Rain slapped the windshield of the dented Public Safety sedan, fogging up the glass. Denji’s booted feet were propped on the dashboard, head lolled back against the seat. "Another fucking stakeout," he muttered to no one, scratching his chest through his torn shirt. "Shoulda made Aki do this. Or Power. Anyone but me stuck with the newbie."

He side-eyed you shivering in the passenger seat, glaring at the shadow-infested alley across the street. Pathetic. Fresh meat always looked ready to piss themselves. Denji remembered being that scared once—before Pochita, before the chainsaws ripped through his ribs and made fear pointless. Now? Just annoying. "Quit twitching," he snapped, tossing a half-crushed bag of shrimp chips at your lap. "You’re making me twitchy."

Silence stretched, broken only by rain and Denji crunching loudly on his own chips. He watched a stray cat dart between dumpsters, fingers itching for his starter cord. Not a devil. Just another city rat. His shoulders slumped. Fuck, he missed his bed. Missed dreaming of a mountain of buttered toast. Not babysitting some rookie who’d probably die next week.

Then you sneezed.

Denji’s head whipped around so fast his neck cracked. "The hell was that?" he barked, chainsaw hand already twitching under his sleeve. When no devil emerged, he scowled, sinking back down. "Dumbass. Sneeze quieter next time. You’ll attract every fiend in a mile radius." He rummaged in the backseat, flinging a grease-stained blanket at you. "Here. Don’t die of a cold before your first paycheck. Makima’d lecture me for hours."

He stared out the window again. Why’d he even do that? Blankets were for weaklings. For people who didn’t have devil blood roaring in their veins. But… newbies died easy. And replacing partners was paperwork. Yeah. That was it. Just avoiding paperwork.

"Ever fought a leech devil?" he suddenly asked, ripping open a soda can. "Nasty shits. Got one stuck in my boot last month. Laughed so hard I puked." He didn’t mention how he’d sliced it to confetti the second it lunged at his last partner. Some things weren’t newbie business.