Nero knew as soon as he stepped out of the boys' bedroom and into the hallway that Nico had come in from the garage; the acrid reek of cigarette smoke was beginning to roll through the house. He fanned the air before his nose meaningfully as he entered the living room, though he refrained from making any comment when he sensed how the the atmosphere had chilled in his absence.

Vergil, lip curled in disgust, had his head turned away from Nico as though seeking unpolluted air. The eyes of the four women snapped to Nero as he joined them, clearly eager for something to break the awkward silence. "How is Tony?" Kyrie asked quickly.

"He was pretty worked up, but he's also about to drop from exhaustion. I think he'll be fine once he actually falls asleep. He's convinced himself that something bad will happen if he does, so he's fighting it. But he can't stay awake forever, and when he wakes up tomorrow and the world hasn't ended, I think things will go back to normal." Nero reached for the teapot and refilled his cup, mostly to have something to do with his hands. The tense environment was beginning to agitate him. "So, now that we're all here, let's talk Nilepoch. Trish, you said you had something?"

"Nothing conclusive," she replied. "I did some reconnaissance while we were out camping, to see if I could get a sense of where it had gone. Once, I felt a flicker of something, just at the edge of my perception, but it vanished almost immediately."

"It was the Nilepoch?"

"I can't be certain, but it was definitely not human."

"There are lots of stray demons wandering loose on the island," Lady put in. "Are you sure it wasn't just one of those?"

Trish shook her head. "It wasn't something weak like a Chimera. It was more of a… a surge, or…" Her brow furrowed. "You know, in a song, when the music suddenly builds up and grows louder. There's a word for that, isn't there?"

"Crescendo," Vergil supplied grudgingly.

"It was sort of like that—I suddenly felt a strong, rising presence for just a few seconds, and then it faded away to nothing."

"Huh. I wonder if that could have been it activating its powers, or something. I didn't feel anything like that in the warehouse, but I was kind of distracted at the time." Nero leaned back against the sofa cushions. "Where was this? Near where you camped?"

"No, I went farther inland. It was not far from the castle, maybe halfway up the mountainside. I searched the area, but I couldn't find any trace of a demon near there. Not even footprints in the soil."

"It could have been underground," Kyrie suggested. "That area is honeycombed with old mine tunnels."

"Yeah. Agnus had plenty of labs and testing facilities down there, too," Nero added.

"He sure did," Nico agreed. "Not just the main labs, like the one where we set up th' ambush, but a whole network of tunnels out into the surroundin' hills. Me an' Nero cleared out a bunch of 'em when we was trackin' down the rest o' Daddy's research."

"Which means it could have been the Nilepoch Trish sensed, or it could conceivably be one of the Order's pet monsters." Lady sighed. "Not a very cheerful thought, but the Order was known to meddle with things they should have left well alone."

"You don't think there could still be something alive down there, do you?" Kyrie looked alarmed. "It's been six years. Wouldn't it have died by now?"

"Six years in the lifespan of a demon scarcely bears mentioning," Vergil said. "Powerful devils can live for thousands of years. Even the weakest ones can survive for months without feeding."

"And considering the kind of crap the Order was doing with them, fusing them to armor and making weapons and things, they might not even need to feed." Nero glanced down at his right arm, which tingled with the memory of an incident he'd nearly forgotten. "Last time Nico and I went exploring down there was about a year and a half ago, and I was still picking up some pretty weird vibes. I always meant to go back and check it out, but…" His fingers curled into a fist, and he glanced around at the others. "It sounds like we might want to take a look down there, anyway. If the Order did leave any kind of demon behind, the Nilepoch might be attracted to its power. Might actually give us a shot at finding the damn thing."

Lady frowned. "How wide an area are we talking about searching? If there's a chance of meeting the Nilepoch on its way to dinner, I don't think any of us should be out on our own."

"We spent weeks explorin' down there," Nico said. "Hell, I don't even think we went into some o' those tunnels, there were so dang many."

"But we were searching for records then," Nero added. "We don't have to do a full forensic sweep of the place this time, just a quick walk-through. If there's anything down there big enough to attract the Nilepoch, one of us should be able to sense it." Vergil and Trish would, at least. "Shouldn't take us more than a couple of days. Three, tops. If we split up, we could probably cover most of the area in one afternoon."

