Three-Wheel Drive - cerellium - Devil May Cry [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Third Wheel

Chapter Text

“I’m coming with you.”

Nero stopped packing as his head whipped to Kyrie. He'd been worried this might happen.

It didn't take a genius to realize that Nero didn’t like to be separated from Kyrie, and the ordeal with the Qlipoth had already kept him away from her for about as long as he could take. Usually he and Nico just took jobs around the neighborhood, but obviously that had been a special case, and he hadn’t expected to be gone for as long as he was. If he had known, he would've made sure to say a better goodbye.

He made up that lost time upon his return, however, and hadn’t let Kyrie out of his sight. He’d been glued to her hip, as if he were some excited new puppy they had just brought home. He already knew he had missed her, but finally seeing her instead of just hearing her, smelling her, not to mention being able to touch her…

If it weren’t for the young children that happened to be in their presence on the daily, Nero and Kyrie wouldn’t have gotten anything done for that first week he was back.

But despite all this, despite his longing for her and still not being fully satiated after their time apart, it was already time to go again.

Dante and Vergil were trapped in the underworld, and he, Trish, and Lady intended to find a way to bring them back, even if it meant going to Hell and ripping their sorry asses out himself.

Nero had been waiting on Lady, Trish or Morrison to contact him, who each insisted he return home to Kyrie and wait on standby for the time being, which he had no problem with. He wasn't exactly the studying type, so spending his days with Kyrie while waiting for something to turn up suited him just fine.

And lo and behold, something had indeed come up. He’d gotten a call just last night, and was already packing to leave. Nero wasn’t about to let his newly discovered uncle, not to mention father, waste away in the underworld.

“You know I can’t let you do that,” Nero told her, and despite the words themselves being strict, his tone was hesitant and apologetic.

Kyrie tensed up and inhaled the same way she did when she was about to scold the children, but she waited and restrained herself, regaining her composure before speaking next. Sometimes the calm was worse than the storm. “And why is that?”

Nero hadn’t been sure what she was going to say, but it definitely wasn’t that. He stared at her in disbelief, wondering if after all this time she still didn’t realize just how much she meant to him. He was standing up from his suitcase and walking towards her before he even realized.

“Why? You’re asking me why I don’t want you around a bunch of murderous, rampaging demons? I never want you to have to be in danger—or even the possibility of being in danger—ever again. Not if I can help it. And not letting you come is exactly how I can help it.” Nero’s hands hovered over her shoulders as he walked over to her and spoke; his body language a mix of protectiveness and disbelief at her not understanding that.

When he finally did let his hands rest on her shoulders, she put a hand over his. Her shoulders, he noted as he grasped them, had they always been this narrow? She was so small—even her hand over his, which was supposed to be a comforting gesture, did nothing to reassure him. In fact, it did the opposite.

The sensation of her much softer and smaller hand resting over his larger, calloused one only solidified his belief that he should be the only one out there and in danger, not her. Not again.

“I wanted to come last time, too, Nero, but I stayed because you insisted. This time, I’m coming. Couples are supposed to negotiate, not tell the other what to do.”

Nero couldn’t help but bark out a laugh as she compared their situation to normal couples. “Yeah, most couples negotiate on where to eat, or who washes the dishes that night. Not if they can come on a potentially life-threatening mission. Kyrie…I’m not—”

“Nero,” Kyrie interrupted, “I’m not as fragile as you think I am.” she said sternly, though the feeling of her small shoulders still in his hands made him unconvinced of her statement. She could see it, too. How he was still looking at her as if she were a precious vase he was holding gingerly, in fear of breaking were he to let her go or hold too tightly. She shook him off.

“It made sense last time not to bring me,” she continued, reaching for his hand to make up for shaking him off. “Last time, with that tree…the Qliphoth…There were demons coming out of it, and as long as you were in its vicinity, it was a guarantee that demons would appear. I saw it myself. But now…”

“But now, I’m only trying to go to Hell. Much better, right? I’m not sure I’m following your logic here, Kyrie.”

She shook her head in exasperation. “I know you’re headed to the underworld to try to get your family back, but you’re going there this time. The demons aren’t pouring out here, like they were before.”

Nero stared at her, contemplating her words, his lips pursing as he struggled with the fact that she had a point.

Kyrie saw the crack in his defense and continued her assault. “Not to mention, what about Nico? She drives you there, but she won’t be going into Hell with you, will she? So if we park the van nearby and you find a way in, we won’t be in any danger.”

“If Nico does drive me to some sort of opening, it would still be dangerous for you to be that close—”

“Then we’ll drive farther away! And you’ll kill any near the entrance as you go in. Nero…” Kyrie shook her head, her frustration starting to show. She loved Nero with her whole heart and was grateful that he loved her just as much, but it was times like this that his passionate love was smothering.

She was put on such a high pedestal that she could no longer see him all the way down at ground level.

“Kyrie…” Nero said, and just by his tone Kyrie already knew she hadn’t convinced him. To be honest, she wasn’t sure what ever WOULD convince him. Being taken by demons in Fortuna and repeatedly being dangled in front of his eyes only to be taken away again seemed to have scarred him worse than she realized, and the way he protected her now was akin to a dragon protecting its treasure.

Kyrie understood—she did—but Nero had to also understand that she wasn’t treasure that he could hoard and lock away in a vault. She was his partner, and she wanted to be at his side, not tucked safely away somewhere.

“Kyrie… I can only fight the way I do because I know you’re here. Safe. We had way too many close shaves last time, I don’t even wanna think about what could’ve happened to you if you’d been there. And now that we actually plan to somehow get into Hell?”

Kyrie looked to the floor, and Nero was sure she was about to come back with a new argument. When she looked up again, however, it was to smile at him. Her smile was already something that eased his worries to begin with, but now even more so as it signaled that there would be no more of this discussion. Nero's shoulders relaxed at the sight, happy to have convinced her.

“You’re right. Enough of this, I don’t want your last night here to be of us fighting. I’ll let you finish packing and start on dinner. Heaven knows this will be the last homemade meal you have in a while if you’re to be travelling with Nico in her van.”

Nero smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss. “You’re the best,” he said, watching her disappear into the kitchen as she sang a faraway “I know!”

With his mind at ease, Nero continued packing. Like Kyrie had said, he was relieved their last night before he left in the morning with Nico wouldn’t be one that they spent arguing. He wanted to give Kyrie more than just a goodbye kiss, after all, and that would be hard if they weren’t on speaking terms.

The thought of an intimate night with her, despite having many the past few weeks he’d been home, was enough to make him already begin to miss her. Sleeping in Nico’s van or camped somewhere in a sleeping bag was akin to torture after getting used to a soft bed and an even softer Kyrie pressed up against him.

When Nero awoke in the morning, he wasn’t surprised to see that Kyrie was already out of bed. She always made sure to wake up early on mornings that he had to leave, to make sure she could say goodbye to him properly. He didn’t like to think about it, but he knew it was because she wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again.

If there was one thing keeping Nero alive in his fights, it was the idea of not coming home to a waiting Kyrie. That thought alone pained him more than the threat of dying. He wouldn’t do that to her.

As Nero walked out of their bedroom, he could smell the aroma of coffee filling the house and quickened his pace. He noticed an extra pair of unfamiliar shoes at the front door, and upon reaching the kitchen, was handed a steaming cup of joe by the likely owner of said shoes.

She was portly, in her late 50’s or early 60’s, with olive skin and black hair tied into a tight bun at the base of her skull. Her eyes crinkled, a friendly yet mischievous glint to them as she grinned.

“I hope black coffee is okay? You don’t seem the milk and sugar type,” she noted with a chuckle, turning to pour another mug for herself.

“Your mother ever teach you not to judge a book by it’s cover?” Nero returned with a smirk of his own, despite downing most of the black liquid in one gulp.

“In this case, however, the cover seems to be correct,” she observed, jerking her chin towards his almost empty cup.

Nero held up his hands as if to say ‘guilty’, and downed the rest of it before putting the cup back on the counter and sliding it to her, to which she promptly put into the sink to be washed. He was finally about to ask who this woman was and why she was in his house, not to mention where Kyrie was, when the door to the garage opened and Kyrie came in, breathless.

As soon as she caught sight of Nero she started. “Oh! I was just about to come wake you.”

“It’s alright, I was just getting to know our very polite home invader,” Nero teased lightly, giving the woman a wink as she put her hands on her hips with a smile and shook her head.

“This is Julia. She’s a housekeeper and a nanny. She’s going to be helping when you’re gone. With the kids and everything, it’s hard to do everything by myself…so I could use a little help.”

Nero nodded, not worried about what this woman’s services might cost if it meant that Kyrie would have less of a load on her shoulders, not to mention some constant adult company in his absence. The kids were great, but you couldn’t exactly wax poetic with them.

Besides, thanks to the Qliphoth and the demons it had brought, he and Nico had made more than enough money in the past few months with demon killing gigs.

“Nice to meet you, Nero,” the stout woman held out her hand and he shook it, noticing how leathery and firm it was, no doubt from years of doing what she did. Nero briefly wondered if Kyrie’s hands would eventually lose their softness as well.

After a quick breakfast and saying another farewell to the kids on top of the one last night, Nero lugged his suitcase around with ease, throwing it over his shoulder for easier maneuverability.

Kyrie was waiting for him at the door, head already upturned and awaiting a kiss he was more than eager to give.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Nero mumbled against her lips, and he felt her smile.

“Mhm,” she hummed back, and he felt that, too. “I know.”

Suddenly wishing he could do more than just give her a goodbye kiss, Nero dropped his suitcase and swept her into a hug that lifted her from the floor, burying his face in her neck and causing her to squeal a bit.

God, how he loved that noise.

“Would it be weird if I recorded that sound, so I could listen to it whenever I wanted? It would give me a major morale boost before my fights.”

Kyrie laughed and squirmed in his arms, though for all her wriggling his arms remained locked in place like steel girders, not budging in the slightest. Luckily the kids had already left for school, and so Nero didn’t have to put up with any gagging noises from the peanut gallery.

“Alright, alright! Let me down! Nico’s waiting for you!” Kyrie insisted, squirming harder yet not truly trying to escape. Still holding her, Nero simply looked down at her in his arms, smirking in amusem*nt as he watched her.

There must have been a hint of smugness there, because Kyrie redoubled her efforts for real, and Nero didn’t have the heart to let her believe all her struggling was for nothing, so he pretended to be jostled. Just a bit.

Putting on a mock voice of hurt, he pulled away just enough to look at her. “What, one second you don’t want to be apart and now you’re kicking me out?”

Kyrie only smiled and leaned forward as she said, “I don’t need you anymore. I have Julia.”

Nero put Kyrie down and nodded in understanding. “True, she’s a good one. Not sure if I can compete. Looks like I got nothing to worry about on the homefront, then.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Kyrie smiled sadly, and before he could comment on it or really digest it, she gave him a quick peck on the lips and ushered him out the door, walking along behind him. “The longer you keep Nico waiting, the more you’ll regret it!”

Nero groaned as she pushed him, realizing just how true that statement was. He leaned down to pull up the garage door, and Nico’s van was already parked outside of their house. Not that he didn’t know that already, as the muffled tune of her mixtape through the door was a dead giveaway.

“Damn right you’ll regret keeping me waiting!” Nico burst as soon as the two of them had come out from the garage. “Keeping me waiting just so you two can get all lovey dovey is even worse! I had to turn my music up just to drown it out!”

“Sorry, Nico! I won’t keep you guys any longer,” Kyrie assured her.

Nero waved his hand, walking around Kyrie and looking to where Nico hollered from the driver’s seat. “Don’t apologize to her. She deserves to wait for all the crap she puts me through.”

Ignoring Nico’s rebuttal in the background, Nero leaned and gave Kyrie one last parting kiss before putting his luggage in the van and making his way to the passenger door. He noted that there was an extra suitcase in the van, wondering if Nico went on a shopping spree with their recently acquired payments. “I’ll call you later tonight,” he promised, and Kyrie nodded with a smile.

Nico had already begun driving and Nero hopped into the already moving van, closing it hastily. “Hey! What’s your problem?” He barked as soon as he was in. “You forget I’m the one keeping your sorry ass alive from the demons? Next time I’ll let you drive off without me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nico rolled her eyes, unphased by their usual bickering and more focused on rummaging around for her lighter. As she looked, the van slowed to a crawl, until she fully parked it.

“Where in the hell’d I put that thing,” she muttered, looking about. Usually Nero handed it to her, but even he couldn’t see it this time.

“Just buy a new one at the nearest gas station,” he offered distractedly, turning back to get a last glimpse at the house. He was expecting Kyrie to still be standing there, seeing them off until they were out of sight, and was a bit surprised that she was gone already. Probably went back inside to help Julia.

“I ain’t wasting money for a lighter that I know is here,” Nico argued, swinging open the driver door and hopping out. “I know it’s in the back somewhere, hold up a sec.”

Nero shook his head, leaning back and putting his feet up on the dashboard. The cup of coffee hadn’t exactly kicked in yet, and thanks to his long goodbye to Kyrie last night, he hadn’t gotten much sleep either.

He closed his eyes and considered a quick nap when the van suddenly jostled.

Nero squeezed his eyes shut tighter, wondering what the hell Nico was doing back there for a single lighter. It felt like the van bounced as more weight was added, but Nero chalked it up to her just thrashing around in the back.

There was another thud, and Nico hopped out of the van, sliding the door closed and getting back into the drivers’ seat.

“Find it?” Nero asked for the sake of asking, his eyes still closed as he attempted to get a head start on his nap.

“Was in my pocket,” was all she said as he heard the unmistakable flick of a lighter, and smelled the equally unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke.

Nero only shook his head in disgust, too tired to roll down the window and instead focused all his attention on falling asleep.

Nero managed to drift off somewhere along the way, only coming to about an hour later when a certain scent tickled his senses. It was hard to notice at first due to the rancid cigarette smoke, but Nico clearly hadn't had one in a while, and so it was starting to clear out.

And, thanks to Nero falling asleep and not opening the window, all the scents in the car were trapped, for better or for worse.

Including one very familiar scent.

One that should not have been in Nico’s van.

He had just said goodbye to her, hugged her, been with her, so any scent lingering must have just been that: a lingering one.

But despite his mind telling him that, his heightened demonic senses knew otherwise, especially when it came to the scent of the woman he loved. This was a fresh scent, and it was here in the van.

Nero shot awake, any grogginess he had suddenly gone as his blood turned to ice.

His sudden jolt made Nico flinch, and she swerved on the road for a second before bursting “Hey, easy, psycho! You have a nightmare or what? Need me to sing you a lullaby?”

Nero ignored her, stepping into the back of the van and looking all around like a hound dog on the hunt.

Nico nervously looked back at him, and that was enough to let him know he had hit the jackpot. Knowing she damn well couldn’t stop him from looking back there, she instead fumbled for a cigarette.

It didn’t take him long to find her.

Kyrie sat at the back of the van, asleep behind Nico’s workshop counter.

Between the cigarette smoke, grease, and oil of the workshop, it was no wonder it took Nero so long to notice. She, too, was running on little sleep and her eyes were closed as she breathed slowly, wrapped in a blanket.

Nero picked her up and laid her down on the couch proper now that she had no reason to hide, and stared down at her as she slept.

Of course.

The housekeeper wasn’t because Kyrie needed help, it was so that someone would watch the kids.

She was in the garage this morning loading her luggage in the van, and Nico losing her lighter had been a cover for Kyrie to get inside, which is why she had disappeared so quickly.

She had also probably waited for him to fall asleep last night so she could pack, which meant she was on even less sleep than he was.

Nero plopped down at the small circular table across from the couch where Kyrie slept, leaning his head back and repeatedly thumping it on the van window.

“So…you, uh…you ain’t mad?” Nico asked reluctantly, like a kid who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“Let’s just say you’re lucky Kyrie’s sleeping, alright? Shut it and drive.”

Nico, for once, didn’t argue with him, probably just happy to not have to deal with his wrath as she continued down the road.

Nero stared at Kyrie as he thought. Should they turn back? They were already almost 2 hours from home at this point, and making the return trip and heading back out would cost them an entire day.

Though he couldn’t just drop Kyrie off and let her get back on her own—If anything she’d just try to follow them. If they kept going, she’d be coming along no matter what.

“Turn it around.”

Nico looked back and gawked at him for a split second before whipping back to look at the road. “What?”

“Dammit, Nico! You heard me. Turn the van around, we’re dropping Kyrie back off.”

Nico leaned back, exasperated, but then shot forward in her seat, looking at him in the rearview mirror. “But we’re supposed to meet Lady and Trish in Redgrave! They’re expecting us tonight! That’ll throw everything off.”

“Well, guess you shoulda thought about that before you agreed to smuggle Kyrie along with us!”

“At least I listened to what the hell she was askin’ of me, you damn meathead! If you ain’t gonna listen to her, someone’s sure as hell gotta!” Nico snapped back with more force than Nero was expecting, and his words momentarily caught in his throat.

“Quiet, idiot! I don’t want her to wake up and cause a fight. We turn around and drop her off before she realizes where we’re going,” Nero hissed in a whisper-yell, peeking at Kyrie to make sure Nico’s outburst hadn’t woken her.

“Oh, you want me to turn around?” Nico gritted her teeth, “Fine. I’ll turn around!”

On cue, Nico made a very illegal U-turn that would have ended in tragedy if it had been anybody else driving, and a symphony of car horns blared all around them. If that wasn’t enough to wake Kyrie up, Nico turned with such force that she was jostled right off the sofa and onto the floor.

Flinging himself forward, Nero managed to catch her in time before she connected with the floor of the van, biting back an outburst at Nico as he watched Kyrie blink awake.

“Nero…” she breathed sleepily, though became noticeably more alert as she remembered the situation she put herself in, and what it meant if Nero was currently looking at her.

He said nothing, quietly helping her up and settling her back on the sofa. It all made sense now, too, why she had backed down so easily on the argument.

He knew this next one, however, would not be so easy.

Chapter 2: Three's a Crowd

Chapter Text

Nero was suddenly feeling a lot less confident about his stance in all of this.

The initial outrage and disbelief he’d felt when finding Kyrie smuggled in the back of the van like some illegal merchandise had quickly begun to melt into something a lot more uncertain, mostly due to the two pairs of resolute eyes that stared at him from across the van.

Despite Nero’s sudden uncertainty, he was careful not to let it show in his demeanor—after all, he was a seasoned veteran when it came to putting on a confident attitude in the face of all the demonic threats he’d faced up until now. Surely, he could manage the same with 2 angry women.

Nico had pulled the van into a rather deserted gas station, seeing as they were at an impasse as to whether they keep going, or turn back.

Well, technically he was at an impasse. The two of them seemed perfectly content, not to mention intent, on going forward.

“Why’d you agree to bring Kyrie, Nico?” Nero turned on Nico first, opting to blame her rather than face Kyrie. “You of all people should know how dangerous it can get!”

“’Cause she asked,” Nico offered with a shrug, leaning back on the sofa to stare at him through half-lidded eyes. “Listening to your lady friend…revolutionary concept, I know. Y’should try it sometime.”

Nero jerked his head towards Nico, but the explosive retort he was putting together died on his tongue when Kyrie rested a hand on Nico’s arm to quiet her, looking between the two. He knew she didn’t like it when they seriously fought like this, and anxiously fiddled with the amulet he gave her, which rested over the cream-coloured turtleneck she was wearing.

“Nico, could you give us a moment?” Kyrie asked, and the mechanic wasted no time in grabbing a pack of cigarettes and her lighter as she headed outside.

“Was cravin’ a smoke anyway,” she mumbled through the cigarette that dangled from her lips, all too eager to be given an excuse to leave the van before their couple spat could begin.

Kyrie watched Nico close the door behind her, and waited a beat before slowly turning to Nero with a resolute look on her face, her hand still firmly grasping the amulet.

“Whether Nico helped me come or not isn’t important. I knew you were headed to Redgrave, and I could have found another way here if I wanted, so forget about that. The main issue is that I want to be here and…and you don’t want me here.” Kyrie tried to keep her tone cool and matter-of-fact, though couldn’t completely disguise the tinge of sadness that seeped in at the end of her sentence.

“It’s not—don’t say it like that, Kyrie—it’s not like I don’t want you here,” Nero winced at her expression, fumbling through his words and realizing that no matter how eloquently he strung together a sentence, that wouldn't matter in this situation. It was actions.

“Nero, nothing will happen to me. I’ll stay in your line of sight the entire time if that’s what it takes for you to let me come along. I’ll even stay behind in the city instead of the van if that would be safer. I’m willing to negotiate with terms you can agree with, but you need to work with me for that.”

For her sake, Nero really did want her to be able to convince him. But it was like there was a stubborn lump in his throat, and no matter how hard he tried to force it down, he just couldn’t swallow it.

He knew Kyrie was no stranger to demons. Sure, they weren’t seen very frequently back in Fortuna if you stayed in the city limits, but it still wasn’t unusual for the odd Scarecrow to wander into town if a knight had been slacking on his guard duty. But even in those situations, there’d always been enough of the Order soldiers around that by the time word got out that demons were even in town, they’d already be taken care of.

Not to mention the fact that Kyrie had grown up with a protective brother and an even more protective lover. The demons weren’t really a threat to the population of Fortuna, and even less so to Kyrie, who’d have been lucky to even catch a glimpse of one before either his or Credo’s sword was slicing through it.

But when everything with the Savior happened, despite his confidence in his abilities and his ability to protect her, Kyrie was still taken. It had been both a reality check and an ego check. While it had certainly made him more aware of his own strengths and weaknesses, it had also made him more protective of Kyrie in turn. He knew now that despite how strong he thought he was, something could always still happen.

“It’s not that I don’t want to try to make this work,” Nero insisted, trying to reassure her while also coming to terms with his own scrambled thoughts. “But it’s nothing that you can do on your end to change my mind. I don’t want to take any chances, and saying things like ‘nothing will happen to you’ …You just can’t promise that. You’ve already—”

“And what about you?” Kyrie cut him off, and Nero stopped in his tracks, surprised by the sudden sharpness.

“What about me?”

“You said I can’t promise nothing will happen to me. But what about you? When you’re gone and I just have to hope that you come back okay?”

Nero scoffed at that, as if her even being worried about his wellbeing was laughable.

Kyrie, however, was not laughing.

Nero quickly wiped the dismissive expression off his face tried to set his ego aside further to truly consider her words.

“You have nothing to worry about because you’re strong. You can go out on dangerous missions because you’re strong. You can tell me not to worry and come back to me, who’s safely waiting for you. But what about me?” Kyrie shook her head and Nero noticed she was blinking rapidly to suppress any threat of tears.

“Being as strong as you are, I guess you don’t understand the fear that the weak have. No matter how much you reassure me that you’ll be fine, you never know. I have to deal with that uncertainty every day, until I get that phone call. But the thought that something could have happened to you always looms over me.”

Nero bristled a little bit at the idea of her constantly being worried about his wellbeing throughout the day, as if he were that easy to take down. Just as quickly as he thought that, however, he realized how childish it was.

When it came down to it, she was right. Being someone who’d always been strong, he didn’t take threats to himself as seriously as he probably should and could. He never considered, though, how those same threats would look to someone without as much power. He himself knew he could handle what got thrown at him, but that didn’t mean those without that understanding would be reassured, no matter how much he tried.

Huh, suddenly this was sounding familiar.

“I’m coming along this time. Not only because I don’t want to be apart from you, but because If I’m here with you, I won’t have to worry about whether you’re alive or dead until you call. I want to be with you, not waiting for you.”

Nero chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “Giving me a taste of my own medicine, huh? With you along, now I’ll be the one with your wellbeing constantly looming over me.”

Kyrie just smiled and shrugged, though she did seem a little bit pleased at the unexpected balancing of the scales. “Honestly, that wasn’t in the plan. But I’ll take it.”

She stood up then, and Nero quickly followed suit, wasting no time in crossing the small space to reach her. He hesitated, unsure if they were on hugging terms at the moment, and felt his body immediately relax as she slid her arms around him and nestled herself into his chest.

“I wish you wouldn’t worry so much, though.” Kyrie mumbled into the fabric of his shirt, her words muffled and only audible to him. “I don’t want to be here to make you stressed the whole time, you have enough on your plate. I just want to be with you and support you. So if there’s anything you want me to do to ease your worries—besides going back home, of course—I’ll do it.”

At her words, Nero felt a sudden surge of warmth, and for what had to be the 2000th time in his life, he realized just how much he didn’t deserve the woman that was currently in his arms.

She’d been through enough suffering in Fortuna, with those quacks using her to get to him. And now, even with him trying to protect her and keep her out of trouble, he still somehow managed to mess everything up and make her suffer again.

Patience really was a virtue, and Kyrie was the most virtuous of them all.

“God, I’m such an idiot,” Nero groaned, lowering his head in resignation and bonking his forehead against the top of her head as he did so.

Kyrie smiled but said nothing, opting to instead squeeze her arms even tighter around him—though Nero could’ve sworn he heard Nico yell an agreement from outside the van.

“Rule number one: You always gotta have someone with you. Whether it’s me, Nico, Lady, Trish…Hell, even a random stranger.”

Nero rattled off his on-the-fly rules as he paced back and forth in the van, and Kyrie couldn’t help her amusem*nt. He was clearly flustered, trying to cover all the possible bases of danger in a condensed list of rules. “Wait—scratch that, not a random stranger, that could be dangerous too. Just keep it to one of us, alright?”

Unable to suppress a soft giggle this time, Kyrie leaned back on the padded seat and nodded, not really caring whatever rules he decided to enforce so long as it meant she could come along. It’s not like he’d always be there to see if she was following them anyway, especially if he was going to be in the underworld. And Nico didn’t seem like the tattle tale sort.

Though Kyrie would most likely comply anyway, as long as they stayed reasonable. She’d draw the line at wearing a leash, and at this point, wouldn’t be surprised if that actually was the next rule.

“Two: If there’s any sign of danger, and for whatever reason one of us isn’t with you, either hide immediately, or try to find one of us and go to us. But do not run away, just hide. Demon’s usually get distracted by the running horde and won’t notice you.”

Kyrie nodded, remembering Credo telling her something similar.

Nico raised her hand, and Nero for his part tried to ignore her for as long as he could. That only made Nico straighten her posture and extend her arm farther, however, and finally Nero settled his withering gaze on her. “What?”

“Well, if rule #1 is to always have someone with you, then rule #2 shouldn’t even exist right?” Nico asked with the same tone as a schoolkid correcting their teacher on a trivial piece of information.

“I said if--look, you on Kyrie’s side or not? ‘Cause now I’m thinking, y’know what? You’re right, Nico. There’s no guarantee she’ll be safe, so we should just turn around after all.”

Kyrie knew Nero was just messing with Nico to get her to be quiet, but couldn’t stop herself from giving the brunette a quick jab with her elbow.

“I—I was just jokin’, y’know…I’ll always be with her, you’ve seen how I am with my van. Wouldn’t be able to escape me if she tried!” Nico recovered hastily, patting Kyrie on the back as if the gesture alone would convince Nero of her bodyguarding capabilities.

Nero just crossed his arms and shook his head, already exhausted at everything that could go wrong. “Right…If anything, Kyrie’s more in danger of getting hit by your insane driving than an actual demon.”

Nero paced a bit more, trying to come up with more rules, though it seemed like he was fresh out. Not like there could be many rules to keep someone safe in the first place, it basically just came down to: don’t be stupid.

“Can’t even make it to rule #3?” Nico teased, clearly unimpressed with Nero’s short list. “Everybody knows all lists at least make it to 3. You tell me, you ever seen a list with just 2 things?”

Kyrie pinched the bridge of her nose. Really, Nico?

She gave Nico a sideways glance, willing her to be quiet. With her egging Nero on, he might end up making this list the size of a small novel just to prove he can.

Getting the hint from Kyrie and realizing she’d messed up again, Nico sat forward and attempted to do some damage control. “Y-Y’know what, 2 is a great list. Haven’t you heard, 3’s a crowd, after all!”

Kyrie moved to put her head in her hands.

The movement seemed to have made Nico realize the implication of what she was saying.

“Oh, but…3’s not a crowd when it comes to people! 3’s a crowd with lists…with people, though, 3 is the perfect amount. We’re…We’re basically like the 3 musketeers, don’tchya think?”

The van was completely quiet, Nico’s ramblings trailing off as she looked rapidly from Nero to Kyrie, wondering if she had saved the situation or ruined it beyond repair.

Kyrie couldn’t take it anymore.

She burst out laughing, leaning back on the sofa and wiping the tears that once again threatened to spill out, though this time for a much happier reason.

Nero, who had been staring at Nico and seemingly stunned to silence by her impressive self-sabotaging capabilities, finally thawed at the sound of Kyrie’s laughter as he joined in with her.

Nico once again looked to and fro between them, clearly still panicked and not understanding what was suddenly so funny. “f*ck it, I need a smoke.”

She clambered out, lighting her cigarette and inhaling deeply before she was fully out the door.

Nero kept staring at the door long after it had already slammed shut, thinking. Just as Kyrie was about to ask him what was on his mind, he turned to her.

“Aright, I thought of #3,” He announced, his tone strangely triumphant. Apparently, he had taken it to heart when Nico said a list needed at least 3 things.

Kyrie leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand while she waved at him with the other in a gesture to continue. “Enlighten me.”

Nero crouched down to her level, giving a little smirk that said he was pleased with what he’d come up with.

“Rule #3 is that rules #1 and #2 don’t apply.”

Kyrie blinked.

She hadn’t known what exactly she had been expecting with his sudden triumphant voice, but it definitely wasn’t that.

"What? Why?" Kyrie asked, eyebrows creased in confusion. It’s not like she wanted the rules, but she was too confused to be happy with this sudden development without wondering what had changed.

Nero hung his head and shook it, his white spiky hair momentarily the only thing in Kyrie's field of vision. She didn’t have long to admire it before he brought his head up again and sighed. “Because. They were stupid.”

Kyrie didn’t say anything, but Nero seemed to take her silence as an agreement anyway.

“Any rules I could think of are just common sense anyway.” he went on to explain, moving himself from his crouched position to the sofa beside her. “And I already know you can probably still recite word for word all of the, ’what to do if demons attack!’ drills from our good ol’ Fortuna school days. Because if their lousiest student still has them stuck in his head, I know you do, too.”

