Love, War, And 04

"So... are you part of any clubs?" Ayumu awkwardly questioned Fami as she devoured the burger in front of her. 

She responded between bites, with no shame at all. "Yeah, I'm on the Devil Hunter Club." Oh?

That was nice! Great even! It meant that if he got in, he could hang out with his girlfriend. N-not that she was his girlfriend, of course, this was just a date, but it was okay for a guy to be hopeful about the future, right?

He smiled. "Really? I'm actually trying to join the Devil Hunter Club." He put a hand on his chin. "Once I'm in, we are going to see each other a lot." Which could be pretty annoying if this date turned out to be catastrophic.

She nodded. "Uhum." And then went back to eating.

Ayumu had quickly noticed that he was the only one that ever made an attempt to make conversation. Which was definitely nerve-wracking and typically meant a date would be falling, but...

He could tell she was happy. Maybe it was because she was eating like it was her last day on Earth? In the end it didn't matter, though. As long as she was happy, so was Ayumu.

"Geez, did you really come here just to scam a kid out of a free meal? Say something..." But her ghost friend was kind of raining on his parade, ruining the delusion that everything was going to be okay.

Fami being happy didn't exactly mean that this date was going well.

And considering the maybe devil didn't bother listening to her ghost buddy's advice... well, that just proved her point.

But that was fine, as long as she didn't reject him, Ayumu was fine with losing a couple of bucks. "So, how tough is it being on the club? I've had a pretty difficult experience, so—."

"Can I eat that?" She pointed at his burger.

Though it's not like he had paid for it. In some stroke of genius, he remembered a place with a challenge called "Crazy Burger" and the idea of it was simple. As long as you managed to eat a giant burger before the hour ended, the burger would be free.

Fami not only had succeeded at her own challenge, but she was now also undertaking his.

And that to that... he blushed. "S-sure..." He had taken a bite or two of the burger, which meant...

Her eating it would be an indirect kiss!

Fami pounced on his food with no hesitation and began eating it. She was probably the messiest eater he had ever seen... and to be honest, it was kind of gross. He wasn't gonna say that to her, though!

Surprisingly, however, she didn't forget his question. "Being on the Devil Hunter Club is a ton of work. You'd think the members would all be lazy people taking advantage of the school's budget to fool around, but they're actually hard workers. I like them."

She continued. "Recently though, some of the new wannabe members have me worried. I don't think they're a good fit for devil hunting." Hopefully she wasn't talking about him...

Her ghost friend hummed. "I think that's the first time you actually told anyone how you felt about them... Weird."

So she was opening up to him!? Maybe he was right in being deluded and thinking that things were going well!

So he might as well press on the advantage. "Got ya... then when I join, we can work together and whip those guys into working shape!"

"Um? No. That sounds like a lot of work." Wasn't she the one who was calling them lazy...? "I recommend you don't even join."

Maybe this date was actually a disaster. "Why...?"

"You would end up being someone's lunch." She licked her lips. "That wouldn't be good." Why did he have a feeling the only reason she was saying that was because she wanted to be the one to eat him?

She was kind of right, though. Seeing as he had almost become lunch the last time he had faced a devil. That didn't matter, however because things were now completely different! He had been reborn with the ashes of the Messenger! 

He chuckled. "I'm happy you're worried for me, but I can handle myself." Now how to continue this conversation...? "Speaking of devil hunting, I'm guessing you're a fan of Chainsaw Man?"

She raised an eyebrow. "How could you tell?"

He tapped his ears. "The earrings you're wearing, they're supposed to be chainsaw cords, right?"

He didn't know how to feel about his maybe future girlfriend being a fan of Denji. He buried those ugly feelings though, it was unfair to her and to Denji after all. Especially since he didn't even know if his friend was truly Chainsaw Man or not.

She actually stopped eating for a moment. "Yes. And you are right, I am a Chainsaw Man fan... Not the one you see nowadays, though." Wait, there were already Chainsaw Man fans who missed the old era!?

Was there even such a thing as an old era!? Chainsaw Man was a pretty new figure!

"I get ya, the new Chainsaw Man is totally a fraud." He didn't actually care, but a guy knew that you were supposed to say the things women wanted to hear.

For once, it seemed he had her complete attention. "He's not just a fraud." Shit, lying immediately backfired!? "He's an insult. A bad person doing good things and thinking that makes him good. " Weren't things supposed to work that way? 

Her ghost buddy pouted. "I actually think he's pretty cool." Even invisible beings were becoming Chainsaw Man fans nowadays...

But now that he had seen Fami's opinion, he tried to course correct. "Y-yeah, screw that guy! Somebody should do something about him!"

Fami nodded. "Yes, but don't worry, justice always prev—."

"Yo! What are you guys talking about?" A new voice interjected.

Ayumu couldn't believe it. Some fucking pretty boy had decided to interfere with his date. For what reason!? Was he simply a cursed monster who preyed upon souls!?

Actually, he was extremely worried about Ayumu. He didn't know how he could tell her, but much like with Fami being happy, he just knew.