"No, I think Lady has a point," Trish said. "We should stick together, in case the Nilepoch decides to drop in unannounced. Our odds are better that way."

Nico raised both hands. "Uh, if it's all the same t' you, I'll just stay in the van while y'all're explorin'. Considerin' the three o' you together barely even scratched this sucker last time, I don't fancy gettin' anywhere near the damn thing."

"Fair enough." It wasn't as though Nico would be of any use trying to locate a demonic presence, anyway. Nero glanced around at the group. "So is that the plan? We head out tomorrow and start searching the complex for any demon big enough to show up on Trish's radar?"

"I'd rather do at least a rough survey first, for efficiency. I mean, there's no point searching tunnels on the far east side of the island if all signs indicate that what we're looking for is on the west side." Lady glanced at Trish. "Do you think you could find that place you sensed the demon again?"

Trish nodded. "I think so. The general area, if not the exact spot."

"Good. How about tomorrow, Trish and I take a look at the geography, so we at least know where to start? Nico can drive us."

Nero thought that mostly sounded like an excuse for Lady to get away from Vergil for a day, but it did make some sense to narrow their search to a smaller area. "Fine by me. And then we go hunting on Tuesday?"

"Well…" Kyrie's hands were clasped tightly in her lap. "I know you're all anxious to find the Nilepoch, but… what about the threats closer to home?"

Nero mentally sorted through the catalogue of recent incidents. "You mean Gigi's mentor?"

Kyrie nodded. "In addition to all the demons he's summoned around town, there have been multiple attacks on the orphanage, as well as at least one targeting you directly. If you're all likely to be gone for several days…" She cast a silent plea for support toward Lady. "I know it would delay your plans a day or two, but I'd really feel more comfortable having some way to defend the house while you're gone."

Nico scratched her head. "Defend? You mean, like, traps or somethin'?"

"Kyrie wants to learn to shoot," Nero explained, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. He still didn't like the idea, but he didn't want to sound disparaging, either.

Nico's jaw dropped. "Shoot? You mean, like, guns? Our sweet lil' Kyrie?" She clutched at her heart and blinked rapidly. "I never thought I'd see the day…"

Nero rolled his eyes, but Lady jumped in before he could snap back at Nico. "Here's an idea. If Trish and I are going to be gone for part of the day anyway, why don't you talk to the orphanage tomorrow and see if any of the sisters are game to learn? Then we can take the van out to the old mining camp on Tuesday and give anyone who's interested a crash course. Those mine tailings will make a good backstop, and there's enough old lumber and equipment to use as a bench. We can cover basic safety and handling in a day, and still have time to get in some practice shooting. It won't be comprehensive training, but at least you'd all be a little more prepared in case of emergency. We can start the tunnel-sweep on Wednesday. I don't think a day one way or the other is going to make that much of a difference, considering we don't know if the Nilepoch is even here right now, or already on its way to the future."

"That sounds perfect!" Kyrie hesitated. "But what about the children? I'm not sure it's a good idea to take Tony along, and the others are home from school by mid-afternoon on weekdays."

"I'll stay home with them," Nero offered.

Kyrie looked over in surprise. "Are you sure? I thought you'd want to, well, supervise."

"Lady knows what she's doing. She's probably a better teacher than me, anyway." Nero knew he was not the most patient of instructors, and given his reservations about the whole situation, he didn't want to create any friction between himself and Kyrie. "Besides, the only gun I have is Blue Rose, and she's not exactly novice-friendly. Nico and Lady can match you up with something more your size."

"Don't leave me out." Trish arched her back and drew Luce from somewhere behind her hips. She twirled the pistol once by the trigger guard, then tucked it out of sight again. Nero had never been able to figure out exactly where she carried her weapons, and could only assume that she was using some kind of devil ability to conceal them on her person. "It's been a while since I've had a proper ladies' day out, and if it involves gunplay, I'm definitely in."

"Good," Nero said. "You can keep your feelers out for the Nilepoch in that area, too. I don't think anyone should be out there without someone who can sense it coming."

"It sounds like we're all agreed, then." Lady glanced around the group for confirmation. "Congratulations, everyone, we actually have a plan for this week!"

Nero chuckled. "Don't get used to it."

