The next morning.
Cael stood in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for five.
He was not about to cook only for himself and Reze. Asa and Makima needed their share too. The extra portion was for Pochita. Even if it looked like a dog, it was still a devil. Letting it fight over kibble with Makima's pack of dogs would be ridiculous.
Reze slowly got out of bed, stretching with a quiet yawn.
Damn, that felt good.
Her waist ached, but she did not care much. As a Weapon Human, all it took was one explosion and she would be perfectly fine again.
Inside the bathroom, while washing up, she casually swallowed two birth control pills. Kids were not part of her plans anytime soon.
When she returned, she stripped off the messy, damp sheets and replaced them with fresh ones that carried a soft lavender scent.
Creak.
The door opened.
Cael walked in, carrying two cups of hot milk and a simple breakfast of rice, grilled fish, and rolled omelet. He had already delivered three portions next door. This was just for him and Reze.
"Get up and eat, Reze."
"Heh~"
Reze smiled in a way that promised trouble. She dragged a small desk onto the bed and set it in place.
"I'm not getting up," she said, patting the sheets. "Come here. We'll eat like this."
Cael narrowed his eyes at her. That look in her emerald eyes had not faded at all.
"Don't overthink it," she added lightly. "It's not like I'm going to eat you."
She took the food from him, set it on the desk, then grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed. Cael leaned back against the pillows before he could protest.
Then she shifted.
And sat right on his lap.
Cael sucked in a quiet breath.
Reze picked up a piece of food, bit into it, and leaned in close, her lips brushing his.
"Alright," she murmured, "now we can start breakfast."
Yeah, right.
Cael was not made of stone.
The moment lingered just long enough before he bit down, sharing the food with her. The taste was simple, but warm and rich. The kind of meal that settled deep in your bones.
Reze shivered slightly, cheeks flushing as she chewed.
"This is the best breakfast I've ever had."
Cael smirked, shifting his grip on the remaining food.
"Then eat more."
The meal dragged on.
And on.
What should have been a quick breakfast stretched into two full hours. By the end, both of them were exhausted, sweaty, and completely satisfied.
They fell asleep in each other's arms without a second thought.
When they woke up again, it was already time to eat.
The entire morning had been wasted on food and each other.
Reze lay against Cael's chest, listening to his heartbeat, her fingers lightly tracing circles against him. Then she began to hum, her voice soft and distant.
"И подруга далёкая...
Парню весточку шлёт...
Что любовь её девичья...
Никогда не умрёт..."
Cael tapped along with the rhythm against her hand. He had been studying Russian ever since getting close to her, enough to catch the meaning.
"Not bad," he said. "You could compete with professional singers."
Reze smiled, clearly pleased.
"Compared to Japan, my hometown is better," she said suddenly.
"Miss it?" Cael asked.
She shook her head.
"I'm a war orphan. No real family."
She paused, then looked up at him.
"Do you remember what I told you during the fireworks? About running away together?"
Cael raised a brow. "Yeah."
"I wasn't lying," she said. "If you had agreed, I could have taken you somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would find us."
"Oh?" Cael smirked faintly. "You've got that kind of pull?"
Reze let out a quiet sigh.
"Something like that."
Then she began.
"About twenty years ago, there was a civil war back home. It lasted five years. My parents died when I was two. After that, everything is… blurry."
Her voice stayed calm, but her grip on him tightened slightly.
"When I was five, near the end of the war, an older couple found me in a ditch. I was half dead from the cold. Orphanages were full, so the government started placing kids with families. They took me in."
She exhaled slowly.
"For a while, I lived like a normal kid."
Then her tone shifted.
"When I was nine, I got sick. Terminal. Three months left, they said."
Cael frowned but stayed silent.
"My foster parents had connections. They put me into a classified project. A devil fusion experiment."
Her lips curved faintly, though there was no humor in it.
"I was the youngest there. Everyone thought it was insane."
She looked at him.
"I survived."
No need to explain further.
"Out of everyone, I had the highest compatibility with the Bomb Devil. So they implanted its heart into me."
Cael let out a low whistle. "Damn."
"I became an agent after that," she continued. "Training, missions, all of it. My foster parents could barely see me anymore."
Her gaze softened slightly.
"A few years ago, there was another power struggle. A purge. Most of the old staff were wiped out."
She did not say it directly, but it was obvious.
She had done it.
"They retired before that. Changed names, disappeared into the countryside. They still write to me sometimes."
Cael nodded slowly.
"They sound like good people."
"They are."
Reze shifted closer, resting her head fully against him.
"If you had come with me, I would have taken you there. It's a big place. Easy to disappear if you try."
Cael ran a hand through her hair, his expression calm.
"Too much effort," he said. "We're not the kind of people who hide."
He smirked slightly.
"If something tries to hunt us down, we just kill it."