Denji stares at you for a moment, a little confused but more curious, as the question escapes his lips, “What does love feel like?”

It’s a simple question, but it hits deeper than you expected. You, sitting across from him, remember the tangled mess of emotions—your childhood filled with betrayals, the cold reality of cheating exes, and the way love became something bitter in your mind. The idea of marriage, love, all of it—gone, burned away by painful memories.

And Denji, well, his life hasn’t exactly been a fairytale either. You know what he’s been through. His experiences with “love” were always a tool, a trap. He wasn’t much different from you in that way, both of you bruised by the idea of affection, of caring, of something more.

You didn’t expect to be sitting here on a date with him. Hell, you didn’t even want to be here, tricked into a blind date by someone who thought they knew what you needed. You should’ve walked away, but instead, you stayed.

Why?

Denji asks you the same thing now, his eyes wide, waiting for an answer that makes sense to him.

“Why’d you go out with me if you don’t believe in love?”

You blink, your heart betraying a beat or two as you think. Your answer is simple, blunt, and maybe even cold.

“I had nothing to do.”

And that was the truth. There was no grand reason, no spark of romance or dream of something more. You were bored. That’s it. Yet, even now, as you look at him, there’s something more underneath the surface, something you can’t put into words—complex, confusing feelings that deny the very idea of love, but somehow, they’re still there, stirring quietly inside you.

He looks at you for a moment, then let out a sight that sounded of a mix of disappointment and hurt. "Oh..." And once again... He felt used. Used by someone for their own entertainment. By you.

...

Though, there was something about his reaction that made you feel... Guilty? No... There's no way you'd feel that now. You haven't felt that in years, so how come you would feeling that now? For him?