A/N: And so I shall start my 4-part short oneshots of different points in the life of Nero Sparda! We of course want to know what happens to Nero Sparda as he grows up, but since this is a Vergil oneshot, we'll focus on the roles that Vergil play as a father! :) 3 more parts to go!

[My Dad Is Vergil (PartOne)]

The bright eyes of a two year old Nero Sparda roamed everywhere with the curiosity to take in the entire world as he walked. Rather, his father would say that young Nero tottered, because one foot was put in front of the other unsteadily in a never-ending pacing.

Vergil Sparda was, in Nero's eyes, a very tall man. Nero's undeveloped brain could not create another word that better described what he knew of his father, but blue glittering eyes that had been inherited from a son of Sparda always looked up at Vergil with a glint. Nero Sparda recognised the word 'white' when it came to describing his father's hair, but there was really nothing else that he could say.

Of course, to a child's mind, every adult that walked past him was 'tall'. In his short world where he was deprived of the sight of the vertically advantaged, Nero could only constantly look upwards at the people around him. Vergil only prayed that Nero continued to look up at him as he grew up.

The pair had not walked too long along the street until Nero stopped suddenly, and tugged at his father's hand. Vergil had not bothered to bring out the stroller this time because his son had been long overdue in learning to get to places without his stroller. Still, he couldn't assume that his son would have the stamina to make it all the way to the café a few streets down from the apartment on his first try.

Thus, Vergil offered no protest when his son looked up at him with innocent eyes, then raised both his hands up as if inviting for a hug. The young boy's father knew better, but complied one way or another, bending downwards to pull Nero up from under his armpits. Sitting his son against his dominant arm, he was glad to be able to make his progress faster since he now no longer needed to take shorter stride to allow his son to keep up. Nero made awed and curious sounds as eyes took in the world from Vergil's arm height, and Vergil kept his amusement to himself, long having forgotten what it felt to view the world with such innocent and curious mind.

The café was had the perfect mellow crowd that would be perfect for the conversation that was to come. Vergil was quick to choose a stall by the windows so that he could keep an eye out for any signs of danger making towards them at any moment, sitting his son in the baby high chair. Nero's bright eyes were still glued on the 'amazing outside world', so Vergil guessed that the view was an added plus for him.

Vergil had fully been prepared to be preoccupied in dealing with a toddler with an extremely short attention span upon reaching the café, but was pleasantly rewarded when Nero –surprisingly –obediently remained silently watching everything and nothing in particular. Vergil was relaxed enough, in fact, to even keep his eyes off his son for the slightest moment as he ordered a double shot of macchiato.

Coffee was now the only sustenance that Vergil relied on to survive his long work hours –both in his occupations and his role as a two year old's father.

"Papa?" The word was spoken with a curious inflection, and Vergil turned back to his son to see blue eyes of curiosity looking at his cup now, as if utterly amazed at how it had magically appeared on the table. Nero was beginning to speak words now, though the young mind still hadn't developed much enough to be able to string his words together coherently. The verbal cues were still accompanied by visual ones, but Vergil had found out through his research that this progress for his son was completely natural.

"Coffee." Vergil answered his son as he moved the cup cautiously closer to the toddler on the high chair. "Want to try this?"

Nero clearly had no idea what he was saying, but the young boy nodded at him still, clearly unafraid at trying anything new. It was a character trait that Nero had inherited from his mother –Vergil was always a more cautious and careful person –but Vergil could not really say that he frowned upon that character trait. It made Nero adventurous, and it was definitely doing well for the young boy as compared to having him shy away from everything new.

Carefully lifting the cup, blowing to make sure that it was cool enough for the toddler's sensitive lips, Vergil put the edge of the cup carefully on his son's lips and tilted towards an eagerly waiting mouth. Nero's tiny hands balanced the cup carefully between his palms, and Vergil watched the small throat work a little before the little hands lightly tapped the side of the cup in a cue for Vergil to stop feeding the coffee.

He could not resist the light laugh bubbling to his lips when Nero made a face, sticking his tongue out and squeezing his eyes shut. The 'screwed up' face was one that Nero didn't make often, but it definitely amused Vergil as he wiped his son's lips carefully with the serviette.

"Papa." Nero started, hitting him a little to get the attention that the young boy demanded. "Not nice."

"You won't think that when you grow up." Vergil answered with another sip. "Coffee is the only reason I can remain awake for most of the day."

"Coffee?" The cute small round face tilted curiously to the side in questioning.

"Yeah. Coffee." Vergil answered absently, pointing at the cup to make things clear for his confused little offspring.

