Flowing Petals

Aki and Love stood before what seemed like an abandoned church of sort. The worst part about this vacant place was that it wasn’t actually deserted.

“You’ll find the Faith Devil.” Makima’s orders ringed in their ears as they found themselves in yet another uncanny place.

Coming back to work after last night wasn’t easy, especially being sent on a sudden task like this. Together, yet again.

The wind carried their gazes towards what resembled a graveyard. Broken down, overgrown, full of weeds, moss and demolished. Graves surrounded by lots of pots filled with only soil, the plants long time withered with no water. This place wasn’t exactly full of sunshine either. The engravings on the tombstones covered by moss and dirt, some chipped away. A crying willow stood right in the middle. Casting shadow on most of the deserted graves. Its vines gently swaying with the wind.

Love found herself wondering about the people buried here. How long has it been since they left? Were their families or dead or have moved away? Did they even have families? What were the causes of their deaths?

Surely if someone was loved, their most cherished people wouldn’t forget them like that?

“Let’s just get this over with.” His monotone tone snapped her out of her contemplation. His boot crushing the cigarette he was smoking. She had already learned to ignore the smell of it by now.

They placed their steps carefully. Truth is, only a few steps lead to the church entrance, but the whole place looked like it was about to collapse, so never too careful.

The door let an agonising creak as Aki pushed it open, the wind entering before them sounding in a whistle.

The smell of incense, decay and rotting wood hit their noses instantly. The church hall was dimly lit with parafin wax candles scattered in random places besides for what looked like specially prepared small altars near some of the pillars.

“I feel… weird.” Love settled for being frank, finding it unnecessary to elaborate at a moment like this.

While Aki, too, felt weird, his best guess was that she didn’t mean the same weird as him.

Looking up at the ceiling they could see a huge painting decorating the dome. It seemed to be a huge artwork covering the whole ceiling. Or at least, it was. Underneath all the dust and spiderwebs. Some parts seemed to be smudged intentionally.

The wooden benches were in a miserable state. When she approached one, she noticed a nest of termites, munching the wood away. Disgusting.

They walked the aisle towards the main altar, admiring - for the lack of a better word - the smaller altars around. Some small statues stood on pedestals, but by now it was impossible to tell who they portrayed.

A figure kneeled by the main altar. An impressive head piece adorned their head, their face fully covered behind a veil. It was hard to distinguish any details or features. No face nor hair visible. Wearing loose, mass robes that concealed their physique. Love decided to walk around the figure, trying to take a look from the side. They were kneeling in some kind of worship, hands risen towards a golden goblet standing on the altar. Pale, sickly hands adorned by nastily long nails.

What exactly did it worship?

Aki too decided to take a look around the altar, trying to look at the figure from other perspectives and inspect other potentially relevant items.

Love approached the alter from the other side than the figure. Taking a peek into the goblet to see what it might contain she smelled… blood?

No mold seemed to be covering it. No mites or bugs. It seemed fresh. How so? Sun must’ve peeked through the clouds outside because rays fell through the stained glass windows right onto the goblet. How peculiar. As much as one could say about churches and religion, the artistic side of architecture of their temples couldn’t be denied.

If asked, she wouldn’t be able to logically answer why she reached for the goblet. Perhaps it was the curiosity that’s been implanted in her since the cannibalism devil mission, maybe the hunger or simply her nature. Either way, the allure was undeniable.

She took a sip from the goblet, a small, humble sip. Just enough to taste the metallic aftertaste. The moment she placed it down, she noticed that the Faith Devil’s wrists seemed to be slashed. How so she didn’t notice that before? So this was the devils blood…

Aki turned around only to witness the aftermath. Seeing her place down the goblet, lick her lips and see as the unmoving figure seemed to be brought to life by what she did.

First the hands flinched, then a breath from underneath the veil seemed to slightly waver the material. The devil clenched its hands and hugged them close to their chest. Blood staining the pristine robes.

The weird feeling within her started growing from that point. It wasn’t exactly a bad feeling, but clearly not something she was used to.

They couldn’t even tell where the wind came from but it extinguished all the candles. The sun outside hid behind the clouds once more and the church was swallowed by shadow. That was before the candles all lit on their own, however the paintings they decorated changed.

“You can’t be serious..” Aki mumbled, however it echoed in the quiet church.

The paintings now portrayed.. Love. Depicted as some kind of deity. Someone sacred.

Was that the weird feeling she’s been getting since the beginning?

It seemed to be only the beginning of weird occurrences. The cathedral bells ringed outside, echoing in the vacant village that surrounded them.

If it was so deserted, how so people started entering the church?

Empty eyes with yellow whites. Eyebags. Pale skin. Messy, unkept hair and clothes. Bruises and visible veins adorning the poorly looking flesh. Dirt under their nails. Agape mouths, showing a peek of yellow, rotten teeth.

Undead people.

„I’m afraid I can’t.” She apologetically answered, carefully taking a sip of her tea. Ending up burning her tongue anyway despite her caution.

“Useless, then. Don’t know why Aki saved you then.” The boy huffed with disappointment, leaving Love puzzled, glancing towards Aki. Silently asking how did they know about it.

“They sniffed around in the reports I was writing when I wasn’t looking.” Aki simply stated.

She didn’t press much more, although, she has been a bit curious about what really went through after she got knocked out. Besides for the embarrassment of being knocked out so easily, she couldn’t help but wonder how long did it take Aki to take down the enemy and how did he do it.

The conversation from that point on got.. chaotic. Love started feeling like the two, who as she learned were called Denji and Power, were running around her head like two miniature devils, endlessly yapping her ear off. Though to be fair, it was all talk with no real sense. Some dreamy mumbling both about being the strongest and the other about pulling Makima. Nonsense all the way through.

Her phone buzzing finally gave her an excuse to take a break from the two, leaving Aki to deal with them after they’ve been pestering Love the whole time.

She stood up and walked out onto the balcony, picking up the call.

“Hello-“

“I need to take care of something. Stay at Aki’s for the meantime.”

Kishibe didn’t bother to let her in on any details. Straight to the point.

She looked down at her phone and sighed, deciding not to dwell on it. Surely whatever it was won’t hold him for long, right?

“Let me guess. He’s running late?”

The unamused voice behind her made her feel hopeless about this whole ordeal.

Aki passed right by her, lighting up his cigarette on the way to the chair in the corner.

“Did you expect it to happen?”

“Partially”

Another sigh escaped her. She approached the balcony railings and leaned on them, taking a look behind her over her shoulder, out of curiosity trying to see through the window.

“How did you get rid of them?”

“I didn’t. Truth is, they started arguing with each other and it was quite easy to leave.”

“Ah.”

She nodded and looked down at the people minding their own business, walking the sidewalks. The wind carrying his smoke towards her. The scent already well known to her.

“Was the fight with the cannibal devil difficult?” She finally decided to ask. If only to satiate her curiosity.

“No. The aftermath though..”

“The aftermath?”

She didn’t think dealing with her being unconscious would cause that much of a problem.

“I summoned Kon to eat it. Putting it simply, wasn’t quite to her taste.”

“Kon huh…The fox devil. If I had to guess, the devils body probably merged already with all its victims. So it was probably quite the mix of tastes.” She speculated.

Aki really couldn’t care less about the details of how the devil tasted. Instead he just shrugged and let out the smoke from his lungs. Observing her from half lidded eyes. Seeing how red her cheeks got before she couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a small cough. Pathetic.

“Just make up your mind already and take the easy way out.”

“You’re basically after your own death seeking revenge, why don’t you take the easy way out?”

“Not the best argument. I don’t care if I die in the process, as long as the Gun Devil dies. You on the other hand, will either live or suffocate.”

“Losing the ability to love is worse than death.”

“Not like you can be loved yourself. Anyways, heard you actually made a pact with Kobeni.”

“I did. Hope it serves her good.”

“Does it serve you good?”

It was a valid question. No matter how much she denied it, she can’t completely disobey her own nature as a devil. A part of her had to be benefiting from this deal.

“I suppose I do feel quite stronger since then.”

Aki hummed and crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

“That’s one step forward.”

He looked at the sky. Just how long has Kishibe been gone for? The sky was taking a greyish hue, the sun already long time gone behind the horizon.

“How is it like? Living with the blood fiend and the chainsaw?” She decided to shift the subject from her.

“Pretty much how you got to experience it so far.”

Guess he wasn’t going to elaborate anyway.

Aki was a bit too bothered by her being so stubborn about her disease to be chatty. Perhaps one thing he despised a bit more than people dying in front of him, was people dying slowly and recklessly in front of him.

“You drink?”

That question caught her off guard.

——————————————————

Somehow, they ended up alone. Denji and Power had gone off to the arcade a while back. The two of them, meanwhile, were a few beers in by that point. Sitting on the floor across from each other, visibly more relaxed and less defensive.

Aki’s hair now down, his breaths more shallow as he takes another sip. She too, has taken a more domestic look.

The beer has loosened their lips a little, their menu of topics expanded momentarily. Not only trying to convince each other the other one was wrong, but actually sharing their perspectives. Not stopping there either.

“…. And that is why I saved you then.” Aki told when asked about their previous mission. Spilling some of his personal feelings, including some details about Himeno’s recent death and the still fresh wound it left.

…

“Truth be told.. I do. I believe my curiosity and hunger have merged into one.. hard to explain craving.” Love answered, when asked whether she still thought about what the cannibal devil had told her.

…

“I.. don’t hate you.” Aki admitted after his fourth bottle.

