[3rd POV]
It has been four months since the darkest day of Japan.
"There is no more assignment."
Reze's lashes flapped in mild surprise. She tilted her head quizzically, wondering if that was really it. She could understand if there were no more large assignments that they could give her, but she could very well deal with weaker devils, too.
She could move between cities quickly with her powers, so it wouldn't be trouble at all. In fact, she'd much prefer to bury herself in more work.
"....then what am I going to do?"
"I don't know, go home?" the new head of the Public Safety Commission of Tokyo said. There were no longer different divisions in Japan since most Devil Hunters died in the incident.
The remaining survivors were grouped under one division, simply named the Tokyo Division.
"The government has no need to monitor you either, so you are free to do as you wish until given notice," he said.
Reze had been in a very tight spot right after the incident took place. But fortunately, she was a member of the Public Safety Commission before the incident happened. The higher-ups were also already aware that she was a Russian spy before they ever let Makima invite her to the Public Safety Commission.
The thing about Reze taking part in the Black Day operation was a false accusation on the Japanese government's part. In truth, they don't really know that she was involved; they were just using her past to put more pressure on the Soviet Union.
After all, during the incident, Reze fought with Quanxi and fought with the Darkness Devil as well. Those who saw her standing against Makima were all dead to tell no tales. And there wasn't any camera inside Makima's office since she'd never let anyone monitor her.
Amid the chaos, Reze's involvement was pretty much in the dark. The higher-ups only knew that she was on their side since before the incident happened.
She had been monitored and briefly imprisoned after the incident, though, due to suspicion. But Tokyo needed as much manpower as possible after all the destruction and death. Reze proved to be too valuable to just be imprisoned, so they began using her.
And after a few months, most of those suspicions had blown off. Although they still monitored her every action. Once again, Aki was responsible for this.
"Is there no devil's appearance recently?" Reze asked.
"Nope, not at all. Things had been too quiet instead. Even the foreign Devil Hunters are stumped, having nothing else to do. At the moment, our active Devil Hunters exceed the situation," he said.
That was one of the most shocking and concerning things about all this. The fear of Devils had shot up significantly after the incident. Many researchers feared that Japan would be flooded with Devils.
But instead of that, the appearance of Devils, especially the weaker ones, had been plummeting rapidly since the incident happened.
It was something that could not be explained.
"You've done enough, Reze, just rest for now," the head of Tokyo said with a tired smile. There were bags under his eyes, showing that it must have been months since he had a good rest.
But Reze wasn't better either. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes had long lost their playful shine. She looked like a drug addict who was right in between a hangover and the need for a new dose.
That part where you are seriously contemplating what you were doing with your life.
"I'll be going then. Please call me if you have anything for me," she said and left the room.
Without any sound other than her footsteps, Reze made her way towards her home. While she was on the higher floors, she could see on the horizon an empty space in the centre of Japan. Even during the day, the place seemed to be experiencing perpetual night.
There was absolutely no life in that place. It was like a huge crater at the centre of Tokyo, with scorched ground that wasn't really scorched but simply black. Even the ground there was no longer solid.
When workers tried to dig, they noticed that the ground was like a collection of ash. One could dig hundreds of metres straight down without any tools and just with bare hands.
After a few attempts, it was clear that no sense of civilisation was going to exist in that area anymore. That was one of the reasons why reconstruction took place in the areas affected, and the city of Tokyo was expanded instead of true rebuilding.
But this made things much more difficult as forests needed to be cleared, and many families would have to be relocated.
Reze was silent as she walked through the chaotic streets of Tokyo. Although it had been months since it happened, the effect of the incident could still be found in the form of crowded people.
Most people were looking for jobs; you could see many government vehicles, both medical and enforcement. There were donation centres almost everywhere, giving out flowers and other trinkets to anyone who donated.
After an hour of moving silently, Reze reached an industrial part of Tokyo. There, near the harbour, sat a very impressive building that looked like an apocalypse shelter mansion than a regular house.
She jumped over the thick walls and made her way into the house.
"Oh, Reze's back!" Denji's voice filled the house immediately.
Denji was seated in the living room. His head currently lay on the lap of a small girl. Said girl also had many dogs around her and on her lap. She was petting the dogs that were lying on her lap. And yes, she included Denji among her dogs.
Nayuta, the reincarnation of Makima and the new Control Devil.
She turned towards Reze, her spiral eyes looking at the Bomb Devil with a step below hostility.
"It's unfortunate that the Poverty Devil wasn't strong enough to kill you," she said with a stoic voice that didn't match her youth.
"It wasn't as strong as expected," Reze replied, "Where's Aki?"
Nayuta looked away and stared at her dogs, "He's in the kitchen."