Fami tilted her head to the other side. "Um? Do you need something?"

The man laughed and had the audacity to sit by Ayumu's side. "Nothing really, I just saw a couple of fellow devil hunters and decided to have a chat." He looked at the boy. "My name is Yoshida. Pleasure to meet you."

He glared back. "Cool, my name is Ayumu." How did someone kick someone out without being rude? "You know the two of us?"

Yoshida hummed. "Well, I know Fami-Senpai, and I know from the test to enter the club. I was there too, you know? If our luck had turned out just a bit different, we could have been paired up together."

Ayumu squinted his eyes. "And you actually remembered me? We didn't even talk."

Yoshida grinned. "Having a good memory is a key trait for a Devil Hunter. So I try honing mine as best as I can." Fair enough. 

Why was he here, though!? There was no way he just saw a few people he recognized and decided to have a chat! People just didn't do that! Which meant Yoshida definitely had some ulterior motive.

He shifted his gaze towards Fami. "So, what are you up to, Senpai? I don't think you're the type to just hang about." 

Fami finished her burger. "I'm... I was eating."

He chuckled. "I can see that. By the way, feel free to order anything. It will be my treat." This guy... was trying to hijack his date! Scum! Absolute scum! 

Ayumu put a hand on his chest. "A-actually, I'll pay for it! Don't listen to him, Fami!" He would have to fight fire with fire!

"Oh, okay. I want one of every sandwich on the menu." He couldn't fight fire with fire.

Ayumu immediately backed off. "Actually, Yoshida can pay for it."

Even the bastard date hijacker seemed scared. "Can I, I wonder...?" He sighed. "Sure, I can."

And so, Fami made her insane order... which made her insanely happy. She was the only one happy at the table; however, Ayumu was angry at Yoshida, Yoshida was nervous about something, and the ghost friend of Fami was embarrassed. Which was her natural state by this point.

Yoshida crossed his arms. "So, Fami-Senpai, are you going to tell me what you are doing here or not?" He was still on this?

This time, Ayumu took the lead and responded. "Fami and I are on a date." He shooed Yoshida. "So feel free to leave at any time... after you pay the bill." Damn it, accepting money from this guy was the equivalent of making a deal with the devil!

But like... the ugly red one with horns! Not one of the cute ones.

Yoshida's eyes widened. "Is... is that the truth...?" He sent a questioning look towards Fami.

Who thankfully didn't deny it. "Yes."

His jaw hit the floor. "You... you're going on a date with someone? Like an actual date?" He snorted. "And I'm supposed to—."

Ayumu cut him off. "Look dude, I don't know if you're her ex or something, but you're being kind of an awkward third wheel right now." More like a fourth wheel, but he just had to accept the presence of ghost lady.

Yoshida stayed silent for a second before deciding to ignore Ayumu completely. Still staring at Fami, he asked. "Are you serious about this date?"

Fami stopped eating for a moment. "Sure." She looked at Ayumu. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" His heart stopped beating.

Gah!?

It was that easy to get a girlfriend!? You just found a devil who liked your smell enough to bite you and then seduced her with food!? Why weren't other people doing it too?

Jokes aside, this was a serious question. So far he had kind of gone ahead with this, but should he really date a devil? They were the enemies of humanity. Or something like that.

"Y-yeah, s-sure... I-I mean, I think we are compatible." As if he cared about her devil status!

Fami went back to eating. "Great then."

And Yoshida looked like he needed some time to recover his mental state. "What are you planning?" He was muttering to himself like he was face to face with a supervillain.

Ayumu was just happy he had finally ascended.

 

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Alas, all things came to an end eventually.

After Fami drained Yoshida's wallet dry, everybody went home. Except for Ayumu of course, he had been looking for a place to train his powers, and he had finally found it!

And that place was... some abandoned construction site. Hopefully nobody would come to check on it during the night. The average person would assume Ayumu had a devil contract after all, and those were illegal unless you had permission from the government.

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "How do I start this...?" If he wanted to look cool in front of his girlfriend in the future, he needed to learn how to control his powers.

A giggle escaped his mouth. "Hah, I have a girlfriend." Sure, she was (possibly) a devil, and also a bit quirky, but...

She was his girlfriend! So Ayumu was finally succeeding in life!

He shook his head. "I shouldn't be gushing about her right now." First things first, he should do a strength test. He would find the heaviest thing here and see if he could lift it.

"Ayumu?" Or at least he would have done that before he was interrupted.

He waved at the new arrival. "Yo Asa. Wait, what are you doing here!?" She was walking around with some kind of strange sword. It looked like if a ruler had a baby with a blade.

She pointed at him, glaring. "I'm hunting devils! The real question is what you are doing here!?" Oh.

That actually made a decent amount of sense. A place like this was definitely a good place to find a devil, although Ayumu didn't approve of a girl going out so late at night. Then again, Asa was literally looking for danger.

He scratched his cheek. "I'm... you know... looking for devils too." 