Kyrie perked up, holding her index finger out in the image of a shining student as she began to rehearse the drill. “In case of demonic appearance, accompany the nearest Holy Knight—”

Nero laughed, grabbing her hand in his and putting it back down. “Please, don’t make me relive that trauma,” he jokingly pleaded, but then gave her a once-over as he thought. “Although…if you had been my teacher back then…”

“Nero!” Kyrie laughed in a chiding tone, unable to keep herself from playfully slapping his arm at the sudden promiscuous tone and expression on his face.

“Anyway, like I was saying: you’re not an idiot. I don’t have to tell you things you already know and pretend that they’re rules. I guess I’m just…” He paused, trying to find the right words.

“Scared?” Kyrie offered with a gentle smile, putting her hand on his in a display of support to show she wasn’t making fun of him.

If it had been anybody else accusing him of being scared, he would have immediately gone on the defensive. But Kyrie accepted all of him, even the weaknesses.

And thank Sparda for that, because apparently he said some pretty dumb sh*t when he was scared.

“Yeah. Putting down these rules and making myself believe that you’d be okay if you just made sure to follow them…It was just stupid. I just wanted to hear you agree to them to make me feel better. But even if you follow some arbitrary common-sense rules I come up with, anything could still happen. Argh,”

Nero put his head down at the end, scratching his hands through his hair in a rare display of meekness and uncertainty.

“I feel like I’m going crazy. I swear I’m not going to turn into the type of guy that demands to know where you’ve been at every hour, or who every single man you talk to was. But that’s what it’s starting to feel like,” Nero said quietly, still in his downturned position, clearly distressed.

Kyrie leaned down to meet his eyes as he hung his head, her red hair falling off her shoulder like a wave as she did so.

“I know you’re not like that, Nero, so don’t worry. You’re just anxious about me being here, and you’re trying to adjust in your own way. In fact…”

Kyrie chewed on her lip, wondering if she should reveal this next part. But with their faces only inches apart and him already staring at her expectantly in a silent question, he’d get it out of her one way or the other.

“…When you were going on about the rules, I’d already made a mental note that I’d accept anything you decided on…but I drew the line at being leashed.”

Nero ducked his head down so quickly that Kyrie wasn’t sure where he’d gone for a second, as his shoulders shook with silent laughter that soon turned into full on laughter as he threw his head back.

“A leash? Seriously, what do you think I am? To even think that I might leash you in the first place…” Once again, Nero trailed off, staring at her with a glint of…something…in his eyes.

“Hey!” Kyrie laughed, once again slapping his arm in mock-reprimand.

Nero recoiled from her in an exaggerated motion, as if her small palm was the fiercest Devil Breaker of all. “Hey, you were the one who thought about it, not me.”

The relief of getting everything off their chests, combined with the close proximity and the suggestive topic of conversation inevitably turned their teasing into something a bit more. Nero leaned forward, testing the waters, though Kyrie was a bit uncertain due to being in Nico’s van.

It’s not like they were going to do anything like that, though, so it should be fine, even if Nico were to just walk in on them kissing…

Nero was too impatient for the silent internal dilemma she was having with herself, making the decision for both of them and diving in further to continue kissing her with enough force that she lost balance and had to catch herself with her other arm on the sofa behind her.

Taking advantage of her unbalanced and backward leaning position, Nero shifted himself further on top of her, moving to her neck and making a noise of frustration at the turtleneck that formed a barrier between the sensitive area and his hungry mouth.

Kyrie, for one, was grateful for it. Her neck was her weak point, and she didn’t want to go any further in Nico’s van. If Nero had managed to get going on her neck, the reasonable part of herself that said ‘don’t have sex in your friends van while she’s out having a smoke’ might just have gotten thrown out the window.

This was dangerous. Kyrie would have to remember to buy more turtlenecks for the trip.

Nero hiked Kyrie’s leg up, once again growling out a noise of frustration due to the fact that she was wearing a knee-length skirt that didn’t allow for much stretching, and so he didn’t really get far on that front.

Turtlenecks and tight skirts would have to be her new Nero defense, then. Maybe this is what the church meant when they said dressing modestly would keep away demons.

Nero continued with trying to lift her leg up and get it around him, and Kyrie really wondered if he was really planning to try do this right here and now, when they were parked at a public gas station with their friend outside.

Just as she was in the process of putting her hands on Nero’s chest to stop him, Nico’s muffled voice suddenly called from outside the van.

“You better lay a towel down wherever you do it!” she hollered. “Or pay for the van to be shampooed!”

Kyrie knew her face was as red as her hair.

She immediately bolted upright, and if her lover was anybody other than a demon with lightning reflexes, her head would be bruised by now from bumping into his chin. Instead, Nero tilted his head out of the way with minimal effort as she frantically scrambled up.

Nero, who hadn’t seemed to mind the interruption, was still leaned forward and had his hands held as if he were still holding an invisible Kyrie.

“If you’re gonna be travelling with Nico, get used to…well, a lot of that,” Nero jerked his thumb to where Nico’s voice had come from, chuckling mirthlessly. “To be honest though, if she thought that’s what we were doing, I’m surprised she didn’t just come in and stop it…Good to know.”

Kyrie whirled on Nero then, who held up his hands in surrender, though a pleased smirk still played on his face.

“I’m going to go buy a snack from the gas station! Do you want anything?” Kyrie asked, desperate to leave the van just to prove to Nico that her and Nero weren’t currently engaging in what she thought they were.

Nero co*cked his head to the side, thinking, and moved only his eyes to look at her as he pretended to think. “Nah, I’m good. I just had my snack.”

Kyrie was confused only for a moment, until Nero couldn’t stop his smirk from growing into a full-blown grin. As if that weren’t enough, his tongue quickly darted out as he licked the corner of his lips. Kyrie cried out, her voice somewhere between a wail of embarrassment and a fit of laughter.

She went to shove Nero playfully, though he grabbed her wrists before her hands could connect with his chest. “Easy, better not do anything that might rock the van, let alone cry out like that. ‘Else you really won’t be able to convince Nico that we didn’t just—”

“I’m going to go get a chocolate bar!” Kyrie nearly yelled, wrestling her wrists out of his hands and cutting Nero off before he could finish that thought.

Nico flinched as the door slammed open, clearly not expecting anybody to come out.

“I’m going to buy something from the gas station, do you want anything?” Kyrie offered politely, her flushed face not helping the situation.

Nico flashed the pack of cigarettes she smoked in order to show Kyrie the brand. “These babies, please. Oh, can ya grab me an energy drink too? Don’t care which one, just choose whatever one looks the unhealthiest and has the most neon colours.”

Kyrie nodded, confused at the strange directions but otherwise didn’t question it further. And although Nero hadn’t asked for anything, she had enough change on her that she would buy his favorite candy bar, too. A drink to wash it down as well, then.

Kyrie was feeling light on her feet. She had settled everything with Nero, and now something about being at a remote gas station with the beat up Devil May Cry van was really starting to make this feel like a road trip, which she’d obviously never been on before. It was the kind of thing she’d only seen in movies. And, it looked like she’d managed to convince Nico that her and Nero hadn’t done anything in the van after all.

With a brisk pep to her step, Kyrie made her way to the door of the gas station, when she heard Nico call out to Nero from behind her.

“That sure was fast! What’s all that demon stamina good for if you’re still a one-pump chump?”

Kyrie stumbled as she entered the store, hoping the chime of the bell that signaled her entrance would drown out Nico’s words to the confused man behind the counter.

Chapter 3: On the Road

Chapter Text

“I can’t remember the last time I had a hot dog,” Kyrie remarked as she held it in her hands, her face an equal mix of wonder and anticipation.

She’d smelled them cooking as soon as she entered the gas station convenience shop, and of course, Nero and Nico weren’t about to deny hot dogs for lunch.

“What do you mean? You had a hot dog in my van, just a few minutes ago,” Nico called to Kyrie from behind Nero as she stepped up to get into the van.

Kyrie looked back in confusion, but before she could ask Nico what she’d meant by that, Nero had already slammed the door on the other woman before she could step up with them into the vehicle.

“Hey! Help! Carjacking!” Nico shouted, banging like a gorilla with one hand on the other side of the door as she looked around for signs of other people. Unfortunately for her dramatics, the only other human being nearby was the man behind the counter in the gas station, and Nero got the distinct impression that he couldn’t wait for them all to leave.

“I told you to stop saying dirty sh*t like that in front of Kyrie!” Nero snapped, holding the door closed easily as she gave it a one-hand beatdown.

“Well you just said sh*t!” Nico shot back, stopping her banging momentarily to point an accusatory finger at him through the window of the door.

Nero paused. “sh*t,” He said again in realization, opening the door to let an angry Nico stomp her way in. “Well anyway, just shut up for once and eat your stupid hot dog.”

Whatever insult Nico was more than ready to throw back at Nero in response was cut off by the sound of melodic laughter.

“You two really bicker like siblings,” Kyrie observed happily, covering her mouth as she spoke around bites of her hot dog. “It must be fun to travel together like this.”

Nero couldn’t help the look he gave her, as if she were a crazy person witnessing an entirely different reality.

“Nah, it ain’t always rainbows and puppies with him,” Nico grumbled between bites of her own hot dog as she settled back into the driver’s seat. “Better now that you’re here, though. Nero tends to get pretty wound up, y’know?” Nico turned to look at him. “Now that Kyrie’s along, you can relieve any pent-up stress you have durin’ our travels.”

Nero had been too focused on his hot dog and was only half paying attention to Nico, seeing as his food was more important at the moment. “Let out my stress on Kyrie?” He repeated with a raised eyebrow, stopping to look at Nico before taking another bite. “I hope you’re not implying I’m violent with her. Then me and you are really gonna have a problem.”

Nico rolled her eyes, not intimidated by him in the least. “As if. I know you’d never lay a hand on her, lover boy. You look at her like she’s some revered goddess. I meant her helping you relieve your pent-up stress in other ways, genius.”

Nero’s eyebrows furrowed as he kept chewing his hotdog, staring at her, when suddenly a waggle of her eyebrows made him realize the implication. He sat up quickly, choking on his food as his throat tightened around it.

Kyrie was at his side in an instant, hand on his back as she hovered worriedly around him. “Are you okay?” She asked, and he simply nodded and held up a hand for her to give him a moment.

Imagine that. A demon being done in by choking on a hot dog. Now wouldn’t that be a way to go.

Then again, thinking of Dante, it didn’t exactly seem too far-fetched. Him choking on a slice of his own pizza was probably the only thing that could plausibly kill someone like him at this point.

Kyrie still looked confusedly between Nico and Nero, not quite understanding what had started their spat. “Seriously, don’t mind Nico.” Nero reassured her, waving a hand and relieved that, by the expression on her face, she hadn’t picked up on Nico’s insinuation.

“Aw, shoot.” Nico exclaimed suddenly, her voice losing enough of its playfulness that it actually made Nero pay attention.

He walked to the front of the van, placing a hand on the back of her seat as he leaned forward. “What’s up?”

“Accordin’ to the GPS, we ain’t gonna make it to Red Grave by today, even if we drive nonstop the rest o’ the way. Guess we stopped too long…but there was ‘n accident on the highway, to boot.”

Nero clicked his tongue, taking in the information. “Damn, guess the universe really doesn’t want us there,” he shrugged, pushing himself off Nico’s seat and heading back to where Kyrie sat. “Doesn’t really matter, though. Getting there tonight or tomorrow morning isn’t a big difference. We’ll just stay at a motel.”

“Sorry, it’s because of me.” Kyrie apologized meekly, though her guilty expression quickly turned inquisitive at his words. “But that does remind me of something I was curious about. You say motel…don’t you two sleep in the van?”

The two in question snorted simultaneously in response, and Kyrie was both amused and impressed at their synchronization.

“When he’s gone, sure, I sleep here.” Nico gestured with a nod of her head to the couch across from where Kyrie sat at the small table. “But the two of us? Ain’t enough room. I don’t think even you two could manage to cozy on up together on that sofa.”

“We do both sometimes crash in the van, though,” Nero corrected her. “But Nico always steals the sofa, so I’ll just pass out in the passenger seat. It reclines enough for a decent sleep, but I wake up with a hell of a crick in my neck.”

“And now we got a lady here,” Nico announced with flourish, apparently completely fine with not counting herself as a lady. “Nero, well…He can sleep wherever, but we can’t have our fair Kyrie sleeping in the passenger seat. Or worse, the floor.”

Despite her kind words, Nero didn’t miss that even in her example of where Kyrie would have to sleep, Nico hadn’t even hypothetically offered the sofa to her. He decided to let that slide, though, as he agreed with the main point of her statement. “Nico’s right, and especially not with the little amount of sleep you got last night.”

Nico perked an eyebrow up, though this time Kyrie caught on to the double meaning.

“I was packing,” Kyrie explained quickly, cutting off Nico before she could even begin to say whatever was on her mind. “I’m also fine sleeping somewhere in the van. It’s already my fault we’ve fallen behind schedule, so if it means we can keep driving, I can just sleep wherever.”

“It’s fine,” Nero reassured her, putting an easy hand on her shoulder. “Like I said, whether we arrive tonight or tomorrow morning isn’t a big deal.”

Kyrie still looked a little guilty despite his words, so Nero opted to offered her a grin and a wink instead. “Besides, I also like using you as an excuse to be able to stop at a motel and sleep in an actual bed. Nico’d never do it just for me.”

Nico gave a hard affirmation from where she sat in the front, and Kyrie laughed.

The three of them did small nothings as they made the surprisingly peaceful drive to Red Grave.

With Kyrie in the passenger seat and Nero playing around in the back tinkering with the juke box and devil breakers, there was a lot less bickering that went on and a lot more friendly, non-important small talk.

Kyrie had felt bad for riding shotgun, as if she’d been usurping Nero’s usual position, but he’d insisted. He’d rather have her sitting in a seat and properly buckled in if she was gonna be in a vehicle that Nico was driving.

But still. Though he’d never admit it, Nero felt oddly reassured if Nico was the one driving, especially when Kyrie was in the van. If it were anybody else, something could happen, but Nero knew that even if she had to pull some crazy sh*t, Nico always landed on her feet.

Or, well, the van did.

Of course, he could never admit this trust in her, and so as far as Nico was concerned, Kyrie should be the one buckled in.

A peaceful silence stretched throughout the van, only the sound of Nero’s tinkering and the cozy tune on the jukebox was present in the van. Kyrie’s head rested against the window, and Nero assumed she must have fallen asleep.

That is, until they drove by a fast-food joint, and Kyrie turned in her seat, addressing both of them. “What do you guys usually eat?”

Nero hesitated to answer, feeling like a sheepish kid who’d been caught giving his broccoli to the dog.

Nico, on the other hand, had absolutely no shame. “Drive thru all day, every day, baby!” she exclaimed, flashing a grin at Kyrie beside her.

“Yeah, and Nico’s got us banned from a bunch of places, the way she drives through the damn drive thru’s,” Nero added to knock her down a peg, coming up to the front and giving the back of her seat a good thump with his boot. “You do realize that just because it’s called a drive thru, it doesn’t give you clearance to actually drive through everybody?”

“What?” Kyrie gasped out in shock, turning to Nico who only gave a nonchalant shrug in response. Her shock was short lived, though, and Kyrie slowly erupted into a fit of laughter, hesitant at first due to the moral conundrum she was most likely having.

“It is true that fast food is good every once in a while,” Kyrie agreed after all the giggles had cleared out of her system. Though they almost returned just by thinking about ‘fast’ food, and how literally Nico might also take that phrase. “But now that I’m here, I’ll make sure you two get a healthy dose of homecooked meals.”

“What? How?” Nero all but interrogated, his spirits lifted at the thought of suddenly being able to eat Kyrie’s food even while he was on a job. Besides the obvious one being missing Kyrie, there were a lot of little things that added up to Nero’s absolute homesickness when he was away for too long, and homecooked meals from Kyrie were definitely at the top of the list. “It’s not like we have a kitchen in here, and there’s no guarantee the place we stay at will have anything.”

Nero didn’t want to disagree with her, but he also didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Kyrie, however, was unphased by his skepticism, rekindling his hope as she looked back at Nero with a triumphant, almost sly smile.

A sly smile, on Kyrie?

It was such a rare expression for her, and Nero realized how much he liked it—not only for the cute mischievousness of the look, but the fact that she was even able to make that face in the first place. It had been so long since they’d just been able to get away and act and care about the things most people their age did, instead of being premature parents taking care of kids that weren’t even their own.

The orphanage in Fortuna was steadily being rebuilt and regaining more and more space, so it wouldn’t be long before the kids in their care would be able to move back in. Nero knew he would miss the little buggers, especially Julio, but he wasn’t quite ready to be a father yet. And when he was, he’d want it to be with his and Kyrie’s flesh and blood.

Even with them gone, Julio and the others could always still visit, and he had no doubt in his mind that Kyrie would insist upon it anyway, and visit them as well.

Huh, actually, he wondered if Julia and Julio were getting along back at home. At least they had some things in common.

Nero got taken out of his tangent of strange thought-threads when Kyrie followed up her sly look by getting out of the passenger seat and maneuvering past him and into the back of the van.

Nico had tucked their suitcases into one of the shelves behind her workbench, and Kyrie pulled hers out, careful not to let it hit the ground too hard. She struggled to carry it, instead opting just to slide it across the floor. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Nero automatically went to her side, picking it up and laying it on the couch for her.

“I don’t need to rely on other people’s cooking appliances,” Kyrie explained with gusto to Nero’s ever growing confusion as to why her suitcase was suddenly relevant.

The reasoning behind her proud smile soon revealed itself.

“What the—hell?” Nero sputtered, catching himself from swearing at the last second.

Unable to join in on the excitement as she kept her eyes dutifully on the road, Nico looked at them impatiently in the rearview mirror as she bounced. “What? What?”

Opting to show rather than tell, Nero took out what Kyrie had packed and held it up for Nico to see in the reflection.

As if to make sure she’d seen it correctly, Nico quickly twisted her head back to get a look at it in person, before returning her eyes to the road.

“Well, dang! You brought a whole ass slow cooker!” Nico half asked, half exclaimed.

Kyrie met Nico’s gaze in the rearview mirror, giving her a thumbs up, while her other rested squarely on her hip. “Those devil breakers might be some crazy good technology, but can they beat the genius concept of a portable stove-and-oven combo?”

No wonder her luggage had been so damn heavy. Their model wasn’t one of the newer sleek and small ones. It was big and clunky, which on the upside meant more room for food (and larger portions), but it also took up a hell of a lot of space in her suitcase—half, to be precise.

Nero’d been wondering where the bigger suitcase had gone off to when he was packing—if Kyrie’d used the one he’d packed in, the slow cooker would have taken up almost the entire thing, leaving her no room for the few clothes she did manage to bring along. Which…wasn’t much.

“I can always do laundry,” Kyrie defended her decision preemptively, most likely already seeing the concerned look on Nero’s face as he scanned her belongings…or, lack thereof. “Food first, fashion second!”

Well, at least that was a motto he could get behind.

Now Nero would be able to be with Kyrie while out on a job and still eat her homemade cooking? He quickly swept her into a hug, shaking his head in disbelief and amazement as he did so. “Man, how did we ever survive without you?”

Kyrie smiled into his chest, her laughter resounding throughout the small space. It made Nero realize just how quiet the van had always been before now.

“Sorry, we’re full up.”

Nero cursed under his breath.

He looked around the motel lobby in frustration, figuring something like this would happen due to how late it was. If they kept driving they’d make it to Red Grave by 4am, but It was already 2:30, and Nero wasn’t taking his chances on letting Nico continue any longer.

She refused to let him drive instead due to pure stubbornness alone, so Nero had spent the last hour keeping an eye on her as she drove to make sure her eyes didn’t droop past a certain point. He’d nearly made her swerve off the road when he finally exclaimed that he saw a motel in the distance and for her to pull over.

Nico stepped forward towards the counter, trying to get a peek at the receptionist’s paper on the clipboard. “Sure you got nothin’?” she asked, as the woman tilted it away from Nico with a rude look that told her she was used to these sorts of customers. Nico backed away with a shrug.

Kyrie was latched onto Nero’s arm, leaning her head against his shoulder as she dozed in and out. She was dead on her feet, not used to staying up this late since she had to wake up every morning with the kids. Couple that with the fact that she also barely got any sleep last night…well, Nero was surprised she was even still standing.

He resisted the urge to just sweep her into a bridal carry and let her off her feet completely, but he knew that would probably garner some eye rolls and other negative attention from the other 2 women that he didn’t feel like putting up with at the moment.

“Then can we park our van in your lot for the night?” Nero asked. “We’ll pay for parking.”

“Like hell. You’ll pay.” Nico corrected, walking over to one of the chairs in the lobby and falling down on it with a dramatic sigh of relief. “You’re the one that made me pull over. Unlike your pampered ass, I ain’t picky. Maybe I’ll just put my feet up on a chair right here and catch some z’s now.”

The woman behind the counter looked distraught at that, and seemed to skim through her clipboard again, this time really looking. Nero didn’t miss the clear relief on her face as she caught sight of something she hadn’t seen—or just hadn’t bothered to look for—before.

“That won’t be necessary, miss.” She told them, basically forcing out the word “miss”, and it took all of Nero’s remaining energy to keep his laughter in check. “There’s one open spot. However…”

Nero’s head fell back in exasperation. “Lemme guess: only one bed?”

The woman nodded, looking from Kyrie to Nico as if trying to gauge the situation.

“Well, how we gonna play this?” Nero asked bluntly, turning to Nico who was already being handed the keys to the room. If there was one thing he knew him and Nico would agree on, it was that it went without saying that Kyrie would have a spot on the bed. The rest, he’d leave up to Nico.

“Well, let’s wait till we see the room, lover boy. Maybe there’s a nice couch in there that you can curl up on.”

To the shock of nobody, there was no couch.

Nero knew there wouldn’t be—this motel looked as if it had been trying to get by with just the bare minimum: a bed, and some walls to go around it.

Upon entering a room with a bed, though, Kyrie seemed to blink awake and out of her daze, as if it had called out to her.

“Oh, we got a room,” she said curiously, and Nero had to stop himself from laughing. Man, she had really been out of it. “Who’s getting the bed?”

Nico stepped beside Nero, placing her arms on Kyrie’s back as she pushed her towards it. “As if you even have’ta ask, sleepin’ beauty. Crawl on in.”

Kyrie nodded, her tiredness apparently overriding her usual politeness and insistence that somebody else should take it first, and her body moved on autopilot towards it. She flopped down on her back, stretching out like a cat after sitting in the van all day. Nero smiled as he watched her.

“And now, decisions decisions…” Nico drawled, though her words contradicted her actions, apparently having already made up her mind as she walked closer to the bed with each word.

She jumped into the bed and the force made Kyrie bounce a few times, clearing some of her sleepy haze. She blinked at Nico and laughed as the mechanic scrambled into the bed and wasted no time in getting under the covers. She patted the spot next to her, imploring Kyrie to join her.

Kyrie had no arguments, sliding lazily under the covers and exhaling happily.

Nero watched them by the door with his arms crossed, smirking. They looked like 2 schoolgirls at a sleepover.

“Guess that’s decided then. Nico, gimme the keys, I’ll go sleep in the van.”

Kyrie, in her slightly more alert state now thanks to Nico’s jump, seemed to have regained more of a grasp on the situation. And with that, her trademark consideration also returned. “No, Nero, I’ll—”

Nico interrupted Kyrie with an impressed whistle as she regarded Nero. “Wow, you actually lettin’ me stay in the bed, no fighting? What a gentleman! So, this is what it’s like to be treated like a lady by Nero!”

Nero shifted his weight onto his other leg and put a hand on his hip, co*cking his head as he looked at her doubtfully. “I’m not that much of an asshole. Kyrie was up early and you’ve been driving all day. You two need rest.”

Nico begun to fake cry, as if moved to tears by his kindness, and it took every ounce of Nero’s demonic strength to refrain from grabbing her and flinging her out of the bed after all. Maybe he could even throw her out of the window and slam dunk her into the van from here.

“Thank you, Nero.” Kyrie said simply, once again her sleepiness overriding everything else, as he knew a more wide-awake Kyrie would have insisted the two of them both take the bed and she’d sleep in the van.

“Yeah, thank you, Nero,” Nico added in the same tone Kyrie used, sending chills down Nero’s spine as she snuggled up to the redhead with a content sigh. “So soft, and smells so good, too! Now I know why you’re always such a cranky pants when you’re on a trip with me, when you could be doing this instead.”

Nico continued to snuggle into Kyrie, wrapping her arms around her and nuzzling her like you would a teddy bear. Kyrie kept her eyes closed, though a soft smile formed at her lips.

Nero felt his eyebrow twitch as he watched, and some weird animalistic part of him couldn’t help but hope Nico didn’t get the smell of cigarettes all over Kyrie.

…Even worse, he really hoped that Kyrie’s scent didn’t rub off too much on Nico. Expecting to see Kyrie and turning around only to see Nico would probably scar him for life.

“Whatever. Have fun.” Nero held out his hand open-palmed, flapping his fingers impatiently. “Just gimme your keys and I’ll get outta your hair. I’d hate to crash this slumber party any longer than I already have. No boys allowed, and all that.”

Nico let out a dramatic yawn, glancing lazily over at Nero before turning away again. “Too tired. Come ‘n get ‘em.” she commanded, her eyes closed as they jingled in her hand.

Nero lost count of how many times he rolled his eyes as he walked towards her impatiently. Just when he rounded the bed to get them from her, she grabbed his arm and swiftly yanked him so that he was now on the bed and she was standing, keys still in hand.

“As if I’m gonna let your bitch ass alone with the keys to my baby. Anybody’s sleeping on that sofa, its gonna be me.”

Nero barely heard a word she said, not caring for her reasoning and already kicking off his combat boots as he put his feet up on the bed. “Yeah, yeah, you sure got me. Have fun. Just don’t drive off without us.”

“Without you, maybe,” Nico scoffed as she headed to the door. “’Aint no way I’d leave Kyrie though, so you can rest your pretty little head.”

“Already on it.” Nero replied blandly, sliding out of his jacket next and tossing it to the floor as he leaned back with what the kids had called his ‘old man groan’.

“And c’mon, how could I get in between this?” Nico continued to add, apparently never able to leave quietly as she gestured to them. “The two of you, alone, in a motel room…Well, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” she instructed as she finally left their room.

Nero’s head was on the pillow, eyes closed, but he still couldn’t resist the urge to shake his head at her stupid parting comment. Kyrie was already asleep and he was nearly there. He’d already known, but Nico really did just say stupid sh*t for the sake of saying it.

Kyrie, apparently still under the belief that it was Nico in the bed with her, sighed and rolled over towards him. “Mhmm….Nico…?”

Nero laughed shortly, the air escaping his nose quickly in an almost-snort. “Close. You’re off by 2 letters.”

“I see…” Kyrie breathed in her sleep, and Nero whipped his head to the side to look at her, wondering if she had just accidentally made the best and worst pun of all time by accident, and in her sleep to boot. The “I” and “c” were the 2 letters she was off by, and she had just said…

Nero stared at her for a bit longer to see if she’d acknowledge the pun, but it seemed it really was unintentional. He’d have to tell her all about how her subconscious mind was a pun master in the morning.

But, for now…

Nero swept her closer to him, burying his face into her hair and relieved to find that she still smelt of herself and not of Nico or her cigarettes.

“Nero…” Kyrie mumbled, correcting her earlier case of mistaken identity as she realized, even in her sleep, who was next to her from the familiarity of how their bodies fit together.

“Now you got it.” he mumbled teasingly into her hair, punctuating his sentence with a kiss before letting his head fall heavy onto the pillow. He was asleep before he remembered to say ‘good night.’

It was rare to wake up with Kyrie still snuggled into him.

She’d usually slip out of bed a bit earlier than him to get a head start on breakfast, and although he (and the kids, of course) appreciated it, he definitely missed waking up with her still next to him.

The fact that they were even in the exact same position as the one they’d fallen asleep in—her head in the crook of his armpit and her hands on his chest, while one of his arms was wrapped around her waist—just proved how dead tired both of them had been. He wouldn’t be surprised if they hadn’t moved an inch.

He knew they had places to go and people to see, but he closed his eyes again, not wanting to pass up on the rare opportunity of a peaceful morning to sleep in with Kyrie.

But of course, as if on cue, he felt Kyrie gently remove his hand and slowly slide out of his grip, trying not to wake him.

Not even a moment longer after he’d thought that he wanted to spend more time like that, it was already gone.

Man, God really didn’t like him. Never understood why.

He briefly considered snatching her back as she tried to sneak out of his arms, but he let her go, figuring he would catch a few more z’s as she got ready.

That was, until he heard the shower turn on.

First, he cracked one eye open and contemplated. Then another. He suddenly found the motivation and willpower to wake up, and was out of bed in an instant, making his way to the bathroom.

He knocked just so that he didn’t scare her on his way in.

“Oh, sorry! Did I wake you?” Kyrie shouted over the stream of hot water, and peeked out slightly from behind the curtain at him. Her red hair stuck to her face and slithered around her neck and shoulders like snakes.

“Nah, I was just waking up, too.” Nero said easily, taking off his shirt before he finished his sentence. Kyrie widened her eyes momentarily and then ducked back behind the curtain.

Although they’d been together all this time in more ways than one, there were some things she was still bashful about, and showering together was one of them. Nero wasn’t sure if it was because showering was something one is usually used to doing on their own for most of their life, and she still hadn’t got used to it, but he didn’t really care what the reasoning was. It was cute to see her flustered.

Though, that wasn’t the only reason he enjoyed showering with her, obviously.

She was already beautiful, but naked and glistening with water really made her look like some sort of goddess.

He opened the curtain, eager to get in, when suddenly she shouted. “Oh no!”

Nero froze with his foot on the side of the tub, and that certain insecure part of him that insisted Kyrie would one day realize she was too good for him decided to bubble to the surface, telling him that she didn’t want him to come in with her.

“What is it?” he asked nonchalantly, successfully hiding any anxiety that may have been in his voice.

