At sixteen, a strange illness appeared in Twilight Town. None of those infected survived.
You knew Honkai was coming.
"Father, you should get some proper rest." At breakfast, Yoshikage Kira frowned at the dark circles under his father's eyes.
"Yes, Uncle. You can't go without resting properly; health is the foundation of everything." Pardo echoed Yoshikage Kira's words from the side.
Yoshikage Kira looked at Pardo in confusion. "Why are you here again?"
"Aw, isn't it because your cooking is just too good, Boss? Breakfast outside can't compare to what you make!"
Yoshikage Kira said nothing and simply lowered his head to finish his breakfast.
Seeing that Yoshikage Kira remained silent, Pardo scratched her head and tentatively said, "Then... I can wash the dishes for you from now on?"
Yoshikage Kira raised his head slightly and glanced at the girl's hands from the corner of his eye. Under his influence, Pardo no longer had to live by thieving and going hungry. Naturally, her hands had become far more exquisite than when he had first met her: slender and long, yet soft and fair, her nails gleaming with a bluish sheen, gentle and pearly. The thought of those hands becoming wrinkled from washing dishes filled Yoshikage Kira with inexplicable irritation.
"No need. Helping my father more will be the greatest reward you can give me."
Watching the two children bicker as usual, Yoshikazu Kira felt his spirits improve considerably as well.
"All right, Pardo. Once you're done eating, hurry and come to the clinic with me. There have been quite a few more patients lately."
After Pardo and Yoshikazu Kira left, Yoshikage Kira began reading as usual.
"They've gotten longer again?" Yoshikage Kira frowned when he noticed his fingernails had grown while reaching for a book.
Sitting in the courtyard of his home, Yoshikage Kira began trimming his nails.
After gaining a Stand, Yoshikage Kira's vision had broadened. The most obvious change was that he could see Honkai Energy.
As he looked at the increasingly dense Honkai Energy, the irritation that had been lingering since he woke up that morning surged up again.
"What's going on?" Yoshikage Kira rubbed his head and forced down the negative emotions.
"They've gotten longer again?" Yoshikage Kira looked at his freshly clipped nails, which were already showing signs of growing back, and sighed.
Snip, snip, snip...
"Boss, the food you make is seriously delicious."
"All right, don't talk with food in your mouth." Seeing Pardo wolfing down her meal, Yoshikage Kira reminded her without saying anything more.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm full, Boss. Do you want me to..."
"I'll wash the dishes myself."
"All right, then I'll head back first. Thanks for dinner, Boss. See you, Boss."
As he watched the girl's departing figure, an irritation more intense than at any other time that day flooded over him.
"Something's wrong..." Yoshikage Kira clutched his head and said to Yoshikazu Kira, "I'm heading out for a bit."
"Huh? Kira, you..." Before he could finish, there was a bang! and Yoshikage Kira was already out the door.
Where was Pardo? How had she run so fast? He had left less than a minute after her, yet Yoshikage Kira could not find any sign of Pardo. The irritation in his heart grew ever stronger.
"It's fine. Pardo's home isn't far from mine, and no one would be stupid enough to target someone from Kira Clinic. Most gangs have received our help."
Thinking this, Yoshikage Kira ran toward Pardo's home.
Turning a street corner, he finally saw Pardo. Hearing his footsteps, Pardo turned around and looked at Yoshikage Kira in surprise.
"Huh? What is it, Boss?"
Yoshikage Kira rushed over and pulled Pardo into his arms, extending his hand toward a Deadwalker that suddenly lunged out from the pitch-black alleyway beside them.
Killer Queen! Sheer Heart Attack.
Seeing the Deadwalker vanish before him, Yoshikage Kira let out a breath of relief, and the irritation in his heart dissipated completely.
He looked down at the girl in his arms. She merely buried her head against his chest and did not move.
Eeeeeh! Is Boss finally making a move on me?! Yes, yes! Pardo hid in Yoshikage Kira's arms, breathing in his scent as excitement filled her heart.
Looks like the matter of my Stand hasn't been exposed. Yoshikage Kira looked at the lovestruck girl in his arms.
(Yoshikage Kira's Stand explosions were silent, so Pardo could not hear them.)
"It's all right now. Go home." With that, Yoshikage Kira pushed Pardo away, turned, and left, leaving Pardo standing there alone in complete disarray.
When Yoshikage Kira returned home, he found his father sitting on the sofa.
"You didn't need to wait up for me."
"Ah, I just wanted to tell you that I've already washed the dishes." With that, his father stood and returned to his room.
Yoshikazu Kira did not ask any questions, but when he saw that his son seemed more relaxed after returning, he was satisfied.
"Mm, I understand." Yoshikage Kira replied to his father, then returned to his own room as well.
"Was I really this calm?" Growing up, this was He Cheng-rui's first time killing someone—or rather, a living being that had once been human.
He could feel his humanity gradually fading as he played the role of Yoshikage Kira.
"But I saved Pardo, didn't I?"
Thinking of the shy look on the girl's face in his arms, He Cheng-rui stopped dwelling on his fading humanity and fell into a deep sleep.
"Boss, hehehe." The girl hugged her pillow and buried her face in it, occasionally making strange noises.
Before you continue