"Coffee, not nice." The declaration was made, but Vergil supposed that trying to convince his son that the beverage would eventually become Nero's medicine and elixir in his working years was useless right now. Patting his son on the head, Vergil allowed the conversation to fade as he checked his phone for any updates on his job.

Young Nero, knowing that he was now temporarily being ignored by his father, only put his thumb in his mouth, sucking and slobbering as he looked outside the window. The 'Vrooms Vrooms' fascinated the young boy, though the word 'car' to describe those gigantic metallic monsters still evaded the pre-developed mind. Intelligent and ever-curious blue eyes continued to look outside the window, taking in the appearance of the people passed.

"Papa!" Nero suddenly called, hitting his father again to get his attention.

"What's wrong, Nero?"

"U-Uncle!" The young boy stuttered a little, seemingly a little unsure if he was speaking the correct word. The word had been taught to the young boy by said 'Uncle' himself, and young Nero struggled to remember clearly.

"Dante? Where?" Vergil turned curiously to scan outside the window, but there was no sight of a red-clad demon-hunter anywhere. Was it really Dante, or had Nero mistaken the man? Besides, Nero was still in the age of learning to recognise people that he didn't meet often –and Vergil had made it a point to not allow Nero to see Dante too often (with very good reasons; particularly those concerning Dante's idea of a 'fruitful' childhood).

"There!" Nero insisted, pointing outside but Vergil saw nothing.

"I don't see him, Nero."

"Of course, because if you managed to, I think you'd better get your eyes checked." Either Dante must have somehow gotten better at sneaking upon him, or Vergil had been too preoccupied with his son, because Vergil startled a little at the intruding voice. Turning around, he was not surprised to see Dante grinning down at him and his son.

"Uncle!" Nero greeted happily, clearly remembering the man who had allowed the young boy to play beyond his sleeping hours when his parents had sanctioned against it. Kids obviously loved a person who let them do what they wanted, and Dante was certainly becoming Nero's favourite person given the way rules never seemed to apply to Nero wherever Dante was concerned.

"Hey there, little kiddo." Vergil watched as his twin brother pat his son on the head, reaching over to unbuckle the two-year old from his seat. With silent disapproval, but not wanting to say too much since it had been some time since Dante last saw Nero, Vergil watched as Dante threw Nero up high, then caught the squealing child easily. "Miss me?"

"Miss! Miss Uncle!" The boy almost screamed in his joy, though Vergil doubted that Nero knew exactly what the word meant at all.

"That's good, cause I miss you too, you little bastard." Dante answered with a grin, but it drew a small frown on Vergil's face instead.

"Language, Dante." Vergil warned, though the only reply he gained was light laughter.

"Come on, Verge. He is too young to pick up things like that. Right, Nero?"

"Right!" The light, lilting voice of the young boy replied, because young Nero had been taught by his uncle to always answer with 'right' whenever he was asked that question. It was extremely clear to both men that Nero completely did not understand anything that was asked of him right now, but the pride of being able to join in an adult's conversion still shone on the young face.

Vergil sighed, supposing that there was not too much harm that could possibly come from mixing Dante and Nero together for a few hours.

"So what did you call me here for?" Vergil started a new topic as soon as Dante had his son strapped back down on the high chair, introducing Nero to discover the world of miracles that a pen and a serviette put in front of him could make.

"What? Can't I miss Nero and want to see him?" Dante's grin held on to something more than that.

Vergil didn't even bother entertaining his brother's mischievous grin; watching his son holding the pen carefully. The boy might be thoroughly amused by the pen's abilities to make scribbles, but Vergil wouldn't be so amused at all if Nero ended up drawing all over himself. Worse still, if the ink stained Nero's clothes, Vergil would be hearing no end of complaints from the boy's mother.

"I might need your help on another case, Verge." The two of them had been through the same situation enough times that Dante no longer bothered with preambles. Asking Vergil outright was the easiest way of enlisting that help needed.

"Another one?" Vergil replied, surprised now. "How many cases must you be involved in before you get off my back?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Unfortunately, people don't exactly see me the same way as they see you. You and I are famous for very different reasons."

"You are the number 1 reason why I don't want to be famous."

"But hey, think of it this way: if you didn't become a lawyer to save my ass, you would never have met your wife! And you would never have had this little bundle of fats sitting here drawing."

"I am not a son of Sparda just to become a lawyer." Vergil answered.

"Well, I am not a son of Sparda just to become a criminal." Dante only replied with a laugh. "Some roles just come naturally to us."

"Say that one more time, and I will make sure that you are locked up for life."

"And let Little Nero miss me? You'll have me bailed out within the week. The Little Devil loves me to bits."