“My clothes!” Kyrie exclaimed, as if that told him what he needed to know. “They’re not here!”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Nero answered back seriously, taking the excuse of his joke to let his eyes roam over her naked form.

Despite herself, she blushed. “No, I mean, my suitcase is in the van. I don’t have any clothes to change into when I get out.”

Nero looked at her for a few more seconds, waiting for her to expand. “I’m still not seeing the problem here.”

“Nero!” Kyrie reprimanded, though couldn’t keep the laughter out of her voice as she flicked shower water at his face.

Nero ducked out of the way, grinning as he dodged most of the blasts. “I’m on it, I’m on it. I’ll go grab them. Don’t go anywhere!”

He could still hear the smile in Kyrie’s voice as she yelled back, “I’ll try!”

Instead of going down the stairs he decided on a shortcut, hopping through the window and down to the parking lot, wasting no time as he swung his fist down on the door of Nico’s van.

No answer.

Nero banged a few more times, wondering how loud he’d have to knock for her to wake up. Familiar images of how Nico would drill and clang those devil breakers as she made them—all with no hearing protection—made him realize he may be here for a while.

He considered turning his arm back into an ethereal blue claw form and scratching the door to really wake her up and get her blood pumping, but used his better judgement and simply tried opening the door first.

The door swung open easily, to Nero’s surprise. If it was unlocked, guess that meant she was awake and was probably working in the back and didn’t hear him.

As he walked in, though, he was met with an unconscious Nico sprawled out over the sofa, most of her body off of it rather than on it at this point.

“Are you stupid?” Nero couldn’t help himself from yelling as he strode in, heaving her falling form back more securely onto the cushions. “You sleep in some seedy motel parking lot and don’t even lock the door?” he gestured to the area around them, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

Still groggy from sleep and not fully comprehending what he was so angry about, Nico simply gave a half lidded smile and pulled a revolver out of the cushions, as if that solved everything.

Nero just shook his head, dumbfounded. “Yeah, well, unless you can shoot that in your sleep, I don’t think that would’ve helped you much. But anyway,” he moved on, realizing he would die of stress if he worried about every dumb thing Nico did. If he didn’t already have naturally white hair, it would probably have turned white long ago anyway. “Kyrie’s in the shower, you can head up to take one after her if you want.”

Nico sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and shaking her head. “Nah…’m good. Had a shower recently, and I can’t wash my hair too much. It gets, y’know…” she held her hands up around her head, trying to find the right word.

“Frizzy?” Nero supplied, easily stepping back to dodge the kick that she swung his way.

“Voluptuous!” she corrected. “So, I don’t wash my hair much. A little dry conditioner and ‘m good.”

“Gotcha,” Nero replied, not actually getting it, walking past her to grab an outfit from Kyrie’s suitcase.

Nero was suddenly very happy once more that Nico’s scent hadn’t rubbed off onto Kyrie.

They arrived in Red Grave by 11am, having left bright and early from the motel.

They’d also gotten drive thru breakfast, having one last grease filled take-out extravaganza (with Kyrie’s blessing, of course) before being spoiled by her cooking every day.

Nico sped through the city with extra speed and ease, taking shortcuts that even natives to the city didn’t know about, and managing to tightly hug all the curves perfectly even with her crazy speed.

Driving through the city as much as they did when the Qliphoth was still here and the chaos that was ensuing then only made driving through the same city on a normal day that much easier, not to mention the…smaller population size. Nico probably could have done it in her sleep.

“What did they say on the phone? Are we checking into a hotel first or are we meeting them?” Kyrie asked, gripping tightly onto the seat, probably talking just to distract herself. Nero knew Nico was driving more carefully than usual for Kyrie’s sake, but Nico’s barometer for what ‘careful’ was only went so low.

“Nah, Lady told me to meet up with ‘em first. Might not need a hotel, depending.”

“Where are we meeting them?” Nero tried to see where they were going through the windows, but with the route Nico took it was impossible to tell. Not to mention the speed made everything a blur.

The van turned one last corner and suddenly made a screeching halt, and everybody in the van braced themselves while Nero just did his best on trying not to fly through the windshield.

“D’ya even have to ask?” Nico asked with a mocking raise of her eyebrow, lighting a cigarette as she got out of the vehicle.

Nero looked out the window, and upon seeing the neon sign on the building that matched the one on their van, he shook his head and smirked.

“Well, silly me.”

Chapter 4: Traces of the Yamato

Chapter Text

“They call us here, and nobody’s even home?” Nero balked, shaking the door handle repeatedly in annoyance.

“Relax, princess,” Nico drawled, strolling up the few steps behind him and giving him a pat on the shoulder as she passed him. She reached her hand into the mailbox, and after a second of feeling around, wiggled the key she’d gathered in front of his face. “Said to let ourselves in, they’ll be back soon.”

Let himself in, huh?

After they’d first met back in Fortuna, Nero had met Dante again even before all the Urizen stuff went down, but those meetings had been few and far between, not to mention they’d been on the field, so it didn't exactly make for a good catching up environment. Since he'd never actually been inside Dante’s office here in Red Grave, it felt almost wrong to invade the space without the infamous devil hunter here to invite him in himself for the first time, which he knew was stupid. Nero was his f*cking nephew, for Christ’s sake, he wasn't some random intruder.

It was about damn time, anyway. Old bastard knew Nero was his nephew all this time, and yet he’d never come to Nero to at least try and get to know him, or invite him in after a job? Dante had sent them the matching goddamn Devil May Cry sign which was now on their van for crying out loud, and yet he'd never made time to go out for a drink?

He was about to step through the threshold of the office, when Nico suddenly bowed in the same way a butler would, and held out her hand with a dramatic flourish as a signal to let him pass.

“Ladies first!”

Nico’d already made it clear she didn’t exactly consider herself a ‘lady’, but he was still amazed she had the energy to keep up with saying stupid sh*t like this all the time. "Up your butt" had been a personal low for her in immaturity levels, though he wondered if he was any better, considering she did still manage to rile him up from time to time.

“Grow up,” Nero shot back. Her comment didn’t bother him.

And yet, despite himself, he paused, realizing Kyrie wasn’t up at the doorstep along with them. It’s not like he cared, but going to help Kyrie was the perfect way to beat Nico at her immature game, as now he had a legitimate reason to not go in first. As he jogged down the steps to return to Kyrie and the van, Nico laughed and yelled out “Nice save, buster! I’ll grow up when you do!”

Nero hopped into the open door of the van, and looked to the back to see Kyrie dragging both of their suitcases with each hand.

“Hey, hey, lemme help with that,” Nero swooped in, swiftly picking up both of the suitcases and securing them under each arm. Not only did her suitcase have a full-ass slow cooker, but his also had more than just clothes—he’d packed maintenance tools and backup parts for the Blue Rose, along with ammo to go with it.

“Thanks,” Kyrie breathed, a hint of disappointment to her tone as she straightened up. “I thought I’d at least be able to bring them both to the sidewalk. I assumed you and Nico would already be roaming Dante's establishment like two kids in a candy shop, so I didn't want to interrupt."

Nero raised his eyebrow at her casual tease, smirking at her attempted look of innocence. “You’d have been able to get our stuff there in pieces, maybe. Reassembling everything might have been a fun evening activity, though, kinda like building furniture from IKEA.”

Kyrie must have realized that between Nero’s constant spats with Nico and his exchanges with demons, he could go all day throwing quips and taunts back and forth with somebody, and so she ended it with a breathless laugh of surrender. “Point taken.”

She closed the door to the van behind them, rejoining Nero as he stood, looking up at the shop. Nico had already disappeared inside, as was evident by music that had inexplicably already begun playing from somewhere within.

Nero noticed Kyrie’s head turn to look at him from the corner of his eye as he kept his gaze fixed on the pink neon sign.

“Are you nervous?” she asked quietly, resting a hand on his forearm to comfort him. He’d already had suspicions, but Kyrie must have had superpowers, the way she was always able to read him so easily. It was useless to put on a front or hide any emotions with her—her honey coloured eyes always poured into his and found an opening in his cool blue ones, like cracked ice. Even if he himself didn’t quite know there were any cracks to begin with.

“I dunno. I just…” He shook his head, trying to put his garbled thoughts and emotions into a coherent sentence. “I’ve always wanted to check out the Devil May Cry shop in person, but now it’s just…It just feels weird. To be here.”

Even he didn’t fully understand why. He tried to convince himself that it was because the actual owner of the shop wasn’t here, but he knew that was bull. Nero opened and closed his mouth a few times as he thought of what to say, and Kyrie took her hand off of his arm, turning away from him to join him in looking at the shop.

“It’s scary, to suddenly see something in an entirely new light,” she began softly, keeping her eyes fixed on the building. “I think I understand, Nero. You’ve lived your whole life thinking you had no family, no home of your own to return to. But now…”

Kyrie turned to look at him once again, her gaze kind yet steadfast all at the same time, as usual. “This isn’t just the Devil May Cry shop to you anymore. It’s your Uncle’s shop…his home, even. And by extension…”

Nero stared back at her knowing eyes, waiting for his realization. She was right. This was no longer some famous devil hunters shop, this was his own family’s shop, a place where a family member lived. There would be hints about what he liked, his hobbies, and…maybe even about Vergil.

And Kyrie was right. Although he knew he’d never leave Kyrie and prayed the same was true for her, having actual flesh and blood family…somehow, it felt as if it anchored him and his existence to this Earth. He wasn’t alone, and no matter what happened, he would always have them. At least in a biological sense.

Seemingly pleased that she’d helped him sort out his own muddled feelings, Kyrie smiled and divulged some of her own. “I recognized what you were feeling right away, since I’ve felt like that before, too.”

“You did?” Nero raised an eyebrow, trying to think of what she could mean. Sure, her parents had both passed away, but she still had Credo. And even after Credo…well, he knew she still had some other distant relatives, somewhere.

“Not so much the finding a family part,” she explained at his confusion. “More of the…well…seeing something one way, and then suddenly realizing you see it another way. And being scared about what that means.”

He was still lost.

Though as he stared at her profile with his brows knitted in thought, he noticed a slow blush creep up to her cheeks. That only served to make him even more confused and curious. Talking about seeing something one way, and then suddenly seeing it in a new light? Why would that make her—

Oh.

“You’re talking about me?” Nero asked curiously, wondering if maybe he was just conceited for thinking so. The sheepishly bashful look on Kyrie’s face, however, told him he’d hit jackpot.

“Well, it’s nowhere near what you’re going through now with your family,” she quickly turned to him, trying to downplay it in her embarrassment. “But, your situation now just reminded me of…well…Back when you first began living with Credo and I, and I’d always try to tell myself you were a new part of the family, maybe a brother. But as time went on and I realized I saw you as more than that…”

Nero was staring at her raptly, feeling as if she had been physically pulling him in closer by some invisible thread with every word. When she suddenly trailed off, the thread seemed to snap and he blinked, urging her to continue. It was so rare that she spoke of those days regarding the two of them, from before they had officially become lovers. Is this why? Had she been ashamed of it?

“You just start to see things differently,” she laughed, pointedly keeping her eyes anywhere but his face. “In the same way this is no longer just a shop to you, going into your room to tell you dinner was ready was no longer ‘just’ that, and I probably stared at your door before knocking the same way you’re staring at this shop now.”

Nero must have been silent for too long, because Kyrie eventually—and shyly—risked a peek up at him. At her finally meeting his gaze through her lashes, it was as if she’d activated some sort of trap, and he dropped the suitcases he had under each arm to wrap them around her instead, feeling a sudden and overwhelming rush of love.

“Nero?” she asked into his shoulder, and he could feel her eyelashes batting against his neck in confusion. He held her for a moment longer before pulling them apart and grinning down at her. Despite her puzzled expression, his smile was infectious and she returned it in spades.

“You got any diaries from back then?” Nero suddenly inquired, only furthering her confusion and he couldn’t help but laugh at her expression. “I like hearing about how you felt back then, before we told each other. I never realized you loved me that far back. And you shouldn’t have felt guilty about it, ‘cause I sure as hell didn’t. ”

Kyrie tipped her head onto his chest and laughed as she shook it back in forth, causing her bangs to frizz up on his shirt. “Of course you didn’t. Credo’s attitude towards you back then is really making a lot more sense now.” She looked up and Nero simply shrugged with over-exaggerated innocence, and Kyrie smiled as if that gesture only reaffirmed what she had been about to say. “And of course I’ve always loved you. It just…took me a while to realize what sort of love it was. Sorry I made you wait so long.”

“Woulda waited as long as it took,” Nero mumbled gruffly near her mouth, before pulling away and holding out his arms in a show of majesty. “But, c’mon. I shoulda figured. Goes without saying it was love at first sight when you saw this, huh?”

Kyrie giggled, though he didn’t miss her slight eyeroll at his words, and such a transgression could not go unpunished. As the two finally began to make their way up the steps and into the shop, Nero gave her ass a quick spank, causing her to yelp and run up even faster.

Once she was inside she quickly spun and turned to close the door on him, but Nero caught it with his boot and grinned at her through the opening, co*cking his head as if to say: ‘cmon.

“Sorry miss, but slamming the door isn’t gonna prevent any demons from getting in,” he said smoothly, easing his way in as Kyrie’s laughter and mock cries of terror became muffled against his lips.

Nico peeked her head from the upper floor, about to yell something, but cut herself off and revised it. “Get a room!” she hollered above the music.

Nero promptly ignored her, kissing Kyrie deeper and pressing against her so that the door closed behind her back. He didn’t want Nico to think he legitimately hadn’t heard her due to the music, so he raised his arm behind his back and flipped her off to let her know he was ignoring her.

He didn’t hear her reply, but he did hear a pair of cowboy boots stomp angrily down the stairs. Deciding it probably wasn’t a good idea to keep his back turned to an angry Nico, he quickly spun just in time to grab her wrist, stopping the hand that she thrust towards him, which was pointed so that all of her fingers were down except for her index. Nero wasn’t sure what she had been planning to do to him with her pointed index finger while his back was turned, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to ask.

Kyrie ‘ooh’d’ and ‘aah’d’ somewhere further in the shop, having left Nico and Nero to their spat, admiring the small but very personalized space.

“I was expecting…dirtier,” she admitted happily, after Nero had passed on some horror stories he’d heard from Morrison. Something about moldy pizza, and toilets not even being able to flush. “But it’s surprisingly cozy.”

“Yeah, it is.” Nero looked up, walking slowly to take it all in and appreciate every detail. To the large wooden desk, leather chair, old fashioned rotary phone…not to mention the old-fashioned jukebox. Nico would be happy about that, seeing as she’d be able to play her signature music, even here.

“Guess the old fart really embraces his age, eh,” Nero observed, wondering if this place even had any Wi-Fi. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if Dante sent all his messages by an intricate web of pizza delivery men. Though if his interactions with Nero were anything to go by, it was more likely he simply didn’t send messages, period.

Just being in this space, he felt as if he’d already gotten to know Dante…his uncle, a little better already. Like Kyrie, he’d also been expecting the place to look worse, but being in this dimly lit, cozy space, he could tell this shop was a comfort for Dante.

Nero’s eyes scanned hungrily over every piece of furniture down to its placement, in order to learn even a tiny bit more about the man who was supposed to be his uncle. He was looking for new and strange things, sure, but he was also keeping his eyes peeled for anything they had in common.

“Oh, gimme a break,” Nero groaned as he approached the desk. Kyrie joined him at his side to see what he was looking at, and Nico turned her head from where she was fiddling with the Jukebox.

On the wall behind his desk was an assortment of magazine pages and covers, and every single one of them had a half-naked woman in it. At least Dante had enough self-awareness to not hang full-on p*rn on the walls, though Nero only suspected he refrained from doing so since clients sometimes would come in.

The semi-nudie mags on the wall managed to answer at least one of the many questions Nero had about Dante: that the old f*ck definitely didn’t use Wi-fi if he was still getting his rocks off to physical prints, when there was a world of wonders just awaiting him on the internet.

Thankfully Nico mistook Nero’s look of disapproval at Dante’s p*rn-consuming methods for distaste of the p*rn itself on the wall, and she nudged him with an elbow and smirked. “What is it, church boy? Y’gonna have a heart attack seein’ a half-naked woman after growin’ up in Fortuna, land of the robes and bare ankles?”

Nero shook her off, and strode up to the wall. Kyrie finally noticed what they were doing, having explored an area further in the back that looked to be a bar, and she made a noise of surprise but otherwise didn’t share her opinion on the pictures.

He’d already been planning on it, but especially now that Kyrie was watching, Nero tore them down one by one, though was still considerate enough to be careful not to rip them.

“Hey, hey, hey, pal! What’re you doing? You can’t just walk in and renovate like y’own the place!” Nico snapped, as if he was doing something way more drastic than just taking down a few pictures.

“I don’t want this stuff up in front of Kyrie. And if it’ll get you to shut up,” Nero held the pile out to her, heaving them into her chest as she quickly held up her arms to make sure not a single one floated down onto the floor. “Then you can have them.”

Nico’s eyes lit up and she sifted through them, eyes roaming over them and holding them at arm’s length to get a better look as she scrutinized them carefully. Nero watched her in both confusion and fascination. He’d never even seen her look at the road with this much concetration.

“The hell’re you doing?” he asked bluntly, wondering if maybe she was amazed by the sheer spectacle of a lewd magazine, which seemed to only exist in the land of old films.

“Trying to think which ones would look best in the van!” Nico exclaimed happily, holding up two side by side and looking rapidly between them. “I’ve been wantin’ some new decorations for a while!”

“Oh, hell no.” Nero took a swipe to take them back from her, and although he was indisputably faster, he hadn’t been expecting her to full on sprint as if her life depended on it. She hid behind the big wooden desk, her eyes never leaving her newfound treasure.

“Is it really alright to take those, though?” Kyrie spoke up then, looking almost wistfully to the now-blank spot on the wall. “It’s sweet of you, but I really don’t mind, Nero. Besides, don’t you want to learn about the things your uncle likes? It feels wrong to just take down ones we don’t approve of.”

Nero barked a laugh, and rolled his eyes at the thought of Dante’s nudie mags having a part to play in their budding relationship. “A lot of guys like looking at women, and I don’t need—or want—to see half-naked ones on my uncle’s wall to bond over that fact with him.”

Nero heard Kyrie laugh, but any further response was cut off by the wooden door to the shop suddenly swinging open unceremoniously.

“Yes, and a lot of women also like looking at women,” the figure with long blonde hair responded to him perfectly, as if she had been part of the conversation all along. “And half of those magazines are mine, so I’d like them hung back up.”

“Speaking of half-naked women,” Nero grinned in their direction in lieu of a formal greeting, while Trish and Lady returned a smile of their own. “Or should I say, speak of the Devil?”

Kyrie hung back as she watched the barrage of light insults and taunts ricochet back and forth between the three. Nero wasn’t exactly close with Trish and Lady, per se. The first time he’d met them had been with Kyrie, back in Fortuna, and to consider that a “meeting” was a bit of a stretch. He’d mentioned to her a few times that he’d seen them when he ran into Dante on jobs, but they still wouldn’t be considered friends, if Nero referring to Lady as “Dante’s friend” had been anything to go by.

And yet, the casual and friendly atmosphere which the three of them quickly created had been effortless, especially once Nico joined in. Kyrie supposed she should have known that it would have turned out like this—these were women who frequently hung around Dante, after all. From what she’s heard, they would have to be cut from the same cloth, even if their appearances were a little intimidating at first.

Once their friendly banter had died down enough to the point where Kyrie felt she wasn’t interrupting anything or killing the mood, she stepped up to join Nero’s side with a friendly smile, hopefully not betraying in her expression any of the nerves she suddenly felt.

Immediately the two women’s gazes flicked to her, and Nero’s arm wrapped around her waist in support. “Right, you two wouldn’t shut up long enough for me to introduce her,” he used the arm encircling her to shift her and give her an encouraging step forward. “This is Kyrie.”

“Nice to finally formally meet you.” Kyrie smiled, amused at the fact that Nero didn’t introduce her as his girlfriend. She knew he didn’t like the word—he’d said on multiple occasions that it sounded flimsy and reminded him of kids dating in high school. If anything, he preferred the word lover…but she had a feeling he abstained from saying that at this moment, lest Trish and Lady rain down a storm of mockery upon him.

Besides, Kyrie remembered Trish and Lady had been in the vicinity when she and Nero had been about to...share a special moment, back when he saved her in Fortuna. They could probably piece two and two together without his clarification.

And yet, someone was not satisfied with his introduction.

“She’s his ladyfiend, by the way,” Nico walked up and waggled her finger at Trish and Lady, as if to reprimand them. “So don’t even bother tryin’ your luck.”

“Yeah, Nico knows from experience,” Nero added with a mixture of amusem*nt and warning, causing her to scowl and sheepishly jab him with her elbow.

“Thanks, Nico, but we kinda figured that out for ourselves. ” Lady said, the playful creases returning to her eyes as she gave Nico a playfully reassuring pat on the shoulder. “And who could forget Kyrie, anyway?”

Trish’s lips quirked up into a smile at that, quickly catching onto the line of teasing that Lady was beginning. “Yeah, I think Kyrie’s name will be seared into my memory forever, what with how many times I had to listen to Nero scream it back in Fortuna.”

Due to their close proximity, Kyrie heard Nero make an indignant noise, half caught between anger and embarrassment as he no doubt tried to quickly get a retort out. She didn’t want the two to make fun of him on that subject, since it was still a sore spot for him, not to mention Kyrie still felt guilty about putting him through so much grief for her sake.

To help him save face and also hopefully switch the topic of conversation, Kyrie locked her eyes with Trish’s, hoping her own steadfast gaze would somehow be able to extinguish that mischievous glint in hers.

“That reminds me, you played a big part back in Fortuna, both as Gloria and yourself,” Kyrie interjected quickly. She knew Nero still wanted to respond to Trish’s earlier jab, but he kept his mouth clamped so as to not interrupt her. “I never got to thank you back then, for helping to evacuate and save so many of the citizens. It was a big help, thank you so much.”

Trish was waving her hand dismissively in the air before she’d even finished, and Kyrie got the distinct feeling she was the type that didn’t like to be thanked. In fact, all of them might share that trait, unless the ‘thanks’ was in the form of money. Except Nico, of course. You could sing her praises all day and she’d never get tired of it.

“There’s really no need to thank me, honey. When I heard about all the fun happening in Fortuna, I certainly wasn’t going to miss out,” Trish explained easily, her expression fond as she seemed to recall the events. “I would have liked to be part of the main party, but Dante had that covered, unfortunately.”

Kyrie felt Nero shift slightly to look down at her, no doubt gauging her reaction to Trish referring to the events in Fortuna as ‘fun’ and a ‘party.’ It was fine, though. What mattered was that Trish had helped, no matter the reason, and had managed to save thousands that day. She couldn’t expect to garner sympathy from every outsider to Fortuna’s plights, especially when it was revealed how corrupt everything was.

“But you know…It probably is thanks to you that so many people managed to get evacuated, Trish,” Lady smirked, looking her up and down with a raised eyebrow. “Since I’ll bet more people were eager to follow you, rather than, let’s say…some random guy in a trench coat wielding a giant sword?”

Nero, having thankfully gotten over his previous annoyance, snorted at that as he made a sound of agreement. “Yeah, I’d put money on that. Half of the evacuations were probably men chasing after you, and the other half were the women chasing after them.”

They all laughed then, and Trish did a little twirl and held out her arms as if putting herself on display. “Well, what can I say?”

“You do look great, though,” Kyrie noted honestly, though tried not to let her gaze linger too long on Trish’s… daring outfit. “You both look the same as I remember you back then.”

It was true Lady looked excellent, but Trish especially looked as if she hadn’t aged at all. Kyrie would have to ask them their secrets.

“You look the same, too.” Trish returned the compliment, making it sound as if it were simply a factual observation. “Even down to the clothing. I thought once the stifling rule of the Order was over and done with, people in Fortuna would get a bit more fashionable.”

Trish was referring to Kyrie’s outfit which, indeed, was very similar to the one she had originally “met” her in 6 years ago. The turtleneck and skirt she had worn yesterday was now replaced with a simple off-white—almost cream— square neck dress. The cut went low enough to show her collarbones, but stopped before revealing any hint of cleavage. The sleeves were short, but her white long sleeve t-shirt underneath covered her arms where the dress didn’t, since Kyrie tended to get cold easily. The dress was cinched below her bust and fell to reach just above her knees, while her legs were covered the rest of the way by a pair of white pantyhose. And of course, her red and gold pendant that Nero had given her laid on her chest within the square-cutout of the neckline, as if being framed.

At Trish’s subtle jab to her unchanging and modest fashion, Nero frowned and his chin jutted out a bit. He was clearly not as easygoing with the jabs when they were at her expense, and Kyrie was worried he was about to start an actual fight with Trish over her, which wouldn’t exactly put Kyrie in a prime position to make friends with the two women. Luckily though, he must have thought better of it, because his expression grew a tad gentler, and whatever he had wanted to say was now back to just being a tease.

“Says the exhibitionist. You’re the last person I’d want to take fashion advice from.” Nero smirked as he looked her outfit over. “’Sides, not like you’ve made much advancements to your look, either.”

Trish chuckled and held up her hands in mock surrender, though she seemed amused at Nero’s defensive reaction. Kyrie could tell Trish managed to catch the suppressed annoyance Nero had barely managed to bite back, and it only served to amuse her all the more.

It relieved Kyrie. Something told her there wasn’t much—if anything —the collective lot of them could do to get under the skin of this woman, even if they tried. And if her and Nero were going to be in each other’s company for an extended period of time, that was one thing to be grateful for.

“Point taken.” she mused.

“All you need to know is, Kyrie’s an angel, and she dresses like one too,” Nico explained as if it were a matter of fact, looking over to Kyrie in admiration, and then quickly back to Trish and Lady, who were each co*cking an eyebrow. “Not that, uh…there’s anythin’ wrong with your outfits. Actually, I r-really like, like them! Just, not for—”

“Easy, girl. You can stop.” Lady interrupted with a grin, and Nico seemed grateful that somebody had cut her off.

“About my clothes, though…” Kyrie started again, wondering if she should have just let the conversation move on. “I actually make them myself. Sort of.”

Kyrie had to stop herself from a fit of laughter as Nico and Nero both simultaneously groaned loudly in exasperation, ever in unison, as soon as Kyrie had said the words ‘sort of.’

“You do make them, Kyrie. What you do is incredible.” Nero insisted, and Nico was nodding her head vigorously, eager to follow up.

“Yeah! Just ‘cause you’re usin’ old garments, don’t mean it’s any less yours! If I used recycled parts for my gun, does that mean I didn’t make it? Hell no!”

“I suppose you’re right,” Kyrie conceded, her heart warmed at the vehement support from the two of them. And, as expected of Lady and Trish, they needed no explanation as their sharp eyes raked once more over her dress.

“Huh, I see…it’s true.” Lady said in astonishment as she leaned forward with her hands on her hips, eyes taking in the small details of Kyrie’s dress. “This used to be an Order robe, didn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Kyrie admitted a little bashfully, not having expected that this topic would have garnered so much attention. “With the fall of the Order, most people in Fortuna still have tons of the old robes, dresses, and uniforms. Instead of buying a new wardrobe, I’ve taken to modifying my old dresses into new ones, or even into shirts or skirts in order to save money.”

“She also does it for others,” Nero piped up, clearly intent on not allowing her to undersell herself, and Kyrie thought he looked more smug than usual. If there were two things he loved to brag about, it was his skill, and Kyrie. Which one came first, even she still wasn’t sure. “She charges for ‘em, of course, but it’s a steady business that keeps some money flowing even when jobs are dry. If it weren’t for her, a hell of a lotta people would still be walking around in those stuffy robes, or they’d have to spend a fortune on a whole new wardrobe of modern clothes.”

“Very impressive,” Trish hummed, straightening from her close examination and shooting both Kyrie and Nero a sly smile. “I suppose I can admit that the men of this family at least know how to pick their partners. Pretty faces with the skills to back it up.”

Kyrie didn’t miss the small noise of surprise Nero made in his throat at being included in ‘this family’, and combined with Trish’s compliment, he wiped his nose with an almost bashful yet proud lopsided grin.

“And speaking of skills… is that a slow cooker I see over there?” Lady asked suggestively, hope rising in her voice as if she were a child at the store asking to buy a treat. “Because I am more than okay with not having to eat pizza everyday for my duration here.”

“Speak for yourself,” Trish shot back, though in an effort not to be rude to Kyrie, turned to look at her graciously. “Though…I suppose variety is the spice of life.”

“Just wait, you’ll see!” Nico shook her head, once again defending Kyrie’s honor before she could say anything. “Once you have Kyrie’s cookin’, you aint never gonna wanna go back to those greasy triangles ever again!”

“Oh, I very much doubt that. But I am looking forward to it more and more.” The blonde admitted with a smile.

“Well, then I hope I won’t disappoint,” Kyrie laughed, thoughtfully putting a finger on her chin as she quickly added, “I could even make something with a lot of cheese and meat, too. It won’t quite be pizza, but…maybe a slightly healthier, homemade gourmet pizza?”

“I think you might just be my new favourite person.” Trish said in seriously, seemingly won over by the words gourmet pizza alone.

“Yeah Nero, what demon did you have to make a deal with to land a girl like Kyrie?” Lady teased, nudging him.

As they laughed, it was as if the air escaping Kyrie had been weighing her down, and she felt a sense of relief. Despite insisting to come along, she had still been nervous about tagging along on this trip for more reasons than one, and one of those reasons had been Trish and Lady. Not so much anything on their end, but more so how they would perceive her.

Growing up in Fortuna, Kyrie had been raised in an environment and household that valued traditional gender roles and, being a woman, naturally she had learned things that were associated with that. She’d never had a problem with it, in truth. Perhaps it was just because her natural personality would have steered her in that direction even without Fortuna’s teachings, though she felt sympathy for the women in Fortuna who had wanted to do things associated with men and were discouraged from doing so.

For Kyrie, she had been happy, and even took pride in the skills she was taught and excelled at: sewing, cooking and baking, mending both cloth and wounds. Not only was it a required learning of sorts, but she also had a natural skill for it. She had been proud of that.

It was only after the fall of Fortuna and the Order that Kyrie began to doubt herself.

