"Aki, the apartment you live in isn't bad."
"How much is your monthly salary?"
The three of them stood at the door to Aki Hayakawa's house.
Aki pushed the door open, and the two behind him followed him inside.
"Take your shoes off before you come in."
"Taking your shoes off to go inside, what kind of rule is that?" Denji was clearly not used to the custom of taking off shoes indoors.
"When entering someone else's home, just follow the owner's rules."
Arata took the lead and took off his shoes to set an example.
Just so he could eat, Denji had no choice but to drop it.
But soon, a foul stench drilled into both of their noses.
"Holy shit, Denji, did you step in dog crap?"
"I was just really tired today, so my feet got sweaty." Denji didn't pinch his nose like the other two.
To be honest, today's workload had indeed been massive.
Fighting the Fly Devil in the morning.
Running into a mysterious devil that ate people and spit out their bones in the afternoon.
Their first day on the job was packed to the point of exploding.
"Here, spray this on and go wash your feet." Aki casually handed Denji a bottle of deodorant from the side.
Deodorant was an indispensable part of the shoe-removal etiquette.
After all, the island nation has a temperate maritime monsoon climate—high temperatures, lots of rain, and high humidity. So even if the roads outside are paved, shoe soles still get covered in muddy water.
To keep the house clean and protect the floors, an entryway is set up to make it convenient to take off shoes before going inside.
With the help of the deodorant, the two of them finally freed the fingers pinching their noses.
"The bathroom is over there." Aki pointed Denji in the right direction while continuously pumping extra deodorant into Denji's shoes.
As the sound of running water from the bathroom stopped.
Denji walked out wearing dry slippers.
"Aki, your place is pretty big. If your monthly salary wasn't high, you definitely wouldn't be able to afford a place like this." Arata shifted the conversation right back to the topic of salary.
After all, the thing working folks care about most is their salary.
Arata was no exception.
"Rookies shouldn't worry about salaries. Learn how to keep yourselves alive first." Aki had an expression that showed he cared little for money.
"If there was no salary, there's no way in hell I'd work as hard to kill devils as I did today."
"Miss Makima said that if you guys quit or run away, you'll be executed as devils. If that happens, you won't have the freedom you do now."
"Huh? So you're saying I have to keep doing this job until I die?" Denji cut in.
"That's right." Aki chuckled. He actually couldn't wait to scare Denji off.
After all, deep down, Aki looked down on Denji.
He thought Denji was just captivated by Makima and had foolishly stumbled into becoming a Public Safety Devil Hunter.
Getting Denji to leave was actually for his own good.
But the next second, Denji let out a bashful smile. "That's great! That means I can see Miss Makima every day. Oh right, Miss Makima doesn't have a lover, does she? Is she married?"
"I suggest you drop any ideas you have about Makima. You two aren't from the same world," Aki said coldly. He then walked over to the fridge. "What do you want to eat?"
"As long as it's edible, I'm not picky."
"Plus one."
Aki shook his head helplessly, took out some ingredients, and went into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Arata and Denji looked around the house.
"Master, Miss Makima is so young, there's no way she's married, right?"
"Relax, Makima doesn't have a boyfriend. Because she only likes dogs."
Ding dong....
Right then, the doorbell rang.
"Denji, go get the door. I'm gonna go take a dump first."
"Got it, Master."
Denji darted to the door in a flash.
He looked through the peephole for a moment before opening the door.
A woman with a pair of antenna-like horns on her head shoved Denji aside and swaggered right in.
"Is the food ready yet? The great me is starving."
Power didn't even take her shoes off, walking straight into the living room and yelling at the top of her lungs.
As if terrified someone wouldn't hear her booming voice.
"Who is it?" Aki poked his head out from the kitchen.
When he saw Power, Aki's expression suddenly grew tense.
He turned around and grabbed two kitchen knives.
Because he could tell at a single glance that Power was a Fiend.
A so-called Fiend is a devil that has taken over a human corpse.
Retaining a half-human, half-devil appearance.
"Hey, what's with the kitchen knives? You wanna pick a fight with me?" Power looked utterly fearless, not giving a single damn about Aki.
"Aki, wait." Just then, a fashionably late Himeno rushed into the house.
"Himeno-senpai, why are you here?"
"I actually came to introduce Power to you guys, because she's going to be joining Aki's squad too."
"A Fiend is joining my squad too?" Aki was shocked. You could hear more than a little reluctance in his words.
"Yeah. Aki-kun already has two companions who can transform into devils, right? One more won't make a difference."
"You're my teammate?" Power suddenly chimed in.
"His name is Aki Hayakawa, he's your captain. This is Denji, he can transform into a devil. And there's one more..." Himeno looked around. "Where did Arata go? He didn't run off, did he?"
"I was cooking just now, I didn't notice."
"My master is in the bathroom."
"The great me has arrived, and yet he's hiding in the bathroom? Hey, get out here right now."
Power, completely out of patience, kicked the bathroom door wide open.
At that exact moment, Arata had just stood up and was getting ready to pull his pants up.
But before he could pull them up.
He was completely exposed right in front of everyone.
Veteran driver Himeno took one look and instantly covered her mouth. The words so huge almost slipped right out.
But as a Fiend, Power couldn't care less about that.
She just wanted to be the center of everyone's attention.
"You f—"
"Alright, everybody shut up." For the first time, Aki felt just how noisy his house could be.
He grabbed the back of Power's collar and dragged her to the side.
"Get out of my house right now. I don't welcome Fiends here."
"I'll leave as soon as I finish eating. I definitely wouldn't stay here forever."
"Power, you're going to be living here from now on."
Himeno suddenly brought it up, making Aki's brow furrow deeply.
"She's going to live here?"
"Not just Power. Denji and Arata are going to live at your place too."
"What!!!??"
Aki's expression screamed a million times no.
"This is Miss Makima's order. She said she believes Aki can absolutely keep an eye on them. After all, you are the man she trusts most."
"Makima said I'm the man she trusts most?" Aki's attitude took an immediate 180.
"That's right, Miss Makima definitely said that. If you aren't willing, you can go talk to Miss Makima about it."
"Forget it. Since Miss Makima trusts me so much, I don't want to let her down."
"Also, Miss Makima will give you a stipend. And if these three get any salaries in the future, it'll all be deposited directly into your bank account."
"Whatever. I don't care about the money. I just don't want to make things difficult for Miss Makima." Saying that, Aki turned and walked back into the kitchen.
From this moment on, Aki Hayakawa's status as the group's mother and babysitter was officially cemented.