"Only because you feed him junk and lets him play when he's supposed to sleep. I know what you've been doing, Dante, and it isn't going to work."

"Try saying that when he starts crying, and when Sis-in-law isn't around to settle him. I know you've been a father for 2 years, but face it: this guy loves me more."

"Nero is still young. He doesn't know what is good for him."

"Well, you don't always have to correct every single thing he does, right, Nero?"

Once more, the young boy looks up at the question addressed to him, and shouts a happy 'Right!".

"Good boy, Little Bastard." Dante grinned, patting the young one on his head once more –this time almost in a territorial gesture to show his twin brother that he had his nephew on his side.

"I don't want him to grow up like we did." Vergil picked up from where the conversation had been interrupted.

"He won't. You're here for him, aren't you?"

"Yes, but you're here as well."

"What does that mean, Verge? I'm the best influence for him!"

"This isn't news, Dante: I don't want him to become like you. His mother will cry if she ever knows that the son she spent nine months carrying inside her grew up to become someone useless like you."

"I'm not useless!" Dante protested futilely.

"Then when was the last time you were on a job?"

"Err..."

"When was the last time you got charged for destruction of property?"

"Err...."

"If you were charged for destruction of property because you were hunting demons, Dante, I wouldn't have much to say at all. But if you get charged for minor things like misconduct or littering when you are not even working, I have all rights to label you as useless. And thus, a very bad influence on Nero at the moment. Why else have I stopped you from coming over?"

"But I taught him how to call you!" Dante declared –almost brimming with a sense of childish pride that should technically only belong to his nephew. "Nero, say Daddy's name."

"Vah... Vah..." The young boy struggled with the word, looking a little perplexed before giving up quickly. "Papa."

"No!" Dante shook his head. "Try again. Ver... Ver-something."

"Vah... veel!" Nero shouted in sudden glee, apparently having jolted the memory of Vergil's name out of somewhere in his small mind.

"Good boy!" Once more, Dante gives the boy a congratulatory pat, before turning back to his twin brother with a proud grin.

"See? Nero needs me. He knows how to call you now."

"Don't be an idiot, Dante." Vergil answered, clearly not impressed at all. "He calls me 'Papa'. There isn't need for him to call me by name."

"Oh... yeah..." Someone clearly had not thought through his argument at all.

"Papa." Nero's interruption in the conversation took the attention of both adults once more. "'Idiot.' What?"

Vergil pursed his lips at the slip of his tongue, then shook his head quickly.

"No, don't learn that. It's not a good word."

"Idiot. What? Idiot!" Nero repeated once more, clearly not satisfied at the vague answer that Vergil was giving. The young boy was exactly like his father –cursed to have an utterly curious mind that would never let go of a detail until everything made sense clearly.

"Language, Verge..." Dante laughed, slapping his thigh in show of his utter amusement. "I can't believe you warned me about language, and your bastard's learning from you instead!"

It was a chain reaction; how Dante's laughing made the young boy laugh and squeal as well. Vergil had read online that the best way to make a young boy of Nero's age happy was to show the boy the facial emotions of being happy as well. And since Dante was laughing, it was no wonder that Nero was copying that emotion despite the fact that the young boy probably had no idea what was the reason behind the happiness.

"Bastard! Uncle, bastard!" Nero squealed, clapping his hands in joy.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Vergil!" Nero's mother exclaimed when she turned to the sound of opening doors. "What happened?"

The exclamation of shock was something Vergil had clearly expected on his journey home, but yet hadn't exactly straightened out how to tell his wife exactly. It wasn't every day that something non-humane happened to your child, and Vergil wasn't sure how his wife was going to take the news of their son being a little less normal than other children of his age.

To be rather honest, Vergil himself wasn't very sure what to think of Nero's situation now.

"I'll explain in a while." Vergil whispered back to his wife, nudging the door close behind him with both his hands occupied with holding a three-year old Nero sleeping against his chest and shoulder. "He's asleep."

Only parents who had seen their child grow up would know how painful it was to convince a three year old to go back to sleep once he was awakened. Vergil's wife knew exactly what it encompassed, and quickly nodded as she stepped aside to let her husband to make for Nero's bedroom. Trailing worriedly behind the man, she stood outside in the doorway to Nero's room as she watched her lover gently put the sleeping boy on the bed, taking off his shoes and pulling the covers over him.

Her eyes roamed quickly up and down her baby son to make sure that there was no other visible wounds or injury other than the sling that covered his right arm. Worried, but willing to give her husband a short buffer time for Vergil to carefully pat Nero on his front just in case the young boy had been roused from his sleep, Nero's mother watched the picture painted with a warm heart.

