qipao, graduation robes, a school uniform, boxing gloves, some kind of punk outfit and even a detective hat with two prominent holes pierced through its top…

'Hmmm…', Reze stood back from the wardrobe again, 'Well, I don't think any of those will do for today anyway…'

'Though, maybe I could persuade the fiend to let me borrow one or two at some point…', Reze smirked as she imagined herself in some of the costumes, the thought of how Denji would react to her in some of the raunchier outfits making a giggle escape her lips, before she started rooting through the masses of clothes again, continuing her hunt.

"Ah! Now we're getting somewhere!"

A few minutes later, Reze had finally found an acceptable outfit, though, as she looked at the outfit she had spread out on Power's bed, she couldn't help but feel that something was missing from the ensemble. Scanning around the room, Reze's eyes widened as she caught sight of a small garment lying where it was thrown on the ground, grinning victoriously as strode over and picked it up.

"Looks like I won't have to go hunting around for one of these after all!"

Denji sat waiting in the living room, slumped down on the table in boredom. When Reze had gone into Power's room to change, he'd got showered and changed in short order. Though, it's not like he'd had to put in that much effort considering he'd just thrown on his work uniform, a fact that made him think that it might be a good idea to expand his wardrobe at some point…

'Eh, not much I can do about that at the minute… Besides, a shirt and tie should be fine… right?'

Denji was snapped from his thoughts by the sound of a door clicking open, with the blonde quickly looking in the direction of the sound, only to be greeted with the sight of Reze sauntering out from Power's room.

"Sorry I took so long in there Denji", Reze smiled apologetically as she walked over, "The fiend's room is an absolute tip! It took me forever to find a decent outfit in that wardrobe!"

As Reze griped about the mess of the Power's bedroom, Denji was zoned out, more preoccupied with the girl walking towards him than the fiend's messy habits. Reze was wearing a white top that showed one of her shoulders with a pair of denim shorts, high socks and a pair of sturdy combat boots. What stood out to him most though, was that her hair was still out of its usual loose bun, instead falling down to her shoulders.

"Ah… it's no problem, gave me time to get showered and all anyways", Denji responded after a moment, forcing himself to snap back to attention, "You… your outfit looks good, by the way."

Reze chuckled at his clumsy compliment, "Thanks Denji! I was honestly surprised I managed to put together an outfit, that fiend's wardrobe was a mess!". Reze slumped down to sit opposite Denji at the table, letting out a sigh as she did, "I found everything I was looking for at least, even found a choker in the corner."

She looks slyly at Denji, "You aren't looking half bad yourself, Denji."

"Really!?", Denji perked up in surprise, "All I really had was my work clothes, so I kinda figured you'd be disappointed, y'know?"

"Well, it is true that you'll need to get some new clothes eventually, but…", Reze fixes him with a coy look as she reaches across the table to fix up his crooked tie, "I do quite like a man in uniform…"

"That said, I'll still have to insist you come out shopping with me soon", she pulls back from Denji, his face red as she continues, "But for now, I'm looking forward to this surprise date you've got in mind, so shall we get going soon?"

This snaps Denji back out of his stupor, the boy's mind having drifted back to Reze changing back by the beach, 'I gotta stop zoning out every time she does stuff like that, come on Denji!'

"Yeah, let's get going! Trust me, this'll be the best date ever!"

"A movie date, huh? It's a bit cliché, but I can't say I'm against the idea. Never had the chance to go before."

The pair were standing in front of the cinema, Reze walking closer towards the entrance, her eyes scanning over all of the promotional posters littered over the entrance as Denji stood back hesitating.

'Cliché?! But this is the best place to go for a date!', Denji was shocked at the sudden revelation before remembering the most important part of his plan.

"Well, we aren't just here to watch one movie, my super-date plan goes much further than that!", Denji walked up to join Reze, proudly declaring the details of his secret date plan, "We're going on a movie marathon! From now till the cinema closes, we're watching movies, back-to-back!"

"Oh, well that makes things more interesting, there's so many movies here I want to watch too!", Reze's eyes widened in excitement at the news, relieved that she wouldn't have to choose just one of the various movies the cinema was showing.

"Well then, what movie do you wanna watch Reze?", Denji smiled proudly, delighted that his plan was well received.

