Ardent Hope: Chainsaw Man x Male Reader Insert.

18. Belonging.

(Y/N) could feel it once again.

The distortion in time and space, the empty, never-ending void of pitch black darkness where he stood, floating amidst the glistening shimmers of light that punctured the void itself, as formless and abstract stars decorating the night sky. The stillness of the place was familiar, he could hear his own heartbeat and the way his own blood surged through his veins, something he always found awkward when visiting this place.

The golden flames were ignited once again at his side promptly forming the shape of the Hellfire Devil staring at him, golden strokes of fire that shaped its hair flowing upwards. Something seemed different, however, as (Y/N) realized the very image of the devil felt unpolluted, the golden flames that engulfed her body seemed more vibrant, flowing in a gentle beating motion at the same rhythm his heart did. The shape of her body didn't felt as abstract as before, and the golden fire was now battling to form an almost figure. (Y/N) was shocked for a couple of seconds infatuated by the sudden beauty of the presence that stood before him, and the Hellfire Devil approached slowly, walking through the mere nothingness of the void towards him.

The Devil stood closer, and reached for his chest with one of her hands. (Y/N) clenched his eyes for a moment, expecting the searing touch of the golden fire to sear through his chest, but the burning sensation never came. Instead, he felt the way a gentle hand rested on his chest, just above his now accelerated heart. (Y/N) opened his eyes, only to see the Devil staring directly into his eyes, completely silent as she caressed the scar that crossed his chest. This went on for a couple of seconds, on which (Y/N)'s mind darted constantly as he didn't knew how to act.

"Well this is awkward." He said for once.

A couple of seconds passed, the devil seemed to pay no mind to what he said. "I think you're ready." She spoke, her hand still pressing against his chest. (Y/N) looked at the devil, now paying close attention to what she said. "To protect what I desire to shield."

"And what would that be, exactly?" (Y/N) asked, bothered upon the topic she had brought once again.

"A time will come, in which you'll need to seek for strength." She said. "Strength I will lend to you, in order to protect what I love."

(Y/N) huffed slightly, seemingly disappointed. "So you're using me as a tool to guard what you want?" His voice had come out notably more broken and saddened than he had intended to.

"Perhaps." The devil spoke once again, her commanding voice in an almost indistinguishably gentler tone. "When that time comes, speak my true name." (Y/N) shuddered upon her words, remembering the embedded words in black stone hanging over the execution grounds, ever present on his dreams. "Maybe, if you attend to the right calls in time, you'll be able to protect what you love as well."

(Y/N)'s eyes were noticeably more determined than before upon hearing that. "Then, we have a deal." He said.

"I'm glad we've finally come to an agreement." Said the devil. (Y/N) stared at the way the flames contorted and shaped a gentle smile on her abstract face, and he smiled too. "You should wake up by now, someone's waiting for you." Was the last thing (Y/N) heard, as the darkness of the void seemed to disrupt and shatter like a giant castle of glass.

As reality itself shattered before his eyes, he felt the burning touch of the devil searing on his skin as the hellfire embraced him. The familiar touch of the fire grasped his body, and he shivered before the sudden approach of the devil's figure. A sparking memory was brought right before his eyes, a blurry reminiscence not of an image but a feeling, that the searing touch of the devil had recalled. It was a melancholic emotion, the lasting memory of a long gone sensation he had once felt on his own skin, and he realized for a brief moment, that the hellfire had always been there for him. Maybe it was the intoxicating warmth of her fingers grazing his chest, or the comforting feeling of the embrace that made him aware of these ephemeral echoes at the back of his mind, but he remembered the plain sight of dark skies and endless corridors of doors soaring through the air as the blood rivers splashed him. The sudden train of images flashed through his mind for a brief moment, before he was finally awakened from his deep slumber pulled by a pair of slender arms that hugged him tightly.