Ardent Hope: Chainsaw Man x Male Reader Insert.

31. Letter.

Renting was no easy task.

Aki's will had left a quarter of his saved money, which apparently was a lot, to Denji, another quarter was left for (Y/N), and the other half went to Himeno's family. At the end of Aki's will, there was a letter attached that was supposedly for (Y/N) to open and read aloud in front of both Denji and Power, but as the weeks passed, he grew even more reluctant to open it.

Finding a nice place for rent wasn't easy, as no one seemed to actually accept Power's presence on the place for her status as a fiend, (Y/N) almost made a couple landlords meet his punch before he was stopped by Denji, who was growing tired of the situation. Still, at the end of the day, they were able to find a really cramped, but nice, place for them to live in. Only two rooms it had, but it was more than enough for them, as Denji would sleep in one of them as Power and (Y/N) shared the other, just as they did when they lived in Aki's apartment. A main hallway connected the both rooms and led up to the kitchen and living room, where they had put the television they were able to retrieve from the destroyed apartment.

But as the weeks passed, as (Y/N) grew reluctant to ever open the letter, he grew bitter too.

He really felt awful, something constantly plucking the back of his mind, and this time it was Power's turn to comfort him during the night just as he had done when she was left traumatized after the fight against the Darkness Devil. While sleeping, he would usually wake screaming in horror and desperation, a slight hint of sadness in his voice, as he relived the moment on which his fist finally pierced Aki's heart. Then, he would either cry or run to the bathroom and vomit on the toilet, and after everything passed, he returned to bed only for this same cycle to repeat hours later. Power, obviously, was always by his side, trying to find a way to soothe his fears and calm him down, but it was to no avail, and she was growing sleepless too.

It wasn't only the livid dreams on which he would constantly kill Aki again and again that profoundly perturbed his mind, but rather the idea of a vile future that he wouldn't be able to change, no matter what he did. He even saw the Future Devil standing atop of the tallest building that fateful day, confirming his worst fears. Denji was going to kill Power, he remembered Aki prophesized, and he couldn't stop thinking about that, and the only coping mechanism his tired and traumatized mind was able to muster was to avoid Denji in the best ways he could.

And Denji noticed this, and he sought comfort in battling devils whenever they patrolled the city.

Denji would sometimes talk to him to no avail, and he would seek comfort thinking this was mostly because (Y/N) was still hurt after the events of the fight, but this was a feeling that was promptly left behind after noticing he was able to speak to Power perfectly fine about certain things.

He felt left behind, it was really awful to not be able to speak to his dear friends properly after everything that had occurred. Slowly but surely, he started to feel really sad. Had he done anything wrong? Perhaps they thought this could be his fault? He was the one to open the door after all, but it was the right thing to do, wasn't it? It wasn't fair...

Today it was one of those nights.

"(Y/N)!" Power's voice called, pulling him out of his nightmares and he woke up, just like every other night since that day. "(Y/N), calm down please!" She said, and (Y/N) opened his eyes slowly, without even remembering what he was dreaming about.

Power's golden eyes had faint bags under them due to her sleep deprivation, and this glance only drove him even guiltier than he was already feeling. Through his desperate voice, he managed to mutter "It's okay, I'm fine." In no more than a whisper. Power kept staring at him for a couple of seconds before burying her face on his chest once again, pushing him down into the bed once more. "I'm sorry, Power."