dakishimetai | denji

二十

"Ame says it's important when visiting people who are admitted inside a hospital bring a gift!" Denji happily spoke, showing to a bed stricken Aki a basket filled with fresh fruits. Looking like a six year old child showing to his parents his artwork that was graded a full hundred points. "The fruits in the basket are in season. So you don't have to worry about the taste!" Denji adds, sitting down on the chair closest to the bed. Power, who was behind Denji, immediately removed the plastic to take one apple for herself.

Denji, who heard the sound of plastic being ripped and noticing an apple missing from the basket, immediately whisked his head to look at Power. Snatching the apple from her hands before she could take a bite. Asserting dominance by taking a bite from the apple that Power took.

"Gimme that apple! Let me eat it! Ame bought this fruit basket!"

"No way! You stole it from me! These are all mine!"

"No fruits for the one who ran away like a coward!"

"I didn't run away! I just got hungry and went back to finish my noodles!"

"Liar! Chicken! Scaredy cat!"

"Fuck you!"

"Who else is still alive in the fourth division?" Aki asks in a quiet tone, eyes trained on his thin hospital blanket.

Denji made a thinking face before speaking. "I think it's just me, Power and that Kobeni. Four eyes handed his resignation letter to Makima yesterday."

Aki didn't say anything afterwards, no words forming in his lips and his eyes lost. Breaking the silence, Denji stood up from his seat and so did Power who is now eating the apple.

"Makima's summoning us. So were gonna get going now." He says, turning his back to head out of the room. But before fully exiting the room, he turned his head slightly to say something one last time.

"Ame says to tell you to get well."

And with that, Denji exists the room and closes the door behind him.

As Power and Denji exits Aki's private ward, the sight of the vending machine filled with various drinks catches Power's attention.

"Gonna go there!" She tells Denji, pointing at the vending machine before waddling to the other side of the private ward hall.

Being left alone by himself, Denji sits down on one of the waiting chairs in front of Aki's room. The silence in the hall was deafening, not a lot of people were in the upper floors of the private ward. And in the silence did his thoughts suddenly crept inside inside his mind.

"Lots of things happened yesterday, I'd be depressed if I were him." Denji says, mostly to himself as he could hear the faint sobs coming from Aki's room, scratching the back of his head.

"How come Ame didn't bleed when she got hit by a bullet?" Denji mumbles, lifting his head up to look up at the ceiling of the hospital. "Though angel, what is she really?" He asks in a quiet tone. "Would I cry and get depressed if she passes on?" 

"Well of course I'd cry and get depressed." Denji answers his question. "She's the first girl I met who wasn't disgusted by my appearance. She grants me my wishes and tells me I did a good job every time I come home from work." He adds, lightly swinging his feet.

"If Ame dies, I'll probably never be happy and will forever never get back to my old life. Not every girl in this world would help you get cleaned up." Denji spoke to himself, letting out a breath. "To be under one roof with her, wake up to her and eat her food is already fucking awesome."

Denji smiles, closing his eyes as he places a hand on top of his chest, gently patting it. "Ame's one of a kind, isn't she, Pochita?"

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

Meanwhile, back in the shared apartment, with a towel wrapped around her body, Ame's eyes landed on the reflection of her left arm. The sight of her purple covered bruised arm was a hideous sight to look at. Ame felt hideous in her own skin.

Slowly did she lift her right hand and graze her fingertips against her bruises. The skin on her left arm may be cold to touch but Ame was now fully aware of what her blood coursing only in her left arm could do. The taste burnt Power's tongue but Denji restored his lower body yesterday.

"It's not the same for every devil, huh?" Ame whispers, lifting her left hand. "I'm glad that my left hand isn't covered in bruises." She spoke, sighing to herself before exiting the bathroom to head to her bedroom.

"Then again...why are you looking for me?" Ame whispers under her breath, opening her closet filled with the old kimono's that she could get out from the fire of a thousand year's ago. "We were doing just fine, the three of us. Why are you coming back..." she heaves a deep breath, her legs giving up on her balance as she slumps on the ground on her butt.

"Just what exactly do you want from me" She asks herself, resting her forehead on her palm. An unknowing feeling crept and bubbled inside Ame's body and she didn't like this feeling. It made her feel uneasy. She wasn't glad at the fact that her nervous and digestive system were working well like a human being. Knowing fully well that the angel genes were responsible for the restoration.

"I wonder what else did the angel genes fixed inside of me..." Ame asks herself, dropping the towel around her body to look at the reflection of her naked body in front of a body mirror. Placing her hands on her stomach, she could hear the sounds of food being digested. Sliding her hands up to her heart, Ame could not hear her heart beating yet could not hear the gallons of blood being delivered through her every every vein.

Closing the door of her cabinet and wrapping the towel around her body, Ame goes to Kazuto's room with a bright smile on her face. "Let's go out today! Let's do some shopping!" She happily announces to Kazuto and Shirohato before closing the door.

Kazuto blinks but nevertheless stands up to change out of his home clothes to casual clothes.

"This is what happens when you're in love, I believe." Shirohato comments, flapping its wings to rest on the window sill of Kazuto's room.

re written: 041124