Chapter Text
Kobeni helpfully dropped Aki’s suitcase on the floor, scattering a third of his worldly possessions all over the laminated wood panels. Loose articles of clothing, carefully-wrapped porcelain heirlooms salvaged from his ruined childhood home, and every sock he owned had miraculously separated from each other, exploding in an array of mess, comically destructive from a single drop. Somehow, Kobeni had managed to click open the side latch, leaving her vulnerable to an explosion of Aki's possessions with a single wrong move. Kobeni had tripped over air, something she was well-versed in doing.
Something swaddled in bubblewrap crumbled from within its safety wrapping in slow motion, shattering into large, sporadic chunks of very expensive, very old antique.
Maybe he should have asked for someone less clumsy to help him move. In a show of dramatics, Kobeni dropped to her knees, whimpering like a kicked puppy as she frantically apologized. Protecting the back of her head, she curled into the fetal position before switching gears, hurriedly attempting to herd every separated sock into her outstretched arms. All of them were the same brand and cut, but she seemed to struggle with matching them as she flopped around by his feet. There was no urgency in the situation, but she seemed so distraught that Aki wouldn’t comment.
Aki knew better than to kick her when she was down, both literally and figuratively. He tried to be gentle with Kobeni to prevent her from spiraling into self-depreciative, self-inflicted panic attacks. Kneading his index finger and thumb across his temples, he practiced deep breathing exercises, trying to not let the stress of the last few weeks get to him.
He was hanging on by a thin, fraying rope, and knew that it wouldn’t be fair to take out all of his recent misfortunes on Kobeni. Even when in the throes of loss, he was soft-hearted at his core. It wasn’t worth it to comment.
She was probably afraid, too. Their lives weren’t easy, and she only stuck around for a paycheck. He saw in her what Himeno saw in him—she was normal. Too normal for a career in public safety, but she didn’t seem to think she had a choice. She was skilled where it mattered, while simultaneously being bumbling and clumsy with things as simple as not leaving the stove on, or carrying a suitcase from Point A to Point B.
She was smart when it came to following appropriate impulses, and ruthless when she had to be. She was very similar to Aki, in some ways. With the things they had in common, they still vastly differed when it came to their mental thresholds for stress.
“Thank you.” Aki muttered, kneeling down to offer her a hand. The now-bawling Kobeni accepted his thanks and hand, scrambling to pull herself to her feet, once again dropping arms full of socks. She clutched them white-knuckle to her bosom.
“I’m so sorry–I’m so sorry,” Kobeni panicked, clearly distressed.
Sighing deeply, he began to pick up his things, setting them onto the door-side table. He could organize things and consider gluing his family’s things together later. His clothes were thrown into his suitcase, which skidded to an open stop a few feet away. Kobeni helped as she wiped her tears away into her shoulder, halfway folding his clothing as she did so.
Aki would ultimately have to redo all of his laundry as he moved in, so he just accepted it with appreciation for the fact that Kobeni would agree to help him in the first place. He didn’t attempt to pressure her, but she didn’t immediately volunteer, only coming when she lost nose-goes. Kobeni was open to helping, but the humiliation of not recognizing they were sacrificing her day for Aki’s move made her feel a deep sense of obligation. She was getting paid for this, though it was a miserable flat-rate. Everything helped, with her struggle to make ends meet.
The apartment he rented was pre-furnished. Well, it was more accurate that Makima rented it for him. At this time, he earnestly thought he wanted to be alone. Something about coming home to Denji and Power comforted him, but it was hard to mourn when someone was constantly trying to cheer you up. At the same time, they were pretty disrespectful of his need for privacy.
He wondered how trashed his old apartment would be when he visited them. Maybe he would hire cleaners for them. He didn’t consider ever getting that deposit back, just from the destruction of every doorway by Power and Meowy.
“Are you going to quit–?” Kobeni asked, sniffling. She blew her nose into a handkerchief, which Aki double-taked at to confirm it was not one of his socks. She tucked it into her breast pocket once she was appropriately wiped down.
“No,” Aki answered quickly. He wouldn’t tell her that Makima was helping to fund the room out of what he thought was sympathy, with how much Kobeni was usually open about her financial struggles. “I’m just.. Taking some time off. I need a little while to recover.” Even though his body felt okay, he didn’t feel good. Nothing felt right. And right now, he just needed to be alone to think.