They were both sitting next to each other now, still on the floor, leaning back against the small tv table.

Her hazy gaze glanced towards his rolled up sleeves, the bandages on his forearm and his hair framing his face. They didn’t even have the light on, the only light source being the full moon outside, providing barely any light.

The world around was quiet. For once there was no annoying buzzing of any electronics around, no whispers, no drunkards screaming outside. That, or they were tipsy enough for their brains to shut these sounds out.

He met her hazy gaze with his own, matching one. Their exhales melting into one.

A knock came at the door, followed by Denji and Power falling inside with their arcade prizes, followed by Kishibe behind them, way more composed than the previous two. The older man stared at the state Aki and Love were in, surrounded by the beer bottles. Impatiently tapping his foot against the floor, giving Love a clear signal that it was her time to go.

And go she did. Quickly getting up from the floor, accidentally bumping into Aki and holding the small table for balance in the process, she followed Kishibe out. The two leaving without a word.

“No way you got to hit before me!” Denji yelled the very moment the door closed behind Kishibe and Love, pointing his finger at the tipsy Aki.

The grumble coming from the drunkish hunter was enough of an answer and a sign for the younger boy to shut it before something unpleasant would happen.

Masterlist

That morning something fell off. It’s as if something was hanging in the air, like the very moment you wake up you can just sense that something will happen today.

Love woke up in that sickeningly cold and empty room they kept her in. Just basic furniture, little to none. She was a devil after all. Her new routine consisted of waking up, ripping out roots from her throat like weed in a garden, then going on about her day. One day she might as well wake up with a tree coming out of her mouth.

It’s been a week since her last mission, yet she still found herself wondering. Human food has always been just.. nothing for her. It didn’t trigger any particular feelings in her. However now that a thought of eating a human was planted in her mind, she couldn’t help entertaining that idea a little.

Sure she held deep love for humanity, but surely there was a person horrible enough to become her treat? A part of her wished she had made a pact that would grant her some blood when she had a chance.

Starting her day with an already made coffee, which, being honest, tasted a whole lot better now that somebody else made it, filled her with newfound strength. Was that the power of a pact she made? Truly she didn’t think that Kobeni’s acts would have any effect on Love or her wellbeing.

She felt a shiver creep up her spine, freezing in place with her eyes locked onto the mug of coffee in her hand.

-good morning, (y/n).

It was eerie how such a calm, soft voice could cause her blood to run cold for no reason at all.

-miss Makima.

Love nodded in a greeting, slowly tearing her eyes away from the mug to her superior.

A tiny spider crawled on Love’s shoulder, down her arm onto her wrist. Crawling towards her coffee.

-I don’t think we’ve had the chance to properly talk since you got here. Except for assigning you to special division 4.

Love straightened up her back, keeping quiet and allowing Makima to speak. It wasn’t often that a person would have Love at a loss for words.

-I’m afraid today is not the day either. I was only hoping to ask you to deliver something to Aki.

Love raised her eyebrow.

-Why me?

She thought out loud, not bothering to keep her curiosity in check.

-no reason besides for you being free from what I know.

Touché.

-I’m afraid I don’t know where he lives.

-don’t worry, I’ll have someone escort you there.

-why not just send that someon- eh.

She didn’t even get to finish before Makima turned on her heel and left midst conversation.

——————————————————

-mister Kishibe.

She greeted once she got into the car. It was nice seeing a familiar face, as much as it was surprising to see him of all people.

He, too, was partially glad to see that she was one of the few dogs he trained that survived. At least a while.

He tossed her a paper bag onto her lap, not wanting to get his car covered in blood and petals.

-actually…

Love told him about the evolution of her Hanahaki. How petals were no longer and roots started to take over her lungs.

The man listened quietly about everything that happened since he’d last seen her. Her missions, her doubts and hunger.

-I’m sure you’ll figure it out one way or another.

Was the „reassurance” he gave. He couldn’t just outright tell her to eat a human. Suggesting eating a devil would probably make him gag at the thought of it.

Getting stuck in a particularly big traffic jam, they sat in silence for a longer while. Was Kishibe the right person to entrust her questions to? To be fair, there was nobody else.

-Miss Makima..

Love started. Kishibe subconsciously gripped the wheel a bit tighter.

-Let’s not.

She hummed, turning her head to the side, watching two birds fighting for a piece of bread on the sidewalk.

-what is it that I even have to deliver to Aki?

She decided to change the subject. Still unable to wrap her head around why she had to do it.

-Documents I’m not allowed to disclose.

She had to fight real hard not to roll her eyes. Sure, as a devil she was held on a short leash, but some trust would be welcome.

-is it about the gun devil?

She decided to take a wild guess. Kishibe’s silence only confirmed her suspicions. It wasn’t hard to come to that conclusion, after all, Aki didn’t take that bullet casing with them for nothing during their last mission.

Right on cue, the clouds gathered and covered the sun at the mention of the gun devil. To think that morning was almost looking promisingly good.

——————————————————

After the excruciating silence that accompanied her way here, she finally made it to Aki’s place.

Although, seems like the problems had only started.

Making sure she had everything, she raised her hand to knock on the door. Before her knuckles could even make contact with the surface, she heard a loud bang inside the flat.

-Aki?

She said loudly, not screaming as to not alert the neighbours, but loud enough to be heard inside. Did something happen to him?

Then a deafening silence. What was going on?

She leaned her ear to the door, barely hearing out some whispers behind them. Was she at the right place? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make out the words. She leaned onto the door the very same second it flung open and loud yells could be heard.

Miraculously saving herself from the humiliation she stood up straight after almost falling face flat.

-you.. okay?

She asked a bit hesitantly. Was it all her imagination?

She noticed Aki standing a bit weird. His feet unnaturally wide apart, his one foot blocking the door on his right, she assumed it was the bathroom.

A loud bang came from that mysterious room he was blocking. Causing love to look towards the locked door then back to Aki. Her face was enough of a question, she didn’t even have to ask.

-What are you doing here exactly?

-Delivery duty.

She handed the neatly closed file of documents to him, though she kept glancing towards where voices were coming from the bathroom.

He had to rip the documents out of her hand since her palm just froze gripping it.

-Well your duty is done. You can go.

She snapped out of thought and looked away.

-oh about that… actually

Aki took a breath loud enough to express his lack of excitement towards her next words.

-Kishibe went to buy cigarettes and I have to wait for him to pick me up.

Kishibe drove her here? Yeah that cigarette trip was about as believable as the sky being pink.

-were you in middle of fighting a devil and locking it inside your bathroom?

She finally decided to ask.

Aki sighed. The day was already fucked up and the chaos was about to enlarge.

He moved his foot away and two silhouettes sprung out of the room. Quickly enough that Love didn’t even realise just how fast they appeared behind her, almost slashing at her neck with an axe and some kind of a blood weapon.

-wouldn’t try it in your place.

Aki’s tired voice made them stop in their tracks right before beheading Love.

-that’s a devil you know!

-yeah I can smell it!

The pair behind her spoke. She didn’t even turn around to look at them, letting Aki handle it.

-how about we go inside…

——————————————————

Love sat awkwardly by the low table, legs crossed. The could feel two pairs of eyes drilling into the side of her head. A half devil and a fiend. These were Hayakawa’s roommates?

While Aki was making some tea, the weird acting roommates joined Love by the table. Making themselves comfortable on the floor.

They sat across from her, staring right at her like she couldn’t see them. When she raised an eyebrow, it finally triggered them to speak.

-what kinda devil you are huh?

The unruly girl with red horns asked, sounding more like demanding an answer.

She thought for a moment. It was a simple question, but seeing how unpredictable her interlocutors were, she feared what the response might be. This whole ordeal felt ridiculous, even more so imagining that these were the people Aki lived with.

-I’m the love devil.

-Sounds weak to me!

The prideful girl declared, hitting her chest. While the boy looked suddenly like a wishing star just fell right into his eyes.

-can you make a girl fall in love with me?

-stop asking stupid questions.

Her saviour finally came, bringing hot tea. She helped Aki placing cups by every person while he poured the tea. The unruly pair on the other hand waited for an answer, not bothered by the interruption.

They ended up sitting at the poor train station, hoping any train would come sometime soon so they could go back home. Rested on the edge of the threshold, right by the tracks.

Looking down, not far under her dangling feet there was a pair of praying mantises. Not a full minute passed since they were copulating before the female ripped off clean the males head in order to consume it. She supposed there was a point to it. Eating its mate’s body to obtain energy and resources necessary to create a new life. Its death didn’t go to waste. But was it really love or just survival?

She glanced at Aki currently enjoying his yet another cigarette. It’s dim light becoming less apparent with the sun rising. They spent a whole night on that mission and then at the station. Soon it would be a full day since they left the headquarters yesterday.

The hunter by her side kept the cigarette in his teeth as he looked at the bullet casing in his fingers from every angle.

-so this is the revenge you’re chasing.

He didn’t even answer. He clenched the casing in his fist and put it in his pocket, making sure to keep it safe.

Something about his determination to get revenge on the gun devil made her gaze soften. Though the word revenge was like a memory she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Aki could see her from the corner of his eyes, but refused to meet her gaze. Even though she’s been staring for longer than it was comfortable.

The sun was rising in the horizon in front of them, the rays beginning to hit their faces, blinding their eyes. Somewhere above them a flock of birds fluttered, flying away in an arrow shaped group. It was quiet, peaceful. The chilly air providing a comforting bite on their skins after such a heated with fight and investigation night.