"Speaking of plans…" Kyrie got to her feet. "If we're going to have anything to eat for dinner tonight, I'd better see how much food we have left in the pantry. The market closes early on Sundays, so I don't have much time if I need to pick up anything."

"You'll need more marshmallows," Trish said. "There were only four left in the bag, last I saw."

"Oh, dear. I bought the last bag on Friday, and I doubt the store has restocked since then." Kyrie frowned. "But there isn't much I can do with just four marshmallows. I hope they don't go stale before I can find more."

Trish looked hopeful. "I can make it zero, if that would solve your problem."

Kyrie laughed. "It would, at that."

They went into the kitchen, and Nico leaned over to look out the window. "Looks like the rain's let up some. I think I'll run back to my place, since I got to carry my bags an' everythin'." She turned toward the garage, already fishing in her pocket for another cigarette.

Nero was already wondering how he was going to keep Vergil and Lady from renewing their spat from earlier, but the moment Nico had departed, Vergil rose from his chair. "Lady, if you are amenable, I should like to borrow some money."

Lady recovered quickly from her surprise, though her eyebrows remained arched. "What do you need money for?"

Vergil's eyes narrowed. "I am certainly capable of acquiring the items I need without local currency, but I assume you all would prefer I pay for them."

"Yes, we do tend to frown on robbery and murder. More to the point, why should I lend you money?"

Vergil returned her cool gaze. "Because unlike Dante, I'm good for it."

Lady gave him an appraising look, then fished in a pocket and peeled a few bills from a folded stack. "I'll expect this returned with interest."

"I assumed as much." Vergil pocketed the money and angled his head slightly in Nero's direction. "I shall return before supper."

Nero watched Vergil exit the house, then looked at Lady, still trying to process the improbable exchange he'd just witnessed. "What the hell was that? You two were seconds away from killing each other a couple hours ago, and now you're giving him money?"

She flashed a rueful smile. "I don't have to like him to do business with him."

"You trust him to pay you back?"

"Oddly enough, I do." Lady settled back on the sofa. "Despite all the horrible things he's done and the fact that he's an awful person in almost every way that matters, Vergil has always had this rigid code of honor. I mean, he may try to kill you, but at least he's honest about it; he'll never sneak around and stab you in the back. If he says he's good for the money, he is. I've never known him to lie."

Nero considered this. "I don't know about that. V deceived everyone, didn't he?"

"I'm not sure if V ever actually lied, though. He mostly just quoted poetry at people until they stopped asking questions." Lady shrugged. "Either way, it's a pretty safe bet: Either he'll pay me back because it's the noble thing and he feels obligated, or he'll pay me back because it's an easy way to one-up Dante, who still owes me the value of both his kidneys and then some."

"Huh." Nero was silent for a moment. "So if he doesn't lie, then what he said at lunch…"

Lady's expression turned stony. "He can still be wrong. It doesn't necessarily mean he's lying."


Vergil returned shortly before dinner, carrying a rain-spattered bag in one hand and the battered combat boots Nero had lent him in the other. In his time out of the house he had acquired a dark canvas overcoat and a pair of leather field boots—Order-issue, judging by the distinctive buckles up the calf. A whisper of memory summoned the scent of boot polish as Nero recalled Credo buffing his own officer's boots to a mirror finish…

Trish, who had returned to lounge on the sofa with a magazine after eliminating the remaining marshmallows, gave Vergil's expanded wardrobe an appraising glance. "You went shopping? If you were cold, I'm sure Nero could have lent you a blanket."

Vergil ignored the undisguised amusement in her voice. "If I am to fight an enemy such as the Nilepoch, I intend to do so properly equipped."

"Equipped?" Trish ran a hand along the edge of her leather jacket, exposing the span of bare skin between her bustier and low-slung pants. "Do you mean if you wear more clothes, the demons die faster?" She turned to Lady, who was following the volley with the look of a predator waiting to spring. "Imagine what we could do if we put on more layers! I didn't realize we'd been doing it wrong all this time."

"It's as valid an excuse as any for your inability to defeat the Nilepoch," Vergil returned.

Lady's eyes narrowed. "At least we didn't wind up in diapers."

"Children," Nero snapped. "Do I need to put someone in time-out?"