Reze gave a nod before heading to the kitchen.
"Man, it's been a month now. How come you still don't like her?" Denji asked, red on his cheeks as Nayuta caressed his ears.
"I don't know. I just don't," was Nayuta's reply.
Nayuta had been living with them for a month now. After she had been given back to Japan by China, she was immediately assigned to the 4th Division, or at least what remained of it. The 4th Division was responsible for Devils, Fiends and the likes after all and the current Control Devil fell in that category.
As mentioned before, the Control Devil by itself was not too powerful. It required many years of planning and grabbing people under its control. And the higher-ups had more important things to deal with so for the moment, they dumped her on Aki, the previous Control Devil's direct subordinate. He was the most suited for the job since he used to work with her.
It seemed no matter what happened, Aki was tasked to look after the most troublesome bunch. Truly, he was the best mother.
When Reze reached the kitchen, she found Aki, but he was not alone. Helping him cook dinner was another woman with an eyepatch, Himeno.
They didn't notice her at first, seemingly lost in their own world. Their situation was by no means romantic, but the respective smiles on their faces and their synchronised movements told a completely different story.
Maybe it was human nature to want to find a partner and reproduce after a near-death experience, but Reze witnessed a boom in their relationship.
"Oh, Reze, you're back," Aki said when he noticed her.
"Did you try it today, too?" Reze asked while leaning on the doorway.
Aki grew quiet for a moment, then his smile fell. She felt guilty over robbing such a smile, but she needed to ask.
"Yes," Aki nodded.
"And?"
"No response still,"
"I see," Reze said, "Thank you for trying."
The contract between Aki and Jin was dead. Reze had asked as soon as she could to see if the contract was still there because that existence would've proven to her that Jin was still alive somehow.
But as of today, the contract could not be activated even with the chant.
Which means reality was something Reze refused to accept.
"I'll head to my room then," she said and turned to leave. But before she could, Himeno spoke up.
"It's not good to keep yourself in that state," Himeno said, "People die, that's the reality."
Reze's body stilled, but only for a moment. She knew that. She knew it better than most, considering the blood on her hands.
She wrapped her arms around herself and left the kitchen to head upstairs to her room. What did Himeno mean by saying that? What state was she in? Did she look like she was mourning or in pain or something?
The idea of her feeling guilt made her disgusted with herself. Why should she feel guilt or hurt when she was the one responsible for it? She had absolutely no right.
Not only that, Jin promised to return. To mope around and cry would be the same as not believing his words.
He would come back.
Surely, he would.
...
That night, Reze stayed awake in her bed. Her mind was the enemy, and it refused to rest. Memories played in her mind, arguments took place and in the silence of the night, she was tortured by the noise of it all.
Seconds passed, minutes and then hours.
She still could not sleep.
At one point, she used to think that she knew Jin. After all, how could one love someone else they didn't know anything about? But right now, that seemed to be the case.
She didn't know him at all. She thought she did. She didn't. How could that be? Or maybe Jin Nakahara himself never knew who he was either.
Why would he do that? Why didn't he just abandon her after causing all that? Why did he refuse to take her heart and eat her so that he could fight against the Darkness Devil?
Why did he think she was worth such a sacrifice?
Failed. Reze had failed. Even now, she still believed that she did what she had to. Makima was not allowed to live for the sake of Jin. She was also the main obstacle in their relationship. Jin had agreed to run away with her, run away from it all. But Makima's existence was the one that stopped them.
Did she not do the right thing by taking her out? Not just Jin, but it would've been good for everyone if the Control Devil died.
Where she went wrong was how she failed monumentally. That was where her fault lay. She should've known more about the plan instead of trusting the Soviets one last time. She should've been stronger, acted more precisely.
But the more she thought about it, the more she realised that that was not where it went wrong.
Where it went all wrong was never asking Jin. In the first place, did he ever want to kill Makima? Why did she just assume that the Control Devil had to be out of the picture?
Was it because of all the times that Jin ranted to her about how much he disliked the way Makima messed up everything? Was it because of all the times Jin told her about Makima's advances on him? Was she jealous?
Maybe she foolishly thought Jin was like her. Just like the Soviets controlled her, he was controlled by Makima and she needed to save him.
The more Reze thought about it, the more certain she was.
In the end, it all just boiled down to her feelings. Her actions were driven by feelings rather than real logic. Otherwise, she would've asked him first before making any moves of her own.
Reze was broken. Broken in a way that she herself didn't realise. Like an egg whose shell hid the spoiled yolk. It was only when opened that one would see how broken she was.
She didn't even know what love was. She finally realised that.
