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The Violence Devil has now become the Violence Fiend, the devil managed to find a brand new body that only had two bullet wounds! It wasn’t anything some blood couldn’t fix, but just when the fiend thought this deal couldn’t be any better, the body he just inhabited contained a fresh remainder of what was the host's brain; Which almost never happens. It wasn’t sweet in the sense that he wanted or was seeking out a fresh brain, but it was cool that such a rare occurrence fell right at his feet.
This deal however came with a few downsides, he had multiple eyes, which made adjusting to vision increasingly difficult- and on top of that, he had to conceal his face due to the poison gas he involuntarily has to consume via a plague doctor mask, as told by Kishibe, to lessen his strange stronger than average fiend abilities; in addition to also containing some of this more fiendish attributes and tendencies.
Another downside was the surreal amount of deja-vu he experiences almost every other day. Possibly as a result of the bodies’ brain he inhabited was so fresh. The first instance was during the terrorist raid while he was fighting zombies with his fellow fiend, Beam- and his fairly acquainted devils, Angel and Spider. Amongst fighting the undead swarming the parking garage, he noticed a fellow fiend with red horns protruding out of her head with long strawberry-blonde-esk hair, alongside her was a boy with similarly light colored hair and razor sharp teeth. He couldn’t have felt as though he had met them before, but the only thing he could remember was a hotel. But he couldn’t put a finger on it quick enough before a he felt a zombie coming up behind him in an attempt to ambush the fiend, so he forgot about it and moved on. There were many instances of this happening time and again, sometimes he knew the names of people despite never being introduced. He knew Aki’s name almost instinctively, but he didn’t feel like going through the lengthy process of explaining how, so he just told the devil hunter it was a fiend thing. It was uncomfortable to feel as if he knew these people, it felt very invasive, for once he was thankful his face was concealed because if everyone knew the uneasy expression on his face when he spoke to those he experiences memories about, it would certainly taint the new relationships he had with these people.
Having a fresh brain and being able to recall things from the host’s previous memories was distressing and very confusing, fiends never have this much baggage. They just hop into a corpse, and make what was once a person with their own life- a new one; But Violence felt as if he had a past life that he kept recalling and he wasn't too big a fan of it. It wasn’t even convenient since they were less memories and more so bits and pieces of an event he didn’t have the context to. It also felt like he inhabited someone’s soul as well, and felt irrationally a little guilty that he inhabited the body he did, so he made sure to take care of himself in his vessel, to make up for essentially body-snatching somebodies’ carcass.
It was either dumb luck or fate that he was partnered with Higashiyama Kobeni. She was a very short woman, about a head or two shorter than himself, with a bunch of moles speckling her face. From the moment he met her, he felt this strong sense of protectiveness over her. It didn’t feel like his usual deja-vu, it felt primitive. As they patrolled together, despite her not saying anything regarding it, he knew how much she hated being a devil hunter- so he carried for both of them. It was an unspoken understanding that he was happy with, she was already so overwhelmed from everything else in the world, it was a pleasure to take some of that weight off her shoulders and see her ease up a bit. Kobeni, for being so anxious- surprisingly wasn’t intimidated by him. He could snap her in half in the blink of an eye (not that he would) but despite that she was very comfortable in his presence, and the feeling was mutual. But this other feeling- that which humans call “love”, which the fiend harbored for his colleague, was most likely not mutual however. But it was enough for a human to enjoy being around a fiend such as himself, who intimidated most people.
It wasn’t until the timid woman opened up about her family to the fiend that his sense of deja-vu came back. Except it was vivid, instead of fragmented, unlike other times. Walking out of the ice cream shop she opened up about her finances, which Violence almost immediately knew all about.
“T-Thank you so much for always taking me out and giving me treats, I never have the budget to indulge in myself..”
“Oh! To pay for your… your- who is it? Brother! Brother who is in… college, right?” The bird masked fiend practically chirped, just so he didn’t lose his train of thought.
“Hm? Oh yeah. Yeah that’s why.”
They sat on a park bench listening to the cicadas and birds chirping as Kobeni enjoyed her frozen treat beside Violence, she was sat very politely on the bench whilst the fiend was spread out with his arms behind the backing of the bench, the silence then was comfortable, he liked it. Comfortable silence was a concept so foreign to him before this shy, anxious woman entered his life. Lost in thought, he almost didn’t hear the cutest and only giggle he’s ever heard come out of his patrol partner next to him, prompting him to turn to look at her.
She covered her mouth with her index, middle and ring fingers to speak, “Hmhm! I just realized I never told you about my brother’s college funds. Haha..! Either I’m finally losing it and I did tell you or you just had an unusually lucky guess..” Kobeni murmured between savoring the ice cream in her mouth and speaking to the fiend. She had a small smile plastered across her face, a sight that was becoming less rare for Violence to see. Caught in her smile, which was both super adorable and very contagious, Violence turned away from her a bit, to look at the scenery as he spoke.
“Haha! I don’t think you’re losing it Beni! I think it’s just me and this old vessel I have now.”
Removing her fingers from the front of her mouth, the women tilted her head “Hm? What do you mean, Violence?”
“Pretty sure I told you this before, but the brain in the body I took over was reaaallll fresh! The guy must’ve died minutes before I came and hopped in. It’s kinda rare, so much ain’t known about it, but I thinkkk I have some memories from the guy, and that happened to be one of them. Strange, huh?”