Vergil huffed through his nose and turned to hang his new coat in the hall closet. Nero stood and collected the combat boots he'd set aside. "Dinner's almost ready, so—" He caught himself just short of reminding Vergil to wash up, as he had frequently prompted Zaffiro. "—you can stash your stuff wherever. We'll eat in a few minutes."

Before the others could renew their caustic exchange, Nero hurried upstairs and tossed the shoes into the closet, then dropped back onto his bed with a sigh. He'd thought managing seven children had been difficult, but now that he had a living room full of adults in a perpetual state of microaggression—and sometimes macroaggression—he longed for the relative simplicity of sorting out whose turn it was to put away the toys or who got to play with the blocks. At least the kids recognized his authority and listened to him most of the time.

Nero was keenly aware that as the ranks of their devil hunting outfit went, he was the youngest and by far the least experienced. Lady and Vergil accorded him a certain level of courtesy since they were staying in his home, but he knew better than to read anything more into their cooperation. Nero might be their host, but he wasn't their leader. The only person all of them were willing to take direction from was Dante—and even that was hit-or-miss where Vergil was concerned.

He heard Kyrie calling from downstairs, and summoned his courage to face what would likely be the family dinner from hell.


One of the many things Nero loved about Kyrie was her ability to assess a situation with a moment's glance and formulate a solution in nanoseconds. She took one look at Nero's face when he entered the kitchen, handed him the ladle she was using to dish up food for the children, and scooped up the tray with the adults' larger portions. "Why don't you eat with the children tonight?" she said brightly. "I'm sure you've missed them while we were gone all weekend. I'll go sit with the other grown-ups."

Nero shot her a look of pure gratitude, and she gave him a knowing smile as she carried the tray of plates out to the living room. For all her gracious smiles and angelic mien, Kyrie could take control of a conversation faster than anyone Nero knew, and people had a natural inclination to behave well around her. She'd keep the front room civil, at least for the duration of the meal.

And for his part, Nero was just as happy to spend an hour with the kids and hear all about their weekend away. Carlo and Kyle regaled him with tales of the insects they'd collected in a jar; Scipio described the tower of rocks he'd built; Flavia had climbed so high in a tree that Julio had needed to scramble up after her to help her down. All of them waxed eloquent about marshmallows toasted over the campfire.

Only Rosso, seated beside Nero, remained quiet throughout the meal. He looked worse than he had during their earlier talk, eyes bloodshot and hung with shadows, body swaying faintly in his seat. Clearly his willpower had been strong enough to keep him awake through the afternoon, though from his slack face and glassy stare it seemed he'd reached his limit. "Hey," Nero prompted, nudging the boy's elbow, "you can't skip sleep and food. Why don't you try to eat a little more?"

Rosso jabbed a piece of broccoli with his fork and put it in his mouth. Nero knew the action was purely automatic; Rosso had never been fond of green vegetables, and typically ate around them as much as possible. Now he chewed mechanically, as though the taste didn't even register.

The other children cleaned their plates long before Rosso had even put a dent in his food, and they fidgeted as they eyed the slow eater. Kyrie always insisted that they eat as a family, which meant waiting until everyone was finished before being excused from the table. Nero saw their frustration and took pity on them. "Since Tony's not feeling well, I'll stay with him while he eats," he said. "The rest of you can go. Just put your plates in the sink first, okay?"

Julio stood, then glanced uncertainly at Nero. "Can we go into the living room, or should we not because of Mister Vergil?"

"Let's keep giving him space for now." Nero knew how much tension there had been in the living room earlier in the day; adding a pack of children to the mix wouldn't improve the situation, even with Kyrie running interference. "You guys can play in your room, or do your homework in here if you need a table, but we'll leave the living room to the grown-ups this evening."

There was a scramble at the sink as the children tried to reach around one another to dispose of their dishes. Nero waited until the kitchen had emptied before turning back to Rosso. "So. Still don't want to sleep, huh?"

"I tried," the boy murmured.

"And?" Nero prompted. "Did anything bad happen?"

"Not bad, but…" Rosso idly twirled a noodle around his fork tines. "I didn't like it, so I woke up."

Nero wasn't sure what he meant. "What, did you have a bad dream or something?"

Rosso shook his head. "I just don't like sleeping by myself."