Three years ago, when she had still be pregnant with the then-unborn Nero, she had been fretting that Vergil might not be too used to being a father. Vergil, after all, had never displayed much fatherly instincts during their time of dating. While he had been kind and gentle towards her, she had never really assumed that he could display even more genteel towards someone else. Still, watching Vergil now made her eat her words, because she found that regardless of the hard, rational and independently strong Alpha-male that he liked to portray himself as, he was also the softest, gentlest and sweetest man around their baby son.

Finally satisfied that Nero was fully asleep, Vergil picked up Nero's miniature backpack from where he had dropped it on the floor and walked back towards the doorway, gesturing for his wife to step back and allow him room to close the door.

"What happened? Weren't the two of you going to visit Dante? Why is his arm in a sling? Did he break it?" Vergil's wife asked almost immediately once it was sure that a door was now protecting their young angel from being woken up by their conversation.

"You might want to sit down." Vergil answered with a soft sigh, heading towards the couch himself. "It might come as a shock."

"What is wrong with him, Vergil?" She insisted, chasing after her husband as he took a seat. Her heart was pounding by now, her imagination coming up with the worst ideas –some of which involved incurable diseases and having only a few months left to live.

"We didn't make it to the bus stop at all. We were crossing the park when Nero said his arm was itchy and he couldn't stop scratching. I tried to get him to stop, but it was all red –like it had been scalded. I knew something was wrong, so I tried to drag him to the nearest clinic, but he just kept on crying and saying that it hurt. He kept hiding the arm out of my reach and tucking it against his body, but I thought that something venomous had bitten him so I called the ambulance. Then a few minutes before the ambulance came, his arm changed. I don't know how to explain it to you, but... it just turned colour. It became a glowing blue, and his skin hardened like scales. By the time the ambulance arrived, his entire arm had transformed."

"What are you talking about? His arm transformed?" Nero's mother's voice jumped a pitch on the last word, staring at her husband in horror. Vergil was never a person who played jokes on her –and she was very sure that the person who had returned with Nero was her husband. She was past the early months where she used to mistake Dante for Vergil, and end up making embarrassing mistakes with an overly-mischievously teasing brother-in-law.

"Yes, the EMTs said that they had never seen something like it before, but Nero was crying and thrashing and refused to go up the ambulance. I grabbed him and held him while the guys carried me on a stretcher, because I didn't want to drag him. He cried all the way to the hospital and when the doctors checked on his arm. It took him a long time and a few candies to calm down, so I don't want to wake him up again. He's been through a horrible day."

"But... What did the doctors say about his arm? Why did they put it in a sling?"

"About that..." Vergil paused for a short while, then decided that hiding something so important away from the mother of his son was something unthinkable. "It isn't human. The doctors had never seen something like that before, and I didn't expect otherwise. Because when Nero's arm transformed, I began to feel a demonic power in the air. I thought it was just bad timing for demon infestation in the park, but there weren't any demons around. It was only Nero and I."

"You're saying that Nero's arm changed because of demonic power?" Vergil's wife asked. She must have looked too bewildered and a little scared, because Vergil quickly stood up from his seat on the neighbouring couch to sit beside his wife, putting a strong arm of support around her shoulder and pulling her leaning against his strong chest.

"Don't worry so much. Nero's going to be okay. I'm sure of it." Vergil consoled quickly.

"But you said he was crying and said it hurt. Is the arm going to hurt him for the rest of his life? What is the arm transforming going to mean for him?"

"Afterwards when he calmed down in the hospital, he told us that it didn't hurt anymore. He was just crying because he was scared of what was happening to him. He did say that he feels like his arm is normal –just that there is a weird tingling feeling. The doctors only put him on a sling just not to scare the public, because a blue arm like that on a child is rather attention-catching."

"Then will the arm go away? Is it permanent?"

"Seems like it. The cells in his right arm have changed. The doctors are currently doing their research on some samples that they took from Nero's arm, but I don't think they can come up with much. Demon lore and science have never mixed well."

"Then our baby Nero is going to have to hide his arm for the rest of his life?"

"Relax, dear." Vergil smoothed his wife's hair absently, stroking in soft but smooth flow. "It might be a bit of trouble, but our Nero is strong and bright. He'll learn how to hide his demon self in the future. We just have to teach him right."

"He's not going to turn blue in the future?"

Vergil could not help but chuckle at the question posed by his wife. "He doesn't have mercury poisoning; he's not turning blue. Relax, all we have to do is to have him learn how to slowly channel his demon powers into something else so that it doesn't try to take over his human half."

