"How is it? Is this Kobe beef delicious?" Renji Kuroda asked with a smile.
"Delicious, delicious! Super delicious!" Denji's eyes sparkled as she eagerly picked up another slice of beef from the hotpot. It was a flavor unlike anything she'd ever tasted in her life.
"This is the first time I've eaten something so amazing! What is this?! Is this the legendary Kobe beef?! It's better than toast! No—like, a million times better than toast!"
Ding~ Detected Denji's excited emotion, system rewards 5 points.
Even though the steam from the hotpot blurred her vision and the meat was so hot that she occasionally twitched from the heat, Denji didn't care at all. She practically inhaled the beef, leaving only scraps for Renji.
With a helpless smile, Renji sighed, then began cutting the rest of the Kobe beef into strips. He gave up on saving any for later and slid the full plate toward her.
"Eat slowly. Don't choke."
But just as Denji was happily stuffing her mouth, her eyes began to well with tears. Suddenly, she started crying—really crying—even as she continued to eat.
"Hey, hey! Why are you crying? Did you burn yourself? Are you okay?" Renji immediately passed her a tissue.
Denji took it and wiped her tears, her voice breaking as she choked out her words.
"I… I miss Pochita. I miss my dog. I wish he was still here so he could taste this too… He… he became my heart to save me, and back then I… I just wanted to die... I'm so useless… Wooo…"
Ding~ Detected Denji's regretful emotion, system rewards 10 points.
At first, she sobbed quietly, but as Renji gently comforted her, her emotions unraveled completely. She dropped her chopsticks and began to cry loudly. Eventually, her sobbing turned to wailing—as though she were releasing every ounce of grief she had bottled up since childhood.
Renji said nothing. He simply sat with her and listened in silence.
Time passed.
Eventually, Denji's crying began to subside. Her eyes red and swollen, she sniffled, picked her chopsticks back up, and resumed eating.
They stayed at the table for a long while, until the soup in the hotpot had all but evaporated.
"I'm full~ I'm so full~" Denji groaned, rubbing her now-round belly. She lay back on the floor with arms spread out and a blissful expression on her face.
Renji, still in the kitchen, glanced over at her and noticed something odd about her outfit—her Public Safety uniform was incomplete. She wore only a white shirt, tie, and pants—no jacket.
He asked curiously, "By the way, where did you get your clothes?"
"Huh? Oh, this?" Denji glanced down. "This is from Haya… Haya-something…"
"Hayakawa Aki."
"Yeah! Right, Hayakawa Aki gave it to me. She said I could borrow it. But the top's a bit too big." She tugged at her shirt to show how it hung loosely on her.
Renji chuckled, noting the size difference. Denji was… definitely not as developed as Aki.
Denji then loosened her tie and pulled it off.
"This thing's super uncomfortable. Chokes my neck. I didn't even wanna wear it, but Hayakawa Aki said it was the rule or something. Said I had to wear it at Public Safety HQ. She was so mean about it too! All grumpy and stiff!" Denji puffed out her cheeks and stuck her tongue out at the memory.
Then, suddenly, Denji sat up and looked at Renji.
"Oh! By the way, Wu—uh, I mean, Renji, do you have anything to do later?"
Renji looked up from the dishes. "Hmm? You gonna try to grope me now?"
Denji's face turned beet red. She waved her hands frantically. "N-No! Not that! I mean—! Okay yeah, I wanna touch you, but that's not it! I left something at my old place. Can you come with me to get it?"
Renji tilted his head slightly, then nodded. "Sure. I've got nothing else planned, and everything here's already packed up. Oh—and just call me Renji, no need for 'sister' or anything like that."
"Yay! Wait… eeeeh?! Just call you by your name?"
Denji froze, her cheeks flushing an even deeper red.
Ding~ Detected Denji's shy emotion, system rewards 15 points.
Without dragging things out, Renji packed up, grabbed his things, and the two called a taxi and headed toward Denji's old place.
But when they finally arrived, Renji stood at the entrance in stunned silence.
Calling this place a home… was a stretch.
It was nothing more than a crumbling, single-room structure. In truth, it looked more like an abandoned warehouse than a residence.
It was hard to say whether the person who built this place had been kind-hearted or simply thoughtless. The so-called "warehouse" stood alone in a desolate patch of land, patched together with rusting metal and rotting wood. Inside, heaps of scrap were piled messily, giving off a sour, metallic stench. The windows were little more than gaping holes—no glass, no covers—leaving the interior vulnerable to wind, rain, and worse.
Renji looked around the room with a furrowed brow. "You… actually lived here? How do you even sleep at night?"
Denji was busy rummaging through a pile of clutter in the corner. Hearing his question, she paused and pointed to a stack of wooden boards leaning against the wall.
"I just lean on those," she said nonchalantly. "As long as it's not raining or snowing, I can sleep just fine."
Renji didn't reply. His lips parted slightly, but no words came. It wasn't pity he felt—something heavier and less patronizing. A quiet sorrow.
Suddenly, Denji let out a triumphant shout. "Found it!"
Renji walked over, curious. Denji was holding something up like a treasure, her face alight with pride.
"Look, it's this golden thing."
She placed the object into Renji's hand. It was rectangular, palm-sized, and etched with ornate, almost ceremonial patterns. The texture was cool and heavy—golden in hue and weight. It looked like some kind of ceremonial badge or amulet, possibly even an identification plaque. He turned it over in his hand, admiring the craftsmanship.
But then his gaze caught on one of the engravings. A long, thick cylindrical shape, with vein-like carvings wrapped around it. Below that were two round spheres. And the more he looked…
"…Wait a second."
Renji's brow creased deeply. He stepped outside the crumbling warehouse, letting the sunlight hit the plaque. He studied the lines, the shading, the curves.
"No way…" he muttered.
The design, though abstract and stylized, was unmistakable.
"This… this looks like a penis."
Renji stared at the carving, incredulous.
The shape was too deliberate. Too detailed. The longer he looked, the more obscene it became.
"Is this supposed to be some kind of symbol?" he asked aloud. "Who even makes something like this? Is it ceremonial? Some kind of twisted relic?"
He glanced back at Denji, who had followed him outside and was now blinking at him with wide, innocent eyes.
"Did you know what this was when you took it?"
Denji shrugged. "Nope. I just stole it from the mafia. Thought it looked important." She pointed. "There's writing on the back too."
Renji flipped it over.
Etched cleanly into the back was a single line:
"Men exist in this world."
Renji read it aloud without thinking. "Men exist in this world."
Denji's eyes lit up. She practically jumped in place.
Ding~ Detected Denji's excited emotion, system rewards 5 points.
"Yay! I knew it! It's real! It means it! Men really do exist! They're not just some weird fairy tale!"
She clutched her hands to her chest, glowing with unfiltered joy, and then turned toward Renji with wide, eager eyes.
"Renji! You're a man, right?! You weren't lying to me, were you?!"
Her voice was trembling—half with awe, half with hope.