"By yourself? You guys are packed into that room like sardines. You couldn't be alone if you wanted to."

"I don't mean them." Rosso scowled. "I can't feel them."

"Ah." Nero leaned back in his chair. "You mean like your brother. Or Trish."

Rosso set down his fork and slumped back in his chair. "Or you," he muttered, so quietly Nero scarcely heard it.

Nero caught his breath. Dante had once told him he could sense him, but since neither Rosso nor Zaffiro had ever mentioned it, he'd assumed that their abilities were less acute as children. The fact that he showed up on their radar went a long way toward explaining why Rosso had trusted him that afternoon, even after the scene with Vergil. Perhaps Nero, like Trish, provided a welcome sense of familiarity to a boy desperately missing his other half.

But Nero couldn't very well sit beside Rosso's bed overnight, and installing Trish in the boys' bedroom would only ensure that none of the other boys slept. And he didn't dare let Rosso sit on the roof of the house with Trish. "Well, look, we're all just a room away, right? I know it's not the same as one of us being right next to you, but you can still feel us from there, right?"

"Kind of." Rosso's eyes shifted to Nero, then back to his plate. "I can feel them more than you."

Nero sighed. Apparently that meant his unique radar blip was only running at half power, or something. "I know you don't like it, but you have got to get some sleep, kiddo. You're gonna make yourself sick if you don't. And if I know you, you'll hate that even more than sleeping by yourself." Nero tapped the edge of the boy's plate. "Get a few more bites of dinner into you. I bet you'll sleep better on a full stomach."

Rosso picked up his fork and prodded halfheartedly at a carrot. His eyes were beginning to glaze again, and he didn't even look up as Julio entered the room with a stack of books and papers in his arms. The older boy hesitated, glancing from Nero to Rosso. "Is it okay if I work in here?"

"Yeah, join the party. You have homework?"

Julio deposited his books on the table and sank into the chair beside Rosso. "Algebra. I tried doing it in the van, but I didn't understand part of it, and Kyrie was too busy with the other kids to go over it with me." His gaze slid hopefully to Nero. "Can you help me?"

Nero let out a weak laugh. "Uh, I'll give it my best shot, but it's been a few years since I had to do anything more advanced than balancing the grocery budget. What are you learning?"

"Equations," Julio groaned. "We're supposed to solve for the variable, but I keep getting mixed up on how to do the part with the fractions." He opened the textbook to the relevant chapter, then pushed the homework paper toward Nero. "I'm stuck on the third one."

As Nero skimmed the instructions, trying to recall the order of operations, Rosso glanced at the paper beside his plate. "Sixteen," he mumbled.

Nero blinked at him. "What?"

"It's sixteen." Rosso yawned. "You're supposed to figure out what number the X stands for, right?"

"Yeah, but…" Nero grabbed a pencil and quickly worked through the problem. "Holy—it is sixteen. How did you know that?"

Rosso yawned again, then rubbed at his watering eyes. "It's just a number puzzle. 'S'not that hard." He poked at his food again. "Do I have to finish eating before I can go to bed?"

Nero hesitated, torn between making sure he ate enough and encouraging him to sleep now that he seemed willing. "Three more bites, and then you can brush your teeth and get in bed."

Rosso dutifully swallowed a few morsels, and Nero excused him from the table. Julio watched him go, his expression a mixture of awe and jealousy. "Your uncle's actually, like, in his forties, right?" he muttered when Rosso had vanished down the hall.

Nero glanced up from the textbook. "Technically, yeah. Why?"

"So I shouldn't be feeling completely humiliated that a kid two years younger than me, who hasn't slept in three days, can instantly solve an algebra problem I worked on for an hour and couldn't figure out, just by glancing at it for two seconds?"

Nero laughed. "Yeah, I had the same feeling when Zaffiro started translating Latin a few weeks ago. They're kind of on their own special scale. Don't take it personally."

"Latin?" Julio whistled. "And I thought he was ambitious for reading Jules Verne."

Nero glanced in the direction Rosso had gone. "I have to admit, I never knew he was that good with numbers, though. I mean, I already knew Vergil was into books, but I guess I hadn't thought about what subjects Dante would have been good at."

"Well, what he said makes sense, I guess." Julio tapped his pencil beside the equation. "If you think about it, it's really just a kind of puzzle. And Tony's always solving puzzles."