She looked away with a grimace, clearing her throat before spitting out a small thorn covered in blood and spit. It probably came from the freshly formed roots in her lungs. She couldn’t tell if she preferred this sharp feeling, like a blade slashing her throat while trying to get free from within her lungs, or the petals that glued to her airways and blocked any air that tried to come through. Neither of the experiences were pleasant. It felt like after the blooms and spring in her lungs there came winter, with bare branches and roots.

-what do you think caused it?

He let a hint of curiosity sneak into his tone as he spoke.

-your guess is as good as mine.

-is it better than.. than the petals?

A moment of silence. It was truly just choosing between the lesser and greater evil.

-I suppose. It hurts more but for now I’m not suffocating as much. Hopefully the roots won’t grow thicker.

Her fingers gently pressed on her throat, feeling where the roots were slowly coming up her airways from her lungs. Obstructing, but not blocking her trachea.

He observed her hand, seeing the outline of the roots when she pressed on her skin. A shiver ran down his spine thinking about how it must feel, but he didn’t let his expression betray his thoughts.

-I almost feel bad for you.

He stated bluntly, averting his gaze from her.

Ah, of course. She almost forgot. He still hated her devil guts.

A smile crept onto her face, just a small one.

-I hope you get covered in shit again.

——————————————————

-if all animal meat became deadly, would you eat a human?

-I would settle for plant based diet.

A tiresome way back it was. The train couldn’t go any slower.

-every plant on earth withered.

-I don’t feel like going to jail or facing death penalty.

-it was legalised.

She pushed the topic. The cannibal devils words still on her mind.

-if you’re considering eating a human, just know you would be dead before you’d get a taste.

-but would you?

He was tired of her questions. They were ridiculous anyway.

-would you agree a kiss is the first step to cannibalism?

Was this the kind of nonsense the devil fed her before she was knocked out and he slain the bastard? Was she truly that easily swayed?

He supposed answering her would only do good, in case she was really under the influence of the devils brainwashing speech.

-if you truly loved someone enough to want to kiss them, would you want to kill and eat them?

-we’d become one, wouldn’t we?

-they’d disappear, that’s what would happen. You’d never feel their presence again.

She couldn’t argue with that. The longer they talked the more she could see how little sense she was making. Why would she believe that devil? Was she really that starved?

The question was whether she was starved for blood or love. One she could get, unlike the other.

She felt sick thinking about it, she really had to stop. The feeling of the roots climbing up higher to her throat wasn’t pleasant at all, and she wasn’t looking forward to ripping them out again to clear her airways.

She gulped and hoped to keep her mind busy with something else for the rest of the ride back home. Perhaps guessing what the gun devil did to Aki, not that he would ever tell her.

——————————————————

They thankfully got a few days without missions to have time to fill the documents and rest their minds.

Aki hasn’t seen Love around much during that time. To be fair, his new roommates were enough of a handful to forget a bit about his latest adventures. Though he found himself thinking about hanahaki, though involuntarily. Somehow his phone just knew exactly what kind of content to suggest him.

Love on the other hand during that time got to meet Kobeni. And to be absolutely honest, she really enjoyed her company.

Kobeni was just.. so human.

It was endearing to see someone show fear.

Although, Love really had to watch herself. Kobeni tended to get scared even of her. Perhaps that was the devil side of Love taking over, but occasionally enjoying Kobeni’s fear couldn’t be such a huge sin.

The two of them sat at the table, enjoying their break at the headquarters.

Love learned a lot from and about Kobeni during the days of talking to her.

About the hard choice she made, about her family and poverty. Speaking frankly, love was fascinated. To commit such an act of love, choosing being a hunter and risking her life for the sake of funding her brothers college.

What a beautiful deed.

(Y/n) learned yet another thing about human love. Love was sacrifice. Not everyone would have the courage to choose between devil hunting and sex work.

-you’re more courageous than any people I’ve seen around here, Kobeni.

Love hoped to ease the girl’s mind, even slightly. Though it seemed to do the exact opposite. The huntress looked panicked and flustered. Waving her hands around while stumbling on her words incoherently.

-Kobeni. I’d like to offer you a deal.

-y..you mean a pact?

Of course Kobeni heard. Everyone around knew that Love refused making deals with multiple hunters during her time here. She simply had no interest in anything they could possibly offer her.

-I suppose it would be a pact, yes.

She mused, leaning her chin on her hand, observing Kobeni struggling to keep her composure. The girl surely thought she was about to get knee deep in some shit.

-I don’t have much to offer, but I think it’s something you would appreciate. While I can not offer you prowess or combat skills, I can offer you the blind confidence and courage of a love fool.

While sometimes Love allowed herself to enjoy Kobeni’s fear and panic, right now she was genuine.

-what.. what would be the price?

Kobeni forced the words through her teeth, truthfully worried about what her devil companion could possibly want back.

-consider it.. an act of love coming from me. You taught me something and I’d like to repay you. The only thing I ask of you is allowing me to watch love around you through your eyes.

She pointed at her own eyeballs, seeing how the huntress hesitated, noticing how laughably small the price was, Love spoke up again.

-and.. forgive me for enjoying your stress and fear every so often. There’s a sadistic part of me that can’t help it.

And so they shook on it. Kobeni could ask for the confidence from Love for the price of acts of love and devotion. Be it towards the devil herself or anyone else.

At least now Love always found her coffee already made the moment she started work.

Watching her walk on the grates looked like straight from a post apocalyptic movie. Aki noticed countless spiderwebs. He could almost feel like they were tangled inside one right now. On one of them, he could see a black widow currently sucking the internal organs out of an empty shell, which seemed to be a now empty body of another spider. Was he being paranoid or was it a really weird coincidence to see that the exact moment they’re searching for a canibalistic devil?

He didn’t get to dwell on it for too long though, since a sudden yelp from Love got his eyes snapping back to her or rather where she once was. What followed was a loud thud. The grates she earlier walked on were rusty and rotten in the spot where she fell and gave up under her weight. Aki ran towards the hole where she fell, but there was no way to get there through the wired fence like walls from where he stood. It was a half transparent Labirynth which made it only more difficult to get around in. Especially with multiple floors.

-you okay?

He shouted with more urgency than planned, trying to somehow see through the wires down into the hole where she fell- and how far down she fell.

No answer came except for a loud groan of pain coming from the hole. Was that a trap or just a coincidence?

-Aki..?

Her voice came wavering, quite unsure. His blood pressure spiked a little, eyes searching for a potential way into the hole. Not that he was worried, of course. But losing someone during a mission was never look at nicely when reporting back.

-you should probably see that..

-see what? Hey!

She didn’t answer anymore. He had to get down there. Was the devil there? Was it alone? Was there more of that sadistic stuff they found earlier?

Try to force his way through or go back and try to follow the path she took in the beginning? No.. that would take too long.

Aki took out his katana, though not enthusiastic about possibly blunting his blade, he tried to somehow destroy the wired wall to get through.

Well he did, and with the in run he took he fell straight into the hole as well.

He landed in something wet and could only pray it was water. Although the moment his eyes accommodated to the dark, his blood ran cold. Devil, human and animal remains, all arranged in strange altars of devotion. Was it some kind of worship towards another devil? A god maybe?

Walking towards a particular one, where multiple human hands mixed with animal claws arranged into a trophy held inside a bullet? No.. it was just the casing. Nobody said anything about the gun devil when talking about the mission, did nobody know yet? Either way, the casing was coming back with them.

The moment he reached into the strange, rotting statue, he froze. Where was Love?

It didn’t take long to find her with his eyes, just a small glance to the left he saw her standing a little too close to the embodiment of „you are what you eat”. The devil looked like a plump of all kinds of meats and tissue, organs in random places, some that shouldn’t be yet were visible. Aki could almost feel his morning coffee coming back. He once heard that cannibals often experience something that feels as if the humans they consumed was moving inside their body. Regretfully, in case of this demon, it was visible from the outside. It looked like a baby kicking from inside its mothers belly. Except it was kicking in multiple places, with multiple limbs, with differing strength levels and angles.

Was it talking to Love? What about?

———————————————

Just a little bite huh..

-go on, help yourself.

The devil offered an unidentified limb to Love.

-you must be starving…

The devil tempted, making sickening greedy sounds as it looked at Love with appetite.

-I don’t eat humans. Or.. whatever creature you killed to get this.

She stood her ground against the huge conglomeration of different organs in front of her.

-it is an act of love of that human towards you, to feed you. To fuel you. Isn’t that the final stage of devotion?

Love looked at the arm twitching in one of the devils hands, at least one of the ones that listened to it. Seems like the arm was still fresh.

-isn’t love a kind of hunger? If you ask me.. I would say a kiss is the beginning of cannibalism…

The temptation was growing stronger the longer Love listened to the devil. Love was a kind of hunger after all… and she’s been starving for so long… would that treat truly bring her relief? Would it satiate even the slightest bit of her hunger? Was she even hungry or was it messing with her brain?

The arm uncontrolled spasms looked delicious in their ugliness and disgustingness. Maybe just a bite? Perhaps consuming her love would be the final act of it. Would it bring salvation to the victim, that their flesh fed a starved devil?

While Love was considering to get just a taste, she didn’t realise the devil moulding into a different shape, stretching to surround Love’s body, preparing to absorb her.

-so full of love.. you must be so sweet..

The devil hissed. It was a cannibal devil after all.

-you think so..?