"But how do we do that?"

"My father taught Dante and I how to do it. I know Nero's a quarter-demon, but I figure it'll be the same with him. We'll figure something out. Nero's going to be fine. Our little one is strong. He will grow up to be a fine young man; don't you worry."

"Are you sure?"

Vergil breathed in a deep breath at that question, turning it over and over again in his mind. He had constantly asked himself that question ever since he met the woman who would eventually turn out to be his wife and the mother of his child. Was he sure that he loved her? Was he sure that he deserved to have a lover? Was he sure that he could give her a safe life of marriage? Was he sure that she could go through a safe pregnancy since she was literally bouncing a quarter-demon foetus inside her womb? Was he sure that he could be a good father to his then-unborn-son?

He had never been truly sure, but he had certainly acted that way.

And so, once more, Vergil settled one more question in his mind that he could only answer in the long future.

"I'm sure. Nero is going to grow up to be strong, smart and handsome."

"He has you for a father." Vergil's wife gave up her worry temporarily, putting all of her faith into her husband's unending well of certainty. Vergil had always been like that; always certain of everything that he did. In the days that she doubted both him and herself, Vergil had been there, sure as a stick, certain and unmoving like a statue. He was the strongest constant that she had trusted would be forever by her side, and he hadn't failed her expectation so far. "Nero can't possibly be that bad in the future. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all."

Smiling softly now that his wife had temporarily given up on worrying endlessly for their son, Vergil placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

"The only tree I do hope that he falls further away from is Dante." He commented off-handedly. "Because given the way Dante is going, his tree isn't going to have much apples falling at all."

"What about that Trish woman? The demonness that you said looked a lot like your mother?"

"Yes, she is a candidate, but Dante is the one who isn't interested."

"Maybe we have to arrange a marriage for him?"

Vergil turned that thought very very briefly over in his mind before shaking his head in a soft laugh. "I do not foresee that happening."

"I'm cursed to having a brother-in-law who's going to sticking to us forever, aren't I?" Vergil's wife asked with such certainty in her voice that Vergil had to laugh once more as he took her limp hand and brought her fingers up to his lips in a soft kiss.

"You must have known long in the past, and yet you still chose to marry me."

"That's because you're you, Vergil." Vergil's wife almost curled her toes in the warmth the spread from his soft gesture of love that he only showed when there was no one around to watch them. "Loving you makes me forget everything else. At least until it's too late for regrets."

"Then we shall regret them together." Vergil declared as he leaned the both of them back against the soft cushion of the couch. "But may we never be apart, because I no longer remember how I used to live my life alone with Dante."

"Of course." Vergil's wife sighed in satisfaction of lying against her husband's strong chest, hearing the steady heartbeat going on beneath tough muscles. "I had no intention of leaving any of you anyway. Not even Dante."

It was a promise that she eventually did not keep, but at that moment, Vergil believed it wholeheartedly.

________________________________________________________________________________

Six year old Nero Sparda sat near the gates of his kindergarten, awaiting his uncle while he played by himself on the sandpit. Classes had been dismissed, and most of the parents had already dropped by for his young friends, leaving only a scatter of little children. Nero's teachers were inside the building, cleaning up for the day and trusting the kindergarteners to be obedient enough to not try to unlatch the gate (that was beyond their height) and escape.

With his bag sitting at the corner of the sandpit, his shoes taken off, Nero sat in the middle of the sandpit building himself a tiny sand city with the buckets and shovel left out for play on the pit.

Nero was used to waiting for his uncle. It used to be his mother picking him up from school, but his mother had gone to the heavens. Up till today, he didn't really know what it meant, but all he knew –and had been forced to admit –was that Mama was missing and had never come back. From that day onward, it had been his Uncle Dante picking him up from school, because his Papa was busy with work.

Uncle Dante was always late. Nero remembered the first day that his uncle was supposed to come over to pick him up, and the man was half an hour late. For Nero who had never experienced a latecomer parent, he had cried his eyes out, terrified of being left alone again –particularly after coming to terms with the fact that his mother had 'abandoned' him.

Yet, over the days Nero had gotten accustomed to his uncle's late-coming antics, and was now unbothered as he entertained himself on the sandpit, creating another short building in his town before standing up and brushing his shorts clean of sand.

"Rawr!" Nero yelled, fancying himself an oversized monster as he stomped through the small sand-'town', kicking down his sand buildings and jumping on others as he made imaginative sounds of people screaming in fear.