In the modern world, she’d seen it plenty of times. Women who were scoffed at or looked down upon for embracing these stereotypically feminine traits, accused of falling into old-fashioned ideals. For a time, the skills Kyrie had been so proud of soon became a source of shame—shame that it was all she could do. She had no knowledge of mechanics or machinery like Nico, couldn’t fight like Trish, and didn’t know her way around a gun like Lady. Sometimes she felt like she didn’t do enough to help Nero, and was worried that being around two other capable front-line women like Trish and Lady would just further reinforce her insecurities.

But to her surprise, it had had the opposite effect.

Trish and Lady, who knew how to fight and were always on the front lines with the rest of them, saw the value in Kyrie and what she could do for them. In fact, they were genuinely praising her and her capabilities of cooking and mending, which, when compared to them, she would argue that her own skills warranted no special attention.

Nero had told her dozens of times not to feel guilty—that creating a safe environment, tending to wounds, providing food and other care—it was just as important. But it had been Nero, and he was biased towards her, of course. So to see Trish and Lady genuinely excited for her cooking and impressed by her handiwork reinvigorated her and gave her the confidence boost that she needed.

She no longer feared being judged or valued as a lesser by these women, and Kyrie’s laughter continued to mingle with theirs, each breath escaping her making her feel lighter and lighter.

“You already done your tearful reunion?” Morrison asked through the cigarette hanging in his mouth, stamping it under his foot as they all came down the steps from the shop.

“Oh, Mr. Morrison!” Kyrie smiled down at him as she trotted quicker down the stairs. He was leaning against Nico’s van with a friendly smile, watching them all come out. “It’s nice to see you! It’s been too long.”

“Emphasis on see, though I don’t think many folk would get tired of your voice, Ms. Kyrie, even if it’s just over the phone,” Morrison took off his hat as he greeted her, though swiftly returned it to its original position as he turned to Nero. “You, on the other hand, I might just prefer dealing with over the phone.”

“Har har,” Nero laughed dryly, though held his hand out to the other man for a firm shake. “Good to see you, Morrison.”

“So, you coming with us?” Lady inquired as she loaded Kalina Ann into the vehicle, rotating her shoulder to stretch out the muscles. “Or you keeping an eye on the Homefront?”

“I have some business of my own to attend to so that this place stays up and running for our esteemed guests,” Morrison explained, and Nero suddenly remembered the horror stories. No doubt Morrison was the one keeping the lights on and toilets flushing while Dante was gone. He'd only just greeted them before he was already turning to walk away, fishing another cigarette out of his pocket. “I’ll be back a little bit later. Try not to burn the place down, please.”

A chorus of noncommittal responses and hand waves saw him off as Morrison disappeared down the street.

“So, you gonna tell us where we’re going yet?” Nero asked impatiently as they all loaded into the van: Lady behind the wheel, Nico in the passenger seat, and Trish, Kyrie and Nero spread out in the back.

“We’re getting to it,” Lady replied nonchalantly as she revved up the engine, giving Nico a run for her money as she slammed her foot on the gas with gusto.

“Easy! You and Nico both learn to drive at the same f*cked up place, or what?” Nero barked as he held out an arm to catch Kyrie while he braced himself against the sudden speed. Between the sound of the engine and Nico’s excited cheering, though, his voice was completely drowned out. Though he had a feeling Lady might also just have been ignoring him.

“So,” Trish started, leaning back in the chair as she rested her elbow on the small table to look over at Nero and Kyrie, who were both positioned on the sofa. “Before I tell you where we’re headed, I’ll give you some context.”

“This about your lead?” Nero leaned back as well, hesitantly removing his arm from Kyrie once the van had slowed to a reasonable pace.

“Did you find an entrance to the underworld?” Kyrie asked hopefully, though the way her voice raised at the end betrayed her fear at the prospect of potentially being driven to the front door of hell.

“Yeah, it’s our lead. And no, we didn’t find an entrance. If we did, we wouldn’t have needed you to come in the first place.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nero perked up from his relaxed position, eyes defiant as he stared back at Trish. Her eyes met his, unaffected by his sudden agitation.

“It means exactly what it sounds like.” Trish replied nonchalantly, crossing her legs as she tilted her head to rest her cheek on her knuckles. “Under normal circ*mstances, Lady and I would have been more than enough if there was an entrance. But with our theory, we need you.”

“Whether you’d have needed me or not, you can bet your ass I still would have come.” Nero jerked his thumb at the window, pointing to nothing in particular. “That’s my…family in there!”

He’d used the word to prove his point, but saying it was still surreal and felt unnatural. Trish noticed and perked an eyebrow at him, but otherwise didn’t call him out on it. Something about her cavalier attitude just grated him even more, and he felt Kyrie’s gentle touch bring him back down.

“You’re here now, so there’s no point fighting over hypotheticals,” she said shortly, re-crossing her legs in exasperation. “But anyway, about our lead—”

“Trish and I went to the remains of the Qliphoth, to see if there was a way to reach Dante and Vergil from there,” Lady brusquely interrupted, eyeing them both in the rearview mirror. Apparently, she had run out of the patience required to listen to their bickering and got straight to the point, which was fine with Nero. “Since the roots went all the way down to the underworld, even though Dante and Vergil cut them, we figured there might be some sort of opening leftover.”

“And we know how that went.” Nero finished for her with bleak amusem*nt, since he knew better than to ask whether or not they had been successful in their search. After all, Trish had just said, they wouldn’t have even called for him if they’d managed to find some magic door to the underworld.

“But, but! If the roots had been leadin’ down, even if there’s no openin’, can’t we just make one?” Nico suggested, twisting to look back at Nero and Trish behind her. “One of my babies can probably blast a hole right—”

“We tried that…with my baby.” Lady interrupted once again, and Nico peeked over at Kalina Ann as her lips formed a circle of understanding. “It doesn't matter what you blast it with, though. Now that Vergil and Dante severed the connection, any openings the roots made are long gone.”

“Then…if that whole Qliphoth theory was a bust, why we still headin’ there?” Nico asked in innocent curiosity as her eyes scanned the surroundings from beyond the windshield.

“We’re what?” Nero stood up then, striding over and getting a look for himself.

Although the Qliphoth itself was no longer there, it had left its unmistakable mark on the surrounding area. A mess of debris scattered around where it had been, yet the spot where the trunk had been was pristine, almost like a crater. The houses and any architecture that had been in the vicinity had also been reduced to rubble, no doubt from the tree itself collapsing.

Nero looked back to Kyrie, still sitting on the sofa as she also worriedly looked out the window, though her worry stemmed from a completely different reason than his.

“So much destruction, this is horrible…” She observed quietly, and it hurt Nero to see the look on her face. No doubt the scenery brought back the memories of a freshly destroyed Fortuna, and all the lives that had been lost.

“Yeah, it is horrible,” Nero agreed, turning on Trish once again. “And we can’t bring Kyrie this close. If the Qliphoth led down to the underworld, the veil there has to be thin as ice—demons could appear at any time, anywhere. It’s too dangerous.”

It was probably for the best that Kyrie had managed to respond before Trish, because if the look that the blonde woman was giving Nero was anything to go by, her words definitely would have started a fight.

“Nero, I’ll be alright, even if hundreds of demons appear. I can’t think of anywhere I could be safer right now than with you three.”

“Four!” Nico corrected indignantly, and then smirked at Nero. “May as well add him to the count.”

“I’m hurt,” Lady shook her head dramatically, trying to make eye contact with Nero through the rearview mirror. “You really don’t think we got what it takes to protect Kyrie from any termites that might still be leftover from the tree?”

Nero knew they were right, and besides, he wasn’t about to argue on this point further. It either only made himself look weak in body and mind, and it also insulted the skills of rest of them.

Just as Nero sighed and was about to admit they were right, he heard Trish laugh, and he co*cked his head in exasperation. “What now?”

“Nothing,” she lied, smiling between the two of them. “Just thinking, I never realized how cute you were around your girlfriend. Aside from Fortuna, all the other times we’ve run into each other, you were solo and rushed headfirst into everything without a thought. It’s interesting to see this cautious, overprotective side of you.”

“Well, I’m glad to entertain.” Nero smirked sarcastically, doing a theatric curtsy for her as Trish chuckled.

“For real, though,” Lady piped up, watching Nero’s curtsy with amusem*nt from the rearview as well. “It’s weird to see a Sparda so protective. Can you even imagine Dante telling us to stay back?” and then she laughed, as if just saying it had been too much.

Trish joined in, shaking her head. “If anything, he’s the one that stays back and tells us to go.”

Lady and Trish’s joined laughter was the proof of their agreement, and Kyrie’s laughter quickly joined in. Nero turned to look at her, and she smiled up at him. “I can’t wait to meet him. Dante and Vergil. Seems like things will get a lot more lively.”

“Yeah, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing,” Nero groaned, letting himself plop back onto the sofa beside her. “We have enough loudmouths around here already.”

“So, we just here to sight-see?” Nero shifted his weight onto his other leg as he looked around at the ash-white expanse of land that they currently stood on. The Qliphoth had completely sucked the life out of anything green for miles, and the white concrete of the destroyed buildings only added to the feeling that they really were in some strange ashen land. “If you had no luck with Qliphoth openings, why do we need to be here?”

“Because the veil is thin here,” Lady replied from her crouched position, her hand flat against the ground, as if she could somehow feel the underworld. “And we need to test our theory.”

“So your lead is just a theory?” Nero turned to her, incredulous. “I wouldn’t call that much of a lead. You couldn’t just tell me on the phone?”

“Well, you’re the key to it, so it’s faster to just bring you, see if it works, and if not, move on to the next one.” Trish came up to him then and grabbed his right arm. It surprised him, but he otherwise said nothing as he watched her study it, looking down to join her. It was a normal human arm like any other at the moment, and Trish dug the pads of her fingertips into it, pressing in lightly, easing up, and pressing lightly again, as if she were simulating a pulse. It felt strange, but he didn’t budge as she tried to find whatever it was that she was looking for.

“I think this will work,” she finally said, looking up at him with hope. It was almost strange to see, after he had gotten used to her typical nonchalant demeanor. “I can still feel traces of the Yamato.”

Lady smiled from where she was and jogged over to them, though Nero still wasn’t sure what there was to be happy about. He shook his head, confused. “The Yamato? You mean Vergil's sword? I don’t got that on me anymore,” he held up his arm and flexed his hands, a disdainful grimace on his face. “My dear old dad made sure of that.”

“Sure, you may not physically have it anymore. But you stored it in your arm for what? Six, seven years?” Trish countered, and Nero closed his mouth, staring at his arm once more. “It’s faint, but there’s definitely a trace of the Yamato still there.”

“Not to mention, Vergil’s your dad,” Lady added, walking up to join Trish in her explanation. Based on the way she was talking, her and Trish must have discussed this plenty of times. “Anybody else may not be able to harness the faint trace of the Yamato inside you, but you’re related by blood to him. If anybody can do it, you can.”

Nero was about to ask why the hell any of that even mattered, and why the Yamato was so important anyway, but his voice cut off as he recalled what had happened that day. After Vergil had ripped off his arm, he had used the Yamato to cut open a portal. Was that its true power? Nero had never been able to use it in that fashion, but then again, he’d never tried.

“You…want me to see if I can open a portal? To the underworld?”

Trish and Lady nodded in unison, pleased with his understanding of the situation.

“Don’t get discouraged, though. You most likely won’t be able to open a portal right away. Even I’m not sure how long it will take,” Trish explained seriously, trying to quell his frustration and anger at not being able to do it before he’d even had a chance to try. “But even if you can’t open it, I’ll be able to tell if it’s possible.”

“Alright, let's do this. Any pointers?” Nero asked, rolling up his sleeve and holding out his arm as he flexed his hands a few time, eager. He knew she said he wouldn’t be able to do it the first time, but that competitive hot-blooded part of him still planned on trying. It felt good to finally know what he had to do, and that he could do something, to save Dante and Vergil.

“You tell me.” Trish said simply, smiling at his taken aback expression when she offered him no real advice. “I’ve never used the Yamato. Remember how it felt, and try to harness it. Call out to it, and…well, cut.”

Nero swallowed as he looked at his arm, suddenly feeling over-confident and under-qualified at the same time. What if he couldn’t do it? Trish said that even if he wasn’t able to open a portal, she’d still be able to tell if it would be possible in the long run. On the other hand, what if he did do it? Nero knew how to hold back when throwing a punch, but how the hell did you gauge how to hold back your strength on opening a portal to the entire underworld? What if he overshot it and opened a portal so massive that an army of demons came through? Would he be able to do what he did again, except in reverse, and close it?

He looked back to Nico and Kyrie, both sitting in the driver and passenger seat respectively, watching. He locked eyes with Kyrie, and she must have seen the worry in them, because she raised her fist, and pumped it slightly in an encouraging fashion.

Breath escaped Nero’s nose as he grinned at her support. How was it that she always knew what to say? And even when she couldn’t even hear the conversation, she still knew exactly what to do to make him feel better.

Trish and Lady be damned, Nero cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled “LOVE YOU!” to Kyrie, and although the vans windows were all rolled up, he had no doubt his booming voice had managed to reach her. And if he still had any doubts, Kyrie leaned over and honked the horn a few times at him in response, while Nico mockingly blew kisses at him, as if the declaration had been meant for her and not the woman beside her.

Nero turned back to Trish and Lady who, despite slight confusion and a hint of amusem*nt, otherwise said nothing.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Nero closed his eyes, trying to remember how he’d felt back then, when the power of the Yamato had surged through him. How he had wanted more power - power to kill, and power to protect, no matter what. How it had answered his call, and how it had flooded through him.

“I need your power.” he whispered, feeling the familiar aura surge through his arm. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell his right arm had transformed and was no longer flesh and blood as the blue aura of the Yamato emanated from him.

Once he’d built up as much of its aura as he thought he could, Nero inhaled and opened his eyes, claws outstretched, and swiped at the air in the same way he’d remembered Vergil doing.

The air wavered and distorted in streaks where he had slashed, similar to how the air looked on a hot day, and then...it stilled, as if nothing had happened.

“Well, here goes nothing was right,” Trish mused lightly when nothing happened, much to Nero’s devastation, before she turned to him with a smile. “But don't worry. Looks like we’ll be able to make a Vergil Jr. out of you, yet.”

Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home

Chapter Text

“Home sweet home,” Nero announced sarcastically as he flicked the lights on to the shop, watching them sputter briefly before humming to life.

He held the door as the rest of them trickled in, grocery bags in hand. Nero couldn’t hide his amusem*nt at the sight of Trish and Lady, who he’d only ever seen hold guns and swords until now, carrying something as mundane as plastic grocery bags.

And the sight of them—hell, all of them in the grocery store together—had been quite a spectacle.

After finishing their business at the Qliphoth and filling Kyrie and Nico in on what they’d discussed, Kyrie had reminded them that although opening portals and saving family was very important, they all had a more pressing and immediate concern: food. Dante’s place had a fridge, but there’d been f*ck all in there, aside from some energy drinks and who-knows-how-old pizza, so if they were going to be sticking around Red Grave for an extended period of time, they’d need a little more to work with.

Nobody had argued with that, and since they were all already out together and had the van, it turned out to be one big strange family trip to the grocery store. That was something Nero appreciated about being with Kyrie—sure, he had important devil hunting business to attend to, but she always brought him back to earth, reminding him that, yes, while he may also have to go to hell and stab some demons, he also had to go to the market and grab some milk before that.

But there were other times where his intrusive thoughts made it a lot less amusing, and their differences just made him wonder if he should really be with her—if she wouldn’t just be happier with some salaryman, coming home from his normal, boring old job and talking about how he might get a raise soon over dinner. They’d get married, with a wedding full of his ordinary, non-dysfunctional family that would consist of more than just two devil-men that refused to grow up, and they’d raise their human children.

That train of thought never lasted long, though, since he hated even imagining it. Even if Nero did sometimes wonder if that life would be better for her, he knew she loved him and that she’d trade a normal life for him any day—after all, she already had. And even if he thought some days that that kind of life might be better for her, he’d never actually want that. Did that make him an asshole? A hypocrite? Selfish? Probably all three.

For today, though, their endeavors in the mundane had definitely just been pure amusem*nt, especially when Trish, Lady, and Nico were added into the mix.

In Nero’s humble opinion, him and Nico didn’t stand out too bad. Granted, they’d get a lot less looks if Nico would wear more than a belly-exposing shirt, but for the most part, people didn’t usually give them much of a second glance.

But when you combined them with a leather clad corset wearing bombshell of a blonde and a woman who refused to leave her rocket launcher in the van, the lot of them managed to get a lifetimes worth of attention, and Nero couldn’t decide if Kyrie’s presence had made the situation better or worse.

On the one hand, she added a desperately needed splash of normalcy to the circus show they’d had going on, and Nero had a feeling they would have been asked to leave the store if not for her saintly presence, almost as if she negated the rest of them.

But on the other hand, her normalcy had also managed to create a striking contrast with the rest of them, making the entourage look somehow even more bizarre when compared to Kyrie. Nero had caught sight of them on the reflective glass of the frozen goods section at one point and had nearly lost it.

He still couldn’t believe nobody had called the police or security on them due to the presence of Kalina Ann herself, but then again, most people never saw a rocket launcher in their day to day, so it had probably been assumed to be a prop…thankfully.

As they now finished filing into the Devil May Cry shop, Nero placed the groceries he had been holding onto Dante’s desk. Kyrie had told each of them to pick out an ingredient they liked so that she could add it to tonight’s dish, which was apparently a cheesy and meaty casserole of some sort. Trish had picked pepperoni—to make it taste more like a pizza, no doubt—whereas Lady had chosen mushrooms, and Nico had picked broccoli, clearly in an attempt to impress Kyrie at her healthy choice.

Despite her insistence that he pick something as well, Nero refused to add another ingredient to the Frankenstein list. Kyrie was already making this recipe on the fly to adjust to all of their choices, and he didn’t want to pick something that might clash or make her revise what she had been planning to do. He already knew whatever she made would end up amazing in the end anyway, especially since she was clearly putting in her best effort to make something delicious for Trish and Lady.

“Well, that was certainly the most entertaining trip to the grocery store I’ve ever had.” Kyrie said, giggling some more as she recalled the memory.

“They definitely thought we were some kind of performing troupe, or…something,” Lady agreed, her voice light and barely containing her laughter. “I was just waiting for someone to ask me if Kalina Ann was real.”

“And I hope you would have been ready to show them?” Trish smiled at the other woman, and the smirk Lady flashed in return spoke volumes.

“I hope you were waiting to tell them it wasn’t real,” Nero turned to Lady before shooting Trish a look, suddenly very thankful that Lady hadn’t been able to answer that question, especially not with Trish around to egg her on. “We don’t exactly want to get banned from the grocery store while we’re here, unless you’re feeling generous enough to pay for takeout every night.”

Lady shrugged his words off, unbothered as her amusem*nt from their trip still lingered.

“If I’d known it could be so interesting, maybe I’d go more,” Trish pondered, sounding almost melancholic at all of her missed market-going opportunities. “Maybe Dante would eat less pizza if I did decide to go get groceries every once in a while...”

“And you’d want that?” Lady asked in utter disbelief, turning to Trish as if this were suddenly a much bigger revelation than it actually was. “If he started getting actual food, he wouldn’t order so much pizza for this place.”

Trish laughed as if she had truly heard something absurd and raised both of her eyebrows at Lady. “Just because he would stop, doesn’t mean I would. In fact, the pizza budget would suddenly double, and there’d be more for me.”

Lady shook her head as if she couldn’t believe she’d ever doubted Trish in the first place, dropping the bags of groceries she had been carrying beside the fridge for Kyrie to sort. Kyrie had been worried about it, but it looked like everything would fit, especially since she would be using a good portion of it for tonight’s dinner anyway. They’d already made extra room by throwing out the leftover energy drinks and pizza, too, if being devoured by Trish counted as getting ‘thrown out’.

“Alright, just enough space,” Kyrie said triumphantly, more to herself than anyone else. She turned, spotting Nero by the desk with the batch he had brought in, and beckoned him over. “Can you bring those? I think they’ll fit now.”

“On it,” Nero scooped them up, though accidentally knocked something over that was on the desk in his haste. After passing off the rest of the groceries, he returned to see what he had knocked over, worried he may have broken some precious antique keepsake.

There wasn’t much on Dante’s desk, so it wasn’t hard to see what he had knocked over, and thankfully it was just a frame…though now Nero was nervous he may have cracked it. He lifted it slowly, back of the frame to him, curious what sort of picture someone like Dante would have on his desk. He didn’t exactly seem the sentimental sort.

Nero let out an audible noise of confusion at the image, which went against everything he had thought he knew about the man.

Even before realizing the woman in the photo was identical to the blonde only a few feet away from him, the first thing that registered in Nero’s mind was: woman.

Dante had a framed picture of a woman on his desk?

Nero couldn’t help but balk once more at all the magazines of half-naked women hanging behind the desk, which was even more outlandish now that he’d seen Dante apparently had a woman in his life, one that he cherished enough to keep in a frame on his desk. His gaze rested on Kyrie, wondering what sort of man Dante was to have a framed photo of this woman right beside his other…questionable tastes.

Once the initial surprise had worn off, though, Nero had finally realized exactly who that woman was upon a second look.

“Wait, Trish?” He couldn’t help but mutter in his confusion as he continued to study it.

Kyrie looked up from where she was at Nero’s sudden and unprompted question, and once she had finished loading up the fridge, she strolled up beside him, hands behind her back as she turned her head curiously at the framed photo.

“Oh,” she breathed once she got a good look, turning to Trish with a smile. “This is a beautiful photo of you.”

Now that Kyrie had already drawn attention to it, Nero turned slowly, revealing the frame still in his hands as he frowned down at it, looking between the picture and Trish over and over to compare.

“I didn’t realize. That make you my Auntie Trish, then?” Nero joked, reaching to put the frame back on the desk behind him. “Gotta say, didn’t take Dante for the type to keep a picture of a girlfriend on his desk.”

Not that Nero was complaining. Hell, maybe he and his uncle did have more in common than he initially thought. With this bit of ammo, at least he would have something to fire back at Dante if he ever decided to make fun of Nero for being too sweet on Kyrie.

“That’s because he’s not the type,” Trish crossed her arms as she smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes like usual. “That’s his mother.”

From beside him, Nero could tell Kyrie was making the exact same expression he was, if her slight intake of breath was anything to go by. He turned to get another look at the photo—maybe the resemblance had been a trick of the eyes—but looking at it once more only made it even clearer: that woman in the photo was unmistakably identical to Trish.

Nero had known since he’d met her back in Fortuna that she was a demon. He’d only interacted with her up close when she was Gloria, and in that form, she’d somehow been able to hide her demonic presence. But afterwards, when she had been with Dante and out of disguise, he’d been able to feel it from far away. The way his arm pulsed—even now, ever so slightly—to let him know there was a demon nearby. With his original devil bringer arm gone, the only difference now was that his arm no longer glowed blue in reaction, so Kyrie was no doubt even more confused than he was.

“So no girlfriend, but mommy issues instead, huh?” Nero chirped, attempting to clear up the strange atmosphere he had somehow managed to create by drawing attention to that picture. Trish didn’t return the smile, though, so he sobered up a bit, giving a gentler smile over his more mocking one. “Guess that’s a story I have to wait for, straight from the horse’s mouth.”

At his backdown, Trish visibly loosened up, along with the corners of her lips that seemed to reset into their default position of an amused smile. “And who could deny letting him tell a story? That man will take any excuse to hear himself talk.”

Nero chuckled, relieved that the awkward atmosphere had dissipated. He knew every single person in this room had a story involving family, demons, or both, and that included Dante himself. Nero was already violating his privacy by staying in the man’s shop during his absence, so it was only right to hear the important things straight from him. If he wanted to tell him, he’d tell him. And if not? Then f*ck ‘im. But he still wasn’t about to have Dante come back only to reveal to the old man that he’d learned about his entire life story while he was gone. Hopefully, Dante would open up to Nero on his own accord—about him, his past, the future…and hopefully Vergil would do the same.

A familiar tune suddenly filled the room, and they all turned to Nico, who had been oblivious to their awkward conversation as she fiddled with the jukebox. She had gone back to her van to get all her records which now sat in a wobbly pile on the floor, and had decided to play her staple. Nero supposed it was only fitting, if this was gonna be their new base.

“Now it really feels like home,” Kyrie mused with a smile, walking over to the pile of records and flipping through them curiously.

Nero scoffed, doubting anybody other than Nico would consider that van a home. “Yeah, if homes are supposed to go over a hundred miles an hour and almost kill you, then sure.”

Not like he was one to talk, though. Between Dante and Vergil, his family and home life did seem like it might just kill him.

Now that they’d settled and the groceries were sorted, Kyrie began to get started on dinner. They hadn’t realized just how much they’d need to buy until they had actually been out. Dante’s shop was where he lived, sure, but he didn’t have any silverware, plates, dish soap or any basic ‘house’ necessities that most people usually didn’t think twice about.

It’s not like they bought enough to supply his house with all the works, but they’d at least grabbed what they’d need to tie them over for their stay. Seeing as there was no kitchen sink or dishwasher, temporary paper plates and plastic forks, spoons, and knives worked better than buying the real deal, though they had been forced to buy a cutting board and a few proper knives, which would no doubt rust and rot once they left. You didn’t need a kitchen knife to cut pizza, after all.

Once the aroma of the food cooking began to waft through the shop, the other women were on Kyrie like dogs. The sight of various cheeses and pepperoni made Trish walk by more than once, eyeing the assortment but otherwise doing nothing. The other two women were more direct in their approach—with her deft fingers, Lady would steal pieces of sautéed mushrooms and grated cheese as she walked by and made small talk with Kyrie. Nico, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as clever, and instead took to constantly asking when dinner would be ready and proclaiming that she was hungry.

Kyrie, ever the saint and with increased tolerance to whining due to the children they had temporarily taken in, answered Nico patiently each time.

Nero, however, was not Kyrie.

“Would you shut up?” he yelled from the couch, attempting to read one of the dog-eared magazines that had been laying on it. “The more you pester Kyrie, the longer it’s gonna take.”

Nero had offered to help her prepare the food, but Kyrie had shooed him out swiftly each time, and upon his insistence had told him that he’d only get in the way due to the small space she had to work with. The bar had become a makeshift kitchen island, and her ingredients were laid out wherever there was a flat surface available.

“Just a little longer, I promise.” Kyrie placated, reaching into the slow cooker to take out a well-done piece of meat that she popped into Nico’s mouth. At least if she was chewing, she couldn’t be yammering. “The vegetables are cut and sautéed, the cheese is grated, and now I’m just waiting for the ground beef and pepperoni to cook a bit longer so that I can layer everything on top and leave it to bake.”

The explanation only seemed to make Nico more impatient as she bounced her leg up and down. Nero couldn’t help but think she was like a well-trained dog when it came to Kyrie—clearly she wanted to reach into the pot to grab at the food, but didn’t dare unless given the OK.

“I just hope you’re all hungry, though. There’s no microwave here, so it’s better to eat as much as we can today while it’s fresh. It’s a shame we’ll have to eat leftovers cold.” Kyrie lamented as she stirred around the ground beef sizzling in the slow cooker.

“Oh!” Lady suddenly looked over at Trish from where she was tinkering with Kalina Ann, and the smudges of oil and grease on her fingers was most likely the only thing keeping her from snatching more food. “How about we make a microwave the next item on the Dante expense account?”

Trish, who was reading a magazine of her own, looked over at Lady from the top of the pages before setting it down and considering the question with a thoughtful finger on her chin.

“Dante expense account? What is that?” Kyrie looked up curiously from her sautéing before Trish had time to answer. Lady seemed all too happy to explain, and set down Kalina Ann with a grin as she turned to Kyrie.

“It’s simple, really,” she began matter-of-factly, as if she were pitching an idea to a board room of executives. “All the money that we spend while Dante’s gone—so long as it goes towards saving him—is put towards the ‘saving Dante expense account’. And the money that we spend will, of course, be gratefully reimbursed by him upon his joyous return.”

Nero barked a laugh, flipping through his magazine as he shook his head. “Riiight. Well, just make sure you tell him that after we pull him out of hell, else he might not wanna come out.”

“But wait, what in the hell does a microwave have to do with savin’ Dante?” Nico asked, momentarily distracted from her hunger as she turned to look at Lady from her spot at the bar.

Lady smiled, having clearly expected this question. “Because, we need to eat and stay healthy. And eating and staying healthy will help us save Dante, so in turn, being able to buy a microwave and heat up said food is essential to saving him.” She finished, her hands up in the air as if this were all obvious. Her giant leaps in logic would make Neil Armstrong proud.

“We’ve also been putting parts of our pay towards this places rent, too,” Trish supplied, not even bothering to take her eyes off of the magazine she read. “We’ll expect to have that returned to us as well.”

“Oh…” Kyrie sighed worriedly, unsure whether to be happy at the prospect of getting a microwave or horrified by the means in which she would obtain it.

“That settles it, then.” Nero concluded, crossing his leg in time with the next turn of his page. “Dante’s never coming back.”

Lady laughed and waved her hand at him dismissively. “Consider it the price of freedom. And besides, Dante could make the money back no problem if he just stopped being so lazy and actually took jobs.”

“I still can’t believe the dude doesn’t even have a microwave…” Nico shook her head with a shudder. “Thank god Kyrie came, ‘cause my game plan was gonna be cup noodles most nights, but you can’t even do that!”

“Which is why pizza reigns supreme,” Trish stated, finally putting down her magazine and looking at them triumphantly. “Delicious when it’s fresh, and still just as delectable when it’s cold.”

Morrison arrived just before dinner was ready, almost as if he had been walking down the street and had been led to the shop by scent alone. Kyrie, of course, had been more than happy to welcome him to join them despite his sudden appearance.

To nobody’s surprise, there ended up being no leftovers for Kyrie to be worried about, and dinner turned out just as delicious as Nero knew it would be. It was ground beef and cheese casserole, the ground beef sauteed along with diced bits of pepperoni in order to accommodate Trish’s desire for a meal that resembled pizza. To continue on that note, Kyrie had used mozzarella along with cheddar, since you couldn’t have pizza without mozzarella, and the mushrooms that Lady had picked out were also sautéed and baked into the cheese, though some had also been diced and mixed into the meat as well. As for Nico’s ingredient, for all of her bragging, the broccoli had been the weakest ingredient and hadn’t contributed much, considering it had softened and mostly fallen apart as it mixed with the ground beef.