Could the devil be right? Would it be an act of love to let the devil feast on her? If love was hunger and she was starved, if there was no way for her to satiate her hunger with someone else’s love, maybe her destiny was to feed someone else?

Just as she moved towards the arm, the was grabbed by her air and pulled up into the air. The swift swoosh of a blade cutting the air echoed in the cave just where her neck was before. Another swish followed and she fell to the ground.

——————————————————

That’s where she got cut off.

Waking up on the grates once more, she probably already had a mark of the metal digging into her back. Staring up all she was were the wires, left and right were all the same.

-you tried to kill me.

She didn’t even have to move nor look around to know he was there. The cigarette odour was enough.

A soft exhale followed by a cloud of smoke floating above her preceded his words.

-I wasn’t aiming for you. You moved in an unlucky moment.

-still, you slashed your sword with no hesitation.

Both their voices blank. So the devil saved her from the first slash, then Aki saved her from the devil with the second slash.

-did you think I’d betray you? Did you feel obliged to kill me?

A long silence followed. Nothing changed between them.

-I think the moment you’d forsake your principles and eat someone- something else, you’d want me to kill you.

She couldn’t really argue with that.

All the same, a part of what the devil said was true. She supposed love was a kind of hunger, she was starved, but at the same time, cannibalism wasn’t the way to satiate her famine. Even if a kiss would be the first step.

She stared up at the metal wired jungle above her. His footsteps neared her as the tips of his shoes barely brushed against her side. A cigarette fell onto her from heaven, dropped by the Lord and saviour himself. Her mission partner that almost decapitated her today.

She held the cigarette between her thumb and pointer.

Aki observed her unamused, close to rolling his eyes.

-if you’re going to waste it, then give it back.

-don’t I suffocate enough alrea-

She stopped mid sentence. Her cough hasn’t been acting up whole day. But that’s not possible, hanahaki shouldn’t be curable unless who she loved would love her back.

She sat up with the cigarette in her fingers, catching the lighter that Aki tossed her. In the name of science right?

-what do you even like about this so much?

She bit onto it with her teeth to light it up, handing him back the lighter. As smoke filled her lungs at first she felt them shrink before they relaxed like never before, letting out the smoke they shrunk even more than before as her cough attacked. It was different this time, there was no petals or blood. She couldn’t get anything out with coughing. She leaned forward and tried harder, crushing the cigarette in her hand by accident, feeling the burn as it was getting put out in her skin.

Aki watched curiously. Was her reaction to the cigarette really that dramatic? Rather pathetic, if someone asked him.

She dropped the cigarette, wasting it much to Aki’s dismay. Gripping her throat with one hand while reaching into her mouth with the other. Trying to get any air.

A large spat of blood dripped off the grates they sat on, coming from a prickly root she ripped out of her throat.

She was gasping now that her airways were clear. The hanahaki didn’t subdue. The disease only nested further into her lungs.

-such a waste of a perfectly good cigarette..

Aki sighed as he crouched down. Love was about to speak, fully expecting him to only grab the crushed cigarette and mourn its waste, but to her surprise, he grabbed her under the elbow and pulled her up to her feet.

-let’s go back before you really put down roots here.

The static murmur of the broken radio in the background was the consequence of a raging storm outside the building. Somewhere the high pitched whistle of wind getting through the crack of a not fully closed window penetrated the room. The never stopping buzzing of the coffee machine alongside with the glitched sound of the turned off tv filled the silence between the hunters. Every one of these seemingly quiet sounds altogether created an awfully loud symphony. This weather was draining everyone’s life force in front of their very eyes. Not a single conversation was being held.

It doesn’t matter how late he got home. Nor how little he slept, or how long it took him to write a report from yesterdays mission. The very thought of it made Aki’s nostrils itch from the memory of the muck covering him head to toe. Well, all in the past now. Like every other devil he’s slain in his carrier. Another day, another case to put an end to.

Love has officially been assigned to special division 4. He couldn’t tell if that portended trouble quite yet. Her way of messing with human brains was unsettling to say the least. But what other use was she besides for human opponents? Could she stand a chance against devils at all?

The strong aroma of his freshly brewed coffee overpowered the lingering odour from last night as he took a seat by the empty table. It was merely beginning of the day and he wasn’t even graced with proper sunlight to work in. The glaring, sharp light coming from above him did nothing to ease his headache. But that was his only light source at this point.

Looking unexcitingly at the stack of papers regarding a new mission, hoping to find any motivation to work today at all on the bottom of his coffee, Aki chugged it like it would bring him any salvation. At that moment he grew tired of the glitchy TV no one was even watching, fumbling with remote that was on the edge of the table he tried to aim it for the annoying small red light on the other side of the room, spamming the turn off button. On the TV, some kind of nature program was playing. Two eagles with entangled talons in a death spiral. Aki’s eyes locked on the program for a moment while his finger subconsciously pressed the red remote button over and over again until it finally worked, the TV screen now black, snapping him out of the trance.

For a moment longer his brain focused on the image of the eagles falling nearly to their death before his eyes zeroed in on the papers in front of him. Another case with missing people, little to no circumstantial evidence and a barely valid reason to assume it’s devils work and not some psycho’s.

At first it seemed like the usual case of a devil leaving behind human remains, some bones and barely any flesh. However, it started to get more complicated the moment other devil remains got mentioned. It seems the devil indulged in cannibalism and devoured its own kin as well. Could it be that simple? A cannibal devil? Or was it some other devil that was just very hungry?

His thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking sound of soaked boots against the polished floors. Love walked through the hall accompanied by two other hunters that followed her closely behind. She was soaking wet while they seemed to have barely caught any water droplets, only their boots wet.

Sure she was a devil, but having her walk in the rain while they probably had umbrellas was kind of degrading? Why did he care anyway. Not like she deserved humane treatment.

Looking back to the mystery printed on the papers in front of him, he could only hope that by the time he reaches the end of these paragraphs, he won’t see that he’s supposed to leave for the mission today, in this weather.

——————————————————

-damn it all.

He cursed under his breath, squeezing water out of his blazer.

Despite his prayers, he ended up being sent out the same day. At the very least due to weather conditions he- or rather they- get to take the train, since driving would be dangerous. On the bad side, they had to get soaked on their way to the station.

And by they, I mean Aki and Love of course. Why was she sent this time? No idea. Makima always worked in mysterious ways. All he knew was that she insisted they investigate today, so the rain doesn’t flush away all the valuable evidence, if it hasn’t already.

Love stood by his side with her gaze glued to the people on the other side of the rails. It was crowded and they were moving in a mob, slowly, like zombies. She’d say they were crawling if she didn’t know better.

Aki glanced around only to notice the no smoking sign and he barely managed to hold in another curse. From the corner of his eye he observed his companion. She didn’t seem to be bothered by the water dripping from her hair nor the strands glued to her face. Seemed like a sensory nightmare to him, but whatever tickled her pickle.

Eugh, pickles. He could still feel the taste of that cotton candy on his tongue.

Seeing that their train was late, which was ridiculous on its own, he decided he might as well try to satiate his own curiosity.

-what was up with those hunters following you like a shadow this morning?

He spoke without even glancing at her, his eyes now too focused on the mob on the other side.

-do all hunters make pacts with devils?

-do you always have to answer with questions?

He sighed, regretting even striking up a conversation. Talking with each other wasn’t their strong suits.

-I suppose most of them do. Why?

-if you were in my place, what kind of pact would you make with a human?

Did their superiors want her to make pacts with someone? What could she even offer to a hunter? Better yet, what could she want from one?

-don’t you thrive in their miserable love lives? I would say take their ability to love.

-wouldn’t that be cruel? It wouldn’t be an act of love to do that.

Act of love?

Suppose not. But on the other hand..

-if that’s what’s the price they’d have to pay for you to grant their wish, I’d say agreeing to them could be considered an act of love. Whatever they’d ask for would probably help them survive in this line of work.

He spoke bluntly, though he probably didn’t believe in his own words. The side of him that wanted to please the superiors was speaking now. She would just have to make a deal, the devils are always on the winning side of it anyway. So why was she so adamant about it? Other devils just require some blood or flesh and they’re satisfied.

-or you just request something to feed off.

Satiating her hunger huh…

They soon entered the crowded train and managed to quickly find some seats before anyone else. Although, not the best ones.

The very moment they sat down they could see a man sitting across from them, looking… not right. He was making a mess, peeling a pomegranate with his hands in a small plastic container that was barely catching any juice falling off his fingers or the pieces of fruit itself. A small red puddle gathering by his feet. His own hands covered in red.

Aki alongside other passengers frowned upon the mess the man made, but Love watched curiously. Surely it wasn’t so urgent to eat a pomegranate on the train unless the man was starving? Even so, why do it on the train and not get off? Could hunger mess with people that much?

She wondered how she would act if she was that close to starvation. Perhaps making a pact with a devil hunter wasn’t such a ridiculous idea, just in case.

When they got off and out of the station, the air was humid and fresh in its way. The rain subdued and the pleasant air filled their lungs. A nice change after that crowded train.

They found themselves in, frankly speaking, a shit hole. Little to no buildings in sight besides for the poor excuse of a train station in front of them. No wonder a devil would settle for cannibalism in these conditions. They’d be surprised if they encountered a living soul in a 5km radius.

———————————————

She never thought she’d wish for it to be still raining, but here she was. Digging in human flesh, a rotting corpse like the man on the train was thrusting his filthy fingers into the pomegranate. Not like their hands were all that different of a colour afterwards. Both were covered in shades of red at a time.