She snapped at him. "Then why didn't you come see me!? I was waiting for you, jerk!" He really chose the worst possible excuse imaginable, didn't he?

He gulped. "Well, I..." He could just say that he went hunting devils later because he had a date to go on.

But wouldn't that just make her even more pissed? Getting stood up because the other guy went on a date was kind of crazy. Asa might hate him for it.

So as per usual, he made some bullshit up. "I felt kind of sick after school, so I went to the infirmary to rest for a bit."

Her anger immediately disappeared. "O-oh... Was it because of the whole... um... surgery thing?"

He nodded, taking the rope that had been given to him. "Probably. Once I felt better, I went to try and find you, but you weren't there anymore. So I just went to hunt alone."

He pointed at himself. "I mean, in the end, as long as we find a devil, it's all good, right? I've been thinking that maybe we can even give Yuko credit too."

Asa hesitantly agreed. "That does sound nice. Though I don't think they would believe us..." She blushed. "Hey, since we are already here, would you like to partner up—?"

"Asa, stop wasting time." Her lookalike interrupted her. "This is the perfect opportunity to kill him." Huh? 

Well, yes, this was kind of a perfect opportunity to do something nefarious to another person, wasn't it? It was dark, and they were in the middle of nowhere. Ayumu could bet that even if someone did hear something strange, they wouldn't come to check on it too.

Ayuku tensed his body.

Asa's eye twitched. "Partner up?" And completely ignored her lookalike.

To that, Ayumu smiled. "Sounds great. I gotta ask though, where did you get that super cool sword?" Which she presumably would use to try to murder him. Maybe.

Her eyes widened, and she raised her weapon. "O-oh, this? I got in a... um... relic shop. Yeah."

"Cool." She definitely hadn't gotten it in a relic shop!

Maybe she was the Ruler Devil!

They began walking around the streets, checking dark corners and investigating any suspicious sound. Basically, they were acting as the biggest idiots in the entire world. All while Ayumu whistled.

Eventually they had to throw in the towel. "I think today is another bust... Devil Hunters really have gotten competent lately, haven't they?"

Her lookalike hummed. "Or devils have simply gotten more incompetent, weaker." She huffed. "This world truly needs a war to light the flame of fear once more."

Asa waved her off, as Ayumu wasn't seeing it, and nodded. "Apparently, devil-related deaths have been decreasing ever since the Gun Devil bit the dust."

What most likely happened was that with the death of the most feared devil to ever exist, people's fear of them had decreased in general. It also helped that there was a devil going around acting like a superhero.

"Well, even if it's not as dangerous as it used to be, can I walk you home, Asa?" A ruler sword wouldn't stop a robber with a gun. 

She twirled with her hair for a bit. "I'd appreciate it..." 

And so began their trek there. Like most people nowadays, Asa lived in a run-down apartment. She didn't actually pay the rent for it; instead, the government did as part of a program for kids orphaned in devil attacks.

Once they finally arrived at her door, Asa began sputtering. "You know, I... I always have a pretty fun time when I'm around you, Ayumu."

He grinned and sent her a thumbs up. "Same here!" Even though he barely knew her. Cute girls were fun at the end of things.

"That makes me happy to hear, so..." She gulped. "I was wondering... ignoring the whole devil thing... if we could... h-hang out more..." She started flailing her arms around. "It's just that you and Yuko are my only friends, so...!"

Welp, that was kind of sad. Though Ayumu didn't really have many friends either. "Of course we can hang out, Asa! I would love to, in fact!"

She smiled, but that smile was shaking. "Great! Yeah..."

Her lookalike rolled her eye. "Asa, get on with it. Or I will." Was she talking about murder...!?

And suddenly Ayumu felt his body tensing up again.

Asa cleared her throat. "But... you think I'm pretty cute, right?" He nodded with zero hesitation. Which probably wasn't good now that he had a girlfriend. "And if you think being with me is fun, I was... considering if we could..."

She shook her head. "Never mind. I don't have time for that type of stuff." What type of stuff—? "Yeah, I just don't—."

The world was crazy. One moment you were just having a normal conversation with a girl, the next you were making out with her. Wait, what!?

Asa... Asa's lookalike, who had switched places with Asa, was holding him by the hair and forcing her mouth on his. And there was simply no way he could resist.

Asa's sputtering in the background was making things awkward, however. "W-whatta...?" Seriously though, how had she switched places with her?

Ayumu didn't have much time to think about it. The lookalike ended the kiss and moved her head back.

"Hah..." She was panting, seemingly as surprised as he was by this whole thing. 

And then she went for another kiss.

Which was immediately stopped. Not by him, but by Asa, who had once again switched places with her. The girl shoving Ayumu with as much strength as she could muster.

Her rosy cheeks were beautiful. "I'm going to kill you, Yoru!" But he didn't have much time to appreciate the sight, seeing as she ran inside of her apartment. He figured he shouldn't follow.

He touched his lips. "Ah... I cheated on my girlfriend." His girlfriend of zero days.

It felt good.