Overall the dinner was a rousing success, and Nico had even asked if she could lick the slow cooker clean.

“There’s no kitchen sink to wash it, right? I’ll help ya out there!” She offered enthusiastically, and Nero shook his head, her resemblance to Kyrie’s dog companion only growing stronger and stronger by the second.

Nico spotted Trish licking her fingers clean, and whirled on the woman, pointing at her as if she’d been caught in some sort of illicit act. “See!” she hollered. “What’d I tell ya? Once you have Kyrie’s cooking, there’s no goin’ back to your crappy take-out!”

“I do admit, I would choose this over pizza—occasionally.” Trish added with a smirk at the end, and Nico’s triumphant smile quickly turned to a scowl. “It was delicious. Thank you, Kyrie.”

“Don’t forget healthy!” Nico added, still clearly proud of her broccoli choice.

“And here I thought hell would’ve frozen over before I ever ate a homemade meal at Dante’s place. Every time I get the pleasure to eat your cooking, Ms. Kyrie, It’s better than the last.” Morrison complimented with a smile, taking off his hat briefly as he said so and leaning back contentedly in his chair.

“Well, with Vergil down there, hell probably has frozen over,” Nero joked bitterly, which only made him wonder for the first time what exactly he and Dante were even doing to keep themselves busy down there all this time. With what he’d seen of them, he couldn’t exactly imagine them having any heart-to-hearts.

“I’m glad it turned out well.” Kyrie beamed at them, getting up to collect all the paper plates and throw them into the trash, but Nero was up and collecting them before she had the chance.

“You, sit.” He ordered, and when she only continued to look at him with uncertainty, her body frozen in an awkward half-sitting, half-standing position, he took it upon himself to push her down the rest of the way. “You wouldn’t let me help prepare dinner, so at least let me do the grub work.”

Once she had settled and allowed him to do so, he made a round trip of the table, collecting napkins, swiping plastic cutlery and crumpling plates all in one fell swoop, swiftly sweeping them into a garbage bag as he walked. He also stacked the red solo cups into each other as he walked around the table, throwing them into the garbage as one big stack. It had been no surprise, but the classic red cups had been the one thing they hadn’t had to buy themselves, as Dante had a rather large stash of them behind the bar.

His place didn’t have a kitchen sink, though—hell, it didn’t even have a kitchen to begin with—so they would have to wash the slow cooker in the bathroom sink. Nero looked around for where Kyrie had put the dish soap they bought, and stomped up the stairs to the bathroom to begin the “dishes”, ignoring the mock cheers of the good work he was doing from Lady and Trish.

“So, when did you two get to Red Grave? Have you two been staying here at the shop?” Nero heard Kyrie ask Lady and Trish from the bathroom, though most of his attention was focused on a burnt piece of cheese that apparently refused to come off the side of the damn slow cooker.

“Hell no.” Lady quickly replied, as if it were too absurd to even consider. “Why stay in this place when, thanks to the expense account, I can just stay in a hotel that doesn’t smell like old pizza?”

“And as for me, I don’t sleep much to begin with,” Trish added on, rolling her head to the side as she thought. “Though I do sometimes crash on the couch here, or crash with Lady. I’m not too picky. However…”

Nero started his descent down the stairs, freshly washed slow cooker in hand, just in time to see the look Trish gave to Kyrie as she leaned forward. “If you’re asking because you and Nero want this place for just the two of you, knock yourself out.”

Nero and Trish both knew damn well Kyrie hadn’t had any ulterior motive on her mind when she’d asked the innocent question, and she froze, trying to think of how to respond. He couldn’t see Kyrie’s face, but her rigid posture alone made Nero smile as he imagined the look that might be on her face. And based off Trish’s expression across the table, it must’ve been a good one.

Kyrie’s shoulders relaxed slightly as Nero’s return from upstairs saved her from having to reply to that tease from Trish. “Thanks for the invite, but we’ll pass.” He called from across the shop, placing the slow-cooker on the top of the bar before making his way back to them. He stood behind Kyrie, hand on the back of the seat as he addressed Trish. “This ‘aint exactly a honeymoon suite, and no way in hell am I sleeping in Dante’s room. I’m scared to even go in there.”

Trish grinned at him in solemn understanding. “You should be,” she agreed promptly, and Nero could only wonder what she’s seen over the years. “But there’s a guest room up there, too. Hasn’t been used in any of the times I’ve been here. The sheets probably still smell like detergent, from the one and only time it’s been washed.”

“More like the sheets still smell like the packaging they came from,” Lady corrected with an eyeroll, and Trish pointed at her as she nodded in agreement.

“Or musty as hell,” Nero triple corrected. If the room had really been unused for so long, it’d probably be covered in dust, and the sheets would still need a good washing.

“Then just freshen it up, prissy pants.” Nico said in between picking food out of her teeth. “Makes more sense for you ‘n Kyrie to stay here, anyhow, ‘specially if she’s gonna be cookin’ for us. Sure better than getting us all to come to your hotel room and eating on your bed.”

In true Kyrie fashion, of course, once the convenience of the others had come into play, she was suddenly nodding her head in agreement at Nico’s words. “That’s true. I wouldn’t want to make everyone come to a small hotel room for dinner, and staying here would save money. I want to avoid adding to the expense account If I can…Though I do feel bad for intruding in the shop.”

From where he still stood behind her, Nero put a reassuring hand on Kyrie’s shoulder. “We’re saving him from the underworld. I think he’ll be able to find it in his heart to forgive us if we crash in an unused room.”

“But where will you stay, Nico?” Kyrie asked, turning to the woman who was still leaning back in her chair, her hands on her belly in a cartoonish display of fullness.

“There’s a couch here, too.” Nero offered sarcastically. “Just like home, right?”

“Hell no!” Nico lurched forward from her seat, taking her hands from her stomach to slam them onto the table. “I slept on a couch last night, or didja forget, sleeping doodie? If the fees aint outta my pocket, then I’m stayin’ in a 5 star tonight, baby!”

“Hate to spoil your excitement, missy, but you aren’t gonna find no 5 star hotels here in Red Grave,” Morrison interjected with amusem*nt, fanning himself with his hat as he watched the debacle. “Best you’ll be able to get is 3 maybe 4 star.”

“Morrison, Morrison, Morrison…” Nico shook her head haughtily as she rummaged through her pockets for a cigarette, though didn’t actually light it due to the look Nero was giving her. “Compared to a motel and my van, it’s all 5 star to me!”

That caused the man to chuckle, and he stood from his seat, securing his hat with his hand as he shook his head at her.

Morrison left soon after, though Kyrie had insisted he stay for a bit longer while she made some coffee. The offer had been one merely born of habit, and she quickly tried to backtrack her words, though Lady was already adding ‘coffee machine’ to the ever-growing list of the expense account items.

Kyrie and Nero made a call to Julia that night as well, both huddled over Kyrie’s phone on speaker while the kids told them all about their day and wondered what they had been up to.

“Yeah, sorry for stealing Kyrie from you guys,” Nero said earnestly into the phone, knowing how much the kids relied on her. Though, he also couldn’t resist messing with them. “She made the most amazing dinner, too. Too bad you guys weren’t here to have any.”

To his surprise, though, the kids hadn’t responded with something snarky like he’d been expecting.

“Good,” he heard Julio’s voice rise above the others through the speaker phone. “You always come home so dirty and beat up. It’s good that Kyrie’s there to take care of you this time.”

Nero had nothing to say to that, his mouth slightly open at the response he couldn’t seem to form, and Kyrie had to suppress her sudden laugh of surprise into her hand. “Wow. I must be more reckless than I thought if a bunch of kids are happy to have you here just to look after me.” Nero smirked at Kyrie.

“Can you blame us?” Julio sighed with exasperation into the phone, and Nero suddenly found himself wondering when the little guy had grown up so fast. “It sucks that you’re both gone, but we don’t worry as much when the two of you are together.”

Nero kept his eyes on the phone, though didn’t miss the look Kyrie gave him from the corner of his eye. She was touched they were being so selfless about her absence, and also clearly proud of the fact that apparently even the kids were on her side when it came to her coming along. It was true they didn’t realize what Nero’s actual work was and how dangerous it could really be, but he wouldn’t be surprised if their opinion remained unchanged even if they had known.

A cry suddenly erupted from the distance over their phone call, and the noise immediately made Nero grip the phone tighter as his adrenaline kicked in, and Kyrie gently pried her cellphone from his hands as she recognized the situation.

“Hello?” Julia’s voice asked on the line, replacing Julio.

“Julia, I’m here,” Kyrie said in quick greeting. “Is that Carlo?”

“Yes, he…I had put him to bed, and he was sleeping peacefully, but he suddenly erupted into a fit of tears. Nothing I’m doing is working. Does this happen often? What can I do?”

“It’s alright—could you put me on speaker and bring the phone to his room?”

Carlo’s cries grew closer and closer as Julia did what Kyrie had requested of her, and despite the fact that Carlo couldn’t see her, Kyrie smiled warmly as if he had really been right in front of her. “Carlo, can you hear me? It’s Kyrie.”

Regardless of her words, Carlo had already stopped crying as soon as he heard Kyrie speak, though the wavering of his voice made it clear that he had still not fully calmed down.

“Another one of his nightmares.” Nero muttered, and Kyrie simply nodded as she turned her attention back to the phone.

“It’s alright, Carlo. It was just a scary dream. Lie back down and close your eyes. I’ll sing the song that will chase away all the nightmares, okay? Do you think that will help you fall back asleep?”

The only sound on the other line was the sound of fabric moving, either from Julia tucking him in once more or the vigorous nodding of his head, and to confirm, Julia whispered into the phone “He says yes.”

And so Kyrie began singing.

It was a nostalgic song, the one she had sung at the ceremony on the fateful day they’d first encountered Dante, and Nero couldn’t help but smirk at the irony. This rendition of the song, however, was not as grand as her original performance. She sang in hushed, soothing tones, and the lyrics of the song, ‘out of darkness,’ fit surprisingly well for a child who had just woken up from a nightmare.

Kyrie had said on numerous occasions that, although the Order had been corrupt, Fortuna and the Order was still a large part of her, and she would never be able to fully bring herself to hate it. There had been genuinely good people in the order—hell, she was proof of it— and so she still proudly passed down the songs she had learned. She may not be singing them in front of a grand audience anymore, but the way she used them now—around the house as she cleaned, to sing the children to sleep—was a way to allow the songs and hymns to live on and have new meaning.

To the children, they won’t be songs from the Order. They’ll be songs they remember when they’re older, that will remind them of sweet dreams, or peaceful afternoons at home, and that was enough for Kyrie.

Nero was suddenly very aware at how quiet the shop had gone. Aside from Kyrie’s soothing and hushed melody, it was as if there was no other sign of life. The songstress herself didn’t seem to notice, with her eyes closed as she sung to Carlo, most likely seeing him tucked in his bed as if she were there with him. The sight only made Nero feel guilty once more that he had pulled Kyrie away from the kids.

Somewhere down the line Nero had closed his eyes to listen as well, and slowly cracked them open once her song had faded to a stop, replaced by her whisper. “Good night, Carlo.”

The sound of a door softly closing could be heard over the line as Julia tried to sneak out without waking the boy. “Thank you.” she whispered.

“If that ever happens again and you can’t calm him down, even if it’s in the middle of the night, don’t hesitate to call me,” Kyrie said into the phone, still keeping her voice down either by habit or because she simply forgot to raise it again. “Though, if it is in the middle of the night, I can’t guarantee how good my voice will sound,” she laughed.

Julia laughed over the line, too, thanking Kyrie once more, while Kyrie made a ‘it was nothing’ gesture that Julia wasn’t able to see.

“Alright. Yes, of course. Okay, talk to you tomorrow.”

Once off the phone, Kyrie turned to the rest of them, and at the utter silence and all of them staring at her, it must have finally dawned on her that they had been like this ever since she began singing.

“Well, there’s another skill to add to the list,” Lady said, eyebrows raised as she gave a polite, albeit theatric, little clap. “And that was no singing in the shower caliber, either.”

“Yes, something tells me you’re used to having more than just shampoo bottles as an audience,” Trish agreed, and although not directly complimenting Kyrie, it was clear from her inflection.

“I used to be part of the Order’s choir in Fortuna, and I would often do solo performances for sermons and special events.” Kyrie explained over her slight embarrassment at the attention, smiling wistfully. “I do kind of miss it.”

“Well, you can rest assured your voice is still just as powerful, especially as a lullaby.” Nero noted with a grin, jerking his thumb to the sofa where a fast-asleep Nico lay. “Just don’t use these powers for evil.”

“How could I, when I have you to keep me in check?” Kyrie replied playfully, brushing her hand across his chest as she passed him on her way over to Nico, looking around for a blanket to put on her. “Oh, Nico. She said she didn’t want to sleep on a couch again, but look at her. Should we carry her up to the guest room, instead?”

Nero shrugged, not caring one way or the other. “Whatever, just leave her. Pretty funny she fell asleep on a couch again, if you ask me.”

Kyrie had in fact not asked him, however, and she crossed her arms. “If Nico’s too tired to go to a hotel tonight and wants to stay here, she’s not sleeping on the couch. She’s sleeping in a bed tonight, one way or the other, even if I have to sleep on this couch instead of her.”

The prospect of Nero having to sleep in a bed with Nico while Kyrie slept on the couch was enough for him to take the situation seriously, and he all but dragged Nico from the couch despite her sleepy protests. “Your back and neck will thank me tomorrow. 5 star hotel, remember?”

Nico mumbled sleepily in agreement, her heart clearly saying yes but her body most definitely telling her not to get up.

“As much fun as it is watching you wrestle with her, Lady and I can take it from here,” Trish offered, though made no move to actually help as she happily watched Nero struggle with her from the dining chair.

“That’s right. Now c’mon, you.” Lady chimed in, walking over to Nico and hauling her over her shoulder as if she were Kalina Ann. Speaking of, said rocket launcher was nowhere to be seen due to the unconscious woman now taking its usual place on her back, and Nero looked around, wondering if she forgot it.

Trish noticed his look and whistled to get his attention, hiking the strap up to better secure it to her. “I’ve got it. I’m better at handling weapons than people, after all.”

It was quite a sight to see as they walked off into the night, one woman holding another woman over her shoulder like a burlap sack, and the other carrying a rocket launcher. Nero and Kyrie stood at the door and waved politely, looking as if they were saying goodbye to relatives after a family dinner.

“Sorry, I’m using one of your shirts as a makeshift nightgown,” Kyrie announced apologetically as she entered the guest room, putting the clothes she had worn for the day in a separate dirty clothes bag. “I barely had any space to pack clothes to begin with, and packing pajamas completely slipped my mind.”

“Damn, what a shame.” Nero offered in false regret, watching her from where he lay on the bed. She had picked his comfiest cotton shirt, burgundy with long sleeves that went far beyond her hands, and the length of the shirt just barely managed to cover her underwear. That was, until she made any slight movements, and Nero didn’t try to hide the way he jokingly craned his neck to get better looks here and there.

“I’ll definitely have to go shopping for a few more outfits, and a pair of pajamas at the very least. I don’t want to keep stealing your clean clothes,” Kyrie concluded as she joined him in bed, peeling back the covers to get next to him.

“You could always sleep naked,” Nero offered with a teasing smile, despite being 100% serious. Kyrie smiled and rolled her eyes as she stretched out eagerly, making a noise of satisfaction. After falling asleep in her clothing in a motel last night, lying in a better-quality bed with comfier clothes was akin to heaven.

However, there was still the smell.

Kyrie scrunched up her nose as she brought the blankets up more, though didn’t have a choice but to use them considering she got cold easily. “I’ll definitely have to wash these at the laundromat tomorrow.” She observed, and Nero made an absent-minded sound of agreement as he lay with his eyes closed, not particularly bothered by it due to the fact that he was mainly just smelling her.

“I can’t stop thinking about it.” She mumbled into his chest, before looking up at him. “What do you think?”

“About what? Sleeping naked?” Nero asked, knowing that clearly wasn’t what she couldn’t stop thinking about, but unsure of what she was really referring to. “I’m all for it.”

Kyrie, apparently realizing she hadn’t specified, ducked her head down as she laughed before bringing it back up to meet him. “Sorry, I meant, well, about Trish. What do you think it means, that the picture of Dante’s mom looks exactly like her? Could that really be a coincidence?”

Right, that. Nero didn’t know for sure himself, and for Dante and Trish’s sake, he didn’t exactly want to throw out wild speculations, so he chewed on his lip, deciding what he should say to her. Well, he could at least tell Kyrie the one thing he did know about Trish. If Kyrie was going to be around her this long, anyway, she deserved to know.

“I know that Trish is a demon, but I have no clue what her looking like Dante’s mom means. And based on the reaction we got from Trish, I’m not even sure I want to ask Dante once he’s back.”

Nero looked down at Kyrie to gauge her reaction at the revelation that Trish was a demon, and she, understandably, was looking at him in wide eyed shock.

Her next reaction, however, he didn’t quite understand.

Kyrie burst into laughter, once again lowering her head onto his chest as she shook her head. Nero raised an eyebrow. “What? Is there a joke I missed somewhere?” he asked, waiting for her laughter to subside, though it was infectious and he ended up chuckling despite his ever growing confusion.

“No, it’s just. Well, I feel stupid. I was going to ask Trish what her beauty routine was, since she looks the exact same as I last saw her,” Kyrie explained, the remaining giggles coming out in spurts between her words. “Wait. Does that mean Lady’s a demon, too?”

“No, but she’ll be happy to know that you thought she was also a demon because of how young she still looks,” he offered, and Kyrie laughed again.

Nero looked down at her, wondering if that was all she had to say on the matter. When she simply closed her eyes and smiled contentedly on his chest, he nudged her. “I gotta say, I’m surprised you’re not more…I dunno…shocked that Trish is a demon. That doesn’t bother you? That you didn’t know this whole time?”

Kyrie turned her head to look up at Nero as if he’d just asked her if the sky was blue, and she stared at him for a second to make sure if he was really asking what he was asking. “Nero, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re part demon. And I love you, don’t I?”

Ah, right.

“Not everybody is as lovable as me, though. I can get away with being part demon,” He grinned down at her, knowing she wouldn’t argue with that. Satisfied at her silence, he plopped his head back down on the pillow, closing his eyes.

“That reminds me…I want to be there to support you tomorrow, but do you mind if I stay here and steal Nico to get some things done around the shop?” Kyrie asked, and even with his eyes closed he could feel her crane her neck up to look at him from her spot on his shoulder.

Nero opened his eyes to meet hers, raising his eyebrows slightly. “You asking me if I’m okay with you staying here, instead of coming to the place where a demon tree used to be while I practice opening a portal to hell?” Kyrie laughed at the absurdity of it all put into words as Nero pretended to think. “Yeah, I think that’ll work. What’re your plans for tomorrow?”

“Everything,” Kyrie sighed in exasperation, and Nero looked down at her. “This entire shop needs to be cleaned, for one. I made the mistake of taking off my pantyhose and walking around barefoot—the floor is sticky and covered with crumbs. I’ll need to sweep, mop, and give everything a good wipe down. I also have to take the sheets to the laundromat, so might as well do any dirty clothes too. Then I’ll just have to start dinner.”

Nero sat up slightly, overwhelmed just listening to her. “Whoa, Kyrie. You don’t have to do all that tomorrow, and not alone, either. I can put off my work for one more day while I help you.”

“Hmm,” Kyrie pretended to consider his offer, drumming her fingers on his chest before pushing him back down. “If you’re going to help me with my work, then it’s only fair I help you with yours.”

Nero stared at her, wondering what she meant. Even if she wanted to, there was no way for her to—

Kyrie laughed at the expression on his face, which, judging by how confused he was, was probably cartoonish. “Exactly. I can’t help you with what you’re doing, so there’s no need to help me with what I’m doing. I came along to help take some of the burden off of you, not to make you do your regular work and help me.”

“Fair enough,” Nero conceded, though he still felt guilty leaving all that to her. Though, he supposed that’s probably how she felt when she saw the rest of them fighting. Again, despite the paranoia and worry it brought him, Nero was once again happy Kyrie had come along after all. Not only did he get to be with her more, but he was beginning to understand her perspective more and more.

Kyrie yawned then, stretching out once more as she rubbed her eyes. “We better get some rest, we both have big days tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Nero agreed, letting his head fall to the pillow for the last time. “Having to clean the bathroom here, looks like we’ll both be opening portals to hell tomorrow.”

Chapter 6: Motivation

Chapter Text

“Damn it!”

Nero clicked his tongue angrily, unable to contain a frustrated growl as he took a hard swipe at the air in front of him. Trish calmly watched him, magazine in lap, only occasionally peeking up at him to see his progress.

They’d started at 8am, it was now almost 1pm, and he still hadn’t made any progress. Each swipe was similar to the very first time he’d done it—a little bit of air distortion and ripples, but it soon died down and resulted in nothing.

“Relax,” Trish turned a page lazily, not bothered by his outbursts in the slightest. “I already told you: don’t expect to actually open a portal on the first try.”

“I know that,” Nero spat back, clenching his right hand open and closed impatiently. “But in case you haven’t noticed, I’m long past my first try, and I’m still not seeing a difference here.”

Nero wanted visible progress. Whatever Trish was seeing that apparently let her know he had some bullsh*t “potential” wasn’t enough for him.

Nero was straightforward, and he was used to immediate results for his actions. If he punched you? You went flying. You shoot a gun enough? Your aim gets better. And you swing a big sword around? Your swings get faster, and they hit harder.

But this? Whatever this was that he was even supposed to be doing, it was driving him crazy. He felt as if he’d gone mad, doing the same action over and over with no discernible difference, and yet Trish insisted he keep going. Her presence only made it worse, and although Nero wasn’t the type of guy to get performance anxiety, all this nothingness was starting to take a hit on his pride.

Just when Nero was reaching his limit, Kyrie had somehow managed to do it again.

He’d said it before, and he’d say it a million more times: she always knew what to say or do, even when she apparently wasn’t even with him.

The sound of Nico’s tunes suddenly broke the taut silence, getting closer and closer until the van screeched to a halt only inches away from Nero, causing him to have to dodge out of the way as she swung open the door. She met his eyes with a grin, looking down at his exhausted and irritated appearance smugly.

“Hey honey, you feelin’ a little hangry?” She asked, not bothering for a response as she waltzed back into the van. Nero was about to ask if she’d come all the way here just to bitch at him and that she should be back at the shop helping Kyrie, when suddenly she reemerged with a paper plate full of sandwiches in her hands, neatly covered by saran wrap.

Nico laughed at the look on Nero’s face when he saw it, enjoying the power she held over him—literally over him—raising the plate up in a grand gesture. “Behold!” she announced, slowly lowering the plate, and Nero’s eyes followed it with locked-on precision every step of the way. He didn’t dare try to wrestle it out of her hands in fear of causing it to fall to the ground in their tussle. “The Goddess Kyrie has taken time out of her busy day to grant you peasants a meal!”

“Amen,” Nero finished hastily, finally reaching for the sandwiches. Nico seemed satisfied he had at least sat through some of her theatrics and played along, so she allowed him to snatch the plate from her with no argument.

At the sight of food, Trish wandered over curiously, looking through the sandwiches which were all cutely cut into triangles with the crust sliced off. Knowing how much Kyrie had to do today and seeing that she still put the extra effort into not only sending Nico to bring the sandwiches, but also going the extra mile to cut them as she did and provide a variety of fillings, made Nero feel both melodramatic for his earlier outburst, and also a sudden rush of affection for the love of his life.

After glancing over the plate and discerning what each sandwich was, Trish happily took the ones that were toasted, with melted cheese and some leftover pepperoni from the night before. Nero purposely hadn’t touched those ones, knowing full well Kyrie had intended they be for Trish.

“So, any progress here?” Nico asked, leaning against the van door with her arms crossed as she watched them eat. Her question immediately brought back Nero’s bad mood, and the sandwich in his mouth soured slightly.

“Yes,” Trish said sternly, giving a pointed look in Nero’s direction as she scooped a glob of melted cheese and popped it in her mouth. “It’ll just take time to see the results.”

Nero grunted dismissively, and Nico nodded, already getting a grasp at the situation just from their attitudes alone. “Yeah, patience ain’t exactly this guy’s virtue. Actually, I don’t think he’s got any real virtue, t’be honest.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nero said uncommittedly between bites, more focused on eating than coming up with a comeback. He swore he could make the exact same sandwich with the exact same ingredients, and it still wouldn’t taste nearly as good as Kyrie’s for whatever reason. They never did.

Trish and Nico chatted while Nero absently ate his sandwiches, eyebrows crinkled in thought as he chewed. Once the sandwiches were gone and he’d regained a level head, he brushed the crumbs off his hands and turned to Trish.

“Be honest with me. Can you really tell that I’m making any progress?” He demanded. “Because if you’re just saying that to get me to keep going, it’s having the opposite effect.”

“You are making progress,” she assured, not backing down from his accusatory gaze. “With every swipe, I can feel the veil getting thinner and thinner. I know you’re used to cutting and slashing, but with this, it’s more like you’re shaving off a layer each time. It’ll be slow, but you’ll get there.”

“Great.” Nero sighed, still having trouble finding the energy to stay positive despite her assurance.

He knew this was all required if he wanted to get Dante and Vergil back, but it was draining in both body and mind. The same repetitive motion was making him cramp up, and of course seeing no results didn’t exactly put his head in a good spot either.

Truthfully, he was dreading getting back to it, and so he was thankful when the rev of a motorcycle in the distance ripped through the air. He only had to wonder who it was for a moment, before the familiar black-haired woman and her signature rocket launcher tore through the ashen expanse, swerving to a halt a much safer distance away from them than Nico had.

“Looks like the gangs all here,” Lady remarked in surprise, waving to Nico as she hopped off her motorcycle and strolled up. She glanced curiously down at the now empty plate of sandwiches, though still took a crumb and popped it into her mouth. “How’s the portal opening going?”

Nero only shrugged this time, already tired of being asked this question, and Lady laughed loudly. Clearly he was easier to read than he’d thought.

“Well, I was just about to go do a gig. Wanna come with?” She offered, quirking her eyebrow up with a slight smile, already knowing what his answer would be.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Nero accepted in a mockingly sweet voice, reaching down to where he had shed his jacket earlier and slipped it back on. “I really need to kill something.”

Trish stood up and sighed, no doubt wishing he’d just continue, but not fighting him on the matter either. “Sounds good. I need to burn off those sandwiches, anyway.”

“Alright, but just because you’re tagging along, doesn’t mean you guys are getting a cut,” Lady warned severely as she pointed a finger at them, but soon brought it up to her chin. “Then again, technically neither am I.”

“What, you doin’ this gig for free?” Nico asked in disbelief, and Lady was shaking her head before she’d even been able to finish asking that.

“Of course not. But all the money from this job’s gonna be going towards a new microwave for the shop.”

Trish seemed disappointed in that, but Nero nodded in approval. “Good. We got lucky last night, but I think it might just physically pain Kyrie if we end up having to eat cold leftovers half the time.”

Lady laughed and turned to Nico, eyeing her vehicle. “You coming along too, Nico? Didn’t realize you’d be here, but it’ll be easier if we all go in the van.”

Nico stammered a bit as she was put on the spot, and Nero realized she had to get back to Kyrie. That also made him realize that with all four of them here, it meant Kyrie was by herself at the shop right now. He shook his head in reply for Nico, who was still trying to come up with an answer that would somehow please both parties.

It was true Nico had to get back anyway, but also—and even Nero realized that he was probably just being overprotective—he wanted at least one other person there with Kyrie at the shop. With the Qliphoth in the city and the veil nearby already thin, there was no telling what could happen.

“Nico only dropped by to bring us sandwiches from Kyrie, so she’s gotta get back to help with cleaning the shop,” Nero explained easily, and noticed Nico put a hand on her chest as she exhaled in relief. Nero raised an eyebrow, not understanding why it was apparently so hard to just say no to Lady by herself.

Lady, for her part, nodded in total understanding, suddenly scrunching her nose in sympathy. “For sure. To clean Dante’s shop, you’d need an army, let alone two people. You’d better head on back, then.”

“Aye aye, Cap’n!” Nico saluted with gusto, but turned to Nero once more before she left. “Y’sure I should head back? How’re you gonna get to the job site?”

The other two women were already taking their spots on the motorcycle, and Lady shrugged at him as if to say sorry. Nero just waved her off and turned to Nico, a grin on his face as his blue wings materialized from nothing.

“You really have to ask?”

Damn, but did it feel good to kill something.

With the renovations to Red Grave and the rebuilding that had to happen, most of the jobs consisted of clearing out demons that had escaped from the Qliphoth and decided to settle down in abandoned buildings or the ruins of destroyed ones.

In this particular case, some poor sap had come to figure out what renovations could be done to this place, only to get scorched by an entire swarm of Pyrobats. Apparently he was still alive, just a bit more well-done than before.

The three of them had been able to make short work of the bats, since the little f*ckers were considerate enough to bundle up together in swarms. Lady had to refrain from using Kalina Ann, due to the fact that the building had already been reduced to ruins and she didn’t want to reduce it to rubble. Instead, she had to use her guns to shoot each individual bat, but that’s where Nero and Trish came along.

Trish no longer had the Sparda sword due to Dante taking it back, she’d said. But she didn’t mind, and her electric swings and shockwaves were more than enough to stun an entire group and send them writhing on the ground.

Nero swung Red Queen ungracefully through the air as if he were a batter, sending some flying with the blunt side of his blade, while others were sliced swiftly in half. With his devil bringer, he also extended his blue claw to grab a swarm, crushing them in an instant.

It was almost laughable how quickly they’d taken care of the little ‘vermin’ problem, and Nero couldn’t tell if he felt better or worse. On the one hand, it was nice to be able to swing at something he could see, and to feel the impact of his blow. But on the other hand, it was so easy and over so quickly that it had just felt like a tease more than anything else. He wanted to really fight and go toe to toe with a demon.