Kobeni inched a bit closer to the fiend as he was talking, which he didn’t notice until he was finished- “I think that makes sense.” the speckled face woman muttered, there was a pause, then she spoke again, “Do you have any more memories like that?”
“I knew Denji, Power, and Aki despite never knowing them!” Listing them on his fingers for emphasis- “I knew Denji and Powers’ faces, and Aki’s name, but it was more like deja-vu and less of a memory, like I ‘spoke to them before, It felt real uncomfortable though” Putting a hand on his mask to jog his memory, quickly throwing it up beside his face as he spoke on “Not with you though, things I somehow remember about you are very very clear and they’re very comfortable, unlike other moments of so called remembrance. You are very uh.. What's the word? I don't recall.. But it felt like I’ve known you before, ya’know?” Violence carried on, not even noticing that she finished her ice cream.
“Hm, I have something like that too, I think.” A smile forming on the womans’ face, placing the ice cream cup on the far end of the bench they sat upon.
His interest was peaked, “Hm? What’cha mean, Beni?” Now reciprocating her previous head tilt.
“I-it’s not exactly like your thing!!” Putting one hand up defensively, with a finger from that same hand then being placed on her chin, “Agh.. This is going to sound so weird..”
“I love weird!” The fiend shouted, resulting in a small giggle from his colleague, “Trust me, I can handle whatever, Beni.” Giving her a thumbs up, while scooting closer to her and having his knees nearly bump against her own as he faced her.
Looking up at Violence with a smile, then looking back down, she continued, “Well when I met you I felt like I knew you before too, usually I would’ve been intimidated by somebody as big and strong as you but I surprisingly wasn’t. You felt very warm and welcoming upon first meeting” She fiddled with her hands “A-And it’s like you knew how high-strung I am, and you were extra attentive to me as well as how you knew how little I have which is why you always treat me. You also picked up on my dislike for this job and carry for both of us all the time, and I know you’re okay doing it as much as I am grateful. Like.. I knew you, and you knew me. I’ve never had that with anyone before, that unspoken understanding. I don’t know, you just seem very familiar to me..”
“FAMILIAR!!!” The fiend jumped up and shouted, “Whuh-???”
Still standing up, the fiend leaned down and held both of Kobeni’s hands in his own, being very gentle about it, who was still sitting on the bench, “That’s the word I was looking for earlier! Familiar! You are very familiar to me, Beni!”
“R-really?” She was flustered now, her face visibly pink and a faint sweat coming down her face.
Sitting back down, still holding her hands in his own, Violence continued “With everyone else it just felt like a strange uneasy deja-vu.. But with you it’s comfortable! It’s nice! I remember you for some reason and it doesn’t feel weird! It feels natural to me!” Violence was almost bouncing in his seat explaining his emotions to his work partner, who was still very visibly flustered and taken-aback.
“W-wow! I just.. That’s so crazy..! Maybe some things are meant to be, haha!” Sweating, anxious, and very very flattered by the sudden affectionate affirmations. Not wanting to let the moment end, Violence pulls the small woman into a very gentle and nurturing hug, which again takes her by surprise- until reciprocating the embrace. Hunching himself over to put his masked chin on her shoulder, he uttered “ When I met you I felt this sense of protectiveness over you too. I want to protect you from the world, and everything that can hurt you. I want to make you happy no matter what.” Hearing sniffling, he pulled away to see Kobeni in tears, struck with fear that he overwhelmed her, he put both his hands up and started waving them- “Oh oh no! Beni I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to upset you I just-”
“N-No! It’s not that it’s just..!” Wiping her tears with her wrist, “N-nobody has ever been as nice and kind to me as you are Violence! M-my family was never as warm as you are t-to m-m-me.. I.. I-” Just as the fiend was slowly backing away as to not crowd her, she pulled him back in for another hug, this one though, initiated on her own. “I- I really like you! H-hearing all those things made me like you even more and I don’t know what to do with all that now!!”
Under his mask, Violence was making the expression of the happiest fiend in the whole entire world. Kobeni likes him too?!
Reciprocating her tiny hug, the tall fiendish man replies with in his usual cheery tone “I like you too Beni!!!”
“Whuh??”
Breaking apart, now looking right at the other, Violence wipes the tears from her face, before then caressing it gently in both hands. “I like you too!!”
Kobeni grabs his wrists, trying to make sure that he is actually caressing her face at this moment and she isn’t dreaming- “Y-you do!?”
“Of course I do! You’re so sweet and cute and humble and nice.. You’re great Beni!”
“You.. You really think so?” With a vigorous nod from the fiend holding her face in his arms, making her giggle a bit.
“I-I don’t know how it would work though you’re a fiend and I-I’m a human.. Is that even heard of???” Sensing her worry, he hunched down once more, and carefully pulled her into his shoulder, so her chin would rest on it- stroking her hair as she leaned into the touch. He could just feel the smile she had through his suit and hoodie. He began to slowly rock the two of them, sitting on the bench. A motion that Kobeni found soothing before.
“Let’s worry about that .. hm.. Tomorrow?”
“Y-yeah.. Tomorrow..!”, Putting the hand holding him behind his shoulder.
Everything about Kobeni felt familiar to the Violence Fiend, though despite this experience was the opposite, the one constant however, was how warm and comfortable he felt to be with her.