Ardent Hope II. Chainsaw Man x Male Reader Insert.

4. Dreamer Girl.

"What did I told you about eating trash food all day every day?" His voice was quite stern, and while Power and Denji stared at (Y/N) already at the kitchen counter, taking a kitchen knife and a cutting board, a melancholic smile crept its way on their lips. "You and that poor child won't be doing much of a living if you keep ordering fast food every single day." Denji's and Nayuta's dogs were staring at him funnily.

"But I like it!" Nayuta peeped from Denji's side, a smile on her lips.

"Shut up you!" (Y/N) objected quickly, much to Nayuta's amusement. "The fact you're growing up so fast doesn't mean you don't have to take care of your diet young lady!"

"I don't like dogs." Power said absentmindedly as she stared at the seven dogs in front of her. Both Denji and (Y/N) stared at her for a moment, amused by the randomness of her comment, before going back to arguing.

"But-!" Denji tried to talk too, but was quickly shushed down.

"No man, don't try to talk sense to me with that dollar-store batman vigilante secret identity." (Y/N) got closer, his finger poking into his chest several times. "I've already made it clear you had to take proper care of this child or Kishibe will put his walking stick up your-"

"(Y/N)!" Power called out, although not without a laughter as he kept scolding Denji. "You're beginning to sound and act more like Aki than Aki ever did himself!" She said through a laugh. "When did you even put on an apron!?"

And that was the final straw to make (Y/N) break character and just laugh it off too. Denji was smiling, although looking down, knowing (Y/N) was at least kind of right on what he was saying. "Yeah, probably." (Y/N) melancholic voice said amidst a slight chuckle as he walked away into the kitchen, one of the dogs following him.

But right at the moment (Y/N) started to grab some vegetables and chopping them in the cutting board at the kitchen's counter, Nayuta asked a dreaded question. "Who is that Aki you always talk about?"

(Y/N) looked back at the table, Denji looking quite distraught and Power looking kind of awkward, both of them trying to avoid Nayuta's eyes as the recalling memory would just make things worse. Those red, spiraling circles on a brightly yellow background, her eyes were mesmerizing, not even remotely human, and after all they've lived as a group, felt a lot more terrorizing than they actually were.

"He was a friend, Nayuta." (Y/N) looked back into the cutting board, chopping some onions. Noticing (Y/N) was the only one willing to answer her questions, Nayuta walked right at his side, although her height didn't even surpass the kitchen's counter, so she simply looked at him from below. "Family." He tried to slip on a smile, although it didn't seem to work as it was quickly erased from his lips once again.

"Where is he?"

"He's no longer with us, Nayuta." (Y/N) kept chopping, this time a carrot, trying to advert her eyes too. Although he had to clarify that, noticing that Nayuta didn't understood what he meant. "He died."

"Oh..." Her voice, although still childish and remarkably lacking any kind of emotion, seemed to resemble some kind of tender sadness. Such sudden turn of events, her last question was "And what happened to him?"

(Y/N) looked down at her, those same inhuman eyes staring at him with such curiosity, a deeply resembling feeling, a familiar note strung right at the perfect chord to recall a memory, soothing, yet so distressing at the same time. So he just ignored her for a moment, trying to take his mind off her eyes, and looked at the window in front of him. "He..."

Power felt like a vein on her neck was about to burst out.

"We'll tell you when you grow up." Denji noticed that, and just mustered the courage to talk before Power got the chance to do it. "Right now, you're too young to understand." Getting up from the table, Denji got closer to Nayuta, reaching for her hands in a quiet understanding as the child remained silent for a couple of minutes, and finally taking her into the couch in front of the television.