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Denji knew he lost all sense of normal a long time ago, but he thinks he truly lost his marbles last week. Power said it was heart-thump disease, but Nayuta said it wasn't anything important. Just ignore it, she said. Aki, the most reliable of them all, just shook his head. It was getting frustrating— why is no one giving him any good answers for why his heart thumps like crazy every time he thinks of that girl?!
He doesn't even know her name but her gray eyes— actually, they looked kinda blue. Maybe they were blue? Whatever color it may have been, her eyes had felt warm. Her voice was soft, and her words were charmingly awkward. Chainsaw Man, she called him. It had sent his heart ablaze, but that felt like its own different thing. Still, the way she said it was cute. To Denji, that was all he really thought of.
"What're you doing here?" Denji's heart thumped again. He whipped his head, and he found her. Speak of an angel, and they shall appear. Her hair was in pigtails, just as it had been that day. Her eyes were blue, not gray, but almost gray. She was wearing a cute dress. She looked... adorable. Her head was tilted when her eyes widened, "Don't tell me... there's a devil here?"
Denji shook his head. "No devils here!" He said with a large grin. Smiling makes him look nice, Aki had told him back then. Maybe, if he smiled, she wouldn't be nervous of him. "It's my day off, and I always wanted to check out the aquarium," He explained.
The girl nodded, and a silence had fallen on them.
Denji looked at the schools of fish that passed them by. They were so beautiful, he thought. He turned to the girl standing beside him. Her eyes were glued on the starfish stuck on to one of the big rock displays. They were wide, in awe, and so incredibly blue.
“Did you know you can eat starfish?” He blurted out. Denji himself didn’t even know that, nor did he know if people can actually eat starfish. The girl beside him turned to him, and— oh, she smiled. Denji felt his heart thump in his chest. Hard, loud, and fast. It was basically tachycardic.
“I did know that,” She replied. A smile lingered on her lips, and Denji wanted to say more. Something funny, so that she would laugh more. She continued, “How do you know that?”
Denji shrugged, “I don’t know.”
He saw something amazing happen. She laughed again, and she tossed her head back from just how much she was laughing. He couldn’t believe it— he was seriously making such a cute girl laugh.
“You’re funny, Chainsaw Man,” She giggled.
“Denji,” He replied. She paused her laughing to look at him, and her head tilted cutely to the side. He explained, “That’s my name. Denji.”
Her lips curl into a cute circle as her eyes widened. “Oh, uh, yeah, I don’t even know your name,” She looked away awkwardly. The light dust of pink on her cheeks nearly melted Denji.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
She looked at him and smiled, “Asa. My name is Asa Mitaka.”
“Asa,” He tested the name on his lips. Her cheeks flushed at the familiarity, but she didn’t seem to object. “I’ll remember that.”
“You don’t have to,” She breathed out. Awkward, so awkward. She’s so awkward, but she’s just as adorable. “I mean, uh, I’m not sure if we’re going to meet again.”
Denji shook his head, “We have to meet again!” He declared.
She raised an eyebrow. “We have to?”
“Yeah,” He said. He gave her a wide grin, “Who else am I going to eat starfish with?”
Asa laughed once more, and Denji was beginning to sicken himself with just how much he wanted to hear more of it. “Not me!” She declared, “I don’t wanna eat starfish.”
“Hey! Starfish could be good,” Denji teased. “You might be missing out.”
“No, no, no!” She laughed. “Absolutely not.”
It felt like flying. Denji had been jumping on cloud nine for the past twenty minutes, and he had no intention of going down. Who cares about the heart-thump disease when it feels this good? Nayuta was wrong. This was important. Asa’s laughter, Asa’s blue eyes… Asa is important. Whatever this was, it felt good. It was amazing.
“Let’s go out,” He blurted out. Asa stopped laughing, and she looked at him with wide eyes. Denji’s cheeks flushed, he stammered, “I-I mean, uh, let’s go and hang out. More, one day.”
Asa looked at him. There was a pause, and it was silent. Denji felt nervous, and his heart thumped in a significantly worse way than it did when she laughed. Her eyes were looking into his own, and Denji was starting to feel the traces of nausea begin to pool in his stomach. In another universe, maybe, he would’ve thrown up. But in this one, Asa smiled at him again. “Yeah, let’s go out,” Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed, too. She bit her bottom lip and looked away. Defiant, and awkward. “I mean, yeah, let’s go and hang out. More… one day.”
Denji felt his heart thump, again. Much better, much warmer. He wondered if Asa was feeling the heart thumps too, like he is. Her cheeks were red, and her smile was awkward. Denji thought, maybe it’s alright if she doesn’t feel it yet. For now, this was enough. A time will come where she’ll get to thumps. Maybe it would be more than just the thumps too. More, one day.