In the weeks following Milluki's birth, he quickly decided that there was only one thing he hated more than being stuck in the hospital.
I'm so bored...
It was being stuck as a baby and watching his stupid little feet wiggle around without any sense of direction or purpose. At the moment, Milluki barely had a hint of control over his fledgling muscles, so he was forced to lie on his back and watch these stupid toes of his wiggle around uselessly.
Soooooooooo booooooooored.
Milluki spared a glance around, his little lungs letting out a stupid little whistle as he did so. He was stuck in a crib, in some back room of the servant's quarters, with a door on one end and a small window on the other. After first being born and being witness to the crazy desires of his new mother, he had thought that he would be seeing a lot more of her, but she hadn't stopped by once. If he had to guess, it might be because of her being busy as the matriarch of the Zoldyck family or just because, as a less than one-year-old, Milluki wasn't able to learn anything about assassination yet.
I wish Tsubone would show up already.
It might be a bit of both, but that didn't stop the dilemma that he spent a good chunk of the day alone—looking up at the lovely wooden ceiling while he waited for Tsubone to come in at some point and give him his milk bottle. Tsubone was the only person he saw, probably because she was the head butler ensuring his safety.
Where is she anyway? Shouldn't she be watching me or something...
Milluki thought they would be more strict about security for a family of assassins. Have a butler in the room whose only job was to stare at him. He didn't know; he just figured they would spend a little extra to guard him since they knew how easy it would be to exploit his fragile existence. From the bedtime stories Tsubone told him, assassins usually used a target's children when they needed to manipulate them. It was a form of harsh coercion that was easy to implement and effective when keeping a target's mouth shut.
I'm hungry...
Milluki may have forgotten to mention that Tsubone stopped by at night, too, giving him the assassin's playbook of bedtime stories. Where Little Red Riding Hood played dead to lure the wolf into a false sense of security, and Humpty Dumpty kidnapped a construction company head's daughter to fund an expansion of his mighty wall.
Wonder what she'll-
"It is time for your feeding, young master."
Fuck!
Milluki ended up shitting himself, quite literally, might he add, as Tsubone appeared out of fucking nowhere and lifted him. Her nose twitched as she took him to the nearby countertop and changed his diaper before plopping a milk bottle into his mouth. Milluki begrudgingly accepted it as Tsubone held him in unsurprisingly buff arms.
"Oh? Looks like the little master is hungry."
No shit, Tsubone.
Milluki furrowed his baby eyes as he finished his bottle, the cap plopping out of his mouth as Tsubone took it and put it away, leaving it on the counter before putting Milluki back in the crib. Milluki barely saw the glint of Tsubone's monocle before she vanished, and he was once again staring at the wooden ceiling without anything to do.
I wish assassins were loud.
Milluki had about reached his limit, with everyone in this weird family able to vanish and reappear without a single noise. It was jarring, and more than that, it was fucking embarrassing. Shitting himself every time Tsubone appeared out of thin air because he couldn't control his bowels wasn't really on Milluki's to-do list when he was reborn.
You know what...
No, Milluki was done waiting for Tsubone to randomly pop out of nowhere and scare him like it was no big deal. It was a big deal! He was going to run out of diapers at this rate!
Fuck it.
Milluki refused to keep getting snuck up on.
I'm going to catch her when she comes back for storytime.
All he had to do was figure out how to sit up, and then he would be golden.
Tsubone had been working for the Zoldyck family for decades, and she could confidently say that the newest little master was a lot... more unique than the previous ones.
Maybe I should change the formula...
Tsubone tilted her head at the thought as she rested in the back corner of the room, right by the shut window, with a book in her hand and a cup of tea. All her movements were silent as she watched the baby wiggle around so much she wouldn't be surprised if it banged its head-
'Thud'
Never mind.
Definitely change the formula.
Tsubone silently marked that on her to-do list as she watched baby Milluki flop helplessly in the crib with a new bump on its forehead. Tears welled up in the corner of the baby's eyes as the little dumb- unique little thing took a deep breath. Tsubone, wordless, readying herself for a piercing cry that never came, and eventually looking up to see what had gone on with the baby.
Huh...
Milluki had started swatting above his forehead, like trying to catch a fly with a furious little gargle of spit dribbling from his tiny lips.
Is it trying to rub the bump?
That was odd, but it was a promising response for a Zoldyck. Tsubone was pleasantly relieved that the baby had good enough instincts to try dressing the wound while avoiding crying that could alert potential nearby enemies.
This one may be a quick learner like his brother.
Illumi had been born without a single cry, a truly magnificent creature born from Silva's bloodline. That and those pitch-black eyes that had sought to observe everything from birth made Illumi fit the mold of a 'cold-blooded' assassin more than any Zoldyck Tsubone had cared for before him. Why, she would go as far as to venture that if he had been born with white hair and blue eyes, Silva might not have bothered aiming for more children.
Unfortunately, genetics didn't favor young master Illumi.
Tsubone gave a sad and silent sigh at the thought, her eyes still on the book before she heard another thud. Tsubone looked over the page to see another bump on the baby's head and a whimpering expression that seemed to teeter between pained and stubbornness.