-why am I doing the dirty work..

She grumbled while inspecting the ribs she was digging out of the pulp of flesh, getting her hands dirty while Aki only observed. The strong wind blew the metallic scent of blood and stingy odour of rotting flesh straight into his nostrils.

-I don’t know if you’ll be useful in the fight at all, you might as well do something.

He said half coherently with a cigarette in his teeth, lighting it up while covering the soft flame with his hands so the wind wouldn’t interrupt his moment.

She couldn’t even tell whether she was at the moment touching what remained of a human or a devil. It seemed to be a mix of both. Perhaps multiple of each.

As the time passed, she retrieved multiple tiny objects from the.. remains. At first sight not connected to one another in anyway. A coin, a paper clip, a small half digested locket. Disgusting, truly. But the thing is, the more she was founding of partially digested metal objects, the more sure she was that she was digging not only in remains, but also already returned remains. Perhaps they weren’t suited to the devils tastes.

But that was the moment she was done with the sensory play. She didn’t feel like playing in puke, last night was enough.

——————————————————

It was hard to tell when did it get dark, due to the clouds covering the sky. It’s been hours since they started following the traces. Now ending up in what seemed to be an abandoned power station? Though not quite. This seemed purely like a weird jungle playground for kids with multiple floors but made out of grates and wire fences. The whole thing almost see through. Deciding to split, they too different paths. Love went up the ramp leading to the second floor while Aki explored below her.

When he looked up, he could see her every move through the grates. His surroundings were making his eyes hurt. It would be hard to tell when there would be a hole in the floor with every surface merging into one.

There was no ceiling that would shelter them from rain had it come back. It truly felt as if they were inside a jungle made out of wires.

Every trace they found looked like a weird form of devotion. Bones arranged in texts or patterns with flesh acting as the colour. Even Love was currently holding a flower made out of small bones and animal ribs for petals, tied together by what he could only guess were tendons, muscles or intestines. Regardless of what it was, it was making him nauseous. Disgusting to look at it let alone hold and carry it for an hour. But it was the only trace they could actually take and that wasn’t falling apart or already destroyed by the storm.

Masterlist

-you think he’ll be fine?

-the kid or Kishibe?

Kishibe wasn’t exactly ecstatic about coming to get the little brat so late at night, but orders were orders. Now that the kid was taken care of along with the private hunters who got arrested, Love and Aki walked side by side by the farmland. Vast and empty, but she insisted there should be a river nearby.

(Y/n) only clenched her jaw, frustrated as she tripped over another weirdly strong tangle of grass.

-He should be glad he got the kid and not you.

She settled for a retort, pretending to wave off the odour away from her nose.

-whose fault is it exactly I ended up like that?

-oh my bad for helping.

-I didn’t even need help.

The grumbles continued back and forth when they finally reached the river, the water level low due to the recent heatwaves but it was enough.

Aki wasted no time to step in. Despite the night already having fallen, it was warm enough outside he was sure he’d dry off by the time they make it back to the car.

Love crouched right by the water, not enthusiastic to get wet so she avoided it, but a coughing fit didn’t exactly make it easy. She had to lean on one hand forward as she spat out the petals that stuck to her throat.

-you should really just take the easy way out.

Aki spoke while taking off his blazer, preparing to wash it off.

-I don’t take advice from someone that smells like shit.

Then the blazer went flying towards her, like a heavenly punishment for mocking him.

She yelled and dodged, slipping on the sand and landing on her butt in the shallow waters, laughing and coughing at the same time. Her eyes watering slightly.

Anything but touching that muck.

The hunter watched the devil, not with disdain for once. But watching her wholeheartedly laugh after almost getting hit with a blazer covered in vomit smelling muck almost had him thinking Love wasn’t so bad.

-I stand by what I said though. Get the surgery.

She shifted to sit on her knees, her laughter died out along with the coughs. Looking at her reflection in the water.

It was peaceful. The farmland was vast enough there was hardly any light pollution coming from nearby cities or roads, so even the stars were visible on the sky. No clouds tonight. No wind. No annoying honking, since the highway was far away. Just the fresh air that flowed along with the river’s hum.

Aki stepped to get his blazer, grabbing the soaked thing and walking to deeper parts of the river to wash it off. The water reaching about half of high thigh, simultaneously washing off the muck from his pants. Thankfully his shirt was somewhat clean and left unscathed.

Another silence settled comfortably between them. Neither ever addressed the words that had them speechless, they just accepted the loss in the argument.

-whatever. Care to tell me what did you do to those hunters back then?

He sighed, knowing they wouldn’t get anywhere with the previous topic.

She didn’t register his words at first, being too distracted by noticing a firefly flash between the grass blades, her instinct being to try and capture one, hoping to admire its light from up close. But something about taking its freedom, even for a moment, made her fight her urges.

-Some humans seem to cling to me like a moths to a flame.

She started, the single firefly light reflecting in her eyes as she stared it wishfully, as if hoping somehow the insect would decide to come to her on its own and sit all pretty in her palm.

-I just used that fact and created an illusion in their heads. To be fair.. I myself forgot what they saw at some point. When I focused on you and the kid, they were my smallest concern.

Aki hummed and threw the blazer out onto the grass as he got out of the water, sitting down next to it as he let the warm breeze slightly dry him off, even if it was just placebo effect.

Love glanced at him for a moment, watching how soaked he was, thinking of the reason why in the first place had her realising how silly that situation is. But she could understand, being wet for a moment was better than having to clean the car from shit later.

An all too familiar silence followed. She still sat in the shallow water, when she gets up it’ll probably look like she pissed herself, but honestly she’d prefer that over being covered in shit. The petals she earlier coughed out still lingered in the water around her, having yet to be taken by the current.

-Why do you hold onto that disease?

-you just love to ask uncomfortable questions.

-don’t you?

Touché. Seems like both of them did. But the answers rarely ever came, not honest at least.

-so?

-I don’t remember who I loved.

She answered, and subconsciously, Aki supposed that was really what he wanted to ask.

-all the more reasons to get rid of it.

-but that would mean I can never love again.

-not like you can be loved back. Not truly, at least.

Another silence.

-why chase your grave and call it revenge?

A flicker of light, a desperate attempt to light up a cigarette that got soaked in water after he forgot to take the pack out of his pocket before getting into the river. Love only watched him sink in misery. Though on the other side she was glad she didn’t have to inhale that smoke again.

He spat out the soaked cigarette and tossed the pack right next to it. Putting his miraculously still working lighter back into his pocket.

-for relief.

Something about these words was so familiar her eyes narrowed on him for a moment. Somehow her chest felt lighter, like the roots for a small moment subdued. But then it all came back.

He got up with a sigh as she started to cough again, approaching her to grab her arm and pull her up.

-Let’s just go back.

He didn’t back away when she leaned on him for a moment, didn’t even flinch when the blood she spat out nearly hit his shoes. Just waited patiently until the flowery torture ended.

They stumbled through the field, aiming back for the main road where they left the car before. At this point Aki didn’t even care about Love leaning on him every once in a while, his hand stayed holding her elbow just in case she stumbled.

They didn’t make it too far before she stopped, getting distracted by two fireflies just circling around each other.

Aki just pulled on her arm so she’d start walking again, but this habit of hers hasn’t went unnoticed.

He could almost see the gears shift in her mind as she gave it a thought.

-tag you’re it!

She suddenly exclaimed before diving for it, trying to sprint through the field despite the tall grass. Fully expecting Aki to chase after her. Just like the two fireflies were chasing each other’s light.

Aki stopped in his tracks and watched Love run like her life depended on it, laughing like a mischievous child despite him standing in place, not entertaining the game.

That was until her weak lungs caught up to her and she actually decided to stop running and turn around to take a look at Aki, her hand covering her mouth as she coughed, seeing him slowly approach. Love’s cheeks still flushed from running but.. objectively speaking Aki almost deemed it a heartwarming sight. Which was merely an observation of course.

-You’re so boring

She whined and continued to walk onward, being able to see the street lights already.

He didn’t entertain her taunt.

————————————

By the time they sat in the car they were both pretty much dry thankfully. Though Aki still couldn’t get rid of that scent the muck left behind, a part of him hoped it was his imagination and he didn’t actually still reek of it.

-Hungry?

He asked out of nowhere, eyes glued to the empty road ahead of them. The time was reaching around 11pm, the night was quiet. Their windows slightly open to let the air circulate in the car and cool them off. Love’s eyes glued to the street lights they were passing, like in a trance.

Though the question did catch her off guard. She wasn’t expecting that from Aki out of everyone.

-is that an offer?

A moment of silence followed, not that either of the was surprised.

-Nevermind that.

-well I wouldn’t say no to a snack.

The hunter only hummed in answer. But soon enough, he found a random convenience store open on the side of the road.

The white fluorescent lights hit their eyes when they entered the small store. The cashier sat behind the counter, looking like he was over everything and wouldn’t care if they were to rob the whole place, as long as he’d get his smoke break, of course.

Love only spared the man a glance before ducking into one of the tiny alleys.

She planned on her usual snack of choice, perhaps an energy drink to not fall asleep in the car and possibly drool on the window or look like she had a stroke.

But something weird caught her eye.

Pickle flavoured cotton candy?

-why did you buy that..

Aki could only sight while lighting up his cigarette the moment they left the store, seeing what his companion bought. Not to mention two cups.

That was until one of the cups nudged his arm, the devil beside him pushing it towards him.

