Ardent Hope: Chainsaw Man x Male Reader Insert.

16. Bomb.

Denji had been feeling quite jealous lately.

It's not exactly the kind of jealousy that would led someone to be disgusting towards other people, but still, it felt like a needle puncturing in the back of his mind constantly reminding him of his state. I mean, he really did appreciate (Y/N) after all, as he was, of all the people he had met, the only one who hadn't tried to kill him yet, and still, he couldn't help but feel envious of the relationship he had with Power.

It wasn't like he desired Power in any sort of way, as although Denji wouldn't really admit it, he had slowly grown to appreciate her as the sibling he never had, same with (Y/N). Rather, he craved for something similar to what they had.

His previous attempts of forming a bond with Makima weren't exactly the most successful, but still he was making some progress, or at least that's what he thought, just not at the pace he would've liked in the first place. He always felt that their relationship was somewhat mechanical and cold, a feeling of restraint in the way they used to talk, touch and connect that he hadn't realized was there until he saw the way Power and (Y/N) seemed to understand every aspect of each other, and his relationship with Makima completely lacked the sense of comforting closeness between them, the constant tension and chemistry ever present of, what Aki and him thought, was a slow and steady forming relationship.

Makima had promptly made him aware of his own heart, and the sudden acceptance of this fact made him mindful of a handful of sentiments that he had been feeling lately, although he wasn't really able to understand these as emotions per se.

Reze had come to change the paradigm that rainy day when he had left the headquarters, leaving (Y/N) and Power all alone. Of course, he was completely sure he loved Makima, but he couldn't help but feel completely spellbound to Reze, as she seemed eager to develop their relationship constantly to a level matching that of the closeness he dreamt of.

So, they kept hanging out together over the last week. Denji would tell (Y/N) about his dates, every now and then, but sistematically chose to be somewhat ambiguous whenever explaining things, for the most part. Remaining silent, and keeping him in constant doubt, was his own way to, in a particularly stupid way, sort of 'punish' (Y/N) for the envy and jealousy he felt towards him. It was an astoundingly dumb way of react, as (Y/N) had been nothing but supportive towards every small thing he would told him, and Denji knew it very well, but couldn't really do anything about it anyway.

He knew he was being really immature. After all, he had never experienced these kinds of emotions before, and didn't know how to act properly. It was a new side of life to him, one that was never actually shown to him by anyone else other than Reze.

"Denji." Reze spoke. "There's someone else you like, isn't there?"

Denji tried to react in time. He tried to reach for her, answer the question, run away, or plea for the ground to swallow him on that very moment, but he wasn't able to do anything he thought at that moment, as a sudden firework exploded on the sky, and Reze slowly leaned towards him planting a firm kiss on his lips. The gentle shower of fireworks on the sky was enough to dimly light the small road where they stood.

At that same time, on a slightly far away hill at the side of the festival, (Y/N) reached for Power's hand.

Denji felt, in the warmth of the kiss, a sudden pang of pain as he slowly realized what had just happened. As he fell to the floor on his back, scrambling in desperation trying to reach his chest with his own hands, he saw the image of Reze illuminated by the fireworks.

Among the sudden pain and the constant sound of blood drops falling on the ground, aside from the despicable and metallic taste of blood on his mouth, he was able to discern Reze's expression leaving him aghast. She was smiling at him, her mouth agape, showing the remaining of his tongue resting on her own.