[ The tiniest of openings, a gap appears between the door and the frame. The only thing small enough to squeeze through that would be a mouse — or Denji's voice. Stomach flat to the ground, chin resting atop crossed arms in front of her, the words are hardly audible unless Aki's really listening. ]

They never scammed me.

[ Betraying and killing her isn't a scam, that's just murder. And if Aki is referring to money, those yakuza guys always paid her, too — though it was rarely ever enough, just the little bills skimmed from the top of the heavy stacks they were greedy to line their pockets with. But Denji turned a blind eye (literally) to that sort of thing early on. What they did to other people… well, that wasn't her business to meddle in.

Then again, with that pretzeled logic, what Aki did wasn't a scam, either, just a simple countdown, and it was Denji's prior experience that conditioned her to guiltily jet out of there.

So what's the difference between the two situations? Easy answer: who it is that's doing the scamming, or the not-scamming. It's somehow easier to blame Aki, to envision her as some twisted villain in her life, as if that's the true nature she's hiding, as if Aki's intentions aren't clearly worn on her sleeve, and as if that's who Denji wants her to be.

…Probably, Denji has a lot to be apologizing for her. Besides her transgressions toward her state of undress.

Air puffs into her forearms. Her head nudges into the door, pushing it slightly wider. ]

I just wanted to help you… Sorry for makin' you flash me. [ And with as much sincerity as she can muster: ] I won't tell on you to Makima. Or to the police. I promise.