Chapter Text
In a dirty, desolate alley in the streets of Tokyo, a naked baby lay on the ground. She had been abandoned not long ago, but strangely, the baby wasn't crying. Instead, she stared blankly into space, remembering her previous life as a demon—yes, you read that right.
One of the main rules of demon reincarnation was that upon dying and being reborn, whether in the human world or in Hell, they would remember nothing of their previous life, becoming a completely new and different being, their own person, so to speak. This was because they weren't simply the reincarnation of the previous demon, but rather the living embodiment of a fear.
So why was she able to remember her previous life as the Bomb Hybrid?... Although technically it wasn't her own life, she had Reze's memories after merging with her. Therefore, she was "Bomb", the demon, and not "Reze", the human who fused with the Bomb Demon.
Ohhhhhhh, now everything made sense. She had been a demon in her previous life, and when her human died, it seemed she was killed in that alley shortly after... Fucking Control Devil.
It seemed that having already died as a demon, she was now destined to be reborn in the human world, and apparently, she had been lucky enough to return with a human body and not as a stupid dog like the chainsaw devil.
…Ah, but she was in the middle of an alley, abandoned as a newborn… now what?
With nothing else to do, she began to cry with all her might. Her other option was to blow up the alley, but she didn't want a devil hunter to kill her as a newborn. Anyway, some human would take care of her for a while, and in a few months, as the fear of bombs continued to spread through the war zones, she will grow up.
Finally, a human couple found her, and after many boring human procedures, they kept her. Good.
The couple gave her a human name, "Kiku." The chrysanthemum flower reminded her of an explosion, so she liked it. Her human name was now Hanagaki Kiku.
They cared for her for several months. At first, the human-demon thought she would grow quickly, frightening the humans who, upon realizing her true nature, would throw her out onto the street. But no, she was growing at an incredibly slow rate, at a human speed.
But that wasn't the part that unsettled her the most. No, what puzzled her most was that she hadn't witnessed a single demon attack, neither near her nor on the human news.
Well, she would worry about that later. For now, she would enjoy the affection the human couple offered her. The demon wasn't able to acknowledge it, but like many demons secretly, she longed for connection and affection. For now, she would take advantage of these humans ignorance to receive all the hugs and praise she could.
"My little Kiku-chan is so smart!"
Ah, of course she was smart, you stupid human. After all, she had the memories of her previous life; it wasn't surprising that she could form sentences at just a few months old. She practiced her language skills just so the human could see how inferior she was in comparison.
"Heh, Kiku-chan, you're a daddy's girl, aren't you? You love it when Daddy throws you around."
Don't get cocky, human man. She only liked being thrown around because it reminded her of their aerial battles. So go ahead, throw her higher.
"My little Kiku-chan is the smartest and prettiest girl in the world! All the boys will be after her when she grows up!"
Why on earth would she want humans interested in her? They'll only bring her headaches. She could put up with the human couple, but no more!
"Hakari, don't say that!" I don't want to fight with a bunch of idiots who want to take her away from me. I have enough to deal with knowing that some guy will show up at the door someday and call me "father-in-law"... I just hope he's not one of those gang members.
Huh? If anything, she'll have to defend you herself, you stupid human father. You can't even open my food. Besides, why do you specific "gang member"?
They even took her to meet a ball of human flesh one day. It didn't do anything, just rolled around on the floor and drooled. The ball of flesh followed her everywhere.
"Look, look! Masaru-kun loves his cousin!"
Was the ball of flesh related to those humans? Well, then she'd have to put up with it until she grew up, so from now on, technically, it belonged to her.
"Ne, ne, Kiku-chan, you're going to have a little brother! You're going to be a big sister!"
The human couple was ecstatic with joy; they had always dreamed of having two children but had several medical complications. At first, they believed that adopting Kiku was a miracle in itself, and they had resigned themselves to having only one child, but recently they received the news that they would soon fulfill their dream of being parents of two. They will make every possible sacrifice for them.
"We already know what name we'll give your little brother! He'll be Takemichi!"
«I'll be waiting impatiently, new possession,» thought the human-demon. She certainly didn't see her future brother as... well, actually, she saw him as what he was: a human, a simple human. And since she was a demon and its older sister, it was true that it belonged to her, wasn't it?
Time passed, and Kiku found herself in a strange routine. She observed her human parents with that mixture of superiority and affection that only a superior, egocentric being could feel toward parents of an inferior race.
The day her mother returned from the hospital with a tiny, whimpering bundle, Kiku stared at it intently. Her father cried tears of joy (in her opinion, her father was a crybaby; he once cried because he dropped his ice cream on the floor). The demon found it ridiculous, and yet, inexplicably, it captivated her.
"Kiku-chan! Come meet your little brother,” said her mother. “This is Takemichi.”
Kiku approached slowly. She looked at the wrinkled baby with its eyes closed. The mini-human seemed fragile. One sneeze and she could annihilate it... literally.
Takemichi opened its eyes for a moment, a blue gaze meeting hers. And then, it did something unexpected. It stopped whimpering. A brief silence, followed by a small, attempt of a smile.
“Oh!” exclaimed Hakari, surprised. “Takemichi already recognizes his older sister. He likes Kiku!”
Kiku felt her cheeks warm. It was an unfamiliar sensation, a tingling in her chest of… satisfaction? Yes, that must be it. Her new human toy was showing a good survival instinct by not crying in her presence; it was better to be on her good side than to make her angry.
“Touch his little hand, Kiku-chan,” encouraged her father.
With a chubby hand of a one year old, Kiku touched Takemichi's tiny hand. The baby closed his fist with surprising force around hers, clinging on. The sensation was strange.
"Good, a peculiar way to seal a pact, but I accept it, human baby, I will protect you" Kiku thought, looking at their clasped hands. "You're mine, then. And what's mine, no one touches."