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He was shaking uncontrollably. The world was spinning as the words of the future devil rang in his ears for the millionth time: “You will die the most horrible death…”
But that didn’t scare him. Being a devil hunter meant that the risk of a horrible death was ever present. What truly terrified him was the second omen, that both him and Power would die at Denji’s hands.
Aki had so many questions. When? Why in hell would Denji do that? Why would he do that? What about their imperfect little family…
Aki had thought… that maybe Denji was more human than devil. Apparently not.
Oh, and another question: Who would go first? Selfishly, he hoped it would be him, so that he wouldn’t have to mourn the death of another loved one.
Imagine that. Hayakawa Aki, considering a devil to be a loved one. More than one, actually.
The worst part of all this was that it was inevitable, just like everything else that damn future devil foretold.
But… what if it wasn’t? What if… oh, such a lovely dream. He could, couldn’t he? No. Unless? Really, what was stopping him besides, well, the future set out for him?
Before the reasonable bit of his brain could get the best of him, Aki set off running out of his apartment, still shaky. He forgot to close the door on his way out.
It only took Aki a few minutes to arrive, out of breath, at Tenshi’s apartment. He slammed the door open, startling the angel devil, who had been struggling to pick up a fallen throw pillow, which was no easy feat for him, being armless.
He looked up from the task and into Ali’s eyes, which were beginning to tear up.
“What’s the matter? You don’t normally…” he trailed off as Aki took a wobbly step forward and collapsed to his knees.
“Tenshi, I-“ he managed to choke out before breaking into a violent sob.
Tenshi kneeled down in front of Aki, as close as he could possibly get without touching him. Seeing him like this, oh, how he wished he could get closer. To hug him and tell him that it was okay, whatever was going on. But he couldn’t. Not ever.
“What do you need?” he whispered instead.
“To hug you.” Aki whispered back. His words hit Tenshi with the force of the universe.
“I- you can’t, Aki,” his chest hurt just saying it, “We’ve been over this. It’ll kill you, idiot.”
“Exactly.”
There was no going back now.
At this, Tenshi began to cry as well, the knot in his rib cage growing tighter.
“How could- I can’t! I… why, Aki?” Why, why, why?
“I’m gonna die anyways, aren’t I?” he replied, “And probably soon. I’d way rather die in your arms than at the nonexistent mercy of some fucking devil.”
Despite everything, Tenshi gave him a dry stare. Right.
“Sorry. There’s only one devil who’s nonexistent arms I want to die in,” Aki amended, smiling sadly at the floor, “so please…”
The pleading broke Tenshi’s heart for the dozenth time that interaction. He inhaled sharply, mind racing. He could still recall, so clearly, this same man telling him not to die, or at least not to die anywhere near him. Stubborn idiot. This was all so unfair. Was it just him, or was the world collapsing a bit?
But the thing was, as much as he didn’t want to do this, he felt that maybe he owed it to Aki. It wasn’t like he’d ever done anything to help the guy before. And Aki had done so much for him.
“Okay. Just, promise me one thing.” He breathed, wiling Aki to look at him, which he somehow sensed and did.
“Anything.” For you. Anything for you, those eyes said. Goddammit.
“Promise me that you’ll die without regrets. When I die I’ll get another million chances at life, probably. But you won’t, human, so I want you to at least be a little happy.” He blushed at his own words, like an absolute dumbass.
“Yeah, alright. We’ll make it a contract then, devil.” The last bit was dry with sarcasm, but the promise was sincere.
They say there for a long moment, taking in the truth of what they were about to do. And then Aki did it.
He wrapped his single arm around Tenshi’s slender back, pushing their bodies together. It didn’t feel at all like his life was slipping away from him, but he knew the process had begun.
“How long do we have?” Aki asked cautiously, focusing in on the warmth of Tenshi’s skin, and how soft it was. So soft.
“A few minutes, probably.” he replied, wrapping his wings around Aki’s body, as if to shield him from his fate.
As he did this, Aki brought his hand up so that he was brushing his fingers through Tenshi’s carnation hair. It was even silkier than he had always imagined.
They stared into each other’s eyes, neither one wanting to break eye contact, not even to blink. Dark blue oceans staring into ethereal yellow orbs.
“Can I kiss you?”
The question was such a quiet one that Aki wasn’t sure he had heard it.
“Yes.” he murmured back, not wanting to break whatever spell had fallen over them.
As their lips connected, warmth spread through both their bodies, tasting of salt from shared tears.
Aki still didn’t feel like he was dying, not even a little bit. The kiss, this feeling, made him think that maybe he had never actually been alive before that moment. How cliché.
He closed his eyes and smiled softly, the most sincere smile of his life.
And then, far sooner than it should have been, the warmth was gone from the kiss. Tenshi felt Aki’s fingers go limp in his hair.
He hugged his wings even tighter around Aki’s body as the realization sank in, all too fast, a flash flood. He sobbed, tremors running through him. He was burning, going up in the flames of what he had just done.
Burning, burning.
I never got to say all the things I wanted to say to him. I killed him. He was the first person to truly care about me since… them and I killed him.
“Aki, please, no. I didn’t mean to- Aki…” He paused, struggling to breathe, “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.”
But no amount of apologies would be enough. Each would go just as unheard as the one before it.
Nothing would ever be enough.
“I love you, Aki.”
But Aki, now cold, would never respond to the devil’s confession.