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Denji met Power on a cold winter's day. He was twelve years old. There was no telling how old the Blood Devil herself was, but the body that she inhabited didn't look much older than him.
She was dirtier than him though, and that was saying something.
He probably should have paid more attention to the way she bared her teeth at him, like the puffed-up cat in her arms. The horns on her head were a sign that he should be scared. Only devils had horns. But he'd seen plenty of devils over the past year, and none of them were scarier than the yakuza.
Denji wondered if he should hunt this devil like all the other ones. It wouldn't be hard. She was small. Bigger than Pochita, sure, but Pochita had a chainsaw coming out of his head. This devil girl only had her teeth and a scraggly-looking cat. He could tear her apart easily. Maybe he'd get more money from her than most of the devils he killed, since she looked so human.
Really human. Human enough that it made his stomach wiggle in a weird, uncomfortable way. Which was stupid, because he knew that not all humans were good. Most of the ones he'd met had been awful.
...Most of the humans he'd met hadn't been girls, though. Definitely not naked girls. It probably would have been exciting if she weren't a devil. It probably should have been exciting even though she was a devil. However, he found that he had other things on his mind, like 'what is she doing here?' and 'should I kill her?' That made the nakedness a lot less exciting.
The girl bit was still a problem.
Denji looked down at Pochita. The little devil was standing firmly by his side, eyes latched onto the devil-girl. He was tense, but he wasn't growling. His chainsaw wasn't revving like it did when they ran into one of the more dangerous devils.
"What do you think?" Denji whispered.
Pochita looked up at him with wide eyes. An uncertain whimper left his maw.
"Human!" the devil-girl boomed, drawing both sets of eyes back toward her. "Bring tributes for Meowy and begone!"
The cat in her arms meowed pathetically.
"Wha-?" Denji blinked, then shot the devil girl with a thunderous scowl. "No way!" he barked. "This is my place!"
Pochita barked in agreement.
The devil-girl didn't even waver. "Not anymore!" she declared. "I have repossessed it in the name of the mighty Blood Devil, so bring us food and vacate at once!"
Slowly, Denji looked over his shoulder, into the ratty little shack that he called his home. When he turned his head back around, it was to shoot the devil girl an odd look. "This is where you want to live?"
"Are you dumb? It's where I will live!" she insisted.
Denji crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe with a snort. "Ya must not be a very strong devil then."
The devil girl let out an offended gasp. "I am strong!" she cried. "I'm the strongest fiend in the world! I should smite you for such an insult!"
"Sure." Denji found himself fighting back a snicker. He settled for shooting a grin at Pochita, who looked up at him with his mouth open and his tongue lolling out. Like Denji, any fear that he might have felt seemed to be fading by the second. "If you're so strong, why do you want to move into this shithole? And why're you begging me for scraps?"
He looked back up to find the devil girl glaring at him even more fiercely. It was a surface-level sort of thing though. Beneath it, he could have sworn that she looked scared.
"None of your business!" she barked. "You will do as I say if you value your life."
Denji scowled and shot another glance at Pochita. This time, it wasn't to smile, but to try to figure out how long it would take to grab him. Maybe it didn't matter if this devil looked like a human girl. If she sucked, he should just go ahead and treat her like any other devil. It would probably be good money. If he was really lucky, he might be able to have a meal every day for a week.
A pitiful meow drew his attention back to the devil. Despite all her yelling, the cat in her arms was nuzzling closer to her.
Its nose was running. He could see its ribs.
Denji pulled away from the doorframe to take a tentative step forward. The ground was cold enough beneath his bare feet that it almost made them sting.
The devil girl was naked. Did devils get cold?
"Is that your cat?" he asked.
The devil hugged the cat closer to herself. It barely moved. "Meowy is my most loyal servant," she said.
"It's starving." It wasn't a question. Denji knew a starving animal when he saw one.
Worry flickered across the devil's face. She was quick to bury it behind a haughty look, but not quick enough to keep him from noticing. "Winter is hard, but I will have her back to full strength shortly."
Winter had barely even started yet.
Denji stepped back into the doorway with a sigh. "I'm not going to let you have my house. But... If you promise not to cause any problems, you can come in, and I'll give your cat something to eat."
