Cheating

Kyouya deigns to take the purple man's suggestion and tracks down a cheery boy with a passion for baseball.

Kyouya finds the child at a local park but the other is surrounded by a herd so Kyouya hangs back and waits. He doesn't want to cause a stampede, after all. Kyouya occupies his time with collecting pretty rocks because pets should get treats and he hasn't given Kcl anything in a while.

When the sky shifts to orange and pink, the herd of children dissipates and Kyouya begins his usual routine. He stalks the other boy across the park but pauses when his prey says something interesting.

"Yep," the boy chirps cheerfully to another child. "I'll have time tomorrow, but only in the afternoon. I'm helping dad with the shop in the morning."

It only now occurs to Kyouya that maybe the Incendiary Defence is genetic. If Kyouya follows the boy home, then will he get two adults as well? Can… can he breed his pets to get new colour combinations?

Kyouya resolves to look up how babies are made.

Kyouya merges with a family leaving the park and splits off again when he's out of the other's line of sight. He quickly darts across the road and crouches behind a parked car until the boy passes by, whistling happily.

The boy seems to take notice of something on the way home, occasionally pausing and looking behind him. Kyouya retreats further back and the boy relaxes again. This is wonderful; the boy is already trained.

It's late enough that the sushi restaurant that serves as the boy's den is closed, which is good for Kyouya since he can observe how the boy takes a spare key from inside the closed/open sign hanging on the front door and then replaces it after unlocking the restaurant.

Kyouya waits another five minutes after the child disappears inside before ghosting up to the hiding place and retrieving the key. The door is strangely still unlocked but Kyouya shrugs it off and pushes it open.

He steps into the restaurant, only to find the child he was tracking being held by a buff man clutching a gun.

Two other males and one female are standing around, pointing guns threateningly at two adults who bare a strong resemblance to the child, both of whom are currently bleeding out on the ground with only the father still (barely) conscious.

They're all staring at Kyouya in a mix of confusion, worry and anger. Frankly, this is much more fun than Kyouya was expecting.

He sprints forward, his tonfas slotting into his hands. He jumps and bounces off a wall, bringing a tonfa down on the buff man holding the child.

It breaks Kyouya's wooden tonfa, but the adult goes down hard, and the other child takes the chance to run to his father as the adults focus on Kyouya. In his periphery he sees the child scramble for a dropped knife on the floor near the father's prone form but there's no need. Kyouya is dealing with it.

He drops to his knees in a power slide under a table and cracks the female's knee, then leaps back to his feet as he brings the broken tonfa, just the handle and bit of the main cylinder, onto her head when she drops to the floor.

Two of them left.

He discards the ruined tonfa and then throws his remaining weapon to get the third adult, the wood shattering to splinters as it snaps at least three ribs. The man is thrown to the ground, head smacking against the flooring hard enough to take him out.

It's the last man who finally realises that maybe the little child is actually a serious threat.

The bullet catches Kyouya in the side, ripping straight through, and he falls backwards onto the floor - sitting there for a moment in confusion. The other child screams, as if that would help at all, and that's when the pain hits.

It… it hurts. It really, really hurts but Kyouya is fine, just perfectly fine because he is a - a carnivore and it's only a small piece of metal and he is better than this.

A sob rips from his chest, bursting from his mouth without permission. He clamps his hands over his mouth but he's already crying, the world blurring from tears as his shoulders shake and it just makes everything worse because the movement hurts his wound more.

The other child's father struggles to push himself up but he's lost far too much blood already and collapses on shaking arms. Instead, he grits his teeth at his own impotency, then tugs his son closer so the boy wouldn't have to see this.

The remaining adult walks forward, gun held steadily at Kyouya's head.

That man is cheating because he has a gun and Kyouya is a close range fighter - and everything hurts. He tries to control himself, but he can't stop crying now that he's started. He's just acting like a stupid herbivore, it's fine, nothing is wrong with him, he only has a flesh wound.

The adult says something, an angry scowl on his face, but Kyouya feels like he's underwater where the sound is muffled and distorted.

His clothes are soaked around the wound, the material heavy and sticking to his skin, glinting dark red under the shop's ceiling lights. He tries to remember what pocket he put some band-aids in. If he can just put on at least one then everything will be okay, he'll be fine, and everything will stop hurting.

The man barks something but seems to give up on getting an answer, finger squeezing down on the trigger.

Kyouya tries to focus, to gather the last of his strength, to push himself just that little bit further, but his vision is already blurring. He falls until he's splayed out on his back, staring up at the ceiling, as his eyes slide closed and his body shuts down.

...

Omake – Sixth Sense 2

"We have a son," Reborn declares when he opens the door.

Fon and Skull blink at him, and from inside the apartment they can hear Verde sigh and Mammon make a victorious noise.

"I think I would remember that," Skull argues.

"Not you, lackey," Reborn scoffs.

"I think I would remember that," Fon echoes because it's a very good point.

Reborn just continues anyway. "He has my killing intent and penchant for chaos with your… well, your everything else."

Fon hums. "Ah, now I know who you're talking about." Fon hasn't visited Kyouya in a while, perhaps he should drop by soon.

"Ha!" Mammon crows. "They do have a baby! Fon admits it!"

"They are babies!" Verde snaps back. "When would this supposed birth have taken place? If the child is, what - seven, then they'd both still be physical babies back then."

"Luce gave birth to Aria when she was still a baby," Skull points out. He gets a pat on the head from one of Mammon's illusionary hands.

Verde sighs. "I meant the actual act of impregna- no, never mind. Okay, then why don't we remember one of them being pregnant for nine months?"

"I'm a master of disguise," says the cactus with a fedora, sitting innocently in a little pot next to Fon.

Verde reaches for his phone because he needs Lal and her sanity.