[1st POV]
I took a sip of the tea and smirked in satisfaction. It was disgustingly sweet and creamy. As the Pig Devil, I could not get fat, so why not enjoy it? Not that I enjoy overly sweet things or creamy stuff, but I made sure to kill any cravings if they appeared.
"So?" Reze asked, standing in front of my table.
"It's perfect," I said and set down the tea before eating the freshly made curry rice.
That was good too. It was my third portion, so that should be a tell on how good it was. I could never be full, and although being in constant hunger was tiring, it had its benefits when you had money to eat anything.
Reze continued to stand in front of me and watched me eat. At this point, I was the only one in the cafe.
She chuckled softly.
"What?" I asked while looking up.
"Nothing. Just thinking that you eat a lot for someone who tried to leave," she said.
"I lied when I said I wasn't hungry or didn't crave coffee," I said, putting another spoonful of rice in my mouth. The rice had absorbed the flavours of the curry, and it was simply divine.
"Really? Then why did you try to leave?" she asked.
I swallowed before I answered. I got manners and shit, believe it or not. I might have become a pig, but I was a pig with manners and class.
"You," I said.
She looked surprised and tilted her head. "Me?"
"I'm scared of pretty girls," I confessed.
She took a moment to process my words before she burst out in peals of laughter. It sounded sweet, and she looked adorable as she laughed. She was perfect, too perfect. Whoever taught her to act did a good job, but they should've told her that ordinary people were not that perfect.
Great actor, but she had nothing on Makima, whom I was battling daily.
"That's hilarious. Did you just admit that you find me pretty?" she asked while wiping her happy tears.
"I suppose," I said and proceeded to ignore her.
I could feel her gaze stuck on me with a soft smile and a blush. I tried my best to look down and enjoy my food, but it was hard.
I was indecisive on how to proceed. What am I going to do with her? Should I try to get close to her? But that could only lead to trouble. She was a Soviet spy and a hybrid devil that was raised into a weapon.
She's also a killer of probably thousands. And no, it's not cute and could definitely not be ignored when she was standing right in front of me.
Could I take her in a fight? Sure. Could I win? Not sure. Would it be troublesome? Yeah, it would suck ass to fight her.
Bomb Devil was not a joke or something you could flirt with.
The best course of action, and what I have been trying to do, is ignore her. Let her stay here, wait until she meets Denji, and maybe help them get their happily ever after or help Makima kill her. Depends on which would make me happier.
"Can I sit beside you while I have my breakfast?" she asked after a long, silent gaze.
I looked at her, and then looked around the cafe and at all the empty seats. I made my action very obvious, but she refused to take the hint.
"There's plenty of empty seats," I said.
Her smile didn't waver. "But I want to sit beside you."
I just had to ask. "Why?"
She joined her hands. "To help you get over your fear of pretty girls. We can't have a powerful Pretty Girl Devil popping around here."
She ran to the side of the table and sat down. She scooted over to me until we were almost touching from the lack of space between us.
"Boss! Can I get egg sandwiches and coffee?" she said while raising her hand.
The middle-aged man at the counter was cleaning the utensils. He sighed, "Sure... why not."
"Thank you!!" she said cheerfully.
Then she turned her focus back to me, "So what's your name?"
"Jin," I said.
"That's great, I love the way it's so easy to say," she said, "My name is Reze."
"Hmmm?" I thought about her name for a minute. Most Japanese names had meaning or symbolism. Take Aki, for example. Aki means 'Empty' and Hayakawa means 'Early River' or 'Fast River'. My name also had a meaning. Jin meaning 'Humanity' or 'Kindness' and Nakahara meaning 'Central plains'.
Basically, my parents wanted me to be a person who shows humanity and kindness or be the source of it.
But her name had no meaning at all.
"Foreign name?" I asked.
"Yup, my mother is Russian," she admitted quickly.
Her food arrived quickly. Perhaps she ordered fully knowing what was easily available in the kitchen. She did not try to force interaction after she got her food and silently ate her meal.
That should be good, right? I've been trying to ignore her after all.
