No Need

"So, starting today, Coleman can't just eat dessert without having a proper meal."

Illumi tossed away the empty bag and spoke with a straight face.

"If this keeps up, Mom will scold me."

Illumi didn't want his mother yelling until his head hurt.

That was a hardship their respected father could bear all by himself.

Not wanting to be blamed for failing to look after his little brother, Illumi decided to cut back on Coleman's snacks.

Kids grew fast, anyway. Coleman just had to be as tall as him by the time they got home.

Illumi was sure his little brother would grow tall if he ate his meals on time!

As for the snacks, of course Illumi would take care of them.

Illumi: Snacks don't help you grow, so I'll eat them while you eat your meals. Then you'll catch up to my height in no time!

Convinced his reasoning was perfectly sound, Illumi solemnly took the snack bag from Coleman and set it on his side.

Coleman: "..."

Did snacks really have that much to do with it?!

Wasn't it just that twins didn't grow at the same pace?

It was perfectly normal for one to grow first and the other later!

But when he saw Illumi looking so serious while secretly holding back a laugh, Coleman decided to change targets.

What else could he do?

He couldn't exactly beat up his own brother. He wasn't even sure he could win.

So he'd just have to pick on someone else.

His gaze slid to the left and settled on the boy lying on the bed doing nothing, so bored he'd started staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, you over there."

Hisoka sat up, hearing what sounded like someone calling him, and looked around in confusion.

You two aren't fighting anymore?

Then he got a little excited.

If you're done arguing, let's go fight!

A white-haired, red-eyed "mini Illumi"!

Hisoka really wanted to see if this guy was as strong as Illumi.

They were twins, after all.

Normally, there shouldn't be much difference in their strength, right?

At the thought, Hisoka grew inexplicably excited.

It was the thrill and pleasure of fighting someone "interesting."

"Want to fight? How about we go have a match? I found a great place! We can eat after, and we won't have to worry about damaging public property and paying for it!"

That morning, while chasing Illumi, Hisoka had accidentally discovered a great spot.

It was an abandoned courtyard near the outskirts of town. Apparently, it was slated for demolition. Anyway, no one wanted the place.

He'd planned to lure Illumi there for a fight once he found him.

The grounds were wide open, too, so he wouldn't have to worry about Illumi disappearing halfway through and ruining the fun.

It was a huge open space. Hisoka didn't believe Illumi could just vanish into thin air there!

The first two times they'd fought, they'd been in alleys. Illumi always found an excuse to slip away, and Hisoka couldn't always catch up with him.

So this time, he'd gone out of his way to find a good spot.

And now that he'd run into Illumi's little brother, Hisoka figured he'd finally get to have a proper fight!

As soon as he made this constructive suggestion, both porcelain-doll-like boys shot him a withering look.

They weren't going to fight. Not unless he paid them.

Coleman had no intention of going out for a pointless sunbath.

If it were nighttime, he might have been willing to play with the boy for a while.

But with the sun beating down so hard, there was no way Coleman was going outside.

Hadn't he waited until sunset before going to see Ku'er Ya?

Coleman gazed longingly at the pile of snacks, only to get a glare from his brother.

He trudged over to a chair and sat down, eyes closed, then spoke in a serene, unhurried tone. "You can have my brother. I'll let you borrow him. Don't ask me to fight."

Since his brother had banned him from eating sweets and was even trying to make him drink milk, Coleman decided to stop speaking to him for an hour!

Before Hisoka could excitedly answer, Illumi noticed something was wrong.

"Coleman, are you mad?"

"No."

"You are."

"I'm not!"

Coleman puffed out his cheeks and glared at his hopeless brother from the chair.

Can't you tell I'm mad? You're supposed to comfort me!

If you keep asking over and over, am I supposed to stop being mad on my own?

He turned his head away, refusing to look at this clueless person.

"Here."

But when he heard his brother's voice, Coleman immediately turned around and instinctively caught what Illumi tossed to him.

"You can have this today."

At that, Coleman looked down and saw a bottle of soda.

It was something he wasn't allowed to drink at home.

His mother thought that drinking too much soda would stunt his growth.

But Coleman loved it. He liked the feeling of the bubbles popping in his mouth.

Of course, if he could drink a blood-based beverage, he'd never choose this inferior substitute!

A little flicker of delight stirred in him, and the corners of his mouth curled up. "Thanks, big bro!"

Woohoo, a drink!

"So, do you want to come along? Hisoka will pay thirty thousand Jenie for a fight."

Hisoka: "?"

When did I agree to that?

Illumi ignored Hisoka's look and asked him in puzzlement, "If you pay thirty thousand Jenie, I'll fight you."

"Okay!"

See? He agreed.

Coleman lazily narrowed his eyes as he looked out at the blazing sun.

"No. Send me the address after you're done fighting. I'll come find you."

Fight under the blazing sun?

No need!

Of course, if you threw a few hundred thousand at me, I'd consider it.

A few tens of thousands?

Couldn't I just go "kill someone" and get that much?

Besides, Coleman didn't know how to fight.

All he knew how to do was kill.