#xreader ff

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

-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.