A giggle, however, took his attention briefly and he paused, looking up from his destroyed city to find a girl standing at the edge of the sandpit with two brown braids tied at the end with ribbons laughing softly at him. Nero immediately paused, his face going red a little as he recognised the girl.

Her name was Kyrie, and to Nero's innocent eyes, she was pretty. Beautiful was a vocabulary that Nero had yet to grasp, and thus, all Nero knew was that Kyrie was pretty, and that he liked her. All he had been able to do was to look at her from afar, because they were in different classes. But Nero had learnt her name when his teacher had called her name a few days ago, when her elder brother had come to pick her up.

"Hello." Kyrie said shyly, keeping her hands behind her. "Is your Daddy or Mummy not here yet?"

"My uncle is picking me up. But he's always late!" Nero declared quickly. "Is your Papa or Mama late also?"

"Uh-uh." Kyrie replied with a cute shake of her head. "My big brother is picking me up. But he is also late. Miss Mary told me to wait outside."

"Do you want to play?" Nero invited, gesturing towards the sandpit, losing out to a desire of hopefully spending more time with the pretty girl.

"Okay." Kyrie took off her shoes as well, and was standing beside Nero in a matter of moments. "My name is Kyrie. Kyrie Sanctus. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. I am Nero Sparda." Nero hesitated a little, then blushed as he turned away for his next sentence. "You are pretty, Kyrie."

"Thank you." The bright reply made Nero look back, and the sight of a beautiful angel smiling back at him almost got him speechless.

His stare would have been rude if it was dragged out any longer, but he never managed to spare the time admiring more of Kyrie's beautiful smile, because a few milliseconds later, hands appeared out of nowhere and landed on Kyrie's arms.

Grabbing by her underarms, Nero blinked in shock at the sight of an unfamiliar-looking man leaning over the fence of the kindergarten compound from the walkway, and lifting Kyrie over the fence.

"Who are you? You are not Big Brother!" Kyrie cried in shock and fear at the sight of the same unfamiliar man, struggling in the grips of the man. "Let me go!"

"Your Big Brother pissed off the wrong people, Little Lady." The man replied with a smile that made Nero cold all over. "I'll just take you to punish Credo for what he has done to me and my family."

"You're a baddie! Big Brother only does things to baddies!" Kyrie replied, doing her best to kick and struggle, but still finding herself getting lifted further and further away from the ground.

"Let Kyrie go!" Nero's instincts made him yell, and with a quick jump, managed to grab at the unfamiliar man. Forgetting all lessons from his father about how he was supposed to not use his right hand in public and pretend that he was injured, Nero used both his hands to grab at one of the man's arm. It was a good thing that Nero was light and relatively well-trained by his father and uncle when it came to defending himself, because he pulled himself up until his face was level with the man's arm.

And then Nero took a big, hard bite.

"Ouch! You stupid boy!" The man flinched at Nero's hard bite, pulling his hand back quickly and letting go of Kyrie. The little girl cried as she fell to the floor again with a hard thud, tears in her eyes as she watched Nero let his teeth go, landing back on the floor easily on his feet. "You'll regret this, Boy!"

"HELP!" Nero screamed at the top of his voice, turning towards the kindergarten with hopes of any of the adults hearing his scream. "HELP US!"

"You're taking your time!" A second unfamiliar voice came close, and Nero turned back to look up at the fence, to see a second face appearing beside the first one. "Can't you deal with a six year old girl?"

"Kyrie, run!" Nero said, turning to pull the little girl up from the floor. No matter how much his father had taught him, Vergil had also taught him a very important thing: When things seemed like they were out of his control, Nero should run away as fast as he could.

But small legs were no match for long arms, as he heard another scream, and the hand inside his was torn away. This time, Nero himself felt arms grab him from his underarms, and then his ground was falling away beneath his feet as he was lifted over the fence. In the same situation as Kyrie now, Nero struggled hard as well, turning his head to try to bite his captor the same way he had done previously.

But this time, the man had learnt his lesson, and Nero found himself shaken roughly, and disorientated, Nero could not think straight. His world was still spinning dizzily when his captor threw him into the dark interiors of a van parked on the other side of the walkway, and then someone climbed in after him. Kyrie sobbed and wailed beside him as the door slid close, and then there was no light.

The sound of engines and momentum of movement only told him that the van was moving off.

________________________________________________________________________________

"What now?" Kidnapper #1 asked Kidnapper #2. "We planned for one, and now we got two. This isn't a buy-one-get-one-free."