-absolutely not.

He denied, why would he agree to trying something that sounds anything but tasty?

But Love wasn’t going to budge, nor argue. Aki on the other hand folded under no pressure and eventually grabbed the cup, tearing open the silver foil just as she did before they both ripped a piece of the cotton candy and popped in their mouths.

And spat it out faster than anything before.

He grimaced and immediately took a long puff of his cigarette to mask the taste of pickles mixed with sugar while she was left to suffer, until her spitting triggered her coughing and the taste of blood flooded her tastebuds instead.

Aki could only watch and hold back from rolling his eyes. Why was he so bothered by her nearly suffocating right by his side every five minutes? He patted her back a few times as if that mere gesture could make her feel better.

Just as she calmed her breath and wiped spit from her chin, she looked at the cup of cotton candy again before popping some into her mouth again. Aki stared bewildered.

-you just spat it out!

-second bite tastes better, trust.

Aki looked down at his own cup with a look of mistrust. In no universe he could imagine that a second bite of the same thing could taste any different, but somehow he found himself giving it a second try anyway.

Just a second after he spat it out again.

-tastes just the same..

-oh I know. I didn’t expect you to actually believe me.

Love’s first official mission. With Aki, nonetheless. Though probably only one of them was somewhat optimistic about it.

An unknown devil residing in one of the abandoned warehouses made a pact with private devil hunters. The objective is to take down the devil and capture the hunters that are under its influence, dead or alive.

The first attack happened about a week ago and targeted drivers that drove past the warehouse late at night, mostly truck drivers. The devils agenda is unknown, most likely acquiring food and human blood through the possessed private hunters. The plan requires Love to-

-Why did you become a hunter?

Her voice snapped her out of his rant about the mission. Has she been even listening to anything he was saying or did it just fly right through her head?

-It’s none of your business. Were you even listening?

He sighed, not letting himself feel too irritated since he was the one behind the wheel.

-Are you one of the insane ones or are you after something?

Love definitely had a selective hearing. Coughing a few times to try to pretend like she couldn’t hear the part she didn’t like through the noise.

-It’s. None. Of. Your. Business.

-Are you seeking revenge?

Silence.

Only the radio buzzing filled the car, the universe knew when they’d need the annoying glitching voice instead of some deadbeat music that was currently mainstream.

-I see.

(Y/n) turned ahead again, watching the road instead of the hunter to her left who seemed to be holding his composure almost well. For a moment, the mention of revenge made her feel a weird tingle in her chest, but no matter how hard she dwelled on it she couldn’t tell why.

-If we’re asking questions, I’ve got one of my own.

That caught her attention. She was probably more curious about his question than he was about whatever he wanted to ask about.

-why suffer?

Right. The hanahaki. The cure was simple enough, either the person she loves needs to reciprocate her feelings or she needs to surgically remove the roots of her disease. At the cost of her ability to love.

As if on cue, the need to cough flared up and without looking, Aki reached to the small compartment on the passenger side, taking out a paper bag to hand her with practiced movements despite keeping his eyes on the road. Like he was ready for this.

She grabbed the bag while he shut the compartment, spitting out the blood and petals in one of the well known to her paper bags. The smell of that parchment was just as suffocating as always.

Wiping the blood off her lips with the back of her hand once she could breathe normally. Human or devil, Aki still didn’t particularly enjoy watching someone nearly suffocate every few minutes.

-I’m still expecting an answer.

-if you had a way to get rid of the feeling that pushes you forward to get revenge, without actually taking it, would you do it? Would you take the easy way out?

-that feeling isn’t nearly killing me everyday.

-but it will inevitably be your death, will it not?

Their talks always seemed to be filled with countless silence breaks.

Suddenly he had to make an emergency stop. They were nearing the warehouse, just had to go through the forest, but Aki had to make a sudden stop, noticing a bunch of deers on the side of the road.

The way her body jolted forward, she found herself glad she had the belt on. Even though the air was knocked out of her lungs which only triggered her cough.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she coughed, holding the paper bag close to her mouth but she refused to take her eyes off the deers that were passing the road rather slowly, clearly not bothered by the cars waiting to continue on their way.

-Sorry.

Something she wasn’t expecting, an apology, left his mouth.

-not your fault. They’re beautiful.

She breathed out as the car started moving again, her eyes following the deers until she couldn’t see them anymore.

————————————

-You still remember what to do?

-you take the devil I take the hunters.

Aki sighed in relief. Maybe there was the slightest chance Love actually listened and it’ll all be fine. Hopefully.

The warehouse was just on the side of a highway, surrounded by, well, nothing but a farmland. Pretty remote for a devil to reside here, can’t be too strong with no people to eat.

Love went in first, much to Aki’s dismay, she insisted on taking down the private hunters quickly.

Aki went in the moment he heard a sound too loud to his liking. Rushing inside with his katana unsheathed, he couldn’t tell what to look at first. The yucky devil in front of him, the pile of men crawling against each other like ants on an anthill in the middle of Love standing tall with a small child hiding behind her legs, giggling. Which was pretty surprising considering the current situation. But then he looked back to the pile of private hunters and thought the little boy wasn’t that much of a shocker.

Just what did she do to their brains?

The devil seemed to be a weak swamp devil, no wonder it lost control over the hunters once Love took over them. And it wasn’t exactly happy about it.

Aki didn’t let himself wonder too much before rushing for the devil, Love delicately pushed the small boy to guide him, leading him to hide behind a stack of pipes instead before walking closer to where Aki was fighting. Or more like dodging, currently. The swamp devil kept spitting shit coloured and scented muck at him and it was hard to get close.

He was growing frustrated, did the devil have no balls to actually fight? The muck probably wasn’t even anything dangerous but he wasn’t exactly excited at the idea of smelling like shit when hit with it.

Dodging and jumping back, he huffed and was about to shit talk the devil, however was interrupted but a touch that made him freeze. Love’s hands slid on his shoulders, burning hot and biting cold at the same time.

Suddenly the scene completely changed.

Instead of flying shit orbs it was water balloons. Was he at a pool? Looked like it. A swimming noodle in hand, the devil was a huge sandcastle monster he had to slay with the makeshift weapon in his hand.

Whatever restraint he had before evaporated quickly as he engaged in the water balloon fight. Quickly making his way towards the huge monster, not worried about getting wet. The fight was over in no time, the water noodle becoming the greatest weapon he’s ever wielded.

But then the charm died off.

The loud roar of the devil combined with the overwhelming odour snapped him out of (y/n)’s spell, realising he was now too stained with the muck.

Before he could even as much as frown, she grabbed his hand in a rush while she herself was being dragged by the small boy towards the exit.

Another vision came to Aki’s mind. Now it was barely a carefree game of chase while the three of them escaped the monster who sought to catch them. That vision ended quicker than the last though when she let go of both of them and the sound of the devil exploding rang through the warehouse. The muck it left behind flooding the floor along with the pile of hunters she took control of earlier.

The young boy was laughing like it was the best fun he’s ever had, while Love stared down at him with wide eyes.

The scene would’ve been almost heartwarming if Aki wasn’t currently thinking if it would be even possible to clean his uniform or if it was more worth it to just toss it.

Another day in the Public Safety Department. Another shameful walk through the halls filled with suicidal maniacs, ego fed hunters and those who are drowning in despair.

Aki walked mindlessly through the same corridors as he did everyday. It was muscle memory, a subconscious movement. His thoughts were floating away into the land of the insignificant.

Since when do they keep the dead on a stack by the wall?

Oh, right, they don’t.

He slowly turned on his heel after stopping abruptly in his tracks, noticing that right beside the water dispenser, on the floor there was a stack of people. Not just any people. Well, he couldn’t care less who the two hunters were, but seeing them lean on each shoulder of the Love Devil?

The two hunters seemed asleep while Love was staring into the floor, curled up into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. Her face expressionless in high focus as she tried her hardest to hold back her coughing to not wake the two hunters up. Which, to be fair, seemed to be living their best lives. Drooling off in their sleep.

Their little fantasy didn’t last long though before Aki grabbed (y/n) and pulled her to her feet rather unapologetically, shoving her behind him as his had left her wrist.

The two hunters woke up hazily, seemingly still going through it.

-Are you two out of your minds? And you- what are you even doing here in the first place?

-Kishibe abandoned me.

She said between coughs that for once felt like a relief, considering how long she was holding them in.

-Sleeping on the job is one thing, but snuggling into a devil?

-she offered us to have some good dreams.

One of the hunters lazily explained, not bothered enough to actually feel ashamed. He had the dreams that were promised to him, not like anyone was hurt.

————————————

-what was the grand plan behind the decision to leave her unattended?

Aki tried his hardest to maintain composure, talking to Kishibe which took way too long to find only to find him behind the building. Now both of the hunters were having a smoke, while the devil who they spoke so bluntly about was standing not too far, just enough to avoid the smoke. Her paper bag in hand to cough out flowers in case of need.

-there was no plan. She’s useless as much as she’s harmless.

-she turned two hunter’s brains into a mush with some dreams.

The older man breathed out the smoke from his lungs, unbothered by the whole ordeal.

-if you’re so worried, why don’t you try it yourself.

Kishibe nodded his head towards Love who was currently watching two cats by the dumpster. The felines cleaning each other’s furs, until one of them hissed out of nowhere, slapping the other with its paw and running away.

-huh… wonder if I jinxed it.

