dakishimetai | denji

三

The grandfather clock chimed as the short hand stroke up at number twelve, signalling everyone inside the house that it is already the beginning of midnight. But though it was already in the very late hour of the night yet early hour of the morning, two women sat in front of each other of the wooden circular table, not word being spoken.

Makima stared at Ame with much interest in her eyes. Despite the small distance between them, Makima could very much, smell the scent of Ame's golden blood; just imagining herself sinking her teeth into her porcelain skin, feeling the hot liquid gliding down her throat made her feel an imaginary sense of satisfaction. Takajo Ame, the wish angel, alluring yet deadly at the same time.

"Are you...going to just stare at me?" Ame spoke as she broke the silence, the color pink evident in her cheeks. Her eyes looking everywhere except Makima's. And this amused Makima for some reason, finding her adorable in her eyes.

"You're very pretty and fascinating, Ame." Makima says, placing her right elbow on top of the table while resting her cheek on her palm. "Is it okay if we speak informally? Were kind of in the same age."

Ame's wine colored eyes slightly widened yet quickly nodded at her words. "Y-Yes you may." she stuttered.

"I'm Makima." Makima begins to say, "I work for the Public Safety Devil Hunters. An organization in Japan that are tasked to dispatch devils to resolve devil related incidents. May it be big or small."

Ame nodded her head, listening intently at Makima's words. Though it was just the two of them in the dining area. Kazuto was listening in another room with Shirohato resting on top of his shoulder.

"I heard that you're granting wishes." Makima says, "The reason why I came here is to see if the rumors are true."

Ame's ears perked up upon hearing this. "What rumor?"

"That you're granting wishes!" Makima says, smiling at her with her eyes closed. "If I kill one of the men behind me, will you grant them a wish?"

Ame shook her head. Her action causing Makima to be confused. "Why not?"

With her lips pursed into a thin line, Ame's hands curled on top of her lap, wrinkling her black kimono. "I've already granted my two thousandth wish to my two thousandth person."

Makima's yellow eyes with red circles now stared at Ame's wine colored ones. "That's very interesting...I've never heard of it." Makima slowly nodded her head. "Too bad. I wanted to see it for myself." She spoke, sighing softly afterwards.

"The reason why I came here, apart from wanting to see if the rumors are true and not just hoax, is to ask you to come with us." Makima said, smiling at Ame. "You're the last of your kind, right? At the Public Safety Devil Hunters, we'll keep you under our close protection."

The last of your kind. Ame repeated those words inside her mind. Though it was true, it was quite sad at the same time. In her mind, Ame wondered why was she born into this kind of family. Why not the kind of family that would just live happily and warm until they die of old age or some type of illness?

"You may not know of this, but certain devils from across the world are pining for you. More specifically, your blood. If you come with us, we'll guarantee your safety while all the while you sense and support the world." Makima says, sugarcoating her words.

Before Ame could give out her answer, the sliding door abruptly slid open and Kazuto fell face forward while Shirohato kept flapping its wings, maintaining his stance in the air.

"And these are?" Makima asks, pointing at the two of them with her index finger.

"Ah!" Ame shakes her hands before her chest. "The boy is my younger brother, Kazuto. While the white dove is Shirohato!" She explains. "If I come with you, will they come with me as well? Or will they just stay here?"

Makima's interest in Ame only heightened. The sight of the little boy and the white dove weren't mentioned but they surely would be most useful. "Of course!" Makima beams, palms pressed together. "What is your relation to them?" she asks. 

"Kazuto is my adopted little brother, but we consider each other to be blood related because of our looks!" Ame happily explained. "And Shirohato is...our pet! Yep, he's our pet!" Ame flashes Makima a tight lipped smile, nodding her head vigorously.

As Makima eyed the white dove, Shirohato felt invisible sweat running down on his body and feathers. Blinking twice, the white dove made a convincing sound. "Tweet tweet!" Shirohato pitches.

"Shirohato is quite clingy." Ame says, jutting her lower lip out. "Whenever I and Kazuto go out, he gets sad being left behind." Ame adds.

"It's alright!" Makima says, slowly nodding her head at Ame. "I do understand. I have dogs in my home as well."

"That's wonderful!" Ame says, clasping her hands together. After agreeing to leave their minka, both Kazuto and Ame packed their clothes in two separate suitcases.

"I don't know about you, but I sure would not trust someone who looks like her." Shirohato says, nestled on top of Ame's bed, watching the older girl pack her kimono's and hairpin's neatly inside her suitcase.

"You judge too quickly, Shirohato." Ame says, not looking at the white dove. "Have you grown attached to this house?" She asks, shooting the bird a quick glance with a smile.

"Maybe." was all just Shirohato could say. "It's been years and this is the only place I ever consider home."

Even if Shirohato couldn't see it, Ame was smiling the whole time Shirohato explained why he grew attached to their home. "Me too." Ame says, turning around to place the last lotus blossom hairpin before zipping her suitcase shut, setting it down on the tatami* floor besides her.

"I forgot to ask" Makima begins to say as Ame locks the front door. "Where did your two thousandth wish take place?"

Ame turned around and walked besides Makima towards the car. "I don't know what the place is called." She responded at first, unsure of what really to call the building. "But it was old and rundown, probably a factory of some sort?" Ame says, unsure. "I'm sorry. But that's all I can make out of it since it was quite dark and the person was just dumped into a dumpster."

"It's fine." Makima says, their feet stopping in front of the car. "But did you get his name?" She asked. Makima's hand held the door handle of the back seat and clutched it open for Ame, as the door opens, Denji came into Ame's view and the memory of a few hours ago suddenly flooded back inside her mind.

"Hi" Denji says, flashing the angel a smile. Ame blushed deeply, feeling her heart fluttering inside her chest. If it was possible, her heart would have burst inside her chest, ripping a hole in her body.

"He's my two thousandth person" Ame says to Makima, pointing at the Denji who's upper body is bare.

"You two know each other?" Makima asks, eyeing the two of them. "That's great! We can skip the formalities and get straight to the getting to know stage!" She beams to the two of them. "I'll be sitting by the passenger's seat. The back is already crowded."

Ame climbed first inside the back of the car followed by Kazuto and Shirohato (who's resting on top of Kazuto's shoulder). Despite his sleepy eyes, he stared at Ame just like how Makima stared at her earlier - with great interest and maybe a dash and sprinkle of admiration and fondness. Kazuto rolled his eyes, mumbling "pervert" before closing the door.

While inside the car and throughout the whole transit, the five of them were silent. Shirohato moved to sleep on top of Kazuto's lap while the little boy leaned to rest his head on his older sister's right shoulder, whereas Ame had her eyes open. Feeling a little brave, she turned her head to look at Denji who was sitting on her left side.

He slept with his head leaning on the window, the side of his head bumping against the window which created small thudding sounds. As Ame was looking at Denji's sleeping posture, she felt a little uncomfortable if she was him. And so, she slowly extended her left hand out to gently hold the under of his chin, leisurely bringing his head to rest on her left shoulder.

As the two boys on either of her shoulder were fast asleep, Ame felt her eyelids growing heavy on her. Without much further, she closed her eyes and succumbed to sleep.

re written: 041124