“Any other jobs?” Nero asked as he shook out his hands, bouncing on his feet and turning to Lady who was taking pictures on her phone as proof of their job well done. She simply shook her head at him before returning her phone to her back pocket.

“Sorry, none right now—but you’ll be the first to know.” She gave his shoulder a friendly thump with her fist as she passed him, settling on her motorcycle outside. Lady nodded her chin at Trish in silent question: getting on?

Trish took her spot in the backseat, and Lady revved up her motorcycle. “I’ll drop Trish off before I go to pick up the microwave.” She looked to Nero, suddenly struck with an idea. “Race you there.”

Without even giving him a second to approve or deny the challenge, Lady was already tearing through the street, and Nero grinned as he clenched his teeth. Worked for him—he could use a handicap, and she’d need the head start. After all, he had a lot of pent up energy he needed to get out.

His blue wings erupted out of him, and he took one strong step forward and propelled himself up off the ground, savoring the feeling and exhilaration of the sheer force he put into each movement.

He was no bird, though, and couldn’t glide indefinitely, but that only made it more fun for him as he determined where and how to land. Nero got into his own rhythm, jumping off a building here, propelling himself with a streetlight there. It didn’t take him long to catch up to Lady and Trish, and although the driver herself spared him no glance, Trish casually let go of her hold on Lady, swiveling in the seat of the motorcycle to nonchalantly look up at him and wave.

Nero smirked at that, unsure if she was just being Trish, or if she was supposed to be taunting him. Either way he sped up, running so low to the ground that his face was only a foot away from the asphalt, his wings granting him speed and keeping him straight as an arrow. He then kicked hard, shooting forward like a bullet as he zipped by their motorcycle in a blur of silver and black, and he heard Lady swear and quickly swerve to the side in surprise.

Luckily, due to the calamity in Red Grave, there weren’t many residents out and about to witness Nero’s stunts, considering the destroyed parts of towns were mostly uninhabited. And when there were people coming, he’d stick to the rooftops.

But as of right now, the coast was clear, and he took that opportunity to fully rub his victory in their faces. He looked back at them from the road ahead, making sure to give them his best winning smile, before fully spreading his wings and giving them the classic Dante “adios” motion with his hand.

He’d moved so fast he ended up losing sight of them, eager to get the last of the pent up energy that was balled up inside of him out before he reached the shop, and so he put all he had into his final sprints. He nearly overshot it, though, and stretched his wings out wide for the air resistance, and even had to pull out Red Queen to dig into the ground to prevent him from going any further. He wasn’t about to lose the race on a technicality because he’d ended up flying all the way back to Fortuna by accident.

Like a dog who had just been taken for a run, Nero panted in front of the door to the shop, glad to be in a thoroughly better mood now that he was about to see Kyrie. He opened the door, ruffling a hand through his windswept hair to diminish his sudden resemblance to Vergil, and stopped in surprise as he stepped into the small space.

It was, for all intents and purposes, sparkling.

Nero looked around, astounded at the difference one day of Kyrie had made on the place. Everything was glossy and shined as decades of grime and filth had been scrubbed clean, including the floors, which had been swept and mopped. Whatever stickiness that had made his combat boots stick to the floor for just a second too long the day before was now gone.

And not only was the place now spotless, it also smelled amazing, as dinner was clearly already started and the proof was the aroma wafting throughout the shop.

After he was done admiring the job she’d done, Nero found the woman herself on the couch, peeling off a pair of rubber gloves she’d been using to clean. Nico was beside her, lying on the couch with her legs hanging off the side and donning her own pair of gloves as she dozed.

Kyrie made her way to Nero once her gloves were off, touching the sides of his face with the tips of her fingers as she lifted herself up to reach him for a kiss. “How did it go today?”

He sighed, turning slightly away from her, though her fingers still on his face nudged him gently back to meet her eyes. “Unproductive,” was what he’d settled on, though he couldn’t help the bitterness from seeping into his voice. He didn’t want to complain, though, not after the day she’d had, and so he grinned at her. “Unlike you. This even the same place? You got dinner going too, and you somehow made time to bring me lunch.”

Instead of saying thank you, Nero just put his words into action, scooping her up and walking with her as he kissed her. He stopped once he was at his destination, breaking their kiss in order to plop her back down on the couch where she had been moments before. The silent command to rest was clear, and Kyrie smiled at him as she leaned back once more.

“It really wasn’t that much,” she insisted, waving a hand at him, and gestured to the slow cooker. “We’re having stew tonight, so once I had everything chopped up, I’ve been able to just leave it and let it cook all day while I clean.”

“I don’t care what you say,” Nero rebuffed stubbornly, determined to sing her praises as he reached down to grab her legs, and swung them over so that they were now up on the couch. “You’re amazing.”

Kyrie laughed, deciding to accept defeat and embrace his praises, and she pulled her knees up to her chest, making room for him. Nero wordlessly sat down, giving a little grunt of relief as he did so. He hadn’t exactly been working hard all day, but he’d still been standing for all of it, and it felt good to sit.

Kyrie inched closer to him, face right beside him as her nose practically tickled his ear. “You smell like…burnt. Burnt rubber?” she observed curiously, moving in closer for more sniffs. The noises she made as she did so made Nero crack a smile, and he turned his head quickly so that she was now inches from his face instead.

“You’re either smelling the Pyrobats, or the sparks I made when I skidded to a stop with Red Queen.” His answer didn’t seem to clear up any of her confusion, and she still stared at him. “I flew here.”

Before Kyrie had time to ask more questions—whether it be about why he had been fighting Pyrobats or why he’d flown here—the door opened once more, and they both turned to see Trish come in, her hair slicked back by wind.

“I won.” Nero informed her childishly, as if it wasn’t already clear. That one phrase was enough for Kyrie to catch on to what had transpired, and she smiled beside him.

Trish shook her hair out with a bark of laughter. “Don’t I know it. Lady isn’t going to let it end like that, you know.” she warned him with a quirk of her eyebrow as she took a seat on a dining room chair, crossing her legs.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m down to whoop her ass at anything she has planned, anytime.” Nero shrugged confidently, and Kyrie pulled on his earlobe to bring him down a notch.

Now that Trish was here, Kyrie turned to the woman in order to get a second opinion. “Was it really that bad today?” she asked hesitantly. Although Nero had only told her it was ‘unproductive’, she must have picked up on his deeper, poorly hidden frustration.

Trish looked to Nero, as if accusing him of telling Kyrie something she shouldn’t know, and simply shook her head. “I don’t know what Nero said, but it’s going fine. As I expected it to, really. You know him better than I do, so you probably know already that he’s just impatient since he’s not seeing immediate results.”

Nero made a disgruntled noise as Kyrie laughed, seemingly starting to get the picture now. She turned to him, and from her seated position with her knees still up, nudged his thigh with her foot.

“Trish said from the beginning it would take a while. You are making progress; you just have to be patient.” Kyrie told him.

How many times were people going to tell him that? “I know,” he sighed, not wanting to take out his annoyance on her. “But it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.”

Nero turned to Trish. “If you can apparently gauge it so well, any ETA for how long it’ll take ‘till I can actually open a damn portal we can go through?”

He’d expected the blonde to simply say she didn’t know, or that it wasn’t something that could be calculated and estimated.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for her to hesitate, as if that were a question she’d hoped he wouldn’t ask. He frowned at her, co*cking his head slightly in his confusion, but before he could press it any further, the door suddenly swung open once more.

“Here it is!” Lady announced as soon as she came in, setting the box down on the dining table. “The latest addition to the Dante expense account, and most certainly not the last.”

They all turned to see what she had brought in, and were greeted with a shiny new box that read ‘microwave oven’, with a picture that advertised the technological marvel that awaited them inside.

“Oh, wonderful!” Kyrie sang, standing immediately when she saw it. There was so much relief in her voice, it was hard to believe she had only been looking at a microwave. “We’re going to have lots of leftover stew, I was worried about what to do with it all. Thank you so much.”

“Well, worry no more,” Lady said simply, taking it out of the box and bringing it over to the ‘kitchen’ area. Seeing as the bar was used as the kitchen counter, Lady looked around, trying to find a suitable spot. With a shrug, she simply placed it on top of the fridge, plugging it into the same outlet.

“Guess that works,” Nero looked over in amusem*nt, though he wouldn’t be surprised if he and Kyrie heard a bang in the middle of the night, only to find that the microwave had fallen off of the slightly rounded fridge. “Perfect timing, too, ‘cause Kyrie always makes enough stew to feed an army.”

Lady gave a pleased smile at that piece of information, walking over to the slow cooker to take a curious peek in, already looking forward to it. “Yeah, that microwave was as much for Kyrie as it was for me.”

Taking a seat at the dining table across from Trish, Lady looked between both Nero and Trish, sensing the tension there. Unless Morrison was going to walk in and join the party next, there would hopefully be no more interruptions. Nero turned back to Trish, asking her the same question he’d asked before Lady had barged in with the microwave.

“How long will it take for me to open a portal that we can get through?”

Trish sighed, giving it some thought. So she did know how long it would take. Why didn’t she just say so sooner? It’s not like—

“About a year.”

Her matter of fact and blunt answer seemed to whack him across the head, and he stood up in disbelief, his eyes never leaving hers. “What?” was all he could manage before he started pacing around the shop. “This’s really our best bet? Seriously? Me swiping at the air for a year?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t take a year if ya just swiped a bit harder…” Nico drawled with a sleepy smile, clearly still half asleep on the couch, only awoken by Nero’s outburst. Even in her half-asleep state, she still had the mental clarity to give him sh*t.

“A…full year?” Kyrie asked from where she fiddled with the settings of their new microwave, trying not to sound disheartened. Nero looked at her, knowing full well that even if he had to stay here doing this for a year, there’s no way Kyrie could.

“Oh, Trish. Ever the dramatic,” Lady rolled her eyes as she got up from her spot in the dining chair, opting to sit on the table instead as she crossed her legs and looked at everyone in the room. “We don’t actually need a year. Not technically.”

Nero’s eyebrows furrowed as he searched their faces. “What’s that supposed to mean? If it’s gonna take me a year to be able to open a portal, then we do need a year,” he argued, unsure of where they were going with this.

“Ah-ah. You asked me how long it would take for you to open up a portal we could go through, and I told you. A year.” Trish recapped, her tone as if she were explaining basic math to an elementary student. “But we don’t need you to open a portal big enough for anybody to go through. All you need to do is tear open a portal about the size of a quarter…Maybe even a penny.”

“Really? But…what good would that do?” Kyrie asked, and now it was her turn to frown in confusion as she looked past Nero and over to the two women at the dining table. “I assumed the plan was to open a portal so that Nero could go in and save those two?”

“Ooh! Ooh! I got it!” Nico suddenly shot up from her horizontal position on the couch, nearly cracking her skull into Nero’s as she did so. “You want me to invent somethin’ to be able to fly through the little opening? Like a drone?”

Nero turned to look at her now sitting up beside him, shaking his head at her.

“Even if you could send something in that small, how would that help Dante and Vergil get out? You planning on making a shrink ray, too?” Nero asked, amazed at her lack of foresight. He could tell she wasn’t listening to him, though, and was no doubt already conjuring a prototype in her mind.

Trish merely smiled at the confusion, evidently nonplussed by it all. “Guess I’ll have to explain. But first,” she got up, walking towards the bar and tilting her head up to sniff the air before turning to look at Kyrie. “When can I get a bowl of that?

As much as Nero wanted answers on whatever Trish and Lady knew and just weren’t telling him, he also hadn’t argued when Trish had decided to prolong that conversation in favor of food.

Nero didn’t want to admit it since he was just standing there moving his arm all day, but even he was taken aback by how draining this whole ‘trying to open a portal between worlds’ stuff had been for him. He was still young, and could fight all day without breaking much of a sweat—in fact, it exhilarated him. In a regular fight, he knew he had the stamina to continue for hours on end if he had to.

And yet standing in one spot and swinging his arm over and over was where his body decided to draw the line?

Maybe it was because there was no actual danger, and in turn, no rush of the usual adrenaline that accompanied him when he was in the thick of the fight and allowed him to continue for as long as it took. But he knew that wasn’t fully it, either. It may have contributed, but the part that actually drained him was summoning what was left of the Yamato.

Nero had been nervous at first, and had asked Trish if it was really a good idea to be summoning its power so carelessly. After all, what if he ended up using all of the leftover aura from the Yamato he’d stored without ever having opened a portal? Was each swing emptying a bit more out of the jar every time, and soon the traces of the Yamato would be gone from him forever?

Trish had assured him it didn’t work like that, however, and so that still left him to wonder: If he wasn’t using up this aura, why was it so exhausting to use?

He could only guess it was because he wasn’t relying on his own power, but the echo of a foreign power he once borrowed. It not only took concentration to find it within him, but he then had to keep the flame lit, almost as if he were shielding and fanning it against a harsh wind that threatened to blow it out at any moment.

That was why, even by his standards, he had eaten way more than he usually did. Even Kyrie seemed surprised as he continued to ask for more, and she smiled in amusem*nt as she cut him more bread. The slices had started out a normal size, but as he kept asking for more, she was soon giving him what could only be described as cinderblocks of bread.

Trish ate almost the same amount he had, though Nero wasn’t sure what her excuse was. She did it a lot more gracefully than him, that’s for damn sure—dabbing daintily at her mouth with a napkin as if she’d just eaten a few bites of salad instead of a whole family’s worth of food.

“Now then, how to explain?” she leaned back after she’d polished off her final bowl.

“How about you start with why you didn’t just frontload me with all the information you had to begin with?” Nero suggested, unable to keep the annoyance and anger from his tone. Every step of the way they’d just been revealing information little by little, as if leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, instead of all at once. “I want all the answers. Just give me the full plan.”

“We weren’t trying to hide anything from you, if that’s what you think.” Lady made sure to clarify, looking between Trish and Nero. “We just figured it’d be easier to explain everything as it came up, since it’s easier to understand once the situation’s given context.”

Trish made a noise of agreement at Lady’s explanation. “Especially since it’s a bit hard to explain, even with context. But now that you’ve actually attempted to open the portal and harness the Yamato’s powers, that makes this easier.”

Trish got up then, standing at the head of the table to look at everyone. “Also, when it comes to explaining, I’m more of a show rather than tell kinda gal.”

And then she was gone.

Nero blinked. He knew she wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity due to the fact that his arm wasn’t reacting in the slightest—she’d just completely vanished.

Kyrie seemed to have the same general reaction as him, though her expression was more worried than confused. Guess it had been a good call to tell Kyrie that Trish was a demon last night, ‘else this would have been a hell of a way to suddenly find out.

Nico seemed to be the only one who didn’t show even a hint of confusion, just pure awe as she bolted upright and looked around excitedly, a stupidly large smile on her face. Nero could already tell Trish’s sudden and instantaneous disappearance had given her an idea, and he had a feeling a devil breaker in his near future was going to cause severe motion sickness.

Trish had only been gone a few seconds before she reappeared at the head of the table as if she’d never left, looking otherwise the same but making a noise of disgust as she realized she had tracked in some…dirt?

No, not dirt. Goop would be the better word for it.

It probably took every ounce of Kyrie’s willpower not to say something due to the sullying of her freshly scrubbed floors, but Trish’s sudden teleportation and what this meant for their plan was more pressing at the moment.

“Welcome back. You know, you wouldn’t believe what happened while you were gone,” Nero informed her, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Trish cracked a smile at that, shaking the rest of the goop off her hands. “Really, it’s been far too long.” she played along mildly, giving Kyrie an apologetic look for the mess.

Nico, apparently having gotten over her initial excitement, tilted her head in confusion. “That’s a neato trick ‘n all, but…how’s it got anything to do with the Yamato and portal opening?”

“As you all probably know, I’m a demon.” Trish looked to each of them, eyes lingering on Kyrie the longest to see if there was any surprise there. Upon seeing none, she turned to Nero and gave him an amused look. “And as a demon, I can return to the underworld at any time, with or without a Hell Gate, a portal, or anything like that. I can only come back to the human world, however, if the veil in that area is thin enough, like how it is here in Red Grave currently. ”

“So then…!” Kyrie half-stood in her seat, though she suddenly seemed to second guess herself as she sat back down, knowing the solution was too easy. “I guess you can’t just teleport to the underworld and bring Vergil and Dante back, can you…?”

“Unfortunately not,” Trish smiled bitterly, clearly more upset about that fact then she let on. “Problem is, it’s only applicable to demons. I tried holding onto Lady, to see if maybe I could bring a human with me to the underworld while teleporting, but…”

Lady leaned back in her seat with a grimace. “No luck.”

“And even if that did work, it still left us with one problem: the demon world is infinite and constantly changing. It’s not like your realm, with set rules like gravity, or directions. I was able to return right here, at the head of this table, because the human world is constant.” Trish explained slowly, looking between each of them to make sure she hadn’t lost anyone before she continued on.

“But without knowing exactly where Dante and Vergil are at any given moment, I could be teleporting to random spots in the underworld for years before finding them—if I ever find them. So even if I could bring one of you with me to teleport to and fro, we’d have to account for time wasted just searching.”

Nero frowned as he listened to her, still trying to piece together how this all worked and how it had anything to do with opening a tiny, penny-sized portal to the underworld.

“But I also realized something,” Trish started again, seeing the questions plain as day on Nero’s face. “I can’t teleport humans with me because of the barrier separating this world from the underworld. But the Yamato can cut through that.” Trish’s gaze fell from Nero’s face to his right arm. “Nero, if you can manage to cut the barrier between our realms—make even the tiniest opening—I can use that to teleport someone through with me.”

Nero nodded. “So that’s why it doesn’t have to be a big portal. We’re not going through it physically, it’s more like…poking a little hole through an airtight seal to allow airflow. And in that analogy, guess we’d be the air. That’ll let us come through with you?”

“Exactly,” Trish smiled at him, pleased he’d gotten it.

“I see…” Kyrie said thoughtfully, her index finger playing with her lips and making her words come out mumbled. “But then, won’t you still have the same problem you just mentioned? About how the underworld is too unpredictable? Even if you brought Nero with you, you’d still have that initial problem of how you’d find them.”

As Nero listened to Kyrie, a slow smile started to spread on his face as he understood the plan.

“It all leads back to the Yamato, huh?” he smirked, holding up his arm and closing his hand into a fist. “Think this thing is gonna be the beacon of light, guiding me back to my pops?”

“Well, that probably would be the easiest way, since Vergil’s your father, and the traces of the Yamato that you have will be drawn to the Yamato itself.” Lady admitted, though she soon shook her head. “But when you manage to open that portal, it’s not you that will be going with Trish, Nero.”

“What? Why the hell not?” Nero demanded, swiveling to look at Lady in disbelief. “You trying to leave me out again because you think you can handle it? I already told you—”

“It’s nothing like that!” Lady cut him off in an exasperated huff. “You need to stay on this side whether we like it or not, because you’re the portal opener. If you opened a portal, went through with Trish, and suddenly realized you could no longer open another one? Then you’ll be stuck in the underworld, too. Trish wouldn’t be able to teleport you out.”

“That’s bull,” Nero shot back, standing up. “if I’m able to open a portal on this end, why wouldn’t I be able to do it from the underworld?”

“The veil is thin here in Red Grave, but if you were to go with me, there’s no telling where we’ll end up.” Trish retorted shortly, a hand on her hip. “You have enough of the Yamato’s aura to open a portal where the veil is thin, but all bets are off if you were to go to the underworld with me. Don’t forget—Vergil is stuck there, too, and he has the actual Yamato with him. If he can get stuck down there, what makes you think you can’t?”

Nero crossed his arms impatiently, keeping his heated yet reluctant gaze on Trish. “Then Kyrie’s point still stands. Even if one of us goes in with you, how’s that any better than you going solo if you don’t have a way to find Dante and Vergil? It’s not like you’d be able to split up since you're the ticket back home, so it’d just be two people aimlessly searching for them instead of one.”

Trish heaved a sigh and yawned into her hand, the copious amounts of stew and bread clearly starting to take its toll. “And this is why I prefer explaining the plan as these things become relevant, for context.”

She turned on him then, cutting the conversation short as she grabbed the handle of the heavy wooden door leading outside, and gave Nero one last smirk.

“I’ll tell you the next part of the plan once you can actually manage to open that penny sized portal in the first place. Consider that your…motivation.” She chuckled, as if she had just shared an inside joke with an old friend as she disappeared into the night.

Chapter 7: Homerun

Chapter Text

Trish and Nero hadn’t spoken much since she’d given him her terms.

It wasn’t for any awkwardness on Trish’s part, though. She’d told him what it would take for her to talk, and so as of right now, she had nothing to say to him. Not to mention she wasn’t needed in his ‘training’ of sorts. Nero knew what he had to do, and her presence would most likely only agitate him.

Kyrie had to admit, though. Trish’s ultimatum of sorts was genius—especially when dealing with a man like Nero.

It was his pride and the affront of being left out that caused him to demand all the answers from Trish in the first place, whether those answers be about the plan, or the potential behind his own power. But it was that very same pride that now prevented him from demanding anything further of her.

Telling him that she would reveal everything once he was able to open a portal was a silent challenge, and him pestering her with questions while still not being able to open one would be akin to admitting that he couldn’t, and in turn: defeat.

Kyrie could only marvel at the ingenuity of it. Not only would it make Nero work harder to open a portal and practice more as Trish had wanted, but it would also save her from being interrogated every time they crossed paths.

Perhaps Trish was even keeping her distance from Nero for his sake. It would be the elephant in the room if they were together—the fact that Nero had questions he desperately wanted answers to—but had to hold in until he’d done what she demanded.

No matter the reason, it was clear that the demoness was used to dealing with prideful men, that much was for sure.

And instead of helping Nero train, it seemed accompanying Kyrie on her shopping trip was of more importance to her at the moment.

“You didn’t have to join me, but I do appreciate the company.” Kyrie told the two women as they passed through the automatic doors to the shopping center, reveling in the blast of warmth that welcomed them. Nico had dropped them off, but they would have to take a cab back, seeing as she’d be keeping Nero company at the Qliphoth while he practiced today. And Lady’s motorcycle—or was it Trish’s? Kyrie still wasn’t sure—could only hold two.

“It’s no problem. Can’t let a girl shop alone, now can we?” Trish replied with an easy smile and a wave of her hand. It was getting chillier as it neared the end of September, and although Kyrie had a feeling the weather didn’t affect the demon either way, Trish still pulled an expensive looking leather jacket around herself.

“I could use some more outfits, too.” Lady chimed in, gesturing to herself. “My last outfit got a bit scorched.”

“That reminds me. Do you have any outfits in mind? I’d love to pick out some clothes for you.” Trish suggested, raising an eyebrow at Kyrie as she studied the map of the mall.

“Ooh, that’d be fun.” Lady agreed, coming up around the other side of the redhead with a sudden bounce to her step. “I’d love to see the look on Nero’s face if you came back dressed in something we put together.”

Kyrie laughed imagining it: both Nero’s reaction, and what sort of outfit these two would conjure up for her in the first place. But, she unfortunately ended her laughter with a shake of her head and gave the two an apologetic look.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I was just planning on grabbing some cheap dresses from clearance racks. They take up less room since it’s just one article of clothing, and it’s cheaper than having to buy both tops and bottoms.”

Lady visibly deflated, but Trish still wore the same unhindered and playful smile.

“Well, I hope that doesn’t mean you’re against trying things on, at the very least?” she inquired in a tone that made it impossible for Kyrie to say no.

“Oh, wait,” Lady interjected suddenly before Kyrie answer. “The Dante expense account!”

“No, I couldn’t!” Kyrie quickly held up her hands and shook them rapidly, as if she could somehow swish away the ideas already formulating in Lady’s head. “I’m already so grateful for the microwave, I don’t want to add anything else. A few dresses will be enough for me, really.”

“How would we spin that, anyway?” Trish asked, suddenly giving the air of a kid concocting a prank. Something told Kyrie that the two of them had more fun trying to come up with reasons to use this so-called expense account than actually using it.

“Let’s see…” Lady pondered, playing along immediately and confirming Kyrie’s suspicions. “Well, we can look at it this way: the cuter we make Kyrie, the more pumped up Nero will get, and the more energy he’ll have to train with.”

Trish gave a clap as she laughed, clearly impressed with Lady’s thought process. “The best part is, out of all the Dante expense account purchases we’ve made so far, that is probably the only one he’d agree with—both the money spent, and the reasoning behind it.”

Lady’s laughter voiced her agreement for her, and despite the slight embarrassment she felt, Kyrie couldn’t help but join in.

“As tempting as that all sounds, I really will just buy a few cheap dresses with my own money. I don’t think telling Nero’s uncle that I have multiple outstanding debts to pay back to him would be a very good first impression.”

Trish shook her head. “Quite the opposite, actually. Being in debt might be the only thing you and Dante would be able to bond over.” she offered.

Lady, however, turned to Kyrie as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. “Hold on, you cleaned his damned shop, so you already know what a garbage human being Dante is.” She rolled her eyes, though despite the harsh words and appearances, even Lady couldn’t keep the affection out of her tone. “I can’t even think of one thing that would give Dante a bad impression of you.”

“The idea of trying to impress Dante is laughable to begin with,” Trish smirked to herself as she seemed to picture it. “That man is impressed when the toilets flush without issue.”

“Or when a co*ckroach dies on the first hit.”

The three laughed again, and despite only hearing negative things about Dante from them, Kyrie’s desire to meet him and talk to him was only growing more and more. Perhaps she would have been hesitant if there were any real disdain in their voices, but even as they criticized him, the fondness in their words were undeniable.

Despite Trish saying a girl shouldn’t shop alone, the three of them soon split up afterwards.

As it turned out, Lady and Kyrie didn’t exactly share the same fashion tastes, and so the gunslinger went off on a hunt of her own. One look at Trish, too, made it obvious that she also definitely did not share Kyrie’s tastes when it came to clothes, and so the redhead turned to her next.

“What about you, Trish? We can meet up at the food court later, but I’m fine to shop on my own if you want to browse.”

Trish only shrugged. “I don’t buy my clothes, so I’m free to be your errand girl. Anything you want me to keep an eye out for?”

Kyrie raised her eyebrows. She didn’t want to make Trish run around for her, but then again, the sooner they finished, the sooner she could head back and begin to make dinner for them all.

“That would be a great help—nothing major, I just need some pajamas to wear to bed.” she told her, making sure to give Trish an easy objective. Kyrie had no issue with the way Trish—or any other woman, for that matter—dressed. It just…wasn’t personally for her. Kyrie was too afraid to send Trish dress-hunting in fear of what she might return with, but pajamas would be an easy enough task.

“Consider it done.” Was all Trish said before giving her a relaxed salute and heading off in a different direction.

Kyrie watched her walk away, slightly concerned at the fact that she hadn’t asked for more details, but decided to leave it as she brought out her wallet.

There was only a meager amount of money in it, and she instead brought out her phone to check the balance in their account. The appearance of the Qliphoth had given Nero a lot of work, but most of that money had went to things that they’d been putting off for ages—things like buying new backpacks for the kids, fixing a leaky sink, or repairs for Nero’s equipment and the van.

They hadn’t used it all of course, and their only expense while they stayed at Dante’s place were the groceries, which Lady and Trish helped with, though Kyrie also had to pay Julia and send money for her to be able to take care of the kids.

It gave Kyrie some leeway, but not much, and she didn’t intend to spend the rest of what they could on herself, especially when Nero was the one training all day. It was almost a challenge of sorts to herself, and one of the many things she excelled at was being thrifty.

The three reconvened in the food court after about an hour and a half. Trish was the first to arrive, sipping on her fountain drink as Kyrie and Lady sat down at the table with her.

“Here you are, madam,” Trish presented the shopping bag which had been at her feet and lifted it up onto the table. “Your pajamas.”

Kyrie’s heart immediately sank when she caught sight of the expensive brand logo on the bag. She’d been worried about Trish buying anything too flashy in terms of appearance, but she hadn’t considered price.

“Trish, that store…I can’t—”

“Can’t what? Wear anything that wasn’t fashioned together by scraps?” the blonde arched her perfectly shaped eyebrow at her. “Or are you worried about the price? If that’s the case, it’s on me.”

Despite every part of her wanting to march Trish right back to that store so they could return everything for cheaper options, Kyrie knew it would be useless, and so she smiled as she pulled the bag closer to her side of the table. “Thank you. I look forward to what a great sleep I’ll be getting with expensive pajamas like these.”

Trish snorted. “Great sleep?” she smirked, sucking on her straw once more and raising both of her eyebrows. “That’s not what those expensive pajamas are for.”

Confused, Kyrie peeked into the bag. Nightgowns, along with multiple pairs of cozy pajama pants and both long and short sleeved t-shirts were inside. If they weren’t meant for a good sleep, she wasn’t sure what they’d be for. Before Kyrie had time to ask, however, Lady quickly interrupted.

“Alright, enough about pajamas. The best part of shopping is showing each other what we got. Bring it out.”

Despite her words, however, between the two of them, their ‘hauls’ were pretty boring. Lady had gone the more practical route as well, no doubt because her clothing had the potential to be scorched, as she’d said, not to mention slashed. Though now that Kyrie was here, hopefully she’d be able to lend her mending assistance and help with the latter.

Kyrie had bought thicker dresses due to the crisp weather, with button collars and high necks, and even a thick wool turtleneck dress that she’d managed to find on clearance. Along with her beige pea coat that she had luckily worn on the way to Red Grave, she now had enough for the time being.

“Alright, we good to go?” Lady asked as she collected her things, standing up and looking down at the two expectantly. Kyrie followed suit, though Trish remained seated as she continued to sip on her fountain drink.

“I’ll stay here,” she drawled in between sips of the now-empty cup. “Don’t wait up for me, either. I’ll grab food here for dinner.”

“Alright, see you.” Lady accepted it easily and turned to walk off, and Kyrie stood like a deer in headlights between the two. Not wanting to fall far too behind Lady, she turned back to Trish as she walked.

“Thank you again for the pajamas, and if you change your mind, there’s always enough food.”

The blonde didn’t look at Kyrie, and merely smiled as she raised her arm in a gesture of farewell.

