[ bakugou is right about something; denji was never motivated enough to explore how to utilize his powers fully because past experiences gave him the illusion that it's not - important(?). it didn't come from a place of arrogance, yet it is hard to predict his limitations. it truly was 'based on vibes'. at times, getting decapitated would render denji useless, and he would need someone to either pull the cord or feed him blood to get him back on his feet— yet, while fighting the fall devil, he knew as soon as he felt the slash tear through his neck that he could fucking grab his head and pop it right back like a piece of lego. will that be the case each time he gets mutilated like that? no, and how the hell is he supposed to figure out why it was different in one situation over another? in one wild night, he decided to squeeze his brain juices and force himself to figure out the science behind this— then gave up two minutes in and then asked pochita instead. as gross as it might be, and it’s something he’s a bit tentative to share with his boyfriend, it all comes down to what he’s consuming. and it seems, getting a nice bite from a primal fear devil, like fall, might've been the trick to get his recovery bonuses at top performance. gluttony is a devil’s elixir; the better the quality, the higher the benefits. once again, as much as he hates to think of it, it does matter. there is a reason he had to feed on kaiju’s blood not once but multiple times during a mission because that shit is not nearly as nourishing. the bat devil was visibly repulsed by drinking the blood of a drunk chain smoker while openly craving the flesh of the young and chaste.

that aside, bakugou is helping him learn to fight without depending heavily on feeding, to fight without losing too much blood along the way, to fight a lot smarter, to be creative with his powers, and to avoid getting himself hurt in the process. there are ways to win a fight without self-harm; denji shouldn't end up cutting himself in half or get gutted by a sword to finish a kill. until he reaches that point, they will still have to depend on chainsaw man's relentless cycle of feeding, recovering then fighting again. alas, he does have a proposal that will not repulse his boyfriend (hopefully), but it is something he should've done months ago-

- he wanted to bring it up if it wasn't for the teasing. of course, his boyfriend would call him out like that. of course! but hey ... it’s fine. the whining that slipped out of his mouth was nothing but a playful surrender to getting exposed, and chainsaw man lowered his head in shame, coughing out one last whiff of smoke. ]

You don’t smile often, but when you do ... it’s like a stab to the heart. In a good way. [ here. have some poetry and a confession as payback. he leaves his partner's side to go collect the notebook he left behind near the bush, careful in lifting it up after getting rid of those little daggers as they sink inside his skin again. he then pats it clean, ready to return to their little hunting trip and find their next herb. ]

You do look good in a helmet ... [ your motorbike, katsuki. the personalized helmet looks pretty badass, but he kinda gets why the hero isn’t into it. not that he had ever seen any of the previous kaijus get close enough to snatch the boy by the neck; those explosives made him hard to seize, and it cemented the hero as one of the fastest in their team. ] Though, if we’re talking about making me a lot, uh, better in missions ... I need your help to figure out how to carry a blood source. Kinda like how you store your sweat in the armpiece? I need to find a way to carry my own fuel.

[ he’s not asking katsuki to help him accumulate blood each night before a mission, put on the gloves, and help him drain the liquid to some containers; that gory process will be denji’s sole duty, and what a unique visual for a fellow everlight to catch him in the middle of the night in all that mess. yeah, that's denji's problem, and so will the tedious cleaning session that follows. he's hoping bakugou will have an idea of how to make it happen. design-wise, how can they create a compatible mechanism to keep the substance fresh, portable, and durable from busting open during the action-packed mission, and more importantly— easy access for the half-devil mid-battel?

yeah, it's a lot. but he has faith in the hero. ]