She murmured under her breath. Just a moment ago the cat seemed like it was enjoying the bath, so why the sudden change of heart? Was the affection unwanted after all or was it her gaze that doomed the interaction?

Aki and Kishibe didn’t really notice the whole cat fight, it wasn’t that unordinary of a sight after all.

-Yeah, no. I’m not a fan of not being able to think straight.

Aki sighed and took another puff.

-Shame, it would probably do you good. But just as I was saying..

Kishibe paused for a moment, watching Love spit out blood into her paper bag.

-..gross.. whatever. As I was saying, she’s harmless. She doesn’t harbour any ill intent towards humanity. On the contrary, she seems to be.. fascinated at the idea of acts of love. That’s probably why she offered those two hunters to have some good dreams, she probably noticed they were in distress and lacked sleep.

-she still is a devil.

-I think her devilish nature goes as far as messing up peoples relationships, not take their lives. But I have yet to see her show any hostility towards humanity.

-does miss Makima know you’re letting the devil roam free?

A long silence followed after. Kishibe looked rather.. unpleased with that question and potential insinuation that Aki would be the one to snitch.

While Aki seemed unamused with his superior being so reckless.

The silence would’ve probably stretched out for long enough to surpass the Great Wall of China but instead, Aki suddenly felt oddly… warm. Like the cigarette he was smoking somehow brought him more joy and even an.. adrenaline rush? But just as quick as it came, it disappeared with a small tug on his blazer.

Glancing behind himself over his shoulder, he saw none other than Love, holding up a single hair between her fingers.

-you.. had a hair… on your jacket.

She said a bit unsure if she just crossed a line, but something about his perfectly neat appearance, clothes ironed to perfection without a single crease and not a single hair strand out of order in his ponytail made her think that having stray hair on his clothes wasn’t something he wanted. Helping someone look up to their standards could be considered an act of love too, right?

Aki looked back at Kishibe, still slightly flabbergasted from the feeling from the fleeting touch. The older hunter only nodded, in a truly “I told you so” manner.

Just like with every dog, Kishibe took Love to the graveyard.

The wind wasn’t stopping for a moment, but it was stable. Not strong enough to be a bother. The clouds in the sky cast a greyish hue over everything around. The sound of rustling leaves could almost make it peaceful, if it wasn’t for the constant coughing that pissed the older hunter off to no end.

-You have a worse cough than a chain smoker.

He didn’t even turn around to look at the devil that was spitting out petals and blood on the grass, crouching down beneath one of the trees. As if seeking shade despite there being no sun rays hitting the graveyard anyway.

-Makima told us you’re supposed to have some powers we can put to use. Do you? And what do I even call you? Sure as hell won’t be calling you Love.

Kishibe grumbled and turned around to take a look at the weak devil. A part of it was pathetic, but he’d rather an obedient dog than whatever the previous trainees were.

-(y/n) is fine.

She spoke, though she didn’t hide her disgust when the wind carried the scent of smoke coming from his cigarette. Does everyone in this line of work smoke?

She managed to hold in a cough, her cheeks puffing up.

-Didn’t answer my first question.

-what was the question?

-you weren’t listening?

-Sorry, too focused on staying alive and breathing.

-I can’t tell if you’re too brave or genuinely just blunt.

Love just tilted her head ever so slightly before standing up, pulling out some hair that got in her mouth because of the wind.

Kishibe just sighed and tossed his smoke, crunching it with his boot for good measure. What’s the use of an obedient dog if it’s hard to keep it alive let alone make use of it?

-Can you fight?

-if I say no?

-I’d say you’re wasting my time.

(Y/n) shrugged awkwardly, she wasn’t even outwardly trying to piss him off. It’s just the way things go, love is unapologetic. Being honest and blunt is an act of love right? That’s what she thought at the very least.

According to Makima, the Love Devil is capable of messing with human minds in a way only a few other devils can. Love as an emotion does weird stuff with people. Those who are enamoured by someone seem to perceive the world quite differently, take someone’s words or actions for something they’re not or show signs of delusion. One could compare this to an addiction, the thrill of loving and being loved is one that has an effect on people like that of a drug.

The Love Devil is able to mess with human minds. Change the way they see the world in the current moment, fill their heads with dreamy scenarios instead of the grey reality they actually see in front of their eyes. Messing with their memories, feelings, critical thinking. It’s all in her range of capabilities.

-I’ll ask differently then, are you capable of using your power on a whim? Does it hurt the person you’re using it on?

The hunter decided on a different approach.

-yes and no.

-wouldn’t kill you to elaborate.

-you asked a simple yes or no question.

-if I told you to cure your hanahaki surgically at the price of losing your ability to love or I’d kill you, would you do it?

Love stayed quiet this time. The wind carried both her hair and gaze sideways.

-that was a simple yes or no question too. Very on brand for you, picking and choosing whatever fits you best at the moment. Like a child.

Those words fell on deaf ears though, since Love’s gaze was already cast on two crows sitting on one of the gravestones, jabbing at each other with their beaks.

————————————

Truly, Kishibe just wanted to see if she had any survival instinct at all. Surely a devil would at least try to defend itself?

Loud incorrect buzz button.

She was currently running for her life, pretty damn fast if Kishibe was to say so. Seems like it’s all she’s been doing in her life. Just running from whatever. It was impressive, considering her lung capacity wasn’t exactly the best thing about her.

Her lungs burned and she could swear soon she’d joke on her own blood and the rosy aroma the petals blocking hair airways provided. Curse this disease. How did she get it anyway? Who was it she subconsciously loved so much and still forgot their name? Was the surgical removal worth it? A Love devil incapable of loving would be an oxymoron. Or would it? Perhaps that could be considered an act of love, to let go of her big heart for the sake of physical strength and fighting.. but for the Public Safety Department? She must be insane for even thinking that.

But there’s only so far she could run until he’d catch up to her.

And, without exaggerating, this was probably the loudest scream any devil had let out at him in years. Especially that his intention wasn’t even to kill.

He grabbed her by the back of her collar, her hands immediately reached behind to grab his wrist and the moment she touched him, instead of a devil he could swear he was holding a cat by its excess skin on the neck. Like his brain was guilt tripping him into letting go.

And he did, dropping the devil, Love jumped away and observed him curiously.

He quickly came back to his senses and realised what happened. She had some survival instincts after all. But still..

-Never try that again.

If Aki thought the way there was filled with traffic, he jinxed it. At least his passenger was rather quiet. Which in its own way was peaceful and uncanny at the same time, especially since he’s driving.

Considering it was broad daylight when they left the lake, they spent quite a lot of time in the traffic being able to see the stars in the sky now.

It was taking all his willpower to not just start honking at everyone ahead of him but every time he considered it, coughs could be heard from the seat behind him. For whatever reason, he didn’t even have to argue with Love on it. She just sat in the back on her own.

In an excruciatingly slow manner they were almost at the tunnel that ran over the highway. Since that point he could see the cars were starting to move normally so the slightest glimpse of hope sparked in his chest.

Looking in the rear mirror, seeing the demon cough out flower petals into the paper bag he gave her before somewhat relieved him, knowing that at least he wouldn’t have to clean up the car.

Deciding to roll down the window she sat by for her, she inhaled a large breath of fresh air, taking a glance at the rear mirror to meet his gaze. Seeing blood on a devils cheek wasn’t all that strange to Aki, he’d seen it all before. But nonetheless, this wasn’t from eating humans.

A small pack of tissues flew over the backrest of his seat, hitting the backrest beside her and landing on the seat.

-Clean yourself up. I don’t want your blood staining anything.

The driver grumbled and looked away from the mirror, focusing on the road again as they finally entered the tunnel. Being able to stomp on the gas pedal harder than just minimal pressure was refreshing.

The night air poured into the car, messing with Love’s hair as she peaked out the open window. The tunnel wasn’t anything special, really. Just the usual. Concrete tube surrounding them and warm lights that provided enough vision to not crash. But there was something special about it to her. Something in the air was different.

Something caught Love’s eye. Mesmerised by something enough to stare at it despite the wind getting in her eyes.

Ahead of them, two cars parallel to each other, out of their open windows two identical dogs sticking their heads out just like she currently was, catching some wind. The two pups stared at each other, panting happily, their tongues out.

She couldn’t help but wonder, if the circumstances were different would they play with each other? Is that what the two were thinking about?

But her train of thought was interrupted when Aki’s yelling finally got to her.

-get your damn head back inside!

The hunter huffed as Love hurriedly sat straight in her seat like a scolded child. From a corner of her eye she saw someone from the car that passed them showing them a middle finger through the window.

Love didn’t understand danger.

Aki’s hands subconsciously gripped the wheel harder, something about his passenger causing potential danger on the road was irking him. Not that he cared about other’s opinions, but preferably he’d rather not have a bad driver reputation.

He too now curiously glanced at the two dogs, wondering what’s got her so interested to risk getting beheaded on a highway. Dealing with devils truly was babysitting.

Either way, her open window privileges were taken away. Love watched disappointed as the window rolled back up before sighing, leaning her head on it instead.

At some point they made it out of the tunnel, the charm of the tunnel no longer boosting her mood. It was still dark with the exception of street lights they passed by.

-what do they call you?

Love asked anything for the first time yet. If she was supposed to live in captivity she might as well know who to blame. Not that she exactly fought for freedom.

The hunter sitting in the drivers seat didn’t answer at first. She stared at the back of his backrest for a moment before glancing in the rear mirror, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face, searching for any signs that he even heard her.

-Aki. Aki Hayakawa.