Jin had valued her just because of herself and nothing else. This was glaringly obvious now.
Reze had stupidly thought that that wasn't possible. She thought Jin was interested in her because of what she was. She was beautiful. She was strong. She was smart, although not so wise.
She was a weapon.
Men loved weapons. But that love was because of what it was, what it could do. If all weapons could do was be a weapon, and not even do what they should do, who would've loved it?
But that wasn't the way he valued her. It wasn't her appearance, her strength, her powers, or her usefulness.
He just likes Reze.
It was so painfully simple that the realisation stabbed at her heart.
Raised as a weapon, no one ever taught her that Reze was worth something. And not knowing this, she had been trying to be useful to him.
Not seeing it as simple as it was, she instead felt sort of indebted. Like, oh, he is showing so much love. He is even willing to run away with me. His affection is a debt that I must repay.
This twisted view of herself had ruined everything.
Before she did what she did, the worst thing she thought could happen was her death and never being together with him. But she was willing for that. If she truly failed, then yeah, she didn't deserve to be with him. She should just die.
But no.
He didn't take what she thought he valued, her heart. And instead, he charged straight at a Primordial Devil.
He likes Reze.
And maybe that was why she had the misconception about the enemy as well. He didn't like the Control Devil. He didn't like what she did or the trouble she made for him.
But he just likes Makima.
The connection he had with the people around him was so raw. She thought that one would need to be God to form such a bond. Like he was above everything else and could connect with anything he liked while ignoring the rest.
Like liking a character from a book. Indeed, it was so easy to ignore everything when looking at it from a 3rd perspective lens.
How could anyone hope to understand you?
...
Reze got up when the clock struck four in the morning. She headed to the bathroom to clean herself. She showered for a long time, cleaning every nook and cranny. Then she combed her hair and tied it up in a neat ponytail.
She made herself as pretty as she could.
Her body flushed red from the hot shower, like a ripe fruit ready to be taken. When she looked at herself, there was a small smile on her face.
No, not a smile. That was just her face now. A smile was an action that could be stopped. The curve was something she didn't consciously do or something she could stop.
"Reze," she said while looking at the mirror.
Just that, so simple it was nearly impossible to understand.
"He likes Reze," she said again. Finally, she saw worth in something she didn't know could be worth something.
When she thought she was nothing, he had run at a Primordial Devil for her.
So even just Reze meant something. She was never nothing in his eyes.
Reze.
She headed downstairs with flowers in her steps. She turned on the lights and got to work in the kitchen. She worked at a cafe once and she knew how to cook.
She thought about each and every one in the house, what they liked and what they would want for breakfast.
"Bread?" she asked, "How many types of jam did we have?"
She looked at the cupboards.
Then she opened the fridge to look for meat. Aki liked meat. And so does Jin. But would meat be too heavy for breakfast?
"You look happy,"
Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway. Reze turned and saw the Control Devil standing there, looking at her.
"Hm?" she tilted her head.
"You look happy," Nayuta repeated, "I don't like it,"
"Well, I guess I am," Reze said with a smile. The contrast between her smile now and all the previous smiles she forced before as a spy could not even be compared.
"Jin, or whoever it was that you miss, they are still dead, you know," Nayuta said, seemingly determined to rob the joy out of Reze.
Reze shrugged, "I know,"
"That doesn't make you sad?" Nayuta asked.
"Sometimes, death is not the end," Reze replied, turning away and continuing to work instead.
She loves cooking. It was why most of her undercover jobs were cooking or things related to that.
Live your life to the fullest, or something. That was his last word to her.
"Death is the end, that's literally what it is. If it isn't, then it's not death," Nayuta argued.
"Some people return from it," Reze said.
"Who?" Nayuta knitted her eyebrows.
"Jesus,"
"What?" The Control Devil was completely baffled, and quite possibly bamboozled.
"He said he's coming back soon," Reze shrugged.
"And you believe that?"
Why shouldn't she? Of course, she believed it. And even if she doesn't, Jin probably wanted her to believe it and never move on, so she will.
She had no reason not to believe.
Everything was believed in life. Nothing was certain. You can't even be sure that reality was real. So even if death was 99.9999999999% the end, she'll believe in that small 0.0000000001%.
"Yes, and I'm sure that when he returns, he will convert you to your older self," Reze said.
Nayuta paused, and then her hand climbed to her heart. The feeling of being hollow and incomplete lingered ever since she was reborn.
"You think I will be Makima again?" she asked.
"Yes, and when that happens, I'll apologise," Reze said, "Let's not be too quick to kill each other next time."
"....I guess. Okay," Nayuta said.
"Good, in the meantime. What kinds of food do you like?"
..
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[IMAGE]
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