"I know, but this stupid boy bit me! I just took him on instincts." Kidnapper #2 –also the guy that Nero had bit –replied in exasperation. Nero watched the two men in silence, carefully tagging eyes on them and tracking their conversation because there was nothing he could do otherwise. His hands and feet were bounded, and he was gagged as well. Kyrie sat scared beside him, but Nero had positioned himself in front of the girl in an attempt to protect her as well as he could. He might not be older or much bigger than she was at the moment, but at least he was a boy, and his father had taught him that boys were supposed to protect the girls.

"Do you at least know his name? Maybe we can get a ransom out of him." Kidnapper #1 sighed heavily, turning back to face his accomplice. They were now sitting in the middle of a dumpy apartment that was littered with papers, pamphlets, snack wrappers and beer bottles. It was obvious that no one had gotten around cleaning the area previously, and even Nero could smell the odour that arose from the dirty-looking couch at the other end of what-was-supposed-to-be-a-living-area.

An agreement seemed to be made amongst the two men, and Nero watched as Kidnapper #1 approached him, squatting to be down on eye level. He noted the scar on the man's cheek, the tattoo that was drawn all around his neck, as well as the wound at the corner of his lip. The man pulled the gag out of his mouth, and Nero was smart enough to keep his words in check as he waited for the man to address him.

"You; what's your name, boy?"

"Nero." Nero replied fearlessly. "Nero Sparda. And go ahead and call my Papa. He will come and kick your butt!"

"Huh, I doubt so. As long as I have you in my grasp, your Papa won't dare to touch a single hair on my body if he cares about you." Kidnapper #1 replied. "But since you suggested it, I'll call your Papa. What's his name? What does he work as? There has got to be some way we can call your Papa, right?"

Nero thought about how his father had given a wallet that contained the contact information of Nero's father when he started going to kindergarten –because Vergil had been afraid that Nero would get lost in the streets somehow, and would somehow need help contacting Vergil. Nero also –unfortunately –remembered that the wallet had been stashed away safely inside his bag during the time of the kidnap.

"My Papa is Vergil Sparda!" Nero declared. "He works to put baddies like you in jail!"

"Vergil Sparda?" Kidnapper #2 repeated, the two of men exchanging looks. "You mean the world-famous defence lawyer? That Vergil Sparda is your father?"

"Papa will put the two of you in jail!" Nero nodded, yelling.

"We'll see." Kidnapper #1 answered with a smile that Nero didn't like at all, a hand patting Nero on the top of his white haired head before the gag came back. Kidnapper #1 walked back to where his accomplice was, looking over at the two of their captives with a cursory glance.

"We've struck gold this time. Stay here and watch over them. I'll call Vergil Sparda to update him about his son's... situation."

Neither men could make another reaction after that, because the door suddenly burst down. Nero heard as Kyrie gave a scream into her gag, but his eyes were swivelled over to the intruder as well, whose figure stepped through the doorway in the midst of the dust created.

"No need to call. I'm his representative for the day." Dante Sparda announced as he stepped through the cloud of dust, dusting his hands as if he was already done with his job. Nero's heart leapt at the sight of his uncle, though he didn't do anything to show it –not that he could do anything in his bound and gagged state. "Trust me, boys, you don't want to be asking for money from Verge. He has his fists tied around his money tighter than a shark's jaws on a prey. You're lucky that you got me today; really."

"W-Who are you?" The men who had jumped in shock at the sudden intrusion stared at Dante, so completely taken unaware that neither of them had thought to even find a single weapon in threat against their intruder.

"Dante Sparda at your service. The young one's uncle, and Vergil's nicer twin brother." Dante answered, inviting himself across the room. "Now, let's get things moving, shall we?"

Nero did his best to smile up at his Uncle who squatted down in front of him with the usual greeting smile, immediately removing his gag and working at the ties on his hands.

"How are you doing, Little Bastard? They do anything to you?"

"Nothing much, Uncle Dante!" Nero answered easily. "I'm okay."

"Good. I'll try not to tell your Papa about this if I were you. He'll kill me for being late and allowing you to get kidnapped." Dante said conversationally, as if he had already dismissed the presence of the two kidnappers that were still in the room, reeling in shock at how casual and easy Dante was treating this whole kidnapping scene.

"But the people at the kindergarten will tell Papa." Nero said in reply, pulling his hands free from the restraints the moment Dante had them loosened. "Uncle Dante, please free Kyrie. She's scared."

"Your girlfriend, hmm?" Dante teased, and Nero found himself blushing –in a rather inappropriate environment –as he silently worked at the knots at his feet.

"How are you, Princess?" Nero heard his uncle ask.