"Yeah. I guess he's a lot smarter than I've been giving him credit for. Of course, that could be because he never seems to apply those skills to things like his budget. Guy's been strapped for cash for as long as I've known him."

Julio shrugged. "Being poor doesn't mean you're bad at math. Sometimes you just don't have money."

"Ain't that the absolute truth." Nero thought of all the careful budgeting he and Kyrie had been doing for the past couple of years just to keep food on the table. Being short on money had made Nero far more concerned with his arithmetic skills than he'd ever been in school.

He leaned forward to look at the next equation on Julio's homework paper. "Okay, so if we think of this whole thing as a puzzle, maybe that will make it more fun to solve. What do you think?"


After half an hour's tutoring, Julio felt confident enough to tackle the rest of the equations on his own. Nero washed the children's dishes, then ventured into the living room to collect the rest of the plates. He was surprised to find Kyrie sitting there alone, paging through one of the magazines Trish had brought. "Where is everyone?"

"Nico went home, Lady is in the garage doing something with her equipment, Trish had an urgent date with a pizza, and Vergil went out. He didn't say where he was going." Kyrie dropped the magazine and massaged her forehead. "And I deserve an extra-special dessert for keeping the peace long enough for everyone to eat before they scattered to the hills."

"You deserve a medal for managing that group." Nero leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of her head. "I'm doing the dishes. Are you done with those?"

Kyrie handed him the tray of plates and flatware. "Thank you. What are the children up to?"

"Julio and I have been exploring the exciting world of algebra in the kitchen. The rest are in their rooms."

She nodded and stood. "I'll start cycling them through the bathroom, then. It's nearly bedtime."

Nero returned to the kitchen with the dishes. He was just setting the last cup in the drainer when Kyrie joined him. She paused by the table. "Julio, are you nearly finished? It's almost time for lights out."

Julio smothered a yawn and nodded. "I'm on the last problem."

"As soon as you're done, go get ready for bed, all right?" Kyrie collected a towel and began wiping down the dishes Nero had washed. She waited until Julio had packed up his books and headed for the bedroom before turning to Nero. "Have you seen Tony? He looks awful."

"I saw him at dinner. He was so tired, I thought he was going to fall asleep right in his noodles."

"Evidently not," Kyrie sighed. "He's still awake."

"Still? I thought he'd given up on the whole staying-awake-forever thing. He even told me he wanted to sleep!"

"Well, regardless of what he told you, his eyes were open when I tucked the boys in a few minutes ago. I think being separated from his brother has really affected him. That's one factor we didn't consider when we decided on this plan."

"Why would we?" Nero rubbed the back of his neck, which ached from looking down at the sink for so long. "Most kids don't have weird psychic connections to their siblings. And he's not like this as an adult, either. It never even occurred to me that it could be a problem."

"We'll have to think of a solution. He can't go on like he is." Kyrie assumed a thoughtful expression as she stacked the plates in the cupboard. "When Zaffiro wasn't sleeping because of his nightmares, being near his brother helped calm him down, didn't it?"

"It helped a little, yeah. But I'm not sure that's a fix for tonight. I mean, Vergil's not even here right—" Nero broke off, staring at the wall. "Oh. Of course."

"Of course what?"

"Vergil and Trish are both gone. He told me he didn't like sleeping where he couldn't feel anyone nearby. If they're out of the house, then his two best security blankets are out of range."

"I see. But we can't ask them to return, since we don't even know where they've gone."

"Right." Nero pushed a hand through his hair. "I guess I could go sit with him for a few minutes, but I don't want to stay there all night. I wonder if—" He broke off when he heard the front door open, and hurried to the front room to see who it was. "Vergil! Good, we were hoping you'd get back soon. Where have you been?"

"Out," Vergil said crisply. He slipped out of his new coat and hung the garment in the closet.

"Well I didn't think you were hiding under the couch," Nero retorted. "Something pressing demanding your attention at nine o'clock on a Sunday?"

Vergil gave Nero a look that in any other location would have been a threat of impending violence. "Are Lady and Trish also required to give minute-by-minute accounts of their whereabouts when they leave the house, or have I been singled out for special attention?"

