"Aki, move over a little."
"What for?!"
"This bed's too big for you alone. I'm going to lie down and rest."
"Meng Fan, don't push your luck," Aki Hayakawa roared.
Denji and Power had eaten his lunch.
Meng Fan had eaten his fruit.
Now even his one hospital bed was in danger of being taken over.
"Move over. Sitting too long gives you hemorrhoids. I need to lie down."
Without waiting for Aki Hayakawa's permission, Meng Fan lay down on the other side of the bed.
With his injured shoulder, Aki Hayakawa couldn't push Meng Fan off.
He could only grit his teeth and shift over.
He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch.
By now, Aki Hayakawa felt exhausted.
His eyes slowly closed as he decided to sleep until dinner.
But just then, the sounds of Denji and Power squabbling came from the hallway.
The two seemed to be fighting over something.
"Give it back!!!"
Denji's voice rang through the entire hallway.
A rapid patter of footsteps followed, stopping at the ward's door.
Clatter!!
The door was yanked open.
Power rushed inside in a panic.
She turned around and quickly locked the door.
With her back pressed against it, she panted heavily.
Bang!!
An impact sounded outside.
Denji kept pounding his fists against the door. "Damn it, give me back my drink."
"Don't be stingy! I didn't get enough to eat at lunch, so I need another drink. I'll pay you back when I get paid."
"Open up!!"
Bang!!
When his fists proved useless, Denji started kicking instead.
The door banged under his kicks.
Aki Hayakawa, who had just closed his eyes to sleep, instantly opened them again.
Both eyes were bloodshot as he shouted, "Keep it down!!!"
That shout actually worked.
Denji stopped his assault outside.
"Hey, Aki needs rest. Don't mess around in his room."
As he spoke, Meng Fan rummaged through the fruit basket, took out an apple, and started peeling it.
"Denji's the one making a fuss. I just wanted one of his drinks."
Power raised the bottle in her hand and gulped it down.
But just then, the roar of a chainsaw suddenly sounded outside.
Bang!!
A much stronger kick sent Power flying along with the door.
The flying door came down right over the bed.
Meng Fan reacted quickly and scrambled off the bed before it could hit him.
Aki Hayakawa, however, had only just opened his eyes when he saw a door hurtling toward him.
Before he could react, it slammed down on top of him.
"Aki, are you okay?" Meng Fan hurriedly lifted the door off Aki Hayakawa.
Aki Hayakawa's face was bright red from the impact.
Rage was brewing in his gut.
"Give me back my drink."
Denji hadn't noticed Aki Hayakawa was angry at all.
He was still searching the room for Power.
By then, Power had already jumped out the window.
"Master, have you seen Power?"
"She just jumped out the window."
"Damn it. I bought her a drink, and she stole mine too."
"One drink isn't worth transforming over, is it? Hurry up and change back before someone else sees you."
"I got carried away." A second later, Denji immediately dropped his Chainsaw Man form.
"Master, is Aki okay? I just saw his face get pretty intimate with that door."
"He should be... fine."
Meng Fan glanced at Aki Hayakawa.
On the bed, Aki Hayakawa's rage had already risen to his throat. He immediately shouted, "All... all of you, get out!!!!"
The two were driven out of the room by his furious shouts.
As they left, they happened to run into the nurse who had brought his meal earlier.
"Who's making all that noise in the ward? Don't you know hospitals need to be quiet?" the nurse demanded angrily.
"Aki lost control of his emotions a little and started shouting. You'd better go check on him. We'll get going."
Having shifted the blame, the two quickly left.
The nurse entered the room with a dark expression and immediately scolded him. "Aki Hayakawa, this is a hospital. Please don't shout. If you don't want to stay here, I can have someone send you home."
"I... it wasn't me."
"It wasn't you? I heard you when I came over. That was your voice. And you even chased away your colleagues, who were kind enough to come look after you."
"They were kind enough to look after me?" Aki Hayakawa could hardly believe it. If the nurse had stayed in the room the whole time, she never would have said that.
"You sound pretty energetic to me, not like an injured patient. So we won't be providing dinner tonight. Go out and get something yourself."
With that, the nurse turned and left the room.
Aki Hayakawa was left sitting alone on the hospital bed, utterly bewildered.
He'd missed breakfast and lunch, and now even dinner was gone.
The three of them had left Aki Hayakawa gritting his teeth with hatred.
After leaving the hospital, Meng Fan and Denji spotted Power squatting by the road.
"Meow, meow..."
A kitten kept circling around Power.
Power looked weighed down with sorrow.
"What's wrong, Power? You're petting a cat and you're still this unhappy?"
"Power, give me back my drink."
"Here." Power stood and tossed the bottle to Denji.
"It's empty!!!"
"Yep. I drank it all."
"Denji, stop fussing. Your master will buy you another one in a minute."
"Master really does treat me best." Denji grinned.
"I want one too." Power raised her hand.
"You'll both get one. There's a vending machine right across the street. Let's go buy some."
Meng Fan led the two across the street.
After he fed a banknote into the machine.
Clunk!!
Three cans of different-flavored drinks dropped out.
Power immediately grabbed one and gulped it down.
The other two had barely picked theirs up when Power finished hers.
Her eyes fixed on the drinks in their hands.
"Don't even think about it. You're not getting another sip."
The last time Power had asked for just one sip, Denji had agreed without a second thought.
He'd wanted to experience an indirect kiss.
In the end, she'd left nothing.
"Still not satisfied? I remember you ate plenty at lunch, and you've had two bottles of soda."
"I don't know what's going on. I keep feeling hungry."
Power rubbed her belly.
Her stomach obligingly growled.
Clearly, Power's hunger wasn't made up.
"There's a bakery next door. Let's buy you some bread."
"Thanks! I like you best!"
Power danced around with joy.
By the time they reached the bakery, Denji had finished his drink and was already full.
Power looked back and forth, seemingly wanting a bite of everything.
"Could you pack these two up for me?"
"Sure thing."
The owner enthusiastically came over to serve them at the counter.
"Shopkeeper, bring me your most filling bread! Someone else is paying."
Power bounded over to the counter, startling the owner.
"A... devil!!"
"Don't be afraid. We're Public Safety Devil Hunters, and she's one of us."
"She's a Public Safety Devil Hunter too?"
"That's right. Otherwise, she'd be eating you instead of bread."
"Quit dawdling and bring me bread!" Power roared.
The owner shuddered and immediately presented her with a large loaf.
In the end, he didn't even ask for payment.
As they left the bakery, Power kept tearing into the bread, clearly enjoying herself.
At that moment, she looked more like a refugee who hadn't eaten for days.
"Master, where are we going next? Back to headquarters?"
"No. It's not often we get Aki Hayakawa off our backs. Why don't we go rescue Power's cat?"
"Power's cat?"
Before you continue