Once her and Lady had gotten a cab and hopped in, Kyrie took the opportunity to investigate the bag of pajamas that Trish had bought for her more thoroughly. Something about the way she’d been acting made Kyrie suspect there was something she was missing, and she rooted through the nightgowns and cotton bottoms until she’d found it.

A set of black lingerie waited for her at the bottom of the bag, and Kyrie couldn’t help but immediately stuff the bag back closed with a small gasp, thankful that Lady was sitting in the front chatting with the driver.

At the sudden aggressive crinkle of her bag, though, she peered back. “Everything all right?”

Kyrie only smiled and nodded, waiting for her to resume her conversation before taking another peek in.

This was exactly what she had been worried about, but at least Trish had still bought her normal pajamas as well, and the lingerie was just an extra present. A present…for her, or for Nero?

Just the thought made her face burn and she risked a look at it one more time. It was lacy and sheer, and even if she wore it, it was clear that it still wouldn’t cover much of anything—even the bits that it was supposed to cover. It wasn’t just a top and bottom, however; looking further, Kyrie realized it came with a garter belt and stockings to go with it.

It was the type of thing she’d only seen in ads, or magazines similar to what hung on Dante’s wall, and certainly not something she’d ever imagine herself wearing. And she certainly never would have bought something like this on her own.

Back home, she was already wearing clothes fashioned together by old garbs and hand-me-downs, so to buy lingerie, let alone a luxurious and overtly daring set like this, it would have been out of the question.

Looking at it again, Kyrie wondered if she would be able to gather the courage to even wear it in the first place. She had no doubt that Trish had chosen black on purpose as well, due to the fact that Kyrie was most commonly seen in white, and Trish clearly did her best to pick something as completely opposite of her usual self as she could.

God, how would Nero even react? The thought made her both nervous and giddy.

Kyrie rooted through the bag some more, wondering if there was anything she missed, when she felt a thin piece of paper slip across her hand. The receipt. She was almost afraid to look at it and see the cost, but at least now she could always return it if she never mustered the courage to wear it, or maybe get an in-store credit…

…or so she thought, until she actually saw the receipt, and realized it was no receipt at all, but simply a piece of receipt paper that Trish had placed in the bag. It was blank due to it being fed straight from the machine, except for the eloquent writing that stuck out against the white, written in a bright red pen and signed with a heart.

Have fun.

True to her words, Trish had never arrived for dinner.

Kyrie supposed they would have more leftovers, at least, due to the fact that her and Nero were the ones who made the biggest dent in the food each night. And based on her tastes, Trish was probably happiest eating pizza at the food court rather than the slow-cooked chicken and veggies Kyrie had made tonight anyway.

“So,” Kyrie started, suddenly acutely aware of Nero’s mood and not wanting to once again ask how his practice was going. Luckily she stopped herself from doing so in time, and turned to Nico mid-sentence as if she’d been planning to address her all along. “Did you have fun today?”

“Have fun keepin’ widdle baby Nero company, you mean? Sure did!” Nico said brightly and in stark contrast to Nero’s dark expression.

He simply gave her a look, shaking his head as he stabbed a fork into his green beans and shoveled them in his mouth.

“Well, at least having someone there with you is better than being alone, right?” Kyrie tried to mediate, though she could tell it was a downhill battle. “I imagine being up there and doing the same repetitive motion all day by yourself would drive you crazy.”

“Yeah, well it’ll drive me even crazier with Nico there yammering on and on,” Nero jabbed an accusatory thumb at the woman as he turned to look at Kyrie. “You know what I had to listen to all day? ‘a swing and a miss!’ over and over again. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch baseball thanks to her.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “You even like baseball?”

“That’s not the point!”

“Well, how about I come with you tomorrow?” Kyrie offered quickly before the two could get into a full-on argument. “Now that the cleaning and my shopping is out of the way, I can tag along and make lunch for you as well.”

Lady, who had been eating silently and watching their back-and-forths with amusem*nt, suddenly perked up then. “That’s a good idea, there’s something I wanted to show Kyrie, anyway, and up at the Qliphoth would be the perfect place to do it.”

“Show Kyrie?” Nero voiced the same confusion that Kyrie herself was feeling. “That sounds ominous, especially from you. Show her what?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.” was all Lady offered, punctuating her sentence with a quick bite of her food so that he couldn’t ask her anything more, and she smiled at him as she chewed.

“Where’s Trish at, anyway?” Nico asked as if just realizing. “I thought she was with you guys. She feel too awkward to be around Nero now?”

Nero rolled his eyes at that. “Sure. I don’t think Trish could feel awkward if she tried.”

“Probably not,” Lady agreed. “But there was a pizza place at the mall, so I’m sure you can figure out the rest.”

A collective noise of understanding hummed throughout the room as they continued to eat. Kyrie wasn’t sure if it was just the absence of Trish, but the dinner table seemed less lively tonight. Looking at Nero and Nico, though, their fighting throughout the day probably also had something to do with it.

As grumpy as Nero could be, Kyrie was the only one who was usually able to bring him back around. And although she had softened him up somewhat since he’d come back from the Qliphoth, he did still seem to have some rough edges that she couldn’t quite buff out today.

It was understandable, though. Not only did Nero carry the frustration of not being able to open a portal, he now also carried the frustration of knowing that until he did that, there was information he was missing out on from Trish.

Kyrie played with her lips as she though, distracted and zoning out slightly as she stared at her food. Maybe she should ask Trish to tell him the rest of the plan anyways, especially if it was going to continue to create such a tense atmosphere. It was already a stressful situation for Nero, and he didn’t need more.

As Kyrie got lost in her own thoughts about how to alleviate the situation somehow, Lady’s words from earlier suddenly floated to the surface of her mind:

‘The cuter we make Kyrie, the more pumped up Nero will get, and the more energy he’ll have to practice with.’

Oh god. Nevermind. She couldn’t do this.

The running water coming from the bathroom next to their room assured Kyrie that Nero wasn’t nearby, allowing her to safely bring out the black lingerie without fear of him sneaking up on her.

Every time she thought she had finally built up the courage to do it, her stomach immediately swam with butterflies and she thought better of it. She hadn’t felt this nervous since her and Nero’s first time together—well, maybe not quite as nervous as she had been then, but it felt close.

She knew Nero wouldn’t judge her, so she wasn’t sure what it was that she was scared of. It was simply so out of her comfort zone to wear something like that, and although she knew Nero would be the only one seeing, she was still hesitant.

Was it a religious thing, she wondered? To wear such ‘indecent’ clothing? She had no qualms when other people did it, though, or even with Trish’s rather risqué outfit. No. This was all on her. Was she scared Nero would laugh at her? The overtly sexy look didn’t exactly suit her—maybe Nero would think she was pulling a prank on him.

The flow of water from the sink stopped then, and Kyrie hastily tucked the lingerie in between a few sets of her folded clothes.

“Man, I’m beat,” Nero mumbled, immediately falling onto the bed as soon as he was within distance. “Remind me to never be alone with Nico while I practice ever again. She gives me enough sh*t when I can pull stuff off, let alone when I can’t.”

Kyrie made her way to the bed, having already washed up and changed into an actual set of pajamas, and nestled up beside him. “Noted,” she said with a kiss on the corner of his jaw. “I’ll make sure I’m there from now on so that you two play nice.”

Nero chuckled. “Hey, now you’re making me sound like a kid.” He paused, and then added in a sarcastically indignant tone, “When she’s the one who started it, by the way.”

Kyrie laughed, happy to see that his mood had at least lightened to the point where he could joke about it now. “Well, rest assured, you’ll have a very enthusiastic cheerleader tomorrow to make up for today.”

Nero smiled at that, or at least he attempted to—from her angle it just looked like a grimace. As soon as she’d brought up ‘tomorrow’ he seemed to visibly deflate, clearly not looking forward to it. The sudden vulnerability on his face made her ache, and she buried herself into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

He must have realized he gave something away by the look on his face, because he looked down in surprise, but quickly understood. “It’s not that big a deal,” he said easily, answering her unspoken concerns.

“I was actually thinking of talking to Trish,” Kyrie said hesitantly, unsure of how he would take that. She felt him stiffen in her arms. “It’s already stressful trying to use a power that you have no idea how to use, to save the only family you have, and now Trish is—”

“It’s fine,” Nero cut her off, a tightness to his voice that was rare enough that she couldn’t help herself from looking up at him. He seemed to realize himself, because he forced himself to loosen up, though Kyrie could still feel how tense he was. “If I can’t even do this, how am I…supposed to…what are you doing?”

Nero trailed off as Kyrie detached herself from his side and swung her leg to get on top of him, straddling him so that both her legs were on either side of him. Although confused, he didn’t seem to mind the interruption.

Kyrie didn’t answer—not in words, at least—and she leaned down, hands on his chest as she kissed his neck and worked her way slowly up to get behind his jaw. She felt it clench and unclench a few times between her kisses, and she was dying to know what was going on inside his head.

“What was it that Nico said?” Kyrie breathed on his neck between kisses, taking note of the rigidness in Nero’s body beneath her and how he still hadn’t reciprocated her touches yet. “That I could somehow help to relieve your stress?”

Kyrie pulled away then, lifting herself back up so that she gazed down at him. For someone who’d claimed they were ‘beat’, he certainly didn’t look tired anymore. She smiled, co*cking her head to the side in a cartoonish display of innocence. “Now, how on earth could I do that?”

Perhaps it was her suddenly playful attitude that finally thawed Nero out of his icy state, or perhaps he was simply done receiving, because in the next moment he managed to grab her and reverse their positions in one swift motion.

“I got a few ideas.” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse, and Kyrie didn’t think it was from sleep deprivation.

She raised her eyebrows as she smiled up at him, taking his face in her hands and kissing him.

This was the Nero she loved, and one of the many, many things she loved about him. He had a temper, yes, but that meant he was passionate. Passionate in everything he did, even when sometimes that meant to his own detriment, especially when it came to the stress and burdens he constantly put on himself.

He was known for being hotheaded, foul-mouthed, a smartass…the list goes on. But to Kyrie, he was none of those things. Of course, she loved those sides of him as well, try as he may to hide them from her, but that part of him that tried to hide also only made him more endearing.

But Nero was hers, the same way she was his. As brash and ill-tempered as he was, he was soft and gentle with her, showing her sides of him that others probably couldn’t even imagine. It made her feel selfish, in a way, that she felt like this. Should she be so happy that these are sides of him that only she was able to see?

Either way, she decided it was a good time to return the favor. That, and she didn’t want to lose her sudden wave of courage.

Kyrie broke the kiss, and despite still feeling his hot gaze on her, she began to wiggle out from underneath him.

At such a sudden turn of events, Nero only watched in a mixture of disbelief and surprise as she left, first from underneath him, and then from the bed entirely. He rolled over onto his back to look at her as she retreated, and she had to turn away quickly to hide her smile at the look on his face. It was the same expression she’d seen at the orphanage and with the kids at home many times—the utter devastation when your candy was snatched away from you.

“Kyrie…” was all he managed to say, his voice a mix of emotions, and from his tone you’d think she’d committed some sort of grand betrayal.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” she assured him with a smile, hoping that it came off as playful and cute, rather than her just holding in her laughter. She quickly scooped up the lingerie set, keeping it close to her chest so that he wouldn’t be able to see from his position, since she was sure his eyes were still glued to her.

Hopefully Nero would simply assume she was washing up in preparation, or going to the bathroom. He certainly wouldn’t be expecting this. Her desire to want to relieve some of his agitation, along with the desire in his eyes, made her more than willing to suddenly take the plunge, and Kyrie tried to change as quickly as she could before her courage escaped her.

Luckily, she’d worn garters before underneath dresses, so the process of dressing into this lingerie wasn’t entirely foreign, and she managed the change quicker than she’d thought. She almost didn’t want to look in the mirror, for fear that her reflection might immediately make her lose all her nerve and would instead give her the desire to drive to the nearest church.

Religious upbringings certainly had their setbacks sometimes.

Despite herself, she still did it, and even she had to admit that it was…well, beautiful. It wasn’t a compliment to herself, necessarily, but the art of lingerie had apparently been fine-tuned. The garter belt that reached right to the curve of her hips accentuated her hourglass form nicely, and the garb itself wasn’t the only foreign thing—the black, too, felt strange and new and stood out starkly against her pale skin.

The last touch was to take her hair out of its ponytail, and she shook it out, letting it fall around her shoulders.

Kyrie still had her embarrassment, but the excitement in showing Nero quickly overrode it and she left the bathroom, heading back to their room.

And, as soon as she opened the door, the embarrassment came back in a rush. It was as if her brain had finally caught up with what she was doing, and she couldn’t help but enter slowly.

Their room was dark, lit only by the desk lamp beside the bed, and the window in the room. Kyrie meekly stood against the door, closing it shut by pressing her back into it.

She briefly wondered if Nero couldn’t see her properly, despite him looking in her direction, but based on the way the fair skin of her legs was glowing in the moonlight as she gazed down, she could only assume the rest of her looked like that, too.

Kyrie finally made her way from the door, feeling like a turtle without its shell now that it was no longer snugly against her back, and she tried to relax her shoulders. She risked a glance at Nero’s face, wondering what his reaction was, and his eyes, to her great surprise, met hers.

He was still lying down in close to the same position she had left him, propped up by his elbows and staring at her. She’d expected—maybe even hoped—that his eyes would be roaming over her body, and so the eye contact only made her even more bashful. She looked away slightly, and saw the slight tilt of his head from the corner of her eye as he looked downwards, taking in her entire appearance.

“Sorry for the wait.” She finally said, unable to stand the silence anymore. For someone who seemingly always had a one-liner to say, why did he have to be so quiet, now of all times? Was it too weird for him after all? He loved her for her, but this…was this too unlike her for him?

“If this is what a two minute wait gets me, what happens if I wait another ten?” Nero finally spoke as well, his attempt at a playful tone sabotaged by the roughness to it.

Kyrie giggled, feeling her shoulders relax on their own at his familiar jokes and demeanor. “Whether it’s two or ten, this is probably my limit, I’m sorry to say.”

He finally stood up at that, closing the distance between them and using the close proximity to fully take in her appearance. Having him examine her from so close was too much, and she instinctively put her arms in front of herself for cover, but he quickly grasped her hands in his and held their arms to the side so he could continue to look. “Funny, ‘cause I think I’m at my limit, too.”

His voice was thicker than she’d ever heard it, and he scooped her up and plopped her on the bed, his swift and smooth movements from before now becoming a bit sloppy in his haste. Her body hadn’t even been able to bounce once from the impact before he was on top of her again.

“f*ck,” He groaned as he looked down at her, apparently still in disbelief and too overcome to remember that he didn’t like swearing in front of her. “Did I fall asleep while waiting for you?”

Kyrie didn’t have a chance to reassure him this wasn’t a dream and get her playful reply in before his mouth was on hers, and she soon came to realize that his various exclamations and questions of bewilderment were all rhetorical, as he muttered them in between kisses down her neck and then down to her stomach.

He looked up at her from his position, a look full of such raw hunger and desire that it was all the foreplay she needed, and she grabbed at his shoulders, trying to bring him back up to her level and get his body back on top of her.

“Hell no, I’m not rushing this,” He told her as he rebuffed her silent pleas, playful yet dead serious at the same time. “I’m gonna enjoy every second.”

Kyrie couldn’t help but whine slightly, and she felt Nero laugh, his breaths tickling her body wherever he explored. He stopped at one point, simply holding himself above her to take the sight of her in once more, and Kyrie realized she understood what he was feeling completely. The same way she treasured those moments of softness from him that only she was allowed to see, that glint of possessiveness in his eyes as he looked at her now told her everything she needed to know: only he was allowed to see her like this, in something that was so out of her usual character that one might not even believe you even if you’d told them.

Nero’s hand ran up and down her legs, feeling the garter belts and the stockings, and she hiked her legs up for him the way she knew he liked, and locked them around his hips. Seeing your lover want you so badly and worship your very body as if it were their religion could only be endured for so long, and Kyrie’s own desire was at its limit, too.

“Nero, please,” She all but begged, emphasizing her want by tightening her legs around him.

If Nero had been planning to revel in the moment and draw it out for longer, Kyrie had dashed those plans, apparently unable to resist the straightforward way in which she plead for him. He had nothing smart to say this time—in fact, he had nothing to say in general—and the only sounds coming from his mouth were his ragged breaths in her ear.

It seemed the lingerie he’d been admiring so much only seconds ago was now a source of unimaginable annoyance, and he wasted no time in tearing the fabric away from her, the only clothing remaining on her being the sheer black stockings.

The last intelligent thought Kyrie had that night was wondering how much the set had cost, and if Trish would mind that it now lay in shreds on the floor.

Kyrie woke up early in the morning, slipping out of bed with all the stealth she could muster, determined for Nero to wake up to the smell of brewed coffee and a cooked breakfast.

Sure, it was definitely all the portal opening and responsibilities placed on him that was contributing to his stress, but if she could make the rest of the external stresses as nonexistent as possible, hopefully that would lighten his load a fair bit.

She didn’t want to seem conceited, but hopefully her own company both last night and in general raised the chances of a better mood from Nero today, and a big breakfast platter would hopefully only solidify it further.

They’d realized early on that coffee would need to be a staple in staying here, and so that was one more thing that had been added to the Dante Expense Account. It wasn’t too surprising Dante didn’t own one, considering the amount of energy drinks in his fridge when they’d arrived.

With the coffee brewing, Kyrie made her way over to the garbage by the bar. She’d brought down the torn-up set of lingerie from their room to toss in the trash, seeing as how they weren’t going to get much use of it anymore. Once that was taken care of, she resumed breakfast and reached into the fridge for eggs and bacon, waiting for the slow-cooker to reach a good temperature, when suddenly the door to the shop opened.

Trish sauntered in, not even sparing her a glance as she plopped down onto the sofa beside the fridge. Once she was seated, she turned her head to Kyrie and gave a small smile. “Good morning.”

“Oh, good morning,” Kyrie replied, still caught off guard by the sudden entrance, not to mention the sudden entrance by Trish. She seemed as if she’d been trying to keep her space from Nero, and so Kyrie couldn’t help the look of confusion on her face as she greeted the other woman.

Trish noticed it, of course, but said nothing, opting to instead watch Kyrie as she tested the temperature of the slow-cooker. Satisfied, she added a little butter and cracked an egg into it, moving it around carefully with her rubber spatula.

While Kyrie waited for the clear whites to become opaque, she nervously caught sight of the black lacy fabric of the lingerie still visible and peeking out of the garbage beside where Trish sat on the couch. Kyrie grabbed a tissue and pretended to blow her nose so that she could walk over to the garbage without question, throwing out the tissue and flattening the trash as she did so, hopefully hiding the torn set of underwear.

Once that was done, she returned to the slow cooker and picked up the spatula. “How do you like your eggs?”

Trish raised an eyebrow, probably due to the fact that Kyrie hadn’t asked if she even wanted eggs in the first place, but they both knew she did. “Over-easy.”

Kyrie couldn’t help her smile as she nodded, carefully flipping over a sunny-side up one until its other side was lightly fried as well. Satisfied, she took it out and plopped it onto a paper plate. “You’ll have to wait if you want bacon, though. I’m doing that after the eggs, since it makes a mess.”

“What was so funny just now?”

“Sorry?”

“When I told you how I like my eggs,” Trish explained, a smile of anticipation on her mouth as she leaned back on the sofa, eager to be in on the joke. “Over-easy. You smiled.”

“Oh, that,” Kyrie acknowledged, smiling all over again as she remembered the reasoning. “It’s just an egg personality thing I’ve noticed with some people.”

“Egg…personality?” The blonde repeated, and it was probably the most taken off guard tone of voice and expression Kyrie had ever seen from the woman.

“Right. So for instance, Nero likes his eggs scrambled. Suits him, doesn’t it? He’s brash and likes to rush into things without much delicacy, so scrambled fits that.”

Trish’s smile expanded as she started to get the picture. “And me? How am I over-easy?”

Kyrie smiled as she now poured an egg and milk mixture into the slow-cooker. “Well, you’re easy going, and nothing ever seems to phase you, so over-easy just seemed perfect.” Another egg. “And by the way, sunny-side up is my favourite.”

Trish was nodding her head, her smile evolving from an amused one to an impressed one. “How fitting. Any others?”

“Nico likes hers hard-boiled—zero fuss and frills, she says, and easy to eat on the run or while you work. And I just bet Lady likes hers hard-boiled as well.” Kyrie insisted, but then thought again. “Though maybe Lady likes sunny-side up, like me…or a rolled omelet? She can be surprisingly bubbly, after all.”

Trish walked up to grab the plate with her egg on it and waved Kyrie off as she apologized for the lack of toast and insist she wait for the bacon at least. Cutting into her egg with a plastic fork, she leaned against the bar where Kyrie cooked as she chewed, peering into the slow-cooker.

“That’s a lot of scrambled eggs, that all for Nero?”

“Nero has a big appetite in the morning, and I want him to have a lot of energy for the day.” Kyrie explained as she shook both salt and pepper into the fluffy heap.

“Hmm,” Trish hummed thoughtfully as she chewed, and even from the corner of her eye, Kyrie noticed the woman’s eyes drifting off somewhere. “Yes, I imagine he’ll be even hungrier this morning, after yesterday.”

Kyrie nodded. He had been exhausted yesterday, both body and mind, especially from bickering with Nico all day. A nice breakfast was just what he needed to start a fresh day, although…Kyrie wasn’t sure why Trish had said it like that. Risking a glance at the garbage, Kyrie double checked to see if she had properly hidden the scraps of lingerie, and calmed down some when she assured herself It wasn’t visible.

“I’m surprised you came, though,” Kyrie observed honestly, not trying to sound rude or make the demoness feel unwelcome by any means. “I thought you didn’t want to accompany Nero while he trained anymore?”

“Well, just figured I’d tag along, since, you know…” Trish trailed off, chewing her food thoughtfully as she drew her sentence out. “…I imagine he’ll be much more pleasant to be around today.”

Any hopes Kyrie had that Trish hadn’t known about the torn lingerie were dashed as the blonde co*cked her head to the garbage and gave a knowing smile. Frozen in embarrassment, Kyrie opened and closed her mouth a few times, wondering if she should deny it, thank Trish for the purchase, or apologize for destroying the possibly very expensive set she’d bought that had only been destroyed hours later.

While Kyrie tried to sort out her thoughts Trish had already crumpled her paper plate and added it onto the trash with a smirk, making her way for the door.

“Don’t worry about the cost, by the way,” the blonde informed her as she swung open the door. “Lingerie’s just the wrapper. Didn’t do its job well if it doesn’t get torn, I say.”

Trish gave one last playful wink before she let the wooden door close behind her.

“The thing you wanted to show me was…how to use a gun?”

Kyrie watched uncertainly as Lady spread out an entire arsenal of arms on the table of Nico’s van, her enthusiasm unhindered even with Kyrie’s blatant hesitation.

“Right, and what better place to practice than this ashen expanse of nothingness? We’re not bothering anyone, and hearing gunshots in Red Grave isn’t exactly uncommon, either.”

Kyrie chewed her lip, looking at the objects on the table.

Lady finally seemed to take Kyrie’s resistance seriously, and sagged her shoulders in exasperation. “Come on,” she insisted, resting an encouraging grip on Kyrie’s shoulder. “I’m not saying you should be walking around with a gun holstered at all times, I know that’s not you, I can see that. I can tell you’re scared to even hold one, and how easy it is to kill with one.”

Kyrie nodded slowly, her hands clasped together and hugged tightly to her chest, as if trying to distance herself from touching one even further. “Even if it’s self-defense, I don’t think I would be able to shoot it,” she admitted honestly. The idea of taking a life so easily, even in self-defense, was too much.

“You’re thinking of humans, though,” Lady corrected, her shrewd gaze picking up on Kyrie’s worries easily. “What about a demon? Say, for whatever reason, Nero and the rest of us are all wiped out, unconscious, whatever, and the demon’s coming for you. You see my gun on the floor, but then what? What if there’s no ammo in it, and you don’t know how to reload? Or it’s jammed, and you don’t know how to unjam it? ‘Cause if you limp wrist that baby while you shoot, you’ll only get one or two shots off before it doesn’t cycle and it will jam. It’s not as easy as just picking it up and firing.”

Lady’s stern gaze on Kyrie softened, and she gave her shoulder one last squeeze before letting go. “I’ll at least show you how to do everything I just mentioned, so that you know. And if you’re down to holding and firing one, then let me know and I’ll help you every step of the way.”

Kyrie relaxed under her touch, her stern yet reassuring voice reminding her of a teacher—and that was what she was at the moment, she supposed.

When informed of what they planned to do, Nico and Trish decided to lend their assistance by setting up targets for Lady, and potentially Kyrie, to shoot at.

“And hey, if this aint recycling, I don’t know what is,” Nico smirked proudly as she collected a pile of empty energy drinks littered across her van. Her and Trish set them up on the rubble surrounding the area, and the two of them offered rather enthusiastically that if her and Lady needed more cans for target practice, they were more than willing to chug the ones in the fridge in order to assist.

Lady demonstrated the proper way to handle a 9mm handgun, how to turn the safety on and off, and also showed Kyrie what ‘limp wristing’ looked like, and what happened when you fired a gun in such a way. True to her earlier words, the gun jammed before long, and she easily demonstrated how to clear it.

Nero, who had been oblivious to the fact that they’d turned the Qliphoth grounds into an impromptu shooting range, swore loudly when Lady fired the first shot and spun his head to see what the commotion was.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected to see Lady pointing a gun, and placing Kyrie’s hands on it while she explained.

To Nero it must have looked like Lady was forcing her into it based on the uncertain and worried expression Kyrie could feel on her face, because he spun on the other woman immediately.

“Nero, it’s okay, I want to learn,” Kyrie explained hastily before he could get out whatever he was about to say, looking between the heated gaze from Nero and the defiant and challenging one from Lady.

Lady explained the same way she’d explained it to Kyrie, and how it was good to know the basics at the very least, in case things went completely south. Nero only nodded and shrugged.

“All of us being taken down? Really?” He scoffed, torn between being amused and offended by the unflattering hypothetical. “It’s true it can’t hurt to know, though, so long as Kyrie wants to.”

“I’m actually surprised you’ve never shown her,” Lady piped up, her tone both amused and accusatory. “It’s not like you’re at home all the time, so what if something were to happen?”

Nero bristled indignantly, clearly not receptive to being criticized when it came to how he protected Kyrie or assured her safety. “Yeah, well, only gun I got is Blue Rose, and that ‘aint exactly babies first handgun material. She’ll break your wrist if you’re not careful.”

“You can rest assured, Kyrie is in good hands as of right now,” Trish suddenly joined in from where she had been setting up more targets, giving Nero a relaxed smile as she looked up at him. There was still a tenseness there, but the two had been pretty cordial throughout the day overall.

Nero had been surprised at first to see her when they’d all loaded up into the van this morning, but after a pause, had said “morning,” to her, same as everyone else. Trish had looked over at Kyrie in amusem*nt at that, a sly and triumphant smile that just screamed, ‘what did I tell you?’

The rest of the day continued on as such, with Nero trying to open a portal, Lady assisting Kyrie with how to shoot a gun properly, and Trish even lent her own assistance. What she showed Kyrie were a few simple techniques and moves for physical self-defense, rather than with guns.

“Those are techniques for men, though,” she’d told Kyrie with a wink. “Wouldn’t try them on actual demons.”

Nico had been surprisingly quiet throughout the day, which was a surprise, though definitely a welcome one for Nero considering how loud she’d been yesterday. She wasn’t being quiet for his sake, however— She’d been watching Lady teach Kyrie how to use a gun, when she’d suddenly exploded in excitement and raced inside the van. Every time Kyrie went to check on her, she was still huddled over the work bench, mechanical parts spread over every part of the counters surface as she mumbled excitedly to herself. It was best to leave her alone when she got like that.

It was also embarrassing, but Nero was undeniably in a better mood today. Despite the wagging eyebrows of Trish, Kyrie knew not to attribute it all to herself. With all of them being up here today, the atmosphere was much livelier, and the lot of them were able to banter throughout the day, even while Nero practiced.

Kyrie was also able to personally deliver his lunch and snacks throughout the day, surprising him every now and then with a treat to pop into his mouth. She did her best to be his ‘cheerleader’, as she’d joked the night before, but it was still hard knowing that there was nothing she could actually do to help him make progress.

It was when the sun had begun to set and the sky took on an orange hue that they decided to call it quits.

Lady and Nico were in the van cleaning up and getting ready roll, while Trish spoke quietly with Nero in the distance, who was intent on getting a few more tries in before they packed up for the day.

“I’m going to go get the cans we set up,” Kyrie informed Lady and Nico, popping her head into the vehicle.

“Ah, just leave ‘em. This is a wasteland anyway.” Lady said absently, packing up all her equipment as Nico popped a cigarette into her mouth and hummed her agreement.

“It’s alright, it won’t take long.” Kyrie replied, closing the van door behind her and walking across the colorless plain to reach the cans. Each and every one had a clean bullet hole through the middle—from Lady, of course. Kyrie still hadn’t been able to hit a single target, and although she’d been reassured she was close, she knew she wasn’t. If they had been closer she was sure she’d be able to hit at least one, but Lady had said: what’s the point of a gun if you can’t hit things from far away? If they were close enough for you to shoot point blank, after all, then you already let them get too close.

Kyrie began to run out of arm capacity as she picked up all the cans, realizing too late that she should have brought a bag, and opted to stuff a few into the pockets of her jacket. Some of the cans had flown pretty far, and Kyrie gave the area a once over, making sure she hadn’t missed one. Satisfied, she was about to turn back, when a gust of wind rushed by her, and she heard the sound of something scraping behind her.

The wind must have revealed the location of another can as it dragged across the ground, and Kyrie looked around for the source of the noise, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She heard the scraping noise again, but this time there was no wind to accompany it. She froze, realizing it wasn’t a can making the sound.

Kyrie dropped all the cans she’d been holding as she whirled, trying to figure out what she was looking at. There was a slit in the air, and what looked to be an insect’s arm was protruding out, clawing against the ground and making the horrible scraping noise she’d been hearing.

She backed up slowly, not understanding herself why she was watching this unfold instead of running, and soon the claw had become an entire demon as it fully emerged, passing through the veil from the underworld to this world.

