A/N: This is what seeing this prompt right after having my mind warped by having dealt with Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni related stuff for the past nine hours. Seriously. I started watching Higurashi/Playing Higurashi Daybreak at two in the afternoon, now it's eleven at night.

And seeing this prompt right after going through Tatarigoroshi-hen…especially after that one certain part I'm not going to name due to spoiler reasons…Yeah…

Also, this originally started off with a vague idea, but then this turned into an Alternate Universe. Halfway through writing this chapter, I actually came up with a real plot for this oneshot...

If anyone wants, I'll create a new story based off of this world; of course, everything would be explained, meaning why the town is so poor, the characters' backgrounds, why they're living that way, etc.

I really want to use this idea for a new fic, but I'd like to know if anyone is interested in it first of all. If anyone's interested, I'll start it. :D

Prompt: Animal
Words(without A/N): 1,619
Rating: T
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.
Verse: Alternate Universe.

OoO

When anyone, and he meant anyone, messed with Kiyomaro in any way, shape, or form, Dufort would resort to drastic measures.

Sometimes the teenager he worked so hard to protect had to stop him going too far; but he just couldn't help in in the off chance that the horrible offender would do something that would scar Kiyomaro, and he most definitely did not want that.

Zeon loved to help his bookkeeper, but it wasn't because he wanted to help protect Kiyomaro. Far from that, actually. He just loved watching the humans groan and whimper in pain, trying so desperately to run away from the two monsters(Dufort and himself), even when they all knew that it was pointless. Didn't they ever figure out that running would get them no where?

Of course, Zeon didn't like it when they just willing acted submissive to them. He always wanted a sort of retaliation, whether they'd try to hit him or anything, but running was simply out of the question, and he grew to hate it.

There were many people who liked to harm Gash and Kiyomaro. The two targets could never figure out why(though Kiyomaro assumed that they liked beating up Gash just for the fun of it and that he looked weak), but always having to run away every other day was starting to grow tiring. Even Gash, the person who loved to tag along with Kiyomaro wherever the teenager went, suggested that they just stay at home and not go anywhere for the next week or two.

The bullies never learnt their lesson, did they?

Kiyomaro pondered over why everyone who even looked a tinier bit stronger than he and Gash loved to pick on them so much. They knew it wouldn't end well for them(especially when Zeon and Dufort, the two bodyguards, were on duty, which was pretty much twenty-four seven), so why? It was either that they thought that they'd get to the two someday, or it was because they loved getting hurt themselves, which the teenager highly doubted. That was a stupid reason to beat them.

The teenager did not know what it was like whenever Dufort got truly angry. No one had ever provoked him that far before. Gash had seen Zeon so furious it scared even him, but he loved his brother anyway because he knew that the silver haired twin only wanted his brother's safety and wanted no harm to come his way, lest he bestow living hell upon anyone who tries to hurt him. It was pretty much the same with Dufort, but the man usually let Zeon torture the humans in the end.

It was a bright and sunny day, and Kiyomaro opened his eyes to see the sunlight pouring in through the window. He immediately shut them tight in order to block the light out, but he eventually got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The teenager poked Gash's(who was sleeping on the floor) side with his foot in a half-hearted attempt to wake the demon up.

He had a feeling that no one would bother them today. It wasn't all that often that the sun came out, and he liked to enjoy it as much as possible. That, and his best friend Suzume was always her happiest on sunny days, and he liked it when she was happy. Suzume knew not to meddle with Kiyomaro's and Dufort's relationship, having known the younger teenager her entire life. And for that reason, Dufort actually trusted her.

Zeon barged in the room, kicking the door open and nearly breaking it off its hinges as he stormed in, shoving Kiyomaro out of the way and moving in front of his brother. He poked Gash lightly in order to wake him up. The blonde haired demon slowly got up and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

"Unuu…It looks sunny out today! I think today will be a good day!" The little demon said happily, throwing off the covers of his futon and jumping up and out of the room.

"I think so, too. Usually the sky is really dark and grey, but Mr. Sun came out to play today and it makes me happy!" A female's voice rang throughout the small house as Suzume poked her head in the room, a bright smile on his face.

"Suzume…What are you doing here?" Kiyomaro asked, grabbing his school uniform and quickly heading to the bathroom without waiting for her reply.