Love only hummed and looked outside the window again. Staring like hypnotised at the street lights ahead.

————————————

After dropping the Love Devil to the Public Safety Department last night, the morning started per usual. Coffee, hygiene, a quick once over the documents, clothes, keys, leave the house, arrive to work.

Traffic, curse out morons, honk at every other imbecile, light a cigarette, realise the bag of blood and petals is still on the backseat, ignore it.

The building smelled of routine. Just the same thing as every single day. Rookies walking around like they own the place, experienced hunters watching in both envy and disgust at their attitude and will to live.

Of course Aki has had his usual coffee in the morning, but who was he to say no to a free one from the department?

While waiting for the cup to fill the same way the aroma filled the room, he realised just how much he hates the buzzing sound of the coffee machine. He couldn’t dwell on it for too long when he heard an all too familiar coughing.

Through the cafeteria, Kishibe walked with his usual mundane expression, chugging his fresh, burning hot coffee like it nothing so fast by the time he reaches the door he already throws the take out cup in the trash. But it’s not Kishibe that caught Aki’s attention, obviously. It was the devil following behind. Love who seemed to follow Kishibe like a shadow, seems like the older demon hunter got a new dog to train. A very.. dog behaving dog. At least this one would be obedient.

The buzzing of the coffee machine did nothing to ease the throbbing in Aki’s head, which is why he even turned the machine on in the first place. Hoping yet another coffee would help him get his shit together.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee filled his nostrils as he went through yet another mission paper. Spring was finally here, if he was foolish enough perhaps in another life he’d still harbour hope for a new beginning that many people seem to associate with the nature coming back to life. Sakura trees were soon to blossom once more.

Himeno’s death was still weighing on him heavily, not to mention his new roommates that are hardly tolerable are something he’s yet to grow accustomed to. Thankfully they have yet to wake up.

The clinking sounds of his spoon hitting the rims of his cup were like needles stabbing into his brain while he mindlessly stirred his coffee with well, nothing to be exact. His hand was mindlessly performing the movement while his eyes scanned the details of his new mission, analysing just how difficult it could prove to be. Especially with new trainees.. oh, it was a solo assignment.

He sighed in relief and finally set the spoon down, leaning into the couch from his previously slouched position. No additional worries then.

He didn’t even register at first what was the mission about, having to grab the paper again and actually reading it instead of skipping over every other word searching for the key ones.

-love devil… capture.. outskirts… blossoms..

He kept grumbling under his nose, making the same mistake again before shaking his head to snap out of his not so sober minded state, grabbing his black coffee to down it in one go, hoping that would straighten him up.

As the bitter taste flooded his tastebuds, taking another look at the paper in his hand he finally knew what his assignment was. And to be fair, he wasn’t exactly excited about it. To be fair, when was he, really.

Kawaguchiko.. about an hour and a half drive from Tokyo. Not very exciting either.

As negative as he was towards the whole thing, for someone so irritated to do it he left almost immediately. The vision of being able to start his morning peacefully without Denjis and Powers yells was too temping.

————————-

Throughout the drive he went through the same paper countless times, thinking he’s at least do something productive while trying to not go insane in the traffic.

The love devil.. could it be powerful? Just how many people were truly afraid of that feeling? Aki found himself wondering if since he was sent alone, could it mean it was just a trivial task to be taken care of and they were short staffed or if it’s actually a deeper thing, which would explain why someone of his experience would be chosen for the mission.

He was snapped out of thoughts when he finally managed to get out of the traffic jam, passing by the car accident that caused it. He barely spared it a glance, despite the weird feeling he got when driving by, deciding not to dwell on it.

(I hope manga readers will get it💔)

Eventually he made it to the kawaguchi lake. The cherry blossoms being in season and the view of mount Fuji was far from ordinary or boring. Which was an objective observation, of course.

He could at least thank the fate there wasn’t a lot of people around quite yet. Not a single cloud in the sky to offer him some shade while he searched. Searching for what exactly?

Aki kept grumbling under his breath, no matter how many times he went through the mission details, there was no information about the appearance of the devil he was supposed to find. But he sucked it up, trying not to ruin his mood quite yet. After all, it might turn out that the devil will do it for him in case of refusal to cooperate. Keeping cold blood it was.

Trying to soak up the view while at the same time trying to avoid any distractions was a pain in his asshole of its own, let one the struggle to find what he was looking for.

He needs a cigarette.

Aki supposed no one was in danger, so he allowed himself to sit down on the grass, under one of the Sakura trees and light up the smoke. The tobacco mixing with the cherry blossom aroma mixing in his nostrils when the smoke he let out from his mouth reached them.

That was when he spotted something near the shore, just in the sand. Was it a statue?

Much to his dismay, he got up and approached it, his cigarette between his teeth, not caring about the lake water dampening his shoes when he approached the figure.

Was it even a statue? Looked pretty damn real to him. Well, except for the young woman’s expression… she looked like she was in excruciating pain, with cherry blossoms filling her mouth and throat, peeking out from the wide open mouth.

The statue was breathtaking. The flower petals, buds and branches seemingly blocking the woman’s airways. If it was a peace of art, it was magnificent. Which was objective observation as well, of course. None of that personal opinion stuff.

Crouching down to investigate, he pinched his cigarette between his fingers as he breathed out the smoke, little too close for the statues liking. When the smoke hit the young woman’s face, her hands shot up to clutch her throat, coughing out the flowers that were sprouting out of her mouth, blood staining the blossoms as water of the lake washed them away like they never existed in the first place.

His shoes by this time were soaked, but he was intrigued enough to stay put. What he thought was a statue opened her eyes, tears gathering in the corners from lack of oxygen as she tried to control her coughing.

Aki didn’t bother to put the cigarette out to ease her struggle, after all, this was a devil sitting in front of him. Love grabbed his wrist to push the cigarette away from her, gasping heavily as her breath finally steadied. When she blinked away the tears she managed to get a good look at the devil hunter in front of her. It wasn’t hard to tell he was one after all, the uniform was a dead giveaway if the katana wasn’t one enough.

Love was not hostile towards humans.

Aki only raised his eyebrow, swatting her hand away with his free one as he stood up, looking down at the near suffocating devil in front of him.

-would’ve thought hanahaki was merely a creation made for artistic purposes.

What a pitiful way to die.

-isn’t that what many think love is?

Love spoke hoarsely. Had she sat in the shallow water of the lake a while longer she’d probably start to host moss algae.

The devil hunter didn’t exactly seem to appreciate that roundabout answer. With a last puff he dropped the cigarette without a care, which landed in her lap. She scrunched her nose when the tobacco reached her nostrils once more.

In a way, a part of him was glad, if one could even describe any of his emotions regarding a devil that way, that he was there to capture and not exterminate. He wouldn’t take any pleasure from finishing a devil that’s already near its end anyway.

-Public safety devil hunter compartment.

-came to finish me off?

-if we wanted you dead your head would be on the bottom of this lake already.

Love shrugged and flicked the cigarette from her lap.

-capture it is.

-you’re weirdly calm about this.

-do I strike you as someone willing to fight in my current state?

She managed to choke out when another portion of petals fought for freedom, escaping her through. Love was unapologetic, blunt. Yet at the same time complex and hard to figure out. Obviously she preferred captivity than death, right? Though Aki wasn’t so sure anymore.

He barely exchanged maybe a few incomplete sentences with her and he already felt an itch for another cigarette.

-alright get up, let’s not waste time.

The devil hunter sighed, deciding not to dwell on it further. Expecting her to follow, despite his growing irritation caused by her unrushed attitude. Just how long can it take for someone to get up from the ground?

Monocarpic- plants that only bloom once only to die later on

Love is something humans don’t outwardly fear. But unrequited love? Oh the sorrows. The shake in their hands, voices and jaws before they’re about to confess to their crush, the fear of the chosen of their heart not reciprocating their feelings.

All that fear feeds the love devil.

As one would expect, the devil born of fear of unreciprocated feelings is bound to forever be alone, unable to be loved. But god was she going to try.

Over years she’d develop an obsession which progressed and affected her psyche unrecognisably over the centuries. The idea of someone committing a perfect crime.. just for her, finding a way to break the rules just for her so she can feel like thrill of being loved.

Then she met the Revenge devil.

Craving the power, driven by envy and a grudge it held for reasons unknown to (y/n) until the very day, Revenge sought out the Chainsaw devil, yearning to defeat it.

Fascinated by Revenges drive and determination, Love easily became infatuated. She saw potential for Revenge to become all she ever dreamed of. Revenge would do anything to achieve his goal, after all.

She tried to catch his eye, perhaps offer him a deal or try to persuade him to be desperate enough to try and love her. She couldn’t help it, desperation was blooming in her lungs and with each day it suffocated her more and more.

Hell started to become upholstered with petals covered in blood. Hell started to echo with her raspy pleas, her coughs and enlarging need to have her feelings reciprocated.

She became practically glued to revenges side, despite the anguish his indifference was causing him. Stayed with him all the steps of the way.

Until the day she feared most eventually came.

Before she made it to the darkest, emptiest parts of hell, she could only blink before revenge inevitably died from the chainsaws chains. Seeing her hope for happiness get devoured caused the blooms in her lungs to burst. The Revenge Devil was too weak after all.

Within seconds, she forgot what was the source of her anguish. The only thing that remained was the flowery aftertaste of hanahaki on her tongue.

Oh if someone was as determined to love her as the revenge devil was to kill the chainsaw.

Chapter 1