"I-I-I'm okay... t-t-thank y-you, Nero's uncle..." The stutter meant that the poor girl was still scared out of her wits. Nero hadn't been that scared at all –but it could be because he always had belief that either his uncle or his father would save him, that even if he were in danger temporarily at the moment, neither his uncle nor father would let him be put to real risk.

Once done loosening the rope around his ankles, Nero looked back to his uncle, and gasped softly.

Kidnapper #1 held a gun, barrel pressed firmly on the back of his uncle's head. Kidnapper #2 was equally quick in appearance, and Nero found himself pulled to his feet, a kitchen knife pressed lightly against his throat.

"Make any wrong move, and either I'll pull the trigger, or my friend will press the knife deeper." Kidnapper #1 said. "Now, slowly stand up and step away from the girl."

"Now look here..." Dante said, slowly standing up and putting his hands up to show his surrender –even though Nero knew that there was completely no need for his uncle to. To be rather honest, Nero wasn't the slightest bit scared at all –not even at the knife pressed against his throat. Because his uncle was here.

"No, you look here!" Kidnapper #1 interrupted his uncle before more could be said. "I've had enough of you waltzing in here as if this is your house."

"I'm just claiming what I lost." Dante replied with a shrug. "Vergil will kill me if he goes home and can't find Nero."

"That's what we were aiming for. Do you think he'll pay more for you as well? Surely he wants to save his twin brother as well? If you are his brother, as you claim."

At that, even Nero had to struggle to keep back laughter. Dante himself laughed aloud.

"I think he'll rather pay you to keep me." Dante said. "But that's beside the point."

Nero felt a soft tingling in his right arm, a small itching that he had come to be familiar by now. Surprised, he looked back from his arm to his uncle, frowning a little when he found that his uncle was still in his human form, still not exerting much effort at all. It was strange; Nero's arm was clearly detecting demon energy coming.

"Uncle Dante." Nero called with a confused frown. "Where is it coming from?"

"Your Papa." Dante sighed. "I'm too late."

"Yes, and you're doing an extremely horrible job saving your nephew." Vergil answered as he walked through the doorway, and gun immediately went to aim at the second intruder. This time, no mercy was spared at all as Vergil rushed towards the gun at inhumane speed, and then a gunshot rang. Kyrie screamed in shock, but as the smoke from the gun barrel rose, Nero blinked to find that it had shot at the ceiling.

Nero's father gripped harder and Kidnapper #1 made a cry of pained protest, fingers letting go of the weapon. Nero felt the hands around him tighten, and the knife was pressed a little deeper into his throat. Vergil didn't even look over at Kidnapper #2; a hand was thrown in the direction of Kidnapper #2, and a summoned sword hit the man's shoulder. The knife dropped on the floor in front of Nero with a loud clatter as Kidnapper #2 cried out in shock and pain, reeling backwards as he clutched at his shoulder.

"Papa!" Nero ran towards his father the moment he was free. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"No worries." Vergil threw Kidnapper #1 on the floor, stepping on the man's tailbone and putting his weight to make sure the poor human could not get up once more. "It's not your fault. If anything, Dante's to blame for taking so long. I hope you weren't too scared; though you shouldn't be at all."

"I wasn't scared at all!" Nero answered brightly, but remembered his companion. "But Kyrie was really scared. She was crying, Papa."

"Kyrie?" Vergil asked in confusion, but it cleared quickly when Dante moved out of his line of sight, and he caught sight of the poor little girl who was still tied, staring at him in gratitude but a little fear. "Poor thing. Dante, make yourself useful and free her."

"Yeah, yeah, I was here first but somehow I'm the useless one here..." Dante muttered grouchily beneath his breath, though still obeying orders.

"How is this possible?!?" Kidnapper #2 demanded, and Nero turned to see that the man was bleeding badly from the wound on his shoulder, the summoned sword already dissipated. "What are you?!? What was that thing you shot at me?"

"A defence lawyer, and that was a summoned sword." Vergil answered as he picked his son up, holding Nero closer to make sure that his precious one hadn't been scarred at all. Ever since losing his wife to illness, Nero had become his most precious person left in the world. Vergil's recently-departed wife would be rolling in her grave if he allowed any form of harm come to their beloved son.

"A defence lawyer can't..." Kidnapper #2 struggled for words to explain whatever that had happened to him.

"You need to update yourselves on the news, really." Dante spoke up in reply now, picking up a still-tearing Kyrie in his arms. "Verge isn't just a defence lawyer. He's a demon hunter. And the second-best demon hunter after me."

"D-D-D-Demon hunter?"

"I'll have to say." Vergil said as he turned to make for the broken doorway, carrying Nero in his arm.

"Hunting kidnappers is much less thrilling than demons."