“I think it would be okay if you did. Not that I wouldn’t miss you!” Kobeni waved her hands in front of her, as if trying to deflect her own comment. “It’s just.. It’s probably not my place to say anything, but.. Uh.” Kobeni struggled to voice her concerns. “It’s.. really scary, y’know? We’re almost the same age, and the money’s okay, and you have options, unlike me.”
She was just afraid to take the leap. She probably couldn’t afford a car or emergency repair at another job. She couldn’t afford to save up for college otherwise, either. From here, college seemed so far away, and so unattainable when her time was occupied with killing devils.
“I think you’ve got options.” Aki differed.
“I don’t think so. I’ve thought about being a waitress, but I’d probably trip and dump food on someone and get fired. I could be a sex worker, but.. People aren’t really polite to me. I’d worry about getting harassed a bunch, too.”
“Would you want to do that?”
“No! But do I want to kill devils, either?” She had a fair point. “It’s a job, the same as anything else. It pays enough that I think it’s worth it, for me. Heck, I’d probably kill a devil per day if Miss Makima offered enough bonuses. I work hard because I have to.”
Aki worked hard to ultimately find a path to his end goal. The Gun Devil was still his priority, but with the more time went on, his goalposts were starting to shift.
“This is what I want to do with my life.” Aki ultimately explained, closing his suitcase with his foot. He kicked off his shoes as he motioned for Kobeni to do the same, now that they were indoors.
Himeno’s death was hitting him hard. Learning he was going to die within 2 years filled him with a dread that constantly pounded into his brain. He had taken thrashing after thrashing on his mental health, and the hurt he was experiencing was too much to send him immediately back into the field. His performance would take a hit, which could mean a more premature death in his industry. He wasn’t too eager to follow Himeno to the grave, even with the dismally brief timespan he had left.
Makima told him that Himeno never needed time to recover after the deaths of her partners, before. She took them each with something that felt like responsibility. She became jaded, and expected her partners to die. It was unfortunate, but something she had become accustomed to. She was partially accountable for each partner that died by her side. It didn’t mean that Himeno didn’t regret her failures every day.
She told him how important it was that he leave. She knew this work would kill him, and she loved him enough that she wanted him to run. He was stubborn, and his goals were set—He was going to defeat the Gun Devil, even at the expense of his own life.
She wanted to keep him safe, and told him to keep living. The crushing guilt of knowing his and Power's seemingly inevitable date was too much for him to shoulder. No matter Himeno’s sacrifice, his end had been bluntly exposed by the Future Devil. He was wasting what she gave him.
“Do you smoke?” Aki asked Kobeni, stifling his thoughts.
The innocuous question was enough peer pressure that Kobeni eagerly shook her head “yes.” She did not smoke. She would also not tell Aki “no,” deciding that so much as a simple rejection would send anyone else into a spiral.
She just wasn’t keen on being assertive, and could be delicate when it came to rejection. She knew Aki was struggling with what happened to him and the stress of moving, so if smoking was what comforted him, she would join. The beads of sweat pooling down from her hairline indicated that she was definitely not telling the truth, but Aki wouldn’t question it.
“Let’s head outside. This apartment doesn’t allow smoking indoors.”
He was grateful he wouldn’t have to settle for smoking in some back alley. Attached to his kitchen, a glass doorway opened to a third-floor balcony, giving a pleasant view of the outdoors. Both apartments below him also had a balcony, one adorned with plants, and the other filled with outdoor furniture. He considered following their lead.
The balcony was a nice touch, and gave him a beautiful place to brood. He hadn’t entirely explored his new apartment yet, but concluded that it was an appropriate time for a smoke break. It would give him time to cool off before working on setting himself up in his new living space.
Stripping the foil strand on his fresh pack, Aki tugged the sealing layer of plastic off. Pulling out a cigarette and holding it inverse, he tucked it back into the pack. Aki held the full pack to Kobeni to let her select one.
“Don’t take the upside down one.” He warned, though Kobeni wouldn’t choose it in the first place. Despite the fact that she could choose any of the cigarettes, she was starting to get flustered, fretting over having to select one of 19 choices. It wasn’t a quiz or way to trick her into doing something wrong so he could berate her, which was her immediate concern when it came to being forced to make a mundane decision.
When Aki finally glimpsed away, starting to feel a little embarrassed by the delay, Kobeni finally picked her cigarette. She held it pinched between her index, middle and thumb finger, squeezing too hard on the filter. Her hands trembled, along with her petite frame. She seemed genuinely terrified.