But goddamn was it hard to keep my eyes off her. The way she tucked strands of hair behind her ears while she ate. The way she quickly cleaned her fingers by sucking them. The way her long fingers elegantly handled her food. I saw everything!!
I wish this was the cinema hall again where I could just watch her. She was already hard to ignore since she was a character I know, but now it's even harder because she was so close.
She made quick work of her breakfast and left without saying another word. Since I was acting so unapproachable in a conversation, she shifted to trying to charm me using her little actions instead.
She disappeared into the staff room of the cafe and came out a few minutes later. She was wearing a backpack and had changed from her waitress uniform.
"Sorry, I have to go now, I'm already late for school," she said with a smile and a wave. She opened the door, but before leaving, she turned back to me one last time.
"Will you come again?" she asked.
I paused for a second.
...
"Sure," I said.
Her smile widened before she left.
I watched the empty door for a long time until I released a sigh and looked down at my empty plate.
Don't kid yourself, Reze.
"You've never been to school."
..
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/////////////////////
[1st POV]
I went into a phone booth. I think this was the same place where Denji met Reze for the first time.
I used the coins in my pocket to make a call. The guy's pants literally had everything. Handkerchief, coins, a condom, and he even had a toothpick, which I was using after eating the meal.
On second thought, maybe it was not a good idea to use someone else's toothpick. What if they've used it before?
I broke the small stick with my thumb before dropping it on the floor.
"Hello?" I heard Aki's voice on the phone.
"You should be done with your patrol an hour ago. Where are you?"
"Jin? I'm at the 2nd Division training facility," he said.
"And I'm in a phone booth," I said sarcastically, "Where are you?"
"Shinagawa," Aki said at last.
"What the fuck are you doing way over there?"
"I'm eating ice cream in the training facility, what do you think?" he replied just as sarcastically.
"Okay, I'm coming over there." I said and ended the call.
I took a train to Shinagawa. Trains were everywhere in here and the JR Yamanote line covered most of Tokyo and its wards.
I got off in the Shinagawa station after 18 minutes of train ride. From there, I walked to the 2nd Division training facility. Although I've never been there, it was easy enough to find it after asking a few locals.
The Public Safety Commission buildings were like police stations or fire department buildings. Everyone knew where they were.
There were guards stationed outside and they let me in after I told them my name. Not to brag but I was one of the more notable Devil Hunters already.
The training facility looked like a gym mixed with a sports complex. I headed towards where I heard the most sounds and I found myself in the sparring room or so it was called.
"Yo," I waved when I saw Aki sitting by the corner with gloves in his hand. He wore training clothes and he was sweating buckets already.
The floor of the entire room was covered in sparring mats. There were boxing gloves, pads and other stuff lying at the side of the room. Chains were also hanging from the roof but did not reach the ground. I guess they hang punching bags there when they wanted to use it.
"You're here already," Aki commented when I reached him.
"Ya, I came immediately," I said while leaning on the wall and standing beside him. "I killed a devil this morning, had too much free time but nothing to do so here we are,"
"We're having spar matches, wanna join?" he asked.
I watched the people sparring in the middle of the room. There were two ongoing matches as they shared the room.
"Why not," I shrugged.
"The changing room's that way," Aki pointed towards the opposite side of the door, "There's also a bathroom and toilet,"
"No need, I'm not trying to overdo it," I said while taking off my baggy shirt. I unbuttoned the two top buttons and pulled the shirt off from my head.
I picked up two pairs of MMA gloves from the side and wore the pair that smelled better.
"Nomo, let this guy in," Aki said to his friend.
One of the sparring matches was stopped. The exhausted one was taken out and I replaced him. I had a small grin when I approached my sparring partner for a fist bump.
"Jin Nakahara,"
"Yuito Fujita, nice to meet you," he said and gave me a tap on the fist.
And the match began.
I towered over my shorter opponent but I did not bend my knees to be at his level. My stance was still casual even when he took a boxing stance.
He threw a few jabs, not the kind to hit but the kind that was studying their range. I did not keep my hands up so he could not see how much of an advantage I had with my long arms.