The devil girl scowled. "I don't make promises to humans."
"And I hunt devils." Denji crouched down to stroke Pochita's back. Right on cue, he let out a ferocious growl. The devil girl took half a step back. "I'm sayin' we can have a truce. You don't 'cause trouble, I don't have to work, and your cat gets to eat."
"...Temporarily," the devil girl said.
"Duh. I'm not going to let you stay." Denji scoffed at the idea.
She definitely looked scared now. She hesitated outside of her door, chewing on her lower lip as she looked down at her cat.
She was shivering. Like a normal human girl, if you ignored the horns.
Maybe the horns were a good thing. His only friend was a devil, he could play nice with another one for one day. Even if it meant giving up the money he could have made.
"Come on," Denji sighed. He stood up and stepped back from the door. "I'm not gonna do anything to you. Just...come in."
Meowy let out another weak meow, and the devil girl entered the shack.
Cats didn't like bread. The devil girl seemed pretty sure that they couldn't eat it.
Denji felt guilty as he cracked open one of the musty old cans of tuna that he had been saving for a special occasion.
Seeing the tension leave the devil girl's shoulders as Meowy scarfed down her portion made him feel a little less shitty.
Denji didn't let the cat have all of the tuna, of course. He split it evenly between Meowy, Pochita, the devil girl, and himself. Where he and Pochita ate in slow, careful bites, the devil scarfed her tiny meal down even faster than her cat. It made him realize just how thin she was. Almost as skinny as him.
Humans didn't look like that when they were in good situations. For some reason, he got the feeling that devils didn't either. Or whatever this human-looking devil girl was - a fiend, he thought she had called herself.
Whatever. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. He was going to kick her and Meowy out after they'd rested for a couple of hours.
*
It started snowing after sunset. It was only the first snow of the winter, but it was heavy, with no sign of letting up any time soon.
*
Denji was halfway through blocking the crack at the bottom of his window with rags when he made up his mind. "You need to stay," he announced.
The devil girl was a shivering lump on his bed, Meowy curled up against one of her sides and Pochita on the other. She looked pitiful, but still managed to shoot a ferocious scowl at Denji as she demanded, "Why should I listen to you!?"
"You're the one who was trying to steal this place earlier!" Denji cried incredulously.
The devil puffed her cheeks out like a goldfish. She released the air gathered in her mouth in a great huff, crossed her arms, and muttered, "Maybe I've changed my mind."
Denji shook his head. "Nah. You don't wanna go out in the snow." He paused long enough to give the rags blocking the window one last prod. Content that they would stay put for a while, he walked over to his rag box to gather some more. A lot more; it had been a pain to keep blocking the bottom of the door last winter, but it wasn't like he had any other choice. As he worked, he said, "You can stay until it stops."
The devil girl sniffed. "I suppose I can bless you with my presence. Since you helped Meowy."
Denji barely managed to resist pointing out that he was the one helping her. It would only start a fight, and there was no point in arguing with a devil who was going to leave as soon as the snow stopped. He would rather try to spend his night in peace.
*
The shack was still cold after Denji had blocked off all the drafts. It was really cold for someone without any clothes. He didn't have to watch the devil girl shiver for very long before pulling a shirt and pants out of the box that he called a dresser. When he gave them to her, she made a face like she had something against not being naked, but the weather had her pulling them on without putting up much of a fight.
Denji didn't know the devil girl very well, but he did know what people were supposed to do to keep from freezing at night. Sharing body heat was one of the best survival methods there was. Normally, he'd just curl up with Pochita, but he wasn't about to turn away the two extra bodies.
The devil girl didn't argue when he asked her to sleep with him. Her hand was grimy where it touched his, but her body was warm and soft where it pressed against him. Meowy sat on her stomach, while Pochita lay curled into his other side, fuzzy and cozy. Denji's biggest, thickest, heaviest blanket was spread out on top of them. It wasn't enough to keep the cold out, but with all of them huddled together, it came close.
It was the most comfortable Denji had been in a long time.
Denji was drifting off to sleep when the devil murmured, "Human?"
He grunted in response.
"You should call me Power."
All that came out when he tried to respond was a tired, garbled grumble.
