Alaude pulls the collar of his coat even higher and keeps walking past the loud coughing of a half dead car. The rusted structure smells strongly of cigarettes and bad body odour despite the windows being up as it rattles down the road, driven by a large man with an equally large scent.
The platinum blond sends a sideways glance at his oldest brother, a look filled with annoyance. This town is even more akin to a cess-pool than the ones they normally visit.
Fon just smiles serenely, his long braid swaying behind him, barely more than a shadow in the dark of night. The humans still out at this hour -idiots or sinners or both- stare at the strange man wearing what they assume to be a red dress with long cuts up the side.
If someone had asked, Fon would happily reply that he is wearing a traditional Chinese tunic called a changshan. No one asks, and like always they titter to themselves, pointing at Fon and murmuring rather unflattering observations.
"We should kill all of the herbivores," Kyouya mutters, his voice muffled since the youngest brother is trying his hardest to block out the smell of dirty humans with his hand.
"Seconded," Hibarin drawls, casting a particularly dark look at a man a hundred meters in front -far enough that a normal human couldn't hear a thing- who seems to be gossiping about Fon's 'sexual deviancy' to the hooker on his arm.
"At least wear a coat next time," Alaude grumbles, looking pointedly at the two younger brothers behind him who are also entirely covered like the blond is.
The oldest hums without a care. "We've just arrived, we should tour around a little."
"Or," Hibarin begins forcefully. "We could get the food quickly and go back to our perfectly lovely house-"
"-far away from these herbivores," Kyouya finishes for his twin.
"Don't do that," Alaude snaps over his shoulder. "I hate it when you do that."
"Do-
"-what-"
"-brother?"
Fon reaches out and snags the back of Alaude's coat, stopping the blond from lunging at the twins. "Now, now, let's not get distracted. I think I've found something."
The other three pause and take deep inhales. Past the sweat and waste and the mix of disgusting smells coming from brothels, the brothers detect something delicious. It's all dark and savoury, a filling meal, strong and fierce and dangerous. There's a hint of cold metal and gunpowder and even freshly drawn blood. It's the seconds before a killer strikes; cruel amusement and sick pleasure.
In unison, they turn left, eyes flashing red and teeth lengthening to sharp points.
Reborn steps out of the shop with a bounce to his step. Haru really is the best seamstress he's found and the new suit designs look sleek and handsome. She's a fast worker as well (then again, Reborn pays to be priority) so the entire ensemble should be done in only a few days.
He takes the shortcut through a couple of crumbling buildings. This town is slowly emptying out as more and more people flock to Namimori instead since there's a strangely high number of imported goods and luxuries for such a small town in the middle of nowhere.
Reborn isn't sure what it is that alerts him, but suddenly he's tensing up, straining his ears for a noise.
The town is quiet, the lack of noise from decay instead of peace. No footsteps, no slide of a knife against its sheath, no quiet snick of a gun chamber loading. Yet Reborn still reaches for the firearm inside his suit jacket.
He turns deeper into empty streets, not wanting any witnesses. It's a tense wait that drags out. Reborn almost convinces himself that he imagined it and half turns to walk back into the main thoroughfare.
They drop from above, four of them, closely related if their similar features meant anything. The three with coats charge immediately while the one in a red tunic hangs back to watch.
Reborn ducks the first grab and pops a bullet into the blond one's knee. They can't possibly be regular street thugs, so he'll try and leave them alive until he knows who sent them.
The blond makes a strangled sound, more out of shock than pain, and leaps back before looking down at his leg. The two twins pull out a pair of tonfas each and grin with the same bloodthirst that all killers can't help but give out.
Reborn smiles right back.
They're fast and strong and work well together, even seamlessly integrating the blond when he steps back in. Either Reborn's aim was off or the blond has the ability to push through being kneecapped. Whatever it is, the blond doesn't even limp slightly and he even seems to stop bleeding after a while.
The world turns to a blur around Reborn and he's forced to move faster and faster to avoid their hits. They appear shocked that Reborn can move this quick and hit this hard. It feels so odd to be underestimated.
As Reborn sidesteps a tonfa, he realises that maybe he had underestimated them as well. They're keeping up with him, matching him even, so he needs to end this before one gets a lucky shot in and Tsuna ends up fretting over Reborn for the next month.
The man wearing red apparently loses his patience and steps in. The three others glance to their fourth for a split second and that's all Reborn needs.
The twins go down one after another with bullets to the head. Reborn lets the blond knock his gun out of his hand, then slides in behind instead to snap the man's neck. Red tackles Reborn down and they roll through the empty street. Reborn takes a punch to the chest that almost caves his ribs and stabs red in the neck with a knife hidden up his sleeve.
Reborn staggers up, collects his weapons, and walks away with several fractured ribs and a broken left forearm. The rest is bruises and scrapes, easily dealt with.
He's a bit annoyed with himself. He should have killed them immediately to not get hurt in the first place. Too late now, but he'll keep it in mind for the next time someone feels suicidal enough to challenge the greatest.
If Reborn had looked back, then he would have seen the bodies slowly start to piece themselves together.
.
A/N: Of course the fourth Skylark is Hibarin. I can't write a vampire AU without the only literal vampire in the KHR series.