A/N:Hi! Random oneshot for the win! Well, I might continue it, probably not. It's just something I thought up while looking at random fanfic challenges. I am working on Ours and Happenstance. I need a little more for the latter, almost done with the former. There will be a profile update when both are updated. :D Until then, let this tide you over. I apologize for the lack of updates last week. I was feeling absolutely horrible. Still am, but I intend to work with it as well as I can. Thanks!

[Hunters] Knowing it's wrong doesn't stop him. Knowing what's right doesn't mean he'll do it. It's nothing romantic, nothing tragic. He just likes watching.


Snake Eyes

He liked watching Taiki-san.

He knew... it was absolutely weird.

He couldn't help himself sometimes.

It was just in the way he made it all look so damn easy.

He never Hunted, but he fought like he could. He fought like he was going to crush the life out of measly prey, leaving it only to the weak because they needed the taste of blood on their tongues. Two Digimon had rushed his own, and there wasn't just a lack of fright, there was a concern for them, one that should have hindered his partner but didn't. Instead it made the other stronger and how the hell was that even possible?

It was just fascinating.

He bore no one ill will. At least, it seemed that way. He smiled at them when he passed them on the street, helped when he could. He even seemed pleased to know they were around.

It was rather infuriating, actually.

He wanted Taiki-san's power, to see his strength, to get under his skin so deeply that he could actually see him use it.

Nothing ever came of it. His expression was usually warm, even when someone had angered him. It was like he had lost the ability to be passionate somewhere down the line.

No... it was more like he had given it up.

He wanted to know why.

Could he ask?

Dare he?

Ren must have, at least once. For some reason, he bothered Taiki-san as much as he could. Nothing came of that either. Ren believed the guy had his tolerance level maxed from the people he was with.

Perhaps that was the truth of it. He was simply very tolerant, and that kept his power in check. That kept the truth out of sight.

Or maybe it was something deeper.

He wasn't sure, but the more he watched Taiki-san, the more he thought that was the case.

The more he saw the other think he was alone, the more he saw scowls, noticed dark bags under his eyes, and a furrowing of the brow. How the gentle smile twitched once in a while. Sometimes attacks would be a little too close to killing blows. Sometimes he would see the older boy glare over someone's head or purposefully avoid being near someone else.

Those were normal things.

But they were so interesting.

Because if he ever really lost his temper, what would happen? How much power would show itself?

On the downside, what if he was made to relax? Lower the iron grip on his self?

The options, the ideas... the power...

If he really wanted to, he could find out. He knew that. He could make things go a certain way, if he wanted to. A part of him did. He wanted to see what would happen. How far Taiki-san could be pushed. What way he could go.

It was the power that he craved.

He was too used to being powerless. That was all.

It wasn't Taiki-san himself.

Or maybe it was.

He wasn't a romantic person. He was ambitious... but he wasn't foolish. To see so much generosity and power lingering there... was it wrong to not want to play with it a little? To mold it? To toy with it?

There were ethics to consider, naturally... but those hadn't stopped him from Hunting. This was just a different catch.

Why not? It could be fun.

So, in the alleyway, he offered his hand. "Want to play, Taiki-san? I'm not easily entertained."

It should have surprised him when Taiki only smiled back and shook his hand. "I'm not an easy person to beat."

It should have shocked him, but it didn't.

After all, he had been watching Taiki-san for a long time.