'Yes! I knew Miss Makima's plan would work!', he celebrated internally, 'I knew there was no way Miss Makima would pick something cliché for a date!'

"Wellll… I'm not really sure what to pick honestly, I was never really allowed to watch anything unless it was… educational", Reze grimaced before she looped her arm around Denji's, "Well, how bout we make our way inside whilst I think, hmm?"

Denji smiled brightly down at the girl at his side as they began to make their way in, "Don't sweat it to much Reze. The tickets cover all movie showings for the whole night, so just choose the first thing you like the look of."

Moments later Denji was ordering the tickets from the usher, whilst Reze eyed the board displaying the movie showings, her gaze flitting from movie to movie, trying to find one that looked interesting.

"Yeah, just two tickets for that movie there please", Denji pointed to a random movie poster from the list at the ticket counter, barely even glancing at what movie he'd picked as he handed over two 2000-yen notes and walking towards the auditoriums, Reze quickly following along after him.

"Hey, Denji?", Reze spoke up as they walked, her face twisted in confusion, "Why'd you only get tickets for the one movie? I thought you would've just got an all-day ticket or something?"

"Well, y'see they don't do that kinda ticket in this place, so you either have to pay for each movie separately, or…", Denji grinned lopsidedly, "We just hop from screen to screen!"

"Oh, but isn't that illegal?!", Reze says, her face dripping with faux shock before her face broke out into a grin, "I like it! Though…"

She looked around at all of the screenings, the movie titles shown on the LED screens above the doors, "I'm still not sure which one to pick…"

Reze looked around for a moment longer before shrugging and pointing at the nearest one, "Ahhh screw it, how about we just watch that one there?"

"Huh, that one huh?", Denji looks at the one Reze pointed at, "Pulp Fiction… that's a pretty weird title for a movie…"

"All the more reason to watch it!", Reze grinned as she took his hand, pulling him towards the door, "Come on! The curiosity is killing me!"

It was hours later, and Denji and Reze were sitting at a small table just outside the screening room of their fourth movie, with both teens greedily drinking some canned drinks from the nearby vending machine.

"Gahhhh!", Denji let out a contented sigh as he polished off his drink, a chilled energy drink, before quickly stifling a burp.

"Denji! Don't chug carbonated drinks like that, you'll make yourself sick!"

"Yeah, I know, I was just so thirsty through the whole last film, really shoulda grabbed something before we went in…", Denji replied sheepishly, clearly trying to hold back another belch.

Reze smiled at his antics before taking another swig of her bottle of water. She couldn't deny that, they had been in such a rush running to catch the opening of the last movie they hadn't had a chance to grab anything to drink, something they had both regretted as they were dying of thirst halfway through the last movie.

"Yeah, tell me about it, wasn't sure If I'd die of thirst or boredom first…"

"Tch, yeah… We shoulda left early, but I was kinda curious how it'd end…", Denji looks at Reze in worry, "You having a good time Reze?

Her eyes widen as she quickly replies, "Oh, tonight's been great so far Denji, don't worry!"

"I even enjoyed some parts of the last movie, well… in a kinda 'so bad it's good' way anyway…", she grins at him, "Besides, the other movies have all been pretty good, I really enjoyed that one 'After Life', the premise of someone having to chose one last memory to keep forever after they die was really interesting to me."

"Oh really?", Denji looked, a look of mild surprise on his face, "I thought that one was pretty good, but that first movie Pulp Fiction was sooo good! The action was cool as hell, though I did kinda struggle following the subtitles…"

"Yeah, it was pretty good, though I definitely didn't expect it to be a mob movie", she smiled cheekily as a thought came to mind, "Hey Denji… Didn't the mobsters in that movie kinda remind you of Public Safety?"

A moment later both of the teens were in hysterics, with Denji wiping a tear from his eye, "That guy, what's his name…? Oh yeah, Jules! He did kinda remind me of Master Kishibe now that you mention it!"

"Huh, really?! What makes you say that?"

Denji thinks for a minute before responding, "Well it's not like Jules drank booze like he does, but they've got this similar kinda intensity, y'know?"