The devil girl poked his side. "Human?" she whispered.
"Denji," he managed to grumble. "My name... Denji."
The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a murmured, "Denji."
*
There had to be at least two feet of snow on the ground come morning. It had stopped falling, but it would still be miserable to go outside in, especially if you had nowhere else to go.
Denji decided that Power could stay until it melted.
*
"I don't have much food," Denji warned.
"Then get more," Power said, like it was the most obvious, simple solution in the world.
Denji's shoulders slumped. He had to force himself not to flop backwards onto the bed. "It's not that easy," he said. "I need money to get food, and to get money, I need to kill devils." He looked down at Pochita, who was sitting in his lap and staring up at him with worried eyes. "With four of us, I'll need to kill... a lot more."
"So kill them."
Denji turned to glare at Power. "It's not that easy," he said. "Killin' devils is hard, and dangerous, and-"
"No, it isn't."
"Huh?"
"There is no difficulty in killing a devil." Power puffed her chest out and planted her hands on her hips. "If you struggle so much, I will help you, as long as Meowy and I are rewarded well."
Denji blinked. "Are you sure?"
Power scoffed. "I know what I'm doing, Denji."
*
Denji's grip on Pochita tightened reflexively. He gaped open-mouthed at Power.
Power grinned smugly back, an axe made of blood in her hands and a dead devil at her feet.
"You've gotta be kidding me..." he whispered.
"What?" Power demanded, placing one of her hands on her hips. "I told you that killing devils is no challenge for me!"
She wobbled and staggered a step back immediately after speaking, like a liar. A loud, egotistical, show-off of a liar who got tired out when she used her powers. The devil she'd killed wasn't even very big.
Still, she did kill it. Denji and Pochita didn't even need to do anything. Yeah, that was partly because she had rushed in before they had a chance to do anything, but that wasn't the point. Power may be tired now, but Denji wasn't, which meant he would be able to kill another devil sooner. Which meant that he would be able to get more money. Which meant he could start paying off his debt.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to keep Power around until the winter was over.
*
Power was a girl, but Denji didn’t think she would ever be his girlfriend.
He was more okay with that than he thought he would be.
*
It was cold and snowy. But it wasn't as cold and snowy as it had been the day before, and the sky looked like it was going to start storming again tomorrow, which meant that this was the best time to run their errands.
He just wished that Power would stop being such a pain about it.
"I don't want to get in the trash receptacle," the fiend whined.
Denji poked his head over the top of the dumpster to scowl down at the fiend. Power was standing a few feet away with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She looked like she would be stomping her feet if she weren't shuffling from foot to foot to try and keep them from getting too cold. There were multiple layers of socks on her feet, but they were wearing out quickly. Soon she'd be barefoot in the middle of winter and all of his socks would be gone.
"If you don't help look for stuff, you don't get to keep anything," Denji warned.
Power tilted her head up. "This is fine. I have no need for human garbage."
"Yes, you do!" Denji argued. "You need clothes."
"I can keep wearing yours!"
Denji looked at Pochita, who was tearing through garbage bags in search of food and useful knick-knacks beside him. "You hearing this?" he asked.
Pochita paused his search to bark at him.
"Yeah, I know, she's ridiculous!"
"Stop talking to the chainsaw devil!" Power cried.
"Then you start making sense!" Denji shot back.
"I do make sense! Your clothes suit me fine!"
"You're stinking them up even faster than I do! If we don't get more, we're both going to end up naked!"
"Then let us be naked!"
"In the middle of winter!?"
Power faltered. "But this is where humans keep the rubbish," she whined.
Denji didn't let himself look ashamed, but he did let the scowl melt off his face. "Yeah. I can't afford anything but rubbish." He shrugged. "You can find some really good stuff in here if you look, though."
A thoughtful look crossed Power's face. She took a few tentative steps over to the dumpster, grabbed its edge, and peered down into it. "...If I help you, I will keep the very best of the findings," she declared.
"Sure." Pochita barked. Denji looked over to see that he had dug up a part of old, worn-out sneakers that looked like they were about Power's size. "I was gonna do that anyway."
*
The weeks passed by.
