In a world texturing itself with devils and bloodshed, the vast majority of people lived like rats in a sewer.
Kobeni, Reze, and Denji, including many others like them.
All it took was dawning a tiny sliver of a dream upon such rats, and they would forget everything else, stepping out into the sunlight to make a grand escape.
Kobeni already understood what Zoran intended to do. She found a spot outside the cafe and quietly sat down. Of course, reluctant to spend any money, she simply sat there without ordering a coffee, keeping watch.
Reze and Denji chatted for a long time.
During their conversation, Kobeni noticed something unusual. It was common knowledge that Denji fancied Miss Makima. In fact, excluding Denji, every single male in Public Safety Special Division 4, even a guy like Aki Hayakawa, harbored romantic feelings toward Makima.
Yet, the smile Kobeni saw on Denji's face right now was different. It hid an emotion he had never shown, not even when he was around Makima.
As dusk settled, the cafe closed up for the night. Reze invited Denji to go for a stroll around a school, and Kobeni smartly trailed behind them.
She realized it: her new coworker seemed to have genuinely fallen for this girl!
"Romance..." Kobeni murmured to herself. This was a subject she was entirely inept at. "Does it really happen this fast?"
"Of course," Zoran answered suddenly.
Kobeni nodded silently, having gradually grown accustomed to Mr. Demon abruptly speaking in her ear. Her easily rattled little heart had finally developed a bit of resilience.
Zoran watched the two silhouettes walking toward the school beneath the setting sun. In truth, Denji and Lu Mingfei shared certain similarities. Both were kids who had absolutely nothing, yet both managed to possess power that defied all conventions. The only difference was that one was more pathetic, while the other possessed a more unhinged, neurotic madness.
With kids like this, if you offered them even a tiny taste of sweetness, they would stick to you like a loyal pup. Offering up their affection was a remarkably simple matter for them.
Reze snuck Denji into the school under the cover of night. Denji looked around at his novel surroundings with intense curiosity.
"It seems Denji has never been to school before." Reze stood at the podium in a classroom, looking down at the utterly fascinated Denji. "Do you have a dream, Denji?"
"A dream?" Denji blinked, counting on his fingers. "Eating my fill, staying warm, having a hot bath to wash up in every day, and then..." He peeked at Reze and muttered under his breath, "It'd be even better if I could live with a pretty girl."
He didn't know if Reze caught his last sentence, but she merely sighed, "What a simple and pure dream."
As the night deepened, moonlight cascaded through the classroom's glass windows, casting its glow over Reze. Her gaze was soft and misty. Having changed out of her cafe uniform, her casual shorts revealed the well-proportioned, beautiful contour of her legs, while her white collared, short-sleeved shirt caught the moonlight, radiating a faint, ethereal aura.
Standing atop the podium, Denji felt as though Reze herself was glowing.
She pursed her lips slightly, seemingly lost in thought. "Denji, let's go swimming! The school has a pool, you know!"
"But I don't know how to—" Denji's words cut short as Reze grabbed his hand and pulled him running toward the gymnasium.
His heart leaped. Their very first time holding hands had happened completely naturally. Holding the hand of someone you liked felt warm, and Denji felt that Reze's hand was incredibly warm.
The next second, a splash of freezing cold hit him as Reze laughingly pushed him into the pool.
After flailing around for a bit, Denji finally gripped the edge of the pool and looked up at Reze. His pupils dilated, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, as if he were witnessing something utterly miraculous.
Slowly, piece by piece, Reze shed her shorts and shirt, followed by her underwear. Her pale, jade-like body shimmered radiantly under the moonlight. Denji was completely mesmerized.
In the shadows not far away, Kobeni instinctively covered her eyes, though the gaps between her fingers were wide open.
"Um, Mr. Demon, are you looking?" she whispered softly. This scene was a bit too scandalous for her taste.
"Merely flesh," Zoran's voice echoed in her ear, cool and entirely devoid of any extraneous emotion.
"Oh," Kobeni muttered, still covering her eyes. "True, the aesthetics of some devils seem to differ from humans. Like the Fox Devil, whose taste aligns with humans, but I wonder what kind of appearance you find beautiful, Mr. Demon?"
She continued to ramble nervously while blushing and peeking through the gaps of her fingers.
"I can comprehend the beauty in all things, even now. But it is merely beauty, nothing more," Zoran replied indifferently.
Through his line of sight, Denji's expression looked as though he had already ascended to heaven. For a creature like him who used to dwell like a rat in the sewers, what was unfolding before his eyes truly was paradise. To witness a young maiden's naked form firsthand, and from such close proximity.
The water's surface rippled like shattered silver beneath the moonlight. Denji felt as though he were dreaming, right up until Reze dressed herself again and asked him:
"Denji, shall we go watch the fireworks together next time?"
The voice reverberated through Denji's mind. He was completely lightheaded, spending the entire next day walking on air.
Before he knew it, the sky paled into dawn and darkened into night once more.
He stood outside the cafe again, waiting for the waitress to push open the door.
"Denji came very early today," Reze said mischievously as she took the hand of the visibly flustered Denji. "The fireworks festival is about to start."
This was only his second night knowing Reze, yet Denji felt like he was walking on clouds. It felt as though he was meant to be the protagonist of this world all along, and someone had finally noticed him.
Beautiful fireworks erupted in the night sky, climbing and branching out in all directions.
Inadvertently, the girl suddenly leaned in very close. She tilted her head up, her eyes reflecting the moonlight and the brilliant pyrotechnics. Gently, she parted her lips:
"Hey, Denji. I like you."
The world always has its spectators, just like a boy high-jumping under the setting sun would inevitably draw everyone's gaze without realizing it.
Kobeni secretly witnessed it all, looking rather tense. Just moments ago, Mr. Demon had instructed her that she would need to rescue Denji shortly.
That beautiful, light-purple-haired girl was actually a spy from another country. As an assassin, she had specifically chosen a tactic that a boy like Denji could never resist.
Kobeni still felt a bit dazed. If Mr. Demon had known all of this from the beginning, why hadn't he stopped her ahead of time? With his formidable power, he could have effortlessly wiped out a spy or anyone else with a wave of his hand. Yet, Mr. Demon merely had her watch quietly, telling her to wait for the right opportunity to strike.
Kobeni shook her head. Forget it. The schemes of these powerful figures involved things her intellect could never comprehend anyway.
Suddenly, her peeping gaze jolted in shock.
As the grandest burst of fireworks finally blossomed over the mountain peak, Denji fiercely leaned in for a kiss.
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