Reze shudders at the memory of their encounter with Kishibe the previous day, "Well I can't deny he gives off that kind of vibe… but hey, at least he didn't scream scripture at us…"

It was several movies later when they next sat down, both of them drained after a slew of movies that ranged from average to forgettable and, regrettably, simply awful…

Both Denji and Reze were sitting on the same booth seat, rather on separate seats this time, with Reze resting her head on Denji's shoulder contently. Denji was similarly contented, his cheeks rosey and a dreamy smile on his face, his thoughts revolving entirely around the girl on his shoulder.

'Man… she's so cute…', Denji thought dreamily. When he'd gone theatre hopping with Makima, he'd noticed that she rarely ever gave away her emotions while watching the movies, he'd always had to wait until the end of the movie to ask what her thoughts on the movie were and she was very rarely impressed by the movies they watched.

However, Reze… she surprisingly wore her emotions on her sleeve as she watched movie after movie, from focussing intently on action scenes, rolling her eyes at cheesy lines and breaking down into hysterics with him during the comedies.

"Hey Reze, what do you think of the crappy movies we've seen?", Denji blurted out the question without thinking, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Hmmm…", Reze thinks for a moment, her finger on her chin, "Well it kind of varies depending on the movie, you know? Some of them are just so absurdly crap that it's funny, others have a certain actor who saves it a bit and then some have some sort of message behind them. The only ones that I hated were the ones that felt like a soulless cash grab honestly."

Reze smiles as she lets out a small chuckle, "Though, considering the only movies I've really watched were the ones from today, I'm not sure my opinion really counts for much…"

Denji blinked in surprise. He found himself pleasantly surprised at what she was saying, when he'd last gone with Makima he'd almost felt guilty about liking some of the movies they'd watched, especially after Makima had finished castigating every flaw she found in them…

He grinned at her, "Well if yours doesn't count for much then I'm in the same boat. It's kinda like… I dunno… that a good film wouldn't be as good without all the crap ones?"

"Yeah, exactly!", Reze exclaimed excitedly, "It's also pretty cool how a lot the actors are having fun playing their roles in some of the weirder movies! Wonder what it'd really be like to act in one of them?"

The two spent a bit more time discussing the merits of B-movies before they settled into a comfortable silence, a silence that was only broken by Reze looking up at the time displayed on the digital board with the movie showings. She sighed as she saw the time, "Hey Denji, as much as I hate to say it, it's getting pretty late… Shouldn't we b- Denji?"

Whilst Reze had been looking at the time, Denji had been focussing his gaze on something else entirely. "Reze, would you mind… watching one more movie before we head back?", he spoke in a much quieter tone as he stared intently towards a screening room towards the end of the corridor, "I just think that you'll… really like this one…"

Reze stared at the unusually serious boy for a moment before a gentle smile came to her face and she took his hand in hers.

"Sure Denji, we better get going then, it starts in five minutes."

A couple of minutes later Denji and Reze were sat in two seats in the middle of the auditorium, with them being the only two people in the room.

"Huh… I'm surprised no one else is watching this, the last couple of movies were still pretty busy despite the time…", Reze looks around, double checking if they were alone, 'I would have thought it' be busier, especially since Denji was so insistent on seeing it.'

"Yeah, well it was quite quiet when I went to see it wi-", Denji froze for a moment before correcting his slip of the tongue, "When I went to see it last time as well, I guess a lot of people didn't want to watch a film with no subtitles…"

Reze looked at him suspiciously for a moment, having noticed his slip, before shrugging off her concern, with something else Denji said drawing her attention. "No subtitles? So, it's in a different language?"

Denji grins in excitement, ready to share the reason he'd wanted Reze to watch the movie, "Yup! That's why I thought you'd like this one since, y'know, it's in Russian."

Reze blinked in surprise, looking down at her lap for a moment before looking back up at Denji with a gentle smile on her face, her cheeks rosy. "That's very thoughtful Denji, I… Thank you…"

"Oh, well I didn't rea-", Denji's abashed protest was cut off when Reze suddenly closed the difference between them, planting a chaste kiss on his cheek, before sitting back in her own seat.

"Well, let's watch the movie, shall we? The adverts are over!", Reze said, smiling at him coyly before turning to watch the screen that was now displaying the movie title, "Oh! Баллада о солдате? Sounds interesting!"