Kyrie recognized the type of demon immediately—an Empusa. When Nero had been in Red Grave a few months earlier, Kyrie had been watching the news and the coverage of the Qliphoth religiously. This was her first time seeing one in person, however, and they were a lot more intimidating when they weren’t being broadcast on your small TV.

At first it didn’t seem to mind her presence, as it slipped into this world and looked around almost curiously, twitching its head. Kyrie took the opportunity to slowly get up, keeping her eyes on it as she backed away to make sure she hadn’t drawn its attention, and spun on her heel to sprint back to the others.

That had been a mistake.

She immediately heard it behind her, and Nero’s earlier words to stay put and not run when it came to demons rushed back to her mind, and she clenched her eyes at her mistake. According to the news, these sorts of demons were almost like worker bees for the Qliphoth, designed to bring human blood to it. Now that the Qliphoth was no more, would it have even paid Kyrie any mind if she had stayed still?

Even if that had been true, there was no use dwelling on it now. She was a moving target now, and apparently that was enough for it to go after her. The skittering she heard behind her made her spine tingle as it got closer and closer, until she knew running would no longer help her.

“Ne—!”

Before she could finish calling out his name, the skittering sound behind her came to an abrupt halt as something dropped from the sky with a deafening thud, followed by what sounded like a watermelon being splat against pavement, and dying croaks.

“Kyrie!” Nero called her name breathlessly, kicking the corpse of the Empusa aside to take her by the shoulders and turn her to face him. His blue wings were out, having used them to cross the huge expanse as quickly as he could, and he pulled her into a tight hug, blue wings enveloping them as well.

Kyrie turned to see where he had come from and saw even from far away the spot he had no doubt launched himself from—Trish was waving in the distance, and beside her was a mini crater in the ground with a pair of boot marks in the middle. He had probably been flying through the air the entire time she had been chased, only able to watch as he desperately tried to get there in time.

Kyrie brought her arms up around Nero to comfort him as he comforted her, and hoped that he would still let her come to the Qliphoth grounds to accompany his training, even after this. She would just have to make sure not to wander off too far when she was alone in the future.

“Maybe you do need a weapon,” Nero concluded breathlessly, and Kyrie could feel his heart hammering. She smiled into his chest, bringing her head back up, but whatever she was about to say died in her throat as she caught sight of what was behind him.

“Um…Nero….” Was all she could say.

He held her tighter. “Nevermind—you don’t need a weapon if you don’t want. Guess I’ll just have to work on getting faster.”

“No, not that,” Kyrie shook her head and tapped his shoulder, willing him to turn around as she stared at the space behind him.

Nero gave her a confused look as he gazed down at her before turning to see what she was looking at.

The familiar claw marks that only Nero’s devil bringer could leave were suspended in the air from where he’d slashed at the demon on his descent downwards. Each streak of where his claw had dug into the air emanated a pale blue light, proof of the cut barrier between this realm and the demons.

“Nice swing,” Trish appraised casually, walking up behind the two of them and resting a hand on Nero's shoulder as she admired the glowing cuts. “Looks like we finally got our homerun.”

Chapter 8: Boys' Play

Chapter Text

To make sure it hadn’t just been a one-time fluke, Trish told Nero to open another portal. And then another. And, just to be completely sure, one more.

It was annoying, but she wasn’t wrong to make him do so, considering it had been a fluke and was really just a byproduct of his desperate surge of power to save Kyrie. Luckily, though, he’d remembered how it felt, intentional or not.

Or maybe it was more accurate to say that his body remembered—despite having only done it the once, it was already a muscle memory he could recall, and he now understood what he needed to do to open a portal whenever he wanted…even if the word ‘portal’ was being generous.

Once having satisfied Trish with his various demonstrations, they all hopped into the van as Nico drove them back to the shop. Nero hadn’t even had to ask Trish to begin her explanation when they settled—one look at him apparently spoke volumes.

“I guess this time you won’t let the explanation wait until after we eat?” Trish ventured, rolling her eyes over to Nero, who was leaned forward on the couch and staring at her from her relaxed position at the table.

“Good guess.” Was all he offered, leaning back in his seat to mimic her display of nonchalance and extended his arm in a ‘go on’ motion.

“Then, where do I start…” the blonde mused, and Nero had a feeling she was stretching this out longer in order to toy with him, rather than to actually call back a memory. “Ah. We left off with you asking how our plan would work if we didn’t have a method of finding Dante or Vergil, correct?”

“That’s right…since Nero can’t be the one who goes through the portal,” Kyrie recalled, and Nero caught the careful flicker of her eyes as she looked to him, gauging his reaction on hearing that piece of information once again. “Which means the obvious method of Nero using the leftover Yamato’s aura to lead him to the actual Yamato isn’t an option.”

“Well, hey, can’t we just rip off his arm again?” Nico suggested, looking back at them in the rearview mirror. “His right arm’s what stored the Yamato, right? It grew back once before, so I say we rip it off, bring it into the underworld, and see if ol’ Vergil sniffs it out and comes to us!”

Nero clicked his tongue. “You want my arm gone again so I’ll keep paying for your flimsy-ass devil breakers the rest of my life, that it?” he accused, though he couldn’t help but wonder if there was any merit in her idea. But was he willing to risk the chance of his arm not growing back, just so that they could dangle it like a treat in the underworld?

Apparently Lady was curious about it too, because even she turned to look at Nero’s arm with a thoughtful expression on her face.

“That wouldn’t work,” Trish informed them all with an amused smile, and Kyrie squeezed Nero’s arm in relief. “The right arm isn’t necessarily what has the traces of the Yamato, it’s Nero that channels that power into it. With just the arm and no Nero to channel that power, it’d be the same as pulling a lamp out of the socket and expecting it to still light up.”

“Well, aren’t I just the life of the party,” Nero mused sarcastically as he turned his arm over and looked at it, unsure if he was disappointed or relieved at the information.

Lady, however, was definitely disappointed and didn’t bother trying to hide her small sigh as she turned back to face the front along with Nico, her feet up on the dashboard in a gesture that almost resembled sulking. Never did Nero think he’d reach a point in his life where he felt he had to say sorry that someone wouldn’t be able to rip off his arm, but hey. Guess there was a first time for everything.

“Wouldja just hurry up and give it to me straight? I already spent enough of the week speculating on what this plan could be, I’m not really in the mood to do it some more.” Nero demanded impatiently.

“Sorry to disappoint, but even what I have in mind is mere speculation,” Trish admitted, holding up a hand to preemptively quiet Nero as he jerked up at her words. “But I’m almost positive the logic behind it is sound, and this plan should work, provided we do it right. Just listen.”

Nero clamped his mouth shut and leaned back once more, mostly due to Kyrie’s hand on his arm.

“As you know—you especially, Nero,—demonic power is strongly linked to emotions. Even if we knew where Dante and Vergil were in the underworld, that still wouldn’t help us seeing as you don’t have experience in that world, and it’s constantly changing. But with this method, it won’t matter where Dante and Vergil are—we’ll be able to go to them.”

Trish paused, and Nero hadn’t even realized she’d had him so enthralled until she stopped, and he sat up impatiently. It sounded too good to be true. “Enough with the buildup,” he demanded. “What is it? And what’s it gotta do with emotions?”

Trish’s eyes flickered to Kyrie beside him for a brief moment before once more locking with his own. “Your emotion and desire for them will lead the way. I’ve never opened a portal with the Yamato myself, but I imagine when Vergil does it, he has a place in mind that he wants to go to, and he appears there. In this case, since we don’t know where it is we want to go, think of it instead as who we want to go to.”

Nero stared at her, and he could only imagine the dumbfounded look on his face as he did so. While he could only stare at the blonde in a mixture of confusion and disbelief, though, Kyrie leaned forward.

“So you believe his desire to want to find Dante and Vergil will make the portal appear wherever they are?” Kyrie repeated for her own sake as she mulled it over and nodded slightly. “If that’s true that would be great, especially since I’m sure Dante and Vergil aren’t staying put to begin with.”

“Tell me about it,” Lady suddenly chimed in from the front, a look of amusem*nt but also annoyance on her face. “At first, we considered somehow trying to find a way to locate their exact location, but realized that even if we could, it’s not like those two would just sit pretty in one spot the whole time and wait to be saved.”

“Yeah, they don’t strike me as a set of damsels,” Nero scoffed, still turning Trish’s words over in his mind. “So you’re being serious, right? You really think the power of love is gonna lead me to them? What is this, a fairytale?”

Trish raised her eyebrows in exasperation as she gave a very pointed look in Kyrie’s direction. “Was it not the power of love that just allowed you to finally open a portal for the first time?”

Nero faltered, and Trish smiled smugly. “And I don’t know about your other powers, but I’d wager that they also awakened when your emotions were running high—and, potentially, love was also involved at those times, too?”

He didn’t even have to say anything for her to know that she’d got him, and Nero could tell Trish was still looking at Kyrie, due to the way she was fidgeting beside him.

Trish’s theory about emotions and power being related wasn’t bullsh*t, Nero supposed he did already know that much. To deny that fact would be to deny his own self, as most of the times he’d gained a new power, it had been just like Trish had said.

“By all means, though, if you have a better idea I’m all ears. But this is the best course of action, and I’m almost positive it will work,” Trish said confidently, and it was the most resolute he’d heard her voice so far. “From now on when you practice opening portals, try to think of Dante and Vergil, and channel whatever emotions you have for them—and if there’s one thing you’re good at, it’s getting emotional.”

Despite Trish saying so, the emotions Nero held for Dante and Vergil, it turned out, were surprisingly limited.

The day he had unlocked his full Devil Trigger, his emotions had been running higher than usual—he’d just learned he had a father after not knowing any of his family for his entire life, and along with that he’d realized Dante was his uncle. The cherry on top had been when he realized the two were attempting to kill each other.

So, yeah. That day had been a lot.

But now, months after he’d had time to come to terms with it and digest it? What did that leave him with? What emotions did he even feel for those two?

Anger, for one. He hadn’t gotten his fill yet on kicking their asses, both for taking his goddamn arm and leaving him on the floor of his garage to bleed out and scare the sh*t out of Kyrie, and for Dante not bothering to tell him for six years that: hey! By the way, kid, you probably have family, and it turns out I’m probably your uncle!

Yeah, if Trish wanted his emotions to ‘run high’ while thinking of those two, bubbling over with anger was the most likely result. If he was really expected to reach them with any ‘power of love’, they’d be here for a while.

There was only one person in the world who he knew for a fact that he loved, and that was Kyrie. He wasn’t exactly shy about letting people know, either.

But Dante and Vergil? Did he love them? Nero tried to trick himself into thinking he did, for the sake of being able to open a portal to them, but it didn’t exactly work. Obviously he didn’t love them, how could he? He barely knew the f*ckers, all thanks to them. He’d be open to it, but they hadn’t exactly made it easy.

Instead of love, longing might have been a better word. Longing to get to know them better. But he couldn’t say he loved anybody he barely knew, blood related or not, and he couldn’t exactly muster up any strong feelings for them after all this time, either.

“Maybe learning more about them will help you feel closer to them, and strengthen your emotions.” Kyrie offered as she put the lid on the slow cooker and made her way to sit beside him on the sofa.

“Yeah, that’d be a good idea, but what am I supposed to connect with them over?” Nero laughed dryly as he lifted his head up to look at the area behind Dante’s desk. “Those dirty mags? They might just be the only damn thing in this whole shop that shows more of his personality. And with Vergil…There’s nothing to go on.”

“What about that emo little book of poetry V had on him?” Nico piped up from where she sat at the dining table, tinkering with something that looked like not quite a gun, but not quite a devil breaker. “You got that from your daddy, right? Should still be in the dashboard.”

Nero perked up for a second at the suggestion, but ultimately shook his head. “I already read that front to back, and at his point, Vergil’s a lost cause. I’ve barely talked to him, and my few run ins with him haven’t exactly been pleasant.” He sighed. “I’m just gonna focus on Dante. At least I actually have some alright memories with him, and more of his sh*t to go off of to make a connection with, or whatever the hell it is I should be doing.”

Just saying it sounded stupid, and Nero ducked his head down in frustration, scratching his spiky silver hair as he shook his head.

The clack of heels on hardwood stopped only feet away from him, and Nero leaned back, looking up at Trish who stood over him.

“I’ll tell you my history with Dante.” She offered lightly, though despite her best efforts, she didn’t seem thrilled about it. “If you think it will help you connect with him more.”

“Mine too,” Lady said softly from where she also sat at the dining table with Nico. “I also know a little bit about Vergil, back when I first met them both.”

Nero’s gaze flicked between the two as he thought. If Lady wanted to tell him her story that was one thing, but whatever Trish’s deal was seemed like an entirely new beast altogether. It went deeper than just being ‘old friends’ in her case, especially when she happened to be a demon that looked identical to their mom.

Trish had said it herself, that it was a story that should be heard straight from Dante if he ever felt so inclined to tell it. Guess she figured that Dante might never be back to tell that story, though, if she didn’t.

Nero waved her off with a defeated sigh. “Thanks, but no thanks,” He declined, leaning back and noticing the way Trish’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “If you got any good drinking stories featuring Dante, then I’ll bite. But his history?” Nero shook his head. “I already figured he has a tragic past—the guys a son of Sparda, for Christ sake, with no family except his brother, and a burned down house. It doesn’t take a genius to realize what might have happened, and knowing the details of that tragic past isn’t gonna make me feel any clos…”

Kyrie, still beside him on the couch, leaned forward to get a better look at his face as he trailed off. When he didn’t look at her, she touched his arm. “Nero? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” he said hastily, finally meeting her eyes so as not to worry her. “I just remembered something. Something that V said to me.”

“V?” Trish immediately narrowed her eyes in thought. “Did V give you insight on Vergil? They seemed to have shared some memories and emotions, after all.”

“Yeah.” Nero mumbled almost dazedly as he recalled the conversation, wondering how he could have forgotten it, especially once he learned that V and Vergil were one in the same. “We were at Dante and Vergil’s house, the one they grew up in. V was telling me about how he played there.”

Kyrie made a noise of surprise beside him. “Which means it was Vergil that played there, right?”

Nero nodded numbly as he remembered how V had acted in that moment, and attempted to recalibrate his brain to view that memory as if Vergil had said it instead. There had been a fondness to his voice, and the sort of nostalgia most have when they recall fond memories of their childhood.

He’d never given it much thought, but would Vergil also retain all of V’s memories when he—if—he came back?

Nero wasn’t sure if he liked that better or worse than if they’d just been able to have a fresh start, though it wasn’t like any of their starts could be fresh at this point, considering it had begun with a torn-off limb.

Even if he went, there probably wasn’t anything to find in that house besides burnt wood, especially after years of rot and looters. But still, the idea of going to the place where it all started, with the new context he had, was enticing and nerve wracking at the same time.

Nero’s hand suddenly grew warm and he looked down briefly to see Kyrie squeeze it before his eyes met hers.

“Let’s go tomorrow.”

Nico had work to do on her latest mystery invention and apparently still wasn’t willing to give up the van and let Nero drive it, and so he and Kyrie made a day trip out of visiting Dante and Vergil’s childhood home. It suited him fine, really, considering there wasn’t much he could do at the moment anyway if he wasn’t able to muster any meaningful emotion for them.

Kyrie had absolutely no issue with it, either, and had packed the two of them a lunch to eat while they were out. The others, Nero couldn’t help but think smugly, would just have to make do with leftovers or figure out something else to eat. Today, Kyrie was all his.

“Careful, this is where it gets rocky,” Nero warned, turning back to make sure she hadn’t lost her footing.

The area around the house was precarious, to say the least, not to mention bizarre. With all of the debris and destroyed cliffs around it and yet the structure miraculously intact, it almost made it look as if the house had been the cause of the destruction. Nero hadn’t realized how impossible the route to get here had been when he’d come previously, due to the fact that he and V took a more…theatric route, to say the least. But due to that difficulty, Nero was beginning to have rekindled hopes of maybe finding more clues of their childhood, since any ordinary looter would have had a hell of a time getting down here.

“This…certainly isn’t what I expected,” Kyrie admitted, looking around as she grasped the picnic basket close, as if it could help steady her. “It almost feels like another world here.”

Nero nodded as he took another step forward, and quickly changed course when the rocks began to fall under his weight. He was going first to make sure the path was safe, though he was also paranoid about not being able to keep an eye on Kyrie behind him.

She was right, though. The whole place seemed like something you’d find in the Qliphoth, especially with how the house itself seemed to be on a floating island with a trail leading up to it. Upon closer look it was obvious the house wasn’t actually floating and was suspended by a cliff, but Nero had to wonder if the surrounding area had always looked this strange, or if it was due to the Qliphoth’s interference. Though he wouldn’t be surprised if Sparda picked such a strange area to put his house on purpose, in order to further protect his wife and kids.

Nero heard Kyrie stumble behind him as a part of the path she’d been walking on suddenly crumbled and her leg shot downwards, dragging the rest of her along.

Nero’s wings burst out of him and caught her quicker than he would have been able to turn and catch her himself, though he did face her and make sure she was secure with his own two arms before letting go. She looked downwards, though, a distraught look on her face.

“What happened?” He stepped closer, examining her. “You hurt your leg?”

She shook her head. “No, but I think a sandwich may have fallen down.”

Nero huffed a laugh, looking down to the now well-fed abyss below. He would bring out his wings to save Kyrie, but a sandwich? He could live with the loss. “That it?” He teased. “You make too much food anyways. Thanks to that loss, maybe now there’s actually food for two people in the basket.”

Kyrie laughed, about to give a cheeky response of her own based on her expression, when Nero approached her and scooped her up like a bride on her wedding day. Whatever tease she’d been forming was replaced with surprise and reluctance.

“Nero—"

“It’ll be faster this way,” he explained before the look of protest on her face could become an actual protest. “Besides, don’t wanna lose anymore food.”

He knew Kyrie would accept it then, as she seemed to put everyone before herself, including a couple of sandwiches. Wanting to carry her to make it easier and safer for her? She wouldn’t want you to go out of your way for that. Wanting to carry her so that she wouldn’t accidentally spill anymore food, though? Then she would accept it.

Although it took a bit of coercion on his part due to Kyrie not wanting to be saved by him all the time, Nero knew she secretly treasured it, with the way she happily curled into him once he’d convinced her to be carried. With a smirk, he tightened his grip on her as he sprouted his wings once more and took off, relieved he no longer had to slowly and carefully sidestep around every little nook and cranny. He pushed himself forward easily, gliding for as long as he could before he propelled himself off another rock and repeated the motions.

Once they’d arrived outside of the house, Nero lowered Kyrie to her feet. The term “outside” was used as only a technicality, of course, due to most of the house being torn and burned down and not having much of an “inside” to begin with.

The term house, as well, may have been the wrong word to use. It was clear that this place was once a mansion, with extravagant pillars and the marble flooring persevering through the fire.

Wordlessly, Nero immediately went to stand in front of the portrait of what could only be Dante and Vergil as children, along with their mother, and what had to be their father, Sparda.

Nero could almost laugh. Sparda, one of the most powerful demons, living in a cozy mansion with his human wife, two kids, and a commissioned old-fashion oil painting of them all? He was certainly quite the character, though Nero supposed that probably came with being a demon. Or, part demon, even.

The picture was pretty burnt up, but you could still make out most of their faces with a little effort and imagination. Dante and Vergil definitely looked more alike as kids, though even back then they’d apparently already decided on their respective hairstyles. Aggravatingly enough Sparda was the one who was the most difficult to distinguish, but even through the burns and smudges, Nero could tell he had white hair.

Guess the powerful demon Sparda had some pretty dominant genes. Who woulda guessed.

Nero couldn’t help but hope his kid would have red hair like Kyrie’s, but if he himself was anything to go off of, something told him those Sparda characteristics would prevail in the end.

He didn’t notice Kyrie wordlessly walk up alongside him, also admiring the portrait, until her soft voice broke the quiet. “What a beautiful family,” she admired, holding her hand out to touch the frame. “Trish really is the spitting image of their mother.”

Nero wasn’t sure how he hadn’t had this train of thought earlier, but seeing Kyrie in this house—The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda’s house—burnt down, destroyed, and now gazing upon the last dregs of what used to be a happy family…

It made Nero realize, more than ever, the consequences of a demon loving a human.

He’d usually be the first one to tell people where to shove it when it came to him and Kyrie, and his power to protect her. But standing in the house of Sparda himself, burnt and destroyed, was sobering. If one of the most powerful demons of all time couldn’t protect his kids, his family, his wife—

“What a strong woman.” Kyrie interrupted his thoughts, her voice still gentle but with an added hint of conviction to it now. It was enough to snap Nero to attention as he turned to look at her, admiring the painting still. “You can see in her smile how kind and accepting she was.” Kyrie paused to meet his gaze. “Especially to be able to love a demon, and have two children with him.”

Nero pursed his lips and turned to look at the picture, suddenly feeling like a kid who was caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He didn’t know how, but it seemed Kyrie had caught on to the train of thought he had suddenly and unwillingly boarded.

“Of course, what happened was a tragedy, but…” Kyrie took Nero’s hand. “She knew the risk. Especially if she were to love Sparda, of all the demons.”

Nero didn’t have to ask how Kyrie could presume to know such a thing, or presume to know the thoughts of the human woman who had loved Sparda. He just laughed—a quick exhale of air, mostly at himself, as he shook his head. “Y’know, I’m starting to think I don’t even need to talk. Think we could start communicating telepathically?”

Kyrie’s melodic laughter managed to brighten up the dreary atmosphere a little. “And let all of your one-liners go unheard? Perish the thought.”

Nero’s laughter joined with hers, and now that he wasn’t being distracted by the somber idea of a family being torn apart, he remembered why he was really here. To see if there were any traces of Dante or Vergil that might make him feel closer to either of them.

With that newly remembered task in mind, he took a step to the portrait once again, examining both Dante and Vergil closely. Dante’s face was obscured more than his brothers, but Vergil was clearly visible, and Nero couldn’t help but snort at the kid with the slicked back hair.

“Man, did that guy come out of the womb looking like a snob?” Nero chuckled.

Kyrie laughed too, though from somewhere farther in the distance. “He’s certainly done a good job maintaining an image,” she replied politely.

There was only so much he could get from the photo, though, and so he took the stairs to what remained of the second floor. Kyrie couldn’t join him seeing as there weren’t any actual stairs and he had to maneuver himself up the rest of the way with his wings. Not to mention, he had a feeling he’d be joining her back on the first floor any moment, when he inevitably fell through the shoddy remains of the support beams.

“Find anything?” Kyrie called up to him curiously, looking up despite the fact that the rooms were out of her eyesight.

“Not sure.” Nero called back. It was hard to tell where the rooms began and where the hallways ended. There were some plaster chunks left that seemed to hint at the separation of rooms, and Nero traversed them, trying to find any hints of personal belongings. Though knowing Vergil, his keepsakes would have all been books, and those weren’t exactly fire resistant.

Nero used his wings to pick rubble and burnt wood out of the way as he searched, seeing as how anything trapped under the debris was more likely to still be in good condition and remotely discernable, not to mention kept safe from any wind that might have otherwise blown it away.

Just when Nero was satisfied with his search and largely dissatisfied with what it had turned up, he was about to jump back to the first floor when something oddly metallic rolled across the floor. He heard Kyrie question what the noise was from below, but was too distracted to respond as he looked to the source of the noise.

It was a cylinder about a foot long, made out of what looked to be steel, with a lid on it. At first Nero thought maybe it was a thermos, but after picking it up, he felt something shift inside it. Holding it to his ear, he shook it a few times like a kid with a Christmas Eve present, and came to the conclusion that it was paper inside.

At both his silence to her earlier question and now the continuation of strange noises, Kyrie called over to him once more. He jumped down to meet her this time, throwing the steel cylinder up in the air in presentation before deftly catching it again. “Found whatever this is.”

Kyrie moved in curiously, arms behind her back as she peered at it. “Some kind of storage container? It reminds me of a poster tube.” She observed, curiosity taking the better of her as she took it from him and attempted to open it. Realizing she couldn’t get it, though, she handed it back to Nero.

The look he gave her was all the teasing he needed to do as he turned the lid next, though was momentarily caught off guard by how much trouble it gave him. Luckily Kyrie didn’t seem to notice, and Nero realized the fire must have partially melded it shut. With one strong pull, the cap successfully came off with a satisfying pop.

Nero reached in, and just as he had thought, the inside seemed to contain a rolled up message of some sort, the same way you’d see a message rolled up inside a glass bottle. Was this maybe a note Sparda had left? If that were true, this would be one of the only things left that even proved he’d been alive in the first place.

Heartbeat quickening, Nero rolled it open and examined it carefully. Kyrie, wanting to give him space in case it was sensitive or personal information, stood back and patiently waited for Nero to finish digesting the information.

“No way.” Was all he managed to get out before his laughter, filled with both disbelief and amusem*nt, filled the quiet space and reignited Kyrie’s curiosity. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“What is it?” Kyrie asked, no longer giving him space and quickly going to his side.

Nero hadn’t noticed it before, but on the metallic tube there had been an engraving: Dante. It was messy, most likely scratched with some loose change or a kitchen knife. This storage device belonged to the little scamp, and what was on the inside was all the proof Nero needed that, not only Vergil, but Dante too hadn’t changed a damn bit.

A Playboy magazine was rolled tightly inside the cylinder, unrecognizable from the outside at first due to (presumably) Dante himself taping pages from a novel overtop the cover and the back, to hide the half-naked women. They’ve really come full circle.

Even Kyrie, upon realizing what she was looking at, quickly brought her hand up to her mouth and began laughing. “Oh, it gets better.” Nero assured, flipping through the pages and angling them towards her.

It turned out that the random book pages Dante had used to disguise his p*rn had not, in fact, been just any random pages. They had been Vergil’s.

Vergil must have found this stash of prized p*rn that Dante so desperately tried to hide, and wrote inside the magazine, leaving a message to his brother in bold black marker.

"I was wondering why the novel I was reading suddenly seemed to be missing so much crucial information. I thought the author had become braindead, but no, now I see it was just my braindead brother. Could you not have found normal paper to cover up your shame?"

Nero laughed as he read it, at both the vitriol from someone so young, but also the undeniable brotherly love. After all, if Vergil had been so angry, why did he write his anger in the magazine instead of ripping it up and taking it away from Dante as payback? Perhaps that would have been too easy.

It seemed Vergil had reclaimed his two novel pages, eventually, as was evident by the next passage of writing left by him.

"Another two? From different books this time, as well. Did you think I wouldn’t notice which books you desecrated if you spread out your thieving? Or is this your idea of a challenge? Fine, then, Dante. Since you took two pages of mine, I also tore two pages of yours. You’ll find them inserted throughout my many novels. Perhaps I’ve just discovered the only way to make you pick up an actual book. I’ll be sure to tell father the good news."

True to his words, the Playboy magazine was indeed torn at the inner spine, indicating pages had been ripped out by Vergil in his revenge. As Nero turned the pages, it became evident that those two weren’t the only ones Vergil had ripped out, and flipping even further, Nero laughed as he saw that eventually, Vergil had begun rolling with the punches. Not only had he begun ripping out the pictures of the naked women in the Playboy magazine, he’d also started replacing them with pages he'd ripped from his novels by his own volition.

At first Nero had thought it was Dante that had stapled pages from Vergil’s novels to the inside of the magazine, until he noticed the notes Vergil left on them.

"This page has a lot of useful vocabulary I think you would do well to learn, as yours does seem quite limited."

It continued on, looking as if Vergil was a teacher marking a test with all the notes he included on the pages he’d so generously replaced Dante’s p*rn with, telling him to study this, or advising him to read that. As it continued, the magazine was more reading than risque in the end.

When the pages eventually ended and the notes stopped, Nero frantically turned through them, wishing it had gone on forever.

Although there hadn’t been any proof of it here, Nero had no doubt Dante had retaliated more than by just stealing Vergil’s pages. If Vergil’s bookcase had still been intact now, Nero could only imagine what proof of Dante’s payback would be inside for him to discover.

Nero and Kyrie had ended up on the floor at some point, laughing so hard they had tears. Somehow, they were able to witness a brotherly fight from years and years ago unfold, preserved on paper, and just by looking at this, nobody would ever think that these very same kids were half demon, raised by a demon father, and grew up to be hellbent on killing each other.

Once the initial hilarity had worn off and Nero continued flipping and re-flipping through the pages, he was left with a feeling of loneliness. Of what could have been.

“Those idiots…” Was all he managed to say, dropping the makeshift Playboy magazine onto the marble floor with a sigh. “How’d it turn out like this?”

With the tears of laughter still in her eyes, Kyrie’s sudden downcast expression made her look as if she’d really been crying. She rested her head on his shoulder, picking up the magazine where he’d placed it and cradling it with great care.

“Maybe that’s the emotion you need to channel,” she offered softly, smiling fondly at Vergil’s cute handwriting as she once again flipped through it. Eloquent and neat, though clearly still a child trying to look sophisticated. “Not love for them, but love for what could be, and still can be, if we get them back. Not fights to the death, but…” Kyrie held up the magazine, her laughter returning to her once more. “Silly family fights like this.”

Nero smiled as she waved it in the air. Although this definitely hadn’t been what he’d expected, it did manage to humanize Vergil more than he’d ever expected. He was a snot nosed kid that fought with his brother once, too.

It just happened to be a lot more lethal now.

Still, it only made Nero more curious as to where it all went so wrong. If anybody had been able to bring Vergil out of whatever state he’d been in, Nero would’ve thought it’d be Dante, but apparently that wasn’t the case. And Vergil didn’t seem the type to suddenly be weak to Nero’s efforts, simply because he was his son. In fact, Nero already knew for a fact that Vergil wasn’t like that.

This whole family had too much damn stubbornness and pride.

Though, luckily for the two of them, that was the exact thing that made Nero refuse to give up.

“Well, I definitely don’t feel any sudden portal-opening love for them. But on the bright side, I think I found my new motivation to save them.” Nero informed Kyrie, getting up off the floor and hoisting her up as well. At her confused and curious look, he simply grinned.

“I’ve never been one for cliffhangers, and I gotta know how that fight ended."