"Well…I woke up early and I'm already ready, so I came to get you guys!" He smile faltered a bit. "I hope those mean bullies won't pick on us today. Yesterday was a close call."

"Eh, whatever." Zeon waved his hand dismissively. "If anything goes wrong today, just shout out and we'll kick the guys' asses in no time at all. Actually, you won't even need to shout, for we'll be there right away."

"Gash, get the hell out of the bathroom!" Kiyomaro shouted, banging his fist on the locked door. Behind the door, the mentioned demon snickered before it burst out into a huge laugh. "I need to change!"

"But I'm not done yet!"

"Hurry up!"

"Unuu, I'm done!" Gash opened the door quickly and Kiyomaro, who was leaning on it, fell through and landed on his back on the hard, cold floor. Suzume laughed at the funny sight, glad that her day started off nice for once. Hopefully it won't be shattered…

OoO

"No sign of them."

The three let out a sigh of relief when Zeon announced that the coast was clear. Gash, Kiyomaro, and Suzume walked out of the fence they were hiding behind, having nothing to worry about. The silver haired demon had to carefully lead them to school in order to protect them from the bullies who liked to walk early to school.

The town they lived in wasn't all that nice, with many suspicious neighborhoods and many buildings were in desperate need of remodeling. The population wasn't that big, naturally, so almost everyone knew each other and the whole town would know the very next day if something had happened, big or small. Most of the time, though, no one would care.

Suzume was thinking about what she could do to fix up this poor town in the future when somebody shoved her from behind and pushed her into Kiyomaro. The two fell down and the two demons stopped walking when they heard a chorus of laughter behind them. They all turned around, and the girl's heart sank when she found out it was the bullies.

But the sun is still out; it was supposed to be the perfect day…

"Look what we have here! The runt, the idiot, and the self-proclaimed genius!" It wasn't all that hard to figure out which name went to who. Sure, the whole town knew about the demon battle. Secrets were hard to keep in this town, and they all knew of Gash's past.

Suzume was starting to feel that her nickname didn't quite fit as well as it used to, and that was because Kiyomaro was tutoring her every day after school. She considered herself a lot smarter, but she could never bring herself to stand up to the bullies.

Kiyomaro, on the other hand, his 'nickname' didn't exactly fit all that well either. Sure, he was smart, but he never boasted about it to anybody. …He just kept to himself until Gash came along.

"So, what shall it be today, boys? The gym lockers, the bathroom toilet, or does anyone else have any other ideas?" The apparent leader of the group smirked, the rest of his fellow bullies chuckled amongst each other. Kiyomaro sighed; all those places were so typical…

"I have an i-oomph!" The bully was cut off when something smacked him hard on the back of his head, and the same force hit all of the others. Kiyomaro and Suzume looked up to see Dufort holding a metal pipe that he got from who knows where(though it wasn't all that hard to get something like that around here…). He continued to mercilessly pound the bullies into submission before they ran away, screaming for mercy. Even though they put up that act, it would only be until tomorrow, where they'll come back to pick on them again.

The pipe Dufort held was covered with splattered blood from the bullies; the man hadn't held back, and some of them would be having concussions. This wasn't the first time this happened, though, but Kiyomaro couldn't help but wonder if Dufort ever actually felt any sympathy for any humans other than them. …It sometimes made him look more like an animal than a human…

"I could've handled them, but they completely ignored me!" Zeon shouted, crossing his arms angrily and huffing.

"Sure, you could've." Dufort rolled his eyes and helped them all up.

"You're earlier than usual. Usually, they'd have us all tied up and be dragging us to the school right now."

"If they ever bother you again," Dufort ignored the teenager. "I am going to kill them and use their bodies for practice incase anyone else decides to mess with you."

Kiyomaro shivered; knowing that the man would most likely follow on his word.

Suzume, on the other hand, smiled. She could trust Dufort, and looks like the sun hadn't lied today. It didn't matter how much inhuman he seemed, he still cared deeply for them, and that's all that'll ever matter for her.

Then Dufort whacked her upside the head lightly with his hand for even thinking of him like that.

"I love Kiyomaro, not you."

Kiyomaro sighed. But he did wonder if the bullies would come back tomorrow…