After a few more soft jabs, he stepped in and threw a right cross.
My right hand blurred. One moment it was idle at my side and then it was a right uppercut. The difference in our speed was so vast that he never saw it coming.
Boom. Headshot.
My opponent was knocked out instantly.
It was not even fair.
"Next," I said, my grin even wider.
After they carried the guy away, another took his place. This time, it was his previous opponent.
The guy took a karate stance.
Doesn't matter.
Boom. Headshot.
"Next," I said even before the guy collapsed on the floor.
Another guy took his place.
Boom. Headshot.
"Next."
There was a lot of hesitation before the fourth opponent came up. This time, he did not try to throw hands. He faked a right cross and went for a double leg takedown.
I moved away so he couldn't grab my legs. He quickly stood back up but my jab found his chin on his way up.
Boom. Headshot.
His body folded and he grabbed his own legs before he fell. I must say, he was quite flexible to do that.
"Next," I said, my grin getting wider all this time. This is fun.
"That's enough," Aki said while coming towards me. From his eyes I could tell he did not appreciate my show of sportsmanship.
"You're being an asshole, Jin," he said.
I shrugged. "I held back plenty."
It was true. Other than the speed, I did not put any power in my punches. The precision and the unseen hit were what knocked them out. They won't even bruise.
Then he took a stance in front of me. I raised an eyebrow.
"You wanna go next?" I asked.
"Yes, try me," he said.
If he said so.
I threw a fast jab.
Boom. Headshot. Wait.
Aki dodged my punch with minimal action while stepping in. The jab was so close I thought I hit him. But I only grazed his cheek.
I still did not panic when he was close enough to hit me even with a hook. Like I mentioned before, my base form was strong enough to be considered peak human form.
So what's it going to be. A right hook? An uppercut? An elbow? I was prepared for them.
!!!
But what I wasn't prepared for was nothing. Aki did not throw any attack as he closed the distance between us. Instead of an attack, he knocked me forward with his guarded arms.
I was not in a fighting stance at all so I was pushed off my feet. It was only then that Aki threw a right cross downwards.
It was impossible to dodge while in the air. But I raised my arm and caught myself with my hand. I turned my head and his fist came sailing past me.
I tried to sweep him off his feet but he quickly changed where he put his weight so I was unable to move him.
Aki was not like the other fighters.
He quickly pulled back his right hand. The ease with which he did that told me he wasn't going all in with that punch. It was a feint that could still hurt someone if it landed.
His left hand came down. This punch was much quicker and had more power.
So I had to use my final weapon.
"Augg!" Aki released a weird sound and his whole body froze. His punch also stopped midway.
I finally fell on the ground but Aki followed soon after. He planted his face on the ground, not even being able to catch himself because he was holding his crotch.
"Boom. Ballshot," I said.
"Asshole," Aki squeezed out through the pain.
"Overreact much. You are wearing a crotch guard, you'll be fine," I said and tapped him on the shoulder.
I might be smiling but in that moment, I acknowledged his talent and techniques. If we were equal, and had it been a fair fight, I would definitely lose. I was not a sloppy fighter or a rookie but Aki was on a different level. I knew that just from our small exchange.
When I got up, I scanned the room and saw that all the people I had knocked out were already awake and also watching the match.
I bowed to them slightly.
"I apologize for the misconduct," I said, at least Aki earned them that much. "If you give me another chance, I will be happy to train with you all."
Aki was looking at me with a surprised face when I did that. I simply flashed him a smile and reached out my hand. He sighed and took my hand so I could pull him up.
"Sorry for the low blow— Augh." The first thing he did after standing up was hit me in my crotch.
"No need to apologize," he said with a smirk.
"Motherfucker," I squeezed out.
"Overreact much, you'll heal," he added.
This fucking guy, I swear.
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[IMAGE]
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Author: Hope these chapters are not boring. It is ambitious of me to write these chapters at the start of the story but I wanted to build the characters before Denji arrives because as you know, after that it would be full of shit shows one after the other.
I need to do these before the canon starts.