Denji looked back over at her, still flushed and surprised from the kiss, "Uhh… I-is that the title of the movie?"

"Yeeessss sir!", Reze smiled with faux innocence at the boy's embarrassment as she dragged out her reply, "It means 'Ballad of a Soldier'"

"Ballad?", Denji asks, scratching his head in confusion.

"Don't worry, Ms Reze will teach you!", Reze winks before going into her grammar lesson, "A ballad typically means a sort of romantic song, though it can also refer to a kind of grand story."

"Wow…", Denji looks at her in awe, "You're so smart Reze…"

"I did promise I'd teach you everything, didn't I?", she leans in a bit closer as she points at the screen, "There! It's starting!"

As they watched the movie, Reze sidled up closer to Denji, resting her head on his shoulder and whispering important translations into his ear, with Denji flinching slightly every time her breath tickled his ear.

They both watched the film, entranced in it as Reze explained what was happening and Denji listened and watched Intently. The movie followed the story of the Russian soldier Alyosha, who was given six days' leave from the Red Army to visit his mother back home, and his journey back home. First Alyosha met a disabled soldier missing his leg, who refused to return to his wife only to eventually return to his loving wife.

The next encounter of Alyosha was with Shura, a woman he met travelling on a freight train who was travelling to see her fiancé; an injured pilot recovering at a hospital. The movie then followed their journey together until they had to part ways, with Shura revealing that she had been lying, saying that she had no one and that the only person she had at home was her aunt. Most tragically of all, Alyosha only realised that Shura had confessed her love to him after they had separated, and his train had departed.

'She lied to him, only to fall in love…', Reze wiped a tear from her eye and leaned closer to Denji, 'Why does that sound familiar…'

Finally, Alyosha arrived back at his home and reunited with his mother, but with a cruel twist: He only had a few short minutes to spend with her before he had to go and rejoin his unit. As the mother and son embraced, Reze glanced at Denji only to see tears running down his face as he watched the scene of the mother and son sharing a tender embrace on the road. Reze was about to comfort him until she noticed her vision blur.

Reze reached her hand up to rub her eyes, only for her hand to come away wet, moments later tears were trailing down her cheeks and she decided to simply rest her head back on Denji's shoulder, her tears wetting his shirt as she found herself muttering along with the mother on-screen.

"I won't let you go…"

The pair stayed in that position for some time, until the theatre lights turned on, making them blink in surprise, their eyes adjusting to the light. As Denji moved to get up he was stopped by Reze's hand on his chest. He looked down at the girl, her eyes a bit puffy and red from crying, "Denji… would you mind, if we just stay like this… for a while longer?"

He smiled lightly before sitting back in the seat again, resting his head on top of hers, "Yeah, let's just… sit here for a bit longer."

"Well… we're definitely late anyway."

Having long left the cinema, Denji and Reze had finally arrived back outside the apartment complex, both of them exhausted and ready for bed after a long day.

Denji sighs at the girl's wry comment, "Oh yeah, big time… Aki's gonna tear me a new one…"

"Well… maybe you'll get lucky and he's already asleep", Reze put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Besides, it was worth it to see that last movie, it was the best one by a long shot!"

Denji grinned weakly, his eyes drooping tiredly as they walked up the stairs towards their floor, "Glad you liked it, I actually enjoyed it more with you explainin' it to me than when I watched it with Miss Makima."

"Oh…?", Denji froze as heard Reze's reaction to what he'd just said, quickly realising his slip up, "So you were with Makima when you watched it last?"

They were in front of the door of the apartment, and Denji turned to meet Reze's blank gaze and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah… Miss Makima took me to the cinema after all the Katana dude stuff, I think she thought I was feeling low or somethin'"

Denji quickly turned to unlock the door, desperate to escape the awkward situation in which he'd found himself, only to be interrupted as Reze grabbed his arm and swung him back around.

"Huh?! Wha-?", Denji squawked in surprise before he was interrupted by Reze moving in close, her body flush to his own, and pulling him into a deep kiss, her arms looping around his neck as she deepened it further. After what felt like an eternity to Denji, Reze pulled back leaving both of them flushed panting for breath, still pressed together.