Nero was about to snap back that Lady and Trish didn't have a history of wiping out entire cities, but Kyrie's hand closed on his arm in a firm warning. "Of course not," she said quickly. "We're heading upstairs soon, and I wanted to make sure you had everything you needed before we went to bed. Can I get you anything? Do you have enough pillows and blankets?"

Vergil's eyes flicked to the neat pile of folded bedding at one end of the couch. "This is sufficient."

"All right. If you think of anything you need, don't hesitate to ask." Still attempting to counter the hostility lingering in the air between Vergil and Nero, Kyrie favored him with her warmest smile, then stoked it further by looking a touch contrite. "I'm sorry we can't offer you a proper guest room."

Vergil, it seemed, was immune to her charms—or maybe just to human warmth, Nero thought. "It's not necessary. I require very little sleep."

Kyrie exchanged a glance with Nero. "Actually, speaking of very little sleep… I was hoping to have a word with you about Tony."

Vergil sat on the couch and began unbuckling his boots. "You may speak."

Kyrie blinked at the curtness of his tone, but wasn't cowed by it. "You see, he hasn't slept properly since last Thursday night…"

As Kyrie began to explain the situation, Nero's ears caught a faint rustle from the hallway behind them. He glanced back, then touched Kyrie's shoulder. "Hey."

Kyrie followed his gaze and gave a soft gasp as she saw Rosso swaying in the doorway, clutching his pillow like a shield against his chest. "Tony! What are you doing out of bed?"

The boy didn't answer. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Vergil. Nero turned to find Vergil answering the stare with that same maddeningly impassive gaze he always used.

"Tony?" Kyrie tried again. She bent and brushed the boy's hair back from his eyes. "You still can't sleep?"

This time he shook his head, though his eyes remained locked on Vergil. As Nero watched, the initial wariness began to leave his face, replaced with something like desperation. Coupled with his waxy skin and the bruise-colored shadows beneath his eyes, it made him look even more pitiful. His arms tightened around his pillow.

The sound of a resigned sigh drew Nero's attention back to the couch. Vergil's gaze had settled elsewhere, but he extended an arm out to one side at shoulder height. Nero wasn't sure why until Rosso bolted forward and dove beneath it, landing pillow-first in Vergil's lap.

"Tony!" Kyrie gasped, reaching for him, but halted after a single step. In a matter of seconds, the boy had burrowed into the cushions beside his brother and closed his eyes, the picture of relaxation. Vergil, bearing this indignity with typical stoicism, merely draped his outstretched arm along the back of the couch. "Er… I suppose that's one solution," Kyrie murmured, then seemed to remember her guest. "But you needn't feel obligated to let him stay!" she added hastily. "We can move him back to his own bed if he's bothering you. I'm sure he doesn't mean to inconvenience you; he's just so impulsive…"

Vergil had said nothing, and Nero put a hand on Kyrie's shoulder. "I'm sure Vergil is fully aware of what his brother is like."

"Right." Kyrie gave a weak laugh. "Of course."

She was clearly flustered by the whole situation, and Nero offered her a graceful exit. "Hey, I forgot, I left your overnight bag on the bed, and you haven't had a chance to unpack yet. Why don't you go on upstairs? I'll finish up down here and join you in a minute." He waited until Kyrie had said good night and excused herself before turning to Vergil. "If you get tired of playing brother's keeper, you can move him somewhere else. Just… try to stay within range. He should sleep okay as long as you're nearby." Vergil gave him a flat look, and Nero shrugged. "Yeah, not telling you anything you don't already know. See you in the morning."

He locked the front door, put away the last few dishes, and switched out the lights in the kitchen and hallway. Before starting up the stairs, Nero passed by the living room again, unable to resist taking one final peek at the unlikely duo on the couch.

Their positions had shifted slightly since he'd left them. Vergil had settled into the corner of the couch, cheek tipped against one hand, elbow propped on the sofa arm. Rosso was already deep in sleep, his head pillowed on Vergil's thigh. Vergil's other arm no longer lay across the back of the cushions; instead, it was folded over the child in his lap, fingers resting on the loose white hair.

Vergil did not seem to notice Nero observing them; his gaze was fixed on his brother. But while the face of anyone else thus arranged might wear a look of affection or tenderness, Vergil's expression remained inscrutable.