“Why–couldn’t I take the upside down one? Is it unlucky? Is it better than the others?”
“It’s the lucky cigarette.” He wasn’t superstitious, but he learned it from Himeno. Similarly, she was also not superstitious, but was taught this lore from who trained her to depend on nicotine. Her tutor told her it was easier than other drugs, and wouldn’t interfere with her work.
Aki briskly selected his cigarette, shutting the pack and discarding it back into his pocket. “It’s an excuse not to let someone bum your last smoke.” This is what he and Himeno concluded together during long conversations on work breaks, and long drives.
“Makes sense.” Kobeni mused thoughtfully on the matter, sucking the filter of the unlit cigarette. Aki watched her with furrowed brows, before realizing she probably never smoked before. If Kobeni was considering quitting, maybe he shouldn’t get her started on another bad habit, like risking your life for money. Unlike a pursuit of revenge, Kobeni’s motives for sticking around could probably be more easily swayed.
Cigarettes were expensive, too. If Kobeni became hooked, she could easily waste her whole paycheck on them. He didn’t want to be accountable for sending her into poverty due to an expensive practice.
Despite himself, he pulled out his lighter, igniting the end of his own cigarette. He followed with lighting Kobeni’s, who instantly began to sputter and cough before muffling her sputtering into her sleeve. Aki looked away, not wanting to watch her struggle.
“Take a slow breath with your mouth.” He instructed, observing his new view. The apartment was decently secluded, facing towards a back street with opposite-facing apartment complexes. Tall, mostly-decorative fences and bushes separated each expanse of buildings. They would be useless in a zombie invasion, but they looked nice.
Kobeni followed the guidance, exhaling too quickly from her nose once she felt the pull. Her eyes watered as she exhaled a billow of smoke from both nostrils. She wiped her eyes, weeping openly as she smoked. She slowed down as she inhaled, trying to look like she wasn’t a complete idiot liar. Aki didn’t think this about her, but was starting to feel guilty for offering her the cigarette in the first place.
She kept trying. Each brief, gasping inhale crinkled her smooth forehead more, frown extending, brows furrowed.
“You don’t have to keep smoking it, you know.” Aki finally interrupted, holding his hand out. He didn’t anticipate her committing to an entire cig when she was already so defeated from a few puffs. Kobeni wiped her tear-covered, too-hot face, setting the lit cigarette gratefully between his fingers. The cigarette was hastily tamped out, being safely kept intact aside from a few miserable puffs. He retrieved his pack to stick it back in amongst its unlit brothers.
“Thank you.” Kobeni sniffled, attempting to collect herself. She looked up at him with the most pitiful, pathetic expression she could muster, completely unaware of how devastated she seemed. She often looked like she’d just heard the worst news of her life, and her expressions sometimes made Aki uncomfortable.
“No problem.” Aki smiled awkwardly in response, trying to defuse the situation. His usual despondent expression soon fell back into place. “Thank you for helping me move.”
“Sorry I dropped all your stuff.” Kobeni whimpered, shielding herself as of Aki’s immediate retaliation would be to hit her. He didn’t. His arms rested on the railing, his weight shifted to the backs of his feet to stabilize him.
“It’s.. okay. I just hope nothing else broke in the bubble wrap.” He was annoyed by it, but he was trying not to dwell on whatever other misfortunes were on the roster.
“And sorry I lied about smoking.” Kobeni continued, her posture relaxing the longer she held her flinch.
“Try not to give into peer pressure that easily. That’s how you end up kidnapped or doing things worse than smoking.”
Oh no, one of her worst fears. Kobeni felt her heart rate spike as she imagined the worst case scenario of every fate she could possibly face. Throat cancer, drugs, being dragged into the back of a white van-- She started to breathe heavily, but quickly smothered those feelings by filling herself with guilt. A much preferable feeling, though it made her heart beat as rapidly as fear.
“And—sorry I stabbed you that one time.”
“It was a bad scenario. I forgive you.” It hurt, but didn’t kill him. He was stabbed a few times before, and it wasn’t the worst of the times, so he tried to not hold it against her.
“And I was the on that kept eating your lunch at work—That one week before Christmas, because I couldn’t afford to bring my own—“
“Stop apologizing.” Aki countered flatly as inhaled deeply into his cigarette, trying to end the conversation there. A peaceful silence fell between the two as they watched the orange-purple sky darken overhead. Somewhere amongst rows of tall buildings, the sun was setting. Shadows cast from the opposite apartments, leaving the two standing in the dark.