Power helped Denji and Pochita hunt devils. He quickly realized that she was a coward in a big fight, but she still helped him make enough extra money to make keeping her around with it. Through their combined efforts, Meowy began to turn from a pathetic bag of skin and bones into a healthy and fluffy cat. Hours that would have been passed talking to Pochita were instead spent chatting with Power, Pochita and Meowy curled up in their laps. They both made sure to talk to them every now and then to make sure they didn't feel left out.
The snow melted before he knew it.
Denji didn't tell Power that she was supposed to leave.
*
Nothing good ever lasted for long. Denji knew that, but it still felt like a slap in the face when the yakuza found out about Power.
It didn't turn out as badly as it could have. They didn't hurt her. They didn't even threaten to hurt her. They didn't need to. The glint in the old man's eyes said that he saw her as Denji's, which meant that he saw her as collateral. But he didn't need to say that, so he didn't.
What he said, a hungry grin on his lips, was, "If you've got another devil helping you, you'll be able to pay us off a lot faster, now won't you?"
Denji didn't have any choice but to say yes.
*
Power was a coward. She stood in the corner of the room and watched as the old man explained Denji's increased rates to him. It wasn't until they were curled up in bed that she asked, "What's going to happen?"
"Whaddya mean?" Denji grumbled.
"That old man smelled of blood," Power replied, hushed but urgent. "Is he going to hurt you?"
"Nah," Denji murmured. "He's just makin' me give him more money."
"What does that mean?"
"It's gonna get harder for us to find food." And it wouldn't get any easier to get clothes. They wouldn't be able to get a new bed, get a heater that could actually warm the entire shack, or any of those little things that he'd started to think might be within reach. After this, he'd be making the same amount of money that he was before.
Power's face scrunched up in confusion. "How is that not hurting you?"
"I'm not bleeding. 'Sides, it's not like you did anything to help." Denji glared at Power. It was stupid and empty and pointless. He knew better than to expect Power to help him if he was ever really in trouble. Really, he was lucky that she hadn't acted out and made everything worse.
Power looked affronted anyway. "If he had hurt you that way, I would help you."
"Sure," Denji mumbled. He shouldn't have been hurt by the blatant lie, but it still made his chest hurt.
"I mean it!" Power insisted. "If that cretin ever makes you bleed, he will die by my hand."
“Whatever,” Denji grumbled. “‘Night, Power.”
He rolled over to face Pochita, pulled his best friend close to his chest, and buried his face in his soft orange fur.
*
Denji didn't know when the calendar said that the season switched over from winter to spring. However, on the first warm day of the year, he fired up the tiny, single-flame heater that served as his makeshift stovetop and boiled enough pots of water to fill the big metal tub behind the shed. It was a long, boring process, but it would be worth it. Taking a bath always felt great. After a long winter of washing himself with rags, it would feel amazing.
Power wasn't so sure. While Denji stripped down, she stared down at the tub, nose wrinkled in distaste. "I prefer not to take baths," she haughtily declared.
"That's just 'cause you've never had one," Denji said. "You'll love it once you get in the water."
Power crossed her arms and tilted her head back, sending greasy hair cascading down her back. "I shan't get in that water."
Denji fought down the urge to clench his jaw. Where he wanted a bath, Power needed one. He may have managed to convince her to use the rags to clean up fairly frequently, but she still tended to be dirtier than him most of the time. If he was lucky, introducing her to actual baths would solve the problem for him.
But first, he had to get her in the water.
Denji pushed down his frustration and instead focused on the warm water waiting for him. The warm, relaxing water that Power would be totally missing out on if she decided to keep being stubborn. He glanced at Pochita, who was sitting off to the side with his ripcord tail wiggling in anticipation, and allowed a sly grin to cross his face.
"Guess that just means there'll be more room for us!" he exclaimed.
Denji picked Pochita up and climbed into the tub. It felt a little smaller than it had the last time he had used it, but there was still enough room for him and Pochita. There would be enough room for Power when she stopped being stubborn. He displayed that room by laying back, Pochita piled on his chest, stretching his limbs out, and letting out a blissful sigh. "So nice..."
Pochita let out a yip of agreement.
For a moment, the sound of birdsong was the only thing to be heard. Then-
"Move aside!"