"I don't care that you went with Makima before, Denji", Reze finally broke the silence as her eyes bored into his, "What I care about is the here and now, and right now I… I'm just happy to be here with you…"

Reze looks down at the ground in embarrassment, not able to bring herself to look at Denji's reaction, 'He's liked that frigid bitch for a long while now, but after today maybe he can move on from her. But… what if he can't, what if-'

"Wanna… go out with me Reze?"

"Sorr- wait wha- huh?", Reze spluttered as her worried thoughts were interrupted by Denji's sudden question, "Sorry, d-did I hear you right Denji?"

"Well… yeah, I mean… we just went out on a date, and with everything that's happened I figured… why not make this official, y'know…?"

Reze's face was red, surprise painted on her face as she stared at Denji for a moment, before a wide grin spread across her face and she lunged forward again, hugging Denji tightly and laughing in delight as she planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Of course I will Denji! You had me worried there for a moment!"

Denji grinned down at the girl in his arms, his face as flushed as hers as relief flooded his mind, "Hey, I was worried too! If you said no, I don't know what I'd've done!"

"Well, there's no need for you to worry now…", Reze drew herself back from Denji, moving her hands to hold his, "Cause now you have a super-cute girlfriend! Righhht?"

"Yeah…", Denji smiled dreamily as he and Reze stood outside the flat door, 'You see that Pochita! I've got a girlfriend!'

The duo's elation was short-lived, however, as the front door suddenly swung open, revealing a ticked-off, sleep-deprived Aki standing in the doorway, still in his Public Safety uniform.

"What sort of time do you call this you brats!?"

Aki and Reze sat at the table, the oppressive silence of the room hanging over them like a cloud. As it turns out, Aki was still in uniform because he had been called to pick up Power from a train station nearby, the fiend having been dropped off there by her new buddy, and in his annoyance he'd ordered a protesting Denji to go and pick her up, leaving Reze and Aki alone in the flat.

"I'm going to be honest with you Bomb", Aki unexpectedly broke the silence, "You killed my friends, and you killed dozens of civilians. As far as I'm concerned Makima should have put you down when she apprehended you two, but instead, I now have to play babysitter for a monster."

He pauses for a moment before continuing on, "But, someone recommended that I ask for your side of the story and, against my better judgement, I've decided to humour their idea."

Reze, who up till this point had been looking down at the tabletop, barked out a bitter laugh, "Tch, so you want my opinion?"

"Well, you're right I suppose, I killed all of those people when I could've chosen not to", she looks up at Aki, her expression cold, "I'm just a coward who values her own crap life more than others…"

Aki blinked in surprise at the unexpectedly honest answer, "Then why try and run away only after causing all of that carnage? Were you just hoping to manipulate Denji to help you get back to the Soviets?"

"No!", Reze snapped back at Aki's accusation, "It might sound stupid to you Topknot, but he made me want to run away!"

"He didn't have a childhood, just like me, but he's still hopeful and kind. I guess I thought that, with him, maybe running away would be worth it…"

Reze quickly stood up, "Well, are you satisfied now? Because I'm pretty tired."

"One last thing Reze", Aki's voice was stern, but had noticeably less bite to it than before, "My partner Himeno… her sister was the one who allowed you to use her family name. She died to protect me and Denji, and I never even…"

Aki trailed off, shaking his head lightly, "I'm getting off track. What I want to say is, so long as you behave, we won't have a problem, but if you tarnish her name…"

The threat was clear.

Before Reze had a chance to respond, the door slammed open as a blonde blur zoomed into the room.

"HOW DARE YOU STICK ME WITH SUCH A WEIRDO TOPKNOT, I DEMAND COMPENSATION"

Power loudly made herself and her complaints known, as Denji trudged into the room behind her clearly even more exhausted than he was before.

"Sorry, she- she still runs way too fast…"

As the fiend and Aki bickered, Denji slunk his way over to Reze, "Hey, should we go and lay out the futon before Aki remembers we were late?"

Reze giggles lightly before a sly look appears in her eyes, "I rather just go straight to bed if you catch what I'm saying…"

As the cogs turned in Denji's mind and his face slowly reddened, a thought crossed her mind.

'If every day was like this, maybe working for Public Safety won't be so bad…'

Ты шутишь, что ли?! – Are you kidding me?!