Kobeni paused before she offered her final apology: More of a condolence, she knew she wasn’t responsible for what happened.
“I’m.. uh, I’m sorry about Himeno, too.”
Aki seemed less willing to respond to that apology. He sunk his elbows onto the guard railing, shoulders slouching as he reached up. Tapping out his ash into the air, he watched the concrete sidewalk 24 feet below with a marked disinterest. Quiet and disregarding Kobeni, he opted to ignore her condolences.
Kobeni continued despite the clear, silent desire that she not.
“I know you two were close.” Kobeni let her trembling, hesitant hand rest on Aki’s shoulder. Her palms were drenched in sweat. Giving an affirming squeeze, she quickly tucked both of her hands back against her chest. “And it’ll probably always hurt, and I know you probably don’t think we’re friends, but..” Beginning to stammer, Kobeni felt her face getting redder with each word.
“I promise, I care about you! So, if you ever want to get lunch or something, I probably have to wait until I get my paycheck and budget it in, but.. I’ll pay for you. So, please don’t, uh, hesitate to reach out if you need anything.” Kobeni felt herself tense, her posture too-erect, her fingers curled into her palms enough to leave indentations of her nails in the meat of her upper hand.
Was she being too imposing? Would Aki even actually want her around? He moved out of his own apartment to be alone, so she would only get her feelings hurt a moderate to above-average amount if he ghosted her. She wouldn’t blame him, and instead blame herself every night as she fell asleep.
“..Thank you, Kobeni.” Aki finally responded, ashing his cigarette again. It wasn’t ready to ash, so he flicked it without necessity. He turned to acknowledge her, reaching out with his spare hand to match her gesture. He took a hold of her shoulder in a reciprocated touch, averting his gaze to sigh smoke out of his mouth. He didn’t want to completely soak her in the smell. “Can you go inside and get a cup from one of the boxes? I should use it as an ashtray so I’m not dumping it all over my downstairs neighbor’s balcony.”
Kobeni agreed. She went inside. And while she spent a solid 25 minutes searching through Aki’s boxes for a cup that was already in a cupboard, he quietly wept into his hands, grateful to have the opportunity to cry alone.
—
“Do you want me to turn on the heat?” Kobeni asked, tapping her fingers on the space heater she’d pulled out from Aki’s box of home goods. Tugging her brown loafers on, she was preparing to head out after helping him unpack. While they weren’t entirely done, the apartment seemed more livable with a touch of Aki’s personality in each corner.
It had taken most of the remainder of the day, and she thought it was a little scary to walk to the bus stop at night, but her car was still being repaired. She wouldn’t inconvenience Aki further and request he walk her to the stop, however.
“It’s weirdly cold in here.” Wrapping up in her jacket, Kobeni feigned a performative shiver. Aki nodded in agreement.
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Aki finished cleaning dishes from the dinner he’d made in appreciation for Kobeni, turning off the scalding hot water in the sink, used for a final rinse. He wiped his hands dry as he turned to her, assessing her outfit.
Cute. A little stylish. He would expect it from her. The jacket hung loose on her body, knee-length and long enough to show off her brown, houndstooth patterned tights. Her skirt was too short to see from beneath the jacket. She tightened her belt around her waist, pulling in the sides to make her outfit more form-fitting.
“Yeah, it’s pretty chilly inside. Maybe there’s a draft.” He didn’t care that much, but the electricity bill might be horrendously expensive if he wasn’t careful. Kobeni plugged the heater into the wall, fiddling with the settings to turn it to a comfortable temperature and cut it on. The heater whirred to life, rotating as it started to blast heat directly up Kobeni’s skirt. She tugged the back of her jacket into place, departing into the doorway.
“I’ll see you around?” Kobeni suggested, waving both of her hands at Aki as she finished her outfit with warm, matching brown mittens. She checked to make sure she had all of her belongings in her purse, scanned her pockets for her wallet and house keys.
“I’ll see you around.” Aki confirmed, returning a wave goodbye. “We can hang out sometime soon.” He wouldn’t promise it, but he wanted to give Kobeni a confirmation that he didn’t hate her, and was willing to be around her for an extended amount of time again. She secretly appreciated the open-endedness, because it meant she didn’t feel pressured to make it super soon.