Power stripped her clothes off and all but jumped into the tub. Denji had to quickly pull himself upright to keep his legs from getting caught under her. That wasn't as hard as the fight to keep himself from smiling. It was a losing battle. He was lucky though; Power was too preoccupied with splashing at the surface of the water to notice and get upset about it.
Pochita crawled forward so that his belly was perched on Denji's knees. He watched Power for a little while, nose twitching as droplets splattered onto it, then reached his stumpy front legs out and began splashing back at Power. This evolved into a splash fight that Denji only stopped when he realized how much water was leaving the tub.
"Turn around so I can wash your hair," Denji said. He didn't have soap or anything, but scrubbing it out with water had to be better than anything.
"My hair needs no washing," Power said, because of course she did. Denji resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Think of it as, uh..." An act of servitude? No, 'servitude' was way too dangerous of a word to use around Power. An act of devotion? It kinda was, in a way, but he didn't want Power to get the wrong idea. She was his... He was... They were something that started with an 'f', not a devil and her human slave.
"It will make you feel nice," he lamely finished.
Power narrowed her eyes. "If you've lied to me, there will be consequences."
This time, Denji did roll his eyes. "You mean worse than your snoring?"
Power gasped. "I do not snore!"
"Alright, alright, now turn around."
She turned around, and Denji got to work rinsing out her hair. When he was done, she returned the favor without having to be asked.
Power would never say it, but he was pretty sure she liked the bath.
*
Power was covered in blood. None of it was her own, save for what had been used to make the bright red knife in her hand.
The floor was covered in blood. It came from the stab wound in the chest of the yakuza enforcer laying dead on the floor.
There was a trickle of blood making its way down Denji's cheek. It came from the gash where the enforcer had punched him when he had only been able to provide half of the payment that was due.
The blood knife dropped onto the floor with a clatter. "Denji..." Power began, softer than he had ever heard her. She started to walk toward him, only to stop and look at Pochita. The tiny devil was pressed against Denji's leg, whimpering up at him with tears in his eyes where he had been ferociously growling at the enforcer only moments earlier. He only looked away when Power called, "Pochita?"
Pochita scampered over to her side without hesitation. His absence made Denji blink, pulling him away from what had already happened and making him think about what was currently happening.
"Power, what did you do ?" Denji whispered. His voice wavered - he couldn't stop it from wavering. He was... he was scared. More scared than he had been in a long time.
Power walked over to Denji, her scavenged, scuffed-up shoes leaving bloody footprints across the floor. Her eyes darted anxiously between Denji and the corpse. Her hand was shaking as she held it up to rest against his cheek, gently brushing the drop of blood away. That same tremor could be found in her voice as she said, "I told you I would kill them if they made you bleed."
Denji sputtered. "I didn't think you meant it!"
Power's fear was replaced by indignant offense. "Stupid!" She pulled her fingers back a few inches and tapped them against Denji's cheek in a gentle smack. "Why would I say something I don't mean!?"
"You-" say shit you don't mean all the time, he meant to say, but the words didn't come. Probably because he didn't have much longer to say anything.
"Power, you killed a yakuza," he choked out. "They're gonna kill us."
Pochita growled and stalked over to them.
The fear returned to Power's expression, stronger than before.
For the first time, Denji saw her fight it.
"Then we shall run away," she said, not quite confident, but definitely trying to get there.
Denji blinked. "Run away?"
Power dropped her hand and frowned. "Have you never considered it?"
"No," he said. "They'll just kill me as soon as they find me."
"How do you know they will find you?"
"They're the yakuza."
"They are human," Power corrected. "They are small, weak, stupid humans, and you are contracted to two devils. If they find us, me and Pochita will kill them like I did this one."
"...We have a contract?" Denji whispered. It was probably the least important thing that was happening right then, yet it felt too important to let sit for even a second.
Power's eyes widened. She looked away, a blush working up her cheeks. It took a little while for her to whisper, "...Yes. You are my friend, and I look out for you. This is a contract."
Denji was terrified. Every time he looked at the body, a fresh spike of fear ran through him. Yet as he looked at Power and felt Pochita press himself against his leg, a tiny, probably stupid flicker of hope flared to life in his chest.
Denji smiled.
"Okay," he said. "Let's run away."