Chapter 34
After waking Aki outside the door, Denji handed him the file directly.
"Aki, the mission on top."
This time, Aki—who had just been freed from "brainwashing" and domination—showed clear signs of disorientation and dizziness as he came back to himself.
On instinct, he still took the mission file, and a sentence slipped out of his mouth:
"Thanks!"
The cover listed the mission details and participants.
It was a devil-hunting deployment mission.
Assigned team: Hayakawa Aki, Himeno.
"Hm… Himeno seemed to take her two rookies out on a mission again today. Hope she's not drunk yet."
He'd meant it as an internal thought, but somehow it came out loud—and Aki himself hadn't even realized he'd spoken his mind aloud.
When leaving earlier, Denji had already set Power down. Now he was just holding her hand while she clung to him.
After handing over the file, Denji walked off with Power.
Watching their backs recede, Aki steadied his dizzy head, narrowed his blurry vision, and forced himself to focus for the moment.
"Hey, uh…"
Aki suddenly didn't know how to speak—mouth opening and closing—before finally calling out after a moment's hesitation:
"Denji, let me drive you guys back first."
Denji glanced over his shoulder at Aki, then smiled and waved it off:
"No need. You handle your mission first. The job comes first—finish early and you can rest sooner."
…Fair enough.
Watching Denji and Power disappear into the distance, Aki rubbed his brow and pulled out his phone.
He'd intended to look up Himeno in his contacts, but her number was right there in recent calls—so he tapped it directly.
The ringing continued while the screen stayed in front of his eyes.
Aside from work necessities, almost every other call log was Himeno's.
The frequency was high—because whenever she had free time, she loved "harassing" him.
She called it: injecting a little life and vitality into his dead-water existence.
But lately the calls had been fewer.
Before, workdays were full: morning greetings, goodnight messages, constant back-and-forth.
Days off were even worse—if she couldn't drag him out, the phone bombed him nonstop.
Why fewer recently?
Maybe because lately, the moment he picked up and realized she had no real business, he hung up faster and more decisively.
Or maybe because he "forgot" her birthday last time—no, wait, he did remember her birthday. He even prepared a gift. Why didn't he celebrate it with her that day?
Or maybe he'd directly ignored some of her almost-obvious hints. What hints were those again?
…
The chaotic thoughts churned until his head hurt—yet somehow they also made his foggy mind feel a little clearer.
The ringing stopped. Call connected.
A drunken voice came through:
[Hey, is that Aki?]
"Yeah, it's me."
Hearing Aki's voice, Himeno audibly choked for a second—then hurriedly took a swig.
The phone clearly picked up the glug glug of her drinking.
Aki frowned slightly.
Himeno-senpai… drinking this much again the moment I'm not watching? Really can't relax around her.
Unaware of Aki's thoughts, Himeno cleared her throat lightly on the other end, then asked—voice suppressing a hint of anticipation:
[Mm, calling me at this hour… what's up?]
The last three syllables dropped into a softer, gentler tone—slightly coy, with a touch of cute whining.
Not sure if it was the alcohol or just her mood.
"There's a sudden emergency mission."
[Pfft—]
"Hm? Himeno-senpai, what happened over there?"
[Cough cough, nothing… nothing… ugh—no, actually, very much something. What mission? You coming to pick me up or should I come to you?]
"It's a devil-hunting mission." Aki opened the file and pulled out the details.
"Low-tier devil, but abnormally strong—suspected of swallowing a Gun Devil fragment."
The moment he said "Gun Devil," his tone noticeably deepened.
On the other end, Himeno picked up on it and sounded worried.
[Getting a mission this late? Just received it? Oh right—you were patrolling with the rookies today. Probably just got off shift. I'll head to headquarters to meet you.]
"Senpai, didn't you just drink? Is that okay?"
Hearing the shift in address, Himeno huffed:
[I'll take a cab! You rest a bit—you'll have to drive later anyway.]
"Okay."
Conversation over. Normally Aki would have hung up right away.
But today he didn't.
Why had he always rushed to end calls before?
Was his relationship with Himeno-senpai really that stiff?
Headache…
Clutching his temple, he completely forgot the call was still connected.
And the other end clearly hadn't expected him to stay on the line either.
Faintly, he could hear her voice again.
[Aki-kun is such a jerk! I'm the big idiot! Still fantasizing that a rock… a stone! would take the initiative!]
She cursed, then took another swig.
Sounds of her standing up quickly, grabbing things with a clang, changing clothes, rinsing her mouth, quick freshening up… heavy door slam.
Door opened again.
[Where's my phone?]
[Oh, here—huh? The screen's lit…]
Her voice suddenly went dead quiet.
After a hesitant pause, a trembling, careful voice came through:
[Aki-kun?]
"I'm here."
[…]
"…"
[AHHHHHHH!!! As your senior I order you to forget EVERYTHING that just happened right now!!]
Bathed in her emotional outburst, something finally anchored in Aki's feelings. A faint, stiff smile appeared on his face:
"It's fine, Himeno-senpai. I won't put any of this in the mission report. Don't worry."
She clearly hadn't expected Aki to joke one day?!
The other end obviously couldn't believe her ears. Another door open/close sound, elevator ding—then Himeno finally managed to collect herself, voice strange:
[I don't know if the sun rose in the west today or if I'm really that drunk… but Aki-kun feels weird. Rest a bit—I'll be there soon…]
"Okay. I'll wait for you."
The other end trailed off mid-sentence, hesitating whether to speak.
Rarely had Aki responded to her this much today. She tried pushing her luck:
[…Can you not hang up?
Don't misunderstand! It's just—I feel like you're not in a good state, so I'm worried about you, yeah!
If you're worried about call charges, I'll cover it later.]
Aki didn't quite understand—but still answered properly:
"Sure. I won't hang up."
On the other end, Himeno clearly treasured this version of Aki on the phone—like she was afraid the whole conversation was an illusion. She kept talking, constantly getting responses from him.
And Aki didn't disappoint her. His replies were short, but every sentence got an answer—no forced dismissals. It really felt like he was listening seriously.
Only… his voice sounded increasingly tired, increasingly weak.
From her end, it sounded like he was getting sleepier and sleepier.
So Himeno gradually slowed down too—her voice becoming softer, gentler.
By now Aki had already reached the first-floor public office area. At this hour, most staff were gone—only a couple of windows still lit.
He randomly picked a public chair against the wall, sat down heavily, and slowly let his body relax.
Chatting with Himeno on the phone, at some point—he fell asleep…
In his dream, footsteps slowly approached. A warm, moist breath—slightly tinged with alcohol—drew near his face…
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