As the blond boy collapsed to the floor, I heard ringing in my ears and everything around me started to blur. I attempted to steady my shaking hands by clutching it and holding them tight to my sides. For the first time in my life, I felt an uncontrollable desire to not only kill the man that had had wounded the boy, but make him suffer for it too. As if sensing my bloodlust, a petite girl with fair, almost translucent skin and dark short hair materialized next to me. "Shall we?" she chirped gleefully with a grin as she tilted her head to the side to look up at me.

"Hiki," I commanded without any reservation. The girl, whom I had named Hiiro, immediately turned into a sword. I grasped her in my hand and prepare to attack the man, who was now absent-mindedly kicking the boy- no, Yukine's body to see if he was still alive. The bat he had used to strike Yukine was still in his hands swinging drunkenly with the movements of the man. "Let's cull the herd," I sneered.

However, before I could move, Yukine's voice rang in my head, pleading, "Please don't."

I immediately stopped mid track and my eyes travelled down to look at where Yukine's body was. To my disappointment, his body still remained laying motionlessly on the ground. I gritted my teeth at the sight and cursed myself.

"Yaboku?" Hiiro quipped in confusion. "What are you waiting for?" her thoughts, laced with annoyance, spoke to me.

I furrowed by brows as I wondered why the voiced had stopped me. "Is this what they call conscience?" I heard myself huffed, irritated, under my breath.

"Conscience?" Hiiro said in what clearly appears to be disgust. "Father will not be happy with this, Yaboku," Hiiro warned in a deeper voice. "Kill him."

I was tempted to do what I was told and considering that this is, indeed, what I do, I know I should just kill the man right then and there. However, for some reason, I don't want to.

I stood motionlessly contemplating over the conflict that overcame me. Why don't I want to kill the bastard? I never once needed a reason to kill before. I just do so because it made Father happy and Hiiro seems to be enjoying it too. But now, when I have a clear reason to cull this man, I don't want to because why? Because some boy had begged me not to?

As I was racking my head for answers to resolve the conflict within me, Hiiro's patience was wearing thin for I could feel her getting agitated in my head. "Yaboku," she said in a low tone, breaking me out of my reverie. "Kill him," she finished, deliberately emphasizing each syllables in her words.

I took another look at Yukine's motionless body and scowled at the man who had dropped the bat on the floor with a thunk, and was now holding his son's body by the collar screaming, "Wake up you piece of thrash! Wake up!"

"Yaboku," Hiiro spoke louder, interrupting my observation. "Let me cut hi-"

"Be quite, Hiiro," I growled at her in warning. She immediately fell silent.

I took a glance at the man and the child in his hands one last time. I felt my heart burn as I watched him slap the boy across his face to wake him up.

"Wake up, you ungrateful piece of shit!" screamed the man as desperation clearly rang in his voice. "You will NOT send me to jail!"

I felt myself gripping Hiiro tighter as I gritted my teeth in an attempt to withhold my anger. Taking a deep breath, I managed to subside my fury a little and finally loosen my grip around Hiiro. I can feel her grow more restless in my head with my indecisiveness. When she finally had it, "Yabo-"

"Revert."

The sword in my hands glowed and Hiiro, once again, was standing next to me. Her scrunched up face and looked up to me dispprovingly. I avoided eye contact with her; feeling guilty for I have no reason not to strike down the man before me. I have no excuse for Hiiro- no, no valid excuse to give Hiiro for not killing the man, because the only reason why I am sparing this man- this awful, violent, cruel, malicious and even beastly of a man was because Yukine, a regular human boy, had begged me not to. I, myself, could not explain why.

Clenching my fist tight, I turned on my heels and headed for the door. Pouting but still remaining silent, Hiiro obediently trudged along behind me. As I was about to leave the room, I heard the sound of a bat scraped along the floor. Thinking the man was going to give his son another blow, I turned around hastily only to be frozen on the spot shocked to see, not the man, but Yukine holding the bat in his hands.

His eyes shot daggers at his father then it traveled to my direction. It looked as sharp, murdurous even, but so very forlorn. I can see blood trickling down his face and the sight itself was very , Yukine does not look like a person to give pity to. He looked strong- no, determined but... why though? Then, his face turned dark and what he spoke and did after that was not at all, what I had expected from the boy who had begged me to spare his father.

Giving the bat in his hands a good tight grip, Yukine's eyes averted away from me and back to his father. He scowled at him and in a deep, low tone, he whispered, "Die."

He shuts his eyes and swung the bat with all his might.

Thud.