Or little master Milluki.
Tsubone shook her head silently as she thumbed the pages of her book, reading it as little Milluki proceeded to try and fail to understand proper weight distribution for the next half hour. Tsubone took time out of her novel to look up once the baby's thuds hitting the crib's wooden rails had faded to obscurity and left the baby sitting in its crib.
Huh...
The baby was sitting?
So that's what the little master was trying to do.
Tsubone was almost impressed that the baby had failed so much at such a simple task. Zoldyck's naturally had a good sense of their bodies; whenever they wanted to try something new, like sitting or walking, they usually got it on the first try.
It appears physicality won't be this one's specialty.
Tsubone could usually tell what the best trait of a Zoldyck was soon after their birth. Illumi's had been observation, a quality well cultivated in his manipulation and information collection classes. Sylva's way back when had been his physical strength, why it felt like only yesterday that master Sylva had been trying to stab her eyes out with his dagger nails.
Ah... better times.
Tsubone let out a silent and wistful sigh at the memories, shaking her head as she turned back to her book and let the baby stare endlessly at the door. It's back to her as she flipped the pages without a hint of sound and ran through the possibilities for what little master Milluki's specialty could be since physical prowess was off the list.
Pain tolerance...
Tsubone played with the thought before shaking her head. At a few weeks old, Illumi had been stabbed with a needle when Kikyo had gotten a little too eager to start training. Young master Illumi hadn't even flinched. Milluki had just fought back tears from a small bump on his head. Tsubone doubted pain tolerance would be this one's specialty.
Stubbornness...
Possibility, but not a very good one. Stubborn assassins were dead assassins; it was better to be completely flexible in their business. Able to react and adapt to any situations that pop up, stubbornness was a trait that needed to be broken early.
That'll have to be fixed in training.
Tsubone made a mental note of that as she flipped the last page, momentarily forgetting about the little game of guess-Milluki's-talents as she sensed someone touching the windowsill. Tsubone's lips quirked upwards as she retracted her nen and closed her book.
Speaking of training...
Tsubone moved silently as the window was opened nearly perfectly to avoid any sound, and a boy with black hair and deep black eyes swiftly scanned the room from outside the opening. The second the boy's face inched too far into the room, it was tapped by an aged finger, sending a shiver down the boy's spine as he whipped his head to the side.
"Oh..."
Illumi mouthed, dipping his head through the window and pulling himself into the room, not to alert the baby. Closing the window behind him, he turned to Tsubone and mouthed honestly, "How did you sense me?"
"Experience..."
Tsubone had used a bit of En to cover the room and a bit of the perimeter around it, but it wasn't time for Illumi to learn of that secret. Although he would be ready before he was a teenager on the track he was on. In the meantime, Tsubone pointed towards the window and silently mouthed an explanation that would satisfy the young master.
"You also forgot to silence your last jump when you scaled the wall. I felt the vibrations through the exterior, young master."
"Ah..."
Illumi furrowed his brows as he replayed the earlier ascent up the wall before giving a slight nod and a silent response, "I will remember that."
"I'm sure you will, young master Illumi."
Tsubone watched approvingly as Illumi gave a slight nod in response before turning his attention toward the crib in the middle of the room. Illumi spotted the baby staring at the door, drifting between sleep and stubbornness, before turning back to Tsubone with a raised eyebrow.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I can't say, young master," Tsubone mouthed with a shrug, leaning against the back wall as she took out a book and held it to her face. Letting the covers block Illumi's view of her lips to test his ability to read lips from the minute movements in facial muscles.
He has been like that for an hour now."
Illumi's eyes flashed in recognition, then back at the baby, passing her little test with flying colors as he turned back and mouthed again in mild curiosity.
"He hasn't moved at all?"
Tsubone smiled, flipping through her book as she nodded and mouthed, "Not once, barring the first few attempts to sit up."
"That's... odd, isn't it?"
"It is," Tsubone mouthed with a shrug, glancing at Illumi, who was staring at the baby with a blank face and furrowed brows. The gears in Illumi's head turned before something seemed to click, and those observer's inky eyes turned back to her and mouthed, "I wish to test something."
"Be my guest, young master Illumi."
Tsubone watched with mild curiosity as Illumi nodded and silently exited the window. This time, he remembered to keep his movements completely masked as he closed the window behind him and disappeared over the edge. The room was silent, barring the restless baby's small fidgets as Tsubone read her book in the corner. Skimming through the pages until the doorknob twisted loudly, prompting Tsubone to look up and sense Illumi on the other side, a terrible idea for an assassin. Still, it wasn't precisely what caught her attention the most.
"Gagaaahga!"
It was Milluki, or more precisely Milluki's actions. The gargles escaped Milluki's mouth the instant the doorknob had turned; a mix of excitement and maybe satisfaction echoed through the room. Before almost disappointed and surprised, spittle replaced them as Illumi poked his head through the door and looked at the baby intently before nodding as if confirming a theory he had. Then he turned to leave, but not before mouthing one last message to Tsubone.
"I think he was expecting you."
It seemed intelligence was little Master Milluki's specialty, after all.