Aki finished setting their dishes into the dryer rack as Kobeni left, locking the door behind her. He wondered how Power and Denji were doing, now that he was alone. He hoped nobody was setting anything on fire in his absence, and that they were eating food that wasn’t complete junk. Maybe during their duration of time with him they picked up enough life skills to survive comfortably without intervention.
He knew they wouldn’t talk about him behind his back. In fact, he figured they probably missed him, even if they were reveling in his lack of nagging for now. Power would probably come to mourn not having someone to scoop her cat’s litter box daily. Denji would probably get annoyed with the responsibility of bathing Power, though they definitely seemed to be taking baths together more regularly.
Aki settled down on the new, black couch sitting in the center of his living room. Watching the ceiling, he observed his new home. It was a two bedroom apartment, but one bedroom had been turned into a study office, with an underwhelming weight set sitting in the corner of the room. He supposed he could work out, but wasn’t that interested in doing it after moving boxes around all day. He already checked the pre-furnishings to ensure there were no bedbugs, cockroaches, or mites, so he felt comfortable sitting down.
The living room had a kitchen built into the side of it, with a strange transition between the laminated flooring and different laminated tile indicating the separation between the two. The tiles contrasted against each other, with an occasional overlap in the patterns. An island separated the half-rooms as well, with an awkwardly positioned dish sink and stove. His dying rack was precariously balanced on a dish towel, a hair’s width from tumbling into the sink due to the lack of space. It was cozier than his old apartment, but not what he was used to. There were a few quirks with the set up he would learn to look past.
A restroom sat between the office and two bedrooms, the three rooms side-by-side in a thin hallway. The restroom was definitely a privacy barrier for when two people were living together, but Aki was appreciative of the extra space. The standing shower was small, but had enough space for his grooming products. He just hoped Makima wouldn’t suddenly move Denji and Power into this apartment when they started acting up, because it would be significantly harder to make Power shower, rather than threatening to drown her in a bathtub if she kept resisting.
He knew it would be a mess, and considering having to scrub an upright, naked, wet, fighting-back fiend wasn’t the most enticing. He still had scars from the first time he bathed her, perfect sets of 5 claw marks covering his forearms.
His washer buzzed to indicate that his laundry was ready to move over. The washer and dryer set was positioned at the end of the hallway, furthest away from the study. Aki moved the wet, wrung out laundry into the dryer. He only had a few articles of casual clothing, but he supposed now would be the time to wear it. He rummaged through his suitcase of still-unsorted clothes, digging for a pair of pajamas.
Changing into a loose black t-shirt with a faded band logo, he tugged on pajama pants, simply opting to change in the hallway. His shifting weight made the floor creak under him.
Aki emptied his pants pockets, rescuing his cigarettes, a burnt out butt, and a handful of loose money from his pockets. Tossing his last change of work clothes in for the duration of his vacation, Aki stepped away, looking over his bedroom. It seemed perfectly generic. His stripped-bare bed sat in the middle of his room, with a set of long horizontal mirrors nailed to the walls on both sides of it.
The bedroom walls were painted off-white, like the rest of the apartment. The tile flooring had been exchanged for grey carpet, which Aki hoped had been steam-cleaned before he moved in. There were no noticeable stains, but he considered that there may be some hidden under the bed, or in the corners of the room.
The overhead light flickered on, illuminating the room. The landlord included a dresser and small, faintly makeup-stained vanity, but there was only a standing closet for Aki to hang his clothes on.
He was actively in the process of washing all of his linens, just so there wasn’t a risk of experiencing second-hand sweat from a stranger. Power and Denji were different-–he was familiar with them and their unfortunate B.O. Gross.
The floor creaked again as Aki returned to the couch. He decided he would sleep there for the night, so he could avoid sleeping on a bare mattress or having to wait an hour for his load to finish. It would be a problem for Morning Aki, who was an entirely different person and wouldn’t be at all inconvenienced by this, right?
Aki turned the overhead light off, laying back onto the couch. He tugged a decorative pillow that Kobeni got for him beneath his head, watching the darkness of the ceiling. The pillow was a little flat, but the surface was soft and marked with the design of a cute cat. He folded his hands above his waist, shutting his eyes as he let himself fall into sleep. He wasn’t relaxed, but he was less upset than he’d been for the duration of time he’d been confronting Himeno’s death. Kobeni had briefly worked him up over the prospect of losing Himeno, but he had enough time to decompress between then and now.
