"Power, are you alright?" Everyone looked at Power with concern. Power stood frozen in place, holding the apple with a huge bite taken out of it in her right hand. She hadn't even finished chewing the apple in her mouth. The moment she tasted the first bite, she had already felt the apple's uniqueness.
"Power, say something." Himeno nudged Power's body, but there was still no reaction. "Why is she just standing there?" Denji, fully healed, kept staring at Power's blank expression.
"Arata, take a look, what's wrong with her?"
"I can tell she's fine, but as to why she's not moving, I have no idea."
"It's definitely the apple. Eating it makes you freeze." Denji said this as he reached for the apple in Power's hand. But before he could touch it, Power swiftly pulled her hand back.
"Don't touch the great me's apple." Power gripped the apple tightly with both hands, then took another massive bite, mumbling, "It's so delicious. This is the best food the great me has ever eaten."
"Power, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go to the hospital with Aki-kun to get checked out."
"The great me is perfectly fine, I'm not going to the hospital. By the way, are there any more apples like this?"
"There are, but they're not for you to eat."
"I don't care, the great me wants to eat more. I'll do whatever you want, just give me another apple." To get an apple, Power grabbed Arata's clothes and dropped to her knees, begging. She even brought out the big, teary puppy-dog eyes.
"Is it really that good?" Himeno looked utterly confused. "By the way, why did you freeze up just now?"
"Because it was so delicious, I didn't know how to express it for a second, so I just froze." Power's description piqued Denji's curiosity. How good could a single apple possibly be?
At that moment, the ambulance siren grew closer. Himeno quickly stepped forward and waved the ambulance down. Soon, two paramedics stepped out carrying a stretcher.
"How many injured are there?"
"Power, Denji, are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital to get checked out? Also, don't worry about the medical bills, Public Safety will cover all of it."
"Himeno-senpai, I need a stretcher. I didn't eat breakfast and my stomach is feeling a little off," Arata raised his hand.
"Wait a bit and I'll personally treat you with my hands," Himeno smiled. "If you guys don't need anything, then go to the hospital with Aki-kun. I have to head back to headquarters."
"No problem."
The three of them then accompanied Aki into the ambulance. Himeno drove Arata's car back to HQ. In the ambulance, the three of them kept their eyes glued to Aki Hayakawa.
"Why do you keep staring at me??" Aki asked, annoyed.
"Ooh, Aki's getting shy."
"I'm not shy, I just don't like being stared at."
"Say, Aki, would you consider contracting another devil?"
"I've already contracted two devils." Aki turned his head to look away.
"Those two devils are too weak. The Fox Devil is basically a one-time ultimate move. It's fine for one-shotting mobs, but it barely scratches the big bosses. The other one, the Curse Devil, is a bit stronger, but it requires trigger conditions and costs your lifespan. You're still young, don't waste your life like that."
"How do you know I contracted the Curse Devil?" Aki's expression turned grave as he locked eyes with Arata. The Curse Devil was Aki's trump card. Besides Himeno and Miss Makima, no one else knew about it.
"To tell you the truth, I contracted the Plot Devil, so I know a lot of people's secrets."
"The Plot Devil?" Aki frowned. "What else do you know?"
"I also know Miss Makima's secret. She's far from as simple as she seems on the surface." Arata smiled slightly, then looked up, no longer staring at Aki.
"So from the sounds of it, you're all Public Safety Devil Hunters who have contracted devils?" The paramedic uncle next to them suddenly asked. His tone sounded a bit excited.
"That's right. You can't really be a Public Safety Devil Hunter without contracting a devil or two. After all, we have to fight devils."
"Thank you for your hard work. If it weren't for you guys, ordinary people like us would be entirely at the mercy of devils."
"Don't mention it, uncle. Even though we're rookies, we never hold back against devils." Denji rubbed his nose, looking incredibly proud.
"You're a Public Safety Devil Hunter too?" Denji's self-introduction surprised the uncle. If Denji hadn't spoken up, he would've just assumed he was the injured man's little brother. He didn't connect him to Devil Hunters at all.
"Yeah, what, do I not look like one?"
"How old are you? You only look like a teenager."
"Don't worry about my age, uncle. As long as I can kill devils, being young isn't a problem."
"Not bad, truly a young hero." The uncle gave Denji a thumbs-up.
The group chatted happily on the way. They learned that there was a doctor at the hospital who had contracted the Surgery Devil. With the devil's help, he had saved countless dying patients. That was why people both loved and hated devils.
Before long, thanks to their privileges, the ambulance quickly arrived at the hospital. And because they were Public Safety Devil Hunters, they were immediately assigned dedicated doctors and a private room. In less than half an hour, Aki had his wounds treated and was lying in a hospital bed.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters really do get great treatment. Himeno-senpai didn't lie to us." Arata sat by the bed, peeling an apple with his bladed claws. The fruit basket on the nightstand was a special fruit package just for Public Safety Devil Hunters.
"Doing a job where we risk our lives, it would be unacceptable if the benefits were terrible," Aki said.
"But for those of us who contracted devils with powerful healing abilities, we can't even enjoy these medical benefits. If possible, I'd like Himeno-senpai to just cash this out for us."
Aki ignored him. But seeing that Arata had finished peeling the apple, he raised his hand to take it. Except Arata didn't give it to him. Instead, he brought it to his own mouth and started eating it. This left Aki with his hand awkwardly hanging in the air.
"Aki, why is your hand up? Does it itch?"
"Never mind. I thought you guys came here to take care of me, but instead you're eating my fruit basket. I shouldn't have had any expectations for you."
"All this fuss over one apple, making it sound like we're just here to freeload."
Ding dong... The doorbell rang outside the room. A nurse wheeled a food cart inside.
"Hello, excuse me. It's lunchtime. I brought the patient's nutritional meal."
"Nutritional meal!!" Hearing it was time to eat, Denji and Power, who had been sitting blankly on the side, instantly perked up. The two of them hurriedly rushed over to help push the cart.
"We'll take it from here, you can head back."
"Yeah, we'll take great care of the patient."
Power and Denji tagged-teamed the nurse. They quickly sent her packing. Staring at the rich nutritional meal on the cart, both of them started drooling.
"Aki just got his wounds treated, he probably shouldn't eat."
"Exactly, exactly. When you're injured, you should sleep more. Back when the great me got hurt, I had no appetite at all and just wanted to sleep. So we can't let this nutritional meal go to waste. The great me will take care of it for Aki."
The two of them started chowing down as they spoke. They flat-out treated Aki, who was lying in the hospital bed, as a patient who needed to eat less and sleep more.
Watching his nutritional meal being swarmed by the two of them, and his fruit basket hijacked by Arata, Aki instantly felt like crying but had no tears left. It turns out he wasn't here to be pampered, he was here to suffer.