He attended a service for all of the recent fallen members of their sectors. Simply a memorial, there was nearly always little to no body to display in the first place. They spoke to framed pictures of younger versions of their deceased friends, lit candles and incense, and left their memories at the gate. They mourned at sentimental tombstones with nothing beneath them. Their photos were hung on the walls in the hall approaching Makima’s office until new dead friends replaced them.
And then, their survivors had to move on with their lives. Often, the next day, their friends, partners and teammates would receive tonedeaf assignments. Aki was a special case, and Makima was completely agreeable about him utilizing his PTO and time off, under the condition he comply with whatever demands she sent him without complaint regarding his active but paused assignments. Good dogs don’t whine, and Aki was one of her star mutts.
She did not promise these would be sparse nor light workloads, and it also meant that she would saddle his coworkers with more weight.
It was something Aki was willing to ask of his friends and team, though he didn’t want to burden them with something impossible. If anyone died due to his time away from the field, he would carry that quickly compounding weight until the end.
He tried not to think of it. He occasionally dreamed of the future, but there was nothing he wanted to think about less than the quickly-approaching end. He didn’t regret asking his fortune from the Future Devil.
Aki woke up shivering. He pried himself from the couch as he searched blindly for a clock, forgetting that he moved recently enough that he wouldn’t know the layout in his haze of sleep. Looking for the previous arrangement of his room, he recognized he wouldn’t be able to read the clock in the dark, anyways. Sitting up, he searched for the source of the cold, attempting to locate the correct light switch with a blind swatting of his hands. He watched the space heater rotate from side to side, still making a futile attempt to cast heat into the freezing cold corners of the room. A red light on the top indicated it was turned on, along with the steady hum of the internal heating mechanism.
The heater sparked at the plug. A blinding, instantaneous spark of orange left the room smelling heavily of smoke. Aki practically fell over himself, jolting to the heater to rip the smoking plug from the wall before it could start a fire. He was lucky with the timing.
“Fuck—“ He muttered to the nonresponsive heater, gripping the cord like it was a venomous snake. He held the scalding hot plug end, staring in disbelief. Dropping the cord once it cooled off, Aki gripped his temples between the heels of his palm, trying to collect himself. He applied pressure to his forehead as he steadied his heart rate.
He guessed that the whole apartment would have gone up in flames, taking him down with it, if he woke up any later. He made a mental note to check each of the outlets’ outputs and not leave a space heater unattended in the house from here on.
Makima put him in a death trap. Figures. That didn’t explain the cold, though. Aki flipped the light on to assess the situation.
A black stain flared up the modest off-white walls, leaving a meter-high burn, tall enough to reach Aki’s chin. It spanned the width of his shoulders, marking considerable damage to the surface. He sighed in frustration, opening his front door to place the now-broken space heater onto the front hallway in front of his apartment. He would throw it out in the morning, but for now he needed to relax. He could assess the issue and take care of it in the morning. Maybe he could go back to sleep.
After flicking on the overhead lights, the ceiling fan lazily spun in the center of the room. Aki checked the clock, stationed in the middle of the kitchen above the sink. It was 2 in the morning, which wasn’t all that abnormal for him to wake up at. Scouting the area, he considered setting up his bed and having proper sleeping arrangements, rather than sleeping in the strangely cold living room. He would contact his landlord in the morning to ask about the plugs, warn them about the near-fire, and ask about a draft.
He hoped he wouldn’t be too problematic a tenant, but definitely recognized that this was kicking off on the wrong foot.
Aki never slept too comfortably, but also previously had two people kicking him in the crotch or mouth with seemingly targeted regularity. He welcomed Meowy, even if they were occasionally a bit of a bastard. Whenever Denji would sleep in Aki’s bed, Meowy would sit on Aki’s chest, laying their head against Denji’s side, or sleeping between them. It was a trade-off for cleaning their litter box, filling their food bowl, and giving them occasional scritches.
Maybe Aki could get a cat. He didn’t want to have a pet if he knew he would die soon, knowing that he would have to give that responsibility to someone else. He would simply have to settle for being an uncle to Power’s cat.
With all of the excitement done and over with, Aki headed to the dryer, hovering over it as he deliberated. He decided against making his bed, and would settle for sleeping in the freezing cold with a bit of accommodation. He took his blanket out, wrapping himself up, bundling against the elements as he went back to sleep.